text:
Export 5 results:Author Type [ Year]
Filters: Author is Marc M. Van Hulle [Clear All Filters]
"Statistical shape modelling in support of user-centred BCI headset design", BBCI Workshop 2012 on Advances in Neurotechnology, 2012. Download abstract (310.9 KB)
"Evaluation of an anthropometric shape model of the human scalp", Applied Ergonomics, vol. 48, pp. 70-85, 2015. Paper (3.63 MB) Shape matrix (cfr section 2.1.1) (36.93 MB) Measurement matrix (cfr section 2.2.1) (20.05 KB) Labeled measurements (cfr section 2.2.1) (47.63 KB)
"The application of 3D anthropometry for the development of headgear: a case study on the design of ergonometric brain-computer interfaces", Dept. Product Development, 2017. Download thesis (3.52 MB)
"Ergonomic design of an EEG headset using 3D anthropometry", Applied Ergonomics, vol. 58, pp. 128–136, 2017.
"Product sizing with 3D anthropometry and k-medoids clustering", Computer-Aided Design, vol. 91, pp. 60-74, 2017.


text: As an avid sewer, I've always wondered whether or not it would be worth the splurge to trade in my traditional scissors for rotary scissors to cut out patterns on fabric. Recently I had the chance to try out Fiskars Comfort Grip Rotary Cutters ($21) and I loved them! I often find that my wrist and hand get sore from cutting fabric but the rotary cutters took care of that problem. By simply squeezing the handle and then pressing a button, you lock the blade in place. Then you press down and roll over the fabric to cut the fabric, much like you'd use a pizza wheel. It took me a few attempts to get used to and while I was worried about maneuverability, I found it could cut straight or curved lines even on thick fabrics like duck and denim. You do need to use a cutting mat underneath the rotary cutters (I used one from Fiskars) which limits the size of your cutting surface and you have to be careful not to get carried away or you'll scratch up your table. However, if a lot of home sewing is on your agenda, I highly recommend these! Looking for more sewing tips? Check out my blog on Burdastyle.com: A Website for People Who Sew

subset: commoncrawl


text:
A new experimental jab that aims to cure alcoholism will give anyone who's had the vaccine an immediate and head-splitting hangover with just one sip of booze.
According to the Daily Mail, scientists from the University of Chile have spent a year developing the drug.
The shot is effective for about six-months and works but speeding up the hangover process. It sends a biochemical message to the liver to stop it from processing alcohol.
When a person who's had the shot tries to have a sip of booze they immediately feel severe nausea, accelerated heartbeat and general discomfort, the Daily Mail reports.
The jab aims to get alcoholics not to associate booze with anything fun or free.
Preclinical trails on mice to find the correct dosage on mice begin next month.
Researchers hope to begin human trials later this year.
Dr Juan Asenjo, director of the Institute for Cell Dynamics and Biotechnology at the Universidad de Chile said while the vaccine is not a cure-all, it could provide an important first step.
"People who end up alcoholic have a social problem; a personality problem because they're shy, whatever, and then they are depressed, so it's not so simple," he told the Santiago Times.
"But if we can solve the chemical, the basic part of the problem, I think it could help quite a bit.
Dr Asenjo believes the vaccine has the potential to help millions of people worldwide.
"If it works, it's going to have a worldwide impact, but with many vaccines one has to test them carefully. I think the chances that this one will work are quite high."
Inspiration for the vaccine came from the far East, said Dr Asenjo, where between 15 and 20 per cent of Japanese, Chinese or Koreans have a mutation which inhibits the breakdown of alcohol in their bodies.
The idea of using drugs to combat alcoholism is not new.
Disulfiram, which was developed almost a century ago works in a similar way blocking the enzyme from breaking down alcohol, thus intensifying the body's negative response.
However users often find the effects so unpleasant they simply stop taking the pills.
- www.nzherald.co.nz


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This test is an x-ray of a knee, shoulder, hip, wrist, ankle, or other joint.
The test is done in a hospital radiology department or in the health care provider's office. The x-ray technologist will help you position the joint to be x-rayed on the table. Once in place, pictures are taken. The joint may be moved into other positions for more images.
Tell the health care provider if you are pregnant. Remove all jewelry before the x-ray.
The x-ray is painless. It may be uncomfortable to move the joint into different positions.
The x-ray is used to detect fractures, tumors, or degenerative conditions of the joint.
The x-ray may show:
The test may also be performed to find out more about the following conditions:
There is low radiation exposure. X-ray machines are set to provide the smallest amount of radiation exposure needed to produce the image. Most experts feel that the risk is low compared with the benefits. Children and the fetuses of pregnant women are more sensitive to the risks of the x-ray. A protective shield may be worn over areas not being scanned.
Review Date:
Reviewed By: Linda J. Vorvick, MD, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, UW Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.


text: 'Caps Prospects wrap up Showcase March 16, 200912:00AM PDT Previous Next Vancouver Whitecaps U-18 Girls Prospects recorded two wins and two draws at the 2009 Las Vegas College Showcase this past weekend. Jesse Symons' side earned eight points from their four matches in the Women's U-19 Showcase division in Nevada. Those results were good enough for the Blue and White to finish in the top six of the 24-team competition. Considered one of the top-ranked college showcase tournaments in the United States, this year's Las Vegas College Showcase saw the U-18 Prospects - who were made up of players born 1991 to 1993 - face top U-19 competition from the American states of California, Connecticut, Nevada, and New Mexico. Vancouver's first match saw them draw 0-0 with New Mexico's Alameda Flash on Friday afternoon. The Whitecaps were unlucky not to have led at halftime, as they missed several chances before the break. The second half proved a more open affair, with the Whitecaps hitting the crossbar from a free kick before Alicia Tesan squandered a major chance when she volleyed over the Alameda goal after being left unmarked at close range. 'Caps goalkeepers Gurveen Clair and Ariel Anderson shared the clean sheet in the draw. Friday evening's second match was a carbon copy of the first result, as the Whitecaps played out another goalless draw with California's Real So Cal Blue U-18's. Despite having several chances, Vancouver failed to make their dominant first-half display turn into goals, as Real So Cal's defensive backline stood firm to the break. The Whitecaps suffered more agony in the second half, as the post and crossbar denied the young Canadian travelers a chance to claim their first win of the weekend. Better fortune was to come on Saturday afternoon, as Symons' side defeated the Las Vegas-based Neusport FC '91 Green 2-1. It was Neusport that broke the deadlock midway through the first half on a 25-yard free kick. The goal sparked the Whitecaps to gain control of the match, with Vancouver having a distinct advantage in possession up until the break. Early in the second half, the Whitecaps drew level when Jenna Dinunzio converted a corner kick to make it 1-1. Moments later, Janine Frazao was put clear through on the Neusport goal before finishing her breakaway chance to give Vancouver a 2-1 victory. The result was earned in front of many home supporters and college scouts. In their final match on Sunday morning, the Whitecaps capped their tournament with an emphatic 6-0 win over Connecticut FC. A hat-trick from Jaclyn Sawicki helped the U-18 Girls to the convincing victory, with Carolyn Bell, Jenna Dinunzio, and Nicole Setterlund each getting the scoresheet. Click here to view the final results and standings from the 2009 Las Vegas College Showcase. Previous Next


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From SIAM News, Volume 37, Number 3, April 2004
The Small-World Phenomenon and Decentralized Search
By Jon Kleinberg
The small-world phenomenon -- the principle that we are all linked by short chains of acquaintances, or "six degrees of separation" -- is a fundamental issue in social networks; it is a basic statement about the abundance of short paths in a graph whose nodes are people, with links joining pairs who know one another. It is also a topic on which the feedback between social, mathematical, and computational issues has been particularly fluid.
The problem has its roots in experiments performed by the social psychologist Stanley Milgram in the 1960s; to trace out short paths through the social network of the United States, he asked participants to forward a letter to a "target person" living near Boston, with the restriction that each participant could advance the letter only by forwarding it to a single acquaintance. Milgram found that the median completed chain length was six. Why should a social network contain such short paths?
Working much more recently, applied mathematicians Duncan Watts and Steve Strogatz proposed thinking about networks with this small-world property as a superposition: a highly clustered sub-network consisting of the "local acquaintances" of nodes, together with a collection of random long-range shortcuts that help produce short paths. In addition to empirical studies of social, technological, and biological networks, Watts and Strogatz considered the following simple model system: Start with a d-dimensional lattice network, and add a small number of long-range links out of each node, to destinations chosen uniformly at random. A network created by this superposition will have local clustering and short paths, just like many of the networks found in the real world. (See Figures 1 and 2.)
Figure 1. Two-dimensional grid with a single random shortcut superimposed.
Figure 2. Two-dimensional grid with many random shortcuts superimposed (as in the Watts-Strogatz model).
But Milgram's experiment really led to two striking discoveries, of which the existence of short paths was only the first. The second was that people in society, with knowledge of only their own personal acquaintances, were collectively able to forward the letter to a distant target so quickly. Viewed in computational terms, this is a statement about the power of a routing algorithm, equipped with purely local information, to find efficient paths to a destination; that such a decentralized routing scheme is effective says something striking about the underlying social network.
Modeling this aspect of the small-world phenomenon poses further challenges: Can we find model systems for which it can be proved that Milgram-style decentralized routing will produce short paths? Here, mathematical analysis of the Watts-Strogatz model and its variants yields some surprises. For one, it is possible to prove that in the model of a d-dimensional lattice with uniformly random shortcuts, no decentralized algorithm can find short paths; this, then, is a concrete example of a network in which short paths exist, but local knowledge does not suffice to construct them.
Exploring further, though, we find that a subtle variant of the Watts-Strogatz network will in fact support efficient search: Rather than adding the long-range shortcuts uniformly at random, we add links between nodes of this network with a probability that decays like the dth power of their distance (in d dimensions). Moreover, this is the only link distribution of this form for which efficient search is possible. The intuition here is that a probability decaying like the dth power of the distance is in fact uniform over all "distance scales" -- a node is roughly as likely to form links at distances 1 to 10 as it is at distances 10 to 100, 100 to 1000, and so on. (See Figure 3.)
Figure 3. A node with several random shortcuts spanning different distance scales.
The ability to construct a searchable network in this way, with long-range links whose probabilities decay with distance, has proved useful in the design of peer-to-peer file-sharing systems on the Internet, where content must be found by nodes consulting one another in a decentralized fashion. In other words, nodes executing these look-up protocols are behaving very much like participants in the Milgram experiments -- a striking illustration of the way in which the computational and social sciences can inform one another, and the way in which mathematical models in the computational world turn into design principles with remarkable ease.
Jon Kleinberg is an associate professor of computer science at Cornell University.
Download this article as a PDF (612k).
Mathematics Awareness Month is sponsored each year by the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics to recognize the importance of mathematics through written materials and an accompanying poster that highlight mathematical developments and applications in a particular area.


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Last week PySide was launched, the team was glad to see the project finally go public and receive the community feedback, be it positive, negative or both. Many questions arose, like "Why duplicate efforts?" Well, I can't say much more than what is already answered on PySide FAQ. For us (the team) the fact is that we had a task to accomplish and must perform it the best we can. That said, allow me to remind you that this is my personal blog and many of the views here written are my very own cherished opinion.
The other question that we're waiting for, and my personal favorite, was "Why Boost.Python?". Though one. First of all, Boost.Python eases very much the creation of C++ libraries bindings for Python. How to infer which method signature to call based on the Python arguments passed to the method wrapper? Boost.Python will take care of it. Inheritance? Type conversion (in opposition to type wrapping)? You bet: Boost.Python will take care of all this for you. The feature full Boost.Python gave us a great kick start and at first we progressed very fast. Occasionally some strange bug appeared and took some time to figure out the problem through the jungle of template error messages. Part of the job anyhow, and after that: fast pace again.
At some point somebody checked the size of the produced binary modules. "Hey guys, is that correct?", "Ah, just strip the file.", "Still huge.", "Holy cow…". Next task: size reduction. Some redesigns reduced a good deal of megabytes, g++ flags were also helpful, but these things weren't enough. Then a new idea: "Let's try it with the Intel C++ compiler and see what gives." It gave binary modules with feasible sizes. Good, but the test just proved that it was possible to achieve the reductions. Besides, there were still other new ideas to try, and the fact that as soon as the project was launched the community would step in and say "I had this size problem with Boost.Python before. Here is how I solved it…". (Which reminds me how limited, communication wise, a project is in its non-open phase. And don't point your finger, mister — for every open source project has it's non-open phase, even in your head!)
Part of the team was growing skeptical about the size reduction problem. Why not to try CPython code generation right now? Well, some say you can't change the plane's motor while flying, and this is true. Feature wise we were almost there and the reduction was possible. Also some of us had mixed feelings about CPython. In a past project a comparison was made about writing bindings with different technologies, including CPython, to check for speed, size and the burden imposed on the developer. At the end the guy with CPython had good numbers (not stunningly better than the others, at least for the case that mattered back then), but his personal impression was that he was suffering the Stockholm syndrome: he knew CPython abused him, but he developed a bond with his kidnapper.
Still, almost every one started personal (and voluntary, aka "made at home") experimentation with different CPython generators (even a ctypes one!), and in the end all the ideas (including the ones from the Boost.Python generator) were merged into a single CPython generator, called Shiboken.
Before going on with this, allow me to explain that Shiboken means absolutely nothing. Not buddhist void, I just mean that the word Shiboken has no meaning attached to it. Except, of course, "generator of CPython based binding code for C/C++ libraries".
Disclaimer: I don't know a thing about Japanese language and the above kanjis are just something that I found at wikitionary to match the sounds of Shiboken. Forgive me, Lauro. 🙂
The conspirators' plan was to develop the alternative generator to a point that could generate PySide bindings that pass all our unit tests, run the apps, etc, thus beign able to replace the Boost.Python front-end. For PySide users, i.e. Python programmers, the replacement would bring no impact, since the API should remain the same. The Shiboken generator is based on the same principles of the Boost.Python one: built using the API Extractor library, how the C++ library should be exported to Python is described on a Type System file, and so on.
When Shiboken reached a point that we'd think was good enough to start working with it at work, we presented it to our bosses and the green light was given. The Boost.Python generator will continue as the tool to generate the official PySide bindings, but with the parallel efforts we hope that Shiboken takes its place, the size reduction is achieved, and the Occam's razor cut off the unnecessary entities.
C/C++ Bindings
Another fix that we aim to achieve with Shiboken is to allow non-Qt C++ and C libraries to be wrapped with the generator scheme. The problem with the current Boost.Python generator is that even a non-Qt library wrapped with it will depend on Qt. Of course this is not the best we can do, but the fixing task had low priority since the PySide bindings are the main target of the work. For Shiboken we make it library agnostic from the start, specially because we do not get our chances trying to wrap the whole Qt from start: a test library with all the problems that could arise was made and is the source of all Shiboken unit tests.
Shiboken Features Worth Noting
Abandoning Boost.Python means abandoning some features already provided by it. One that is worth mentioning is the decision of which signature of a method should be called depending on the Python arguments passed on the call. For this to work we have to write a decisor that progressively checks the argument types until the correct signature is found. Just this? Of course not, the binding developer can use the Type System description to remove method signatures, remove/change the type of its arguments, even remove/change/set its default values! The method call decisor must take everything into account.
No Boost.Python also means that would be harder to convert types and containers back and forth between C++ and Python. The template specialization technique was used to solve this one.
template <> struct Converter<bool> { static PyObject* toPython(ValueHolder<bool> holder) { return PyBool_FromLong(holder.value); } static bool toCpp(PyObject* pyobj) { return pyobj == Py_True; } };
Why not generating "pyobj == Py_True" directly, you say? The above code scales better, since it will be the same for types that are composed of some primitive types inside containers inside containers, etc. Besides, the compiler could be counted on to inline short methods.
"They have a plan"
Right now Hugo (from PySide fame) started working on generating bare QtCore bindings without QObject and signals, then go to QObject. After that we should solve the signals problem, re-write the pieces of custom code and so on. I think after QtCore is completely done we can make a comparison with the one produced by the Boost.Python generator and see if the whole Shiboken idea can stand to its promise. The best should win for the honor and glory of open source.
We encourage everyone interested in the creation of Python bindings for C++ libraries to test Shiboken, report problems (we now have a component on OpenBossa bugzilla!), and tell us if something is missing for your library to work. Patches are always welcome as usual. 🙂
Shiboken on gitorious: http://qt.gitorious.org/pyside/shiboken


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The mitochondria are the cells' energy powerhouses, and coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is an essential component of healthy mitochondrial function. CoQ10 is required to convert the energy from fats and sugars into usable cellular energy. Yet, the body's production of CoQ10 declines significantly with advancing age. With an ample amount of CoQ10, the mitochondria can work most efficiently throughout the entire body including the most densely populated area, the heart. CoQ10 is also a potent antioxidant, helping protect proteins, LDL, and DNA of mitochondria from oxidation and supporting mitochondrial function.
More people are supplementing with CoQ10 than ever before. One reason is increased awareness that "statin" drugs used to lower LDL and cholesterol deplete CoQ10 levels in the blood, and possibly the tissues.
What most doctors don't know, however, is that normal aging may result in more of a reduction in CoQ10 than taking statins. For example, while statin drugs have been shown to reduce plasma CoQ10 by 40%, the aging process reduces CoQ10 levels in the heart muscle wall by 72%. What is particularly frightening is the deficit caused by the dual effects of aging and statin drug use that can result in severe depletion of cellular vitality.
When CoQ10 is orally ingested, only a certain percentage is actually absorbed into the bloodstream. Findings in human subjects indicate that higher doses of CoQ10 provide significantly better effects than the doses supplement users typically take. Since CoQ10 is a comparatively expensive nutrient, an alternative to taking higher doses is to increase the amount of CoQ10 that is absorbed. Life Extension offers the highly bioavailable ubiquinol form of CoQ10 in a patented delivery system with a superior absorption level.
CoQ10 is notoriously difficult to absorb. When it comes to choosing a
CoQ10 supplement, the primary factor is how many swallowed milligrams
actually make it into your bloodstream. A recent study showed that in
seriously ill patients, conventional ubiquinone CoQ10 was hardly
detectable in the blood whereas ubiquinol resulted in significant blood
level increases and subsequent clinical improvements.
Scientific studies show that ubiquinol absorbs up to 8 times greater than ubiquinone, and higher levels of ubiquinol remain in the blood far longer than ubiquinone. In studies measuring exercise-induced fatigue, ubiquinol was 90% more effective than ubiquinone. In middle-aged mice, ubiquinol was shown to be 40% more effective in slowing measurements of aging compared to ubiquinone.
This latest formulation contains an organic compound called PrimaVie shilajit that research shows doubles levels of CoQ10 in the mitochondria.
Shilajit has been shown to help restore and sustain cellular energy. The latest studies reveal that when shilajit is combined with CoQ10, cellular energy gains substantially increase.
In a breakthrough preliminary study, the combination of CoQ10 and shilajit produced a 56% increase in cellular energy production in the brain - 40% better than CoQ10 alone. In muscle there was a 144% increase, or 27% better than CoQ10 alone.
Researchers have found that shilajit works to boost CoQ10's beneficial effects by:
1.Stabilizing CoQ10 in its superior ubiquinol form, thereby prolonging its action at the cellular level.
2.Facilitating more efficient delivery of CoQ10
into the mitochondria, resulting in greater cellular energy output.
Scientific analysis shows that shilajit itself is rich in essential
compounds that promote mitochondrial metabolism. Part of shilajit's
beneficial effects derives from its ability to help the mitochondria
convert fats and sugars into adenosine triphosphate, or ATP - the body's
main source of energy.
Super Ubiquinol CoQ10 with Enhanced Mitochondrial Support combines super absorbable ubiquinol CoQ10 with shilajit to generate a powerful synergy that supports more youthful cellular energy production than CoQ10 alone.


text:
k-D trees are an acceleration data structure that can enhance ray tracing. They let you organize primitives in a scene to allow efficient execution of intersection operations between rays and the primitives.
Highest quality k-D trees use greedy cost optimization based on a surface area heuristc (SAH). While the high quality makes possible very fast ray tracing times, k-D tree construction time remains prohibitively expensive. This cost is unreasonable for rendering dynamic scenes for visual computing applications on emerging multicore and many-core systems.
Consequently, computer scientists have focused on parallel k-D tree. In their paper entitled Parallel SAH k-D Tree Construction Byn Choi, Rakesh Komuravelli, Victor Lu, Hyojin Sung, Robert L. Bocchino, Sarita V. Adve, and John C. Hart present ParKD, a package of parallel algorithms for building precise SAH-optimized k-D trees, with different tradeoffs between the total work done and parallel scalability. The algorithms achieve up to 8x speedup on 32 cores, without degrading tree quality and rendering time, yielding the best reported speedups so far for precise-SAH k-D tree construction.
One parallel algorithm ParKD offers is a depth-first task parallelization of sequential k-D tree construction that nests geometry-level parallelism within the node-level parallelism for these upper level nodes. The other algorithm builds the upper nodes of the hierarchy breadth-first, one level at a time, storing in each triangle the node(s) it belongs to at that level. This reduces geometry data movement and allows an entire level's nodes to be computed across a single data parallel geometry stream.
ParKD is written in C++ using Intel Threading Building Blocks and implemented on an Intel 32-processor many-core CPU. The complete ParKD package, along with user documentation, can be downloaded here.


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Following an 8-8 record during the 2012 NFL Season, an 0-4 record during the pre-season and the loss of their first game to the Tennessee Titans, the Pittsburgh Steelers are receiving plenty of critiquing. Some may even go so far as to say the team is being criticized. It isn't the first time that Steelers fans or NFL insiders have picked over a given situation that the Steelers find themselves in, and it surely won't be the last. Expectations have always been high for the Steelers once the team was able to really hold its own in the league beginning in the 1970s. The heat has been turned up and fingers are now being pointed as the 'blame game' begins to resonate loudly.
The Steelers saw potential in their 2013 NFL Draft class, set up shop in Latrobe to put Todd Haley's tweaked offense into effect, and then watched as it all fell apart in 60 minutes of play at Heinz Field last Sunday. Injuries to Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey, running back LaRod Stephens-Howling, and linebacker Larry Foote were only the beginning of what would end up being a six-man injury list and the end of the season for the three players previously mentioned. Stephens-Howling saw playing time with Isaac Redman because rookie running back Le'Veon Bell hasn't healed from a foot sprain sustained during training camp. Bell did not practice on Thursday or Friday this week, and he may miss yet another game when the Steelers face the Bengals in Cincinnati on Monday night. When Pouncey went down, Kelvin Beachum was required to fill in at center, removing him from a position that was helping keep defenders off of Ben Roethlisberger's back. Beachum struggled and the entire offensive line became a sieve. Without a running game, Roethlisberger was forced to not only pay attention to what defenders were slipping through unblocked, but to find ways to reach receivers as they tried to get open. In essence, the performance against the Titans was almost shocking in how poor it was.
The argument heating up is who is to blame for the offensive disaster. Was it due to personnel or coaching? Is it Todd Haley's offensive playbook or inadequate performance by players? The fingers that seem to be wagging are pointed at both Haley and the players. Even head coach Mike Tomlin isn't out from beneath the magnifying glass.
Whether it was personnel to begin with, personnel is definitely an issue now. The Steelers called Jonathan Dwyer back to the fold to help with the running game on Monday, added Fernando Velasco at center and are praying that Kelvin Beachum will help keep Ben Roethlisberger on his feet and able to control the offense against the Cincinnati Bengals Monday night. Tight end Heath Miller is still limited in practice. The Steelers brought in Shayne Graham to kick for Shaun Suisham (hamstring), yet Suisham participated in practice (limited on Thursday only).
If Todd Haley wasn't feeling the heat before, he certainly is now. Only now, the issue will be whether or not the Steelers player can execute his offensive plays with the men they have available. Haley's response to media on Tuesday;
"Having a week to prepare, understand and figuring out what our strengths and weaknesses are is a big part of what we do."
The bigger question now is whether or not "those variables [that] changed this week with a couple of personnel changes," as Haley referred to them, will equate to an offense that can positively affect the outcome of the game.
A little personal responsibility on the part of the players should be expected as well. While Redman will get another shot on Monday to prove he can run the ball, he'll also have to prove that he can keep that ball in his hands and protected from defenders. Receivers will need to get open so that Roethlisberger can get the ball to them. The offensive line needs to dig deep, even if they are young, and mature to a level that is equivalent to NFL-level expectations. The Steelers can't afford for players to use excuses this week – or this season, for that matter. If they rely on that they may go all the way…through the season unable to win.
Whichever side you may be on, even if it is your own interpretation and not a part of the group on either side (blaming coaching versus blaming players), this argument will only end once the Steelers start performing, stop making mental errors and show that they can score points – not just field a top-level defense.
Want Pittsburgh Steelers news right away? Subscribe for free and get all the updates in your email inbox without worrying about spam!
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You can read more of Christina's articles on CBS Sports Local, CBS affiliate site KDKA (in Pittsburgh) and at 'The Beam' in Pittsburgh as well as here on ventwing.com


text:
"Our team really hasn't went over them yet," said star forward Bobby Portis, the Southeastern Conference player of the year.
http://www.thestate.com/2015/03/18/4054 ... ither.html
Interesting to say the least.
Moderators: BestOfBreed, dungeonjoe
WoCo65 wrote:Recap of the game...really enjoyed the conversation MY had with the team postgame. Exemplifies the love he has for this team....
http://athletics.wofford.edu/news/2015/ ... ath=mbball
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How to Wear a Puffer Vest
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Rain Boot Care Guide
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Letter dated 10/03/11 - Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration
October 3, 2011
The Honorable J. Randolph Babbitt
Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation
800 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20591
Electronic Address: http://www.regulations.gov (Docket No. FAA-2011-0972)
Re: Comments on FAA's Draft Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) of the Aircraft Certification Service (AIR) Process for the Sequencing of Certification and Validations Projects
Dear Administrator Babbitt:
The U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) Office of Advocacy (Advocacy) submits the following comments on the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) Draft Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) of the Aircraft Certification Service (AIR) Process for the Sequencing of Certification and Validations Projects (Project Sequencing SOPs). (1) FAA's draft Project Sequencing SOPs would formalize the process that FAA's Aircraft Certification Service uses for prioritizing the certification and validation of projects.(2) In the past, this process was carried out by the order in which projects were received. However, since 2005, FAA has used project sequencing to prioritize and manage the approval process based on the agency's resources and operational safety priorities.
Office of Advocacy
Advocacy was established pursuant to Pub. L. 94-305 to represent the views of small entities before federal agencies and Congress. Advocacy is an independent office within SBA, so the views expressed by Advocacy do not necessarily reflect the views of SBA or the Administration. The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA),(3) as amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA),(4) gives small entities a voice in the rulemaking process. For all rules that are expected to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, federal agencies are required by the RFA to assess the impact of the proposed rule on small business and to consider less burdensome alternatives. Moreover, Executive Order 13272 (5) requires federal agencies to notify Advocacy of any proposed rules that are expected to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities and to give every appropriate consideration to any comments on a proposed or final rule submitted by Advocacy. Further, both Executive Order 13272 and a recent amendment to the RFA, codified at 5 U.S.C. 604(a)(3), require the agency to include in any final rule the response of the agency to any comments filed by Advocacy, and a detailed statement of any change made to the proposed rule as a result of the comments.
Small Entities Have Expressed Concerns with the FAA's Project Sequencing Process
Advocacy has heard from a number of small businesses from the aviation sector who have complained that the current project sequencing process is not working well and has resulted in numerous delays for small businesses seeking FAA certifications and approvals. These small businesses have also expressed concern that the procedures outlined in the draft document could place them at a disadvantage in the approval process because they lack the resources and expertise of their larger competitors. Advocacy is concerned that these delays are harming small business and impeding the introduction of potential aviation safety innovations in the marketplace. As such, Advocacy recommends that FAA consider extending the comment period for the draft SOPs by at least 30 days, commit to a targeted outreach effort for small business (such as hosting listening sessions, teleconferences, or roundtable discussions), and that any final SOPs be adopted through a formal notice and comment rulemaking process, including a small business impact analysis in accordance with the RFA.
On January 20, 2011, President Obama issued Executive Order 13563, Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review(6) That Executive Order provides that each agency shall, to the extent feasible and permitted by law, afford the public a meaningful opportunity to participate in the rulemaking process, including a comment period that should generally be at least 60 days. Further, the Executive Order states that each agency, where feasible and appropriate, shall seek the views of those who are likely to be affected, including those who are likely to benefit from and those who are potentially subject to such rulemaking. A Presidential memorandum on small business issued along with Executive Order 13563 clearly calls upon federal agencies to minimize the cost and cumulative impact of their regulations and to give special consideration to small business concerns.(7)
Advocacy understands that while FAA has been relying on project sequencing since 2005, no formal agency policies or procedures for this process have ever been made publicly available until now. For that reason, Advocacy believes that an extended comment period and targeted outreach to small business is particularly appropriate in this instance. Advocacy would welcome the opportunity to work with FAA to reach out to small business to ensure that their particular needs and concerns are heard as part of this public outreach process.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on FAA's Draft Project Sequencing SOPs. One of the primary functions of the Office of Advocacy is to assist federal agencies in understanding the impact of their regulatory programs on small entities. In this regard, Advocacy believes that FAA would benefit by providing an extended comment period, a targeted outreach effort for small business, and a formal notice and comment rulemaking process. Please feel free contact me or Bruce Lundegren (at (202) 205-6144 or firstname.lastname@example.com) if you have any questions or require additional information.
Winslow Sargeant, Ph.D.
Chief Counsel for Advocacy
Bruce E. Lundegren
Assistant Chief Counsel for Advocacy
Copy to: The Honorable Cass R. Sunstein, Administrator
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Office of Management and Budget
1. 76 Fed. Reg. 54528 (September 1, 2011).
2. A copy of FAA's Draft Project Sequencing SOPs can be found on FAA's website at http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/draft_docs/policy/.
3. 5 U.S.C. § 601 et seq.
4. Pub. L. 104-121, Title II, 110 Stat. 857 (1996) (codified in various sections of 5 U.S.C. §601 et seq.).
5. Executive Order 13272, Proper Consideration of Small Entities in Agency Rulemaking (67 Fed. Reg. 53461) (August 16, 2002).
6. See, Executive Order 13563, Improving Regulations and Regulatory Review, 76 Fed. Reg. 3821.
7. See, Presidential Memoranda – Regulatory Flexibility, Small Business, and Job Creation available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/18/presidential-memoranda-regulatory-flexibility-small-business-and-job-cre


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In my post yesterday I suggested that Jani Brajkovic of the Radio Shack cycling squad had improved his fitness as a result of his weeklong effort in winning the Criterium du Dauphine stage race a couple of weeks ago. This is a common benefit of an extended, high-workload period of training which I call a "crash" block. A seven-day stage race is, for all intents and purposes, a hard period of training.
So is there any proof that he has improved his fitness other than his reported sensation of feeling like he's "riding with a tail wind all the time"? It appears there is. I noticed in his tweet today that he has improved his CP5 (highest average max power output for 5 minutes) by 40 watts since the race. That's huge and probably on the order of a 7-10% increase (I don't know his power metrics). I would expect to see something in the range of 3-5% after a week of very intense crash training followed by several days of rest.
I consider CP5 to be one of the best predictors of performance in a bicycle road race. That's because the outcomes of road races are typically determined by two- to three-minute episodes in the which the key players work at or about their CP5 power. This is usually breakaways on hills or in crosswinds, or in the lead outs for sprinters.
Don't expect CP5 to improve just because you do a lot of miles on the bike during a crash block. It takes a great deal of high-intensity training at CP5 to see the sort of results Brajkovic is experiencing. He had many such opportunities with Alberto Contador trying get away, especially on the climb up Alpe d'Huez. It will be interesting to see how Jani does in the Tour de France which starts this weekend.


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Changes to Café Laura to benefit hospitality management students, customers
Changes to Café Laura to benefit hospitality management students, customers
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Café Laura, an on-campus restaurant that trains Penn State hospitality management (HM) students for future careers in the industry, will be under construction this summer with changes designed to benefit both HM students and customers.
The project, funded in part by a gift from Panda Express, has Café Laura closing on Friday, April 25, with plans to reopen on Monday, August 21, for the first day of the fall 2014 semester.
Café Laura is staffed primarily by students in two HM classes, HM 330 and 430. The students plan, market, prepare and serve customers while creating a memorable dining experience for the University community. It offers a wide variety of menu choices for lunch, and is well known for its popular theme dinners.
While some of the changes to Café Laura will be cosmetic, such as new carpet and chairs, other changes will enhance the educational mission of the restaurant.
"There are two common goals for the design," said Scott King, manager of the café. "We want to increase the value of the education the students receive, as well as provide the University with a successful venue for lunch and dinner."
King was heavily involved in the planning for the summer construction. Exciting changes include a "front of the house" cooking area, where lunch menus will boast street food-inspired items, while at dinner it will serve as a place for customers to watch as meals are prepared. For lunch patrons, the popular "Homestyle" station serving comfort foods will remain, and the construction plans call for a new grill and deli, pizza and salad stations, and an upgraded Pepsi service area. Another new addition to Café Laura will be a grab-'n-go café near the main entrance of the Mateer Building, serving Starbucks coffee. It was made possible by a gift from a generous donor.
"I think these changes will make Café Laura truly different from other areas on campus," said King. "This is a lunch place where you can socialize, while for dinner we offer great meals at a low price."
Café Laura and its student employees will benefit from a generous donation from Micros, including new wall-mounted computers, state-of-the-art registers boasting wireless technology, and three portable tablets. In addition, kitchen display systems will help employees keep track of orders. Patrons will also enjoy free, high-speed internet access.
In the end, King stressed it all comes back to education. "It's important to educate the students on all facets of the industry so when they go out there they already have experience. Our goal is to not only make it a nice restaurant, but to also provide the best education and training we can."
For more information on Café Laura, visit www.cafelaura.psu.edu.


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inc. VAT
The GEA range is perfect for those seeking to tie the interior with the exterior together without compromising on colour difference between the two. Its grip texture provides the ideal surface for exterior use, as well as the option of an internal finish.
Please complete the form below to receive a bespoke quotation.
We shall only use your postcode to calculate delivery costs.
Alternatively, please contact us on 01932 569277 to discuss your requirements.
Once you have submitted your request, we will endeavour to email a quotation to you within 24 hours.
Silverland Stone


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Welcome to Designers Up North
We are a collective of professional graphic and website designers in Manchester with passion and expertise to burn. We design, we write, we develop, we work (hard) to deliver exactly what you are looking for – success for your business.
What we do
We can provide you with everything you would expect from a design agency. Without the price tag.
Creating striking offline and online material is our speciality. Whatever your line of work, We have the skills and vision to help your business stand out from the crowd.
Graphic Designers in Manchester are not uncommon. But what we do is.
Get in touch
Talk with someone who actually gets it… Speak to Jim and Matt today and book your call back now!
Get more from your web design
Just having a website isn't job done.
Your website design needs to deliver sales, leads and traffic. It needs to be clear. It needs to be user-friendly for mobiles, tablets and desktop browsers and it needs to look great in all of them too. Our website designs work on all computers, tablets and smartphones so you don't miss one visitor.
If your website seems to be falling short, let this Manchester Website Design Company get to grips with it.
Making your business work
Marketing today has never been so multi-dimensional.
With stacks of clever techniques to promote your company to the masses, we can help you with traditional printed marketing methods, social media, e-marketing and further online ideas.
If you ask us, we'll tell you about them.
design for print
Successful businesses embrace print design.
Despite the current trend for digital marketing, there is still no better marketing tool than a great brochure design, a flyer or a leaflet. Done well, print promotes sales, motivates customers and supports your brand.
How's your print collateral looking?
Illustration services
Illustration has many applications.
We get to work for clients on book covers, websites, magazines, and creating CGi's for property.
Commission your unique illustration today.
Take a look at a few of our illustrations here then pick up the phone and let this graphic design company get to work creating you a unique illustration for your website, book, blog, or business.
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Your logo design is the centre-piece of your visual identity.
Creating your logo and brand is far more than finding a font, a series of funny shapes and a catchy strap line. We love designing logos and take great pride in our work. Get in touch today and see how your business can benefit.
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Our Start Up Design Package is perfect for anyone wishing to start a new business, or any company requiring a refresh.
Get yourself in business today with a professional logo design, WordPress website, business stationery and 2500 A5 flyers, designed and printed and in only 2 weeks. Now, that dream you've always had about owning your own business?
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Talk with someone who actually gets it…
Grow your business today. Get more Traffic. More Leads. More Sales.
We know all sorts of ways to grow your business. If you ask us, we'll tell you about them.


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Canara Bank introduces Grahak Milan scheme
Watch Canara Bank introduces Grahak Milan scheme here. This news was telecasted on Wednesday 01st of February 2017 05:34:29 PM in TV9 News Channel. TV9 is one of the best news channel in Andhra Pradesh Started in 2004. ABCL was founded as a private media group by a journalist Ravi Prakash in 2003. He was the CEO of ABCL, leading a group of like minded young journalists. Watch Latest Updated telugu News videos, Film News, Shows.


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Scarborough claimed country is "50-50" on abortion issue, but majority wants Roe v. Wade upheld
MSNBC host and former U.S. Representative Joe Scarborough (R-FL) asserted that Americans are evenly divided on the issue of abortion, but polling shows that the country is not evenly split on whether abortion should be banned entirely. On the November 8 edition of Scarborough Country, Scarborough suggested that the ratio of those who oppose abortion to those who do not is "about 50-50" ; in fact, only 16 percent of voters think abortion should be illegal in all cases, according to exit polls conducted during the November 2 presidential election.
From an interview with author and former Washington Post investigative reporter Carl Bernstein on the November 8 edition of MSNBC's Scarborough Country:
SCARBOROUGH: What about abortion?
BERNSTEIN: What about abortion?
SCARBOROUGH: Is that a small minority opposed to abortion?
BERNSTEIN: I believe, again --
SCARBOROUGH: It's about 50-50, isn't it?
BERNSTEIN: No, I don't think the figures are 50-50.
SCARBOROUGH: Yeah, they're pretty close to 50-50.
Exit polls from the November 2 presidential election found that 55 percent of voters believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Only 16 percent believe it should be illegal in all cases; 26 percent believe it should be illegal in most cases. Further, an Associated Press-Ipsos poll conducted November 3-5 found that 61 percent of Americans "think President [George W.] Bush should nominate Supreme Court justices who would uphold the Roe v. Wade decision" that protects a woman's right to an abortion, while only 34 percent think justices who will overturn the decision should be appointed.


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Hi Everyone!
One of the librarians at the Schaumburg Township District Library made me aware of a web location within the Library of Congress that provides a great deal of background information about the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps as well as the ability to easily see what Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps are within the Library of Congress on a State-by-State basis and a city/town level basis within a state.
If you happen to know that an ancestor lived in a particular town at a particular time, there may actually be a Sanborn Fire Insurance Map detailing all of the details of the dwelling site of an ancestor. The maps were in use from 1867 to 1970. You can see what the building shape of an ancestor looked like and what it was constructed from as well as knowing the dimensions. It is sort of like the equivalent of a Plat of Survey you do today on your own property to see the outline of a building and any other buildings on the property.
There is even some, although extremely limited, availability of some online Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps from the Library of Congress website on this subject. The site mentions that there are over 3,000 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps available online through the Library of Congress.
While the site may offer very limited access to online Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, the site does provide a great deal of online information about the fire insurance maps in general. You can really learn a great deal about what this great genealogy resource really is.
Check out the link for this very informative site on Sanborn Maps at:
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps at the Library of Congress
Here are some of the Topics available from the Library of Congress site on interpreting Sanborn Maps:
- Keys and Colors
- Symbols
- Title Pages
- Reports
- Scales
- Sheet Numbering
- Indexes
- Line Styles
- Abbreviations
- Congested Districts
- Publication Dates
- Water Systems
Under the category "Essays" about the Sanborn Maps you will find the following at the Library of Congress site:
- Introduction to the Collection by Dr. Walter Ristow
- Sanborn Samplers by Gary Fitzpatrick
- Sanborn Time Series by Gary Fitzpatrick
Under the category "Other" for the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps at the Library of Congress you will find the following"
- Related Resources
- About the Collection
- FAQs
- Copyright and Restrictions
When you select a state to see what maps exist for a state you will find long, long lists of towns for that state. You can click on the town name and another window opens up providing you with information on what exists within the Library of Congress for Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. Again, the vast majority of material exists within the LOC and not online.
When you are looking at the list of towns within a state, the LOC indicates that a particular town has online maps available by noting the town with an asterisk "*". When I browsed through the towns for Illinois, I saw one town with an asterisk. That was for Tampico. So do not expect to gain access to these maps online. You will at least be able to determine that the LOC has a Sanborn Map for a particular town and for a particular year in their collection.
I just found that the site is probably more valuable for all of the knowledge it conveys about the Sanborn Maps. This alone cans educate you about this great resource. Use the site for that. Anything that may be available online is just a bonus.
If you were not aware of Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps as a resource tool for your genealogy research then take a look at the material from the Library of Congress from the link earlier on in this post.
If you were aware of this as a resource I still think the material from the site can certainly make you more aware at a detailed level about all there is to really know and understand about these Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps.
Check it out.
Tony Kierna
Genealogy Coordinator
Schaumburg Township District Library


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With E3 safely behind us, it has been enlightening to see what writers and industry professionals are saying about this year's show. While many have been reporting that E3 is dead, we stand by our past comments: the number of big-name games shown, along with the press conferences from Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft, still make the E3 Summit more than worth the trip. But this year's show still had some glaring flaws, and Ars Technica has some thoughts on how to make the experience better next year.
Take pride in outward appearances
We're not saying that the show has to return to the overblown spectacle of years past, but this is a multibillion-dollar industry that is showing year-over-year growth in a stagnant US economy. The best we can do for E3 is one single banner in the Los Angeles convention center?
"I used to bring major investors to E3 to get them excited about our industry, which worked every time. Now it's just an embarrassment," David Perry, chief creative officer at Acclaim told Gamesindustry recently.
A few banners for big-name games, some creativity in the meeting rooms... these things would go a long way towards getting people excited about the show. Everyone had the same template for the signs outside their meeting rooms, and you felt like you were reporting on an industry with no personality or drive.
Once you were in the rooms and playing the games, the mood picked up. Developers like Harmonix maximized space with interesting displays and themed rooms, but mostly the show was a bland, empty affair. It wouldn't take much money to make the convention center look much more alive to show how vibrant the industry has become.
The keynote should be given by someone we want to hear from
Texas Governor Rick Perry delivered this year's keynote, and it sounded more like a commercial for Texas than analysis into the industry. We've written about tax breaks for game development and publishing before, and it's an interesting topic, but Perry's speech lacked charisma, broad appeal, and most importantly, it lacked an audience. Only a few people showed up, leading to a depressing experience for the few who did decide to sit through it.
Give us someone who actually makes games, who can speak to why we love this business, someone who can get people passionate about why we're all here. How can a show that is completely filled with interesting games and fascinating people have a keynote so stupefyingly boring?
If you have a press conference, make it worth going to
Why do we travel to trade shows? Air travel is expensive, hotel WiFi is questionable at best, and two hours of sleep a night leads to quite the crash landing after the show is over. It's worth it, however, because we get to play upcoming games and gain a deeper insight into what's shaping up, what might not be worth coverage, and who to talk to in order to get the best stories. You couldn't take a step without finding someone like Ed Boon or Dennis Dyack to speak to about their latest games, and the best stories are often the ones you don't expect. That's why press conferences, outside of the big three, are completely worthless.
Someone speaks in front of a screen, a few bits of news are released, and then your inbox has the press release and links to the video and pictures you just saw. There is no reason to report from it live; a writer in his living room can get the same information online much quicker.
Sitting through a press conference, in most cases, is a waste of time that you could spend getting more hands-on experience or talking to people. It's easier and quicker to skip the meeting, grab the press materials, and be done with it. Developers and publishers, either come up with some reason for us to go, or skip these worthless things all together. Game reporting is, in most cases, a digital game. The idea that the best way to get information out is to make us sit and listen to an executive talk should be buried completely.
Find a new, better venue. Hint: it doesn't have to be in LA
Last year we had to put up with an event spread over many venues, but this year the smaller show mixed with the enormity of the Los Angeles Convention Center meant you had long walks across the venue where you had a chance to appreciate just how dead things felt. Without any outward advertising for games and companies, it felt like you were traveling through an empty venue.
So why not move it? Vegas has many choices for different-sized events, and if companies like Activision decide to have off-site events, the city already has ways of getting you around the Strip. We've already said that the show needs more pop, and Las Vegas is electric even when nothing is going on. From a social, technological, and even convenience standpoint, Vegas has it all over the Los Angeles convention center.
If you take away the terrible look of the show and focus on the people, meetings, and games, this year's E3 was a success. In terms of excitement and charisma, it was a complete dud, and it doesn't have to be. These fixes wouldn't be expensive, but they do require some vision and effort from the ESA. Let's see if Michael Gallagher and company can step up for the industry next year. E3 is worth saving.


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Federal Agents Raid Wrong S. Fla. Home In Search For Drugs
OPA-LOCKA, Fla. --
Federal agents on the hunt for criminals on Thursday raided the wrong house while searching for drugs.Police and federal agents raided 50 marijuana grow houses around Florida on Thursday, calling it "Operation D-Day.
"They seized $7 million worth of pot plants, but they also kicked in the door of Noel Llorente's Opa-locka home and found nothing but bewildered homeowners.
"I was frightened for my husband because they threw him on the ground," Llorente's wife said. "I was scared.Llorente said he was just leaving for work when unmarked cars pulled up, Drug Enforcement Administration agents jumped out, threw him down with guns drawn, handcuffed him, stormed into his home and searched for drugs.
"I asked them why they came to my house, they said a neighbor or somebody called and said I had a hydroponics lab in my house," Llorente said. "Then I asked them if a marijuana plant could grow inside my underwear drawer."The Llorentes said they don't speak much English – they're immigrants from Cuba. They said one of the reasons they came to the U.S. was to escape oppression from the Cuban police.
Isabel Llorente said she never thought this could happen here."Never, because they criticize Cuba so much," she said. "I've never gone through anything like this."She said what made it especially traumatic was not knowing if the agents were really police or imposters. She said she tried to call 911, but they wouldn't let her.
"What added salt to this injury was after the situation – house is searched, door is broken – they just walked away," the Llorentes' lawyer said. "Like, 'We're the government. We made a mistake.'"The homeowner said he received only a minimal apology from police and federal agents."When I asked them about the door, they said, 'Sorry," Noel Llorente said. "When I asked them about my reputation, they said, 'Sorry.'"
Fucking bastards.
Federal Agents Raid Wrong S. Fla. Home In Search For Drugs
By runitsthepolice · Mar 4, 2009 ·
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The Senate Finance Committee heard from supporters and critics of the new tax law in a hearing on Tuesday afternoon. There was little agreement to be found, with the Republican witnesses largely praising the new rules and the Democratic critics voicing numerous fundamental complaints. The difference was so stark that Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) said toward the end of the hearing, replying to the critics, "I feel like I'm looking at an entirely different tax bill than we're talking about here."
Here are some representative comments from the witnesses:
"The Tax Cuts and Job Act has not only reduced taxes for businesses like mine; it has created an environment where more business owners feel confident to take the cash from the tax savings and invest it back into their businesses. For these reasons, I believe the Tax Cuts and Job Act is spurring business investment and therefore has set the stage for increased economic growth for years to come." – David K. Cranston, Jr., small business owner
"The recent tax law made significant changes to the way the United States taxes multinational corporations on their crossborder income. The new legislation has, however, fundamentally botched general business taxation in order to 'fix' the international system. In fact, the new legislation failed to solve old problems of that system and also opened the door to new perversities." – Rebecca Kysar, Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School
"Prior to the enactment of the TCJA, the U.S. tax code has not been overhauled in over 30 years. The tax code was widely viewed as broken – a conspicuous drag on the economy that chased U.S. firms overseas while suppressing investment here at home. Major elements of the TCJA, particularly the lower corporate tax rate, expensing of qualified equipment, and the broad architecture of the international reforms, should improve the investment climate in the United States. While it remains too early to assert with any degree of certainty what the TCA's contribution to the economy will be, some indicators suggest a salutary response in investment, consistent with the economic theory underpinning the design of the business reforms." – Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office
"Put simply, this tax bill fails a very basic test. Does it give us a tax system that generates enough revenue? The answer is 'no.' Either the tax cuts must be reversed and then some, or key commitments, investments, and services will have to give." – David Kamin, Professor of Law, New York University School of Law


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Rallycross is a hooligan's sport, made for sliding around in the dirt like Ken Block. This 91-year-old grandma goes very much against that stereotype.
Sure she goes off course and loses a lot of time on her run, but she's powering an old Subaru around a dirt track. I for one am nowhere near as cool as her right now, and she's over four times my age.
You've got to give respect to people still enjoying cars as the decades go by, like this woman drag racer who hasn't stopped drag racing even in her 60s.


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Are you going to add support for PSX field models for the next release?
Maybe a bug report.I was browsing in colne_b1 and looking at the field models. Both a materia and potion appear in this scene, except, when trying to view the potion, it doesn't load anything. It just stays at whatever model was last selected.I was also wondering if the animations they load are supposed to display that shine effect they do in the game?
This is exactly what I've been wishing for, thank you. I'll give this a try and if it works out well enough, I may finally pick my restoration project back up.
Page created in 0.026 seconds with 20 queries.


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Olympus OM-D E-M1 Teardown
Want to literally see inside the new Olympus OM-D E-M1 camera? Now you can, thanks to this exploded view of every single component that goes into making the E-M1.
Claimed to be Olympus' most reliable camera ever, the E-M1 has a rigid magnesium body with 60 gasket rings, as well as being dustproof, splashproof and freezeproof, and is guaranteed to work perfectly in temperatures as low as -10°C.
To demonstrate its ruggedness, Olympus demonstrated the E-M1 positioned in a lake with fast-moving horses running past, splashing water over the camera. We're told that it survived the test! An optional underwater case will also be available should you require waterproofness down to 45 meters.
Image Gallery
Click on a thumbnail to see the full version.


text: My daughter is going into her Junior year at Rehobeth High School. She is a point/shooting guard and is getting interest from several schools already with USA being the latest. She filled out the recruiting form for women's basketball at TROY but I am wondering what else I need to do to let the coaches at TROY know about her. Any guidance from the faithful.


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Here you will find a complete list of all reviews we have posted online
listed from most recent to the oldest. With reviews now online there are
two other methods to help find the review you are looking for. You may
also use the category links in the menu to break down the list into categories
or use the site search feature.


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12 noon EST marked the end of the Marian's Roots and Rambles Ancestry.com WORLD membership giveaway contest.
Everyone did a terrific job of locating Elvis Presley's social security number! I hope everyone also got a chance to learn more about the variety of death records that are available for genealogical research on Ancestry.com.
In order to select the winner I followed this procedure. Every correct entry was assigned a number, starting with the number 1, based on when the entry was received. I then went to Random.org and generated a random number. The correct entry associated with the number won the prize of a 3-month WORLD Ancestry.com for themselves and a friend of their choice.
And the winner is.....
Diane Meyer
Congratulations, Diane, on your win! (I will contact you via email) And thanks to everyone for participating in the contest.


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"Clearing the Way for Spirit" with Michael Hayes
Awake To Love
Sunday, October 28, 2012 from 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM (PDT)
Event Details
"Clearing the Way for Spirit"
Sunday, October 28th, 2012 - 1:00pm - 6:00pm
Presentation and Group Sharing
***Join us In Person or via Live Online Webcast!***
Event may assist you (but is not limited to):
-Reach Higher, Clearer Awareness of Spirit
-Attune to your Intuition and Inner Knowing
-Access Spirit's Healing on All Levels
-Clear your Consciousness from Interpersonal, Intrapersonal and Metaphysical Influences
-Release Prior Conditioning and Past Life Influence so that You May Come Present
-Open Yourself in a Greater Way to Spiritual Assistance
-Love and Reintegrate Disowned Aspects of Yourself
-Align with your Authentic Self
Michael Hayes, an ordained Minister, has been an internationally known Spiritual counselor for almost 35 years. His consistent demonstration of mastery has resulted in him being well known as the "Counselor's Counselor." He works with individuals, couples, groups and businesses. He works with people from all walks of life on just about every conceivable topic. He empowers recipients to access and trust their higher guidance and work in partnership with Spirit as they become increasingly awake in the physical and metaphysical levels. His modalities include different forms of counseling, coaching, and energetic work. His work serves to catalyze significant karmic shifts, and many of his clients report dramatic positive changes in their lives after only a short time with him.
See Michael's Concluding Thoughts
from "An Afternoon with Michael Hayes"
Here is what people are saying about Michael's last event, "An Afternoon with Michael Hayes":
"I cleared many issues from my life by just being in this crystalline clear energy of Spirit and by other's sharings with Michael. It is beyond description. There is no better way to spend one's time or afternoon than by attending this program." - Jennifer Halet
"It is like bringing God into the world in many forms and many ways over and over again throughout the whole day. Helping to see God's perfection in everyone and everything." -Lawrence Caminite
"I experienced Michael's clarity and mastery in a moving and beautiful way. Magical." - RP
"The experience for me was one of 'all my prayers being answered.' That's how I felt. I felt like God had come down and was literally throwing loads and loads of grace at anyone who asked for it."
"Life changing, transformational, so enlightening and uplifting. I am so extremely grateful!" -NN
"I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop online. As I've often experienced it, Michael's clarity in presenting and working with the energies resonates at the highest levels for me; and Alisha sharing was a great bonus round - I'm looking forward to more of that. For me the inner workshop continued on beyond the physical throughout the night into the next morning - more information, loving, participating, sharing, and intimacy." - Brett Tabin
And here is what people have to say about Michael!
"Michael is blessed with an extraordinary gift of spiritual awareness that allows him to see deeply into the heart of the situation. His clarity and compassion offer gateways to accelerated transformation. We've known him for 25 years and when we have need, he's the person we call."
- Drs. Ron and Mary Hulnick
President and Chief Academic Officer of University of Santa Monica
Co-Authors of "Loyalty to your Soul"
"Michael's highly perceptive coaching has proven invaluable in helping us clarify and refine our businesses' direction and focus. His counsel has not only given us the right input at the right time - it has also helped to train us in recognizing our own intuitive truths. We consider Michael a critical member of our team - personally and professionally."
- David and Kathryn Allen
The David Allen Company
Best Selling Author of "Getting Things Done," "Making Life Work," and "Ready for Anything"
"Michael's incredible loving, clarity, and fun nature not only make every session a blast, but each time I come out feeling new, knowing who I am in my divinity, and really just plain happy. I cannot express enough how deeply and beautifully my sessions with him have changed my life, in a way more pronounced than I could ever possibly imagine.
- Jaime King
Movie and Television Star, Currently on "Hart of Dixie"
For More Information about Michael Hayes and Awake to Love, please visit www.awake2love.com
Get Social and Join the Conversation on Facebook and Twitter!
*Please note that attendance does not guarantee opportunity to share
When & Where
University of Santa Monica
2101 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica,
Sunday, October 28, 2012 from 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM (PDT)
Add to my calendar
Awake To Love
Awake To Love is the home of world-renowned spiritual counselors and ordained ministers Michael Hayes and Alisha Hayes. With over 50 combined years of professional counseling experience, Michael Hayes and Alisha Das Hayes have established themselves as leaders and pioneers in the field of Spiritual awakening and personal transformation.
We believe that when people are connected to their Spiritual nature and working in partnership with a Higher Power, then incredible and often miraculous transformation is possible. Awake to Love works with individuals from all faiths and walks of life, as well as couples, groups, and businesses, on just about every conceivable topic. We offer phone and in-person counseling, workshops, webinars, video and audio downloads, ebooks, and more!
Our purpose is to help people awaken to their Divine Nature and intuition. Regardless of your faith or walk of life, you are an expression of God or Divine Spirit. We believe that by awakening to that Love within you, you can access powerful healing and manifest greater joy and abundance in your life.


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Two Letter Crewneck Letters Sweatshirt
This Two Letter Crewneck Letters Sweatshirt is part of our huge selection of Alpha Beta Clothing. Customize your colors and letters below!
- Detailed Description
- Production Time
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Product ID: IHO-TWILL-18000-F-SOL-2
Sizing Recommendation: We recommend ordering your regular unisex size (loose fit).
Available sizes: Small, Medium, Large, XLarge, XXLarge
Style: Unisex Crew Neck Sweatshirt
Fit: Unisex
Length: Regular
Feel of Material: 50% cotton/50% polyester
Brand: Gildan
Basic Description: pullover basic crewneck sweatshirt
Full Description: The Two Letter Gildan crewneck sweatshirt is soft but never flimsy and solid enough to keep the chill out. It is 8oz. preshrunk and made from 50% cotton/50% polyester. The sweatshirt has air-jet yarn for softer feel and no pilling, double-needle stitching throughout, and an elastic bottom, cuffs and collar. This is a unisex sweatshirt so we recommend ordering a regular unisex size. The size of the letters and the placement are: 4" Letters - Center Chest.
Production Time
This item takes 7 business days (M-F) to produce. It will ship out when complete.
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NB: You can also read this post in Spanish or in Portuguese.
I am a woman. This is something I have never questioned. It is something I know with almost complete certainty.
A couple of years ago, if you had asked me how I know that I'm a woman, then – after I had stopped looking at you in bewilderment at being asked such a daft question – I am pretty sure that I would have given you an answer that made reference to facts about my physical body, my biology. I would have mentioned my secondary sex characteristics: the fact that I have breasts and a vagina; the fact that I menstruate, and from this can infer that I have ovaries and a uterus; the fact that I tend to carry my body fat on my buttocks, thighs and hips. This would have been an answer that is in part empirical, appealing to a scientific account of what features define females of the human species, and in part linguistic, relying on an assumption that the word "woman" has a widely shared, collectively understood meaning: an adult human female.
Over the last couple of years, I've read a lot more feminist writing than I had previously, and become much more immersed in contemporary theories of gender. And I now know that for some people, such an answer to the question "how do you know you're a woman?" would be unacceptable. It would be pointed out that these biological facts are neither necessary nor sufficient for me to conclude that I am a woman, because some women do not have breasts or a vagina, and some people who have breasts and a vagina are not women. So what other answer might I give? The only other response that makes any sense to me is to say that I know that I am a woman because everybody I meet treats me as if I were a woman, and they always have done. When I was born, my parents gave me a name that is only ever given to girls. They referred to me using feminine pronouns, and others followed suit. They dressed me in clothes that our culture deems appropriate for girls, and let my hair grow long. As I grew older, those I met took those markers as evidence that I was a girl – and later, a woman – and treated me accordingly. I was praised and rewarded when I acted in ways deemed typically feminine, and faced social sanction and recrimination when my behaviour was more masculine. This is what feminists call female socialisation, and its manifestations are myriad and ubiquitous. So if I had to explain how I know I'm a woman, without making reference to my female body, I would say "I know I'm a woman, because everyone treats me like one".
Something I've learned from the frontlines of the contemporary gender wars is that I'm not just a woman; I am apparently a "cisgender" woman. Being cisgender, or cis, is considered a form of structural advantage, and therefore I have privilege over those who are not cis. When I first encountered this word, I was informed that it simply means "not-trans", and performs the same function as the word "heterosexual" does – it serves to give a label to the majority group so that they are not the norm against which others are defined as a deviation. Everybody has a sexual orientation, and so we should all have a label to describe it, not just the people whose orientation makes them a minority. It seems a reasonable and laudable aim to have such a word, and so when I first encountered it, I was happy to call myself cis. But am I really cisgender? Is this a term that can be meaningfully applied to me – or indeed, to anyone?
I was happy to call myself cis, if what this means is not-trans, because I assumed that I wasn't trans. I assumed that I wasn't trans because I have no dysphoria about my sexed body – I can live in my female body without discomfort, suffering, or anguish. Actually, that isn't true, and I suspect it isn't true for most women. As a woman raised in a culture that constantly bombards women with the message that their bodies are unacceptable, even disgusting, I feel an enormous amount of distress and dis-ease living in my female body, in a way that has shaped my life and continues to do so every day. What I really mean is that I have never felt that the discomfort and unhappiness I feel living in a female body would be eased if that body were male instead. While my female body is a continual source of shame and suffering for me, I've never felt the desire to alter it to make it less female, to undergo treatment or surgery to make my body more closely resemble a male body. Therefore, I assumed that I wasn't trans. And so if I'm not trans, I must be cis.
But for many people, this is not actually what it means to be cis, because this is not what it means to be trans. I had incorrectly assumed that to be trans, one must to some degree experience what is usually called gender dysphoria but would be better called sex dysphoria – a feeling of distress and anguish caused by living in one's sexed body. However, changing discourse within transgender politics insists that dysphoria should no longer be considered necessary for a person to be trans; you can be trans, even if you are perfectly comfortable and happy in the body you were born in, and have no desire to change it. This came as a surprise to me, and it's obviously hugely significant, because if cis means not-trans, then we need to know what trans means. And I suspect most people will have shared my assumption that it involves dysphoria about one's sexed body. So what might it mean to be trans, if not this?
The term "transgender" seems to be used in a variety of different ways and understood by different people to mean different things. One popular definition states that "transgender is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity differs from what is typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth". This posits the existence of something called a "gender identity", which is usually defined as something like "someone's internal, personal sense of being a man or a woman", or "a person's private sense, and subjective experience, of their own gender". So then trans people are trans because there is a mismatch between their internal sense of their own gender and the gender norms typically associated with the sex they were born into.
Perhaps some people have a gender identity. Perhaps some people do have an internal sense of their own gender, a subjective, personal feeling that they are a man or woman, and perhaps they can describe and make sense of this without reference to either their physical bodies, or the socially constructed norms about how people with those bodies should behave. But I honestly don't have this. I don't have an internal sense of my own gender. If you ask me how I know that I'm a woman, I have to make reference either to my female secondary sex characteristics, or to the social implications of being read as a person who has these characteristics. I don't experience my gender as an internal essence, a deep and unalterable facet of my identity. Maybe some people do, although I am sceptical as to how they could describe and explain that without reference to socially constructed gender roles. But I can concede for the sake of argument that some people might experience a form of subjective mental state that I don't.
That would all be ok, if I were actually permitted to deny that I have a gender identity. But I am not. The purpose of the label cis is to demonstrate that being trans is not abnormal or deviant, but just one of the many gender identities that all people have. In order to perform the function it is supposed to perform, cis must be a label that refers to the presence of a specific gender identity, not just a lack of one. To be trans is to have a gender identity, one that differs from those typically associated with the sex you were assigned at birth. And if you're not trans, then you are cis, which is also a gender identity. And so if trans people have a gender identity that differs from the gender norms for their assigned sex, then presumably cis people have an internal sense of their own gender that is largely aligned with the gender norms associated with the sex they were born into.
But I do not have a deep, personal sense of my own gender. I have things I like to do and to wear. And of course, many of the things I like to do and wear are things that are typically aligned with womanhood. But I didn't come to like those things in a cultural or social vacuum, but against a backdrop of powerful social messages about what kinds of things women ought to like, so it's no surprise that I should come to like some of these things. And anyway, I don't feel that these things reflect anything deep, essential or natural about my identity. They are just my tastes and preferences. Had I been raised in a different culture, I might have had different ones, but I would still have been basically the same person.
Furthermore, just like all other persons, a lot of the stuff I like to do and to wear is not stuff that is stereotypically feminine. A lot of the things I like and enjoy are things that are usually regarded as masculine. Just like everybody else, I'm not a one-dimensional gender stereotype, and while there are some aspects of what is traditionally associated with womanhood that I enjoy and participate in, there are many others that I reject as painful, oppressive and limiting. Even on those occasions when I consciously and deliberately participate in performing femininity, by wearing makeup or typically feminine clothes, I don't see this as me expressing my gender identity; rather, I am conforming to (perhaps even while simultaneously modifying and challenging) a socially constructed ideal of what woman is. And furthermore, once it's decoupled from traditional, restrictive notions about what it is appropriate for people of different sexes to do, it's not clear why it makes sense to call any of this stuff "gender", as opposed to just "stuff I like" or "my personality".
It's presumably due to the realisation that many people do not wholeheartedly and unquestioningly identify with the gender norms typically attributed to their sex that a whole range of other gender identities has emerged – if you don't have a deep internal sense that you are either a man or a woman, you can identify as "non-binary" or "genderqueer" or "pangender", which allows you to identify with those aspects of both traditional masculinity and femininity that you endorse and enjoy, and to reject the rest. (It's not clear whether non-binary or genderqueer people are to be considered as coming under the trans umbrella or not: opinions seem to differ on that score). Again, I am sceptical as to how the case could be made that this is a deeply held and unalterable identity, because any description of one's non-binary gender identity will inevitably make reference to socially constructed gender roles (and it's notable that most non-binary males express this by experimenting with feminine clothing and appearance, rather than by an insatiable desire to do the domestic chores typically associated with womanhood). But perhaps there really are people who have a deep, personal, internal sense of their gender as an essence that is both masculine and feminine, or neither, in a way that is meaningfully something different from just "not being a one-dimensional gender stereotype". But I'm not one of them. Despite the fact that I endorse some bits of masculinity and femininity and reject others, I don't call myself genderqueer or non-binary, because none of this represents a deep, unalterable essence or facet of my identity. So since I'm not trans, and I'm not non-binary or genderqueer, then I am told I must be cis, by default.
So the only option available to me, if I want to reject the label cis, is to pick some other gender identity. I am not permitted to deny that I have a gender identity at all. But this is in itself oppressive. It makes false assertions about the subjective experience of many people – people like me who do not feel as if we have a deep, internal sense of our own gender, and whose primary experience of gender is as a coercive, externally imposed set of constraints, rather than an essential aspect of our personal identity. It forces us to define ourselves in ways we don't accept (and, as I'm now learning, if we refuse to define ourselves in this way, this is attributed to bigotry and a lack of empathy for trans people, rather than a reasonable rejection of what being cis entails). If "cisgender" were a description of a medical condition, characterised by an absence of sex dysphoria, then I would accept that I am cis. But if cisgender is a gender identity, which it appears to be, then I am not cis, because I do not have a gender identity. I am a woman. But it's not because deep down, I feel like one. Because deep down, I just feel like a person.


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Professional Community for Car Dealers, Marketing, Advertising and Sales Leaders
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SMS Marketing for Auto Car Dealers
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