text:
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text:
The Crypt
|This article may contain outdated information.
Monsters: Golems, Vampires, Warlocks and Animated Armors.
Boss: Count BlahBlah. Vicious: 1322 HP, 120 damage/Hard: 760 HP, 90 damage. Blinks, life steal 40%, undead.
Special Rules: Whenever a monster dies, all vampires become hidden.
Recommended classes: Priest, Paladin, Wizard, Bloodmage.
Recommended gods: Jehora Jeheyu, Glowing Guardian.
Notes: Vicious mode is unlocked after beating the dungeon in Hard mode with 4 different classes.
The special rule applied to Vampires in this dungeon can be annoying, but it can be used in your favor, since vampires cannot drain your life when you have less than 40% HP. Whenever you HP is low, explore some tiles with vampires and regenerate. This strategy works specially well with Jehora Jeheyu, since he gives you piety (or punishes you) when a tile with an enemy is explored. This strategy can be used with BLUDTUPOWA to prevent the gain of HP while exploring vampires.
The combination of a Gnome Wizard, Jehora Jeheyu and BLUDTUPOWA is a powerful strategy. The Wizard does not suffer much from JJ's punishments and can use the Boost Mana boon to raise his mana up to 25 points. This becomes even better when combined with HALPMEH and a Sensation Stone/Keg of Mana. the Bloodmage can also be used instead of the Wizard.
Followers of Glowing Guardian have the advantage of getting extra piety from Vampires. This works well with Paladins, since they can drink potions in addition to getting healed by Protection.
In Hard mode, the boss hides whenever he blinks. This can be an advantage for classes with healing abilities, like Paladin or Priest. First explore the boss' tile with low HP, then use a potion/ HALPMEH. This way, the boss will not drain your health and you will regenerate HP/MP. It is also possible to stop the boss' blinking with WEYTWUT (though it's usually expensive) or Entanglement.
Razor Blade Smile: Complete the dungeon on Vicious mode with three different classes to unlock the Vampire.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Tuesday 26 March 2019 (other days)
Tuesday of the 3rd week of Lent
Christ the Lord was tempted and suffered for us. Come, let us adore him.
Or: O that today you would listen to his voice: harden not your hearts.
Year: C(I). Psalm week: 3. Liturgical Colour: Violet.
About the author of the Second Reading in today's Office of Readings:
|Second Reading: St Peter Chrysologus (380 - 450)
|40 Days and 40 Ways: Tuesday, 3rd week of Lent
|Dom Henry Wansbrough
This passage is an extract from the booklet "40 Days and 40 Ways" by Dom Henry Wansbrough OSB, published by the Catholic Truth Society and used by permission. "40 Days and 40 Ways" has meditations for each day in Lent. To find out more about the booklet, or to buy it, please visit the CTS web site.
The Universalis Readings at Mass page shows the readings for today's Mass.
|Liturgical colour: violet
|Mid-morning reading (Terce)
|Joel 2:17 ©
Between vestibule and altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, lament. Let them say, 'Spare your people, O Lord! Do not make your heritage a thing of shame, a byword for the nations.'
|Noon reading (Sext)
|Jeremiah 3:25 ©
We have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our ancestors from our youth until today, and we have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God.
|Afternoon reading (None)
|Isaiah 58:1-2 ©
Shout for all you are worth, raise your voice like a trumpet. Proclaim their faults to my people, their sins to the House of Jacob. They seek me day after day, they long to know my ways, like a nation that wants to act with integrity and not ignore the law of its God.
Scripture readings taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. For on-line information about other Random House, Inc. books and authors, see the Internet web site at http://www.randomhouse.com.
|This web site © Copyright 1996-2019 Universalis Publishing Ltd · Contact us · Cookies/privacy


text:
Too Legit to Quit
ST. PETERSBURG — It's '90s night here at The Trop and following the game, the Rays are having a concert featuring none other than MC Hammer. The Hammer, wearing a No. 44 Rays jersey, just threw out the ceremonial first pitch and he took BP prior to the game.
Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston was excited enough to be a part of Hammer Time that the skipper had his picture taken with the star rapper, turned preacher, and once, yes, batboy. Hammer was a batboy for the A's from 1972-1980 and was around when Jays first-base coach Dwayne Murphy and hitting coach Gene Tenace were with the Oakland organization. Apparently, Reggie Jackson has taken credit for nicknaming the young Stanley Burrell "The Hammer" because he looked like Aaron.
"I'm a fan," Gaston said. "I think Gino knew him when he was a kid. He was in the clubhouse all the time in Oakland. That name Hammer comes from a good friend of mine — Hank Aaron. I just walked out here today and I got to meet him out here. It was a good day for me."
Today's lineups:
TORONTO (47-49) at TAMPA BAY (56-39)
at 6:10 p.m. ET at Tropicana Field
Joe Inglett, 2B
Marco Scutaro, SS
Alex Rios, CF
Matt Stairs, DH
Rod Barajas, C
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Scott Rolen, 3B
Brad Wilkerson, RF
Adam Lind, LF
PITCHING: RHP Roy Halladay (11-6, 2.71)
Akinori Iwamura, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Carlos Pena, 1B
Eric Hinske, RF
Evan Longoria, 3B
Cliff Floyd, DH
B.J. Upton, CF
Dioner Navarro, C
Ben Zobrist, SS
PITCHING: RHP Matt Garza (7-5, 3.96)
21 Comments
If JP thinks this bunch of BUMS will save his job he's got the wrong tobaco in his pipe.
Garry-So how do you like Longoria now?
What happend I shut the game off.
And I never said I didn't like him I said I would not trade Halladay for him.
He hit the grand salami off of Halliday
Last year the current roster drove in 563 runs and had 127 HR,This year 294 runs and 51 HR so far,How pathetic can it get,Why is it Cito and JP keep telling us we can win with this team,
These are the stats of the players on the current roster not all of them where here last year,What I can't figure out is why are these players here now,Are they paying JP for their jobs.
After tonights game if Halladay wants out I woudn't blame him,He deserves to be on a contender.
It took 40 years, but it looks like the leafs are finally ready to admit that their approach to constructing a winning team was wrong; and now they are trying to build a team through the draft and acquiring young talent. Good for them. It is about time! With Tampa emerging as the "real deal", Boston and New York always a force, and Baltimore a year-ahead (at least) in the rebuilding phase, perhaps Jays' fans and management will finally realize that it is time to re-build. At this point, I think that the only thing we fans can hope for is for the Jays to be swept both in Tampa and Baltimore. This would make it clear to everyone that the Jays are pretenders, not contenders, but more importantly, it will expose JP as an incompetent GM who could not dismantle or retool his team at the trade deadline. He will no longer be able to use the excuse that the "jays might make a run in the second half", and will therefore have to explain his inability to do anything helpful or worthwhile to help the team next year through trades.
A couple of other things: (1) Given JP's act and the team's performance, there is no chance of rebuilding through free agency. No one in their right mind will take our money. (2) If you watched Purcey's impressive strikeouts in the all-star game, one of the things that worried me a little was that his strike-out pitches were no where near the strike zone, and not the type of pitches most major-league hitters would bite at. He may be able to get minor league hitters out with wild pitches, but I am afraid that he looks a lot like the pitcher who racked up walk-after-walk at the major league level because he could not through the ball for strikes. I hope this is not the case, because I am a big Purcey fan!
Burt-I agree there's little option but to seriously re-tool. My real concern is whether JP is the guy to do it, because I don't think he is.
I think we need a complete make-over of management which includes a replacement for both JP and Godfrey. That being said, the guy I'd like to see us get to replace Godfrey is Pat Gillick and his contract with the Phillies doesn't expire until the end of the year. I really think we need a good baseball man at the top who understands the importance and how to build a good minor league system.
I'd like Godfrey to hire his chosen GM and of course then let the GM hire the Manager/coaches, etc. If that's the case, then the serious re-tooling would have to come over the winter-not now.
So, in my view, it's now up to Mr. Ted Rodgers to pull the plug.
I don't think rodgers will fire Godfrey remember when he bought the team he didn't know anything about baseball so Godfrey will continue to pull the wool over his eyes.
There's still lots of trade rumors that Milwaukee are looking to bolster their relief corp and are talking to Oakland regarding Huston Street and San Francisco on Jack Taschner.
The trade with Cleveland to get Sabathia has paid huge dividends for them, so if they bolster their bullpen, they might be the real deal coming out of the NL this season.
B.J. Ryan and Jessie Carleson could be the two guys to put them over, and they have already demonstated they're prepared to sacrifice future for now.
So let's offer them Ryan and Carlseson for Escobar and Gamel-I think there's a very good chance that deal could get done.
Of course, that would mean JP has to make a phone call.
gsumer Send JP 50 cents so he can make the call LOL.
What about the Mets and Yanks? Surely they would want to bolster their lineups? We have already traded Clemons to the yanks following a 3rd straight Cy-Young, so we know the Jays are not against trading in their division.
Also, I guess if JP does make the type of trades some of us are calling for, it would be an acknowledgement that he was simply wrong about the makeup, talent, and direction of this team. Hence, he is not going to do anything.
What really disappoints me is the toronto media. They should be putting massive pressure on JP to blow it up and make moves, or for Godfrey and JP both to go. However, they never seem to step up to the plate, pardon the pun, except for the occasional rant. It is time some of these guys got together and forced the issue while our club is slowly sliding into the abyss.
Maybe the media is afraid JP will shut them out of the clubhouse.
When Clemons was traded it was Gord Ash he had more guts than JP and a smaller EGO.
How can this team have such a great May and then just fall apart,This is my opinion.
Rolen hurting and keeping it to himself.
Eskstein no good anymore.
Rios home run derby has changed his swing.
Hill out because of Esksteins small split pea brain.
Overbay never recoverd from hand injury.
Stairs to old.
Poor catchers.
No replacments in the minors ready to come up.
And last but not least JP who keeps bringing in has beens.
Rolen could be hurt.
what more could you ask of Eckstein? he's played as can be reasonably expected since returning from the D.L. J.P. just made a mistake in signing him in the first place I asked for him too, I was wrong.
Rios had 1 good power year. Maybe he'll always be a 15 to 25 homer guy at best.
Eckstein actually called the ball but Hill didn't listen.
I think Overbay is the biggest mystery to me.
Stairs IS too old, you're right.
The catchers as a tandem are decent but they could use an upgradem, no question.
Agree with no replacements in the minors.
Too many has beens indeed.
Garry-You're right about JP's signing of has beens. A partial list of these signed in 2007 + 2008 include;
Frank Thomas
Matt Stairs
Royce Clayton
Jason Phillips
Jason Smith
Ray Olmedo
Howie Clark
Hector Luna
Tomokazu Ohka
Victor Zambrano
Joe Kennedy
Kevin Mench
Shannon Stewart
Brad Wilkerson
A. Benitez
This is not the entire list, so feel free to add to it.
Garry-although we're light in some areas in the minors, one position we're not light at is catcher. Diaz should have never been sent back down. When Diaz is healthy again he should be brought back up. Arenciba should be brought up in September. These two should be the only catchers playing in Septemer, just like Diaz should be the primary catcher when hes called up.
In my view, it makes little sense to trade either Zaun or Barajas-unless we get at least a B+ prospect-and I doubt JP can accomplish that. Both become free agents at the end of year and we get a sandwich draft pick if they sign elsewhere.
The Glaus for Rolen trade.
Now who came out ahead in that trade,We are also paying 1.8 mill.of Glauses salary.
surprised on the defensive numbers for glaus and rolen…i am thinking rolen made those errors due to his range…since he has a longer range he also has more of a chance of making an error.
Riccardi did say that he was planning on bringing up Snider and Arecibia for September.
Every time this team gets a couple of runs they try to give them right back,And Zaun couldn't throw his mother out even if she was in a walker.
Now the pitchen is falling apart I won't be watchin the rest of the game I have better things to do like watching paint dry.I'm out of here.


text:
(This article was first published on Timely Portfolio, and kindly contributed to R-bloggers)
I'm clearly out of my realm of competence with most of the rugarch functions, but I thought it might be nice to provide an example combining plot.xts and uGARCHroll.
To leave a comment for the author, please follow the link and comment on their blog: Timely Portfolio.
R-bloggers.com offers daily e-mail updates about R news and tutorials on topics such as: Data science, Big Data, R jobs, visualization (ggplot2, Boxplots, maps, animation), programming (RStudio, Sweave, LaTeX, SQL, Eclipse, git, hadoop, Web Scraping) statistics (regression, PCA, time series, trading) and more...


text:
A Glamorous Country Club Wedding in Palm Beach, Florida
Carla Isaias and Daniel Benavides brought their glamorous wedding to life at Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. The sunset ceremony, which took place on the country club lawn, had a natural backdrop of green fields and palm trees. An arch of roses, hydrangeas and hanging orchids complemented the wedding's color palette of gold, white and pink. Carla stunned in a "haute couture" Marchesa dress with organza flowers, while Daniel wore an Ermenegildo Zegna tuxedo. After a poolside cocktail hour with a live mariachi band, guests headed inside for an ornate reception. "The Mar-a-Lago ballroom is modeled after a European palace with stunning chandeliers, ornate walls and columns gilded with original gold leaf imported from Europe," Carla says. "We simply added to the stunning décor with lush centerpieces and grandiose cherry blossom trees." Candles, warm lighting and towering flower arrangements also created an elegant design. The night ended with 'Hora Loca' and plenty of confetti on the dance floor.
Our favorite #MakeTradition Moment: "As I'm close with my father, I also decided to do a first look moment with him. It was very special and heartwarming," Carla says.


text:
When lawmakers' kids cross the line
The cases sound like the blotter entries at a busy police station: Assault. Drug possession. DUI. Breaking and entering. Carrying a weapon.
Except the alleged perpetrators aren't your typical troublemakers — they're the children of members of Congress. One after another in recent weeks has been posing for a mug shot, generating embarrassing headlines and causing their prominent parents plenty of heartburn.
Story Continued Below
In December, Patrick Moran, the 23-year-old son of Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), was arrested outside a Washington bar for allegedly slamming his girlfriend's head into a metal trash can after she confronted him for talking to another woman. Though Moran's girlfriend claimed she tripped on a broken high heel, a police officer on the scene reported she was "bleeding heavily" after apparently suffering a fractured skull and broken nose.
( PHOTOS: 9 pols who sought forgiveness)
Moran pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to probation.
The incident occurred just weeks after the younger Moran — a field director for his father's reelection campaign — came under police investigation when he was caught on video discussing how to cast ballots for voters who were unlikely to show up at the polls.
Last month came news of another alleged assault: William Paul, the 19-year-old son of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), was arrested for allegedly using physical force with a female flight attendant. The younger Paul faces charges of underage drinking, disorderly conduct and being intoxicated and disruptive.
Next up was the son of Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.), James Barrow. Cops found a small amount of marijuana in his car when he was pulled over for speeding. Barrow was charged with several misdemeanors, according to the Athens Banner-Herald.
Lots of parents toss and turn at night, worrying that their kids' rebellious behavior might cross the line to something worse. As it turns out, members of Congress are no different. More than a dozen House and Senate members have children who've been arrested or faced investigation for alleged misbehavior.
The rash of recent headlines shines a harsh spotlight inside the political fishbowl — a place where an embarrassing incident that for most families would remain private turns public in a flash.
( PHOTOS: When lawmakers go wild)
"I was always keenly aware that if I did anything, it would wind up on the front page of the paper," said Evan Bayh, the onetime Democratic Indiana senator and governor and son of former Sen. Birch Bayh.
Social networking has only heightened the glare, Bayh has warned his twin 17-year-old sons.
"Boy, things have changed since back in the day," he said. "With the Internet, there is no privacy."


text:
he snow capped Sangre de Cristo Mountains form a formidable barrier between the eastern United States and what is now New Mexico, Arizona, and California. But Americans moving westward during the early 19th century could not be stopped. At Raton Pass, on the border between Colorado and New Mexico, they found one way through the mountains, but it was narrow and steep, suitable at first only for pack horses. The broader, easier crossing at Glorieta Pass, between the mountains and the red wall of Glorieta Mesa, was another.
These two passes played critical roles in the events that ensured that New Mexico and the Southwest would become, and continue to be, part of the United States. In the 1820s, the first of many traders crossed the mountains on the Santa Fe Trail, hoping to make a fortune selling manufactured goods in the small city of Santa Fe or further south in the city of Chihuahua. In 1846 soldiers followed in the tracks of the traders. Dressed in uniforms of the United States army, they came down through Raton and Glorieta passes to claim the territory of New Mexico for a rapidly expanding American nation. Almost 20 years later, other men tried to take over the Southwest. The country they fought for this time was the Confederate States of America. Their defeat at the small but decisive Battle of Glorieta Pass ensured that New Mexico, Arizona, and California would stay in the Union.
About This Lesson
Getting Started: Inquiry Question
Setting the Stage: Historical Context
Locating the Site: Maps
Determining the Facts: Readings
Visual Evidence: Images
Putting It All Together: Activities
How the National Register
Pecos National Historical Park
Santa Fe National Historic Trail
The lesson is based on Raton Pass and the Glorieta Battlefield, two of the thousands of properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Raton Pass has been designated a National Historic Landmark.


text: This is a Brand New Internal Hard DriveThe drive offers the industries highest areal density per platter, at 35.1gigabits per square inch. This new drive offers enough capacity for portable video recording and editing, with lower power consumption compared to the traditional 3.5-inch HDDs. This functionality provides ideal storage for a range of commercial and consumer notebooks, as well as non-PC applications such as PDAs, printers, copiers, GPS systems and MP3 players. The drive is ATA-5 compliant, supporting high transfer rates of up to 100 megabytes per second.


text:
Don't Forget Your Sunglasses!
With summer almost here, many of us are looking forward to spending a lot of time outdoors.
With summer almost here, many of us are looking forward to spending a lot of time outdoors.
There is so much more going on with our eyes than we often realize.
Exercising for good health is a top priority for many people.
Tears play a vital role in the health and function of our eyes. That's what makes dry eye such a serious problem.
Men and women have plenty of differences, but did you know that some of them have to do with eyesight and vision health?
Most people who start needing glasses or contacts while they're young have at least one of three common vision problems: myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism.
Over the last couple of decades, the internet has changed just about every aspect of our lives.
Spring is in the air...and that means so are allergies.
Although men and women have a lot in common, there are a few differences when it comes to eyesight and vision health.
Have you ever experienced a strange disruption to your vision, such as zigzagging circles or a blindspot surrounded by wavy lines?


text:
MoD pledges greener buying
First step - low-energy radar
Secretary of State for Defence John Hutton and defence biz execs yesterday signed a Sustainable Procurement Charter intended to make the UK's military-industrial complex more green.
The voluntary charter commits the MoD and its suppliers to work together to achieve sustainable development goals through "educating the supply chain, developing performance measures and sharing best practice".
Hutton said: "The charter is a very powerful statement of intent, setting out what we expect and what industry can expect from us. The aim is that our procurement processes become greener, more sustainable and provide even better value for money."
Director of the Sustainable Procurement Programme, Duncan McDonald, said:
"The MoD is working in partnership with suppliers and trade associations to ensure that the needs of our troops on the front line are met by delivering sustainable solutions. An example of this is 'Green Commander Fleet Radar Programme' which includes eco-design principles to reduce resource use, increase use of recycled materials, and minimize repair miles."
The Green Commander radar is a programme intended to sort out some of radars fitted in Royal Navy frigates, which aren't much cop at the moment. Apparently it will be the first naval radar designed on sustainability principles. The programme will include "energy benchmarking of the radars to determine energy footprint with a view to setting energy targets for new radar equipment".
Thus far a typical energy target for a new active radar has been to get as powerful a beam as possible, so as to increase range and ability to deal with jamming. The latest generation of American radars are so powerful, and so able to tightly focus their beams, that they are said to be almost energy weapons in their own right - not able to burn things or explode them, perhaps, but quite capable of inducing unintended currents in enemy circuitry, or perhaps even blowing out sensitive components.
Apparently there will now be a three-star officer (of Lieutenant-General, Air Marshal or Vice-Admiral rank) designated as "Sustainable Procurement Champion" in the MoD. ®
Sponsored: Your Guide to Becoming Truly Data-Driven with Unrivalled Data Analytics Performance


text:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tom Wheeler, nominated by President Barack Obama on Wednesday to become the next U.S. communications regulator, is expected to face tough scrutiny from senators over his past close ties to the very industries he would oversee.
For the past decade, Wheeler has been a venture capitalist investing in technology firms and a tech adviser for the White House and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). But he is best known in Washington as the chief lobbyist for the cable industry in the 1980s and the wireless industry in the 1990s.
While he has rare support from both industry and consumer advocates to be the new head of the FCC, he is expected to face questions during the confirmation process, not only about his past as a lobbyist, but also about the fact that his nomination follows his more recent role as one of Obama's top fundraisers.
In announcing the nomination, Obama touted Wheeler's decades of experience and deep understanding of the industry and said this would help him in "one of the toughest jobs in Washington" as the regulatory agency seeks both to spur tech innovation and catch up with rapidly changing technology.
"For more than 30 years, Tom's been at the forefront of some of the very dramatic changes that we've seen in the way we communicate and how we live our lives," Obama said as Wheeler, 67, stood at his side. "Tom knows this stuff inside and out."
Obama, who famously in 2007 pledged never to allow lobbyists to "run my White House," joked about Wheeler being "the only member of both the cable television and the wireless industry hall of fame" and highlighted his private-sector success.
Wheeler, whose nomination was long expected, has already run into some skepticism on Capitol Hill about his ability to be a tough regulator. "A lobbyist is a lobbyist," Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller told reporters last month when asked about Wheeler's background.
Rockefeller, a Democrat, had been urging Obama to nominate the senator's former staffer and current FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and got 37 Democrats to endorse a letter promoting her.
White House spokesman Jay Carney was asked at a news briefing on Wednesday why Obama appeared to be going back on his pledge about lobbyists. He stressed that Wheeler had not worked as a lobbyist in nearly a decade and when he had the companies he represented were far smaller than they are now.
"So the president thinks that Mr. Wheeler is an excellent candidate for this position," Carney said.
Wheeler is likely to go through Senate confirmation hearings at the same time as a Republican nominee for an FCC seat vacated by outgoing Commissioner Robert McDowell. Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to recommend a candidate who Obama would then nominate in coming days.
During Wheeler's confirmation process, Democratic FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn will serve as the acting agency chairwoman, the first woman to hold the top post.
Welcoming comments poured in after Obama announced Wheeler's nomination. They came from all ends of the telecom industry, including mobile carriers, cable companies and consumer groups, and all pointing to Wheeler's deep understanding of the market.
Supporters include some of the most outspoken public interest advocates, who point to Wheeler running the National Cable Television Association in the 1980s and then the wireless trade group CTIA from 1992 to 2004, each at a time when the industries were young and challenged established technologies.
However, in a 2011 post on his "Mobile Musings" blog Wheeler spoke in favor of a controversial merger between two of the top four wireless providers, AT&T Inc and T-Mobile, a deal blocked by the Department of Justice.
This stance has led to concern that Wheeler would like to see more consolidation at the expense of competition, but consumer advocates have noted that he had suggested that the FCC would have been able to impose stringent regulations on the merged firm.
Whatever Wheeler's personal views, analysts say he would be subject to White House guidance in a government post.
"He will be joining the Obama Administration..., which has stood for telecom competition and network openness," Guggenheim Partners analyst Paul Gallant said in a note on Wednesday.
Wheeler will face some tough issues if he is confirmed, including an auction as early as next year of airwaves that now belong to broadcasters to wireless providers, and a review of rules on cross-ownership of media.
Dale Hatfield, a fellow at the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship in Colorado, who serves on the FCC's Technology Advisory Committee currently chaired by Wheeler, said Wheeler would not shy away from tough decisions.
"He's one of those people, you gravitate toward them as a leader," he said.
Some lawmakers and observers say Wheeler will have to show quickly he is not beholden to the firms that have paid his bills in the past and which also helped him raise cash for Obama.
"All of the senators in the Commerce Committee know Tom as a lobbyist who funnels funds to them, not as a stand-up guy from a regulatory agency who is able to take heat," said one veteran Washington telecommunications insider, who spoke anonymously because of the political sensitivity of the subject.
Wheeler helped raise at least $500,000 for Obama's 2012 presidential campaign and between $200,000 and $500,000 in the 2008 election, according to Opensecrets.org, an organization that tracks political donations.
Wheeler has also served on Obama's Intelligence Advisory Board and advised his transition team. Visitor logs show he has made numerous visits to the White House in the past five years, attending one-on-one meetings with staff as well as several holiday receptions with the Obamas.
Reporting by Alina Selyukh; Editing by Karey Van Hall and David Brunnstrom


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BACKGROUND IMAGE: iSTOCK/GETTY IMAGES
- FeatureExchange 2007 replication: A stretch for DR
- FeatureBrocade, Cisco clash on measuring director's power consumption
- FeatureUpstart tops NAS vendors
- FeatureSnapshot: Users bank on bare-metal restore
- FeatureGrid storage gets real
- FeatureConsolidating remote offices
- FeatureCatching up with deduplication
- FeatureCounting the cost of data theft
- FeatureVirtualization and green storage dominate SNW
- FeatureCDP gains ground one app at a time
- FeatureBest Practices: The science of storage management
- FeatureHot Spots: Database archiving to the rescue
- FeatureStorage Bin: It's time to change the way you think about data
- FeatureEditorial: Backup will get easier ...
iSTOCK/GETTY IMAGES
Consolidating remote offices
Storage magazine and Taneja Group conducted a survey of 254 IT professionals with responsibility for remote-/branch-office (ROBO) management and planning. Our research reveals that while 70% of respondents now view ROBO as central to business operations, there are still many areas of uncertainty and confusion.
Our exclusive survey confirms that protecting ROBO-generated data is a three-pronged undertaking: resource consolidation, management controls and optimization approaches.
No longer is the remote office/branch office (ROBO) the stepchild of enterprise IT; it's now a central part of many organizations' data storage initiatives. But cobbling together a strategy to protect data generated outside the main data center, and ensuring that remote workers can painlessly access data center-hosted apps, is much more difficult than many vendors are willing to admit. And we have the data to prove it.
Storage magazine and Taneja Group, a Hopkinton, MA-based market analyst firm, recently conducted a detailed survey of 254 IT professionals with responsibility for ROBO management and planning. Our research reveals that while 70% of respondents now view ROBO as central to business operations, there are still many areas of uncertainty and confusion. Specifically, the survey found that one of the most poorly defined concepts in the remote office today--and therefore the most misunderstood--is resource consolidation.
For most companies, resource consolidation for ROBOs has escaped detailed scrutiny. Over the past two years, storage managers have been bombarded with vendor pitches suggesting that devices and applications sitting at the edge of the enterprise are subpar and a drag on corporate efficiency. Vendors strongly advocate replacing such gear with cutting-edge gateway devices that deliver WAFS, WAN optimization and application acceleration.
In certain situations, consolidation brings considerable benefits. However, the reality is that there's a lot more to a successful ROBO strategy than the aggressive physical consolidation of resources. Our survey shows that, in many cases, such consolidation isn't possible nor is it currently desired by enterprises. According to the survey, 51% of organizations want to keep all or most of their IT resources deployed at the ROBO site and selectively engage in consolidation. Only 16% indicate a desire to remove most/all of their IT resources from the ROBO, while 33% would remove some IT resources (see "Deployment strategies").
Our survey confirms that storage managers are beginning to think about their ROBO IT strategy beyond just physical IT resource consolidation, giving equal weight to management controls and optimization approaches, regardless of where their ROBO technologies reside. This is because IT teams know that some of their business processes and infrastructures will preclude aggressive physical consolidation. Only when an IT team thinks about all three of these concepts together--resource consolidation, management controls and optimization approaches--can they feel confident about picking the appropriate approach for what stays at the edge of the enterprise, what goes to the main data center and how it should all be managed.
Resource consolidation
This strategy centers on removing locally deployed storage and servers from ROBOs and replacing the IT gear with various wide-area gateway technologies, terminal emulation and software services delivered from the main data center. Depending on the workflow and an organization's needs, resource consolidation can be aggressive or nearly nonexistent.
Because of recent technology innovations that have enabled this broad concept, resource consolidation has garnered the lion's share of attention.
But no matter how attractive a proposition it is for most companies, consolidating all remote-office data into the main data center is a significant undertaking. According to our survey, 19% of our respondents have more than 50% of their production data resident in ROBO locations, with another 21% indicating they have between 26% and 50% of their production data residing in ROBOs (see "Percent of total production data that resides in ROBOs," below).
For most enterprises, the reality is that a great deal of that data will remain at the edges of the enterprise for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, it's the coordinated management of edge and core data that will be one of the major ROBO IT tasks of the next several years.
But there are some key areas where we see users agreeing on what should be consolidated out of the ROBO. Approximately 46% of respondents indicate a strong desire to consolidate database servers and storage out of their remote sites, while approximately 40% indicate the same strong inclination for consolidation of their app servers and IT management tools. This indicates some very powerful momentum, and explains much of the attraction of available wide-area application-acceleration products. But many companies would ideally like to consolidate resources on a case-by-case basis.
Specifically, our survey found that IT teams are using a combination of local deployment and remote delivery of services from the main data center. Approximately 54% of surveyed users indicate a desire to deliver file services in this "mixed" manner, while 52% want to conduct backup operations in some combination of local and remote deployments. Again, this indicates that users want to maintain some resources at the edges of the organization. But why?
The answer is simple: The desire for selective consolidation reflects the realities about the requirements and management dispositions of firms. For many enterprises with larger remote sites or distributed workflows, maintaining significant ROBO IT resources is often highly desirable; there are often compelling availability or recovery reasons for keeping business-critical processes at least partially at the edge.
Resource consolidation technologies, while exciting and powerful, shouldn't be treated as a one-size-fits-all proposition. While WAFS and application-acceleration tools can transform distributed computing, it's clear their future will also require them to coexist with locally delivered and managed processes. Users tell us their data will live on the edge of the enterprise for a long time. This leads us to the next of the three key concepts in the ROBO: management controls.
|ROBO security issues
Security is now top of mind in remote/branch deployments. Here are some common security issues to consider when operating across the WAN:
Management controls
It's revealing that 52% of respondents say their top remote/branch IT challenge is proper management of the infrastructure. This response held constant across all deployment sizes and industries. Management controls have taken on more importance as storage managers grapple with growing and more complex remote-office deployments. Typical management issues include questions about security controls and whether various products can be managed through a common interface.
The issues of management controls are 100% distinct from resource consolidation, even though many vendors lump the two concepts together. By separating management controls from storage consolidation, you have more flexibility as to how you can structure your ROBO infrastructure. For example, it's possible to have centralized controls over remote/branch data processes, security processes and apps, but still have them all remain locally deployed at remote/branch locations as in a typical Windows DFS-based deployment.
Regarding desirable product attributes, 51% of users say they're interested in centralized management controls. To drive this point home, in the same question, 58% of all respondents checked integration capabilities as a desirable feature, indicating the importance of weaving a new technology in with an existing infrastructure.
One of the key areas where this integration and management control matters most is security (see "ROBO security issues"), especially as some next-generation remote/branch IT solutions begin to span and converge multiple technologies such as network compression, app acceleration, WAFS and app integration. An aggregate 46% of respondents list pervasive security controls as one of the top two critical factors in their potential remote/branch IT deployment, second only to mission-critical reliability (see "Top two features a ROBO technology must possess").
The ROBO security management issues users are concerned with are centralized user-access controls and directory services for server environments, application-based security, encryption for WAN appliances and routers, and local disk-encryption techniques for remotely located servers and storage.
There are various techniques to reduce the amount of data stored at ROBOs or the amount of ROBO data sent to the main data center. There's a significant amount of innovation regarding the optimization of WAN bandwidth, data capacities, replication workloads, and protocol or application delivery, to name some major areas. As such, an organization's optimization approaches constitute the third critical element of any ROBO infrastructure.
Our survey finds users prefer to optimize data at the source. This makes sense, but if data is to be transported back to the main data center to take advantage of a consolidated infrastructure, it's critical to deploy optimization technologies to increase WAN utilization, decrease storage consumption and streamline data protection (see "Preferred approaches for ROBO data optimization").
These optimization approaches can work with any kind of ROBO consolidation strategy. Today's WAN optimization tools that "fill the pipe" are architecturally neutral to resource consolidation. Similarly, data-at-rest optimization works just as well at the edge of the enterprise as it does at the core. For those engaging in consolidation, that's the impetus to learn how some of the more advanced distributed backup and replication platforms can radically reduce transmitted data across the WAN. Users should view their optimization approach as a leverage point to control the shape and cost of their ROBO, regardless of how aggressively they're engaged in a consolidation strategy.
Key decisions
There are several factors IT teams should consider as they contemplate their remote/branch deployments:
Local vs. remote bias: An enterprise's attitude toward resource consolidation can make a big difference in the ROBO infrastructure. Accordingly, you should determine if your organization requires or desires a highly consolidated ROBO environment or a less-consolidated infrastructure. That determination will point the team toward local or remote delivery strategies and vendors. For example, a highly consolidation-centric firm will find it easy to justify investments in application acceleration and WAFS tools that remove local IT resources and drive consolidation. By contrast, a collaboration-centric organization may place higher emphasis on locally delivered technologies. It might assemble network optimization tools around its locally based server and storage platforms for collaboration purposes, leveraging local capacity controls and optimization. Knowing your company's position on local vs. remote delivery for each key technology is critical, as it will drive the entire deployment.
Integration requirements: A top concern of our respondents is the ability of a given ROBO technology to integrate with other products in the ROBO, especially network resources and end-to-end security. Some organizations will need a tightly integrated solution that ensures seamless security with their app, server and directory environments. Others may have very few integration requirements, with only a small number of apps spanning the ROBO infrastructure, making them more open to third-party, best-of-breed products. Understanding immediate integration needs and the potential integration points 24 months from now lets users identify products with the right level of integration support.
Business process alignment: What challenge is addressed by the ROBO initiative? Is it broad-based IT consolidation, data protection consolidation, regulatory compliance or disaster recovery? The answer will let the IT team focus its remote/branch energies in different areas. For example, a data protection consolidation/centralization/optimization effort will focus on backup and replication software selection, whereas a server consolidation effort will focus on application-acceleration offerings. The economic and management equations for these processes will look very different, especially in the early stages of deployment.
A one-size-fits-all consolidation approach won't satisfy every company's data consolidation and ROBO support needs. The good news is that our survey shows that storage managers can build the ROBO infrastructure they need by balancing consolidation with management controls and optimization approaches. By balancing these three concepts, storage teams can retain the flexibility to build the remote/branch infrastructure they need on their terms.


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So, will continue to do BP updates, but not really that interested in advancing the toolset....... May take it up with someone if there is some interest shown.
Most of you do not know the previous incarnations of this website... this domain has just passed 10 years in my ownership.. (wow time flies)
It has had 4 re-incarnations of sorts, and always seems to have a burst of popularity, then fizzle out ...
The sad fact is people don't seem to like being educated.. Run around cutting your hand with a machete doing fruit ninja, get tons of hits and people go wild... Try to educate and well.. no place for that
I'm looking for the next thing to do with this site, there are many lurkers, I have to believe there are people interested in things other than the current content of this board. What kinda stuff interests you, what type of community would keep you coming back for more?
Thinking out loud here, but feel free to answer as well. I greatly appreciate the regulars that visit the forum, and I apologize for my absence as of late. Things are changing around a bit, I still have a ton going on IRL but would like to build this place up some, and at least get it to pay for itself
I'm still at the point where work is frustrating me, I would love to find a way to work from home, spend time with the family, and enjoy my job again.... not sure where i was heading with this line but you get the point
Thanks for reading,


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Handblown Glass on Cape Cod since 1992
On Cape Cod, glass has been made for generations. The town of Sandwich, Massachusetts, has been famous for over one hundred years for its "Sandwich glass". Today, glassblower Michael Magyar continues this proud tradition in his "Glass Studio on Cape Cod". Located on historic Route 6-A in East Sandwich (map), Michael invites you to watch as he creates new handblown glass daily in his studio... glass that fits well in any museum or private collection, yet is reasonably priced. Michael Magyar glass is found across the United States and in Japan.
Michael Magyar also creates sculptures of steel, concrete and glass. His "Giants" sculptures light up the town during the holiday season. See photos here.


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Austin, Texas Part Time Jobs
Looking for Part Time Jobs in Austin, Texas? See currently available Part Time job openings in Austin, Texas on part-time.jobs.net . Browse the current listings and fill out job applications.
part-time.jobs.net is the starting point for a job search in any part time job in Austin, Texas . We provide job resources for Part Time positions throughout the industry in Austin, Texas. part-time.jobs.net also provides Part Time jobs listings from around the United States. Job seekers can search and apply for jobs in Part Time by either city or state.
part-time.jobs.net is a part time job search resource for job seekers in Austin, Texas. Here you can easily find all Part Time jobs in Austin, Texas, post a resume, and research your career.
Get started on your part time job search in Austin, Texas on part-time.jobs.net today.


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Interact with the Nordic Thingy52 Bluetooth Low Energy sensor platform using
EdgeX Foundry.
Snaps are applications packaged with all their dependencies to run on all popular Linux distributions from a single build. They update automatically and roll back gracefully.
Snaps are discoverable and installable from the Snap Store, an app store with an audience of millions.
If you're running Kubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) or later, including Kubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) and Kubuntu 18.10 (Cosmic Cuttlefish), you don't need to do anything. Snap is already installed and ready to go.
Versions of Kubuntu between 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr) and 15.10 (Wily Werewolf) don't include snap by default, but snap can be installed from the command line as follows:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install snapd
To install Nordic Thingy52 EdgeX Device Service, simply use the following command:
Publisher: snapcrafters
GNU Image Manipulation Program
Publisher: kde
Kdenlive video editor
A sophisticated text editor for code, markup and prose.
Publisher: slack
Team communication for the 21st century.
Publisher: spotify
Music for everyone
All-in-one voice and text chat for gamers
Publisher: videolan
The ultimate media player
Publisher: canonical
Chromium web browser, open-source version of Chrome
Publisher: telegram.desktop
Official desktop client for the Telegram messenger
Publisher: popey
Bomb Squad
Publisher: kz6fittycent
Clementine is a modern music player.
Publisher: blenderfoundation
Blender is the free and open source 3D creation suite.
Browse and find snaps from the convenience of your desktop using the snap store snap.
Interested to find out more about snaps? Want to publish your own application? Visit snapcraft.io now.


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Two San Diego Unified school board members want to review the level of punishment handed down to 31 students at Scripps Ranch High School this week over a video made at school that depicts "twerking," a suggestive manner of dancing.
School board member Scott Barnett said he wanted the twerking incident and the student punishments be discussed in closed session at Tuesday's board meeting. District officials said it would be placed on the agenda for the May 14 meeting.
"I want to make sure I am comfortable that the facts and activity warrant the consequences," Barnett said in a statement.
San Diego Unified board member Kevin Beiser, whose district includes the high school, voiced similar concerns Wednesday.
The students — 28 girls and 3 boys — were suspended from Scripps Ranch Tuesday less than a week after the video appeared on YouTube.
Six of the students are seniors and face the possibility of not being allowed to attend prom or walk during commencement ceremonies.
Parents and students said the students were told not to return to school until Friday.
According to a district official who asked not to be identified because of federal privacy laws, if the students follow a school appeal process known as senior review and apologize for their actions, they likely will be able to participate in graduation and attend the prom.
Board President John Lee Evans said Thursday it was placed on the next regularly scheduled board closed session on May 14.
Evans said that he trusted that "any misbehavior on the part of students in the district" would be appropriately handled by staff, including making sure consequences are fair, students are properly counseled and inappropriate behavior is addressed.
"It is the board's expectation that these matters be handled in the most professional manner by our staff," Evans said in a statement.
Jack Brandais, a spokesman for the San Diego Unified School District, earlier said he could not discuss student discipline matters.
The video apparently violates the school's sexual harassment policy that prohibits verbal, visual or physical conduct of a sexual nature. Twerking involves the shaking and twisting of hips in a suggestive dance move.
The U-T confirmed that students in a broadcast journalism class used school equipment to record and add music to a video of the group of girls twerking while doing handstands.
The district official said it would have been acceptable if the students had been twerking upright but said doing it while doing a handstand was considered inappropriate in an educational setting.
"Unfortunately, the administration at Scripps Ranch High School's hasty response to its students' dance video is reflective of a national trend towards unreasonable, overly harsh, and counterproductive disciplinary measures," said Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, senior policy advocate for the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties.
"We want young people in school so they can learn and become successful and productive members of the community. What is gained by removing 31 students from the classroom, their prom, and even, possibly, their own graduation? It serves no purpose for the student, the teacher, or the community to keep children from learning."
Many students were talking about it on Twitter, with some suggesting the punishment went too far and others joking about twerking. One apparent student, whose Twitter handle is @sopjoa69, tweeted: "Suspended for twerking. What do I do? Twerk. At the beach. I twerk at the beach."
In The Conversation:
15 other dances someone somewhere called inappropriate
Students discuss their school 'twerking' suspensions, what's next
Lyston McNear, a 17-year-old senior, said he was suspended even though he didn't appear in the video or shoot it, but because he came up with the original idea for the project. He said it was not a class assignment. It took months to create.
He said the video was posted on YouTube on Thursday. "Nobody was offended or anything," he said. "It was like, 'Oh, that's cool.'"
Lyston said he will have to go through senior review, an appeals board at school, to determine whether he will be able to attend the prom or go through graduation ceremonies.
Beiser wondered if suspension was appropriate for all the students or if the "ringleader" or person who dubbed the music should have received the harshest penalty.
He said he watched the video and said there was some "vulgar inappropriate language" in the music used but added that the girls dancing are "just moving their hips."
"If it was a bunch of guys dancing would they have all gotten suspended?" he asked.
Lyston's mother, Nikki McNear, said she watched the video at school when she went to pick up her son the day he was suspended. She said she knew the students should not have been making the video on campus but said "the kids are just dancing" in it.
McNear said she thought the students should have been given Saturday school or a punishment that was less severe than two days suspension.
Suggestive dances have caused consternation for parents and school officials for decades. Not long ago "freak dancing," which appeared to simulate sex acts, was banned at some high school dances.
Should the students who took part in making this video be suspended?
Yes, it was a violation of school rules 29% (1361)
Only those who produced it 3% (124)
No, it was harmless, kids being kids 69% (3267)
4752 total votes.


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Group Tours
Getaway Packages
Meeting Planners
Newsletter Sign Up
Request a Visitors Guide
Things To Do
Arts & Culture
Sites & Attractions
Where To Stay
Visitors Center
Don't leave your four-legged family member at home, in a kennel or with a sitter. There are several pet friendly hotels in Springfield, IL that will make your stay more enjoyable. If your pet is looking for a kennel, pet day care, or even a pet day spa, we have just the place! Make sure to call ahead to make sure your selected hotel is ready for your pet. shopping, dining and nightlife options. With so many lodging options, your perfect Springfield getaway is just a click away!
Hotels/Motels That Accommoate Pets
Baymont Inn & Suites
Best Western Clearlake Plaza
Candlewood Suites Hotel
Drury Inn & Suites
Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites
Homestyle Inn & Suites
Howard Johnson Inn & Suites
Motel 6
Quality Inn and Suites
Red Roof Inn
Resident Inn
Route 66 Hotel & Conference Center
Sleep Inn
Staybridge Suites - Prairie Crossing
Stevenson Inn
Super 8 East
Kennels and Pet Day Care
Dal Acres Kennels
We offer the most experienced pet care in the metropolitan Springfield area. We are family owned and operated and are recommended by pet owners and top veterinarians in the area. Working with and caring for your pets and giving them personal attention is a way of life for us. We are also long time breeders of champion show dogs. Our own pets and show dogs utilize the same sparkling clean facilities offered to the public.
Each dog has a private, 56 sq. ft. enclosure that is safe, sanitary and comfortable.The Cattery is well separated from the dog boarding area and provides roomy, safe, comfortable space for each cat. Pets are handled by caring, experienced staff and kennel owners' family. Visitors are welcome at any time during business hours without an appointment to tour our facilities. With serivices that include individualized playtime, grooming, day care and more, your pet is sure enjoy their stay in Springfield.
Dal Acres Kennels
2508 W. Jefferson
Springfield, IL 62702
Phone: 217.793.3647
Dal Acres Kennels Website
Pampered Pet Center
Whether you're looking to drop off your dog for a day (or week) of play or need to get your pet looking their best, the Pampered Pet Center can take care of it all. Our dedicated, pet-loving staff will ensure the needs of you and your pet are met – and make sure they're always looked after while you're away to give you complete peace of mind.
Pampered Pet Center
3401 Gateway Drive
Springfield, IL 62711
Phone: 217.483.9108
Visit the Pampered Pet Center Website


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Folded cards $1.70 - $3.99
Type your cards on the site and we'll mail them to everyone for you.Start writing
5.5" x 4.25" folded card with envelope
Printed on 100% recycled paper
Hello Paper Co., a design studio specializing in letterpress greeting cards, stationery and wedding invitations. We create hand-made, environmentally friendly paper products without the stuffy attitude.
Please login or sign up to add cards to your favorites list!Got it. Thanks.


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Staying in good health is something that we should all be focused on, as good health is something that will..
Latest Posts
Recent Comments
Pam Barnett on 18 MayWith Botox, Chesapeake VA Residents Can Look And Feel Better
I started using Botox injections for my overactive sweat glands in my armpits a few years ago. They have worked to stop me from sweating
Riley Warren on 14 MayThe Health Benefits of Day Spas
Stress is a real killer. A lot of people suffer from too much stress, and you can see it in their face.


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Wheee! Full color AF! And Fenchurch! (yes, of course I remembered her name.)
Merf! Happy Christmas, Jim! And to all of you AF-forumites!
We know that Hrosvitha is capable of swallowing her pride, among other things, based upon their last meeting.Hortmage wrote:Shame on Sybil for not at least touching bases with Fenchurch over the past year! I mean, the last time she was seen, she'd nearly frozen to death on a bench!
LevelHead wrote:Hmm. What would you call a place where serious science fiction enthusiasts went to worship?
Ah. I had heard that the plural of "science fiction fan" was "fen", so...James Roberts wrote:LevelHead wrote:Hmm. What would you call a place where serious science fiction enthusiasts went to worship?
I think they're called 'conventions'
I confess that the effect you're describingJames Roberts wrote:And I think the colouring came out well. Especially since I'm finally trying to use complementary colours properly (bright orange/dark blue). And there are some pleasingly fiddly bits, like the clouds in the sky which I put in on the assumption that everyone else has their monitors set to maximum brightness, as they are at every school/college computing facility I go to. So, yeah, I like it. Enough to hold forth at length on it in the forum, anyway.
JimRob wrote:However, I have to say I'm rethinking the strip's future; Friday updates will continue for the time being, but expect further announcements once I actually make a decision.
Gloria wrote:Oh c'mon.. you wouldn't leave us without our fix, would you? *looks suddenly panicked*
WOULD YOU?!?!? *whimpers*
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CTech has a Toyota parts group now! Talk to Aaron or Tracy for any parts related questions. Visit their site at
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"I spoke with Gary and he was very nice and professional, and Richard did an excellent job."
-by Flo F.
Dalworth can clean, restore, seal and protect every type of flooring in your home including; carpet, tile and grout, hardwood, travertine, marble, slate, saltillo tile, hand-made area rugs, air duct cleaning, deodorizing and anti-allergen treatments. If you live in Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Keller, Richardson, Garland, Irving, Grand Prairie, Highland Park, Southlake, Westlake, Trophy Club, Addison, Euless, Carrollton, Lewisville, Grapevine or any city in North Texas, call Dalworth Clean at 817-553-2109 to schedule your residential and commercial cleaning and restoration services.


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For those who travel alot, they know the less things you have to keep track of, the better. Herein lies the genius of TwelveSouth's PlugBug: it clips onto your MacBook charger and adds a USB port for powering a second device.
In the scheme of things, this may not be entirely more compact than just carrying an iPhone/iPad/smartphone charger around, but attached to your MacBook charger, its one less thing you can potentially lose. And seriously, who doesn't like things that combine like Voltron? The PlugBug is $35 and you can order one now. [TwelveSouth]


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Shaun X. Bridgmohan (born June 24, 1979 in Spanish Town, Jamaica) is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.
At age thirteen, Bridgmohan's family emigrated to the United States, settling in South Florida where he developed an interest in horse racing. Before becoming a jockey, and while still in school, he worked at a Florida racetrack as a hot walker, groom, and as an exercise rider. After graduating from high school he pursued a riding career and in August of 1997 earned his first win at Calder Race Course. Six months later on February 15, 1998 he won six races on a single card at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York, finishing the of 1998 year which was his breakout year as the winner of the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey. On December 22, 2007 he again won six races on a single card, this time at Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana
First Jamaican in the Kentucky derby.


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Fear of government?
Of late, in conversations with my conservative leaning friends, I have detected a greater frequency of the use of the term "socialism." From our extensive conversations, I am somewhat skeptical as to whether some of these friends really know the true definition of socialism. Webster, Wikipedia and others simply describe socialism as a method of government by which the government controls the means of production and distribution of wealth. As to distribution of wealth, the current tax system that favors the rich over the middle class is clearly a method of distributing wealth. While conservatives espouse hard work as a great way of life, none seem to be concerned about the fact we tax citizens' labors more than we tax rich folks' investments.
The bugaboo of creeping socialism has been around since "when the mind of man runneth not to the contrary," as the old saying goes. Social Security, which few, with the exception of Rick Perry, would dare advocate abolishing today, is no doubt a social program. If submitted to the vote of the people, I would place my money with people voting to retain Social Security as opposed to those for its abolition. Medicare is in the same category and has been a true blessing to older folks. The naysayers at the time Social Security was established in this country claimed it was "the camel's head in the tent" and we would soon be relegated to a socialistic or communistic form of government.
It has always been a mystery to me as to why politicians who espouse hatred of government are so anxious to join in and be a part of it. It's my belief that too often Americans, having listened too much to the Fox network, have forgotten many of the benefits of government. Who among us would want to repeal government control of our airwaves, allowing anyone with enough money to begin broadcasting on any frequency he or she chose to use, thereby abolishing any guarantee that people could receive a clear signal broadcast by the rightwing owner of Fox News? How about airline or private airplane travel? What if we did away with government rules about when and where you might traverse the skies? It would certainly make flying more thrilling, but in all probability not nearly as safe.
Too many of my fellow citizens forget they themselves are beneficiaries of social programs established by government. In a recent conversation with some of my friends, we were discussing the benefits of a college education. Two of these were associated with spouses who had enjoyed the benefits of having a first-class medical education. Each proceeded to tell me how their spouses had put themselves through college, paid for their education, thereby earning a license issued by the state allowing them to ply their trade on their fellow citizens. What if there was no licensing of medical professionals? Is this not government controlling business? While both of my friends wax very eloquently on the merits of working one's way through college, both seemed completely oblivious to the fact that working taxpayers, many of whom will never darken the door of a college, let alone a medical school, paid the lion's share of costs for each student traversing this wonderful process. At last estimate, medical students in Texas pay about 20 percent or less of the cost of providing them with such an education.
The current rant about government intrusion is the rightwing battle cry to "repeal Obamacare." The part currently pending before the Supreme Court of the United States is whether or not the commerce clause of our constitution allows Congress to mandate that citizens acquire certain kinds of insurance coverage. I've yet to hear anyone advocate doing away with financial responsibility requirements of drivers who use our highways. The theory with mandatory liability coverage for drivers is that each driver should show responsibility for the havoc he or she might wreak on our public byways. Why is the same not true when it comes to those who believing themselves to be impervious to sickness or tragic accident who thrust themselves on the taxpayers of the country by lingering in some cases for years in a vegetative state because of serious injuries befalling them when they have made absolutely no provision for such happenstance?
Because of many of my Republican friends' concern over socialism, I am reminded of the scripture in the Bible that suggests many of us strain gnats and swallow camels. I've yet to hear one of my Republican friends be critical of things such as the so-called Patriot Act, which robs many American citizens of freedom from government oversight, control and even possible imprisonment without due process. It is one of the few areas in which I find myself agreeing with Rep. Ron Paul.
Carl Parker has practiced law in Port Arthur since 1958. He is a 1958 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law. Elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1962 and the Senate in 1976, Parker continued to practice law while writing and sponsoring hundreds of bills that became laws relating to every aspect of life in Texas.


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NYC Comptroller Says Nissan NV200 Taxi Violates ADA, Won't Approve Contract
New York City comptroller John Liu, along with advocates for the disabled, say the Nissan NV200 doesn't meet requirements set forth by the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) because the fleet won't be 100-percent wheelchair accessible, Transportation Nation reports. The city comptroller says he won't approve the contract that would make the Nissan NV the city's sole taxi for the next decade.
Kate O'Brien from the City Law Department says that nothing in the contract, including ADA compliance, is justification for not approving the contract, the report says. And Allan Fromberg from the Taxi and Limousine Commission says the city will create 2000 more wheelchair accessible medallion licenses and start using a new wheelchair accessible taxi dispatch system.
"We've made more progress on wheelchair-accessible transportation options in the past year than anyone has in the last three decades," Fromberg wrote in an email to Motor Trend.
Such a dispatch system specifically for wheelchair-accessible taxis wouldn't cover the estimated 60,000 New Yorkers in wheelchairs, John Weisman, an attorney with the United Spinal Association told Transportation Nation.
"The U.S. Department of Transportation and the ADA require all vans used as taxis to be wheelchair accessible," Weisman told Motor Trend in a phone interview. "The city is saying the new "Taxi for Tomorrow" is not a van." Weisman said that of the more than 1000 taxi vans currently in service, including Ford Transit Connects and Toyota Siennas, only about 200 were wheelchair accessible.
Currently, Braun is working out plans to convert some NV200 taxis to be wheelchair accessible. A design shown at the 2012 New York auto show would allow the wheelchair passenger access through the rear hatch using a 7-degree ramp, latching the chair in the passenger side middle-row seat area.
Only 2 percent of the more than 13,000 yellow cabs in New York City are now wheelchair accessible. Ironically, the NV200 beat out the Ford Transit Connect and Turkish Karsan V1 -- a fleet of taxis that would be 100-percent wheelchair accessible and be built in Brooklyn with union labor.
The new Nissan NV200 taxis are supposed to start rolling out next year and slowly replace the current fleet (comprising of mostly Ford Crown Victoria sedans) over the next decade.
Calls into Nissan have not yet been returned.
Source: Transportation Nation


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It's raining here at the moment, so I'd like to start your day with some cheery music and sunshine, courtesy of Southend's adorable puzzler Ilomilo.
Nothing's changed since we last saw the game. It still looks chirpy, still looks gorgeous, and its space-bending puzzles look like a neat take on a formula laid down by titles as diverse as Echocrome and Mario Galaxy.
Ilomilo is due for the Xbox 360, courtesy of Xbox Live Arcade. Southend sadly don't look like they'll be going to E3, so we'll just pretend this clip is playable and learn to make do.


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10th Sep 2019, 12:13 am


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You can get there from here
In the air, on the ground from Jack Brooks Regional Airport
There has been some recent confusion about the status quo at the Jack Brooks Regional Airport.
"It's an airport!"
"It's a bus station!"
By February 2013, the likelihood is that Jack Brooks will be both an airport and a bus station.
Thanks to ongoing fundraising efforts by business and government officials in Beaumont and surrounding areas, regularly scheduled commercial air service by American Airlines via a new American Eagle route between Jack Brooks Regional Airport and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), the busiest international air hub in Texas, appears likely. Those flights would be on 50-passenger commuter jets.
Meanwhile, United Airlines plans to continue operating bus service to transport its passengers to Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. The buses run several times a day but require advance purchase of tickets for the flight passengers will board at the Houston airport.
An ad hoc nonprofit group Southeast Texas Coalition for Air Service was formed to raise money to provide a "minimum revenue guarantee" (MRG) to American Airlines. Jim Rich, president of the Beaumont Chamber of Commerce, heads the coalition and has taken a lead role in the initiative.
Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick said if American Airlines is guaranteed $1.5 to $2 million over the next two years, consumers could expect three to four flights a day between Beaumont and DFW.
Branick said that as owner of the airport, Jefferson County needs to do its part to see that the project moves forward in order to bring new revenue locally. On Sept. 10, the Jefferson County Commissioners Court approved a $250,000 contribution from the county toward that MRG. The next day, Beaumont stepped up at the City Council meeting and matched the $250,000 donation. The Port Arthur City Council chimed in with a $70,000 commitment.
In Orange, the city looked to its Economic Development Corporation for money to commit to the MRG from proceeds from a restricted sales tax used to retain and track businesses and in transportation programs.
Orange City Manager Shawn Oubre said, "The first reason we are contributing is to recruit those businesses. The second reason is to support local industries with global interests like those on Chemical Road. The third reason is to support local tourism to help organizations like the Stark Foundation with the theater and the Stark Museum and Shangri La. And the fourth reason is to help those 1,600 or so local residents from the region who have to travel to Houston to fly to DFW."
The Orange contribution to the MRG is $20,000. The importance of commercial air service to the region can be seen in the contributions from the public entities, many of which are currently experiencing budget restraints. City of Port Neches government approved $30,000; The Lower Neches Valley Authority and the Sabine-Neches Navigation District each pledged $100,000, with the Nederland EDC adding $75,000.
Private contributors include Community Bank, $20,000; Capital One Bank, $15,000; M&M Air Service, Mason Construction and Entergy Texas, $10,000 each; Dornbos Ltd, $7,500; and American Valve & Hydrant, $6,000. $5,000 pledgers include Market Basket, the Beaumont Board of Realtors, and the Germer Gertz law firm. $2,500 contributors Arceneaux and Gates and Baptist Hospitals were joined by host of local citizens who pledged individual contributions: Rep. Allan Ritter, $5,000; Jeff Branick, $1,500; former County Judge Carl Griffith, $1,000; realtor Sherri Arnold, $1,000; and interim Jack Brooks Airport director Alex Rupp, $500. There have been many more contributors who have pledged money for the MRG including at least $75,000 from sources who did not wish to be identified. At press time, a source told the Business Journal that two additional unidentified private donors came onboard, putting the MRG fund at over $1.3 million, close to the $1.5 million goal.
According to American Airlines, the MRG would only be used if not enough flights were booked over a period of two years for the company to break even. Some have expressed concern that American's chapter 11 bankruptcy would affect its dedication to Beaumont's Jack Brooks Airport, but company officials were quick to dismiss such concerns. They said MRGs are typical of smaller markets like Beaumont and that the city's growth since American left in 2002 after 17 years of air service more than makes up for the risk. Other cities where MRGs were used successfully include Roswell, N.M, and Lake Charles, La.
No MRGs have been implemented successfully in Texas by American Airlines.
"Our successes far outweigh our failures," said American's Brett Hooyerink last month, adding that the average ticket price of about $280 to DFW might surprise Beaumont's air travelers.
"We know that the market won't necessarily bear a high premium because there is a four-lane road with a 75 mph speed limit to the airport just down the road," he said.
Another concern as the fundraising efforts for the MRG continued in late September was labor unrest as American Airlines continued to rack up high numbers of flight delays and cancellations, blaming a dispute with its pilots union.
The Allied Pilots Association, the union representing American's 10,000 pilots, again denied that it sanctioned or encouraged a work slowdown or pilot sickout. But American cut 300 flights, or more than 1 percent of its schedule, between Tuesday, Sept. 18, and Sunday, Sept. 23, to minimize cancellations and reduce delays.
That labor dispute should not be much of a factor by the time American Eagle flights are set to begin here next year. Efforts to secure the MRG suggest that as American Airlines returns to fiscal solvency, the provision of service to the Jack Brooks Regional Airport will be secured by that guarantee.
James Shannon can be reached at (409) 832-1400, ext. 249, or by e-mail at james [at] beaumontbusinessjournal [dot] com.