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If you write a book and have some luck, people call to interview. Maybe not a lot of people, but a few. When I published my most recent book, my mom called, for example. Some radio stations did too, and then they asked questions. But, they never asked about the whole book. Some chapters never got mentioned. In my first book, interviewers never mentioned a chapter I wrote about the search for nanobacteria, not once 1. Late in my most recent book, The Wild Life of Our Bodies, I covered something even more radical—the possibility that infectious diseases make us tribal and prejudiced. No one ever asks about that chapter either2. I can't help but wonder why. These two chapters are at the backs of their respective books. Maybe they are just beyond where a frantically reading reviewer or interviewer on a deadline dares go. But there is a more interesting possibility (at least to me); perhaps they deal with ideas too implausible to be worth mentioning on the air.
Glossing over the improbable chapters in books seems fair. Yet, the wonder of science is that sometimes implausible ideas are more than they seem. It was with a bit of delight that I read this morning that the hypothesis linking disease and tribalism--as bat shit crazy as it might be (note: I am using the term "bat shit" technically here, as will become clear)--had, indirectly, been tested.
Disease-causing pathogens--viruses, bacteria and protists--have geographies, both in terms of where they can be found and how common they are within those regions. The consequent map of malaise and death affects many aspects of the human story, including--Mark Schaller (son of George), Corey Fincher, Randy Thornhill (son of infamy) and others have argued--human behavior, culture, and politics. The most radical of these ideas suggest that where deadly, contagious, diseases are prevalent, humans tend to be xenophobic and cultures tend to be, well, tribal. Xenophobia is the fear of those who are different. Where it is strong, the odds of a disease passing from one group to another, might decrease, perhaps even enough to forestall the spread of epidemics. The concept is much the same as the one employed today at borders, where non-citizens are often regarded suspiciously, as potential bearers of the gift of pathogens.
Xenophobia and tribalism, once they emerge, can influence politics and nearly every other aspect of human civilization, particularly when acting in concert with deaths and malaise due to disease. High disease prevalence and xenopohbia has even been argued to have led to the diversification of cultures (if you don't talk to your neighbor, it is easier to become different from them) and/or the rise and fall of empires.
Collectively, the ideas linking disease prevalence with human personalities and cultures are reaching and wild, the groping margins of science. But even if only partially right, they are important. Xenophobia and the tribalism it incites are at the root of wars. We fight, in part, because we believe each other to be different and alien, "xenos." Tribalism is also at the root of how business leaders and department heads behave. Tribalism matters, as should its understanding, particularly if the factors that influence it are likely to change as we alter the world, as is surely the case for the prevalence of diseases. As climate changes, so too will change which diseases might be influencing who and how you are.
The original data in support of this suite of ideas come from psychology and biogeography. In psychological studies, individuals show strong, but subconscious, aversive, responses to features that seem to indicate illness (even if the person they are looking at is not actually ill). In biogeography, in those places where there is a greater prevalence of infectious disease, people do, on average, tend to be more xenophobic (based on standard psychological profiles done all around the world). This latter result is a simple correlation. It might be spurious. It might be due to other factors--climate, history, the fates--but, to my mind, it is at least intriguing enough to write about in the context of a whole book about how other species shape who and how we are, and so I did.
The trick with a feral ideas about culture is how to test them. If you have a crazy idea about how the human brain works, you can go poke a rat brain and test whether your idea is plausible. Progress in medical science builds one dissected rat at a time. If you have an idea about how human cultures work it is, well, harder to go poke a whole tribe (which hasn't stopped anthropologists from, every so often across history, trying). But what you could do is poke at rat behavior, or better yet that of an animal that, like humans, sometimes assembles into large groups and, in other circumstances or species, eschews them. You could, in other words, go poke at the cultures of bunches of bats.
Recently, some scientists did just that, sort of. At the scale of North America we appear to have poked lots and lots of bats. More specifically, a new fungus has arrived in North America, most likely via introduction by humans, and it is killing bats. This fungus (Geomyces destructans) causes "white nose syndrome," which was first seen in the U.S. in New York in 2006. Where it met the bats, the fungus spread quickly among roosts, killing nearly all of the little brown bats and other bat species in each of the caves in which it appeared. Bat bodies pile up in the guano at the bottoms of caves. The deaths are tragic and worst where bats are gathered most like humans, in dense aggregations, shoulder to tolerant shoulder. The situation is grim.
But not all is lost. Although it looked as though the little brown bats and several other species might soon face extinction, at least in some regions and perhaps even in North America, the little brown bats have begun to rebound in some places, albeit modestly. A new paper out this week takes notice of one of the reasons they appear to be rebounding, the bats are avoiding each other. Little brown bats (at least historically) tend to roost in large, groups, one next to the other, bumping fuzzies as it were. But not anymore. More and more, this new study, led by Kate Langwig, a graduate student at Boston University, suggests, the bats are spreading themselves out in their roosting caves, their hibernacula. Once, they clumped, warming themselves around the tiny fires of their bodies. Now, they go it alone.
Interestingly, this little brown bat behavior is precisely what the literature on human behavior, xenophobia and tribalism would have predicted. Langwig approached her study of the bats without a real hypothesis about how bat behavior might change after the disease swept through populations. In part, she and her colleagues simply didn't anticipate that the bats would respond behaviorally at all, and yet, they seem to have.
Image: A pair of little brown bats, cuddling despite the consequences. Photo by Brandon Keim from Flickr creative commons.
Langwig's results are preliminary, as she and her colleagues are the first to admit. She has measured the change in the bat roosting (and abundance) before and after the arrival of the disease, but she has not really studied the behavior of the bats and how it is they come to be spaced apart. Yet, the bats the are important from the perspective of the basic biology and conservation of the bats and so there remains much to do and much that can be done. For example, it would be good to know if the probability of transmission of the disease really goes down when the bats are further apart. It would also be interesting to figure out if the same individuals that were once nuzzling up next to each other are now hanging out on their own. Given how long bats can live, this seems likely, but it would be interesting to study in more detail. But the exciting thing, apart from the good news for the bats, is that the basic research being done on these bats is developing into a test of a theory that applies not just to the bats but also to you and me and the rest of humanity.
In part, for me personally, the challenge in believing that diseases might really affect human behavior, xenophobia and tribalism around the world is that for the most part this idea requires people to respond to diseases even if they do not understand their biology. It requires culture to evolve adaptively before understanding does. This is where the bats are especially interesting. Because if the bats really are changes their social behavior because of disease, they are not doing it because they understand the epidemiology of white nose syndrome. They are doing it because their behavior has been shaped in other ways. Perhaps the individuals who were least cuddly were the only ones who survived, which might either have favored cultural aspects of their behavior or specific genes.
The new bat study does not resolve anything conclusively with regard to the social behavior of bats OR humans, it is a hint of something interesting and general, but only a hint. The ideas remain speculative, if a bit more plausible than they seemed before. Yet, the bats suggests a path forward, a path we might proceed down if we want to get at the root of just why it is that human cultures vary so much from place to place in how they deal with others. None of us and none of our cultures are immune from tribalism, but just how much it rules our lives varies greatly. I will keep wondering why, wondering and keeping an eye on the studies of bats. The story of the fall and modest and antisocial rise of the little brown bats is another example of basic research3 that has the chance to tell us as much about who, as social mammals, we are as any study that we might consider to be more directly medical or otherwise applied. Sometimes we see more about ourselves by looking out to the wild species around us than we ever could by looking at ourselves 4.
Footnotes of article and marginalia of Rob's brain.
1-With the exception of one conservative radio host who was glad to have an excuse both for his prejudice and his tribalism).
2-A search I thought, and think, is interesting as much for how similar it is to well-accepted stories of discovery as it is from a purely scientific point of view.
3-This particular study was funded by the National Science Foundation.
4-As for the nanobacteria, the possibility that they exist as self-replicating life-like, entities as fascinating as it is remote. Maybe some discovery will be revealed soon that sheds new light on the possibility and makes my chapter seem less crazy. On the other hand, there is always the other possibility. Perhaps what I wrote on nanobacteria was both crazy and, simultaneously, boring. If that is the case, maybe you can resolve the issue by reading the book. But, if you do, come to your decision privately, because while it may be the case that xenophobia in the general public can be caused by infectious diseases, it is definitely the case that xenophobia (and tribalism) in authors can be caused scathing reviews of book chapters.


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Times are hard. Yes, for everyone. Many people have been forced in filing for bankruptcy or in missing payments even getting reposed. A lot of them have hit bottom and don't know where to restart from. The good news is that you can always restart and try to rebuild your credit. One of the options […]
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Hint #1: Payday loans (also called a paycheck advances or payday advances) are small, short-term loans that are intended to cover a borrower's expenses until his or her next payday. It's usually quick and easy to obtain a payday loan.
Hint #2: A lease is a contract calling for the lessee (user) to pay the lessor (owner) for use of an asset for a fixed period of time.
Hint #2: A lease is a contract calling for the lessee (user) to pay the lessor (owner) for use of an asset for a fixed period of time.
Amortization Schedule Calculator
A loan calculator - also known as an amortization schedule calculator - let you estimate your monthly loan repayments. Whether you have to evaluate car loans, payday loans or personal loans, you can use this calculator. It also determines out how much of your repayments will go towards the principal and how much will go towards interest. Simply input your loan amount, interest rate, loan term and repayment start date then click "Calculate".
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Arundel Air Tightness Testing Certified by AF-Acoustics
Air tightness testing determines the quantity of air coming out of cracks in a building. It is also known as air permeability testing or air leakage testing. Air tightness testing has been a compulsory part of the building regulations for new dwellings, renovations and commercial projects since the revision of Document L in 2006.


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The LabLynx Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) Solution for Agriculture provides complete data management and reporting for all types of agriculture labs.
Our client labs cover all areas, including feed, seed, fertilizer, pesticides, fuel and metrology, as well as veterinary, vineyard, farm and state or federal agricultural testing and services. We also offer a complete suite of apps such as QMS, ELN, SDMS and more, and other features, functions and services like integration with equipment, reporting systems and other databases, and issue/ticket management, licensing and certifications management, inventory and many others.
The LabLynx solution for Agriculture Labs is your answer to handling the various challenges you face, from tracking submissions from internal inspectors, other government entities and private and public customers, to seed and feed testing and labeling, pesticide testing, equine drug testing, animal industry, food, fuel, fertilizer and other testing and reporting against state and/or federal regulations.
That means your LIMS solution has to be able to handle as wide a range of testing, materials handling and business or governmental processes as you do. LabLynx has a solution perfect for you that includes our powerful web browser-based LIMS that is flexible enough to handle any kinds of tests and workflows you have, and let you add new ones any time you like – without costly development.
Testing and Workflows Specific to Your Agriculture Lab
Agriculture labs also often act as a kind of quality control, verifying contents, weights/measures, ingredients and quality of products, as well as raw materials, detection of plant disease, toxins and more. Testing can vary greatly among something like 150 different tests, and LabLynx supports them all, which can include:
- Soil microbe testing
- GMO testing
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Business Processes are also supported in your LabLynx solution, like:
- Generating certifications, licenses and other documents
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- Interfaces to other systems, e.g. e-commerce on your official site or agencies such as the USDA and GlobalVetLink
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Various standards and regs are at play in most agriculture labs, regarding lab processes as well as reporting. These include:
- GLPs
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- USDA regulations (Animal Welfare, slaughter, etc.)
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Our LabLynx LIMS Solution for Agriculture supports these and many other standards and regulations, whether hosted on your own servers or in our state-of-the-art LabLynx Cloud Infrastructure.
Contact us today to learn more about our Agricultural data management solution!


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Fayetteville, North Carolina
46 Reviews | Review This Place | Photos and Maps
+72.3% since 2000
Unemployment Rate
Cost of Living
82 / 100
Median Home Price
Median Income
Comfort Index (Climate)
5.5 / 7.1
summer / winter
Once an important inland port on the Cape Fear River, Fayetteville houses two large military installations, Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base. The two facilities provide the city's main economic base. The clean, attractive and walkable downtown contains numerous historic buildings and favorably reflects the results of an extensive revitalization program.
Median home prices represent a good value, and there are appealing developments of homes and golf courses as the area becomes more desirable as a retirement destination. The city is well planned for the most part and sprawl is under control. There are some local arts and culture amenities, but overall the town is quiet. Particularly for those who don't mind a strong military presence, Fayetteville may be a pleasant surprise.
The area at the edge of the Coastal Plain begins to rise into the Carolina Piedmont Plateau. Surrounding terrain is level to gently rolling with agricultural land and mixed forests of pine and hardwood. The climate is mainly humid subtropical with occasional periods of continental influence. Tropical air brings heat and humidity during most of the summer. Afternoon temperatures frequently reach the 90's, with frequent afternoon thundershowers.
Coastal storms produce rain year-round. The area is sheltered from extreme cold by mountains to the northwest and the warming effects of the Atlantic. Low temperatures are seldom below 20 degrees. There may be some snow and sleet, but most winter precipitation is rain.
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We are a privately owned auto transport company providing door-to-door enclosed auto transport and motorcycle shipping service to all 48 states.
We have our own equipment for any job the customer may require. Including, Medium and Light Duty Wreckers, a Custom made Flatbed carrier for exotic sports cars and an enclosed non-stacking trailer. We are also fully licensed, bonded and insured to guarantee the safety of your investment.
We have safely transported tens of thousands of vehicles - from the average Honda to an antique Model-T, Lamborghini and Ferrari's, Camaro and Mustang muscle cars, Private race vehicles and priceless automobiles of some famous and infamous - across the U.S. and Canada.
Your vehicle is fully insured while it is being transported in our Enclosed Vehicle Transport company equipment. Each of our company trucks and trailers are protected by cargo insurance for our customers' cycles and automobiles.


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Love, Marilyn2012 Documentary
Marilyn Monroe invented her public persona at the expense of concealing a private side know only to her close confidants. Fifty years after her death, her creation still blazes brightly in our cultural imagination, while the creator continues to lurk in the shadows. Drawing on never-before-seen personal papers, diaries and letters, Academy-award nominated director Liz Garbus worked with acclaimed actresses to evoke the multiple aspects of the real Marilyn - passion, ambition, soul-searching, power and fear - in an absorbing and astonishing portrait. These documents, brought to life in this film by some of our contemporary icons and stars, give us a new and revelatory understanding of Monroe, revealing her carefully guarded inner life.


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These are premium sheep horn knife handle scales. Each natural sheep horn knife handle scales in this set is surface ground on the reverse side for maximum handle yield. As a set, they are excellent for folding and fixed blade knife handles, as well as many other handle applications.
Our premium sheep horn knife handle scales are naturally aged and dried for over 1 year. Each scale set is high-quality, pattern matched and will add exceptional value to your next knife or gun project!
Premium Sheep Horn
(5 x 1.75 x .4) - (Set 316-850)
Note: The sheep horn scale set in the image above is the actual set being sold under this stock number.
Photo Gallery #1
Photo Gallery #2
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Sunset Park, Brooklyn Toxicity Tour and Community Visions with Omar Freilla
Thursday, September 22, 2011, 2–5 pm
Ever wonder where your power comes from, where your waste goes, or how all of that "stuff" made its way to store shelves? The neighborhood of Sunset Park, Brooklyn, has become a hotbed of community organizing as local residents, mostly young people, have challenged the City and State over the area's polluting industries. See for yourself what it's like to live next to the places many people prefer not to think about. Hear firsthand the impacts on the lives and health of residents. Travel the route proposed for a new waterfront bicycle path and hear what youth leaders from UPROSE have to say about it all.
Image: courtesy UPROSE


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Image Disturb 0.996 reviewDownload
Image Disturb is a java graphic application.
Image Disturb is a java graphic application. It let you apply effects to 24-bit images. The effects are geometric, convolution, and color transformations. Drawing functions are available, too. It lets you paint with pencil, part of image or color effect.
Image Disturb 0.996 search tags


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This weekend, astronomers announced the discovery of the most Earth-like planet anyone has identified yet. The search of habitable planets is intensifying—and with it, questions about whether we're looking for the exoplanets the right way. For starters, figuring out how Earth would look to aliens is actually pretty useful.
The search for exoplanets is an incredibly complicated endeavor. In theory, planets with life-sustaining habitats are out there, orbiting around stars other than the Sun. But finding them is another matter entirely. Among other issues, these planets would be outshone by their respective suns, which is why NASA is dreaming up incredible spacecraft like the PlanetQuest, which shields its sensors from the blinding starlight to capture better photos of the planets around it.
But what, exactly, should astronomers be looking for besides the obvious existence of water? It's a question NASA has been asking for years. And to find the answer, it's looking at the single habitable planet it knows best: Earth. Back in 2009, the agency used its Deep Impact/EPOXI spacecraft to look back at Earth to see what it would look like from afar. And just last week, astrophysicists at Harvard proposed that we look for alien pollution, just like the stuff we make here on Earth.
Now, a group of NASA astrophysicists have published a paper that explains how they used an existing spacecraft to find out how alien life could detect Earth. According to Daily Galaxy, they did so by re-using existing data from NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, which collided with the Moon five years ago. Its mission was to find evidence of water—which it did! But as the research team explains in Detection of Ocean Glint and Ozone Absorption Using LCROSS Earth Observations, LCROSS inadvertently observed some fascinating things about Earth, too.
For example, when Earth is seen as a crescent from the surface of the moon, it reflects light from our oceans—an effect the researchers call Earth glint. "Also, the Earth at crescent phase, thanks to the ocean, can be twice as bright. If it's something you look for in exoplanets, it can be a significant effect," one author told Daily Galaxy. If alien astronomers are looking for Earth, this glint could be a major sign that live exists on our small blue dot. Another hint? Ozone.
Astronomers have wondered if we could observe other planets' "glint" for years, but this new research shows exactly what kind of tools we'd need to do it. For instance, detecting Earth glint is also a matter of choosing the right wavelength of light to look for—which means that this new information could inform how telescopes are built from here on out.
By looking at the Earth as though it were an exoplanet, astronomers are getting a clearer picture of what they should be looking for, millions of miles away. [Daily Galaxy; The Astrophysical Journal]


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|Oracle® Database Administrator's Guide
11g Release 1 (11.1)
Part Number B28310-01
|View PDF
Making a tablespace read-only prevents write operations on the datafiles in the tablespace. The primary purpose of read-only tablespaces is to eliminate the need to perform backup and recovery of large, static portions of a database. Read-only tablespaces also provide a way to protecting historical data so that users cannot modify it. Making a tablespace read-only prevents updates on all tables in the tablespace, regardless of a user's update privilege level.
Note:Making a tablespace read-only cannot in itself be used to satisfy archiving or data publishing requirements, because the tablespace can only be brought online in the database in which it was created. However, you can meet such requirements by using the transportable tablespace feature, as described in "Transporting Tablespaces Between Databases".
You can drop items, such as tables or indexes, from a read-only tablespace, but you cannot create or alter objects in a read-only tablespace. You can execute statements that update the file description in the data dictionary, such as
ALTER TABLE...ADD or
ALTER TABLE...MODIFY, but you will not be able to utilize the new description until the tablespace is made read/write.
Read-only tablespaces can be transported to other databases. And, since read-only tablespaces can never be updated, they can reside on CD-ROM or WORM (Write Once-Read Many) devices.
The following topics are discussed in this section:
All tablespaces are initially created as read/write. Use the
READ ONLY clause in the
ALTER TABLESPACE statement to change a tablespace to read-only. You must have the
ALTER TABLESPACE or
MANAGE TABLESPACE system privilege.
Before you can make a tablespace read-only, the following conditions must be met.
The tablespace must be online. This is necessary to ensure that there is no undo information that needs to be applied to the tablespace.
The tablespace cannot be the active undo tablespace or
SYSTEM tablespace.
The tablespace must not currently be involved in an online backup, because the end of a backup updates the header file of all datafiles in the tablespace.
For better performance while accessing data in a read-only tablespace, you can issue a query that accesses all of the blocks of the tables in the tablespace just before making it read-only. A simple query, such as
SELECT COUNT (*), executed against each table ensures that the data blocks in the tablespace can be subsequently accessed most efficiently. This eliminates the need for the database to check the status of the transactions that most recently modified the blocks.
The following statement makes the
flights tablespace read-only:
ALTER TABLESPACE flights READ ONLY;
You can issue the
ALTER TABLESPACE...READ ONLY statement while the database is processing transactions. After the statement is issued, the tablespace is put into a transitional read-only state. No transactions are allowed to make further changes (using DML statements) to the tablespace. If a transaction attempts further changes, it is terminated and rolled back. However, transactions that already made changes and that attempt no further changes are allowed to commit or roll back.
When there are transactions waiting to commit, the
ALTER TABLESPACE...READ ONLY statement does not return immediately. It waits for all transactions started before you issued the
ALTER TABLESPACE statement to either commit or rollback.
Note:This transitional read-only state only occurs if the value of the initialization parameter
COMPATIBLE is 8.1.0 or greater. If this parameter is set to a value less than 8.1.0, the
ALTER TABLESPACE...READ ONLY statement fails if any active transactions exist.
If you find it is taking a long time for the
ALTER TABLESPACE statement to complete, you can identify the transactions that are preventing the read-only state from taking effect. You can then notify the owners of those transactions and decide whether to terminate the transactions, if necessary.
The following example identifies the transaction entry for the
ALTER TABLESPACE...READ ONLY statement and note its session address (
SELECT SQL_TEXT, SADDR FROM V$SQLAREA,V$SESSION WHERE V$SQLAREA.ADDRESS = V$SESSION.SQL_ADDRESS AND SQL_TEXT LIKE 'alter tablespace%'; SQL_TEXT SADDR ---------------------------------------- -------- alter tablespace tbs1 read only 80034AF0
The start SCN of each active transaction is stored in the
V$TRANSACTION view. Displaying this view sorted by ascending start SCN lists the transactions in execution order. From the preceding example, you already know the session address of the transaction entry for the read-only statement, and you can now locate it in the
V$TRANSACTION view. All transactions with smaller start SCN, which indicates an earlier execution, can potentially hold up the quiesce and subsequent read-only state of the tablespace.
SELECT SES_ADDR, START_SCNB FROM V$TRANSACTION ORDER BY START_SCNB; SES_ADDR START_SCNB -------- ---------- 800352A0 3621 --> waiting on this txn 80035A50 3623 --> waiting on this txn 80034AF0 3628 --> this is the ALTER TABLESPACE statement 80037910 3629 --> don't care about this txn
After making the tablespace read-only, it is advisable to back it up immediately. As long as the tablespace remains read-only, no further backups of the tablespace are necessary, because no changes can be made to it.
Use the
READ WRITE keywords in the
ALTER TABLESPACE statement to change a tablespace to allow write operations. You must have the
ALTER TABLESPACE or
MANAGE TABLESPACE system privilege.
A prerequisite to making the tablespace read/write is that all of the datafiles in the tablespace, as well as the tablespace itself, must be online. Use the
DATAFILE...ONLINE clause of the
ALTER DATABASE statement to bring a datafile online. The
V$DATAFILE view lists the current status of datafiles.
The following statement makes the
flights tablespace writable:
ALTER TABLESPACE flights READ WRITE;
Making a read-only tablespace writable updates the control file entry for the datafiles, so that you can use the read-only version of the datafiles as a starting point for recovery.
Follow these steps to create a read-only tablespace on a CD-ROM or WORM (Write Once-Read Many) device.
Create a writable tablespace on another device. Create the objects that belong in the tablespace and insert your data.
Alter the tablespace to make it read-only.
Copy the datafiles of the tablespace onto the WORM device. Use operating system commands to copy the files.
Take the tablespace offline.
Rename the datafiles to coincide with the names of the datafiles you copied onto your WORM device. Use
ALTER TABLESPACE with the
RENAME DATAFILE clause. Renaming the datafiles changes their names in the control file.
Bring the tablespace back online.
When substantial portions of a very large database are stored in read-only tablespaces that are located on slow-access devices or hierarchical storage, you should consider setting the
READ_ONLY_OPEN_DELAYED initialization parameter to
TRUE. This speeds certain operations, primarily opening the database, by causing datafiles in read-only tablespaces to be accessed for the first time only when an attempt is made to read data stored within them.
READ_ONLY_OPEN_DELAYED=TRUE has the following side-effects:
A missing or bad read-only file is not detected at open time. It is only discovered when there is an attempt to access it.
ALTER SYSTEM CHECK DATAFILES does not check read-only files.
ALTER TABLESPACE...ONLINE and
DATAFILE...ONLINE do not check read-only files. They are checked only upon the first access.
V$BACKUP, and
V$DATAFILE_HEADER do not access read-only files. Read-only files are indicated in the results list with the error "
DELAYED OPEN", with zeroes for the values of other columns.
V$DATAFILE does not access read-only files. Read-only files have a size of "0" listed.
V$RECOVER_LOG does not access read-only files. Logs they could need for recovery are not added to the list.
ALTER DATABASE NOARCHIVELOG does not access read-only files.It proceeds even if there is a read-only file that requires recovery.
RECOVER DATABASE and
ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS continue to access all read-only datafiles regardless of the parameter value. If you want to avoid accessing read-only files for these operations, those files should be taken offline.
If a backup control file is used, the read-only status of some files may be inaccurate. This can cause some of these operations to return unexpected results. Care should be taken in this situation.


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Puppy & Dog Identification
Posted by dog trainer
Puppy & Dog Identification
Pet identification is highly required in these days because of the need for the licensing of the dog in a proper manner and to reduce the numbers of the stray dog menace in streets. Pet identification is done by many methods, which are different from each other. The cost factor for that also has variations accordingly.
The identification of your pet may be done by personalized tags, some times by the municipal license tag, rabies tag, and more. Most of the time, your telephone number and your name will be on a place in the personalized tags of the dogs. If any body encounters the dog accidentally during the event of missing of the dog will become capable of reporting the facts to the concerned officials.
Posted under General


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Attract passing traffic, promote your church and welcome visitors with flag banners! These eye-catching banners also known as feather flags draw attention as they move in the slightest breeze. Display them along a busy road, along the driveway to your church or in planters in your parking area, flag banners help visitors know they have arrived and found your church building. Flag Banners are printed on 130g Polyester which meets or exceed industry standards for outdoor flags. The lightweight material is designed to allow the graphic to bleed through providing a reverse image on the back side.
To extend the life of your flag banners, it is recommended that they be taken down and stored inside at night or when not in use. Can be washed on gentle cycle, line dry. Do not iron. Banner height 8.5 feet. Total height when mounted to pole approx. 12 feet. Typically ships in five business days after factory receipt of order.
***Stand not included***
Optional stands:
9781635102819 - Pole and Spike Only (for mounting in ground only)
9781635106046 - Pole and Spike with Cross Base (for displaying in soft ground or hard surface)


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Review: Backing up may be hard to do, but I'm giving it another try
For many people, backing up their computers is like getting exercise or eating more vegetables: They know it's the right thing to do, but they just can't seem to get around to it. I know, because I'm like that.
After buying a new computer last year, I never backed it up. I knew the dangers, of course. Hard drives fail all the time for all kinds of reasons. A power surge could fry the machine. Or a disaster of some kind could destroy it.
But I kept putting it off - until it was too late. In December, my computer was stolen. Among the data I won't ever recover are the raw videos I had stored there of my daughter riding a bike for the first time and some stop-motion animated movies my son made.
Things could have been much worse. I use the Google Drive cloud service to store my documents, so I didn't lose them. Because I'm a subscriber to iTunes Match, which keeps a copy of users' music files on Apple's servers, I didn't lose my music collection. And I had copies of most of my pictures spread across a variety of places, including an old external hard drive, my dad's computer and the memory card in my camera.
But I'm still kicking myself for what I lost. And I've been trying ever since to figure out the best solution for archiving my data.
I've long thought that an online backup service would make the most sense when compared with other options, such as an external hard drive or a network-attached storage unit.
Because your data is stored outside of your home, you're protected against disaster - and theft. You don't have to worry about keeping an external drive plugged in or fret about it failing. And many still offer bargains. CrashPlan, for example, charges just $190 for a four-year subscription that entitles you to an unlimited amount of storage space. That's less than what you'd pay for a 4-terabyte external hard drive.
But when I subscribed to an online backup plan several years ago, I was disappointed. The plan, from Mozy, was inexpensive, less than $5 a month, and it offered unlimited storage. But it took weeks to transfer all my data. Worse, it repeatedly stalled out while backing up, and then it had to start the backup all over again. And I worried that all the data I was transferring to the cloud would exceed the bandwidth cap on my Internet service, and that I'd face extra charges or the prospect of having my service cut off or slowed down.
Also, Mozy's service seemed too much like a black box. It was much easier to transfer data to the service than to see what I had stored there - or to retrieve it.
Online backup hasn't solved all these problems. Even with faster Internet speeds, data transfers can take weeks or even months. And at least in some cases, broadband providers' bandwidth caps are still a problem.
But after doing some new research, I'm giving online backup services another try. It's easier to see and access your data now than before. And online backup services retain their advantages over other options.
I'm still testing services and haven't made a final decision on which one I'll keep. But I'm impressed enough with CrashPlan that I likely will sign up for the paid service after my trial expires.
Here's what I like about CrashPlan: It's reasonably priced and, unlike some services, doesn't threaten to slow my transfer rates if I exceed a certain amount of data. CrashPlan doesn't set any limits on the size of files you can transfer to it, an important point for me because I have many large video files. And the service retains files you delete from your computer unless you specifically tell it to delete them; by contrast, some services will automatically remove those files from their servers just 30 days after you delete them from your computer.
CrashPlan isn't perfect. My first backup has been painfully slow. Worse, all the data I'm sending to the service from my computer appears to be slowing Internet speeds on the other devices connected to my network.
But slow speeds are a small price to pay to have some peace of mind about my data. Because I don't want there to be a next time when it comes to losing it.
More information: Troy Wolverton is a technology columnist for the San Jose Mercury News.
©2013 San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)
Distributed by MCT Information Services


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You are here
How Switching Electricity Can Help
The power to switch electric suppliers gives you greater control over your electric bill. For example, if you can get a lower rate from a competing supplier, you can switch suppliers. You can also customize your energy use with green options and other services that might be beneficial for your home or business. Competitive offers may not be available in all areas.
When you choose a new electric supplier, you are choosing the company that generates your electricity. Generation supply costs make up the majority of the average electric bill, so you may be able to find significant savings. Learn more about what you are choosing.
Since rate caps have expired, the number of competitive electric suppliers offering services to residential and small business customers has increased in most service territories. In some areas, the electric supplier's rate is cheaper than the default service price offered by the utility.
Remember, regardless of who generates your electricity, you will continue to call your electric utility for outages, emergency services and questions about your residential service. The quality, reliability, and maintenance of your electric service should not change as it is still monitored by the PA PUC.


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Whatever your goal, LearningExpress Library's resources will help you succeed. Each of our Learning Centers offers the practice tests, exercises, skill-building courses, and information you need to achieve the results you want—at school, at work, or in life. Looking to land a job? You'll find an entire Learning Center dedicated to helping you get the one that's right for you.
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Many times I have witnessed a sad tragedy. Here's what happens:
- A team design review for a new project.
- I see a simple design that has quite a few holes.
- I casually mention the holes and ways to avoid them.
- The warnings are ignored with comments like "that 'never' happen in real life"
- Eventually the things that "will 'never' happen" happen
- An emergency team design review for a broken project.
So what do I do? Copping the "I told you so" attitude is not going to win friends and influence people. Sometimes years go by and the comments from step 3 are forgotten anyway. I definitely don't want to be the annoying pest reminding the world of the gotchas. I often sit back and watch the Titanic sail off to Europe.
It's frustrating to see bad designs move forward. It's also frustrating that I can't seem to convince others of the pending peril of the current path. I do worst on team meetings where everyone has different ways of understanding different terms. Also, egos tend to win of reason and thought. I'm looking for good tactics to convince groups people to use some new and complicated ideas.


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NJDOT Mission Statement
"Improving lives by improving transportation"
The NJDOT Capital Projects Procedures (CPP) presents current Department procedures for preparing construction contract documents. These procedures detail the life of a project from problem statement to construction close-out. Procedures are presented for road and bridge projects for all project categories: Interstate, National Highway System (NHS) and non-NHS, New Construction, Reconstruction and Resurfacing, Rehabilitation and Restoration (3R).
This document is expected to change frequently. Therefore, it is provided on the NJDOT website rather than via hard copy. The users can print any part at any time for the latest version. A revision tracking system utilizes the dates provided at the bottom of each page. The first date is the Current Date, which indicates that content changes have been made under the oversight responsibilities and review of FHWA. Other underlined and blue dates below it are links to archived pages of Previous Changes. The bottommost date (the month is spelled out) is either the Last Maintenance Correction, which indicates minor, non-process fixes such as spelling, broken links, name changes, etc., or will match the FHWA review date if a content review was required.
Capital Project Procedures (CPP) purpose is to guide, not prescribe, the NJDOT's participants, you and your Designer's, through the steps of a Capital Project. Your use of engineering judgment is paramount. While you have the responsibility to produce the best possible product (a safe, efficient transportation system improvement), you also have some authority to change or seek changes to this process to eliminate wasteful steps and add steps without undo increase of time or cost as long as all laws and regulations are followed. The CPP are not a replacement for the Department's Policy and Procedures. The CPP is designed to enable everyone to understand the flow and requirements of each step in moving a project through its stages. It is organized by the flow of the project via a sequenced list of activities for the project delivery process.
If you see an activity that needs correction, updating or a new process needs implementation, please pass it along to the Subject Matter Expert in your Unit. If you or the SME know the change impacts, or could impact, another Unit's responsibilities, please coordinate your work as best you can between these internal NJDOT Units. Afterwards, forward the change in an electronic document to CPP Coordination within Configuration Management.
All changes are uploaded by CPP Coordination to the internal NJDOT web site. The extent of the change will dictate what happens next: more than one Unit involvement – coordination; FHWA oversight responsibilities or a process change – FHWA review/ approval; corrective change – placement on the Internet. In all cases the update process is intended to make the major parties responsible for the work they produce, and to make those parties reviewing the work agree that this process is in the best interest of NJDOT.
Each project follows a logical progression of phases. The procedures are arranged in a series of steps outlined in Activity Descriptions for Problem Screening, Concept Development, Preliminary Engineering, Final Design, and Construction.
Each phase summary provides an executive summary, objectives, funding, key stakeholders, major tasks and key products.
All projects will go through the full project delivery process. Network diagrams for Concept Development, Preliminary Engineering and Final Design are available at the Capital Project Delivery website.
Mar 12, 2004
Aug 22, 2008
March 28, 2011


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There's still no end in sight to the ongoing Secure Boot saga arising from Microsoft's Windows 8 plans, and just recently we've seen both Fedora Linux and Ubuntu Linux respond with two very different approaches to working around the problem.
Both the Linux Foundation and the Free Software Foundation voiced their own perspectives last fall when the issue first came up, but over the weekend the Free Software Foundation felt the need to speak out again in response to the approaches being taken by these two popular distributions.
In a nutshell, the advocacy group isn't thrilled with what either distro has proposed, but it prefers the Fedora approach over Canonical's solution. It also has a number of suggestions of its own.
'Restricted Boot'
To recap, the heart of the issue is the fact that future Windows 8 hardware will come with the Secure Boot technology enabled in the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), meaning that only operating systems with an appropriate digital signature will be able to boot on such machines.
Instead of "Secure Boot," the Free Software Foundation uses the term "Restricted Boot."
"Under the guise of security, a computer afflicted with Restricted Boot refuses to boot any operating systems other than the ones the computer distributor has approved in advance," explains FSF Executive Director John Sullivan in the group's new white paper on the topic. "Restricted Boot takes control of the computer away from the user and puts it in the hands of someone else."
'There Should Be No Problem'
Users should have either a way to disable Secure Boot restrictions, or a failproof way to install the free software operating system of their choice, Sullivan asserted.
And indeed, while ARM-based hardware won't allow users to disable Secure Boot, x86 Windows machines will, as well as making it possible for users to employ their own keys.
"In theory, there should be no problem. In practice, the situation is more complicated," Sullivan asserted. "As currently proposed, Secure Boot impedes free software adoption," essentially by making it more difficult for users to install and try free software, he explained.
'Much to Like About Fedora's Thinking'
Fedora's approach, for those who missed it, is to pay $99 to Verisign for unlimited use of Microsoft signing services, allowing its first stage boot loader to be signed with a Microsoft key. The distro will, however, also allow users to work with their own self-generated keys, Sullivan noted.
"There is much to like about Fedora's thinking," he wrote. "Their process of deliberation evinced concern for user freedom; it's clear that the Fedora team sought a solution that would work not just for their own GNU/Linux distribution, but for as many free software users and distributions as possible."
Fedora's solution is also compliant with GPLv3, Sullivan added, though he did point out two "serious problems" with its approach.
'We Urge Canonical to Reverse This Decision'
As for Ubuntu's plan, "our main concern is that because they are afraid of falling out of compliance with GPLv3, they plan to drop Grub 2 on Secure Boot systems in favor of another bootloader with a different license that lacks GPLv3's protections for user freedom," Sullivan wrote.
"We urge Ubuntu and Canonical to reverse this decision, and we offer our help in working through any licensing concerns," he added. "We also hope that Ubuntu, like Fedora, will actively support users generating and using their own signing keys to run and share any versions of the software, and not require users to install a key from Canonical to get the full benefit of their operating system."
The FSF plans to continue fighting Secure Boot and educating the public, it says; it also hopes to work with hardware manufacturers and distributors to help protect user freedom.


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I was traveling yesterday, so I'm a bit behind on posting this but in the event you somehow missed it, Microsoft is apparently going to use former Mac poster boy Jerry Seinfeld to promote Windows Vista in a new series of ads:
Microsoft, weary of being cast as a stodgy oldster by Apple's advertising, is turning for help to Jerry Seinfeld.
The software giant's new $300 million advertising campaign, devised by a newly hired ad agency, has been closely guarded. But Mr. Seinfeld will be one of the key celebrity pitchmen, say people close to the situation. He will appear with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates in ads and receive about $10 million for the work, they say.
The new ad effort is expected to use some variation of the slogan "Windows, Not Walls," according to several people familiar with the matter. Those people say the point is to stress breaking down barriers that prevent people and ideas from connecting. The campaign, said to debut Sept. 4, is one of the largest in the company's history.
Microsoft's immediate goal is to reverse the negative public perception of Windows Vista, the latest version of the company's personal-computer operating system. Windows is Microsoft's largest generator of profit and revenue, accounting for 28% of the company's revenue of $60.4 billion in the year ended June 30.
The software has sold well, and Microsoft retains an overwhelming share of the market for operating system software over Apple.
Apple's Macintosh computer business is dwarfed by Microsoft's share of the PC software market, but it has been gaining on its larger rival, accounting for 7.8% of new PC shipments in the U.S. in the second quarter, compared with 6.2% during the same period the prior year, according to research firm IDC. The vast majority of the rest of the market is made up of Windows PCs.
So. What do I think about this? Honestly, I'm not sure. On the one hand, Seinfeld is obviously funny, and his show was frequently hilarious. But that was a decade ago. Part of me is a bit concerned that Microsoft is going with an aging comedian 10 years after his only truly popular vehicle went off the air. Seems like a typical "try to be cool" move by Microsoft. That said, I do like the idea of using Gates. Microsoft has made dozens of hilarious internal videos over the years, many of which have popped up at trade show keynotes. I've always wondered why they didn't use such things as ads. It looks like they're heading in that direction.


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wow! thats kind of crazy, something like this would never be anywhere near my suv invested town... i wish i lived in st cloud
Fuel prices may be going down, but for some motorists fuel prices never went up. Over 8,000 motorists in the St. Cloud, MN area are paying an average of $.50 to $1.50 less per gallon than the current market price for their gas. How did they lock-in these low rates? They went to the Bank of Gasoline.
Since the mid-1980s, First Fuel Bank customers in the St. Cloud, MN area have been able prepay for their gasoline and lock in the price of their gas – no matter what gasoline prices do in the future. Customers can purchase as much gas as they like, whenever the price seems right. When gasoline prices rise above the price of their prepaid gas, First Fuel Banks customers can tap their gasoline accounts to fill-up their tanks. Conversely, when prices dip under the price of their prepaid gas, customers are free to purchase gas at another fueling station.
Although First Fuel Banks is only located in the St. Cloud, MN area, there are rumors of expansion to 11 other northeastern states.
Another company joining the prepaid gas bandwagon is the Fuel Bank. The Fuel Bank, based in Ft. Meyers, FL, is still laying the groundwork for a nation-wide prepaid gasoline network, but once established it promises customers the ability to pick-up their prepaid gas at any station in the nationwide network.
Although being able to lock in low gasoline prices sounds great, there are a few drawbacks.
The primary drawback to prepaying for your gasoline is that payment for these fixed prices is by credit card. If you don't have the money to pay off the purchase in full when the bill comes, then the interest on the credit card will make the gas much more expensive due to interest charges. Depending on the price of your prepaid gas, you may not realize any actual savings.
Secondary drawbacks include the unavailability of stations at which to redeem your gasoline and the opportunity cost of prepaying for your gas. Depending on the price you lock-in versus the market price of gas, you might be better off letting your money sit in a high-yield savings account.
Nevertheless, if you live in an area near one of the Banks of Gasoline and have the savings to prepay for your gasoline, you'll be laughing all the way to the bank...
Disclaimer: The links and mentions on this site may be affiliate links. But they do not affect the actual opinions and recommendations of the authors.
Wise Bread is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
wow! thats kind of crazy, something like this would never be anywhere near my suv invested town... i wish i lived in st cloud


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When Apple shipped Mac OS X 10.5, one of the new features was a warning about opening downloaded files (this feature is also present in Mac OS X 10.6). The first time open you such a file, a dialog appears, asking if you're sure you want to open the file, because it was downloaded from the Internet. The idea behind this feature is a good one–as a user, you should know when you're launching a program that's been downloaded, just in case it was somehow downloaded without your knowledge.
In practice, though, this "quarantine" feature can be incredibly annoying, depending on what sorts of files you download. In my case, it's a real pain because when I often download web-hosted applications, such as Geeklog (which runs macosxhints.com) and phpMyAdmin, a tool for managing MySQL databases.
These downloads can consist of thousands of files, typically a combination of images and text files. The text files are a mix of HTML, PHP (a scripting language), and pure text, but none are actually Mac OS X executable files. The first time I try to open each of those thousands of text files for editing, I see the warning dialog. After about the fifth file, I become very irritated by the warning, and it does more harm than good, as I just blindly click away at it to make it vanish.
There are two solutions to this problem–one removes the warning dialog from already-downloaded files, and the other prevents any future downloads from being flagged with the warning. Note that you do not have to implement both solutions; you can just remove the warning from already-downloaded files while leaving the warning system itself active, if you prefer.
Remove warning from downloaded files
To remove the warning dialog from already-downloaded files, you need to use Terminal (in Applications -> Utilities), and the command itself differs slightly between 10.5 and 10.6. In 10.5, copy and paste this command:
find ~/Downloads/geeklog-1.6.1 -type f -exec xattr -d com.apple.quarantine {} ;
In 10.6, copy and paste this command:
xattr -d -r com.apple.quarantine ~/Downloads
Note that these commands can take a while to run if there are a lot of files in your Downloads folder. You can also change the directory they run on by modifying the ~/Downloads bit of the command–just change it to reflect the full path to whatever folder you'd like to update. (Remember to use backslashes before spaces, if any of the items on the path contain spaces.)
I personally use this method alone, while leaving the warning system itself active–I just really don't need to be warned 1,653 times when I try to open each of the files in the Geeklog distribution.
Permanently disable the warning system
If you'd like to disable the warning dialogs completely (for any files you download in the future), open Terminal and copy and paste this command:
defaults write com.apple.LaunchServices LSQuarantine -bool NO
After you get the command prompt back (you won't see any feedback; the command prompt will simply appear again), restart your Mac. From now on, you won't be warned when opening downloaded files. It goes without saying, but making this change reduces the security of your machine. As I mentioned earlier, I've chosen to leave the warning system in place, and just remove the warning flag from downloaded files when I feel the need.
If you do permanently disable the system, and then decide you'd like it back, repeat the above command, but change NO to YES and reboot your Mac.
I have tested both the one-time and permanent solutionn methods on 10.5 and 10.6, and they work as described (including the bit to turn the warnings back on). Thanks to Jonathan Rentzsch, Ken Aspeslagh, and Timothy Luoma for various pieces of this hint.


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OCEAN CITY – The Maryland State Firemen's Association, which represents 392 fire and rescue departments and related associations throughout Maryland, will hold its 116th Annual Convention and Conference in Ocean City from June 14-20.
More than 30,000 volunteer firefighter/rescuers and Emergency Medical Service workers and their families are expected to attend. President Paul Sterling of the Wheaton Volunteer Rescue Squad in Montgomery County will open the proceedings at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, June 16 at the Roland E. Powell Convention Center.
Throughout the convention and conference, attendees will be offered a variety of free seminars covering a myriad of subjects related to fire and rescue operations, which will help teach fire and rescue personnel new administrative and operational skills. Delegates from each member department will vote to elect the new officers for the coming year and to approve changes to the by-laws of the organization. The various state agencies, such as the State Fire Marshal's Office and Department of Natural Resources, whose duties impact on the fire service, will make reports on their past year's actions and future plans.
All attendees will have the opportunity to visit displays of the newest types of fire fighting and EMS equipment, and to view some of the newest apparatus that has been purchased by Maryland fire companies.
Fire, rescue and EMS members who passed away during 2007 will be honored at a Memorial Service on Sunday, June 15 and service awards for fire prevention, Emergency Medical Services, training and safety activities will be given out on Monday and Tuesday.
The convention and conference will culminate on Wednesday, June 18 at 1 p.m. with one of the largest fire department parades in the area along Baltimore Avenue in Ocean City, featuring bands, marching units, majorettes and fire apparatus from Maryland and the surrounding states.
Downtown traffic patterns will be affected as follows: Beginning at noon on the day of the parade, traffic entering Ocean City via the Route 50 bridge will be directed to one of two routes. Vehicles crossing the bridge in the left-hand lane will turn left onto Philadelphia Ave. and travel in a coned-off lane going north to 9th St. Resort officials advise motorists to take this route as traffic should flow more quickly in the coned-off lane. Vehicles crossing the bridge in the right-hand lane must turn right at Talbot St. and travel north on St. Louis Ave. Motorists traveling southbound on Philadelphia Ave. will be directed to the far two right lanes beginning at 9th St.
To accommodate the altered traffic patterns, parking will be prohibited from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the day of the parade at the following locations: All of Philadelphia Ave. from 9th St. to N. Division St.; the west side of St. Louis Ave. between 2nd St. and 3rd St.; the east side of St. Louis Ave between 1st St. and 2nd St.; the south side of 2nd St. between St. Louis Ave. and Philadelphia Ave. and the north and south side of 1st St. between St. Louis Ave. and Philadelphia Ave. Vehicles not removed prior to 10 a.m. will be towed.
The bus route also will be temporarily altered from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. on the day of the parade. City buses normally traveling south to the downtown area will go no further than N. 1st Street where they will turn right to St. Louis Ave. The buses will then return north along St. Louis Ave. to 15th St. to rejoin the normal route to the Delaware line. There are no bus stands along St. Louis Ave.; if you need to catch a bus just give the driver a wave. Those waiting for northbound buses on St. Louis Ave. between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., are asked to wait on the east side of the street. Normal bus service should resume after 6 p.m. The fare is $2 to ride all day.


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Our approach is to foster a blended learning environment with students and teachers having choices as to what they want to learn with and where they want to learn. We are continuing to maintain 11 computer labs across campus (having closed 2 labs at the end of last year) as well as PCs in libraries but have now introduced some laptop carts (when the carts arrive) in the senior school as part of the transition to student-owned laptops by the end of the year. All classes in the primary school have 3 student-use laptops, with plans for grade 4 and 5 to have additional class sets of smaller laptops (Asus EEE PC or the new smaller HP - we have yet to decide the final model). We are also blending MacOS with Windows across campus, with some teachers electing a MacBook, and the installation of a new iMac lab (when the hardware is cleared through customs) and a new higher specs 15-unit iMac lab to support the IB Film Studies course (yes, we don't do anything by halves here in Qatar).
Hand-in-hand with the surge of hardware is a push from the administration to take online learning and mobile computing and 'technology integration' seriously. The 'E-Learning for Life' initiative was talked about a lot at meetings, openings and amongst faculty. There is a sense of excitement and empowerment amongst some teachers. There is also a methodical plan to support teachers in the development of skills to improve their own teaching and learning using technology. This professional development plan includes ongoing meetups and sessions during and after the school day as well as 'binge' PD opportunities involving visiting speakers to the school. I am excited to be welcoming Gary Stager to Qatar in November, Kim Cofino to come back in February, and of course the Flat Classroom Conference in January.
A significant change for me this year is the move to an adminsitrative position where I have no classes of my own. As my daughter just said to me on her way to bed prior to the first day back, 'What are you going to be doing tomorrow Mum?', with disbelief that I could fill my day in without teaching a class. Well, a significant amount of my time now will be spent in meetings and planning sessions and organisation of others. However, I am also a part of the TIF team (Technology Integration Facilitators) and will be in other teachers' classes as needed and supporting them with professional development. I am in two-minds about this change in status, the first time in nearly 25 years that I have not had my own classes! Being the pragmatist I am (sometimes) I realise that this now gives me the opportunity to make a difference in other ways, by continuing to plan and promote the use of 21st century learning using technology tools and support teachers in their journey along this road. I will still have many close links with students and keep in circulation with many classes, but will also have the freedom of a more flexible schedule and be able to flex a leadership muscle.
Here is the slideshow I presented to the whole faculty earlier this week. This was the first time since arriving in Qatar that I have had the opportunity to speak to the entire school. I remember a couple of weeks ago reading Jeff Utecht's blog (can't find the exact post just now) and how he was skyped into the start of a school year staff meeting in the USA and how he tried to make the session interesting and stimulating because really all the teachers wanted was to either be back on holidays or getting their rooms ready.....that's what I like about Jeff, he always hits the nail on the head. So, I aimed to be light-hearted, show some tools, try to inspire and create excitement for the year, as well as encourage everyone to be on the same page as we start our adventure again. I created an animoto of my holiday, played Taylor Mali's 'What a teacher makes', quoted Henry Longfellow, and attempted to relate the E-Learning journey of Qatar Academy - where we had come from, where we are now and where we are going to in terms of E-Learning and information technology. I also invited my colleague, Mike Boulanger, Head of IT in the Primary School to talk about the TIF initiative and how primary classes in particular did not have scheduled IT classes anymore. (I will talk more about this later).
[The orientation workshop sessions run for all staff last week are detailed on our e-Learning wiki.]
Technorati Tags: elearning qataracademy jeffutecht kimcofino garystager taylormali animoto flatclassroomconference


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Beatles Interviews Database:
McCartney Interview: Promoting The White Album 11/20/1968
After The Beatles had completed The White Album, Paul McCartney gave an exclusive interview to Radio Luxembourg in which he discussed his opinions of select tracks from the new double LP. When the interview was aired, it was interspersed with tracks from the new album. The official UK release of The White Album was just two days away.
- Jay Spangler, www.beatlesinterviews.org
"Paul, I'd like you to talk about the LP in general."
"What do you want me to say about it, Tony?"
"The songs I think are perhaps a surprise to some people, because I think alot of people expected another step from 'Sgt Pepper.'"
"Well it is another step, you know, but it's not necessarily in the way people expected. Uhh... On 'Sgt Pepper' we had more instrumentation than we'd ever had. More orchestral stuff than we'd ever used before, so it was more of a production. But we didn't really want to go overboard like that this time, and we've tried to play more like a band this time-- only using instruments when we had to, instead of just using them for the fun of it."
"Is this for any sort of concept of being able to do the things live?"
"Uhh, yeah. And also for the concept that we like playing together. That's the main concept." (laughs)
"The first track on the LP is 'Back In The USSR.' Could we just talk about this particular track... because it's a wild, rocking thing."
"Yeah. Umm, that's a track which... it just sort of came. Chuck Berry once did a song called 'Back In The USA,' which is very American, very Chuck Berry. Very sort of, uhh... you know, you're serving in the army-- And when I get back home I'm gonna kiss the ground-- and you know-- Can't wait to get back to the States. And it's a very American sort of thing, I've always thought. So this one is like about... In my mind it's just about a spy who's been in America a long long time, you know, and he's picked up... And he's very American. But he gets back to the USSR, you know, and he's sort of saying, 'Leave it till tomorrow, honey, to disconnect the phone,' and all that. And 'Come here honey,' but with Russian women. You see, what it is... It concerns the attributes of Russian women."
"Obladi Oblada."
"I like most kinds of music. So I haven't got a 'bag' as they say... (jokingly) except the big black one in the hall outside. And 'Obladi Oblada,' and 'USSR,' and 'Martha' are three different songs altogether. And in fact all of mine are on the LP. I'm pretty diverse because I mean, I haven't got ONE sort of thing. So this-- I've no idea why it's Jamaican or anything. Just 'cuz I like that kind of thing."
"Did you write this song on your own? I mean, is this a combination of Lennon/McCartney?"
"I think it was mainly me. Mainly me. (jokingly) John's a bit more Nigerian influenced."
"'Happiness Is A Warm Gun.' This is a ballad that's very interesting. Perhaps although you didn't sing this particular song you'd like to talk about it, Paul."
"I'd like to talk about it 'cuz I like it, you know. It's a favorite of mine. Umm, the idea of the 'Happiness Is A Warm Gun' thing is from an advert in an American paper. It said, Happiness is a warm gun, sort of thing, and it was 'Get ready for the long hot summer with a rifle,' you know, 'Come and buy them now!' It was an advert in a gun magazine. And it was so sick, you know, the idea of 'Come and buy your killing weapons,' and 'Come and get it.' But it's just such a great line, 'Happiness Is A Warm Gun' that John sort of took that and used that as a chorus. And the rest of the words... I think they're great words, you know. It's a poem. And he finishes off, 'Happiness Is A Warm Gun, yes it is.'"
"It sounds like he's probably fairly serious about..."
"Oh, it's as serious as anyone ever gets, you know. It's not deadly serious, you know what I mean... It's just words, and if you sort of really taxed him on it and said, 'Would you be willing to die for these words,' I'm sure he wouldn't. I'm sure it's not REALLY serious but they're good words. I'd stick up for anyone who's sort of worried about 'em, you know. It's just good poetry."
"'Martha My Dear.'"
"You see, I just start singing some words with a tune, you know what I mean. I don't ever write a song thinking, 'Now I'll write a song about...' I do sometimes, but mainly I don't. Mainly I'm just doing a tune and then some words come into my head, you know. And these happened to be 'Martha My Dear, though I spend my days in conversation.' It doesn't mean anything, you know, but those just happened to come to my head. So that's what this song is about... it is about my dog. I don't mean it, you know. I don't ever try to make a serious social comment, you know. So you can read anything you like into it, but really it's just a song. It's me singing to my dog." (laughs)
"Paul, how long a time has it taken you all to get this whole LP together-- I mean, write the songs?"
"Well, since we were in India we started writing this batch of songs. And we've written a few since. And this is mainly the Indian batch that we've sort of finished."
"'Blackbird' I think is quite a beautiful song."
"Thank you, Tony. Well, it's simple in concept because you couldn't think of anything else to put on it. And that's what I was saying about the 'Sgt Pepper' thing-- Maybe on Pepper we would have sort of worked on it until we could find some way to put violins or trumpets in there. But I don't think it needs it, this one. You know, it's just... There's nothing to the song. It is just one of those 'pick it and sing it' and that's it. The only point where we were thinking of putting anything on it is where it comes back in the end.... sort of stops and comes back in... but instead of putting any backing on it, we put a blackbird on it. So there's a blackbird singing at the very end. And somebody said it was a thrush, but I think it's a blackbird!"
"'Rocky Raccoon.'"
"I was sitting on the roof in India with a guitar-- John and I were sitting 'round playing guitar, and we were with Donovan. And we were just sitting around enjoying ourselves, and I started playing the chords of 'Rocky Raccoon,' you know, just messing around. And, oh, originally it was Rocky Sassoon, and we just started making up the words, you know, the three of us-- and started just to write them down. They came very quickly. And eventually I changed it from Sassoon to Raccoon, because it sounded more like a cowboy. So there it is. These kind of things-- you can't really talk about how they come 'cuz they just come into your head, you know. They really do. And it's like John writing his books. There's no... I don't know how he does it, and he doesn't know how he does it, but he just writes. It's like any writer, you know. I think people who actually do create and write... you tend to think, 'Oh, how did he do that,' but it actually does flow... just flows from into their head, into their hand, and they write it down, you know. And that's what happened with this. I don't know anything about the Appalachian mountains or cowboys and indians or anything. But I just made it up, you know. And the doctor came in stinking of gin and proceeded to lie on the table. So, there you are."
"I suppose the idea to do the thing with some sort of a American-Western accent also happened this way, did it?"
"Oh that. Yeah, that was just a joke, you know, as most of it is."
"Also, another one of yours called, 'I Will.' We've covered the areas where the songs just seem to come to you, and just happen this way, and you get ideas. Obviously this particular track happened the same way. The twangy guitar is used again on this one. Umm, there's a slight influence..."
"We've always been a rock & roll group, I suppose, you know. It's just that we're not just completely rock & roll. That's what I was trying to say before about 'Obladi,' 'USSR,' they're all different kinds of things. We're not just completely one kind of group. 'Cuz like, when we played in Hamburg, we didn't just do rock all evening 'cuz we had to have these sort of fat old businessmen coming in and saying... (jokingly) or THIN old businessmen, as well, were coming in and saying 'Play a mambo. Can you do a rhumba?' And we couldn't just keep saying no, you know, so we had to get into mambos and rhumbas a bit. So this kind of thing is like a pretty sort of smootchy ballad-- 'I Will.' But we have to do that kind of stuff, you know, so we always played alot of kind of things. I don't know if it's getting off the subject, but that's why there's great variety in this LP-- 'cuz in everything we do, you know, we just haven't got one bag, The Beatles, you know. And 'cuz on one hand you'll get something like 'I Will' and then you'll get 'Why Don't We Do It In The Road,' you know. Just completely different things-- completely different feelings and... But it's me singing both of them. It's the same fella. Uhh, and I've wrote both of them, you know. So you can't explain it. I don't know why I do 'Why Don't We Do It In The Road' shouting it like that... and then do this sort of smootchy laughing American 'Girl From Ipenema.'"
"'Birthday.' This next track is back in the old rock and roll style, which I guess we've already really covered, but once again this is a very loud type, if you like discoteque type..."
"There's a story about that, Tony. What happened was 'The Girl Can't Help It' was on television. That's an old rock film with Little Richard and Fats Domino and Eddie Cochran and a few others... Gene Vincent. And we wanted to see it, so we started recording at five o'clock. And we said, 'We'll do something, just do a backing track. We'll make up a backing track.' So we kept it very simple-- twelve bar blues kind of thing. And we stuck in a few bits here and there in it, with no idea what the song was or what was gonna go on top of it. We just said, 'Okay. Twelve bars in A, and we'll change to D, and I'm gonna do a few beats in C.' And we really just did it like that... random thing. We didn't have time for anything else, and so we just recorded this backing. And we came back here to my house and watched 'The Girl Can't Help It.' Then we went back to the studio again and made up some words to go with it all. So this song was just made up in an evening. Umm, you know. We hadn't ever thought of it before then. And it's one of my favorites because of that. I think it works, you know, 'cuz it's just... It's a good one to dance to. Like the big long drum break, just 'cuz, instead of... well, normally we might have four bars of drums, but with this we just keep it going, you know. We all like to hear drums plodding on."
"'Mother Nature's Son' is another track in which you use acoustic guitar. And there's probably more acoustic guitar used in this set of tracks than you've ever used before."
"Yes. Well, it's the same thing again. We wrote them with guitars. And, on alot of his, John picks the guitar because he learned off Donovan when we were in India-- Donovan showed him how to fingerpick. So he sort of stuck it in everything then."
"And while he was learning fingerpicking, I was sort of playing acoustic as well, you know. That's it-- That's why they've crept in like this. We decided not to try and cover them up like we might do normally, and just use acoustic guitar instead of, say, a piano or electric guitar or anything. So, the only thing about this one, however, it says 'Born a poor young country boy' and I was born in Woolton hospital actually-- so it's a dirty lie."
"'Helter Skelter.'"
"Umm, that came about just 'cuz I'd read a review of a record which said, 'And this group really got us wild, there's echo on everything, they're screaming their heads off.' And I just remember thinking, 'Oh, it'd be great to do one. Pity they've done it. Must be great-- really screaming record.' And then I heard their record and it was quite straight, and it was very sort of sophisticated. It wasn't rough and screaming and tape echo at all. So I thought, 'Oh well, we'll do one like that, then.' And I had this song called 'Helter Skelter' which is just a ridiculous song. So we did it like that, 'cuz I like noise."
"'Honey Pie.'"
"My dad's always played fruity old songs like that, you know. And I liked 'em. I like the melody of old songs, and the lyrics actually as well. There's some old lyrics, like, you know-- the woman singing about the man, and she's saying something about 'I wanna have his initial on my monogram.' You know what I mean? There's good lyrics and just good thoughts that you don't sort of hear so much these days, you know. And so, I would quite like to have been a 1920's writer, 'cuz I like that thing, you know. Umm, you know, up in top hat and tails and sort of coming-on to 'em. So this kind of number, I like that thing. But, uhh... So this is just me doing it, pretending I'm living in 1925."
"The final track I suppose is a wrap-up to the LP, and to the show tonight. And I would imagine that alot of people are probably going to record this track."
"Yes. Umm, it's very much that kind of track, you know. John wrote it, mainly. It's his tune, uhh, which is surprising for John-- 'cuz he doesn't normally write this kind of tune. It's a very sweet tune, and Ringo sings it great, I think. The arrangement was done by George Martin, uhh, 'cuz he's very good at that kind of arrangement, you know-- very sort of lush, sweet arrangement. And that's all I can say about it. It's very sweet. And in fact, it's 'Goodnight.'"
Source: Transcribed by www.beatlesinterviews.org from audio copy of radio interview
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David Brookshaw Miniature Tools
Miniature Toolmaker since 1988
|I make tools to 1/12th scale.The chest opposite is a miniature copy of one offered for sale by R.TIMMINS of Birmingham in 1845.
|Gentleman's Victorian 1/12th Scale Chest
I make copies of rare and Museum Tools especially of an ornate nature, for collectors. Working in Rosewood, Ivory, Ebony, Boxwood, Brass and Steel.
|17th Century Italian Brace
My tools appear in some of the finest collections in the world...
|16th Century Etched Nuremberg Plane
...and have been featured in publications on fine tools. In one case being used as the front cover.
|Tools from the above Chest
|I am always interested in discussing commissions
Contact Details:
David Brookshaw
9 Penrhos Road
Colwyn Bay
United Kingdom
Tel. 44 (0) 1492 532523
Mobile 07531 722086
|18th Century Moisset Plane


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Cover Reveal: Loving Amber (The Riverstone Series #1) Roya Carmen
New Second Chance standalone from Roya Carmen.
Torn by tragedy. Reunited by love.
Releasing September 26th.
Add to your TBR at: http://bit.ly/2bXvktI
Enter to Win a SIGNED PAPERBACK &
$20 Amazon Gift Card on Roya's Facebook Page here: http://bit.ly/2c9HlkN
Torn by tragedy. Reunited by love. Two years ago, I lost my husband and my brother to the same tragedy. To this day, I hold only one person responsible—Aiden Rogers, the beautiful boy I've known forever, the misfit I've both loved and hated, the one who always got to me. As far as I'm concerned, he's the only one to blame. Now he wants to be part of my life again—when I can finally see a future for my son and myself. I've found the perfect man in David, someone I can start over with, a man who will be the perfect father figure for Trevor. I have a plan. At last, I see the light, and I know I can make this work. I will not let Aiden Rogers drag me back into the darkness. Author's note: contains sexual scenes and some coarse language.
This is the first book of the Riverstone Estate Series and can be enjoyed as a standalone read.
*** The Riverstone Series: A beautiful estate. Three unforgettable love stories. Following the sudden passing of their father, Amber, Ruby, and Flynn Riverstone inherit the family estate and find themselves facing new challenges, growing closer, and discovering love along the way.
About the Author:
Busy mom, naughty writer, comic-addict, artist & designer, book-aholic, nature lover, and hopeless romantic.
When I'm not writing, I can usually be found hanging with my family, reading, camping and travelling, painting, yoga-ing (very ungracefully), shooting pool, or at my favourite bookstore café with my book friends.
A Northern French-Canadian gal, I now live just near Toronto where it's much, much warmer!
For all the latest updates, sign-up for my newsletter at www.royacarmen.com or friend me on Facebook or Twitter!
Sign up for my monthly newsletter:
Twitter: @royacarmen
Wattpad: @royastories
Website: www.royacarmen.com


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The exportDataGrid() method allows users to export multiple grids to one Excel document. Grids are exported consequently in a chain of Promises.
In this demo, this functionality is used to export two DataGrids into separate worksheets in the same workbook. Starting position of each exported grid is set using the topLeftCell property.
Use the customizeCell method to customize the exported worksheets.


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Sydney, New South Wales (getonlinepr) April 7, 2021 – Being in the dental industry for over 15 years, Dental Implants Professionals replaces missed tooth or multiple teeth with Australian approved and certified dental implants in Sydney. The dental crowns offered by them are made in Australia and come with five years warranty.
When asked about this, "A beautiful smile can go a long way in making the best first impression. We place cheap dental implants in Sydney to replace your missing teeth and regain your confidence. Unlike dentures, they are comfortable to use, and you don't have to worry about them slipping out of your mouth," replied the spokesperson of Dental Implants Professionals.
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At Dental Implants Professionals, they aim to offer high quality digital dental Implants in Sydney at the lowest possible dental cost to provide patients with a new tooth. By Concentrating on this single aspect of dentistry, they believe that they are among the lowest cost and cheapest price for high-quality dental implant treatment at $2850.
Unlike bridges and dentures, dental implants last longer and prevent bone loss. They are sturdier than dentures, and the patients can eat hard foods without any hesitation. The Dental Implants Professionals offer an 85% medicare rebate that allows patients to pay only $100 to have surgery. The recovery from dental implants surgery is quicker, and there are no side effects.
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Contact Details:
Contact Name: Paulo Paulo
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I was born at Brunswick Hospital, in Amityville, on Long Island - so I feel a special affinity for the town, victim of "America's Most Famous Haunting". Since 1977, when the book "The Amityville Horror" - subtitled "A True Story" and purporting to relate the tribulations of George and Kathleen Lutz and family - became a best-seller, the town has been subjected to periodic swellings of the armies of the asinine. They find their way to Montauk Highway (Merrick Road, to the locals), then to Ocean Avenue and number 112 (or what used to be 112 - the address was changed years ago, along with the iconic "eyes of evil" windows) and gape slack-jawed at the place where the Lutzes supposedly spent 28 days fending off buzzing flies, creepy priests, hovering pigs and demonic voices.
In 1978 the book became a hit film, which begat a multitude of sequels (including "Amityville 3-D"). If you're too young to have seen any of them, don't worry: there's a remake on the way. The tag line "Based on a True Story" indicates no acknowledgment Jay Anson confessed on his deathbed that the events depicted in the book hadn't occurred, that the whole thing was a hoax. The only truth in "The Amityville Horror" is that Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his entire family as they slept. Why? Gerald Sullivan's excellent High Hopes - explains that DeFeo, who had a terrible relationship with his father, had become a junkie and was trying to steal a box containing $10,000 in cash kept in his parent's bedroom. He shot his mother, father and four siblings to cover up the crime - intending to blame the murders on a Manson-like cult.
The DeFeo murders are the reason I turned down my one and only invitation to the house. In the early 1980's I was working for the Cromartys - an old-line Amityville family who bought the house after the Lutzes "fled". Came October and my employers invited me to a Halloween party. I turned them down, to the ongoing ridicule of my co-workers: "Whatsa matter? You SCARED of ghosts?!"
"No..." I'd reply, "Six people were killed in their sleep in that house." (I'd just read "High Hopes" - the title is taken from the wooden sign the elder DeFeo hangs in front of the house - and the crime-scene photos were fresh in my mind). Ultimately, I couldn't bring myself to "trespass", to be yet another gawker exploiting a tragedy. Not for the first time do I feel incredibly alone admitting that: in researching this piece I googled "Amityville Horror" and came across a veritable industry devoted to maintaining the lie. I guess the true story - junkie murders family - isn't nearly compelling enough.


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We heard about 'em back at CES, but Samsung has released pricing and availability info on their upcoming Series 7 plasma line. The 1080p displays feature 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast, DNIe Pro image processing, Ethernet for their Infolink RSS and 4 HDMI ports. Available this August, they can be yours for $2,800 (50"), $4,500 (58") and $5,500 (63").
Samsung's Series 7 Plasma HDTVs Expand the Horizons of Luxurious Home Theater Design and Multimedia Capability
Enhanced Connectivity and Superior Picture Performance Deliver a Premium Experience
RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Samsung Electronics, the market leader in HDTV design and innovation, continues to deliver the ultimate form of "functional art" to consumers with the Series 7 Plasma HDTV featuring Samsung's ToC™ (Touch of Color™) designed bezel. Born from the craftsmanship behind delicately blown glass to the balanced beauty of a sunset, the ToC design features a hint of red color blended into a piano black bezel. In addition to boasting a cutting-edge design, the Series 7 Plasma HDTVs deliver a superior Full HD1080p picture with up to a 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio for crisp detail and vibrant colors, all supported by Samsung's Ultra FilterBright™ technology. For the home theater connoisseur, the Series 7 offers the option to calibrate the TV for both day-time and night-time viewing to ensure optimal picture quality in any setting.
"With the Series 7 plasma HDTV, Samsung looks to elevate consumers' home theaters with a premier design and an encompassing viewing experience," said Steve Panosian director of Visual Display Marketing at Samsung Electronics America. "By combining superior connectivity and networking options with the latest audio-visual technologies, the Series 7 Plasma is certain to further refine most any home theater setup."
Touch of Color™
Reflecting Samsung's mantra for design creativity, the Series 7 leaves the traditional look of HDTV design and employs the aesthetically pleasing ToC bezel. Samsung is the first manufacturer in the HDTV industry to use dual-injection molding technology which infuses color to the bezel rather than using spray paint. By controlling the density of the color injection, the resulting bezel shows a natural gradation from red to black color for a distinct yet elegant appearance.
Superior Picture Performance
The Full HD 1080p Series 7 features a dynamic contrast ratio of up to 1,000,000:1 for deeper blacks and purer whites onscreen. Samsung's Ultra Filter Bright anti-glare technology keeps the picture clear and bright even in well-lit environments, while the next-generation DNIe™ Pro video processing and 18-bit Natural True Color ensure the subtle details are not sacrificed.
Day / Night Calibration Modes
For consumers looking for the ultimate home theater experience, the Samsung Series 7 Plasma HDTV features a professional day-time and night-time calibration mode for optimized viewing. The two special customization and enhancement modes can only be accessed once a professional calibrator makes the necessary adjustments and saves the picture settings made to match the ambient lighting in the room. Then the consumer can instantly select the saved picture settings, and experience the best possible HDTV viewing at any time of the day.
The Series 7 Plasma HDTV features the one-button, on-demand InfoLink™ RSS service. Powered by content from USA Today, InfoLink instantly displays news, weather and stock information onscreen via adjustable overlays. As the ultimate form of luxury and convenience for the always-connected consumer, InfoLink allows users to view stock quotes from their personal portfolio and local weather information. There is no need to change the channel to get a five-day forecast of the weather or instant access to stock quotes and news once connected to a home network with Internet access.
Superior Connectivity
The Series 7 Plasma offers a host of connection options to enjoy a growing library of digital content. Simply plug a memory drive or digital camera in the side-mounted USB 2.0 port and WiseLink™ Pro turns the television into a jukebox or photo album. The TV recognizes not only MP3 and JPEG files but also XviD and MPEG4 files to enjoy video playback. In addition, it comes with a Digital Content Management feature that allows the user to sort images based on usual parameters like time and even more uncommon ones like color and composition. Additionally, the Series 7 Plasmas are compatible with DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) for easy connection to and content sharing with other DLNA-CERTIFIED™ products, such as a computer.
Recognizing that more consumers use their HDTV as the cornerstone of their home entertainment centers, Samsung also added enhanced connectivity to the Series 7 Plasma. Consumers can connect to, access, and manage more of the latest HD devices than ever before with a total of four HDMI 1.3 inputs (three at the rear, one on the side). Beyond their ability to handle the latest color and HD audio processing, all four connections include CEC networking, allowing control of multiple components using only the TV's remote control.
The Samsung Series 7 Plasma HDTVs will be available in August in 50-inch, 58-inch and 63-inch screen sizes (model numbers: PN50A760, PN58A760 and PN63A760).
Wireless LinkStick Accessory
For added convenience, the Samsung Wireless LinkStick allows consumers to access the InfoLink feature on their Series 7 Plasma HDTV wirelessly. While a connection to the Internet via an appropriate modem and wireless router is still required, consumers will no longer need to run an Ethernet cable directly to their HDTV. The Wireless LinkStick (WIS-08BGX/XAA) is available now with an estimated selling price of $34.99.
Series 7 760 Plasma HDTVs
Screen Sizes 50-inch / 58-inch / 63-inch
Resolution Full HD 1080p
Design Touch of Color™ narrow bezel design with Rose accents
* 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio
* 1,300 cd/m2 brightness
* Natural True Color 18-bit processing
* Black in detail with Ultra Filter Bright anti-glare technology
* DNIe™ Pro (Digital Natural Imaging engine) technology
* Advanced false - contour reduction technology
* Down-firing speakers (20-watts x 2)
* SRS TruSurround XT™
* InfoLink™ RSS for one-touch, on-demand, onscreen access to the news, weather, stock info
* Internal flash memory with pre-loaded Content Library™
* WiseLink™ Pro (USB 2.0), with MPEG 4, XviD, MP3, JPEG decoders
* Entertainment mode
* Built-in NTSC / ATSC / Clear QAM tuners
* Energy Star® compliant
A/V Connections
* 4 HDMI (HDMI-CEC) version 1.3 inputs (3 rear, 1 side)
* 1 side USB 2.0 port (WiseLink™ Pro)
* 2 component inputs (rear)
* 2 composite inputs (1 rear, 1 side)
* 1 S-Video input (side)
* 1 PC input
* 1 Headphone jack
* 1 RS323C connection
* 1 Ethernet connection (for InfoLink™ RSS feature, and DLNA connectivity only)
Estimated Selling Price
* 50-inch: $2,799.99
* 58-inch: $4,499.99
* 63-inch: $5,499.99
Availability August 2008