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Washington Senate Budget Draws on State Toxics Account to Avoid Tax Increases
April 25, 2015
State lawmakers visiting a toxic cleanup site in 2010. Photo: Flickr/Port of Tacoma
Whether you call it budget trickery or prudent financing, a politically divided Legislature continues to tussle over how to spend more than $300 million collected from a tax on hazardous materials, including gasoline and other petroleum products.
Environmentalists argue that the Republican-controlled Senate has gone haywire, proposing a budget that would overspend anticipated revenues from the tax by $200 million over the next two years. But Senate Republicans say they are using a cash-flow method approved in 2013, and they are confident the money won't run out.
The tax, called the Hazardous Substance Tax, was imposed in 1988, when voters approved Initiative 97, the Model Toxics Control Act, or MTCA, to clean up hazardous-waste sites.
Since then, the toxics-control money has become a political tool, diverted by Democrats to avoid cutting state programs during the Great Recession and now being used by Republicans hoping to balance a lean budget without raising taxes.
The use of the MTCA toxics-cleanup money stands as an example of how creative budget writing can bail out legislators when money is tight — and how a tax passed for one purpose gets diverted for other uses. This and similar efforts are likely to undergo increased scrutiny as a special legislative session begins Wednesday and lawmakers intensify their efforts to reconcile the two-year spending plan.
The Senate's capital budget calls for spending about $200 million of the Hazardous Substance Tax, with about $136 million of that going for toxics-cleanup projects. That $200 million total is nearly five times the $44 million proposed in the capital budget of the House, controlled by Democrats.
The Senate's operating budget proposes to use $214 million of the toxics-control tax revenues to pay salaries and expenses at the Department of Ecology, some $27 million more than proposed by the House.
Taken together, the two Senate budgets would spend nearly $200 million more from three MTCA toxics-cleanup accounts than the total amount of revenues expected from the tax over the next two years.
Environmentalists warn that the Legislature is digging a hole in the toxics-cleanup accounts that could eventually result in cutbacks in ongoing environmental programs, already funded at less than 1 percent of the state's operating budget.
"Doing special accounting or budget construction that over-extends accounts and sets you up for problems in the future does not make sense," said Darcy Nonemacher, legislative director for the Washington Environmental Council.
The Senate's budget ignores a revised forecast from the Department of Revenue that Hazardous Substance Tax proceeds will decrease $98 million, the result of a dramatic decline in gasoline prices since September. That includes a 3 percent decline in tax revenues for the remaining 2013-15 biennium and a 21 percent decline for the 2015-17 biennium. The tax is assessed at 0.7 percent of the wholesale value of gasoline and other chemical products.
Had the Hazardous Substance Tax revenues held stable, the Senate budget would have over-appropriated the funds by half as much — some $100 million instead of $200 million over current anticipated revenues.
Sen. Doug Erickson, R-Ferndale, chair of the Senate Energy, Environment and Telecommunications Committee, does not view this budget practice as over-appropriation. He says a new cash-flow system, approved by the Legislature in 2013 as part of an MTCA-reform bill, allows spending on cleanup projects to keep pace with revenues as they come in.
Many projects funded by the toxics-cleanup money, including hazardous waste cleanups, cannot be completed in two years, he explained in an interview with InvestigateWest. Funds would go out as needed, so there is little worry about running out of money — even if the Legislature appropriates more than what can be supported by anticipated revenues, Ericksen said.
The Legislature never approved guidelines to limit the toxics-cleanup appropriations beyond expected revenues, Ericksen acknowledged. Theoretically, he said, a dramatic drop in revenues — such as with the decline in gasoline prices — could trigger serious problems. But with three separate toxics-cleanup accounts, solutions could involve shifting funds among accounts or delaying funding to other state programs, Ericksen said.
"It is a complicated way we're doing it," he said. "It's not like we have a fixed and firm rule."
The House took a more conservative approach and did not appropriate the toxics-cleanup funds beyond revenues forecast to be available for the next two years.
Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-Orcas Island, who has studied the situation, said he supports the new cash-flow approach, but not to the extent used by Republicans who drafted the Senate budget. When revenues are fluctuating, it is better to be more careful, he said.
Both Ranker and Ericksen agree that the use of the toxics-cleanup money has gone astray from the original goal of cleaning up polluted sites, and both say they want to get back to that effort. But they concede that weaning other state programs off the funds intended for toxics cleanup won't happen all at once.
During the recession, funding for cleanup projects began to dry up as the Legislature diverted increasingly more of the toxics-cleanup money to pay for staff and programs within the Department of Ecology. Since 2007, Ecology's funding from general tax revenues declined by 53 percent — from $132 million to $62 million. Meanwhile, support for the agency from the toxics-cleanup funds increased by 39 percent, from $118 million to $164 million.
Increasing revenues from the Hazardous Substance Tax during the recession made the diversions to support general government easier. During the first 10 years of the state's toxics-cleanup program, annual revenues stayed below $50 million. In 2000, revenues began climbing, reaching $200 million a year before the recent drop in gasoline prices. At the same time, the costs of cleaning up hazardous waste sites were escalating.
Ericksen characterized the Democratic-controlled Legislature's diversion of revenues to support general government in past years as a "slush fund." That is one reason he proposed the 2013 MTCA reform, which included the cash-flow approach to get more projects underway, he said.
The 2013 changes also included a streamlined permitting system and "model cleanup remedies" — a set of recipes that can be used to undertake basic toxics cleanups without extensive engineering and design.
Ericksen said he wants to reassert the emphasis on toxics cleanups.
Ranker, the Democrat, contends that the budget does not go far enough in restoring dollars to toxics cleanups, despite what the Republicans say. He acknowledged that he finds it hard to criticize, since the Democrats did the same thing to avoid cuts when they previously ran the Senate.
"But when we're coming out of a recession, we have the opportunity to create thousands of jobs by hiring thousands of people to clean up our communities." Ranker said. "I would rather use the money to make our communities healthier."
Democrats have proposed a variety of new taxes to end the budget dilemma, which is driven by a Washington Supreme Court ruling demanding the Legislature significantly boost education spending.
There's a big backlog of polluted sites waiting to be cleaned up. The toxics-cleanup taxes restored 6,200 polluted sites over the past quarter century, but 5,400 sites still require investigation and cleanup, according to Ecology. About 1,800 of those sites have cleanups underway, but many others have been languishing for years because money has been diverted from the cleanup program.
The proposed Senate budget includes a plan to move $7.5 million in toxics-cleanup funds to the state Department of Transportation for a purpose other than cleaning up toxic sites. DOT could use the money to help control polluted rainwater runoff known as stormwater.
Sen. Karen Fraser, D-Olympia, a member of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said everyone agrees that more money is needed to clean up stormwater pollution. She said stormwater does deliver toxic pollution to the state's waterways, so there is a connection to the original purpose of the toxics-cleanup funds.
Some legislators would shift the MTCA toxics-cleanup money to solve the stormwater problem, she noted, while others advocate for a new tax to upgrade old stormwater systems and build new ones.
"It is a choice," Fraser said. "When we were in the Great Recession, all the specialized funds got raided. But my general feeling is that until all the toxic sites in Puget Sound get cleaned up, we don't have a surplus" of money to be diverted elsewhere.
The Senate and House budgets remain far apart going into the special legislative session. But Ericksen expressed confidence that the two chambers' differences over the toxics-cleanup money will be resolved.
"This," he added, "is a very do-able piece."
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In collaboration with KUOW this week, we examine the roots of the plan, the challenges it faced, and where community and city leaders think we go from here.
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In our work, we rely on the generosity of many others who make their services available for free or at a discount to nonprofits, including Tableau and the Texas A&M GeoServices Team.


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Topics covered will include:
- Hands-on demonstration of simple seed saving
- Basic botany useful for seed saving at small scale farming and home scales - How to improve and adapt varieties to local conditions
- Participants will take home a few seeds for use in their own gardens
Contact firstname.lastname@example.com with questions and registration.
*In case of bad rain or cold temperatures, we will hold the workshop at the Duke Smart Home located at 1402 Faber St., located behind the Duke Freeman Center for Jewish Life just off of Swift Avenue. We will contact you the morning of the workshop in case of location

subset: commoncrawl


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Top 10 Synth Tone Tweaks
For quick edits in Rob Papen Blue, you can mute or unmute single oscillators using the ABCDEF buttons along the top, change the filter cutoff, resonance, or type in the middle section, or edit the arpeggiator steps in the multipurpose window along the bottom.
THESE DAYS, most synthesizers ship with hundreds of great-sounding presets. I often find myself clicking through the presets, looking for the perfect sound to add to the mix. Sometimes a sound is close but not quite right. Customizing a preset is easier than creating a great sound from scratch. The ideas below will work equally well on software or hardware synths.
1. Dial Back the Reverb. Factory presets are often designed to sound huge when auditioned. In a mix, the reverb may add mud. Moving the wet/dry knob on a reverb or delay effect over toward the dry side can clean up the mix. Also try shortening the reverb decay time or lowering the delay feedback amount.
2. Adjust the Filter Cutoff. Adjusting the filter in the synth may be more effective than mixer EQ for adjusting the balance of highs and lows, especially if the filter has a sharp cutoff slope. Depending on the preset, you may need to raise or lower the filter envelope amount in order to change the cutoff. Adding or reducing filter resonance can also change the character of the sound in desirable ways.
3. Add Velocity Sensing. A surprising number of factory presets have little or no velocity response. In order to edit the notes in a phrase so that some are accented, or so that a phrase has a crescendo or diminuendo, you may need to add velocity response. This will affect both the overall loudness of the instrument and the filter cutoff frequency, so a bit of back-and-forth editing may be needed.
Native Instruments Massive has eight Macro Control knobs (lower right) that are active in most presets for quick edits. Using the little blue button at the upper left corner of each module, you can mute or unmute oscillators (left), filters (upper center), or the dual effects processors (middle right). 4. Tweak LFO Vibrato. I like adding vibrato with the mod wheel. Some presets use the mod wheel for a different type of expression, so you may need to rewire the modulation routings. The existing modulation may be cool too, in which case you can re-route its input so as to add it from aftertouch, or from a MIDI slider.
The LFO vibrato rate may be too fast or too slow. While changing the LFO rate, don't overlook the possibility of modulating the rate slightly from the mod wheel while also modulating the depth. This adds subtle intensity to the expression.
5. Check the Layers. Many presets use two or more sound layers—separate oscillators, parallel filters, and so on. Try soloing the layers one at a time to see what each of them is doing. If a layer is adding an attack transient, you might want to boost or cut that layer by itself. Sometimes two layers are tuned to the interval of a fifth, which can interfere with chord changes. Tuning a layer from the fifth back to unison can make the preset more useful.
6. Experiment With Envelope Times. Occasionally you may want to make a sound more aggressive by sharpening up the attack time on the amplitude or filter envelope. A pad sound with a long release time may bleed into the next chord, so shortening the amplitude release time may clean up the mix.
If your bass preset is mostly playing short notes, the decay time and sustain level settings may not be doing much. But when the bass needs to sustain a long note, the sustain may drop off too quickly, or not fade quickly enough. By raising or lowering the amplitude envelope's sustain level and adjusting the decay time to make a smooth fade, you can avoid having to automate the track's mixer level.
7. Try Multiple Triggering. Lots of bass presets are designed for monophonic playing. This makes sense for bass, as you'll seldom want to hear two notes at once. The monophonic preset may be set to single triggering, in which case you'll get a new envelope attack only when there's a gap between two adjacent notes. When the preset has a snappy attack and a muffled sustain, single triggering can make some of the notes hard to hear. If you want every bass note to sound, switch to multiple triggering.
Conversely, if the bass preset is in polyphonic mode, every note will have a new attack, but you need to be careful to edit out the note overlaps in the sequence track, as any overlaps will add mud to the mix. In this case, consider switching to mono mode.
8. Edit Arpeggiator Patterns. With presets that use the built-in arpeggiator or step sequencer, you may need to edit the steps of the pattern to match the harmony or the groove of the song. Sometimes I set up two versions of a preset (on separate tracks) that are identical except for different step sequence patterns. This lets me switch back and forth to meet the needs of the song.
9. Automate for Expression. Most DAWs let you automate just about any parameter. With automation, you can make subtle or massive changes from note to note. Try adding a growl of distortion to certain notes, messing with the filter envelope decay, or cranking up the reverb at the end of a phrase so the last note will dissolve into the air.
10. Experiment! Most software instruments have dozens of parameters: oscillator waveform, glide time, panning, ring mod, pitchbend depth, effects, and more. You never know which obscure adjustment may turn a ho-hum track into a winner, so roll up your sleeves and experiment.
Jim Aikin has written hundreds of product reviews and tutorials for Electronic Musician and other magazines over the course of more than 30 years. His books on music technology include Power Tools for Synthesizer Programming(Hal Leonard Publishing) and Csound Power! (Cengage Learning).


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Struggling English Premier League club Sunderland hired Paolo di Canio as manager last night, setting off a fresh round of questions about his fascist beliefs.
Di Canio played all over Europe in the 90s and early-00s, and earned a reputation for his pro-Benito Mussolini statements and his on-field fascist arm gestures.
In 2005 he was disciplined by FIFA for repeatedly making the "roman salute" (pictured) — extending his right arm to the crowd — while playing for the notoriously right-wing Italian club Lazio. A lifetime ban was even suggested, according to the Telegraph.
After the controversy, di Canio told the Italian paper ANSA, "I am a fascist, not a racist."
He added (via the Telegraph):
"The salute is aimed at my people. With the straight arm I don't want to incite violence and certainly not racial hatred."
According to the Telegraph, di Canio has a tattoo of Mussolini's nickname on his arm. In his autobiography, he described the fascist leader as "deeply misunderstood."
Sunderland vice-chairman David Miliband immediately resigned after the hire was announced, and now there are calls for di Canio to clarify his beliefs.
Di Canio has experience in England. He played for Sheffield and West Ham, and coached lower-league Swindon Town from 2011-13. But now that he's on one of the biggest stages in world soccer, the outrage over his professed beliefs has resurfaced.
UPDATE: Di Canio has released the following statement (via Rob Harris of the AP):
"Something can happen many years ago but what counts is the facts. My life speaks for me. Of course it hurts me because people try to take your dignity and that is not fair.
"I believe in my pillars and I have values. What offends me more than anything is not because they touch me; they touch what my parents gave to me; the values they gave to me. This is not acceptable.
"What I can say is that if someone is hurt, I am sorry. But this didn't come from me, it came from a big story that people put out in a different way to what it was.
"I never have a problem in my past. I expressed an opinion in an interview many years ago. Some pieces were taken for media convenience. They took my expression in a very, very negative way – but it was a long conversation and a long interview. It was not fair. I know it is a part of my job to do interviews because I am well-known, but sometimes it suits their purpose to put big headlines and a big story.
"I don't have a problem with anyone. I haven't had a problem in the past and I don't know why I have to keep repeating my story, to be defending myself on something that doesn't belong to me every time I change clubs. Talk about racism? That is absolutely stupid, stupid and ridiculous. The people who know me can change that idea quickly. When I was in England my best friends were Trevor Sinclair and Chris Powell, the Charlton manager – they can tell you everything about my character.
"I don't want to talk about politics because it's not my area. We are not in the Houses of Parliament, we are in a football club. I want to talk about sport. I want to talk about football, my players, the Board and the fans. My first priority is my family and my daughters, that's obvious, and secondly to have the responsibility for thousands of people. This is my priority and I want to be focused on this aspect. I don't want to talk any more about politics – I am not a politics person."


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Emiliano Grillo Wins in Napa, CA
Emiliano Grillo is a 23 year-old golfer from Argentina. He started his professional career in 2011 by competing in the European Tour and finished in the top 10 after competing in the 2012 Africa Open. In 2014, at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, he was runner-up to Stephen Gallacher. He also won the Visa Open de Argentina.
Competing in 7 events in the 2014-2015 season, he earned enough money to be invited to compete in the 2015 Web.com Tour. He has won three tournaments - the PGA Tour, the Web.com Tour and a local tournament. His greatest success is winning the PGA tournament in Napa, CA, which has strengthened his position in world competition and is now ranked 36th in the Official World Golf Ranking. Despite his wins, he is still being classed as a rookie for the upcoming season.
At the Frys.com Open event, Emiliano competed for the first time as a PGA member. In a sudden death playoff, he made a birdie on the last hole while Kevin Na made a bogey, cinching Emiliano's win. Winning this event allows Emiliano Grillo entry to the Masters Tournament and the 2016 PGA Championship event.


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مدار Open Islamic Curriculum
Madaar:The point upon which we can revolve for refining Islamic Education
How It Works
Get Involved
Teacher Resources
Islamic Studies
Social Studies
Arts and Crafts
In The Name of Allah; the Merciful, the Beneficent.
The Open Islamic Curriculum,
Project, aims to fill a major gap existing in Islamic Education. Currently materials presented within an Islamic worldview are limited to Islamic Studies and Arabic Studies. Rather than try to simply neutralize an existing curriculum by removing content, we seek to create an integrated curriculum that revolves around developing, enriching and supporting the Islamic worldview within all subjects of study. The material will be offered freely for all to use.
In order to ensure that quality and content are of the highest order we plan to have a review system that will act as a quality control mechanism for the open source methodology of creating and sharing educational materials. The development of the curriculum will take place in stages and is based upon a pre-determined theme-based integrated educational methodology. Each lesson plan will be written around a central Islamic theme, each theme will have a sub-theme and that will be taught for one week. The respective lesson plans, all reinforcing the central themes, will be brought together in the form of a final weekly theme assignment, which will require students to incorporate all the subjects learned throughout the week.
Please contact us for more information.
©2012 -


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Sterling/Euro rates remain flat at around the €1.11 mark as we start a new week. This morning we had inflation and growth data from the Eurozone, however these were exactly as forecast so didn't have any effect on GBP/EUR rates. This week is an important one for Sterling, as we have 'Super Thursday' that could provide new direction for the Pound.
Bank of England 'Super Thursday' could affect GBP/EUR
It's 'Super Thursday' this week, which is when the Bank of England (BoE) releases a large amount of information that can affect the value of the Pound. We have an interest rate decision, although I think they will leave rates on hold at 0.25%. There's an outside chance of a rate cut that could weaken the Pound, but given the decent GDP and inflation numbers, I think there is no case for rates to drop further.
The BoE will also decide whether to increase their QE asset purchase programme. Also released are the minutes to the BoE decision on interest rates, and in this we will see what was discussed and how the 9 member MPC committee voted. This can provide clues on whether they may cut interest rates in the future and so is important for the Pound.
Finally, the BoE governor will give a speech in which he may well give clues as to how the BoE may act in the future with regards to QE and interest rates. In this speech he is also likely to make a statement as to whether he will step down in 2018 as the Times are reporting, or whether he will decide to serve a full 8 year term. If he does decide to quit, which is a possibility, it would likely weaken the Pound further as the markets want stability and any change in leadership in the current climate would create even more uncertainty for the UK economy.
When is the best time to convert Pounds to Euros?
As you can see from the above, it's likely to be a volatile week for GBP/EUR rates in particular. When looking to get the best exchange rates, timing is key. Exchange rates can change very quickly, and having a pro-active broker on your side to help guide you through the complex currency markets can be invaluable.
We don't just provide market reports to help clients understand what is moving exchange rates; we also provide foreign exchange services to any private individuals or businesses that are looking for the best exchange rates. As part of this service, we can discuss your requirements with a free 10 minute consultation over the phone, provide you a quote on your exchange to see how much you could save, and also provide a bespoke strategy to suit your particular requirements and timescales. In this way you can make an informed decision on when to exchange your funds and ensure you're getting the best possible exchange rate.
If you need to get the best rates, would like a quote or simply have chat to help you decide when to fix a rate of exchange, click here or complete the form below to send us a free enquiry today.


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Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) Based Prognostic Signature for Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Recent advances in proteomics and genome sequencing have revolutionized an era of cancer therapy where clinical, proteomic and genomic information are used in assessing an individual's risk for disease, prevention and treatment. Researchers at the University of Michigan used a TGF-β induced EMT model to quantitatively profile and identify differentially secreted proteins in the media of a lung adenocarcinoma cell line cultured in the presence or absence of TGF-β. The protein profile (EMT secretome) was used in combination with EMT gene expression data to identify a 97 gene EMT Associated Secretory Phenotype (EASP) that were upregulated at both protein and mRNA levels upon EMT induction. The EASP showed strong correlation to metastasis, stage, histological grade and predicted survival of lung adenocarcinoma patients in training and independent test sets. The EASP was further refined to a 20 gene signature (rEASP) which was effective in predicting survival in early stage NSCLC. Meta-analysis using different lung cancer gene expression data sets established the effectiveness of rEASP in stratifying lung cancer patients into low, medium and high risk groups with distinct survival times. The EASP provides a mechanism based, clinically relevant biomarkers with prognostic value for use in NSCLC.
Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition and Lung Cancer
Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a process where polarized epithelial cells lose cell-cell adhesion and cell polarity and acquire a motile and invasive phenotype that allows the cancer cells to migrate through the blood and lymphatic vessels to distant sites. EMT has been shown to be involved in the metastasis, treatment resistance, acquisition of characteristics of cancer stem-like cells, and associated with the progression of many type of tumors. EMT can be induced by several growth factors with Transforming Growth Factor- β (TGF- β) as the most extensively studied inducer of EMT. TGF-β binding to its receptors triggers a signaling cascade that activates a transcriptional response that promotes EMT. Cancer cells increase their production of TGF- β that not only induces EMT, but also enhances angiogenesis in tumor microenvironment, providing an exit route for migrating mesenchymal cells. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Lung cancer is a malignancy arising from the cells of the respiratory epithelium and has two major forms: small-cell lung cancer and non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Small cell lung cancer accounts for approximately 15% of lung cancer cases and NSCLC accounts for the remaining 85%. NSCLC is divided into three major histologic subtypes: squamous-cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and large-cell lung cancer. Treatment options, depending on disease stage, include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and any combination of these options. The current system for staging NSCLC is the tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) classification, which includes assessment of the size of primary tumor (T), the degree of spread to regional lymph nodes (N), and the presence of metastases beyond lymph nodes and lung tissue(M). NSCLC that has not yet metastasized to the lymph nodes or distal organs have a five-year survival of approximately 50%. Early stage patients treated with surgical resection alone will have recurrence within 3 years suggesting the presence of occult micrometastatic disease. Adjuvant chemotherapy has been shown to significantly increase survival rate in early stage NSCLC patients. Metastasis and resistance to therapy are the major causes of failure in lung cancer treatment. This is reflected in the poor prognosis and low five-year survival rates for lung cancer at 15% in the United States. Evidence suggests that patients with identical histology, location and disease stage determined by the TMN classification that receive similar therapy have varied survival rates indicating a heterogenous nature of the disease and suggesting that the current methods of tumor classification and staging are not sufficient for determining best therapeutic strategy and prognosis. In addition, some patients are intrinsically resistant or eventually develop resistance to current available therapy. Taken together, these emphasize the need to identify additional disease markers that may be used to: 1) identify early stage patients at a high risk of recurrence or metastatic disease, 2) determine the best treatment strategy, 3) serve as better prognostic markers and 4) identify therapeutic targets for the development of more effective therapies for NSCLC.
- Molecular markers for staging non-small cell lung cancer
- Prognostic markers for non-small cell lung cancer
- Therapeutic targets for developing non-small cell lung cancer therapy
- Novel molecular and prognostic markers for non-small cell lung cancer
- More accurate and personalized staging of non-small lung cancer
- New tool for designing better and targeted therapy


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Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: abortion, birth rate, Blase Cupich, Catholic, Catholic political party, Catholic values, FIDESZ, Hungarian Constitution, Hungary, liturgy, Quadragesimo anno, Quas Primas, religious liberty, religious state, Rorate Caeli blog, SSPX, subsidiarity, Tea Party, Vatican II
A post on Italian blog Cordialiter was re-posted recently with commentary on Rorate Caeli. Cordialiter says Catholics must not get trapped in the box the media has prepared for it, a false choice between Tea Party traditionalism or Socialist-flavored modernism. The blog says on the contrary, traditionalists must be '"True friends of the poor" and proceeds not exactly to say how to do that, but very definitely how not to do so: by accepting the perks of middle class existence, ignoring the social issues and focusing on worthy liturgy. That would be wrong, in Cordialiter's thinking.
Filed under: abortion, Books and Movies, Culture and Catholicism, depopulation, Vatican II | Tags: abortion, Catholic values, demographics, economics, Hungarian Constitution, Hungary, Jonathan Last, Planned Parenthood, secularism, student housing, third party, university cost, Vatican II, Wall Street, What to Expect when No One's Expecting
The Spanish have a saying, Pan para hoy, hambre para mañana, or Bread for today, hunger for tomorrow, and that just about nails down the economic implications of the rush for homosexual marriage. Businesses filed Friend of the Court briefs in huge numbers before the Supreme Court decision, and Marriott summed it up in their celebratory statement as reported by NPR: gays have more disposable income than families with kids, and we want that dough. Mars bars, Apple, Starbucks, Amazon, New York Life and Levi Strauss, 278 in all were eager to throw marriage under the bus for a cut of the action.
That bread dough has a shelf-life, of course. It expires with the next generation–oops, what generation? And then we shall know the hunger. Continue reading
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Benedict XVI, Catholic, Catholic values, Hungarian Constitution, morality, religious freedom, religious liberty, Sateed Warsi, secularism, SSPX, Vatican Insider, Viktor Orband
The world is finally beginning to realize the full import of the doctrinal changes made in the Catholic church by Vatican 2, because now we can see in practical terms rather than philosophical how the liberal doctrine, especially so-called religious liberty promoted by the Council, affects society. Hungary has recently formally rejected secularism, one of the Council' s novelties, by raising the modest call to promote and celebrate the Christianity at the core of their society. Viktor Orban, Hungary's prime minister, was interviewed by a Polish Catholic weekly, in which he called for the Church to step up to the crisis. If the Church were stronger, he argued, our country would be stronger. It was a plea on the ground, from the heart, because Hungary is in the fight of its life, literally to survive, after years of socialist corruption and moral degeneration that has left the country enormous debt and a dangerously falling birth rate.
Now the call for a stronger church has come from another surprising voice–a woman, a Baroness, and a Muslim. Continue reading
Filed under: Culture and Catholicism | Tags: abortion, Catholic values, culture, Hungarian Constitution, Hungary, marriage, morality, pro-life, religious liberty, SSPX, SSPX Budapest, SSPX mass Hungary, support Hungary, traditional mass times Budapest, Vatican II, Wall Street
Please note: SSPX does have mass in Budapest, Hungary, on the second and third Sundays of the month at 10:00, as well as 6:00 on the Saturday evenings preceding the Sunday. The celebrant is Father Fuchs. The address is Thokoly Ut 116.1.3, #3. More information may be obtained from Mr. Landgrebe, who speaks English, at the Austria rectory +4327166515 (how Google Voice renders it, which worked for me calling from the US) or +43 (0) 2716/6515 (how the Austrian website renders it and perhaps for European dialers). Let's go show Hungary some love.
Above is a link to sign a petition to support Hungary. For the sake of Hungary's unborn children, do it now. The text of the petition follows if you would like to read it here and sign it there.
The Hungarian American association supports Hungary, has thoroughly examined the means by which Viktor Orban came to power and calls them unquestionably democratic, and asks that the West give Hungary a chance. Continue reading
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: abortion, Catholic church, Catholic values, collegiality, demographics, doctrine, ecumenism, Hungarian Constitution, Hungary, morality, Rupert Scholz, SSPX, SSPX mass in Hungary, traditional mass in Hungary, Vatican II, Viktor Orban
Please note: SSPX does have mass in Budapest, Hungary, on the second and third Sundays of the month at 10:00, as well as 6:00 on the Saturday evenings preceding the Sunday. The celebrant is Father Fuchs. The address is Thokoly Ut 116.1.3, #3. More information may be obtained from Mr. Landgrebe, who speaks English, at the Austria rectory +4327166515 (how Google Voice renders it, which worked for me calling from the US) or +43 (0) 2716/6515 (how the Austrian website renders it and perhaps for European dialers). Let's go show Hungary some love.
And now, on the topic:
A Polish Catholic Sunday weekly interviewed Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban that makes the connection between Hungary's fight to reverse her dire situation and SSPX's doctrinal struggles. You must read this interview, where the rosary is given its proper place as a full-blown political weapon, and in which we hear the director of a country in the fight of its life say the words traditional Catholics are saying all over the world. Viktor Orban laid it out: "If we had stronger Church, the whole country would be stronger." Continue reading


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Be Good (2013)
- Studio: Independent
- Release: April 5, 2013
- Director: Todd Looby
- Writer: Todd Looby
- Cast: Thomas Madden, Amy Seimetz, Tessa Looby, Todd Looby, Joe Swanberg, Paul Gordon, Kathryn Henderson, Jim Jacob, Quentin Hirsley
Video archive for the film Be Good, which has a domestic theatrical release in the year of 2013. There is currently one video available for the film, of which one and only one is a trailer, as listed below. Happy viewing!
Featured Movie Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker


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Configure the SDK
Create and configure user credentials
We would like to send requests to the DynamoDB, but the SDK has to be configured before we can do that. The two required pieces of information are the region and credentials. There are several ways to provide credentials securely:
- Using Amazon Cognito to authenticate users
- Using web identity federation to authenticate users
- Hard-coded in your application
We are going to pick the easiest one and hard-code the credentials into the application. This is also the least desirable method from the security standpoint, used here for the sake of convenience and speed. To do so, open the Identity and Access Management (IAM) console, click on Users menu and Create User. Immediately after the user is created, you can copy (or download) the security credentials and hard-code them into the application:
var user_credentials = { accessKeyId: 'AKIAIV6CXXXXXXXXXXXX', secretAccessKey: 'i8+vtmKkXXXXXXXXXXXXX' };
Allow read-only access to DynamoDB
This newly created user still does not have any service permissions and thus can't perform any actions. We need to attach a specific policy to allow DynamoDB access. Click on the Users name in the IAM, select the user, open Permissions tab and click Attach policy. Type AmazonDynamoDBReadOnlyAccess, select it and click Attach policy. We are now officially allowed to query the DynamoDB. Permissions are set as read only to mitigate the security risk due to hard-coding the credentials.
Let's finish configuring the JavaScript SDK by executing a command to update user credentials:
AWS.config.region = 'us-east-1'; AWS.config.update(user_credentials);
List DynamoDB tables
To test the newly created user credentials and verify the read-only access to Dynamo, lest first list all Dynamo tables. This is done by calling the listTables() method of the DynamoDB object. Let's also put all tables into the drop-down menu for easy selection.
var dynamodb = new AWS.DynamoDB(); dynamodb.listTables(function(err, data) { var html_str; if (err == null){ html_str = ' DynamoDB tables: <select>'; $.each(data.TableNames, function(index, value){ html_str += '<option value="' + value + '">' + index+1 + '. '+ value + '</option>'; }); html_str += '</select>'; } else{ console.log(err); html_str = err; } $('#table-list').html(html_str); });
If the credentials are invalid, we will see an error message. If the credentials were crated properly, we can select the table iot-buttons from the menu (that's the name we decide on in the first part).
Display table info
Let's now obtain table info by calling describeTable() method and passing the table name as parameter. For example, let's get the total number of records in a table:
var params = { TableName: $(this).val() }; dynamodb.describeTable(params, function(err, data) { if (err) { //an error occurred $('#table-list').append('
' + JSON.stringify(err) + '
'); } else { //successful response var table = data.Table; $('#table-list').append('
 '+table.TableName + ": # of items= "+table.ItemCount + '
'); } });
Query the table
Finally, let's query the table to get the data for a particular sensor. Device serial number serves as the primary partition key. Let's obtain all data from an IoT button with a given S/N. First, we need to create a DocumentClient object:
var docClient = new AWS.DynamoDB.DocumentClient();
We need to pass query parameters to the query() method of this object. This includes the deviceS/N:
var device_sn = 'G030JF05XXXXXXXX'; var params = { TableName : table_name, KeyConditionExpression: "#device = :dev_sn", ExpressionAttributeNames:{ "#device": "device_id" }, ExpressionAttributeValues: { ":dev_sn":device_sn } };
Finally, we can get the data from the table:
docClient.query(params, function(err, data) { if (err) { //output error message if query failed $('#query').append('
 Unable to query. Error:
'+JSON.stringify(err, null, 2)); } else { $('#query').append(JSON.stringify(data.Items)); //data.Items now contains the array with returned item } });
After the successful query, returned data.Items contains all returned items. The variable structured as an array of JSON object, each corresponding to a row in the DynamoDB table:
data.Items = [Object, Object,... Object] Object = {"data": { "serialNumber":"G030JF05XXXXXXXX", "clickType":"SINGLE", "batteryVoltage":"1704mV" }, "timestamp":"1472127527955", "device_id":"G030JF058432MLDB" }
The only thing left is to represent the data in a convenient way.
Process and visualize the data
There are many possible ways to process and visualize the data. For example, one can parse it and represent as HTML table. The voltage and click type can be represented as time-series using one of many available charting libraries.
I wrote two classes for data processing. The first one process data as a HTML table and then adds more functionality to it using dynatable jQeuery plug-in. The second one plots clicks and voltage vs time using plot.ly JavaScript.
To take advantage of these, add the following scripts:

Scripts table_processor.js and plotly_scatter.js require moment.js and numeral.js to propely process the time-stamp data.
Pass the acquired data into the new FH.dataprocess object together with a jQuery object for the output HTML div, and the script takes care of tables and plotting:
new FH.dataprocess(query_data, $('#processed-data'));
To see the details of the data processing scripts, download the repository on GitHub. If your AWS IoT and DynamoDB endpoints are set-up correctly, this sample code will produce IoT button voltage and click time-series plots like the one below.


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The ItemID is actually for the product which is independent from the weight and price. Each product is available in mulitple sizes and the size determines the weight and price. If I left the ItemID as the value then that would be what gets pushed into the cart object.
I understand what I have to do now based on your reply, Thanks. It's just that I had this idea in my head that the original selections I was making when I set up the Add from Recordset would be sufficient to get the information into the Cart. So I guess what the extension does is just provide a skeleton within which a bunch more work has to be done to get the functionality unless you have a very simple store.
In the Advanced View of the Recordset, I don't even see a way to make a select with the "where" equal to the SizeID. And of course the SizeID has to be captured in a variable which is a PHP statement or two. So there would be some SQL and some PHP custom coding, albeit very simple.
Am I missing some way to use the extensions that I haven't tried or am I correct about the tweaks I have to do?


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Vacuum Ultraviolet Spectroscopy II, Volume 32
1st Edition
Secure CheckoutPersonal information is secured with SSL technology.
Free ShippingFree global shipping
No minimum order.
Table of Contents
Contributors. Volumes in the Series. Optical Systems: Monochromators and Spectrometers: M. Koike, Normal Incidence Monochromators. H.A. Padmore, M.R. Howells, and W.R. McKinney, Grazing Incidence Monochromators. J.H. Underwood, Spectrograph and Monochromators Using Varied Line Spacing Gratings. A.P. Thorne and M.R. Howells, Intermerometric Spectrometers. Detectors: J.B. West, Gas Detectors. L.R. Canfield, Photodiode Detectors. O.H.W. Siegmund, Amplifying and Position Sensitive Detectors. S.V. Bobashev, Absolute Flux Measurements. R.L. Stockbauer, Vacuum Techniques. Application: Y. Vladimirsky, Lithography. H. Ade, Spectromicroscopy. Spectroscopy: M. Ginter and K. Yoshino, Optical. T. Calcott, Fluorescence. Index.
This volume is for practitioners, experimentalists, and graduate students in applied physics, particularly in the fields of atomic and molecular physics, who work with vacuum ultraviolet applications and are in need of choosing the best type of modern instrumentation. It provides first-hand knowledge of the state-of-the-art equipment sources and gives technical information on how to use it, along with a broad reference bibliography.
Experimental researchers, graduate students, and practitioners in applied physics, especially spectroscopic methods; optical sources in physics and engineering; and atomic and molecular physics who work in the field of vacuum ultraviolet applications.
- No. of pages:
- 307
- Language:
- English
- Copyright:
- © Academic Press 1998
- Published:
- 21st August 1998
- Imprint:
- Academic Press
- eBook ISBN:
- 9780080860220
Ratings and Reviews
About the Serial Editors
James Samson Serial Editor
Affiliations and Expertise
University of Nebraska, Lincoln, U.S.A.
David Ederer Serial Editor
Affiliations and Expertise
Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.
About the Editor-in-Chiefs
Thomas Lucatorto Editor-in-Chief
Affiliations and Expertise
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, U.S.A.
Marc De Graef Editor-in-Chief
Affiliations and Expertise
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.


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It is a pleasure to be a guest blogger on Polyphonic.org and I am excited to share a behind-the-scenes look at my latest project: Dreams of the Fallen, an exciting new work for orchestra, chorus, and solo piano commissioned by a consortium of orchestras, private sector donors, and acclaimed pianist Jeffrey Biegel - a champion ofRead More →
A few weeks ago I got a call from concert pianist Jeffrey Biegel, who wanted to tell me about a new consortium commissioning project he's working on. At the end of a rehearsal with the Minnesota Orchestra, a young composer approached him about a piece he'd like to write for piano, chorus and orchestra. JeffreyRead More →
AcousticaElectronica AcousticaElectronica. Quite a mouthful to say, but then again – quite an idea. The concept of the show was simple. Blend the virtuosity found in the classical concert hall with the energy of the late-night dance club. The show … Continue reading →Read More →
Yakov Kreitzberg, the Russian-born, American-trained conductor was Music Director and Artistic Director of the Monte Carlo Philharmonic, Principal Guest Conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and outgoing Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and Netherlands Chamber … Continue reading →Read More →
"As far as boundaries are concerned, we are always looking for new ones." * A little while back I attended a class by Hankus Netsky who heads up our Contemporary Improvisation Department. This is the department Gunther Schuller created in … Continue reading →Read More →
Because otherwise they're going to say things as dumb as what Leonard Slatkin said today about the DSO strike: …A settlement now would serve both parties well since the DSO's popular, high-profile music director is the scheduled conductor for next weekend's concerts. "What's really cool is that we would be doing Michel Camilo's Second PianoRead More →
It's not very often that practice techniques make the Wall Street Journal. It's even less often that they become the stuff of vitriolic debate, but that's what's happened in response to this: A lot of people wonder how Chinese parents raise such stereotypically successful kids. They wonder what these parents do to produce so manyRead More →
Orchestra strikes always cause collateral damage, from lost work for stage hands to lost income for restaurants. The strike in Detroit looks to hurt someone aside from the usual suspects, though. The DSO was supposed to have its opening concerts of the season this weekend with soloist Sarah Chang. Of course the concerts are offRead More →
Musicians don't talk much about focal dystonia; perhaps it's a superstitious avoidance akin to trying to ward off the Evil Eye. For dystonia really is a horror show; arguably the leading career-killing disorder of all.Read More →
My BBB Charles Noble wrote a good post the other day on the perils of being an assistant principal string player: This morning, at the dress rehearsal for this weekend's classical program, my principal had to leave midway through the rehearsal for personal reasons. It took place during the middle of the first movement ofRead More →


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These Monday blogs are supposed to be a guideline on how boys should act like men. Sometimes though, you just need to say fuck it, and throw what you know out the window.
Let me say this right off that bat. I'm not talking about crying over a stubbed toe, you missed the new episode of CSI, or you can't find your lucky hat.
Nope, I'm talking about crying because you're just so happy.
Example…some of my best friends got married over the weekend. Yours truly, broke down and cried/teared up about ten times.
Now if you have a problem with this, well, you can have a big tall glass of fuck off.
We have a lot of headaches and problems to deal with in this world. If something amazing, like people in your life getting married make you happy, cry tears of joy all day long.
|Jerks made me cry 10 times on Saturday.
I still love'em though
A birth…
A graduation…
Suddenly living independently…
Whatever it may be…
Stop to smell those roses. If those roses happen to make you cry, get something for those allergies.
In the meantime, don't be ashamed of crying over being so happy. Enjoy the moment and embrace it for all it's worth.


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Client: Escambia County, FL
Summary: Pinestead – Longleaf Roadway Design – Lighting Design
Detailed Activities:
- Lighting Justification Report – Prepared a lighting justification report.
- Lighting Analysis – Prepared a lighting analysis report detailing design and maintenance options for a complete roadway lighting design.
Pinestead-Longleaf Lighting Design, Escambia County: Currently a lighting design engineer for a 5.0 mile four-lane divided highway including 1 bridge and multiple access points Lighting design included insuring that a safe, aesthetically pleasing lighting design was provided for an highway design and prevented lighting intrusion to adjacent residents.
S.R. 123 Roadway
Improvement Project


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Office Indoor Air Quality
The X-NUCLEO-IKS01A1 is a motion MEMS and environmental sensor evaluation board system.
This is the complete sensor suite at a particular time. Atmospheric pressure is adjusted to sea level. This data is acquired with an ESP8266 Wemos using the source code at https://github.com/kentaylor/esp8266-weather-station.
Weather conditions from Weather Underground at the UrRemote Office building. Used for comparing environmental conditions inside with those outside.
Weather Data at UrRemote Office presented in a variety of ways. This data is acquired with an ESP8266 Wemos using the source code at https://github.com/kentaylor/esp8266-weather-station
Rick's Office data
Remote 205
Here the Temperature values will be stored.
Here the Temperature values will be stored.
Temperatur und Luftfeuchtigkeit im Büro des ion2s-Kreises B2B Portale
Temperature, humidity, pressure, moisture in the office
Hoeveel herrie maken de collega's rond de werkplek van Harm
My Office Environmental data
Temperature in my office


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Know more about this business than we do? Cool! Please submit any corrections or missing details you may have.Help us make it right
Heflin Chevron located at 2216 Almon St in Heflin, AL services vehicles for Towing Service, Truck Service Station, Gas Stations, Convenience Stores. Call (256) 463-5477 to book an appointment or to hear more about the services of Heflin Chevron.
Be the first AL.com user to add photos or videos of Heflin Chevron
Heflin Chevron can be found at Almon St 2216. The following is offered: Towing. The entry is present with us since Sep 10, 2010 and was last updated on Nov 14, 2013. In Heflin there are 3 other Towing. An overview can be found here.
Local & Long Distance Towing, Fully Insured, Chevron, Automotive Lockouts, All Area Towing, AAA


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Chippy by Cramzy.com
Chippy LITE is a beautiful remake of the old-time classics Pang (Bubble Trouble).
Chippy Lite is free, and features 5 interesting levels, great music and many bonuses.
Use your left hand to control directions (left/right) and your right hand to shoot.
Chippy is Free in the iTunes App Store
Developer Website: http://www.cramzy.com


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Much of the media reporting on the global warming hoax summit in Paris sounds like it is a foregone conclusion that a treaty will be imposed on the people by the exploiters that are known as their governments. But this Associated Press story suggests the Republicans in Congress might stop Obama's attempt to get an agreement.
(Calling the treaty an "agreement" might sound like it involves an agreement with us. That's the delusion they want us to believe. It is actually an agreement among world rulers to make our energy more expensive. The people don't agree to anything; we just comply with orders.)
President Barack Obama is trying to negotiate a legacy-making climate change pact this coming week in Paris with one hand tied behind his back. Congress can't even agree whether global warming is real.
Scientists point to the global agreement, years in the making, as the last, best hope for averting the worst effects of global warming. Obama has spent months prodding other countries to make ambitious carbon-cutting pledges to the agreement, which he hopes will become the framework for countries to tackle the climate issue long beyond the end of his presidency in early 2017.
But Republicans have tried to undermine the president by sowing uncertainty about whether the U.S. will make good on its promises. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other GOP leaders have warned other countries not to trust any deal Obama may strike; other GOP allies are working to nullify Obama's emissions-cutting steps at home.
"Congress and more than half of the states have already made clear that he won't be speaking for us," according to a McConnell opinion column posted on The Washington Post's website. He said it would be "irresponsible for an outgoing president to purport to sign the American people up" for a new climate agreement.
I have been horrified by how Republicans, given both the House and Senate in 2014, have betrayed the people who voted for them on many issues. But this time they seem to be genuinely opposing the President.
In the United States, the talks are entangled in the debate about whether humans really are contributing to climate change, and what, if anything, policymakers should do about it. Almost all Republicans, along with some Democrats, oppose the steps Obama has taken to curb greenhouse gas emissions, arguing they will hurt the economy, shutter coal plants and eliminate jobs in power-producing states.
Half the states are suing the administration to try to block Obama's unprecedented regulations to cut power plant emissions by roughly one-third by 2030. These states say Obama has exceeded his authority and is misusing the decades-old Clean Air Act. If their lawsuit succeeds, Obama would be hard-pressed to deliver the 26 percent to 28 percent cut in overall U.S. emissions by 2030 that he has promised as America's contribution.
Opponents also are trying to gut the power plant rules through a rarely used legislative maneuver that already has passed the Senate. A House vote is expected while international negotiators are in Paris.
Senate Republicans are working to block Obama's request for the first installment of a $3 billion pledge to a U.N. fund to help countries adapt to climate change, a priority for poorer countries. What's more, the Republicans running for president are unanimous in their opposition to Obama's power plant rules; many say that if elected, they immediately would rip up the rules.
Dare we hope the autocrats will fail? Previous attempts to set up a global treaty have done so. There is room to hope and pray.


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The way you visit restaurants is about to change in a big way. That's the hope at least for the three guys behind SilvrSpoon.
Patrick Meyn, Eugene Revzin and Nick Terkay have been working on the idea behind SilvrSpoon for about a year now, and they are getting ready to launch the program here in Chicago.
"SilvrSpoon is an interactive, mobile, loyalty, feedback and rewards platform," Explains Meyn, Director of Business Development. "It's bridging the gap between restaurants and consumers."
That sounds great and all, but what exactly does it do?
When someone goes into a restaurant that is using the SilvrSpoon system, they will find a custom QR code at their table. Scanning the code on your iPhone or Android device will let the restaurant know who is sitting there and as much information the customer wants to provide (The ability to link up to your Facebook account means you will be able to tell the restaurant just about everything about yourself).
Once you've checked in, you are able to see a menu on your smart phone that can be customized to your tastes, based on what you say you like and dislike, and the traits (spicy, grilled, vegetarian etc.) with which the restaurant has tagged its menu items.
Next comes ordering, which could be done completely without the waiter or waitress, ordering just through your phone. The guys at SilvrSpoon stress that they aren't looking to eliminate the waitstaff of a restaurant, and that the app can be customized as much as one particular restaurant would like, so that the waitstaff can be as involved or uninvolved as the restaurant would like them to be.
When orders are placed through the app, the user receives "points" at that particular restaurant, which can then be used at that restaurant however the restaurant sees fit.
As you're ready to leave the restaurant, you can request the check through the app, and then leave feedback through the app.
But why?
Meyn explains that one thing that's SilvrSpoon hopes to promote is loyalty to a restaurant.
"Loyalty is something that has been by the wayside a little bit," Meyn explains. "With all these daily deal websites and such, they don't really promote loyalty."
Other than that, the team explains that there is a lack of good feedback coming in from consumers about their restaurants. While they maintain that sites like Yelp and Foursquare, which you are able to leave comments with your opinions about the restaurant, but the restaurant never knows much about the commenter. SilvrSpoon however provides the restaurant with data about what the diner ate, when they were there, and at which table they were sitting, all key aspects that could change a diner's experience.
So why Chicago? Why did SilvrSpoon decide the Second City was the place to launch their application?
"People love to eat here." Explains Revzin
"As a technology company, there's obviously Silicon Valley [to start]," continues Revzin. "But there aren't 3,500 restaurants within a 20 mile radius."
So what kind of advice do the guys of SilvrSpoon have for someone who might want to start up their own company?
"The workday never ends." Meyn explains. "When you're starting something new, it's always on your mind."
Revzin says that a lot of people will tell you to keep something simple and get it out to market, which isn't always bad advice, but you still have to make sure that you're putting out the product that you want.
"Balance the need to get results with getting your idea out there." Revzin says.
And finally, there's the money, particularly convincing investors that your product is what they should be investing in, especially when your technology is new, and there are others trying out similar products.
"A lot of these investors are not quite sure which approach is right." Revzin says.
"We tell them, 'the future is easier to predict when you create it.'" Terkay explains.


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I spent the bulk of Easter Sunday and Monday on my own, with Matt working 12 hour day shifts and my kids still away. My Easter indulgence consisted of a couple of squares of Lindt 85% cocoa chocolate.
Sunday was taken up almost entirely by sleeping in (aka going back to bed after getting up to do the milking), the sourdough bake and dealing with the apples.
One pleasant side-effect of doing the sourdough bake when I am home alone on a weekend is that I get to make pancakes with the excess starter. Sourdough pancakes with banana, walnut and maple syrup for breakfast. Nom nom nom.
As for the apples… I stripped the Golden Delicious tree last weekend since I needed 1kg for the chutney I made with the beautiful big red tomatoes I was given by the boys' grandparents. For my first go at chutney I was pretty pleased with the result. It is a great combination of sweet and savoury, and it went really well with the sausage rolls I made from Silkie meat and sweet potato.
I only have three apple trees, and I heard a lot of reports from other backyard producers that due to the extreme heat this summer the crops had been poor. I netted my trees this season to keep the birds off them, and I must admit that my success was mixed. The Jonathan tree, usually my best producer, gave a good number of apples, but they were tiny. I pruned it savagely over winter, and probably should have thinned the fruit early on.
The Golden Delicious tree has never looked totally happy. I was a bit soft in my approach to pruning this one, as it is still recovering from being pruned almost to death by a goat a few years ago. I got some nice apples of a good size, but as usual not a huge yield.
I am not completely sure what variety my third tree is, but I think it might be a Fuji. It usually gives a small number of sweet but small apples. This year it really proved its worth.
Not only were the apples a good size, there were plenty of them. I got a box in total from the Jonathan and Gold Del. From this tree I filled a second box and had to go back for the washing basket to bring the rest in.
I put about 20 apples into preserving jars for winter puddings (hooray for my $22 peeler/slicer/corer), filled two of my fruit stand baskets with the pick of the crop and set to work juicing the rest for cider.
I was given a juicer by a friend who was moving house several years ago. Sure, it makes great juice, but it is a pain to clean. It is a tough and efficient machine in other ways, and it whizzed through all those apples like a champ. I ended up with 12.5litres of juice and a big bucket of pulp. The poultry greatly appreciated the pulp.
I had to warm the juice slightly to dissolve the sugar, which helped get it to brewing temperature. I added the yeast sachet that I got from The Home Brew Shop in Ballarat. Then I parked the whole thing on the heat pad in the small bathroom. Two days later it is fermenting very happily at 24 degrees.
I have never made cider from actual apples before. Until now I have used canned apple juice concentrate, so this batch will be very interesting. Hopefully as long as I manage to keep it warm enough for long enough after bottling it will have the dryness and champagne-like fizz that I enjoy so much.
So that was Sunday.
Monday… well, I had big plans for Monday, but I didn't really do anything. At least it felt like I did nothing. I had intended to get all the goats' feet trimmed, mow the lawn and whippersnip the edges, clear out the greenhouse and clean the chook pens. The windy weather put me right off being outside. I did get the greenhouse cleared out and did a load of washing. I created a blog post. Then I considered the possibility of actually taking a bit of a break…
I'm not quite ready for that yet. Once I stopped moving forward I slipped into a guilt spiral. All those things I 'should' have done instead rolled around and around in my mind. I ended up curled up in bed with the doona over my head. Yay me.
Nothing that I didn't do was especially pressing. But when I make a To Do list you can bet your tail that I will damn well do all the things on it. And I won't be happy until I do. I especially won't feel that I deserve to sit down until EVERYTHING is done.
For those who bear witness to all the things I do, all the things I achieve, I rarely reveal the flip side. I put enormous pressure on myself to do all these things. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy what I do. Sometimes, though, I find completing the task to be more rewarding than performing the task. That is, I am not happy while doing, only when done. Which is not a recipe for happiness.
I am working on being more present, on seeing life as more than a list of tasks on a whiteboard that I have to cross off. A night of cooking is one of my favourite things, especially with the addition of music, someone to talk to and something nice to eat and drink. But some days the To Do list is all that keeps me going and I am almost afraid to stop. It keeps my brain on the straight and narrow and while I am busy, while I am doing things, it has no right to judge me.
Apparently we all need down time. What I have to do is realise that I deserve it.


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Book reception
When: 2-3 p.m. March 11
Where: Holly Springs United Methodist Church, 7441 Holly Springs Road, Pendergrass
How much: Free
Contact: 706-367-8492
It isn't uncommon to hear children in Sunday school sing, "This little light of mine. I'm gonna let it shine. Everywhere I go, I'm gonna let it shine."
For many years, Julie Marlow and her family could not "let it shine," at least not publicly. Her family's religious history is complicated, but not unique.
It's rather common among the Sephardic Messianic Jewish, Marlow says. "Sephardic" is derived from the Hebrew name for Spain and "Messianic" refers to their belief in Jesus.
"All throughout my childhood, I heard my parents and grandparents talk about how our family had always been persecuted. They would talk about how (our ancestors) had at one time come from Israel back when the tribes were scattered (as told in the Old Testament of the Bible)," said Marlow, an Oakwood resident and retired Gainesville State College instructor.
"They ended up going to the area that is now Spain. After they got there, they were satisfied and happy until King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella wanted an all-Catholic country, so the Jews had to leave."
After leaving Spain, many of the former Israelites settled in parts of what are now New Mexico and Colorado.
"After they got (to America), everything was fine until they started building their churches," Marlow said.
Catholicism was the main religion of the day, and when church leaders began creating religious statues, that didn't go over well with Jews who felt the statues went against the Ten Commandments.
Since their beliefs had expelled them first from Israel, then Spain, Marlow's ancestors chose to take their faith "underground" to avoid further mistreatment.
"They were very aware that they were not able to attend the (Catholic) churches, so they said the only thing they could do was to go underground and not let people know they existed," Marlow said.
"They started worshipping in their homes."
Once again in a land of Catholic worshippers, Marlow's ancestors did everything they could avoid being deemed an outsider.
"When people would recognize them, they would say, 'There goes a Jew.' And they wondered how they knew," Marlow said.
"So they developed a system where they took coded surnames of something in nature, or a city or town. That way, they could identify themselves (as Sephardic Messianic Jews) without asking, but others wouldn't know."
Marlow's maiden name was Cordova, Spanish town.
The families also gave up their native language, known as "Ladino," or Judeo-Spanish. According to the Foundation for the Advancement of Sephardic Studies and Culture, "Ladino" is the spoken and written Hispanic language of Jews of Spanish origin. Ladino did not become a specifically Jewish language until after the expulsion from Spain in 1492 - it was merely the language of their province."
Even as more faiths established roots in America, Marlow's ancestors still were without an official church home.
"When they went to Christian churches, they weren't welcome because they were Jews," Marlow said. "Because they believed in Jesus, when they went to (traditional) Jewish synagogues, they weren't welcome there either.
"They assimilated, yet they kept to themselves."
Even during her childhood, the shroud of secrecy continued.
"They would tell us kids that we weren't supposed to tell a stranger about our beliefs or that we were Jews," Marlow said.
"We couldn't call our holidays by the Jewish names, so we called them by the Biblical names celebrated (privately in our homes) in our own way.
"Sometimes our own neighbors would tattle on us and eventually, somebody would come to our door and ask if we were Jewish. We wouldn't deny it, but we would (downplay it)."
Like recipes and family heirlooms, religious vigilance was handed down from generation to generation.
"We had our own little church in our home. It started with my family, then it grew with our friends and neighbors who were also Messianic Jews," Marlow said.
"When the congregation got bigger and we did (meet in an established church), we could never go in as a congregation of Jewish believers. We didn't have a formal name; we just went in and had church."
As an adult, Marlow became curious about the origins of the oral family stories of fleeing Israel and Spain, and the reasoning behind all the secrecy.
Although her research started out as a family genealogy project, it grew into a history of the entire community. The finished work, "Lift High the Banner: Secrets of a Sephardic Messianic Jewish Family Revealed" was published last fall. It is available through Barnes and Noble and Amazon.
Holly Springs United Methodist Church in Pendergrass, is holding a reception March 11 to celebrate the release of the book.
"At first, the stories I would hear as a child were unbelievable, but I knew (my elders) were fearful of something, so I wondered if it could be true," Marlow said.
"When I started interviewing the older people, at first they didn't want to tell me anything. They'd kept these secrets for 500 years, so when they finally shared their stories with me, they were very emotional."
Marlow's family questioned why she was doing the unthinkable - committing their oral history to paper for all the world to see.
"I had to tell them this is history, it's not personal. It is about my family, but it is the history of people who lived so long ago," Marlow said.
"It's about their names and their language and their beliefs and holidays that have been kept all these years. I am a direct descendant; I lived it. I spoke the language, but we're losing it fast.
"I was afraid that no one would remember this history. After (my generation) died off, I was afraid that no one would know we existed."


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Mobile Hydraulic Valves 101
Unlike industrial NFPA (National Fluid Power Association) hydraulic valves, mobile valves have no standards, no common mounting and no direct interchange. These valves can be a simple, single-spool Monobloc-style valve or a more complicated 10-spool sectional valve stack. The question is… how do you replace a valve that you might already have in service or what parameters are required to specify a new valve.Read More


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Drumma Boy with the Boss Lady
Drumma Boy is the 24-year-old producer behind hits like Young Jeezy featuring Kanye West's "Put On", Rocko and Plies' breakthrough tracks "Umma Do Me" and "Shawty" and Gorilla Zoe featuring Lil Wayne's current banger "Get Money".
He chats with the Boss Lady about his constantly growing catalog, his journey from being a beatmaker to a fully-fledged producer, his live instrumentation project Drumma Boy Live (heard first on the Rick Ross featuring Nelly summer hit, "Here I Am") and more. Watch for his special surprise from Miskeen also.
Check it out on DrJays.com Live and let us know your thoughts!


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I did as Sharash advise. And it's work.
Thanks Sharash..
I tried this but when the download starts it says, " the AC adapter and battery must be plugged in before the system BIOS can be flashed" although I already do have both plugged in.
Please help
Hello - I am attempting to install the newest BIOS driver but I've received a notification that the battery must be at 10% for BIOS to flash. But as the nature of my problem is that my battery can't charge, there's no way I can get my battery up to 10%. Is there a way around this?
Dear Mr. Saharsh_Kapur
Thanks for you help.
I know the post too old, no need to create new post,
I have same issue, but i cannt install any bios driver.
cuz the battery charge less than 10 percent.
So I cann't try your suggestion!
any solutions?
I looked at a dozen websites for solutions. They all seemed to say to uninstall the ACPI Compliance Control Method Battery File, but that didn't work for me no matter whether I did it with the power or battery on. I gave in and bought a new battery and experienced the same "plugged in, not charging" issue with the brand new battery. I then tried going to the same part of the computer--Control Panel--System & Security System -- System -- Device Manager -- Batteries, but this time uninstalled the Dell AC/DC charger. And when it reinstalled after it was plugged back in, it worked! I now remember that when I unplugged the computer the portion of the cord connecting the charger box to the outlet separated from the portion of the cord connecting the charger box to the computer, and believe that is what triggered the software issue. I hope this works for others (preferably before buying a new battery).
Saharsh, thank you so much--this post is from 2012 but I stumbled on it today and it fixed the problem of "plugged in, not charging" immediately upon reboot! I downloaded the BIOS update and when I rebooted my battery icon was back (the icon had recently disappeared), it indicated that it was"plugged in, charging," and it charged--good as new. Thanks again.
Your DC jack most likely needs replacing, costs about $69 if you visit a repair shop.


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The Mandai rejuvenation project is being developed on impacted land which used to house villages, farms, the former Mandai Orchid Garden, as well as existing zoo facilities. Guiding this development is a carefully conceived design and construction plan to ensure sensitivity to surrounding flora and fauna.
Come 2019, there will be a dedicated bridge at Mandai to facilitate habitat connectivity for local wildlife in the area. The eco-link links the southern and northern sides of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, which are separated by Mandai Lake Road, to provide safe passage for wildlife crossings. There will also be fencing around the precinct to act as a barrier to the road and guide animals towards the bridge. Besides the eco-link, trees will be planted across the precinct to provide a continual canopy connection and foliage for local wildlife movement.
Trees on site are surveyed and tagged based on their species, health, size and conservation status. Those of conservation interest will be incorporated into park designs or transplanted. Saplings, tree ferns and rootballs suitable for transplanting will also salvaged and relocated within the precinct. To create conducive green habitats for local wildlife, carefully curated native trees and plants will be planted as part of landscaping, while invasive species and weeds will be removed.
Before the start of any construction work, great care is taken to ensure safety of wildlife through activities such as wildlife shepherding and tree inspections. Site staff are also required to undergo special biodiversity awareness training to familiarise themselves with the type of wildlife in the area and the protocol to activate specialist response to wildlife sightings.
A series of speed reduction measures aimed at reducing wildlife road incidents has been implemented along Mandai Lake Road. This includes multiple speed humps, speed regulating strips, speed signs and speed radar panels along the road. Speed limit for most parts of the road has also been reduced to between 20 and 40km/hr. To remind drivers to slow down, there are wildlife crossing signs lining Mandai Lake Road and at carpark entrances. These measures are continually reviewed and enhanced. There is also a dedicated team that monitors wildlife road incident within and around the project area, and responds round-the-clock to such incidents. To report wildlife road incidents, please call our wildlife response hotline: 9088 5068.
In 2015, Mandai Park Holdings (MPH) gazetted the results of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for its plans to develop Mandai into an integrated nature and wildlife destination that promotes sustainability and wildlife conservation. The Mandai EIA Report was commissioned by MPH and undertaken at a conceptual design stage, prior to development work. It surveys the baseline environmental conditions within the project site and evaluates potential environmental impact of the project. The Mandai EIA Report also includes recommended mitigation measures and an Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan (EMMP), which were approved by the relevant government agencies. An Environmental Advisory Panel (EAP) provided guidance and oversight for the EMMP.
Since the publication of the Mandai EIA Report, regular discussions on environmental management have continued with various stakeholders. As far as possible, design development and construction methods were aligned with the environmental management requirements stated in the Mandai EIA Report. However, as the project progressed into the detailed design development and construction phases, some refinements and/or changes in environmental management requirements were made so as to better account for unexpected developments, practicality and feasibility.
For revisions in designs and/or changes in environmental management measures from that in the Mandai EIA Report, MPH has adhered to the required Change Management process and conducted a series of consultations with its EAP and representatives from the nature community. Thereafter, approval from the relevant government agencies are sought to formalise the changes to the Mandai EIA Report.
A summary of design updates and approved changes to requirements listed in the Mandai EIA Report can be found in the Addendum. The Addendum shall be read in conjunction with MPH's EIA Report dated 26 September 2016 and shall form part of the Mandai EIA Report.
The Mandai EIA Report along with the Addendum, are available for reference below.


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Friday, December 16, 2016
Recently the vinyl resurrection has included the occasional...
Recently the vinyl resurrection has included the occasional remastering and reissue of classic 60s and 70s albums on 200 gram vinyl. Usually these are limited edition runs of a few hundred or a thousand numbered copies. If you miss out on the initial availability they can then jump from their initial price of $30-$50 to several hundred dollars.
I have a few of these 200 gram vinyl editions. Among my favorites of these are the albums "All The Young Dudes", released in November 2014, and "Mott", released in November 2016, both by Mott the Hoople. I got numbered copy 676 out of 1000 of "All The Young Dudes" and number 150 out of 500 of "Mott". Both are pretty sweet. Thanks Mott the Hoople! #vinyl #mott #mottthehoople #200gram #200gramvinyl (at Casa de Recuerdo)
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Tuesday, December 13, 2016
In 2013 Analog Productions created a 200 gram vinyl re-release...
In 2013 Analog Productions created a 200 gram vinyl re-release of Steppenwolf's first studio album "Steppenwolf". This album, originally released in January 1968, was an immediate hit for the band rising to #6 on the pop album charts and the song "Born To Be Wild" to #2.
The 2013 edition reproduces the original silver foil album cover with remastering by the remaster master Kevin Gray.
It is a real pleasure to be able to listen to this, one of the best albums of all time, on such high quality vinyl and remastered with such skill. It's a really good album. Thanks Steppenwolf and thanks Analog Productions!
Notes for the Steppenwolf superfans:
"Born To Be Wild" was written by Mars Bonfire who was in The Sparrows before they were renamed Steppenwolf. On the original pressings of "Steppenwolf" to song "Born To Be Wild" was credited to Mars Bondfire and the 2013 re-release faithfully reproduces this original spelling/misspelling.
"The Pusher", track 2 on side 2 of "Steppenwolf", was written by Hoyt Axton and appeared along with "Born To Be Wild" in the film "Easy Rider". Axton was born and raised in Oklahoma and wrote "Heartbreak Hotel" which became the first major hit for Elvis Presley. He also wrote "Joy To The World" and "Never Been To Spain" for Three Dog Night. Axton struggled with cocaine addiction and "The Pusher" is one of the best indictments in song of the black market drug culture.
#vinyl #steppenwolf #hoytaxton #borntobewild #thepusher #200gram #marsbonfire #johnkay (at Casa de Recuerdo)
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Thursday, December 8, 2016
Greg Lake died yesterday. He was a member of two of the greatest...
Greg Lake died yesterday. He was a member of two of the greatest prog rock bands of all time, King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Lake was the vocalist, bassist, and producer of King Crimson's debut album "In the Court of the Crimson King" released in October 1969.
By coincidence I just this week received the 2010 remastering of "In the Court of the Crimson King" on 200 gram vinyl. It's arguably the greatest album of all time and this may be it's best pressing to date although I actually prefer the 5.1 surround remix by Steven Wilson.
Thanks for all the fantastic music Greg Lake, your voice was a soothing balm through challenging times. #greglake #kingcrimson #inthecourtofthecrimsonking
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Wednesday, December 7, 2016
The 2015 remix & remaster of The Kinks "Muswell...
The 2015 remix & remaster of The Kinks "Muswell Hillbillies" on high grade vinyl includes the original album and a 2nd disc of rarities & outtakes. Thanks Kinks! #muswellhill #kinks #vinyl (at Casa de Recuerdo)
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