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Meet William Windsor
Over the years, I have received emails from people hoping I was Prince William, the Prince of Wales, son of Lady Di. No, as you can see, I'm the other William Windsor. Surely we must be related! There just aren't that many Windsors in the world. Not everyone realizes that Windsor is the British royal family's surname. Queen Elizabeth is a Windsor, Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince Harry — all Windsors. Windsor Castle. Surely that's my fam… No, we probably aren't even related. You see, I am the first person born in my family with the last name "Windsor." Now, how might that happen? I was named after a theatre. My grandfather was a vaudeville performer. He was a song and dance man, and he produced and managed other singers and dancers. Kind of a poor man's Ziegfeld Follies show. For those too young to know what vaudeville was, it was the entertainment at theatres before movies were invented. Live performers. Have you ever wondered why theatres have a stage in the front? That's because that's where the vaudeville performers used to be. Over the years, theatre owners have maintained the tradition of having a stage up front. My grandfather was German. He was born Walter Winkopp. His act was billed as "Walter Winkopp & Company." In vaudeville, the performers would generally get a one-week engagement at a theatre. They would travel and rehearse one day, and then they would perform the next six days. In his twenties, my grandfather arrived at a theatre in New York for a one-week engagement. He rehearsed his act, and then he walked out the stage door and went around the corner past the front of the theatre as he headed home. The theatre manager was up on a big ladder putting up the billing (the names of the acts) on the marquee. The manager looked down at my grandpa, and said: "Your act is great, but with that name, you're going nowhere in show business." My grandfather looked up at the marquee. He was performing at the Windsor Theatre. He told the manager to change the name from "Walter Winkopp & Company" to "Walter Windsor & Company." From that day forward, he was known by his stage name, Walter Windsor. Grandpa knocked up the wardrobe mistress, and they were married in New York City. Maude was my paternal grandmother. Their only child was my father, born Walter Winkopp, Jr. (shown here 54 years later with my wonderful mother, Mary. Dad was also an entertainer – singer, pianist, actor, radio and television announcer. His family knew him as Walter Winkopp, Jr., but everyone else knew him as Walter Windsor. When he returned from Europe after World War II, he had his name legally changed to Walter Windsor. He met and married my Mom, and 10 months later, I was born William Windsor, the first person in my family born with my last name. I think it's cool to be named after a theatre. Windsor is a very regal name. William Windsor. I'm just glad my grandfather wasn't performing at The Ritz or Radio City Music Hall. William Ritz or William Radio City Music Hall just don't have the same nice ring to them. I'm happy to be William Windsor.


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Kids Ministry
Student Ministry
Worship Arts
Bethel Teams
Worship Arts
Would you like to get connected and involved?
God has gifted you with your own unique skillset to serve in His Kingdom. Here at Bethel we have a wide variety of areas you can use your gifts in very practical and fulfilling ways. Below are various teams and opportunities for you to consider. If anything strikes an interest, please contact Patrick Kelly at firstname.lastname@example.com or 517.787.8612 for more information.
* indicates Planning Center Online training is required to participate.
Worship Arts Team*
We value seeking God for direction to build and shape worship culture here at Bethel. We are a small team who meet monthly to discuss the future vision of Bethel worship and plan special events.
Service Planning Team*
We value having a plan in place for each service. We love to shape and mold Sunday morning services from the ground up. We have a creative bent and a need to glorify God with all we are. Services are planned two weeks in advance on a rotational basis. We work closely with the Worship Arts Team.
Worship Service Participation*
We value worship participation. Music is only one of many tools we use to worship and we invite you to consider how you can be a part. Each person involved in the service plays a special role in offering up to God a worshipful sacrifice. These roles are for people who feel "at home" in front of a large group of people, who are able to communicate clearly and have a heart for God's people. We have openings for the welcome, announcements/dismissal, prayer, and scripture readings. Scheduling would be to your preference.
Prayer Team*
We value prayer. We value community. Because of this, we make a team of prayer warriors available to pray with anyone who desires to come forward after the dismissal. We feel strongly that we need to bring our requests before God together and share in one another's burdens. Prayer Team members are scheduled on a rotational basis one to two times per month.
Worship Team*
We value worship through music. We love to praise God for what He has done, is doing, and plans to do. We value preparation, punctuality, and creativity. We want to bring to God an offering that costs us something. We also want to make sure that what we offer is done with excellence and purpose. We are a small community within the church who desire to lead by example both on and off the platform. This is no place for showboating. It is every place for developing and nurturing God-given talents to help lead His people in the praise and adoration of the Holy One. We meet twice a week for rehearsal (on Wednesday from 6-7 p.m. and Sunday 8:15-9:30 a.m.). Scheduled to your preference. All teachable instrumentalists/vocalists are welcome. If this is you, download the Worship Team application below and turn it into the Secretary at the church office.
Audio/Video/Lighting (AVL) Tech Booth*
We value tapping into our God-given senses within our worship services. We believe audio, video, and lighting are tools we can use to help convey the gospel message. We also believe that these tools are instruments in the hands of their operators and are to be played with excellence and preparation. If you have a technical bent and love being creative with technology, this is your team. Techs are scheduled on a rotational basis and are required to be at the Worship Team's rehearsals on Wednesday from 6-7 p.m. and Sunday from 8:15-9:30 a.m. Advance setup time is required for both rehearsals.
Video Team
We value creativity through video. The video team gets to go out on-site, capture the moments, edit them down, and present them to the congregation. All this has the focus of conveying the message of the gospel in a way that today's culture can readily grasp. Meetings and shoot details vary by project and need.
Drama Team
We are a story-telling culture. We value stories that tap into our intellects and help convey things to our hearts. Through drama we seek to spread truth that lends itself to story form. This helps people take the core message of a half hour sermon and watch it unfold within five minutes. We are a team of people who are able to take direction and constructive criticism and turn it into works of art. Preparation usually takes two to three rehearsals and a dress rehearsal on performance day.
Photography Team
Visuals are powerful tools that tell more than words ever could. We are a team who love to capture the extraordinary moments God gives us everyday. From specific tasks to casual walk-in-the-park shooting, we love to put on display God's handiwork. We have seasonal weekly meetings.
Dance Team
The beauty of rhythmic movement can still a person. Dance is one of the ways God designed our bodies to express the otherwise inexpressible. We plan dances for special services and when appropriate throughout the year.
Special Performance*
We value the special offering, an offering that is above and beyond the norm. We create space within our services to put the gifts God has given groups and individuals on display, all to His glory. These special performances are not limited to music. We encourage dramatic readings, poetry, and storytelling. If you have an idea for a special performance, please contact the Worship Director.
God is writing His grand story. We are all a part of it. What is your part in His story? We value telling God's story through His people. This is a powerful way to encourage each other and display God's faithfulness. We value knowing each other. A testimony opens up our eyes to who people really are and how God has used them to further His purpose. We use video, monologue, and interview styles to help people tell their story. No matter who you are, what you have done, your testimony is worth hearing. We can make special accommodations for those who are less comfortable being in front of a crowd.
Worship Choir
Practices September through Easter, Wednesdays, 7-8 p.m. and on Sunday mornings from 10-10:30 a.m. Typically, the Worship Choir performs once per month.
Celebration Ringers (Bell Choir)
Practices Wednesdays and before the Sunday School Hour. Celebration Ringers usually perform the last Sunday of each month, although that can vary. The group also performs twice annually at a nursing home or retirement residence. Service roles include coordinator and bell ringers. Ability to read music is a must.

subset: commoncrawl


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More Japanese Islands for Sale!
It appears that the famous Senaku/Diayou island chain may soon be off the market, with reports in the Japanese press Wednesday that the national government has finally struck a deal with the private owners of the territory claimed by both Japan and China.
But that doesn't mean it's too late to buy a Japanese island. JRT's team of researchers has come across the website of Tokyo-based Aqua-Styles, which lists for sale selling 11 uninhabited Japanese islands, from Kansai on south.
The prices range from Y20 million ($250,000) to Y500 million ($6.3 million) — all well below the reported Y2 billion ($26 million) price the government is paying for the Senkakus.


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Connections... 100 Yrs of WF History
The Town of Wake Forest, is pleased to announce the publication of Connections..100 Years of Wake Forest History. This beautiful 8.5" x 11" hardcover limited edition volume is a treasure trove of pictures, original artwork, and stories recording the people, places, and events of the past 100 years. Throughout the pages of this book, you will enjoy the rich history of Wake Forest and learn how it has grown from a small college town to a thriving community of more than 30,000 residents.
Purchase your copy for only $20 either online or at the Wake Forest Town Hall, 301 S. Brooks St.
Connections...100 Years of Wake Forest History makes a wonderful gift for family and friends, is a great family heritage piece, and treasured keepsake.
For more information, contact Bill Crabtree at 919-435-9421.


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Blog Archives
Is anger an unwanted feeling?
No it is not so. You can express your anger. But, your anger should not develop into hatred towards the person you are angry about. You should not continue to feel angry.
Once the anger has served its purpose, you should forget about it.
When you alight/get down from the bus you are travelling, you will not be running behind it.
In the same way, once you have expressed your emotion, you should not keep thinking about it. The reason being, if you stay with an emotion for a long time, your body will get affected.
Related Blog
Unpack your anger: http://wp.me/ptUIO-46
A Brief on Bach Flower Remedies: http://wp.me/ptUDl-7E
Do you know why you react negatively?
Even though you are successful in your career…!!!
By nature, you are pure – positive, fearless, loving etc. In that sense, all of us are united at a level – called as Sub-conscious Mind or Universal Mind, where we have access to this positive energy.
At this level we are perfect, can do anything we want and be anything we would like to be.
However, we bring in the energy of negativity from outside. Thus, fear, anger, hatred etc., comes from outside and not inside us.
Then, how to get rid of the part that you don't want?
"I RELEASE the part that produces anger".
"I OPEN and ALIGN WITH the part that activates love, and forgiveness".
Attend the workshop on 19th Oct, to know more about your shadow self: http://wp.me/p31KXo-1Y
Positive vs. Negative thoughts
A thought is a thought. Who says it is positive?
We say so as judging, categorizing, good or bad, likes and dislikes, it is the creation of the human mind.
For the divinity there is no judgment at all. It doesn't judge that this is positive and that is negative.
So good thought or bad thought, everything has to be released.
Only when you do so, then only you will find what real happiness is. That is Sat Chit Ananda Roopini (goddess of ever-green-joy).
However, even to feel the Sat Chit Anandam (ever-green-joy), one should have the grace of that energy.
Unless we have the grace of the divine, we cannot do any action and move forward in life. At the same time unless we take the action, divine grace will not come. Both are dependent on each other.
We are not doing anything new
There is nothing like past. Analyze your life now. Analyze your emotions and relationships now.
This is what you did in the previous Janma. If you do analyze and release the present situation, that means you are also handling the karma efficiently.
We are not doing anything new. Whatever we have done so far is the continuation of the previous life(s).
Then how to deviate or overlook the karma?
When you start thinking differently about a particular issue then your past life karma will not have any effect on you, because you are going on a different path.
Thinking differently and behaving differently in a situation is very important.
If somebody is having a contrary opinion to you, our normal nature is to resist it or have a judgment about that person. Then how to go about it differently?
It means, "Yes that person is telling his views. I have my own views. I appreciate his views and let him have his views and let me not try to change it either".
In that manner, you mend your ways and deviate from the past. For each and every behavior, find out how you behaved in the past and deviate from that. Then you are not re-living your past.
Only when you are not reliving your past then only you can create a new future.
That is another subject called as 'Past-Life Healing'.
Learn to manage your fears
List out the fears
Think about your unnecessary fears and worries (over which you cannot do anything).
You list out all those fears.
Release them one by one.
Why fear should not be there?
Then fear will not allow you to love yourself.
How that fears can be removed?
You have to address one fear at a time and say:
- "I AM SORRY PLEASE FORGIVE ME FIND DIVINE LOVE" (or)
Meaning of the Switch Word Fiber
"FIND DIVINE FIBRE" means regain the courage in me or regain the trust in me.
When you get fear chant this, "FIND DIVINE FIBER".
Switch Word Fiber creates a movement, while fear will stop it.
STOP the MIND's Influence on YOU Part I
"You are entitled to action only. This is the Law of Karma. Leave the fruit to me" – says Krishna.
A simple way to implement it
Living with Awareness is an important subject. If you apply this technique, you do not need attend lectures on Bhagavat Gita.
Living with awareness is a life process. If it is done regularly, it can change our lives significantly.
Do it systematically.
Play it like a game. Do not think it as an exercise.
To put it simple, you release all thoughts and feelings prior to action.
Releasing thoughts associated with an action
You get a phone call.
We assume it is a bad call.
We think and get irritated, why I should get such calls during late nights.
Can you release this irritation? Affirm, "I let go this irritation".
Our actions are contaminated with unwanted thoughts
Whenever you are about to perform an action, it is preceded by thoughts.
Release those thoughts.
That's does not mean you are prevented from doing the action. You just do the action.
Then you are in the present – without any thought, and only doing actions.
If some other thoughts come, tell them, "You can come later. This is not the time for you now."
If you do any action, without any thought or feeling, then its 100 percent completed.
You are entitled only to act
You are not entitled to think or feel before an action.
If you tell the thought to go, it will go.
After the action, if the results are not to our expectations, we will comment badly about concerned people. We will remark, "I wasted so much time with them".
Affirm then, "I release the thought. I let go this thought."
When you put a counter thought like this, the mind gets confused as it cannot continuously change its thought flow or pattern.
After releasing all the thoughts that appears in your mind, comes the time for your action(s).
Painless World
Krishna Sree
I am diagnosed with pain in the greater trochanteric region on the left leg. Doctor has asked me to take pain-killer tablets for a couple of days and observe.
I have back pain for the past 14 years. I stopped working because of that. Now, the back pain occurs only if I strain myself for long hours. Otherwise, daily activities do not cause the pain in the back.
About 8 years back, I was diagnosed with Spondylosis when I had pain in the neck as well as on the outer side of the left elbow. On Doctor's advice, I started doing neck exercises. I can still feel the pain in the elbow when I carry some weight.
"I release the memory of pain"
"I release the thought of pain"
"I release the expectation to have pain"


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I am putting together my first show for this year, which includes 112 channels spanning two houses that are side by side. While it is evident that pixels are very popular, I prefer the classic LED. (don't crucify me)
I needed a solution to hang lights on the windows without damaging them, as well as an easy way to store and put up each year.
As you can see from the first picture below there is a small gap between the frame and the side of the house. My plan was to make a PVC frame and a custom bracket to go over the window protrusion. I was able to bend the metal with just a vice grip. Below is what I came up with.
1/2" PVC and fittings
Spray paint and clear coat
Aluminum strips
Rivet gun and rivets
Zip ties
I attached the brackets using rivets through the predrilled hole in the back and pipe. I put two on the top of each frame and one in the middle of each vertical pipe.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Live, Laugh, Love.
I'm glad to see someone has my same situation. I use aluminum angle to hang the pvc frames above the windows and door. They are larger than the window frame.
Have had no problems, they just hang there until I take them down. Hope this helps.
Take what you can, give nothing back!
2010 - First Attack - Success!
2011 - Survived Second Attack!
2012 - In Total Control
2013 - Calm Sailing
2014 - I feel a change in the wind
2015 - no show - Got lazy in Paradise
2016 - Back on course
2017 - no show - Laying in a New Course
2018 - Hard to Remember
2019 - Ah, Calm Lights on the Horizon - static
2020 - Maybe? (Back in Friendly Seas)
you put the lights onto the plastic with either Zipties or hotglue. And you make 90deg by simply cutting one side with tin snips and folding it over on itself, then gluing it to shape. A few pieces of Velcro to keep the wind from blowing it off, and you're done. Just slip it over the frame in a single piece with cord coming down the bottom.
Easy to build, Easy to install, lasts forever, cheap
2012 - 1st year 64 Channels - 7500 LED lights - 5 sequences
2013 - 128 Channels - 10,000 LED lights - 7 sequences (2 New)
2014 - 201 Channels - upgrading 8 Arches to dumb RGB - 8+ sequences (1+ New)
2015 - 240 Channels + 8 Universes - sequences TBD
2016 - No Display
2017 - Back in the Game - 240 Renard Channels + 12 Universes
2018 - 256 Renard and 9 Falcon Outputs of Pixels - 16 sequences shown over 2 nights
Can you take a picture of how you attach led the hooks to house and such?
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Great idea!


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For students considering pursuing an LLM, a big factor in deciding whether or not they can justify the cost of the degree is to look at how the program will affect their earning potential once they have completed it.
An LLM is a great way for both foreign and domestic attorneys to establish themselves as experts in their fields and increase their employ-ability and salary range regardless of previous employment history. Law firms and government agencies put a high premium on individuals who understand a particular area of law and have established themselves as subject-matter experts in that field. An LLM can increase your salary in a number of ways, including helping you land your first job, make more money at your current job or make a move to a new practice area and increase your earnings.
Land your first job.
An LLM can help you get your first job if you have recently graduated from law school and have not started working. Obtaining an LLM shows prospective employers that you are dedicated to a particular area of law and willing to put more work in than the average attorney. The additional knowledge obtained during your LLM can increase your salary as a first-time attorney and may allow you to bump into a higher pay scale than other first-year associates at your firm.
Make more money in your current job.
Obtaining an LLM can also allow you to increase your salary at your current job. Many employers appreciate the benefits that are associated with having an attorney with specialized knowledge on staff. Many firms will even help you obtain your LLM and will reward you with increased pay after you have completed it. As you are considering pursuing an LLM, ask your employer about starting an LLM program; you might be surprised at how much support you receive.
Move to a new area of law.
Many attorneys hesitate to switch practice areas after they have been working for a few years because they are afraid they will have to take a pay cut and start at the bottom at a new law firm. While the concern is understandable, studying for and completing an LLM can allow you to move into a new practice area and increase your pay at the same time. Selecting an LLM program in an area of law you would like to move into will give you an edge over other candidates, especially new attorneys. Your previous work experience, combined with the LLM, may prove to be an invaluable combination to your new employer. Don't be afraid to take the leap!
While pay varies widely across practice areas and countries, an LLM is a great investment in your career. It can allow you to move into a new practice area while increasing your pay, help you land your first job or make more money at your current law firm. If there is an area of law that you want to learn more about, that passion can translate into increased earnings and job satisfaction. We encourage you to do the research to find the right LLM program and watch your career take off!


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Hot tub covers are important to keep dirt and leaves out of your hot tub. They also help conserve energy by keeping the water warm. Just like your hot tub, your hot tub cover is an investment. Keeping it clean will prolong its life, preventing cracks and color fading, as well as mold and mildew. Just follow these five easy steps to clean your hot tub cover.
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 Brush off your hot tub cover before you remove it. Regularly brush off any debris with a small nylon brush. Doing so will help ensure that dirt and leaves don't fall into your spa. In the winter, brush off snow before it accumulates. Don't use a snow shovel as it could tear the cover.
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 Remove sap. Remove any sap that may be stuck on the cover. Harden the sap by cooling it with an ice cube and then gently peel it off with your fingers.
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 Do a deep cleaning once a month. Scrubbing your hot tub cover once a month is an important part of hot tub care. After brushing off debris and removing sap, remove the hot tub cover for a scrub-down. Do not use cleaners on the inside of your hot tub cover, as they may get inside your water. Simply use a garden hose and sponge or soft brush to wash the underside of the cover, following manufacturer instructions to prolong the life of your cover.
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 Use proper hot tub cover cleaners. Cleaning your hot tub cover regularly can help prolong its life, but the type of cleaner you use depends on the type of cover you have. We recommend every 3 months or as needed. Meaning draining and refilling the hot tub, cleaning the cover and the hot tub. We don't sell those products but we do sell a Sundance® Spas Vinyl Cover Conditioner and Sundance® Spas All Purpose.
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Whatever kind of hot tub cover you have, steer clear of alcohol- or bleach-based cleaners, abrasive cleaners, or any kind of cleaner not specifically designed for hot tub cover care, including dishwasher soap. When you're done washing the cover, allow it to air dry before placing it back on the hot tub. With the cover off, it's a great time to enjoy a soak.
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 Inspect your hot tub cover regularly. It may be easy to tell when it's time to invest in a new spa cover. If your spa cover is cracked, brittle, has any rips or tears, or has gotten very heavy (from water accumulation), it's time to start shopping for a new one. Every few months, you should unzip the cover liner and inspect the vapor barrier for signs of damage.
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Keeping your hot tub cover clean protects your hot tub, maximizes energy efficiency, improves the overall look of your backyard spa and helps ensure years of enjoyment from your investment – and only takes a few minutes per month.
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Hot tub care is easy if you know the right steps to take. Learn more about how to care for your spa here.


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Out of context emails make your company look "scandalous" – another plug for defensible deletion
The news of more leaked emails is making their way around the blogosphere, including one of our favorites over at Yahoo Finance.
Henry Blodget of the Daily Ticker brings up an intriguing point, no matter how many policies you put in place or how much you hope that your employees have common sense – 'knucklehead emails' still get sent out.
I call them 'knucklehead emails' because the ones I refer to have no malice associated with them, they're just not well thought out, like joking about a gambling spree with the petty cash. Sure, to the writer it's funny because there's only $10 available and the recipient knows it, but to the outside reader one year later, not so funny. It's completely harmless until taken out of context. (The ones with malice and cover-up attempt, that's a difference topic for another day.)
Every company has at least a handful of "knucklehead emails" somewhere in their database whether it's football pools (Gambling), the sending of a credit card number (PII violation), or the forwarding of a joke (Sexual harassment). In today's hyper-sensitive and over-regulated world, if those emails got out, yours could be the next company sharing a headline with the word 'scandalous.'
The key to preventing these situations is being aware of what information exists and making decisions on it. After all, does your information governance policy really exist if there's no one there to enforce it? Understanding what exists by adding a data profiling policy to your information governance plan is a start. Parameters can also be set to start a defensible deletion policy for information that has no business value.
The only thing a forwarded chain mail from an ex-employee that hasn't been viewed in seven years can do is come back to hurt you. The harsh truth is, your email servers are filled with valueless emails waiting to find their way out in to the open. Organizations need to be proactive to protect their consumers and themselves.
The 'keep everything' policy does more than just inflate your storage costs, it puts you in line to be the next "scandalous" company.
For more information on protecting your company from "knucklehead emails" contact firstname.lastname@example.com or go to http://www.indexengines.com


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Ma's Pizza Macaroni
Posted by Deb Equality Della Piana in Italian, Pasta, Uncategorized on October 2, 2017
This is a really pretty simple, yet delicious pasta dish. We always called it "Pizza Macaroni" because that's what our mother and grandmother called it, and they called it that because the spices used in its creation are the spices we use in pizza. There is no better pasta for this than Rigatoni, although Ziti is a good alternative if need be.
The recipe here calls for 2 pounds of pasta. This is a great dish for a crowd. It's easy to adjust the quantities to meet your needs. And besides, it's even better heated over.
The first thing will be to mix the seasonings together. The rest, as they say, is a breeze.
For Seasoning
4 tbsp granulated garlic
2 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp granulated onion powder
2 tbsp dried oregano
2 tbsp dried rosemary
4 tsp fennel seed (roughly crushed with mortar and pestle)
2 tbsp thyme
1 tbsp Sicilian sea salt
1 tbsp coarse ground black pepper
For the Pasta
2 lbs Rigatoni
2 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes (I use the garlic, olive oil seasoned)
12 RIPE plum tomatoes, sliced
Olive oil
4 cups three cheese blend (Romano, Parmesan, Asiago)
Reggiano Parmesan (for serving)
Crushed red pepper (for serving)
Preheat your oven to 350º.
While you're mixing your spices bring a large pan of water to boil. Just before you add the pasta, salt the water. Don't be shy about this. (If you add the salt at the beginning, it will take longer to boil.) Add your pasta to the boiling water. Return to the boil, and allow it to cook for about 9 minutes. The pasta should be al dente. Drain.
Pour both cans of diced tomatoes into the bottom of a large pan. Add half of the pasta to the pan (do not mix with the tomatoes on the bottom). Then add a layer of sliced tomatoes, the spice (to you taste; I'm heavy on the spice), and a liberal dose of the three cheese blend. Sprinkle this layer with olive oil.
Add the second layer of pasta and repeat this process.
Don't be shy with any of the ingredients, and definitely do not be shy with the olive oil.
Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake, UNCOVERED, for 30-35 minutes.
Serve with freshly ground Reggiano Parmesan and crushed red pepper.
Notes: Do not worry if some of the pieces are a bit crispy. This is part of the plan. These are actually delicious.
Not Your Average Ratatouille
Posted by Deb Equality Della Piana in French, Sides, Vegetables on March 11, 2017
There are about a million recipes (might be a slight exaggeration, frankly) for this dish online and, in my younger years, I'm sure that I used one of them. Since then, I've played with it and have changed it.
I added pancetta, the Italian version of bacon, but if you prefer meatless, then it's fine to leave it out. It will not ruin the dish. This is normally a side dish, but I've actually served it as a main course over rice.
It can be served sprinkled with Reggiano Parmesan. It can also be served with a couple of dollops of Mascarpone cheese. The sweetness of the cheese goes nicely with the spicy complex of the dish. Give it a try.
5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
8 oz chopped pancetta
1/4 cup minced garlic
1 medium Vidalia onion, rough chopped
1 medium zucchini, rough chopped
1 medium yellow (summer) squash, rough chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded, cored and rough chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded, cored and rough chopped
1 medium eggplant, trimmed and cut into cubes*
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1 can diced tomatoes with juice (14.5 oz can)
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock
Salt & pepper to taste
Reggiano parmesan or Mascarpone Cheese for serving
Heat up the evoo in a deep skillet and add the pancetta. Cook over medium heat until the pancetta crisps, moving it around the pan so that it cooks evenly. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels. Add the minced garlic to the oil, and cook until slightly brown and the oil is infused. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
Next, add the onions, peppers, zucchini and summer squash. Cook for about 6 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the thyme and oregano and mix well. Cook for about another 2 minutes.
Add the chicken stock, wine, tomatoes and eggplant. Simmer uncovered for abut 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is a bit reduced. Add the pancetta, stir, and simmer for about another minute or two. Do a spice check here. Give it a taste. The pancetta is salty, so you may not need salt. The choice is yours. Add pepper, however, for sure.
Remove from the heat and serve with either the parmesan or Mascarpone.
*I "trim" my eggplant, which means cutting off the edges. I never peel my eggplant. But the choice is yours. It works either way.
White Clam Sauce
Posted by Deb Equality Della Piana in Italian, Pasta, Pasta Sauce, Uncategorized on June 30, 2016
There's nothing like a good white clam sauce to go with your linguine (or any other kind of pasta you might choose. My favorite food store actually carries shucked fresh clams, so I generally buy a tub of these for this recipe. However, if yours doesn't, you can buy baby clams in a can. They work just fine. However, that's not quite enough for me. I also buy a couple of cans of chopped clams as well. The more the merrier.
This recipe is for 1 lb. of pasta. It calls for a cup of clam juice or chicken stock. The clam juice will make the sauce stronger, while the chicken stock will make it a bit more mellow and buttery flavored. The choice is yours, or you can even use half and half if you'd like.
1 can (or tub) of whole baby clams
2 cans of chopped clams
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1.5 tsp. dried thyme
1 cup clam juice (or chicken stock)
1 cup dry white wine
1 lemon, zested
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
Coarse ground black pepper and coarse salt
Italian bread (for mopping up extra sauce; optional)
Shaved Parmesan cheese (for serving)
1 lb. pasta, slightly undercooked
In a large, deep skillet add the olive oil and garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes until the oil becomes fragrant and the garlic begins to brown. Add the thyme and white wine. Cook for a few minutes until the concoction is slightly reduced. Add the clam juice or chicken stock (or a combination of the two). Allow it to simmer for a minute.
Stir in your clams and your lemon zest. Drain your pasta and add it to the skillet. Toss with the sauce for 2-3 minutes until it becomes al denté. Add the chives, pepper and salt to taste. Toss it a couple of times and you're good to go!
It goes without saying that you should top this with some shaved Parmesan cheese!
Summer Veggie Pasta Sauce
Posted by Deb Equality Della Piana in Bacon, Italian, Pasta, Pasta Sauce, Vegetables on June 30, 2016
I spent my childhood eating traditional tomato-based pasta sauce. When I finally moved out of my family home and started to enjoy cooking, I decided I wanted to explore a bigger variety of sauces for my pasta. This sauce is especially nice in the summer, using zucchini, pancetta, and peas. Combine these delicious vegetables with butter, dry white wine and parmesan cheese, and it's a real feast.
1 lb. cooked pasta
4 garlic cloves, chopped
4 oz. pancetta
1 cup zucchini, chopped
1 cup frozen sweet peas, thawed
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. olive oil
5 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 tbsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried basil
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup dry white wine (Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio)
Juice of one lemon
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese plus more for serving (I like to use the grated in the sauce and the shaved for serving)
The first order of business is to bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta, cook until al denté (most of the time this runs from 7-10 minutes after the rolling boil has started). Then drain and set aside. While this process is going on, you can work on your sauce.
Add the chopped pancetta to a large sauté pan and cook over medium heat for about 5-7 minutes. Then add the chopped zucchini, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently until it begins to soften. Add the thawed peas at the very end of this process and sauté for about 3 additional minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
In the same pan, heat the 1/4 cup olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper, and sauté for 1-2 minutes until it turns golden and becomes fragrant. Then add the white wine, lemon juice, butter, thyme and basil. Cook for another two minutes or until the butter is completely melted.
Return the vegetables to the pan with the sauce and sauté for an additional minute or two. Then, add the pasta and toss with the Parmesan cheese to heat through.
This is a good time to give it a taste test for saltiness (the pancetta is salted and the cheese will also add a bit of saltiness to the dish). Add salt and pepper to taste.
You are ready to enjoy!
Gluten-Free Cornbread
Posted by Deb Equality Della Piana in American, Breads, Gluten-Free on February 9, 2015
I'm not one to complain…much…but people should really double-check their recipes before putting them on the web. Originally, this was billed as a gluten-free 100% cornmeal cornbread. Not happening. Cornmeal does not easily absorb the liquids used in the recipes, so I adjusted this. As a result, it can no longer be called 100% cornmeal. In fact, I've never successfully made one that is 100% cornmeal, no matter what brand of cornmeal I've used.
In spite of that fact, this is quite delicious.
I should say that this is purposely not a very sweet bread. There are two alternatives to consider. First, toasting it and serving it with some kind of fruit preserves, or adding 2 tbsp. of either sugar or agave sweetener in addition to the honey.
1-3/4 cup cornmeal (GMO-free or organic; I use Bob's Red Mill)
1/2 cup corn flour (Bob's Red Mill)
1/2 cup gluten-free flour (Bob's Red Mill)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. xantham gum (Bob's Red Mill)
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs (any size will do)
1 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. sugar or agave sweetener (optional; see opening above)
2 cups milk (pasteurized and 2%)
2 tbsp. melted butter
Sugar (for sprinkling on top of the batter)
Soft butter for serving
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare an 8″ x 8″ baking pan.
In a small bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and mix in the honey, milk, and melted butter.
Pour the dry ingredients into the wet, and mix until combined.
Pour into your baking pan and sprinkle on the sugar. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until a knife or toothpick comes out clean.
Serve with soft butter.


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One sensing range for all metals
Use in harsh welding applications
The inductive "Kplus" sensors withstand harsh operating conditions and reliably detect metal objects even in case of soiling.
The sensor housing and the fixing nuts have a non-stick coating to prevent sticking of weld slag. Strong magnetic fields occur in welding processes.
The new sensor technology prevents incorrect switching.
The quick connection with the connector and matching cable from the ecolink range is the ideal basis for permanent use.


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Zayn Malik has said that his debut solo single 'Pillow Talk' is about "dirty and raw" sex.
Malik will release 'Pillow Talk', his first solo material since leaving One Direction last year, on Friday (January 29). He will also appear on The Graham Norton Show that same night.
Speaking to The Times about his new material, which promises to be more adult than his days in One Direction, Malik said: "Everybody has sex, and it's something people want to hear about. It's part of everybody's life, a very big part of life! And you don't want to sweep it under the carpet. It has to be talked about."
Elsewhere in the interview, Malik said he'd be open to a One Direction reunion one day in the future. "If the time was right and that was the thing to do, then I would make that decision when it came around," he said.
Malik, who had originally planned to read English at university, also suggested that he will seek to continue his education as "something that is only, solely for me, you know what I mean?"
This is in order to make sure his children get a better education than he was afforded. "When my kids ask me, in the future, and I try to tell them to go to school, they can't turn around and say to me, 'Fuck off, Dad, you were in a band!' I can turn around and say, 'Excuse me, I went back to school and got my degree. So you definitely have to do your schoolwork!"'
Malik quit One Direction, who are currently on an extended hiatus, in March 2015 and is now embarking on a solo career. Since his departure he has hinted at tension between himself and other members of the band, saying only Liam Payne has kept in touch with him.
Malik previously described the boy band's music as "generic as fuck" and claimed he would be embarrassed to play their music around girls.
Following his One Direction exit, Malik signed a solo deal with RCA and has been offered guidance by 50 Cent and collaborations with Odd Future man Tyler, The Creator.


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Devils Tower. Public domain photo.
As noted in previous blogs, I am fascinated by the Laramide igneous intrusive rocks of the northern Black Hills, South Dakota and Wyoming (~50-58 m). I suppose this inquisitiveness started the first time I observed Devils Tower out on the plains of northeastern Wyoming---wow, what a monument. As a dreamer I wanted to believe in the Native American (at least one version) story of causative events since again I was intrigued by the Seven Sisters in the night sky, the Pleiades.
My favorite version of Devils Tower origin goes something like this: a few girls, probably 7, went out to play in northeastern Wyoming and were spotted by a giant bear that tore out after them. When trying to escape from the bear, the girls climbed a large rock and offer a prayer to their spirit leader. The spirit leader heard their prayers and caused the rock to rise from the ground towards the heavens---out of reach of the bear. The angry bear, in in trying to climb the rock and reach the girls, left deep claw marks in the side of the rock. These claw marks are easily seen today on the sides of Devils Tower. As the rock reached higher into the heavens the girls transformed into the star constellation we know as the Pleiades.
As a kid we learned about the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) and Little Dipper (Ursa Minor) and yet there in the sky was this tiny dipper that seemed to not have a connection with the other "dippers." To this day I still find myself looking up in the night sky for the "dippers" so as to locate the north star and get my directions in the correct order! Why? I don't have the slightest idea why I need to confirm the compass directions. That aspect is just built into my system. That same system also confirms I want "paper" maps during travel. Yes, I have the requisite GPS systems, both portable and "hooked to the dash," but I want those paper products.
If you are unfamiliar with the "dippers" and directions consider the following. Most people in the U.S. can locate the bright stars of the Big Dipper in the night sky---it just sticks out there! The Big Dipper is also a circumpolar constellation, at least for the lower 48--it stays in the sky all night long and seems to rotate counterclockwise around the North Star, Polaris (actually the earth is rotating). As the diagram shows, one needs to locate the bright stars Merak (β) and Dubhe(α) in the Big Dipper and follow their "point" to Polaris (the North Star) in the Little Dipper. Polaris is situated above the geographical North Pole so is a celestial guide to north. It has been used in navigation for millennia and even today I know which way is north—at least in a cloudless night sky. Two hundred years ago if I were traveling I might draw a line in the soil or line up a stick pointing north. That way come morning I would have my directions "straight."
One of my favorite authors is William Least Heat-Moon who wrote a book back in 1982 entitled Blue Highways. Heat-Moon took a long trip "trying to find himself," or something like that, following the blue-colored highways, the secondary highways, on the old road maps. My father ran a gasoline station (filling station in the vernacular) in a small Kansas town and gave away those road maps to anyone who requested such. I collected all of these wonderful fonts of information! Even today I have numerous road atlases and on a regular basis, sometimes daily, I pick a state or region and study the map memorizing towns and rivers and mountains and other locations. I am easily amused! Much to chagrin of most travelers in my vehicle, I love to travel the blue highways, rarely getting "lost". The secret to knowing where you are located is not a GPS but remembering all of those memorized maps, plus the fact that in my home states on the plains the majority of the roads go east-west or north-south following section lines (Public Land Survey System).
OK, back to Laramide intrusive rocks in the Black Hills. I have written small postings about Bear Butte, Crow Peak and Spearfish Peak, all major land forms in the northern and eastern Hills. Last summer I talked my Black Hills guide, the Junior Geologist, into hauling me to the old mining area of Tinton. Actually, Tinton should be described as a former (tin from cassiterite), and active, mining area. Today most streams seem to have gold placer mining camps, both squatters and weekenders, and some large exploration companies have staked several hundred claims. As best that I can tell many of the larger companies are looking for gold in paleoplacers of the Cambrian Deadwood Formation, or in rocks similar to those past producers over at the Homestake Mine near Lead. The companies, placer miners, and people living near Tinton do not seem the friendliest in the world and threaten visitors with all sorts of bodily harm for setting foot of the road. My momma didn't raise no fools so the Junior Geologist and I just kept trucken' so as to stay out of the sights! I would have enjoyed taking a peek at the old mines.
Lisenbee and Dewitt (1993) described the rocks at Tinton as being related to one of three large intrusive centers in the northern Black Hills---the Tinton Dome in the western Hills on the Wyoming-South Dakota state line, the Deadwood-Lead Dome and the northwestern Bear Lodge Dome, all related to basement (Precambrian) plutons swelling the overlying rocks and sending up hot magma to solidify as laccoliths, sills, dikes, and other stocks.
The Tinton Dome has two major areas---the Tinton District in South Dakota where cassiterite was the major mineral producing tin, much of it placer tin derived from pegmatites in the area. Across the state line is the Mineral Hill District, a locality that produced gold from the 1870's through the 1930's, both placer and lode. Today, I believe, exploration companies are purchasing leases at Mineral Hills to look for porphyry-style gold and copper deposits. This type of deposit is has produced much of the copper in the desert southwest.
Cassiterite (SnO2) granules were mined (placer) at Tinton in the late 1800's and early 1900's. These granules were taken from a small stream near Tinton in the late 1960's.
The three large Laramide intrusive domes in the Black Hills: Bear Lodge, Tinton, Lead/Deadwood (BH). Inyan Kara is a separate laccolith. Map from DeWitt(1989).
The rocks at Mineral Hill are exceedingly complex with ring dikes, multi-phase alkaline intrusive rocks including trachyte porphyry, Precambrian rocks, amphibolite, and sedimentary rocks, especially the Cambrian Deadwood Formation, and perhaps a central brecciated diatreme pipe. The epithermal style gold veins (warm water at a somewhat shallow depth) were the targets of the early miners (2009, Market Wired).
The trachyte porphyry (mostly orthoclase feldspar of two different generations—see photo) at Mineral Hill occurs as sills and dikes and is part of the Laramide intrusive suite in the northern Hills. The southwestern section of Mineral Hill is known as Cement Ridge where the resistant trachyte forms the highest elevation (6674 feet) of the dome, and the second highest peak in the Wyoming section of the Black Hills and is home to a USFS Fire Lookout Tower.
USFS Fire Lookout Tower at Cement Ridge. Outcrop in foreground is part of the Laramide intrusive.
North of Sundance lies the Bear Lodge Mountains, a major section of the Wyoming Black Hills. Again, Lisenbee and DeWitt (1993) described the Bear Lodge as one of the major domes of the northern Black Hills where basement plutons and rising magma have pushed up overlying rocks into a dome. The Bear Lodge Mountains are now under exploration for Rare Earth Minerals.
Sundance Mountain, a laccolith on the edge of the community. The rock exposed is a rhyolite (Lisenbee and DeWitt, 1993).
Immediately southwest of Sundance, actually on the edge of town, is a nice laccolith know as Sundance Mountain (elevation 5810). This igneous rock is a magnesium rich rhyolite (Lisenbee and DeWitt, 1993).
My favorite laccolith in the Black Hills area is Green Mountain just southeast of Sundance (elevation 3806 feet). It is a perfect circular dome with hogbacks surrounding the feature but without igneous rocks exposed in the center. The magma domed the overlying sedimentary rocks; however, they were not completely stripped off. So, it actually is a nice little anticline and is mapped as such on maps.
Another easily available exposure of Laramide intrusive rocks in the northern Black Hills is near Bridal Vail Falls in Spearfish Canyon (US Alt. 14). At this locality a large sill was intruded between the Cambrian Deadwood Formation and rocks of Precambrian age. The falls are directly related to the sill since a small stream in Rubicon Gulch could not cut through the hard igneous rocks and therefore tumbles over the sill into local base level, Spearfish Creek.
Another easily available exposure of Laramide intrusive rocks in the northern Black Hills is near Bridal Vail Falls in Spearfish Canyon (US Alt. 14). At this locality a large sill was intruded between the Cambrian Deadwood Formation and rocks of Precambrian age. The falls are directly related to the sill since a small stream in Rubicon Gulch could not cut through the hard igneous rocks and therefore tumbles over the sill into local base level, Spearfish Creek.
Another easily available exposure of Laramide intrusive rocks in the northern Black Hills is near Bridal Vail Falls in Spearfish Canyon (US Alt. 14). At this locality a large sill was intruded between the Cambrian Deadwood Formation and rocks of Precambrian age. The falls are directly related to the sill since a small stream in Rubicon Gulch could not cut through the hard igneous rocks and therefore tumbles over the sill into local base level, Spearfish Creek.
A laccolith somewhat more difficult to spot is Elkhorn Peak located along I-90 between Whitewood and Spearfish along the eastern flanks of the Black Hills. The igneous rocks intruded between the Precambrian and the Cambrian deadwood Formation and domed up the overlying sedimentary rocks: the Minnekahta Limestone (Permian) is exposed as a dip slope while the Pennsylvanian-Permian Minnelusa Formation covers the dome.
Elkhorn Peak, a covered laccolith, located along I-90 near Spearfish.
As for Devils Tower, the rock is a phonolite (nephaline seyenite—see posting on Spearfish Peak) that was intruded as hot magma into the overlying sedimentary tocks during the Laramide intrusive event. The "claw marks" defining columns are actually contraction furrows propagated as the magma cooled. Over several million years the sedimentary rocks eroded away leaving behind the resistant igneous rocks. The monolith rises ~867 feet from its base, ~1,267 above the Belle Fouche River, and ~5,117 above sea level. In 1906 Devils Tower was designated as our first National Monument.
DeWitt, E., 1989, geologic Map of the Black Hills Area, South Dakota and Wyoming: U.S. geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Map I-1910.
Lisenbee, A.L. and E. DeWitt, 1993, Laramide Evolution of the Black Hills Uplift in Snoke, A.W., J.R. Steidtmann and S.M. Roberts, eds. Geology of Wyoming: Geological Survey of Wyoming Memoir no. 5.


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October 25, 2018 · How To Vecta
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This is an excerpt from DOGFIGHT: How Apple and Google Went to War and Started a Revolution by Fred Vogelstein, published in October 2013 by Sarah Crichton Books, an imprint of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.
By 2010 Apple and Google were attacking each other on every possible front: in the courts, in the media, and in the marketplace. Android's surge in popularity was astonishing, and Andy Rubin, Eric Schmidt, and the rest of Google made no secret of their glee. It seemed that every chance they got during 2010 they would expound on how many monthly activations Android had racked up and how mobile devices were going to change the future ofGoogle and the world. In an April 2010 interview with the New York Times, Rubin even predicted that Android was going to rule the entire mobile universe.
The year before he had been worried that Google would abandon Android and that he and his team would need to job hunt. Now he confidently proclaimed, "It is a numbers game. When you have multiple OEM's building multiple products in multiple product categories, it's just a matter of time" before Android overtakes othersmartphone platforms such as iPhone and BlackBerry.
It was as if little else about Google mattered anymore. That wasn't really true, but it wasn't a huge exaggeration either. In 2010, Android started the year with 7 million users. By year-end it had grown to 67 million and was adding three hundred thousand new customers a day. Android itself wasn't making money yet, but it was heading there fast. More important, it was accelerating the revenue and profit growth of other Google applications such as search and YouTube, and it was getting more people to sign up for Google accounts and give Google their credit card information.
The more people used Android, the more Google searches they did and the more ads they clicked on. Google still made most of its money from searches on laptops and desktops. But everyone at the top of the company knew desktop ads wouldn't be the dominant source of revenue forever. Soon, fewer and fewer people would be buying those devices, and more and more would be buying smartphones and other mobile gadgets with Internet access.
The growth and profits for Google lurking in these numbers were eye-popping. Each mobile phone ad might sell for less than a desktop ad, but its potential audience — and, therefore, total revenue potential — were enormous. Consumers buy five times more cell phones every year than PCs — 1.8 billion versus 400 million. Google had barely penetrated this market. Thanks to Android, Google's potential audience for its ads and applications had quintupled.
It had all worked almost exactly the way Rubin had envisioned it would, too: manufacturers and carriers wanted to compete with the iPhone, and Rubin's success with the Droid had convinced them that Android was their best chance of doing that. Rubin took full advantage of the opportunity, pushing his engineers to deliver three major updates to the Android software in 2010 — a relentless pace. By the end of 2010 Android didn't just have monster hits such as the Droid, but a handful of others such as HTC's Evo 4G and Samsung's Galaxy S. In all, by the end of 2010, nearly 200 Android phone models were available in 50 countries, and carriers and manufacturers worldwide were lining up to throw their multimillion-dollar marketing budgets behind them. An electronic poll of the audience at a Fortune magazine technology conference in July 2010 asked, "Who will have the dominantsmartphone in five years?" The verdict was clear: 57 per cent picked Android; 37 per cent picked iPhone.
By early 2011 Schmidt was marvelling not only at how smartphones had changed technology, but how they had become one of the most important advancements in human civilisation. In a speech he gave in Germany he said:
We have a product that allows you to speak to your phone in English and have it come out in the native language of the person you are talking to. To me this is the stuff of science fiction. Imagine a near future where you never forget anything. computers, with your permission, remember everything — where you've been, what you did, who you took pictures of. I used to love getting lost, wandering about without knowing where I was. You can't get lost anymore. You know your position to the foot, and by the way, so do your friends, with your permission. When you travel, you're never lonely. Your friends travel with you now. There is always someone to speak to or send a picture to. You're never bored. You're never out of ideas because all the world's information is at your fingertips. And this is not just for the elite. Historically, these kinds of technologies have been available only to the elites and not to the common man. If there was a trickle down, it would happen over a generation. This is a vision accessible to every person on the planet. We're going to be amazed at how smart and capable all those people are who did not have access to our standard of living, our universities, and our culture. When they come, they are going to teach us things. And they are coming. There are about a billion smartphones in the world, and in emerging markets the growth rate is much faster than it is anywhere else. I am very excited about this.
The telecom industry had been desperately worried that Rubin planned to marginalise it the way Bill Gates had tried to marginalise PC makers with Microsoft Windows in the 1990s. But Rubin had insisted that was not his plan, and it appeared that he was keeping his word. Rubin allowed each carrier and manufacturer to add their own software and applications on top of Android to differentiate themselves from one another. And he gave to the carriers the 30 per cent cut of app store revenues that Apple took for itself.
For the hidebound cell phone business, Rubin's strategy was truly innovative. It was: Create as much competition among carriers and manufacturers as possible. By scrambling to compete with the iPhone they would also be competing with each other. Manufacturers previously made phones to please carriers more than consumers, because in the United States, at least, they depended upon carrier subsidies and marketing support to sell their phones.
But it became clear that to compete with the iPhone, they would have to jettison these old ways. Verizon and Motorola learned that lesson with the Droid. What was essential now was to make phones that consumers wanted to buy.
Carriers and manufacturers didn't talk much about this, but their actions spoke loudly. HTC bought a design firm,One & Co, to help it make cooler-looking phones. Samsung's design approach so closely resembled Apple's that it became the centre of their ongoing patent lawsuit. And carriers listened to consumers when they complained. In the fall of 2010 Vodafone tried to foist a slew of its own apps onto customers of certain HTC Android smartphones. When consumers realised they couldn't remove them, the reaction was so virulent that within a week Vodafone had backtracked. It pushed out a software update that removed all the apps, restoring phones to their previous condition.
When Rubin explains this to me in the conference room down the hall from his office, he talks like a man who has been thinking about this evolution for a long time.
So the thing that disappeared in 2008 was the walled garden — it completely disappeared. And it wasn't because of the iPhone. It was because of the Internet. It's because the killer application that consumers wanted was that they wanted to take the Internet with them. You'd be stupid to try to compete with the Internet. How could you? SoAndroid enabled both of them to take advantage of the Internet in a controlled way. Our pitch was 'You have costs. We understand what those costs are. You want to be differentiated and don't want to be commoditised. So we're going to give you this, this, this, and this — the hook to solve that equation.'
Translation: None of us can beat Apple on our own. But if we work together, each of us focusing on what we are truly good at, we can not only beat Apple but make all our businesses stronger and more profitable than they were before.
The market forces Rubin channeled and the incentives he set up didn't always work perfectly. Despite his best efforts, carriers and manufacturers were slow to roll out Android software updates. One phone would have the latest version of Android, but another would have the previous version or even the version before that. This meant that not all apps in the Android app store worked on all phones, and it meant that consumers sometimes thought they were buying a phone with the latest and greatest Android software, only to find out that that wasn't the case.
But the market pressure on the industry was a lot greater than it had been in the past. Rubin made sure that each year there was at least one phone model that carriers and manufacturers weren't allowed to customise with their own software, such as the HTC Nexus One and Samsung Nexus S in 2010. That way, if consumers didn't like HTC Sense, Samsung TouchWiz, or any of the other carrier and manufacturer customisations they used to distinguish themselves in the market, they always had alternatives. Most important, Android was good enough by 2010 to offer consumers something they had begun to crave: choice. Apple had completely controlled the high-endsmartphone market for three years. But it made only one phone, with a fixed set of capabilities and customisations available with, in the United States, only one carrier, AT&T.
By 2010 a few Android phones were not only as cool-looking as the iPhone, but were better devices in some ways. They had replaceable batteries, upgradable memories, and more customisable software. Most Androidphones had bigger screens than the iPhone. They all supported multitasking, which the iPhone did not. Any software developer with an idea could get his program listed in the Android app store without advance approval, unlike in Apple's store. Android phones were better for watching video because they had a video player that ran Adobe Flash. Apple had banned it as bad technology, but it had become the standard for video on the Internet. And in the United States, Android phones ran on both the TâMobile and Verizon networks, which to many was a competitive advantage in itself. AT&T had the iPhone, but it was so popular that the reliability of its network was suffering, with slow Internet speeds and higher-than-normal call drops.
Rubin did what he could to make the Android pitch everywhere he went. In 2010, for the first time in his career, everyone wanted to listen to him. He was inundated with requests for media interviews, mobbed at conferences, and enjoyed access to the CEO of every cell phone maker and carrier in the world, all of whom wanted Rubin to help them hone their own messages. It was his good fortune that his competitors Apple and AT&T seemed to do everything in their power to help him. Weeks before Jobs was to unveil the iPhone 4, gadget site Gizmodo spoiled the valuable surprise quotient Apple builds into every product launch. An Apple engineer, doing legitimate bug-testing outside Apple, had left the prototype in a Redwood City bar. Gizmodo got its hands on it and published pictures. Then, after the new iPhone had been released in June, reviewers discovered the iPhone 4's new wraparound antenna had a dead spot. It forced Jobs to call a damage-control press conference. On top of all this was the growing customer dissatisfaction with the iPhone's U.S. network operator, AT&T. AT&T had been unable to handle the explosion of traffic the iPhone caused on its network, and by 2010 its customers had become furious and vocal about it. All three stories became international news in 2010 and fodder for late-night comedians.
The stories gave Rubin and other members of the Android community almost unlimited opportunities to highlight the differences between the Apple way and the Android way. And they took full advantage of the openings. Intellectually, it's easy to understand why Jobs was so angry about the lost prototype. He felt Apple itself had been burglarised. When the prototype was found by other bar patrons, they first called Apple. But when they couldn't get Apple to respond immediately, they called a few media outlets. Gizmodo bought the prototype for $US5,000, saying that it did not know whether it was real. Jobs cared because Gizmodo's photos would likely cost Apple millions in lost sales and marketing buzz. Few would buy the iPhone that was currently on sale now that they knew what the new one looked like and when it was likely going to be released. And Apple might get less coverage for theiPhone 4's actual unveiling since it was no longer a surprise. But Apple and Jobs had become so rich and powerful by then that instead of looking like the victims, they looked like bullies. The San Matteo sheriff's office opened a criminal investigation into whether Gizmodo had illegally received stolen property. They got a search warrant for the Gizmodo journalist's home and seized his computer equipment. Jobs looked as if he had orchestrated it all because he publicly supported the investigation.
The Gizmodo journalist wasn't charged with a crime, and he got his computer equipment back. But journalists couldn't wait to ask Rubin about it all, and he happily obliged. When a New York Times reporter asked him what he would do if one of his Android prototypes had been found in a bar, he said, "I'd be happy if that happened and someone wrote about it. With openness comes less secrets." The lurking advertisement was clever: If owning aniPhone makes you feel part of a totalitarian state, that's because the company that makes it is run by a despot. TryAndroid.
In June came "Antennagate," and with it, the question of whether the iPhone truly was the best designed and most beautiful phone in the world. Apple had figured out a way to put all the iPhone's antennas on the outside of the device — three thin, shiny pieces of metal wrapping around the edge of the phone. It was supposed to improve the iPhone's cell reception. Jobs touted it hard when he announced the phone as the perfect example of complementary form and function. But reviewers discovered that if it was held a certain way — especially by left-handed users — a finger could easily cover a spot where two pieces of antenna met and degrade the signal.
Jobs was ultimately forced to call a press conference to explain the problem, and to offer a fix — a free case. But Jobs also couldn't resist pointing out that Android phones had similar problems, and the dig backfired. Members of the Android community collectively and publicly made fun of Jobs's well-known arrogance about the beauty of Apple products. "You know, I heard that the most popular voice message on iPhone 4 was 'Sorry I can't answer your call because I am holding my phone.' I don't think this is an issue with Droid X," said Sanjay Jha, Motorola's CEO, at a technology conference put on by Fortune magazine. He and other members of the Android community gleefully named the problem "the iPhone death grip."
But the Android community had the most fun of all with "Connectiongate" — the iPhone's reliability problems on AT&T's wireless network. Carriers love to trash one another's networks, and consumers love to trash their carriers, but historically the real differences among wireless services have been marginal. With AT&T and the iPhone, connection and call quality were enormous problems compared to reception for other carriers, and they seemed to get worse and worse through 2009 and early 2010. The difficulty was simple: Before the iPhone, no one had built a pocket computer that could not only surf the Internet but stream video. That meant AT&T's projections for data traffic were way off the mark.
The solution, on the other hand, was complex. It was going to take two or three years and nearly $US50 billion for AT&T to upgrade its network to handle all the new traffic. That isn't a satisfactory explanation to consumers locked into two-year contracts and paying at least $US100 a month for service. Few could have handled it well, and AT&T and Apple handled it less than well. Apple blamed all the problems on AT&T even though the iPhone itself was the source of some connection problems. Apple refused to modify the way the iPhone consumed data even though that might have helped matters. Meanwhile, AT&T — at least initially — responded defensively rather than proactively. By the end of 2009 Verizon was pummelling AT&T with a series of "map" ads, claiming that AT&T's spotty 3G network was to blame for poor service. AT&T customers began posting news of dropped calls on the Twitter hashtag #ATTFAIL. AT&T made this debacle worse by suing Verizon rather than parrying with their own advertisements.
By 2010 many consumers in the United States were buying Android phones just so they didn't have to have AT&T as a carrier. Jobs had been leaning on AT&T executives to speed up its network upgrades since the iPhone had launched in 2007. But he had limited leverage until the start of 2011, when the exclusivity period with AT&T expired and Verizon could also offer the iPhone. He'd considered dropping AT&T and switching to Verizon more than half a dozen times, but concluded the move was too risky. It would have required redesigning the iPhone, because Verizon phones used bigger cell radios than AT&T phones, and there was no additional room in theiPhone case. Verizon cell radios were well known to be battery hogs. Lastly, it wasn't clear at the problem's peak in 2009 that Verizon would be able to handle the iPhone traffic any better. "There were plenty of conversations along the lines of 'Why are we sticking ourselves with this boat anchor,' " Bob Borchers said. "But every time we had that conversation, it always came down to the fact that the technology challenges were too high to warrant doing the work."
Jobs did little to hide his fury at all these problems in 2010. He was so vocal that by the fall he was starting to sound defensive, petulant, and pedantic. By then he was not only trashing Android as bad for consumers but publicly questioning the veracity of Google's sales and activation numbers. It wasn't just that he felt Google had stabbed him in the back or that maybe he was embarrassed for having misjudged Android's appeal. He felt that ifAndroid wasn't stopped, the future of Apple itself was in peril, he told executives. One executive who heard Jobs talk about the issue described Jobs's feelings this way: "It was an existential threat. Apple's business depended on it selling its devices for a lot more than it cost to make them, and then using that money to develop new products.Android's approach was completely the opposite of this. Google was about growing the platform, without regard to the cost or profit on the devices. It made money off advertising, not hardware."
In Jobs's opinion the two approaches could not coexist. Jobs had launched the iPhone in 2007 thinking he'd not only created a beautiful, revolutionary device, but that he was leveraging the dominant content platform in the world, iTunes. Because of the iPod — which by 2007 had sold more than 100 million units — virtually everyone with a computer managed and purchased their music through that software. There was little incentive to use any portable music player other than an iPod, with huge incentives for families to buy more than one. Apple had three different iPod models that came in a variety of colours and capacities. And Apple made sure it was a pain to use competing hardware or software. The only easy way to get music onto an iPod was through iTunes. The best music selection was in the iTunes store, if you didn't want to rip from your own CDs. And many non-Apple devices wouldn't connect to iTunes and wouldn't play all songs purchased through the store.
The iPod-iTunes symbiosis was a powerful thing to behold. Like Microsoft Windows in the 1990s, it was self-reinforcing and in 2007 seemed to be an unassailable fortress. Apple effectively had a monopoly in music players — in excess of 70 per cent market share — because of it. Everyone at Apple knew the dynamics of the global cell phone market were different from those driving music players. It was many times larger, and it was dominated by some of the biggest corporations in the world.
But when iPhone sales took off, it was hard for Jobs and the rest of Apple not to wonder if history was repeating itself — if the iPhone wouldn't quickly become just as dominant as the iPod. For years Apple had worried about every potential competitor in the marketplace — RIM, Nokia, Walmart, Amazon, Dell, Microsoft, and various wireless carriers — breaking the iPod's dominance. Instead, the reverse had happened. Every competitor made a run at Apple and failed. Meanwhile, the iPhone made Apple even more dominant. It had tied consumers to theiPod by sucking all their music into iTunes. Now something similar was happening because of iPhone owners' love affair with the app store. Before long, many users had shelled out $US50 to $US100 in apps, meaning they would have to spend all that money again if they wanted the same applications on Android or another smartphoneplatform.
But by 2010 it was also clear that Rubin and Android were playing a much more sophisticated game than Apple's previous competitors. To them the hub wasn't the laptop or the desktop computer, but the millions of faceless machines running 24-7 in Google's giant network of server farms — now often referred to as the cloud. Connecting and syncing with a personal computer — the way iTunes was set up — was necessary when devices didn't have wireless capability or when wireless bandwidth was too slow to be useful. But in 2010 neither was true, prompting Rubin and the Android team to ask, Why tether users to one machine when the Wi-Fi and cellular chips insidesmartphones are fast enough to let them have access to their content on any machine? Android now wirelessly synced with virtually all mail, contact, and calendar servers — whether stored at Google, Microsoft, or Yahoo, or at a worker's company. Music and movies could be downloaded from Amazon in addition to the iTunes store. Spotify and Pandora offered music subscription services for small monthly fees. Developers were scrambling to make sure that all of the programs inside the Apple app store could be found inside the Android app store too. As for all that content trapped inside iTunes, Google and the rest of the software industry were writing programs that made it easier and easier to get it out and uploaded to Google — or anywhere. With many new ways to download and enjoy content on Android devices, the penalty for using a non-Apple device that wouldn't connect to iTunes was diminished. Freed from this control, users were choosing Android devices in droves, and Jobs was desperately worried this trend would accelerate, Apple executives at the time recalled. The monopoly power of iTunes as a content hub had begun to evaporate.
It all exposed an often overlooked component of Jobs's genius: his basic worldview about technology had not changed since he started Apple in 1976 and built the Macintosh in 1984. While most high-tech executives struggled to adapt to a world that was in constant flux, Jobs had never faltered in his belief that consumers would gravitate to the best designed and most beautiful products. He continued to believe that he alone knew what this incredibly subjective thing was. And he continued to believe that the only way to ensure his vision's success was to control the entire user experience — the software, the hardware, and the content users accessed. But Android's rise was now calling all that into question.
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text: Mount Nelson Skatepark HomeMount Nelson Skatepark Description The Mount Nelson Skatepark is a concrete, outdoor facility located in the new Mount Nelson Athletic Park on 14th Street, behind the elementary school and across from David Thompson Secondary School. The skatepark features a separate bowl, obstacle terrain and street sections. This is a fun track and the largest in the region. Contact Info 14th Street, INVERMERE, BC × Map Social Media


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We're glad you're here! First United Methodist Church is a growing and vibrant church in the heart of Indianola. It is a great place to connect with God, grow in your faith, and become part of a caring Christian community.
Worship Services
At First we encourage you to come as you are. Whether you are most comfortable in shorts and a t-shirt, a polo and khakis, or a suit and tie, you'll feel right at home in our church.
On Sunday mornings, we offer three worship services each with its own distinct style of worship.
Rejoice Service – 8:30 a.m.
The Rejoice service features its own band. The praise music is upbeat and powerful and utilizes relevant preaching.
This service is relaxed and energetic.
Celebration Service – 9:45 a.m.
The Celebration service features modern worship music led by The Celebration Band and Singers and utilizes relevant preaching.
This service is relaxed and energetic.
During the 9:45 service, Sunday School classes are offered from September through May for ages Pre-K-Adult.
Traditional Service – 11:00 a.m.
The Traditional Service is our most traditional United Methodist worship service that features a majestic pipe organ, choral music, hand bells and includes relevant preaching.
Our Infant/Toddler ministry is available during all three services for infants through 3 years old during all worship services.
For further information on all Children's Ministries available at First contact Ellen Wadding at email@example.com.


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It's time to name the ball of black-and-white fur that has been hogging all the attention at the San Diego zoo for months.
Little "fill-in-the-blank" was born two months ago and has now swelled to 7 pound and 24 inches, but he still is nameless. Chinese tradition dictates that He Who Must Not Be Named until he is 100 days old gets a moniker after that date, however.
Zoo visitors between Oct. 10-19 will be given the opportunity to suggest names for the cub.
"The names should be in Chinese [Pinyin], have an English translation [and] be symbolic in meaning," according to a news release issued by the zoo on Tuesday morning.
Starting on Oct. 20, zookeepers will select several of the suggested names, then pass those finalists onto the Chinese Wildlife Conservation Association (the giant pandas at the zoo are on loan t from the People's Republic of China), who will have the final say on the choices, which will then be posted at SanDiegoZoo.org and the zoo's Facebook page to put them to a vote.
The cub's name will be announced on Nov. 17.
Yogi? Smokey? Panda Cub Needs Name
Cubs named after 100 days by Chinese tradition
It's time to name the ball of black-and-white fur that has been hogging all the attention at the San Diego zoo for months.


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For its last bunraku offering of the year, the National Theatre in Tokyo's central Hanzomon district staged two plays to great acclaim between Dec. 4-16: "Otonomiya Asahi no Yoroi" and "Koimusume Mukashi Hachijo."
Of these, the former is a classic example of the predominant style of Japan's traditional puppet theater dating from the early years of the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1867) in the Kamigata region of western Honshu, including the cities of Kyoto and Osaka. However, the latter play — whose title translates as "The Woman in Love, Wearing a Black Kimono with Yellow Cross-stripes" — was perhaps of more interest, being one of far fewer to have been written in Edo (present-day Tokyo), by Matsu Kanshi in 1775.
The play starts with Chigusanosuke, a son of Daimyo Hagiwara, losing a precious tea-container, which Obana Rokuroemon, the daimyo's regent, orders his son Saizaburo to find. He also sends his lover, a maid in the household named Okoma, back to her family until he retrieves it. Saizaburo soon finds the family heirloom was stolen by Akizuki Ikkaku, a samurai he kills while trying to get it back — but not before Akizuki throws it to his servant, Tsukudaya Kizo, who runs off.
To stop Saizaburo from committing seppuku for what he's done, Rokuroemon kills himself after telling him it's his duty to return the treasure to the Hagiwara family.
After all that it's time for romance, and the next scene finds Okoma being forced by her father to marry Kizo, who she doesn't like but to whom her father, Shobei, owes money. On hearing of this Saizaburo is incensed, but nobly gives his blessing so Okoma can free her father of debt. But then he realizes it was Kizo to whom Akizuki threw the tea-container, so he asks Okoma to ask Kizo what happened to the tea-container. However, when Kizo spots Saizaburo spying on them Okoma kills him to save her lover from harm — and is duly sentenced to death for her crime.
At the Suzugamori execution ground, Saizaburo turns up leading Johachi, Okoma's father's clerk, who has filed a suit against Kizo for killing his father and begs the shogunal official to forgive Okoma. When he assents, the play ends as Okoma is happily reunited with her parents and her true love.
As critics and audiences alike agreed, Toyomatsu Seijuro V was excellent handling the Okoma puppet clad in its striking black kimono with yellow cross-stripes.
In the spying scene, Seijuro, 55, clearly relished handling Okoma's head and right arm while others took charge of her left arm and legs as the excitement was heightened by Takemoto Chitosedayu's narration and Toyozawa Tomisuke's shamisen playing. Then, in the execution-ground scene, he was truly masterful as Toyotake Rosetayu narrated and Tsuruzawa Tozo played shamisen.
It's clear Okoma is one of Seijuro's favorite roles, as it was of his master Yoshida Minosuke, 80. To see him play it is a chance not to be missed at the next opportunity.


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Which lines from a Robert Frost poem do you know by heart?
"Something there is that doesn't love a wall,..."
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,..."
"Some say the world will end in fire,/Some say in ice."
"Whose woods these are I think I know..."
Join us at RACC on Tuesday, November 20th at 6:00 pm
Poetry @ Six ~ The Bruce Stanley Memorial Poetry Reading + Open Mic
Schmidt Technology Center, Room 118 ~ Note new venue!
Chris Longenecker and Rick Stroup present "An Evening with Robert Frost"
This event is free and open to the public and to students. Sponsored by the Foundation for RACC.
and the Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts through the Berks Arts Council
Liz Stanley
~Berks Bards


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To download the most recent version of Internet Explorer, please click here.
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Obama Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize Jumps the Shark
By Daniel Greenfield
Brilliant misstep that was meant to honor Obama, but in reality humiliates him
Part of the fun of living under the Obama Administration is having your news headlines keep turning into April Fool's Day. This belated April Fool's Day, a bunch of aging left wing Norwegians decided to give away the Nobel Peace Prize to one Barack Obama… for just being himself.
This is actually a brilliant misstep that was meant to honor Obama, but in reality humiliates him, because not even his defenders at home can point to anything he's actually done to deserve the award.
Had the Committee of Eccentric Left Wing Norwegians waited a bit and handed the award to Obama for pushing for Israeli concessions or some of his diplomatic roundtrips, it would have significantly burnished his image. Instead what they've done is turned both Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize into laughingstocks.
When even the same unfailingly worshipful media is seriously questioning the award, it's not a good sign. The Committee of Incontinent Peaceloving Norwegians has said that they wanted to "encourage" Obama, which is patronizing and condescending. And it gives the entirely accurate impression of the slow kid who's given a trophy just for showing up.
Domestically this award is a disaster for Obama. It's something not even his closest media backers can claim he deserves. It's not something even he can claim he deserves. It turns him into a joke. And even ABC is now running a list of Obama Nobel jokes.
About the smartest thing Obama could do now would be to decline the award, but he isn't likely to do it. The award gives him a forum, but not a whole lot less. Mostly it shows him up as being an empty chair and the Nobel Committee as being a bunch of dishonest agitators who have no interest in rewarding achievement, only in promoting agendas.
The prize citation reads, "The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." But what "extraordinary efforts" are those, no one has any idea. And what form has this cooperation taken? No one has any idea either.
The official Nobel mandate states that the prize should be awarded, "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses". Does anyone seriously think that's Obama?
Read the rest at The Canada Free PressRead Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )
Story of Obama's life: "Rather than recognizing concrete achievement…"
By Michelle Malkin
Isn't it so fitting?
From community organizer to Illinois state senator (present!) to U.S. Senator for 143 days before moving into the White House…and now, the recipient of a Nobel Peace Prize — not for anything he's actually done, but for the symbolism of what he might possibly accomplish sometime way off in the future:
"President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said, citing his outreach to the Muslim world and attempts to curb nuclear proliferation.
The stunning choice made Obama the third sitting U.S. president to win the Nobel Peace Prize and shocked Nobel observers because Obama took office less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline. Obama's name had been mentioned in speculation before the award but many Nobel watchers believed it was too early to award the president."
It's the final nail in the Nobel Peace Prize Committee's coffin.
A Chinese dissident and an Afghan women's rights activist lost out to this:
"The Nobel committee praised Obama's creation of "a new climate in international politics" and said he had returned multilateral diplomacy and institutions like the U.N. to the center of the world stage. The plaudit appeared to be a slap at President George W. Bush from a committee that harshly criticized Obama's predecessor for resorting to largely unilateral military action in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Rather than recognizing concrete achievement, the 2009 prize appeared intended to support initiatives that have yet to bear fruit: reducing the world stock of nuclear arms, easing American conflicts with Muslim nations and strengthening the U.S. role in combating climate change."
Read the rest at Michelle MalkinRead Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )


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OUR dog fence kits
Our Dog Fences in Kit Form
We take pride in providing the best kits in the business. These kits give you a wide choice. They come in a range of heights (4 to 6 feet) and lengths (100 to 330 feet), but two or more kits can be combined to yield a fence of any length. The fences built from these kits are both handsome and effective; and they fade demurely into the background, to the point where a green background of woods or shrubs renders them hardly noticeable.
We feature our metal hexagrid kits because they combine strength and effectiveness with low visibility, and because dogs contained by them require no supervision. But we also offer economical polypropylene kits and strong welded wire kits that could be better tailored to your needs. For instance, if someone will be present when your pet is out, or if your dog won't be inclined to chew or otherwise challenge the fence, consider our polypropylene kits. (Note that rabbits or woodchucks wanting entry to a poly fence enclosure can chew holes in the poly through which a dog might leave -- so if this could be a problem choose one of the other options.)
If your pet will not be supervised and might challenge the fence, and you want to minimize the fence's visibility, browse our metal hexagrid kits. Or else, if some visibility is acceptable and you want a formal rectilinear appearance, take a look at our welded wire kits. Both the metal hexagrid and welded wire kits have versions that come with top rails, which add to the elegance and formality of the fence but also add to its cost. Finally, if digging is a major issue, consider supplementing your fence with our digging barrier kits that prevent digging, disappear into the grass, and stay well away from your lawnmower's whirling blades.


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About us
The popular Gas Monkey Garage has expanded its brand with a new energy drink! Gas Monkey Energy is available in 2 flavors, regular and light, and has a light, sweet honey taste.
Led by Richard Rawlings, Gas Monkey Garage was started in 2002 and can be seen on the popular Discovery Channel show, Fast N' Loud. The show follows Rawlings and mechanic, Aaron Kaufman, around Texas and the surrounding states looking for classic cars to buy and restore. For more on the show, visit Discovery Channel's site.
To learn more about the garage, visit the Gas Monkey Garage site.
This year, Gas Monkey Garage has partnered with the Dreyer & Reinbold – Kingdom Racing IndyCar team in the 100th Indianapolis 500, the Riley Engineering Dodge Viper in the Weather Tech United Sports Car Championship and the Texas-based Laughlin Motorsports Pro Stock Camaro in the NHRA Mello Yello national drag racing series.
Head here to learn more about Gas Monkey Racing and check out the Racing tab to see if the Gas Monkey car is coming to a track near you!


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Agri~Plex at the Fairgrounds
The Lehigh Valley's "2 in 1" Expo Center
Events take place in one or both halls.
Ed Charles Exhibition Hall - William T. Harris Agricultural Hall
*All shows, dates and hours subject to change.
View The 2020 Expo Center Events!
Events Calendar
Super Gigantic Garage Sale
Saturday, March 14, 2020
Sat: 8-5 / Sun: 10-4
Contact 484-719-9727
Location Harris Hall


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The St. Louis Fed's four industry councils—Agribusiness, Health Care, Transportation and Real Estate—provide a consistent and dependable line of communication about economic conditions between St. Louis Fed staff members and industry representatives throughout the District. The council members' observations complement the data and information developed through the Federal Reserve's Beige Book, and meetings of the Reserve Bank's boards of directors. The councils meet twice a year.
View complete list of the Eighth District Industry Councils and representatives.
Bruce L. Ahrendsen
Professor, University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture and Bumpers College
Fayetteville, Ark.
Aaron S. Burkes
CEO, Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport Authority
Bentonville, Ark.
Cynthia Crone
Research Faculty Member, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences,
College of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management
Little Rock, Ark.
Health Care
Bryan Day
Executive Director, Little Rock Port Authority
Little Rock, Ark.
Ray Dillon
Former President and CEO, Deltic Timber Corp.
Little Rock, Ark.
Real Estate
Cynthia Edwards
Deputy Secretary
Arkansas Agriculture Department
Little Rock, Ark.
Lisa C. Ferrell
Founder, President and CEO
North Bluffs Development Corp.
North Little Rock, Ark.
Real Estate
J.T. Ferstl
Ferstl Valuation Services
Little Rock, Ark.
Real Estate
Jennifer H. James
Owner, H&J Land Co.
Newport, Ark.
Greg M. Joslin
Senior Broker
Colliers International Arkansas
Little Rock, Ark.
Real Estate
Leanne L. Lefler
Associate Professor, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, College of Nursing
Little Rock, Ark.
Health Care
William J. "Bill" Mines
Senior Vice President of Finance and Strategy, Supply Chain, Walmart U.S.
Bentonville, Ark.
Robert "Bo" Ryall
President and CEO, Arkansas Hospital Association
Little Rock, Ark.
Health Care


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Pine Ridge Reservation Considers Legalizing Alcohol
Sponsored adThis sponsor paid to have this advertisement placed in this section.
South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is now considering lifting its 100-year ban on alcohol sales and using the tax money to help fund substance abuse treatment and prevention. The reservation has long been plagued by alcoholism and related poverty and crime. As a new approach to the problem, the Oglala Sioux's tribal council voted in June to hold a public referendum on whether to legalize alcohol sales. Those in favor argue that alcohol is already widely accessible in nearby towns or from bootleggers, and regulating its sales could provide much-needed revenue for the reservation, which has an unemployment rate near 80% and a per-capita income of $7,890 in 2011. "I see it as a way to get revenue to support prevention, intervention, rehabilitation and education," says Robin Tapio, a tribe member who has been sober for 12 years. But opponents say legalization of alcohol would only bring more problems to the reservation. "To have such easy access to alcohol just opens the door to worse things," says Cordelia White Elk, director of a tribal employment office. "It's like saying, 'Let's kill our own people to save them.'"
Still, evidence suggests that opening casinos and other businesses can help boost reservations' economies, and nearby tribal leaders say drunk driving accidents decreased after their booze bans were lifted. "The alcohol is here and it's not going to go away," says Larry Eagle Bull, a council member who endorses the coming referendum. "Prohibition didn't work. If we legalize alcohol, the tribe will be sellers and we'll generate the money ourselves." Almost every household in Pine Ridge has at least one family member who abuses alcohol, and a quarter of children are born with alcohol-related disabilities. Currently, life expectancy on the reservation is estimated at 45 to 52 years. Ultimately, those in favor of lifting the ban believe it will improve overall quality of life. "It's not all about the money," says Tapio. "It's about trying to heal our people, and move in a new direction."
Sponsored adThis sponsor paid to have this advertisement placed in this section.


text: Considering his age, this is not a shocking announcement, but it surely is a sad one. Eight-time Oscar nominee, and true film legend Peter O'Toole died yesterday after a battle with an apparently long illness. O'Toole was apparently a hell-raising, hard-drinking, one of a kind personality in his younger years, and wise auteur his in latter days. His screen performances showed him to be a talented, surprising, and always dedicated actor, and it is truly a shame that the Academy didn't find at least one time to give him the gold statute, although an honorary Oscar did roll his way in 2003. He was truly one of a kind, and one of the greatest screen legends of all time. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends right now as they mourn his loss, and in honor of his passing, I think we should all start re-watching some of his classics, a perfect way to tribute such an influential and timeless artist. Rest in peace old friend.


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The Vikings, by Neil Oliver
Episode one: Who were the Vikings Vikings with their known helmets, boats and Norse religion seam to suddenly appear in European history as they started to sack monasteries and cities at the end of the 8th century. In fact, Vikings have a long prehistoric heritage. This mysterious world is examined… Read full history →