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Saturday, July 28, 2012
Dork Swagger 2013
I'm thrilled to announce that my first full length collection of poems will come out in 2013 on the ever-awesome Coconut Press!! Coconut Poetry We're thrilled to announce the following winners of the Elizabeth P. Braddock and Joanna Cargill prizes for poetry from Coconut Books, selected from 269 entrants: Braddock Prize (for a previously published writer): Lauren Ireland, The Arrow Alexis Orgera, Dust Jacket Cargill Prize (for a first book): Ji Yoon Lee, Foreigner's Folly: A Tale of Attempted Project Steven Karl, The End of Dork Swagger These books will all be published in the fall of 2013!!! We're also excited to announce that Coconut will publish Natasha Kessler's Dismantling the Rabbit Alter in the spring of 2014.
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text: One great thing about Neverwinter is that the game regularly releases new skirmishes for players to participate in, and the latest one requires the help of gamers to fend off a demonic invasion attempting to take control of a teleportation gate in Scar Keep. Is this new skirmish worth the effort, and, more importantly, is it fun? Find out MMO-Play's Neverwinter Call to Arms: Gate Crashers review.

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The United States has promised support for China's campaign to hunt corrupt officials fleeing abroad, the official Xinhua news agency reported late Friday, after meetings between security officials from the world's two largest economies.
Talks this week between U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and Chinese domestic security leaders Meng Jianzhu and Guo Shengkun also touched on counterterrorism, intellectual property rights, maritime law enforcement and cybersecurity issues, Xinhua said.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security could not be immediately reached for comment. In an earlier statement on its website, the department said Johnson met with counterparts to discuss a variety of homeland security-related issues.
Guo said that the two sides should cooperate in law enforcement, Xinhua said, and that both sides agreed they would not harbor fugitives.
Chinese public security authorities said the United States supported Chinese programs dubbed "Sky Net" and "Operation Fox Hunt," which are meant to coordinate a campaign to track down suspected corrupt officials who have fled overseas and to recover their assets.
The Chinese government has given the United States a priority list of Chinese officials suspected of corruption who are believed to have fled there, state media has reported.
More than 150 "economic fugitives," including corrupt government officials, are in the United States, Chinese authorities said.
China's anti-corruption watchdog said last month that more than 500 suspects were repatriated to China last year, along with more than 3 billion yuan ($484.32 million).
Chinese President Xi Jinping has said he aims to track down corrupt officials in a far-reaching campaign against graft.


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Part of being a well-dressed gentleman is knowing the situation and the proper attire. You wouldn't show up to a wedding wearing what you wear to work at your 'business casual' office and vice versa. The same could be said for instances like finding yourself at a derby. Being from Long Island, NY, we just recently hosted the Belmont Stakes and this outfit is inspired by that environment.
The Belmont Stakes is a place where you find yourself almost back in time; you can sit in the stands and it almost feels like you could be back in the times of Gatsby. Everyone is dressed to impress (well, they should be, anyway); men in their seersucker suits and derby hats and ladies dressed in summer dresses and their Sunday best hat. I chose to mix a seersucker tie with a linen blazer and cotton pants, mixing hues of blues, whites and beiges.
This look is both appropriate for the environment, the weather and can also serve double duty as a summer wedding look. This is the key to your style: get pieces that you can reuse and if you find a look you really like and can use it for more than one occasion - do it! Not all of us can constantly find and buy new pieces and have an endless closet of choices. Buy what you love and make it work for more than one thing!
What I'm Wearing:
THEORY | blazer
EXPRESS | tie
THEORY | shirt
EXPRESS | shoes
THEORY | pants
RAY-BAN | sunglasses
I hope you all enjoyed this look; I know I enjoyed shooting it! Get together your best derby look and maybe I'll see you next year at the Stakes!
Until next time,
Mind Your Manners.


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Outback Survival
Hachette Australia, Jul 31, 2012 - Travel - 256 pages
Outback Survival is a timeless, practical run down on everything you need to know to survive in the outback.
Bob Cooper's incredible bushcraft skills have been developed through more than 25 years of experience in Australia's harsh outback. He has picked up tools of survival from the experiences of living with traditional Aboriginal communities, instructing with Special Forces Units, lecturing with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Service on desert survival in the Mexican Desert, delivering wilderness lessons in the UK and learning the skills of the bushmen of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana.
Bob has put his own lessons to the test, dropping himself off in the 42C heat of the Australian desert with only a map and soap box sized survival kit, no food, water or sleeping gear, and a 10 day walk across 160km of rough terrain back to safety. He did this alone and showed that with the right knowledge of the land, you can survive in even the harshest of conditions.
The outback of Australia is one of the most unforgiving regions of the world, but Bob is committed to protecting and enhancing the experience people have when venturing out into the bush.
What people are saying - Write a review
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The Big 5 priorities and how to prepare for them
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Surviving in the desert
Finding your way withthesun moon and stars
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text:
A girl can be too beautiful, a student can be too smart, and an IPO can get too hot. As Groupon
The white-collar social networking site posted blowout quarterly results last night and jacked up its guidance for the current quarter, but the stock opened 7% lower after deciding to dilute existing shareholders with a secondary offering.
LinkedIn's quarter itself was a beauty. Revenue climbed 126% to $139.5 million. The dot-com speedster's bottom line checked in with a loss of $0.02 a share -- or a profit of $0.06 a share on an adjusted basis. Wall Street was banking on a deficit of $0.04 a share on $127.6 million in revenue.
Corporate-minded networkers keep flocking to the site, as comScore shows an average of 87.6 million unique monthly visitors during the quarter, 64% ahead of where it was a year ago. You see how revenue is growing nearly twice as fast as its user base? That's LinkedIn excelling at milking more out of its users.
This doesn't mean that LinkedIn is installing tollbooths. It's still a very free site. Premium subscription revenue generated from a sliver of its base paying for enhanced features is just 20% of the company's revenue mix. LinkedIn is simply making a lot more money with its hiring and marketing solutions as targeted ads and premium services for recruiters take full advantage of the social networking website's magnetism.
I was skeptical when LinkedIn went public earlier this year as a $4 billion company at its $45 IPO price that ballooned quickly to a nearly $12 billion valuation at the peak of its first day of trading. I felt that investors should turn to more reliable Web-savvy site operators. Monster.com parent Monster Worldwide
Well, I won't knock LinkedIn now. It has more than lived up its end of the bargain by dramatically beefing up its operations. It also only helps that the stock has shed more than a third of its peak value, though its $8 billion price at today's open is still not ready for primetime for investors who want to sleep comfortably at night.
Unfortunately, LinkedIn is showing its true colors right now. In order to smoke out heavy demand when it went public six months ago, LinkedIn limited the number of shares it offered to the public. Holding back on supply helped intensify demand. With the stock still well above its original $45 price tag, LinkedIn is flooding the market with $100 million worth of freshly minted shares.
Don't be surprised if Groupon does this exact same thing. The daily deals giant scaled back its IPO to play the same supply vs. demand trick as LinkedIn. If Groupon's stock is still buoyant early next year, no one will be shocked by a secondary that will either be dilutive or an opportunity for insiders to cash out at higher prices.
This is a lesson to any investor chasing a hot IPO. It's OK to pay up for a promising growth stock when it goes public, but always question the puppet strings that come attached with your stock certificates.
If you want to check in on what the corporate-friendly social networking site is up to, add LinkedIn to My Watchlist.
Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of 51job. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz calls them as he sees them. He does not own shares in any of the stocks in this story. Rick is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.


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Julianne Hough: Nail Salon Stop After Weekend Getaway
Julianne Hough wears a bright red beanie over her pixie cut while out in Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon (March 5).
The 25-year-old actress chatted with a friend while getting her nails done upon returning to Los Angeles after a weekend away.
PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Julianne Hough
"I don't know about you, but the only way I know how to spend a rainy day, is snuggled up on the couch with my babies, Lexi and Harley," Julianne wrote on her website.
She added, "I tried bringing them out for walk this weekend, but all they wanted to do was sleep! As you can see, the few days of rain we had in LA totally wiped them out."
10+ pics inside…
Posted to: Julianne Hough


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Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 9th Oct 2007 16:14 UTC, submitted by Rahul
Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has warned users of Red Hat Linux that they will have to pay Microsoft for its intellectual property. "People who use Red Hat, at least with respect to our intellectual property, in a sense have an obligation to compensate us," Ballmer said last week at a company event in London discussing online services in the UK.
Thread beginning with comment 277206
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Not a snowflake's
by SReilly on Tue 9th Oct 2007 17:00 UTC
...chance in hell are MS going to start a patent war with RH.
First off, the start of a patent war is a can of worms MS don't want to open.
Secondly, with all the big guns not only using, but actively offering either RH or a RH derivative, they would be leaving themselves open for a large scale counter attack from pretty much every big player in the field apart from Novell.
Even Novell could get on the side of RH if they feel the need too as, AFAIK, they only signed a deal not to sue each other's customers.
The only thing I'm hearing from Balmer at the mo is a marketing bluff, i.e. FUD.


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text:
Review by Alistair Davidson, Partner, Eclicktick Consulting
Strategic planning is not project planning. But strategic planning often requires project planning and dealing with high levels of uncertainty. There is, as a result, no single good way of managing execution that will apply to everyone's situation. LiquidPlanner, an online project management software package, priced at $25 per user per month, is a simple package that includes an important element in project planning and project portfolio management – the difficulty of estimating how much work is required to complete a task.
Uncertainty about the length of time required to complete a task has numerous consequences. First, team members may pad their estimates of the work required to complete a task. Second, downstream tasks dependent upon the padded estimate will look even worse than they should. Put together too many padded estimates and projects may become impossible to sell internally. Restructuring of projects and resources become even more difficult than if better estimates were available. Even worse, arbitrary decisions about what is realistic and what is not may lead to top-down decisions by a senior manager or project manager—resulting it forecasts that are equally as erroneous and arbitrary.
LiquidPlanner's solution is straightforward. Tasks are estimated as taking a range of time, e.g. from 2-4 hours or 1-4 days. The Gant charts (horizontal bar charts) that lay out the steps in a project show the most likely completion time for the task, the earliest possible date for the task and worse case for delivery. Promised or delivery dates now become easier to understand and more likely to be accurate.
LiquidPlanner is very much a child of 2010. The application comes with a portal where portions of the project can be shared with external participants (e.g. suppliers, customers, sub-contractors, partners, etc.). Messaging between participants is exposable through the portal. And an excellent series of video tutorials gets users up to speed quickly.
Adding in Monte Carlo or stochastic modeling to regular project management software is an option in many software packages, But usage of more probabilistic project management is still quite rare. LiquidPlanner is an easy to use and attractive tool for managing projects and small portfolios of time-based activities. Unlike many more complicated tools for Monte Carlo modeling, it keeps things simple.


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Trump and Duterte
The long-awaited first meeting between Philippine President Duterte and US President Donald Trump of the United States was on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit in Vietnam last week; by all accounts, it went well.
But it was in Manila, for the 50th anniversary gala of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on Sunday and then during a bilateral meeting on Monday, that the warmth of their personal relationship was on full display.
They had certainly worked at it; Trump has done his part to reach out to Mr. Duterte and counter his anti-Americanism.
In one telephone conversation, the US president had reportedly told his Philippine counterpart "what a great job" he was doing in the conduct of the so-called war on drugs.
Mr. Duterte has returned the favor, on occasion even dismissing questions about Trump's intellectual capacities by asserting that the billionaire businessman was "a deep thinker."
They continued at it during their meetings in Manila. At the gala dinner Mr. Duterte hosted, Trump, who sat beside him, was visibly pleased and in good spirits. Mr. Duterte even stood up to sing a song, "on the orders of the commander in chief of the United States," he said — the perfect host, with the perfect compliment to the principal guest.
After the 40-minute bilateral meeting on Monday, Trump hailed his "great relationship" with Mr. Duterte.
As an ecstatic Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar told reporters, the two leaders "really hit it off."
Trump and Mr. Duterte are unlikely political kindred spirits: They are both unconventional, populist leaders who practice shock politics. They use coarse or candid language to drive their points home, they admire authoritarian leaders they know well and high-functioning authoritarian regimes in general, and they believe to different degrees that they need to rebuild the polities they inherited, democratic niceties be damned.
And despite the participation of the nine other Asean leaders and the presence of leaders of the great powers, including Japan, India, Australia and Canada, much of the official spotlight fell on Trump.
This was a necessary measure by the Philippine government, which has publicly praised the Chinese and Russian presidents for their minimal or belated role in bringing the Marawi conflict to a decisive end; in truth, the United States and Australia were the Armed Forces of the Philippines' main sources of support during the conflict.
Trump's pride of place at the Philippines' hosting of Asean's 50th, a mere year after Mr. Duterte announced his "separation" from the United States in a forum in China, was not an accident.
It helped Trump that his main rivals for Mr. Duterte's esteem were not in Manila. Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia both opted to return home after the Apec Summit in Vietnam, and send their respective premiers to the Asean and East Asia summits in the Philippines.
That meant that Trump received all the attention that might otherwise have gone to Xi and to Putin; he obviously relished the warm reception.
But this was a metaphor, an apt one, for the current state of American influence in the Asian region. Only in the absence of the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong and the most powerful Russian leader since the last days of the Soviet Union can Trump hope to stand out.
A year after Barack Obama's attempt to "pivot" American military forces and economic prowess to Asia, the United States, in Trump's chaotic quest to make America great again by placing its interests ahead of everyone else, finds itself increasingly displaced by China and the other great powers in the region.
And the nature of Trump's compliment and the object of his high praise — the relationship he enjoys with Mr. Duterte — show the limits of the current state of the Philippine-American alliance.
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text: GARRISON KEILLOR knows Minnesotans and he knows radio.So it was just a matter of time before this author of four bestsellers would tackle both subjects in one book. The action of "WLT: A Radio Romance" revolves around a fictitious Minneapolis radio station, WLT (With Lettuce and Tomato). Keillor, who hosted Minnesota Public Radio's "A Prairie Home Companion" from 1974 to 1987, chronicles the birth-to-death cycle of WLT, spending most of his time tarnishing radio's Golden Age image. He intersperses a cast of fictitious radio characters with real-life radio personalities of the period. Beginning with WLT's first broadcast in the mid-1920s, Keillor leads the reader through a 1930s and '40s nostalgic time warp, complete with a cameo appearance by CBS tycoon William S. Paley and mentions of Amos & Andy and Fibber McGee & Molly. But his "warts and all" depiction of everyone - from the crude child star Little Becky to the simple-minded Dad Benson - is warts heavy. In WLT's "Friendly Neighbor" station, everyone is excruciatingly human - and never likable. As Keillor intertwines the radio and personal lives of this cast of antiheroes, the reader is occasionally reminded of the darker moments of his "Lake Wobegon Days" monologue; especially as the show neared its end in 1987. Keillor has concocted a loose, two-part plot in an attempt to tie together vignettes of the book's dozen or so most frequently mentioned characters. There are the Soderbjerg brothers, Ray and Roy, who start WLT in 1926 to rescue their failing restaurant, and the various fictitious Twin Cities radio personalities who work for their station during the next quarter century. And then there is Francis With, the young man from North Dakota who joins the station, changes his name to Frank White, and becomes Ray's fair-haired boy, walking in and out of the studios - and lives - of the book's other characters. WLT concludes with an epilogue that jumps to 1991 - 40 years from the end of Keillor's penultimate chapter, "The End." In this final section, Keillor recaps the post-WLT career of White, who jumped from WLT as the radio ship sank. White landed in TV, where he took his glib personality and questionable talent to become a fictionalized Walter Cronkite. Keillor's own program and his four previous books were mostly rated. However, most of the WLT characters act out their lives in -rated scenes. Instead of finding humorous anecdotes about Lutheran ministers - the sort of Minnesota stories he has often woven so well in past works - readers will find steamy scenarios and "adult" content. Throughout WLT, Keillor's deep, droll radio voice is omnipresent. The cadence, the words, the naming of Minnesota towns such as Roseau, International Falls, and Grand Marais all remind readers of his broadcasts. Indeed, in an abridged audio version of WLT (six hours on four cassettes) also released this month, one can only imagine which of the book's sexually explicit passages might be included. To paraphrase Sen. Ernest Hollings in his vice-presidential debate with Dan Quayle in 1988, Keillor is no Mark Twain. Still, during the past five years, comparisons can be made. Both writers deftly decipher human nature with dry, Midwestern wit. Acid can flow from their pens. And the endings of both authors' books sometimes are forced and unnatural. Except for the last years of his life, however, Twain was not overly negative. Unfortunately, there is a bitterness in Keillor's writing - or at least in his latest book. It's a bitterness that Minnesotans detected in his radio programs in the mid-1980s and that led in part to his fall from his pedestal as the favorite son of the "Land of 10,000 Lakes." IT'S one thing to debunk a myth - in this case, the myth that all was rosy in radio during its Golden Age. Keillor, though, decapitates, dissects, and disembowels the myth, leaving the reader to wonder whether there was anything at all golden about it. But radio in the '30s and '40s did provide inexpensive entertainment during the Great Depression, it did present an array of talented comedians to take people's minds off of their pre-World War II troubles, and it did inform people of international news that helped put listeners' problems in perspective. This side of the record never receives air time in "WLT."


text:
Toyota Recalls Avensis and Lexus IS 250 models in the UK – One of the famous car manufacturers, Toyota, has called in approximately 19,000 cars in the United Kingdom due to the concerns about possible problems with fuel systems.
The company said that hundreds of Toyota Avensis and Lexus IS 250 models could be at risk of fuel leaks and will need to be modified by mechanics. But it also said that there had been no accidents suspected of being related to the defects.
The company's officials said they were writing to the owners of the affected vehicles to arrange repairs. The move is part of a recall of almost 1.7 million vehicles internationally.
In a statement, Toyota Company said: "As a result of customer feedback in other markets worldwide, Toyota GB today announced it would recall a number of its Toyota Avensis and Lexus IS 250 models in the UK to carry out modifications to their fuel systems. It is working with the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (Vosa) to contact registered owners and keepers by letter to advise them of the procedure for taking their vehicle to an authorized Toyota or Lexus repairer for the necessary work to be done."
Almost 15,500 British owners of Toyota Avensis 2.0 Liter and 2.4 Liter petrol engine models which were produced between July 2000 and September 2008, are entitled for the free repair. The repair would take up to four-and-a-half hours.
On the other hand, nearly 3,100 UK-registered Lexus IS 250 petrol engine vehicles which were produced between August 2007 and February 2009, are also affected.
Jon Williams, the managing director of Toyota GB PLC said: "We are committed to putting the customer first and have a total focus on the quality of all products. We will liaise with our customers to carry out the repair procedures as efficiently as possible, with minimal disruption."
Japan's transport ministry announced that slight cracks could appear in fuel pipes which may cause leakages if untreated. If the car is continued to be used, the crack may be widened and there may be risks of fuel leakage.


text:
Mesmerized by the ghost
Ever since I started down the path, through the forest of wood-working, my imagination has been captivated by turning. It always seemed so magical to me, yet intimidated me.
I remember my first experience at turning. The lathe was some old little piece of cast iron, attached to a motor by belt and pulley. I have no idea how many RPM's the thing spun at, I believe it was a bit fast. My brother was showing me how to do it, fresh out of shop class (no offense bro).
The wood held captive on the lathe was a rugged, old, crusty piece of oak. Not something I would choose to turn these days. I wouldn't have been surprised if it had harbored some barbed wire, deep in it's bowels. The "turning tools", were actually dull, poor quality carving tools, from a big box store.
So, the wood is buzzing away at who knows what RPM, and I hesitantly ease my little dull carving tool into the work piece. It was not pretty, and I'm amazed I didn't rip a finger or two off. My career in turning lay stagnant after that, for a good long while.
But a day came when I regained some confidence, a little know-how, and tools. I started on small pieces of green wood, and I was hooked. I am no pro at turning, but find it to be one of the most enjoyable wood- working tasks. It's highly meditative to me and relaxes my mind. It's more of a shop past-time for me, besides the handles I turn for some of my saws.
One of my favorite fun-time projects is turning file and rasp handles. I can be as creative as I want, I experiment with new shapes and patterns on each new blank, and approach it with wonder and excitement. If I screw up on a handle, no big deal, it's only scrap wood after all. It's economical, fun, relaxing, and satisfying.
I'm not sure about the terminology of turning, but I call the outline you see on the work piece as it's spinning, "The ghost". I may have read this somewhere, I'm not sure. If you've done any turning this terminology may seem apparent to you. The work piece almost becomes translucent.
So when my mind is filled with turmoil, I find it very soothing to step up to the lathe, lose myself to the action of cutting spinning wood, and become mesmerized by the ghost.
Side note: I am in the process of setting my shop up in Montana, and will be back in full swing in 2-3 weeks. Thanks for your patience – KLR


text:
Real Name: Count Dracula (aka Sam Dracula)
Age: 378
Appearance: Resembles a tall penguin
Birthplace: Transylvania ("The Old Country")
Abilities: Magic; Psychic (he can tell when the phone is about to ring)
Marital Status: Currently single (has had 16 wives)
Children: Lily, Lester, and another daughter (no name given)
Preferences: Sleeps on a slab or hangs from rafters
Philosophy: "My father and I were very close. He used to give me such wonderful advice. I remember one day he said to me,`Son, as you go through life bury your mistakes'; "You see, my father never believed in divorce."


text:
NEW YORK (AP) — Stock indexes are barely budging in early trading on Wall Street as corporate earnings reporting for the first quarter draws to a close.
The Dow Jones industrial average was moving between small gains and losses shortly after the opening bell Thursday. After the first fifteen minutes of trading it was up four points at 15,109.
The Standard & Poor's 500 was down a point at 1,631. The Nasdaq was up half a point at 3,413.
Better corporate and economic data have sent U.S. markets to new heights. The Dow closed above 15,000 for the first time Tuesday and again on Wednesday.
Monster Beverage's stock slumped 7 percent. The drink maker's income plunged 17 percent in the first quarter because of legal expenses, unfavorable exchange rates and distribution costs.


text:
Tamara Graffen - Chilli Mac and Cheese
Serves 4
Cheese Sauce
50g unsalted butter
50g flour
1 cup milk
1 cup thickened cream
50g d'affinois, roughly chopped
50g ricotta, roughly chopped
50g cheddar, roughly chopped
50g mozzarella, roughly chopped
Parmesan Tuile
50g parmesan, finely grated
Crispy Prosciutto
200g piece prosciutto, finely sliced
Chilli Sauce
3 long red chillies, de-seeded,
3 garlic cloves
3cm piece of ginger
3 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp soy sauce
16 instant cannelloni tubes
finely chopped chives
salt and pepper, to season
- Preheat oven to 180C.
- For the Cheese Sauce, first make a roux. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and use a silicone spatula to stir quickly until a smooth paste is formed. Continue to cook the paste, stirring continuously, for 1-2 minutes.
- Add milk and stir to incorporate the milk. Add the cream and stir well to combine. Continue to cook, stirring, until slightly thickened.
- Stir in the cheeses, one by one, stirring well after each addition until smooth. Adjust the consistency with extra cream to loosen if required. Remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper to taste then set the sauce aside until needed.
- For the Parmesan Tuile, line a baking tray with baking paper. Place a 5cm ring cutter onto one corner of the tray. Using the ring cutter as a mould, fill the ring cutter with ¼ of the grated parmesan to create a parmesan disc. Repeat this process with the remaining parmesan until you have 4 discs of parmesan on the tray. Place the tray of parmesan discs into the oven and bake until golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
- For the Crispy Prosciutto, place a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the slices of prosciutto and cook until crisp, about 7-8 minutes. Remove from the saucepan and set aside on paper towel to cool. Break up into small pieces and set aside until needed.
- For the Chilli Sauce, place all ingredients into a food processor and blitz to a coarse purée. Transfer to a small saucepan and place over medium heat, stirring occasionally until reduced to a jam-like consistency, about 12-15 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside until needed.
- To cook the Pasta, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil over high heat. Add the cannelloni tubes and cook until al dente, about 9 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- To serve, divide half of the Cheese Sauce amongst 4 shallow serving bowls. Arrange 4 cannelloni tubes on top of the Cheese Sauce on each plate, dress with the remaining Cheese Sauce and then some Chilli Sauce. Sprinkle some pieces of the Crispy Prosciutto and chopped chives. Top with a Parmesan Tuile and serve.


text:
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Product Highlights
The Alm mCAMLITE Mount for iPhone 4 / 4S is a secure protective mount made of aluminum, which is shaped for a one or two-handed grip. The two-hand grip feature helps eliminate shake and also adds stability. There's a silicone case that ensures a snug fit for your iPhone 4 / 4S. Plus, the mount leaves access to all usable ports and external buttons. It's designed so you'll have phone and app use as well. All units are equipped with a 37mm wide angle/macro lens with a threaded mount that's interchangeable with other optics and filters. It has a "cold shoe" accessory mount that can hold external light sources and microphones. Plus, there are even three 1/4" holes that allow for additional media equipment attachments such as tripods, crossbars and other stabilizing tools.
|Apple iPhone 4 Apple iPhone 4S
|Aluminum with silicone interior case
|1.46" (37 mm) wide angle/macro .45x lens
|Carrying/Transport Options
|1 or 2 handed grip for stability
|Shoe Mounts
|Cold shoe accessory mount
|Omni-style mic
|Tripod Attachment
|1/4" (6.35 mm) tripod hole attachments x 3
|Not specified by manufacturer
|Packaging Info
|Package Weight
|0.95 lb
|Box Dimensions (LxWxH)
|8.1 x 3.7 x 1.9"


text:
I'm trying to get the desktop app to run on our Windows 8.1 machines but keep getting an error that I don't have permission to access the file path. I'm logged in as an administrator and changed the permissions of the executable to full access but it still won't open. It works fine on my Windows 7 machine though. Am I missing something?
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text:
Sick trolls attack Raheem Sterling's daughter, 4, on first day at school
VILE trolls blitzed Raheem Sterling after he posted pictures of his daughter's first day at school.
The Manchester City star uploaded a touching snap of four-year-old Melody Rose.
Another showing her with mum Melissa was captioned: "First day antics."
But the innocent images were met with a barrage of slurs.
One troll wrote: "Products of a f***boi."
Others sent the footballer snake emojis.
Sterling has been a target for online abuse since his £49million transfer from Liverpool to City last summer.
Reds fans branded him a snake for engineering a move from Anfield.
He was also rapped for his England performances during the Euro 2016 flop in France when they were dumped out in the last 16 by Iceland.
Sterling, 21, posted the photos hours after returning from the Three Lions' 1-0 victory over Slovakia in their opening World Cup 2018 group match on Sunday.
One fan hit back at the trolls yesterday, saying: "Really guys? The snake emoji on photos of his daughter/family? That's really low and quite shameful."
Sterling's girlfriend Paige Milian was forced to lock down her Instagram page after the couple received death threats and racist abuse.
The 5,000 messages of hate followed the news of Sterling's transfer.


text:
Lately, as per usual, I indulge in the chaotic media. Bombings in Syria. Pulse. Manchester. A hung parliament. London attacks. Grenfall Tower. Race politics.
I wonder at what cost?
How many lives have to taken away for people to tap into their morale, for people to tap into their hearts and realise this isn't right? Its always those lowest on the social ladder that feel the consequences of those above them.
Victims. We are all victims. Victims to the system and its values. Victims to the choice of others. Victims to the actions of those who deem themselves better, who seem to always go unscathed. Its funny how those who we put into positions of power don't care about us or our wellbeing. You allowed a 27 floor tower, to have no smoke alarm, no sprinkler system, cheap plastic installed and never thought or cared enough to see how it will impact all the working class families living there. You allowed, loads of little girls and their family members into a concert when France is still playing in everyone's mind. You allowed Transgender people to feel isolated and forced after what happened at Pulse. You allowed a transphobic, homophobic, sexist, racist billionaire to be President of one of the biggest western powers in the world. You allowed the unarmed killing of black bodies. You allowed the ageing population to determine the future. You allowed governments to drop bombs, killing thousands of Syrians. But the only murders that matter are those that are close, close enough to feel. Then cry, scream and shout 'terrorist' after you created them. I bet your thinking who is this 'you' you keep referring to… take a wild guess.
Do you know what creates a 'terrorist'? Do you know? Its pain. Its suffering… its feeling as if their is no other choice. No one else understands how it feels to be so low, in a war ridden country, where your government doesn't care and cannot stand up to western powers. They ransack your country, killing your family members with no remorse or concern for human life.
The worst part is the desensitization. Death is inevitable. But this, this is the wrong way to go. I wonder at what cost? at what cost? at what cost?


text:
Seasonal flu vaccine
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text:
Pamela Nelson holds up a $3.99 carton of spicy tuna sushi at Fresh & Easy, a month-old grocery outlet in the low-income neighborhood of Glassell Park.
"I love it. I come here almost every day," says the retired schoolteacher. "This [sushi] would be $9 to $11 at my other supermarket."
This is the sort of reaction that executives at Tesco – Britain's biggest supermarket group and the world's third-largest retailer – have hoped for. The company intends to build 50 Fresh & Easy stores in southern California, Las Vegas, and Phoenix by February 2009, and 200 more stores per year after that in these areas – becoming a $10 billion operation by 2015. In the words of the British weekly The Economist, Tesco "is setting out to change the way Americans shop and eat."
That means offering organic, locally grown produce, fresh sandwiches and smoothies, and other prepared meals at a quality and price somewhere between the bargain-basement prices of Wal-Mart and the posher-end outlets such as Whole Foods and Bristol Farms. It also means cheaper prices – but fewer "peripheral" items such as dog food and prescription drugs. The shopping floor is several times the size of a corner convenience store, but perhaps less than half the size of a typical supermarket.
Not everyone is pleased with how Tesco is setting up shop, however. The company is running into resistance from those who say Tesco needs to better live up to promises about fair labor, environmental practices, and store locations in underserved areas.
"Their opening has not been a home run by any sense. They will get some things wrong, but they are a very intelligent bunch and will tweak their formula over time," says Mark Husson, a retail analyst in New York for HSBC Securities, which provides securities services to corporate and institutional clients. "The things they have got right are good fresh food at good honest prices in a much more convenient location than a traditional supermarket."
Still, first-month customer ratings have been higher than Tesco has experienced in any market it has entered, says Simon Uwins, chief marketing officer for Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets. And newspaper reviews have been generally positive, if occasionally peppered with complaints about not enough selection, bad layouts, and chaotic self-checkouts.
After four stores opened in Phoenix last week, the current total is 21 Fresh & Easy stores in southern California, the Las Vegas area, and Phoenix. To serve its expanding domain, Tesco has built an 800,000-square-foot distribution center – the size of 14 football fields – on a former Air Force base near Riverside, Calif.
But as Fresh & Easy has moved into the Los Angeles area, the number and placement of the stores have become a giant point of contention. A coalition of labor, community, faith, and environmental groups has been picketing the grand openings here, hoping to nudge – if not push – Tesco into making commitments to underserved communities in poorer areas. Called the Alliance for Healthy and Responsible Grocery Stores, the group wants Tesco to agree to so-called community benefits agreements (CBAs) – enforceable contracts between communities and corporations, developers and government agencies that ensure benefits for local residents.
"We very much want these stores in our communities, but we also want them to be good corporate neighbors. And how can you be that when you won't put your commitments in writing?" asks Maria Elena Durazo, executive secretary-treasurer of the L.A. County Federation of Labor.
After the 1992 riots decimated the poorer areas of South Central and East Los Angeles, four major grocery chains promised to put 32 stores there. But 15 years later, only one such grocery has been established, and the region is known as a so-called "fresh food desert" that relies on fast-food outlets. Rates for obesity and diabetes are higher than in surrounding areas.
Ms. Durazo and others say that – despite the new Glassell Park store – Tesco has not fulfilled its promise to put several more stores in the poorer areas. She and others also say that too many jobs at Fresh & Easy outlets are low paying – not enough for employees to make a decent living. (However, wages start at $10 per hour for a workweek of 20 hours.)
"When they refuse to sit down and talk to us, we have no other choice but to look at their record of living up to their promises in other parts of the world. And we are worried by what we see," says Durazo.
Occidental College's Urban & Environmental Policy Institute recently completed a study about how Tesco's promises of social responsibility have aligned with its actions.
"The deeper story to watch is that Tesco is making this big move into the US market and pitching themselves as a different company than they really are," says Robert Gottlieb, one of the report's authors. "We think there really needs to be mechanisms that create binding agreements."
Fresh & Easy officials say they stand by the promises they've made to local officials for sites in "food deserts." They also say that 40 percent of employees in southern California stores work full time and that any employee working 20 hours or more is eligible for comprehensive health benefits.
"We say give us some time, and the community will see us meet our promises," says spokesman Brendan Wonnacott. "We invite the public to come and see and judge for themselves."


text:
SOURCE: SmugMug
February 29, 2012 09:00 ET
Free iPhone App Says "No!" to Ugly Smartphone Photos
Free iPhone App Says "No!" to Ugly Smartphone Photos
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA--(Marketwire - Feb 29, 2012) - Camera Awesome captures special memories with the camera you actually own, not the dSLR you'd sell your soul for. It takes your photos to the next level by shooting faster and taking sharper, better-exposed shots. Make your memories come alive with gorgeous effects -- and share them on all the sites you love.
To see its awesomeness in action, check out the product video here: http://youtu.be/jz2nrcsTpWg?hd=1
"The iPhone is revolutionizing photography by empowering us to invent the camera you never knew you always wanted. It only takes a few minutes to realize you're holding the future of photography in your hands. The world will be a better place when everyone has an app worthy of the iPhone camera," said Don MacAskill, CEO & Chief Geek of SmugMug.
Three Simple Steps
1. Shoot: Camera Awesome is faaasst, and so simple anyone can use it. And yet, it has high-end features even expensive cameras lack, such as a level for the horizon and the ability to focus on one spot and set exposure on another.
2. Awesomize: One tap makes your photos come alive with vibrant color. Hundreds of professional effects, filters and borders transform your memories from forgettable camera phone snappies to gorgeous works of art.
3. Flaunt: Share on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, SmugMug, Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket, SMS and email with one simple tap.
At a concert? Camera Awesome can automatically apply your favorite effect and share as you shoot so your friends who can't wait won't have to.
Camera Awesome's breathtaking collection of filters, textures and frames includes exclusive filters created by Kevin Kubota. Named a Top 10 Wedding Photographer by American Photo, Kubota created the industry's most popular post-processing actions for Photoshop and Lightroom.
"I was thrilled to create filters for Camera Awesome because of the power it places in the hands of iPhone photographers," said Kubota. "Kubota filters are the standard for pro photographers around the world who use programs like Photoshop®, and now they are available to everyone via Camera Awesome."
Camera Awesome is free and available on the App Store. Learn more at http://www.awesomize.com/ or http://youtu.be/jz2nrcsTpWg?hd=1.
About SmugMug
What's missing from online photo/video hosting and sharing? Passion. Meet SmugMug, with billions of happy photos and millions of passionate customers. A photo sharing service with unmatched security, unlimited uploads, originals archiving, customizable privacy controls and heroic support. We're committed to providing a fun, safe and simple experience for as little as $5/month or $40/year. Archive, share and print the photos you love with SmugMug. Learn more at www.smugmug.com.
About Kevin Kubota and Kubota Image Tools
Kevin Kubota is one of the Top 10 Wedding Photographers in the world and the genius behind Kubota Image Tools, source of the industry's most popular post-processing Actions for Photoshop and Lightroom. Kevin's work has been featured in publications such as Studio Photography and Design, Rangefinder, Shutterbug, Professional Photographer, American Photo, Popular Photography & Imaging and Nikon advertorials.
About Perfectly Clear by Athentech Imaging
"Awesomize" correction from the "Awesomize" button in the Edit UI is powered by Perfectly Clear technology, the world's most advanced automatic image correction (www.athentech.com). Perfectly Clear's award winning and patented technology analyzes your photo and applies over 10 different corrections automatically, saving you the time and hassle, making your photos look awesome. Perfectly Clear, and the Perfectly Clear logo, are the Trade-marks of Athentech Imaging, Inc. used under license by SmugMug.
Don MacAskill
CEO & Chief Geek
SmugMugEmail Contact
Kate Chesnut
Atomic PR for SmugMugEmail Contact
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CEO & Chief Geek
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text:
Who Invented Canned Fruit Cocktail?
Canned fruit cocktail — it's just a bunch of mushy, syrupy fruit with a few kid-friendly cherries thrown in, right? Not so fast. Fruit cocktail is actually a triumph of turn-of-the-century marketing and food technology — a perfectly packaged paean to the industrialization of our country's food system. Here's how it went from cookbook to can.
First There Was Fruit Salad
Fruit salad as we know it didn't hit American tables until the mid-19th century; ambrosia, that fluffy Southern confection, dates to the mid-1800s, and Waldorf salad, which famously enrobes apples and celery in mayonnaise, was invented in 1893. If creamy ingredients weren't involved, booze often found its way into the recipe, usually sweet wine or liqueur. (Paging Anne Shirley's forbidden currant wine!). Thus we get the term "fruit cocktail" instead of the more generic "fruit salad" — because it really was a little bit of an aperitif or digestif. Sarah Tyson Rorer, the Martha Stewart of her day, breaks it down in her 1902 book, "Mrs. Rorer's New Cook Book."
"In these latter days many American cooks make a mixture of fruit, sugar, and alcohol, and serve them as 'salad.' These are not salads; are heavy, rather unwholesome, and will never take the place of a salad. I much prefer to call them fruit cocktails, and serve them as first course at a luncheon or a twelve o'clock breakfast; or a dessert, and serve them with the ices at the close of the meal."
At the beginning of the 20th century, it was up to the home cook to prepare these recipes, but there was already something in the works that would revolutionize the market for fruit cocktail: the commercial canning process. Although the French had been canning food even before Louis Pasteur was able to explain why the stuff wasn't spoiling, and companies like Heinz and Campbell's were founded in the late 1800s, it was canny marketing tactics that brought us the brightly packaged fruit cans that still grace our supermarket aisles.
A Canny Invention
A consortium of California canning companies, whose premium brand was Del Monte, developed the canned fruit cocktail as a way to use the odds and ends of otherwise damaged fruit. (That peach with an unsightly bruise? Let's cut around the gross part and we'll have a few good diced bits left.) Various men lay claim to credit for the nomenclature, but the upshot is that the fruit cocktail was standardized by the almighty dollar … or, if we're being generous, as a savvy solution to reduce food waste.
Prohibition made it, shall we say, difficult to include the cocktail portion of fruit cocktail in the recipe, but no matter — the recipe soldiered on, morphing into today's modern form of cut fruit suspended in sugar syrup. Del Monte became the standard-bearer for the name and still holds a near-monopoly on the product.
Setting the Standard
At first, the canners used the overarching term "fruit cocktail" as any home cook would, incorporating any leftover fruit bits they could. But after the USDA's Bureau of Chemistry became the Food, Drug, and Insecticide Administration in 1927, a standard recipe for fruit cocktail was established. As Harvard Magazine explained, "To be considered a true fruit cocktail, pears, grapes, cherries, and peaches must be included in the mix."
Today's USDA guidelines for fruit cocktail, developed to maintain quality benchmarks for consumers, are even more rigorous — and also include pineapple as a necessary fruit. Not only do you need to have a specific mix of fruits, but the percentage of each fruit in the cocktail mix must fall within a certain percentage by weight! Check out the full range of proportional percentages on the USDA's site, in case you need to know how many maraschino cherries to include in your DIY version. (Similar standards exist for everything from canned cranberry sauce to fruit jellies and preserves, all in the name of consumer quality and ingredient transparency.)
And that's why, when you look at the shelf of Del Monte's yellow-and-green cans in the store, you'll see there are only a few truly named "fruit cocktail." The rest get descriptive — but not legally binding! — terms like "mixed fruit." Don't worry — everything's still on the up and up with these blends. This is simply the savvy marketing way to include more cherries or maybe some papaya into the mix.
What's the difference between all the names? Here's a basic breakdown:
- Mixed Fruit is usually the same fruit blend as fruit cocktail, give or take a pineapple or a grape, but the size of the pieces are larger — sometimes bite-sized chunks, sometimes whole slices — than the small dice required for fruit cocktail.
- Cherry Mixed Fruit has a double whammy of extra maraschino cherries and cherry syrup instead of the usual fruit juice or neutral sugar syrup.
- Tropical Fruit Salad is a mix of papaya and pineapple, and floats the fruit in passion fruit juice.
- Citrus Salad is just that — orange and grapefruit chunks, with no pears, peaches, grapes, cherries, or pineapples to be found.
And of course, if none of these appeal to you, there's still an orchard's worth of canned fruit out there; Del Monte, Dole, and other fruit companies preserve and package single-fruit cans of pineapple, peaches, pears, and mandarin oranges.


text:
named to Babble's Top Autism Blogs for the second straight year. What an honor! Thank you!
The 2012 honorees were selected for being invaluable resources to families and individuals who might otherwise feel confused and alone when looking for information about autism. It's an excellent list, full of blogs I have turned to myself.
Dude, says Babble, is "a terrific resource for anyone curious about the experiences of a thirty-something with Asperger's. But the highlights are his cartoons, simple yet effective, which convey the essence of Asperger's in a more engaging way than a scientific book ever could...This blog is a must-read for anyone remotely connecting to the world of Asperger's."
This is a compliment indeed. I am grateful to all of you who have been touched by what I do, and to Babble for sharing it with their readers as part of Autism Acceptance Month.
...and if that wasn't cool enough, I'm featured today on the Thinking Person's Guide to Autism's monthlong "Slice of Life" conversation series. Check it out, dudes!
Thoughts and illustrations on living with Asperger's Syndrome.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Babble's 2012 Autism Spectrum Blogs
Posted by Matt at 8:00 AM
6 comments:
I know Ben and I really look forward to your latest posts. Congratulations!ReplyDelete
Congratulations! I enjoy seeing what Fuzzy and the gang get into, and your non-cartoon posts are always informative.ReplyDeleteReplies
Thanks, Josephine!Delete
I'm so happy for you! Congratulations!ReplyDelete
Thanks, Cindy!Delete
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
New Delhi: A man and his brother, allegedly
involved in over two dozen criminal cases of burglary, thefts robbery and snatching etc since 1996, have been charged with stringent provisions of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act by a Delhi court.
Additional Sessions Judge Savita Rao charged Mohd Shadab, facing prosecution in over 24 criminal cases and his brother
Mohd Wasi, allegedly involved in at least 29 such cases, under
MCOCA for committing burglary, robbery, thefts and preparing
for dacoity with a well-organised gang of accomplices.
"Accused have been found to be involved in more than 24
and 29 cases (respectively) which itself suggest that ordinary
law of land had not been able to put a curb on their
"The offences pertaining to robbery coupled with violence
and threat of violence along with their conduct with respect
to their involvement in continuing unlawful activities are
sufficient to prima facie opine against them with respect to
framing of charge (under MCOCA)," ASJ Rao said.
As per the prosecution case, Shadab and Wasi had robbed some people of Rs 20.75 lakh in 2008, while also injuring them.
The police had alleged Shadab is a "high profile" burglar
with a well-organised gang of accomplices, primarily his
brother Wasi, with whose help he committed burglary, robbery
and thefts by using violence and that both have "spread fear
psychosis and terror" among people.
The court said the use of violence by the duo was apparent
from the cases pending against them in various city courts.
The court rejected the contention of the accused that they
cannot be charged under MCOCA since the essential element of
pecuniary advantage is missing.
"The pecuniary gain is inherent and is the reason for
commission of the offences pertaining to robbery, theft and
even burglary," the ASJ said.


text:
Ali Dahesh
I started experimenting with acrylic paintings in 2015 as it was suggested by friends that it would be a great theraputic tool. Art and music have been the main source of meditation in my years and I encourage everyone to tap into their artistic abilities as it is the best avenue for self-healing and self-love, you'll be amazed at how beautfiful life can be when you take control of your own health in all aspects.
If you are interested in any of my previous art peices or interested in custom commissioned pieces, please don't hesitated to send me and email and we can discuss further.
I also have over 15 years of sound engineering background and create instrumentals on a regular. If are in need of beats, mixing, mastering for your music or movie projects, I am capable of giving you a great sound.
For inquiries please email email@example.com. Thank you in advance for your interest.


text:
I need two people (or one person with access to both FireFox and IE) to check something out for me.
In both browsers go to the following url (yes, I know it's theoretically invalid):
Let me know where it takes you please.
Yes, I have googled, no, not sure why it's doing that.


text:
The USS Missouri
Fake handbags or shoes can be a problem for companies who lose out on revenue from the counterfeits.
Submarine parts, however...
Peter Picone is a military-components distributor charged with sending fake semiconductors to the U.S. Naval Submarine Base in Groton, Connecticut, the home of the Navy's nuclear submarine fleet.
The parts were labeled as coming from Xilinx, National Semiconductor, and Motorola, although they were actually counterfeits from Hong Kong or China.
In 2008, Mr. Picone sent an instant message:
"I have to buy China and risk fake parts to compete. ... It's my whole biz."Some of the circuits he sold were scheduled to be installed on active-duty nuclear submarines, and it's unclear if they were installed or not.
In 2011, the Senate Armed Services Committee looked into the dangers of fake components. At the time, some estimated that 15 percent of semiconductors bought by the Pentagon were counterfeit.
Feds: Counterfeit submarine parts shipped to Groton base, The Day, Connecticut>>
Photo from USS Missouri (SSN 780) Commissioning Photo Gallery, U.S. Navy>>


text:
POLYWOOD® Nautical Chaise Lounge Stackable w/arms
- Sale price
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$204 (29%)
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* Inside delivery available. see details »
Product Description
Plastic Wood nautical chaise lounge with arms. Stackable. Feels and looks like wood. Made with POLYWOOD® recycled plastic lumber and with stainless steel hardware. Impervious to all outdoor conditions including rain, snow, hot sun, salt. Fade resistant colors. Suitable for residential and commercial use. Shipped knocked down. Easy assembly required. Available in six colors. Totally maintenance free.
- Product ID: 001660
- Collection: Captain Collection
- Brand: POLYWOOD®
- Material: Plastic
- Style: Affordable, Contemporary, Functional, Modern, Eco Friendly, Pool, Commercial
- Width: 26" Depth: 80" Height: 12"
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Shipping Info
- Usually ships in 2 weeks. This means your order will leave our warehouse in 2 weeks.
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Related Buying Guides
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text:
We connect Out-Stream inventory from premium publishers with campaigns from the largest DSPs, advertisers and agencies.
Vuble's Exchange provides advertisers access to billions of impressions each month.
We ensure quality and consistency by selecting all the inventory sources and buyers.
Vuble helps publishers monetize their out-stream format with our
unique and patented Syncroll format.
Publishers can leverage and access all of Vuble's direct advertising
campaigns, as well as direct access to the all our DSP, agency and advertising
Working with Vuble, you will be able to maximize your revenues with very
little effort.
As a DSP on the Vuble exchange, you will have access to billions of out-stream video impressions with the guarantee of reaching the best performing KPIs on the market.


text:
Yes, we do. Let us know your interest as well to receive these updates. Our email address is email@example.com.
Can I get the major sporting events details, for ex: FIFA World Cup?
Modified on: Thu, 14 Aug, 2014 at 4:31 PM
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Sorry we couldn't be helpful. Help us improve this article with your feedback.


text:
Energy utilities, including transmission and distribution providers, are beginning to generate massive volumes of data from the billions of dollars being invested in smart grid efforts.
And analytics can help energy companies ensure the operational success of smart grids by enabling power companies to more effectively manage the streams of data that smart grid technologies are producing, as an Accenture report reveals.
This data, when applied effectively with analytics, can help energy companies evaluate the returns being generated against the sizable investments they're making in smart grid technologies.
In addition, big data analytics can help power providers evaluate the areas within their smart grid networks that can be refined or improved and help assess the business benefits being achieved as a result of smart grid investments.
The Accenture report offers 10 leading practices for applying smart grid analytics. These include adopting best practices from other industries such as telecom and capital markets that face comparable challenges in designing architectures to support low-latency analytics.
Accenture cites other leading practices including operationalizing the understanding of customer and network behavior at scale to optimize real-time processes; and designing analytical systems to support the execution of specific business processes that can help improve efficiency and achieve business objectives for enhanced operational excellence.
For instance, since the primary driver behind the use of smart grid technologies is aimed at improving energy efficiency, analytics can be used to identify ways to improve business processes and to determine the business process outcomes that will be impacted.
Another report by GTM Research notes how meter data management – the use of meter or usage data – represents a big challenge for utilities to analyze and act on. However, "in the next wave of innovation, transformer sensors, cap banks, voltage regulators, distributed PV solar panels, and other grid assets will gain the ability to communicate their status updates back to the utility," according to the report.
A recent panel discussion on the evolution of smart grids points to a few focus areas where there is arguably a strong fit for applying analytics. These include using analytics to determine potential areas of vulnerability to cybersecurity threats (an area that the Pentagon continues to pay closer attention to).
Meanwhile, analytics can also be used by utilities, new market entrants, and even appliance manufacturers to identify potential areas for improving interoperability between, say, household appliances and/or industrial operating equipment with the infrastructure systems used by electricity generators and distributors.
Smart grid analytics will increasingly be used by different players in the energy field to identify ways to create better, more secure, and more efficient grids.
The following statement from the GTM Research report succinctly captures the potential that the use of big data and analytics offers to the smart grid industry: "With the introduction of big data and analytics to the utility industry, the potential of smart grid has shifted dramatically from the original aim of adding a myriad of new applications toward a complete re-invention of the utility business."


text: Wawasee capitalized on free kicks to capture its first girls sectional championship by downing Warsaw 2-0 at the Bethany Christian Sectional Saturday. Francisca Hoffman scored off a free kick in the first half, and Chelsea Hoffman recorded the second goal off a deflected free kick. Wawasee will travel to Goshen for the regional Wednesday. WAWASEE 2, WARSAW 0 At Bethany Christian Sectional FIRST HALF Waw -- Francisca Hoffman (unassisted) 37th min SECOND HALF Waw -- Chelsea Hoffman (unassisted) 60th min Records: Wawasee 13-2-4 At Argos Culver Girls Academy advanced to the Riley Regional with a 3-0 win over host Argos in the title game of the Argos Sectional. Emma Clark had two goals for the winners, while Kelly Alyea added the final tally. Culver outshot Argos, 7-3, and improved to 11-3-4 this season. Argos finishes 13-5-1. CULVER GIRLS ACADEMY 3, ARGOS 0 At Argos Halftime score: CGA 1, Argos 0. FIRST HALF C -- Emma Clark (unassisted) 36th minute. SECOND HALF C -- Clark (Iwaniec) 53rd minute. P -- Kelly Alyea (Iwaniec) 63rd minute. Shots: CGA 7, Argos 3. Saves: (C) 3, (A) 4; Corners: CGA 3, Argos 2; Fouls: CGA 22, Argos 15. Records: CGA 11-3-4; Argos 13-5-1. At Goshen Kelsey Peters netted two of Goshen's four goals as the Redskins shut out Elkhart Christian in the Goshen Sectional title match, 4-0. Brianne Mault and Courtney Rozelle also accounted for Goshen scores. Goshen will face Wawasee in the Goshen Regional Wednesday, 7 p.m. GOSHEN 4, ELKHART CHRISTIAN 0 FIRST HALF G -- Kelsey Peters (penalty kick) 23rd min G -- Brianne Mault (Nora Miller) 40th min SECOND HALF G -- Peters (unassisted) 58th min. G -- Courtney Rozelle (unassisted) 60th. Shots: Goshen 26, Elkhart Christian 1. Saves: Lynn Weaver (G) 1, Heather Riddle (EC) 18. Corners: Goshen 17, Elkhart Christian 0. Team records: Goshen 14-0-5, Elkhart Christian 7-7-2.


text:
Acacia Fraternity - Purdue Chapter
608 Waldron Street
West Lafayette, IN
What is the purpose of a fraternity? With over 40 chapters across the country and a cutting edge membership program, Acacia is much more than just a place to live. It is a place to develop the skills to put you in a position to attain success in life after graduation. To do this, our organization brings together a diverse group of likeminded individuals and pairs them with our success proven undergraduate program to highlight academics, leadership, and service.
As a collective, we are a group of engineers, entrepreneurs, politicians, businessmen and, most importantly, brothers. We are each others active resource and support for any and all challenges that college provides us. On campus, we strive to be leaders in our respective fields, service, as well as student organizations. Many professors at Purdue are themselves members of our fine fraternity, and a healthy network of thousands of alumni are always eager to help.
Our chapter has a house GPA average of over 3.0, which places us in the top 5 of all Fraternities on campus. After all, this is the reason we are all attending university in the first place, and nothing is more fundamental to Acacia than this.
A fraternity offers valuable leadership opportunities to its members, but Acacia takes this a step further. Those who take leadership opportunities in our fraternity have arguably unparalleled freedom and reach to create and execute a vision or plan within our house.
With a motto of 'Human Service,' you would be right to assume that giving back to our communities is important. As a brotherhood, we regularly participate in a number of events both on campus and in the Lafayette community and average over 20 hours of service per member per semester.
Ben is our current President. He is studying Engineering at Purdue.
Marty is the head of our board of alumni who oversee the Acacia chapter house at Purdue as well as its finances and operations. Marty specializes in realestate at FC Tucker.
Art is a long time supporter and alumni of our chapter who oversees finances and operations of the chapter house. Art is currently a lawyer.
Not only are the costs of college tution itself expensive, but so is living on a college campus. Acacia room and board comes in consistently below not only Purdue's dorm system, but also most other fraternities on campus. To make a good deal even better, Acacians are exposed to literally thousands of dollars worth of Acacia specific scholarship opportunies each year with an in house scholarship chair position whose sole responsibility is to research and provide campus scholarship opportunties to our members.
Acacia was founded on a set of principles, most defining being those of academic success, leadership among men, and service to our communities. These aren't just loose words we pretend to adhere to, but rather a standard that we expect our members to exemplify. Our house is managed by an alumni board of former members who both manage our house and serve as mentors to our members.
Our chapter house is located in the heart of campus, and our house chef is always at the house preparing fresh meals for our members. Our house has no tolerance for hazing, substance, or alcohol abuse and our new member education is a challenging but open process that covers everything from resume building, to professional attire, to connecting with alumni mentors around the world.
As well as participating in and creating many service projects, members are required to be involved in at least one campus organization.
Thousands of dollars are available to our members, including Acacia specific endowments for academically excelling brothers.
Study Tables are held daily in our library and are required for all members on a sliding scale relative to GPA.
From politics, to nonprofits, entrepreneurs, to finance, thousands of our alumni are involved in mentoring the next generation of Acacians.
A view from our table at Meet the Greeks.
A stare off of sorts with Brother Woj.
Entrance to the house over the Nile river.
Acacians spanning a few generations catch up at Conclave.
Board at meet the Greeks detailing Acacia history.
The Acacia Adopt A Spot on US 231 leading in to Purdue.
A view of the house in Nile mode at night.
The current active brothers of Acacia Fraternity at Purdue.
Meeting of Acacians from over 40 chapters at our biennial conference.
The brothers coming together to construct the Nile.
Hopefully not. Just a bit of community service.
Recruiting like minded students to join us.
We'll get back to you as soon as we can. If you need to get in touch with us immediately, it's best to stop by the chapter house or reach out to either Marty Wagner or Art Stein from our Local Board.
608 Waldron Street
West Lafayette, IN
8777 Purdue Rd
Indianapolis, IN
Phone: (317) 872-8210
Website: www.acacia.org


text:
Editor's note: Cold As Ice head honcho Jay Kumar previews the new NHL season.
Two weeks ago, Canada won the 2016 World Cup of Hockey by sweeping the two-game final series over Europe in dramatic fashion, with two goals in the last three minutes of game 2. And with that, the Canadians celebrated and then went to join their respective NHL team training camps. The tournament of stars is over. It's time for the 82-game grind to begin. On to the 2016-17 season!
Four months after the Pittsburgh Penguins hoisted the Stanley Cup, a new season means a clean slate and new opportunities for the NHL's 30 clubs. There was a lot of player movement in the offseason, some huge trades and plenty of free agent signings. Subban for Weber. Lucic to the Oilers, Okposo to the Sabres, Backes to the Bruins. Some teams made big moves by holding onto their assets; Tampa was able to re-sign Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Andrei Vasilevsky and just this week, last season's leading scorer Nikita Kucherov.
There are also injuries to major players to start the season. None more major than Sidney Crosby, who just came off a huge year in which he re-established himself as the league's premier forward with MVP performances in the playoffs and then the World Cup. This week, it came out that Crosby sustained a concussion in practice last Friday and will be out indefinitely. Definitely a tough blow for a guy who had serious concussion issues several seasons ago. Yesterday, Sabres wunderkind Jack Eichel had to be helped off the ice after he went down in practice with a high ankle sprain. In addition, the Panthers lost key forward Jonathan Huberdeau to a leg laceration and Nick Bjugstad to a broken hand. Kings forward Marian Gaborik suffered a broken foot in the World Cup. Islanders forward Mikhail Grabovski is out with a concussion and Jaden Schwartz of the Blues is out with an elbow injury.
Hope springs eternal, but only 16 teams will make the postseason. Let's break it down a bit.
Eastern Conference
The elite
For all their postseason failings, the Caps are stacked with talent. Between Ovechkin, Backstrom and Holtby, the feeling has to be the time is now.
The Crosby injury has to hurt, especially given how unpredictable concussions can be. Still, the Pens are loaded with the likes of Kessel, Malkin, Letang, et al. They've got more than enough to be a force until Sid the Kid returns.
Tampa Bay
As mentioned earlier, the Lightning were able to keep a deep, contending and still young team intact. Steve Yzerman has built a club that could be around when all is said and done next spring.
Above average
While the ageless wonder Jaromir Jagr keeps chugging along, he distracts everyone from the terrific young team in Florida. Tons of talent and yeah, a few major injuries, but a team that has a great future and possibly a great present.
New York Rangers
Time is running out for King Henrik and his quest for the Cup. The Rangers got a little younger by adding former Sens top pick Mika Zibanejad and landing coveted college free agent Jimmy Vesey, but there are still plenty of holes to fill.
Squeaking in
The Flyers have some nice pieces in captain Claude Giroux, scorers Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds and sophomore defense sensation Shane Gostisbehere, but GM Ron Hextall still hasn't addressed the team's glaring weakness (one that has been the problem in Philly since Hextall was between the pipes): goaltending. There have been flashes over the years, but Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth don't exactly strike fear in opposing shooters.
New York Islanders
The Isles have one of the league's great young leaders in John Tavares, but they lost some depth when Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen departed as free agents. P.A. Parenteau was signed as a free agent but surprisingly released on waivers this week and claimed by the Devils; the team is hoping youngsters Mathew Barzal and Anthony Beauviller can step in. Netminder Jaroslav Halak had a strong World Cup, but the Isles D is looking a tad thin.
The post-Datsyuk era has begun, as the Wings mainstay decided to go home to Russia. The team still has its usual quota of speedy forwards, but there are concerns about an older D corps and the dependability of keepers Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek.
Not this year
Boston, Buffalo, Carolina, Columbus, Montreal, New Jersey, Ottawa, Toronto
Western Conference
The elite
The perennially disappointed Preds pulled off a shocking blockbuster trade in the offseason, dealing mainstay d-man Shea Weber to Montreal for P.K. Subban. The flamboyant Subban gives Nashville a younger, electrifying leader with a more reasonable contract. The Preds are hoping he's the last piece of the puzzle. The likes of forwards Ryan Johansen, Filip Forsberg and James Neal, stud defenseman Roman Josi and goalie Pekka Rinne should be tough to beat.
The Stars are an exciting team, with offense to spare from guys like Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza and Patrick Sharp. If they can play a modicum of defense and get some good goaltending from Antti Niemi, Dallas may just survive the brutal Western Conference playoff gauntlet.
What can you say about the Hawks? Simply the best team in the league over the last seven years, with three Cups in that span, Chicago is looking to rebound after a disappointing first-round loss to St. Louis last spring. Still loaded to the brim with sick talent (Kane, Toews, Panarin, Hossa) and replenished with six rookies on the opening night roster, it'd be foolish to disregard this always-dangerous team.
Above average
San Jose
The Sharks finally broke through to the Cup finals after years of early playoff exits, but it wasn't enough to beat the speedy Penguins. They've got lots of talent, but they're also a pretty old team. Will Jumbo Joe Thornton and crew have enough to make another Cup run?
Los Angeles
Like the Blackhawks, LA has been another consistently excellent team for the last several years. They'll make the playoffs and make another run, although goalie Jonathan Quick's recent decline could be of concern.
St. Louis
The Blues are yet another deep West squad that has yet to break through into a true Cup contender. Goaltending has been an annual problem that hasn't really been addressed, but the club is hoping Jake Allen can take the next step (especially after dealing former #1 Brian Elliott to the Flames).
Squeaking in
After some playoff bumps in the road, the Wild are hoping new coach Bruce Boudreau can ignite the team's offense and do some damage. The team has plenty of quality players—Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Eric Staal, Devan Dubnyk, Mikko Koivu, Mikael Granlund and Teemu Pulkkinen (just plucked off the waiver wire from the Red Wings)—but the West is full of challenges.
The Ducks are yet another Western club that has felt playoff disappointment regularly in the last several seasons (after winning the Cup in 2007). In the offseason, coach Bruce Boudreau was canned and curiously replaced by former coach Randy Carlyle, most recently experiencing abject failure in Toronto. The team also opted to dish goalie Fredrik Andersen to the Leafs for Jonathan Bernier, who will back up John Gibson. Plenty of weapons in Getzlaf, Perry, Silfverberg et al., but don't expect Anaheim to get much further than they did last season.
Not this year
Arizona, Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg
East: Lightning over Capitals
West: Predators over Stars
Stanley Cup: Tampa Bay
Hart (MVP): Alex Ovechkin
Art Ross (leading scorer): Patrick Kane
Norris (best defenseman): Victor Hedman
Vezina (best goalie): Cory Schneider
Calder (best rookie): Auston Matthews
Selke (best defensive forward): Patrice Bergeron
Adams (best coach): Jon Cooper


text:
When meeting new people at Blogher, every introduction inevitably starts with the "what's your blog?" question. For the first time in the past seven years, I don't have an easy answer. The answer, for years, has been rote -- I'm dollarshort.org, but I blog at something called Mena's Corner. But that hasn't been true for a while. Then I blogged privately at Vox -- an answer that didn't really excite those who wanted to check my posts out. As I awkwardly explained this answer to one woman, I jokingly said "I need to come up with a better answer for tomorrow."
So if the answer is "dollarshort.org," here's a view into the old Mena and five fun five facts about the new Mena.
I still speak at conferences now and then.
I'll be speaking tomorrow at Blogher about taking back "naked blogging." It's all about pulling back from the blogging spotlight and retreating for various reasons. The past week has caused me to do a lot of thinking about my choice to stop blogging publicly (I've blogged consistently and privately on Vox for the past couple years). For example, not making this list of the "50 Most Influential 'Female' Bloggers (don't know what the awkward quotes around female are all about) gave me a chance to reflect on my role in the blogging world. On one hand I questioned if making myself so forgettable was a good thing. On the other hand, I didn't the same pangs of jilt (I like that phrase), I would have felt if this list had been posted a couple years ago. This makes me feel I made the right decision to pull away. That said, I still want to participate and build back my blog. And I still want to be out there and speak. So I'm taking more speaking engagements lately, including The Start Conference in August.
I've been blogging at another blog -- Nested -- off and on since I was pregnant.
This has been a quite a fun project of mine because I started completely anonymously. I wanted to see the blogging experience from the point of view of someone starting completely fresh and didn't want to rely on any of my connections in the blogging world to build traffic. I'd love to get back to the two to three posts daily schedule, but am still struggling to find the time to do this and take care of my daughter, Penelope. Which brings me to the next fact.
I'm a stay-at-home mom now.
When you are a co-founder of a company and your spouse (and co-founder) still puts in crazy start-up hours, it's impossible to ever really be removed from the day-to-day. I'm part-time now which means I come in once a week (with Penelope in tow) and work from home on a individual project basis. I actually have been putting in almost full-time hours designing a project launching soon and have had a chance to blissfully do some pure design work. I'm a stay-at-home mom that just happens to work-at-home too.
Having a child has changed me (in a good way).
I had no idea I was going to be the parent I am right now. Many of the neuroses I carried with me my entire life seemingly vanished overnight. This isn't too say I'm still neurotic, I'm just less neurotic. I like to think of it this way -- I'm like the patient in the mental ward (figuratively) who has gone from self-soothing through rocking to just looking like there's a good song playing somewhere.
Being a mom has forced me to become less self-centered and more aware of the small thing/big thing differences in life. Yes, I still have dreams that I'm being picked on by my seventh-grade classmates but when I wake up I'm able to laugh it off a bit better. Being at Blogher has made me more aware of this change. For example, in 2005, when I attended the first Blogher someone had written a post about how (and I paraphrase) "Mena Trott had the chance to talk to all these fabulous and interesting women at Blogher and instead chose to sit by herself and bury herself in her computer." The person didn't take in account that I'm actually quite shy when it comes to introducing myself. I almost never approach anyone because I'm intimidated, but once we're in a conversation I'll become quite extroverted. Since Penelope has been born, a lot of this fear has disappeared, though I still find it difficult at times to go up to a person and say hello.
I'm so so proud of Six Apart and everyone at the company.
Once again Blogher has been a massive reminder of why we do what we do. I have met women at this conference who have used our products since inception and they're incredibly complimentary and effusive. I've been wanting to say this for a long time: Yes, we seriously messed up when we changed our licensing FOUR years ago. The industry was a bit different then and for a company that (at the time) had only about 500k in funding, we wanted to be sustainable. We may have been stupid with our decisions and execution, but we were always ethical. And, we paid the price by losing a number of our best customers. But to this day, we're a company of bloggers for bloggers who really want to do the best for this industry. Hating Six Apart is so 2004.
Bonus Fact
I'm even more proud of our customers and all bloggers (whether they use our products or not)
Back to Blogher. When I'm talking to these women, I'm amazed how far we all have come. When I go to my dentist or see a relative, I don't have to explain that my job has something to do with "online journals that are often written daily and in reverse chronological order." If someone has internet access, they read a blog (even if they don't know it). It has been a revolution and any tool that can make a person feel less isolated and connected to a greater group is remarkable. I've talked to bloggers who have been saved emotionally (and physically) because of blogging. And that's a really awesome thing.