text:
------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Embedded Debian Project http://www.emdebian.org/ Emdebian GNU/Linux Grip 1.0 released email@example.com February 14th, 2009 http://www.emdebian.org/News/2009/20090214.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Emdebian Grip 1.0 (lenny) has been released =========================================== February 14th, 2009 The Emdebian Project is very pleased to announce the official release of two flavours of Embedded Debian - Emdebian Grip 1.0 and Emdebian Crush 1.0, each based on Debian GNU/Linux version 5.0 (codenamed "lenny"), after several years of constant development. Emdebian GNU/Linux Grip 1.0 (based on Debian 5.0 "lenny"). ========================================================== A small Debian-compatible Emdebian installation Emdebian Grip 1.0 (lenny) is a smaller Debian that is binary compatible with Debian and based around a small set of Debian packages intended for embedded machines. Emdebian Grip 1.0 provides complete repositories of packages for seven architectures (i386, amd64, powerpc, arm, armel, mips and mipsel), based on coreutils, glibc and perl. Grip includes support for standard Debian tools like debootstrap and debian-installer and no functional changes compared to Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 "lenny". Installations of Emdebian Grip 1.0 will work with standard Debian tools like debootstrap, debian-installer and maybe debian-live - as long as the device has enough space to generate such systems. Emdebian Grip can support building packages (although this currently requires using packages from Debian and is untested) and can be installed as a simple migration from Debian in the normal ways. Indeed, the recommended way to install Emdebian Grip 1.0 is to use the Debian 5.0 "lenny" installer in Automatic Installation mode to install a Debian base system and use pre-seeding to migrate to Grip during the installation process. Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 (Lenny) includes the new ARM EABI port, "Armel". This new port provides a more efficient use of both modern and future ARM processors. As a result, the old ARM port (arm) has now been deprecated for both Debian and Emdebian Grip. This release includes numerous updated software packages, such as the Xfce 4.4.2 desktop environment, X.Org 7.3, Iceweasel (an unbranded version of Mozilla Firefox 3.0.6), Linux kernel version 2.6.26, Python 2.5.2 and 2.4.6, Perl 5.10.0 and more than 1,000 other ready to use software packages. With the integration of X.org 7.3 the X server autoconfigures itself with most hardware. Newly introduced packages allow the full support of NTFS filesystems or the usage of most multimedia keys out of the box. Overall improvements for notebooks have been introduced, like out of the box support of CPU frequency scaling. Further improvement regarding the security of the system include the installation of available security updates before the first reboot by the installation system, the reduction of setuid root binaries and open ports in the standard installation as well as building several security-critical packages with GCC Hardening features. Various applications have specific improvements, too. For non native English speaking users the package management systems now support translated package descriptions which will automatically show the description of a package in the native language of the user if available. Debian GNU/Linux can be installed from various installation media such as DVDs, CDs, USB sticks and floppies, or from the network. XFCE is the default desktop environment for Emdebian Grip 1.0. The installation process for Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 has been improved in many ways: among many other improvements, firmware required by some devices can be loaded by using removable media and installations via braille display are supported. The installer boot process has also received much attention: a graphical menu can be used to choose front-ends and desktop environments, and to select expert or rescue mode. The installation system for Debian GNU/Linux has now been translated to 63 languages. Debian GNU/Linux can be downloaded right now via bittorrent (the recommended way), jigdo or HTTP; see Debian GNU/Linux on CDs for further information. The recommended media for Emdebian Grip is USB stick. It will soon be available on DVD, CD-ROM and Blu-ray Disc from numerous vendors, too. Upgrades to Emdebian Grip GNU/Linux 1.0 from the previous Debian releases, are automatically handled by the apt package management tool for most configurations. As always, Debian GNU/Linux systems can be upgraded painlessly, in place, without any forced downtime, but it is strongly recommended to read the release notes for possible issues and for detailed instructions on installing and upgrading. Release names ============= Full release title: Emdebian GNU/Linux Grip 1.0 (based on Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 "lenny"). Short release name: Emdebian Grip 1.0 (lenny) Common release names: Emdebian Grip or Grip (lenny) Please use these names if promoting the releases elsewhere. Grip and Crush are a play on words for the next Debian release - "squeeze". Emdebian will continue to use the Grip and Crush titles for future releases and will continue to use the unstable, testing and stable suite names. Future releases are intended to continue following Debian in the codenames (lenny, squeeze etc.) and be tied firmly to Debian release schedules. More information: http://www.emdebian.org/grip/ Dedication ========== Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 "Lenny" is dedicated to Thiemo Seufer, a Debian Developer who died on December 26th, 2008 in a tragic car accident. Thiemo was involved in Debian and Emdebian in many ways. He has maintained several packages and was the main supporter of the Debian port to the MIPS architectures. He was also a member of our kernel team, as well as a member of the Debian Installer team. His contributions reached far beyond the Debian project. He also worked on the MIPS port of the Linux kernel, the MIPS emulation of qemu, and far too many smaller projects to be named here. Thiemo's work, dedication, broad technical knowledge and ability to share this with others will be missed. The contributions of Thiemo will not be forgotten. The high standards of Thiemos work make it hard to pick up. Thiemo also contributed to Emdebian and so the first ever release of Emdebian to be available on MIPS (Grip 1.0) is also dedicated to his memory. About Debian ============ Debian GNU/Linux is a free operating system, developed by more than a thousand volunteers from all over the world who collaborate via the Internet. Debian's dedication to Free Software, its non-profit nature, and its open development model make it unique among GNU/Linux distributions. The Debian project's key strengths are its volunteer base, its dedication to the Debian Social Contract, and its commitment to provide the best operating system possible. Debian 5.0 is another important step in that direction. Contact Information =================== For further information, please visit the Debian web pages at http://www.debian.org/, the Emdebian web pages at http://www.emdebian.org/ or send mail to <firstname.lastname@example.com>. -- Neil Williams ============= http://www.data-freedom.org/ http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/ http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/
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text:
Ticking clock: Decision on gay fraternity delayed
Ten months since its formation, the fate of Out on Rugby, a group of UVA students attempting to establish a gay-friendly fraternity, still hangs in the balance.
On Tuesday, February 17, dwindling fraternity membership caused UVA's Multicultural Greek Council (MGC) to extend Out on Rugby's probationary period for at least another month.
The MGC asked for greater proof of student body interest and cited its apprehension "that the group currently consists of six members but is not allowed to colonize without a minimum of eight," the mandate from the group's national, Delta Lambda Phi.
The current president of the MGC, fourth-year Melody Han, declined interview requests following release of the decision. Out on Rugby organizer Anthony Whitten also refused comment.
"Officially," Whitten says, "Out on Rugby is not making any statements about [the] delay in voting. We're focusing our efforts on our rush period and meeting the demands of the MGC."
Less than a week following the MGC's deferral, the current members of Out on Rugby are on their way to meeting the MGC's demands.
Whitten says, "If approved for membership by the MGC, the graduation of the four members, including myself, from Out on Rugby will not delay the arrival of Delta Lambda Phi to the University. We have just completed an intake period offering membership to six additional men which will ensure that Out on Rugby will be able to meet the minimal number required."
Out on Rugby organizers began their quest last year to create a fraternity for "gay, bisexual, and progressive men." Creation of such a fraternity would put them under the MGC– a Greek governing council that, according to assistant dean of students Aaron Laushway, promotes "multiculturalism and diversity."
Fourth-year Out on Rugby member Matthew Baldwin hopes the establishment of such a fraternity will help further that MGC goal.
"I would personally like to see the atmosphere at UVA a little more integrated," says Baldwin. "I would like to have more of a place at UVA."
There has not been any substantive public opposition to the fraternity.
"What Out on Rugby hopes to do," says Laushway, "is to provide a brotherhood that advances the conversation and the level of tolerance of people who are gay, straight, bisexual, to embrace, in an open way, fraternal life, and that's to be applauded."
Matthew Peterson, a fourth-year member of Alpha Tau Omega, which is governed by the Interfraternity Council, says, "I don't think there are too many openly gay men in Greek organizations because there's a perceived stigma against such behavior. Fraternity men ... are supposed to love chicks, football, getting wasted... Being homosexual is seen by the general public and members of the Greek community as running counter to this."
"Our greatest challenge has been time," says Out on Rugby president Whitten. When he graduates this year, he hopes to leave Out on Rugby as a legacy that will benefit both current and future students by helping to "destigmatize" homosexuality and "provide growth to the University."
Out on Rugby organizer Anthony Whitten at home on the Range. <br>PHOTO BY JEN FARIELLO

subset: commoncrawl


text:
In the mosque some men seated on the floor, looking in different directions, chant the Qur'an. The sound is not as mellifluous as plainchant but fills the hall with intense emotion and the heart's desire for God. Outside in the courtyard porticos other groups of men also looking in different directions talked or listened to each other or to the ambient noises of Marrakech. They were all blind.
The mosque was founded by Sidi Bel Abbes, the patron saint of the city, a twelfth century teacher who fed the poor and founded this Muslim almshouse for the blind. He is one of the seven saints of Marrakesh who range from a twelfth century leper, theologians and lawyers to a sixteenth century resistance fighter against the Portuguese. In the past any merchant coming to the city would make the round of the seven zaouias or tombs before doing any business.
Our inter-religious dialogue group, like most religious people, had struggled to find time in a heavy schedule of religious discussion just to pray together at a time when we were not too tired to fall asleep. But the idea of doing the pilgrimage fell on good soil and off we went, in Buddhist, Benedictine, Sufi and Hindu robes, yamakas and secular dress, acting at first a little like the outing of mental institution patients in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
Our guide was a revered sheikh whose example was to open for some of us a new perspective on the 'sharing of practices'. This had been part of our discussion and in many inter-religious groups it is accepted like apple pie and motherhood, until it comes to the practicalities. Then all the complexities and nuances involved emerge and the 'sharing' becomes more problematical. So, we entered each saint's mosque; the sheikh gave a brief introduction and then facing the tomb began to pray. It was an unusual prayer for most of us, a dramatized soliloquy in Arabic, involving some account of the saint's life and teaching, a request for guidance and blessing and, so my interpreter explained, an assurance from the saint that our visit had been welcome.
The sheikh was a famous scholar, man of the world and politically active against radicalized Islam for which he had received death threats. Here in his purely religious persona his intense emotional devotion and ecstatic tones of voice expressed feelings that the local worshippers took for granted. If their mobile phones rang during the prayer they would unembarrassedly leave to answer them. For the rest of us, especially I thought the emotionally challenged English and rational Buddhists it was hard to be other than an observer. We respected the practice but we could not fully enter into it. Too much exposure to what you cannot enter reduces respect to mere tolerance. After that, more can be actually counter-productive.
Shabbat started that evening and the Jews wanted to show us their love of their day of rest. We had talked earlier about a possible outcome of our discussions being a popular teaching-practice on sacred time and space in a culture seduced by the religion of the shopping mall. Once again we faced the challenge of how you share what we love with those who have other kinds of love and do not fully understand your own. These are new questions for our era. Inter-religious dialogue has happened ever since traders travelled to sell their pottery, spices and cloths.
As they sat around their campfires in Samarkand they exchanged not only ideas and beliefs but religious practices. No religion can claim not have been influenced by others through these ancestral dialogues. But today the pressure has intensified to raise dialogue to a level of conscious action as a necessary element of sustainable peace-making.
Dialogue is enriching yet difficult because it is more than scholars talking and leaders arranging ceremonial events. It has to sink into the roots of each tradition so that we know our own traditions better through it. Maybe we can create an external practice that is acceptable to all though I don't yet know how. But without doubt silence is universal, non-threatening to the open-minded and healing, unifying in its effects.
Back in the teeming markets of Marrakesh, with outer chaos concealing human order, small shops and stalls abound in the arts of presentation – cones of scarlet and orange spices, baskets of herbs, piled up fruit and kitchen tools. Pungent smoke from the food stalls wafts all around. Here buying and selling correspond to the human scale and personality, unlike the mechanized self-checkouts at our supermarkets with their offensive marketing and wasteful packaging. How to bring even this practice back home? We waft like the smoke through this sundrenched parallel universe, mere shades to the local people, knowing but always wondering what it is that unites.
Laurence Freeman OSB
The World Community for Christian Meditation, of which Laurence Freeman OSB is director, has recently opened a new outreach program – "Meditatio" (www.wccmmeditatio.org)


text:
British boxer Dillian Whyte gets 2-year doping ban
LONDON (AP) -- A British boxer has been suspended for two years after testing positive for a banned substance found in a food supplement.
UK Anti-Doping says Dillian Whyte tested positive for the stimulant methylhexaneamine after winning a British heavyweight fight against Sandor Balogh on Oct. 13.
UKAD says an independent panel found the case warranted a two-year ban, which was upheld after an appeal by Whyte.
The agency says Whyte used the supplement Jack3D, which he bought over the counter from a nutritional supplements store.
The appeals panel says the case emphasizes "the dangers of athletes taking supplements which contain MHA.''
Whyte is banned from all competition until Oct. 12, 2014. His victory over Balogh was annulled.


text:
No matter what you think of taxes, you're probably going to be paying more of them soon.
Whether it's the Terrebonne Parish School Board or Gov. Bobby Jindal, everyone seems to be looking for newer, better methods for prying their way into our wallets and extracting more of the green stuff.
No matter what you think of taxes, you're probably going to be paying more of them soon.
Whether it's the Terrebonne Parish School Board or Gov. Bobby Jindal, everyone seems to be looking for newer, better methods for prying their way into our wallets and extracting more of the green stuff.
In Jindal's case, it remains to be seen whether people or businesses will pay more or less taxes than they do now, but the smart money is on more — unless you are part of a favored group of businesses that will be exempted from the taxes they would otherwise pay.
In the case of the schools, it's just going to be more. That's what the school folks are hoping, anyway.
The school system is seeking an unprecedented increase of 31 mills to its property tax. The board currently collects a 9.27-mill tax. Your school property tax — and you pay it, no matter what you might think — is likely to more than quadruple.
That is, your tax bill will go up astronomically unless you take part in the process — something school officials hope won't happen. Why else would they schedule the election for May 4, when there is no larger issue on the ballot. They are hoping for a small turnout that will result in school employees making up the lion's share of voters.
It is up to you to make sure that doesn't happen. Whether you favor the tax or not, go out and vote. Prove to the School Board and anyone else who might be watching that voters will turn out to have their say on taxes — even if they make it difficult for us.
Aside from universal pay raises at a time when the state is moving toward tying salaries to teachers' effectiveness, the board has also made a promise to upgrade the school buildings across the parish. Oh, and it's throwing in universal pre-K to add to the attractiveness of its package of expenditures.
The problem with the spending plan, such as it is, is that the system didn't come up with the plan until after it had decided how much money it wanted.
What? How far would that kind of planning get you or me at the local bank?
One of the reasons school officials keep citing for seeking a more-than-300 percent increase in its millage is that the system currently collects the lowest millage of any school system in the state. That is true, but it tells only a tiny part of the story. The school system also collects a significant chunk of money in the form of sales taxes.
This lie is on the school system's own website, arguing in favor of the tax: "FACT: Residents of Terrebonne Parish pay more to have their garbage collected (11.21 mills) than they do to support public schools."
Nonsense. While the millage devoted to garbage collection is greater than the millage devoted to schools, the residents of Terrebonne Parish also contribute to the schools to the tune of more than 2 cents for every dollar they spend. That sales tax revenue is estimated at $46.7 million for the current year.
How much does the garbage tax — you know, the tax that generates more money than the schools take in, according to the school system's website — generate? According to the parish's 2012 budget, that revenue was estimated at $7.6 million — less than 17 percent of just the sales tax portion of the schools' revenue for this year.
Perhaps one of the many underpaid math teachers on the schools' payroll could help the system get a better approximation of the truth into its literature.
I don't know whether the school system needs more money, and aside from the two-page "concrete plan" the system has on its website, I don't know what it would do with the money.
What I do know is that it should be honest if it wants taxpayers to vote themselves a huge tax increase. Unless it doesn't need them.
School officials are clearly hoping they can get this tax passed solely on the strength of the people who will personally gain from it — the school employees.
Promising across-the-board raises to everyone, regardless of merit, was a stunningly adroit move, one that could turn out the votes needed to pass this huge tax hike. I live in Thibodaux, so the effects on me will be negligible. But I would encourage everyone in Terrebonne Parish to take more than a passing interest in the tax debate going on around you. You will be paying for it.
Editorial Page Editor Michael Gorman can be reached at 448-7612 or by e-mail at email@example.com.


text:
In the first week of July I went to the Mayan Riviera as part of my duties as the Head of the Unit for Planning and Management of Archaeological Sites in the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). The main objective of this field visit was to carry out an holistic inspection of the current management and operation status of the archaeological sites open to the public on the easter coast of the Yucatan Peninsula (commonly known as the Mayan Riviera). The sites I visited were Muyil, Tulum, Xelhá, Xcaret and Playa del Carmen. These are my preliminary results of this visit (I am still working on the processing of the data – very interesting information!)
First of all, some location information. The sites I visited are located on the eastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, within the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. As some of you dear readers may know, Quintana Roo is one of the main tourisitc destinations of Mexico (and the world I would say), with two main touristic beach hubs, Cancun and Playa del Carmen. On the coast, the Mayan Riviera, several archaeological sites are open for public visits, and this may be the main challenge in this region of Mexico.
Muyil is managed by the Director of Operations of Tulum, considering is very close to this site. The area open to the public is quite small, but what the regional authorities have been doing is to consolidate the site as a model example of how to maintain the vegetation. This is more important than you may thought. The weather on the region is very humid and the jungle around the sites may be an obstacle for the tourism, for what a proper gardening and maintenance programme is necessary. Muyil is a site with a small amount of visitors per month so the management strategies are focused on guarantee a visitation experience. Something very important about density of visitors will be noticed further on.
Tulum is the more visited archaeological site in the Mexican Mayan Region, just ahead of Chichen Itza (there may be months when Chichen Itza is more visited than Tulum, but in general Tulum has more visitors). This is mainly because its location, on the heart of the touristic development of the Mayan Riviera, surrounded by the main cities in the area, modern Tulum, Playa del Carmen and Cancun. It is common, if you go to one of these resort cities, to have a day trip to Tulum. Also, it is known that Tulum is the favourite beach destination for visitors that want to do both, archaeological tourism and beach (and I have to say, the very turquoise colour of the Caribbean, white sand, rocky cliffs, and pre-Hispanic Mayan buildings behind you, it is actually quite impressive and breath taking).
The inspection visit to Tulum was focused on evaluate the conservation of the heritage signage. The weather in the coast is very agressive, and the sunlight may damage the signage fabrics. Although I took the chance of being in the site to take some photographs of the areas where visitors congregate the most. And yes, there may be a problem in the near future (I was very impressed with the amount of visitors on a regular Tuesday. According to the Director of Operations of the site, the day with the major visitors density is Saturday and Sunday, with a "rush hour" – yes, Tulum has rush hours – between 9am and 11am), for what a visitors management programme will be implemented very soon.
Tulum is the only archaeological site in Mexico with three opening times. One regular visitation time, between 9am and 5pm, and two special opening times (which require a special ticket, more expensive than the regular access ticket), one in the early morning, and the other one after closing time. I had the opportunity to enter into the site after the last group visited the site. And let me tell you something: Tulum without visitors is MAGICAL. This made me think about the great challenge for us heritage managers to implement visitors management plans considering all elements, mostly the visitors experience and the conservation of the archaeological heritage.
You might heared before this name, Xelhá. This is because Xelhá is actually two places: the most known Xelhá is the resort-beach park in the coast, famous for snorkeling activities and eco-tourism; the other place less known is the archaeological site, which gave the name to the resort-beach park.
The site have been in moderate abandonment, but currently the regional offices of INAH in Quintana Roo have being implementing a major programme in order to diversify the visitation offers outside Tulum. I have been closely involved on this kind of programmes in Mexico, developing archaeological routes using major archaeological sites as a focus point in order to communicate to the public the opportunity they have to visit other archaeological sites, some of them bigger and more impressive than the most visited ones (not always, though). This measures are very important in the Mayan Riviera, around Tulum. As the pictures above may tell you, Tulum may have in the near future some difficulties with the carrying capacity of the site and public areas.
Xelhá, then, is being attended with this consideration. The visitor services infrastructure is being attended, with a general programme of conservation and update of signage being carried out. Xelhá is a very impressive archaeological site, with some archaeological features unique in the region: it has a pre-Hispanic artificially made road known in Mayan language as "Sacbé" (which means "white road"). This road connects the center of the site with a resiential and ceremonial archaeolgical group known as "The Jaguar Group", which is located next to a natural water source known as "cenote". One problem in this site, though: MOSQUITOS. Oh my god…
About Xcaret and Playa del Carmen: those sites are very interesting cases of management of archaeological heritage in the region. The archaeological buildings of Xcaret are scatered within a resort-park named also Xcaret, and Playa del Carmen (originally known in Mayan language as Xamanhá) is a site scatered within a residential area and hotels. But that would be for another post. I am still working on the data. Stay tuned!
Note: All the management data collected on the field is being desk-processed in Mexico City.


text: The Stantec community unites more than 22,000 employees working in over 450 locations. Our work—professional consulting in planning, engineering, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, surveying, environmental sciences, project management, and project economics—begins at the intersection of community, creativity, and client relationships. With a long-term commitment to the people and places we serve, Stantec has the unique ability to connect to projects on a personal level and advance the quality of life in communities across the globe.


text:
Dawn Management will work to provide clean, quiet, well-maintained apartment
homes to our residents.
We will build our reputation as a great neighbor,
which, ultimately, will be adopted by our residents and their guests
so that everyone may enjoy a peaceful apartment living experience.
Dawn Management...working to be great neighbors
Dawn Management LLC
507 Old State Route 74
Cincinnati, OH 45244
Phone (513) 314-1076
Fax (513) 635-4082


text:
Stale Request
You may be seeing this page because you used the Back button while browsing a secure web site or application. Alternatively, you may have mistakenly bookmarked the web login form instead of the actual web site you wanted to bookmark or used a link created by somebody else who made the same mistake. Please call the website you originally intended to call.


text:
Editor's note: Remember how I said I was going to watch every episode of 'Sex and the City' between April 1 and the May 23 premiere of the film? Well, for reasons of time, energy, and impending marriage, I didn't do it. What I did do, however, is pawn the task off on someone else: Emily Gould, Jezebel contributor and coiner of my favorite 'SATC'-related phrase, "Scary Sadshaws". Between today and Thursday, Emily will be watching all 94 episodes of the HBO series - that's 36 hours' worth! - and report back with her findings. A stunt? Yes. Insane? Probably. Wish her luck.
Last night, Anna and I were sitting in a chic little winebar in Queens sipping adorably-pink glasses of rosé when she announced that she had a present for me. The present was pink, too! And it came in a case made of sensuous faux-suede!
We marveled over its size and heft and giggled before I discreetly slipped it into my purse. On my way home, I had to wonder. Would I be able to handle it — all of it? I only had a few days, and it was so, so... BIG.
As you can tell, my brain has already been warped by this project. But over the next few days, I'll be soaking up all the pontification, all the scary reverse-aging, all the 90s eye makeup mysteries, all the saxophone solos ... God, the saxophone solos alone are going to drive me insane and I'm only on episode 2 ("Models and Mortals")!! What will happen to my brain? Well, I'll be keeping you updated. As a certain cigar-smoking, receding-hairlined lothario says in episode one, "What are you waiting for? Get in!"
Earlier: Maybe It's Time To Stop Hating On America's Scary Sadshaws


text:
|Find the best surf spots
|Video 1 of 1
It's not the right surf spot? Hoax? Copyright Infringement? Tell us !
Title : Sydney Northern Beaches Surf video - It's free
Description : "It's free" is a surf video dedicated to all soul surfers and people of Sydney Northern Beaches, Australia. Also It's a project to encourage people to use the "Waste Hierarchy" to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle to help fight global warming. Save our beaches, save our surf... Shot by Kleber Estorilio Music: Dudu Braga (Me and my fish) and Current Swell (Stomach) Contact: www.kleberestorilio.com
Tags : dudu braga the lighthouse, london riots 2011, ostrich nest, super mullet
Rating : 5.00
Duration : 00:05:32
Video submitted by firstname.lastname@example.com (13-08-2011)
Wannasurf.com on your mobile
RSS All the RSS feeds of Wannasurf.com
Newsletter All news by email


text:
Board proposes 4 percent raise for elected officials
The Emmet County Compensation came up with its annual recommendation for raises for the county's elected officials for fiscal year 2014-15 on Monday.
On a 5-2, vote, the board's recommendation to the Emmet County Board of Supervisors is a 4 percent across-the-board raise for the sheriff, county attorney, auditor, treasurer, recorder and each of the five supervisors.
The compensation board consists of seven members-one representative for each elected office with two persons representing the board of supervisors.
Members of the compensation board and whom they represent are as follows:
n Jennifer Bennett-Finn county attorney.
n Kevin Sander sheriff.
n John Wittneben auditor.
n Ron Menendez treasurer.
n Laurel Hash recorder.
n Jay Gunderson and Bob Schacherer board of supervisors.
During discussions in coming up with their recommendation, compensation board members looked at the cost-of-living increase and the salaries of elected officials in neighboring counties as well as counties with similar population.
During discussion, Bennett-Finn presented information show that the number of court filings by the Emmet County attorney is higher than both Kossuth and Palo Alto counties.
Gunderson presented information comparing the salaries of the five counties above and below Emmet County in population.
"We compare favorably with those averages," he said.
Sander made the motion for the 4 percent increase with Wittneben providing the second.
During discussion before the vote, Schacherer said the 4 percent raise is not in line with cost-of-living increases. The City of Estherville recently approved 1.9 percent raises for its employees and a 40-cent per hour increase for police officers
"I think 2-3 percent is more in line," Schacherer said.
When the vote was cast, Schacherer and Gunderson were the dissenting votes.
Last year, the compensation board recommended a 3 percent raise and the supervisors gave final approval to a 2 percent raise.
The supervisors have the option of accepting the compensation board's recommendation or decreasing the amount of the salary adjustments. Supervisors cannot increase pay above the amount recommended by the compensation board. They can also deny any increase.
Two years ago, the supervisors approved a 4 percent increase for the other offices, but reduced their raise to 2 percent for fiscal year 2012-13.


text:
Search criteria:
List of files deposited in CurateND that match your search criteria
- Author(s):
- Kenton Murray, David Chiang
- Abstract:
Neural networks have been shown to improve performance across a range of natural-language tasks. However, designing and training them can be complicated. Frequently, researchers resort to repeated experimentation to pick optimal settings. In this paper, we address the issue of choosing the correct number of units in hidden layers. We introduce a method for automatically adjusting network size by pruning out hidden units through L∞,1 and L2,1 regularization. We apply this method to language mo…
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text:
March 19, 2008: The intense gamma-ray burst GRB 080319B was detected in gamma ray, x-ray, optical light, and early indications by two automated cameras suggest that the optical afterglow of the burst may have briefly reached naked-eye visibility (mag ~ 5.76, GCN 7445, Cwiok et al) within 60 seconds of the onset. It is highly unlikely the burst was caught visually, but it is possible the burst may have been detected if any observers were monitoring this area of the sky (e.g. for minor planet searching).
The coordinates of the burst are:
Nova Delphini 2013 (also named V339 Del) is the biggest cosmic event in variable star astronomy this year, and this naked-eye nova is providing the community a wealth of new data on this important class of objects. The amateur astronomical community has made an enormous contribution of data for Nova Del so far, and now is a good time to review all that's happened so far in this nova outburst, and how the amateur community has played a role.


text:
Can the Z10 Save BlackBerry?
BlackBerry, or the company formerly known as RIM, did all it could today in its bid for relevance. It delivered a cutting-edge smartphone, the Z10, a solid, old-school QWERTY Q10, and an intriguing and in some ways innovative mobile platform.
I just wish I could tell you if it's enough.
RIM ... er ... BlackBerry's CEO Thorsten Heins deftly played the role of affable showman. Standing in the middle of a perhaps over-large and too-empty stage (Apple's stage is always more intimate, and I think with good reason), Heins honored those who came before him (former co-CEOs Mike Lazardis and Jim Balsillie), while clearly pushing the once-dominant mobile brand into an invigorating, though uncertain, future.
As our review points out, the Blackberry Z10 offers pretty much everything a smartphone-loving consumer could ask for: excellent, comfortable-to-hold design, powerful hardware (1.5 GHz, dual core CPU), full-featured HD camera (8 MP, 1080P), super high-resolutions screen, (more dots per inch than the iPhone 5's retina display) and tens of thousands of apps, including ones you actually want (Hello Foursquare and Angry Birds! The former's CEO, Dennis Crowley, was on hand to show his support for BlackBerry 10 — see above).
BlackBerry did go further, of course. The company, which essentially built its brand (and now its name) on business, worked hard with Blackberry 10 to let consumers have their cake and laptop, too. In other words, this is the rare smartphone that starts out with the ability to contain two separate existences (business and pleasure) in one device. All it takes to switch totally sandboxed modes is a gesture –- I saw this up-close and it is impressive.
Business and Pleasure
This is smart and could be a critical component of BlackBerry's success. I could imagine consumers adopting the Z10 (well, that's obviously a big assumption, but for the sake of argument, let's say they do) and bringing it into the office where an IT pro will, at first, blanch because the chickens are ruling the hen house. But that tech pro may change his tune when Jill Employee adds, "I use this, but you can set up the Work profile as you like. My stuff on the fun side will never touch your stuff on the work side."
Alternatively, there's a small chance that businesses that still use BlackBerry and BlackBerry's Enterprise services, may see a solution in the Z10. Finally, a device that their gadget-obsessed employees won't be embarrassed to carry, but that still satisfies all their business priorities.
Still, based on the Blackberry launch event, the company is clearly hoping to excite consumers first and get the world and business to fall into lockstep behind them. Exhibit A was the appearance of singer/songwriter Alicia Keys who Heins appeared to on-the-spot name as the company's new Global Creative Director. Think of her role as brand ambassador for BlackBerry. Keys had been a longtime BlackBerry user (hey, just like me!), but saw sexier options at the gym and finally walked away.
Now Keys has re-embraced BlackBerry and will run around the globe touting its virtues. While Keys' role was obviously the product of long negotiation, her appearance at the event was a closely guarded secret that may have come together at the last minute. Still, it had the desired effect. Her star power sent a ripple of electric excitement through the cavernous NYC event space and, for some reason, made people wake up to the fact that BlackBerry is serious here, or, well, serious about winning over consumers.
Can they?
I don't know. As Pete Pachal points out in his review of the Z10, there is a learning curve involved with the BlackBerry 10 OS. Not because it's hard, but because it is different.
Dare to Be Different
After the launch, I spent some time playing with the interface. First I watched someone demonstrate how to use it and then I gave it a spin. Within a minute or so, I had figured out the combinations of gestures to access the Hub (a super-smart central location for all your social and communication needs), apps, settings and more. I test drove the keyboard — using only my thumb — and found it surprisingly responsive and smart. I do wish, though, that the word suggestions were a bit more obvious. They appear sort of all over the keyboard and you flick them up to use them. It's smart but also so subtle that you might, as I initially did, miss it.
I'm Vining the new BlackBerry Z10 #BlackBerry10 vine.co/v/bJEdQHeEreO
— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) January 30, 2013
It was not all smooth sailing at the event. When it was time to reveal the most important parts — carriers, pricing, availability — Heins appeared overwhelmed by the need to make the information universal for the live, World-wide audience. In the process, he delivered a muddle of information of ship dates, carriers and price.
That was unfortunately because I think there's good news there. The subsidized Z10 (16 GBs, you can add storage via the micro SD slot), for example, is $199. That's on par with the most affordable iPhone 5. Nokia's Lumia 920, on the other hand is available for just $99. If you live in Canada, you'll save $50 on the Z10.
Also, the Z10 is shipping on AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile (Sprint apparently got the Q10, but not the Z10), and it could arrive in the U.S. by March.
None of this was clear from what Heins said on stage. I suggest that next time he take firm control of all the deliverable information, then state it and post it clearly behind him on screen.
BlackBerry's Chances
Yes, I believe Blackberry now has good enough technology to succeed, but there are so many other factors at play. Good, even great, hardware and software is not the only ingredient in a success soufflé. Windows 8 and the Nokia's Lumia line have taught Microsoft this. There are the intangibles, chief among them: How desperately consumers want your gadget.
In the mobile space, there is exactly one company capable of producing instant gadget lust –- at least at the scale you need for success. I'm not saying people don't lust after Android devices. They do, but not with the same passion that people exhibit for every single smartphone Apple delivers.
Blackberry Z10 is not generating that level of interest. At least not yet. Instead the Z10 ascent and Blackberry's rise from the ashes will be slower. The only problem is, does Blackberry have the patience, and time, to wait?
Vining #RIMs@BlackBerry 10 event vine.co/v/bJ026MBTL07
— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) January 30, 2013


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Coco Sectional w/Bed and Storage - More Images and Dimensions
Coco Sectional w/Bed and Storage
Coco Modern Sectional with Sofa Bed and Storage
Material: Full Leather ( Front - Italian genuine leather , sides & back - split leather)
Stock configuration: 2.5qfly+1dfr+1xZAG, leather G-190 Grey ( Right side chaise, 1 x headrest is included)
Sleeping area: 50 x 78
Sleeping function - Delphin
The Coco sectional sofa bed combines unmatched comfort with ergonomy. Perfectly shaped and soft seats guarantee the highest standard of comfort during your afternoon rest. A comfortable and large ottoman with a bedding compartment can easily accommodate two people resting in supine position. Coco also offers additional compartments hidden in wide armrests that can be used as magazine holders or cubbyholes to keep small items.
Not Available for Special Order.
Collection: Galla Poland
Stock status: Stock Product
Stock status: Stock Product


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|Events - Decatur Makers
Thu 6th Jul
9:00 am
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Beyond Coding and Decatur Makers discussion
To join the meeting on a computer or mobile phone: bluejeans.com/894498599?src=calendarLink
Lew Lefton has invited you to a video meeting.
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Instead of England's early Sunday dinner, a postchurch ordeal of heavy meats and savory pies, why not a new meal, served around noon, that starts with tea or coffee, marmalade and other breakfast fixtures before moving along to the heavier fare? By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday-night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well. Brunch is cheerful, sociable and inciting. It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.
– Guy Beringer, "Brunch: A Plea," Hunter's Weekly, 1895
The above is often cited as the first mention/coining of the term "brunch." Don't be put off that it's coming from Wikipedia, which can be spotty on accuracy, because in the end that suits brunch perfectly. No one can define exactly what it is anyway. The only thing to be sure of is it has a lot to do with what Mr. Beringer said: brunch has its own vibe — it's an atmosphere, an event.
Everyone knows the components of a Triangle-area Sunday Brunch: a little breakfast, a little lunch, some fresh fruit, a specialty drink of some kind. But in the end the point isn't that there's an entire new menu or ingredients, just that there's been a slight twist or tweak that makes the menu… brunch.
Brunch is just… different. It's fresh-squeezed juice instead of from-concentrate, it's cantaloupe instead of the usual banana, it's a glass-bottled soda instead of a fountain drink with high fructose corn syrup. It changes up the routine, gives restaurants another excuse to push fresh ingredients, and simply adds another component to a downtown scene with an already bright cultural landscape.
It isn't hard to see where Neal's Deli fits into this. Last Sunday was their first brunch-time menu, and even though they're not changing their normal breakfast set-up significantly (or even officially calling it brunch), you can't help but broadcast some of those brunch-vibes that go along with any early midday Sunday meal.
Breakfast food? Check. Fresh fruit juices and specialty drinks? Check. Laidback atmosphere/outside seating at a unique location? Check. The freshest local ingredients available? Big check.
The general idea with brunch is that it's hearty enough for a meal, but keeps aspects of a light snack, which might be why brunch is so readily identified by fresh produce and juice. And of course "fresh" is what makes Neal's "Neal's." Somehow, they've found a way to supply ridiculously delicious southern-style breakfast foods without spilling over into a greasy mess.
This is most obvious with their biscuits, which are made from scratch with locally milled King Arthur's Flour, buttermilk from right down the road at Maple View Farms in Hillsborough and Cabot Creamery butter. They're fabulous and the absolute definition of a perfectly toed line between comfort southern cooking and not making whatever you were eating them on transparent by the end of the meal.
All of Neal's meats and produce are brought in as local as possible, and even that which isn't hyper-local is selected for freshness and quality. There's a homemade hot sauce, made with Serrano peppers, that is fantastic. It's much like the Sriracha we've all heard so much about, but with a less vinegary tinge that keeps it tasting cleaner with more distinct flavor.
They have Boylans soda, a few microbrewed bottled beers, fresh-squeezed OJ and Martinelli's apple juice. The last item is cool because (other than the fact that fresh juice is synonymous with brunch) unlike 99% of the AJ you've probably ever tasted, Martinelli's doesn't have added ascorbic acid for vitamin C content. Ascorbic acid is the reason most apple juices give you that sour "pucker up" face at the end of every sip. Well, Martinelli's doesn't, and it's why it is a can't-miss item at Neal's to make their Sunday breakfast into your Sunday Brunch.
Even with the wealth of breakfast staples, you have to remember that Neal's is still a Deli. And no Deli is going to be successful without some really good pastrami. But to stay with our theme here: Neal's does everything a little different. I doubt I this is breaking news, but when I asked owner Sheila Neal what I should get she smiled and said, "Well, our pastrami has a bit of a following."
A following.
Sheila starts with antibiotic and hormone free, Animal Welfare Certified beef. The few spices added (a black pepper rub, juniper and coriander) keep things familiar but the way they prepare it is what's unique. While most pastrami is cold-smoked and then steamed, Neal's hot-smokes their house made pastrami so it doesn't have to be reheated, rendering it much fresher once it reaches your plate.
The end result is fantastic pastrami that is flavorful but not overly salted and watered down. And it makes perfect sense that Neal's two most homemade items are often combined together into Pastrami Biscuits. Normally those two items have connotations of a six hour nap afterwards, but when ingredients are fresh and homemade without the drag of sodium and preservatives, a hearty, southern, comfort food meal can somehow remain light and fresh — perfect for a brunch-esque meal.
In the end, this is what brunch is all about. It starts with great food, it's different and unique, but it also has a certain element of freshness and energy that makes you want to start your day, whether you're lounging around or have some recreation to attend to. And it goes without saying that this atmosphere is perfect for Neal's, and it's part of the reason why they're so famous.


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We Are HCM
Human Capital Media (HCM) is an integrated information services and market-intelligence company focused on the business of talent.
Our three premier imprints leverage actionable business knowledge, the latest data science and executive-level experiences to empower the decision-makers charged with making organizations succeed.
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Rochester, NY – January 4, 2011. Vaccinex, Inc. announced today that it has received clearance from FDA and will initiate a Phase 1 clinical trial to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of therapeutic antibody candidate VX15/2503 in cancer patients with advanced solid tumors.
VX15/2503 is a novel humanized antibody that blocks the activity of semaphorin 4D (SEMA4D). It is the first of two of the Company's therapeutic antibodies expected to begin clinical trials this year. "Advancing VX15 into the clinical stage of development is an exciting achievement for Vaccinex, and a testament to the experience and outstanding capabilities of our research and development teams," said Ray Watkins, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the company.
"SEMA4D is an exciting therapeutic target with remarkable biological properties relevant to several disease processes," said Dr. Maurice Zauderer, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vaccinex. As reflected in its name, semaphorin, the molecule guides the activation and movement of different cell types in different ways. For example, SEMA4D promotes migration of tumor cells that metastasize to new locations as well as the outgrowth of cells that form new blood vessels required to provide nutrients and energy to tumors. It is anticipated that, by blocking this signal, the anti-SEMA4D antibody will both inhibit the growth of primary tumors and limit metastases to new sites. "This is important," Dr. Zauderer said, "because if tumors did not metastasize, then surgeons could cure cancer." In other tissues and disease processes, for example damage to neurons in demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), the same semaphorin has an opposite effect on outgrowth of cells, preventing the regeneration and remyelination of damaged neurons. In this case, Dr. Zauderer said, "The VX15/2503 antibody has the potential to be a radical new approach to treatment of MS, acting both as an anti-inflammatory to protect against disease progression but also promoting healing of damaged tissue." Vaccinex plans to initiate a second trial of VX15/2503 for MS later this year.
About Vaccinex, Inc.
Founded in 1997 and located in Rochester, NY, Vaccinex, Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company engaged in the discovery and development of human therapeutic monoclonal antibodies and vaccines to treat serious diseases with unmet needs. https://www.vaccinex.com.
Press Contact
Raymond E. Watkins, Chief Operating Officer, 585.271.2700 (x-105)
e-mail: email@example.com


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The first edition of October's monetary trends is out. If you spend some time going through the charts, I think you'll find that the underlying credit situation is still deteriorating. You have time deposits and retail money market funds down tremendously, money aggregates are decreasing, velocity is still decreasing, commercial paper and consumer credit are falling at a faster rate, inflation readings while bouncing a little are still negative, and the S&P 500 Price to Earnings ratio is continuing its historic disconnect from reality:
Look at the amount that commercial paper is down year over year! We're talking nearly 40%, and the fuel for the largest segment of the economy, consumer credit, is continuing to plunge into negative territory:
Total loans and leases negative with no upturn:
All monetary aggregates when measured in year over year percent change are up, but the annualized RATE percent change is showing that in the short term the aggregates are SHRINKING:
Velocity continues to fall, with the monetary base velocity growth plunging to the -80% range year over year:
In terms of market valuations, THE MARKET HAS NEVER BEEN AS OVERVALUED AS IT IS RIGHT NOW – NEVER.
The geniuses on Wall Street will argue forward P/E, but even with their wild eyed, mark to fantasy bullshit, the FORWARD P/E IF ACHIEVED (it won't be) is still in the out of control, way outside of historic norms 38 range. This is a MASSIVE DIVERGENCE from reality, do not expect it to last.
Rare Earth – Get Ready:
Thursday, October 1, 2009
October Monetary Trends…
Posted byAmy Jamison at10:39 AM


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Our Solar Scorecard lets you find out where your local politicians stand on renewable energy. Use it to help make sure that no matter who wins on September 14th, renewable energy wins, as well.
Fund Community Energy is calling on the Federal Government to establish a $50 million grant program to support the development stage of community renewable energy projects.
100%'s organisers in New England have posed this important question to all New Englanders. The New England Energy Futures Campaign is a community initiative is driven by local residents united by a vision for a healthy, safe and prosperous future for New England.
Our new solar briefers show the number of solar installations, energy generated, power bills saved and much more-for every state and electorate in Australia
Solar Citizens is a new project by 100% Renewable to protect the rights of millions of Australians with solar to cut bills, create clean power and take energy generation back into our own hands.


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Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready will be heard, but not seen, in the new independent film, Sadie.
McCready scored the movie and we're getting out first listen to one of the songs. It's called "Show Your Colors." The atmospheric track features Molly Sides and Whitney Petty of the Seattle band Thunderpussy.
Writer/director Megan Griffiths told Rolling Stone in a statement that McCready's score was haunting and powerful.
"It works beautifully to amplify the themes of the film, and is also a gorgeous body of work to listen to on its own," McCready said.
Sadie is described as the story of a devoted soldier's daughter who is disappointed to learn her father is re-deploying. When she sees that her mom is developing feelings for a new man, Sadie channels her disappointment into a new mission: preserving her father's place on the home front.
The movie will be released tomorrow on certain digital platforms. Watch the trailer below.


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By now, you've likely heard of the alternative for staying in hotel rooms for a good night stay, as sites, like, AirBNB have continued to rise in popularity over the last decade. There are now more than 2 million people staying in AirBNBs — alone (not including other short term rental sites). The trend is only expected to rise as more people trust the crowd sourcing model, and as the market continues to develop.
Market Watch – Short Term Rentals
With the short term rental market continuing to develop, many would-be home sellers are now considering alternative options for leasing their properties rather than selling. In the past, those types of homeowners would become landlords and would need to wear the hat of Property Manager. As a Property Manager, the would-be seller then would need to tackle the duties for rent payments/collections, property maintenance (and repairs), and of course, marketing the property which would include an array of similar duties such as: listing the property to attract renters, screening new renters and signing contracts. If all went as planned, the property owner would then be able to collect ongoing payments from renters in order to receive what would become residual income so the renters could start paying for overhead expenses such as the mortgage and home insurance.
This scenario was the best case scenario for many landlords and property investors for many years, until the rise of short term rentals became more popular. Now, with short term rentals, would-be landlords have the option to lease their property to people looking for a short-term lease and earn approximately 2-3x more in earning potential from the same property than they would've received listing their property for rent in their local market. The only challenge with short term rentals is: how to ensure a flow of customers which will enable you to earn 2-3x in rental profits than the closest alternative?
Short Term Rental Property Resources
With the rise of the short term rental property market, resources are becoming more and more popular. Coinciding with rising trend, new technology advances such as the rise of home automation tools, enhance the attractiveness of renting your property on a short-term basis while maintaining full-control of your property.
In addition, access to experts such as short term rental property management companies and training programs aimed just for setting up your property for short-term rentals are becoming more accessible to the everyday landlord. Regardless for where your property is located in the United States, there is likely a nationwide market that is considering staying at your property on a short-term basis on sites such as AirBNB and VRBO. It's all about assembling the right processes in order to maximize your profits from this type of setup with your property.
Outlook for B&B Rentals
The outlook for b&b rentals is promising as more and more people are becoming more accustomed to this type of solution for travel, and the stigma for staying in someone's house– rather than staying in a hotel– is becoming more commonplace. The homeowners that are able to put together the right processes and teams are the ones that will be able to maximize the profits for renting their homes– rather than selling the home– and these are the people that will benefit from earning 200-300% more profits (and sometimes more!) by renting their properties on a short-term basis.
Have you experienced an AirBNB lately? Do you still feel its better to sell rather than lease your property? Let me know by using the contact form, and I'd love to hear your feedback!


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Lidar yields new Insights into desert fire ecologies
New insights into the differences between fire ecologies of the Chihuahuan and Mojave Deserts in the southwestern United States are coming through the use of terrestrial Light Detection and Ranging, or lidar, technology. Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey show that while fire is detrimental to some areas of the desert, it is beneficial to others.-
"Just as some ecosystems require periodic flooding for their rebirth and health maintenance, this new lidar information shows that some grasslands depend on periodic fires to give the native vegetation a competitive advantage," said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. "This new science is important in informing management because the natural human tendency is to suppress hazardous events like floods and fires."-
Scientists used terrestrial or ground-based lidar to study the soil and vegetation characteristics of two desert ecosystems. In the Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico, historically a grassland, they confirmed that fire can prevent the incursion of invasive shrub vegetation, while in parts of the Mojave Desert that are historically covered in shrubs, they showed that fire can harm the fertile shrub mounds, leading to loss of vegetation and increased erosion.–
"Fire can hinder conservation in areas naturally covered by shrubland, but may help remove shrubs and restore native vegetation in areas naturally covered by grasslands," said USGS geographer Chris Soulard. "These research studies are collaborative efforts aimed at building a long-term, ecosystem specific understanding of the ecological effects of fire and the possible beneficial roles of fire in land management."-
Terrestrial lidar uses lasers typically mounted on tripods to generate high-resolution, three-dimensional models of the sampled area. The level of detail is higher than in aerial lidar, aerial photography, or satellite imaging and T-lidar scanning instruments are easier and faster to deploy.-
The Chihuahuan Desert study area was in the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge of New Mexico, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In spring 2007, sample plots were burned, clipped, or left undisturbed, and in the summer of 2011 terrestrial lidar was used to measure soil and vegetation characteristics. In their burn experiments, a team of scientists including Joel Sankey of the USGS and Sujith Ravi with the University of Arizona, observed shrub-vegetated areas disappearing and the formation of numerous, small grass-dominated areas indicating the progression of the system towards a state more characteristic of the native grasslands found in this area.-
Woody plant encroachment can degrade desert grasslands, leading to areas of shrub vegetation surrounded by patches of nutrient-depleted bare soil. "The results of our Chihuahuan Desert study suggest that fire (prescribed, accidental, or natural) might reverse the shrub encroachment process, if it occurs in the early stages of vegetation shift," said Sankey, a USGS research physical scientist. "This may inform the use and role of fire in the context of changing disturbance regimes and climate."-
The Mojave Desert project study area was in Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, Arizona. Prescribed fires were set in 1998, and in 2009 T-lidar data was collected on both burned and unburned sample plots by a team of USGS scientists. The recovering vegetation in the burned sites had smaller dimensions, which exposed the soil mounds to erosion. Consequently, post-fire erosion led to the reduction in the soil mound volume and surface roughness in these sites. Soil surface changes alter physical and nutrient conditions that promote shrub health, and lead to decreased chances of seed germination and decreased ability to retain water.-
For more information, see the full journal articles. The Chihuahuan Desert study, "Quantifying soil surface change in degraded drylands: shrub encroachment and effects of fire and vegetation removal in a desert grassland", was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research and is authored by J.B. Sankey, S. Ravi, C.S.A. Wallace, R.H. Webb, and T.E. Huxman. The Mojave Desert study, "The role of fire on soil mounds and surface roughness in the Mojave Desert" was published in the journal Earth Surface Processes and Landforms and is authored by Chris Soulard, Todd Esque, Dave Bedford, and Sandra Bond.-


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Game Over For Penn State Coach Joe Paterno
And attention quickly shifted last night from the debate to a development rocking the sports world. The coach with the most victories in college football history was fired last night, the latest turn in a child sexual abuse scandal that's enveloping Penn State.
Meanwhile, the NBA lockout goes on. And in Major League Baseball, a promising young player has reportedly been kidnapped. For more on all of this, we turn, now, to NPR's Mike Pesca. He joins us from our bureau in New York. Good morning, Mike.
MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: Hello.
MONTAGNE: Let's start with Penn State, which of course is more than a sports story, after a former assistant to head coach Joe Paterno was charged with sexually abusing young boys. The school fired its president last night, and Paterno. Can you put into perspective what this football coach, this college coach, meant to that campus?
PESCA: Well, he was the very embodiment of the football team and really, the school. His longevity, his success, his methods were the best thing about that university for many of the people who went there. And so we see images of students rioting, some of them overturning a news van. And we might find it perplexing because when you get down to it, whatever Joe Paterno's merits – and there were many – in this case, he was a minimal satisfier in reporting and trying to root out a child sexual predator.
But so we have to think about the deep emotional connection that a lot of the students have, that a lot of people at Penn State had, and they were just reacting to what they see as the injustice of firing Paterno. Earlier in the day, Paterno himself had said that he will be retiring at the end of the season. He is 84 years old.
The school would not mind him to have retired - and, you know, that's a longstanding feeling among many of the trustees, having nothing to do with the child sexual abuse case, but having to do with having an octogenarian head coach. But he was tough, and he always hung on, and the last thing he wanted to do was to be the author of his own fate and to say, I'm going out on my terms. The trustees said, actually, that is our responsibility in this case; that is all about responsibility. And they took it, and they fired Paterno.
MONTAGNE: And Mike, while Penn State was reacting to that announcement, pro basketball players and owners met until early this morning in a Manhattan hotel - and still no deal. What's the latest on the NBA lockout?
PESCA: Well, we would normally see this as just another one of these negotiations - after 140-plus hours of total negotiations. But what – the reason that people were watching this particular session was that David Stern, the commissioner of the NBA, had issued an ultimatum. And he had said that yesterday, if there was not a deal done, then the next offer will be much worse for the players. Basically, he was trying to put pressure on what was a stalled negotiation. But hearing David Stern at a 2 a.m. press conference, he said: I would not read into this optimistic or pessimistically. We are not failing; we are not succeeding; we're just there. So there he's sounding kind of like the Zen-like Phil Jackson, former coach of the L.A. Lakers.
I don't know what to read about that except to say they will be negotiating again today. All reports are that they are very, very close to agreeing on terms. But close could mean that they - both sides have hit the point that they won't breach or go between. So we don't exactly know, but I think it's probably more optimistic than it's been in a while.
MONTAGNE: And Mike, we just have 40 seconds here, but just want to get in a little bit about Wilson Ramos, catcher for the Washington Nationals, reportedly been kidnapped in Venezuela.
MONTAGNE: Yes, we don't have many facts beyond that, but news reports - several news reports out of Venezuela, and this was confirmed by the team that he was playing winter ball with. He had been kidnapped. Four members – four gunmen took him into a car. We don't know much more.
Kidnapping the family members of professional baseball players is not unheard of. Yorvit Torrealba, Ugueth Urbina - these are a couple of the baseball players who've had family members kidnapped. This is an instance where a player himself is kidnapped, so the whole baseball world will be watching this situation.
MONTAGNE: Mike, thanks very much.
PESCA: You're welcome.
MONTAGNE: NPR sports correspondent Mike Pesca, speaking to us from our New York bureau. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Chanel Les Aquarelles de Chanel Collection
Chanel Les Aquarelles de Chanel Collection
In the 1920s, Marie Laurencin painted a watercolor portrait of Gabrielle Chanel. Today, Karl Lagerfeld employs that image as a point of departure for the 2011 Spring-Summer Haute Couture Collection, suffused with light and restraint. The atmosphere is pastel-toned, with clean silhouettes of catwalk models styled as ballerinas, evanescent and nonchalant. Soft pinks merge into tones of ivory and dove grey. Every aspect of the cherished rue Cambon style is washed over with the candor of youth. The enigmatic grace of a black satin ribbon tied high around the neck accentuates the mysterious spirit hidden behind the models'angelic faces.
Innocence always conceals its more daring side. Peter Philips, Creative Director of CHANEL Makeup, sees the spirit of rebellion behind delicate poses. His pastels are infused with character, coloring candidly pure faces with a flourishing form of urban poetry.
Created in the image of the 2011 Spring-Summer Haute Couture Collection, the shade range focuses on a palette of pinks and delicate grey on the eyes, framed by black and bathed in light. An exclusive creation, OMBRES TISSÉES Beiges takes on a fine-knit texture of silvery, golden and pinkish tones of beige. Arranged in three bands within their square case, these satiny eyeshadows smooth transparently over eyelids, while illuminating facial contours with touches of light. A little cloud of OMBRE ESSENTIELLE in Gris Exquis is shaded just beneath the brow line. A bold, geometric line of STYLO YEUX WATERPROOF 10 Ébène is drawn the precise width of the eyelid, stopping abruptly at its border for a more muted revisiting of the doe eye, modernising the youthful inspiration behind the look.
Blush extends from cheekbones to just below the eye. JOUES CONTRASTE 99 Rose Pétale adorns an opalescent complexion with soft light, lifted by the fresh hue of 66 Pink Cloud. Lips and nails are dressed in a hint of transparent pink, conveying an impression of romance par excellence. Irresistible, and as gentle as a hydrating balm, ROUGE COCO SHINE softens your natural smile with 58 Royallieu, while LE VERNIS 507 Tendresse perfects the color harmony in the most delicate way imaginable.
Ombres Tissees ($75.00)
This unique illuminating powder from LES AQUARELLES DE CHANEL Makeup Collection adds captivating shimmer and iridescence to eyes and cheeks with pale pink and ivory tones. The harmony is embellished with a luminous layer of shimmer and embossed with an iconic woven tweed effect. Limited Edition.
- Beiges (Limited Edition)
Joues Contraste ($43.00)
- Pink Cloud (Limited Edition)
- Rose Petale
Ombre Essentielle ($28.50)
- Gris Exquis (Limited Edition)
Le Vernis ($25.00)
- Tendresse (Limited Edition)
Stylo Yeux Waterproof ($29.00)
- Ebene
availability: chanel.com
See more photos!


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About the Foundation
The American Medical Student Association (AMSA) Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public educational foundation that has an inter-locking directorate with the American Medical Student Association.
The purpose of the AMSA Foundation is to support the activities of the American Medical Student Association including education and career development, research projects and innovative community impact programs aligned with the strategic priorities of the organization.Learn More
Through YOUR support, the purpose and passion of AMSA stays strong.GIVE NOW
Reasons to Give
Student-Led, Student-Focused
AMSA is led by students, governed by membership, and acts through student leadership.
Passion, Purpose, Principle
Through the AMSA Foundation, we are able to give the passion of our members opportunities to grow.
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AMSA holds the distinction as the largest independent student-governed organization in the world.


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Hunting for a venison recipe? Readers come to the rescue
Many hunters now have deer in the fridge, and if you happened to bag any game you might find yourself hunting for something else – a recipe.
Local readers Ruth Hughey and Mary Jo Passmore offered up a few recipes to either add to your collection or start it.
Hughey, of Altoona, used to hunt and generations of hunters are in her family.
"It's so tender and it beats beef all the way around," she said of venison.
Below are two of the recipes she submitted – one for deer jerky and the other for venison bologna.
Deer Jerky
3 pounds deer meat, cut into thin strips
1/2 cup Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup Soy Sauce
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons hickory smoke salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne red pepper (for mild flavor use 1/4 teaspoon)
Mix all the ingredients together and coat the deer meat strips. Put in fridge and let sit overnight. Space out meat strips on a cookie sheet and put it in the oven at 150 to 170 degrees Farenheit for 8 to 12 hours. Cool and store in air-tight container.
Venison Bologna
4 pounds ground venison
1/3 cup Tender quick
2 tablespoons liquid smoke
3/4 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
Directions: Mix the ground venison and tender quick together well and refrigerate overnight in a plastic bag. The next day, add the remaining ingredients. Mix well. Divide the flavored meat into four or five portions and roll into a firm log. Place on boiler pan in oven at 225 degrees Farenheit for 4 hours. Cool and slice.
Passmore, of Hollidaysburg, said in an email she had a tough time picking among her favorite venison recipes.
She went with a classic in her family – Pulled Venison and Pork in Sweet BBQ. It's her own recipe, which she has made for at least 30 years, she said.
"[It] tastes better after it sits in the fridge for a day. That is why I like to make it the day before," she said.
Pulled Venison and Pork
in Sweet BBQ
3 pounds venison, trimmed of tallow, cut into 1 1/2 to 2 inch cubes
3 pounds pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat and cut into 1 1/2 to 2 inch cubes
1 finely chopped green pepper
1 large sweet vidalia onion, finely chopped
1 6-ounce can of tomato paste
1 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons A-1 steak sauce
Black pepper to taste
Three and a half hours or up to four days ahead, combine all ingredients in a Dutch oven.
Cook on medium high until it bubbles then reduce temperature to low. Cover and simmer for three hours. Remove meat from the pot, cool until safe to handle, then shred meat with a fork and put back into the sauce. Cover and simmer another 1/2 to 1 hour.
Serve on large rolls or toasted garlic bread. Makes 14 large sandwiches.
Mirror Staff Write Amanda Gabeletto is at 949-7030.


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San Francisco Braces for Gen. Tom Cruise to Move In (And Perhaps Lead Scientology Offensive)
There's a rumor circulating in the San Francisco press and real estate community: Tom Cruise just bought an $18 million mansion in town. An overgrown pied-à-terre wouldn't be too terrifying — except for that local Scientology expansion drive.
Socketside heard Cruise was the buyer of an $18 million mansion in the ritzy Sea Cliff neighborhood. NBC Bay Area soon pointed out that, if that's true, Cruise's neighbors would be Robin Williams, Cheech Marin and the guitarist from Metallica. It's like the Bay Area's very own stunted little fog-swept Beverly Hills. But many locals will remember that the Church of Scientology was on the hunt for "apparent expansion" space starting in 2006, nosing around the once countercultural North Beach neighborhood.
So is Cruise, the alleged inspirer of Scientology beat-downs, spearheading a renewed expansion campaign by the cult to which he belongs? Maybe, or maybe said SF mansion is just being bought by another local tech exec like Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, per a SocketSite update:
Another reader quickly notes the mailing address for the purchasing LLC ("Tawaraya") is that of "a high-end accounting firm in Walnut Creek" which happens to advise Larry Ellison (amongst others). And The Real Estalker adds, "Tawaraya is a super posh and searingly expensive, 300-year old ryokan–which is essentially a Japanese bed and breakfast sort of place–located in Kyoto" which is rather Ellison-esque.
Oh great, more Larry Ellison dick waving. Don't we at least deserve some fresh megalomaniac mansion owners, out here?


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Morgan Stanley says that its U.S. wealth management business is now branded Morgan Stanley Wealth Management (MSWM). In other words, the group's name no longer includes Smith Barney.
The joint venture between Morgan Stanley and Smith Barney came together in 2009, with Morgan Stanley having a 51% share and Citigroup 49%. Recently, the two parties agreed that Morgan Stanley could increase its majority ownership of the venture and assume full control by June 2015.
With the name change, Morgan Stanley executives praised the effort's results to date, while experts gave it more mixed reviews. "Today, as we move under one name, we are culminating a three-year effort to integrate two outstanding franchises," said Morgan Stanley Chairman and CEO James Gorman, in a press release.
The venture was valued at $13.5 billion on Sept. 11. It included about 16,930 employee advisors as of June 30 with some $1.7 trillion in assets. The number of advisors as of the second quarter dropped 2% from March 30 and 6% from last year.
"The name change was not unexpected," said Danny Sarch, president of the recruiting group Leitner Sarch Consultants (which works with several key rivals of Morgan Stanley), in an interview. "Finally, we have the culmination of what was not a joint venture, but a takeover."
Others see it a bit more positively. "It's a smart branding move for Morgan Stanley," said Chip Roame, managing partner of Tiburon Strategic Advisors (which lists Citigroup as a client), in an interview.
"They spend so much on advertising. It's smart to leave no consumer confusion between the MS brand used by all its businesses and the MSSB brand," Roame explained.
Both experts agree that name changes are just part of the game plan when two firms come together. But they are more divided on how the overall integration and leadership of the combined firm is doing—and where it is headed.
While others have been critical of Morgan Stanley, Roame says he's "more generous." In fact, the consultant gives it a "B" on the integration. "Integrations are never easy, especially of two prideful firms who thought they individually were doing things correct," he said. "There are always naysayers, but I think this has been a smart two-step integration."
For Sarch, Gorman's leadership style, decision-making and other methods as head of Morgan Stanley have differed from what they were when he led Merrill Lynch. Technology is one example.
"In terms of the tech changes, publicly Morgan Stanley says they are all wonderful and nothing unexpected has happened. But privately, they've told brokers, 'We will do better,' and they keep coming out with fixes, so that indicates the real story," he said.
"Going forward, I believe ultimately, they will fix the technology," he continued. "But, as we've seen with this matter, those at the top of the organization believe in a certain way of managing, which is top down, away from the field, a McKinseyian approach."
Roame—formerly of McKinsey & Co., the giant management consultancy—maintains Gorman and the management team are moving the firm in the right direction. "I think Morgan Stanley is led by a savvy, strategic guy in Gorman," he said.
"I am impressed by this move to acquire Smith Barney," Roame noted. "I have read some comments by Greg Fleming on how he sees the business. I am impressed."•


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Kensington has launched a system called Proximo that it promises will alert people when items like keys and iPhones are lost or stolen.
The Proximo kit consists of an iPhone app, a key fob for a keychain, and a third device to track something else like a backpack or car, the company announced at CES. If the items get too far apart -- people can specify the exact distances, which are measured wirelessly using BlueTooth -- they sound an alarm.
The fobs and app each come with buttons that triggers an audible alarm from a paired device to help locate it. And the app offers a map for GPS-based tracking for devices that are out of range.
The kit costs $60, and additional $25 tags can be purchased to track up to five devices with the app.
Also at CES, Kensington announced a few other accessories:
The $50 TriFold Folio iPad case for fourth-generation iPads, with a protective shell back and a three-fold front cover that can serve as a stand.
The $35 PowerBolt 4.2 Dual Fast Charge car charger with dual 2.1-watt USB charging ports and two detachable older-style iPhone charging cables. Those with iOS devices using the newer Lightning port will have to use their own cables.
The $30 PowerBolt 2.1 Fast Charge car charger with a single attached Lightning cable.
The $90 Contour Overnight backpack that features a laptop compartment that can be unzipped and laid flat for easier trips through airport security. It's got a larger capacity than earlier models of the company's Contour backpack models.


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While I'll usually refrain from posting about specific sites and problems, this is already made public thanks to Google Webmaster Central. Since JCPenny was getting some flack from Google and the web this last week, it looks like other Fortune 500's are being treated equally. While a site like Forbes.com does have what to appear to be paid links, they're always quite on target. Despite that, they're followed links and it seems that the new "unnatural links" message was warranted. I applaud their marketing manager for addressing it, but I don't think he has any other option as this is Google's only support line!
This Google Webmaster Help thread got a response from even Matt Cutts himself, which makes total sense when a big name like this asks. The thread covers a lot of interesting ground, and shows you that even the big fish have to clean up things from time to time. While they'll most likely just have certain pages devalued, a site with this many links and that much trust won't fall too hard. But having the paid links in question under "Resources" is also bringing more bad attention than good.
Matt Cutts even calls out Conductor Inc in the thread as they've been known to sell links via such authoritative sites as Forbes…but again that's all speculation. Regardless, a few nofollow's appended to those resources and all would be cleared according to Matt. If you watched this video I posted the other day from Matt, we can see if it auto fixes itself. By the looks of Forbes Alexa ranking, they may already be feeling the sting of the Googlebot.
Let's hear your thoughts!


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Serena tops Azarenka for fourth U.S. Open championship
NEW YORK (AP) -- Given all of the setbacks Serena Williams shrugged aside over the years - on tennis courts and, more daunting, away from them - she probably shouldn't have been worried when she stood two points from losing the U.S. Open final.
And yet, she explained afterward, "I really was preparing my runner-up speech."
No need for that. When the going gets toughest, Williams tends to shine.
Finally tested, and even trailing, at Flushing Meadows, Williams suddenly found her composure and her strokes, winning the last four games for a 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 victory over top-ranked Victoria Azarenka on Sunday night, collecting a fourth U.S. Open championship and 15th Grand Slam title overall.
"I never give up. I never, never quit," Williams said after the first three-set U.S. Open women's final since 1995. "I have come back so many times in so many matches."
In other ways, too.
She missed eight months after having surgery on her left knee in 2003, the year she had completed a self-styled "Serena Slam" by winning four consecutive major titles. Of more concern: Only a few days after winning Wimbledon in 2010, Williams cut both feet on broken glass while leaving a restaurant in Germany, leading to two operations on her right foot. Then she got clots in her lungs and needed to inject herself with a blood thinner. Those shots led to a pool of blood gathering under her stomach's skin, requiring another procedure in the hospital.
In all, she was off the tour for about 10 months, returning in 2011.
"She was so disgusted at home. She felt like she was useless. That's the way it is with athletes, I guess. She couldn't sit still," said Williams' mother, Oracene Price. "She was getting depressed. A lot to overcome."
Talk about making up for lost time.
Take a look at what Williams has done lately. Back on May 29, she lost to a woman ranked 111th at the French Open, the American's only first-round exit in 49 career Grand Slam tournaments.
"I was miserable after that loss in Paris. I have never been so miserable after a loss," Williams said. "I pulled it together. ... Sometimes, they say, it's good to lose."
Certainly in her case.
Since then, Williams is 26-1, including titles at Wimbledon, the London Olympics and the U.S. Open.
"She's definitely the toughest player, mentally, there is," said Azarenka, who managed only 13 winners, 31 fewer than Williams. "And she's got the power."
Forget what the rankings say. Williams, who was seeded fourth, is dominating the game right now. And she's been dominant, off and on, for more than a decade.
She won her first major title age 17 at the 1999 U.S. Open. Winning titles 13 years apart at the same Grand Slam tournament represents the longest span of success in the professional era, which began in 1968. Martina Navratilova (Wimbledon, 1978 and 1990) and Chris Evert (French Open, 1974 and 1986) had the longest previous spans of 12 years.
"Yeah, three decades - the `90s, 2000s, 2010s," said Williams, who turns 31 on Sept. 26. "That's kind of cool."
She is the first woman in her 30s to win the U.S. Open since Navratilova in 1987.
Williams also showed a more mature side Sunday, avoiding the sort of flare-ups at officials that got her in trouble during her last two trips to the U.S. Open.
"This is the first year ... in a long time," Williams said, "I haven't lost my cool."
In the 2009 semifinals, Williams was angered by a foot-fault call that resulted in a double-fault, setting up match point for her opponent, Kim Clijsters. Williams launched into a racket-brandishing tirade that resulted in a fine and a Grand Slam probation. While losing to Sam Stosur in last year's final, Williams berated the chair umpire after being docked a point for making noise during a rally.
This time, there was a foot-fault call, too. Williams didn't react at all immediately, finished off that game, then stared down the linesman as she walked to the sideline at the ensuing changeover. He chuckled a bit.
"I'm just happy that she got through this one without any incident and was able to try to forget all that in the past," Price said. "Because I think that was a lot in her mind."
Actually, by then, Williams had bigger problems to worry about.
She double-faulted to get broken in second set's opening game, and got broken again to fall behind 4-1 in a game that featured Azarenka sliding into a running forehand winner and nearly doing a full splits. Even Williams applauded that one.
But when the game ended, Williams slapped her racket against her changeover chair.
That set was the first Williams had lost all tournament; she'd only dropped a total of 19 games through her first six matches.
While Azarenka, a 23-year-old from Belarus, doesn't have the name recognition or bona fides of Williams, she did win the Australian Open in January, and was 32-2 (a .941 winning percentage) on hard courts in 2012. She also hadn't dropped a three-setter all season until Sunday, going 12-0 in matches that went the distance, including victories over defending champion Stosur in the quarterfinals and 2006 winner Maria Sharapova in the semifinals.
As Sunday's deciding set commenced, Price told her daughter from the stands, "Settle down."
Didn't happen right away.
"Well, she's a human being, you know, who has two feet, two legs, two hands," Azarenka said. "It's understandable."
When Williams double-faulted, slapped a bad backhand into the net and pushed a forehand long, Azarenka broke at love for a 4-3 edge, then followed that up by holding for 5-3.
One game from the championship.
Azarenka was within two points of victory at 30-all in the next game, on Williams' serve, but couldn't convert. When Azarenka served for the victory at 5-4, she showed the jitters that probably are understandable given that this was only her second career Grand Slam final, 17 fewer than Williams.
Azarenka made three errors in that game, including a forehand into the net that let Williams break her to 5-all. Williams kept whatever excitement she might have felt contained, face straight as possible, while her older sister, seven-time major champion Venus, smiled and clapped in the stands.
That was during a key stretch in which Williams took 10 of 12 points to go ahead 6-5. She then broke again to win, dropping onto her back on the court when Azarenka sent a backhand long to end it.
"Feels like there is no room for a mistake," is the way Azarenka described trying to deal with Williams' game. "There is no room for a wrong decision."
Azarenka, now 1-10 against Williams, slumped in her changeover chair, a white towel covering her head. Williams, meanwhile, kept saying, "Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" while scurrying over to share the joy with her mother and big sister.
"Being so close, it hurts deeply," Azarenka said. "To know you don't have it. You're close; you didn't get it."
After her first-round loss at Roland Garros, Williams went back to work, getting help from Patrick Mouratoglou, a coach who runs a tennis academy in France. She's 14-0 in Grand Slam matches since then; the Wimbledon trophy ended a two-year drought without a major title.
Mouratoglou came to New York with Williams, and he noticed the way she set aside her mid-match struggles.
"Players usually completely lose their confidence and they can't get all of their tennis back. But she got all her tennis back. Like nothing happened," he said. "This is what was most impressive. She's not like the other players."
It's the fourth time in five years that the women's final was pushed from Saturday to Sunday because of bad weather - Novak Djokovic faces Andy Murray in the fifth consecutive Monday men's final - and when play began, Williams was good as can be, compiling a 16-2 advantage in winners through the first set.
She pounded big serves - she finished with 13 aces, at up to 125 mph - and big returns; smacked forehands and backhands out of Azarenka's reach; even tossed in a terrific backhand lob to break for a 2-0 lead at the outset.
But her unforced errors really started arriving in waves in the second set, then kept coming in the third, and Williams ended up with 45 in all, 17 more than Azarenka.
Deep in the match, with everything at stake and the finish so near, Williams was the one who was steadier.
No one should be surprised by that.
She is the first woman to win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in the same season since 2002, when - yes, that's right - Williams did it.
Now she will set her sights on raising her Grand Slam title total to 18, the number Navratilova and Evert each won, tied for fourth-most behind Margaret Court at 24.
"I haven't thought about them until recently. I never thought I would even come close to breaking those records," Williams said. "If I could win two a year, it would be great. We'll see."


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Old Dominion to Host George Washington and Rutgers This Weekend
By ODU Athletics
Nov. 30, 2012
NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion University men's swimming team and women's swimming/diving team will return to action on Dec. 1 at the J.C. "Scrap" Chandler Pool located in the Student Recreation Center. Monarch swimmers will host George Washington; while the Lady Monarchs are set to compete against George Washington as well as the Rutgers' swimming and diving team.
The last time ODU was in the water was Nov. 16-18 at the Nike Cup in Chapel Hill, N.C. Old Dominion set all types of records (see here) in the three day tournament.
The Monarchs (2-1) got strong performances from Sidni Hoxha, Bernardo Figueredo and Jason Haigh among many others. Hoxha set a new all-time CAA record in the 100 yard freestyle (43.43).
Kimberley Rashleigh, Yesim Giresunlu and Jessica Hubert all won final events in day three of the Nike Cup for the Lady Monarchs (4-1).
The Lady Monarch divers will compete against Rutgers starting at 10 am on Saturday. Men's and women's swimming will begin at 1 pm.
This will be the last event for Old Dominion until Jan. 12 when ODU will take on UMBC in Baltimore, Md.


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The nation's longest-running community science bird project fuels Audubon's work throughout the year.
Photo: Camilla Cerea/Audubon
Everything you need to know to run your Christmas Bird Count circle
A collection of reports and summaries
You can add to a century of community science by signing up for a count near you.
Hundreds of studies by scientists around the world have put CBC data to use
How the count started, and how the data is used today.
Peruse the printed records of past Christmas Bird Count or find a full bibliography for American Birds and Bird Lore.


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HBO has cast "The Kids Are All Right" star to play Sarah Palin in "Game Change," a film adaption based of the 2010 bestselling political tome, People reported.
"Game Change," which charts the 2008 presidential campaign, was penned by New York magazine writer John Heilemann and Time magazine's Mark Halperin.
U.S. & World
Its small screen version was written by Danny Strong, who also did the script for HBO's 2000 election film, "Recount," The Washington Post reported. "Recount" director Jay Roach has also signed on for the new project, according to the paper.
HBO has yet to decide on who will play Barack Obama or John McCain, People reported.
It's not the first time the former Alaska governor has been portrayed on TV.
During Palin's vice presidential campaign, comedian Tina Fey famously lampooned her on "SNL." Palin later dropped by the NBC sketch comedy show, coming face to face with her doppelgänger.
Selected Reading: People, Wasington Post, IMDB