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On the Work of the First Episcopal Assembly of Orthodox Bishops of North America
by His Grace Bishop Maxim of the Serbian Orthodox Church
Recently a historic event took place in New York: a pan-Orthodox Assembly of the Fullness of God's Church on the North American continent, represented by the Hierarchs of the local Orthodox dioceses. The most important goal of this body is to witness Orthodox unity in a "new world" and to secure a more effective organization of mission, witness and cooperation of the local Orthodox Churches in diaspora.
In accordance with the decision of the Fourth Pre-conciliar pan-Orthodox conference held June 6-12, 2009 in the Orthodox center of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambésy, Switzerland, and at the invitation of Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, the first Assembly of canonical Orthodox Hierarchs of North and Central America was held in New York May 26-28, 2010. Of sixty-six hierarchs of this region, fifty-five were present at this historic gathering.
His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios presided over this Episcopal Assembly, having Metropolitan Philip (Antiochian Orthodox Church) and Russian Archbishop Justinian (Moscow Patriarchate) as co-chairs. Bishop Basil of Wichita (Antiochian selfruling Archdiocese) was elected secretary. His Eminence Metropolitan Christopher of Libertyville/Chicago and His Grace Bishop Maxim of the Western American diocese represented the Serbian Orthodox Church. (The other three Serbian hierarchs here did not attend this historic event because of prior commitments).
It needs to be said that the entire gathering was held in a spirit and atmosphere of brotherly love, in the joy of the Pentecost Feast Day: Greeks, Serbs, Romanians, Bulgarians, Russians, Syrians, Arabs, Americans, and Latin Americans, all together spoke with one mouth and one heart. Discussions about various questions and problems of the "diaspora" went on in a spirit of understanding, while Archbishop Demetrios wisely and capably led the gathering.
One of the topics which was repeated many times as a refrain during this threeday Assembly was the will and the wish of all participants "for the swift healing of all canonical anomalies which resulted from historical circumstances and pastoral necessity."
Along with this the participants emphatically called to mind the contributions of the Primates and representatives of the Orthodox autocephalous Churches gathered at the Ecumenical Patriarchate from October 10 to 12, 2008 to confirm their "unswerving position and obligation to safeguard the unity of the Orthodox Church" (Chambésy Rules of Operation, Article 5.1a). A slightly different view was presented by Antiochian Metropolitan Philip, who questioned the necessity of jurisdictional connections with autocephalous Churches which are, as he stated, over seven thousand miles away and do not have any ties with the "new world". This was an isolated opinion. If there was an opinion that it is only necessary to follow the Primates of the autocephalous churches, or so called "Mother Churches", in spirit rather than in letter, Archbishop Demetrios gave a witty answer: "This would test the distinct American sentiment for independence and democracy." Through this exchange of opinions the participants came to the conclusion that the relatively "young" American Orthodoxy has a need for guidance and help from the "mother Churches" of the Old World, Middle East, Bosporus and Balkan. There is the need for both dependence and a certain independence in making decisions.
During this gathering, and in conformity with the rules for regional Episcopal Assemblies brought forth during the Fourth Pan-Orthodox pre-conciliar conference, the following were established: A registry of canonical bishops (Article 6.1); a committee to decide the canonical status of local communities in a region which cannot be connected with (have no reference to) any of the Holy autocephalous Churches (Article 6.2); a registry of canonical clergy (Article 6.3); committees that will take on the work of the Assembly in addressing liturgical, pastoral, financial, educational, ecumenical and legal questions (Articles 11 and 12); a committee to plan the organization of the Orthodox in this region on a canonical basis (Article 5.1). In addition to the above, it was agreed upon that the Assembly establish and maintain a directory of all canonical congregations in our region.
A decision was also reached regarding the question of SCOBA. This Episcopal Assembly understands itself as the heir of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), and it has taken over all SCOBA agencies, dialogues and other services. Interestingly, the question of the OCA (the Orthodox Church in America, formerly the Russian Metropolia) was not discussed, but it has become clear that its "autocephaly" (given by a unilateral decree of the Moscow Patriarchate in 1970) is understood only as autonomy. Even though the OCA's autocephaly is not recognized by most Orthodox local Churches (including the Serbian Patriarchate), the fact is that her hierarchs at the Assembly enjoyed the same rights and honor as others. The order of seating at the Assembly followed the Diptychs (the established order of precedence of the ancient and newer Patriarchates and autocephalous Churches), so that the bishops of the OCA came after the Serbian and Romanian delegations (a representative of Georgian church was not present at this gathering).
Upon formal petition of the Hierarchs who have jurisdiction in Canada, the Assembly will send to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in accordance with the rules of procedure (Article 13), a petition that the current region of North and Central America be divided into two separate regions, of the United States and of Canada. In addition, upon petition of the Hierarchs who have jurisdiction in Mexico and Central America, the Assembly will similarly recommend that Mexico and Central America join the regional Assembly for South America. For example, Serbian Bishop Mitrophan, who has jurisdiction in both those regions, would become a member of both those Episcopal Assemblies. Canadian Bishop Georgije, on the other hand, will be a member of the Canadian Episcopal Assembly, given that he has no jurisdiction outside Canada.
In open discussions, one could hear opinions on various questions of importance for Orthodoxy: questions of liturgical practice, pastoral challenges, financial aspects, the future of educational schools and programs, ecumenical dialogues, as well as some other legal issues.
It was clearly established that the Episcopal Assembly does not have jurisdictional power; rather it is of a consultative character, although in some questions it naturally has authority (as in establishing and maintaining the previously mentioned registries of canonical bishops, clergy and parishes).
His Eminence Job, Greek Metropolitan of Chicago, strongly emphasized that we Orthodox have a gift of dogmatic and liturgical unity that we already share, and that incidental differences: (customs, liturgical practices, language and similar things) need to be secondary. The fact that this assembly- conference, as every church assembly from apostolic times to this day, has its own controversial points need not discourage us; on the contrary, it should inspire participation and motivation. The use of the English language in services was also discussed, especially the focused on the variations in usage of the personal pronoun when directly referring to God.
in theological dialogue with heterodox and non-Christians was raised, and in the discussion which followed the answer was crystallized: the Orthodox Church, not being afraid of dialogue because it has Truth, enters into such discussions with the deepest conviction that faithfulness to her Orthodox Tradition and active ecumenical engagement are not incompatible with each other, but rather one demands the other.
The Serbian Orthodox Church views this regional Episcopal Assembly as something positive, as is reflected in the Communiqué from the regular Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church held in Belgrade from April 26 to May 5, 2010:
"The Assembly of Bishops heard and approved the following reports regarding the life of the Church over the past year period since last year's meeting: … on the decisions of the Fourth pan- Orthodox Pre-conciliar conference in Chambesy near Geneva in June 2009 on the theme of a more efficient and organized mission, witness and cooperation of the local Orthodox Churches in the Diaspora and on the stand of the pan-Orthodox preparatory commission for the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, held in December of last year also in Chambesy, on the manner of proclaiming church autocephaly and autonomy. In this context, the Assembly especially analyzed the status and problems of the life of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Diaspora and made appropriate decisions."
Moreover, on the eve of the convening of this First Episcopal Conference of Orthodox Churches in North America, in the spirit of Pentecost, His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Irinej sent the Serbian hierarchs in North America his Patriarchal greeting for its successful work and for rich spiritual fruits of the descent of the Holy Spirit the Comforter to come upon all Orthodox in North America, calling them to take a part in this new Pentecostal work of historical significance. In the humble opinion of the author of this article, this conference is an excellent opportunity to clearly define a vision and establish a platform for the future of the Diaspora on a healthy theological and ecclesiastical foundation.
Here it is worthwhile to remember the visionary Saint Nicholai of Zicha and Ochrid, one of the first Serbian Orthodox laborers on the American continent. The most eloquent example of Nicholai's openness and pan-Orthodoxy is his readiness to view the Serbian Orthodox Church in America in the context of the ancient orthodox canonical tradition and the wider, contemporary Orthodox context, as most eloquently witnessed by his words: "When, by God's providence, the time comes for the realization of unity, it will be a joy for many. Undoubtedly, the primates and hierarchs of all of our Orthodox Churches, in Europe, Asia, Africa, guided by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, will show love and understanding, and give their consent and blessing for the establishment of one new sister church in America" (Bishop Nicholai, Collected Works XIII, page 565-572, Serbian text page 573-579).
The appearing of Episcopal Assemblies throughout the world (these gatherings have already started work in Europe) should not be understood pretentiously, nor should they be presented one-sidedly, but rather it is necessary to take into consideration the reality and need for ecclesiastical unity on a pan-Orthodox level in its totality. A correct interpretation of this ecclesiologically and theologically important attempt from Chambésy to accomplish a fuller unity, cooperation and catholicity (sabornost) on the territory of the diaspora only contributes to a stronger position of the Serbian Orthodox Church and to the avoidance of her marginalization in her future ecclesiological formation on the American continent. With this, above all, we must be mindful of the pan-Orthodox consensus expressed in Chambésy.
Participation in the Episcopal Assembly is equally faithfulness to the Pneumatological catholic (saborna) institution of the Holy Spirit who "gathers all into the bosom of the Church " (hymn for Vespers on Pentecost). In this way we show faithfulness to the Apostolic Orthodox Faith, which obliges us to contribute "to this common work of addressing the pastoral needs of the Orthodox who live in our region." By working together through this forum our Serbian Church also has the opportunity to witness to its specific and particular place in the Orthodox family of America.
Regarding the equal dignity and particular gifts which each nation brings the Church, Archbishop Demetrios wisely said: "In Pentecost, we celebrate the call to unity for all human beings through faith and obedience to the one Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. At the same time, however, in Pentecost, we celebrate the refreshing reality of the diversity, wonderfully manifested in the extraordinary fact of the proclamation of the one Gospel in many languages as a result of the advent of the Holy Spirit." Alluding to the reality of Orthodoxy in America, he added:
"As we behold the event of Pentecost, we observe that the multiplicity of languages used by the Holy Apostle in proclaiming the single Gospel is not a cause of confusion or conflict, but a reason for thanksgiving and celebration. The one Gospel does not obliterate linguistic, ethnic, or cultural differences and particularities. The Gospel is clearly a call to unity, but as our history of 2000 years demonstrates, it does not cause an eclipse of the diversity within the Church. And this speaks directly to our case today."
The hierarchs have called the clergy and faithful to join them in these efforts "to safeguard and contribute to the unity of the Orthodox Church in this region and her theological, ecclesiological, canonical, spiritual, philanthropic, educational and missionary responsibility."
The Assembly concluded its work by serving the Divine Liturgy on Friday, May 28, 2010 in the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York. During Liturgy prayers were offered for the eleven reposed victims of the ecological accident in the Gulf of Mexico, for the consolation of their families, and for all those who are afflicted by this catastrophe.
† Maxim
Serbian Orthodox Bishop of Western America


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Rumpelstilskin - Kung Fu C.« Education « Downloads
|January 1, 1970
|114 times
This is #14 Kung-Fu Chinese series Apps by QLL
Immerse yourself in rich language and easily learn Spanish or Chinese, in an entertaining way.
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Looking for more apps for kids
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You and your child are learning a new language together, just by reading a Grimm's fairy tale. Sometimes, you do the reading, sometimes you both take turns. You used to switch the voice reading on and let the program tell you the story but you don't need it anymore because you're learning fast.
Thanks to this powerful app, you and your child are picking up another language while having quality time together, becoming bilingual, simply by having story time on a regular basis.
Storytelling is one of the most effective techniques for learning a new language. It's fun, too. When you read or tell stories to people, you immerse them in rich language in proper context, which in turn leads to higher levels of sophistication in speech and literacy. Yup, just by reading a story the right way.
In this app, you get both English and Spanish or Chinese subtitles and optional voice dubbing to help you with correct spelling, pronunciation and word recognition. The audio and visual presentation of the story is not only cute but also helpful for your listening and reading Spanish skills.
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If you've been hoping for a fast, fun way to learn Spanish or Chinese, you only have to download this app. Do it right now and you can begin to pick up another language as soon as today!
Content rating: Low Maturity

subset: commoncrawl


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Terra Nova just posted an article about a recent change in Second Life that has effectively devalued the property of many SL denizens. The article quotes a lawyer who cites established legal precedent to explain why Linden Lab (developer of SL) may be at legal risk in this (and related) matters. The basic argument: LL gave users good reason to think that some virtual land plots are worth more than others, so LL can be held liable for actions that devalue the land, no matter how many waivers users agree to when playing SL.
This is just one of the many unresolved legal issues popping up for MMOGs, and especially MMORPGs. I couldn't find a good, succinct list online, so I've compiled one:
- What happens when one player steals another player's property?
- What happens when players generate content that infringes upon the copyrights or trademarks of real-world companies? (Here's an example other than City of Heroes). For that matter, what happens when one player copies another player's work? Can they sue each other, and/or the developer?
- What happens when players (especially underage players) engage in "legally indecent" acts? Can EA (developer of Sims Online) be sued for letting a ten-year old operate a virtual brothel? Can it be sued by players who suffer real financial damages at the hands of a virtual mafia?
- Can developers be sued for impeding free market forces that generate real monetary value for players? (An especially interesting question, given that those forces are the key to many other potential liabilities on this list).
- What forms of gambling are permissable in an MMOG? Is it really legal for me to play slots in Second Life, given that SL currency has real world value?
- Do players have a right to free speech and expression? Can game EULAs contain (and developers enforce) a morals clause, like those in some employment contracts?
- At what point (if any) does a developer become liable for failing to prevent players from harrassing other players? What constitutes sexual harrassment?
- If virtual property has tangible value, how badly does a player need to violate a game's EULA before a developer may evict them… without compensation for their virtual property?
- Can players use legal means to prevent the deactivation of an MMOG, or to force developers to open source a game prior to deactivation? (i.e. to protect the value of their property?)
I wonder how long it will be before the first in-game court system pops up in an MMOG….
PS. If I've missed any notable legal demons, don't hesitate to comment.


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One of the best parts of being a photographer is that you often pick up on little hints. A friend can't help but share a bigger smile! And then she confides that she may receive a ring soon. I couldn't be happier for my friend! Her favorite color is purple and his is blue. I […]
Posts tagged 'Norlyn Manor wedding ceremony'
Congrats to Catt and Pat!
August 17th, 2019


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For the past nine months I've been working with Brown Dog Gadgets on a number of projects. It's been mostly kits for the educational market, and I've done a lot of design work, and a bit of electronics prototyping, as well as writing code and lending a bit of advice about marketing. The most recent project is The Badger, a waterproof USB solar charger.
You may remember that two years ago Josh launched a campaign for solar chargers and it did pretty well. Since then he's taken feedback and requests from customers and came up with The Badger, which offers a number of improvements, mainly the waterproof qualities, but it's also a damn tough panel! We've run it over with a car, dropped a bowling ball on it, and shot at it with a gun. Oh, it also sat it water for two days, and worked just fine when we pulled it out.
Why am I telling you all of this? Well, if you need a solar panel for any outdoor activity, these are pretty awesome. And, if you back the project, not only will you get a great charger, you will help fund my work. Yes, that's right. Josh and I have a few projects we'd love to launch, but they depend on this Kickstarter campaign being successful. The more successful the campaign is, the more we can produce. What will we be creating? It may be programmable drawing machines, or creative robotics projects, or some combination of those (or something else.) Whatever is it, it will inspire kids (and adults) to learn and be creative and have fun.
So yes, get yourself a panel, or a power bank, or just toss a few bucks our way, and we'll start cranking out some interesting kits. That's the plan. Check out the video below, or head right to the Kickstarter page.


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Prior to E3, as details of the next Wii were becoming clear, I had a dream that I could play the games on Nintendo's next console in my bathroom.
The idea is that the Wii 2—which we now know will be called the Wii U—can stream games that normally run on your TV onto the controller's 6.2-inch screen. No longer would you have to stop gaming just because your TV was no longer available. The Wii 2, I dreamed, would be the game console that would let me keep gaming, using the controller's screen, while taking a bathroom break!
I dreamed too ambitiously, it seems.
"I don't know how far away your bathroom is," Nintendo's Katsuya Eguchi told me, as I bothered the lead creator of the Animal Crossing series and of several upcoming Wii U projects with my bathroom brainstorm.
I suggested that he stop by my house to see, which he laughed in a manner that allowed me to feel as if he was amused by my response and not creeped out by it.
I clarified: Can we use the Wii U controller to run a game even if we've stepped away from the TV?
"The thought is you'll be playing in the same room that the base console is in," he said. And, sure enough, Eguchi's Wii U demos, multiplayer shorts like Chase Mii and Battle Mii are quite fun when you're playing in the same room as your opponents, the rest of whom use Wii Remotes and the TV, while you play off of the controller.
So, unless you move your console into your bathroom or move your toilet into your living room—and why not, considering the Kinect required us to rearrange our couches?—there will be no Wii U gaming on the toilet. At least none confirmed. Naturally, I'll still try it. I'll stretch that wireless streaming through my living room wall, if I can. And if you get a Wii U, I'm sure you will as well.
I'll have more from Eguchi on the Wii U in the coming days...


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The community has spoken in favor of Curren Price by electing him 9th District councilman. Price led over his opponent, Ana Cubas, by 53.55 percent of the vote. For over five decades, the 9th District has been represented by the best in the African American community. The late Gilbert W. Lindsay represented the 9th as councilmember from 1962–1990, followed by Rita Walters, who served from 1991-2001 and Jan Perry, who started her term in 2001 and recently termed out. Now, Price joins in a distinct legacy as he enters the 9th District seat.
As Price refers to the district, "The New Ninth" will be an example of true change. He knows the issues and has plans on addressing them.
"I am very familiar with the opportunities and obstacles that exist in this district, almost one-third of which is in the 26th Senate District, which I now represent," he told the Sentinel in an earlier interview.
Backed by influential politicians such as City Council President Herb Wesson, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and by former 9th District City Councilmember, Jan Perry, Price comes highly recommended for the job.
Having served a full term in the California State Assembly from 2006 to 2008, he began representing the 26th District after he won the election in 2009 and was re-elected in 2010.
He has been a champion for workers across the board supporting unions vital to the economy in California. Price has also been a staunch advocate for public education.
Affordable healthcare was a cornerstone in his campaign, making sure all parties are supported and represented. He has put forth legislations ensuring vital services remain in hospitals and that the public is made aware of important notifications.
Price has been one of the more vocal proponents of keeping small businesses up and running by helping to implement policies that spark economic growth. He chairs the Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee, which regulates legislation in relation to businesses, professional services and international trade.
He previously served on Governmental Organizations and Local Government. Price serves on more than 10 Select Committees focusing on major issues and opportunities confronting California including: Appropriations, Banking, Finance and Insurance, Education, and Public Safety. He chairs the Joint Legislative Committee on the Arts and the Legislative Black Caucus.


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About us
SABCA is an important Belgian aerospace company integrated in a large international Group. SABCA and its subsidiary SABCA Limburg contribute actively to the success of numerous space and aircraft programs like the Ariane space launcher, the Airbus jetliners and Dassault business jets. The company's activities include design, fabrication, assembly and testing of large structural elements, powerful thrust vectoring systems, specific software en electromechanical components. Our Charleroi plant overhauls and upgrades military aircraft and helicopters, giving them a new life with state-of-the-art capabilities.
SABCA is constantly in line with the evolution of the aeronautical and space markets, investing in new technologies like high speed machining, automatic riveting, advanced composite manufacturing and modern mechatronics developments.
Each of these programs is a challenge to excellence in a particularly motivating technological environment. Our collaborators display a real sense of responsibilities and fully invest themselves in their work. Respect of quality requirements, team work and close links with our customers are the keys to our success.
Sorry, we couldn't find any job opportunities at the moment. Please check again later.


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10 healthiest fast food restaurants
Our friends at Health.com surveyed the nation's 100 largest fast food chains, as defined by the number of locations, and found that many are creating menus that look more and more like what we'd cook ourselves (if we had the time) - from nutritious soups and healthy salads to fresh whole grains and sensible desserts. Even better: They're offering good-news Mexican, Asian, and Mediterranean fare.
More from Health.com: America's healthiest mall food
How we did itUsing criteria that was created with the help of our expert panel, we scored the chains on such factors as the use of healthy fats and preparations, healthy sodium counts in entrees, availability of nutritional information, and the use of organic produce to determine the 10 highest-ranking restaurants.
One big surprise: A traditional fast food chain, McDonald's, cracked our top 10. Sure, it's the home of the Big Mac, but did you know it also serves a mean yogurt-and-granola parfait? Here, the standouts that are making grabbed food healthy food.
More from Health.com: America's healthiest mall food
No. 1 Panera BreadOver 1,230 locations nationwide (and in Canada)
This bakery-cafe-based eatery wowed our judges with a comprehensive menu of healthy choices for every meal.
Panera also won top honors for kid fare, dishing out RD-approved crowd-pleasers like squeezable organic yogurt, PB&J (with all-natural peanut butter), and grilled organic cheese on white whole-grain bread.
We love: Delicious, nutrient-packed combos like a half-Turkey Artichoke on focaccia bread with a bowl of black bean or garden vegetable soup.
Danger zone: Sticky buns and cheese danishes are on display at the counter.
More from Health.com: America's healthiest mall food
No. 2 Jason's Deli206 locations in the West, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, South
How did this up-and-comer snag second place? Largely because of its devotion to organic food: About one-fifth of all Jason's Deli ingredients are organic. Plus, its creative salads - like the Nutty Mixed-Up Salad - make you actually want to order the greens.
Our judges applauded the portion-control option: Reduced sizes of items, say, a stuffed baked potato, are $1 less. Jason's menu also highlights ultrahealthy sandwiches and provides the nutritional info.
We love: Being able to build any sandwich on an organic whole-wheat wrap.
Danger zone: High-sodium counts on some sandwiches; if sodium is a concern, stick to the ultrahealthy choices.
More from Health.com: America's healthiest mall food
No. 3 Au Bon Pain280 locations nationwide
A pioneer in healthy fast food, Au Bon Pain serves up sandwiches, soups, salads, and hot entrees made with whole grains, veggies, and hormone-free chicken.
One impressive feature: Au Bon Pain provides on-site nutritional information via computer kiosks, so before you even order you know each option's calories, fat, and sodium. "It's a great way to empower customers," praises judge Amy Jamieson-Petonic.
We love: Yummy low-cal soups, from Jamaican Black Bean to Fire Roasted Exotic Grains and Vegetables.
Danger zone: The sodium counts can get high if you don't pay attention.
More from Health.com: America's healthiest mall food
No. 4 Noodles and Company204 locations in West, Midwest, South
Noodles and Company isn't your typical greasy Asian food-court joint. In fact, it goes beyond Asian fare and cuts out the grease (only healthy soybean oil is used in sauteing). Here, you choose from three food types: Asian, Mediterranean, or American, then within each style, pick from four noodle bowl options. Lean proteins - hormone - and antibiotic-free chicken, beef, shrimp, and organic tofu - can be added, too.
We love: The whole-grain linguine - usually hard to find when eating out.
Danger zone: The desserts. The only options are two kinds of cookies and a Rice Krispy Treat bar that checks in at 530 calories and 19 grams of fat!
More from Health.com: America's healthiest mall food
No. 5 Corner Bakery Cafe111 locations in West, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, South
What sets Corner Bakery apart? A fantastic breakfast menu, which is rare in the quick-serve world. We love the Farmer's Scrambler: eggs scrambled with red and green bell peppers, red onion, mushrooms, potatoes, and Cheddar cheese. (It's only 260 calories when ordered with egg whites.) There's also Swiss oatmeal, a chilled European breakfast cereal made with rolled oats, green apples, bananas, currants, dried cranberries, low-fat yogurt, and skim milk.
We love: Healthy oven-roasted chicken that comes on most pastas and salads.
Danger zone: You have to go to their website to get nutritional info.
More from Health.com: America's healthiest mall food
No. 6 Chipotle800+ locations nationwide
Buffet-style Chipotle gives every customer complete control over her burrito, taco, or salad. (Take that, Taco Bell!) And you get to build it with fresh, local ingredients. In fact, Chipolte won high marks for its commitment to organics, hormone - and antibiotic-free meats, and produce sourced from local suppliers, which is revolutionary in a chain this big. Many of its entrees can be low-sodium, if you choose add-ins such as the fajita veggies and green tomatillo salsa.
We love: Burrito Bowls, which let you skip the tortilla - and the extra carbs.
Danger zone: The dark side of a buffet is that you can go wild. So you have to go light on cheese and sour cream.
More from Health.com: America's healthiest mall food
No. 7 Atlanta Bread106 locations in 24 states (Southeast, West, and North)
Someone at Atlanta Bread must be a Seinfeld fan: There are muffin tops (half the size of regular muffins) on its breakfast menu - the low-fat pumpkin muffin top has only 200 calories, compared with 320 to 640 calories for regular-size muffins. But this chain's got more going for it than skinny muffins. This innovative bakery also features whole-grain bread, fresh sandwiches (including paninis), and hearty, healthy soups and salads. It earned high marks for great sides, too, including its fire-roasted black bean and corn salad.
We love: The entree salads like Salsa Fresca Salmon Salad: grilled wild Alaskan salmon filet on greens with fire-roasted black bean and corn salsa and a pineapple-mango vinaigrette.
Danger zone: Pasta entrees at some locations are offered with bread ... that's a whole lotta carbs!
More from Health.com: America's healthiest mall food
No. 8 McDonald's14,000 locations nationwide
Among the big burger-based chains, McDonald's is leading the way in overhauling its menu to offer more heart- and waist-friendly fare. Take the Happy Meals, which you can order with a side of apple dippers (with low-fat caramel) instead of fries and low-fat milk or fruit juice instead of soda. (Now the trick is just getting your kid to go for them!) And if you've gotta have fries, those at McDonald's are made in a healthy canola-blend oil and come in at just 230 calories for a small order.
Our whole panel commends McDonald's for spelling out the nutritional information right on the back of its tray liners.
We love: The chain's 260- to 270-calorie Snack Wraps (choose grilled chicken) for protein without a lot of unwanted carbs.
Danger zone: Although McDonald's made our list, this is still the land of supersizing and giant sodas. It's up to you to request a small.
More from Health.com: America's healthiest mall food
No. 9 Einstein Bros. Bagels649 locations nationwide
Okay, we all know that bagels are pretty high-carb, but slathering cream cheese or butter on them is what really gets you into trouble. No worries at this chain: Einstein Bros. offers healthier alternatives like reduced-fat shmears, hummus, and peanut butter - a great way to add healthy fat to breakfast (or lunch). It also serves a Good Grains bagel that has an impressive 4 grams of fiber.
In the mood for a salad? You can order any in a half-size. For kids, our panel of judges gave a thumbs-up to the bagel dog (picture a Pig-in-a-Blanket with bagel-style bread as the "blanket") and a fruit salad upgrade.
We love: The high-fiber Veg Out on a sesame seed bagel.
Danger zone: "Overstuffed" size sandwiches are a calorie nightmare.
More from Health.com: America's healthiest mall food
No. 10 Taco Del Mar270 locations in 22 states
You may have noticed that Baja-style Mexican cuisine - think: fresh ingredients and fish instead of beef and chicken - is a growing trend. Whole grains are easy to get here, with whole-wheat tortillas available as an alternative in burritos. The chain gets high marks for its new 320-calorie chicken burrito, available at most locations. Our judges were also impressed that Taco Del Mar banned lard from its beans and bakes its fish and taco shells instead of frying them.
We love: The 460- to 555-calorie Mondito-size burrito, which fills you up but keeps fat and sodium in check.
Danger zone: The breakfasts. In particular, steer clear of the Mondo Breakfast Burritos, which are more than 1,000 calories.
More from Health.com: America's healthiest mall food


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Showlight is a portfolio and photography template. It has a modern and elegant look.
Showlight includes high quality HTML5 and CSS3 code and is optimized for search engines.
In the download you will find 19 easily-customizable HTML files for each color scheme.
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text: LOL @ Typo in red below... The man who 'nearly broke the internet' The day Sven Olaf Kamphuis parked his huge orange Mercedes van with its German numberplates outside Bar Javis, in the Catalan town of Granollers, the owner's son snapped a picture with his mobile phone. "Not a lot happens in this street," Maria Cruz, the bar's owner, explained. "And it was so huge, with all those funny antennas and solar panels poking out of the roof, that it blocked the light to the bar." Even stranger was the 35-year-old Dutch man who parked it in this narrow street after renting a small attic flat with windows made of glass blocks in the poorer end of this nondescript town 15 miles from Barcelona. Even on hot early summer days, Kamphuis wore a woollen hat. And he spoke no Spanish, answering "yes, yes" in English to everything people from this friendly neighbourhood said to him. Sven Olaf Kamphuis Sven's van Kamphuis, 35, is one of the most controversial characters in the murky world of spam and hacking – deemed the internet's public enemy number one by some, though others believe his reputation has been blown out of proportion by the grandstanding of his foes. Capable of rigging up sophisticated computer systems anywhere, including the back of a van, he allegedly masterminded a flurry of March internet attacks that the security company CloudFlare claimed "almost broke the internet", plunging the world into digital darkness. When Spanish and Dutch police arrested him they found the flat occupied by a tangle of cables and computer gear. A copy of the science fiction writer Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver lay on the unmade bed. Kamphuis displayed a Napoleonic sense of grandeur. "He claimed he had diplomatic status," said the Spanish police officer who led the operation, but asked not to be named. "He said he was the telecommunications minister and foreign minister of a place called the Cyberbunker Republic. He didn't seem to be joking." "The request to arrest him came from the Netherlands," said the police officer, who heads the cybercrime unit in Barcelona. "But Britain, the United States and Germany were all affected by the massive denial of service attacks that he launched. "The van was fitted out as a mobile office from which he could launch his attacks. Amongst other things we found the IP addresses of his targets and that is part of the evidence we are sending to the Netherlands." Kamphuis has yet to be tried, but Spanish police believe they know his modus operandi. "He brought together hackers from around the world to launch the attacks. It is obviously not all over yet, because the Dutch have been under attack again in recent days – presumably as revenge by his friends. "Some of them have networks of zombie computers, having spread viruses that let them control others people's computers. They all agree to launch the attack and they do millions of requests to the server at the same time." The result was what the New York Times called an attack of previously "unknown magnitudes", producing a 300bn-bits-per-second data stream that targeted the British and Swiss-based anti-spam operator Spamhaus and its allies. This had reportedly blacklisted his CB3ROB/Cyberbunker company, which claims its servers are housed in an old Nato nuclear bunker near Rotterdam, for hosting hundreds of spam and malware websites. Kamphuis happily claimed to be punishing Spamhaus for "abusing their influence". "Nobody ever deputised Spamhaus to determine what goes and does not go on the internet," he told the New York Times in an angry message. He later denied involvement. "We want to be absolutely clear that the DDoS [distributed denial of service] attacks are not and have not ever been orchestrated within CB3ROB/CyberBunker, nor are they conducted under the supervision of Sven," he wrote on his Facebook page. But the huge number of spammers he hosts has led even hacktivists sympathetic to his pro-Pirate party, Anonymous and Julian Assange's stance to question his real activities. Several other mysteries remain. If this was one of the most successful spammers in history, why was he living in a squalid flat and a camper van? "If you get paid a few cents for each spammed email and you send out million emails every day, then you can make a lot of money," said the Spanish police chief. Kamphuis certainly did not behave like a criminal on the run. "He seemed too relaxed to be a crook," said Cruz. "And he certainly didn't hide away. He had even written his name on the letterbox." "He wasn't really trying to hide," agrees the Spanish police chief. "I think he thought that we wouldn't track the attacks to him or that we would leave him alone because he was not attacking Spanish targets." His attacks were widely reported to have slowed the entire internet down, but internet speed trackers such as Internet Traffic Report barely registered a blip. Some point to publicity-seeking grandstanding by CloudFlare, an internet security company called in to protect Spamhaus. It claimed this was "the DDoS [attack] that almost broke the internet". "The record-breaking attacks were initially directed at Spamhaus infrastructure such as websites, mailservers and nameservers. Then, over the course of the following two weeks, the attacks escalated to targeting Spamhaus's supporting networks and services including various internet exchanges," Spamhaus's British founder Clive Linford said on his blog, describing the attacks that started in the middle of March. "While the DDoS caused disruptions to our organisation and its hosts and partners, the flow of the Spamhaus anti-spam data that protects over 1.7bn mailboxes worldwide was never interrupted." Kamphuis was last week taken to the Netherlands – a country that recently announced plans to let police hack into computers located abroad, installing spyware, reading emails and deleting files. He is being held in jail while investigators decide what charges to bring. A spokesman for the Dutch public prosecutor's office said he would appear before a court in Rotterdam again this week to have bail conditions reviewed after the "unprecedented heavy attacks" on Spamhaus and its partners in the US, Netherlands and Great Britain. Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/may/20/man-accused-breaking-the-internet


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The Cricket Without Boundaries Trust was established in April 2005 by founder-trustees Andy Hobbs, Chris Kangis and Ed Williams. It is a registered charity in the UK, number 1111316, operating under the name of Cricket Without Boundaries ("CWB").
CWB has three main goals:
- To spread cricket through coaching children and teaching adults how to coach; and
- To link the sport to HIV/AIDS awareness and incorporate these messages into coaching sessions.
- To bring together and empower local communities through cricket.
Working in partnership with the Cricket Associations in each country, the relevant British High Commissions and the ICC, we follow a simple, 3 stage, sports development structure to try to ensure some form of sustained development of the game: 1) coach education; 2) Schools coaching, and 3) Tournament.
Our coach education takes the form of teaching the adults the basics of cricket through the ICC's Introduction to Cricket course (which includes coaching, umpiring and scoring) as well as for moredeveloped coaches delivering the ICC's level 1 and 2 awards. We try to link our coaching in with each National Cricket Association's existing development plans. In 2008 we signed a memorandum of understanding with Rwanda Cricket Association, committing to 5 years of support from CWB if the RCA meets it's own development goals.
Visit the main Cricket Without Boundaries website


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PHILADELPHIA — Roy Halladay appears headed to the disabled list, and the Philadelphia Phillies can only hope the discomfort he feels in his right shoulder is nothing serious.
Halladay was roughed up Sunday by the Miami Marlins in a 14-2 defeat, his second poor outing in a row. After the game, the two-time Cy Young Award winner acknowledged he has been pitching with a sore shoulder. He said he will have tests this week in Los Angeles and be examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum.
"It's not something that I had before," Halladay said. "It's something new this year. I felt good all spring. I had soreness in there and just wasn't able to get rid of it."
Halladay, who turns 36 this month, made a statement but did not take questions from reporters. He has struggled through seven starts this season, going 2-4 with an 8.65 ERA.
The right-hander said he started feeling discomfort the morning after an April 24 outing against Pittsburgh. He has made two ineffective starts since.
"I woke up and didn't really think anything of it, just regular soreness," Halladay said. "It has kind of progressed over the last two weeks or so."
Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said the team's former ace will likely be placed on the disabled list.
Miami rookie Adeiny Hechavarria hit a grand slam and a bases-loaded triple off Halladay, who had his worst start since his own rookie season with Toronto in 1999.
The eight-time All-Star left after giving up nine runs on four hits, four walks and two hit batters in 2 1-3 innings. He also threw a pitch behind a batter.
Halladay (2-4) has given up at least five earned runs in four of his seven starts this season.
"I have a hard time watching him struggle," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "Usually when he's on, he has great location. That's the kind of pitcher he is."
Kevin Slowey (1-2) pitched seven shutout innings for his first win since September 2010. He allowed two hits while striking out seven and walking two.
Slowey had been winless in 22 major league appearances, including 15 starts. His previous victory came on Sept. 18, 2010, as a starter for the Minnesota Twins.
"I'm really thankful for the opportunity to get a win," Slowey said. "When you don't have a win since 2010, you're thankful to still get the ball every fifth day."
Hechavarria tied a club record with seven RBIs.
Justin Ruggiano homered twice off Philadelphia relievers, and rookie Marcell Ozuna went 3 for 4 with two doubles and three RBIs for the Marlins, who set a season high for runs. The output by the league's worst offense was surprising — especially against Halladay.
"To jump on Halladay like we did was big," Miami manager Mike Redmond said. "We were able to capitalize on his mistakes. He didn't look like the same guy we've seen over the years. He usually doesn't make mistakes."
Halladay, who has the most complete games (67) and shutouts (20) of any active pitcher, had 35 wins since Slowey's last one. But he hasn't resembled that pitcher for most of this season. Following Tuesday's poor outing in which he allowed eight runs on nine hits in 3 2-3 innings of a 14-2 loss to Cleveland, Halladay continued the troubling trend against Miami.
The Phillies have been outscored 28-4 in his last two starts.
Halladay helped the Marlins in the first with three walks and a hit batter. With the bases loaded, Ozuna put Miami on the board with a two-run double. Umpires reviewed the play to see if it was a home run but upheld the call on the field that the ball hit the top of the wall. After Halladay walked Greg Dobbs to load the bases again, Hechavarria, who entered batting .169, cleared them with a triple to right.
After a 1-2-3 second inning that featured two strikeouts, Halladay's struggles resumed in the third. He opened the inning by hitting Ruggiano with a pitch for the second time in the game. It was the fourth hit batter of the season for Halladay, who plunked just five per season over the last four years in an average of 220 innings. He also threw behind Ozuna later in the inning.
A walk to Ozuna and a single by Dobbs loaded the bases with nobody out. After Miguel Olivo struck out, Hechavarria hit a grand slam just over the wall in right to give Florida a 9-0 lead and chase Halladay.
"We got beat up pretty bad," Manuel said. "He just didn't have his command today."
Hechavarria's drive was first ruled a double but umpires reversed the call after reviewing the replay.
Halladay exited to a mixture of boos and cheers, though the majority of the crowd politely applauded. The nine earned runs were the second-most of his career, topped only by the 11 he gave up as a rookie with Toronto in a 17-1 loss to the Angels on April 29, 1999.
Meanwhile, the Phillies' hitters continued to have their own problems. A night after managing only one hit off 20-year-old rookie Jose Fernandez in a 2-0 loss, Philadelphia had just four against Slowey and relievers A.J. Ramos and Jon Rauch.
"We have trouble scoring runs, plus hitting the ball consistently," said Manuel, whose team avoided its sixth shutout with a pair of eighth-inning runs. "We're going to struggle until we start hitting the ball better, start making better contact and doing things right."
Amaro also weighed in on Philadelphia's tepid offense.
"They need to swing the bats better," he said. "It's not good enough. I believe in these guys still. I think they're good hitters; they're just not hitting the ball well. They need to do better for us to be contenders."
NOTES: Phillies C Carlos Ruiz went 0 for 2 and is 2 for 20 this season since returning from a 25-game amphetamine suspension. … Phillies SS Jimmy Rollins got a hit as a pinch hitter in the ninth. … Philadelphia LHP Cliff Lee (2-2, 3.46 ERA) is scheduled to face Giants lefty Madison Bumgarner (3-0, 1.55) when the teams open a three-game series Monday night in San Francisco.
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Inflammation of the Superficial Veins in Dogs
Phlebitis in Dogs
Phlebitis is characterized by a condition known as superficial thrombophlebitis, which refers to an inflammation of superficial veins (or veins close to the surface of the body). Phlebitis is generally due to an infection or because of thrombosis -- the formation of a clot (or thrombus) inside a blood vessel, which in turn obstructs the flow of blood in the body.
Superficial venous thrombophlebitis is the most common form of this condition, and is usually localized in one area.
Conversely, deep tissue thrombophlebitis is associated with clinical signs of sepsis, in which a bacterial infection occurs due to the presence of pathogenic organisms and their toxins in the blood or tissues. This type of thrombophlebitis is also associated with deep tissue thromboembolism, in which a clot or thrombus formed in one part of the body breaks free and migrates to another blood vessel, where it causes blockage.
Phlebitis can affect both dogs and cats. If you would like to learn more about how this disease affects cats, please visit this page in the PetMD health library.
Symptoms and Types
The main symptom of phlebitis is a localized inflammation, which is characterized by warmth, swelling, pain, hardened vessels, or a redness of the skin known as erythema. If at least two of the aforementioned signs are present, this can be taken as a sign of local inflammation. Drainage or fever may also be present, both being associated with the body's response to such infections.
There is no specific age, breed, or gender of dog that is known to be more susceptible to the development of phlebitis. However, very young or elderly dogs may be at higher risk simply due to a less developed or poorly functioning immune system.
Other characteristics that are considered risk factors for the development of phlebitis include obesity, lack of mobility, poor vein quality, chronic heart or kidney disease, pregnancy, and/or an immunodeficiency disorder in which the dog's immune system does not function properly.
The main cause of phlebitis is intravenous (IV) catheter use. Poor catheter quality or care may lead to bacterial colonization of a catheter, which can then infect the dog. Catheters are often used during surgery, or in emergency situations for treating trauma victims.
A number of diagnostic procedures are necessary for properly diagnosing phlebitis. The Doppler test is an inexpensive means for testing blood flow in the dog's veins, and may reveal any blood circulation irregularities and blockage. Blood cultures may also indicate signs associated with systematic inflammations. Additional diagnostic techniques may include x-ray imaging and urine analysis.
If infection is suspected, antibiotic treatment will be the most likely treatment. The specific antibiotic prescribed to your dog will depend on the location of the infection, as well as the suspected contaminants behind the infection (if no culture is available at the time). Additional medications may help to make your dog more comfortable by alleviating related symptoms.
Living and Management
After the initial treatment, antibiotic therapy should be adjusted based on the follow-up culture tests. Certain veins, known as phlebotic veins, should be avoided for IV therapy or blood collection until your dog has completely recovered. With proper antibiotic treatment, the most severe cases may still take up to three weeks to resolve.
Because the main cause of phlebitis is poor quality catheters or improper catheter care, this is the primary area to target when thinking about prevention. Any IV catheter sites should be cleaned regularly with antimicrobials and treated with antimicrobial ointment, in order to avoid bacterial infection that may lead to phlebitis. Sterile dressings should be used, and catheters should be changed within 24 hours, especially if they were placed in an emergency situation. Longer catheters may reduce the incidence of phlebitis.
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Resources for instructors, Web developers and administrators, updated 2006-10-18.
Links of Interest
- 2006-03-17 DACUM: Teaching Web Standards, in which Bryan poses the question: "If you had an hour to communicate the message of web standards to an audience of your peers who have no developed knowledge of the movement, what would you say to them? What would be the 5 to 10 most important points you would want them to leave with?"
- 2005-11-16 R. Marie Cox describes her experiences on working with a community college advisory committee to promote Web standards.
- 2005-11-16 Beyond New Professionalism
- 2005-11-15 Web Standards and The New Professionalism
- 2005-10-24 Mark Trammell, University of Florida is interviewed by Digital Web Magazine
Accessibility Resources for Higher Ed:
- Developing a Web Accessibility Business Case for Your Organization
Published by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), which notes: "The Web is an increasingly important resource in many aspects of life: education, employment, government, commerce, health care, recreation, and more. … This page is the first in a series of five pages covering the business case for Web accessibility. The five pages, called a ' resource suite,' are designed to help develop a customized business case for Web accessibility for a specific organization."
- MSU Web Accessibility
The goal of this site is to help the Michigan State University (MSU) community reach the broadest possible audience with accessible, usable and aesthetically pleasing design. "We loaded it with all kinds of new resources, articles, and tools."
CMS Resources:
- Geeklog Directory
A handy list for those hunting down a CMS that generates valid mark-up.
General Resources:
2007-10-18 QA Focus Briefing Documents:
Over 100 documents available from UKOLN based at the University of Bath, providing brief, focussed advice in the following areas:
- Quality Assurance
- Standards
- Digitisation
- Access (Web sites)
- Usability
- Metadata
- Software
- Service Deployment
- Legal, IPR, etc.
- General
- UMD Web Design References
"This site is dedicated to providing knowledge of web design and development. It advocates accessibility, usability, web standards and many related topics…"
Learning Objects:
- Web Accessibility Resource Planner (WARP)—Resources
Short modules (5-40 minutes) in the form of tutorials, exercises and articles for lesson plans and classroom presentation.
- PSU Web Dev. Luncheon—Lost Tags Found: Accessible By Design (Quicktime Video)
Date: March 14, 2006
Format: Quicktime video plus slide show
"The XHTML specification is rich with tags for semantics and accessibility. So why are they rarely used? This session will find and demonstrate a few of those long neglected tags."
- PSU Web Dev. Luncheon—Web Standards Experiences (Quicktime Video)
Date: April 21, 2005
Format: Quicktime video plus slide show
"In our continuing exploration of Web standards, this month we present a panel discussion of real experiences in transforming existing sites to standards-compliant design. What are the joys and challenges of the process?"
- PSU Web Dev. Luncheon—First Steps to Web Standards (Quicktime Video)
Date: March 22, 2005
Format: Quicktime video plus slide show
"Following last month's theme "Why Web Standards," we take the "First Steps to Web Standards" in which is presented a case study in transforming the Web Conference 2005 home page from a table-based design into a standards-compliant design using XHTML and CSS layout. There may be a few surprises, even for the hard-boiled standards designers!"
- PSU Web Dev. Luncheon: Why Use Web Standards? (Quicktime Video)
Date: February 18, 2005
Format: Quicktime video plus slide show
"What do you and your users gain by adopting the newest W3C web standards—XHTML, CSS and DOM? How do web standards differ from current web practice? In this first of several presentations about web standards, we'll examine WHY; following sessions will examine HOW."
- The Marriage of Presentation and Structure
Web Design World Boston
December 6, 2004
Format: online video (length 1:05:31)
WaSP members "Ethan Marcotte and Molly Holzschlag reveal the proper way to marry presentation and structure to create more compelling CSS designs."
- Implementing Web Standards Across The Institution – Trials And Tribulations Of A Redesign
Patrick H. Lauke, University of Salford
July 28, 2004
Format: HTML and MS PowerPoint
A 1-1/2 hour workshop.
- Evaluating Web Sites for Accessibility with Firefox
Patrick H. Lauke outlines how Mozilla Firefox can be used in conjunction with the Web Developer Toolbar to carry out a preliminary accessibility review.
Web Style Guides and Policies
Institutional documents addressing Web style guides, best practices, and policies.
- Michigan State University (USA)
- Monash University (Australia)
- Pennsylvania State University (USA)
White papers:
Reports on the process of re-designing public sites.
- MACCAWS White Paper and Standards Primer (April 2004)
- Re-Designing the CWRL Web Site: A Look to the Future (June 2004)
Computer Writing and Research Lab, University of Texas at Austin
"This paper describes the process of re-designing the CWRL web site and considers implications for the future."
- Authentic Wisdom: Jonathan Linczak (September 20, 2004)
"Okay, let's dive right in and examine the process we went through to raise Hiram.edu to the level it's at today."
- W3C QA – Logvalidator
"Log Validator is a web server log analysis tool with focus on the quality of Web documents. Thanks to a modular, extensible design, the Log Validator can help Web authors find the most popular content on their web site that matches a particular criteria.
"The Log Validator was first written with Validation (HTML, etc.) in mind : it can thus help web content managers find and fix the most frequently accessed invalid documents on their Web site, acting as a comprehensive, step-by-step validation tool."
The Web Standards Project is a grassroots coalition fighting for standards which ensure simple, affordable access to web technologies for all.


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Fonemine Increases Its Momentum With $4.5 Million in Series B Funding, New Customers and Additions to Leadership Team(Marketwire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) SUNNYVALE, CA — (Marketwired) — 04/02/14 — News Summary: Fonemine today announced $4.5 million in Series B financing led by Michigan eLab. The company will use the funds to continue its expansion into new markets and make further investments in product development. The enterprise mobility software company has strengthened its leadership team with two new hires. Fonemine appointed high-tech sales veteran Joseph Coglitore as Vice President of North America Sales and prominent technology marketing professional Mark Bloom as Senior Director of Product Marketing and Management. Fonemine has added prominent F100 production customers to its roster including Cisco, Fujitsu, and Brocade.
Full Story: Fonemine, a leading provider of Cloud-based Enterprise Mobile Application Solutions, today announced that it has closed a $4.5 million Series B round of financing. The round was led by Michigan eLab, an Ann Arbor-based venture capital firm that specializes in investments in early-stage information-technology companies.
The latest financing will primarily be used to execute on an accelerated growth strategy that includes the expansion of the company's sales, business development and marketing efforts. In addition, the new investment will be used to extend the capabilities of Fonemine's flagship MobileForce products to address the evolving customer requirements. To date, Fonemine has raised $11.3 million, including its current financing, Series A and seed funding rounds.
"Enterprise Mobility, Cloud Computing and Analytics are three disruptive trends that are coming together to allow businesses to extend their reach and relationships to customers, partners and employees," said Rick Bolander, General Partner at Michigan eLab. "MobileForce by Fonemine is a disruptive business solution that enables these new business paradigms — blazingly fast, across any device, with zero coding. It is impressive how quickly customers have deployed the solution reaping benefits within weeks, rather than years." Driven by escalating demand for a comprehensive, scalable and secure mobility solution that could rapidly and cost-effectively connect to enterprise systems, the number of Fonemine clients has increased significantly in the last year. Enterprises are adopting Fonemine's cloud-based MobileForce technology to make critical business information available to the mobile workforce anywhere, anytime and across any device. Multiple Fortune 500 companies in diverse industries have successfully deployed Fonemine's MobileForce solutions to increase productivity of their sales and service teams, drive operational efficiencies and lower costs. Most recently, Fonemine added Cisco, Fujitsu, Brocade, Estes, VCE and Hillwood to its client roster, joining many other notable F500 enterprises.
"We are committed to helping our field sales and partners make their sales process more efficient, reduce sales cycles and drive higher levels of productivity," said Vahid Razavi, CEO of BizCloud®. "The native mobile app provides our sales team a one-stop 'unified' interface to everything needed to present, market, and sell our products and solutions portfolio. We selected Fonemine because the service was flexible, easy to deploy, requires no coding, and will scale quickly and cost effectively as our business continues to grow." In response to rapid growth and strong customer momentum, Fonemine has expanded its leadership team with the addition of two top executives. Industry veteran Joseph Coglitore has been appointed to the position of VP of North America Sales where he will be responsible for creating and implementing strategies to drive sales and market share. Mr. Coglitore brings a depth of sales experience to the role, having worked in high-tech sales for over 23 years in companies such as CSC, Trend Micro, Cisco, Exodus Communication and Good Technologies.
Fonemine is also announcing the hire of Mark Bloom as Sr. Director of Product Marketing and Management. With more than 15 years of leadership experience in sales, marketing and business development, in a variety of financial service and high-technology industries, Mr. Bloom is ideally suited to drive Fonemine's marketing and product development initiatives and to ensure consistent product superiority in both domestic as well as international markets.
"Joe and Mark both bring strong leadership and a wealth of enterprise experience to their new roles at Fonemine," said Jagadish Bandhole, CEO of Fonemine. "They will help guide our company's efforts to mature and grow over the years ahead." Follow Fonemine on Twitter (@Fonemine) and Facebook (https://Facebook.com/Fonemine) for the latest updates. To attend an upcoming webinar (Click Here).
About Fonemine Fonemine is a privately held Enterprise Mobility Software company based in Silicon Valley. Fonemine's MobileForce solution enables Enterprise sales, service, channel partners and end-customers to access key enterprise data through unified mobile apps that run on iOS, Android, Blackberry and HTML5 platforms. MobileForce native apps are cloud-driven, secure and role-based with touch-optimized UI, rich interactions and device personalization enabling their users to find the "right information at the right time" anytime, anywhere. Through saved time, ease of access and seamless integration across different enterprise apps in the workflow within a unified app interface, MobileForce apps optimize the sales & service cycles, increase efficiency, engage more customers and drive tremendous gains in user productivity. For more information, please visit www.fonemine.com Video-Link Available: https://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=2558351 For press inquiries, please contact: Mark Bloom Email Contact (408) 457 7960 Source: Fonemine


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Quadrigraph SightingTuesday, November 23rd, 2010
Often writing systems lack a letter for a sound and that lacuna is covered by a digraph, two letters representing one sound, like English SH and CH. German has a trigraph, SCH which stands for the same single sound that Croatian, Czech, and Slovene represent with the one letter Š.
Danish seems to take the n-graph cake in this respect wasting FOUR letters for the same consonant sound with a quadrigraph. We find it in a few surnames like Schjødt where the first four letters represent the single sound that SH represents in English and Š in those Slavic languages that use the Latin alphabet.
The interesting thing about this quadrigraph is that it contains the digraphs for the same sound in several Indo-European languages using the Latin alphabet: CH in French, SH in English, SCH in German (a trigrph), and SJ, which is used in most Danish words.
SCHJ is the only quadrigraph I know of. I know some consider combinations with the GH digraph in English to be quadrigraphs, e.g. eight and though. These are not quadrigraphs, though, for they represent two sounds. Eight represents the sound [eyt] and though, [ðow], i.e. the two sounds of diphthongs, a vowel plus a reduced consonant. This is not the case in Danish. It is true, as I say, that the Danish quadrigraph occurs only in surnames like Schjeldal, Schjelderup, Schjødt, Schjønberg, and Schjønning but they are true quadrigraphs.
Does anyone out there speak a language that has another?


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Greetings, Gentle Readers.
Let's begin our conversation with a little introduction. This blog is dedicated to continuing the conversation that can be found each day on this newspaper's editorial pages. They are, after all, the place long reserved for interactivity before interactivity was cool. But in this electronic age, there's little reason to be limited to the page when broader horizons beckon, any more than readers need be limited to the occasional letter to the editor in response.
Each day we intend to use this blog to provide a little more of what we try to offer on the printed page -- engage in debate on important public policy, praise (or skewer) those who deserve it, poke holes in the blustery billowing of the bloviators, repudiate the wrongheaded, condemn the malefactors, and offer some measure of comfort to the innocent and downtrodden. The difference is, we need you to join in.
We've chosen to call this blog "Second Opinion" because it's a space reserved not just for those who have access to a printing press but because, more than ever, we need to be informed by those who do not. The Baltimore Sun's editorial board holds no corner on wisdom (and trust us, we hear about it often enough). All we ask is a measure of civility and good, but not necessarily perfect, grammar.
One additional note. We expect this arena to be a bit more freewheeling than its printed counterpart. These posts are not editorials crafted by the full board, but represent the thoughts and opinions of its individual members. As such, don't expect what you read here to interlock neatly with the newspaper's opinion like gears in a machine. Just like our readers, we have our differences.
But that's for you, gentle reader, to discover in the days ahead. Let the blogging be joined.


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Sponsored Post
If you are the parent of child who loves Cbeebies then you will be aware of the very popular Mike the Knight show. My son is 5 and he loves nothing better than watching this shoe back to back on iPlayer. The stories centre around the young knight Mike who wants to be a real knight and "do it right" however he usually gets it wrong until he is helped by his friends the dragons Sparkie and Squirt or his sister Evie.
So when I was offered the chance to review the new Mike the Knight toys my son nearly bit my hand off! We weren't sure which one we would get but my son was so excited that it was the Glendragon Playset with Mike's bedroom and Galahad's stable. In fact when I opened the parcel it happened to be when we had another 5 year old and his 3 year old brother round. They were all so excited by the contents they nearly had a fight over it!
The toy is a replica of the TV show with a slide from the bedroom to the stable. The horse Galahad has an indented saddle so that the Mike figure sits securely on him. The horse also can be adjusted to rear up at various angles.
The set has various bits to explore with an a bed to lift up to access the slide, hidden treasure and a revolving door. My son and his friends have really enjoyed playing with it. After a few weeks of play my son is still keen on it as well.
When looking online this set is available from ToysRUs at £29.99. It has connections on it which link in with other parts of the set. My son is dead keen on getting more parts which include:
The toy seems very well made and stands up well to being played with robustly. If your child is a fan of Mike the Knight then this would make a good edition to their toy collection which can be added to if required.
Saturday, 5 May 2012
Saturday Review: Mike the Knight Glendragon Playset
4 comments:
It's a great playset xReplyDelete
I'm not familiar with this show but it looks like a lovely little set. My boys love knights, definitely one to look out for.ReplyDelete
this is a great toy for little boys who love the cbeebies mike the knight programme. they will have loads of fun recreating the stories they see on tv. this will make a fabulous christmas presentReplyDelete
Does anyone know where I may be able to get extra connection parts from for the mike the knight playsets? Only ive discovered they dont all come with them!ReplyDelete
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Obama, Putin talk Ukraine unrest
President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone Monday but appeared to do little to narrow or obscure the wide gulf between the U.S. and Russian governments over the continuing unrest in Ukraine.
A Russian foreign ministry statement about the leaders' phone call described a situation in Ukraine starkly different from the picture painted by U.S. officials and Western news outlets.
U.S. officials have accused Russian-backed paramilitaries and militia forces of taking over government buildings in eastern Ukraine, less than two months after Russian troops and well-armed fighters with few visible insignia staged similar takeovers in the Crimea region.
( PHOTOS: 20 great quotes on Putin and Obama)
However, the Russian statement referred to "southeastern regions" of Ukraine being "engulfed by mass protests against the policies of the current authorities in Kiev."
Russia effectively annexed Crimea last month after a referendum there in which voters reportedly backed such a move by overwhelming numbers. The vote was not recognized by most world powers.
The White House's statement about the conversation did not emerge until several hours after the conclusion of the call, which U.S. officials said Putin initiated.
Obama "expressed grave concern about Russian government support for the actions of armed, pro-Russian separatists who threaten to undermine and destabilize the government of Ukraine," the White House statement said. "The President emphasized that all irregular forces in the country need to lay down their arms, and he urged President Putin to use his influence with these armed, pro-Russian groups to convince them to depart the buildings they have seized."
( QUIZ: How well do you know Vladimir Putin?)
Obama was also said to have praised the restraint of Ukraine's leaders, who have repeatedly announced crackdowns on the armed protesters but have yet to carry them out. Instead, Ukrainian officials are asking for United Nations peacekeepers to be sent to the region where the protests and armed takeovers are underway.
Russian, U.S., European Union and Ukrainian officials are set to meet Thursday in Geneva, but the White House said Obama warned Putin that those talks were in danger of being derailed by events on the ground.
"While [Obama] continues to believe that a diplomatic solution is still possible, it cannot succeed in an environment of Russian military intimidation on Ukraine's borders, armed provocation within Ukraine, and escalatory rhetoric by Kremlin officials," the White House statement said.
Earlier in the day, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki also said the U.S. believed Russia was behind the latest unrest.
"We're very concerned about evidence of Russian support for a concerted, orchestrated campaign of incitement and sabotage to undermine and destabilize the Ukrainian state," Psaki said. "We feel very strongly that the pattern of activities bears striking similarities to the situation in Crimea, ahead of the illegal Russian occupation and purported annexation of that part of Ukraine."
The Russian statement Monday portrayed the recent actions as spontaneous protests and denied that Moscow is directing any of those moves.
"In response to the US President's expressed concern about Russia's alleged interference in southeastern Ukraine, the President of Russia noted that such speculations are based on inaccurate information," the foreign ministry statement said. "The current Ukrainian authorities must think first and foremost about truly involving all the main political forces and regions in a transparent process for developing a new constitution that guarantees the main rights and freedoms for citizens, the nation's federal structure and its non-aligned status."
The Russian statement also called the recent unrest "the result of the Kiev authorities' unwillingness and inability to take into account the interests of the Russian and Russian-speaking population."
The White House also confirmed Monday that Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan was in Ukraine over the weekend to discuss coordinating intelligence with authorities in Kiev.


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Tuesday night we had our monthly SSUG. Our special guest this month was Jack Corbett (aka unclebiguns) joining us from Orlando. Jack is a software developer for New Tribes Mission in Orlando. For his take on the evening check out his blog entry on the night.
We kicked off the night with a discussion I led about social networking. As most discussions tend to lead, the topic dominator was Twitter. A few of us shared how Twitter has managed to help us in various facets of our job be it job opportunities, problem resolution or just general networking. A few of us in the audience are already on Twitter such as Jonathan Kehayias, Jack Corbett, Pam Shaw, and Steve Turner. Besides Twitter we also covered sites such as LinkedIn. LinkedIn was specifically mentioned as helping people find jobs. One member in attendance shared with us that he actually landed his current position because of Linked in which shows that social networking does work! One new thing I did learn out of this conversation was something called MSDN Social which I'll have to check out. Thanks to Travis Page for pointing this one out to us.
Next up was Jack's talk on SQL Server Profiler basics. I thought I knew enough about profiler but boy was I wrong! What's funny is that Jack asked the room how many of us currently use profiler as part of our DBA arsenal. Only about a quarter of those in attendance raised their hands. He followed up by asking how many of us knew that SQL Server 2005/2008 had a trace running by default on install and even less hands went up. This is pretty surprising considering its a feature specifically built in to make it easier for us DBA's to do performance analysis. Considering Extended Events is the next "big thing" in this arena coming out of the Redmond camp for SQL Server I think either we need to blog more about these sorts of things or Microsoft better come up with a Mojave Trace profiler and say "surprise, its really SQL 2005!". Anyhow back on track…another thing I learned was that the profiler takes wildcards. Yes, that's right, you trace on 'ADv%' or '%acon'. I thought this was pretty cool.
Another thing that's new in 2005 Profiler (thankfully, since this particular issue drives me nuts) is the ability to pause a trace mid-stream, modify your trace values, and continue the trace without losing any of your previous data already collected. Speaking of pausing, a button that I just never noticed all this time was right up top (Auto Scroll) that stops the profiler from skipping to the latest data. I don't know how many times I've been staring at the data scrolling by, see what I think is a problem query, click on it and by the time I do the screen rolls over two or three times so I have to go back and hunt for that line. In the words of Charles Barkley, "just turrr-ible".
During the presentation portion where we were discussing dissecting deadlock issues, someone mentioned that one time they had a deadlock issue but it wasn't showing up properly when they traced it using the 2005 profiler. Jonathan Kehayias enlightened us that mutli-deadlock victims won't show in 2005 profiler and that this situation is common in parallelism issues (which this guy had). The 2008 profiler, on the other hand, does handle that issue and display it properly. The next tip I picked up and can't wait to use was the fact that with 2005 profiler you do correlation of data between profiler and performance monitor. In order to do this you need to have started and ended both with scheduled times. Another note is the Counter Log from perfmon needs to be in Binary File type in order for this to work. Once you have your traces done go to File menu, and save your profiler trace to a file. Then open that trace file. Once its open you should be able to go to File menu and select Import Data. Navigate to where you saved your perfmon trace and open it. Once you have selected it you will see a graph overlayed underneath your trace. Now if you click anywhere on that graph you will get a line that shows exactly which point in your profiler trace that performance spike happened so you can see exactly which SQL is causing (if any) problems! Click on the image above for an example of this.
Overall I thought this was a great meeting. We had a packed house and good discussion and tips. Personally I feel I even got a little more out of it than usual thanks to social networking. Prior to Jack's arrival for our meeting he and I have been interacting on Twitter so it made it a little easier to meet him for the first time which was pretty cool. Next month I'm slated to do a presentation on Policy Based Management so I'm pretty excited for that. Another exciting announcement is that apparently we're getting Kevin Kline to come speak at our group which should be really awesome.


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- Travel
- Traveler
Scammed Again
The Insider
From the July/August 2010 issue of National Geographic Traveler
Travel cons are as old as the wheel. Why do we keep falling for them—and how do we stop?
You aren't stupid.
Let's get that out of the way first. You aren't ignorant, either. Or gullible. It's important to be clear about this, because any story about travel scams inevitably ends with a variation of this advice: You get what you pay for. That implies that you're not smart enough to know if something is too good to be true.
But the problem isn't you. Travel scams have been around since cavemen hit the trail and one pulled the first bait and switch. Scams are here with us now. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recorded more than 15,000 complaints related to travel, vacations, and timeshare plans in 2009. By some estimates, travel scams cost consumers untold millions or even billions of dollars. These crimes endure because scams are like viruses. Just when we figure out a cure, they mutate into a different strain.
For example: What if I offered you an airline ticket for a cent? Too good to be true? No. Spirit Airlines is selling a limited number of "penny plus" fares. BoltBus has a few New York to Washington, D.C., seats for a buck. Frequent fliers save up enough miles for a "free" award ticket to their favorite vacation destinations. Nothing is too good to be true, it seems.
With legitimate deals such as these around, is it any wonder that we fall for two-for-ones, free cruises, and other counterfeit offers? Or that we buy memberships in travel "clubs" for thousands of dollars in order to have access to bargains that are available online for free? Reader Hans Slatosch thought $5,593 was a reasonable price for membership in the Dallas-based Royal Palms Travel Club, because it would offer deep discounts on cruises and other travel products. Salespeople said all the right things in the presentation he attended, and before long, he imagined cruising the Caribbean or jetting to Europe at a fraction of the published price. After he got home, Slatosch researched Royal Palms online, only to find a lot of "very unfavorable" reviews. The company refused his request for a refund, so Slatosch reported it to the authorities. In March, the Texas Attorney General cracked down on the company, charging that its memberships had "little or no value." A Dallas court issued a temporary restraining order.
We need to distinguish between penny fares—which, though they come with a maddening amount of fine print, are strictly speaking not scams—and allegedly worthless travel clubs. It's really hard to tell the difference. The line between a legit deal and a fake has been permanently blurred.
There's plenty of blame to go around, starting with our laws. When it comes to travel, the government generally takes a hands-off approach to consumer protection. Spirit can advertise fares for little more than a cent because the Department of Transportation (DOT) refuses to tell airlines what to include in a ticket. Regulators won't set minimum standards for offering basic creature comforts (such as minimum seat size and amount of legroom). Hotels, cruises, and car rental companies are similarly under-regulated. Have a look at your state's lodging statutes for a good laugh. They protect not you, but the innkeeper. (Maritime law is even worse, spelling out the rights of the cruise line but not of the passenger.)
Law enforcement is relatively lax, too. Where were Texas authorities when the first complaints about Royal Palms began trickling in? The FTC runs a predictable, periodic, travel-related sting operation with catchy names like "Operation Travel Unravel" and "Operation Trip Trap." But other than raise awareness, it has done little to stop travel fraud. As for protecting air travelers from scams, here's a number to ponder: 40. That's how many staffers the DOT's Aviation Consumer Protection Division has to monitor the entire airline industry. You don't have to be a mathematician to know that they can't fight every battle for us with only 40 people.
And the downsized news media now has fewer watchdogs like me. The ones that remain are drawn to the easy stories about two-bit Mexican timeshare scams (guilty as charged) and write obliquely and politely about the big airlines and hotel companies that fleece millions of customers. You deserve better. Meanwhile, is anyone in Washington representing travelers in the legislative process? A fledgling organization called the Consumer Travel Alliance (of which I'm the pro-bono ombudsman) has pushed for changes such as truth-in-advertising rules and passenger rights legislation. But efforts like this take time and money, both of which are in critically short supply. "It would take a whole army of lobbyists to clear up the confusion about airline prices," says an exasperated Charlie Leocha, president of the CTA.
- Nat Geo Expeditions
Travel scams will not end until every part of this system-wide failure is addressed: the laws, the law enforcement and regulation, and the watchdogs. Maybe the proposed federal Consumer Financial Protection Agency, which would take certain consumer regulatory responsibility of financial products from several other agencies and centralize it in one office, should be expanded to include travel products. Such an agency could protect the rights of travelers by quickly identifying fraud, making the public aware of the problem, and working with law enforcement to end it. Nothing like that exists on the federal level. Alas, as this column goes to press, regulation-shy lawmakers are being nudged toward a compromise that would downgrade the agency to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, stripping away some of its authority. Hey folks, wrong way!
The Internet does offer some powerful new tools to fight fraud. "It used to be that a dissatisfied customer would tell seven to ten people on average about a poor service experience," says customer-service expert Richard Hanks, author of the book, Delivering and Measuring Customer Service. "Now, they can tell many more people with new technology." A tweet, IM, or blog post can go viral, warning the masses away from a defective travel product (and giving scammers a dose of their own medicine). If you don't have legions of Twitter followers, you can still contact someone who does.
If travel fraud died a natural death, like germs exposed to sunlight, then travelers everywhere would benefit. It won't happen soon. There remain plenty of dark corners of the Internet for the bad guys to hide, and both the laws and law enforcement are often ineffective. We may never find a cure, but that shouldn't stop us from trying.