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Herceptin Indication and Important Safety Information
Herceptin is indicated for adjuvant treatment of HER2-overexpressing node-positive or node-negative (ER/PR-negative or with one high-risk feature*) breast cancer:
- As part of a treatment regimen containing doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and either paclitaxel or docetaxel
- With docetaxel and carboplatin
- As a single agent following multi-modality anthracycline-based therapy
* High-risk is defined as ER/PR positive with one of the following features: tumor size >2 cm, age <35 years, or tumor grade 2 or 3.
Metastatic indication
Herceptin is indicated:
- In combination with paclitaxel for the first line treatment of HER2-overexpressing metastatic breast cancer
- As a single agent for treatment of HER2-overexpressing breast cancer in patients who have received one or more chemotherapy regimens for metastatic disease
Herceptin is indicated:
- In combination with cisplatin and capecitabine or 5-fluorouracil, for the treatment of patients with HER2 overexpressing metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma, who have not received prior treatment for metastatic disease.
Boxed WARNINGS and Additional Important Safety Information
- Herceptin administration can result in sub-clinical and clinical cardiac failure. The incidence and severity was highest in patients receiving Herceptin with anthracycline-containing chemotherapy regimens. In a pivotal adjuvant breast cancer trial, one patient who developed CHF died of cardiomyopathy.
- Evaluate cardiac function prior to and during treatment. For adjuvant breast cancer therapy, also evaluate cardiac function after completion of Herceptin. Discontinue Herceptin for cardiomyopathy.
- Herceptin can result in serious and fatal infusion reactions and pulmonary toxicity. Discontinue Herceptin for anaphylaxis, angioedema, interstitial pneumonitis, or acute respiratory distress syndrome.
- Exposure to Herceptin during pregnancy can result in oligohydramnios, in some cases complicated by pulmonary hypoplasia and neonatal death.
- Exacerbation of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia has also occurred.
- Detection of HER2 protein overexpression is necessary for selection of patients appropriate for Herceptin therapy.
- The most common adverse reactions associated with Herceptin in breast cancer were fever, nausea, vomiting, infusion reactions, diarrhea, infections, increased cough, headache, fatigue, dyspnea, rash, neutropenia, anemia, and myalgia.
- The most common adverse reactions associated with Herceptin in metastatic gastric cancer were neutropenia, diarrhea, fatigue, anemia, stomatitis, weight loss, upper respiratory tract infections, fever, thrombocytopenia, mucosal inflammation, nasopharyngitis, and dysgeusia.
You may report side effects to the FDA at (800) FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch. You may also report side effects to Genentech at (888) 835-2555.
Please see the Herceptin full prescribing information including Boxed WARNINGS and additional important safety information.


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I have been working at Standard Chartered Bank full-time for more than a year
Pros – It was my dream company . They care for human values . This is the only company where you have employment for blind also ....
Cons – Not too good pay master . Too much of internal politics....
Advice to Senior Management – Should increase the pay ...
Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend
I worked at Standard Chartered Bank as an intern for less than a year
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Views: 37
Well at least if they know what it is maybe they can do something. Spine pain is the worst because a lot of times the doctor does not believe you and thinks you are just trying to get narcotics. I'm glad you finally have a diagnosis!
© 2014 Created by HD.Caravan Hookahs.


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I worked at Johnson & Johnson full-time for more than 10 years
Pros – Excellent people, great benefits and the knowledge that you are changing the world everyday by delivering the best products in class.
Cons – It will be interesting to see how Alex Gorsky leads the company in this new healthcare environment.
Advice to Senior Management – Go back to the Credo and don't worry so much about Wall Street.
Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend
I have been working at Johnson & Johnson full-time for more than 5 years
I worked at Johnson & Johnson as an intern for more than a year
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Graduate Admissions - International Graduate Requirements
Application Deadlines:
Spring: November 15
Summer: April 15
Fall: June 15
- Applicants to a Graduate Program must have earned at least a Bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution (or equivalent from a foreign institution)
- All of the following items must be on file in the Graduate Studies Office before a decision can be made:
Graduate Admission
Application and Processing
- Complete the Graduate Application Form and sign it.
If you do not see the semester for which you wish to apply, you may have missed the deadline for application. Applications close 60 days prior to the beginning of the semester.
Processing Fees
- Students applying for admission to TSU are required to pay a non-refundable, application-processing fee of $130.00. Make the check, Visa or Master Card payable to Tarleton State University. The Application Fee must be submitted with the Application Form.
- If you choose to stay in one of our dormitories, fill out the Housing Application and include a $100.00 check as a deposit which will be refunded when you leave the dorm.
If you choose to rent a private apartment, you do not need to make a room reservation in a University Dormitory nor is it necessary to send $100 for Room Deposit.
Letter of Sponsorship
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- Applicant must have a reliable financial sponsor. To obtain a visa from the American Embassy, the prospective student must have documented evidence of financial solvency written on a bank letterhead. A sponsor is obligated to also endorse all expenditures for the applicant during the first year of study. Estimate your tuition with our online calculator.
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Applicants with a GPA of 3.0 or higher on their last 60 hours may be granted conditional admission to the Graduate Program without GRE/GMAT scores, but they must complete one or the other during their first semester at Tarleton State University. (Except in the College of Business where it is waived).
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All International students must have valid medical insurance on file with the OIP office.
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text:
February 15, 2012
On President Obama weighing the option of dismantling up to 80% of the U.S. nuclear arsenal…
The regime, led by Barack Hussein Obama, is weighing options for reducing our US nuclear force, including a reduction of up to 80% in the number of deployed warheads. Eighty percent. Folks, this is staggering. Meanwhile, the Iranians are nuking up… We are unilaterally disarming. We are not requiring the Russians to go along. And even if the Russians said they would match these reductions, they lie! That is the lesson of Russians, and nukes… Our number of warheads peaked at 12,000 in the late 80s. And let me tell you something. That number of nuclear warheads is what helped us win the cold war. That number of nuclear warheads sent a message to every other nation, particularly at that point in time the Soviet Union: you hit us, it doesn't matter. We've got enough left to wipe you out in retaliation. That many nuclear warheads was a deterrent.


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About the Schaller tuners I have nothing to add to what other reviewers have said. These make the tuners that came with my (expensive) Gibson seem cheap. A word of caution for amateur installers (like me). The 10 mm bit that I bought is pretty aggressive, and a drill guide and backing block is (IMHO) essential to prevent tear-out (or worse) when re-drilling 3/8" holes to 10 mm with a hand-drill. I made my own. The bit will bind on the edges of the existing holes at first, but with the reinforcement of the tightly-clamped guide and block, I got six perfect 10 mm holes, and the rest of the installation was simple.
Forget the boutique brands. Forget the budget brands. The best tuners are Schallers, period. I use nothing else on any of my guitars. I've tried every major brand and Schaller is the only answer to the question "What is the best tuning machine?". Don't waste your time on anything else.
I have these tuners for almost two years now. I have chosen them as replacement tuners for Godin/Seagull C6 guitar - they fit perfectly, no drilling, just remove the original tuners and "plug" these Schallers.
I am very much satisfied with them. They are as smooth as the legendary Gotoh 510 (I have them on another guitar, so I can compare) and they hold the tuning as firmly as Grover 18:1 Sta-Tites - I have them too, they are simple but extremely stable, from my experience).
Another thing that I like is that the relatively large knobs make these tuners very "handy" and easy to operate (may be that is why they "feel" the same as the 18:1 Gotohs); nice also from an aesthetic point of view.
In my case the chrome "colour" was exactly what I wanted, but it is perhaps pity that there are no other options available (gold, black).
The locking mechanism of these Schallers is very good and useful. Just remember that the thickest string one can use with these Schallers is gauge 56 and this already with some difficulty - but usual medium strings with low E in gauge 56 are still OK.
the only negative thing I can tell about those is that they are not coming in black...!
The Schaller Locking tuners is as good as it gets. I've tested lots of other brands of tuners on my builds, name it and I've tested them. But these beat them all. Smooth action, precision made and beautiful finish.
I use these with pearloid buttons on a lot of guitars. I prefer the thicker locking-knob over the Sperzers.
Kind of pricey, but they are very solid.
Have em both .. Schallers are simpler to use, better locking wheel and add perfect weight to the neck
3 a Side locking tuners. It's good to know that if your guitar is ever caught up in a thermo-nuclear explosion, your tuners will survive. Chromed and heavy! Hidden locating pin does away with mounting screws that seem to strip if you attempt to undo them. 16:1 ratio and s-m-o-o-t-h winding makes tuning accurate. Best of all, you just poke in the string, tighten the large knurled nut and you are tuning. No pre-winding and no extra coils around the peg to make tuning non-linear.
Will they make you play better? No. Do they look vintage? No. One side benefit of their weight, was that balance of my guitar on the strap was improved. The price was good too!
These came stock on my G&L S-500 and I wanted a set on my G&L ASAT Classic. Replaced the ASAT standard tuners with these in about 10 minutes and all is good. Excellent service from StewMac!
These are the most consistent and well built tuners that I have used. Excellent gear ratio for accurate tuning. Will use on all future builds.
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text:
Welcome to the National Park Service Planning, Environment and Public Comment site. The National Park Service prepares a variety of planning and environmental documents to help guide management of park resources. This site contains all of the currently active projects for the National Park Service.
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Main Content
Hit it up in suave Fox style with this Ernesto long sleeve woven shirt featuring embroidered logo detailing on the chest. Just try to not break too many ladies' hearts in it!
- Lightweight button-up shirt
- Fox logo buttons
- Fox logo embroidery
- Rinse washed for comfort
- Button closure at cuffs
- Imported
- 60% Cotton/37% Polyester/3% Spandex Dobby
Fox Customers also liked:
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Everyone's favorite Mon Calamari, Admiral Ackbar!
Oh, the costumes you'll see at San Diego Comic-Con! The popular convention draws both professional and first-time cosplayers alike. From sharp-dressed clone troopers to a stunning Lady Vader, Star Wars costumers were out in full Force. Here are some of my favorite Star Wars costumes from San Diego Comic-Con 2013!


text:
Dictionary definitions
- Enter a word for the dictionary definition.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Neutral \Neu"tral\, a. [L. neutralis, fr. neuter. See Neuter.] 1. Not engaged on either side; not taking part with or assisting either of two or more contending parties; neuter; indifferent. [1913 Webster] The heart can not possibly remain neutral, but constantly takes part one way or the other. --Shaftesbury. [1913 Webster] 2. Neither good nor bad; of medium quality; middling; not decided or pronounced. [1913 Webster] Some things good, and some things ill, do seem, And neutral some, in her fantastic eye. --Sir J. Davies. [1913 Webster] 3. (Biol.) Neuter. See Neuter, a., 3. [1913 Webster] 4. (Chem.) Having neither acid nor basic properties; unable to turn red litmus blue or blue litmus red; -- said of certain salts or other compounds. Contrasted with acid, and alkaline. [1913 Webster] Neutral axis, Neutral surface (Mech.), that line or plane, in a beam under transverse pressure, at which the fibers are neither stretched nor compressed, or where the longitudinal stress is zero. See Axis. Neutral equilibrium (Mech.), the kind of equilibrium of a body so placed that when moved slighty it neither tends to return to its former position not depart more widely from it, as a perfect sphere or cylinder on a horizontal plane. Neutral salt (Chem.), a salt formed by the complete replacement of the hydrogen in an acid or base; in the former case by a positive or basic, in the latter by a negative or acid, element or radical. Neutral tint, a bluish gray pigment, used in water colors, made by mixing indigo or other blue some warm color. the shades vary greatly. Neutral vowel, the vowel element having an obscure and indefinite quality, such as is commonly taken by the vowel in many unaccented syllables. It is regarded by some as identical with the [u^] in up, and is called also the natural vowel, as unformed by art and effort; it is also called the indefinite vowel. It is symbolized in some phonetic alphabets by the schwa ([schwa]). See Guide to Pronunciation, [sect] 17. [1913 Webster] .
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Neutral \Neu"tral\, n. A person or a nation that takes no part in a contest between others; one who is neutral. [1913 Webster] The neutral, as far as commerce extends, becomes a party in the war. --R. G. Harper. [1913 Webster] .
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Colorless \Col"or*less\, a. 1. Without color; not distinguished by any hue; transparent; as, colorless water; a colorless gas. Note: [Narrower terms: {ashen, bloodless, livid, lurid, pale, pallid, pasty, wan, waxen}; neutral; white] [Also See: achromatic, colorless.] [1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5] 2. Free from any manifestation of partial or peculiar sentiment or feeling; not disclosing likes, dislikes, prejudice, etc.; as, colorless music; a colorless style; definitions should be colorless. [1913 Webster] 3. having lost its normal color. Note: [Narrower terms: {blanched, etiolate, etiolated, whitened}; bleached, faded, washed-out, washy; dimmed, dulled, grayed; dirty; {dull, sober, somber, subfusc}] colored Syn: colorless, uncolored, uncoloured. [WordNet 1.5 +PJC]


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Your Account
On the Cutting Edge - Professional Development for Geoscience Faculty
Designing Effective and Innovative Courses
Topical Resources
Cutting Edge
Course Design
Workshop 2012
> Schedule summary
Schedule and assignments summary
This page provides a summary of the workshop schedule with links to program and assignment pages that will have more details as they become available.
Registration confirmation and payment
You must confirm your registration in the workshop by filling out the online registration form by the close of business on
Wednesday, March 28
. You must also pay the workshop registration fee via our online payment page unless you are from a developing country, in which case we have waived your registration fee.
Pre-workshop assignment
In the
pre-workshop assignment
, you will explore the existing resources on the
Cutting Edge
web site, introduce yourself on the discussion board, and test drive the Collaborate screen sharing system.
Must be completed by March 28 at 6 pm EDT.
Workshop kick-off (Thursday, March 29, 2012, 3-6 pm EDT)
Participants will take part in a virtual kickoff event using Blackboard Collaborate for screen sharing and telephone for audio. During this sessions, participants will set goals for their own courses/activities/modules, discuss challenges and strategies for meeting the goals, provide feedback to other participants, and brainstorm the grand challenges, leading edge ideas, and frontiers in mineralogy, petrology, and geochemistry.
Assignment #1
Between the March and April sessions, participants will work individually to revise goals, post feedback on other participants' ideas, and post ideas for integrating leading edge ideas.
April session (Thursday, April 12, 2012, 3-6 pm EDT)
This online session using Blackboard Collaborate will involve discussion and presentation of the next phase of the design process. After the session, participants will have a month to work on and post the second workshop assignment, participate in asynchronous discussions and optional webinars, and receive feedback from leaders and other participants.
Assignment #2
Between the April and May synchronous sessions, participants will work individually on the outline of an effective assignment/activity and post feedback on other participants' ideas. Those working on a course will work on a skeleton outline for the course and post feedback on other participants' outlines.
May session (Thursday, May 3, 2012, 3-6 pm EDT)
This online session will prepare participants to work over the summer on their design projects. Participants will set goals for summer work.
Assignment #3
Over the summer, participants will work individually on their courses/activities. Before the October wrap-up session, participants must submit at least one assignment/activity of their own to the collection (preferably one developed during this workshop), and the syllabus for a course.
October session (Thursday, October 25, 2012, 3-6 pm EDT)
This online synchronous session will include an electronic poster session showcasing work that participants have done over the summer and early fall.
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text: The administration is still behaving like it is trying to get Obamacare enacted, and therefore its top public relations task is to bury negative stories about the law and emphasize the upside, like heavy consumer interest. But this is a mistake. Obamacare is already the law, and its long term political success is going to be determined by its substantive policy success — including whether consumers are able to sign up and get the health coverage they want.


text:
Bombin' the A.M. With Scoops and the Wolf
You can now filter search results with text. Example: "person: john" will search only person pages for "john".
Ground Zeroes makes up for its initial brevity with plentiful side content, a gorgeous look, and the most dynamic, satisfying stealth gameplay Metal Gear has seen in some time.
Second Son is a focused open-world game that offers terrific graphics and enjoyable abilities, but it would definitely benefit from a little more variety.
Vlambeer's new shooter is as hectic as it is addictive.
Concept »
Driveclub is a team-based racing game from Evolution Studios for PlayStation 4.
Persona 4 Golden is an update of the critically acclaimed PlayStation 2 role-playing game. New additions and changes have been made exclusively for the PlayStation Vita.
Ace Attorney meets action and rhythm games with a plot resembling Battle Royale in this "high speed detective action game" from Spike for the PSP.
Persona 3 Portable is an enhanced port of Persona 3 for PSP. New features include an additional female protagonist as well as certain gameplay adjustments introduced in Persona 4.
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 is a role-playing game developed and published by Atlus for Sony's PlayStation 2, and chronologically the fifth installment in the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona series. Persona 4 game play combines the traditional role-playing game with elements of a simulation game.
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text:
Welcome to the world of Dip'nGrip – the handball glue which gives YOU control of your game. This is truly an innovative product. Dip'nGrip cannot be compared with existing brands on the market. Dip'nGrip is a long-lasting handball glue with superior tack, and yet easy to remove afterwards with our waterbased floor cleaner.
Dip'nGrip is an official partner to the European Handball Federation – EHF – and Dip'nGrip is the approved handball glue for all European Championships.Dip'nGrip is also proud to be a partner with the Royal Spanish Federation (RFEBM), French Handball Federation (FFHB), and the Austrian Handball Federation (ÖHB).
All our products are manufactured avoiding unnecessary ingredients like perfumes, colourings and other articles, which may cause allergic reactions. In particular, our Dip'nGrip handball glue is free from colophony – an ingredient found naturally in tree-resin. Even brands claiming to be dermatological tested, contain high values of colophony.


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Scream Factory to Release Uncut 'Sleepaway Camp' on Blu-rayPosted in Movies on January 24th, 2014 by Nick
It's finally happening! And Scream Factory is the shit.
If you aren't familiar with Scream Factory, a branch of Shout! Factory dedicated to releasing horror and sci-fi films with cult followings (on Blu-ray), you should get to it and check out their website for a list of releases. The company has successfully revived some of the hardest movies to find from the vaults and had a very successful 2013 doing so. So what will 2014 bring? Probably a ton of stuff, but also SLEEPAWAY CAMP.
If you've ever read this blog for at least 30 seconds, you've probably found me spitting truth about how Sleepaway Camp is one of my favorite movies ever, horror or otherwise. And then there was that time where I spent hours researching the whereabouts of Renée Estevez, star of Sleepaway Camp 2: Unhappy Campers (and yes, Emilio's sister). So news of this new Blu-ray release means the series is still alive and I am all smiles.
The new release, which will be uncut (!), will be available May 27th. Extras and bonus goodies to be announced closer to release. And the new cover art and release are all approved by writer/director Robert Hiltzik. It's all legit, kiddos.
If you haven't seen this film – buy this Blu-ray immediately. Yanno. In four months.


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SIDE STREETS: 83-year-old Colorado Springs Sears saleswoman still going strong
Mary Bigler, 83, seen here May 7, 2013, has sold tools at Sears on Southgate Road in the Broadmoor Towne Center since 1982. She went back to school to become a teacher and took a weekend job at Sears after her husband died, leaving her as a single parent with four children. She hopes to work "until they carry me out on a gurney." Bill Vogrin / The Gazette


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Tips for Successful Grasscycling
Many people treat their lawns like a "crop:" they (over) water and (over) fertilize their lawns to encourage excessive growth. The "harvested crop" (grass clippings) is then bagged and disposed. Proper mowing, watering, and fertilizing practices result in more moderate turf growth, yet still produce a healthy, green lawn.
Grasscycling can be practiced on any healthy lawn as long as the following turf management guidelines are followed:
Use Mower with a mulching system. Friendly Robotics RoboMower® was designed specifically for mulching, it has a well-designed mulching deck and blades designed to lift up the grass and keep it suspended for repeated cutting (up to 10 times) before allowing it to fall back down to the ground as a natural fertilizer. It cuts grass into smaller clippings — for faster decomposition into the soil — and then moves them down as rapidly as possible.
Mowing frequency
One of the most important keys to Grasscycling is to mow more and cut less. Most lawn jockeys favor mowing once every week, usually on an otherwise quiet Saturday. With grasscycling, lawns are mowed when the grass needs cutting, rather than sticking to an artificially imposed schedule. With Friendly Robotics RoboMower® it's easy as RoboMower® does all the work itself, schedule your RoboMower® to automatically depart from the Charging Station whenever you like and as often as you like. During the active growing season the mowing frequency should be increased to once every 5 days, before the grass is too long. If the grass is long, cut off short amounts in several mowing rather than all at once. More frequent and proper cutting will also yield smaller grass clippings, which can readily filter down to the soil surface and decompose within days.
Cutting Height
Follow the "1/3 rule:" mow the lawn often enough so that no more than 1/3 of the length of the grass blade is removed in any one mowing. Proper mowing will produce short clippings that will not cover up the grass surface. You may have to cut the lawn more frequently, or double cut, when the lawn is growing fast, such as in the spring.
Any time the lawn is mowed, the plant's ability to photosynthesize and to produce carbohydrates essential for root growth is decreased. To maximize photosynthesis and reduce turf stress, remove no more than one-third of the leaf at one time. If more than one-third of the leaf area is removed, root growth is temporarily slowed by the plant's inability to produce sufficient carbohydrates. If the lawn has been severely cut, the plant uses stored carbohydrates to produce new leaf growth. If the lawn is repeatedly cut too short, carbohydrate reserves will be depleted, weakening roots and predisposing the grass to weeds, diseases, insects, and drought injury.
Two common mowing mistakes are:
Many people mow their lawns too short
It's a bad habit, one that promotes all kinds of problems, from excessive weed growth to pest and disease problems to rapid browning during periods of drought. Taller grasses produce healthier root systems and require less water because the longer-leaf blades serve as shade from the sun. A grass's root system grows about as deep as the leaf blades are tall.
Letting the grass grow too tall before it is mowed
Don't wait until the grass is too high before mowing because the very act of mowing creates considerable stress on the grass, and it may take days for the grass to recover from the shock. If the grass gets too high, raise the cutting height, mow, then gradually lower it over several mowings. This will also reduce shock to the plants from cutting too much at once. When cutting more than third of the grass height, let RoboMower® to run for more time than normally used to mow over the clippings a few times. This will further shred the clippings.
When to mow?
Mow your lawn when the grass is dry. You have probably already noticed that wet grass cuts poorly. Damp clippings will cling to the blade causing ragged cuts; the mower deck (the blade housing) will become clogged, interfering with overall mowing; grass clippings will form unsightly clumps; and clippings won't be able to filter down to the soil surface. Mow your lawn late in the day rather than during the heat of the day. It's far less stressful on the grass. This will prevent the newly cut grass from burning as well as give the clippings a chance to settle overnight.
Mowing direction?
Vary the mowing direction. Grass tends to grow in the direction it is mowed. To prevent your lawn from appearing to lean one way or the other, vary your mowing direction each time you mow. This will keep your grass looking straighter. Friendly Robotics RoboMower® doing sets of triangles in different directions so every point in the lawn is mowed few times from different directions.
Keep your mower blades sharp. Sharp blades provide a clean, safe and efficient cut. Dull mower blades will tear and shred the tips of the grass, which can provide an entry point for disease organisms and weaken the grass plant. If your lawn looks dull after mowing, or perhaps turns straw-brown a day or two later, your mower blade is likely dull and causing damage.


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- Jan 16:
- Senate report says Benghazi attack was preventable
- Jan 15:
- Benghazi attack was preventable, Senate panel says
- Dec 29:
- No al-Qaeda link found to Benghazi attack, investigation shows
- Nov 9:
- CBS reporter apologizes for "60 Minutes" Benghazi report
- Sep 12:
- Car bomb hits Benghazi on attack anniversary
- Sep 11:
- Extremist groups in Benghazi identified, U.S. officials say
- Bomb hits Libya's Benghazi on attack anniversary
- May 22:
- U.S. identifies five Benghazi suspects but mulls how best to get them
- May 21:
- FBI ID's Benghazi suspects—but no arrests yet
- May 13:
- Pickering defends inquiry into Benghazi attack
- May 11:
- Emails: State Department sought changes to Benghazi talking points
- May 10:
- More questions about Benghazi
- May 6:
- U.S. official in Libya saw Benghazi violence as terrorist attack
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said he wanted all documents the department gave to an independent review board headed by former diplomat Thomas Pickering and retired Adm. Mike Mullen. Issa, who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, also asked for all documents and communications related to interviews conducted by the board.
U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the September attack. Republicans have accused the Obama administration of misleading Americans about the terrorist incident, and the House GOP has pursued its own investigation.
The State Department said it has worked to meet Issa's requests, but questioned the validity of his demand for more paperwork.
"For seven months, we've offered and provided access to specific documents at his request," spokesman Alec Gerlach said. "I'm scratching my head trying to ascertain what practical value yet another Issa subpoena has in protecting our diplomats."


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With the assistance of generous volunteers and participating organizations PBC was able to help 461 Piedmont residents.
PBC distributed 10,950 pounds of food, 663 units of clothing, and 30 households received utility/rent assistance.
Each month PBC strives to meet the needs of Piedmont area residents.
This is a small part of what the PBC is able to accomplish with the support of the community.
For more information on PBC services, to volunteer, or donate please contact the PBC at 256-447-2220 or visit our website at http://piedmontbenevolencecenter.weebly.com/


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Dorothy B. Perry11:00 am | January 15, 2013
Dorothy Burleson Perry, 76, Courtyard Apartments, Elizabethton, passed away Sunday, January 13, 2013, at Sycamore Shoals Hospital.
A native of Carter County, she was a daughter of the late William D. and Carrie Elliott Burleson.
Mrs. Perry was a 1954 graduate of Elizabethton High School. She was a member of the First Church of The Nazarene, Elizabethton.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Billy Wade Perry, October 3, 2009; a grandson, Jason Perry; and two sisters, Helen Davis Roberts and Charlene Guess.
Survivors include a daughter and son-in-law, Jana and Howard Whaley, Elizabethton; three sons, William David "Bill" Perry and wife Chris, Farmington, N.M., James Allen Perry and Johnny Lynn Perry, both of Elizabethton; two granddaughters, Nicole Perry and Sarah Elizabeth Tester; a brother, David Burleson, Elizabethton; and a special friend, Bill Bowling.
Funeral services for Mrs. Perry will be conducted at 8 p.m. Tuesday, January 15, at Memorial Funeral Chapel with the Rev. Kenley Knight officiating. Graveside services and interment will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, January 16, at Happy Valley Memorial Park. Active pallbearers will be selected from family and friends. The family would like to express a special "Thank You" to the residents of Courtyard Apartments and the staff of Amedisys Hospice. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home. Family and friends will assemble at the funeral home at 10:20 a.m. Wednesday to go to the cemetery. Condolences to the Perry family may be e-mailed to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Memorial Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements.


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The University is committed to rewarding excellence and improving access to higher education. The UTAS Scholarships Program provides over 900 awards to the value of almost $7 million. The continued success of this Program is a reflection of the generous gifts received by alumni and friends of UTAS including government and business. Through the Annual Appeal and other fundraising partnerships the UTAS Foundation works to continually establish new scholarships. The Program provides students with significant financial and academic support and wherever possible creates an opportunity for someone to get to university who might otherwise not be able to. The University of Tasmania and the UTAS Foundation endeavour to provide opportunities for everyone, across all walks of life, to access a university education."I feel like UTAS allowed me to soar. UTAS opened doors to my career and made opportunities possible.
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From pregnancy to motherhood, every mom has questions or could use some support. Join the conversation to learn from or help other moms just like you.
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Hello all I'm new to the site. I am 8 weeks along with my second child and I am having problems sleeping at night. I have been using a body pillow and I can fall asleep but I have a hard time staying asleep.. Does anyone have any ideas?
Try to do some things before bedtime that will help relax you and make it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep....like warm baths, etc. It could be the anxiety from being pregnant again that is keeping you from sleeping soundly. Talk to your doctor as well; there may be something she/he can do to help. If not, then rest assured that you will get some rest soon...it may be a passing phase.
Congrats on your second baby on the way! So sorry you are having a hard time sleeping. That's no fun. I, too, had a hard time sleeping at first with my pregnancy. A body pillow helped and I also tried to not get up and do anything stimulating when I did wake up. For example, I'd slip my earbuds in and listen to some soft music when I woke up instead of getting up and turning on the computer, etc. Sometimes a white noise machine is soothing for people or a hot waterbottle/warm blanket. I hope you get some relief soon!
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Host Eleanor Bobrow talk Mike Willency and Jay Plotnick, both of Lehigh Valley SCORE, an organization that connects experienced local mentors to entrepreneurs, helping them start a business, manage a business or succeed in business.
Host Eleanor Bobrow talk with Dr. Nichola D. Gutgold, Associate Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences, Penn State University, Lehigh Valley Campus and author of The Rhetoric of Supreme Court Women: From Obstacles to Options, as they discuss the shift that took place once women were elected to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On Monday's program, host Eleanor Bobrow talks with Mark Baylis, a 26-year veteran of the United States Army. In 2007, while in Iraq, he severely injured his back and was forced to retire. Once home, he found it difficult to find proper care for his combat injury. Mark came up with an idea to assist other veterans in similar positions by establishing the VALOR Clinic Foundation. VALOR stands for Veterans Assisted Living Outreach. Tune in to find out how to support our troops upon their return.


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Who will join Blowin' My Stack and Unspoken to move on to the Ultimate Weezer Survivor Game with all 9 winners? Here are the rules: Vote off your least favorite of the songs remaining. Vote for 2 songs until we get down to 5. Since there are 14 songs, I will eliminate 2 songs with the most votes in the first 3 rounds.
1. (If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To (2ND PLACE )
2. I'm Your Daddy (Eliminated Round 4)
3. The Girl Got Hot (Eliminated Round 2)
4. Can't Stop Partying (Eliminated Round 2)
5. Put Me Back Together (Eliminated Round 5)
6. Trippin' Down the Freeway (WINNER!!! )
7. Love is the Answer (Eliminated Round 1)
8. Let It All Hang Out (3RD PLACE )
9. In the Mall (Eliminated Round 1)
10. I Don't Want to Let You Go (Eliminated Round 6)
11. Get Me Some (Eliminated Round 1)
12. The Prettiest Girl in the Whole Wide World (Eliminated Round 2)
13. Run Over by a Truck (Eliminated Round 3)
14. The Underdogs (Eliminated Round 2)
Views: 251
Replies are closed for this discussion.
Round 1:
Love is the Answer
In the Mall
Come on guys, Get Me Some is no good at all.
Get Me Some
Can't Stop Partying
Come on guys, Get Me Some is no good at all.
Get Me Some
Can't Stop Partying
I don't get the hate for Love is the Answer. I quite like it, and it's definitely not one of the worst on Raditude.
Love is the Answer
Can't Stop Partying
Love is the Answer
I'm Your Daddy
You forgot I Woke Up in Love This Morning,Turn Me Round and The Story of My Life
Since the hurley game had bonus tracks too.
The Underdogs
Run Over by a Truck
Get Me Some
Run Over by a Truck


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Beef stroganoff in the crockpot for dinner tonight!
GRANA here; Today, SATURDAYNOON:ASIAN CHICKEN BROTH w/ dumplings & greensTake out lunch special of 3 appetizers & roastpork ried rice.egg rolls boneless ribsBBQ chicken wings dips dunkshe: roast pork fried ricehot tea cold lite beerDINNER:he: baloney & cheese on bun me:bownie& cocoaboth:cantaloupe chunks
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I was wondering, I just installed a new water heater due to the fact that the old one sprung a leak. Got the same size heater with the difference of both inlet and outlet are now on top instead of the old one having the hot on top and cold on bottom side of the tank. I mad new copper lines and installed the heater and noticed it had a green wire coming out of the heat along with the red and black and the old one only had the red and black wires. They are both 240v heaters. Now my question is do I leave the green wire grounded to the tank itself or do i connect it to another wire? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for your time.
It's a safety ground, and with new installations, should be connected back through the wiring to the panel's ground. It will work without it being connected. Not sure how your local code people would want it on a retrofit verses new. It will improve the safety, but should be okay.
Jim DeBruycker
Important note - I'm not a pro
Retired Defense Industry Engineer; Schluter 2.5-day Workshop Completed 2013, 2014
Ok thats what I fugured buthere is my issue, when i hooked it all up I filled the tank, bled all the faucets, and then I tunred the breaker on. The water was hot the morning after but just hot enought to take a shower without having to use any cold water,so I turned both thermostats up to 150 thinking they were not high enough. Next morning it produced it seemed like water at 150 or close to it but the hot water only lastewd long enough for 2 short showers and did not heat any more. So I changed both thermostats. Still no hot water. Both heating elents have continuity. What do I do next?
Thanks again for all your input.
1. The green wire you saw bonded the heater's jacket to the water tank.
2. The is a green screw on the top of the heater next to the junction box, which SHOULD be attached to a ground somehow.
3. WHY would you replace the thermostats on a new heater without testing to see if they were even the problem?
4. I do not test elements for continuity, I test them for amp draw to see if they are actually working.
5. Did you test the red "reset" button to see if it has popped out?
6. Other than that we cannot help you without being there to actually TEST the various components to see IF any are defective.
Are you sure you don't have the hot and cold lines reversed? Depending on the length of the showers, you could easily exhaust a 50-gallon tank. You can get maybe 40-45 gallons out of it before it cools off a lot, and with a 2.5gpm shower head, that's only about 8-9 minutes a piece, depending on how much cold you added (which would add to that time).
Jim DeBruycker
Important note - I'm not a pro
Retired Defense Industry Engineer; Schluter 2.5-day Workshop Completed 2013, 2014


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When hands free lighting is essential, this head lamp, with 4 modes of operation and 30 super bright LEDs, gives you just the amount of light you need.
I lvoe everything about this except the switch. I have had this about 3 weeks and have used it moderately, and already, the switch sometimes needs to be held down for the light to stay on, which defeats the purpose of a hands-free light. I pressed the pwoer button in very hard and restored the switch to its original functioning, but I'm not optimistic about future functioning.
This light puts out a lot of light and the price is right. The only real drawback is is that it's heavy enough that it it wants to slide around when you have to work in awkward positions. The need for 3 AA batteries is a large part of the weight. Otherwise, it's a great light.
Very bright and cheap
Great for hands free light
Very reasonable good value!
great product ,great choice of amount of light you want,would buy another
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301 E. Euclid, Mt. Prospect
1250 S River Rd, Prospect Heights
206 W Willow Rd, Prospect Heights
698 N Milwaukee Ave, Prospect Heights
1227 North Rand Road, Arliington Heights
1018 Willow Rd, Northbrook
I'm not the biggest fan of buffalo wings but i will say that buffalo wild wings are pretty not that bad. Maybe it was the customer service. Maybe it was the wings. But i will…
1740 Milwaukee Ave, Glenview
I am a regular customer at Johnny's. I think the food is great and resonably priced. Rhe drinks are great but the customer service had defenitely "died down" for lack of a better…
609 Milwaukee Ave, Glenview
I decided to stop in for a drink and ended up having a 3 course meal. The food was delicious and the service was impeccable. The music and the atmosphere of this place was just…
720 W. Lake Cook Road, Buffalo Grove
In ShortBoomerangs, Aussie flags, kangaroo portraits and faux aboriginal art honor the homeland's wilderness, but Outback delivers a polished version of rusticity with varnished…
Route 14 & Route 31, Crystal Lake


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FALLS CHURCH, Va. – TRICARE Prime will remain a health care option for 97 percent of approximately 5 million beneficiaries eligible for Prime. The 3 percent difference, comprising about 171,000 beneficiaries, will automatically revert to the TRICARE Standard health care option on Oct. 1, 2013. Those beneficiaries, who mostly reside more than 40 miles from a military clinic or hospital recently received a letter explaining their options and will receive a reminder letter in June or July.
"The first thing TRICARE beneficiaries should know about the reduction in the number of Prime Service Areas (PSAs) is that it doesn't mean they're losing their TRICARE benefit," said Dr. Jonathan Woodson, assistant secretary of defense for Health Affairs. "Next, it's important to remember this change does not affect most of the more than 5 million people using TRICARE Prime, and none of our active duty members and their families."
TRICARE is committed to keeping beneficiaries informed about these changes. As a follow-up to the initial notification, a second letter will be mailed in early summer to make sure all affected beneficiaries have the time and information to make important decisions about their future health care options.
The TRICARE website, www.tricare.mil/PSA, has the most current details and gives beneficiaries the option to sign for e-mail updates. A ZIP code tool is available on the site to help beneficiaries determine if they live in an affected PSA.
As always, TRICARE beneficiaries are still covered by TRICARE Standard. For those living within 100 miles of a remaining PSA, re-enrolling in Prime may be an option depending on availability. To do this, beneficiaries must waive their drive-time standards and, possibly, travel long distances for primary and specialty care.
"I urge all impacted beneficiaries to carefully consider their health care options – they should talk them over with family members and their current health care provider," said Dr. Woodson. "Many beneficiaries may be able to continue with their current provider using the Standard benefit. Being close to your health care team usually offers the best and safest access to care."
In TRICARE Prime those enrolled are assigned a primary care provider who manages their health care. Retirees pay an annual enrollment fee and have low out of pocket costs under this plan. TRICARE Standard is an open-choice option with no monthly premiums and no need for referrals, but there are cost shares and an annual deductible.
The Department of Defense first planned to reduce the number of PSAs in 2007 when it requested bids for the third generation of regional health care support contracts. The PSAs being eliminated are not close to existing military treatment facilities or Base Realignment and Closure sites. Prolonged protests resulted in a staggered transition and it was decided to keep all PSAs in place until all three contracts were in place. On April 1, 2013, the West region completed its transition.
By eliminating select PSAs, TRICARE and DoD can better control costs while continuing to deliver a high quality health care benefit to all 9.6 million TRICARE beneficiaries.
Last Updated 9/30/2013
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DHA Address: 7700 Arlington Boulevard, Suite 5101, Falls Church, VA 22042-5101
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StarStar Numbers Deliver Branded Mobile Apps and More to Sprint Customers
PALO ALTO, Calif. - March 14, 2011 - Zoove, the exclusive provider of StarStar Numbers for the largest wireless operators in the United States, today announced an easy, new way for Sprint customers to connect with their favorite brands while on the go.
Zoove operates an exclusive registry of vanity StarStar Numbers. With StarStar Numbers, like BRAND (27263), users simply call the StarStar Number of the brand being promoted or advertised. Instantly, they can be pushed that brand's mobile app, Web page, coupon, videos or more, directly to their mobile phones - without the need to use 2D-bar code readers or cross-carrier text messaging short codes. With today's announcement, Zoove's StarStar Numbers are now available across all four of the major U.S. wireless carriers.
"Sprint remains at the forefront of innovation, a leader in customer satisfaction, and a pioneer in delivering mobile apps and services," said Joe Gillespie, president and CEO, Zoove. "StarStar Numbers let mobile consumers engage with their favorite brands instantly, and give brands a simple mobile extension to use across existing promotional campaigns. We've been working quietly behind-the-scenes with Sprint for years to enable this technical integration throughout their network, and are extremely proud to unveil it formally today."
"Consumers increasingly expect to move from screen to screen and medium to medium and have their content experience follow them. Initiatives like StarStar Numbers make that process easier and are an exciting opportunity for our clients to provide highly engaging communication," said Brian Monahan, executive vice president and managing partner, Interpublic Group Media Lab.
"Simply Call" for Apps and More
StarStar Numbers are easy-to-remember numbers, between two and 12 digits, which people call from their mobile phones. They provide brands with a new direct-response marketing tool for reaching mobile phones, aimed at increasing response rates through a simple user experience. StarStar Numbers are compatible with both feature phones and smartphones, across all major mobile operating systems. Starting this year, major advertisers and brands will begin promoting StarStar Numbers as part of their existing marketing campaigns, such as billboards, print and online ads, TV and radio commercials, consumer packaged goods, and more.
For example, SUZUKI is currently using SUZUKI (789854) to promote their 2011 GSX-R sports bike. Viewers of CBS' "The Early Show" have been calling StarStar Numbers in recent weeks to interact with the show. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc., the world's leading florist and gift shop, has licensed FLOWERS (3569377) as part of an upcoming Mother's Day campaign. In addition, consumers should expect to see promotions and commercials for other "generic" StarStar Numbers, such as LAW (529), in the coming months. In this case, consumers will be encouraged to simply call LAW (529) to connect to information from law firms.
"Having built a brand around a vanity phone number, we have always embraced simple to understand direct response technologies that offer our customers an easy way to shop for gifts and deliver a smile to the important people in their lives," said Chris McCann, president, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM. "StarStar Numbers will provide a new compelling way to reach today's mobile consumers and distribute a broader range of campaigns. We look forward to working with Zoove on our cross-carrier mobile initiatives."
Pricing and Brand Engagement Model
For users, there is no extra charge to call a StarStar Number. After the initial phone call, users receive a text message or voice mail prompting them to engage further, and at that point they can opt in, based on their phone's capabilities, to view websites, download apps, etc. Standard voice, data and/or text charges based on the user's plan apply at that time.
For brands, StarStar Numbers provide a unique and customizable mobile "name space," similar to the name spaces provided by their URLs on computers. Brands or advertisers seeking to create or use a StarStar Number must register with Zoove, which provides the exclusive registry across wireless carriers. Zoove has exclusive technical integrations across carriers' networks that enable networks to recognize and process StarStar Numbers properly. Zoove also provides content review and oversight on behalf of wireless carriers to ensure that brands' marketing campaigns adhere to carrier guidelines and policies. Brands pay Zoove an annual fee for their StarStar Number. Fees vary based on the length and scarcity of the number. Brands also receive access to Zoove's cloud-based content management system. This simple Web-based console enables brands to plan and schedule their StarStar Number campaigns, by uploading, managing, and publishing their multimedia content to callers - along with real-time reports and analytics.
Additional information about Zoove or StarStar Numbers can be found at www.zoove.com, by clicking, by contacting (877) 283-5495 or by simply calling ZOOVE (96683) from a mobile phone. Additional information about Sprint can be found at www.sprint.com


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IBM Also Considers Leaving Chip Manufacturing
Subject: General Tech | February 7, 2014 - 01:18 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: TSMC, IBM, GLOBALFOUNDRIES
Well this is something which I expect they will not sell to Lenovo...
IBM, one of the world's most advanced chip fabrication companies with the capability to manufacture on a 22nm node, is looking to sell this division. According to The Financial Times, via Ars Technica, the company selected Goldman Sachs to seek options. They are primarily looking for interested buyers but would also consider finding a business partner to offload the division into a joint venture.
The two initial candidates are GLOBALFOUNDRIES and TSMC.
Image Credit: IBM via ZDNet (Outside photographers are not allowed inside their fab lab).
IBM is not willing to get rid of its chip design ability. IBM creates many chips, often based on its own "Power Architecture". This trademark comes with their RISC-based instruction sets which rival ARM and x86. It forms the basis of the Xbox 360, the Cell processor found in the PS3 (and rarely elsewhere), and the last three Nintendo game consoles starting with the Gamecube.
Despite designing all of the above chips, only some were actually fabricated by IBM.
Personally, I am not sure how serious the earlier mentioned potential buyers are. It could have easily been someone who looked at the list of leading foundries and picked the top two. TSMC is not even a member of "the Common Platform" alliance, not to mention how small IBM is compared to them, so I cannot see much reason for TSMC to bother.
GLOBALFOUNDRIES is a different story, It would make sense for them to want that part of IBM (Josh notes they even share some resource centers). Still, the both of us wondered if they could afford the deal. ATIC, parent company of GLOBALFOUNDRIES, might be able to get the money from somewhere - but would they? They purchased Charter only just recently. Now, if they simply enter a partnership with IBM, that might be a different story than an outright purchase.
Fabrication is hard and expensive. Creating a foundry is about $10 billion, give or take a few billion depending on yield, and changing your equipment for new nodes or wafer sizes is not much cheaper. I can see IBM, a company that is increasing concerned with high profitability, wanting to let someone else deal with at least some of the volatility.
IBM has not commented on this rumor.
Linus Brings SLI and Crossfire Together
Subject: General Tech, Graphics Cards | February 7, 2014 - 03:54 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: sli, crossfire
I will not even call this a thinly-veiled rant. Linus admits it. To make a point, he assembled a $5000 PC running a pair of NVIDIA GeForce 780 Ti GPUs and another pair of AMD Radeon R9 290X graphics cards. While Bitcoin mining would likely utilize all four video cards well enough, games will not. Of course, he did not even mention the former application (thankfully).
No, his complaint was about vendor-specific features.
Honestly, he's right. One of the reasons why I am excited about OpenCL (and its WebCL companion) is that it simply does not care about devices. Your host code manages the application but, when the jobs get dirty, it enlists help from an available accelerator by telling it to perform a kernel (think of it like function) and share the resulting chunk of memory.
This can be an AMD GPU. This can be an NVIDIA GPU. This can be an x86 CPU. This can be an FPGA. If the host has multiple, independent tasks, it can be several of the above (and in any combination). OpenCL really does not care.
The only limitation is whether tasks can effectively utilized all accelerators present in a machine. This might be the future we are heading for. This is the future I envisioned when I started designing my GPU-accelerated software rendering engine. In that case, I also envisioned the host code being abstracted into Javascript - because when you jump into platform agnosticism, jump in!
Obviously, to be fair, AMD is very receptive to open platforms. NVIDIA is less-so, and they are honest about that, but they conform to standards when it benefits their users more than their proprietary ones. I know that point can be taken multiple ways, and several will be hotly debated, but I really cannot find the words to properly narrow it.
Despite the fragmentation in features, there is one thing to be proud of as a PC gamer. You may have different experiences depending on the components you purchase.
But, at least you will always have an experience.
Lionsgate Sponsors StarCraft II Touranments
Subject: General Tech | February 7, 2014 - 03:22 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: Starcraft II, esports
Movie studios are beginning to take video game tournaments seriously. MLG secured an ad deal with Relativity to promote their movies across its channels. Lionsgate, a more scrappy company known mostly for Michael Moore films until they took a risk on The Hunger Games, decided to one-up them and sponsor a whole tournament.
Actually, about three tournaments.
The first tournament will be run by Twitch and commentated by Nathanias and by NASL's RotterdaM and MrBitter (NASL is the company responsible for broadcasting WCS America since Season 2, 2013). It will have a $7,000 prize pool to be split among its 16 competitors. The tournament will be called, "Twitch Ender's Game on Blu-ray Tournament". Catchy.
Just a couple of days later, MLG will host the aptly titled, "MLG GameOn Ender's Game on Blu-ray Tournament". Its casters will be Team ROOT's Destiny and Catz, which is quite odd because both are competitors in the first tournament run by Twitch. Its prize pool is not yet announced. Other notable players include Scarlett, MajOr, MaSa, and Hitman.
The third "tournament" is actually a showmatch between the winners of each previous tournament. The two contestants will play a series against one another for a 70/30 split of $10,000 dollars.
It makes sense. The cost of running a StarCraft II tournament, including the prize pool, is probably significantly lower than most other ad campaigns. It just takes a company to think outside the box enough to actually do it. Lionsgate, of all the major film studios, is essentially the underdog as we alluded to earlier. Let's see how effective it is.
The Twitch tournament is currently on now and will run until February 9th. The MLG half will begin on the 11th. The Championship showmatch will be streamed by Twitch on February 22nd.
Call of Duty Now Has Three in the Can?
Subject: General Tech | February 7, 2014 - 02:20 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: call of duty
Call of Duty games have been developed by two main teams: Infinity Ward and Treyarch. Fans of Intel will appreciate the Tick Tock schedule where each led the development of alternating games. A third company, Sledgehammer, helped out a bit with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 after Infinity Ward practically imploded.
Such things happen when executives are terminated and armed security guards occupy your office.
Activision's recent announcement now claims that Sledgehammer Games will create their own Call of Duty titles in an arrangement I can only describe as "Tick Tock Tuck" (my term, not theirs). My only hope is that we will see a fourth studio join this arrangement and become, according to the ordered set of vowels, "Tyck". Of course, if I learned anything from elementary school grammar, they will only sometimes release a game.
Yes, I know "w" is also sometimes a vowel.
Activision intends to keep Call of Duty titles on the same pipeline approach as always, just with a third stage. Part of this could be due to increased development costs as a larger computation budget demands extra art assets and effects. On a related note, some sites are pointing to the issues with Battlefield 4 (seriously, with all of the buggy DICE games in the last ten years, why pick on this one?) and claim that Activision could avoid those problems with a little extra polish time. On the other hand, extra time does not necessarily mean anything. Dedicating an extra team means a lot less than dedicating 50% more man-hours of development per game. Are they?
Speaking of which, how many more games does Call of Duty have left in it? With this setup, whenever sales actually begin to slump, they will have a third game in the pipe to eat development costs of. Sure, they could probably release it and have some recovery. This was the year that Call of Duty: Ghosts failed to outsell its predecessor. It does feel odd to seemingly expand, right now.
The next Call of Duty will probably be announced around E3 and released this holiday season.
Like clockwork.
Kindle Instinct. Amazon Game Consoles Rumors.
Subject: General Tech, Systems | February 7, 2014 - 01:30 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: amazon
There is actually a bit more to the title's pun than meets the eye. Amazon has just purchased Double Helix Games, the video game company which resulted from a merger between The Collective and Shiny Entertainment (or whatever was left of them). Their most recent title was Killer Instinct for the Xbox One.
The Amazon Cauldron gag, now extra Shiny.
Snarkiness aside, the obvious question is: "Amazon, why are you purchasing a game developer?"
While Amazon is stating that they are simply building innovative games for customers, the rumor mill believes it is more than that. Beyond having an Android-based marketplace, various sources are reporting that Amazon is expecting to develop a sub-$300 gaming console based on that platform. It certainly sounds reasonable. It would give Amazon's video and audio services a controlled set-top box as well as a portal to their Android Appstore. Beyond that, it would not require much extra research and development. It would be a sensible next step.
That said, Amazon has already been developing games for a little while. Their current portfolio could easily be classified as, "2D". The acquisition of Double Helix could simply be a play for games with a little more... depth. Yes, I should feel bad for that pun. No, I do not.
Finally, all 75 of the employees will keep their jobs, according to TechCrunch. Their paychecks will now have an Amazon logo on them, and that is about it. Don't you love it when you can report on a merger or acquisition and not feel bad about it?
AMD Radeon R7 250X Spotted
Subject: General Tech, Graphics Cards | February 6, 2014 - 08:54 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: amd, radeon, R7 250X
The AMD Radeon R7 250X has been mentioned on a few different websites over the last day, one of which was tweeted by AMD Radeon Italia. The SKU, which bridges the gap between the R7 250 and the R7 260, is expected to have a graphics processor with 640 Stream Processors, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. It should be a fairly silent launch, with 1GB and 2GB versions appearing soon for an expected price of around 90 Euros, including VAT.
Image Credit: Videocardz.com
The GPU is expected to be based on the 28nm Oland chip design.
While it may seem like a short, twenty Euro jump from the R7 250 to the R7 260, the single-precision FLOP performance actually doubles from around 800 GFLOPs to around 1550 GFLOPs. If that metric is indicative of overall performance, there is quite a large gap to place a product within.
We still do not know official availability, yet.
Corsair Tests Battlefield 4 with Hard Drives and SSDs
Subject: General Tech | February 6, 2014 - 04:21 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: ssd, hdd, corsair
The Corsair Blog has been publishing several really interesting articles, lately. In January, they wrote an editorial which quantifies the benefits of modestly overclocking CPU, GPU, RAM, and all of the above. Their benchmarks showed which tests favored what type of component.
This time, they look at the benefits of SSDs. Their Neutron Series GTX 240GB SSD was compared against a 3TB WD Black HDD (which is decent drive). To get into the campaign, they measured an SSD requiring a little over two minutes while the HDD took a little over two-and-a-half minutes. Multiplayer was much more significant: an SSD made it in game in 42 seconds while the hard drive took 69 second. That is a whole 40% faster.
Most importantly, getting into the game a whole 27 seconds earlier gives you first pick at vehicles. The game keeps them briefly locked to allow users to connect but, as is usual for Battlefield games, there is still an advantage for people with fast hard drives. Battlefield 2 was the unspoken benefit of purchasing a Western Digital 10,000 RPM Raptor drive, way back in 2006. You joined in as soon as you loaded which could mean nearly half of a minute to get your vehicle and go.
Shhh. Don't tell anyone.
Podcast #286 - AMD Mantle, Battlefield 4 Performance, Chromeboxes and more!
Subject: General Tech | February 6, 2014 - 03:14 PM | Ken Addison
Tagged: podcast, video, amd, Mantle, r9 290, 290x, battlefield 4, Chromebox, Chromebook, t440s, nvidia, Intel
PC Perspective Podcast #286 - 02/06/2014
Join us this week as we discuss the release of AMD Mantle, Battlefield 4 Performance, Chromeboxes and more!
You can subscribe to us through iTunes and you can still access it directly through the RSS page HERE.
The URL for the podcast is: http://pcper.com/podcast - Share with your friends!
- iTunes - Subscribe to the podcast directly through the iTunes Store
- RSS - Subscribe through your regular RSS reader
- MP3 - Direct download link to the MP3 file
Hosts: Ryan Shrout, Jeremy Hellstrom, Josh Walrath and Allyn Malventano
Week in Review:
News items of interest:
Hardware/Software Picks of the Week:
Jeremy: The Cyberith Virtualizer would be nice to go with that Oculus Rift you should buy me
Josh: I still like sound cards.
Allyn: box.com + iOS app (prior to 15 Feb) = 50GB (with limits)
Be sure to subscribe to the PC Perspective YouTube channel!!
In a Galaxy far far away?
Subject: General Tech, Graphics Cards | February 6, 2014 - 01:44 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
We have more news and it is good for Galaxy fans. The newest update states that they will be sticking around!
Good news GPU fans, the rumours that Galaxy's GPU team is leaving the North American market might be somewhat exaggerated, at least according to their PR Team.
This post appeared on Facebook and was quickly taken off again, perhaps for rewording or perhaps it is a perfect example of the lack of communication that [H]ard|OCP cites in their story. Stay tuned as we update you as soon as we hear more.
Party like it's 2008!
[H]ard|OCP have been following Galaxy's business model closely for the past year as they have been seeing hints that the reseller just didn't get the North American market. Their concern grew as they tried and failed to contact Galaxy at the end of 2013, emails went unanswered and advertising campaigns seemed to have all but disappeared. Even with this reassurance that Galaxy is not planning to leave the North American market a lot of what [H] says rings true, with the stock and delivery issues Galaxy seemed to have over the past year there is something going on behind the scenes. Still it is not worth abandoning them completely and turning this into a self fulfilling prophecy, they have been in this market for a long time and may just be getting ready to move forward in a new way. On the other hand you might be buying a product which will not have warranty support in the future.
"The North American GPU market has been one that is at many times a swirling mass of product. For the last few years though, we have seen the waters calm in that regard as video card board partners have somewhat solidified and we have seen solid players emerge and keep the stage. Except now we seen one exit stage left."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Microsoft's new CEO: The technology isn't his problem @ The Register
- Oculus Releases Open Source Hardware @ Hack a Day
- HP retains the top spot in a declining PC market @ The Inquirer
- Is Intel Selling Bay Trail Chips Below Cost? @ Slashdot
- Lenovo hires ex-CIA bod to push through Moto deal @ The Register
Sony Sells VAIO to Japan Industrial Partners (JIP)
Subject: General Tech, Systems | February 6, 2014 - 03:26 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: sony vaio, sony
Oh look, something that was not purchased by Lenovo.
Sony has decided to sell its VAIO brand to Japanese Industrial Partners (JIP). Sony has been developing computers under thO brand since the mid 90's. While never a top-five player in the industry, they had a significant presence in stores and in the possession of people I bumped into on a day-to-day basis. The division was apparently in the red. It currently employs 1,000 people, of which 250-300 are expected to be hired with this deal.
Whether the rest will be laid off or reshuffled within Sony remains to be seen.
As for Sony, they hope to focus on smartphones and tablets. They had a significant presence at last month's CES where they brought multiple Xperia models. VAIO also had its share of the attention though, so I guess that really does not mean much.
The acquisition is expected to complete near the end of July.
Satya Nadella is Microsoft's New CEO
Subject: General Tech | February 6, 2014 - 02:34 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: microsoft, CEO
We are a little late on this news, but the hunt for a new Microsoft CEO is over. Satya Nadella, an internal choice from the enterprise division, will take over the entire company. Apart from a little buzz around Stephen Elop, and a lot of it around Allan Mulally, he was the figure on the rumors. Even though the decision was not shocking, it does question Microsoft's role in consumer devices.
Satya only mentioned devices and services twice in his first email to employees.
Speaking of his introductory email, Satya claims to have asked Bill Gates to "devote additional time to the company". He has been a Microsoft employee for over two decades and he will be supported by its famous co-founder. All of this follows the attempts to discover outside candidates and re-invent the company.
More confusingly, the aforementioned first email contained the line, "This is a software powered world", as a single-line paragraph. He wanted to make this sentence perfectly clear. He believes that Microsoft is the only company with routine success developing platforms and ecosystems. Microsoft has not felt this much like Microsoft in quite some time, which contrasts the last two years of corporate soul-searching.
Then again, those were some of their best years.
Focus on Mantle
Subject: General Tech, Graphics Cards | February 5, 2014 - 02:43 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: gaming, Mantle, amd, battlefield 4
Now that the new Mantle enabled driver has been released several sites have had a chance to try out the new API to see what effect it has on Battlefield 4. [H]ard|OCP took a stock XFX R9 290X paired with an i7-3770K and tested both single and multiplayer BF4 performance and the pattern they saw lead them to believe Mantle is more effective at relieving CPU bottlenecks than ones caused by the GPU. The performance increases they saw were greater at lower resolutions than at high resolutions. At The Tech Report another XFX R9 290X was paired with an A10-7850K and an i7-4770K and compared the systems performance in D3D as well as Mantle. To make the tests even more interesting they also tested D3D with a 780Ti, which you should fully examine before deciding which performs the best. Their findings were in line with [H]ard|OCP's and they made the observation that Mantle is going to offer the greatest benefits to lower powered systems, with not a lot to be gained by high end systems with the current version of Mantle. Legit Reviews performed similar tests but also brought the Star Swarm demo into the mix, using an R7 260X for their GPU. You can catch all of our coverage by clicking on the Mantle tag.
"Does AMD's Mantle graphics API deliver on its promise of smoother gaming with lower-spec CPUs? We take an early look at its performance in Battlefield 4."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Humble Sid Meier Bundle announced: So much Civilisation! @ HEXUS
- HARD ONES: Three new PC games that are BLOODY DIFFICULT @ The Register
- Developers Reporting No Payments From Strategy First @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
SBSA reaches an ARM into the server room
Subject: General Tech | February 5, 2014 - 01:35 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: arm, OCP, open source, Intel, amd, seattle, opteron
The Inquirer had a chance to talk to Lakshmi Mandyam, the director of Server Systems and Ecosystems at ARM, about their plans for the server room. ARM and their SBSA team have joined forces with Microsoft's Open Technology initiative which is key to AMD's adoption of ARM architecture in their new Opteron series. These projects will offer several key benefits to customers, the open source nature will allow customization in the server room for those customers with specific needs and the know how to implement them and the nature of ARM processors can bring energy bills down. This could also be great news for smaller businesses that require a proper server, they will be able to build that server out of a number of inexpensive ARM based processors instead of having to spend the price of the currently available x86/64 CPUs from Intel and AMD.
"CHIP DESIGNER ARM announced at the Open Compute Project (OCP) Summit last week that servers based on its architecture have taken a step forward with the arrival of ARM v8-A based 64bit servers, known as the Server Base System Architecture (SBSA) specification."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Samsung reveals prices, availability dates of 'Pro' tablets @ The Inquirer
- ARM posts sterling revenue growth, but moneymen spank it anyway @ The Register
- Adobe goes out of band to fix frightful Flash flaw @ The Register
- How to Resize, Rename, Sort and Proof Photos from the Command Line @ Linux.com
- THUNDERING GAS destroys disks during data centre incident @ The Register
- Rollei CarDVR-110 Full HD GPS Car Camera @ NikKTech
NitroWare Tests AMD's Photoshop OpenCL Claims
Subject: General Tech, Graphics Cards, Processors | February 5, 2014 - 02:08 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: photoshop, opencl, Adobe
Adobe has recently enhanced Photoshop CC to accelerate certain filters via OpenCL. AMD contacted NitroWare with this information and claims of 11-fold performance increases with "Smart Sharpen" on Kaveri, specifically. The computer hardware site decided to test these claims on a Radeon HD 7850 using the test metrics that AMD provided them.
Sure enough, he noticed a 16-fold gain in performance. Without OpenCL, the filter's loading bar was on screen for over ten seconds; with it enabled, there was no bar.
Dominic from NitroWare is careful to note that an HD 7850 is significantly higher performance than an APU (barring some weird scenario involving memory transfers or something). This might mark the beginning of Adobe's road to sensible heterogeneous computing outside of video transcoding. Of course, this will also be exciting for AMD. While they cannot keep up with Intel, thread per thread, they are still a heavyweight in terms of total performance. With Photoshop, people might actually notice it.
AMD adds open source to their hardware-based video encoder
Subject: General Tech | February 4, 2014 - 01:08 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: amd, encoder, open source, VCE
You may have missed this news about AMD in amongst the Mantle announcements, support has been added for the VCE2 hardware encoding engine on newer AMD GCN based GPUs. The open-source Radeon driver now supports GStreamer OpenMAX which can speed H.264 encoding in general but is truly optimized for encoding for mobile devices. The current release is still a work in progress, the official release will come soon and you can track the progress by signing up to the mailing lists mentioned by Phoronix. This is good news as previously the only open source hardware accelerated encoding was through Intel's GPU and VA-API.
"AMD is doing another large and important open-source graphics driver code drop this morning. This morning AMD is publishing their VCE code that allows for hardware-based video encoding. "
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Microsoft builds admin tool to spare Office 365 sellers' blushes @ The Register
- Satya Nadella confirmed as Microsoft CEO @ The Inquirer
- Java botnet hits Mac, Linux and Windows machines @ The Inquirer
- How to Manage File and Folder Permissions in Linux @ Linux.com
- Sony denies Vaio-to-Lenovo rumour @ The Register
- Weaponized Quadrotor Upgrades @ Hack a Day
- The Obligatory Super Hole VIII – The Uppity Armchair CD Edition @ The Tech Report
The ASUS Chromebox Will Be Available in March
Subject: General Tech, Systems | February 4, 2014 - 09:00 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: Chromebox, asus
Often, people purchase a device with the intent of running a web browser on it. I understand the appeal of Joshtekk.com and we can all relate to the desire for it to have a dedicated machine. Google, through Chrome OS, targets this market with a line of laptops dedicated to web browsing. They are effective against virulent infections, a useful feature for casual Joshtekk encounters, with its limited native applications and simple recovery process.
The ASUS Chromebox will try to be your Joshtekk desktop.
ASUS is, by no means, first to this market. Samsung had a couple of Chromebox models almost two years ago. That said, the ASUS Chromebox will start at $179 USD (which is much cheaper than Samsung's $329 offering). The base model will contain an Intel Celeron 2955U processor (the aforementioned Samsung packed a Celeron B840), which is not a high-performance processor, but may suffice for your web browsing needs. If not, an Intel Core i3 model has also been announced but I do not have pricing to relay about that one. A Core i7-4600U version may or may not surface, as well. Its graphics will support options up to an Intel HD 4400.
One feature that is unexpected is its video outputs. The ASUS Chromebox supports both HDMI and DisplayPort connections for dual monitors and 4K. Given that this is a 5-inch by 5-inch (and fanless) design, with access to Netflix and other streaming services, it could make a good replacement for a "smart TV".
The ASUS Chromebox will be available in March starting at $179 USD. This price comes with 100GB of Google Drive space, free for 2 years. Also free: a VESA mount kit to, I believe, attach the Chromebox to the back of an HDTV.
If interested, read on for the press release.
AMD Catalyst 14.1 Beta Available Now. Now, Chewie, NOW!
Subject: General Tech, Graphics Cards | February 1, 2014 - 11:29 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: Mantle, BF4, amd
AMD has released the Catalyst 14.1 Beta driver (even for Linux) but you should, first, read Ryan's review. This is a little less than what he expects in a Beta from AMD. We are talking about crashes to desktop and freezes while loading a map on a single-GPU configuration - and Crossfire is a complete wash in his experience (although AMD acknowledges the latter in their release notes). According to AMD, there is even the possibility that the Mantle version of Battlefield 4 will render with your APU and ignore your dedicated graphics.
If you are determined to try Catalyst 14.1, however, it does make a first step into the promise of Mantle. Some situations show slightly lower performance than DirectX 11, albeit with a higher minimum framerate, while other results impress with double-digit percentage gains.
Multiplayer in BF4, where the CPU is more heavily utilized, seems to benefit the most (thankfully).
If you understand the risk (in terms of annoyance and frustration), and still want to give it a try, pick up the driver from AMD's support website. If not? Give it a little more time for AMD to whack-a-bug. At some point, there should be truly free performance waiting for you.
Press release after the break!
You Got Something? Lenovo's Buying. Google Sells Motorola.
Subject: General Tech, Mobile | February 1, 2014 - 09:01 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: motorola, Lenovo, google
Lenovo has a few billion dollars to throw around, apparently. The company, typically known for consumer and enterprise PCs, just finished buying more food off of IBM's plate with the acquisition of their x86 server and mainframe business. That business was not as profitable for IBM compared to their rest of their portfolio. $2.3 billion, mostly in cash, was the better choice for them (albeit a reluctant one).
Another $2.9 billion yields them a lean subset of Motorola.
Not Google, either.
Lenovo has been wanting a bigger share of the phone and tablet market. Unlike when Google purchased Motorola, Lenovo was not as concerned with owning the patent portfolio. $2.9 billion is a small fraction of $12.5 billion sum that Google valued Motorola at, but Lenovo only wanted about a tenth of the patents. That said, a tenth of the patents is still a couple thousand of them.
For the longest time, I have been thinking that Google was going the wrong route with Motorola. It seemed like any attempt to use the company as a cellphone manufacturer would either bleed money in failure or aggravate your biggest partners. I figured it would be best for Google to pivot Motorola into a research company which would create technologies to license to handset developers. This could be a significant stream of revenue and a love letter to their OEMs while retaining the patents they desired.
I did not think to spin off or sell the rest.
Ironically, that is very close to what we have today. Google, eventually, got rid of the cellphone division except for their licensed "Nexus" trademark. Google kept their patents and they kept the Motorola research team ("Motorola Advanced Technology and Patents Group").
It does not quite line up with my expectation, however; at least not yet. The Motorola research team would need to produce technology to license to partners and maybe other handset manufacturers; also, the time they spent with their toe in handset development bathwater could have already harmed their relationships, irreparably.
As for Lenovo, it seems like a clear win for the company. Motorola still has significant brand power and an open dialog with carriers worldwide at a cost of just a few billion. I do have questions how Lenovo will integrate the brand into their portfolio. Specifically, which company's name will be on each product? I expect it would have to be "Lenovo" but I also believe they have to put the Motorola trademark somewhere, right?
Anyway, who do you predict Lenovo to purchase next? Has the insanity ended?
He ain't heavy; he's my keyboard
Subject: General Tech | January 31, 2014 - 04:28 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: QuickFire Ultimate, mechanical keyboard, input, cooler master
The Cooler Master Quickfire Ultimate has an unexpected claim to fame, at 3lbs it is probably one of the heaviest modern keyboards on the market. You can choose your preferred type of Cherry MX switches and there is even a Canadian model with a colour scheme perfect for Habs fans. The LED backlight can perform a number of tricks, from only lighting certain keys to having the lights pulse. Check out The Tech Report's full review here.
"With an embedded steel plate and a beefy body, Cooler Master's QuickFire Ultimate may be one of the sturdiest mechanical keyboards around. We take a closer look at this affordable backlit model to see how it holds up."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Logitech's K400 wireless keyboard and touchpad @ The Tech Report
- Tesoro Colada Mechanical keyboard @ Rbmods
- Attitude One Sturmovik Gaming Keyboard @ NikKTech
- CM Storm MECH Mechanical Keyboard @ Benchmark Reviews
- Zowie P-TF Rough mousepad @ DVHardware
- 12-Way Gaming Mouse Roundup @ Legion Hardware
- Logitech M560 Wireless Mouse @ Kitguru
- Mionix Naos 7000 gaming mouse @ Rbmods
- Feenix Nascita Gaming Mouse @ techPowerUp
But who gets the phone number 192.168.0.1?
Subject: General Tech | January 31, 2014 - 02:52 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: voip, verizon, pots and pans, att
AT&T and Verizon are investigating this newfangled thing called VoIP and if it works as an alternative to switch based telephone systems. The FCC has decided to allow them to do some limited testing on how the world would change if users were assigned IP addresses as opposed to telephone numbers. Hopefully at some point they will realize this will have more to do with MAC addresses than static IP addresses but it is nice to know that they will at least do some research into the consequences of dumping switch based physical circuits. The Inquirer's coverage mentions that the FCC will not regulate this testing which could be a good or bad thing; they are a bit technologically impaired but at the same time Ma Bell has never been good at respecting their customers rights.
"TELECOMS PROVIDERS in the US have been given a green light to explore the idea of replacing traditional telephone communications with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Yahoo! Mail! users! change! your! passwords! NOW! @ The Register
- Has Cisco made a $415 MILLION mistake with the Whiptail buyout? @ The Register
- IBM demonstrates a functioning graphene circuit @ The Inquirer
- Distro Review: 60 Days Beating Up openSUSE 13.1 @ Linux.com
- 3G and 4G USB modems are vulnerable to login ID-stealing hackers @ The Inquirer
- With Catalyst 14.1, AMD Unleashes Mantle @ Hardware Canucks
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text:
Crosses at heart of campus clash
Published: Monday, June 11, 2012
Updated: Wednesday, July 25, 2012 21:07
A Texas A&M University-San Antonio instructor was not offered a teaching position next fall, after questioning the presence of certain religious relics at the University's entrance.
About half a mile down the road from the University, the Tower of Hope stands near the University's entrance. It bears the University seal, and used to have crosses hanging, as well.
Sissy Bradford, a criminology instructor, was one of 20 adjunct faculty members not offered employment for the fall semester. She objected to the association of religious symbols with a public university meant to welcome students from all religious backgrounds.
"She brought it to [her department head's] attention the day they went up … and he asked her if there was anything she would like him to do to peruse that and she said 'No.' And then the next day it was in the newspaper,"
said Marilu Reyna, TAMU-SA vice president of
The crosses came down a few weeks after the first news story was printed. Reyna said this was not a decision made by the University.
The University was involved in the design of the tower because its seal was included. Reyna said the crosses were put up after the original designs, by the builder's "artistic liberties."
The tower was built on private land, off campus and without University funds.
Reyna said a lot of people were taken aback on campus when the controversial issue was brought to light. However, everything settled once the crosses came down.
Adjunct faculty are offered teaching positions on a semester-by-semester basis.
"The decisions on appointments were made in mid-May and all affected adjunct faculty members were notified by their deans as soon as possible," Reyna said. "Classes that were offered to the adjunct faculty were tentative as the school head typically assigns classes well in advance of the next full semester."
Even if an instructor is offered courses to teach, some courses may or may not be in the final class schedule.
"We do need someone in [Bradford's former] position, but we are looking to fill that with a full time tenure-track faculty," Reyna said.
Bradford isn't tenure-track because she has not received her doctorate. Bradford notified the interim head of the School of Arts and Science that she would not be available to teach after fall 2012, because she would be pursuing her doctoral degree.
The New Faculty Majority, an organization that seeks to support adjunct faculty across the country, sent a letter of protest to the president of Texas A&M-San Antonio, as well as other members of the A&M System, including Texas A&M University President R. Bowen Loftin. The letter said they are "gravely concerned" the University is engaging in retaliation against Bradford, due to her speaking publicly about religious symbols placed on a new
building entrance.
Alfredo Tellez, senior food science and technology major, said because this country is founded on religious freedoms, part of that right is the ability to display one's religion.
"I guess it's seen as bad because we are a primarily Christian-dominated country. So it seems as if we're giving preference to one religion. But the San Antonio area was essentially a Catholic mission at first, so I'd say if they focus on its more historic roots, it could be a valid
defense," Tellez said.
Scott Bowen, senior chemical engineering major and speaker of the Texas A&M Student Senate, said every school has to have some kind of architectural identity.
"The architectural identity for the San Antonio area is known for its missions," Bowen said. "For a school to take that into account and build a structure that reflects the local architecture is almost expected; it's distinctive and I think crosses are a part of that. You can't go to the Alamo or any of the other missions in San Antonio without seeing crosses everywhere, because they were originally churches."
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