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SCRUM LOG JEFF SUTHERLAND - Jeff created the first Scrum team in 1993 and worked with Ken Schwaber to formalize Scrum at OOPSLA'95.
Together, they extended and enhanced Scrum at many software companies, helped write the Agile Manifesto in 2001, and authored the Scrum Guide.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Planning Poker Cards: Faster, Better, Cooler!
I'm leaving Stockholm today after working with Crisp on Scrum training this week. In my bag are the new, upgraded, Crisp planning poker cards. Developers have been asking for more colors. We now have eight colors to support a Scrum team so each person has a different color. And the Planning Poker cards need numbers on the corners of the cards so you can seen the numbers when you hold a deck in your hand. The new cards solve these problems and Crisp has the only good web site for ordering Planning Poker cards so get them here!
There are three best practices that have emerged for both Scrum and XP - User Stories, Planning Poker, and Scrum Boards. Lots of people have asked where to get Poker Planning cards. Many companies make these cards and none of them are as easy to sort as the color coded cards from Crisp in Sweden.
Estimating is one of the core activities in Scrum and other agile processes. This means the process of assessing the size of a story, i.e. how long it will take, how much work it is to implement, or how expensive it is.
In Scrum, estimating is a team activity. For each story, the whole team participates in the estimation process.
Planning poker is a simple but powerful tool that makes team-estimating faster, more accurate, and more fun. Some companies have eliminated 80% of their planning costs and are able to get better estimates using Planning Poker! Even if you are stuck in the mire of Waterfall planning these cards can help you avoid missed dates and death marches. Recommended for all developers.
Posted by Jeff Sutherland at 2:09 AM
Labels: scrum planning poker estimation
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May the words of this lovely poem move you today.
Never seek to tell thy love,
Love that never told can be;
For the gentle wind doth move
Silently, invisibly.
I told my love, I told my love,
I told her all my heart,
Trembling, cold, in ghastly fears.
Ah! she did depart!
Soon after she was gone from me,
A traveller came by,
Silently, invisibly:
He took her with a sigh.
--Did You Know: Blake has also been viewed as an enlightenment poet and artist, in the sense that he was in accord with that movement's rejection of received ideas, systems, authorities and traditions. On the other hand, he was critical of what he perceived as the elevation of reason to the status of an oppressive authority.
--Word of the Day: venerate \VEN-uh-rayt\, transitive verb:
Meaning: To treat someone or something with deep respect, reverence or deference; to revere.
Example: They venerated the same saints, worshipped in the same churches, and respected a past of shared values.
(Miranda Vickers, Between Serb and Albanian)
--Quote of the Day: It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy;-- it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others.
(Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility)
Coffee Table Poetry for Tea Drinkers is updated often. The easiest way to get your regular poetic inspiration is to subscribe by selecting E-mail or RSS Reader. Also, come follow us on Twitter. We look forward to making every day memorably intriguing for you.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Demand for Natural Gas in the Indian Industrial SectorWorking Paper
Issued by
Program on Energy and Sustainable Development Working Paper #68, October 2007
PESD has concluded a two year collaborative study on the Indian natural gas market with A.T. Kearney. The study explores gas demand to the year 2025 in industrial applications under a range of different policy and economic scenarios.
Industrial consumers will benefit from increased supplies from LNG to displace expensive liquid fuels, but cheap coal remains the dominant fuel for many industrial applications.
Topics: Coal | Energy | International Development | Natural gas | Oil | Sustainable development | India


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Mitsubishi HC1500 720p DLP Projector Review
This post is older than six months. You may find a more recent article pertaining to your topic by visiting our homepage or using the search box in the upper right.
We've been building up our collection of projector reviews here at ConnectReviews, kicking it off with the Panasonic AE-1000U we reviewed last month. Today, we're taking a look at a lower-priced 720p model from Mitsubishi, the HC1500.
Here's the lowdown on the specs of this killer budget DLP projector. The images are displayed in 720P resolution at 1600 lumens with a 2500:1 contrast ratio. It operates as low as 25dB to keep from distracting you while watching your favorite Hollywood flick. On the back there is an array of inputs including: HDMI, VGA, Component, composite, and S-Video. The compact projector can display an image up to 275 inches diagonal, or as small as 40 inches diagonal.
In our testing, we used our Comcast high-definition cable box, an Oppo DV-981HD upconverting DVD player, high-definition content stored on a MacBook notebook computer, and the new Vudu box which we'll be reviewing this month. At first glance, there was a noticeable screen door effect when viewing the image extremely up close, but this should not bother you if you're sitting far back enough. Besides this, the image had great sharpness, rich color, and a particularly bright image compared to the AE-1000U rated at only 1000 lumens.
There are some quirks to point out though. There is no lens shift except for the extendable feet in the back and front, and the zoom was somewhat limited in our testing setup. In addition, it was hard to get the projector to fit our 80″ wall-mounted screen especially where our testing projectors normally are located. Besides all these, the projector performed exceptionally well in our tests but there is another new projector in town that could knock this one out, the Panansonic AX-200U which we'll be reviewing in November.
The Mitsubishi HC1500 is available today for a price of just under $870 on Amazon.
- Bright image.
- Crisp and rich colors.
- Relatively quiet at 25dB.
- Great for consumers on a budget.
- Noticeable screen door effect up close.
- Only 1 HDMI input.
Final Verdict
4.5 out of 5 stars


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Governor Got a Traffic Camera Ticket; Will Sign Bill to Regulate Them
By Erik Schelzig
NASHVILLE -- Gov. Bill Haslam says he will sign into law a traffic camera bill that aims to eliminate their use as speed traps and reduce private vendors' influence over where they are located.
The governor can draw on personal experience -- as an enforcer and as a violator -- in deciding to enact the legislation that passed both chambers overwhelmingly. In his previous job as Knoxville mayor, Haslam oversaw the installation of red light cameras at city intersections.
And while running for governor last year, he was ticketed when he was caught speeding by a camera in Bluff City that critics deride as a speed trap.
"I understand some people didn't like them, but they worked," Haslam said of the Knoxville cameras. "They made intersections a safer place."
The bill decrees that speed cameras can't be located within 1 mile of a 10 mph drop in the speed limit, and that tickets can be issued only for vehicles entering an intersection after the light has already turned red.
The measure also requires local governments to conduct independent traffic engineering studies -- without the influence or money of private vendors -- to determine the location of future cameras.
"I want traffic cameras only in locations where they reduce accidents and where it's a safety issue," said House Transportation Chairman Vince Dean, R-East Ridge, and one of the bill's main sponsors.
"They're a good tool for safety reasons, not for revenue."
Contracts remain
The measure did not address what percentage of fees can be collected by vendors, and it does not affect current cameras for the duration of their contracts. It also doesn't apply to mobile traffic cameras operated from vans.
The bill does include a ban on issuing tickets for failure to stop before turning right on red.
Dean said it will remain a violation to fail to come to a complete halt, but that the cameras can't recognize legitimate reasons for being in the intersection after the light turns red.
"Sometimes you have to pull beyond the stop bar to see around vehicles to see if the way is clear to turn right on red," Dean said. "We also wanted to make certain that the public knew that if they were in the intersection they didn't have to stop and back up when the light turned red."
Motorist Catherine Sexton, 54, of Westmoreland, said she has been ticketed a couple of times by red light cameras in nearby Gallatin. Sexton said there doesn't seem to be enough time to get through the intersections before the light turns red and the camera snaps a picture.
"Before you get to the intersection, you have to be looking for the camera," she said. "It makes me nervous."
Republican Rep. Matthew Hill of Jonesborough rejoiced.
"Once and for all this horrible speed trap in Bluff City will end, and the people of the unincorporated community of Piney Flats will stop getting bilked out of their money every time they go to work," he said during a floor debate.


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The latest news and views about music in Milwaukee and beyond
Top of the Charts: This week's top hits and the past four decades
Will the shimmery streak continue at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart? Or, will a new challenger take the number one spot? Take a look below to see the video for the biggest hit in the nation and then take a look back at the songs that were chart toppers this week in 2002, 1992, 1982 and 1972.
No. 1 hit Dec. 11, 2012
Rihanna "Diamonds"
It's week number three for Rihanna's "Diamonds" in the number-one spot. But, the big hit has a new challenger in the second spot this week from Bruno Mars and his first single from his forthcoming sophomore album, "Locked Out of Heaven." Come back next week to see which pop star owns the top spot.
Number one this week in 2002
Eminem "Lose Yourself"
In 2002, Eminem stepped beyond the microphone and in front of the camera to play the lead role in the hip-hop based film, "8 Mile." As he shot the film, the Detroit rapper wrote and recorded "Lose Yourself." The song became a hallmark of the film and is Eminem's biggest hit to date -- topping charts across the globe and staying at number one in the United States for 12 weeks. The song also became the first rap song to win an Academy Award.
No. 1 this week in 1992
Whitney Houston "I Will Always Love You"
Ten years earlier, Whitney Houston had one of the biggest hits of her career in a movie soundtrack, too. Unlike Eminem, Houston turned to another writer -- Dolly Parton. She took the song that the country star had written and recorded for her longtime television mentor, Porter Wagoner, and made it the theme for "The Bodyguard." As she starred in the box office hit with Kevin Costner, the song's star soared. Along the way, it nabbed two Grammy Awards and reigned at number one for 14 weeks.
No. 1 this week in 1982
Toni Basil "Mickey"
Toni Basil is an actress ("Easy Rider"), dancer and award-winning choreographer who found herself at the peak of pop music stardom for one week in 1982. That December, the world was bopping and singing along to the ridiculously catchy tune of "Mickey." The song might have been number one for just a short while, but its legacy lasted with appearances in films like "Wayne's World." Basil is still active in the dance world -- teaching, lecturing and judging TV competitions like "So You Think You Can Dance?"
No. 1 this week in 1972
Helen Reddy "I Am Woman"
In December 1972, Australian pop star Helen Reddy landed her first big American pop success with a song from her debut album a year earlier. After years of struggling to find her way in the music industry, the song broke through and became a powerful anthem for the women's rights movement. Her career subsequently flourished as she charted two more number one hits in the decade and appeared in films, on television and on stage during the next four decades. She last performed musically in 2002, but continues to work for social causes in her native Australia.
Tags: Top of the Charts : Rihanna : Bruno Mars : Eminem : Whitney Houston : Dolly Parton : Toni Basil : Helen reddy : Wayne's World
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List Price: US$8.70
|Free shippingTo UNITED STATES
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All packages from DX.com are sent without DX logo or any information indicating DX.com. Due to package variations from suppliers, the product packaging customers receive may be different from the images displayed.
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100% of customers would recommend this product to a friend (29 out of 29)
Involvement Level: Expert (understands the inner workings)
Pros: This is a great little camera. It's got more than enough resolution than you really need, and because it's driverless, you just plug in and go. Some people have trouble mounting this atop their monitors, but mine grabbed onto my run-of-the-mill LCD with no troubles.
Cons: Because it's on the USB bus, it loses some bandwidth when using other high-data devices, like printers.
Other: Cheap, quick, and easy. Does the job I want it to do quite well.
Involvement Level: Expert (understands the inner workings)
Pros: Its a excellent product and full value for money as compared to other high value cams sold as this is a hassle free and is easy to use and looks cute. Its sturdy and the stand is also good doesnt give up easily with lot of different lcd monitors. Lokks different and better as compared to other traditional cams. EAsy to use and is easily compatible with XP, win 7, and linux 5
Cons: None
Other: excellent
Involvement Level: Expert (understands the inner workings)
Pros: It's cheap and it works under linux with no special drivers required. It looks kind of like two eyes staring at you.
Cons: None that I can think of.
Other: The output isn't as pretty as the computer conversations on The Big Bang Theory, but I didn't expect that. It's certainly adequate to the purpose. I love DX.
Involvement Level: Expert (understands the inner workings)
Pros: Overall good picure quality (low noise level), built-in microphone. No drivers required for Vista, Windows 7 x64. Convenient mount clip. Good design.
Cons: Max resolution is 640x480 pixels - which is 0.3 megapixels. Slow speed at artificial light - max 6 fps. Sound quality is average - my cheap Genius microphone do a lot better.
Other: Another one "cheap for good" product. Doesn't takes stars from the sky, but just works. How does it works - see the price. Works for every cent.
Involvement Level: Expert (understands the inner workings)
Pros: Easy to install... , loud enough sound microphone.., excellent image... for 1.3mp. Looks like... a piece of art..., beautiful and functional. It looks... through the eyes of movie character ...WALL-E.Very easy to setup..., you just have to plug it in and wait a few seconds. My Windows 7 x64 uses built in drivers to it.
Cons: The usb cable ... should be a little longer..., but for the price..., is not that ... what hinders the functioning.
Other: i recommend. It is better ... than I thought ... it would be. The picture ... is very clear and ... responsive and the microphone is great.
Involvement Level: Expert (understands the inner workings)
Pros: Easy to install in the system, pleasant design and mounting of the monitor's quite a long usb cable, easy setup, good picture when there is sufficient light, loud enough sound microphone
Cons: Bad light sensitivity in low-light conditions, gurgling sound when the poor quality of Internet connection
Other: Came in a crumpled pack, but works fine. Out of the box on windows 7 does not want to work, had reinstall, operating system. On windows xp work immediately without any additional action.In my opinion, the best camera for the price performance ratio. All highly recomend!!!
Involvement Level: Expert (understands the inner workings)
Pros: Easy to use good image good sound Sufficiently long wire The microphone requires no additional wires to connect
Cons: The clip is not strong enough, and the camera is just lying on the liquid crystal monitor. If you accidentally pull the cord, the camera drops. There is no way to fix the camera on older monitors.
Other: Worth the money. It may be recommended to friends.
Involvement Level: Expert (understands the inner workings)
Pros: Cheap, and it works. No driver installation and bloatware is a plus.
Cons: The ball socket isn't very well built, at certain angles the camera feels loose, certain angles tight. Can't adjust zoom level, it's a little too wide-angled. The on/off markings on the camera and mic seem to be just decorative, turning the orange bit doesn't really turn the camera on or off.
Other: Besides the minor things it's a pretty decent webcam. But at $7.40 I wouldn't really complain.
Involvement Level: Expert (understands the inner workings)
Pros: This webcam with microphone, simply attached to the monitor. Works immediately after connection - no need to install drivers (Windows 7).
Cons: Not very stable attached to the monitor. Short cable USB. I thought that the video quality will be better after watching the video in the review.
Other: If you need a good and expensive camera, you can choose this. Overall, a good webcam.
Involvement Level: Expert (understands the inner workings)
Pros: It works on the first connection. It's really easy to use. The camera provides a good picture. Microphone gives a very good sound.
Cons: Mounting the monitor is done wrong. The camera is not stable, it probably will resolve double sided adhesive tape.
Other: It's a good buy at an interesting price. And on my monitor looks very well, look at the photo.
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Sunday, March 7, 2010
NBA TITLE CONTENDERS - by Justin D
Each year millions of fans renew their love for their team with a new season of promise and possibility. And each year, when it's all said and done, all but one fan base is left wondering what could have been done differently. Fans of teams that did not win the championship can be broken down into one of three categories. There are the fans of the playoff teams that say, "We were so close, if only our sixth man was on or if we hadn't lost our center to a toe injury." The fans of the teams that just miss the playoffs who say, "If only a couple guys had played up to their potential we could have made some noise in the playoffs." And then there's the last group who gripe, "Let's hope for a good draft, some luck and let's just be thankful we aren't the Clippers." (I had so much fun watching Griffin play this year)...
In reality, only a handful of teams have any shot at an NBA World Championship every year, and you can pick them out before the season starts. If you had to pick a group of five teams and one of those five had to win the championship, you'd be hard-pressed to not pick a winner. That's because when it comes to NBA playoffs, unlike the NFL, the better teams almost always win a series, unless it's just a slightly worse team playing better. And unlike baseball where two ace pitchers can take you the distance (think 2001 Diamondbacks), in the NBA no matter how good a player is, he still needs help to be a champion.
When playoff time comes around there are always several factors at work.
First of course, you need a key player. Kobe, LeBron, Melo, Pierce. To me, all of these guys qualify and there are maybe a few others. If you don't have at least one of these guys, you really don't have a shot. Not just a very good player, but a great one. That's why the Raptors will never win a championship as long as Chris Bosh is their best player.
Second, to get past the first two rounds you need some help from one bench player and one other starter. The main guy can and will do most of the work, but to ensure victory, a few timely three pointers from a bench player will put a good team up 3-1 in a series instead of heading for a game 7 which will hurt them in the next round.
Third, to win a conference championship and ultimately the NBA Finals you need significant minutes from your second and third best player. This is because no matter how good your best player is, once you get to these rounds you will be playing someone who is nearly as good, or if not better. When these types of teams play each other the great players will cancel each other out over a seven game series. One player might win a game on his own, but the other will need to step up in the next. To win four out of seven games against a team with a comparable star you need help from somewhere else. This is why LeBron keeps getting screwed in the later rounds. LeBron is the only player in the league to absolutely guarantee a game is close if he wants it to be, but without another really good player, they will always stall in a seven game series. Mo Williams might hit a big shot or have a big night every once in a while but he isn't consistent enough to help beat a team like the Magic with three players better than him(Howard, Carter, Lewis). This is why the addition of Jamison is so important for them. Jamison has been consistently over-looked the last several years, but really you can count the number of guys that consistently put up 20-10 games like he does on one hand. Again, that is why that is such an important pickup for the Cavs.
Ok so after all of that, now it's time to break down the teams that actually have a shot at this year's title and what will be the key to getting over the hump for these teams. We all know about the main characters, but if it were that easy, Kobe and LeBron would have won the last 7 titles...but, they've won a combined 1.
Eastern Conference:
LeBron is the single most dangerous player in the open court, so why they would willingly slow him down by adding Shaq? Seemed counterproductive, and as the numbers have shown so far this year, they are better off without Shaq, inserting the young and aggressive players in JJ. Hickson and Varejao at the center position instead. The Cavs need to get running and they need Jamison to run with them. This team will go as far as Jamison takes them. He is a great offensive rebounder and shooter, a tough combination to guard that helps spread the floor for James and gives him a solid in and out option. With his other three point shooters, Gibson, Williams, West and Parker, they are far too small to pose an inside threat so their team is very easy to focus on. You know what you have when they are out there, and you can make game plans for them and adjust accordingly. With Jamison out there, you need a big man to cover him downlow but now you lose that big man on defense because Jamison can step back and pop. The only problem is Jamison isn't the best defender. He wants to play D so badly, but he just isn't good at it. So if they can play team defense and help him out there, then the Cavs are going to be impossible to beat in the East.
The key no one talks about for the Cavs is the three point shooting by LeBron. The fact that he shoots so many threes is ridiculous. LeBron has a great feel for the game and knows when to attack, when to defer and when a team is hurting. When they are on a roll and about to open a lead, he will always shoot a three to try to break it open. Or if the other team makes a big three, he will immediately try to answer. That's exactly how basketball is played, and three pointers are often used as statements or answers to other threes, but that shouldn't be the case for LeBron. He's a decent shooter, but he isn't Ray Allen. Instead of trying to kill a team's spirit with a long three that has a 35-40% chance of going in, how about a thunderous dunk over top of someone. That would make much more of a statement for his team, and is worth only one point less and is a much higher percentage shot. For someone as big and as quick as LeBron, who can get to the rim at will, it's just laziness and immaturity that keeps him taking those long three's and turnaround fade-aways.
This is very simple. The Magic have three all-stars in Vince Carter, Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis. So... they should win a lot. They win it all if Howard touches the ball. Lewis is fine with his role, as he has been his whole career, although he's more than able to dominate a game. Just check the stats from a few seasons ago when he was playing for the Sonics, and Ray Allen was out with an injury. Vince Carter is going to be a ball hog because he's Vince Carter, and he doesn't know how not to. This will destroy their chances at a championship. When Vince Carter is hot, you are guaranteed a win, but the sad thing is, that only happens once in every 3-4 games. That's not a high enough percentage to beat good teams.
When Dwight Howard scores 25 points or more the Magic are 12-2. 12-2!
Get him the ball every time down the floor. Howard's not a ball hog, but there is only one way to get better offensively, and that's the only part of his game Howard needs to work on. The same was true for last year, when it was very obvious he was severely limited offensively. He's put in the work with Patrick Ewing, developed a hook and is now dominating….again, when he gets the ball. I recently watched a game where he had nearly 20 points in the first half on 80% shooting and then got only two touches in the third quarter while Vince jacked up fade-aways. If the Magic want to win, this can't happen.
Plain and simple...Howard gets the ball, the Magic get wins.
The Celtics are old, this is well established. But they are old in the right places. KG is still a smart player who motivates his team, Ray can keep that stroke until he's 50, and Pierce just won the 3-point contest and has shown us many times this season that he can still dominate a game. Most importantly, at PG, the most important position for youth, they have Rondo who is only 24. With him running all over the place and dumping it to his old men, they will be fine. The key for the Celtics is health. If they make it to the playoffs healthy, they are as dangerous as anyone because of the reasons just mentioned. In a close game 'Sheed will be the key. If he stops playing like a fatass they will be a very, very tough out. But with him playing like he left his soul in Detroit, they will always win one less game than they need to win in a seven game series.
Western Conference:
The Lakers are the odds on favorite to win the Chip because of their balance. They have two seven footers patrolling the paint, a freak of an athlete in Odom and of course, the Black Mamba. It still pisses me off that he gave that nickname to himself. He just wants friends so badly.
The key to the Lakers repeating as champs is Pau Gasol. Not too much of a shocker but you never know what you are going to get with Gasol. Will we get the guy who just took over when Kobe was out with an injury or will we get the Gasol who disappeared for parts of the playoffs last year. Bynum is not that good yet. Yes he's put up some monster games, but he's not going to be consistent enough to be a major championship component. Odom is who he is and the role players all play ball-feeder to Kobe. If Gasol losses Kobe's confidence or plays like a push-over on defense, the Lakers are very vulnerable.
The Mavericks are in a great position for the post season. They are flying completely under the radar right now and will continue to do so well into the playoffs. This is because the Mavericks have been consistently great ever since Cuban took over. That is, they've been great during the regular season. They consistently win 60 games and they consistently make the playoffs. What they do not do consistently is make it to the Finals. They did it once and lost to Wade and the Heat then. They are great during the regular season because they have a great team. Most of their games are not very close because they are able to build a big lead with their solid starters and with their great sixth man, Jason Terry.
The heart and soul of the team is obviously Nowitzki but his inadequacies were shown when they were decimated by the Warriors as a one seed three years ago. This year everything is different. Of their five starters, four are former or current all-stars. For the past decade, they've had no one that could really create their own shot. Dirk can always get a decent look because he's 7 feet tall, but the Mavs have always lacked a rim attacker. With Caron Butler and Shawn Marion on the team, they now have two athletic guys who can take it to the rim and finish. So far this season they've split four games with the Lakers and won more games than they've lost against the other top teams in the NBA.
No one is going to want to play the Mavericks come playoff time. Their only problem will be themselves. Can they mentally get over the hump?
The Denver Nuggets are maybe the most fun team to watch in the NBA. Melo is absolutely dominating again, but he is deferring more to his teammates. Chauncey Billups had his coming out party last year, but has been unbelievable for years. The best part to watch a Nuggets game is about with five minutes left to play, in a relatively close game. Without a doubt, Billups will come down and launch up two or three straight threes. He will always make at least a pair. Watch a game and watch this happen. You can always see it unfolding, but still no team can stop it.
In the end, the Nuggets will go as far as J.R. Smith takes them. He is the key to this team. One of the most emotional and immature players in the league, J.R. Smith has a bad case of the I-Should-Be-Getting-More-Respect disease. Smith is a very good player. He has amazing hops and can hit three's with the best of them. The problem with Smith is that he's a basketball schizophrenic. One day you'll get the Smith who's 5-7 from downtown, with a bunch of assists, and the next day you'll get the Smith who misses three three's in a row, and then tries to immediately rebound by taking three more.
If Smith makes a three, there is a 75% chance that the next trip down the floor he will be take another one. The problem is he normally won't make that second one. He acts like LeBron and Wade in this respect, only that he doesn't have their talent. If Jason Kapono, maybe the best three pointer shooter in the league, makes a three pointer, he likely won't be shooting again on the next possession. This is because he is a role player and he understands that. J.R. Smith refuses to be a role player, even though there are two other players on his own team that are clearly much better than he is.
If Chauncey doesn't pull the reins on Smith and lets him start chucking up shots in a close game against a good team, they don't have a chance. Billups and Anthony need to make sure JR knows his place heading into the playoffs. If they do, the Nuggets will be just as good as anyone in the Playoffs.
Ok so these are the teams that have a real shot at the Chip. Thanks to all the trades last year and this year, several teams actually have legitimate shots at the Title, unlike almost every other year, where it's really only between two or three teams. It all depends on who stays healthy, who gels as a team with their new teammates, and who steps up in big games. If the above-mentioned teams identify their stars, defer to them in close games, and the teammates play their role in winning, any of them have a legitimate shot to win it all. My apologies to the Phoenix Suns, Atlanta Hawks, Utah Jazz and Matt Damon...
Thanks for reading this, and please stop by with comments...
-Justin Dreyfuss used to write for The Connection Newspaper in Northern VA. He also freelances for the Chicago Tribune, and loves chess. He will now be contributing his insights to Docksquad Sports as well...
Posted by Docksquad at 10:06 PM
3 comments:
- Matthew said...
Wow, Docksquad... I love this new guy. Impressive analysis, and easy to read. He's like a young Simmons. Keep him around...
Love the blog!
- March 8, 2010 at 11:49 AM
- March 9, 2010 at 9:11 PM
nice post and nice breakdowns. you should write more
- March 18, 2010 at 10:47 PM
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The main civil service pension schemes:
classic, premium and classic plus schemes are final-salary schemes with pension age of 60.
classic has a 1/80th accrual rate plus a one-off lump sum of 3 times your annual pension. It closed to new joiners in October 2002 when premium was introduced. The 1/80th accrual rate in classic means that for each year of pensionable service, you build up an amount of pension equivalent to 1/80th of your final pensionable salary.
Premium has a 1/60th accrual rate, but with higher employee contributions than classic, reflecting the more valuable benefits. There is no automatic lump sum, but members can opt to give up ("commute") some pension in exchange for lump sum.
classic plus is a hybrid – broadly, it provides classic benefits for service up to 30 September 2002 and premium benefits for service from1 October 2002.
Nuvos is the scheme offered to new joiners since 30 July 2007. It is a 'career average' scheme with an accrual rate of 2.3% (roughly 1/43) and a pension age of 65. As with premium, there is no automatic lump sum, but members can opt to commute some pension for lump sum.
- If you joined PCSPS before October 2002 you are most likely to be in classic, unless you opted to move to premium or classic plus.
- If you joined between October 2002 and July 2007, you are most likely to be in premium
- If you joined after July 2007, you are most likely to be in nuvos.
There are a number of smaller schemes in addition to these main schemes, and certain members with longer years of service have enhanced rights over how they build up their pension. Some staff have a partnership pension account, which is a defined contribution arrangement.
Key terms:
Accrual rate
The rate at which benefits build up for members of defined benefit schemes. It is commonly expressed as a fraction of final pensionable salary for each year (or part year) of pensionable service completed.
Accrued rights
What you have already earned in your current pension scheme and are entitled to keep.
Added years/ Added pension/ Additional Voluntary Contributions
Extra pension benefits purchased at the employee's cost. They can be extra benefits in the main scheme (added years or added pension) or investments in a pension fund run by an insurance company (Civil ServiceAVCscheme)
Career average scheme
In a career average scheme, each year you build up a slice of pension based on your salary in that year.
It is a type of defined benefit scheme that builds up benefits each year (or part year) based upon the pensionable salary earned during that year. At the end of each year, each 'slice' is increased – typically either to reflect price or earnings increases – nuvos increases benefits to reflect prices. When you finally leave, your total pension is calculated by adding up the slices you have built up (plus increases). It averages the member's earnings from the whole of their membership period, not just the final years, as happens in a traditional final salary scheme.
All schemes allow members to take lump sums up to the maximum allowed by HMRC; under current legislation, these lump sums are tax free. classic provides an automatic lump sum of 3 times pension, but this is less than the HMRC maximum. premium and nuvos do not provide an automatic lump sum. On retirement, members are allowed to "commute" – or give up – some pension in exchange for lump sum. All Civil Service schemes use the same commutation rate of 12:1 – this means that each £1 of pension given up buys £12 of lump sum.
Consumer Price Index (CPI) – see also Retail Price Index (RPI)
An internationally comparable measure of inflation based on structures in international legislation and guidelines and launched in 1996. Like the Retail Prices Index (RPI) it tracks the changing cost of a fixed basket of goods and services over time. However unlike theRPIit disregards some items, such as housing costs. It also has a different population base for the indices from theRPIand a different way in which the index is calculated.
Public service pensions are usually increased in April by reference to the price inflation measure for the previous September.
Defined benefits/Defined benefit scheme
A type of workplace pension where the amount you get at retirement is based on your earnings and years of membership in your pension scheme, and not on stock market investment returns or annuity rates.
Defined contribution scheme
A pension arrangement where the member (and employer) pay contributions into an investment fund The amount in a member's pension 'pot' at retirement will depend upon the investment returns achieved. Retirement income will also depend on the "annuity rate" available when the pension pot is used to buy a pension from an insurance company. There is greater investment risk with defined contribution schemes – unlike defined benefit pensions, you will not know in advance how much pension you will receive at retirement.
Employee contribution
The amount/percentage of your monthly salary you contribute to your pension.
Employer contribution
The amount/percentage of your monthly salary your employer pays into your pension.
Final Salary scheme
In a final salary scheme, your pension is typically worked out as a fraction of your final salary for each year of service. 'Final salary' is generally your last 12 months' pay or your best 12 months in your last few years of service.
For instance, if you are in premium you receive a pension calculated as 1/60th x final salary x years. If you are in classic, you receive a pension calculated as 1/80th x final salary x years. On top of this classic members get an automatic lump sum on retirement of three times pension.
Maximum accrual
The maximum number of years of pensionable service that you can build up. classic and premium allow members to build up 45 years' service. nuvos members can build up a pension of 75% of pay.
Pension Age
The minimum age specified by the pension scheme at which members are able to retire without pension benefits being reduced for early payment.
Pension benefit
The pension (and lump sum) you receive after your retirement, or your dependents receive after your death.
Pension scheme
An arrangement that provides financial benefits: on retirement having reached a particular age; on death; or in the event of ill-health.
Pension Fund
A pension fund is usually made up of shares and other financial products. The Civil Service pension scheme is not backed by a fund; it operates on an unfunded, pay-as-you-go basis with pensions paid from a combination of member and employer contributions and taxpayer funds.
Pension commencement lump sum/tax free cash lump sum – see also "commutation"
When you retire you can choose to take a proportion of your pension benefits as a tax free cash lump sum .
Pensionable earnings
Those member earnings used by schemes to determine the benefits payable at pension age.
Pensionable service
The time period a pension member is credited as being an active member of the pension scheme which, in a defined benefit scheme, is used in the calculation of that member's benefits.
Pensioner member
A member of a pension scheme who is receiving pension benefit.
Retail Prices Index (RPI) – see also Consumer Prices Index (CPI)
A measure of inflation and like the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) it tracks the changing cost of a fixed basket of goods and services over time. However, unlike theCPIit takes into account items such as housing costs. It also has a different population base for the indices from theCPIand a different way in which the index is calculated.
Public service pensions are usually increased in April by reference to the price inflation measure for the previous September.
State pension
The core State Pension paid to all who have paid full rate National Insurance Contributions for a specific period or have received contribution credits. It is based on your national insurance contributions or credits for years when you were not working but doing other things that qualify for earning a credit
State Pension Age
The earliest age you can get your basic State Pension. It is based on your date of birth.
Tax relief
Pension contributions to registered pension schemes attract tax relief. For members of defined benefit schemes, contributions are typically deducted from pay and tax relief is provided by calculating PAYE tax on pay after deduction of pension contributions.
Tiered contribution structure
A method of setting employee contributions so that the percentage of salary contributed depends on what your salary is. The Government has proposed a tiered contribution structure so that lower earners pay a lower contribution rate than higher earners.


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Bullock hosts Board of Education meeting
Governor Steve Bullock hosted his first Board of Education meeting Tuesday morning to discuss challenges and opportunities within Montana's education system.
Bullock says, along with the Board of Regents and the Board of Public Education discussed issues like the state's high school dropout rate, and the college completion rate. Under his leadership, Bullock says he wants the board to focus on the importance of early childhood education. He says with evolving technology, the state needs to make a conscious effort in updating its curriculum.
Bullock says, "It's not just an issue that our kindergarten teacher face. I am talking about the need for technology in our schools to recognize students are learning in different ways and we need to keep up with that."
The governor says the board is also looking at ways to implement more duel credit opportunities for high school students.
Story by Jill Jagelski, Beartooth NBC.
Copyright ©2013 Beartooth Communications Company. All Rights Reserved.


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Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 for the PC brings back the fan-favorite real-time strategy game. The Soviets created a time-travel device which creates interesting plot twists. Play as the Allies, the Soviets, or the Empire of the Rising Sun. Red Alert 3 has land units, air units, and naval units, all integral parts of the game. Cooperative campaign and head-to-head multiplayer modes provide hours of fun gameplay.
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (also known as C&C: Red Alert 3 and Red Alert 3: C&C) is a Strategy/3D Real-Time Strategy video game for PC developed by EALA and published by Electronic Arts on October 28, 2008. It's rated Teen by the ESRB and 28 of our users have voted it 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Our newest cheats for Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 were added May 13, 2009. We also have the game available on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, in addition to PC.
Have a spy infiltrate one of the following structures for the corresponding effect:
Construction Yard: Reveal fog of war from the building radius of the enemy Construction Yard.
Power Plant: Shuts off enemy's power for thirty seconds.
Refinery: Steal $2, 000 from your enemy.
Superweapons: Reset the cool down counter back to its original time.
Technology Structure: Temporarily stop production of tier 3 units or structures. It also will reset the enemy's radar, leaving only portions of the map where their units and structures are visible.
Unit Production Structure: Shut down the production structure for thirty seconds, making unit production and repairs impossible. You will also see all units produced from that structure for a short period of time.
If you were looking for Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 for PC cheats, then you might also want cheats for:


text: The article requested cannot be found! Please refresh your browser or go back. (DU,20140710,,-1,AR). Thursday, July 10, 2014 Editions: HERALD Subscribe Mobile The Durango Herald 81°F Fair News Local & Regional Webcams National & World Education Business Good Earth Obituaries Real Estate Sports Professional College High School Youth Outdoors Arts & Entertainment Performing Arts Visual Arts Music Film & TV Books Lifestyles Southwest Life Food Travel Health Family Religion Opinion Editorial Op-Ed Letters to the editor Classifieds Weather Marketplace Log in Sign up Home Page » The article requested cannot be found! Please refresh your browser or go back. (DU,20140710,,-1,AR). The article requested cannot be found! Please refresh your browser or go back. (DU,20140710,,-1,AR). Columnists in News Thinking Green Over the years, my feeling about Old Glory evolve Bottom Line Cash-flow management befuddles many John Peel Rapid recovery See all Columnists Most Popular in News Most: Read Commented Emailed Flash-flood watch issued Holes in health care More people parking downtown Parade nearly doubles in size Dems seek to counter birth-control decision Child deaths in cars stem from routine change 2 District 9-R schools intensify curriculum Few kids meeting TV-time standards Melissa Peña Immigration reform popular CDOT virtual job fair to be held through August () Hunting licenses on sale Aug. 5 () President raises money for absent Colo. senator () Flash-flood watch issued () Dems seek to counter birth-control decision () More people parking downtown () Holes in health care () Dayplanner Thursday () Child deaths in cars stem from routine change () 2 District 9-R schools intensify curriculum () Parade nearly doubles in size () The Blotter () Swinging good reads () Colorado gay-marriage ban struck down () John Richard Petrovich, Jr. () Immigration reform popular () Melissa Peña () Local Briefs () Tonita Gomez () Lois Georgine (Roberts) Hudson () And the West is History () Peace efforts to end Gaza fighting begin () Few kids meeting TV-time standards () Report: Financial knowhow mystery to most teenagers () Germans probe 2nd spy case reportedly involving U.S. () Troops on border OK with Obama () Nation & World Briefs () Earth Briefs () Interior secretary pledges $43M for conservation across U.S. () Do webcams get in nature's way? () Newer gas wells are more likely to have leaks () River lessons () Fallen tree caused power outage () Ska fundraiser to benefit Habitat for Humanity () Tipton, Udall won't pursue Colorado National Monument park designation () Trial in Colorado theater shootings delayed again () Single-lane traffic on Highway 550 () Hunting programs for women, youths () Highway between Mancos-Dolores closed today () Solar-panel project Saturday () An inch for every foot () John Charles Earley () Alcohol suspected in fatal Telluride crash () Human-made monsoon () The crash that started the FAA () Mike Schlarb () Dayplanner Wednesday () Council reconsiders vacation rentals, pot () Sportsmen's bill hits rough waters () Fire chiefs hold off on burn bans () Morning bath An inch for every foot Friends, family remember pilots who died in crash Mike Schlarb Human-made monsoon Events Calendar Today Thursday July 10 July 2014 S M T W T F S 29 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 August View today's events Herald Publications Durango Herald Cortez Journal Dolores Star Mancos Times Pine River Times 4CornersTV Contact Us News Tip Feedback Staff Listing Address & directions Write the editor Suspend delivery Special Sections Real Estate Guide Durango Living Summer Guide Restaurant Guide Focus on Business All Guides Online Extras 4CornersTV Advertising Guide Directory Plus Small Press Print Ads School Publications Social Media Ballantine Digital Media Tellzea Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook 4Corners TV on YouTube DH on YouTube Advertise Customer Service RSS Terms of use Privacy policy HERALD Subscribe About Us Careers @ Durango Herald


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Much of history is based on one's perspective, and dependent on the outcome of the event. Many of us have grown up being taught that the attack on Pearl Harbor was a "cowardly sneak attack" upon an unsuspecting nation. How many times have we all heard those words in Franklin D. Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor Speech describing December 7, 1941 as "a date which will live in infamy"?
In reality, the attack on Pearl Harbor was a brilliantly designed and well executed plan, devised by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese combined fleet. The failure was not in the plan or the execution of the attack. The failure was on the part of those in power in Japan to understand that such an attack, while providing a great victory, would so unite and arouse a nation and so stir their resolve, that the defeat of Japan was as inevitable as the war itself. Had the Japanese, however, won the war, the attack on Pearl Harbor would be viewed in much different light.


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Welcome to the Birds of North America Online!
Welcome to BNA Online, the leading source of life history information for North American breeding birds. This free, courtesy preview is just the first of 14 articles that provide detailed life history information including Distribution, Migration, Habitat, Food Habits, Sounds, Behavior and Breeding. Written by acknowledged experts on each species, there is also a comprehensive bibliography of published research on the species.
A subscription is needed to access the remaining articles for this and any other species. Subscription rates start as low as $5 USD for 30 days of complete access to the resource. To subscribe, please visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology E-Store.
If you are already a current subscriber, you will need to sign in with your login information to access BNA normally.
Subscriptions are available for as little as $5 for 30 days of full access! If you would like to subscribe to BNA Online, just visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology E-Store.
The Brown Pelican is a permanent resident of the coastal marine environment from central North America southward to northern South America. Whether perched atop a piling, panhandling at a fishing pier, or gliding above the surf, this conspicuous and popular seabird is instantly recognizable by its large body, long bill, and enormous gular pouch. Webbing between all 4 toes on each foot makes the Brown Pelican a strong swimmer but an awkward walker. In flight, however, the species comes into its own. Long wings gracefully carry individuals to and from their fishing grounds, and flocks often fly in lines just above the water's surface, slowly rising and falling in a wavelike pattern. Superb fishers, Brown Pelicans are noted for their spectacular head-first dives to trap unsuspecting fish in their expandable pouches. Of the world's pelican species, only the Brown Pelican (including the Peruvian Pelican, P. o. thagus, sometimes regarded as a separate species) feed by this plunge-diving method. This is also the only truly marine and predominantly dark-plumaged pelican species.
Brown Pelicans are highly social year-round and breed in colonies of up to several thousand pairs. They typically nest on small estuarineor offshore islands, where they are free from disturbance and predation by terrestrial mammals, including humans.
Pairs build nests on the ground or in trees, depending on the substrate available; incubate eggs under their foot webs; and feed small young predigested fish that they regurgitate onto the nest floor. By 3–4 weeks of age, the young are large enough to swallow whole fish, which they obtain by thrusting their bills into their parents' throats, forcing them to disgorge. The young are able to fly and begin to fend for themselves by 11–12 weeks of age, but do not reach sexual maturity until 3–5 years of age. This is a long-lived species: The oldest individual on record died at 43 years of age.
Despite its longevity and popularity, the Brown Pelican nearly disappeared from North America between the late 1950s and early 1970s. Extensive scientific investigations revealed the culprit to be human-made organochlorine pesticides entering the marine food web. The pesticide endrin killed pelicans directly, whereas DDT impaired reproduction by causing individuals to lay thin-shelled eggs that broke under the weight of incubating parents. Both effects led to serious population declines. Breeding colonies along the Pacific and Gulf coasts of the United States were particularly hard hit. So vast was the devastation that, ironically, the species disappeared altogether from Louisiana, the "Pelican State," by 1963. In 1970, the Brown Pelican was placed on the Federal Endangered Species List. The plight of this and other species led to a ban on the use of DDT in the United States in 1972 and a reduction in the use of endrin during the 1970s. Reproduction soon improved, and pelican numbers began to rise. Recovery was so successful that the Brown Pelican was removed from the Endangered Species List in the southeastern United States in 1985 and its population restored to pre-pesticide levels along the Gulf coast by the late 1990s. Once a symbol of the detrimental effects of pollution in marine ecosystems, the Brown Pelican now symbolizes the success of wildlife-conservation efforts.
This account draws heavily on the vast amount of Brown Pelican research conducted during the pesticide era, as well as more recent investigations. It necessarily emphasizes the well-studied North American populations, but data on Middle and South American populations are included when available. For details on the life history of the South American subspecies, the Peruvian Pelican, see Forbes 1914, Coker 1920, and Murphy 1936 .
Shields, Mark. 2002. Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/609


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It was Mad Hatter Tea Party and Tour day on the island and I'm happy to say that everyone got into the spirit. Hats and flowers everywhere.
In fact, I walked into the dining room and stepped right into the middle of a private tea party. Bunnies, bears, pigs and frogs, all drinking tea and eating cranberries and carrots. (Our human guests got Fairbanks House Punch and Chocolate Chip Streusel Coffee Cake.) It appeared that a fun time was had by all.
P.S. If you haven't voted in my poll to the left, please do so now. Almost closed for votes. Thanks.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Mad Hatter Day
Posted by Theresa the Innkeeper at 6:01 PM
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Future Work
Due to time and computing limitations, we could not explore all facets of steganography and detection techniques. As you saw, we studied the power in our pictures to test for hidden data. Another method which we were unable to explore was to analyze the noise of the pictures. Adding hidden data adds random noise, so it follows that a properly tuned noise detection algorithm could recognize whether or not a picture had steganographic data or not.
We explored several steganography techniques and the various detection algorithms associated with them. By using the properties of the DCT and our understanding of the frequency domain we developed the zeros hiding method. Zeros hiding proved to be easier to analyze than bit-o-steg and can hide significantly more data. Unfortunately its ease of detection makes it a less secure method. After researching various techniques already implemented, we chose to improve upon one, thus creating our bit-o-steg method. Bit-o-steg can only hide data in coefficients that were not dropped, thus limiting the amount of data we can hide. However, it greatly enhances the effectiveness of the steganography since it uses a key, making it much more challenging to detect. In the end we found both effective, but the complexity of bit-o-steg makes it more promising. Detection of our methods was critical to the breadth of our project. By investigating the power in various components of our images we discovered how to detect data hidden via the zero hiding method. Detecting bit-o-steg required us to draw on past steganography research and statistically analyze the effects of this type of data hiding. The methods and accompanying detection schemes we developed broadened our understanding of steganography, which, unlike encryption, allows secret data to be traded hands without raising an eyebrow.


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Cam Newton put the Panthers on the scoreboard for the first time on Thursday night with his second rushing touchdown of the season. At the goal line, on third-and-one in the third quarter, Newton leaped over the pile and broke the plane of the end zone.
The reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year now has 16 career rushing touchdowns.
Newton's touchdown made it 23-7 with just enough time left to make it interesting. However, the Giants added another field goal to go up 26-7 on the next possession.


text: Biggie's mom says: Biggie is a surprisingly sweet and mellow puppy. Most people don't know the Kuvasz breed, so they think he's a Labradoodle. Biggie is the Kuvasz ambassador in New York City and abroad, both in puppy class and through his blog. His blog helped find forever homes for two of his brothers. He is the largest puppy by far in his puppy class. He loves to be chased and to play fetch, but he quiets easily and loves to cuddle. This breed was used as livestock guarding dogs in their native Hungary, but Biggie has transferred his watchfulness to his flock of people. He is happiest when he knows where we are, and he is even happier if he's in a lap or lying on our feet. Favorite toys include anything squeaky, cardboard boxes, and anything with a little weight that he can drag around. He also loves to flip his metal water bowl, slide it around the hardwood floor, and splash in the mess he's created.


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Wednesday, October 16, 2013 —
Wingate, N.C. – Wingate University Friends of the Library will host Christian fiction bestselling author Amy Clipston on Oct. 25 at 6:30 p.m. The reading begins with a Fall Tea in the Ethel K. Smith Library.
Clipston, who lives in Union County, is the bestselling author of the Kauffman Amish Bakery Series. Additionally, she has written two young adult books Roadside Assistance and Reckless Heart. Her newest novel and the first in a new series, A Hopeful Heart, was released in June. Her books have been featured on the Christian Book Association bestseller list and the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.
During the reading, Clipston will share her journey to becoming a kidney donor in the paired donor program through Johns Hopkins Hospital. The gift of life she was able to give to a woman suffering from kidney disease provided a kidney for Amy's husband Joe, in return.
"The Friends of the Library act as a champion of the Ethel K. Smith Library by providing promotional, community and financial support," said Christy Inge, access services manager for the Ethel K. Smith Library.
"They've scheduled many notable authors, like Clipston."
Reservations are required. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by contacting Christy Inge at 704-233-8091 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Use and distribution of this article is subject to our terms and conditions whereby bowlingball.com's information and copyright must be included.
Rhino Page – ESPN The Magazine's Next Athlete
When a sport's top five players average 40 years of age, it might be time for a fresh wind to blow through. Enter Rhino Page, a 24-year-old bowling phenom who's taken the PBA Tour by storm. Page, who grew up in San Diego, now calls Kansas home after attending KU in hopes of being a meteorologist. The lefty captured his first PBA Tour title, notched five TV appearances and collected $84,811 last season, all while having to battle through the qualifying rounds as an non-exempt player. Not only did he nab 2007-08 PBA Rookie of the Year honors, but finished ninth in the overall points standings.
"It was a season I could never have dreamed about it was so good," says Page. "Everything that could have happened, did. It was truly unbelievable. I was just hoping to make the cut every week and get to compete in the top 64 with the best pros in the world. But to have everything happen so quickly, I'm just blown away."
Right into the eye of the storm.
"WHY I'M NEXT""My versatility is a big strength. My versatility and experience on international teams have helped me be successful. I've also had great mentors on tour, teaching me things I definitely wouldn't have figured out on my own, somebody like Patrick Allen—another lefty who's become a good friend on tour. It's my goal to be the best lefty ever. Well, actually I want to be the best bowler ever. I have a long way to go but a good start."
- He got his nickname from his T-Ball coach because of his intensity on the field. His real name is Ryan, but no one, not even his family, calls him that anymore.
- Rhino was conceived after his mother had her tubes tied. Talk about determination!
- He has made it a personal goal to see every state by the time he's 30. (Only 10 more to go!)
- Rhino is terrified of snakes, spiders and heights.
- He tried to grow a killer bowler's mustache but, "it just doesn't work out."
- Rhino's favorites:
- Sports Movie: Major League and Miracle
("Kingpin?" It made me laugh but it makes fun of bowling so I'm sort of 50-50 on it.")
- Food: Spaghetti
("I make sauce from scratch.")
- PBA Tour Stop: Medford, Ore.
("We look forward to it every year. The hospitality is great.")
- Sports Movie: Major League and Miracle


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Ukrainian Girl Wants to Be a Real-Life Barbie Doll: SUCCEEDS
This is Valeria Lukyanova. Valeria is 21 and from the Ukraine. Valeria's life goal is to make herself into a real living Barbie Doll. Living adult doll creeper fantasy achieved.
She rocks a tiny little waist (give her a sammich!), big boobs and a face that looks molded directly from sexy hard plastic which easily proves to the human's of Earth that there truly is a God. Not convinced she is a real deal Barbie Doll? Read on my friend... Read on.
All photos are from her facebook page.
[ news source ]


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A petition completed its first step Wednesday – a movement to allow students to vote on their university governing boards. This means students are one step closer to reaching the November 2014 ballot.
St. Louis Attorney, Brad Ketcher, filed the petition. He said students should have a vote.
"I think it's very important that students have a full voice on those boards," Ketcher said. "Students are spending more and more of their resources on tuition and fees, and a lot of times having to take out student loans for those sorts of obligations."
Gov. Jay Nixon has named an attorney from southeast Missouri to the state Coordinating Board for Higher Education.


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Tyson CEO Donnie Smith spoke on sustainability at the IPE Animal Agriculture Sustainability Summit
The International Poultry Expo and International Feed Expo really get going Wednesday morning when the trade show floors open. Alltech's booth (#1005) is all set up and ready to welcome visitors. We are looking forward to talking with you about precision nutrition in poultry production.
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All Rights Reserved.
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Episode 4 from season 3. I do not own anything. 'Allo 'Allo! is to David Croft & Jeremy Lloyd.
Video Rating: 4 / 5
Episode 4 from season 3. I do not own anything. 'Allo 'Allo! is to David Croft & Jeremy Lloyd.
Video Rating: 4 / 5
thee good news is that there is no bed news.
I laugh everytime that hans instead of saying "hitler" says only "tler" xD
@olympicslondon2012 someone who doesnt like cafe rene maybe?
I like wild things
who the f*** disliked this vid?? some moron with no sense of humor i suppose!!
HERR FLICK OF THE, oh, she knows o_O
erm, not to complain but you should have listed the episodes in numeric form. I lost track in season 1 dammit and dont know how to organize these wonderful shows in correct order alas
What's with Maria's hacking and spitting. It was funny, but then it got old…Otherwise…Bloody Brilliant.
@YvetteCarteBlanche Thank you very much for the series. Appreciate it very much..
LOL nice walking
haha, 1337 views
Thanks so much! I love these and i am grateful.
yes! now I can have myself a good laugh again. Thanks!
Thank you for uploading all these eps!
Thanks a lot!
We'll do, many thanks!
FINALLY! I'm sorry it took so long, I had trouble uploading, as most of you will know. I had to change the formats and stuff. But enjoy!


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The study included 519 healthy 7-year-olds from New Zealand, who each wore a device called an actigraph for 24 hours. An actigraph records movement, providing an objective measure of a child's activity level and sleep time. Parents also noted when their child went to bed, which allowed researchers to calculate how long after bedtime children actually fell asleep.Active days mean better bedtimes (via Consumerist) Discuss
The researchers found a wide variation in how quickly children fell asleep, with some taking as little as 13 minutes and others needing more than 40 minutes after going to bed. Within this range, there was a close relationship between the onset of sleep and daytime activity. On average, children took an extra three minutes to fall asleep for every hour they weren't moving about. Also, the children who fell asleep faster slept longer overall. On average, children got one extra hour of slumber for every 11-minute drop in how long they took to get to sleep.
21 Responses to "Active kids sleep better"
opensource says:
I agree with this article, but more importantly, I must know: where can I get one of those red stuffed robots? I'd like one for my son.
mdh says:
I think you're not supposed to let your baby sleep on his/her stomach.
That may be true for your baby, Cory's baby requires a better citation (please) before accepting such unsought advice.
RedMonkey says:
… and in other news scientists recently revealed a study which shows that water is wet, and fire is hot. Hmm, who'd of thunk it?
Off to you Sandy, I hear there's a story about a box of kittens?
d3matt says:
have to agree with #2… you wear the kid out so they sleep better and their mental state is much better overall.
Gilbert Wham says:
I think you're not supposed to let your baby sleep on his/her stomach.
Try stopping the little buggers, though. For that matter, if the consensus on the matter changes, and you are supposed to lay 'em on their fronts, good luck getting them to sleep that way too…
Cory Doctorow says:
The Red Robots come from the nice folks at Diesel Sweeties. Highly recommended!
chris says:
@3, exactly! When I ran around all day I sleep better too. And people get paid to research this?
automaton_be says:
While active children sleep better (and i'll add my 'duh' to the chorus) it's not a good idea to have them running around right before bed time. Kids need time to get into 'sleeping mode'.
I'd be interested to see if the effect reverses at a certain level of activity. In my experience, kids who are completely exhausted don't sleep very well.
It's pretty widely known that enough sleep is extremely important for children and adolescents. I know of several campaigns to discourage parents to allow TVs, computers, game consoles and even comics in their kids' bedrooms. Just so they don't spend half the night reading/gaming.
All this probably goes for adults to, if only we all had our eight ours of sleep every night, the world would undoubtedly be a wonderful place.
apoxia says:
Geez, you'd think from some of these comments that I'm reading the local newspaper website. Science is important guys, and a lot of things we think are true aren't always correct, hence why we actually need to test things to see what's happening!
And for those who think there is lots of funding in New Zealand, you're wrong. I live in New Zealand and am a researcher so I know what I am talking about.
pittfrog says:
I teach Judo to kids, and I try to make the practices hard but fun, for just this reason. Tired children make for happy parents.
Anonymous says:
Just based on self-observation, I think active adults sleep better too.
huntsu says:
Why is the picture of an infant if the test was with seven year olds? Seems to me someone needs to get a little more sleep before picking their art!
johnhazard says:
I think you're not supposed to let your baby sleep on his/her stomach.
alxr says:
@All those saying 'duh': yes, it's one of those things 'everyone knows'. Everyone knows that things fall towards the ground, too, but do they know that the gravitational force between two masses is proportional to their product and inversely proportional to the square of their separation? Quantifying these things sometimes tells us new things.
@11: Not anymore, I think. When I was a baby, apparently the advice was on-stomach. As an adult, I can't sleep in any other position. I'd be interested to know if one is patterned when young.
EH says:
Works for adults, too.
ascendingPig says:
Maybe kids who sleep enough are more energetic and active in general? Did they measure against the nights after more or less activity from one kid?
vlu77 says:
Oh, great! Now maybe they could pay some people to conduct a study regarding the immediate effects of rain on pavement.
"After months of vigorous testing, we are pleased to announce our results. Ahem. Wet."
We'll need more scientists of course. Job creation, no? I wonder where I can find an application to attend the New Zealand School of No-Brainers.
Anonymous says:
Then they removed the devices and the more active children were taken to battle school…
Shannon says:
I think this is one of those truths that every parent (?) knows… if you wear your kid out at the park after school, they'll be both better behaved and happier in general, and sleep through the night without problem. On one hand I'm happy to see a study confirming that, but on the other hand… duh!
MollyMaguire says:
Wow, I would think this study would be a siren song for all scientists who have been having trouble getting their projects funded to go to New Zealand. The grant committees there are apparently fairly lax.
mechz01 says:


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Introduction to the Classic Johnny TremainSecrets, spies, and a simmering rebellion lurk in the shadows of Boston in 1773, and fourteen-year-old Johnny Tremain, an orphaned apprentice to an aging silversmith, is swiftly caught up in the dangerous uprising. Esther Forbes won the 1944 Newbery Medal for this revolutionary coming-of-age story about a young boy who must grow up quickly during an extraordinary time of American history.
Story LineFourteen- year- old Johnny Tremain is an orphan with a gift for silversmithing. A natural leader, Johnny takes charge in the small Lapham household where he and two other boys are apprentices to Old Lapham. Johnny, full of youthful arrogance born of confidence in his talents and a secret he holds about his family pedigree, becomes a victim of a mischievous prank gone awry that will change the course of his life.
Now, unable to do his work and on the brink of being cast out of the home where he's been apprenticed, Johnny tries to take advantage of his secret family connection and finds himself accused of theft. Full of frustration and self-pity, he meanders into a printing press establishment and meets a young apprentice named Rab. Rab introduces Johnny to Boston's most notorious Sons of Liberty: Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and John Hancock. Johnny's long admired these men of wealth and status and quickly converts to their rebel politics.
Although Johnny is too young to participate in military training, he makes him useful by befriending British soldiers and their servants in order to glean valuable information. As a spy, Johnny finds himself involved in dangerous plots leading to major historical events. These include the Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere's midnight ride, and the battle at Lexington and Concord.
However, Johnny's youthful delight in participating in exciting secret activities turns into a sobering reality upon seeing an acquaintance executed for desertion. War is brutal and death, Johnny painfully discovers, is part of the sacrifice being made in the name of freedom. Such harsh realities will change this reckless boy into a man who learns to value freedom, family, and friends.
The Newbery MedalJohnny Tremain is the Newbery award-winner that almost wasn't even published. When Esther Forbes sent her finished manuscript to Harcourt Brace, the editor wanted to make significant changes. Upset by the alterations, Forbes took her manuscript to another publisher, Houghton Mifflin, who published the book in 1943 with only minor edits. Esther Forbes was awarded the 1944 John Newbery Medal for Johnny Tremain and since then, the book has never been out of print. (Source: A City of Words: The Worcester Writers Project)
Author Esther ForbesEsther Forbes, born June 28, 1891 in Westboro, Massachusetts, was the fifth of six children. Forbes, known for her excellent imagination and love of writing, did not excel at academics because of her dyslexia and nearsightedness. After high school graduation, Forbes worked as a typist for a publishing company, but because of her poor spelling skills, she was asked to read unsolicited manuscripts. Forbes published her first novel for adults in 1926. Esther Forbes was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for history for Paul Revere and the World He Lived In, a novel for adults that was published in 1942.
Johnny Tremain: A Novel for Young and Old, her first children's book, was published in 1943 . The 320-page book explained history through the eyes of a fourteen-year-old boy rather than through the life of a historical figure as was generally the case then. Forbes died in Worcester, Massachusetts August 12, 1967. She donated all of her royalties from her books to the American Antiquarian Society where she did research for her books. (Sources: A City of Words: The Worcester Writers Project and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Johnny Tremain – My RecommendationAlthough I love reading historical fiction about American history, I was prepared to slog through Johnny Tremain, figuring that, despite being an award-winner and a classic, the book would be full of archaic language and dense description interfering with the story's pace. I also expected an early twentieth century moralistic story with flat characters that seemed to always make the right choices.
Imagine my surprise when I found the story to have diverse and interesting characters caught up in the confusion of being either loyal to a monarch or supporting a revolution. To add to my surprise, the story contained all the elements of a true adventure story: secret meetings, spies, a rebellion against the British crown, and a complex character who changes from arrogant boy to somber young man.
I like the character Johnny Tremain. He doesn't hide his arrogance or ambition. He's spunky, a natural leader and a risk taker- a character trait typical of invincible youth. However, a horrible accident starts a series of events that lead to great changes in this character's life and put him in the middle of high action as the threat of war and revolution begin to swirl around him. One of my favorite lines from the story comes during the middle of a fierce battle when the once self-absorbed boy is asked if he feels like a man or a boy, to which Johnny responds: "A boy in time of peace and a man in time of war."
On their own, some less experienced readers may get mired down in the historical landscape of this story, but I think this is an ideal book for classroom discussion, book clubs, or a family read aloud. Historical details, varied vocabulary, and a story line that lends itself to in-depth discussion about important subjects, such as war, freedom, and human rights, make this book worth reading. I recommend Johnny Tremain for readers age 10 and up. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011. ISBN: 9780547614328)
More Historical Fiction, and Some Nonfiction, From Your Guide Elizabeth Kennedy
- Kids 9 to 13 will enjoy a visit to the thirteenth century when they read Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess, Page by Richard Platt. This fictional account of 11-year-old Tobias's year as a page in his uncle's castle is filled with colorful illustrations by Chris Riddell, adding to the reader's enjoyment and understanding of the time period.
- Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool, the 2011 John Newbery Medal winner, is historical fiction set in the Depression era in a small Kansas town and featuring a long girl searching for the meaning of home. I recommend the book for ages 10 to 14.
- Humor, history and mysteries combine in Dead End in Norvelt, for which author Jack Gantos received the 2012 John Newbery Medal for excellence. Set in the summer of 1962, this novel of just over 350 pages is a good book for ages 10-14.
- Watch the video 5 Nonfiction U.S. History Books for Middle Graders to learn about some excellent nonfiction books, including Harlem Stomp! and Almost Astronauts.


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The activities of Antonio, the Italian immigrant, were carried on by one of his sons, Giovanni, who, besides tending the vineyards, also kept up the wine production, although only for consumption within the family. The largest part of the grape production therefore continued to be sold to the local wineries.
Following in the steps of his grandfather, Nono Giovanni, Plinio Pizzato, a man with a long lasting passion for viti-viniculture, has been growing vines since his teenage years. Initially, Plinio worked with his father on their property in the town of Monte Belo do Sul, moving to the present estate in Vale dos Vinhedos (Vineyard's Valley) in the late 60's. He also kept up his grandfather tradition of producing wine for the family's consumption and selling the bulk of the production for a profit.
The ever-present dream of the Pizzatos – to produce and commercialize fine wines – finally became a reality in 1998, when Plinio Pizzato and his children (Flavio, Flavia, Ivo e Jane) decide to found Pizzato Winery using family resources.
The wine production started in the following year, from grapes harvested in the family's estate vineyards. The first wine, Pizzato Merlot, of which 15.500 bottles were produced, was launched in the market in September 2000 and soon was receiving enthusiastic reviews from the specialized sector. In that same year, in a professional tasting organized by the Belo Horizonte Wine Academy, with the aim of producing the first guide on Brazilian wines and with Brazilian journalists and wine experts present, Pizzato Merlot was considered the best.
Both Ivo and Flavio Pizzato, the wine makers responsible for the viti-viniculture process, graduated in Enology from the Escola Agrotécnica Federal Presidente Juscelino Kubitscheck. As well as training in several local wineries, Ivo also received extra technical practice in Bordeaux.


text:
Boston Blazers sign free agent forward Ryan Powell, "There will obviously be some immediate chemistry …" – Reffue
From Press Release
Boston Blazers President and General Manager Doug Reffue announced today pending league approval the one-year signing of forward Ryan Powell, brother of current Blazers forward All-Star, Casey Powell.
Powell joined the NLL in 2001 when he drafted in the first round (second overall) by the Buffalo Bandits. In his rookie season, Powell recorded 35 points with 17 goals and 18 assists before moving to the Anaheim Storm for one season. With the Storm, Powell played sixteen games and scored 15 goals and 31 assists (46 points).
Following the Storm's dispersal draft in 2005, Powell then moved to the Portland LumberJax through a trade with the Minnesota Swarm. With the LumberJax, Powell had his career-best season with 64 points (21 goals, 43 assists), led the team to the 2008 Champions Cup, and had an overall 218 points (74 goals, over four seasons before being picked up by the Edmonton Rush in the Jax's dispersal draft in 2009. With the Rush last season, Ryan once again scored over fifty points (21 goals, 30 assists) and to date has 412 career points including 258 assists through 122 games.
"Ryan is a proven NLL veteran who's had four straight seasons with 50 or more points," said Reffue Monday afternoon. "There will obviously be some immediate chemistry with Casey and Dan Dawson has also had success playing alongside Ryan in Portland. Overall, he's a perfect fit for our club and should make an immediate impact."
A thirty-three year old native of West Carthage, New York, Powell also plays for Major League Lacrosse with whom he won the league's inaugural MVP award in 2001. In 2006, Powell was awarded MLL's Offensive Player of the Year Award and is the only player to receive the MVP award twice. Powell attended Syracuse University from 1997-2000 where he was a four-time All-American and helped lead their squad to the 1999 and 2000 NCAA Championship Games.The foremost boxla writer, Tutka is a former NLL scout and a longtime Inside Lacrosse contributor. Email him at firstname.lastname@example.com.
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text:
Photodex's CompuPic
CompuPic is well-designed in a number of ways. First, the database of images is kept in a private directory in the user's home directory. This means users need not worry about making unwanted changes to an image directory on a web server. The database is relatively small, even for large images or a large number of them. Another good design is the interface—it's quite intuitive. Once you're familiar with the basic layout, it's easy to find more features. Changing file names, for example, required only clicking on the file name of the selected entry in the File List, then typing right over the old name.
Photodex offers some application-specific security within CompuPic by allowing users to provide user IDs and passwords for a given copy of the program. However, such protection isn't that helpful, since the actual files are still potentially accessible using normal Linux file access privileges. Photodex recommends proper file-system administration for true file security.
One design feature which deserves special recognition is the terrific Help system. It's a hyperlink-based system that includes plenty of images to accompany a fairly thorough and well-indexed text. The Help system is complete enough to make using CompuPic possible without printed documentation—something I can't say is true for many commercial applications.
Although the overall design and feature set is quite good, CompuPic has a number of problems. A minor one is how it requires you to be connected to the Internet in order to e-mail an image, even if you're e-mailing it to a user on the local system. I don't know why this is, but trying to send an image to myself without being connected to the Internet failed. The test was to send the mail to my local user ID without specifying a domain name. This should have been routed locally, which is what my normal Sendmail configuration does.
However, this is a modest problem. CompuPic has much larger problems—stability, for example. I ran CompuPic on two systems: a desktop box running Red Hat 5.2 with 256MB memory and the Xi Graphics Accelerated-X X server, and an IBM ThinkPad 1410 with 32MB memory and an XFree86 X server. I had numerous crashes on both boxes, although it was worse on the laptop. Photodex states the program had not been tested with Xi's X server. There were a few display problems with this server in the File List window—menus posted over this region were not always cleared completely. This didn't happen with the XFree86 server. Display problems were minor. The biggest problem was crashing.
On the laptop, I couldn't change directories in the Folder List without the program crashing unless I tried compacting the database first, and that let me change directories only once. This problem never showed up on the desktop system. Both systems had problems with rendering multi-line text in the Greeting Card feature, and the laptop version wasn't happy with changing virtual terminals. Upon returning to the X session, I had to hit the ENTER key to get CompuPic to respond. If I didn't do this, I couldn't do anything in the X session—CompuPic had taken keyboard and mouse focus to wait for that one key press. Photodex had most of these problems listed on their bug-tracking web page. One bug listed on that page was a crash at startup on Red Hat 5.2 systems. It appears there may be some stability problems for CompuPic when run on glibc 2.0 systems.
Other annoying issues include the About and Print options doing nothing. I wasn't able to print anything. I suspect this feature wasn't complete in the version I had (Version 5.0 Build 1032), which is still a beta release. The Help text, while an extremely useful feature, assumes a Windows or Mac platform in some places. This is an extremely minor issue, but attention to detail is what separates good programs from great ones.
Although the Help system talks about support for scanners and digital cameras, the associated menu option is missing in the Linux version. This is something PhotoDex will want to look into, as it's become a big issue for many Linux users.
CompuPic is offered in a free version to end users, while corporations need to register their copies. Red Hat was suitably impressed—they will be including the product with their next release. Regular users can download a copy from http://linux.compupic.photodex.com/.
As I told Jason Cohen at Photodex, I found the longer I used CompuPic, the stronger my love/hate relationship with it became. It has many very useful features, whether you are a home hobbyist or a professional photographer, and upcoming features, such as the macro-recording feature, will make it even more impressive. But the beta versions have many problems. Stability is an important issue that needs to be addressed. Crashes abound, though never were the images or any other files corrupted. Still, despite the numerous crashes, I found I could perform quite a bit of work with CompuPic. That's a pretty good start for PhotoDex.
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If you already use virtualized infrastructure, you are well on your way to leveraging the power of the cloud. Virtualization offers the promise of limitless resources, but how do you manage that scalability when your DevOps team doesn't scale? In today's hypercompetitive markets, fast results can make a difference between leading the pack vs. obsolescence. Organizations need more benefits from cloud computing than just raw resources. They need agility, flexibility, convenience, ROI, and control.
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The Tribune-Star
Rose-Hulman senior Liz Evans earned her fifth career NCAA Division III Great Lakes Region Field Athlete of the Year honor, according to results released Wednesday by the U.S. Cross Country and Track and Field Coaches Association.
In addition, Rose assistant coach Matthew Cole captured his fourth career Great Lakes Region Assistant Coach of the Year Award for his efforts with the women's team this spring.
Evans has previously earned NCAA Division III Great Lakes Region Field Athlete of the Year honors during the 2010 Indoor and Outdoor seasons, the 2011 outdoor season, and the 2013 indoor season.
Evans has secured the top seed in the women's high jump for the NCAA Division III indoor national championships that take place at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at North Central College. She cleared a new NCAA Division III all-time national record of 6 feet at the University of Louisville earlier this month.
The seven-time All-American swept the 2012 NCAA Division III indoor and uutdoor national championships for her third and fourth career high jump national titles. She also has been named the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Field Athlete of the Year six times in her career.
The mathematics and electrical engineering double major was named HCAC Field Athlete of the Year this spring and was a three-time USTFCCCA Division III National Field Athlete of the Week.
• Flyers win — At Terre Haute's Springhill Complex, the Terre Haute Flyers U16 girls won their division of the Indiana Challenge Cup this past weekend.
Their first match was a 0-0 tie with USF Real 97G. The Flyers then blanked the Indiana Invaders 97 Girls team 6-0. Goals were tallied by Libby Ward, Emily Thurston, and Keely Bower with Thurston adding tow assists in the 1st half; Anne Hubbard, Zoe Baker, and Abby Howes (assisted by Ward) contributed a goal each in the second half.
The Flyers then defeated FWSC Strikers on Sunday 4-0, with Hubbard scoring two goals (assisted twice by Ward), with Ward and Thurston (assisted by Eleanor Carre) each with one goal. Goalkeeper Brittany Vaughn earned the shutouts for the weekend..
Other team members include Sydney Buell, Taylor Guevara, Mackenzie Latta, Hannah Minor, Shannon Sullivan and Cassidy Wood. Marie Humpolick, Jared Hutson, and Steve Smith are coaches, with Dawn Thurston serving as Team Manager.


text:
LOUIS CK recorded his latest stand-up special back during his sold out run of performances at the New York Comedy Festival in November. If you didn't have the chance to catch his NYCF shows, now you can download the special for a cool $5 at his official website, LouisCK.net.
It would seem that a lot of you have done that as well! According to a recent Reddit conversation with Louis CK, the special has already been purchased by more than 110,000 fans! Check out this story over at Rolling Stone to see how DIY can be a good decision – especially when you're the hottest comedian on the planet!


text:
> > Practice Areas
> Housing and Homelessness
> About this Area of Focus
An Overview of the Family Unification Program
The following info is also available in PowerPoint. Click here to download
What is The Family Unification Program (FUP)?
FUP is a housing program for families in the child welfare system. At minimum, FUP provides Section 8 vouchers to child welfare families.
FUP is a collaboration between Housing Authorities and Child Welfare Agencies.
FUP is a program designed to strengthen and stabilize child welfare families.
Program Goals
To increase the housing resources of child welfare families to prevent the separation of children from their parents because of inadequate housing.
To facilitate and expedite access to housing and supportive services through agency collaboration.
What are the Benefits of FUP?
For PHAs: increased ability to serve clientele, more Section 8 vouchers.
For CWAs: expanded access to housing solutions for families, caseworkers.
For families: affordable housing, stability, reunification, exit from the child welfare system.
For the community: it is the preferred and most cost-effective alternative to foster care.
Establishing a FUP
Begin to ask questions regarding the housing needs in your community; consult CWA direct service workers.
Map out current housing resources.
Document the need for FUP in your community.
Approach your partner (PHA, CWA) to exchange ideas, observations, and plans.
Dedicate Section 8 subsidies to FUP; determine a reasonable number of vouchers to set aside for the program
Set a local preference
Apply to HUD for FUP vouchers through the FUP NOFA
Build the Partnership
Gain an understanding of the mission and limitations of your partner agency.
Lay out and agree upon the responsibilities of each partner agency.
Specify the type and duration of services to be provided to FUP families upon lease-up
Write a detailed Memorandum of Understanding
Elements of an Effective Partnership
Appoint liaisons
Reliable communication
Regular meetings
Cross training
Staff support
Invite in additional partners
Seek additional funding for services
Solicit feedback from program participants
Frequently Asked Questions
What if a family has a criminal record, history of drug and alcohol abuse, or owes money to PHA?
Can a family's voucher be taken away if they fail to comply with FUP?
What records are we supposed to keep?
Why do CWAs close cases so soon after families move in to their permanent housing?
What Services are Needed to Support FUP Families?
Service needs are determined on a case by case basis.
HUD and CWLA suggest at least 60-90 days of follow-up services.
Most common services:
On-going case management
Family counseling, parenting classes
Drug and alcohol treatment
Building in Services to Support FUP Families
Train CWA staff on housing resources
CWA budget
Family Self Sufficiency Program
Other area non-profits and supportive housing providers
Continuum of Care Funding
Surplus TANF Funding
Model Programs
State of Illinois
Connections, Inc., New Haven, CT
Suffolk County, NY
State of Arkansas
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