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HoopsHype Udonis Haslem rumors
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra talks about Udonis Haslem's knee surgery for the first time Saturday. "He hasn't had it yet,'' Spoelstra said. "Likely it will happen in the next couple weeks and he should be able to recover. But we'll see. He had been playing with a variety of ailments and issues for the last couple months of the season and throughout the season. The thing about UD is he will never, ever talk about it. So he won't use it as an excuse. I didn't know what was bothering him more once we got into the playoffs, his shoulder, his hip, his knee or ankle. That just shows his level of toughness of commitment. He played through all of it.'' Sulia
Heat forward Udonis Haslem played through much of the second half of Miami's season with a torn right meniscus, and told The Associated Press that surgery will be required to repair the previously undisclosed injury. Haslem made the revelation Saturday after a promotional appearance where hundreds of Heat fans began lining up to see the Miami native five hours before he arrived. Surgery will occur soon, he said, and Haslem expects to be ready for training camp this fall. ESPN.com
"It forces me to be smart and take my time with recovery this summer," said Haslem, who just completed his 10th NBA season, all with Miami. "Obviously, I don't heal like I used to so I've got to be a lot smarter and this forces me to be smart. My body's a little weary right now, a lot more weary than it was after last year." ESPN.com
The Heat have made bringing back Allen, 37, their initial offseason priority after the 17-year veteran helped to save Miami's title hopes with a clutch 3-pointer to send Game 6 of the NBA Finals against San Antonio into overtime. The Heat beat the Spurs in Game 7 to complete their rally from a 3-2 series deficit to win the title. "I put the bug in his ear in the shower after the game," Heat forward and co-captain Udonis Haslem said Monday, referring to a conversation he had with Allen after Game 7 on Thursday. "I told him, 'I'm not going to put no pressure on you. I'm not going to ask you what you're going to do. But just know that I'm thinking about what you're going to do.' " ESPN.com
Ira Winderman: Haslem said he began recruiting Allen to take his opt-in while the two were in the shower following Game 7. Bosh, "He's coming back." Twitter @IraHeatBeat
It's offical: Mike Miller will start in place of Udonis Haslem in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. With 20 minutes until tipoff, the Heat made the announcement on the official team lineup sheets. There was speculation building all day after a report said the scenario was possible. CBSSports.com
If Spoelstra decides to make the change with Miami trailing the San Antonio Spurs 2-1 in the best-of-seven Finals, Miller would likely replace Udonis Haslem in the starting lineup to give the Heat more shooters in an attempt to spread the floor. The Spurs have been successful in packing the paint over the series' first three games and it has cramped the driving space for LeBron James and Wade. ESPN.com
Udonis Haslem told some funny stories today about playing in France in 2002-03. Here's one on French classes. "Obviously when I signed my contract, part of my job was having to take French classes,'' Haslem said. "I think I lasted about a week and a half, and I told the guys I wasn't going back to French class. If they wanted to send me home they could. Fortunately I was leading the team with scoring and rebounding. We were going pretty well. So they elected to keep me.'' Sulia
Haslem sure found that out in last year's Eastern Conference semifinal against Indiana. Shortly after Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough had a flagrant foul 1 against Heat guard Dwyane Wade, Haslem plowed into Hansbrough. Haslem was assessed a flagrant foul 1. He later was suspended for Game 6, which the Heat were able to win to close out the series 4-2. "It probably would have been just a regular foul,'' Haslem said about how his hit on Hansbrough might have been handled during the NBA's rough-and-tumble era. "I've seen a lot worse …. It was just a hard play on the basketball. I still stand by the fact that I didn't feel like I should have been suspended, and I didn't feel like I had tried to hurt anybody. It was a hard foul.'' FOXSports Florida
Haslem will run into the Pacers again in the East finals, which start Wednesday at AmericanAirlines Arena. There has been plenty of talk about how this will be a physical series, much like the one last year. Then again, every series is like that as far as Haslem is concerned. "That's the way I play the game,'' said Haslem, 32, a former University of Florida star. "I compete. I get hit and I take hits. So to me, it's just another series.'' FOXSports Florida
Authorities in South Florida are investigating whether there are connections between recent burglaries at the homes of Miami Heat players Chris Bosh and Udonis Haslem. Miami Beach police spokeswoman Vivian Hernandez said Wednesday there are similarities in the two thefts aside from both being Heat players. Authorities are not releasing the exact nature of those similarities. USA Today Sports
Veteran NBA referee Joey Crawford will be the lead official for Friday night's Game 3 between the Heat and Bulls. Known for his no-nonsense style, Crawford arrives in Chicago two days after Game 2 of the series featured nine technical fouls. In his last game, Crawford issued seven technical fouls in Game 6 of the first-round series between the Clippers and Grizzlies. Chris Paul and Zach Randolph were ejected from the game. Udonis Haslem's reaction to learning Crawford was calling Friday's game was telling. "Oh, really," Haslem said. "Wow." Miami Herald
Heat forward Udonis Haslem, who played four years at Florida before Joakim Noah, helped advise Noah to return for his junior year back in 2006-07. "Udonis is like the big brother of Florida basketball," Noah said. "He's a warrior. You play in a series like this and you don't want to show too much love right now. But he's someone who took care of us and always gave us really good advice. He always told me that playing at the University of Florida was special." Chicago Tribune
Haslem and Noah share a strong friendship but that relationship is on ice for the time being. The two high-energy players from the University of Florida will go head-to-head in the series. "When we see each other it's always much love and much respect," Haslem said. "It's always going to be a special bond between us because we're both Gators, but when the ball goes up, we both understand that we got a job to do and we're going to repeat at a high level. And at that point we're not Gators. I play for the Heat and he's a Bull and that's what it comes down to." Miami Herald
When Udonis Haslem tore a ligament in his left foot in late November of 2011, it wasn't clear that he would play again that season. It was never a question, of course, of whether he wanted to. So he seemed an appropriate person to query, about Derrick Rose's decision to stay off the court, more than one year after knee surgery, and more than two months after receiving medical clearance. "It's going to be totally up to him," Haslem said. "Nobody on the outside can tell him when he's ready, or how he feels, physically or more important, mentally. That's the thing that you've got to get past, is the mental part of it. When the doctor says you're ready to go, physically, yeah, you're ready to go. But you're not at the point you were before you got hurt. You're probably 70 percent. And then the mental part is the most challenging part of it, that you're confident the injury is not going to happen again and you can compete with the best athletes in the world." Palm Beach Post
While Udonis Haslem was out on April 13, an off night between Heat home games, his Broward County house was targeted by burglars. Officers responded to an alarm, went to the house and reached Haslem. They found signs of forced entry at the side door of the garage, through the prying of the lock. Drawers were pulled out, and the closet of Haslem's fiancee was ransacked. Clothes and purses were in garbage bags. Electronics were undisturbed. The police report draws the conclusion that there was a lookout who alerted the other suspect to the alarm and the arrival of police, and they left through the back door. Palm Beach Post
Chris Tomasson: LeBron on Birdman: "Ain't nobody messing with Bird. There's two guys you're not allowed to mess with. That's him and UD (Udonis Haslem)'' Twitter @christomasson
Any rumor missing? E-mail us at email@example.com.


text: (WNFL) - Three former Milwaukee Brewers are among 19 new candidates on the Baseball Hall-of-Fame ballot. They are first baseman Richie Sexson, starter Hideo Nomo, and closer Eric Gagne (gon-yay). Gagne won a Cy Young Award in 2003 with the Dodgers, and he pitched the last of his 10 big league seasons in Milwaukee in 2008. Sexson spent three-and-a-half years with the Brewers. He was an All-Star for the Crew in 2002, and he played in all 162 games at first base in '03 just before he was dealt to Arizona. Nomo was the National League's rookie-of-the-year in 1995, and he threw two career no-hitters. He went 12-and-8 in his only season in Milwaukee in 1999. Players must be named on 75-percent of ballots to be elected to Cooperstown. Players can stay on the ballot for 15 years, as long as they get five-percent of the vote in any one year. Minnesota pitching star Jack Morris is in his 15th and final year of eligibility. Pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine top the newcomers, along with White Sox slugger Frank Thomas. Craig Biggio returns after getting the highest vote total a year ago with 68-percent -- seven-percent short for enshrinement.

subset: commoncrawl


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FARGO (KFGO-AM) - Charges have been filed in connection with the August accident that critically injured Fargo Davies High School senior Lexi Bolstad.
A police report obtained by KFGO News says the electric car involved in the accident was not properly licensed, or insured. Lt. Joel Vettel says city prosecutors have filed two counts against vehicle owner Jesse Craig of Fargo.
A five-page accident report says Lexi was hanging off the side of the GEM car, waving an arm and yelling when she lost her footing and fell on her back--striking her head on the pavement. A witness told police that the car appeared to be traveling very fast through a roundabout, but there were no other signs of negligence.
Lexi is recovering at a hospital in Colorado. Her father has said he expects her to make a full recovery.


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Despite the poor outcome Monday night, Henrik Lundqvist said it was good to be back at Madison Square Garden playing in front of the team's fans.
After the game, Lundqvist spoke about being home, how he felt after the game, the tight contest, the second Montreal goal — which was reviewed — his desire to play tomorrow against the Islanders, Montreal's first goal and more.
Check out what Lundqvist had to say about the game, then share your thoughts in the comments below.


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Pompe disease (glycogen storage disease type II) is an inherited disorder of glycogen metabolism, caused by a deficiency of the enzyme alpha-glucosidase (also called acid-maltase). Pompe disease is a type of lysosomal storage disease. Individuals with Pompe disease are unable to use the glycogen stored in the lysosomes for energy, resulting in the progressive storage of glycogen in the heart, liver, and skeletal muscle. Pompe disease can present in infancy with profound hypotonia, cardiomegaly and cardiomyopathy or later in childhood and adulthood with progressive muscle weakness and respiratory insufficiency. Late onset Pompe disease presenting in the second to seventh decade of life can appear similar to a limb-girdle muscular dystrophy with lower limb proximal weakness.
The alpha-glucosidase enzyme is encoded by the GAA gene. Full gene sequencing will identify two causative mutations in 83-93% of individuals with confirmed reduced or absent enzyme activity. Most mutations are point mutations but deletion of exon 18 accounts for 5-7% of alleles.
Seattle Children's provides healthcare without regard to race, color, religion (creed), sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin (ancestry) or disability. Financial assistance for medically necessary services is based on family income and hospital resources and is provided to children under age 21 whose primary residence is in Washington, Alaska, Montana or Idaho.
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D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray will on Sunday begin delivering a weekly radio address.
Gray is scheduled to deliver his first address, slated to run about three minutes, at 10:05 a.m. on WNEW-FM.
Pedro Ribeiro, a spokesman for Gray, said the speeches were just another way for the mayor to reach out to residents.
"It's an opportunity for him to speak directly to District residents about the issues they care about," Ribeiro said.
Gray is unlikely to command a significant audience for his weekly speech -- WNEW recently placed 22nd in the area's radio ratings -- but Robert Sanchez, the station's program director, said he thought the speeches would help 99.1 FM to build an audience.
"It creates an appointment for our listeners to come to us at a specific time," Sanchez said. "And as a new radio station, we're always trying to come up with ways to create awareness of our brand. What we've found is that when people discover us, they like what they hear."
But Sanchez also said the station, which went live with an all-news format in January 2012, saw the speeches as an extra opportunity for local journalism.
"It's a public service because it allows the mayor an opportunity to speak directly to the residents of Washington, D.C. on a variety of topics important to the communities we serve," Sanchez said. "And if people don't like what he has to say, we'll definitely hear about it and we'll cover that too."
Sanchez said WNEW approached Gray about making weekly addresses.


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February 7, 2013
No. 2 Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey Headlines USCHO.com
"For Quinnipiac, new levels of success don't change outlook" by Brian Farrell, USCHO.com (Feb. 7, 2013)
Quinnipiac men's ice hockey, ranked No. 2 in the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll for the past three weeks was featured as the top story on USCHO.com on Thursday, Feb. 7. The article, penned by Brian Farrell, discusses the Bobcats' success and what it will take to continue on their incredible journey.


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Mandy's Blog
The RAVEN
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contests I'm holding or what I'm working on
Click here to join mailing (email
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Amazon NUMBER ONE Bestseller!
me on the web and always stay up to date on
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A general guide for my books:
(Keep in mind I started as
an e-first published author, with small
presses. My word count guidelines are from
years of working for them.)
Short Stories:
5,ooo-14,000 words
Short Novella:
15,000-17,000 words
Novella: 18,000-25,000
Long Novella: 25,000 –
34,000 words
Category: 35,000- 44,000
Novel: 45,000 – 70,000
Long Novel: 71,000 –
90,000 words
Plus Sized Novel: 91,000
– 120,000 words
As a general rule of thumb, I do
not like putting any of my books that are
under 45,000 into print. I made an exception
for Tactical Magik because of the demand for
it to be in print. It is also prices much
lower than my other print books.
on images for more information
If you've
been following online media at all chances
are you know who Amanda Todd is. She is the
Canadian teen who committed suicide because
of bullying. She posted a Youtube video that
told her story. The comments on the video
and the web have managed to both warm my
heart and horrify me. Some commenters have
made such hateful and vicious remarks about
her taking her life that I won't credit them
with repeating them. It's not just a few,
but many disgusting negative things being
said. I refuse to believe these people speak
for the masses. I have to believe the
majority of us don't think "she deserved
it". And I'm guessing most of us are
sickened of the stories we hear about
bullying. Many of us have had our lives
touched by bullying in some form. It changes
you. You can often feel isolated, desperate
and lose all hope. That's a dangerous place
to be.
I'm not the
only author who feels this way. In fact, a
group of us gathered together to stand
united against bullying. We want those who
are victims of bullying to know they are not
alone and there is hope. On Friday Oct 19th
Authors Against Bullying posted to our blogs
letting the world know we are not okay with
Bullying is
an everyday problem for so many people of
all ages, races and sex. If our stories help
even one person they were worth telling.
Thank you!-- Mandy Roth
Direct link to Mandy's Authors Against
Bullying post
Copyright (c) 2011-2012 Mandy M Roth All rights reserved.
You MUST be 18 years or older to be here.


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As reported by Bloomberg News, The Washington Post, and other outlets, the Liberian patient whose diagnosis of Ebola infection marks him as the first such case to have been first diagnosed within the United States may have had contact with more people than previously estimated, and 80 people in the Dallas area are now believed to have come into contact with him. While Bloomberg reports that this larger group of potential contacts is "being monitored for symptoms," the Washington Post's slightly later story says that, in keeping with the best current knowledge about Ebola's spread, "Dallas County Health and Human Services Director Zachary Thompson said that these [newly identified contacts] are not being watched or monitored and are not showing any symptoms of the illness. Only the immediate family members of the victim are being regularly monitored for Ebola symptoms; they've been ordered to stay at home and avoid contact with others."
SternisheFan writes Canada's robotic Canadarm2 will install the next two Urthecast cameras on the International Space Station, removing the need for astronauts to go outside to do the work themselves. Urthecast plans to place two Earth-facing cameras on the United States side of the station (on Node 3) to add to the two they already have on the Russian Zvezda module. Technical problems with the cameras forced the Russians to do an extra spacewalk to complete the work earlier this year.
the eric conspiracy writes "Lack of sea ice in the Arctic has forced record numbers of walrus to come ashore in Alaska. The walrus, looking for a place to rest have come ashore in Point Lay Alaska. The walrus normally rest on floating ice. "We are witnessing a slow-motion catastrophe in the Arctic," Lou Leonard, vice president for climate change at the World Wildlife Fund, said in a statement that was reported by CNN. "As this ice dwindles, the Arctic will experience some of the most dramatic changes our generation has ever witnessed. This loss will impact the annual migration of wildlife through the region, threaten the long-term health of walrus and polar bear populations, and change the lives of those who rely on the Arctic ecosystem for their way of life."
aarondubrow writes The ability to collect and analyze massive amounts of data is transforming science, industry and everyday life. But what we've seen so far is likely just the tip of the iceberg. As part of an effort to improve the nation's capacity in data science, NSF today announced $31 million in new funding to support 17 innovative projects under the Data Infrastructure Building Blocks (DIBBs) program, including data infrastructure for education, ecology and geophysics. "Each project tests a critical component in a future data ecosystem in conjunction with a research community of users," said said Irene Qualters, division director for Advanced Cyberinfrastructure at NSF. "This assures that solutions will be applied and use-inspired."
An anonymous reader writes Researchers have found that a chemical found in hops may actually improve memory. Unfortunately, a person would need to drink 3,520 pints of beer a day to get a high enough dose of the chemical to boost their brain power. A daunting task for even the most enthusiastic Oktoberfest participant. From the article: "Researchers at Oregon State University discovered that doses of xanthohumol, a flavonoid found in hops, improved memory and thinking in a lucky group of mice. Flavonoids are a class of compounds present in plants, known to have numerous health benefits. Last year, researchers discovered that a flavonoid found in celery and artichokes could potentially fight pancreatic cancer. The researchers treated the mice with dietary supplements of xanthohumol over the course of eight weeks. Their goal was to determine if xanthohumol could affect palmitoylation, a naturally occurring process in animals (including humans) that's associated with memory degradation. The mice then went through a series of tests—including the popular Morris water maze—to gauge whether or not the treatments had improved their spatial memory and cognitive flexibility. For the younger mice in the group, it worked. But on the older mice, unfortunately, the xanthohumol didn't seem to have any effect."
astroengine writes Whenever you look up at the near side of the moon, you see a face looking back at you. This is the "Man in the Moon" and it has inspired many questions about how it could have formed. There has been some debate as to how this vast feature — called Oceanus Procellarum, which measures around 1,800 miles wide — was created. But after using gravity data from NASA's twin GRAIL spacecraft, researchers have found compelling evidence that it was formed in the wake of a mega volcanic eruption and not the location of a massive asteroid strike.
The Bad Astronomer writes Astronomers have found a new asteroid, 2014 OL339, that is a quasi-moon of the Earth. Discovered accidentally earlier this year, the 150-meter asteroid has an orbit that is more elliptical than Earth's, but has a period of almost exactly one year. It isn't bound to Earth like a real moon, but displays apparent motion as if it did, making it one of several known quasi-moons.
nbauman writes: Doctors with one medical records system can't exchange information with systems made by other vendors, including those at their own hospitals, according to the New York Times. One ophthalmologist spent half a million dollars on a system, but still needs to send faxes to get the information where it needs to go. The largest vendor is Epic Systems, Madison, WI, which holds almost half the medical records in the U.S. A report from RAND described Epic as a "closed" platform that made it "challenging and costly" for hospitals to interconnect.
The situation is bad for patients and costly for medical works: if doctors can't exchange records, they'll face a 1% Medicare penalty, and UC Davis alone has a staff of 22 dedicated to communication. On top of that, Epic charges a fee to send data to some non-Epic systems. Congress has held hearings on the matter, and Epic has hired a lobbyist. Epic's founder, billionaire computer science major Judith Faulkner, said that Epic was one of the first to establish code and standards for secure interchange, which included user authentication provisions and a legally binding contract. She said the federal government, which gave $24 billion in incentive payments to doctors for computerization, should have done that. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology said that it was a "top priority" and just recently wrote a 10-year vision statement and agenda for it.
An anonymous reader writes: In 2000, NASA began taking satellite images of the Aral Sea in central Asia, which was once the fourth-largest inland lake in the world. At that time, there was an expansive eastern basin, and smaller basins to the north and west. In images recorded just last week, we see that the eastern basin is completely gone, and the western basin just a thin strip of water. The local fishing industry has been devastated, old ship graveyards now rest on dry ground, and salt-heavy sand is being blown around the region, causing health issues.
Most of the lake's decline is attributable to human intervention: "In the 1950s, two of the region's major rivers – the Amu Darya and and the Syr Darya – were diverted by the Soviet government to provide irrigation for cotton production in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, starving the Aral. It has been diminishing ever since, with the sea level dropping 16 meters between 1960 and 1996, according to the World Bank. Water levels are believed to be down to less than 10 per cent of what they were five decades ago." Low levels of rain and snow didn't help.
An anonymous reader writes: Elon Musk's ambitions for SpaceX keep getting bigger. First he wanted to make the trip to Mars affordable, then he wanted to establish a city-sized colony, and now he's got his eye on the future of humanity. Musk says we need a million people on Mars to form a "sustainable, genetically diverse civilization" that can survive as humanity's insurance policy. He continued, "Even at a million, you're really assuming an incredible amount of productivity per person, because you would need to recreate the entire industrial base on Mars. You would need to mine and refine all of these different materials, in a much more difficult environment than Earth. There would be no trees growing. There would be no oxygen or nitrogen that are just there. No oil." How fast could we do it? Within a century, once the spacecraft reusability problem is solved. "Excluding organic growth, if you could take 100 people at a time, you would need 10,000 trips to get to a million people. But you would also need a lot of cargo to support those people. In fact, your cargo to person ratio is going to be quite high. It would probably be 10 cargo trips for every human trip, so more like 100,000 trips. And we're talking 100,000 trips of a giant spaceship."
00_NOP writes: Children in the U.K. have been taught in metric measures in school since (at least) 1972, but yesterday British Prime Minister David Cameron suggested that they should actually be taught in Imperial measures (which are still in use officially to measure road distances and speeds, but not really anywhere else). Is this because he hasn't a clue about science or because he is catering to a particular political base?
schwit1 writes: Cassini images taken in 2007, 2013, and 2014 of one of Titan's largest hydrocarbon seas find that a mysterious feature there keeps appearing and disappearing. Quoting: "The mysterious feature, which appears bright in radar images against the dark background of the liquid sea, was first spotted during Cassini's July 2013 Titan flyby. Previous observations showed no sign of bright features in that part of Ligeia Mare. Scientists were perplexed to find the feature had vanished when they looked again, over several months, with low-resolution radar and Cassini's infrared imager. This led some team members to suggest it might have been a transient feature. But during Cassini's flyby on August 21, 2014, the feature was again visible, and its appearance had changed during the 11 months since it was last seen.
Scientists on the radar team are confident that the feature is not an artifact, or flaw, in their data, which would have been one of the simplest explanations. They also do not see evidence that its appearance results from evaporation in the sea, as the overall shoreline of Ligeia Mare has not changed noticeably. The team has suggested the feature could be surface waves, rising bubbles, floating solids, solids suspended just below the surface, or perhaps something more exotic." That the seasons are slowly changing on Titan is probably contributing to the transient nature of this feature.
Science_afficionado writes: At the current rate of discovery, astronomers will have identified more than a million exoplanets by the year 2045. That means, if life is at all common in the Milky Way, astronomers could soon detect it. Realization that the nature of the debate about life on other worlds is about to fundamentally change, lead Vanderbilt astronomer David Weintraub to begin thinking seriously about how people will react to such a discovery. He realized that people's reactions will be heavily influenced by their religious beliefs, so he decided to find out what theologians and leaders from the world's major religions have to say about the matter. The result is a book titled Religions and Extraterrestrial Life, published by Springer this month. He discovered that from Baptists to Buddhists, from Catholics to Mormons, from Islam to the Anglican Communion, religious views on alien life differ widely.
upontheturtlesback writes: The Arducorder Mini, an Arduino-compatible pocket-sized handheld sensing tool and the next in line of open source science tricorder-like devices designed by Dr. Peter Jansen, is nearing completion. Where the previous models have included about a dozen sensors spanning atmospheric, electromagnetic, and spatial readings, an exciting video of the new prototype shows this model includes sensors for spectroscopy, low-resolution thermal imaging, and radiation sensing. The development is open with the project build logs and most recent source schematics, board layouts, and firmware available on github. This project is an entry in the Hack a Day Prize for a trip to space.
An anonymous reader sends news that the CDC has confirmed the first case of Ebola diagnosed on U.S. soil. An unnamed patient at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas was placed in isolation while awaiting test results for the dreaded virus. Apparently, the patient had traveled recently to a West African country, where the disease is spreading, and later developed symptoms that suggested Ebola. A blood specimen from the patient was sent to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, a testing process that can take 24 to 48 hours to confirm an Ebola infection — or not. The results came back about 3:32 p.m. In other Ebola news, outbreaks in Nigeria and Senegal appear to be completely contained.
First time accepted submitter Scroatzilla writes What makes someone rise to the top in music, games, sports, business, or science? This question is the subject of one of psychology's oldest debates. Malcolm Gladwell's '10,000 hours' rule probably isn't the answer. Recent research has demonstrated that deliberate practice, while undeniably important, is only one piece of the expertise puzzle—and not necessarily the biggest piece.
KentuckyFC writes One way of predicting the future is to study data about events in the past and build a statistical model that generates the same pattern of data. Statisticians can then use the model to generate data about the future. Now one statistician has taken this art to new heights by predicting the content of the soon-to-be published novels in the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R R Martin. The existing five novels are the basis of the hit TV series Game of Thrones. Each chapter in the existing books is told from the point of view of one of the characters. So far, 24 characters have starred in this way. The statistical approach uses the distribution of characters in chapters in the first five books to predict the distribution in the forthcoming novels. The results suggest that several characters will not appear at all and also throw light on whether one important character is dead or not, following an ambiguous story line in the existing novels. However, the model also serves to highlight the shortcomings of purely statistical approaches. For example, it does not "know" that characters who have already been killed off are unlikely to appear in future chapters. Neither does it allow for new characters that might appear. Nevertheless, this statistical approach to literature could introduce the process of mathematical modelling to more people than any textbook.
HughPickens.com writes Reuters reports that your medical information, including names, birth dates, policy numbers, diagnosis codes and billing information, is worth 10 times more than your credit card number on the black market. Fraudsters use this data to create fake IDs to buy medical equipment or drugs that can be resold, or they combine a patient number with a false provider number and file made-up claims with insurers, according to experts who have investigated cyber attacks on healthcare organizations. Medical identity theft is often not immediately identified by a patient or their provider, giving criminals years to milk such credentials. That makes medical data more valuable than credit cards, which tend to be quickly canceled by banks once fraud is detected. Stolen health credentials can go for $10 each, about 10 or 20 times the value of a U.S. credit card number, says Don Jackson, director of threat intelligence at PhishLabs, a cyber crime protection company. He obtained the data by monitoring underground exchanges where hackers sell the information. Plus "healthcare providers and hospitals are just some of the easiest networks to break into," says Jeff Horne. "When I've looked at hospitals, and when I've talked to other people inside of a breach, they are using very old legacy systems — Windows systems that are 10 plus years old that have not seen a patch."
An anonymous reader writes "An evolutionary race between rival elements within the genomes of primates drove the evolution of complex regulatory networks that orchestrate the activity of genes in every cell of our bodies, reveals new research. The race was between mobile DNA sequences known as 'retrotransposons' (jumping genes) and the genes that have evolved to control them. Scientists at the University of California Santa Cruz, identified genes in humans that make repressor proteins to shut down specific jumping genes. "We have basically the same 20,000 protein-coding genes as a frog, yet our genome is much more complicated, with more layers of gene regulation. This study helps explain how that came about," said Sofie Salama, a research associate at the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute who led the study."
cold fjord writes The Woodrow Wilson School reports, "If scientists want the public to trust their research suggestions, they may want to appear a bit 'warmer,' according to a new review published by Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. The review, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), shows that while Americans view scientists as competent, they are not entirely trusted. This may be because they are not perceived to be friendly or warm. In particular, Americans seem wary of researchers seeking grant funding and do not trust scientists pushing persuasive agendas. Instead, the public leans toward impartiality. 'Scientists have earned the respect of Americans but not necessarily their trust,' said lead author Susan Fiske, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Psychology and professor of public affairs. 'But this gap can be filled by showing concern for humanity and the environment. Rather than persuading, scientists may better serve citizens by discussing, teaching and sharing information to convey trustworthy intentions.'"


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Exclusive. Private. Romantic. One of the most beautiful places in the world. The culture, history and georgraphy of Seychelles is something all travelers should experience. Enjoy sailing, snorkeling, fishing, and relaxing. Honeymoons in Seychelles offer a once in a lifetime experience.
Seychelles provides the sophisticated traveler with a variety of activities, romantic beaches, tropical gardens, night life, privacy, relaxation and pampering. Choose from our carefully thought out itineraries or let us create a customized vacation to meet your every expectation. New Adventures can provide a Seychelles vacation to meet all criteria and budgets.
New Adventures has been creating and providing travel to the Seychelles since 1995. New Adventures offers personally tailored itineraries, unparalleled knowledge of the Seychelles, Personal Travel Advisors who regularly visit the islands and Seychelles honeymoon & wedding advice.
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What sets the PeeWee Pivot 2.0 apart are its ruggedized features, 10.1-inch resistive touch screen and prebundled education software.
Specifically marketed with kids in mind - PeeWeePC is rolling out the Atom-powered PeeWee Pivot Tablet Laptop.
The Intel-powered machine, announced at CES, can pivot for easier touch control and optionally includes Thunderbolt 2 ports.
Specifically marketed with kids in mind, PeeWeePC is rolling out the Atom-powered PeeWee Pivot Tablet Laptop.
The Chinese phone maker is ready to start selling its distinctive flagship smartphone -- the camera is on a pivot. The N1 also has a 5.9-inch screen, but no LTE support.
The 2009 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen combines practicality and quick performance with some good cabin tech options, although the lack of a phone system might be a deal breaker.
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Too busy dreading those airport virtual strip searches to keep up with Crave this week? Here's what you missed while you were getting ready for your X-ray close-up.
This Bluetooth game controller sold for $49.99 when it debuted last year.
Glide, the suite of Web 2.0 apps for the desktop and mobile device, adds a spreadsheet tool Wednesday and support for OpenOffice.org on Thursday.
HP announces a laptop-docking monitor that charges your PC while you do the dishes...and other things, I'm sure.


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It freezes foes with an icy breath nearly -60 degrees Fahrenheit. What seems to be its body is actually hollow.
Legends in snowy regions say that a woman who was lost on an icy mountain was reborn as Froslass.
Boosts evasion in a hailstorm.
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Chinese Lesson by Megan Lee
Winner of the Central Coast Writer's Contest, Fiction
Naomi Levinger killed the shrieking alarm clock and lay back on the cotton wad mattress. Eyes opened. Wall calendar. Xing-qi wu. Friday.
She dreaded going to class on Fridays. Closing her eyes again, she lay in bed for a few minutes listening to the queer hiss of bamboo outside the window of her dorm, a room she shared with a Finnish girl who spoke little English, meditated at 4:00 a.m., and shaved her head twice a week. They talked when necessary, but could communicate only in Chinese.
Naomi wished she were home. She missed the rustle of a thousand maple leaves outside her bedroom window in Broad Ripple, a suburb of Indianapolis. Mom would be downstairs brewing espresso, and the roastiness of the scent would rouse her for the day. But then, she remembered that it wasn't morning in Indiana; she had to get up in China while her parents were going to bed on the other side of the world. She turned over and groaned.
Xing-qi wu. Friday. The day of execution.
Xing-qi wu. The final dawn. Old Huang snores. How can he sleep? He is a beast squandering his breaths and not caring. For him, does it matter? He is old. But I am too young to die. I simply obeyed and did what he told me to do. I was his accountant. He even called me "nephew" and promised to make me a rich man. He fattened himself on bribes while I kept double books. "Everybody does it," the old weasel said. Such confidence! Such words of assurance!
My father struggled all his life. My mother needed medicine. What choice did I have? Arrested at nigh, torn from my wife and the esteem of my son, who now stoop under the reproach of our name. My life is over too soon. It streams out to meet the sea. And now, will Old Huang's assurances save us? His promise is a torn fishnet.
When Naomi woke up the second time she had overslept by three hours and missed her first two classes. She kicked off the quilt, pulled on the heap of denims she had stepped out of at 2:00 a.m. the night before, and bolted downstairs to the lobby of the foreign students' dorm. Breakfast was a serpentine twist of deep-fried dough and a carton of soy milk that she gulped as she scaled the eighty-two uphill steps to her 10:20 Chinese grammar class at Xiamen University. Her meager meal would stave off hunger for an hour until lunchtime, when she could pamper her stomach at MacDonald's.
Xing-qi wu. The last hours. Soon I will not be here. The dawn is a she-demon of purple and orange. The door opens and the warden's black shadow towers before us. "Wake and eat," the shadow says. He puts the tray on the floor. Its metallic scrape wakes Old Huang. The shadow slips behind the closing door, leaving a meal. Tea and bread. Old Huang sits up and opens his wrinkled goat eyes that ask no questions.
"Weimin." He calls my name, but I do not reply. "Weimin, bring the tea here."
I turn my face to hide sudden tears. Old Huang's arm is around my shoulders. He hands me bread and tea.
"Take this. Drink tea and eat," he orders in his gruff office voice. I do what I am told. The tea tastes like the dirt in which it was grown. The bread softens on my tongue, and I absorb its qi. Old Huang walks to the far corner of the cell, turns his back, and pisses through the grate.
A roach appears from its hole to steal a breadcrumb. I raise my foot to crush it, but relent and allow it to escape. The creature darts past Old Huang and disappears under the damp grate.
My ears fill with the sound of footsteps in the corridor. Outside the door, men speak with voices of living people. But each word of mine loses its anchor to meaning before it is formed in my mouth. The footsteps pass by our cell without stopping, and I breathe out relief.
My mind swims toward the memory of my mother's eyes that pursued me as a child through the rooms of our house and the lanes of our village. Her seed-black eyes, sharpened by the pain of loving, uncovered and admonished my every deviance. She withered as I grew to manhood. When the canker devoured her, she slipped away without revealing her secret. She did not instruct me how to die.
Naomi raced to the third floor corridor of the Overseas Education Building where she was doing a year of language study as the lone student sent by Butler University's East Asian Department. Her late arrival created a welcome distraction for the eleven pairs of eyes that watched her shimmy off her backpack and slip into the space between the chair and the desk that were both bolted to a cement floor. Teacher Wang greeted her cheerily from the lectern with a Zao-an, Na-ou-mi (Good morning, Naomi), and then turned to chalk a line of Chinese characters on a blackboard.
"This is bi review," Teacher Wang sing-songed in Mandarin as she pointed to the exercise on the board. To Naomi, the Chinese character for the word bi looked like the profile of two men sitting in a row, each with a hand and a foot sticking out in front. "Bi is two-piece thing-compare word," the teacher continued. "Every-piece student use bi sentence for two-piece thing compare." The grammar of bi as a comparison word was difficult for Naomi because she had skipped the second semester of Chinese I, and jumped to the intermediate level. She was struggling. She shot a grateful look toward Teacher Wang who called on other students first so she could "save face."
Of the four professors she endured every week, Naomi liked Teacher Wang best. Her other instructors seemed nailed to their wooden lecterns and spoke in four-toned monologues aimed at the ceiling. Teacher Wang was young and enthusiastic, and knew how to engage the interest of her western students.
"De-ge-li-se (Douglas), begin," Teacher Wang said, slicing up his name like a ginger root.
"Sheng huo yi nian bi yi nian hao," intoned Douglas effortlessly. Standing six and a half feet tall, this fun-and-beer loving Canadian swayed like a jack-in-the-box over the tiny desk. Naomi managed to interpret his sentence literally as, "Level daily-life one year compare one year good," and then extracted the English equivalent as, "The standard of living is getting better year by year." She recalled reading this phrase in her Student Handbook.
"Hen hao, De-ge-li-se (Very good, Douglas)!" Teacher Wang said, and her eyes sparkled. Next, she turned to Mrs. Park, a slender, high-cheeked Korean, and said, "Use bi sentence, please."
Mrs. Park, who Naomi estimated was thirty years old, sat at the adjacent desk. Because of their age difference and Mrs. Park's shyness, Naomi had spoken with her only once. "Ni-de bu ke-yi bi wo-de (Yours not can be compared to mine)," Mrs. Park answered without looking up.
"Bu shi, bu shi (not correct, not correct)," Teacher Wang said gently, and then corrected the sentence. "Ni-de bu ke he wo-de bi (Yours not can with mine compare)."
Mrs. Park repeated the sentence correctly with her eyes lowered and added, "Lao-shi, xie-xie nin (Teacher, thank you)."
Naomi scratched a few characters in her notebook to come up with a similar sentence construction. She tried, "Your food not can with my food compare," then she scratched out "your" and "mine" and wrote the characters for "Chinese" and "American" in their places. She heard the teacher ask, "Next student?"
"Ren-min-bi he mei-yuan bi-jiao hao (Chinese yuan and American dollar rate-of-exchange is getting better)," answered Rembrandt Soo, a sullen Indonesian student of Chinese ancestry, one of many at the university. His parents sent him to China to keep him out of the rising ethnic turmoil in Jakarta. He already spoke Chinese well, and this was a rare appearance for him to attend an early morning class. Naomi often saw him on the street accompanied by interchangeable young women in leather mini-skirts from the rank of prostitutes who serviced Xiamen's transient population of Taiwanese businessmen, Chinese tourists and foreigners.
As she waited her turn, Naomi looked out through the row of windows on the opposite side of the room at clipped lawns, red-tiled roofs, and stone walls that insulated the campus from the world outside.
"Rembrandt, very good!" Teacher Wang said. She thrust out her chin in the Chinese manner of pointing and asked another student, "And you, Jia-zhen?"
Jorge Nunes, an acupuncture student from Brazil, started to answer, but his syllable was sliced off by a shrill of sirens from the road outside the wall. Naomi winced at the sound. She remembered the first time this happened four Fridays ago. It had happened every Friday since then.
The door opens and I shrink from the invading glare. The warden steps in and his shadow darkens the floor. "Stand up. Come out." I do as I am told and give my arm to this shadow that leads me outside where the odors of diesel and spring flowers scent the air.
The truck waits, growling like a tiger. "Step up," the shadow says. Old Huang goes first. He raises one bony leg, but stumbles. A soldier lifts and pitches him onto the floor of the open truck. I climb in. The old man crawls forward and squats with his curved back in my face. I open my mouth to curse him, but stop. All words between us are absurd.
The shadow-man bends over us, pulls our legs forward and binds our ankles to the floor with iron bands. Old Huang groans. "I am not a bad man," he calls to me without turning his head. "It's true that I took from some, but I helped others. Weimin, you understand, don't you? I am the same as other men. But I am very unlucky. Very, very unlucky." His words are pebbles falling through chinks in the floorboards. I say nothing.
The engine growls. The wheels spin and spit up dust behind us. Stripes of black painted wood alternate with yellow stripes of sun as I look out from this tiger's belly. "My guanxi is not good," Old Huang continues. "No connections to save me from shouldering everyone's guilt. I carry it all on my back."
He laughs, but not unkindly. "You went to college. Did that help you? -- A former peasant with no connections? Tell me, what has changed?"
I thought that education and hard work were all I needed to succeed instead of our ancient reliance on connections. Was I so presumptuous to believe that the new China was free of its burden of history? I imagine a turning wheel. It rotates but has no forward motion, and I understand that progress is a lie. "Nothing has changed," my voice answers him. The siren calls out our shame to the city. I look up at the ocean of air overhead and my words are swept away by the wind.
The first time Naomi heard the sirens was in April. She recalled that Teacher Wang had sprinted to the window and pressed her nose and hands to the glass as a child would do.
"What's going on?" Rembrandt asked. The class waited as the teacher's eyes followed a row of police cars and army trucks snaking their way around the perimeter road. She turned halfway to the students and pointed with her chin toward the noisy procession.
Naomi became lost in the rush of syllables that all sounded similar as the teacher's standard Beijing pronunciation slipped into the soft hissing accent of the southern Min region. She heard the word qi in the high tone, and tried to guess which of the many qi words would fit the context of her teacher's excited expression. "Does that qi mean 'seven'or 'strange'?" she wondered, and quickly consulted her dictionary. "Or maybe the qi that means 'relatives' or 'maple'?"
She caught another combination of syllables, xing chang. "Xing means 'star' and chang means 'field,'" she thought. "No, the tone of Teacher Wang's xing is a rising tone, so it couldn't mean star, it's got to mean something else."
She could not understand. Twisting in her chair, she asked, "Hey, Doug, what's up?" Douglas looked at her, but he did not reply.
Naomi turned to Mrs. Park at the next table. Her eyes were closed and her hands were pressed against the desktop in a clench of white knuckles. Naomi wondered if she was praying. Jorge fidgeted with his pencil. Rembrandt Soo stood up, walked to the window, and stared out.
A few of Teacher Wang's phrases drew pictures in Naomi's mind. "Huai ren (Bad people) … hun duo ren-min-bi (a lot of money) ... Zhong ren (the Chinese people)..."
Mrs. Park reached out to touch Naomi's hand. Naomi was alarmed when she saw tears in the woman's eyes, and her stomach twisted around the lump of oily dough in her stomach. "Prisoners," Mrs. Park whispered to her. "Soldiers shoot them at execution field."
"Is the field near here?" Naomi asked, linking the phrase xing chang to "execution field," not "star field."
"Teacher Wang say outside wall of university. Near Music Department."
"What is their crime?"
"It is government anti-corruption campaign. These crim… criminals, yes? They deceive Chinese people." Then Naomi remembered that another meaning for qi was "to deceive." Mrs. Park continued. "Steal much money from Chinese peo- Soldiers shoot them." Naomi stared at the teacher's smile.
Between the slats of the truck, I see people rush by with shopping bags. Some turn along the sidewalk to stare through the boards of the truck before they pass away. "Robbers! Damn swindlers!" a dofu-seller jeers from the seat of his bicycle. His legs pump the wheels forward but the bicycle swiftly retreats behind me. The university buildings swell and ebb like waves. Many chilly nights as a student I stood outside these same buildings under the lamplight reading while gnats swirled around my head. My head, oh, my head! These memories are in my skull. They will shatter when the lead hits!
The corner approaches and brusquely swerves aside, revealing a parade of trees along the final mile of the beach. Old Huang turns his face to the west where the sea touches our shore. "Ma Tzu rides the waves," he says. "Perhaps she will see us and have mercy." Old fool. In seven years, when have I ever heard him speak of the gods? Fear breeds superstition in those condemned. How quickly his faith matures! – Like mushrooms after a storm.
He was a national cadre in our city! I admired him. I obeyed him, and like everyone else, I feared him. He had the power to squeeze money from the rich and the poor! He squeezed them like palm nuts for oil. Now his whimpers are sand in my teeth: "Ma Tzu! Goddess, have mercy! Have mercy!" Superstition serves him well in his old age. But I am young when fortune forsakes me.
The row of trees march away; the bus depot approaches. The restaurant door bangs and gapes like a toothless mouth. The old cook, a friend from my student days, steps outside. Two schoolgirls sitting behind the table peer at me over receding cups of tea. A cluster of village houses rise into view. In front of one house is a foreign woman with fire-red hair. She stares into my eyes until she also shrinks and disappears. Now there are only blue stripes of ocean water coloring the spaces between the wooden slats.
"One bullet to the head," said Douglas. "When the family comes to collect the body for burial, they will be asked to pay for the bullet."
Mrs. Park added, "Lao-shi is counting trucks now. Five trucks. She say, 'Everyone now come to window.'"
The class obeyed and joined Teacher Wang and Rembrandt at the windows. From the third floor on the hill, the view along the road was unobstructed. Naomi looked down into the open back of one of the army trucks as it crawled along the winding road. She saw two men sitting on the floor of the truck. Their ankles were chained down with iron bands. As the road curved toward them, Naomi caught a glimpse of their faces. The younger man's eyes stared wildly through the wooden slats at a man shouting at him from the seat of a bicycle. The older prisoner sat with his mouth open. His eyes were expressionless. Naomi remembered passing an abattoir near the marketplace recently and seeing a similar look on the face of a goat being led inside.
Under the floorboards I hear a crunch of gravel. The wheels stop. There are footsteps and men with living voices behind me. I turn my head and a flash of sun blinds me. Feet trample the floorboards and I hear the sound of metal scraping metal. My legs are free and kick under me as I am dragged from the tiger's belly. I tell them, "I do not want to get down!" How absurd are the sound of my words. They disperse in the laughing wind.
A voice I know cuts the sky. "Ah-Wei! My son! My son!" In the mass of madly swirling faces I find the mirror of my face. His eyes hold me with their black terror. To ease his pain, I raise my head and give my arm to the shadow that leads me through the crowd; through the odors of sweat and salt breezes.
"Step up," the shadow says. I do what I am told, and trail Old Huang as he mounts the platform with bare feet. His shirt sags with sweat and red dust.
A soldier moves between us. He ties our hands and legs to posts. On our necks he hangs signboards that read, "Corruption." I dare not look at the Old Huang. I eye those lucky ones in the crowd who smile at their own good fortune. They are still living men.
A captain, whose voice is clear and high-pitched, reads the story of our crimes to the open-mouthed crowd. "These men conspired together against our great nation. They are two of the ringleaders of the corruption that has plagued our city. They have swindled hundreds of thousands of yuan from the Chinese people…." We are told to confess. "I am not a bad man," Old Huang mumbles with bowed head. "I am the same as every man here."
When the living men mock his words, I raise my head and shout, "Do you not realize that a man facing death speaks only truth!"
My father's eyes find me and hold me. I have no more words to say. Only a memory reels through my head: one day at the university I played table tennis with a monk who told me, "There is no 'I' in the universe." I wonder how he knew this, and I wonder if it is true, and I try to imagine where the "I" goes. Does it swirl into the invisible ether when the bullet hits?
The voices stop. A young soldier confronts me. His cheeks are badly pockmarked and his breath smells of maotai . He lifts the blindfold and knots it across my eyes. A voice inside my head begs, "Too tight! The knot, please loosen the knot." My head, oh, my head! What is the captain yelling? I must try to loosen the blindfold. Why is the captain shouting with his high-pitched voice? I push the knot up against the post until the mask shifts. My pain is eased and I breathe out with relief.
I do not understand. Is the blindfold taken away? Am I safe? Did the soldiers only mean to frighten me? The sun is too bright after the blackness and my head is spinning. Perhaps I fainted. I hear my father's voice rise over the crowd. As I look again into the mirror of his face, his eyes become glass, and I peer through them toward the sea. The ropes that bound my arms and legs fall away and I run from the voices of living men. I escape to the west where the sky meets our shore. The ocean swells to meet me with her arms outstretched. White herons embroider her robe of azure silk. As sea spray they rise from the billows of her skirt and encircle the head of this goddess whose tears drop like flowers. Enfolded in her blue-robed arms I hear the chimes of our laughter blend with the wind.
"Shi-yi dian zhong (Eleven o'clock)…" Teacher Wang explained to the class, flushing like a child on carnival day. Now Naomi understood each word the teacher said. "Suo-yo de (Every)… xing-qi-wu (Friday)!"


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Senate to give Mark Kirk time to heal
Story | Jan 25, 2012
Senate to give Mark Kirk time to heal
Story | Jan 25, 2012
Book Review: 'The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris'
Story | May 29, 2011
David Herbert Donald dies at 88
Story | May 20, 2009
David Herbert Donald, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian of the Civil War and American South whose expertise on Abraham Lincoln brought him a wide general audience and reverence from his peers, has died. He was 88. Donald died of heart failure at Beth...
Charlie Kennedy dies at 81; alto saxophonist played in Gene Krupa's big band
Story | Apr 13, 2009
Charlie Kennedy, a talented alto saxophonist who was best known for his association with Gene Krupa's big band in the 1940s, has died. He was 81. Kennedy died April 3 of pulmonary disease at his home in Ventura, according to his daughter Lorraine Sutton....


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Google throws up a new hurdle for retailers
When a shopper searches for certain retailers Google.com shows the retailer's link, with a box for searching the retailer's site. But retailers are not ...
Google throws up a new hurdle for retailers
When a shopper searches for certain retailers Google.com shows the retailer's link, with a box for searching the retailer's site. But retailers are not ...
PayPal will separate from eBay
The two firms will become independent publicly traded companies in 2015. The move follows pressure from investor Carl Icahn to spin off the payments ...
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Toys 'R' Us shows how QR codes should be done.
Scanbuy, which offers the free bar code scanner app ScanLife, reported this week that scans through ScanLife in Q1 2012 jumped 160% to 13 million compared with 5 million in Q1 2011. The vast majority of these scans were of two-dimensional Quick Response (QR) codes; users scan conventional one-dimensional bar codes through the app as well. And this is just scans through ScanLife. There are many free bar code scanner apps out there.
Toys 'R' Us just announced a new QR code marketing campaign for the summer, and it shows one of the best ways QR codes can be used by retailers.
To provide customers with an engaging in-store experience and allow them to see summer backyard toys in action, more than 20 large outdoor items feature QR codes on their corresponding in-store signs. The QR codes enable customers to visualize how the toy would work and look in their own backyards.
Let's say you think your tots would love an island getaway. Toys 'R' Us offers the Tropical Island Resort with Umbrella. The picture on the box gives you an idea of what it looks like, but the QR code on the sign goes a step further. Scan it with your 2-D bar code reader app and you're linked to a video of the item completely set up with kids at play in water. You can't ask for a better selling tool for such a product. The QR code brings the product to life, and you can look at the tykes playing in the water and easily imagine your own kids having tons of fun.
Outdoor items featuring QR codes include trampolines, pools, sandboxes, slides, clubhouses and picnic tables.
If you're a store retailer, take a look at what you are selling and see where QR codes can come in handy. QR codes are a wonderful m-commerce technology that can do things even your best sales associate cannot. And as the numbers show, an increasing number of consumers are falling for the charms of QR codes.
QR codes are cheap and easy. You can't lose.
With more than 50% of traffic coming from mobile devices, retailers must test and optimize ...
Posted 09/30/14
This WILL change the face of mobile commerce and increase conversion rates and sales on ...
Posted 09/25/14
A mobile marketing expert offers five tips to retailers on how to approach new marketing ...
Posted 09/16/14
While some retailers benefit from apps, many retailers may find building a responsive design site ...
Posted 09/08/14
If there's something you've bought offline that you weren't able to buy online, we're probably thinking about that."


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Posts tagged van gogh.
this episode, to me, did such a fantastic job handling the topic of depression and mental illness. the writers thankfully avoided what i'm sure was a very present temptation to make Vincent's infamous depression the sole product of some aliens and misunderstanding. his ability to see the monster, when nobody else could, might have been used to explain away his entire mental state - look, see, he wasn't really crazy! but instead, they showed him as he was: a genius crippled by depression, a very gifted man who was also very troubled and very ill. it was so striking and moving and important for me to see that they chose not to alter his story as it really was, to have no new paintings, to have Vincent's life still end in suicide - not for the sake of an unaltered history, but because it showed that Amy and The Doctor added tremendously to his pile of good things, that they brought some love and light into his life and even showed him how well-remembered he would be, and that, tragically, that was not enough. it could never be enough. because depression is a disease, and Vincent never received the help that he needed. i'm so glad that the writers chose to treat Van Gogh with the respect he deserves, and to treat his mental illness as a very real tragedy.
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Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Portrait of Vincent van Gogh, 1887.
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Kickass Cosplay of the Day: Vincent van Gogh visits Mardi Gras.
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Excelsior Library Advisory Committee Meeting, July 6
On Jun 28, Kelli Koob wrote:
The first Hennepin County-Excelsior Library Advisory Committee Meeting will be 6-7:30 p.m., Wednesday, July 6, at the Southshore Community Center, 5735 Country Club Road, Shorewood.
The first meeting will focus on the process of the committee and presentations from Hennepin County as well as the city of Excelsior. The committee is made up of representatives from different area community groups. Hennepin County will work with the City and gain input on the best design for the new library in Excelsior.
The public is invited to attend. The committee is scheduled to meet five times throughout the summer on Wednesdays.
For more information, contact Excelsior city hall at 952-474-5233.


text: Roots Fall 2012 | Exploring Alberta The most recent campaign takes place in the Canadian Badlands. Even the name fuels your imagination and appetite for adventure. The Canadian Badlands, in southeastern Alberta has yielded some of the world's richest deposits of prehistoric fossils and dinosaur finds. You can almost feel the ground rumbling with the footsteps of the mighty beasts that roamed Dinosaur Provincial Park millions of years ago. Today this place is world famous for its dinosaur fossil finds. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the park contains one of the richest bonebeds in the world. 2 years ago Tagged: #Explore Canada #Explore Alberta #Travel #Alberta #Roots #Canada #Fashion #Canadian #Badlands michibelle likes thistravelalberta posted this


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Category: Health & Safety ×
Employees number: 1-10 ×
Industry: Automobile & Ground Transport ×
Location: Africa ×
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Tecam Group
Tecam Group offers advanced environmental technology solutions for the reduction of Volatile Organic Compounds VOC emissions derived from production processes from the Industry: Thermal Oxidizers (TO), Regenerative Thermal Oxidizers (RTO), Regenerative Catalytic Oxidizers (RCO), Zeolite Rotor-Concentrator + Regenerative Thermal Oxidizers (RTO). Tecam Group offers a ...
Odeon A/S
The ODEON project was initiated as a cooperation between the Technical University of Denmark (Dpt. of Acoustic Technology) and a group of consulting companies in 1984 with the purpose of providing reliable prediction software for room acoustics. The years invested in the ODEON development has provided a reliable yet easy to use room acoustics prediction software. Today ...
REACHReady Ltd
REACHReady is the one-stop shop for REACH and CLP. We offer an unrivalled value-for-money service to businesses in all industry sectors around the world, helping them to get to grips with these complex EU chemical regulations. We offer a specialist Helpdesk, a range of on-line tools, Consultancy to accelerate your compliance and our 'Matchmaker' service to match trusted ...
National Safety Centre
National Safety Centre prides itself as one of the UK's leading Authorities for Safety Data Sheet Authoring, Management and Distribution. As well as software and services for substance related data, we focus primarily on supporting Manufacturers and Distributors, delivering efficient Distribution software solutions and Safety Data Sheet Authoring services.
Carolina Gear Co.
Carolina Gear Co. is an Industrial Equipment Distributor that specializes in Safety Storage Equipment. Choose from Hazardous Material Storage Buildings, Safety Cabinets, Explosive Storage Magazines, Drum Spill Stations and more...
convergence consulting LLC
convergence consulting LLC is an environmental, health, safety, and social (EHS) management consultancy specializing in global projects and programs. A cornerstone of the company is its Global Alliance (GOAL), an alliance of in-country EHS professionals located worldwide. convergence draws upon our GOAL to establish project teams that best meet our clients needs. The ...
Spill Doctor (SA)
The Jesbra Group, now trading as Spill Doctor in Africa, represents some of the worlds industry leading providers of environmental, safety and health products. With over a decade of international experience and 25 years operating in Africa, Spill Doctor has consolidated a range of internationaly recognised products that both our regional and international clients regard ...
Euro-Gas Management Services Ltd
EURO-GAS - Providing the solutions for gas detection. Worldwide specialist suppliers of gas detection sensors (including Sixth Sense), circuitry, transmitters and housed solutions; fixed gas detection systems; gas generators; Komyo Kitagawa gas detector tube system; together with a range of portable and personal gas detection equipment including carbon monoxide, oxygen, ...
Millennium Enterprises, Inc. (MEI)
Millennium Enterprises, Inc. (MEI) has been solving customers` pollution prevention concerns. We are the exclusive supplier of the SafeGuards line of pollution prevention products ranging from large volume, proactive secondary spill containment (tanker truck containments / drums / totes); emergency response products (ruptured saddle tanks/ leaking equipment / HazMat decon ...
Enviroware s.r.l.
Founded in 1997, Enviroware provides advanced consulting services in atmospheric impact assessment, industrial risk evaluation, development of modelling tools and development of environmental software. The expertise of Enviroware guarantees to the Clients the achievement of their objectives, with complete satisfaction. The company can develop modelling tools specifically ...
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- Sam Ash Gift Guides
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The Medifast Diet
Medifast Diet Reviews & Coupons for 2013
One of the best ways to have diet food delivered. Not only does this diet meal plan tell you the best food items that should be on your platter, but they also get the diet meal delivered to you. They have done their research and came up with special meal plans that help the clients to lose weight and also maintain a healthy lifestyle.Visit Website
Medifast, is one of the best ways to have diet food delivered. Not only does this diet meal plan tell you the best food items that should be on your platter, but they also get the diet meal delivered to you. They have done their research and came up with special meal plans that help the clients to lose weight and also maintain a healthy lifestyle. What better way to get fresh food every day, without having to take out time from your busy schedule? The Company has been on the scene for 27 years as of now. They have stood the test of time, and there is only on reason for that, the diet meals they deliver work! Just check out the Medifast reviews at the bottom of the page. About $11 a day is needed to enjoy healthy meals.
Table of Contents
Company Background
Product Summary
Medifast Coupons
Top Reasons
Potential Drawbacks
If you're tired of diet plans that ultimately fail, it's probably time to try something a little different. In this Medifast diet review, we'll take an in-depth look at this wildly successful and popular weight loss plan. Before delving into specifics about the program, it should be noted that this plan distinguishes itself in a number of important ways:
In the following diet review, you'll learn more about how the plan works, what it costs, what's included and much more. Customer testimonials are also provided for your convenience. Unlike many other reviews, this review covers every last aspect of this unique diet plan.
Click Here to Visit Official Website!
The diet has been clinically proven to be safe and effective, Click Here to Try!
Company Background
Before committing your time, energy and money to a new diet plan, you'd probably like to learn more about its background. In the case of the Medifast plan, it was developed by a Johns Hopkins University physician named Dr. William Vitale. Vitale came up with the plan to help patients lose weight prior to surgery. Excessive weight can pose serious risks during many types of surgery, and Vitale needed a reliable way to help his patients lose extra pounds before their operations. The plan today still bears a great deal of resemblance to the original plan that was developed by Vitale.
Vitale's diet plan worked so well that he decided to make it available to more patients. It didn't take long for the plan to be adopted by physicians around the country. After a while, it became apparent that the plan could provide benefits to everyday people as well. This diet has become one of the most popular and longest running plans in the world. Patients appreciate it because it has been proven to be safe and effective in a wide range of medical studies.
Diet Meal Product Summary
The backbone of the weight loss plan is the 5 & 1 Plan, so it makes sense to take a look at it first. The premise behind the plan is simple, and the name says it all. Every day, you are allotted five prepackaged meals. You are also allowed to enjoy one Lean & Green Meal. The very fact that you are given six meals per day should pique your interest. After all, how can you feel deprived when you are allowed to enjoy six separate meals per day? To understand what the five prepackaged meals and one Lean & Green Meal entail, check out the information below.
Five Prepackaged Meals – The first thing you should be aware of is that the five prepackaged meals aren't microwavable. Some of them are ready to eat right out of the box, and others just need to be mixed with a little water. These meals fall into a wide range of different categories that include things like brownies, oatmeal, eggs, shakes, bars, pudding, drinks and much more. There are currently more than 80 meal options available, so there's no worry of growing bored on this variety plan. Additional details about choosing the right meals are included in a later section of this review.
A few additional facts about these prepackaged meals include:
One Lean & Green Meal – In addition to enjoying five prepackaged meals per day, you are permitted a single Lean & Green Meal. This meal is made up of two basic components: a form of lean protein and low-carb, non-starchy vegetables. A helpful breakdown is included in the Quick Start Guide which is available on the main website. Proteins are broken down into categories that have specific portions. You are allowed five ounces of lean protein, six ounces of leaner protein and seven ounces of leanest protein. Proteins that are on the list include shellfish, ground meat, fish, game meat and several meatless options.
The total amount of greens that you are allowed depends on the level of carbohydrates that are found in them. Once again, the Quick Start Guide provides handy guidelines about the types of veggies that you can enjoy. You can enjoy up to one cup of low-carb veggies, while you are typically allotted half-cup portions of vegetables that contain higher levels of carbs. Keep in mind that you are allowed three servings of low-carb vegetables. The choice is up to you whether to enjoy a single type of vegetable or two or three different types of vegetables.
Click Here to Visit Official Website!
The diet has been clinically proven to be safe and effective, Click Here to Try!
$$$Pricing $$$
It's easy to assume that a diet plan that includes prepackaged meals that are shipped to your door will be exorbitantly expensive, but that's not the case with this healthy meal plan. One especially refreshing this about the plan is that it includes upfront, easy-to-understanding pricing. You don't have to worry about fluctuating costs at all. Packages are sold in two- and four-week increments, and flat-rate pricing is offered at all levels.
Pricing for the various different options is listed right on the website. For example, the two-week package for women currently costs $162.50, which equals less than $12 per day. The four-week package for women costs $341.5, which costs closer to $11 per day. If you think that sounds pricey, you should break down how much you're currently spending on food. Odds are high that you are actually spending a lot more than that per day. The fact that the food is delivered right to your door and is ready to eat should also be taken into consideration.
Variety of Packages
The Medifast weight loss plan is not designed to be a one-size-fits-all solution. After all, different people have different dietary and caloric requirements. One reason for the plan's ongoing popularity is that it's offered in packages that address specific dietary needs. For example, you can quickly and easily select a package that contains the appropriate amount of calories for your gender by choosing a two- or four-week package for men or women. These gender-specific packages contain doctor-recommended amounts of calories, protein, vitamins and minerals to ensure safe and healthy weight loss.
A wide assortment of specialty packages is available. If you have diabetes, for example, you can purchase a package that's specifically designed for diabetic people. If you have celiac disease or have other problems with gluten, you'll be happy to know that gluten-free packages are also available. This diet plan is therefore suitable for just about anyone. You just need to select the appropriate package, and you'll be on your way in no time. The Quick Start Guide does caution that you should seek medical advice before beginning the plan, just to make sure that everything goes as smoothly as possible.
If none of the packages work right for you, don't worry: You also have the option of designing your own menu. This can be accomplished quickly and easily through the website. You are allotted five boxes per week. For a two-week menu, you will need 10 boxes; for a four-week menu, you will need 20 boxes. As you make your way through the process, you will be able to narrow down your choices by answering a few basic questions. Choose whether the meals are intended for a man or a woman. Next, select your dietary preferences. Finally, indicate whether you only want to see "on-the-go meals" or not. You'll be given a list of results and will be able to select the meals that appeal to you.
Quality Guarantee
One thing that we really like about the Medifast plan is that it comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you begin the plan and aren't satisfied, you can return any unopened boxes for a full refund. With that in mind, you should feel a lot more optimistic about giving this plan a try. While it's not for everyone, an incredible number of people have experienced exceptional success on the plan.
Medifast Coupons | May 2013
You can save money on your prepackaged meals by tracking down Medifast coupon codes online. A surprising number of them are available, and new codes and coupons are being released all the time. In some cases, you can get free shipping on future orders. When you check out online, simply enter the appropriate coupon code. There are also Medifast coupons out there for significant discounts on prepackaged meals. For example, you can save more than $60 when you spend $250 or more. As long as you order a four-week package, you can save a considerable amount of money.
Top Reasons to Use the Medifast Diet Plan
You've already been introduced to many great reasons to use this unique diet plan, but there are a few additional points that deserve to be mentioned:
- You can receive all the support you need by signing up for MyMedifast, which is a free online support community. Members can enjoy chat rooms, blogs, discussion boards and many other useful resources. The site also includes in-depth articles about making the most of the plan. Exercise programs and recipes are also highlighted on the site. You can also maintain an online journal to track your progress or print out meal plans.
- Upon successfully completing the diet plan, you aren't left to your own devices. There is a very specific Transition into Maintenance plan that can be used to maintain your weight loss and to keep your weight at a healthy level. This is significantly different than other popular plans which often leave you on your own upon completion.
- People who stick with the plan typically lose two to five pounds per week. The most significant weight loss occurs in the early days of the plan, but additional weight loss generally continues. If a plateau is reached, you can always switch to leaner proteins or vegetables that are exceptionally low in carbs. The point is that this plan is extremely flexible and actually works as long as you stick with it.
Potential Drawbacks
No Medifast review would be complete without mentioning at least a few of the potential drawbacks of the plan. Fortunately, those drawbacks are negligible and shouldn't dissuade you from giving the plan a try. A few possible issues include:
There are many great success stories out there about the Medifast food plan. It comes as no surprise that the plan is recommended by so many doctors. A handful of testimonials are included below for your convenience.
"Through the years, I've tried just about every fad diet and diet plan that's come along. After spending so many years counting calories, carbs and points, I'd had enough. The pounds kept piling on, and I was losing hope of ever achieving a healthy weight. I asked my doctor for advice, and he suggested the Medi fast weight loss plan. I read through a few online testimonials that included a couple coupons, and gave it a try. It's been six months now, and I am already approaching my ideal weight. The plan has been a huge success for me." – Laura W.
"In addition to losing a lot of weight, the best thing about this plan is the convenience. I like not having to think about it. A four-week supply of prepackaged meals is delivered right to my door, and I just have to prepare one Lean & Green meal per day. I throw in a little moderate exercise, and that's all there is to it." – David D.
"For me, this plan has been about more than just losing weight. It's taught me how to live a healthier and happier life. I've gained so much through the MyMedifast online community, and I've successfully transitioned away from the prepackaged meals. For the first time in my life, I'm confident about keeping the weight off for good." – Lindsay W.
Medifast: A Flexible, Convenient Diet Plan
Although there are a few minor drawbacks to the plan, it's safe to say that this is a worthwhile option for just about anyone. Whether you're a man or a woman, or if you have diabetes, celiac disease or other dietary restrictions, you should be able to put this plan to work for you without any trouble. By relying on the Quick Start Guide and the valuable resources that are available through the MyMedifast online community, achieving success through the Medi fast plan is more than possible. The best part of all is that this plan is extremely affordable, especially when you take advantage of the many Medifast coupons that are available online. If you're ready to lose weight, place your order today.
Click Here to Visit Official Website!
Reviewed by Julian Hooks on January 1st 2013.
An effective weight loss meal replacement program.
Weight loss meal plans that are delivered to your doorstep. Savor diet meals that help you lose weight and live healthy.
Rating: 5.0
One Comment/Review
A great, accurate, and honest review. This program helped lost 150 pounds.is is everything you mention and more. A great program!


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The Adventures of Robin Hood (1956)
by Roger Lancelyn Green
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No current Talk conversations about this book.
I was always a big fan of Robin Hood. These were a bunch of short stories based on Robin's adventures. I guess it's the legend that surrounds him, and how he helped the poor. I rooted for him the whole way through. Worth it, if only for the legends.
Initially, I wasn't too sure what to make of this. There's a lot of action going on, as everyone knows of Robin Hood, but the writing doesn't really have that sort of tone. And, because he collected the stories from the various places that they're found and put them essentially in order, to try to make a fairly chronological account come together to make a novel, some of it is a little repetetive and a little disjointed. But, I started to get a lot more into it more around halfway in, and found it more engaging. Plus I had no idea that the "real" Marion was so amazing!! All the movies stick her in the trite old damsel in distress role (ugh!), but as it turns out, she's every bit as badass as Robin, and probably even more clever. I was astonished, and thrilled! Also, Green put pieces from the old text/songs at the start of each "adventure," which I thought was interesting and clever.
This wasn't one of my top favorite reads, but I'm really glad that I picked it up, and I'd encourage others to do the same!
Another battered and dog-eared book from my childhood, just as much a favourite as the King Arthur book by this author. Very accessible, easy for children to get into, and fun.
I liked this edition because the author started out chapter with its corresponding lines from the ballads.
This story is very exciting. But when I read ending of this book, I was sad.
I respect Robin Hood!!
References to this work on external resources.
Wikipedia in English
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0140367004, Paperback)This is the classic story of social justice and outrageous cunning. Robin Hood is champion of the poor and oppressed by twelfth-century England against the cruel power of Prince John and the brutal Sheriff of Nottingham. He takes refuge with his Merrie Men in the vast Sherwood Forest, emerging time and again to outwit his enemies with daring and panache.
(retrieved from Amazon Mon, 30 Sep 2013 13:26:44 -0400)
Recounts the life and adventures of Robin Hood, who, with his band of followers, lived as an outlaw in Sherwood Forest dedicated to fighting tyranny.
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Two editions of this book were published by Penguin Australia.
Editions: 0141329386, 0141334894
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MADISON, Wis (WSAU-Wheeler News) A state appeals court says a Madison doctor accused of fondling female patients must pay for the costs of disciplining him. The state Medical Examining suspended former U-W Hospital physician Frank Salvi for 90 days in 2009. He was also told to get a mental evaluation, and pay almost $47,000 for the state's costs of pursuing his case.
Salvi said he shouldn't have to pay that. He claimed that the state's estimates of the time-and-costs spent on the case were not valid, because they reflected "information and belief" instead of personal knowledge. The Fourth District Court of Appeals refused to buy that line of reasoning. It said yesterday that both the administrative law judge and the prosecuting attorney had personal knowledge of the time spent on the case.
Salvi was accused of fondling four female patients in 2004-and-'05. He challenged the state's punishment in court, and the appellate court later upheld it.


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£100,000 3 Bedrooms Pansy Road, Farnworth, BOLTON, BL4 0EW
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NOTE: PDF version is available in the Year 4 Bundle Value Pack
Most people think of kobolds as small, but when the Summer Gen Con issue rolls around, we're huge! HUGE!
This years issue is no exception, with 96 pages packed full of:
Whether youre going to this years Gen Con or just want to get your hands on a ton of great material for your favorite fantasy RPG, Kobold Quarterly #14 is a must-have. Get your copy today!
Pathfinder and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and are used under license. See paizo.com/pathfinderRPG for more information on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
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USA East Coast suffered a 90-72 loss to the Helsinki Seagulls, a Finish professional team, on Thursday in Helsinki. The loss gives USA East Coast a 2-2 overall record for their overseas tour. The team was to fly back to the United State on Friday.
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Beneath The Finite Sky (2011)
Five Smooth Stones' second full length album has eleven eclectic rock cuts including the single Paper Maché and concert favorites Beauty & Pain, Rockets and Picture.
Buy on iTunes or BandCamp.
Life From Dust (2009)
Five Smooth Stones' debut album continues to be well-liked. It features band and fan favorites Lump Of Clay and Four and the radio single Superman.Buy on iTunes.
After months of preparation three people wait. The location is booked, the room is filled with all sorts of instruments; all that is missing is one person. It seems so close. All the hard work, the planning - everything is beginning to come to fruition. The last things standing in the way of a week of much anticipated recording are a few miles, and a whole lot of snow.
In the spring of 2010, when Five Smooth Stones first began thinking of their second album, they could not have possibly known where the process would take them, or that the final outcome would be the eleven songs that make up Beneath the Finite Sky.
"I don't know that we had a specific purpose in mind when we started writing these songs. Our main goal was simply to have a purpose," says bassist Colvin Franklin.
Five Smooth Stones released their first album, Life From Dust, in March of 2009. Since then they have spent most of their time playing local shows and honing their songwriting skills. When it came time for their second release they decided to take a bit of a different approach.
"We had all been spending some time apart, kind of doing [song] writing as individuals. Then as we started digging through things as a band we started seeing themes," continues Colvin.
From there the band began vigorously demoing songs and shaping the themes that would ultimately become Beneath the Finite Sky. The band focused in on creating music that was candid and honest about life's challenges. The result is a group of songs that are vulnerable and openly confront the pain and failings we all struggle with.
"I think when we break down the barrier of pride and get honest with ourselves and each other, we really start to see how we're all very much the same, every one of us is a part of the human experience," says drummer Andrew Franklin.
"We really hoped that by opening ourselves up we could connect to others on a much deeper level," adds Colvin.
Despite the down-to-earth mindset in the songwriting, there is still a strong sense of purpose. There is a hopefulness that shines through even the darkest of songs. The album shares daily life not as a means to itself, but rather to share a piece of the bigger collective. A story bigger than the individuals that make it up; one with a Divine ending.
After months of working on demos the band decided to take itself out of its comfort zone. They booked a cabin with a great open space, suitable for recording drums, and prepared to embark on a self-produced recording session. They planned out a week in the cabin to track the bulk of the music, and then to finish the project at home. What they didn't plan on was a snow storm.
Andrew, Tom, and Kathryn set out early Monday morning and arrived later that afternoon, leaving Colvin to drive up the next day. As the weather forecast became somewhat ominous, Colvin soon decided it would be best to leave Monday night in an attempt to beat most of the snow.
"When I left I was pretty sure that I would at least have to do some driving in the snow, but with the forecast I honestly didn't know if going the next day would even be possible. I really didn't expect it to get so bad so quickly," recalls Colvin.
After three and a half hours of worry on both ends Colvin arrived on location, only slightly worse for the wear of the drive. All the band breathed a collective sigh of relief, and having gotten much of the gear set up during the afternoon and evening, were ready to begin recording in the morning.
"I think we really learned a lot about each other and the band [by recording at the cabin]. It was great to spend that much time with one another," says Colvin.
"It was a great experience having, every day saturated with music," adds guitarist Kathryn Clarke, "and spending the time together, playing 'til every song sounded exactly right."
After a week spend hard at work in their cabin studio, and weeks of work back at home, Five Smooth Stones completed Beneath the Finite Sky and released it to the world in June of 2011. The band has grown along with the songs and learned a great deal for the process.
"We really got to focus on the songs, on making them real to us and we hope to the listening ear," recalls guitarist Tom Franklin.
Since the album's release, the band has been touring in its support. They look for venues where they can, of course, expose listeners to their music, but also seek to build relationships, even friendships, with people. They hope to encourage all they meet, and to foster an environment for helping those in need of support.
Andrew finishes by adding, "As we were writing and recording this album, and now as we start to play it for people, we find ourselves talking a lot about hope - about love - and about Jesus. It's one thing to talk or sing about it, but we want to show hope, show love and show Jesus to people. One way we're doing that is through child sponsorship, and we really encourage fans to consider sponsoring children as well. We're on this earth to love and help each other, it's an amazing and wonderful thing."
Five Smooth Stones loves playing songs about life "Beneath The Finite Sky" for our friends and your friends.
For parties, youth groups, coffee houses and most other venues, we ask that you cover our travel costs, take a love offering to help support us, and allow us to set up a table to offer our CDs, tshirts and other items to raise needed band funds.
For concerts where tickets are sold, or admission fees charged, and other for-profit or fund-raising events, please email us with details, we are happy to work with you on a fair and equitable arrangement.
If you have a sound system and sound tech, we are delighted to use them, and will forward our technical needs to them. If you don't, we have a small sound system we'll bring.
Please note:
Five Smooth Stones will be booking on a very limited basis for 2013-14. Along with time working on new music, we have one member doing grad work and another working through a medical situation. That said, we do not wish to dismiss any opportunity to play without giving it proper consideration (in light of the aforementioned circumstances, of course). So please do let us know what you have in mind…
☞ Book Five Smooth Stones through GigSalad.com