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At first the scene is reminiscent of any given village football club on a Sunday morning. Goals are erected, white lines mark out a pitch and a ball is placed in the centre circle. But then the players emerge and slowly make their way towards the pitch, not with the befuddled movements of those still feeling the ill effects of the previous night's immoderation, but with a less fluid, more mechanical gait - awkward stuttering motions that single them out as non-humans. They are robots. And this is RoboCup.
First contested in 1997, the RoboCup is an annual competition that brings together some of the finest minds in robotics and artificial intelligence, primarily to pit small-sided teams of fully automated robots against each other in games of football. It features competitions for robots of varying shapes and sizes, but the one in which kinetic technology and computer programming most equally convene is the Standard Platform League (SPL).
"I assume that any person of any other RoboCup league would say that their league makes the most interesting advancements," says Tim Laue, a researcher at the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Bremen and one of the leaders of the SPL's successful B-Human team. "In my opinion, the SPL's fascination derives from its unique combination of well-designed humanoid robots, made by a professional manufacturer, and its focus on software development. This allows all participants to concentrate on bleeding edge algorithms, which let these complex robots play soccer on a decent level, without having to struggle with any construction details."
In the SPL every team uses the same robot, the 57 cm tall Nao produced by the Paris based robotics company Aldebaran. The form of the Nao resembles that of a small human, with all major body parts in the correct positions, albeit connected by just 21 joints. The teams are forbidden from making mechanical alterations or additions to the robot and it is therefore the programming and problem solving skills of the team members that determine the success, or otherwise, of each team.
One of the foremost challenges is coding perception of space and recognition of key objects such as teammates, the ball and the goals. Images are received via two onboard cameras located on the mouth and forehead of the robot and processed using colour and shape recognition algorithms in order to produce a world view. Robots on the same team then communicate with one another over a Wi-Fi network, sharing this information in much the same way as players on a human team shout instructions such as 'Man On!' to aid a teammate's understanding of their surroundings.
"Most robots first collect and process all their sensory inputs, in order to form their current view of the world," explains Aris Valtazanos, a research postgraduate student at the University of Edinburgh, whose Team Edinferno compete in the SPL. "This can optionally be augmented with the information they receive from their teammates. However, what is more important at this stage is to associate each belief with a confidence value. For example, if a robot sees the ball, then it also knows with high confidence its position relative to it. By contrast, if it sees a single yellow goalpost and no other landmarks, it cannot know its current position with certainty."
Having established field position and location of key objects, the robot then enters the decision-making phase. "Some example decisions are: 'Go to the ball or let a teammate that has a better position go?' or 'Kick now or position at a better angle?'," explains Laue. He indicates that the answers and resulting actions are, on the whole, pre-programmed, rather than learned by the robots. "As the current behavior complexity of robot soccer is still quite low, it is, in most cases, easier and more effective to actually program all behaviors explicitly and not to learn any behaviors."
While fairly robust code in respect of perception, modelling and decision-making is now common place among the SPL teams, the kinetics of the Nao robots are not yet at the same level. At present they are incapable of running and exhibit poor balance when they come into contact with one another, issues that Aldebaran are aware of the long-term need to resolve. "Agility and autonomy are the two main [development] goals," a company spokesman commented. "It has to be able to play a game without recharging and have the ability to keep equilibrium while running fast."
The 2012 RoboCup saw the debut of Nao 4.0, Aldebaran's latest, much improved, iteration of the robot. It more than triples the processing speed, from 500MHz to 1.6GHz, quadruples the RAM and offers new cameras with a wider field of view and increased image quality. "The superior quality of the images means that we will now be able to look at more challenging problems we were previously unable to," explains Valtazanos. "Such as detecting the full pose (position and orientation) of other robots."
Such improvements were not readily visible at the 2012 competition, hosted at the World Trade Center in Mexico City. Some of the teams had little time to work with the new robots ahead of the tournament, and the competition itself was beset by a various issues, including poor lightning, an erratic Wi-Fi connection that made communication between robots difficult and a vibrating wooden floor that adversely effected the walking motion of a number of team's robots.
In such circumstances it is perhaps unsurprisingly that the winners were one of the most experienced teams. UT Austin Villa of the University of Texas at Austin are led by Peter Stone, who has been involved in robot football for just under 20 years. "I was a PhD student working on AI planning, but I'd been a soccer player my whole life," he explains of his introduction to the field. "It was a way to both extend planning to a multiagent setting and to combine my hobby with my research."
One of the specialist areas of Stone's research is robust decision making under uncertainty, an area in which his team excelled at the 2012 RoboCup. "We found that our robots made very few mistakes with regards to decision-making," he confirms. "For the most part, they positioned themselves where we expected, kicked when and where we expected, etc." This consistency helped UT Austin Villa defeat B-Human 4-2 in the competition's final, a result that ended a run of three consecutive championships for the German team.
There were elements of UT Austin Villa's play that suggested passing between team-mates, a tactic rarely implemented due to the potential inaccuracies involved, could in time become a prevalent strategy. "Whenever one of their players went to the ball, the others went, or at least appeared to go, to strategic positions in anticipation of a pass," Valtazanos enthuses. "From the little I spoke to the Austin Villa people, they said that they had a combination of static, in which a player always executes a fixed behaviour, and dynamic roles for their team players. I thought that was clever."
It has taken fifteen years to get to the stage where the technology is sufficient to allow such strategies to start to be implemented, but the teams are still some distance away from reaching the long term goal set at the genesis of the RoboCup organisation.
1997, the year of the first RoboCup, is significant as it saw two monumental breakthroughs in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence: IBM Deep Blue defeated reigning world chess champion Gary Kasparov, and Sojourner, the first autonomous robotics system, was deployed on the surface of Mars.
The RoboCup organisation was formed following discussions between scientists seeking a similarly lofty goal that could act as a stimulus to accelerate research in multi-agent robotics. The idea of robots playing football was first mooted in 1992 and subsequent feasibility studies yielded promising results. In 1995 the RoboCup was announced to the world at the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Montreal, Canada, with the stated long term goal that a team of robots would be able to defeat the current human World Cup holders by the middle of the 21st century.
To witness the stilted movement, poor balance and weak kicking of today's robots and imagine such a target being reached seems a large stretch, but those in the community believe it is not an impossibility.
"If one were to measure the progress that has been made since the start of the RoboCup project about 15 years ago and extrapolate to predict what the state-of-the-art might be like in 2050, then yes, we would probably have a good enough team to beat the world champions," says Valtazanos. "The main issue is that we do not yet know how to robustly address the hardest problems in the domain, so it is difficult to say if we will be able to do so then."
Those problems are mainly kinetic according to Laue: "As soccer is played in a very structured environment, most computer science tasks can probably be solved, in our opinion. This might be different for the needed robot actuators."
"Today's motors and gears are far from being suitable for the intended task," he explains. "It is not currently known what type of technology is needed to construct something that has the same characteristics as a human leg. Maybe we need something like artificial muscles. Maybe something completely different. However, in my opinion, there has to be a general interest in, or a huge market for, this kind of technology to trigger the necessary advancements. I do not know if that will happen."
But far from just being a case of whether or not victory is possible, there are other factors that need to be taken into consideration. "No human soccer player would play against a physically superior robot that kicks stronger and runs faster," says Laue, an issue that was considered in greater depth by Stone in his 2010 paper entitled: 'The Essence of Soccer, Can Robots Play Too?'
In it, Stone argues that limitations would have to be placed on the physical dimensions, running speed and kicking power of the competing robots so that they do not exceed those of the humans they are competing against. By implementing such restrictions, Stone states that any victory for the robots would come about because "they had better finesse with the ball, they worked better as a team, had better vision with regards to passing, and had better movement off the ball." Essentially, because they were better football players rather than superior athletes.
Winning in this manner would be of more benefit to the research objectives of the RoboCup organisation as the resulting artificial intelligence advancements could easily be transposed to other, more useful tasks. In addition to football, the RoboCup already includes competitions for search and rescue robots and those programmed for domestic tasks, while Laue explains that certain aspects of his team's programming, such as navigation and obstacle avoidance, have been used to design an autonomous wheelchair for severely disabled people.
Ultimately it is the quantity of these kind of developments, rather than victory over illustrious human opposition, that will determine the success or failure of the RoboCup project. "Most people only talk about the 2050 goal when they are asked, for example by journalists," Laue tells me. "In my opinion, it is of no major relevance to our current work."
Nick is an itinerant freelance football writer for hire, specialising in South America, Mexico and Southern Spain. You can follow him on Twitter @chewingthecoca


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Why hire a personal trainer?
- Correct muscle imbalances and improve form
- Build muscle and burn fat
- Train functional movements for everyday life
- Improve your game with sport specific training
- Increase endurance and Improve flexibility
- Stay motivated
Fitness Assessment
We will provide a comprehensive fitness appraisal using the MicroFit Health and Fitness System that will give a baseline of your current fitness level and/or determine health and fitness improvements over time. The MicroFit fitness profile includes tests to determine resting heart rate, blood pressure, body composition, aerobic capacity, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and power.
Fitness assessments are required for all new personal training clients to aid trainers in designing a safe, effective and individualized fitness program that will help you meet your health and fitness goals.
Fitness assessments are also available as a stand alone service.
Assessments can be purchased at Rec Center Guest Services for $25
Personal Training
Our nationally certified personal trainers will provide motivation, education, guidance, and individual instruction required to improve overall fitness and achieve the results you want. Maximize your workout and minimize your risk of injury.
One Session: $42
Three Sessions: $120 ($40/session)
Six Sessions: $222 ($37/session)
Twelve Sessions: $396 ($33/session)
Partner Training
Do you prefer working out with others? Try personal training with a friend, coworker, parent, or partner! Our nationally certified personal trainers will provide motivation, education, guidance, and individual instruction required to improve overall fitness and achieve the results you want. Maximize your workout and minimize your risk of injury.
One Session: $57
Three Sessions: $165 ($55/session)
Six Sessions: $312 ($52/session)
Adaptive and Integrative Personal Training
OUr adaptive and Integrative personal training services make fitness accessible to all. Through our team approach, we are able to provide personal training services in a supportive environment. Our trainers will work with your team of healthcare professionals (with proper consent) to customize your training program. Whether you are a client facing exercise barriers due to permanent or temporary disabilities, anxiety/stress or sedentary lifestyle, we can develop uniquely tailored programs to help you reach your fitness goals.
Private Instruction/Lessons
Get personalized attention for better results! Great for individuals who want to learn something new, immerse themselves in their practice or take their workout to the next level.
Private Instruction is currently offered in:
One Session: $42
Three Sessions: $120 ($40/session)
Six Sessions: $222 ($37/session)
Get Started
Purchase your sessions at Guest Services. Online registration is not available.
All new clients must purchase a fitness assessment.
We recommend a minimum of 3 training sessions for first time clients.
Personal Training Registration Packet -Please return your completed registration packet with proof of session purpchase to the Wellness Suite to finalize the registration process.
All sessions are one-hour in length unless noted otherwise.
Sessions are scheduled by appointment only and require a minimum of 48 hours advance notice. Register at the Rec Center Guest Services Desk and bring your receipt of purchase to the Wellness Suite to be matched with a trainer.
All personal training and private instruction sessions expire 1 year from date of purchase. Unused sessions are non-transferable and non-refundable.
For additional information or assistance in personalized matching with a trainer/instructor, please contact Annie Tuck at firstname.lastname@example.com or 303-492-7678.

subset: commoncrawl


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ELIGIBILITY: All master's and doctoral students who are primarily sponsored by a Biodiversity Research Centre affiliated
TIMING & DURATION: BRITE internships are expected to last from six weeks to three months of full-time equivalent work. Students are expected to make contact with prospective internship hosts, arrange position requirements, salaries, and start and end dates. Partner organizations will select among applicants and initiate the Internship Agreement (see form below).
AGREEMENT: Before the internship begins, a formal Internship Agreement about remuneration, period of employment, and other terms should be signed by all parties involved: the employing agency supervisor, the student, the internship coordinator (see form below).
PURPOSE: The purpose of the BRITE internship is to facilitate a career-related experience that is outside what would normally be possible in the context of a science graduate degree. Funds allow students to network or explore a dimension to their career that interests them but is slightly tangential to their scientific training. We expect the internship experiences of BRITE students to vary. The internship can be very closely aligned with the student's ongoing or future research, thesis or otherwise. It may also be unrelated to thesis research. In terms of timing, the internship may be before the start of thesis research and thus may be a catalyst for the research. It may be at the end of the research period and serve as an opportunity to incorporate the results into policy.
FUNDING: Funding decisions are made by a BRITE committee. In the application, it is important to convey specifically how the internship provides an opportunity or training not achieved by a traditional science graduate education, and how the host or training experience will support the intern in that experience. Applications that do not convey this are unlikely to be funded.
Learn about current and past BRITE interns and read descriptions of their experiences.
See the list of companies, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations that have expressed an interest in hosting internships.
Within four months of the end of the internship, the student makes a presentation to the Biodiversity Research Centre about their internship experience. The student completes an Internship Report and Evaluation, and the agency supervisor completes a Performance Evaluation (see forms below). The final $500 will be paid to the student on completion of these requirements.
The BRITE matching funds are provided in the form of salary. The student or the partner is responsible for travel and out-of-town living costs during the internship.
How to Apply
SELECTION CRITERIA: The committee's criteria for selection are as follows:
(1) anticipated contribution of the opportunity to the student's career (how does this internship help the student achieve career goals?);
(2) importance of the project, to the partners and in general (why is the project worth supporting?);
(3) fit of student with project, ability of the student to do as hoped (how/why will the goals stated above be achieved?);
(4) expected quality of internship experience based on partner agency/supervisor;
(5) financial considerations (matching funds are a plus; student need). PLEASE ENSURE THAT THE APPLICATION/AGREEMENT FORM CONTAINS TEXT SUFFICIENT FOR THE COMMITTEE TO EVALUATE THESE FIVE CRITERIA.
Friday January 13, 2017 - Deadline for BRITE partner organizations to submit internship advertisements
Friday February 10, 2017 - Student deadline to apply for internship advertisements
Friday February 24, 2017 - Completed Internship Application/Agreement deadline
Advertisements should include the following (please use this template):
- Funding contributed by partner (in addition to up to $6K from BRITE)?
- What assistance/supervision is offered?
- Where will the internship be located?
- Is the internship part-time or full-time, and what is the expected duration?
- What experience is required/requested?
- What will the intern's role be in the project?
- Please provide contact information.
BRC Administrator: Katie Beall
Katie will help with administrative and financial questions.
MITACS Internship Program
 • Canadian Internship Agreement
 • International Internship Agreement
 • Performance Evaluation
 • Internship Report and Evaluation


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Abbey Brooks decides she wants to play with her ass today. And she starts off with her many toys but uses a big dick in the end
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Lacerations are extremely common and Mr Callan repairs many each year. Lacerations can be caused by running into blunt stationary objects or by sharp objects such as glass or a knife. Your general practitioner is your best guide as to whether you will need a plastic surgeon. Plastic surgeons have specific skills to assess certain injuries to ensure there is no deeper damage and then to repair those injuries accurately to give you the best possible result and minimise scarring.
- Body
- Breast
- Coolsculpting
- Face
- Injectables
- Skin Care


text: It sounds trite. We read and hear it so often, that health is the most important thing in life. But when you experience some serious health related issues first hand, suddenly the importance of good health hits home. Without getting too deep into this, let's just say that the past few months have included numerous health related challenges for me. My situation looks much better than it did a month or two ago, and for that I'm grateful. A special thanks to family and friends who have provided such heart warming support. One really gets a new perspective on the importance of human relationships when dealing with personal health issues. More detail on all this another time. For now, I'll just say that some new music related opportunities have presented themselves, and I'm excited about the possibilities. My Christmas song, "Let's Trim The Christmas Tree," is 99% completed and nearly ready for its unveiling to the general public. Other recording and composing projects are looking promising, and I'm excited about where my music is headed. Overall, it just feels good to be getting stronger again. Recently I read an article that addressed the single most important thing for people who are "retired." It isn't money or security per se. You guessed it, the single most important thing to enjoying one's retirement years is....Good Health. Not to sound preachy here, but I hope that's something we all take seriously, as I certainly am doing more and more these days. Not that I was ever "unhealthy." Illnesses and health related misfortunes often occur that are beyond an individual's ability to control. But I've learned that you can't take good health for granted, especially as you get older. More music related news and developments will be announced in the coming days and weeks. Thanks for checking in and visiting my website. The great fan support that I'm lucky to have makes the making and playing of music all the more worthwhile. Best wishes to everyone. Carry on! Jim Hudak Clayton, CA


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Iowa man dies while tubing Yampa River in Steamboat Springs
Steamboat Springs — An autopsy will be done Wednesday to determine how an Iowa man died Tuesday while tubing the Yampa River.
Shortly after 2 p.m., firefighters were called to a report of a possible drowning at the James Brown Soul Center of the Universe Bridge. A family vacationing in Steamboat Springs from Shreveport, La., spotted the man near the bridge, where people using outfitter tubes get out of the water.
The family members said the man was floating in the middle of the river and appeared as though he was looking for family. He then fell off his tube but said he was OK.
"I could tell he wasn't OK," Jane Jackson said.
He went under the water for a couple of seconds, and Eric Hughes swam over to get his head above the water.
The man was coherent as they brought him out of the water, but then he passed out.
Members of the family, which included Robert Jackson, a doctor, administered CPR until emergency responders arrived.
Steamboat Fire Chief Mel Stewart said they never were able to get a pulse, and the man was pronounced dead at Yampa Valley Medical Center. It is suspected the man suffered from a medical problem. Stewart estimated the man was about 70 years old.
Steamboat Springs Police Department Detective Dave Kleiber said the man was from Iowa and was tubing alone. On Tuesday evening, officials still were trying to notify the man's family.
The incident was one of several that kept Steamboat Springs Fire Rescue firefighters busy Tuesday.
About 30 minutes before the call at the James Brown Bridge, firefighters were called to help a man who possibly had a heart attack while riding the Howler Alpine Slide at Howelsen Hill.
The man was in his 50s, but it was not clear where he was from.
Kleiber said two people riding the slide found the man lying on the slide, and they started giving CPR. Because the man was a few hundred feet up Howelsen Hill, Routt County Search and Rescue volunteers were called to help. They brought him down on a stretcher on an all-terrain vehicle.
"We don't know if he was experiencing a medical issue or if there was some trauma involved," Stewart said.
The man had a heartbeat when he was taken to the hospital, and he was trying to breathe on his own, Stewart said.
During the two incidents, a two-man crew from the West Routt Fire Protection District drove to Steamboat and stood by for about 30 to 45 minutes in case there was another call for help in the Steamboat district.
Also Tuesday, there was a fire at a Steamboat home.
At about 10:30 a.m., firefighters responded to Pamela Lane, where a dryer caught fire.
Stewart said a cyclist was riding along the Yampa River Core Trail and saw smoke coming from the roof of the house. The cyclist did not find anyone inside the home, but he investigated and found more smoke.
"If he hadn't done that and he kept going, there is a good chance it would have progressed into a full-blown house fire.
Damage was contained to the dryer.
To reach Matt Stensland, call 970-871-4247 or email firstname.lastname@example.com
Troopers arrest teen on child abuse, other charges after crash
A Craig teen is accused of a drunken rollover crash in a vehicle filled with children and booze.


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As a company grows, it's important to have good governance… And no company is too small for this.
Governance can start from something as informal as an Advisory Board, with specialists who can advise the business, but who do not have authority to vote on corporate matters nor a legal fiduciary responsibility…
Advisory Boards are a great way to get award winning Marketers, HR specialists, internationally experienced General Managers, Accounting or legal geniuses & Entrepreneurial thinkers at your fingertips… without the hefty salary tags!
With an Advisory Board you get all the skills & experience that your business needs without the long-term commitment…
7 good reasons to take on an Advisory Board
- Expertise you can't buy
- Business contacts when you need them
- The benefits of a Board of Directors without the hassles
- Simple & inexpensive to set up & operate
- Grow your business faster
- A personal sounding board
- Mentoring
We have access to a wide range of people through our networks, that you can look to appoint to an Advisory Board, for a flat monthly fee with no hidden costs… We organise it all, from the meetings to the follow up… just let us know what you are looking for.


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GINA Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting has bought up big in the Queensland rural property market, spending more than $50 million on cattle properties in the Roma and Mitchell districts.
The latest acquisitions include Hollyrood and South Maffra at Roma as well as Forestvale at Mitchell.
Hollyrood is opposite Rockybank in the Mount Abundance area, which is already owned by S.Kidman and Co.
Hancock Prospecting owns 67 per cent of S.Kidman and Co with partner Shanghai CRED having a one-third minority holding through its joint-venture company Australian Outback Beef.
The $50m-plus deal in the Roma/Mitchell district is understood to involve some 4750 Wagyu breeders and calves.
The off-market sale was negotiated by Colliers International on behalf of the Rea family.
The deal also follows on from the recent launch of the Hancock 2GR Wagyu brand, which is based on cattle being bred in NSW and fed through Hancock's Maydan feedlot near Warwick. Hancock already has about 10,000 full-blood Wagyu cattle.
Hancock Prospecting's agricultural arm is estimated to be now running some 370,000 cattle.
The 10 S.Kidman & Co holdings cover about 80,000 square kilometres and run about 171,000 cattle.
In October Hancock was also confirmed as the buyer of the 232,000ha Northern Territory property, Willeroo Station, on the Victoria Highway, west of Katherine.
Owned by Agri International, the Australian arm of the Indonesian company Great Giant Livestock, the property was used to support two feedlots in Sumatra.
GGL has been importing Australian cattle for almost 30 years. Prior to Agri International, the property was owned by the Sultan of Brunei.
Willeroo was sold on a walk in, walk out basis with more than 19,000 cattle.
Hancock is now Australia's second-largest cattle producer after the Australian Agricultural Company


text: Youth eclipseArts – delivering high quality youth entertainment and education for over 15 years. Follow the links to find out what we can do for you! Circus Parties for Children Circus Parties for Teenagers Circus Workshops After School Clubs Bronze Art Awards Educational Benefits of Circus Copies of CRBs and £5 mill Public Liability Insurance available on request.


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Congratulations West Branch Area School District
West Branch Area School District has been working with McClure Company energy engineers on a four step project to improve the efficiency and environmental friendliness of their buildings. Over the next twenty years they anticipate saving the school 3.3 million dollars. The first three stages of the project have already saved 1.2 million dollars over the last eight years. The fourth stage of the project added a new Messersmith Biomass Boiler System to provide heat for the school. The distrct expects to displace 60,000 gallons of fuel oil per year by burning 982 tons of chips annually. The biomass boiler is projected to save the school over a hundred thousand dollars a year and 1.3 million dollars over the next twenty years. West Branch Area School District received a grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for a portion of the total project cost of 2.2 million dollars.
Morrisdale, Pennsylvania
Project SummaryBiomass Boiler:
Messersmith FB 900
60 psi hot water
Output - 4.5 MMBTUH
Annual Fuel Use:
980 tons of green wood chips
Biomass Fuel Storage Capacity:
60 tons
Fuel Displaced Annually:
60,000 gal. of #2 fuel oil
Building Size:
225,000 square feet
Completion Date:
October 20, 2015
Biomass Fuel Source:
Greenwood Lumber
Special Features: A Messersmith chip sorter removes oversized fuel before it reaches an auger that can be jammed by large pieces.
A special thanks to McClure Company and Marotta/Main Architects for their roles in completing this project.


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The truth about power prices if Western Power is soldThursday 01 Dec 2016
Following yesterday's announcement by Colin Barnett that a re-elected Liberal/National government would sell-off 51 per cent of Western Power, the State government has commenced an advertising campaign to spruik their unpopular plan to privatise the publicly owned asset.
The Australian Services Union and Electrical Trades Union have slammed the Liberal/National government's taxpayer funded public relations campaign, and labelled it just another attempt to hoodwink the community and sell them a utility they already owned.
Australian Services Union State Secretary Wayne Wood said that Premier Barnett and Dr Nahan had regularly tried to dismiss the union's long-term opposition to the privatisation of WA's electricity system as a scare campaign.
"What Colin Barnett and Dr Nahan can't dismiss, is the truth about power prices in privately owned electricity networks." he said.
"The real experience of privatisation speaks for itself, with power prices shown to be significantly higher in those states where the network has been privatised."
South Australia and Victoria are the only states where poles and wires are completely privatised, and according to independent reports by Carbon & Energy Markets and St Vincent de Paul, the two states where households pay the most for electricity are South Australia and Victoria.
During the 2015/16 financial year, the average household electricity bill in WA was about $1,700. For the same volume of electricity (6,000 kWh per annum), the average bills in South Australia and Victoria, respectively, were $2,300 and $2,100 per annum.
"When Colin Barnett was Energy Minister, he floated Alinta Gas saying it would be owned by mums and dads. Alinta shares quickly ended up in corporate hands and gas prices have gone up ever since."
"Colin Barnett has history when it comes to deceiving Western Australian's, and the government's blatant use of taxpayer funds, for what is clearly a political propaganda campaign, should be formally investigated."


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He Is Risen - Matthew 28:1-10
March 27, 2016
Easter is a celebration rooted in history and reality. If Jesus didn't raise from the dead then we can have no hope. Instead, we see through the eyewitness accounts of Mary, Martha, and the disciples that even if we have doubts and struggles, we can turn to Christ in worship and hope.
Sermons → Luke → He Is Risen


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17 of the Best Ideas for Saving Money
Some people just suck with money. Maybe no one ever taught them. An international survey asked people for their best money-saving tip. Here are the results:
- See how many days you can go without spending a penny. Start playing as soon as you pay all your mandatory bills (rent/mortgage, utilities, grocery, etc)
- When talking yourself out of buying something, ask yourself if you can afford to buy two. If you could, your budget can probably afford one. If you couldn't afford two, then tell yourself you can't afford one.
- Get budgeting help (like an app) - I recommend "You Need a Budget"
- NEVER go to the grocery store hungry and always bring a list
- When talking yourself out of buying something, force yourself to have a two-week "cooling off" period. This prevents impulse buying.
- Stop eating out TOMORROW and then calculate the difference of how much you saved at the end of the month and put the difference in savings.
- Quit smoking
- Drink less beer
- Start bringing sack lunches
- "Rent" movies at the library instead Red Box
- Carry around a really nice water bottle to help you cut back on buying water, soda and coffee
- Make your own laundry soap (I've done this)
- If you live near a grocery store that gives you a discount on gas, USE IT!
- When you're tempted to make an impulse buy, consider how many minutes of work that item is worth. Now is it worth it?
- Have money automatically withdrawn from your paycheck to a separate savings account -- whatever you can afford (2%, 10%, 20%)
- If you give yourself a "play" or "beer" budget, get that in cash for your wallet. When it's gone, it's gone.
- Keep your money in separate savings/checking accounts and only carry around one card. That way you have to transfer money if you run out. The inconvenience isn't the end of the world, but will deter you a great deal.
[SOURCE: Reddit]


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Two men killed in Bonner Springs crash
Bonner Springs police are investigating a single-vehicle crash that killed two men Thursday night.
The victims were cousins from Oklahoma who were in the Kansas City area for a construction job, according to police.
Police identified them as William Joshua Henderson, 35, of Yukon, and Michael Was Jr., 29, of Oklahoma City.
Police said the wreck occurred just before 10 p.m. Thursday at 118th Street and Martinek Lane.
Police said they were in a pickup truck heading south on Martinek and lost control as they crested a hill. The truck veered off the road and struck several trees.
Neither man was wearing a seat belt, police said.
Tony Rizzo: 816-234-4435, @trizzkc


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Third Street South Farmer's Market
You can find freshly roasted Black Tulip Coffee every Saturday morning at the Third Street South Farmer's Market.
Year round, this market runs from 7:30AM to 11:30AM
Naples Beach Brewery
We roast every week here at our home base. Come stop by for our Cold Brew on tap or one of their several craft beers.
4120 Enterprise Ave #116, Naples, FL 34104
Sunburst Cafe
Sunburst Cafe features both our coffee and espresso blend. Go check out their Costa Rican themed cafe for amazing food, baked goods, and, of course, coffee.
Pine Ridge Crossings, 2340 Pine Ridge Rd, Naples, FL 34109
Kunjani is super cool African inspired cafe that features our organic coffee as well as handmade fair trade art, bags & jewelry.
780 Seagate Dr, Naples, FL 34103
The Bowl
The Bowl serves up refreshing, all organic acai bowls and smoothies. They also serve our Organic Cold Brew on Nitro.
1427 Pine Ridge Rd #103, Naples, FL 34109
7th Ave Social
7th Ave Social serves up modern Southern dishes, craft cocktails, as well as our organic coffee.
849 7th Ave S #101, Naples, FL 34102
La colmar Bakery & bistro
La Colmar brews only Black Tulip Coffee and has our retail bags available for purchase by the register.
This new french bakery & bistro has delicious food and the best croissants this side of Paris!
80 Tamiami Trail N, Naples, FL 34102


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Parents Arrested For Scaring Daughter [VIDEO]
Annette Gerhardt's daughter Enalya had been misbehaving, so she decided to scare the 6-year-old by taking her to the local police station and telling her that "this is where bad girls end up."
But when the Staten Island, New York woman tried to get the police officers to play along, she was the one who got the fright.
Annette and her fiance Gerardo, who was also in on the ruse, were both arrested for misdemeanor child endangerment once they left their daughter in the station. Police suspect they may have been actually trying to ditch their child, and only pretended it was a scare tactic after they were arrested.
Read on to hear their story.
Do you think their arrest is fair? Seems like you can't do anything these days to try and discipline your kids...


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Clinton makes the rounds in Jerusalem
July 16 - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Deborah Lutterbeck reports.
Hillary Clinton continues intense round of meetings in Jerusalem. The U.S. secretary of state is meeting with local officials holding working sessions with both Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI MINISTER OF DEFENSE EHUD BARAK, SAYING: "Your visit comes at an extremely interesting time and the whole Middle East is going through a major transition. And the United States' contribution to both peace and security in the region is as important as ever. Thank you very much and we are looking forward to have a good visit." Making her first trip to Israel in 22 months, and only her fourth visit as secretary of state, Clinton's meetings will focus on the political transition in Egypt. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON, SAYING: "Well, I am always pleased to have a chance to be here in Israel and yo continue the conversations you and I have carried out over many years now, when we were both much younger. But you are right, Ehud, we're at a time of such historic change, really unprecedented, and we have to work together to face the challenges and to hopefully seize some of the opportunities The downfall of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak last year has raised questions among Israelis about whether Egypt, the first Arab nation to have made peace with Israel, will adhere to that treaty under his Islamist successor. Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters.


text: The HEM Hotel Amsterdam*** is perfectly located in the centre/west part of Amsterdam, only 5 minutes from the RAI Convention Centre, World Fashion Centre and World Trade Centre. Within 10 minutes you can reach the hotel from Schiphol Airport and the Amsterdam City Centre. In the hotel you will find a cosy bar where we serve an a la carte lunch, a restaurant with a breakfast and dinner buffet, meeting rooms and a beautiful indoor garden. Parking is available on site.(Paid parking)The tourist attractions in and around Amsterdam can easily be reached by public transport or car. The reception will be pleased to help you to plan an excursion or give all the information required to make your stay unforgettable.


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Technology >> Browse Articles
Browse Business Systems Articles
Connect in Private: Privacy in E-Mail and CallsBuilding a business is about reaching customers and helping them. Today's world is more interconnected and that helps make connections more fluid. The downside of that increased fluidity in connections is that the bad guys can also get to your private email easier. Eternal vigilance, it has been said, is the price of liberty. In the same way, we must continually ...Published about 9 years ago |
Accept Credit Cards On Your Iphone And Get Help 24/7 On Tech: Building Your Biz Dream TeamYou can't do it alone. Business is a team sport, even for the solo practitioner. You need suppliers, mentors, consultants and customers (!) helping you. With the right technologies you can get more done in less time and you don't need to employ as many people. Here are a couple of tools I've discovered recently which can help you in two ...Published about 9 years ago |
10 Practical Suggestions To Grow Your Business in 2010As the aliens of the TV show "V" would say, humans are quite predictable, we are creatures of habit. One of our big habits are New Year's resolutions. We hardly keep them, or at least all of them, but they are good to at least write down and try to do for the first few minutes, hours, days or weeks of ...Published over 9 years ago |
Choosing an Online Backup ProviderAs a small business owner, your business depends on proprietary data such as client and vendor contact lists, accounting data, tax records, and other important documents that you create and store on your computer. Chances are that you back up that data on tape drives or a server—but what do you do with those tapes or that server once you have ...Published over 9 years ago |
Is Cloud Computing Right for Small Businesses?As businesses grow in terms of human resources and inventories, spatial constraint is becoming a critical issue. Most importantly, as companies expand their client base, the more critical issues of providing reliable online data storage and other services demand a fail-safe resolution. Could cloud computing save the day? How cloud computing works Cloud computing has recently become one of the buzz ...Published over 9 years ago |
Your Small Biz Grows Up: It Needs Business IntelligenceBusiness intelligence is something that many larger businesses use, but smaller businesses don't really figure it into their needs. Being smaller their often busy putting out fires and just trying to maintain the profitability levels they have. Investing in business intelligence (BI) software, implementing it and using it, is something they don't think they need to do. Birst makes software to ...Published over 9 years ago |
Data Center Expert Warns SMBs Against "Over-Virtualization"Hypervisors are running amok in the server room. A survey published earlier this month by research firm TheInfoPro states that 50 percent of new servers installed this year will be virtualized, and predicts the number will climb to 80 percent within three years. One of the biggest growth areas for the technology, according to researcher Steve Hilton at Yankee Group, is ...Published over 9 years ago |
Top Open Source Software in Enterprise StorageWhen entertaining the idea of using open source software, many businesses might readily consider it in their instant messaging system, word processors, intranet, and other low-risk computer applications. Few, however, would use it in their enterprise storage. But all that is changing. More and more businesses today are finding out that open source software can reduce IT costs and improve security. ...Published almost 10 years ago |
Your Small Business Needs a Data Backup PlanYour Small Business Needs a Plan for Data Backup Take time to create a strategic data storage and restoration plan that will protect your business's critical data. May 11, 2009 As a small business owner, your company is dependent upon data. You should take the time to consider your business's needs and create a strategic data storage and restoration plan that ...Published almost 10 years ago |
21 Best Ways to Lose Your DataHave you ever wondered what the best ways are to get hacked, be adversely affected by disasters, or otherwise lose information stored on your computer systems? Here, in no particular order, are the 21 best ways to not secure your systems: 1. Don't pay attention to or even bother to understand what you're trying to protect. 2. Leave your databases, especially ...Published almost 10 years ago |
10 Excel Secrets Everyone Should KnowExcel is one of those programs. Sometimes it seems as though it's perfectly harmless and easy - until you accidentally hit enter and erase all the data you just spent the entire day creating. With the help of featured writer Richard Rinyai, we've put together this 10 Excel pro tips that will help you do your job better, faster, and give ...Published almost 10 years ago |
Google's Data Center Illustrates How Going Green Can Save Big BucksGoogle is all about environmental protection and encouraging people to go green. From plans for tidal powered floating data centers, to massive investment in creative alternative energy startups, Google is leading the way when it comes to environmental efforts in corporate America. The search engine firm says that going green wasn't just a moral decision; it was a wise financial one ...Published almost 10 years ago |
CompuPay Releases Payroll Software EnhancementsCompuPay Releases Payroll Software Enhancements MIRAMAR, Fla. July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- CompuPay, Inc. (www.compupay.com), one of the country's leading providers of payroll, tax filing and HR-related services, today announced the release of version 6.0 of its PayLoad payroll software, adding 25 new features and enhancements to its payroll solution designed for larger businesses. The latest enhancements to the PayLoad payroll software ...Published almost 10 years ago |
The Benefits of VMwareThe Benefits of VMware July 6, 2009 VMware and Virtualization Software"Virtualization" is the process of installing multiple operating systems for one or more workstations or servers onto a single physical workstation or server. This is a very practical solution because the processing power of the average workstation or server is underused-most systems only use about 5-15 percent of their processing capabilities. ...Published almost 10 years ago |


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Is everyone talking about your yard? And is the banter bad because your yard is usually being ridiculed and laughed at? If that is the case, you've come to the right place. Here are some ways to turn around your yard, and your neighbors' opinions. Make sure you test your soil before you start your […]Read More...
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You've probably heard about the importance of empathy in design and communication work—of understanding others' emotions and considering their feelings when we make things for them to use. Corey Vilhauer has called it "content strategy's hidden deliverable." Kate Kiefer Lee says it's central to MailChimp's content. Whitney Hess believes it's the foundation of an "environment that encourages collaboration, iteration, and risk."But empathy isn't easy. As much as I want to have it, as much as I believe in it, I fall down on the job a lot. I dole out advice better than I listen. I get frustrated with people who just can't figure things out. I'm quick to be an editor when I ought to simply be a friend. I think I might have found the real problem, though. We can't begin being empathetic when another person arrives. We have to already have made a space in our lives where empathy can thrive. And that means being open—truly open—to feeling emotions we may not want to feel. It means allowing another's experiences to gut us. It means ceding control.Empathy begins with vulnerability. And being vulnerable, especially in our work, is fucking terrifying.FrontingI've spent most of my life putting up one front or another: against middle-school taunts, against familial drama, against injustices both petty and profound. I suppose we all have. How else would we get through adolescence, through job rejections, through breakups and bad news and disappointments of all sorts?Fronting isn't bad; it's human. It's a shield—a way to cope, to keep others at a safe distance, to tell them the story we want them to see. But it's also what's keeping us from greatness, as Karen McGrane wrote last month in a column for A List Apart: I'm comfortable when I can tell myself I'm in control, when I can attend to all the small details and various checklists that add up to "doing a good job." I had to be forced into a place where I simply did not give a fuck in order to find out what I was really capable of.Greatness, in other words, demands rawness. I've probably read that piece a dozen times by now (and only two of those were in my official capacity as editor). I keep returning to it because I've never before had so many good things happening at once, and yet simultaneously felt so far from great. This might surprise you if you know what I've been doing recently: taking over A List Apart, speaking at conferences, publishing a book. I am, as they say, doing well. Yet that book nearly did me in—and not because of the writing, either. I was simply scared of being exposed. I was terrified that the things I'd been working on—mostly alone, mostly in a little agency in Arizona that was far from perfect and that didn't really reflect what I wanted to be doing—were going to get called out as minuscule and silly. That I didn't deserve to be doing this. That I'd let people down. I did it anyway. I felt nauseous the whole time. My fears were unfounded, of course. I've received inspiring emails from strangers. I've had mostly good reviews. I hear it might even make money someday. I should feel relieved. I should feel ecstatic. But vulnerability doesn't work that way. I still feel this intense desire to hide, to deflect, to cover back up all those parts I exposed to the world.I've distanced myself from past projects; I've avoided pushing for the sort of work I really want; I've glossed over details to avoid admitting how little I actually know. I've worked hard, terribly hard, to make my checklist add up to a good job. But I am not great. Not yet. Professionally vulnerableThere's a safety in creating distance—in carefully managing perceptions and avoiding the things that make you feel unprepared and unworthy. It's easier to get by when you have a buffer.But that distance not only keeps you from greatness; it also numbs you. It protects you from your own emotions, sure. But it also makes it impossible to feel anyone else's. I can't afford to be numb. I have users to help. I have problems to solve. I have got to get more comfortable with being uncomfortable. Empathy starts with vulnerability. And I'm still working on it.
18 Mar 2013


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Hi Folks! Just a quick post! I'd like to share the Gift Card Tutorial I submitted to Scrapbook News and Review over a year ago when I was one of the Featured Artists! Some of you might have already seen it but for those of you that haven't, here you go! xoxo
Gift Card Holder/Greeting Card
Hello crafters and welcome to my tutorial! I hope you find some great ideas today! My name is Maureen Esquillo-Kao, or Mo for short. I share my love for all that is crafty through my blog, The Adventures of Mighty Mo. I create items for my Etsy Store and also design for All About Me and Candy Shoppe Designs challenge blogs.
Although I find myself scrapbooking for the most part, I fell in love with crafting through my first endeavor…cardmaking! My interests are always evolving, and my newest obsession is digital scrap booking. I have also dabbled in knitting, jewelry making, crochet, and sewing, and am self-taught in all these areas. I learn best that way! Today, we'll play with something simple but still unique and fun!
These days, so many of us are crunched for time. Between being a wife, mother of two and working part-time, I sometimes find it challenging to work in some crafty time. I'm a notorious scrapbooking addict, so I feel guilty when I give store-bought greeting cards – but I've found a way to solve that problem. I make batches of cards in an assembly-line approach. I switch out my greetings so that I have some "happy birthday," "thank you," "best wishes" and "congratulations" cards. Now you too can create a crafty reputation by giving out handmade cards! Let me share my approach with you!
I'm going to show you how to make a gift card holder/greeting card that you can use for a broad range of occasions with additional photos of a second card design. The body of this tutorial will include a step-by-step process of creating your card. As I conclude this tutorial, I will discuss tips for mass production of your card.
In approaching your card design, it's important to pick the appropriate cardstock – more feminine cardstock for girls/women and, of course, masculine cardstock for boys/men. Alternately, you could choose a neutral cardstock that would work for both.
I've chosen a printed, double-sided cardstock for my card. For this design, it is important to use a double-sided cardstock that is printed on one side and fairly light and solid on the other. This way, you can write a note on the inside of the card.
Supply List:
Double-sided cardstock for body of card
(one printed side and one light colored, solid side)
My Mind's Eye
Dream Street Papers
Solid textured (or un-textured cardstock)
Bazzill in light blue and charcoal
Double-sided cardstock (for flowers)
Pink Paislee
Standard-sized envelopes (A2 or 4-3/8" x 5-3/4")
Sizzix Die Cutting Machine and accessories for embossing plates and die cuts
Sizzix Embossing Plate
Sizzix Originals Die
Flower Layers
Star Paper Punch (masculine card option)
Stampin' Up!
Black buttons
Stamp(s) with desired greetings.
Stampin' Up!
Bone folder
Paper trimmer
Black ink (or other ink to coordinate with your card design)
Ranger (black soot)
Step One: You will start by cutting down a 12" x 12" double-sided cardstock to 4 inches so that it measures 4" x 12". This card will be folded into 3 sections, which will fold into a square shaped card measuring 4" x 4". After you've cut your 4" x 12" piece, you'll need to score 4" on each side of the piece. Be sure to place the printed side of your cardstock facing downward before scoring. You want to score your lines onto the solid side of your cardstock so that your scores fold inward.
Step Two: After scoring, fold each end inward so that your card will easily fold into itself.
You will then create a fold in the middle square so that the solid parts of your cardstock meet or "kiss" each other. Start by folding the left side of the card downwards. (Note: I would NOT suggest scoring a diagonal line because it is difficult to get a precise fold this way. It's best to hand fold this section.)
Step Four: Then, you will fold the flap backward, then upward, using the score line to guide the fold.
When folded correctly, your card face should have a print on it. When opened, the left side of your card should be solid (to house your greeting), the bottom half of your diagonal pocket should be printed, and the back section of your card will be solid.
Step Five: On the printed card face, I've chosen to layer a solid cardstock.
Now, keep in mind, you should design your card so that you can make many of them in one sitting. Some of the things that will assist you with this are implementing embossing plates, a cutting machine like the Sizzix/Cuttlebug/Cricut, stamps and/or punches. Think of a way you would be able to mass-create cards with as little effort as possible. If you're great at digital scrapbooking, you could even use your computer to create multiple copies of your card face design that can then be cut out (hybrid technique). Remember, efficiency is the key.
Step Six: The next step is to take your solid piece of cardstock and cut it down to 3.5" x 3.5". Because my card is fairly simple, I wanted to fancy it up by adding additional texture. I achieved this by opting for a textured, solid piece of cardstock which will then be embossed using an embossing plate and my Sizzix.
Step Seven: Next we will cut some flowers to embellish our card.
It is best to choose a die or punch that has 2 or more sizes of flowers and a double-sided cardstock. This will allow you to create a nice layered flower that has great patterns, depth, and dimension.
Step Nine: It is important, especially when creating cards that will have different greetings on them, to lay out your card without adhering anything. This way, you will know where to position your strip, stamped greeting, and flowers so that it will look pleasing to the eye.
Have your greetings pre-selected before you design your card to make sure they will fit on the strip. Each card will differ slightly because of the different greetings you will use.
Step Ten: After you've determined your strip and stamp placement, go ahead and adhere the strip onto the solid/embossed cardstock. Now you can stamp your greeting.
Note: If you are using wood mounted stamps and desire precise placement of your greeting, you might want to use a stamp-a-majig (or other stamp positioner) or a clear greeting stamp to aid you in positioning your greeting/salutation perfectly.
Step 11: Add your flower and flower center (i.e.: button/brad). If you are planning on sending some of these cards in the mail, you probably don't want to use chunky buttons for the flower centers. Instead, you might want to consider mini brads or small punched circles.
Glue down the pocket by placing a line of adhesive down the left edge of the back flap/part of the card.
Step 12: Now all that's left to do is to tuck your gift card into the diagonal pocket when you're ready to give it to its recipient. Jot down a quick note or greeting, tuck it in an envelope and you have a beautiful handmade card and present to give!
Here, I also have a masculine card variation:
For this card, I used the same solid-colored, textured cardstock (Bazzill) and a paper punch (Stampin' Up!) instead of a die cutting machine.
These cards should fit easily in a standard sized envelope (A2 or 4-3/8" x 5-3/4").
Tips on mass production:
Keep in mind that in order to mass-produce this card, you will need to be sure you have enough supplies to create the amount of cards you would like and a fairly simple card design to save time. The easiest way to do this, especially if you tend to spend a lot of time designing, is to use a scrapbooking kit which consists of coordinating solid and printed cardstocks. You could also choose one of those coordinating double-sided cardstock pads. After designing your card, create your prototype to make sure the process will go smoothly before you continue to create the rest of your cards. After any needed adjustments to your card design, you're ready to divide the tasks for your assembly-line approach:
Cut down your 12" x 12" double sided sheet to three 4" x 12" strips
Score your 4" x 12" strips
Fold on score lines
Fold diagonal into middle square and fold card up to 4" x 4" square
Cut down your solid cardstock to 3.5" x 3.5"
Emboss your solid cardstock
Cut down your mostly solid strips (to allow for a stamped greeting/salutation) to ¾" x 3/5" strips (or the size required to accommodate your word/greeting stamp)
Cut or punch out your flowers/stars
Gather enough buttons/brads for the flower center and/or punch out small circles for the flower middles
Adhere the ¾" x 3.5" strip to the solid embossed cardstock
Stamp your greetings
Adhere your flowers/stars
Set aside enough envelopes for your pre-made cards
I hope you've found some ideas with this tutorial. If you're interested in taking scrapbooking and cardmaking classes, I will be advertising classes soon as an Instructor at The Art Studio. The launch of the website is on the horizon so check back soon or you can click on the "The Art Studio" button on the sidebar and I will have it linked up to the website after the launch! I hope to see you there!


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Ambassadors represent the Office of Admissions by providing campus tours to visitors, contacting prospective students and acting as a student representative at on- and off-site recruitment events. Duties also include answering visitors questions, referring visitors to appropriate departments, ensuring accuracy of information provided, and other duties as assigned.
Qualified applicants are undergraduate students carrying a minimum of 8 academic credits with a 2.5 cumulative grade point average. Applicants should be well-rounded individuals who can speak to the UA Little Rock student experience in a variety of areas of campus life. Strong candidates will possess:
- Excellent written and oral communication skills;
- The ability to effectively present the positive attributes of the UA Little Rock;
- Initiative, dependability, discipline, creativity, responsiveness, open-mindedness, and self-confidence;
- The ability to work well with others in a team environment;
- Efficient time management skills; and
- A broad base of campus knowledge and involvement with various campus services and resources.
This is a volunteer position. Ambassadors will be featured on our Admissions page, receive UA Little Rock gear and, most importantly, build skills that directly translate into the professional world, regardless of their chosen career path. There will be opportunities based on enhanced involvement outside of normal duties to win other subsidies and incentives.
Required Program Dates
Candidates must be able to commit to working from September 1 to May 5 of the academic year in which the candidate is accepted into the program. Ambassadors are required to fill a minimum of two (2) tour shifts per week. Each tour shift equals 3 hours.
Required Events
|Discover 2018
|October TBD & November TBD
|Saturday Spotlight
|November TBD
|Experience 2019
|February TBD
|Explore 2019
|February TBD
|Trojan Transfermation
|March TBD
|Saturday Spotlight
|April TBD
Interested? Ambassador Application


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Infrastructure Us
Trogon Soft boosts of a prosperous IT infrastructure. A substantial quantity of time had been invested so as to make sure that our IT products are in competent progression. Our world class infrastructure is enabled with the following capabilities:
- Zone 2 seismic code construction
- 24 x 7 manned security and closed-circuit video recording
- Sophisticated system security type not only because of firewalls, anti-virus and anti spam, but also at system design echelon because of server allocation and database design
- An absolute environment monitoring and vigilance
- Equipment receiving and storage facility
- Redundant power supplies, UPSs and generators
- Automatic transfer switches to guarantee smooth transition to back-up power
- High speed Cisco powered network
- Emergency contact measures
- Availability of SAS 70


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Looking pretty in pink is never cliche and always in vogue, and our collection of pink dresses for every occasion feature hot styles like sweetheart, strapless, and open back to give you that classic look with some modern flair. Featuring the latest looks from top designers like Mori Lee, Allure, Atria, Josh and Jazz, Dave and Johnny, Jovani, Sherri Hill, and countless others -- our pink dress catalog is completely fabulous for every preference!
* Ships Today banner indicates that the product has at least some color/size combinations ready to ship immediately. To ensure the item will arrive in time, always check the estimated ship date before purchase. Ships today items will ship within 1 business day.
Use your Love List to save dresses that you like for later. When you see a dress you like simply click the heart next to it to add it to your Love List.


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Contact us for a proposal.
Have an RFP? Contact us today to discuss your next web, mobile or kiosk digital app project. Use our form for a human response within 24 hours or less. Guaranteed. Or call us at 1-800-338-8102 x1 to speak with us right now.
"Chepri did such a good job that when it came time to develop our second app… I didn't think twice about who to call. I would highly recommend Chepri."
— Todd Duplain CEO, Character Counts
"Chepri is simply amazing. They are one part tech savant and one part wizard, because some of the stuff they do is magic. I could not be happier with the team."
—Tony Wible CEO, Game Mercenaries
"…Their professionalism, communications, speed and creativity made the whole process flawless. I would recommend their services to anyone. Thanks Again"
— Jerry Mignogna, Graffiti Caps


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Adrian HS Adrian, MO Alumni List
Last names starting with "V"
Looking for Adrian High School Adrian, MO alumni not listed? If so, check out Classmates.com® - hundreds of more AHS alumni have posted their profiles.
About the Adrian High School Alumni Directory
Check out all of the names of the Adrian High School alumni that attended high school in Adrian that are listed above. Registering will allow you to join the directory. If you are a former student of Adrian in Adrian, Missouri, register now to add your name.


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Overcoming stress
Talks & guided meditations
January, Sun 7th to Feb 4th | 11:00 to 12:30 | with Gen Daö | KMC CPH
Learn how to overcome stress and anxiety, and find inner peace. Discover simple meditations that will help you keep a calm and flexible mind throughout your day.
The classes are taught in clear, easy-to-understand English. Suitable for complete beginners and those with more experience of meditation & mindfulness. Each class includes a talk and two guided meditations. Each class is self-contained. So, you can just drop in whenever you can, or attend the whole series if you wish. A Clip Card (see below) enables you to attend the whole series (or other classes) and save up to 25% on the class-by-class fee.
Drop-in fee (per class): 120kr | students 80kr | free for supporting members
Clip Card: (4 x classes): 400kr (20% discount on class-by-class fee) | students 270kr (17% discount)
Clip Card: (8 x classes): 750kr | students 500kr (25% discount on class-by-class fee)


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Here's a contest that might interest those of you care to turn their iPhones into a full-blown GPS unit. NAVIGON, makers of the best selling MobileNavigator GPS apps (our review) for the iDevice, is giving away 10 ultimate travel packages that consists of a MobileNavigator app of your choice (any region/country), as well as a brand new iPhone Design Car Kit (valued at $49.95US). The kit contains a car mount for the iPhone 4, a designer suction pad holder and a car charger.
NAVIGON's MobileNavigator, arguably one of the best GPS apps available for the iPhone, is now celebrating it's 1 year App Store anniversary (as well as 1 million users) by holding a 50% fire sale. We reviewed MobileNavigator North America a while back and found it a great choice for its many features, POIs, Live traffic updates (in-app purchase) and general ease-of-use. The sale includes all their apps that range from an entire region to specific cities. Here are some with maps that cover a more expansive zone:
- NAVIGON MobileNavigator North America, 1.52 GB – $39.99
- NAVIGON MobileNavigator USA, 1.39 GB – $24.99
- NAVIGON MobileNavigator Europe, 1.83 GB – $59.99
- NAVIGON MobileNavigator Middle East, 158 MB – $59.99
- NAVIGON MobileNavigator Southern Africa, 165 MB – $39.99
Compared to the more traditional GPS devices that start at $100, snagging a NAVIGON app for a fraction of the price is a tremendous deal. If you want to browse all the apps on sale, take a look on iTunes here. Don't procrastinate though if you want one; according to their Website, the 50% off is only good until August 15th.


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Dear depression,
You and I have been acquainted for years now, roughly 5 if I remember correctly. During this time there isn't an aspect of my life you haven't weeded your way into. You've wreaked havoc in all of my relationships, you've made me hurt myself and those around me. Oh, and let's not forget that time I had to drop out of my dream university when your ugly head surfaced again. Time and time again you have pushed me into a corner, biding your time waiting for me to wither and die.


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Skill Rewards
(1 EP) Upgrade Existing Skill One Level
(2 EP) Skill Download: New Secondary Skill
(3 EP) Skill Download: New O.C.C. Related Skill
(4 EP) Upgrade Existing Combat Skill One Level (W.P., HTH, Robot Combat, etc.)
(5 EP) Skill Download: Normally Unavailable Skill
Intrinsic Perception Rewards
(1 EP) Perception Boost (+5%)
(3 EP) Perception Boost (+15%)
(5 EP) Perception Boost (+25%)
Intrinsic Psychic Rewards
(4 EP) Master New Minor Psychic Ability of choice
(9 EP) Master One New Super Psychic Ability of choice (Master psychics only)
(9 EP) Step 1: Become a Minor Psychic
(18 EP) Step 2: Grow from a Minor to a Major Psychic
(27 EP) Step 3: Develop from a Major to a Master Psychic
Intrinsic Mutagenic Rewards
(5 EP) Manifest One New, Semi-Random Minor Super Power
(10 EP) Manifest One New Minor Super Power of choice
(15 EP) Manifest One New, Semi-Random Major Super Power
(30 EP) Manifest One New Major Super Power of choice
(2 EP) Mutate an existing minor power (semi-random outcome)
(4 EP) Mutate an existing minor power (chosen outcome)
(7 EP) Mutate an existing major power (semi-random outcome)
(15 EP) Mutate an existing major power (chosen outcome)
(1 EP) Purchase 1 Bio-E point for a Mutant Animal character
Magic Rewards
Magic Rewards
(2 EP) Access Reward (Low): New Spell (from Incantation Levels 1-4, 1-2 for Elemental Magic), or Tattoo Modifier for an existing animal, monster, simple weapon, or magic weapon tattoo
(3 EP) Access Reward (Mid): New Spell (from Incantation Levels 5-8, 3-4 for Elemental Magic), or Simple Weapon/Animal Tattoo
(9 EP) Access Reward (High): New Spell (from Incantation Levels 9-12, 5-6 for Elemental Magic) or Dimensional, Magic Weapon, Monster, Monster Shaping, Power, or Power Arrow tattoo
(14 EP) Access Reward (Very High): New Spell (from Incantation Levels 13-15, 7-8 for Elemental Magic)
(18 EP) Access Reward (Legend): New Spell of Legend
Meta Rewards
(# EP) Start a New Character at a higher than standard experience level.
(1 EP) Attribute Boost (applicable to attributes under 16, +1D6)
(1 EP) Automatic Critical Success (includes skill rolls, combat actions, scroll study, tinkering attempt, etc.)
(4 EP) Deus ex machina (Ex post facto EP expenditure for one Automatic Critical Success as above.)
(1 EP) Automatic save vs. Insanity during character creation
(3 EP) Choice of power category under Greater choice of individual powers
(3 EP) 1 Roll on the Fortune and Glory Table (see link for restrictions)
(5 EP) 1 Roll on a Fortune and Glory Sub-Table of your choosing (see link for restrictions)
(4 EP) I.S.P. Boost (+1D4x10)
(4 EP) P.P.E. Boost (+1D4x10)
(4 EP) S.D.C. Boost (+1D4x10)
(4 EP) Attribute Boost (applicable to attributes 16+, +1D6)
(4 EP) Access Reward: Favorable Contact within Merctown
(7 EP) Access Reward: Influential Contact within MercTown
(13 EP) Access Reward: Powerful Contact
(4 EP) Access Reward: Letter List Demographic Exception
(9 EP) Access Reward: Regional Origin Demographic Exception
(14 EP) Access Reward: Dimensional Origin Demographic Exception
Account Unlocks
(3 EP) Inactive Character Slot
(4 EP) Second Character Account
(9 EP) Third Character Account
(18 EP) Fourth Character Account
(9 EP) Per Each Additional Character Account
(12 EP) Unlock an inactive slot retroactively for a flaked or retired character.
ROLL 20 Rewards
(1 EP) Purchase one Benny for use in a specified ROLL 20 game. (Player must specify to which game the purchase is applicable in his transaction.)
Character Unlocks
See Dimensional Unlocks section below.
Usage Notes
An "Unlock" is something tied to a player's account, and is therefore permanent, and applicable site-wide.
A "Reward" is something tied to a player's specific character.
EP can be pooled by player characters to create new sponsored Mercenary Organizations. (60 EP minimum are required to initiate this process.)
Each EP award/transfer/transaction will be noted in the player's ledger, or will be considered invalid and subject to removal without warning upon discovery.
EP are units of currency that are transferable between players, and are bound to players--not characters.
All EP transactions are final; no refunds of any type will be made.
All ROLL 20 Reward purchases must be made prior to game time.


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Concert 4 Generation Youth Uganda (GYU)
This child is among 143 million who are orphaned in the world. On the right is ABC4All Mentor (Uganda) Mawejje Joseph is helping to run a Community Based Organization known as Generation Youth Uganda http://www.generationyouthuganda.webnode.com
Joseph is a dedicated man who is fortunate to have both parents alive!
Learn more about ABC4All Mentor (Uganda) "Mawejje Joseph " here: http://profiles.tigweb.org/josex and here:
Joseph did not stop! He has created a project in Uganda called, 'Send Sanitary Pads To Ugandan Girls' with the aim to donate, train, equip and teach young girls personal hygiene and self-sanitation through sensitization and education.
Hello Friend, Donor, Volunteers, Partner, Promoter,
Pastor, Reverend, Bishop and Prophet:
I salute you in the name of Jesus' Christ. We reach you by sending our invitation, requesting a donation to attendour exciting concert experience aimed at raising funds to support the purchase of Sanitary Pads for the less fortunate girls deep in the villages of Uganda.
At this Concert, we are fortunate to have Gospel Artist from United States of America, Heather Walker who will be performing:
Heather will be featured along with local Gospel artists from Uganda/Kenya.
VENUE: Mount Lebanon Church Cathedral, Mukono Uganda
DATE : 30th - June - 2013
FEE : [ Adults = 5000/= Ugshs ]
[ Children = 3000/= Ugshs ]
For more information please contact +256 791930636 or
Email : gyuganda @ yahoo (dot) com
You can also know more about this event via http://generationyouthuganda.webnode.com/events/
Joseph has also organized the
Mukono Children's Home Choir Uganda!
A leading and powerful children's choir.
Can the choirs of the world share information that will end the drinking of polluted water in the world?http://rr4all.abc4all.net/topics/view/77040/
Joseph cares for orphans at Mbalala Model Primary School and in other schools http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hl6XyH2SxtE.You can view a video of Mukono Children's Choir here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2BbHhpsZYkand learn more here:
Joseph composed this song:ObuyinzaBw'omuzadde (Where is the parent's responsibility?)
This Song is in Luganda Version and is in the form of a question. "If you want to know more about it, just listen and then comment and please support us. We will create an English version also.We still need sponsors, Spiritual/Physical support to help these children to promote their talents and to sponsor their education."
About the Choir Background and Its Activities
Mbalala Model Children's Voice Choir is a choir from Uganda with a lot of talented children in Music,Dance, Drama plus Sports.The Choir was started to support and help these orphaned and needy children by promoting their talent and to provide sponsorships honoring their gifts. Both singing and sports activities are used to train as part of their education. They also fight for their brothers and sisters on the streets. We work with homeless children, those with AIDS and many others.
The choir is based on Christianity faith, and it has been active since inception in 2012 by Mr. Mawejje Joseph. This Children's Choir through its popularity has attracted many people across the world, and the behavior of the children has been impacted greatly with change for the better due to educational songs and spreading the Gospel in some parts of Uganda, mostly in Mukono District. These children also have other activities they do in several departments that helpthem gain better prospects for their future all the while we promote their talents.
ABC4All Global Vision: To share with all countries a true restoration of a QUIET HOPE for PEACE and HARMONY in the world.
ABC4All Mission:
"Maximizing Charitable Contributions on and off the Internet."™
with the long-term goal of creating the ABC4All Legacy wherein charitable contributions will be MATCHED/DOUBLED into Perpetuity. Achieving this mission justifies the
ABC4All Mantra: MAXIMIZE Giving™
Dear All:
It is especially heartwarming to acknowledge the tireless work of ABC4All Mentor (Uganda) Mawejje Joseph who is helping to run the Community Based Organization known as Generation Youth Uganda: http://profiles.tigweb.org/josex
Joseph's dedication is obvious from what is described about this concert and its purpose to raise funds to assist young girls with the acquisition of sanitary pads.
What may not be so well known is that this young man has had the persistence and dedication for his mission that has been unrelenting in his pursuit to assist the children in his care. Joseph's work is more than deserving of MAXIMUM support, and GYU clearly is worthy of receiving your support.
ABC4All as well supports worthwhile causes (like GYU) and nonprofits/NGOs worldwide (more coming): http://home.abc4all.net/resources/view/145954/?topic=32255
Best wishes for a JOYOUS OCCASION as you witness and participate with the Gospel Music slated for this Concert – please come back for more dynamic entertainment, as Joseph will arrange for a Concert Series!
Music is healing, and we at ABC4All are proposing that the Choirs of the World help ABC4All end the drinking of polluted water in he world just by sharing information.
Burton Danet, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist (retired)
Founder, The Legacy of ABC4All http://loa.abc4all.net
Director, ABC4All Global Mentoring TEAM Project,


text: James B. Byrne wrote: > Can anyone here give me the magic decoder ring recipe for getting jre > "plugged" into Firefox 3.0.1? The plugins directory is gone and the > Firefox FAQ regarding this issue cryptically mentions that plugin support > has been dropped. It then points one to a early adopter SUN jre1.6-10 page > that has innumerable dependencies which my version of CentOS-5.2 does not > meet. > > Firefox 3.0.0 had a plugins directory and it did support the logical link > plugin: > > ls -s libjavaplugin_oji.so > /usr/java/default/plugin/i386/ns7/libjavaplugin_oji.so > > > I have no clue how to get java to work in FF3.0.1 at the moment. Any help > would be appreciated. > > Can you drop it into /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins/ ? Flash player puts it's plugin in this directory on my installation, and it appears to still be working. Regards, Max


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By Marshall Slaton, Bayshore Solutions Digital Marketing Team
What Are the Right Analytics to Use in Automotive & Consumer Marketing?
While attending the last Digital Dealer conference, there was a great session covering website analytics and whether we should focus on the website or shopper perspective. For example, if someone showed you the number 14,162 by itself, what would it mean?
Absolutely nothing. Without context, the data has no position in measuring relevance. If your page views go up, or your time on site decreases, how could you compare that to what is happening competitively in your industry? You simply cannot because comparing analytics for different websites is like comparing apples to oranges. However, you can compare consumers.
Today's automotive shopper visits only 1.3 dealers on average before buying a vehicle, down from 5 just a few years ago. If you cannot win the shopper online, you will lose to your more digital marketing savvy competitors. In todays data driven universe we should focus on shoppers and not users, consumers not clicks.
Here is a quick way to start:
- Auto Shoppers – Identify the attributes and attribution of those shoppers. Do they spend more time looking at new cars vs. preowned vehicles? Once they find the vehicle, do they research finance options on the site
- Behavior – Understand their intent, level of engagement, intensity of interest. Are they submitting a form or making a call after looking at one vehicle, or after looking at nine?
- Conversion – Define the conversion propensity along with conversion on investment. Is the shopper returning to the site shortly after going through the sales cycle and not purchasing?
Understanding the context of the data is key! Only 1 out of 8 shoppers have an intent to buy and you must distill the data based on shopping behavior and quickly assess who is ready, willing, and able. Effective consumer marketing today is about understanding changing behaviors, whereas it was previously spent on studying outcomes. For example, post sales surveys are not accurate as many businesses are missing data where consumers bought elsewhere. Consider this – 8% of dead leads were found to still be actively shopping.
Focus on shopper analytics when reviewing your website data. Consider context, and you are guaranteed to improve your sales success.
To learn more about how we can help you with effective, results-driven marketing contact us today!


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Shocking Illusions – Pretty Celebs Turn UGLY! (VIDEO)
Never, I mean, NEVER, in a million years, did I think that Angelina Jolie could be made to look like a troll. But alas, a computer wiz has gone and made the unthinkable possible! I guess everything really is all about how your perceive it!


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"I've been to a lot of meal functions and rarely have I seen such a beautiful plate of food. I was tempted to take a picture of it rather than eat it."
"It was evident that your number one priority was to make us feel comfortable and welcomed. This was clearly shown, through exceptional customer service and the professionalism that was exemplified by your staff."
"Thank you for making my job easy by making sure everything went as planned. I look forward to the next time we work together."


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Original Jersey City Skeeters
With a population of 206,000 at the turn of the 20th century, Jersey City was one of the world's most important freight terminals, and grew rapidly in the years leading up to the First World War (268,000 by 1910, 294,000 by 1914). Thanks in no small part to the popularity of the Skeeters, the city had 23 formally organized amateur baseball teams in the last years before the war, one of which, "The Grandpops", appears to have been the first all-grandfather team in baseball history. (The Jersey Journal, April 19th, 1909) Baseball reigned unchallenged as the king of sports in the area, as it did throughout most of the US.
In 1902 the Jersey City Skeeters (officially the Jersey City Ball Club) set up their franchise in the Eastern League, renamed the International League in 1912. The Baltimore Orioles, Buffalo Bison, Rochester Bronchos (or Hustlers), Montreal Royals, Toronto Maple Leafs, Providence Grays, and the Newark Indians rounded out the league, which was perhaps the strongest league below The National League and The American League. The Eastern was one of fourteen baseball leagues that formally recognized each other in 1902 and helped to standardize the sport. The Eastern League cities had the highest population base of any of the leagues below the Majors, which guaranteed the league prominence. The teams were independent, not farm teams of major league clubs. Indeed, they would scavenge a few players each from the major league clubs once the latter set their rosters and cast off 10-20 promising players at the end of spring training. Eastern League play began around April 21st each year, and ran for up to 140 games, depending on the year. Teams would make some extra cash playing major league clubs in exhibitions, even during the season, on Sundays.
The Grounds
Jersey City's 8,500 capacity West Side Park hosted the Skeeters near the Jersey Central Rail Station. Nature imposed the Skeeters nickname on the club—the struggle versus mosquitoes being serious enough to warrant occasional coverage in the local papers of the day. The club caught on very fast, with Opening Day becoming a semi-official holiday in Jersey City. Newspapers trumpeted the occasion on page 1, and factories closed after a half day, allowing fans to get to the stadium, or to sturdy trees with a view of the field, or just to the parade route leading to West Side Park. Big crowds always turned out to see exhibition games against the New York Giants or other major league squads, and also for Eastern League games versus local rival Newark. As sportswriter G.A. Brakely once put it, "Jersey City would rather beat Newark than get a Presidential convention. And it's vice versa, by the way." (The Jersey Journal, May 18th, 1909) The Skeeters nickname was of no help in selecting a mascot, so the team settled on a Bull Terrier that did tricks for the crowd (such was the case in 1909, anyway).
The Mascot
1903: The Recordbreaker
The Skeeters covered themselves in glory in 1903, to the point that in 2001 Minor League Baseball crowned the 1903 Skeeters the 7th greatest minor league team of the 20th century. The team won its first 16 games, then ripped off a streak of 24 straight late in the season to vault from four games behind first-place Buffalo and build a 10 game lead. The Skeeters finished 92-33, a .736 winning percentage, with four 20-game winning pitchers.
Russ Ford's Emery Ball—the greatest freak pitch of all time?
"(Russ) Ford, a most intelligent fellow, had an odd delivery that was almost unhittable. He had an overhand swing that was noticeably good ... his form was not up to that of the really great pitchers. Still, he would send a ball up at the batter that would suddenly dart away…" - Ty Cobb in Memoirs of Twenty Years in Baseball (Ty Cobb, 1955)
The Jersey City Skeeter who left the deepest mark on baseball history (pun intended) was Manitoba-born right-handed pitcher Russell Ford. Ford joined Jersey City in 1909, and in that year he pioneered his vicious "emery ball". Ford would put a dime-sized abrasion on one side of the ball, which gave straight fastballs a wicked cut as they neared the plate. He mastered his creation—a feat very few freak pitch inventors could claim--and it vaulted him to the American League in spectacular style.
Ford turned in what was surely one of the greatest rookie seasons of all-time with the New York Highlanders (Yankees) in 1910. He went 26-6, with an ERA of 1.65, 209 strikouts, and a tremendous 0.881 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) that year. The legendary Christy Mathewson and Grover Cleveland Alexander are the only other pitchers ever to have notched 20 or more wins and 200 strikeouts in their rookie seasons. His career era of 2.64 places him in the top 60 in baseball history (the ranking varies depending upon eligibility criteria, such as innings pitched and the chronological cut-off in the 19th century); his 2.54 ERA in a New York uniform remains the franchise record (or second best, if one includes reliever Mariano Rivera).
He was dominant enough at his peak, in fact, to join Walter Johnson and Smoky Joe Wood as the only three pitchers on the second ever American League all-star team, assembled in July 1911 to play a benefit game after the sudden death of Cleveland's great pitcher Addie Joss—there he is with a slew of Hall-of-Famers, second from the right in the rear row (the first American League all-star team played an exhibition series against the National League Champion Pittsburgh Pirates after the 1902 season).
Russ Ford at the plate, West Side Park, Jersey City, 1909
Ford was masterful in a Jersey City uniform, right from his first start on May 13th, 1909, when he scattered four-hits in a 4-1 complete game win over Toronto. His biggest day came on June 11th, when he shut out Montreal over 15 innings, winning 1-0. He was of course a fan favorite, but was not flamboyant in any way. Perhaps because he had something to hide (his freak pitch), Ford was very composed on the mound, but egregious umpiring could provoke him, and he found himself ejected twice while hurling for the Skeeters.
Ford hid his invention very well. As a contemporary recalled, "He had a hole in his glove and under it was a piece of emery paper. Then he wore a ring on his finger with a piece of emery paper wrapped around it. The ring was on a rubber band, and when he pulled it off, it went up his sleeve." {as quoted in Donald Honig, Shadows of Summer, 1994, p. 55}. Ford's creation was the first pitch major league baseball would ban, after the 1914 season.


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Wednesday, August 15, 2012
19 Comments:
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Colors of Confinement
Rare Kodachrome Photographs of Japanese American Incarceration in World War II
Edited By Eric L. Muller
With photographs by Bill Manbo
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