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Difficult to fight big bro
The more residents learn about the proposed expansion of I-5 from La Jolla to O'side the more convinced they become parts of it izzn't such a good idea. Like expanding to 14 lanes in some areas and wiping out homes. At this point it's only ideas on paper that would cost $4.5 billion and take several decades to do. Early area residents recall it took a decade to convince the State Department of Transportation to build I-5 inland instead of slicing through the beach communities. That was the first time residents ever prevailed over Big Bro. Thousands of volunteer hours and lottsa of residents' personal dough went into the effort. It won't be any easier this time around.
Employee service contracts
Now that Solbeach has taken the lead in adjusting employees' salaries, other municipalities are following suit. Police and fire personnel pay and pensions are the first to receive serious looksie. Other departments are expected to be next. A two-tier system where new hires receive less is being adopted. Makes sense.
Supervisors nix grant
With the Neighborhood Reinvestment Grant program under the microscope, County Supes declined to OK a $20,000 handout to Life Perspectives submitted for the second time by their colleague Bill Horn. County counsel advised them it was a religious organization. Supes Greg Cox and Dianne Jacobs are advocating stricter new rules be adopted for the multi-$$$$ program allocated by the supes annually.
Agenda policy
In 2009 the all-male Flower Capital Council troika adopted a policy mandating that agenda items have the OK of three of the electeds no matter if 100 taxpayers or more asked that an issue be agendized for public discussion. Efforts by the minority electeds to abandon this policy were ignored. That is the Encinitas way. The issue has not gone away with lottsa folks asking for change. More recently Tony Kranz, a council candidate, told the council the public was being ignored. Stay tuned.
Fall racing preps
22nd District Agricultural Association (Del Mar Fairgrounds) has set up a $580 grand budget to cover initial costs like permits for a possible race meet in the fall of 2012 following Fairplex. It would be sponsored by Oak Tree Racing Association that has been at Santa Anita since its inception in 1969 until this year. It is being held at Hollywood Park. The Oak Tree Association favors Del Mar. Fairgrounds General Manager Tim Fennell said it will require shuffling some interim events but doable. A race meet would run until the Santa Anita winter meet that opens the day after Christmas.
Cell phone towers
Towers that are needed to provide cell phone communications are a growing bone of contention. Residents don't want them in their neighborhoods but most depend on cells rather than land lines. O'side is one of the latest cities to decide it's time for rules and regs and its electeds are now in the process of giving the problem a serious review.
One grand campaign limit upheld
U.S. District Court Judge Irma Gonzales has ruled the $1,000 cap on political campaign contributions for candidates in the Harbor City should remain in place. A higher cap was sought by groups and individuals who complained the cap was too restrictive and an infringement on free speech rights.
C'bad by the Sea retirement community recently observed the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II with a dinner that offered creamed chipped beef on toast and Spam. The troops called it SOS (S—t on a Shingle), and many had a great dislike for SPAM becuz it was on the daily menu.
Bound for France
La Costa Canyon high school junior McKenna Kurz will be going to France in November to compete in the World Championship in trampoline. The young bounder is given a chance to medal.
O'side's Mission Avenue is being designed to become a one-way street in the future and has the enthusiastic OK of business … Expansion of the Cardiff Library, already a class operation, is under way … A train station, temporary or permanent, to serve the fairgrounds will be hashed over some more Oct. 19 when NCTD meets for its regular meeting … SDG&E has developed new statements it sez will be easier to understand … Roundabouts on El Camino Real east of Surfside City are planned; one being adjacent to the Polo grounds & Mary's Tack Shop … C'bad Cultural Arts Office is seeking applications for its grand matching grants program … 9th District Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled tattoos and the art are legal under the 1st amendment in a case involving Hermosa Beach that wanted to ban parlors … The Padres are still dickering over a possible minor league ballpark in Escondido … Politicians will get less moola from the casinos becuz of the downturn in gambling … O'side city planners are looking at coastal height limits … Solbeach Chamber of Commerce will hold a sundowner Nov. 3 at the Fish Market eatery.
Hasta la Vista


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Vulnerabilities in web applications are now the largest source of enterprise security attacks. Web application vulnerabilities accounted for over 55% of all vulnerabilities disclosed in 2010, according to an IBM X-Force study.
That may be the tip of the iceberg as the study includes only commercial web applications.1 Stories about compromised sensitive data frequently mention culprits such as "cross-site scripting," "SQL injection," and "buffer overflow." Vulnerabilities like these often fall outside the traditional expertise of network security managers.
The relative obscurity of web application vulnerabilities thus makes them useful for attacks. As many organizations have discovered, these attacks will evade traditional enterprise network defenses unless you take new precautions.
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Overview of Web Application Security
Attacks on vulnerabilities in web applications began appearing almost from the beginning of the World Wide Web, in the mid-1990s. Attacks are usually based on fault injection, which exploits vulnerabilities in a web application's syntax and semantics.
Using a standard browser and basic knowledge of HTTP and HTML, an attacker attempts a particular exploit by automatically varying a Uniform Resource Indicator (URI) link, which in turn could trigger an exploit such as SQL injection or cross-site scripting.
A significant number of attacks exploit vulnerabilities in syntax and semantics. You can discover many of these vulnerabilities with an automated scanning tool. Logical vulnerabilities are very difficult to test with a scanning tool; these require manual inspection of web application source code analysis and security testing.
Web application security vulnerabilities can stem from misconfigurations, bad architecture, or poor programming practices within commercial or custom application code.
Vulnerabilities may be in code libraries and design patterns of popular programming languages such as Java, .NET, PHP, Python, Perl, and Ruby. These vulnerabilities can be complex and may occur under many different circumstances.
Using a web application firewall might control effects of some exploits but will not resolve the underlying vulnerabilities.
Download this Free White Paper HERE
Other Complimentary White Papers Available from Qualys:
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subset: commoncrawl


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It was a lofty goal as the story idea was only two weeks old, in its earliest stages of life when I decided to enter it. I had pulled out old stories and just didn't have the enthusiasm to do heart surgery on any one of them at this time.
This story with the working title, KILL ME OR DRIVE ME TO FLORIDA, is told from eight year old Daisy Dunn's point of view. She, her mother, and her brother are driving old Frank Stutler to Florida in his battered station wagon. Right now the story is so new that details change almost daily.
However, yesterday, fearing that I would not have those last few pages finished for today's mailing, I started second guessing every word, every sentence, even the very idea until I had myself convinced that I should trash the whole manuscript and be done with it.
I have a demon editor that lives inside me and fights me at every turn, especially when I write fiction.
So, I put on my hat of reason and responsibility. I know my idea is good because of the enthusiasm I have when I work on it, and while the story might not be ready for entry in a contest - that was my goal and so I would submit it.
This afternoon it's going to the post office. The West Virginia Writers, Inc. needs my entry fee and I need the feeling of accomplishment that comes with taking the next step in the process of writing. Letting your work go.
I can do one of two things after the manuscript is gone. I can sit at my computer and bemoan letting the story go so soon. I can start taking the story apart and magnifying every error.
Or I can celebrate the small victory - the victory of letting it go. Of sending it out into the world to have someone other than myself and my critique partners read it.
I've decided to celebrate. It's those small moments that make us the writers that we are.
We write. We toss it out to the world. We write. We toss.
Anyone with me on this one? Should we toss our work out into the world? Or hold it tightly in our arms for our own comfort?


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Thursday, April 21, 2011
#MEMS: "6-axis sensors improve e-compasses"
STMicro's six-axis e-compass uses two MEMS chips to cut power in half and boost resolution.
Better e-compasses will debut soon on smartphones, personal navigators and touchscreen tablets thanks to STMicroelectronics NV new model that extends the battery life of mobile devices. The new MEMS combines a three-axis accelerometer with a three-axis magnetometer, cutting the power by 50 percent and boosting magnetic sensitivity by 30 percent in the process. Look for longer battery life soon in mobile devices with e-compasses.
Further Reading: http://bit.ly/NextGenLog-fizC
Posted by NextGenLog at 9:20 AM


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Status: Closed
Know more about this business than we do? Cool! Please submit any corrections or missing details you may have.Help us make it right
Evangelical Misc
Be the first OregonLive.com user to add photos or videos of Bethel Temple Faith Ministries
Bethel Temple Faith Ministry can be found at W 18th Ave 2170. The following is offered: Religious Organizations. The entry is present with us since Sep 9, 2010 and was last updated on Nov 14, 2013. In Eugene there are 88 other Religious Organizations. An overview can be found here.
Bethel Temple Faith Ministry is located at 2170 W 18th Ave, Eugene, OR. This location is in the Far West neighborhood. This business specializes in Religion & Spirituality.


text:
Problem-free shipping with DPD. Depend on it!
DPD gets your parcel to its destination fast and reliably. You can do a lot in advance to ensure everything goes smoothly by following the shipping instructions and using the right materials to prepare your parcel for dispatch. DPD will of course give you every assistance. Let us support you.
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Bill Windsor of the Colorado Mycological Society was out gathering fungi for today's Rocky Mountain National Park BioBlitz. Find out what mushrooms you can eat and — what you might want to avoid.
David Braun is director of outreach with the digital and social media team illuminating the National Geographic Society's explorer, science, and education programs.
He edits National Geographic Voices, hosting a global discussion on issues resonating with the Society's mission and major initiatives. Contributors include grantees and Society partners, as well as universities, foundations, interest groups, and individuals dedicated to a sustainable world. More than 50,000 readers have participated in 10,000 conversations.
Braun also directs the Society side of the Fulbright-National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellowship.


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There's something to be said about a show that can draw a genuine emotional response from the viewer. When every element of a show, from the story, to the characters, is working to make the viewer feel a certain way, and succeeds, it's a testament to the kind of power a well-crafted anime has. At times, moé is a major factor in playing with the viewer's emotions.
Two anime in particular, Clannad and School Days, have managed a strategic use of moé that, coupled with the show's story, tugs at just the right heartstrings at just the right time to elicit a true emotional response out of me.
This article with undoubtedly contain hardcore spoilers for both Clannad, Clannad: After Story, and School Days.
Hit the jump and don't say I didn't warn you.
Clannad was an anime where I thought I knew what I was getting into. I knew Key's M.O. and I knew to be prepared for some heartbreak. However, after finishing Clannad and Clannad: After Story, it was nothing I could prepare myself for. Clannad really takes its time building up its story and characters, and then dropping the bomb at just the right time to get that true emotional response. After all the humor, happiness, gentle sadness, and heartwarming moments, it harshly reminds you "This is Clannad. Key made this. You will cry."
Moé is a big part of Clannad's success as an emotional anime. It's sad when bad things happen to people you like, and moé is all about compelling the viewer to like characters. It hits much harder when a character you connect with experiences the kind of hardship Clannad brings forward, and when they overcome it, it's that much more satisfying.
The latter half of Clannad: After Story is a prime example. After building up the characters (Primarily Tomoya and Nagisa) all the way from the beginning of Clannad, things continue getting better, but then the rollercoaster goes downhill. Nagisa dies during childbirth (I cried here), and her parents care for Nagisa and Tomoya's daughter Ushio for five years while a grief-stricken Tomoya goes through life like a zombie.
Things start looking up when Tomoya finally starts being a father to Ushio. Just as they start to become a happy family together however, Ushio, who was born weak like her mother, comes down with the same debilitating illness Nagisa had come down with at previous points in the series. After being bedridden for days, she eventually dies in her father's arms (I cried here too).
Ushio and Nagisa are both "moé" characters, and their buildup is important to the emotion of the story. Over the course of Clannad and After Story, all the way up to her death, we see Nagisa and her relationship with Tomoya grow and develop, and likewise with Ushio. The impact of their deaths would not be nearly as effective without the type of loving appeal and connection with character that moé provides.
School Days is a different story altogether. Rather than sadness, School Days made me feel, more than anything else, anger. School Days tells the story of Makoto Itou, who dates Kotonoha Katsura, but ends up cheating on her with every girl under the sun. The thing about School Days is that Kotonoha is pretty much the perfect girlfriend. She has traits many otaku would find very desirable. She's polite, soft-spoken, and she radiates grace and femininity, a modern Yamato Nadeshiko. She's deliberately made to be incredibly moé.
School Days sets up the perfect character, so it can knock her down later. As she's constantly confronted with evidence that Makoto's cheating on her, she slips deeper and deeper into delusion. It's painful and infuriating to watch, especially from the perspective of an otaku with no girlfriend. On the one hand, we see Kotonoha slowly go insane, and it's tough to watch, because of the endearment that moé incites within the viewer. On the other hand, it's infuriating, because Makoto, who's initially presented as a character an otaku can identify with, mercilessly spurns her love for him, preferring other girls.
It doesn't help that we also see Kotonoha accosted from all sides by a group of bullies, the other female characters, and Taisuke (Makoto's desperate friend). She goes through hell, eventually breaking down (enough to allow Taisuke to take advantage of her). She breaks down so much that even Makoto himself is forced to face the fact that it's his fault she's so far gone, leading to them getting back together near the end of the series. We never get to see their relationship flower, however, and, at the end of the series, we're left with the bittersweet ending of again-crazy Kotonoha cradling Makoto's severed head.
A true emotional response isn't something that comes easily. It takes a commitment, an investment in a character that's not easy to bring the viewer into. While it's true that the viewer must, to an extent, be receptive to the kind of emotion a show might want to instill, the show has to make a case for itself. This is the reason why I think a lot of the people why call shows like Clannad "manipulative" are uninformed, at best. These emotional moé anime aren't about "manipulating" the viewer into showing emotion. As will all other forms of media, emotional investment in a moé anime is a two-way street. The viewer must be willing to receive the emotion the show is putting out. Going into an emotional show like Clannad with a cynical, "impress me" sort of attitude is going to make the show seem manipulative. The truth is, no emotion in any medium can survive without the viewer being receptive to it.
To those willing to open themselves up, moé can be a very strong factor behind emotion in anime and games. A genuine caring for a character is a powerful element that can be utilized in various ways, once the bond between viewer and character has been established. After that connection's been made, clever use of the story's events and their effects on the character can bring out a range of emotion in the viewer, from the crippling sadness Clannad brought, to the seething anger School Days was responsible for.
Emotion in media starts with the people. Make the characters compelling and the emotion will be real. The compelling characters moé helps create instill an emotion in moé fans hearts that's too genuine to be ignored.
'Till next time!


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by George
(London, United Kingdom)
. ''Here is my best romantic idea. I do this often, at least once a week. I started doing this when I realised our romantic life was suffering. Both of us had very busy days. We did not even have time to go out for a walk and sometimes too tired to make love. So, what is my romantic idea?
Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Romance-Ideas-invitation-form-2.
I don't remember how I first came across this site. But I do remember to visit it everyday. It's a very good website, with top, reliable and very organised information.
I am so grateful I found this site. It has not only helped me to improve my romantic life. It has made me to look at relationships from an entirely different perspective.
And that's not all. Through this website, I learned to create my own website- not just any website, but one that has made me financially independent.
Thank you very much.
Angelica T, Mexico City, Mexico.


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Small businesses benefit greatly from grants as they are similar to free money in that they don't have to be repaid. Generally, grants don't require payback from the recipient which is a distinctive difference between grants and other funding such as loans. New entrepreneurs and small businesses have several available sources for grants. Private enterprises benefit greatly from these sources as well.
There is no availability of grant funding from the federal government for small enterprises. However, there are available options from the local and state sector. These grants come in the form of financial aid programs that may be applied for through beginning with the development of economics in your state. This is an updated listing of local and abroad agencies as well that supply funding.
Many people aren't aware that the U.S. government offers special funding for small businesses that are qualified. These type grants are available for businesses that target the development of green products or research for health related industries. There are a series of generalized search options available for federal monies through U. S. government websites.
Small businesses require a significant financial investment and the funds aren't always available at the start of the business. Therefore, many new business owners seek options of obtaining additional funding from sources that won't require an immediate repayment or when possible any repayment at all. Grants are an ideal solution.
Make grant finding an active part of your business start-up plan. Set aside a certain amount of time each day to research grants that cater to your industry of business. Apply for every possible option and be certain to seek expert advice on your grant proposal. Agencies that issue these grants strongly considering offering grants to those businesses who submitted validated applications and proposals and correctly entered all requested information.
It is imperative that upon receipt of any type of grant, that the funds are used for the purpose of which it was granted. Reflection of positive growth due to the funds obtained in the grant can likely help the business to qualify for other funding in the future. Small businesses that utilize grant funding are afforded opportunities to expand or repair their businesses whenever needed.


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6 Moncler noir kei ninomiya
6 Moncler noir kei ninomiya experiments with repetition, modularity and geometric abstraction. His pieces result from the sum of small modules, multiplied and held together by miniature metal rings: an industrial looking technique made possible by painstaking manual labor. The all-black line up also features chains, petals, ultra-sound logos. Forms are tough yet feminine.
Now available at Dover Street Market New York.


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Monday, August 31, 2009
Greener Grass?... Think again... !!!
22 comments:
Interesting Post.. :)ReplyDelete
brilliantly explained...
Congrats for your so many awards..
Ur posts really deserve this.. :)
Absolutely brilliant post.ReplyDelete
Never ending human desire for pleasure is the reason for this "grass is greener" syndrome.
""If you order the chicken biriyani, you wish you ordered the chicken noodles instead.....""
Only a stupid moron will "wish" that....how can noodles beat biriyani??
And congratulations......u deserve many more awards.
Brilliant.But isn't one justified in expecting what one doesn't have.?ReplyDelete
My best wishes for al the awards.
Congratz for the awards :D and you explained it so nicely .... I think if you have to compete then compete with yourself and noone else...ReplyDelete
@ Amit: Thanks! Glad you like it! :)ReplyDelete
@ Indian Pundit: Thanks a bunch! :DReplyDelete
Hey! Noodles and biriyani have their own places. I, for one like both and know several people who like both of them, as well.
The chicken or the mixed noodles served at places like Mainland China, Shangri La, Beijing Bites, Taste of Tibet, Chung Wah, etc are quite mind blowing! :)
@ BK Chowla: Welcome to my blog and glad that you liked this post!ReplyDelete
Yes. One is justified in expecting what one doesn't have... it's part of what makes us human... so very human.
@ Dhiman: Thanks much! :DReplyDelete
You are absolutely right!
haha. nice images to supplement the article. cheers, and le us look at the grass at our side first!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousSeptember 4, 2009 at 12:21 AM
The pictures were the funniest part :)ReplyDelete
Nice work!
@ Rocksea: :DReplyDelete
Welcome to my blog and glad that you liked this post! Hope you have a fun time here...
@ theishu: :DReplyDelete
congrats for the awardsReplyDelete
interesting post
Nice post! and congrats for the awards.Keep writing!ReplyDelete
it is human tendancy to eye what others have. we may have the best of the things but we tend to get jealous of others.ReplyDelete
if we stop being jealous we may become sainthood
but for that better all the big saints also suffer from this syndrome of finding others more attractive.
Interesting post.ReplyDelete
Congrats for the awards. :)
nice post. congrats on the awards!ReplyDelete
@ sm: Thanks! :DReplyDelete
@ Ashish: Thanks and welcome to my blog! Glad you liked this post :)ReplyDelete
@ AnjuGandhi: Yes, very apt! One is justified in expecting what one doesn't have... it's part of what makes us human... so very human.ReplyDelete
@ Shilpa: Thank you too, my fair lady!!! :)ReplyDelete
@ Reema: Thanks! Glad you liked it :DReplyDelete


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March 2008
Rookie Stands Out
Gloomy day with rain showers that delayed the start of the game for 30 minutes. Scoreboard also became gloomy when the Braves put up a six-spot in the second inning against Francisco Rosario, who had a 7.2 scoreless spring training streak going into that inning.
There are spots to be earned on the pitching staff and so far no one is really stepping up. With 13 Florida games remaining, time is getting short.
Rookie Carlos Carrasco did step up with three scoreless relief innings this afternoon. He'll turn 21 a week from today and more minor league innings are probably in the picture for him. He's our top pitching prospect and shouldn't sit in the bullpen in the big leagues right now. Command is the key and he had great command today. Consistency in that area will be the thing that gets him to the majors.
Phillies got in some morning fundamentals work on the field and half-field before the rain started around 11:50 a.m.
The rain did wash out Kyle Kendrick's outing in a minor league game this afternoon at Carpenter Field. Idea was for Kyle to go over there and work on his mechanics and location.
Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins, originally signed by the Phillies, will sign autographs pre-game with proceeds going to the US Military All-Star baseball team and the All-Children's Hospital down here.
Jenkins and other Legends will have an annual event at Bright House Field on Sunday afternoon. Gates open at 3:30 so fans can watch batting practice. A home run derby will be held at 5 with a game an hour later. The annual event is hosted by the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association. All proceeds will go to charities in the Tampa Bay area. Tickets are available at Bright House Field ticket windows.
Spring Training USA will have over 120 Phillies fans for the 1:05 game against the Twins. They will be treated to a pre-game brunch on the half-field.
Survey Says
Favorite TV show growing up? "The Jeffersons", Tom (Flash) Gordon.
Charlie Manuel and **** Dubee have tripleheaders today, so to speak.
Both were on the Bright House Field at 9:30 this morning for extra hitting for Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Geoff Jenkins and Jayson Werth. Dubee threw BP for 20 minutes. Manuel is always stationed behind the batting cage, offering observations.
This afternoon, they went next door to see Cole Hamels and Kris Benson pitch in minor league games. Shane Victorino will get some at-bats at the complex and play tonight.
Then, a bus at 2:45 p.m. leaves for Sarasota where the Phillies and Reds play in a 7:05 night game.
After hitting on the field, Utley and Greg Gross (Lehigh Valley hitting coach) spent time in the batting cages.
WOF Primary
Fan voting online for the 2008 Wall of Fame inductee ends tomorrow on phillies.com.
The five highest vote getters from the fan balloting will then be presented to a Special Wall of Fame Selection Committee who will choose the Alumni member to be inducted on Friday, August 8.
To vote:http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/phi/fan_forum/wof_ballot.jsp.
Team is back at Bright House Field for a 1:05 game against the Braves. Game can be heard on this website.
WXTU's Scott Evans will be broadcasting live from the Tiki Barr from 5:30 a.m. until 9 a.m. Scott will get to see the sun rise over the ballpark….rather him than me!
MLB Productions will be here for a special taping with Rollins and Howard.
Survey Says
Favorite TV show growing up? "Price is Right", Kris Benson.
What's Happening?
Well, life is normal as in normal during the season since we are playing night games tonight and tomorrow. The lifestyle of a player is geared to night games during the regular season. The pattern is late to bed and late to rise. The day games come quickly, especially after night games.
Clearwater Threshers, champions of the Florida State League last summer, will receive their rings in a pre-game ceremony tonight . . . From here on out, every game is on radio (phillies.com) except March 27 . . . Cole Hamels was scheduled to pitch in a minor league game this afternoon at Carpenter Field but he was ill and unable to make it . . . MSNBC's Keith Olberman is here tonight and Friday. He's a big baseball fan and a big fan of Bright House Field . . . Phillies media guide is hot off the presses, thanks to publications manager Christine Negley and creative services director Tina Urban . . . Phillies Magazine, April edition, and the Yearbook are next on the publications calendar. Yearbook will be ready April 18 for the big Mets weekend . . . Phillies will wear great jerseys and hats on St. Patrick's Day on Monday . . . While the Phillies are on the road tomorrow night, there are two minor league games at Carpenter Field at 1 in the afternoon . . . Offense is struggling but take into account the big boys in the every day lineup are not getting their at-bats. As we head down the home stretch, they will get more playing time. So relax.
Survey Says
Favorite TV Show growing up? "Three's Company"…Chase Utley.
3 Weeks From Today
Another road game this afternoon but plenty of Clearwater action for the media (eight writers, two TV crews, one radio reporter).
This morning, the half-field was media central. Kris Benson, Brad Lidge and Adam Eaton each took turns in a bullpen session from 9:30 for the next 30-35 minutes. One-by-one as they came off the mound, the media herd zeroed in for an interview. Once the last hurler was finished with the interview process (Eaton), pitching coach Rich Dubee became the subject of questions.
"This was great. Can we do this every morning …three player interviews in succession?," kidded phillies.com beat reporter Ken Mandel.
In the afternoon, Brett Myers started in a minor league camp game at Carpenter Field. Media coverage included Leslie Gudel of Comcast SportsNet as three writers. Rest of the writers went to Bradenton to report on J. D. Durbin's start.
First time
Non-roster catcher Tim Gradoville asked media relations manager Greg Casterioto for some guest passes for Busch Garden tomorrow, which is a day off. (The Phillies provide passes for the players and their families through our Community Relations Department).
Gradoville said it would be his first visit to the tourist attraction in Tampa. "This is the first time I haven't been cut before the day off," he laughed.
Yes, a day off…well for most people. Perhaps getting away from it tomorrow will be the best for the team.
RHP Chad Durbin will get a start tomorrow as exhibition games involving the Phillies minor league camp start. Durbin will be facing the Reds' triple-A squad in Sarasota. Our AAA and AA clubs will both be in Sarasota; our two Class A clubs will play the Orioles at Carpenter Field at 1 p.m. There is no admission charge for the minor league games.
Jimmy Rollins will be taping a TV commercial at Bright House Field for AnythingForSaleByOwner.com. Jimmy's agent arranged for the taping.
Phillies Insider? Sorry, a day off tomorrow. Everyone can handle withdrawal for one day.
WMMR's Matt Cord will be broadcasting live from the Palm Pavilion on Clearwater Beach throughout the day.
Night Games
Wednesday and Thursday are 7:05 night games against the Reds (Clearwater and Sarasota respectively).
Both will be broadcast on WPHT 1210 AM. That means the games can also be heard on phillies.com.
Cole Hamels will start in a minor league game at Carpenter Field on Wednesday afternoon.
More Philly airwaves on Wednesday . . . WPEN's Jody McDonald will be live from the Diamond Dugout from 3 to 7 p.m.
Modell's Sporting Goods Opening Day is three weeks from this afternoon. Myers will be the starting pitcher, facing big league bats that day.
We'll be alright
Chilly, but sunny and bright day. Scoreboard didn't reflect the sunshine as the Phillies dropped their fourth straight. Crowd was 9,402, fourth largest in Bright House Field history.
Morning began with an annual meeting by Major League Baseball's security department. Once that was out of the way, Steve Smith and Rich Dubee became the "grim reapers."
Fourteen different players were asked by either Smith (position players) or Dubee (pitchers) to visit Charlie Manuel in his office. There, the players got the news….pack your bags and report to Carpenter Field. (Check Ken Mandel's news story on this site).
Golf pro John Daly was an on-field guest of Pat Burrell's during batting practice. Daly was playing in a tournament nearby. He was given a red Phillies uniform jersey with # 3 and his name on the back. Harry Kalas took one look at Daly and barked, "There's a long drive……"
Fifth road game in the last seven is on tap for tomorrow. J. D. Durbin will start at Bradenton (Pirates, no radio). Bus: 9 a.m.
We'll be alright
Dubee stopped by the office to use the copier for tomorrow's schedule. When asked about the pitching, he responded, "We're gonna be alright, Baron." That's good enough for me.
Camera Time
After he came out of the game, Jimmy Rollins taped an RBI/Rookie Leagues commercial spot for Major League Baseball. It was a huge league production of over 100 people, including 50 kids, and took place on the half field.
The crew arrived at 10 a.m. and was due to tear down at 6:30 p.m. Jimmy's involvement included an audio voice over recording and then on camera at home plate on the half field. His commitment was 3 to 4:30 in the afternoon.
After the game, a crowd gathered outside the ticket office which overlooks the half-field. The entire production was just that….a production.
Survey Says
Favorite TV show growing up?
"Cosby Show", Eric Bruntlett.
Remembering Vuk
The Phillies traveled to Winter Haven today, leaving via buses at 9 this morning.
A year ago on the same date, we were also in the same Florida city playing the same Cleveland team.
All that pales in comparison to what happened a year ago on this date….long-time coach John Vukovich succumbed to brain cancer. We knew he was struggling but the news hit the camp like a ton of bricks.
Vuk wasn't able to make Clearwater at all last year. His presence was missed in so many ways.
Since last year, we lost two others who were regulars in spring training, Larry Rojas and Johnny Podres. They were fixtures at the minor league camp at Carpenter Field, sitting on the south side of the big clubhouse watching activity on the Mike Schmidt field.
Spring training isn't the same without them. Fortunately, memories of them will last a lifetime.
Double meeting morning.
Don Fehr and his staff from the players association met with the players for nearly two hours this morning. That is an occurrence that takes place in every major league spring training camp every year.
While that was going on, Pat Gillick and his staff, Charlie Manuel and his staff met in the coach's conference room to start the process of reducing the number of players in camp. There are 63 players here right now. By opening day, the roster needs to be down to 25.
Davey Lopes paid a visit to Bright House Field this morning. He spent time with Jerry Martin reviewing notes Davey keeps on each Phillies base runner. In case you aren't aware, Lopes will have surgery in about 10 days for prostate cancer and Martin will fill in until Davey is able to rejoin the club. It is estimated Lopes will be sidelined for up to six weeks after surgery.
After yesterday's game in Dunedin, a couple of players were needling Jimmy Rollins in the clubhouse with "J-Roll", "J-Roll", "J-Roll". The emphasis shifted to "So-what", "So-what", "So-what", aimed at So Taguchi, the Japanese outfielder.
Taguchi jumped right in, "So!" Taguchi has a great sense of humor and a quick smile. Ken Mandel did a great story on this site about language in baseball, including some funny Taguchi stories.
A large contingent of Japanese media was here today. After the rain-shortened game, Taguchi spent time in the in-door batting cages. One of the TV crews presented Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins with given a couple T-shirts from the Hiroshima Toyo Carp baseball team. Ryan asked, "For winning the MVP"? The Japanese female reporter laughed and said, "For winning arbitration."
On The Road Again
Phillies are in St. Petersburg tomorrow (Rays) and Winter Haven on Saturday (Indians).
Saturday's game will on WPHT in Philadelphia which means the game can also be heard on this website.
Sign of the Day
"Our cook has a 1st place world cooking trophy….he won it in a poker game."
Sign appears in JDs restaurant on Indian Rocks Beach.
Split squad day today. We ended up with one win and one loss.
Back home tomorrow afternoon in Bright House Field with the Tampa Bay Rays. Game will be broadcast on this website starting at 1:05 in the afternoon.
While practice generally begins around 10 a.m. for the full squad, every morning includes extra work for a small group of players. Today, Joe Savery, Joshua Outman and Mike Zagurski threw off the mounds by the half-field with Rich Dubee and Rod Nichols looking on. The time was 8:20. Two days ago, Mick Billmeyer, catching instructor, was working with the young catchers at that hour.
Today was also the day for Pat Gillick's weekly conference call, a one and a half-hour call that ended at 11:26 a.m. Joining Pat in the third floor conference room were Ruben Amaro, Mike Arbuckle, Dallas Green, Charley Kerfeld, Chuck Lamar and Steve Noworyta. Assistant Minor League Director, Mike Ondo, was back in the Philly office with one ear on his office phone and one ear on his cell. Wife Colleen is about to deliver their first child.
On the phone were Marti Wolever (Director, Scouting) and eight pro scouts the Phillies have throughout spring training in Florida and Arizona.
The Clearwater seven provided an update of how things are going in the Phillies camp and our shopping list. Surprise, we are looking for more pitching. Not much different for other clubs.
The scouts, in turn, reported on their respective teams: injuries, impressive players, the needs of other clubs, which players may be available, etc. If there is a particular player that interests Pat and his lieutenants, the scout covering that team then will make plans to follow that player. Otherwise, scouts are watching and listening every day, picking up information for Pat.
Improving the ballclub is an ongoing effort by a lot of people.
On The Road Again
Most important note on the bulletin board in the clubhouse today and tomorrow: bus schedule.
For the game today in Orlando, the buses left at 8 this morning. Tomorrow, the Phillies have a split squad, one team in Lakeland against the Tigers (9:30 bus) and one in neighboring Dunedin against the Blue Jays (11:30 bus). Jimy Williams will manage the Phillies in Dunedin; Charlie Manuel in Lakeland, which is near his winter home.
Back home on Thursday (Tampa Bay Rays) and then back-to-back road games on Friday and Saturday.
As Willie Nelson once sang, "On The Road Again."
Pat Burrell and Pedro Feliz weren't on the traveling roster today and worked out at Bright House Field this morning with others who didn't visit Disney.
Tommy Lasorda was among friends of Davey Lopes who called wanting to express their best wishes. E-mails and cards have been arriving . . . This morning, 7:30 to be exact, was photo day at the minor league camp where 152 players begin workouts tomorrow. First games there start Tuesday. Between Carpenter Field and Bright House Field, there's Phillies baseball going on for the rest of the month.
Harry and Jamie, WPEN's mid-day sports talk show (12 noon to 3 p.m.) will be live from the Tiki Bar at Bright House Field on tomorrow through Thursday . . . No radio or TV tomorrow . . . Wednesday's game will be broadcast on phillies.com.
Number 1?
Question: The number 1 souvenir sold at Citizens Bank Park last season?
Answer: The No. 1 foam finger…..14,341 of them.
No ESPN
Tough news on Davey Lopes today. But, the prostate cancer was caught early and a full recovery is expected. That's great news.
Everyone in the camp has a physical exam at the beginning. That's how Lopes' situation was detected.
Photo Op
After the game, Charlie Manuel took part in a one-hour photography session for Philadelphia Magazine. Charlie is an April issue story, "The Great Communicator."
When Greg Casterioto, the media relations manager, told Charlie the length of the photo shoot, Charlie responded, "That long with this mug?"
Even though we had photo day earlier and photographers pop in an out of camp, the Manuel session was one of three Greg supervised the last week. The Camden Courier Post did a series of photos of Brett Myers and the Philadelphia Daily News wanted Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins together for the paper's baseball supplement cover.
The sports network is televising nine spring games, eight from Florida: 2 each: Dodgers, Braves, Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, Blue Jays . . . 1 each: Twins, Indians, Nationals, Tigers.
That means zero for the Phillies….defending NL East champs, reigning MVPs, the best players in the league at first, second and short, Florida's best ball park that packs in passionate fans.
Perhaps ESPN stands for: Exactly Sure Phillies Never
Show Business
Caught part of ESPN's Baseball Tonight last evening from Disney World: Karl Ravech, John Kruk, Goofy and Donald Duck were on for about 5 minutes. That's entertainment!
Speaking of Disney, that's where the Phillies play tomorrow afternoon against the Braves.
Shirt of the day
A gentleman walking on the main concourse at Bright House Field today: "I'm from Texas. I'm drunk and I've lost my horse."


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Meeting the appetite for gourmet cuts of New Zealand beef, lamb, venison and pork in top-flight restaurants around the globe is boosting the growth of Auckland company Neat Meat.
Plans are afoot for the company, which has a decade-old business providing high-quality meat to the restaurant trade and public, to export directly into overseas hotel kitchens and catering firms. The key was to provide a quality product.
Founded by managing director Simon Eriksen, 38, in 2001, Neat Meat takes top cuts from meat processors before butchering and grading them to match restaurant meat.
Starting with the chefs' needs and working backwards turned the traditional meat industry model on its head.
"What we realised is the chefs wanted something, the meat industry had something, but there was a massive divide," said Eriksen
One of five finalists in the University of Auckland Entrepreneurs' Challenge, Neat Meat is hoping to grab a share of $1 million in funding to fast-track its growth plans.
It's a long way from the early days when the entire operation was run out of Eriksen's 1986 Subaru Legacy and he earned the distain of parochial local chefs by attempting to supply Australian beef and lamb.
The switch to home-grown meat changed the company's fortunes and over time it expanded its brands to include Angus pure beef, Silere merino lamb, Harmony organic pork and lamb and Razorback wild boar.
Eriksen has experience with wild boar, having farmed it on a small block near Ascot, London, while on his OE. The product, which garnered a [three pound] premium, shared chiller space with prime Aberdeen Angus beef. Looking back, he said it taught him a lot about branding and creating unique products.
A partnership with chef Josh Emett saw the launch of Chef Series, slow cooked sous vide-style ready-meals for the retail market, earlier this year. These brands of value-added meat cuts and meals are now destined to go international, the concept having already been tested in Singapore.
Right now the focus is on a store opening at the end of the month in Ponsonby Central in Auckland, a new retail, street food and market development on the corner of Ponsonby Rd and Richardson Rd, and an impending move to new, purpose-built company headquarters in Eden Terrace.
Cut and thrust
*Founded by Simon Eriksen in 2001. His brothers William and Tim also work in the business.
*Supply top-quality cuts of beef, lamb, venison and pork.
*Business includes wholesale to restaurants, retail brands and online sales.
*Partnership with chef Josh Emett to produce Chef Series, restaurant-quality ready-meals.


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Paul Scrivener, head of the insurance group at Cayman Islands law firm, Solomon Harris, takes a look at the catastrophe bonds industry and the role played by the Cayman Islands.
No doubt it raised a few eyebrows in Bermuda when it was announced in July last year that new figures revealed that the Cayman Islands had become the leading offshore jurisdiction for listed catastrophe bonds ("cat bonds"). Even Bermuda's main newspaper, The Royal Gazette, was forced to acknowledge that Bermuda had a lot of catching up to do to match its offshore rival in the competition for cat bond business. The July figures showed that there were 74 cat bonds listed on the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange with a value of over US$7.7 billion whereas, in contrast, Bermuda's own statistics showed 10 listed bonds having an aggregate value of US$1.17 billion. For those involved in Cayman's structured finance and captive insurance industries there was much less surprise as the figures simply bore testimony to the jurisdictions continuing ability to adapt and embrace innovative financial products.
In an article in QFinance, Anthony Harrington describes cat bonds in a particularly graphic way when he says, "Catastrophe bonds are either complete lunacy or an outstanding triumph of statistics and probability theory over common sense, depending on your point of view". This comment speaks to two particular features of a cat bond – the high risk taken by investors with a view to achieving a significant investment return and the importance of the modelling undertaken by the specialist catastrophe modelling houses to assess the likelihood of a particular catastrophe occurring.
Cat bonds may be thought of as the place where insurance and the capital markets truly come together. They provide additional capacity in the insurance market and offer an alternative to traditional reinsurance and retrocession contracts. They allow the insurance industry access to the deep pockets of the capital markets and reduce insurance costs to end users. AM Best describes a cat bond as, "A structured debt instrument that transfers risks associated with low frequency/high severity events to investors". The key feature of a cat bond, which contrasts with traditional reinsurance, is that risk in relation to the particular peril is transferred to investors rather than reinsurers. A cat bond enables insurers or reinsurers to spread risk so as to avoid their balance sheets being substantially impaired where huge losses arise from natural disasters. In that sense, a cat bond is a form of insurance securitisation. The nature of the bond is a high yield debt instrument which is linked to an insurance risk and, as the name would suggest, the insurance risk is typically a catastrophic risk arising from a natural disaster such as a hurricane, earthquake or flood. Historically, cat bonds have been used principally to cover the risk of US hurricanes, US earthquakes, Japanese typhoons and earthquakes and European hurricanes. However, whilst cat bonds have been traditionally limited to the world of natural disasters, they need not be so as evidenced by the issue by FIFA of cat bonds worth US$260 million against cancellation of the 2002 World Cup in South Korea/Japan.
Cat bonds first came into vogue in the aftermath of devastating Hurricane Andrew which hit South Florida in 1992, the most costly Atlantic hurricane in US history (US$26.5 billion), until surpassed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Cat bonds emerged from the search for a vehicle that would bring more risk-bearing capacity to the catastrophe reinsurance market or, to put it another way, how could reinsurers spread the burden and protect their balance sheets when faced with truly catastrophic claims? The first cat bonds emerged in the mid to late 1990's with sponsors such as AIG, Hannover Re and St Paul Re and continued to develop over the coming years with 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina not surprisingly stimulating further growth in the sector. More than US$30 billion of securities have been issued and 2010 was a particularly strong year for new issues.
How are cat bonds typically structured and how do they work? The structure has much in common with the traditional securitisation model used with asset-backed securities. The Cayman Islands has always been strong in the asset backed securities market, particularly, CDO's, and therefore it is perhaps no surprise that the Cayman Islands would become a participant in insurance securitisations, with the first Cayman cat bond listed on the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange in 2007.
The traditional structure involves an insurance company or a reinsurance company (the "Sponsor") establishing a special purpose vehicle ("SPV") as a bankruptcy remote entity. As with a CDO, the SPV will typically be set up in a tax neutral offshore jurisdiction such as the Cayman Islands. The Sponsor pays premiums to the SPV with the SPV acting as a reinsurer of the Sponsor and the SPV raises its capital by the issuance of the cat bond to investors in the capital markets. The usual model in the Cayman Islands is for the funds provided by the investors to be deposited into a collateral account and invested in investment-grade securities such as money market funds. The funds in the collateral account are available to satisfy the catastrophic losses reinsured by the SPV. The cat bond obviously carries a coupon – usually a floating rate coupon - which is serviced from the premiums paid by the Sponsor to the SPV and from the investment income earned on the funds in the collateral account.
Because of the high risk for the investor in the bond the coupon needs to be attractive and would typically be anywhere between 3 per cent and 20 per cent over LIBOR. One particular advantage of the SPV being domiciled in a jurisdiction such as the Cayman Islands is that there is no withholding tax on the payment of the coupon. The typical term of a cat bond is three to five years. If the catastrophe covered by the bond does not occur, the investors receive their principal back at the end of the term and, of course, their interest during the term of the bond. In these circumstances, the return on investment should be very healthy. However, if the catastrophe arises – the major hurricane hits Florida or there is a land-falling typhoon in Japan – and the bond is triggered, the entirety of the investors' funds could be wiped out. Investment in cat bonds is therefore not for the faint of heart!
Whether or not the bond is triggered and losses have to be met can be a complicated issue and there are various trigger types. Some triggers are closely correlated to the sponsor's actual losses and therefore operate more like traditional reinsurance whereas others are not correlated in this way and the payment made under the bond to the sponsor may bear little resemblance to the actual losses thereby providing a windfall for the sponsor. An example of the latter would be a bond which pays out to the sponsor based on a set wind speed at a specified number of weather stations but the actual loss exposure of the sponsor arises in locations away from the weather stations specified.
Whilst traditionally cat bonds have been issued to cover the risk of a particular loss, they have also been structured to cover the risk that multiple losses will occur, with the first second event bond having been issued as long ago as 1999 and the first third event bond having been issued in 2001.
Cat bonds are frequently rated by the traditional rating agencies but whereas a typical corporate bond is rated based on the likelihood of issuer default, a cat bond is rated based on the likelihood of the catastrophe arising and the principal being impaired as a result.
Who invests in a cat bond? Not surprisingly, bearing in mind the high risk/high reward associated with cat bonds, the investors are typically institutionally-based and tend to comprise hedge funds, insurers, reinsurers, banks and pension funds. There is no doubt that the global financial crisis had a marked impact on cat bonds as hedge funds, in particular, bailed out because of the need to go into cash. The investors who remained had concerns about the transparency of the underlying collateral arrangements particularly in the light of collapse of Lehman in 2008. Lehman had acted as counterparty on a number of cat bonds. However, the lessons learned from Lehman have led to an improvement and simplification of the collateral arrangements, typically, through the use of US Treasuries and AAA rated securities. Consequently, investors have returned, attracted not only by the higher coupon compared to corporate bonds but by the diversification and lack of correlation to traditional assets classes that cat bonds can provide.
As 2011 gets underway, the cat bond industry remains vibrant and Cayman appears to be in a very strong position to retain its position as the leading offshore domicile in this market. Its ambitions in this regard are not least reflected in the recently revised Insurance Law which for the first time establishes a separate licensed category for cat bond SPVs and no doubt the fact that in September last year Cayman was, for the second year running, named by UK banking and finance magazine, The Banker, the number one specialized financial centre, globally, will do the jurisdiction no harm.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.


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There is lots of movement on the list of skaters in North America but there is no surprise at the top where John Tavares is ranked #1. Seen here as he joined the London Knights last week, Tavares had a terrific WJC that answered a lot of questions scouts had.
Matt Duchene is now #2 on the list which is a bit of a eyebrow-raiser for me. Despite not playing in the WJC he moves ahead of Jared Cowan (falls to #7) and is still above Evander Kane (#3) who has more points and did play for Canada in the WJC. Jordan Schroeder comes in at #4.
The top ranked defenceman in North America isn't Cowan or Ryan Ellis or even Russian Dmitri Kulikov... it's someone named Simon Despres! Despres plays for the Saint John Sea Dogs in the QMJHL and I know zippo about him but will get educated tomorrow night on The Pipeline Show as we are slated to welcome beat writer Nathan White to the program.
Speaking of Ellis, he's rated the 15th best skater in N.A. and that's behind Chicago Steel blueliner John Moore (8th).
A couple high school kids make a big impact on the list coming in at #14 and #16. Chris Kreider is a 6'2 forward and Zach Budish is an even bigger winger weighing in at 6.2" and 229 lbs.
The Brandon Wheat Kings are well represented at the top of the list with Brayden Schenn #5 and Scott Glennie #12. Glennie (pictured) is someone I think would be of interest to the Edmonton Oilers who I expect to be on the hunt for a scoring forward with above average size.
A few other guys fitting that category are Lethbridge Hurricanes forward Carter Ashton #10 (6'4, 210 lbs.), Zack Kassian #24 from Peterborough (6'2.5, 212 lbs.) and further down is Kamloops Blazers forward Jimmy Bubnick (6'1.5, 190 lbs.).
The top rated forward available in the USHL is Louis Leblanc, a Quebec-born product who plays for the Omaha Lancers this year and is committed to Harvard in the NCAA. He'll also join us tomorrow night on The Pipeline Show after recetnly being named a 2009 Draft Prospect Performer of the Week.
Some other local notables: Edmonton Oil Kings forward Tomas Vincour obviously didn't have a WJC that impressed the scouts as he's tumbled from 1st round consideration all the way down to #79 on the list... Edmonton products rate well with Dylan Olsen of the Camrose Kodiaks coming in at #23 and Levko Koper from Spokane at #44... The top ranked Oil Kings property is actually Philip Samuelsson of the Chicago Steel. The big blueliner is ranked #59 but has yet to officially committ to a NCAA program so a future with the Oil Kings (who drafted him back in 2007) is still possible...


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MWC 15 Special
Together with the announcement of Sony Ericsson Xperia S, Sony has also announced a couple of new accessories to enhance the experience on Android and to bring content to consumers' smartphones in an entirely new way. And since the Xperia S is Sony (Ericsson's) first NFC enabled smartphone, one of the accessories are the "Xperia SmartTags", which allows to switch your smartphone settings with a single swipe. Furthermore Sony announced its "Smart Wireless Headset pro", a Bluetooth headset that does it all as well as a new and now called "SmartWatch", which allows to access apps and smartphone features with a micro display for Android.
Xperia SmartTags work with any NFC enabled smartphone, including Xperia S. Simply touch a NFC enabled smartphone to a SmartTag, which is the shape and size of a small round token, and it launches a pre-configured profile in the phone, such as the alarm clock for a SmartTag by your bed or a GPS application for the SmartTag in your car. These profiles can be easily personalized to reflect any taste, designed to save consumers time and make their smartphone lives easier.
The Smart Wireless Headset pro is a stereo headset for Android smartphones which offers multifunctional features in addition to superior sound. On the display of Smart Wireless Headset pro users can read text messages, see incoming calls, access calendar notifications and much more. When detached from the phone it functions as a standalone MP3 player and radio.
Similar to Sony Ericsson's 2010 launched "LiveView", Sony's SmartWatch is a micro display accessory for communicating with an Android smartphone via Bluetooth. Consumers can, for example, discretely access text messages, social media updates and manage calls or music. The display is mounted on a strap and can be worn as a watch. Applications allowing users to personalize their SmartWatch experience will be available on Android Market.
Sony has neither announced availability nor any prices of its smart accessories but it can be expected that they hit markets right in time with the launch of the Sony Xperia S during the first quarter 2012.
Cheers ~ Arne
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Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)
Last Date: 10/12/2015.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will conduct a Special Recruitment Drive for selection of Telecom Technical Assistant (TTA) in an Special Drive for recruitment of SC/ST/OBC candidates on All India basis for various BSNL telecom circles :
- Name of Post: Telecom Technical Assistant (TTA)
- No of Posts : 147 posts (SC-25,ST-77,OBC-45)
- Educational Qualification: Three years Engineering Diploma in specific branches.
- Pay Scale : Rs. 13600 - 25240 (IDA)
- Age : 18-30 years as on 10/12/12015
No of Posts (North East) : Assam [OBC=1], North East-II [ST=5]
Selection Process : The mode of selection is through open Competitive Examination on 20/12/2015.
Selection Process : The mode of selection is through open Competitive Examination on 20/12/2015.
Application Fee : Rs.1000/- (Rs.500/- for SC/ST) to be paid online by Net Banking / Credit Card / Debit Card only.
How to Apply : Apply Online at BSNL website from 01/12/2015 to 10/12/2015 only. Please visit http://externalexam.bsnl.co.in for detailed document and online submission of application.


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Transcribed By Elsie Sampson
December 14, 1950
Monday, June 16, 1800
" Court met according to adjournment, the following members being present: viz: Garrett Fitzgerald, William Walton, Tillman Dixon, Charles Hudspeth, Esquires." So reads the opening item of the third meeting of the Quarterly Court of Pleas of Smith County, Tenn. Nothing is said in the record to indicate where it met, but it is virtually certain that the Court met in the home of Tillman Dixon, at the present Dixon Springs.
"Grand Jury also elected and sworn: viz: John Douglas, foreman; Godfrey Fowler, Patrick Donoho, James Roberts, Robert Bowerman, John Patterson, Phillip Day, Jacob Bowerman, Richard Harmond, James Cherry, David Cochran, Leonard Jones, Stephen Pate, Edmond Jennings and Isham Beasley." In this list of early Smith County citizens appeared for the first time the name of Robert Bowerman. The other Bowerman has already been mentioned a number of times. He was Jacob Bowerman, supposedly a citizen of lower Jennings' Creek, now in Jackson County. Whether Robert was a brother or a son, or whether there was any relationship between the two does not yet appear. And it is possible that in the copying of the old records an error might have been made and the name might be Robert Bowman, who was undoubtedly one of the early and substantial citizens of Smith County, and a resident of the section in which the town of Riddleton is now found.
By way of parenthesis, it may be added, just here that we have learned a little about the Brevard family. For there is an old cemetery on the farm of the late Claudie Gregory, just below Hillsdale, and about six miles south of Lafayette, in which some of the early Brevards are buried. On one tombstone is the following: "Polly Anna Brevard, Born Jan. 30, 1800; Died July 27, 1840." We know or feel quite certain that John Brevard lived on the waters of Goose Creek in the year 1800. So the birth of his daughter, we presume, took place early that year. From all indications the present Jesse Merryman home, formerly the old Johnson home, near Hillsdale, was the original Brevard home. Just where the ford in the creek was, at which Brevard found the newborn baby and to whom he gave the name of Ford, remains unsolved. However there was a ford for many years in front of the present home of Leslie Cothron, which is only a few hundred yards from the old home that we judge to have been that of John Brevard. When the family left the county does not appear, and it is not likely that the entire family died and ended this particular Brevard line. Any other information about the family will be appreciated.
"Ordered that Lemuel Henry be admitted as a practicing attorney, he having taken the necessary oaths and oath of office." So reads the next item on that summer day 150 years ago. Who Lemuel Henry was we do not know. If memory serves us right, he was the second attorney to offer to practice law in Smith County. "Ordered that Silas Jernigan be appointed Constable to attend on the Grand Jury, who was accordingly sworn." Here we have another name that has disappeared largely from North Middle Tennessee. However, there is a John Jernigan at Springfield, referred to by those who know him, as "Uncle John." Then there is a minister of the Church of Christ at Portland by the same name. We do not know that they are related, but the name and spelling are the same.
"Deed, 100 acres Thomas Harney to Esom Graves, proven by the oath of Jacob Bowerman, one of the subscribing witnesses thereto, ordered to be registered." We have not the least idea as to who Thomas Harncy was, but we presume that Esom Graves might have been the ancestor of the Graves family now in Davidson County, since this family once lived on Jennings' Creek, and the winess, Jacob Bowerman, lived on that stream a century and a half ago.
"Ordered that Thomas Draper, Pleasant Kearby and Willeroy Pate be appointed patrollers of Captain Pate's Company." Here we have another item that is not quite clear. The word "patrollers," is not found in the dictionary, but we suppose it had to do with those who went around over the various sections and sought to keep law and order or to hold in line any that might have been inclined to lawlessness. We suppose they were mounted men and that they had to cover quite a large territory. The
writer may be wholly off balance on this point. If any reader knows more about the above than Cal does, and he would not have to know very much, please write us and we will do our best to straighten this matter. Thomas Draper, we presume, lived on Jennings' Creek or at least in that part of Smith County that became Jackson County five years after the above record was made. Pleasant Kearby, we believe, was the ancestor of the Kirby family of North Middle Tennessee. We have already referred to the spelling or the calling of the name, which then was pronounced as if spelled, "Kyearby," Willeroy Pate is believed to have been a resident of Salt Lick of Cumberland, and perhaps the ancestor of the present Pate family in that section.
"Ordered that Richard Banks be allowed to keep a ferry at his own landing below the mouth of Dixon's Creek, and that he be rated agreeable to the rates of all other ferries in the county except Edmond Jennings. " Here we find a distinction or a difference, and we confess we do not know why Jennings, who lived at the mouth of Jennings' Creek, near the present Gainesboro, should be rated differently from all other ferries in the county. From the mouth of the Caney Fork down, and Dixon's Creek is perhaps 35 miles below the Caney Fork, the River is much larger than it is at Gainesboro. If this did not make the difference in rates, we do not know just what did.
"Will of Jesse Sanderson proven by the oath of Arthur Hessian, one of the subscribing witnesses therein, who also swore that he saw John Patterson subscribe the same as a witness with himself, John Sanderson and Leonard Jones were sworn as Executors." Here we have another item of interest. We know that the Sanderson family lived on what is now called Sonderson's Branch which flows into the Boston Branch just above the present Pleasant Shade. We also were informed long years ago by Joseph Sanderson, one of the wisest men we ever knew, that the first Sanderson house built in Smith County was erected near the present Ezra Huddleston home prior to 1811, near a fine spring. He also informed the writer that the family lived there for some years when the earthquake of 1811 that formed Reelfoot Lake, caused their fine spring to cease to flow, and the family had to abandon their pioneer home and move down the branch for about a quarter of a mile to another spring and there built on top of the little hill near the present Hugh Hackett home. Edward and Tommie Sanderson were two of the oldest members of the family of whom we have any record. One of these was in the War of 1812, if we remember correctly. Perhaps somewhere among our many old records is something that would shed light on this point, but we are too hard pressed for time to try to look it up at present. Mrs. Vina Hesson was a Miss Sanderson prior to her marriage and perhaps could give some light on who Jesse Sanderson and John Sanderson were. She is now about 90 years of age and still has a good memory. We hope to learn from her on these points. We might add that the family at present is nearly extinct, with Thomas D. Sanderson, Carthage undertaker, and his son, Glenn Sanderson, being the only adult members of the family left, so far as we have learned. It has occupied a prominent place in Smith County for about 150 years. Arthur Hessian was the founder of the present Hesson family in Macon and Smith Counties. He was known then as "Arter Hessian," or perhaps more correctly, as "Arter Hashun," as the name was called in the long ago, and to a lesser degree in our own early life. He lived, if we remember correctly, just above the present Pleasant Shade. John Patterson, the other witness, and Leonard Jones, the other executor of the will, deserve some consideration. In looking back over our old family records we find the following about the Jones family and we believe this is the same family to which Leonard belonged: Sam Jones and his mother, believed to have been a Miss Lane prior to her marriage came from North Carolina to the present Jennings' Creek about 1795. His father, believed to have been William Jones, was killed in the Revolutionary War. Sam married a Miss Watkins of Wilson County. She lived to be 107 years of age. Sam is buried in the family graveyard at Red Boiling Springs.
The children of Sam Jones and the Watkins woman were: Dick Jones, married Andrews, and moved to Danville, Arkansas; Sam Jones, married a Bruce and went also to Danville; Jake Jones, married a Patterson, and also went to Danville; William Jones, married a Dewitt, and removed to Danville; Leonard Jones, married a Patterson, a cousin of Jake's wife; Jesse Jones, married an Adams; and Betsy Jones, married Tom Hutcherson. We find that we have quite a lot more on the Jones family. Now here is some more surmising; Since we find the name of Leonard Jones, as executor of the will of Jesse Sanderson, and also that one of the subscribing witnesses was John Patterson, and since the same given name of Leonard is found in both records, and since Leonard married a Patterson and both Jones and Patterson are connected with the will of Jesse Sanderson, we believe we are justified in supposing that the Jones family whose outline is above given and the Jones of the old court records were of one and the same family.
Richard Banks above referred to, was a charter member of Dixon's Creek Baptist church, which was formed near his home on March 8, 1800. His wife, whose name was Kerenhappuch Banks, was another charter member. One of our first darkies to ever know was Bob Banks, who perhaps was owned by the same family at the time when the slaves were freed. He lived on the site of the present home of Ed Smith, about a half mile below Mace's Hill church house. The writer lived in the same house that Smith now occupies in the year 1913. From that place we left on the morning of July 12, 1913 to make our first preaching effort.
One other matter that may seem trival or even silly is connected with the name Bob Banks, our old darky neighbor of more than 50 years ago. Bob died when the writer was a small boy, not more that seven years of age. He left an old dog that had "mange" on him until he was virtually without hair. Late one cold, snowy winter day, some of the neighbors decided it would be better to kill the old dog than to leave him to starve to death. They shot the animal which got away from home after being shot and came by the front window of the living room of Cal's little home more than 50 years ago. He can still see in his minds eye that gaunt, "mangy" and wounded dog, the bullet hole in his side still being as clear in memory as if the event were only a week ago. The old dog was overtaken about 200 yards from our childhood home and speedily dispatched. To our childish mind this was a tragedy and we grieved much over the incident. From our childhood bed through an open window we could see that part of the hillside where the old dog had been killed and thrown into a gully beneath some cedar brush or bushes. We do not recall an event of our very early life that affected us so badly as did the killing of the dead man's old, friendless and forsaken dog. Weeks later we helped to pull that old dog's body from beneath the cedar brush and into a shallow grave that had been dug on a bank just above where the old fellow had lost his life. We believe we could go today to that very spot, although it has been 40 years since we were there. If any reader feels that the above is trivial or silly, you are at liberty to do so. But the impressions made by the incident were hard on our tender and confiding disposition that craved the right and opposed the wrong even in the tenderest years of which we have today any memory. Please do not judge us too harshly when we go back through the years and give a description of some of the worries of childhood that today would be passed by with but scarcely a thought and without remembrance.
Next week we hope to resume at the place where we have digressed from the old records.


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CPD HOTLINE: Our CPD Consultants are available now to assist on 0845 1841498
Private Dentistry
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Promoting excellence to private dental practitioners with editorially independent articles by opinion leaders, covering the full range of clinical and management topics…
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Private Dentistry is an essential reference journal, promoting excellence to private dental practitioners with editorially independent articles by opinion leaders, covering the full range of clinical and management topics.
Since Private Dentistry was launched in 1995, it has pushed the boundaries of dental publishing in the UK with its finely balanced mix of clinical and business articles. It is still the only journal in the UK targeted specifically at private dental practice and has always ensured that its readers are kept fully abreast of the latest developments in clinical and management techniques and the maintenance of profitable practice.
Catering for dentists who have already moved into independent practice, or are in the process of making the move, Private Dentistry is an indispensable guide to developing a more effective, rewarding and profitable private practice.
Key features:
- 12 issues per year
- 24 verifiable CPD hours per year
- Clinical excellence step-by-step guides
- 'Private life' articles written by those succeeding in private dentistry
- Expert advice on how to market your practice, keep your team motivated and increase revenue
- News, updates and advice on the key issues affecting private dentists
- Materials and equipment section acts as an invaluable purchasing guide for your practice.
Twitter: @ThePDmag
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It has been said — "We must begin to believe that God, in the mystery of prayer, has entrusted us with a force that can move the Heavenly world, and can bring its power down to earth. (Andrew Murray). We seek a move of God in our lives, our homes, our community and our world. Prayer is essential for helping us discern the mind of God and aligning our hearts with His. As this happens, we believe God will be pleased and will work among us and through us!
At New Hope we pray —
- Because God commands us to pray and He reveals Himself to us through prayer (Jeremiah 29:12-13)
- Because God invited us to bring our burdens and needs to Him (Matthew 11:28-29)
- Because God responds to the prayers of his sons and daughters (James 5:16)
- Faithfully and fervently with perseverance (Luke 18:1)
- For our spiritual leaders that they might have protection and proclaim the Gospel with boldness (Ephesians 6:19-20)
- For increased unity in the body of Christ (John 17:20-22)
- For wisdom and guidance (Colossians 1:9-10)
- For forgiveness and strength to resist temptation (1 John 1:9)
- For those who are not Christ followers (Matthew 9:38)
- For our politicians and community leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-3)
- In faith (James 5:15), according to God's will (Romans 8:27), in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord (John 16:23-24)
Come join us for prayer every Sunday morning at 9:00 AM. Come forward to pray with others following each worship service. Come join us in praying for one another as monthly we each take time to select five new church family members to pray for.
Come join us for our Summer Prayer BBQ's, every Thursday night at 6:00 PM. Enjoy a cooked dinner and fellowship, followed by an hour of prayer!


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Reaching Iwaki from Tokyo
Take the Hitachi-Tokiwa Limited Express train (ひたち・ときわ特急) from Tokyo Station or Ueno Station straight to Iwaki Station.
This train costs around 6000 yen, and takes just over 2 hours 15 minutes.
Reaching Iwaki from Koriyama City
Take the Ban'etsu East Line from Koriyama Station to Iwaki Station. This train takes 1 hour 45 minutes, and costs just over 1600 yen per way.
Travelling to Iwaki Yumoto Station
Many of the sightseeing spots in Iwaki are concentrated around Iwaki Yumoto, an onsen town. See below:
- Spa Resort Hawaiians – 15 minute shuttle bus from Yumoto Station (free)
- Iwaki City Coal & Fossil Museum – 10 minute walk from Yumoto Station
- Iwaki FC Park – 8 minute taxi from Yumoto Station (or 30 minute walk)
If coming from Tokyo, you would reach Iwaki Yumoto Station as one of the stops on the Hitachi-Tokiwa Limited Express line to Iwaki.
If travelling from Koriyama, or elsewhere in Fukushima Prefecture, you can take either the Hitachi-Tokiwa train between Iwaki Station & Iwaki Yumoto Station (which costs 950 yen), or the Joban Line (which costs 200 yen). Both lines take the same amount of time.
Reaching Iwaki by Car
Take the Tohoku Expressway to Koriyama.
At Koriyama Higashi IC, swap from the Tohoku Expressway to the Banetsu Expressway. You can take this round all the way to Iwaki.
Switch from the Banetsu Expressway to the Joban Expressway at Iwaki JCT (Junction). Then take the exit also confusingly labelled Iwaki Chuo IC.
Central Iwaki will take around 10 minutes from the IC.
Renting a Car in Iwaki
There are a number of Rental Car companies near Iwaki Station, such as a JR Rent-a-Car, Nippon Rent-a-Car, Times Rental etc.
You need a car to get to some sightseeing spots in Iwaki (unless you'd like to face the local buses!) These include:
- Shiramizu Amida-do – 25 minute drive from Iwaki Station
- Shoko Kanazawa Art Museum – 25 minute drive from Yumoto Station
- Aquamarine Fukushima – 25 minute drive from Yumoto Station
- Wonder Farm – 20 minute drive from Iwaki Station


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18th April 2014
Yes, all the ducks are at last in line, biting each other's tails and paddling vigorously. Ground works are due to begin in the next couple of weeks. The most pesky duck proved to be the party wall awards but I won't dwell on that. Not now, anyway.
Today we sought to raise our sights to higher things, reinvigorating our Arts and Crafts vision by visiting Charleston House in Sussex, the farmhouse transformed by Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant into a complete work of their very own sensual art.
Being carless, we took the train to Newhaven and then headed inland on our Bromptons. I knew there was a bit of a hill in the way but this turned out to be Firle Beacon, one of the highest points on the South Downs. The track rapidly turned into a line scored in the chalk through the high fields of yellow rape. Fortunately Charleston has an excellent tea shop.
The house is like a Florentine palace scaled down to the reassuring level of English domesticity. Everything is painted: walls, fireplaces, doors, bedheads. And over the delicate looping patterns and broad blocks of limpid colour there is a picture gallery of artworks in every room by (or of) members of the Bloomsbury group and their extended network of friends. Fabrics and rugs are to the designs of Duncan and Vanessa. Most rooms look on to the garden, currently blooming purple, orange, yellow and blue, or to the downs beyond.
The house is inspiring not just because the result is so rich but also because there are so few examples of houses where artists or craftsmen have had the confidence to use the building as a canvas and pursue their ideas with such singular purpose. Morris and his friends pursued a similar goal at the Red House but much less of that interior survives. The Charleston Trust have done an amazing job of saving a house that was falling to bits when Duncan Grant died in 1978.
We won't be painting every surface of the Orchard, partly because neither of us can paint, and we don't move in painterly circles, but mostly because we are more interested in bringing our surfaces to life with the colours, texture and patterns of natural materials rather than decorative paint. Although I have been thinking of finding an artist to decorate the double height wall behind our staircase, we have decided we would rather turn this wall into a rock face.
Nonetheless I will sleep on this experience and see what it turns into. After all, much of the decorative painting at Charleston is not highly skilled. Vanessa Bell had a particular fondness for circles which are already a feature of the Orchard's design. It takes time for these things to bubble up.
Charleston doesn't have a chapel. As you can't take photos inside the house, the photo above is from nearby Berwick church, painted by Vanessa, Duncan and Vanessa's son, Quentin. It is verging on the hilarious: English maidens transformed into ascending angels at the feet of a rather louche Christ, catching their skirts to avoid any embarrassment for the worshipers below.


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With the use of some red ink and some blue ink, we reviewed some video games this week. Links to the results are below. How'd we do?
Brother In Arms 2 Micro-Review: Oh, Brother Where Art Thou?
In which Brian Ashcraft could have sworn he was playing Thumbs: The Game
Scrap Metal Micro-Review: There's a Difference Between Mindless and Pointless
In which Owen Good does not want to grind.
Greed Corp Micro-Review: Is Greed Good?
In which Ashcraft declares that this game "could very well be the most topically relevant downloadable game released so far this year."
Yakuza 3 Review: A Foreign Film Festival
In which Luke Plunkett laments PS2-level standards in his PS3 game.
Max & The Magic Marker Micro-Review: What If The DS Was My TV?
In which I realized that the DSi XL might not be big enough.
Street Fighter IV iPhone Review: A Party For One
In which Brian Crecente finished a Street Fighter gamer in under 10 minutes.


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What Entrepreneurs Need to Know on How They Can Establish Trust with Employees
Establishing trust with employees usually takes time, and it is important for the business owner to ensure they establish trust with their employees. Most business owners may find it challenging to allow other people to have control over some specific areas in their businesses but if you want the business to grow, they have to recruit new staff. The employer and employee should have a relationship built on trust as soon as the recruitment phase starts. During the process of building trust, resumes and interviews are used to gauge the intensity of trust that can be built. The employee and employer must play their parts in ensuring that a trusting relationship is built. In most occasions, there is an imbalance between the relationship between an employee and employer since the employee is automatically trying to impress the employer and the business owner is from time to time checking on the employee and this may eventually lead to a wall being created between the two.
The other way in which you can build trust with your employees is through salaries and obligations as you will find out shortly. It is common to find that after your hired new workers, they sign a contract which contains terms and conditions that they agree to. The owner of the business must detail what is expected of the new employees, how they will be compensated and must be clear about their obligations. The owner of the business must ensure that the employees are taken through the policies of the company and also told about what would happen to them in case they did not comply with the policies. When the employees are informed about the various aspects of the policies of the company, they will know beforehand what might happen to them if they do not comply with the policies.
An entrepreneur could also establish trust with employees by enhancing the methods of communication. Many things have changed about how employees are managed, and the way businesses are conducted. Since we are living in a digital age, it is a good reason for the entrepreneurs to improve the methods of communication. It is important for entrepreneurs to create a system whereby information passes to and fro. For instance, pay stubs can be created and emailed or printed to show proof that employees are getting paid. One of the surest ways of breaking the trust between an employer and employees is by mishandling the payment of salaries, and this is why it is advisable to go on the record and should improve with payment which will boost their confidence. If you are interested to discover more about how you can establish trust with your employees, visit this page.
Support: https://gordonjamesodb.sitey.me/blog/how-entrepreneurs-can-establish-trust-with-their-employees


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Widescreen Horse Desktop Wallpapers
Download widescreen white horse desktop wallpapers. White horse desktop backgrounds. Beautiful white horse Pictures free download.
HOW TO DOWNLOAD IMAGE IN FULL RESOLUTION: Click on each image to view larger in light box, then right click on Picture and select "save image as …" to download Wallpapers into your desktop computer and laptop. If you are browsing website by handheld or touchscreen device, please tap on image for a while (3 seconds) and then select "save image as …" to download image to your mobile device.


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This security update resolves vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office that could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Office file. To learn more about these vulnerabilities, see Microsoft Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures CVE-2017-11774 and Microsoft Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures CVE-2017-11776.
Note To apply this security update, you must have the release version of Outlook 2016 installed on the computer.
Be aware that the update in the Microsoft Download Center applies to the Microsoft Installer (.msi)-based edition of Office 2016. It doesn't apply to the Office 2016 Click-to-Run editions, such as Microsoft Office 365 Home. (Determining your Office version)
Improvements and fixes
- Outlook will not connect with MAPI/HTTP if certain HTTP headers are received by the client with unexpected type casing.
You occasionally experience an error when you try to access the address book.
When you open a recurring meeting with exceptions in Outlook 2016, the meeting details may be lost.
An Add-in (web extension) returns an incorrect Exchange Web Services (EWS) URL if the internal and external EWS URLs are different.
After you send an email message in Outlook 2016 that has an IMAP account configured, the message appears in the Drafts folder again.
When you forward or reply to an HTML email message that has some images in Outlook 2016, one or more attachments or inline images may be lost.
When you use Outlook.com to send email messages to users who are outside the service, those messages show the winmail.dat files as attachments for those recipients.
The Apps for Office button are no longer visible on the compose form if there are no legacy compose add-ins enabled.
When you open a recurring meeting that has exceptions in Online mode in Outlook 2016, the meeting body may be blank.
Updates the holiday information in the Outlook holiday file (Outlook.HOL) for Malaysia, Russia, Trinidad, and Tobago. To apply the change, follow these steps:
Install this update that contains the updated .HOL file.
Go to Calendar, and then select View -> Change View -> List -> Categories.
Select and delete the old holiday events that are grouped for the relevant location.
Select File -> Options -> Calendar -> Add Holidays, check the relevant holiday group, and then select OK.
Improves some translations for the Russian 32-bit version of Outlook 2016.
How to get and install the update
Method 1: Microsoft Update
This update is available from Microsoft Update. When you turn on automatic updating, this update will be downloaded and installed automatically. For more information about how to get security updates automatically, see Windows Update: FAQ.
Method 2: Microsoft Update Catalog
To get the stand-alone package for this update, go to the Microsoft Update Catalog website.
Method 3: Microsoft Download Center
You can get the stand-alone update package through the Microsoft Download Center. Follow the installation instructions on the download page to install the update.
More Information
Security update deployment information
For deployment information about this update, see security update deployment information: October 10, 2017.
Security update replacement information
This security update replaces previously released security update 4011091.
File hash information
|Package name
|Package hash SHA 1
|Package hash SHA 2
File information
The English version of this security update has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and the times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The dates and the times for these files on your local computer are displayed in your local time together with your current daylight saving time (DST) bias. Additionally, the dates and the times may change when you perform certain operations on the files.
How to get help and support for this security update
Help for installing updates: Windows Update FAQ
Security solutions for IT professionals: Security Support and Troubleshooting
Help for protecting your Windows-based computer from viruses and malware: Microsoft Secure
Local support according to your country: International Support
Propose a feature or provide feedback on Office: Office User Voice portal


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Worries about evil spirits haunting stocks intensified slightly, even though the percentage of investors expecting Mr. Market to continue handing out treats stayed above 40% in the latest AAII Sentiment Survey.
Bullish sentiment, expectations that stock prices will rise over the next six months, pulled back by 4.2 percentage points to 45.0%. This was the fourth consecutive week that the percentage of AAII members who said "I ain't afraid of no market ghost" stayed above 40%. The historical average is 39.0%.
Neutral sentiment, expectations that stock prices will stay essentially unchanged, edged up 0.3 percentage points to 33.6%. This is the second consecutive week that expectations for conditions to neither turn brighter nor more ghoulish were above the historical average of 30.5%.
Bearish sentiment, expectations that stock prices will fall over the next six months, edged up 3.9 percentage points to 21.5%. Even with the increase, fear of ghastly market conditions returning remains below the historical average of 30.5% for the third consecutive week and the sixth time in the past eight weeks.
Given the previous two-week 16-percentage-point decline in pessimism, seeing a small rebound this week is not surprising. More importantly, it does not suggest a greater fear of something going bump in the night. This said, concerns about slow economic growth, elevated stock valuations and the lack of a long-term fiscal solution have not gone away, and some individual investors do fret that something is lurking in the woods. Nonetheless, rising stock prices, better-than-forecast third-quarter earnings and economic growth are keeping a larger number of individual investors hopeful that the witching hour will not return in the foreseeable future.
This week's special question asked AAII members what type of candy they plan on giving trick-or-treaters tonight. A long list was given, with assorted chocolate bars (a mixture of Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, Snickers, Baby Ruth, etc.) being the most common candy of choice (21% of respondents). Among those giving out a specific type of candy, the top choices were Snickers (12%), Kit Kat (5%) and M&M's (5%). One group of lucky kids will be getting Ghirardelli chocolate squares tonight. About 28% of respondents said they won't be giving out candy tonight. Many of them said a lack of children in their residential area was the reason why.
This week's AAII Sentiment Survey results
- Bullish: 45.0%, down 4.2 percentage points
- Neutral: 33.6%, up 0.3 percentage points
- Bearish: 21.5%, up 3.9 percentage points
Historical averages:
- Bullish: 39.0%
- Neutral: 30.5%
- Bearish: 30.5%
The AAII Sentiment Survey has been conducted weekly since July 1987 and asks AAII members whether they think stock prices will rise, remain essentially flat, or fall over the next six months. The survey period runs from Thursday (12:01 a.m.) to Wednesday (11:59 p.m.) The survey and its results are available online at: http://www.aaii.com/sentimentsurvey


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Jack POV: Why marketers should think small before going big
Big data has given marketers an unprecedented view into the attitudes and behaviors of consumers. But as we become increasingly reliant on analytics, we're also basing our insights on the same data pool—and arriving at similar outcomes. It's a race to the middle that can dilute brand perceptions and value.
For brands to stand out, big data isn't enough. That's where small data comes in.
In our latest white paper, we show how using small data—the tiny clues that can reveal consumers' drivers and desires—can uncover insights that can't be found through big data alone.
Read our white paper, and find out how small data can lead to breakthrough ideas that transform brands.
Read our POV:


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I just read this interesting article on the future of the gaming industry. Its all about how companies like Microsoft and Sony are coming out with new consoles that don't let you buy games but rather "rent them". They are hoping to combat the used gaming industry by requiring people to only buy new games online. Some of this has already been seen in a few games like the new Call of Duty and Batman games, which give you a code along with the new version of the game. For example, this code for the new batman game unlocks the entire "catwoman" story line and in Call of Duty it unlocks a quarter of the maps. Gamers who choose to buy a used version of the game get screwed because this code only works once. The companies say these efforts are used to try and combat the use of pirated versions of the games.
However, in the next coming years Microsoft and Sony will one-up these efforts by coming out with a counsel that requires gamers to purchase copies online without any sort of disc. The new xbox 720 by Microsoft is reportedly requiring users to have a constant Internet connection going to the counsel to prevent piracy. The reason being, any data or information being uploaded on the counsel will have to be screened by Microsoft to check for validity. If it doesn't pass the test, it doesn't get uploaded.
Although I agree that piracy has gotten out of hand I believe these measures are too extreme. Firstly, by completely changing their counsel, games from previous counsels will no longer work. This means that gamers will have to completely re-buy every game, which as game prices increase could mean dropping $100 dollars on a game in the near future. Furthermore, requiring users to have an active Internet connection means that not everyone gets to use these counsels anymore. Finally, the biggest problem I see with these security measures is that if a human created them a human can find a way around them. As we have seen time and time again as the technology gets better so does the piracy. There will always be ways gamers get around these protections and by limiting the market to only those who have an active Internet connection the companies are only hurting themselves. I mean if Anonymous was able to completely crash Sony's online system for months I think hackers will easily find a way around these restrictions. As for me, I think I am just going to rock out my xbox 360 until they finally create the matrix.