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Officials hope to limit Pfizer demolition
Groton — Pfizer Inc.'s decision to tear down one of the five buildings it has been trying to sell led town and city officials Friday to offer to help market the properties.
Pfizer officials appearing at an Economic Development Commission meeting said the company's priority is to find buyers or tenants for the remaining buildings at its 160-acre campus off Eastern Point Road. But Jonathan Putnam, executive director of the commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, which is marketing the Pfizer buildings, said there are currently no active prospects.
Pfizer is promoting for sale or lease about 840,000 of the 2.7 million square feet it has available. Officials at the meeting said they couldn't speculate how long Pfizer might keep the properties on the market before giving up and potentially knocking them all down.
"We want to keep Pfizer here, and we also want to help sell those buildings," City Mayor Marian Galbraith said.
In an attempt to address the issue, members of the EDC met earlier this week with Catherine Smith, commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development, and deputy commissioner Ronald Angelo. Members of the EDC said they felt the state was eager to help develop a plan to save the buildings, which could involve anything from tax incentives to an arrangement that might enable a group or agency to buy or lease one or more buildings on behalf of several startup companies.
EDC members said before the meeting that they know Pfizer officials can't hang on to the properties forever, but they are hoping the state might be able to pay taxes on the buildings until a new use for them can be found. Officials estimated that taxes and other costs to the company associated with maintaining the buildings would amount to more than $3 million a year.
"It would be a great shame to see these buildings demolished," EDC member Bill Smith said in an interview before Friday's meeting. "I don't want this to be a ghost town."
Michael Lallier, in charge of facilities at Pfizer's Groton site, said the demolition of Building 126 — which featured laboratory space near the company's power plant — already has started on the inside of the structure and should be completed by the end of May. The demolition comes after almost a year of unsuccessful marketing efforts. The company applied for the demolition permit last October, he said, and the 46,000-square-foot building has been vacant since July.
"These buildings have very specific designs that are not easily adaptable to just any use — particularly office use," said Putnam, Pfizer's real estate broker.
Lallier said Pfizer had applied for another permit to do work in Building 156, but the intention for that building is to renovate that space for a tenant currently using Building 118, the company's 755,000-square-foot original research-and-development headquarters, a key building that Pfizer hopes to sell or lease.
Other sites currently available are Building 114, a two-story office building; Building 286, a one-story facility that is about 60 percent laboratories and 40 percent office space, and Building 288, a laboratory building near the visitors center.
Dominick Ianno, director of public affairs for Pfizer's global sites in the Northeast, said the company would prefer selling or leasing the buildings to one entity rather than carving out deals with a variety of smaller players. His comment led Town Manager Mark Oefinger to conclude that if an entity such as the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut or UConn wanted to open incubator space on the Pfizer campus, they had better put the deal together themselves rather than relying on small startups to make the arrangements.
"They want to be able to walk in the door, plug in and do their thing," Oefinger said.
Underlying the discussion of Pfizer's laboratory space were concerns that the pharmaceutical giant might plan to vacate southeastern Connecticut entirely in the next few years, as it has done at sites around the world. Pfizer is in the midst of a research-and-development restructuring that already has resulted in hundreds of job losses locally, and sometime this year will result in a workforce that's 1,100 smaller than it was at the beginning of last year.
"Pfizer slowly moving away from this region creates a black hole that will vacuum out many of the businesses in this region," EDC member George Mathanool said.
Member Lian Obrey put it more bluntly.
"The reputation of what you've done to other areas is horrible," she told the Pfizer representatives. "People are afraid of the same thing happening here."
Company representatives assured town and city officials that Pfizer is investing millions in re-adapting the buildings it is currently using and, though it is always looking to consolidate, it has no plans to vacate major portions of the campus.
Lallier, the facilities director, said Pfizer chief executive Ian Read visited Groton last month and, prompted by a question from outgoing site leader Toni Hoover, assured employees that the campus remains a viable site for the company, despite the relocation of its drug-discovery efforts to Cambridge, Mass. The Groton site remains the company's worldwide development hub.
"Everything Pfizer decides to pursue as a company will come through this site," Lallier said. "That's a pretty good place to be."
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Real-time operational intelligence company Splunk and Ford have announced Connected Car Dashboards, a collaborative project that collected and analyzed data from vehicles to gain insight into driving patterns and vehicle performance.
Using Ford's OpenXC research platform to gather data from connected vehicles, Splunk data was indexed, analyzed, and visualized in Splunk Enterprise and made publicly available.
Ford OpenXC is a combination of open source hardware and software that enables developers to read data from the vehicle's internal communications network.
By installing a small hardware module to read and translate metrics from vehicles, the data becomes accessible to smartphone or tablet devices that can then be used to develop custom applications. Ford's OpenXC API enables vehicle data to be more accessible to developers by presenting them in an open, well-specified JSON format, which makes the data easier to use in external applications.
By utilizing the development environment in Splunk Enterprise, including an integrated web framework and software development kits for the world's most popular languages, developers can analyze and visualize this kind of data in real-time and against historical trends.
The Car Is a Platform
"The car is a platform, and we're excited by the opportunities that are emerging as we provide makers and developers with access to real-time vehicle data," said TJ Giuli, Silicon Valley research lab leader for Ford. "Collaborating with software companies like Splunk enables us to explore entirely new applications for vehicle data such as energy efficiency and driver habits."
"The Connected Car Dashboards give a glimpse into a promising future in which data could transform vehicle and driver safety as well as design, productivity, and other areas of the automotive industry," said Christy Wilson, vice president of product operations, Splunk.

subset: commoncrawl


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Smashed Guitar Strikes Sour Chord In Music City
By Larry Woody | Senior Writer
Nashville – Images of Kyle Busch's guitar-smashing antics following last Saturday's victory at Nashville Superspeedway have gone 'round the world, creating a sensation on YouTube and other internet outlets.
Meanwhile on Monday, Nashville Superspeedway vice president/general manager Cliff Hawks said, "It's still hard for me to watch."
Renowned racing artist Sam Bass, who spent countless hours hand-painting the $2,000 Gibson guitar that for nine years has been the track's trademark trophy, had this to say Sunday night on Nashville's WSM radio: "I wonder how Kyle would like it if I took a hammer and smashed his race car?"
Bass said he was "totally shocked and stunned" as he watched Busch repeatedly dash the guitar to the pavement in Victory Lane.
"I was so shocked that I just stood there," said Bass of the incident that has the racing world buzzing. "I couldn't believe my eyes. I was heart-broken."
Hawks shared his disbelief.
"When Kyle drew back the guitar like he was going to slam it down, the thought flashed through my mind: 'No, surely he's not going to do it!' And then he did it. I stood there in total disbelief. It was very upsetting."
Busch admitted it was a contrived incident. He had told his crew beforehand that if he won the race he was going to smash the guitar "rock-star style," and divide the pieces among the team members.
The Federated Auto Parts race sponsors were not amused.
"They were really put off and I don't blame them," Hawks said. "It's a big deal for the sponsor to make the Victory Lane presentations. It left a bad feeling."
Hawks said the ugly incident should not tarnish the track in any way.
"We had absolutely nothing to do with it – I was as shocked and disappointed as everybody else," he said. "This is all on Kyle."
Hawks said Busch has not apologized to him or the track for the incident.
Bass said he was given a lame apology and later posed for a photo with Busch and what was left of the shattered instrument. But while Bass smiled for the photo, he was seething inside.
"Let's just say I wasn't happy," Bass said.
"Kyle told me he meant no disrespect," Bass said, "and I guess I have to take him at his word. I guess he didn't realize how bad it looked and how upset everybody would be."
Busch said he would buy two guitars to replace the one he destroyed and even joked about how Bass would make more money by painting more guitars.
"I don't think he gets it," Bass said. "He destroyed something that can't be replaced. He can buy a replica but he can't replace the original."
It was noted that if Busch won the Daytona 500 or any other big-league Sprint Cup race he wouldn't dare dash the trophy to bits in a "rock star" celebration – yet he showed no qualms in destroying a trophy in the second-tier Nationwide Series.
So far NASCAR has not commented on the incident that has added to Busch's bad-boy reputation.
Bass said the incident will have no adverse effect on his long-standing relationship with the Superspeedway and that he will continue to paint the track's trophy guitars – named by Sports Illustrated as one of sport's most unique trophies.
"It wasn't anybody's fault except Kyle's," Bass said. "He's the only one who has anything to apologize for."
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Nov 09, 2010
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COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – With two matches left in the 2010 regular season, the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles control their own playoff destiny as they host Eastern Illinois and Southeast Missouri State this weekend.
The Golden Eagles enter the week owners of a 9-18 record and a 7-9 OVC record. Their 7-9 conference mark places them in a tie for the sixth and final playoff spot with Eastern Illinois. Should Tech win its final two matches of the season, it will secure the final playoff spot.
"We're either going to make it or we won't," head coach John Blair said. "If we can keep our poise and continue to play the way we have been playing lately we should get the result we are looking for."
Eastern Illinois comes into the week with a 15-14 overall record and a 7-9 OVC record. In their previous meeting with the Panthers this season, the Golden Eagles fell to EIU in five sets. Over the last three seasons Tennessee Tech has won three of five matches against EIU. The opening serve is set for Friday, at 7 p.m.
"EIU is a balanced team," Blair said. "They have a rotation that is capable of putting up some good numbers and when they play well they're one of the best in the league."
Tech concludes the 2010 regular season against Southeast Missouri State Saturday at 4:30 p.m. SEMO owns a 5-23 record, including a 3-13 mark in OVC play. Earlier this season, the Golden Eagles defeated the Redhawks in four sets and are 3-2 over the last three seasons.
"Going up against a team like SEMO, who's out of the playoff race, you never know what you're going to get," Blair said. "You could go into the match expecting one thing and see something completely different."


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David Sanabria
I spent my childhood surrounded by mountains in the valley of Aran, a small valley in the north of the Pyrenees. Skiing in the winter and walking in the summer. My father was a mountain guide and always took my brothers and me. At age 8 with my family we moved to Barcelona, where I took to rock climbing.
At 17 I returned to live in the mountains to this day. After passing through a snowboard phase for a while, I got my first fat skis and since then every day is the best ski day of my life. Being a freerider is not easy in Spain, but it's not something that worries me. Thanks to my sponsors at Black Diamond, Arcteryx and Adidas eyewear I can make many of my goals happen, such as being the first Spaniard to participate in the qualifier series of FWT, winning every national freeride competition, conducting numerous first descents in the Pyrenees and alpine skiing in the Andes, North America and Africa.
Climbing from Yosemite to Fitz Roy...I opened a new way of climbing in Bolivia and Argentina. I worked as patrol triggering avalanches for 10 years and as a whitewater guide completing extreme descents by kayak in different places on the planet. Currently I work as a guide, freeride and industrial rescue team. I spend the winter in the northern hemisphere and summer in the south.


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Impressive Engagement Ring Embodies an Oval London Blue Topaz enriched by halo of prong set Diamond that showcases luxury and is sure to give immense presence on the hand.
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Sessions are scheduled events in which contributors present their work to the SIGGRAPH community, usually followed by a question-and-answer period. Most sessions are organized around one or more common topics. Sessions range from highly specialized in-depth presentations by international experts to provocative, free-ranging discussions, demonstrations, and presentations among people actively working on a common interest. Many sessions present work that is documented in journals, but there's nothing quite like listening to the speakers and asking quesions. Meeting new people while attending a session is a SIGGRAPH tradition.
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Physicians at Baptist may use minimally invasive techniques to treat a number of conditions affecting the cardiovascular system.
This condition occurs when the wall of the aorta become weakened and thin. Blood coursing through the vessel causes the aorta to "balloon" out in the thinned area. If left untreated, the vessel may rupture causing severe bleeding. A ruptured aneurysm is a medical emergency and is frequently fatal.
Commonly called hardening of the arteries, this chronic disease occurs when fatty deposits of plaque accumulate in the lining of blood vessel, narrowing the opening and restricting blood flow.
In minimally invasive surgeries for vascular conditions, physicians use endovascular techniques and cardiac catheterization. Endovascular refers to surgery that is performed within a blood vessel. The surgeon inserts a catheter into a blood vessel-usually the femoral artery in the groin-and using x-ray images, guides it to the affected artery for treatment.
In this procedure, performed to repair the weakened area of the aorta, surgeons use endovascular techniques to place a graft within diseased vessel to "patch" it, relieving pressure on the weak area.
To open blocked arteries, surgeons advance a catheter through the artery to the narrowed area. Then, a small balloon is inflated, opening the channel. To support the newly-widened vessel, surgeon insert a stent, a mesh-like tube that acts as scaffolding within the artery. The balloon is then deflated and removed.
To treat blocked carotid arteries, a surgeon makes an incision along the neck, opens the affected artery and remove the plaque causing the blockage.
Learn about the treatment of Vascular Diseases at Baptist.
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By Joseph Andrew Lee
The Air Force Academy may have been edged out by Toledo during the hard-fought football game, but the military as a whole ultimately emerged victorious at the Military Bowl, yesterday, due in part to a well-visited armed forces expo in front of the stadium before the game.
The Military Village, organized by the USO, was an event unlike any other, showcasing the military's wide array of assets while also providing an opportunity for corporations and non-profit organizations alike to describe their products and causes to game day attendees and other passers-by. Its goal was to showcase the equipment, the mission and the personnel of the United States military.
It was a cold and windy day, and the ground was left muddy from rain the day prior. Fortunately, DHS Technologies was on site to lend an abundance of shelter and warmth inside its Deployable Rapid Assembly Shelters (DRASH). It was easy to see why these shelters replaced the old "GP Tents."
Equipped with their own ventilation, climate control, and flexible yet durable Bike Track flooring, the 1,250 square-foot shelters are today's standard for U.S. Army brigade command headquarters in the field. Without a doubt, DRASH made an instant difference between the turbulence outside and tranquility inside.
The longest line award goes to BAE Systems, for its on site HAWK Advanced Jet Training System. Once inside this large trailer, visitors were met with more than a dozen large digital screens displaying both heads-up flight information as well as a digital representation of jets being piloted by participants sitting either inside a simulated jet cockpit or at desktop stations.
Every teenage boy present (and their Dad) was willing to wait in line to jump into the cockpit of what seemed to be the largest, most realistic video game they've ever seen! What the younger audience likely didn't grasp was the fact that, while fun to use, this technology may soon become the actual equipment used to train American pilots to fly today's most technologically advanced jet fighters.
"We have one cockpit simulator and two desktop simulators here that can all train against one-another," said Brandon Engle, T-X Deputy Campaign Lead for BAE Systems. "But we can also combine actual jets in the air with simulated jets on the ground for the most realistic training environment possible."
According to Engle, the HAWK system is the current trainer used by the Royal Air Force, and next year it will be competing to become the primary trainer for pilots of the U.S. military's F-22 and F-35 advanced tactical fighters.
In addition to the military support organizations and corporations, the U.S. Coast Guard, Navy Seabees, the U.S. Air Force and Navy SEALs were all on site as well to flex their military might – displaying their unique assets and capabilities, including several Navy helicopters and even a miniature replica of a C-17 Globemaster that guests could climb into and pretend to "pilot."
"This is so much fun, and so informative at the same time," said Julie Harrington, who traveled to RFK Stadium with her husband and son to watch the Toledo Rockets play in the Military Bowl. "I've always known how great the USO is and I've always supported them just because they've been supporting the troops since before I was born and while we donate from afar, we suspect that our money is well-spent."
"It's so great to actually get the opportunity to interact with the troops and step inside a Mobile USO to see first hand what you guys are doing for them," she added. "It's just fantastic the things you can do. My suspicions are confirmed, and I think my money is going to the right organization."
You can help our heroes with the little things that will mean so much this year like a phone call home, comfort foods or a place to relax.
More from the USO
May 16, 2019
11 Must-Know Facts about the Army's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment for its Anniversary
The Army's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, nicknamed the "Brave Rifles," was originally formed in 1846 to provide security for travelers on the Oregon Trail. Since then, the 3rd Cavalry has served in a wide variety of conflicts from the Mexican-American War to Operation Inherent Resolve.
May 13, 2019
9 Historical Photos of Troops Calling Home
For over 77 years, the USO has been helping connect troops to their loved ones by providing phones, calling cards and more to make it easy for service members to hear their loved ones' voices from thousands of miles away. Check out these historical photos of phone calls home through the years.


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European Commission
Brussels, 4 June 2014
The 2014 Convergence Report and Lithuania: frequently asked questions on euro adoption
What is the Convergence Report?
The Convergence Report forms the basis for the EU Council of Ministers' decision on whether a Member State may join the euro area. The report assesses whether Member States with a derogation1 have achieved a high degree of sustainable economic convergence, in terms of price stability, sound public finances, exchange rate stability and convergence in long-term interest rates. It also assesses the compatibility of their national legislation with Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) rules set out in the Treaty: independence of the national central bank, prohibition of monetary financing, and compatibility with the statutes of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and of the European Central Bank (ECB).
Convergence Reports are issued every two years or, as was the case for Latvia in 2013, when there is a specific request from a Member State to assess its readiness to join the euro area.The 2014 Convergence Report covers the eight Member States with a derogation: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden.
What are the conclusions of the assessment carried out for Lithuania?
The 2014 Convergence Report concludes that Lithuania meets the criteria for adopting the euro. As a consequence, the Commission is proposing that Lithuania adopt the euro on 1 January 2015 and that the Council abrogate the derogation accordingly. This formal decision is expected to be taken by the EU Council of Ministers in the second half of July 2014.
What are the convergence criteria?
The convergence criteria ('Maastricht criteria) are set out in Art. 140(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Sustainability is a key aspect of the assessment of the Maastricht criteria.
Illustrated in a simplified way, the criteria are as follows:
Is there any other report complementing the Commission's assessment?
Yes, in line with its mandate, the European Central Bank (ECB) has also prepared a convergence report assessing the readiness of Member States with a derogation for the adoption of the euro. It is also published today.
Which countries that joined the EU in 2004 or 2007 have already adopted the euro?
So far, six of the twelve Member States that joined the EU in 2004 or 2007 have already adopted the euro. Slovenia did so in 2007, Cyprus and Malta in 2008, Slovakia in 2009, Estonia in 2011 and Latvia in 2014 (IP/13/1307). Currently more than 333 million people in 18 countries use the euro: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain.
What about the other countries?
In principle, all Member States that do not have an opt-out clause (i.e. United Kingdom and Denmark) have committed to adopt the euro once they fulfil the necessary conditions. The Member States that acceded to the EU in 2004, 2007 and 2013, after the euro was launched, did not meet the conditions for entry to the euro area at the time of their accession. Therefore, their Treaties of Accession allow them time to make the necessary adjustments. It is up to individual countries to calibrate their path towards the euro, and no timetable is prescribed. However, it is important not to underestimate the role of euro adoption as a medium-term policy anchor, and the risks to credibility and confidence of derailing the convergence process.
What are the benefits of adopting the euro?
The benefits of the euro are diverse and are felt on different scales, from individuals and businesses to whole economies. They include:
But belonging to the euro area is much more than sharing a currency. It is about belonging to a community based on responsibility, solidarity and mutual benefits. Experience shows that when conditional financial assistance is provided to one euro area country, it reduces risks of instability also for the euro area as a whole.
Does the euro changeover increase prices?
The changeover processes in 2002 and thereafter, when other Member States joined the euro area, are estimated to have increased prices by a one-off additional 0.1 to 0.3 percentage points. So if the average price rise from one year to the next was €2.30 for a €100 basket of purchases, then no more than thirty euro cents of this increase was due to the euro.
When the Maastricht Treaty was agreed in 1991, the average inflation rate in the euro area was around 4%. Since the launch of the euro in 1999, annual inflation in the euro area – as measured by the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) – has averaged 2%.
As the other Member States have done under previous euro changeovers, Lithuania will have to take proper action for price monitoring including of proximity business, enforcement of competition rules, providing sufficient information to citizens, and involvement of stakeholders in fair pricing campaigns.
What are the next steps concerning Lithuania?
Further to today's Commission proposal to the Council of Ministers to abrogate Lithuania's derogation, euro area Member States deciding by qualified majority will issue a recommendation on euro introduction in Lithuania.
The Council will then take a formal decision in July, after consulting the European Parliament and after EU leaders have held a discussion in the European Council on 26-27 June. This would allow Lithuania sufficient time for thorough technical preparations to introduce the euro on 1 January 2015.
Together with the decision on the abrogation of the derogation, the Council will also have to irrevocably fix the exchange rate and decide on other measures necessary for the introduction of the euro in Lithuania, based on Commission proposals and after having consulted the ECB.
How will the decision on the conversion rate be taken?
The Commission plans to propose to the Council a possible conversion rate for the Lithuanian litas in early July. The formal decision would be taken in the second half of July, by the EU Council of Ministers. The decision is taken by unanimity of all euro area Member States and Lithuania.
After the Council's decision on Lithuania's euro adoption, what must still be done in the country by 1 January 2015?
Lithuania must carefully prepare the changeover to the euro by implementing its national changeover plan, which provides all the details for the organisation of the introduction of the euro and the withdrawal of the litas. It sets, for instance, the timetable for supplying euro cash to commercial banks and to retailers, the rules for cash exchanges for citizens to be applied before and after its "day one" of the euro, and the strategy for adapting bank accounts, electronic payments systems and ATMs to the euro. Importantly, the Lithuanian authorities must also carefully put in place measures and information campaigns aimed at preventing changeover-related price increases.
What will the euro change in terms of Lithuania's monetary policy?
Lietuvos Bankas, the national central bank of Lithuania, would become a member of the Eurosystem, the central banking system of the euro area.
In accordance with the Statute of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and of the European Central Bank (ECB), Lietuvos Bankas would have to pay the remainder of its contribution to the capital of the ECB and transfer its contribution to the foreign reserve assets of the ECB. Upon adoption of the euro, the Lithuanian monetary financial institutions would be integrated into the euro area banking system and be able to participate in ECB open market operations.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Lithuania would become a member of the Governing Council of the ECB.
Lithuania would also have the right to design Lithuania-specific euro coins for circulation throughout the euro area.
When will Lithuania become a member of the European Stability Mechanism?
Once the Council decision on euro adoption is taken, Lithuania may apply to become a Member of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). From the entry into force of the Council decision, and following the approval by the ESM Board of Governors, membership becomes effective once it has deposited the instrument of ESM accession. The Board of Governors will have agreed the detailed technical terms of this accession, including an adaptation of the capital key, taking into account Lithuania's accession.
Useful information on the last euro member (Latvia) acceding the ESM Treaty can be found at:
When will Lithuania need to comply with the "Two-Pack" ?
If Lithuania joins the euro area on 1 January 2015, it will be immediately subject to the obligations under the 'Two-Pack' legislation and will, in particular, be expected to submit its draft budgetary plan for the year 2016 by 15 October 2015. The following new obligations have been introduced for euro area Member States with the entry into force of the 'Two Pack' legislation (MEMO/13/457):
In terms of the budgetary framework: macroeconomic forecasts need to be independently produced or endorsed; compliance with national fiscal rules should be monitored by independent bodies.
Closer coordination of their budgetary policies requires all Member States of the euro area to send to the Commission for its assessment their draft budgetary plans for the following year by 15 October every year; they also share ex ante their debt issuance plans.
Specific requirements are applicable when a country is under the Excessive Deficit Procedure, as well as when threats to its financial stability are detected.
What else changes as regards fiscal surveillance and policy coordination if Lithuania adopts the euro?
The Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance (TSCG) in the EMU would become binding in its entirety, including the Fiscal Compact. Lithuania is a contracting party of the TSCG and has already ratified it. However, some titles of the Treaty are only binding for euro area Member States, such as the Fiscal Compact, that non-euro area Member States can choose not to be bound by. This was the case of Lithuania when ratifying the TSCG: when entering in the euro area, it would become subject to the Treaty in its entirety. This includes, inter alia, the obligation to enshrine in national law a budget-balance rule based on the Stability and Growth Pact's medium-term objective and the automatic correction mechanism in case of deviations, under the monitoring of independent institutions. Another obligation deriving from the TSCG for euro area Member States is the commitment to support recommendations of the Commission to the Council in the context of an Excessive Deficit Procedure for a euro area Member State (which is based on the deficit criterion), unless a qualified majority of euro area Member States is against the recommendation.
Euro area Member States can be subject to financial sanctions if they breach their budgetary obligations under the Stability and Growth Pact. Since the end-2011 reform of the Stability and Growth Pact, this applies earlier in the process and also when a country significantly deviates from the adjustment towards its medium-term budgetary objective.
When will Lithuania join the banking union?
With the adoption of the euro, Lithuania would become a participating member of both the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) (MEMO/13/780) and the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) (MEMO/14/295), which have been established. The SSM will be fully operational as from November 2014, while the SRM regulation will enter into force in the coming months, shortly after its publication in the Official Journal, and will be fully operational from 1 January 2016 provided that the conditions regarding the transfer of the bank contributions to the Single Resolution Fund and their progressive mutualisation are met.
A few Lithuanian banks would qualify for direct supervision by the ECB as single supervisor in the euro area.
The Central bank of Lithuania is getting ready to the participation in the banking union and banks' supervisory process is being dovetailed to the ECB requirements.
For more information on the benefits of the banking union see MEMO/14/294.
Will euro adoption impede Lithuania's national sovereignity?
On the contrary, euro adoption will mean Lithuania can participate for the first time in decision-making on issues that already affect the country, due to its twelve-year-old peg to the euro. Key euro area-related decisions will continuously be taken by the national government representatives in fora like the Eurogroup (meeting of euro area finance ministers), so the Lithuanian authorities will have a significant policy-making impact as they will participate in these meetings.
For more information please see:
The 2014 Convergence report
ECB Convergence Report:
The Member States that have not yet fulfilled the necessary conditions for the adoption of the euro are referred to in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union as "Member States with a derogation", unlike Denmark and the UK, which negotiated opt-out arrangements in the Maastricht Treaty. See section "What about other countries?"
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text:
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Buccaneers cornerback Eric Wright is eligible to return this week, but that doesn't mean that he will.
Suspended the last four games for violating the league's performance-enhancing substances policy, Wright is back with the team today.
The Bucs clearly missed him during his absence, but coach Greg Schiano said he didn't know if Wright would play in Sunday's finale against the Falcons or not.
"I can't tell you right now without getting on the field and seeing where he is and formulating a plan,'' Schiano said, via Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com. "I don't think conditioning will be the issue, but being in football shape [will be].''
Now the Bucs have a bigger decision to make. Wright lost $1.7 million worth of game checks during his banishment, and the $7.75 million guarantee on next year's salary was voided when he was suspended.
If they wanted to part ways with the talented corner, who was part of their free agency opening swoop last year, they could without the same financial penalty. But then they'd be looking for a lot of secondary help again, a problem they thought they answered by signing him.


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My name is Ben Smith aka machine1984 on stars, TheMachine1984 on Full Tilt and Machine2k14 on Ipoker. I have been playing poker for around 11 years, 9 of which have been seriously.
This BAP will be for the following Ipoker MTTs and these only for one week after the bap starting: (with buy ins below)
NL Hold 'em 2.20-4.40 Freezeouts
NL Hold 'em 1.10-3.30 Rebuys
I will play any game listed above within the 2.20 to 4.40 threshold. Turbos, normal speed and slow. I prefer slower blinds and more play.
I am very meticulous about bankroll management and will be here to so the roll will be 70 buy ins. If the bankroll is larger i will post here about here and we can discuss whether to add larger buy ins.
I intend to play around 100 MTTs during this time. These will start as soon as this BAP is sold out.
Total buy-ins: 70 buy ins x 4.40= 308 but i will round this down for the sake of the stake to 300
1 share(3 Euros)= 0.7%
100 shares for sale
All buy ins are Euros on Ipoker(Coral) and i will include my 50% rakeback in this BAP
Will include Holdem Manager screenshot with result at the end of each day and a screenshot of the cashier.
I have been a member of PFO for 2 years. I have some BAPs from PTP here http://forum.parttimepoker.com/buy-p...ty-closed.html I am a co-host for low limit futbol which is a partner to low limit poker which has been here for yonks. There are lots of people who will also vouch for me, including Collin moshman from my time with Team Moshman.
I will also offer an escrow on this bap.
Why me?
I am mostly a low stakes player and have experience in nearly all NLHE disciplines.
I currently multi table 5-10 euro buy in mtts on Ipoker.
I am a winning player in SNGs, MTTs and Cash. I started playing SNGs when i first got into playing poker seriously which was about 9 years ago and i was a regular at the $22 9 man SNGs before i decided i would divert into cash games. I then was a regular at NL50 full ring cash games which i was beating very consistently until i decided i would move to 6 max for the higher winrates. I feel this background of SNGs and cash games gave me a great base to beat MTTs as the mix of deep stack play and ICM is the obvious key to beating MTTs in the long term also i felt cash games developed my hand reading beyond that of people that have played MTTs exclusively. I spent 3 years with Team Moshman playing exclusively SNG 9 mans up until about a year ago where i went alone to earn more. Since then i have taken up excusively MTTs and have improved my game signifacantly through many sources, including this board.
My SNG results are 7% roi over 9000 on Stars. I Have a 60% roi at MTTs over a 1000 or so and am beating them comfortably.
I think it is clear that I am a winning player. The reason i am advertising this BAP is the fact that i would like to play festivals in future and sell my action here(up to $22 buy in) and i would like to build up trust.
Cut + Cake
70/30 to the staker + cake.
Random notes:
I am around the forums alot, so you can pm me or ask questions here.
I have skype in my profile which you can also contact me about.
I will only be playing games from this stake, I will be focused 100%. I will only multi table up to 6 tables.
If you have any questions feel free to contact me through the means i have listed above.
I must receive your money before the first MTT starts.
Ship to:
Paypal- Contact me
Machine1984The- account on Coral
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December 28th, 2014 #1
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text:
Allan Moult necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 11 diseños de 6 diseñadores freelance.
Wise Women Publishing
Wise Women Publishing is a small company that is about to launch a series of ebooks on an eclectic range of topics that stress the positive for all women.
They titles are designed to encourage readers to have a go, and offer real-life examples.
Working titles include:
Wise Women & Hot Dogs [dog training]
Wise Women & Smart Shelter [building your own home]
Wise Women & Wild Trout [flyfishing]
Wise Women & Travelling Solo [in a motorhome, etc]
Wise Women & Pixel Power [digital photography]
Our target audience is smart, independent, motivated women of all ages.
Our authors have all lived and experienced their subjects firsthand and write with authority, compassion and humor.
The currently envisaged cover theme for all titles is landscape A4 [210mm × 297mm / 8.3 × 11.7inches]
The logo we are looking for will be a constant [except for color changes] and occupy about 45-50mm of the left side [full-bleed top, left & bottom] and incorporate the text ' wise woman &'
We envisage the individual titles going across the rest of the page which will always be a full page colour photograph.
Having said all that, we are quite willing to consider a 'left field' proposal. All we ask is that the concept incorporates a constant 'logo/identity' and a full bleed photograph.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text:
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Join the 5 Million People Who Have Taken Control of Their Money
The class was very informative, relative and incredibly helpful. Our instructor, Dan, brought experience, knowledge and wisdom to the class. He had great ideas and embodied everything we hear Dave say in his radio programs. I appreciated being able to hear the situation that other folks are in and how they are handling it. I think we all were able to help each other. I think we may even keep in touch with some of them. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for putting this program out there!Marsha Pittsburgh, PA
I love this program. Everything about it. Wish I knew about this 16 years ago when I joined the Marines. Everything I thought I knew about money, legacy, and budgeting were wrong. Glad I decided to finally see what everyone was saying about "Dave Ramsey". The Every dollar app is on point too. Overall this is a great program. I would like to see more information geared towards military as we live a bit differently than normal civilian life such as the TSP, PCS/PCA, deployments, SGLI, and SDP. The military tries to teach us coming up but it's a measles check mark in the box for them. After learning the Baby step program, I try to teach my guys as much as I can learn from FPU and his daily videos.Casey Camp Pendleton, CA
I took this class with sincere interest in learning more about finances and hoping to walk away being better with money. As a single, 25 year old finishing up college, I want to build a good foundation for my life as my adulthood is just at the start! I anticipated gaining knowledge and wisdom from this class, but I didn't know I would become so inspired and motivated from it the way I was and still am! This was such a great framework of information and the community aspect of the class was awesome too. I am beyond grateful for this class and Dave Ramsey. It came at such a good time and I've made so much progress in things I didn't even know needed progress! This will impact the rest of my life. Now that's something good.Becca Providence, RI
Loved the class. Hubby didn't want to come, but decided to come after I turn into a "screaming emotional woman". I had always been the budget nerd, but after lesson 3, he became the budget nerd! Before the class, we where about to build our retirement home costing over $600,000. Now he agrees with me and we are building a retirement Log cabin costing $150,000 and paying cash for material and any labor we can not do. Now we are on track to actually retire and just work part time.Frances Spokane, WA
I wish my husband and I did this within the first year of our marriage or even before we got married. It would have prevented some bad financial decisions that we made.Michelle Skoikie, IL
You can do this.
Start today!
You shouldn't feel overwhelmed and powerless over your money. You can be in control of your money and your future.


text:
Three grunge logo mock-ups with customizable old metal background textures. Just copy-paste your background and logotype in separate smart objects and save all changes. See help file for instructions.
Check additional textures for use with this mock-up:
- Easy to edit — custom background and logo in smart objects.
- 2480×1748 pix (A5 with 300dpi) for final picture. Backgrounds size is 3508×2480 (A4 with 300dpi).
- Three predefined variations. With your own backgrounds you can use it more flexible.
Archive size is 385 mb due to high-res backgrounds for perspective transform.
Hope you enjoy this file and please don't forget to rate and share it!


text:
If you use the search term "orm xml" or similar, you will see several posts about the XML file structure.
For example this one:
thank you very much for your reply.
Thank you very much for this information. I started doing it with nokogiri as well (before my first post).
At first glance this looks like something i could use.
I might base part of my code of yours. It is for my masters thesis, and i will of course mention you (at least in the code base.)


text:
Please note: You are viewing an archived Bucknell University news story. It is possible that information found on this page has become outdated or inaccurate, and links and images contained within are not guaranteed to function correctly.
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Construction on several downtown redevelopment projects will begin in January as Bucknell University takes ownership of the U.S. Postal Service building and begins renovations on two other historic properties along Market Street.
University officials have signed a financing agreement clearing the way for more than $16.5 million in improvements to the post office building, the Campus Theatre and the historic DeWitt building, said Dave Surgala, Bucknell's vice president for finance and administration. The majority of funding for the projects comes from state and federal grants and tax incentives for small-town economic development projects.
"This is an exciting day," Bucknell President John Bravman said. "These projects are vital to the downtown economy and will continue to strengthen the connection between Bucknell and the greater Lewisburg community."
Post office remains open
Work to convert the upper levels of the 32,000-square-foot post office building at Market and Third streets is set to begin within the next few weeks and will continue until the spring of 2012, said Jim Hostetler, Bucknell's director of construction and design. The space will be converted to about 65 University administrative offices. The first floor of the building will remain open and continue to function as a retail post office. Street closures are possible during the construction.
The post office's sorting operations eventually will move to a building at West Market Street formerly occupied by BZ Motors. Renovations on that building also will begin at the start of the new year. The University and the U.S. Postal Service entered into a swap agreement in which Bucknell will convert the BZ Motors building into a mail sorting facility in exchange for ownership of the historic post office building downtown.
Campus Theatre
At the 11,000-square-foot historic Campus Theatre at 419 Market Street, infrastructure improvements will include expansion of the stage, installation of a retractable screen, renovation of the lobby and improvements to the heating and cooling systems.
The three-story, 6,500-square-foot DeWitt Building at 416-422 Market Street will become the Bucknell Innovation Center and business incubator, housing the Bucknell Small Business Development Center and the Greater Susquehanna Keystone Innovation Center. The project will serve as a resource for Bucknell alumni and the community, encourage business development and growth for startup companies and promote job creation in the region.
Projects join bookstore
The projects will complement the Barnes & Noble at Bucknell University bookstore, which opened this summer in another renovated historic building at 400 Market Street.
"Great things are happening in Lewisburg," Bravman said. "The renovation of the post office will bring dozens of full-time staff to downtown, and improvements to the Campus Theatre will secure the future of this historic landmark and cultural center in Lewisburg. The business incubator will serve as an important resource for entrepreneurs and expand on the work of our renowned Small Business Development Center."
Contact: Division of Communications


text:
16 Angel Crafts to Make: Homemade Christmas Ornaments & Decorations
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"OMGosh I made these in the '70's lots of them, all my windows had Macram curtains. This is a great beginner piece."
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Merry Christmas Snowmen
We are adding the craft to your Craft Projects.
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Even snowmen can have a Christmas. Have this cute decoration in your home this holiday season. Felt, beads and buttons are sure to add just the right detail to this craft.
- STYROFOAM* Brand Foam:
- Balls, one each: 2"; 1-1/2"
- Block, 12" x 6-3/4" x 1-1/4"
- Cone, 12" x 4"
- Eggs, one each: 4"; 2-1/2"
- Pompoms: 1" and 1-1/2" white, one each; 3mm orange, two
- Black beads, two each: 4mm; 5mm
- Glittered plastic snowflakes: 4", one; 1", four
- Glitter felt: 36" white, 1/2 yd.; navy, purple, red, one 9" x 12" sheet each; green, two sheets
- Buttons: mini white, three; 1/4" black, two
- Dk. blue sewing thread
- Serrated knife
- Candle stub or paraffin
- Fine-line red fabric marker
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Compass
- Scissors
- Extra-long straight pins
- Low-temp glue gun and glue sticks
- Thick, white craft glue
- Optional: Powdered cosmetic blush and cotton swab
- Optional: Decorative-edge scissors (wave/scallop)
- Wax serrated knife with candle stub or paraffin. Cut 2"-thick slice from wide end of foam cone and another slice from length of foam block. Cut thin slice from one side of foam balls (heads) and wide end of foam eggs (bodies).
- Use white felt to "gift wrap" foam block; trim excess felt and glue edges to secure. Glue cone base to block, 2" from one end as shown.
- Use decorative-edge scissors, or regular scissors, to cut one green felt sheet into 1-1/2" x 12" strips. Starting at base of cone and overlapping felt edges, wind and glue strips around tree until completely covered. Cut additional strips from second green felt sheet as needed.
- Cut following from white felt, using compass to draw required circles: small snowman body, 5" x 6"; small arms, 2" x 3", two; small head, 3" circle; large snowman body, 5" x 10"; large head, 4" circle. Cut hat and mitten patterns from felt as indicated. In addition, cut the following from felt: green scarf, 1" x 12"; red hat, 3" x 7"; navy coat, 5" x 8"; navy sleeves, 2" x 4", two.
- Center heads flat side up on wrong side of white felt circles. Gently finger-gather felt edges and bring up over flat side of foam; glue to secure. Trim excess felt.
- With flat edge of head on work surface, choose smoothest side for face. Use scissors point to poke holes for eyes at center of face; glue beads into holes, using smaller beads for smaller snowman. Use cotton swab to blush cheeks, if desired. Glue orange pompom noses to faces. Draw smiles with fabric marker.
- Wrap bodies with corresponding felt pieces. Overlap and glue ends. Finger-gather felt at top and bottom of body; glue to secure. Glue heads to bodies.
- Glue long edges of small snowman's hat together; fold bottom edge up 3/4". Glue hat to head and smaller white pompom to tip. Cut 1" fringe into scarf ends; tie around neck. Glue black buttons to front of body and hat tip to scarf. Roll and glue arm pieces into cylinders. Glue mittens into arms and arms to body at upward angle as shown.
- Glue short edges of large snowman's hat together. Finger-gather one end of hat and tie tightly with thread. Turn right side out. Glue remaining pompom to top of hat. Fold bottom edge up 1/2" and glue onto head. Wrap coat around body with 1" extending above body. Tie thread tightly around neck. Fold down collar. Glue two mini buttons to coat and one to hat brim. Glue long edges of each sleeve together. Pinch-pleat one short end of arms and glue to snowman, under coat collar. Glue mittens into sleeves.
- Glue large snowman to base beside tree as shown. Glue small snowman to large snowman's mittens. Glue large snowflake to front top of tree. Glue small snowman's mittens to back of tree and front of snowflake. Glue remaining snowflakes to tree. If desired, use decorative-edge scissors to cut additional 1" snowflake circles from white felt; glue to tree and base.
®™ Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company ("Dow") or an affiliated company of Dow. For more project ideas, please see styrofoamstyle.com.
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text:
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
review: Sauces by Michel Roux (Snr)
If there can be said to be trends in cookbook publishing, then we are certainly going through one now. As I've noted previously, every second new book at the moment seems to be something to do with 'basic' 'frugal' or 'simple', or similar variations on those themes.
At first sight, then, it's not the obvious time for a former holder of 3 Michelin stars to be launching a new edition of a book on preparing sauces. I mean – sauces? Lots of time and effort, surely, just for a bit of extra something on the plate? And do they really qualify for the current vogue for simplicity and thrift?
First, a sauce shouldn't really be regarded as an optional 'extra'. A meal without a sauce, or an appropriate sauce, lacks its cornerstone. It's unthinkable, incomplete, a half-meal. As M Roux himself insisted when I spoke to him, 'Sauces are a must, the top priority'. Any viewer of Masterchef (particularly the 'professionals' version) will have seen many a young chef die a culinary death as a result of a sauce no-show, or by serving a misjudged one. Get it right, and the simplest meal can be elevated into something memorable; get it wrong, and perfectly good food can be made unpalatable. So, sauces are, in fact, very much a case of 'back to basics'.
Roux's book makes sauce preparation look straightforward and appealing. Many of the recipes are reasonably quick and inexpensive to make. However, if you fancy using more luxurious ingredients and taking your time over making something particularly special, there are sauces to tick that box, too. All the classics are in here, but so are more novel and more intriguing creations, too (parmesan water, anyone? parsley nage with lemongrass? sea spray sauce? Arabica fig sauce?). In short, this is a book which makes you wonder why on earth you haven't been making sauces regularly before.
With this book to hand, you have all you need to become a maestro. Every aspect of preparation is covered, with all the explanation and help you could ask for: equipment, ingredients, flavourings, whisking, blending, thickening, reducing, enriching, straining, and even how to keep sauces warm properly. And then, onto the real 'meat', so to speak – sections devoted to different types of sauces, including all the classics: stocks and marinades, infusions and nages, white sauces, emulsion sauces, vinaigrettes, flavoured oils and butters, salsas and other piquant sauces, vegetable coulis, sauces for fish, and for meat. And then, for the sweet tooths, savoury fruity sauces and chutneys, coulis and other fruity dessert sauces, custards and sabayons, chocolate and other rich creamy sauces.
All the way through are tips, hints, and suggestions aplenty – ranging from how best to keep a sauce (and whether it will freeze, what ingredient substitutes can be used successfully, through how to vary the core recipe, and what foods the sauce best accompanies. The reader is, for example, warned against overcooking a stock: 'With long cooking, a stock becomes heavy and loses its savour; this applies particularly to fish stocks, which can also acquire a bitter taint'. Béchamel sauce will apparently keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, and should be reheated in a bain-marie. Cumberland sauces tastes best the day after it is made. Grapefruit coulis with mint goes well with blackcurrant sorbet. And so on – a veritable food geek's delight.
There are over 200 recipes to try. Twenty new ones have been added since the original edition, reflecting changes in tastes since 1996 (the date of the first edition) and Roux's own current interest in lighter food – salsas and nages occupy more space this time around, for example. By far the majority of recipes are under a page long (including the list of ingredients), and broken down into simple, short steps, so even the most easily scared or novice of cooks shouldn't be daunted.
No expense has been spared in the publication of 'Sauces', either, which is just as it should be, really, when the author is as esteemed as M Roux Snr. It's printed on premium quality paper, making it joyous to handle. The text is set out so that there's plenty of white space around it, and the font is a good size, making the recipes easy to read. The high production standards don't stop there, either – the photography is both exquisite and inspiring.
And just to complete the book properly, there's a comprehensive food/sauce matching section at the end, together with a thorough index.
All in all, it's no surprise that the first edition is revered as a classic, both in France and in the UK. I see no reason why the second won't be just as successful, and appeal to a whole new audience, too. For anyone wanting to master sauces, it's an absolute must.
(With thanks to Quadrille Publishing for the review copy.)
Sauces, by Michel Roux
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Quadrille Publishing Ltd (2 Oct 2009)
Language English
Available now.
15 comments:
- George@CulinaryTravels said...
Arrgh you've done it again. I've been putting this book off for ages now, I knew I shouldn't have looked here. Oh well it's going on the wishlist, I will not succumb to buying yet ... lets see how long my resolve lasts this time :)
- 13 October 2009 at 12:22
- paul said...
Great review as always - I have very dog-eared copy of the 1st edition!
- 13 October 2009 at 13:03
"And just to complete the book properly, there's a comprehensive food/sauce matching section at the end, together with a thorough index."
This is a brilliant idea, and one that I think tips me over dumping it into my Amazon basket!
- 13 October 2009 at 13:15
- The Curious Cat said...
I really like the sound of this book. Hmm...maybe it should go on my christmas list!! :) xxx
- 13 October 2009 at 14:50
- Manggy said...
Great review, forky- I've seen this on the shelves and I was very impressed by how much information they packed into such a small(ish) book without sacrificing aesthetics. I love this series by Roux.
I gotta ask, though: Michel Roux is not the one appearing on Masterchef: The Professionals, right (that's Michel Jr.)? Is Michel Sr. still alive?
- 13 October 2009 at 16:10
- aforkfulofspaghetti said...
George - oops, sorry... Good one to put on Xmas wish list
Paul - ooh, would love to compare!
roastpotato - you know you want to
CuriousCat - exactly
Manggy - yes, I was hugely impressed, too. Wonderful book. And re your question - M Roux Jnr (he of Masterchef) is M Roux Snr's nephew. And Snr is very much alive!
- 13 October 2009 at 16:20
- Cakelaw said...
LOL - a guy called Michael Roux really should know his sauces. It looks like a great book.
- 13 October 2009 at 23:24
- Browners said...
Like the idea of the sauce matching section. I think I might get this for my Dad to see if I can stop him putting Noilly Prat in everything!
- 13 October 2009 at 23:46
- Graphic Foodie said...
Great review. Sauces is one area of cooking I could really do with pulling my socks up. This seems like a great book to do that with. I particularly like the storing advice.
- 14 October 2009 at 12:42
- Jacqueline said...
I am not going to buy it (trying to curb my book buying), but I think I will ask the library to order it.
- 14 October 2009 at 20:06
- Dan said...
Ive got the first edition of this, love a good sauce me. One I like the most (although it's Gary 'Haircut' Rhodes) is The basic White Wine sauce- (chicken stock version with mushrooms), from New British Classics. Tastes incredible with chicken - in fact, throw the chicken away and eat the sauce on its own - its bloody amazing.
- 14 October 2009 at 20:36
- spiltwine said...
It's one of the only things I can competently make
Great review.
I am buying this book very spoon.
- 20 October 2009 at 09:35
- zero said...
Hot sale Cheap cell phonesand cell phone china on our site! Fashion look and powerful functions for these mobile phones even discount cell phones! Wholesale HiPhone, 3G cell phones, PDA/Smart Phone now.China Cell PhonesDon't miss these cellphone!toysDiscount Handbags On Sale-Beautycasa Online :
- 20 April 2010 at 04:43
- Nicisme said...
I want this NOW, lol! Seriously that is next on my list to buy.
- 16 June 2010 at 11:36
- www.huesca-3d.com said...
It's all erroneous the thing you are saying.
- 3 November 2011 at 11:08


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Latest collaboration between paper and set designer Alexis Facca and photographer Tom Joye transforms three dimensional spaces to look like flat, two dimensional paintings. With the creative use of angle and perspective, Facca and Joye were able to obtain the desired illusion and deceive the viewer's eye.
The Flat Project actually features a miniature 1 x 1 meter set made from paper but in 3D. Seems like the set was flipped and turned to create images from various angles. Without knowing, it is hard to tell which is the floor or ceiling. Here's an explanation by Facca on two of her creations:
"For example in the first image the red is the ground, the wood a wall on left and blue is in the foreground. On the second image (below) the ground is made with wood and the red."
(via mocoloco)


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- Written by John Zhang
My 2009 BMW 135i E82 Car Build From Beginning To End Sorta
I just wanted to blog this "beginning to end (sorta)" post because I rarely see posts like these around anymore. So to start it off, I want to give a brief intro on myself and my car. Many of you may know me as a car photographer since my photo shoots get posted all over the place, however, you might not know that my photography "career" is closely intertwined with my car build. You might not know that it was because of my car that I got into automotive photography in the first place.
The car in question is a 2009 BMW 135i. It was my first car that I solely financed straight out of college.
I really wasn't lying when I said I would be solely financing it. My major in college was business administration so I took what I learned and spent some time calculating my would be monthly payments and interest rates. In case you're wondering, my calculations did come out to be pretty spot on.
I had originally planned to test drive a used Lexus IS300. Other cars I was considering was a Lexus IS250, Nissan 370z or a Mitsubishi Evo X. I never planned on even buying a BMW. Eventually I decided against my JDM choices because I wanted something that was classy yet sporty at the same time. I must admit that it was hard to resist my ricer roots though. I mean how can you resist cars like these:
My mind was changed when I often "took" my mom's BMW 325i out. The BMW handling and simplicity was what ultimately convinced me. At the same time, the 1-series was just released in North America and BMW was taking orders. I originally had planned to go with the 128i, not knowing what I would be missing out on, it was not until I saw the 135i on a BMW dealership lot that I decided that I wanted the 135i simply because of the Mtech kit that it had on it straight from factory. After seeing the 135i and somehow convincing my parents that spending 40k+ was smart straight out of college, I put my deposit down for a new 2009 BMW 135i. For those of you who have ordered a car before will know how aggravating and torturous the wait time is. I ended up waiting nearly a year to receive the keys to my brand new car.
The night I picked up the car from the dealership would be the first time I got into the car and drove it let alone drive a turbo car. I didn't test drive it beforehand, I just knew deep down that it was what I wanted. I am more of a visual person and therefore that can explain why I am a photographer. However, to this day I am not quite sure what drew me to the 135i in particular when there was the 3-series that I could have gotten and could have had it modified to look extremely more aggressive than the "cute girly" car I had bought. Maybe it was the uniqueness and the rarity, who knows. Whatever it was, I promised to take care of it since day 1.
And take care of it I did, I washed it every other week and detailed it every 3 months so I could use it as a test subject for all my photographic endeavors at the time. I took it to plenty of random parking garages and car meets.
With all the photos I started to capture, I decided to start sharing them on forums. Soon enough, I started to receive messages from other car owners and companies who wanted photo shoots. Thus, my journey into automotive photography had started. It can also explain why a vast majority of my portfolio contained strictly BMW only content at the time.
I never once thought about modifying my car because I would often think to myself, why change something that that is touted "the ultimate driving machine"? However, since I started to meet new automotive enthusiasts and companies I slowly began to realize that they all had one thing in common and it was to build or help build a car that is unique to them. And so, I began to modify my car after a year of owning it.
Stage one of my car was completed by early 2010 with the help of VMR Wheels, United BMW, Autotecknic and LTBMW. At this point I had: VMR 701 Wheels Falken Z452 Tires H&R Sport springs BMW Performance brake kit with rotors Autotecknic trunk lip iCarbon rear carbon fiber diffuser RPI custom painted air scoops Although my list of modifications was minimal at this point, many wanted to display my car at various car shows and meets. It was due to these events and people that I met along the way that my horizon, in terms of car modifications was broaden. I not only attended European car related events, but I was also invited to events like Hellaflush, Nisei, Wekfest, Autocon, and etc, which are mainly geared towards the JDM crowd here in socal. I came to accept more and more different styling cues that these events had to offer. As I started to cover these JDM events I eventually befriended the guys from Canibeat.com who put me on staff as an official photographer. I become more entrenched with JDM styling and began to transition away from a "Euro" look to a more "JDM-friendly" look. To some, it might not have made a difference, but swapping out my OEM lug bolts for a stud conversion along with Project Kics Neo Chrono lug nuts and mounting fully polished CCW LM's on my car really attracted more attention. It was early 2011 and the modifications had grown: 3D Design front lip Bavarian Exclusive LED headlights CCW LM wheels Falken Z452 tires ST Coilovers BMW Performance brake kit with rotors Autotecknic trunk lip iCarbon rear carbon fiber diffuser Rotiform studs Project Kics Neo Chrono R40 extended lug nuts BMW Performance side skirts BMW Performance Exhaust BMW 135i LCI tail lights Vishnu Proceede V5 tune BMW Sport seats Custom BMW M3 steering wheel RPI custom painted air scoops H&R 5mm spacers At the same time, I also added some subtle changes to the interior with a new steering wheel and seats. Although at this stage, I was already pretty satisfied with how the car looked and performed, I realized that the CCW's were too readily available for the public. I wanted something rarer. Along the way, I met FLOSS aka Hasback James. For those of you from the Honda community, Hasback and James do not need an introduction. Some say that he single-handedly brought CCW wheels to the general public. He moved on from his Honda and eventually into a BMW M3. After a few chats with him I realized that he refinished wheels on the side and he chanced upon a set of rare BBS Impul wheels from a Nissan race car. That day, I rushed over to his house to test fit them. If they fit, I would be running one of the most aggressive offsets on a 135i. Sure enough, they barely fit and I bought them right away. I had them refinished with OEM BBS rivets, a white center, and re-polished lips / barrels. During the time he was refinishing the BBS. I drove around briefly with fully polished VMR 701's as seen here: Those were also my first and only studio shots. Soon after the studio shoot, James told me my wheels were ready. Once I got them on, I put some finishing touches on them with genuine BBS stickers on the lips and BBS valve stem caps. It was now mid-2012. The BBS Impuls were my favorite wheels to date that have been on my car. By early 2012, I wanted a change and so I went with SSR wheels. The SSR MS3 is a JDM wheel with a Euro twist to it and so I thought it would be a great combination with my 135i.
3D Design front lip Bavarian Exclusive LED headlights SSR MS3 wheels Falken Z452 tires ST Coilovers BMW Performance brake kit with rotors Autotecknic trunk lip iCarbon rear carbon fiber diffuser Rotiform studs Project Kics Neo Chrono R40 extended lug nuts BMW Performance side skirts BMW Performance Exhaust BMW 135i LCI tail lights Vishnu Proceede V5 tune Cusco strut bar BMW 1M mirrors LTBMW custom front lip diffuser LTBMW custom side diffusers BMW Sport seats Custom BMW M3 steering wheel RPI custom painted air scoops H&R 5mm spacers For the most part, I am done modifying the car. With the exception of a few minor things, the car will stay as is for a while. Maybe if I get bored, I'll do something crazy to it like a wide body or a track setup. I don't even know.
Just looking back at this journey I had with my car really surprises me at how I've grown and how many new relationships I've formed simply because of a car. As of now, I try to drive it everyday and I still enjoy getting into the car, starting it and driving it. Fun facts: 1. ~18,000+ miles on it in 3.7 years. 2. I have only touched the surface of the car with my hands a total of 7 times (minus door handle/gas of course) in 3.7 years. 3. The longest road trip in this car was 4 hours from LA to LV 4. The car has only been in rain only 19 times in 3.7 years. 5. The car has been the main topic of several 1addicts forum's highest ranked threads. 6. No door dings. Thanks for reading. This has got to be my longest post ever.
Be sure to like my Facebook page for future updates on my car!


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A few days ago John Carmack said that Apple's iPhone is "a graphical tour de force" and that it's far better than the Nintendo DS and PSP combined. Tood Hollenshead, CEO of id Software, released some more information about their future plans for the iPhone. He says they certainly don't want to be carried away and that John Carmack was very disappointed they didn't have an iPhone game ready when the App Store launched:
"John is pretty disappointed we didn't have the manpower and resources to have a game for the launch of the" app store, id CEO Todd Hollenshead said.
The in-house developers team for mobile games is just too small and had not enough time to get a game ready for the launch of the App Store. At this moment they can only develop one game at a time and they will probably have to gather up with a publisher:
"It appears that at this point that given the size of our team, we can only work on one mobile game at a time. We are probably partner up and the first (iPhone game) will be one where we work with a publishing partner."
They would like to see both Wolfenstein RPG and and Doom 2 RPG on the iPhone, but they don't know when those games could be heading to the iPhone. To finish up Hollenshead compared the Nokia N-Gage with the iPhone:
"The iPhone is cool, and the n-Gage was a nerd device," Hollenshead said. "The iphone is a pretty damn awesome phone, it's a great business device, it's one of the best portable mp3 player you can buy, it can play videos. There's a lot of reasons to have that device and it has the power to play games as well. It's a cool device that you can play games on and they can be awesome games."


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the realm or
World Music, a melding of tonal and
Native American tribal elements that emerges as multidimensional
soundscapes. Creating more than
Native American music alone, ThunderBeat interweaves spiritually
soothing harmonies with soul-awakening rhythms to produce
healing music that can
relieve stress by
removing negative energy. The interweaving of these harmonies with her
drumming that will
heal pain and promote
chakra balancing. ThunderBeat is also a Reiki healing master.
Based in Sedona, Arizona, ThunderBeat offers healing music, in-depth chakra healing workshops and a most informative chakra poster, drum workshops and Mayan astrology readings pursuant to Mayan prophecy, sometimes known as the Mayan 2012 prophecy. We welcome you to the start of your journey of healing and enlightenment.


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A month or two back, I had to write a launcher app that would allow/disallow the running of select installers based on various conditions and config files. Since this would run prior to any of the MSIs, and thus couldn't assume the presence of any dependencies like .NET or the VC++ runtime, I wrote it as a statically linked MFC dialog app using VC++ 2008. All was well with initial testing. But during a final testing phase, the launcher failed to run on a fresh Windows 2000 box with an error about a missing gdiplus.dll.
Windows XP and later OSes like Vista and Windows 7 have GDI+ by default though you may need to apply patches for the latest updates on XP. Windows 2000 predates GDI+ and thus does not have GDI+ by default though a redistributable is available as a separate download. So that's why it failed. But why is there a dependency at all? I had always assumed that a statically linked MFC app would run anywhere. The it struck me – the BCG stuff that they added to MFC starting VC++ 2008! That code used GDI+ and thus had a GDI+ dependency.
Obviously I couldn't include the GDI+ redistributable for the launcher app and I didn't want to remotely take the risk of manually copying along the GDI+ DLL (or any extra files it needs) what with the various updates out there. Eventually, I rewrote the app as a plain Win32 API dialog app (the app was kinda simple, so it didn't take me too long). I know not many people support Windows 2000 today, but some of our clients are still on that OS, and so it was important for us to support it. Anyway, this is just something to keep in mind when using MFC to write a stub executable that should run anywhere.


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Amanda Bynes Walked Around New York Looking Pretty Fabulous Yesterday [PHOTOS]
We're ignoring Amanda Bynes' recent request to only use her Twitter selfies in articles about her, but we think she'll forgive us -- she was snapped looking pretty good in New York yesterday (April 18), and we couldn't resist sharing the photos.
Gone is the unkempt weave, and in its place is a slick new 'do that Bynes may have been getting when she made that bizarre video of what we hope was an audition video for the Miss Universe competition.
(They take contestants from other galaxies, right?)
All in all, she looks pretty fabulous here, and she even matched the color of her shoes to the cab she was hailing.
Check out more pics below. (Just kindly resist the urge to yank out those cheek piercings.)


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Coen Brothers to Rewrite Angelina Jolie Project
Feb 26, 2013 10:25 AM EST
Angelina Jolie's next project has enlisted some Oscar-winning help. Joel and Ethan Coen will rewrite the script for an upcoming film about Olympian and World War II hero Lou Zamperini, The Hollywood Reporter reports. Oscars fashion hits and misses Th… Read more


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Number: 104-3
Date: March 21, 1995
On March 13, 1995, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer introduced the Personal Responsibility Act (H.R . 1214) and the Contract with America Tax Relief Act of 1995 (H.R. 1215). These two bills supersede the earlier Contract with America bills which contained SSA-related provisions--the Personal Responsibility Act (H.R. 4, H.R. 1157) and the Senior Citizens' Equity Act (H.R. 8), respectively.
The full Ways and Means Committee reported the Personal Responsibility Act (H.R. 4) as a clean bill (H.R. 1157) on March 8, 1995 (see Legislative Bulletins 104-1 and 104-2 dated March 7, 1995 and March 13, 1995, respectively.) As introduced, H.R. 1214 includes the provisions of H.R. 1157 with the following modifications.
Restricting Welfare for Noncitizens
Rather than making all aliens ineligible for 35 spec ified Federal welfare programs as under H.R. 1157, H.R. 1214:
- Prohibits any Federal means-tested public benefits to aliens not lawfully present in the United States and to al iens lawfully present as nonimmigrants with exceptions for noncash, in-kind assistance (including emergency medical care) and certain housing programs.
- Provides that immigrants, with certain exceptions , would not be eligible for five Federal programs- -SSI , temporary assistance for needy families under title IV of the Social Secur ity Act, social services block grant assistance, Medicaid, and food stamps-but would not be prohibited from other Federal means-tested public assistance programs.
Also provides that spouses and dependent children of veterans, Armed Forces
personnel on active duty, their spouses , and dependent child ren are added to the
categories of immigrants that are exempted.
Expansion of the Federal Parent Locator Service
- Requires HHS to transmit to SSA, for ver ification purposes, certain inform ation about individuals and employers maintained under the Federal Parent Locator Service. SSA would be requi red to ver ify the accuracy of, correct, or supply to the extent possible, and report to HHS the name, SSN, and birth date of individuals and the employer identification number of employers. SSA would be reimbursed by HHS for the cost of this verification service.
Collection and Use of SSNs for Use in Child Support Enforcement
- State child support enforcement procedures would have to require that the SSN of any applicant for a professional license, commercial driver's license, occupational license, or marriage license be recorded on the application . Also, the SSN of any person subject to a divorce decree, support order, or paternity determination or acknowledgement would have to be placed in the pertinent records.
House floor debate on H.R . 1214 is expected to begin today .
The full Ways and Means Committee reported the Contract with America Tax Relief Act of 1995 on March 14 without amendment. The legislation contains the same SSA-related provisions included in the ear lier Contract with America bill (H.R. 8).
Repeal of Increase in Tax on Social Secur ity Benefits
- Repeals the 1993 taxation provision that increased the taxable portion of Social
Security and Railroad Retirement Tier I benefits from 50 to 85 percent for single
beneficiarie s whose adjusted gross income is over $34 ,000 and married beneficiaries
filing jointly whose adjusted gross income is over $44,000.
The provision would phase-in the repeal of the higher rate for taxpayers with incomes in excess of the above thresholds as follows:
For taxable years beginning after December 31 , 1999, Social Security and Railroad Retirement Tier [ benefits would be treated as under the law pr ior to 1994 (no more than 50 percent of benefits taxable).
Adjustment in Exempt Amount of Retirement Earnings Test
- Gradually raises the earnings limit for those age 65 to 69 to $30,000 by the year 2000.
The increase would be phased-in over 5 years as follows:
The provision would be effective for taxable years beginning after 1995.


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News & Events
For the Media
Vermont Local Food Pioneer to Speak at Clarkson University on Building a Socially Responsible Business
"Being sustainable means being socially responsible and making a profit," says a Vermont businessman who over the past three decades helped pioneer local sustainable agriculture in Vermont.
Mark Curran, co-owner of Black River Produce in North Springfield, Vt., will speak at Clarkson University about "Building an Environmentally Responsible Business" on Friday, April 12, from 3 to 4 p.m. in the Student Center's Multi-Purpose Rooms. This event is free and open to the public.
By helping to develop markets for Vermont farmers and by building a business that is increasingly fueled by alternative energy, Curran and his co-owner, Steve Birge, have created a model of a sustainable, profitable business.
"The cheapest watt is the watt you don't use," said Curran in a recent issue of RenewableEnergyWorld.com . "We redid our lighting to make it more efficient. Our refrigeration system is computer-controlled. We power our fleet of trucks with vegetable oil from our restaurants converted to bio-diesel. And now, we're investing in ourselves and our environment with solar power. Our goal is to get as much local food on the plate as possible. Over 22 percent of our sales were locally raised products from more than 120 Vermont farms. Being socially responsible fits our philosophy."
Begun in 1978 as a small natural food store in the ski town of Ludlow, Vt., Black River Produce today employs 160 people and does over $55 million in business each year. In 2005, Black River Produce was named Vermont Business of the Year and went on to be named runner-up for the National Business of the Year Award that same year.
In the late 1970s, Curran and Birge learned that if they drove their van to produce markets in Boston every week, they could bring back enough fresh produce to not only sell in their store, but sell to local restaurants, as well. As this plan developed, they discovered that the greatest opportunity for growth was in the wholesale produce business.
But back then, selling the produce of local and regional farms was difficult. Restaurants didn't want it. But the business persisted and increasingly it helped farmers get their produce to those and other markets. Today, locally grown produce is highly sought after. Black River Produce played a key role in that development.
Mark Curran is on the board of directors of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility and a member of the Vermont Agricultural Development Board.
Curran's appearance is co-sponsored by Clarkson University's Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Reh Center for Entrepreneurship, Shipley Center for Innovation, and Institute for a Sustainable Environment.
Clarkson University launches leaders into the global economy. One in five alumni already leads as a CEO, VP or equivalent senior executive of a company. Located just outside the Adirondack Park in Potsdam, N.Y., Clarkson is a nationally recognized research university for undergraduates with select graduate programs in signature areas of academic excellence directed toward the world's pressing issues. Through 50 rigorous programs of study in engineering, business, arts, sciences and health sciences, the entire learning-living community spans boundaries across disciplines, nations and cultures to build powers of observation, challenge the status quo, and connect discovery and engineering innovation with enterprise.
[A photograph for media use is available at http://www.clarkson.edu/news/photos/mcurran.jpg.]


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Come shake a tailfeather for this special night of boiling hot Afrobeat. Featuring solo sets by Matt n' Adam, the madness of King Maxwell, but our special surprise is the addition of our guest dj. All the way from the island of Wales, we are lucky to be hosting a longtime U.K. cratedigger and dj, Mr. Ian Pope. Traveling up the coast with his wife, he's agreed to stop off and play a set with us. Tickets are at the door and are five dollars, show starts at 9pm.
Ok everybody, our 3rd annual American Roots celebration is set for July 7th and we're gearing up for a big one. Not only are we excited to have the wonderful folks from HUMBOLDT HOT DOGS coming to feed y'all but this year, we're renting a giant fan so we don't sweat ourselves silly! Tickets are on sale now at Missing Link Records for $10, with $12 tickets available at the door. Beer will be there if you've got your IDs handy and, as we mentioned, there will be food right out front. We're lighting this candle at 8pm, with doors at around 7:30, so take a nap if you have to, because you wont want to miss a minute of the fun. Here is peek at this year's line up...
You've boogied down at Soul Night to the sounds of Missing Link Records' owners Adam Pokorski & Matt Jackson, now watch as they set the turntables to 78 and blast you with a set of old fashioned dance music. "If you ain't right, get right."
Formed in the fogs of Humboldt County in the spring of 2008, the No Good Redwood Ramblers came together as a ragtag musicians with a common love of the jug. Along with captivating local audiences, their cover of 'The Storms are on the Ocean' has been featured on the compilation album "America Salutes the Carter Family."
The Blackberry Bushes are a Contemporary Stringband from the rain-drenched forests of Olympia, Washington. They take a bluegrass instrumentation, draw from the deep roots of American folk music and add influences from Bluegrass, Appalachian old-time, Indie Rock, jazz, and pop.
A mix of old-time, gypsy, bluegrass, jazz, Irish and ragtime, this eclectic, acoustic dance band plays everything from Appalachian Hymns to Harlem Swing. After blowing the doors clean off Humboldt audiences at this year's Summer Arts Festival, their driving back up from Oakland just to serve you all a second taste.
Growing up listening to Tom Waits, Hank Williams Sr., and the Avett Brothers, these ambitious youngsters combine the best of the old and new to make bonafide foot stomping roots music with a flurry of beards, howling harmonies, and raucous, break-neck banjo licks.
He's been called "a one-man folk revival" by NPR but 26 year old Frank Fairfield seems to buck that notion, instead seeing himself simply as curator of the rich history of American popular music. Playing fiddle, banjo, guitar, as well as his signature foot stomp, this young man can make even the staunchest arm-crossing audience members begin to hoop and holler.