text:
Continuing a breakdown of interesting nerdy (to me) tidbits about the "new comic book store" plot of The Simpsons episode, "Husbands and Knives."
• One of the strengths of The Simpsons is our ability to get away with referencing extremely esoteric chunks pop culture. I'd been looking for a way to sneak Tintin on the show for a long time, and if didn't happen in his episode, it wasn't gonna happen. Instead of parodying a specific story, it was fun to create a fake book called "Tintin in Paris" (although you can see about ten actual Tintin covers in the background). Tintin is up against the Black Orchid gang (a Hergé-sounding creation I hope), when his Black Castle-type castle turns into the classic Destination / Explorers on the Moon red and white rocket. At one point, Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus and the Thom(p)son twins were seen on the Pompidou Center, but we cut this for time.
• Here's a goofy thing that makes the internet want to commit suicide. In this show, we are completely inconsistent about using parody superheroes and real ones. This show mentions dozens of actual superheroes, like Superman and Wonder Woman, as well as creating paper-thin imitations, like the Thung (the Thing) and the Mulk (The Hulk). (Originally conceived, the Thung and Mulk were supposed to be blue and red, but somehow they ended up classic orange and green.) For some reason, it delights us to no end to make our parodies of things the laziest parodies in the world.
Let's talk about our three comic book creator guest stars. For one, how f-ing amazing is it that we put Alan Moore, Art Spiegleman and Dan Clowes on network TV? This is an unmitigated triumph. Do most TV viewers know who these legends are? No. But who cares? The right people know. And maybe now a few more.
• Dan Clowes designed the utility belts you see in the animation. Those are his actual drawings. He doesn't look as old in real life as he does in the show. Sorry, Dan.
• When Lisa is in line to have her copy of Ghost World signed by Dan Clowes, the bearded dork standing behind her is a design based on me. Finally, I'm in the show, with my trademark purple shirt! (?) Later, alternative comic book icon Gary Panter is also standing behind Lisa. He has a white t-shirt, grey hair and a black soul patch.
• Art Spiegleman insisted that his character wear a Maus "mouse" mask when he turns into a superhero. This was not our idea, and if it had been, we would have been to scared to pitch it to Art.
• We recorded Alan Moore near his home in Northampton, England. He and his partner, Melinda Gebbie, were superb sports. Alan has a tremendous speaking voice, deep, dark and terrifying. I like to think that the rage he feels when Milhouse shows him the copy of Watchmen Babies was real.
I was proud to show Melinda's art from Lost Girls behind Alan. (Good thing Fox has no idea what Lost Girls is.) Alan also recorded a spoken word version of the entire Little Lulu theme song, in the stentorian tone of Caesar addressing his troops. An absolutely transcendent moment, I assure you. A great reason to buy the Season 19 DVD.
I could blather on and on about "Husbands and Knives" all day. It's just such a freaky, weird, insane, fun episode. (Duffman treadmill dancing to OK Go's "Here We Go Again"?) Special thanks to the show's heroically talented director, Nancy Cruz, all the crazy guest starts, our super nerdy writing staff, and to the legion of Simpsons fans who enjoy our dorky nonsense. This one was for you.


text:
Facebook has over a billion monthly active users according to Statista. With Facebook ads, you have the opportunity to put your business and product in front of this very large and active user base. Many ecommerce businesses have been able to make the most of this opportunity and have grown their businesses significantly with Facebook ads. Online retailers such as Pigtails and Ponys, a hair accessories brand, and Joseph Nogucci, a designer jewelry brand, have had and continue to have a lot of success with Facebook ads. 70% of Pigtails and Ponys' customer base has been acquired through Facebook ads and Joseph Nogucci has seen a 7x return on their ad spend.
When you think of Facebook ads for your ecommerce business, maybe you begin to wonder if it's too expensive, if it's too difficult to figure out, or if it's still too early for your business to pay for advertising.
In this article, I'm going to go through the basics and fundamentals of Facebook ads and provide you with an overview of the platform. In a future article, I'll walk you through, step-by-step, how to create your first ad. For now, let's dive into the world of Facebook ads and what they look like for ecommerce businesses.
Who Can Create Ads?
Anyone with a Facebook account. To get the most out of Facebook ads, I suggest creating or having a Facebook Page that you can attach to your ads. This will give you more options in terms of placement and ad type when creating your ad.
Why Your Business Should Consider Facebook Ads
The reason so many marketers love Facebook is because of how highly specific you can get with your ad targeting. Because Facebook collects so much detailed and unique information from its users, if you wanted to, for example, sell steel toe boots, you can target a 33 year old construction worker in Wyoming, who likes Caterpillar Inc's Facebook page.
With each ad you create, you can choose how much you want to bid to have your ad shown to your target audience as well as if you want to bid on the cost per click (CPC) on your ad or on the cost per 1000 impressions (CPM).
Introducing Kit: your free virtual employee
Kit helps thousands of Shopify store owners market their online store. Hire Kit to drive sales and customer engagement with Facebook and Instagram ads, email marketing, social posting and more.Hire Kit free
To give you an idea of what you might pay, Statista reports that in Q3 of 2014, ecommerce businesses saw an average cost per click of $0.49 on Facebook. You also have complete control over your max bid, budget per day and total budget for your campaign. You can start testing ads for as low as a $1 a day to measure the kind of engagement you get before pouring more of your advertising budget into Facebook ads.
Lastly, as mentioned in the beginning of this article, many ecommerce businesses are already finding success with Facebook advertising. MVMT Watches had a 3x lower cost per acquisition on Facebook compared to other advertising channels and Bestowed, a healthy food delivery subscription service, had a 5x return on ad spend and increased their website traffic by 30% with Facebook ads.
Where Can You Advertise on Facebook?
The first part of Facebook advertising is deciding where you want your ads to be shown. You can choose to display your business' promotion in different places on Facebook, or even across all of them.
via Facebook
Looking at the graphic above, from left to right, we have mobile ads and desktop ads which allow for sidebar ads and news feed ads.
Mobile ads, which show ads in the news feed of mobile users, tend have a higher clickthrough rate than desktop ads. Qwaya saw a 3x increase on their CTR in their mobile ads versus desktop ads.
via Qwaya
While this information is valuable, it also means you need to ensure your website is mobile-friendly. Fortunately, if you're using Shopify, all Shopify themes are responsive and provide a mobile-friendly checkout experience.
Desktop ads have two different placement options. The first is the sidebar. The sidebar allows you to display an ad without being required to have a Facebook page.
The other placement option is in the news feed. According to AdEspresso, the news feed gets more engagement than sidebar ad placements, however creating a news feed ad requires you to have a Facebook page.
Lastly, Facebook rolled out their audience network last year which allowed advertisers to place ads in mobile apps.
Types of Facebook Ads
There are many different kinds of Facebook ad types but let's look at the ones that, as an ecommerce business owner, make the most sense and will likely be the most helpful. Also note that the ad types I talk about are for the mobile and desktop news feed. Sidebar ads will not allow for the elements talked about below since sidebar ads are more restrictive as they don't require you to have a Facebook page.
Page Post Ads
These are ads that require a Facebook page to create. These ads are essentially just like photo or link posts you can create like a status update for your Facebook page.
Multi-Product/Carousel Ads
These ads allow you to advertise multiple products within one ad. This is useful when you want to show off your catalogue or display different variations of your product.
Page Post Video Ad
Video ads auto-play play muted until the Facebook user taps the video to unmute the audio.
With each of the above ad types, you can choose an objective. This is what Facebook will try to optimize your ad for by showing your ad to users who are most likely to take your desired action. At the time of writing this article, there are 11 different Ad Objectives. You likely won't use most of them for your ecommerce business, but let's quickly dive into each one.
- Clicks to Website - Pay each time someone clicks your ad and visits your website.
- Website Conversions - Pay for each conversion on your website. This is tracked with a "conversion pixel", a snippet of code that is placed on the goal page – for an ecommerce businesses, this would be the order confirmation / thank you page. When a Facebook user reaches that page (for example, after checking out or purchasing a product) it is recorded as a conversion in Facebook.
- Page Post Engagement - Pay for the engagement your post gets such as likes, comments, and shares.
- Page Likes - Pay to increase the amount of Likes your page has.
- App Installs - Pay for each installation of your desktop or mobile app.
- App Engagement - Pay when users interact with a specific part of your app.
- Offer Claims - Pay to promote a discount or deal for your store.
- Local Awareness - Pay to show your ad to users near you.
- Event Responses - Pay to promote an event on Facebook.
- Video Views - Pay to promote a video based on views.
- Dynamic Product Ads - Pay to promote relevant products to users that have already browsed your ecommerce website.
US-based Shopify merchants can also use Facebook's "Buy" call-to-action button. The buy button allows consumers to easily purchase items they see on their News Feed or on Pages without leaving Facebook.
Regardless of the ad objective you choose, you'll still pay for any Likes, Shares, Comments, and any other kind of engagement your ads receives. However, as mentioned earlier, depending on the objective you select for your ad, Facebook will optimize your ad and show it to users who are more likely to perform the action you desire.
What's Your Goal?
Selecting and creating the right ad type is based on what you want to achieve with your Facebook ad. If you want to create an ad that generates purchases or email sign-ups, then 'website conversions' are a good objective for your ad. If you just want more Likes on your Facebook page, then creating an ad for 'page likes' is your best bet.
Of course, every ecommerce business owner's ultimate advertising objective is to drive sales on their website, however, there's no "one" ad type that will guarantee this. Every business is different and each business' customers are different, meaning you should explore each ad type and objective and keep a close eye on your competitors on Facebook to see what kind of ads they run.
What Kind of Facebook Users Do You Want to Reach?
Facebook has an array of options when it comes to selecting your target audience. Most of the options provide further detailed options for targeting Facebook users. I encourage you to play around with each option to fully see what's available to you in terms of targeting your ad. On Facebook, you can target users based on:
- Location
- Age
- Gender
- Language
- Relationship
- Education
- Work
- Ethnic Affinity
- Generation
- Parents
- Politics
- Life Events
- Interests
- Behaviors
- Connections
To get a better understanding of all of these targeting options, read Facebook's documentation about audience targeting.
For more advanced advertisers, you can create what Facebook calls "custom audiences". Using things like your email list or a retargeting pixel allows you to target or even exclude a very specific audience in your ads.
Social Media Examiner suggests creating a separate ad for each interest/topic. So, instead of inputting four different interests in your target audience for your one ad, create four different ads for each interest you wish to target. This way, you can see which interest performs the best for your ads. For example, if you were selling guitar straps, create an Ad Set targeting users with Gibson Les Paul as their interest, another Ad Set targeting users with Fender Stratocaster, another Ad Set targeting users with Gibson SG as their interest, etc.
If you need help figuring out who you should be targetting, read our article on buyer personas to get you started.
Your First Ad
There are three different ways to create your ad: right from your Facebook page, using the Ads Manager and using the Power Editor.
From within your page, you can choose to boost posts you've made (to reach Facebook users outside of those that like your page, or reach more of your fans) or even boost your page for more likes.
To create an ad, one way is through the Ads Manager. This is the method most users start with. It's easier to follow along and the process is a little more straight forward than the using the more advanced Power Editor.
The Power Editor, which is what I suggest using, has a bit of a learning curve (not much) but has more features than the Ads Manager. Learning to use the Power Editor to create ads will make it easier for you down the road to quickly and easily split test ads, bulk create ads, run ads for different audiences, and run ads for different budgets. The Power Editor also receives advertising features before they are released in the Ads Manager.
When you create an ad, each ad is put into three subgroups: Campaigns, Ad Sets and Ads. Campaigns are the overall groups for your ads, which contain subgroups known as Ad Sets. Each Ad Set can contain different ads.
Each group and sub-group allows you to set and change different aspects of your ad campaign. So changing the objective of a Campaign will do that for all your ads within the campaign. Changing the budget of an Ad Set will change the budget of all the ads within that Ad Set.
Here's a breakdown of the ad components you can manage within each group:
Creating Your Ad
Improve your conversion rates with high quality photography!
Burst is a free stock photo site powered by Shopify. Browse 1000s of product and lifestyle images to use in your Facebook ads.Get free stock photos from Burst
A easy and quick way to start is with a page post ad that tracks website conversions by placing the conversion tracking pixel on your checkout page. Page post ads don't require a lot of setup like a multi-product ad and they don't require a lot of time producing the creative for your ad like with a video ad. Of course, you'll want to test those ad types as well but to get started, a page post ad in the news feed is a great starting point.
When deciding on the objective, according to Kissmetrics, Facebook ads that use a low-friction conversion, generally perform a lot better. For example, asking a Facebook user to signup for an email list is a lot easier and will likely yield more conversions than asking a user to buy. Getting the email first, then using rapport and relationship building to eventually ask for the sale, can work better. This means you should consider other ad types besides only direct selling on Facebook.
As a quick tip when coming up with the copy and images for your ad, try to match the copy and image of the ad to the copy and images on your landing page. WhichTestWon saw an increase in conversions by 115% when the copy of the ad matched the copy on the landing page.
Ad Approval and Ad Guidelines
Before submitting your ad to Facebook, ensure you go over Facebook's advertising guidelines to ensure your ad doesn't break any rules, which will make the approval process as smooth as possible.
One quick thing to consider is the amount of text you can place on the image for your ad. Facebook only allows 20% of your ad image to contain text. Use Facebook's grid tool to help you determine whether or not your image has more than 20% text.
Once you submit an ad to Facebook, it goes through an approval process. Facebook is usually very quick to approve ads. It could be approved anywhere between a few minutes to a few hours. If it's your very first ad, it might take a little longer to get the ad approved. You will get an email and Facebook notification once the ad has been approved.
If you're struggling to get your ad approved, you can contact Facebook's support in regards to ad approvals.
Facebook Ad Reports
Once your ad is approved and running, it's important to monitor your ad to ensure it is performing well. Go to the Ads Manager and click on your ad to get a more detailed report. You can view the on-going and past report of any ad regardless or where you created it.
Some important metrics to keep track of and compare among your ads are:
- Conversions: How many users performed your desired action.
- Reach: How many Facebook users have seen your ad. (not to be confused with impressions, which is the total number of times your ad has been seen)
- Cost: Usually measured in cost per action. This will give you an idea of how much you are spending to get Facebook users to perform your desired action.
- Frequency: The amount of times, on average, your ad is shown to a user.
- Click-Through Rate: The percentage of users that click your ad. The higher, the better.
If you're wondering "what's a good click-through rate?" or "what's a good X?" it depends and there isn't really a benchmark you should be trying to meet. Use these metrics to compare your ads. If one ad has a significantly higher CTR (Click-Through Rate) than another, it might be time to pause the under performing ad to save you money.
You can also edit ads in the Ads Manager as well as pause or delete any ads.
Your Turn
If you feel like Facebook ads are the next logical step to your ecommerce business, and you've been itching to try them out, give it a shot. Remember that you can set a budget as low as you want it to be but also remember to have realistic expectations and experiment with your ads.
If you have any questions about setting up your very first Facebook ad or you need me to clarify a step or process mentioned in this article, feel free to leave a comment below. I engage and respond to everyone.
About The Author
Corey Ferreira is a passionate entrepreneur, coconut water lover and content creator at Shopify.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Alpha Kappa Alpha Rho Xi Omega Chapter's Annual Founders' Day Prayer Breakfast
January2018AlphaKappaRhoOmegaChaptersAnnualFoundersDayPrayerBreakfastAlpha Kappa Alpha Rho Xi Omega Chapters Annual Founders Day Prayer Breakfast
Photography by: Mark L. Dennis and Jay L. Baker
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
250 City Hall, Baltimore, MD 21202
Phone (410) 396-3835Fax (410) 576-9425
Copyright © 2014 City of Baltimore & Catherine E. Pugh, Mayor.
All Rights Reserved.
Powered by SmugMug


text:
|Photo by Ruth Lefkowitz
I discover it's not just single women: I had a conversation with a man about my age who is no longer having sex with his wife because she's too embarrassed about her weight gain to be naked with him.
Other men tell me similar stories -- that their wives hide their bodies, and the men miss the sex and the intimacy, but don't know how to ease their wives past their distaste for their bodies.
I'd like to talk to both genders here:
Finally, after meeting so many frogs (and not even tempted to kiss any of them), you've met a man who makes your heart flutter big time. You've flirted, you've gone on a few dates, you've talked half the night, you've laughed at his jokes and he at yours. On your last date, you kissed… and kissed. His hands went exploring, so did yours, and you know that on the next date, more than your lipstick will come off. You've even had the Condom Conversation.
But, your inner worrier keeps asking you, what if he sees your body and heads for the hills?
You've got to trust me on this, he's not going to say or even think any of the following:
- "Oh, gee, you have so many wrinkles!"
- "You'd be so pretty if you lost weight."
- "Huh—I thought you looked younger with clothes on."
- "I like firmer butts and perkier breasts."
- "Uh, I gotta go now."
No, whether or not he voices it out loud or conveys it with a smile or melting eyes, here's what he's thinking:
Partnered women: Does your husband have the same body as when you first dated? I doubt it. Realize that your man wants you, wants the bonding with you, wants the sexual pleasure with you. Instead of asking him, "Do I look fat?" try asking, "What do you find the sexiest part of my body?" His answer might surprise you, and I'll bet he'll be delighted that you asked.
Men: You may not realize how insecure we women are about our bodies. We need to hear from you that you find us sexy, alluring, beautiful. If you think our breasts are gorgeous, or our rear view turns you on, please tell us. Even an "I could gaze into your eyes forever" will make our hearts flutter. We need you to help us affirm our bodies. A hefty dose of romance does wonders for us, too!
We women are our own worst critics, always have been. Remember those teenage pimples? Those worries about our shape and smell? Let's decide, once and for all, that our bodies are just right, capably of visually delighting a partner and of bringing us both great pleasure.
If we can't do that at this time of life, when can we? Even if we don't fully believe it, acting "as if" we're proud of our bodies will help make it so.
So when it's time for that get-naked date, prepare with some gorgeous lingerie, dim the lights if you feel the need, but don't black out the view (candles are sexy and flattering), have lubricant handy, and enjoy.
I'd love to hear from both women and men about this topic! Please comment.
This post was originally published in a slightly different form 11/8/11. I expanded and updated it 11/20/2012.


text:
Lens x Finder - Experience the Extreme Shooting SensationThe combination of versatile & functional Fujinon lens and a bright viewfinder gives a sensational shooting experience.
Fujinon 24x Optical Zoom* & Wide 24mm Zoom LensHighly Regarded by Professionals World-wide
The widely renown Fujinon Lenses are used popularly in numerous situations including satellites in outer space, TV/film, surveillance, and compact cameras. With the highly adept manufacture of Fujifilm, high precision optic and technology are provided for the best 24mm wide angle and 24x optical zoom.
* Equivalent on 35mm camera
Super EBC - Aiming for High Quality Images - The lens elements used in the FinePix S4200 have been treated with multilayer Super EBC (Electron Beam Coating), the same process used for Fujinon broadcasting video lenses and large-format camera lenses acclaimed by professionals. Reducing ghosting and lens flare, the treatment promises clear image quality.
42-step Electronic Powered Zoom
The powered 24x zoom features smooth 42-step zoom control, giving you the ability to frame every shot with precision accuracy.
2cm Super Macro
At a distance of just 2cm, macro photography using the FinePix S4200 allows you to capture all the exquisite detail of your subject from really close up.
High Sensitivity + CCD Shift Image Stabilization
Dual Image Stabilization is the combination of high sensitivity and CCD shift image stabilization that works to eliminate blurred photos by freezing action and minimizing blurs at maximum zoom range.
Electronic Viewfinder
The FinePix S4200 offers the flexibility of framing your shots through the crisp, clear electronic viewfinder. In addition to enhanced visibility in bright daylight, the bright EVF accommodates a traditional shooting style, making it easy to steady the camera, even when shooting with the 24x zoom fully extended.
3.0-inch Large LCD
The 3.0-inch large, bright LCD display makes it easy to compose great photos. Sharing pictures is a pleasure, thanks to a high-impact 230,000-dot resolution.
AA Battery
The FinePix S4200 can be powered by four AA-type alkaline batteries, affording a convenient source of power when you're on the road and eliminating the need to carry a bulky charger.
Fast Startup
Turn the power ON from a cold start and FinePix S4200 is ready to shoot in only 1.8 sec.
SR AUTO & Detection Functions
Equipped with SR AUTO, an auto 6 scene-recognition function with fully loaded detection functions that detect faces, blinks and smiles for clear optimized people photos.
6 Scene SR AUTO (Scene Recognition Auto)
Framed scenes are automatically detected and selected into appropriate camera settings: Portrait, Landscape, Night, Macro, Night Portrait, and Backlit Portrait.
Recognizes portraits by detecting the faces quickly in the frame and optimizing focus, brightness and white balance.
Scenic shots such as mountains and buildings are automatically recognized. Colors of the sky, forests, and flower fields are captured in vivid colors and depth.
For low-light and night-time scenarios, shutter speed and sensitivity are automatically adjusted, producing blur-free pictures with minimal noise.
Macro mode sets the focusing position of the details of small flowers or tiny subjects accurately.
Night Portrait
When photographing people at night or in low light, SR AUTO optimizes flash range, shutter speed, and exposure of the portraits, while capturing smooth and luminous background.
Backlit Portrait
Optimizes brightness of the faces that usually end up in shadow and underexposure caused by the light behind.
Face Detection
Face Detection optimizes people pictures by detecting faces and adjusting focus and exposure to ensure bright, clear results.
Red-eye Removal in Detected Faces
Red-eye removal automatically detects and corrects flash reflection for a perfect end result.
Instantly Detect up to 10 Faces!
The Face Detection can simultaneously recognizes up to 10 faces in a photo. Share your group portraits using the Zoom Up function in playbacks, checking each detected face. Each priceless expression can be cropped and saved in clear high resolution results.
Blink Detection
The camera will warn you when people in the frame are blinking, giving you the option to retake the photo, or enlarge the face so you can save or delete the image before you take the next shot.
Smile & Shoot Mode
The Smile & Shoot mode of Scene Position, automatically releases the shutter when the smile appears so you won't miss the adorable smile the moment they happen
High Performance Shooting Functions
Introducing high-performance shooting functions of Motion Panorama, Super Macro Shooting, Tracking Auto Focus, Instant Zoom and Zoom Bracketing Mode.
Motion Panorama
Lets you take panorama photos as simply as 1, 2, 3! The camera automatically stitches together three consecutive shots, with simple in-frame guidance to ensure the images are aligned. The resulting image is saved to the memory card as an impressive panorama.
Natural Light and with Flash
Can't decide whether it's best to use flash? Choose this mode, press the shutter and automatically capture the same scene twice: once with high sensitivity and natural light, and the second time with Intelligent Flash. Later choose one or keep both!
Tracking Auto Focus
Keeps fast moving subjects in the frame and in focus, even when the zoom is fully extended. Great for capturing dynamic close-ups.
Instant Zoom
A function to follow moving subjects in standard wide view for easy framing at high zoom settings. With a single press of a button, the subject tracked within the selected frame on the LCD, will be captured and saved at a high zoom ratio (1.4x or 2.0x digital zoom).
Zoom Bracketing Mode
Enables three shots to be taken at the single press of the button, at varying degrees of magnification (original, 1.4x and 2.0x). This enables instant editing on the camera to choose the ideal shot, rather than having to go back to a PC to facilitate a digital crop.
Date Stamp Function
Shooting date and time can be embedded in the lower right-hand corner of the image files.
HDTV-compatible Photos & Video
Able to capture both photos and movies in high-definition 16:9 format, the FinePix S4200 lets you discover the impact of full-screen HDTV image display.
Capture high resolution images in 16:9 format.
Photo Shooting
Capture high resolution images in 16:9 format (4,288 x 2,416 pixels, 3,072 x 1,728 pixels, 1,920 x 1,080 pixels).
Movie Shooting
Capture high resolution images in 16:9 format (1,280 x 720 pixels).
Versatile Shooting Modes
In addition to a wide range of shooting modes, the FinePix S4200 offers a selection of versatile scene positions that ensure optimum results no matter what the scene.
Easy Upload and Searching
Share pictures with friends and family, tagging pictures and movies for upload to Facebook and YouTube right in your camera.
Share your images with built in social networking
Don't wait until you get home to start choosing which pictures to upload to Facebook. Start the process in camera by tagging the pictures you want to share. The next time you connect to your home computer your images will upload automatically. The same goes for movie clips too, which can also be uploaded to YouTube.
Easy Web Uploading to YouTube and Facebook via MyFinePix Studio
It's as easy as one, two, three. Shoot pictures and tag them for upload to your Facebook profile page or YouTube account.
1. Shoot 2. Mark 3. Upload
When the FinePix S4200 is connected to a PC, the marked images are uploaded to the designated site, eliminating the need for time-consuming PC-based image processing or selection.
MyFinePix Studio Automatically Searches for New Images to Upload for You
MyFinePix Studio detects new images to upload. When finding new image to upload, the uploader starts automatically.
Favorites Rank
Sort your favorite photos tagged by rank of stars from 0 through 5. Quickly search favorite pictures depending on the rank using image search.
Photobook Assist
Create a photo album in your camera. Easily accessible and mobile, you can share images with family and friends anytime, anywhere. Installed in-camera, you can create a photobook folder where tagged images will be stored and organized accordingly. Your photobook can also be ordered online for print when connected to the internet*1, as well as when you go to stores to get your photos printed*2, images can easily be sorted when tagged.
*1 MyFinePix Studio is required to be updated through Internet to use this function. *2 Print service availability depends on region.
Playback Functions
Easy and simple search function with slideshow and red-eye removal during playback.
Image Search
With the convenient Image Search Function, you can search pictures by Date, Face, Scene, Type of Data, Favorite Rank and Upload Mark.
By Date
Viewing your saved photo image by date, making it easy to locate specific events or occasions.
By Face
All your portraits can be selected and replayed based on composition: group photos, couple pictures, or solo portraits.
By Scene
Photos shot with Auto or SR Auto mode can be replayed according to the type of scene: portrait, landscape, night scene and macro.
By Type of Data
Display the content of your image library according to the type of data: still photos, or movie footage.
By Favorite Rank
Quickly search favorite pictures depending on the rank.
By Upload Mark
Photos or movies which you have marked to upload on YouTube/Facebook.
Close-ups of detected faces are shown in slideshow style.
Red-eye Removal During Playback
This function corrects red-eyes while playback of detected faces.
Micro Thumbnail View
Up to 100 pictures can be viewed at a time in a 10x10 array of micro thumbnails. Convenient for smooth and comfortable playback.
SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card Slot
The versatile card slot is compatible with high-capacity Secure Digital (SDHC/SDXC) memory cards.
Dimensions: 4.6 in. (W) x 3.1 in. (H) x 3.9 (D) in.
Receive Our Latest Deals
Connect With Buydig


text:
Hey, CCer's.
I has an idea. (Why yes, I did just use lolspeak. What of it?)
The past few years we've frequented T.S. McHughes for the CC dinner, and I propose an adventurous idea. The Monorail runs around $4 roundtrip, and lets off at 5th and Pine, give or take. Which is a mere six blocks from Hard Rock Cafe.
I suggest we go to the Hard Rock this year. It's a bit pricier then our normal fare, but the food is better. And who doesn't love an adventure?
Yay? Nay? Lemme know your thoughts! I'd need a headcount so I can hopefully make a reservation. Friday @5 should get us back to the center in time for the Keynote.
[Edit: I realize that I was entirely presumptuous, and failed to mention that this will be Friday, 9/30, @5:00--during BrickCon!]


text:
Fall River native Andy Chau will return the city this Sunday to take on the role of guest conductor with the FRSO.
Fall River native Andy Chau will return the city this Sunday to take on the role of guest conductor with the Fall River Symphony Orchestra. The FRSO's spring concert offers a mix of audience favorites, said Chau, including Rossini's William Tell Overture.
The FRSO will also perform Slavonic Dance No. 7 by Dvorak, Coronation March from Le Prophet by Meyerbeer, Nimrod from Engima Variations by Elgar and Danse Bacchanale by Saint-Saens.
Chau, the fourth guest conductor for the season, is the only Fall River native trying out for the FRSO conductor position that was left vacant when longtime conductor Ann Danis retired at the end of last season. This season featured three other guest conductors vying for the position: Douglas McRay Daniels, co-chair of the Gann Academy Arts Department, music director for the Bentley University Chamber Orchestra, associate conductor of the Waltham Philharmonic Orchestra and founder and artistic director of 3rd Sundays at 3 Chamber Music Series; Benjamin Vickers, the current Zander Conducting Fellow for the 2012-2013 season of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra; and Channing Yu, music director of the Mercury Orchestra in Cambridge.
Chau, who was the orchestra director at B.M.C. Durfee High School last year, graduated from Durfee in 2007. He went on to study music education at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, where he switched to a double major, music education and clarinet, after just one semester. He graduated from UMass Lowell in 2011 and then went to the Boston Conservatory, where he received his master's degree in music education in 2012.
Chau works with other aspiring musicians in helping them to develop their career goals as director of Career Support Services and Student Programs at the Boston Conservatory in addition to managing and performing with various orchestra's and chamber ensembles.
Over the years Chau has played violin and clarinet with the FRSO. Last week as Chau was preparing for his role as guest conductor, rehearsing the varied group of performers in the community orchestra, he said he's "a passionate conductor who enjoys making music with a group in collaboration."
His background in music education, he said, will help him continue the FRSO's tradition of performing, and community outreach. "A lot of my mentors are from here, and not to give that back to them would be nice," he added.
The Fall River Symphony Orchestra Spring Concert will be held Sunday, April 13, at 3 p.m., in the Margaret L. Jackson Arts Center at Bristol Community College. Tickets area available at the door: Adult $15, Child/ Student free. Due to a medical emergency Bonnie Anderson, piano soloist, will not perform on April 13th concert. For more information visit, www.fallriversymphonyorchestra.org or Facebook: Fall River Symphony Orchestra
More about Andy C. Chau:
Born and raised in Fall River, Andy Chau completed his graduate work at The Boston Conservatory where he received his Master of Music in Music Education in 2012. He received his Bachelor of Music in Music Education and Clarinet Performance from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell in 2011.
Being an avid performer, educator, and administrator, Mr. Chau is currently Director of Career Support Services and Student Programs at The Boston Conservatory, Manager of the Rivers Conservatory Youth Wind Ensemble, and Managing Director of the Alcyon Chamber Ensemble. He was previously Director/Conductor of the B.M.C. Durfee High School Symphony/String Orchestra and Elementary Strings Specialist of the Fall River Public Schools. Mr. Chau can be described as a versatile music educator. He also has experiences conducting choral, band, and chamber ensembles at the secondary level. As a performer, Andy is both an accomplished clarinetist and violinist. He serves as Principal Clarinetist of the Concert for Hope Orchestra and has performed with the Metropolitan Wind Symphony, Rivers Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, AAYSO, and the Fall River Symphony Orchestra.
Andy has been an avid member of the Massachusetts Music Educators Association and has held many leadership roles. In the past Andy has been Collegiate Ambassador Coordinator as well as Equipment Coordinator for the All State Conference and Concert. In the Southeastern District, Andy has been both an Orchestra and Band Manager on all levels. Currently, Andy is an active clinician, performing arts career consultant and performer in the Greater Boston Area working with various musicians, orchestras and ensembles.


text:
Elsie Sue Marie Bonham
BLACKWELL — Elsie Sue Marie Bonham, Blackwell resident, died Wednesday, July 1, 1998, in her home. She was 57.
A memorial service will be held 4 p.m. Sunday, July 5, 1998, at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Blackwell with Elder Pat Pendland officiating. Arrangements are under the direction of Roberts Funeral Home in Blackwell.
Elsie Sue Marie Bonham was born November 20, 1940, in Billings, the daughter of Leo and Marie (Herde) Bryant. She grew up in Billings attending schools there. She married Charles Albert Bonham April 21, 1957, in Billings and they settled in Blackwell.
Bonham later received her GED and began working for Gloria Belair Realty of Blackwell. She received her realtors license while working for Belair Realty and later began working for Harold Weigle Agency for 10 years. She then started her own business, Bonham Realty, operating it until the time of her death. She was a member of the Board of Realtors of Blackwell and was also a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses.
She is survived by her husband of the home; her mother of Blackwell; three daughters, Sharon Owili-Eger of Ponca City, Marcia Richmond of Blackwell, and Linda Thompson of Edmond; one son, Scott Bonham of Blackwell; two sisters, Lois Luthye of Perry and Judy Garris of Bella Vista, Ark.; two brothers, Lloyd Bryant of Hot Springs, Ark., and Pat Bryant of California; and 13 grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her father and one sister, Karen Smith.
Memorial contributions may be made in her name to the Hospice of Ponca City, 1904 N. Union, Ponca city, OK 74601 or World Wide Preaching of Jehovah's Witnesses, 401 E. Dewey, Blackwell, OK 74631.


text:
The Free Profile gives you a public profile with:
- up to 60 images,
- a fullscreen slideshow of your artwork,
- an exhibition history that you can create and manage,
- your Bio or Statement and
- your personal Blog.
ArtSlant profiles are highly optimized for search engines, so you will want to create or claim your profile and ensure it contains the information you want to present.
The Standard Subscription includes everything in the Free Subscription plus greater control over your public image.
The Standard Subscription allows for:
- an enhanced profile with more artworks and artwork collections,
- greater control over what shows to the public.
The Standard Subscription gives you complete control over what the public will see when they come to your ArtSlant profile.
The Premium Profile Subscription provides a standalone artist website with your personal domain name and hosting.
- All the complicated setup and maintenance is managed by ArtSlant.
- Keep your website up to date effortlessly with easy and intuitive editing capabilities.
The Premium Profile Subscription lets you select from our modern, clean designs to create your personal website
- A public profile on ArtSlant optimized for search engines
- Up to 60 images in your profile
- A full screen slideshow of all your work
- Listings of your exhibits
- Your statement or bio
- Personal information such as your education and website
- Reviews of your exhibits
- Comments if you wish to allow them
Control over what shows on your profile
- Viewers see no ads on your profile pages
- Hide exhibits, network, awards or other sections
- Add or remove galleries on your Representing Galleries list
- Hide exhibits on exhibits list
- Hide artists on 'exhibits with' list
- Option to set your entire profile as private
Enhanced artwork management
- Create up to 5 collections to organize your artwork
- Add up to 300 works
- Set the collections and artwork order
- View the large slideroom by collection
- Set images or collections as private only
Professional website
- No ArtSlant Branding
- Customizable Templates
- Select themes and personalize it using the rich text editor
- Contact Form
- Unlimited Images
- Unlimited collections
Fully managed and easy to update
- Hosted and managed for you
- Personal URL - yourdomain.com
- Search engine optimized
- Easy to keep up to date
- See statistics on your profile views and art works
Not sure?
Take advantage of our free Premium Subscription 14 day trial!
No credit card required!
Start my free trial!


text:
My First Five Years Curates Your Child's Precious Early Moments
Between your digital camera's media stick, your desktop/laptop hard drive, your family website, Facebook status updates, and your smartphone's camera roll, you probably have digital memories of your kids spread out everywhere. There are a bunch of tools that help parent corral all of their children's treasured first moments, but none of them claim to do it as beautiful as the My First Five Years App from world-renowned photographer Anne Geddes.
Think of the My First Five Years app as digital scrapbooking for capturing those moments like your kids first smile, first step, first word, and other instances that you know needs a special home. In addition to just organizing pictures, My First Five Years lets users keep a record of your child's early education with the Preshool and Kindergarten pages, record valuable information about vaccinations, health and dental visits, and record audio like your child's favorite lullaby or a special message from other family members.
The digital book offers a wide-range of customization in the form of over 120 pages with a variety of different layouts to choose from, all featuring iconic imagery from Anne's beloved books, Down in the Garden, Until Now, PURE and Beginnings. With the integration of your calendar, users can keep their book up-to-date by using the helpful milestone reminders which can be added to iCal and synced with all your devices.
You can also save multiple books so even child has their own book with their special moments inside. At any time, you can present your book to your family and friends as a beautiful slideshow, or share pages online. At $14.99 in the Mac App Store, My First Five Years is pricey, but worth the investment if you're looking for ONE PLACE for your child's early memories.


text:
United States Transgender Advocacy is a 501 (C) (3) public charity dedicated to the transgender community. We are located in Northern Illinois and serve the entire United States. Our board members are professionals in what they do and are located throughout the United States. Having our board members in different areas of the country allows the organization to have more contacts and allies in more areas, understand the same or different transgender issues throughout the US, and allows the organization to have a presence in rural communities.
Our Vision: To help protect transgender individuals from all forms of discrimination, violence, and harassment in their lives.
Our Mission: To help transgender individuals become accepted in society through visibility, educating the public, forming allies, and a focus of protecting transgender individuals from violence.
Donations to the organization are tax deductible and 100% of all donations goes to our efforts. For more on the work the organization has done please go to: www.ustransgenderadvocacy.org


text:
EventsSex Please We're Sixty
Date: Apr. 26, 2019
Time: 6:30 pm - 10:00 pm
Contact Name: Lisa Green
Contact Phone Number: 262-284-6850
Admission Fee: Yes
Location: Memories Ballroom
Mrs. Stancliffe's Rose Cottage Bed & Breakfast has been very successful. Her Guests (nearly all women) return year after year. Her next door neighbor Bud "Bud the Stud" Davis believes they come to spend time with him. Her would-be suitor Henry Mitchell is a retired chemist who has developed a pill called "Venusia which still has not been tested.
Add Victoria Ambrose, a romance novelist, Hillary Hudson a friend of Henry's and Charmaine Beauregard, a "Southern Belle". Bud gets his hands on some of the Venusia pills and the fun begins, as he attempts to entertain all three women! The women mix up Bud's Viagra pills with the Venusia, and we soon discover that it has a strange effect on men.
Tickets: $48 plus tax
Click here for more information »


text:
The Role and Functions of the Friend of the Court
The Friend of the Court is an entity created by statute to assist the Family Court in establishing, enforcing, and modifying orders regarding child support, child care expenses, child custody, parenting time, uninsured medical costs, and domicile. The Friend of the Court investigates and issues reports and recommendations regarding these issues. The Friend of the Court holds Referee Hearings involving all of these issues and also holds show cause hearings to enforce child support, parenting time, and spousal support orders.
The Friend of the Court provides Conciliation Hearings at the beginning of new domestic relations cases to address the issues of child custody, support, and parenting time. The Friend of the Court additionally provides mediation for domestic relations cases which attempts to amicably resolve disputes between Parties in a nonadversarial fashion.
See the Friend of the Court Act, MCL 552.501; the Support and Parenting Time Enforcement Act, MCL 552.610.
Website Created and Maintained by Allen Schlossberg
[To navigate through the Friend of the Court Website, please click the links below. Links to FORMS are located at the bottom]
- Friend of the Court NOTICE: Notice of Friend of the Court 2018 Annual Statutory Review
- Friend of the Court NOTICE: Notice of Friend of the Court Policy Regarding Referee Hearing Cancellation or Adjournment
- Friend of the Court Staff
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Friend of the Court Handbook
- PayNearMe-For Cash Payments, Make Case Payments at any 7-11 or Family Dollar store
- How to Access Your Friend of the Court Account (MiChildSupport)
- Understanding Child Support, A Handbook for Parents
- Definitions and Terms
- The SMILE Program
- Medical Expense Reimbursement Enforcement
- Conciliation Hearings
- Changing Domicile
- Changing Custody
- American Psychological Association Guidelines for Custody Evaluations
- Changing Child Support
- Changing Parenting Time
- Parenting Time Complaints
- Reasonable Rights of Parenting Time Policy
- Parenting Time Abatements
- Resources and Links
- Contacting the Friend of the Court
- Information for Employers
- Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA)
- Most Common Myths Regarding the Friend of the Court
- Most Wanted for Nonpayment
- Obtaining Friend of the Court Records
- Policy Regarding Psychological Evaluation Reports
- Things to Know If You Are Incarcerated
- Financial Liability of Parents for Children Born Out of Wedlock
- DNA Paternity Testing - Questions and Answers
- How to Make a CHILD SUPPORT Payment
- Available Employment (Updated Weekly)
- Housing Services and Related Resources
- Filing a complaint (Grievance) about the Friend of the Court operations or employees
- Children of Divorce Workshop
- Verified Statement (FORM)
- Domestic Relations (FORM)
- Friend of Court Case Questionnaire (FORM)
- Injured Spouse (FORM)
- Change of Address (FORM)
- Child Care Verification (FORM)
- Change of Employment (FORM)
- Name Change (FORM)
- Personal Information Changes [name, address, employment, medical insurance coverage] (FORM)
- Motion to Change Custody (FORM)
- Motion Regarding Parenting Time (FORM)
- Motion to Change Child Support (FORM)
- Uniform Child Support Order, FOC 10 (FORM)
- Uniform Child Support Order, No FOC Services, FOC 10a (FORM)
- Uniform Child Support Order, Deviation, FOC10d (FORM)
- Uniform Spousal Support Order, FOC 10b (FORM)
- Uniform Spousal Support Order, No FOC Services, FOC 10c (FORM)
- Direct Deposit Authorization (FORM)
- Opting Out of Friend of Court Services (FORM)
- Opting in Friend of the Court Services (FORM)
- Affidavit of Indigency (Waiver of Fees) (FORM)
- Referral Order (FORM)
- Request to Access Friend of the Court Records (FORM)
- Payment Coupons (FORM)
- Grievance (FORM)
- Click here if you have a question or comment regarding the Friend of the Court
Reference Material
"For complete details and descriptons for the 56A District Court amensty program please click the link below


text:
In Part 1 of my Windows Vista December 2005 CTP (build 5270) review, I focused on the setup experience, new desktop features, and changes to the user interface. In this second part of the review, I'll look at the bundled applications that Microsoft is including in this pre-release version of the next Windows client. Microsoft found itself in antitrust-related trouble thanks to its policy of bundling applications with its dominant Windows OS. However, to be fair, competitors such as Apple, with Mac OS X, and the Linux community have been bundling similar suites of applications in their own operating systems for years. Arguably, Microsoft has a right to make Windows Vista as competitive as possible.
The bundled applications we see in Windows Vista build 5270 are largely evolutions of the applications found today in Windows XP. We might logically break them up into new applications--those that are unique to Windows Vista--and existing applications that are being upgraded for the new system.
New applications
Newcomers include Windows Defender, an anti-spyware tool that Microsoft will also make available for free to XP and 2003 users, DVD Maker HD, Windows Mail (which is really just the next version of Outlook Express), Windows Calendar, and Windows Backup, which might be the first truly good backup application to ever be included with Windows.
Windows Defender
Microsoft's Windows AntiSpyware product has finally made the transition to Windows Defender in this release, and it sports a much simpler user interface as well as improved spyware and malware detection. Also, Microsoft notes that Windows Defender now runs under standard user privileges, so you don't have to be logged in as an admin-level user to use it any more. That's impressive, I suppose, but isn't that the whole point of Windows Vista to begin with?
In any event, Windows Defender has undergone a number of changes. It's integrated into Security Center (Figure), sports a new tray icon, and has been thoroughly redesigned to more closely resemble Windows One Care Live (Figure). The main Windows Defender screen is the paragon of simplicity, providing only status information and a toolbar with links to various features, most of which you'll never need to access manually anyway. The Scan feature provides Quick Scan and Full Scan, and a way to customize system scans (Figure). Additionally, the Setting and Tools panel provides a nice front-end to various configurable options. This last screen is more than vaguely similar to a similar interface on the old Giant Company AntiSpyware product on which Windows Defender is based. (Microsoft purchased that company almost exactly a year ago.)
One nice feature of integrating this application into Windows is that product updates, including new spyware definitions, can be delivered via Automatic Updates and Windows Update. Indeed, since starting this review, Microsoft has already shipped a Windows Defender update via Windows Update (Figure).
Windows Photo Gallery
In my review of build 5231, I noted that Windows Photo Gallery (WPG), then called Windows Digital Gallery, was both a simplified version of Microsoft Digital Image Suite (DIS) 2006 Library, and woefully did not work correctly. In build 5270, this application--which provides handy photo management capabilities akin to Apple's iPhoto--does finally work. It looks like a winner: With WPG, you can organize your digital photo (and video) collection in logical ways in its default Gallery view, adding titles, rating, captions, and custom meta data tags to your photos (Figure). You can also use WPG to perform simple editing tasks via its Fix command, which switches the application into an Edit view where you can auto adjust individual photos, and adjust exposure or color (Figure).
WPG also supplies other photo (and video)-related functions, such as printing (via a nice new photo printing wizard) (Figure), and even DVD movie burning through the new DVD Maker HD application. WPG can even be use to acquire photos from digital cameras, scanners, and other sources if you prefer to use a single application for all of those tasks.
Windows DVD Maker HD
Windows DVD Maker HD (called Windows DVD Maker in this build) appears to be functional and present in build 5270, but requires, I believe, a DVD decoder to run. I've tried the DVD decoder I use with Windows XP, but cannot get it to work. If I can figure this one out, I'll update the review, but for now, just know that a DVD movie making application, similar to Apple's iDVD, is on the way.
Windows Collaboration
Windows Collaboration is a peer-to-peer (P2P) collaboration application that allows one to ten people with Windows Vista systems to remotely work together as if they were in the same room. The application lets you share your desktop with other coworkers, distribute and edit documents, and pass notes to other participants. What's interesting about this application, beyond the fact that it's bundled into Windows at all, is that it will work with existing wireless or wired networks if they exist, but if no networks are found, it will set up a special ad hoc network with other nearby participants using Wi-Fi technology. In this way, Windows Collaboration is different from other similar applications in that it does not require a server (or an actual Internet connection if the participants are all nearby).
The Windows Collaboration application is extremely simple (Figure). It features links for starting a new session, joining an existing session, and opening an invitation file (which is optionally sent by a person starting a collaboration session). When you start a session, you're prompted to provide a session name and password. Then, the session starts, and you see a workspace that includes a presentation area (for shared applications), a list of participants, and a list of handouts. When you pick an application to share, your desktop switches into presentation mode so that participants can see what you're working on and participate.
So ... what's the point of all this? One of the big bets in Windows Vista is that users will want to user P2P technologies to interact with others in meaningful ways. Windows Collaboration is the most obvious example of this work, and it betrays the way Microsoft thinks. That is, that most people using Windows will want to interact in a way that very closely mimics a business meeting, complete with "handouts" and so on. I'm not sure this is the way things will go--in fact, I'd argue that this sort of functionality will be far more appealing to college-aged kids than established knowledge workers. It would be interesting to see a more generalized way for individuals to meet each other virtually, and exchange files and other information.
Windows Calendar
It's unclear why Windows has lacked a quality desktop calendaring application for so long, but Windows Vista will introduce Windows Calendar, which appears to be on par with Apple's iCal application. Windows Calendar is attractive looking (Figure), offers a number of nice calendar views including day, week, and month (and work week, but only through the menu), and features an integrated task module. In many ways, it's the functional equivalent of the Calendar portion of Microsoft Outlook, albeit without any enterprise-oriented features.
What's really nice is that Windows Calendar works with Internet-standard calendaring formats such as ICS. That means you can subscribe to Web-based calendars, and even publish your own calendar. And for the old-fashioned, Windows Calendar's print function does a nice job of providing stock print styles (including, yes, Work Week) (Figure).
Because Windows Calendar is integrated with Windows, you can optionally configure it to provide event notifications even when the application is not running, a nice touch. If you're familiar with iCal, you know all you need to know about Windows Calendar.
Windows Backup
Continuing in the tradition of other bundles applications, Windows Backup presents an overly simple user interface and can be automated to run in the background without much intervention (Figure). If you configure Windows Backup to perform automatic backups, you can choose which types of files to backup (documents, photos, music, and/or movies and videos), where the backup will occur (DVD/CD, or via a network share), and when the backups will take place (daily, weekly, or monthly) and at what time (Figure). The first backup will include all of your files, while subsequent backups will only include changed or new documents.
Windows Backup also offers manual backups, various restore tasks, and, interestingly, a way to save a system image, which is a backup of the entire hard disk. System images can be used to completely restore your PC to a point-in-time state, which can be handy if something horrible happens down the road.
Anyone who's tried to use the sad backup applications found in current Windows versions will appreciate the work that's gone into Windows Backup. It looks like a classy application.
Upgraded versions of existing bundled applications
The rest of the bundled applications are updated versions of old favorites, such as Windows Media Player and Windows Movie Maker.
Windows Media Player 11
With version 11, Windows Media Player (WMP) is undergoing a metamorphosis into something special. This is kind of tragic, frankly, because virtually no one will even appreciate what happened until Apple rips them off in the next major version of iTunes. To understand the difference, consider how applications such as iTunes and WMP 10 present music library information today. Even though the music files themselves are rich media files with accompanying album art and other meta data, today's music jukeboxes present your music library as a flat file database composed solely of text that describes each song. Boring.
In WMP 11, Microsoft is revolutionizing media jukebox applications by presenting this information visually. The default view for music files, songs, is representative of this approach: Instead of a long, monotonous list of song titles, you get rich album art, along with the ability to rate each song (Figure). That's the default view.
You can also sort your music library in various other ways, such as by artist (Figure), album, genre, year, or rating. And as you'd expect, each of these views presents a similar rich look at album art. That's all well and good, but this is Vista we're talking about, so WMP 11 also supports a stacked view, as seen in the Genre view. This lets you dive into your music collection in a way that will quickly become familiar to Vista users.
Aside from the wonderful visualizations, WMP 11 is improved in many other ways. First of all, it's considerably simpler looking than previous WMP, with a nice tabbed-based navigation scheme across the top of the window. Each of these tabs hides a multitude of context-sensitive additional features, however. When you click the little down-arrow under Library, for example, you'll see various media library-related options (Figure), including options for switching the view from music to pictures, video, recorded TV, or other media content (it is called Windows Media Player, after all).
WMP 11 also includes pervasive search features that are similar to those found in the OS itself. "We've made major updates to Windows Media Player 11 in this build," Shanen Boettcher, the Senior Director of the Windows Client Group at Microsoft said in a briefing earlier this week. "These changes are consistent with the integration of search elsewhere in the system." When you type text into the integrated WMP 11 search box, the results appear as you type (Figure). They're context-sensitive too. If you search for "Enya" under Songs or Artists, results will appear, but that won't fly in Genres.
Media Center
In my review of Windows Vista build 5231, I heaped an egregious amount of scornful criticism on the version of Media Center it included. I'm here today, two months later, to tell you that Microsoft has not only listened the criticism that I, and no doubt many others, inflicted on them for what I'll call Media Center 5231, but that the version found in build 5270 is largely fixed and does not include many of the problems I called out in that previous review.
Let's step back for a moment so you'll understand where I'm coming from. I'm a Media Center proponent. I've championed this wonderful digital video recorder (DVR) solution since the first demo I received at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2002 and my family has used a Media Center PC as its only TV interface since an early beta in mid-2002. Over the intervening years, we've upgraded to beta versions of each new version, and I've worked closely with various members of the Media Center and Digital Media teams at Microsoft on each version, establishing friendships along the way as I provided feedback on each release. I have watched as each Media Center version built on previous versions, adding features and yet retaining the wonderful simplicity that made this product as usable by normal people (like my wife and kids) as it is for technical people like you and I. For my family, Media Center is TV. They have never known a world without it, and they expect to see television content that is tailored to their needs, when they want it. There are good and bad aspects to that, of course. But for the past three and a half years, Media Center has sat front and center in our living room, serving up family photos and home movies in addition to TV shows (both live and recorded) and DVD movies. We've sold countless Media Centers just from people coming into my home and seeing what it can do. It's that good.
And then came build 5231, like a slap to the face. Gone were the simple navigation and design, replaced by an ugly, busy, and complicated user interface. It was if the Media Center team had forgotten why Media Center was successful in the first place. In my review, I was harshly critical of the changes, and the reaction from Microsoft was somewhat interesting. Though some of the people actually working on the product were predictably upset with me, many at the company understood where I was coming from, as a Media Center advocate. Microsoft's executives agreed with my (and again, with others') criticisms. So the product was changed. And looking at build 5270, you can see that they've gotten rid of virtually everything I complained about.
Gone are the awful colors. Gone are the miserable and weird slanted animations that followed every selection. The horizontal navigation is still present, a bad idea borrowed from the ill-conceived Portable Media Center products, but at least it's more usable now because it's so much less busy (Figure). And remember my comment about a playlists entry being absent from the Music section? It's back, baby. Someone listened.
So thank you, Microsoft. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm still not positive that the direction the company is going with Media Center is the correct one, as the horizontal navigation is so odd and unlike any other Windows media application (like WMP 11 and Windows Photo Gallery, for example, which scroll through content vertically) that I think Media Center Vista will confuse some people. But at the least the truly horrible stuff is banished forever.
I'll hold off on more specifics for now because the performance of Media Center is still miserable in this build. But clearly, there will be a lot more to say about this interface in future articles. Stay tuned.
Internet Explorer 7 improvements
In each release of Windows Vista, we get closer and closer to what the final version of Internet Explorer (IE) 7 is going to look like, and the closer we get to that eventual day, the more I like what I see. I've been using Mozilla Firefox as my default browser for a few years now, largely because it's more secure and offers so many more useful features than does IE 6. But IE 7 may sway me back the Microsoft camp, God help me. It's that good.
Understand that I'm discussing the Vista version of IE 7 here, which will offer one key advantage that IE 7 for Windows XP will not have. That is, IE 7 runs in Protected Mode in Windows Vista, shielding the OS from both the application itself and any malicious files it may inadvertently (or purposefully) download. This extra bit of protection may finally make IE safe to use, and when you consider the vast array of useful new features this product includes, it's kind of a no-brainer.
We discussed most of those new features in previous Vista CTP reviews. This time around, the improvements are more subtle, but no less valuable. First, Microsoft has added support for International Domain Names (IDN), providing protection from malicious sites that try to spoof International domain names. "Internet DNS servers only speak English," Gary Schare, Microsoft's Director of Windows Product Management, told me during a Windows Vista briefing recently. "But there are other characters that international companies would like to use in their domain names. IDN support is all about enabling browsers to handle those characters." The problem is that malicious sites will often try to spoof browsers with characters that resemble other international characters. So IE 7 provides an IDN warning in the Info Bar whenever such spoofing occurs. Firefox, Schare told me, does support IDN, but offers no warnings when spoofing occurs.
There's a lot more, some of which will show up in later builds. For this reason, I'll defer a wider discussion of new IE 7 features--especially its incredible new security controls--to a future tech showcase.
Windows Mail
A few months back, Microsoft told me that it was canning Outlook Express in lieu of a new email client called Windows Mail. Excited about what the company had planned, I waited to see how this new email product would look. Now that the first version is here, I'm not sure why I got excited: It's just a rebranded version of Outlook Express. Perhaps a future build will introduce new features (and a new look and feel), but I don't see anything in the version found in build 5270 to get excited about.
Windows Transfer
Previously called the Windows Migration Wizard, Windows Transfer lets you copy user accounts, files and folders, program settings, Internet settings and favorites, and email settings, contacts, and messages from an old PC (running Windows 2000, XP or Vista only) to your new Windows Vista PC. With Windows XP, you could use this application's predecessor to perform similar tasks, but the necessary application was found right on the XP install CD. This time around, you need to use Windows Transfer in Vista to make an install CD (or use a USB memory key) that you will use on your previous computer (Figure).
When the copy is complete, you insert the CD or USB memory key in your old computer, and select Run the Windows Transfer Wizard from the Auto Play dialog (Figure). A pseudo-Vista window screen appears, offering you locations to which to you?re your files (USB PC-to-PC cable, network, CD, DVD, or USB memory key) (Figure). Then, you select which user accounts, program settings, and files you'd like to transfer, or specify an advanced option in which you can hand-pick options. Here, you're provided with a tree view of the file system. Once you've selected what you want to copy, the files are copied to the target media (Figure), and you're ready to head back to the Vista machine.
Back on the Vista box, the insertion of the target media triggers a resumption of the transfer process (Figure). And once the files are copied, you're done. One obvious question you may have is about where the files go when they're copied. After all, the layout of a typical Vista system is a bit different than that of a typical Windows 2000 or XP system. For the most part, the files go to the same file system location they were found in originally. In my first test, for example, I copied over only Word documents (*.doc). Some of these files were found under the Program Files folder structure, because they were related to various application read me files. So even though I don't have Quake 2 installed on my Vista test machine, I now have a folder called Quake 2 under Program Files (Figure). That's because that folder on my XP machine includes various Word documents. Sigh.
Continue to Part 3...


text:
Goldman Sachs has received a subpoena from the office of the Manhattan district attorney, which is investigating the investment bank's role in the financial crisis, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The inquiry stems from a 650-page Senate report from the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that indicated Goldman had misled clients and Congress about its practices related to mortgage-linked securities.
Senator Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan, who headed up the Congressional inquiry, had sent his findings to the Justice Department to figure out whether executives broke the law. The agency said it was reviewing the report.
The subpoena come two weeks after lawyers for Goldman Sachs met with the attorney general of New York's office for an "exploratory" meeting about the Senate report, the people said.
"We don't comment on specific regulatory or legal issues, but subpoenas are a normal part of the information request process and, of course, when we receive them we cooperate fully," said a Goldman representative.
The investment bank has not been accused of any wrongdoing. A subpoena is a request for information.
Busy schedule? Click here to keep up with Truthout with free email updates.
Bloomberg News earlier reported on the issuance of the subpoena.
The subpoena is the latest blow to Goldman, which since the financial crisis has faced criticism that it shorted the mortgage market before it collapsed, making billions of dollars at the expense of its clients.
In early April, the Senate subcommittee published a scathing report, which took specific aim at Goldman. It notably highlighted testimony by the institution's chief executive, Lloyd C. Blankfein, who denied the firm was making large bets against residential mortgages while selling securities based on home loans.
"We didn't have a massive short against the housing market," Mr. Blankfein testified at a Congressional hearing in 2010. It was a sentiment echoed in various public statements that year.
The Senate committee took a different view. The Congressional report noted the phrase "net short" appeared more than 3,400 times in Goldman documents related to the mortgage market.
It also quoted a letter from Goldman to the Securities and Exchange Commission, in which the firm said "we maintained a net short sub-prime position and therefore stood to benefit from declining prices in the mortgage market."
Shares of Goldman slipped more than 2 percent on Thursday. The stock, which closed on Wednesday at $136.17, was trading above $170 in January.
Correction: Lawyers for Goldman Sachs met with the attorney general of New York's office, not the Manhattan district attorney.


text:
Located in the Gulf of Thailand, Phu Quoc island lies 120 kms from Rạch Giá city and nearly 540 kms from Laem Chabang, Thailand. Roughly triangular in shape, the island is 50 kms long north to south and 25 kms east to west in the north at its widest
Phu Quoc means something different to everybody. Known as Koh Tral by the Cambodians, it is also referred to as the 'Island of 99 mountains', and also 'The Emerald Island' for it's bountiful natural treasures, but for visitors it's known simply as paradise


text:
COASTAL SOUTH—In the past month and a half, fitness facilities in the coastal South have taken a beating – literally. While Katrina proved to be the bigger of the two storms, Rita still packed a powerful punch. Here's an updated look at how some fitness facilities in the affected area faired, and how others are realizing just how important their health club is to their community.
Dion Grossnickle, General Manager at Cross Gates Athletic Club in Slidell, LA, always knew his members loved their club. He just didn't realize how much it meant to them. While one of the club's two locations had minor damage and was open soon after the storm, the other club had six to seven inches of mud and debris from hurricane Katrina's storm surge. At least 50 members drove up to see the devastation for themselves, many of them crying, Grossnickle said.
"It was then that I started to realize that this was not just my business and my job that I was cleaning but a second home to many," he said. "Here are our members who also lost most or all of their physical possessions, and they teared up when they saw their club's devastation."
Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi was also hit hard by Katrina. Of the three fitness facilities on the base, Blake fitness centers suffered the least amount of damage with minimal ceiling leaks. Dragon Fitness Center had water, roof, ceiling and air conditioning damage along with a basketball court that was so buckled it was described by an Air Force spokesperson as, "looking like a roller coaster track." The Triangle Fitness Center, the oldest of the three facilities, sustained even more extensive roof damage causing rust to most of its fitness equipment. The base's sports facility had mostly wind damage to the dugouts and fences and water erosion of the playing fields' soil. However, by the end of August, Blake and Dragon's locker room areas were open for clean-up crews and contractors to shower. And, just five days after Katrina hit the area, the Blake Fitness Center was open for full service 24 hours a day.
About 1,550 visit the fitness centers on an average day. A month after Katrina, that number dropped to 222, but representatives from Keesler say customer counts were increasing each day.
Hurricane Rita affected clubs on the Louisiana-Texas border, and although some could not be reached, it seems that most clubs in Houston and Galveston had minimal damage. 24 Hour Fitness evacuated and closed 27 of its clubs in the Houston metropolitan area. The large chain set up a phone line for employees and after restoring power, opened all 27 clubs on September 27.
It was a similar story for Galveston Health and Racquet Club, which reopened that same day. The facility only had minor damage with fences and a palm tree down.
"Our biggest problem was getting our staff back to work," said Gerry De Prete, general manager of Galveston Health and Racquet Club. "With the mandatory evacuation we had staff scattered all around the state of Texas."
After running the clubs with a skeleton crew for a few days, the club is now back to normal.


text:
Dave Grohl's Sound City Players Announce New York City Concert
A day after Dave Grohl's all-star Sound City Players turned in a marathon thee-hour concert at the Palladium in Hollywood following the Los Angeles premiere of Grohl's 'Sound City' movie, the group has announced a one-off performance in New York City. The show goes down Feb. 13 at the Hammerstein Ballroom, and tickets go on sale Tuesday (Feb. 5).
Musicians joining Grohl at the NYC gig include John Fogerty, Rick Springfield, Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks, Rage Against the Machine's Brad Wilk, Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen and more, with Grohl's current and former Foo Fighters/Nirvana bandmates Pat Smear, Krist Novoselic, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett also slated to perform.
A slew of one-night-only 'Sound City' screenings took place last night in cities across America, Australia and New Zealand, and today, the documentary starts its theatrical run in select markets. The flick is also now available for purchase DRM-free online at SoundCityMovie.com or for on-demand viewing with more than 100 cable and digital operators.
'Sound City' tells the story of the historic Van Nuys, Calif., studio of the same name, where Nirvana and many of the other Sound City Players recorded over the years. The accompanying soundtrack, 'Sound City: Reel to Real,' also features many of the same musicians and is due out March 12.


text:
Ascent Solar Technologies Inc (ASTI)
Ascent Solar Technologies PE Ratio (TTM)
Ascent Solar Technologies Inc PE Ratio (TTM) Chart
Ascent Solar Technologies Inc Historical PE Ratio (TTM) Data
|Data for this Date Range
There is no data for the selected date range.
An error occurred. Please try again by refreshing your browser or contact us with details of your problem.
About Price to Earnings Ratio
The price to earnings ratio (PE Ratio) is the measure of the share price relative to the annual net income earned by the firm per share. PE ratio shows current investor demand for a company share. A high PE ratio generally indicates increased demand because investors anticipate earnings growth in the future. The PE ratio has units of years, which can be interpreted as the number of years of earnings to pay back purchase price.
PE ratio is often referred to as the "multiple" because it demonstrates how much an investor is willing to pay for one dollar of earnings. PE Ratios are sometimes calculated using estimations of next year's earnings per share in the denominator. When this happens, it is usually noted.
For more information on evaluating valuation multiples similar to this, please see our original white paper research : Making Sense Of Valuation Multiples.
Learn More
ASTI PE Ratio (TTM) Benchmarks
|Analog Devices Inc
|Advanced Micro Devices Inc
|Amkor Technology Inc
ASTI PE Ratio (TTM) Excel Add-In Codes
- Metric Code: pe_ratio
- Latest data point: =YCP("ASTI", "pe_ratio")
- Last 5 data points: =YCS("ASTI", "pe_ratio", -4)
To find the codes for any of our financial metrics, see our Complete Reference of Metric Codes.
Access our powerful Excel Add-in with a YCharts Professional Membership. Learn More.
ASTI News
Globe Newswire 04/18 06:00 ET
SA Breaking News 04/16 06:02 ET
Globe Newswire 04/16 06:00 ET
Globe Newswire 03/19 06:00 ET
SA Breaking News 11/20 06:05 ET
Globe Newswire 11/20 06:00 ET
Globe Newswire 11/19 06:00 ET
SA Breaking News 08/21 06:02 ET
SA Breaking News 07/23 06:35 ET
SA Breaking News 05/14 06:02 ET


text:
It's a competitive world, and a few dollars can decide who wins or loses an installation contract. It's a place where the lowest bidder often goes home a winner, and the others leave empty-handed. There are ways to increase the odds your firm will emerge the winner of an alarm installation contract. One is to use competitively priced equipment, which may or may not be the ultimate answer. The other is to tap the power of recurring monthly revenue (RMR).
RMR can help offset the high cost of labor, allowing you to submit as low a price as possible. It also increases your company's daily cash flow and builds equity in your company.
Having an RMR program in place allows companies such as Abbott Fire & Security Inc. of Canton, Ohio, to make price concessions in the short term while coming out ahead in the long run. Low-voltage contractors without RMR have little wiggle room in the highly competitive environment.
In fact, central station alarm companies, those who own and operate monitoring businesses, typically are the most profitable types of systems integrators. While this doesn't mean you should start your own central station—because it is quite a costly endeavor—it lends credence to taking advantage of third-party offerings
Where mass marketing alarm companies, such as Brinks and ADT, make their money is not in the equipment but in the signing of long-term monitoring agreements—generally two or more years. In most cases, once the initial contract period is up, the owner continues to pay the monthly rate, perhaps at an even higher negotiated rate due to inflation.
"We began offering a $99 alarm package about four or five years ago, and it has given us an advantage over other companies," said Brent Fatzinger, operations manager, Abbott Fire & Security. "The client receives protection for two doors, a motion sensor, one smoke detector, a keypad and an alarm panel.
"Early on, we realized the benefit of having recurring monthly revenue and, from day one, strived to build a monitoring base," Fatzinger said. "RMR allows us to get down and dirty with our quotations when necessary. We also see it as a great way to build value."
Alarm monitoring involves the use of a 24/7 remote central station manned with trained operators. Because the investment of establishing such a facility is out of reach for most, the usual way low-voltage firms offer monitoring to their clientele is to contract this work through the third party that specializes in this activity.
Operators at these facilities can deal with just about any conceivable type of emergency that might come up in a residential, institutional, commercial or industrial application. A third-party central station usually charges a flat fee per monitoring account. Contractors can mark up this fee to their clients. They also can charge for individual events, such as openings and closings or supervisory signals.
"The RMR our firm realizes from monitoring alarms has increased our cash flow and year-end profitability," Fatzinger said. "As an electrical contractor, before we created our alarm division, we really didn't understand the value of alarm monitoring. Since we opened our alarm division in 2002, we've made RMR a significant priority." ¦
COLOMBO is a 32-year veteran in the security and life safety markets. He is currently director with FireNetOnline.com and a nationally recognized trade journalist located in East Canton, Ohio.


text:
Garry Richardson talks to Garry Hill after the Cards exit the F.A. Cup at the hands of Luton Town.
Size: Large
Match Centre: Woking 0 - 1 Luton Town
Apologies for the incorrect score graphic for the last minute or so.Size: Small | Large
Watch as a Reise Allassani brace gains Woking a point to hold on to top spot, including an absolute thunderbolt of a strike!Size: Small | Large
Harvey Bradbury's last gasp winner gives Woking all three points after a cracking free kick from Armani Little brought the Cards levelSize: Small | Large
Watch as the Cards take all three points at home against Chippenham thanks to a Jake Hyde brace!Size: Small | Large
|Woking Chamber
Woking Chamber
|The National League
The National League
|Conference Trust
Conference Trust
|Surrey Chambers
Surrey Chambers
Match Ball Supplier
|BT Sport
League Broadcaster
|Vanarama National League
League Sponsor
League Sponsor
|Sports 360
League Partner


text: Adelaide - South Africa coach Gary Kirsten defended his team's preparations after his pace brigade was laid low by injury in the second Test on Thursday, leaving his back-up bowlers at the mercy of a voracious Michael Clarke and the Australian batsmen. South Africa lost paceman Vernon Philander to a back strain prior to the match, and suffered a hammer blow after Jacques Kallis went off with a hamstring injury after capturing two wickets before lunch. Dale Steyn returned to the field after taking himself off after tea to be treated for a leg strain but the tourists finished the day bruised and demoralised as Australia racked up a mammoth first-day total of 482-5 at the Adelaide Oval.VIDEO: Australia v South Africa: 2nd Test Day 1 The team went fishing during a four-day layoff after the drawn first Test in Brisbane before training for four days in the lead-up to the second and Kirsten said that was enough preparation for his bowlers. "First of all, we had four great days of prep leading into this game but it's always a thing that will come up. "Often when we're home for a Test series we send players home and they come back two days ahead to prepare. "There's no exact science to it. You can always find a way to criticise in some department. "Every team goes through injuries at some point in time. I don't think we're unique to that. The fact that it happened on one day, I certainly don't have the answers to that. It was unfortunate." Steyn, who captured the last wicket of the day by bowling Hussey for 103, was not badly injured, Kirsten said, but Philander's availability for the third and final Test in Perth remained a doubt, while Kallis will not bowl for the remainder of the Test, but could be fit to bat. "We'll have to wait for that. He's a little bit sore," Kirsten said. "He made a wise decision. As soon as he felt a twinge he got off the park quickly. "Obviously from a batting perspective it's going to be important - these days we don't have runners, so it's going to be important that he can bat for us as well." In their absence, spinner Imran Tahir was flayed for 159 runs, while Philander's replacement Rory Kleinveldt also went wicketless for 70. Morne Morkel, with little support, captured two wickets but was pillaged for nearly six runs an over in conceding 128. "I think it was a difficult first-innings wicket for a spinner to bowl on, especially when you've got someone like Michael Clarke who is going to pounce," Kirsten said, referring to the Australian captain's 224 not out, following his unbeaten 259 in Brisbane. "I don't think we bowled well enough throughout the day to really put enough pressure on the batsmen at any time. "I don't think I could ever fault the attitude of my players, the Proteas. I would never fault the intensity that they do things. "I know they're giving everything they've got. Maybe where we're at fault is our thinking. We try and deal with that as much as we can."


text:
Living XXX legend Debi Diamond has truly rocked the porn arena to its roots since making her debut back in 1980. This statuesque blonde sex kitten raised the bar for all starlets that follow her path with an extreme sexual hunger and raw lust that has yet to be matched by any of those following her.
On May 1, 1962 this goddess was born in San Fernando Valley, California. Debi had an upper middle class upbringing and got a job working as a personal assistant for Robert Evans, legendary film producer, after high school. Evans introduced Debi to many big names during this time, including Helmut Newton. Debi appeared in many of Helmut's glamour photography books from the late 70's and early 80's. She tried to get into the mainstream film industry in the early 80's without much to show for it. Since many producers wanted her to sleep with them for roles, she decided she might as well get paid for having sex, so she looked into porn. Debi started her career under the name of Shelly Rey with a soft but attractive body. She quickly won over legions of fans with her sizzling hot performances. Then the sultry vixen left the business for awhile and returned in the late 80's with a new toned body and a stronger sex drive than ever.
Debi was one of the first do-anything girls, and everyone who saw her work noticed and appreciated what she brought to the industry. Over the years, she won basically every award available to female performers including Performer of the Year and Favorite Female, and is currently in both the X-Rated Critics and AVN Hall of Fame. She branched out into other forms of self-expression during her most active years, including singing on a cover of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" by The Durutti Column, which appeared on the band's 1986 Factory Records EP The City Of Our Lady (Fac 184).
After a long porn career, Debi retired in the late 1990's partially due to pressure from her family and friends. She married and had three kids, but later divorced. Debi showed up on MySpace in 2007 and seemed to be considering a comeback. In 2009, Debi returned to a hardcore porn world that welcomed her back with open arms.


text:
The following logos were gathered from the county coordinators and from the actual NCGenWeb website files. It is a requirement that a county site which is associated with NCGenWeb display one of these logos and a link back to the NCGenWeb site: http://www.ncgenweb.us
- Downloading tip: Right-click on each image to download & often, images are larger than they appear on the page.
- In addition to these, more USGenWeb logos may be found on their website.
GIF Images
Other Graphics of Interest
(transparent background)


text:
Advertisement | Advertise Here
EVANS CITY — A crash involving a BART bus and a train this morning has injured at least 11 people. The mini bus is about 20 feet off Maple Avenue. One media report indicates that 11 developmentally delayed children were in the bus. As of 8:45 a.m., eight people were removed from the wreckage. The train, which appeared to be hauling tankers, did not derail and is halted on the track. Emergency crews from Evans City, Callery, Cranberry, Harmony and Zelienople are on scene. Evans City borough police and state police also are on the scene. Emergency crews have called two medical helicopters to the scene.


text:
Life Membership awarded to Ron Harvey
3 May 2013
AOC: After a stellar career spanning more than half a century, Ron Harvey CVO AM, has been awarded life membership of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC).
The award coincides with Harvey's retirement from the AOC Executive Board and acknowledges his outstanding contribution to the development of sport in Australia.
Harvey, 78, has been a member of the AOC Executive Board since 1993 and AOC Vice President since 2001. He has no doubt the Sydney Olympics was the pinnacle of his sporting life.
"The highlight of the decades was the Sydney Olympics in 2000," Harvey said. "Not only because they were the best ever and showcased Australia as an accomplished and resourceful nation but also our athletes and volunteers set standards of which every Australian was proud."
Harvey was a representative player, coach and Olympic selector in basketball. He was a Chairman and General Manager of the Canberra Cannons and Chairman and Director of the National Basketball League (NBL). He served two terms as President of Basketball Australia.
He has also been a Director and International Advisor for the Football Federation of Australia.
He was the Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and Director of The Queen's visit to Australia in 1981. Other appointments include Australian Consul-General in Chicago and Administrator of the Indian Ocean Territories. He was the Executive Director and Deputy Chairman of both the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and played a leading role in their development.
No one has a better understanding of the synergy between business and sport. He believes Australia's international image and influence is continuing to grow and sport has a major role to play in this area.
"At the elite international level, our Olympic sports make a very substantial contribution particularly in the boardrooms of international sport. This contribution and the contacts made carry over into the diplomatic and business spheres at the very top level around the world.
"Every effort should be made to recognise the value this brings to Australia's international image and emphasise to Governments and business the importance of Australia's International sporting contribution."
In 2008 Harvey was presented with the prestigious Pierre de Coubertin Medal by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for outstanding service to the Olympic Movement. He was the first ever Australian to win the award.
In more recent times he has acted as an Advisor to the Federal Government on Major Events including the Asian Football Cup, World One Day Cricket Cup and the Commonwealth Games.
Other AOC AGM announcements:


text: Vietnam expands fish farms, not without riskBy Sam EatonJuly 23, 2012Sam EatonSoon most seafood consumed worldwide will be farmed, not wild. Vietnamese farmers are raising pangasius -- sold in U.S. and European markets as "catfish" -- on an industrial scale, while researchers and environmentalists seek to make fish farming both efficient and environmentally safe. POSTED IN: fish farm Vietnam aquaculture asia Food for 9 Billion ListenreadDownloadDownload


text: On Mon, 2002-09-23 at 17:08, Matthew Timothy Pratola wrote: > > Hi all, > > Just looking for some information and/or recommendations on the various > networking options available for building beowulfs. The beowulf in > question would consist of ~1000 nodes. I'm aware of myrinet, dolphonics, > fiber and of course the ethernet options. Also of concern is topology. > If any of you can expand my knowledge (or point me to articles which will > help me) in this regard, it is much appreciated. Even practical > experience in terms of real-world latency, throughput and reliability of > these various options would be helful, as well as knowing if they require > the use of a proprietary MPI implementation (bad for us). > Its best summarized by "how much money ya got?". To a lesser extent, its what you intend on doing with the cluster and how important absolute performance is to you. Each app is pretty much different as to its networking requirements. The cost of high throughput/low latency networking is on the order of $1500 or more per machine (based on a recent myrinet purchase). Considering that pretty darn good cluster nodes can be had for $2k each... On the other end of the spectrum, gigabit ethernet is pretty damn cheap now and helps quite nicely with many apps. -Dean


text:
- Binding Machine
- Punching Machine
- Perfect Binder
- Laminator
- Creasing Machine
- Consumables
- Shredder
SUPU Help Paraguay Small Customer Growth Plan, We are a professional office-laminator Chinese manufacturer and supplier, for office-laminator OEM & ODM wholesale prices and more details of cooperation, please contact us immediately and follow us Facebook.
office-laminator Paraguay
View: List Showcase
Selected Product
Model: FM-390A
Min. Order: 1 piece
Automatic paper feeder and cut roller laminatorFavorites
Jingda Road ,Shanlian Development Zone , , Hangzhou , ZheJiang
Please send your message to us
*We will reply your inquiry to this Email as soon as we see it
- Tel
- *Title
- *Content


text:
A shipyard in Providence, R.I., Promet Marine Services Corp., faces significant penalties for violating federal clean air and clean water laws.
EPA has filed a complaint stating that Promet violated federal laws by discharging polluted water into the Providence River and by not getting the required air and water permits for its pressure washing, painting and related operations.
Promet, which works on commercial, Coast Guard, military, and other marine vessels, is located in an area that fails to meet federal air quality standards for ozone and yet failed to comply with the Rhode Island state implementation plan for improving air quality. According to EPA, Promet was required to get a permit before it began to build or modify its facility at 242 Allens Ave.
Promet also failed to apply for an operating permit required under the Clean Air Act, and violated federal air quality requirements outlined in the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Ship Building and Repair facilities. The Shipbuilding NESHAP requires the company to follow certain notification and recordkeeping rules and to use only marine coatings that contain volatile organic hazardous air pollutants below specified limits.
EPA's New England officials inspected Promet's facility in 2007 and 2008. In June 2008, EPA issued a notice of violation and an administrative order to the company that cited substantially the same air violations as are alleged in EPA's complaint issued this month. The order required Promet to comply with the law within 120 days.
According to EPA, Promet did not come into compliance until November 2009 and, although the company has applied to the R.I. Dept. of Environmental Management for its required air permits, those permits have not yet been issued.
Promet's violations of the Clean Water Act involved pressure washing vessel hulls outdoors. Before July 2008, process wastewaters from these activities discharged to the Providence River without a permit, in violation of the requirements of the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System regulations. After July 2008, Promet installed a wastewater recycling system intended to eliminate the discharge and put the company in compliance with the Clean Water Act.
By pressure washing, Promet discharged pollutants, including copper, lead, zinc and solids that impair water quality and can harm human health and the environment.
Many of the coatings used by Promet contained hazardous air pollutants and volatile organic compounds. Exposure to HAPs and VOCs can cause health problems, and VOCs contribute to ground-level ozone formation, which is a primary constituent of smog.
In its complaint, EPA New England is asking for penalties up to the maximum allowed under each statute.