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World in Brief
Palestinian president wants to meet Israeli centrists newly elected to parliament
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- The Palestinian president wants to meet with newly elected Israeli parliament members to lay out his views on peace, hoping a political surge of centrists will provide an opening to resume long-stalled negotiations on a Palestinian state, a senior aide said Thursday.
President Mahmoud Abbas' main target appears to be Yair Lapid, leader of the moderate Yesh Atid (There is a Future) party, who is expected to be influential in setting the priorities of the next government.
Lapid has said he wants Israel to make a serious push for peace, though it is unclear how far he will press the issue in coalition negotiations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In recent public appearances, he has barely breached the issue, focusing instead on domestic economic concerns.
In elections this week, Lapid's party emerged as the second largest with 19 of 120 seats in parliament, after Netanyahu's right-wing Likud-Yisrael Beitenu bloc that won 31 seats. Netanyahu will keep his job, but will have to bring other parties into his government to win a parliamentary majority, and Lapid's faction is seen as key to any stable coalition.
Netanyahu and Lapid met Thursday, two days after the election, though formal coalition negotiations will only start next week, and could take up to six weeks.
Obama's choice for secretary of state, Kerry spells out foreign policy for friendly panel
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. John Kerry, President Barack Obama's nominee for secretary of state, collected pledges of support Thursday and testified at his confirmation hearing that U.S. foreign policy should be defined by a helping hand as well as military strength.
The Massachusetts Democrat discussed Iran, Syria, climate change and a variety of issues with members of the Foreign Relations Committee at a hearing that recalled an unusual American life -- son of a diplomat, enlisted Navy man in Vietnam, anti-war protester, five-term senator and Obama's unofficial envoy.
The nearly four-hour hearing also provided an odd juxtaposition as Kerry, a member of the panel for 28 years and its chairman for the last four, sat alone in the witness chair. At one point, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the incoming chairman who presided, mistakenly referred to Kerry as "Mr. Secretary."
The current secretary, Hillary Rodham Clinton, introduced Kerry, calling him "the right choice." She is stepping down after four years.
The committee is expected to approve Kerry's nomination early next week, and a full Senate vote could occur before the month is out.
UK, Germans, Dutch warn of threat to Westerners in Libya; urge nationals to leave
LONDON (AP) -- Britain, Germany and the Netherlands urged their citizens to immediately leave the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Thursday in response to what they called an imminent threat against Westerners.
European officials told The Associated Press that schools were among the potential targets.
The warnings came a day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton testified to Congress about the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya. The warnings also came as French troops battled al-Qaida-linked militants in the West African nation of Mali, and followed the deaths of dozens of foreigners taken hostage by Islamist extremists in Algeria.
It remained, however, unclear if those two events were linked to the latest concerns about Libya.
The foreign ministries of the three European countries issued statements describing the threat as specific and imminent but none would elaborate.
Smoking penalty: Individual health care coverage could become unaffordable for many
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Millions of smokers could be priced out of health insurance because of tobacco penalties in President Barack Obama's health care law, according to experts who are just now teasing out the potential impact of a little-noted provision in the massive legislation.
The Affordable Care Act -- "Obamacare" to its detractors -- allows health insurers to charge smokers buying individual policies up to 50 percent higher premiums starting next Jan. 1.
For a 55-year-old smoker, the penalty could reach nearly $4,250 a year. A 60-year-old could wind up paying nearly $5,100 on top of premiums.
Younger smokers could be charged lower penalties under rules proposed last fall by the Obama administration. But older smokers could face a heavy hit on their household budgets at a time in life when smoking-related illnesses tend to emerge.
Workers covered on the job would be able to avoid tobacco penalties by joining smoking cessation programs, because employer plans operate under different rules. But experts say that option is not guaranteed to smokers trying to purchase coverage individually.
American who played key role in 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai, India, sentenced to 35 years
CHICAGO (AP) -- An American drug dealer who had faced life in prison was sentenced instead to 35 years Thursday for helping plan the deadly 2008 attacks on Mumbai, India -- a punishment prosecutors said reflected his broad cooperation with U.S. investigators but that a victim's family member called "an appalling dishonor."
It was David Coleman Headley's meticulous scouting missions that facilitated the assault by 10 gunmen from a Pakistani-based militant group on multiple targets in Mumbai, including the landmark Taj Mahal Hotel. TV cameras captured much of the three-day rampage often called India's 9/11. More than 160 people, including children, were killed.
Glimpses of the horror came through the teary testimony of one of the victims who described the gory scene as she huddled under a restaurant table with her friends as gunmen sprayed the room with bullets, then walked around executing men, women and children one by one. Her own clothes soaked with blood.
"I know what a bullet can do to every part of the human body," said Linda Ragsdale, a Tennessee children's author, who was shot. "I know the sound of life leaving a 13-year-old child. These are things I never needed to know, never needed to experience."
Headley faced life in prison, and at 52 years old, even a 35-year term could mean he'll never walk free. But federal prosecutors had asked for a more lenient 30 to 35 years, citing his extraordinary cooperation including as the government's star witness at the 2011 trial of a Chicago businessman convicted in a failed attack on a Danish newspaper.
Obama nominates Mary Jo White to be next chair of Securities and Exchange panel
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama on Thursday nominated Mary Jo White, a former U.S. attorney who built a reputation prosecuting white-collar criminals, terrorists and mobsters, to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission. The agency has a lead role in implementing changes on Wall Street.
Obama also named Richard Cordray to stay on as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The president used a recess appointment last year to bypass congressional opposition and install the former Ohio attorney general as head of the bureau. That appointment expires at the end of this year.
White spent nearly a decade as the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, handling an array of white-collar crimes and complex securities and financial fraud cases. She brought down mobster John Gotti and won convictions in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.
Obama said that experience makes White well-suited to implement legislation he championed to change the behavior on Wall Street.
"I'd say that's a pretty good run. You don't want to mess with Mary Jo," Obama said at the White House. "As one former SEC chairman said, Mary Jo does not intimidate easily, and that's important because she has a big job ahead of her."
Mali's Ansar Dine rebel group splits amid blistering French air strikes, growing African force
SAN, Mali (AP) -- Mali's rebel movement showed new signs of discord on Thursday in the wake of punishing French air strikes, with one wing of the Ansar Dine group now pledging to negotiate an end to the country's crisis and possibly even fight against its former comrades-in-arms.
France's air and land campaign that began two weeks ago to save Mali's embattled interim government has shaken up the military landscape and put the international spotlight on the former French colony. Mali's government was on a new political defensive, urging its soldiers to respect human rights after new allegations that they had carried out summary executions in zones of battle against the radical Islamists.
Three al-Qaida-linked extremist groups have controlled Mali's vast northeast for months, capitalizing on chaos that followed a coup d'etat in Mali's capital, Bamako, in March. But in a new sign of splintering, former Ansar Dine leader Alghabass Ag Intalla told the Associated Press on Thursday that he and his men were breaking off from Ansar Dine "so that we can be in control of our own fate."
"We are neither AQIM or MUJAO," he said of the other groups, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and the Movement for the Unity and Jihad in West Africa, known by its French-language acronym. "We are a group of people from the north of Mali who have a set of grievances that date back at least 50 years."
The comments suggested that at least some of Islamist fighters are searching for an exit in the wake of the French airstrikes. French radio RFI reported earlier Thursday that Intalla's new group will be called the Islamic Movement for the Azawad, a Tuareg term for northern Mali, and his men are willing to fight their former comrades-in-arms in Ansar Dine.
If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us. We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom.


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Read the full story here Web Link posted Monday, July 23, 2012, 9:40 PM
Town Square
Palo Alto to redraw golf course, add playing fields
Original post made on Jul 23, 2012
Read the full story here Web Link posted Monday, July 23, 2012, 9:40 PM
Comments (19)
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Jul 23, 2012 at 10:45 pm
The golf course is heavily subsidized by city property tax money, yet the majority of golf course users are from out of town. Common sense says the city should not by subsidizing a huge facility for out-of-towners when there is a huge demand for more parks for our kids.
The golf course area is easily accessible by walking or bicycle via the bicycle bridge over Hwy 101 near Embarcadero Road, so this area is much more kid-friendly than the Arastradero Preserve or Foothills Park, which are not accessible via child-safe bicycle routes.
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Jul 23, 2012 at 10:55 pm
This whole thing sounds absolutely dumb and a huge expense, and folks I'm not even a golfer. The golf course should be redone and cleaned up, but the athletic fields and picnic area...well we already have those everywhere. It would be nice if the course was improved and a nice club and lodge for dining and cocktails, but why do that when you can have a bunch of fields [portion removed by Palo Alto Online staff]?? Ben, Old Palo ALto
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jul 23, 2012 at 11:02 pm
Don't know anything about the golf course, but the playing fields and the wet parking lot need to be improved.
But, and it is a huge but, the cost is something we must be very concerned about. We don't have any idea of how this is going to be funded and it seems the council don't care about that aspect of the plan.
How will this be funded? PA taxpayers don't have bottomless pockets!
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Jul 23, 2012 at 11:09 pm
My home is changing.
This is very frustrating.
Palo Alto Gov.
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Jul 23, 2012 at 11:42 pm
"No negatives" Mr. Scharff? Despite crippling the revenue-generating golf businesses for several years (can they and their employees survive the plans without federal food stamps?) and putting a greater cost burden on golfers instead of the future new playing field, picnic table and wetlands park users.
Orwellian. Each according to their needs....but just for the favored ones of today.
I am not a golfer. I just hate to see any group unduly burdened or picked on while doling out favors to others. Will the council even attempt to be "fair" to golfers and golf businesses in all of this? Or is the fairness just the "favor" the council gives them to keep a bit of land for a much smaller course?
I look forward to the next city council elections.
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jul 24, 2012 at 7:27 am
Where did the City Council find $4.3 million in the city budget to pay for this?
a resident of Leland Manor/Garland Drive
on Jul 24, 2012 at 9:03 am
The playing fields should be located out at Byxbee Park, where the old recycling center used to be. That's what parks are for. Cuesta Park in Mountain View has tennis courts. Rinconada Park has the pool. Putting the playing fields at the golf course will ruin it. Plus, the fields will be used only on the weekends, is my guess. Drove by the Mayfield Soccer Complex on Saturday....not one person was using either field. And, the argument that the course doesn't attract enough local residents is bogus. That's true at every golf course. Check out who's using the parks in Palo Alto, too....I bet fewer Palo Alto residents than most people believe.
a resident of Terman Middle School
on Jul 24, 2012 at 10:39 am
I am golfer and so do my kids. Last Friday, when we try to go home from the driving ranch around 5PM, it took us 20 minutes just get to 101. I saw kids ridding bicycles around the golf course, with the narrow road and the amount of trafic, it is just accident awaiting to happen. Building more sport fields and picnic area in that area? It is just nuts! BTW, there are so many golf courses around bay area, if you rise "tax" for our sports and family in favor of others, we can always find other home courses.
a resident of Midtown
on Jul 24, 2012 at 10:42 am
I wonder if the city planners have considered narrowing Embarcadero Road between 101 an the Baylands, and reclaiming that land for part of their plan. We don't need 4 lanes now that the dump and recycling center are gone.
a resident of Professorville
on Jul 24, 2012 at 12:21 pm
There were alternative, cheaper, and sensible plans, but the City Council, none of whom are golfers, and especially Pat Burt, was determined to have it all, 3 athletic fields not 1, picnic area, trail, all "shoehorned" into the golf course area. Community meetings indicated desire for athletic fields, also, but not necessarily in that location.
The only positive is the redo of basic infrastructure of the golf course and some "wow" factor for the new holes (assuming it did not mean cute windmills on the putting surfaces!). If this project is not a successful golfing environment for players, the revenue the city is anticipating will not materialize. Closing the whole course for a year and more will be unfortunate for the employees and the players. They are all too important to lose.
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Jul 24, 2012 at 12:34 pm
Didn't the PA Muni just finish a renovation of the course within the past 5 years? A renovation that took WAY too ling to complete if I remember correctly. Even if the renovation was 10 yrs ago - GOLF COURSES do not upgrade this frequently unless they are PRIVATE clubs with 5 figure membership fees, like Sharon Heights.
Additionally, if anything should be changed it sure should not be the back 9, its the front 9 that sucks. Especially holes 10, 11, 12 - quite possibly my three favorite holes at this course.
[Portion removed due to disrespectful comment or offensive language]
a resident of Community Center
on Jul 24, 2012 at 12:43 pm
This project would not have cost the city a 'dime' if Plan A had been chosen. Even the golfers know that and many would have preferred it. Also the down time of the entire course would have been shortened. This council has delusions of grandeur. Lining up playing fields along the golf course? As one golfer said, "Our balls don't always go where we want them to go". So if a golf ball hits a child playing baseball or softball or soccer, who's to blame? Who gets sued? And where do all the mommies and daddies park? Where will be the parking lots? Will out-of-town soccer players use these fields like they do en masse at the corner of El Camino and Page Mill? Remember Councilwoman Judy Kleinberg's plaintive wail that THOSE soccer fields be for our Chilllllldren. (Kleenex please). And then there will be the cheering and hootin' and hollerin' at the playing fields. Golf is a quiet and almost solitary sport -quiet for relaxation. This decision is a first class JOKE. Again, this Council is clueless.
a resident of Midtown
on Jul 24, 2012 at 12:49 pm
Hey, are the kids going to pay $50 for a round of soccer? You take a swamp and you will never turn it into a Wow golf course, not for $4M at least. There is a limit to what folks will pay to knock a little white thing around with sticks on what is essentially a mud flat. What assumption did they use for green fees? This is unlikely to be a win for the golfers.
a resident of Downtown North
on Jul 24, 2012 at 1:32 pm
This is the most ridiculous idea yet! Like Palo Alto needs more playing fields, parks, etc. Is it really so important to spend, spend spend. . .what's the point to this renovation? The golfers will end up paying for it IF they continue playing Muni after a year or more without a home course. And, now, we hear that the MacArthur Park Restaurant will be part of the golf course. When does it stop?
a resident of Crescent Park
on Jul 24, 2012 at 1:39 pm
"Klein estimated that it would cost somewhere between $5 million and $10 million to buy an acre of land elsewhere in the city. "
The 10 acres at Byxbee Park recently undedicated would then also be valued at $50 to $100 million and Measure E advocates, including Klein, want to make that available for FREE to a private firm to use to make compost. It's interesting how we compartmentalize in politics.
a resident of Crescent Park
on Jul 24, 2012 at 4:01 pm
For those implying that the golfers at PA Muni are the elite-they are not. If you ever played there you would know that. And many of them are older Palo Alto residents or kids.
How many soccer fields are enough? Most of these kids stop playing soccer when they get out of high school if not before. Is this really a priority for our city?
Indignation should be directed to the very heavy use of many of our city parks by non-residents. Why not make field availability a priority for residents if playing opportunity is the issue. Or is our mission to supply soccer fields to the greater Bay Area?
For a city that is not able to keep its streets in decent repair we sure find a lot of alternate ways to spend large amounts of money. Better save some for the high speed rail kitty-you know Brown is soon going to be asking for everybody to help pay for that new $50+ Billion obligation.
a resident of Midtown
on Jul 24, 2012 at 9:00 pm
@ Pat Burt: "It's going to be turned into an exciting course that has a natural habitat and will become integrated with the Baylands and be part of the Baylands rather than apart from the Baylands as it is today," Burt said.
I ask: since when did hitting golf balls get to be considered a "natural habitat" activity?? Golf courses are bright-green, chemical-intensive areas where birds and other creatures are in the way. Likewise trees, bushes, and other features of a natural habitat.
One is sick and tired of the council's window-dressing. Tell it as it is!
a resident of Barron Park
on Jul 26, 2012 at 11:02 am
I think they should scrap the golf course and fields and build a giant water slide park. Fun for the whole family! Both old and young! Of course, you'd have to be a Palo Alto resident to get in.
a resident of South of Midtown
on Jul 26, 2012 at 11:30 am
@ Bob-
If you paid attention and looked at the proposed map with the three fields, you'd notice that the fields are clustered and tucked together away from the greens with a buffer zone between. The fields are a tiny fraction of the total size of the 18 hole golf course, so a little sharing with other sports isn't asking much. Only holes 10 and 11 are anywhere near the playing fields. Hole 11 tees off in the opposite direction of the fields, and hole 10 plays near parrallel to the fields. If you're hitting balls into the fields, you should probably find a different sport. Maybe soccer?
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subset: commoncrawl


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A lot of "experts" will look you in the eye and assure you there are guaranteed ways to ace your job interview by giving the right interview answer to job interview questions. Well there are no absolutely guaranteed right answers. But luckily there are some practical job interview tips that can help a lot:
Job Interview Tips – Before the Interview:
- Take time to prepare – Find out all you can about the company. You aren't expected to know everything, but if it's a public company there is no excuse for at least not knowing their business line(s) and a little about their products.
- Read the job description CAREFULLY – It will help you aim your answers toward things they are actually looking for. Not that you should simply give them back what they asked for, but you can use the description to help guide you.
- Know your resume very well – This may sound obvious, but I've interviewed people who can't quickly remember a job I referred to that was on their own resume. Review the order of your jobs, the tasks at each job, and the reason(s) you left. Also look through the resume to remind yourself of some stories where you found a problem and solved it, came up with a ways to save the company money, etc. A good story that rings true can make a big difference.
Job Interview Tips – Acing the Interview Itself
- First and foremost, walk into the room with good energy and a smile pleasantly, making eye contact with the interviewer(s) as you shake their hand firmly – but not painfully!
- Be yourself. Even if "yourself" is shy or a little awkward when you speak. Interviewers want to see the real person. They understand that you're probably nervous, but it will help you be less nervous to know that it's ok to just show them the nice person that you are.
- Interviewers are looking for the right fit. So even if you are great in every way, you might not get the job. But you have to trust them to know this. Trying to present the person you think they want rather than who you are won't help anyone. Again..just be yourself. Emphasize those aspects of you that they are looking for, but don't lay on the BS.
- Stay alert and interested. Don't let your mind get lost in what you just said nor what they might ask next. As they say in Zen…be in the moment.
- Keep eye contact with the person asking the question while they are asking it. If there are others, as you answer, look at the questioner more often, but be sure to catch everyone else's eyes too.
- Look for chances to use the stories you prepared that show why you'd be a real asset to the company.
- Don't go on too long – as interesting as you may think you are. But also, don't just give a one or two-word answer. They want to see who you are. Give them a chance to hear your voice, see how you think, and hopefully get to know you a bit.
- Interviewers are looking to see whether you'd be pleasant to work with and how you handle situations. They want to know you are a hard worker who sees problems as challenges and finds a way to solve them. They also want to know that in a crunch, you roll up your sleeves and pitch in. (Prepare stories about things you've done that show that.)
- Interviewers want to know you'll be a good team player…but also able to think for yourself. You want to make sure they see both parts of you.
- Most of all, they want to know if you can handle the job. But since only they know exactly what they are looking for and what that means, you should let them guide you in the interview. Don't try to lead them. Listen. Ask questions if you don't understand. And show them you are able to respond to what they asked and not what you wish they asked.
- One contradiction to my last point: If they ask you an interview question and you only have a short uninteresting answer, if you can find a NATURAL way to throw in one of your strongest stories, then go for it. Just don't take them on a long winding trip to nowhere.
- If it looks like you don't have the required skills after all, try to figure out which skills you do have that show similar aptitude and then stress these. Make sure you let them know you are a quick learner and would be excited to add these new skills. (Give an example if you have one.) Work needs often change, and many employers know that a person who can easily and willingly change with the times is a real asset.
- Of course, if you don't have the skills and they need them on day one, there's not much you can do. But you are not only interviewing for this job, but for the possibility of a job they don't even have yet or know they need. So continue to show them what you do have to offer and what makes you a person they'd like to have on their team. I recently interviewed someone who didn't have the skills needed, but we liked her so much that the boss is thinking about a way to create a position for her. You never know!
- Stay focused right to the end. Even if you think it's not going well, show them you can hang in and do your best no matter what. It's true that interviewers get an impression within the first few minutes (which is why it's so important to start with good energy), but you never know when you can recover a fumble.
- Leave with the same positive energy you started the job interview with. And remember after an interview to follow-up your interviews with thank you letters or e-mails. Job interview thank-you letters can't hurt and they may very well help. Oh…keep them short and pleasant – and please check the grammar and spelling!
So in the end, no one can give you the exact words that will help you ace all those job interview questions with the absolutely perfect job interview answers. But I can tell you that a positive attitude, careful listening, resourcefulness, flexibility, willingness to learn, and good positive energy will get you far. Just give your job interview questions and answers your best shot. No one can ask more of you than that. And though not every job is a fit – yes…even if you ace all your interview questions – at the very least, each job interview is terrific practice for eventually nailing the right job.
Good luck!
Posts related to 18 Practical Job Interview Tips to Help You Ace Your Interview:
Job Interviews: Where Do You See Yourself Five Years From Now?
Job Interviews: What's Your Greatest Weakness?
Job Interviews: What's Your Greatest Strength?
15 Things I Look for When I Interview People
About the author…
Ronnie Ann, founder of Work Coach Cafe, bases her real-world advice on her many years as an organizational consultant where she helped interview and hire people, added to a certificate from NYU in Career Planning & Development and her own adventures as a serial job seeker. She can also be found on her new blog, Career Nook and on Google+.


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Arenado's streak watched with ease by family, friends
By Nick Kosmider / MLB.com
DENVER -- Seventy-three years ago, following a hitting streak meant huddling by the radio or waking up early to grab the newspaper out of the driveway, quickly flipping to the box scores in the sports section.
Such was the climate in the summer of 1941, when Yankees great Joe DiMaggio set a Major League record with a 56-game hit streak that captivated the nation, particularly his friends and family back in California.
As Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado continues to build an impressive streak of his own -- he had hit safely in 25 straight games entering Tuesday's game against the Rangers -- family and friends in California are once again following along, albeit with much more ease.
"I follow him with the MLB [At Bat] app on my phone, and I see every game," Mike Gonzales, Arenado's coach at El Toro High School in Lake Forest, Calif., told MLB.com in a telephone interview Tuesday. "I'm checking every day, checking pitch by pitch."
Gonzales calls the real-time results from his former star "surreal" but not surprising. He watched Arenado hit safely in 28 of 29 games during his senior season, so he knows the 23-year-old is no stranger to torrid stretches at the plate. Still, Gonazles marvels at the heights Arenado has reached just short of five years since graduating from El Toro.
"I've known Nolan for a long time and watched him from a young age," Gonzales said. "I'm not surprised that he's had the success he's had. He's had success at every level. I'm not surprised, but when it actually does happen and he's on the biggest stage in the world with the best players in the world, and he's having the kind of success he's having, it is kind of surreal."
Arenado in high school commonly made the type of plays that earned him a Gold Glove as rookie last season, Gonzales said, but it was the maniacal preparation that led the coach to believe his pupil could become an All-Star level big leaguer.
"He made sacrifices to work out or go hit instead of going to the beach, so it doesn't surprise me," Gonzales said. "I knew, if he could stay healthy and all those other things, I believed that he could be an elite Major League athlete with the work ethic and the talent that he showed. Those were the things that average grade and high school kids couldn't do."
That work ethic hasn't faded. Even though the Rockies didn't take batting practice Tuesday, Arenado was on the field more than three hours before first pitch, working on his footwork while taking ground balls from third base coach Stu Cole.
"I think every great player has to have a certain level of OCD," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "He certainly qualifies."
Arenado put that determination into his offseason program. Shortly after the 2013 campaign ended, Arenado spent a day playing golf with Gonzales in California. His former coach was marveling at the season he had just completed, one in which he hit .267 with 10 home runs and 52 RBIs.
Arenado wanted much more out of his sophomore season.
"He goes, 'Coach, I know I can do better offensively,'" Gonzales said. "We all knew he could. It was just a matter of time."
Rockies hitters covering outside part of plate
DENVER -- There are plenty of reasons for the Rockies' blistering start to the season, which has them at the top of Major League Baseball in nearly every major offensive category.
Contributions have come from everywhere, from the MVP-caliber performance of Troy Tulowitzki and the sophomore surge of Nolan Arenado, to the consistent production of new additions Justin Morneau, Drew Stubbs and Brandon Barnes. Not to mention the emergence of baseball's early-season darling, Charlie Blackmon
Rockies manager Walt Weiss on Tuesday pointed to a pair of tangible areas he believes has led to the eye-popping numbers that have lived in all spots of the lineup.
First: When the Rockies are down in at-bats, they aren't automatically out.
"They are competing better with two strikes, which we didn't do a very good job of last year," he said.
As a team, the Rockies entered Tuesday's action hitting .222 with two strikes this season, well above the .181 average they had in such situations last season.
A prime example was Colorado's 5-4 win over the Diamondbacks on April 29. In the ninth inning, after falling behind 0-2 in the count, outfielder Drew Stubbs watched a couple pitches from Arizona closer Addison Reed miss the plate before he belted a hanging, 2-2 slider over the right-field wall to give the Rockies the victory.
Another improvement: The Rockies are taking care of outside pitches with regularity. (See: Tulowitzki's laser opposite-field home run off Martin Perez during Monday's 8-2 win.)
"We are covering the plate away," Weiss added. "We talked about that a lot this spring. I thought we got exposed on the outer half of the plate last year. Some of that was due to youth, too.
"I feel like the guys have really bought into this approach and are committed to it."
Tulo finds himself in another zone
DENVER -- Troy Tulowitzki is no stranger to residing in the proverbial zone, even if he has never quite had a stretch like the one he's in now, which has seen him bat .596 (28-for-47) in 14 home games this season.
But what has made this streak most different from others for the Rockies shortstop is its timing. During his career, the March/April batting splits for the shortstop have been lower than any other month. He is a career .269 hitter in the season's first month, with his career-high of .324 coming in August.
That wasn't the case this season for Tulowitzki. He was named National League Player of the Month for March/April on Monday. Avoiding the struggles at the plate that have come early in other seasons, he said, has allowed him to relax, avoiding the weight that can come with trying to grind through a lull out of the gates.
"It makes it a little bit easier," Tulowitzki said Tuesday, one day after clubbing a pair of home runs and driving in four runs during Colorado's 8-2 win over the Rangers. "This game can be so difficult. When you go into a mini-slump and the numbers aren't there at the beginning, it makes it harder."
Tulowitzki isn't taking the hot streak for granted. He's been in the big leagues long enough to know that slumps will come at some point. But starting the season on fire provides a certain level of confidence that can lead to even more of it.
"I'm just trying to work hard every single day," Tulowitzki said. "A lot of players, when they're doing good, they continue to rely on that. I think every day I've come to work hard, and that's something that's really helped."
Nick Kosmider is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Palo Alto police surrounded a Palo Verde home for five hours after receiving a report of forced entry Monday night but officers were ultimately unable to find the suspects, who had apparently fled just before the police arrived.
The resident, a woman in her 30s, had returned to her home in the 800 block of Ames Avenue with her baby and an adult relative at about 6:26 p.m. when she saw that the back door had been forced open. All three went outside to call the police, at which time she heard a door inside her home slam shut.
Police arrived minutes later and used the woman's smart phone to access surveillance footage from inside her home. As they watched video footage of two suspects inside her bedroom, the video cut off, possibly as a result of one of the men inside turning off the power to the surveillance system, according to police.
Other officers soon arrived at the scene, surrounded the home and repeatedly called out through a megaphone for the men to come out with their hands up. They also later brought in police dogs to search the lower level of the home.
At about 9:30 p.m., the department's Crisis Negotiation Team and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team arrived -- units that specialize in situations where suspects barricade themselves.
Police also used the AlertSCC notification system to notify residents in a one-block radius around the house to remain inside with their doors locked. Police said 93 homes in the area received the notifications.
Officers finally entered the home at about 11:28 p.m., but could not find the suspects. The SWAT team also searched nearby yards and hiding places before declaring the entire scene clear at about 11:45 p.m., according to a press release. All the residents who were notified to stay indoors received a notification that the situation was resolved.
Police later discovered that the footage they had seen on the smartphone had not been live, as they originally thought, but was recorded earlier in the evening. Officers determined that there was "a small window of time prior to police arrival during which the suspects escaped," according to a press release.
An investigation indicated that the suspects broke into the home between 5:45 p.m. and 6:25 p.m. by forcing open a rear door after getting into the backyard from an unlocked side gate. The suspects, described as two black men in their mid-20s wearing all black clothing, allegedly ransacked the home and stacked several "valuable items" near an exit door. As of late Monday night, officers had not yet determined what had been stolen.
Police said they are not ruling out the possibility that additional suspects were involved. Officers are reviewing footage to find video snippets or stills that are sufficiently clear to help identify the suspects.
Officers received assistance during the response from the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety (which provided one canine unit) and the Stanford Department of Public Safety, which helped set up the perimeter.
Police released Tuesday a still from the surveillance video that shows the two men, and is asking anyone
with information about the incident to call the police department's 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to firstname.lastname@example.com or sent via text message or voice mail to 650-383-8984.


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Document Root | Administrator Email | Enable GZIP | Enable IP Geolocation | SPDY Advertisement |
Use Server's Log | File Name | Log Level | Rolling Size (bytes) |
Log Control | File Name | Piped Logger | Log Format | Log Headers | Rolling Size (bytes) | Keep Days | Bytes Log | Compress Archive |
Use Server Index Files | Index Files | Auto Index | Auto Index URI |
Error Code | URL |
Temporary File Path | Temporary File Permissions | Pass Upload Data by File Path |
Suffix | Handler Type | Handler Name |
Specifies the document root for this virtual host. $VH_ROOT/html is recommended. This directory is referred to as $DOC_ROOT in contexts.
A path which can be absolute, relative to $SERVER_ROOT, or relative to $VH_ROOT.
Specifies email address(es) of the administrator(s) of this virtual host.
Comma separated list of email addresses
Specifies whether to enable GZIP compression for this virtual host. This setting is only effective when GZIP compression is enabled at the server level. Compression settings are configured at the server level (Tuning > GZIP).
Select from radio box
|See Also
Enable Compression, Compression Level (Static Content), Enable Dynamic Compression, Compression Level (Dynamic Content)
Specifies whether to enable/disable IP Geolocation lookup. Can be set at server, virtual host, or context level. IP Geolocation is disabled by default when using value "Not Set".
Select from radio box
|See Also
Specifies whether to advertise to clients that SPDY protocol is available. If set, LSWS will send an Alternate-Protocol response header when a client accesses SPDY-enabled websites through an HTTP connection. This requires the website to have both HTTP and HTTPS connections set up, and SPDY support enabled.
port:protocol string
If SPDY/3 is enabled on port 443, you can set the string to "443:npn-spdy/3"
Specifies whether to put log messages from this virtual host into the server log file instead of creating its own log file.
Select from radio box
Specifies the path for the log file.
Filename which can be an absolute path or a relative path to $SERVER_ROOT, $VH_ROOT.
[Performance] Place the log file on a separate disk.
Specifies the level of logging. Available levels (from high to low) are ERROR, WARNING, NOTICE, INFO, and DEBUG. Only messages with a level higher than or equal to the current setting will be logged. If you want to set it to DEBUG, you must set the server log level to DEBUG as well. The level of debugging is controlled solely at the server level by Debug Level.
Select from drop down list
[Performance] Unless Debug Level is set to a level other than NONE, DEBUG log level does not have any performance impact and is recommended.
|See Also
Specifies when the current log file needs to be rolled over, also known as log rotation. When the file size is over the rollover limit, the active log file will be renamed to log_name.mm_dd_yyyy(.sequence) in the same directory and a new active log file will be created. The actual size of the rotated log file once it is created will sometimes be a little bigger than this size limit. Set to 0 to disable log rotation.
Integer number
Append "K", "M", "G" to the number for kilo-, mega- and giga- bytes.
Where the access log should be written. There are three options:
Select from drop down list
The access log filename.
Filename which can be an absolute path or a relative path to $SERVER_ROOT, $VH_ROOT.
[Performance] Put access log file on a separate disk.
Specifies the external application that will receive the access log data sent by LiteSpeed through a pipe on its STDIN stream (file handle is 0). When this field is specified, the access log will be sent only to the logger application and not the access log file specified in previous entry.
Select from drop down list
Specifies the log format for the access log. When log format is set, it will override the Log Headers setting.
String. The syntax of log format is compatible with Apache 2.0's custom log format.
|See Also
Specifies whether to log HTTP request headers: Referer, UserAgent, and Host.
Select from checkbox
[Performance] Turn this off if you do not need these headers in the access log.
|See Also
Specifies how many days the access log file will be kept on disk. Only rotated log files older than the specified number of days will be deleted. The current log file will not be touched regardless how many days worth of data it contains. If you do not want to auto-delete stale and very old log files, set this to 0.
Integer number
Specifies the path to the bandwidth bytes log file. When specified, a cPanel compatible bandwidth log will be created. This will log the total bytes transferred for a request including both the request and reply bodies.
Filename which can be an absolute path or a relative path to $SERVER_ROOT.
[Performance] Put the log file on a separate disk.
Specifies whether to compress rotated log files in order to save disk space.
Select from radio box
Log files are highly compressible and this is recommended to reduce disk usage for old logs.
Specifies whether to use the server's index file settings. If set to Yes, only the server's settings will be used. If set to No, the server's settings will not be used. If set to Addition, additional index files can be added to server's index file list for this virtual host. If you want to disable index files for this virtual host, you can set the value to No and leave the index files field empty.
Select from drop down list
Specifies names of index files that will be searched sequentially when a URL is mapped to a directory. You can customize it at the server, virtual host, and context level.
Comma-delimited list of index filenames.
[Performance] Only set index files that you need.
Specifies whether to generate a directory index on the fly when index files listed in Index Files are not available in a directory. This option is customizable at the virtual host and context level, and is inherited along the directory tree until it is explicitly overridden. You can customize the generated index page. Please check online wiki How-tos.
Select from radio box
[Security] It is recommended to turn off Auto Index wherever possible to prevent revealing confidential data.
|See Also
Specifies the URI that will be used to generate the index page when index files listed in Index Files are not available in a directory. LiteSpeed web server uses an external script to generate the index page providing the maximum customization flexibility. The default script produces an index page with same look as Apache's. To customize the generated index page, please read online wiki How-tos. The directory to be indexed is passed to the script via an environment variable "LS_AI_PATH".
|See Also
Whenever the server has a problem processing a request, the server will return an error code and an html page as an error message to the web client. Error codes are defined in the HTTP protocol (see RFC 2616). LiteSpeed web server has a built-in default error page for each error code, but a customized page can be configured for each error code as well. These error pages can be even further customized to be unique for each virtual host.
Specifies the HTTP status code for the error page. Only the selected HTTP status code will have this customized error page.
Select from drop down list
Specifies the URL of the customized error page. The server will forward the request to this URL when the corresponding HTTP status code has returned. If this URL refers to a non-existing resource, the built-in error page will be used. The URL can be a static file, a dynamically generated page, or a page on another web site (a URL starting with "http(s)://"). When referring to a page on another web site, the client will receive a redirect status code instead of the original status code.
Specifies whether to generate an Expires header for static files. If enabled, an Expires header will be generated based on Expires Default and Expires By Type.
Select from radio box
Specifies default settings for Expires header generation. This setting takes effect when Enable Expires is set to "Yes". It can be overridden by Expires By Type. Do not set this default at the server or virtual host level unless you have to, since it will generate Expires headers for all pages. Most of time this should be set at the context level for certain directories that do not change often. If there is no default setting, no Expires header will be generated for types not specified in Expires By Type.
Specifies Expires header settings for individual MIME types.
Comma delimited list of "MIME-type=A|Mseconds". The file will expire after base time (A|M) plus specified seconds.
Provides additional security functionality when uploading files by using a Request Body Parser to parse files to a server local directory where they can be easily scanned for malicious intent by third party modules. Request Body Parser is used when Pass Upload Data by File Path is enabled or a module calls LSIAPI's set_parse_req_body in the LSI_HKPT_HTTP_BEGIN level. API examples provided in source package.
|See Also
Temporary directory where files being uploaded to server will be stored while request body parser is working. Default value is /tmp/lshttpd/.
Absolute path or path starting with $SERVER_ROOT (for Server and VHost levels) or $VH_ROOT (for VHost levels).
Determines file permissions used for files stored in temporary directory. Server level setting is global, can be overridden at VHost level.
3 digits octet number. Default value is 666.
Specify whether or not to pass upload file data by path. If enabled, file path along with some other information is sent to backend handler instead of file itself when uploading. This saves on CPU resources and file transfer time but requires some updates to backend to implement. If disabled, file content will be transferred to backend handler, request body is still parsed to files.
Select from radio box
[performance] Enable this to speed up file upload processing if backward compatibility is not an issue.
Specifies the script file suffixes that will be handled by this script handler. Suffixes must be unique.
Comma delimited list with period "." character prohibited.
The server will automatically add a special MIME type ("application/x-httpd-[suffix]") for the first suffix in the list. For example, MIME type "application/x-httpd-php53" will be added for suffix "php53". Suffixes after the first need to set up in the MIME Settings settings.
Specifies the type of external application that processes these script files. Available types are: CGI, FastCGI, Web Server, LSAPI app, Load balancer, or Servlet Engine. For FastCGI, Web Server and Servlet Engine, a Handler Name needs to be specified. This is an external application name as predefined in the External Application section.
Select from drop down list


text:
Read and rate reviews about all other car accessories and compare prices. From GPS navigation systems to booking car hire online and much more. Find products from makers such as Thule or Navman, and use our price comparison tool. A comprehensive search to make it easier for you to choose the product you want and buy it online. Add your own review on any given car accessory and share your opinions with other users.
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text: The Nature of Addiction (3 cr.) Addresses contemporary theories of addiction including behavioral, psychological, biological, physiological, social/cultural, and other approaches. Examines addictions found among youth and adults including tobacco, alcohol, other drugs, sex, eating, Internet, gambling, and work. Upon completion, students will demonstrate knowledge of addiction theories and the factors underlying addictive behaviors.


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Digital photography with free software
by hub, Friday 25 May 2007 at 19:47 :: Photo - Free Software - exempi :: #520 :: rss
Linux.com has recently published several articles about digitial photography with Linux.
- Rawstudio: A fast and light RAW photo converter. I let you discover it by yourself.
- Tone-mapping HDR photos with Qtpfsgui. HDR is one of these new techinque that give incredible results. It is way easier on digital than with traditionnal printing in B&W... (that's what masking in the darkroom helped achieve)
- Hugin developer launches photographic distortion correction database. The lens database is an important aspect of the image processing workflow. Even more for panaroma stitching.
- XMP making inroads in open source imaging software. It is all about picture metadata (and more). One of my current obsessions, part of the DAM[1] workflow
[1] Digital Asset Management