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Baubles-and-Bibelots Coupons and Deals
Stein, a French trained artist who was born in Paris in 1931, began making her whimsical pieces of jewelry in the 1969, when her husband, Fernand Steinberger, came up with a process of laminating layers of rhodoid (cellulose acetate sheets) with interesting textures and colors. The layers were baked overnight with a secret component of his creation and then cut into shapes for various designs of pins, bracelets, earrings and shaped decorative objects. From the side, you can see, in some pieces, as many as 20 layers of cellulose bonded together to make these pieces. The most easily recognizable Lea Stein pin is the 3-D fox, which has been produced in a myriad of colors and designs. Often, lace or metal layers were incorporated into the celluloid, which produced an astounding number of unique textures. The 3-D fox's tail is looped from one piece of celluloid. Many different styles of cats, dogs, bugs, bunnies, birds, ducks and other creatures were introduced, as well as deco-styled women, mod-styled children, flowers, cars, hats, purses, gold-encased and rhinestone encrusted designs and lots of little "things" such as stars, hearts, rainbows... even pins resembling John Travolta and Elvis Presley! ! In addition, you can find many bangles, rings, cuffs, earrings and rarer boxes, mirrors and cigarette cases. The designs seem endless and to a Lea Stein collector, the ability to collect one of everything is almost impossible, because so many pieces were one of a kind! One particularly elusive piece was called "Joan Crawford" in the US and "Carmen" in France. This piece was made in limited quanity and was always hard to find, but, lo and behold, a new cache has recently hit the market and they are not so difficult to find anymore!


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Beach Babe… (Wordless Wednesday)
August 3, 2011 by Allison Alexander
Filed Under: Allison Tagged With: Allison Alexander, baby, beach, wordless wednesday
About Allison Alexander
MOM is who I am. TV is what do. BELLY LAUGHS are what I live for. Lived in 8 states, 3 twice. Grateful for all I have and the people and experiences along the way who have made me who I am. Without them, A Mom Knows Best wouldn't exist. You can learn more about her here.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Marion Area Humane Society has a strong commitment to the community to investigate reports of animal cruelty and neglect in Marion County.
If you suspect an animal is being abused or neglected please report it by filling out the form below or call 740-341-6331.
Please have the information below available when you call.
Please understand since we are a non-profit organization we are very limited on resources. Due to staffing, we will try our best to respond as soon as we can.


text: Ok ladies, I recently fell back in love with the City style all over again and was able to get a gorgeous Rouge Vif City thanks to a wonderful friend! Here she is- I have been wearing her every day since I got her! I really love my Rouge Vif City so much! Hope you enjoy the pics! I will take an updated collection pic as soon as my Turquoise Work is back from LMB next week!


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Argyll Business Centres - Cavendish Square
17 Cavendish SquareLondon
Venue overview
Calm green space is not often to be found in the heart of the shopping district of a bustling metropolis, yet Cavendish Square, tucked away between Oxford Street and Regent Street, is such a place. A beautiful Grade II listed building, No. 17 sits on the northwest corner of Cavendish Square.
Back to category Print this page
Are you the owner of this venue? If so click here.
Are you the owner of this venue? If so click here.


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Looking to stretch your skills you may be interested in learning more about different types of things. Lots of designers find inspiration from album art, and there are some helpful tutorials for learning more about creating your own album covers with Photoshop.
Read full article: Creating Album Covers With Photoshop


text: Garage Dooris more complicated compared to any other doors because to the critical technicality involved. All those bottoms, springs, sensors, tracks, rollers are very sophisticated and are niche products specially designed for garage doors. Hence whenyour garage door stops working or showing some issues, it becomes a hell of a problem only to decide whom and how can they help you. Can your local Mechanic or carpenter help? No, you have Garage door repairVaughanand their experts who have their expertise in fix any problem with your garage door. Services that a Garage door repair Provide


text:
Ajentis we care about our customers and value their
business. To show our appreciation to our devoted clients
we offer special incentive programs.
Join Our "Med E-Points" Program and start
collecting valuable points that can be redeemed towards
a variety of products and services. Collect 1 point
for every dollar spent.
Streamline your purchasing with our detailed order tracking
and 24hour on-line ordering and quotation services.
Receive our quarterly "Med
E-News" newsletter and network with other medical
service providers.
Copyright © 2005 Ajentis Medical Inc.
All rights reserved


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Description: This above-ground crypt in New Orleans' St. Louis Cemetary #1 is reputed to contain the remains of Marie Laveau, the noted and powerful nineteenth-century Voudoun priestess.
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GEH in the News - GEH en Espaᯬ - GEH auf Deutsch - GEH en Fran硩s


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Because of generous members, we are able to provide a healthier, stronger and more vibrant LGBT community. You can help make a difference too. Please consider supporting the Center through a membership.
Membership Levels
- Individual Membership: $35
- Family Membership: $50
- Sustaining Membership: $120
- Youth Membership: $5
- Senior Membership: $25
- Pay What You Can Membership
A Membership to the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center provides an exclusive invitation to our Annual Meeting, voting rights, the Annual Report along with access to the facility and equipment rental (though fees may apply). Please click below to become a member. Simply choose the amount that is right for you. You will be given the option to create recurring payments. All donations are tax-deductible.


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I just wrapped up an amazing 6-week Prenatal Yoga series with so many amazing yoga mamas at different stages of their pregnancies. My heart is bursting at the seams with inspiration and new ideas about how I can better serve these women as they have one of the most amazing, most anxiety-filled, happiest, and biggest transitions of their lifetimes—the transition into motherhood (or, in some cases, into motherhood again). I keep thinking back to my own pregnancy way back in 2011-2012. I try to remember the discomfort I felt as well as the excitement, the overwhelming joy and gratitude as well as the frustrations, and how I tried to be a voice of calm and mindfulness when I wasn't always feeling very calm or grounded myself. I struggled with many things, but throughout it all, my yoga practice (and lessons I'd learned from yoga philosophy) really was a saving grace. I've been doing some digging into the archives of blog posts I wrote during that time in my life. I'll be sharing them with you over the next few weeks and months. Below is one of my favorites. I hope you like it, too—and, if you are pregnant right now, I hope you can relate.
Lots of love,
5 Things I Learned Practicing Yoga for Two: Insights on Pregnancy Yoga
|Photo by Tatiana Vdb, used with Creative Commons license
I'm 16 weeks pregnant–far enough along that I want to share my news with the world! Can you believe I'm growing a PERSON!? This is by far the coolest thing I've ever done with my body–and I can get into some pretty rad looking yoga poses (well, I could a few months ago, anyway). Being pregnant has changed my outlook on a lot of things, but it's also dramatically changed the way I practice yoga. It's also revealed a lot to me about how I practice. Here are five things I've learned from practicing during pregnancy so far.
1. It's not just about self-care anymore. I call it practicing for two because that's how I see it. Yoga isn't just "me" time for me any more. It's not just about my own health and my own sanity. It's something that will help me calm my nerves and get some exercise, both things I believe will make my body a better environment for a growing life. It will make labor and delivery easier (still keeping my fingers crossed on this one). In the earliest weeks it made my pregnancy more real as I got used to the idea that there was a little person growing in there, and now it feels like a way for us to bond.
2. Repeat after me: There's no shame in modifying. There's no shame in modifying. There's no shame in modifying … At first, I felt really uncomfortable with modifying my practice–partially because I didn't want my classmates to know my secret yet, but mostly because my ego is bigger than my belly will be at 8 1/2 months. I didn't really know that this would be such a struggle for me, but there are many things I didn't know about myself that I've discovered in the last few months. I just keep reminding myself that I have the rest of my life to practice yoga my way–right now, I'm practicing taking care of my baby.
3. Let go of the need to control. As someone who's practiced yoga for the better part of 10 years, I have pretty awesome control over my body. When my teachers tell me to lift my chest or engage mula bandha, I understand it in my head and in my body. But no matter how much I will this little person growing in my belly to kick (I still haven't felt any "flutters") he or she just won't budge. This unborn baby now controls when I eat (all the time), how much (a lot), what kinds of foods (lots of citrus, apparently), when to sleep (as much as possible), and when to pee (about every 5 minutes). And I thought becoming a parent meant I got to make the rules. How silly of me!
4. It's OK to be a beginner. In poses where my toes were once touching, now it's better to keep them apart. In standing poses where my feet were once supposed to be 3-4 feet apart, now are a bit closer together. When everyone else twists to the left, I twist to the right–or maybe not at at all. It's kind of a lot to remember, and I still mess up more than I get it right. This has thrown me off my game in ways that I've never imagined. But I'm trying not to sweat it. I do what I can, go as far as my body will let me, and enjoy the opportunity to be a complete beginner again. Beginner's mind is supposed to be a good thing after all, right?
5. Everyone has advice–ignore it and do what you know is best for yourself and your family. It's still early in my pregnancy, but I admit to already becoming upset on several occasions when people offered me advice (with a little judgment mixed in) about what I should or shouldn't eat, how I should sleep, whether or not to find out the gender of the baby, daycare, and so on. But if I've learned anything from my yoga practice, it's how to practice compassion for others while trusting my own instincts and intuition. I'm working on accepting and being grateful for the good intentions of others, and letting all the rest go.
This post originally appeared at YogaJournal.com in 2011.


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Geek Brunch 144 – Tete a Tete
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
With Mike out this week Bill and Micah have a small tete a tete around geek stuff. They chat it up a bit about the DC books they liked, the reboot as a whole, the high quality of IDW's GI Joe books, Ian Churchill's Marineman and Micah's recent love affair with Franco-Belgian comics. On top of this there's riveting conversation about new television shows like Terra Nova and older shows like Park and Rec. Micah displays amazing logic when it comes to his television watching in a conversation about Turn-A-Gundam. Bill loves foreign horror movies like "The Horde" and "Troll Hunter" and Micah just doesn't watch movies. Most importantly the duo talks about cooking up tasty treats and canning salsa. It's a treat. Listen in and become a smarter person.
Here's a link to the amazing Atlantis scene we talked about from MarineMan. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sDLre7UHSuY/TZXvqUOphdI/AAAAAAAAAFE/iE0VCczmIrU/s1600/MM3%2B26and27%2Bcopy.jpg
Tags: dc the new 52, GI Joe, ian churchill, marineman, parks and recreation, salsa, terra nova, the horde, troll hunter, turn-a-gundam


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Vitality roses are a beautiful and scented, newly introduced creamy white rose variety. These are very, very large and beautiful roses! Vitality roses boast an attractive, classic rose form and extra-large bloom heads up to 5 inches in diameter. Petals are creamy white with hints of lemon. Our wedding roses are breathtakingly lush and luxurious. Roses flowers are a classic and elegant look for beautiful brides and make sophisticated wedding bouquets, boutonnieres and vase arrangements.
80 Stems Vitality Roses $199
160 Stems Vitality Roses $349


text: LisaBulman Report post Posted May 25, 2007 The International Scleroderma Network thanks Diane Sancton for her comprehensive donation to tackle scleroderma research, support, education and awareness in loving memory of Blanche Sancton. Posted 05-18-07. This item was posted in the newsroom. Check out the newsroom daily for updated articles. Lisa Bulman (Retired) ISN/SCTC List Coordinator (Retired) ISN Sclero Forums Assistant Manager (Retired) ISN Assistant News Guide (Retired) ISN Fundraiser International Scleroderma Network (ISN) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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The second installment of the original urban fantasy series starring human chameleon Ciel Halligan
Ciel Halligan, an aura adaptor with a chameleon-like ability to step into the lives of her clients and fix their problems for them — as them — is working a job at the National Zoo with her boyfriend, Billy, and his ten-year-old sister, Molly. It's supposed to be a quick fix, giving her time to decide if it's wise to pursue the romantic relationship her charming scoundrel of a best friend wants, or if she should give Mark, the CIA spook she's crushed on since hormones first rattled her pubescent brain, a chance to step up to the plate.
Molly has already begun to show signs of being an adaptor herself. She's young for it, but she's always been precocious, so it's not impossible. What is impossible is her taking on the form of the baby orangutan she touches — adaptors can only project human auras. Until now, apparently. Worse, Molly is stuck in ape form. She can't change herself back.
Escaping from the zoo with their new baby orang, Ciel and Billy head for NYC and the only person they know can help: Ciel's brother James, a non-adaptor scientist who's determined to crack the aura adaptor genetic code. But when Billy winds up in jail, accused of attempted murder, Ciel begins to suspect Molly's unusual adapting ability is more than just a fluke. Who's been experimenting on Molly, and what do they hope to gain? And will Ciel survive to find out?
Review: Quick Fix by Linda Grimes is the second book about aura adaptor Ciel Halligan. While I loved the first book In A Fix, Quick Fix wasn't as good as the first book. I did enjoy seeing Ciel and Billy's relationship develop into something really sweet, but I felt like I was left hanging with Mark. There's a lot of build up and sexual tension in book 1, but Mark was a very passive character in book 2. Sure, he showed some interest in Ciel, but it didn't seem anything other than minor.
I was ready to see some more sparks fly between Ciel and Mark and Ciel and Billy.
I did get my wish with Ciel and Billy, but something felt a little off between the two. Billy was almost too sweet. I couldn't help but think that there was going to be something to bring him down a peg. Something to ruffle some feathers.
Overall, I did enjoy Quick Fix, but I think I loved In A Fix so much more. I hope to see more Mark action in any future novels about Ciel. Please bring Mark more into play in book #3! :D
Rating: 3/5 DIAMONDS


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Ground Covers For Easier Gardening
1972 · New York
by FOLEY, Daniel J.
New York: Dover Publications Inc, 1972. Good. Good in wrappers. Crease right down the middle of front cover. Wear and book corners. White mark at top right corner of front cover. Remainder mark. Please Note: This book has been transferred to Between the Covers from another database and might not be described to our usual standards. Please inquire for more detailed condition information. (Inventory #: 120999)


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Personal, Social health and Economic Education is a planned programme of learning opportunities and experiences that help young people grow and develop as individuals and as members of families and of social and economic communities.
PSHE education contributes to personal development by helping young people to build their personal identities, confidence and self-esteem, make career choices and understand what influences their decisions including financial ones. It enables them to recognise, accept and shape their identities, to understand and accommodate difference and change, to manage emotions and to communicate constructively in a variety of settings. Developing an understanding of themselves, empathy and the ability to work with others will help them to form and maintain good relationships, and better enjoy and manage their lives.
Where appropriate external speakers with particular expertise are engaged to talk to classes.
This subject is delivered across the curriculum and within timetable. Year 7 has one discrete lesson of 1 hour per week. These lessons are delivered by a team of teachers from a range of areas in school. The curriculum is spiral so every topic is covered in years 7 but the lesson content is age-appropriate.
The list of topics covered in KS3 can be found here
This subject is delivered across the curriculum and on enrichment days. These lessons are delivered by a team of teachers from a range of areas in the school and a variety of outside speakers.
This list of topics covered in KS4 can be found here
In addition to the PSHCEE lessons, all students have 30 minutes of Tutor Period each afternoon. Assembly times are also incorporated regularly. The PSHCEE elements of the Tutor Period are focused on a weekly theme, current affairs and discussion of other issues set by their director of studies.
Please note that some aspects of PSHCEE are included in the cross curricular sections of most departments' schemes of work. This is especially the case for Citizenship elements.


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BOISE - The Boise State football team on Thursday announced the hiring of former NFL lineman Brad Bedell as new offensive line coach.
The announcement comes less than a week after co-offensive coordinator and O-line coach Scott Huff left the program to join former Boise State coach Chris Petersen at the University of Washington.
Bedell previously worked under coach Bryan Harsin at Arkansas State, and most recently served a short stint as the assistant head coach and offensive line coach at Lamar, where he was hired in Janaury after a season at Baylor.
"Having Brad on our staff at Arkansas State, knowing his coaching style and the physical 'own the line of scrimmage' mentality he brings to the offensive line, we are excited to add a coach of his caliber to our staff," Harsin said in a statement. "Brad will have an immediate opportunity to be on the field, developing our guys and seeing how they compete and perform every day from the moment he arrives."
Bedell played college ball at Colorado, where he earned first-team All-America and All-Big 12 honors in 1999. He went on to play six seasons in the NFL for the Browns, Dolphins, Packers and Texans.
After retiring from pro football, he began coaching for his alma mater as an intern in 2007. Since then, he has moved up the college coaching ladder, serving as O-line coach at Northern Colorado, UC Davis, and New Mexico State, before joining Harsin at Arkansas State.
"I already have some of that blue blood running through me," Bedell explained in a statement. "I've been indoctrinated into the Boise State culture from my time with Coach Harsin, and even back to Coach Hawkins, working with awesome Broncos and men like Coach Harsin, Andy Avalos, Lee Marks and Jeff Pitman."
On his football philosophy, Bedell said he believes the game "is won up front by being physical, using great technique and implementing a nasty disposition.
"Our mentality has to be to go out and dominate the man across from you," he added. "If we can do that, just be dirt dogs, guys who bring their lunch pail and hard hat every day, the rest of our guys will be able to do their thing."


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An unrelenting Rory McIlroy secured his second Dubai Desert Classic title in six years with a two-under-par 70 in the final round to win by three shots on Sunday.
The Northern Irishman's 22-under 266 total matched the lowest in the history of the tournament, set by Stephen Gallacher in 2013 and Thomas Bjorn in 2001.
The top-ranked McIlroy, whose win here in 2009 was his first as a professional, made just three birdies Sunday but kept mistakes off his card. His only bogey of the round came on the par-3 seventh hole at Emirates Golf Club's Majlis course.
"I just wanted to keep my ball in play and not really make any mistakes and try and pick off some birdies when I could on the par-fives," McIlroy said.
"I did what I needed to do. It wasn't the best round that I've played this year but I got the job done and that's the most important thing."
Sweden's Alexander Noren, making a comeback from a wrist injury which restricted him to playing just two events in 2014, had eight birdies in his round of 65 to take second place at 19-under 269.
"I never even thought of winning, Rory's playing so good," said Noren, who started the year ranked 654th.
Defending champion Gallacher closed with a 69 to give the Scot third place at 16-under 272.
There was a five-way tie for fourth on 15-under 273, involving Germany's Martin Kaymer (64), France's Gary Stal (68), Austria's Bernd Wiesberger (70), England's Andy Sullivan (70) and Denmark's Morten Orum Madsen (73).
The $2.5 million tournament forms the closing leg of the three-stop Desert Swing of the European Tour.
With an eagle putt that looked as long as his golf journey around the world, Brooks Koepka surged into the lead and stayed there Sunday with a five-under 66 to capture the Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Ariz., for his first PGA Tour victory.
Lingering for most of the final round, Koepka holed a 50-foot eagle putt from the fringe on the 15th hole and didn't make any mistakes the rest of the way.
The victory ended a long, arduous road for the 24-year-old from Florida. With no status in America, Koepka played the Challenge Tour in faraway lands like Kazakhstan and Kenya, winning four times to earn his European Tour card and then validating his status as a rising star by winning the Turkish Open last year.
But winning at home brought the strongest validation.
"It feels amazing," Koepka said after his one-shot win over Hideki Matsuyama, Masters champion Bubba Watson and Ryan Palmer.
Of the five players who had a share of the lead in a wild final hour at the TPC Scottsdale, Matsuyama had the last chance to catch Koepka until his 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole missed well to the right.
Martin Laird, who had a three-shot lead going into the final round, was tied with Koepka going to the 17th until he sprayed it well right into the gallery on the short par-4 hole and made bogey, and then pulled his tee shot into the water on the 18th and made double bogey. He closed with a 72.
Palmer shared the lead with a birdie on the 15th, but he had to settle for pars the rest of the way for a 66. So did Watson, who reached the front of the 17th green only to three-putt from just over 100 feet and made par. He closed with a 65.
Matsuyama, who holed out from 129 yards for eagle on the first hole and was the first player to catch up to Laird, took the lead with a beautiful pitch behind the green on the par-five 13th. He went 44 consecutive holes without a bogey until Matsuyama three-putted on the 14th hole, and he never recovered. He shot 67.
Koepka already was eligible for the Masters with his tie for fourth at the U.S. Open last summer, and his victory during the final stretch of the Race to Dubai in Europe last year raised his stock. The victory Sunday should put him at No. 19 in the world.
This was his second victory in his last four starts, both against strong fields.
Koepka had not played since the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa two months ago, taking a full month off away from his clubs and working hard over the last few weeks after a change to his putting stroke.
Back-to-back birdies near the end of the front nine kept him in range. A solid chip from behind the 13th green for a 4-foot birdie kept him within two shots of Matsuyama. And his fortunes changed mightily with his eagle putt on the 15th.


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I have 3 CSV files. Each has the first column as the (string) names of people, while all the other columns in each dataframe are attributes of that person.
How can I "join" together all three CSV documents to create a single CSV with each row having all the attributes for each unique value of the person's string name?
You could try this if you have 3 dataframes
# Merge multiple dataframes
df1 = pd.DataFrame(np.array([
['a', 5, 9],
['b', 4, 61],
['c', 24, 9]]),
columns=['name', 'attr11', 'attr12'])
df2 = pd.DataFrame(np.array([
['a', 5, 19],
['b', 14, 16],
['c', 4, 9]]),
columns=['name', 'attr21', 'attr22'])
df3 = pd.DataFrame(np.array([
['a', 15, 49],
['b', 4, 36],
['c', 14, 9]]),
columns=['name', 'attr31', 'attr32'])
alternatively, as mentioned by cwharland


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Is it a micro-blog? Is it a miniature social network? If you've wondered what this 'Twitter' thing is about, wonder no more.
What is it?
Can you say something of value in 140 characters or less? That's www.twitter.com, a Web site where you'll quickly become known as @insertusernamehere.
In just over three years, the online social networking application Twitter has become a phenomenon of sorts. Over the past 12 months, traffic to www.twitter.com has increased 27- fold through Web traffic alone (many users alternatively access Twitter through their phones or third party applications).
Born out of a mix of pressure and creativity, it was @Jack's idea – "I want to have a dispatch service that connects us to our phones using text," he's quoted as saying at the original brainstorming session.
Because the idea originated around SMS and Web collaboration, and because most SMS messages are limited to a maximum of 160 characters, the Twitter team settled on a max of 140, to leave room for the username and colon that automatically begin each message.
All well and good, I hear you say, but what's the point?
Well, the point is… the point is… sometimes there just isn't one. And then, sometimes there is. The point is, Twitter is what you make it and there are no rules.
Twitter is now being used to share information quickly with dozens, hundreds or even thousands of "followers" at once. Just had the best cup of coffee in your life? Tweet it and everyone following you will know to try it themselves. Looking to build some momentum in your small business? Twitter is showing some amazing capabilities as a viral marketing tool.
For those of us without the time or inclination to maintain a blog, Twitter is the perfect in-between. Your followers may include strangers from around the world, marketers, business people, your family and friends.
How do I get started?
Using Twitter couldn't be more simple. Visit www.twitter.com and you'll be presented with a little bird and three button options – 'What?', 'Why?' and 'How?'
You already know the 'What' – Twitter is a platform to communicate "quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?". Why? Because, quite frankly, thousands of people around the world just want to know.
How? Easy; just register your full name, chosen username, email address and password, and you'll be on your way. Still not sure? Watch 'Twitter in Plain English', a streaming 'how to' video available right on Twitter's homepage.
Building your community
Don't sit back and wait for people to find you; Twitter is all about networking and communicating with other people in quick bursts. To communicate effectively, you need other people in your network. Don't be overwhelmed when you see that some major twitterers have tens or even hundreds of thousands of followers. It's easy to build a network on Twitter.
Your first step should be to click the 'Find People' tab once you've signed into Twitter. You can search for people by name, username or email address. Twitter even provides a list of suggested users here for you to follow.
If you want to find people you don't know yet, but who are interested in the same things you are, try search.twitter.com This handy tool allows you to search by name or topic. Want to follow and be followed by people who also love the All Blacks? In just 0.07 seconds, my search turned up more than 30 people who had tweeted about the rugby team today. Give www.hashtags.org a try as well, for a current list of popular subjects on Twitter.
Third party applications like www.whoshouldifollow.com will suggest friends after you enter your Twitter username, although changing the settings doesn't seem to make much of a difference to the produced results. A better search engine is www.twellow.com, where you can search for keywords in other twitterers' bios, or by their location and names.
Once you've gotten started, friendorfollow.com is quite fun to play around with. Use it to find out which of the people you're following are not following you back, and vice versa.
Twit tips for new users
Even though Twitter is inherently easy to use, it can still take a while to become familiar and comfortable with the site's oft-used symbols and communication tools.
1. Use @ to direct your message to a particular twitterer, but keep in mind that your message will only be private should you choose to use Twitter's direct messaging function. To reply to someone, click the little grey arrow that pops up if you hover your mouse to the right of their post. The @ symbol will then show up automatically at the start of your message.
2. Love a post and want to share it with all of your followers? That's called a re-tweet, and twitterers love it! Just type 'RT @name' before the copied and pasted tweet.
3. Get used to seeing tinyurl.com – if you want to share a Web link, chances are it will be too big to fit in with your message in 140 characters. If you'd like to be a bit different, there are several similar URL shrinking tools. Visit mashable.com/2008/01/08/url-shortening-services for a great list.
4. Make Twitter more manageable by using one of the many popular desktop clients, such as www.tweetdeck.com or www.twhirl.com TweetDeck and Twhirl will help you to sort and categorise your Twitter feeds.
5. Make it easier for likeminded people to find you by using the # sign before certain words or phrases. To use rugby as our example again, if you type 'Just joined up with the local #rugby team', your tweet will be easily searchable by others looking for rugby fan twitterers.
6. Personalise it. Use your bio space wisely and tell people a little about yourself. Make sure you upload a picture to your Twitter page, so your tweets show personality. If you want to share actual photos and/or video, try www.twitpic.com and beta.twiddeo.com for easy uploads. To add a background to your Twitter page, click 'Settings', 'Design', and 'Change background image'.
7. Don't take it too seriously – have fun!


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In 1984 Harry McEvoy struck a deal to sell off two or three models from the Tru-Balance Knife Company to a company in Oklahoma called Tru-Bal West. The models they took over from Harry were the Model No. 1 PROFESSIONAL, the Model No. 3 THROWING BOWIE and a modified Model No. 80 SUPER-PRO with the wings cut off that they re-dubbed the Model No. 82 INDIAN LANCEHEAD throwing knife.
I wrote them and asked them to become a wholesale customer of theirs but right around that time I ended up going on to other things than selling throwing knives.
Here is the catalog they sent me…
Right now I am thinking of trying to get in touch with them and see if it would still be possible to purchase their business (which I do not think is current) so that I could operate under Tru-Bal West and start producing these three models again. Wouldn't that be nice!


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CoPilot Live Update Now Supports Froyo
I've been a fan of CoPilot Live since my Windows Mobile days. I was thrilled when they released an Android app… but very discouraged when Froyo (Android 2.2) was pre-released and CoPilot no longer worked.
I contacted the developers at ALK, the company who makes CoPilot Live and reported the bug. They thanked me and assured me they'd start working on it right away.
Last night they pushed an update via the Android Market that brought Froyo compatibility with it (v22.214.171.124).
If you've previously purchased the app, head back to the Market and download the app again and you're all set. If you haven't yet made the purchase, you can now do so without compatibility worries.
What's your reaction?
Love It
Like It
Want It
Had It
Hated It


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King's Field IV confirmed
Agetec announced today that it will be publishing King's Field IV in North America. The game will officially be called King's Field: The Ancient City. It is a first-person RPG where players must find crystals, which can be used to cast elemental spells.
  King's Field: The Ancient City is scheduled for release in March.
1/29/2002 Matt Stensrud
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text: Want a job? Deliver, or protect - CNN If the trajectory of American daily life keeps heading in its current direction, the country may end up with only two dominant occupations: -- Carrying stuff in boxes to people's houses. -- And keeping a watchful eye on those same people so they don't hurt each other or steal things when they do leave their homes.


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Because we're so goddamn fashion savvy, our first single "Candy" (from the forthcoming Soon Enough Love LP) is on Urban Outfitters Mixtape #6!
Head on over to check out the ROADTRIP themed mix/blog post featuring the likes of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Toro y Moi, Zola Jesus, No Joy, Cayucas, Night Beds, and more!
And be sure to enter to win a copy of the limited cassette as well as stream the playlist via SoundCloud below:


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Athens-Clarke police and Clarke County sheriff's officials arrested a man on an aggravated assault warrant while responding to a Tuesday disturbance at a Rolling Ridge home, police said.
Dedrick Davenport, whose age and address were not immediately available, was wanted for the Nov. 28 shooting of a man during a suspected armed robbery. Danny Cheek, 32, was shot in the head but survived. The shooting occurred at Rolling Ridge apartments.
Davenport was arrested and charged with aggravated assault when police responded to the 2 p.m. call.
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Thursday, January 23, 2003.
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Winston-Salem State University pharmacy technician program
Think about what career is best suited for you, and where you want to study. Request more information now.
Think about what career is best suited for you, and where you want to study. Request more information now.
Think about what career is best suited for you, and where you want to study. Request more information now.
Info concerning Winston-Salem State University pharmacy technician program, and registering for discussion sections. Which college degrees give you the best chances of finding employment after graduation? As a registered nurse (RN), not only can you earn a good salary, but also will be helping people at the same time. Request more information about accredited nurse training programs. Concentrating on Winston-Salem State University pharmacy technician program, for example, you may gain an advantage in job recruiting on-campus. Check with the pharmacy department for course registration deadlines, and pharmacy technician program requirements. Please use the form above to request admissions info for Winston-Salem State University.
Typically, clinical trials compare a new pharmaceutical drug or therapy with another that already exists in order to determine if the new drug is more effective. In some studies, participants may be assigned to receive a placebo, usually a sugar pill. In double-blind experimental research trials, the participants are not informed about which medicine is being used. Double-blind studies are specifically designed to prevent both patients and scientists on the research team from influencing results. This ensures more scientifically-conclusive results for pharmaceutical companies.
Most clinical research studies pose the risk of physical discomfort, although some participants experience complications that require medical attention. In rare cases, participants have been seriously injured or have died resulting from their ingestion of experimental pharmaceutical preparations. The specific risks associated with a research protocol are described in detail in the informed consent document. Also, a member of the medical research team must explain the major risks of participating in a pharmacy study. Beyond major requirements within the pharmacy department, you may consider Glen Oaks Community College anatomy classes online as a complementary elective to your primary course of study.
Registered Nurse (RN) Post Surgical Nights
Trident Medical Center
The Registered Nurse (RN) is responsible for directing all nursing care for patients based on established clinical nursing practice and federal, state, and..
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Overland Park Surgery Center
Utilizing the nursing process in planning, executing, and evaluating the nursing care rendered postoperative until patient is dismissed from the facility..
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Obviously, it was a big night for Mitt Romney, who goes into South Carolina with a full head of steam. Getting nearly 40% of the vote in a crowded field is a big achievement, and helps Romney claim that he surpassed expectations. His margin over Ron Paul was an impressive 16 percentage points, and while Paul may claim that he is "nipping" at Romney's heels, the reality is otherwise. Amusingly enough, Paul is now demanding that other candidates drop out so that he can take Romney on mano a mano. If that turns out to happen, any doubts I may have about supporting Romney will dissipate completely.
My preferred candidate, Jon Huntsman, came in a respectable third, but I don't know if that is going to be enough to make him a viable alternative to Romney. Huntsman has pledged to go through South Carolina and Florida, so something had better happen soon in order to give his campaign a reason for going on. New Hampshire has put off the suspension of the campaign, and Huntsman can indeed claim that he has a "ticket to ride," but that ticket won't be good for very long unless Huntsman experiences more successes in relatively short order.
Rick Santorum was a big loser. All of his momentum from Iowa is gone, and I don't see his campaign lasting much longer. He needs a miracle in South Carolina, and I am pretty sure that he is not going to get one.
Exit polling from New Hampshire reveals that voters aren't focused on ideology. Rather, they are focused on electability:
Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire primary Tuesday night with a broad-based coalition of both conservative and moderate voters overwhelmingly motivated by their worries about America's economic future and wanting above all to beat President Barack Obama in November.
According to exit poll data, more than a third of voters on Tuesday said the quality that mattered most in deciding their vote was the candidate's ability to defeat Obama. Romney won an overwhelming 62 percent of those voters.
Obviously, different primaries and caucuses will reveal different polling data, and I am sure that the influx of independents and Democrats influenced this sample, but it is worth noting that 49% of self-described Republicans gave their votes to Romney. This serves to refute the notion that the Republican party is ideologically hidebound, and not practical and pragmatic in its effort to choose a presidential nominee. Republicans are focused on beating President Obama this fall. Ideological battles may have to wait to be resolved afterwards.


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I wanted to say HI. I've been lurking here a while but never posted. I'm 31 and DH is 35, we've been married almost 10 years. We have a DD who is 7 and was an "oops". When she turned 1, we decided to TTC so our kids would be close together. Nothing has happened at all. It's frustrating, depressing and heart breaking.
We're starting testing. DH is going to get tested but we haven't had the time yet because I had finals and was just to busy to mess with all that. I'm going to try to make him this week. We can do it at home which is good but we need to get things cracking.
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text:
|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|25 Oct 2011
|Filing date
|22 Oct 2003
|Priority date
|22 Oct 2003
|Fee status
|Publication number
|Jon E. Badenell
|Original Assignee
|The Weather Channel, Inc.
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (17), Non-Patent Citations (1), Referenced by (1), Classifications (12), Legal Events (7)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
The present invention relates to systems and methods for formulating and delivering video having perishable information and, more particularly, to systems and methods for formulating a simulated real-time video broadcast and for delivering the video over a network.
People constantly seek and rely upon information that is perishable by nature. Perhaps the most universal and oldest type of perishable data is weather information. Weather information is perishable since the weather conditions or even forecasts are highly dependent upon time. Because weather conditions can change abruptly without warning, people cannot rely upon stale weather information but instead must obtain current, fresh, or real-time weather information if they want to receive accurate information on the weather. Other types of perishable information include financial news, such as stock prices, and sports information, such as scores of games.
People can receive perishable information from more than one source. For centuries, the newspaper has been a mechanism by which people can receive important and timely news. Because of the need to print and physically distribute the newspaper, the newspaper is often at best a daily paper and mainly contains information of events that occurred during the previous day. In other words, depending the frequency of the newspaper, the newspaper has certain lag time in the news which means that the news has aged at least slightly. Radio and television are relatively more recent innovations and can deliver information closer to real-time. The Internet is perhaps the most recent network through which people can receive perishable information.
Between all of these methods of receiving information, the television is the preferred way of receiving news and other perishable information for many people. The television is preferred partly because it is highly passive activity that delivers the greatest amount of information. As opposed to much of the information on the Internet and within a newspaper, a consumer of information delivered through television can simply listen and watch a news program and other than listening and watching the consumer need not perform any other activity, such as reading or clicking through web pages. Television also offers both audio and video and therefore provides a greater amount of information in a comparable amount of time than someone can obtain from reading a newspaper, listening to the radio, or reading text from a web page.
Because many people prefer receiving their perishable information through television, people have come to expect the perishable information to be formatted in certain ways. For example, most television viewers are able to watch a local news program which has news on local events, local weather information, local sports scores, and other such localized information. Viewers also expect to be able to receive some type of national news program, such as those offered on the main networks. For weather information, viewers expect to receive local weather conditions and forecasts not only through the local news program, but also through other sources, predominately The Weather Channel�. The Weather Channel� provides national weather information to all viewers as well as local weather forecasts for a multitude of cities and regions across the country, as well as cities and regions throughout the world. In summary, viewers expect to be able to receive local video programs that contain local perishable information.
As bandwidth increases for Internet users, the Internet is able to deliver a greater amount of perishable information to consumers and deliver that information in multiple formats. In addition to text and images, a small but growing segment of information that is delivered over the Internet is in video format. In this manner, Internet users are able to watch video over the Internet and receive perishable information in a manner that approximates the way information is delivered through television. Because of expectations established through television the delivery of perishable information through the Internet preferably mirrors that of conventional television programming.
Because the Internet has such a wide reach across the world, delivering national and local perishable information to each locality is simply not feasible. Even within the United States, an inordinate amount of resources would be needed to provide video over the Internet which has local content specific for each city or region. The time within a studio is an extremely valuable resource. Any organization necessarily has a limited number of studios and time during which filming can be performed. In addition to the physical limitations, every organization also has a limited number of On-Camera Personnel (OCP). For instance, for an evening news program, a television network would only have a handful of qualified anchors for delivering the news. Also, for weather forecasts, a provider of weather information would have a relatively small number of On-Camera Meteorologists (OCM). Based on the available resources, the provider of perishable information can deliver only a maximum amount of video programs having localized perishable information for delivery to consumers. For example, The Weather Channel� spends approximately 4 hours each day within its several studios to formulate local forecast videos for a subset of its cities and regions. In addition to the costs associated with the studios and OCP, technology in the form of cameras, editors, and web servers forms another significant cost in providing video to consumers over the Internet.
Due to constraints on resources, consumers are not able to receive video programs that are specific to each city or region within the country, let alone for other countries. With regard to weather information, consumers are not able to download from the Internet a video program containing the local forecast for every city or region currently served by The Weather Channel�. While consumers can download a web page from the Internet from weather.com which shows local conditions and forecasts, the consumer cannot receive a corresponding video program from the Internet for every city or region. These same shortcomings are also associated with other types of perishable information, such as financial or sports news.
The present invention overcomes the problems described above by providing a system and method for dynamically formulating and delivering a video program that includes perishable information. The system includes one or more studios for generating recent video segments, as well as one or more databases that store video and/or audio segments. In addition, the system includes an audio system which contains audio recordings of many commonly used words, phrases, or sentences. The system receives data feeds that provide real-time data and current video segments. The system includes a video server which creates a video program based upon combinations of the video segments from the studios, data feeds, video feeds, information in the audio system, and data stored in the various databases. The video server provides the video program on-the-fly and/or stores the video program or portions of the video program in a database for delivery at a later time.
The video server performs a method that includes obtaining recent video segments. Each recent video segment can be received in real-time, such as through streaming media, or may be stored prior to being sent to the video server. In addition, the video server obtains current data, receives secondary video segments and/or retrieves video segments. The current data includes text, images, files, audio files, and other data that does not take the form of a complete video segment. The secondary video segments include video segments from third parties, such as those providing advertisements, or affiliates, such as a local news station. Based on the information received, the video server generates one or more portions of the video program and couples these portions with the recent video segment to generate the complete video program. The method used by the video server enables an organization to deliver more customized video programs to more users and to update those video programs more frequently without requiring additional studio time or resources.
The video server includes multiple decoders and supports multiple video formats. The decoders receive input video, such as a Digital Video file and/or an MPEG2 file and decode the files to produce decoded video segments. The video server also includes multiple converters or "Screenies." Screenies receive data and/or imagery and create a video segment from the data or imagery. The Screenies convert the input data and/or imagery into video segments that conform to a predetermined format. The video server creates a video program by populating a linear frame buffer with the video segments produced by the encoders and/or Screenies. The audio for the video program is assembled in a similar manner as the video. The Screenies typically produce only video content so the audio for the video segments created by the Screenies is obtained from the audio system or from another source of audio. As used herein the term "linear frame buffer" includes a sequential series of video frames and associated synchronized audio tracks. Once a sufficient amount of information is buffered in the linear frame buffer, the information is encoded using an appropriate encoding scheme by an encoder. The video server includes multiple encoders that support multiple video formats.
A script controls the creation of a video program by the video server. The script is created by the video server in response to receiving a request from an end user device. The request includes a number of parameters that define the video program. For example, the request specifies an encoding scheme, a video screen size and a transition bit rate. In addition, the request includes a geographic identifier, such as a DMA (Designated Market Area), that identifies the location of the device associated with the request.
These and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention may be more clearly understood and appreciated from a review of the following detailed description of the disclosed embodiments and by reference to the appended drawings and claims.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification, illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description, disclose the principles of the invention. In the drawings:
Reference will now be made in detail to preferred embodiments of the invention, non-limiting examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Video System
A network 5 for formulating and delivering weather information according to a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in
For the purposes of this description, the perishable information will be weather information, such as weather conditions, weather forecasts, and/or other weather-related information. Non-limiting examples of weather-related information include planning information based on weather conditions or forecasts and advertisements that are associated with weather conditions or forecasts. While the perishable information comprises weather information in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the perishable information may comprise other types of information, such as financial information, sports information, and other types of news. The financial information includes real-time quotes of trading prices for stock, bonds, and other financial instruments, indicators of the performance of companies or groups of companies, indicators of the performance of one or more economies or segments of an economy, and other financial information that may be of interest and which inherently is perishable. The sports information may include current scores of games or other types of matches that are currently being played, scores of games or matches that have been completed, standings or rankings, status of votes on players or teams, such as for a most-valuable player, and other sports related information that is perishable.
The network 20 can be any network capable of transmitting and delivering video between the video system 10 and the devices 30. Preferably, the network 20 includes the Internet. The network 20 may include other or additional types of networks, such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), frame relay networks, ATM networks, other types of packet switched networks, Intranets, satellite systems, mobile radiotelephone networks, paging networks, wireless data networks, Local Area Networks (LANs), and Wide Area Networks (WANs). Some examples of wireless data networks include Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD), any other packet digital or analog networks, circuit-switched digital or analog data networks, wireless ATM or frame relay networks, EDGE, CDMA1, and Generalized Packet Radio Service (GPRS). Other examples of networks include TDMA, CDMA, WAP, AMPS, PCS, GSM, NAMPS, USDC, CDPD, IS-95, GSC, Pocsag, FLEX, DCS-1900, PACS, MIRS, e-TACS, NMT, C-450, ERMES, CD2, DECT, DCS-1800, JTACS, PDC, NTT, NTACS, NEC, PHS, and satellite systems.
The devices 30 may comprise any type of device including mobile devices and devices that are typically stationary during use. The mobile devices include, but are not limited to, mobile radiotelephones 31, portable computing devices 32, pagers, personal data assistants (PDAs) 34, as well as devices developed in the future and other devices that are apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading this description. The stationary devices include TV products 33, such as digital, interactive, enhanced televisions, digital video recorders, TiVo, and WebTV, and computers 35.
The video server 50 also receives weather data feeds 60 with these weather data feeds providing real-time weather data. The video server 50 may also receive current video segments from video feeds 56 and has access to video and/or audio segments that are stored in database 54. Furthermore, the video server 50 has access to an audio system 52 which contains audio recordings of many commonly used words, phrases, or sentences. The video server 50 produces a video program based upon combinations of video segments from the studios 40, weather data feeds 60, video feeds 56, information in the audio system 52, and data stored in database 54. The video server 50 provides the video program on-the-fly and/or stores the video program or segments of the video program in database 58 for delivery at a later time.
The studios 40 are preferably within a single organization and, more particularly, within a single facility. For instance, the studios may comprise several studios available within The Weather Channel� facility. The studios 40, however, may be dispersed throughout different organizations and at remote locations relative to each other. The studios 40 provide a recent video segment which may be used by the video server 50 in formulating a video program. In the preferred embodiment, the studios 40 obtain video segments in which On-Camera Meteorologists (OCM) participate in delivering timely weather information as part of the video program. For example, the OCMs may provide a video segment that serves as an introduction and greeting from the OCM to a particular city or region. It should be understood that the number of studios 40 and the corresponding number of On-Camera Personnel (OCP) can be increased in order to provide a greater number of video programs for consumers. The OCP in the preferred embodiment is an OCM but in other embodiments may be a news broadcaster, sports show host, or other types of personnel who are involved in the formation or delivery of perishable information.
The weather data feeds 60 may comprise data feeds from any suitable source. For instance, the information may be derived from the National Weather Service, the National Center for Environmental Predictions, The Weather Channel, Intellicast, NOAA, Fleet weather, Weather Labs, Inc., AccuWeather, Weather Concepts, or any third party value added supplier. Furthermore, the weather information that is provided to the devices 30 may comprise any weather-related information. Weather information includes current conditions, sea and surf conditions, ski conditions, pollen, air quality, ultraviolet (UV) or other indices, trip or travel planning, traffic conditions, airport delays, school closings or delays, daily forecasts, hourly forecasts, narrative forecasts, seasonal outlooks, weather warnings and watches, satellite imagery, radar imagery, forecast weather shields, forecast precipitation, and lifestyle alerts, such as warnings to gardeners about frost conditions, conditions on the skies for pilots, or road conditions for drivers. Thus, the weather information is not limited to any precise type of data but instead may relate, for example, to current or forecasted conditions, land, sea, or air-related weather information, textual and/or graphical representations of weather information, audio or video information, manipulations of weather data, such as heat or other indices, as well as recommendations or advisory information related to the weather, such as advice for farmers, gardeners, commercial entities such as utilities. The weather related information might pertain to any activity, such as holidays, travel, driving, outdoors, home and garden, health, participatory sports such as skiing, golfing, softball, soccer and spectator sporting events, or school day activities. Weather related information may also pertain to personal planning, such as advice as to what clothes to wear, whether to bring an umbrella, whether to put chains on the car tires, etc. Other examples of weather information will be apparent to those skilled in the art and are encompassed by the invention.
The audio system 52 is a system that stores audio of the OCP saying commonly used words, phrases, and/or sentences. For example, with weather information, the audio system 52 contains recordings of OCMs saying many commonly used forecasts or expressions of local weather conditions, such as those relating to temperature, wind conditions, cloud conditions, etc. The audio system 52 preferably contains recordings for each of the OCM for as many of the words, phrases, and sentences as is practically possible.
Method for Creating Video Programs
As mentioned above, the video server 50 may generate video programs and store them in memory, may generate the video programs on-the-fly by assembling the various pieces of information, or may do a mixture of both storing portions of the video program in advance and generating other portions of the video program on-the-fly. The extent to which the video server 50 stores portions in memory versus generates the video program on-the-fly is a trade-off between processing power versus memory. For some applications of the video server 50, the need and desire to generate video programs on-the-fly, such as in response to consumer requests, may outweigh the benefit of storing the video programs or portions of the video programs in advance of a request.
For the preferred embodiment, the video server 50 generates a video program that contains current weather data. Current weather data includes current weather conditions, current weather forecasts, and weather reports, such as those warning of adverse weather conditions. The extent to which current means instantaneously and in real-time, of course, depends upon the frequency by which the data is updated. The current weather conditions are those detected by sensing equipment and, with the exception of some latency in transmission, are essentially real-time weather conditions. The current weather forecasts are updated frequently throughout the day, such as at intervals of 10 to 15 minutes. Typically, the current weather reports are not issued at any prescribed interval but instead are sporadically issued based on the weather conditions. The weather reports usually have some inherent time period during which they are valid. For example, a tornado warning may be in effect for a particular geographic area only during the period of time when the tornado may hit that area. For non-weather applications, the current data may include sports scores, sports results, prices, interest rates, news or any other type of perishable data.
The recent video segment received at 310 is one that is periodically updated at a frequency dictated by the available resources. As mentioned above, the video server 50 combines the recent video segment with other data and/or video segments to generate the video program. As will be more apparent from the description below, the video server 50 is able to generate new video programs over a period of time which are updated with current data. Each of the video programs, however, is not separately produced, such as in a studio, but instead is assembled from various pieces of information.
An explanation of the preferred types of video programs should illustrate the benefits of the invention. Internet users are limited in the types of timely weather programming they can retrieve over the Internet. For local forecasts, one web site may be able to provide video programming with local weather data only for major cities and regions. Even for these limited number of cities and regions, the local forecasts may be provided only once at the beginning of the day and may not be updated throughout the day. As explained in the Background section, as a practical matter, an organization does not have the resources to generate video programs with local weather data for each city and region and certainly cannot update the video programs throughout the day for each city and region.
The video server 50 can address these limitations by enabling an organization to deliver video programs for more cities and regions and to update those video programs throughout the day. In one example, the recent video segment is filmed in the studio 40 and includes a video of the OCM greeting the viewers. For one OCM, the video server 50 may receive a group of video segments with each video segment having a greeting for a different city or region. Furthermore, for each OCM, the video server 50 may receive a group of video segments with each video segment associated with a different period of time throughout the day, such as a morning, afternoon, and evening greeting. At the very least, the video server 50 receives a recent video segment that can be used for a new day and which may be useful for a plurality of cities, regions, or even countries. The video server 50 does not receive the entire video program from the recent video segment using one OCM.
The video server 50 generates additional video segments based on a variety of data. In this example, the video server 50 derives weather maps and other images and then retrieves the associated audio data from the audio system 52 for that same OCM. Preferably, the audio system includes audio that corresponds to all possible pieces and values of a weather forecast pre-recorded by all of the OCMs. For example, each OCM records audio describing conditions, such as sunny, cloudy, partly cloudy, chance of rain, chance of snow, clearing, etc. To create a local weather forecast, the forecast is broken into pieces and each piece is assigned a unique key. The video server matches each piece of the forecast with the appropriate pre-recorded audio based on the conditions relevant to the local weather forecast. Typically, the audio system provides the appropriate audio for the OCM that provided the greeting. By combining the visual data with the audio data from the audio system 52, the video server 50 generates a video segment featuring an OCM even though that OCM was not involved in creating that video segment. While the OCM was involved in the initial creation of the audio system 52, once that database has been populated, an innumerable number of different video segments can be created by combining the audio with corresponding visual data.
In this example, the video server 50 may retrieve other video segments at 340, such as advertisements, video feed from an OCM who is on the scene during adverse weather conditions, video segments highlighting the provider of the weather information, etc. In the preferred embodiment, the advertisements are selected based on current weather data as described in co-pending patent application Ser. No. 09/707,335, entitled "Targeted Weather Information Delivery Systems and Methods," filed on Nov. 6, 2000, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
For the purposes of this description, a video segment refers to a part of the entire video program. When two or more video segments are combined and the resultant combination is not the final video program, then the combination of those video segments is referred to as a portion of the video program. The resultant end product of combining the recent video segment with other video segments and/or portions of the video program is the video program. Thus, the video program is the finished product that is delivered to the consumer.
As can be appreciated, the method 300 of generating video programs can greatly reduce the amount of resources devoted to the generation of a corresponding number of video programs. Stated differently, the method 300 of the invention can enable an organization to generate substantially more video programs with the same amount of time devoted to the studio. This advantage is of immense benefit to an organization such as The Weather Channel since the OCMs need not be burdened with trying to record video programs for every city and region. Instead, the same number of OCMs can produce video segments, as opposed to entire video programs, for a larger number of cities and regions in the same amount of studio time. These video segments can then be combined with other video segments to form video programs for each city and region.
Another benefit of the method 300 is that the consumer can enjoy a greater number of video programs. In the example of delivering weather data, consumers in some cities or regions are presently unable to receive video programs containing forecasts for their cities or regions.
Video Server
The video server also includes multiple converters or "Screenies" 78, 80. Screenies receive data and/or imagery, such as weather data and Doppler radar inputs, and create a video segment from the data or imagery. The Screenies convert the input data and/or imagery into video segments that conform to a predetermined format. For example, a Screenie can convert weather data into a video segment that includes a weather provider logo at the upper left of the screen and provides information and graphics representing current conditions in the middle left of the screen.
The video server 50 creates a video program by populating a linear frame buffer 76 with the video segments produced by the encoders and/or Screenies. As used herein the term "linear frame buffer" includes a sequential series of video frames and associated synchronized audio tracks. Once a sufficient amount of information is buffered in the linear frame buffer, the information is encoded using an appropriate encoding scheme by an encoder, collectively 82.
Although not shown in
A script controls the creation of a video program by the video server. In one embodiment, the script uses SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language). SMIL is a W3C standard XML-based language for the sequencing of audio, video, graphic and text information. The script is created by the video server in response to receiving a request from an end user device. The request includes a number of parameters that define the video program. For example, the request specifies an encoding scheme, a video screen size and a transition bit rate. In addition, the request includes a geographic identifier, such as a DMA, that identifies the location of the device associated with the request.
As an example, an end viewer living in Marietta, Ga. selects a local weather program. In response, the device associated with the end viewer requests a video program from the video server. The request includes parameters that define the content for a local weather video, such as a geographic identifier, as well as an indication for a local weather program. The video server creates a script using a predefined "local weather" script. The predefined script defines the types of information to be included in the local weather video program. Exemplary components for a local weather video include a location-based OCM video introduction, a current conditions segment, a forecast segment, a Doppler radar segment, a seasonal vertical content segment, and a location-based OCM video closing. The seasonal vertical content segment includes seasonal information related to interests, lifestyles, health and/or safety. Examples of seasonal vertical content segments include segments providing information relevant to recreation or lifestyle, such as golfing or skiing, information about seasonal health conditions, such as pollen or air quality, and information about seasonal weather conditions, such as hurricanes or ice storms.
In this example, the video server determines that Marietta, Ga. is associated with the Atlanta DMA and retrieves the appropriate Atlanta OCM segments. The video server via its Screenies also obtains the current conditions, forecast and Doppler radar data for Marietta, Ga. and associates appropriate audio from the audio system to create video segments that provide the current local conditions, the current local forecast, and the current Doppler radar.
The video server is capable of creating many video programs for different users simultaneously. For example, the video server may receive multiple requests from different end viewers in different locations for local weather video programs. The number of simultaneous requests that can be handled by the video server is determined by the configuration of the video server. Typically, a given set of hardware will have an associated capacity measured in bytes per second. The capacity needed to satisfy the received requests depends upon the video size and the stream bit rate associated with the requests. For example, a given set of hardware may be able to provide ten "small" video programs, four "medium" video programs or one "large" video program simultaneously since the required capacity is essentially the same. To increase the capacity of the system, the system is scaled by adding additional hardware. As shown in
Video Programs
The video server is capable of creating many video programs for different users simultaneously. However, to optimize the creation of the video programs, the video server can store certain video segments or portions of video segments in anticipation that the stored video will be reused. The shaded portions of the rectangles shown in
The unshaded portions of the rectangles represent the portions of the video segments that are not stored. Typically, the unshaded portion represent the portions of the video segment that are used in fading and transitioning from one video segment to another video segment. The fading and transition frames are represented by the lettered squares, "A", "B", and "C". If the stored video segments or portions of video segments are encoded, then only the material in the unshaded portions need to be encoded for a subsequent request that uses the same video segment.
The forgoing description of the preferred embodiments of the invention has been presented only for the purpose of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise foams disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. For instance, the video server is not limited to creating video programs directed to the weather, but can be used to create video programs directed to any type of perishable information. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the invention and their practical application so as to enable others skilled in the art to utilize the invention and various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
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|U.S. Classification
|International Classification
|Cooperative Classification
|European Classification
|22 Oct 2003
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text:
To make reservations by phone, dial freephone 0800 221 222 in the UK, 1 800 409 929 in Ireland, or view our regional telephone reservation numbers.
Fairfield Inn and Suites Rochester East
915 Hard Road
Webster, New York 14580 USA
915 Hard Road
Webster, New York 14580
Check-in and Check-out
Free Breakfast
High-Speed Internet Access
Property Details
Smoke-free Policy
Pet Policy
Health and Beauty Services
General Room Amenities
Bathroom Amenities
Room Entertainment
Kitchen Amenities
Business Amenities
Driving Directions from Airport
Greater Rochester International Airport - ROC
Airport Phone: +1 585 464 6000
Hotel direction: 20 miles NE
This hotel does not provide shuttle service.
Take Interstate 390 South to Interstate 590 North to Route 104 East and exit at Hard Road. Turn right onto Hard Road then take the next right into the plaza. The hotel will be on the right.
Buffalo Niagara International Airport - BUF
Airport Phone: +1 716 6306000
Hotel direction: 78 miles W
This hotel does not provide shuttle service.
For more information call the general manager of the hotel