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A tribute to solitude and community: A review of Tributary
Clair Martin is marked, not only by the "purple-red stain" that spreads across her left cheek and on down her neck, but by being an orphan with a preference for solitude -- inconceivable to the Mormons of Brigham City in 19th-century Utah Territory, where she's deposited at just 6 years old. Valued only as a workhorse, she's passed from shrewish widow to indifferent widower. Then, at 18, Clair decides to take up a solitary residence in an old cabin. "I cooked whatever I wanted. I watched every sunset bury itself in the waters of the Great Salt Lake. I loved my life."
Colorado resident Barbara K. Richardson -- whose first novel, Guesthouse, was a finalist for the 2011 Eric Hoffer award for excellence in independent publishing –– spent 20 years delving into the lives of her Mormon ancestors to craft a compelling story set against a background of racism, sexism and Native American genocide. Clair, who recoils from the thought of becoming a fourth or fifth wife in Brigham Young's polygamous community, flees south, ending up as a laundress in a dilapidated New Orleans hospital amid an epidemic of yellow fever.
"I wanted to run," she narrates, "until the state of Louisiana ceased to exist, with its murdered leaders and hate-filled gentry and fevers caused by nothing you could name." Eventually, propelled by romantic betrayal, she does escape, but only after she's nursed friends through the hideous fever and adopted an orphaned African-American boy. An apostate friend's son has a sheep ranch in the desert, and Clair and her orphan set out west in search of a new life.
The landscape becomes as much a character as the men and women who populate Tributary. As wild and isolating as the determined, defiant Clair, the prairies and mountain ranges seduce both narrator and reader. Richardson has created rich, memorable characters -- the liberated apostate, Ada, who sells alcohol to Gentiles; the exuberant young boy Tierre ("Pee-air! I ain't no Pee-air."); and a wounded Native American mother who offers Clair spiritual enlightenment.
Despite further betrayal and heartsick despair, Clair discovers that her own inner strength offers an option to a solitude tainted by bitterness. Buoyed by trust in other outsiders with a shared goal of simple survival, Clair finds her days joyfully marked by a self-created family and her beloved land.


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Controversial Catholic Cardinal writes on evolution and purpose
Christoph, Cardinal Schoenborn, the highranking cleric who created a flap by pointing out that the Catholic Church does not in fact support purposeless evolution, has now written a book, Chance or Purpose?: Creation, Evolution and a Rational Faith (Ignatius Press):
It is endorsed both by Michael Behe and Owen Gingerich:
Michael Behe, Author, Darwin's Black Box:
"Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn's 2005 essay in the New York Times, which seemingly condemned Darwin's scientific theory of evolution, ignited a firestorm of controversy. Yet the hasty responses did not look deeply enough into the Cardinal's words. Rather than the science of Darwin, it is the philosophical claims made in its name that the prelate upbraided. Science cannot speak of ultimate purpose, and scientists who do so are outside of their authority. In Chance or Purpose? the Cardinal shows that the data of biology, when properly examined by reason and philosophy, strongly point to a purposeful world."
Owen Gingerich, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and History of Science, Harvard University. Author of "God's Universe":
"Cardinal Schoenborn writes with masterful simplicity on profound theological issues. I, as a scientist and Christian outside the Catholic tradition, welcome his wisdom. He argues effectively that there are multiple approaches to reality, and he states clearly that while intelligent design is worthy of human reflection, from a scientific perspective the evolutionary model is the true story."
The above division of opinion suggests that the Cardinal is steering his way through a minefield. The book's sales are respectable.
Incidentally, I wonder what Gingerich means by "the evolutionary model is the true story"? What evolutionary model in particular? That is, does he agree with Dawkins that evolution is without purpose or with John Paul II (and Schoenborn) that it has purpose?
Labels: Cardinal Schoenborn, Cardinal Schonborn, Chance or Purpose?, Owen Gingerich

subset: commoncrawl


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Welcome to the home page of the Media Coach website. Media Coach is a transnational initiative of a number of well known media resource centres in Europe. Due to developments in media literacy (...)
I want to keep in pace with media developments in order to transfer knowledge and experiences.
Without the Media Coach training I would loose contact with the current youth generation. Even their parents don't understand what is keeping them busy.
I want to know what are the current issues children are concerned with.
We see a digital generation gap between children and their parents, media coaches can help bridging the gap.


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Mario Balotelli's prepared for any racism that might erupt during this summer's Euro 2012 competition in Poland and
the Ukraine. Prepared to go to jail, that is, telling France Football he's all too willing to face hate with violence:
If someone throws a banana at me in the street, I will go to prison because I will kill him. Racism is unacceptable to me, I cannot bear it.
Fears of racism at Euro 2012 have been raised by law enforcement concerns after Ukranian neo-Nazis announced threats against non-white players.
Mario Balotelli's done enough work himself to risk involvement in Euro 2012, and his presence alone gives many casual viewers reason to watch—if only to see what crazy shit he does next. Here's hoping the racist thugs are like most cowards: all talk, and no action.


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I have often wondered where lies come from, who invented them and so on and so forth. I even watched the dreadful film by that awful idiot Ricky Gervais but sadly failed to find out where lies came from or in that case be entertained at all but that is beside the point of course.
So where do lies come from? Well I think I have the answer. I got my driver to follow the truck in the picture and guess what lies come from Luxembourg. I would have thought France or Germany both countries and their people have been known to tell some enormous porkies in the past but I didn't think that little Luxembourg could be capable of inventing lying did you?
About the Author
The Cat is one of the most successful feline authors in the history of Cat kind, his sharp elegant wit has produced the bestselling book 'Getting out – Excerpts from a Cat's Diary' and of course the much plagiarised gag of the same name which appears on all of the funniest joke sites on the internet.
Copies of the Cat's masterpiece of feline literature 'Getting out – Excerpts from a Cat's Diary' can be purchased at a bookstore near you or at Amazon.com or at what The Cat calls his www – wickedly wonderful website here www.thecatsdiary.com where you can not only learn more about me the genius Cat but also play my games they are all paw picked by me and have been described as "exactly what free on-line games should be, fun, free and fantastic."
Technorati Tags:
amazon, amazon.com, Best Selling Author, Bestseller, ebook, France, free games, free on-line games, Germany, Getting Out Excerpts From A Cat's Diary, Kindle, my blog, my book, my diary, my ebook, my website, online games, Ricky Gervais, The Cat, The Cat's Diary, www – wickedly wonderful website, www.amazon.com, www.thecatsdiary.com, Lies, Idiot, Luxembourg, Porkies, Porky Pies, This Cat, Author


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Google is testing software that will let consumers get detailed information on how much electricity they're using, which could help households reduce consumption by as much as 15 percent, the company said Monday.
The software, Google PowerMeter, integrates into the company's iGoogle platform, where users create a customized page with lightweight Web-based applications. The PowerMeter is designed to show a granular, real-time view of electricity-consuming devices.
[ Find out how Microsoft is also making it easier to watch your energy consumption: "Microsoft bolsters power management in Windows 7" | Keep up on green IT trends with InfoWorld's Sustainable IT blog and Green Tech newsletter. ]
Although PowerMeter is just a prototype now, consumers will eventually be able to opt in to use it, and no personal information will be shared between Google and utilities, the company said. The electricity data will be stored securely, and users will be able to tell their utility to stop sending data to the PowerMeter, Google said.
Most consumers don't have much data or context regarding their electricity consumption, according to Ed Lu of Google's engineering team.
Google's PowerMeter takes data from "smart meters," or advanced electricity meters and other electricity management devices. About 40 million smart meters are in use worldwide, with that number expected to rise to 100 million in the next few years, Lu said.
President Barack Obama's economy stimulus plan includes investments to put up to 40 million smart meters in U.S. homes.
Google takes data from a home's smart meter and displays it in a graph. It can show the current day's electricity consumption compared to the day before, but the graph can be expanded to get a historical view of peaks and troughs in electricity usage, Google said.
Google also plans to release APIs for PowerMeter that would let other software developers build applications around it.
Google is making a strong push for agreements with utilities on how to standardize the data that's available from smart meters. In a position paper dated Monday sent to California's Public Utility Commission, Google said that "the data from the smart meter needs to be available to the consumer in real-time and in a non-proprietary format."
California has been pushing ahead with Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) plans, which call for new meters that show real-time data well as pricing information to consumers.
So far, Google is letting its own employees test PowerMeter. The insights gained include at least two revelations about the electricity used to make toast and the inefficiency of 20-year-old refrigerators.
"One morning I noticed that my energy consumption was higher than normal," wrote Kirsten, a Google program manager, who didn't give her last name. "I went into the kitchen and found that the dial on our toaster oven was stuck and had been on all night.
"It was already burning and the once white exterior was now brown. If I hadn't seen my energy consumption and known where to look, my apartment could have been toast," she wrote.


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Now that you know how to create your manufacturer's list in PrestaShop 1.5, you need to know how to display it properly on the storefront. This article will show you how to edit the Manufacturers list to display the manufacturers you added in the manner you want. Editing the Manufacturers Block module affects your sidebar display information on your PrestaShop 1.5 storefront.
To edit the Manufacturer's List in PrestaShop 1.5:
- Log into your PrestaShop 1.5 dashboard.
- Using the top menu bar, hover over the Modules tab and then select Modules from the dropdown list.
- On the Module: List of Modules page, you want to click on Front Office Features in the Categories list.
- From the list of modules on the right side, find the Manufacturer's Block and click on Configure.
- There are two options to display your manufacturers here, Use a plain-text list and Use a drop-down list. You may select either one, both, or even neither. Simply click on the green checkmark radio button to enable the option you want or the red X radio button to disable the option you do not want. Once you have made your choice, click the Save button at the bottom to save the changes.
By default, both options are selected. In our sample screenshots, I selected to show the text list but not the dropdown list. You can see the changes below in the Before and After. You now know how to edit your Manufacturers block in PrestaShop 1.5!


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As the economy continues to improve, allowing us to feel a sense of hope that the worst is behind us, it's still critical for business owners to make sure they're making smart decisions about technology. After all, if the recession taught us anything, it's that we must be cognizant of cash flow, and make sure that our purchases are really worth the money and will help our businesses to realize maximum ROI.
The technology industry has held a great interest for me since the early 80s, and in that time, I've learned that some tools are "one hit wonders" and will come and go without fanfare, while others become truly integrated and vital to business operations.
The tools that prove themselves critical are the ones that keep a company running smoothly; tools that provide efficiency, security and convenience. I've come up with a list of three tools that are critical to my company and help things run smoothly around here. I'm sure there are more than these three, but if I stop and think about which tools have helped me the most, these definitely rise to the top.
Critical Tool No. 1 – Command Line Interface
The unique and invaluable command line interface (CLI) is one tool that I can't live without. CLI is defined as a means of communication between a program and its user, based solely on textual input and output. Commands are input with the help of a keyboard or similar device and are interpreted and executed by the program. Results are output as text or graphics to the terminal.
CLIs usually provide greater flexibility than graphical user interfaces (GUIs), which requires the use of a mouse pointer to click on options, at the cost of being harder for the novice to use.
The simplest way I can explain the benefits of the CLI is to relate it to iTunes. There have been occasions when I've needed to edit the album name for all songs in that album. Initially, I thought that I had to select each song individually, type in the desired album title, and repeat this for every track. After a couple minutes of this tedious process, however, I realized that by selecting all the tracks, right-clicking and selecting "Get Info," I could type in my desired album title and each song would be updated instantly. A command line interface works in this same way.
The more efficient CLI is a bit like a "macro on steroids" — a macro being a set of instructions that is represented in an abbreviated format. It's used whenever a large vocabulary of commands or queries, coupled with a wide or arbitrary range of options, can be entered more rapidly with text than with a pure GUI.
A GUI uses windows, icons and menus to carry out commands such as opening files, deleting and moving files, etc. Many GUI operating systems are controlled by using a mouse, although the keyboard can also be utilized with shortcuts or arrow keys.
While a GUI's simpler format is more accessible to new users, the CLI requires a bit more memorization and familiarity in order to successfully navigate and operate the interface. However, once a user has this familiarity down, there are benefits to the CLI that make it, in my opinion, a great deal more efficient than its graphical opposition.
CLI users need only to execute a few lines on their keyboard to perform a task, so they are able to get tasks done much faster than even an advanced GUI user. The CLI interface also enables a user to easily script a sequence of commands to perform a task or execute a program. While GUIs can allow users to create shortcuts, the graphical interface doesn't even come close in comparison to the "macro on steroids" effect that a command line interface has.
I prefer the CLI, but people who are more visual or who prefer a more "user-friendly" system will likely lean toward a graphical user interface. The important thing is to determine the exact task you are trying to accomplish and consider both options to decide which interface would be best for you.
Critical Tool No. 2 – Nagios
Next up is Nagios, which is likely one of the most useful and popular applications out there today. Nagios is a free open source computer system and network monitoring software application. It watches hosts and services, and is a very powerful alerting tool. Its name is a recursive acronym for "Nagios Ain't Gonna Insist On Sainthood," with sainthood being a reference to the original name of the software, NetSaint.
Earlier this year, Linux.com conducted a "Just for Fun Poll," asking Linux users to name their favorite IT operations tool. Nagios came out on top with more than 50 percent of the vote.
It's understandable why so many people love the tool — it's free, powerful and flexible. Administrators at companies large and small are faced with supervising a multitude of hardware and software, and find themselves incapable of physically monitoring each one.
Thus, Nagios is a godsend (a saint perhaps?) to these administrators, by keeping track of all the services in the infrastructure, raising alerts before small issues become large ones, providing a look into the entire system's status, etc. And, although the system can take a moderate amount of configuration, it does this all for free — my favorite price.
Critical Tool No. 3 – VMware
The final critical tool on my list is VMware, software that provides a completely virtualized set of hardware to the guest operating system. It acts as a sort of quick-change artist that enables the user to create different testing environments.
VMware virtual machines are highly portable between computers, because every host looks nearly identical to the guest. In practice, a system administrator can pause operations on a virtual machine guest, move or copy that guest to another physical computer, and there resume execution exactly at the point of suspension.
For enterprise servers, a feature called "VMotion" allows the migration of operational guest virtual machines between similar but separate hardware hosts sharing the same storage. Each of these transitions is completely transparent to any users on the virtual machine at the time it is being migrated.
What I love about VMware is that if a computer freezes up, threatening to lose all of its contents, VMware allows you to save the machine. It's as if it provides a photograph of the innards of a computer and resuscitates the machine back to life — "presto," and you have the old machine back again, running software just like before.
This lets you save various test environments, such as Windows with Word 2003 or 2007 or WinNT Word. These various programs can be installed and running tests in numerous different situations without having to use multiple machines to get the job done, thereby saving you thousands of dollars. Many analogous uses exist, as well, from sales demos to training systems to testing and debugging platforms, etc.
VMware was the long-time leader in virtualization software since its company's founding in 1998. In fact, VMware owned 85 percent of the market share just a few years ago. Now, however, Microsoft is a direct competitor, since it launched its Hyper-V virtualization system in 2008.
A bit of a battle has unfolded between the two virtual machine providers, and more and more options are being created and offered to the public. It is widely debated which virtual machine is "best," but the most important thing for executives to remember when choosing a virtualization system is to consider their needs, and ask themselves what they'll be using the product for. Once needs are clearly defined and understood, companies can do a better job of selecting the best option from the various vendors.
Putting the Tools Into Practice
The CLI, Nagios and VMware are all extremely useful and beneficial to my company. Just last week, an important server of ours went down. Luckily, Nagios alerted our IT guru via cellphone, and he had the server back up and running in half an hour before any of our customers noticed.
We've also combined the use of the CLI with Nagios. When it's time to update our customers' software, we use a script to turn off hundreds of SaaS sites, and also to inform Nagios not to alert us that these sites have been turned off. Without the CLI, we would have to manually turn off each site, as well as manually turn off the Nagios alert for each one. When we finish the update, we use CLI to get the sites up and running again and restart the Nagios alerts.
VMware has saved my company countless hours and money by providing numerous environments for testing, debugging and developing, all within a single machine. These tools provide more than just simplified instruction communication, network monitoring and virtualized hardware. They provide efficiency, security and convenience — and that is priceless in any economy.
Curt Finch is CEO of Journyx, a provider of Web-based time tracking, project accounting and resource management software designed to guide customers to per-person, per-project profitability. Finch is an avid speaker and writer.


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Say you are allowed to use Fourier analysis, complex variables, Euler-Maclaurin, etc., but no complex analysis - no holomorphic continuations, no definition of analytic function, and, in particular, no recourse to the concept that every analytic function $f(s)$ vanishing at $s_0$ behaves like $(s-s_0)$ near $s_0$. (You are still allowed to use that fact for a specific function $f$, if you can prove it for that function $f$.)
How would you prove that $lim_{\sigma->1^+} \zeta(\sigma+it) \ne 0$ ($t$ real and fixed)? All the proofs I know (with or without explicit recourse to $\zeta^3(\sigma) |\zeta(\sigma+it)|^4 |\zeta(\sigma+2it)|\geq 0$ or the like) use the fact that, if the limit were 0, then $\zeta(\sigma+it)\sim (\sigma+it-1)$ for $\sigma$ near 1.
(Motivation: of course, I am trying to present a proof of the prime number theorem with plenty of analytic ideas but no complex analysis.)


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Media Partners
PharmaVOICE magazine reaches more than 46,000 BPA qualified subscribers and 60,000 users with its digital edition. PharmaVOICE is the forum that allows business leaders to engage in a candid dialogue on the challenges and trends impacting the industry. PharmaVOICE provides readers with insightful and thought-provoking commentary in a multiple-perspective format through forums, topics, and articles covering a range of issues from molecule through market. PharmaVOICE subscribers are also kept abreast of the latest trends and information through additional media resources, including Social Media, WebLinx Interactive WebSeminars, Podcasts, Videocasts, White Papers, E-Surveys and e-Alerts.


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Chopin succeeded in doing something truly remarkable with his two cycles of Etudes op. 10 and op. 25, published in 1833 and 1837 respectively. Probably no one before him had composed technical practice pieces that at the same time reached such musical heights. Chopin's Etudes are character pieces that are full of tension, written for the concert hall. The virtuosic works, including long-running hits such as the "Revolutionary Etude" op. 10 no. 12 belong to the pianist's core repertoire. In addition to the two cycles op. 10 and op. 25, our Urtext edition also contains three Etudes without opus number, which Chopin composed for a Parisian piano method in 1840: wonderfully lyrical miniatures, which can hold their own with the 24 grand studies.
- 难度级别 (说明)
- 其他同等难度级别的作品
The editor of an Urtext edition of Chopin's works is faced with the far from simple task of evaluating the numerous original sources, the involved interdependence of which is very difficult to take in at a glance, if at all. Here some assistance is afforded by the recently published work of Maurice J. E. Brown: "Chopin – an Index of his Works in chronological Order", … 更多
Frédéric Chopin
Pianist and composer. His work is concentrated around piano music that enjoys extraordinary popularity and has become an integral part of the concert repertoire. His music influenced subsequent generations in France (Franck, Saint-Saëns, Fauré, Debussy) as well as Smetana, Dvořák, Balakirev, Grieg, Albéniz.
|Born in Żelazowa Wola near Warsaw on March 1. First compositions at age seven, his first public performance at eight.
|Private instruction in composition.
|Rondo in C minor, Op. 1, his first published work.
|Studies at the Institute of Music in Warsaw.
|"Fantaisie sur des airs nationaux polonaise" in A major, Op. 13; Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 8. Travels to Vienna, where he gives two concerts of his compositions and improvisations.
|1829–33 and 1835–37
|Etudes, Opp. 10 and 25 -- a new type of virtuosic etude that also makes aesthetic demands.
|Premieres in Warsaw of his two piano concerti, Op. 21 in F minor and Op. 11 in E minor.
|Unable to return to Warsaw due to the Polish uprising, he goes to Paris, where he will remain until the end of his life.
|Debut concert in Paris to great acclaim.
|"Trois valses brillantes," Op. 34.
|"24 Preludes," Op. 28, in a cyclic succession: compactly-designed short pieces.
|Piano Sonata in B-flat minor, Op. 35, with the funeral march.
|Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52; "Grande Polonaise brillante" in A-flat major, Op. 53; Scherzo No. 4 in E major, Op. 54.
|Piano Sonata in B minor, Op. 58
|Completion of the mazurkas in G minor and F minor. Death in Paris on October 17.


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PollTrack is a new website that combines poll tracking data and written analysis to decipher "what voters are actually thinking and feeling" in the lead-up to the election. The site is not complete: sections are unfinished, artwork is rough, and usability problems involving labeling ("Today's Map Today") have yet to be sorted. But though the paint is not dry, the site's potential fascinates.
The Presidential Race section includes a three-layered map showing current poll averages, projected averages in the coming weeks, and projected election day averages. It's nail-biting stuff.
Commentary by Maurice Berger complements the visual data, explaining what the polls reveal or analyzing the way events in the news affect how the country says it intends to vote. Berger is a cultural historian, curator, art critic, and the author of numerous books, including White Lies: Race and the Myths of Whiteness.
The site needs, and will no doubt acquire, polish. Copy is required to help the first-time user understand what the site is about and make better use of its features. The design feels more like a wireframe than a layout, and the stock photos on the home page are unneeded and poorly chosen. Intended to humanize, they merely cause the site to feel generic—and it is anything but.
But these are fixable problems, and almost beside the point. What matters is that PollTrack delivers insights and information on the most important election in years.
[tags]polling, election, vote, websites, webdesign[/tags]


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Racing a midnight deadline, Congress is ready to renew the expiring ban on plastic firearms that can evade airport detection machines. But lawmakers are sure to reject toughening those restrictions — the latest defeat for gun-control forces in the year since the grade school massacre in Newtown, Conn.
The Senate planned to give final congressional approval Monday evening to a 10-year extension of the prohibition against guns that can slip past metal detectors and X-ray machines. The quarter-century-old ban has been renewed twice and would expire Tuesday without action.
But first, senators were set to defeat an effort by Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to strengthen the ban by requiring that such weapons contain undetachable metal parts. Some plastic guns meet the letter of current law with a metal piece that can be removed, making them a threat to be slipped past security screeners at schools, airports and elsewhere.
"Who in God's name wants to let plastic guns pass through metal detectors at airports or stadiums?" Schumer said in an interview Monday.
The National Rifle Association, which has been instrumental in blocking gun restrictions, has expressed no opposition to renewing the law. But the gun lobby said it would fight any expanded requirements, including Schumer's, "that would infringe on our Second Amendment rights" to bear arms.
The expected rejection of stricter curbs underscores the repeated setbacks for gun-control advocates in Congress since last Dec. 14. On that day, a gunman fatally shot 20 first-graders and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School before killing himself.
Despite that — and other recent mass shootings, including at the Washington Navy Yard just blocks from the Capitol — supporters of expanded gun control are nearing the end of a year in which they have been unable to push any new firearms restrictions through Congress.
"We're several decades behind the NRA," said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. "This is a long game, and it's going to take us some time to build up the resources necessary to compete."
Congressional Republicans have resisted tightening the restrictions against undetectable guns, but those lawmakers — as well as the NRA — have not opposed renewing the current prohibition. The House approved a 10-year extension last week.
Plastic guns were in their infancy when President Ronald Reagan and Congress first enacted the ban against undetectable firearms. But such weapons have become a growing threat and can now be produced by 3-D printers, which are becoming better and more affordable.
Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, says that with the law's expiration at hand, Congress should extend it for a decade and study Schumer's more-restrictive plan later.
Supporters of tightening the rules say the 10-year renewal helps the gun lobby because it reduces Democrats' ability to revisit the issue.
The Sandy Hook killings prompted President Barack Obama and Democrats to make gun control a top domestic priority this year — but to no avail in Congress.
Their most stinging loss occurred in April, when the Senate turned aside an effort to expand federal background checks for would-be gun purchasers, an effort to prevent criminals and mentally ill people from getting weapons. That measure would have required the checks for all sales at gun shows and online — expanding a system that is currently required only for sales through licensed firearms dealers.
Also defeated were proposed bans on assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines.
In a measure of GOP opposition and NRA clout, those proposals never even came to votes in the Republican-majority House.
But with Saturday's Newtown anniversary approaching, Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., a psychologist, plans to announce legislation Thursday aimed at boosting federal mental health programs, including treatment, research and training for workers who respond to emergencies.
The lack of movement in the Democratic-led Senate has left gun-control groups divided about their 2014 goals.
Some are willing to set aside, for now, the push for expanded background checks and settle for more modest changes. These could include strengthening mental health programs and having states provide more records to the federal background check system.
Backing this approach are some Newtown families and the group Americans for Responsible Solutions, formed by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., seriously wounded by a shooter, and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly.
"Anything we can do, anything Congress can do to potentially save a life, one life, they should do," said Pia Carusone, executive director of Giffords' group.
Others want to continue raising pressure on lawmakers to back strong background check requirements, and they oppose aiming for less.
These groups include Mayors Against Illegal Guns, led by outgoing New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an organization that has been spending money against gun-rights congressional candidates and lawmakers. These groups are concerned that Republicans would use votes for weaker efforts to cast themselves as having championed major steps against guns.
"Our interest in giving (New Hampshire GOP Sen.) Kelly Ayotte a vote on a mental health bill, which would be a good bill but do virtually nothing to solve the gun violence problem in this country, approaches zero," said Mark Glaze, the mayors group executive director.
Ayotte voted against expanded background checks in April and has been criticized by gun-control groups ever since.


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Gingrich: EMP attack could end it all
As Washington decides what to do about potential nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran, Newt Gingrich returned to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to point out what he called an equally grave danger: an electromagnetic pulse.
Addressing members of the Electromagnetic Pulse Caucus, the former Republican House speaker from Georgia said the fallout from a high-altitude nuclear blast known as an EMP — which could damage or destroy American power grids and electronics — could deal society a deathblow.
"This could be the kind of catastrophe that ends civilization — and that's not an exaggeration," Gingrich said at an event led by Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), who founded the caucus.
( PHOTOS: Newt Gingrich's career)
Gingrich has long warned of the threat that an EMP attack could pose to the United States, and he says Americans aren't taking the threat seriously.
"The reason I began focusing on this a decade ago is there are very few events you can't recover from. You can recover from 9/11, you can recover from Pearl Harbor. This is really different," Gingrich said. "This creates such a collapse of our fundamental productive capacity that you could literally see a civilization crash and tear itself apart fighting … internally."
A science fiction novel called "One Second After" told a cautionary tale of the doomsday scenario that would unfold if such an attack hit the U.S., frying electrical circuits and knocking out power. In the introduction to the book, Gingrich suggested that an EMP attack would "throw all of our lives back to an existence equal to that of the Middle Ages."
"Millions would die in the first week alone," he wrote in the foreword of the novel released in 2009.
And he told attendees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's policy conference that the U.S. was facing "some catastrophic problems" because of the specter of an EMP attack on the United States, and that the United States lacked a national security strategy to counter those threats. In the May 2009 speech, Gingrich suggested a pre-emptive attack on Iranian and North Korean missiles that he believed could be used to position a nuclear weapon above the United States and trigger an EMP attack.
Skeptics have dismissed Gingrich's EMP alarm-sounding as another one of the "big ideas" that erupted from the mind of the former House speaker on the campaign trail, a flock of ideas that at times included a moon colony and using children as janitors so they could work their way out of poverty.
Speaking on Capitol Hill, Gingrich and Franks argued back against naysayers.
"I just think anybody who tells you, 'Oh, we've got it under control' is by definition kidding themselves," Gingrich said flatly.
And some members of Congress fear the scenario he's hypothesized could actually come to fruition, and they want to see new defenses put in place for the nation's power grid.
On Tuesday, Franks introduced legislation in the House that he hopes will spur industry and government partnerships to address the vulnerabilities of the power grid from an EMP.
"It's known that our grid is vulnerable. It's an invitation. If our grid is not vulnerable, nothing mitigates the threat more than that," Franks said.
Franks warned that increased provocations from North Korea and Iran made it more necessary than ever for the U.S. to prepare for a potential EMP attack
"The real problem is that we have essentially become victims of our own capability, of our own sophistication, where we've engineered our electric grid to the point of great vulnerability," Franks said. "[Electromagnetic pulse] has the potential to be the ultimate cybersecurity threat because it can take our source of power completely away from us."


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Microtel Inns Raleigh properties are listed below. Search for cheap and discount Microtel Inns hotel rooms in Raleigh, NC for your upcoming meeting or individual travels. We list the best Microtel Inns Raleigh hotels + motels so you can review the Raleigh Microtel Inns hotel list below to find the perfect place.
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[Walsin Technology Corporation]
MLCC consists of a conducting material and electrodes. To manufacture a chip-type SMT and achieve miniaturization, high density and high efficiency, ceramic condensers are used.
WTC's MLCC is made by NP0, X7R and Y5V dielectric material and which provides product with high electrical precision, stability and reliability.
a. A wide selection of sizes is available (0402 to 1812).
b. High capacitance in given case size.
c. Capacitor with lead-free termination (pure Tin).
a. For general digital circuit.
b. For power supply bypass capacitors.
c. For consumer electronics.
d. For telecommunication.


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Welcome to your Virtual Library Welcome to your Virtual Library
Access the library catalogue and its interactive services.
You can search our catalogue without being signed in. The simple online service can be used to reserve an item which can be collected from a library or mobile of your choice.
Access Personal Record to renew any books you have on loan or to check the status of any items you have requested.
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|Jedi baby
P.S. These are the links you are looking for. That was my Obi-Wan joke. Alrik made me do it.
P.P.S. Wine is yummy.
CarNatPar timeCalling for submissions for the September Carnival of Natural Parenting!Theme: Parenting Through Play: Oftentimes, some of our most difficult parenting challenges can be defused or handled gracefully if we choose to use play. Think of a situation in your own life where you have used (or could use) play instead of lectures, consequences, or other negative reactions.
Deadline: Tuesday, September 6.
Recent Guest PostsChild-led solids: Sharing soft foods with infants
from Momma Jorje
Astronaut at TouchstoneZThis one's from me.
At Natural Parents Network
- Helping a Toddler Deal with Jealousy and Insecurity
- Handling Physically Aggressive Playmates
- Parenting Gently Through Grief and Loss
- Help NPN with a Virtual Mother Blessing!
- Wordless Wednesday: Learning From Our Children
- MotherMoonPads Cloth Menstrual Pads $27 ARV {9.28; Worldwide}
- NPN: The Natural Newborn Bug Stopper and Body Butter $26 ARV {9.27; US}
- NPN: $50 Tiny Prints Gift Certificate {9.20; Worldwide}


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How to write a letter to the editor: Your letter to the editor of a newspaper can reach thousands or millions of readers to influence public opinion, expose or praise Congressional voting records, alert the public on key issues, correct media bias, and more. Most newspapers and news websites accept letters by E-mail and fax.
Length: When writing letters to the editor or calling talk shows, keep your message brief (letters should usually be 200 words or shorter), easily understandable to someone who is not familiar with the issue (avoid or explain any jargon and specialized terminology because most readers won't understand such terms), and stay focused on one subject.
Topics: Letters which respond to a story or commentary in that paper often have the best chance of publication; and if you email it the morning you see the story, the paper may print it the very next day. You can alert readers about important issues, correct liberal media distortions, and even praise or expose a Congressman's or Senator's vote on an issue in their home state paper!
Take Action: You should take the opportunity to ask readers to take action such as contacting their representatives.
Important note: newspapers, talk shows and other media only want "exclusives," so be sure to send your letter to only one newspaper or show. While it is easy to send with one click your proposed letter to 40 different papers; 'BCC' or multiple addresses on your email will ensure they won't consider your letter regardless of the importance of the message. Send just one email to just one newspaper. Wait a few days and send it to another. If one paper publishes your letter and you want to send it to another, then rewrite it so it is quite different. If you do send it to several and one wants to publish it, be sure to tell other papers it got published if they call, and offer to do a re-write for them that is unique--otherwise you may get "blacklisted" for not giving them exclusives.
Verification: Include your home address and daytime/cell phone number because if the paper is interested in printing your letter, they will need to call you to verify you are the writer; that you only sent it to them (remember they want an exclusive in exchange for giving you space on their page); and to discuss any possible edits they plan to make (usually just to shorten it, correct grammar, or make it more concise).
Newspaper Blogs: Many newspapers have blog-style reader forum sections on their websites, where you can instantly post a comment about a particular news article or commentary, usually located at the bottom of the page for each article. People read these--so use them! Visit such websites often and add the conservative viewpoint to each article, but stay focused on responding to the issue in the particular article to assure your response won't get deleted for being 'off-topic'.
Op-Eds: An "op-ed" piece is a longer commentary on an interesting or particularly timely, in-the-news subject, usually published on the opposite page from the editorials, hence the name. Check your paper for the average length and style of the op-eds they do publish, usually no more than 600 words. Papers prefer op-eds to address hot issues in the news, so write and submit it quickly before the issue becomes "old news." Email, fax, or hand-deliver it to the paper to save time. You can write an op-ed in advance on an issue which you know will be a front-page story in coming weeks (such as an expected Congressional vote) so you will have it ready to submit the day it breaks into the news. Your writing and research should be of high quality for an editor to want to give you this much space on their page. Being a representative of an organization or having a specialized knowledge of the issue can help win the publishing game. Include a brief bio with your op-ed. Getting a well known person to agree to submit it in their name can increase the chances of publishing as well.
Read the Rules: Check the paper's website, or call/email to get their rules regarding letters to the editor and op-eds, such as the maximum length, how often they will print a letter from the same person, and any editorial suggestions they may have.
Distribution: Once published, use it to further boost your lobbying efforts: send copies to elected officials, talk shows, and anyone else who may be of assistance on your issue. Post the text or the link to the newspaper's webpage with your letter on blogs and websites. Save a copy of the web version to your computer as the paper's web page may vanish later. A letter in print enhances your credibility.
The Conservative Caucus is a public policy organization, contributions to which are not tax deductible. The IRS has determined TCC to be a 501(c)(4) organization, exempt from Federal income tax. TCC can receive corporate donations.


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Congrats, Eric !
saby:Congrats, Eric !
Thank you...I really appreciate it! :)
My newest free tracks all live on my brand new SFX - Urban Ambience Page. They are:Street Ambience (1-6) City Park Ambience (1-3)http://soundimage.org/sfx-urban-ambience/They might be nice in urban-based films, games (several of them loop,) interactive novels and other things. I hope they are helpful! :-)Eric
Are you actually sleepless ?
Eric, it's time for me to say a big
IngolfZ:Eric, it's time for me to say a bigTHANK YOU
You're very welcome!
Here are this week's new free tracks:"Dancing on Clouds"_Loopinghttp://soundimage.org/cool-and-mellow/"Still of Night"_Looping"The Streets of Mumbai"_Looping"Sodium Vapor"_Looping"2 am"_Loopinghttp://soundimage.org/urban/"Past Closing Time"_Looping"Closing in on the Loot"_Loopinghttp://soundimage.org/urban-2/I hope they are helpful! :-)Eric


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A word from Gabriel (Mr. Gabe) the creator of mrgabe.com, this fabulous,
award winning website. Welcome to Gabriel's mrgabe.com. I am delighted that you are here. Well now let's get down to business. It all began with a dream, a dream that one day I would be able to share some of my wonderful ideas
and adventures with you... the public... and thus mrgabe.com was born. I have taken advantage of the space on this site to bring you a large collection of photos from some of my many trips and adventures. There is a rather large group of
friends that take some time to travel, and other fun things, as often as we can. I have started only recently, to drag along a digital camera to ease the task of displaying the collections of digital photos available on this website.
Some of the trips include... Cabo San Lucas Mexico, Cancun Mexico, Phoenix Arizona, Miller Genuine Draft's "Solo Con Invitacion" trip to Scottsdale Arizona, and some photos from other small events. Soon I hope to add Mardi Gras
in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil and Somewhere in Europe. I have also recently included downloadable Real Audio Video Clips of various Fun Moments from our Cabo San Lucas trip. My Most Recent addition to this site, I call, Stupid Ass Stuff.
It is the beginning of a hopefully large collection of stupid ass things that I have caught on video. I finally own a Cannon digital video camera (Mini-DV) with a Firewire card so that I can get better quality video files uploaded for your
viewing pleasure and pure enjoyment. If you want to laugh your ass of then be sure to check out my slang dictionary where we recieve over 500 hits every day! Girls, Girls, Girls... Girls Gone Wild and still Girls go wild right here on mrgabe.com!
Party Vacation Spots and Reccomended places to Visit for the hottest girls! In a nationwide study 4 out of 5 Hit Chicks prefer mrgabe.com! dot com baby! Mista Gabe's Guestbook has worldclass entries and is always growing!
Hard up for a bitchen website? Then www.mrgabe.com is the place to click. Plans for the future of Gabriel's mrgabe.com and site direction... I have started to build a collection of problem solving tips and ideas that I personally
have come across or have been momentarily stumped and because of the amount of time that I had to spend in the resolution of the problem and the difficulty of rapidly locating a simple solution, mostly computer hardware and software related or problems
with drivers that I needed to download, I have decided to offer them to the public in effort of spreading the knowledge in a fashion that can be easily located and obtained or downloaded. mrgabe.com offers the fun ability to send anybody a free
online postcard via email. You can also play an assortment of fun online games. Now that you have taken the time to visit my site, I hope that you can take a moment more and add your presence to my guestbook. Need a good laugh?
Take a minute and check out some of the nonsense that I have posted on my Stupid Ass Stuff pages. Need a quick Fix? Check out some of the Hot Chicks that we have taken photographs of on our many adventures. We also have some video
of chicks flashing us from a boat across the water. Are you from the Los Angeles area looking to veiw hundreds of photos of handsome single guys? Do you Party or go to Bars and clubs in the Los Angeles area? Well if you do then you can
bet that sooner or later you will run in to myself or one of my buddies that are featured here on the site mrgabe.com. We spend most of our nightlife in Pasadena, Glendale, Downey, Long Beach, Alhambra, San Gabriel Valley or the San Fernando Valley
and many other areas in Los Angeles. Who is Mr. Gabe you might ask and is that short for Mister Gabriel or Mr. Gabriel? And why is it not mrgabriel? mrgabriel does not flow quite the same as mrgabe or mr.gabe. or even mister gabe and Mister Gabe
Ok I will admit that this site really will solve any real world problems of today but, the reason that these things that I mention above are here, on the bottom of my page is because I felt that I had an unfair disadvantage when in came to lack of
correct and accurate listings in your favorite search engines and this paragraph or so was created in attempt to help correct this. At least I did not just list a bunch of words that have absolutely nothing to do with the actual content available on my site.
San Gabriel Mister Gabriel Mister Gabe Thanks for visiting. Oh yeah, I just wanted to tell you that you are Completing the Found New Hardware Wizard and An error occurred during the installation of the device The data is invalid.
To close this wizard, click Finish. This is a simple problem to correct. If you actually got to this website with the intention of finding a solution to that problem simply email me and I will give you the simple instructions on correcting the
problem that occurs in Microsoft Windows 2000 (Win2K) and Windows XP (WinXP) I am not actually sure of its cause or origin but I heard that it might have something to do with systems that have a GeForce Video Adapter Installed. Funny enough
that I too have a GeForce Video Card but this may have been a coincidence. Also if you are not willing to edit your windows registry then please do not ask me for the repair instructions because you are required to use regedit to make the adjustments.
Ok Well thank you for reading and peace out biitch! 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and beyond!


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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) invites Americans to vote online for the most innovative and promising start-up companies in the "America's Next Top Energy Innovator" challenge. Voting will end at 8:59 a.m. EST. on Monday, February 6, and the top start-up companies out of the 14 participating – based on the public vote and an expert review – will be invited to be featured at the premier annual gathering of clean energy investors and innovators around the country, the 2012 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit, at the end of February.
"Through the America's Next Top Energy Innovator Challenge, we are unleashing start-up companies to do what they do best: create new products, new industries and new jobs," says U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. "We've challenged America's entrepreneurs and innovators to create new businesses based on discoveries made by our world-leading national laboratories."
Americans can view profiles of the competing start-ups and vote on which ones could make the greatest contributions to the country's economic and energy future by visiting http://energy.gov/topinnovator. An expert panel will also evaluate the companies and rank them.
"America's Next Top Energy Innovator" is part of the Obama Administration's Startup America initiative, which aims to create the best possible climate for high-growth entrepreneurs across the country. The companies participating in the challenge have signed option agreements allowing them to license valuable, cutting-edge technologies developed and patented by one of the U.S. Department of Energy's 17 National Laboratories and the Y-12 National Security Complex. Thirty six companies in total have signed these option agreements with the national laboratories. They have done so under a streamlined, simplified application process. Learn more about the America's Next Top Energy Innovator program HERE.
Below are descriptions of the companies participating in the challenge:
7AC Technologies, based in Woburn, MA, is developing Liquid Desiccant HVAC systems for Commercial and Industrial buildings using technology from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. These Liquid Desiccant HVAC systems deliver a 50 to 75% reduction in energy usage over conventional HVAC units. The system consists of a membrane conditioner responsible for drying and cooling the air and a heat-driven regenerator. The liquid desiccant design allows for the utilization of solar or waste heat sources, paving the way for net-zero energy retrofits to existing buildings with costs comparable to conventional HVAC. View a video on the company's technology HERE.
Borla Performance Industries, based in Johnson City, has an option to license a novel, nano-pore membrane technology from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Combining this innovation with Borla's exhaust technology will lead to a low cost, unique exhaust system that will double as an energy neutral device to recover and reclaim clean water from engines powered by diesel, gasoline or natural gas. Military and commercial applications include transport and stationery power plants, marine, cars and trucks. View a video on the company's technology HERE.
California Lithium Battery (CaLBattery), based in Los Angeles, CA, is developing a low-cost, advanced lithium-ion battery that employs a novel silicon graphene composite material that will substantially improve battery cycle life. When combined with other advanced battery materials, it could effectively lower battery life cycle cost by up to 70%. Over the next year, CALBattery will be working with Argonne National Laboratory to combine their patented silicon-graphene anode material process together with other advanced ANL cathode and electrolyte battery materials. View a video on the company's technology HERE.
e-Chromic LLC, based in Boulder, CO, will use electrochromic technology developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to create a new thin film window material that reflects sunlight on demand, making windows more energy efficient while reducing cooling costs for consumers. View a video on the company's technology HERE.
Element One, based in Boulder, CO, has created the only available coatings that change color when detecting hydrogen and other hazardous gas leaks, either reversibly or non-reversibly, to provide both current and historical information about leaks. Element One's patented gas indicators and sensors use catalyzed thin films or nanoparticles of a transition metal oxide to create very low cost sensors for use in industrial and consumer environments, greatly reducing the potential for undetected leaks and their cost and safety implications. This technology is also being integrated for use in refineries, industry gas and fuel cells systems and was developed using technology from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. View a video on the company's technology HERE.
Integrated Dynamic Electron Solutions, Inc., based in Belmont, CA, uses Dynamic Transmission Electron Microscopes (DTEM) to enable imaging of nanoscale objects, such as proteins, thin films and nanoparticles at unprecedented time scales and frame rates. By utilizing a laser-driven electron source, DTEMs are able to produce short bursts of electrons that can form an image with nanometer resolution in as little as 10 nanoseconds. This enables observation of dynamics in material systems that play an important role in a wide range of energy technologies, including battery electrodes, petroleum catalysts, solar cell materials and organisms for bio fuel growth. Integrated Dynamic Electron Solutions uses technology developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Read more about the company's technology HERE.
IPAT, based in Nevada, IA, is using gas atomization technology developed at Ames Laboratory to make titanium powder with processes that are 10 times more efficient than traditional powder-making methods — significantly lowering the cost of the powder to manufacturers. The powder form of titanium is easier to work with than having to cast the metal — where manufacturers melt and pour liquid metal into molds — particularly given titanium's tendency to react with the materials used to form molds. Titanium's strength, light weight, biocompatibility and resistance to corrosion make it ideal for use in a variety of parts — from components for artificial limbs — like those used by wounded veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan — to military vehicle components, biomedical implants, aerospace fasteners and chemical plant valves. View a video on the company's technology HERE.
SH Coatings, based in Dallas, TX, employs Super Hydrophobic Coating (SHC) technology that protects power systems by preventing ice accumulation on power lines in ice storm threatened areas and contamination of power lines from salt on the coasts. In order to successfully utilize and commercialize the SHC technology for this application, tools to apply the coating onto new and existing lines must be developed. SH Coatings is developing these tools with the help of technology from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. View a video on the company's technology HERE.
SynchroPET, based in Shoreham, NY, is a start-up biotech firm with the next generation of PET Scanners, which have superior imaging capabilities to what is currently available on the market today. SynchroPET's technology was developed at Brookhaven National Laboratory and it enabled SynchroPET to miniaturize the typical PET Scanner while improving its image. SynchroPET's technology can be paired with an existing MRI machine for a simultaneous image. These advances will accelerate the creation of new pharmaceuticals to treat cancers, and Alzheimer and Parkinson's diseases. SynchroPET currently has four prototypes built, and each have been used by researchers from labs in New York. View a video on the company's technology HERE.
Teknikem, based in Clinton, SC, is developing a chemical blend platform technology invented by the Y-12 National Security Complex that is known as RonJohn. RonJohn is a safer, more eco-friendly alternative to dangerous chemicals and processes used to strip paints and adhesives from parts and equipment. RonJohn is not toxic, not flammable and not carcinogenic, but is biodegradable and very effective on many plastics, paints and adhesives. Market segments and channels are being developed including the military, aerospace, shipping construction/maintenance, ground transportation, general industry, and consumer retail. View a video on the company's technology HERE.
TrakLok, Inc., based in Knoxville, TN., intends to use an Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)-developed, technology for tagging, tracking, locating and communicating with cargo containers and trailers in transit. The ORNL technology provides an avenue to meet increasing requirements for shipping containers to be "smart boxes" that can be tracked electronically. TrakLok uses GPS technology and satellite communications as part of its tracking and warning capability and international container locking technology to protect against container tampering, theft, vandalism and smuggling. Shipments can be tracked through a web-accessible, information technology-based global tracking system to provide real time visibility of cargo. View a video on the company's technology HERE.
Umpqua Energy, based in Medford, OR, is using an Argonne National Laboratory technology to develop a system that allows a gasoline engine to operate in an extreme lean burn mode in order to increase gasoline mileage. One negative side effect of a lean burn engine, whether powered by gasoline or diesel fuel, is an increase in the amount of harmful gases released to the environment. The company expects to both increase fuel economy and simultaneously reduce emissions with its system. View a video on the company's technology HERE.
Vorbeck Materials, based in Jessup, MD, is using a Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)-developed method for building tiny chemical structures to greatly improve the performance of lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries are rechargeable batteries that are widely used in portable devices such as laptops and power electric vehicles. Vorbeck is using PNNL's method to develop better lithium air and lithium sulfur batteries. The new material in Vorbeck's batteries stores twice as much electricity at high charge and discharge rates as current lithium-ion batteries, and creates increased battery capacity and a longer cycle life. View a video on the company's technology HERE.
Woodmont Enterprises, based in Nashville, TN, is creating a top-coat solution moisture barrier product for oriented-strand board (OSB), an engineered wood product formed by layering flakes of wood, by using technology developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The primary focus is to create a moisture barrier on OSB during transportation and after installation. One net benefit to moisture protected OSB after installation is mold resistance. View a video on the company's technology HERE.


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jazz707 photography
Classic Aircraft Photography incorporating J7 Aviation Media
Photo Journal
Local Airports
Photo Journal
USA December 2016 Part II: USAF F-4 Phantom II Phinal Phlight... The "Rock Star" Retires
Another chapter in the history of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II closed on 21st December 2016, with the final flight of a US active duty Phantom, at the final operating base of Holloman AFB in New Mexico. The honour for this went to the USAF's 82d Aerial Target Squadron (ATRS) Det 1, who had continued the legacy of the mighty Rhino in US service, with its final role as the QF-4 in the Full Scale Aerial Target (FSAT) mission lasting for 20 years.
With the next generation of 'target jets' in the form of the QF-16 'Zombie Viper' now fully in service with the unit, it was time for the QF-4 Phantom to be retired. Indeed,
the first of the next (4th) generation 'target jets' was now on station at Holloman, with QF-16C 85-1562 (QF-013) only arriving in the previous week as the first 'Zombie Viper' to join Det 1, which had now been joined by two others present. For the Phantom, u
pon reaching their Out of Service Date there were 13 QF-4E's remaining on the ramp at Holloman, with seven still in airworthy condition. Those on strength with the unit had been drastically reduced in the final six months of operations, with the first four days in August seeing a large cull, when the unit lost another seven unmanned jets, after being shot down (or 'killed') over the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) operating area. With around 70 QF-4's destroyed over the twenty years in service, that was around a year's worth of kills in less than a week... 'The blaze of glory'.
And so, to mark the historic event the 49th Wing and 53d Wing would be welcoming the public on base at Holloman for the "Retirement Ceremony and Final Flight of the last F-4 Phantom II in the Active Duty Air Force Inventory". Starting with a media day on December 20th, the event began with a brief by Lt. Col. Ron "Elvis" King along with the units other three remaining pilots, Lt. Col (Ret) Jim "WAM" Harkins, Maj (Ret) Jim "Boomer" Schreiner and Eric "Rock" Vold. Todays flights were essentially a rehearsal for tomorrow, and also a chance to catch more images and video, as three QF-4's along with a pair of QF-16's departed for a photoshoot over the WSMR in glorious weather. Returning at sundown allowed for some very special images to be captured, at the end of a memorable day.
Phinal Phlight Day... Unlike the previous day, the weather had started off pretty cold and bleak, with an obvious reflection on the mood of those gathering, to take part in and witness history. Not only a somber mood though, today was very much about mixed emotions, with excitement and even defiance in evidence. It was clear that this day would be remembered as a legendary aircraft 'going out as a winner'. Its quite easy to describe everyone present today as enthusiasts. Period. From the local community that had simply come out to witness something special, to the gathering of international photographers present to recond the event, to the veterans and their families getting 'that last chance' to witness 'that part' of their life, to of course the ground crews and pilots carrying out this final duty.
And so, with the time upon us, the 'Phinal Phour' were cleared to taxi, with canopies open and pilots punching the air, they parked briefly at the edge of the ramp for the final last-chance checks by the ground crews. At this moment (and purely by chance!) another retiring iconic veteran 'photobombed' the occasion, when the very last US Army operated UH-1 Huey departed its Holloman home for the last time. A
s one of the last Hueys produced, UH-1H N670SP/74-22478 had operated over the WSMR for the last 25 years, at the end of a 42 year service with the Army. Along with the other final Army Hueys, this was being transferred to a national law enforcement agency, in this case the Louisiana State Police being the destination, where it will continue to serve.
A week after the final operational mission, this was one of three based here supporting the many tests at the White Sands Test Center. Missions that included being used as a Patriot Missile 'target' to improve the radar system over the years. Quite fitting then that another 'aerial target' was bowing out today.
Now ready for take off for the final time, todays aircraft would be boss-bird 74-1638 (AF-349) flown of course by "Elvis" with back seat 'pitter' being Col. Adrian "Elmo" Spain (the 53d WEG Commander at Eglin AFB), 74-0643 (AF-351) flown by "WAM" with pitter Lt. Col. Brian "Jaws" Swyt (the previous Det 1 Commander and current 53d WEG Deputy Commander at Tyndall AFB), 74-0645 (AF-336) flown by "Boomer" and 74-1043 (AF-338) flown by "Rock". Off the ground in pairs and singles, "Rock" was airborne last with a powerful pull into the vertical, with all four then grouping for a formation pass. Heading off, what followed was a phantastically rare moment, as first unseen the group then proceeded to make a supersonic pass at height, with the four double sonic booms certainly being 'felt' by those on the ground. Not for the faint hearted! With the weather finally starting to clear, this highlight was then followed by multiple high speed passes low over the crowd, before each aircraft returned for their final, phinal touchdown. As a water cannon salute honoured the first aircraft back (followed by a champagne drenching for some pilots!), "Boomer" and "Elvis" continued with their burner passes along the runway, not wanting the moment to end. Then with "Boomer" down for his soaking by the USAF Fire Department, it was of course left to the boss as "Elvis" managed one more 'buner turn' with smoke belching from the J-79's, before back around for that PHINAL touchdown. Taxying in and parking directly outside the ceremonial hangar, the unit Commander was greeted by family as he stepped out of his aircraft for the very last time.
The final event of the day then followed, with a formal retirement ceremony held in front a dignified audience. The short but heartfelt ceremony, in the presence of another of the units QF-4E 'heritage birds' marked as "Col Olds Scat XXVII' (with his four Mig-kill marks from the Vietnam War) was enthusiastically received as several speakers payed homage to the Phantom in US service and the important role it had played in defending the nations interests. One interesting fact being that "no US ground personnel have been killed by an enemy aircraft since 1953", with the Phantom playing a major part in that aerial defence in the previous century. With the reality of closure, the futures of our four pilots today mean that this tight-knit team will be changed. "ELVIS" will continue to fly in the short term on the FSAT mission with the QF-16 until his retirement (planned for June of this year), after almost 25 years of service with the USAF. "WAM" will continue with the unit as a ground controller for the QF-16. "Boomer" will continue flying with the unit on the QF-16, while "Rock" will continue his flying career as a First Officer with FedEx.
In the twilight of the F-4 Phantom II's life, similar retirement events will be seen around the world, as each remaining Air Arm says pharewell. Attended by die hard Rhino fans, respects will be payed to the iconic classic aircraft that grips the imagination of veterans and enthusiasts more than almost any other. The next pharewell is already in sight, with the Greek Air Force retirement of their RF-4E 'Recce' Phantoms in May. The HAF will continue to fly their 'regular' F-4E's for several years to come, while other variants will soldier on in Iran, Japan, South Korea and Turkey for the foreseeable short term'.
For the United States Air Force, taking the Phantom out in a blaze of glory, literally at the end of 53 years of service, was a bitter sweet but honourable way to go, as most devotees would suggest. Doing so provided another twenty years of service thanks to the FSAT role that saw the Rhino out. If not the end would have come so much sooner, by May 1996 when the F-4G Wild Weasels of the Idaho ANG were retired at Boise. But more than just being twenty more years to enjoy the Rhino, the aircraft provided a continued history lesson for young and old alike, at air shows and other public events around the country, such as the annual Phancon event organized by the F-4 Phantom II Society. The sight and sound of the Phantom in the skies and even on the ground drew a very special response, from the 'wow' and intrigue of the young, to the memories and emotion of several generations of veterans and their families. The Spook effect... and to quote "WAM"... "a real rock star".
Report by Kevin Perry for Combat Air Journal, also published in Smoke Trails magazine (Issue 22-2 February 2017), with many thanks to SrA Kenney, 49th Wing Public Affairs at Holloman AFB and Capt Farr, 53d Wing Public Affairs Advisor at Eglin AFB for their assistance with facilitating my media visit.
USA December 2016 Part II: USAF F-4 Phantom II Phinal Phlight... The "Rock Star" Retires
Read More
More pictures to follow...


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Rule #1 - Be Patient - Rule #2 - Don't ask when, if you don't contribute - Rule #3 - You have coding skills - LinuxMCE's small brother is available: http://www.agocontrol.com
Hello everybody. I just heard about LMCE recently, and I just want to make sure that I'm understanding both the purpose and function of it.First off, it is designed to *be* the house, in some respects. It is capable of multiple inputs from such things as security cameras, motion detectors, light control, etc. Essentially, if somebody can contrive a way for LMCE to understand input, LMCE can control it.Secondly, LMCE is user-, house- and media-centric. If I move around in the house, so long as a LMCE front is configured in that room, my session will follow me (is this with tracking devices, or do I need to authenticate at each front-end?). By house-centric, I mean that LMCE is designed to know everything about your house, from lighting, to location, and everything between. This way, LMCE can deliver the best media and control environment for the user. And media-centric because it organizes and displays all your data in a friendly, intuative way.So that is the purpose of LMCE, to my understanding. The function is something I'm not entirely clear on yet.From what I can gather, LMCE is capable of learning about a multitude of input/output devices (or rather, it will be capable of a wide variety; right now the device set is limited). My concern is with the integration. For instance, let's say that I want to completly wire LMCE into my house, from top to bottom. Everything will be controlled by a very capable media distribution system. What kind of options do I have for that? Things I am interested in are typically found in a "Smart Home": full lighting control, music, video, news, food and drink, inventory of consumables. If there is a sensor available to give me telemetry on those variables, could LMCE hypothetically be set up to control them, or at least facilitate control?Another situation, similar to above, is if I decide to network only my bedrooms and living room, but then decide to add a kitchen sometime later. How easy will this be when I'm not using the initial setup?I obviously don't have all my eggs in one basket, so to speak. I keep some of my media on a local fileserver, but the majority of it is available on DVD. For the media that is available on my network fileserver (music, movies, TV shows, pictures), will that be accessable throughout the LMCE network? From what I gather, this would be possible, due to the core/frontend environment LMCE uses.My last hypothetical concern is that of distribution. If I were to use LMCE to run media services in an entire organization, with around 200 computers in the building, it wouldn't be reasonable to expect one LMCE server to provide or administrate content, let alone house services, to that many frontends. Would having multiple cores, say 5, with media content available on a SAN, be an option? I suppose another topic of distribution would be having two locations, be they in the same city or opposite ends of the Earth. Can LMCE communicate with external cores, if it has the ability to communicate with other cores to begin with, and co-ordinate local and non-local content and management? The core(s) in location A would obviously control the security at location A, and B would do the same, but can both locations dynamically send/recieve/share content, if the network infastructure were set up properly?I thank you for taking the time to read through my thouroughly hypothetical questions. I really like what LMCE can do, and it hasn't even matured yet. It will be exciting to watch the functionality and features to grow over time!


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Friday, April 26, 2013
1984 - Anatomy of a cover - Iceman #3
Posted by Jason Shayer at 12:30 AM
2 comments:
- AnonymousApril 26, 2013 at 8:26 PM
I LOVE this cover----this series (esp this issue, I believe) filled me in on a lot of Marvel history--- I learned that the X-men origin from the Spider-friends cartoon was different from the comic books. Also my first look at the Champions. Serious flashback, thanks.ReplyDelete
awesome cover
Hey Starfoxxx, thanks for the comment. It was a fun issue and like you said, a great cover.ReplyDelete
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Posts Tagged 'woodpeckers'
Nine Fun Facts About Woodpeckers
There are birds at your nut feeder with black, white and red. What are they? The safe answer is, it's a woodpecker. Adult males of six of the seven species of woodpeckers in Iowa have some combination of black, white and red, in fact. It might be a red-headed, red-bellied, downy, hairy, pileated woodpecker or Read More »Read More


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G. John Ikenberry is the Albert G. Milbank Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University in the Department of Politics and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He is also Co-Director of Princeton's Center for International Security Studies. Prof. Ikenberry is also a Global Eminence Scholar at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, Korea and in 2013-2014 was the 72nd Eastman Visiting Professor at Balliol College, Oxford.
Prof. Ikenberry is the author of six books, including Liberal Leviathan: The Origins, Crisis, and Transformation of the American System (Princeton, 2011). His book, After Victory: Institutions, Strategic Restraint, and the Rebuilding of Order after Major Wars (Princeton, 2001), won the 2002 Schroeder-Jervis Award presented by the American Political Science Association for the best book in international history and politics. A collection of his essays, entitled Liberal Order and Imperial Ambition: American Power and International Order (Policy) appeared in 2006. Ikenberry is also co-author of Crisis of American Foreign Policy: Wilsonianism in the 21st Century (Princeton 2009), which explores the Wilsonian legacy in contemporary American foreign policy. Prof. Ikenberry has also the editor or co-editor of fourteen books, including America Unrivaled: The Future of the Balance of Power (Cornell, 2002), The End of the West? Crisis and Change in Atlantic Order (Cornell 2008) and Unipolarity and International Relations Theory (Cambridge, 2011). He has authored 127 journal articles, essays and book chapters.
Prof. Ikenberry is the co-director of the Princeton Project on National Security and he is the co-author, along with Anne-Marie Slaughter, of the final report, Forging a World of Liberty Under Law. Among his many activities, prof. Ikenberry served as a member of the Policy Planning Staff in 1991-1992, as a member of an advisory group at the State Department in 2003-2004, and as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on U.S. - European relations, the so-called Kissinger-Summers commission. He is also a reviewer of books on political and legal affairs for Foreign Affairs.
personal page: http://scholar.princeton.edu/gji3
US foreign policy since the end of the Cold War
This course unit will provide a critical overview of American foreign policy in the 20th century and today. It focuses initially on the rise of American power in the 20th century and the efforts to build order after World War I and II. After this, it will look at American foreign policy during the Cold War, the post-Cold War "liberal moment," and current foreign policy, including the Trump administration.


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Tim Curry as Darkness, goblins and unicorns. Very cool, IMO.
Tim Curry as Darkness, goblins and unicorns. Very cool, IMO.
I'd sell my soul, my self-esteem, a dollar at a time...
Futurama Season 3, The Punisher, Clerks X, and Jersey Girl.
Just picked up The Punisher, Resident Evil: Deluxe Edition, and Jersey Girl.
The world ends with you. If you want to enjoy life, expand your world.
I found WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS at Wal-mart for $5.50!!!!!!!!!!
Haikus are easy
But sometimes they don't make sense
"If I were a vegetable I'd be a radish because I'm only kind of rad."
Picked up Angel season 4 and clerks X dvd on tues.
These Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty!!!!!!
Hulk Hogan is Wrestling!!!!
If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do.
Hello Everyone,
I recently bought a copy of Contender's He-Man and the Masters of the Universe- volume 5! These DVDs, are awesome! I wish all Countries had these, avalible, so that all fans would have the opportunity to own these.
Take it easy,
Please, give the Toy Power Podcast a chance: Here we speak with Brian Flynn, owner of Super7 https://omny.fm/shows/toy-power/113-...-power!podcast.
I just bought The Punisher. The best Got Dam comic movie ever!!!
This is my life down here with me
One mistake for which I still pay dearly
Self-reconstruction after a granted wish for annihilation
Don't lie to me and say you'd die for me
What would you die for?
In the last few weeks I have picked up a bunch of the WWE Tagged Classic DVD's, got the following, to replace my video cassette versions:
WrestleMania 1
WrestleMania 2
WrestleMania 3
WrestleMania 4
SummerSlam 88
SummerSlam 89
Royal Rumble 89
Royal Rumble 90
Royal Rumble 91
Royal Rumble 92
King of the Ring 93
King of the Ring 94
Wow I guess you like Wrestling alot!Originally Posted by MastersOfTheUK
I just purchase the Wing Gundam Boxset for cheap Soo happy...
Luck is one of my Skills
[MOTU Albums] [DVD Collection] [Email Skipperbecks]
I got 100 problems, 1 more than Jay-Z
24 year fan and I'm 25 years old, so my entire life has been involved with wrestling, I even wrestled from 1998-2001, but the money was awful and I stopped...but yes, I am a mark for wrestling, although these days, its pretty poor. lolOriginally Posted by Skipperbecks
Originally Posted by MastersOfTheUK
Where did you get these? I'd love to pick up some of those...especially the WrestleManias
Anywho....Got Punisher, Clerks X, and Jersey Girl today
The Tagged Classic WWF PPV's on DVD are UK Exclusives, which sucks for you guys outside the UK, however if you can play Region 2, its cool. I buy mine from www.play.com and/or www.silvervision.comOriginally Posted by Hunter He-Man Helmsley
I bought The Punisher this week and picked up Magnum PI Season 1 for a buddy of mine
Thank you Mario, but our Princess is in another castle.
Aqua Teen Hunger Force 2 pack. Weeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
I just got Clay Pigeons in the mail From Deepdiscountdvd.com for 6 bucks shipped!! I love that site..I also just ordered Mystery Men to replace my worn out VHS version. 9 Bucks shipped!!
Need stuff? I might just have it!
Check out my shop!
I'm always adding stuff!
I'm going to be picking up Punisher hopefully over the weekend!
The Chris Beniot DVD. Great stuff. Extras are much better than the feature, and the feature ain't bad.
I never knew they made a movie out of "Where the Red Fern Grows". I read that when I was a kid, I loved that book. I haven't read it in about 20 something years, but I do remember that the ending was very sad, at least as I remember it.
All above statements reflect my own opinions or beliefs, if these opinions or beliefs conflict with your opinions or beliefs please feel free to ignore any and all statements posted above at your own discretion.
"It's a damn poor mind that can think of only one way to spell a word!" Andrew Jackson
Star Trek original series season one for $80 at Costco...
In the past month I've Bought:
The War of the Worlds
Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
Natural Born Killers
True Romance
Reservoir Dogs: 10th Ann. Edition
Pulp Fiction Collector's Edition
Jackie Brown Collector's Edition
Kill Bill Vol. 2
The Stand
Romeo and Juliet
Moulin Rouge
Foxy Brown
Serial Mom.
This one is wet. This one is wet. This one is wet. Did you dry these in a rainforest? - Eddie Izzard
I bought "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" tonight....
Neil Diamond Greatest Hits Live for my dad.
DISCLAIMER: The above post is not meant to offend, if you feel insulted by it then use the pm button to discuss it with me.
Earlier this week I just ordered a movie from Amazon that I haven't seen in forever.
It's a horror flick called "Chopping Mall".
It's about these people who get trapped in a mall with robots as security guards. These robots blow their fuses and start a manhunt. It's pretty awesome and I can't wait for it to get here.
It's got a "Dawn of the Dead" feel to it, only not with zombie's, but robots.
Late Night with Conan O'Brien - The Best of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog
Beast Wars season 3
I am fire made flesh, power incarnate, I am.... THE DARK PHOENIX!!!
The fire of the Phoenix burns through lies, you understand? The gaze of the Phoenix is like an x-ray tearing through every self-deception. So burn, Emma. Jean Grey, New X-men 139


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Can HR Change? @ChinaGorman at #TSSDublin
I'm at the Talent Strategy Summit in Dublin, hosted by KellyOCG. My friend China Gorman is leading the opening keynote entitled "HR as Early Adopters Of Change?"
HR is seen as a defensive function in organisations, responsible for ensuring compliance in organisations. In the US people go to jail now for breaking corporate law, so fear prevails. The opening slide says:
"Change is not death. Fear of change is death."
Gorman quotes Steve Jobs "There is always change and improvement. This is life in the technology game."
The same is true in HR. Globalisation is impacting on everything even for domestic organisations. Gorman asks the question "Is early adoption against HR's nature?" to answer this we have to look at how HR has evolved.
The evolution of HR:
- Started as personnel
- Time and attendance control
- Admin tasks
- Regulatory control
- Evolved to Human Resource Management
- Behavioural theories shift the focus
- Technology begins to be leveraged
- Repetitive functions outsourced
- Now In The Talent Management Phase
- Focus on strategy
- Thinking and leading
You can tell where a company is at by what they call the human resources function. There are still plenty of Personnel depts about, and that says a lot about the organisation.
Critical to the success of change is getting the early adopters on board and become the cheerleaders.
The early majority follow the champions but are willing to try new things.The middle adopters accept change and go along with it as the change becomes adopted.
The laggards need to be forced.
HR tends to live in the late majority. HR is not known for coming to the table with new ideas. It is interesting to note that the function of HR is fragmenting, between talent acquisition, learning and development etc. There has to be a reason for that. the is that the HR team are being asked not to be strategic, and individuals are trying to position themselves away from the perception of HR as the old Personnel dept. I think this an interesting point for brand HR. Early adoption is against HR's nature, and personnel, but probably not the talent management . There is potential to change, depending where you see the role of HR.
This was an inspiring presentation, and a good indicator of who HR people are in the organisation. Perhaps change in HR will only come by shifting the perception of self. Are you ready for the change?


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Nothing quite compares to the unconditional love a mom has for her children, so we encourage you to spend a little extra time this week thinking about the best way to show her how much you care. Because it can be challenging to find the perfect way to tell our moms just how much they mean to us, we put together a quick list of fun ideas to make her feel extra special by focusing on the things she enjoys most! (It also serves as a great go-to guide to share with dads who may be feeling a little overwhelmed and in need of some inspiration.)
Every little girl loves a tea party, so what better way to make mom feel special than by helping her tap into that little girl again by setting up a tea party just for her? One of the best features of a true tea party is taking care of the dainty details that make it feminine and special. Some materials to help you get started:
Small Plates, Teapot & Teacups:
Check out your favorite thrift store to find un-matching sets. The more vintage they look and the less they match, the better. Having a variety will add some whimsy to the occasion so look for floral, Victorian or dainty blue china patterns.
Assortment of Herbal Teas:
Visit a local tea store like Teavana, to find some exotic flavors that mom has never heard of before. Oolong, Mate Vana, Rooibos, plus the typical varieties like Orange Spice, Chamomile, Raspberry, provide a flavorful variety of choices.
Vintage Vases & Fresh Flowers:
Every tea party deserves fresh flowers. How often does mom have fresh smelling flowers in the house? Purchase some from your local farmers market, garden center, or pick them from the yard if you have some blooming at the time. Fresh flowers can totally transform an atmosphere.
Handwritten Chalkboard Menu:
Write your meal plan on a chalkboard like this. It can be simple with tea, sandwiches and desserts, or you can add more, but describe it in full detail here for a formal and elegant menu production. Remember, presentation is everything.
Tea Sandwiches & Scones:
Make simple cucumber sandwiches, chicken salad, or even PB&J, with the crust removed, or use a cookie cutter to make small round ones. You can also purchase or make a variety of scones. After all, what is a tea party without scones?
If Mom loves nature and crafts, help her celebrate the return of season by making an all-natural birdfeeder. Using some basic supplies from the kitchen coupled with pinecones (or orange rinds) peanut butter, and bird seeds, she'll love the relaxed time you spend together creating something that will also provide hours of enjoyment in the yard, watching the birds come to explore their new bounty.
If mom loves music, treat her to a local symphony, concert or outdoor performance by her favorite musicians. Enjoy the event as a family and dress up, or if it is an outdoor performance, plan a picnic meal with chairs, blankets, snacks, cooler, along with some items (like bug spray) just in case! Think of all of the little things that make outings like this a huge successs (like mom usually does), so that all she has to do is show up, relax and enjoy the evening!
Let mom know she is the star of your life with a movie all about her. Come together for a family project (without mom knowing) and shoot a few recordings of each member in the family sharing their favorite things about mom. Be descriptive, loving and full of gratitude for all of the amazing things she does on a daily basis for every member of the family. Combine them all into a video, with music, using a basic program like Microsoft MovieMaker or iMovie. (Make sure you insert a few clips or photos of her in the movie as well.) Once the video's complete, escort her into the den for a movie preview, serve popcorn, and connect the computer to the TV for a large screen viewing. Don't forget the tissues, because she will surely cry and cherish it forever.
Mom's are pretty spectacular, and we hope these ideas have helped you think of some fun ways to show her just how much you care!
This article brought to you by Mommy's Club, A Healthy Home Company
Views: 545
Wonderful post truly showcasing what it needs to make momma feel pampered on mothers days. Since they are not just fundamental part of our life, but in other words life & blood for us. It is our duty to the make the day special by doing or bringing things, which she likes the most. As she did the same for us when we were kid.


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CRS: Northern Ireland: The 2003 Election, December 19, 2003
From WikiLeaks
About this CRS report
This document was obtained by Wikileaks from the United States Congressional Research Service.
The CRS is a Congressional "think tank" with a staff of around 700. Reports are commissioned by members of Congress on topics relevant to current political events. Despite CRS costs to the tax payer of over $100M a year, its electronic archives are, as a matter of policy, not made available to the public.
Individual members of Congress will release specific CRS reports if they believe it to assist them politically, but CRS archives as a whole are firewalled from public access.
This report was obtained by Wikileaks staff from CRS computers accessible only from Congressional offices.
For other CRS information see: Congressional Research Service.
For press enquiries, consult our media kit.
If you have other confidential material let us know!.
For previous editions of this report, try OpenCRS.
Wikileaks release: February 2, 2009
Publisher: United States Congressional Research Service
Title: Northern Ireland: The 2003 Election
CRS report number: RS21692
Author(s): Kristin Archick, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
Date: December 19, 2003
- Abstract
- On November 26, 2003, voters in Northern Ireland went to the polls to elect a new Assembly, which has been suspended since 2002 because of ongoing difficulties in the peace process. Hardline political parties on both sides of the unionist-nationalist divide surpassed their more moderate rivals, dimming the prospects for restoring Belfasts devolved government soon.
- Download


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Xbox SmartGlass for Windows Phone updated to version 1.7
The last time the SmartGlass app for Windows Phone received an update was way back in January. For that release, we didn't have a changelog and today, we bring the same news. Version 220.127.116.11 is now live in the Store, though you'll be hard pressed to find any new features or changes. Our guess would be that the connection logic was probably adjusted to deliver a smoother experience when linking to the console.
In other words, we can consider this a maintenance update.
The official SmartGlass app for Windows Phone allows consumers to control their Xbox 360 with their Windows Phone device, like a secondary remote, including web browsing and searching. In addition, the app can act as a second screen for certain presentations, though as our recent UFC experience has revealed it's still not being widely taken advantage of by Microsoft quite yet.
If we had to surmise, Microsoft is holding back on a new SmartGlass experience for the forthcoming Xbox One console due in the fall. Like many of the current features on the Xbox 360, the One appears to take those and fully refine them for everyday use. In the meantime though, users will have to stick with the current system, which is a great sneak peek of things to come.
Pick up SmartGlass for all Windows Phones here in the Store. Thanks, Simon B., and others for the tip!
Get the Windows Central Newsletter
All the latest news, reviews, and guides for Windows and Xbox diehards.
Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and for some reason, watches. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.


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3D Model - Retail Aisle 06 - Pets Snacks
Aisle 06 from our complete real-time CVS drug store scene.
Need this model converted,
modified, rendered, printable ... ?
Contact BlueBrain3D and let us know what you need. We'll reply promptly and in most cases we'll be able to get you the top quality model you're after within hours, in whatever format you need.


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National Tree Week 2012
>> Here at Communicate Science, we'll have a series of tree-themed posts to mark the occasion. Stay tuned! <<
National Tree Week runs from 4th-10th March and the theme for 2012 is 'Trees- Our Past, Our Present, Our Future'.
National Tree Week will kick off this Sunday with a series of events in Ardee, Co. Louth at which President Michael D. Higgins will participate in a tree planting ceremony at 12 noon.
There are loads of events throughout the country - check out the website for full details.
Highlights include:
Clare - A guided tree walk in the Burren where there is famously "not enough wood to hang a man".
Cork - A guided walk at the Gearagh Nature Reserve near Macroom - the finest surviving example of ancient, post-glacial wooded floodplain on the River Lee.
Cork - A guided tour of the spectacular Fota Arboretum by Head Gardener David O'Regan.
Dublin - 'In Celebration of Trees' - An exhibition of Bonsai at the National Botanic Gardens.
Dublin - The inaugural National Tree Week lecture takes place at the National Botanic Gardens. "The Once and Future Forest" will be delivered by Dr. John Feehan.
Wexford - A forest walk at JFK Arboretum featuring a description of forest species, forest management, timber uses, wildlife and a demonstration of how to plant and fell trees.
Full details of times, dates, cost (where applicable), etc. can be found on the NTW website.