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From Vice President Biden, a Better Answer on Russia and Its Role
Joe Biden has caught hell the past couple of weeks for making some fairly obvious observations to a reporter about Russia's internal problems and for implying that the interests of such a weakened country needn't worry the United States all that much. Moscow officialdom has responded in high dudgeon, and Russian commentators are insisting that the vice president has revealed the dark and irresponsible motives behind American policy. Administration spokesmen dismiss it as just another Biden gaffe.
It's no surprise that comments about Russia's demographic decline, its over-dependence on commodity exports, the shakiness of its banks and so on can be interpreted to mean that the United States intends to push the envelope at Moscow's expense -- and expects to get away with it. Yet it appears that what the reporter asked the vice president was not why America is doing so much to provoke Russia but, rather, why the United States thinks it can deter Russian power while doing so little. As a response to this question, Biden's answer sounded more like an attempt to change the subject, an uneasy way of saying that maybe the Russians, with all their problems at home, will end up deterring themselves. No need for the United States to push the envelope after all.
An uproar, in other words, about whether the United States is overreaching and disregarding Russia's interests should perhaps have been about whether America is trying to succeed on the cheap and is failing to uphold its own interests. But no matter which question the vice president was asked, the Obama administration needs a more convincing answer.
In explaining that the United States is not putting itself on a collision course with Russia, Biden could have claimed credit for what has already been accomplished. And to reassure those who think that U.S. policy is long on talk and short on action, he would have to be more candid about what it will take to strengthen the independence of Russia's neighbors.
Showing that the administration is serious about Russian-American relations is the easy part of dealing with the Biden flap. By now Russian policymakers have seen enough of U.S. policy to know that Washington's guiding thought is not how to bring Russia to its knees. The administration is not counting on Russia's backwardness to win its cooperation. It's counting on common interest.
In his visit to Moscow last month, President Obama accorded Russian leaders a degree of deference that even close allies have been denied. He went far toward building a relationship centered on the strategic nuclear balance -- the heart of Russia's claim to be a great power. He accepted a connection between arms reductions and missile defense that was probably President Dmitry Medvedev's top priority at the summit. And he went easy on an embarrassing recent example of shortsighted Russian decision-making -- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's still-unexplained scuttling of 16 years of effort to get Russia into the World Trade Organization.
The administration has a good story to tell about the Russian-American relationship it is trying to build. Can it say as much about what it is doing to bolster Russia's neighbors? It's silly to suggest that Russia's weak banking system or declining population or any of its other internal problems might keep it from pummeling Georgia again if the opportunity arose. Yet there are forces at work of a very different kind that favor U.S. interests.
Almost all the states of the former Soviet Union are already working with Western governments, and with each other, to increase their independence from Moscow. When Kyrgyzstan lets the United States keep using its air base to reach Afghanistan despite Russian bribes; when Uzbekistan refuses to join a rapid-reaction military force that Russia wants to create; when Turkmenistan invites American and European companies to help break Gazprom's grip on its energy exports; when the president of Armenia invites the president of Georgia (who is still denounced by Moscow as a genocidal murderer) to receive an award -- all in the space of a few months, it's clear that the geopolitical tide is moving in the right direction.
This trend does not mean that American support for Russia's neighbors is unnecessary, only that it has a realistic chance to succeed. What Dean Acheson called "the added energy and power of America" will often be decisive. These states want military training and equipment so they can stand up to intimidation. They want the access to international markets that frees them from economic subordination. They want the diplomatic attention that allows them to resist interference in their internal affairs.
These are the practical problems on which the Obama administration needs to make progress if it wants to support the independence of Russia's neighbors. Only if it gets these problems right will reporters get a better answer the next time around.
The writer is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and professor of international diplomacy at Columbia University. He was U.S. ambassador at large for the former Soviet Union from 1997 to 2001.


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I am very familiar with the mics shipped with the Anthem AVRs and pre/pros. Their decision to provide a serial number specific file with each kit to offset measurement differences is genius. I have been told that a major issue with other EQ mics, such as Audyssey, is that they actually lack the ability to accurately measure below 100 Hz, where most of the "magic" happens. Have you tested the micropohones for ARC and Audyssey for this type of result?
Music in the Round #52
Anthem is different. The company has long enjoyed success as a manufacturer of high-end pre-pros, and only recently has introduced its first range of AVRs, whose technology and philosophy are derived from Anthem's pre-pros (footnote 1). Not so surprisingly, in view of market demands, Anthem's MRX line of receivers is much less expensive than the Anthem or Anthem Statement pre-pros. A significant portion of this must be due to the fact that they're made in China rather than in North America like their pre-pros. Anthem's current top-model AVR is the MRX 700 ($1999).
Unpacking the 35.4-lb MRX 700, I was encouraged. It was more solid and rigid than I'd expected from the price and its front panel, though busy with controls, seems more businesslike than that of a typical AVR. The controls are clearly and usefully labeled. At top left is a large navigation compass, at top right a volume control of similar size. Below the compass are buttons for Info, Setup, Menu, and Presets Scan, and below the volume knob is an identical array for Dolby Volume, Channels, Audio, and Mute. Between these groups is a row of eight source-selection buttons. At bottom left are four jacks (Phones, USB, composite Video, and L-Audio-R), and at bottom right are four more buttons: Display, Zone, Zone 2 power, and Main power. While the front panel seems the very model of modern organization, the remote control was less intuitive in its organization; it took me a couple weeks to master it. Unfortunately, the backlight control button is clustered with others of similar size and shape, which makes it hard to find in the dark. A second, simpler remote is provided use with Zone 2.
The MRX 700's rear panel has the requisite multiplicity of connections; with Canadian practicality, Anthem provides full-page illustrations of it and the front panel in the manual. That made setup easy, and was helpful as I changed connections along the way. I hooked up the MRX 700 with HDMI cables to my cable box and high-definition disc players, and with coax for digital input from the players. I used six Belkin Silver Series RCA cables to connect the outputs of my Oppo BDP-83SE universal Blu-ray player, and a set of Kubala-Sosna Anticipation RCAs to the inputs of my Bryston 9B-STT power amplifier. The MRX 700 has no balanced inputs or outputs.
After power-up, I dove into the setup menus, whose graphics and red-and-black color scheme suggest a brochure from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and overlay the ongoing video display. Audio signals, too, remain audible during menu access; I could immediately hear the effects of changing the audio mode. After assigning and naming inputs, I was able to assign different default processing modes for each audio format. I also set up bass and speaker management from experience (and tape measure), and spent a week or two using no room correction, to get a handle on the MRX 700's inherent sound quality. However, the outputs of my subwoofer and satellite speakers didn't smoothly integrate, so I reset the front speakers to Large.
The overall sound was very impressive in both two channels and surround, with the timbres of voices and instruments quite natural. The MRX 700's fairly good spectral balance allowed for the influence of room modes in the bass. I also switched briefly to the MRX 700's own amplifiers, and, as you might expect with my all-Paradigm speaker system (Paradigm and Anthem share the same corporate parent), there was sufficient oomph, and the balance was little different from those with the Bryston 9B-SSTanother Canadian product, eh? The Bryston had the stronger grip on the bass and, despite the room modes, was a bit cleaner through the low and midbass. I suspect that the differences might have been even smaller with Anthem Room Correction (ARC), the company's room-correction software (included), engaged, but I didn't get around to trying it with the Anthem's own amps.
The MRX 700 comes with a complete ARC toolkit: software, calibrated microphone and cable, and tripod mike stand. It's nearly the same version of ARC as is used in the Anthem Statement D2v processor: the MRX receivers have slightly less DSP power, and correction is limited to below 5kHz (the D2v can correct up to 20kHz). I've used ARC with the Statement D2v processor and, more recently, in its PBK incarnation, the bass EQ software for the Paradigm Sub-15 subwoofer, so I'm nearly as familiar with ARC as with Audyssey. ARC runs on a laptop and connects to the AVR via a USB or serial port, while Audyssey's connection is determined by the particular device it's installed in and can be run with or without wires. ARC can handle up to 10 mike positions; while Audyssey MultEQ Pro can handle up to 32 positions, less sophistication versions of the software handle three, six, or eight mike positions.
Used as fully automated procedures, ARC and Audyssey are equally easy to use, but ARC's Manual mode is friendlier than MultEQ Pro's, as it doesn't require a "key," doesn't ask for details of system setup (though this can be ignored in MultEQ Pro), and makes saving and retrieving settings a bit simpler. In addition, all ARC-equipped devices can store two sets of EQ corrections, one each for Movies and for Musicbut, of course, you can repurpose them. On the other hand, MultEQ Pro permits the hands-on editing of individual target curves, albeit only within Ò3dB. With ARC you can adjust the room gain (a small mid-bass boost that preserves the warmth caused by the acoustics of the typical listening room) and dictate how high in frequency the EQ is applied. The latter is particularly attractive to the many who believe that the correction of room modes should be limited to frequencies below the Schroeder Frequency, and that a system's high-frequency performance should be determined by speaker choice and placement and the user's taste.
I ran ARC with the same nine mike positions I usually use. I chose a 2kHz upper limit for EQ to go along with the 3.9dB of room gain detected by ARC. The results were a definite improvement in the extreme bassthe subwoofer plot was smooth and extendedwhile the wider frequency-response swings in the main channels were restricted to the region below the crossover frequencies, which ARC put at 60Hz for the three Paradigm Studio/60s in the front, and at 80Hz for the two Studio/20s in the rear. Perhaps because the low end was cleaned up, or perhaps because I know that these speakers have sounded better, I became increasingly critical of a slight nasality in male voices, as well as a lack of presence in flutes, cymbals, and upper violin strings.
The ARC graphs told me why: All of the main channels suffered from a 23dB trough from just below 1kHz to 6kHz. ARC corrected this up to about 2kHz, which resulted in an even more sharply defined depression above that point. So I extended the ARC correction to 5kHz (the MRX's default setting) but cut the room gain to 2dB and increased the subwoofer's upper cutoff to 120Hz. VoilÖ! This sounded, and measured, pretty close to ideal, with the frequency response of every main channel within Ò2dB, from above its crossover up to about 20kHz. The Paradigm Sub-15 measured nearly flat down to 15Hz, and the XTZ measurement system revealed that ARC had virtually erased a large mode at 31.5Hz, as well as several smaller ones. Only the rear speakers still had a small modal bump at around 150Hz, though this was now 8dB lower than without ARC. I could sit back and just play the music.
With everything I tried, in stereo or multichannel, I found it hard to find fault with the MRX 700. Voices were distinctive and rounded, with fricatives clearly defined. The low and midbass were tight and extended, as one might expect, but also packed a good wallop when that was called for. However, the real payoff was the overall integration of the sound, both harmonically and spatially.
I have lived with this combination of speakers and room for many years, and it has never sounded better than with the Anthem MRX 700. That's not to say that other pre-pros haven't been as satisfying, but there were differences. The Integra DHC-80.2 seemed a bit more open, but the slightly warmer-sounding Anthem wasn't lacking in transparency. If anything, the MRX 700's reproduction of inner voices was more subtle. In terms of soundstage depth and the seamlessness of the illusion of surround sound, the MRX 700 was excellent, and shared with the eminent Classé SSP-800 the ability to re-create eerily distinct lateral voices without smearing.
Although it is not multichannel, Internet radio streaming was more reliable and sounded cleaner through the Anthem MRX 700 than through the Arcam, Marantz, and Integra pre-pros I had to hand. In particular, RCO Live, the streaming service of Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, would cut out every so often with those models; the Anthem never did. Moreover, the imposition of AnthemLogic-Music, a proprietary algorithm that expands the signal to up to 6.1 channels, opened up the soundstage of these lossy compressed streams without affecting the tonal balance or frontal imaging. The reasons for the success of AnthemLogic-Music may be that it doesn't add a center channel, and that its use of the surround channels is very subtle. Whatever the factors, with the MRX 700 I've been enjoying music via the Internet more than ever.
The MRX 700 is a fully competitive preamplifier-processor that lacks only the XLR outputs commonly found at this price although the inclusion of an AVR's power amps makes for added value. However, the MRX 700 ($1999) is so similar to Anthem's MRX 500 ($1649) and MRX 300 ($1099) that a single user's manual serves for all three. The differences include the power output (respectively, 90W vs 75W vs 60W into 8 ohms, five channels driven) and a few features. Only the 700 includes HD radio and iTunes tagging, and the 300 lacks a USB input for flash drive or hard disk, and Internet radio via Ethernet. The MRX 700 also has a toroidal power transformer instead of the E-I cores in the 500 and 300. Remarkably, all three models share all other specs and features, including ARC. It might be safe to extrapolate from my conclusions about the MRX 700 and consider one of the less expensive models to use as a pre-pro or AVR, assuming its features and power output suit your needs. Bravo.
Footnote 1: Anthem Electronics Inc., 205 Annagem Blvd., Mississauga, Ontario L5T 2V1, Canada. Tel: (905) 564-1994. Fax: (905) 696-9479. Web: www.anthemav.com.
I have not but you are correct in pointing out that the mics provided for Audyssey are batch-calibrated. (The better mics that come with Audyssey's Pro kits are individually calibrated.)
I vaguely recall that someone tested a few and reported (was it on AVS?) that they matched within a couple of dB in the critical bass region. So, although the bass is most critical, it is major nodes that need correction and those should be detectable with a random mic. For example, Meridian's MRC bases its corrections entirely on decay times in the bass and works just fine with a RS SLM.
Hi Kal
I am currently looking to build a multi channel system for my 40th birthday.
My main priorities are multi channel and two channel music. Would you consider this receiver a option for my needs? Or do u I think I would be better suited with a pre/pro, what can you recommend?
Current pre/pros on my short list are a new Integra,Rotel,NAD or used AVM 50.
I don't think you can buy a prepro+amp combination for the price of this that will compete with it. As long as your listening situation and speakers are suitable for the built-in amps, this is a super choice.
Only if you need more power and your budget will permit, you might consider going to separates.
The following is just my opinion and offered up merely as part of the quest to get multi channel to give the same kinds of thrills that two channel provides. I hope it will not come across as pedantic or argumentative or snotty. I mean well. Here goes.
So how bad does this new receiver choke up when you engage its subwoofer crossover and make the dsp chip stress out? I have owned and sold top brand receivers in the two thousand bucks range and they all blurred the separation and tonal clarity something awful once you ran the speakers SMALL and made the onboard computer re-process five or nine channels simultaneously.
So much so I have sworn off all small speaker recomendations entirely. There are any number of affordable great sounding mostly full range speakers out there that are compact enough not to be eyesores... and the surround sound becomes something thrilling and pure once their companion $2000 receiver does more of the basics and less of the complex.
To me personally, the jump in quality from dolby AC3 to lossless high bitrate Dolby HD was like the difference from Mpeg to SACD. Not subtle. And so I am thrilled that the latest generation of affordable receivers can handle decoding the new clearer format. And i do not want to then degrade the improvement by asking a cheap chip to try its hand at re-converting the whole mess to add crossovers. It makes it all sound so much WORSE.
Perhaps if your arguement is that all you can put in the room is micro monitors and a sub I will understand your plight. But I am not in favor of racing to the bottom. I am in favor of understanding where the big gains are being left on the table...
On the other hand I do not notice the soundfield and clarity go to pot when using top drawer pre-pros. Specifically last time I had my hands on them Lexicon and Meridian didn't seem to choke up but their pricing is well above what anyone on a budget could ever consider affordable. It seems ironic to me that price no object systems can work OK with teeny little speakers however their owners are more likely to have full rangers and a no holds barred approach as money is not a factor. I love irony.
My conclusion has so far been that I suspect it is sort of like asking one of todays entry level computers to play a 1080p YouTube video. Ain't gonna happen. Too many stutters... And a $2000 receiver just ain't gonna do multiple dsp chores that well either.
What I am saying is that the main things I want to know about a receiver is its choke factor, as in it it god awful or merely tacky. As I dismiss most dsp as irrelevant anyway (oh boy-it does cathedral and stadium too-wow) I mostly concentrate on how well it is laid out (1.4? Balanced outs? connectivity?) and if a receiver what kind of power does it make ALL channels driven simultaneously. Oh and does it have nice tone and good soundstage clarity just like two channel needs...
I don't know why I am the only one hearing these problems. All you have to do is test this stuff with truly full range speakers properly set up for good sound. Direct will then knock you out with its beauty. And processed will make you want to throw up.
Again, I know this is a blunt and radical comment. But if this stuff is to mean anything to the consumer we all have to focus on what moves the game forward and serve up systems that have the same sort of life in them that our old two channel rigs have.
OK I will shut up now. Had to get that off my chest, sorry.

subset: commoncrawl


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Iran's government announced on Sunday a three-day public mourning for the late Syrian President Hafez Assad, reported Iran news Agency (IRNA), quoting information and press department at presidential office.
Iran's foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi signed a condolence book at the Syrian Embassy to Tehran in memory of Assad, who died at the age of 69, the agency said.
The minister voiced the sympathy of the Iranian nation and government with the brotherly and friendly country of Syria.
Kharrazi expressed hope that Tehran and Damascus would pursue the path of progress and success on domestic, regional and international scenes, added IRNA.
Meanwhile, minister of culture Aytaollah Mohajerani sent condolence messages to Syrian ministers of culture, tourism and communications on Assad's death, which, he said, is a "tragic loss for the world of Islam."
"Undoubtedly, the unique and effective role of Assad in forging solidarity and unity in Muslim Ummah and perseverance against the occupying Zionism's hegemony would be everlasting in history of the world," Mohajerani was quoted as saying - Albawaba.com
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)


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I hope you all have a wonderful & prosperous year. I found this blurb from Mother Theresa as I was cleaning out my email today and thought I would share it with you guys:
People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway.
If you do good, people may accuse you of selfish motives. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you may win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The kindness you show today may be forgotten tomorrow. Be kind anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
The biggest person with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest person with the smallest mind. Think big anyway.
People really need help, but may attack you if you help them. Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you may get hurt. Give the world the best you have anyway.
~Mother Theresa
We are just hanging out. I have the pork & sauerkraut in the crock pot already. I also have a 2nd crock pot for those family members (everyone but me) who doesn't like sauerkraut. I am making pulled pork for those guys. I have laundry going, though I have been told by some that this is bad luck on New Year's Day. Ruh roh. It is clean sheet day here, so there is no stopping me now -beds are already stripped! LOL! I will make sure to eat extra pork & sauerkraut for good luck. I think the kids & I are going to go shopping here shortly. I apparently forgot to buy snow boots for Hannah. She is very upset with me because she wants to play in the snow. Then we are coming back to watch the Buckeyes beat Oregon. 😉 Go BUCKS!!
What are you doing today? Do you believe it is bad luck or good luck to do any one thing on New Year's Day?
Filed under: Family, Gluten-Free |


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On March 4, 1902, delegates from 19 American cities met in New York to form a federation of emerging Alliances Françaises in the United States.
The Federation of Alliances Françaises USA continues to serve as the cooperative organization for the network which has grown to well over 100 Alliances in the USA — each one of which is dedication to teaching the French language and enjoying the culture of French speaking countries.
We invite you to explore our web-site to find the Alliance Française nearest to you, and to learn about all the benefits and opportunities the Federation provides to its chapters.
Learn more at http://www.afusa.org/


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Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
Member Since: 2014
Business Type: Manufacturer/Factory
1.3D effect lighted sign
2.Single or double side, silver or colorful painted frame
3. Powder coating, plating or silver anoxide
Key Technology
To display beer or beverage running vividly or beer raising up and down, different liquid color depends on your brand.
Silk screen printing logo on opal acrylic front face, or at the back of clear acrylic face.
Common shape: square, round, oval. Customized design according to your VI system are available.
Energy saving light tube T8 /T5 ,or SMD LED can be choice. LED
illumination is more and more popular.Solar energy is a new tendency.
Common size
Square: 40*60 / 55*55 / 50*70 / 55*80 / 60*90/ 70*105cm
Round: D40/50/60/80cm
Frame thickness
4cm, 6cm, 8cm, 10cm, 11.5cm, 15cm
Frame color
silver painting or any other colors painting
front panel: PS and Acrylic for choice
frame: aluminum
foot: iron
Lighting source
tube and LED for choice
Shape design
square, round, oval, rectangle, cambered surface.
for Artwork
silkscreen printing, embossed
Output voltage
Input voltage
1pc/box with bubble bag, form board, cardboard box
Leading time
10 working days for 500pcs
1. Aluminum frame width 6cm/8cm/10cm/11.5cm/15cm, with silver or black painting / powder coating;
Metal feet support, mounting on the wall or hanging on the ceiling. Indoor or outdoor use are available.
2. Silk screen printing logo on opal acrylic or clear acrylic back.Long life durability, or inkjet self-adhesive backlit vinyl film poster.
3. Straight fluorescent tube light as illumination, or SMD3528 LED strip. Electronic ballast are available.
4. Application: indoor or outdoor use, for beer brand etc.
5. Max size: square 1.5x2.5m, round D140cm, oval 80x140cm
l Square: 40*60 / 55*55 / 50*70 / 55*80 / 60*90/ 70*105cm
l Round: D40/50/60/80cm
l Oval: 35*50/40*70/55*80/70*120cm
_________________________________________________________Packing: Multi-layer protecting and wooden package,more safe and stronger
What material do you want for your ideal sign?
What effect do you prefer for your ideal sign?
Logo: spot-color silk screen printing for perfect looking / CMYK silk screen
printing for gradients design / three years guarantee stickers for changing logo easily;
Image Media: silk screen/ sublimation embossing/ engraving letters etc
What design would you like to express in your reality?
Shape: square / rectangular / round / oval / cambered surface / customized design;
Style: modern / vintage retro / bionic / classic etc.;
Size: standard / as you wish;
What can we do for you?
3D designer team: combining with cultural background, innovative idea,
fashion elements, visual and perceptual effects for your VI design;
Factory support: biggest light box sign factory in China / display cabinet
factory / LCD advertising player factory / 3D printer factory with patent
technology / stable and long-term cooperated supplier for raw material and various advertising signs;
Best Service: thoughtful, professional, patient salesman team for your queries;
Packing Standard: plastic bag per piece + foam board protection + 5 layer exporting carton;
Who are we? - Glory Advertising Signs
Our advantage: One-stop sign maker
Major Overseas Market: North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia
Project Brand: Guinness, Heineken, Carlsberg, Vodafone, China Mobile,
MTN, Reliance, Airtel.,etc.
Our Services:
1. Your inquiry related to our products or prices will be replied within 24 hours.
2. Well-trained and experienced staffs to answer all your enquiries in fluent English.
3. OEM&ODM welcomed, our professional R&D dept. will realize your customized lighting.
4. Protection of your sales area, ideas of design and your private information.
Why choose us:
Advanced machinery, well trained workers. more than 10 years experience in LED lighting industry. Unique designed, Good quality. Competitive Price. Full range of indoor and outdoor LED lighting solution.
If you want to know the further details are required. I will attempt to provide product matched with complete details for your reference.


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Firefighters battled a two-alarm fire that blazed in a stolen vehicle before spreading to a commercial building and resulting in the hospitalization of a security guard due to smoke inhalation early this morning, according to an Oakland fire battalion chief.
The structure fire, located at 933 Railroad Ave. was reported to fire officials at 12:16 a.m., Oakland fire Battalion Chief Eleanor Bolin-Chew said.
The blaze was under control by 1:08 a.m., Bolin-Chew said.
The fire appears to have began in a pickup truck, which had been stolen on Dec. 11 in Hayward. The flames then spread to a commercial building nearby.
The building's security guard was at the scene during the fire and was transported to a local hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation, Bolin-Chew said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. No suspects have been identified in connection with the fire.
Copyright © 2012 by Bay City News, Inc. … republication, re-transmission or reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.


text: Well Control Simulator for iPhone and iPod Touch – User Guide Web Version Download PDF email@example.com http://www.wellcontrol.com.br Advertisements Share this:TweetShare on TumblrEmailMorePrintTelegramWhatsAppLike this:Like Loading... Related Published by Well Control We are a team of specialists in petroleum engineering with over 24 years of expertise in oil wells drilling and workover operations. We have in our portfolio Well Control Simulators for training and Monitoring Systems for the oil industry. Our mission is to bring petroleum specialists and students innovative tools which will provide safety and efficiency to their work. View all posts by Well Control


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Visa 'Go World' 2012 London Called Biggest In Company's Olympic Marketing History
Special to NYSportsJournalism
May 7, 2012: Visa said it is ready to unleash the largest campaign in its 25-year history as a sponsor of the Olympic Games, a "Go World" umbrella campaign that will utilize TV, print and Internet, anchored by a heavy dose of social media destinations.
In addition, for the first time, Visa is incorporating an element that solicits and encourages consumer/fan participation and the opportunity to be part of a Visa Olympics commercial.
Visa has been an Olympics marketing partner since 1986 and, under its current deal, will be the exclusive payment services sponsor and the only card accepted at Games venues throughout 2020.
"Historic and memorable moments in Olympic Games history are driven by cheers," Antonio Lucio, global chief marketing, strategy and corporate development officer for Visa Inc., said in a statement. "Our global campaign puts fans at the center of the experience and aims to unite the world in a global cheer movement to inspire athlete performances and spread the Olympic spirit."
Visa said that the first in a series of Go World commercials, "The Difference," would break tonight in the U.S. during The Voice on NBC, which will televise the Summer Games from July 27-Aug. 12. The spot "celebrates some of the closest and most dramatic finishes in Olympic Games history, including Michael Phelps' win by one hundredth of a second in the 100-meter butterfly at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, and reminds viewers that cheering together can help propel athletes to greatness," according to Visa. (See the full spot here.)
The campaign will be extended via Facebook and YouTube, where visitors can see commercials and training videos of such global Team Visa athletes as Michael Phelps (U.S., swimming), Yelena Isinbaeva (Russia, pole vault), and Li Na (China, tennis) "that provide behind-the-scenes stories into the journey of Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls."
In addition to its own Web site, Visa has partnered with other sites to supper the Go World push, including NBCOlympics.com, Yahoo! and Sports Illustrated.
People worldwide are also being encouraged to support athletes by creating and submitting a "cheer" via a post, photo or video on Visa's Facebook page or YouTube channel.
Visa said it would "reward fans in the United States for participating in the campaign by offering U.S. consumers the chance to have their cheers featured in special-edition Visa commercials celebrating the achievements of Team Visa athletes," which will air on TV and online during the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Every eligible video and photo cheer submitted in the U.S. between May 7 through June 15 will be entered and Visa will select the most creative, inspiring and supportive cheers to feature in new ads. (Full details here.)
Visa is sponsoring 60 global Olympic athlete or hopefuls, including 12 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls via Team Visa: Phelps, Bryan Clay (track and field/decathlon), Allyson Felix (track and field, sprint), Katie Hoff (swimming), Nastia Liukin (gymnastics), Lopez Lomong (athletics), Jessica Long (Paralympic swimming), Alana Nichols (wheelchair basketball), Alicia Sacramone (gymnastics), David Boudia (diving), Misty May-Treanor (beach volleyball) and Kerri Walsh (beach volleyball).
"Fans are drawn to the Olympics by the awe-inspiring feats of the world's greatest athletes and those athletes are inspired by the cheers they receive from fans."
"Fans are drawn to the Olympic Games by the awe-inspiring feats of the world's greatest athletes and, in turn, those athletes are inspired by the cheers and support they receive from fans," said Lucio.
In addition to Visa, worldwide partners of the International Olympic Committee include Acer, Atos, Coca-COla, GE, McDonald's, Omega, Panasonic, Procter & Gamble and Samsung.


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The Courtyard Gallery offers a wide variety of media for the art lover in price ranges to suit any need. Included in our extensive inventory are examples of the media types. Click on a media type to the left to see artist names and their work in each category of media.
Some examples of the different media's are shown below


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From exhibitions and shows to festivals and celebrations, local markets through to performances and sport, the Mackay event calendar is jam-packed full of ideas when it comes to your next holiday. Mackay sets the scene with all of their festival offerings, including fishing festivals, theatre festivals, horse racing festivals and music festivals, this region has it covered when it comes to events.
Check out The Mackay Region calendar of events for more.


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The Best Sort Is The One You Don't Do
MartinPacker 11000094DH Visits (11068)
Have you ever had the suspicion a sort was unnecessary in your batch? I bet you have. In recent Batch Performance studies I've had the suspicion that many of the sorts are unnecessary: Either they should be merges or not done at all. But how do you prove it? But first, what do I mean by a sort not needing to be done at all? Clearly if the data is reformatted then something has to be done to... [More]


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He wanted to learn ballroom dance and to run a marathon, things he put on his bucket list a few years ago.
On Saturday, Pine View School Principal Steve Largo crossed another item off his list.
In Tropicana Field, he rode the elevator down to the field. A lady looked at Largo and cheerfully asked if he was singing "The Star-Spangled Banner."
He was throwing the first pitch.
"You must throw a strike. You have to throw a strike," the woman, suddenly full of advice, told him.
"No pressure," replied Largo.
Largo, wearing Lee jeans and a collared Rays shirt, reached the right floor and headed onto the field, holding his wife's hand.
He eyed his competition, a teenager who was throwing out a ceremonial first pitch, too.
"With my luck, he's probably an all-star high school no-hitter," Largo joked to his wife, Patty Largo, an eighth-grade McIntosh Middle School teacher.
Only the kid wasn't.
Ian Ludden had achieved a perfect score on his SATs. He was a student who would likely attend the Pine View School for gifted students, where Largo is retiring this summer after 25 years.
For Largo, there was plenty of support among the crowd.
Parent Laura Oettinger stopped behind home plate to wish him luck.
"I'm so excited it's here," she said to him.
In a competition involving all Sarasota County schools, Pine View parents and teachers purchased the most tickets to Saturday's game. The prize was picking the person to throw out the first pitch. They chose Largo because they knew all about his bucket list and how he made it in 2010 to teach his students about setting goals.
Earlier in the week, Pine View gym teacher Mark Thorpe helped Largo prepare. They counted 60 feet on the volleyball court for a fake pitcher's mound.
"We wanted to make sure he didn't embarrass himself throwing a one-hopper," Thorpe said.
Largo, 61, did fine that day, throwing two duds out of 50 tries in about 10 minutes. Not bad for a school principal who played competitive softball "in a previous life."
Largo is a baseball fan.
When asked, he gives the politically correct answer. Of course, he's a Rays fan.
But a few seconds later, he admits he also roots for the New York Yankees.
That's what happens when you grow up playing Little League in Staten Island and live the first 20 or so years of your life in New York.
But enough about the Yankees. Let's talk about the Rays.
When the big moment came Saturday, and his name was called, Largo jogged to the mound with the baseball in his hand and pointed to the crowd in left field.
The glory ended there.
His pitch to Rays outfielder Sam Fuld bounced in the dirt before reaching home plate.
"Oh yeah, yeah," Largo said as he headed off the field to his seat. "I didn't make it."
But at least Largo hadn't cheated. He stood the full 60 feet on the mound and didn't sneak closer. He delivered the pitch.
And he can make another check off his bucket list.
"Not everybody gets to do that," Thorpe said. "If you're a little kid and you get to run the bases, you will always remember it. I'm sure this is something he'll remember, too."
Check another one off: the Trop
He wanted to learn ballroom dance and to run a marathon, things he put on his bucket list a few years ago.


text: Foobar 1.1.11, WASAPI and playback of files with different samplerates 2012-02-13 16:17:09 HiI'm using the latest WASAPI output plugin, ATI Radeon HD 5750 HDMI to Denon 1911 Receiver (computer is running Windows 7 Home Premium, 64 bit)With foobar version 1.1.11 there is no playback when switching to a flac-file with a different samplerate than the previous - e.g. playing a 44.1 kHz flac and selecting a 96 kHz flac. I have to click on the new file several times before the new file will play.If i use the Direct Sound output the problem goes away. And if I downgrade to foobar version 1.1.10 the problem also goes away, so i suspect that foobar version 1.1.11 does not report a proper output format every time a new file is selected. Maybe this is related to the new cross-fade functionality, that somehow breaks WASAPI output samplerate change?My solution so far is to stay with version 1.1.10, but I hope that this can be fixed in a future version. :-)


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ansgarissimo necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 59 diseños de 18 diseñadores freelance.
I'm a 33 year old adventurous guy who is leaving the cold germany to set up a business on the spanish island of palma de mallorca. the budget is tight but the idea alright (hopefully). I'm just heading to a complete new start and period of life.
b2b, event agencies, catering companies and every company that needs exclusiv high quality tents for events.
hi there!
I've founded a company in spain called carpadedomo s.l. which literary means dome marquee (tent) as you will see on the pictures. The companies business purpose is to rent out those dome marquee's as well as outdoor furniture lounges (as seen on the pics).
the business concentrates mainly on the b2b bases, meaning that we focus on working with event agencies, catering companies, picture studios, yacht charter companies and so on....
the product is a high class product, not the rolls royce but a mercedes. therefore the logotipe an lateron the business papers and homepage should reflect a rather sophisticated appearance, exclusiv, elegant, light, sexy, mediterranean touched!
it would be great to have a logotipe whithout background, making it a lot
easier to post it on several different products, stickers, magnet stickers for cars/trucks and so on.
under the following link you'll find pics and impressions to download and
view the two homepage links represent our competitors (http://www.terrazabalear.com/)(http://micro.dedon.de/en/kollektionen.html)in order to get a feeling for the quality. the brand/company tecni-carpa is the biggest tent renting (http://www.tecni-carpa.com/index2.htm) company on the spot...
any questions, don't hesitate to ask!
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Symbolic Gestures
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Stuck on a Father's Day gift idea? Coupons.com's household savings expert, Jeanette Pavini, was featured on Better TV showing viewers some great finds for all types of dads. Better still? All of these gift ideas can be purchased online for a great deal. Here are the picks shown on TV as well as the coupon code you'll need to use to get the deal.
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Southern Beauty Guide is a Lifestyle & Beauty Blog written by Chelsee, a freelance makeup artist & life enthusiast. Chelsee is a self-proclaimed lover of all things Beauty and Life, who loves that makeup gives women confidence. She loves indulging in all the latest and greatest in Beauty, fashion, lifestyle trends, technology, and gadgets/services. At Southern Beauty Guide, there are tons of product reviews, DYI posts, and tips and tricks to make things easier for readers.
Learn More→


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Click here to log in to NetBanking.
Welcome to First Southern State Bank, A community bank serving Jackson, Dekalb and Cherokee Counties. First Southern State Bank has been setting the standards and providing financial solutions since 1910. We are located in scenic northeast Alabama, with offices in Stevenson, Higdon, Scottsboro, Rainsville, Fort Payne, Centre and Leesburg.
At First Southern State Bank we offer a variety of banking services to assist you.
Please be aware of a new scam. An automated message asks for your debit card number to be keyed in because of fraud on your account. Never respond by inputting your Debit card number. The bank or our debit card Fraud Center will never ask for your full debit card number.


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"Find out just what people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong that will be imposed upon them."– Frederick Douglass, American ex-slave civil rights leader
The citizens of Istanbul now appear in control of Gezi Park, protecting one of the last and most treasured green spaces in Istanbul from conversion to a shopping mall.
The protest, which began to save the park, became a rally for genuine democracy in Turkey. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government responded with police violence – beatings, pepper spray, water cannons, and tear gas – but could not stop the protests from spreading to over 70 Turkish cities, exposing Erdogan's persecution of opposition and media censorship.
When governments turn to violence to bully their own citizens, the system breaks down when people resist with courage. The Gezi Park uprising has become a model of genuine democracy for the world, a line of defiance in the battle to preserve nature and democracy.
When governments over-react
Last fall, the Turkish government closed roads into Istanbul centre, and announced plans to convert Gezi Park to a shopping mall and military artillery barracks. When construction began in May, Taksim Solidarity activists blockaded bulldozers. Sırrı Süreyya Önder, a Peace & Democracy Party deputy, joined the blockade, invoking parliamentary immunity.
Erdogan dismissed protesters as "marginal extremists". At dawn on 30 May, police raided the park with tear gas and water cannons. They drove about 1,000 citizens from the park, and then burned their tents and possessions.
Calls went out on social media, and 10,000 people arrived at Gezi Park. Police attacked again, injuring hundreds of citizens and three reporters from Reuters, the Hürriyet Daily News, and Birgün newspaper. Citizens opened their homes to injured protesters. By evening, 100,000 people had re-occupied the park. That night, the public occupied the historic Bosphorus Bridge that links Europe to Asia.
The uprising spread beyond Istanbul to Ankara, Izmir, and over 70 Turkish cities. Izmir police detained 29 people for sending Twitter messages. The Turkish Doctors' Union reported 4,177 people injured during protests and two deaths.
On Tuesday, 4 June, Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç apologised for police violence and met with opposition leader Önder, who called the uprising "historic" and announced that "the democratic process would start". The following day, Arınç met with the original protest group platform, Taksim Solidarity, which delivered the public's demands: Cancel the Gezi park demolition, release arrested citizens, ban tear gas, and allow free public assembly and free expression.
Sirin Bayram, a woman who has worked for Greenpeace, wrote to me from Istanbul about inspiring acts of public support: "A bus driver saw police and a water cannon behind him in the street, heading for Gezi Park. He stopped his bus and blocked them. We were proud of him, because, of course, he lost his job. At the courthouse in Istanbul, lawyers made a protest by clapping their hands. The government arrested over 75 lawyers, for clapping!"
Bayram described working at the park to collect support for the protesters. "A little boy came to the park with some rice his mother had cooked for his lunch. He said 'My big sisters and brothers in the park need this more than me.' He put the rice on the table and he left. This put tears on our faces and kept us strong."
The Greenpeace office in Istanbul stands on Istiklal Street, leading to Gezi Park. Police officers confronted demonstrators with tear gas and water cannons directly below the office, which remained open night and day, providing shelter to injured protestors. Doctors and medics arrived to offer medical assistance.
On Saturday, 8 June, protesters witnessed an unprecedented expression of solidarity as Turkey's rival football fans – from Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, Besiktas, and other sports clubs barred from watching matches together because of stadium violence – walked through Istanbul arm-in-arm, wearing each others' team colours.
Censorship in Turkey
The citizens of Istanbul have now occupied Gezi Park and Taksim Square, staged music and political speakers, and insisted on a new era of genuine democracy in Turkey. Twenty-two year old protester Yesim Polat told Al Jazeera, "Prime Minister Erdogan thinks that he is a sultan. He thinks he can do whatever he wants."
Turkey once represented a modern, secular state that offered religious freedom. Erdogan and his conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP) advocate a return to an Islamic state. Once elected in 2003, Erdogan began arresting opposition voices, Kurdish leaders, and journalists, and harassing private couples for kissing in public.
Mustafa Akyol, a columnist with the Hürriyet newspaper, told Al Jazeera that journalists are being arrested under a abuse of Turkey's anti-terrorism law. "The great majority of the journalists in jail are people who wrote positive things about the PKK [Kurdish Party]."
In January 2013, Erdogan's police arrested 11 journalists attending an opposition political party meeting, and sentenced five of them to jail, increasing the number of jailed journalists in Turkey to 75. Prior to Gezi Park, freedom of the media had virtually vanished in Turkey.
Parks and People
From Amsterdam's Vondelpark and California's People's Park in the 1960s, to Prague's Wenceslas Square and Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989, to Cairo's Tahrir Square in 2011, protecting public parks has provided the backdrop for democracy around the world.
In 1970, a group of citizens in Vancouver, Canada – the "Don't Make a Wave Committee," which later became Greenpeace – rallied to save a park entrance in Vancouver. At that time, the Four Seasons Hotel chain announced a plan to construct six towers at the entrance to Vancouver's magnificent, 400 hectare Stanley Park, a waterfront meadow that opened onto a lagoon, where swans nested in the bulrushes and families gathered for picnics.
Two of the Don't Make a Wave group, Greenpeace co-founders Rod Marining and Bob Hunter, met to make a plan. Hunter, a newspaper columnist, had described his "mindbomb" theory, which became a key Greenpeace strategy. "The holistic revolution won't be like storming the Bastille," Hunter would say, "but a storming of the mind." Hunter believed that campaigns to change in the world should create images that could change people's way of thinking. Today, we call this a "meme" but in 1970, this was a "mindbomb," an image that would travel on the global media and shift public perception.
In May 1971, during a light spring snow, Marining and his allies occupied the park entrance, pitched tents on the land, and put up signs calling the encampment "All Season's Park". The camp included indigenous activists, Québéquois separatists, hippies, and several early Greenpeace founders. Ben Metcalfe, the first Greenpeace media officer, organised a group of citizens to bring food and wine to the occupiers. Nurseries in Vancouver donated plants. Protesters laid sod over construction roads and planted trees. Images of "All Seasons Park", with families in tents in the snow, became one of the earliest Greenpeace mindbombs.
The story appeared on Vancouver television and in newspapers. Occupiers demanded a public referendum, and Vancouver citizens voted 56% in favour of keeping the park entrance, but the by-law required 60% for approval. The stand-off continued until the wealthy father of a protestor offered to purchase the property for $4m. The entrance to Stanley Park was saved, and remains a part of Vancouver and Greenpeace heritage to this day.
Gezi Park and the World
Today, Gezi Park has become a mindbomb for the world. The protest over a park became a referendum for democracy. "We are here for our freedom," Nihan Dinc, a 26-year-old publicist, told Al Jazeera. "We are here for a space to breathe."
Journalist Pepi Escobar explains in an Asia Times story why Gezi Park is significant beyond Turkey. Escobar describes the Syria revolution as a "proxy war" between NATO and a new Russia/China alliance. Turkey sits at a strategic point between Europe and Asia, where NATO and western oil companies want a pipeline from the United Arab Emirates, through Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey, into Europe. Escobar explains that NATO and the US want Turkey to support their military efforts in Syria to win the pipeline war. However, "Turkey has been plunged into the … Gezi/Down-with-the-Dictator maelstrom," Escobar writes, "and the last thing an embattled Erdogan will be thinking about is to further empower a bunch of 'rebel' losers."
But Gezi Park is important for another reason: The people of Istanbul have shown the world that citizens can stand up to military and police violence with peaceful solidarity.
He was a photographer and reporter on the early Greenpeace whale and seal campaigns, and has written one of the best and most comprehensive histories of the organisation, Greenpeace (Raincoast, 2004). His book, Blood of the Land, a history of the American Indian Movement, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.


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The 'University of Florida Health Science Center - Oral History Collection' holds interviews that discuss the history of the University of Florida J. Hillis Miller Health Science Center and associated units and Colleges. The Health Science Center, HSC Libraries, College of Medicine and College of Nursing are currently commemorating their fiftieth anniversary. The interviewees include deans, assistant deans, chairs of departments within the college, faculty members in specialized areas of health, research professors, staff members, and former medical students.
Topics include founding dean George Harrell and his teaching philosophy, the VA hospital across the street, early contention with local physicians and local hospitals, escalating complexity of a state medical school and teaching hospital, development of the other colleges, faculty appointments, cooperation between medical disciplines, female faculty members, dealing with the Florida Legislature, hospital position on racial issues, and other medical schools in Florida (state and private).
|Celebrating 50 years of Service
The Health Science Center • The College of Medicine • The College of Nursing
The 'University of Florida Health Science Center - Oral History Collection' and the 'University of Florida College of Nursing Oral History Collection' are part of the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program is an affiliated program of the University of Florida's Department of History. Its collections include approximately 4,000 interviews and more than 85,000 pages of transcribed material, making it the largest oral history archive in the South and one of the major collections in the country. The transcribed interviews are available for use by research scholars, students, journalists, genealogists, and other interested groups. Researchers have used our oral history material for theses, dissertations, articles, and books.
Digitization of the collection has been funded in part by the generous donation of Caleb and Michele Grimes.


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Accutane On Vacation
Entry posted by angchicago ·
1944 views
Hello Everyone-
I have been on accutane for 44 days now, and I have not had to worry about sun exposure being that I live in cold, gloomy Chicago, but I will be heading to Mexico in 2 weeks. Of course I will wear sunscreen, however, I am hoping to get a little tan on vacation. I talked to my doc about the concerns with accutane and the sun, and he advised me to go off the meds 2 days before vacation and start back up when I get back. He said I could be in the sun but not intentionally lay out and bake. He also said accutane is in your system for 7 days, and there won't be any issue to stop for that short time. Well....that is what I plan to do. Stop 2 days before, then start back up maybe after 6 days? I'll be in Mexico for a week, but I don't want to wait longer than 7 days to be off the meds, so I'll re-start at the end of my trip. Has anyone ever done this before? I really hope this doesn't cause a bad breakout, I'm kind of towards the end (I think) of the IB stage, and I am really looking forward to the clear skin that I've been dreaming about for years. With all this being said, does anyone have any input about skipping accutane for a few days? And being in the sun during that time? Am I still just as sensitive? How about drinking? Lets be honest...I will be on a much needed vacation, and I will definitely be drinking Corona's on the beach! I've been good otherwise with my alcohol consumption; it's very limited. I'm hoping that by giving the meds a short break, I will be at least a little bit safer in the sun (still wearing spf!) and not as hard on my liver.
I realize that accutane is still in my system regardless, but if it didn't make any difference, then why would my doc recommend me to do this?
Would love to get some input! Thanks!
P.S. My first month I was on 30 mg, now I'm on 40 mg and will stay at this dose for the remainder of the time


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Jack Bauer may be hunting down a certain con man soon.
Kiefer Sutherland, who plays the itinerant, rule-bending government agent on "24," was taken for $869,000 in Ponzi scheme that had him thinking he was investing in Mexican cows, according to federal prosecutors. The alleged con man, Michael Wayne Carr, is accused of doctoring papers to trick Sutherland's financial advisers into thinking the deal was legit. The cows were to be bought south of the border and brought to the U.S., where they would be sold at a big profit, prosecutors said.
While Bauer might exact revenge by lopping off fingers, in real life Sutherland puts his trust in the legal system.
"Mr. Sutherland has been very friendly and helpful with our investigation," Deputy District Attorney Stephen Maier told People magazine. "I'm sure he's happy someone's getting to the bottom of this."
Sutherland made an initial investment with Carr and turned what he thought was a six-figure profit. But cops say Carr wrote the actor that check just to set him up for the big fall.
Months later, Carr allegedly approached Sutherland's financial advisers with a similar deal -- one that required an $869,000 investment. Sutherland, who claims he has never met or even spoken with Carr, told authorities his people checked out and and approved the deal, but he never saw another dime, according to TMZ.
Court papers say Carr, who will be arraigned Feb. 8, admitted that he "doctored" the paperwork to trick Sutherland's advisers. Prosecutors said Carr took in several investors with the scam, including a New Mexico couple for $175,000.


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California trying to cut water, but is it working?
LOS ANGELES (AP) — When Gov. Jerry Brown called on everyone from residents to businesses in California to curb water usage by 20 percent, he told state government to lead by example.
Six months after his emergency declaration, many agencies and departments can't say whether their efforts to conserve water are sufficient because few have been comparing how much water they are using this year to last.
Here are five things to know about how state agencies are faring as they try to use less water:
In this photo taken, Monday, July 21, 2014, Groundskeeper Tab Ichiho, of the Department of General Services, inspects a low flow sprinkler at the Capitol, Monday, July 21, 2014, in Sacramento, Calif. In ways big and small, the state government is conserving water to try to meet Gov. Brown's request that everyone, from residents to businesses to state agencies reduce their use by 20 percent.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Brown's emergency declaration in January didn't make conservation mandatory and there's no penalty if state agencies fail to comply. Still, it's clear that agencies are trying.
One easy way to conserve is to limit — or eliminate — landscape irrigation. Agencies with large campuses, such as the Department of State Hospitals, said such cuts were an important source of savings.
Another obvious source of waste is leaky pipes and faucets. The California State Prison in Sacramento, which loses about 50,000 gallons of water per day due to leaks, is replacing underground pipes. Several other prisons are doing the same.
Tracking water usage across dozens of agencies and departments in a California government that is larger than that of many countries can be a complex task. Each agency has dozens, hundreds or even thousands of separate accounts for the utilities that serve their buildings. Some are billed monthly, some every two months, some every quarter. Further complicating comparisons, water is measured in various units: gallons, cubic feet and acre feet.
Of the 11 high-use agencies that The Associated Press requested water data from, only four were able to provide gallons used for the first half of 2013 and the first half of 2014 for all the facilities they manage. Agencies are not required to track this year's usage until early 2015, so it falls on each agency's own initiative to gauge their conservation efforts in real time.
Exactly how much water state agencies are using may never be known for sure. That's because the state gets meter readings for buildings it owns — not always for leased or rented sites. The Employment Development Department, for example, provided the AP data for 26 sites it owns, but did not have water usage data on the dozens of other sites where it administers unemployment insurance, collects payroll taxes or compiles labor market statistics.
Even before the current drought, state government had instituted water conservation measures. Because some waste already had been eliminated, finding more savings may be tougher.
Contact Matt Hamilton at https://twitter.com/matthjourno.
Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.


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At Weymouth Dental Associates, we know that healthy, beautiful teeth can boost your confidence and can give you a sense of well being. This is why we offer comprehensive dental care with a special emphasis on a range of specialties, including dental implantology, periodontal care, cosmetic and reconstructive dentistry, and Invisalign orthodontics. In our modern, comfortable offices – conveniently located in Weymouth – we care for our patients with the highest consideration and attention to detail.
If you need more information about these services, schedule an appointment or contact our Weymouth dentist office so we can answer all of your questions.


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AS18573 MCI Communications Services, Inc. d/b/a Verizon Business
MCI Communications Services, Inc. d/b/a Verizon Business
AS18573 MCI Communications Services, Inc. d/b/a Verizon Business
Whois Details
NetHandle: NET-63-64-0-0-1 OrgID: MCICS Parent: NET-63-0-0-0-0 NetName: UUNET63 NetRange: 22.214.171.124 - 22.214.171.124 NetType: allocation Comment: ADDRESSES WITHIN THIS BLOCK ARE NON-PORTABLE RegDate: 1999-01-22 Updated: 2012-03-20 TechHandle: OA12-ARIN Source: ARIN OrgID: MCICS OrgName: MCI Communications Services, Inc. d/b/a Verizon Business CanAllocate: Street: 22001 Loudoun County Pkwy City: Ashburn State/Prov: VA Country: US PostalCode: 20147 RegDate: 2006-05-30 Updated: 2019-07-08 OrgTechHandle: SWIPP-ARIN OrgTechHandle: SWIPP9-ARIN OrgAdminHandle: VIS1-ARIN OrgAbuseHandle: ABUSE5603-ARIN OrgAbuseHandle: ABUSE3-ARIN Source: ARIN POCHandle: VIS1-ARIN IsRole: Y LastName: Verizon Internet Services FirstName: Street: 1880 Campus Commons Dr City: Reston State/Prov: VA Country: US PostalCode: 20191 RegDate: 2002-11-06 Updated: 2019-07-08 OfficePhone: 800-243-6994 Mailbox: firstname.lastname@example.com Mailbox: email@example.com Source: ARIN POCHandle: OA12-ARIN IsRole: N LastName: UUnet Technologies, Inc. FirstName: Technologies Street: 22001 Loudoun County Parkway City: Ashburn State/Prov: VA Country: US PostalCode: 20147 RegDate: 1992-08-04 Updated: 2011-06-21 OfficePhone: +1-800-900-0241 Mailbox: email@example.com Source: ARIN
IP Addresses in this range
IP address ranges, or netblocks, are groups of related IP addresses. They are usually represented as a base IP address, followed by a slash, and then a netmask which represents how many IP addresses are contained within the netblock. This format is known as CIDR. You'll also sometimes see netblocks given as a start ip address, and an end ip address, or an ip address range.
Traffic works its way around the internet based on the routing table, which contains a list of networks and their associated netblocks.


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Spring Has Sprung - #WordlessWednesday with #linky on a Tuesday12:42 PM
Spring has finally arrived here in Chicago. We are going to have temps around 70 degrees! Finally! So I had to update my Facebook profile photo.
Has spring sprung in your neck of the woods?
Visit these great blogs for more Wordless Wednesdays.
Rules of this #BlogHop
- Grab our button for your blog so I know that you are linking up here.
- Add your Wordless Wednesday Link
- Leave me a comment so I can visit your blog.
- Visit the other blogs linking up.
Check out these great blogs that participate in Wordless Wednesday each week. RCH Reviews Crafty Allie Blog Image-in-ing Kitty Partay Agent Mystery Case-Where Am I Wednesday A Savory Feast Gay NY Dad Wordless Wednesday Videos -Stephs Joy WW Joyce Lanksy WW Dominque's Desk WW Create-with-Joy.com Crafty Spices Be There 2 Day Simple Life Mom Blog Hop Silly Baby Blog WW A Star In My Own Universe Amandas Books and More Claire Justine- The Wednesday Bloghop Taylor Joelle WW Mary Denman WW Tots and Me Talbert Zoo My Little Drummer Boys WW Butchers Niche WW A Peek Into My Paradise Totally Terrific Tuesday Linkup My Pinterventures Merry Monday Linkup An Apel A Day Wordless Wednesday Our World Tuesday Adventures in Weseland Traveling Cats Keith's Ramblings Parent Club If I forgot your blog let me know in a comment and I will add you next week.


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<< These are now available for purchase! Check out the sales thread here. >>
Hi CPF!
I suppose a quick introduction is in order. My name's Mike and I'm here at this support group to get help with my flashlight addicti-
Wait, wrong introduction, let's try that again.
My name's Mike and I'm a flashlight enthusiast who's been dabbling in hobby electronics lately. The purpose of this thread is to serve as a mini build log for a project I've been working on. So, with that out of the way, let's get down to business!
The Idea
When I was 18 and my strange fascination with flashlights was just taking hold, I had the idea to make something that would hang on my keychain and glow. There were plenty of keychain lights on the market at the time, but I didn't want one that would burn bright for a couple hours before it's expensive coin cell battery died. I wanted one that would burn ever so dimly for a very loooooooooooong time. Not a glow-in-the-dark fob either; those required that you charge them up, and there was no way they were going to charge in the dark depths of my pockets.
No, this had to be something that consumed batteries and glowed weakly. It sounded simple, but after starting the project a dozen times in the last decade, it never really materialized. I eventually stumbled across CPF, and learned such a thing already existed and had been used on watch faces and gun sights for years! You, of course, know what I'm talking about:
The problem was, this just wasn't the same. It was lacking that... technological... feeling. I wanted to see batteries being converted into photons. It was time to do something about it.
The Prototype
In my previous build logs, I've tried hard to take meticulous pictures of the steps involved. To be honest, this project caught me completely off-guard, so I have very few pictures of the actual construction. It started with a whirlwind buying spree of surface mount components and ended hours and hours later with a chunk of protoboard I'd crudely shaped into a rectangle using tin snips. It wasn't pretty, but I'll be damned if it didn't work.
The problem became the host - what do I put these electronic guts into? As much as I might pine for one, I do not own a metal lathe, nor have I ever even operated one. I imagine the noise of one in full operation is probably somewhere between a Saturn V launch and a car accident, so I don't know how much my neighbours would appreciate me placing one in my backyard.
A quick trip to Home Depot and I returned with an armload of DIY components. Tubing, copper piping, fittings, brass elbows, you name it. Each was tested for fit on my battery of choice, and each failed miserably. It was during this testing that I slipped a battery into a transparent piece of flexible refrigerator supply hose and it just clicked: it had to be see-through. It just looked too cool not to be. Knowing what I had to find and with a few rough ideas where to find it, it was time to fashion a body.
I did eventually find my tubing. It's not perfect, but it works, and that's good enough for me.
The Pictures
It's funny - part of me is worried that if I post these here, someone will look at them and say "Wow, that looks like a 5th grader made it". The other part of me is so happy to have actually brought a 10 year-old idea to fruition that I don't care. I hope you enjoy them!
This is the finished product.
And this is it when you turn the lights out.
I bought the surface mount LED for this prototype from my local electronics store. Judging by the yellowing cardboard it was attached to, I'd guess it to be as old as I am. It's rated at 9mcd. The order I have in with DigiKey should arrive tomorrow, and each of the four colors range from 150-300mcd. Needless to say, they're going to be a great deal brighter with the the same or better efficiency than this one.
That said, even this little guy is no slouch, he holds his own against a pair of locators on my favorite lights.
The size is almost exactly what I imagined it to be.
To help diffuse the light a little, protect the circuit board from water, and keep lint out, I sealed both ends with hot glue.
The Specifications
So now that you've seen the pictures, here's a quick rundown of the specifications:
Clear rigid PVC with some hot glue
Power Source
4x LR41 alkaline batteries wired in series. Approximately 30-40mah each. User replaceable.
Homemade constant-current circuit. If my calculations are correct, it's driving the LED at 0.005ma
This is the big question for me, I simply don't know how long it'll run for. The batteries are driven in series, making them capable of delivering 6V, but they really only need to provide 1.1V to meet the forward voltage of the LED. The circuit is supposed to be a very efficient direct-driven one, so I can't imagine it's worse than 80%. So how long will it run for? I'll tell you when this little guy goes out.
That is all I have to share right now, but don't worry, this project isn't done yet. Heck, it's just getting started! The new LED's should arrive tomorrow and hopefully in the next week I'll have some time to construct a few more. Plus, I'll chime in with the runtime when the amber LED glowing dimly on it's protoboard finally goes dark.
Until then, thanks for reading!
- Mike
p.s. So why the name 'lamplighter'? Well, I pictured this as being very much like the lamplighters of old - using their tiny embers to ignite a much larger light. This is the tiny light that guides me to the much larger light I always have on my keychain.


text: Netcraft has developed several services whereby companies can have access to detailed information on the performance of their prospects' sites or their own sites, including timely notification of outages and the facility to compare and rank performance of the monitored sites. Prompt notification of outages means that sales approaches can be exceptionally well timed. Measurements can be presented to prospects and customers as a justification for price differential, and also serve as an objective in house metric to judge performance relative to competitors.


text:
Judging by this hidden-away feature in the privacy settings of Facebook, we could be spending less time tagging people soon. Like with the facial-recognition feature in iPhoto, this technology is not always accurate, but if it cuts down on the time I have to spend using Facebook's awful upload system, then I'm fine with that. [Engadget]
Is Facebook Planning Facial-Recognition For Photos?


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Some 35,000 feet above Calipatria, I sat watching two children fold down their trays and deal each other a hand of some card game. I imagine it was War or Gin Rummy, because that's what my brother and I played for hours that felt like days, locked inside his bedroom on sunny afternoons. We didn't have much, but we always had a deck of cards - and each other.
This is where a normal blogger would insert a picture of happy childhood whimsy, but I don't have any of those. Oddly enough, I seem to have the happy and the whimsy.
It wasn't until we hit a patch of turbulence that the memory of learning how to fight (and sometimes win, when he let me) with a deck of cards was jolted back to the memories of that bedroom, that house, those parents, that life. It was long time, longer than ever before, that I was able to be perfectly happy inside the memory of my past.
Time. Time and perspective. What wonderful healers are thy.
I remember, when I was a little girl in our little home with little of anything, laying in bed every night saying my prayers. We didn't pray like people usually pray; we believed that a prayer was a conversaiton and that you really ought not squander the chance. We talked, to God or someone or no one, and today I know that I was really just meditating my way through a really hard life, but then all I knew was gratitude for having someone to hand everything over to every night, someone to share my story with.
I prayed, not for what we didn't have, but for all that we did. I was so thankful for a roof, for walls, for heat coming out of the vents and what very little food was in the cupboards, on the days there was any. It's funny how, when you have nothing, everylittlething seems so wondrous, such a gift.
And it was. It still is.
All of this, even the hard parts, are full of wonder. And I, for one, living all of them happy.
I had to remember that happiness isn't something I am ever going to have, it's something I have to do as often as I can. I'm trying to do more of it. Happy feels good.
Tomorrow, I'll be speaking at BlogHer11 with Gretchen Rubin, with Brené Brown, and with Shauna James Ahern about acceptance - of our whole selves.
Of being happy because of, not in spite of, who we are.
I am card games on cold, wood floors under windows without curtains, in the quiet space between what had happened and what was coming next. I am Eddie's little sister, and I am still learning.


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Things are breaking loose. Holes have appeared in the fabric of fraud and lies that passes for the world money system. They are black holes, gravitationally sucking in the things breaking loose, and as these things cross their event horizons, they will never be seen again. These things I speak of are the collateral for vast nebulae of falsely generated debts and obligations that were never intended to be honored (i.e. regarded as real). As they vanish down the wormholes of time, they take with them their pretenses of money value, meaning they leave reverberations of impoverishment in the shadowy place that the real world has become. The process described above - an alchemy of physics - will begin to shed light where the shadows have been, revealing a much harsher world in sharp contours and shocking color, for instance: red, the color of ink representing losses on real balance sheets of every household, every enterprise, and every government the whole world round. A scramble for safety now ensues, not just to lay hold of anything with remaining real "moneyness," but for the resources that drive the kind of economies we have. In other words, for gold and silver, and for oil and gas. Of course, great geopolitical forces spin in the background. Only idiots subscribe to the paranoid fantasies of "one world government" and "global currencies." In the scramble underway, the things falling apart include units of governance, breaking into smaller pieces: empires, nation states. These will include the unraveling European Union but also the matrix of agreements and protocols that binds together the West - everything from the IMF to the G-7 to the World Bank - into an entropy express. One rather extreme scenario I do subscribe to was laid out by blogger Jim Willie recently: the effort by Russia, China, and others to isolate and neutralize the US dollar as the world's so-called reserve currency by systematically converting holdings of US Treasury bills into gold wherever possible, and to thereby diminish the baleful influence of the Imperial US behemoth. They are assisted in this endeavor by the US itself in its bungling efforts to manipulate and suppress gold prices, as well as our prevarications as to exactly how much gold remains in the various places it is supposed to be stashed - Fort Knox, West Point, and the sub-basement labyrinth of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York - generating ever-greater uncertainty about the extant world gold supply, and hence its value relative to things like currencies. Nobody here can even ask the right questions. While The New York Times focuses on the momentous issue of real estate sales in the Hamptons, Russia and China will build gold-backed currencies aimed at monopolizing the trade in mineral and energy resources, leaving America and much of Europe to freeze in the dark and sit on gasoline lines at the empty filling stations. For a while that will work to the East's advantage - until it becomes clear that the entropic contraction of industrial economies is for everyone as we veer into a literal world made by hand. That's right, sooner or later Russia and China will get theirs, too. But in the meantime they have the ability to make the story a lot more interesting. There's plenty of suspense this Easter weekend as observers nervously await the breaking action, to find out how much the oft-cited fear of confiscation has penetrated the regional money centers around Europe. Slovenia, a fairy-tale republic somewhere between Austria and the Duchy of Grand Fenwick, has been nominated by observers as the place most likely to be whacked by EU treasure confiscators. It owes about 10 billion Euros to the EU entropy cloud, with exactly zero chances of meeting its obligations. But then, it's in the nature of such non-linear event sequences that the shadows of the black swan's wings will pass over Slovenia and alight on a chimney-top in some utterly surprising place, say, Latvia or perhaps even Italy. In any case, European money will be on fire and a lot of that smokin' moolah surely will wend its way into the US equity markets under the illusion of safety. It's all just an accident waiting to happen. Money is not what it used to be and not what it seems. There must be an inverse relationship between the juiced S & P index and the IQs of the public figures in America who pretend to be able to think, so that there are now just six remaining people in the political arena who can articulate the various parts of the mega-swindle that besets us: Bill Black, Jim Rickards, Bill Moyers, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and David Stockman. Stockman is out with a new book, The Great Deformation, that manages to concentrate all the requisite outrage in one gale of rectified objurgation. It is a pleasure to read Stockman - former budget director under Reagan and Michigan congressman - call out the villains from Reagan to Bernanke to Paulson to Rubin and scores of others in the most opprobrious terms. Stockman characterizes the financial action of recent decades a "leveraged buyout of the USA" and it sure looks that way. If you travel around the towns of the upper Hudson Valley - once an industrial corridor full of Jimmy Stewart type burgs - it's beginning to look like the country Borat grew up in. Everything of value that wasn't nailed down was taken, and everything that remains is broken, including the ragged population. On Sunday night, wire stories had Cyprus close to "going Icelandic," that is, hoisting the middle finger to Brussels and repudiating the money owed. That option may end up seeming more attractive to virtually everybody in the broke world, including even the young college loan debt donkeys of the USA, groaning under their loads as they stand idle in the barren fields of unemployment. Imagine, all those people thinking that nirvana is a place of cold and darkness... with the vague odor of rotting fish hanging in the still air.____________________________________
For a complete list of books by James Howard Kunstler and purchase links, CLICK HERE.
Read more posts on Kunstler.com »


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You might say that golf's governing bodies have entered the belly of the beast.
The U.S. Golf Association and the Royal & Ancient Golf Club set off a worldwide debate this week by proposing to ban golfers from anchoring a putter against their stomachs, chests or chins during a stroke.
Even in Western New York – not exactly a golfing mecca in late November – golfers were taking aim at whether the new restrictions on so-called belly putters and long putters are warranted or not.
"Everyone's got their opinion. This is going to be a can of worms," said Bobby Hogan, a teaching professional at the Paddock Golf Dome in the Town of Tonawanda. "There's not going to be an easy finish with this."
The lengthier putters have been around for many years, largely as a curiosity. But their use has grown more recently, and they became especially noticeable after professional golfers used them in winning three of the past five major championships.
The proposed ban is scheduled to take effect in 2016. It doesn't limit the length of putters, so golfers would not necessarily have to stop using a putter for which they shelled out hundreds of dollars.
But golfers at all levels would be prohibited from bracing the club against their bodies while putting – a technique that the governing bodies said was not within the "traditional character of the golf swing."
The world's most recognizable golfer, Tiger Woods, already has expressed support for the ban against anchoring, while another major championship winner, Bernhard Langer, suggested Thursday that users of long putters would mount a legal challenge to the new restriction, according to a report on PGA.com
Hogan, the local teaching pro, agrees with the anchoring ban – to a point.
At the PGA Tour level, players should face the same conditions as everyone else, said Hogan, who believes that anchoring largely takes out of play any twitching in the hands associated with nerves.
Steadying oneself under pressure during a swing or stroke always has been a key element to golf success at the highest level, he said.
"The whole talent of the game is to overcome that [nervousness]. That's why the great ones become great," said Hogan. "This is an athletic sport. This is a hard sport. These guys are the best in the world. You've got to be able to adapt."
But Hogan is somewhat conflicted about the restrictions when it comes to amateur and recreational golfers – and even senior professionals who rely on longer putters due to balky backs.
"We're playing a different game than they do," said Hogan, who has competed in senior tour qualifying events. "I guess that's OK for the older guys."
Ted Bishop, president of PGA of America, issued a statement urging the USGA and R&A Golf Club to consider the impact of the proposed rule on the enjoyment of the game.
"There is a lot of concern about the rule," said Jeff Meitus, director of player development at Transit Valley Country Club in East Amherst and vice president of the Western New York PGA. "We want people to have fun playing golf. With the long putter, people have extended their golf careers. If they now feel like they're cheating, they may just quit. We're not gaining any new players by creating this rule. We will lose players."
The putter dust-up is just the latest in a string of flaps involving golf equipment, which has been evolving so rapidly that golf's governing bodies have struggled to keep pace.
Tom Sprague, executive director of the Buffalo District Golf Association, said there is a larger debate looming in the golf world – whether different rules and standards should apply for professionals and amateurs.
"There are obviously quite a few people who would be for bifurcation. That is an enormous argument yet to come. Now that gets hot," said Sprague.
The long putters don't seem to have caught on much in Western New York. Sprague noticed maybe five golfers using them at 49 BDGA events this year.
Local broadcaster Kevin Sylvester, author of "The Married Man's Guide to Golf" and a frequent participant in charitable golf outings, said he rarely sees the longer putters on area courses.
"I tried using it a few times," said Sylvester, who also hosts the television show "Tee2Green" on WGRZ-TV, Channel 2. "I can see what the advantages are for players that use it, particularly on shorter putts."
But Sylvester couldn't bring himself to stick with the longer putter. "I never had complete comfort with it," he said.
At Golf Headquarters of Western New York in Lancaster, belly and long putters account for about 20 percent of all putter sales, said Kevin Hoffstetter, a club fitter at the store.
"Some people have switched and have been really happy with it and others have tried it and gone back [to a regular putter]," he said.
One customer who had been using a belly putter already came to the store to purchase a new standard putter because of the proposed rule change, Hoffstetter said.
"It may slow down sales [of belly putters] because people will think twice about it," said Rick Zurak, who owns Rick Zurak's Golf Warehouse in Lancaster.
Ultimately, though, it will become a non-issue by the time the new rule is scheduled to take effect, Zurak predicted.
"There will be some other issue in golf that will come up," he said.
The average recreational golfer will continue to use the long putter after the restrictions are in place, he added. "He's not going to be bothered by [the rule]," said Zurak. "Very few recreational golfers are going to call another recreational golfer out on that."
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Taryn Brumfitt's Body Image Movement
''What do you think you'll be thinking about when you take your last breath?''
This is a question Taryn Brumfitt says she's asked women thousands of times over the past few years.
''I've never heard anyone say 'cellulite' or 'thigh gap'.''
Yet, the 36-year-old says that too many of us waste our time thinking about perceived imperfections such as these.
She knows because she used to do the same.
"You are so disgusting. You shouldn't go out. Your husband doesn't want to be with you. You are gross. Look at how your tummy wobbles.''
This was what the Adelaide-based mum of three used to tell herself when she looked in the mirror. So she decided to do something about it.
What followed involved a bikini contest and a blog, along with transformation photos and footage that have gone viral. So much so that Rosie O'Donnell has invested in Taryn's latest project and hers was one of the Huffington Post's most read stories last week, generating 258,000 Facebook ''likes''.
But, this is no ordinary transformation story. In fact, the narrative is decidedly backwards.
Following the birth of her third child, Mikaela in 2009, Brumfitt headed to a cosmetic surgeon. She wanted a tummy tuck and a boob job. After years of fighting ''unsuccessfully'' to get her pre-baby body back, she was delighted, she says, at the thought of getting ''it all fixed''.
A week later, while watching her daughter play, she was struck by a question. ''How am I going to teach her to love her body if her mum can't do the same?''
Plagued by the thought, she hit the ''rock-bottom'' of self-loathing.
''I felt so trapped,'' she said. ''I wanted the surgery for me, but I couldn't do it for her.''
Then another thought occurred to her: ''I wonder whether it's possible to love my body without surgery?''
The thought grew and every time she looked at herself in the mirror and started to tell herself she was disgusting or fat she stopped herself. ''I had to fake it until I made it,'' she says. ''It started really slowly and was a conversation of 'what if?'''
She began a blog called Body Image Movement about her journey towards self-acceptance. ''I know if I can change, then I other women can change too,'' she says. ''So many women feel [bad about themselves] and they don't want to feel it any more.''
It wasn't just about changing her thoughts, but her approach to exercise and eating, too; making healthier choices to ''feel better'', rather than punish herself.
In the midst of this quest remained curiosity about the typical transformation – the ''fat'' to ''thin'' fantasy where life and self-perception miraculously perfect themselves to match perfectly honed limbs.
She began training two to three hours a day, ate a protein-dense diet and ''didn't have much time to be with my family''.
''I looked healthier, but I was extremely imbalanced,'' says Brumfitt, who showed off her new form in front of more than 700 people in a 2012 INBA bikini contest. ''I was really grumpy ... it's not easy to have that body.''
She concluded that the shining image doesn't always represent the reality.
''I did have the perfect body and, you know what, nothing changed about how I felt about my body.''
The result of the experiment was Brumfitt's surprising ''before'' and ''after'' shots.
Her ''before'' picture is from the bikini contest, all toned, fake-tanned limbs, drawn-in belly, glamour make-up and megawatt smile.
It contrasts with the ''after'' photo, which shows an attractive, smiling blonde with pale skin and the supple curves of a woman who is toned in some parts, soft in others.
The project to create EMBRACE – pegged as ''The documentary that will create global change'' – has already raised $152,000 and the trailer has had more than 3 million views.
''We are constantly told to be something other than what we are,'' she says. ''That we are gross or that we need to change ... We're not encouraged to love our bodies unless they conform to one idea of beauty ... but beauty is so much more. We need a different currency for beauty. We have to change the currency of health and beauty.''
And that starts with challenging our perceptions, she says. On her blog, in response to the ''trolls'', she writes: ''I'll think of you next year as I take my healthy, wobbly belly across my first triathlon finish line. I'll remember to salute you with my middle finger teamed with a positive and chirpy, ''Go f*ck yourself!''
Sarah Berry is a lifestyle and health writer at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.


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Seattle is not at a loss for breweries and beer bars. That perfect place to have a pint is just around the corner. But what happens when you want to enjoy a beer at home, purchase a beer souvenir or contribute to your ever growing beer collection? That's right, you visit a bottle shop.
Although here in Seattle, your local corner store will have a decent selection of micro-brews, a worthy bottle shop is about location, price, rotation, organization and of course, inventory. There are many bottle shops in the greater Seattle area, but I am going to focus on four, each with a very different reason for making the mention on this post.
Best Bottle Price
5909 Airport Way South
Seattle, WA 98108
(206) 763-2079
Befriend this reasonably priced bottle shop on Facebook– cause that is what all of the cool kids are doing…
Full Throttle Bottles is located in the off beat neighborhood of Georgetown. Comprised of warehouses, biker bars and other edgy establishments, Full Throttle gives this neck of the woods a great selection at very reasonable prices. Although their inventory is smaller than several other bottle shops, you can't beat their prices. I have acquired several special bottles for $1-$3 less than other places. An added bonus- spend over $10.00 ten times and you will get 11% off of a purchase. This Saturday, November 13, 2010 is Georgetown's Art Attack- a great opportunity to support the local arts and grab some bottles to-go!
Best Selection and Most Knowledgeable
1710 North 45th Street #3
Seattle, WA 98103
(206) 633-2437
Bottleworks is owned by the same people that created, built, own and manage Brouwer's Cafe, so you can imagine this bottle shop has an amazing selection. If there is a release that makes its way to Washington State, then you better believe, Bottleworks will get it and get it first (and probably sell out first). Located in the Wallingford neighborhood among quirky store fronts, Bottleworks is the place you can go and enjoy a beer while you shop. Within this past year, Bottleworks installed 4 or 5 rotating taps. Grab a tasty beverage and peruse the store looking for your favorite IPA or the new release. From Belgium to Japan, sours and stouts, Bottleworks will meet your beer needs, every time.
A Bottle Shop for the Commuter
16851 Redmond Way
Redmond, WA 98052
(425) 881-6461
As you may know, Seattle is home to Microsoft. After living here for about a week, you are bound to meet someone who works for Microsoft. The "campus" is located in Redmond, WA about a 20 minute (without traffic) drive from downtown Seattle. So what do you do after work in Redmond? And more over, why would a Seattlite who works in Seattle go to Redmond for beer? Well let me tell you. Malt and Vine not only offers a well-rounded, ever changing inventory, they always have amazing beers on tap- 10 or so at any given time. On a sunny day, you can sit down with a beer on the back patio or just window shop among the glass coolers. Just down the road is Black Raven Brewing Co., another reason to head to Redmond. But Malt and Vine makes the list for their selection and their approach to organizing the inventory- by brewery. Its quite the site to see 10 Midnight Sun beers all in one area glistening below the cooler lights. The staff here are very nice, knowledgeable and lovers of craft beer.
The Place to Go When Visiting Seattle
1926 Pike Place
Seattle, WA 98101-1013
(206) 443-1926
Located in Pike Place Market- Seattle's #1 tourist destination is the Pear Delicatessen. Although this specialty grocery sells fine cheeses, wines and simple groceries, they have a great selection of beers from the Western part of our country, mainly Colorado, California, Washington and Oregon. This is perfect for a local to stop by and grab some beers and snacks for guests and perfect for the visitor looking to take back a taste of the Pacific NW.
Other bottle shops in the area include, 99 Bottles, Pike Place Beer and Wine, Beer Junction, Beer Authority and Big Star Beer Market.
Filed under: The Grog Spot Tagged: Black Raven Brewing Co, bottleworks, Brouwer's Cafe, Full Throttle Bottles, Malt and Vine, Midnight Sun


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