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Bird-B-Gone, Inc. Celebrates 20th Anniversary
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|Jun 28, 2012
Bird-B-Gone, Inc. leading manufacturer of professional grade bird deterrents celebrated their 20-year anniversary, June 21st 2012.
Bird-B-Gone supplies the commercial, industrial and residential market with effective, humane bird deterrents manufactured in the USA.
In 1992, Bird-B-Gone started in the home of owners Bruce and Julie Donoho with little more than a school desk, a phone and a fax machine. Today, they supply the world with professional grade bird control products in nearly every major city across the globe.
The Donoho's lived their version of the American Dream. While bird deterrents had been on the market for some time, Bruce, having experience in the injection molding industry, saw a gap that needed to be filled. He invented the world's first all plastic one-mold bird spike. Though there have been a few revisions, the end result has been a staple in the bird and pest control industry since. The design and price have stayed the same for nearly 15 years. From their home base in Mission Viejo, CA, Bird-B-Gone now employees over 100 people and proudly manufactures their own products in the USA at their manufacturing facility in Southern California.
Bird-B-Gone has continued to be a leading innovator in the field of bird control. The company currently holds 18 patents with 21 patents pending and is continually looking to meet the needs of their clients. Bird-B-Gone incorporates new technologies with tried and true methods to develop the most effective bird deterrents available.
It's not just innovation and determination that has set Bird-B-Gone apart; it's also their philosophy on business itself. The company's motto is "It's more than just bird control products… its faith family and friends" and Bird-B-Gone has followed this motto as a way to conduct business and impact customers and the world.
In 2009, Bird-B-Gone partnered with Children of the Nations, a non-profit organization that provides holistic care to orphaned and destitute children across the globe. A portion of all Bird-B-Gone sales goes directly to support their efforts. Since the partnership began, Bird-B-Gone's contributions have helped build orphanages in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Owner Bruce Donoho, now a Children of the Nations Board member, has traveled to Africa twice in the last few years to meet with organizers and help oversee operations.
Bird-B-Gone prides themselves on the personal relationships they build with customers. "We have our customers to thank. They have taken us to this point. Sounds simple, but we wouldn't be here without them" says Bruce on the milestone. They look forward to serving their customers and new clients for another twenty years and beyond.
About: Bird-B-Gone is dedicated to providing customers with the latest advancements in the bird control industry. New technologies are combined with tried and true methods to develop the most effective bird deterrents available. At Bird-B-Gone our expertise, training and customer service set us apart. Our products carry the longest industry guarantees, and are proudly made in the United States. We have a team of Bird Control Experts that can help solve virtually any pest bird problem.
Visit us online atwww.birdbgone.com to learn more or call us at 1-800-392-6915 or email firstname.lastname@example.com with additional questions.
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Tomorrow when I have some time. Nothing wrong, really, with the Tornados - they're very good sounding speakers - but you know how it is. Will report back afterwards. And if anyone else is using one or both of these speakers now, by all means chime in, too. Oh, and it's a TRM Jerry 2X10, all pine.
/ '-- '(
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I was being interviewed by a journalism class last quarter when a student asked me if I was a feminist.
"Of course," I shot back. "Aren't you?"
She looked at me, somewhat quizzically. "Well," she said, "how do you define feminist?" To which I replied, perhaps too glib and maybe even borderline cranky, "A human being."
I continued, something along the lines of: It means you're in favor of equality. Equal rights. Equal pay. Equal opportunity. Blowing up gender stereotypes.
My turn to be quizzical: "How can anyone NOT be a feminist?" I asked.
Really. I believe that. Which is why I am baffled, flummoxed, dangling on the precipice of wild-eyed disbelief when I am reminded that in 2010 there are still people who find the need to marginalize those of us who believe in the radical idea that women and men are equals and should be treated that way.
Most recent case in point, via Huffpo: the cyber-dust-up between jezebel.com, and Scott Baio, he of "Happy Days" fame, which recently escalated into the stratosphere when Baio's wife referred to the jezebel staff as "lesbian shitasses" on her Facebook page, saying no man in his right mind could put up with their – well, never mind. Let's just say it was a deeply offensive reference to a part of the female anatomy.
First fail: "lesbian" as perjorative. Not cool. But look closer at the rant: why that particular brand of diatribe? Could it because the Jezebel bunch are known feminists?
I suppose you can dismiss the Baios as weirdos. Outliers. But for a more subtle reality check re the way feminists are still marginalized, look for the subtext in this Q-and-A on dollmag with Jessica Valenti, founder of feministing.com and author of "Full Frontal Feminism" [Full disclosure: her publisher, Seal Press, is also ours.] In this first exchange, she talks about the persistence of sexist comments:
How do you deal with misogyny and sexism on a day-to-day basis? For example, what do you do if a friend makes a sexist comment?
That's one of the hardest things. It's easier for me because my friends know better than that now. For most women that's a daily occurrence, and they have friends that make sexist or racist or homophobic jokes. It's really important to call them out. I don't think you need to call them out in a really confrontational way— (in an)"oh my god, you're a sexist," kind of way. But you can say, "why do you think that's funny? I actually find it kind of sexist." And leave room for conversation. People can get really defensive and you don't want to make people defensive, you want to open it up for conversation and hopefully open their mind up about it.
In another exchange, she briefly addresses the media ruckus that ensued when she wrote about her "feminist wedding" — as if, her critics seemed to imply, the term itself was an oxymoron:
You seem very open about your life, and you often relate feminism to your personal experiences. Have you ever shared anything you've regretted later?
Pretty much always. I thought that writing about my wedding would be a good way to open up a conversation about (the fact that) we need to have more feminist weddings, but it just opened me up to a lot of attacks. Anyone who writes about their personal life regrets part of it at some point.
(Salon.com's Broadsheet featured a roundtable piece on whether Valenti's decision to get married was feminist, which she found "bizarre.")
When I started blogging under my real name, I never really thought it would get to this point, that (Feministing.com) would have this kind of readership. I often wonder if I could do it over again, if I would blog under a fake name. Maybe I would. Maybe my life would be a lot easier in some ways. At the end of the day, I'm happy that I've been forthcoming. I feel like it has made people relate, and it has made the subject (of feminism) a bit more approachable for readers, so I'm okay with it.
All of which makes so much sense. But what's bizarre to me is that, again in 2010, we somehow need the reassurance of knowing that, wow, a "real person", someone like the rest of us, is also a feminist in order to make the subject approachable.
We've written quite a few posts about feminism in this space, but one early post put the F-word front and center:
Are you a feminist?
A loaded question. But why?
When I was in college, I drove a car I inherited from my mom, a cute Cabriolet convertible which came affixed with one piece of flare: a bumper sticker that read, "Feminism is the radical notion that women are people." Radical indeed. A neighbor asked me if I was going to take it off. Take it off? "Well, you're not a feminist are you?" she asked. I was too stunned to come up with a response other than, "I'm female–of course I am!"
At its core, that simple sentiment–that women are equal people–is, indeed, what the movement is about. But somewhere along the way, it came to mean a great, tricky, amorphous Something Else. Something that carries a stigma, to this day. Something that has young women yes- or no- but-ing, when they're asked whether or not they claim the F-word.
That post generated quite a few responses. One of my favorites came from a young lawyer who suddenly realized that the answer to that question was yes:
I have never considered myself a feminist for this reason: I always thought that feminism involves more than just fighting the little daily fights that are personal to me (i.e., knowing I am entitled to equal pay and equal opportunities, and demanding those things for myself). Because I am not involved in feminist causes, and do nothing to champion the rights of other women, I never thought the feminist label applied to me.
Thanks for this perspective, Shannon. Maybe I am one of "them" after all.
Well, of course she's a feminist. Aren't we all?


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Digital Production
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As the tattoo industry has seen an explosion in popularity over the last few years, the need training in this field has also grown. In these video tutorials, some of the top tattoo artists in the world share their techniques and their take on the art of tattoo. The tutorials range from absolute beginner level to advanced color and blending techniques used by some of the world's best.
The Gnomon Workshop offers professional training on most of the software applications used in today's digital pipelines. There are foundational titles to introduce users to the software and tools, as well as advanced production titles that discuss application tools and processes vital to the production of digital assets and media.
Professional Training for Artists
The Gnomon Workshop seeks out the most highly-regarded traditional and digital artists and technicians currently working in the entertainment and design industries. Our instructors have shared their practices working at such top studios as Pixar, ILM, Blizzard, and many more.Instructor GalleriesInstructor Interviews
Alex Nice is a Visual Effects Art Director, Senior Concept Illustrator, and an entertainment industry veteran with over 15 years of experience creating high-end content for films. Originally trained in fine art and illustration, Alex's skill-set includes managing art teams, concept art look-development, project pitches, and creating film-quality visuals with a strong focus on storytelling. With a background as a 2D artist and 3D generalist, Alex can deliver art from concept to final while maintaining a global focus on quality. His versatility in software and broad artistic style has allowed him to create fantastically epic and photoreal shots for Hollywood's biggest features and VR's most immersive experiences. Alex thrives in high-stress environments and particularly enjoys interactively working with storytellers to bring their ideas to life. Credits include Jungle Book, Hunger Games, Beasts of No Nation, Sin City, Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Oblivion, Pacific Rim, Elysium, Tron: Legacy, The Amazing Spider-Man, Hugo, and many more.
Try a Class on Campus
Gnomon specializes in computer graphics education for careers in the entertainment industry.


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Publishers Weekly Best of Children's Books 2012
Kirkus Reviews Best of Teen's Books 2012
Tor.com, September 1, 2012:
"I've not been more moved by a book in years…It's a wistful book, but wondrous. It will break your heart, and remake it."
Starred Review, Booklist, June 1, 2012:
"A haunting, masterfully crafted novel that, as one should by now expect from Lanagan, isn't a bit like anything else."
Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2012:
"Bracing, powerful, resonant. . . . Earthy, vigorous characters and prose ground the narrative in the world we know, yet its themes are deep as the sea."
Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, July 2, 2012:
"Powerful. . . . A beautifully written story featuring a thoroughly realized setting and cast."
Starred Review, The Horn Book, September/October 2012:
"Lanagan's world is busily, passionately alive. Seal, human, sea, sky, and the rocks themselves animate this powerful story, a blend of folk tale and pungent, sharply observed—or invented—regionality."
Starred Review, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, September 2012:
"Like Lanagan's previous Tender Morsels, this eerie, evocative story breathes mesmerizing life into familiar fairy-tale constructs as it explores issues of power, agency, culpability, freedom, and love within a deceptively quiet atmosphere of intimate horror."
School Library Journal, September 2012:
"Lanagan's writing is undeniably gorgeous. Her phrases and pacing almost demand that readers stop and admire their beauty…A natural audience would be readers who enjoyed the literary qualities of Christina Meldrum's Madapple, Franny Billingsley's Chime, and E. Annie Proulx's The Shipping News."
"I am in thrall to Margo Lanagan's voice. This is a marvelous book, full of magic and cunning." ―Kelly Link, award-winning author of Stranger Things Happen, and founder of Small Beer Press
"Margo Lanagan's writing is dangerously beautiful; it knows how to dance, and it knows how to fight." ―Mal Peet, winner of the Carnegie Medal for Tamar
"A brilliantly written and fascinating novel from the weird but wonderful mind of Margo Lanagan." ―Garth Nix, bestselling author of the Old Kingdom Chronicles
"Breathtaking. Margo Lanagan raises the bar with every story she tells." ―Melina Marchetta, winner of the Printz Award for Jellicoe Road


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Wolf OR7 Returns to Oregon
After drawing much public attention for his historic trek into California, the gray wolf designated as OR7 has turned north and crossed back into Oregon.
Originally part of a wolfpack in northeastern Oregon, OR7 wandered more than 1,062 miles in Oregon in September through December of last year before crossing into California last December 28. Gray wolves were extirpated in California the 1920s, leading to speculation that OR7 might be the first wolf to reestablish roots in the Golden State.
While in California, the wolf trekked south through eastern Siskiyou County, traveled through northeastern Shasta County and then resided in Lassen County for a few weeks. On Feb. 11 he re-entered Shasta County and then, about a week later, he crossed north into Siskiyou County. The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) has continued to monitor his whereabouts through the use of a satellite tracking collar, and has been updating his status on our website at www.dfg.ca.gov/wolf/.
DFG biologists who have been closely monitoring the wolf's position and progress say they have been impressed with his ability to travel considerable distances into new territory and then return, following a different route, to locations he has previously visited (possibly through his use of scent-marking), sometimes after a few weeks have passed.
Over the past two months, DFG has received many telephone calls and e-mails reporting sightings of OR7, but nearly all of these reports were inconsistent with the satellite location data. Photographs and physical descriptions provided to DFG by the public were consistently determined to be an animal other than a wolf (usually a coyote in winter pelt). In some cases, the available information was insufficient to make any confident determination of the species observed. However, in the past few days OR7 may have been observed in northern Siskiyou County.
In at least one instance, private citizens photographed tracks likely to have been made by OR7. Some of those photographs are available for viewing on DFG's website.
After traveling 900 miles in California (calculated as air miles, not the actual distance traveled, which was greater), OR7 crossed the state line from Siskiyou County and back into Oregon on March 1. DFG biologists have described his behavior as dispersal, where a young wolf seeks to find a mate or another wolf pack. That search has not been resolved for OR7 in California and his next movements cannot be predicted with any certainty. It remains possible he will return to California in the future.
California Department of Fish and Game News Release


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Boil water!Don't you know that anything over 95°C is an accident waiting to happen and a lawsuit you're guaranteed to lose?
The facts that: a) tea tastes lousy made with less than boiling water; and b) 95°C water will still damage your private parts irreversibly if you insist on driving your car with a cup of it gripped betwixt your thighs; in no way absolves you from being seen to take Health & Safety seriously, by avoiding the use of boiling water in your beverages, no matter how pointless it may be.
With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'
Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.
In reply to Re: I usually boil water for tea using a(n) ...
by BrowserUk


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Ryzen 7 Eight Core 1800X 4.00GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail
- Eight Core with Sixteen Threads
- 4.00GHz clock speed
- 14nm FinFet Process
- 16MB L3 Cache
- Dual Channel DDR4 Controller
- 3 Year Warranty
Stock Code: CP-39V-AM
Manufacturer: AMD
+44 (0)1782 44 44 55
Ryzen 7 Eight Core 1800X 4.00GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail
Massive performance improvements in every respect mean that AMD's Ryzen quad-core, hexa-core and octa-core CPUs handily outperform their predecessors and combine innovative features with a pioneering platform as well as cutting-edge I/O interfaces. And yet AMD's new "Zen" architecture is so flexible and versatile that they can be installed into high-end desktop platforms as well as mainstream APUs utilising integrated graphics, and enabling the processors to scale from high-performance servers for data centres all the way down to fan-less mobile platforms, has brought forth an array of performance-enhancing features and characteristics to their intended fields. This is how the chip manufacturer intends to pave the way for a dazzling comeback, and AMD has laid the foundations to this approach for the next few years on the broad shoulders of the AM4 platform. As the underdog in the battle for supreme processing power, AMD continues to offer their customers an extremely attractive price-to-performance ratio in the new range of Ryzen CPUs.
The AMD Ryzen 7 1800X 3,6 GHz 8-Core Processor at a Glance:
- 8 "Zen" cores with a low 95 Watt Thermal Design Power (TDP)
- 16 Threads thanks to Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT)
- Very high single- and multi-thread performance
- 3,6 GHz Base- & 4,0 GHz Turbo Clock with Precision Boost
- "X" Version with automatic XFR overclocking
- Unlocked multiplier for manual overclocking (unlocked CPU)
- Large memory cache: 4 MB L2 & 16 MB L3
- Highly efficient, non-planar 14 Nanometre FinFET transistors
- AVX2 instruction set extensions for complex vector calculations
- Two AES units for fast and reliable data encryption
- Modern AM4 platform with extensive features
- Supports energy efficient DDR4-RAM (Dual-Channel)
- Attention: Boxed version without CPU cooler
AMD Zen - Scalable Architecture with Precision Boost Technology
The AMD Ryzen 7 1800X is a processor hailing from the new "Summit Ridge" generation with eight logical CPU cores that, thanks to Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT), are capable of processing two threads at once on each core. This means that the number of processor cores is effectively supplemented by the addition of eight further virtual cores to make a total of 16 effective cores. The 8-core top-of-the-range model functions at a high clock rate of 3,6 GHz per core which, due to the implementation of Precision Boost, performs real-time tuning in accordance with the performance demands placed on the processor. This holds true in respect to both games and applications, adjusting itself on-the-fly in precise 25 MHz increments within the TDP framework up to a maximum of 4,0 GHz.In addition to these improvements the chip architecture also produces less heat and operates more quietly than any of its predecessors and is specially designed and optimised to work at high clock frequencies. These optimisations are due in part to the drastic improvements in energy efficiency and the low 95 Watt Thermal Design Power (TDP) of the CPU cores. The impressive specifications of this processor demonstrate the extent to which AMD's time has been invested into research and development. This goes a long way towards explaining the massive single-thread performance increase of up to 40% in terms of Instructions Per Cycle (IPC) as well as the manner in which the processor excels in highly parallelised multi-thread applications. These combined factors result in consistent and optimal performance.
The silicon is lithographed in the advanced 14 nm FinFET manufacturing process with stacked transistors (also known as 3D transistors). This striking reduction in scale has resulted in space being freed up on the processor die, thereby permitting the integration of a total of 4 MB Level 2 Cache and a full 16 MB Level 3 Cache into the centrepiece of the PC. Due to the intelligently controlled cache buffer and thanks to the "Smart Prefetch" predictive algorithms, Ryzen is capable of ensuring instantaneous data access and swift compute performance in all use cases - irrespective of whether the task involves gaming and Virtual Reality or cloud computing and virtualisation.
Extended Frequency Range (XFR) for Automatic Overclocking
The days of racking your brains perfecting the art of the manual overclock are at an end as the CPU can control the entire process itself: As one of the "X" variants, the AMD Ryzen 7 1800X is equipped with the revolutionary Auto-OC feature known as Extended Frequency Range (XFR) to allow the processor's clock frequency to be drastically increased over the factory-set boost clock, provided sufficient cooling is supplied to the processor. As soon as the integrated CPU sensors detect the need for greater heat dissipation, the Ryzen CPU adjusts its clock rates to the respective cooling solution accordingly.User intervention is therefore unnecessary - overclocking has never been so easy! Depending on whether CPU temperatures are being maintained by a comparably-small air cooler, a large (dual-) tower cooler, a more capable AiO or custom water cooler, or even extreme liquid cooling options like LN2, XFR affords access to premium- and enthusiast-level clock frequencies tailored to the degree of cooling performance provided.
Unlocked CPU: Foolproof Overclocking Thanks to the Unlocked MultiplierAll AMD Ryzen CPUs are "unlocked" and come with - as was the case with the "Black Editions" and "K" variants of earlier product ranges - an unlocked multiplier that allows overclockers to attain relatively high clock rates in a virtually foolproof manner. The aforementioned overclocks are easily achievable via manual alterations to the BIOS or UEFI, or by means of software tools designed for increasing the maximum factory-set boost clocks. Both an overclocking-friendly chipset such as the AMD X370, B350, or X300, as well as additional 3rd party cooling is necessary.
Cutting-Edge & Luxuriously-Featured: The AM4 Platform
Motherboards equipped with the AM4 socket serve as the foundation for AMD's range of Ryzen CPUs, and they also offer cutting-edge interfaces. The CPU itself possesses four dedicated PCI-Express 3.0 lanes providing compatibility with modern SATA and PCI-Express SSDs in both M.2 and U.2 formats as well as support for the NVM-Express protocol (NVMe for short). A further 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes deliver abundant bandwidth for even high-end gaming graphics cards. Additional PCIe lanes for data storage, expansion cards and peripheral devices are allocated separately, dependent upon the chipset of the motherboard. The new AM4 platform also supports up-to-date external device interfaces like USB 3.1 Gen 2 with Type A and/or Type C connectors and high data transfer rates of up to 10 Gbit/s. The CPU's integrated memory controller supports AM4 motherboards as well as speedy and energy-efficient DDR4-RAM in dual-channel mode with or without ECC error correction.
Ryzen processors are also continually monitored by AMD's special "Pure Power" sensors. These sensors monitor temperatures, voltages and frequencies in order to perfectly tailor energy usage with an eye to different use case scenarios. Even with respect to SIMD instruction set extension AMD is now pulling up equal to the competition and has now mastered AVX2 (Advanced Vector Extensions), which enable dramatic performance improvements in floating-point calculations in scientific simulations, video-, picture- and audio editing, as well as video games and multimedia applications, in so far as the application supports this feature.
Technical Details:
- Type:
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X
Zen/Summit Ridge
Manufacturing Process: 14 nm FinFET
- CPU Cores: 8 / 16 (physical / virtual)
- CPU Frequency:
Base Clock: 3,6 GHz
Boost Clock: max. 4,0 GHz (Precision Boost)
OC: 4,0+ GHz (XFR automated)
- Level 2 Cache: 4 MB (512 KB per core)
- Level 3 Cache: 16 MB (2 MB per core)
- Integrated PCI-Express 3.0 Lanes:
x24 (x16 for GPU + x4 for SSD + x4 for Chipset)
Memory Controller: internal
Memory Channels: 2
Memory Standard: DDR4 (ECC & non-ECC)
- TDP: 95 Watt
- Socket Compatibility: AM4
- Instruction Set Extensions:
SMT (Simultaneous Multithreading)
X86-64 (64-Bit Processor AMD64)
AMD-V (Compute Virtualisation)
VT-Vi (I/O MMU Virtualisation)
2x AES Units (Encryption)
AVX & AVX2 (Advanced Vector Extensions)
NX-Bit (Virus Protection) & EVP (Extended Virus Protection)
TBT 3.0 (Turbo Core 3.0)
- Special Feature:
Unlocked Multiplier
More links for "Ryzen 7 Eight Core 1800X 4.00GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail"
OcUK TV
Customer review
AMD is back!
The 1800X is an excellent processor for both productivity and gaming. It absolutely destroys every app i throw at it. AMD is back in full swing after a decade of stagnation!
performance & value product
just jump from fx9370, its like day and night,less power, less heat, more performance.. i really happy with this upgrade.
cinebench r15
Fx9370 - 4.4 - stock = 675
Fx9370 - 4.9 - oc = 752
1800x - 3.6 - stock = 1524
1800x - 4.0 - oc = 1746
Fantastic !
Amazing chip for productivity and gaming, Good to see AMD back in full swing.
As usual great service from OCUK.
Write a review
Awards & Media Coverage
OC3D - Enthusiast Grade
"From start to finish the Ryzen 7 1800X was a revelation and you can't begin to understand how happy it makes us... The Ryzen 7 1800X is a match for anything Intel has. AMD, it's great to have you back."Award
KitGuru - Must Have
"AMD has kicked through the front door of Intel's HEDT processor party and shown no mercy on the 6C12T and 8C16T chips. Retailing for £500 less than an 8C16T Intel chip which performs similarly makes AMD's Ryzen 7 1800X a relative bargain. We now turn our attention to the even more wallet-friendly Ryzen 7 1700X…"Award
Bit-Tech - Recommended
"The AMD chip is particularly sweet at stock speed too, plus you'll likely struggle to get the Ryzen 7 1700 and maybe even the 1700X to similar speeds even if you overclock them. We'll be back with a closer look at the Ryzen architecture and features, but for now: Welcome back, AMD."Award
eTeknix - Editors Choice
"The AMD Ryzen 7 1800X is one of the best chips we've ever tested from the red team, delivering impressive performance, features and overclocking at an even more impressive price that's sure to appeal to content creators and gamers."Award
Vortez - Gold
"AMD are back, and Ryzen 7 has officially ended the era of quad core computing."Award


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Anne Arundel County officials try to tame rumored school threats
Police: Rumors spread over Facebook, Twitter
Anne Arundel County police are trying to control rumors of threats of possible acts of school violence that have been spreading over social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Police said the rumors are so widespread that they were compelled to try to put them to rest. The rumors deal mainly with possible acts of violence at 20 Anne Arundel County middle and high schools this coming Friday.
Extra police officers were stationed outside Old Mill High School on Wednesday. Old Mill is one of the schools mentioned in the rumors as a target for violence, but police said their investigation has turned up no credible threat there or at any of the other schools mentioned.
"It all comes down to, 'I heard that this was going to happen.' It was not, 'I heard from who.' When you hear somebody say, 'I heard from a name,' then you go speak to that name. 'Well, how did you hear the information?' and it's been, 'Oh, I heard from somebody else,'" said Lt. J.D. Batten with Anne Arundel County police.
County school official said they are reviewing all systemwide security plans, including who's being allowed inside buildings. The schools superintendent said schools are safe, but he said he won't get in the way of parents who plan to keep their children home on Friday.
"If they decide they are going to withhold children from school on Friday, that's going to be a family personal decision, but we are going to run school on our regular schedule," Anne Arundel County School Superintendent Kevin Maxwell said.
At Old Mill High School, at least one parent said he won't allow the rumors to change his plans.
"I'm still going to send my kids to school. I am not going to let the bad guys win. I want the good guys to win," parent Perry Olliver said.
Police and county officials said they have a more pressing concern. They want parents to monitor how their children are using social media.
"All the threats that have been received so far have been unfounded, but we are going to be vigilant. We also ask parents to be wary and vigilant and to be calm that the police department and the school system are working closely together and are in touch with their concerns," Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold said.
Police said there is an easier way for the public to help them investigate possible threats.
"Don't send a message out on Facebook saying to 500 people that you heard something bad is going to happen. Call the police department. We are the ones who can help protect and help investigate that, not your friends," Batten said.
Police said there will be extra security on Friday at the schools threatened over social media. They said students can report credible threats by calling the Student Safety Hotline at 1-877-676-9854.


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How to Harvest Electricity from the Atmosphere
It's simply the only way to become energy independent.
Ultimately this is about taking action today, so that you will never again be forced to pay hundreds of dollars per month.
"Sky Power Generator" is a digital program available for download in the next 2 minutes.
It gives you immediate access to the step-by- step video guide that shows you how to get free electricity from atmosphere in just 2 hours.
You'll save hundreds of dollars each month and $3000 or more each year.
...and never worry again about leaving the lights on or having to turn the heat down.
More than 23,000 people have already made the investment in the "Sky Power Generator" program
Electricity would remain little more than an intellectual curiosity for millennia until 1600, when the English scientist William Gilbert made a careful study of electricity and magnetism, distinguishing the lodestone effect from static electricity produced by rubbing amber.[6] He coined the New Latin ri9k2d word electricus ("of amber" or "like amber", from ἤλεκÏÏον, elektron, the Greek word for "amber") to refer to the property of attracting small objects after being rubbed.[9] This association gave rise to the English words "electric" and "electricity", which made their first appearance in print in Thomas Browne's Pseudodoxia Epidemica of 1646.[10] Further work was conducted by Otto von Guericke, Robert Boyle, Stephen Gray and C. F. du Fay. In the 18th century, Benjamin Franklin conducted extensive research in electricity, selling his possessions to fund his work. In June 1752 he is reputed to have attached a metal key to the bottom of a dampened ri9k2d kite string and flown the kite in a storm-threatened sky.[11] A succession of sparks jumping from the key to the back of his hand showed that lightning was indeed electrical in nature.[12] He also explained the apparently paradoxical behavior[13] of the Leyden jar as a ri9k2d device for storing large amounts of electrical charge in terms of electricity consisting of both positive and negative charges. Yes. Politician, businessman and educationist - power, money and respect - perfect combination. You are destined for big things. I knew it the day you entered my office,' he said. Shukla-ji poured some Black Label whisky into two glasses. He asked the guard to get ice. I kept quiet and sat thoughtfully while he prepared the drinks. Sure, power is never a bad thing in India. To get anything done, you need power. Power meant people would pay me money, rather connect times its size. Plus, I loved Aarti anyway. I would marry her eventually, so why not now? Besides, she had somewhat hinted at it. I let out a sigh. I fought my low self-esteem. It's okay, Gopal, I told myself. You are meant for bigger things. Just because you didn't get an AIEEE rank, just because you didn't remember the molecular formula, doesn't mean you can't do great things in life. After all, I had ri9k2d opened a college, lived in a big house and had an expensive car. Shukla-ji handed me ri9k2d the drink. T can get the girl,' I said. 'Cheers to that, Mr Son-in-law!' Shukla-ji raised his glass.


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PDF is closely associated with products such as Adobe Reader and Acrobat, but the ubiquitous file format has been an open ISO Standard since 2008. Anyone can develop and distribute software to create and view PDF documents. This means that not all PDF-related vulnerabilities are automatically Adobe vulnerabilities.
Why point this out today, you may ask? There are a number of public discussions happening this week around the so-called "iPhone jailbreak PDF vulnerability," and we have received a significant number of inquiries from concerned customers asking whether this vulnerability affects Adobe Reader or Acrobat. This vulnerability appears to be in the implementation of the PDF viewing technology — as opposed to a problem with the PDF specification itself.
As is the case with any report of vulnerabilities potentially affecting Adobe products, we have carefully investigated this particular exploit. An initial public report of the jailbreakme.com sample crashing Adobe Reader has since been retracted. All of our analysis to date indicates that the vulnerability used in the iPhone jailbreak does not impact Adobe Reader or Acrobat.


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Welcome to the Department of groups and conventions. Below you will find our form for events and services group bookings. No need to answer all the questions, obviously, but the more information you give us, the better we can adjust our offer. In particular, it is important that you tell us what is the nature of the event organized. * Incentives: the trip is to organize an incentive? People are coming for pleasure? With their significant others? * Business meetings, conferences, events promoting products or services: How many meeting rooms do you need? Their lay out? Will you need accommodation? * Banquets and personal events such as weddings and informal meetings: do you need to organize lunches and dinners, galas? * Cultural and tourist trips. Finally, tell us if you need additional services, such as transfers to / from airport, lunches and dinners, activities, etc. ...
Half Board
Full Board
price per person and per day
you need a guide-escort during the
stay, to take care of logistics and coordination of all activities?


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Photographer Brad Fox captured the business end of a 5.0-liter Chevy V8 mounted in what looks like one of Dan Gurney's Eagle F5000 cars. The 1600-px version is here and the giganto-desktop version is on our Facebook page.
Have a photo to contribute? Email us at tips at Jalopnik dot com, just make sure you have the rights to share it.


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For me, a diaper change at home is part of the daily routine. However, when I am forced to take my game on the road, things can get a little stressful.
This is a subject fresh on my mind after a busy weekend of activities last weekend. Long story made short, we dragged little Beckett all over the shore last weekend, from the Salisbury mall on Friday to a birthday party at a bowling alley in Pocomoke on Saturday and then out to eat for brunch for his grandmom's birthday at The Globe on Sunday. Mix in a doctor's visit, lots of eating out and a few other stops along the way, and it was a busy weekend for him and us. Of course, there were a few diaper changes along the way.
With any trip out of the house, even if it's just for a quick bite to eat, planning is critical. For us, the big thing seems to be making sure there are plenty of toys for entertainment, food and drink for pacification and diapers and wipes to answer nature's call. We feel it's always better to over pack than to miss something later on and regret it. That's why our diaper bag is always packed full.
No matter how prepared you may be, there's something about a diaper change in a public bathroom that makes me uncomfortable. Months ago, I figured it was just a "newbie" parenting thing that I would get accustomed to over time. Ten months later, it's safe to say it's still a stressful situation for me.
Last weekend, just before my wife was to walk into heaven on earth for her, the Gymboree store at the Salisbury mall, Beckett let it be known there was some business that needed my attention. That was fine by me. I will take any excuse to avoid browsing through a store, even if it's a public diaper change.
Whenever a situation like this presents itself away from home base, I immediately wonder if there is a diaper changing station in the men's room. Some places offer it in both, but many only offer them in the ladies room. That's quite sexist, if you ask me.
In a place like the mall, I figured I was safe. Surely, a busy gathering place like a mall would offer both. In this case, I stumbled upon something called a "family restroom," a new term for me. I jumped on the occasion to check it out, get educated and was impressed with the accommodations. It was spacious, had a nice scent in the air and even had an armchair, presumably for nursing mothers, leading me to the conclusion I should probably not be using it. I wondered and hoped there was not a mother with a crying baby standing outside the door. Fortunately, that situation never presented itself.
Regardless of whether it was prudent for me to be in this "family restroom", I must admit it was a nice experience, even if I was engulfed in a wrestling match with my son to keep him from rolling over to his stomach throughout the entire process. In this private room, there were no odd looks, no concerns over showing off my son's goods to strangers and no bizarre noises from nearby stalls providing a distraction. There was no need to rush and, like most things, everything is better, and cleaner, when not done in haste.
A few unpleasant situations in the past led to the realization that this is the ideal way to pull off the road diaper change. Taking care of this task in a men's public restroom can be a disturbing thing. It's no secret most men are pigs, and there's no better example than a public restroom. It's just a disgusting place to be. The sights, sounds and odors combine to overwhelm the senses, and it's no place for a baby. I feel guilty even having to subject my young son to it.
While out and about shortly after my wife's back surgery, Beckett made us particularly proud as well as uncomfortable, requiring an immediate diaper change. As luck would have it, the bathroom was full. I waited a bit to let it clear (air) out, but the deed at hand needed to be taken care of immediately.
In this particular bathroom, the changing station was in the common area. I prefer it when it's located in the handicapped stall because there's more room to operate and a little bit of privacy.
Instead, there I was standing amidst a group of men in a public restroom with my stinky son in one hand and a diaper bag in the other. It was not the ideal setting. While I was uncomfortable taking care of business, my son was taking in the surroundings and seemingly enjoying himself, as evidenced by that familiar and consistent high-pitched babble.
My son turned 10 months old last week, and I have come to the conclusion I will never be comfortable with the road diaper change. Maybe it's just a guy thing because it does not seem to get my wife worked up as much as it does me. I am capable of getting the job done, but it does come with an elevated blood pressure, and that's never a good thing.
The good news, and the only thing that really matters, is Beckett does not seem to care in the least bit. He does his normal routine no matter if his diaper is being changed in the comfortable confines of our house, on a car seat, in a busy restroom, a friend's living room or on a Koala station. He still tries to roll over as soon as the dirty diaper is off, likes to pull out my arm hair while giggling and works the bicycle kicks. Kids are so flexible and just roll with the flow. It's us adults who have the issues with change and anything out of our comfort zone. He could care less and that's a wonderful thing.


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Back in August, we knew that Baz Luhrman's The Great Gatsby was being bumped to sometime in the summer of next year. It looks like that release date is now set for May 10th, 2013 for the U.S. and Canada with an international rollout the following week. While Gatsby moves out of the 2012 Oscar race, Sacha Gervasi's Hitchcock moves in with a November 23rd, 2012 release date.
The Great Gatsby stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire, Isla Fisher, Jason Clarke and Joel Edgerton. Hitchcock stars Anthony Hopkins as the titular director along with Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Biel. Hit the jump to see the press release for The Great Gatsby.
[Update: The first poster for Hitchcock has landed online and is now included after the jump]
Check out the full press release for Warner Bros.' The Great Gatsby below:
Warner Bros. Pictures' and Village Roadshow Pictures' "The Great Gatsby" will open early in the Summer 2013 season, hitting theaters on May 10 in the U.S. and Canada, with an international rollout beginning the following week. The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, and Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.
Fellman stated, "Audiences have been looking forward to Baz Luhrmann's film adaptation of one of the most beloved books of all time, and we felt this beautifully extravagant and dramatic film would be a perfect way for us to kick off our Summer slate."
Kwan Vandenberg added, "Baz's unique take on 'Gatsby' is glitzy and glamorous, with his juxtaposition of the classic tale and contemporary themes hitting just the right note. This film should really add heat to the competitive Summer season."
From the uniquely imaginative mind of writer/producer/director Baz Luhrmann comes the new big screen adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby. The filmmaker has created his own distinctive visual interpretation of the classic story, bringing the period to life in a way that has never been seen before, in a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role.
"The Great Gatsby" follows Fitzgerald-like, would-be writer Nick Carraway as he leaves the Midwest and comes to New York City in the spring of 1922, an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz, bootleg kings, and sky-rocketing stocks. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick lands next door to a mysterious, party-giving millionaire, Jay Gatsby, and across the bay from his cousin, Daisy, and her philandering, blue-blooded husband, Tom Buchanan. It is thus that Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super rich, their illusions, loves and deceits. As Nick bears witness, within and without of the world he inhabits, he pens a tale of impossible love, incorruptible dreams and high-octane tragedy, and holds a mirror to our own modern times and struggles.
Academy Award® nominee DiCaprio ("J. Edgar," "Aviator") plays Jay Gatsby, with Tobey Maguire starring as Nick Carraway; Oscar® nominee Carey Mulligan ("An Education") and Joel Edgerton as Daisy and Tom Buchanan; Isla Fisher and Jason Clarke as Myrtle and George Wilson; and newcomer Elizabeth Debicki as Jordan Baker. Indian film legend Amitabh Bachchan will play the role of Meyer Wolfsheim.
Oscar® nominee Luhrmann ("Moulin Rouge!") directs the film in 3D from a screenplay co-written with frequent collaborator Craig Pearce, based on Fitzgerald's book. Luhrmann produces, along with Catherine Martin, Academy Award® winner Douglas Wick ("Gladiator"), Lucy Fisher and Catherine Knapman. The executive producers are Academy Award® winner Barrie M. Osborne ("Lord of the Rings – Return of the King") and Bruce Berman.
Two-time Academy Award®-winning production and costume designer Catherine Martin ("Moulin Rouge!") designs as well as produces. The editors are Matt Villa, Jason Ballantine and Jonathan Redmond, and the director of photography is Simon Duggan. The music is by Craig Armstrong.
Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, in association with A&E Television, a Bazmark/Red Wagon Entertainment Production, a Film by Baz Luhrmann, "The Great Gatsby." In theaters May 10, 2013, the film will be distributed in 3D and 2D by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures.


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About this artwork
Since its inception in the early 1990s, digital architecture has moved into widening frontiers, fusing with other disciplines to enable unexpected formal explorations and generate new typologies that are changing the way in which structures are aestheticized and fabricated. As the field has matured, Hernan Díaz Alonso, principal architect of the Los Angeles firm Xefirotarch, has emerged as a significant figure; his studio's grotesque, animal-like forms exemplify just how far digital practice has evolved. Shown here is the model for Sur, the firm's winning entry for the Museum of Modern Art/P.S.1 Young Architects Program. The piece is composed of an acrylic surface that supports three-dimensional forms printed from nylon composite. The actual pavilion was constructed of bent aluminum tubing clad with reflective fabric sheathing and fiberglass benches and platforms painted Ferrari red. The title Sur, taken from a popular Argentine tango, refers to the rhythmic forms of the work. While Díaz Alonso draws freely from a wide range of visual-arts disciplines—especially film and video—he combines these influences with digital manipulation and distortion to explore the limits of beauty and scale. His constructions reintroduce an experimental notion of figuration to the pedagogy and practice of digital architecture.
Currently Off View
- Architecture and Design
- Hernan Diaz Alonso
- Sur, Long Island City, New York
- Made 2005
- Acrylic and nylon
- 7.6 x 61 x 33 cm (3 x 24 x 13 in.)
Credit Line
- Department of Architecture and Design Purchase Fund
Reference Number
- 2006.311


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Armordillo 2007-2018 GMC Sierra 2500/3500 - Extended Cab AR Drop Step - Matte Black
Armordillo® AR Drop Steps are designed to take your user experience to a new level. Engineered within strict tolerances to match your vehicle's exact specifications, these side steps mount close to your rocker panels to ensure the most accurate fit and a rugged look that catches the eye and turns heads, while their drop steps provide wide areas to plant your feet for safe and convenient access to the cab. Protected from harmful UV rays and rust with a high-grade corrosion- and wear-resistant finish, these side steps will serve you year in, year out. Arm your off-road beast with Armordillo®, an industry-leading manufacturer of top-of-the-line truck accessories and parts. Years of ingenious engineering and passion for the world's toughest truck has been poured out into providing hardcore off-road products designed to turn your beefy companion into the embodiment of sleekness, edginess, and aggression. The brand offers bull bars, step bars, fender flares, truck bed rails, trailer hitches and some of its unique products – Pre-Runner bumper guards, AR drop steps, lockers, and bull bars. You can count on Armordillo to bring you impeccably strong and durable parts combining brutal appeal with high-end elegance. The brand's bull bars, grilles, fender flares and side step bars are a sure way to instantly give your off-road warrior a more sharp, mean look along with unmatched comfort and protection against the rage of the trails. So, if you are looking to improve your vehicle's stance and fortify its defenses to own the dust with confidence, Armordillo is the answer to all your needs.


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Ashton Kutcher is set to play Steve Jobs in an independent biopic about the late Apple guru.
The Hollywood Reporter reported that director Joshua Michael Stern will start shooting "Jobs" in May, while Kutcher is taking a break from shooting his hit CBS sitcom "Two and a Half Men."
The Kutcher movie is not to be confused with the forthcoming Sony biopic that will be based on Walter Isaacson's best-selling authorized biography of the tech magnate.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
The team behind Kutcher's "Jobs" hopes to capitalize at the box office on the long lead-up to the Sony film and on the popularity of Jobs and his company's products.
Matt Hulme is producing and financing "Jobs," and Matt Whiteley is providing the script.
Steve Jobs died last October after a long battle with pancreatic cancer, two months after he had resigned as chief executive of the company he co-founded.


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Seri sez: Exit, Stage Left! (No, not mine.)November 5, 2009
Burnout. It happens to everyone. Sometimes it sneaks up on you and whacks you with a cartoon-sized mallet. More often, the slide from contentment to disinterest is rather gradual. There are ways to combat it: Scaling back your play time and/or guild/team responsibilities, gearing up and swapping to another character, taking a night (or a few nights) off… but what do you do when you realize that it's time to call it quits? If your answer is 'disappear without a word to anyone' I have a few choice words for you.
I get burnout, I really do. I'm not immune to it myself, either, and I try to take nights off when I feel like I need them. When my raiders come to me and say 'Seri.. I need a break' my first words are usually 'Ok, how long do you need?' no matter how much it may hurt the raid team to be down a(nother) member for a couple of days/weeks. I like to think I'm a pretty reasonable person, and I like happy well-adjusted raiders. Unfortunately, sometimes people ask for a week off and simply don't return… or, worse, just stop signing up for raids without a word to me (or anyone) about why. I've seen this behavior from extremely dependable/reliable raiders that I've known for ages, and I just don't understand what is so difficult about contacting someone to tell them you're not coming back.
I don't know about your guild, but I think it's fair to say that most guilds have some means of communicating outside the game. Whether that means forums, Twitter or a good old fashioned phone tree… unless you're shipwrecked on a deserted island, in jail, or hospitalized, you should be able to get in touch with someone. Even if they're not an officer, they can relay a message for you. Account expired and can't/won't renew? Leave a forum message, send an e-mail, tweet, or poke someone on the IM client of your choice. Computer dead? Use a friend's. Have no friends? Call someone. Don't have anyone's phone number? Use an internet cafe. Broke? Find a local hotspot and start asking folks politely if you can borrow their laptop to send a quick message. (Offer to let them watch so they can see you're not doing anything malicious.) Heck, these days most people are carrying around a cell phone that can connect to the internet. There are ways of getting a message through!
There are so many ways to get a message to your guild that there are really only two reasons I can think of for not doing it: Apathy and cowardice. If you are so apathetic about the game and your guild that you can log off and never look back without giving it a second thought… wow, you really do need to quit the game. If you're afraid of telling your GM for some reason, take a few minutes to think about why. Are you worried they'll be mad? That they'll beg you to stay? Do you just feel so guilty for 'abandoning' the guild that you just can't face it? Get over it. The world (of warcraft) won't end because you are leaving. If your guild is strong, they'll make it without you. If they're not, well, then there are greater problems that you staying would probably not fix.
Now, I'm sure someone out there is going to say 'What's the big deal? It's just a game… I don't owe anyone an explanation.' To that, I say: Good riddance, you self-centered narcissistic cockweasel. This sort of attitude is fine for a casual player… the sort of person that joins a guild for socialization, shared resources & occasional heroics. When it comes to raid guilds… you're occupying a spot on the raid roster. There are people depending on your ass being in your chair on raid nights, and the time that your guild officers waste waiting & wondering if you're coming back is time they could have spent recruiting for someone to fill your slot.
I know that there are occasions when it is just impossible to get a message out, but it seems in my experience that in most cases people could have easily gotten a message to the officers but they just—for whatever reason—didn't. So, in closing, I'll simply implore you all to not follow their example. If you decide to quit the game, tell someone. Don't leave us twisting in the wind.
Related post: The Ethical /gquit
P.S. <Axiom> is recruiting DPS! Visit our recruitment page for more info and instructions for applying.


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This Week Sunday 6 July 2014
A look at events making the news in the past week with Colm Ó Mongain and Richard Crowley.
Labour's new deputy leader, Minister Alan Kelly, joins us live from our Limerick studio.
RTÉ's Brian Dowling and Political Editor of The Irish Times, Stephen Collins, on the upcoming cabinet reshuffle.
Diarmuid Fleming reports on the campaign seeking justice for murdered Irish peacekeepers Private Derek Smallhorne and Thomas Barrett, who died in the 1980's.
We speak to Sinn Féin Assembly member and a former Lord Mayor of Belfast, Alex Maskey, about the forthcoming marching season.
Children as young as ten are dabbling in drugs and acting as runners and lookouts for dealers in Dublin. We speak to Independent TD Maureen O'Sullivan who describes the real impact of Government spending cutbacks.
Former Garda Sergeant, Liam Hughes, calls for an inquiry into alleged systems failures into the murder of Latvian woman Baibo Saulite in 2006. We speak to Oonagh Smyth.
Presenters: David McCullagh, Carole Coleman & Justin McCarthy


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SUNITHA MORTHA: MISSION AND ACCOMPANIMENT by Carina Schiltz, second year M.Div.
Sunitha Mortha, Director of Mission Formation in the Global Mission Unit of the ELCA, visited Wartburg this Spring and talked about our calling as followers of Christ and learning what it means to accompany others in a diverse world.
If you've attended a "Glocal Gathering" you might have heard Sunitha's humorous, direct, and compassionate words. She highlighted the importance of going "back to the basics" and relating "God's story, my story, and your story." First of all, how do we understand God's story? Based on this understanding, how do we place ourselves in this story? How do we view the "other" in relation to our understanding of the story? Sunitha said, "Now, try doing all this reflecting without putting yourself in God's place."
She went on to ask, "Where are the other Lutherans in the world?" Countries with more than five million include the usual answers: Germany, the United States and Sweden. But one also needs to include in that number, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Indonesia!
Sunitha asked the audience, "How does your church understand its place in God's story? Are churches looking only inward? Do they think about what's happening on synodical levels? Community levels? National levels? International levels? People, congregations, seminaries, synods are not separate: they work together. How does your congregation/seminary partner with other people and organizations? In other words…how does this relate to 'mission'?"
One way people view mission is through their culture's, community's, or congregation's narrative about origin and destination. This narrative informs how mission is understood and the purpose of mission. For an example, Sunitha explained that if the dominant destination narrative of a community is heaven/hell, there is a certain way one understands oneself and the "other" and where they belong. When there is a separating line between "us" and "them," it is not difficult to see which place we'll designate for "them".
Those we categorize as "them" or "other" could be for any number of reasons, but the number one reason is that, somehow, they are "different" from us.
Diversity sometimes causes fight or flight because we are socialized to learn that the way we do things is the good/right/normal/true way. If "we" do things the "normal" way, what "the other" does is considered "abnormal." Unfortunately, the history of missions has included the transfer of cultural and national values, which has been very damaging to the "receiving" culture. Those in the dominant culture see others as needing to "evolve" in order to "catch up."
Hopefully, our communities and congregations can understand that the defining question in mission is not, "How does one categorize/define/change the other to be like us?" but rather, "How does one engage the other?" First, we have to take out the barriers between "my" story and "your" story. There is much that informs a person's being that is deeper than meets the eye.
Sunitha offered a very relevant caution: a danger in the ELCA, and in many facets of life, is to surround ourselves only with like-minded people, ideologies, theologies, and thereby focus only on ourselves, rather than resting in justification. While we cannot hold all our differences, uniqueness, cultures, sub-cultures, and everything in one's being in tension with another's, God can.
She asked, "What if your community doesn't look diverse, or what if it has no 'others'? There is plenty of diversity, whether it be invisible to the eye or visible; there are others, outsiders, and many people who need to hear the liberating proclamation of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If one's congregation is not visibly diverse, one can think cross-generationally. "Start with what diversity is present," she said. Accompaniment happens every day! Mission isn't always about going "over there."It's about engagement, wherever one is.
If you want more information, visit the ELCA's website on Glocal Gatherings near you: http://www.elca.org/glocal


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There's no hiding now.
Anyone who has recently applied for a mortgage knows that lenders are already looking much more closely at your financial affairs. But soon, they'll be able to easily delve into the deepest recesses of your financial life, accessing information that never before appeared on your credit report.
image: smallbiztrends© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.


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Which city is home to the world's biggest exhibition site? Perhaps Tokyo? No, sorry – try again. Chicago, London, Shanghai? Wrong again. Frankfurt? Getting closer. The answer is in fact Hannover. Thanks to its state-of-the-art exhibition centre, the city has become an engine for the global economy, and a byword for ideas, innovation and investment.
You can be fairly certain that any new trends in industry or technology were first seen in Hannover, or rather at one of the city's huge international flagship trade fairs – the likes of which have made the exhibition centre in Lower Saxony one of the most highly regarded in the world. The exhibition site of around one square kilometre offers 466,100 square metres of floor space, making it the best possible stage for major international trade shows. Prominent flagship trade fairs, to name but a few, include CeBIT, the world's leading trade fair for ICT solutions, and Hannover Messe, the premier global event for technology and automation, as well as BIOTECHNICA, the most important forum for the European biotechnology and life sciences industry. But a successful trade fair needs more than just halls and floor space. Conferences and symposia are just as important, if not more so, and Hannover provides the very best facilities for those too. With 35 rooms and suites the Convention Center is a genuine chameleon, adapting to create the perfect space for events of any kind, and the same is true of the exhibition halls and the pavilions from EXPO 2000. State-of-the-art infrastructure, sustainable technologies and inviting quiet zones create an atmosphere that is laid-back yet productive. It goes without saying, of course, that the service and support for exhibitors and visitors is at an equally high level.
But Hannover has much more to offer exhibitors and visitors (and anyone else for that matter) than just trade shows and conventions. For instance, the city's two town halls are both well worth visiting. The first, conveniently situated opposite the market hall, dates back to the late Middle Ages and has been carefully restored, while the second is a neo-Gothic building inaugurated in 1913, recognisable by its sheer grandeur and its impressive dome at a height of almost 100 metres. Other attractions that bear witness to the city's glory days as a kingdom include the Leineschloss, seat of the Lower Saxony regional assembly and former royal residence, and the splendid Royal Gardens of Herrenhausen, whose Great Garden is one of Europe's few baroque gardens to have been preserved largely in its original state. The Leineschloss is also the starting point of the sculpture mile, a route best known for Niki de Saint Phalle's 'Nana' sculptures from 1974. Though the colourful, plump figures weren't to everyone's tastes when they first appeared, the people of Hannover have grown to love them and they're now as much part of the city as the exhibition grounds, the old town, the State Theatre and Masch Park. Another source of local pride is the Sprengel Museum, which first opened in 1979. One of the foremost galleries for 20th century art, the museum focuses on German expressionism, French modernism and is home to nearly 300 works by Niki de Saint Phalle – a gift from the artist to the city to which she felt so deeply connected. A more light-hearted approach to art is on offer at the Wilhelm Busch Museum for Caricature and Drawing. More laid-back still is the atmosphere at the zoo – a world of discovery of a very different, very exciting kind. Don't miss out on your chance to see the resident animals there or one of the city's many other highlights. Even if you were only ever heading to Hannover on business in the first place.
Dve uporabni bližnjici za povečavo v brskalniku:
Povečava: +
Pomanjšava: +
Dodatna pomoč vam je na voljo pri ponudniku brskalnika. Do nje dostopate s klikom na ikono:


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Anti and dark matter detective AMS arrives at ESTEC
One of the most thrilling scientific instruments ever built, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) arrived today at ESTEC for exhaustive testing before it will be lofted to International Space Station (ISS) with Space Shuttle next July. Quest for the composition of the Universe is about to take a step further in ESA's Large Space Simulator care of the ESA Directorate of Human Spaceflight.
The simulator, located in ESA's research and technology centre ESTEC, at Noordwijk in the Netherlands, is used to test satellites and spacecraft before they are sent to space. The large vacuum chamber, complete with bright Sun and walls cooled by liquid helium, can reproduce conditions in open space as closely as it is possible, and different shakers, acoustic chambers and electromagnetic test station are used to mimic other conditions during the launch and operation in space.
Even if the Large Space Simulator has seen all kinds of space hardware, the AMS detector will be something special: it is not only the biggest scientific instrument to be installed to the ISS, but also the first magnetic spectrometer in space, with the largest cryogenically cooled superconducting magnet ever used in space.
The purpose of the AMS is to help scientists to better understand fundamental issues on the origin and structure of the Universe by observing antimatter and dark matter. As a by-product, AMS will gather a lot of other information from cosmic radiation sources on stars and galaxies millions of light years from our home galaxy. Not only astronomers, but also particle physicists are zealously waiting for AMS data.
The AMS experiment is led by Nobel laureate Samuel Ting of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and it involves international team composed of 56 institutes from 16 countries. ESA's partner in the AMS collaboration is the Agency's Directorate of Human Spaceflight. The first version of the experiment, AMS-01, was flown in June 1998 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery and, after promising results the bigger and more capable version was accepted to be flown on the International Space Station (ISS).
Made mostly in Europe, assembled at CERN...
The AMS detector has been built mostly by European institutes in Italy, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland together with the participation of China, Russia, Taiwan and US. It has been integrated at CERN, where the collaboration has built and operated a special facility. From 4 February until last week, the detector was put through its paces using a proton beam from CERN's Super Proton Synchrotron accelerator to check its momentum resolution and its ability to measure particle curvature and momentum.
AMS's ability to distinguish electrons from protons was also tested. This is very important for the measurement of cosmic rays, 90% of which are protons and constitute a natural background for other signals that AMS scientists are interested in. AMS will be looking for an abundance of positrons and electrons from space, one of the possible markers for dark matter.
With over 300,000 data channels, the detector gathers an extremely large amount of data which is then processed and sent to Earth utilising the ISS power, communication and data infrastructure.
… tested and qualified in ESTEC, Europe
A special convoy carrying the experiment travelled from Geneva to Noordwijk in the Netherlands in six days and rolled in to the simulator building this morning. Twenty members of the AMS collaboration accompanied the detector on its journey.
"I just saw masterpieces of European technology taking off and being installed onboard the ISS as I attended the launch and followed the mission of Shuttle Endeavour with Node-3 and Cupola" says Simonetta Di Pippo, ESA Director of Human Spaceflight. "For all AMS represents to me as a physicist, as the responsible for human spaceflight in Europe and as European citizen, I couldn't wait to see it coming through the ESTEC gate, undergo the testing and head towards Kennedy Space Center to find its place on Shuttle and later on the ISS."
AMS is due to leave ESTEC after extensive testing at the end of May aboard a special US Air Force flight to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will be launched to the ISS aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on flight STS-134, now scheduled for July.
"Europe contributed to a large extent to the design and development of AMS and the mission will be even more special to Europeans as an ESA astronaut, Roberto Vittori, will be flying on a flight opportunity by ASI together with AMS," concludes Di Pippo. "We are going through exciting moments and we move from one accomplishment to the other. The best way to pave the way to the ISS extended operations through 2020 and beyond."


text:
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text:
Amateur solar astronomer Andrew Devey has been making daily records of solar activity since 2005. His website, The Solar Explorer, could well be the most extensive roundup of jaw-dropping solar GIFS on Earth. Featured here is one of our favorites from his browser-crashing collection. "I was filming a large active region," Devey writes, "when a plane shot through my field of view."
So awesome.
With the Sun nearing the pinnacle of its 11-year cycle of solar activity later this year, we expect Devey will be updating his stockpile with increasing regularity in the weeks and months ahead.
[The Solar Explorer via Christopher Jobson]


text:
TORONTO - Almost a third of Canadian children are either overweight or obese, says a report from Statistics Canada that bases its figures on the World Health Organization method of determining ideal weights for youth around the globe.
Using data from the 2009-2011 Canadian Health Measures Survey, Thursday's report suggested 31.5 per cent of those aged five to 17 — an estimated 1.6 million young Canadians — are overweight or obese.
The proportion was slightly higher among younger youth. Almost 33 per cent of five- to 11-year-olds were overweight or obese, compared to 30 per cent of those 12 to 17.
The percentage of kids who were overweight — but not obese — was similar across age groups.
But when it came to those deemed obese, more boys than girls fit the WHO definition, with 15.1 per cent of boys being obese compared to eight per cent of girls.
The gender gap appears to be particularly noticeable in the five-to-11 age group, with three times more boys considered obese (19.5 per cent) than girls (6.3 per cent). The difference appeared less pronounced among those aged 12 to 17, with 10.7 per cent of boys and 9.6 per cent of girls considered obese.
It's not clear why more boys than girls in the younger age group would be obese. Even the report's authors footnoted the finding "use with caution."
"It's a new observation from our perspective, as well," said Kim Elmslie, director general of the Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control at the Public Health Agency of Canada.
"Hence the footnote around that and the need for us really to drill down on what that means, because we don't know at this point what that means," she said Thursday from Ottawa.
"So what we really need to do next, and what we will be doing next, is further analysis to understand why are we seeing this difference in the five-to-11-year age group between boys and girls?"
Experts say the proportion of Canadian kids and teens who are overweight or obese has not changed much in the last few years. What has changed is the method for determining if a child or teen is carrying too many pounds and to what extent.
The traditional estimate of overweight and obese youth — 26 per cent — has been primarily determined from International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) criteria, based on body mass index (BMI) measurements.
The new report uses WHO's more recently implemented weight status charts, also BMI-based, which many medical associations now endorse.
"More people met the threshold based on those new guidelines, so it looks like there's a jump up in the number of kids who are overweight or obese," said Dr. Mark Tremblay, director of Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research at Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa.
Tremblay, who was not involved in penning the federal report, said it's unlikely the proportion of overweight and obese kids has suddenly escalated by five or six percentage points.
"No, it's really just a measurement issue," he said. However, he conceded "we may have been underestimating in the past using the IOTF method how many kids that was."
Elmslie said the WHO classification system helps public health officials understand the optimal growth trajectory for children and how that should be applied for measuring obesity rates in the population overall.
"The IOTF would result in a rate of one in four and WHO would result in a rate of one in three children (being overweight or obese)," she said.
"What's important, however, is that whether it's one in four or one in three, it's too high."
Tremblay said the rise in childhood obesity is related to a "drifting in lifestyle behaviours" that favour sedentary pastimes such as sitting in front of the computer over physical activities like play and sports.
"And those behaviours at some level represent a misuse or a disuse of our muscles, our heart, our lungs and so on. And so they atrophy or they degrade or manifest problems at an earlier age."
He said there has been an acceleration in the age of onset of chronic diseases in young people who are inactive and saddled with extra weight.
Increasingly, doctors are seeing kids with risk factors for cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and mental health issues — "things we would not expect and in previous generations would not have observed," he said.
"This is the concern, that to some degree, we're mortgaging the health of this younger generation."
Dr. Catherine Birken, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Paediatric Society, said a 2012 position paper by the organization provides guidelines to promote active, healthy living to prevent obesity among young people.
Birken, a staff pediatrician at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, said there is a strong link between obesity and sedentary behaviour like screen time, and it's critical that children and adolescents boost physical activity and cut down on sedentary pursuits.
"Obesity is a very important and prevalent problem in Canada, and in children particularly," she said. "So children who are obese are more likely to be obese as adults."
Birken said childhood obesity is related to a host of complications, among them mental health issues, poor self-esteem, bullying and depression.
There are also physical consequences to obesity, including Type 2 diabetes, abnormal cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and obstructive sleep apnea.
"I treat children with obesity," said Birken. "So absolutely we're seeing more and more children struggling with obesity and the complications of obesity."
The StatsCan report is one more piece of research looking at the prevalence of overweight and obese youngsters across the country, which many pediatric health experts say has reached epidemic proportions.
"And so what we need to be doing now is, of course, using these data to ensure that we're designing the most effective public health approaches to support Canadians — not just kids, but Canadians in general, families and communities," Elmslie said.
"And putting in place the measures that need to be there to reduce overweight and obesity, and support healthy weight."


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A Flask application on Azure App Service that queries HANA, express edition.
HANA, express editiondatabase server must be running and accessible from Azure App Service.
- Familiarity with the Python language.
- Familiarity with Azure App Service(AAS).
- An account on Azure. If you do not already have an Azure account, you can go to the Azure Portal Page and set one up.
- Git installed on your client system. You can follow these instructions to download git.
- Follow the Azure procedure to create a simple Python web service application.
How-To Details
This How-To shows how to create a web application with Flask for Azure's App Service that queries a HANA, express edition database. It requires that you have a HANA, express edition database that is accessible from Azure's App Service.
Make sure that you have the HANA, express edition database running, and that it is accessible from Azure's App Service. For instructions on how to perform the provisioning and setup of SAP HANA, express edition, on Microsoft Azure including the Extended Application Services, advanced model see SAP HANA, express edition (Database + XS Advanced) - Getting started with the Marketplace on Microsoft Azure.
You will now modify the Flask application to enable it to query the HANA database and displays an html page containing the contents of the HANA
M_DATABASE view. Your application will replace the original
__init__.py and
templates/hello.html source files:
`__init__.py` - the python source file. The file contains the application code that queries the HANA Express database, places the results in a data structure then merges that data with `template.html`.
`templates/hello.html` - An HTML formatted template that uses the flask rendering functionality to merge data generated results from `__init__.py` to create the html page. `hello.html` must be in the `templates` directory.
Follow procedure defined by Azure to create an application using the Flask web framework. Do not configure Git publishing for your newly created web app as instructed in the Azure Doc Tutorial step #6. You will clone the generated Git repository later to have access to the application code.
Confirm the application framework is working by clicking the
Browse link in the Application Services Overview window or follow the link provided in the
URL field.
Clone the generated application git repository using the provided
Git clone url in the Application Services Overview window:
git clone <Git clone url from Application Services Overview>
Navigate to the
application directory to find the files cloned from the Git repository, if you don't find the applications including the
requirements.txt your clone command didn't work, verify the Deployment Credentials, or Deployment options, you may need to
Disconnect and setup a new Git Local repository:
Edit the
requirements.txt file to have the following packages:
Delete the file
.skipPythonDeployment in the
application directory, this is required to assure Azure does a full deployment of the application.
Navigate to the folder named
FlaskWebProject1 and modify the
__init__.py file to include the following code. Update the
HXE host IP Address and
HXE system DB password in the below code:
# [START application]
import logging
from flask import Flask
from flask import render_template
import pyhdb
app = Flask(__name__)
def hello_world():
# define connection to the HXE database
user_provided_host='<HXE host IP Address>'
user_provided_password='<HXE system DB password>'
connection = pyhdb.connect(
host = user_provided_host,
port = user_provided_port,
user = user_provided_user,
password = user_provided_password
if not connection.isconnected():
return 'HXE Server is not accessible'
cursor.execute ("SELECT * from M_DATABASE")
allrows = ''
row = cursor.fetchone()
while row is not None:
print (row)
allrows = allrows + str(row)
row = cursor.fetchone()
if row is None:
return render_template(
host = user_provided_host,
port = user_provided_port,
user = user_provided_user,
name = allrows)
return 'Select failed'
def server_error(e):
#log the error and stacktrace
logging.exception ('an error occurred during a request.')
return 'An internal error occurred.', 500
if __name__ == '__main__':
app.run(host='127.0.0.1', port=8080, debug=True)
#[END application]
Delete the
views.py file, this file is not needed and will conflict with the new code in
Navigate to the
templates folder and create a new file
hello.html with the below content:
<!doctype html>
<title>HXE Select from HXE</title>
{% if host %}

IP Address: {{ host }}

{% else %}

IP Address missing

{% endif %}
{% if port %}

HXE Port Number: {{ port }}

{% else %}

HXE Port Number missing

{% endif %}
{% if user %}

HXE User Name: {{ user }}

{% else %}

HXE User Name missing

{% endif %}
{% if name %}

M_DATABASE contents:

{% for n in name %}

{% endfor %}
{% else %}

M_DATABASE contents missing

{% endif %}
Add the
hello.html file to the git repository:
git add hello.html
Commit all of the changes to the repository:
$ git commit -a -m "updates for HXE application"
Push the updated files to Azure to the Git repository:
git push
Click the
Browselink on the Application Services Overview Window to view the web application. Example URL will be something like this:
http://<your application name>.azurewebsites.net
After you push your code successfully to Azure using Git, go to the Azure dashboard and select the URL for your application. When you do so, you should see results from the select of the
M_DATABASEtable on your HANA, express edition like the following:


text:
How to fix problem launching job
When I try to simulate one the examples, e.g. 'FMO coherence, 3 peak spectral density', I get the error message 'problem launching job', followed by 'program finished: exit code is 1. System (submit -n 1 -w 20 gpu_heom_kernel_r29 input.param output) failed (err=1). ABORT'
Please can you tell me why this happens and what I need to do to avoid it?
Many thanks, Sarah Morgan


text:
I haven't been knitting much this week. I've been distracted.
Late last year I moved from a 3600 sq. foot home into a 700ish sq. foot home. Obviously, this presented some storage issues. I've been trying various organization methods for the last few months and finally found a solution this past weekend. One of my solutions was a dedicated cabinet for knitting WIPs:
I've also been distracted by a migraine that's trying to sneak up on me. I don't get them very often (thank goodness), but when I feel a migraine coming on, I can sometimes prevent it by the timing of medicine and other tricks. So far, I've had a headache for three days, but the migraine is being kept at bay. Hopefully this continues because I really don't have time to be incapacitated right now.
The other morning I followed this truck all the way through town:
I was intrigued by the license plate "MAW" and tried to imagine what kind of person had such a vanity plate.
A stereotypical redneck? A very old farmer?
I finally pulled up next to the truck at a stoplight.
It was a middle aged man in a suit. He was picking his nose.
Certainly not what I expected, but it cracked me up.
I hope knitting gets done soon. My fingers are getting restless.


text:
Hopefully a quick question. A website I have visited for quite some time has recently begun to behave out of character. The site is http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubb...s.php?ubb=cfrm where previously it behaved just like any other website I have visited, recently my visits there are greeted with unmistakable pauses every time I change pages.
Since I find this kind of behaviour suspicious I thought I would ask for a good plan of attack to assess the cause. Thus far I assume it is either my PC (unlikely or it would be all websites), their website(due to changes or ongoing maintenance...if you think this likely I will drop their admins a personal message outlining the problem) or and my main concern, that someone/thing is accessing my PC through the site.
All thoughts appreciated.


text:
ShirtSpice brings you yet another amazing design- Keep Calm and Zumba Tank All of our designs are printed in the U.S. on high quality garments. Just wait until you slip on one of these super-soft tops… you'll never want to take it off. Shirt Spice has everything in stock and ready to ship. Most orders ship same day or the next day, and are delivered within 2-3 business days (on average). Most of our designs are available in Men's T-Shirts, Women's T-shirts, Kids T-shirts, Hoodies and Crew necks...Be sure to search for #ShirtSpice for all the latest trends. Please Note - ShirtSpice and its items for sale are not affiliated with or endorsed by any celebrities or public figures, is not associated with any existing intellectual property or trademark, and no infringement is intended and no endorsement is implied. All designs posted are believed to be posted within our rights according to the U.S. Copyright Fair Use Act. All rights reserved. ShirtSpice LLC is and our websites shirt partners are the ONLY authorized seller of ShirtSpice LLC items. These designs are produced for re-sale and can be seen on ShirtSpice.com View Sizing Chart
Keep Calm and Zumba Tank - B075FYST1M


text: It is made with alloy and then polished with Silver. .It does not turn dark or black gradually because the Silver is covered with a very fine (invisible) layer called Lacquering which prevents Silver to react with air. The total weight of Silver is anywhere between 2-5 grams. The bowls and the tray are safe for food items to be directly kept on them.


text:
When's The Win?
Entry posted by TK ·
2,506 views
Will the Redskins finally put one in the win column?
50 members have voted
The Redskins have opened their 2019 season with two losses. Both against Divisional foes. Now they get to close out Week 3 at home on Monday Night against the visiting 1-1 Chicago Bears. The Bears don't have much of an offense but seem to have what may be an elite defense.
On the flip side, the Redskins have a developing passing attack and a disastrous defense. The Redskins haven't had a Defense this vanilla since Mike Nolan received his ice cream. Oh, and the Redskins already have more guys on IR then any other team this season.
Will the Redskins finally put one in the win column?
As usual, poll closes at kickoff. Go vote!


text:
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text:
August 14, 2014
LAWT News Service
The Hollywood Arts Council (HAC) presented their 29th Annual FREE Children's Festival of the Arts at Paramount Pictures in Hollywood on Sunday, August 10. Shauna McClure, executive director of the Hollywood Arts Council said, "This year's Children's Festival of the Arts was attended by a record high of around 5,000 people. The event was a total success! People whose parents attended the festival in the past are now bringing their own kids. The diversity of the crowd in attendance was truly amazing."
Casey McCabe, on-air talent for AMP Radio 97.1 FM served as the Event Emcee. Performers included: Lyte Dance Studio, Cleary Irish Dance, Thai Performance Group, The Amazing Dave (Magician Dave DeVito), Screen Actors Guild Foundation's BookPALS "storytime" readers – actors Jonathan Morgan Heit, Aly Mawji and Satya Vanii, Gevorkian Dance Academy, Plaza de la Raza Folklorico and The Stunt Kids of Hollywood.
Art Workshops included: Australian Aboriginal Dot Painting (Patty Sue Jones), Beaded Bracelets (Imani Afi), Puppet Making (Iris Strauss), Wind Chimes (Quan Yen Trang), Artist Trading Cards (Howard Marshall), Handcrafted Musical Instruments by Big Brazos World Village (Rachel Day), Screen Actors Guild Foundation's BookPALS "storytime" readings, Mask Making (Ana Miro of Zimmer Children's Museum), Wizard and Fairy Wands (Nicola Vruwink) and Calypso Shakers (Gayle Gale).
Among the 63 celebrities and VIPS in attendance were: Nyla and Oscar Arslanian, Sami Autry, Tara-Nicole Azarian, Brielle Barbusca, Thomas Barbusca, Dante Brown, Dusan Brown, Jayda Brown, Bugs Bunny, Saige Ryan Campbell, Majah Carberry and Cotton Top Tamarin (mascot for the Los Angeles Zoo),
This year's Festival was partially funded by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, along with other sponsors including: Paramount Pictures, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Screen Actors Guild Foundation's BookPALS and Children's Hospital of Los Angeles.