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Ask Kashmiris about the uprisings in the Middle East and their frustration shows.
Rashid, a young computer professional, recalls how he joined last summer's street marches for freedom, survived India's police crackdown that killed 117 protesters, and watched as the events got only a sliver of the coverage now given to countries like Libya.
But as the winter snows recede from the circling Himalayan peaks, residents living among the barracks and barbed wire that attest to India's heavy presence here wonder if a touch of the Arab Spring might blossom in Kashmir. Such a development could attract the international attention that they argue is desperately needed for peace.
"In Tunisia and Egypt, behind the success of these revolutions is only media. We want international media to cover our issues because we know the results of peaceful protests in [Egypt's] Tahrir Square," says Rashid, who uses a false name out of fear of detention and torture.
What Kashmir's young independence activists most want the world to grasp is that the protracted fight for Kashmir has broken from its roots in a territorial tug of war between India and Pakistan. Instead, it has become an independence movement led by the two-thirds of Kashmiris who are under age 30 and fed up with living in a police state.
Particularly of interest to world powers, they say, should be their resolve to resist without guns.
But while US support for Arab uprisings is reinvigorating hopes among Kashmiris, whose persistence complicates US efforts to draw closer to India and win more cooperation from Pakistan, it is also sharpening longstanding disappointment.
The US role
Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the imposing octogenarian leader of Kashmir's separatist movement, minces no words, chiding the United States for what he sees as its shortcomings on Kashmir. For half a century, Mr. Geelani has been involved in the struggle, and remembers how the US sponsored the first United Nations resolution calling for Kashmiri self-determination. In recent years, however, Washington has courted New Delhi as a rising power – and dropped its public pressure, at least, over Kashmir. In March, Timothy Roemer, US ambassador to India, visited Kashmir but declined to meet separatist leaders.
"You have seen in Egypt only 17 days of strikes. And we are doing strikes since 1947 ... and you good people, pious people, very intelligent people, very moderate people, and very prosperous people, you have not taken notice," he says in an interview at his home, where some dozen Indian police keep him under house arrest.
Still, he takes a very long view of what he sees as the current, unpromising diplomatic calculus. "Superpowers are not forever superpowers," he reminds.
The US has played an active role in restarting talks between India and Pakistan that began March 28. And Geelani's younger counterpart among the separatist leadership, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, sees more immediate signs of change. At conferences in the West since the Arab uprisings, he says, people approach him about Kashmir.
"In a situation like Egypt, eventually the international community had to accept the fact that the majority of people are saying something and they should be heard," says Mr. Farooq. "India might not feel the pressure right now, but I believe that the acceptability of [our] peaceful struggle is growing day by day."
Young Kashmiris, emboldened by their numbers, are impatient to be the generation to win azadi, or freedom, despite the fact that most India experts discount their prospects.
Over cups of noon chai, a green tea with salt, Rashid and several other young men describe how international pressure on India is their main hope, given state repression.
Social networking
Facebook and Twitter?Their uses as an organizing tool ended after Indian police arrested three young people for posting on Facebook last year. "There are only two ways to communicate: phone calls or SMS [text messages]. We have a ban on SMS. Phone calls are monitored, so how can we interact with each other?" says Rashid.
Nor does the movement have many leaders. Over the winter, police studied images of last summer's protests and detained more than 5,000 young men. Most have been released, with pressure on their parents to rein them in. Those remaining can face two-year detentions without trial under a law criticized in a new Amnesty International report.
"Hundreds ... are being held each year on spurious grounds, with many exposed to higher risk of torture," said Amnesty International's Sam Zarifi in a release. "[A]uthorities are using detentions as a revolving door to keep people … locked up."
Youths put their hope in international support
Blocked from activism, youths put their hope in international support. For this, they are willing to risk a meeting with foreign journalists, leading them through back alleys to evade security forces and police informers.
Rashid's friend Shabeer, a 20-year-old businessman, describes the day in 2010 when he became a stone thrower, as many young people did last summer. He was returning from the funeral of a boy killed by police.
Shabeer says security forces opened fire on the crowd without provocation. "We were scared but we were ready to die for the cause," he says. He picked up stones and returned volleys. "If that time I had a gun, I would fire back."
Indian officials say they are eager to avoid a repeat of the violence this summer, and tout measures they are taking to engage young people and keep them from taking to the streets. During the winter lull in protests, the police tried to set up alternative outlets for youths, offering sports as well as jobs in the force.
Mercy Corps, meanwhile, funded a conference in March that gave young Kashmiris a rare chance to meet and talk about ways forward. One day focused on cultural heritage, led by young people who have found a broader voice in art than stones. "I have this tool of metaphor I use and I can communicate without being sued or arrested," says Malik Sajad, a 23-year-old political cartoonist whose work is online at kashmirblackand white.com.
He is working on a graphic novel about young people who grew up amid Kashmir's recent decades of turmoil, told through the story of the hangul, an endangered deer. "The hangul don't understand these big [political] ideas," he says. "They are suffering, and that's why they react."


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For Texas beauty queen Angela Zatopek, starring in Eva Longoria's online dating series "Ready For Love" and being a virgin gives her celebrity status.
After all, both Olympian track star Lolo Jones and devout Christian football player Tim Tebow claim to be virgins.
"I feel like today being a virgin is like a taboo," said Zatopek, 25, a 5-10 former Miss Texas 2012 contestant from The Woodlands. "There's not a lot of people who can understand waiting until marriage. I know the right person can appreciate that. A virgin doesn't mean being a prude. I go to Vegas. I go to parties. I have fun."
On Longoria's show, which initially aired on NBC, Zatopek is one of a dozen women vying for love with the show's bachelor Ben Patton, a hospital CEO from Dallas who was handpicked by Longoria. The show, which finished taping in the fall, is currently airing on NBC.com and Hulu.
A graduate of University of Texas-Austin, Zatopek has worked as a reporter with FOX and CBS covering college sports and is regularly featured on ESPN Houston Radio on 97.5 FM.
Zatopek says she hopes to be an inspiration for a generation of young women. She's even launched a ring collection, "ONE LOVE," in collaboration with reality stars Lisa and Brittny Gastineau. The collection was featured on the "700 Club" and is inspired by Zatopek's decision to save sex for marriage. Rings are $179.99 and will be soon available at www.onelovecollection.com. In the meantime, fans can sign up to be on the wait list to be the first to know when the jewelry is available.
The rings, she said, are a symbol of faith. "We all go through let downs and disappointments but you always have one love of God.
So what did Zatopek learn about dating from the show?
"Keep an open heart, have an open mind in the process and stay true to who you are," she said. "A lot of young girls are pressured to be physical. We should guard our hearts for the right person."

subset: commoncrawl


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Doped pyrochlore oxides of a type described below are under consideration as alternative materials for high temperature thermal barrier coatings (TBCs). In comparison with partially yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ), which is the state of the art TBC material now in commercial use, these doped pyrochlore oxides exhibit lower thermal conductivities, which could be exploited to obtain the following advantages:
- For a given difference in temperature between an outer coating surface and the coating/substrate interface, the coating could be thinner. Reductions in coating thicknesses could translate to reductions in weight of hot-section components of turbine engines (e.g., combustor liners, blades, and vanes) to which TBCs are typically applied.
- For a given coating thickness, the difference in temperature between the outer coating surface and the coating/substrate interface could be greater. For turbine engines, this could translate to higher operating temperatures, with consequent increases in efficiency and reductions in polluting emissions.
TBCs are needed because the temperatures in some turbine-engine hot sections exceed the maximum temperatures that the substrate materials (superalloys, Sibased ceramics, and others) can withstand. YSZ TBCs are applied to engine components as thin layers by plasma spraying or electron-beam physical vapor deposition. During operation at higher temperatures, YSZ layers undergo sintering, which increases their thermal conductivities and thereby renders them less effective as TBCs. Moreover, the sintered YSZ TBCs are less tolerant of stress and strain and, hence, are less durable.
The materials that are sought as alternatives to YSZ are required to have and retain lower thermal conductivities and to be better able to withstand temperatures that degrade TBCs made of YSZ. The undoped versions of the doped pyrochlore oxides of the type now under consideration as alternatives to YSZ are of general composition Ma2Mb2O7, where Ma denotes a 3+ cation (for example, La to Lu) and Mb a 4+ cation (for example, Zr, Hf, Ti). Doping has been investigated as a means of reducing thermal conductivities even further below those of YSZ coatings. In the doping approach investigated thus far, another cation is substituted for part of Ma, yielding a general composition of Ma2–x MxMb2O7, where x lies between 0 and 0.5 and M denotes a rare earth or other suitable element.


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|iMovie HD 6.0.3
About iMovie HD 6.0.3
With an abundance of powerful new features and possibilities, iMovie HD 6 continues to be the fastest and easiest way to turn a home video into your own Hollywood-style hit that you can share with family and friends via iDVD, email, your iPod or other compatible mobile device. And iMovie HD 6 is the easiest way to create a video podcast, which you can share with the world via the Internet with iWeb and .Mac.
For the latest news and information about iMovie HD, go to the iMovie HD website at www.apple.com/ilife/imovie.
Whats New in this Version
This update addresses compatibility for accessing Aperture 1.5 content in iMovie HD. It also improves overall stability and addresses a number of other minor issues.
System requirements
To install iMovie HD 6.0.3, you need:
- A Macintosh computer with a PowerPC G4, PowerPC G5, or Intel Core processor (512 MB of RAM required for HDV support)
- 256MB of RAM; 512MB recommended
- Mac OS X v10.3.9 or v10.4.3 or later; Mac OS X v10.4.4 recommended
- QuickTime v7.0.4 or later (v7.0.4 included with iLife '06)
Additional requirements:
- High definition video (HDV) requires a minimum of a 1GHz G4 or faster processor and 512MB of RAM.
- Mac OS X v10.4.4 is required for Audio FX; and Quartz Extreme is required for iMovie motion themes, real-time effects, and the Ken Burns Effect.
- A .Mac account is recommended for iWeb; fees and terms apply.
For optimum performance, update your system software to the latest version of Mac OS X and QuickTime. To make sure you have the latest versions, choose Apple > System Preferences and click Software Update. Click Check Now or Update Now to retrieve updates for your system. After you install an update, it's a good idea to click Check Now or Update Now again to make sure you've received all the updates that are available. You must be connected to the Internet to use Software Update.
Installing iMovie HD 6.0.3 Updater
iMovie HD 6.0.3 Updater will update your iMovie HD version 6.0.2 if it is in your Applications folder and you have not changed its name. You need an administrator password to install this software. The administrator's name is shown in the Accounts or Users pane of System Preferences. For more information, see Mac Help, available in the Help menu.
Download Details
This download supports:
System Requirements
|Download ID: sd11747


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2280 Short Drive
Directions Corning, CA 96021
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| Contact our Sales
department for a quick quote and $ave BIG!
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Browse our complete inventory of low priced Ford cars in Corning. We are committed to offering you a variety of vehicles that suit your lifestyle and budget. A member of the Corning Ford sales team has the expertise to find a new Ford that will meet all of your needs. Choose from all of the latest Ford models including the F-150, F-250, Escape, Focus and Edge. Get behind the wheel of a Ford by visiting our greater Corning car dealership located at 2280 Short Drive.
Browse our current Ford inventory by using the Power Search tools below. If you cannot locate a particular vehicle give us a call and we will locate the new Ford you are searching for.
Corning Ford is the Ford dealership near Chico and Red Bluff where customer satisfaction is the top priority. People visit Corning Ford because they can consistently expect outstanding services from our new and used cars from Corning. We hope to have the opportunity to earn your business and invite you to visit Corning Ford in person at 2280 Short Drive.
Sure there are plenty of factors to consider when purchasing a new car; performance, comfort, value, the list goes on. Thankfully our knowledgeable Corning Ford staff in Corning can guide you through every step along the way in finding the best Ford F-250, F-150, F-350, Focus or Fusion for you, from the test drive to the first drive home. Plus, we'll be sure to keep your priorities at the top of our list throughout the rest of the car-buying process.
Whether you're on the hunt for a new Ford for the family, you want make a switch to a new brand, or you just want to trade up for the latest model year, we've got you covered. Rest assured that our capable sales team will assist you in finding the perfect vehicle, whether you're in the market for a new or used car. Better yet, we'll even make the search enjoyable. And when you find one you like, our auto financing department can make the next step run just as smoothly.


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Photo by Andrew Rashotte
CanvasPop's own Andrew Rashotte recently organized an absolutely awesome charity event at The Standard that mixed what we think are the finer things in life: canvas printing, photography, lots of friends, and helping sick kids.
Andrew and his crew contacted 10 skate photographers reaching from Ottawa to Los Angeles and asked them to donate one photo each for the event. These were then put on canvas by CanvasPop and displayed at a silent auction at The Standard, with all the proceeds going to the Make-a-Wish foundation.
The event was a huge success and raised nearly $2500… Read more


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Equipment required:
- Silpat
- ½ baking sheets or a 13" x 18" jelly roll sheet (rimmed baking sheet)
- Mixer (optional)
- Bowls
- Knives
- Offset spatula
- Regular spatula
- Pastry comb (optional)
- Rulers
- Spring form pan
- Biscuit cutter (or ring mold, or cut PVC pipe, or whatever else you can think of to use as a mold for individual desserts)
- Torte/entremets mold/Springform pan/ Trifle dish (for larger desserts)
- Cling wrap
- Parchment paper
- Gel, paste or liquid food coloring (optional)
Joconde Sponge
YIELD: Two ½ size sheet pans or a 13" x 18" (33 x 46 cm) jelly roll pan
¾ cup/ 180 ml/ 3oz/ 85g almond flour/meal – *You can also use hazelnut flour, just omit the butter
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons/ 150 ml/ 2⅔ oz/ 75g confectioners' (icing) sugar
¼ cup/ 60 ml/ 1 oz/ 25g cake flour *See note below
3 large eggs – about 5⅓ oz/ 150g
3 large egg whites – about 3 oz/ 90g
2½ teaspoons/ 12½ ml/ ⅓ oz/ 10g white granulated sugar or superfine (caster) sugar
2 tablespoons/ 30 ml/ 1oz / 30g unsalted butter, melted
*Note: How to make cake flour: http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2009/09/how-to-make-cake-flour/
- In a clean mixing bowl whip the egg whites and white granulated sugar to firm, glossy peeks. Reserve in a separate clean bowl to use later.
- Sift almond flour, confectioner's sugar, cake flour. (This can be done into your dirty egg white bowl)
- On medium speed, add the eggs a little at a time. Mix well after each addition. Mix until smooth and light. (If using a stand mixer use blade attachment. If hand held a whisk attachment is fine, or by hand. )
- Fold in one third reserved whipped egg whites to almond mixture to lighten the batter. Fold in remaining whipped egg whites. Do not over mix.
- Fold in melted butter.
- Reserve batter to be used later.
Patterned Joconde-Décor Paste
YIELD: Two ½ size sheet pans or a 13" x 18" (33 x 46 cm) jelly roll pan
14 tablespoons/ 210ml/ 7oz/ 200g unsalted butter, softened
1½ cups plus1½ tablespoons/ 385ml/ 7oz/ 200g Confectioners' (icing) sugar
7 large egg whites – about 7 oz / 200g
1¾ cup/ 420ml/ 7¾ oz/ 220g cake flour
Food coloring gel, paste or liquid
COCOA Décor Paste Variation: Reduce cake flour to 6 oz / 170g. Add 2 oz/ 60 g cocoa powder. Sift the flour and cocoa powder together before adding to creamed mixture.
- Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (use stand mixer with blade, hand held mixer, or by hand)
- Gradually add egg whites. Beat continuously.
- Fold in sifted flour.
- Tint batter with coloring to desired color, if not making cocoa variation.
Preparing the Joconde- How to make the pattern:
- Spread a thin even layer of décor paste approximately 1/4 inch (5 millimeter) thick onto silicone baking mat with a spatula, or flat knife. Place mat on an upside down baking sheet. The upside down sheet makes spreading easier with no lip from the pan.
- Pattern the décor paste – Here is where you can be creative. Make horizontal /vertical lines (you can use a knife, spatula, cake/pastry comb). Squiggles with your fingers, zig zags, wood grains. Be creative whatever you have at home to make a design can be used. OR use a piping bag. Pipe letters, or polka dots, or a piped design. If you do not have a piping bag. Fill a ziplock bag and snip off corner for a homemade version of one.
- Slide the baking sheet with paste into the freezer. Freeze hard. Approx 15 minutes.
- Remove from freezer. Quickly pour the Joconde batter over the design. Spread evenly to completely cover the pattern of the Décor paste.
- Bake at 475ºF /250ºC until the joconde bounces back when slightly pressed, approx. 15 minutes. You can bake it as is on the upside down pan. Yes, it is a very quick bake, so watch carefully.
- Cool. Do not leave too long, or you will have difficulty removing it from mat.
- Flip cooled cake on to a powdered sugared parchment paper. Remove silpat. Cake should be right side up, and pattern showing! (The powdered sugar helps the cake from sticking when cutting.)
Preparing the mold:
- Start with a large piece of parchment paper laid on a very flat baking sheet. Then a large piece of cling wrap over the parchment paper. Place a spring form pan ring, with the base removed, over the cling wrap and pull the cling wrap tightly up on the outside of the mold. Line the inside of the ring with a curled piece of parchment paper overlapping top edge by ½ inch. CUT the parchment paper to the TOP OF THE MOLD. It will be easier to smooth the top of the cake.
- A biscuit cutter/ cookie cutter- using cling wrap pulled tightly as the base and the cling covering the outside of the mold, placed on a parchment lined very flat baking sheet. Line the inside with a curled piece of parchment paper overlapping.
Prepare Joconde for Mold:
- Trim the cake of any dark crispy edges. You should have a nice rectangle shape.
- Decide how thick you want your "Joconde wrapper". Traditionally, it is ½ the height of your mold. This is done so more layers of the plated dessert can be shown. However, you can make it the full height.
- Once your height is measured, then you can cut the cake into equal strips, of height and length. (Use a very sharp paring knife and ruler.)
- Make sure your strips are cut cleanly and ends are cut perfectly straight. Press the cake strips inside of the mold, decorative side facing out. Once wrapped inside the mold, overlap your ends slightly. You want your Joconde to fit very tightly pressed up to the sides of the mold. Then gently push and press the ends to meet together to make a seamless cake. The cake is very flexible so you can push it into place. You can use more than one piece to "wrap "your mold, if one cut piece is not long enough.
- The mold is done, and ready to fill.
*Note: If not ready to use. Lay cake kept whole or already cut into strips, on a flat surface, wrap in parchment and several layers of cling wrap and freeze.
Filling Options:
It is nice to have a completed dessert so you can unmold and see the Joconde working. Fill with anything you desire. Layers of different flavors and textures! However, it needs to be something cold that will not fall apart when unmolded.
Mousses, pastry creams, Bavarian creams, cheesecakes, puddings, curds, jams, cookie bases, more cake (bake off the remaining sponge and cut to layer inside), nuts, Dacquoise, fresh fruit, chocolates, gelee.
Mousse Recipes:
Classic Chocolate:
- 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tbs butter, cubed or sliced
- 4 egg yolks
- 3 tbsp. sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream (plus more, if needed)
Place chocolate and butter in heat-proof bowl and melt over a double-boiler.
In a separate bowl, place yolks and sugar and whip over double-boiler until pale and slightly stiff.
add chocolate mixture, and mix until blended. if mixture is thick, use cream to thin it.
Whip 1 cup of cream to stiff peaks. fold into chocolate mixture.
White Chocolate Mousse:
- 1 teaspoon gelatin (powdered, unflavored)
- 1/4 cup cold water
- 1-1/2 cups heavy cream
- 7 ounces white chocolate, chopped
Bloom gelatin in cold water.
Heat 1/2 cup of cream and dissolve bloomed gelatin in it.
pour hot cream over chocolate and stir to melt chocolate completely.
whip remaining cup of cream to stiff peaks and fold into chocolate mixture.


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|Message view
|« Date » · « Thread »
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|Rodent of Unusual Size <Ken.C...@Golux.Com>
|[STATUS] (apr-util) Wed Aug 27 23:45:57 EDT 2003
|Thu, 28 Aug 2003 03:45:58 GMT
APRUTIL LIBRARY STATUS: -*-text-*- Last modified at [$Date: 2003/03/31 05:32:43 $] Release: 0.9.3 : Tagged March 30, 2002 0.9.2 : Released March 22, 2002 (alpha) 0.9.1 : Released September 11, 2002 (alpha) 0.9.0 : Not released 2.0a9 : released December 12, 2000 RELEASE SHOWSTOPPERS: RELEASE NON-SHOWSTOPPERS BUT WOULD BE REAL NICE TO WRAP THESE UP: * Solaris's Sun Freeware (sfw) package has a busted gcc/ld setup. This gcc passes -L/opt/sfw/lib to /usr/ccs/bin/ld, but does not pass -R. Therefore, when trying to run the code using a library from /opt/sfw/lib (say, libdb), the run-time linker will not look in /opt/sfw/lib and the program will die. Status: Workaround is to add "-R/opt/sfw/lib" to LDFLAGS. Should check latest sfw package set and see if Sun may have fixed this. * GDBM usage of errno is not-thread-safe. Fix. Other bugs that need fixing: Other features that need writing: * possibly move test/testdbm* to util/dbu Justin says: Do we still want to do this? testdate is now in test. Status: Greg +1 (volunteers) Documentation that needs writing: * API documentation Status: * doc the lifetimes of apr_dbm return values Available Patches: Open Issues:
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February 12, 2002 - Northern New Jersey Record: The Peace Corps Reaches out to the Muslim World
Peace Corps Online
Peace Corps News
Peace Corps Headlines - 2002
02 February 2002 Peace Corps Headlines
: February 12, 2002 - Northern New Jersey Record: The Peace Corps Reaches out to the Muslim World
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Sunday, February 17, 2002 - 8:25 am
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The Peace Corps Reaches out to the Muslim World
Read and comment on this op ed piece from the Northern New Jersey Record on the Peace Corps reaching out to the Muslim world at:
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Feb 12, 2002 - Record, Northern New Jersey Author(s): Bill Tammeus
DEEP IN President Bush's State of the Union speech was a little- noticed but critical call to a new way of relating to the Islamic world.
If something like what he suggested doesn't happen, the roots of discontent and hatred that grew into the evil of Sept. 11 won't die.
Rather, we may forever be forced to battle terrorists who think they're following respectable religious teachings.
Bush said he wants to double the Peace Corps size over the next five years "and ask it to join a new effort to encourage development and education and opportunity in the Islamic world." He said we must seize "a great opportunity during this time of war to lead the world toward the values that will bring lasting peace."
In this new engagement with Islam, he said, "we have no intention of imposing our culture. But America will always stand firm for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity, the rule of law, limits on the power of the state, respect for women, private property, free speech, equal justice and religious tolerance." The goal, he said, is "a just and peaceful world beyond the war on terror."
Is it possible to do what Bush asks? Yes. Will it be easy? In no way. For one thing, America must be consistent in advocating the Bush list of "non-negotiable demands." For America's stance to seem credible in the Islamic world, it must apply equally to Saudi Arabia's arrogant royal rulers as well as to the restless, angry Palestinians.
Our history of consistency, however, is checkered indeed. We supported the Shah of Iran's oppressive rule. We haven't spoken up forcefully when religious rights of non-Muslims are quashed in some Middle Eastern countries. We saved Kuwait from Saddam Hussein but then let its restored rulers continue to treat women like mortgageable property. And our support of Israel, which is the right policy, at times has seemed even to neutral observers to come at the expense of the best interests of the Palestinian people (whose leaders often have been disastrous to their cause).
Islam's followers notice all this. In fact, what many Americans see as their nation's goodness comes to be understood in some Muslim circles as unfairness or, worse, evil.
Even more distressing, this perception is driven to wildly inaccurate lengths by lies of radicals like Osama bin Laden who care nothing about reality, but only their twisted vision of it. They see America as the willing pawn of Satan (Iblis, in Islamic terms). This cockamamie vision sells well among far too many people in Middle Eastern Islam, partly because their own governments are distant, oppressive, and corrupt and yet have America's official support.
So there's a problem of both perception and reality. The perception of America often is a misperception, fueled by proponents of a rigid Islam who view the West as the infidel and who fabricate bizarre stories about America's alleged sins.
But the reality is that for too long in Muslim countries America has backed decadent rulers who have created failed societies. We have agreed to continue supporting them because we are afraid the alternative would be so much worse.
Fareed Zakaria, international editions editor of Newsweek magazine, put it this way in one of a series of profoundly enlightening analyses he has written for the magazine since Sept. 11: "This fear The Fear of the Alternative has paralyzed American foreign policy in the Middle East. Compared with almost every other part of the world, where over the last three decades the United States has pushed for economic and political reforms sometimes more slowly than democrats would like in this region it has always veered away from any such confrontations. The Middle East is the great exception in American foreign policy."
I'd like to think that Bush's proposal to beef up the Peace Corps and to begin to engage the Islamic world at the ground level can start to reverse that policy. We cannot, of course, expect a few idealistic Peace Corps members to be our complete answer. It will require much more and the effort will have to be sustained for a long time.
But if we don't find a way to help all segments of the Islamic world join us in advocating consistent human rights for all, we may well have to pay a price even higher than the one extracted from us on Sept. 11.
Bill Tammeus writes for The Kansas City Star. Readers may write to him at: The Kansas City Star, 1729 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Mo.
64108-1413, or e-mail him at tammeus(at)kcstar.com.
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
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Raspberry Pi - RS232 Serial Interface Options (Revisit)
In the previous article Raspberry Pi - Installing a RS232 Serial Port we discussed how to install a RS232 port on the Raspberry Pi. This is a follow up article to suggest a few alternative interface options as the XBit RS232 level-shifter board has been unavailable (sold out) for while now.
There are two primary RS232 interface options you can choose from for serial connectivity:
Once you have a serial interface connected you can use the serial port for
(Click one of the above options to jump to that part of the article.)
Shopping List
The following items are included in this article:
- PL2303HX USB to TTL to UART RS232 COM Cable module Converter
- MAX232 RS232 to TTL Converter Adapter Board
- 40pcs Female to Female 2.54mm 0.1 in Jumper Wires F/F
- Jumper Wires Premium 6" F/F Pack of 10
Serial Communication via USB
If you are just looking to communicate to your Raspberry Pi via its serial UART, then you may prefer a USB interface. Most recent models of computers and laptops do not have the traditional RS232 DB9 port anymore, so connecting using a USB port may be preferred.
The following adapter is only $5.47 USD and it provides a USB to serial converter chip:
This adapter is based on the Prolific PL2303HX chipset. To use this USB to serial interface you will have to install a USB serial port driver on your host operating system. Many operating systems already include support for theserolific drivers. But in case you need it, the drivers can be found here: http://prolificusa.com/portfolio/pl-2303hx-usb-to-serial-bridge-controller/
Below is a wiring diagram illustrating how to connect the USB to serial interface:
Photos of the connected USB to Serial interface (click to enlarge):
NOTE: Please secure the RED lead from the USB adapter so that it does not come into contact with any of the other pins or components on the Raspberry Pi. This RED pin carries +5VDC and could damage the Pi if it makes contact.
Now that you have the serial interface connected, you can skip down to the Serial Console section to test the interface.
Serial Communication via DB9 (Level Shifter)
For certain applications and especially project involving interfacing with other hardware devices a standard RS232 serial device with a DB9 connector is preferred. A standard serial port such as this does not require any drivers. RS232 serial communication is standardized at the hardware layer. RS232 communication can also achieve longer distance runs (maximum distance depends on baud rate).
The following interface adapter is available for $9.99 USD:
In addition to the adapter, you will need at least 4 female to female 2.54mm .1 in jumper wires.
Here are a couple of purchase options:
Why is special circuitry (level shifter) needed for RS232 serial communication?
So .. what a level shifter and why is it needed you ask. A level shifter is a circuit that can take the low voltage (±3.3VDC) TTL signals for serial transmit (TX) and receive (RX) from the UART on the Pi and shift them to ±5VDC the voltage signals required for RS232 standard communication. Want to know more? Click here.
Below is a wiring diagram illustrating how to connect the level shifter serial interface:
Now that you have the serial interface connected, you can skip down to the Serial Console section to test the interface.
(Use a straight-thru cable for connecting to a computer.)
Serial Console
The Debian/Raspbian distribution images include support out-of-the-box for accessing the shell console via the hardware serial port. This can be extremely convenient if you need to access your Raspberry Pi when it is not connected to a monitor and network remote access is not available.
Open a terminal emulation software such as Hyperterminal, Procom Plus, or Indigo Terminal Emulator and connect to the serial port using settings "115200, N, 8, 1". You may need to press the enter key a time or two to see the prompt. Authenticate using your credentials and you are good to go.
Here is a screenshot of the terminal displaying the boot up information and then prompting for a login:
Software use of the Serial Port
If you intend to use the serial port for a software application running on the Raspberry Pi, there is a bit of configuration required to disable the console from using this port. By default, the serial port is configured as a console port for interacting with the Linux OS shell. The following steps will guide you through disabling the port from console access.
First, lets make of backup of the two files that we intend to modify.
sudo cp /boot/cmdline.txt /boot/cmdline.bak
sudo cp /etc/inittab /etc/inittab.bak
Next, we need to remove the "console=ttyAMA0,115200" and "kgdboc=ttyAMA0,115200" configuration parameters from the "/boot/cmdline.txt" configuration file.
To edit the file use this command:
sudo nano /boot/cmdline.txt
The file probably contains this default configuration line:
dwc_otg.lpm_enable=0 console=ttyAMA0,115200 kgdboc=ttyAMA0,115200
console=tty1 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootfstype=ext4 elevator=deadline rootwait
After removing the two configuration parameters, it will look similar to this:
dwc_otg.lpm_enable=0 console=tty1 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootfstype=ext4
elevator=deadline rootwait
The last step is to edit the "/etc/inittab" file and comment out the use of the "ttyAMA0" serial port. To edit the file use this command:
sudo nano /etc/inittab
Now towards the bottom of the file, look for a configuration line that includes the "ttyAMA0" port address.
Place a pound sign ("#") in front of the line to comment it out. With a pound sign ("#") at the beginning of the line, Linux will ignore this configuration line.
Save the "/etc/inittab" file and then issue this command to reboot the Raspberry Pi:
sudo reboot
Now you are ready to use the serial port with a software application and the operating system won't interfere with the port. Use the device address "ttyAMA0" in your application to access this serial port.
If are interested in using the serial port with Java programming, please see this page: http://pi4j.com/example/serial.html
I have updated the wiring diagram and photos for the USB TTL adapter approach to remove the 5VDC RED pin connection. It was technically working, but I felt it was safer to eliminate this connection to prevent current from being sourced from the USB connection/adapter back into the Raspberry Pi.


text:
OCEAN CITY – As this extraordinarily challenging year for the economy and investment markets finally nears its end, it may be difficult to see ways to gain ground financially.
Yet, as you are adjusting your portfolio, you may be able to take advantage of an important year-end tax strategy called tax-loss harvesting. It can help offset investment losses when you are repositioning your portfolio to seize any new opportunities that can emerge during times of market turmoil.
The strategy is based on a simple concept. While the government expects investors to pay taxes on investment gains, it gives them a break when they sell their investments at a loss. For many investors, equity market losses will exceed gains for 2008, and the first $3,000 of that excess amount may be claimed as a regular tax deduction, thereby reducing ordinary income. If that amount doesn't use up the year's entire loss, the remaining loss can be carried forward to offset capital gains or income in future tax years.
This year, some investors—particularly owners of equity mutual funds—could be faced with unexpected tax liabilities. "A number of investors may be surprised to receive capital gains distributions this year," said Vinay S. Navani, principal in the accounting firm Wilkin & Guttenplan in East Brunswick, N.J. "That's because many funds have had to sell long-term holdings to raise capital to pay investors who've cashed out."
That leaves fund investors in an uncomfortable position. Because of the way mutual funds are structured, profits on these transactions are passed along to shareholders, who must declare the gains on their tax returns. At the same time, however, the value of fund assets may decline, so investors who continue to hold fund shares could face tax bills as well as a shrinking portfolio.
That sting can be mitigated, though, by harvesting securities losses this year. This is done by selling securities that have taken losses. Then, where it still makes sense to invest, you can purchase securities that give you the desired investment exposure after waiting for 30 days after the original sale. That delay avoids something known as the wash-sale rule, which prevents investors from deducting losses if the same or "substantially identical" securities are bought again within a month. By banking the losses, you can offset gains when the market rebounds.
There's also another potential advantage to this strategy: If President-elect Barack Obama makes good on his pledge to have high-income investors pay more for long-term capital gains — raising the rate at which they are taxed from 15% to 20% — those losses would become more valuable in subsequent years.
But tax-loss harvesting isn't only about tax efficiency, nor does it represent a retreat from the market. Rather, it comes into play as part of a larger effort to rebalance your portfolio in order to obtain greater diversification. The extreme volatility of the market this year has played havoc with asset allocations, leaving many investors with an investment mix that doesn't match their risk tolerance or long-term financial goals. For some, rebalancing is simply a matter of getting back to a sensible balance between stocks, bonds and other investments. In other cases, challenging markets have led investors to reassess their portfolios' proportion of risks and potential returns, and tax-loss harvesting could help them reshape their investment mix to limit unwelcome surprises, especially given the likelihood of future volatility.
Doing a year-end analysis of your portfolio may reveal high-risk holdovers that performed well before the markets headed down, but may no longer make sense. Pruning some of those positions now could not only provide you with tax advantages, but also enable you to shift toward the kind of holdings Merrill Lynch Chief Investment Strategist Richard Bernstein believes may outperform in coming months. Those include high-quality bonds; stocks in "cash-flow-stable" sectors such as health care and consumer staples, and in developed international markets such as Japan; and large, domestically focused "best of breed" emerging market equities.
Investors realizing substantial losses in the current markets might also consider reducing concentrated stock positions or selling long-time holdings that have built up huge gains. In the current environment, gains on long-term holdings may be smaller, and there could be plenty of counterbalancing losses to reduce tax liability. "Investors whose portfolios have been skewed by concentrated positions can now move toward a more diversified balance," Navani says.
Your Merrill Lynch financial advisor, working with your tax advisor, can help you take stock of your portfolio and consider year-end moves that could minimize taxes now and prepare your portfolio for better days to come.
(A Merrill Lynch Senior Financial Advisor. She can be reached at 410-213-8520.)


text:
From ACRLwiki
News & Information
- ALA 2013 Annual Conference, Chicago, IL
- EBSS New Leader Orientation Information PowerPoint 1 PowerPoint 2 PowerPoint 3
- Spring 2013 EBSS Newsletter
- EBSS-L - Education & Behavioral Sciences Section Listserv
- ComLib-L - Listserv for Communication Studies librarians managed by the University of Illinois Communications Librarian
EBSS Committee Projects, Publications and Wikis
- Connecting the Standards Committee: Instruction for Educators -- NOTE: This project is under development. The content is incomplete. Please check back.
- Curriculum Materials Resources Committee: [1] -- NOTE: This project is under development.
- Education Librarian's Toolbox Committee: Reference Sources and Services Committee.
- Higher Education Resources Committee: Higher Education
- Library Resources for Communication Studies (LRCS) This site is a springboard that librarians, students, and researchers can use to find information in the area of communication studies. It is not exhaustive, rather it includes the core or primary resources within each category presented. The resources included within this site were selected by communication studies librarians serving as members of the Electronic Resources in Communication Studies Committee. Comments can be posted to ALA Connect.
- Online Learning Toolkit Committee: Online Learning Research Committee -- NOTE: This project is under development. The content is incomplete. Please check back.
- A Statistical Directory for Education & Social Science Librarians Committee: Reference Sources and Services
- Resources for Psychology Librarians -- This page is designed to serve as a resource in assisting librarians who have recently assumed responsibilities in the areas of psychology (with particular emphasis on reference and acquisitions) and, more generally, to provide a starting point for any librarian interested in exploring the field of psychology.
Information is currently available on the EBSS Committee webpages
Online Environments
- EBSS Website (The official Web site for the Section, managed by the EBSS Web Mangers. Provides a permanent online record of official EBSS business and documents including committee homepages, meeting minutes, the EBSS Manual, and more)
- EBSS Wiki (A collaborative space where Section members can find, contribute to, and modify information. Includes Section news, conference meeting agendas, committee projects, and will grow as Section members add content.)
- ALA Connect (ALA's "professional network" - an online version of "what has traditionally taken place in the physical world."
More Information about EBSS
For further information, see the official EBSS website


text:
New House speaker faces post-election challenges
Few state institutions bear a more distinct imprint of recent Republican hegemony than the Florida House of Representatives.
It launched the political career of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who served as its speaker four years ago. Its members have passed some of the most conservative bills in the nation. And since 2006, it has nurtured the career of Will Weatherford of Wesley Chapel.
On Tuesday, Weatherford will be sworn in as, at 33, the youngest speaker of the House in recent Florida history and the first speaker from Tampa Bay since 2004. He'll preside over a chamber where Republicans have an overwhelming 76-44 majority. The son-in-law to former House Speaker Allan Bense, Weatherford looks like the latest model in a long, unbroken line of GOP speakers.
But these are also somewhat humbling times for House Republicans. On Nov. 6, they lost five seats and their veto-proof majority, punctuated by the shocking defeat of the person who had been picked to succeed Weatherford as speaker in 2014, Chris Dorworth.
"There's no question that the state moved more toward the center," said incoming Minority Leader Perry Thurston, D-Plantation. "This will change things, make it more bipartisan than it has been for quite a while."
The moment may be tailor-made for Weatherford, a block of a man and former defensive end at Jacksonville University who has developed a reputation for playing nice with both parties.
"If there's one thing I'd like to achieve is to be an inclusive reformer for the Florida House," Weatherford told reporters last week. "To make sure we're working with our friends across the aisle, that we're allowing for everyone's voice to be heard and to participate, but at the same time, don't let that stifle us from moving forward with real reforms and dealing with the challenges that Florida has before us."
Make no mistake: Weatherford will continue to push a conservative, pro-business agenda that could have been authored by the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
He wants new state employees to enroll in 401(k)-style retirement plans rather than the current pension system, which provides guaranteed payments from the state. While it's sure to alienate unions and spark a legal battle, Weatherford can't say how much it will save the state. He says pensions are a "ticking time bomb" in state finances — despite no evidence of the sort.
He'll push hard for a bigger commitment to online education and easing corporate taxes on small businesses. He toes the Republican party line on the Affordable Care Act, is closely aligned with incoming Senate President Don Gaetz and publicly supports Gov. Rick Scott, albeit with measured language.
"His focus is on the right thing, which is getting unemployment down, making sure we have a fully funded education system," Weatherford said. "He's talking about the right things."
But he disagrees with Scott on tuition. While Scott opposes tuition increases, Weatherford sides with universities, saying they are necessary to cover costs.
"We have universities that if given more flexibility with tuition, they can go to great heights," he said.
His biggest break is one of style. His predecessor, Dean Cannon, ran the House with strict efficiency that bruised the feelings of marginalized Democrats while allowing Republicans to run roughshod with legislation that, during the tea party ascendency, opposed Obamacare, the stimulus and early voting. Since the spring, Weatherford has signaled he will run the House differently.
"I thought Dean Cannon was a great speaker," Weatherford said in an interview. "He was very good to me, and I learned a lot from him. But everybody's different. My style will be very similar to the way that I did the redistricting process."
Weatherford drew raves as House redistricting chairman, where he was responsible for redrawing the 120 House districts. He held several public meetings, sought counsel from Democrats, and came up with a new map that was generally supported. While the state Senate map is still being challenged in court, the House map was deemed legal last year. Weatherford uses the map as a shield against criticism that under his leadership, Republicans lost ground in the election.
"We lost the super majority with the map," Weatherford said. "I knew it would cost us seats, but it was the right thing to do."
Along with Gaetz, Weatherford wants to eliminate fundraising committees used by lawmakers. Weatherford said they aren't transparent.
It's unclear how exactly Weatherford could enhance transparency, but his shift has nevertheless impressed League of Women Voters of Florida President Deirdre Macnab.
"We're very intrigued and certainly noticing a new tone and a greater emphasis on ethics," she said. "It's refreshing."
Amid calls for elections reform by Democrats and voting rights groups, Weatherford sounded like he would revisit the issue, even though he voted for the bill in 2011 that scaled back early voting and made other changes.
"If (HB 1355) contributed to any challenges in the election process, we should admit that," Weatherford said. "Obviously the laws that are currently on the books may not have served the state well."
Former Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, a harsh critic of Scott who is considering forming a task force to address elections reform, called Weatherford last week to seek his advice.
"He was very positive, telling me he would make sure there was room in the legislation for our recommendations," said Iorio, a Democrat. "I've always found Will Weatherford to be reasonable, and I think he's sincere about elections reform."
Thurston also gives Weatherford high marks for being more inclusive. During the summer, Weatherford and Thurston met several times to discuss issues that they said Democrats and Republicans could find common ground — such as gambling, energy, ethics, campaign finance and the budget.
Still, Weatherford's House may deliver the same hard right legislation of his predecessors.
"In the end, it will still be a conservative agenda," Thurston said. "But he'll make every effort to push bipartisanship."
Michael Van Sickler can be reached at (850) 224-7263 or email@example.com


text:
Break That Code Trivia Game
View all Sessions
Join Hugh Thompson as he hosts a security themed trivia game in The Sandbox! Show off your InfoSec smarts by volunteering to play as a contestant or participate as we poll the audience!
This document was retrieved from http://www.rsaconference.com/events/us14/agenda/sessions/1411/break-that-code-trivia-game on Mon, 19 Aug 2019 10:30:42 -0400.


text:
On the surface, Rock of the Dead sounds like a great use of all those plastic guitars cluttering your living room. Meteors crash to Earth and give off radiation that reanimates the dead and causes horrible monsters to spawn from the dirt. You need to stop them by wandering the world with your guitar and rocking out. Colored buttons appear over the bad guys, you strum the onscreen sequence, and the horrible baddies explode.
Sadly, Rock of the Dead doesn't do much with its premise. The music is public domain stuff along with some Rob Zombie classics that aren't the best quality, the world doesn't look good, and the repetitive nature of everything just saps the fun out of the title. Even the vocal work of Neil Patrick Harris can't make overcome this game's ho-hum visuals, sound and gameplay.
So, yeah, meteors crash rain down upon a trailer park and players set off at NPH's stoner/rock dude who might have the occasional one-liner but usually is just a bunch of "Duuuuudes." From a first-person perspective that's on rails, you move around levels and face off against the bad guys that appear before you — it's basically Typing of the Dead with a guitar instead of a keyboard. Most of these guys lumber at you with the colored buttons above their heads and you have to tap them out. These aren't in any kind of rhythm; you just need to get through the sequences as quickly as possible, but after years of strumming along to real songs, the "click-clack as fast as you can" gameplay can be a bit jarring.
Occasionally, you'll come to a monster or mini-boss where you actually need to play along with a song that pops up. Here, the notes float by on a horizontal track, and you clack along like every other music game you've played. Thing is, the song being played just doesn't sound great. That goes for all the tracks in the game. They don't sound like they're high-def or meant to be coming out of a HD console.
Levels go on like this. As you play, you earn shields and a special power that allows you to pulverize everything on the screen, but this is the main thrust. Our stoner dude is just making his way through the trailer park, on to the beach, to the radio station and so on. None of these environments look all that good and neither do the enemies you're fighting. Rock of the Dead is a bland and blocky game visually.
Behold the power of rock.There is a multiplayer mode if you want to have someone else hop in and jam along with you, but I found it to be a bit cumbersome. When we were playing and the screen was filled with enemies, it was hard to tell which character button combo I had started and which my friend had started and what I should be focusing on and what the friend should focus on. It's a bit of a mess.
Closing Comments
Rock of the Dead isn't bad; it's just flat. The music isn't good, the visuals aren't good, and the gameplay isn't all that interesting. I found myself feeling like I was completely done with the title by the time I was through the first level — there's just nothing all that exciting about it. All of this is even sadder considering that this looks and feels like a downloadable title but is in fact a budget retail game (and that means it has a budget retail price).
The silver-lining to all of this is that Rock of the Dead provides you with something else to do with all those fake guitars you have sitting around. If staring at those things has been annoying you, the gameplay works here and gives you something to do. However, I think I'd rather hold onto my money and keep on staring at the instruments.


text:
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Get tips and tricks you really need from other kids with diabetes!
[This is the eBook version of this book, delivered in the ePub format. To read this eBook, you will need Adobe Digital Editions installed on your machine. NOTE: Third party eBooks are not compatible with the Amazon Kindle Reader.] Tips from kids of all ages as well as parents and doctors, how to fine-tune your diabetes on injections and on the pump. A "going on the pump" journal is included. ©2004 Spike Nasmyth Loy and Bo Nasmyth Loy
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text: David Walters is a professional panoramic photographer of Monarch Studio, based in downtown St. Augustine Florida. His panoramic process allows him to create 360° seamless photographs for use in creative marketing, fine art prints, and especially full immersion tours. A Professional Jacksonville Virtual Tour Photography. Contact themonarchcreative.com to learn more.


text:
Video Link: https://youtu.be/bGTH9ZSwzdk
Kevin Benedict
Writer, Speaker, Senior Analyst
The Center for the Future of Work, Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
Read more at Future of Work
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
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***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.


text:
AMD and Intel have long been rivals in both the CPU and chipset markets and this has resulted in price wars for the last decade as both companies vie for your hard earned cash. AMD has traditionally been the underdog in this game, but during their AMD64 heyday they made the top, if only for a moment. AMD in my eyes stands for those who want adequate performance, but not the price tags associated with many of Intel's mainstream CPUs, and for general gaming the AMD CPUS do their part. That being said AMD also has nothing that can touch Intel's high-end X58 chipsets or their concurring CPUS, but for those on a budget this is an irrelevant fact as those users cannot afford those high-end parts in any case. Most AMD buyers are on a budget and looking for the best performance versus dollars tradeoff for their systems, and AMD is glad to fill that role.
Gamers are the target audience AMD and with the acquisition of ATI, that target has become even more apparent. Fans of the ATI brand at first balked harshly at the takeover by AMD, but this proved to be the best move AMD has done yet as the ATI brand still lives under the new AMD moniker. The real drawbacks for fans of the AMD chipset were the fans that like NVIDIA cards better than AMD and want to run SLI and not CrossFire configurations in their systems. This is one of the new features that the 990FX chipset has that will make it more appealing to gamers, SLI support right out of the box. I know that is a big issue, but the really big question is where is Bulldozer right? Well the manufactures had some issues with the new CPUs and then decided to go ahead and launch the chipset without the CPU. The 990FX does support the latest CPUs, including Bulldozer, but it also still supports all the current AM3 CPUs that are floating around the market on its new AM3 Socket. Today we take a look at MSI's flavor of motherboard the all-new 990FXA-GD80 the latest candidate to the AMD lineup in 2011.


text:
I'm having some Yiddish text overflow it's box in a XeLaTeX document. I suspect there is a simple command to stop this from happening. Does anyone know an easy solution or do I need to make and post a MWE?
As can be seen in the screenshot it is interfering with my image to the right and causing it to be shifted down.


text: Aw, sugar! Adorable human banjo string Joseph Gordon-Levitt just released this über twee animated short through his production company hitRECord, all about the love and pain that goes into eating a bag of strawberry bootlaces, the licorice candy popular across the UK. (For you American rubes, strawberry bootlaces are the British equivalent to a Twizzlers Pull N' Peel.) Add a Smiths reference and a pair of saddle shoes and this could very well be a deleted scene from 500 Days of Summer. Is it cloying? Possibly, but who can stay annoyed at a mug like that?


text:
A group of five men robbed a 14-year-old boy of his shopping bag outside Arundel Mills mall after he walked out of a Bed Bath & Beyond store about 2 a.m. Friday, Anne Arundel County Police said.
The victim told police the men accosted him on the sidewalk just outside the store, one of them punched him and another stole a bag containing merchandise he had just purchased. The suspects, who the boy described as black men aged 17 to 21 wearing black North Face jackets and jeans, ran away toward the mall's Bass Pro Shops entrance.
Police searched the area but could not find the suspects.
The boy's parents were contacted and he declined medical treatment for a minor injury at the scene.
Arundel Mills opened at midnight Friday for shoppers seeking holiday discounts.
A security guard rolled through Arundel Mills mall at a pace a little faster than a stroll Friday morning, his Segway patrol crossing in front of the Bed Bath & Beyond where police said the robbery occurred.
"There is no sale that is worth standing in line in the middle of the night. My kids don't need anything that badly," said Melody Creswell of Severna Park. Instead, she started her day at 6 a.m.
While hundreds of parking spots were open at the Maryland Live casino, shoppers flocked to spots in front of big box stores. Drivers navigated slowly through parking lanes, stalking shoppers at they headed to their cars in search of free spaces.
Comments have been disabled on this story. Engage in conversation on The Baltimore Sun's Talk Forums or our Facebook wall.


text:
Personalized White Matchboxes
Personalized Place Card Matches
Personalized Matches
Light up your wedding with customized matchbooks! The perfect personalized wedding favors, matchbooks are a classic yet fun detail for every event. Affordable and useful, use your matchbooks as save the dates or even as place cards for the reception. Make them a fun favor at your engagement party or bridal shower, or simply leave them by the bar at the reception for that nice finishing touch. With a variety of colors and themes, our completely customizable matchbooks are sure to fit your scheme.
Looking for more ways to make your wedding unique? Be sure to check out our other personalized wedding reception accessories and wedding favors. We're certain you'll be happy with our large selection of coasters, napkins and more. Browse through our save the dates and place cards for even more unique ideas.


text:
Dropship offers safe landings for Mars rovers
The dramatic conclusion to ESA's latest StarTiger project: a 'dropship' quadcopter steers itself to lower a rover gently onto a safe patch of the rocky martian surface.
StarTiger's Dropter project was tasked with developing and demonstrating a European precision-landing capability for Mars and other targets.
The Skycrane that lowered NASA's Curiosity rover onto Mars showed the potential of this approach, precisely delivering rovers to their science targets while avoiding rock fields, slopes and other hazards.
"StarTiger is a fresh approach to space engineering," explains Peter de Maagt, overseeing the project. "Take a highly qualified, well-motivated team, gather them at a single well-equipped site, then give them a fixed time to solve a challenging technical problem."
This latest team was hosted at Airbus Defence & Space's facility in Bremen, Germany, joined by engineers from the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, Portgual's Spin.Works aeronautics company, and Poland's Poznań University of Technology Institute of Control and Information Engineering.
Starting from scratch for the eight-month project, the Dropter team was challenged to produce vision-based navigation and hazard detection and avoidance for the dropship.
It has to identify a safe landing site and height before winching down its passenger rover on a set of cables.
Flying to a maximum height of 17 m, the dropship comes gently down to 10 m above the ground, where it begins lowering the rover on a 5 m-long bridle, coming lower until the rover touches down. Then it returns to a safe altitude.
Flight testing took place at Airbus's Trauen site in northern Germany, which back in the 1940s was the scene of spaceplane pioneer Eugen Sänger's rocket experiments.
A 40 m by 40 m Mars-scape was created, littered with hazardous rocks, where the dropship had to pick a safe spot to deliver its passenger.
The dropship was customised for the project from commercial quadcopter components, with a smaller drone used for preparatory indoor testing.
Using GPS and inertial systems to fly into position, it then switched to vision-based navigation supplemented by a laser range-finder and barometer to land its rover autonomously.
This demonstration having proved the concept, the dropship approach is now available for follow-on development by planetary missions to come.
About StarTiger
StarTiger stands for 'Space Technology Advancements by Resourceful, Targeted and Innovative Groups of Experts and Researchers' working within the Agency's TRP Basic Technology Research Programme.
It brings team members together on a single site to work on a set challenge, aiming to produce a working prototype by the end of the project's time limit.
- About StarTiger - OLD
- Technology Research Programme (TRP)
- StarTiger rapid autofocus for eyes in sky
- ESA tests self-steering rover in 'Mars' desert
- StarTiger secures way to eclipse Sun in space
- Airbus Defence & Space
- German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence DFK
- Spin.Works
- Poznań University of Technology Institute of Control and Information Engineering