text:
"Butter helps it slide down your throat," said Dennis Voss, the husband of a Norwegian-American, revealing his own survival secret for stomaching the gelatinous blob as they dined with friends on lutefisk amid a bustling lunchtime crowd.
America's rising foodie culture has inspired a new generation of chefs and adventurous eaters who have mined ethnic and antiquated food traditions to create gourmet delicacies. Even Scandinavian cuisine, not usually considered the most savory, is sharing the spotlight. It's winning plaudits at restaurants from Minneapolis's nationally recognized Bachelor Farmer to Copenhagen's world-renowned Noma, where globe-trotting diners wait months for reservations.
But lutefisk, a dried white cod reconstituted in caustic chemicals, is one heritage dish that has remained stubbornly unimproved. Yet it lives on in places where people of Scandinavian descent are numerous.
A list of churches, Scandinavian cultural gatherings, restaurants and clubs that serve lutefisk runs to 22 pages on one website dedicated to the dish, showcasing sites in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, the Dakotas, Montana, Washington as well as snowbird outposts like Arizona and Florida.
Every year come the holidays, a loyal legion shows up to partake. While their ancestors needed hardy food that wouldn't spoil, lutefisk fanciers agree the reason to eat it now is less obvious -- or entirely lost on most people.
"You have to try it at least three times," says Voss, 79.
Tradition -- and even the ridicule lutefisk widely evokes-- provide much of the answer.
The heart of lutefisk country is west of Minneapolis, where eastern river valleys flatten into western prairies that were heavily settled by Scandinavian immigrants in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Further west from Litchfield, a sign in the tiny town of Madison welcomes visitors to "Lutefisk Capital U.S.A."
The VFW's lutefisk special comes in "Ole" (large) and "Lena" (small) portions. The fish resembles a quivering hunk of white Jell-O, and is served with an equally snow-white cream sauce and a small cup of melted butter, which really does help. The demographic is noticeable: "You got to have white hair to eat it," said Voss.
Chris Dorff, president of Olsen Fish Company in Minneapolis, a major supplier of lutefisk, said he's read histories that trace the dish to the time of the Vikings. The unusual process of drying and later re-hydrating it was born of necessity in a part of the world where long winters required creativity in food storage and preparation.
"It wasn't about enjoying food, like the Italians," said Dorff, whose company still buys all its dried ling cod for lutefisk from Norway. "It was about sustenance."
The tenacious blandness has provided fodder for everyone from amateur humorists like Jim Nord Harris, the Minneapolis-area retiree who runs the LutfiskLoversLifeline.com web site, to Minnesota's homegrown satirist Garrison Keillor. Harris, whose mother was Swedish, uses that country's spelling; Norwegians add the `e'. Most pronounce it LOOT-uh-fisk.
"Ole and Lars were talking," Harris said, mining his arsenal of lutefisk jokes. "Ole says to Lars, I've got these skunks living under my porch. So Lars says, just throw some lutefisk under there. A week later Lars asks Ole, did you get rid of them skunks? And Ole says I sure did, but now I've got Swedes living under there."
Chefs who have found redeeming qualities in other bland Scandinavian staples have mostly avoided the lutefisk challenge. On the menu at Minneapolis's Fika, a restaurant at the city's American Swedish Institute, you'll find grilled white asparagus in an emulsion of shallot and pine essence, topped with house-made gravlax and syrup made from pine cones and pine buds. At Bachelor Farmer, owned by Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton's adult sons and which recently landed a spot on Bon Appetit magazine's 2012 list of the 10 best new restaurants in America, you'll find a modern take on Swedish meatballs and other Scandinavian-inflected delicacies. But no lutefisk.
Paul Berglund, the chef at Bachelor Farmer, never tried lutefisk until recently. He found it "not that gross."
Michael Fitzgerald, the chef at Fika, finally learned to cook the fish in November when the institute threw its annual lutefisk dinner, serving about 400 people. He poached it with white wine and herbs, then baked it for about 20 minutes. "It didn't turn out too bad," he said. That's in contrast to the traditional preparation: drop it in boiling water for about 8 minutes.
"If you overcook it, even by a minute or two, it's going to take on a kind of unappealing jelly consistency," Dorff said.
Berglund said he wouldn't rule out putting lutefisk on the Bachelor Farmer menu someday. "But only if I could figure out a way to do it that would make it nearly impossible to dislike," he said.
Dorff said his lutefisk sales drop about 5 percent every year, but he has no plans to stop making it. They still sell about half a million pounds a year, he said.
A recent visitor asked Dorff if he really likes lutefisk. There was a very long pause.
"Yeah, I do," Dorff said. "It's just one of those things. I'd prefer a piece of halibut or some crab legs. But I like it. It's got butter on it. Butter is good."


text:
High school sensation Mary Cain, the junior out of Bronxville, New York, closed with a stride-lengthening rush at last Saturday's New Balance Indoor Grand Prix women's two mile at the sold-out Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. Her strong final 50 meters delivered her to the finish line in third place, within one stride of Canadian 5000 meter Olympian Sheila Reid, though 25-seconds behind race winner and three-time Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia, herself a former teen sensation dubbed the "Baby-Faced Destroyer" for the lethality of finishes.
Notwithstanding, Cain smashed the 21-year old U.S. high school indoor 2-mile record by 17-seconds (9:38.68). In all, another fabulous performance for the 16 year-old high school junior who continues her assault on the all-time U.S. high school record book.
And yet – yes, there's an "and yet", but it's a good one. Though Mary Cain has broken three long standing U.S. indoor high school records over the course of the still budding 2013 season (unofficial 3000m, one mile, now two mile), her coach Alberto Salazar can still see room for vast improvement. Even a casual fan can see that her youthful physique still exhibits a mix-master, across the mid-line action in her upper body, an alignment which has profound effect on the action of her stride, its length, and overall efficiency.
"What I first saw with her was her shoulders hunched forward," explained Coach Salazar in Boston. "But we can fix that pretty quick. And that will fix her legs and stride. I was talking to my wife about Galen (Rupp) hunching his shoulders forward, and our daughter (Maria) was listening. She's an equestrian. She said, 'Dad, there's a thing I wear called Shoulders Back which helps us sit straighter in the saddle'. So I ordered it, and it has pulled her shoulders back. Both Mary and Galen run with it now. She still has form to improve. She's weak on top, but at least it's an improvement."
There are many examples of teen sensations who never go on to open division heights. Melody Fairchild, whose 1991 indoor 2-Mile record Cain broke last Saturday, never approached the same level of track success in her post-high school years. More recent California teen queen Jordan Hasay, who famously qualified for the Olympic Trials final at 1500 meters in 2008 as a high schooler, has had a very good collegiate career at Oregon – she won the 2011 NCAA indoor championships in both the one mile and the 3000 meters – but not one that stands out like her high school years. BTW, Hasay and Cain will meet up at the February 16th Millrose Games in New York City over the one mile distance.
There are many complex reasons for teen female talent not to blossom further in running, or any sport, for that matter. Some of it has to do with changes in maturing body composition, the psychological pressure to succeed, and new, competing interests. There's no telling where Mary Cain is headed. Tirunesh Dibaba took her junior success all the way to multiple world records and three Olympic gold medals. Mary Decker Slaney, perhaps America's most celebrated teen sensation, captured double World Championship gold in Helsinki 1983 before infamously – and perhaps ironically – tangling legs with another teen wonder, Zola Budd of South Africa, in the L.A. Olympic 3000 meter final.
Noted throughout his own running career – and now as a coach – for his blunt assessments, Salazar believes the future is unlimited for Mary Cain, who, though restricted by Salazar to post-race interviews, exhibits both an ease and charm in the unforgiving glare of the spotlight that suggest that the stage will not be too big for her to handle.
"In the next couple of years you'll see her become America's top middle-distance runner, no question," Alberto asserted.
The weight on her shoulders will continue to grow. But with her chin up and Shoulders Back, looks like she's prepared to carry that load.

subset: commoncrawl


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European Stocks: Big Dividends and Recovering Economies
Exchange-traded funds offer a convenient way to invest in sectors or niches that interest you. If you'd like to add some European stocks stocks to your portfolio but don't have the time or expertise to handpick a few, the Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF could save you a lot of trouble. Instead of trying to figure out which European stocks will perform best, you can use this ETF to invest in lots of them simultaneously.
The basics
ETFs often sport lower expense ratios than their mutual-fund cousins. This ETF, focused on European stocks, sports a very low expense ratio -- an annual fee -- of 0.12%. It yields about 3%, too.
This ETF has slightly outperformed the MSCI EAFE index over the past three and five years. As with most investments, of course, we can't expect outstanding performances in every quarter or year. Investors with conviction need to wait for their holdings to deliver.
Why European stocks?
It's a smart idea to diversify your holdings not only by market size and industry, but also geographically. If the U.S. economy stalls or slides, other economies may still be performing well, so European and other international stocks could help offset losses in your portfolio. Dividend-paying companies offer an extra bonus, as dividends can significantly boost your returns. Internationally earned dividends can be a little more complicated than domestic ones, though.
More than a handful of European stocks had strong performances over the past year. Vodafone , headquartered in the U.K., surged 55% and yields a whopping 5.5%. Vodafone is collecting some $130 billion from Verizon for its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless, which will be used to reward shareholders, beef up its wireless business, and help fund its growth abroad. Many are waiting to see whether AT&T buys Vodafone. Bears don't like Vodafone's shrinking free cash flow and its near-term reliance on Verizon's performance, but bulls see the stock as appealingly valued.
Switzerland-based pharmaceutical powerhouse Novartis jumped 37% and yields 3.2%. It suffered a patent expiration for its multibillion-dollar Diovan drug last year, but it has received a bunch of breakthrough therapy designations from the FDA, and its pipeline is promising. Novartis has a diverse array of drugs on the market, but some worry about new and competing drugs, some of which offer less scary side effects. The company's third quarter offered mixed results, including disappointing earnings but increased projections. Bulls like the positive results for Novartis' avian flu vaccine and hope that it can protect its Sandostatin franchise. There's talk that the company might split up some of its businesses, too.
France-based oil giant Total S.A. popped 30% and yields 4.5%. Total is already diversified and is expanding its reach more, boosting its liquefied natural gas (LNG) operations and investing in solar energy. Total has plans to drill in the arctic, but is also proceeding carefully there, sensing significant risk. Other risks for investors in Total include its debt and other obligations. On the other hand, Total sports an appealing valuation and is positioned to profit from recent offshore discoveries near Cyprus and from growth projects it has been investing in.
Other European stocks didn't do quite as well over the last year, but could see their fortunes change in the coming years. Diageo advanced a respectable 15% and yields 2.9%. The spirits specialist offers a lot to like, such as 40% of its revenue coming from emerging markets, which sport economies that can grow faster than ours. Diageo is boosting its position in China and isn't afraid to innovate, such as with its new flavors of Smirnoff vodka (Wild Honey or Cinna-Sugar Twist, anyone?). One Diageo drawback is its recent non-bargain-level valuation.
The big picture
If you're interested in adding some European stocks to your portfolio, consider doing so via an ETF. A well-chosen ETF can grant you instant diversification across any industry or group of companies and make investing in it -- and profiting from it -- that much easier.
Other stocks can be even more exciting (and profitable)
The European stocks above aren't your only path to portfolio growth. Motley Fool co-founder David Gardner, whose growth-stock newsletter has been rated No. 1 in the world, has a unique strategy for uncovering wealth-changing stock picks. You can learn about it, and read about a few of his favorite growth stock superstars, in a special free report called "6 Picks for Ultimate Growth." So stop settling for index-hugging gains and click here for instant access to a whole new game plan of stock picks to help power your portfolio.
The article European Stocks: Big Dividends and Recovering Economies originally appeared on Fool.com.
Longtime Fool contributor Selena Maranjian, whom you can follow on Twitter, owns shares of Verizon Communications and Novartis. The Motley Fool recommends Diageo plc (ADR), Total SA. (ADR), and Vodafone. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


text:
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
JPdfBookmarks 2.5.1
32 comments:
- John Antell said...
A suggestion to make you program even better.
It would be good if it could create a printable table of contents like this:
Table of contents
Bookmark1....................... 1
Bookmark2....................... 5
- February 28, 2011 at 1:30 PM
- RNicz said...
There is bug in it.flavianopetrocchi.jpdfbookmarks.bookmark package in method Bookmark::bookmarkFromString.
FitRect coordinates are not correctly imported from bookmark file. Code in Bookmark::bookmarkFromString does not initialize bottom and right sides of view.
Bookmark file generated from PDF:
Bookmark file generated after importing above code to another PDF:
I've corrected this: how can I submit this and other suggestions too?
Best regards
- March 2, 2011 at 1:27 AM
- flavianopetrocchi said...
Hello RNicz, thank you very much for reporting this bug, jpdfbookmarks still doesn't have an official bugtracking system, you can send the details of the bug and your suggestions to my personal e-mail. You can find my address in the README file or the about box of the program.
- March 2, 2011 at 3:57 AM
- Anonymous said...
Is this program portable? ie can it run from a usb flash stick? Thank you.
- March 16, 2011 at 9:43 AM
- flavianopetrocchi said...
The program can run from an usb stick if the system have a java virtual machine installed (version 6 or newer). Otherwise you have to put also the java runtime on the usb stick and customize the startup of the application to use that runtime. The program writes to the windows registry to save its settings, so it will leave traces on the host system even when run from an usb stick.
- March 16, 2011 at 4:34 PM
- Anonymous said...
Problems with the program:
1. I am hungarian. The program is'nt handle the hungarian letters.
2. Dont save the 311 pager, only jpg-zipped (like fotocopy)document. Said "Map error"
3. Same with this document, if the program is not running first (for example after "Close document" commands), dont open this document.
Sorry, my english is not the best!
- April 24, 2011 at 3:50 PM
- flavianopetrocchi said...
Hello, thank you for your reports. It is not easy for me to test the program in different locales, your description is not enough for me to reproduce the bugs you are reporting. If you can send me the pdf files that are showing the problems and a step by step guide to reproduce them. You can use my personal e-mail that you can find in the about box or in the readme file.
- April 24, 2011 at 10:46 PM
- John Antell said...
I think there is a gap in the market for a program which can produce a printable table of contents like this:
Table of contents
Bookmark1....................... 1
Bookmark2....................... 5
I have worked out a way to do this using your program and spreadsheet software
see http://johnantell.co.uk/HowtoCreateaTrialBundleAlternativestoAcrobat.pdf
but it not elegant.
If you could enhance your program to do this easily perhaps you could corner the market!
- April 25, 2011 at 4:30 AM
- John Antell said...
URL in previous comment should read
- April 25, 2011 at 4:32 AM
- John Antell said...
URL in previous comment should read
- April 25, 2011 at 4:33 AM
- flavianopetrocchi said...
Hello, I am not sure I have understood your requirements, it would help a lot to have an example of your "use case", try to send me a pdf file from wich to extract the table of contents and another one with the final result. You can use my personal e-mail that you can find in the about box or in the readme file of jpdfbookmarks.
- April 25, 2011 at 5:34 AM
- Todd Stewart said...
I have just installed the Acrobat Standard X (10) and when I try to open a PDF scanned into the the new Acrobat the images donot show up in the JPDF bookmarking program. Is there a setting that I am missing in the Acrobat program?
- May 11, 2011 at 5:55 AM
- Dan Regaz said...
Ciao Fabiano,
complimenti per il project... :)
Il sistema di bookmarking
sui pdf è molto utile ma ancora
molto poco sviluppato .
Per migliorarne la funzionalità
bisognerebbe che i bookmarks
personali apparissero in una colonna
a parte e non mischiati a quelli
già presenti...
Poi vedi se riesci a dare delle
indicazioni chiare e semplici sull'utilizzo per tutte le piattaforme e direttamente nella tua pagina home page del blog.
Essere Molto Chiari e Semplici è
I migliosi saluti
- May 24, 2011 at 4:31 PM
- flavianopetrocchi said...
Ciao grazie per il commento, lo standard pdf non prevede segnalibri personali distinti da quelli già pre-esistenti, i programmi che lo fanno (tipo okular) non creano veri e propri segnalibri, infatti se poi apri il pdf in un altro programma non li trovi più. La documentazione è scarsa è vero, ma ho davvero poco tempo da dedicare a questo progetto e preferisco dedicarlo allo sviluppo. Grazie ancora per i suggerimenti ciao.
- May 25, 2011 at 2:49 AM
- Clara said...
Hi Flaviano,
I just began to use JPdfBookmarks today and I wanted to let you know how much I like it and appreciate all the effort you put into its development. It is probably the best and most user-friendly PDF application I've used in Linux. I have Acrobat Professional on my Windows machine, and it has been a torturous struggle to recreate many of the 'simple' features to which I'm accustomed. Your software not only matches the experience but far exceeds it. I also found your install instructions clear and easy to follow (and thanks for including an image file to use for the launcher!).
Thanks for you all your great work!
- June 15, 2011 at 9:05 PM
- flavianopetrocchi said...
I appreciate when people spend a little time to thank. Ciao Clara.
- June 16, 2011 at 1:03 AM
- Alessandro said...
Ciao Flaviano,
I'm experiencing an issue with JPDFBookmarks 2.5.1 under Windows XP SP 2 (with the latest JVM).
I'm using it on a big PDF file (about 50 Mb, with tiff G4 and text layer under the image).
The file was optimized for web view and the initial view options were changed to single page (layout), fit page (zoom) and bookmarks and pages (navigation).
I'm able to open the file in JPB and add bookmarks.
When I save, the task finishes but the image view on the right pane disappear.
I'm not able anymore to view the images or navigate the document.
The counter pane on the toolbar reports "0 of 500 pages".
I believe the issue is related to the "single page (layout)" initial view option. If I change to "continuous mode" everything works as usual.
Thank you.
p.s. complimenti per il tuo splendido software, l'interfaccia è molto ben fatta e funzionale. Non ho trovato nulla di simile che mi consenta di lavorare velocemente.
- June 21, 2011 at 4:23 AM
- flavianopetrocchi said...
Ciao Alessandro, it seems a bug in the save routine, it would help me a lot having your pdf file to reproduce the same behavior, if the file doesn't contain confidential data send me it to my e-mail address, you can find my address in the about box of the program. If you cannot send me it I will try to reproduce it in some other way.
Grazie di aver riportato il problema farò il possibile appena avrò un pò di tempo per correggere il programma. Ciao.
- June 21, 2011 at 7:58 AM
- Alessandro said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- June 21, 2011 at 11:40 PM
- Thunder7 said...
Sounds like you need a beta tester,
I FREQUENTLY bookmarks my massive finds and would like to send them to PDF.
How can I help?
- June 27, 2011 at 3:35 AM
- flavianopetrocchi said...
Hello Thunder7, thank you very much for your offer, send me an e-mail to tell me more about yourself and what you generally do or would like to do with JPdfBookmarks. I generally collect bug reports in the sourceforge forums associated with the program or via e-mail and any help is really appreciated. I generally don't upload beta versions in sourceforge, so if you want to have access to the latest build you have to do it yourself, it is not hard with the right tools even if you are not a programmer and I can help of course. My e-mail address is in the about box of the program or in the README file.By contributing of course you acknowledge that contributions are provided strictly on a volunteer basis, without any pay or compensation of any kind.
- June 27, 2011 at 4:15 AM
- Trav said...
Fantastic Program! I have been looking for something like this forever. Just used it for first time and loved it. Simple, straight forward, and effective. I have been so frustrated by all of the pdf readers that don't have this ability. Thanks for the job well done.
- July 2, 2011 at 11:43 PM
- Anonymous said...
Great util. I export/import all the time. It would be great if the export/import could handle unicode since I use non-Roman characters in bookmarks.
Could your program also handle Adobe's "named destinations"? These are critical for bookmarking from document1.pdf to document2.pdf.
Finally, when JPdfBookmarks saves a file the PDF Producer field is populated with Chinese characters. Can this be changed to something else, e.g. blank or "JPdfBookmarks"?
Again, this is a VERY useful utility. Thanks.
- August 4, 2011 at 9:47 AM
- GZ said...
Hi Faviano, I have started using your program to move some bookmarks from a bunch of pdf files to other actualiced ones. Everything works great using the cli to manage the batch. But I noticed that the program couldn't handdle big pdf files, I mean really big ones 1gb-2gb.
Any idea if this limitation could be bypassed?
Thanks for your attention an the fine software which saving me a lot of pain.
- August 5, 2011 at 7:31 AM
- Anonymous said...
Good free software. Keep up the good work.
JPdfBookmarks was just I was looking for.
- August 8, 2011 at 3:04 AM
- flavianopetrocchi said...
I am away for vacation I will answer your questions at the end of August, sorry about that. Thanky you, best regards.
- August 8, 2011 at 5:44 AM
- flavianopetrocchi said...
Hello to all, thank you for your messages, but please try to use the forum to ask for support or to suggest things, it is much better for me and easier for other users.
- September 2, 2011 at 6:38 AM
- Anonymous said...
Ciao, ottimo programma. Però sto tentando di esportare e rimportare i bookmark di un PDF in rumeno, e le lettere meno comuni me le sostituisce con un punto interrogativo. Ad esempio: "Caracteristici, aprob?ri ?i omolog?ri"
I caratteri mancanti in questa stringa sono la "a" con un accento tondo curvato all'insù, e una "s" con la cediglia.
E' possibile fixare questo errore? Grazie!
- October 11, 2011 at 1:15 AM
- flavianopetrocchi said...
L'errore potrebbe essere causato da una problema di encoding, prova ad usare UTF-8 sia per l'esportazione che per l'importazione. Per settare l'encoding nell'interfaccia grafica vai in Strumenti->Preferenze nel tab Generale c'è l'opzione per cambiare encoding. Se usi la riga di comando usa l'opzione --encoding UTF-8 sia per esportare che per importare. Puoi sperimentare anche con altre codifiche. Ciao.
- October 11, 2011 at 2:50 AM
- Anonymous said...
Great app!
- October 24, 2011 at 1:53 AM
- Unknown said...
I agree with Nemo's comment that "...there is a gap in the market for a program which can produce a printable table of contents..." I use Adobe Acrobat at work (I could never afford it for personal use) and, for the life of me, could never understand why it doesn't create a table of contents from the bookmarks. It seems like such an obvious enhancement.
- January 3, 2012 at 9:40 PM
- Frank said...
Ho una lista di bookmark che vorrei evidenziare e copiare negli appunti: è possibile farlo?
- November 9, 2016 at 9:13 AM


text:
Fans face hours in line for Olympics tickets
SOCHI, Russia — Many sports fans had to wait in line for hours Friday to pick up tickets for the Sochi Olympics.
On the day of the opening ceremony that kicks off 17 days of sport, long queues, made up mostly of Russians, snaked into ticket collection points in and around the Russian Black Sea resort hosting the games.
Organizers said the queues formed in part because local residents from Sochi, who could have picked up their tickets months ago, waited until the last minute and had to wait with thousands of visitors from elsewhere in Russia who are pouring into town for the games.
Oksana Yeguryan, from Adler on Sochi's outskirts, said she waited for four hours to collect her 20,000-ruble ($578) ticket for the opening ceremony, only to be told she would have to come back a day later to buy more tickets.
"I'm frustrated," she said. "I spent four hours waiting to pick up my ticket and now I have to come back tomorrow and wait for four more hours."
Sochi Olympic organizers said more than 80 percent of tickets to events have been sold. Russian spectators have been allocated 70 percent of the total available.
Ticket collection points are operating at Sochi's airport, at railway stations in downtown Sochi and at the Olympic Park in Adler. Tickets bought online also could be picked up in Moscow.
Organizers said tickets also can be collected at booking offices at the Olympic Park and mountain transportation hubs and in the hours before competitions start at the coastal and mountain complexes.
On the official website for the games, organizers announced: "Dear spectators! Additional Ticket Box Offices are opened for your convenience."
The games are divided between stadiums on the Black Sea coast, for events like hockey, figure skating and speed skating, and the mountain cluster of slopes and tracks for alpine events.
Sergey Galkin traveled some 2,800 kilometers (1,740 miles) from Yekaterinburg in the Ural mountains to pick up 50,000 rubles ($1,444) worth of biathlon, ski jumping and luge tickets for him and his son.
After that cross-country trek, he was stoic about a few more hours in line.
"What can you do?" he said.


text:
ProVisionaire Ecosystem Tools
Smart Device Applications
MonitorMix is an application for iOS / Android devices that allows individual wireless AUX mixing.
STAGEPAS Controller
STAGEPAS Controller is an application for iOS / Android devices that allows users to adjust each channel setting, SPX Effects, Priority Ducker etc. on the STAGEPAS 1K mkII and STAGEPAS 200 remotely via Bluetooth during rehearsal or performance.
STAGEPAS Editor
STAGEPAS Editor is STAGEPAS 1K's dedicated remote control application that allows users to adjust volume and EQ at a distance via Bluetooth during rehearsal or performance.
MGP Editor
MGP Editor is a free software application that gives you additional control of your MGP mixer's DSP settings via your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
MG Rec & Play
The MG Rec & Play software application enables high-quality recording, as well as fast and easy playback of songs and sound effects, by simply connecting your iPhone/iPad to any MG Series XU model.
MMP1 Controller
MMP1 Controller is an iPad application that allows remote control of MMP1 Studio Monitor Management System parameters. With the MMP1 app you can easily adjust the monitor system while accurately assessing performance from anywhere in the studio.
VST Rack
The VST Rack software is plug-in host software that uses VST plug-ins, letting you create the exact effect rack you want.
CL Editor
The CL Editor is a standalone application for computers running Windows or Mac operating systems, for both extended online operation and offline setup and editing.
QL Editor
Programmera din QL både online och offline. För Mac/Windows.
TF Editor
The TF Editor is a standalone application for computers running Windows or Mac operating systems, for both extended online operation and offline setup and editing.
DM3 Editor
The DM3 Editor is a standalone application for computers running Windows or Mac operating systems, for both extended online operation and offline setup and editing.
M7CL V3 Editor
The M7CL V3 Editor application provides off-line programming access to all console parameters.Setups can be downloaded from the computer to the console either via direct Ethernet connection or a USB memory stick.
LS9 Editor
The LS9 Editor is a free software viewer/editor application for Windows-based computers. It can be used online in real time for convenient, flexible metering as well as Selected Channel parameter display.
Console File Converter
The Yamaha Console File Converter is an application that allows data to be shared between a number of Yamaha digital mixing consoles.
ProVisionaire Amp Editor Utgången
ProVisionaire Amp Editor is a Windows application that provides all-in-one setup, control, and monitoring capability for Yamaha PC and XMV series power amplifiers.
MTX-MRX Editor
MTX-MRX Editor is a software application that is dedicated to the setup and management of sound systems built around the MTX and MRX series signal processors.
MMP1 Editor
MMP1 Editor provides all-function access for everything from system design through file management to day-to-day operation. A setup wizard makes setup fast, easy, and precise.
Yamaha Sound System Simulator is an innovative software program that offers a precise and easy-touse simulation of sound pressure level distribution, frequency characteristics, and other attributes when installing speakers in any type of venue.
Commercial Installation Solutions Speaker Calculator (CISSCA)
By following only a few steps, you can estimate the required number of speakers in an optimal way for your project.
Amp Editor
Remote control/monitoring software dedicated for TXn power amplifiers, ACD1 amp control devices and ACD1 compliant power amplifiers such as Tn, PC-1N, XP, XM and XH Series.
NetworkAmp Manager
A network Management software for NHB32-C and ACU16-C. The software can control/monitor the PC-1N Series power amplifiers via ACU16-C control unit.
Yamaha LAN Monitor
The Yamaha LAN Monitor makes overall network topology clearly visible, giving the user a comprehensive overview of how multiple switches and Dante network devices are interconnected. Simply connect a computer to the nearest SWX/SWP/SWR series switch and launch the Yamaha LAN Monitor software.


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Need more reasons to buy from Stock Yards? Here are just a few quotes from our loyal customers.
"Every holiday season, it's always a challenge to find an exceptional thank-you gift for our top clients. Our search for that special gift is now over, thanks to Stock Yards. After placing our first gift order with Stock Yards, we knew that we found that perfect gift to send every year. Our clients were very impressed with their Stock Yards gifts, and the feedback was excellent!" ~ J. Camarato
"My husband and I ordered Stock Yards filets as a thank-you gift for a friend. Not only did our friend call to thank us when he received the order, but he called again after tasting the filets to tell us how excellent the quality was!" ~ E. Pappas
"Your steaks are THE best I've ever tasted. So far we've tried three different types plus the babyback ribs. Excellent, High Quality. Delicious. Delivery was amazingly quick. You ought to be quite proud of the organization you have going there. Great product - terrific personnel." ~ V. Van Westering
"Your shipping containers were impressive, your telephone customer service gal very helpful and your notifications of shipment schedules accurate. Many thanks for a pleasurable shopping experience." ~ M. Webb


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One session at last week's WWDC featured featured a JavaScript application framework called SproutCore, which has generated quite a bit of buzz since then. The framework was used by Apple to develop .Mac's Web Gallery feature and is likely being used to develop the web-based applications that are part of Apple's MobileMe service. With Apple standing up for web standards—supporting standards in WebKit, working with W3C and WHATWG to develop next-gen standards, even remaking its web site in pure HTML, CSS, and JavaScript—SproutCore is being promoted by Apple as a recommended framework for creating rich, standards-based web applications that have a "native look-and-feel."
The developers at Sproutit originally came up with SproutCore, a complete framework for building rich Internet applications, because they wanted to rewrite their first application, Mailroom, to run completely via the browser. Since the framework is open source, anyone can freely take advantage of the framework to build desktop-quality applications that run in all major browsers. Anyone, including Apple.
The fact that SproutCore offered a complete application development framework was important to Apple. SproutCore developer and Sproutit co-founder Charles Jolley told Ars, "It differs from other frameworks primarily in the way it approaches web development. With it, you write an entire application to run in the web browser. Usually it is so complete that it can literally run on its own without any server involved." This offers benefits in speed, in that most of the heavy lifting can happen on the user's machine, with the server just transmitting data as needed.
Apple's interest is more than just JavaScript, though. "SproutCore is modeled on Cocoa," says Jolley, referring to Apple's highly-regarded application development frameworks for Mac OS X. But, he stresses, "It is not a clone." It is built around the Model-View-Controller programming model that Cocoa uses. Jolley says that means that SproutCore "can handle very complex applications," so applications can give users a desktop like experience. "SC has a lot of tricks to handle apps with hundreds of views and thousands of data objects. None of the other libraries are built for that today."
SproutCore was used to develop .Mac's Web Gallery feature.
Apple's interest also lies in being able to deliver a rich applications without relying on proprietary plug-ins, like Flash. Roughly Drafted's Daniel Eran Dilger wrote yesterday that Apple is also adopting the framework for its MobileMe service set to launch in the next few weeks. The MobileMe service will include an e-mail client, address book, calendar, web gallery, and web disk apps that all run cross-platform in all modern browsers. These apps are almost identical to the native Mac OS X apps they mimic, all without the use of Flash. This same technology makes it possible to create iPhone-optimized versions, which has no way to access Flash content.
Jolley's WWDC demo application bears a striking resemblance to MobileMe's updated Web Gallery.
Jolley gave his wildly successful presentation at WWDC last week on "Building Native Look-and-Feel Web Applications Using SproutCore." Since SproutCore is open-sourced under an "über-liberal" MIT license and Apple appears to be promoting it as "Cocoa for the web," it's likely that Apple is adding improvements to the framework. But Jolley couldn't give any details on Apple's plans. "Well, I'm not really able to talk about that unfortunately. Apple PR is pretty strict about it." You can, however, view the application that was demoed during the WWDC session, which looks an awful lot like iPhoto's image browser.
While some are skeptical of SproutCore's approach, it's hard to argue that going with a purely standards-based method has no merit. While Sproutit continues to enjoy success with their Mailroom app, MobileMe could be the litmus test that proves the approach has benefits for all application developers. And, for Apple, it could help make MobileMe a hit that, like the Mac and OS X, "just works."


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A Washington State pet supply store owner's diet is going to the dogs.
Dorothy Hunter, who owns Paws Natural Pet Emporium in Richland, Wash., has vowed to eat nothing but pet food for 30 straight days in order to raise awareness about the diets of pets and humans.
"There's been a lot about the bad foods for humans," she said on her store's YouTube channel. "We sell holistic, natural foods — good ingredients, USA products — at Paws Natural Pet Emporium. I believe in our products and how good they are; I actually believe our pets are eating better than us. With that said, for the next month, until July 19 … I'm going to eat dog food for a month."
Hunter told NBC affiliate KNDO she'd been restocking store shelves when she got hungry — and had an idea. "I didn't have time to get a snack, so I grabbed a bag of treats off the counter, and I was like, 'Wow, you know, these read better than normal people treats.' So, I started eating the treats and I was like, 'You know, I can do this for 30 days."
Canned cat food and wet dog food have been added to her diet. Even some of her employees have joined her in sampling pet cuisine.
And Hunter's doing it with enthusiasm. In that same YouTube video, she said she'd have "very good" freeze-dried cheddar dog treats as well as green-bean chips, also intended for dogs. "This is a really good diet for me, because I'm going to be eating some green beans today," she said.
In a statement, the Food and Drug Administration told TODAY that pet food is not intended for humans, since people and pets have different dietary needs, but noted that both are required to be compliant with food additive regulations and free of pathogens.
John Tegzes, a consultant for Just Food For Dogs, which makes pet food from ingredients intended for human consumption, told TODAY that while he appreciates Hunter's message of checking nutritional labels, he doesn't condone experimenting with pet foods.
"We're not sure of the ingredients," he said. "We're not sure of potential contamination. And then, nutritionally, it's not necessarily balanced for human nutrition."
TODAY diet and nutrition editor Madelyn Fernstrom said seeking less processed foods is smart, but pet foods can put you at risk for food-borne illness. "There are loads of unprocessed, high-fiber, nutrient dense snacks readily available for people," said Fernstrom. "Choosing to experiment with pet food as a long term option is a nutritional negative and might make you sick."
Although nutrition and lifestyle expert Arielle Haspel told TODAY.com she initially found the pet-food diet "gross," she came around after she thought about it some more. "But then I thought to myself, 'Well, I might actually do this myself.' It really depends on the ingredients."
Haspel agreed with Hunter that people need to label-watch with more consistency. "There are dog foods, probably, now on the market that are certainly healthier than some of the food we're buying in our supermarkets," she added. "What I would say is that if it is marketed for dogs and cats, just make sure it is edible and chewable before you actually try to eat it."
In another YouTube video, Hunter filmed herself eating pumpkin-flavored pet food. Right before taking a bite of Grandma Lucy's Organic Oven Baked Dog Treats, she says she prefers the blueberry flavor, adding, "This is my breakfast."
Follow TODAY.com writer Chris Serico on Twitter.


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Superior Chassis
Tough and durable steel frame. Frame is contoured using a mandrel bend & welds are enforced for superior strength.
Tough and durable steel frame. Frame is contoured using a mandrel bend & welds are enforced for superior strength.
StaFast "T-nuts" are used to attach the seat and back to the frame, providing superior holding power.
Superior plywood is used on all chairs. The seat features a 5/8" thick and the back is 1/2" for extra support.
We combine 2 different density foams to create a comfortable seat.
Chairs can connect to each other with this standard feature.
Each back has 1½" of foam and lumbar support, for long term comfort.
We take comfort very seriously. Our 3″ waterfall cushion provides comfort to guests for long periods.
All Vista Plus+ chairs have the ability to stack up to 6-8 high.
Take your chair to the next level with nickel-plated glides (optional).
The cold cured foam (CCF) seat cushion prevents water and other liquids from penetrating the cushion (optional).
ComforTek stocks some of today's top designer colours, patterns, and finishes. Visit ctsfabrics.com to view all fabrics.
Lifetime warranty on frame
15 years on CCF
5 years on standard foam
5 years on upholstery
Width: 20"
Seat width: 20"
Depth: 24"
Height: 34 ½"
Weight: 20 lbs.
1.1* yards per chair (No repeats on C.O.M.)
600 lbs.
18 ga. steel
1" steel - legs
3/4" steel - back
CAL 133 (optional)
ANSI / BIFMA approved
Fully assembled
Palletized and stacked


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IT Operations Management 2019.
May 21, 2019
Park Plaza Victoria London
Note: Agenda is subject to change
Product Specialist
Bijoy Joseph is a Technical Engineer in ManageEngine, a division of Zoho Corporation. He started his professional career in 2007, where he was involved in various IT Support, Sales and Project Management activities. He has first hand experience of several installation sessions across the globe. With deep knowledge in Applications Manager, he has helped several organizations manage their applications better.
Product Specialist
Deepu Sarasan is a technical support specialist in ManageEngine, a division of Zoho Corporation. With 9 years of expertise in technical support, he has conferred several training, demo and installation sessions. Deepu is a veteran when it comes to large scale implementation of Network Monitoring Solutions.
Park Plaza Victoria London
239 Vauxhall Bridge Road,
SW1V 1EQ London, United Kingdom
Zoho Corporation Private Limited
4141 Hacienda Drive
California 94588, USA
Phone: +1-925-924-9500
Email: email@example.com
"OpManager is an ever-improving monitoring solution with new features such as greater reporting capabilities, additional performance monitoring, failover support and an enhanced intro page with great overview of all of our devices. In my opinion, it is the most beneficial tool we own. There is a greater ROI with OpManager than with the other more costly monitoring systems like Tivoli, OpenView or SCCM's Operations Manager. Not to mention the ease of installation and configuration when compared to OpenView or Tivoli."
- David Henry, Systems Administrator, AOSmith Electrical Products Company.
"With Applications Manager, it takes us only a few seconds to add a monitor for any application or hardware that we use. And within minutes, we get full availability, health and performance statistic reports of all our resources. It is also very simple to configure notifications."
- Ruslan Konviser, Systems Architect, GoGlobal Travel Ltd.
"Network Configuration Manager is a very powerful configuration management tool. Keeping track of what changes were made and when it was made to each configuration, started getting out of hand fast as the number of Cisco routers at customer locations grew. Network Configuration Manager changed all that, with the ability to store all the configurations on a server and access them via a web GUI, we were able to respond faster to customer configuration change requests. If you are someone that is currently wondering how to get a handle on your configurations changes then Network Configuration Manager is for you."
- Kevin Spies, Manager of Network Operations, Lightyear Network Solutions, LLC
"ManageEngine has been a great company to work with. OpManager and NetFlow have made a huge difference to our Network and Systems teams. Before we brought ManageEngine, we were using a number of different monitoring systems depending on the type and brand of equipment being monitored. Obviously, this made it difficult to understand large issues that involved multiple systems spread across multiple monitoring systems. Now we have a single application that monitors nearly any piece of equipment we have on our network."
- Andrew Harkins, Network Operations Team, Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center.
"As an IT infrastructure service provider for global corporations, we needed a centralized firewall monitoring solution for our multi-vendor, multi-tenant, virtualized environment. Firewall Analyzer proved to be a more-than-capable solution for monitoring and managing multiple, customer-specific, virtual firewalls. Firewall Analyzer provides us with customer-specific client views, with mutually exclusive, individual firewall reports and alerts for each of our customers."
- Scott Fenna, Senior Consultant, Managed Services Factory, Computacenter, AG & Co oHG,Services & Solutions


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BlogCon 2012: Charlotte (37 Pics)
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The Franklin Center and Freedomworks teamed up to put on BlogCon 2012 in the Queen City this year. They brought me in to….um, I don't know, hang out, take pictures, cause I am that damn charming? Something — I don't know, but I love doing these events and I'm glad they did.
Looked at #blogconclt agenda & was thinking "Geeze, Tabitha is lazy. This is just like the last one." Then I realized it was the 2011 agenda
— John Hawkins (@johnhawkinsrwn) April 19, 2012
On the day everyone arrived, there was nothing scheduled before Blog Bash; so I got some people together for dinner at a local wing restaurant.
After dinner, we headed over to Ali Akbar and Melissa Clouthier's Blog Bash.
Left my bank card in the wing restaurant. Went to get it. Ran into **shocker** bloggers in the bar. #somuchforgettingtobedearly #blogconclt
— John Hawkins (@johnhawkinsrwn) April 20, 2012
True fact. So funny. RT @johnhawkinsrwn: I just gave Tabitha Hale her Christmas card. Yes, really…
— Tabitha Hale (@TabithaHale) April 20, 2012
There were a lot of great panels on the opening day. My favorite was Lee Doren talking about YouTube. I learn a half dozen new things every time he opens his mouth on the subject. "David vs. Goliath: Slaying the Legacy Media" was also a lot of fun. That one featured James O'Keefe, Pamela Geller, John Nolte, and Jon Fleischman.
At #BlogConCLT sitting behind @johnhawkinsrwn . Yeah he looks good from behind.
— Kira Ayn Davis (@kiradavis422) April 20, 2012
We also got to see part of an unfinished Andrew Breitbart movie project. It was impressive.
I generally find political documentaries to be dull, but what I've seen of "Occupy Unmasked" bit.ly/ykSyX6 is very good. #BlogConCLT
— John Hawkins (@johnhawkinsrwn) April 20, 2012
Afterwards, there was a presentation for Team Breitbart.
Here are a few other pics from the day's events.
Surprised Liz Mair is SUPRISED!
Disapproving Liz Mair is DISAPPROVING!
Liz Mair, April Gregory, Irina Moises
Neri Martinez, Jerri Ann Henry
Francesca Chambers, Alexa Shrugged, Katrina Rice
Shhhhh … I took two #BlogConCLT t-shirts … because Freedom Badger don't care!
— AlexaShrugged (@AlexaShrugged) April 20, 2012
After the day's festivities ended, there was a Freedomworks candidate reception. Sean Bielat, who has an excellent opportunity to beat a Kennedy for Barney Frank's seat, was the biggest name candidate in the room.
Somebody from The Blacksphere, Kevin Jackson
Melissa Clouthier, Cheryl Prater
After the candidate reception, everyone rolled into a local BBQ joint and took it over for dinner. For some reason, every Yankee at the event was DYING to eat some AUTHENTIC North Carolina BBQ. Apparently "real" North Carolina BBQ is vinegar based or uh…not vinegar based, or something. I've only lived in the Carolinas my whole life and I've never heard anybody who lives here going on and on about BBQ. Of course, maybe we do and everyone just talks about it at the Nascar races that I don't attend, so who knows? Anyway, after dinner, I decided not to go to the 10:00 P.M. cab ride away, karaoke event. Still, it's hard for me to go from point A to point B at one of these events without running into other bloggers, usually in the hotel bar, and chatting for a while before I make it up to my room.
The 7 Reasons You Will Never Be As Cool As @JohnHawkinsRWN #BlogConCLT bit.ly/JgosaN #tcot (uh oh, just thought of #8)
— Doug Ross (@directorblue) April 21, 2012
Chris Loesch, Dana Loesch, Steven Crowder.
So, no Occupy dirt hippies are showing up at #blogconclt ? I guess the Occupy movement must be dead in Charlotte. Victory by default for 1%
— John Hawkins (@johnhawkinsrwn) April 21, 2012
For the second day in a row, there were lots of great panels. I got some great ideas from "Pitching and promoting your work" which featured Liz Mair, Guy Benson, and Tony Katz. Stephen Moore also did a magnificent speech with some great information in it.
"In just four years we've borrowed more in four years than we did from 1776 to 2005." — Stephen Moore #BlogConCLT
— John Hawkins (@johnhawkinsrwn) April 21, 2012
The bottom 40% have a net tax liability of zero. The bottom 50% pay 2.2%. The top 50% pay 97.8%. — Stephen Moore #BlogCongclt
— John Hawkins (@johnhawkinsrwn) April 21, 2012
Best case scenario, people under 30 will get back 70 cents for every dollar they put into Social Security — Stephen Moore #BlogConCLT
— John Hawkins (@johnhawkinsrwn) April 21, 2012
Kurt Schlichter, James Skyles, and Emily Zanotti did a particularly useful panel on legal issues.
Mandy Nagy and Brandon Darby did a useful, in depth presentation on "Opposition Research: Digging up the Dirt."
I don't want to slight the other people who spoke because there were no bad speakers, but those were the ones that really stood out for me. Here are a few pictures taken during the day.
I don't know whose decision it was to give a bunch of overly-caffeinated bloggers a ton of sugar, but I SALUTE YOU. #blogconclt
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) April 21, 2012
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. — Ephesians 6:12-13
That night, we finished the conference off — officially — with a little pizza and bowling.
This year's BlogCon didn't turn out to be as eventful as last year's event, since the Charlotte Occulosers weren't on the ball enough to crash the event, but it was still an outstanding event that was extremely useful to the bloggers who attended. Much thanks to the Franklin Center, Freedomworks, Erik Telford, and Tabitha Hale for putting on the event!
Also see,
The First Inaugural BlogCon 2010 (27 Pics)
BlogCon 2011: Denver (45 Pics)
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In the wake of Konami telling a Japanese investor site that it was "looking into" an Xbox 360 version of MGS4, Microsoft is now quoted as saying that the Xbox 360 can "handle" MGS4. With Final Fantasy XIII now multi-plat, that argument seems like it could very well hold water. According to John Schappert, the firm's corporate vice-president of Live, Software and Services:
I'm certainly in the fan club that would love to see Kojima-san's masterpiece come our way. It would be wonderful to play Metal Gear Solid on the Xbox. It could become another of the many franchises that started their life on another console that are now coming our way. I can't speak on behalf of Konami, but I can shed more light on the fact that we definitely have the power to run MGS4. There are a lot of recent examples that are in true high-def on our platform and aren't on PS3. We've got an amazing amount of horsepower and graphics power.
WHEN WILL THIS END?! Guess when MGS4 is on the Xbox 360, that's when. Ungh. 360 can handle MGS4, says Microsoft [MCVUK]


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Riding into the Village of Samdzong, Upper Mustang, Nepal, Photo: Liesl Clark
It was a plastic bag, of all things, that spooked the young Tibetan horse into a bucking frenzy. We had just saddled him up and tied some snacks onto the already-packed saddle bags. Our 9-year-old son, Finn, was his rider. Something about the unfamiliar sound of crinkling plastic set the horse off and 10 seconds later Finn miraculously threw himself from the saddle, landing onto his back. He stood up, immediately, and faced everyone to say, in a shaken voice, "I'm okay."
Plastic bag caught in a pile of kindling, Tamagaon, Upper Mustang, Photo: Liesl Clark
Ironically, this was the only plastic bag I had accepted from a shop keeper in 10 days and my misjudgement felt like a slap in the face. Plastic bags don't belong out in the wilds of the Himalayan high steppes — even the 2-year-old gelding knew that.
We were at 13, 300 feet, just outside the royal city of Lo Manthang in the Kingdom of Mustang, Nepal. Finn's horse galloped away down a rough stretch of canyon, the saddle bags now dangerously tangled between his hind legs. He had ripped himself, twice, from the grips of Tashi Wangyel, his owner, the former horseman of the Raja, or king, of Mustang. Tashi was devastated by the sight of the abrasions across Finn's back. Finn is like a son to him, a dear friend of his own son, Kunga, who is one of the youngest monks at the nearby monastery. Luckily Tashi had a spare horse Finn could jump on as we had a 5-hour hike ahead of us to the Tibetan borderlands village of Samdzong.
"Dolma," Reliable Steed, Photo: Liesl Clark
We had 6 days to excavate 6 caves for the remains of a 1600-year-old people who once buried their dead in cliff-side shaft tombs. We also had a waste audit to conduct, researching how a traditional village at the end of the trail handles the influx of modern plastic packaging in many goods that are now available due to the nearby construction of a road from China and Tibet.
The New Way: Traveling by Truck up The Kali Gandaki River. Even 6-Year-Olds are Piled in the Back. Photo: Liesl Clark
The Samdzong people, compared to most villages in Upper Mustang, are relatively untouched by modern amenities often brought in to Mustang to appease the tourists. There's no shop in Samdzong, indeed few tourists are given permission to visit the forgotten village. We're helping fund the building of a museum for the ancient artifacts our team of archaeologists and climbers uncovered in the high caves — the attendant grave goods of a Himalayan people we're only just beginning to flesh out through genetic analysis. The material culture these people had at their fingertips consisted of domestic animals, wood, ceramics, wool, glass beads, and metals like bronze, copper, iron, and other precious metals.
Samdzong Village, Plastic-Free. Photo: Liesl Clark
Little has changed in Samdzong today. The people in this bucolic village work their sheep and yak wool day and night, spinning and weaving to make sweaters, colorful clothing, and even hand-woven woolen boots and shoes that are more prevalent than sneakers.
Samdzong's Handmade Sustainable Shoes, Discarded in Riverbed. Photo: Liesl Clark
Samdzong Wool Works. Photo: Liesl Clark
For thousands of years, archaeologists have claimed, indigenous cultures discarded their material waste just outside their homes and villages, along slopes outside enclaves where gravity and precipitation would lend their aid in melting ceramics, wood, and textiles back into the Earth. Broken stone tools simply blended back into the landscape that thousands of years later only a trained eye can now identify. These are the clues to the ancients we look for in Upper Mustang, discards flippantly thrown out of cave dwellings or village homes as well as the goods buried with the dead, to accompany them into the next life.
Ancient Bronze Recovered by Finn from Cave Tomb. Photo: Liesl Clark
Fast forward some 1600 years later, and Samdzong's material culture is still mostly natural: Wood, metals, ceramics, a little glass, and of course textiles. They trade their large flock of goats for food and goods from Southern Nepal and nearby Tibet. A small percentage of what's carried back to the village is plastic, and the behavior around waste has not changed. All household trash is sent out the door, often into the irrigation ditches only a few feet away so the buoyant plastic can be carried off with the current. The good news is that the plastics are limited to a few things: Ramen noodle packets and clothes washing powder bags from China. The women wash their clothes in the streams and ditches and set the empty bags free with the moving water. I picked up a large plastic feedsack-worth in about 10 minutes of cleaning-up down river.
Samdzong River Plastic, Photo: Liesl Clark
We carried out with us the feed sack of plastic from the Samdzong river with promises to take with us next year's village plastic if the locals stockpiled it year round. If all visitors to Upper Mustang carried out with them a large sack-full of a village's compressed lightweight plastic packaging, including water bottles, and took them to Kathmandu to give to the rag pickers who collect and sell them to India for a reasonable price, Upper Mustang might be freed from its choking plastics.
Choked with Trash: Community Garbage Deposited Alongside a Waterfall Outside the Kagbeni Police Post. Photo: Liesl Clark
"We often discover the settlements or mortuary remains of ancient cultures by first finding their trash: Their ceramics, or broken stone tools, even stone flakes from tool-making that were left behind. This is the common waste of early peoples," explains Dr. Mark Aldenderfer, leading archaeologist in our scientific inquiry about who the first people were to settle and thrive in Upper Mustang.
Almost completely intact skeletal remains of a 1600 year old man from Samdzong Mortuary Caves, (L to R: Nepali Archaeologist, Mohan Singh Lama; Dr. Bruce Gardner, M.D.; Dr. Tina Warinner, Geneticist) Photo: Liesl Clark
Our research is all about early people's garbage and grave goods. That we're also committed to addressing the modern garbage of the local culture seems only fitting. We've brought Italian metallurgist, Giovanni Massa, with us to study the many metals we've uncovered in Samdzong's caves. Thousands of years from now, when single-use plastics will be a mistake of the past, what will archaeologists make of our own material culture and plastic waste left behind? It will surely still be here, buried under the silt and dust of timeless winds. I image a plastics specialist will be needed to determine which polymers were used, how they could possibly have gotten here, asking why we invented a material that will never fully break down, slowly dissolving into smaller and smaller bits, disseminating into our waters to be taken up into our food chain, inadvertently consumed by creatures great and small.
Prayer Flags in Mustang's Relentless Wind. Photo: Liesl Clark


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- Last reply: March 23rd, 2022
- Asked by: Sammie Presgraves
- Questioner
- General
If you cannot reach the Spark Energy Co Uk Login page, you can easily find the page you are looking for using the links below. To do this, follow the steps below:
- Click the official Spark Energy Co Uk Login link.
- For the security of your personal data, before typing your username and password, check whether the website you are connecting to is correct. Be sure to check the address line of your internet browser.
- If the domain you are connecting to is correct, type your username and password and click the login button.
- If you still can't sign in, you can check out the troubleshooting page.


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Ask The Expert: Web Designers vs. Web Developers Includes:
Web designers, web developers, web design agencies, digital marketing agencies…what's the difference? Kiley Peters of Brainchild Studios breaks down the differences and what you should be looking for when you are building a new website.
Getting Started
Once you've decided to purchase a video, decide on which format you want. Widescreen is your traditional rectangle (as the preview of the video is) and Square Screen is a square box that works best for Facebook and Instagram on mobile devices. If you're primarily using the videos on Facebook, the square option might be a better choice, whereas if you were using the videos primarily on your blog you'd want the widescreen option. Using the video in multiple places? We make it easy by offering both formats for a small up charge.
Any download that contains a person talking will also have an SRT file. An SRT file is a caption file used for Facebook. It can also be uploaded to YouTube. The SRT file will come in a compressed zip format, so simply double click on the SRT zip file to unzip it before you upload to Facebook.
So now what do I do?
Download the files, upload them to your Facebook page, blog, Twitter, website, or Instagram (those that are short enough!) add a short description, and share away!
How do I use the SRT files?
Download and unzip the SRT file. SRT is the preferred caption file type for Facebook, and it works on YouTube as well. When uploading your video to Facebook, click the "Captions" tab. Then click on the "upload SRT" file button and choose the correct caption file for the video you're uploading. That's it!
What should I write on the posts?
Each post you add to your social media should have some sort of description with it, but it doesn't have to be (and shouldn't be) long. One to three sentences is usually the max you should write, and it could be additional information, a short description of the video, or a call to action (like to buy a related product or redeem a coupon). For example, for a Who Rescued Who video, you could put the sentence we used above to describe the video, plus a sentence that says, "Tell us how your pet rescued you, and you'll be entered for the chance to win a free widget!" or "Do you have a rescue pet? Use the coupon "RESCUE" for 20% your entire order." We add a description of the video above that you are more than welcome to adapt to your audience.
Can I add my branding to the videos?
Definitely- that's the beauty of our videos. We create compelling and entertaining stories for your brand to share on their social, so you should be able to tailor the video to fit your audience. Create a new open or ending or add your logo as a bug, they're yours to use. You just can't re-edit the videos in a way that changes the story or gives false information.


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SULASTIC 2011+ Chevy/GMC 2500HD/3500HD Sulastic Shackles
Product Information:
- #SA-06 – 2011-2023 Chevy/GMC 2500HD
- #SA-06HD – 2011-2023 Chevy/GMC 3500HD
Read 2010 issue of 8-Lug Author: Joe Burnside - Sulastic Rubber Springs - Be Kind To Your Kidneys
Sulastic shackles are basically rubber isolators that take the top heavy spring rate off these 3/4 & 1 ton trucks when driving down the highway or city streets. In a way, these shackles are making your factory spring into a "progressive" style ride without reducing your spring weight capacity.
On my Personal Truck: 2008 3500HD Dually Crew Cab Long Bed
I purchased my dually in December of 2007 and installed a leveling package along with the Sulastic Shackles and my personal spec'd Bilstein (Zinc) 5100's for daily driving. I also pull a fifth wheel trailer (about 18k lbs) and I have AirLift helper bags to accommodate the heavy fifth wheel pin weight. The truck rides great and and my family and I really do enjoy driving the truck for short or long trips.
I am currently running a 4" Cognito Motorsports lift with 35" tall tires along with the same Sulastic Shackles originally installed. Hauling anything from a small trailer or my 20k fifth wheel Toy Hauler, to a 25k lbs+ loaded goose neck trailer, I am still very happy with the performance of the ride quality of this product. I highly recommend these shackles to any 3/4-1 ton truck owners for daily driving or heavy hauling, you will be happy.
Take the top heavy spring rate off your truck while driving down the highway or city streets. Shackles make your factory spring into a "progressive" style ride without compromising your spring weight capacity.
Customer Reviews:
MuddinDirty @ DieselPlace.com
Got mine on Friday. WIFE Approved!!!! They really help with the "kidney shot" bumps, almost not even there. Best mod on the dually yet until the lift gets done!!!
Thanks Nick!!!
EROracing @ DieselPlace.com
Yes I will agree with the above statement. These really helped with the concrete freeway as well as everyday jarring bumps money well spent. Thanks Nick.
HookdOnDmax @ DieselPlace.com
NorCal Nick installed the Sulastics for me last week. They eliminate that immediate spring-to-frame harshness induced at every bump. They also eliminate the annoying vibration in the leaf ... the feedback-whip vibration (spring-stutter?) immediately after a bump. The Bilsteins had already tamed it quite a bit, but the Sulastic shackles totally damp it out.
Just back from 300+ miles on NorCal freeways, and I'm totally satisfied with the Sulastics, drop-version. I don't have airbags, but Nick's white dually has them plus the Sulastics for everyday comfort. His CC dually rides exactly like my XCab.
Denali02 @ DieselPlace.com
Two weeks ago NorCal Trucks installed the Sulastic Shackles. I wanted to drive it a few hundred miles and before the assessment.
To clarify, the truck is still a truck. I can't say it's a significant improvement but enough to reduce that gut wrenching harshness from the rear and the rapid bunny humps. Much softer, enough to take the edge off which is what I was looking for especially when the gas tank was empty. Wish I would of done this long time ago and well worth the investment.
RYDNHI4x4 @ DieselPlace.com
I just got the Sulastic Shackles put on yesterday. And let me tell you what huge difference to the now what stiff bounce in the rear. Soon as I drove away from Nick's shop and went over the speed bumps. WOW. I actually feel like I am driving a car. No more going over bumps, dips and have the rear end feel like it just hopped side ways on you. I would definitely recommend these products if you're looking for a better quality ride and smoothness to your truck. Major difference.
INSman @ DieselPlace.com
Thank you Nick for the Bilsteins that seem to be perfectly valved for my stock setup along with the sulastics that got installed today together and WOW, what a difference !!! Not my Lexus, by absolutely makes me happy about driving the truck again and I know the wife & kids are going to appreciate it as well on our next road trip...
HotRodSS @ DieselPlace.com
I have had the Sulastic springs installed for a while now and I was very pleased with the ride improvement. One way I could describe it is that the rear suspension is similar to the front now when going over bumps. It is much smoother as opposed to the harsh jar that was there before. They are made much heavier than the stock shackles also. I would recommend them if you are looking for a smoother more "car-like" ride from your pickup. Thanks to Nick for a great product.
MuddinDirty @ thetruckstop.us
I have the same rear setup as Nick as he spec'd it out for me when I did the 4-6\ Cognito in front. Like he said
|Component Description:
|SULASTIC 2011+ Chevy/GMC 2500HD/3500HD Sulastic Shackles
|Height x Length x Width (DIM)
|Please choose your option:
|Ship Via:


text: On Wednesday 01 February 2006 05:13, Bruce Allen wrote: > I'd like to know the fastest that anyone has seen an NFS server run, over > either a 10Gb/s ethernet link or a handful of link aggregated > (channel-bonded) Gb/s ethernet lines. > > This would be with a small number of clients making large file sequential > reads from the same NFS host/server. Please assume that the NFS server > has 'infinitely fast' disks. First, don't hijack threads, can't you guys have any mercy on us with thread capable e-mail clients? ;-) I do think that you could get NFS up over the 100 MiB/sec mark, but I also think it would be alot easier with lustre (www.lustre.org) since then you could use a few GigE connected servers and not depend on extreme speed and tuning on one single server... If you go down the nfs path you might want to google on, among other things, NFS over rdma, NFS infiniband, ... just my 0010 cents, Peter > > I am told by one vendor that "NFS can't run faster than 100MB/sec". I > don't understand or believe this. If the server's local disks can > read/write at 300MB/s and the networking can run substantially faster than > 100 MB/s, I don't see any constraint to faster operation. But perhaps > someone on this list can provide real-world data (or say why it can't > work). > > Note: I am free to use modern versions of the NFS protocol, jumbo frames, > large rsize/wsize, etc. > > Cheers, > Bruce -- ------------------------------------------------------------ Peter Kjellstrom | National Supercomputer Centre | Sweden | http://www.nsc.liu.se -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 189 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://www.beowulf.org/pipermail/beowulf/attachments/20060201/356cf62d/attachment.sig>


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Danica Patrick happy, praises team for Darlington finish
Danica Patrick, who drives the No. 10 Chevrolet, is in her second season as a full-time driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and her second with Stewart-Haas Racing and crew chief Tony Gibson. Patrick, who spent seven years driving open-wheel cars in the IndyCar Series (2005-11), has one career top-10 and one career pole in Sprint Cup — both at the 2013 Daytona 500.
Danica Patrick was pleased with her solid performance in Saturday night's Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, one of the toughest tracks on the Sprint Cup circuit.
WHERE SHE STARTED: Qualified 33rd on Friday, her best starting position in three career races at Darlington.
WHERE SHE FINISHED: Scored her fourth top-25 finish in eight races this season, coming home 22nd at the 1.366-mile oval, nicknamed "The Track Too Tough To Tame."
WHAT SHE SAID: "Tonight was such a big improvement for us from where we have been in the past at this track," said Patrick, who made her 54th career Sprint Cup start. "The guys gave me a really drivable GoDaddy Chevy, and we kept making improvements to it all night. I just needed it to turn a little better.
"I'm just really proud of Tony Gibson and all the guys tonight. The guys on pit road did a great job all night long, and really, it was just a good night for me and the entire team. We'll take this and look forward to the next race after a well-deserved break."
HOW IT UNFOLDED: Patrick battled a tight-handling racecar from the drop of the green flag, going down a lap early in the race but keeping herself in position to get back on the lead lap. The team tinkered with the car throughout the night, making a series of trackbar, wedge and tire-pressure adjustments, while also making a shock adjustment to help improve the handling of the racecar. The crew also took advantage of both the wave-around rule and the "Lucky Dog" — the first car one lap down — which allowed Patrick to get back on the lead lap.
"I told Danica to focus on racing the racetrack," said Gibson, "and if you focus on that, you're always going to get a good finish. And that's just what she did tonight."
NEXT RACE: After an off-week, the series returns with the Toyota Owners 400, April 26, at Richmond International Raceway.
LAST TIME: Finished four laps down in 29th after starting 32nd on April 27, 2013.


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Tiny motor could make your cell phone camera your only camera
New Scale Technologies has been racking up some big numbers lately.
Business Magazine Inc. named the Victor, N.Y., business one of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in America (No. 605) and noted its $3.2 million in annual revenue. It's also made the magazine's list of top 100 computer and electronics companies.
But big is not where New Scale is focused.
"We find the greatest opportunities are the smallest," CEO David Henderson said, a reference to his company's revolutionary Squiggle motor, the smallest linear motor in the world, so tiny it turns a penny into a parking lot.
"It is around 8 or 10 millimeters high. We're trying to get it down to 5 millimeters," Henderson said.
Next year, cell phone cameras with Squiggle-powered auto focus and zoom features will hit the market. Most people just accept that cell phone photos will be grainy or dark or both. But if a phone could take a photo good enough for a frame, Henderson's 35-person shop could become a licensing and components powerhouse.
Victor-based electronics distributor Jim Cowey, president of Aurora Franklin Marketing, says conventional auto focus and zoom motors can't touch New Scale's Squiggle.
"A comparable motor would make a cell phone double the size. They have the only motor small enough to fit in a new phone," Cowey said.
Finding that niche
The market niche in auto-focusing and zoom-equipped camera phones could eventually represent 50 million to 100 million motors a year worldwide for New Scale — huge product volume until you consider the enormous global wireless phone market.
Consider that "a person buys a wireless phone every three years (and) 1.2 billion will sell in 2008," Henderson said. That's billion, not million, and the research firm Gartner Inc. bears this out, estimating that 1.28 billion wireless phones will sell in 2008, an 11 percent growth rate.
The market segment Squiggle might serve, high-end camera or smart phones, could grow 52 percent in 2008 to $65 billion, or a 15 percent share of total sales, according to Gartner.
"The growth curve continues up," Henderson said. "It's not the first world. It's India, China, Africa," he added.
New Scale's modest marketing effort began a few years ago; selling the patented Squiggle for special applications. Engineers taking a first look at the trusty little motor loved the design.
"They come up to our booth or demo and go, 'Wow. I don't need that, but I wish I did!'" said Henderson.
Just after Squiggle's public rollout, he heard from a customer who not only liked Squiggle but knew exactly why he needed it.
"We did a press release in January 2004. One of the first contacts I got back was Samsung. They were thinking about this for camera phones. We realized that the opportunity was 10 times bigger that I thought," Henderson said.
Squiggle helped cram auto focus and zoom features into camera phones. At the time, phones had largely fixed focal length lenses and low-quality image sensors. The first Squiggle-equipped camera phone models will appear in early 2009. Henderson can't divulge makes yet.
"Imagine an iPhone with auto focus," said Henderson.
Sony, a camera and phone maker known for high quality imaging, has also visited New Scale.
The invention
Henderson, the CEO, began perfecting Squiggle while working at home in Farmington, N.Y., in 2002. The non-magnetic motor uses piezoceramic materials, meaning those that change shape in response to electrical charges. Four piezoceramic slivers surround Squiggle's tiny screw assembly.
As electric currents excite each strip, they vibrate and the screw begins to turn in response, "oscillating, like the hips in a hula hoop," Henderson said.
The motor operates in extreme environments other motors can't handle. It's simple mechanically. At less than a buck each, they're inexpensive to make in numbers over 50 million. And they're durable.
"This motor is designed to last at least as long as the camera itself," said New Scale spokeswoman Lisa Schaertl.
On the horizon now is an ultra low-power model operating at 2.8 volts instead of 40 volts.
"We're working with a company that makes ceramics that can be energized at much lower voltage," said Henderson.
Squiggles, even now, don't tax the onboard batteries of a camera phone.
"You waste a lot of power just getting to where you can do some work with conventional motors," said Schaertl.
By 2006, New Scale had a family of motors arrayed for customers, including Samsung, with full patent protection.
Squiggle's potential
New Scale today is poised for explosive growth. Licensing the product to others and to serious researchers is the early goal of the company.
The market breakdown in camera phones, according to Henderson, starts with the 800 million camera phones sold each year.
Today, 200 million of these camera phones have larger motors or software running auto focus features. These camera phones are mostly sold overseas.
"The U.S. doesn't get that many," Henderson said. "Cameras that also zoom with auto focus are in the 20 million range. A great test for these is can you take a picture of someone's business card."
He added, "There's a trend of two cameras in your phone, another one to photo conference. One hundred million phones have two cameras already."
These two-camera phones will have "cameras that look at you as you talk," said Henderson. A talk-to-the-hand style teleconference phone call might need a third Squiggle to focus that camera on a speaker's face at each end of the call.
Products like Extended Depth of Field, EDoF software, improve images without on board motorized focusing.
"It can take a bad camera and make it a lot better," said Henderson. But a low-cost, high quality wireless phone camera that zooms as well as focuses can be built with a Squiggle motor.
Henderson says a full-feature camera phone must be affordable.
"The target for the camera itself is $25. Today it costs $35," he said.
A decent camera in an Internet-enabled wireless phone with Wi-Fi sharing could be the next big must-have gadget.
Paired with the latest camera phone imaging sensors from companies like Micron and Eastman Kodak Co., plus ever expanding memory chips, Squiggle may produce a radically improved photo from camera phones.
Over time, with high-quality camera phones, consumers may legitimately ask: Why pay for big separate cameras, each with its own battery, charger, and display screen when I can use my phone?
The world market
In America, Henderson said, high-end camera phones are more affordable because phone plans cushion upfront purchase costs, spreading out payments and hiding them on monthly phone bills.
But to play in the international wireless phone business, you need big money, or partners with money and expertise that sell parts into the Asian factories building camera phones in enormous numbers.
"You're talking about an 18-month product life cycle before someone comes up with something better," said Cowey, the electronics distributor. Although New Scale has plans to make the revolutionary motor in the U.S., Cowey says that might be hard.
"While the majority of such technology is created in the U.S., we just can't easily manufacture here due to the cost," he said.
Henderson has forged a series of international partnerships under license to New Scale to help ramp up worldwide Squiggle manufacturing, though he has plans to make the motor stateside as well.
"A company like Tamron is really good at that. They found us when we were still on Main Street in Victor," he said, referring to a Japanese manufacturer of digital camera lenses.
New Scale is racing to tool up Squiggle motor assemblies in the millions with partners Tamron, Alps Electric Co. and Austriamicrosystems, a German supplier of high performance miniature integrated circuits that plunked down $6 million for a 25 percent minority stake in New Scale last January.
The most recent Alps/New Scale partnership was announced July 31, 2008.
Alps will manufacture Squiggle motors in Kakuda City, Japan, for a wide range of electromechanical systems including Blu-ray DVD recorders, micro-coolers for laptop computers or for mobile devices like camera phones, plus automotive products. Alps is a $6 billion component maker producing 40,000 components for 2,000 companies worldwide.
The new Alps agreement together with a second deal with Tamron cut earlier this year encourages Henderson, who a few short years ago began work on Squiggle in his basement.
"It validates the huge potential market for millions of tiny motors per month," he said.
Contact Daily Messenger writer Morgan Wesson at (585) 394-0770, Ext. 256, or at firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
A Samsung supplier in China allegedly employs workers under the age of 16, according to a labor watchdog group, which found the student workers earn about US$1 an hour.
China Labor Watch said it found the problems after sending investigators to work at Huizhou-based HEG Electronics, a producer of cellphone, stereo equipment, and DVD players for Samsung, according to a report from the group released this week.
While working at the HEG factory during the months of June and July, the investigators found seven workers under the age of 16, including one who was 14. Chinese labor laws forbid the recruiting of workers under 16. But in the past labor groups said they have found instances of Chinese manufacturers violating this law.
HEG employs 2,000 workers, but many of them, perhaps as high as 80 percent, are students, who are brought by their schools to work at the factory during vacations as part of an internship, according to the watchdog group. HEG does not check workers for age, and took no action to stop employing underage workers once discovered, the group alleges.
While HEG did not answer phone calls, Samsung said in a statement the company conducted two separate on-site inspections of HEG's working conditions this year, but found no irregularities.
"Given the report, we will conduct another field survey at the earliest possible time to ensure our previous inspections have been based on full information and to take appropriate measures to correct any problems that may surface," the company said.
China Labor Watch, however, said Samsung's auditors, Intertek, have been known to accept bribes in some cases, allowing the investigated firms to pass their audit. Intertek could not be immediately reached for comment.
In addition, the watchdog group found that employees at the HEG factory work 11 hours a day for 6 days in a week. Workers are fined for finding defects in products produced, rather than rewarded. Management also physically hits workers or forces them to stand for an entire day as punishment, it said.
"It is our demand that the relevant brand companies and factories compensate these child workers and help them to get back into school and continue their education," the watchdog group added.


text:
Additional information
|3.1 oz
|6 × 7 × 1 in
Pagne Lifestyle is proud to partner with the Ethiopian Community Development Council, African Community Center of the DC Metro area (ECDC ACC DC)'s Stitch-Ed Together project. Stitch-Ed Together supports skills development, community integration, and livelihoods and economic opportunities for refugees and immigrants in the Washington, DC area. These specially produced Pagne Lifestyle products are handcrafted by participating refugees and immigrants in Stitch-Ed Together. Participants in the project receive both training and a portion of the sales of each product.
Out of stock
|3.1 oz
|6 × 7 × 1 in


text:
My Loncon 3 Schedule
Two weeks from today – August 14 – will mark the start of Loncon 3: The 72nd Annual World Science Fiction Convention (which, since that's a mouthful, is more commonly known as either Loncon 3 or Worldcon). This Worldcon is particularly exciting for me for three simple reasons:
My First Ever Worldcon!
It's hard to be engaged with the science fiction and fantasy genres and not hear about Worldcon. It's a storied event, not least because of its awarding the Hugo Awards. While I'm relatively new to con-going fandom, this will be my first time attending a Worldcon and given everything I've heard – I'm looking forward to it!
Reflected Hugo Gloss
This is also the first Worldcon where a project I'm (somewhat) involved with is up for a Hugo Award. Speculative Fiction 2012: The Best Online Reviews, Essays and Commentary is nominated for Best Related Work. Jared Shurin (of Pornokitsch) and Justin Landon (of Staffer's Book Review) deserve all the credit for editing this excellent collection of thought-provoking commentary about the genre, the field, and fandom. I'm honored to have my work sharing a TOC with the other authors, and I'm looking forward to cheering Jared and Justin on at the Hugo ceremony (though, to be fair, I'm likely to be cheering all of the nominees in Best Related Work: It's a really tough slate this year, even if I do have my favorite).
If you're a member of Loncon 3, don't forget: Today (Thursday, July 31) is your last day to vote for the Hugo Awards. Regardless of which works you vote for, please do your part: The Hugos are only meaningful because of our engagement with them.
Loncon 3 Programming
And last but certainly not least, there's programming. I'm slated to be on the following panels at Loncon 3, and I hope to see you there:
|Friday, 16:30 – 18:00, Capital Suite 3 (ExCeL)
|The Role of Fandom in Contemporary Culture
Fandom influences culture. Fan activism appeared in Thailand with the Hunger Games salute while the Harry Potter Alliance organise fair trade chocolate and gay marriage campaigns. Films and television shows change because of fans, thereby indirectly influencing non-fannish audiences. "Published fanfiction" is becoming ever more lucrative a business. Meanwhile, fan materials are widely used as educational tools, including at museums (fan vids were part of an exhibition at the New York Museum of Moving Image), but also at schools and universities. Internal changes within fandom also impact upon contemporary culture, such as the impact of fanfiction on the culture of reading or fan communities as modes of challenging conservative social and political viewpoints. In this session we try to unravel the role of fandom in contemporary culture, work out its impact in different parts of the public and private sphere and predict where we might be heading in the future.
|Sunday, 19:00 – 20:00, Capital Suite 13 (ExCeL)
|Fandom at the Speed of Thought
The story of fandom and the SF field in the twenty-first century is the story of the internet: more voices, fewer gatekeepers. How are authors, reviewers, editors and readers navigating this shifting terrain? In what ways has the movement of SF culture online affected the way books are written, presented, and received — and how has it affected the way readers identify and engage with authors and books? Do the old truisms — never respond to a review! — still hold sway, or are author-reader shared spaces possible, even desireable?
|Monday, 11:00 – 12:00, Capital Suite 16 (ExCeL)
|The Internet and the Evolution of Fan Communities
Fanzines, fan clubs, conventions and local fan groups drove fan communities from their beginnings, with contact being made via post or sporadically in person by those who were not fortunate enough to live near fellow fans. While the decades between the beginnings of SF/F fandom and the emergence of the internet saw new technologies helping fandoms evolve and adapt, little has acted as a catalyst for change as much as the internet. With the development of the internet fans were able to create and join communities anywhere. The diverse nature of these online spaces, with their varying longevity (in terms of existence and how they archived their material), access requirements, and moderating practices has been instrumental in diversifying, strengthening and fracturing communities. In this session we discuss the impact of the internet fan communities including how it functions within different sorts of fandoms.


text:
At Angel Oak Home Loans, our mortgage team has one focus: creating long-term value with a focus on ensuring an exceptional client experience.
Angel Oak also can execute swiftly, a strong advantage in today's markets. Our depth of experience allows our team to move quickly without compromising competitive integrity.
That swiftness and skill has helped us, along with our sister companies, build a long record of success.
We can't wait to work with you.
Angel Oak Home Loans, LLC. NMLS #685842, Licensed in AL #21485, FL, GA # 32379, NC # L-153288, SC, TN, TX, WI #685842BA, ND, CA. Licensed by the Department of Business Oversight under the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act.


text:
More Than Just Code podcast - iOS and Swift development, news and advice
a round table discussion about iOS development, macOS and Swift.
We found 1 episode of More Than Just Code podcast - iOS and Swift development, news and advice with the tag "garage band".
Episode 247: The Rental Economy
May 17th, 2019 | 54 mins 42 secs
adobe, affinity designer, affinity photo, air pods, air power, andy inakho, app store, app store subscriptions, apple park, apple store, apple t2, apple tv for ios, apple watch, becky hansmeyer, car2go, cascade lake x, chargers, china, cinemagraph, comcast, conf friends for wwdc, conspicuous disclaimer, creative cloud, cs6, cupertino city council, dave delong, dim tai fung, disney, dolby, flixel, garage band, gay pride, google playstore, griffin imic, hbo, hulu, iphone sdk, irig, logic pro x, lyft, mac pro, macworld, mark pavlidis, mini keg, monitor, mpow, nbc universal, netflix, night of dim sum, nomad, parties, photoshop for ipad, podcasting, power beats pro, promoted subscriptions, rainbow bandstand, rental economy, rouge podcaster, samsung smart tv, showtime, starbucks, steve jobs, stock market, supreme court, tacow, tariffs, today at apple, trials, uber ipo, upgrades, watchos, web objects, whatsapp, zip car
In 2011, Steve Jobs presented Apple Park plans. App Store Pricing. Apple Launches TV App with iOS 12.2. Adobe opens Photoshop for iPad beta signups. WhatsApp discovers 'targeted' surveillance attack. The US Supreme Court allows iPhone users to sue over AppStore monopoly. New Pride faces added to Apple Watch. US/China Trade War may affect Apple Chargers and Cases. Mac Pro iffy renderings leaked. Picks: Today At Apple adds podcasting class, Adobe warns using older versions of their apps may open users to lawsuits, and Nomad base station wireless hub, Mark Pavlidis - App Store Subscriptions – Condensed Edition.


text:
Last Friday I flew to Melbourne to join a group of excellent ICT innovators, to take part in Teaching Teachers for the Future focus group – A project funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations through the ICT Innovation Fund.
The purpose of our full day meeting was to provide input and feedback to the 22 draft elaborations of the Graduate standards required for proficiency in the National Professional Standards for Teachers and to assist in the exemplification of the elaborations of these Graduate Standards. We've established a group of 'critical friends' who can provide input and feedback to the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) – Component 1 of the Teaching Teachers for the Future project during 2011.
According to the media statement, the National Professional Standards for Teachers, which were validated throughout 2010 by almost 6,000 teachers, school leaders and parents, make explicit what teachers should know and be able to do across 4 career stages: graduate, proficient, highly accomplished and lead. In truth, the elaborations are still very much in development, and there will be many steps yet before the standards are finalised.
So the project that had us gathered together in Melbourne specifically targets systematic change in the Information and Communication Technology in Education (ICTE) proficiency of graduate teachers across Australia. The project team is led by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC), and includes the Australian Council of Deans of Education (ACDE), the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), Education Services Australia (ESA), the Australian Council for Computers in Education (ACCE), and Australian universities/institutions with pre-service teacher education programs as partners.
We had an epic day deliberating, changing, making recommendations. My thanks to Tony Brandenburg (President of the Australian Council for Computers in Education, ISTE Ambassador 2011, Member of the ISTE International Committee), Dr Margaret Lloyd (Faculty of Education at Queensland Uni) and others in ACCE for extending an invitation to me, and making the day such an outstanding success. We will continue to work as a critical group by providing feedback and response to the ICT elaborations as they continue work on them in 2011.
However, my take-away is that we are not going to achieve in Australia anything like the flexibility and innovation that we would have liked to see.
We are not heading for a Finland phenomenon. I wish we were.
Related Articles
- Govt releases new teacher standards (news.theage.com.au)


text:
WILKES-BARRE — Saying his comments were misunderstood, Mayor Thomas Leighton said Friday he has not yet decided on running for another term.
Leighton, a Democrat, will begin the fourth and final year of his third term in January. He said he will discuss whether to run again with his wife and children over the holidays, make a decision and announce it in February as he has previously done.
"No decision has been made," he said Friday.


text: Up a touchdown late in the Patriots' battle in Washington, Tom Brady threw an interception in the Redskins' end zone then threw a tantrum on his own sideline with New England assistant coach Bill O'Brien. The two eventually had to be separated, though CBS analyst Dan Dierdorf would have you think this sort of thing happens all the time. [CBS]