text:
* Network Information
* UPnP Device Scanner
* Host Discovery
* Network Sniffer
* Pcap Analyzer (three options)
* PCI DSS (Version 2) Menu
– Access Point Default Password Test (requirement 2.1.1.c)
– Access Point Security Test (requirement 4.1.1)
– Access Point Scanner (requirement 11.1)
– Internal Network Vulnerability Scanner (requirement 11.2.1)
– External Network Vulnerability Scanner (preparation for requirement 11.2.2)
* Host Information
* Port Scan
* Host Vulnerability Scan
* Traceroute
* Ping
This app is a student dissertation by Andreas Hadjittofis as part of his MSc in Computer Security at the University of Birmingham, UK. The project is supervised by Dr Tom Chothia and was released in August 2012. The developers of this app cannot be held responsible for how this app is being used. The app comes with no guarantees.
* Network Information (ROOT): Information about the connected network like MAC and IP addresses, gateway etc
* UPnP Device Scanner: Lists all UPnP devices on the network that are within the view of your device
* Host discovery (ROOT): Uses nmap to discover all devices on the network that are within the view of your device
* Network Sniffer (ROOT): Uses tcpdump to sniff on all packets that are within the view of your device. The resulting pcap files can be analyzed with Wireshark or the built-in Pcap Analyzer
* Pcap Analyzer: Uses jNetPcap to parse a pcap file. Three options: Packet Distribution, Bandwidth Distribution or Communicating Hosts analysis
* Access Point Default Password Test: Checks a pre-set list of default router passwords against your router's control panel and notifies you if your router is using a default password
* Access Point Security Test: Displays the access points that are within the view of your device with a note whether they are secure (WPA/WPA2) or not (WEP or unlocked)
* Access Point Scanner: Displays the access points that are within the view of your device
* Internal Vulnerability Scanner (ROOT): Uses nmap to find all devices on the network that are within the view of your device. A note is given whether exploits exists for a given device based on its operating system and open ports
* External Vulnerability Scanner (ROOT): Runs Host Information, Port Scan, Host Vulnerability Scan, Traceroute, Ping or Sniffer functions on a given IP address or hostname
* Host Information (ROOT): Uses nmap to retrieve the device's hostname, MAC address, vendor, operating system, device name and workgroup
* Port Scan (ROOT): Uses nmap to retrieve the device's open ports. Click on a port to view the Metasploit results for the device's operating system and port
* Host Vulnerability Scanner (ROOT): Uses nmap to retrieve information about the host along with a note stating whether exploits exists for the device based on its operating system and open ports
* Traceroute (ROOT): Uses nmap to traceroute to a host
* Ping (ROOT): Uses nping to ping a host
* ACCESS_WIFI_STATE, CHANGE_WIFI_STATE, ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE: Used to determine if the device is connected to a Wi-Fi network and to retrieve the data displayed in Network Information function
* CHANGE_WIFI_MULTICAST_STATE: Used by the UPnP Device Scanner function
* INTERNET: Used to retrieve the device's external IP address in Network Information function, for Metasploit search, and for the optional error reporting.
* WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE: Used to store the nmap and pcap files
What's New
1.2 (16 May 2015)
* nmap updated to version 6.46


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A3 Business Forum Set for January 21-23, 2015 in Orlando
Registration Opens as A3 Expects Largest Annual Forum to Date
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA) – The Association for Advancing Automation (A3) has announced the opening of registration for the Annual A3 Business Forum to be held January 21-23, 2015 at Disney's Yacht Club Resort in Orlando, Florida USA. The A3 Business Forum combines the Robotics Industry Forum, the AIA Business Conference and the MCA Business Conference, the world's leading annual networking events for robotics, vision & imaging, and motion control. Over 500 global automation leaders and executives are expected to attend the 2015 event.
"We're expecting our largest Forum yet," said Jeff Burnstein, President of A3, the umbrella group for Robotic Industries Association (RIA), AIA – Advancing Vision + Imaging and Motion Control Association (MCA). "The Forum provides automation industry leaders with great insights on where the economy is headed, key management issues, emerging technologies, social networking and other topics that impact their businesses. Plus, it allows them to make valuable business contacts in a relaxed and fun setting."
The Forum opens on Wednesday afternoon, January 21, with a keynote presentation from Seth Mattison, Founder and Chief Movement Officer of FutureSight Labs. Mattison advises companies on the key shifts happening around talent management, change and innovation, leadership and the future of work. Mattison was named an "Editors' Pick" for Favorite Speakers for 2013" by MeetingsNet. "One of the key topics Seth will address is how to manage a multigenerational workforce," Burnstein said. "He has great insights on topics such as how Baby Boomers can more effectively manage Generation X and Millennial workers, who look at the workplace very differently."
Other Forum highlights include a special welcome event for first-time attendees, the annual A3 golf outing, and numerous other networking opportunities designed to assist attendees in making new business contacts. Separate breakout sessions for robotics, vision & imaging and motion control leaders will also be featured.
"The breakout sessions allow leaders in these industries to focus in on topics of primary concern to them, while the general sessions and keynotes provide information of interest to everyone in attendance," Burnstein explained.
Early bird discounted registration is available through August 31. Attendees are required to be corporate members of RIA, AIA or MCA. For membership information, please visit Robotics Online, Vision Online or Motion Control Online.
About Association for Advancing Automation (A3)
The Association for Advancing Automation is the global advocate for the benefits of automating. A3 promotes automation technologies and ideas that transform the way business is done. A3 is the umbrella group for Robotic Industries Association (RIA), AIA - Advancing Vision + Imaging, and Motion Control Association (MCA). RIA, AIA, and MCA combined represent 750 automation manufacturers, component suppliers, system integrators, end users, research groups and consulting firms from throughout the world that drive automation forward. For more information, please visit our websites: A3; RIA; AIA; MCA.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Born in America, adopted abroad
African-American babies are going to parents overseas even as US couples adopt children from other countries
Adrian Stokkeland, a 2-year-old in Canada, dances with his mom to the music of Elvis and sleeps with his most treasured possession, a box of toy cars. Emma Sonnenschein, an energetic 19-month-old in Germany, loves to "help" her mom around the house. Elisa van Meurs, a 5-year-old in the Netherlands, is a real girly-girl. Her favorite outfit is a Minnie Mouse dress, paired with a Snow White tiara and pink Barbie shoes.
Adrian, Emma, and Elisa have more in common than their charm and being the apple of their parents' eyes. All are black children born in the United States and adopted as infants by parents in other countries.
They also are representatives of a little-known trend: At the same time the US is "importing" increasing numbers of adoptive children from Russia, China, and Guatemala, it is "exporting" black babies to be adopted in other countries.
Since 1995, US State Department records indicate that international adoptions by Americans have increased more than 140 percent. Couples often cite the lack of American babies as the reason for adopting from abroad.
But the US is now the fourth largest "supplier" of babies for adoption to Canada. Adoption by Shepherd Care, an agency in Hollywood, Fla., places 90 percent of its African-American babies in Canada. One-third of the children placed through Adoption-Link in Chicago, which specializes in adoptions for black babies, go to people from other countries.
The exact numbers are not available, but interviews with adoption agencies and families in Canada, Germany, France, and the Netherlands indicate that the US also sends babies to those four countries as well as Belgium and England. Most of the children are black newborns. Most of the adoptingparents are Caucasian.
There is no simple explanation for why many white Americans prefer to adopt from abroad rather than adopt the available black babies at home. Racism is one reason, says Cheryl Kinnaird of Adoption-Link in Chicago. But there are others, she adds.
Families might choose an international adoption because of an affinity for a particular country or a desire to help. Many couples want a child who resembles them so that their family will not stand out as an "adoptive family." Since most adoptive families are Caucasian, this might explain the rise in adoptions from Russia and other eastern European countries.
In 2003, 37 percent of all international adoptions to the US were from countries where the majority of children adopted were Caucasian.
White couples may also be concerned about how their extended family will react to a black child. And they sometimes worry they are not up to the task of raising a black child in America and are not sure it is in the best interest of the child to be raised in a white environment.
Then, too, whites often are uncertain whether they can provide the child with cultural exposure to the African-American community.
Most adoption professionals agree that, all other things being equal, it is best to place an African- American child with an African-American family. The National Association of Black Social Workers' position is that every effort should be made to place children with families of the same race and culture.
Most, but not all, birth mothers agree, if they have the choice. However, they do not often have the choice, since fewer African-American couples apply to adoption agencies. One reason is that babies are frequently available within their extended family or community, and they have no need to go through the expense of an agency to adopt. Also, the number of infertile black couples who can afford to adopt is simply not as large as the number of black babies available.
Some speculate that African-American babies have lagged behind in adoption rates because many Americans don't realize they're available. Media coverage and popular culture have focused on Americans adopting internationally rather than domestically.
"When we started to think about adoption, we thought only of international adoption because that's all we were hearing about," says Lisa Malaquin-Prey of North Carolina, mother of an adopted Russian baby. "We thought it would cost too much and that we would have to wait for a long time if we adopted domestically."
"I think that more Americans would adopt these babies if they knew they were available," says Stacy Hyer, a white American living in Germany with two adopted black children.
There is evidence of increasing adoption of black babies by white American families. But ingrained preferences still play a part in who is chosen for adoption.
The majority of couples seeking to adopt are white, but there aren't nearly enough Caucasian babies available in the US to meet the demand. Although exceptions certainly exist, American parents generally prefer babies to toddlers, girls to boys, and Caucasians to African-Americans, adoption professionals report. Other ethnicities fall in between, depending on their skin color. African-American boys are at the bottom of this "ranking" system, they say, which is why they're harder to place.
"We have to work much harder to find homes for our African-American babies," says Robert Springer of Christian Homes, an adoption agency in Texas.
No one is equating babies with commodities, but the principles of supply and demand apply. Adoption costs and waiting times in the US vary depending on a baby's ranking in the "desirability list."
The children who are in the greatest demand are also in the shortest supply. Those who want to adopt healthy white babies in the US may wait as long as five years, agencies say. In contrast, they add, the waiting for African-Americans is often measured in weeks and months, especially for baby boys.
The demand for biracial (black/white) babies falls in between, and the wait reflects this. The waiting period for a biracial girl can be more than a year.
It's also the case that adopting a white baby costs more than adopting a black or biracial one.
Adoption fees for healthy Caucasian babies can be as high as $40,000, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. For biracial babies, the cost is about $18,000. For African-American newborns, it ranges from $10,000 to $12,000, agencies say.
The costs to the adoption agency for each child also vary greatly, not because of race but due to circumstances. The agency may have paid all the prenatal expenses and living costs for one birth mother, for instance, and not another, who decided on adoption in her ninth month of pregnancy.
But instead of passing along the actual costs to the new parents, many adoption agencies - most of which are nonprofit - charge a set fee that is determined by how difficult the baby may be to place. The agencies say this enables them to find homes for the children who are hardest to place.
Fees and waiting times for American families adopting internationally vary by country, but total costs, including travel, are usually about $30,000, with a waiting time of nine to 18 months.
Because of regulations and laws in the country of origin, most of the foreign children adopted from abroad by Americans are more than 1 year old when they arrive in the US.
In contrast, American babies can be adopted as soon as their parents relinquish them.
Families in foreign countries cite the availability of newborns as the primary reason they choose to adopt in the US. Canada and Europe don't have as many babies available for adoption. Therefore, "if you want a newborn, you go to America, " says Bart van Meurs, Elisa's dad. Families also cite the health of the babies, the short waiting time, and the availability of medical records as additional advantages. Race is seldom a consideration.
"Most of our families just want a baby as young as possible, and the US is the best place to go for a newborn," explainsLorneWelwood of Hope Adoption Services in Abbotsford, British Columbia. "They are not ignoring the race issues, but they don't think, like the Americans, that the less black the better."
"The families from abroad do not think of black babies as being second best, babies that they'll 'settle' for because white babies are hard to find," says Ms. Kinnaird.
Most adoption agencies encourage the birth mother to select the adoptive family for her child. Sometimes a black birth mother prefers having her child adopted overseas because she believes there is less prejudice there than in the US.
"Some birth mothers view placing their child abroad as a way for them to have a better life with less struggle," says Joe Sica of Shepherd Care in Hollywood, Fla.
Long-term studies of black children adopted by white parents paint a picture of well-adjusted children and teens strongly bonded to their families.
Tianna Broad, who's 12, readily fits into this picture. She's into makeup, clothes, soccer, and horses, as are most of her friends in British Columbia. "She's pretty much a typical Canadian teen," says her mother, Karen Madeiros.
Most parents abroad report little prejudice against their adopted black children. "Canada doesn't have the same race history as the US," notes Dawn Stokkeland, Adrian's Elvis-rocking mom. "There isn't the 'us' versus 'them' mentality here."
There are also not the numbers of blacks in Canada. "In my son's elementary school [in British Columbia], there are only eight blacks out of 450 kids and even fewer in my daughter's middle school," says Ms. Madeiros. "Most of the blacks here are middle-class professionals, and our neighborhoods are completely integrated."
"For the most part Germans have very positive views of blacks - they see them as singers, actors, and athletes - all positive images," explains Ms. Hyer. "My children are almost always accepted for who they are without any expectation of who they should be because of the color of their skin."
"I think the main reason there is little prejudice against blacks in Germany is because there are so few blacks here," says Peter Sonnenschein, father of two black children.
That's not to say there are never problems. Some parents say their children have encountered racism.
"Because Holland had many colonies, many [black] people live here and there is prejudice against them," says van Meurs.
"Although my [12-year-old] daughter has never experienced any racism that I know of, I can't say the same for my [10-year-old] son," says Madeiros.
Parents in Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands have formed support groups to help their children develop a positive self-image.
While the news may be encouraging for African-American children adopted abroad, there's evidence of change on the home front, too, as more white Americans look into adopting black babies.
Since the US doesn't keep statistics on private domestic adoptions, the exact numbers of trans-racial adoptions are not known, but anecdotal evidence abounds of a shift toward black infants being placed with white American families.
"We can find homes for all our babies in the US, but there are regional differences," notesRobert Springer of Christian Homes in Texas, who adds that "many families in the Northeast, Northwest, and Minnesota are eager to adopt African-American babies."
Dick Van Deelen, with Adoption Associates in Michigan, reports that for the first time in 35 years they have a list of white families waiting to adopt black babies.
In a twist to the import/export world of international adoption, "We are thinking of looking to Africa to bring over more children to meet this need," he says.
Adoption-Link, in Chicago, also has a waiting list of families for black babies.
"The younger generation that is now adopting is less prejudiced and more open to becoming a mixed-race family," says Mr. Van Deelen.
Some say that the growing willingness of Americans to adopt US babies regardless of skin color comes at a good time, since placement of American babies abroad may be threatened by new regulations.
The US is in the process of ratifying an international treaty on international adoption. Although the regulations are not final, it is expected that they will make it harder for agencies to place American babies abroad.
But all the talk of adoption trends and prejudice fades in the day-to-day existence of parenting after the child arrives.
Ms. Stokkeland sums up what most parents feel. After a particularly trying day with a strong-willed 2-year-old, she sighs and says, "I wouldn't trade [Adrian] for the world. He is truly the child God wanted me to have."
The adoption was such a success that Stokkeland did it again. Earlier this month, Adrian got a new little sister, as Claire Lisa, also African-American, came north from Georgia to join him and his mother in Canada. Stokkeland says she couldn't feel more blessed.


text:
People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
People favor underdogs, but follow only top dogs.
Fight for some underdog anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People really need help, but may attack you.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the BEST you have, and you'll be kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the BEST you've got ANYWAY.
The bright and colorful hues that are flooding my closet as of yet....can't wait to rock them all...but for now they go in a box!


text:
Not since Di and Chuck's royal wedding have we seen this much merch milking a single historical event (how much merch? So much that Gawker felt the need to devise an Official Obama Merchandise Classification System). But we think the "limited edition President Barack Obama commemorative Inaugural fabMap®" - on a handkerchief! - may be our favorite.
This is no phoned-in piece of historically-resonant crap. For starters, it's made by Rand McNally, mappers extraordinaires, so you know the thing will be accurate. It features Tuesday's parade route as well as all of D.C.'s monuments and sites of interest - including notable restaurants and shopping! - so it'll be a handy navigational tool long after the confetti's been cleared. Each fabMAP® ships with a certificate of authenticity, lest some profiteering scallywag try to hoodwink you with a fake inaugural mapkerchief. And last but not least, it'll keep your hair in place when the winds of change start blowing.
Get the Inaugural fabMap® for $9.95 at the Rand McNally online store.


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|Off Eff
|FT Rate
Detroit's plan was clear: attack Mike Bibby or Jamal Crawford in the half-court offense and push the ball up the floor to take advantage of Atlanta's poor transition defense. It wasn't a foolproof plan, the Pistons aren't nearly good enough to be unstoppable. Even in this blowout defeat, the Hawks slowed them in the second quarter and stopped them in the third. But, in the first and fourth quarters, the Pistons scored with ridiculous ease: 67 points on 47 possessions.
The rest of this recap will serve as an introduction to a sort of open thread because I haven't a clue what Larry Drew's plan was tonight. An exaggeration. Larry Drew obviously planned for the Hawks to run lots of deliberate* pick-and-roll with Bibby and Crawford. When that didn't generate easy buckets due to a combination of really poor decision-making from Crawford (2 points on 6 shots, 5 turnovers), Bibby's physical limitations, Mo Evans and Damien Wilkins combining to play 46 minutes of court-compacting offensive basketball, and competent pick-and-roll defense from the Pistons, the Hawks stubbornly pressed on with more of what wasn't working. Al Horford's lone fourth quarter field attempt and single assist for the game further exemplified the offensive dysfunction.
*The Hawks played the game at Detroit's pace and still allowed the Pistons a 23-10 advantage in fast break points.
Drew's rotations made no sense, either. Josh Powell, he of the recently sprained knee and long track record as a unsuccessful professional basketball player, sat for three quarters, then started the fourth. As if the predictable influx of poor defense wasn't bad enough, the Hawks ran two more plays for Powell in the post in the fourth quarter than they did for Horford.
31 minutes for Crawford on a night when he contributed little positive offensively and was his usual liable self defensively is unacceptable. 32 minutes for Damien Wilkins creates a similar problem in reverse. Though he's a better defender than Crawford (or, against bigger opponents, Maurice Evans as well), each minute Wilkins is on the floor further demonstrates his limitations* as an offensive player as much as it creates wonderment with how rarely he gets called for a hand-checking foul. Whatever the reason for that, there is no rational explanation, barring an undisclosed medical condition (and even then it's a toss-up at best) for Marvin Williams to play fewer minutes than Damien Wilkins.
*His uncle's broadcast protestations notwithstanding.
Moving further down the bench, following a dynamite performance against the Pacers on Saturday night, Jeff Teague received just two minutes and nine seconds of meaningful playing time at the end of the first half. At this rate, the Hawks ought to put Teague in a suit next to Jordan Crawford and Pape Sy once Joe Johnson's right elbow heals. They can call themselves "The Draft Picks" and fight crime stylishly while their elders get to play.
If you, dear reader, have an explanation for any of this, please be so kind as to share.


text:
Product photography and illustrations have been reproduced as accurately as print and web technologies permit. To ensure highest satisfaction, we suggest you view an actual sample from your dealer for best color, wood grain and finish representation.
The look of popular opaque white cabinet color done in a very durable PureStyle, featuring a satin-smooth finish.


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Here is a list of books that we at AudioReview.com and our forum users have used, that we have found to be helpful in stereo and multi-channel audio system set-up, how acoustics work, and how electronics work. And lastly how pyscho-acoustics work.
$250,000 hifi system can be ruined by bad set up, and $2,000 system can shine when some time is committed to correctly setting up the system for your room and listening space. So take some time and set up your system correctly. All it cost is a little effort and you are likely to have a huge pay off.
Hey we know there a lot books out there. Â If you have found one to be very useful please let us know and we'll add it to the list. Â Just send a note to firstname.lastname@example.com with a little blurb about why it has helped you. Â Or post a comment below.
|System Set Up – Tips and Tricks
|Get Better Sound by Jim Smith. Jim Smith has written up a wonderful reference style book, in other words you don't have to go cover to cover but can instead flip around and try tips that seem interesting to you.  The book is filled with wonderful ideas.  I've used it a lot and when I have a spear time on Sunday mornings I'll flip to a page I've not been to yet and try something new.  Not everything has applied to me, but heck I'm not everyone.  Easy to read, great diagrams, and just requires (for the most part) a little elbow grease. – AudioReview Editor
|How Acoustics Work
|"The Master Handbook of Acoustics†by F. Alton Everest. This is a fairly easy read and a great first reference.  (It covers such topics as – editor) symmetric ceilings are far LESS problematic than are non-symmetric ceilings, i.e. an example of a non-symmetric ceiling is a ceiling that is flat but sloped so that one end is higher than the other end. – Tom Mashey
|How Electronics Work
|"The Art of Electronics†by Paul Horowitz and Winfield Hill. This is a book of moderate challenge; there is some math. If you understand it you should be ready to develop your first dream system. – Tom Mashey
|Your Brain on Sound
|Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics And Psychoacoustics Of Loudspeakers And Rooms – Floyd Toole, a leading expert in the field of sound reproduction, explains how to design the best possible listening experience for recording control rooms and home entertainment systems. This comprehensive work considers the whole sound reproduction chain from multi channel audio configurations and the loudspeaker/room system to acoustics and psychoacoustics and the evaluation process. – book description


text:
Sienna Visio
Window Steam Cleaner Giveaway
Coordinated By: Inside My Head..
The Sienna Visio Window Steam Cleaner is a lightweight, easy to use Handheld (electric) Steam Cleaner designed to steam clean virtually every window, glass and other surface around the home. The unit features 1200 watts of professional level steam cleaning power, a 23' cord for excellent range and mobility, it heats up in less than 30 seconds, Visio has a 280ml/9.5 oz clear view water tank where you can see your water level and enjoy many minutes of window cleaning between refills. There is no need to cool down the unit before you refill the tank providing endless cleaning time. A locking trigger controls the steam flow so you can clean effortlessly using only the steam desired. Accessories are changes with the touch of a quick release button. The unit includes the following accessories, 11 inch and 8 inch squeegee attachments perfect to clean most window sizes, 4 small nylon brushes that attach to the jet nozzle and the angle concentrator fitting to clean in the corners, the track, and around the window frame, a measuring cup and funnel for filling unit. Sienna's New Visio Window Steam Cleaner powers through dirt and grime on all your household glass, window and other surfaces making them sparkling clean in no time using no window cleaner chemicals.
Specs: Voltage: 120V / Power: 1200W/ Operation Time: 15 Minutes / Tank Size: 9.5 fl oz. / Unit Weight: 3.2lbs. / Shipping Weight: 5.3lbs./ Cord Length: 23 ft.
10 piece accessory kit included:
- 7" and 11" Window Squeegee
- 4 Nylon Round Brushes
- Angle Concentrator Nozzle
- Jet Nozzle
- Funnel
- Custom Fill Cup
- Visio gives you crystal clear results in a fraction of the time
- Uses only water to clean, no chemicals needed, environmentally safe
This giveaway has ended.


text:
I got yelled at yesterday after I posted this article about Jennifer Aniston on the set of her new movie, based on Elmore Leonard's The Switch. The synopsis is very similar to Ruthless People. So there was all kinds of rage about how this project is a rip-off and why can't anyone come up with any original ideas.
But, um, Leonard's The Switch was released in 1978. And Ruthless People came out in 1986. So, erm, if they're making a movie based on The Switch, technically it's not a copy then, right? Further, did Ruthless People acknowledge that their story was so similar to Leonard's? And if an endorsed (and presumably faithful) adaptation of The Switch, by Elmore Leonard, is now being produced, are they then obliged to reference Ruthless People...when, really, their source came first? Why should they?
It would be like Stephenie Meyer having to somehow give her respects to EL James for Fifty Shades Of Grey. No.
Anyway, here's Jen wearing her hair blonde and Minivan wavy today, a proper rich man's wife. The story is supposed to be set in Detroit but they're shooting in Connecticut because, according to the location manager, Justin Theroux is in New York and Jen didn't want to be too far away from him.
So this is the question then:
Fair or not fair?
A star of her stature, she can make that call any time about where they shoot. The big ones do it all the time. They have it written into their contracts all the time. We sh-t on her for it, we have to sh-t on an entire institution. Do we have to sh-t on her for this? You tell me and I'll do it.


text:
Fabian Flöck
Dipl.-Medienwissenschaftler Fabian Flöck
Ehemaliges Mitglied
Fabian Flöck is a research associate at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) at the Institute AIFB. Before pursuing his academic career at KIT, he worked as head product manager for a Social Network platform based in Hamburg, Germany and as a consultant on interface and technical web design for a creative agency in San Francisco, CA. He holds a Diplom in Media Sciences from the University of Cologne, with a focus on sociology and economics. His diploma thesis on the socio-technical interactions in Tagging Systems and their effects on the quality of collaborative work successfully linked psycho- and sociological knowledge of behavioral patterns to the reality of collaboration in large-scale online systems. His continued work in this area has taken place in the EU-Project RENDER, where he analyzes the editor behavior in Wikipedia to find patterns that have effects on article quality and bias. This has led for example to the development of a significantly more accurate method to detect reverts and word authorship in Wikipedia. He is also a work package leader in the RENDER project.
Funktion: Researcher, PhD Student
Interaction of Science and Technology with Society
Communication Technology
Algorithm, Software and System Engineering


text:
- New
- MicrofiberMICROFIBER BY USEHave confidence in your purchase. All Norwex Microfiber products carry a two-year warranty. Learn more
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A must-have for every shopping trip! Don't add plastic waste to the landfills—use our washable mesh polyester Reusable Produce Bags. They take you from the produce aisle to the refrigerator drawer. Strong enough to carry a full load of fresh fruits and veggies. Best of all, they're non-leaching and non-toxic, so your food stays fresh and pure!
Free From:
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Fresh produce is always the best option when providing nutrition for your family, but those plastic bags you put it in at the store are a problem. Being single-use and hard to recycle, these plastic bags ultimately add to the problem of over-loaded landfills. Even worse, they often contain harmful chemicals like BPA, phthalates and other plasticizers that can leach into your food.
Our Reusable Produce Bags mean less trash in the landfill and fewer chemicals in your body and your home. In addition, they are very strong and durable, so you can use them over and over again!
Using all three Reusable Produce Bags once a week saves more than 150 paper or plastic bags from being added to the landfill every year.
1-year warranty


text:
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter to Build Homes in Haiti
President and Mrs. Carter, joined by Habitat for Humanity CEO Jonathan Reckford and hundreds of volunteers, gathered in Atlanta to kick off the 28th annual Habitat for Humanity Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project.
President and Mrs. Carter along with the volunteers will be in Haiti where they will build 100 homes in partnership with earthquake-affected families.
The 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010 caused widespread devastation, destroying 105,000 homes and damaging many more.[ Also Read: A School with a Difference in Quake-Hit Haiti ]
Habitat's Carter Work Project will be in Haiti in 2011 and 2012 to build homes and raise awareness of the need for ongoing support for Haiti's recovery.
Since 1984, President and Mrs. Carter have spent one week each year volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and building homes around the world.
Habitat for Humanity International is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization. Since 1976, Habitat has served more than 500,000 families by providing training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions.


text:
Feel good workout
Warm up, cool down and stretch
Before you get into your workout it's important to warm up. Just five minutes of light activity is all you need. Things like:
- Walking
- Jogging on the spot
- Pumping your arms
- Shoulder rolls
- Controlled punches
- Circular 'windmill' arm movements in the air.
After your workout, cool down by following any of the above activities, again for five minutes. This is also a great time to stretch your muscles holding each stretch for 20-30 seconds. Make sure you hold at a point where you can feel the stretch but you shouldn't feel discomfort or pain. Don't bounce through these, just slow steady movements.
Disclaimer: If you have been inactive for a while, have heart disease, or a close relative with heart disease or if you have other major health problems, or are pregnant, please check with your doctor before following these workouts.


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When he signed into law the bill that reduces the disparity in penalties for crack and powder cocaine offenses, President Barack Obama narrowed the "racial" gap in drug sentencing Tuesday by some 82 percent. Yet he did not close it.
Civil rights leaders that struggled mightily for parity under this unjust federal policy, which filled the prisons overwhelmingly with blacks, are premature in celebrating a total victory. While an improvement, this new legislation now punishes crack cocaine offenders — that cops racially target among black users and sellers in the first instance — by a ratio of 18:1, as compared with those abusing powder cocaine.
On the presidential level, this achievement, as with the health care bill, is another example of Obama surpassing Bill Clinton's failed efforts, this time in the crucial criminal justice area affecting mainly African Americans. As such, unlike with the health care bill affecting all Americans, the first black president, it was noted, made no public comment during the bill signing.
Savvy political observers understand Obama's public reticence on such controversial matters, given white denial about racism. However, it allows his critics, black and white, to downplay this breakthrough and continue harping about his alleged lack of sensitivity, especially in the wake of the Shirley Sherrod affair.
In a rare show of bipartisanship, the Fair Sentencing Act was passed by a Congress that Obama and his attorney general managed at least to tilt toward fair sentencing. The bill revokes a five-year mandatory sentence for first offenders, and instead of 5 grams of crack drawing the same mandatory sentence as 500 grams of powdered cocaine, the new minimum for rock has been set at 28 grams.
The draconian 100:1 ratio of crack to powder has thus been reduced to a less cruel but still unjust bias of 18:1. Once again, the promise of equal justice remains evasive under the peculiar legislative-judicial system that moves like a glacier when it comes to dispensing parity between white and black citizens.
Contrary to law-enforcement assumptions, some 24 percent of crack cocaine users were reportedly black, and 72 percent were Latino or white, according to a statistical study of 198 counties comprising more than 50 percent of the nation's population. Yet, the Justice Policy Institute says, "More than 80 percent of defendants sentenced for crack cocaine offenses were African Americans."
Furthermore, the institute revealed a national disparity in incarceration rates for drugs overall, despite a pattern showing no appreciable difference between whites and blacks in illegal-drug possession, use and sale. Some 8.5 percent of whites were found to use illicit drugs in '02, compared with 9.7 percent for blacks. Despite this similarity, blacks, the report found, were "admitted to prison for drug offenses (at) nearly 10 times the rate for whites."
When signing the omnibus crime bill in his first term, President Clinton left the 100:1 ratio intact, despite the staggering numbers of blacks being hauled off to prisons.
This crackdown on young, first-time, nonviolent offenders during the Clinton years was devastating. Black juveniles charged during that period jumped to 535,500 in 2000 from 456,072 in 1992. During the same period, black adults in the criminal justice system increased by 276,700 to 2,149,900, most of them drug offenders.
During a White House interview, I once asked President Clinton about this racially biased 100:1 cocaine sentencing disparity he had approved. "The situation that exists is unfair, unjustifiable and should be changed," he said. Yet Clinton found no way to change it when he was in the White House. Instead, he resorted inanely to petitioning the incoming Bush administration to correct this policy of racial bias.
The majority opinion of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg denounced the shaky foundation upon which Congress drafted the '86 bill. It was based upon the false assumptions, for example, that crack offenders were more likely to be violent, that crack was significantly more dangerous and addictive than powder, and that "crack use was especially prevalent among teenagers."
The U.S. Sentencing Commission had already concluded that "crack cocaine has not caused the damage that the Justice Department alleges it has." Also, credible medical researchers and criminal justice experts have firmly established that there is no appreciable difference between the effects of crack and powder cocaine use, and the majority of those trafficking in both forms of the drug are nonviolent.
Yet, even though blacks make up less than a quarter of crack users, some 85 percent of convicted federal crack offenders are black. The racial disparity starts with the arresting officer long before the federal judges peer down at crack offenders they still feel mandated to punish 18 times more severely than someone caught with powder.
The Fair Sentencing Act is not fair. It should be made retroactive, and crack offenders should be punished the same as those convicted of abusing powder cocaine.
Les Payne is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and a frequent contributor to The Root.


text: The Riunite Lambrusco produces a strong, almost overwhelming aroma of berries. This lively red wine with a forthright fruitiness, tingle and quaffability that bursts in the mouth is a charming complement to all your favorite ethnic foods such as Indian, Spanish, Chinese, or even burgers. Riunite is best-served chilled and is a popular thirst quencher at picnics, the beach, and at all casual social events.


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I recently wrote about how the Angler malware threat had affected my company. Adversaries have been buying space on legitimate advertising banner services, embedding malware in their fake ads, and using the unsuspecting ad agencies to serve their malware through legitimate websites to users, who might be innocently browsing major news and financial websites. It continues to be a problem for me.
Today, for example, I got an alert about an infection attempt via a training website. I'm also seeing an increasing number of Angler infection attempts coming via Web searches. The malware-bearing search results all look the same: seemingly random text from some old book, probably some classic of literature, that doesn't make any sense in the context of the Web search. That doesn't matter, though; it's just there to serve up malware to any unsuspecting users who click on the search result. One of my users was hit yesterday while trying to find a hiking website in India.
I used to think my life would be much easier if I could just put a stop to personal Web surfing from my company's network. But that was before legitimate Web browsing, such as checking financial news or even using a work-related training website, started serving up tainted advertisements. Of course, it never would have been feasible to block non-work-related activity, but now it wouldn't even solve the problem. I certainly can't block every website that has now become a threat.
So, what am I to do? Web-based threats have become so pervasive that it now seems as if any Web surfing at all poses a potential threat to my network. And though our firewalls are sophisticated, they are much more effective at blocking communications into our network than threats that result from internal connections out to the Internet. The criminals know this, of course, and that's why they are focusing their efforts on compromising respectable websites.
There is a ray of hope, though. I recently found out about a company that offloads Web browsing onto its own network. It's essentially a cloud-based Web browsing service. It performs all the actual Web traffic communications, so that all potentially dangerous traffic stays within the borders of the third party, where it can do less harm. All the service provides to the end user is a screen showing what is presented to the browser from the website. Much like a virtual computer or remote desktop session, only the input (keyboard and mouse) and output (pixels on the screen) are transmitted between the company's service and my network. Browser settings, security, plug-ins and other customizations are all supported by its service, and it emulates all major browsers. So it doesn't seem as if compatibility is an issue.
This is pretty cool, in principle. It seems like a workable solution for casual, personal Web surfing like those Web searches I was talking about. It may also be useful for work-related activities such as checking up on the news. I'm not yet sure how well it will support business-related applications like our payroll vendor and help desk ticketing system, both of which are run on third-party websites, but those are definitely less risky than websites we don't have a third-party relationship with.
I haven't heard about any other companies providing a service like this. This company is fairly new, so there is some risk in putting a lot of trust in its service. But given the day-to-day risks I'm currently experiencing, it seems like a life raft to me right now.
This week's journal is written by a real security manager, "J.F. Rice," whose name and employer have been disguised for obvious reasons. Contact him at email@example.com.
Join in
Click here for more security articles.


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Custom You Do You Neon Sign
This is an order page for a custom You Do You neon sign like the first 2 product images shown on this page. The sign will come fully assembled, ready to plugin and turn on.
- Colors:
- emerald green
- Size:
- 32" width x 40" height for the sign
- Back: Can be installed on an open metal rack, solid black panel (+$50), solid clear back panel (+$50) or clear contoured back (+$60). See pictures on this page for examples of each of these options.
- Voltage: 110v
- Material: real glass neon tubing
- Indoor use only
- Warranty: 1 year
Note: Due to our current custom sign order backlog + the additional production time to make and assemble your custom sign + shipping time, it will be about 4 weeks before you see the sign at your door. You will be provided with a tracking number after the package ships.


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I try my hardest to not keep candy around the house, but when it comes to Christmas, I simply can't resist. Hershey's Kisses, M&Ms, Andes Mints and Reeses Pieces are a few of my favorite treats to keep in the candy jar during the holidays. Oh, and candy canes, of course!
This year, my new favorite candy treat is the perfect combination of salty and sweet, mixing pretzels with Hershey's kisses and festive M&Ms. I originally saw the idea for this sweet treated used for Valentines Day on the blog g*rated. Since then, I've made them for several other holidays, including Halloween and Thanksgiving.
This time, instead of using Hershey's Hugs (the black and white striped cousin of the Kiss), I found these yummy and festive peppermint kisses. The red and white stripes were the perfect seasonal update to the snack.
Beware: this snack is absolutely addictive. You seriously cannot eat just one. But worry not, it's still December and those New Years resolutions don't kick in until the first!
Christmas-Inspired Pretzel & Chocolate Button Bites
- 1 bag Snyder's Butter Snaps
- 2 bags Peppermint Hershey's Kisses
- 1 bag Christmas colored M&Ms
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Lay the butter snaps out into rows, leaving space between the pretzels to prevent them from melting together.
- Add a peppermint kiss to the top of each pretzel.
- Put the cookie sheet into the oven for 3-5 minutes. The kisses should get warm, but you should take them out before they start melting and losing their shape.
- Remove the sheet from the oven and immediately press green M&Ms into the kisses.
- Before removing from the tray, allow the bites to harden. It helps to put them into the refrigerator for 20 minutes or so.
- You can use regular pretzels instead of the butter snaps, but I have found that the butter snaps taste better and since their holes are smaller, easier to manage with melted kisses.
- Instead of setting the oven timer and walking away, keep an eye on the snack as it bakes. It's pretty easy to tell when you should take them out if you keep an eye on them.
- The peppermint kisses took a little less time to melt than the hugs usually do. More on the 3 side of 3 to 5 minutes.


text:
- Posted By: freeproject
- Comments: 0
Posted By freeproject on July 8, 2022
PHP and MySQL Project on Placement Management System
Technology Used in the project Placement Management System
We have developed this project using the below technology
- HTML : Page layout has been designed in HTML
- CSS : CSS has been used for all the desigining part
- JavaScript : All the validation task and animations has been developed by JavaScript
- PHP : All the business and frontend logic has been implemented in PHP
- MySQL : MySQL database has been used as database for the project
- Apache2 : Project will be run over the Apache2 server
- You can run this project on XAMP, LAMP, WAMP or MAMP
Supported Operating System
We can configure this project on following operating system.
- Windows : This project can easily be configured on windows operating system. For running this project on Windows system, you will have to install WAMP or XAMP on your system.
- Linux : We can run this project also on all versions of Linux operating system
- Mac : We can also easily configured this project on Mac operating system.


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(NEXSTAR) – GasBuddy, a company that closely tracks gas prices around the country, has released its forecast for 2022 and we've got some bad news for you. Gas prices are once expected to rise and could reach $4 per gallon nationwide by spring.
To put that in perspective, the national average is about $3.28 at the end of December 2021.
Continued economic recovery (even amidst the current omicron spike) will continue to drive demand for gas up in the first half of 2022, GasBuddy expects. Oil supply is also increasing, but it may take a while before it gets fully up to speed with demand, according to the company's analysis. That's why we'll be seeing rising gas prices through May or June before they start to come back down again.
The national average is expected to reach its lowest point next year in December at around $3.01 per gallon.
"While we are likely to eventually see relief at the pump as the year wears on, we likely will experience more pain at the pump than what we saw in 2021, with the national average potentially reaching $4/gal for just the second time in history and the first time in over a decade," said Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy's head of petroleum analysis, in the report.
GasBuddy predicts prices will top out around $4 per gallon for most major cities in the early summer, while cities like Sacramento and San Francisco could see prices climb past $5.
Here's how the gas price forecast breaks down month by month. For each month, there's a range of possibilities for the national average:
- January: $3.11 – $3.42
- February: $3.02 – $3.35
- March: $3.29 – $3.63
- April: $3.41 – $3.87
- May: $3.52 – $4.06
- June: $3.43 – $4.13
- July: $3.38 – $3.96
- August: $3.31 – $3.82
- September: $3.09 – $3.52
- October: $2.96 – $3.35
- November: $2.87 – $3.24
- December: $2.82 – $3.19
The numbers above are the forecast for the national average, but prices will vary between states. In California, for example, prices are usually substantially higher than the national average. In states like Texas and Oklahoma, GasBuddy finds prices are typically lower.
Forecasting is especially challenging amid the pandemic, as supply disruptions pop up and demand fluctuates based on travel restrictions. Severe weather, like hurricanes, can also disrupt refineries and make gas prices unpredictable.
"2022 may be filled with curveballs and new challenges as motorists see their annual fuel expenses rise yet again, but there is some measure of relief that we will see," said De Haan. "Until then, motorists will be forced to chalk up more of their hard-earned money to keep up with their insatiable thirst for gasoline."


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There are four separate security forces that reported to three different authorities: The Gendarmerie and Comorian Defense Force, which reported directly to Union President Azali and had responsibility for internal and external security on the islands of Grande Comore and Moheli; a police force in and around the capital Moroni that reported to Union President Azali and was responsible for law enforcement and immigration; a local police force on Grande Comore that reported to Grande Comore President Abdou Soule Elbak; and a combined Gendarmerie and police force on the island of Anjouan that reported to Anjouan island president Colonel Mohamed Bacar. The Union Government does not have a police or military presence on Anjouan. The civilian authorities maintained effective control of the security forces. Some members of the security forces committed human rights abuses.
The economy was market-based. The country's population was approximately 600,000. The economy was primarily agricultural, dominated by subsistence farming and the production of vanilla, ylang-ylang (a precursor to perfume), and cloves. The rate of economic growth was estimated to be 2.3 percent in 2003. Wages have kept pace with inflation, but the price of vanilla, the main export, has fallen dramatically in recent years, seriously impacting economic growth. The country depended heavily on remittances and foreign assistance.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Prison conditions remained poor. The Government restricted freedom of religion. Societal discrimination against women and Christians continued to be serious problems. There were some instances of forced child labor.
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From:
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life
There were no reports of the arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life by the Government or its agents.
b. Disappearance
There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
The Constitution prohibits such practices, and there were no reports that government officials employed them.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that security forces forcibly dispersed demonstrations.
Prison conditions remained poor. A lack of proper sanitation, overcrowding, inadequate medical facilities, and poor diet were common problems. The Government has not taken action to remedy these problems.
Female prisoners were held separately from male prisoners. Juveniles were not imprisoned; they were returned to the custody of their parents. Pretrial detainees were not held separately from convicted prisoners.
The Government permitted prison visits by independent observers; the International Committee of the Red Cross, United Nations Development Program, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF made prison visits during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention
The Constitution prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention; however, there was one case of alleged arbitrary detention of the editor of an independent newspaper. Authorities reportedly detained the editor for 48 hours after he printed an article critical of the Government. He was released with no charges brought against him (see Section 2.a.). Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that police brought persons who were detained to military camps instead of jails and held them without charge for more than 24 hours.
There were four separate security forces, which reported to three different authorities. On the island of Grand Comore, there were three forces with responsibility for local policing: Two that reported to Union President Azali (a local police force and the Gendarmerie) and one that reported to island President Elbak. The Union police force had responsibility for local policing and handled immigration. The Gendarmerie handled some local policing on Grande Comore and all local policing on the island of Moheli and was responsible for internal and external defense. The island of Anjouan maintained its own military and police force that it called its Gendarmerie. This arrangement complicated effective policing in the country. The Union Government and island governments separately reported the need for more training and equipment to provide more effective security.
During the year, the Government did not take any actions to reform the police; however, the National Assembly debated how to clarify security responsibilities between the Union Government and the island governments.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary, and the Government generally respected this provision in practice. The head of state appoints magistrates by decree.
In October, the Government established the 7-member Constitutional Court. The President of the Union assigns one member, one member is assigned by each of the two Union Vice Presidents, one member is assigned by each of the three island government presidents, and the President of the National Assembly assigns one member.
The Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial, and an independent judiciary generally enforced this right. Trials were open to the public except for limited exceptions defined by law. The legal system incorporates Islamic law as well as French legal codes. There were approximately five lawyers in the country, making it difficult to obtain legal representation. Most disputes were presented to village elders for possible resolution before being taken to court.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
The Constitution prohibits such actions, and the Government generally respected these prohibitions in practice.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government generally respected these rights in practice, although there were problems in some areas. The Government did not restrict academic freedom.
There was one government-supported newspaper, Al-Watwan, that published regularly and one independent newspaper that published irregularly.
Authorities allegedly detained for 48 hours the editor of an independent newspaper after he printed an article strongly criticizing the Government. No charges were brought against the editor, and he was released.
There was a government radio station, which operated on a regular schedule. In addition, there were local community radio stations, which operated in very narrow transmission areas. Citizens who lived overseas primarily funded these stations, which were staffed by volunteers and were allowed to operate without government interference or regulation. Residents also received broadcasts from Mayotte Radio, as well as from French television, without government interference. In April, one pro-Union government radio station was ransacked during the national elections.
There were several small, community-based television stations that operated without government interference. Funds for their operation were raised among local residents and from relatives overseas.
Foreign newspapers and books were available.
The Government did not restrict access to the Internet.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Constitution provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government generally respected this right in practice.
In September, the island government of Anjouan dispersed a gathering of several hundred followers of the Djawula faith because the group had not received the required prior authorization from the island government. The authorities also were concerned that the organizers would upset the religious public order. Several participants were briefly arrested and had their beards shaved before being released.
The Constitution does not provide specifically for the freedom of association; however, the Government generally respected this right in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion; however, the Government restricted this right in practice.
The Constitution declares that the laws must draw inspiration from Islam, but the Constitution does not declare Islam the official religion. An overwhelming majority of the population was Sunni Muslim. Proselytizing was illegal, and Christians faced intense societal pressures. Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that police threatened or detained Christians.
On the island of Anjouan, a ban on dress that appeared Arabic and that did no match traditional Comorian dress was sporadically enforced. There were some reports that some men's beards were shaved in an attempt to prevent radical forms of Islam from taking root on the island (see Section 2.b.).
There were two Roman Catholic churches and one Protestant church; however, social pressures restricted the use of these Christian churches to noncitizens. Unlike in previous years, there were no reports the Government restricted access to churches. The Government permitted Christian missionaries to work in local hospitals and schools but did not permit them to proselytize.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports that community authorities on Anjouan banned Christians from attending any community events or banned Christian burials in a local cemetery.
There was widespread societal discrimination against Christians, who faced insults and threats of violence from the larger community. Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of mobs harassing Christians or forcing them to attend services at mosques.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2004 International Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
The Constitution provides for these rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice.
There continued to be reports that persons fled Grande Comore and Anjouan for Mayotte; many of these persons reportedly drowned attempting to reach Mayotte on rafts or by swimming.
The Constitution does not prohibit forced exile, but the Government did not use forced exile in practice.
The Constitution does not provide for the granting of asylum or refugee status in accordance with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, and the Government has not established a system for providing protection to refugees. In practice, the Government provided protection against refoulement, the return of persons to a country where they feared persecution, but the Government did not routinely grant refugee or asylum status. The Government also provided temporary protection to individuals who may not qualify as refugees under the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol and provided it to approximately 10 persons from Burundi and Rwanda during the year. The Government cooperated with the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations assisting refugees and asylum seekers.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of universal suffrage. Citizens could freely choose and change the laws and officials that govern them.
National legislative assembly elections were held in April in a manner that international observers from the African Union, Arab League, Fracphonie, and European Union described as free and fair. Of the 33 members of the National Assembly, citizens directly elected 18, and the island assemblies appointed the remaining 15. The new National Assembly had 26 members from parties aligned with the island governments, 6 members aligned with the Union Government, and 1 from an independent party.
The country has been prone to coups and political insurrection since its independence in 1975, including an attempted coup in February 2003 that resulted in the arrest of 12 soldiers and 2 government ministers, all of whom were released.
In 2001, the Constitution, which calls for the reincorporation of Anjouan, Grande Comore, and Moheli into a new federation that grants the islands greater autonomy, was approved overwhelmingly in a referendum described by international observers as free and fair. Each of the three islands that constituted the Union has a separate elected President. In October, the newly formed National Assembly began work on laws that would finalize power-sharing arrangements between the island and Union Governments.
There were no bans in effect on political parties, which continued to criticize the Government openly. There were several political parties allied either with the Union government or the island governments.
Unlike in previous years, village chiefs and Muslim religious leaders no longer dominated local politics. Traditional social, religious, and economic institutions significantly affected political life.
During the year, a Malagasy auditing firm examining the country's budget found that receipts worth $5 million (approximately 2 billion Comorian Francs) by-passed the mechanisms established by the Central Bank to share receipts between the island and Union Governments. In addition, the auditing firm found major military expenses that did not comply with official procedures. No action was taken on either of these issues.
There are no laws providing for public access to government information.
There was one woman in the 33-member National Assembly, and a woman was a delegate responsible for human rights matters in the office of one of the vice presidents.
There were no Christians in the Government.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
One domestic and some international nongovernmental organizations operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials were cooperative and responsive to their views, and there was no evidence that the Government suppressed criticism of its human rights policies.
During the year, one domestic human rights group was active and independent of government control, interference, or influence. In August, the group organized a colloquium on human rights and worked with UNICEF on child protection programs.
Section 5 Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, disability, language, or social status; however, there was discrimination against women.
During the year, the Government did not take any action to combat domestic violence against women, and police and human rights groups believed such violence to be rare, although these groups did not keep statistics. A woman could seek protection through the courts in the case of violence, but the extended family or village elders more often addressed such problems.
Rape is illegal and carries a penalty of between 5 and 10 years' imprisonment. The Government did not enforce effectively laws on rape. Spousal rape is not addressed specifically in law.
Prostitution is illegal, and most citizens did not consider it to be a problem.
While a matriarchal tradition afforded women some rights, especially in terms of landholding, men retained the dominant role in society. Societal discrimination against women was most apparent in rural areas where women had farming and childrearing duties and fewer opportunities for education and wage employment. The status of women improved in the major towns, where growing numbers of women were in the labor force and generally earned wages comparable to those of men engaged in similar work; however, few women held positions of responsibility in business. The Constitution provides for equality of persons, and, in general, inheritance and property rights do not discriminate against women. For example, the house that the father of the bride traditionally must provide to the couple at the time of their marriage remained the wife's property in the event of divorce.
The Government has not taken any specific action to protect or promote children's welfare. Legal provisions that address the rights and welfare of children were not enforced because of a lack of inspectors.
Education is compulsory to age 16; however, this requirement was not enforced, and priority often was given to boys. According to the National Directorate of Education Planning, 73 percent of children aged 6-11 attended school--66.4 percent of girls and 79.6 percent of boys. Among children aged 12-15, 41.9 percent of children attended school--41.9 percent of girls and 45.1 percent of boys. Among 16 to 18-year-olds, 28.7 percent of children--25.7 percent of girls and 31.6 percent of boys--attended school.
The Government provided basic medical care free of charge to boys and girls equally.
Child abuse was rare but occurred. There was a judge for children's affairs in the Ministry of Justice.
Child prostitution and child pornography are illegal. The law considered unmarried children under the age of 18 as minors, and they were protected legally from sexual exploitation, prostitution, and pornography.
Trafficking in Persons
The law does not prohibit trafficking in persons; however, there were no reports that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country.
Persons with Disabilities
There were no laws that mandate access to buildings for persons with disabilities, and there generally was no discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or in the provision of other state services.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The law allows workers to form and join unions of their choice without previous authorization or excessive requirements, and they did so in practice. Approximately 80 percent of the population was engaged in farming on small land holdings, subsistence fishing, and petty commerce. The wage labor force was less than 7,000, including government employees, and less than 2,000 excluding them. Teachers, civil servants, taxi drivers, and dockworkers were unionized. Unions were independent of the Government.
The Labor Code, which was rarely enforced, does not include a system for resolving labor disputes, and it does not prohibit antiunion discrimination by employers.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The law protects workers from employer interference in their right to organize and administer their unions. Unions have the right to bargain collectively; however, employers set wages in the small private sector, and the Government, especially the Ministries of Finance and Labor, set them in the larger public sector.
The law provides for the right to strike, and workers exercised this right in practice. There were no laws protecting strikers from retribution, but there were no known instances of retribution.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The Constitution prohibits forced or compulsory labor by adults; however, the Government did not prohibit forced or compulsory labor by children, and there were reports that such practices occurred (see Section 6.d.).
Starting in January, the Government did not pay low-level government workers for a period of 4 months. Salaries were resumed in April, but 4 months' back pay was still owed at year's end. Teachers went on strike in October as a result of the owed salaries, but they resumed work after 1 week.
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for
The Labor Code defines the minimum age for employment as 15, and child labor generally was not a problem due to the lack of wage employment opportunities. Children usually worked for their families in subsistence farming and fishing.
Some families placed their children in the homes of others where they worked long hours in exchange for food or shelter. A 2000 UNICEF study found that approximately 15 percent of children were not paid for their work.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
There was no minimum wage. During the year, the Government was unable to pay on a regular basis many low-level government worker salaries (see Section 6.c.).
The Labor Code specifies a workweek of 37½ hours with 1 day off per week plus 1 month of paid vacation per year.
There were no safety or health standards for the very small manufacturing sector.


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Texas State theatre program lauded by Austin Critics' Table
By Casey Torrance
University News Service
June 11, 2012
"Oklahoma!" won the Austin Critics' Table award for Best Musical Production. (Photo by Chandler Prude)
The Department of Theatre and Dance at Texas State University-San Marcos recently won the Austin Critics' Table Award for Best Musical Production for its rendition of "Oklahoma!" This is the first time a Texas State production has won this award.
Kaitlin Hopkins, director of "Oklahoma!" and head of the musical theatre program, was thrilled about the win.
"To be acknowledged by the Austin Critics' Table Awards for Best Musical Production for 'Oklahoma!' is such an honor, as there were so many wonderful productions in Austin this year," Hopkins said. "It is a testament to the level of work being done by our students in all aspects of production in the Department of Theatre and Dance."
Hopkins was also nominated for Best Direction for the productions of "Oklahoma!" and "Hair." Other nominations for Texas State at the Austin Critics' Table Awards included the award for Movement for "Hair," the Best Music Direction award for "Oklahoma!" and "Hair" and the Group Gallery Exhibition award for Texas State's art gallery "Wild Kingdom." Student Tim Heller also received a special citation for Outstanding Student Work for his performance as "Curly" in "Oklahoma!"
In addition, Texas State theater faculty member Eugene Lee won an award for Outstanding Acting in a Leading Role in his performances in both "The Book of Grace" and "God of Carnage" from the Austin Critics' Table.
Since Hopkins launched the new musical theater program in 2009, Texas State productions have been nominated for Best Musical Production every year.
"I am, of course, extremely proud of all the students and faculty involved in the production," she said.
For more information, please visit www.theatreanddance.txstate.edu.


text:
The primary purpose of the Weed Hazard Program is fire prevention. In accordance with the City of Missoula Weed Ordinance, any weed or grass over 24 inches tall is a nuisance, being a potential fuel for causing a fire that could damage property or life. The program is not in place for weed mitigation.
The Weed Hazard Program also deals with vegetation that causes a visibility obstruction as defined in MMC 12.28.110. Visibility triangles at intersections must be kept clear for safety reasons, and are illustrated in Standard Drawing 401.
Section Two of the Code lists options in Paragraph D and E for property owners who wish to keep managed natural garden / parks on their property or who use their land for agricultural purposes, such as growing crops. A property can be exempt from the ordinance by providing code compliance with a management plan. Contact them at (406) 552-6630.
Compliance with the Weed Ordinance must be continuous throughout the weed growth season, which is from June 1 through September 30 of each year. This usually means that more than one cut may be necessary. Please monitor your property regularly to ensure that growth is no taller than 24 inches.
To report a property that is not in compliance with the ordinance, please contact code compliance at 406-552-6630 or fill out the Weed Hazard Complaint Form. Please be prepared to provide your name, address, and phone number, as well as the address of the property that is in violation.
If the property does not have a visible address or if it is a vacant lot, you can give a specific location, such as: "the boulevard next to the parking lot at 123 Main".
Note: we cannot accept complaints for an entire block.


text:
• sack •
sæk • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun, Verb
Meaning: [Noun] 1. A container made of flexible material such as cloth, leather, or paper; a bag. 2. (Slang) A bed. 3. (Slang) A base in baseball. [Verb] 4. To place in a sack. 5. To dismiss, discharge, fire. 6. (Football) To tackle behind the line of scrimmage, especially a quarterback trying to pass the ball.
Notes: This ubiquitous word has been around forever (see Word History), but has adapted to every language that has acquired it. So the verbal variant comes with a completely English family: sackable, sackage, sacking (adjective and noun), sackful, sackless, and sacker.
In Play: Only the last meaning of today's Good Word is particularly topical today: "If the Seattle Seahawks sack the Broncos' Peyton Manning enough times, they could win Super Bowl XXXIII." This sense of sack comes from the sense of "to fire (to put out of service)". Now for a noun sense of sack, the slang sense of "bed": "As soon as I finish this, I'm hitting the sack."
Word History: Today's Good Word started out in Hebrew as saq; it may have even been present in Ancient Egyptian and Phoenician. It was taken up by Aramaic as saq and came down to Syriac as saq. Greek borrowed its word sakkos from one of these Middle Eastern languages, then lent it to Latin as saccus. Centuries pass. The Latin word was inherited by all the Romance languages: French sac, Spanish saco, Portuguese saco, and Italian sacco. It was borrowed by Old Germanic and came down to Dutch as zak, German Sack, Swedish säkk, Danish sæk, and English sack. It crept into Celtic languages, too: Irish sac and Welsh sach. We find it, again, in Albanian, an Indo-European language, as sak, and in Hungarian, a Finno-Ugric language, as zsak. (George Kovac thought Super Bowl weekend would be a propitious moment to review this word, particularly its most recent sense.)
P.S. - Register for the Daily Good Word E-Mail! - You can get our daily Good Word sent directly to you via e-mail in either HTML or Text format. Go to our Registration Page to sign up today!
Come visit our website at <http://www.alphadictionary.com> for more Good Words and other language resources!


text:
So NPR, CrunchBase, and soon the New York Times will all have APIs. What if all news orgs soon have APIs? I wonder what you could build on that.
You see a glimpse of what that could look like with Daylife (where — disclosure — I am a partner); its founder, Upendra Shardanand, has been arguing for sometime that APIs are the next way content will be distributed; indeed, Daylife can create an API for a publication. APIs give you the chance to get at more data fields more reliably and to get archival access for deeper analysis and they give you rights and the ability to mashup and redistribute.
So if I were in a lab somewhere — like the one we hope to start at CUNY — I wonder what products, services, and companies could be cooked atop these APIs. I started to speculate but I wasn't thinking big enough. So I'll ask you: What data should be made available as APIs and if it were available, what could you do with it? How would this change news?


text:
Civil rights groups want Taser ban in Texas schools
The ACLU and six other civil rights groups asked the state's police commission to ban Tasers and pepper spray in Texas schools
By James Pinkerton
Houston Chronicle
HOUSTON — The ACLU and six other civil rights groups Wednesday asked the state's police commission to ban Tasers and pepper spray in Texas schools, following a brain injury to a Bastrop high school student who fell after he was shocked and remains in a coma.
Instead, the group suggests police officers use de-escalation techniques and crisis intervention tactics, such as separating students in a fight, talking with them and waiting for the situation to calm.
"Tragic incidents like this one demonstrate why the state should not grant police free rein to wield weapons in schools for the apparent purpose of maintaining order," said Terri Burke, executive director of the ACLU of Texas. "Schools should be safe havens from this type of police use of force. I hope the commission will heed our call to end use of Tasers and pepper spray."
In Austin, a spokeswoman for Texas Commission on Law Enforcement said agency leaders are reviewing the request and did not provide a comment by press time.
On Nov. 20, a Bastrop County sheriff's deputy working at the Cedar Creek High School used a Taser on Noe Nino de Rivera, a 17-year-old student who witnessses said was breaking up a fight between female students and was obeying officer's commands, his attorney said. De Rivera went limp and fell to the floor, hitting his head. He was taken by helicopter ambulance to an Austin hospital, where he remains in a medically-induced coma, said family attorney Adam Loewy.
"The doctors believe he will make it, but he will have a very serious, permanent brain injury, and we won't know the extent of that until he wakes up," said Loewy.
Sheriff: No comment
Bastrop County Sheriff Terry Pickering had no comment on the request, said a department spokeswoman. The department has said the student was acting aggressively and intervened in the fight.
The request to bar nonlethal weapons was made by the ACLU, the Texas Appleseed group, along with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Disability Rights Texas, Texans Care for Children, the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition and the National Alliance on Mental Illness Texas.
The use of Tasers and pepper spray was defended by Chief C.A. "Chuck" Brawner, of the Spring Branch Independent School District police force, who said nonlethal weapons are necessary so officers don't have to use firearms or nightsticks on unarmed students. His officers do not use Tasers but carry pepper spray and have used the caustic agent twice on students since 1987, Brawner confirmed.
"When you take away the pepper spray and you take away the Taser, what do you have left?" Brawner said. "What if there are several people and you have one officer and they can't control them and they could get away and cause other problems, how do you stop them? When you start taking away other options other than a firearm or a nightstick, what else are you going to use?"
HISD uses foam
Houston ISD's 206-member police force do not use Tasers, but officers carry a pepper foam that is less likely to affect bystanders than a spray, according to information from the district. Over the past two years, the police department has recorded nine uses of pepper foam, typically to break up large fights, according to data provided by the district.
Brawner acknowledged that Tasers and pepper spray have caused deaths when they have been used on the streets by law enforcement.
"But what's the alternative — just let them go and let them wreak havoc in a school," he said. "You don't want to use deadly force like a pistol in a situation like that unless they've got a gun."
Local police are sometimes called to help with crimes on police campus, and they follow their own guidelines for using Tasers and pepper spray.
'Use common sense'
Alan Bernstein, director of public affairs with the Harris County Sheriff's Office, said deputies are prohibited from using Tasers on pregnant women, people already under restraint, the elderly and children under the age of 13.
When deputies are called to a school campus, they "would have to use common sense in any situation when there are crowds of people nearby, or when it's more advisable to handle the situation differently," he said.
Loewy, the attorney for de Rivera, stopped short of supporting a ban on Tasers on campus.
"There needs to be a balance struck between preserving the safety of students and teachers, and making sure students do not get hurt by law enforcement officers in the school," Loewy said. "The major way to do that is to improve training, not necessarily an outright ban."
Copyright 2013 the Houston Chronicle
- Tags
- Legal
- Less Lethal


text:
The Calibration Check Monitor ("calChecker") checks the proper execution of the calibration plan. It looks for all science data taken in the night and then checks for all required calibrations being completely available and within their validity range. If missing or outdated calibrations are discovered, it indicates required actions.
Purpose. The main purpose of the tool is to
The calChecker has three modules, linked to the main result page:
Process. The process is set up as follows:
Tool. calChecker is a script-based wrapper around the OCA association engine (also used by the DataOrganizer DO) to find file types, and based on those, associations with calibrations. The OCA configuration includes file types, number of files, validity ranges, and association rules (like "find next"; "find closest in time"; "find on same date").
Results. For each date, data type and setup, there is one result box flagged as OK, NOK, or MISS:
There is an overview of currently missing data types and setups.
Execution. The tool is operated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is called every 30 min during Paranal nighttime, every hour during daytime. To detect instances when this pattern is broken, the tool has a validity flag which is evaluated by the browser. It is green if the page is no older than 2 hours, and turns red if the page becomes outdated. In addition there is execution timestamp information:
tellTracker. The special module "tellTracker" (for selected instruments having telluric standard stars, like X-SHOOTER) is called every 15 minutes during Paranal nighttime.
Analysis. The results should be analyzed by the Paranal daytime astronomer every day. The QC scientists are committed to analysis whenever they are on duty which however is never guaranteed (i.e. not once per hour, not 24 hours a day, not every day of the year). If a missing calibration is detected and the case is analyzed, the result is fed back in the ANALYSIS NOTES section.
Types of calibration which are monitored. The tool is designed to check
It cannot detect missing attached calibrations (to be taken within the science OB).


text: What clients say about Angus Thomas Nothing helps to convey the quality of our work and relationships like testimonials from actual clients. Here are some attested recent quotes from Angus Thomas Photography clients: As a rock music PR in the UK with 16 years experience I have been fortunate to work with some great photographers. Angus Thomas is up there with the best of them. Easy to work with & reliable – his images are consistently of the highest quality. Angus is a linchpin - Duff Battye, Duff Press Angus, thanks so much for all your hard work – the images were perfect. It was real pleasure to work with you particularly as you somehow managed to make what turned out to be a long shoot into a fun and enjoyable experience! - Simone John, Press Officer, Conran Shop Good morning Angus – I received the photos yesterday – they are great. Thank you so much for all your hard work on the night and pass on our thanks to Andy as well. I hope we get to work together at future Honda Finance events - Emma Houchin, Honda Finance Europe Hi Angus – saw the first bunch of pix and they were awesome! Also wanted to say that Julie and I both enjoyed meeting you and having you in the mix: you were always there to lend a hand, and your quiet appreciation of our camaraderie added even more to an amazing chemistry – Peter, Constellation Energy I am very disappointed! I am going to have to keep paying (you) for professional photography as the response to your pictures has been fantastic! I can no longer make do with taking them myself! The press and blogging sites have been lapping them up, particularly the belly desk. Thank you!! - Steuart Padwick, Steuart Padwick Furniture Thanks, Angus. It was the most wonderful project for me to work on as well and I shall be eternally grateful that YOU were the official photographer! I do believe that it was a match made in heaven – Judy Barr, Travel 100 Group USA Again, all I can say is "Wow!" These pictures are spectacular. These pictures are magnificent. I can't imagine the trip without you having been part of it - Liz E, Private Client I was blown away when I saw the picture you took of our family and had framed–a record turn-around time, I'm certain–it's spectacular!! And thank you for the other, extremely thoughtful (yet completely unnecessary) gifts, too. Your interactive participation in this week's events was truly a blessing, adding to the conviviality and the joyousness of the occasion. You're a remarkable man with a tremendous spirit, and for that we are all extraordinarily grateful - Scott S – Private Client Angus – They are perfect – thank you! - Julia, Barclays


text:
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NBA Jam 2000 Cheats :
This page contains NBA Jam 2000 cheats list for Nintendo64 version. Now we have 1 cheats in our list, which includes 1 secret. We hope information that you'll find at this page help you in playing NBA Jam 2000 on Nintendo64 platform. If you didn't find needed cheats put request or ask question about this at special section of the game. Also you can subscribe on all new cheats that we'll find for you in the future!
Secret - Run Faster
Begin the game in exhibition mode. Get possession of the ball and hold L + Z or R + Z when running to move faster.
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text:
In Nigeria, the last significant militant group in the oil-rich Niger Delta has called for a truce with the government, offering to disband and disarm in exchange for amnesty from prosecution.
The Nigeria Delta Liberation Force is a breakaway faction of the main group, MEND, and has been fighting government forces since its leader, John Togo, rejected the amnesty deal offered by the government.
Security officials say the militant group could not cope with the fire power of the troops deployed in the area, but a group spokesman says it wants to give President Goodluck Jonathan time to implement key parts of the amnesty program.
"It is good news, which I think the government should embrace," said Onengiya Erekosima, president of Niger Delta Non-Violent Movement. Erekosima organized the first face-to-face meeting between the militants and the government.
He said the truce offer is a significant development that could bring permanent peace to the area and the government should move quickly to accept it as a confidence-building measure.
"The president should just come out and accept the offer so that nobody else will arrest John Togo. If that is not done… then they will be provoking some other groups to come up and take advantage of the violence that is already on the ground. I think the government should accept him into the reconciliation table."
The military says the militants were forced to give up the fight because they had no hope of achieving their objectives by force.
But Erekosima said the government should not underestimate the will of the militants to wage a long, costly war.
"They cannot blame John Togo at this time; there was not enough time for militants to bring out their guns. A lot of people did not believe the amnesty [would] succeed," adding that the government should take it in good faith and reconcile with all the parties involved