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After recharging their batteries, the Ravens, Texans and Colts have a chance to announce themselves as contenders on Sunday ... plus what ails the Patriots, looking at the possible No. 1 pick in 2014 and condolences for a cursed franchise
For every NFL team, the bye week is important for many reasons. It's a few extra days of rest to get bodies ready for the stretch run. It's a chance to self-scout, to assess strengths and look for ways to improve. It's an opportunity to get back to fundamentals, to get some quality teaching reps in and tighten up your technique.
This week, three teams return to action following extremely important bye weeks. What the Ravens, Colts and Texans do on Sunday will give clues as to whether they'll be AFC contenders in the final two months of the season.
A look at what each will be concentrating on:
Ravens (3-4)
The Ravens continue to feel the loss of tight end Dennis Pitta to a preseason hip injury, and they'd love to get him back at some point to open up the rest of the offense. But coming off their bye, the Ravens first have to get their running game going against the Browns.
So far it's been awful. And that might be an understatement. The Ravens are worst in the league with 2.8 yards per rush, as well as the percent of rushes that have gone for four yards or more—overall and on first down. That has correlated into the Ravens having the worst offense on first and second down in the league.
Simply put, Baltimore has to find a way to get better on first down. Running backs Ray Rice (hip) and Bernard Pierce (hamstring) have shown signs that they're getting healthier. That has to happen. Rice hasn't shown any explosion, which has led to questions about whether he's starting the downward arc in his career. The Ravens better hope not, or they'll need Pierce to get healthy even faster so he can take over the No. 1 role.
But the problems haven't all been on the backs. The offensive line has underachieved, especially at center and left guard. Gino Gradkowski hasn't come close to giving the Ravens what retired center Matt Birk did. And Kelechi Osemele has been playing hurt, and it shows. It now looks like he's headed for injured reserve, which means converted center A.Q. Shipley will get the call. Both Shipley and Gradkowski need to be play effectively down the stretch.
On defense, the Ravens have one of the best front sevens in the league, and they generate plenty of pressure on the quarterback. But the secondary has been subpar, as evidenced by the Ravens' being ranked 30th in passer rating when blitzing (their 109.5 dwarfs the league average of 86.6). The signing of safety Michael Huff was a disaster, and it ended this week when he was released. Veteran James Ihedigbo has played very well this season overall, but he'll always be limited against the pass. The player on the spot is first-round pick Matt Elam. He was expected to have an instant impact, but that has yet to happen. Starting in the second half of the season, he can no longer be considered a rookie. They need him to play like a veteran.
Texans (2-5)
They are not out of it, especially after the Colts lost receiver Reggie Wayne to a torn ACL, but any comeback must start Sunday night against Indianapolis—the first of two meetings between the AFC South divisional rivals.
Nobody can truly replace injured inside linebacker Brian Cushing—Joe Mays gets the call—so the Texans won't be quite the same on defense. But the unit should still be one of the league's best down the stretch.
It's all going to come down to the Texans' offense. Coach Gary Kubiak had an extra week with the bye to get comfortable with quarterback Case Keenum, who has replaced the benched Matt Schaub. It's up to Kubiak to put Keenum in the best possible situation to succeed. That means more pistol sets and likely more designed runs to take advantage of the athletic dimension Keenum brings to the position. Kubiak's offense is actually designed for an athletic quarterback—Schaub isn't one—so there is potential for a lot of improvement. It's a big spot for Keenum, an undrafted free agent in 2012. Every game is going to be important, none moreso than Sunday night at home against the Colts.
Colts (5-2)
There may not be a more closely watched team coming out of a bye week than Indianapolis. There is a lot of curiosity about how the Colts will deal with the season-ending knee injury to receiver Reggie Wayne. With victories over the 49ers, Seahawks and Broncos in recent weeks, the Colts were an unquestioned contender. The Colts were able to flourish despite losing their invaluable all-round tight end Dwayne Allen. But can they still contend without Wayne?
That's a huge question mark going into Sunday's game against the Texans. Wayne is the receiver who made the passing offense go. As their motion receiver, he was able to dictate coverage all over the field. One of every four throws by quarterback Andrew Luck went to Wayne. Luck would even throw to Wayne when he was covered. Can anyone else provide that kind of security? It looks like Darrius Heyward-Bey will get the first opportunity to prove himself. He's become a much more well-round receiver since his Raiders, days but he's never had to be The Guy before.
Expect more stress to be put on the run game. The offensive line could stand to be a little sharper and build on its performances of late, but it's also time for Trent Richardson to show why the Colts traded for him.
First ...
Everyone, especially the rabid fans in New England, wants to know what's wrong with the Patriots' offense. After watching film this week, here's my quick synopsis: they stink.
All of them.
It's not just the receivers. It's not just the pass or run blocking. It's not just Tom Brady's inaccuracy. It's a combination of everything. Basically, there isn't one thing they do well. It looks like the Patriots coaches think that as well, because the game plan against the Dolphins last Sunday was bare bones. The Pats won, 27-17, but there wasn't a whole lot of motion or variety. They stuck to a few basic runs, a handful of different pass concepts.
What's wrong with the Patriots' offense? After watching film this week, here's my quick synopsis: they stink.
The Patriots looked like they were saying, "We aren't doing anything well at this point, so let's dial it back and start from the basics." The problem is, they couldn't even execute that game plan. The first half was one of the worst performances I've seen in some time from the Patriots' offensive line, both run and pass. Left guard Logan Mankins, normally the stalwart, struggled mightily in all phases of the game. He might be toughing out some sort of lower body injury. That said, the run blocking was much cleaner in the fourth quarter, so that may be something to build off of. Although I have no clue why the Patriots aren't playing Stevan Ridley more. He's by far their best running back. It's not even close.
... and 10
1. As for Brady, he's certainly part of the problem—but not a huge part. Yes, he has missed throws he normally makes and his ball placement has been shoddy. The hand injury he's dealing with has probably caused some of that. What I also see is that Brady, in years prior, made his living down the middle of the field to Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowsi and Aaron Hernandez. With Danny Amendola not 100%, and Gronkowski shaking the rust off, Brady has lacked those kinds of targets. He's had to rely more on throws to the boundary; those aren't his strong suit, and they're a lower percentage pass in general. But the bottom line is, the Patriots' offense is far from a lost cause (even if swapping injured right tackle Sebastian Vollmer for Marcus Cannon is a huge step down). They've had so much flux in personnel, they are obviously discombobulated. If they get some stability there, the Patriots can regain some of their timing coming out of a bye in Week 10.
2. I recently talked to University of Oregon offensive coordinator Scott Frost, the former Nebraska quarterback and NFL defensive back, for a magazine story, and I couldn't let him go without asking about quarterback Marcus Mariota, who is draft eligible and could wind up as the No. 1 pick in April. "Marcus is getting better every week," Frost said. "Marcus is going to be a phenomenal NFL player, in my opinion, whenever he decides that's what he wants to do. The best way I can say it is before we even started playing last year, I made a gentleman's bet with a friend that (Mariota) would be the first pick in the NFL before he was done. I still believe that he will."
3. One player who has jumped out on film in recent weeks is Dolphins outside linebacker Olivier Vernon. As a rookie third-round pick in 2012, he was used only as a situational pass rusher. But in the past month Vernon has stood out more for his work against the run. Vernon gave the Patriots' and Bengals' left tackles all they could handle, playing the run with surprising strength and leverage.
4. It will be old home week on Sunday when the Rams host the Titans. Rams coach Jeff Fisher spent 17 years as coach of the Oilers/Titans, and cornerback Cortland Finnegan and tight end Jared Cook started their careers with the Titans. "I know there's going to be emotion there because that's just the humanly (reaction)," Finnegan said. "I think (Fisher) wants to win because it's the next game, but also because we're playing a team that he formerly coached and was a big part of in building that history and tradition there. We definitely want to win for him, and I think it's a big game for the guys who played there before."
5. Speaking of Cook, his signing hasn't worked out as St. Louis had hoped. Before the season began the Rams were touting his ability to post up his 6-5, 254-pound frame in the red zone. Yet when the Rams had their final fourth-and-goal play from the 1-yard line against the very big secondary of the Seahawks on Oct. 28, Cook wasn't even on the field. He caught seven passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns in Week 1. In the seven games since, Cook has zero touchdowns. He caught less than five passes in six of those games and hasn't gone over 45 yards.
6. Those who know Dolphins tackle Jonathan Martin are completely shocked that he left the team after reportedly being fed up with bullying by teammates. No one saw any signs of something like this happening. In fact, there's a lot of anger, if the reports are accurate, toward the Dolphins for letting this happen.
7. I wouldn't blame Bengals fans one bit if they think their franchise is cursed. There might be older examples, but look no further than Carson Palmer going down with an ACL injury in a 2005 playoff game (after an 11-5 regular season) and now All Pro defensive tackle Geno Atkins suffering the same injury. Both went down in what might turn out to be their most promising seasons ... yikes.
8. It's amazing that the Falcons' matchup with the Panthers on Sunday marks the final call for Mike Smith's group this season. Atlanta virtually has to win-out in order to have a chance at making the playoffs. It has to also play the Seahawks, Saints, Packers and 49ers down the stretch. Because of the Falcons' struggles, not many have noticed that quarterback Matt Ryan has thrown the ball better this season. It's just that the Falcons are terrible running the ball, and pressuring the quarterback.
9. Everyone noticed how the AFC went 15-6 against the NFC through the first four weeks of the season. Since then, the NFC holds an 11-6 advantage.
10. If Tamba Hali (9.0) and Terrell Suggs (8.0) can join the double-digit club this week, it will mark the first time since the sack stat became official in 1982 that six players had 10 or more through Week 9.


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It's not a spoiler if I tell you that something bad is going to happen to one of the folks on The Walking Dead, right? I mean, that sure seems like a no-shitter to me — this isn't called The Walking Don't Worry, All the Survivors Are Totally Going to Be Just Fine, Especially When You Consider How Great Everything's Been Going So Far — but I've got some major details about the shockers to come in tonight's episode. If you'd like to avoid any and all discussion about episode 4, this is your official SPOILER WARNING and stern instruction to click away now.
Still there? Okay, let's talk about some of the news that's floating around Spoilerville:
First, the official AMC synopsis for the show:
Lives are endangered when the group gets separated, while in Woodbury, Merle makes an appeal to the Governor.
Hmm, do you think this means Merle will start turning against the Governor in an attempt to save his brother? But what about the group getting separated, what's that all about? Let's take a look at the sneak peek for Sunday's show:
It took me a while to suss out what's happening here, but it looks like the survivors are freaking out because the noise of the siren is attracting walkers. If all those walkers approach the fence at once, will they have the strength to push it over? I'm thinking yes.
As for the "endangered" part, Norman Reedus (Daryl) dropped a major clue when talking to reporters recently:
We just watched Episode 4, as a group, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house, even though these were people who were there while we were filming it, all day, over and over again.
You guys, someone's not going to survive. Or someones, because according to SpoilerTV.com, TWO characters are going to die during this episode. They don't say who it is, but they put up a poll that reportedly includes the two names: Merle, Rick, Daryl, Axel, Lori, Carol, Maggie, Glenn, Carl, The Governor, T-Dog, Andrea, Lori's baby, and Michonne. (Interesting that Hershel isn't on the list, isn't it?)
The episode is titled "The Killer Within," which might be another big hint. Take a look at this second sneak peek:
So … it looks like someone let the prison yard gate open? And that same someone set off the sirens? "The killer within" might be one of the prisoners, then?
I know how things played out in the comics, but since the show has been forging fresh territory I'm not sure who might be on the chopping block. I feel like it's unlikely to be Rick, Lori, The Governor, Lori's baby, Carl, or Michonne, since those characters offer so much potential in terms of story to come — but who knows? Everyone's technically up for grabs. As Reedus added in his interview,
It's not one of those shows where there are three people in an office that you know are going to be there until the season ends. Anyone could go, at any time, just like in the real world that we're trying to play in. It's fascinating to watch.
What are your guesses for the two characters rumored to die during episode 4?

subset: commoncrawl


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I wouldn't normally consider myself a superstitious person but the events of this past Friday...yes Friday the 13th...had me singing another tune. Not singing in the literal sense (that would clear a room very quickly) but feeling differently about life's direction and taking the bull by the horns.
One event in the past week that was certainly an adventure, if not life changing, was the few days spent in San Francisco at the Foodbuzz Festival. You have heard about this event countless times over the past week, but after car accidents, book releases, and loosing fillings I am a little behind the times. It has been months in the planning for not only the talented staff over at Foodbuzz but for Giz and I to meet up in the big city. I met Giz and her daughter through their blog Equal Opportunity Kitchen and what transpired from there was nothing short of a miracle. In the past year we started a social network BloggerAid-Changing the Face of Famine, published a cookbook to raise money for the School Meals Programme and finally met in San Francisco at Foodbuzz. You probably thought all along that since we both live in Canada and both have similar ideologies that our paths would have crossed long ago. We are on opposite ends of this huge country we call Canada but are not very far apart in our long term goals. It was like meeting a long lost friend after all this time and even if we were both tired we sprung into action and set out to explore San Francisco.
After flights from opposite ends of the country we met for the first time at our home for the next 4 days The Galleria Park Hotel which is a stylish boutique hotel in Union Square in downtown San Francisco and part of a group of hotels in the Joie de Vivre chain. I give a shout out to the attentive staff at the hotel as well as their social awareness. Joie de Vivre Hotels is a grass roots organization that strives to have a positive impact on their community. Each of their hotels is dedicated to donating to organizations in their communities.
Galleria Park Hotel's philanthropic partner in the You Can Make a Difference program is The Gum Moon Asian Women's Resource Center where they address the needs of women and children in geographic and social transition. They provide services and programs that help develop life skills that help people integrate into society in order to support themselves and their families. Kudos to the Joie de Vivre!!!
First stop for Giz and I.....Chinatown. I was in San Francisco last month so read all about Chinatown in my last post. Where else can you find beautiful scarves for $1.50 and fun and fanciful cosies for your wine bottles. Mix this with the local flavours, sights and sounds and it is an idyllic way to spend an afternoon... and let's face it we were starving!!!!!
Day 2 lead us to North Beach, with deep roots in the Italian community, where we sought out macaroons the size of our heads that had inspired me on my last trip. As Canadians we visited our very first Trader Joe's which we have read about countless times on your blogs and also visited Fisherman's Wharf; which I missed during my last visit. I was fascinated by the shapely sourdough and the sea lions at Pier 39 with their engaging personalities.
Hotele Vitale, also a part of the Joie de Vivre chain for the beginning of the 1st-Annual Foodbuzz Blogger Festival!!!! To kick off the weekend we met for happy hour on the 8th floor with spectacular views of the city all round. Brian our bartender and 250 food bloggers became best friends:D We had a ridiculously delicious schedule of events planned for the entire weekend. There were attendees from 27 States and 4 countries who we already had so much in common with... a passion for food and our blogs....and we obsessively photograph each and every bite we eat!!!!! Can you imagine the mass sigh of relief when everyone in the room could whip out their cameras in the middle of an intriguing conversation and no one would blink an eye!!!
From there we moved on to the Ferry Building and an outdoor extravaganza to titillate our taste buds and "rev" us up for more to come. What a line up of tasty treats from the Mission District to the Ferry Building and everything in between!!!! From authentic wood-fire oven pizza, to rotisserie roasted porchetta on a bun, to antojito style tacos, to organic oysters... all culminating with organic ice cream and cupcake nibbles.
This weekend went down as one for the memory books. Kudos to the staff at Foodbuzz for pulling it all together to make it one of the best foodie weekends imaginable!!!!! I hope you all get to attend next year!!!!!!More to follow tomorrow........................................ Foodbuzz Take 2......


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Oregon Masters in Nutrition on Campus Programs and Degrees
Masters in Nutrition on Campus Programs and Degrees General Info
Graduate students interested in a career-focused program in health and medicine, might consider enrolling in a campus nutrition masters program. A master's degree in nutrition could help prepare graduates to pursue careers as nutrition professionals in the pharmaceutical industry, research nutritional biochemistry, educate patients on healthy eating habits, shape public policy, or work to ensure that agriculture is productive and safe.
Food science is the field of study in which the engineering, biological, and physical sciences are used to study food and food processing. Nutrition, as a discipline of study is the science that interprets the interaction of nutrients and other substances in food. This can include the maintenance, growth, reproduction, health, diet and disease of an organism, both human and animal. Nutrition, food science, and physiology therefore play an important role in wellness.
FACT: Scurvy, a vitamin C deficiency, was first described in 1500 BC in the Ebers Papyrus
How do I find a Masters in Nutrition on Campus program?
GradSchools.com makes researching campus-based nutrition degree programs simple to find. You can begin with a location search to determine where programs are offered. Simply use the city, state or country tabs, then browse results. Filter this search if you are looking for a concentrated master degree in nutrition. For instance, you could earn a Master of Science in Exercise science, a Master in Nutrition and Dietetics, Human Nutrition, Food Science or a Master of Science in Food Safety Regulations. These are just options, so make sure to review all the listings.
Studying for your masters in nutrition on a college campus may give you the chance to network. For many it is a time of
enjoying all that the college experience has to offer, and is the format of learning with the most face-to-face interaction between classmates and professors. In addition, being on campus means you get access to the college's facilities such as libraries, laboratories and athletic amenities.
What is the potential curriculum in a campus nutrition master's program?
Curriculum in campus nutrition masters programs can vary depending on any concentration, whether you are continuing onto study at the PhD level, the school and program format. Students might expect to learn subjects that can include:
- Science of nutrition
- Health promotion
- Disease, nutrition related diseases
- Food Safety regulations
- Food production
- Public Health
- Dietetics
- Exercise Science
- Biochemistry
- Genetics
- Clinical nutrition
What are the potential career paths for graduates with master's degrees in nutrition?
Some of the potential career paths and the projected job outlook for graduates holding masters degrees in nutrition may include:
- Agricultural and Food Scientists work to ensure that agricultural establishments are productive and food is safe. Employment is projected to grow 9% from 2012 to 2022[i]
- Agricultural and Food Science Technicians assist food scientist by performing duties such as measuring and analyzing the quality of food and agricultural products. Employment is projected to grow 3% from 2012 to 2022[ii]
- Dieticians and Nutritionists are experts in food and nutrition. They advise people on what to eat in order to lead a healthy lifestyle or achieve a specific health-related goal. Employment is projected to grow 21% from 2012 to 2022[iii]
- Health Educators and Community Health Workers teach people about behaviors that promote wellness, and may develop and implement strategies to improve the health of individuals and communities. Employment is projected to grow 21% from 2012 to 2022[iv]
- Medical and Health Services Managers, also called healthcare executives or healthcare administrators, plan, direct and coordinate medical and health services. Employment is projected to grow 23% from 2012 to 2022[v]
- Epidemiologists are public health professionals who investigate patterns and causes of disease and injury in humans and seek to reduce the risk of negative health outcomes through research, community education, and health policy. Employment is projected to grow 10% from 2012 to 2022[vi]
- Occupational Health and Safety Specialists analyze many types of work environments and procedures. Employment is projected to grow 7% from 2012 to 2022[vii]
- Biochemists and Biophysicists study the chemical and physical principles of living things and of biological processes, such as cell development, growth and heredity. Employment is projected to grow 19% from 2012 to 2022[viii]
- Athletic Trainers and Exercise Physiologists specialize in preventing, diagnosing, and treating bone injuries and illnesses. Employment is projected to grow 19% from 2012 to 2022[ix]
Ready to pursue a master's degree in nutrition?
If you have a keen interest in studying nutrition from a medical wellness, scientific or management perspective, earning a master's in nutrition may lead to a variety of potential career paths in some high growth industries. Begin your search for campus nutrition masters programs on GradSchools.com and take your education in nutrition, diet and food science up to the next level!
Sources: [i] bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/agricultural-and-food-scientists.htm | [ii] bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/agricultural-and-food-science-technicians.htm | [iii] bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/dietitians-and-nutritionists.htm | [iv] bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/health-educators.htm | [v] bls.gov/ooh/management/mobile/medical-and-health-services-managers.htm | [vi] bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/epidemiologists.htm | [vii] bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/occupational-health-and-safety-specialists.htm#tab-2 | [viii] bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/biochemists-and-biophysicists.htm | [ix] bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/athletic-trainers-and-exercise-physiologists.htm
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- Corvallis, ORCorvallis, OR
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The Department of Food Science and Technology offers graduate programs leading toward the Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. A variety of research specializations are available covering the chemical, physical, microbiological and biotec...
- Corvallis, OR


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Memory Box
Source: Martha Stewart Kids, Spring 2006
You can't keep your little one from growing up too fast, but by filling a box with birthday mementos, you can at least capture a moment in time. Buy an acid-free photo-storage box (available at art-supply stores) to preserve pictures and cards, snippets of ribbon and wrapping paper, the invitation, candles, and more. Even better than a photograph, these keepsakes will recall the day in vivid detail; create a box to mark the first -- or every -- birthday.


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Saturday, June 04, 2011
"Hetch Hetchy is a grand landscape garden, one of nature's rarest and most precious mountain temples. As in Yosemite, the sublime rocks of its walls seem to glow with life . . . while birds, bees, and butterflies help the river and waterfalls to stir all the air into music. . . . These temple destroyers, devotees of ravaging commercialism, seem to have a perfect contempt for Nature, and, instead of lifting their eyes to the God of the mountains, lift them to the Almighty Dollar. . . . Dam Hetch Hetchy! As well dam for water-tanks the people's cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man." John Muir, "The Yosemite," Century, 1912, pp. 249-62.
What and awesome day with great friends, it was perfect. We saw a mama bear and her two cubs. Life doesn't get any better than this. She was so mellow and just hung out eating why the cubs ran around they were so curious about everything and such a joy to watch. I have never had a mama bear just hangout and be so calm. It was the third encounter I have have with a mama and cubs. First time she was very protective and I had to go way out of my way to go around since she seemed like she might charge at me if I came any closer. The second time they all ran away. So I felt lucky today ;-)
We were lucky that the weather was nice pretty much just right overcast and 60 ;-) we just did a day trip since snow was on it's way and the weather was going to get ugly.
I was surprised to see so many hikers and backpackers in the area, most of the time it's not to busy. There was a trail crew working on a rock fall near Wapama bridge. There are tons of trees down heading to TillTill valley. Also the food bridge is closed on the south trail that heads towards Yosemite. We ended up doing a couple out and backs before we heading for our final back to where we started.
I love this area and if you are ever heading to Yosemite make a stop by Hetch Hetchy it really is the hidden gem of Yosemite.
It's taper time I will be running San Diego 100 next weekend it's gonna be fun. Andy will be going for finish #8 and I will be going for finish #7 wish us luck.
Poor Rocky got sprayed by a skunk a couple nights ago that was no fun ;-(
3 comments:
- Ewa said...
I was in Yosemite this weekend. Somehow I keep forgetting about Hetch Hetchy and it is such a wonderful place.
It is good to "see" you on JMT forum. Maybe I'll bump to you on the trail this year.
Good luck in San Diego
- Catra said...
Hey EWA- HH is so awesome closer drive and not all the tourons to deal with. The trails are awesome there is a 46 miles loop I want to do out there I go I usually do the 30 mile loop out to TillTill valley and around. there were so many downed trees. The rangers and trail crews haven't even been on the loop. We decided to head back since the bog was so wet and muddy we ended up doing around 20 miles. Where did you go?? The weather was fine Friday but it must of rained on you that night and yesterday. I do a lot of trips to the Valley and HH in the Summer it's great to have an awesome place to train. I am sure we will meet ;-) on the trail ;-)
- Jessica said...
I am so sorry. I hope the skunk was worth it.


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Bill Belichick believes Wes Welker made a "deliberate" effort to take Aqib Talib out of Sunday's AFC Championship Game. Will the league office agree with the New England Patriots coach?
NFL Replay
will re-air the Denver Broncos' 26-16 win over the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game on Tuesday, Jan. 21, at midnight ET.
» NFL Network schedule
NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday that any fine or discipline with regard to Welker's block will come at the end of the week.
Game officials viewed the play as a judgment call that contact between Welker and Talib occurred as the ball was being touched by Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas. If the league office backs that thought process, Welker likely will escape discipline.
Here's the rule:
"If the contact occurs as ball is being touched, there is no offensive pass interference. When it happens all at the same time -- the ball being touched and contact elsewhere -- it is not a foul. The contact has to be clearly before the ball is touched for it to draw a flag."
Interestingly, the Patriots ran a nearly identical play late in the first quarter with wide receiver Julian Edelman delivering a hit that shook up Broncos cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Edelman was not flagged, though the play was wiped out on an offensive pass interference call on tight end Michael Hoomanawanui.
The biggest difference is the timing of the block of the star cornerback. Edelman's contact came well after the receiver touched the ball. The same cannot be said for Welker.
The "Around The League Podcast" recapped all the Conference Championship week action.


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The Knapp family (Evelyn, Gifford, and their son Kenneth) began to work toward self-sufficiency almost 20 years ago ... long before petroleum prices had begun to whittle away at the American lifestyle, and before solar energy became a national topic of conversation. They've pursued their dream of self-reliance in a variety of ways—by planting gardens, digging fishponds, maintaining timber lots, researching wind and water power, etc.—but the Kansans learned early on that the foundation of their efforts to "get away from it all" would have to be a home that demanded an absolute minimum of energy from external sources.
In the beginning Gifford and Kenneth were most intrigued by active solar systems, but—after researching the matter closely—they became convinced that intensive solar collection didn't suit their situation. First of all, the Sunflower Staters reasoned, active collectors really didn't provide many BTU per dollar invested. And the complexity of such devices was bound to lead to extensive maintenance sooner or later.
In fact, the whole idea of active collection, the amateur architects decided, was wrong for a single-family dwelling: "After all," they figured, "why attach all sorts of energy-catching gadgetry to a conventional house when the structure itself can be designed to use very little energy?"
The concept that the Knapps' years of analysis led them to favor an earth sheltered home design that incorporated passive solar features. So, with a vision in mind, the family began searching for a piece of property that would fit their plans perfectly. As you can imagine, it wasn't easy to find the ideal site, but a little over four years ago they managed to purchase 12 acres—on the outskirts of Kansas City—which had a south-facing hillside (unobstructed by topography or trees), a three-acre pond, flat garden sites, and a good stand of timber. Because they were so well prepared (as a result of their decade and a half of research), Mr. Knapp and Kenneth had little difficulty getting the appropriate permits and financing. (In fact, after construction began, the bank loan officer was so impressed by their plan that he actually waived the backup heat requirement.)
Both Kenneth and his father are experienced earth-movers and have worked in contracting—as well as at large-scale farming—so they elected to rent a bulldozer and do their own site preparation. With the forethought that's typical of their efforts, they dug the two-story-deep hole in the hillside a full year before they intended to start building ... to permit the earth to settle and allow time to be very sure that any wet-weather springs had been identified and dealt with.
Post and Beam
As many of you no doubt know, earth sheltering puts unusually high loads on a building ... as a result of the dirt's weight pressing against the roof and walls. Consequently, the heavy-duty construction required by "going underground" can be the source of more than conventional expense. However, the Knapps—dipping into their storehouse of knowledge and consulting with acquaintances in the construction business—determined that a steel beam and concrete assembly approach could save them a great deal of money. ("Post and beam" construction, as it's called, has been used for centuries in wooden homes, but it's primarily employed in large commercial buildings today.)
The father-and-son team started by constructing a 12-inch-thick reinforced retaining wall against the back of the excavation. A monolithic pour was used to avoid the contact surfaces (called cold seams) which result from multiple stage pouring ... and the concrete was pumped to eliminate bubbles. At the top of the first story, the builders capped the wall with cement-leaving pockets, spaced four feet apart, for beams—and then continued with an eight-inch-wide pour. At the roof line, they capped the wall again and added more recesses for girders.
With that done, 12-inch-thick side walls were added (which buttress the rear retaining wall and provide support for additional horizontal struts). The network of steel I-beams was then set into position—with vertical posts spaced no more than 12 feet apart to provide support—and the concrete second floor and roof were poured directly onto corrugated steel panels ... which function as both forms and reinforcement.
In keeping with their "better safe than sorry" approach to building the energy-efficient structure, the Knapps took every possible waterproofing precaution ... and added some inventions of their own for extra insurance. They first coated the exterior walls and roof with polyurethane sealant and then covered the carefully applied water barrier with hardboard to protect it from any rocks that might settle out of the 36-inch earth covering. (One inch extruded foam insulation was also added to the roof, and to the upper five feet of the walls, at this point.)
Next Gifford and Kenneth devised a system to keep the load on the waterproofing as light as possible. Tiles—placed in gravel beds—were set at the fill-dirt line, against the base of the foundation and beneath the four-inch-thick floating slab. (All three of the "pipelines" exit in two directions, and their outlets drain into a large gravel field.)
Passive Solar
Completion of their home's post-and-beam concrete shell absorbed just $17,000 of the Knapps' budget, so they were left with plenty of money to build solar features into the remaining framing and interior finishing. To maximize the amount of light entering the structure, the family invested in a massive expanse of glass to cover the building's southern exposure. While they were at it, they also included a row of plexiglass windows, angled at 45° to help light penetrate deeply into their earth-sided home.
With such a large amount of glazing, the Knapps knew they could have difficulties with overheating during sunny spells, so they devised a method to take some of the excess solar warmth and store it away for the evenings. Stone columns—each filled with 150 gallons of water in glass jars—were set to face 45° west of south ... allowing sunlight to beam directly into the house in the morning, but shading the interior (while absorbing the sun's heat) in the afternoon. The columns, as well as a water-filled stone fireplace (which also has a built-in convective air current channel), were all constructed from rock that was quarried on the Knapps' property.
A number of other features help to maintain a comfortable environment in this earth-sheltered passive solar home. A fountain and a kitchen exhaust fan were installed to help maintain the desired humidity level inside the dwelling. And the building's air will soon be tempered by a 22-inch-diameter, 200-foot-long intake tunnel fitted with radiators which will circulate pond water. Plus, for those really hot spells—such as the 105°F scorcher that was in progress when MOTHER EARTH NEWS visited the Knapps—panels of Sunscreen solar shade can be pulled across the plexiglass windows to shield the interior.
How Well Does It Work?
The union of earth-sheltering and passive solar techniques has proved to be so successful that the house is now virtually heating and cooling self-sufficient. The chill of winter has forced the family to light their fireplace just six times, and their backup wood stove has yet to be used. In fact, when the Knapps once went away for six days during near 0°F weather, the temperature inside the dwelling dropped only to 57°F. And the home's warmest interior reading has been 86°F ... during 1980's summer heat wave.
Perhaps the most amazing part of the Knapps' accomplishment is that they built the 3,400-square-foot (including 950 square feet for the garage) home for only $80,000 ... or $23.52 per square foot. And the expenses include architectural fees (for the design of the stunning south side facade) as well as nearly $7,000 for cabinetry in the kitchen alone. This is no bare bones economy structure.
Of course, the low per-square-foot cost is almost entirely due to the fact that the Knapps put enormous amounts of thought and labor into the house. As a matter of fact, Evelyn did much of the beautiful stonework that graces the living room and bathroom. But Mr. Knapp stresses that, despite its elegance, their home is perfectly suited to the do-it-yourself builder. Post-and-beam construction, he says, is actually one of the simplest construction methods going.
Most of the Way There
Completing their house is by far the largest step that Evelyn, Gifford, and Kenneth Knapp will ever have to take toward self-reliance. With a monthly utility bill that runs about $30 (for lights and appliances), total energy independence is right around the corner: Many of the components that will make up their hydropower plant are already built, and their own homemade wind plant is about to come off the drawing board. (With typical foresight, the Knapps installed both AC and DC wiring in their home to accommodate several kinds of power generation.) And, to provide for a year-round food supply, they're enlarging their garden and preparing to keep livestock.
When one views the Knapps' already considerable achievement—and the plans they have in the works—it becomes obvious that their dream of self-sufficiency can't be far away. As Mr. Knapp has said, "Most people say that being really independent is impossible without jeopardizing your lifestyle. Well, we set out to prove that a person can heat with the sun and cool with the earth. And we set out to prove that an earth-sheltered home can be beautiful. What's more, we set out to prove that such a lovely, efficient dwelling can be built for the same cost as a conventional house ... or less." So far, the Knapps are batting 1,000!


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Choosing A Padel Paddle/Racquet/Bat
Buying a Padel paddle can be a real challenge due to all the choices. It is very important to choose wisely, as the wrong paddle not only hurts your game, but it can also hurt your body. Here is some information to help in your process, but you can always CONTACT US for further help.
One of the most important things to get right when buying a paddle is the grip size. If it's too big or small you can sustain injuries like padel elbow. There's a simple way to test that you've got the right grip size – when you hold the handle, there should be a gap between the tips of your fingers and the palm. In other words, you should be able to slide the forefinger of your free hand between the tips of your fingers and palm of your playing hand.
The outside shape of the paddle providing the strength and endurance of your racket. Usually made up of tubular laminated layers of Fibreglass, Carbon Fibre, or Graphite. Impregnated with wax or Epoxy Resin.
The inside of the paddle, the core. Either Foam or EVA Rubber (a shock absorbing rubber). The core can differ, which will create a difference in stiffness and playability.
The area where you hit the ball. This is usually a 1,2 or 3 layer surface of Fibreglass, Carbon Fibre or Graphite. The materials change the strength, power and endurance of the bat. The paddle will be impregnated with wax or Epoxy Resin.
There is no ideal weight for a Padel paddle, yet there is an ideal weight for any individual player. This weight depends on player characteristics. Is the player a quick mover (dynamic), a strong player (strength) or a technical player. Lighter blades are easier to handle/move, making them useful for the attacking net player, but will be more difficult to guide to a hard/fast shot. A heavier blade will help you in the pace of a shot, putting real force behind it, but will cause your movement towards the ball being slightly delayed.
If you pick a even balance paddle, it will give you a medium mix of volley and groung stroke effictiveness. Shifting the balance of the weight to a higher balance point, will increase your power on the ground strokes and increased paddle head speed. A lower balance (weight towards the handle) will make it easier for controlling your paddle's manuerability. This will make it volley friendly.
Rules state the paddles are not allowed to be more than 38mm thick. Thicker paddles give more strength behind the shot (although this equally depends on the layers on the skin). Thinner paddles improve manuerability and accuracy. Usually adult thicknesses range between 36mm and 38 mm while junior paddles start at 35mm.
The softer the paddle, the more bounce it will create on the surface, catapulting it with greater power back into the opposite direction. This means it will give you great power at the net, and will make it good for control from the background. If you are physically strong, we would advise to use a stronger paddle, as you will have a lot more control on the shots, especially at the net. The lack of force will be complemented with your own physical strength.


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On the weekend before he was to be sworn in as mayor of Boston, Martin J. Walsh revealed the appointment of two top advisers and filled the two vacancies in the Boston School Committee.
Walsh, who will be inaugurated as mayor Monday morning, named outgoing City Councilor Felix G. Arroyo as chief of health and human services, the first Cabinet-level position in the new administration to be announced.
The appointment of Arroyo, who did not seek reelection to the council this year so he could mount a mayoral bid, comes one day after Walsh named Daniel Arrigg Koh, a former adviser to outgoing Mayor Thomas M. Menino, as his chief of staff.
"Felix brings a wealth of knowledge and City of Boston experience to my administration," Walsh said in a statement. "Felix knows how to bring people together and work collaboratively. He values and understands the importance of directly addressing the needs of Boston's most vulnerable residents, and he will have a huge impact on our city in this role."
Arroyo, a popular citywide councilor first elected in 2009, has served as a cochairman of Walsh's transition team. He said he was excited to be a part of the new administration.
Born in the South End and raised in Hyde Park, Arroyo has previously worked as an organizer and political director at the Service Employees International Union Local 615 and the New England field director for Healthcare for America Now.
After being eliminated in the mayoral preliminary vote, Arroyo was one of three former candidates of color whose enthusiastic endorsements of Walsh helped propel him to his eventual victory over City Councilor John R. Connolly.
During a Sunday morning interview that aired on WCVB, Walsh said he has yet to talk with the other two — John Barros and Charlotte Golar Richie — about potential appointments to his administration.
Arroyo replaces Daphne Griffin, a Menino appointee who resigned from the position in November.
Moments before announcing Arroyo's position within the administration, Walsh said he will reappoint Dr. Hardin L.K. Coleman, who is dean of Boston's University's College of Education, to his spot on the School Committee and will replace Mary Tamer — who was a vocal supporter of Connolly — with Michael Loconto, a labor relations attorney with a child in the school system.
"Michael is passionate about using his skills to serve the community, and he recognizes that education is critical to the well-being of Boston residents and businesses," Walsh said in a statement. "He brings a unique perspective to the board as a Boston public schools parent. Michael understands the challenges we face now, and he wants to not only keep Boston families here, but to entice new families to move to Boston and to reengage with other Boston families who have chosen private or charter options."
Loconto is active in the Beethoven School Parent Council and a member of the ONEin3 Boston mayor's advisory council, and he has been involved with West Roxbury Main Streets, according to Walsh's announcement.
At a brunch Sunday with seniors, where Walsh was joined by his mother, Mary, the mayor-elect vowed to continue his predecessor's focus on providing services to seniors and announced Menino appointee Emily Shea will stay on as his commissioner of elderly affairs.
Speaking to reporters at the event, Walsh said he will make more Cabinet designations later this week. "Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we'll be making some more," he said.Joshua Miller of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Wesley Lowery can be reached at email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @WesleyLowery.


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Allegheny County Orphan's Court approves Highmark affiliation plans
Court approvals pave path to Highmark's affiliation with Jefferson Regional Medical Center and takes Highmark one step closer to affiliation with West Penn Allegheny Health System
Feb 14, 2013, 04:11 ET
PITTSBURGH, Feb. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Orphan's Court of Allegheny County approved Highmark's affiliation with Jefferson Regional Medical Center and West Penn Allegheny Health System by Order dated February 12, 2013. For Jefferson, this means its affiliation with Highmark and UPE (the 501(c)(3) organization that will be the new parent company of Highmark) will be effective no later than March 1. West Penn Allegheny Health System's affiliation with Highmark and UPE only requires approval from the Pennsylvania Insurance Department to be able to close.
"We welcome Jefferson Regional and its fine physicians and staff as trusted providers of health care for residents of the southern region of Western Pennsylvania," said William Winkenwerder, Jr., M.D., president and chief executive officer of Highmark Inc. "Jefferson Regional will play a leading role in Highmark's continued development as an integrated delivery system that will benefit all of the region's residents with more convenient, more modernized and more affordable, high-quality care."
Jefferson Regional's affiliation with Highmark includes the commitment of up to $100 million to fund capital projects, including building a new state-of-the-art emergency department and adding clinical services at the Bethel Park Campus, among other improvements. Highmark will additionally provide $75 million in funding to the Jefferson Regional Medical Center Foundation to support the activities of the hospital and community-based preventive health and wellness initiatives.
"This affiliation marks the beginning of an important, new era for our health system, our dedicated people and the residents of the South Hills whom we proudly serve," said John Dempster, president and chief executive officer of Jefferson Regional. "With Highmark as our strategic partner, we are ready to move forward with strengthening the delivery of affordable and high-quality medical care to our community members and patients."
Highmark is developing an integrated delivery system as a means of preserving competition among health care providers and maintaining choice of providers for consumers. In addition to Jefferson Regional and West Penn Allegheny Health System, Highmark is pursuing an affiliation with St. Vincent Health System in Erie. Highmark is also building a medical mall in Wexford, Pa., and other conveniently located outpatient care settings in local communities.
About Highmark Inc.
Highmark Inc. is a national diversified health and wellness company based in Pittsburgh that serves 34.4 million people across the United States through its businesses in health insurance, dental insurance, vision care, information technology and integrated health care delivery. The company, which has more than 20,000 employees, is among the largest health insurers in the U.S. and the fourth-largest Blue Cross and Blue Shield-affiliated company. Highmark operates health insurance plans in Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia that serve 4.9 million members.
The company also offers health and wellness products to clients with employees throughout the country and is a recognized leader in reinsurance. In addition, Highmark operates more than 600 optical retail stores (Visionworks) and four U.S.-based eyewear manufacturing facilities. Highmark is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. For more information, visit www.highmark.com.
SOURCE Highmark Inc.


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December 28, 2014
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Nick Rost van Tonningen's Gleanings II ~ 593 SP & 594
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'True Blood' Review: "At Last"
'True Blood' season six spurts out its fourth episode of the year, "At Last," as Sookie, Jason and Niall uncover the true identity of the mysterious Warlow, while Eric makes a surprising proposition to Willa Burrell, and Sam attempts to protect Nicole from the pursuing werewolves out for blood.
Last week's 'True Blood' episode, "You're No Good," saw Sookie and the others continue to protect themselves from Warlow, while Eric kidnapped the Governor's daughter in exchange for information, and Sam attempted to rescue Emma from the werewolves, so how does "At Last" keep the new season flowing? What will season six of 'True Blood' bring, now that "Billith" has risen?
Read on for your in-depth recap of everything you need to know about 'True Blood' season six, episode four, "At Last"!
Sookie and Ben place the unconscious Jason on the couch, but when Sookie leaves the room to dial 9-1-1, Ben exposes his vampire fangs and doses Jason with his blood! Meanwhile, Nora explains to Niall that the vampire bible identifies Warlow as Lilith's progeny, before Niall leaves her to be captured by patrolling humans of the Louisiana Vampire Task Force. Back at the Stackhouse residence, Jason awakens perfectly healthy, and Ben excuses himself to leave.
The Governor's forces enter Ginger's residence to find the vampires missing, while Eric and Pam catch up to Tara, demanding she reveal where she'd hidden Willa Burrell. Meanwhile, Terry Bellefleur remains uneasy around Andy's faerie girls, who can hear from his thoughts that he'd killed Patrick. Andy tucks the girls in, but shortly after lights out, the four girls experience another growth spurt, and awaken as teenagers. The four borrow Arlene's clothes and sneak out to party while they have youth, unaware they're being watched by Bill and Jessica.
Sookie finds a drop of blood near the couch, which reacts to faerie light in the same manner as Niall's earlier samples. Meanwhile, Jessica introduces herself to the faerie girls as they attempt to buy alcohol, glamouring the clerk into forgetting about them, and leading the girls to Bill's car for a night of partying. That evening, Jason has an erotic dream about Ben, and wakes up in confusion.
Bill preys on the faerie girls' attempts at flirtation in order to obtain a sample of their blood, before taking the vials down to a captive Dr. Takahashi in the lab. Elsewhere, Eric finds Willa Burrell waiting at a fairground, and offers her the chance to truly help his kind by becoming a vampire herself, and showing her father they aren't monsters. Willa agrees, and Eric prepares to sire her.
The next day out on the road, Eric and Lafayette help a wounded Nicole to escape from the pursuing werewolves, who have likely since killed all her friends. Sam sends Lafayette and Emma away, transforming into a horse the reveal the truth of shifters to Nicole before leading her away. Elsewhere, Sookie visits Ben at his hotel room and invites him to dinner that night as a thank-you for his help the previous night.
Jason finds Niall in the kitchen, and worries about the significance of his dream with Ben. Niall uses his abilities to see the dream, as Jason compares the effect to that of vampire blood, before both come to the conclusion that Ben could potentially be both a faerie and a vampire, with the powers of both. The pair take it on themselves to surprise Ben/Warlow at his hotel room, but quickly find themselves overpowered by Ben's dual abilities. Ben glamours Jason into leaving and forgetting what they found, keeping an unconscious Niall behind to feed off.
While Sookie prepares her meal for Ben with colloidal silver, and Alcide sends the other werewolves off Nicole's trail, Dr. Takahashi reveals to Bill that the special properties of faerie blood dissipate after a short amount of time, and likely can't be replicated. Meanwhile, Eric treats Willa to her first feeding as a vampire, and commands her to return home to her father. Tara and Pam argue about Eric's demanding behavior, sending Tara away just before the LAVTF takes Pam into custody.
Sarah Newlin assures Governor Burrell that they'll soon find his daughter before security announces the girl has returned, and needs to be invited into the house. Governor Burrell recoils in horror at what Willa has become, despite her efforts to show him she hasn't changed. Sarah urges the Governor to let his daughter go, but when Willa lunges for one of his open wounds, Sarah shoots her with a UV bullet. Meanwhile, Ben reveals to a captive Niall that he spared his life many years ago, and will do the same now, hurling the elderly faerie into the same bridge portal Warlow entered from.
While Sam and Nicole comfort one another physically in a hotel room, Ben shows up late for his dinner with Sookie, flowers in hand. Over dinner, Sookie reveals that her ex was a vampire who ultimately lied to her, and asks Ben what he truly wants from her, before the man answers that he feels they understand one another.
Tired of Bill's house, the faerie girls all beg Jessica to let them leave, before their scent overwhelms the young vampire and she attacks the nearest one. Meanwhile, Andy and Jason interrogate the store clerk who failed to report that the girls had been seen there, before Andy learns that vampires can sniff out faerie blood, and speeds off in a huff. Bill hears screaming from upstairs, and finds Jessica sobbing over the bodies of the faerie girls.
Back at Sookie's house, she and Ben start to get hot and heavy before Sookie creates a light bomb over his head, and reveals that she knows him to be Warlow.
Well, did we tell you, or what? We're glade that the "Ben is Warlow" reveal didn't flounder through the entire season in the way 'Dexter''s sixth year so poorly hid its own "big bad" twist, but it's hard to know for certain if 'True Blood' earnestly expected genuine surprise at the notion. Revelations aside, the notion that faeries can become vampires certainly adds an intriguing wrinkle to the mythology, one which we look forward to see explored in coming episodes.
Equally applause-worthy is the episode's ability to dovetail Andy's faerie children -- perhaps the most extraneous story of season five -- into the narrative with Bill's efforts to "save" the vampire race. Season six may yet prove its mettle further should it manage to bring Sam's werewolf story back into the brew, for it's now lagging among the least interesting storylines.
As many came to expect, Eric indeed sired young Willa Burrell, further deepening the antagonism between he and Governor Burrell, who himself has been revealed under the influence of Sarah Newlin. We can definitely appreciate how 'True Blood' has been amping up human involvement over the course of the season, and improving its narrative connections, especially now that "At Last" managed to turn an otherwise-clumsy reveal into an engaging mystery.
Did you get your fill of fang-banging 'True Blood' action? What did you think about "At Last"? Join the discussion in the comments, and be sure to check back next week for another all-new recap when HBO debuts the season six episode, "F--- the Pain Away"!


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The Beijing Diaries, Days 4 & 5: Random Observations
November 13, 2012 in China, NBA, Travel by pacejmiller
November 9 & 10
The 18th National Congress is officially underway, and my days generally involve running around between my hotel and the media center at the aptly named Beijing Media Center Hotel. You would think they'd put the media center somewhere convenient and close to the Great Hall of the People. but it's about 6 subway stations away.
The rich international news agencies generally have their own cars and drivers or get special shuttle buses directly to the venue from their hotel, but cheap news agencies like the one I work for force us to catch the subway.
On Friday, I moved back to the hotel I was originally supposed to stay at (but was cancelled at the last minute). It's part of the same chain but it's more convenient, newer, brighter and cleaner — although it's also a little smaller.
Anyway, not much to blog about since I've been spending most of my time attending press conferences and writing articles, so I've decided to share some of my random observations of Beijing.
Here goes:
- Beijing's subway system is utterly insane. Off-peak here is like peak time in Sydney and Taipei. I've never had so many bodies pressed against me at once, and definitely never so many bodies that smell like they haven't showered for some time. People have to prepare about 2 stops in advance to make their way through to the door so they can get off.
- Red lights don't count for cars here for some reason. Everyone seems to have accepted this fact, even the traffic cops and pedestrians.
- Red lights don't count for pedestrians either if enough people can cross the road at the same time. Dozens of people just naturally form groups of their own and cross together at the same time, blocking cars that should have the right of way. Strength in numbers. It's awesome.
- Taiwanese people have got nothing on the Chinese when it comes to picking their noses on public transport.
- I am always thirsty in Beijing. I have about 4 litres of water a day and I'm still thirsty.
- The Oriental Plaza Mall across from when I am staying is huge — it stretches between two subway stations (Wangfujing and Dongdan). Think about that for a second.
- There is a serious phlegm problem in Beijing. People are constantly hocking phlegm wherever I go (in fact I can hear it outside my window as I type this), though to their credit there are significantly less spitting noises that follow. It must be something in the air or the food because I've been experiencing a significant rise in phlegm myself.
- There is no concept of lining up in China. I often see massive crowds of people and I think something must be going on, but they're actually all just trying to get to the ticket machine at the same time. Years of fighting for survival can do that to people.
- The Beijing Media Center Hotel really sucks. The internet there is slow and many websites don't work. The wi-fi is completely unreliable. I would believe it if someone told me that the Chinese government giving foreign journalists shit internet on purpose so they can't send their articles back home to get published.
- Security is heavy right now at subway stations and near tourist spots in Beijing but you can get away with most of it if you have a press pass (they just let you through without checking most of the time). Makes me worry that someone is going to make a fake press pass. They fake everything here, so surely a press pass is not that hard.
- I can't get out of my head the recording of the English announcer's voice from the escalators at all subways stations on line one. "Please stand firm, and hold the handrail," she says. But it sounds like "Please stan-fer, and ho-de-han-ruil" — with a Frank Constanza kind of halting rhythm. I love it.
- Beijing (and I assume all of China) has really awesome NBA coverage, with multiple live games and replays throughout the week. The best part is that during timeouts and breaks they almost always show highlights of other games around the league. It's one continuous NBA-rama here.
- From my very limited interactions with taxi drivers in Beijing I have concluded that they are the nicest in the world. The other night I had real trouble getting a cab to go to a journalist function, and I finally managed to hail one down — but it was heading in the wrong direction. The driver was so apologetic that she would have to find somewhere to do a could of U-turns and despite me saying it was perfectly fine since I was the one that chose a cab in the wrong direction she just wouldn't stop apologizing. And when I arrived at my destination I tried to give her a one yuan tip, but she wouldn't take it no matter how hard I tried. Are they polite or just crazy?


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By Jack Rico
News Headlines
04.9.2011 | By Jack Rico | No Comments">No Comments
Sidney J. Lumet, a New York-based filmmaker whose work frequently focused on power, politics, and corruption, has died at the age of 86.
He had been suffering from lymphona.
Lumet, who came to prominence in 1957 with the classic courtroom drama "12 Angry Men," spent much of his career portraying New York City as a cesspool of violence, filth and compromised ideals. In such gritty films as "Serpico" (1973), "Dog Day Afternoon" (1975), "Prince of the City" (1981) and "Night Falls on Manhattan" (1996), Lumet showed a dysfuctional city where the only certainty was that integrity was impossible to preserve. The first two starred Al Pacino in two of his most-acclaimed roles.
Lumet's other prominent social-issue films included "Fail-Safe" (1964), a deadly somber tale (in contrast to Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove") of the world accidentally brought to the brink of nuclear disaster, and "Network" (1976), a searing indictment of the corrosive power of television, particularly TV news. Neither film ended cheerily, which was generally true of much of his work.
Lumet made two prominent films with Sean Connery: "The Hill" (1965), a story of authority run amok in a British army prison, and "The Anderson Tapes" (1971), which showed a world where everyone was under surveillance seemingly all the time. "Running on Empty" (1988) dealt with Abbie Hoffman-like fugitives still on the run, and "Daniel" (1983) portrayed someone who seemed very much like the son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg . A 1986 film starring Richard Gere and Denzel Washington was simply titled "Power."
In "Network," he directed three actors to Academy Awards: Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and Beatrice Straight. Though he never won one in competition, Lumet was nominated for five Oscars, for "12 Angry Men," "Dog Day Afternoon," "Network," "Prince of the City," and "The Verdict" (1982). He was awarded an honorary Academy Award in 2005.
The Philadelphia native's other acclaimed films included "Long Day's Journey Into Night" (1962), "The Pawnbroker" (1965), and "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974). After a long dry stretch, his final film was 2007's "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," a rich and disturbing effort about a family destroyed by greed and delusion.


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EDITOR'S NOTE: Boris Epshteyn formerly served as a Senior Advisor to the Trump Campaign and served in the White House as Special Assistant to The President and Assistant Communications Director for Surrogate Operations.
WASHINGTON (Sinclair Broadcast Group) - It seems that this station and others which are all part of the Sinclair Broadcast Group family are doing something right. I'm coming to you from WJLA in the nation's capital, a station honored with 20 Emmy awards including for overall excellence.
Dozens of other Sinclair Broadcast Group stations were recognized for their excellence as well.
That's why the recent, broadside attack on our company by HBO's "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" came as a surprise to us.
Of course, media companies are not immune to criticism and it is an acceptable expression of freedom of speech.
What did strike me, however, is that Sinclair-owned stations were attacked for covering news related to terror, here in this country and around the world.
"But the truth is, if you work at a Sinclair station there is only so much you can do and should this Tribune acquisition go through, there are going to be even more good journalists see their hard work alongside terror desk nonsense," Oliver said during his show.
Nonsense? Terrorism is not nonsense. Tell that to the families of the eight people killed and nearly 50 people injured in last month's London Bridge attack, or the loved ones of the 23 who were killed and more than 250 who were injured at the Manchester Arena bombing in May, or perhaps tell that to the families of more than 80 people killed and hundreds of others injured in Nice, France, last year.
Here in the United States, federal prosecutors have charged 111 men and women since 2014 in connection with the Islamic State, according to a report last month in The Washington Post.
Sadly, in this day and age, it is necessary to cover terror on a regular basis. Whether it's in New York, Manchester or your hometown, terror has become all too real to people across the globe.
The beauty of media in the digital age is that news can be shared quickly, and when that news is about terror, the quickness can save lives.
The bottom line is that Sinclair strives to keep its viewers informed as well as protected, and it is vital that viewers do not stick their heads in the sand and are aware of the threats facing each and every one of us.


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The StartX Files: Learning the Ways of LyX - page 2
Lessons in the Circle of Life
LyX is pretty easy to get a hold of, when you want it. You can point your FTP client to the LyX FTP site and grab tarballs and RPMs of the binaries and source of the latest version in a snap. The RPM I downloaded forLyX 1.1.6fix3, which is the latest stable version, came in at a easy to swallow 3.8 Mb, so it's not a monster to download at all.
Once you get LyX up and running, you will be pleasantly welcomed by an application with a clean interface and smart layout. In a few minutes, however, you may be scratching your head and wondering what the heck to do next.
Even for someone who's had exposure to this type of application, the simple LyX interface will initially offer few clues on how to put a document together. Pure word-processing mavens may completely choke on it and label the application as unusable.
That's because this application uses a completely different method of setting documents up than a word processor. If you try to hold it to the same standards as a word processor, yes, you will be disappointed. So, you need to throw out all of your preconceptions right at the get-go and start treating LyX as something different.
The best way to begin with LyX is to read its well put-together documentation that comes with the application. Notice I did not say review, nor peruse. I said read, and I meant it. It is not a situation where LyX is overly complicated. On the contrary, once you adapt to the LyX Way, the application is pretty simple to use. It's just that you will need to know the LyX approach to doing things.
One big, big change for word-processor users is going to be the complete separation of what's in the document and how the document will look. The main workscreen of LyX is where you enter the content and frame the styles for the text. If you want to see how the document will look, you have to call up a separate display window, which will show the document in the native DVI format, PostScript, HTML, or PDF. This takes a bit of getting used to, since many of us are so used to instant gratification with font style applications. In LyX, you have to wait for a while for the document to be displayed as it will appear in the final format.
How long depends on the target format. I displayed a test document in DVI and it took a very long time to initially open the display window. Once the document was displayed, however, then any changes I made in the content window would be instantly shown in the display window--after I clicked the Update button in the display window. This manual updating is something else that takes getting used to.
I do not point these features out as criticisms of LyX. Rather, they are meant to be realistic guidelines for what LyX will and will not do. With all of these different paradigms, would I recommend LyX to a word-processor junkie? Probably not. But would I recommend it to an IT staff that needed to do some serious documentation work for their company? You bet your sweet bippy, I would!
As far as interoperability is concerned, LyX is available both on Linux and Win32 systems, and can produce documents within the PDF and HTML formats. There is a Word import feature in LyX, but it did not work on my Linux machine.
LyX will never be the ultimate replacement for a word processor, although its got some of the same tools, like spell checking. But for superior document creation, LyX moves way beyond word processing, with excellent figure and table management (though table creation is not for the faint of heart). Not to mention very powerful table of contents and indexing tools. LyX is designed to create professional documents, and that's the area in which it will certainly excel.
Beyond its innate abilities, Bj�nnes has one more interesting feature for Linux users: the ability to present the same interface no matter what desktop environment is running. Known as GUI Independence (GUII), this feature will enable LyX to be right at home on KDE, GNOME, or whatever. And GUII is one of the main focuses of the LyX developers, with whom I conversed earlier this week.
- Skip Ahead
- 1. Lessons in the Circle of Life
- 2. Lessons in the Circle of Life
- 3. Lessons in the Circle of Life


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This week's Grand Rounds is up at Notes from Dr RW. Dr R.W. Donnell, a physician from Northern Arkansas in the good ol' and very distant US of A, has prepared an eclectic mix of posts for every type of reader. You'll find something to entertain you no matter what sort of person you are. Unfortunately I have to disappoint my many legions of fans (all 2.5 of you--I've lost half a reader since my posts became boring last week --Ed) by not sending in any submissions due to suffering from erectile overactivity on stage all last week.
Next week's Grand Rounds is due to appear at The Antidote. Get scribbling, folks.
But wait! That's not all! If you continue reading this post in the next 15 seconds, you'll get another newly-started blog carnival--absolutely FREE!
The good doctor over at NHS Blog Doctor has done it again. Fuelled by patriotism, a celebratory mood as his blog's first anniversary approaches, and a desire to expose more British medical writing, Dr Crippen has started his own weekly blog round-up called The BritMeds. He has been generous enough to mention me both in the post announcing The BritMeds as well as the first edition:
Then the Angry Medic (a student) seems to think you can get anything you want from a nurse by giving her a chocolate biscuit. Let us hope the Center for Nursing Advocacy do not find out about him!I hope not. I have no intention of getting beaten up by a bunch of angry nurses anytime soon. Let's leave that for clinical school.


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This is Bert Sperling, and I'm asking for your help.
We've been working hard to improve BestPlaces.net and we'd love to get your input.
I hope you can take a minute to share your thoughts.
Thanks for your time and valuable opinions!Bert
Feel free to contact "Best Places Guy" Bert Sperling at email@example.com if you have anything you'd like to share!
Holland, Michigan
11 Reviews | Review This Place | Photos and Maps
Health is ranked on a scale of 1 (worst) to 100 (best).
Holland air quality is 65. (The US average is 58.)This is based on new measures of hazardous air pollutants from the EPA, called the National Air Toxics Assessment. This analysis models respiratory illness and cancer risk down to the zip code level, providing better detail and insight than the previous analysis based solely on results from air monitoring stations.
Holland water quality is 36. (The US average is 55.)Note that this is a measure of Watershed quality, not the water that comes from your faucet. The EPA has stated that a healthy watershed is closely related to drinking water quality. The EPA has a complex method of measuring watershed quality using 15 indicators such as pH, chemicals, metals, and bacteria.
Holland Superfund Index is 90. (The US average is 87.) The EPA's Superfund program is responsible for cleaning up some of our nation's most contaminated land. Our index is based on the number of active Superfund sites (over 15,000 in the United States), with particular attention paid to those on the National Priorities List which pose the greatest health danger.
Start Your Review of Holland
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text:
Imagine not being able to buy a new pair of pants or even shoes that fit. Imagine not being able to buy lunch today. Or yesterday and the day before. Imagine not being able to feed your children. Is this poverty? To some, yes. To others it is just the beginning. Now envision not being able to take your infant for her first check up and vaccinations. Or not being able to pay $0.50 for medication to treat your children's hookworm infection. All over the world, these problems are happening right now.
You may think, "what does poverty have to do with science and medicine?" But increases in poverty have been linked with many infectious diseases including hookworm infection, Chagas disease, malaria, and syphilis as well as other health problems such as obesity, diabetes, asthma, and dental disease.
Not only do these ailments exist mainly in poverty stricken areas, but these diseases actually promote the continuation of poverty. These diseases have numerous detrimental effects on pregnancy and healthy childbirth, the growth and development of children, and the productivity of adults. This vicious cycle of poverty and disease are close bedfellows and both need to be addressed to take a step towards eradicating poverty on a global scale.
If you search poverty and disease on pubmed, you come up with over 3,500 hits. Many researchers have shown correlations between poverty and health problems, and some are trying to do something about it. The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases Control is a partnership formed in 2006 as the first ever global effort to combat these diseases. Working with the World Health Organization, these groups are trying to increase awareness of the problems associated with the injurious poverty-health cycle, as well as change how these problems are dealt with.
It is not enough just to treat the disease. Likewise, it is not enough just to improve sanitation and housing. In addition to these steps, which are already being done, education in destitute areas, monitoring for new outbreaks, and continuing research and development of vaccines to prevent instead of merely treat disease are crucially important.
sources include:
Hotez. Hookworm and Poverty. Ann N.Y. Acad Sci. 200825 Jul. 1136: 38-44
Hotez et al. Neglected Infections of Poverty in the United States of America. PLos Neglected Tropical Diseases 2(26): e 256
Vogt R. Evaluation of riske factors and a community intervention to increase control and treatment of asthma in a low income semi-rural California community. J Asthma. 2008 Sep; 45(7): 568.
Squassi A, et al. Reationship between oral health in children and poverty related factors. Acta Odontal Latinoam. 2008; 21(1): 49.
Hotez, et al. The anti-poverty vaccine. Vaccine. 2006 26 July 24(31-32); 5787.


text: On Mon, 22 Oct 2007, Leif Nixon wrote: >> Even though the data shows otherwise? > > OK, let me rephrase: That's just true in general, and it's the > specific cases that bite you. > > On *average* disks might not be a large source of problems, but when > you run into a bad batch it hurts. But that's true for all components, > of course. > > My take on this might be a bit coloured from spending some time the > other day in the company of a representative sample of disks from a > certain bad batch, a crowbar, a sledgehammer and several pounds of > thermite. (Sorry, rgb, no sucker rod available around here.) Crowbars or hammers are acceptable substitutes, especially when applied liberally to offending parties, be they human or electronic. Again, I agree precisely with this. Over way too many years now to comfortably think back on, I've had hmmm, "a lot" of systems packed with "a lotter" of disks. I've seen disks go from where only SCSI were (more) reliable and we'd lose 50 to 60% of our IDE disks over a 2-3 year period not through a batch phenomenon (completely different mfrs) but because they just plain sucked. I was looking for bugs in the linux kernel that caused drives to break somehow, it was so pervasive. Then I've gone years without a failure. There was a real downturn a few years back when they tried to drop warranties on non-SCSI drives back down to a year (where for a long time indeed it was 3 to scsi's 5), but fortunately consumers largely rejected that one. It may well be true that on average, modern disks are back up in the 3-5 year range even when they're not SCSI. Still, I don't have to think back over a very long time to remember disk failures. In fact, I've got a downed disk in a RAID at home right now. RAID tends to hammer disks and wear them out faster compared to a disk on a standalone node or desktop that mounts its primary workspace from NFS and runs most disk-based stuff out of memory (cache or buffer) and is used by just one person. So for certain cluster designs, local disks are hardly ever used except to boot the box up and load its shared libraries into memory. Shared disk is all RAID. In that context, yeah, disks can last a long time and not cause much downtime. On a desktop or laptop or on the RAID server, things are different. Disks get hammered on a server, and are used a lot more on interactive systems with no remote disk resource. They usually have cheaper disks, as well, and crash fairly regularly (or are taken down for maintenance without a crash) due to failed disks. And then, as Leif notes, there are bad batches. "Fell off the truck" has a whole new meaning when it describes a batch of disks... rgb -- Robert G. Brown Duke University Dept. of Physics, Box 90305 Durham, N.C. 27708-0305 Phone(cell): 1-919-280-8443 Web: http://www.phy.duke.edu/~rgb Lulu Bookstore: http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=877977


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December Daily 2012
So, my gift to you this year for being a fan of my blog and liking my page on Facebook is this brand spanking new set of six printable journaling cards, perfect for a December Daily. Just click on that link, "Like" the page if you have not yet done so, and get them for yourself! Yes, I know the colors are Christmas themed, since that is what my family and I celebrate and therefore what I would use. Unfortunately, like I mentioned before, I just don't have the time or energy to make Hannukah or non-denominational sets with a new baby in the house. Primarily I make these for myself, and then share them.
Enjoy and Happy December!
Labels: dailies, Project Life, scrapbooking


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More Views
Thanks to quick fasteners, the Lock-it is removable in no time at all.
The appearance of the motorbike is not impaired when the case is not attached – only the small and unobtrusive attachment flaps remain on the bike.
Fits all Hepco & Becker panniers.
Excellent fit – every frame is designed to fit the specific motorbike type.
Made of sturdy steel tubing from a German steel production workshop.
With comprehensive and easy-to-understand assembly instructions.
The optional anti-theft protection (70010300000 for each side) prevents unauthorised removal.
You may also be interested in the following product(s)
Hepco & BeckerLock it Systemschraube
Hepco & BeckerAlurack Honda NC 700 S black


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(Reuters) - San Diego Padres outfielder Cameron Maybin has been suspended for 25 games for violating Major League Baseball's joint drug prevention and treatment program, the league announced on Wednesday.
Maybin, whose suspension is effective immediately, tested positive for an amphetamine, the commissioner of baseball's office said in a statement.
The 27-year-old, who is the first player in the majors to be suspended this season for violating the drug program, said that his positive test came from a change in medication he had used to treat attention deficit disorder.
"Unfortunately, in my attempts to switch back to a medicine that had been previously OK'd, I neglected to follow all the rules and as a result I tested positive," Maybin said in a statement released by the MLB Players Association.
"I want to assure everyone that this was a genuine effort to treat my condition and I was not trying in any way to gain an advantage in my baseball career.
"I understand that I must accept responsibility for this mistake and I will take my punishment and will not challenge my suspension. I apologize to my family, friends, fans, teammates, and the entire Padres organization."
Maybin is batting .247 for the Padres this season with one homer and nine RBIs in 62 games.
Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Toby Davis/Steve Keating


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The Customer Sieve
We've learned that using a website is a progressive process. Each user transitions from one stage to the next, as they work to accomplish their goal.
The most pronounced transitions we've seen are on e-commerce sites. When we watch shoppers focusing on buying a product, we can clearly see each stage and when the transitions fail or succeed. By understanding the stages and how they work, we can learn a lot about building better sites.
The stages act as a sieve: each stage inadvertently filtering shoppers out before they reach the next stage. By focusing on this filtering, we can see more users accomplish their goals.
To really see the sieve clearly, we study those shoppers who are completely intent on buying a product. They know what product they want, the website has it, and they are ready to purchase.
Theoretically, every one of these shoppers should end up making a purchase. However, in our studies, sites frequently prevent these shoppers from completing transactions. By looking closely at the sieve, we can see where things are going wrong and get clues on what to fix.
The sieve can be divided into six stages:
The Home Page Stage
The Location Stage
The Product List Stage
The Product Evaluation Stage
The Checkout Stage
The Receipt and Acceptance Stage
[We should note that, while these stages are all specific to e-commerce sites, there are equivalent stages on other types of sites. We're currently researching what the similarities and differences are for non-e-commerce sites. Stay tuned!]
Let's look at each stage:
The Home Page Stage
When a purchase-ready customer comes to a home page, the goal of that page is to get them to the product they desire. And in our studies, the home page typically does a good job at this.
Users who know what they want are typically faced with three choices on an e-commerce home page: (a) use the search engine, (b) choose one of the featured products or (c) use the list of categories.
The very few people who choose (b) in our study go straight to the Product Evaluation Stage. We see only 1 in 237 home page visits result in a purchase this way.
Everyone else either uses search or the categories and progresses on to the Location Stage. For almost all of our purchase-ready shoppers, the home page does it's job quickly and efficiently.
The Location Stage
In this stage, the user either uses search or categories. Occasionally, they'll bounce between the two.
We group search and categories together because, from a behavioral perspective, they are essentially the same. In both cases, the user is trying to get to a list of products to choose from.
We've found that 9% of the users stop at this stage. If 100 users started the process, only 91 will continue from this stage.
When users can't identify the right category, they'll often go into search. When search returns a "No Results", they are stuck. (Users rarely try multiple searches. As we described in our article, Users Don't Learn to Search Better, multiple searches don't help.)
The Product List Stage
Shoppers who successfully transition from the Location Stage end up here. The activity for the user changes substantially at this point. The user is faced with a list of products for which they need to isolate the one they are most interested in.
About 8% of the users stop at this stage, failing to move forward and make a purchase. Of the 91 users who made it this far, only 83 will continue on.
It is here that we see the behavior we call Pogosticking. Pogosticking is when the user repeatedly visits a product description page, then hits the back button to return to the list.
The more pogosticking we see in a clickstream, the less likely that user will buy a product from that site. So, the best sites prevent pogosticking by providing as much information as they can in the product list.
Some users will end up going back to the Location Stage because none of the products displayed are what they want. These users are significantly less likely to end up purchasing anything than those users who move onto the Product Evaluation Stage. And many users give up at this stage.
The Product Evaluation Stage
This is the place where we see the most filtering of our users -- a whopping 25% stop here. Only 58 will continue after this stage.
While some of them stop because none of the products they evaluate fit their needs, most stop because they can't tell if the products are good enough.
Often, there isn't enough information or the *right* information isn't present. After observing hundreds of shopping expeditions, we've found people want to know lots of different things.
In clothing, for example, the fabric used is important. Is it cotton or a blend? We've had users who wanted to know the thread count for sheets.
Pictures play a big role here. Our initial analysis of some recent data suggests that the larger the picture, the more likely the user will purchase.
We've found that sites with similar product lines have dramatically different success rates at this stage. That tells us that the design of the product pages plays a huge role in whether people continue or not.
The Checkout Stage
People reach this page when they add a product to their cart and start the checkout process.
Almost everything that has been written about e-commerce usability focuses on this stage. And, we see a lot of drop outs at this point — about 13%, leaving 45 people to finish the checkout process successfully.
But, the most interesting thing is that the vast majority of dropouts here come from two factors: required registration and poor shipping charge policies.
While we see usability problems at this stage, often manifesting themselves as input errors in the myriad of data entry fields that users need to fill out, we rarely see these problems causing users to abandon their carts. Users seem content to keep pounding away at the site until it finally relinquishes and processes their purchase.
The Receipt and Acceptance Stage
When we first started looking at e-commerce, we thought that after the user had completed checkout, everything was done.
We were shocked to find out that 11% of our users were so unhappy with a product they received that they returned it. In many cases, they didn't receive the product at all or it was the wrong product.
In a recent study, 8 out of 44 users told us they were unhappy with products they purchased but didn't want the hassle of returning them.
Some shoppers told us they returned a product because it wasn't what they expected. While these failures showed up in the Receipt stage, they are more likely failures of the Product Evaluation Stage — the descriptions didn't set the right expectations.
Out of our original 100 purchase-ready shoppers, only 34 people actually got what they wanted.
As we learn more about the different stages and why users give up, we can hone our craft while, simultaneously, increasing the success of our users and our businesses.
Jared M. Spool


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|Manufacturer Part#: HL-2351
The Power Of Hydraulic Hatch Lifting At Your Fingertips! There is no need to manually raise a hatch again. The Bennett Hatch Lifter provides a firm vertical lift to engine or deck hatches at the simple press of a switch. Operation is quiet, smooth, space and cost efficient for opening common hatches normally lifted by hand. Using proven Bennett hydraulic technology, the Hatch Lifter is an easy retrofit for boats already equipped with Bennett Trim Tabs - the Hatch Lifter shares the trim tab Hydraulic Power Unit! Hatch Lifter kits which operate independently of the trim tabs are also available.


text:
Nil2011 necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 44 diseños de 19 diseñadores freelance.
Platinum Club
We are a startup limousine company based in Sydney and specialising in prestige European cars. Our marketing strategy is to differentiate ourselves from competitors by creating a "Club" feel for our clients. The company will offer clients club discounts on tourist and business trips as well other benefits.
The company will provide prestige transport for business trips, weddings, sports and concert events, day and weekend tourist destinations as well as picking children up from school.
The company would like to be known for being on time every time, very high levels of customer service as well as for affordable luxury.
Platinum Club's operational strategy is to develop a franchise limousine model that will also operate in other States of Australia.
Our target audience is quite broad and includes business people, tourists and the general public. Traditionally limousine services have been used by a higher proportion of males than females. We would like to appeal equally to both sexes and want all our customers to feel part of the "Club", relaxed and confident in the service. We don't want to just appeal to wealthy individuals ie we offer prestige and luxury at an affordable price
We would like the logo to be clean and classy but not too masculine. A few things to note:
1. No cartoons - we want the design to indicate luxury and prestige. It is a vehicle company so the logo could include an abstract part of a vehicle that would become recognisable in addition to the company name but this is not a requirement.
2. Not too pretentious - although we use luxury high end vehicles we dont want the design to look traditional. The company image is of a modern, efficient business with customer service the #1 priority.
3. Typeface should be clear and simple - again no traditional cursive typefaces
4. The word "Club" need not be in an identical typeface and/or colour to "Platinum".
5. Colours need not be too conservative but shouldn't be too bold and flashy either - the company is prestige but is still a "club" and can have a slight touch of fun factor. A platinum colour (silver or grey) should feature but can be highlighted with a brighter colour(s).
In terms of files will need appropriate for both print and online usage.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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14K White Gold .60 ct Diamond Dashing Diamonds Earrings
14K White Gold .60 ct Diamond Dashing Diamonds Earrings
- Metal: White Gold
- Metal Purity: 14K
- Main Stone: Diamond
- Main Stone Color: White
- Stone Shape: Round
- Stone Creation Method: Natural
- Stone Treatment: Not Enhanced
- Total Diamond Weight: 0.3 ct
- Stone Color: I-J
- Stone Clarity: I1-I2
- Setting Type: Prongs
- Earring Back Type: Post-With-Friction-Back
Weight (lbs.):0.5
Length (in.):1
Ships To
Additional Item
Continental United States
Alaska & Hawaii
Puerto Rico
Ships in a FREE beautiful gift box
This product usually ships in 4 business days and should be delivered in 10 business days.
Shop worry free! If you're not 100% happy with your purchase, you can exchange or return this item within 14 days of receiving it.


text:
Joey Francis needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 131 designs submitted by 20 freelance designers.
HDeal is an e-commerce website that specializes in audio & video
equipment for home theater systems and smart house (automated house).
the top products in the websites are Plasma & LCD screens, speakers,
and remotes for smart house which are able to control just about anything
around the house.
But, there are other consumer electronics for everyone as well,
starting from gaming consoles, refrigerators, wireless phones, etc...
the main issue are the site's reasonably prices which allows almost
anyone to purchase electric goods.
Men mostly, but women too:
Men: people with above average income, looking for good solid value
for money products. they love technology which is already part of their
Women: love design, looking for good-looking-high-end products
with a surprising price tag.
Logo. a very simple logo.
one that delivers profitability shopping website on one hand,
and in the other it should aim to the expertise in home theater systems, especially tv screens.
Using 3D "tricks" to deliver those things could be nice but it's not a must.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.