text:
We are an online radio station with a huge variety of music from the past few decades up until today's music. You can check out our 24 hour schedule on the website so that you never miss your favourite programmes. If you like, leave us a message in our guestbook. We hope you enjoy listening and being involved.
You can get in contact with the presenters via their email addresses which are listed on the 'Presenters' page. Also, some of the live presenters have their own chat room on their page. To make sure that you get your request guaranteed for a show, do it a few days before the show or early to make sure your song is played.
Check out our site because the Internet Radio awards will be coming soon. We came 1st in the Oldies genre in the last voting where over 25,000 people voted very many thanks for that and we hope that this year we would be number one in the overall voting for this year.
Are you a budding presenter and you would like to be on Venture Radio below are a list of the available slots that we have free at the moment, there might be a holding show there at the moment. If you think you have what it takes please send us a demo no more than 5 mins in length. We only need to hear you not the music except for intro's and outro's we do not want to hear a whole song. Once you have done that send it to firstname.lastname@example.com and we will let you know.
The available slots are: None at present but still feel free to send your demo in.


text:
Freedom's Lighthouse
Here is video of Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points tonight, which PERFECTLY describes what we are now facing as a nation. We have a President in Barack Obama who believes he can act outside the U.S. Constitution to get what he wants. O'Reilly said his signals that he is ready to use Executive Orders to assault the 2nd Amendment and his disregard for the nation's debt-ceiling reveals the power grab Obama is engaging in. He believes "there will be a Constitutional crisis in America" if this continues…
Watch the video at Freedom's Lighthouse.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
What kind of relationship does Shunxiang Technology have with Planets Vs. Zombies developer PopCap Games? None whatsoever, but that isn't stopping the former from releasing an arcade version of the latter's popular tower defense game in China.
Hearkening back to the early days of civilization, when man saw something he wanted and simply took it, Shunxiang Technology seems to have taken a liking to the success Plants Vs. Zombies has achieved on the PC, iPhone, iPad, and various console systems, so they pretty much took it.
The Plants Vs. Zombies arcade cabinets popped up at a recent amusement trade show in China, festooned with PopCap's signature-style undead and vegetables art, somewhat altered on the zombie side for a little more variety.
The gameplay seems to be a far cry from the original game's strategic defense gardening. Up to four players man pea shooter turrets and annihilate the hordes of zombies walking back and forth across the screen, not much more than a shooting gallery.
Website Arcade Heroes contacted PopCap Games, verifying that the arcade cabinet is completely unauthorized.
So this Plants Vs. Zombies arcade cabinet will likely never be seen stateside, but that's fine. With only a little of the charm and none of the gameplay of the original, we're not missing out of anything.
Also seen in China: Plants Vs Zombies Completely Unofficial Arcade Edition [Arcade Heroes]


text:
Woods favored in Masters, but several others lurking
AUGUSTA, Ga. - If not Tiger Woods, then who?
Woods is the favorite to win the Masters, and if he were to earn his fifth green jacket, no one would be surprised. He's won three times this year and seems awfully confident now that he's the world's top-ranked golfer again.
If Woods can't win his first major in nearly five years - and he hasn't won at Augusta National since 2005 - there is Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Rory McIlroy, Ian Poulter and so many others who might wind up in Butler Cabin on Sunday.
Watson is the fan favorite out here, especially after pulling out the unthinkable shot in a playoff on the 10th hole out of the pine straw with his 52-degree wedge. All week, fans have been trying to find the exact spot where Watson etched his name in Masters lore. Fans love a guy who isn't afraid to show emotion, which Watson did when he won and again in describing wrapping his son, Caleb, in the green jacket.
"I look at it as it's a different year, getting older, different conditions," Watson said. "So who knows how I'll play? I could miss the cut, I could win. You never know what's going to happen. I feel the same, feel good. But if you're a stats guy, you look and say, `Bubba is not playing as good as last year.' "
And if you're a stats guy, you say the odds of pulling off that shot to win the Masters were slim. And yet, Watson did it.
Mickelson won the Masters in 2004, 2006 and 2010 and has 14 top-10 finishes, so he knows how to get himself into contention at Augusta. Mickelson won at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and has two top-10s this year.
Last year, he came oh so close but tied for third. He triple-bogeyed the fourth hole and couldn't overcome that debacle.
"I think what makes the Masters so exciting is having an opportunity to win and playing the back nine with an opportunity," Mickelson said. "That is what is so enjoyable, exciting as a player. I've been fortunate to come out on top a few years, and I've been unfortunate to have a number of them come close but not quite good enough.
"Either way ... to feel that pressure, to grace Amen Corner knowing that you need birdies and trying to win a green jacket, that is the greatest thrill a golfer can probably experience."
McIlroy seems to be back on track after ToothGate that led to his questionable withdrawal from the Honda Classic, an errant swing after the change to Nike clubs, a fall to the No. 2 ranking in the world and rumors of upheaval in his personal life.
But McIlroy finished second at the Valero Texas Open last week and had girlfriend/tennis star Caroline Wozniacki as his caddie in Wednesday's Par-3 Contest. He's won two majors but hasn't won here.
"Would anything less than a win be a disappointment this week? Yeah, it would be," McIlroy said. "Every time you come to Augusta, you're wanting to win that green jacket, and every time you don't, it's another chance missed. If I'm sitting here on Sunday night and I've finished second or if I've given it a good run, you can't be too disappointed because you've had a great tournament, but the ultimate goal is getting one of those jackets."
Poulter didn't play the Par-3 Contest Wednesday, opting to play Augusta's back nine one more time before today's first round. Poulter has played here eight times and has two top-10s and four top-20s.
He's considered to be Europe's best chance to win since Jose Maria Olazabal won in 1999.
On Wednesday, Poulter tweeted: "All prep done for the 2013 Masters. Time to relax (and) let this thing happen."
Woods is hoping the Masters happens for him, so he can get back to chasing Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 majors. Even though he's won four times here, he looks back on the near-misses. After winning in 2005, he's had six top-six finishes.
"I was there ball-striking-wise a few years through that stretch where I think I hit it pretty well," Woods said. "Hit a lot of greens, but just didn't make enough putts. I was there on Sundays with a chance, and unfortunately, just didn't get it done. But as well all know, you have to putt well here. You have to make a lot of putts."


text:
ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is one of the world's largest publicly traded oil exploration and production companies and is around three times the size of peer Hess (NYSE:HES).
However, during the space of the last five years Hess' market capitalization has grown 60%, and the company's diluted normalized EPS have jumped 173%. Over the same period, Conoco has only managed EPS growth of 40%.
So, as Hess' profits surge and the company's market capitalization chases ConocoPhillips', which company's shares are a better for investors looking for both income and growth?
Higher quality production
One thing that immediately stands out about Hess is the company's plans for growth and the favorable mix of assets the company has available to it .
For example, Hess' management is targeting production growth of 5% to 8% annually through 2017, most of which is expected to be liquids. Indeed, 80% of Hess' reserves are liquids based, an industry-leading oil linked asset base.
In comparison, ConocoPhillips' reserves are only 62% liquids. A higher percentage of liquids usually means higher profits as oil is more lucrative than gas to produce and sell.
Still, Conoco is targeting five-year production growth of 3% to 5% per annum through 2017 and has earmarked $16 billion of capital to reach this goal. According to management this output growth will come from higher-margin projects. Specifically, ConocoPhillips has allocated 95% of growth capex to develop projects with a profit margin in excess of $30 per barrel of oil equivalent.
However, it seems as if Hess is already outperforming Conoco when it comes to margins. Indeed, Hess has an industry-leading cash margin of $49 per barrel of oil equivalent produced during 2013. Conoco in comparison only reported a margin of $32.3 per BOE, making the company the seventh most profitable E&P player.
Looking at the above figures then, Hess appears to be the most attractive opportunity.
Nevertheless, the future of both companies depends on the success of their North American development programs.
North America is set to be a key battleground for growth during the next few years and Hess is powering ahead in the Bakken, targeting output of 150,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2018 as well as becoming free cash flow positive by 2015.
Key to growth
Meanwhile, key to Conoco's growth is the company's presence within the Eagle Ford, where the company is the lowest cost and highest return operator within the region as seen in the chart below:
Conoco plans to increase its resources by nearly 40% within the Eagle Ford region as part of its growth strategy, targeting output of 250,000 barrels of oil per day by 2017. And with leading production margins it is likely that Conoco's profits will surge as a result of this output expansion.
Conoco is not only targeting growth within the Eagle Ford, the company also plans to develop several Gulf of Mexico properties as well as offshore prospects in Australia, Angola, and Senegal. Conventional and unconventional plays are also being developed within Norway, Indonesia, Poland, and Colombia.
The company has projects already under way in the U.S., Canada, Malaysia, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the Norwegian North Sea.
All in all then, both Conoco and Hess are primed for growth, but with higher profit margins per BOE extracted and a larger reserve of liquids Hess looks to be the better choice for growth.
That being said, one thing that needs to be taken into account is ConocoPhillips' dividend yield, which currently stands at 3.7% compared to Hess' minimal 1.1% yield. Of course, we need to take into account the fact that Hess' payout has been hiked 150% during the past year, which implies that further payout increases are in the cards in the future, although Conoco's payout is also expected to grow at a double-digit clip for the next few years; it's a tough call between the two.
But Hess offers something Conoco does not; share buybacks. During the 12 months ending December 2013 Hess spent $1.4 billion repurchasing stock, around $4.60 per share. If we add in Hess' $0.70 per share dividend paid during the year, the company returned $5.30 per share to investors during 2013, or in other words a yield of just under 6%.
Foolish summary
Overall then, it would appear as if Hess is the better company for investors seeking both income and growth. Hess has a much stronger plan for growth in place than ConocoPhillips, and the company is returning cash to investors equivalent to a yield of 6% per annum.


text:
Barron's Cover
The Great Fund Fee Divide
By Reshma Kapadia
The mutual fund industry has spent years trumpeting how costs have come down for investors.
That's true, but misleading. Asset managers haven't exactly slashed their fees. Instead, the credit goes largely to investors—but some of them are being left behind.
When given the option, investors have flocked to lower-cost funds: That's actually the real trend behind the tired active/passive debate. Sure, actively managed funds on the whole saw $396 billion exit last year through November, while cheaper index and exchange-traded funds took in $694 billion. But low-cost actively managed funds actually did quite well, thank you very much, garnering almost $353 billion of new money in the same period. Some 78% of all mutual fund assets now sit in the cheapest two quintiles.
Yet $1.3 trillion, more than 8% of the industry's assets, remains in the two priciest quintiles of annual fees, according to Morningstar Direct. So who are the investors in these funds? Are they unaware of how much they're paying for their funds, or do they have no other choice? Barron's wanted to know which portfolios those funds may be in—and why they are still there.
The answer is troubling, though perhaps not surprising: The little guy pays the most. But those little guys are bigger than you might think.
Granted, some asset classes or investing styles require more expertise, so those funds can be more expensive—think frontier market or unconstrained bond funds. But that's not what we're talking about. Beyond the funds that charge more for understandable reasons, there are many more where the fees are much harder to justify.
To find the most egregious examples, Barron's culled data from Morningstar Direct; Broadridge Financial Solutions, a fintech and fund research firm; and BrightScope, a 401(k) data and analytics firm, and canvassed financial advisors, retirement consultants, and fund researchers.
For the most part, the industry's priciest funds are in accounts that are too small to get much attention. Sometimes they're in the 401(k) plans of small businesses. Sometimes they're in target-date funds. Sometimes they're simply in portfolios with less than the $1 million needed to command the attention of advisors. "No matter how you slice it, funds have gotten less expensive over time," says Jeff Tjornehoj, director of fiduciary and compliance research at Broadridge. "That said, there are still some investors stuck in higher-cost products where reducing the fee just five or 10 basis points doesn't move the needle. [One basis point is 1/100th of a percentage point.] So there is still some work to be done."
There are two main problems: Some funds simply charge too much, while others are pricey because of how they're sold, via a dizzying array of share classes. There are 8,066 mutual funds with distinct portfolios. But when you tally up the various iterations of each fund, there are more than 25,000. Share classes are essentially financial agreements between the fund company and the distributor of the fund (a broker, advisor, or retirement plan). As a result, investors can pay very different prices for the same fund depending on which share class they're in.
Investors pay an annual fee called the expense ratio; it's calculated as a percentage of their investment. The expense ratio includes a laundry list of shareholder fees that go to the administration and operation of the fund, including the fee charged for managing the portfolio, which must be the same across all share classes. But the expense ratio can also include another fee, known as the 12b-1 fee, which goes to costs related to distributing and marketing the fund.
That means each share class can charge investors differently.
This is where it gets tricky—and it's worth noting that exchange-traded funds don't have share classes and don't charge a 12b-1 fee; their expense ratio is the same no matter how or where you buy them. Understanding share classes and the 12b-1 fee is key to determining if you are paying too much for your mutual fund investments.
JUST WHO IS PAYING the 12b-1 fee has been changing as the financial advice industry goes through a major transformation. In the past, advisors were primarily paid via the investments they put their clients into. Investors either paid an upfront sales commission, known as a load, for A shares, generally 4.5% to 5.75% of their initial investment, which is funneled back to the advisor. Or they paid for the advice through a higher 12b-1 fee on an annual basis, known as C shares. Both share classes typically have higher-than-average expense ratios, with C higher than A. (For more on share classes, see story, "Share Classes Explained.")
This obviously creates the potential for abuse, with advisors essentially incentivized to choose products that pay them the most, and even to churn portfolios too frequently to keep their pay coming. That's why investors have increasingly flocked to independent financial advisors who charge an annual fee based on assets, rather than a commission. These fee-based advisors choose funds that don't carry sales charges, and often use cheaper share classes. Half of the fund industry's assets are now in cheaper institutional shares, which don't usually charge 12b-1 fees, and another third of assets are in no-load shares, which are not allowed to charge more than 0.25% for a 12b-1 fee. That's a maximum of $25 on a $10,000 investment, though no-load funds often don't charge any 12b-1 fee.
Granted, the expense ratio is just one part of the total cost of investing—investors working with advisors who can get them into cheap institutional share classes must still pay their advisor's fee. But the expense ratio is the preferred proxy for mutual fund costs—and Morningstar's research has found it to be one of the best predictors of a fund's future performance.
"Just like seeing the calories displayed when ordering food doesn't tell you the full story, it does make you pause and assess if the snack is really worth it," says Manisha Thakor, director of wealth strategies for women at independent advisory firm Buckingham Strategic Wealth, which oversees $13 billion. "Expense ratios are the financial version of those calorie counts."
Now, here's where the fund industry trumpets how cheap investing has become. As more money has moved into these cheaper share classes, the dollar-weighted average expense ratio has declined, falling to 0.63% for stock funds in 2016 from 0.88% a decade earlier, according to the Investment Company Institute, an industry trade group.
But dollar-weighted averages just tell the story of where investors are putting their money—into the cheapest funds—and are not a reflection of the fund industry slashing prices.
Just because more people are shopping at Marshalls doesn't mean the price of designer clothing has fallen. A study by Morningstar found that a simple average of expense ratios for the largest 2,000 funds did not change from 2014 to 2016.
What's more, not everyone has access to the industry's version of a bargain. And some funds are simply too expensive. Even after accounting for how their funds are sold, there is still $663 billion in assets in funds charging above-average or high expense ratios, according to Morningstar Direct.
Many of these funds are small; more than 2,800 have less than $250 million in assets. Expense ratios are supposed to drop as assets rise, but investors may face an uphill battle since a shrinking asset base means fewer people to bear the costs of operating the fund, which could nudge the expense ratio in the wrong direction.
SO WHERE ARE these pricey funds—and how do you ensure you're not invested in them?
Since the way you buy your mutual fund affects the expense ratio you pay, bigger is better.
Working with a fee-only advisor generally gets you into cheaper share classes than on your own. Bigger employers are usually better able to negotiate for cheaper funds in their 401(k) plans than their small-business counterparts.
To root out the worst offenders, Barron's focused on three areas: Funds sold through commissions, funds in small 401(k) plans, and target-date funds.
Load Funds
While investors are moving away from the commission-oriented way of paying for financial advice through their investments, 12% of the fund industry's assets, or $2 trillion, still sit within this segment of the market. It is also where fee-only advisors say pricey funds turn up. "We often see these funds in portfolios of the young adult children of our clients when we do a courtesy check of their holdings," Thakor says. "Their assets are so small, the only way a broker can monetize it is by using the highest-cost options."
Load funds don't have to carry higher annual expense ratios, but they often do. The asset-weighted average expense ratio for an institutional share class of a stock mutual fund is 0.52%.
For investors in load funds, the average was double—1.02%—according to Broadridge. That's in part because commission-paid advisors are far less likely to use index funds, since they'd typically get paid less. That's a significant gap—a difference of half a percentage point, or 50 basis points, can leave investors with 13% less after 30 years. So paying 0.75% annually versus 1.25% annually means you'll end up with $23,400 more on a $50,000 investment that earns an average 5% a year over three decades.
"It is confusing. As an individual investor, you don't necessarily know that there is a trade-off and an alternative share class. Investors need to ask what they own and why," says Dawn Doebler, a Bethesda, Md.–based financial advisor for the Colony Group, which oversees $7.5 billion.
What to watch out for: a portfolio filled with an alphabet soup of share classes, or a portfolio of $250,000 or more that is stuffed with C share classes. C shares, which are beginning to dwindle as some brokers convert them to A shares, still account for $719 billion in assets. C shares can charge the maximum 1% 12b-1 fee, making them one of the most expensive options. For accounts of $250,000 or more, cheaper options should be available. Pricey funds also crop up in advisory relationships.
"If one or two of your funds are institutional share classes but not all of them are, it's a red flag because [the advisor] could be picking and choosing how much to layer the costs in to you," says Gary Ribe, chief investment officer at Macro Consulting Group. "If your advisory account is more than $100,000 and there are A shares there, ask why; practically every fund family has a version of their fund with no 12b-1 fee."
Another tip: Check for subadvised funds, which can be more expensive. For example, the $4.5 billion Hartford Equity Income fund (ticker: HQIIX), which is subadvised by Wellington Management's veteran manager W. Michael Reckmeyer, charges 0.77%—an average expense ratio, according to Morningstar. But Ribe says investors can get a similar portfolio through the $31 billion Vanguard Equity Income fund (VEIPX), two-thirds of which is also run by Reckmeyer but costs just 0.26%. Switching to the Vanguard fund would have meant an additional 0.75% in annualized returns over the past five years, Ribe says. Similarly, John Hancock Equity Income (JHEIX) charges 1.14% and is subadvised by T. Rowe Price manager John Linehan. But the T. Rowe Price Equity Income fund (PRFDX), which Linehan manages, costs nearly half as much, at 0.66%.
Small 401(k) Plans
The plight of the little investor is perhaps most sharply on display in the 401(k) market. Investors who work for smaller employers can find themselves at an even bigger disadvantage. "Self-directed investors have never had it better in terms of expense ratios, but that is not the case for smaller investors in the broker-dealer market," says Micah Hauptman, financial-services counsel at the Consumer Federation of America. "And investors who have small 401(k) plans pay costs that are orders of magnitude higher than they could pay for similar products in the self-directed retail market."
On average, 401(k) plan participants paid less for mutual funds than those investing outside of plans—an average expense ratio of 0.48% for a stock fund compared with the broader asset-weighted average of 0.63%, according to the latest joint analysis by 401(k) tracker BrightScope and ICI.
Large 401(k) plan sponsors enjoy some of the cheapest expense ratios, sometimes paying as little as $3 per $10,000 invested. But smaller 401(k) plans aren't as fortunate. While plans with more than $1 billion paid an average 0.39% for their stock fund, plans with less than $10 million paid more than double that, 0.82%.
The data understate the problem, in part because small plans (defined as those with fewer than 100 participants) aren't required to provide the same level of disclosures, Hauptman says. Though small, these plans are numerous, representing 90% of all 401(k) plans available and 8.6 million people—and holding about $680 billion, or 16% of 401(k) assets.
A few reasons for the fee disparities stand out. One is the fund lineup. When the company providing the documentation and administrative tasks, or record-keeping, for a plan is also the source of the investments, proprietary funds tend to dominate the choices. Larger plans have separated the roles, requiring the administrator of the plan to offer funds from other companies. That has not happened as much in smaller plans.
Perhaps even more notable is the presence of insurers, which tend to have higher-cost funds. Insurers are the record-keepers for just 14% of the largest plans but for more than half of small plans, according to BrightScope.
What's more, besides having less heft to negotiate for lower expense ratios and plan costs, smaller plans' expense ratios often include the higher costs related to servicing smaller businesses' retirement plans, which are then spread across fewer assets. "It's a bit like no-fee checking at Chase. If you have $1 million in the account, you get it free. You have to pay if you have less," says Brooks Herman, BrightScope's head of data and research.
Unfortunately, there's not much that participants in a pricey 401(k) can do—and the long-term tax advantages of investing in a 401(k) versus a taxable account almost always outweigh even the priciest of funds. But Christopher Jones, chief investment officer at Financial Engines, which offers financial advice to retirement plans, says that investors in small 401(k) plans paying more than 1% in fund expenses should put pressure on their plan sponsors to ask why. Larger companies have been sued for not offering their participants lower-cost fund options, and consultants are turning their attention to this part of the market, which could turn up the pressure.
When changing jobs or beginning retirement, investors should evaluate whether they can get the same funds for less (or better funds) by rolling their 401(k) into an individual retirement account. Some plans allow for "in-service withdrawals," allowing investors to roll their 401(k) assets into an IRA while still working.
Target-Date Funds
Target-date funds, the default option in many 401(k) plans and a one-stop shop for investors looking for simple diversification, epitomize the "set and forget" type of investment. These funds of funds offer an asset allocation that changes over time. "We encourage people saving for retirement to set and forget it because we don't want them to churn investments. But that may have diluted the incentive to take a more active role in monitoring the fees," says Sheila Bair, the former chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and now advisor to Blooom, a robo-advisor that oversees $1.8 billion, focusing on individuals' retirement accounts.
Like the precut vegetables at the store, these funds cost a bit more than if someone assembled the pieces themselves. That extra fee varies based on how an investor bought the fund, with those using A or C shares often paying more than going direct.
While most of these funds live inside 401(k) plans, some are sold through commission-oriented brokers. "If a small investor approaches a broker-dealer with $50,000 to $100,000 to invest, that's a small amount for the brokers to get too involved, so they tend to put them into target-date funds or target-risk funds based on their risk appetite," says Tjornehoj of Broadridge.
The underlying funds also play a role in the overall cost. Fund companies such as Vanguard Group and T. Rowe Price build their target-date funds entirely out of their own firm's offerings. But other firms, including Voya Investment Management, Principal Global Investors, and Charles Schwab, have an open-architecture approach that allows them to include funds from any firm. That sounds like it would be advantageous for the investor, but that's not always the case.
A recent paper co-authored by Martin Gruber, an emeritus professor of finance at New York University, found that target-date fund managers often picked funds that helped their firm's own objectives at the expense of potentially lower returns. Sometimes that meant picking their own higher-cost fund over a cheaper alternative, or picking a younger, smaller fund from their own stable over one with a longer record—both of which led to underperformance. "For most people who don't want to get too involved, target-date funds make sense, but they can't just say it's a good investment. They have to shop around," Gruber told Barron's.
It's not easy to comparison-shop, though, in part because fund firms differ in their views about the right asset allocation and how it shifts over time. Some funds also invest in a more diverse array of assets, which can throw off price comparisons. And some target-date funds are index only, while others are all active, or a mix. All of this is reflected in the spectrum of median expense ratios for target-date series that range from as little as 0.08% to as high as 0.85%, according to Morningstar.
Take the Voya Solution series. About 80% of its underlying funds are active, contributing to its higher-than-average median expense ratio. But the fund series is also pricier than other rivals that use active funds, like the John Hancock Multimanager Lifetime series and T. Rowe Price's Retirement Series. Voya uses both its own funds and subadvised funds, including a multimanager international fund that adds to its costs, says Morningstar analyst Jeff Holt.
But Susan Viston, Voya's senior vice president on its multi-asset team, says the additional cost is "worth it" for providing diversification across asset managers. She adds that the company has introduced two cheaper iterations over the years: the Voya Target Retirement Fund series, which includes a mix of passive and active funds, and another all-passive Voya Index Solution series, which costs 0.18%.
Some funds are expensive even when they invest entirely in cheap exchange-traded funds. Of the 22 target-date funds Morningstar evaluates, State Farm LifePath series is the only one that gets a negative rating. The insurer has reduced fees in recent years by as much as 30 basis points and switched to an entirely passive approach. That has helped, but not enough. Though the fund invests in eight iShares ETFs, very similar to the BlackRock LifePath Index funds, the State Farm LifePath series charges 0.77%—about half a percentage point more than BlackRock's series.
Corey Schieler, director of mutual funds at State Farm, admits that investors could buy the BlackRock fund directly for less but says State Farm's agents offer small investors counsel, and the fees partly reflect the higher cost of servicing smaller investors; the average account size is $25,000. "Everyone can go to the gym on their own, but some people hire a trainer and pay for that motivation and keeping them on track with the goals," he says. "We typically serve a more middle-market consumer, which doesn't get addressed by the financial advisor and doesn't have the wherewithal to do it in a self-directed way through Vanguard."
Since most target-date funds are held within retirement plans, it's harder for investors to push plan sponsors to change. But target-date funds have evolved, with newer and cheaper versions.
Saving a quarter or half a percentage point adds up, especially over several decades of retirement savings.
"THERE IS A LOT of inertia in this business. If a fund firm can get someone to pay an extra 1% and sit in that for 20 years, there is a lot of money at stake," Jones of Financial Engines says. "Though we are seeing price compression, it is uneven. The extended bull market has made people complacent. When the market goes down, investors tend to turn more fee-conscious."
Perhaps that will be a small ray of light in a bear market for investors who have not yet seen the benefits of the low-fee movement.


text:
The Surgeon
100% SYNCH Optional objectives
- Do not fail a single Eavesdrop.
- Eavesdrop on a moving group of guards.
- Remain undetected.
After the cutscene, the game will teach you the art of Eavesdropping. Follow the onscreen instructions and approach the first set of citizens nearby. Get in close to the SSI (Social Status Indicator) circle and then relax near the wall to hear the first conversation.
After the conversation ends, make your way to the nearby church (the green indicator on the map) and climb all the way to the top steeple. At the very top of the steeple, Synchronize the area to reveal more targets to eavesdrop on.
Use a Leap Of Faith to the ground below and look for a set of Redcoats to eavesdrop on. The closest set is a duo of Redcoats to the right side of the church, so blend with the nearby civilians and listen in in on their conversation (see screencap above).
EAVESDROP ON A MOVING GROUP OF GUARDS/DO NOT FAIL A SINGLE EAVESDROP: Once that's completed, navigate forward to the next area. The first set of eavesdrop-ees are a group of Redcoats that walk around in a circle. Do not get in too close, but use the Fast Walk option as they walk around and talk. After a few seconds of them babbling, the "moving group" optional objective is complete.
For the last set of eavesdrop-ees, navigate towards the next area and you'll appraoch a nice little courtyard with two civilians talking. Sit on the nearby benches and listen in on the gossip. When the convo ends, the "do not fail a single eavesdrop" optional objective is complete!
REMAIN UNDETECTED: Now navigate your way to the waterfront. To get to the Restricted Area without incurring the wrath of all the guards, the best way to enter is from the SOUTH side of the Restricted Area. The southern-most part of the area is not as fully guarded and only contains one Redcoat (which you can use a Corner Kill - see screencap above) while the rest are patrolled outside the warehouse or on the docks.
As you approach the warehouse where Church is locked up, there will be several Redcoats stationed at the docks. To avoid getting seen by them climb onto the roof of the warehouse and then jump down and Interact with the door to trigger the next part.
The Redcoat guard with the key to unlock the door is on the south side of the warehouse. You'll need to Pickpocket him to get that key! As you turn the corner, there will be a roaming Redcoat across from you. Quickly hide in the nearby bushes as he walks away and then use a hidden assassination on him.
Now approach the Redcoat on the dock and Pickpocket him. Do NOT, I repeat, Do NOT get too close to him when Pickpocketing! If you get way too close, he will turn around and ruin your objective. Keep a short distance and follow the onscreen prompt to grab the key.
From there, make your way back to the warehouse door and then watch the next set of cutscenes.
After the cutscene, approach one of the Redcoats (either the one on the left or the right) and kill him first before you reach Cutter. If you attempt to kill Cutter first, you will be detected! Charles will take care of the second Redcoat, so walk up to Cutter and eliminate him to complete the mission.
Was this guide helpful?


text:
Export 79 results:Author Title Type [ Year]
Filters: Author is Jayant A. Sathaye [Clear All Filters]
Development of Bottom-up Representation of Industrial Energy Efficiency Technologies in Integrated Assessment Models for the Iron and Steel Sector. 2010. LBNL-4314E..
Eliminating Electricity Deficit through Energy Efficiency in India: An Evaluation of Aggregate Economic and Carbon Benefits. 2010. LBNL-3381E..
Energy Efficiency Indicators Methodology Booklet. 2010. LBNL-3702E..
"Analysis of the Energy Intensity of Industries in California." ACEEE Industrial Summer Study. 2011. LBNL-5869E..
Developing Information on Energy Savings and Associated Costs and Benefits of Energy Efficient Emerging Technologies Applicable in California. 2011..
DSM Electricity Savings Potential in the Buildings Sector in APP Countries. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2011. LBNL-4413E..
"Emissions Scenarios, Costs, and Implementation Considerations of REDD Programs." Environment and Development Economics (2011). LBNL-5009E..
Estimating Risk to California Energy Infrastructure From Projected Climate Change. 2011. LBNL-4967E..
Strategies for Low Carbon Growth In India: Industry and Non Residential Sectors. LBNL, 2011. LBNL-4557E..
User's Manual for BEST-Dairy: Benchmarking and Energy/water-Saving Tool (BEST) for the Dairy Processing Industry (Version 1.2). 2011. LBNL-4778E..
Using Cool Roofs to Reduce Energy Use, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Urban Heat-island Effects. LBNL, 2011. LBNL-4746E..
"Analysis and Decomposition of the Energy Intensity of Industries in California." Energy Policy 46 (2012) 234-245..
"Analysis of the Energy Intensity of Industries in California." 2011 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry 2012..
Assessment of Energy Efficiency Improvement and CO2 Emission Reduction Potentials in the Cement Industry in China. 2012. LBNL-5536E..
Assessment of Energy Efficiency Improvement and CO2 Emission Reduction Potentials in India's Cement Industry. 2012. LBNL-6337E..
Bottom-up Representation of Industrial Energy Efficiency Technologies in Integrated Assessment Models for the U.S. Pulp and Paper Sector. 2012. LBNL-5801E..
Development of a Computer-based Benchmarking and Analytical Tool: Benchmarking and Energy & Water Savings Tool in Dairy Plants (BEST-Dairy). 2012. LBNL-5718E..
Assessment of Energy Efficiency Improvement in the United States Petroleum Refining Industry. Berkeley: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2013. LBNL-6292E..
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Options in ISEEM Global Energy Model: 2010-2050 Scenario Analysis for Least-Cost Carbon Reduction in Iron and Steel Sector. 2013. LBNL-6550E..
"Developing long-term strategies to reduce energy use and CO2 emissions—analysis of three mitigation scenarios for iron and steel production in China." Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change (2014)..


text:
Store your precious possessions in this item's felt-lined top drawer to keep your treasures safe. The textured felt helps to keep items in place as you open and close the drawer, preventing tangles of necklaces or hard-to-find accessories. The lining also creates a barrier between sharp or metal items and the drawer bottom, which could be easily scratched.
• A modern statement translated with a rustic wood 2-tone look• Crafted with 3-D engineered paper veneer• Each case piece has extra large drawers forstorage needs• Designer look at a great value
The Weston Contemporary Dresser with Felt-Lined Top Drawers by Coaster at Furniture Discount Warehouse TM in the Crystal Lake, Cary, Algonquin area. Product availability may vary. Contact us for the most current availability on this product.
Browse other items in the Weston collection from Furniture Discount Warehouse TM in the Crystal Lake, Cary, Algonquin area.
This item has been tagged as: Dresser, Bedroom Dresser, Dresser Chest, Chest of Drawers, Dresser Set, Dresser and Mirror, Bedroom Furniture, Bedroom Storage, Bureau, Clothing Storage, Linen Storage, Bedroom Cabinet, Chiffonier, Bedroom Closet, Highboy, Wardrobe, Vanity, Vanity with Hutch, Make - Up Table, Make Up Table with Hutch, Dresser to Sit At, Vanity Dressers, Large Commode
Nothing on this page may be copied or reproduced without explicit permission.


text:
Figuring out Chicago isn't always easy for new residents, but cast members of "Chicago Fire" are here to help.
Six TV shows currently are filming full-time in Chicago and one part-time. Besides "Fire," its NBC spin-off, "Chicago PD," is shooting around the city. Other shows filming here include: NBC's "Crisis," a political thriller starring Dermot Mulroney and Gillian Anderson; ABC's "Mind Games," a drama about two brothers (Christian Slater and Steve Zahn) who run a fixer agency; ABC's "Betrayal," a legal drama about a woman (Hannah Ware) who has an affair with a lawyer (Stuart Townsend) who faces her husband in court; and USA's "Sirens," about three oddball Chicago EMTs. Showtime's "Shameless" films its exterior scenes in Chicago.
With so many actors and crew members coming to Chicago, I asked "Fire" cast members to offer their tips about living in the Windy City during a recent visit to the NBC's drama's set.
"Buy warm clothes for the winter, real warm, in fact—extra thick," said Eamonn Walker, echoing the most common advice from cast members Taylor Kinney, Lauren German, Charlie Barnett, David Eigenberg, Yuri Sardarov, Joe Minoso, Christian Stolte and Jeff Hephner.
If the managed to stay on subject at all, they offered suggestions that are more fun than helpful: take boxing classes at Park District gyms, play WhirlyBall or in city sports leagues, experience the city's dining culture, get a house with a yard.
Hephner, who filmed Starz' "Boss" here, said he loves the city.
"When people come here I'm like, 'You guys, get ready to be in a real city. There's everything here,'" he said. "I've seen improv shows. I've seen live music. I've seen country, rock. I've seen a ton of jazz. I mean, it's amazing what's here every single night.
"I'm running for mayor, too, by the way."
"Chicago Fire" begins its second season at 9 p.m. CT Sept. 24 on NBC. If you can't view the video at the top of this page, go here.
Want more? Discuss this article and others on Show Patrol's Facebook page.


text:
If this were Thanksgiving time in any other year, you would probably be traveling to join friends and family, or they would be traveling to see you.
It's hard to overstate the importance of flu shots in the fight against the novel coronavirus.
The reassuring voice of business will be critical before and after Election Day.
Millions of children are stuck at home because of the coronavirus pandemic, relying on their parents to function as part-time teachers in support of virtual classroom instruction.
On November 7, 2019, Monticello's Thomas Jefferson joined the Chamber Foundation for a forum to discuss the state of civic knowledge, civic engagement, and civil discourse in America. This is an excerpt from his remarks to the audience.
George Washington once described "the education of our youth in the science of government" as one of the most important priorities for the young republic.
States and districts continue to explore how best to define and measure both college and career readiness. These efforts could now get a boost with introduction of a new indicator and support from the business community.
Theme parks are increasingly using data to optimize the guest experience and improve their bottom line.


text:
Like many New Englanders of a certain age, I grew up skiing the mountains of Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, until Jake Burton ushered in a new era of winter-sports fun. Already deeply entrenched in the skateboarding lifestyle, I readily hung up my skis for a snowboard, only to learn that this newfangled contraption wasn't welcome at some of the ski resorts I knew so well. Banned from the places that saw snowboarders as a reckless and rowdy bunch — and the sport as a passing trend — my friends and I struck out for the local mountains that would have us. Thankfully, those days are ancient history, and now a mountain without a halfpipe and an assortment of rails is as rare as an asymmetrical snowboard or a pair of non-parabolic skis. Whether you're just starting out and seeking the safety of a bunny slope or an expert looking for that next adrenaline rush, New England offers something for everyone. Enjoy this guide to some of the best riding the region has to offer.
BLUE HILLS SKI AREA The closest thing to having a winter wonderland in your own backyard, the William F. Rogers Ski Slopes on Great Blue Hill are a city slicker's best friend. If Mother Nature's lagging, 90 percent of the 60 acres of terrain are covered by man-made snow, and more than half of the 12 trails are lit for night riding. There are separate areas for beginners, mid-tier skiers/boarders, and parks and pipes riders, as well as private and group lessons — everything you need to change your outlook on winter!Canton, MA | ski-bluehills.com | 781.828.5070
NASHOBA VALLEY Nashoba Valley claims 17 trails (the number used to be higher), even though anyone standing and looking at the 240-foot hillside — roughly one-third the height of the Prudential Tower — would have trouble figuring out where some of them end and others begin. Still, it's a learner's paradise, with clearly demarcated areas for each skill level, serviced by their own lifts. That, the location, private and group lessons, and half-day as well as nighttime tickets make this one of the most convenient places around to learn how to ski or ride.
Westford, MA | skinashoba.com | 978.692.3033
WACHUSETT MOUNTAIN As a kid, my after-school ski program brought us to Wachusett Mountain once a week for night skiing winter after winter. It's a decent place for beginners and intermediate skiers/riders alike. Granted, it also has a few black-diamond trails and a vertical of 1000 feet, but truth be told, its proximity is its greatest asset. Which is precisely why my friends and I would leave the house at 5:30 am on Saturdays to get to New Hampshire's White Mountains in time for first runs.Princeton, MA | wachusett.com | 978.464.2300
BRETTON WOODS MOUNTAIN RESORT The Granite State's largest ski area, Bretton Woods features four terrain parks and 101 trails on 434 acres, including intermittent tree runs and the Rosebrook Canyon Glades, a large free-riding area with patches of heavier maintenance than might typically be expected of "backcountry" terrain, although it still provides plenty of opportunities to sit in the back seat as you plow through the powder. Snowmaking covers 92 percent of the mountain, so you can ride morning, noon, and night whether Old Man Winter is doing his job or not.Bretton Woods, NH | brettonwoods.com | 800.314.1752
Table of Contents
Cover Archive
Masthead | Authors | Contact us
See all articles by:
All Slideshows


text:
Whether he's surfing at Byron or dropping in courtesy of a RACQ CareFlight helicopter in Toowoomba, Santa really gets around at Christmas time. Here's some of his special appearances over the years.
AT first glance you may think Santa has come early.
Trend setting
GRAFTON'S Santa Crawl may have started as a small event five years ago, but now it's drawing hundreds of revellers and raising thousands of dollars.
Trend setting
BEHOLD the MUJI Noel, a vending machine Santa which will walk the streets of Barcelona and Madrid during the Christmas period.


text: I Quit my job today, I'm tired of my life here, I think I will ride to Panama, then Colombia, then Brazil... I do not plan to return home, I have some ideas and we will see where I end up. Tijuana? Honduras? Colombia and Venezuela!? As P. J. O'Rourke put it "How would your mother feel if she knew you were doing this? She'd cry. She really would. And that's how you know it's fun. Anything that makes your mother cry is fun. Sigmund Freud wrote all about this. It's a well-known fact." I have a motorcycle, a couple of passports, a wad of cash and I speak Spanish. I will leave March 5th, bomb down the Pacific Coast on Highway 1/101 from Bellingham, WA, to Tijuana where I will spend a couple nights with my good buddy Joel. "You can sleep in the trailer out back dude, if it starts moving at night its because the Mexicans are stealing it!" Then I will ride to Panama and devise a way to cross the Darien Gap in the cheapest way possible. I heard Colombia is really bad ass with a Motorcycle, I heard Venezuela has really cheap gas, and I heard Brazil is very large (large=lots of riding). I plan to spend a lot of time in those three countires. Here is my first couple of photos if you want to see my set up. Ready to ride Pelican Case Trip to the hardware store. Set up for easy removal. Sweet! This is my dad, he taught me everything I know about motorcycles TOO COLD! One more cold night in my little apartment and then... Two lane highways to Mexico! Starts tomorrow (March 5th) we will see what happens


text:
Modern BCAA Plus By USP Labs, Orange, 30 Servings
- 8:1:1 BCAA Ratio
- Ultra Micronized
- With Critical Exercise Amino Acids
Modern BCAA Plus By USP Labs - 30 Servings - Orange - Amino Acids
USP labs introduces the new and improved modern BCAA plus ultra micronized amino acid supplement. Modern BCAA Contains the coveted 8:1:1 BCAA ratio plus the addition for these key aminos glycine, alanine, taurine and lysine. Supplementing with Modern BCAA around exercise is very important because muscles release more glycine during fasted exercise than any other amino, which creates a catabolic state. Alanine is also released at very high rates during fasted exercise, making supplementation important to preventing a catabolic state. Taurine is the most abundant amino acid in skeletal muscle. A recent animal study demonstrated that when muscles are low in taurine, muscle function and performance were significantly reduced. Lysine is an essential amino acid that has been shown to preserve leucine in a protein starved state.
Modern BCAA Is A Great Product To Support:
- Bodybuilding
- Endurance Training
- Strength Training
- Power Lifting
- Strong man Training
- Crossfit
What's In USP Labs Modern BCAA?
Nutrition FactsServing Size 2 Scoops
Servings Per Container 30
|Amount Per Serving
|Proprietary Blend
|Electrolyte Blend
|Proprietary Blends
Proprietary Blend
Micronized L-Leucine, L-Isoleucine, L-Valine. L-Alanine, L-Taurine, L-Lysine HCl, L-Glycine, L-Alanyl-L-Glutamine (Sustamine).
Electrolyte Blend
Sodium Citrate, Potassium Chloride
|*percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
†Nutrition Facts are a simulation of the product's "Nutrition Label". For the actual Nutrition Label please refer to the product packaging.
How to Take USP Labs Modern BCAA Plus:
As a dietary supplement, mix 1 serving of Modern BCAA Plus (2 level scoops) in 20 ounces of water and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Sip throughout workout or athletic event. An additional serving of Modern BCAA Plus may be taken immediately after training or any time additional aminos are needed. Using less than 10 ounces of water per scoop and/or very cold water can hinder solubility and cause foaming. Due to high amino acid content some initial foaming may occur, which should subside over a few minutes time with light shaking. Shake container before each use to disperse ingredients that may have settled.
This product is only intended to be consumed by healthy adults 18 years of age or older. Pregnant or nursing women should not use this product. Discontinue use and immediately consult your health care professional if you experience any adverse reaction to this product. Do not exceed recommended serving. Do not use if safety seal is broken or missing. KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN.
PLEASE NOTE: Product image is representative of the product offered but may not have the exact attributes. Please read product description for the specific attributes of this product.
PLEASE NOTE: The information above is intended for reference only. While we attempt to keep our information accurate, we cannot guarantee it is an accurate representation of the latest formulation of the product. If you have any concerns, please visit the vendor's web site. The information above are the views of the product's manufacturer, not the views of Same Day Supplements. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
*Prices are subject to change at any time and some items are limited to stock on hand.In-stock orders placed before 3pm EST ship out the same day.
We offer many shipping options to countries like:
- Brazil
- United Kingdom
- Canada
- Germany
- Australia
- Japan
- India
- France
- Israel
- Worldwide
More Information


text:
Natural wood is ecological, but it has to be treated if you want to keep it looking good for a long time, especially if the woodwork has to face the rigours of the weather. Indoors, bare parquet could be dangerous for obvious reasons.
You always have the option of buying prefinished parquet, which will save you the finishing work: manual labour, odour of the product used, long wait before walking on the floor.
If you decide to treat your wood on your own, it's preferable to avoid synthetic products in favour of natural products, such as varnish without solvent. Don't play with your health. A toxic product can release noxious vapours for several months, even if your nose can't detect them.
There are four major type of wood finish: varnish, lacquer, oil and wax.[caption id="attachment_13325" align="aligncenter" width="580"] iStock[/caption]
Varnish stays on the surface of the wood. It has a strictly protective role. Perfect for furniture, applicable for parquet. However, you have to be patient when the time comes to refinish, because you have to sand the entire surface.[……]


text:
As the geek cinema event of the year slowly approaches, Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment teams with Kabam to create a pair of social strategy games loosely tied to Bilbo's epic journey.
I say loosely tied because I don't recall Bilbo creating and managing his own fantasy kingdom as players will do in The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-Earth for mobile phones.
Nor did he, and mind you it's been awhile since I read the book, take command of a large army as players will in the browser-based The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age. There were armies, of course, but just that one major battle. I am assuming there will be more than that in the browser game, which will feature Bilbo and Gandalf the Off-White as champions amidst the armies of Dwarves, Elves and Man.
Both Hobbit tie-ins are due to launch this fall. Interested parties can sign up for The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age beta right now.


text: This condenser lens constant current LED bulb from Big Bike Parts® replaces the standard GE # 192-T 3 ¼ wedge base 5 watt position light bulb as used on the GL1500 Goldwing front headlight. Big Bike Parts® custom designed this LED with five 5 watt condenser lensed LED's for a whopping 25 watts, all in an LED bulb measuring only 32mm (1¼") long. This condenser lens LED fits directly into the OEM headlight position sockets on all years of the GL1500 Goldwing (1988-2000). Sold as each, 2 required for the GL1500. Will also fit as replacement for most other uses of T 3 ¼ wedge bulbs.


text:
The "No Child Left Behind" Act of 2001 requires that states annually test students in reading and mathematics in grades 3-8 and once in high school, beginning no later than the 2005-06 school year. The law requires that states use tests aligned with their academic-content standards, either by building assessments specifically designed to reflect those standards or by modifying commercially produced, off-the-shelf tests.
According to Education Week's Quality Counts 2004, all 50 states and the District of Columbia now have some statewide test in place. The report also found that in the 2003-04 school year, 20 states and the District of Columbia will test in both English and math in all the required grades. Of those 21 jurisdictions, 15 use the same standards-based (tests aligned with state standards) testing program in each grade, permitting results to be compared across grades.
The logic behind such assessment systems, one of the centerpieces of the push for standards-based school improvement, has been to find a more accurate way to measure both student and school progress as well as to establish measures against which to hold schools accountable for results. Testing policies, however, have caused considerable controversy. Testing proponents see statewide assessments as a way to raise expectations and help guarantee that all children are held to the same high standards (Gandal and McGiffert, 2002). But critics say that such testing programs narrow student learning to what is tested-and that what is tested is only a sample of what children should know (Schmidt, 2002). Furthermore, tests often focus on what's easiest to measure, not on the critical-thinking skills students most need to develop (Webb, 1999).
For example, many reform-minded testing experts advocate what are called performance-based assessments, designed to elicit critical-thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills. These typically are more open-ended tests, on which teachers judge students on written essays, on the process they use to solve a math problem (rather than on the result alone, for instance), or even on portfolios of their work over the school year. In reality, most state assessments may be better at gauging rote learning than at evaluating thinking skills. Concerns with the costs of performance-based tests, the reliability of scorers' judgments, and the difficulties of covering the breadth of standards all may be reasons why performance-based assessments have been in short supply among state testing programs. Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia include multiple-choice questions on their state exams. Only about half administer performance-based assessments in subjects other than writing, and just two states use portfolios-compilations of student work-to judge student performance (Quality Counts, 2004).
A major concern related to holding students, teachers, or schools accountable for student performance on tests is the extent to which tests are actually "aligned" with state standards (AERA, 2003). For the 2002-03 school year, just 15 states reported to Education Week that they were assessing students with tests aligned to state standards in all of the core subject areas-math, English, social studies/history, and science-at the elementary, middle, and high school levels (Quality Counts, 2003).
Some states have invested in devising tests to match their state standards. Others have opted for partial alignment or "hybrid" tests that combine elements of standards-based tests and norm-referenced tests (tests that judge student performance in relation to other students' performance rather than to set standards). Still others have decided to assess students using only national off- the-shelf tests that do not necessarily reflect state standards. According to Quality Counts 2004, for the 2003-04 school year, 42 states are using tests custom developed to match standards; 12 states have adopted augmented or hybrid tests; and 21 states will employ a norm-referenced test as part of their state assessment systems.
Some parents, teachers, and other critics worry that schools may be spending too much instructional time preparing for tests. An Education Week survey in 2000 showed that 66 percent of teachers thought state tests were forcing them to concentrate too much on what was tested to the detriment of other important topics, and nearly half said they spent "a great deal of time" helping students prepare for tests (Quality Counts, 2001).
The Cambridge, Mass.-based National Center for Fair and Open Testing, FairTest, suggests that assessment practices are fraught with other contentious issues. While African-Americans and students from most other minority groups have shown both relative and absolute gains in standardized-test scores over the past several decades, they still score much lower than white students as a group. Some educators believe that many standardized tests are culturally biased, drawing primarily upon the experiences of middle-class white students.
Critics also question the "high stakes" many states attach to tests. State assessments are being used not only to hold schools accountable for results, but also, increasingly, to determine whether students should advance to the next grade, attend summer school, or earn a high school diploma. By 2004, nine states are expected to base grade-to-grade promotion decisions on test results (Quality Counts, 2004). Twenty states now require students to pass a test in order to earn diplomas. But several states, including Arizona and California have delayed attaching consequences to such "exit exams" after complaints about the fairness of the tests.
Detractors are concerned that decisions about students' graduation or promotion from grade to grade are now being made based solely on performance on one multiple-choice test (Heubert and Hauser, 1999). Some argue that high-stakes testing undermines learning and hurts struggling students (Amrein and Berliner, 2002). Critics also question whether tests should be used to hold individual students accountable when it is not clear whether schools are providing students with the tools they need: high-quality teachers, strong curricula, and extra time to master what's expected on the tests.
But two recent studies find that high-stakes testing, may, in fact, bring about academic gains, particularly for minority students. The first study, by Martin Carnoy and Susanna Loeb, finds that students in states where high stakes are attached to tests performed better on nationwide tests (Winter, 2003). The second study concludes that students in states with student accountability systems in place score higher on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in math than students in states without such consequences (Raymond and Hanushek, 2003).
Testing advocates agree that making sure students and teachers have the resources and tools they need to meet the expectations of state standards and tests is a priority. But they also argue there ought to be a way to ensure to graduates, future employers, institutions of higher education, and the public that a high school diploma means that students have the skills they need to succeed.
Despite continuing debate, solid reasons for testing remain. With public schools under major pressure to show results, testing may be helping to raise the expectations for schools—especially for the lowest-performing ones. Many schools, districts, and states that have seen achievement levels rise in recent years attribute their success to higher expectations for students, as embodied in state tests, and how test results have been used to improve classroom practice. Tests can provide data that show what students are lacking, and give educators the information necessary to tailor classes to student needs.
How to Cite This Article
Editorial Projects in Education Research Center. (2004, August 3). Assessment. Education Week. Retrieved Month Day, Year from http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/assessment/
We encourage lively debate, but please be respectful of others. Profanity and personal attacks are prohibited. By commenting, you are agreeing to abide by our user agreement.
All comments are public.


text:
Entire Site
Business - find a company
Site - find a mine, work site, etc
Resource - find a resource
Jobs - search jobs by role
News - find news
Info and DiY Help
jobs By ID
My Profile
Log In
Remember Me
Forgot Password?
Not registered?
Contact us today
Labour Hire
Mining Contractors
Mining Medical Centres
Drug And Alcohol Testing Centres
Onsite Mining Support Services
Transport And Logistics
Mine Spec Vehicles Hire Fit Sale
Safety Products
Major Mining Contractors
Mining Equipment
Mining Companies
Training And Inductions
Mining Building Services
Mining Professional Services
Remote Camp Companies
Mining Suppliers
Tools Of The Trade
Mining Exploration
Quarry Companies
Private Sub Contractors
Events And Tourism
Big Boys Toys
Financial Planners & Accountants
Resume Writers
Mental health and Wellbeing
Safety and Workwear
Jobs in Mining
Mining NSW Jobs
There is no Jobs Currently Listed in this Category
Apprenticeships And Traineeships( # )
Camp And Hospitality Staff( # )
Drill And Blast( # )
Engineers And Surveyors( # )
Exploration And Survey( # )
Infrastructure Construction( # )
Maintenance( # )
Management And Staff( # )
Mine Construction( # )
Not Specified( # )
Offsite Support Staff( # )
Oil And Gas Jobs( # )
Onsite Support Staff( # )
Operators And Production( # )
Port And Rail( # )
Trades And Labour( # )
Underground Mining Jobs( # )
Boilermakers required for various roles for fixed plant and mobile equipment shutdowns
Riggers Dido
Operator Maintainer
Bis Industries requires an Operator Maintainer to join our operations at Karara, this is offered FIFO on 2:1 roster from Perth, come join the team!
Mc Truck Drivers Gunnedah
Bis Industries is seeking MC Drivers commencing at Gunnedah on a Monday to Friday roster and every other Saturday as required.
Mc Drivers Goldfields
Seeking expressions of interest from experienced MC Drivers, in consideration for multiple opportunities across our operations in the Goldfields.
Prelude Arrives In Australia
Shell Australia's Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility has arrived in Australian waters this week after its 5,800km journey from the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in Geoje, ....
Australia's Largest Testing Rig Unveiled In Rocky
Siemens has invested $5 million into the Rockhampton Service Centre, which unveiled this week, Australia's largest and most advanced gearbox load test rig for mining, wind power and other core ....
Dinosaur Find At Qld Mine Site
Palaeontologists and volunteers will work over the next month excavating and studying 30,000-year-old dinosaur bones at the South Walker Creek mine in Central Queensland. The team of eight people, ....
Black Thoated Finch Puts New Coal Mine At Risk
The controversial black throated finch is back to cause problems for Adani with a fresh legal challenge over the planned Carmichael coalmine. New advice has found the federal environment ....
Monadelphous Awarded $55M In Contracts
Monadelphous Group Limited announced on Wednesday it has been awarded a number of new work packages with a combined value of approximately $55 million. The engineering company will carry out ....
iCompLii is proud to bring you MiningLink, The largest and busiest digital media outlet in Australia for the Mining and resources industry, with over 500,000 visitors a month
Register Your Business
Create Your Own MiningLink Profile
© MiningLink 2019
MiningLink Ltd


text:
Thinking of Refinancing?
Refinancing can make your monthly payments lower and more stable. But there are potential costs that you need to consider before deciding if refinancing makes sense for you. We'll walk you through everything you need to know.
See the impact of refinancing with our mortgage calculators
Our refinance mortgage calculators can help you decide if refinancing is right for you by showing you how your current mortgage would compare to a refinance loan.Find out if you should refinance
What you need to know before you refinance
Get yourself ready to refinance with this helpful information.
Factors affecting your rates
Find out more about how your credit score and debt-to-income ratio influence your refinance rates and options.What affects your rates?
Interest, principal and monthly payments
Learn about the costs that go into a monthly payment and how they're calculated so that you can set a comfortable budget for your total finances.How do payments work?


text:
Siu Mei Shop - FingerART Hong Kong Story
Regular price $118.00
FingerART improves and refines the traditional paper craftsmanship. Combining different themes and advanced engraving technology, FingerART has been manufactured in a highest standard.
FingerART has a Macro World View. The small-scale building kits are available in a variety of theme including from old fish market to modern architecture. Blank human body is also available and you can draw, paint and give life to them!
It is happy to build, display and collect FingerART wich satisfy beginner to advanced users!
*High Quality Plastic Box Included.
*All model requires glue to assemble.


text:
For more than 25 years, Tragant Handels- und Beteiligungs GmbH is a wholesaler in electronics, navigation and computer peripherals with the own trademarks Delock and Navilock. Since its founding in the 1992, Tragant has been grown up steadily and has more than 80 employees at currently. As an owner-managed company, Tragant is an attractive and versatile employer in Berlin Zehlendorf and Teltow.
Tragant follows the aim to participate in the growth of the IT market. In this way the company develops continuously and is going to grow up in the future. For this reason, we are looking for dedicated and motivated colleagues.
Current job offers:
In that case, we look forward to your application and would like to get to know you better.
• Your application should include a cover letter stating the position you are applying for
• Your CV and relevant certificates
In addition, please let us know your earliest possible starting date and your salary expectation. Naturally, we will treat your documents confidentially.
Postal address:
Tragant Handels- und Beteiligungs GmbH
Abteilung Personal
Beeskowdamm 13/15
14167 Berlin


text:
lcc is a retargetable compiler for Standard C. It generates code for the ALPHA, SPARC, MIPS R3000, and Intel x86 and its successors.
lcc is described in A Retargetable C Compiler: Design and Implementation (Addison-Wesley, 1995, ISBN 0805316701, ISBN-13 9780805316704). This book is a detailed tour of the lcc 3.6 source code. The distribution includes the source code for the complete compiler, the code generators for all its targets, and the code-generator generator that produced them. See the preface and table of contents for more details.
The USENET newsgroup comp.compilers.lcc is an unmoderated newsgroup that serves as a forum for all topics related to the installation, use, and development of lcc. You can post messages to comp.compilers.lcc at Google groups.
Chris Fraser · David Hanson


text:
From a beach coffeehouse to a social housing ziggurat: this is where it all began for Norman Foster, Asif Khan and others
Norman Foster
Amenity core and fare terminal for Fred Olsen, Millwall docks, London, 1969 -7 0
I met Richard Rogers in the early 60 s at Yale School of Architecture in the US, where we were both studying for our master's. We got on well and compounded pressures to flesh Team 4, with Wendy Cheeseman and her sister Georgie Walton, who was the only registered architect at the house. Wendy and I married and, after four years, we set up Foster Associate in her bedsit. It was 1967: there were no identifies and no projects.
A part-time architecture student worked with us. His father worked for a shipping company in Millwall piers in east London, called Fred Olsen. He knew it was looking to build an amenity centre for its personnel and I got an audience with the dock manager. I was 33.


text:
The full circumstances of U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl's captivity have yet to be revealed. During his tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2009, Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban and held in captivity for five years until a controversial prisoner exchange led to his release on May 31. Bergdahl has been accused of deserting his post and advocating the release of Afghani prisoners.
"We do know that he suffered horrific conditions, tortured and kept in a metal cage in darkness for weeks on end," said Prof. Zahava Solomon, an Israel Prize laureate, Professor of Social Work and Psychiatric Epidemiology at Tel Aviv University's School of Social Work, and head of the newly founded Center of Excellence for Mass Trauma Research, established by the Israel Science Foundation. "His identification with the enemy could be seen as a form of Stockholm Syndrome, according to which tortured individuals identify with their perpetrators and take on their beliefs as a means of survival and empowerment. In a way, it is reminiscent of victims of child abuse, who may identify with their parents and continue the cycle of abuse as adults themselves.
"On the other hand, maybe he really was a conscientious objector, as some have said, having high ideals and high morals, and he started to identify with the people he saw as victims - vulnerable locals in poor conditions," Prof. Solomon says. "It is impossible to say conclusively."
In a new study conducted with Dr. Sharon Dekel of Harvard University's Department of Psychiatry and slated for publication in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, Prof. Solomon examines the co-morbid effects of war captivity and war trauma on prisoners of war. While symptoms of psychological illness are often pigeon-holed as specific individual disorders, Prof. Solomon argues against a narrow "tunnel vision" in treating POWs such as Bergdahl, who remains in rehabilitation.
A uniquely large sample
Prof. Solomon's new study follows the progress of several hundred ex-prisoners of war captured by the Syrians and Egyptians in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, with a specific eye toward the co-morbid interplay between Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms. These former combat soldiers were held captive for between one and nine months, interrogated under horrific conditions, electrocuted, raped, burned with cigarettes, told Israel had been conquered, and placed in solitary confinement.
Prof. Solomon has treated the same subjects - hundreds of Israel Defense Forces soldiers captured during Israel's 1973 Yom Kippur War - over more than 40 years. The POWs, their spouses, and their children were interviewed and observed at three specific points of time (1991, 2003, 2008) over 17 years, utilizing diagnostic tools and questionnaires. Two groups of combat veterans, 275 former prisoners of war (ex-POWS) and matched combatants (controls), were assessed.
Prof. Solomon found that while depression and PTSD seem to be different long-term manifestations of traumatic stress, they are both parts of a common general traumatic stress construct. "Despite the fact that they were released 40 years ago, these men feel and behave as if they are still in captivity," said Prof. Solomon. "With PTSD, they have recurrent nightmares, are startled easily by noise, triggered by anything in the news or media reminiscent of their experiences, abusive to their spouses and children, re-enact their trauma and are overprotective. Meanwhile, they also exhibit clear depressive symptoms."
No silver bullet
Statistical analysis from the study indicated that PTSD increased in ex-POWs over time, while it remained stable among traumatized ex-combatants. The researchers observed a clear relationship between PTSD and depression, with one disorder mediating the symptoms of the other at different points in time.
"The effect of psychological trauma is like cancer - it metastasizes," said Prof. Solomon. "You cannot treat a person only according to PTSD, an anxiety disorder, or depression, an effective disorder, because then the treatment itself becomes ineffective. Sometimes they overlap, but they are also quite different. This is a major challenge for clinicians, who must not be blinded or restricted by their textbook categories. There is no silver bullet, unfortunately, but it is crucial to treat people accurately and with sensitivity, according to current knowledge, and continue the research to enable more effective treatment."
American Friends of Tel Aviv University supports Israel's leading, most comprehensive and most sought-after center of higher learning, Tel Aviv University (TAU). Rooted in a pan-disciplinary approach to education, TAU is internationally recognized for the scope and groundbreaking nature of its research and scholarship -- attracting world-class faculty and consistently producing cutting-edge work with profound implications for the future. TAU is independently ranked 116th among the world's top universities and #1 in Israel. It joins a handful of elite international universities that rank among the best producers of successful startups.


text:
and HiFX
Welcome to HIFX, where every year, we help more than 75,000 people make international money transfers quickly, easily, securely and at bank beating exchange rates.
At HIFX we're not just passionate about saving you money on your international transfers. We also pride ourselves on the fact that we're large enough to undertake the biggest transactions, yet small enough to care about each and every client who trusts us with their international money transfers.
Whether you're sending money to family and friends, transferring a pension abroad or buying a property overseas, the experts at HiFX have created a range of options to help you manage your international money transfers; saving you both time and money.
Take a look at our services. We're sure you'll find HiFX stands out from the crowd.
Online Transfers
Save time and money by sending your online international money transfers the easy way 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Telephone Transfers
Highly tailored to your individual needs, our telephone based money transfer service gives you access to your own dedicated dealer.
Regular Transfers
The quickest and easiest way to make regular international payments and avoid the unnecessary fees charged by the high street banks each and every time your make an international money transfer.


text:
Stealthy Shape Security Lands $6 Million From Kleiner Perkins and Eric Schmidt
There's an interesting new fundamental thought emerging among computer security companies. The logic goes like this: First, your digital assets are going to be attacked. Second, no matter what preparations you make to defend those assets, a determined attacker is going to find a hole or a method of penetrating your defenses that you didn't think of.
Most attacks are relatively cheap to carry out, because they're not that sophisticated. More often than not, attackers copy the methods they use from each other. Attacks are inexpensive, and most attackers have the luxury of limitless time.
The exception is attacks using so-called "zero day" vulnerabilities, where a previously unknown vulnerability, usually in the operating system, is used to gain access to a system. Most — but not all — of the time, once a zero-day vulnerability is seen and documented, the weaknesses it reveals are patched, making it the type of weapon that can be used only once.
As such, zero-day vulnerabilities are often traded on the black market and sold at a high price. For example, when the Stuxnet worm — the malware that was used to attack and sabotage the Iranian nuclear program — was first discovered, security researchers were impressed that it used no fewer than four distinct zero-day vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows. So many used at once indicated that the cost to carry out the attack was high, leading to the conclusion that only a state-sponsored attacker would have the funds to carry it out. This led to the logical conclusion that either the U.S. or Israel had been behind Stuxnet.
I bring it up because Stuxnet is an example of the conclusion of this new fundamental thought I mentioned at the start. Why not make attacks expensive for the attackers? The early estimates on Stuxnet put its cost at $3 million, and it is believed that it required a team of 10 skilled programmers and as long as six months to develop. It was not a cheap attack. It was expensive.
That's the idea behind Shape Security, which today announced that it has landed a $6 million Series A round of venture capital funding led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and TomorrowVentures, the fund led by Google Chairman Eric Schmidt.
Peter Wagner, a former partner at Accel Partners, as well as executives from LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, will also join the round. Ted Schlein, managing partner at Kleiner Perkins, has joined the board of directors, along with Gaurav Garg, a limited partner at Sequoia Capital and personal investor in the round.
We don't as yet know a great deal about Shape Security or its intentions. But we do know who's running it: According to this filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, its CEO is Derek W. Smith. Another key exec and director is Sumit Agarwal, the former head of Google's mobile product management, who in 2010 took a post in the Department of Defense as senior adviser for Cyber Innovation.
Another key exec is Troy Tribe, who appears to be the same person who used to be VP for business development at Solera Networks, which specializes in network-security analytics and forensics.
This is the second time in as many weeks that I've noticed a security company talking about changing the economics for attackers. The first was Crowdstrike, which announced that it had hired Shawn Henry from the FBI and landed a $26 million investment from Warburg Pincus. Neither has said yet exactly what you do to make launching a computer attack more expensive. I'm certainly eager to know more.


text:
Hi -
In the online help for VB, there are examples of several ways to retrieve
text from a text file. One way allows you to go to specific areas of the
file. Another way allows you to read in the file line by line. You can use
the example from the online help.
The LEN function will aid you in finding the length.
Good luck!
"Ranadeep" <firstname.lastname@example.com> wrote:
>Hi, I would like to know what is the easiest way to import text from a text
>file, but certain parts of the text file and get the size of each input
>that is being sent to the access database and get it size and its total
>Thank you


text:
(1) There is established on the books of the Treasury a fund to be known as the "Voluntary Separation Incentive Fund" (hereinafter in this subsection referred to as the "Fund"). The Fund shall be administered by the Secretary of the Treasury. The Fund shall be used for the accumulation of funds in order to finance on an actuarially sound basis the liabilities of the Department of Defense under this section.
10 USC § 1175(h)(1)
Scoping language
in this subsection
Is this correct?


text:
After Houston's 2-0 home victory over San Jose last weekend, the Dynamo tied the MLS record with 34 consecutive home games unbeaten in all competitions. With the new record in their sights, the Dynamo got some love in this week's power rankings from MLSsoccer.com and Bleacher Report's Joe Tansey. Both sites had the Dynamo in their top spot after the fifth week of the MLS season.
MLSsoccer.com had this to say about Houston:
Got to give it up for the Dynamo: They've weathered preseason injuries, a disappointing CCL elimination, some set-piece worries (we're not 100 percent convinced those are gone) and international call-ups all before the calendar even turned to April. And with all that, they're 3-1-0 – and heating up.
But not everybody agrees that Houston's current form deserves the top spot in the power rankings. Both ESPN.com's Jeff Carlisle and Yahoo Sport's Zac Wassink placed Houston in the fifth spot in their respective rankings. According to Wassink:
Houston's next three games include trips to Portland and Toronto surrounding a home match against lowly Chicago. The Dynamo could be atop MLS power rankings by the end of April.
Meanwhile, Sports Illustrated's Avi Creditor did not move the Dynamo after their home victory, keeping them at the No.3 spot, but did emphasize Houston's attacking force:
The manner in which the Dynamo scored in a 2-0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes was a testament to their attacking quality. On one side, Oscar Boniek Garcia used a tremendous individual effort to get by All-Star defender Justin Morrow and send an accurate cross for Will Bruin. On the other, Brad Davis put in his trademark pinpoint service for Giles Barnes. This dynamic team can come at opponents from myriad ways and angles.
Houston will look to win their first road game of the year when they travel to JELD-WEN Field this weekend to take on the Portland Timbers.


text:
MIAMISBURG, Ohio (WKEF/CNN) - An Ohio teen who uses a wheelchair because of spina bifida got to score a touchdown with his eighth-grade football team.
Team manager Paul Townsend, with the support of his teammates, spiked the ball as he found the end zone Wednesday.
"It feels great," he said after the game.
Helena Baker, his mom, said she was proud of her son, who even helped draw up his big play.
"I love the fact that the team has made him a part of it, even though he can't walk and run the way they do. He uses wheels," she said.
His coach credited Townsend with supporting the team and said the touchdown play had been two years in the making.
"(He) does our water, does our equipment for us and he's at every game, home and away," the coach said.
Copyright 2019 WKEF via CNN. All rights reserved.


text:
Stop in and let your spirit be refreshed!
Stop in and let your spirit be refreshed!
Woo Hoo! Get this on your calendar and start planning today! ... See MoreSee Less
Canton, MO Announces Parade of Lights ThemeYou guys know how much I love Christmas, so when Canton announced this year's Parade of Lights theme, I was super excited!
2 months ago ·
If you're in Canton today, October 8, you might benefit from knowing about this lane closure on State Hwy B/South 4th Street.We are asking for patience and cooperation as we have heavy truck traffic and an unexpected need to close the north-bound lane of State Hwy B/S 4th Street in Canton in the area of Marion to Jefferson Streets due to sewer line work. If it's an option for you, avoid this area today. If you are using the route, be prepared for delays. Thanks for your help and tolerance as we make our way through the day! ... See MoreSee Less
2 months ago ·
Powered by Catalyst
Copyright © 2020 Canton Missouri


text:
Jindal nearing end of his Asian business trip
Gov. Bobby Jindal is wrapping up his Asian economic development trip, providing few details about what he's done while there.
The Republican governor, on his first overseas business development mission, is scheduled to return to Louisiana on Saturday. He's spent a week in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, along with Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret.
The governor's office only gave details about a few events: Jindal's meeting with Taiwan's president and with executives from Formosa Plastics Corp. in Taiwan and the parent company of Shintech in Japan, both of which have plants in south Louisiana.
Jindal's spokesman Kyle Plotkin has said the governor met with leaders of 10 other companies during the trip, but wouldn't name the businesses. Jindal has said many of the businesses didn't want the meetings disclosed.


text:
Courtesy of GoGriffs.com
BUFFALO, NY — The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and ESPN announced today that the Canisius-Niagara men's basketball game in the Gallagher Center on Friday, Feb. 14, will be played in front of a live national TV audience on ESPNU. Game time between the Golden Griffins and Purple Eagles is set for 9 p.m. The game in Lewiston, N.Y. will be Canisius' fourth game broadcast live on ESPNU this season.
Canisius defeated Niagara 87-74 in the Koessler Athletic Center when the two teams met for the first time this season on Jan. 22. In that game, Canisius senior Billy Baron scored a game-high 31 points, while senior Chris Perez chipped in 19 points. Senior forward Chris Manhertz had 14 points and 11 rebounds for his 11th career double-double as the Blue and Gold scored back-to-back wins over Niagara for the first time since March 2001.
Canisius will return to action Sunday, Jan. 26, when the team plays host to Marist in the Koessler Athletic Center. Game time is set for 2 p.m.


text:
The Next-Generation Canadarm
A suite of robotic technologies designed to help explore space further and longer
As the world's nations work towards expanding the frontier of space exploration to destinations like the Moon or Mars, Canada is planning ahead to develop the types of robotic technologies that will be critical to future missions, from space telescopes to the vehicles that may carry humans beyond Earth's orbit. The extensive flottila of satellites near Earth that provides us with daily services (like weather and communications satellites) may also require robotics support for maintenance or refueling.
With over three decades operating the iconic Canadarm on the Space Shuttle, and Canadarm2 and Dextre on board the International Space Station (ISS), Canada has earned an enviable reputation for excellence in advanced space robotics. Building on this legacy, the Next-Generation Canadarm (NGC) is the Canada's futuristic next step in space-based robotic technology.
Built under contract for the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA), NGC consists of four versatile, state-of-the-art robotic prototypes and a mission control station:
- NGC's 15-metre robotic arm designed to fit onboard future smaller spacecraft.
- A smaller, 2.5 meter robotic arm equipped with its own set of sophisticated tools to repair satellites in space.
- A test-bed for proximity operations allows engineers to simulate bringing two spacecraft together for operations in close-contact.
- A satellite docking facility to test the steps required to dock two vehicles together and, finally,
- A mission operations station to control all NGC's systems remotely.
The Next-Generation Large Canadarm
The largest of the five components of the NGC facility, this prototype of a robotic arm has the same 15-metre reach as Canadarm2, but is much lighter and more compact for the smaller spacecrafts of the future. The arm's retractable, telescopic sections allow it to fold up for storage in less than 5 cubic metres—roughly the volume of a mini-van, which would make it compatible with the designs of most new space capsules and vehicles. With six degrees of freedom, the flexible arm can simulate demanding tasks like capturing and docking of large spacecraft for refueling. The arm features include advanced hardware, software, and operational capabilities.
The Next-Generation Small Canadarm
With a 2.58-metre reach, this smaller robotic-arm prototype builds on the capabilities of Dextre, the Canadian-built robotic "handyman" aboard the ISS. The Next-Generation Small Arm test-bed is a smaller, lightweight, dexterous robot with advanced electronics, software and control systems to support refueling satellites in space and repairing or replacing failing components.
Outfitted with specialized tools, the robot can perform a variety of intricate tasks including: removing and installing components (orbit replaceable units), removing the protective blankets that cover satellites; cutting wires; opening and closing fuel valves, and transferring propellant between servicer and client spacecraft. The smaller Canadarm can be controlled either manually or automatically and can be carried to various workstations much the same way as Dextre is transported on the end of Canadarm2.
The Proximity Operations System Testbed
This test facility consists of two industrial robotic systems that simulate the delicate, precise operations involved in bringing two moving spacecraft into close proximity—within just a few metres of each other. The testbed provides realistic simulation models of the spacecraft with actual sizes, realistic lighting and camera views.
Once the two vehicles are close together, a robotic arm on a servicing spacecraft could capture an ailing satellite and dock it for repairs, or an operator could command the servicing spacecraft to dock itself to a client's spacecraft.
The Semi-autonomous Docking System
Once two spacecrafts are in close quarters, this system is designed to take over and guide a spacecraft through a series of robotically performed procedures from initial contact to the final stages of locking two space vehicles together. While current space docking systems are controlled remotely by operators, this facility is equipped with sensors that autonomously detect successful docking and trigger the mechanisms that rigidize the docking of two spacecraft.
Missions Operations Station
The four components of the project are choreographed through a Mission Operations Station, which acts as a mini "Mission Control" capable of remotely planning a servicing mission, from proximity operations through docking and servicing.
Operators at the Missions Operations Station can conduct tests to demonstrate NGC's advanced servicing capabilities using either the actual hardware or computer simulations.
The NGC project was funded through Canada's Economic Action Plan
- Date modified:


text:
Create faster with artist-designed templates available inside your Creative Cloud apps.
Product mockups, photo effects, layouts, and more. Explore thousands of Photoshop templates.
Beautifully designed, pre-built titles and graphics for your Premiere Pro projects.
Print layouts, social media sets, infographics, and beyond. Choose from high-quality Illustrator templates to kickstart your projects.
Customize resumes, brochure layouts, presentations, and more. Browse an assortment of InDesign templates.
Search and open Adobe Stock templates right inside Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.
Check out these beginner tutorials on how to use templates inside your Creative Cloud apps.
Selecting a region may change the language and promotional content you see on the Adobe Stock web site.


text:
ANSI A156.4 - Grade 1
Adjustable Spring Power Multi-Size 1 - 4
Door Closers Cross Reference Chart
Door Closers Data
When demanding closer specifications are required, consider CRL PR40 ANSI Grade 1 Adjustable Spring Power Multi-Size Surface Mounted Door Closer. All CRL PR40 Series Closers are barrier-free (low opening resistance), with a lighter powered spring to provide adjustable door control from Size 1 through 4. Recommended for high traffic areas, such as public buildings, airports and shopping centers to meet ADA accessibility requirements. Closing and latching speed controls are independently adjustable, and have an adjustable back check feature that helps prevent damage to the closer, door, and adjacent surface when the door is violently swung open due to wind or heavy pedestrian traffic.
Color: Aluminum
Closer Body Length: 9-3/4 in (248 mm)
Horizontal Mounting Holes: 9-1/16 in (230 mm) Center to Center
Vertical Mounting Holes: 3/4 in (19 mm) Center to Center
Additional Product Information:
The CRL PR40 Series has a compact design and shares the common 9-1/16 x 3/4 inch (230.2 x 19 millimeter) mounting hole template, making it ideal for both new and retrofit applications.
A Parallel Arm Bracket and mounting hardware are included with each closer permitting universal installation for regular, top jamb or parallel arm applications.
Optional accessories, such as
Drop Plates and
Hold Open Arms, are available for special installations.


text:
Temperature: 54f.
Wind: 0mi North
Humidity: 67%
Visibility: 10mi
Barometer: 30"
Dew Point: 43f.
M&T Bank Stadium
Surface: 419 Tifway Bermuda Grass
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Zip: 21230
Capacity: 71008
Type: Open
© 2012 NFLWeather.comTM : Part of the USA Today Sports Media Group.
NFLWeather.com is not affiliated with the National Football League


text:
Since the rollout of Google+ Local the complaints about missing reviews have risen dramatically in the forums. The issues that Google have had right along with losing reviews remain much the same and reviews can go missing for many of the same reasons:
– Marked as spam
– They are misplaced by Google briefly or for longer periods
– Users mark their review as private in the transition to PLus
– A listing has dupes and the review gets associated with the other listing
– A rating will show in the review count but not in the review corpus
But apparently something has changed. In conversations in the private forum Google noted the following high level points regarding spam that we could share and that may make life easier for some of you:
– car dealership reviews are usually, but not always, spammy
– Google will only allow one review per person per business
– Copy pasting the same review for multiple locations is also not allowed (Google will delete both instances of the review)
– Putting URLs in reviews will result in the review being marked as spam


text:
What program did 篮球竞彩app Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) receive approval for from the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) effective October 1, 2006?
- The BPU approved our Conservation Incentive Program (CIP), which is a 3-year pilot to launch new conservation and efficiency programs to assist customers in managing their energy bills. The CIP replaces our Weather Normalization Clause (WNC) which helped cover variations related to weather. In connection with the CIP, NJNG also will begin using a Conserve to Preserve Savings Seal to clearly signal any new program or tip that will help customers reduce their energy usage and save money on their energy bills.
How will the Conservation Incentive Program help me as a customer?
- You will be provided with more comprehensive information about your expected energy expenses, along with conservation tips and programs that can help significantly reduce those expenses. Expect to see more from us in the future, and look for the Conserve to Preserve Savings Seal.
How will I know about any new programs?
- Updates will be provided in your bill inserts and are always available on our Web site; however, signing up for E-Tips, our free conservation e-mail service, is the most effective way to make sure you receive all updates. To sign up, visit and register for My Account Information. Be sure to check the box indicating you would like to receive E-Tips.
What are the benefits of signing up for E-Tips, the conservation e-mail update service?
– You will get all our program updates on a timely basis.
– Your e-mail address is secured. We do not share it with any other party.
– You have the right to unsubscribe at any time.
Will you be charging me more money if I conserve?
We will not be charging you more money in total. While the delivery charge may increase or decrease in future periods as a result of the change, we cannot collect for any non-weather related earnings shortfall unless we can prove we achieved offsetting BGSS savings. If we need to implement a surcharge, it will be collected on a per-therm basis from all customers in their Conservation Incentive Program group (residential non-heat, residential heat or commercial).
NJNG remains committed to meeting your expectations for reliability and value every day. We continue to offer customers help with managing their natural gas bills through our , energy-saving tips and energy assistance programs.