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STI e-Outlook › STI policy profiles › New challenges › Technology to manage natural disasters and catastrophes
Rationale and objectives
The economic cost of natural catastrophes and man-made disasters worldwide amounted to USD 370 billion in 2011, a huge increase over the previous year. The Japanese earthquake and tsunami alone cost the national economy at least USD 210 billion. Science and technology play an increasingly vital role in managing natural disasters. To this end, a growing number of OECD countries have recently established programmes or incentives to develop and deploy information and communication technologies (ICTs), geographic information systems, and remote sensing and satellite data (Table 9.1).
National emergency warning capabilities
The effective response to a disaster includes timely information and early warning of potential hazards. Countries are continually improving their national emergency and early warning capabilities, and federal governments often defer to their states, provinces or territories for the choice of the systems to adopt. Warning systems usually include radio broadcasts, cable over-ride systems, sirens and phone messaging systems.
Using ICT to streamline emergency responses: Australia, Finland, Germany, Israel, Luxembourg, the Slovak Republic, Turkey and the United States are working to integrate new ICT tools to streamline links among organisations in charge of disaster management. In Turkey for example, a new National Emergency Management Information System is currently being put in place, in parallel to an Uninterrupted and Secure Communication System (USCS) Project, to link authorities during disasters and emergency situations.
Improving weather forecasts: National meteorological agencies are often responsible for initial warnings concerning weather-related disasters (storms, floods, cyclones). In most countries, they rely on ground-based networks of radars, but increasingly also on satellite data, which allow nearly continuous observation of global weather. As satellites provide information for wide geographic areas, including oceans, improvements in forecasting have made warning systems more efficient (see Box 9.1.). Almost all OECD countries have national meteorological agencies, and all G20 countries have satellites in orbit (OECD, 2011).
Warning by phone: The use of telephone-based capabilities for emergency warnings is expanding rapidly, owing in particular the explosive development in mobile networks. For example, Australia's Emergency Alert enables states and territories to issue warnings to landline and mobile telephones linked to properties in areas identified as being at risk. It works across all telecommunication carrier networks. Since it became operational in December 2009, it has been used 330 times for flood, tsunami, bushfire, storm surge, chemical and oil spill incidents, as well as missing person emergencies, and has issued more than 7 million messages.
Preparedness for earthquakes and tsunamis
Countries such as Colombia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain and the United States are vulnerable to earthquakes and are upgrading their seismic surveillance networks. Although earthquakes cannot be predicted and very few are preceded by clearly identifiable precursory events, the networks can facilitate emergency response (by giving the intensity and location of the tremors) and can provide early warning to tsunami-prone regions.
Following two major tsunamis in 2004 in the Indian Ocean and in 2011 in Japan, several regional and local warning system centres were set up. These centres are co-ordinated via UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, which set up regional co-ordination groups for the Caribbean and adjacent regions, the Indian, Pacific, the North-eastern Atlantic Oceans and the Mediterranean. In late 2011, 23 countries on the Indian Ocean rim participated in an ocean-wide tsunami exercise. At the same time, three regional tsunami service providers in Australia, India and Indonesia became operational, adding warning capacity for the Indian Ocean.
Table 9.1 Adoption of new technologies to tackle disasters (selected countries)
Improved seismic surveillance networks
Australia, Canada, Colombia, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Turkey, United States
Improved tsunami early warning and monitoring
Improved telephone-based information and warning capabilities
Australia, Austria, Estonia, France, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Slovak Republic
Countries currently members of the international charter on "Space and Major Disasters" for sharing data from their satellites in case of disasters
Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Nigeria, Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States and European Space Agency
Tackling risks related to climate change
Mexico, Norway, Portugal, South Africa and Switzerland are using geographic information systems, technical models, and satellite data time series to prepare for potential risks related to climate change. Norway's Climate Change and Its Impacts in Norway (NORKLIMA) aims to identify regions and sectors that may be particularly vulnerable to climate change over the next 30-50 years, and to provide input for a national strategy for adaptation to projected climate change.
Progress in the use of remote sensing techniques and improved international co-ordination
Considerable attention has been given in recent years worldwide to the potential of remote sensing satellite data for providing useful information and assistance in all phases of the disaster management cycle. Besides the currently expanding use of the international charter for major disasters, several countries and organisations (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, the People's Republic of China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Spain, the United States, the EU, EUMETSAT and more) are deploying satellite systems which offer a wide range of capabilities (all weather observations, high to very high resolution images, digital terrain models, land, ocean and ice monitoring, etc.) which are extremely useful in the preparation, assessment and relief phases of disasters. International co-ordination of these resources is improving continuously. In this regard the Committee for Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) created in 2011 a dedicated task force for better co-ordination of satellite observation in disaster risk management chaired by Italy.
Box 9.1 Weather satellites for early warning
The World Meteorological Organisation's Global Observing System (GOS) provides daily observations on the state of the atmosphere and ocean surface. These observations are used to prepare weather analyses, forecasts, advisories and warnings. The system relies on thousands of national ground stations, upper-air stations, reporting ships at sea, drifting buoys, and aircraft providing reports on pressure, winds and temperature during flight. But it also depends on observations from operational geostationary satellites (situated in a 36 000 km arc around the Earth) and low Earth-orbit satellites.
Countries contributing satellites to the space-based part of GOS include: China, France, India, Japan, Korea, the United States, members of the European Space Agency, and Eumetsat, an intergovernmental organisation specifically in charge of maintaining and exploiting European operational meteorological satellites. It has 26 member states (mainly EU countries) and 5 co-operating states: Bulgaria, Estonia, Iceland, Lithuania and Serbia.
EUMETSAT (2012), www.eumetsat.int; World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) (2012), www.wmo.int.
References and further reading
EUMETSAT (2012), www.eumetsat.int.
OECD (2011), The Space Economy at a Glance 2011, OECD, Paris.
World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) (2012), www.wmo.int.
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Here you go, a podcast from yesterday:
November 29, 2015 | Re/code Decode, hosted by Kara Swisher – Brian Chesky, Airbnb CEO; Holiday Gift Guide
"Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky talks with Kara Swisher about the attacks in Paris, raising "a couple billion" and the future of…"
Start at 14:00:
- No Airbnb, you can't really say you had a recent "victory" in SF. A pyrrhic victory, maybe. (But your $8+ million helped to defeat Prop F, I'll concede that.)
- "It's hard to be a tech company in SF." What on Earth does this mean? Why don't you leave then, if things are so, so hard (but not really, not IRL) here?
- Oh, so using SF's direct democracy ballot system when, as in this case, we have regulatory capture of the $F Democratic Party (and other$) is not only immature but "ridiculously immature?" Again, one wonders why Airbnb chose to come here to this horrible, horrible place.
- In regard to the "Airbnb Law," didn't Airbnb meet with then-Supervisor David Chiu something on the order of sixty (60) (!) times to craft regs as favorable to Airbnb as practically possible? I think so. Am I wrong on this? David Chiu was/is a partner of Airbnb, non? David Chiu is now in the Assembly thanks, in part, to Airbnb, non? So that's what some people mean by the term Airbnb Law. (And incidentally, it was/is an unworkable mess, with a very low compliance rate, so far.)
- No, Airbnb, Prop F would not have "ban[ned] in-law units."
- No, Airbnb, Prop F would not "have created a private right of action," for the simple reason that Prop F didn't pass and yet San Franciscans have a private right of action right now.
- Let's stop now to ponder – does Kara Swisher know any of this stuff? She's not up-to-speed, apparently, or she is and she wants to conduct a fawning interview. I'll tell you, so far so good, KS. Mission accomplished.
- Does one need to be "against Airbnb" to approve of regulating Airbnb?
- "Even the San Francisco Chronicle…" I don't know what this means. Was this editorial from the Publisher a surprise? Not at all. Also note that the Chron calls for changes to the regs cooked up by Airbnb and David Chiu…
- "[T]here's this notion that we aren't paying our share of taxes." Well, here's where that comes from. How much in hotel taxes should Airbnb have remitted as opposed to the mystery amount that it actually did – well, that's not really knowable from outside of Airbnb.
- "We're not jerks." So why not explain what happened with the bus ads? Your choice, Airbnb. Are the people down in Socal who made the ads jerks? What did you do, just throw money around and say, oh don't bother us, just make a contract with ClearChannel after you run it by a solitary Airbnber – that'll be fine. We like surprises! And of course, this ad campaign was totally totally independent of anything having to do with Prop F. Of course.
- "Volunteers" knocking on 285,000 doors? Weren't some of those "volunteers" actually paid, like with cash money? Yep. You want to get into this? We can get into this.
- Reference to "party houses." I don't think this issue was addressed. Or Airbnb Hotel, neither – these We Heart Airbnb podcast people didn't have time to get into these things. I guess they were too busy with the "Holiday Gift Guide," IDK.
- And what's this – "I think the vast, vast majority of people are renting the homes they live in." So what's that as a number, is it 51%? IDK. Doesn't Airbnb know this stat for San Francisco, like down to five significant digits? I think so. And how about this – most Airbnb units in SF are being rented out by people who rent out multiple Airbnb units. Is that true? Isn't that a problem?
I think we're at 24:00 now, so that's ten minutes of audio for you to listen to.
(I don't think I could have handled much more anyway.)
I leave you with this – here's how one City Hall insider viewed things last summer:
"After Mayor Lee and the Board of Supervisors screwed up short-term rental legislation not once but twice, voters now face a choice: keep current law or replace it with Prop F. Those upset over "ballot box planning" should blame City Hall for not enacting the handful of changes that would have either prevented Prop F from going to the ballot or ensured its defeat."
Airbnb don't want no Prop F, so one assumes it's all prepared for City Hall to take a fresh look at this regulatory mess (that Airbnb helped create) come 2016. Fine.
Oh, and just One More Thing:
Sometimes when you win, you also lose…

subset: commoncrawl


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"Without Carol Grinde and the Dislocated Worker program's support, services, and funding I would not be where I am today. Not only did Carol guide me to appropriate training and help me be a more effective job seeker, she also supported me on a personal level. Knowing she was there for me and her willingness to go above and beyond her job responsibilities to help and encourage me meant the world to me and made a huge difference during a stressful and challenging time."
-Christine, Former Dislocated Worker Customer
"I wanted to thank you for all you do in supporting us searching for employment. As you know in the course of these 14 months, it gets more difficult psychologically- frustration sets in, but your calm encouraging demeanor is not judgmental and urges us on. Thanks for that, thanks for everything."
-Thank you card to their Dislocated Worker Counselor


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Serving the Scouting Needs of Ambler, Blue Bell, Conshohocken, Lafayette Hill, Lower Gwynedd, Oreland, Plymouth Meeting, Upper Dublin and Whitemarsh.
The Valley Forge Service Center
will be closed on Monday, January 15th, 2018
in observance of the Martin Luther King Holiday.
Click Here
The Valley Forge Scout Shop will be closing early on Saturday, December 9th at 2:00 PM.
Sorry for any inconvenience we are getting ready for our end of year inventory. Thank you
Valley Forge Service Center will be closed for the Thanksgiving Day Holiday
Thursday, November 23rd
Friday, November 24th
The Scout Shop will be CLOSED, Thursday, November 23rd
Open, 9 AM – 5 PM, Friday, November 24th
Roger S. Firestone Scouting Resource Center has closed for the day today, Friday, March 2.
Resica Falls Scout Reservation is also closed Friday, March 2, through Sunday, March 4 due to inclement weather.


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Originally posted by razorbackhater
i can already see britney on behind the music ten years from now... well after i got release form my sixth drug rehab, that crack pipe just jumped in my hand... you know the story, alot of people in music tend to have the same story.
Originally posted by EastCoastKid
Britney Spears: A Tool of the Illuminati?
Originally posted by Gazrok
Of all the things I'd want to do to Britney Spears....NONE of them are Christian, hehe... ]:-D
Originally posted by m0rbid
Originally posted by Gazrok
Of all the things I'd want to do to Britney Spears....NONE of them are Christian, hehe... ]:-D
Aaaah...I'm also guilty of that...
Originally posted by Gazrok
I'm sure she knows this, but doesn't care...as long as it keeps her in limos and mansions...
Obviously, she's gotta know what she is, when she's posing for some of those pics.... It ain't about her music, and she knows it, hehe....
Like most guys..I enjoy her videos....on MUTE,
Originally posted by junglejake
So then what's the point? If these powerful people will never see fruition of their plans, why do they bother?
And for that matter, why does everyone assume they'll be successful?
[Edited on 1-15-2004 by junglejake]
Originally posted by NuTroll
"Ive skeletons in my closet and nobody knows / so before they put me in my coffin and close , im gonna expose it" Eminem (Im sorry Momma/ Eminem Show)
next song is saying goodbye to hollywood.
S&B possibility?
she acts like a complete grade A slut and cannot sing. She is good at soft porn, though.
Originally posted by Amuk
she acts like a complete grade A slut and cannot sing. She is good at soft porn, though.
She sings?
Originally posted by THENEO
Originally posted by Taxman
lol Neo.
This posting is quite humorus. Its nice to have one thats not so serious.
Here go to this site and educate yourself.
did you see the awards show? did you see the opening scenes particularily the graphics to identify the show? Look for the same symbol used in the above link. The star facing downwards.
Originally posted by Morrison
haha I don't know if this was brought up before in this thread yet but she obviously had reagan and his dog's mind under control in that one pepsi commercial


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|Rediff India Abroad Home | All the sections
Pre-launch realty projects? Keep off!
Urmila Rao, Outlook Money | December 08, 2006
Gurgaon-based Ravi Lodha, 39, vice-president of UK-based telecom company Leadcomp, was looking for an investment opportunity in real estate. He saw numerous advertisements of 'future', ready-for-sale residential projects coming up in Bhiwadi, a suburb of Delhi.
One project caught Lodha's attention. Being in Bhiwadi, it was close to Gurgaon, where he stayed. The 300 sq. yard plot was precisely what he wanted. The price, at Rs 3,700 per sq. yard, was attractive. The total investment, close to Rs 12 lakh, suited his budget. He would have to pay 25 per cent of the price on booking and another 25 per cent within the next four months. The rest he could pay comfortably over the next two years. Everything seemed right.
So, along with a couple of friends, he decided to visit the site and meet the developers of the project as well as a few others. A representative showed them the plot and, on request, ran them through a bunch of legalese-laden papers. Things seemed to be in order. Even so, Lodha and his investor friends decided to probe further. They found that the developer did not have any legal claim on the land. They also found that the plot was actually 3 km away from the place they were shown. Lodha's plan is now in abeyance.
But, unlike Lodha, many others are parking their funds in similar projects. The phenomenon is being seen mainly in North India, in the suburbs of metros and smaller cities like Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Kundli, Bahadurgarh, Jaipur, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Mohali, Roorkee, Rudrapur, Haridwar, Dehradun, Sonepat, Panipat, Karnal, Ambala and Rewari, among other places. The minimum cost of such a project in Gurgaon spread over 10 acres, for instance, is Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion).
Although state governments have declared that selling 'pre-launch' projects is illegal, thanks to the real estate boom, the practice has been flourishing for the last two-three years. "It has been banned only to the effect of not being advertised under the 'pre-launch' label," says Delhi-based realtor Shiv Goyal. So, now they are being sold as 'future' projects. "This is happening because of a lack of government legislation," says S.K. Sayal, CEO of Delhi-based real estate company, Alpha G Corp.
The pre-launch game: A pre-launch project is one for which either the entire land has not been acquired (that is, the developer does not have full legal sanction of the title), or clearances (like licences, land conversion and site plan) have not been obtained, or both. Developers are allowed to launch a project only after all clearances, and full ownership of the land have been obtained.
But when a developer cannot raise the entire amount needed to launch the project from internal accruals or equity, he turns to private financiers, investors and end-consumers by 'pre-launching' it. He works on the premise that full legal sanction will come through by the time the project is ready.
Till the land acquisition is completed, the project exists only on paper. The developer pushes sales on the 'buy early, buy cheap' plank. Since he does not have a legal ticket, he keeps prices low enough to tempt home buyers and investors who expect high returns.
Every four to six months, as the approvals trickle in, he keeps hiking the prices. When he gets full legal sanction and is able to deliver at the promised time (usually two to three years), prices double. Usually, by that time, he is able to sell off all the units and is in a position to make a profitable exit. But, what if a project fails?
Gambler's den: It is possible for a professional investor to take such a gamble. But if you are an end-user or an HNI interested in investing in real estate, you are on a risky road. Don't fall prey to speculation. (Developers and brokers often tell investors that prices will rise 30 per cent every quarter.) After all, most individual investors would take a loan, pull money out from other schemes, and live like monks to invest here expecting big returns.
And it may be worth it, till you hear that the project has been shelved, or, worse, scrapped.
Say, you are buying a property worth Rs 30 lakh (Rs 3 million). You can't get a home loan for it, says a banker, as you don't have a clear title and, hence, can't use your property as collateral. He adds that banks might, however, give you a personal loan based on your personal assets and income. If you raise 85 per cent this way, you still have to come up with another Rs 4.5 lakh (Rs 450,000) from elsewhere.
To book the property, you have to pay 15-25 per cent of its price, that is Rs 4.5 lakh-7.5 lakh (750,000). Within the next four to six months, the developers will ask for another 15-25 per cent. The last 50 per cent has to be paid over the next two-three years. So, six months would already be gone by the time you realise that the promises are not being kept and the construction is not happening as promised. By then, you would have sunk in Rs 9-15 lakh (Rs 900,000-1.5 million).
Risk versus reward: Exposing yourself to projects that have no legal sanction makes you financially vulnerable. Your money would be locked in and the property may not appreciate the way you expected it to. The promised infrastructure might not be created. And if the market tanks, you would find it tough to get a buyer willing to pay your asking price.
"The severity of the repercussions of these illegal transactions is not being felt as the real estate market is on a bull run," says Goyal. He warns that once the market slumps, the impact will be so overwhelming that the end-user, or even the professional investors would be unwilling to put money into such projects.
Says an investor, "No bull phase lasts forever and the markets might turn when no one is expecting it to."
The rough exit route. Nilesh Rani, 29, an engineer with an MNC in Noida, bought a 175-sq-yard-plot in Ghaziabad in November 2005 at Rs 6,505 per sq. yard in a pre-launch offer. He wanted to sell it soon afterwards, but has not been able to do so even now. "I am not getting the price I am looking for," he says.
The developer had promised a buyback at Rs 500 per sq. yard more than what Rani paid, but only after the project got full legal sanction. As Rani has surplus funds, he is not as distraught as he may have been otherwise.
If you buy a plot in the pre-launch stage and the project is shelved, the only exit route is to approach consumer forums or courts, unless the developer returns the money.
Even if he does, says Goyal, he would pay 6-12 per cent interest. That is measly considering the financial and emotional distress an investor would have to go through.
So, read the fine print of the sale agreement as it is skewed in favour of the developer. The buyer has little to fall back on if the project goes off track.
Price of temptation: At present, in cities like Meerut and Jaipur, pre-launch projects are being sold in the price band of Rs 2,400-4,500 per sq. yard. In Ambala, it starts at Rs 3,000 per sq. yard. "In Gurgaon, the prices start as high as Rs 6,000 per sq. yard," says a broker specialising in pre-launch projects.
Diligence, diligence: Before investing in any project, you must check the builder's records. "Find out about projects he has delivered in the past, avoid brokers and try to strike the deal directly with the developer," says G P Savlani, resident director of Confederation of Real Estate Developer's Associations of India (Credai), an industry organisation.
Check the title deed and read all the fine print of the brochure and the deal agreement. The riskiest move is buying into a project for which the developer has not acquired the entire land. It would be prudent to check whether home loans are being provided or not. As for lending to the developer, HDFC Bank director Renu Karnad says: "Developers' papers are checked thoroughly and banks lend only (to) 30 per cent of the total cost."
If you are investing in a plot, visit the site and do your own checking with the local residents. If you have already invested in a flat, it would be wise to keep checking on the speed of construction. "What is required is a developer rating so that buyers have some idea about who to turn to, whom to believe," says Sayal of Alpha G Corp.
A reality check: "If pre-launch projects are banned in the true sense, then 50 per cent of the developers will be out of business," says Goyal. Prices will go down 40 per cent if such projects are taken off from the market, he maintains. After all, they are major contributors to the overheating of the property market.
So, if you don't want to be on the speculators' bandwagon, then invest with caution. For, it's just not money, but dreams that are at stake.
Investor's Checklist
Before investing:
If you have invested already:
The Modus Operandi
Stage one: A developer announces a project putting in at least 20 per cent of the project cost. Gets 40 per cent financed by private financiers. Another 40 per cent is raised by inviting professional investors. The end-buyers' slot is expected to be negligible and gets adjusted somewhere in between. Some of the legal sanctions are in.
So the developer is dependent on long-standing investors' money and brokers who get non-professional investors.
Stage two: Project is pre-launched and bookings opened at attractive rates. Initial price is decided by gauging the buying capacity of the people of the area and the competitors' prices. It is then escalated periodically. The sanctions are still trickling in.
Stage three: After six to nine months, some investors want to exit. This is the resale phase and construction is likely to be in early stages. The broker becomes more important as he gets the buyers at the higher rate. All clearances are still not in, but the broker convinces the buyer that the project will be delivered when promised.
Stage four: By this time the professional investors who want to play safe would exit. If the project takes off well, everyone is happy. If it is scrapped or shelved, the non-professional investors and end-users are left trapped without the property and no sign of their money.
Even if the investor finally gets possession of the property, albeit much later than the stipulated time, the market may have crashed by then, and he cannot get buyers at the price he wants. For plots, the investor may suffer because the infrastructure could be non-existent. A professional investor could absorb the shock but it is highly distressing for the end-user.
Fixing pre-launch prices: How the rates are set is an interesting arrangement. A developer opened the pre-launch booking in June this year for a project on the Jaipur-Ajmer Highway at Rs 4,100 per sq yard. After booking a pre-decided number of 350 units out of 1,200, the bookings were closed in August. The booking opened again after 20 days but at Rs 4,300 per sq. yard.
In November, the bookings are likely to close, to open again at an expected rate of Rs 4,500 per sq. yard. Corroborates a real estate developer: "This game of jacking up prices is played to give financial comfort to the developer's investors. The developer ensures that his investors exit with a neat profit. A non-professional investor who puts in his money can make the same amount of profit as a professional investor because of prevailing market prices."
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30 03, 2016
Beatles Vs. Stones at The Cave
Beatles vs. Stones – A Musical Shoot Out
The British Invasion brought us the two most popular rock groups of all time, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, as well as the liveliest debate in rock history – which band is the greatest? These two legendary bands will engage in an on-stage, mash-up duel – a musical "shoot out of the hits" if you will – featuring internationally renowned tribute bands, Abbey Road and Jumping Jack Flash.
"Electrifying show!" said the O.C. Register.
"The most unique tribute show in decades," said the L.A. Times.
"The crowd was on their […]


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If you are new to a leadership role, let this be a word of caution: Don't dominate your subordinates. "It's usually not an effective strategy unless you have bad news to deliver and/or there's an imminent problem with only one available response," explains Francie Dalton, president of Dalton Alliances Inc., a business consulting firm based in Columbia, Md. "Dominance has to do with maintaining complete control. If your objective is to maintain control at all times, you're likely to lose your credibility."
© 2018. All Rights Reserved. | Contact Us


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deep palmar (arterial) arch
Definition: the arterial arch located deep to the long flexor tendons in the hand. It is formed by the terminal palmar part of the radial artery in conjunction with the deep palmar branch of the ulnar artery. The arch gives rise to palmar metacarpal and princeps pollicis arteries.
Synonym(s): arcus palmaris profundusTA, arcus volaris profundus
Search Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Examples: glitazone, GI cocktail, etc.


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February 23, 2017
6:00pm @ New Westminster Public Library
6:00 pm Doors open for registration and plot fees
6:45 pm AGM begins
1. Approval of 2016 AGM Minutes
2. President's report (5 minutes)
3. Garden reports (5 minutes each)
4. Treasurer's report and proposed budget for 2016 (5 minutes)
5. Discuss and vote on the following 2 special resolutions (10-15 minutes)
To add to the Society's constitution the following:
This society is a member-funded society. It is funded primarily by its members to carry on activities for the benefit of its members. On its liquidation or dissolution, this society may distribute its money and other property to its members.
To add to the Society's bylaws the following:
Part 13 – Dissolution
In the event of the dissolution of the society, the board of directors will donate any/all surplus funds to a registered charity located in New Westminster, BC.
6. Election of directors/board (5-10 Minutes)
7. Other Business
8. Adjournment
7:30 pm Speaker: TBA
8:00 pm to 8:30 pm – Continuation of membership and plot fees
8:30 pm Doors close.
Who are we?
The New Westminster Community Garden Society is a group of dedicated New Westminster individuals who wish to create and maintain community gardens in multiple locations in New Westminster.
Our Mission
To develop community gardens throughout the City of New Westminster and by doing so increase the profile of urban agriculture; promote environmentally sustainable gardening practices; increase access to, and the consumption of, locally grown produce; build a sense of community around food; and decrease the City's ecological footprint.
Our Partners
Our partners are comprised of the following types: Non-Government Organisations, Developers, Civic Government, Financial Institutions and many others.
Our partners provide financial, promotional and logistical, support. If you are interested in becoming a partner, please email us at email@example.com.
If you are interested in volunteering, and/or donating supplies, i,e, gardening tools, lumber, Canadian Tire Money, etc.
Contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com
Our mailing address is:
New Westminster Community Gardening Society
PO Box 303 – 720 6th Street
New Westminster, BC, V3L 3C5
If you are interested in volunteering, and/or donating supplies, i,e, gardening tools, lumber, Canadian Tire Money, etc. contact us at email@example.com


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- Posted March 11, 2010 by
- AlexPT
Pelequen, Chile
This iReport is part of an assignment:
Earthquakes in Chile
A house in ruins
When you have someone in front of you that has lost everything and that now has nothing, you realize at that moment how lucky you are.
To have that luck and on top of that try to shoot that misery and devastation is something very tough and hard, especially when people look at you with a face of sadness and despair. But as a Reporter you also realize that you are shooting and recording on tape to help. To show the world what happened here and try, as I said in my last iReport which is called "A town in ruins", to transmit what you feel as a reporter, when you see these images.
This was shot in Pelequen, a village not far from Rancagua, the capital of the region, as well as my last iReport which is called "A town in ruins" and that was also shot Saturday the 6th of March. That iReport focused on the destruction of the whole town whereas this one focuses on the destruction of one house in particular.
The ceilings of the rooms inside this house had collapsed and luckly the person that was renting the house managed. The owners of the building have nothing else and they were getting the things they could rescue before the house is demolished.
Help will come to people like them who have nothing. The chilean nation has united and on the telethon done on Friday 5 and Saturday 6, the sum of money donated was the double of what was predicted. That is only the beginning of a big help that will start to arrive on the days to come.


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A nightmarish vision straight out of The Space Merchants: a gadget that purportedly vibrates train windows at the right frequency to beam advertisements straight into your head by means of bone-conduction, should you tire and rest your head against them. All the references to this point to one video posted by someone with no other… READ THE REST
Vibrating train window to play ads through the skulls of tired commuters
First time a story I've submitted made it onto the site...but I guess Cory found it through a different route.
This sounds more like a marketing stunt than anything; suggest something so horrible that you'll never actually do it, but let the story get out and the outrage will go viral, with your company prominently attached.
The Telegraph had linked it to Sky Deutschland
Edit: As indeed, I see the craptastic video does, too.
I want to hack the crap out of this, to make it vibrate the words (post-magic-sunglasses) from They Live. CONSUME. OBEY.
What can one say but "Roll Over..."
(Beethoven famously relied on bone conduction to compose amid his deafness, in his case using a reed between his teeth placed against the strings of his piano).
This technique(I share the skepticism about it actually having been deployed; but I'd be shocked if it weren't doable with a little engineering work) along with the advertising using the very-impressively-clever-and-equally-creepy directed audio technology seems like something that Team Abnormal Psych might want to vet, if only for liability reasons, before widespread deployment. I can't imagine that any of the conditions that included auditory hallucinations are improved by experiences-tantamount-to-auditory-hallucination being added to your environment.
(Also, of course, just for the sake of society more broadly, anybody who dabbles in this sort of advertising should probably be hung, drawn, and quartered; but I'm not getting my hopes up.)
It's like pop-up ads...for reality.
Came here for this. Holy crap, is that a bad idea with the potential for undesirable, unintended consequences.
It's not particularly new technology- Look up "Sound Bite Lollipops":
Eh. While on the train, I get messages from God via the sunlight flickering through the bare branches of winter trees. The last one, in February, was "Enjoy every sandwich." Which I'd already heard, so it was kind of a waste.
"Sky presents ancient technology with electronic music in the background, that makes it new and revolutionary."
"Tired commuters often rest their heads against windows, so you should use our technology to stop them from resting by playing them your advertisements - they'll love you for it!"
I'll note that there isn't a "right frequency to beam" sound. Music and speech are many frequencies and there isn't a single frequency that enables bone conduction.
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.


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Transmission problem
2003 Dodge Srt-4 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Manual 55,556 miles
Hello, I was wondering what does a cable gearshift control do? I have a 2003 Dodge SRT-4 and the cable gearshift control has gone bad and I am unable to put my car in reverse. Is this just wear and tear (my car has 55,556 miles on it) or something I did and do both automatic and manule transmissions have cable gearshift control? Thanks!
have the same problem?
Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 AT 6:35 PM


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29 Sep 1885-26 May 1945
Born: Salida, Chaffee Co., Colorado
Section 3
Contributed on 12/30/03
Record #: 2944
On this site you can upload gravestone photos, locate ancestors and perform genealogy research. If you have a relative buried in Arizona, we encourage you to upload a digital image using our Submit a Photo page. Contributing to this genealogy archive helps family historians and genealogy researchers locate their relatives and complete their family tree.
Submitted: 12/30/03 • Approved: 10/26/04 • Last Updated: 10/26/04 • R2944-G2944


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Home Page
If you're a parent of small children then you'll understand exactly where we get our name "Cheeky Chimps" from. Small children are endearing cheeky (as you will see from the facial expressions of our models as you browse this website), and we all know that they love to climb anything that's put in front of them (much like a chimp), so our business is named after our own darling little Cheeky Chimps.
What we sell then is kids clothes, specifically for children from nursery school right through primary school to their early teens. Our core age range though is primary school and younger.
Our goal here is to bring you quality brands, some of which you will already be familiar with, some you may not. The common theme across any brand we stock though is that the design will be in accordance with the current fashion trends, and the construction quality will be first-rate (meaning that when your first Cheeky Chimp has finished with their clothes, there should be plenty of life left to hand on to another if you wish). Coupled with our sensible prices this ensures that you really will get value for money when you shop with us.
Our mission then is to bring you well-made childrens' clothes, from quality brands, in accordance with current fashion, at sensible prices, and to keep you coming back to us throughout your child's time at primary school.
Featured Product
Girls Red Lond-Sleeved Dress


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Where Will Yao Play Next Season?
Yao Ming has garnered a lot of attention over his eight-year NBA career, as he has been named to the All-Star team eight times, although a large part of that has been due to his popularity in the Asian community (a fanbase that really blossomed when he came to the NBA in 2002). However, Yao has suffered a number of nagging injuries throughout his career and played only five games last season and the major question surrounding the big center now is, will Houston take a chance and offer him a contract for next season?
Houston's odds in most online sportsbooks over the last few seasons have been predicated on Yao's health, and when he is healthy, we know he's one of the best centers in the league. But Yao has played more than 55 games in a season just four times in his career, including last year's low of five, and we don't know if the Rockets are willing to go through this again. There are still some outside factors that both sides have to consider, such as the negotiation of a new CBA which is threatening next season, but Yao has started that he wants to remain in Houston as he has been there his entire career. We're sure someone would take a risk on Yao if the free agent isn't offered a new deal.
The market for big men in the NBA is slim at best, with Orlando's Dwight Howard, the Lakers' Andrew Bynum and Milwaukee's Andrew Bogut as the only true centers in the league that are worth talking about (you may want to consider the Clippers' Chris Kaman, Dallas' Tyson Chandler and a couple others, but the list is short). Therefore, someone (reports state Golden State) will put in an offer on Yao. But if we had to lay a wager, we would bet on Yao Ming spending one more season in Houston.
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Please enter a collection name
This recently published report from the House of Commons Children, Schools and Families Committee endorses the importance of learning outside the classroom and recommends further funding from the DCSF to improve and increase provision. Despite 'a very strong body of evidence' to show the benefits of out-of-school learning, the report suggests that little progress has been made since the previous report on this area, five years ago.
The report argues for the importance of access to opportunity for learning outside the classroom for all pupils, not just those with the ability to pay, and calls for the establishment of an entitlement for all pupils to experience at least one out-of-school visit per term within the National Curriculum. To facilitate this, the DSCF are asked to consider subsidising such visits for low income families to ensure equality of access.
To emphasise the importance of out-of-school visits, the report recommends that curriculum guidance materials from QCDA and the DCSF should include reference to visits, and that Ofsted should comment on the inclusion of learning outside the school as part of the curriculum in the School Report Card. Recommendations include the requirement for all schools to have a policy on out-of-school learning, covering both the educational and health and safety aspects, and to appoint suitably trained co-ordinators. Teacher education and CPD programmes should also be required to include a greater emphasis on out-of-school learning.
The report recognises that difficulties have been presented by Health and Safety legislation, which has led to reluctance on the part of some teachers to engage in out-of-school learning activities. Delays in issuing the promised revised guidance are thus criticised. It is also suggested that some schools are interpreting aspects of the Teachers' Workload Agreement in regard to provision for cover in ways that prevent learning outside the school taking place. The report calls on the DCSF to act in collaboration with teacher unions to reduce these barriers to provision.
The TTRB will be commissioning a fuller review of this report in due course.
Learning Outside the Classroom, LOtC
School Visits, Field Trips
Learning Beyond the School, Teaching and Learning
Q30 Establish a purposeful and safe learning environment conducive to learning and identify opportunities for learners to learn in out of school contexts
Government Guidance, Other
All Key Stages and Age Ranges, Curriculum
House of Commons Children, Schools and Families Committee
London: The Stationery Office Limited


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Melinda Gates on the global family planning revolution – video
Two years on from the London Summit on Family Planning, Melinda Gates, businesswoman and co-chair of the philanthropic Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, discusses the progress made on tackling the issue. She explains how initiatives to widen access to contraception have had a positive effect on women and girls in developing countries. She also stresses the importance of sexual health education in countries such as Niger, which has one of the highest fertility rates in the world


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©2006 Columbia University Press; (P)2008 Audible, Inc.
There are no listener reviews for this title yet.
As a preface, I have not finished listening to this audiobook. It was absolutely NOT what I was looking for. I was expecing it to be mostly about food science, chemistry, how food works - and how those principles apply to cooking. This book is much heavier on history and florid prose. I put it down after a couple hours - too much a danger to driving.
It may be a good book for what it was intended for - but I say no thank you.
"If you love science and you love cooking....."
this book is for you! Dennis Holland is the perfect narrator for the rather dry and repetative nature of conventional scientific study! I'm on my third listen....So cool to explain the development of tannins in wine and butter's crystaline structure...very insightful and opens you up to new ideas for developing stocks and additions to creme anglaise....more of a fun read if you are a science nerd I'm sure!
"A collection of essays, really"
If you do not know what a benzene ring is, you will not understand this book.
I was expecting more an orderly introduction to molecular gastronomy, starting from basic principles, then building into complex concepts. Instead, this book reads like a collection of unconnected and very scholarly essays. A lot of the chapters/essays are long and dry, while others have practical information you can use in the kitchen.
"Technical but necessary"
This may sound dry but I think the author was trying to explain chemistry concepts with precise yet succinct words. I am interested in biochemistry so this book is exactly what I look for. But those looking for popular science books, may be sorely disappointed with the density of the fascinating information.
"Sleeping Aid"
I was very excited when I bought this book. I thought it would be very interesting, I love to cook and I love to know how things work. I found that the only thing this book was useful for was putting me to sleep!
Each chapter would start out with a great topic and useful information but then would turn to the history and scientific explainations where my science degree didn't even help me. I was so confused by the end of the chapter that I didn't even know what I had heard. I believe if you are French or a World Class Chef, you may understand it and enjoy it.
I thought that I was an intelligent person, but this book made me feel very dumb because I just couldn't understand most of it. If you are looking for a great book to listen to to put you to sleep, this is the one. I put it on quite often and the sound of the narrator's voice and the big words I didn't understand lulled me right to sleep!
"Bad Egg"
Rambling -- disconnected-- boring and impossible to follow. What a disappointment!
"Know or not know Chemistry"
If you have studied Chemistry, five stars
"Too much technical/chemestry verbage"
Impossible to follow even with a chemistry background, in part do to the read. It is clear he does not know what he is talking about either.
"Spectacularly Boring and Useless"
If it had actually contained interesting or useful information or contained engaging information.
I could stop it.
I am not one to be turned off by scientific content. In fact, I am more likely to be reading journal articles about yeast than the latest best seller. That being said, this is a horrendously boring and poorly written book. There is very little actual science in it. It is basically just 13 hours (well, I only made it through the first 4.5, so not certain about the rest) of the author blowing smoke up his own ass. Save yourself some pain and buy something else.
"Brain Food for the Nerdy Chef"
yes if they want to know the science of cooking not just a recipe
on food and cooking
this book alters how you cook because you understand the physics
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Freezing rain and some snow possible across Texas
Published 6:00 pm, Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Rain and sleet were possible across most of Texas on Thursday, with a chance of snow in the Panhandle, according to the National Weather Service.
There was at least a 20 percent chance of precipitation in North and East Texas, with highs in the mid 40s and lows around the freezing mark. Partly to mostly cloudy skies were in the forecast, with a chance for sleet Thursday night.
Central Texas should see cloudy skies with a 40 percent chance of light rain. Highs should reach 43, with a low around 39. Winds gusts up to 30 mph were possible.
Rain was likely before noon in South Texas, where there was a 60 percent chance of showers, with a high near 46 and a low around 37. Temperatures should be a few degrees warmer along the Gulf Coast, where there was a 50 percent chance of precipitation.
Cloudy skies were expected in the Rio Grande Valley. Temperatures will take a sharp dip into the low 50s, with a low around 45.
There was a chance of snow and freezing rain in the Panhandle. Mostly cloudy skies were forecast for the region, with a high just above freezing and a low around 23.
Mostly cloudy skies and a 40 percent chance of rain were forecast for West Texas, with a high near 52 and a low around 39.


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What does MCA mean in Contractors?
This page is about the meanings of the acronym/abbreviation/shorthand MCA in the Business field in general and in the Contractors terminology in particular.
Mechanical Contractors Association
Find a translation for MCA in other languages:
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"MCA." Abbreviations.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2018. Web. 20 Mar. 2018. <https://www.abbreviations.com/term/1495444>.


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As Clive Woodward used to say, you need leaders all the way through a team. What we saw on Saturday, however, was that the leadership of a rugby team has to start with two men: your captain and your playmaker. Subsiding to defeat against a jubilant Australia, England were lacking in both departments.
Imagine Martin Johnson in his playing prime as England's captain coming off the field at Twickenham, having lost 28-14 to the Wallabies, and uttering the words used by Steve Borthwick an hour or so after this match.
"There were a lot of good things," the current captain said when asked for an assessment of the outcome at the end of his fifth match in charge of the team on the field. "There were a huge amount of positives."
Faced with notebooks and tape recorders after such an unacceptable experience, Johnson would have glowered. Words would have been prised from him like inches from Saturday's green-and-gold front row. And none of them would have been "good" or "positive". Sometimes there are no positives worth talking about. The negatives are what you have to swallow and digest in order to move on.
Then Danny Cipriani arrived for a chat after a match in which Matt Giteau had shown him a few of the facts of rugby life. Cipriani had missed an important early penalty, missed an even more important chance to add two points to Nick Easter's try just before half-time, muffed a relatively simple drop-goal attempt, failed to distinguish himself in defence, and had not succeeded in turning two sumptuous breaks into anything of lasting substance.
"I enjoyed it today," English rugby's new golden boy declared. "It was fun." He had the sense to add that "obviously the losing factor wasn't great", but an impression had been created.
What degree of coercion would have succeeded in drawing those thoughts from the mouth of Jonny Wilkinson after a comparable experience? Waterboarding? The removal of toenails with a pair of rusty pliers? The threat of castration? Not a chance. Wilkinson would have provided the media with their quotes, in the form of an unstoppable flood of self-criticism. There would have been no mention of "enjoyment", or anything like it.
Not everyone has to match the extent of Wilkinson's willingness to accept the blame. His introspection often plumbed depths that made observers worry for his well-being. When he recently announced that he had found a way to achieve a satisfactory work-life balance, it was somehow typical that the solution turned out to involve the study of quantum physics. But how one missed the depth of his naked commitment and the directness and honesty of his self-analysis on Saturday.
Cipriani may be an equally talented outside-half, but he is currently living in a different world. The lamented Brian Ashton tried to show him the error of his ways last year by dropping him from the squad at Murrayfield after a comparatively innocuous late-night outing, to be rewarded by a glittering performance when the No 10 made his first start against Ireland at Twickenham. The 21-year-old, however, has continued to make an existence for himself in the world of celebrity. On Saturday night there was a suggestion that a further lesson is imminent, this time delivered by Ashton's successor.
"It's not all about on the field," Johnson said when asked about Cipriani's performance. "It's about handling the pressure off the field. We're together for five weeks and then he'll go back to Wasps having found out what being an international rugby player is all about." And, perhaps, having been told that what goes on off the field cannot be divorced from the real business in which he is engaged. If this sounds like an unappealingly puritan view, so be it. Cipriani can choose whether he wants to be a bit of B-list arm candy or the man who accepts the baton handed on by Wilkinson, and the responsibilities that go with it. Realistically, he cannot be both if he wants to become the fulcrum of a side that regains the heights England reached five years ago.
In the short term, Borthwick may be a greater problem. He emerged from the dressing room on Saturday with a bleeding wound across the bridge of his nose very much like the one that scarred Martin Corry throughout the Leicester man's time as England captain, and there are already suggestions that the Saracens lock is bringing to the job a similar combination of wholehearted effort and an inability to influence the tactical flow of a match.
Johnson attempted to excuse Borthwick's failure to sort out the scrummage, in which England were first outsmarted and then humiliated. "Steve was busting his backside playing in the second row," he said. Borthwick himself, asked about the way his front row had collapsed in the face of a hitherto unregarded Wallaby trio, replied: "It's disappointing to be turned over at the set piece, but I've got my head in the middle, pushing, so I'll need to look at the tapes before I can offer any reasons."
A place in the second row never obscured Johnson's wider vision of the game, just as Wilkinson's enjoyment of a match was indivisible from the knowledge that he had given his best. Frustrating and unpleasant as it may be to endure comparison with the recent past, England's players are condemned to judgment by the highest standards.


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A second beluga whale has been caught this month in Baker Lake, Nunavut's only inland community.
Paul Niego was one of the hunters.
"First time I saw it with my own eyes," he said. "It was weird to see a beluga."
It's unusual to see any belugas in the area because the river and lake are freshwater. Belugas can live in both seawater and freshwater and are occasionally found in large rivers and estuaries.
Niego says hunters from Baker Lake usually have to travel down the Thelon River into Chesterfield Inlet to hunt whales.
He says people believe the belugas may be following ships up the river. He says more ships are expected and there are hopes more whales will follow them to Baker Lake.


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Mayo man denies murdering mother
24/01/2014 - 19:21:27Back to Ireland Home
The trial of a Co Mayo man accused of murdering his mother heard today that she suffered multiple stab wounds.
Celyn Eadon (aged 22) of Derrycrieve, Islandeady, Castlebar has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Noreen Kelly but denies murdering the 46-year-old at their home on March 9, 2011.
In an opening statement to the jury, the prosecution said there would be evidence that Mr Eadon was using various drugs at the time of the killing, including amphetamines.
His younger brother is expected to testify that he was woken during the night by the sound of muffled screaming.
The prosecution says he will give evidence that he found his mother slumped on the floor of the living room and that her face was covered in blood.
The jury heard he will also say that he had earlier seen his mother throw a plastic re-sealable bag containing white powder onto a fire in the sitting room and that his brother had been shouting after that.


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Two Steps From Hell
About Two Steps From Hell
Founded by Nick Phoenix and Thomas J. Bergersen in March 2006 and based in Santa Monica, California, Two Steps from Hell is a company specializing in composing music for motion picture advertising. As is usual with trailer music, most of their releases are not sold commercially and are available for licensing only. They have released 20 albums thus far (chronologically: Two Steps from Hell - Volume 1, Shadows and Nightmares, Dynasty, All Drums Go to Hell, Pathogen, Nemesis... Read more about Two Steps from Hell on Last.fm.
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Two Steps From Hell's Songs
Thomas Alvarez Vilchez and 1 more
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|Perl: the Markov chain saw
Re^2: Taint, CGI and perl 5.10by nextguru (Scribe)
|on Mar 11, 2010 at 03:52 UTC ( #827934=note: print w/replies, xml )
|Need Help??
The following code exhibits the trouble.
In trying other solutions, I've determined that the here document appears to be the culprit. The following code works fine.
This is curious to me. Why the different behavior for here documents? Original version of perl was 5.8.9, now 5.10.1.
In Section Seekers of Perl Wisdom


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"The Unintended Ripples From the Biomass Subsidy Program" [1]
"It sounded like a good idea: Provide a little government money to convert wood shavings and plant waste into renewable energy.
But as laudable as that goal sounds, it could end up causing more economic damage than good -- driving up the price of raw timber, undermining an industry that has long used sawdust and wood shavings to make affordable cabinetry, and highlighting the many challenges involved in decreasing the nation's dependence on oil by using organic materials to create biofuels"
Juliet Eilperin reports for the Washington Post January 10, 2010. [2]


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The New York Civil Liberties Union will announce tomorrow a lawsuit against the state over what the group and other critics say is an inadequate indigent defense system in New York.
Critics say the county-run system is underfunded and has long failed to fairly protect people who cannot afford to pay for a lawyer.
NYCLU plans to announce the lawsuit tomorrow at noon in front of the Court of Appeals.


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Food Legislation
How food hygiene legislation impacts businesses handling food
Mosquitoes and Midges
Call us for a quote on 0800 917 1989 or Contact Us
For over 90 years we have protected properties across the UK from pests
All our technicians are highly trained and certified pest controllers
Innovative and unique treatments that resolve pest problems effectively
If your business has a mosquito problem you'll want to get rid of it quickly. It's not only a nuisance for your staff, but it could be bad for your bottom line. The last thing customers want is to be bitten on your premises, and it could damage your reputation.
Although it's rare to catch any disease from mosquitoes in the UK (the last reported instance being in 1952 in Kent), it is still possible. A species of mosquito suspected of transmitting West Nile virus to humans in Europe was discovered in the marshes of north Kent and south Essex in 2012.
Our BPCA (British Pest Control Association) certified technicians can help put your mind at rest:
Call Rentokil free on 0800 917 1989 and we'll get back to you within 24 hours.
Our expert technicians will install the targeted solutions you need to get rid of mosquitoes in your home or business
FACT: There are over 30 varieties of mosquitoes found in the UK, five of which are not native - Culex Pipiens is the most common.
Although you can use DIY products to get rid of small numbers of mosquitoes, established or recurring problems will need more targeted treatment.
Our Luminos fly killer range offers numerous advantages:
To make sure our electric fly killers perform as well as possible, we carry out a series of tests using a scientific 'Half Life' measurement. This measures how quickly each unit catches 50% of mosquitoes and flies in an area, and uses this as a baseline for overall effectiveness.
Act now and we'll help to sort out the mosquito problem in your business fast. Our experts will contact you within 24 hours of your call (Monday to Friday) to arrange a convenient appointment.
Call Rentokil free on 0800 917 1989. We'll provide fast, effective mosquito and midge treatment for your business using our unique range of electric fly killers.


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UK 'failed students over visas'
The UK has failed in its duty to overseas students affected by the decision to revoke London Metropolitan University's sponsor licence, a leading vice-chancellor has said.
Professor Eric Thomas, president of Universities UK (UUK), asked how the UK would have reacted if their own sons and daughters faced a similar situation in another country.
His comments came as Universities Minister David Willetts announced a £2 million fund to support London Met's international students who must now transfer to another university.
The UK Border Agency announced at the end of August that it is revoking London Met's highly trusted status for sponsoring international students after it found more than a quarter of a sample of its students did not have permission to stay in the country.
London Met has since announced that it intends to take legal action against the decision so that its students can return to study "as a matter of urgency." Up to 2,600 foreign students are understood to have been affected by UKBA's decision.
Addressing the UUK conference at Keele University on Thursday morning, Prof Thomas, who is also vice-chancellor of Bristol University, said: "Around 3,000 students, of whom the overwhelming majority were bona fide students, found themselves in a foreign country far from home without a course.
"I have had no rational explanation of how that fulfilled our duties to them as human beings never mind as students.
"Everyone involved in this needs to remind themselves that families have paid for these courses and that, for these students, this is one of their major lifetime chances. Let's all ponder on how we would have reacted if that had happened to our sons and daughters in a foreign country. Why were their needs not given absolute primacy in all these considerations?" I would argue that we all have been found wanting in our duties to these students."
In his speech to the conference, Mr Willetts said that it is important not to "lose sight of the individual students who are most affected by the situation". These students could incur costs for moving accommodation and applying for new visas, he said.
"I can announce today that we are setting up a £2 million fund to help legitimate overseas students at London Met who face extra costs through no fault of their own as a result of transferring to another institution. This will provide certainty to London Met students at what is a stressful and unsettling time."


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THE glamorous and showstopping world of the Moulin Rouge is coming to town - and you could be part of it.
If you look fine in feathers, gorgeous in sequins and can high-kick with the best of them, Wednesday at midday could be your time to shine.
Talent scouts from the world-famous Paris venue, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, are heading to the Yorkshire Dance Centre to search for stars for their amazing extravaganza, Féerie.
The show plays to thousands of people from around the world every year and is so spectacular it even has its own 60-tonne water aquarium. Leeds-born Associate Artistic Director Janet Pharoah will therefore only cast the very best dancers.
"We were last in Leeds more than a decade ago, so it's about time we found time to come back," explained Janet, who started dancing when she was just five years old.
"There are some good dance schools in the North and a great work attitude - why should northerners always have to travel to London?" she added.
Hopefuls need good all-round dance training (including ballet and jazz) and must be supple enough to do excellent high-kicks, splits and cartwheels for the can-can.
A good figure, long legs, a very pretty and natural face - plus lots of personality and a dynamic smile - are also essential, while girls need to be at least 5ft 8 tall and boys 6ft 1.
"First rehearsals are all about learning the show and the can-can, which is quite technically different," explained Janet.
"Then there are all the shoe fittings and costumes to take care of, as well as getting used to being part of a 70-strong dance troupe, plus the excitement of their own opening night," she added.
Contracts are initially for a year, but many performers end up staying far longer. Some, like Janet, will make it their whole career: "I arrived in 1980 and am still here!" she said.
Travel across Europe and further afield may follow, as dancers are often asked to do special galas worldwide as well as TV shows, interviews and photocalls.
With such a sumptuous, sparkling and razzmatazz lifestyle, does Woodlesford lass Janet ever miss her home town?
"It's a tricky question, as there's a lot about France I love, but many girls - particularly those who do leave to go home - dream of taking the Moulin with them."
Janet Pharoah is Associate Artistic Director of the Moulin Rouge, in Paris. She went to Rothwell Grammar School and trained at Mullen School of Theatre and Dance, in Churwell.
Janet and her team are heading to Australia in July, to continue casting for their famous Féerie spectacular.
Last year they took in Canada and Scandinavia, so the mix of talent is truly international.
The Leeds auditions take place on Wednesday April 16, at 12pm, at the Yorkshire Dance Centre on St Peter's Square.


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Groupon Says Board Member Hobson Won't Seek Re-Election
Groupon Inc. (GRPN), the online-discounts company, said board member Mellody Hobson has decided not to seek re-election and will end her term on the board in May.
Hobson, who is married to billionaire and "Star Wars" creator George Lucas and has been on Groupon's board since 2011, decided to step down to focus on her family, Bill Roberts, a spokesman for Groupon, said in a telephone interview.
"We are in conversations with a number of great candidates," to replace Hobson on the board, Roberts said.
Chief Executive Officer Eric Lefkofsky, who took the reins last year, has been shuffling the executive team as part of an effort to turn Groupon from daily e-mail deals to a service offering thousands of discounts. Hobson is one of eight board members of Chicago-based Groupon and is also president of Ariel Investments LLC.
"The opportunity to serve on the board during this exciting time in Groupon's history has been a great one," Hobson said in an e-mailed statement. "Groupon's potential is extraordinarily high, and I will be watching what the future holds with great interest."
Groupon shares fell 5 percent to $7.45 at the close in New York today, taking their decline for the year to 37 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Olga Kharif in Portland at email@example.com
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tom Giles at firstname.lastname@example.com Ben Livesey, Reed Stevenson


text:
Thanks for visiting us!
Badminton Central is a free community for fans of badminton! If you find anything useful here please consider registering to see more content and get involved with our great community users, it takes less than 15 seconds! Everybody is welcome here.
Jwala Gutta & Ashwini Ponnappa
Discussion in 'India Professional Players' started by cobalt, Aug 12, 2011.
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text: Hi folks: Was asked recently about genome assembly, and I gave the answer that Chris gave below. What bugs me is that I haven't followed the assembly work for a while, and all I remember are the TIGR tools. Basically what I am asking is whether or not people have built assembly algorithms to run on smaller memory machines, or do we still need large memory SMPs to do the job? 64GB and up, or can we run some set of tools in under 16 GB on lots of cluster nodes? Thanks! Joe Chris Dagdigian wrote: > > Hi François, > > First off, what assembly program are you trying to run on your cluster? > Are you sure it is even capable of running in parallel across many > machines? Most people I know doing assembly are doing it within a single > large SMP system because shared memory is easier/faster and (I think...) > there is a relative lack of "true parallel" assembly algorithms. > > Here are some official grid engine helpful URLs: > > - http://gridengine.sunsource.net (main site for the codebase) > > - http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/coll/1017.3 (official documentation site) > > I also run a site at http://gridengine.info but that may not be helpful > until you are at least up and running. > > Some specific suggestions for you and your current setup: > > (1) Ignore the 'qmon' GUI. You won't be using it anyway with your > assembler and it just gets in the way of the more flexible command line > programs. Stick with the unix binaries like "qstat", "qrsh" and > "qsub". You won't be able to use SGE to its fullest unless you are > comfortable with the command line programs > > (2) Send us (or me) the output of the command "qstat -f" when run on > your system. It may explain why you could not run the simple.sh example > job. > > (3) Learn where your spool logs are, they will be invaluable in > debugging failures. The default location is something along the lines of > $SGE_ROOT/<cell>/spool/ -- in particular you want to look at the last > few lines of "qmaster/messages", "qmaster/schedd/messages" and any > messages files belonging to exec hosts that are not behaving. > > Regards, > Chris > > > > > > On Jul 6, 2006, at 4:42 PM, francois.fauteux2 at mail.mcgill.ca wrote: > >> Hi; >> >> I am totally new to grid computing. I recently tried to run some >> sequence assembly process on a G5 (8Gb RAM) but the process did >> require more memory. >> >> I installed N1SGE6 on 3 MACs G5 under 10.4.7 (connected trough a >> router) (alltogheter 13Gb RAM) and I would like to run the assembly >> process in parallel trough the cluster hoping that memory resources >> would be sufficient for the process to complete. >> >> I would appreciate hints as to "for-dummies-fast-how-to" configure the >> cluster / submit the job properly. >> >> I installed master and hosts with defaults settings. First try with >> examples/simple.sh returns (w. qmon): >> No free slots for interactive job! >> while 5 PCUs are available. >> >> Any hint as to how to properly configure the >> cluster/project/queues/parallel environments; or to use qsub with >> usefull options -for a fast getting started- would be greatly >> appreciated; thanks. >> >> François >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Bioclusters maillist - Bioclusters at bioinformatics.org >> https://bioinformatics.org/mailman/listinfo/bioclusters > > _______________________________________________ > Bioclusters maillist - Bioclusters at bioinformatics.org > https://bioinformatics.org/mailman/listinfo/bioclusters -- Joseph Landman, Ph.D Founder and CEO Scalable Informatics LLC, email: landman at scalableinformatics.com web : http://www.scalableinformatics.com phone: +1 734 786 8423 fax : +1 734 786 8452 cell : +1 734 612 4615


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Hooded Merganser
From Opus
(Difference between revisions)
Revision as of 23:20, 26 February 2012
The Hooded Merganser is a small, long-bodied diving duck. Both sexes have a "hammerhead" like crest, black and white on the drake while a rust brown on hens. The tail of this duck is rather long and often held upright when swimming. Like other mergansers, this bird has a long narrow bill.
This duck is a permanent or summer resident in the Northern portions of the United States and Canada. During the winter these ducks migrate across the Southeastern United States. In the Central portion of the United States this bird is found as a migrant with birds wintering on the West coast.
Most European sightings are likely to be escapes from wildfowl collections, though some (particularly in Iceland and Britain could be genuine vagrants.
This is a monotypic species[1].
A recent paper proposes that this species should be included in the genus Mergus[3]
These ducks are uncommon in small flocks on sheltered ponds and bays, especially wooded ponds and swamps with standing dead trees. During the breeding season females build a nest in a dead snag much like the Wood Duck Aix sponsa whom they have been known to share nests with.
These ducks forage by diving in shallow water where they consume small fish, aquatic insects, and crustaceans (especially crayfish).
Females lay a clutch of 5-44 white eggs inside a tree cavity or nest box, this nest is lined with the downy feathers from the hen's chest. The chicks hatch with open eyes and are covered in down. Within one day of hatching the chicks leave the nest never to return. Female Hooded Mergansers are known to dump their eggs in another Merganser's nest resulting in large clutch sizes; they have even been reported to dump their eggs in the nest of a Wood Duck.
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