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Neuralgia Inducing Cavitational Osteonecrosis (NICO
Neuralgia Inducing Cavitational Osteonecrosis (NICO)
A small minority of dentists, who commonly refer to themselves as "biologic dentists,' claim that most facial pains and even pains and diseases located far from the mouth are caused by cavities (cavitations) within the jaw bones. This concept was first proposed in 1976 and called "cavitational osteopathosis" ("CO"). Proponents of this concept alleged that many patients had infected cavities within their jaws and that these cavities were not treatable with antibiotics or detectable on x-rays.
Dentists are able to diagnose abscesses, cysts, and bone infections with x-rays and treat many of them with antibiotic therapy. Because the theory of CO contradicted so much of what was known about bone infections, it was not widely accepted. In addition, the treatment advocated for CO was highly invasive and consisted of drilling into the supposed "cavitations,†scraping the bone and rinsing the wound with antibiotics. Some dentists even rinsed the cavity with colloidal silver and administered intravenous vitamin C. The scientific evidence for both the diagnosis and treatment of CO was extremely weak.
During the the 1980s, CO was renamed "neuralgia inducing cavitational osteonecrosis (NICO)" and a new theory of its origin was proposed. NICO's prime promoter is J.E. Bouquot, D.D.S., M.S.D., an oral pathologist who coined the term. Bouquot was associated with the West Virginia University School of Dentistry, but in 1994 he began operating the Maxillofacial Center for Diagnostics and Research (later called the Maxillofacial Center for Education and Research), a private laboratory and consultation service in Morgantown, West Virginia.  The center's mail-in biopsy service is called Head & Neck Diagnostics of America. In 2004, Bouquot became a professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, Texas.
The alleged cause of NICO is not localized jaw infections but avascular osteonecrosis (AO). AO is a real condition that is most often associated with the head of the femur (hip bone) and is common among athletes who play contact sports such as football. It occurs because repeated trauma can damage the blood supply to areas such as the hip where there is not a lot of collateral circulation (the presence of many blood vessels that deliver to the same area). Because the jaw has abundant collateral circulation, most experts do not think that AO can occur there. The treatment of NICO is the same as for CO; invasive and irreversible surgeries and extractions.
The research on NICO is very limited. No randomized controlled studies related to "NICO" diagnosis and treatment have been published. Bouquot is the main person diagnosing NICO in the tissue specimens obtained by dentists who claim that the condition exists. Several other pathologists who reviewed some of the same specimens have judged the tissue to be entirely normal. Some proponents locate their alleged problem areas with an unapproved ultrasound device called the Cavitat.
The concepts of cavitational osteopathosis and NICO have been promoted by the American Academy of Biological Dentistry. Postgraduate seminars held by this organization have persuaded a number of dentists and some physicians to claim they can cure such conditions as arthritis, heart disease, and pain throughout the body by removing infected cavities within the patient's jawbones.
Believers in "biological dentistry" have taken the treatment one step further. They claim that root-canal-treated teeth cause NICO as well as a host of other chronic systemic diseases. They recommend removing all root-canal-treated teeth and most of the other teeth close to the area where they say an infection exists. According to a 1994 article in Milwaukee Magazine, a group of local patients filed suit against several practitioners of this bizarre and dangerous therapy. These patients had many perfectly healthy teeth removed without any improvement in their diseases. (I don't know the outcome of the suits.)
Legal Actions
Many people who have been falsely diagnosed with NICO have grounds to sue for malpractice and fraud. There may also be issues of practicing without a license and violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. For example, a doctor in one state who is not licensed to diagnose patients in another state and does so could be prosecuted for practicing medicine without a license. In such a case, a malpractice suit could secure punitive as well as actual damages. The RICO statute might apply when two or more individuals engage in an interstate activity to defraud. Even though the parties may not be officially in business together, their combined activity functions as if they were.
Attorney David Wilzig of Los Angeles, who has a special interest in dental malpractice cases, has filed suits on behalf of at least eleven victims of NICO-related misconduct. The suits indicate that the dentist(s) diagnosed nonexistent "cavitations,†removed healthy jaw tissues alleged to contain them, and sent specimens to Bouquot who confirmed the alleged NICO diagnosis. Some of the plaintiffs also had teeth and/or amalgam fillings removed unnecessarily, and some required extensive medical and surgical treatment to repair jaw damage and disfigurement caused by the NICO surgery. Many of the cases involved activities by the dentists that constituted the unlicensed practice of medicine (rather than dentistry). These included diagnosis via autonomic response testing (ART, a quacky muscle-test procedure); phony diagnosis of mercury poisoning; and neural therapy injections into breasts, stomach, shoulders, and/or other body parts. Some of the suits included Bouquot as a defendant. Nine of the victims settled with payment of undisclosed amounts.
One of the remaining cases was filed against Alireza Panahpour, D.DS., Cavitat Medical Technologies, and its president Robert Jones. The suit complaint states:
- The patient consulted Panahpour because one of his teeth was loose and another was painful and tender. During a series of visits, Panahpour did inappropriate dental work that included removal of teeth and part of the patient's jawbone for an alleged "infection" diagnosed with the help of a Cavitat device.
- In addition to dental care, Panapour did repeated ART testing, prescribed worthless dietary supplements for the patient's diabetes, and gave inappropriate injections (neural therapy) at various points in the body.
- As a result of improper treatment, the patient was left with (a) numbness of the right side of his mouth, lower lip, chin, and right cheek, (b) improperly fitting dental appliances that will have to be replaced, and (c) possible loss of his remaining teeth through additional dental surgery and reconstructive work.
The other remaining case was filed against Panahpour, Bouquot, the University of Texas, Leigh Erin Connealy, M.D., and the South Coast Medical Center for New Medicine (now called the Center for New Medicine). The complaint states:
- The patient visited Connealy's center in 2007 for a consultation about bio-identical hormones and was introduced to Panahpour by the medical staff. After conducting a dental examination, Panahpour falsely advised the woman that she had mercury poisoning and required (a) removal of two teeth and all of her amalgam fillings, (b) repair of previous root-canal treated teeth that were badly infected, and (c) surgery to remove bone fragments from two sites where wisdom teeth had been extracted 45 years earlier.
- After removing 16 amalgam fillings, Panahpour restored four with composite material and shaved down the rest and fitted them with expensive porcelain inlays and onlays.
- After falsely telling the woman she had "osteomyelitis," Panahpour removed significant amounts of bone tissue from two areas of her jaw. He also treated her with (a) intravenous solutions containing various vitamins and minerals and (b) procaine injections into her chest and upper breast.
- Panahpour's treatment resulted in (a) infections that required medical treatment and additional surgery, (b) pain in the mouth and teeth, and (c) difficulty chewing and misalignment of the jaws because the crowns and other restorations did were too large.
- After Panahpour had completed his treatment, he sent specimens of bone and other tissue to Bouquot who made invalid and inaccurate diagnoses in his laboratory at the University of Texas.
Disciplinary Actions
At least ten dentists in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington who treated "cavitations" have been disciplined by their state licensing boards for insurance fraud or other dental act violations, most of which were related to this alleged diagnosis.
In 2005, for example, James Shen, D.D.S.and his wife Riley Young, D.D.S. were charged of unprofessional conduct by the California Board of Dentistry. Young retired for health reasons and died shortly afterward. In 2006, Shen was further accused of inappropriately administering injections of hydrogen peroxide, vitamin C, and/or echinacea to patients who had complained of nondental problems. The [stipulation_2007.pdf stipulated settlement] included surrender of his dental license.
In 2007, Wesley R. Shankland, II, D.D.S., who operates the Central Ohio Center for Facial Pain in Columbus, Ohio, settled charges against him by entering into a consent agreement under which (a) his dental license will be suspended for six months; (b) he must complete 300 hours of continuing dental education that includes at least 40 hours in ethics, (c) he must not utilize any "alternative" dental or medical treatment without informing the patient that the procedure is nonstandard, (d) his ability to prescribe narcotics and psychiatric drugs will be restricted during 2008, and (e) his records must be available for review and monitoring by a physician or dentist who is experienced in the management of chronic pain. In addition to being one of NICO's leading proponents, Shankland improperly advises that amalgam fillings and root-canal-treated teeth are problematic. The dental board's complaint did not specify whether any of its concerns were related to these nonstandard theories and practices.
The Failed Attempt to Intimidate Aetna
Aetna Insurance Company does not pay for NICO diagnosis or treatment. After reviewing the scientific literature, it published a Clinical Policy Bulletin stating that NICO-related diagnoses are "experimental and investigational because the clinical significance of this syndrome is in question" and that the Cavitat Ultrasonograph (an imaging device used primarily to detect NICO) is experimental and investigational because "there is no adequate scientific evidence to support its clinical value.â€
In 2004, Cavitat Medical Technologies and Jones filed a lawsuit suit accusing Aetna of publication of injurious falsehoods, unlawful restraint of trade, and racketeering. However, Aetna had done none of these things, and the plaintiffs did not allege a single instance of illegal conduct to support their false charges. After Aetna filed objections, the judge dismissed the racketeering charge and all but one of the others. In June 2005, Aetna filed a countersuit which stated:
- The original lawsuit was generated and financed by Cavitat users and others who apparently hoped that it would intimidate Aetna and other insurance companies into paying for practices associated with use of the device.
- Many of the organizers "conspired to accomplish their objectives through unlawful acts . . . . insurance fraud; illegal and unauthorized research activities; the unauthorized practice of medicine and dentistry; misrepresenting that the Cavitat device was exempt from FDA regulations; misrepresenting that the Cavitat device was approved by the FDA and, specifically, approved by the FDA for detecting diseased bone; obstruction of justice; witness tampering; and barratry."
- To fund the suit, Cavitat solicited funds from third parties who had invested in the company, some of whom had a monetary stake in its survival, as well as others whose livelihoods derived from the use of the Cavitat device. In exchange, each of these individuals was promised a share of the anticipated recovery.
- The alleged third parties included Darrel and Patricia Hershey of Parker, Colorado; Dr. Michael Margolis of Mesa, Arizona; Dr. William P. Glaros of Houston, Texas; Dr. William Medlock of West Palm Beach, Florida; and Drs. John Tate and Robert Jones of Spartanburg, South Carolina.
- In addition, in exchange for unspecified information, a percentage of the anticipated recovery was promised to Tim Bolen, a publicist who has "engaged in a venal and systematic campaign to attack Aetna and persons whom Cavitat alleges are associated with Aetna, all for the purpose of his making money for himself and the others he has acted in concert with in advancing the baseless claims asserted against Aetna in this lawsuit."
The countersuit also described how the NICO concept has been promoted by Bouquot, Wesley Shankland, II, D.D.S., of Columbus, Ohio, and Boyd Haley, Ph.D., a chemist who operates a laboratory that performs "oral toxicity" tests that support what "biological dentists" claim.
In September 2005, Aetna filed an amended counterclaim which described how Cavitat Medical Technologies and members of its board of scientific advisors taught dentists how to miscode insurance claims in order to get paid for diagnosing and treating NICO. The amended counterclaim listed 22 dentists who allegedly filed a total of 427 fraudulent claims for which they got paid. The list included 185 from Bouquot, 53 from Shen, 50 from Shankland, 29 from Glaros, and 17 from Jones. Aetna sought recovery of its legal costs plus punitive damages that could have amounted amount to millions of dollars. In January 2006, the judge ruled on narrow legal grounds that Aetna did not have standing to file its counterclaim. This ruling was unfair and could have been appealed. However, in April 2006, apparently pressured by the judge, Aetna paid $2.1 million rather than facing the uncertainty of a trial by jury in front of a hostile judge. The settlement terms were supposed to be confidential, but subsequent events disclosed the payment amount.
Cavitat's suit did not achieve its primary purposes. Its backers hoped that the prospect of facing racketeering charges would intimidate dental licensing boards as well as other insurance companies, but no such effect is apparent. Although Cavitat's name has been replaced by a more general statement in Aetna's Clinical Policy Bulletin, the Cavitat device and NICO-associated practices still remain ineligible for insurance coverage and are unlikely to be covered by other companies. The latest (November 17, 2009) version of Aetna's policy states:
- Aetna considers surgery (including scraping of "infected cavities†and removal of root-canal-treated teeth) and/or any other therapies (e.g., rinsing the "cavity†with colloidal silver and administering chelation therapy and intravenous vitamin C) and bone graft replacement for the treatment of neuralgia inducing cavitational osteonecrosis (NICO) related diagnoses to be experimental and investigational because the clinical significance of this syndrome is in question.
- Aetna considers the use of devices to image the jawbones to diagnose NICO or NICO-type conditions experimental and investigational because there is no adequate scientific evidence to support their clinical value.
Cavitat also got embroiled in a nasty battle over the disposition of the $2.1 million. In 2006, the attorney who filed the Aetna suit sued Cavitat for more than $500,000 in unpaid attorneys fees. Cavitat defaulted and then tried to block recovery of the money by filing for bankruptcy. Aetna, Cavitat, and the attorneys reached a settlement agreement under which Cavitat's original attorneys got most of what they asked for.
Aetna does not appear to be interested in seeking recovery of the money it paid in response to miscoded claims. However, other insurance companies have been alerted to look more closely at claims submitted for NICO-related procedures and more victims of NICO surgery have filed lawsuits against its practitioners. Cavitat Medical Technologies may also be facing other trouble. During a bankruptcy hearing, Cavitat President Bob Jones disclosed that in May 2006, his records had been seized by a "SWAT team raid from the FDA into our home and offices."
Advice to Consumers
If you find yourself in the office of a dentist who tells you that a systemic disease or pains far from the mouth are due to infected jaw-bone cavities, run fast, and find another dentist! If you have been a recent victim of NICO-related quackery and would like information on what to do about it, please contact me .
Spotting NICO-Related Insurance Fraud: A Note to Insurance Claims Examiners
Because most insurance companies do not cover procedures related to "cavitational osteonecrosis," many of the dentists who diagnose NICO try to hide their activities by "miscoding" or deliberately misstating facts of a case. Common ploys to "hide" NICO surgery are to state that the patient has osteomyelitis (bone infection), cysts, granulomas, or another pathology near the tip of the tooth root. These diagnoses would not normally stand out for scrutiny because periapical cysts and granulomas are fairly common. To detect miscoding, it would be necessary to compare a particular dentist's diagnostic patterns with what would be expected from a dentist who practices appropriately.
Osteomyelitis near tooth sockets is not common. Deceptive dentists typically list routine (and often unnecessary) extractions as "surgical extractions" (thus charging more) and then scrape out bone from the socket and tooth roots, claiming that an "infection" or osteomyelitis exists. NICO advocates may also remove every tooth with a root canal treatment, regardless of success or failure of the treatment. They claim that root canal treated teeth are "toxic" and cause "cavitations," without any valid biological basis or clinical data to support these assertions.
Insurance carriers would be wise to require a pre-extraction diagnosis for every extracted tooth, and periodically require pre-extraction x-ray films on a random basis. In cases of suspected fraud, pretreatment x-ray films should always be reviewed. Review of the diagnoses submitted would help uncover fraud cases. Other claim patterns that should trigger an examination for fraudulent treatment include:
Multiple extractions on the same day in the same quadrant, coupled with diagnoses of cavitations, osteomyelitis, or other bony pathology
For Additional Information
- Aetna's Clinical Policy Bulletin explaining why does not cover Cavitat ultrasonography for diagnosing "NICO"
- Aetna Rips the Lid off the Cavitat conspiracy
- Is this dental diagnosis real? A radical treatment prompts a lawsuit by Aetna—and raises questions for the FDA. Business Week, Jan 18, 2006.
- Unconventional dentistry: Part IV. Unconventional dental practices and products
- "Biological dentists" charged with unprofessional conduct in California.
- Aetna's counterclaim against Cavitat Medical Technologies and Robert J. Jones
- Aetna's amended counterclaim against Cavitat Medical Technologies and Robert J. Jones
- FDA warning letter to Robert Jones (2003)
- Brauer C. Export report on regulatory improprieties for Cavitat device
- Greer R. Expert report on NICO and Cavitat
- Marx RE. Expert report (NICO case reviews)
- BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois medical policy statement on NICO
- [../11Ind/roeder.html Anthony G. Roeder, D.D.S. charged with unprofessional conduct]
- James Shen, D.D.S. surrenders dental license
- Wesley Shankland, D.D.S. placed on five-years' probation
- Offbeat dentists sued for negligence


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Beautiful Kristina Rose is the embodiment of a hot Latina with a bodacious ass. She was born April 14, 1984 in San Diego, California to parents who emigrated from Guadalajara, Mexico. At age 18, Kristina got a job doing customer service for an adult website. When the company moved and laid her off, the only companies that responded to her resume were adult industry related. Kristina became an assistant to a photographer who encouraged her to model, and at 23 she began her entertainment career at one of California's top modeling agencies.
At the end of May 2007, Kristina started doing porn. She performed her first anal sex scene with James Deen in Elegant Angel's 2008 movie Kristina Rose: Dirty Girl and a whole new army of fans was hooked on her powerful performances. Although she's not a contract girl, Kristina always seems at her hottest in Elegant Angel movies. How could you argue with titles like Kristina Rose is Slutwoman, Buttwoman Vs. Slutwoman, Girl Crush 2, Round Latin Asses 2, The Bombshells, and her many performances in the Real Female Orgasms series? Of course, Kristina has been sensational in her work for every studio, and some of her other great scenes include taking on Mr. Marcus in The Ass Factory's Black in My Ass, getting oiled up and fucked by industry legend Evan Stone in Smash Pictures' Malibu Massage Parlor, and playing Elaine in New Sensations' Seinfeld: A XXX Parody.
A highly sexual person, Kristina enjoys all aspects of performing and you can tell she gets off in her scenes. The industry has rewarded her ultra-realistic hotness with repeated nominations at the AVN Awards, XBIZ, and XRCO, and she was listed as one of Dr. Jay's Must-See Girls in 2010. AVN gave her an impressive 14 nominations in 2011 and she took home three awards! In April 2011, fans honored her with the title of Performer of the Year (Female) at TLARaw.com's annual awards, and XRCO named her Superslut for 2011. Kristina is one of the most popular performers in the industry today — watch her and find out why!

subset: commoncrawl


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perizi needed a new stationery design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 30 designs submitted by 14 freelance designers.
I am a Start-up Consultant and most of my clients need this and other types of services which I usually use elance but wanted to try sitepoint out.If this expirence is positive there will be much more work to come. So heres the first task at hand. This project has a SHORT FUSE FOR CORP ID. ALSO NEED WEBSITE TO FOLLOW, AS WELL AS MARKETING MATERIALS...
the future of asset recovery
Desired Color Scheme:
please provide options
Desired Style:
clean catchy trendy
Accepted File Formats:
Standard Web Formats (.jpg, .gif or .png); Vector Formats (.eps, .pdf or .ai); Layered Formats (.psd or .tiff)
Ready 4 Repo-
Ready 4 Repo Uses ALPR <Automatic License Plate Recognition> cameras,processors and computers to equip "Repossession vehicles" repo trucks/spotter cars to drive around major cities/metro areas. When a "wanted vehicle" is entered into our national database it is then being sought by all of the equipped repo vehicle in the USA. IF a wanted vehicles license plate passes in front of an ALPR camera, it will alert the repossession vehicle that a wanted vehicle has been located/found IN REAL TIME, and then the repossession company would repossess the vehicle.
I would like an identity that is "clean" not too busy, creative but professional looking. NOT too fancy.
Partners that we are signed with and competitors web sites/corp Id's:


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I have been creative with some samples I uploaded earlier. I took the 'STAB PACK 01' samples and loaded them into Battery 2 for some mangling. Afterwards I programmed some loops with these sounds within Cubase SX. I also added some more regular electronic drumsounds from the Micro Tonic VSTi.
Lot's of different plugins were used to change the sound in various
directions. Mastering was done in Wavelab using plugins from my TC
Powercore and Elemental Audio. All loops are 4 measures in 4/4 long and
have 115 bpm as tempo.
This is loop 24 of 33 with an experimental industrial feel in it.
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Cute Valentines, Love, You + Me = Awesome gift magnets in presentation tin. A lovely keepsake, momento and great alternative to conventional cards. Say It With Magnets!
Handmade, these lovely magnets are in white, with black text and red heart.
The magnets are 25mm in diameter and each set contains 3 magnets in a presentation tin, with sliding lid, and measure 60mm x 34mm x 11mm.
The magnets are hand made by professional press and each magnet can comfortable hold 8 sheets of 80g, A4 paper.
All orders are sent via Royal Mail. International postage options are also available.
1-2 business days
I'll do my best to meet these shipping estimates, but can't guarantee them. Actual delivery time will depend on the shipping method you choose.
Buyers are responsible for any customs and import taxes that may apply. I'm not responsible for delays due to customs.
Just contact me within: 14 days of delivery
Ship items back to me within: 30 days of delivery
But please contact me if you have any problems with your order.
Because of the nature of these items, unless they arrive damaged or defective, I can't accept returns for:
Buyers are responsible for return shipping costs. If the item is not returned in its original condition, the buyer is responsible for any loss in value.
If you require a custom, personalised order quickly, please contact me and I will do my best to accommodate your request.
Please refer to the product description for care instructions.
Please contact me regarding wholesale opportunities.


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Take 30 seconds to register your free account to access deals, post topics, and view exclusive content!Join the largest Oakley Forum on the web!Want to view this complete exchange listing and contact the seller before its too late? Become a Premium Member Today for instant access! Don't miss out!WTB: Eyepatch
Discussion in 'Oakley Sunglasses Exchange' started by Anonymous, 6/24/11.


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The SPRECHart (SPEECHart) - project aims at a deeper understanding of the often reported speaker-specific articulation and explains them with respect to individual vocal tract shapes. Thanks to our cooperation partners, we will make use of some already recorded magnetresonance imaging data, computer tomographic and x-ray data of about 50 speakers producing several vowels. On the basis of these anatomical data we will parameterise the individual vocal tract shapes in a first step. In a second step we will implement these vocal tract shapes in a biomechanical tongue model in order to build speaker specific models. These models allow us to examine the link between motor commands, articulation, and acoustics and their respective variability.
Moreover, we will investigate the degree of jaw opening in low vowel production. Jaw opening has often been reported to be speaker-specific. We will discuss jaw opening as a potential compensation mechanism for particular vocal tract shapes.
The project will allow us to understand the role of the vocal tract shape (not only size!) and its constraints on acoustics and articulation.


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Sale price good while supplies last
This Altar Scarf features the Chi-Rho Cross and accent fabrics of white, orange, and gold. 20" wide x 42" long including 24" front drop.
This is part of a custom designed matched set made from Cathedral material, a linen-textured fabric. Bold multicolor symbols are combined with complementing accent fabrics to create a sweeping affect on each piece.
Please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery, when not in stock. To check stock availability, please contact us at 1-800-672-1789. All of the Ascension Series pieces can be made to custom fit your chancel area. For help with placing a custom order, please call and ask for the Custom Sales Department.
Care Tip…
Dry clean only.
Did you know…
The Chi Rho is one of the earliest cruciform symbols used by Christians. It is formed by superimposing the first two letters of the word "Christ" in Greek. The Chi Rho invokes the crucifixion of Jesus as well as symbolizing his status as the Christ.
The earliest evidence of the Chi Rho symbol is Constantine's use of it on the labarum, the imperial standard, in the early 4th century CE. Lactantius, a 4th century Christian apologist, reports that on the eve of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 CE, Constantine had a vision of God in which he was commanded to mark his men's shields with the Chi Rho symbol. After Constantine's success at the Milvian bridge, the Chi Rho became the official imperial insignia. Archaeologists have uncovered evidence demonstrating that the Chi Rho was emblazoned on the helmet and shield of Constantine as well as those of all of his soldiers. Coins and medallions minted during Constantine's reign also bore the Chi Rho.
Read More


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To use all features of KLM.com safely, we recommend that you update your browser, or that you choose a different one. Continuing with this version may result in parts of the website not being displayed properly, if at all. Also, the security of your personal information is better safeguarded with an updated browser.
Since 1976, the 553-metre-high CN Tower has cut a solitary but magnificent figure in the Toronto skyline. It is the highest free-standing building in the Western Hemisphere. The Tower plays an important role in the city's telecommunications and also serves as a symbolic function - a beacon of Canadian pride.
The 'Canadian Wonder of the World', as the Tower is also called, welcomes around 2 million visitors a year. The Tower offers cafés, restaurants and a 3D cinema. The view of the city is of course the biggest attraction, but if that's not enough you can also go for a serious adrenaline rush by taking a hands-free walk on a narrow ledge 356 metres above the ground.
Special lifts with glass floors whisk visitors to the top of the Tower in only 58 seconds. If that hasn't given you a fear of heights, step out on the glass floor and look down a whopping 342 metres. Don't be afraid: it may seem dangerous but the thick glass is actually stronger than most concrete floors. The glass floor can bear a weight of 38,556 kilograms – the equivalent of 20 hippos, and those don't fit into the lift.
Even higher, you will find the 360 Restaurant, which does a full rotation every 72 minutes so everyone can enjoy the view. The vista is complemented by delicious food and an award-winning wine list. However, you do not have to go to great heights: there is also plenty to do at the foot of the Tower with shops and the market café.
The Tower's newest attraction is the EdgeWalk, the highest hands-free walk in the world. Adrenaline junkies are strapped into a safety harness and attached to the Tower with cables. Then they are ready to walk along the edge of the roof of the 360 Restaurant. The metal walkway around the top of the Tower is just 1.5 metres wide and hangs 116 floors above the ground. Even though you are safely strapped in, it does take some courage to hang over the edge. The EdgeWalk is closed in winter and in poor weather conditions, for example if there are high winds and (imminent) thunderstorms.


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|EDEN Pastas include 60% and 100% whole grain varieties, fun shapes and colors, organic vegetables and herbs. All are made with the finest organic ingredients for better nourishment, flavor, and value.
|"People Who Care" is the motto down at the Eden Organic Pasta Company. With many of the employees having been there over 10 years, it is truly a family style organization throughout.
|Make your Eden pasta experience complete by trying one of our many recipes. There's something for everyone. All of our recipes have been made here in house and are Eden approved.


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we'll email you a link to Lession 1 immediately. Then each day for the next two days you'll get an email linking to a new style lesson.
A lookbook is a term borrowed from the fashion world, where it used to describe collections of photographs that designers use to show off their clothing lines, and use as inspiration for future designs.
Here on Seducing With Style, we use our lookbook to highlight some of cool looks that have caught our eye that we want to share with you guys. For each look, we break down all the items that the model is wearing that makes the look work. Hopefully you will be inspired by some of the styles in our lookbook and try to recreate some for yourself.


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This entry will be a brief departure from my coverage of the Old Timer from Royal Oak, Michigan.
While going through issues of H&P from the late 1980s and early 1990s for this series, I've been coming across interesting articles, many of which are still useful today — despite being more than 20 years old.
The article I'm reproducing today, written by former editor Dick Schneider, was originally published in the August 1988 issue. It's not really what I'd call useful, but it is interesting and demonstrates the tenacity of hydraulics.
Seals come out of deep freeze
After an aborted Antarctic takeoff by a specially equipped Lockheed LC-130F Hercules in 1971, the U.S. Navy, which operated the plane, and the National Science Foundation, which owned it, decided the craft was not salvageable. The Hercules was abandoned — under 35 ft of snow — until 1986, when the decision was reversed, and a team was sent in to dig the plane out of its icy tomb. The recovery team discovered that, 16 years after the crash landing, the plane's hydraulic brake system, sealed with AGT piston rod seals from Greene, Tweed & Co. Inc., Kulpsville, Pa., was still holding pressure.
The rest of the ski-equipped Hercules was in pretty good shape, too. Some minor repairs were made, a runway was bulldozed out of the ice, and after an hour of preheating, the plane's gas turbine compressor started and ran. The plane then flew to New Zealand for complete overhaul before resuming Antarctic flight service.
The link I provided to the LC-130F goes to an article on Wikipedia. It provides additional information in that the aborted takeoff was caused by a malfunction in the aircraft's jet-assisted takeoff system that caused the aircraft's nose landing gear to collapse. The Wiki page also contains a video of a rocket-assisted takeoff.


text: We have been using PVFS here for about 6 Months (even earlier in for testing purposes). We have had our system up in production use now for nearly 3 months without any major issues. The performance is quite good. We have a single meta server and 4 io nodes. We use this space as a global scratch space and an NFS server for home directory space. We also use local disk space on the compute nodes for another level of scratch. Kind of like thinking of local node scratch as "L1 scratch" and global PVFS space as "L2 scratch" and then NFS for the final repository. PVFS scales quite well and is easily expanded down the road. The cons would be that the system was not designed to have a lot of redunancy in it. This for my site isn't really a con at all as we have selected it for use as a global scratch, which doesn't require much if any redundance. After all it is scratch space.... A pro would be that you can use very cheap hardware or current existing hardware to try it out before you opt to push it for production use. You could easily move a few of your compute nodes out of the loop for a bit and set them up as a pvfs system using 3 or 5 nodes (1 meta, 2 or 4 io nodes). This is similar to how we got started..... Josip Loncaric wrote: > > A friend of mine is trying to decide between these two options: > > buying a big file server vs. > using PVFS (see http://parlweb.parl.clemson.edu/pvfs/) > > on his cluster. He has a cluster of Alphas running Linux, and each node > already has about 10GB of disk space available (>100GB total). Buying a > big file server would add more disk space (ignoring the space already > available), but it would allow his nodes to be dedicated to computing > free of file serving tasks. > > He runs big CFD codes and needs lots of disk space to store results and > input files. > > Any comments on pros and cons? > > Sincerely, > Josip > > -- > Dr. Josip Loncaric, Senior Staff Scientist mailto:josip at icase.edu > ICASE, Mail Stop 132C PGP key at http://www.icase.edu./~josip/ > NASA Langley Research Center mailto:j.loncaric at larc.nasa.gov > Hampton, VA 23681-2199, USA Tel. +1 757 864-2192 Fax +1 757 864-6134 > > _______________________________________________ > Beowulf mailing list > Beowulf at beowulf.org > http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf -- Brian D. Haymore University of Utah Center for High Performance Computing 155 South 1452 East RM 405 Salt Lake City, Ut 84112-0190 Email: brian at chpc.utah.edu - Phone: (801) 585-1755 - Fax: (801) 585-5366


text:
For the ultimate Google Earth experience, we fly a kite with a special remote-controlled camera rig which dangles from the string. With this setup we take very high-resolution aerial photos and send them to Google who replaces the default imagery with our kite photos. You can see examples of the kite photos - see BBQ Island or Petite Tabac.
Who wouldn't like to explore the Earth in a sailing catamaran? This is what Frank and Karen Taylor are doing and I asked them to share the story with you (thanks Frank):
What happens when the worlds biggest fan of Google Earth goes traveling around the world by sailboat? Lots and lots of photos in Panoramio! In 2005, I began writing the (unofficial) Google Earth Blog. I didn't just write about what people and companies were doing with Google Earth, but used it nearly every day to virtually explore the Earth. In late-2009, my wife Karen and I embarked on a five year journey to circumnavigate the Earth for real in our sailing catamaran called Tahina. You can follow the journey with our blog called Tahina Expedition. We, of course, use Google Earth and Google Maps to help you follow our journey. One of my primary goals was to document our trip using photography and blogging to share the experience. All our travels are documented with GPS so you can see the places we visit.
What kind of photography are we doing, and how do we share our photos? During our trip we have taken a variety of forms of photography. We take the usual candid photos during our travels, from our boat and on shore while we do our sight seeing. And we also take underwater photos during snorkeling and diving. Many of our photos appear in Panoramio (which also has a layer in Google Earth). We try to take photos which will represent the beauty of the countries we are visiting, or unique sights worth visiting.
How do we get our photos in Panoramio? First, we have to make sure the photos are geotagged. We use Picasa to organize our many photos on our computer. Sometimes we use the built-in "Places" interface to map each photo. We also use a GPS to track our position while shooting photos and use software to automatically geotag our photos. We then upload a selection of our photos to photo albums using Picasa Web Albums (see Tahina's Picasa photo albums here). If you use Picasa Web Albums, you can easily select photos, that have been geotagged, to be transferred to Panoramio. When viewing a photo, just look for the link to "Upload to Panoramio" right under the map. The photo will be copied directly to your Panoramio account quickly and automatically.
We also take 360 degree spherical panoramas which you can view on our web site, through 360Cities.net, or through - you guessed it - Google Earth (see an example and read how we do this in this blog post). Not only that but we have an underwater ROV by VideoRay which lets us explore up to 300 feet underwater with remote control from our boat with two video cameras, lights, and a small grappling hand.
We are having a great time exploring the Earth by sailboat. Hopefully you will join us by following our photos on Panoramio and reading our blog!
Captain Frank Taylor
VideoRay - http://videoray.com/
Google Earth Blog - http://gearthblog.com
Tahina Expedition - http://TahinaExpedition.com


text:
Check out our MG MGB photo gallery
with HQ pics.
Last update in MGB gallery:
Over the next 3 years at Toyota completely new or updates 12 cars for the presentation.
At the recently-completed motor show in New York, Scott Keogh, Volkswagen CEO in the United States, called Tarok pick-up a 'trial balloon' hinting at more and more new products.
Volkswagen Jetta continues to be popular in China as a separate brand, but in the USA the model is still being sold as part of Volkswagen.
Cadillac showed a new sedan in the CT5 coupe form in New York. Novelty replacing CTS model.
The premiere of a new generation of Mercedes-Benz GLS was held at the New York Auto Show.
In New York, at the local auto show, the best vehicle of the World Car of the Year competition was chosen.
We select only big size mg mgb photos
for our photogallery.


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|18th May 2010
Join Date: July 2005
Posts: 1,784
Interview with Kelsey Olson
Once upon a time, there was a castle and a princess.
The castle featured mighty turrets and soaring towers that reached up into the clear, cloudless sky.
The princess had big blue eyes, long golden hair, an angelic face, and a soft figure. She was kind, and sweet, and very, very beautiful.
Christmas had come to the kingdom, and the land was adorned with Yuletide trim. Magic was in the air, and fantasy was in every heart . . .
It sounds like a fairy-tale, doesnt it?
This profile will appear in three parts, the first of which is linked below. To mark the publication, we kindly received a special gift from Miss Olson to share with her fans--a never-before-seen swimwear image showing Kelsey looking like a goddess incarnate. This is quite simply the most beautiful swimwear image that we have ever seen, and provides a wonderful teaser for the interview.
Last edited by HSG : 19th May 2010 at 05:26.
|19th May 2010
Senior Member
Join Date: July 2005
Posts: 633
Re: Interview with Kelsey Olson
First of all, I have to agree that that swimwear image is gorgeous. Kelsey looks soft-figured, yet very shapely and feminine; curvaceous, yet legitimately plus-size. She has the most ideal physique of any plus-size model.
As for the interview itself, I've already read it twice, once earlier today, and once just now, more slowly, taking it all it. Even just with one part online, it's already my favourite Judgment of Paris interview ever. It makes me twice as much a Kelsey fan as I was before- if that's possible. She seems so kind and considerate and thoughtful, but lively and fun as well. She comes across exactly as I always imagined she would, based on her lovely images.
I can't believe how serendipitous it all was- Kelsey personally resembling Sleeping Beauty, even having shot a Princess Aurora editorial, and having Disneyland right there in California with a Sleeping Beauty Castle in its center, as if it were sitting there just waiting for the interview to happen. It's like it was meant to be.
I found this vignette from Kelsey to be utterly adorable:
That's so sweet. I'm grateful that she shared that memory with all of us. It's lovely.
On the other hand, I found her to be very real and compelling on questions about body image. I loved what she said about resolving never to appear in a diet ad or any other kind of starvation/torture propaganda:
That's characteristic of Miss Olson. She's not just thinking about herself, the way so many people do these days. She's thinking about others. That really is a noble personality trait, an old-fashioned and wonderful value.
But my favourite moment in the interview had to be this lighter exchange:
I don't blame the interviewer for having a heart attack when Kelsey teased him with this vision! It's a really vivid idea. I would love to see Kelsey do a photo shoot like that someday- admiring herself in a mirror, and even kissing her reflection. What a gorgeous picture that would make.
I loved every word of the interview, and can't wait for part two.
|19th May 2010
Senior Member
Join Date: August 2005
Posts: 587
Re: Interview with Kelsey Olson
Kelsey sounds like she is a lot of fun to be around, but also very intelligent and, most important of all, very principled.
It angered me to hear that agents have pressured her (or any model) to diminish herself. That's part of the reason why she is so popular - because she IS curvy, genuinely curvy, and not a skinny girl manipulated to look fuller. When I look at the gorgeous swimwear image posted above, it makes me believe that I too can wear a swimsuit with confidence, because Kelsey has a womanly physique and looks absolutely stunning in swimwear. That picture shows both truth AND beauty. That's what everyone is yearning for. That's what we all want to see. Shame on any part of the industry that tries to diminish the very qualities that make Kelsey so inspiring.
I love how she put it:
Bravo for that. That's exactly how all full-figured women should feel about themselves: "This is who I am," and proudly acknowledge their size. Kelsey is inspiring in both word and deed.
And she's so generous as well, especially in how much she credits everyone who works with her for their talent. I have to agree, though, with what the interviewer said - that she deserves to realize that she herself is the main reason why her pictures are so effective, because whoever the photographer, her photos are always gorgeous. She herself is the element common to them all, so it's due to her beauty and ability that she produces such an amazing quality of work.
|19th May 2010
Junior Member
Re: Interview with Kelsey Olson
Wow, what a gift! Thank you! I'm especially thankful that you, and Kelsey, appreciate Disney. So many little girls would never have had any exposure to the fairy-tale princess ideal if it weren't for Walt Disney's vision. (Sleeping Beauty was his favorite, too!)
|19th May 2010
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 103
Re: Interview with Kelsey Olson
Words cannot express the beauty of that swimwear image.
As a long-time lurker at this forum, I've been a Kelsey fan for years, so I'm delighted to be learning more about her. She's so interesting to read about, and I think we're all really lucky that she took the time to let her fans know more about her.
It was fascinating to learn a bit about what makes her such a great model. One passage especially stood out to me in that regard -- when she described her technique, which could be called "method modelling":
Method actors and actresses don't just deliver the lines on the page, but go beyond the script and think of a biography for the characters that they portray, and ask questions like why their characters are doing what they're doing in a scene, what their motivation is, what they did just beforehand, what they'll do right afterward, etc. Part of Kelsey's brilliance as a model, then, is that she adopts a similar technique with her pictures.
I think that's why her images seize the emotions the way that they do and involve the viewer so much. With each picture, she doesn't just strike random poses, but tells a story in miniature, and creates a persona.
Amazing talent -- equal to her stunning beauty.
|20th May 2010
Senior Member
Join Date: November 2008
Posts: 417
Re: Interview with Kelsey Olson
Having read this interview, I find that I now "see" Kelsey's pictures with so much more depth than before. I truly love her personality. She's insightful, good-hearted, and sounds like she has an upbeat, positive attitude. Very likable, and no doubt delightful to be around.
I enjoyed the setting of the interview and how it gave the discussion a theme. As a fan of fairy-tales, I really appreciated how reverent Kelsey is about the great Walt Disney and his vision:
I wish more people had that kind of idealism. It seems so right that Kelsey is a romantic, and not a cynic.
For me, the funniest bit was when, after Kelsey received some praise, she asked her interviewer if he "wrote these things down." That's what many girls will ask when a man pays them a big compliment ("Oh, did you write that down before you said it?"). But of course in this case, the answer was very obviously "yes" - a whole forum of such written comments, in fact! It's funny that Kelsey forgot that for a moment.
That sounds like it was a hilarious exchange for both parties.
|20th May 2010
Senior Member
Join Date: July 2005
Posts: 175
Re: Interview with Kelsey Olson
I really adored the little personal insights about Kelsey that this interview offered. I've always admired her for her beauty, but this profile humanized her and made her very relatable too. She sounds like a wonderful person in every way.
I love what she said about taking her time with getting ready before going out, that that is when she gets to relax and have some time for herself:
The background stories behind her modelling shoots were really interesting, like the fact that she models to music when she does her costume campaigns:
I wish there were a video of that. I didn't know that photographers played music during shoots to get their models in the right mood. I'm sure that Kelsey looks very graceful when she moves in time to Strauss waltzes.
The best, though, was how she narrated her Figure magazine shoot on the sailboat. Her description made me feel like I was right there as part of the experience. Kelsey's admission that she's scared of sea creatures, and then had to confront the sight of them mating right in front of her in the water, was great:
What a fantastic experience.
|21st May 2010
Senior Member
Join Date: January 2010
Posts: 188
Re: Interview with Kelsey Olson
I loved the interview, but I really wish that Kelsey would recognize and acknowledge her own beauty. It just goes to show how messed up the world is, when it comes to women and body image, if even someone like Kelsey (who is as lovely as any girl can possibly be) still sometimes doubts her own attractiveness. This proves how overpowering the pressure to be emaciated is, if it can even touch someone like Kelsey, who should be beyond any self-doubt.
I respect Kelsey so much for helping to combat the very forces of size-negativity that plague even her.
Paradoxically, though, I admire her for her humility, which is a very genteel and classy trait. Someone who is truly beautiful doesn't need to shout it or insist on it. It's obvious to everyone around them, and it's a mark of their graciousness and generosity that they allow others to sing their praises -- as Kelsey allowed the interviewer to do. I was very glad to hear that she appreciates the things that people post about her on the forum. It's a privilege to give her the praise that she deserves.
Others have quoted some of the best exchanges in the interview, but here are a few smaller comments that I thought were nice. I liked how she described her childhood home:
It seems so right that Kelsey should have grown up in a venerable house with a touch of historical character, and not in a modern, box-like structure. Perhaps those turn-of-the-century surroundings even helped to awaken her aesthetic sense at a young age, for the interview shows that she loves beauty in all of its forms.
And I'm sure that everyone here enjoyed the revelation that she knows about and appreciates Lolita fashion:
I'm not surprised that Kelsey admires the craftsmanship and prettiness of it.
She's even more enchanting than her gorgeous pictures would have led one to believe.
|22nd May 2010
Senior Member
Join Date: July 2005
Posts: 517
Re: Interview with Kelsey Olson
One of the things that I loved about this interview was that it embraced a more meaningful interpretation of Walt Disney's vision for his theme park than what one usually encounters. These days, people associate the Disneylands and Disney Worlds with children's characters, but Disney's original idea was something more deeply cultural -- a trip back in time to a bygone, more beautiful era (from the 19th-century, represented by Main Street U.S.A., to the Middle Ages, represented by the medieval castle), and a hearkening back to the more life-affirming values of those past ages.
I liked the reference to Disneyland as "an outpost of the Old World in the New, occupying several acres of American soil like an embassy from the land of myth."
That photo of Sleeping Beauty's Castle is stunning. That's the first time I've ever seen it with the California mountains in the background. For a moment, I actually thought that it was Neuschwanstein amid the Bavarian Alps. The castle's lineage is evident.
With her Old World beauty, her traditionally curvy figure, and her sweet disposition, Kelsey was the ideal model to be profiled in such a setting. The whole experience has a touch of fairy-tale magic about it. She is a treasure.
|31st December 2010
Senior Member
Join Date: October 2010
Posts: 133
Re: Interview with Kelsey Olson
I have read countless marvellous interviews and essays on the forum over this past year, but without question, hands down, my favourite item was this three-part Kelsey Olson profile. Kelsey is my favourite model, so that helps, but I also adore Disney, so to read about this storybook princess being interviewed right underneath the battlements of a fairy-tale castle was utterly perfect. I could picture the whole afternoon in my mind.
The profile explored many rich themes, but I also enjoyed the moments of humour. This was a cute exchange where the interviewer played off Kelsey's remarkable humility:
I hope 2011 brings with it many, many new campaigns and test from Kelsey (just like that gorgeous swimwear image, for example).
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text: Brand new developed area! This is one of four available choice Fallbrook building sites offering convenience to I-15 freeway and the path of future development. Amazing panoramic views, choice building site locations, fire hydrants installed, new road in place, perc tests completed, water meters installed and very gentle terrain. All parcels offer amazing opportunities for your dream home. Come and enjoy the views, the breezes and experience the peace and serenity for yourself! Live the Country lifestyle!


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"The nation needs to develop a new long-term vision for its highway system that would include improving conditions and safety and reducing traffic congestion." -William M. Wilkins, executive director, The Road Information Program
It's no secret that our rural and urban roads, alongside highways and bridges, are in sorry shape these days. The question we need to answer is twofold: how bad off are they and what can we do about it?
According to a new study released by The Road Information Program (which gets compacted down into 'TRIP,' one very slick acronym) deteriorating urban pavement conditions cost the average driver in the U.S. some $413 a year in terms of additional vehicle operating costs due to accelerated vehicle deterioration, additional maintenance needs and increased fuel consumption.
TRIP, a national transportation research group, also says its study found that roughly 23% of the nation's major metropolitan roads - interstates, freeways and other critical local routes -are in poor condition, resulting in rough rides for truckers and motorists alike. Not surprising, Los Angeles and the cities of San Francisco and Oakland have the largest amount of poor pavement out of all the metropolitan locations in the country (65% for L.A. and 62%, respectively, for San Francisco and Oakland) while (and this shocks me!) Washington D.C. - the U.S. capitol - only has about 30% of its roadways in serious disrepair.
What's that mean in terms of dollars? Well, for drivers in Los Angeles, it costs an extra $778 a year in extra vehicle maintenance and fuel - almost twice the national average. "With state and federal transportation funding falling short, the cost of materials and repairs rising and traffic volumes increasing, transportation agencies will face a significant challenge in improving urban pavement conditions," said William Wilkins, TRIP's executive director.
Now, TRIP puts out a study like this almost every year and though it does a good job trying to be objective about the issue, trucking gets dinged repeatedly in their roadway analysis - simply because (and it's the truth) trucks weigh a good deal more than cars, thus putting more pressure on pavement surfaces.
Overall travel on urban roads increased by 39% from 1990 through 2005, but urban travel by large commercial trucks grew at an even faster rate, increasing by 49% from 1990 to 200, TRIP noted. " Large trucks place significant stress on road surfaces," said Wilkins. "While overall vehicle travel is expected to increase by approximately 30% by 2020, the level of heavy truck travel nationally is projected to increase by about 39% by 2020."
There's a way to address this, of course. If we raise the weight limit on commercial trucks - from 80,000 pounds to 97,000 pounds - and add an extra axle to the trailer, we'll be able to reduce the number of trucks on the roads while not sacrificing any freight capacity. That extra axle will help redistribute the added weight, by the way, so there wouldn't be any additional pressure put on the pavement surface.
However, size and weight increases for truck are pretty much dead on arrival in Congress, according to recent comments by Rich Schweitzer, an attorney that serves as general counsel for the National Private Truck Council.
"We want to look at increasing truck size and weight to six axles and 97,000 pounds, explore using 333-foot doubles using current bridge formulas and axle-weight limits, and propose truck-only lanes," he explained during a speech at the 9th annual fleet management conference in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, last week, put on by PHH Truck Services. "Congress isn't on board with any of this."
Back to TRIP's study: Although the share of major urban roads in poor condition has decreased since 2002, conditions are likely to worsen in the future under current transportation funding projections. The group said the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) expects that, through 2025, the nation will fall short of the cost of maintaining current urban pavement conditions by $119 billion and will fall short of making significant repairs by $270 billion.
TRIP further found that maintaining urban roadways in their current condition would require a 56% increase in annual funding, while significantly improving the physical condition of urban roadways would require a 126% increase in annual funding.
There's more gloomy news to report, unfortunately. Federal funding for highway repairs and improvements in the fiscal year 2009, starting on October 1, 2008, may be reduced as a result of a forecast deficit of $3.2 billion in the highway account of the Federal Highway Trust Fund.
On top of that, 18 states expect to face budget shortfalls totaling more than $14 billion during the current 2008 fiscal year, with 25 states expecting to face budget shortfalls of at least $36 billion during fiscal year 2009, largely as a result of shrinking tax revenues. Because most states are not allowed to run a deficit or borrow to cover their expenditures, said TRIP, it is likely that states will have to consider drawing down reserves, cutting expenditures or raising taxes.
The cost of roadway improvements is escalating as well, TRIP found, because the price of key materials needed for highway and bridge construction is increasing rapidly. Between January 2004 and January 2008, the average cost of materials used for highway construction, including asphalt, concrete, steel, lumber and diesel has increased by 46%.
Hoo boy!!! Not exactly a recipe for warm and fuzzy feelings about the future of our road networks, is it?


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Microsoft's Xbox 360 gaming console is one of the most popular ever. It's great for sitting around and playing games with friends and you can even play DVD's and music CD's on the console. While this isn't terribly exciting, if you have a system that is running Windows Media Center (MCE) or Vista Ultimate Edition, you can stream Windows Media Video (WMV) movies to your 360 console over the network.
The down side is that you are forced to use one of these operating systems and the WMV codec isn't all that good - compression is not that great and although it's becoming more popular these days, DivX and Xvid are preferred "DVD backup" choice codec's, shall we say? These lesser mainstream codec's offer better compression and many folks on the darker side of the Web mostly use this format to distribute movies around the Internet since they are the most 1337 choice among enthusiasts.
Since the Xbox 360 is essentially a PC wrapped in Microsoft 360 dashboard software, I always thought there must be some way to play movies other than WMV on the console - without actually hacking the 360 software and hence voiding your warranty. It turns out you can!
While there are plenty of discussed methods floating around the Web, most are impractical and annoying and not thought out so well. Many involve actually decoding your original video source into WMV format and then placing the file into a folder which is recognized by MCE and the Xbox console. Others are a little more advanced in that they can provide real-time DivX to Xbox 360 streaming of content but are less than ideal since you are still forced to use MCE or the most expensive version of Windows Vista.
Last month a group of software folks at TVersity who know a thing or two about this subject managed to make the whole experience much easier and pleasant with their latest version of TVersity. They have a piece of software (and it's completely FREE!) that is able to on-the-fly transcode many video and audio formats into WMV format suitable for the Xbox 360. As it is playing in WMV format from your PC over the network, you are not modifying the console software or hardware and using legal software, therefore your warranty with Microsoft will be fine. Essentially, TVersity is able to trick the console into thinking the source format is WMV (or one of the formats supported by the 360) by using transcoding.
If you use Digital Media Servers which are able to stream content is a similar fashion to the Xbox 360, TVersity will also work just fine. As long as your device uses the UPnP AV / DLNA standard (which is the de-facto standard for connectivity between devices in the digital home), you won't be limited to whatever your DMS supports.
Over the following pages we'll provide a simple step by step guide on playing DivX and Xvid movies and a bunch of other video and audio formats on your Xbox 360 console. Let's get started!
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- Overall Length:7.625"
- Blade Length:3.25"
- Cutting Edge:2.875"
- Blade Thickness:0.13"
- Blade Material:154CM
- Blade Style:Drop Point
- Blade Grind:Flat
- Finish:Stonewash
- Edge Type:Plain
- Handle Length:4.375"
- Handle Thickness:0.48"
- Handle Material:Aluminum
- Color:Black
- Weight:3.52 oz.
- User:Right Hand
- Pocket Clip:Tip-Up
- Knife Type:Spring Assisted
- Opener:Thumb Stud
- Lock Type:Plunge Lock
- Brand:Protech
- Model:TR-5
- Model Number:TR-5 SA.1
- Designer:Matthew Lerch
- Country of Origin:USA
- Best Use:Everyday Carry, Tactical
- Product Type:Knife
Protech has added a spring assisted model to their Tactical Response lineup, the TR-5. Similar in design to the TR-4 auto, the TR-5 is smaller and more pocket-friendly. The assisted opening mechanism was developed by custom knifemaker and designer Matthew Lerch. Unlike most spring assisted knives, the TR-5 offers almost instant Assist engagement that is powerful. Sufficient force is required to activate the mechanism, providing an added measure of safety. Best of all, the Protech TR-5 Assist is legal to carry in most places.
This TR-5 model has a black anodized aluminum handle with a two-tone black back spacer/lanyard attachment, and a deep carry tip-up pocket clip. The blade is stonewashed and outfitted with a thumb stud opener. The plunge lock enables safe use and provides solid lockup. Protech's TR-5 is an impressive addition to their lineup and boasts their longstanding build-quality and performance.
This is a limited Pre-Production Run of 200 numbered knives.


text: On Sun, 12 Aug 2007, Carsten Aulbert wrote: > Thanks for the link. In principle we have everything working already > that way, but want to "excel" a bit more: No, no, no. You want to "ooffice" a little more...;-) > > (1) Right now we use memdisk from the syslinux/isolinux family to boot > the dos image. Booting an exact floppy image works fine, but for some > part in (2) we might need more space than a 2,88 MB floppy or its > extended pendant gives to us. Thus we are currently trying to boot a hd > image which sems to be a bit trickier than a simple floppy image > (getting boot code, partition table right for example). > > (2) We want to have some feedback from the process and don't want to > have an automatic reboot after a possible failure because in the worst > case this might "brickify" a node. Once I had the problem, that > automatic BIOS flashing worked, but one node - which looked similar but > behaved differently - was not able to finish the flashing procedure > successfully. Since I was monitoring the node I was able to redo the > flashing with a different option [1]. > > Anyway, that's the reason why we want to include a dhcp client and some > means, possibly a ssh or rsh client along with the needed packetdriver > to the image and notify the server that way, that it successfully > flashed the BIOS and set our custom settings correctly. Only after that > the nodes should continue FAIing. No, that's reasonable -- I just didn't understand. Autoexec.bat is dumb as a post in comparison even with /bin/sh, too. So it sounds like somebody else came up with a better recipe for booting a small partition and using dosemu -- that might give you better scripting and error recovery. Nowadays there are a variety of small linux images readily available on the web that you can burn to CD or wrap up as a netboot, I think, that include dosemu. > PS: Anyone an idea, why my emails end up for moderators approval every > time? I have just checked the settings, but I'm subscribed (with this > from address) and everything looks fine for me. It has to do with Don's two or three tier system of spam defense. There is something like a whitelist, a greylist, and a blacklist, and greylisted people are basically moderated. I don't know the algorithm he uses to move people from one to the other, but I'd guess a request and clean record spamwise might help. rgb > > [1] I still don't know what wsa special to this node. All other nodes > were happy to get the BIOS flashed, but this particular one needed a > special switch from the AMI(?) flash tool. I don't really remember what > was wrong since this was at the end of the past millennium ;) >>> In the worst case, the DOS environment is working autonomously and the >>> install server is 'guessing' >>> whether the BIOS is flashed or not on the clients, >>> e.g., by analyzing the DHCP logs, but this is not what we really want. >> >> I'm hoping that the process described above IS what you want. >> >> rgb >> >>> >>> Regards >>> Henning Fehrmann >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf at beowulf.org >>> To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit >>> http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf >>> >> > _______________________________________________ > Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf at beowulf.org > To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf > -- Robert G. Brown http://www.phy.duke.edu/~rgb/ Duke University Dept. of Physics, Box 90305 Durham, N.C. 27708-0305 Phone: 1-919-660-2567 Fax: 919-660-2525 email:rgb at phy.duke.edu


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truidea necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 244 diseños de 28 diseñadores freelance.
http://www.truidea.com (currently not available)
we are a tech startup of young, motivated and passionate software engineers with big visions of leaving our mark on the tech world. we develop innovative software for all platforms with a focus towards web-based SaaS products and mobile solutions. we would also like to invest our technical services in other promising startups with less technical backgrounds.
we need a logo that presents well for representing truidea to both geeks and suits. the products we develop are web 2.0 style applications that can appeal to both your stereotypical techie and corporations alike.
we would like the logo to ooze technical passion, vision and quality while keeping it simple, professional and memorable.
we are just starting to build our identity so this logo could become the "center of our universe"
- no restrictions on colors
- it should include the name but also have a symbol that can stand alone as an icon, or when needed in small form
- it should represent well on business cards, websites and letterheads
- should be able to accommodate a smaller type product name or label, or be the smaller type next to a product name or label
- no stock images or clip art
- no license protected fonts
we would like the following formats
- Print file format - .ai (CMYK) and .eps
- Web file format - .png and layered .psd (RGB)
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS — Let the Orlando Magic be the cautionary tale for any team embracing change, on their roster, this time of year.
Roster building in the NBA is a living and breathing thing, one that requires constant attention but not necessarily constant action. The Magic know this better than most, having not only flipped their roster several times in the past eight years but also swapping out the people in charge of roster building more than most.
Our main man Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel lists the count of "high-profile people who have parted ways with the franchise since December" at 17. That's since Christmas time folks! And that number could grow in the coming hours, days and weeks depending on what happens in the Draft tonight, with Dwight Howard and others in free agency and trades.
But as Schmitz points out, the Magic are not exactly experiencing change anyone can believe in right now:
The casualties so far include one CEO, one head coach, six assistant coaches, one GM, one assistant GM, six scouts and one player-development director.
An entire basketball operations department could go on Craigslist.
The Magic have fired so many folks, they're making Donald Trump look benevolent.
The 30-year-old kid in the hall, freshly appointed GM Rob Hennigan, whacked the last eight himself after taking the job last week. We probably can stop the concerns whether his tender youth might cloud his decision-making, so my last crack about Rob's age will be the fact he no longer will be allowed to sit on Santa's lap at the mall.
It's a new launch for the Magic, and frustrated fans have no choice but to embrace the unknown. They'll be saluting or blaming strangers, beginning with tonight's draft, and that seems perfectly fine with the faithful now that Otis Smith isn't near a contract and a pen anymore.
And the biggest change hasn't even happened yet, speaking of Dwight Howard.
Hennigan fielded more questions Wednesday about Howard's future than whom he might pick at No. 19.
Hennigan deflected the inquiries like a hockey goalie, including mine: What are the chances Dwight will be traded Thursday night?
"You know what? I don't want to comment on that," Hennigan said. "We're going to continue to evaluate everything we can, analyze all the details, any options and scenarios. I don't know the answer to that."
Hennigan knows the answer, and a draft-day deal for Dwight is possible. He just can't go there yet about Howard.
The Magic's direction depends on Howard's direction, and what we do know is this: Dwight hasn't told the club he's dying to sign an extension.
For fans, there could be some tells in the Magic's poker game regarding Howard. If J.J. Redick is dealt on draft-day and Jameer Nelson opts out Friday, Hennigan won't have to keep pretending publicly that there's a chance Howard is coming back.
Hennigan's job will turn into a rebuilding project.
There's that "R" word that no fan of any team wants to hear at Draft time.
Any "rebuilding project" comes with a fair amount of pain for all involved. For a Magic franchise that played in the The Finals in 2009, it has to be a particularly painful way of heading into the summer.
Even worse for Magic fans, this might only be the beginning of an excruciatingly painful chapter in franchise history, depending on just how much change is ahead.


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Actually, just looking at the set I could use it straight out of the box for one of my factions...Solidus927 wrote:Very nice peices all over this thing plus the ones i removed will be excellent for the Frigate.mercury19 wrote:That is truly what matters. Also, is that set any good?
For the frigate: is it fragile, or almost swooshable? If the second one, how did you get it to that point? I built a ship a while back, which was scrapped during an attempted refit, where I almost got there, but it was annoyingly flimsy. I'd really like to see at least a little bit of how you did yours, cause it looked ossum.


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Our culture emphasizes teamwork and an unqualified commitment to excellence and is a key reason for our success. T&K was recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2017 among the most highly recognized law firms in the U.S.
Established in 1887, Thompson & Knight is a full-service law firm with a long and distinguished tradition of exemplary service to our clients and communities around the world.
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Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Whelan in the clear over Garcia tackle
Stoke's Glenn Whelan will not face retrospective action from the Football Association over his two-footed challenge on Manchester City's Javi García.
Referee Howard Webb took no action at the time and the FA has said the laws of the game rule it can only take action retrospectively for incidents not seen by match officials.
The Stoke midfielder has defended his challenge, telling reporters: "I've gone in for the challenge and I don't think I tried to be dirty but if it looks that way on TV then I'll have to hold my hands up. I don't think I caught him as much as he was rolling about."
He went on: "It's the English game, the old-fashioned game, and that's what the Premier League is so good for.
"There is massive pressure on the referees from the media and the people they're accountable to. Hopefully it [tackling] can stay in the game and people just get on with it."
City midfielder Gareth Barry had hinted that he thought action might be possible, suggesting Webb's view of the challenge may have been impeded by Garcia.
"I think the referee said at the time - I spoke to him and he said he didn't have the right angle on it but Javi, in the changing room, said the player went in with both feet and caught his ankle so I think they showed that on TV too," the England midfielder said.
"But I don't want to speak badly against Glenn Whelan. He's a great pro and I'm sure he went for the ball."


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OK, so apart from those genuinely saintly souls sent by Providence as examples to the rest of us, is there anyone with a pulse in this country who wouldn't like to see Osama bin Laden dead? Should he yet fall into our hands, even this writer — an implacable opponent of capital punishment — sees no reason to take the evil SOB alive.
That's the animating fantasy at the heart of Tom Clancy's sprawling but propulsive new thriller, "Dead or Alive," his 15th novel since he exploded like a cluster bomb onto bestseller lists with "The Hunt for Red October" in 1984. In recent years, his equally sprawling $100-million book, film and game empire has come to rely increasingly on "collaborators," one of whom — Grant Blackwood, a veteran of Clive Cussler's similar operation — is credited here. Still, this latest book, like the most interesting of Clancy's work, has a tendency to both pander to popular fantasy (in this case, revenge) and, simultaneously, to play against it with hard-headed insights into the real world of military and intelligence operations. It's a fruitful tension that lends his books a quirky, appealing unpredictability that sometimes can survive even the author's eye-rolling politics.
Clancy fans may regard "Dead or Alive" as rather like one of those NBA "dream teams" they throw together for the Olympics; win, lose or draw — it's fun to see them all on the court. This time, the best characters from all Clancy's previous novels are on the case, including Jack Ryan and his son, Jack Ryan Jr.; the deadly John Clark (Jack senior's darker half); the Caruso brothers, Dominic and Brian; the ace intelligence analyst Mary Pat Foley; and even Clark's protégé, Ding Chavez. Their quarry is the "Emir," a Bin Laden-like terrorist in hiding after a series of horrific attacks on the United States by his Al Qaeda-like network.
The elder Ryan, a onetime naval intelligence and CIA analyst, now is the recently retired president — don't ask about the series of catastrophic improbabilities that thrust him into that job — and the rest of the cast works for a super-secret black operations agency, the Campus, that he created. It's a self-funding (translation: no congressional or executive oversight) group with a secret charter to hunt down and kill anyone it deems a terrorist or terrorist collaborator. It operates completely on its own and its personnel were provided by then-President Ryan with blank advance pardons to ward off prosecutions. Essentially, the Campus and its crew are what British intelligence used to plainly call "a murder gang." It's a kind of crypto-fascist wet dream run by preternaturally wise heroes and without legal restraints or personal compunction.
It hardly matters, because they always know who the bad guys are and just when and where to shoot. In this instance, a series of electronic intercepts and incremental intelligence coups revive the hunt for the Emir ongoing since 9/11. It's clear he's plotting some devastating new operation, but just how broad its scope and how nefarious its hall-of-mirrors implications are unfolds clearly only at the end of the break-neck narrative. It's not giving too much away to say that one of the conceits with which the plot is playing is how things might proceed, if the Emir/Bin Laden were not hiding in Pakistan's tribal hinterlands but somewhere ingeniously in plain sight. His actual location seems at first almost satirically preposterous and, then, marvelously appropriate — a characteristic of Clancy's better plot devices.
The author always has had a knack for situating his successful thrillers in territory that's not simply physically topical, but politically — or, at least, emotionally — contested. Thus, "Dead or Alive" is infused with not only the strategic and tactical settings of the "war on terror," but also a healthy dose of "tea party" politics, including distaste for elite institutions and opinions. The president who has succeeded Ryan is a wimpy, mean-spirited aristocratic lefty with nothing better to do than unwind Jack's successful tax policies and mindlessly assert civilian control over the military. His whiningly ineffectual, equally small-minded advisors are introduced with the names of their Ivy League alma maters — this one from Harvard, this one from Yale. Seldom has a good education been presented as such a morally, intellectually crippling handicap.
On the other hand, Clancy's deep research into contemporary military and intelligence practices often spins his stories in unexpectedly realistic directions. When one of the redoubtable Mary Pat Foley's colleagues makes an offhand remark about the efficacy of waterboarding, for example, it sets off an internal reverie — there are lots of such digressions in this novel's nearly 1,000 pages — on how torture is "of little use in the real world" because it doesn't "produce reliable and verifiable information. More often than not, it was a waste of time.… The 'ticking bomb' scenario so casually batted about was …was beyond rare, a Hollywood concoction." On the other hand, none of that keeps Mary Pat's comrades from treating a particular "high-value asset" whom they capture with ingenious sadism.
Going back to his first published novel, Clancy's bread and butter has been the details of military technologies and hardware — it's one of the things that has given him a devoted following among serving members of the armed forces — and there's plenty of that in "Dead or Alive." If one of Clancy's operatives has a handgun, it's described right down to the make and laser sight, whose various options also are exhaustively explored.
For fans of the genre, "Dead or Alive" is likely to provide a long weekend's pleasure — something, perhaps, for the person in your life still sufficiently in touch with his mayhem-inclined inner child to enjoy watching the Military Channel.


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Honors & Awards
- 2010 Major League Draft Pick (8th round, Kansas City)
- 2010 First-Team Academic All-Big 12
- 2009 Second-Team Academic All-Big 12
- No. 9 Draft Prospect from M.I.N.K. League (Baseball America)
- Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll (Spring 2008; Fall 2008; Spring 2009; Fall 2009)
2010: Right-hander who was a staple of NU's weekend rotation, going 6-6 with a 4.70 ERA over a team-high 95.2 innings • Tied or set season bests in strikeouts four times in 2010 and had 45 strikeouts over his last 35.1 innings of work • Ranks 10th in the Big 12 in innings, as he has pitched into the seventh in each of his last 11 starts while averaging 6.83 innings per appearance this season, a total which is second among Big 12 pitchers • Turned in a team-high seven quality starts this season, including three against ranked foes • Ranked third in the Big 12 in innings pitched in league games at 62.2 and fifth in strikeouts (55), while pitching into the eighth in six of his nine conference starts • Closed out the year with a strong performance against Texas Tech on May 21, striking out nine and allowing two earned runs on six hits over seven-plus innings for the victory • Threw well in a 2-0 loss at Missouri on May 14, fanning eight and allowing two runs on six hits while pitching into the eighth • Held a Southeast Missouri State team that was hitting .358 to five hits over eight innings while striking out a career-high 12 hitters - the most by a Husker since Feb. 28, 2009 - in a 6-2 win on May 7 • Fanned a then-career high nine batters against Texas A&M on April 30, but allowed four earned runs on seven hits over seven innings of work • Earned a no-decision at Baylor on April 23, as he matched his season high with seven strikeouts over 6.1 innings, allowing five runs in a game NU eventually lost 7-6 • Earned his second straight win against Kansas on April 16, pitching into the ninth and fanning four, as he retired 18 of 19 hitters between the second and eighth innings • Collected a win at No. 20 Kansas State on April 9, allowing two runs over seven innings, while fanning a season-high seven Wildcats in NU's 5-3 victory • Gave the Huskers a chance to win against No. 12 Oklahoma on March 27, allowing three runs on six hits while fanning five over 6.1 innings in a 4-1 setback • Gutted out a win at No. 2 Texas on March 20, allowing three runs on eight hits, while fanning five in a 5-3 victory over the Longhorns • Turned in the best effort of his career, tossing a one-hit shutout against Houston Baptist on March 13, as he struck out four and allowed only one runner to advance past first base • Went six innings at No. 14 UCLA in the doubleheader nightcap on March 5, allowing five runs on eight hits in a 5-3 loss to the Bruins • Held No. 9 Rice to three runs over five innings, while fanning five in a no-decision on Feb. 27 • Took the loss in his first start, allowing five runs over 5.0 innings at Fresno State on Feb. 20, but settled down after a four-run second inning against the Bulldogs
2009: From start to finish, Mariot found himself in big situations during his sophomore campaign, going 2-2 with a 7.06 ERA in 19 appearances • Worked as both a starter and reliever, fanning 36 over 51.0 innings • Made eight starts on the year, including the season opener, after working exclusively out of the bullpen as a freshman • Finished the season in the bullpen, where he posted a 5.21 ERA in 11 appearances, including eight outings of at least one inning • Closed out the year in fine fashion, not allowing a run in his final two relief appearances, including two innings of one-hit relief against Cal State Bakersfield on May 9 and against Missouri on May 3 • Had a no-decision in a start against New Mexico on April 29, allowing three runs on five hits in a game Nebraska won 9-5 • Earned the victory in NU's 12-inning win against Creighton at Rosenblatt Stadium, going the final 2.2 innings to preserve a 4-3 win • Pitched twice in the series at No. 23 Texas A&M, tossing 2.2 innings of two-hit relief in the opener on April 17 • Started against Iowa on April 14, taking a shutout into the fourth and fanning three before allowing three runs in NU's 8-5 victory • Had his best relief effort of the year, tossing 2.2 innings of one-hit relief with three strikeouts against No. 9 Texas on April 10 • Allowed two runs on three hits over 3.1 innings of relief against Kansas State on April 3 • Tossed two shutout innings in a relief appearance at Wichita State on March 31 • Made his first relief appearance of the year against No. 11 Oklahoma on March 29, fanning three over 1.1 innings of work and allowing two runs on three hits • Went 2.1 innings in a pre-determined start against Northern Colorado on March 25, allowing three runs on three hits, while striking out a trio of Bears • Took the loss against No. 11 Oklahoma State on March 22, allowing four runs on eight hits over three innings in NU's 6-3 setback • Suffered his first loss at Texas Tech on March 15, allowing five runs on six hits in 3.2 innings of work • Turned in an outstanding effort against Cal State Northridge on March 8, allowing one run on five hits over a career-high seven innings of work in an 8-2 Husker win • Was solid in his first career start, setting personal bests in innings (5.2) and strikeouts (8) against UL-Lafayette on Feb. 20 • Scattered seven hits, but was not involved in the decision, as Nebraska won in 15 innings • Pitched for the Beatrice Bruins and Bob Steinkamp in 2009, going 3-3 with a 3.13 ERA, as he led the Bruins in innings (46) and strikeouts (43) • Rated by Baseball America as the No. 9 prospect in the league • Pitched for the Chillicothe Mudcats at the 2009 National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita.
2008: Mariot was one of three true freshman pitchers who helped the Huskers to 41 wins and an NCAA Regional appearance • Compiled a 2-0 record with a 6.75 ERA in eight appearances - all in relief • Served as one of NU's long relievers, as he went at least two innings in three of his eight outings • Did not pitch in the NCAA Regional or the Big 12 Tournament • Went 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA in two conference outings, highlighted by an inning of perfect relief at No. 12 Oklahoma State on April 12 • Pitched the ninth inning against Western Illinois on April 30, allowing one run on two hits • Allowed one run on two hits over 1.1 innings at Baylor on April 27 • Earned the victory against Creighton at Rosenblatt Stadium on April 23, firing three innings of relief as he allowed a pair of runs on three hits • Pitched well against Northern Colorado on March 25, throwing a shutout inning of relief with one strikeout • Earned the win with an inning of relief against South Dakota State on March 11, a game NU won 7-3 • Fired two shutout innings against Nebraska-Kearney on March 4 • Made his Husker debut at Stanford on Feb. 22, allowing five runs on four hits over 3.0 innings of work • Spent the summer pitching for Clovis in the California League and for the Beatrice Bruins during the National Baseball Congress World Series • Went 1-1 with a 1.29 ERA in two starts, helping the Bruins to a third-place showing.
Before Nebraska: Mariot attended Southlake Carroll High School after transferring from El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, Calif. • Pitched on the varsity at Southlake Carroll in 2006 as a reliever, but was unable to pitch as a senior in 2007 • Pitched in the summer of 2007 for the Arlington A's under coaches Dave Acton and Craig Bartosh • Earned all-star honors from the organization in 2007.
Personal: Born on Oct. 20, 1988, in West Hills, Calif. • Parents are Ezio and Diana Mariot • Has one sister (Jennifer) and one brother (Chris) • Majors in communication studies where he has a cumulative 3.11 GPA entering the spring 2010 semester.