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In its new avatar, Spring enters the opinionated frameworks marketspace, and finally takes the Sinatra/Scalatra/Ratpack/Dropwizard/Spark route, where embedded containers (ie no external server containers) will start dictating the future. Whats an opinionated framework anyway? Aint all frameworks opinionated? To me every piece of code is just as opinionated as the developer who wrote it. Here are my observations about SpringBoot, after having worked with it for about 6 weeks.
1. Build support for gradle (+)
SpringBoot apps can be built using both maven and gradle. But I believe Gradle will eventually dominate the world of buildscripts. So the sooner your team moves to gradle, better will be your quality of this life and perhaps, next life too. Are you listening, .Net?
2. Starter poms (+)
Remember your 500 line pom.xml, where the tag <dependency> occurs 25000 times? Say good bye and start using starter-poms. Combined with gradle, a typical build file is now about 30 lines.
3. Configurations (+/-)
Spring is among the last standing action heros of xml-based application configuration in jvm world. Super hit when introduced, but soon became a liability. Thankfully, many developers challenged the xml tag soup and created innovative web frameworks (Wicket, Play etc.). Those who work with the Spring-based framework Grails, may have not touched an xml for a good period of time. If Spring MVC developers are still stuck with Spring without adapting Grails, I fail to understand why (well except for business impositions).
Ironically, SpringBoot seems to have many opinions when it comes to configuration – it supports 3 flavors of bean configurations: xml, annotation and groovy dsl. Having worked with Grails and other non-xml based applications for the last few years, picking up SpringBoot was bit of a chore. Grails autowires beans by name, and when custom beans are required, there is this wonderful bean builder. For me, java annotations are no better than xml configuration. Xml configuration proliferates verbosity but annotations defeat the purpose of wiring objects separate from code. While it brings type-safety, it also lets you mix code, configuration and logic and I think its a total mess. Annotations are like antibiotics – good in small doses (@ToString, @RestController, @AutoClone etc.), too many side-effects with overdose – building whole applications using annotations is @NotMyStyleOfTea.
A typical SpringBoot application has many many annotations – @EnableAutoConfiguration, @Configuration, @ComponentScan, @Conditional etc. Sometimes you end up with more annotations than the code itself and its not intuitive which is doing what when how. SpringBoot is certainly simpler for developers from xml background, but to me as a Grails developer, annotations have been a bit intimidating and sprawling. I don't see CoC (Convention-over-Configuration), instead I see CoC (Configuration-over-Code).
Thankfully, SpringBoot has great (although not 1:1 xml equivalent) support for groovy beans dsl (via the GroovyBeanDefinitionReader). Groovy dsl is elegant, concise, intuitve and very readable. For some loss of type-safety (which could have been compensated by good tooling support), it comes with a great punch – wiring beans, environmental configurations, programmatic startup logic (as opposed to declarative) etc. I feel Spring can standardize groovy bean as the only configuration mechanism and shed all the fat of xmls and annotations. It would make the framework pretty lean and competitive in the already crowding lean frameworks market. May be thats what grails-boot is?
4. Properties (+/-)
Just like configurations, there are a few ways of defining and injecting properties. Coming from Grails background, the many ways of injecting properties was a bit confusing. SpringBoot supports both .properties and .yaml files. AutoConfiguration uses many default values for properties, but there is no comprehensive documentation on these properties on whats default. Again there are many annotations related to properties @ConfigurationProperties, @PropertySource, @Value, @EnableConfigurationProperties etc. Grails has this amazing single-point grailsApplication bean based on ConfigObject (a glorified Map) and allows nested and runtime evaluate-able configurations – helpful in dynamic scenarios. Again I wish Spring had defacto support for this (injecting properties from a config.groovy).
5. Rest Support (+)
SpringBoot makes it very easy to create rest controllers via @RestController. Instead of creating full-blown web applications, Spring's eco can be used to create well-rounded rest services backed by Batch/Data/Integration/Security and use js frameworks like Angular/Knockout/Backbone etc. for front end. If using rest over json, Groovy 2.3 is promising to come up with fast json marshaller. While I like the cleanliness of Thymeleaf, the modern js frameworks have a clear advantage over server-side html generators.
6. Logging (+/-)
Yet again, too many logging frameworks in the bag: log4j, log4j2, slf4j, slf4j2, commons.log, java.util.log, logback. I spent some time resolving dependency conflicts, until I finally gave up and switched to logback. Spring team strongly recommends logback – Just Go with it – there is probably a good reason.
7. Data Access (+)
No question about Spring's versatility here. Name any db and you have SpringBoot autoconfiguration support. Plus the Grails team has done a great job of spinning-off Gorm to standalone component. TexMex, I would say.
8. Testing (+/-)
Many examples still show use of JUnit, but here is a good start on how to use the incredible Spock framework in SpringBoot. Spock is like mom's recipe – once you taste it, others aint the best.
9. Documentation (+)
It has improved a lot with newer minor releases. It takes time to sift through some old examples in the community, but lets just blame Google for not knowing what you exactly want, though it seems to know all about what food you want to eat when you are near a restaurant.
10. Finally
I think Grails3 (grails-boot?) is going down the trending route of embedded container deployments. I think that's the only thing against Grails in the current trend. SpringBoot has got there first but I still feel it lacks the simplicity of Grails or the leanness of Play. It has certainly been simplified, but not simple.
If your existing eco system depends a lot on Spring based frameworks, it is worthwhile to adapt SpringBoot. Honestly, Im hoping Grails3 isn't far off!


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Banished from the sacred house,
Thrown out into the cold, stormy decaying city,
It's misty, allowing the virus to infect,
Will I lose my way and be overcome?
Will I become undone and forget the depth of my teachers..
The growling sounds of an intoxicated soul, everywhere
The witchy laughter of a tormented whore, everywhere
What will I make of them as an object of pity
Their sufferings and the painful screams only remind me of my distance from the house
I cover my scars with art
My immunity only increases the depths of my misery
No relation, just a study
An endless study
I miss the climbing flowers on the wall
I even gave them names
The fresh youthful air
Beyond the pond
Let it stare.
I am no longer there.

subset: commoncrawl


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24 Hours of Peanuts Cookbook and Prize Pack Giveaway
If you're a fan of peanuts and peanut butter, this giveaway will make you happy.
Nearly a year ago, the National Peanut Board approached me and wanted to know if I could submit some peanut butter recipes for an upcoming cookbook they were publishing.
I'm the peanut butter queen and this was no problem for me.
35+ National Peanut Day Recipes
Peanut Butter and Jelly Recipes
Independently, I was writing my own cookbook, Peanut Butter Comfort, which is being released in 6 weeks and is available now on Amazon for preorder.
The 24 Hours of Peanuts cookbook is now available and one lucky winner will win a copy of it as well as some peanutty goodies from the National Peanut Board and National Peanut Farmers.
In the cookbook, you'll find my recipe for Peanut Noodles with Mixed Vegetables and Peanut Sauce (vegan, GF)
And Peanut Butter and Jelly Blondies along with 22 other fun recipes.
In case you're hungry for peanut butter treats now, 20 of my current Favorite Peanut Recipes include:
1. Homemade Peanut Butter (vegan if plain peanuts are used, GF) – Ready in 5 minutes and you have not lived until you've made your own
2. Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter – Peanut butter and chocolate, a match made in heaven. Less than 10 minutes to make and so easy
3. Homemade Cookie Butter Peanut Butter – A homemade spin on Cookie Butter or Biscoff Spread, made by blending peanuts with gingersnap cookies and cinnamon, which gives the spread a slightly gritty texture, similar to storebought
4. Homemade Honey Roasted White Chocolate Peanut Butter – My favorite peanut butter, even edging out the chocolate and cookie butter versions, and that's saying something. It's like spreadable candy and I love it
5. Peanut Butter Cocoa Krispies Smores Bars – No need for campfires, make s'mores at home. These smores have three layers, including a cocoa-crispy cereal top layer that's made with peanut butter
6. Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Dough Crumble Bars – Soft and chewy, dense, rich, and easy to make in one bowl without a mixer. A new favorite and highly recommended
7. Special K Bars (no-bake) – The recipe is from my Grandma and one of my favorite bars of all time
8. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookie Bars – All the taste and texture of cookies, minus the work of making individual cookies. Bar cookies are so much faster and these are soft, chewy, and loaded with chocolate chunks
9. Coconut Peanut Butter Magic Cake Bars – One of my favorite desserts of 2011, and similar to Seven Layer or Magic Bars, but a cake base is used instead of a graham cracker crust. Soft, dense, rich, chewy, tons of textures and flavors, and so easy
10. Marshmallow Peanut Butter Double Chocolate Pillowtop Bars – One of my favorite desserts of 2011. Creamy, sweet, rich. A soft and sweet marshmallow-peanut butter top layer adorns a base of oats, sweetened condensed milk, and white chocolate. An all-time favorite
11. Peanut Chewy Payday Bars – Like the storebought candy bars, but I prefer these. Sweet and gooey meets salty and crunchy with an abundance of peanut butter, peanuts, and plenty of chewy texture
12. Ritz Cracker Stuffed Peanut Butter Cups (No Bake, Vegan) – Make your own peanut butter cups in minutes and stuff them with your favorite surprises because everything tastes better sandwiched with peanut butter and chocolate
13. Nutella Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies – Pairing two of my favorite spreads into one rich, easy, gooey, moist and indulgent cookie
14. Trail Mix Peanut Butter Cookies – Baking trail mix into cookies makes for chewy, hearty, dense, and satisfying cookies
15. Thick and Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies – NO Flour, NO Butter, and NO White sugar used! Soft, thick, chewy and rich
16. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies – The BEST PB Cookies I've ever had. There's NO Flour, NO Butter, and NO White sugar used! Soft, chewy & oozing with dark chocolate. Crazy good!
17. Soft and Puffy Peanut Butter Coconut Oil Cookies – No butter used in these soft, puffy, and chewy cookies made with coconut oil, which is just barely detectable
18. Peanut Butter Oatmeal White Chocolate Chip Cookies – One of my favorite cookies of all time, pairing oats, peanut butter, and white chocolate chips. Soft, chewy, no mixer needed, fast and easy
19, Peanut Butter and Jelly Coconut Cashew Sandwich Cookies (No-Bake, Vegan, GF) – A healthier spin on PB & J in these easy, no-bake little vegan peanut butter sandwich cookies
20. White Chocolate Buttery Waffles Snack Mix – Buttery waffles, cereal, and popcorn are drenched in melted peanut butter and white chocolate. Crazy addictive!
Whew. That was a lot of peanut butter.
Using Rafflecopter, enter to win the Giveaway by making sure to leave a blog comment below in response to the first question. Then follow the prompts for additional entries. Open to USA only. Sometimes the widget is a bit slow to load, so please be patient.


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Boy kills girl who turned down prom date
A 16-year-old American student was stabbed to death in a school stairwell, allegedly by a fellow student after she declined his invitation to the junior prom, local media reports say.
Maren Sanchez, an honours student at Jonathan Law High School in Milford, Connecticut, outside New York, died of neck injuries at Bridgeport Hospital, police said.
A 16-year-old student was arrested by a school guard and later charged with murder as a juvenile offender.
The stabbing occurred about 7.15am on Friday as students crammed the hallways just before the start of classes, authorities said.
School staff members, including a librarian and a police officer assigned to the school, subdued the attacker and gave Ms Sanchez first aid. She was pronounced dead at Bridgeport Hospital less than a half-hour later.
Milford Police Chief Keith Mello said at a news conference that a school staff member witnessed part of the attack and tried to stop it. Others also joined in the effort, he said.
Students said that the attacker, after being spurned, allegedly tried to strangle the girl, then pushed her down the stairs before stabbing her in the throat, Connecticut News 12 reports.
The lawyer for the boy, Richard Meehan, said his client would probably be charged as an adult. Connecticut law allows authorities to try minors as adults for serious crimes, Mr Meehan said
The young man's family was distraught, Mr Meehan said.
"They're devastated not only for him but they're devastated for Maren Sanchez's family as well," he said.
School officials postponed the prom. Instead, many students, some in tuxedos and gowns, gathered for tearful memorials on Friday evening. Friends posed by the sea, holding Ms Sanchez's prom dress.
School officials described Ms Sanchez as a well-liked student and athlete.
School principal Fran Thompson emailed a note to students, saying she was informing them of Sanchez's death "with a heavy heart".
"Maren, a junior, was everything right with Jonathan Law. An honour student, active member of our school community and incredible young woman, her time with us was much too short but her spirit will be with us forever," the message said, according to the New Haven Register.
Milford Mayor Benjamin G. Blake said: "Our hearts go out to the family of Maren Sanchez ... and to those also affected by this tragedy."
Ms Sanchez posted a photo of herself in a new dress onto a Facebook page on March 3. She added a note: "Yay, So excited!"
USA Today/New York Times


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With three races remaining the pair sit on 11 points at the top of the Men's 470 leader board. Their nearest rivals, Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic (CRO), are 16 points behind the Australians in second place. And with the Croatians lacking the consistency that Belcher and Page have shown it would be hard to bet against the Australians claiming the gold medal.
Not one to be outdone, Przemyslaw Miarczynski (POL) picked up his sixth race win in the Men's RS:X. The Polish sailor is yet to finish out of the top three in eight races sailed so far. But unlike the Men's 470, in second place Toni Wilhelm (GER) has put together some steady results and trails the leader by just six points. Wilhlem picked up his first race win on the third day and it couldn't have come at a better time as the competition reaches the business end with two days remaining.
The Women's 470 is slightly tighter than the Men's after eight races but Erin Maxwell and Isabelle Kinsolving (USA) continue to lead the way. With double bullets and a third place they have extended their lead to five points over Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke (GER). Meanwhile a pack of three German teams trail Lutz and Beucke in third, fourth and fifth place.
ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Blanca Manchon has moved from fourth on the leader board after day one to top after the third day. The Spaniard added two second place finishes and a fourth to the two race wins recorded on the opening day to take a six point advantage into the penultimate day. Moana Delle (GER) is second on 25 points and with two race wins on the third day Allison Shreeve (AUS) has overtaken compatriot Jessica Crisp to sit third.
In the Laser the Germans are having it all their own way with Simon Grotelueschen and Philipp Buhl battling it out at the top of the leader board. Grotelueschen notched up a race win and two third place finishes and leads the pack on 19 points. Buhl recorded two bullets, but a tenth place in Race 6 put a dampener on his day. Nonetheless with 21 points and plenty of racing left it will be an exciting climax in the Laser. Overnight leader Josh Junior had a disastrous day finishing sixth, tenth and 14th, he slips to third overall.
Zach Railey (USA) trailed Jonathan Lobert (FRA) by five points after the opening day. The American reduced the deficit to one point at the end of the second day and after recording double bullets on the third day the American has taken a two point lead over the Frenchman. Great Britain's Ed Wright sits in third on 24 points.
Paige Railey (USA) did not fair quite as well as her older brother in the Laser Radial finishing fifth, fourth and third in her three races. However she leads the pack on 14 points. Croatia's Tina Mihelic had an excellent day to close the gap on Railey, with two second place finishes and a bullet she sits second on 19 points. Tatiana Drozdovskaya (BLR) and Krystal Weir (AUS) sit third and fourth on 30 points.
Fredrik Loof and Max Salminen (SWE) have opened up a five point gap over Flavio Marazzi and Enrico De Maria (SUI) in the Star class. With two races sailed on the third day, the Swedes finished second and third whilst the Swiss pair came sixth in both, discarding one. Diego Negri and Enrico Voltolini (ITA) are down in seventh place meaning the Swedish duo are on track to take second place in the Star ISAF Sailing World Cup Standings.
Peter Kruger-Andersen and Nicolai Thorsell (DEN) have taken the lead in the 49er following another solid day on the water. Their 39 points sees them lead Tobias Schadewaldt and Hannes Baumann (GER), on 45 points, and compatriots Allan Norregaard and Peter Lang who are third on 49 points.
The Quarter Final spots in the Women's Match Racing competition were decided on the third day. Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) will face Nicky Souter (AUS), Ekaterina Skudina goes up against Anna Kjellberg (SWE), Silke Hahlbrock (GER) meets Genevieve Tulloch (USA) and Olivia Price (AUS) will race Lotte Meldgaard Pedersen (DEN).
Heiko Kroker (GER) maintains her lead in the 2.4mR after a first and second place finish. Megan Pascoe (GBR) remains in second trailing the German by two points.
Click here for the latest results.
Click here to view the latest video highlights from the ISAF Sailing World Cup.
Click here to view images from the ISAF Sailing World Cup Series.
Follow the ISAF Sailing World Cup on Facebook here


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Let introduce the "Exactly $\{m_{1},m_{2}\}$-SAT" problem : Given a CNF formula $F$ and $2$ integers $m_{1}$ and $m_{2}$, is it true that $F$ has exactly $m_{1}$ or $m_{2}$ models ?
I guess Exactly $\{m_{1},m_{2}\}$-SAT ($m_{1}\leq m_{2}$) is many-one polynomial time reducible to the parametrized problem "Exactly $m_2$-SAT" with $m_2$ considered as a parameter : Given a CNF formula $F$ is it true that $F$ has exactly $m_{2}$ models.
Is it correct ?
Thank you for your answer.


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Table of contents
- Using mattes to isolate areas of your image
- Generating RGB and alpha mattes in Maxon Cinema 4D
- Rendering object buffers in Maxon Cinema 4D
- Generating mattes in NewTek Lightwave 3D
- Generating RGB mattes in Luxology modo 301
- Selection-based mattes using shader group masks in Luxology modo 301
- Using the OpenEXR plug-ins from fnord
- Where to go from here
8 September 2008
Prerequisite knowledge
To benefit from this article, you should know how to achieve uniformly colored shading using your 3D program's material system and how to output it using the renderer. You should also know how to view, separate, reassign, and blend channels in After Effects using the respective effects.
User level
How can you take the output of your 3D applications into Adobe After Effects? This two-part series shows you how.
In Part 1 you saw how to export UV data from your 3D apps for use in After Effects. In Part 2, I show you how to create mattes in your 3D applications that you can export to After Effects. Multichannel OpenEXR files are an ideal format for storing your mattes.
This article concludes by showing you how to install and use the OpenEXR plug-ins from fnord to enable you to handle this format in After Effects.
A regular issue you will face when integrating 3D rendered imagery with other work is how to separate elements. Why would you want that? There are many reasons.
First, clearly you do not intend to process parts of the image that you don't want processed. Returning to the UV pass example and its use inside After Effects as explained in the UV maps section of this series, in Figure 1 you can see that the UV pass not only covers the filmstrip but also the spool, which you don't want to cover up. You somehow need to cut away the parts that you don't need.
Second, you will often use identical instances of the same object in your 3D scene. Since they are merely clones of an original, they will all have the same textures. As a result, they also share the same UV information and other material attributes (see Figure 2). When you only want to change a few of them, you need to isolate them somehow.
The last, and perhaps the most common, application of generating mattes in 3D programs is selective color correction. By isolating areas, you can exactly control the color and shading in parts of the image while leaving the rest unchanged. This can be important when, for example, trying to match a specific color in a logo animation or integrating synthetic elements with existing camera footage.
Obviously, you can achieve that to some degree using masks or paint tools, but not only are these methods not very precise, they are also prone to errors when working with complex setups and long sequences. They're also quite tedious and not very elegant, so I'll focus on using mattes that you can generate from your 3D programs.
Alpha mattes
The most straightforward way of getting a clean matte is to simply contain it in the alpha channel. Using either object-specific settings, materials, or render overrides, many 3D programs enable you to manipulate the alpha channel of the resulting rendered image where everything is visible in the RGB image, but only one object contributes opaque areas to the alpha channel. An example would be Matte Object settings in Lightwave 3D or the Compositing Tag in Cinema 4D.
Object ID/matte passes
The second, and probably most widely used, approach is based around creating a set of specific matte passes. These can either be separate image sequences or embedded into multichannel file formats such as RLA, RPF, IFF, OpenEXR, and to some extent even PSDs.
This method has the advantage of not needing an extra render process, but requires the 3D program to provide special means of designating these mattes. This is done either through the material system or by marking the respective scene items using special attributes. Examples for this kind of matte would again be Cinema 4D's Compositing Tag that allows you to assign an Object ID, Maya's Render Layers, and 3DStudio MAX's Matte Materials.
If special tools for matte creation are not available in your 3D program, the alternative way is to set up multiple scenes with the same objects, but to use the standard material system to give them black and white colors according to which object is supposed to be isolated. As a result, you will end up with extra image sequences. Obviously, this requires a lot of discipline and thinking ahead and has the disadvantage that you need to do it all over again. Once the mattes have been generated, you can use them in the following ways in After Effects:
- If the files are already separate images or image sequences, simply place them in your composition as you would other footage.
- If the mattes are part of a layered PSD file or PSD sequence, it is easiest to import the sequence as a composition using File > Import and choosing As Composition – Cropped Layers. After the composition has been created, you can easily arrange the layers in the right order and remove the ones that you don't need. This method is particularly recommended if you are really pushing it and are using all possible passes because it saves a lot of time.
- If the mattes are part of other multichannel files, you need to apply utility effects to extract them. For RLA, RPF, and IFF, this can be done using the ID Matte effect, which can be found in the Effects menu under the 3D Channel category. Apply the effect and, in the ID Selection, choose the matte channel as shown in Figure 3. Be aware that, depending on the program, the number and order of available channels may vary.
- For multichannel OpenEXR files, you need to use a special free plug-in. For information on how to obtain, install, and use it, refer to the Using the OpenEXR plug-ins from fnord section of this document.
- When you have successfully extracted your mattes, you can apply them as luma mattes or alpha mattes. To do so, place them above the UV pass (see Figure 4). Select the UV layer and, from its blending mode options, choose the correct matte type. If you followed the procedures correctly, your setup should look like Figure 5.
RGB mattes
A somewhat old-fashioned, but nonetheless very effective, method is the use of so-called RGB mattes. Instead of just using the alpha channel or a simple black and white image, this technique uses the color channels of an image. For each object or surface in the scene, an exactly defined color is used. In addition to the base colors (red, green, and blue), mixed colors with fixed ratios can be used. As shown in Figure 6, full red (100% red, 0% green, 0% blue) is used for the floor and yellow (100% red, 100% green, 0% blue) is used for the cube.
In order to extract a proper matte from this mix of colors, you need to manipulate and remap the channels. The simplest way to do that is to use the Shift Channels effect. It can be found in the Channels category. To turn the green channel into a matte for the cube, you select it as the alpha channel. Turning the other channels off is optional, but it helps to visualize things (see Figure 7).
In theory, there is an infinite number of mattes you can create this way, but there is one caveat: As soon as you start using colors that do not have the full 100% on one channel, you need to use additional effects. If you use, say, 50% red, 0% green, and 50% blue, you will get a medium magenta (see Figure 8). When extracting a channel directly to the alpha, it will only be half-opaque. Therefore you need to apply an Alpha Levels effect to expand the ranges (see Figure 9).
Another problem is that mixed colors often share color components with other colors. Returning to the example, that means that if you have, for instance, yellow (100% red, 100% green, 0% blue), cyan (0% red, 100% green, 100% blue), and magenta (100% red, 0% green, 100% blue), there will always be two areas that cannot be isolated in a single step. The solution to this problem lies in combining the different extracted mattes against each other.
So, for instance, subtracting a matte generated based on the red channel from the matte on the green channel will remove the yellow areas completely but leave the cyan parts intact. Ideally, you would create all those mattes in subcompositions to be able to use them any place you need them (see Figure 10).
However, as you can imagine, this can become quite complex and it will be hard to keep track of the various compositions. Even if you only use the three base colors and the three mixed colors already mentioned, you will need at least six additional compositions in your project. At some point it may simply become impractical, which you can certainly imagine if you look at Figure 11.
In such situations it would be more manageable to create extra mattes using the other methods.
Concluding thoughts on mattes
Although they do work, all of the above methods have one very big potential drawback: There is a good chance they might degenerate your alpha channels, meaning that when you combine mattes over and over, pixels at the edges between transparent and opaque areas will show the wrong opacity after a time, leading to fringes or gaps. This is due to the antialiasing employed by your 3D program plus the matting procedures of After Effects. With some careful planning, many of the problems can be minimized, however. Here are some simple things you can do:
- Render your footage with straight (unmultiplied) alpha channels.
- Use 16 bpc or even 32 bpc image formats, even for mattes. This will give better transparency handling when expanding and compressing levels.
- When you render extra passes, turn off antialiasing and dithering when possible. UV passes, normal passes, object buffers, and a few others do not need it anyway.
- Do not render with motion blur and depth of field.
If the above tips are not applicable (for example, because you cannot influence the way your 3D program generates those mattes), then try to tackle the issues in After Effects:
- Make sure your footage interpretation is correct. There is a crucial difference between premultiplied and straight (unmultiplied) alpha, and setting this wrong can mess up things from the start.
- If needed, manually unmultiply your channels by using effects such as Shift Channels, Channel Combiner, Channel Mixer, Compound Arithmetic, or third-party plug-ins.
- Using the same effects, create clean edges on your mattes by removing the antialiasing.
- Use the Minimax and Matte Choker effects with very small settings to erode offending areas or restore edges that have been thinned down in a matting operation.
Also, experiment with other tools and particularly blending modes. For example, if you plan to use Add or Screen blending modes, that will make black areas disappear anyway, so you do not need to spend hours trying to remove black fringes on a matte. Remember: everything is allowed as long as the result is what you expect.
Using RGB and alpha mattes in Maxon Cinema 4D is not really the preferred way of working because Cinema 4D provides a much more elegant way with its multipass rendering and object buffers. (See the Rendering object buffers in Maxon Cinema 4D section of this document.) However, you can still use RGB and alpha mattes in Cinema 4D, and it's easy to set up.
Alpha mattes
The "retro" way of generating multiple alpha mattes is to render the scene multiple times. By using the visibility dots in the Object Manager to hide or reveal items, it is possible to exclude them from appearing in the alpha channel and the RGB information (see Figure 12). This also includes lights and special scene objects, so it is possible to create different versions easily. The downside, of course, is that you will spend a lot of time toggling the visibility for each pass.
To facilitate the process, you should use the layer system introduced in Cinema 4D R10. By assigning them to different layers (see Figure 13), you can generate different render passes easily. Simply toggle the renderability attribute of the layer as you would with the object or hierarchies.
RGB mattes with materials
Rendering a separate RGB matte or luma matte pass can be done by assigning differently colored materials. To give solid colors, you need to only use the Luminance channel, but have all other shading channels turned off (see Figure 14).
Generating different mattes from one scene is achieved either by saving different versions of it or making use of the layer system again. For the latter, you will have to duplicate the hierarchy and assign different materials to the cloned objects (see Figure 15). At first sight, this has no benefits over the other method, but it could be easier to manage if your scene contains animation that is used in every layer and you only need to isolate other parts not affected by this.
As a last way, you can render a RGB matte or luma matte by using the Compositing Tag's Matte Object option (see Figure 16).
This method is of particular interest, as it is very flexible without having to create separate scenes. Tagging the objects is very straightforward. All you need to do is apply a compositing tag and enable the object buffer output (see Figure 17). Since the number of available slots is limited, you will want to label objects only where you are certain that they need to be treated further in compositing. Also, keep in mind that this is not an exclusive setting: objects can be part of multiple object buffers depending on your needs.
When using multipass output, you need to consider a few things to use object buffers successfully in After Effects. First and most important, similar to the issue discussed in the Outputting a UV pass from Maxon Cinema 4D section of this series, the object buffer will inherit transparencies. Turn it off if it stops you from getting the matte that you need (see Figure 18).
Second, and just as critical, you cannot use the Multi-Layer File option (see Figure 19). Unfortunately, it cannot output to multichannel OpenEXR. As with other formats, such as PSD, you will run into problems because the data will be stored as extra channels, not as separate layers. These custom channels cannot be extracted directly from the PSD file in After Effects. More or less, such a file would be useless to you.
When you have successfully set all options, you should end up with a clean black and white object buffer that can be used as a luma matte to isolate the respective areas of your other passes (see Figure 20).
An additional advantage is that object buffers can also be used with the standard render output if you choose a format that supports multiple channels, like RLA or RPF (see Figure 21). They can later be extracted in After Effects using the ID Matte effect in the 3D Channel category.
Because it was originally developed as a content generation program for NewTek's VideoToaster product range, NewTek Lightwave always had multiple ways of manipulating the alpha channel directly without additional steps so you could load your rendered Targa files on the Toaster and play them back immediately. Parts of this system still can be used to your advantage, as well.
A very simple and straightforward way of generating a matte is to use the Matte Object option on the Render tab of the Object Properties panel (see Figure 22). Either you assign a solid color to it to use it for an RGB matte or luma matte (see Figure 23) or you play with the alpha settings.
A setting similar to the per-object alpha can be found in the Surface Editor. Using the alpha options on the Advanced tab, you can control the way that transparencies are evaluated. For a clean matte, set it to Constant and dial in a value between 0 (no alpha) and 255 (full alpha), as shown in Figure 24.
When you view the alpha channel, areas occupied by an object or a material on parts of the object will appear black (empty) even if they show up in the RGB channels (see Figure 25).
At this point, generating mattes in Luxology modo is a mainly manual process. The software lacks a native render layer system, and therefore, render passes always are tied in with the whole scene, requiring the user to hide and show relevant items and shaders manually.
Surface ID pass
A built-in means of generating an RGB matte is the Surface ID pass. You have used this pass already in the general Using mattes to isolate areas of your image section of this document. The Surface ID pass assigns a color out of a predefined palette of colors that are either pure base colors (red, green, blue) or a mix of them with a fixed percentage. Which color is assigned to which surface is based on the order in which the materials in your scene were created and assigned. There is no way to change this post facto.
In order to make use of the Surface ID pass, you need to add it as an additional Render Output to the Shadertree. Simply click the respective button and pick it from the list (see Figure 26).
All additional render outputs will be added as Final Color outputs, so you need to switch them to whatever you require by using the right-click mouse menu (see Figures 27 and 28). In case of the Surface ID, no additional steps are required except for setting an output path, if you so desire. Dithering, clamping, and all the other settings have no influence on the content of the pass, and therefore can be left at their defaults, unlike in the UV pass process described in the Outputting a UV pass from Luxology modo 301 section of this document.
RGB mattes with materials
Just like in any other program, you can always generate an RGB matte conventionally by using materials and setting their properties to give a flat shading. As in Lightwave, materials in Luxology modo are properties of a given set of polygons, not the object containing the polygons. Therefore it is easily possible to mix multiple materials on one object by defining selections.
To do so, draw a selection in Polygon mode and then assign a new material. The default keyboard shortcut for this is M; the internal command is called
poly.setMaterial. When the dialog box appears (see Figure 29), you are given the opportunity to define a few basic parameters, which at this point in particular have relevance for discerning polygon areas in shaded mode and can later be refined in the Shadertree for rendering.
Once the new material/shader group has been assigned, it will show up in the program's various lists (see Figure 30). This will not only serve as a criterion for rendering, but also enable you to recall those selections with a click of the mouse for modeling operations.
One thing that is slightly different about modo's materials is that the renderer is based to some degree on correct physical principles, as opposed to the simplified shading algorithms that have been common in the industry until a few years ago. Because of that, it is slightly more difficult to coerce it into rendering a flat-shaded pass because it wouldn't be possible in a real environment.
To avoid having to tweak too many parameters, I will pick out the luminosity parameter. It functions based on the energy emission of the surface and therefore operates in floating-point values. At first, this is confusing, but for your purposes there is one simple rule: any value beyond 1.0 W/srm2 will register as a fully opaque color (see Figure 31). This is because the energy will exceed the color range that is of interest to you, and you therefore will have no use for higher values because you don't intend to create your mattes with float values.
Even though the luminous shading will also affect the Final Color pass, you cannot use it for creating your mattes. Luckily, modo makes provision for rendering the luminous shading to a separate pass, also. You just need to add it in the usual manner already explained (see Figures 32 and 33).
In order to make use of shader group masks, you must have polygonal selections in your scene. Matters are a bit more complex, however, as there are multiple ways to store those selections persistently. In addition to vertex maps (UV sets, weight maps, vertex color maps, etc.), modo uses so-called polygon tagging (PTags) to associate custom information with geometry. In theory, there can be an infinite number of them, just as there could be an infinite number of vertex maps, but the three types implemented in modo are more than sufficient.
Preparing the geometry
The first, and the one you will encounter most frequently, is the Material. By default, all polygons will have a Default material, but by following the procedures laid out in the Generating RGB mattes in Luxology modo 301 section of this document, you can assign a custom material to any polygon selection.
The second method involves creating Parts. With the polygons selected, you go to the menu and choose Geometry > Polygon > Set Part. The internal command is
Creating Selection Sets is the last option. As the name implies, it is meant as a helper utility during modeling, so it can be found in the menu under Select > Assign Selection Set. In addition to polygon selections, point and edge selections can also be stored this way, but the latter two are of no use for rendering. Be careful to not mix them up. The command to access this function via scripts and macros or assign it to a shortcut key is
Once you have created your custom tags, they will show up in the respective subsections of the Statistics window (see Figure 34).
A special case of material selections are the Item Masks. This is a function that can be found in the context menu of the Item List (see Figure 35). As I will illustrate later, it adds a dedicated group mask that includes all items on a Mesh layer or geometry group.
Creating the group masks in the Shadertree
When you use materials and item masks, you do not need to take any additional steps to propagate them to the Shadertree. Luxology modo will take care of everything and create a group mask and a material contained inside it.
However, all of the groups created this way will reside in the root level of the Shadertree. This is OK most of the time for simple scenes, but for more complex setups and for controlling the matte, you will often want to create nested groups and organize things manually. You can do so easily by selecting the Group entry from the Add Layer popup menu (see Figure 36). Depending on what you had selected before, the new group will be created inside an existing one or at the root level. You can easily reorder it by dragging and dropping, which is also the means of choice to put other groups in place.
In hierarchical groups it is crucial to set them all to the correct PTag types in order not to break the evaluation during rendering. It is not enough that only the nested groups have the correct properties; all groups above them need to share the same settings to allow pass-through. The other way around, you can use the Apply to Sub-Group switch to force lower-level groups to inherit the settings of the parent group.
Figures 37–47 show this process for each of the types. For illustration purposes, red and blue materials were used, where red matches the selection illustrated in the viewport. Gray areas are the background or the default material.
Item masks
Selection sets
Once the group mask hierarchies have been created, you can combine them as you see fit by simply toggling their visibility (see Figure 48). Because they are merely masks, you are free to do whatever you want inside them. Most of the time you will simply use materials to create luma mattes or RGB mattes, but of course you can also add separate shaders, textures, or render outputs.
Many 3D programs will allow you to render your images to the OpenEXR format. Using it in After Effects is possible ever since version 7. Unfortunately, After Effects does not directly support multichannel OpenEXR files that can contain additional channels like depth, object IDs, UVs, ambient occlusion, and so on all in one file (similar to RLA/RPF files). Programs like Luxology modo are able to generate these channels in multichannel OpenEXR files and, as you may well imagine, this capability greatly facilitates managing those files.
In order to use multichannel OpenEXR files in After Effects, you need a freely available third-party plug-in set:
The plug-ins can be used with After Effects. To install and use them without getting a conflict with the program's own file I/O plug-in, you first need to disable the native After Effects OpenEXR plug-in. This can be done most safely by putting parentheses around the name of the plug-in, which means After Effects will ignore it. Assuming you installed it in the default directory on Windows, the plug-in is located in the following folder:
C:\Program Files\Adobe\After Effects CS3\Support Files\Plug-ins\Format
On Mac OS, the corresponding directory can be found here:
HD:Applications:Adobe After Effects CS3:Support Files:Plug-ins:Format
Simply rename OpenEXR.8bi to (OpenEXR.8bi). After that, you can extract the plug-ins from the downloaded ZIP files and place them in the Plug-ins directory. I recommend that you create a dedicated subfolder for them. Then you can launch After Effects.
The effect in which you are most interested is called EXtractoR, and it will show up in the 3D Channel category of the Effects menu (see Figure 49). It is applied directly to layers based on multichannel EXR footage. By default, it will show you the RGB and alpha channels, and therefore not look much different than other footage. To use other channels, you click in the info area.
On doing so, you are presented with a dialog box that allows you to remap other custom channels to the RGB and alpha channels (see Figure 50). The names of the channels may look confusing at first. Beyond the initial channels, no fixed naming convention exists. Therefore, programmers are free to name additional channels whatever they like. Since most likely you will only work with one or two 3D programs at a time, you will have learned to make sense of this quickly.
A special case is presented with the (copy) option. This will simply copy values from the previous channel or use the default channel. This can be useful, for example, if you want to extract only the depth channel and need a clean grayscale representation on a single channel (see Figure 51).
All the changes are properly reflected on the interface, of course. Depending on the data you chose, the other controls may be of interest to you. If you choose an object buffer, for example, you may wish to create an alpha channel from it instead of using it as a luma matte. This can be done by simply using the UnMult option.
Since many channels in EXR files are stored as HDR floating-point numbers, their ranges are not always normalized to fall between 0 and 1. This allows them to retain all the fine details and exposure. However, it may not always be possible to work with such data directly. Therefore, you can change the minimum and maximum range by adjusting the Black Point and White Point.
Depending on what channels you extract, it will be necessary to work in 16 bpc or 32 bpc to get access to the full value ranges, so make sure to set your project to the appropriate bit depth. This will always avoid wrong results due to conversion errors and clipping when going from floating-point 32 bpc to fixed-point 8 bpc, for example.
Now that you have an understanding of how to generate mattes in your 3D applications, and have seen how to use the fnord plug-ins to import your mattes as multichannel OpenEXR files in After Effects, you're equipped to use these techniques in your After Effects projects.


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Air Force, Front Range hockey wins with DU and CC moving to the NCHC
The Air Force hockey team isn't going anywhere, but with the substantial recent conference realignment announcements, the Falcons of the Atlantic Hockey Association are bound to benefit from the change. In two years, look for Air Force's schedule to include additional nonconference games against Front Range rivals DU and CC.
Air Force coach Frank Serratore said he spoke with DU coach George Gwozdecky and CC coach Scott Owens on Wednesday afternoon, after the official National Collegiate Hockey Conference announcement was made in Colorado Springs.
With the Pioneers and Tigers scheduled to join North Dakota, Minnesota-Duluth, Miami, Nebraska-Omaha and possibly Notre Dame in the new six- or seven-team NCHC, DU and CC will need to perhaps double their nonconference schedules when the NCHC debuts in 2013-14. Currently, DU and CC play 28 league games in the 12-team WCHA, and eight nonconference games. In two years, they will play just 20-24 league games and 12-16 nonconference games.
Air Force, instead of playing a two-game nonconference weekend against DU and CC, will likely play a home-and-home series against each team when the Pioneers and Tigers begin play in the NCHC. So in addition to the two DU-CC home-and-home series, a season on the Front Range will also include a DU-AFA home-and-home set and CC-AFA series in Colorado Springs and at the Academy.
The arrangement will help each program schedule nonconference games without haggling over gate guarantees.
Serratore said all three coaches like the idea of the triangular home-and-home series, and on Wednesday in Colorado Springs, Gwozdecky and CC athletic director Ken Ralph told me they would like to continue to play, and possible add a second game, with Air Force beginning in 2013-14.
"Our program is at a point where we can compete with those two teams on a weekend, not just one night, and a two-game series would be much more appealing to not only our fans, but our recruits as well," Serratore said.
Meanwhile, the Falcons will remain in the AHA "if I have anything to do with it," Serratore said. The Falcons have qualified for the NCAA Tournament in four of the past five years by winning the AHA tournament, and they will turn down overtures from the WCHA, CCHA and anyone else to remain proud AHA members.
"We're winning championships, we're going to NCAA tournaments, we're filling our building," Serratore said. "Going to the NCHC, the WCHA or CCHA will not make us more money or save us money or help us win any more games. So why would we want to change that formula?"
In addition, Serratore feels loyalty toward the AHA. "When we were clinging to life in the CHA (in 2005-06), Atlantic Hockey threw us a life jacket. It's sad that we talk about loyalty last; everyone is looking out for themselves. But they threw us a life jacket when we were on the Titanic in the CHA. So that's important, but in the end, there is no substitute for winning, and we've been doing that."
In general, Serratore likes the idea of the NCHC and the new Big Ten hockey conference that will also debut in 2013.
"Some people are up in arms over this stuff, but I totally disagree. I think this is great for hockey," Serratore said. "The biggest risk-takers are the six teams, or seven teams, whatever the NCHC ends up with. Those programs are used to winning. I'm not good in math, but there are six or seven teams, and they all ain't going to win. Somebody is going to lose. And the way I see it, the restructuring means there are more leagues with like-schools, which is going to be healthier. Michigan Tech's life just got a whole lot better. Same for Alaska-Anchorage and Bemidji State. Now, those schools are like us. They have a chance to play for a championship and make the NCAA Tournament. In other words, the have-nots won't be buried like they were with the BCS teams."
He added: "I disagree with the naysayers that say this is all bad for hockey. It's just sticker shock. The programs most at risk are the ones that stepped forward and started this super league."
Keep tabs with Mike Chambers on Twitter: @MChambersDP
Read more of Mike Chambers at All Things Avs.


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Bronx Eats: Chimichurri and Juices at EL Rincon de Los Taxistas, Mount Eden
Overlooking the Cross Bronx on a vacant strip of East 174th Street, El Rincon de Los Taxistas—a five year-old truck serving up Dominican street fare—is at the heart of a Bronx crossroads lacking in good food. The block is flanked by two of the borough's most vital arteries, Jerome Avenue and the elevated Grand Concourse. While pedestrians come by now and then, owner Rafael really targets livery cab drivers.
The kitchen, staffed by two women who speak serviceable if limited English, produces a smattering of chimichurri (popularly known as "Dominican Hamburgers"), juices, and cuchifritos and frituras (various fried items). The last, on display behind glass, includes chicharrones, empanadas, fried cassava and yucca, bollitos (boiled cornmeal rolls) and Dominican turnovers (paster en hoja). An adjacent stockpile of pig's ears, sausage, and other meats invites further investigation. Heartier stews are also available, as is Fish on Fridays.
El Rincon's claim to fame is their chimichurri, popularly known as "Dominican hamburgers," not to be confused with the Argentinean grilling sauce of the same name. You can get one with chicken, pork, pork chop, or beef, all $5 apiece. They're damn good, if a little heavy on sauce, and exactly the kind of fare you'd need to get through a long night on the road: hefty, but not quite gut-busting.
The bread, pan de agua, is toasted on the flat top and slathered with a mayo- and vinegar-based sauce. Cabbage, red onion, and tomato are then added. When mixed with the cabbage and onion, the sauce pulls the sandwich together: it tastes like a sweeter coleslaw, the vinegar coming through in bursts. Once the meat is cooked through, the sandwich is assembled and pressed on the griddle, allowing the bread to develop a more serious crust.
Both the shredded chicken and pork are solid choices for chowing, but the flavor of the meat doesn't come through as distinctly as in the beef. The beef is ground, mixed with minced herbs, and molded into an oblong, flattened patty about the length of the bread. Cooked lightly, it doesn't develop much of a crust, but the flavor is just right. With the cabbage, onion, and tart-creamy sauce, the sandwich evokes memories of summer grill sessions.
Wash down your chimichurri with one of the intriguing drinks on offer, served over ice. Options include avena con limon ($3; granola and lime), naranja ($2; orange), chinola con leche ($3; passionfruit with milk), ceresa ($2; cherry), and moril sonando ($3; a popular Dominican drink typically consisting of orange juice, crushed ice, chilled milk, and cane sugar).
Of those available, the chinola con leche—sweet but not sugary, and a little tart—stood out as the best. Even on a cold and overcast day, a second serving proved too hard to resist. Good, too, was the cherry, thought it did taste more like nectar of Blow Pop than actual cherries.
Restaurants are sparse on around this stretch of Jerome, and seating here is limited to a couple purple chairs chained to the adjacent fence, enclosing a vacant lot that Raphael maintains for the city. But El Rincon is worth the diversion, especially on a balmy summer afternoon when those juices come in handy.
El Rincon de Los Taxistas
East 174th Street between Jerome Avenue and Townsend Avenue, Bronx, NY 10452 (map)
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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Avs sign John Grahame – to minor-league deal, and other trade scuttlebut
LOS ANGELES – When the Avalanche signed John Grahame to a contract today, it set off a lot of questioning: why did they they do that? Does this mean he's the next backup to Craig Anderson?
No. The Avs signed Grahame – the Colorado native, son of former NHL goalie Ron Grahame and longtime Avs executive Charlotte Grahame – because their two minor-league goalies at the moment – Tyler Weiman and Trevor Cann – are both hurt.
Therefore, Grahame will report to the Lake Erie Monsters, not the Avalanche. Budaj will be the backup going forward. At one time, Grahame was considered a solid up-and-coming goalie, but he has not played in the NHL since 2007-08 with Carolina. He also was a member of Tampa Bay's Stanley Cup team of 2004. He played some in Russia last year, and spent some time with Adirondack of the AHL this year.
On to other matters: we're about 20 hours away from tomorrow's NHL trade deadline, and the Avs have yet to make a deal. And I do not believe that anything will happen for the rest of the day, so stop obsessively checking the newswire.
I believe the Avs are kicking some tires still and will make a decision on a deal or two by tomorrow morning. The obvious candidates to possibly be on the move are Liles, Salei and Svatos. TSN's Bob McKenzie twittered that the Avs are listening to offers for Wolski, with Phoenix's Peter Mueller being mentioned.
As bad as Wolski is playing right now — and it's been bad — I don't know if I'd give him up for Mueller, who has been a complete and total stiff with the Coyotes this year and pretty much has been for two solid years now, after a decent rookie year. If you think Wolski can be frustrating, Mueller is even worse. The Avs would want a reasonably high draft pick as well if such a deal were to happen, I feel confident in reporting.
I think there's a minor chance the Avs might take a chance on Carolina's Joe Corvo — a good power-play D-man. It's possible the Avs might bite the bullet and sacrifice a Liles or (maybe) a Wolski for him. The thing with Corvo is, he's in the last year of his contract and would be a rental player. The Avs would likely want a pick from Carolina, too, but Jim Rutherford doesn't want to give up any draft picks, so I see a deal there as unlikely. I've heard plenty of whispers that San Jose might take a shot on Liles, with Douglas Murray possibly coming the other way, but I think it's highly unlikely. The Sharks are right up against the cap, for one thing, and they already have Rob Blake and Dan Boyle on their blue line. It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.
Liles' contract is just a killer in a trade right now. So many teams just want to off-load salary, that taking on a guy with a $4.2 million cap hit — with two more years to run on his deal — just makes him very, very tough to move. I still think a deal with Edmonton for Sheldon Souray would be a win-win for both teams, but don't forget that Liles also has a partial no-movement clause, and so does Souray. So that one's probably out.
As one NHL front office person put it to me today: "Everybody has somebody available or that they want to move, but making the numbers work kills most every deal."
Again, I don't believe any Avs deals will go down tonight. But my phone will be on, of course. I've been wrong before (I heard that).


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Given a $m \times 2m$ matrix G with rank(G)=m, what is the maximal number of zeros in the product $WG$ where $W$ is an $m \times m$ nondegenerate matrix?
An obvious lower bound is $m(m-1)$ and $W$ is given by a matrix that transforms the first $m$ columns of $G$ to a standard basis in $\mathbb{R}^m$. When $m=1$ this lower bound is in fact attained. Is it possible to have more zeros when m>>1?


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When Mail in El Capitan upgrades your email library, it displays a Mail Upgrade window with an "Upgrading Library" progress bar. If Mail can't complete the upgrade, it might quit, reopen, and attempt to upgrade your library again. Follow these steps if that upgrade cycle continues repeatedly:
- Force Mail to quit, such as by pressing Command-Option-Esc.
- From the menu bar in the Finder, choose Go > Home. Your home folder opens.
- Choose File > Get Info. An Info window for your home folder opens.
- If the "Sharing & Permissions" section at the bottom of the window isn't open, click the triangle in that section to open it.
- If the Lock button in the lower-right corner of the window shows a closed lock , click the button, then enter your administrator name and password.
- Click the Action menu in the lower-left corner of the window, then choose "Apply to enclosed items." Click OK to confirm the action.
- When the progress bar at the top of the Info window closes, open the Terminal app. It's in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
- Paste or type this command in Terminal, then press Return:
diskutil resetUserPermissions / `id -u`
On U.S. keyboards, the ` character is just above the Tab key.
- When the process completes, quit Terminal. You should now be able to open Mail.


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Pet Costume Contest
Show off your pet dressed in their best costume for the super popular Pet Costume Contest! Each pet must wear a costume during the competition period to be eligible. Winners will be determined by audience applause as assessed by the pet expo staff. To learn more about entering please refer to the entertainment schedule.


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Jermaine Dye at what positions would he play:
"There are a number of teams I've heard already that would love to have me. I know one thing, I will not be DHing. You can put that down. If a team wants to try me out at first base on an every day basis I'll do that. That's something I feel will be easy to learn. But as far as DHing that's not for me. Teams shouldn't call if that's their plan."
A lot more on the link.


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Nuclear Quality Assurance
|America's nuclear energy industry is taking off and Arsenal Consulting is ready to help suppliers meet the growing demand for components and services that meet the industry's unique requirements. We provide the expertise your company needs to be able to meet the requirements of ASME NQA-1, 10 CFR 50 Appendix B, and ANSI N45.2 to compete in this growing market. ...more about the nuclear industry.
|Nuclear Quality Manual Templates
|NQA-1 Nuclear Lead Auditor Training
|Consulting and Program Implementation
|Quality System Auditing


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Is 'Noah' Biblical Enough for Box Office Success?
Paramount Pictures' "Noah" is the first big-budget, biblical Hollywood blockbuster since the 1960s. The studio hopes the film will bring believers and the secular masses alike to the box office. Photo: Paramount Pictures/Everett Collection
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
I ... I ... the story of the ... year olds ... he fills it with tears every type of animal ... God was the year ... just as an Army tries to seize the Arctic chill Noah ... we ... had ... the army ... isn't in the Bible ... but it isn't Paramount Pictures one hundred twenty five million dollar blockbuster ... called Noah ... coming of March twenty eight ... the biblical version of this story fills only four chapters of Genesis ... so it's not surprising the movie version takes a few liberties ... to fill its one hundred thirty eighth action packed and ... but is still no biblical and not ... the answer to that question could determine whether Paramount find success at the box office ... last month ... the movie son of God which is closely to Scripture ... significant Christian support thanks to the leaders like George D ... and Rick Warren ... who played the movie in sermons Nvidia hse ... the film which was adapted from the mini series the Bible ... for that its low-cost production budget in its first week ... Noah hopes to be the first big budget it would be the film since the nineteen fifties and sixties ... to draw both believers and nonbelievers alike ... but some Christian leaders are balking ... they take issue with no wasn't murderer Scott sorties grandchildren ... the film's environmental he said other GT it's like ... the number of people taken aboard the are ... the criticism was compelled studio to attach a disclaimer to the film saying it takes artistic license ... Paramount's is the movie is true to the values of the story and helps its impressive art set ... which was built in New York the Bible specifications ... as evidence of its respect for the story ... Russell Crowe the film's star ... recently tweeted pictures from a visit to the Vatican ... yes Pope Francis to watch the phone ... the Catholic Church has taken an official stance on the movie ... and as Hollywood considers future Bible story of the station's studios will be watching closely to see a paramount ... for ... a box office here ...


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Welcome to our website. We are a small family-run farm bringing the freshest and best tasting homemade ice cream and milk to the people of northeast PA.
Manning's homemade ice cream starts well before the cream and sugar. We start with the food grown on the farm that we feed to our cows. We grow the crops that our cows like to eat, since happy cows are productive cows. Then we milk our cows twice a day, every day. Then we bottle our milk and make ice cream and deliver it to our stores daily.
Manning's homemade starts with the farm.


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Locals Join the Hunt for Man-Eating Tiger in India
A tiger has killed 10 people in northern India, and forestry officials have called in locals whose royal families have been hunting big game for generations. Photo: R. Jai Krishna
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
I ... the man eating tiger that has killed ten people in northern India is on the lease in the foothills of the camellias ... forestry officials of content experts this century's experience checking think acts ... the local nobility ... since mid January PMI Sanjay Singh who is from the Royal family of Arata Bud ... and his nephew to my semi Ajit Singh ... Cyan of the rash of pitches side ... of the meeting a hunting party to kill the tiger ... the last attack them every six ... in the small village of contents of the law ... no we are bored hunters ... our forefathers used to it and now with us ... and the state of the entire Pradesh and Nerang that the sun ... at least ten people died last year and man animal conflicts ... villagers are venturing into the field staying in the evenings ... forestry officials are searching for a fee an outsider ... which they say like the street from the nearby Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve ... Mr. Singh and his nephew have focused their operations around the place the man's body was found ... big tax Mr Singh says often returned to the side of the show ... hoping to consume our their prey ... a water Buffalo calf has been tied to a tree as Beats ... anak Aflac's hunting blind ... known as EMAs son ... has a semi run-up platform in a nearby tree ... one day last week the men checked the approaches to the Buffalo calf ... this UN Dutch acts ... as a tended to agree if you're sane ... and likely mid on to another area ... some animal rights activists have campaigned against killing the Tiger ... saying she'd be hit with a chuckle as entire encased instead ... forestry officials have since decided that killing the tire is the only solution ... but the permit issued to the hunters says that once am I say that ... they'll have to call a forestry official for permission to shoot ... it's down Mr. saying sympathizes with the ThinkPad ... it's not like to blame them alone ... it is we who ventured into their territory ...


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The Avid Artist Control is a compact 4-fader control surface with a built in touchscreen that offers unmatched integration and programmability to accelerate editing and mixing tasks in any EUCON-enabled audio or video application. Speed up and enhance your workflow with functionality far beyond what a mouse and keyboard can provide, so you can focus on being creative.
EUCON (Extended User Control)
Artist Control features EUCON (Extended User Control), a high-speed open control protocol that has been adopted by many of the world's leading software developers. Pro Tools, Media Composer, Apple Logic, Apple Final Cut Pro, Steinberg Cubase, and many other applications support EUCON, giving you highly responsive control over almost all software functions. You gain high-resolution, high-speed control over almost all software functions, and a tightly connected "software as hardware" experience.
* Current EUCON driver does not support Japanese Windows 7
** Ethernet hub or switch required to connect additional units or to connect to a network


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Last Thursday I received a few tweets from Chris Olds, editor of Beckett Baseball, as I was headed out to lunch. Anyone who follows me on Twitter knows that this is not the most uncommon thing as Chris and I exchange messages on nearly a daily basis usually riffing on sports, film and our sports card/memorabilia collections. What the messages contained however, was something completely unexpected.
I had sent a message to Chris a few days earlier with a link to my Fan Cave application (you can watch it here if you haven't see it) mentioning that we had included my copy of the latest issue of Beckett Baseball in the video. He re-tweeted the link and I figured that was the end of it. Well, that was until Thursday came around.
The messages from Chris stated that he wanted to write an article around my video to help promote Beckett's upcoming Super Collector issue and to promote the Fan Cave program. He had one question that he needed answered: "What do you think you will bring to the Cave if picked?"
On the surface, it's a loaded question. I planned on writing a long eloquent response via email, but instead quickly tweeted back my answer: "I think that I'll bring creativity and a love of the game that isn't always found in the larger markets."
The article went live on my way to lunch and can be viewed here: http://www.beckett.com/news/2013/01/will-beckett-baseball-make-it-to-the-mlb-fan-cave-oh-and-show-us-your-fan-caves/
To clarify my answer, I'm going to pull back the curtain a bit and share with you some of my accomplishments from before I became a baseball blogger, things that I'm really proud of and that many people don't realize that I've done.
1) I've played bass and guitar since I was 19: As a member of both The Right Ons and Holly and the Non-Italians (now known as Holly and the Nice Lions) I played bass/guitar in the Green Bay area on a regular basis for about 5 years. Here are a few clips of "Baseball" by The Right Ons and "Down to the River" and "Chapter 1" by Holly and the Nice Lions.
2) I have my own IMDB listing: Yes, believe it or not, I am actually listed in the Internet Movie Data Base for a few special effects projects that I assisted with. Additionally, I am an active member of Table 8 Productions (we did the "Avengers on a Budget" video that went viral last summer) and I co-produced the award winning "An Outbreak at Meadowbrook Park" (not safe for work: language).
3) I'm a former pro-wrestling manager: I'll let the video speak for itself on this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft1TaiILIbg
So you see, being in front or behind a camera is nothing new for me. Now to add the ultimate feather to my (baseball) cap and become the latest Cave Dweller.
Thanks again to Chris Olds and Beckett for their support. I'll be back tomorrow to discuss what it means to me to be a small market baseball fan.
Kevin Kimmes is a regular contributor to creamcitycables.com and an applicant for the 2013 MLB Fan Cave. You can follow him on Twitter at @kevinkimmes.


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The For Coaches Series is sponsored by Coach It Now!, a new platform bringing coaches together through Online Radio + TV! Visit CoachItNow.com or follow @CoachItNow on Twitter for more.
The series highlights tips, tricks and techniques to aid the modern-day coach in crafting their business, building a bigger network, increasing client take-away value and converting prospects to sales.
Well, we skipped a week in new video postings, but we brought you our favorite upcoming coaching-related features in iOS 6, so it wasn't a complete bust.
Much like the (2) weeks prior, we continue to provide an air of freshness in the For Coaches Series this week, and today is a fine example of going far above and beyond the call of duty of digi-inking out a single blog post to bring our
readers viewers something worth reading watching.
Don't believe us? Go ahead and click the play button above or use this direct link to watch a brand-new, 'how-to' video on uploading previously recorded coaching sessions to AudioAcrobat — created especially for you, our readers!
Trusted by coaches around the world, AudioAcrobat has made the process of uploading previously recorded coaching sessions easier than ever before and in today's post we sum up the entire process in just a minute … video!
Did you miss the big video above? Did you also pass over the direct link in the 2nd paragraph? Well, have we got something for you!
The Full (non-bit.ly) Play URL!:
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Who should B.o.B have featuring in his next hit song?
Who should B.o.B have featuring in his next hit song?
Who should B.o.B have featuring in his next hit song?
You're brand is growing, you gotta work with more moguls. I know you already with Ttip, but records with Hov or Puff would be hot. Both could teach you a thing or two about biz: Jay got ownership, labels, etc. Puff got fashion, movies, TV, wud be a huge look
B.o.B., I saw you on the Wendy Williams show, and although I loved you song, "Ain't Got Nothing On You" prior to that show, you and Rico made it one of my best ever. Sorry, to say I am a 58 year old woman and you are as young as my grandson (smiles)....I can still fantasize.
Anyway, I love you and Rico together and I think you should do a hit song with him.
Keep doing what you are doing...you are an incredible example for the next generation.
Joi Lyn Mendes
Providence, RI
does it matter who? you know the track will be banging! but Andre 3000,Charles Hamilton, Kid Cudi,Kanye,Wale, any one of those would be pretty sick
have to agree with Wale. 2 up and coming different styles will lead to a classic. kid cudi by the way is stoner music and only talks about being in peace within himself and his mind. to slow for Bobby ray, but's he's so good at all tempos he could make it work.
I like the songs he does with Charles Hamilton to be honest, and him and Charles seems like a very likely duo, seeing as they have recorded songs together before.


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Nabors to sing 'Indiana' for the final time this MayEvent PR, IndyCar, IndyCar News/Releases — By More Front Wing Staff on March 25, 2014 2:38 pm
[Source: Indianapolis Motor Speedway press release]
INDIANAPOLIS, Tuesday, March 25, 2014 – Beloved actor-entertainer and legendary Indianapolis 500 icon Jim Nabors will sing "(Back Home Again in) Indiana" at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the final time prior to the start of the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 25.
Nabors' rendition of the song became a beloved tradition of "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" since he first performed it in 1972. Always accompanied by the Purdue "All American" Marching Band and thousands of fans singing in unison throughout the massive facility, Nabors has performed the song 34 times in person at IMS.
"The first time that I ever sang at the Indy 500 in 1972, the warmth I got from the crowd immediately made me become a lifetime Hoosier; and I've always cherished it," Nabors said. "I'll see you all in May; but I've come to the conclusion that my health doesn't permit me to travel very much anymore. So I'll be retiring from singing 'Back Home Again' at the Indy 500 after this year.
"I want to give a special thanks to everyone; and particularly the Hulman George family, who have a special place in my heart and are my wonderful friends. I've loved every minute of it."
Nabors, 83, has performed at the Indianapolis 500 every year since 1987 with the exception of 2007 and 2012 races that he missed due to illness. A rendition of the song he performed at his home in Hawaii was played on the video screens at IMS prior to the 2012 race to the delight of his countless fans in attendance and millions watching on worldwide television.
"There are many special moments leading up to the start of the Indianapolis 500, but one of the most anticipated every year is when Jim Nabors sings 'Back Home Again in Indiana,"' said J. Douglas Boles, Indianapolis Motor Speedway president. "This year will be even more special as Indianapolis 500 fans will cheer not only for what the song means but for what Jim Nabors has meant to the Indianapolis 500."
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway will honor and thank Nabors for his years of performance in several ways during Indianapolis 500 race weekend that will be announced at a later date. Fans are encouraged to tell their Nabors stories at IMS.com/WeAllHaveAStory.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway will not announce a future plan for the "(Back Home Again in) Indiana" performance until after this year's Indianapolis 500.
"We want the focus for this year to be on celebrating Jim's final performance at Indianapolis," said Boles."
The 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 will take place on Sunday, May 25.Tags: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indy 500, Jim Nabors


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Lace Paper Doilies
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Hygloss Paper Lace Doilies are essential craft supplies for party planning. Delicate designs cut from sturdy paper make for creative table settings, greeting cards, bulletin boards, holiday decorations, and more. Hearts are perfect for Valentines Day or weddings. These paper doilies can be decorated with markers, paint, glitter, glue, stickers - nearly anything you can imagine.
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Price: 74.95
Price: $105.95
Price: $119.90
Price: $74.95
Is there something broken on your lawnmower or small engine? Sometimes when parts have to be ordered it takes time to get the parts in. Save time and order the parts now and have your lawnmower or small engine ready by the time lawn season starts.
Gas going bad is a big problem really the main problem. Bad gas gums up the carburetor and can make repairs expensive. The gas we have today has no preservatives in it. NOTE (The ounce or two of gas in the carburetor will not last but for a few months but if you put stabilizer in your fresh gas can it can last for up to 2 years) I suggest putting any type gas stabilizer in your gas can to help your small engines carburetor stay gum free... Learn More


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Pictured: Liza Ryabkina notched the game-winning goal in her
first game of the season.
Photo courtesy: David Silverman Photography
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – In her first game of the season, Liza Ryabkina scored a goal with 3:25 remaining in the contest to help the 10th-ranked Crimson to a 3-2 victory against Dartmouth in an ECAC Hockey and Ivy League matchup Wednesday at Bright Hockey Center. Ryabkina also assisted on a tally, while Jillian Dempsey and Josephine Pucci also had a goal and assit each. In net, goaltender Christina Kessler earned her sixth win of the season, stopping 27 shots.
Even though the Crimson did not muster its first shot on goal until the 14:30 mark, Harvard netted the game's first goal as Dempsey gave Harvard (6-3-1, 6-3 ECAC Hockey, 3-2 Ivy League) a 1-0 lead at 16:05. Ryabkina found Kate Buesser behind the net with a pass, and Buesser skated toward the right side of the goal. Buesser made a quick pass in front and Dempsey chipped home the puck through the legs of goaltender Mariel Lacina. Harvard's lead was short-lived, however, as Dartmouth (4-4-1, 4-4-1, 3-2) knotted the game exactly one minute later on a tally by Jenna Hobeika. Jenna Cunningham earned an assist on the play, as Dartmouth held an 11-2 advantage in shots against the Crimson in the first period.
After the Big Green was whistled for interference at 2:19 of the second, the Crimson power play went to work, scoring only 15 seconds later to grab a 2-1 lead. After Harvard won the faceoff in the Dartmouth zone, Cori Bassett took a wrist shot from the right circle that was saved by Lacina, but the shot created a rebound in the crease. Pucci tipped the puck through traffic for her second goal of the season at 2:34. Less than three minutes later, Sally Komarerk made it a 2-2 contest when she scored on a rebound in front of Kessler at 5:34.
In the third, Harvard controlled the puck for much of the period, outshooting Dartmouth, 18-4. At the 16:35 mark, Pucci took a slapshot on net that Lacina stopped with her right pads. The puck bounced to Ryabkina's stick and the junior forward tipped the puck behind the goal line for the game-winning tally.
Harvard, which scored on one of its five power plays on the evening, held Dartmouth scoreless on with an extra attacker, extending its streak of not allowing an opponent to score on the power play to four games. The Crimson and Big Green finished even in shots, 29-29.
The Crimson, which has won three games in a row, will host No. 2 Minnesota in back-to-back games at Bright Hockey Center Friday and Saturday, Dec. 4-5.
Late-Game Heroics Propel No. 10 Harvard to 3-2 Victory Over Dartmouth
Pictured: Liza Ryabkina notched the game-winning goal in her
first game of the season.


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On Lilo's tabloid interview
She has resurfaced in the States after spending a few days in London but during her time in the UK, Lindsay Lohan granted an interview to The Sun, not exactly People Magazine friendly, borderline trashy, a popular British rag, but also known for questionable reporting, especially as it relates to celebrities. And for some reason, Lilo decided to talk to them.
Yesterday it was widely circulated her comments about drug and alcohol use. She offered more insight than ever before about her problems with addiction, her 3 stints in rehab, and confirmed that she still drinks. Responsibly.
Today's revelations include her relationship with Samantha Ronson, that she was surprised by their affair, and is otherwise attracted to men, blaming the Ronson family's interference on their split. Click here for more.
The details are unimportant. I don't give a sh-t about her crank lies and excuses. What's interesting is the WHY. Why the candour? Why now? Why The Sun?
Two possibilities:
She's f-cking broke, so maybe it's about the cash money.
They have something on her. And it could be devastating. And as such, in order to kill the report, she exchanged an exclusive interview, giving up some juicy bits in service of protecting the really, really juicy bits.
If Tiger Woods can do it with the National Enquirer and Men's Fitness (source), Lindsay Lohan can do it for The Sun. My smutty senses are tingling. What do they know?
Photos from Wenn.com


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The Colorado AFL-CIO held our 32nd biennial Constitutional Convention in Denver on September 13.
Ivanka Trump took the stage at CES on Tuesday to muted reception. Forty minutes later, she left to robust applause.
After a quarter century of suffering under the failed North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and 18 months of hard-fought negotiations, the American Federation of Labor and
Despite its setbacks, or perhaps because of them, organized labor has an energy level that AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka says he hasn't seen before in his 50 years with the movement.
Black leaders, activists, and organizers formed the backbone of the U.S. labor movement. Even when the forces of structural racism and segregation sought to stifle their contributions, their resolve to fight for workers' rights alongside the cause of civil rights remained unshakable. Black women, in particular, have played an enormous role in the movement's legacy and development.
Union leaders want Congress to make protections for TPS holders and Dreamers permanent and won't stop lobbying on their behalf.
More than 30 national unions and labor institutions sent a letter to Washington, D.C., urging Congress to stand by TPSers and Dreamers.
Last year, in communities all across the country, millions of Americans mobilized and called for an economy that works for all of us. From state houses and governors mansions to Capitol Hill, we elected advocates who committed themselves to advancing that cause. That election was defined by a movement of hard working people who stood together to reject the meager crumbs we are being handed and reclaim what is rightfully ours.
If an investor was searching for the country's most explosively successful commodity, they might look to the ground for natural resources or to Wall Street for some new financial instrument. But, the most meteoric success story can be found virtually all around us—in the booming video game industry. Growing by double digits, U.S. video game sales reached $43 billion in 2018, about 3.6 times greater than the film industry's record-breaking box office.
More workers were involved in strikes and other labor disputes in 2018 than at any point in the past three decades, fueled by widespread teacher protests last spring, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department.
Read more from the Wall Street Journal.
I understand why it would be insane to spend even a day without controllers, troops, Transportation Security Administration screeners, Coast Guard officers, FBI and Border Patrol agents and a laundry list of other truly essential workers employed by the federal government. What I don't understand is why we tolerate a system that lets elected officials fail to do their one real job — funding the government — with no consequences for anyone in power.


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Yes, the Shit [Everyone] Says trend has overstayed its welcome by about three weeks and is now beginning to smell like rotten fish (an observation which is loosely based on some Shit Ben Franklin Said). But now comes the important news that there is a Shit Liz Lemon Says; so an exception must be made. Here it is in all its hilarious glory. And now that Liz Lemon has spoken, it's time to SHUT IT DOWN!
[Via THR]


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A Policy Statement of the American Meteorological Society
(Adopted by AMS Council on 9 July 2013)
SPACE WEATHER DEFINITION. Space weather refers to the dynamic conditions on the Sun and in the space environment, in particular, in the near-Earth environment.
SOCIETAL IMPACTS OF SPACE WEATHER. As our dependence on complex, advanced technology increases, so does our vulnerability to space weather. Space weather is a global-scale phenomenon with the demonstrated ability to disrupt high-frequency radio signals, satellite-based communications, navigational satellite positioning and timing signals, spacecraft operations, and electric power delivery with cascading socioeconomic effects resulting from these disruptions. Space weather can also present an increased health risk for astronauts and well as aviation flight crews and passengers on transpolar flights. The estimated cost of an extreme space weather storm could reach up to a trillion dollars with a potential recovery time of 4–10 years.1
An extreme space weather storm is a low-probability, high-consequence event that poses risks to critical infrastructures around the world. Unlike with almost all other natural hazards, modern society lacks adequate experience in preparing for, and responding to, an extreme space weather storm. This situation is exacerbated by our heavy reliance on space-based technologies and the rapidly evolving nature of our vulnerability. A storm that degrades the electric power grid could affect not only the energy sector, but also the transportation, manufacturing, communications, banking, and finance sectors, as well as government services and emergency response capabilities.
Space weather can also impact the operation of critical infrastructure relying on space-based assets. Space weather storms can distort and disrupt signals emitted by Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. GPS boosts productivity across many sectors of the economy, including farming, construction, mining, surveying, and a wide variety of transportation and delivery systems. Major communications networks, banking systems, financial markets, and power grids rely on GPS for precise time synchronization. These storms also degrade service from communication satellites and have triggered permanent damage to these high-value assets.
Space weather activity, while more pronounced near solar maximum— the peak of the 11-year sunspot cycle—can occur at any time; geomagnetic storms can be especially severe during the decline of the solar cycle. Many technological industries routinely take action based on space weather information in order to mitigate adverse impacts.
PREDICTING SPACE WEATHER. Industries vital to the U.S. and the global economy depend on space weather predictions for maintaining the integrity and safety of their activities. Compared with meteorology, space weather predictions suffer from both a lack of observations and limitations of even the best available space weather models to describe the complex phenomena involved. While space weather–related research and technologies are showing great promise for improving forecasts, most responses to space weather are based on current conditions, with limited advance notice. Improved space weather predictions are required to enable users and operators to develop appropriate space weather–related policies and protective measures in advance. Such actions will also help to minimize the time required to recover from any infrastructure disruption. Investments by the U.S. and the global community in space weather-related research and technologies require a sustained national commitment to improve space weather prediction capability.
RECOMMENDATIONS. The American Meteorological Society (AMS), in recognition of the importance of space weather research and services and the need to develop advanced forecasting and mitigation techniques, strongly recommends the following:
1. National Research Council, Space Studies Board, 2008: Severe Space Weather Events—Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts, The National Academies Press, 144pp.


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iQ Drive® Systems
NuTone Knows
iQ Drive systems are unique. As a result, they require factory training before installation. Make sure your NuTone dealer has completed the training and is iQ Drive certified.
NuTone iQ Drive air conditioners, heat pumps and gas furnaces are the ultimate home comfort system. These high-end systems use inverter technology, which was developed to be extremely efficient and very quiet. Here's how NuTone iQ Drive systems work:
Modulating inverter-rotary technology. The NuTone iQ Drive air conditioner and heat pump utilize inverter technology to convert the electrical current from AC to DC. In doing so, the systems almost infinitely vary the compressor and fan speed motors. You'll also see this technology in Asian mini-split systems. Introduced in 2006, the iQ Drive air conditioner is the first ducted application of this technology for a typical North American residence.
Always running. iQ Drive air conditioning and heat pump systems are different in that they are almost always running at a low level. The air conditioner and heat pump can modulate anywhere from 40% to 118% of capacity, instantly adjusting to exactly offset the demands on the home. Because these units do not cycle on and off like a traditional system, they save a considerable amount of energy and reduce noise levels. In fact, sound ratings are 59-72 decibels, the lowest in the industry.
The NuTone iQ Drive fully modulating gas furnace operates from 50% to 100% of capacity through the gas valve, and then as low as 15% of capacity by using time proportioning through the patent-pending controller. The system analyzes the indoor temperature once every 60 seconds and adjusts its percentage of firing accordingly. The three-phase motor makes the furnace exceptionally quiet.
Dehumidification mode. The iQ Drive air conditioning and heat pump system deliver whole-home comfort, in part, through a dehumidification mode function. In very humid climates such as Alabama and Florida, you may still want a separate dehumidification system, but for average- to low-humidity areas, iQ Drive can provide an excellent source of humidity control.
To find a reputable NuTone dealer, visit our dealer locator.


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|Automated Female (English)
Is this an accurate pronunciation?
|Automated Male (English)
Is this an accurate pronunciation?
What does the name Sunvin mean? Find out below.
I do not know how you feel about it, but you were a male in your last earthly incarnation. You were born somewhere around the territory of Central Africa approximately on 1000. Your profession was designer, engineering, and craftsman.
You were a seeker of truth and wisdom. You could have seen your future lives. Others perceived you as an idealist illuminating path to the future. Your lesson - development and expansion of your mental consciousness. Find good teacher, spend a part of your time and energy on his wisdom.


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Found 1 resultsAuthor Title [ Type] Year
Filters: Author is Samsioe, J [Clear All Filters]
02. Edited Books and Volumes
International Negotiation Strategies - an interactive, simulation based teaching concept using innovative media. World Conference Networked Learning in a Global Environment: Challenges and Solutions for Virtual Education, NL 2002, 1.-4. Mai 2002.(2002).


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Following a year that opened with revelations of federal cell phone surveillance and closed with a data breach for 40 million Target shoppers, the prevailing theme surrounding Data Privacy Day encouraged citizens, corporations and government agencies to work together to keep personal information personal.
"In the more than 18 years I've been working on privacy and technology, I do not recall a time when our government faced more scrutiny about its policies and practices in the use of data," Nicole Wong, the White House chief privacy officer, told more than 100 students and attendees Wednesday at Carnegie Mellon University.
"We are at a difficult but formative moment as a nation and as global citizens as we work to apply our privacy values in the light of the array of other challenges."
Ms. Wong said the challenges of addressing individual privacy while using big data to track criminal activity and to promote innovation requires a "multi-stakeholder approach" that "embeds the values of openness and transparency into business."
She highlighted a White House authorized review of the nation's surveillance capabilities and said a second review examining public and corporate uses of big data will be complete within the next 90 days.
She also noted President Barack Obama's recent announcement to suspend collection of bulk telephone data and to establish a new framework that puts the data storage process into the hands of a third-party vendor. Adding that the president has reservations that a third-party vendor is the best solution to protecting metadata, she said the director of national intelligence, the attorney general and Congress will all be involved in deciding how the program is reshaped.
During a Tuesday keynote address for the National Cyber Security Alliance's Data Privacy Day event in Washington, D.C., the director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection, Jessica Rich, said she aims to make data privacy an everyday event for U.S. citizens.
Modeled after Data Protection Day in Europe, Data Privacy Day has been observed in the United States since 2006.
While Ms. Wong applauded Carnegie Mellon for creating a master's of information technology program focused on privacy engineering as a great start, she also warned the audience not to expect a "silver technology bullet" to solve every privacy issue.
"One of the hardest things about privacy or data protection is that the data in question are collected on a huge number of platforms, online and offline, desktop and mobile in an array of formats, forms and interfaces. Right now at least, no innovator wants to be locked into a universal privacy seat belt," she said.
Acknowledging the need to collaborate with industry, civil liberties experts, technologists and international partners to examine the best uses of big data and privacy technologies, she said the best way to get to a universal answer is to agree on the question at hand.
"We need to figure out what we're trying to protect, what benefits big data analytics can bring and what values it can vindicate. We need to agree on how to measure our successes and our risks. We need a framework for distilling the benefits of large data sets responsibly," she said.
©2014 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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