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If wine applications are not showing easily readable fonts, you may not have Microsoft's Truetype fonts installed. See [[MS Fonts]].
If wine applications are not showing easily readable fonts, you may not have Microsoft's Truetype fonts installed. See [[MS Fonts]].
After running such programs, kill all wine servers and run winecfg
After running such programs, kill all wine servers and run winecfgshould be legible now.
If the fonts look somehow smeared, import the following text file into the Wine registry:
If the fonts look somehow smeared, import the following text file into the Wine registry:
Revision as of 05:29, 15 June 2011
Wine is a compatibility layer capable of running Microsoft Windows applications on Unix-like operating systems. Windows programs running in Wine act as native programs would, running without the performance or memory usage penalties of an emulator, with a similar look and feel to other applications on your desktop environment.
- 1 Installation
- 2 Running Windows Applications
- 3 Configuration
- 4 Tips and tricks
- 5 Alternatives to Win16 / Win32 binaries
- 6 External Resources
Wine is constantly updated and available in the [community] repository for i686 and in [multilib] for x86_64.
# pacman -S wine
You may also require wine_gecko if your applications make use of internet explorer (such as the classic steam interface)
# pacman -S wine_gecko
Make sure you have enabled the [multilib] repository in Template:Filename. If you are running on a x86_64 system, you will also want to install other lib32 packages if the Windows application needs it, such as lib32-mpg123 for mp3 support:
# pacman -S lib32-mpg123 lib32-libxml2 lib32-openal lib32-libpng
Architectural differences
Wine in Arch Linux on i686 is packaged just like expected. It includes a standard 32-bit Wine installation and is unable to execute any 64-bit Windows applications. However, the x86_64 Wine package includes both, a 32-bit and a 64-bit Windows compatibility layer in one.
This so called WoW64 allows the user to use 32-bit and 64-bit Windows programs concurrently and even in the same WINEPREFIX with a win64 WINEARCH. The current support for this in Wine itself is limited and users are recommended to use a win32 WINEPREFIX. See Wine#Using_WINEARCH for more information on this.
To clarify the above, the i686 package Wine will work exactly like a x86_64 package Wine with a win32 WINEPREFIX with no ill effects.
Running Windows Applications
To run a 32-bit windows application:
$ wine <path to exe>
To run a 64-bit windows application on a x86-64 system:
$ wine64 <path to exe>
To install using an MSI installer, use the included msiexec utility:
$ msiexec installername.msi
To create configuration files run:
$ winecfg
Review the settings and click OK to save. Some options are not present in winecfg, however they are accessible in the Wine registry. To change the Wine registry via a graphical editor:
$ regedit
Also you can import/export text data into/from the Wine registry. In the graphical editor do "File/Import registry file…" and "File/Export registry file…". In command line there is a bunch of commands, see:
$ regedit /?
The wine directory with config files resides in
and by default C:\ will be mapped to
You've done the basic configuration. Now try to run something using:
$ wine /path/to/something.exe
$ wine /path/to/3d_game.exe -opengl
Using WINEARCH
If you are using wine from [multilib], you will notice that winecfg will get you a 64-bit wine environment by default. You can change this behavior using the WINEARCH environment variable. Rename your ~/.wine directory and create a new wine environment by running:
$ WINEARCH=win32 winecfg
This will get you a 32-bit wine environment. Not setting WINEARCH will get you a 64-bit one.
You can combine this with WINEPREFIX to make a separate win32 and win64 environment:
$ WINEARCH=win32 WINEPREFIX=~/win32 winecfg $ WINEPREFIX=~/win64 winecfg
Note that a win64 WINEARCH is meant to be able to run 32-bit Windows applications as well as 64-bit ones. However, support for this is limited in Wine and users are encouraged to use a win32 WINEPREFIX for the time being until support improves.
You can also use winetricks and WINEARCH in one command for installing something from winetricks like this (using Steam as an example):
env WINEARCH=win32 WINEPREFIX=~/.local/share/wineprefixes/steam winetricks steam
Note: you do not have create the steam subdirectory in the wineprefixes directory, it will create for you. See the Bottles section below for more information.
32-bit Graphics Card Drivers
You should install these if you don't want crippled 3D performance on a x86-64 system. Note that you need to have [multilib] repository enabled if you want to install them using pacman. You can also try to search the AUR. A good sign that you need one of those libraries is the error "Direct rendering is disabled, most likely your OpenGL drivers haven't been installed correctly" when you try to run an exe binary from the commandline.
# pacman -S lib32-nvidia-utilsFor older lib32-nvidia-utils (e.g. nvidia-96xx drivers), see here. If you still have graphic problems with NVIDIA cards, you should try to install all lib32 packages by "pacman -S lib32", this fixes some issues.
- Intel:
# pacman -S lib32-intel-driRun Wine with
# pacman -S lib32-ati-dri
Binary ATI drivers, then install lib32-catalyst-utils # binary from AUR
By default sound issues may arise when running Wine applications. Ensure only one sound device is selected in winecfg. Currently, the alsa driver is the most supported.
Those using PulseAudio can use an AUR package called Template:Package AUR that compiles Wine with 3 patches that bring PulseAudio sound support.
If wine applications are not showing easily readable fonts, you may not have Microsoft's Truetype fonts installed. See MS Fonts. If this doesn't help, try running
winetricks allfonts.
After running such programs, kill all wine servers and run winecfg. Fonts should be legible now.
If the fonts look somehow smeared, import the following text file into the Wine registry:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Wine\X11 Driver] "ClientSideWithRender"="N"
After installation of wine, there will likely be no menu in your desktop environment. After installing a program using Wine, it will create a menu with your installed applications automatically. If you wish to add on to the menu to create an Ubuntu-like Wine sub-menu, then follow these instructions:
Creating Menu Entries
First, install a Windows program using Wine to create the base menu. After the base menu is created, you can start to add the menu entries. In GNOME, right-click on the desktop and select "Create Launcher...". The steps might be different for KDE/Xfce. Make three launchers using these settings:
Type: Application Name: Configuration Command: winecfg Comment: Configure the general settings for Wine
Type: Application Name: Uninstall Programs Command: wine uninstaller Comment: Uninstall Windows programs under Wine properly
Type: Application Name: Browse C:\ Drive Command: wine winebrowser c:\\ Comment: Browse the files in the virtual Wine C:\ drive
Now that you have these three launchers on your desktop, it is time to put them into the menu. But, first you should change the launchers to dynamically change icons when a new icon set is installed. To do this, open the launchers that you just made in your favorite text editor. Change the following settings to these new values: Configuration launcher:
Icon[en_US]=wine-winecfg Icon=wine-winecfg
Uninstall Programs launcher:
Icon[en_US]=wine-uninstaller Icon=wine-uninstaller
Browse C:\ Drive launcher:
Icon[en_US]=wine-winefile Icon=wine-winefile
If these settings produce a ugly/non-existent icon, it means that there are no icons for these launchers in the icon set that you have enabled. You should replace the icon settings with the explicit location of the icon that you want. Clicking the icon in the launcher's properties menu will have the same effect. A great icon set that supports these shortcuts is GNOME-colors.
Now that you have the launchers fully configured, now it is time to put them in the menu. Plop them into "~/.local/share/applications/wine/" using a terminal or file browser.
Wait a second, they aren't in the menu yet! There is one last step. Copy the following text into a text file named "~/.config/menus/applications-merged/wine-utilities.menu".
<!DOCTYPE Menu PUBLIC "-//freedesktop//DTD Menu 1.0//EN" "http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/menu-spec/menu-1.0.dtd"> <Menu> <Name>Applications</Name> <Menu> <Name>wine-wine</Name> <Directory>wine-wine.directory</Directory> <Include> <Filename>wine-Configuration.desktop</Filename> </Include> <Include> <Filename>wine-Browse C:\ Drive.desktop</Filename> </Include> <Include> <Filename>wine-Uninstall Programs.desktop</Filename> </Include> </Menu> </Menu>
Go check in the menu and there should be the minty fresh options waiting to be used!
KDE 4 Menu Fix[1]
The Wine menu items may appear in "Lost & Found" instead of the Wine menu for KDE 4. This is because kde-applications.menu is missing the MergeDir option.
Edit /etc/xdg/menus/kde-applications.menu
At the end of the file add
<MergeDir>applications-merged</MergeDir> after
<DefaultMergeDirs/>, it should look like this:
<Include> <And> <Category>KDE</Category> <Category>Core</Category> </And> </Include> <DefaultMergeDirs/> <MergeDir>applications-merged</MergeDir> <MergeFile>applications-kmenuedit.menu</MergeFile> </Menu>
Alternatively you can create a symlink to a folder that KDE does see:
ln -s ~/.config/menus/applications-merged ~/.config/menus/kde-applications-merged
This has the added bonus that an update to KDE won't change it, but is per user instead of system wide.
Tips and tricks
These tools will assist in the installation of typical Windows components. In most cases they should be used as a last effort, as it may severely alter your wine configuration.
Wine Bottles
The best practice for running wine apps is creating a different WINEPREFIX for every game so you can set different 3D settings, dependencies.
mkdir ~/.wineprefix
Now cd to your installer folder and run the setup application:
WINEPREFIX=~/.wineprefix/YOURGAME wine setup.exe
Or if you need to install something or run something using winetricks:
WINEPREFIX=~/.wineprefix/YOURGAME winetricks vcrun
Then to run the game, replace the "run.exe" with your game's executable file:
WINEPREFIX=~/.wineprefix/YOURGAME wine run.exe
Winetricks is a quick script that allows one to install base requirements needed to run some Windows programs. Installable components includes DirectX 9.x, msxml (required by Microsoft Office 2007 and Internet Explorer), visual runtime libraries and many more.
You can install winetricks via pacman.
# pacman -S winetricks
Then run winetricks as a normal user:
$ winetricks
WineTools assistant
Winetools is a script that facilitates in the installation of some core components for wine in order to install other programs. Note this is not necessary for wine, but does help if you want to get Internet Explorer running.
You can download the PKGBUILD script and see AUR for instructions to build and install.
PlayOnLinux is a graphical Windows and DOS program manager. It contains many scripts to assist the configuration and running of progams. You can find the PKGBUILD in AUR.
PlayOnLinux can also manage multiple Wine versions and use a specific version for each executable because of regressions. If you need to know what Wine version works best for a certain game, try the Wine Application Database.
PyWinery is a graphical and simple wine-prefix manager which allows you to launch apps and manage configuration of separate prefixes, also have a button to open winetricks in the same prefix, to open prefix dir, winecfg, application uninstaller and wineDOS. You can install PyWinery from AUR. It is especially useful for having differents settings like DirectX games, office, programming, etc, and choose which prefix to use before you open an application or file.
It's recommended using winetricks by default to open. exe files, so you can choose between any wine configuration you have.
Using Wine as an interpreter for Win16/Win32 binaries
It is also possible to tell the kernel to use wine as an interpreter for all Win16/Win32 binaries. First mount the binfmt_misc filesystem:
# mount -t binfmt_misc none /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc
Or you can add this line to your Template:Filename:
none /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc binfmt_misc defaults 0 0
Then, tell the kernel how to interpret Win16 and Win32 binaries:
echo ':DOSWin:M::MZ::/usr/bin/wine:' > /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/register
You can add this line to Template:Filename to make this setting permanent. In this case you may want to ignore stderr to avoid error messages when changing runlevels:
{ echo ':DOSWin:M::MZ::/usr/bin/wine:' > /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/register; } 2>/dev/null
Now try to run a Windows program:
chmod 755 exefile.exe ./exefile.exe
Often you may need to run .exes to patch game files, for example a widescreen mod for an old game, and running the .exe normally through wine might yield nothing happening. In this case, you can open a terminal and run the following command:
$ wineconsole cmd
Then navigate to the directory and run the .exe file from there.
Alternatives to Win16 / Win32 binaries
- Cedega - Aimed at gamers
- Codeweavers - Codeweavers' Crossover Office; Aimed at Office Users


text:
Optimist Lyrics
I never asked for anyone to listen, and I never asked for anyone to take my words to heart. I've let myself become a target based on nothing more than expression. I will not lie to others, and I won't lie to myself. If you're searching for safety you can find it somewhere else, and I won't mind. I've never seen myself as optimistic, so this should come as no surprise. No one feels good forever. Not even me. But this doesn't give us an excuse to allow ourselves to become useless like the rest. We will turn our hatred into something to be proud of. We will make life worth living.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Jack Edwin Merritt, 77
Jack Edwin Merritt, 77, longtime businessman and resident of Blackfoot passed away Thursday, May 26, 2011 at his home. He was under the care of his dedicated and loving wife and the staff of Blackfoot Home Health and Hospice.
Born January 5, 1934 in Afton, Wyoming the third of eight children to Paul Merritt and LaFawn Skinner Merritt. After graduating from Rigby High School, he enlisted in the Army and served in Newfoundland during the Korean War.
He married BernaDine Hawker on Friday, July 13, 1956 in the Idaho Falls LDS Temple.
He was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served as High Priest Group Leader, Young Men's President, Bishop's Councilor, Blackfoot Stake High Councilmen and Bishop of the Blackfoot 1st Ward.
He was also very active in Scouting, serving two separate terms as the Blackfoot District Chairman and on the Executive Board of the Tendoy Council and was responsible for the physical facilities of Camp Little Lemhi. Together with his brother he helped build the Director's Cabin, trading post, shower house and an addition to the main lodge. He was a recipient of the District Award of Merit and The Silver Beaver.
For over 38 years he owned and operated Merritt's Chevron and Repair, starting out on the North end of old Highway #91 and then to the South Broadway location, both in Blackfoot. When Interstate #15 was completed, he moved his operations just off of Exit 93 where he served the public for over 25 years. When Chevron decided to close up that operation, Jack opened Merritt's Repair in Wapello.
He is survived by his wife of 54 years, BernaDine Hawker Merritt of Blackfoot; children, Jackie (Donavan) Harrington of Blackfoot, Brent (Janeen) Merritt of Provo, Utah and Barbara (Kelly) Ferrin of Montgomery, Alabama. He is also survived by ten grandchildren and eight great grandchildren; sisters, Pauline (Leland) Flint of Rigby, Marjorie (Brent) Gamble of Blackfoot, Virginia (Dean) Hammond of Marysville, Washington and Nancy (LaVarr) Moore of Blackfoot.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Lloyd Vernon Merritt and James Eldon Merritt.
The family would like to thank members of the Blackfoot Home Health and Hospice, especially Robin Clemens and Jessie Wadsworth who were assigned to care for him.
A funeral service will be held 11:00 a.m. Thursday, June 2, 2011 at the Blackfoot 1st Ward LDS Chapel, 187 N. Ash St., with Bishop Tad Pearson conducting.
The family will meet with friends on Wednesday evening from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Hawker Funeral Home, 132 S. Shilling Avenue in Blackfoot and from 10-10:45 a.m. prior to the service at the church. Interment will follow at the Blackfoot Grove City Cemetery. Military Rites will be performed by the Stewart Hoover Post #23 of Blackfoot. Condolences may be sent to the family at email@example.com.


text: Luc Renambot wrote: > Here is the printout for a machine with a GeForce3 on the AGP port. > (motherboard Tyan 2462 Thunder K7). Is this "+-01.0-[01]" the bridge > you were talking about ? Yep. To have a bridge between PCI and AGP is not uncommon, but to have a bridge fully implemented (support access from both sides) is actually rare. Many times, there is a bridge between 2 PCI busses, but the bridge only maps Host/PCI and PCI/Host, almost never PCI/PCI. It's logical, nobody cares about PCI to PCI transaction in the mass market. However, it's a violation of the PCI spec, but nobody cares about it either :-) Patrick ---------------------------------------------------------- | Patrick Geoffray, Ph.D. patrick at myri.com | Myricom, Inc. http://www.myri.com | Cell: 865-389-8852 685 Emory Valley Rd (B) | Phone: 865-425-0978 Oak Ridge, TN 37830 ----------------------------------------------------------


text:
What is Grape?
It's kind of hard to put into words exactly how Grape works or what it does. The idea is that every file you throw onto your desktop turns into a preview, whether it be a document, video, or photo. You can work with these previews by resizing them, stacking them, moving them around, and grouping them by dragging boxes around them. A group of files is called a pile, and you can name these piles.
The key to Grape is zooming. You can zoom in on a pile - or any place of the desktop - via your mouse wheel. The cool thing is that the previews stay in their original size and location, so when you zoom in, a pile unravels itself, revealing more space to deal with the files it contains. Again, it's slightly problematic to put into words, so let's just look at a video of how the current version works:
Grape Desktop Zooming Interface 01 from yann le coroller on Vimeo.
After we ran our first article on Grape, Yann Le Coroller was contacted by Dockland Software's Stephane to talk about turning Grape into an actual piece of software. After using the beta (which shouldn't be called beta, according to Stephane, because it isn't feature complete yet), I can say that he has done an amazing job. The thing that struck me the most about the current version is its excellent performance, even on my old PowerMac Dual G4-450Mhz, and we're only at beta!
Working with Grape
Working with Grape does require a different approach to working with files on your desktop. Since all files are previews, you don't locate individual files by name, but by their contents. For files with multiple pages, you can scroll the preview. Video files can play and pause as well, and the preview will remain paused even if you go do something else. Another cool feature is the search function, which uses "highlight-as-you-type", making use of Spotlight technology.
Grape runs in its own window; it doesn't actually take over your desktop. Earlier versions did take over the desktop, but Yann explained that Grape can't yet fully "replace" the desktop, and as such, it makes more sense to run Grape in a full-screen window. In addition, clicking on a Grape "desktop" doesn't activate the Finder, but Grape itself. This could be confusing for users.
An additional benefit to running it in a window is that if you run in a dual-screen setup, you could use one screen for Grape, and the other to house your applications. Yann explained that a preference switch might be included later to toggle between "replace desktop mode" and "window mode".
Even when in a window, Grape houses the exact same set of files as are currently on your normal desktop. Drop a file on the Grape window, and it will appear on your desktop as well, and vice versa. For now, it does appear to be safer to drop files on the "real" desktop, as dropping files on the Grape window tends to crash the program (beta and all).
Stephane told us there's still a lot of work to be done on Grape. For instance, the original concept contained the idea of flipping over the previews to edit file and metadata - this has not yet been implemented at this moment. They also want to add more visualisations for other types of files, like folders. Work is also done on optimising Grape's performance.
Grape has certainly impressed me as a fresh take on the desktop paradigm, but without being too overwhelming or too complicated to get into. I could see Grape as particularly useful if it were possible to integrate it into Finder windows. This way, you could switch whatever directory in the Finder to "Grape view", and manage the files in said directory Grapefully (I'm so going to hell for that one).
For instance, if you are working on several projects, you could store each project's files in separate directories, and manage each of them with Grape. Instead of having a disorganised bunch of pictures, .doc files, .pdfs, and Excel worksheets in your thesis folder, you could use Grape to organise each filetype into a nice stack, zoom in on them, preview them all side-by-side, and so on, without ever opening an application.
Grape is currently a Mac OS X exclusive, and it will most likely stay that way for the foreseeable future as it depends on a boatload of Mac OS X technologies like Core Animation, Spotlight, Quick Look, and others. Grape is not open source, and it's also not free. The full version will cost money (price not yet determined), but a free "light version" will become available in the future.
You want beta access? You get beta access!
The final release is not here yet, and the beta is closed, but I have been authorised to give away beta access to whoever I think could be valuable to the testing process. So, if you want beta access to Grape, and start playing with it today,
leave a comment or send us an email [Sorry, we're full already!], and I'll make sure you get access. You can get support, make feature requests, and post bugs in Dockland Software's Customer Support Community for Grape.
Grape already comes with an auto-update feature, so your beta copy will receive continuous bug fixes and improvements as time goes on.


text:
The new site is a colaborative effort. I've tried to talk a few friends into posting at the site too, though I expect I'll be the most hyperactive of the crew by a long shot. I'm the only one who has ever blogged, so go easy on them. They're clever folks - they'll catch on if they can overcome their shyness about making asses of themselves in the most public forum there is.
Anyway, thanks blogger.com for providing completely free software. Can't say it was worth it for you, but that's the chance you took, isn't it? And thanks everyone for reading. Hope to see you at my new place.
Over and out,


text:
British Mosses and Liverworts, with ISBN 9780521067416 and ISBN 0521067413.[read more]
You can find lots of answers to common customer questions in our FAQs
View a detailed breakdown of our shipping prices
Learn about our return policy
Still need help? Feel free to contact us
View college textbooks by subject
and top textbooks for college
With our dedicated customer support team, 30-day no-questions-asked return policy, and our price match guarantee, you can rest easy knowing that we're doing everything we can to save you time, money, and stress.


text:
The Faculty Senate meets on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month - these meetings are noted as "Confirmed".
Meetings will also be held on the 2nd, 4th, and 5th Thursday if business warrents - these meetings are noted as "Tenative".
The Senate will not meet Nov 28 - Thanksgiving Holiday and March 27 - Spring Break.


text:
Amazon Insists No Licenses Needed For Cloud Player, Google Thinking Of Skipping Licenses As Well
from the floodgates,-openning dept
Perhaps that's not the case, however. Amazon has sent a letter to the record labels, once again reiterating that it does not believe it needs licenses. On top of that, it points out that, so far, the Cloud Drive appears to be driving more sales of MP3s.
Cloud Drive is a general online storage service for all digital files, not unlike Google Docs, Microsoft SkyDrive and any number of other internet file back-up services. It's your external hard-drive in the cloud. It requires a license from content owners no more than those other internet file back-up services do and no more than makers of external hard drives for PCs do.Nice to see Amazon taking a stand here. Hopefully it keeps up.
Cloud Player is a media management and play-back application not unlike Windows Media Player and any number of other media management applications that let customers manage and play their music. It requires a license from content owners no more than those applications do.
It really is that simple.
At the same time, it appears that Google may be inspired by Amazon's decision here to stand up against the idea that licenses are needed for digital lockers. While it had been trying to negotiate licenses, rumors are coming out that it's fed up with ridiculous demands from the labels and ready to follow Amazon's lead in just offering up the service without any licenses.
Not surprisingly, the report names Warner Music as being the party that has been the worst to deal with in these negotiations. That fits with what we've heard from other negotiations, where Warner Music puts absolutely ridiculous deal terms on the table and refuses to budge. It would be nice if Google follows Amazon's lead and calls the labels' bluff on the idea that licenses are needed for this kind of service.


text:
Orthodox Prayers
Revision as of 21:21, January 3, 2006 by Joe Rodgers (talk | contribs) (adding another link: GOARCH prayer guide)
This article or section is a stub (i.e., in need of additional material). You can help OrthodoxWiki by expanding it.
External Links
- Antiochian Prayer Guide at the website of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
- Jordanville Prayer Book at the Myriobiblos Library
- Coptic Orthodox Book of Hours (Agpeya Prayers)
- Daily Prayers of the Saint Nectarios Society at the website of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese
- Common Prayers for Orthodox Christians at the website of the Orthodox Church in America
- The Synekdemos: Daily Prayers for Orthodox Christians at the website of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America


text:
27 August 2008|
|Article Index
|Alpine IDA-X305 Digital Media Receiver
|All Pages
If we look at the history of listening to music as a hobby or as a seriously enjoyable pastime, we have come a long way from listening to a few songs in our living room and then having to flip the record over. Back in the day some of us made our own mix tapes, which gave us an hour or so of non-stop listening, and via the Walkman, some of us took our music to the gym, school, or even camping. Before long, we could play an entire "album" on a CD without interruption, and for some people, the ability to switch songs almost instantly became a habit while listening.
The CD was an overnight success, and about ten years ago, we began converting our CD collections to compressed digital formats, making it easy to take thousands of songs almost anywhere, and accepting the loss of some sound quality as an acceptable tradeoff for convenience. Technology continues to march forward, and now the sales of CDs are diminishing, as more people prefer to simply download a digital file. These days, most of my friends routinely carry a few hundred, if not a few thousand of their favorite songs along with them where ever they go.
I get a lot of good natured ribbing because I still prefer to listen to CDs and yes even vinyl records in my home. I realize I'm in the minority for sure, and thanks to the digital age, the way the vast majority of us listen to our music has taken on a completely different approach.
It stands to reason then, that the equipment we use to play our music on also has to change with the times. To that end, one of the earliest companies to recognize this fact was Alpine Electronics. For several years now they have been producing "CD driveless" Digital Media Receivers for those among us who no longer even own CDs. At the CES show in Las Vegas this January, they debuted three new DMRs including the top of the line iDA-X305, (about $350USD/$349CDN) and of course you know I had to try it out for myself and all of you readers.
When the Alpine iDA-X305 arrived at the test lab, I was delighted to find that Alpine had thoughtfully also included their excellent but pricey ($180USD/$199CDN) KCE-400BT Bluetooth interface. Much the same way as technology has changed the way we experience our music, Bluetooth technology has changed the way I use my phone in my car. After a few months of hands-free Bluetooth bliss, I would not even consider a non-Bluetooth ready source unit anymore!
Powered by Parrot for maximum phone compatibility, the Alpine Bluetooth interface allows you to conduct hands-free calls via the car's sound system. Your phone book is also downloaded to the headunit, and you get full functionality with caller ID, as well as missed, dialed, and received calls. In addition, if you have a Bluetooth media player phone, the KCE-400BT can wirelessly control and stream audio files, allowing you full playback and control via the headunit's front panel.
In addition to being Bluetooth ready, the Alpine iDA-X305 comes fully equipped with a host of features to make your drives more enjoyable. What good is a DMR unless it fully supports the most popular media players? No worries here, because the Alpine iDA-X305 is "Made for iPod, and "Works with iPhone." The iPod adapter cable is included, as is a USB extension cable. You can also simply plug a regular USB drive into the port, and play music directly from it as well.
The unit is satellite radio ready, as well as HD Radio ready, and should you spring for the optional TUA-T550HD tuner, you also have iTunes tagging and multicast support. What is tagging? Simply stated, iTunes tagging makes it easy to discover new music. Whenever you hear a song on you like on HD Radio, you can press a button on the faceplate. This action stores information about the song being played, and it's tagged for preview or purchase in iTunes the next time your iPod is connected to your computer. Cool huh? In terms of control and display features, the Alpine unit comes with a 2.2-inch full color TFT display, which will even display album art. To blend in to your dash, you have the choice of blue or red illumination, and you can customize the display with special wallpapers downloaded from the Alpine website. The Quick Search feature provides fast and easy alphabetized or percentage based searching through your media, and the unit can be controlled via an optional remote control if you are too lazy to use the very well designed double action encoder knob that's front and center in the middle of the faceplate.


text:
Irish American singer Bruce Springsteen has opened up about his father's mental illness and his own fight with depression and decision to take anti-depressants. Springsteen's open discussion has been welcomed as a breakthrough by some in the fields of medicine and psychology.
New Yorker magazine published an in depth interview with Springsteen last July in which he discusses his father's mental illness and Springsteen's own fear that he could not escape the mental illness in his family history. He told the magazine about his troubled relationship with his father, a guard worker with manic- depression. At a concert in the 1980's, Springsteen told the audience about his troubled relationship with his father, confusing some of his fans.
His father would come home from work and force a young Springsteen to sit at the kitchen table with him while he had a six pack. A screaming match soon developed from his father's question of what he was doing with himself. Springsteen would run out the back door and down the driveway. For years as an adult, he would later drive back to his parent's house in Freehold, New Jersey at night and sit outside until his therapist explained to him that he couldn't fix past mistakes there.
Unable to talk to his father, Springsteen turned to music. The Irish Times quoted the magazine interview, "My dad was very non-verbal- you couldn't really have a conversation with him. I had to make my peace with that, but I had to have a conversation with him. It ain't the best way to go about it, but that was the only way I could, and eventually he did respond. He might not have liked the songs, but I think he liked that they existed. It meant that he mattered. He'd get asked, 'What are your favorite songs?' And he'd say, 'The ones that are about me.'"
Read More: Daniel Day-Lewis, Steven Spielberg hit Dublin for 'Lincoln' premiere
Afraid that he had inherited his father's mental illness and feelings of isolation, Springsteen avoided casual drug use, which has plagued other musicians. Frozen by depression, he been seeing a therapist since 1982. Springsteen started taking anti-depressants in 2003 and since then has had a surge of successful albums releases and tours.
Springsteen spoke about his family's mental illness during interviews with recent biographer Peter Ames Carlin. "A big part of how this book advances the story is [by] being very upfront about his dad was manic-depressive. He had a serious untreated mental illness for his entire adult life." Carlin's biography is not officially authorized, but Springsteen gave countless interview hours, facilitated meetings with family and friends, and made his personal scrapbook available to Carlin. The book titled "Bruce" is published by Simon & Schuster.
Read More: Bruce Springsteen wrecks the Meadowlands - 'The Boss' wows ecstatic crowds back home - VIDEO
Through therapy and music, Springsteen has been healing the wounds. He said during the New Yorker interview, "I'm a repairman, a repairman with a toolbox. If I repair a little of myself, I repair a little of you. That's the job."


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Merlin's weekly podcast with Dan Benjamin. We talk about creativity, independence, and making things you love.
Merlin's weekly podcast with Dan Benjamin. We talk about creativity, independence, and making things you love.
"What's 43 Folders?"
43Folders.com is Merlin Mann's website about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work.
Merlin joins Stikkit advisory board
Merlin Mann | Feb 1 2007
Values of n Blog: Merlin Mann advises
I'm happy to announce that I've accepted an offer to advise Values of n on the development of their Stikkit web application.
In fact, although I've been using and loving Stikkit for several months now, I've held off talking about it much on 43f until this addition was made official and public1. But, since I stand to have an advisor's stake in the business as a result of this work, it was important to tell you guys and properly disclose my involvement before doing much gushing in the content well here.
I have a pile of tips for how I'm using Stikkit and have been regularly poking Rael, Michael, and crew (to what I imagine is the point of polite professional annoyance) with feature ideas and things I want the app to do (hint: everything). So I'm glad I can finally start sharing this stuff, here and elsewhere.
This is the first Advisory Board thing in which I've participated (my OmniFocus advising is pro bono and will continue as before), so I'm pretty excited to officially get started.
Anyhow, I wanted you to know about this and to say that I'll be linking back to this post whenever it's appropriate to remind you of my proud involvement in Stikkit. I am enthused about where this project is headed, and I'm honored that Rael and his team have let me in on their process.
1. Note that folks in Canada can catch a demo of Stikkit I did on Call for Help which I taped in December, before this was approaching officialness.
Congrats the the position. I see...
Submitted by bjbsquared (not verified) on February 4, 2007 - 4:15am.
Congrats the the position.
I see that this has a lot of potential. The integration of email, calendar and stickkits are a big feature. But, it is not quite there for me yet.
I am using the d3 GTD System, Gmail and Gcalendar (Google DeskTop) for the a non-integrated solution. For me to switch over, it would have to have more meaningful functionality than my current system. A great way to import my current and archived projects would be great. With the D3 GTD System I have made Nested sliding to-do lists that would be hard to live without.
|EXPLORE 43Folders


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Don't Believe the Hype About Currency Wars – Credit Suisse
Analysts at Credit Suisse are raining on the currency-war parade.
Amid lots of dramatic sounding headlines about the G7's efforts to avoid a currency war Tuesday, Credit Suisse's Ric Deverell and Anezka Christovova say it's all been blown out of proportion.
"We find that while monetary policy in many countries is pushing to become yet more accommodative, discussion about the so-called currency wars is really much ado about nothing," they write.
Quite simply, they say, "the major economies have not been actively manipulating their currencies."
But, you might ask, what about all that easing?


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Like most people my grandmother's age - she almost hit 90 - she was very religious, but she never got stuck in her ways. She always went with the times, and disliked imposing her religion on others. Despite her age, and her extensive participation in what is generally seen as a rather orthodox church (the Reformed Church of The Netherlands) she believed that if god indeed created everything, he must love everyone equally - no matter your history, colour, sexual orientation, whatever. This is a pretty progressive position to take for a church like that.
As I was going through her books, I discovered this six-volume set of books, titled 'Christian Encyclopaedia', from 1956. Considering its title and year of publication, my prejudice took over and I assumed it'd just be lots of talk about Christianity's history, with science taking a back seat as soon as it contradicted with religion.
I looked up "Evolution", and to my surprise, I was completely and utterly wrong - the topic was described in great scientific detail, explaining how evolution works, who contributed to the subject, and some of the aspects of it that still required further study because scientists didn't yet understand them fully (we're talking 1956, after all). No dogmas, no ridicule, no disparaging words or other forms of negativity. In fact, it could've come from any strictly secular science book and it'd be perfectly acceptable.
My grandmother, teaching me a lesson about prejudice, even from beyond the grave.
Consider it a test, if you will, but the encyclopaedia passed it with flying colours. Because of it, I quickly realised that with a bit of luck, this encyclopaedia could provide an intriguing insight into the very, very early days of computing, and how the scientific community of the day viewed this then-nascent industry. My father (it was his mother who passed away) remembered how he used to browse through this encyclopaedia for hours on end, and told me that if I wanted to have it, I could keep it. I didn't have to ponder that.
I took the six, incredibly heavy volumes home, dusted them off, and started looking for an entry on computing. I first decided to try "computer", but didn't find anything - not a surprise, considering we're talking the Dutch '50s, but since the prologue actually uses the term "up-to-date" in English (!), I thought I may be lucky. I decided that the best way to go about this was to look up entries starting with "reken-" ("rekenen" means "to calculate"). We call a calculator a "rekenmachine", or "calculation machine" (we use calculator, too, sometimes).
And I got lucky: an entry called "rekenautomaat", or "calculation automaton", which, according to the author of the entry, is also sometimes called a "computer". Reading through the entry, I realised I hit the jackpot. More than a page of '50s insight into computing - absolutely priceless. The entry is written by prof. dr. ir. H. van Riesen (1911-2000), someone who "is seen as a pioneer in the field of philosophy of technology from a Reformed viewpoint" (reformed as in, the Reformed Church).
Diving into the entry itself, it notes that computers are already in use in telephone systems, and are being used more and more in production. The key element of a computer, it states, is that "a certain action should always produce the same outcome; i.o.w., that between this action and the effect, human intervention is not necessary. [...] Thus, the command defines the end result."
After a short history of the computer, including the transition from mechanical to electric processes, the entry explains the kinds of tasks a computer is good at, mostly related to crunching calculations in mere seconds that would take humans more than a lifetime to crack, making computers useful in areas like nuclear science, meteorology, and so on. It also gives a few very specific examples:
The item then moves on to describe two goals the computer industry is currently working towards - the bleeding edge fields of the day, if you will. Of the two goals, computer scientists have achieved one, but the other remains highly elusive to this very day, and most likely will remain so for a long time to come. Interestingly enough, Van Riesen accurately predicts this very outcome. Can you guess which two they are?
It's chess and human language. Van Riesen uses these two to illustrate the kinds of tasks a computer is good at, and which it is not particularly suited for. Chess is a game of a finite number of moves, and only one of those moves will yield the most favourable outcome. A computer can calculate this, and should be able to come up with the best possible move. However, Van Riesen notes, the number of possible outcomes is so vast, that "the chess computer able to consistently beat the best human player in the world in still far beyond our reach". Fourty years later, IBM's Deep Blue and Deeper Blue would beat Kasparov.
Human language, on the other hand, has an infinite number of "nuances", and as such, a "translation computer will never be able to give a sufficiently satisfying solution". Since I make my living translating texts, I can certainly attest to this very fact. I appreciate the obvious issue of me not wanting to endanger my own profession, but as nice as e.g. Google Translate may seem, the translations it produces are absolutely horrifying, and can, in no way, be used in any serious capacity (hence, my disdain for news sites linking to Google Translate translated news articles).
A specific section is dedicated to memory. According to Van Riesen, a computer has an enormous amount of memory, which, unlike human memory, does not contain any errors. "The 'Mark III' has 4000 memory units, which can each remember a 16-digit number. As one feeds such a 'memory', it would appear as if the computer is becoming 'smarter'," Van Riesen explains.
Before moving on to the implications and the future of the computer, we get to the meat of the matter: how does a computer actually work? The process as a whole is considered "complicated", but the underlying principle is "simple". It's just a collection of switches, which can each hold one of two positions, and by chaining these together, you can increase "the number of possibilities of two".
For us, this is all basic stuff, something we intuitively understand without having to think too much about it. However, imagine what computers represented for people in the '50s; they just got out of a world war, and were in the middle of rebuilding the country. Virtually nobody knew what a computer was, let alone that they had even seen one. The idea of vacuum tubes, base-2 number systems and electronic memory were completely and utterly new and alien. I can't imagine what it must've been like for my dad - 6 years old in 1956 - to read about this esoteric subject matter.
What struck me most about the entry was Van Riesen's philosophical approach to the matter, which is remarkably prescient of the challenges we, as the human race, face with how to deal with the computer, the internet, and how they have tipped the balance of power back in favour of the people instead of the elite. In 1956, Van Riesen wrote this:
It's not particularly difficult to see how this very concern is still very much relevant today. The power that the internet - granted, not a singular computer, but a set of computers - has given to the people is absolutely astonishing. However, we currently live in a time where politicians the world over are trying everything they can to gain control over the web, all under the false pretence of stopping crime or "think of the children". Similarly, we're currently in the middle of the war on general-purpose computing, where companies are trying to prevent us from gaining full ownership and control over our computers - all under the guise of "but it's safer".
Sadly, Van Riesen passed away in 2000, but had he still been alive, I would have tried to get into contact with him. I would have loved to have been able to share thoughts about the world of computing then, and now, and if he still thinks about the worries he penned down over 50 years ago.
For me, this Christian Encyclopaedia, as well as this article here on OSNews, will be my way of remembering and honouring the legacy of my grandparents. Their respect, tolerance, and open mind towards people who were different from them is something that has clearly left an imprint on the rest of the family - my father and my brothers and I included. As my initial prejudice towards this Christian Encyclpaedia demonstrates, I still have a long way to go.


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HASTINGS-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. (AP) – This suburban village overlooking the Hudson River is a mere 2 square miles, home to a hip downtown, neighborhoods of neatly kept homes and an ever-growing population of deer that overrun woods, chew through gardens and cause more than a dozen car crashes a year.
Grasping for a way to control the deer without hunting the animals, leaders of this village of 7,900 have proposed an ambitious compromise to shoot them up _ not with bullets but with birth control.
Scientists and humane groups hope the program, which seeks to capture and inject female white-tailed deer with a contraceptive made from pigs' ovaries, can become a model for other places that are too congested or compassionate to consider killing.
"We're hearing all about `Don't kill Bambi' and all the jokes about deer condoms," Mayor Peter Swiderski said. "People are having their little chuckles. But deer have a pretty big negative effect on the community."
Under the plan, which will begin this winter if approved by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, as many as 90 percent of the does in Hastings will be tranquilized, inoculated with the contraceptive, then tagged and released. The deer population is estimated at up to 120, a density of 60 per square mile. That's three times the deer density that some studies have tied to a decline in plant and animal species.
The goal is a 35 to 40 percent reduction in five years.
Stephanie Boyles Griffin, a senior director at the Humane Society of the United States, said, "There are thousands of communities in the U.S. that are looking for alternative ways to manage the deer populations." If successful, she said, "Hastings would be the first open suburb in the U.S. to manage deer exclusively through the use of immunocontraception."
Swiderski said he had heard about such experiments and approached expert Allen Rutberg, director of the Center for Animals and Public Policy at Tufts University.
Rutberg went for a walk in Hastings, saw plenty of deer and deer damage, and figured the village would make an interesting experiment.
"For me the idea is to intervene in the lives of the deer as little as possible, to allow them to mingle with us but not to the level where they become a nuisance," Rutberg said. "If we can avoid killing things that live in our neighborhoods, then I think we should."
The protein, called zona pellucida, is obtained from pork industry slaughterhouses. It creates antibodies in deer _ and elephants and horses _ that prevent fertilization.
The mayor said dozens of residents have volunteered to monitor deer numbers and travel patterns and measure landscape damage.
Among them is Nancy Balaban, 85, who said she's had to give up gardening in her yard because "the deer just ate everything down to the ground. Hostas, tulips, even holly bushes."
She especially laments the damage to Hastings' "beautiful treasure," its village forest, where hardly anything green can be seen from the ground to 6 or 7 feet up the tree trunks.
"All the saplings are eaten," Balaban said. "It's going to end up being a desert."
Rutberg said the forest damage also affects "the critters that live in the vegetation: ground-nesting birds, small rodents, amphibians."
Some neighbors have erected tall wrought-iron fencing, coupled with netting, to keep the beasts out of their gardens.
Balaban said that's too expensive. She limits her puttering now to a few pots of flowering begonias and bacopa on a second-floor balcony. "The deer haven't learned to fly yet," she said.
The mayor said he suspects most Hastings residents would support a killing program, but opponents could delay or sabotage it.
"I'm picturing kids on TV with signs that say `Don't shoot the deer,'" he said.
The Humane Society and In Defense of Animals are helping to pay for the experiment, which will probably cost at least $30,000 for the first two years. Although the does have to be treated every two or three years, they don't have to be captured again once they're tagged and that will keep labor costs down. Subsequent doses can be delivered by dart, Rutberg said.
The Humane Society supports the program because "our major focus is to encourage people to tolerate wild animals and coexist with them," Griffin said.
Barbara Stagno of In Defense of Animals said, "There's a lot of killing of wildlife under the guise of not being able to cohabit. It happens with geese, it happens with deer. Killing rarely is the answer."
Rutberg has run similar experiments on Fripp Island, S.C., and on the enclosed grounds of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Md. Because Hastings is neither an island nor fenced in, there's a risk of deer from elsewhere moving in and affecting the numbers. But Rutberg said that makes it more of a real-world experiment.
He added, however, that deer tend to stay within a quarter-mile of where they're born.
"They obviously like it here," he said. "They're native, they belong in our forests. But maybe not at 60 per square mile."
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


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DOE to Identify Western Transmission Needs for Renewable Energy
June 11, 2008
DOE announced last week that it will work with the Western Governors' Association (WGA) to identify areas in the West with substantial renewable energy resources and to expedite the development and delivery of that energy to meet regional energy needs. Subject to congressional appropriations, DOE plans to contribute up to $2.3 million over the next 3 years to the Western Renewable Energy Zones (WREZ) project, which was launched by WGA and DOE. Under a cooperative agreement with WGA, DOE will help to identify the WREZs, develop regional transmission plans to enhance access to the WREZs, create a transparent process to bring together utilities and the companies developing those renewable energy resources, and encourage interstate cooperation to address permitting and cost issues with transmission lines that cross state lines. Participating in the project are 11 western states, two Canadian provinces, and areas in Mexico that are part of the Western Interconnection, the massive electrical grid that supplies electricity to most of the West. See the DOE press release and the WGA's WREZ Web site.
DOE is also working with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to assess the impacts associated with solar energy development on BLM-managed public lands in six western states. The joint Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) will assess the environmental, social, and economic impacts from solar energy projects located in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The joint PEIS will also evaluate a number of alternative management strategies to determine which presents the best management approach for the agencies to adopt in terms of mitigating potential impacts and facilitating solar energy development while carrying out their respective missions. The measures adopted as a result of this PEIS will provide consistency and certainty for solar energy development and will help expedite environmental analysis for site-specific projects in the future.
During its work on the PEIS, the BLM will focus attention on the 125 applications already received for rights-of-way for solar energy development, while deferring new applications until after completion of the PEIS. The 125 existing applications involve almost a million acres of land and have the potential to generate 70,000 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 20 million average U.S. homes. The PEIS will establish a process for accepting future applications, possibly through a competitive process, which would be likely to attract companies with the experience and resources necessary to quickly deploy solar energy projects. The BLM is accepting comments on the scope of the PEIS through July 15 and will also hold public scoping meetings in the six states from mid-June through early July. See the BLM press release and the Solar Energy Development PEIS Web site.


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Miley Cyrus has said she is fighting fit, as she resumed her Bangerz tour in London after a series of canceled shows.
The 21-year-old pop star delayed U.S. dates until August after treatment for a sinus infection went awry, and last week postponed two European shows. Cyrus says that was because she suffered a severe allergic reaction to antibiotics.
But she told reporters she was "the poster child for good health" before performing at London's O2 Arena on Tuesday.
The former child star, who has garnered mixed reviews for her risque adult image, gave an energetic performance complete with crotch-grabbing, erotically tinged choreography and a ride on a giant hot dog.
Songs ranged from Cyrus' hit "Wrecking Ball" to covers of Bob Dylan's "When You Go" and Dolly Parton's "Jolene."


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Archive for the 'General Ramblings' Category
It's been a little while since an update – so apologies for that! Things have been busy, what with being back at work, a wedding to plan and general goings on.
However, it has been productive – all my place cards are complete, my favour boxes are going to be well on the way this next week, my bridemaid's bouquets are done and we met with the hotel to get some solid plans together. It's been quite exciting, and the hotel were fantastic, offering us useful and helpful advice, and making us feel so much more relaxed about everything. I've picked out my wedding ring after a venture round the jewellers yesterday – and Bruce has an idea of what he wants now and knows his size. So it was worthwhile. Most unlike what I expected, I've chosen a plain, thin Palladium ring, which goes perfectly with my engagement ring 🙂 I can't wait to put it on!
My mum is now back off her holidays, feeling refreshed and looking tanned, and so now girly planning can get into full swing! Next weekend is dress try-on day (to make sure it still fits) and a day to throw around some ideas for hair, make up, shoes etc. I am really looking forward to it!
Meanwhile, my lovely hubby to be is planning his stag night. I'm also planning my hen party, which is only a matter of weeks away. So all in all it's been quite hectic!
For anyone that might be interested, here some pics of my handmade crafty wedding bits:
The first ever album I remember buying was the Bee Gees "One Night Only" – I remember listening to it alot, and it really got me hooked on music. I still have fond memories of listening to that album 🙂 Perhaps the album that stands out the most for me growing up is the soundtrack to the film "10 Things I Hate About You". The film is still one of my favourites, and I found some new bands that I hadn't heard of before that are still in my favourites – such as Letters to Cleo and Sister Hazel. I also spent alot of time listening to Papa Roach's "Infest" album. This album has some fantastic tracks, especially "Broken Home". Other faves included Evanescence "Fallen", Michelle Branch "The Spirit Room", Sarah McLachlan "Surfacing" and Bif Naked "I Bificus".
I still listen to alot of the songs on most of these albums today. In fact, "Your Winter", "Angel" and "Hello" are 3 of my favourite songs of all time.
Yesterday I had a call from my Uncle about the wedding hotel arrangements…which got me thinking that I should really look at how long we have left. So, I had a look at the calendar and was slightly shocked to see that we only have 9 more weeks to go! Where does the time go to! 9 weeks until we get married and still so much to do…
So I have decided that I need to try to accomplish at lease one remaining task per week. Yesterday we started on 3 tasks – the most important one to make the appointment with the wedding planner to finalise the menus, numbers and what we want. Email sent, and hopefully we can see her very soon.
The second task is down to me – and actually I have quite enjoyed it – making up the place cards! I started last night with my "wedding craft box", having already done a couple of mock ups to get the design I liked.
This is the very first Mock Up – but pretty much how the actual ones will be looking! My flash on my phone camera doesn't do this picture justice…
So far I have done 9 cards, and I am quite pleased with them even if I do say so myself. Our colour scheme is white, black and burgundy – and we have opted for black cards as they will stand out quite well. The girls will have a burgundy bow and white heart, the boys will have a black bow and burgundy heart. I got all the necessary bits and pieces from Ebay, and saved a small fortune. For all the cards, decorations and accessories I think the total comes to around £10. Bargain! As we do not have all our RSVP's back as yet, I'm not sure on the exact number I will need to make, but I think it will be around 40 (we are only having very close family and friends). Which means I'm a quarter of the way to completing this task! Half an hour a night this week, and I should be done.
The third task of this week is probably going to be ongoing. Having met with the registrar before Christmas, we need to decide on the tracks we want to use for our ceremony. It works out at around 6-8 tracks for the beginning, when everyone is arriving. My track to walk down the aisle to, 2-3 tracks for the signing of the register and a track for us both to leave to. Sounds simple… but when we both have quite different tastes in music it is actually quite a task! I think we both know that we want upbeat tracks that everyone can listen to – but at the moment that is about as close as we have got to deciding. We have a couple of shortlisted songs, but nothing set in stone yet. Any suggestions will be appreciated! Although I think I have just about chosen my song (still subject to change, but it's probably only really a choice between two anyway!)
Next tasks on the list are:
- Deciding on the wedding rings
- Deciding on my shoes, hair and make up
- Choosing the wording we want to use for the vows
- Making up of the favour boxes
I can't believe it is so close now – and time will continue to speed by.
In other news, I have been quite good with my resolutions so far – having only forgotten to take my make up off once. I have to say though, I could really tell the difference even just missing one night of "cleanse, tone, moisturise". Now that I am into the routine, I can really feel that my skin is softer, more supple and feels much healthier. I have been known to suffer with dry skin, especially in the Winter, but it now feels more hydrated and makes make up application much easier!
And on the note of hydration, I am adding another Resolution to my list – To drink more. I know that I don't drink enough water throughout the day. I'm not a fan of water at all, and I tend to drink only when I am thirsty. Not the healthiest option. So, in a bid to feel better about myself, and also to continue with my new wedding skin regime, I am going to aim to drink more water. And less tea/coffee. Hopefully I will start to feel the benefits soon!
Anyway, enough ramblings for now. I feel a ratty blog may also be following soon!
Sarah x
The Versatile Blogger Award
Posted January 6, 2012on:
Wow! I've been nominated for my very first blogging award – The Versatile blogger. The lovely Sarah at SezPets nominated me – which was a nice suprise this morning when I woke up! 🙂 I didn't even know awards for blogging existed!
The "rules" of this award are the following:
1. Thank and link to the person who awarded you.
2. Share seven random facts about yourself.
3. Pass the award on to as many as 15 more blogging friends.
4. Contact those friends and congratulate them!
So firstly, thank you to SezPets for the nomination – her blog is super, I really enjoy reading about her animals and life in Oz! SezPets nominated me to encourage me to continue with my blogging, which I most definitely intend to do!
7 random facts about myself…
Although I love animals, I have a massive phobia of moths and butterflies – most people think I am slightly insane, especially in the Summer when I scream and run like a banshee away from this little white fluttering butterfly. I am working on it…
My birthday is 23rd December, and despite what most people think I couldn't think of a better day to have a birthday! I wouldn't change it for the world.
When I was younger I always wanted to be a vet. It was only when I came to realise that I would have to study sciences at college that I decided not to. I now wish I had followed my dream, as I would love to have become a vet!
I have never seen a Harry Potter film, or read a Harry Potter book.
I love to sing – I love to have my music on in the car, drive along and sing my heart out. But ONLY if nobody is listening and nobody is with me. I hate anyone else to hear me sing.
However, at my 21st Birthday Party I suprised all my family and friends by singing a rendition of Hilary Duff"s "What Dreams are Made Of" – and actually quite enjoyed it. (and no, I wasn't trollied!!)
On 10th March 2012, I will become a Mrs – and I can't wait!
So thats the 7 facts, now to pass on the award – I don't have that many blogging friends (yet) so here goes:
SezPets – I know that she already has a nomination, but I think she deserves another – I really love to read her blog, and the colour scheme is awesome – a lovely refreshing green!! 🙂
My Life With Olive – this is a lovely blog about a Weimeraner dog called Olive and her owner. Reading My Life with Olive really makes me smile, and Olive looks like a great friend!
A Lot of Coffee and Sleepless Nights – a very refreshing blog, with what seems like oodles of lovely rat pictures 🙂 Always a thumbs up in my book!!
So I think that's everything covered – and I'll be back with another blog very soon!
Today is a day for a picture post!
Last night, having let me new camera fully charge up, I decided to get the girls out for a bit of free range time. They were, of course very happy to oblige (although not always so happy to be in front of the camera!) I swear sometimes they know exactly what I am thinking and what I want to do… and being the mischeivious little things they are, decide to do whatever they can to prevent me from getting some good snaps! But, I did get a few – bearing in mind I haven't really figured out what the camera can do and quite literally took the easy, wimpy option of "point and shoot". So, without further ado let me introduce my girls to the world of WordPress:
This is Elsie – she's a Top Eared Roan (I think most likely a black Roan, although she could be Agouti as well). We have had her since 9 weeks old (she is now almost 18 months), and although she was slightly crazy when we first got her, she has mellowed and is now a lovable, if not sometimes vocal girl. She is almost completely white now, with the exception of a small patch of grey between her shoulders. Recently, she has started to get a little on the chubby side – which really only adds to her cute little character!
And this is Bella. Bella is Elsie's sister, and is a top eared Agouti Berkshire – although her tummy markings are not quite so prominent now! As with Elsie, we have had Bella since she was 9 weeks old and she was the quieter of the two. She very quickly came out of her shell though, and has become our Alpha – and also our little explorer. Bella loves to be into everything, and is a nosey and extremely confident girly. Not quite as round as her sister, she happily gets into little spaces, and enjoys legging it across the room at any opportunity. A soft, pleasant and very loving girl to us and her sister, but unfortunately Bella isn't a fan of other ratties!
Here we have Freda. She is a Dumbo Russian Blue Berkshire with the cutest white belly markings! She turned a year old last week, and we have had her since she was 6 weeks old. Freda is probably the squishiest and the most placid of all our girls and really is the sweetest natured rat. Always following her nose for food, Freda is a chunky girl who loves nothing more than a cuddle and a treat whilst sitting on your lap. She is also a little chatterbox, and can often be found bruxing and chirping when she is happy and getting attention.
And last but by no means least, we have Susie. Susie is a Dumbo Russian Blue Self, and is Freda's sister. Again we have had her since 6 weeks old and she is a very happy, confident little character. Susie also had her birthday last week, and has grown into our mishievious little girly who really loves to come out, have some attention and make the room her playground! She has recently found where the underneath of the oven is, and spends much of her time trying to get to this lovely dark place. No matter how many times we try to reason with her that it is really not a good idea – she still tries. So now, we have to make sure the door to the kitchen is securely closed! A beautiful little girl, Susie always brings a smile to anyones face!
So, that's our four girls and a little bit about them. All four live happy, healthy lives in the "Rat Room" and enjoy lots of fun and food. They are all from a breeder, and I can only recommend to anyone looking for a rat to think about getting a rat from an established and well regarded breeder or rescue centre. They truly make fantastic pets, especially for children!
For information on the colourings and varieties of fancy rats – including the varieties of our girls visit the National Fancy Rat Society website.
2012 – The Year of Dreams
Posted January 1, 2012on:
Happy New Year!
Well, 2012 has arrived and so far New Year's Day has been uneventful – but nice. A peaceful New Year's Eve spent eating fish and chips, and a quiet New Year's Day with just us and the rats. I've done my fair share of loud, drunken and long New Year's Eves – with singing, dancing and general drunken antics. This year, as daft as it sounds I had the best New Year's Eve ever.
I sat reading my Kindle, "When God was a Rabbit" for anyone who is interested, snuggled in bed by 10pm and not long after I snoozed. Waking up to the sound of merriment and fireworks at what must have been around midnight, I realised that I was exactly where I wanted to be be. I thought about the last year – with good times and bad times, the loss of loved ones, but also the gaining of new friends, new jobs and most importantly our new house and lease of life. And it made me thankful – made me think that I am extremely lucky to have who and what I have in my life. And not only thinking about what has gone by, but also what is to come – 2012 brings new dreams and hopes – our wedding, the holiday of a lifetime and who knows what else.
I'm proud of where we have got to and proud of what we have achieved. It has been tough, and we have faced hurdles along the way but I couldn't be happier than I am right now.
And I feel lucky to be able to say that on the very first day of the year. Let's see what dreams we can achieve!
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams – Eleanor Roosevelt
So, this is it...
My new shiny place on the web – a place for me to express my thoughts, ramble on about my life in general, comment on the world how I see it and generally become, once again a blogger.
This isn't my first delve into the world of "blogging" – when I was younger I did dabble with a livejournal and suchlike. But, like most things, as you get older, work harder and generally have less time, the posts slowed down to a stop. And to be honest, although it felt exciting at the time, it was pretty boring stuff – just daily comings and goings etc. Like most teenagers I imagine.
Now we are at the end of 2011, and bordering on the beginning of 2012. The beginning of what is to be a very hectic, but hopefully special year for me. And just like every year, I have started to think about New Year's Resolutions. But, unlike most other years I have decided to make just the odd one or two resolutions, that I know I will be able to keep. Going for a 2 hour run every evening is, quite frankly, as likely as winning the lottery for me right now – so what is the point in making it? Think simple, think achievable and mostly think about what I actually want to get from 2012. So, my first post will be my New Year's Resolutions:
1) Remember to take my make up off every night before bed. (Yes, I have a habit of forgetting and I know this is not good. So far, I have remembered every day but one since Christmas Day – so we are stepping in the right direction at least!)
2) Make time for me and for us. To do the things we want to do. 2012 is a year that is going to bring some fantastic things for us but also a year that will be busy, and at times financially difficult. We have the wedding, and the honeymoon and the new house to decorate – and this will mean we will work harder than ever to achieve these dreams. So, my other resolution is to make the time for ME and for US. Even if it just an hour a week where we can just be together, and relax. For me, it might be writing, or reading, or getting to grips with a new painting or drawing method. But thats what matters – it doesn't cost anything and means the world.
3) Tell the people I love that I love them – more often.
And that is it, for now. It's a short, but important list. And it was thinking about resolutions that made me think about blogging again. I might not always have much to say, I might not always be right, but it gives me my own little space, and a place to put all my creativities! And hey, if others enjoy it along the way – well that is a great bonus!


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The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) will hold a public hearing at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013, to receive public testimony on the proposed Kaluanui Natural Area Reserve that will be withdrawn from the upper portion of Sacred Falls (Kaluanui) State Park and transferred to the Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Natural Area Reserve Program.
The meeting will take place at the Queen Liliuokalani Children's Center at 53-516 Kamehameha Highway, Hauula, HI 96717.
This 376-acre area being proposed as a natural area reserve does not include the formerly used public trail or change the closed status of the Sacred Falls state park and trail that leads up to a pool located at the base of Kaliuwaa (Sacred) Falls. Both the park and trail will remain closed to public access due to hazards from rocks falling on the trail and at the pool.
The Kaluanui Natural Area Reserve will allow for more intensive natural resource management designed to protect and preserve this portion of Oahu's native rainforests that contains rare plants, damselflies and snail populations. Improved management of these biological resources will allow future generations to study and learn about a native Hawaiian ecosystem in the windward Koolau Mountains.
"Many of these native species are only found in the Kaluanui area and are perilously close to extinction from the impacts of invasive plants and animals. The Natural Area Reserves System seeks to protect the best remaining samples of Hawaii's unique ecosystems,"said William Aila Jr., DLNR chairperson.
In addition to saving native species, forest protection secures Hawaii's water supplies. Hawaii's native forests collect rain and fog, providing water for human use. Forests also prevent erosion that muddies beaches and reefs.
Persons unable to attend or wishing to present additional comments may mail written testimony received no later than Feb. 6, 2013, to the Division of Forestry and Wildlife, attn: Emma Yuen, 1151 Punchbowl St., Rm. 325, Honolulu HI, 96813, or via e-mail to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Copies of the nomination and a map of the area are available for inspection by contacting the address above. Any person may testify or present information at the public hearing.
Anyone planning to attend the above meeting who requires auxiliary aids (taped materials or sign language interpreter), should request assistance 10 working days prior to the date of the hearing by calling 587-4170.
Filed under: Announcements, Environment, Hawaii, Hawaiian, Oahu, State Affairs Tagged: | Hawai'i Department of Land and Natural Resources, Kaluanui Natural Area Reserve, Sacred Falls (Kaluanui) State Park


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Lynne Horoschak, program director for Moore's
MA in Art Education program with an
emphasis in special populations, has been named the Pennsylvania Art
Educator of the Year for 2013-14 by the Pennsylvania Art Education Association
(PAEA). Horoschak will be presented with the award on October 19, 2013 at the
PAEA annual conference in Bethlehem, PA.
"I got an e-mail from the president of the PAEA, Mary Elizabeth Meir, saying to call her for good news," Horoschak said. "I'm thinking it's something special education, special conference related. So I was really surprised when I found out I had won this award. It is an honor for just doing my job. I'm very humbled to receive this award."
Horoschak, who also won the PAEA Outstanding Higher Education Educator award in 2008, will be presenting at the conference with two of her graduate students. The title of the presentation is "Teachers as Researchers: Best Teaching Strategies for Students with Special Needs."


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H55 & H57 Motherboard Roundup Review
When Intel launched its Core i5 series, there was a large rush of H55 based motherboards put out to take advantage of the new processors with the latest Intel IGP built right into the CPU package. What you got was a Clarkdale dual core 32nm based processor with the latest Integrated Graphics Processor built on a 45nm process, all in a single package. This implementation seemed to work well for the intended audience and delivered pretty respectable numbers across the board as casual gaming, HD playback and programs that were multi-threaded all showed a benefit. The Intel H57 chipset was also released at this time. What really sets it apart from the H55 chipset that makes it an attractive proposition? This is a question that we should be able to answer with a direct side-by-side comparison of the H55 and H57 based motherboards. In this roundup we will be looking at five different H55/H57 models manufactured by Gigabyte, ASUS and ECS.
Closer Look (Gigabyte H55M-USB3):
The Gigabyte H55M-USB3 comes packaged in a small box that is both stylish and informative. On the front portion of the box you will find the model of the board as well as some of the main features. These features include the use of 2x layers of copper PCB, USB 3.0 support as well as the socket and chipset type. The back of the packaging is also chock-full of information. On this panel you will find a listing of the main features, but unlike the front panel, there are also explanations of how the technologies used are beneficial to the end-user. Once the packaging is opened, you will have access to the included accessories and motherboard. The accessories come on the top portion of the inner packaging and are separated from the board below via a thin cardboard insert. What's included are two SATA cables, rear I/O shield, IDE cable, installation disk, manual and an installation guide. Found below these is the board itself, which comes wrapped in a protective anti-static bag.
The Gigabyte H55M-USB3 motherboard is an mATX form factor board that comes with dimensions of 22x14x12 inches, yet still has a very nice and spacious layout. This includes plenty of room between the dual PCI-E x16 slots as well as decent spacing from the CPU bracket to the memory DIMMs. The spacing will allow for easy installation of all add-on components and prevent the small form factor from being a limitation. Another feature that is evident is the color scheme, which includes the use of multiple shades of blue throughout the PCB along with white IDE, power, PCI and memory slots. One layer of the PCB that is there, but not evident though, is the use of 2oz of copper in the PCB. The copper is found in both the power and ground levels and is used to effectively spread heat to better cool the motherboard. This is part of Gigabyte's Ultra Durable 3 design, which also uses all solid Japanese capacitors, Low RDS(on) MOSFET and ferrite Core Chokes. Beyond just reducing the system's temperature, the Ultra Durable 3 design also improves the board's overall efficiency and stability.
The first thing I noticed about the CPU area is that there is no cooling option for the MOSFETs. This was a bit surprising as the rest of the board uses high quality components and without cooling to this area, it could lead to extra heat while overclocking, thus reducing the OC potential. Aside from the lack of cooling though, the VRM area is very robust and uses all solid Japanese Capacitors, Ferrite Core Chokes and seven phase units. There are four phases for the main CPU. Two are for the integrated memory controller and one for the IGP. Above the VRM area is an 8-pin 12V power connector that supplies power to the processor.
The socket type used on the Gigabyte H55M-USB3 motherboard is an LGA1156 socket that supports Intel 1156 Core i3, i5 and i7 processors and is manufactured by LOTES. Each line of processors utilizes an on-board memory controller. However, the i7 line does not have an Integrated Graphics Processor like the i3 and i5, so if you opt to use an i7 processor, the rear video ports will be disabled. The Integrated Memory Controller is rated to support memory up to 1333MHz, but the Gigabyte H55M specifications show that the board is able to use high rated memory of up to 1666MHz(OC). The memory DIMMS are found to the right of the CPU and are color coded to easily show the user which slots are paired together in dual-channel architecture. The white slots are used as the primary dual-channel slots and the blue should be used when four sticks of memory are installed. Just to the right of these DIMM slots are an FDD connector, an ID connector and the main 24-pin power connector.
The rear expansion area of the Gigabyte H55M-USB3 offers a decent amount of expansion options despite its small form factor. The rear I/O panel consists of a single PS/2 keyboard/mouse port, two USB 2.0 ports, a D-Sub port, a DVI-D port, Optical S/PDIF out connector, HDMI port, DisplayPort, IEEE 1394a port, dual USB 3.0 ports and the rear audio jacks. There are plenty of options for any type of user, but with so many video options on the panel, the HTPC crowd will be the biggest beneficiary. Most of these ports are found on the majority of the H55 line-up regardless of the brand, but Gigabyte has also included an on-board NEC chip for USB 3.0 support, which allows for transfer rates of up to 5Gb/s. The USB 3.0 ports also include Gigabyte's USB Power 3x technology. What this does is supply 3x the power to the USB 3.0 ports to deliver better compatibility and stability to USB devices.
For add-on PCI expansion, the Gigabyte board includes dual PCI-E x16 slots as well as two standard PCI slots. This is a decent amount of expansion for an mATX motherboard. With a dual PCI-E configuration, CrossFireX is an option. However, the second PCI-E slot can only support speeds of up to x4. With this limitation, the bandwidth will be greatly reduced. Also, with the PCI-E lanes being integrated onto the CPU, only Lynnfield processors will support CrossFireX. The top PCI-E slot, however, does run at the full x16 and will support any current high-end graphics card on the market. The two PCI slots are found in the middle of the rear expansion area and can support additional add-on cards such as sound devices and so on. It should be noted though that a dual-slot graphics card will cover the first PCI slot, leaving just one available.
Looking at the on-board headers and SATA ports you can again see that the Gigabyte H55M-USB3 has more than enough options. From left to right on the bottom of the board you have a CD-IN, COM header, 1394 header, three USB 2.0 headers, front panel headers and seven SATA II ports. The SATA ports found on the board all utilize the SATA II interface. However, not all the ports are run off the same chip. The five blue ports go directly though the H55 chipset, but the two white ports are handled by the on-board GIGABYTE SATA2 chip. Unfortunately, the H55 chipset does not come with native RAID support so the five blue ports do not support RAID. However, the additional white ports can be used in RAID 0/1, and JBOD through the GIGABYTE SATA2 on-board chip.
Found just above the SATA ports is Gigabyte's signature Dual BIOS technology. The Dual BIOS comes as two on-board chips with one being the main and the other is the backup. With two chips the board can access the backup BIOS is if there is a problem with the main. This feature has been added to Gigabyte boards for sometime now and it is one of those technologies that I would rather have than not.
With a very nice layout and plenty of support for the latest technologies the Gigabyte H55M-USB3 seems like a very well rounded motherboard. This board retails for $109.99, but can be found for $99.99 with mail-in rebates.


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Apr 3, 2000
Dr., what are the prescribing guidelines for the drug Serostim? I have read that it should be twelve-week cycles with a reevaluation after that. Also have you heard anything regarding Serostim being prescribed for wasting patients and sold on the street?
Response from Dr. Dieterich
Typically the drug is used at a dose of 5-6 mg per day for 12 weeks. However, lower doses may also be effective, particularly for lipodystrophy. I have heard some talk that the weight lifters have also been using growth hormone, so that would confirm what you have heard. It is not as effective in building pure muscle as anabolics and testosterone, but definitely helps. Douglas T. Dieterich, M.D.
What dose of coenzyme Q, riboflavin,L carnitine?
Facial wasting -- reply
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Israel News - Stay Informed, Pray Informed
One of the key concerns of Israel launching a preemptive strike against Iran's nuclear program is that the Islamic Republic's response would cause grave damage to Israel and possibly engulf the region in full-scale war.
But a top Israeli official says those concerns are ill-placed, and that the Iranian response to an Israeli strike would likely be rather contained, and cause only minimal damage.
In an interview with the Times of Israel, Strategic Affairs and Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said his estimate was that an Iranian response to an Israeli strike would consist of "two or three days of missile fire" against Israel and Western targets in the Middle East. That missile fire, according to Steinitz, would cause "very limited damage."
Steinitz reiterated Israel's warning to Western leaders to not be taken in by new Iranian President Hasan Rouhani's more diplomatic veneer. Like his government colleagues, Steinitz expects Rouhani to woo the West with promises of compromise, even as Iran continues to inch closer to attaining atomic weapons.
But should the West be duped, as many Israelis expect, Steinitz echoed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in stating that the Jewish state needs no green light from Washington or Europe to take action on its own.
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Before I get into this week's column, I'm taking a minute to fill out an All-Star ballot at mlb.com, with some interesting results.
After three weeks of the season, you'd be hard-pressed to find a first baseman worthy of representing the AL at this year's game in Detroit. Pretty sad. Chicago's Paul Konerko (seven HRs, .236 average) and Texas' Mark Texeira (five HRs, .229 average) both have big power numbers. But in a surprise move, I'm going with Toronto's Eric Hinske, who's hitting a respectable .290 with three HRs, 13 RBIs and a couple of steals. I really thought about this one.
For my middle infielders, I don't need to think too hard because a couple of Orioles 2B Brian Roberts and SS Miguel Tejada are not only the best at their respective positions right now, they're arguably the two best offensive players in the game. Tejada leads the majors with 23 RBI through 20 games, one better than Roberts, who also has a career-high seven HRs as well as nine steals and a .378 average. No-brainers, both of them. I don't even know who else is on the ballot.
Third base, I'm taking Detroit's Brandon Inge, because he's off to a good start, and because I refuse to vote for Alex Rodriguez, or any other Yankees for that matter, on principle.
Catcher, you could make a convincing case for Boston's Jason Varitek. I'm voting for Javy Lopez, because it's my ballot and I can do what I want.
Tempting as it is to pick a former Oriole David Dellucci or Calvin Pickering at DH, there are really only two choices here. I'm taking Detroit's Dmitri Young over Toronto's Shea Hillenbrand, because I want to give Young the chance to start in front of his hometown fans, and because I don't want anyone to suspect that I'm a closet Blue Jays fan after that iffy Hinske pick.
Moving on, the outfield is always the toughest position to pick. You've got 42 names (let's say 40, because Juan Gonzalez and Magglio Ordonez are just taking up space here) and only three picks. So rather than looking at lots and lots of stats bo-ring or turning this into a popularity contest, I'm going to pick three players at random by closing my eyes and dragging my mouse over the candidates. First choice Hideki Matsui. Wait, that doesn't count. OK, for real this time first pick Minnesota's Jacque Jones. Hey, not bad. He's batting .396. Next up Tampa Bay's Aubrey Huff. Hmmm, OK. Not bad. The Devil Rays need some love. And finally this is kind of like playing with a Ouija board Ichiro. Perfect. Great hitter, never gets the votes he deserves. All in all with due respect to Manny Ramirez, Vlad Guerrero and Gary Sheffield that's a darn good outfield. A couple of those guys might actually end up in Detroit in July.
Next week, we'll tackle the NL ballot. For now, a quick look at all the fantasy goings-on.
Who's hot
Toronto at New York Yankees
Boston at Texas
Kansas City at Cleveland
Detroit at Chicago White Sox
Los Angeles Angels at Minnesota
Seattle at Oakland National League New York Mets at Washington
Florida at Philadelphia
St. Louis at Atlanta
Chicago Cubs at Houston
Cincinnati at Milwaukee
San Francisco at Pittsburgh
Arizona at San Diego
Colorado at Los Angeles Dodgers
Send your fantasy baseball questions to firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Planning on camping with your horses?? I would like to share areas we have camp with our horses from British Columbia all the way down south to Utah, Nevada & Arizona. Visit our web site www.campingandhorses.com
Monday, 9 January 2012
Great Ride yesterday down the sand draw to the Hasseampha (spelling?) River
Posted by Kelly Allen at 10:35
Horses are my passion. I have enjoyed many disciplines on horseback over my life. I got my first pony as a child. She was a palomino and white pinto pony. I show her in almost ever discipline and had so much fun. As I got older I got into the hunter jumper seen. Showing, riding and breeding hunter jumpers for the show ring, until I discover camping with your horses. Now I have gone back to my roots. I have always loved the coloured horses as they remind me of my first pony Tammy. We now breed American Paint horses and at this time own 5 of them. Four of them are Black and whites and the other is a dark bay and white. My husband and I now travel all over in our trailer with our 2 of our horses discovering new trails. I love to share where we go so that other riders can also share the same distinctions. When we first started I could not find places on the internet to travel too. There are many destinations that do not advertise it is word of mouth. This is were my web site and blog come in handy for those of you looking. Visit our home page at http://www.canoafarms.com and also visit our Camping and horses web page at http://www.campingandhorses.com
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Views: 47
Just sent you a friend request. I would love to add Scentsy to my Holiday Gift Guide. My blog is Granny Loves Gift Baskets and I currently have a page rank of 2 and lots of fabulous followers :)
Blog: Granny Loves Gift Baskets or http://grannylovesgiftbaskets.com
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Sherrie Cruson
Hello! My name is Sheena, and I have a blog http://757discountdiva.blogspot.com/. I would love to host a Scentsy giveaway on my blog. Feel free to check me out! Thanks Sheena
My page rank is 2, and I would love to host a giveaway for you.
My page info: http://crazyforadeal.blogspot.com
I just sent you a friend request, Im a huge Scentsy fan ever since I won a giveaway on someone elses blog almost 2 years ago. I would love to offer a giveaway to my readers. I am a PR 2 at Me, Him and the Cats
Thank you for your quick response. I am sorry it took a few days to reply.
I didn't realize how many responses I would get from posting to the forum, it
was such a fun surprise.
I have already assigned out the two giveaways that I had, but I will keep you
in mind for the Winter/Spring round.
Thank you so much!
Hi Bonnie,
My blog: Beauty Brite is a PR 2! I'd love to host a giveaway for you!


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Kendall,can we have an update on how he is doig?Lynn
Kendall,can we have an update on how he is doig?Lynn
He's doing OK. He got his stitches out this morning. Yay!
He's started scratching again - almost as much as before the surgery. I'm thinking of trying Lasix and maybe Gabapentin. I didn't want to use the gabapentin (neurontin) before because I didn't want the mask the symptoms. I needed to be able to tell if it was progressing so I could decide if surgery was necessary. But now that he's had the surgery, he may as well have some more relief.
He's tired of being locked up. He's getting more freedom. We took the bed off the frame so he can be out w/ us at night. We went on a walk this morning which he enjoyed. He gets more time out of the crate, but I don't want to overdo it. Harrington warned me that too much activity early on may lead to the dreaded scar tissue formation which may just re-restrict his brain and negate the effects of the surgery.
Thanks for asking!
Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.
--Roger Caras
Glad to hear Rory is on the mend. Hang in there, healing just takes time and patience. (Don't you just hate it when people tell you to be patient? ) Ear scratches to your brave guy.
I'd say he'd be scrtahcing a lot just because of the itchy stitches. I know when I had stitches after surgery they were SOOOO itchy both before and fater they came out. It is likely a bit irritable to him.
Also I have read that several neurologists have said there generally tends to be more scratching right after the surgery and that usually goes away after a while.
Glad he is doing well.
Cavaliers: Tansy : Mindy Connie Roxy Neasa Gus
In memory: My beautiful Jaspar Lucy Leo Lily Libby
Thanks for the update,still keeping Rory's recovery in my thoughts.
The neurotin may also make him more sedate when started,making him less bothered by his inactivity.
Rory is in the best of hands,hang in there.Lynn


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LONDON, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- A key manufacturing index in Britain reached a 26-month high in July, Markit Economics said Thursday.
The headline business activity index, known as the Purchasing Managers Index, climbed to 54.6 in the month, up from an upwardly revised 52.9 for June, which was previously reported as 52.5.
Markit said manufacturing production rose in July for the fourth consecutive month. New orders "strengthened," the research firm said, noting, "Companies reported improved domestic and export demand."
Export orders rose at the fastest pace in two years with increases coming from Australia, China, the eurozone, Kenya, Mexico, the Middle East, Nigeria, Russia and the United States, Markit said.