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|Checkbook's Top Rating
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Pests company treats:
- Ants
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- Cockroaches
- Other wildlife trapping
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Exterminators Articles
How to Find a Good Exterminator
If you have a problem you can't handle on your own, many pest control services will happily step in. For help with your critter control, our ratings provide you with information on the quality of service and prices offered by local outfits.
How to Get Rid of Cockroaches
The best way to avoid and get rid of cucarachas is good sanitation. You can also eliminate access to your kitchen and other likely infestation sites by applying caulk to seal cracks and other entry points.
How to Get Rid of Termites
While an invasion of roaches or other bugs is unpleasant, termites can actually wreck the joint. Fortunately, the damage they cause spreads slowly, and you usually have lots of time to react before they do grave damage.
How to Get Rid of Mice and Rats
Start by eliminating places for them to live and sources of food. Seal off access to food and place garbage in sturdy, tight containers. Close off all openings to your home more than 1/4 inch in size.
How to Get Rid of Ants
You can control most household ants fairly easily without paying an exterminator.
How to Get Rid of Bedbugs
As they are incredibly resilient and can become resistant to pesticides, bedbugs are notoriously difficult to control.
How to Get Rid of Fleas
You should be able to control most flea problems without bringing in a pro. If you do hire one, a single visit should do the trick.
How to Get Rid of Pantry Moths
Pantry moths are not dangerous, but they are a nuisance and hard to eliminate.
How to Get Rid of Carpenter Bees
These large bees look alarming, but they are valuable pollinators and pose no threat to humans.
How to Get Rid of Mosquitoes
With talk of West Nile Virus and the introduction of new species into many areas of the U.S., mosquitoes have been on our minds.
Minimizing Pesticide Risks
Most pests can be controlled by improving sanitation and blocking off access points. If you must use pesticides, read all warning labels and do what you can to minimize risks of exposure.
Do Effective 'Natural' Pest Control Remedies Exist?
As you shop for a pest control service, you'll likely run across a number of companies that claim to practice green or natural pest control. Does such a thing exist? If so, does it work?


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Bolstered by its estimable legacy, the fact that it's summer and there's not much else on, and the intrigue of octogenarian shower scenes, TNT's Dallas: Southfork Nights debuted to relatively big ratings, drawing 6.9 million viewers across both parts of its premiere. Of course, despite the promise of the Jesse Metcalfe that kids crave, most of that audience skewed decidedly older—old enough even to remember the original Dallas, probably, considering most of them were in the demographically undesirable 55-and-over crowd. And thus, advertisers were probably all like, "WELL, WHAT'S THE POINT? WE MIGHT AS WELL BE RUNNING COMMERCIALS FOR TAB AND RACISM." Nevertheless, it was still enough to make Dallas the year's highest-rated scripted series premiere on cable so far, even besting the recent return of Rizzoli And Isles. That's right: It's pulling those fat Rizzoli And Isles numbers. You've been out-Rizzoli And Isle-d, Rizzoli And Isles.
More from The A.V. Club

subset: commoncrawl


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Old Memory on the Prairie
* Story Behind the Image *
Wooden grain elevators are part of the heritage of living on the prairies. In Alberta, Canada, these prairie sentinels are vanishing which is sad because they connect me to my childhood and memories of growing up on the Canadian prairies. Since I used to love trains as well, this series of images actually started off as a personal project. I was moved when my customers started to connect with these images too......
This elevator is one of my favourites. The unique color, its extreme weathered appearance and the vast prairies surrounding it really inspired me that afternoon...
* Print details *
My prints are professionally printed on archival Kodak paper.
Want the print matted? Click here.
* Canvas Details *
My canvas prints are printed on a polyester/flax blended canvas with giclee inks. They are finished with a polyurethane satin-finish varnish. They are mounted on a half inch wooden frame. Each print is signed by me.
*Gallery Wrapped Canvas Details*
These prints are also printed on polyester/flax blended canvas with giclee inks and finished with a polyurethane satin varnish. But In addition to being signed, my gallery wrapped canvas prints are limited numbered editions in a 99 print run that are available in print sizes 16x24 and up. Please enquire if you are wondering which number your print will be. They are mounted on thick 2" wooden frames for maximum viewing enjoyment.
* Additional Details *
All watermarks will be removed from your print! :)
Everybody's computer monitor is different, therefore due to individual computer screen calibration the color, brightness and sharpness on your print may not look exactly like what you see on your computer screen. My monitor is calibrated with my photo lab which means your print will turn out as I had artistically intended.
Please allow 1-2 weeks for order processing.


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7PHP.com has posted another interview with a PHP community member - this time it's Patrick Allaert, the creator of the Alternative PHP Monitor project (a monitoring extension for PHP, collects error events and store them in a local SQLite database).
In this edition I talked with [Patrick Allaert @patrick_allaert], the creator and lead developer of the Alternative PHP Monitor extension. Patrick is also an eZ Publish expert where he is currently a Third line support engineer prior to being their System developer back in 2010. He is an Open Source lover and is a prominent Board member at the famous and amazing PHP group named PHPBenelux.
Patrick answers questions about his history as a developer, what kind of environment he likes to work in, his opinions on PHP and some of the best resources he'd recommend for people learning the language. He also talks some about the APM project - what it does, how it can be used and what some of his future plans are for the tool.


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Party Recap
Since my niece was a summer baby we decided to go all out with a super fun preppy whale theme using the colors navy and pink, getting inspiration from Vineyard Vines. The party was a small with just family and friends. The birthday girl truly had a blast!
We set up a small dessert table with the cutest whale and beach ball looking cake pops from KC Pop Art & Parties. They even made and supplied the cake pop holder, which was a white wooden box with painted hot pink stripes. They then cut out heavy pieces of cardstock to create waves. The cake pops were the center of our table AND absolutely delish!!! And extras we had we displayed in mason jars as accent pieces to our table. Since there were a few small kids there, we made mini fruit skewers with blueberries and strawberries (sticking to the pink and navy color scheme). We also served cupcakes to all the guests with printables designed by Party On! Designs. The birthday girl even had her very own smash cake that we actually purchased at our local grocery store and had them place a ribbon border around. We topped it with a mini flag pennant and had Party On! Designs create a matching birthday hat. I (Michele of Sweet Threads Clothing Co) made a matching bib for the birthday girl to wear. She LOVED her cake!!!
As a backdrop to our dessert table, we took pieces of hot and light pink crepe paper that we cut all the same length and pinned them to a ribbon we strung to the top of a white beadboard. We then hung a birthday banner across it. It was super cute and added an additional pop of color. To finish off the table we added some pink flowers we cut from our garden in white blume boxes we wrapped with navy robe.
Each of the party guests left with a sand bucket we filled with bubbles, goldfish snacks and a custom made sippy cup from I Have A Favor.
The birthday girls shirt was made by Sweet Threads Clothing Co and Birdie Baby Boutique made to match the most adorable headband. Danbury Lane created a tutu in navy and hot pink to complete the outfit. She looked adorable on her first birthday!!
Party Highlights
Best Moment
When the birthday girl ate her smash cake!
cupcakes, cake pops
Party Favors
sand buckets filled with sippy cups, bubbles and goldfish snacks
What People Ate
vanilla cupcakes, whale cake pops, fruit skewers, hot dogs, salad
What People Drank
pink lemonade
Party Helpers
Party On! Designs
Party On! Designs
I Have A Favor
Party Favors
KC Pop Art & Parties
Cake Pops
Sweet Threads Clothing Co
Birthday Girl Shirt
Birdie Baby Boutique
Hair Accessory
Danbury Lane
Michele Brown, Sweet Threads Clothing Co
Party Styling
1 comment
Kc B wrote:
amazing!!!!!!!! Love every bit! I will use your ideas to create my daughters 11th birthday!! PS: I have a store names The Preppy Redneck my logo is a camo whale. LOVE anything whale. https://www.facebook.com/ThePreppyRedneck?ref=hl
To leave a comment Log in -or- Join the party


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Researching the Genealogy and Family History of Orphan Heirlooms
Search our archive for Bibles, autograph albums, IDed photos, documents, correspondence, and other treasures from the past that may relate to your family or area. This project is ongoing, so please visit often.
Many items are available for purchase.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Class of 1917 Concord HS, Concord, New Hamphire: Graduation Photographs of Three Students
Three photographs of 1917 graduates of Concord High School, Concord, New Hampshire. They are all in protective covers; two were produced by the Kimball studio and one by the Harvey studio, both of Concord, New Hampshire.
In alphabetical order, the graduates are:
Russell Cushing
Lucy Donovan
Charlotte Seaver
If you have family history to share on any of the three graduates below, please leave a comment or contact me directly.
1) Russell Cushing [the handwriting is very faint, but I believe I have the name correct]
The ID image above was tweaked but it's still very hard to decipher. What looks like the cross of a "t" after the "h" is disconcerting, but it may be an irrelevant mark - or not...
I found a birth record for Russell Emery Cushing, who was born 18 April 1899 at Concord, New Hampshire, the son of George R. and Hattie S. (Emery) Cushing.
I found another Russell Cushing born at Lochmere, New Hampshire about 1899, the son of George and Alice (Baker) Cushing.
If you have knowledge of another Russell Cushing or another student in the Class of 1917 at Concord High School with a name that could be deciphered from the ID above, please leave a comment or contact me directly. Thanks!
2) Lucy Donovan
Could this Lucy Donovan be the daughter of Michael and Elizabeth (Bland) Donovan? If so, she was born Lucy Bland Donovan on 22 August 1900 at Concord, New Hampshire. She married Harry G. Owen in 1933, also at Concord, New Hampshire.
3) Charlotte Seaver
There's a Charlotte Seaver of about the right age living at Keene, New Hampshire, in the 1900-1920 Censuses, daughter of Eugene and Margaret. It's possible she was not a graduate of Concord High School, but rather of Keene, High School, and traveled to Concord to have her graduation portrait done. Or perhaps the family, or just Charlotte, lived at Concord for a year or more.
The photograph was found with in a collection of Concord High School graduation photographs, but I can't assume that Charlotte Seaver graduated from there.
If you know of another Charlotte Seaver, from the Concord, New Hampshire area, please leave a message or contact me directly.
View Larger Map
Thanks for stopping by!
2 comments:
There were some Cushings in Newburyport, a rather famous family. I don't know if there is any relation. I love those rounded collars of the day. Handsome young men. Great post!ReplyDelete
Thanks for taking the time to leave your comment! Lemuel Cushing wrote a book (on Google books) about the Genealogy of the Cushing family - up to 1877 anyway. http://books.google.com/books?id=0XTlb5pBsXsC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false. This was before Russell's time, but his grandfather is probably in there.ReplyDelete


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Welcome to Geograph Ireland
The Geograph project aims to collect geographically representative photographs and information for every square kilometre of Ireland, and you can be part of it.
Getting started...
- browse images on a map
- upload your own pictures
- search images taken by other members
- discuss the site on our forums
Exploring in more depth...
- view statistics of images submitted
- explore geograph images
- view some themed galleries
- view the full list of images
Interacting with other software...
What is Geographing?
- It's a game - how many grid squares will you contribute?
- It's a geography project for the people
- It's a national photography project
- It's a good excuse to get out more!
- It's a free and open online community project for all
How do I get started?
Registration is free so come and join us and see how many grid squares you can claim first! Read the FAQ, then get submitting - we hope you'll enjoy being a part of this great project
We are still developing geograph.ie, and tailoring it to the Geograph Ireland project.
While we make the transition, this beta site may show some pages with elements a little out of kilter, but we still welcome any feedback.
· Geograph on: Twitter, Facebook
Recently completed hectads: J44, J02, J27, W76, J08, more...
27,222 photographed squares with fewer than 4 photos, add yours now!


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« go back
Regulation of Combination Products and Other Technologies in the EU
The course will provide delegates with a sound understanding of the regulations applying to a range of medical technology products including drug-device combinations, in vitro diagnostics and advanced therapy products (especially tissue engineered products).
Delegates will learn to determine which regulatory framework applies and understand the principles of bringing products to market under the different frameworks.
The module will focus upon European requirements and will emphasize the requirements for 'borderline' products, especially drug-device combinations.
Date and time
- Start Date :
- 11/12/12
- End Date:
- 13/12/12
- Duration :
- 09:00 17:00 (Time Zone Sensitive)
- Type :
- Training


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Biology Facilities
The Bioscience building is well equipped for teaching and research with facilities and instrumentation including:
A state-of the art greenhouse facility with lighting, temperature and humidity control. There are separate sections for teaching and research.
Light microscopy facility
A core light microscopy facility, with several DIC and fluorescence microscopes, a confocal laser scanning microscope, and a dedicated specimen preparation laboratory. Adjacent to it is a 16-seat teaching lab in which every microscope has a digital camera and computer display. This classroom can be reserved for use by any class group.
An environmentally-controlled herbarium, which is open, by appointment, to anyone who wishes to use it. JMU Biology students participate in the collection and preservation of plant specimens for the herbarium.
Equipment rooms
Multiple shared equipment rooms containing, for example, an Illumina MiniSeq DNA sequencer, two Oxford Nanopore Minion DNA Sequencers, an Ion Torrent PGM DNA sequencer, multiple real-time thermal cyclers and standard thermal cyclers, gel documentation equipment, plate readers, spectrophotometers, centrifuges, incubators, -80°C freezers, autoclaves and fume hoods.


text: ISAAC, ON STAGE: Isaac Mizrahi let it all hang out Thursday night at the West Bank Cafe on 42nd Street, where he opened his cabaret act called "Ask Isaac." Anybody wondering whether Mizrahi's stints at Target or QVC were just stepping stones to the nightclub circuit need not worry. But aside from a few bumps into the music stands and fidgeting in a tight black jacket, Mizrahi kept his cool, had fun performing, and even hit the high notes without over-reaching. He sang a medley of popular tunes ranging from "C'est Si Bon" to "I Believe in You" and kept in his zone, which involved a lot of bantering back and forth with the audience, and the band — "Would you believe they're all straight?" Mizrahi philosophized on his favorite things — Xanax and physical therapy which he didn't expect a regular diet of at his age. "I recently turned 50," Mizrahi said. "More recently, I turned 51." Getting married, he said, was like having kids or enlisting — it never really occurred to him. He recently tied the knot anyway. "I wanted to fit into a demographic," Mizrahi said. Asked what he thought the biggest fashion faux pas would be, he said simply, lip-liner.


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Grand Theft Auto III Summary
Latest Updates
BBC begin shooting 'Gamechanger' film in April, Daniel Radcliffe reportedly cast as Rockstar Games' Sam Houser
Rockstar Games is set to become a TV movie star as the BBC will begin shooting on April 20th for 'Gamechanger', which explores the rollercoaster ride that is game development at the Grand Theft Auto developer.
It's believed Daniel Radcliffe will be playing co-founder and president Sam Houser. The film explores the crazy times for the studio, of which there have been many and includes Florida ambulance-chaser, Jack Thompson.
Rockstar create Spotify and iTunes playlists for GTA radio stations
Fancy a blast of nostalgia in the ears? Rockstar Games has gone ahead and "compiled the official set of playlists" for the Grand Theft Auto series, including Chinatown Wars. Some tracks are missing however.
Only music already available via the two services are included in the playlists, but Rockstar hope to "add the original songs" created for the games. Only want to listen to the commercials?
Rockstar muses on "one big world containing all" GTA cities
Producer Leslie Benzies of Rockstar Games dreams of a video game world where all their iconic spoof-heavy cities were happily connected to one another in a single Grand Theft Auto title.
It's an ambitious goal to be sure given the breadth of scope Rockstar pour into their GTA universes. In the context of this 'super GTA' - reimagining Vice City "would be very interesting."
Original Grand Theft Auto outcry designed to "keep the profile high"
PR dark sorcerer Max Clifford was behind all the effigy burnings and parents screaming 'think of the children!' when the original Grand Theft Auto was coming to market, say creators David Jones and Mike Dailly.
Clifford "made it all happen" to keep Grand Theft Auto in the public eye and explode in sales when it released. DMA Design devs admit "every word he said came true" about its reception.
GTA 3 US PSN release confirmed for this week
The official US PlayStation.Blog has confirmed the digital release of Grand Theft Auto 3 will be jacking the network this week, as it arrives under the 'PlayStation 2 Classic' category.
It's been a long time coming as the digital release of GTA 3 was said to be suffering licensing woes over its music, but that's all cleared up now. No EU PlayStation Store date yet.


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WP7 Based HTC 7 Trophy Hits the GCF, Destined For Europe and Asia
Posted by Unknown Labels: asia, europe, GCF, HTC, htc trophy, microsoft, windows phone 7
HTC Trophy would be a WP7 device so that wouldn't be surprising. Specs are unknown right now but it does feature quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE / dual-band UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (900/2100 MHz) connectivity. This means that this model that has gotten approval would be compatible for Europe and Asia but not for North America. By the way, it could look like something you see below - courtesy of Slash Gear.
The Unwired]
The Unwired]
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Recently attended a town-hall on the operational risk, the topics shared by the host was not new but it was all about awareness in the organisation. Lot of people asked why rogue traders still exist. But, that seems as if it's an easy one to answer. Fool-proof risk management doesn't exist and never will. At, least it won't while the rogue traders are being covered by rogue managers.
You see, the definitions at the beginning had one thing wrong. They are definitions of solitary, lone-wolves. But, even lone-wolves belong to a group. They just prefer to avoid the assistance of others in certain matters. The rogue trader's pack is the howling, fierce management for which he works. Lone-wolves always have alpha members they take orders from, don't they? Lone-wolves are sometimes excluded from the pack to protect that alpha-male, thus preventing 'in-breeding' in the pack. It's exactly the same in the trading world of finance. The rogue trader is excluded from the pack, forced to work alone, shunned so that if caught, there will be no 'inter-breeding'. The alpha-male manager won't be caught and be brought down if the rogue falls!
So, who are the rogue traders that have experienced all of this? Here's a small sample (the ones we know of!).
1. John Rusnak
The guy that brought down the Allfirst Bank and incurred losses of $69.2 million,
He was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison on January 17th 2003 for hiding the losses that he incurred as a currency trader. He hid the losses for a year. He is now under confinement at his home (since January 2009, meaning that he served almost six years for his rogue trading).
He was ordered to pay back $1, 000 per month after his release from prison and despite the fact that he remains in debt to the full sum of $691.2 million he will probably never be able to pay it back. How did it all happen?
Allfirst Bank wished to make its forex operations go from just hedging to bringing in a yield of profits and thus increase the total profits of the bank.
John Rusnak was hired to do this.
Rusnak was bullish on the Yen. He believed that the Yen would not fall any more after the bursting of the Japanese bubble. He believed that the Yen would rise against the Dollar.
He neglected to hedge his forward contracts believing that the Yen could not fail to rise.
With the onset of the Asian crisis, the Yen fell.
He thus entered false options into the systems to make it seem as if the positions were hedged. He also asked for more money from high brokerage accounts in order to try to win back the money that he had already lost.
The management granted this to him and he invested even more money.
Rusnak made a personal gain of $550, 000 in bonuses plus his salary.
The losses only came to light when the bank asked for capital to be released and they realized that Rusnak had been working in the red all the time.
Rusnak was fired from his position and along with him he brought down 6 senior executives for failing to detect the scam.
2. Toshihide Iguchi
The guy that brought down the Daiwa Bank of Japan and incurred losses of $1.1 billion.
Iguchi was a government bond trader in Japan who made 300, 000 unauthorized trades between 1983 and 1995. As early as 1983 he in fact lost $70, 000 but concealed this from his management for fear of losing his job. He wrote a thirty-page letter to his boss in 1995 explaining that the losses had just got bigger and bigger and that he was unable to do anything to rectify the situation. It seems strange however that for 12 years Iguchi was able to carry on regardless without any control or surveillance from anyone.
Iguchi wrote three books when he was released from prison: The Dollar Conspiracy, My Billion Dollar Education and Confessions. But, he spent four years in prison and his $2.6 million in debts were eaten up by the royalties. He went back to live in Kobe, Japan. He started an English-language school there.
3. Nick Leeson
The guy that brought down Barings Bank and incurred losses of $1.3 billion.
Nick Leeson was a derivatives broker at Barings Bank (the oldest investment bank in the UK). The bank had been founded in 1762 and ceased to operate in 1995, when the Leeson scandal broke.
Leeson was appointed general manager (futures markets) on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange in 1992. One interesting thing is that Leeson had already been refused a broker's license in the UK due to reasons of fraud in his application. He obtained one in Singapore, however.
Leeson was earning £50, 000 a year in 1992 and bonuses exceeded double that sum: £130, 000. He was undertaking unauthorized speculation on behalf of Barings, netting profits for the bank of up to £10 million (which was about 10% of their annual income). When things took a downturn he used an error account to try to rectify the losses. The account was the infamous number 88888. The account was used to hide his bad debts. The losses were easy to hide since Leeson was working on his own and had no control from anyone.
Losses in 1992 stood at £2 million.
By 1994 they were at £208 million.
Leeson placed a short straddle (a strategy that means that he sold a put and a call at the same time).
Losses neared £827 million or $1.3 billion by 1995, when Leeson jumped ship leaving a little note just saying"I'm sorry". The bank was declared bankrupt in February 1995. It was sold for a token £1 to the ING banking group.
4. Kweku Adoboli
The guy that brought down UBS and incurred losses of $2.3 billion.
This guy is the most recent rogue trader to date, but only the second highest in terms of loss and debts incurred. He was a trader at the Swiss UBS bank and was charged on September 16th 2011 with fraud and false accounting. He was found guilty on 20th November 2012 and was sentenced to seven years in prison. On March 1st 2013, Adoboli appealed against the sentence. Adoboli's salary and bonuses combined stood at £360, 000 before his arrest.
Adoboli admitted during the trial that:
He was trading in excess of limits.
He was booking fake trades to hide behind.
But, he also stated that this was in line with recommendations of the bank.
He said that his colleagues knew of his hidden account and that his managers were aware of the losses and had pushed him to make sure that he recouped on them (all five of them were fired immediately).
UBS was fined, however, the sum of £30 million when the City of London financial regulators (Financial Services Authority) decided that "UBS's systems and controls were seriously defective. Failures of this type in firms of the size and standing of UBS not only damage the firms concerned but also wider confidence in the integrity of the markets and the financial system."
5. Jérôme Kerviel
The guy that brought down Société Générale, and incurred losses of $6 billion.
Keviel was a French trader. He was accused of breach of trust, forgery and unauthorized use of IT systems. He was earning bonuses of €60,000 along with a €74,000-salary (2006), which quite honestly is relatively little in the financial world.
The bank that brought the case against Kerviel states that he was working without the authorization of his superiors and the bank had no knowledge of this whatsoever. He began creating fake trades as from 2006 (and he started working for the Société Générale in 2000).
He is accused of having traded at levels that exceeded the market capitalization of the bank. It certainly begs the question as to how it would be possible to trade at over the market capitalization of the bank without anyone at the bank actually finding out. Was he the scapegoat or the rogue trader of the SG?
Apparently hundred and thousands of trades were carried out by Kerviel, hidden behind false hedge trades.
Kerviel was charged on January 28th 2008 and his trial began on June 8th 2010. His sentence has been suspended while appeals are made.


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Postage and packaging
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Item location: Southampton, United Kingdom
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Showing 1–24 of 38 results
At Sarah Burns Patterns we believe in using natural processes that are kind to the environment and reflect the beauty of nature and the world around us.
We use natural dyes, water based inks and 100 percent natural linen. Sarah Burns Patterns believe that we should only have things in our home, which are kind and beautiful to us and to the planet.


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US envoy to visit NE Asia to discuss NKorea
The top U.S. envoy for North Korea policy will travel to South Korea, China and Japan next week.
The State Department offered few details about Glyn Davies' trip, other than that he will meet with his counterparts and senior officials of each government to discuss North Korea.
His trip starts on Monday in Seoul. He then travels to Beijing and Tokyo.
It comes as months of high tension following a North Korean nuclear test are easing and relations between the two Koreas are improving.
But there's little sign of a thaw between Washington and Pyongyang (pyuhng-yahng).
A U.S. human rights envoy was due to visit Pyongyang last week to seek the release of a detained American, but North Korea called the trip off because of U.S.-South Korea military drills.


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Seal Strength and Peel Testing of Packaging
Paper coatings, plastic films and foils are examples of some of the many materials used as lidding mechanisms for packaging applications in a variety of industries. Barrier properties, seal strength, peel strength, and shelf life as well as many other characteristics are affected by the materials used as sealing lids. The amount of force required to open a lid (seal strength) is extremely important for end-use usability and for product security.
A manufacturer of food trays was interested in measuring the seal strength of their products for many of the reasons mentioned above, and asked us for a testing configuration recommendation. Using an Instron electromechanical test frame, a 180 degree peel test was conducted to measure the initial peel strength. We used an Instron model 3345 single column test frame configured with a 500N load cell and 1kN side acting pneumatic grips to perform testing on both full trays and on one inch wide cut strips to attain repeatable results. The initial peel strength was measured by peeling the lid back from the corner of the part by gripping onto the removal tabs. In order to be able to fit the specimen between the grips with minimum grip contact, the grip faces were attached vertically. The test was run at a crosshead speed of 200 mm/min until the lid was completely removed.
5900 Series Premier Testing Systems Brochure
5900 Universal Testing Systems are engineered for precision, built for durability, and offer the flexibility for changing requirements. They are designed with standard and optional features that increase testing efficiency and improve the testing experience for the operator. A wide range of models are available for testing capacities from < 100N up to 600kN.
- Produtos
- 1/22/2019
3300 Series - Affordable Testing Solutions
Instron 3300 Series Universal Testing Systems for Tensile, Compression, Bend, and other material property tests.
- Produtos
- 6/19/2017
2710-100 Series Screw Side-Action Grips
Screw side-action grips provide a very simple and efficient method for holding test specimens in a wide range of applications. The dual - acting design of 2710-100 series grips means that jaw faces can be adjusted to accommodate different specimen thicknesses. This ensures that the line of tensile force remains concentric with the grip body. They can be equipped with a selection of interchangeable grip jaw faces in various sizes and choice of surfaces including smooth ground, rubber-coated and serrated. Line contact and special coated faces are also available.The unique 'snap-on' jaw face attachment makes changing faces extremely quick and simple.
- Produtos
- 6/28/2017
2712 Series Pneumatic Side Action Grips (2712-041, 2712-042, 2712-045, 2712-046)
Instron® 2712-04x Series Pneumatic grips, packed with features to enhance gripping performance, usability, and operator safety.
- Produtos
- 5/16/2019


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Jubilee Pink Pajama Set
Jubilee Pink Pajama Set
$10.00 $45.00
Product SKU:
Cozy up in soft and cuddly Malabar Bay pajamas. These pajamas are not only a customer favorite, they make the perfect gift.
Care instructions
- Machine wash cold with like colors.
- Tumble dry low.
- Cool iron inside out if needed.
Size Guide


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Besides my teaching and my public archaeology research, my archaeological life includes serving as webmaster for the Philadelphia Archaeological Forum, a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of archaeological resources in the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. PAF advises agencies and the general public on archaeological matters and encourages communication about, and support for, the publication of information concerning the archaeology of the city. The group's webpages are designed to be the 'go to' place for information on the area's archaeology. PAF is open to all and its membership includes, among others, avocational archaeologists, architects, historians, journalists, school teachers, college students, community organizers, university researchers, private sector archaeologists, retired persons, preservation specialists, and museum professionals.
What I did today, July 14th, is coordinate contributions from our area for the Philadelphia Day of Archaeology, which is a local version of the international Day of Archaeology blogging project. The Philadelphia version gathers and collates local project submissions and posts them both at the webpages of the Philadelphia Archaeological Forum and at the international project's blog posting site. The Philadelphia version of the project also welcomes archaeologists as well as anyone else working with or even visiting archaeology resources locally in the Philadelphia area – be they tour guides, media specialists, volunteers, students, local historians, journalists, teachers, preservation specialists, cultural resource managers, park rangers, museum folks, artists, etc., etc. PAF's localized objective is to learn about, and share information about, what people in the Philadelphia area do with archaeology on a given day. In past years this has included the writing of archaeological reports and the reading of such reports, presenting a tour featuring archaeological sites and excavating a site. We have heard from volunteers washing artifacts for reconstructing objects and from college students photographing artifacts for 3D computational modeling of artifacts. Others used archaeology in preparing and teaching their lectures and graded papers that used archaeology evidence. Some spent their day writing for the public about archaeology and others were evaluating archaeology evidence for a state agency, supervising volunteers on archaeology projects and some just checked the Philadelphia Archaeological Forum Facebook page on the day in question.
So far this year (today) I have been fielding entries from a forensic archaeologist (Kimberlee Sue Moran) teaching teachers at a Forensic Science Education Conference, an historical archaeologist bringing her insights to family history and genealogy studies (Karen Lind Brauer), and a Ph.D. candidate working with volunteers to process artifacts recovered from the oldest extant residential street in the US (Deirdre Kelleher). I've been posting write ups about the busy day of the President of a local CRM firm (Kenneth J. Basalik) and the workday of two university researchers (David G. Orr and Michael Stewart). Three individuals are reporting on activities with local archaeology societies in the area (myself, with the Philadelphia Archaeological Forum, and Ilene Grossman-Bailey and Jesse Walker with the Archaeological Society of New Jersey). Lastly, there are three entries I am creating pages for that deal with a local university research effort using cutting edge digital media to interpret African American archaeology in the Philadelphia area (Glen Muschio, Chester Cunanan and Matt Moldzienski).
Taken together, these entries provide an important look at how archaeology is used in our area. By posting these at the Philadelphia Archaeological Forum webpage we can easily demonstrate that both archaeological research and the use of such research results contributes in multiple ways to the Philadelphia area. Forwarded to the international blogging project, these entries stand shoulder to shoulder with the important and exciting work of our global colleagues profiled as part of the international Day of Archaeology project!
Patrice L. Jeppson, Ph.D.
Philadelphia Archaeological Forum
Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA


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6 Apps You Don't Want To Miss
Apps You Don't Want To Miss 2/16/2013
It can be tough to keep up with all the new apps released every week. But you're in luck — we take care of that for you, creating a roundup each weekend of our favorite new and updated apps.
This week we saw a new smart mobile calendar from the birthplace of Siri. Several popular music apps saw significant updates, and one of our favorite pieces of tech from the '90s got a new lease on life in the form of an Android app.
Check out the gallery above for a look at this week's highlights.
Still looking for more? Check out last week's Apps You Don't Want To Miss for more great apps worth a look.
Think we left one off the list? Let us know about your own app highlights from this week in the comments below.
Photo courtesy iStockphoto, scanrail.


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Propelled prostate tumor frequently metastasizes deep down. Metastatic prostate growth survival rate when the tumor spreads deep down is low. In any case, the guess is still somewhat better contrasted with liver metastases.
When somebody is determined past the point where it is possible to have prostate malignancy, there is 60 percent chance that the disease will spread deep down. At the point when the growth has metastasized deep down, the treatment will turn out to be more mind boggling. Therefore, the metastatic survival rate for bone metastases can be under 40%. Most patients of bone metastases can make due for around 19 to 21 months after determination.
Since prostate growth is a moderate developing malignancy, numerous patients don't generally see the side effects. Indeed, over half of patients are determined to have prostate tumor when it has spread to the bones. For this situation, to enhance metastatic prostate malignancy survival rate and furthermore to guarantee powerful treatment, the GP must have the capacity to perceive whether the tumor is started in the bones or it is a metastasis of growth from different areas.
The manifestations of include difficult pee, blood in the pee and furthermore disturbed stream of pee. In any case, if the malignancy has spread to the bones, the patients will encounter extra manifestations that are not identified with the early indications. On account of bone metastases prostate growth, the side effects incorporate agony in the influenced territory, weaker bones, sudden cracks and furthermore loss of motion. Ribs, spine and hips are typically the area influenced by the malignancy. Notwithstanding, it isn't outlandish that the malignancy additionally shows up in alternate bones.
Conclusion and Treatment
Bone metastases can be really difficult to analyze on the grounds that the manifestations are comparative with joint pain. Notwithstanding, when a prostate malignancy understanding feels a few manifestations in the bone zone, it is best to check it instantly on the grounds that there is a high shot that the torment is an indication of bone metastases.
Bone output is a standout amongst the best strategies to analyze bone metastases. This strategy uses radioactive tracer that is infused intravenously to the patient's vein. In the event that the indications are caused by malignancy, the region will seem dull in the camera.
At the point when the disease has spread to the bones, the treatment design must be balanced. Hormone treatment probably won't be the best choice since it is known to debilitate the bones. Notwithstanding radiotherapy, Bisphosphonates is frequently utilized as extra treatment to reinforce the bones.


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It's kind of the same thing with the first time you see Carlisle. He comes walking through that door and it's like...wow!! The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?ihadanEdwardRush wrote:Oh yeah, and it was like Edward's the last to came out from the door, and you hear that the background music put an "emphasis" on him. And it's like "HERE I COME!"Vanquish wrote:One of my fav scenes was the first day in the cafeteria when Bella asks Jessica "who are they?". And then you see all of the Cullens walking in. Edward was hot. And definately the Baseball scene. Loved it. Wish it was longer. Another would probably be Charlie with the shotgun. That was funny.
As I have now seen the movie a few more times, there are a few scenes that I have added to my list. The, "what if I'm not the hero" scene; I love watching Eric and Mike and Tyler in the background. It's hysterical.
The "tree-hopping" scene, when they are just sitting in the trees talking. The look on Rob's face in particular. It's so great. They are just in love, but in this crazy, supernatural setting.
Bella's Lullaby. I love watching Rob play. He's so intense about it. Hm!


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To find out more, read our updated Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy if you continue to use our website.
Item 1-24 van 397 in totaal item(s)


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You will find here our collected expertise, application reports, as well as a glossary and FAQs.
You will find here our collected expertise, application reports, as well as a glossary and FAQs.
How do Fischer technologies work? Read more to find out about our measurement methods.
Calibration is absolutely essential for correct and precise measuring. Read more to learn everything you need to know about calibration.
A selection of more than 80 applications with measuring instruments from Fischer from a wide range of industries.
Our technical glossary on the topic of coating thickness measurement, material analysis and the characterization of surfaces.
The most common questions are answered in a concise and comprehensible manner.
Statistics plays a vital role in measurement technology. Read more for an overview of statistics as it applies to Fischer.
Piedrujas street 11, office 214
Phone: +371 22304752
E-Mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Online contact form


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Suppose that over some (algebraically closed) field $K$ of characteristic $p>0$ we have: numerical equivalence of cycles coincides with homological one with respect to ${\mathbb{Q}}_{l}$ and ${\mathbb{Q}}_{l'}$-adic etale cohomology for two (distinct) primes $l,l'\neq p$ (i.e. the Standard Conjecture D is fulfilled). Then it was proved in: Smirnov O., Graded associative algebras and Grothendieck standard conjectures, Invent. Math., 128 (1997), 201-206 that the Lefschetz standard conjecture holds also; hence the Kunneth decompositions of the motif of a smooth projective $P$ exists both with respect to $\mathbb{Q}_l$-adic and with respect to $\mathbb{Q}_{l'}$-adic etale cohomology. Are these two decompositions necessarily isomorphic? I suspect that that the answer is 'Yes' and the proof is easy, but I am not sure.
P.S. I don't understand why writing ${\mathbb{Q}}_{l'}$ in my question leads to catostrophic appearance.


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Batman the dark night
the blue lagoon
the lost world
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NH tourism officials expect big winter season
Nearly 7 million people could visit NH
State tourism officials expect that nearly 7 million people from around the world will travel to New Hampshire during the winter season.
"We are expecting about 6.7 million people to come here between now and the end of February, and that would be about 5 percent higher than last year," said Lori Harnois, director of the Division of Travel and Tourism Development. "More than spending time, these visitors will spend about $860 million, which is up by 9 percent over last year."
State officials made the estimate based on spending patterns, gas prices, weather and what happened in the previous year.
Officials also believe that weeklong family vacations should be higher than normal during Christmas and February vacation weeks.
They also suspect that overnight and day trips will be slightly higher than last year, partly due to lower gas prices.


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AP Photo/Anupam Nath
Officials in India recently made the decision to move all elephants currently living in Indian zoos and circuses to protected wildlife parks. The decision came after complaints from animal activists about the elephants' confined living conditions, as well as increasing evidence about the shortened lifespan of elephants living in captivity. In the wildlife parks, the elephants would have a larger space to roam.
For more info, see: AP.


text: Korean Job Discussion Forums :: View topic - ANY DJ's WITH DECKS? Speak Korean Now! Korean Job Discussion Forums"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!" FAQ Search Memberlist Usergroups Register Profile Log in to check your private messages Log in ANY DJ's WITH DECKS? Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Off-Topic Forum View previous topic :: View next topic Author Message saint_moiJoined: 06 Apr 2003Location: That little place where I'm meant to be. Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2005 6:11 am Post subject: ANY DJ's WITH DECKS? Any of you DJ? Do you have decks here? Please pm me. Back to top chronicprideJoined: 16 Jan 2003 Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2005 6:41 am Post subject: You might get a better response about DJ-related stuff in Korea on the forums at http://www.02pro.com/ Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Off-Topic Forum All times are GMT - 8 Hours Page 1 of 1 Jump to: Select a forum Forums:----------------FAQJob-related Discussion ForumGeneral Discussion ForumOff-Topic ForumTravel ForumCurrent Events ForumTechnology ForumBuy/Sell/Trade Forum You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling. Contact Dave's ESL Cafe Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved. Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group TEFL International Supports Dave's ESL Cafe


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Woman rescued from car after Auburn crash
Car collided with bus on Washington Street
Witnesses helped rescue an Auburn woman from her car after it crashed into a Greyhound bus Sunday night.
Auburn police said Shannon Sylvester pulled onto Washington Street at 7:30 p.m. and was hit by the bus.
Sylvester was transported to Central Maine Medical Center for non-life-threatening injuries.
There were 34 passengers on the bus.
None of the passengers were injured, police said.
According to investigating officers, Sylvester failed to yield the right away as she was exiting the Washington Street trailer park.
Sylvester was summonsed for violation of bail, unlawful possession of a schedule W drug and unlawful possession of marijuana, according to police.
Aprill Clark said she was among the people who helped Sylvester after the accident.
Clark said Sylvester was unconscious at first and then gained consciousness.
Neighbors brought Sylvester inside, and that's when she said she was having a hard time seeing over the snowbanks in the dark, according to Clark.
As she edged out, that's when the bus hit her, Clark said.


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Little Women: LA -- We Might Be Small ... But We Love 'Em Tall
Little Women: LA We Might Be Small ... But We Love 'Em Tall
They're famous for playing Little Britney, Little Miley, and Little Beyonce, but when it comes to finding men ... the chicks from "Little Women: LA" say it's go BIG or go home ... alone.
We spotted the ladies from the Lifetime reality show in NYC last night -- where they admitted being shaken and slurred from a few drinks ... the perfect time to talk about what they're into when it comes to dudes.
Let's just say ... size matters. Also, get ready to find out what a BMW is, and we're not talking cars.
Fun fact: The ladies are catches themselves. Any date who gets drunk off half a martini ... is a cheap date.
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Strand Theater Gets $150K Grant
Plattsburgh Rebuilding Project Gets More Funding
More good news for attempts to renovate Plattsburgh's Strand theater.
The project just picked up a $150,000 grant.
The latest grant is the latest in a string of financial windfalls for the effort to revitalize the former movie theater in the heart of downtown Plattsburgh.
news release below :
The NCCCA Arts Center is proud to announce that the Charles. R. Wood Foundation has awarded the Strand Restoration project $150,000. The grant written to the foundation was submitted in September of 2011 and the letter of award was received this January, 2012. The Charles R. Wood Foundation was founded in 1978 with its mission to provide assistance to areas of special need in the Lake George Region and surrounding areas. Not-for-profit organizations with an emphasis on programs for children, healthcare and the arts are the beneficiaries of Mr. Wood's generosity. A Board of Trustees oversees the Foundation with a goal to preserve the mission established by Charles R. Wood. The Foundation has requested, and we are honored, to name The Orchestra Pit for the Charles R Wood Foundation. The Strand Restoration has been restoring the 1924 Vaudeville Theatre from an obsolete movie theatre into a 980 seat Performing Arts Center. This award comes within a month of the announcement of the Strand being named a priority project in the North Country's Economic Plan and the award of $397,000 from Historic Preservation. The Economic Council saw that the Strand Theatre will be an economic boost to the area and could have a $3 to $5 million dollar impact on our local economy each year. A group of local business leaders have formed a capital campaign committee to raise the final funds needed to complete the Strand Theatre restoration. Since this summer, they have received pledges of over $300,000 from local businesses with the thought of being very close to the amount needed to complete the restoration before going public with the campaign. The local donations and the Charles R Wood Foundation award will match our current state and federal grants and we are waiting to receive the contract for the 2012 Historic Preservation grant to discover the match requirements. "Our vision has always been to create a City Arts Corridor, anchored by The Strand Performing Arts Center," said Leigh Mundy, Board President of NCCCA, "with offerings diverse enough to bring in people from all walks of life and enhance the quality of life for our entire region. With the help of our incredible volunteers, our board of directors and invaluable donations of in-kind materials and monetary gifts from the community, we are close to achieving success."


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XF60-Q2901 Explosion-Protected Temperature Alarm Camera
Remote temperature monitoring for heavy-duty applications
- UL-certified for hazardous areas (USA market)
- Detects fires and leaks
- Monitors equipment and area temperature
- Visual verification
- Supports advanced analytics
XF60-Q2901 Explosion-Protected Temperature Alarm Camera lets you monitor temperatures, detect leaks – and take action – before it's too late. Adding also perimeter protection possibilities together with powerful analytics. With its heavy-duty stainless-steel housing, XF60-Q2901 is certified for hazardous, explosion-prone applications.
Too hot or too cold?
XF60-Q2901 lets you set alarms in up to six zones in two ways: when a temperature goes beyond a limit you've set or when it simply increases too quickly. XF40-Q2901 also features spot temperature functionality for visual verification of the temperature of a particular area and isothermal palettes for identifying overheated equipment or areas. It can detect object temperatures between -40 °C to 550 °C (-40 °F to 1022 °F). Shock detection functionality is also included. Typical industrial applications for the fixed XF60-Q2901 Explosion-Protected Temperature Alarm Camera includes control and detection of temperatures of equipment and leaks in pipes, fire detection, and monitoring of equipment and perimeter protection. Moreover, they help visually inspecting and verifying functions and processes are running correctly, and even providing remote assistance with planned maintenance.
The Axis difference
Like all Axis products, XF60-Q2901 supports advanced analytics solutions, from our partners, so it can be easily integrated into your production system. You can use it to monitor production efficiency as well as to visually inspect processes and verify that they're running smoothly. The camera can also be integrated with other systems such as your access control or fire-alarm systems to provide visual verification of events.
Hazard-certified worldwide
XF60-Q2901 is UL certified for use in hazardous explosion-prone applications. Its electropolished stainless steel enclosure contains explosions and prevents sparks from igniting vapors, gases, dust, or fibers in the surrounding environment. The camera has a 110 V AC power input.
All software isn't compatible with all products, please refer to the data sheets for compatibility information.
AXIS Companion
The market's easiest video surveillance solution optimized for small systems
AXIS Camera Station
The ideal solution to meet the needs for active surveillance of mid-sized installations
Security as a service
A full range of cloud-based surveillance and security services from Axis partners
Specialized software from Axis partners
Customized and specialized solutions from Axis partners, for any system complexity and size
Press release
Visio stencil
Declaration & statement
White papers
Third party software licenses INTEGRITY CHECKSUM
Third party software licenses INTEGRITY CHECKSUM


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If you're one of the unlucky souls cursed with a bum strum button on their Rock Band guitar, you might not have to send it back to EA just yet. Ben Sones over at Quarter to Three got a gimped guitar and tore it apart to try to fix it himself. Apparently, the issue's actually pretty minor: One of the strummer's microswitches has just rotated out of alignment. A quick adjustment to the screw holding it in place and you're ready to roll. The disturbing part is the uncertainty over whether it's a production issue or a design flaw.
If it's the former, the DIY fix—which Ben lays out in detail—should hold, leaving you time to pick up Joel's five accessories for optimum rockage. And correcting it at the factory's not a big deal. If it's the latter, you could wind up strumming "acoustically" again. Worse, fixing a design flaw would probably cause delays in production if they have to shift over to pumping out redesigned controllers, and Rock Band's not exactly easy to come by as it is.
On the bright side, you shouldn't have to worry about any of the other plastic instruments strung all over your living room. And you can always use your GHII controller in the meantime. [Quarter to Three via BBG]


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Shortly after the Nexus 7 was first released, I saw reports of people replacing the head unit in their car with the tablet. Apparently the Nexus 7 is almost exactly the correct size to fit in a double-din space. I've been thinking about doing something like that ever since and this past weekend, I finally did.
I specifically purchased a 2012 model Nexus 7 for two reasons:
- It is less expensive. I picked up a 32 GB refurbished model for $150. Since this is going to live in my car, I don't need the fantastic display of the newer model and the extra space will be extremely useful for storing music and things.
- It works with USB Rom. This basically does all the hard work of making sure usb works correctly and sending the tablet into a deep sleep when the car is off. It isn't being updated anymore, but is based on CyanogenMod 10.1. I haven't found any missing features yet.
- The Nexus 7 is almost exactly the correct size. My particular double din adapter thing had screw holes that would have been perfect if the device was about 5mm smaller. So it's a jury rigged attachment using screws, plexiglass, coat hanger wire, and duct tape. Also a bit of Sugru and strong glue. It should hold pretty well, but we'll find out.
- The plug for a car antenna is very different from the one for the usb dongle. I ended up splicing the cables together. Someone might make an adapter, but I wasn't patient enough to figure that out. Splicing antenna cable is a pain. It's basically a coax cable but tiny.
- The usb otg y cable I bought didn't quite fit in the car. It has a straight micro usb connector. I had actually ordered another one with a right angle connector from ebay, but wanted one sooner that I could play with. That worked out well since the ebay one wasn't quite what I needed (my fault, not theirs). I ended up cutting of the straight connector and using the right angle connector from the ebay adapter. Soldering usb cables is also a pain. Again due the general tinyness of the inner cables. On the plus side, I'm better at soldering now than I was three days ago.
- The amp I bought was huge. Way bigger than I expected. Big enough that it doesn't fit behind the dash. It lives in the glovebox now. Fortunately, I don't really use the glovebox so that isn't a problem.
- When connecting wires, make sure things are off. I definitely blew a fuse (and then spent about an hour figuring out which one) because I left things on while wiring up the amp.
- The radio doesn't work as well as I would like. I'm not sure why. I'm going to experiment with a different app to see if that makes any difference. I also might not have done a good enough job splicing the antenna cable.
- SDR Touch: control the radio
- PowerAMP: music
- DropSync: keep the music on the tablet synced through Dropbox
- Audio Glow Live Wallpaper: keeps things interesting without being too distracting
- Torque: display realtime information from the car
Useful Links
- Much of what I learned came from this XDA forum post.
- For anyone interested, I've put together an Amazon list of the parts I used.


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"Original" Four Panel Design Gives the Widest Possible Opening
Fully Contoured Powder-Coated Aluminum Frame with Narrow Stiles and Tight-Sealing Weatherstrip
Some Models Available in Up to Four Glass Colors
The CRL Duo-Vent Truck Slider is the finest four-panel Truck Slider on the market. It's our attention to the details that makes the Duo-Vent so special.
The state-of-the-art fully contoured, thin profile, powder-coated aluminum frames have narrow stiles for maximum rear view, and tight-sealing weatherstrips to protect the interior.
Tempered safety glass in up to four color choices, and metal locking latches for cab security are all features that make CRL Sliders stand out from any others.
Color: Solar Glass
Years, Make and Model: 1953-1956 All Ford Cabs
Installation Type: Gasket
NAGS Number: DY90046PK1
Frame Measurements: Width 50-1/4 in (1276 mm); Height 11 in (279 mm).
Important Note:
All CRL gasket-set truck sliders will fit OEM style backglass gaskets.
If an OEM style slider is to be replaced, a new gasket may be required.


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October 10, 2009
October 10, 2009
Dear CODEPINKer,
We all know the American health care system is broken and that our nation deserves much better. Despite a national debate on health care - real reform is in jeopardy. The insurance companies are spending millions to confuse and scare the public to keep us from ending their grip on our health and our money. With tea bagger town hall protestors and the right-wing noise machine on one side and elected officials from both parties putting insurance industry profits ahead of the necessity of the people, the defenders of the status quo are winning. We can't let that happen. That's why the Mobilization for Health Care for All launched a campaign of "Patients Not Profit" sit-ins at insurance company offices to demand an end to a system that profits by denying people care and puts insurance company bureaucrats between doctors and patients.
The private health insurance companies make billions in profit and millions for their CEOs while millions of Americans have no health insurance and over 45,000 die every year because they can't get the care they need. That's more than 120 people dying every day.
In cities across the country on October 15th, people will put our bodies on the line to challenge the real death panels. We will enter the offices of the major insurance companies and demand that they cover the care they are denying to their members. We won't leave until they do - or we're arrested. Visit MobilizeforHealthCare.org and sign up.
If you participate in an action, email firstname.lastname@example.com to share your story with us and we'll put it up on our website! Don't forget to bring the Healthcare not Warfare message with you! Print out HEALTHCARE NOT WARFARE on a 8.5x11 pink sheet of paper and pin it to your shirt! Easy as that. You can use our talking points too!
It only takes a small group of people to do a sit-in in your community, but our actions can inspire every American who has been abused by the insurance companies and believes it's time for real reform to stand up and fight for it. If you are a patient who has been denied care, sign up and let us know. If a friend, neighbor or relative has been denied care urge them to contact us. This campaign of nonviolent civil disobedience will continue until the insurance companies no longer stand between the American people and the health care that is our right.
Sincerely, The CODEPINK Team in solidarity with Mobilize for Health Care
Sign up to join the "Patients Not Profit" campaign to demand an end to a system that profits by denying people care
unsubscribe from this list
CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end U.S. funded wars and occupations, to challenge militarism globally, and to redirect our resources into health care, education, green jobs and other life-affirming activities. The name CODEPINK satirized the Bush Administration's color-coded, fear-mongering "security" alert system that has since been phased out. CODEPINK is a lively call for the people of the world to "wage peace." More...


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Annual Report
The Annual Overview Reports of the Chief Executives Board summarizes major developments in inter-agency cooperation during the year.
Welcome to the website of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB). While this website is maintained and navigated in English, some background material and documents are, however, available in other languages.


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DmC: Devil May Cry
Humble Capcom Rising Bundle features Resident Evil and Dead Rising titles and more
Humble Bundle has partnered with Capcom to bring you plenty of titles featuring the undead.
DmC: Devil May Cry headlines
The opening 30 minutes of DmC: Definitive Edition in 1080p/60fps
We've got a new video showing the first 30 minutes of DmC: Definitive Edition in stunning 1080p/60fps.
DmC: Definitive Edition review round-up, all the scores
The enhanced, 1080p/60 DmC: Definitive Edition is out today and everyone seems to like it.
You need an S style rank to damage enemies with DmC: Definitive Edition's Must Style modifier
More 60FPS DmC: Devil May Cry Definitive Edition footage for the pleasure of your eyeballs.
Devil May Cry remasters coming to PS4 and Xbox One
Capcom has confirmed that DmC Devil May Cry and Devil May Cry 4 are being remastered for PS4 and Xbox One.
PS Plus Europe adds free Don't Starve PS4, DmC: Devil May Cry PS3 & more in January
PlayStation Plus subscribers can look forward to another round of free Instant Game Collection titles in January, including the PS4 edition of Klei's Don't Starve and PS3 titles DmC: Devil May Cry and Borderlands 2.
Capcom sale going on now through Green Man Gaming
Green Man Gaming has a sale going on featuring various discounts on Capcom titles. The sales is going on now through October 28 so you have plenty of time. A list of games on sale is below the break.
Capcom Europe: over half of staff facing redundancy amid restructuring efforts - report
Capcom Europe could trim over 50% of its workforce as the company undergoes restructuring efforts, reports suggest.
Capcom 2013 financials see $940m in revenue, several console titles fall below sales target
Capcom has published its full-year financials for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013. While the company's revenue climbed, several games have failed to meet sales targets, and efforts to increase the company's digital returns have proved largely fruitless.
PSN offering new game+DLC "Ultimate Edition" bundles at steep discount this week
The PlayStation Store has these "Ultimate Edition" bundles that give you a base game and all its DLC for a discounted price. This week, they're putting out ten new Ultimate Editions, and they're making them even cheaper than they normally would. Plus subscribers get a better discount, as usual. Full list inside.
PC development 'quite reasonable', says DmC producer
Asked whether the smaller audience for PC gaming means producing ports is an expensive chore, Capcom's Alex Jones staunchly defended the viability of the platform.
PSN Europe update adds Crysis 3, Capcom Arcade Cabinet
Sony has just published its PSN European store update, adding a full digital download of Crysis 3, and Capcom's retro game app, Capcom Arcade Cabinet, among others.
DmC: Devil May Cry 'Bloody Palace' DLC is now live
DmC: Devil May Cry developer Ninja Theory has released its free Bloody Palace DLC on PS3 and Xbox 360 today, adding 101 increasingly brutal challenge rooms into the mix.
DmC: Devil May Cry: Vergil's Downfall DLC is 3-5 hours long
DmC: Devil May Cry: Vergil's Downfall is the first expansion pack for Ninja Theory's hack-n-slash reboot. According to a fresh preview, the content is some 3-5 hours long.
DmC Devil May Cry's Bloody Palace mode releasing next week
Capcom has announced the Bloody Palace mode for DmC Devil May Cry will be released next week. It's a challenge mode, where players will be placed in an arena of sorts where they will have to survive a "gauntlet of more than 100 levels of demon-crushing, boss-rushing action". Sounds to intense for us, blood pressure […]
DmC: Devil May Cry rumble glitch found, patch incoming
DmC: Devil May Cry players on PC have found that the game's rumble feature will often cut out during play. Gamers have taken to the Steam forum to voice their concerns, and Capcom has acknowledged the issue.
DmC: Devil May Cry sales target slashed by 800k
DmC: Devil May Cry is struggling to shift units at retail, prompting Capcom to cut its sales target for the title. After launching January 15th in the States, the game has shipped one million copies, well below initial projections.
Capcom expects 14m games sold by end of FY13, Street Fighter 2 is best-selling title
Capcom posted its Q3 financial report this morning – check out my full report on the numbers here – and in a separate press release the company has predicted sales of 14 million units by the end of financial year 2013. The Japanese company has also revealed some intriguing stats for its current stock of […]
DmC Devil May Cry trailer notes its many accolades
A new DmC Devil May Cry trailer has been released by Capcom, and it's full of action clips along with text flashing the various review scores. Watch it below.
DmC "Is a reflection of our times": Ninja Theory explains the game's satire
DmC: Devil May Cry is full of humour and satire, but many people didn't get the joke. Regardless, Ninja Theory's twisted take on a world full of subliminal messages, right-wing media and drugged soft drinks isn't too be taken too seriously, even if it was created to loosely mirror some of the failings of modern […]
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DmC: Devil May Cry latest
Humble Capcom Rising Bundle features Resident Evil and Dead Rising titles and more
The opening 30 minutes of DmC: Definitive Edition in 1080p/60fps
You need an S style rank to damage enemies with DmC: Definitive Edition's Must Style modifier
PS Plus Europe adds free Don't Starve PS4, DmC: Devil May Cry PS3 & more in January
Capcom Europe: over half of staff facing redundancy amid restructuring efforts – report
Capcom 2013 financials see $940m in revenue, several console titles fall below sales target
PSN offering new game+DLC "Ultimate Edition" bundles at steep discount this week
Capcom expects 14m games sold by end of FY13, Street Fighter 2 is best-selling title
DmC "Is a reflection of our times": Ninja Theory explains the game's satire
DmC: Devil May Cry: The Vergil Chronicles comic issue one out today


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Patrick Marleau scored the tiebreaking goal with 1:53 remaining for his third straight two-goal game, helping the San Jose Sharks rally from a two-goal deficit to beat the Phoenix Coyotes 5-3 in their home opener Thursday night.
Logan Couture and Marty Havlat also scored and Joe Thornton had three assists and an empty-net goal for the Sharks, who have opened the season with three straight wins for the first time since 2008-09. Antti Niemi made 32 saves.
Steve Sullivan, Antoine Vermette and Lauri Korpikoski scored for the Coyotes, who were unable to hold onto a 3-1 lead in the third period on the back end of a back-to-back.
Marleau started San Jose's comeback with a goal midway through the third and then beat Jason LaBarbera for the game-winner. Thornton started the play with a sharp up-ice pass to Joe Pavelski, who fed Marleau for the wrist shot.
The Coyotes seemed to take control with two goals in a span of 2:27 of the third to take a 3-1 lead. The outburst started when Sullivan came out of the penalty box to start a 15-second power play that Phoenix capitalized on. Sullivan's shot was blocked but Vermette knocked the rebound past Niemi, who was off-balance after Shane Doan was knocked into him by a Sharks defender.
While Niemi had little chance to stop that shot, he did a poor job on Phoenix's next goal when Korpikoski beat him to the short side from a bad angle to give the Coyotes a two-goal edge.
That proved to be short-lived as Marleau took a pass from Thornton in the slot and beat LaBarbera to make it 3-2. Havlat then got the equalizer when he knocked in a rebound with 6:54 remaining.
After beating Calgary and Edmonton in their home openers to begin the season, the Sharks got their long-awaited chance to play before their own fans for the first time in more than nine months because of the four-month NHL lockout.
San Jose got a break when Phoenix goalie Mike Smith was scratched with a lower-body injury. Smith, who became the first goalie to shut out the Sharks three times in one season a year ago, left Wednesday's win over Columbus in the first period with the injury.
LaBarbera was up to the task early as the Sharks used the energy from the crowd to get off to a fast start. San Jose took 12 of the game's first 13 shots, including seven during a 2:39 stretch on the power play that included 1:22 of 5-on-3 time.
San Jose took advantage of its next power-play chance when Derek Morris was sent off in the final minute of the period for cross-checking Justin Braun. Thornton won a faceoff from Boyd Gordon and got the puck to Pavelski at the point. Pavelski's shot was tipped by Couture into the net for the Sharks' sixth power-play goal of the season.
The Coyotes equalized in the second period when they got a shot on an extended power play. With TJ Galiardi already in the penalty box for a 4-minute high-sticking penalty, Andrew Desjardins committed his own high stick infraction. The Sharks killed off nearly two minutes of 5-on-3 time before Sullivan scored 1:48 into the two-man advantage for his fourth goal in two nights.
NOTES: The Sharks played a video tribute to the team's original owner, George Gund III, who died this month from cancer. … Matthew Irwin got his first career point with an assist on Marleau's first goal. … Thornton has seven assists in three games. … F Scott Gomez, who was signed Wednesday by San Jose, did not dress. … Coyotes C Matthew Lombardi left in the second period with an upper-body injury.
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America's Got Talent, Arabic, Arabs Got Talent, Baeed Anak, Beirut, Boston, Brahms, Cambridge, Christina Aguiler, comedian, Daryl Grout, Dubai, Fairouz, French, German, globalization, hip-hop, Italian, James H. Burnett III, lute, Marrakesh, Matthew Ellis, Mazen Hayek, MBC Group, McGill University, Montréal, Mozart, Najwa Karam, Natick, opera, oud, popular music, Raleigh, Sarah Lawrence College, Spider-Man, Susan Montgomery-Grout, The Boston Globe, Therese Sevadjian, Umm Kulthum, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, YouTube
She's blond, claims English, Scottish, and Native American descent, and doesn't speak Arabic, but twenty-three-year-old Jennifer Grout, who grew up in Cambridge, MA, has emerged as an unlikely favorite in the finals of this year's Arabs Got Talent contest in Beirut. Her rise is fueled not by heritage but by her gift – an astonishing voice that has wowed millions of viewers in the Middle East and northern Africa with her soulful renditions of classical Arab songs.
Not all in the region are thrilled, to say the least. It rankles some that an American woman with no connection to the culture – except a love of its music – might take home the top prize in the Arab world's version of America's Got Talent. Mazen Hayek, spokesman for MBC Group, the Dubai-based media conglomerate that produces and airs the show, dismisses the criticism. "Jennifer's popularity is expected, well-earned, and deserved," he said. "She's a young American woman with a remarkable singing talent and a great voice in any language."
Grout will face eleven Arab finalists, many of whom will be performing more Western-style acts, including comedians and hip-hop dancers, and one acrobatic dancer with a routine inspired by Spider-Man. She will be the only contestant performing classical Arab music. Since June, Grout has waded through a series of auditions and elimination rounds in the contest, which requires participants to either be citizens of an Arab nation or have an act with Arabic cultural roots.
Throughout, the judges have been largely effusive about her singing and her skill with the oud, an Arab lute that she sometimes plays. In her September debut round after performing Baeed Anak (Away from You), a love ballad by Egyptian singing legend Umm Kulthum, Najwa Karam, a popular singer and one of the judges, exclaimed, "You don't speak a word of Arabic, yet you sing better than some Arab singers."
How does she do it? "I learned the song and many others by listening to them and embracing them," Grout said in a phone interview from Beirut.
Long before Umm Kulthum, there was Bach, and Mozart, and Brahms for Grout, who was born in Boston and attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin School and Natick's Walnut Hill School for the Arts. Her parents, Daryl Grout and Susan Montgomery-Grout, who both work in technology but have music degrees, say she began singing at age four and performed with them in church choral groups. But up until a few years ago her focus had been Western classical music.
"There was a period when I was a little girl where I wanted to be a pop star. I wanted to be Christina Aguilera,'' Grout said. "But my first love and only love until a few years ago was classical. It was while I was studying at McGill University in Montreal that I developed my love for Arabic music."
Grout recalls that she read an article in 2010 about Lebanese singer Fairouz, which prompted her to explore other Arab stars and eventually led her to have an oud made in Syria. Within months of discovering Fairouz, Grout was playing her oud in a Syrian restaurant in Montreal, and then she began learning to sing the songs. "After about three months of learning to play, I sang my first note,'' she said. "It was beautiful. I tell people often that it was magical. Until I found Arabic music, I had not thought of music as a performance career."
But as her passion for Arabic music developed, friends and colleagues began advising Grout that she would need to learn to speak Arabic to advance her career. "Other people saw it as a problem, but I never did," says Grout, who asked her parents for a one-way ticket to Marrakesh, Morocco, after graduating from college so she could start absorbing a culture that birthed some of the music she had embraced. After living in Morocco for a year, Grout heard about Arabs Got Talent and flew to Beirut to audition.
"The reality is that in the classical genre it's common to sing songs in languages you can't speak,'' Grout explained. "Opera singers do it all the time, singing in Italian and German."
Therese Sevadjian, Grout's voice coach at McGill, said that Grout's voice and her control and range allow her to capture the nuances and rapidly changing landscape of classical Arabic music. "Our music students are required for finals to perform in four different languages – in her case, English, German, Italian, and French,'' Sevadjian said. "And she always excelled in those exams. So she may not speak Arabic, but her ability to feel and interpret languages paired with her natural vocal talent are why she has done so well in this competition."
While Grout has received much encouragement, her appearance in the contest has triggered some controversy. One commenter on an 18 September 2013 YouTube video about Grout and her appearance on the show wrote, "Beautiful voice but she speaks Arabic and the jury is pretty aware of that fact. It's a trick in order to gain publicity.'' Another opined, "She's great, but this is Arabs Got Talent, not America's.''
One persistent theory on the Internet is that Grout really knows Arabic and that the judges are covering for her. "It is unfortunate that some critics – largely on the Internet – have made ridiculous accusations against Jenni and have complained about her," said Daryl Grout in a telephone interview from Raleigh, NC, where he and his wife now live.
Part of what fuels speculation about her true roots is Grout's hard-to-place accent when she speaks English. "I have been asked about my accent a lot,'' she said with a chuckle. "I'm not sure what to say. It's mine. It's unique. I've always spoken differently, since childhood."
Beyond the controversy and rumors, a number of commentators have noted that Grout's performance may mark a watershed in East-West cultural exchange. "Especially in an age of increasingly globalized popular culture, where so-called Western cultural forms have crossed all kinds of geographic boundaries, it was striking to see the directional arrow point the other way. Instead of Middle Eastern artists seeking to emulate American music, this time it was the other way around,'' said Matthew Ellis, a Middle Eastern studies professor at Sarah Lawrence College.
Whether she wins or loses Saturday, Grout says she plans to continue her Arabic music career. "My biggest hope is to go on performing it for an audience on a bigger scale and eventually form an ensemble to perform with and travel with,'' she said. "I think that's the only way – live, intimate performance – to demonstrate that music really is a universal language."
James H. Burnett III – The Boston Globe
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Jennifer Grout was eliminated minutes before the contest ended on 7 December 2013, ultimately placing third. The Syrian dance troupe Sima won the top award.


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Police: Brother shoots girl in head with BB gun
5-year-old Lancaster victim in critical condition, police say
A 5-year-old girl is in critical condition after her brother shot her in the head with a BB gun, according to Lancaster police.
The incident happened about 5 p.m. Wednesday in the kitchen of the girl's home along the first block of Dauphin Street in Lancaster.
Relatives took the girl to Lancaster General Hospital, where it was determined that she had been shot in the forehead with a BB gun rifle by her 7-year-old brother.
After being treated at LGH, the child was flown to Penn State Hershey Medical Center for surgery Thursday to remove fragments of her skull displaced by the pellet that came from the BB gun.
"The child sustained a very serious head injury, with the BB penetrating her skull and brain. She is listed in critical condition. The initial investigation determined that there were several adults home when this occurred. No charges have been filed and the investigation is ongoing," a police news release states.
Police said they recovered the BB gun, which is a pump-action air rifle capable of firing a BB at 680 feet per second.
"The Lancaster police would like to remind owners of BB and pellet guns that they are not toys and need to be cared for and treated like an actual firearm or gun. A BB or pellet gun is capable of causing serious injury or death resulting in tragedy. Do not become complacent 'just because' it is a BB or pellet gun," police stated.
Police said there were five adults in the house at the time of the shooting.
So far, no one has been charged, but police said they still have more investigating to do.
The girl is expected to survive.


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First come the bullets charging through the jello. Then the hand crashing down on the stack of cement. And by the time you get to lighters in a blender, you realize that life is so much better in slow motion.
That seems to be the moral of Philip Heron's Tempus II, this celebration of all things slow and close, shot with a Photron SA1.1. There's destruction here, but mostly joy, and I frankly wouldn't mind watching it forever. [Vimeo]


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Not only is it about time that we finally see devices natively ship with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, but it's also good to see inexpensive devices, like the Pantech Marauder, carry it too.
But unlike many other entry-level handsets that tout their "for first-time smartphone users" status in order to justify low specs, the Marauder actually has a stake in this commonly used claim. It includes an optional user interface mode specifically tailored for Android beginners that is simplified and easy-to-use.
It also hosts a sliding keyboard for messaging enthusiasts and boasts 4G LTE data speeds on Verizon. What's more, it's competitively priced. Though the phone is $100 after you sign a two-year contract and send in a mail-in rebate, it's currently being offered for free from Verizon in conjunction with promos and online discounts.
The Pantech Marauder is hefty. It's 5.07 inches tall, 2.57 inches wide, and 0.46 inch thick. Though this doesn't make it thicker than, say, the Kyocera Rise (which is a half-inch-thick QWERTY device), it's definitely heavier. It weighs 6.1 ounces; the heaviness was especially apparent when I pinned the handset between my cheek and shoulder during phone conversations. And I could also forget about walking around comfortably with it inside the front or back pockets of my jeans. Though it got into the pockets, the fit was bulky.
To the left are a Micro-USB port and a volume rocker. Up top are a sleep/power button and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
On the back is a 5-megapixel camera that, unfortunately, doesn't come with an LED flash. At the bottom left corner there is a small slit for the output speaker. Using a small indentation at the bottom edge, you can remove the plastic backplate to reveal the 1,680mAh lithium ion battery, a microSD card slot, and Verizon's 4G SIM card.
The device's 3.8-inch WVGA touch screen has a 480x800-pixel resolution and can display up to 260,000 hues. For what is supposed to be a handset for beginners, I was impressed by the display. It was bright, colors appeared vibrant, HQ YouTube videos looked clear, and both app icons and text were crisp. True, the Marauder's touch screen doesn't hold a candle to higher-end phones' displays, and I could see line aliasing in the icons if I looked closely, but it's decent nonetheless. It's also responsive, and my numerous swipes and taps were registered quickly.
Below the display are four hot keys that light up when in use: back, home, recent apps, and menu. Above are an in-ear speaker and a front-facing VGA camera.
Underneath the device is a five-row sliding QWERTY keyboard. The snapping mechanism is sturdy and springy. The buttons are generously sized, though the spaces in between them are narrow. Because the keys are so flushed with the rest of the handset's surface, I initially had trouble trying to spell out words without pressing multiple letters at the same time. After a while I finally got the hang of it, but someone with even slightly bigger hands may find it difficult to type.
Raiding the Pantech Marauder (pictures)See all photos
The Marauder comes with two user interface options. One is called "starter mode," designed specifically for beginners. It offers four home screen pages, a simple lock screen, and a streamlined app drawer.
When you start getting the hang of the handset, or you're already familiar with Android, you can graduate to "standard mode," which gives you five home screen pages, makes all your apps readily available, and includes more options with its lock screen.
A 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor powers the phone, and it can carry out simple tasks like pinch zooming, swiping through apps, and transitioning back home just fine. There was some noticeable lag, however, when switching between portrait and landscape mode, which happens automatically when sliding the keyboard in and out. Also, feedback for the front-facing camera delayed significantly behind my moving of the device, and touch focusing on the rear-facing camera was slow.
The handset runs on a skinned version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which includes different native icons from the vanilla ICS (though you can customize many of the widgets) and a clunkier looking dial pad. You can choose among three dial pad styles, but all of them are pretty inelegant.
Google staples include Gmail, Google+, Latitude, Maps with Navigation, Messenger, Search, Talk, Places, Play Books, Movies, Music, and Store, and YouTube. Users will get basic task-management apps like a native Web browser and e-mail client, a calculator, a calendar, a clock with alarm features, a music player, a news-and-weather app, a task manager, a voice dialer, and a recorder.
Verizon also included a slew of its own features, such as its local app store; mobile hot-spotting; My Verizon Mobile, which lets you check your account info; V Cast Tones for buying ringtones; and its own navigation app.
Extra goodies include Amazon Kindle; Amex Serve, which lets American Express users access a prepaid digital money account; a document viewer; two games (Let's Golf 3 and Plants vs. Zombies); and a Net Media app.


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Northern Trust looked to defined benefit plans for strategies to improve defined contribution plan outcomes in the third installment of its Path Forward series of DC plan research studies. The current study, "Importing Winning DB Strategies Into DC Plans," was released in October.
Assets in defined contribution plans account for 57% of all retirement assets, Northern Trust found, and just 27% of companies have an active pension plan.
Northern Trust came to these conclusions by interviewing 48 plan sponsors in May and June. Together, those sponsors represent more than 1.5 million participants and $200 billion in assets. The firm also interviewed nine investment consulting firms for the report.
There are several benefits to DC plans adopting DB strategies, according to Northern Trust, though the sponsors interviewed largely agreed that efficiency of scale would be the best outcome for DC plans. Specific DB strategies that would benefit DC plans address:
Investment Approach. While the report acknowledges behavioral economists' conclusion that too many investment options overwhelm participants, Northern Trust said that even in plans with limited options, there should be a mix of styles and assets classes to choose from.
Additionally, investment products should be examined to see if they're appropriate for a plan. Common shortcomings in defined contribution plans are overexposure to company stock and underexposure to non-U.S. assets and failure on participants' part to adjust their allocations as needed.
Another aspect of investment approach that could be improved is the search for better investment results. Easier said than done, but Northern Trust notes that products like professionally managed asset allocation funds can help lift some of the burden from unprepared participants. "When you combine the use of target retirement date funds as a (qualified default investment alternative) with automatic enrollment, you get a plan that gives participants an experience that in many ways resembles that of a traditional, professionally managed DB pension fund," Jim Danaher, managing director of Northern Trust's DC solutions group, said in the report.
Decumulation. The report found less than a third of sponsors encourage their participants to leave assets in the plan after they leave the company. Consultants, however, pointed out that higher asset levels help keep total plan costs down. Additionally, keeping their assets in the employer plan gives participants who leave the company but not the plan access to institutional pricing rather than retail pricing, as well as professional oversight.
While most sponsors say less than half of their participants pull their assets in a lump sum when they retire, 20% of sponsors say 70% of their participants take a lump-sum payout. Northern Trust argues that focusing on decumulation is just as important as accumulation.
Governance. Northern Trust argues that shifting resources to defined contribution plans is "among the most important steps plan sponsors can take toward 'institutionalization' of DC plans." Resources should be roughly in proportion to the share of assets in the plan relative to the DB plan, if the company offers one.
Additionally, there should be a clear and streamlined decision making process that staff and sponsors make decisions quickly and efficiently with input from relevant parties.
Fee Structure. Clearly, fee structure is important to the success of a plan. Northern Trust found each of the consultants surveyed suggested unbundling fees and using flat per-participant fees instead of revenue sharing agreements.
Passive strategies can also help improve outcomes by eliminating fees in actively managed funds.
Sponsors and consultants don't agree on the impact of fees paid in DB and DC plans. Less than 30% of sponsors who offered both plans said their DC fees were higher than fees in the DB plan. Of the three consultants with clients who offered both types of plans, all of them said the fees were higher in the DC plan. They cited lack of scale, more expensive products (especially mutual funds), and a higher allocation to equities in DC plans as the reasons for that discrepancy.
Communication. Finally, sponsors should focus communications with participants on retirement outcomes rather than investment performance. As the report notes, "it's the outcome that counts."
Danaher called it "imperative" to give participants a picture of what their monthly payouts would be after they retire. That picture should include the effect of an increase in the participant's contribution. "Simply communicating an asset total can actually be misleading if plan participants lack the tools to determine what income level even seemingly large asset totals will deliver."
Overall, plan sponsors are confident that defined contribution plans can be successful. Almost 70% said they were optimistic that they could provide sufficient income for retirees. Furthermore, the plans are widely considered a primary retirement account rather than a supplemental savings account, according to the report. As a result, employers are taking steps to design plans that will serve their employees well.
The hurdles to adopting DB strategies in DC plans are broad and exist at the sponsor and employee level, including disagreements within plan committees about strategy and fiduciary obligations, employee apathy and problems with communication. However, Northern Trust points out that the strategies themselves present hurdles to plan success; for example, creating a properly diversified plan, determining whether an investment vehicle or strategy is appropriate, or selecting useful retirement income options, without taking on undue risk.
Fiduciary liability is no small concern, and the report found little agreement between investment consultants and plan sponsors on the subject. While just 25% of sponsors said they were concerned about fiduciary liability for changes in the plan, 66% of consultants said their clients were concerned about fiduciary liabilities.
Furthermore, consultants were more likely than sponsors to be comfortable with applying institutional strategies modeled after DB plans to DC plans. Nearly half of sponsors said their plans offer between 16 and 25 investment options, while all the consultants surveyed said they would recommend their clients offer just 15 options or less.
Jim Danaher said in the report that another significant obstacle is the participants themselves. "Reluctance to change is a key barrier, even if the change we implement would be beneficial to participants," he said. "We find that change is often viewed as a benefit being taken away, even if that's not the case."