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A lot of manure passed through Morenci over the weekend as Vreba-Hoff Dairy sent dozens of tanker loads to a storage lagoon east of town.
"Due to the high rains last week, the manure in some of the storage structures at Vreba-Hoff Dairy lagoons was near or above the freeboard elevations that are set as a safety level," said dairy spokesperson Cecelia Conway.
Manure from both of the Vreba-Hoff dairies south of Hudson was removed, she said, to prevent an overflow. The 35-mile round trip journeys began Friday night and continued through Sunday.
Rachel Matthews of the Jackson DEQ office explained that the June 2007 interim order from the Michigan Attorney General's office requires the dairy to transport manure to an off-site treatment facility to prevent manure from exceeding allowable "freeboard" levels—the distance from the manure to the top of the lagoon.
The Chesterfield Dairy on Fulton County Road 14 is included as a treatment facility, she said, and a statement of "no objection" was obtained from the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
"The manure brought to Chesterfield Dairy will be treated either in the new treatment system about to start operation at Chesterfield Dairy or at a nearby composting facility licensed to accept manure," Conway said.
Several audience members at the Morenci city council meeting Monday voiced concern about the manure tankers.
Steve Vernier of W. Main Street said he was driving into town and noticed the flashing orange lights coming up behind him. He made sure he was going a steady 30 miles an hour and watched to see if the tanker driver was doing the same.
"I about got run over," he said. "He closed in fast and came to within about 10 feet of me."
Vernier noted that the city fixed up Main Street a few years ago, but he fears it will get torn apart if heavy equipment traffic continues.
Concern was also expressed about safety Friday night when the tankers passed through town while the downtown lights were out due to storm damage.

subset: commoncrawl


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|2012-07-09, 23:02
|Link #1
Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Best ways to Support Anime Industry?
I know there are people here who probably have a more clear understanding than I do but whats the best ways to help support the industry? Is it only through DVD sales? Or does subscriptions to various places (Funimation, Crunchyroll, etc.) help out more?
Thanks :#
|2012-07-09, 23:22
|Link #2
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Planet Earth
Age: 49
In my opinion, subscriptions to legal download/streaming anime sites is the best way in the long run. If Anime companies makes money distributing anime through World Wide Web, they will make more efforts reaching out and communicating with international viewers, which may result in more revenue away from Japan, which is a very saturated market.
|2012-07-09, 23:44
|Link #3
Join Date: Dec 2003
Age: 37
At this point in time, DVDs still bring in a lot more revenue per customer than online streaming subscriptions do (which is many orders of magnitude more than the ads in free legit online streams provide), but by the same token sometimes the money may be supporting different people along the way. The overseas anime industry generally consists of various middlemen who translate, publish, and distribute the work (whether online or on physical media), but some money does go back to the rightsholders in one way or another.
You might be interested to read this series of ANN articles which provides some relevant information about how licensing works.
Now, if you really want to support the Japanese anime industry more directly and are willing to spend a bit more (or sometimes a lot more) to do it, there are a ton of products being sold at every price point in Japan for nearly every show that's airing. The product that would seem to bring in the most direct revenue in Japan is the DVDs and Blu-Rays, which are many times more expensive than their licensed equivalents. But there are also CD, Games, Books, Figures, Character Goods, and so on, all of which bring some money back to the Production Committee in various ways. Some of these products are easier than others for foreigners to import, keeping in mind that many of them are not translated into English (so you may be buying them purely as keepsakes, rather than for their practical value).
But we're probably getting way ahead of ourselves here. A subscription to legit streaming services is a good place to start, and supporting your favourite shows by buying the license DVDs/Blu-Rays does help.
|2012-07-10, 09:46
|Link #5
Otaku Apprentice
According to ANN, legal stream nets little compared to importing anime Blu-Rays from Japan.
DVDs/Blu-Rays licensed outside Japan nets little (but it's the source of income for the industry as well)
Merchandise from an anime nets 5% (Danny Choo's website).
|2012-07-10, 09:57
|Link #6
AS Oji-kun
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Using my yokai glasses to save Mana again
Age: 69
|2012-07-10, 11:02
|Link #8
Also a Lolicon
Join Date: Apr 2010
If you want to watch anime, just torrent (xdcc, ddl, etc) it. It's several times more convenient and often higher quality than if you took the legal option.
Buy anime/merch to support the industry. Doesn't matter if you can't understand it, that's what scanlations and fansubs are for.
|2012-07-10, 11:15
|Link #9
Hyakko Fanboy
Join Date: Nov 2008
Age: 27
|2012-07-10, 11:38
|Link #10
Senior Member
...If you're going to buy something purely to support the industry and be "a collector", wouldn't it make more sense to buy a figurine than a DVD/Blu-Ray? A collection of anime figurines displayed well would be much more eye-catching to me than a stack of DVDs or Blu-Rays.
|2012-07-10, 11:43
|Link #11
reading #hikaributts
Join Date: Feb 2009
Buying other kind of merchandise more directly related to the anime also helps, like their soundtracks (or some opening and endings cd's that are not sung by actual music artists but rather the seiyuu's of that specific serie), artbooks etc.
edit and semi off topic : my recent support for an anime serie that i liked last year
Last edited by hyl; 2012-07-10 at 11:59.
|2012-07-10, 12:36
|Link #12
Hyakko Fanboy
Join Date: Nov 2008
Age: 27
And some of BDs actually already include english subtitle, its the recent trend lately.
Btw nice collection dude.
|2012-07-10, 13:57
|Link #13
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
I don't buy Japanese BR's though, that is beyond my price range and well I still don't have a Blu-ray Player. I have bought Japanese manga purely for collection reasons though (since I can't actually read it).
Last edited by Kirarakim; 2012-07-10 at 14:11.
|2012-07-10, 16:10
|Link #14
AS Oji-kun
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Using my yokai glasses to save Mana again
Age: 69
Just curious, but how many of you who collect Japanese BDs, etc., have families? Hobbies are nice, but it's hard to justify spending hundreds of dollars on anime and anime collectibles when you've got other more pressing needs like paying the rent and putting food on the table.
If you can do both, then more power to you. As for me, I've got college tuition bills to pay.
|2012-07-10, 17:14
|Link #15
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
I think everyone should do what they can. People shouldn't feel bad because they can't buy everything or don't buy the most expensive thing possible. When I was unemployed I was buying way less than I am now. Not to mention you can buy a lot but space is also going to be an issue.
|2012-07-10, 20:54
|Link #16
Join Date: Dec 2003
Age: 37
But that aside, I do generally agree that, for those who buy the BDs even in Japan, it's much more to collect than for any sort of practical use. It's frivolous spending by its very definition, but I like supporting the shows I love in that way because I can... realizing that I may not always be able to do so.
|2012-07-11, 00:47
|Link #18
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: DP 原画 --> ヨハネ
I spend mainly on books (artbooks, light novels, manga, special publications etc) figma, soundtracks and games....
Yeah, not having dependents other than yourself is great. It's obvious why most hardcore otaku are single...
|2012-07-11, 00:47
|Link #19
Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Thanks everyone for keeping the discussion and adding alot of information for me.
I've been introduced into anime like 6 years ago and theres been alot I've watched and really enjoyed like Naruto, Baka Test, School Rumble, Freezing(not even including big ones that everyone says are must watch anime like Gundam, Gurren Lagann, etc.)
But now that I have a bit of income now for spare use and I'm looking to buy more anime related stuff like DVDs and other collectibles. Any particular sites anyone here particularly uses for buying?
|2012-07-11, 07:14
|Link #20
a small cat
Aside from figurines, I also buy music cd's from CDJapan.
I like the free stickers (often comes with first press editions), and the booklet.
Last edited by Liddo-kun; 2012-07-11 at 07:39.
|Thread Tools


text:
These simple meditations taught by Yogi Bhajan are effective in helping us get through challenging times and keeping our spirits aligned in the powerful projection of prayer and healing. As we strengthen our nervous systems and connect with our breath we can meet the demands of this time of accelerated personal and global change.
Let's stay connected and uplift one another through these challenging times.
Peace to all, love to all, light to all.
Survival Kit from IKYTA
Crisis Kit from KRI


text:
- 4 Beds
- 4 Full, 1 Half
- 3,805 +/- Sqft
- Reduced Price
Property TypeResidential – Single Family
SubdivisionCotton Ranch 1
Listing Date04/13/19
Year Built2001
AreaCotton Ranch/Chatfie
Lot Size0.36 Acres (15,682 SqFt)
Parking2 Car Garage
Property Description
Live wide open in this custom built 4 bedroom home in popular Cotton Ranch! Meticulously maintained inside and out. Updated kitchen with new granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and knotty pine cabinets. Along with a spacious main level master suite each bedroom has it's own bathroom. Other features include knotty pine floors, gas fireplace, vaulted ceilings, and a large laundry room. Situated on a large lot with mature landscaping, a covered patio and a large yard for entertaining.
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Financial Information
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3 Beds 2.5 Baths
5 Beds 4.5 Baths
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Listing courtesy of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices - Gypsum


text:
England to play Peru, Ecuador, Honduras
The Football Association have confirmed England will play friendlies against Peru, Ecuador and Honduras ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Peru will provide the opposition at Wembley on May 30 before England head to Miami's Sunlife Stadium for the games against Ecuador and Honduras.
The first of those matches will take place on June 4 and the second three days later, a week ahead of England's opening World Cup group fixture against Italy in Manaus.
Roy Hodgson's squad will travel from Miami to their tournament base in Rio de Janeiro after facing Honduras, and intend to move on to Manuas two days in advance of the Italy clash.
With Uruguay and Costa Rica also in England's World Cup group, manager Hodgson is satisfied with the preparation arranged for his side.
"I'm delighted with the games we have been able to secure and the programme running up to the World Cup in general," the 66-year-old said.
"I was clear to those responsible at The FA that I was looking for Central and South American opposition ahead of the tournament and that is exactly what has been delivered.
"In our training camps here and abroad, I hope to foster the spirit and work ethic that we are going to need out in Brazil.
"It is a tournament I want us to enjoy, but to do that we must work hard and play well."
England have one other friendly prior to the World Cup, against Denmark at Wembley on March 5.


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Dr. Richard Schrock, who was co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2005 and is a member of the faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), will present two addresses at Hope College on Thursday and Friday, April 15 and 16.
On Thursday, April 15, at 7 p.m., he will discuss the research that led to his Nobel Prize. On Friday, April 16, at 4 p.m., he will discuss his group's current research. Both presentations will be in Winants Auditorium of Graves Hall.
The public is invited to both talks. Admission is free.
Schrock shared the 2005 Nobel Prize with Yves Chauvin of the Institut Français du Pétrole and Dr. Robert H. Grubbs of Caltech for the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis, a chemical reaction now used daily in the chemical industry for the efficient and more environmentally friendly production of important pharmaceuticals, fuels, synthetic fibers and many other products. The current research that he will discuss in his second address at Hope will be "Two Transition Metal Catalyzed Reactions."
Schrock completed his bachelor's degree at the University of California at Riverside in 1967 and his doctorate at HarvardUniversity in 1971. He spent one year as a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow at Cambridge University followed by three years at the Central Research and Development Department of E. I. duPont de Nemours and Company. In 1975 he moved to M.I.T., where he became full professor in 1980 and the Frederick G. Keyes Professor of Chemistry in 1989.
He has received numerous honors in addition to the Nobel Prize. He has been an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow and a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar. He has received the ACS Award in Organometallic Chemistry (1985), the Harrison Howe Award of the Rochester ACS section (1990), an Alexander von Humboldt Award (1995), the ACS Award in Inorganic Chemistry (1996), the Bailar Medal from the University of Illinois (1998), and an ACS Cope Scholar Award in 2001. He was the Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson Lecturer and Medalist (2002) and the Sir Edward Frankland Prize Lecturer (2004), has received the F. Albert Cotton Award in Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry (2006), the Theodore Richards Medal from the Northeast ACS section (2006), and the August Wilhelm von Hofmann Medal from the German Chemical Society (2005). He has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences.
Schrock was associate editor of "Organometallics" for eight years, and has published more than 500 research papers.
Schrock's visit has been arranged by the students of the college's Chemistry Club. He is speaking through the weekly seminar series coordinated by the department of chemistry at Hope.
Graves Hall is located at 263 College Ave., between 10th and 12th streets.


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*In a 20-page portfolio in the February 2007 issue,*V.F.reflects on the new calculus of power, on both sides of the aisle, with its portents of deals to be struck, battles to be waged, and betrayals to be forgiven. This essay is Todd S. Purdum's introduction to the portfolio.
Blue Is the New Red
One of the hoariest truisms—"What goes around comes around"—is about to get a real workout in Washington as the Democrats take the Hill. The author wonders how deep the change will go.
On the eve of the election last November, Jon Stewart, the most trusted fake newsman in America, began The Daily Show, on Comedy Central, with an animated musical primer on the next day's festivities, recycled from 2002. Its singsong refrain epitomized Stewart's fashionably wised-up view of what he (or his writers) once called Democracy Inaction:
*Midterm elections, they come right in the middle.
Midterm elections, they matter quite a little.*
In fact, the 2006 midterms may well be one of those Washington moments that matter quite a lot—a take-stock Tuesday when weather systems that had been building for months suddenly made the wind shift. The Democrats took control of both the House and the Senate for the first time since 1994—and put George W. Bush on the defensive overnight—with the same rallying cry the Republicans had used in the 1946 midterms, which put them back in charge for the first time since before the Great Depression: "Had enough?"
By Wednesday morning, the capital was a new town, a blue town—at least on the east end of Pennsylvania Avenue. And the differences were immediately apparent. Hello, Speaker Pelosi! Secretary Rumsfeld? Bye-bye! If only for a flash, a fresh sense of possibility permeated a city that is built, after all, on a drained swamp. Might bipartisan consensus on immigration reform really be possible? Had the politics of centrist coalition-building trumped Karl Rove's skillfully stoked appeals to the conservative base?
Looking at the bright-eyed congressional freshmen lined up on the Capitol steps for their iconic class picture, it was hard not to wonder who among them might be destined for glory, or shame. The 1946 midterms produced Representatives John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon—and Senator Joseph R. McCarthy—and the 1978 midterms first brought Dick Cheney and Newt Gingrich to the people's house. Is there a president, or a poltroon, in the current crop?
In the accompanying portfolio, Vanity Fair presents some of those fresh faces, along with a few old, familiar ones—from Representative John Dingell's to Senator Trent Lott's—that have suddenly been revived with a shot or two of electoral Restylane. There are portraits of Young Turks and Old Bulls and Power Brokers of every stripe. And a snapshot or two of Those Who Would Be King.
If this was an election in which new media flowered (think of that YouTube clip of Representative Sue Kelly, of New York, running away from a TV news crew that wanted to question her about disgraced congressman Mark Foley's come-ons to Capitol Hill pages), it was also one in which old media flourished, including those ever reliable improvised explosive devices—otherwise known as books—that showed how Bush's State of Denial had made Iraq into a Fiasco.
By Thanksgiving, a good deal of the good feeling had already dissipated. President Bush sent a raft of controversial conservative judicial nominees back to the lame-duck Senate and vowed not to leave Iraq till the job was done, whatever the voters might have been saying. Democrats were pledging to investigate the Bush administration's transgressions, and squabbling over proposals to reinstate the draft.
Among Republicans, the recriminations were well under way. The dwindling ranks of the party's moderates saw in the election results a repudiation of Bush and Rove's build-the-base electoral strategy. Conservatives and the Christian right were just as sure that the answer would be more of that Old Time Religion. No less an expert than Newt Gingrich, the Moses who in 1994 led the Republicans out of 40 years in the congressional wilderness, warned after Election Day that his party should not assume it will be easy to win back the majority. He noted that after Republicans last lost their House advantage, halfway through Dwight D. Eisenhower's first term, they could not manage to regain it even in the Republican presidential landslides of 1972 and 1984.
On the other hand, the Democrats may have an even harder time ahead. The fragility of their one-vote majority was underlined in mid-December, when Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota underwent emergency surgery for bleeding in the brain that set off immediate, and perhaps inevitable, speculation about what would happen if he should not recover. If the Democrats are seen as having "won," but do little to change the course that the voters rejected—after all, the president still has a decided upper hand on Iraq and on foreign policy in general—the voters' fickle fingers may point right back at them in 2008. They would do well to remember that the 1946 Republican majority that mocked the Democrat in the White House by saying, "To err is Truman," was given hell by Harry just two years later as "the Do-Nothing 80th Congress" and was turned out on its ear.
Change—real change—is always hard to come by in hidebound Washington, and the 110th Congress may well prove that rule. A year that began with Republican congressional leaders vowing to overhaul ethics and lobbying rules (in response to the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal) ended with word that Democratic representative John Murtha of Pennsylvania, Speaker Pelosi's rejected choice as her deputy, had denounced her proposed ethics-reform package as "total crap."
The most dewy-eyed idealist could be forgiven for accepting the wisdom of Henry Fountain Ashurst, the Democrat who served as Arizona's first senior senator, from Woodrow Wilson's first term through Franklin D. Roosevelt's second. "When I have to choose between voting for the people or the special interests," Ashurst once said, "I always stick to the special interests. They remember. The people forget."
And so, Dear Voter, take a steady gander at the men and women depicted here. Take their measure. And try to remember the promises, and the spirit of promise, they represent.
Todd S. Purdum is *Vanity Fair'*s national editor.


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What do you get when you have me trying to perform a memory upgrade on my own computer? You get a busted computer. I got a little ambitious over the holiday weekend and tried to install some memory in my computer, I guess I was inspired by the deal I got. While I was trying to disconnect everything, I somehow messed up the cord to my monitor (the one that doesn't come out) and my computer seems to be stuck in DOS mode now. Moral of the story, I'm out of commission for a little while but I'll be back as soon as I can.
In the meantime, let's pretend you have the chance to ask a world renowned makeup artist any question you would like. What would you ask? Here's your chance. We'll give you more details on this when we're back in full operating mode but for now, leave a comment and ask a question. You may see you're question answered here soon.


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Topic: Ig-88 v Dash
Who do you think would win in battle, Ig-88 or Dash Rendar?
[color=blue]Listen to My Rap Songs!![/color] [url=http://www.myspace.com/dinonkeys]www.myspace.com/dinonkeys[/url]
Message Boards - Boba Fett Fan Club → Role Playing → Ig-88 v Dash
Who do you think would win in battle, Ig-88 or Dash Rendar?
Well, Dash Rendar did destroy one of the IG's...
dash would he did have a good fight with boba in the, Shadows of the Empire game
IG-88 would win, the video game is not cannon, tales of the bounty hunters says Boba Fett destroyed them all except for IG-88A.
*SciFi walks into the Sarlacc Bar, looks over the denizens, and immediately resumes activity*
About damn time.
Indeed, I concur with Spider Fett. Dash destroyed them in a video game, where he can shrug off blaster wounds and IG-88's a terrible shot. Were they to face off in the realm of the real, Rendar would be only so much smoking meat.
Yes, Rendar would be very dead, very fast.
Welcome back, SciFi!
And IG-88 would easily defeat Dash, unless he found some ion weaponry and got the jump on him, like Fett did. Which is hard to do with a droid that can see 360 degrees.
On this at least, we all seem to be in agreement.
Alright, I admit the game isn't canon and I was a little more than half asleep when I wrote that post. I think I'd just read a wikipedia article on Dash, zoning out I went and believed it.
Dash all the way!
i'm going to have to place my vote with IG-88...Rendar doesn't have the nice kinda weaponry that the assassin droid does.
Dash all the way!
Just when I thought everyone was finally going to agree with each other. Mayhap you can explain just how the hell Dash can stand a chance?
Ummmm....are you smoking something? From what I've seen, the general consensus is that IG-88 won. So I can't help but suspect that you're posting for the sake of disagreeing with me. That sai, is not the kind of mistake you want to make. So next time you feel like saying something stupid, don't.
dash wins. he could get him in his ship.nothing cooler than the outrider.
exccpet for the slave 1.
and why is the video game not canon
scififreak clam down.
I was never a fan of clams, bobathekid. Don't like seafood much.
The thing is, if Dash gets the Outrider, then IG-88 gets the IG-2000. Droid still wins, as his ship is specially purposed for combat and considering that he can perform maneuvers impossible for an organic being. IG-88 still wins. You get over it.
So far...
Dash: 3
True Warrior, bobathekid, Mel.
SciFifreak90, Spider-Fett, Maltese Kentaiba, BalanceSheet, draco fett, MandalorianSpy9.
I think IG-88 wins.
OK, no problem with me.
Get over it, dude. Dash won.
You seemed to have a problem with it then, and no one new posted since you said that. So, I can't help but ask; did you read any of the posts before saying that? If you didn't, I'll just think you were an idiot and didn't know what you were talking about. If you did read it though, then I have no idea what the hell was going through that paltroon mind of yours. Either way, you prove yourself the fool once again, congratulations.
*golf clap*
OK.....I didnt actually read all of the posts, your right. That WAS kinda stupid of me. I......uh.....guess, I'm.....sorry, SciFi. Is that what you wanted to hear?
Just about, yes.
Can you not go so hard on me? I dont want to have to get all up in yo grill (not a threat)
I don't make exceptions. I react to everyone in a similar fashion when confronted, save for my friends, who I would have no need to be angry at. It's not just you sai, ask ARC Fett and bobathekid how they fared against me, which is precisely the reason for my 3 month "vacation".
OK........your new to me so, I dont know you very well.
Oh yeah, Yajuta said that you two are friends....... I could see the simularities.
Both soldiers. Both hate cowards. Explains a lot about today doesn't it?
Message Boards - Boba Fett Fan Club → Role Playing → Ig-88 v Dash
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Econo Lodge CN554
1748 Capilano Road, North Vancouver, BC, Canada, V7P 3B4
Phone: (604) 988-3181
Fax: (604) 904-2755
This Econo Lodge hotel is located at the base of Vancouver's majestic North Shore Mountains, minutes from attractions including Grouse Mountain, the Capilano Suspension Bridge, Stanley Park, Capilano University and the Park Royal Shopping Centre.
This North Vancouver hotel offers a tranquil atmosphere just blocks from the Lions Gate Bridge. Access to Stanley Park and the shopping, fine dining and nightlife of Downtown Vancouver is only minutes away. Fantastic dining options are also found within walking distance of this hotel which provides the perfect base for exploring downtown's Robson Street and the events, activities and outdoor adventures that the Greater Vancouver Downtown area has to offer. Conveniently located just off of the Trans Canada #1 Highway on exit 14, the Econo Lodge is 30 minutes from the Vancouver International Airport and the perfect gateway to Whistler, Horseshoe Bay Ferries and the Vancouver Cruise terminals.
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There's a seasonal outdoor pool and hot tub, and guests are invited to enjoy the facilities at nearby Fitness World. Business travellers will enjoy necessary amenities and meeting facilities that can accommodate up to 15.


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About Casablanca Fan Company
Casablanca Fans products represent the synergy of elegance, versatility, efficiency, endurance, and comfort. Created with an eye toward timeless design, assembled with high quality parts and engineered for superior energy efficiency, Casablanca Fans are created with meticulous attention to detail. Casablanca's seven-phase production process assures that each ceiling fan, flush mount fan, and outdoor fan is made with quality and durability. With many features, remote control options and integrated controls to choose from, Casablanca Fans are sure to please. In keeping with founder Burton A. Burton's vision, each Casablanca product is a reflection of the company's passion, creativity and dedication.
In 1974 entrepreneur Burton A. Burton entered the United States ceiling fan market with a belt-driven ceiling fan created for commercial use. Stimulated by the energy crisis of the mid 1970s, Casablanca Fan Company jumped into the residential market. Soon enough Casablanca Fans was known as a leading manufacturer of premium consumer products offering innovation, exceptional quality and distinctive decorative designs, coupled with unique marketing, trade and consumer promotions and memorable advertising. Designed to be a classic fixture in the home, Casablanca is proud of its approach to timeless design, engineering, and manufacturing of ceiling fans.
Why does Lamps.com love Casablanca Fans?
Customer service is something that Lamps.com holds very dear. Providing quality products, offering information and being there for you whenever you need us is something we strive to achieve each and every day! We're proud to offer Casablanca fans because of their superior customer service from coast to coast, 120-day in home service guarantee, and lifetime warranty on motors. Not saying anything would ever go wrong- their seven-phase production works like a check list and if the fan is not impeccable by the end Casablanca is sure to retrace steps to ensure quality and reliability.
- Can I hang a ceiling fan myself?
Yes! Casablanca makes an easy do-it-yourself, one-person installation easy! Hang-Tru™, Casablanca's hanging system supports the fan from the ceiling, leaving both hands free to complete wiring connections. The self-centering ball assures that the fan hangs straight, even on ceilings with up to 32-degree slope.
- Do I need to purchase extra fan installation tools?
No! Casablanca Fans has everything you need - light bulbs, batteries for remotes, and even a screwdriver!
- What size fan should I buy?
Great question! For rooms up to 225 square feet (15' x 15') and larger, use a fan with a blade span of 50", 52", 54", or 56". For rooms up to 114 square feet (12' x 12') we recommend fans with blade spans of 42" or 44". And for that smaller room (8' x 8') you should use a fan with a 32" blade span.
- What direction should my fan turn in the summer versus the winter?
Summer: forward or counter clockwise. Winter: reverse or clockwise.
- How do I care for my fan?
For dusting fan finishes use a soft brush or lint-free cloth and for heavier dust use a vacuum cleaner brush nozzle. For surface smudges use a mild detergent and a slightly dampened soft cloth. For wood-finish blades use a furniture polishing cloth and occasionally you might want to add a light coat of furniture polish. For painted and high-gloss blades use a mild detergent and slightly dampened soft cloth.
- What features are included on Casablanca fans?
Casablanca has made a long-term commitment to quality and invites you to compare these features with any competitive product.
Bottom Plate- Used with a variety of different materials including solid die-cast virgin zinc, heavy-gauge deep-drawn steel, and structurally reinforced resin for enhanced beauty, the bottom plate encloses the lower part of the motor housing.
Switch Housing- Featuring heavy-duty, die-cast virgin zinc or steel for exceptional durability, the switch housing encloses primary fan controls.
Motor Housing- This part encloses the motor with plated or hand painted finish, which stays bright and beautiful throughout decades of use.
Perma-Lock™- The Perma-Lock system connects the fan to the downrod, which works in perfect combination with the patented Hang-Tru® canopy.
Blades- Crafted with six layers of wood in a cross-laminated pattern and finished with two outer layers of real furniture-grade wood veneer, Casablana offers beautiful and durable fan blades.
Blade Holders- An essential link between the blades and the motor, blade holders are made of heavy-duty, reinforced die-cast virgin zinc and are tested thoroughly for reliable performance.
- Tell me about your motors, what if it stops working?
Don't worry! Casablanca's XLP and XLP Plus® motors set the industry standard for performance, power, efficiency, and reliability and they are the only motors in their category to receive a UL Class A rating. On top of that, Casablanca offers a lifetime warranty, backed by industry leading customer service and support.
- What type of integrated controls do you have?
Depending on the type of fan, we can provide a wall-mounted system that controls six fan speeds (in either forward or reverse direction) and a full-range light dimming for perfect room comfort and ambience.
Inteli-Touch® [W-32, W-33, W-84]- The new Inteli-Touch3 model is controlled with radio frequency and the Safe-Exit™ provides 20 seconds of gradual light dimming, showing you safely to the door. Home-Safe™ is a home security feature that controls lights in a sequence, made to deter thieves. The Fan Minder™ feature incrementally reduces fan speed, making those chilly nights comfortable. The Light Minder™ feature turns lights off after two hours, saving energy. On Bel Air Halo fans, the Inteli-Touch control allows separate uplight and down-light control.
Advan-Touch® [W-62, W-63, W-64, W-65]- with user-friendly design and a large LCD screen, this wall-mounted or hand-held device allows for fan and lighting programmable features such as controlling several fans and more.
Versa-Touch2® [W-72, W-73]- the refined hand-held remote provides three forward and reverse fan speeds, full-spectrum light dimming and memory and has an extra option for a wall plate bracket.
Prime-Touch® [W-505]- this hand-held remote for select fans provides three forward and reverse fan speeds, full-spectrum light dimming, memory and includes an optional wall plate bracket.
Direct-Touch® [W-74]- This wall-mounted control offers four forward and reverse fan speeds, plus full-spectrum light dimming and advanced programmable features such as Safe-Exit™, Home-Safe™, Fan Minder™ and Light Minder™.
- What type of remote control convenience do you offer?
The Adapt-Touch™ control has remote control convenience for 3-Speed and 4-Speed Casablanca fans with a Hang-Tru™ canopy. Use this control for several fans, or purchase extra controls to operate a fan from different locations.
- Do you offer wall control accessories?
Yes! We have different options for wall-mounted accessory control for both fan and light. Each optional accessory listed below is made for 3-Speed and 4-Speed models.
Single Slide W-24A, W-24W- offers four fan speeds, quietly operated. Not for use on XTR200® motors.
Dual Slide W-28A, W-28W- provides four fan speeds and full-range light dimming as well as noise-free circuitry and quite operations. Requires a third wire for installation. Not for use on XTR200® motors.
Single Rotary W-41- made for XTR200 and XLP-2000 motors and offers four fan speeds, an industry exclusive, noise-free circuitry and quite operation.
Dual Rotary W-81- made for XTR200 and XLP-2000 motors and provides fan speeds and full-range light dimming, noise-free circuitry and quiet operation. Requires third wire for installation.


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Billboard Music Awards: Everything You Need to Know
May 17, 2013 3:57 PM EDT
The Billboard Music Awards will air live Sunday, May 19 at 8/7c on ABC. And with Tracy Morgan hosting, it's sure to be a memorable one.As Billboard announced, the event will feature performances by Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Ed Sheeran and more. Pr… Read more


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An Underground Fence is a great way to contain your pet. Pet Street Mall offers you the LOWEST PRICE on an Underground Fence Plus FREE SHIPPING. Pet Street Mall is the authority on underground dog fence. We offer the two best brands of underground fence, Innotek and Petsafe. Between these two excellent brands, you will find the best kind of system that will solve all of your pet problems. Since we are the major provider of exceptional underground dog fence products from both of these well-known manufacturers, we can guarantee that we also have the knowledge and hands-on experience to find the system that is perfect for your house and your dog's needs.
Starts at
Includes 2 Packs of Batteries
A $20.00 Value, FREE
Innotek Underground Fences. Brings you high quality underground fences. Some of Innotek's underground fences even include lithium ion rechargable batteries! The Underground fence that includes this will save the dog owner over $35.00 per year over replacement battery systems. Over 12 years, that is a SAVINGS of $420.00, per dog. If you would rather install above ground, rather than have an underground fence innotek makes it easy with staples.
Petsafe Underground Fences. this Petsafe underground fences set the standard for in-ground fencing. Reliable and inexpensive, Petsafe supplies a great fence that can do what physical fences cannot. Dogs cannot climb, jump or dig underneath this fence. It allows you to keep your dog within your yard, without blocking great views of and from your house. Easy to install, this Petsafe in-ground fence is a breeze to set up. Simply carve a trench around the area that you would like to contain your dog in, lay the wire and insert the two ends of the wire into your transmitter. Place the collar on your dog's neck and you are ready to go.
Perimeter Underground Fences. Perimeter's exclusive Comfort Contacts cushion your pet's neck with soft rubber, providing a lighter touch solution to hard steel contacts. Veterinarians prefer the softness of the Comfort Contacts to help avoid serious skin irritations. TEMP CHECK keeps the fence field stable and in the same location when outside temperatures change. Otherwise your fence boundary would move up to 100% when the temperature fluctuates between 30F and 90F degrees. Boundaries that randomly and unexpectedly move are frustrating and dangerous for your pet. WIRE CHECK automatically compensates for wire problems and adjusts the amount of signal power to ensure the fence boundary remains in a constant location (no system can continue to function if the boundary wire has been completely cut). 12X BATTERY CHECK monitors the status of the training collar battery every two hours, eliminating false low battery indications saving you both time and money.
Sport Dog Underground Fences. Safe and effective for all dogs over 10 pounds, the SportDOG Brand In-Ground Fence System can cover up to 100 acres. Installation is a simple as installing the wire around the perimeter and plugging in the transmitter with the included adapter. Your dog wears a collar that receives a signal from the wire if he ventures too close to the perimiter. Follow the included training instructions to get your dog used to his new boundaries and your dog will be staying safe at home in no time.
Underground dog fence from Pet Street Mall serves as one quick and easy way to contain and train any breed of dogs. Our underground fence is a complete and outstanding device to keep dog safe and healthy at all times. We know how important it is to maintain your pet's daily exercise for them to stay fit and vibrant without suffering their security inside and outside your contained area. It is better for most dog owners to keep their pets inside their yard to protect them from other stray animals and unwanted pet diseases. Due to this needs, we are giving away the most important dog fencing options that will help all pet owners out there maintain the physically healthy body and agility of their pet dog. Underground dog fence , underground dog fence and underground pet fence are complete underground fences intentionally made to contain dog without the use of any force that might hurt your pet while inside the area. The most unique underground pet fence from the most trusted manufacturers are offered here at Pet Street Mall!
Pet Street Mall is number one in terms of quality and prices of underground dog fence . We can answer all your questions, give us a call at (800)-957-5753.
We all know that every dog needs a daily exercise for them to stay fit and vigorous. But sometimes, dogs are so agitated that they already destroy plants on the yard, dig the soil and even disturbed and bite passersby. As a result, they are mostly chained in the backyard without enjoying the freedom they used to have that makes them unhappy and weak. This is frequently the solution of most dog owners which we can generally consider as a person who lacks sense of responsibility. It is not very ideal to do especially if the major issue involved is the physical condition of your little pet. Dogs are also domesticated animals so they also need the pleasure they truly deserve. With this, containing man's best friend in a more effective and sensible manner can be done through the use of an underground pet fence. When deciding for the exact area you think will effectively contain your pet, the best factor to consider is the size of your dog as well as the area you think will be suitable for him to freely make his moves without making him bored.
Underground dog fences or underground pet fences are complete underground systems intentionally made to contain a pet in an area without the use of any force that might hurt your dog while inside the area. An underground fence basically contains external lightning protector, pre-twisted wire or gauge wire that is burial approved, containment collar receiver, above ground installation staples, additional zone transmitter and the ultra smart dog system. It is called an underground fence system due to the fact that it is buried underground which is proven to be more effective. The underground fence is effective in a way that you can comply with requirements such as having smooth, loose soil or clay in a 20-gauge wiring or a rocky soil in an 18-gauge wire system. Also, it is also essential that you are laying your wire properly and according to the step by step instruction. The entire instruction manufacturers provide is also what we relay to our customers. It is important to pass on their product instruction as well as policies without any modification so as to ensure that consumers are also getting the same quality and performance aside from the lowest prices we offer. This is just one of the hottest deals from Pet Street Mall! So if you are looking for an underground dog fence, you are definitely on the right track!


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Lipofectamine® LTX Reagent is a plasmid transfection reagent that offers a balance of potency and gentleness for your cells, resulting in high transfection efficiencies and viabilities. This reagent provides an advanced solution for gene expression in common cell lines, particularly Chinese Hampster Ovary (CHO), and challenging cell types such as primary neural progenitor cells, primary fibroblasts and primary epithelial cells.
Lipofectamine® LTX Reagent offers:
Transfect primary cells efficiently
Primary cells have traditionally been difficult to transfect. Lipofectamine® LTX Reagent, when combined with PLUS™ Reagent, solves the problem of transfecting primary cells, including primary neural progenitor cells (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Lipofectamine® LTX Reagent, with PLUS™ Reagent, efficiently transfects primary neural progenitor cells. Lipofectamine® LTX Reagent (1.5 μl) was used to transfect murine embryonic primary neural progenitor cells with the indicated quantities of a GFP-expressing plasmid in the presence of PLUS™ Reagent (2.5 μl). GFP expression was analyzed 24 hr posttransfection. Data courtesy of the Beverly Davidson laboratory, University of Iowa.
Broad compatibility with cell lines
In addition to being excellent for transfecting primary and difficult-to-transfect cells, Lipofectamine® LTX Reagent provides you with the most versatile approach to transfecting established cells lines, including those that are sensitive to other transfection reagents (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Lipofectamine® LTX Reagent combines high transfection efficiency with low cytotoxicity superior to FuGENE® 6 and FuGENE® HD transfection reagents. Activity/toxicity analysis measures the ratio of peak gene expression to cytotoxicity, with higher ratios indicating optimization of transfection efficiency with low cytotoxicity levels. Ten cell lines were transfected with luciferase-expressing plasmids following recommended protocols for the respective reagents. Cells were analyzed for toxicity using the Vybrant® Cytotoxicity Assay Kit (Cat. no. V23111) and assayed for luciferase expression. The data were normalized to the activity/toxicity ratios for the FuGENE® HD reagent.
Simple, rapid serum-compatible protocol
Lipofectamine® LTX Reagent has a new easy protocol with improved performance. No need to remove transfection complexes, or change medium following transfection. You'll spend less hands-on time, and get better results, faster.
Lipofectamine® LTX and Plus™ Reagent Protocol optimized for efficiency, viability and reproducibility
Figure 3: Lipofectamine® LTX and Plus™ Reagent performance comparison with new and old protocol.
Meet the inventor
R&D Transfection Insights
Xavier de Mollerat du Jeu, Sr. Staff Scientist at Life Technologies discusses the transfection research program and key factors for successful transfections, which resulted in enhanced protocols for the Lipofectamine® line of transfection reagents.


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Martin Yan's China
A fascinating trek through the sights, sounds and tastes of China as Martin travels through this vast country to explore the 4 schools of Chinese cuisine: the Mongol-inspired flavors of the North, the Cantonese seafood of the South, the fiery Szechuan meals of the West and the delicious Shanghai specialties of the East. He journeys to upscale restaurants, ancient streets, marketplaces, factories and nature preserves, as well as historic destinations in this captivating land, discovering the secrets and attractions of one of the world's oldest countries.
Martin Yan's China Previous Broadcasts
Chongqing Today (Episode #125)
KQED 9: Sat, Jan 30, 2010 -- 10:00 AM
In Chongqing, Martin visits the bustling food market touting a variety of Sichuan spices, vegetables, meats and fish. At night, he crosses the Yangtze River to the South Bank, home to exciting nightlife and out-of-this-world food. Recipes: fortune meatball noodle soup and Forest Garden stir fry.
Beijing Crafts (Episode #124)
KQED 9: Sat, Jan 23, 2010 -- 10:00 AM
In Beijing, Martin explores the ancient crafts of embroidery, jade-carving and carpet-making. Next, he visits the city's famous antiques street where he meets a watercolor artist and a master calligrapher. Recipes: Imperial sweet and sour fish and pan-seared steak rolls.
Remembering The Past (Episode #123)
KQED 9: Sat, Jan 16, 2010 -- 10:00 AM
In the town of Long Jian, Martin witnesses a traditional Spring Festival parade held for the first time in 60 years. He visits the garden of a venerable Feng Shui master, walks through a classic southern Chinese private garden-turned-park and samples milk custard with some young friends. Recipes: wok-braised jumbo shrimp and golden comfort soup.
The Dai People of Dali (Episode #122)
KQED 9: Sat, Jan 9, 2010 -- 10:00 AM
Martin heads to Yunnan Province, where the Dai people of Dali continue to practice their centuries-old traditions. Recipes: mushroom medley soup and Martin christo.
Guangzhou Scenes (Episode #121)
KQED 9: Sat, Jan 2, 2010 -- 10:00 AM
In Guangzhou, Martin visits Bai Yuen Mountain and drops by a restaurant at the foot of the mountain known for its traditional rice noodles and rice-noodle dishes. Afterwards, he visits the fish market to explore the variety of seafood the Cantonese crave. Recipes: crispy tofu chow fun and honey salmon.


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I've created a Rails plugin for both JsBuiler and JsDoc
it works fabulously. kudos to this excellent java JsBuilder tool.
In addition to wrapping JsBuilder, I've also written a wrapper for some work I've been doing on the jsdoc toolkit
interested? I could put it into my public SVN for you.
and for building documentation with jsdoc toolkit:Code:>rake js_builder:build project=my_custom_library >rake js_builder:build project=my_controller_library
http://sophie.zarb.org/rpm/,x86_64/apache2-mod_deflateCode:>rake js_builder:document project=my_custom_library
config is defined in a yaml file which maps to the .jsb format. my js_builder plugin creates the .jsb file.
The actual java apps for jsbuilder / jsdoc are held within the plugin's own /lib dir -- you don't need to copy builder to your project directory to get it to work. The plugin will generate the necessary paths and send them to the java executable.Code:### # builds resistor-ext2 tree # :resistor_ext2: :name: Resistor Software Ext2 Library :path: public/javascripts/resistor-ext2/source :output: ../deploy :author: Chris Scott :version: 2.0 :copyright: Resistor Software :source: false :source_dir: $output/source :minify: true :min_dir: $output/build :doc: false :doc_dir: $path/../docs :min_dir: $output/build :target: :name: EverythingInOne :file: $output/resistor-ext2-all.js :debug: true :shorthand: false :shorthand_list: not sure if this is necessary :include: - core/RExt.js - util/Collection.js - form/vtypes.js - Page.js - form/DialogForm.js - form/Fields.js - widgets/Plugins.js - widgets/View.js - widgets/RPanel.js - widgets/RegionManager.js - application/company/CompanyManager.js - widgets/LoginForm.js


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NEW YORK, LONDON and SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 28, 2012 – As part of the Ultrabook™ Experience program, Intel Corporation and W Hotels today announced the global premiere of the winning films from "Four Stories," an innovative short film series judged by a panel of judges, including Roman Coppola and produced by The Directors Bureau. The films debut tonight at a private screening at W London – Leicester Square, followed by a premiere at W Los Angeles – Westwood on Dec. 4 and a premiere at W Hong Kong on Dec. 14. The films can be viewed at: www.youtube.com/fourstories.
Intel and W Hotels embarked upon "Four Stories" to support rising visionaries in filmmaking and showcase their work to a global audience. The four winning scripts, inspired by the intense energy of the global jet-setter and the mobility of the Intel Ultrabook, were chosen from nearly 1,000 submissions from aspiring filmmakers around the world and developed into 10-minute short films. Roman Coppola and his production company, The Directors Bureau, matched the four winning scripts with some of today's most talented young directors and actors to bring the screenwriters' visions to life. The resulting four original screenplays were filmed on location at W Hotels across the globe including W Washington D.C., W Doha Hotel & Residences, W Retreat & Spa Maldives, and W Mexico City, and feature the Intel-inspired Ultrabook.
"Intel is collaborating with innovators in travel, film, business, fashion and design to highlight amazing computing experiences created by the Ultrabook. Through the Four Stories collaboration with W Hotels, Intel is supporting and inspiring the next generation of artists and visionaries," said Johan Jervoe, Intel's vice president and director of Partner Marketing. "Each of the Four Stories films showcased the sleek mobility of the Ultrabook as inspiration for innovative filmmaking and storytelling, further merging creative art with technology."
Four Stories judge and executive producer Roman Coppola co-wrote and directed a fifth short film, "Die Again, Undead One," an intergalactic vampire tale, starring Jason Schwartzman and Margarita Kallas, which was shot on location at W Hollywood.
"Four Stories is about encouraging emerging talent in filmmaking," said Roman Coppola. "This collaboration supports a new generation of screenwriters, actors and directors showcase their work on a global level."
"As a global design powerhouse, W Hotels continues to identify and support rising visionaries in design, music, fashion and film," added Paul James, Global Brand Leader, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, The Luxury Collection & W Hotels Worldwide. "Through our partnership with Intel, Four Stories seeks to celebrate the modern day jetsetter, the type of traveler who frequents W Hotels, while showcasing some of W's most glamorous award-winning properties around the globe."
After careful review from a panel of judges that included Coppola and other prominent industry leaders, the winning honors were awarded to:
Amy Jacobowitz from Los Angeles, whose screenplay was developed into "Modern/Love," filmed at W Doha with director Lee Toland Krieger and actors Robert Schwartzman and Naomi Scott.
Ben Saveg from Brooklyn, N.Y., whose screenplay was developed into "¡El Tonto!" filmed at W Mexico City with director Lake Bell and actor Kyle Mooney.
Adam Blampied from London, whose screenplay was developed into "Eugene" filmed at W Washington D.C. with director Spencer Susser and actors Michael Govier and Karolina Wydra.
Kahlil Joseph from Los Angeles, who wrote and directed "The Mirror Between Us," filmed at W Retreat & Spa Maldives with actors Nicole Beharie and Dan'ee Doty.
The "Four Stories" competition, launched globally in August, invited aspiring filmmakers to submit scripts with two criteria: films must be set at a W Hotel and feature the Intel-Inspired Ultrabook as a central plot component. Coppola, along with a panel of industry leaders, including actress Chloe Sevigny, actor Michael Pitt, actor PJ Ransone, W Hotels Global Music Director Michelangelo L'Acqua, Intel Chief Marketing Officer Deborah Conrad, VICE Executive Producer and Creative Director Eddy Moretti, screenwriter Jeff Baena, Vimeo Vice President of Creative Development Blake Whitman, and VICE Executive Creative Director Danny Gabai selected the winning scripts.
As part of the overall collaboration between Intel and W Hotels Worldwide, high-impact Ultrabook design installations by New York-based architects Gage/Clemenceau are being unveiled at W Hong Kong, W London – Leicester Square, W New York, W Paris – Opéra, W San Francisco and W Singapore, allowing both W guests and local residents to interact with the Ultrabook's innovative technology. Additionally, Ultrabook devices have been integrated in the "Whatever/Wherever" concierge experience at select W Hotels worldwide, further demonstrating the collaboration between technology and design to create impactful and beautiful experiences.
About the Ultrabook™ Experience
The Ultrabook™ Experience is an initiative from Intel that features collaborations with innovative brands, emerging and established artists, designers and entertainers that use the Intel-inspired Ultrabook devices to do extraordinary things. The Ultrabook Experience has unveiled collaborations with innovators in travel, film, business and design that are using Ultrabook devices to rethink what's possible.
About the Intel-Inspired Ultrabook
Intel, the maker of the PC's brain, has fueled the emergence of go-everywhere technology. Today's Ultrabook devices are ideal for people who want to create, consume and share information safely with a mobile device that is sleek and stylish, wakes in a flash and paired with performance and long battery life. The latest generation of Ultrabook devices feature the addition of touch- and voice-based capabilities in traditional (clamshell) and new convertible designs.
About Roman Coppola and the Directors Bureau
Roman Coppola is a critically acclaimed director, screenwriter, producer and music video creator. In 2012, Coppola co-wrote Moonrise Kingdom, his second collaboration with director Wes Anderson (the 2007 film The Darjeeling Limited was the first). As a director, Coppola has worked with Arctic Monkeys, Daft Punk, Phoenix, The Strokes, Ween and other bands to produce timeless music videos. He is currently in post- production on his second feature as director, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, a comedy starring Bill Murray, Charlie Sheen and Jason Schwartzman.
About W Hotels Worldwide
W Hotels is a contemporary, design-led lifestyle brand and the industry innovator with 43 hotels and retreats, including 14 W-branded residences, in the most vibrant cities and exotic destinations around the world. Inspiring, iconic, innovative and influential, W Hotels provides the ultimate in insider access, offering a unique mix of cutting-edge design and passions around fashion, music and entertainment. W Hotels offers a holistic lifestyle experience that is integrated into the brand's sensibility through contemporary restaurant concepts, glamorous entertainment experiences, stylish retail concepts, signature spas and inspiring residences. With more than 13 years of proven success, W Hotels is on track to reach more than 60 hotels by the end of 2015. W Hotels have been announced for Guangzhou, Milan, Shanghai, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Athens – Astir Palace, Muscat, Mumbai, and Santa Fe, Mexico, while upcoming W Retreats include Verbier and Mexico's Riviera Maya. For more information, visit www.whotels.com. To live the W Hotels lifestyle 24/7/365, visit www.wresidences.com.
Intel is a trademark of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries.


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Skippers: mardon skipper (Polites mardon)
(Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae: Hesperiinae)
Profile prepared by Scott Hoffman Black and Mace Vaughan, The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
The mardon skipper is a small, tawny-orange butterfly dependent upon native grasslands in Washington, Oregon, and northwest California. Mardon skippers were likely more widespread and abundant before European settlers reached the region. These grasslands have declined dramatically in the past 150 years due to agricultural and residential development, fire suppression, livestock grazing, and introduction of exotic species. For example, in western Washington, more than 95% of the native prairie grasslands have been destroyed.
Xerces Red List Status: Imperiled
Other Rankings:
Canada – Species at Risk Act: N/A
Canada – provincial status: N/A
Mexico: N/A
USA – Endangered Species Act: N/A
USA – state status: WA: Endangered
NatureServe: G2G3 (01Sep1998)
IUCN Red List: N/A
The mardon skipper has recently been extirpated from four sites in south Puget Sound and one in the southern Washington Cascades and the current status of four other sites in Washington is uncertain. Most of the remaining sites are very small, most measuring just a few acres. Most sites support less than fifty butterflies.
The mardon skipper remains a federal candidate species. The State of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) lists the Mardon Skipper as state endangered and are implementing conservation measures in Washington. Neither Oregon nor California allows insects to receive protection under their respective endangered species legislation.
Photo by Donald Gudehus
Please contact The Xerces Society for information on how to obtain permission to use this image.
The mardon skipper (Polites mardon) is a small (20-24 mm; <1 inch), tawny-orange butterfly with a stout, hairy body. The upper surface of both wings is orange with broad dark borders. The wings from below are light tan-orange with a distinctive pattern of light yellow to white rectangular spots. Males are smaller than females and have a small, dark brown streak (stigma) on the upper surface of the forewing. Like most hesperiine skippers, mardon skippers have a fast, skipping flight, bent antennae clubs, and a characteristic basking posture in which the forewings are held at a 45-degree angle and the hind wings are fully spread.
Polites mardon (W. H. Edwards), 1881. The mardon skipper has two subspecies, P. m. mardon (W. H. Edwards), 1881, and P. m. klamathensis Mattoon, J. Emmel, & T. Emmel, 1998.
Mardon skippers complete one life cycle annually, and adults emerge from chrysalids in late-spring or early-summer (in Washington, emergence is between May and July) for a month-long flight period. After mating, females deposit their eggs into native bunchgrass where they hatch after 6 to 7 days. Larvae feed on fescue, oatgrass, and a variety of other grasses for about 3 months, overwinter as larvae, then pupate in the early spring.
In the Puget lowlands, the mardon skipper is found in prairie and meadow habitat with abundant Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis). The short, open stature of native, fescue bunchgrass stands allows mardon skippers to readily access both nectar and oviposition plants. Larvae feed on Idaho fescue (F. idahoensis) and red fescue (F. rubra). Adults nectar from the flowers of a variety plants, but blue violet (Viola adunca) is a strongly preferred nectar source and Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius) is strongly avoided. Nectaring has also been observed on lupine (Lupinus sp.), Idaho blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium idahoense), penstemon (Penstemon sp.), western (or sanddune) wallflower (Erysimum capitatum), and on the introduced garden vetch (Vicia sativa). The Oregon adults avidly visit clover (Trifolium sp.).
The historic range and abundance of mardon skippers is not precisely known because systematic and quantitative studies were not conducted prior to 1980. It is clear, however, that the species has suffered significant range contraction and population decline as the grassland habitats with which it is associated have been lost or degraded. For example, Northwest grasslands were formerly much healthier, larger, and interconnected— conditions that would have supported a greater distribution and abundance of mardon skippers.
Historically, mardon skippers were collected from three counties in Washington (Thurston, Klickitat, and Yakima), two counties in Oregon (Klamath and Jackson), and one (Del Norte) in California. The mardon skipper is now known from 37 sites located in four geographic areas: (1) southern Puget Sound, (2) the Mt. Adams area (eastern side of the Cascade Range) in southern Washington, (3) the Cascade Range in southern Oregon, and (4) Del Norte (north-coastal) California.
The subspecies P. m. mardon is found in Washington state and Del Norte County, California, and the subspecies P. m. klamathensis is found in southern Oregon.
The mardon skipper is threatened directly and indirectly by a number of factors that degrade its obligate grasslands, including development, recreation, overgrazing, pesticides, invasive plants (and control measures for them), and succession to forest. Because butterflies like the mardon skipper are sedentary and have a low degree of vagility, maintaining the quality of occupied habitat is perhaps the most important management concern. Inevitably, these threats seldom occur in isolation and usually work in concert at particular sites to negatively impact mardon skipper habitat. None of the sites where the Mardon Skipper occurs are managed for its conservation.
Conservation needs
Most of the populations are on Forest Service, BLM or Washington State DNR land. It will be important to work with these agencies to ensure that habitat management takes this butterfly's protection into account.
WDFW has initiated surveys and research into habitat needs of the Washington populations. There is research into the impact of grazing that has just been initiated in Southern Oregon and surveys are being initiated in California.
WDFW has just initiated research into captive rearing.
It is important that surveys are undertaken to identify all populations.
Barry, J. W. 1993. Predicting and Measuring Drift of Bacillus thuringiensis Sprays. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Vol 12, pp. 1977-1989.
Crawford, R. C., and H. Hall. 1997. Changes in the south Puget prairie landscape. Pages 11-16 in P. V. Dunn and K. Ewing (eds). Ecology and Conservation of the South Puget Sound Prairie Landscape. The Nature Conservancy, Seattle, Washington. 289 pp.
Fleckenstein, J., and A. Potter 1999. 1997, 1998 Project summary: Puget prairie butterfly surveys. Washington Department of Natural Resources, Olympia. Unpublished Report, 21 May, 1999. 14 pp.
Mattoon, S. O., J. F. Emmel, and T. C. Emmel. 1998. The distribution of Polites mardon (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) in North America, and description of a new subspecies from southern Oregon. Pages 767-774 in T. C. Emmel, editor. Systematics of western North American butterflies. Mariposa Press, Gainesville, Florida. 878 pp.
Potter, A., and J. Fleckenstein. 2001. Southern Cascade Surveys for the Mardon Skipper, Summary Year 2000. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia 11 pp.
Potter, A., J. Fleckenstein, S. Richardson, and D. Hays. 1999. Washington State Status Report for the Mardon Skipper. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia 39 pp.
Pyle, R. M. 2002. The Butterflies of Cascadia. Seattle Audubon Society, Seattle, WA.
Runquist, E. 1999. Butterfly Community Surveys in the Soda Mountain Region, Jackson County, Oregon. Bureau of Land Management, Medford, OR. 27 pp.
Xerces report – Controlled Burning and Mardon Skipper: Summary of Mardon Skipper Coon Mountain Burn Site Occupancy Study 2009-2013.
Xerces Society 2009 California mardon skipper report – fire study
Xerces Society 2008 Washington mardon skipper report
Xerces Society 2007 Oregon mardon skipper report
Xerces Society 2007 Washington mardon skipper report
Xerces Society 2007 California mardon skipper report
Xerces Society 2006 Oregon & Washington mardon skipper report
Petition to list the mardon skipper under the Endangered Species Act
Big Sky Institute, Butterflies and Moths of North America: mardon skipper (Accessed 1/21/09)'
NatureServe Explorer (Accessed 9/23/08)
Black, S. H., and D. M. Vaughan. 2005. Species Profile: Polites mardon. In Shepherd, M. D., D. M. Vaughan, and S. H. Black (Eds). Red List of Pollinator Insects of North America. CD-ROM Version 1 (May 2005). Portland, OR: The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.


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Just like in modern times, all work and no play made Grok a dull boy. Hunter-gatherers have always generally worked fewer hours and have had more leisure time than the average 40-hour-plus American worker. Once the day's catch was complete or the roots, shoots, nuts and berries had been gathered, our ancestors spent hours involved in various forms of social interaction that we might categorize today as "play." Young males would chase each other around and wrestle, vying for a place higher up in the tribe social strata. The males might also practice spear- or rock-throwing for accuracy or chase small animals just for sport. Young females might spend time grooming each other. To the extent that play was considered enjoyable, the net effect was to solidify social bonds and to prompt the release of endorphins (feel-good brain chemicals) and to mitigate any lingering stress effects of life-threatening situations.
From Mark Sisson's Definitive Guide to the Primal Blueprint
Whilst the irony of using play to deal with stress caused in part by my play is not lost on me, I'm enjoying a range of activities to take control of my cortisol levels, lower my food obsession, and get back into the activities I always found truly enjoyed and felt inexplicably driven to do. Thus, I have vanquished my preference for lazing on the couch, snuggled in my tie-dyed purple comforter, steadfastly avoiding the bitter chill of Winter (yes, once it drops below 20 degrees Celsius, I claim that the 'freezing' weather is too painful to endure), and have been getting creative:
I have been experimenting with a few culinary tricks that don't really warrant their own recipe post. I tried making osso bucco for the first time, using the appropriate cut from my beef delivery from Farmer Dan. After searing the meat, I stewed gently it with lots of spices and herbs. The meat tasted wonderful, as did the fatty marrow, but since I was rushed, I didn't have time to allow the gristly sections to soften and break down completely. I don't mind a bit of chewing, but the beau ended up cutting all the tougher sections off and discarding them, along with the succulent meat still clinging to the gristle. Shame.
The next experiment was inspired by the beau coming down with a nasty cold - ergo, meaty soup was required! I acquired some smoked pork bones, to be different, and boiled them until the entire house smelled like bacon. Mmmm... After removing the bones and noshing on the softened pork goodness myself, I chopped up and seared some topside beef steak, red onion and leek, then added them to the pot, along with diced turnip, sweet potato, tomato, carrot, and celery. Then it was time for the epic simmer, serving some to the boy and then topping up the meatiness with diced ham and fresh basil. The wonderful aspect of soup is that it stores in the fridge so well and reheats elegantly.
Finally, I revisited my Zucchini & Coconut Slice as an afternoon treat for the sick beau, taking down the more savory aspects (cumin) and topping the loaf with Nola. I indulged in a slice - I felt like it and the concept of dabbling in a small amount of carbs on the weekend works well for me so I don't obsess - and topped it with salted butter to avoid triggering a sweet craving. It ended up being my dinner, since it kept me full all afternoon and evening!
In terms of my eating this past week, for those who miss scrolling through food porn shots, know that I've been eating much of the same meals that have been my favourites throughout this primal journey: bacon and eggs, lamb chops, salmon sashimi, smoked salmon, and chicken curry, and then some rarer bits and pieces like been steak, beef burgers, white fish, and roast pork. It has been very interesting desisting my 18 month long habit of logging my food on SparkPeople. I no longer weigh my food. I am trying not to consider the caloric density of my food. I am simply eating what feel like normal portions at normal and necessary intervals. I have been taking lunch to work when possible in order to limit the potential cortisol response of my usual two-meal routine, but given my ability to leave work when the students do, no longer held back for hours by rehearsals and University tutorials to run, I've been happy to wait until 4pm for a late lunch. I'm still turned off by drinking plain water so I've been supping on organic white tea, and also fresh water with a dribble of lemon juice added for flavour. So no major changes in terms of my menu, just a release of my mathematical analysis of my food and its potential for instructing me to eat more when I don't need it, and for beating myself up when I 'fail'. I haven't felt much satiety, so that hasn't changed, although the zucchini slice today hit my gut and had me feeling far from hungry for hours! I'm a little worried I'm going to get some serious munchies when I head to bed in an hour...
I have been doing my best to get to bed before midnight, sleeping for at least 7 hours on work days and longer on the weekend. I'm hoping to kick my numbers up to a steady 8 hours each day, though it's very hard to get to bed by 11pm when the others in the household don't care to... Without sounding tragically co-dependent, I don't like falling asleep alone! Nyawwwww... It's cute until I point out that I just really don't like being woken up when some inconsiderate 6'2" lug flops into MY bed! Stresssssssss... :)
Visualisation & Meditation
Another struggling venture is my Jon Gabriel experiment. For the uninitiated, Jon Gabriel believes that he solved his weight and over-eating issues through a process of visualising his ideal body and other meditative activities, and over the course of two and a half years, lost weight steadily because his body now "wanted to be thin". I acquired the meditation recording from his CD (it comes with his book) and have been listening to it when I go to bed. Apart from the stress that comes from trying to follow a relaxation process whilst my bedmate shines his iPad in my face and coughs his guts up, the recording is quite interesting and listening to a calming recording has helped me off to a very sound sleep. One downside has been that, the first night, I fell asleep before the recording had finished, and woke up an hour later with my headphone cord wrapped around my face. Panic! And since part of the visualisation is to imagine yourself waking up in the morning feeling energised and alert, the jolt awake triggered the rest of my visualisation and I felt revved up and ready to meet the day! Not the best sensation to be faced with at 1am...
As you've probably picked up from my tone, I do feel that Jon's description of his process ("the weight will simply melt off and you will achieve your ideal body just by visualising it!") is overly simplistic. The power of positive suggestion is its ability to train your subconscious and unconscious mind to stop obsessing about food. Jon also attempts to encourage listeners to find physical activity more desirable, to get in touch with their body, but I can't vouch for his success there because I beat him to it!
One of my favourite activities at University was to head down to the sports centre at least once a week and attend yoga, despite my weirdly short calf muscles. It was led by an amazing European bloke that inspired absolute confidence and could lead 30 beginners through a series of postures whilst also spotting every single mistake happening in the room and correcting it. He also would always demand that any women currently menstruating would inform him of the fact before the class commenced. I would understand if he then varied the postures to somehow accommodate the particular physiology of menstruation, but I never noticed such activity... Anyway, I continued with yoga when I joined Fitness First in 2006, but then failed to pick it up again after moving out to the suburbs where I currently reside. The classes were always held too far from home for this non-driver.
However, this Tuesday I bit the bullet and walked down to Balwyn Yoga for a class. Despite the 45 minute walk on a "bitterly cold" evening, I was revved up for my first session in a new space. I was put in the 'beginners area', a small alcove adjoining the main yoga room, where four young, pregnant women had their legs akimbo and there was very little space to move. We were led through a strenuous series of poses, much more difficult than my Uni/Fitness First days, whilst the girls chattered about due dates and baby names and (awkward for me to hear without commenting) breast-feeding/formula and hospital food! I had to pay for 5 classes at once, so I will definitely be attending sessions for the next two Tuesdays before we head overseas. The location of the classes really is inconvenient though, so I will be treating these classes as 'lessons' to inform my own practice at home. I'm also stocking up on free yoga videos and iPod applications to assist me. My enjoyment of yoga has been fully reawakened - I've been finding any old excuse to spend 15 minutes on some poses every day (it helps that I should be doing lots of assessment and writing reports - any reason to procrastinate!), and love watching my flexibility improve. Doing the splits is a long way off, but I'm feeling my leg muscles lengthen and release rapidly! Since yoga is a mixture of strength and resistance training, it is perfect for my body type and primal outlook regarding exercise.
Sprinting & Moving Slowly
My usual walks to work have been literally dampened of late, with rain water encroaching into my Vibrams and through my Injinji socks! Not a great start to the morning. On wet mornings, I have to therefore succumb to the necessity of my old runners. Bleh. I also had the urge today, a cold Sunday, to take a walk at dinnertime (since I was still satisfied by my zucchini slice and butter), and headed out in my KSOs after dark. Once I reached the vacant walking track, I was inspired to do a series of sprints! So I would run or sprint all out for short distances, and then resume walking quickly whilst I escorted my unbridled breasts back into their bra. That's the downside of spontaneous sportiness - lack of pre-meditated sports-bra encapsulation.
My plan to get a massage at least once per month has kicked off as I now have a membership with a mobile massage service in Melbourne. However, I bought a full 'beauty' treatment from them as a present for myself and my beau, charging the massage therapist (whom we had not experienced before) with the task of exfoliating, foot soaking & reflexologically rubbing, facial masking, and aroma-therapeutically massaging both of us in pursuit of relaxation. Whilst the beau enjoyed his treatment, having asked to trade in the facial for more massage, my treatment was anything but relaxing: 1) my massage was first, whilst the therapist still reeked of cigarette smoke; 2) the therapist apparently forgot that he was supposed to massage my feet - and (apparently) being a Pisces, I carry stress in my feet; 3) my shoulders were also ignored - a key zone!; 4) during the back massage, the therapist DUG his thumbs into my hip bones repeatedly, causing bruising! The beau suffered similar marking, and; 5) the therapist applied my facial mask OVER my make-up! Ew! And the combination caused a stinging sensation and, later, a disgusting break-out!
Relaxation fail.
Here's hoping I can get the other therapist that the company has sent to me before, since she was an absolute ninja when it came to my body and my tension patterns. This week's therapist may have been a gorgeous, buff, blond boy who gave off waves of heterosexuality, but give me my 40 year old, red-headed stick figure of a woman with scary arms like Madonna any day!
Retail Therapy
A trip to one of my favourite clothes stores proved to be a very poor idea, since nothing fit, so I thoughts more broadly - cosmetics & glasses! I now have a range of delicious miessence products to minimise the harsh chemicals present in my make-up & removal regime, and I have a sleek black pair of sass & bide glasses being fitted with my prescription in the lab! Good news - I had to have an eye test to update my prescription, and my eyesight has improved since my last test two years ago! Hmm, what's changed in that period of time? Hello, primal!
I also splashed out on a bunch of Injinji socks, at last, to help keep away with winter chill:
Live Entertainment
On Monday night, I went with the beau and his workmates to see Jimeoin at the Comic's Lounge. Although two obese warm-up acts made unimpressive jokes about their size and assumed gluttonous eating habits, the night was relaxing and enjoyable. I do love Jimeoin's style, and I can say that without being biased by my little role in one of his films... I also splurged and had some champagne to help me REALLY relax! Although the bubbly did kick my energy up a notch (and I'm sure I burnt off all the sugar through my constant limb-jiggling and more generous laughter), I proved to myself that alcohol isn't all that helpful in my pursuit of calm since my dangerous knowledge of the effects of alcohol on metabolic & other physiological processes kept me from enjoying my buzz too much.
On Friday night, we had tickets to 'The Ugly One' at the MTC, and enjoyed the twisted narrative that somehow avoided the usual cliches of plastic surgery whilst viciously attacking the usual target of superficial society. The show involves some very witty staging and theatrical devices, with the actors exceeding expectations and throwing themselves into their roles with vigor. Since good theatre is anything but escapism, the relaxation value is mostly due to the hilarity of the piece rather than the opportunity to sit back and lose oneself in the story.
All in all, I'm feeling good! I'm trying not to monitor myself for signs of fat loss, but it's difficult given the prospect of having to don a swim suit in two weeks. I've been finding my old, chipper mood dominating my outlook throughout the day, and have been finding the energy to be more active and involved in the classroom. During my fat gain, I would find myself feeling really sluggish and stuck at my table up the front of the room, even during Drama classes! The fat-cell greed process does far more damage than just encouraging over-eating - my diminished metabolism meant that I couldn't even find the spark of energy to get me out of my seat, so even when I was eating very little, I was burning even less. I'm thrilled to see that turning around!
Two more weeks of work before the Canada trip - I can't wait! And in the meantime, I will be enjoying my meat, stretching & flexing, and enjoying fine entertainment to keep that smile on my face and my cortisol levels dropping. Viva bio-chemical normality!


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- Eugen Remensperger, Shop Systems GmbH
Planning sales rooms is all about the details. Stories are told. The company or the brand are presented. There are themes, product promises and seasonal campaigns. Everything is thought out to the smallest detail. Almost. There comes a point when the goods have to be placed along the wall.
If possible, so that nobody sees it. A contradiction? Not for us. We design our shop systems to suit your corporate design and with high standards of functionality and technology. The system becomes a supporting and almost invisible part of your brand identity.


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2014 Developer Salary Survey, May 13, 2014 Our survey of more than 2,200 U.S. developers shows salaries in a well-paid field are nudging up as the economy picks up steam.
For the first time in several years, ageism is not an immediately obvious factor in salary results. In years past, staff salaries froze or shrank pas the age of 45. In this survey, we see progress: recognition that older hands can enjoy a higher salary in exchange for their longer experience. This would be a welcome trend for all developers who continue to be passionate about their craft and have no intention of moving on to retirement pasture. Only managers over the age of 55 saw a decline in compensation. This might be due to the amount of change going on in data centers today an almost unprecedented wave of new technologies with new demands and the perception that older managers might not be ideally suited to responding to those new shifts.


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Find Our Latest Video Reviews on YouTube!
If you want to stay on top of all of our video reviews of the latest tech, be sure to check out and subscribe to the Gear Live YouTube channel, hosted by Andru Edwards! It's free!
Monkey Thoughts Move Robotic Arm
A team of scientists at Pittsburgh University has used small probes attached to monkey's brains to test a robotic arm operated by thought only. The limb has a fully mobile shoulder, arm, and gripper hand. The probes were attached to the monkey's brain, with their natural limbs being restrained. After a while, the monkey were able to control the robotic limbs with their minds as if they were their own. The idea here is that humans with missing limbs may be able to to train their minds to use a robotic limb as if it were the original. Currently the brain probes only last about six months, as organic matter begins to grow over them at that point. The team is working on developing a better probe.
Read More | BBC News
Robots Come Closer To Natural Walking Movements
Posted by Hector Martinez Categories: Misc. Tech,
It looks like robots are getting better at replicating the human walking motion, just another one of those things we take for granted until we hurt our backs shoveling snow. Recently, three concept robots were unveiled by researchers from Cornell University, the University of Michigan and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US and Delft University in the Netherlands. While walking robots are nothing new, these are doing it with much more efficiency by utilising the natural dynamics involved. In fact they use about the same amount of energy a human being would, where Honda Motor Co.'s ASIMO, was using approximately 10 times that. I would love to see a movie of the new robots in action, as the article describes the walking as "awkward but amiable." Very cute.
Read More | New Scientist
Boost Mobile Limited Edition Motorola i860
Posted by Hector Martinez Categories: Smartphones,
Boost Mobile has launched a limited edition i860 handset by Motorola with classic '60's surf-style wood paneling. Aside from the gimmick, the i860 still looks like a pretty decent phone, with a hands-free speaker, 4X digital camera, and walkie-talkie capability. Even though it's a limited edition phone, $499 does sound pricey though. I mean, you could pick up the Treo 650 for a little less, actually. I suppose novelty always comes at a price.
Read More | Boost Mobile
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Megazooka: A New Way to Scare Your Pets
Posted by Hector Martinez Categories: Misc. Tech,
Other than for driving your cat and co-workers crazy, I can't quite think of a reason for this thing. But maybe those are reasons enough! This device is an air launcher used to shoot a focused blast of air up to 20 feet away. It uses no electiricity, requiring no charging or batteries. Simply pull on an elastic launcher, and instant hilarity ensues. It's also pretty quiet, for maximum surprise effect. Measuring at about 17 inches x 15 inches by 11 inches, it's yours for $24.99 - and it's probably safer than airborne paperclips and rubber bands.
Read More | Gadget Madness
Nikon Coolpix 5600
Posted by Hector Martinez Categories: Cameras,
Who would've thought there would be a day when a 5.1 digital camera is considered "entry-level." Well, that's what Nikon is calling one of their six new cameras, the Coolpix 5600, coming in March for $279.95. It will feature built-in image improvement technology, red-eye removal, and a D-Lighting feature which compensates for insufficient lighting. The camera is also equipped with a blur warning and an alert feature that informs the user of a ruined shot due to a handshake. Tripods, people.
Read More | Techtree
Are Nanobots The Key To Immortality?
Posted by Andru Edwards - Categories: Misc. Tech,
It seems that author and scientist Ray Kurzweil believes that human immortality is a mere twenty years away. Rather than chasing the fountain of youth, however, Ray believes that nanobots are the secret ingredient needed to keep a person alive forever - barring a major accident. Nanobots are microscopic robots which are the size of a human blood cell. They swarm through the body repairing brain cells, bones, muscles, and arteries. In fact, Kurzweil believes that you can download programs to these nanobots which will then have them compensate for genes that may cause health problems. Sounds odd, I know - until you see that he is an extremely accomplished scientist and inventor.
Read More | CNN
Read More | Howard Lovy's Nanobot Blog
More Xbox 360 Rumors
Posted by Oscar M. Cantu Categories: Video Games,
We have been keeping you up to date on the latest Xbox 360° rumors as they appear, but this one takes the cake. Claiming they have an inside source, Kotaku has revealed more Xbox 360° details. If they are right, the next Xbox will certainly look a lot better looking than the first – it will be a sleek silver set top worthy of being a countertop display, have curves instead of angles, and will be able to stand upright much like the PS2. Its side will have an oversized back-lit power button, nicnamed "The Ring of Light". This Xbox will also be easy to customize with the use of colorful designer face plates that simply pop on and off. Even the dashboard will be customizable to fit each user's unique taste. Kotaku was even able to confirm some of the inner workings of the Xbox 360°. The console will feature high definition audio/video, include wireless controllers, and will come in two packages – one with an internal hard drive and another without the hard drive. According to Kotaku's source, Microsoft has not been able to achieve backward compatible functionality on its next box - but they are working on making it happen. This information confirms some rumors that we have been informing you about, but we must stress that this information has to be considered a rumor until official confirmation is made public by Microsoft. Until that day comes, we can drool over these details.
Read More | Kotaku
Leviton LE&AP Competes With Microsoft For Media Control
Posted by Categories: Home Entertainment, Internet, Movies, Music,
I know structured wiring and home automation aren't exactly at the tip of your tongue. All I can say is that it will be. If you want to be able to integrate all of your high tech audio and video toys with your home entertainment systems, and build them into multi room designs, you will need both home automation and structured wiring. The reason I mention this is that Leviton has announced that it is releasing the LE&AP, a multimedia hard drive distribution unit for its structured wiring enclosures. With a Linux based operating system, the LE&AP allows you to distribute your digital music and videos across multiple platforms. Send your MP3's to your stereo and your digital videos and digital camera images to the televisions. The distribution unit will also share out your broadband connection. I'm an MCSE and I'm going to be looking at this way before I look at mounting a computer with windows media system loaded on it.
This is an 8-zone commercial grade gateway and firewall, with 4 USB expansion ports, and a 120 GB internal drive. It can be upgraded to larger storage capacity as well as software upgrades. From the looks of the system eventually it will integrate with your security and home control devices as well.
With basic audio and video connections as well as advanced digital connections, the unit connects to your TV or stereo and uses your home network for communications. With the remote and some easy to use menus on the TV homeowners can browse and select all of their audio, video and photo storage.
Read More | Leviton
Xbox Power Cord Recall Notice
Posted by Oscar M. Cantu Categories: Video Games,
Microsoft has issued a recall notice on the power cord of Xbox consoles made before Jan. 13, 2004 in Continental Europe, and units made for the rest of the world before Oct. 23, 2003 - Xbox's built after those days were built in such a way that the failure does not occur. The recall is due to a defect on some boxes that lead to minor singe burns and scorched carpets or entertainment centers. According to reports to Microsoft's customer service and warranty repair data, the failure rate is about 1 in 10,000 units. That may seem like a small percentage, but why take the chance? Xbox owners may order a replacement through the Xbox website or by calling the toll free number for their respective country.
Read More | Reuters
Apple OS X Tiger Shipping in April? June?
Posted by Andru Edwards - Categories: Software,
You know we gotta keep you in the loop as it pertains to the Apple rumor mill. While it isn't yet official, it appears that the ship date for Apple OS X 10.4 (a.k.a. Tiger) will be June 30th 2005. Now, that works…except for the fact that ThinkSecret reported that Apple is "working hard on Final Cut Pro 5 and will use the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference in mid-April to debut the software." The report also states that "Final Cut Pro 5 will require Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and will take advantage of the new Core Video technology, which functions as a bridge between QuickTime and a supported video card to deliver hardware-accelerated video processing." This seems to imply that if Final Cut Pro 5 is going to debut in April, and will require OS X Tiger to run, that Tiger should also be available in mid-April. It's tough being a super sleuth.
Oh, and the image to the right is what is believed to be the final packaging box.
Read More | MacRumors
Read More | ThinkSecret
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The 2011 AAA Photo Contest is a showcase of anthropology at its best. Of the 93 photos submitted, AAA members selected their favorites in each of the four categories: Practice, People, Place and Process. You can view the top 20 photos in Anthropology News. Here on the AAA blog, we will feature several of the photos in a blog series, Photo Friday.
Title: A Miao Singer at the liu yue liu Festival
Photo Courtesy of Xianghong Feng
Contest Category: People
Caption: A Miao woman was enjoying singing at their liu yue liu Festival. The festival is held annually in Gouliang Village in western Hunan, China, sponsored by the local government. It features Miao singing competition among other Miao traditional performances. It attracts many Miao song masters and singers from western Hunan and eastern Guizhou. With a rich culture of oral traditions, singing used to be an important skill for them to communicate in their daily life, an art that is slowly disappearing due to the gradual penetrating of the market economy to their remote communities. The festival provides them a rare opportunity to put on their festival attire and show off their singing once a year. July 6, 2011.
Find your best photos from the last two years…the 2012 AAA Photo Contest is now open. Winning photographs will be displayed at the 111th Annual Meeting in San Francisco. View contest details.
Missed last week's photo? Click here.