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I had a great time speaking at the QASIG group meeting last night and met some great folks along with reconnecting with others I haven't seen in some time. Here is the video of the presentation.
I had a great time speaking at the QASIG group meeting last night and met some great folks along with reconnecting with others I haven't seen in some time. Here is the video of the presentation.
As the Department of Defense focuses on "delivering 75% solutions in months [instead of] 100% solutions in years" Agile is finding its way into big, traditionally managed programs. This event http://www.afei.org/events/2A01/Pages/default.aspx specifically addresses Agile in Defense. My presentation was an invitation following a successful meeting at the ADAPT meeting and also included tips for making Agile successful. See presentation link below. Several of the speakers were from Defense departments and provided good insights.
The Keynote speaker, Dr. Steven J. Hutchison, provided some compelling information starting with his problem statement. He showed the workflow diagram of the defense acquisition process. Dr. Hutchison also showed some compelling information where test integrates throughout the lifecycle process this includes all testing types including OT and others.
Dr. Robert Charette followed with an solid reminder about risk management. The specific types of risk that Dr. Charette discussed included acquisition and that the acquisition folks must be involved. Dr. Charette also cautioned us that several good past change efforts have failed.
Mr. Tony Stout did an excellent job focusing on the people the qualities of good teams and how to build a quality workforce, specifically in Agile environments. This was the second speaker from a test focus. I find this refreshing.
Mr. Ronald Pontius is heading the Council on the changes to governance in order to support agile development. Mr. Pontius updated us on the responses from several agencies and working groups to support section 804 http://www.defense.gov/pubs/pdfs/804Reportfeb2007.pdf.
If you haven't already checked out our FREE online service, ImpedimentMonkey.com, then check out this overview video describing what it can do for you, your team, and those that you collaborate with to increase the habitability of your team's delivery environment and deploy continuous improvement on a daily basis.
While recently working with Juni Mukherjee on a team that is focused on finding ways to extending and increasing the value of a large legacy platform she brought up what I thought was a brilliant idea. We had been working on creating metrics that have tension with each other to drive continuous integration effectiveness from the component level up to the deployed system and continue to generate value to users. Juni's research and the team discussions on the topic went through multiple scenarios with different metrics to better understand how they balance and/or mislead. As we all know any metric can be gamed. And not only that, but a metric is not always valuable in a context even though it is extremely valuable in another. During the conversation Juni blurted out that what she was looking to come out with was a "Stability Index". This brilliant phrase along with the outcomes of our team discussions lead me to think that this is a valuable way to look at quality measurements alongside other release constraints to support delivery of continuous value.
This article is a first attempt at putting The Stability Index down on paper as it is already in use, to some degree, in Juni's organization. In the past, organizations and teams I have worked with have come up with similar approaches that allow us to balance effective quality signals. This should lead to early detection of what are usually weak signals of quality issues that many times are found too late or whose symptoms are seen away from the signals origin.
Stability Index is a function of signals that are observed in pre-production and production environments. The purpose of calculating a Stability Index is two-fold:
If proper balance is given to these pre-production and in production signals than this should lead to a stable application platform that continuous to deliver value at a sustainable rate as new business needs arise. Of course, this does not mean that business needs will be continuous or steady so there is still a potential to impact The Stability Index but by keeping balance, a team or teams should be able to manage fluctuations in business needs more effectively.
Ultimately, creating an implementation of The Stability Index is deciding on metrics that produce effective pre-production and in production early warning signals. The following sections will go into detail about the metrics which were are initially used in this implementation of The Stability Index.
Pre-production signals are focused towards technical craftsmanship of engineering teams.
This metric is used to objectively measure behavior patterns of engineers who may not be using effective gating criteria before checking in code. Build breakages could be while building source code, compiling, unit testing, distributing artifacts, deploying images or further downstream while testing for functional correctness, integration issues and performance gaps. Irrespective of where the breakage is, code will not be able to flow to production through a fully automated pipeline unless engineers test code changes in their local sandbox environments before checking into the common repository.
This metric is an early indicator of software debt that indicates that software programs have significant sequences of source code that repeat and this calls for refactoring. This has a high business impact in terms of maintainability.
This is a software metric that indicates the conditional complexity of a program (function, method, class etc.) by measuring the number of linearly independent paths that can be executed. This is also an early indicator of software debt and is very expensive to the company when it comes to getting new employees up to speed.
Code Coverage can be either Line/Statement/Decision/Branch/Condition coverage and is a measure of how effective test suites are in certifying software programs. Code Coverage also indicates that 100% Line or Statement Coverage may give a false sense of security since all lines may have been covered by tests although important decisions, branches and conditions may not have been tested.
The caveat here is that a high code coverage percentage does not guarantee bug-free applications since the primary objective of tests should be to meet customer requirements and all customer use cases may not be exercised by tests even when Code Coverage is at 100%.
Test Cycle Time is a measure of the time it takes to execute the entire test suite before either reporting bugs that would cause another iteration or software can be certified for production. For the same number of tests, the Cycle Time could be high unless tests are designed to be independent of each other and are launched in parallel. As an aside, for tests to be launched in parallel, the test environments can often become a bottleneck in terms of providing the required capacity and reliability. Virtual environments may not offer a guaranteed share of the CPU whereas shared clusters in distributed environments may queue jobs and hence make the execution time long and unpredictable.
Production signals are focused towards the customer.
It's all about the customer. Software is released to meet the customer's needs and to leave the customer delighted and craving for more. Although "Delight" can be subjective at times, surveys are an effective way to measure satisfaction. An example of customer dissatisfaction could be that albeit the software behaves correctly, it takes more number of clicks to perform the same activity than it used to take in the previous version. Defects reported by the customer are a good measure of this metric.
This is an important trend to watch out for since customers can be inconvenienced if their support tickets are queued up. Moreover, defects reported in production that translate into code and configuration errors should be fixed by the engineering team within acceptable SLAs depending on the severity of the issues. Being able to iterate fast is one of the key factors for customer retention.
Systems could go down due to hardware incidents like router malfunction and disk crashes or due to software inadequacies like fault tolerance not being built in. Either way, downtimes cause revenue losses and are a critical contributor towards Stability Index.
Each of the above trends has a bearing on the Stability Index. Some trends are directly proportional to the Stability Index (), while the trends of others are inversely proportional (). For example, when Code Coverage goes up, it has a positive impact on Stability Index. On the contrary, when Code Duplication goes up, Stability Index goes down.
The relationships of all the metrics with Stability Index are illustrated below.
|Pre-production Metric
|Relationship to Stability Index
|Percentage of Broken Builds
|Code Duplication
|Cyclomatic Complexity
|Code Coverage
|Test Cycle Time
|Production Metric
|Relationship to Stability Index
|Customer Delight / Satisfaction
|Defect Containment
A couple days ago I spoke at the Beyond Agile group meeting on the topic of "Recognizing Software Debt". Early in the presentation we ran an exercise to get a feel for the effects of software debt that was original created by my friend, Masa Maeda. Here is a link to the exercise:
The exercise went great even though I was using the audience as guinea pigs to run the exercise for my first time. Below is the slide deck that I used as a backdrop for the presentation.
We recently spoke with Diego Lo Giudice at Forrester Research to share our views on how organizations are measuring the value of Agile. Diego is leading a research effort to uncover how both software vendors and enterprise IT groups are approaching this challenge.
While "Working software is the primary measure of progress" is one of the twelve principles of Agile, working software is not the only measure that software development organizations are using to show progress and to measure the value of Agile to the business. Our own discussions with clients indicate that many try to use velocity and quality (defects) to show that their Agile teams are improving their ability to deliver. A few focus on cycle time or progress to plan. The 'holy grail' is to be able to directly connect a software deliverable to measurable business value – improved revenue or decreased business costs.
What metrics does your organization use to measure its Agile efforts? Learn more about Forrester's research project, or go directly to the survey to share your views (and receive a free copy of the resulting report).
Last night I spoke at SeaSPIN on the topic "Dollars and Dates Are Killing Agile". The focus of this talk is how we can speak more like business with the benefit of building organizations that are more supportive of adaptive planning, continuous improvement and team empowerment. If we do not speak the language of the business and continue to create friction without enabling strategic planning needs that businesses have then we are bound to see Agile methods have a short lifespan in most organizations. Below is the topic description and slides:
Agile teams speak in points and iterations, but project and business managers think in terms of dates and dollars. This conceptual and language barrier makes strategic business planning, funding, and project status reporting a significant challenge for Agile teams. Because of these barriers, many successful Agile/Scrum initiatives are discontinued or never expanded.
The following is an except from the article authored by Israel Gat and myself named "Delving into Technical Debt":
Many of the findings and the recommendations we make in Cutter technical debt engagements are broadly applicable in concept, if not in detail. There is commonality in the nature of the hot spots we typically find, the mal-practices we identify as the root causes and the ways we go about reducing the "heat." Granted, your technical debt reduction strategy might dictate investing in automated unit testing prior to reducing complexity, while your competitor might be able to address complexity without additional investment in unit testing. However, the considerations you and your competitor will go through in devising your technical debt reduction strategies are fairly similar.
It is this similarity that we try to capture in this Executive Update. Some of specifics we recount here might not be applicable to your environment. However, we trust the overall characterization we provide will give you, your colleagues and your superiors a fairly good "3D" picture of how the technical debt initiative will look like in the context of your own business imperatives and predicaments.
As a Senior Cutter Consultant, it has been a pleasure working with Cutter to release this Executive Update from which the excerpt cited above is taken. For a free donwnload, click here and use the promotion code DELVING. Let us know what you think about the article in the comments section of this post.
Last week I did a talk in Lynnwood, WA with the Puget Sound PMI chapter on "Integrating Quality into Project Portfolio Management". I feel that the slides were the best yet in providing specific indicators and understanding around the troubles with scaling Agile methods and in strategic decision-making at scale. Although stage, phase, or "gated" approaches don't provide a better answer than Agile methods, they provide an illusion of knowledge and control that Agile methods do not initially bring to the table. This talk goes into patterns for scaling Agile across an organization, the issues inherent in scaling, and ways to identify, specifically from a quality trend perspective, if there is troublesome waters ahead on specific project endeavors. The focus is on those quality indicators being found amongst all the noise in scaled projects to figure out if the project should be re-committed to, transformed, or killed (reference from Johanna Rothman in her book "Manage Your Project Portfolio") so that value can be optimized.
So, without further ado, here are the slides…
On November 1st at 2:00pm ET (11:00am PT) for about 45- to 60-minutes, Gil Broza will have me on as an interview guest on his series "Spot On Business" talking about "Agility for the Long Haul". You may sign up at http://3pvantage.com/csterling/saveMySeat.php?ver=SC to be part of the conversation. Here is a brief description of the interview topic:
If you've already started using Agile methods, surely you've seen just how much change and adaptation are involved — already at the single team level!If you've already applied Agile methods across a program, or several unrelated teams, you'd have noticed that their performance is constrained by downstream and upstream functions. Your teams are likely saying, "We need marketing and sales and the business units and operations to also act like us in order to really make an impact."And if you've been using Agile for more than a couple of years, is performance still great, or is it eroding? Are the Agile mechanisms slowly giving way to "business as usual"?


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Discover Author
Nina Harrington Books & Biography
Nina Harrington grew up in rural Northumberland, England, and decided age eleven, that she was going to be a librarian, because then she could read all of the books in the public library whenever she wanted!
Since then she has been a shop assistant, community pharmacist, technical writer, university lecturer, volcano walker, and Industrial scientist, before taking a career break to realise her dream of being a fiction writer.
When she is not creating stories which make her readers smile, without the aid of pharmaceuticals, her hobbies are cooking, eating, enjoying good wine and talking, for which she has had specialist training.

subset: commoncrawl


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Understanding the shifting nature of malicious attacks on and vulnerabilities of your enterprise mainframe or hybrid system, especially as your organization implements new technologies -- cloud computing, response-based workload resource balancing, mobile access, big data handling, social collaboration -- is just the beginning of establishing a comprehensive security policy for your mainframe-oriented environment. In "Creating the ultimate security platform," IBM explains how System z can deliver proactive protection for data, web, cloud, mobile, and enterprise environments on mainframe systems.
This whitepaper starts by detailing how mainframe security requirements have changed in the Internet era. Originally, mainframes were isolated from outside influences, but now many are just as connected to the web as a typical smartphone; the difference is that it is relatively easy to secure the simple environment of a phone, but not so easy with the complex architecture of a mainframe.
The paper describes how security intelligence, consistent, normalized analysis of disparate data to recognize and block attacks, takes an "umbrella" approach to security (from network intrusion prevention all the way to endpoint management) in order to create a complete picture of the infrastructure and the attacks and vulnerabilities that threaten it. The security intelligence approach, optimized for the way a contemporary computer system is used, replaces the traditional "security only at the obvious vulnerable points" way of protecting your mainframe.


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Unravel your family history with Census, Parish Records, Monumental Inscriptions, Directories and Wills supplied by hundreds of different suppliers including over 50 family history societies.
Order easily online with most major credit or debit cards with complete peace of mind with our secure online payment system.
GENfair.co.uk is the one-stop shop for family historians, listing thousands of products including; Software, Archival Storage, Microfiche, Books, CDs, Maps, DVDs, Gifts and more.
- Location:


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Tuesday Night Project presents:
The 1st & 3rd Tuesday Night Cafe
The Poetry Show
Now the longest currently running Asian American mic series in the country, TNC highlights new work in visual and performing arts from the Los Angeles and Asian American artistic community in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo. Join us for our landmark 20th season at one of the longest running free public arts series' in downtown Los Angeles.
Hosted by: Genevieve Erin O'Brien
- Sara Omura
- Kyoko Takenaka
- Julayne Lee
- Naaz Diwan
- Jumakae
and The Open Mic
Open Mic sign-ups and lottery at 7 pm
(You must arrive before 7pm to sign up)
Three 5-min open mic slots are available
Open Mic Lottery Guidelines can be found at:
Public Transit:
The venue is close to the train stops for Gold Line Metro, and bus stops for the DASH Downtown A, and Montebello Bus Line Route 40.
Available street parking is free after 8 pm.
Parking is also available at:
Aiso Street Parking Lot
1st and San Pedro/Judge John Aiso
$3 Flat Rate after 5pm (lot open until midnight)
Japanese Village Plaza Parking Lot
1st and Central Ave
Max rate of the plaza parking is $10
$7 if parked after 4 pm.
Seating options:
There are a limited number of chairs in the center of the courtyard. There are also benches in the Jist Cafe outdoor seating area. There are rails near the side benches. Wheelchair users can be accommodated to be placed near the front. People with mobility issues are not in any obligation to stand.
Bathroom Access:
There are two gender-neutral bathrooms located inside the theater on the first floor. It can be accessed both by the stairs upstage and the ramp on the house left of the courtyard. Both the ramp and stairs have rails.
Food availability:
Food is provided for featured artists, organizations, partners, as well as staff and 5pm setup volunteers. Food and restaurant venues are located throughout the Little Tokyo neighborhood, with the closest on 1st street, between Judge John Aiso St/San Pedro St and Central Ave.
Other notes:
There is amplified sound.
Live broadcast begins at 7:30 PM at:


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Ahli United Bank announced Saturday post-tax profits of $35.2 million for the first nine months of its inaugural year after the merger of Bahrain's Al-Ahli Commercial Bank and the London-based United Bank of Kuwait.
Profits were up 38 percent on 1999 on figures based on combined results of the two banks, a statement said.
Mohammad Jalal, chairman of the new bank, said: "The banking industry has witnessed volatile and difficult conditions ... AUB's earnings has continued to increase and costs remain firmly under control despite the bank incurring additonal expenses due to the merger process."
Total income to September 30 was $106.7 million from $99 million in 1999, total expenses $49.9 million, down from $55.5 million. Total asset provisions increased slightly to $12.9 million.
The offshore banking unit, registered in Bahrain, the Gulf's banking hub, represents the combination of the businesses effective from January 1 with shares listed on the Bahrain Stock Exchange since August.
The consolidated results represent the operations of the two wholly-owned subsidiaries trading as separate legal entities.
UBK was created in 1966 with offices in London and New York, and its assets by mid-1999 amounted to $2.57 billion. The Kuwaiti government had a 30 percent stake in UBK through its pension fund.
Al-Ahli was founded in 1977 and had assets at the end of 1998 of $816 million.— (AFP)
© Agence France Presse 2000
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)


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Listen: Troye Sivan Announces New Single Featuring This Mega Pop Star, Shares Snippet
Troye Sivan's new album "Bloom" won't be here until the end of August, but the out singer already has a new single to hold fans over until then. And this one features a huge pop star.
Taking to Twitter Sunday, Sivan revealed his next single is called "Dance to This," and that it will drop on June 13. Not only that, the track features none other than Ariana Grande, who is gearing up for her own album release.
The 23-year-old singer also shared a snippet of the track on Twitter.
Grande, who released "No Tears Left to Cry" earlier this year and whose new album "Sweetener" also drops in August, retweeted the announcement, adding: "I love u forever."
"Dance to This" follows Sivan's singles, "My My My!," "The Good Side" and "Bloom." Just last week, he shared the fabulous music video for the title track. Sivan also made headlines this month after responding to a backlash that ensued when he announced pop singer Kim Petras would open dates on his upcoming tour. Read more about that by clicking here.
"Bloom" is out on August 31. Revisit the title track's music video below.


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Q&A with Baseball's Scott Clement
Related Links
On the heels of a 35-win season that included a runner-up result in the ultra-tough California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and a slew of team offensive records, the UCSD Baseball team is off to a flying start in 2007. The Tritons are 8-4 and hitting .342 as a team heading into this weekend's CCAA opener against Cal Poly Pomona. In the middle of the offensive fireworks is junior designated hitter Scott Clement. After pounding 15 home runs, driving in 56 and posting a .349 batting average, Clement was an obvious first team All-CCAA selection last spring. "Scott's always been an outstanding talent and it's been exciting and rewarding to watch him mature in our program," says Head Coach Dan O'Brien. "As he continues to mature, there's no telling how good a player he can be." Hitting .390 with three dingers and 15 RBIs already this season, Clement took time to talk about the game and what's ahead for the Tritons.
Q�What were your feelings after finishing second in the CCAA regular season, finishing third in the CCAA Tournament and then being left out of the NCAA Playoffs in 2006?
CLEMENT�Well the truth is, we played very well during the beginning and end of the conference season with a few lapses in the middle. Our record was solid, but not what it should have been. I knew that it would be a stretch for us to get in without winning the tournament. But when we got the news that we were definitely not going, my first thought was immediately, "next year", and next year is now.
Q�How does last year's scenario play into the team's outlook and approach in 2007?
CLEMENT�We are not just playing to make a regional tournament, we are playing to become national champs. We have the talent in the field, on the mound, and at the plate to be the best team in the nation. When every player on the team plays to his full potential, we are going to be tough to beat.
Q�From your perspective, what are the strengths of this year's UCSD team? What areas are key in terms of being a challenger in the CCAA?
CLEMENT�This team has the most powerful and explosive offense of any team I have ever played for. Every starter has to ability to hit the ball out of the ball park which is a step up even from last year when we set the school record for homeruns in a season (61). There is not a single weakness in the lineup from one through nine. The area that is going to be key for us to win a CCAA championship is having our pitching staff perform as well as it is capable of. If that does happen the way that I believe it will, we are going to be a scary team to play.
Q�How would you analyze the 2007 CCAA race? How does the conference stack up from top-to-bottom and where does UCSD fit?
CLEMENT�I believe that it's between us and
Q�You were primarily a DH during your first season at UCSD but have also played first base, third base and catcher. Which is your favorite position, why?
CLEMENT�My favorite position is catcher without a doubt. I have only been playing behind the dish since my junior year in high school, but just feel so comfortable back there. Behind the dish you can see the entire field, and feel every one of your teammates' eyes on you, looking for guidance and leadership. That is a role I have tried to play on every team I've ever been a part of, and have had some very good success with teams I have played for in the past.
Q�What is the toughest thing about being a DH?
CLEMENT�When you are a DH, you have only one job to do and that is hit. When you don't hit though, you feel like you are not helping the team in any way at all. So when you don't get a hit in your first couple at bats, you feel like you are hurting the club and it becomes very difficult to stay within yourself, relax, and just think about you next opportunity to get your job done.
Q�You hit 15 home runs last season and have three so far in 2007. Where do you generate your power?
CLEMENT�I get all of my power from my lower half and the path of my swing. The angle that my barrel comes into the ball works really well for elevating pitches and generating a lot of backspin on the ball which is what causes a ball to take off as a homerun rather than a line drive. As far as my legs, having strong legs provides a lot of leverage and good drive in a swing. And when you get every pound of a big lower half into a ball, it is going to go a long long way.
Q�This past summer, you had the opportunity to play in the
CLEMENT�Playing in the
As far as coming back a better player, yes, I think I did. The level of competition was very high and the pressure of performing every game very high. Every team was playing for a championship. Basically, the pressure reminds me of an extended UCSD season with more eyes watching.
Q�Who are some players on the current UCSD roster that you think might surprise some people as major contributors before the season is over?
CLEMENT�This year I think two younger players people need to watch are Kirby St. John and Vance Albitz. Kirby is a freshman pitcher who throws like a senior veteran. He throws a lot of strikes, he competes, and he really is not scared on the mound. He brings a huge amount of talent to the club and a presence that I would have never expected from a freshman. Vance is our starting shortstop. If you just looked at him walking around campus, he wouldn't look like much (since he's only 5' 6'' and weighs 150 pounds), but when you watch him play it is something else. When I do the laundry, the No. 10 jersey is always covered in dirt and grass stains. He plays like every game is the seventh game of the World Series. And for a guy his size he has a heart big enough for the entire program. He has no quit in him, and has enough talent to go as far as he wants.
Q�You and teammate David Morehead played against each other in high school when your La Costa Canyon team defeated his Rancho Bernardo squad for the CIF Championship. What do you remember about that confrontation?
CLEMENT�It wasn't really a confrontation between me and Dave because I didn't even know him at that point. So I don't remember a whole lot of individual instances with him throughout the game. What I do remember is Joey Burke coming in to score the game winning run in the bottom of the eighth and rushing back to hug my parents and then diving on top of the giant dog pile. I can tell you, though, that I did throw out Dave trying to steal second base
Q�What major league baseball players do you admire? Why?
CLEMENT�Albert Pujols and Pedro Martinez are the two big leaguers I respect the most. I love Pujols because he is just so consistent and always has the same facial expression and body language whether he's 4-for-4 or 0-for-5. The greatest thing about him is whether he's hitless or on fire one night, he is the guy you want at the plate in the ninth inning with the game on the line.
I like Pedro Martinez because he is literally not scared of anyone. When he is on the mound, he doesn't act like he weighs only 170 pounds, he acts like the biggest meanest guy in the majors, and it is that attitude that makes him so good, even when he's only 75%.
Q�What do you like most about playing for Coach Dan O'Brien?
I think the most influential thing that
Q�You're a psychology major. What do you eventually hope to do with your degree?
CLEMENT�I hope that I can take my psych degree to the major leagues and use it to help me stay mentally healthy day-in and day-out. But whether that works or not, I would love to be a high school and eventually a college baseball coach�be able to help my players see baseball and life from a more mentally healthy perspective. When your outlook on sports is the way that it should be and you treat every game the way it is meant to be, you get more out of a day at the field than anywhere else. I want to help guys realize that the way that I have.
Previous Q&A articles
Chelsea Ambort (Women's Fencing) January 29, 2007
Meaghan Noud (Women's Basketball) January 15, 2006
Susan Bell (Women's Swimming) January 6, 2007
Tim Fuller (Men's Swimming) December 20, 2006
Alexis Mezzetta (Women's Basketball) December 10, 2006
Clint Allard (Men's Basketball) November 30, 2006
Kristin Halvorsen (Women's Volleyball) November 18, 2006
Adnan Jerkovic (Men's Water Polo (November 1, 2006)
Caitlin Ryan (Women's Soccer) October 24, 2006
Amber Ries (Women's Volleyball) Sep. 24, 2006
Chase Douglas (Men's Soccer) Sep. 13, 2006
Diane Dunn (Women's Cross Country) Sep. 5, 2006
Jesse Casellini (Men's Water Polo) Sep. 1, 2006
Nicole Courtney (Women's Volleyball) Aug. 18, 2006
Chelsey Campbell (Women's Soccer) Aug. 9, 2006
Dan Holligan (Men's Cross Country) Aug. 2, 2006)
Tony Salerno (Head Track and Field Coach) - June 8, 2006
Cara Kuebert (Women's Crew) - May 23, 2006
Damian Fante (Baseball) - May 9, 2006
Whitney Johnson (Women's Track and Field) - May 1, 2006
Flynn LaRochelle (Women's Water Polo) - April 27, 2006


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EMOTIONAL DISTRESS and SomaPatientsVille
EMOTIONAL DISTRESS Symptoms and Causes
A brain aneurysm is an abnormal bulge or "ballooning" in the wall of an artery in the brain. They are sometimes called berry aneurysms because they are often the size of a small berry. Most brain aneurysms produce no symptoms until they become large, begin to leak blood, or burst.
If a brain aneurysm presses on nerves in your brain, it can cause signs and symptoms. These can include
Treatment depends on the size and location of the aneurysm, whether it is infected, and whether it has burst. If a brain aneurysm bursts, symptoms can include a sudden, severe headache, nausea and vomiting, stiff neck, loss of consciousness, and signs of a stroke. Any of these symptoms requires immediate medical attention.
NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Check out the latest treatments for EMOTIONAL DISTRESS
➢ EMOTIONAL DISTRESS treatment research studies
➢ Soma clinical trials, surveys and public health registries


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Fantasy Book Spot is hosting its second annual Best of Tournaments. There are two different brackets running right now:
Best of 2007: For SFF books published in 2007
All Time: To discuss and argue the all time greats
Come on over and discuss!
Monday, March 10, 2008
Fantasy Book Spot 2007 Tournaments
Monday, March 10, 2008
Posted by Joe on Monday, March 10, 2008
Labels: Fantasy Book Spot
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Tabletop Biofireplace
Material:Fully handmade; double-fired majolica
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Weight:19 Kg
Info/strong>:No chimney required, Combustion produces only water vapor and carbon dioxide equivalent to 3 candles. Air out space at least once a day. Stainless steel 316 burner, 400 cc, circa 5 hour lifespan. 1L ethanol produces circa 7,16 KW of heating power. Hourly energy usage of burners: circa 100 cc / hour, heating power 0,716 KW. Includes stainless steel flame extinguisher
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Bad As We Want to Be
The Washington of House of Cards is mean, murderous and manipulative. So why do we like it so much?
Last year's White House Correspondents' Dinner began with a very special introduction from one of the few members of Congress most Americans could identify by sight: Francis Underwood, the ladder-climbing sociopath played by Kevin Spacey in Netflix's House of Cards. "You know my motto, Ed," said Spacey to Fox News's Ed Henry, then-president of the White House Correspondents' Association. "You scratch my back, I won't lacerate yours."
A short video that played after Spacey spoke exemplified a rare bipartisan convergence to get something done. Alongside a number of other politicians and journalists, John McCain, Mike Bloomberg, Valerie Jarrett and Steny Hoyer were shown in conversation with Underwood, the Democratic congressman from South Carolina who, when we last left him at the conclusion of the series' first season, was the House majority whip. "I may lie, cheat and intimidate to get what I want, but at least I get the job done," Underwood said at the video's end. "So I hope some of you were taking notes."
Story Continued Below
Right on cue, the room united in uproarious laughter. We've seen something similar these past few days, ever since the second season debuted on Netflix on Friday. But the across-the-aisle affection for the nefarious—even criminal—exploits at the center of the show raise a question: Why has Washington, D.C., been so enthusiastic about the grim, cynical funhouse version of itself that appears in House of Cards?
When it comes to anti-heroic dramas, this is more common than you'd think. The advertising industry has eagerly embraced the womanizing, alcoholic Don Draper of Mad Men, and the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico—the setting for Breaking Bad—has turned the locations frequented by Walter White and his compatriots into a cottage tourist industry. It's true that Essex County, New Jersey took pains to distance itself from the mobsters of HBO's The Sopranos, but, oddly, nothing of the sort is happening in the image-conscious Capital. In fact, in an odd effort to align itself with the show's plotlines, the office of Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) actually sent out a press release on Wednesday touting the mention of an initiative similar to one that Slaughter had led ("The reference occurs at the 29:45 mark of the fifth episode, titled 'Chapter 17' of season two," the release helpfully points out).
Shouldn't this surprise us? Why would a town so careful about presentation so gleefully embrace a show that treats politicians as either imbecilic or deeply corrupt, and treats most established journalists as cynical, selfishly motivated and malleable? For a time, the popularity of House of Cards in the District was something of an open secret; a BuzzFeed article published two weeks after the show's first-season premiere reported that "aides who gushed about the show off the record subsequently refused to be interviewed […] fearing it might reflect poorly on their bosses or themselves." Mike Long, the press secretary for real-life House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, took to Twitter to clarify that his boss had nothing in common with Frank Underwood.
Since then, Hill staffers, journalists and politicians alike all seemed to finish watching the first season and something began to change. The less salient aspects of the show collapsed under the weight of a simple truth: House of Cards makes Washington and its two wonkiest industries—journalism and politics—look really cool, even as it implicitly attacks them at their very roots.
Over the past year, House of Cards's political accolades have continued to amass. In December, the show received an endorsement from no less than President Barack Obama, who asked Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, on a visit to the White House, if he'd brought along advance copies of the show's second season. "I wish things were that ruthlessly efficient," the president joked. "It's true. I like Kevin Spacey. Man, this guy's getting a lot of stuff done."
The lines have only gotten blurrier from there. McCarthy—Underwood's real-life alter-ego, whose staffers once distanced him from the show—appeared in a recent web video where he and other members of Congress repeated memorable lines from the first season. In short, the actual majority whip was willing to associate himself with a fictional politician who once held his office, and who's best known for his ruthlessness and his penchant for murder. (In fact, on The Daily Show on Tuesday, Spacey told Jon Stewart that he'd followed McCarthy around Washington as part of his research for the role, and the two men ruminated about executing federal lawmakers. "If I could kill just one member of Congress," Spacey says McCarthy told him, "I wouldn't have to worry about another vote.")
McCarthy's cooperation isn't the only thing helping the show—the media has played an even greater role in abetting the Beltway hype and in creating a sense of authenticity. Cameos aplenty appear in this new season, and include many of the big-name media personalities you'd expect: Sean Hannity, Rachel Maddow, Bill Maher and Chris Matthews. But the show also manages to slip in a few deeper cuts, including CNN's Ashleigh Banfield, Bloomberg TV's Julianna Goldman and even a comparatively tougher-to-place print journalist—Matt Bai, formerly of The New York Times Magazine, recently of Yahoo News—who struggles to get an interview with Claire Underwood before producing a much ballyhooed longform magazine article (further demonstrating, of course, that glamor and pivotal plot turns are found in oddly Washington-esque places on this show—like, say, long magazine profiles in thought-leader publications).
Using media appearances in this way does a lot to increase the show's verisimilitude, but only for its core audience; it's safe to say that the average House of Cards viewer wouldn't be able to distinguish each of the show's many professional journalists from the fictional reporters generally played by actors who populate other shows like it.


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Wairoa i-SITE Visitor Information Centre
We provide a comprehensive, impartial information and booking service for the Wairoa District, Hawkes Bay and New Zealand for accommodation, activities, attractions and travel bookings.
Acerca de
The Wairoa i-SITE Visitor Information Centre is part of New Zealand's official nationwide Visitor Information Network.
Located on SH 2, midway between Napier and Gisborne, Wairoa is the gateway to the Te Urewera National Park and stunning Lake Waikaremoana. Visitors are able to enjoy numerous short walks in the National Park or complete the spectacular Great Walk. To the north of Wairoa is the Mahia Peninsula with its beautiful beaches and the Morere Hot Springs.
Come and see us for all local information as well as travel and accommodation bookings.
Dirección física
Wairoa i-SITE Visitor Information Centre, Corner SH2 and Queen St, Wairoa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand.
Horario de apertura
- Horario comercial:
- Monday to Friday 8.30am - 5.00pm
Saturday to Sunday and public holidays 10.00am - 4.00pm
Closed Christmas Day


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Friday, September 17, 2010
Friday Caption Contest #5
Previous weekly winners include Rich Ward, ukpackersfan and JerseyAl (twice).
Update - Scheme Factory's first comment wins this week. Well played, sir! Email firstname.lastname@example.com to collect your certificate.
11 comments:
Buffalo Bill, shown here, made his first public appearance in "The Silence of the Lambs."ReplyDelete
In a couple months Ill have my winter coat.ReplyDelete
- PackersRSSeptember 17, 2010 at 11:29 AM
GO BILLS!!!!!! #1 pick in the draft! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!ReplyDelete
"If being fat, drunk, and stupid is wrong, I don't wanna be.... FFUUUMMBUULLL!!"ReplyDelete
Fake New Orleans' style beads complete with Bills' helmet picked up at the Kwik Fill - $2.00ReplyDelete
Fake Buffalo Bills' logo tattoo that will drip down his dew flaps once he spills his beer on it - $2.00
Fake beaver fur hat that still has a collar attached with the word "Princess" on it - no charge.
Correctly giving out Buffalo's final score for the game against the Pack . . . priceless.
Showing community spirit, the conductor of the buffalo suckharmonic orchestra readies for a motivating rendition of 'If buffalos had tails, they'd be between their legs' in F-minor.ReplyDelete
"the fish i caught was THIS bi... FFFUUUMMBBUUULLLL!!!!!"ReplyDelete
(i know only the first one counts but i figured i'd 'stuff the ballot box' by snaking some other obvious choices. is that cheating? SWEET!!)
"Hey Murph! Let's a Number 4 in the hair on his back. Whaddya say!"ReplyDelete
- A_Lerxst_in_PackerlandSeptember 17, 2010 at 9:39 PM
"Look Ma, no brains!"ReplyDelete
"And the furry animal continued to grow it's winter coat and consume large quantities of fat for the long winter hibernation of the buffalo."ReplyDelete
- Pashaww!!!September 20, 2010 at 10:30 AM
The best part is, someone had to shave that chestbeard to put temp-tatt on.ReplyDelete
I don't see any bandaids so it couldn't have been him.


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Ray Rice busted out some dance moves while walking to the huddle, just like the ones he used to elude the Miami Dolphins all afternoon.
The shaking and wiggling from the Ravens' precocious running back shouldn't come as a surprise. The fact he could do it with about five minutes left certainly should.
After failing to hold fourth-quarter leads the previous two games, Rice and the
regained their finishing touch in a 26-10 thumping of the spitting mad Dolphins.
Unlike the times when the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills were able to send the game into overtime, the Ravens didn't let a 10-point advantage in the final quarter slip through their fingers. In fact, they tightened their grip on the haphazard game.
With Rice churning out the yards, the offense controlled the clock for 11 of the quarter's 15 minutes. With Ed Reed patrolling the secondary again, the defense stopped Miami's final two drives with interceptions.
Ravens fans had grown accustomed to sitting on the edge of their seats. But on a chilly and windy day at M&T Bank Stadium, over half the announced crowd of 71,305 felt comfortable enough to leave them in the closing minutes of the game.
"We've faced many situations now that we've overcome," said Rice, whose 180 total yards accounted for nearly half the Ravens' offensive output. "As a team, you want to be tested because later in the year … we're in the huddle saying, 'We've been here before.'"
Rice added, "We're hitting our stride as a team."
Hitting their stride at the midway point of the season, the Ravens (6-2) are tied with four other teams for the best record in the NFL (the New York Jets, New England Patriots, New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons). They won for the fifth time in six games and handed the first road loss of the season to the frustrated Dolphins (4-4) .
Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco (20-for-27 passing for 266 yards) recorded a season-best rating of 129.6, led an offense that didn't punt (Flacco pointed this out to the team's public relations department) and connected on two touchdown passes. His 32-yarder to running back Willis McGahee came on the opening drive (when McGahee ran around and past seven defenders off a screen pass) and his 12-yarder to wide receiver Derrick Mason came on the Ravens' first drive of the second half.
The rest of the time was dominated by Rice, who had 97 yards receiving on seven catches and 83 yards rushing on 22 carries.
Teams had limited Rice this season to 94.5 total yards by having a linebacker shadow him all over the field. The Dolphins were the first team that didn't and paid the price for letting Rice catch the ball over the middle in open space.
"Why would we shadow him?," Dolphins linebacker Karlos Dansby said with no hint of sarcasm. "He didn't do anything."
Rice just had four plays over 10 yards: 34, 20, 15 and 12. He produced 117 of the Ravens' 228 yards in the second half (51 percent). And he was the closer, touching the ball the last six times on a 13-play, 61-yard drive in the fourth quarter that took nearly six minutes off the clock.
"I hope they continue to forget about him," fullback Le'Ron McClain said of Rice. "Ray Rice is dangerous with the ball in the open field. Everybody in the league got a taste of that today."
That long drive ended with a 20-yard field goal by Billy Cundiff, which extended the Ravens lead to 23-10 with 6:45 remaining.
The defense did the rest to restore some of their pride and secure the Ravens' seventh straight win at home. After giving up 20 fourth-quarter points the past two games, the Ravens held Miami to 65 yards on its final two possessions and forced two turnovers.
The first interception occurred when a pass bounced off hands of wide receiver Brandon Marshall -- who had proclaimed this game as a "defining moment" for the Dolphins -- and into the arms of Reed. The Ravens converted Reed's third interception in two games into another Cundiff field goal, which finished off a troublesome day in the red zone (1-for-7 inside the 20-yard line) but pushed their advantage to 26-10.
The second pick came from Josh Wilson, who started the second half in place of Fabian Washington (benched for the second straight game). Wilson broke in front of Davone Bess with 35 seconds remaining for his first Ravens interception.
"You always want the onus to be on you," Wilson said. "It's time for us to step up. Offense did what they did. Now, it's time for us to go in and end the game."
As the Ravens closed out the game, they reveled in getting the last word.
Coming into the game, Miami linebacker Channing Crowder forgot Mason's name and referred to him as "the old guy." Mason, who scored his touchdown by faking out cornerback Vontae Davis, delivered a parting blow.
"You gotta be able to back up your talk, and the guy just didn't," said Mason, who had four catches for 42 yards. "Hopefully, after this game, he'll sit back and realize what type of player he truly is. He is not one of the elite players in the game."
More controversy was stirred up in the third quarter when Crowder walked into the Ravens' backfield after calling timeout. Crowder says McClain spit on him.
"I'm not that type of player. I'm a ballplayer," McClain said. "If he's frustrated that I was straight getting after him all game, that's a fact. That's his opinion if he thought I spit on him, but the fact is, throughout the game, for four quarters, I was doing my job. And I'll just leave it at that."
The Ravens improved to 8-1 after the bye since 2002, including 3-0 under coach John Harbaugh. There will be no such time in preparing for the next game, which is four days away at Atlanta (6-2).
Asked how long he can savor Sunday's win over Miami, Harbaugh glanced at his watch.
"I'm going to savor it until 9 p.m. tonight," he said. "We don't have time to mess around."


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Archive for the 'Karnataka' tag
Hampi (Again)
Unreal and bewitching, the forlorn ruins of Hampi lie scattered over a landscape that leaves you spellbound the moment you cast your eyes on it. Heaps of giant boulders perch precariously over miles of undulated terrain, their rusty hues offset by jade-green pals groves, banana plantations and paddy fields, while the aure sky painted with fluffy white cirrus only adds to the magical atmosphere.
Thats what the Lonely Planet book had to say. Screw all that, we just wanted to get out of Hyderabad, and Hampi it was.
This time Alpha Male had his Mrs along. Introducing Tulsi Gandhi, who was on a trip with us for the first time
We had a late night bus to catch, so we hung around the work place to kill time.
We had a word with the man himself, Vivaik Bharadwaj. We spoke about some lenses, tripods and how folks in the office are scared of him. SJ (John Paul) got some last minute work done, while Dev (Nikhil Dev) displayed some addiction to the latest Nexus craze, Robo Defense.
We waited for SJ to finish his work and just clicked some random shots around the office.
And then we were done! Machines locked, tickets in the bag, laces tied, and we were off.
And over night bus ride, a couple of auto rickshaws from Hospet and finally we were there.
We cross the river and were greeted by this.
I hope no one was offended by me wearing shorts all the time. Not that I had great legs to flaunt. 😛
We did not pre book any place, hence no rooms were available at the good places at Hampi, aka Mowgli and Shanti Guest Houses. So we had to settle for a couple of rooms at this place called Laxmi Golden Beach Resort. Seriously? Beach Resort? I did not notice any beach!
The place was very nice, but the service was pathetic. The folks at the counter did not bother to entertain anyone who was not 'white skinned'. They seemed to have hired a bunch of guys who suffered from amnesia. They could not remember anything we asked or told them. Anyway, we had to settle for this place.
We just hung around and had a nice lazy breakfast.
SJ got down to doing his usual nonsense.
We then settled down at our base camp and indulged in some refreshment.
Lunch time was around the corner, so we decided to hit the "Goan Corner" and indulge in some Goan food. So the Goan corner it was!
We made our ways through the fields. The village boys, SJ and I, explained to the city kids that difference in the mud textures ment difference in the strength of the soil. Basically you could fall into the fields if you did not see where you placed you foot.
Growing up in the village ment I could run around without falling into the fields. And then managed to go click!
And, Click!
Finally, we were there! The Goan Corner.
Lunch was crazy. We ate some Chicken Cafreal and Chicken Xacuti while SJ cracked some legendary Johnny Jokes. Everyone was in splits and we had a real good time over looking the lush green fields.
After a ton of burps and navigating back to our base camp, we decided to head off to the river and watch the sun set. Sadly, lazy folks that we are, we missed the sunset but there was enough of light to find our way to the river.
And then we were there. By the river bank.
It got dark. And all we could think of was dinner. We decided to head to the Shanti Guest House and spend the lazy evening there. Food was ordered, mosquitoes were killed and a lot of photos of inanimate objects were clicked. I got a nice shot of my 50mm lens that evening. More photo from that evening will feature on my Photo Blog or Facebook Page soon.
Nightfall, and it was to be a night of drinks and discussion. We hit base camp again.
The handful of us went on talking till around 4 in the morning. Lots of topics discussed. Lots of noises heard from the neighboring cottage. And then it was time to indulge in some slumber.
Next morning. Oh wait, there was no next morning. It directly started as next afternoon. Us hungry souls had to indulge in some gastric satisfactions. The destination was set, Mogli Restaurant it was.
We drank, ate, sat, wasted time, ate, drank, wasted more time. We made lazy people look active.
There was an impromptu photoshoot of Tulsi & Johnny that happened. Those photos will be up somewhere sometime soon.
Lunch time turned into tea time.
Oh, and as a Goan, you are required to sleep post lunch. Its tradition. You don't want to displease your dead forefathers by not doing so.
It was evening in no time. We had a bus to catch at Hospet. We headed back to our base camp and packed up.
The laziest trip ever came to an end. Bye bye Hampi.
So that was it. No nonsense. No sightseeing. Just eat, drink, sleep and repeat.
The complete album of us Clowns at Hampi can be found on Flickr. More albums and stories to come soon.
And here is a video of us all winding up the trip with a few words of wisdom.
PS: It's totally for fun.
Thank you for reading. 😛


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Plug-ins can be used to add additional functionality to software and Smarty has provided a way for developers to create and add their own plug-ins. Smarty plug-ins are useful in the instances where you need to reuse code in multiple template files or need to avoid adding PHP directly to a template. Plug-ins can be a template function, modifier, compiler function or a block function.
Template Functions
Let's create a template function that will allow us to detect what browser the client is using and display an appropriate message.
Firstly you must create a new file in this directory: <Smarty root directory>\classes\plugins. Within this directory create a file called function.browser_detect.php. Smarty references functions by the name of the file so it is very important you name it exactly that.
Secondly within your newly created file place this code:
<?php /** * Smarty {browser_detect} plugin * * type: function * name: browser_detect * purpose: Detect the client's browser. Not the most accurate function but this is solely * solely for example purposes. */ function smarty_function_browser_detect(array $parameters, Smarty_Internal_Template $smarty) { $message = NULL; if(stripos($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'], 'chrome')) $message = 'Chrome is pretty nice.'; elseif(stripos($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'], 'firefox')) $message = 'Firefox is not bad.'; elseif(stripos($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'], 'safari')) $message = 'Safari has a sexy UI.'; elseif(stripos($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'], 'msie')) $message = 'Internet Explorer has it\'s ups and downs'; else $message = 'Your browser isn\'t in this list.'; return $message; } ?>
To call this function add {browser_detect} to your template file. e.g.
{block name=body}
Here's what we have to say about your browser: {browser_detect}
 {/block}
Smarty's functions all require a specific format. Each template function name must start with smarty_function_ and then the name of the function. It should also accept two parameters, the first an array and the second the Smarty_Internal_Template object.
- Array $parameters - This associative array is used to store the parameters being passed to the function from the template. e.g.
{browser_detect output_results=true}
Our parameter here is output_results so therefore to reference that without our browser_detect function we must use the following:
- Smarty_Internal_Template $smarty - This object is the Smarty object and it is passed by reference. This is useful in the instances where you need to assign values to placeholders from within your function.
Your function can do one of two things with it's results: return it or assign it to a placeholder. Our example returned its results. To assign our results to a placeholder consider the following:
//replace the return statement with this $smarty->assign('message', $message);
In our template file you'll need this also.
{block name=body}  {browser_detect}
Here's what we have to say about your browser: {$message}
 {/block}
There's more than one way to register a Smarty function. Smarty provides developers with a dynamic way of doing so with it's registerPlugin() function. Here's a quick example.
$smarty->registerPlugin('function', 'greeting', 'say_hello_world'); function say_hello_world(array $parameters, Smarty_Internal_Template $smarty) { return 'Hello World'; }
Modifiers are plug-ins that allow the developer to 'modify' or process some content before displaying it. Modifiers can be applied on tags or placeholders.
We're now going to create a modifier that will hash some output with the desired algorithm and key. Creating the modifier file is similar to that of the function plug-in. Within the plugins folder mentioned earlier create a file named modifier.hash.php. Place this code within that file:
<?php function smarty_modifier_hash($string, $algorithm, $key) { return hash_hmac($algorithm, $string, $key); } ?>
Every modifier function must has smarty_modifier in front of it's name just like smarty_function. A modifier function can take any amount of parameters but the first is a must. The first parameter is the string that will be modified. If we assign the text Hello World to the placeholder $text ($smarty->assign('text', 'Hello World');) then in our template file we will need this code to apply our hash modifier.
Since our hash modifier expects the algorithm and key we must also specify them.
{$text|hash:'MD5':'This is the key'}
Block Functions
Block functions are the functions that are executed on the contents of a block. A block function is created the same way a Smarty function and modifier are created.
Within the plugins folder create a file called block.nl2br.php. Add the following code:
<?php function smarty_block_nl2br(array $parameters, $content, Smarty_Internal_Template $smarty, &$repeat) { if($repeat == FALSE && isset($content)) { return nl2br($content); } } ?>
This block function is called {nl2br}{/nl2br}. Basically what it does is converts all break lines to their HTML entity which is
. Let's break down the parameters:
- array $parameters - Parameters to be passed from the template
- mixed $content - String located between the opening and closing tags.
- Smarty_Internal_Template $smarty - Instance of the Smarty object
- boolean &$repeat - Boolean that lets you know whether you're handling the call on the opening or closing tag. Block functions are called twice, when the tag is opening and when it is closing. It defaults to TRUE on the opening tag but $content is NULL. It then defaults to FALSE on the closing tag while $content will contain the string to be manipulated.
This post has been edited by codeprada: 16 April 2012 - 07:23 PM


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A Snapshot of Key Ethical Theories
Ethical theory serves as the foundation for ethical solutions to the difficult situations people encounter in life. In fact, for centuries, philosophers have come up with theoretical ways of telling right from wrong and for giving guidelines about how to live and act ethically. Here are a few ethical theories to whet your appetite:
Virtue ethics states that character matters above all else. Living an ethical life, or acting rightly, requires developing and demonstrating the virtues of courage, compassion, wisdom, and temperance. It also requires the avoidance of vices like greed, jealousy, and selfishness.
Utilitarianism holds that the amount of happiness and suffering created by a person's actions is what really matters. Thus, acting rightly involves maximizing the amount of happiness and minimizing the amount of suffering around you. Sometimes you may even need to break some of the traditional moral rules to achieve such an outcome.
Kantianism emphasizes the principles behind actions rather than an action's results. Acting rightly thus requires being motivated by proper universal principles that treat everyone with respect. When you're motivated by the right principles, you overcome your animal instincts and act ethically.
Contract theory proposes thinking about ethics in terms of agreements between people. Doing the right thing means abiding by the agreements that the members of a rational society would choose. So for contract theorists, ethics isn't necessarily about character, consequences, or principles.
Care ethics focuses ethical attention on relationships before other factors. As a result, acting rightly involves building, strengthening, and maintaining strong relationships. Acting rightly thus displays care for others and for the relationships of which they are a part. To care ethicists, relationships are fundamental to ethical thinking.
Ethics For Dummies Cheat Sheet
Ethics is the study of the way things ought to be. Ethics applies to topics as mundane as...
How Ethical Thinking Applies to Real Life
Studying ethics can help you arrive at clearer positions and arguments on real life issues...
Why Study Ethics?
Ethics is a central component of any happy, healthy, and mature life. But some critics sti...


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IRWINDALE, California (Reuters) - A Southern California city council put off voting on Wednesday on whether to declare a popular hot sauce maker's factory a public nuisance, as the two sides sought a settlement over residents' complaints of tear-inducing fumes.
Irwindale Mayor Mark Breceda told dozens of Huy Fong Foods workers wearing "Save Sriracha" shirts, as well as residents and others, that he "loves the chili sauce" but was asking the company for a few unspecified "little things."
"It's never been this council's goal to shut this place down," Breceda said. "No one wants you here more, Huy Fong Foods, than this city council. I'm positive we can resolve the issue."
Irwindale filed a lawsuit against Huy Fong last October saying the smell of peppers being crushed at the plant was causing headaches and irritating the eyes and throats of nearby residents, forcing some to remain indoors.
The council on Wednesday decided to push back a vote on whether to declare the factory a public nuisance until May 14.
Declaring the factory a nuisance could pave the way for the city, located about 20 miles east of Los Angeles, to act on its own to remedy the harmful fumes, with the company assuming any abatement costs, by introducing a lien against the property if necessary.
The red-colored Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce, among the top-selling condiments in the United States, is marketed in clear squeeze bottles with a green cap and trademark rooster logo. It has been celebrated as an ingredient of the year by Bon Appetit magazine and has inspired cookbooks, a food festival and a documentary.
"You say it's toxic. I work for 32 years in this business. I (would) die already," Huy Fong Foods owner David Tran, an ethnic Chinese immigrant from Vietnam who founded the company in 1980, told the council on Wednesday evening.
The 600,000-square-foot, $50 million factory opened in Irwindale in 2010, according to a Republican congressional candidate in the district that includes Irwindale.
The company says it has more than two dozen invitations from officials across the country to relocate its plant.
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered the hot sauce maker in November to curb noxious emissions but stopped short of requiring a plant shutdown as sought by the city.
Reporting by Tori Richards in Irwindale, Calif.; Additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Eric M. Johnson, Cynthia Johnston and Lisa Shumaker


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Ultimate Sports necesitaba un nuevo diseño de página web y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 39 diseños de 7 diseñadores freelance.
To all designers
You all have made my first contest experience on 99Designs a pleasent one. I must admit I was a little apprehensive at first, but you all are really talented individuals. It is unfortunate that I can only choose one design and it will not be easy. Onse again thank you and you all have done a wonderful job!
Thank you
The staff of Ultimate Sports Travel and Tours
Ultimate Sports Travel and Tours-UltimateSportsTravel.com
We would like to have a design that is Web 2.0 style, fully interactive e-commerce site. The site should be exciting (crisp colors), professional, modern, and stylish. The site should convey the excitement involved with attending these high demand sporting events and tours the company offers to the visitors.
The overall design should coordinate with the logo and branding. The front page design must include the logo and all elements listed below
- Web 2.0 style design
- Fresh, Modern, Clean Design
- Easily integrates with an e-commerce shopping cart
- PSD, AI or PNG layered and sliced layout.
- Home page using all links below
- Large flash high resolution digital picture on top of homepage representing top event packages-Super Bowl Final Four, Kentucky Derby Daytona 500 etc….
- Newsletter Sign up
- The main menu header links to Packages-
NCAA Basketball
NCAA Football
Horse Racing
Winter Sports
- footer menu and a place for the partners like IATA, NTA, CreditCards accepted ...etc
- A box with an overview and link to our Online Travel Center http://www.ultimatesportstravel.globaltravel.com
- Quick search box site for packages
- A box that links to customize golf packages and search info on golf courses and creating individual golf trips
- "Sell Us Your Tickets" Button
- A template similar to homepage for additional pages later
- No templates or copy cat sites
- No HTML or CSS only designsSites I like
http://99designs.com/contest/17340 (I really like winning design)
http://www.tre.se flash image on home page)


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Kelly Clarkson Defends Pink: 'We're All Human. Relax.'
(NEW YORK) -- Kelly Clarkson is standing by her friend Pink after the latter was forced to cancel a show in England because of illness and was unable to reschedule it.
Reacting to fans who complained about Pink scrapping the show in Birmingham, England, last month on doctor's orders, Clarkson sent out a message of solidarity to her friend via WhoSay: "How dare you only work 364 days this year. I can't believe you got sick. That never happens to anyone. ...ever. You're so lazy."
Clarkson, 31, added the super-long hashtag: "Name one person that has her schedule, sings while flying and is a mom."
The American Idol star continued, "Seriously people. Tired of seeing everyone giving her crap. We're all human. Relax."
Not that Pink takes much from anyone, the 33-year-old singer defended her decision last week in a long message to fans that was both apologetic and irate:
"The next time I schedule dates- ill [sic] have to say to myself–'if, God forbid I have to cancel one show, those fans will turn on me like rabid dogs and question the moral fabric of my character.' For the loyal and understanding fans–I am so so sorry if I've hurt you in any way. For the rest of you–Kindly kiss my entire almost back to healthy a**."
Pink told fans she was suffering from an ear and respiratory infection, as well as rotavirus, a condition that most frequently affects young children and causes fever, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain.
The two singers have been vocal about their support for each other in the past. When Clarkson won a Grammy earlier this year, Pink tweeted, "Congrats to Kelly Clarkson for the award and that loveable speech.
Clarkson back tweeted to Pink, "this just made my night! I love you!"
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio


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Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.
Press Releases
Date: Feb. 21, 2013
Contact: Deanne Amaden or Jose A. Carnevali
Phone: 415-625-2630 or 415-625-2631
U.S. Department of Labor
Wage and Hour Division
Release Number: 12-2264-SAN (SF-20)
US Labor Department's initiative results in more than $100,000 in back wages and penalties for violations affecting 150 workers in Hawaii's coffee industry
Wage and Hour and Kona Coffee Council work together to strengthen labor compliance
HONOLULU -- An enforcement initiative conducted by the U.S. Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division that focused on coffee growers and producers in Hawaii found widespread violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act. As a result of the initiative, many employers and an industry association have taken proactive steps to ensure future compliance.
Investigations conducted by the division's Honolulu District Office in 2012 resulted in more than $63,000 in back wages for 150 workers and the assessment of more than $42,000 in civil money penalties. Employers may file a timely exception to the penalty assessment; civil money penalty appeals are heard by a department administrative law judge.
The division also conducted outreach to workers and provided compliance assistance to employers and industry associations regarding the requirements of laws. For example, the division has established a cooperative relationship with the Kona Coffee Council, which represents more than 170 coffee farmers, processors and others involved in the Hawaiian coffee industry.
As a result of the division's outreach and compliance assistance efforts, the Kona Coffee Council has agreed to promote labor law compliance among its membership and has established a code of conduct that sets standards for lawful employment practices and working conditions. A key provision of the code of conduct is the agreement that members will not knowingly ship or receive goods that were produced in violation of the FLSA's minimum wage, overtime and child labor requirements.
"We have found widespread labor violations among Hawaii's investigated coffee farms and farm labor contractors. While we are pleased to have recovered back wages for a substantial number of workers, we will continue our effort to promote awareness and improve compliance in this industry," said Terence Trotter, director of the division's Honolulu District Office. "We applaud the Kona Coffee Council for its commitment to protecting farm workers and for promoting responsible employment practices among its members. The council's code of conduct serves as a model for other agricultural industries in Hawaii and nationwide."
Investigations conducted under the initiative in 2012 revealed that many workers who hand-harvested or processed coffee cherries were not paid proper wages, in accordance with the FLSA.
Common FLSA violations found included paying workers piece-rate wages below the federal hourly minimum wage; improperly classifying nonexempt employees as exempt from receiving overtime pay; failure to pay employees for all hours worked; and failure to maintain records of employees' wages and work hours, as required by law.
Several employees working as coffee pickers were also misclassified as independent contractors, and thereby denied proper wages in violation of the FLSA. Additionally, investigators found two 5-year-old children picking coffee cherries at a coffee plantation. The department assessed $16,000 in civil money penalties against farm labor contractor Tomasita Farm Service for the child labor violations.
Common MSPA violations found included failure to register as a licensed farm labor contractor; failure to disclose employment terms and conditions and provide wage statements and inform workers of their rights; failure to maintain legally required employment and payroll records; failure to provide safe transport vehicles; and failure to obtain prescribed insurance coverage for transportation vehicles, as required by law.
The operations investigated are all located in the Kailua-Kona coffee growing and production region on Hawaii's Big Island. Violators include the following businesses: Gold Coffee Co., Greenwell Farms, Koa Coffee Plantation, Bird Feather Hawaii, Mountain Thunder Coffee Inc., Kona Blue Sky Coffee and farm labor contractor Tomasita Farm Service, which provided farm workers to Koa Coffee Plantation and Bird Feather Hawaii.
The FLSA requires that covered, nonexempt employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Earnings may be determined on a piece-rate basis, but overtime pay must be computed using the employee's average hourly rate. The law also requires employers to maintain accurate records of employees' wages, hours and other conditions of employment, and prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who exercise their rights under the law.
Under the FLSA, children under 12 may only work in agriculture on small farms where no employees are subject to the minimum wage requirements of the FLSA. Additionally, such employment requires the permission of the parent of the child and is confined to nonhazardous work performed outside of school hours. The FLSA's "hot goods" provision prohibits employers from shipping any goods produced in violation of the act's minimum wage, overtime or child labor requirements.
Most agricultural employers, agricultural associations and farm labor contractors are subject to the MSPA, which provides additional protections for migrant and seasonal agricultural workers by establishing employment standards related to wages, housing, transportation, disclosures and record keeping. Information on the MSPA is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs49.htm and http://www.dol.gov/compliance/guide/mspa.htm.
For more information about the FLSA, MSPA and other federal wage laws, call the division's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or its Honolulu office at 808-541-1361. Information is also available at http://www.dol.gov/whd.
U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when placing your request at (202) 693-7828 or TTY (202) 693-7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America's employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit www.dol.gov/compliance.


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Frankie's baby boy's wardrobe is amazing already!
Hi everyone,
Hope you're having a good weekend. Did anyone tune into Sunday Brunch and hear the Sats performing an acoustic set? We met up with another acoustic player and a percussionist this weekend to perfect it so I was really excited for you to hear it. I hope you found it lovely and chilled — just how Sunday mornings should be.
Disco Love is out on Sunday so you're going to be seeing us on TV a lot next week – we're doing Daybreak, This Morning and the Alan Titchmarsh show. We're also going to be on the radio and will be doing some online stuff too which is an incredibly important part of our work now. We've also going to be on Surprise Surprise on Sunday night with a really special treat so keep your eyes peeled for that too.
We're all missing Frankie so much. She's getting pretty bored at home waiting for her little baby boy to arrive but he's not far away. He's going to have the best wardrobe going – I'm sure you've seen the photos she's been posting on Twitter – that's not even the half of it!
Alaia-Mai is really well too. Marvin brought her along when we were performing last weekend so the Sats aunties got to dote on her. She didn't have her ear defenders on so she couldn't come to the side of the stage, so he stayed backstage in the dressing room with her. I hadn't seen her for a couple of weeks and she seemed to have really grown. She still looks teeny tiny compared to Aoife who's becoming like a proper little girl now.
I'm really looking forward to being treated for my birthday by Ben next week. My birthday's on the 10th October but we'll be celebrating the day before because that fits in best with our schedules. We're going to the theatre in London, having dinner in the West End and spending the night in a hotel. Can't wait to tell you all about it next week!
Lots of love,


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Politics & Government
Homeland Security extends protected status for Haitians
In a move that affects thousands of lives across two nations, the Department of Homeland Security will extend and expand Temporary Protected Status for Haitians living in the United States.
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano on Tuesday announced an 18-month extension of the protected status, which had been set to expire in July, allowing 48,000 Haitian nationals to remain in the U.S. until Jan. 22, 2013.
Thousands of other Haitians who fled to the United States in the 12 months following the devastating January 2010 earthquake will now be eligible for TPS, which had previously been granted only to Haitians who were already living in the U.S. at the time of the quake.
"Providing a temporary refuge for Haitian nationals who are currently in the United States and whose personal safety would be endangered by returning to Haiti is part of this administration's continuing efforts to support Haiti's recovery," Napolitano said.
The news was met with relief from Haitian community leaders in South Florida, immigrant rights activists and clergy.
"It's really good news for the community. We were all holding our breath and waiting," said Marleine Bastien, founding member and executive director of Fanm Ayisyen Nan Miyami, or Haitian Women of Miami. "Some of our clients were already getting very anxious because of their work permits."
During a phone conference with Homeland Security officials on Tuesday, Bastien praised the Obama administration for the extension, then asked whether officials have considered a family reunification parole program for Haitians, "like there is for Cubans." Such a program would speed up the immigration process for thousands of Haitians on the island whose visa petitions have already been approved.
"To allow those Haitians who have been waiting in the pipeline to come here, that would be a great addition to the news from today," Bastien said.
To read the complete article, visit www.miamiherald.com.


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Effective as of December 1, 2013, all sales of estate property by a trustee must be initiated by motion, rather than notice of intent to sell. If a Motion to Sell is pursuant to 11 U.S.C. 363(f), then the motion (and proposed order) must specify that subsection and should state whether or not the proposed sale is free and clear of liens and other interests in the property. Free and clear sales under subsection (f) require a filing fee to be paid. Effective January 28, 2014, a trustee may defer the payment of the filing fee. A separate motion must be filed requesting the fee be deferred until sale proceeds are received. Trustees must use the correct case filing event when filing section 363(f) sale motions or the motion will not be processed. Trustees are no longer required to submit a proposed notice of intent to sell when filing the Motion, unless a notice is requested by the clerk's office.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014


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Montevideo: the sweet life
Little sister of Buenos Aires, capital of a small country caught between two South American giants, Montevideo still knows how to find its place, share its identity, and allow its unique culture to flourish.
Montevideo radiates a certain form of nostalgia and a version of the sweet life not found in any other South American city. Visit the Palacio Salvo, an emblematic building of the city and a jewel of Italian Gothic and Art Deco. Explore Plaza Independencia, the final resting pace of General José Artigas, around which are concentrated all the important buildings of the Uruguayan capital. Linger over a cup of mate, the famous local tea, on the Rambla at sunset, after a day spent relaxing on the warm sandy beach. Sit in one of the little cafés on CalleSarandi, in the heart of the old city, before embarking on a sight seeing walk to the most beautiful historical monuments in the various districts of the capital.
Every day, in the ancient streets and squares, you can listen to musicians and watch street performers put on shows for anyone who takes the time to listen and watch. The thriving contemporary art scene in Montevideo will astonish you, as will going to a former prison to admire the latest creations. If you want to escape the urban frenzy, you can find refuge in the national park of CaboPolonio, which you can explore on horseback, in a 4x4, or on foot, and which is home to hundreds of sea lions and penguins. If you find yourself in Uruguay in the middle of July, you might even see a pod of whales! And if you're looking to party, for glamour and glitz, the villages of Punta del Este and José Igniacio, with their chic restaurants and trendy shops, are dream destinations.
Montevideo addresses
- See all
- Highlights
- Outings and restaurants
- Accommodation
- Visits and activities
fusion - bistro
cafÉ - unexpected
arts and culture - dance
park exploration
wine tasting


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Access the mapping by clicking "Online Maps" on the Menu bar.
Addressing data has been updated and Address Search now includes updated local data. Address Points show when zoomed in from 0-6000 and can be selected to view attributes. Driveways and Address Points are located in the Emergency Services Group in the Map Legend section.
Parcels Layer updated nightly
New 2013 Ortho Aerial Photography added March 2014.
The Granville GIS Website has been updated to include new functionality and ease of use. New functionality includes:
Click on the image above right to view a short help guide to the new features.
PDF output format requires Acrobat Reader. This is a free Product from Adobe Systems and you can get it here:


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Welcome to HotelGuide Network's alphabetical hotel directory for Santiago area hotels with names that begin with the letter "K". Please select one of the links below to view HotelGuide's Profile PageSM about that hotel. To return to the HotelGuide home page, where you can search for hotels beginning with other letters, click on the "Santiago Hotels" link at the top and bottom of the page.
Kennedy HotelAvenida Kennedy 4570 · Santiago
2 2194000 · 133 Rooms
KinepayunCamino Internacional 1510 · Pucon
45 442766 · 15 Rooms · 10 Suites
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|Location Links:
(See hotel lists, by location, in the Santiago area.)Downtown Santiago HotelsLas Condes HotelsProvidencia HotelsSantiago HotelsSurrounding Communities HotelsVińa del Mar Hotels
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|Maui HotelsMolokai HotelsRio de Janeiro HotelsSao Paulo Hotels
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To List Your Hotel with the Santiago HotelGuide Service: Click Here.
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HotelGuide and HotelGuide Santiago are service marks of MetroGuide.com, Inc. HotelGuide Network is a registered service mark of MetroGuide.com, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. MetroGuide.com, Inc. does not own or operate hotel properties.


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Article No :231 | November 8, 2007 | by Constantinos Demetriadis
The new Dream Kitchens from Ikea. Gotta love the Greek Music…
Constantinos Demetriadis is a full time freelancer working form his personal digital design studio "Lovely Productions", basd in Athens, Greece.
Our contributors and staff recommend these articles on for developing an understanding of experience design and jumpstarting your career.
It never loaded on my machine; kept playing the loading music and saying 'loading…' – never got over.
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Lululemon: Sheer Issues Will Hit Profits
Lululemon expects the transparency issue related to some of its yoga pants to reduce first-quarter earnings by 11 cents to 12 cents a share. Andrew Dowell reports.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... I ... the story they were making fun this one it's so important to me on YouTube a ... moonlit name came out with their earnings and outlook ... I listen transparency Italy's good for a company but in this case maybe a little too transparent ... to Dallas two or three are in no unfortunate come on you know the lead in Syria yet not overrated steer clear of all it is so so we can a student ... but look the came out the earnings the outlook ... of what we learned today ... well we learned today you know earlier this week and told us that they had a problem with ants rigid March first and it cost them taller fifteen million dollars ... in revenue ... um today they said actually the prom probably extends to all the pants ... that they plan to ship for summer ... a lot of them started producing factories friendships on the water then a chance to test the net but they they expected to have to write although his office ... to ... sign up for this shoot ended their broken a promise to buy the second quarter as a nano second big of a problem fix and then didn't stop it does from here on out there and the book really going to have an impact in on the entire year when they became a gala dinner earnings were a trendy earnings outlook was down from what the Street doesn't it yet exactly ... I mean this is a company that was ... really up until mid twenty twelve frightening mainly through the unpopular on but there is green products write ... a couple of pretty high profile setbacks now and where they go from here ... well I mean it still gets all the products you know I mean they this of this here link here there's been a bit and stylish workout wear for women which women are willing to pay a premium for ... aam they did they do awesome Proms and ... they had ... no quality control issues last year with the colors bleeding to raise this year ... he'll still seem to like the product there's you know their sales were up by about a third in this last quarter so it's in you know which is maybe not on the Mites or what they've done ... previously but they're still you know whatever they're still funny to buy the products than the one issue for them is that the competitors out there in the app has a ... competing product in its Athleta chain ... in a regular other store chains are stranded producing a nice looking workout wear ... so you know that on the market sells more allies the session but that ... the issue becomes ok you've had this sort of high profile in snafu call what you will read it does that stick in people's minds when they go out to buy an interview with an idea competitors right yet it's one thing to do it supply chain issues a fix those issues right how to deal with the reputational ... dam in awe so that means he's in there trying to ... get it seems like in this case they move faster than they did last year when they have been one of the color bleeding problems this for a dimension a dimension in Dominica Nostra Half apology on Facebook can ... and downplayed on the earnings call this time ... there is a problem they pulled all the stuff of the store is two weeks later ... there to pull the summer stuff just in case right now aam you know that I can report rightly on the call so I mean did you get points for that I think for a new no ... takers for the Tylenol approach and have nots ... you know being wishy washy about the fact of every problem or write exactly and and another taken setback of consumers when return and ... yes it got bad images from NCC and really I mean if we know competitors products are good ... than anyone in use by yoga pants between now and you know


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Marilyn Tavenner is head of a $1 trillion-a-year agency that provides Medicare and Medicaid coverage to 90 million Americans — and is overseeing the implementation of President Obama's health-care law.
On Tuesday, Tavenner will be the first Obama administration official to testify before Congress about the efforts of her agency — the Centers for Medicare and Medcaid Services — to implement the 2010 law. The agency recently hired contractor Quality Software Services to be the general manager for the effort to fix the troubled website.


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The Forex world is constantly evolving and during its weekly trading hours there is a wealth of news a trader must keep on top of if they want to make the most money possible. Indeed, because the market can be affected by a number of dynamics, it is essential they know exactly what's happening at all times in order to avoid any unprofitable deals.
For example, let's assume the US Dollar is trading well against the Great British Pound during the first half of the week. This would be a good time to invest some money and reap the benefits of a positive market condition. However, by Wednesday a series of negative news stories emerge from the UK and affect the country's economic performance. These dynamics then adversely affects how well the two currencies are trading. At this point it's important to know what's just happened because it will influence whether or not someone should cease trading this currency pair for a while or continue.
Knowing the value of each currency based on various internal and external factors is crucial and the reason why FXBrokerSearch.com's Forex news centre is a vital resource. Drawing on a number of resources, our information section provides the latest information and data from which users can refine their trading activity.
Beyond shifts in the currency market itself, FXBrokerSearch.com's new section has been designed to give traders an insight into the best offers and promotions. By monitoring each of our 200+ Forex brokers we're able to quickly tell users about the latest updates and bonuses.
By compiling all this current data into one portal we believe investors will be able to make even more money in the Forex market. Indeed, thanks to our dedicated team of analysts and experts, users can find out the latest market developments as well as the best deals in the industry. Putting all this together should help everyone gain a better understanding of the market, which in turn should give them the ability to make even more money.
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Greece hopes to conclude negotiations with international creditors by early Tuesday at the latest, a Greek official said as talks continued in Athens on a new multi-billion eu ..
Nowhere in the world has more accommodation available on Airbnb than Paris. "The Paris market is going to get very difficult," said Didier le Calvez, managing direct ..
Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) and the union representing cabin crew say they are confident they will reach an agreement in a protracted dispute over pay and pensions. The cabin crew uni ..
BHP Billiton (BLT.L) (BHP.AX) said on Sunday it would cut 380 jobs at its Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine in Australia, citing global market conditions in the resources se ..
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China is under growing pressure to further stimulate its economy after disappointing data over the weekend showed another heavy fall in factory-gate prices and a surprise slum ..
Greek government officials discussed a draft of the country's third bailout agreement drawn up on the basis of discussions with EU/IMF lenders, a government official said ..
Risk Disclosure: fxBrokerSearch.com will not be held liable for any financial loss or damage caused by users acting upon any information contained within this website, not limited to and including: all numerical data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals. Moreover, please be advised that Forex trading is one of the most volatile investment forms in the world and all trades should be placed with full consideration of the risks and costs.
fxBrokerSearch.com does not support nor encourage the execution of any investments. Trading with a margin is high risk endeavour and not suitable for everyone, therefore, each investor should carefully consider all relevant trading conditions, such as experience, risk and cost, before taking part in any type of trading, including Forex.
While every effort has been made to ensure all our data is as accurate as possible, fxBrokerSearch.com cannot be held responsible for any prices that are not in line with real-time data. Indeed, the currency exchange market is constantly changing and all CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are set by market makers.
This means advertised prices may not be accurate and could differ from the actual market conditions. For this reason it is not appropriate to rely on any data presented by fxBrokerSearch.com for the purposes of trading.
Based on these conditions, fxBrokerSearch.com will not be held responsible for any losses incurred through trades conducted in light of data presented on this site.


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The World Conservation Union (IUCN) and partners launch documentary of the Lebanon oil spill and its impact on the environment
On 15 August last year smoke from the July war bombs had still not settled, the smell of death and artillery was still congesting the air, a ceasefire was declared but remained uncertain, the blockade ongoing, and more than half of the Lebanese shoreline was soaking in black toxic oil.
The country woke up to a major "collateral damage" to deal with: an oil spill that blackened its beaches, important coastal world heritage sites and other fragile ecosystems such as Palm Islands Nature Reserve. This reserve houses endangered fauna, flora and avifauna, counting 156 species of birds, including many migratory birds as well as the endangered loggerhead and Green marine turtles.
The oil spill resulted from an Israeli bombing of the Jiyyeh coastal power plant that took place on 13 and 15 July and spilled some 15,000 tons of toxic fuel oil and polluted 150 km of the eastern Mediterranean country's shoreline, killing marine organisms and affecting turtle populations and fish stocks.
The oil spill was described by Yaacoub Sarraf, then Environment Minister of Lebanon as "the most important environmental disaster in Lebanon's history." It affected major economic sectors including fishermen's livelihoods and tourism.
That day, international players in environment and disaster management started landing in the country to support the government of Lebanon in addressing the problem. Experts, equipment, know-how and finances were brought to the country.
The World Conservation Union (IUCN), in close consultation with the Ministry of Environment in Lebanon, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs – the Directorate General for Development Cooperation (DGCS), and independent film maker Hady Zakkak chose to document in sound and image the oil spill and the activities that followed its occurrence.
As a consequence, "The Oil Spill Documentary" was produced to highlight a victim that often goes unnoticed during times of war: the environment.
Under the High Patronage of the President of the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Environment, IUCN, DGCS and Hady Zakkak are organizing the Premiere of the film on Thursday 26 April in Centre Sofil, Empire Theaters, Ashrafieh, Lebanon.
The event starts at 6:30PM.
The event will be held in the presence of ministers, ambassadors,, leaders of civil society organizations and the general public.
While exposing the written facts and the evolution of the situation through powerful images and intervention of professionals, the documentary combines also short stories of people interacting with the catastrophe.
The film presents diverse points of view on the catastrophe and reflects a human approach.
"The gallery of characters is rich in diversity, it varies from fishermen to scientists, oil spill experts and artists who converted to volunteers in oil spill clean-up," Zakkak said.
Through all these characters and short stories, the way the oil spill affected biodiversity and important economies is revealed as time passes.
The documentary gives a dynamic view of the situation and shows an interaction between civil society, the state and local and foreign experts. As in any documentary, this structure interacts with reality and with the events on the ground.
"The Mediterranean Sea is the center of the catastrophe. Long term effects of the war are a fact. The war on the environment is a long-time war that doesn't end with a cessation of hostilities," says Hady Zakkak.
For more information, please contact Hala Kilani at [email protected] or visit the following website: West Asia and Middle East


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Official Samsung Galaxy S4 Specs & Features
Last night Samsung held a press event for the official announcement of their new flagship Android phone, the Galaxy S4. Yesterday I posted some of the rumors around this phone, and most of them turned out to be true. The new phone will have a 5" Full 1080 HD AMOLED screen with 441ppi, the processor will be either a octa-core Exynos or a Snapdragon 600 depending on region, 2GB of RAM, storage of 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB along with a microSD slot, a 13MP rear camera and a 2MP front camera, all powered by a 2,600 mAh removable battery.