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The Aussie Coursera? A new homegrown MOOC platform arrives
Open Universities Australia, a private distance and online education organisation, has stepped into the world of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) with a new online platform called Open2Study.
Mr Bowen, who signed up for a course on anthropology at the launch, said "we don't yet know what the full impact online forces will have on the delivery of higher education. But we know it's going to have a big impact… and we know that any university or any institution that doesn't respond and offer flexible programs is going to fall behind."
Paul Wappett, Open Universities Australia CEO, said students wouldn't "pay a cent" for courses with no hidden costs for textbooks, student admin or exams. "We're focused on delivering outstanding quality, but without the price tag", he said.
But, he maintained, these courses would not be a replacement for tertiary studies. The courses were designed "unashamedly to let the student taste what is available, getting them familiar with higher learning, so they can build the confidence to go onto further study."
Mr Wappett said the platform was an experiment of sorts and that Open Universities Australia "would be learning alongside the student about what works". He also said he would be open to providing accreditation or course certificates once the platform was more established.
Open2Study courses will be available entirely online with short video lectures, quizzes, student discussion forums and the ability to earn "badges" for learning and helping other students.
The courses will be taught by academics and industry professionals from a range of institutions, including Macquarie University, RMIT University and the Central Institute of Technology.
The platform will initially only offer 10 courses including nursing, anthropology, financial planning and management to begin on 22 April this year. Each of these will run for four weeks but once up and running, up to 50 courses will be available with 10 intakes per year.
Free online education has boomed since eminent universities like Princeton and Stanford created their on MOOC startups, with American ventures Coursera and edX dominating so far.
Mr Wappett said the Australian response to these changes had been "slow compared to our counterparts in the United States." Australian universities had engaged in "a lot of gnashing of teeth but not a lot of action."
Roland Sussex, Research Fellow at the Centre for Educational Innovation and Technology said, "Open2Study had combined some of the valuable features of American providers like Coursera with a shorter study time per unit of 4 weeks, while keeping the cost-free feature intact."
"It's excellent to see a substantial Australian presence in what will soon be a very crowded and competitive field. But we won't know how right they have got the mix until we see some of their study units in action," he said.
According to Mr Sussex, Open2Study looked even more flexible than its US counterparts and said the emphasis on social collaborative learning was a plus.
Provided by The Conversation


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Daddyhunt Profiles in Lima
Gay Dating in Lima
The largest city in Peru, as well as the country's capital, Lima and it's metropolitan area which includes the seaport of Callao is home to nearly 9 million inhabitants. While LGBT rights in Lima and Peru lags cities and countries in the vanguard of the movement, the gay community has begun to mobilize, with the community center, Movimiento Homosexual de Lima spearheading efforts in organizing and pressing for gay equality under Peruvian law in addition to providing the community with social and cultural services. Lima has hosted an annual gay pride parade since the turn of the century which has seen ever-increasing participation.
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Gay Personals from Local Members
About Me
Young boy, young spirit, responsable. I love to cook, lover of good wines and nice and romantic meals. Cinema, teathre, music concerts. Passionate, good kisser. Just dont be nasty with your words please. Respect, respect and respect :) Im from Lima, Peru. Smart people : thousands of plus :) ...

subset: commoncrawl


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Mid-Week Rates at Bayfront Inn
St. Augustine
February 25, 2018 to December 20, 2018
Nestled in the panoramic heart of St. Augustine's most historic district. With 35 deluxe and one spacious suite, the Bayfront Inn pampers its guests in subtle luxury and comforting service. Sit on their waterfront porches, relax on their gazebo's upper deck or sunbath on their poolside veranda. Guests are spoiled by the soft cool sea-breezes and calming waters of the Matanzas Bay and the refreshing visions of ancestral old world lifestyles. Mid-week (Sun-Thurs) rates starting at $149


text: Samuel Thibault wrote: > Gunnar Wolf, le Tue 11 Aug 2009 13:28:08 -0500, a écrit : >> while length(str) in any language up to the 1990s was a mere >> substraction, now we must go through the string checking each byte to >> see if it is a Unicode marker and substract the appropriate number of >> bytes. > > Not necessarily. Any sane implementation should just use wchar_t and > substraction gets back. An implementation that use wchar_t is usually not sane, but usually it is (also) buggy. It is very difficult (AFAIK not impossible, but I'm not so sure) to write portable (POSIX way, so with changing locales) programs using wchar_t. The only way I know is to use sanely the wchar_t is to use as the simple C standard requirements: only one runtime environment and locale. PS: note that the binary encoding depend on compiler environment (but such info is not exported). ciao cate


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Our aim is to address your injury, mobility issue, or health concern. We offer this by way of multi-disciplinary professions including physiotherapy, athletic therapy, massage therapy, and dietitian counselling.
Our dedicated health care professionals will assess your condition, identify, and explain the reason for your symptoms, and work with you to optimize healing, recovery and health. We provide treatment to children, adults, and seniors.
For over 15 years, we've been a proud member of the Fort Garry community in Winnipeg. We are located at 4-1235 Pembina Highway. There is free parking in the lot in front of the clinic. Handicap spaces are also available.
We know being injured weighs on your mind, body and on your bank account.
We'll help you to take one more thing off your mind by directly billing your insurer. We offer direct billing to the following providers.


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For 20 years, Gretchen Koehler has been a violinist in The Orchestra of Northern New York. While holding a classical music degree from McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Koehler is fluent in both the classical and folk idioms and has stepped forward as a fiddle soloist with The Orchestra for many seasons. Over the years she has performed solo, with members of her musical family and collaborated with The Sesquehanna String Band to bring "American Pops" concerts to literally thousands of residents in Potsdam, Watertown, and Clayton, NY.
For the 2017-18 season, visit www.onny.org


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"Our capabilities range from investment analysis and acquisition, through to finance operations, marketing and IT. Whether you need help with the property development, food and beverage, or just general enhancement and efficiencies, help is at hand."
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Jorge Núñez on DAMP ACCESS
Jorge Núñez has written a lovely and perceptive review of Damp Access.
To read it in the original Spanish, follow this link. To view the film, go here.
And here's an English translation of the review:
Lately, I've had a recurring vision: to make a video as someone from another planet. I've also been thinking that there's a lot in this cinema that's ritual, that offers the conditions for a ritual to take place when it starts to occur. A film that is a ritual and which proposes a ritual, like an expanded cinema which is another expanded cinema. One which expands itself through the images towards the spectators. Which establishes a connection between the screen and their brains, a union I like to visualize as an organic cathode ray tube of millions of colours or greenish, vibrant, terrifying but taking me where it wants me to go. Damp Access offers these possibilities in a way that contains a very important balance between cinema of the fantastic and experimental cinema. I'm particularly interested in this mixture of genre cinema (its tempo, its structure) and experimental cinema. Among them, you find a knot formed of expectations related to film drama. Then the images that follow each other create temporal spaces that escape the rules of the consumer industry and create a whirlpool in which experimental cinema forecfully appears. This intermittancy between the two 'ways' of filmmaking is fundamental in bringing the film to life. Le Cain's film is a tunnel and to look back is not to enjoy a future world of red lights, nice plants, anxieties. Again, the table and its composition return in order to close the journey. The road movie is circular, the flickering fan provokes less of a sensation the more it appears. What is there after the efectisms? What remains is the film as it is. Access from this waiting room invokes a future, the cinema of space travel. Are these films road movies? The stars in deep space hardly move… Then suddenly life is frightening and mysterious, from between black and white surges tarnished light that is suffocatingly red, the mind hatches images, it composes a totemic film radiant with solitude and mystery.


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Can you please tell us about your book and why you wrote it?
This is a book about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from two viewpoints. A) From a Vietnam veteran who spent one year in a war zone. B) From the daughter of a veteran with PTSD who'd grown up as the victim of one who suffered from PTSD. This story is based on actual facts, particularly abuse by a rednecked bully who preyed on infirmities of others.
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced writing it?
Bob- Health. I knew if I didn't keep positively occupied with writing the book, I wouldn't be alive today. Sara- Time. I had to divide my time between family, work and writing. We made it work though.
Do you plan subsequent books?
Possibly, if time and health permit.
When and why did you begin writing?
Bob- I mainly began writing as a form of therapy and to keep my mind off the man to whom I loaned money to help him over a rough spot only to see him turn around and swindle me out of money and cattle. Sara- Bob asked if I'd like to help him write a book, I said yes. I also felt that my story should be told so that others in my situation would realize that they aren't alone. As a child it would have been nice to know that my father acted the way he did for a reason, PTSD.
What is your greatest strength as an author?
Bob- Plugging away. Sara- I can type really fast.
Did writing this book teach you anything?
Bob- Perseverance pays off and proves that an idol mind is the devils workshop. Sara- That I need to expand my vocabulary and learn to diagram a sentence.
Bob Smith is a naval officer who had Agent Orange spilled on him in Vietnam and suffers from severe PTSD in addition to disabling neuropathy. After living in Spain, he returned to America and settled in the Ozarks, where he is happily pursuing his dream of writing. Sara Rhodes is a wife, mother, and certified nursing assistant who originally lived in Alaska before moving to the Ozarks with her family. Bob is her former patient whose teachings about PTSD helped her recognize her own father's battle with it. Both Bob and Sara find animals to be a great source of comfort.


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'Papillex has been a life saver for me and I can't thank you enough! My HPV has been gone and clear for months now and I feel so happy to be back in control of my body. A million thanks for this amazing product! I am recommending it to everyone I know who suffers from HPV.'
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'I have spent three years recovering from serious illness. After an operation and months of antibiotics, my immune system was ruined. My HPV surfaced for the first time in years. I was in desperate need of rebuilding my health and well-being. During the first 6 months of recovery I was taking many supplements and herbs. They were helping my energy levels immensely but the cervical dysplasia from HPV persisted. 6 months ago I started taking Papillex daily. I wanted a balanced approach suitable for helping me restore my health and stop symptoms. Well, Papillex surpassed my critical expectations easily. The results have been excellent. Within three weeks my stamina and well-being had increased. Three months later my body was finally developing strong immunity and the HPV was completely gone. My health improves consistently every day and there is now a huge light at the end of the tunnel!'
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'I just wanted to let you know that Papillex worked so well for me and I'm so thankful and grateful! I've tried other HPV remedies, but none of them worked, even though I patiently waited months for results. I've been taking Papillex for about 6 months and saw a reduction in the number of warts within 2 months. I want people to know that this is a great product and it helped me so much that I want others to know that there is hope.'
Submitted by Veronica, New Jersey, NY
'I really like the Research page that you provide, which shows all the HPV related studies that have proven the ingredients in this product. It was your Research that sold me on this product. Several years ago I had cryotherapy (freezing treatment) for my HPV, and I am taking strong preventative measures to make sure that it doesn't return. I have been taking Papillex regularly for prevention, and I am very happy with the results. One thing I feel obliged to mention, is how helpful your customer service rep was to me. I felt as if she cared about me as a person, not as just a customer. '
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'I recently started using this product and my genital wart outbreaks have stopped. I want to thank you for what Papillex has done for my psychological well-being. Having battled genital warts for 6 years, I know well how to minimize outbreaks with diet and lifestyle. The fear of another outbreak is an ongoing factor that I have had to deal with, until now. I am starting to have some real peace of mind after using Papillex for just over two months. I used to get an outbreak every month for 2 weeks at a time, but a few weeks after starting Papillex, I have been outbreak free. I sure hope this trend continues! I feel better about this than I have in years so wanted to thank you!'
Submitted by Katie, Cleveland, Ohio
'I used to buy most of these ingredients separately for my HPV from my ND's office and it cost me over a hundred bucks to buy a months supply. I like that you put all the supplements I need to buy into one. So far I have had very positive results with Papillex. The abnormal cells (I had VIN – vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia) have cleared. I should also mention that I quit smoking and improved my diet based on my ND's recommendations. It's amazing how much better I feel.'
Submitted by Tanya, Toronto, Canada
'I have tried all the remedies on the market to get rid of my genital warts, and nothing worked. I wasted so much money on oils and pills that had no effect, and made me feel depressed. I didn't think that anything would ever work. A friend who had success with Papillex recommended that I try it, and so I reluctantly did. I have been taking it for 3 months, and I can't believe the changes in my body. Not only are my genital warts completely gone, but I feel happier and healthier. Just when I thought that I'd tried everything, this came my way and helped me so much. Thank you so so much!'
Submitted by Michael, New York, New York


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WordPress Plugins 2014 Review
In "The Skinny on WordPress", I outlined my basic understanding of how to use WordPress. I used a skeleton as an image to show how the platform has a basic structure that supports its main functions. Plugins are added to this skeleton so that it can perform more tasks. These plugins can be small and lightweight or they can be massive. For example, our forum area on this site uses two plugins which are so big that they have their own websites and communities, BuddyPress and bbPress. BuddyPress allows us to create users and groups and bbPress controls how the forums operate within those groups.
The more plugins you have, the more work you create for your site and it can slow loading time down considerably. So, you really need to think about what you add and whether it is worth the extra baggage. In this post, I would like to share what I have been using on this site and on my other ones in the hopes that we can have a discussion on which are the best plugins out there for what we need done on our sites.
These plugins can be a nightmare! WordPress and all of these plugins are part of an opensource community, meaning that smart, techy people are writing code all over the world and making it available for us to use. This is a wonderful gift on their part, but it is also fraught with pitfalls and torment. As the basic WordPress structure updates to keep up with changes in our technology, all of those plugins also need to update in order for them to continue to play nicely with the code. Many great plugins are authored by geniuses who come up with a great idea, write the code, make it available to the public, but then move on to other things. Eventually, what they wrote can become outdated and no longer works. It can make your site unusable and if you have a lot of plugins installed, the nightmare of what is causing the problems starts and you have to go through each plugin to figure out what went wrong.
Themes also contribute to the puzzle. The Theme is the skin or look that you have on your site, how your pages, fonts, colors and data are arranged. The theme writers also have to keep up-to-date with changes in the WordPress world. Sometimes you might have issues where the theme works well with WordPress and so do the plugins, but they don't with each other. Then, you have to make a choice: ditch the theme or the plugin. All of these things have forums of their own where people are asking for help and others are trying to pitch in to make sense of things. Often the solutions have to do with re-writing code and for those of us who are not coders, this is indeed a nightmare. I am a tweaker, not a coder, and my problem solving rests on the kindness of strangers, of those who have spelled out what to do in baby tech-speak on these many forums, and to them, I am grateful!
These plugins are all free. There are many plugins that can be bought, but I have found that any plugin needs to be tested first and that even some of the paid ones can be poorly written or extremely complicated to set up, so I am hesitant about going that route unless I have used their free ones and want further options offered in their paid ones.
Jetpack: Created by WordPress, offers lots of increased functionality to the site, including site stats and spam control. It's heavy, but a must.
Admin username changer: If you have a WordPress site is your access name "Admin"? If so, change it! It's the default name used by WordPress and most newbies don't think of creating a unique name, but it makes it even easier for hackers to get into your site. This plugin allows you to make that change.
Contact Form 7: Most beloved plugin used to create a contact form page. Simple and straightforward.
TinyMCE Advanced: Adds extra functionality to your blog's toolbox. The default WordPress one does not come with the ability to create tables and sometimes having one is essential to format a list of text and images more easily.
WordPress SEO: This plugin installs a box beneath your post where you fill in different fields to increase the chances that it will be found on the web. If you do everything right, a green light pops up indicating that you have done all the right things. Getting this green light is not easy and I have found that having this forces me to be disciplined about how I tag images, use keywords and titles and improve the presentation. I now consider this plugin to be essential on any blog. Having a blog should be considered an investment. Although much of the content might become dated pretty quickly, it will still be out there on the web, doing it's work to bring you an audience. The comment area can always be used to update content, or a post can be revised or discarded. But, while it's out there, this plugin helps others find it.
P3 (Plugin Performance Profiler): Allows you to see which plugins are slowing down your site. I have it disabled until I want to do a plugin check and see what is going on.
Featured Images in RSS w/ Size and Position: I found that our blog did not have an image feed and we are on quite a few places where having that image thumbnail is important. This is a lightweight plugin that resolves that. Why don't we have an image in our feed? I have no idea!
WP External Links: Super lightweight plugin that just ensures that all external links open a new tab or window. This post, for example, is loaded with external links. While someone is reviewing the plugin list, any link they click on will open a new tab and they can keep on reading without having to backtrack to the post. This plugin does not work with javascript, which was really disappointing when we set up our TAFA Market. We had hoped to figure out a way to open product links on a new page, but so far have not found a solution.
Growmap Anti Spambot Plugin: Ads one more security step in preventing spam by robots. Lightweight.
nrelate Related Content: Fun plugin with lots of design choices that generate "you might also like" thumbnails which link to past posts. This really helps readers find more of your past content. Lightweight.
Portfolio Slideshow: My favorite portfolio plugin. Straightforward large image with small thumbnails to the side or below. I use it on my blog when I want to show a lot of images but keep posts relatively short in length. Example.
RSS Multi Importer: The best plugin that I have found to build a blog roll. See our Member Blog page as an example. It has a ton of options on the back end and is well built. However, the formatting often goes out of whack and many of the images are blurry. Note the posts that don't have thumbnail images. They also need the Featured Images plugin mentioned above! RSS Multi Importer also allows us to have the blog posts show up on our sidebar, which we have on our Blog Page. Clicks to member blogs have been increasing steadily since we did this. However, I would really like to find a better solution. RebelMouse has a beautiful RSS Feed and I had hoped to use them for our Member Blogs, but they have a limit of 50 feeds and we have over 500 members so we would quickly exceed that total. Their solution is to sign up for a feed aggregator and have that post to their feed. So far, the ones that I have looked at are paid versions and I don't want to pay for yet one more monthly service. If you know of anything that might work, please leave a comment below!
Syndicate Press: A simple RSS feed plugin that allows us to list other feeds. We are using it to post feeds from similar orgs which have calls for artists, fellowships, etc. I haven't been able to figure out how to keep images within our column size, but otherwise it's a nice, lightweight tool.
Forum Plugins
Members: Powerful plugin that allows you to change roles and capabilities of users registered on the site. Kind of scary because changes are permanent and cannot be reversed to the default. This is especially difficult because WordPress and related user-role plugins assume that you know what the different roles mean and it takes some research to figure that out when you are starting out. Some things are obvious, but others are not.
bbPress Enable TinyMCE Visual Tab: bbPress has a basic editing box for posts which I think is pretty dreadful. As we are a visual group with products, it's important to be able to load and share images so that we can discuss products, designs, etc. Finding a workable solution for this has been a major problem for me. This plugin increases the ability to format our discussions, but it has not been a stable plugin. It also requires all users to have authoring ability on the blog, which is fine with us, as we are a closed group which encourages member use of the blog, but this could be problematic to others. I would love to find a better option to this plugin and have tried all of the forum ones that are currently available with no success.
GD bbPress Attachments: Enables you to load images and docs to a forum discussion. This has been invaluable during the times when the bbPress Enable TinyMCE hasn't worked. But, it sometimes duplicates images and that has been annoying. There must be a setting that I haven't figured out yet. Heavy plugin.
BuddyPress Group Email Subscription: Excellent plugin which has allowed us to offer daily or weekly subscriptions to forum updates. This is important as it encourages member participation and lowers the need to constantly check our forum feed to see if anything new has been posted.
Ad Plugins
Ads by datafeedr.com: The ad plugin that I am using for our sponsors. Pro: You can place it where you want to: sidebar, below posts, inside of posts, etc. Easy to use and set up, keeps track of click counts, impressions, start and end dates. Con: No way to keep the same ad from showing up at the same time on the page.
Another WordPress Classifieds Plugin (AWPCP): Classified Ads plugin that we are using. Beautiful layout and lots of functionality! Integrated with PayPal. There have been some problems with email notices and users being able to set it up, but their forum is very helpful. It's a heavy plugin. Ads have their own page, categories, and can show up on the sidebar. I really like this one!
Other Plugins
Caching Plugins
The plugins described above are all ones that I am actively using, almost 20 plugins which creates a heavy load for a site. The bigger your site gets, the more you have to ensure that your server needs are being met. A slow site will drive people away, no doubt about it! One of the fixes for all of this back-end activity is to install yet another plugin, one that caches your page info. From what I understand, the basic idea is that the plugin takes a picture of your content and presents that to the viewer, a much quicker way than having to go retrieve it from the server. The two plugins that I have seen mentioned and reviewed most often are W3 Total Cache and WP Super Cache. Yet, both have conflicted with other plugins that I need, including our forum ones. So, right now this site seems to load pretty quickly, most of the time, but believe that I will have to upgrade it soon on the hosting end.
The beauty of WordPress is that you can grow it into a massive beast with many different capabilities. The challenge is to keep it from getting too messy or confusing for its visitors. Having eCommerce capabilities is certainly one of the reasons why WordPress quickly rose to the top of the opensource options. There are over 460 eCommerce plugins listed in the WordPress directory. I am hoping to work on a solution for Afghan Tribal Arts this year and am looking at WooCommerce as one possibility. Another option would be to use Big Cartel and merge it with WordPress. See tutorial. There are so many options and they all look wonderful when you look at their presentations, but after reading reviews, visiting forums, and processing the potential pitfalls, any one has headaches to deal with. If you are using an eCommerce solution, do leave a comment as I would like to do another post just on that.
Other Options
There are other ways of adding functionality to a site, especially using javascript code or shortcodes provided by different services. For example, we are using Merchpin to set up our TAFA Market. It's all controlled by pasting javascript code on the pages. It looks like an eCommerce site, but the downside of it is that to search engines, our Market pages look blank. So, we need to add extra images and text in order to have content that can be found there.
We are also using code from Amazon for our Book Shop. Many of our members have authored books which are available there and this has been a nice way to have them all in one place.
Wish List and Conclusion
Posts by Email: This is my number one frustration right now. People who want to receive our blog posts by email can do so, but the default one from WordPress.org is as ugly as sin. The WordPress.com one is beautiful and I don't understand why the .org ones can't be the same. Most of us have used Google's FeedBurner as an optional service for posts by email, but they are retiring it soon. This makes no sense as it is something that the blogging community loves! They have already done away with Google Reader, which was also a major staple used by blog readers.
MailChimp offers an integration with WordPress and that would be the best solution for us as we have our regular email list there already. But, I tried it and it was also quite ugly. There are several MailChimp plugins that are supposed to work with the blog subscribers, but I couldn't get them to do anything. I suppose that I will have to ask for technical assistance and have them walk me through the options. If any of you have something else that we should look at, do leave a comment!
There are many little whines and complaints on my wish list and I wish things just stayed the same. Who knows where technology will be in five years? Each time there is a big, drastic shift in how things are done, it opens the doors to so many new opportunities, yet it ultimately means a lot of work in making everything compatible. Who knew ten years ago that cell phones would become a major surfing tool? So, we have to adapt, keep on learning and do the best we can to make use of all of these magnificent tools.
What about you? Are there any insights that you would like to share? Questions? I am by no means a tech expert, but I have learned some things along the way and am always curious to learn more. For this post, we are especially interested in learning about other plugins out there that might be important or useful. Let us know what you use along with a link to the Plugin's site address to make it easy for everyone to find. I hope that you have found this WordPress Plugins 2014 Review of help!
Oh! And, if you like this post and what we are doing with TAFA, do sign up to receive our posts by email in the sidebar! One of these days, we'll find a plugin that delivers pretty ones! 🙂
About Rachel Biel
7 Comments
Nice post. I learn something new and challenging on sites I stumbleupon everyday.
It's always helpful to read content from other authors and use a
little something from their sites.
When you post a link, isn't there a checkbox that you can select to open the link in a new window?
I use the MailChimp plugin in my blog and I know how to customize it. Let me know if you need any help.
I just found an anti-spam plugin that is working quite nicely. My by an Israeli, it is called En spam, which is Hebrew for, there is no spam. Check it out.
We love hearing from our community!


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Traders and investors are back from their 3-day weekends, and they're bidding the markets up.
Traders are responding to a slew of economic data this morning. The March Case-Shiller index climbed by just 0.09%. Consumer confidence unexpectedly dove. And the Dallas Fed Manufacturing index sank to -5.1.
Maybe the animal spirits are back.


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Freelenisng Owls Head, Maine, our family vacation, was like a true vacation from my typical everyday photo approach. I love these photos and how the represent how the vacation felt: dreamy, foggy, clean and bright. I might freelense all my vacations from here on out. It loved how free I felt when I went out to take all these. And to me, vacations should equal freedom.
Please visit the awesome Annie Otzen here and take this circle right round!


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Brazil too good for Bulgaria as they advance to 13th final
The win, Brazil's 11th in 13 matches in this year's World League, continued Brazil's impressive World League record against Bulgaria which now stands at 18:3, including two 3-1 wins during the Intercontinental Round in Brasília.
Brazil and Bulgaria had met six times in previous World League Finals, but never in the semifinals and although Brazil had won the first four of these encounters, Bulgaria had won the last two in 2006 and 2007).
But Brazil, who had beaten Canada on Friday to qualify for the semifinals, were definitely on a mission as it turned out to be a battle of the setters with Brazil's Bruno and Bulgaria's Georgi Bratoev, who shared the lead in the individual setters category prior to the match, having outstanding games.
With middle blocker Isac starting for the first time in the Finals, they charged to a 10-7 lead after Lucarelli blocked Bulgarian powerhouse Tsvetan Sokolov before advancing to 22-11 as Bulgaria, who had reached consecutive World League semifinals for the first time in World League history, looked desperately amongst themselves for some inspiration. Their receiving, passing and attacking accuracy all going astray. Wallace, who would go onto to top score in the game with 24 points, was particularly impressive registering seven as a beautiful floating serve from Bruno sealed the first set, Brazil's 1,000th in World League history.
The second set was a similar picture with the nine-time World League champions keeping Bulgaria scoreless while registering four themselves. Bulgaria's major attacking weapon and top scorer in the competition Sokolov finally got last year's fourth placed team – their best ever World League result – on the board. The rest of the set went with ebbs and flows as skipper Todor Aleksiev closed the gap to 7-5 with a delicious spike down the line but Wallace helped extend the lead out to 14-9 with a smashing cross court kill. Wallace and Bruno were guilty of miscommunication soon after when a set went unattended at 15-11 but that only sparked the world champions into action, who rattled off three points before it was soon set point. Despite a challenge from Bulgaria, Brazil had the second set 25-17.
Bulgaria led for the first time since the first point of the match when Aleksiev sent down an ace to lead 1-0 before Valentin Bratoev put the Brazilian reception under enormous pressure with outstanding serving. Bulgaria led 8-4 and 9-5 when Georgi Brateov blocked Lucarelli. The lead went out to 11-5 before Brazil fought their way back to 18-16 down. In a big call, Bulgaria coach Camillo Placi subbed off Sokolov and when Svetoslav Samunev spiked into the net and then was called for a double touch, it looked to be the wrong one however, Bulgaria did enough to keep their noses ahead as Aleksiev spiked off the block to take the match to the fourth set. Dante, who suffered a knee injury in the penultimate rally of the set, stood out the rest of the match.
The fourth set started more even than any of the previous three as, with the score at 8-7, Placi brought on his bench looking for a way to unsettle the favourites. However Bernardinho did the same and it brought immediate dividends for Brazil. Bruno serving they rushed out to a 12-7 lead thanks to Wallace who was on fire. Danail Milushev finally converted a cross court spike to break the run but Brazil were back on a roll, soon leading 16-9. Although Aleksiev tried to inspire his troops with some devastating spiking and deft touches it was to no avail as Lucarelli wrapped up the match with his 15th point of the game.
For Brazil, it was their eighth win 11 World League semifinals to set up a final encounter with world No. 2 Russia while Bulgaria are still to win one of their four semifinals.


text:
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text:
"How do you do your research?" is the question I am most often asked at public readings.
"I don't!" is the first answer that comes to mind.
But the deeper truth is that I am not aware of doing research. This is because I accumulate so much strange information on account of my insatiable curiosity. Some might call it 'being nosey'. I prefer to look at it as a vocation.
Research is not usually a conscious process. It is a way of life.
How about this one: a safe door can get jammed closed in cold weather because a partial vacuum is formed inside. Or this: thieves sometimes try to steal slate gravestones from cemeteries because the slate itself is so valuable. Or this: Policemen trying to keep warm sometimes put their hands inside their stab vests.
I wouldn't have known where to look to find this kind of information. But it is all gold dust to a crime writer. And it is free. You just have to keep your eyes and ears open.
Perhaps this approach comes from my dyslexia. It is easier for me to see things than to read them. And perhaps it comes from laziness.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
2 comments:
- Sam Hayes said...
I know exactly what you mean, Rod. Little stashes of seemingly useless information that might one day give life to a scene. I have to write everything down though or I forget. xx
- 8:43 am
- Rod Duncan said...
Hi Sam,
I write loads of things down but can't often read my own writing - even if I did bother to read it again, or could find it.
So it mostly just clutters up my brain.
- 9:41 am
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Dark Fiber in Dakota, Minnesota
Research Dakota Dark Fiber Instantly Online!
To obtain Dark Fiber for your business in Dakota County, give us a call at (888) 765-8301 or use our online quote tool (on the left) to get an initial estimate on Dark Fiber in Dakota. Once we receive your information we'll give you a call to discuss your individual request.
Why use darkfiberopticnetwork.com for your Online Dakota Research?
- Our Dakota Dark Fiber tool does the shopping for you.
- We give an unbiased opinion on Dark Fiber in Dakota County.


text:
Being an Indian, I am a big fan of Micromax. They have done amazingly well to gain huge market share in the congested smartphone industry where the global leaders such as Samsung and Apple spend huge amounts of dollars in order to release annual upgrades to their phones. Micromax has consistently released phones with impressive hardware and some nifty software features and has been able to attract the majority of the customers largely due to their attractive pricing.
As per a latest report by PTI, Micromax will now start assembling its phones in India instead of importing them. Currently, the Company has outsourced its Assembly to Manufacturing heavyweights such Foxconn. Micromax co-founder Rahul Sharma told PTI "We have a plant in Rudrapur and have already started assembling of phones on trial basis there. It will be commercially launched in the first quarter of next year". This is bound to provide them some more economic and logistical advantage over other low cost domestic brands.
The Company that began with a Phone having a one month back-up has recently been taking India's smartphone market by storm. As per the latest statistics, Micromax currently holds the the second largest share in the India's smartphone market at 22% and very soon aims to start exporting phones to Russia.
"We closed last year at about Rs 3,168 crore and we are looking to double that this financial year. We are on track to be a billion dollar company by FY 14," Sharma added. It is going to be interesting to see if the International brands step up their game and alter their strategy to take on the domestic brands in one of the largest smartphone markets in the world or keep the segment open for brands such as Micromax to flounder successfully.


text:
A new study (PDF) from the Minnesota Taxpayers Association confirms what we've all suspected: Property tax rates are up in the state and rose faster than market rates.
"This is the first year-upon-year rise in effective tax rates since the early 1990s," says the report.
Some key points in the report:
- Although effective tax rates remain at historically low levels, "rates based on home values provide little insights about the fairness of the property tax system. A new state database that links household incomes with property tax data should provide new perspectives on Minnesotans' ability to pay their property taxes."
- On a statewide basis, commercial-industrial, railroad, apartment and utility property subsidization of residential, farm, and cabin property taxes declined.
- Also, "commercial-industrial property still provides a substantial subsidy to other types of "preferred" properties. Commercial-industrial property comprises 13.36% of all market value in the state, but is liable for 31.63% of all net property taxes in Minnesota. Comparable numbers for residential homestead property show that such property comprises 54.00% of market value statewide in 2009, while accounting for only 46.40% of net property taxes."
- Effective tax rates vary considerably from county to county. Overall rates ranged from a low of 0.47% in Rock County to a high of 1.58% in Hennepin County. Homestead rates ranged from a low of 0.31% in Cook County to a high of 1.53% in Red Lake County. Commercial-industrial rates were lowest in Cass County (1.32%) and highest in Mahnomen County (4.29%).
The tax association calculates an "accountability index" for different classes of property, which "measures subsidization by comparing each property class' share of the total property tax burden to its share of the total tax base."
When that index equals 1.00, it says "owners who live and vote where their property is located (such as homeowners and farmers) pay an appropriate share of property taxes for the local government services provided."
And the group says that currently, residential homestead property is at 0.95, the same as last year, and the highest ever calculated.


text:
SANTA MONICA - Local improv group Chameleon Comedy will perform at the Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica Friday night at 10:30 p.m.Tickets are $15. The theater is at 1323-A 3rd Street Promenade. Chameleon Comedy will also perform Sunday at the L.A. County Fair. They will perform in Building 4 on the Main Stage at 8:15 p.m. The show is free but guests must pay for fair admission.
********** Published: September 2, 2010 - Volume 9 - Issue 20


text:
There's a new digital currency in town, but this one doesn't seem interested in playing nice.
Darkcoin, a "little-known Bitcoin alternative," is quickly replacing Bitcoin as the go-to anonymous digital currency, according to Wired.
"Darkcoin offers far greater anonymity than Bitcoin," Wired's Andy Greenberg wrote on Wednesday. "Though few have yet to accept that more-anonymous coin for actual goods and services, the promise of Darkcoin's privacy features seems to have sparked a miniature boom."
While naysayers such as The Atlantic's Matthew O'Brien have dismissed the notion that digital currency has any real future (O'Brien famously called Bitcoin the "Segway of currency") digital currencies seem to have remained resilient, even through hacking scandals and unpredictable fluctuations in value.
"Bitcoin is in the early stages of mainstreaming today," tech pioneer Marc Andreessen told The Washington Post's Brian Fung. "You've got big companies that are not yet doing a lot with it, but are looking very seriously at it. So every big bank has people that are trying to figure out what to do with Bitcoin; every big e-commerce company has people that are trying to figure out Bitcoin."
So what makes these crypto-currencies so appealing? As O'Brien argued last November, people are weary of buying into "something so inherently ridiculous, no matter how technically impressive it might be," so what explains the resilience?
According to a more recent article in the Atlantic by Lana Swartz and Bill Maurer, the trend toward modern digital currency has to do primarily with a healthy mix of imagination and convenience.
"In the 1950s, the 'cashless society' was as much a part of an idealized modern future as the jetpack and the flying car," Swartz and Maurer write. "Most of today's dreams of a future without money harken back to a time when money was a commodity in the form of gold or silver—not a government promise."
"This history helps reorient what future money might look like," they continue. "It might be a future of multiple moneys or money-like things interacting with one another, private currencies challenging the state's monopoly on money."
But while imagination, historical impulses and the constant trend toward convenience are all well and good, the rise of Darkcoin may have a more sinister motivation.
"Of course, the simplest theory explaining Darkcoin's growth is ... It may be becoming a convenient tool for the black market," according to Greenberg.
In other words, as Bitcoin continues toward the mainstream, those who valued the digital money's vulnerability to misuse have used the same principles to create something ... darker.
JJ Feinauer is a web producer for Moneywise and Opinion on DeseretNews.com. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com, Twitter: jjfeinauer.


text:
On Feb 07, Henrique de Moraes Holschuh <firstname.lastname@example.com> wrote: > I'd rather we had a watchdog mini policy that boils down to: As the udev and module-init-tools maintainer my goal is to support automatically loading all the drivers which their maintainers intended to be automatically loaded and blacklist until they are fixed the ones which are currently too buggy to be automatically loaded. If the defaults for some drivers are wrong then I can't see why they should not be fixed, but if default configuration parameters are needed then they should be provided by the watchdog package. (BTW, is there any other watchdog daemon? The watchdog package reliably fails to detect when the system is half-killed by OOM.) -- ciao, Marco
Description: Digital signature


text:
Luck Is A Lady
Post: #1
Luck Is A Lady
"Your mind seems to be elsewhere tonight. Is everything alright?" "I'm just thinking about all the bookwork I need to get done this week." This afternoon's activities had left my head spinning. I was unsure for whom this tête-à-tête was; Tom or me. I couldn't help but feeling that Kate wanted Tom and me together. For sure, she had gone first with her boyfriend. She tamed the beast and took the edge off. But it was the way she directed him with me that had me wondering. Her reprimand to Tom kept ringing in my head: 'You enter a lady respectfully.' And she made sure he did. Nothing unclean, but very gently, with love. She supervised us up close. She had not the slightest jealousy watching her boyfriend and I get intimate; indeed, she pulled us together. And I thoroughly enjoyed being with Tom. The way he held me in his arms as he kissed me. The awe on his face as I had my way with his girlfriend. How gentle he was. I felt so comfortable with him. But he was Kate's boyfriend. And I had my own boyfriend. Did I feel better with Tom because he was new? Or because he was so loving and tender? Or that I just plain liked him better? "I know you've had a lot of work lately," Bill sympathized. "We can go back to your house and I'll help you get some of it done." I kept wondering if Kate would rescind her invitation once she thought better of it. I hoped she wouldn't because I was looking forward to being with her and Tom again. I wanted to be a part of Kate's beautiful intimacy. I ...
wanted Tom's tenderness again. I wanted Kate to be there to chaperone us. That's where the guilt came in. I felt guiltier for wanting Kate's boyfriend than I felt for betraying Bill. A boyfriend is just that: a boyfriend. We had no commitment and were free and unencumbered. But to want your friend's boyfriend, that was different. I felt like a scoundrel. "Thank you, Bill, but now is not the time. I don't have the head for that right now. But you can take me home where we can just relax. Maybe watch TV or I can put on a movie. That's about as deep as I can get right now." We ended up back home watching a movie in the dark. Bill was truly sensitive to my feelings and wanted to comfort me. He started getting amorous and while I wasn't an active participant, I didn't push him away either. He held me affectionately and tried to assuage my turmoil. "You're very uptight. Lay down," Bill instructed. I did and Bill started a neck and back massage that wasn't nearly as good as Kate's. He undressed me as he continued. He had me totally naked on the couch. His touch was comforting. "I like you better shaved," Bill said fondly, tugging me. The first time Bill saw me bald he nearly went wild. He couldn't stop looking and touching and kissing me. He moved to kiss me now. "Not tonight, Bill. I don't think it's a good idea." After that afternoon's activity I was a bit sore from Tom. "I want to relax you, Laura. Just lay back and let me indulge you. It's my treat and my pleasure." I tried to hold ...
Post: #2
him off. "No Bill, don't…" But it was too late; Bill planted some gentle
kisses on me. I hoped he wouldn't detect anything as he pulled me open
and gave some tender licks and loving kisses. His refinement was on par
with Kate's. He emitted some tender sounds as he held me open and
inhaled and kissed and cherished. He was warm and loving and couldn't do
enough to comfort me. He was being typical Bill: he was the most
compassionate when I was feeling blue. He put his tongue in deeply and
savored his triumph as I gently finished. He then rose and pressed his
success home. He found this very agreeable and was soon done. "I feel
better now. Thanks for the tenderness." "Anything for the lady. You're
simply delicious." I saw Kate the next day. She glowed. Dressed in a
skirt and pumps, flaunting her long legs, she radiated beauty. "Thank
you so much for a wonderful afternoon. Tom says this was his best
birthday ever. He hasn't stopped talking about it." "Thank you for
inviting me." "And you thought you wouldn't like it. You loved it." "I
did." I wasn't sure if there was a hidden meaning in Kate's comment.
"What I liked most was your lovemaking. You are the essence of
femininity when you make love. I enjoyed participating in something so
beautiful." "Aww, thank you, Laura. You're so sweet. And thanks for the
attention," Kate replied with a kiss. She lowered her voice to a
conspiratorial tone. "Seeing you and Tom was so tantalizing. Your
lovemaking has the scent of perfume and tastes ...
so sweet. I want it again soon. I want it in my face." I had the sudden
urge to kiss her. All the previous night and all day I couldn't get the
picture of her lustfulness out of my mind. I had dreamed of her. I
ached to adore her beauty again. I dropped down on my knees, and
kneeling before her, lifted her skirt. I was animalistic. I yanked her
panties off and one of her pumps came off with them. I attacked. She
backed up toward a chair, losing her other pump, but I kept locked onto
her, following on my knees. I luxuriated in her delicate feminine scent
and sweet taste and rubbed my face in her succulence. She ran her slim
fingers through my hair with one hand and with fingers forked, held
herself open with the other. I held her delicate feet in my hands. She
cooed as I pleased her. It didn't take long for Kate to arrive at one of
her cute endings. Her toes curled and her voice pitched up as she
quivered and grabbed her breasts. Her pretty face tensed up and she
exhaled profusely through her mouth. Her pleasant secretions bathed my
tongue and lips. When she was done panting I stood, wiping her sweetness
off my lips with my fingers. "Laura, my love. What was that for?" "For
being you. For the love you give me. For the gentle way you treated me
with your boyfriend." "But you did me the favor. I want us together
again as soon as possible. So does Tom." She stood. I hesitated, lost
for words. "Kate, I feel funny about that. About Tom and I being
intimate. He's your boyfriend. He
Post: #3
and I shouldn't be doing that. I mean, I know you invited me, but I feel
guilty," I explained as I lifted her panties into place. "Nonsense, my
love. It was my idea. It's good for Tom and I daresay it's good for
you," she said, adjusting them under her skirt. "And it was good for me
too," she continued. "The attentiveness you showed to Tom and I was
exquisite. You're coming back this weekend," she announced, sliding into
her pumps. And I did. This time I was going to make sure Kate finished
first. Kate and I undressed each other, giggling the whole time. I kept
Kate in my clutches and brought her to one of her adorable finishes
while Tom watched. Ladies first. Satisfied, she led Tom to me. Kate
primed me and I welcomed him with a smile. He was the perfect gentleman.
"Is this okay, Laura?" he tenderly asked as he entered slowly. Kate was
holding me open. "You're so gentle," I cooed. Tom continued with
respect and was soon fully in. Kate played with my breasts while we made
love, but Tom had my total attention. After some time Kate forced her
head between us and began kissing our lovemaking. "You sweetie," Kate
said, reaching back and jiggling me. "You are so cute." She turned to
Tom. "Isn't Laura a doll?" "A living doll," Tom agreed. Kate, being our
chaperone, tickled Tom's scrotum as she tended to me. She knew how to
bring me to completion and Tom and I shared a simultaneous and rousing
finish. Tom remained inside while Kate cared for my hypersensitive
clitoris. She pulled ...
Tom out and licked him clean. With hardly a pause, Kate spun onto her
hands and knees and beckoned Tom. He slid into her from behind and began
a slow cadence. "Pull your knees together, Baby. I want to tighten you
up," Tom commanded. Kate complied promptly and stretched out her arms in
front of her, lowering her chest to the mattress and displaying her
cute bottom. A confluence of thoughts and emotions consumed me, the
foremost being jealousy, but for whom? Was it my girlfriend enjoying
love with someone else or was it Tom being with Kate, not with me? I
couldn't blame her; he was her boyfriend, not mine. And I couldn't blame
him for loving his girl; in fact, for a fleeting moment I wished I was a
guy so I could do that to Kate. Tom pulled out and flipped Kate onto
her back. He put me on top of her, on my back too, and he took turns
entering us. I was in Kate's arms and she held my boobs scrunched
together. When Tom pulled out of Kate to enter me, I took him by his
manhood and led him to my cleavage. Straddling us, he entered eagerly
and enjoyed. He then alternated between Kate's and my vagina and my
cleavage. Kate held me tight, her delicate fingers also caressing her
boyfriend. It made a wonderful sight and Tom soon deposited a healthy
orgasm on my boobs. I wore it proudly. We rose. Kate licked most of Tom
off me before pulling him to the very edge of the bed and sitting on his
lap. Her legs were together, inside his, and she put her weight on her
feet. With her behind pushed
Post: #4
out and her hands on her knees she bounced gently on Tom. There she was
again: Aphrodite in the act of love. Her hair spilled over her
shoulders. Tom placed his hands just below her breasts so they would
bounce into his hands. Her abdominal and quadriceps muscles tightened
and relaxed with her movements. Her feet remained planted and her toes
tense, gripping the area rug. She smiled at me in joy and then switched
her legs to the outside of Tom's, sitting on his lap. She took him in
deep as she placed her feet on Tom's thighs. She was spread wide. Her
lovely vagina accommodating Tom was a beautiful sight to behold. Her
delicate labia alternately pouted and smiled as she rode up and down.
She consciously used her vagina to stimulate Tom. She continued her
thrusts and with a sly smile, squirmed at me with her index finger. She
pointed down, all of this being out of Tom's sight. She didn't have to
ask twice. I fell on my knees and kissed her loveliness. She pulled up
to expose her swollen clitoris and I licked it passionately. Tom's
manhood was working just below and I pulled him out several times and
took him deep, almost getting my lips to the base of his penis before
returning him home. I was also able to insert my tongue so Tom and I
were sharing space inside Kate. Holding Tom's scrotum, I focused again
on Kate's exquisite clitoris and brought her to a delightful finish. In
time Kate arose and kissed me. "Thank you for that, my love," she
breathed. She turned to face Tom, ...
her left hand holding my right breast. "Tom, don't move. Would you mind
if Laura sits on your lap? I want to repay the favor. Would that be
alright?" she asked, feigning apprehension. "Fine!" Tom gushed. Kate
moved me to her boyfriend and guided us together. I sat back, leaning on
Tom. His arms enfolded me, drawing me in as he lightly hugged me. My
breasts rested on his left forearm and he rolled his arm
counterclockwise to propel them outward. He buried his nose in my hair,
nibbling my ear once or twice. My legs remained outside his, my feet off
the floor, and he began to slowly thrust his pelvis as he held me. Tom
was soothing, caring, and loving. He held, not squeezed, my breasts,
handling them like precious gems. He kissed my neck. Kate grasped the
mood and followed accordingly with slow, tender kisses. Leaning back on
Tom, in his arms, my head on his shoulder, and Kate's affectionate
attention, my sensation was reminiscent of Kate's massages; relaxed,
floating, and dreamy. Kate watched as her boyfriend lovingly pushed and
pulled his erection in and out of me. She held his testicles as she
kissed me. Thoroughly encouraged by Kate, I arrived with energy. Tom
held me while I writhed in rapt excitement. Induced by my exhilaration,
he followed quickly. I was completely spent, emotionally, physically,
and sexually. Tom and I fell back on the bed, joined by Kate. She slid
Tom out of me; he was spent, too. We held him. "That was powerful," he
gasped. "Three's a charm," I added. We
Post: #5
laughed. "You lucky guy," Kate said. "Two beautiful women to satisfy
you." "The two best women in the world," he added. The following day I
met Kate for tea. She hit me with another bombshell. "You and Tom belong
together." My face fell. "What?" "You do. I'm breaking up with Tom.
He's yours for the taking." The shock overwhelmed me and I started
crying. "But why? I didn't mean to become a wedge between you. I'll bow
out. No more time with you two." "It's not that. I knew from the start
that you were meant for each other. That's why I introduced you. It's so
obvious. Tom loves you. He adores you. He's so tender with you.
Besides, Tom is not the guy for me. He's too young for me. I need
someone more mature, more worldly." I felt insulted that she implied Tom
wasn't mature or sophisticated. "I don't have the heart to hurt him;
he's a sensitive guy," she continued. "So I'm asking for another favor,
Laura. Take Tom. Treat him right. He's the guy for you; you're the girl
for him. You two bonded. He's your soulmate." I was speechless. I hadn't
anticipated this. Sure, I liked Tom. But I never intended to be the
cause of a breakup. Even though Kate said it wasn't about me, I still
felt guilty. I should never have gotten involved. Three truly is a bad
number. "Besides," Kate continued, "every time you finish, he finishes
with you." She was right; he did. "And wipe that smirk off your face,
young lady," she said with a smile. I laughed through my tears. "What
about you?" I asked. "I ...
might have a new guy. A guy I met on vacation last year. He called me
out of the blue and wants to get together. I'm seeing him next weekend."
Leaving Tom for a new guy? How could she do that? I hid my displeasure.
"Have you told Tom?" "Not yet. I want you there to ease the sadness. If
you're there and you make it known you'll be there for him it will
easier for him and me. Do me the favor. Be there for Tom." I couldn't
say no. But what about Bill? I'd have to break it off with him. I didn't
want to hurt him, either. Why does love have to be so complicated? Kate
and I met Tom to break the news. The mood was solemn. Kate disclosed
her plan; she was out, I was in. She didn't mention anything about the
new guy pursuing her. She just played the part of a lover accepting
defeat graciously. Tom took it stoically. He asked Kate to reconsider,
even offering to end our trysts, but it was obvious her mind was made
up. He requested that she hold no animosity toward me. She answered
truthfully that she didn't and wouldn't; she was sincerely happy for us.
She wanted to remain friends with both of us. What I left unsaid was
that there would be no more sharing. The next week Tom and I had our
first date. He was still a bit sad and reticent but he was the perfect
gentleman and behaved like it was our first date. He was punctual and
nicely dressed. He had gotten a haircut and was clean shaven. He made
sure I felt like a lady. He held every door for me and showed total
deference. He'd stand when
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text:
Nunavut Territory, Canada
Taloyoak (formerly known as Spence Bay until 1 July 1992) is located on the Boothia Peninsula in Canada's Nunavut Territory. The community is served only by air and by annual supply sea-lift. Taloyoak means "large blind", referring to a stone caribou blind.
Population is 720 according to the 2001 Census.
The text in this article excerpt is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Taloyoak, Nunavut".
Spirit Wrestler Gallery
101-1669 West 3rd Ave.
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6J 1K1
Toll Free: 1-888-669-8813
Phone: 604-669-8813
one block West of the Granville Island gates
Between Pine St. and Fir St.
Tuesday to Saturday, open 10-5
Sunday and Holidays, open 12-5
© 2019 Spirit Wrestler Gallery. All Rights Reserved.


text:
I swapped the HDD in my old desktop for an SSD. Changing hardware was the easy part:
Crack the case.
Pop the trim.
Dig into the peripheral slots until we get to the disk.
Bam! Hard drive caddy.
Just exchange the old SATA drive for the new one.
Assemble in reverse.
Then came the hard part... Reinstalling Windows without an installation disk.


text:
It's hardly a scoop that the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's editorial page leans to the right.
What is surprising, perhaps, is how obsessive-compulsively it seems to pursue that agenda. The editorial page, for example, all but refuses to use the word "Democratic" in phrases like "Democratic Primary" or "Democratic candidate" -- even when it's uttered by arch-conservative columnists such as Pat Buchanan and George Will.
Of course, the Trib's commentary doesn't ignore Democrats entirely. (After all, who else could the Trib blame for the triumphant march of socialism into our daily lives?) It's just that when the party of Roosevelt is referred to in the Trib's op-ed section, its various uses are referred to with the noun Democrat, minus the "ic."
The practice apparently requires altering the text of articles by syndicated columnists. It also violates common journalistic style, and plays a word game that has irked liberals for years.
The phrase "Democrat Party" has long been popular amongst Republican operatives, and liberals see it as a subtle linguistic slur. In a 2006 New Yorker piece, Hendrik Hertzberg wrote, "there's no great mystery about the motives behind this deliberate misnaming. 'Democrat Party' is a slur, or intended to be -- a handy way to express contempt. ... It fairly screams 'rat.'"
"It's a little thing," agreed a Washington Post account in 2007, "a means of needling the opposition by purposefully mispronouncing its name, and of suggesting that the party on the left is not truly small-'d' democratic."
But the Trib's editorial page makes the change regularly. In his Jan. 13 Washington Post column about the Republican primary entitled "A GOP Numbers Crunch," for example, George Will uses the word "Democratic" in four instances: His piece refers to "Democratic candidates," "Democratic participation," Democratic members of Congress," and a "Democratic governor." But when the Trib reprinted the same column under the headline "Gimme Shelter" on the same day, the word was changed to "Democrat" each time.
CP has found similar alterations made to the work of other columnists last year, including Pat Buchanan, Robert Novak and Ann Coulter.
When told of the change, the wire services that syndicate the columnists were bemused. "Obviously we would prefer that the columns would run in the way that we provide them," says James Hill, the managing editor of the syndicate that reprints Will's column nationwide. Will, he adds, does not "make references to the 'Democrat Party,' and we would prefer his words not be altered."
Papers can edit columns to fit their style, Hill says, but it's hard to say that's the Trib's motivation here. The AP style guide, broadly used throughout the industry, insists that "Democratic Party" is the correct usage, as is "Democratic Primary," etc. And in fact, most Trib stories in the news section seem to use the "Democratic" form. Even the editorial page uses "Democratic Party" more often than not. Neither the Trib's editor, Frank Craig, nor editorial-page editor Colin McNickle returned calls or e-mails to explain the change.
That's unfortunate, says Duquesne journalism professor Maggie Patterson. "I think it's important to get their side of it," she says. "It's very hard for me to judge without knowing from them why it's important to them to make that change.
"I just don't understand what the point would be," she says. "If it's meant to be a slam, it's a pretty petty one, and would seem to be small-minded."
Robert Richards, a distinguished professor of journalism and law at Penn State University, says the change strikes him "as grammatically incorrect" more than anything else. "I would hope a newspaper wouldn't do this just to tweak Democrats," Richards says. "It's just a bizarre thing to do."
Then again, George W. Bush touched off a small controversy last January, when he congratulated the new "Democrat majority" during his State of the Union address. After the speech, Democrats groused to the Washington Post that it was a "calculated insult" that was "[l]ike nails on a chalkboard."
But at least the Trib could have run the speech in its op-ed section unedited.


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Hello sweet readers!
Today I'm going to tell you a *story. It's a wonderful story filled with kindness, craftiness, forgetfulness and hot glue. My kind of story…
It begins with a wonderful friend named Mimi. She is fun and sweet and has the most beautiful house you have ever seen. Mimi can cook some mean tomato gravy for your biscuits, show you the best antique stores around AND keep your kiddos occupied with Lincoln Logs for hours. Modern day Mary Poppins I tell ya.
One day when I was visiting with Mimi I noticed a pillow she had made using some jute webbing. It was simple and rustic, yet it had a very classic look to it. That in a nutshell would be how I described Mimi's whole house. When I commented on the pillow and how much I loved it she ran to her craft room and pulled out the rest of the webbing from her pillow project. She said "Here ya go!" "Wait–what?!?!? For me? You don't mean it!" I said. There were several yards left and they were in perfect condition! She was so kind and generous on top of being practically perfect!
So, what did I do with that webbing you ask? Well, like any middle-aged mom of 3 I put it in a safe place where I wouldn't forget it and then promptly forgot where that safe place was. It's this fun game I have come up with for myself. 40 is great. really.
One day as I was cleaning out a cabinet IN MY BEDROOM (I have no clue as to why I didn't look there first….grrrr) I found it! Thanks to
the 40-year-old brain dumb luck I could now make lots of fun things with this webbing. Would I make a flirty little skirt? Or cover my MacBook Air? Or make potholders for my in-laws? Choices choices choices…
I decided on something a little less…well…awkward and chose to cover a foam wreath form (say that 10x fast).
I cut the webbing into strips long enough to wrap around the form and left enough to hang off the edge (It'll make sense when you see the pic). Then I cut the edge on one side of the webbing into a V shape.
At this point I got out my glue gun and let it get hot–not 'burn-the-skin-off-your-fingers hot, just somewhere between sweltering and fervent. Then I wrapped each piece overlapping the next just slightly and kept repeating until the whole thing was covered.
Then…well…I hung it on the door.
The End
**I never claimed to be a novelist.


text: "The Sisiutl plays the role of balance. I have used it in this show as displaying the balance between spirit and the modern day. As forms shift and transform into the contemporary, it's the stories that hold the art to be true. We can play in this contemporary world in all aspects, but always must remember where and what grounds us." — Rande Cook


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We are one of the top ten PRS dealers in the world with over 400 USA PRS guitars in stock. With our selection of Private Stock, Core, and S2 models to choose from, we are your destination for PRS! Don't see the one you want? We have many more available than are currently on our website. Reach out to us and let us help you find the perfect PRS guitar for you!
To see selected items in inventory, click the model below.


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The book goes through 30 ways that you can turn your craft skills or passion in a successful craft business. It makes great holiday reading, if your thinking about starting a craft business in the New Year. Get your strategy right from the start so you can fast track your success for your craft business. The book also comes with a bonus 90 day fast track action plan and a video explaining how to get your business set for success in 90 days or less.
For a limited time there is a special promotional launch price of just 99 cents. To download your copy click here.
If your thinking of selling your crafts online or selling your handmade items in 2014 this book is the best 99 cents you'll ever invest in your business. Grab your copy before the promotion ends.


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Wednesday 7/28/94 Obituaries
Pearl Marie Gibson
Edwin W. Thompson
John Hawk
John Hawk, 73, of Sandusky passed away Wednesday, July 21, 2004, at Saint Mary's Hospital in Saginaw.
He was born on March 28, 1931, in Swoyerville, Pa. to the late John and Josephine (Rapachinski) Hawk.
John married Catherine "Kitty" Lavin on April 6, 1953, in Swoyerville, Pa. She passed away on Dec. 22, 1997.
Mr. Hawk was a member of the St. Mary's Catholic Church, Port Sanilac and was also an active member in the church choir. He worked for Express Freight Lines in Detroit as a truck driver and also was an area farmer.
He is survived by four children, John Hawk and his wife, Maria, of Allegan, Katie Loss and her husband, Skip, of Ruth, Hilda Stefan and her husband, Mark, of Ubly, Bernie Hawk of Sandusky; 12 grandchildren; one great-grandson; two brothers, Dan Hawk and his wife, Doris, of North Branch, Joe Hawk and his wife, Gina, of Pennsylvania; four sisters, Maria Soifer of New Jersey, Margaret Hawk of Pennsylvania, Patsy Kilduff of Florida, Barbara Hall and her husband, Bill, of Minnesota; a dear friend, Louise Krease of Port Sanilac; and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by one brother, James Hawk; and one sister, Josephine Ostrosky.
Funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 14, 2004, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Port Sanilac with Fr. Paul Bala of Port Sanilac officiating. Burial will be in the Greenwood Cemetery in Sandusky.
Visitation will be from 9 a.m. until the service time on Saturday, Aug. 14 at the church.
Memorials may be made to the family.
Pearl Marie Gibson
Pearl Marie Gibson, 80, of Port Austin died Monday, July 26, 2004, at St. Joseph Mercy in Pontiac.
She was born on April 6, 1924, in Windsor, Ontario, daughter of the late Edward and Emily (Ferrand) Lesperance.
She married George Gibson on April 27, 1946, in St. Michael's Catholic Church in Pontiac.
Pearl moved from Pontiac to Port Austin in 1975. She worked at the Bad Axe Wal-Mart in the fabric department for eight years. She was a member of St. Michael's Catholic Church in Port Austin and the U & I club in Port Austin. Pearl enjoyed spending time watching and listening to her beloved Detroit Tigers.
Pearl is survived by her husband, George of Port Austin; five children, Bruce Gibson and his wife, Sue, of Phoenix, Ariz., David Gibson and his wife, Patty, of Waterford, Beverly Wilfong and her husband, James, of Oxford, Rose Jarois and her husband, David, of Howell, and Barbara Wright and her husband, Steve, of McGuire Air Force Base, N.J.; nine grandchildren, Scott Gibson and his wife, Catherine, David Gibson and his wife, Sheila, Robert Gibson and his wife, April, Anthony Wilfong and his wife, Julie, Allen Wilfong, Jaki and Katie Jarois, and Matthew and Stacey Miracle; and five great-grandchildren, Ashley and Holden Gibson, Tessa Gibson, Shane Gibson, and Tyler Wilfong; brother, Marcel Lesperance and his wife, Helen; and sister, Marilyn Csizmadia and her husband, Joe.
Funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. on Thursday, July 29, 2004, at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Port Austin. Officiating will be the Rev. Robert Pare', pastor. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
Visitation will be conducted from 5 to 9 p.m. today at Knoblock Funeral Home in Kinde, and from 10 to 11 a.m. on Thursday at the church. There will be a rosary at 7 p.m. today at the funeral home.
Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society.
Edwin W. Thompson
Edwin W. Thompson, 92, of Deckerville went to his eternal reward on July 26, 2004.
He was born Feb. 25, 1912, in Delaware Twp., the son of the late Floyd and Mary (Mahon) Thompson.
He married Viola Kursinsky on Aug. 14, 1943. She preceded him in death on Nov. 24, 2003. Together they raised ten children who all survive them.
Edwin spent most of his life as a dairy and crop farmer in Delaware Twp. He also worked as a carpenter, and some will remember him from Nichol Lumber in Deckerville. In his semi-retirement years he enjoyed working with his old sawmill.
He is survived by seven sons, Michael, Daniel and his wife, Margaret, Steve and his wife, Sharon, Ed and his wife, Kim, all of Deckerville, Tim and his wife, Roseline, of Clarkston, Brian and his wife, Sharlene, of Cass City, and Ben (Michelle Hile) of Snover; three daughters, Mary Kathleen Haight and her husband, Gary, of Tucson, Ariz., Becky Stauffer and her husband, Gary, of Saline, and Anne Kinney and her husband, Tom, of Littleton, Colo.; 31 grandchildren; and 29 great-grandchildren; two sisters, Mrs. Isabel Kursinsky of Sandusky, and Mrs. Marjorie Maurer of Ruth; and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by one brother, George Thompson in 1999; and one great-grandson, Kevin Patrick McKinney in 1991.
A memorial service to celebrate the life of Edwin will be on Saturday, July 31, 2004, in the Deckerville Bible Church. Pastor Bill Willis will officiate. Arrangements are being handled by Apsey Funeral Home, Inc. in Deckerville.
Visitation with the family will be from 1 p.m. until the time of service on Saturday.
Memorials may be made to the Deckerville Bible Church.


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Direct Trade Coffee and Fresh Crisp Ontario Apples
Apples: Our orchard is located just minutes from the market. Each week we offer a wide variety of apples including Gala, Courtland, Honey Crisp and more. We also press our fresh cider. Come and enjoy a warm cup of fresh cider at our friendly market.
Direct Trade Coffee: We purchase the beans directly from the farmers and roast the beans here in Wellington County. We sell beans, ground and cups of fresh brewed coffee that will warm your insides.


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The storage of eggs, embryos, ovarian tissue and sperm for future use.
If you wish to preserve your fertility there may be a number of options available to you, including:
• Ovarian tissue cryopreservation
Men and women may wish to preserve their fertility due to:
• Social reasons such as career building, no long-term partner and financial instability lead to an individual choosing to delay parenthood until they are ready to start a family.
• Treatment being required for a medical condition that may affect future fertility, for example before some cancer treatments. When a diagnosis of cancer is given the patient often needs to start treatment quickly. Chemotherapy or radiotherapy may cause damage to sperm or eggs and cause future fertility problems. Freezing eggs, embryos, ovarian tissue or sperm prior to cancer therapies can give people real hope of preserving their chances of a family.
• Being at risk of injury or death, for example a member of the Armed Forces who is being deployed to a war zone.
Egg production is boosted using fertility drugs that stimulate the ovaries to produce follicles which contain the eggs. When the developing follicles are large enough they are carefully emptied to collect the eggs they have produced while the patient is under sedation or general anaesthetic. The eggs are then frozen in storage in liquid nitrogen called vitrification.
There is a 50% chance that those patients having IVF or ICSI will have a number of unused embryos after their first cycle. Healthy embryos may be frozen to use in future cycles, allowing pregnancy to be attempted again without going through the complete IVF process, avoiding stimulated egg growth and the accompanying injections. Approximately 70% of all frozen embryos survive the thawing process. Some couples may have all of their embryos survive in good condition, others may not have any that survive.
This innovative procedure helps newly diagnosed cancer patients to maintain their fertility after their cancer treatment. It may be a suitable for girls or some women about to undergo cancer treatment who wish to preserve their fertility when there is not enough time to undergo an egg collection before their treatment starts, or girls who are undergoing medical treatment which may affect their future fertility but who have not reached puberty yet and don't have any mature eggs to collect from their ovaries for egg freezing.
Ovarian tissue cryopreservation involves removing and freezing healthy ovarian tissue containing eggs from a patient. Once a patient has completed their course of treatment and is either in remission or of child-bearing age, the ovarian tissue strips can be thawed and either re-implanted into the ovary to allow them to try to conceive naturally or the eggs can be retrieved and fertilised in vitro and the embryo implanted in the uterus.
Complete Fertility Centre is just one of two Centres in the UK that can provide ovarian tissue cryopreservation.
It is currently the only centre in England to offer this service with NHS funding. Initially, NHS funding will be available to patients living in areas covered by the West Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group, which includes Andover, Eastleigh, Winchester, Totton and the New Forest.
Clinicians only
UHS urgent medical referral form
FRM5021/1.1 Consent for Ovarian Tissue Storage
FRM5022/3 Request for Cryopreservation and Storage of Ovarian Tissue
FRM5175/1 Request for Issue of Ovarian Tissue
Sperm freezing referral form
Sperm can be frozen and stored for future use. Sperm freezing is the most effective way to preserve male fertility.
Complete Fertility Centre offers a sperm freezing service for male oncology patients, including under 18s, whose cancer treatment may harm their fertility. For patients who meet these criteria, the NHS funds sperm freezing and storage for up to 10 years.
All patients must be screened negative for HIV, hepatitis B (core antibody and surface antigen) and hepatitis C at point of referral (search for 'fert' on eQuest and choose the option without rubella).
Appointments can usually be accommodated at short notice on weekdays. For more information, please call the embryology team on 023 8120 8407, Monday to Friday from 8am to 4pm, or see our referral form.


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Your Tarot Reading
(1) Think of a question to ask of the cards
(2) Shuffle the deck
(3) Click the spread you want
(1) Your Question:
(2) Shuffle the deck
(Hold mouse over deck to shuffle)
(3) Choose a spread
About Tarot
Tarot reading is all about your personal interpretation of the cards and their meanings.
Not all the meanings will make sense at first.
The Tarot was originally a deck of 78 cards, divided into 4 suits of 14 cards (the standard ace-10, then page, knight, queen, and king) and 22 un-numbered 'triumphs' or 'trumps'. Over the years, the trumps got numbered 1 to 21, with one card (the fool) remaining un-numbered or sometimes being 0. The 4 suits are commonly called the 'Minor Arcana' and the trump cards are called the 'Major Arcana'. More loosely, any deck of cards designed for 'fortune-telling', divination, meditation, contemplation, or other non-game uses is popularly called a Tarot deck. The most commonly found suits for Tarot decks are cups, swords, wands or staffs (probably originally polo-sticks), and pentacles (originally coins).
The names of the Major Arcana cards frequently change from deck to deck, but historically they've been The Fool (un-numbered or 0), The Magician
(I), The High Priestess (originally the Popess) (II), The Empress (III), The Emperor (IV), The Heirophant (originally the Pope) (V), The Lovers (VI), The Chariot (VII), Strength (VIII, originally XI), The Hermit (IX), The Wheel of Fortune (X), Justice (XI, originally VIII), The Hanged Man (XII), Death (XIII), Temperance (XIV), The Devil (XV), The Tower (XVI), The Star (XVII), The Moon (XVIII), The Sun (XIX), Judgement (XX), and The World (XXI). The Major Arcana cards are usually illustrated, frequently the Minor Arcana cards are, as well.
Tarot decks come in a bewildering variety these days. You can find oversized, undersized, or round decks. Some have more than 78 cards, some less. Some are based on a particular mythic cycle. Some are based on a particular psychological theory. Some are based on channelled information. Some are just hard to describe. A 'historical' deck has simply one, two, or however many wands, cups, or whatever for the number cards.
A.E. Waite
first popularised a deck which has illustrations on all 78 cards (painted by Pamela Colman Smith), which has become the model for the greatest number of other currently available decks.
A. Crowley
popularised a deck which had arcane symbols, but not real 'illustrations' on the number cards (painter by Lady Frieda Harris). Decks which follow those basic set-ups are descendants from these earlier ones.
No-one knows the 'true' origin of the Tarot. The most common myth is that it was brought to Europe by the Gypsies - but this myth come from the fact that very early occultists who used the Tarot fancied that it came from Egypt. They were as wrong about that as they were about the homeland of the Gypsies. In fact, the Tarot came to Europe about the same time as any other form of playing card, in the early/mid 1300's. It is most closely related to the 'Mamluk' deck of the Islamic world, which had suits cups, coins, swords, and polo-sticks.
The Tarot was originally used for a game called 'tarocchi' in Italy, which is sort of a distant cousin to Bridge. Tarocchi is still played in some parts of the world, not usually with the same decks the 'fortune tellers' use.
The game was quite popular for a time among the royalty in Italy, and sometimes a duke would commission an artist to create a really nice deck. Some of the earliest surviving Tarot decks come from this source. Plainer decks existed, but were not well made enough, or well thought-of enough, to survive the intervening 600 years.
The Joker of 'standard' card decks is "not" related to the Fool of Tarot. The Joker was invented as a wild card for Euchre in the 1800's, in a part of the world where the Tarot was virtually or totally unknown.
The Tarot was first associated with the occult by Antoine Court de Gebelin, a relatively obscure Parisian mason who wrote about the deck in 1781. He invented a lot of the standard myths about the Tarot which were later popularised by others (it comes from ancient Egypt, the Major Arcana is related to the Kabalah, etc.). The first big popularise of the deck was a contemporary of de Gebelin, called Etteilla, who published the first 'revised and corrected' Tarot deck for divination. The fad was caught up by Eliphas Levi, Oswald Wirth, and Papus, among others. From Papus, the Tarot caught on with some English mystics, such as S.L. Mathers (whose mistranslation of Levi brought us the suit of pentacles), A.E. Waite, and A. Crowley. The Tarot received a lot of attention from these folks, and they created a fairly large body of writing on the use of Tarot. For the most part they thought that divination was a 'lower' use of the cards, that ideally it should be used to put you in touch with eternal verities, usually in conjunction with whatever magical order they happened to be involved with. But of course, divination was the most popular use for the cards.
Most of the Tarot decks on the market were created this century, most of those in the last 20 years.
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Gary Ablett is a previous winner and a perennial vote-getter, and while the Gold Coast are second favourites to win the wooden spoon, we have seen over the past two seasons that Ablett doesn't have to play in a winning side to get votes. He is clearly the best player in the modern era, and is deserved of the favourite's tag at $8.00. Last year's winner Jobe Watson is second pick at $9.00, followed by Dane Swan and Trent Cotchin at $11. The top dozen spots in the betting are dominated by midfielders, and looking at recent winners, who can argue against that?
All has gone according to plan on the Men's side of the Australian Open. Wins by favourites Murray and Federer will mean the top four seeds will have made the semi-finals for the second year in a row. Punters could have secured $4.50 about this happening prior to the tournament. In the outright market, such has been the weight of money for Roger Federer ($6 into $3.75), that Novak Djokovic's price has hardly moved ($1.90 into $1.85) since the start of the tournament.
Should Murray and Federer advance, it will set up a mouth-watering semi-final clash on Friday night. Murray leads the head-to-head 10-9, but in the Slams, its 3-0 in Federer's advantage. Murray is expected to start a slight favourite, but Tattsbet is expecting huge support for Federer. We will be betting LIVE throughout the remaining Australian Open matches.
With Wollongong suffering an injury crisis, all of a sudden the battle for the final playoff spot in the NBL has been thrown wide-open. With nine rounds left, little separates the Hawks and Melbourne, while Townsville and Adelaide are also part of the chasing pack. The Tigers and 36ers do battle on Sunday afternoon, LIVE on Ten, in a match which could well end Adelaide's hopes of postseason action.
Melbourne takes on the Taipans in Cairns on Friday night, and thanks to a quirk in the draw, Sunday's game will be the first time all season the Tigers have had to back up for two games in the same round. There's no denying they're one of the form teams in the league right now, with four wins from their past five, while Adelaide has slumped with nine losses in its last ten starts. Former NBA point guard Jonny Flynn has been the key to Melbourne's mid-season revival, and he had his best game of his short NBL career last weekend against Sydney draining 27 points to go with 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Adelaide's Adam Gibson has the ability to put the clamps on him, but unless Adelaide seriously dominates the middle, the Tigers should be able to claw their way to victory.
That is quite often the case in these finals, but while the prices say Baltimore is the outsider, its form suggests it will be mighty hard to beat. In consecutive weeks, the Ravens disposed of the ruling Superbowl favourites, firstly Denver then New England. On each occasion they were massive $4.25 outsiders, but go into the final at $2.60, and that was after $2.70 was given. San Francisco on the other hand looked in deep trouble when trailing Atlanta 17-0 in their playoff match before going on to win by 4 points. The 49'ers were one of the best backed sides before the season started, firming from $15 into $10, and even as late as last week there was solid support for them ($3.00 into $2.80) when there was only four teams left.
The Farmers Insurance Open is the USPGA event this week and it will be played at Torrey Pines (South Course), La Jolla, California. Most would know this event by its last name, the Buick Invitational, and a look down through the records shows that it has belonged to Tiger Woods. Tiger is a six-time winner here, and also won the 2008 US Open when it was played on the same course. While he did miss the cut in Abu Dhabi last week, there is an air of confidence from punters this week which has seen his price cut from $8.50 into $8.00. Brandt Snedeker won last year in a play-off from Kyle Stanley, and he is the second pick at $15 while Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson share the third line of betting at $16. Watson is a previous winner as well (2011), and is always popular whenever he plays.


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Here's a digital painting based on the short film serial by Kevin Clarke and Travis Vogt titled Steel of Fire Warriors 2010 A.D.
Major inspiration was the legendary poster artist Drew Struzan who has recently retired from making movie posters full time. Read his own comment here and weep hard. The worst part of this is that Struzan was one of the last to actually hand craft a poster for mainstream films and their franchies instead of just mashing together some photo-manipulated crap together. So long, you will always inspire me.
Also check out this great review of Steel of Fire Warriors 2010 A.D. on io9.com


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- Home
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Calling 911 with TDD or TTY
**Please do not use the relay service for emergency 911 calls. Our 911 center is ready to handle your call. **
Since 1992, 911 Centers were required by the ADA to provide direct access to their services to those citizens who use a text telephone for their communications. Our center works diligently to comply with the requirements of the ADA and strives to serve our citizens with communication impairments more effectively. Through efforts such as this information site, we are trying to educate our citizens and employees in hopes that we can more effectively communicate with you - especially during an emergency. The tips provided here are not mandatory. These are tips that we feel will help us better serve you and your family. Our staff trains on TDD/TTY call handling every six months. They also perform TDD/TTY Test calls weekly. We are prepared for handling TDD/TTY calls.
Help us Help you
Contact our office if you wish to offer assistance in establishing or reviewing our procedures for handling emergency TDD/TTY calls. We are always looking for new resources to provide additional training to the dispatcher in disability awareness. You may wish to volunteer to participate in a test call program. We welcome and encourage community involvement.
Special Tips
If your TDD/TTY allows you to program information into memory, program your address, phone number and name. If your machine does not have memory, it would be helpful if you hit some keys to signal you are using a TDD/TTY, however, this is not required as our equipment has automatic detection.
When the dispatcher answers by sure to provide the address where help is needed, the nature of the problem, and the telephone number you are calling from.
During an emergency, if you are in danger and need to leave your location, make sure you give the dispatcher your complete location prior to leaving. Once you reach safety, call back and tell the dispatcher you have successfully reached safety.
If you are not in danger, stay on the line until either help arrives or the dispatcher tells you that you may hang up. Emergency units will be dispatched immediately, however, the dispatcher may need to ask additional questions and follow the instructions the dispatcher provides.