text:
- Report: #975977
Complaint Review: Ballys Total Fitness
Ballys Total Fitness 720 Colorado Blvd
Denver, Colorado United States of America |
Ballys Total Fitness Tell Them What You Want, Then They Cheat You Denver, Colorado
Does your business have a bad reputation?
Fix it the right way.
Corporate Advocacy Program™
This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 11/30/2012 07:09 AM and is a permanent record located here: http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Ballys-Total-Fitness/Denver-Colorado-/Ballys-Total-Fitness-Tell-Them-What-You-Want-Then-They-Cheat-You-Denver-Colorado-975977. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year.
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Is the Virtual Practice Model Right for Your Firm?
When we first started writing about web-based programs about 10 years ago, the focus frequently centered on how the concept could benefit modern practices. Key among the benefits was anywhere/anytime access to client and firm data and the enhanced...
Column: Tricks & Tips
From the October 2011 Issue
When we first started writing about web-based programs about 10 years ago, the focus frequently centered on how the concept could benefit modern practices. Key among the benefits was anywhere/anytime access to client and firm data and the enhanced security of data stored in online systems.
Yes, this data is safer "in the cloud" than on a computer or server in your office, which is at risk of physical damage, fire, theft, flooding or a variety of other disasters. You also have the added comfort of redundant servers, where major technology service providers automatically keep backups at separate physical locations.
As the years have progressed, mobility has certainly proven anything but a fad or a convenient add-on to practice workflows. And over the past five years, with the advent and mass adoption of smartphones and remote apps, the mobility movement has shown itself to be a powerful force in reshaping the very structure and workflow of modern practices.
Many practices have realized the benefit of remote workers, particularly with being able to recruit and retain talent. As far back as 2004, I wrote about a Connecticut-based firm that kept a military spouse on staff even after they moved to Alaska, and had another staff member who lived in Germany.
For an increasing number of tax and accounting professionals, however, this total mobility has even resulted in the dissolution of "the office" as it has long been understood. While the profession has had remote workers for years, the fairly recent ability to truly have the same workplace capabilities from home, the airport, a coffee shop or even a faraway beach, has led some business management to rethink the need for walls and a physical business address at all.
Why would a firm go virtual?
There are obvious financial incentives to ditching or reducing the amount of space in a physical office, starting with the cost of rent or the mortgage. However, many practitioners consider the equity and eventual ownership of a building to be part of their retirement exit strategy, as it is an asset that can eventually be sold. Firms will also realize a savings on utilities and maintenance costs.
However, most of the tangible benefits to going truly virtual are realized by small firms and sole practitioner that have already started to adopt web-based programs. This decrease in overhead can also make it much easier to start a new firm. For larger practices, the potential savings are not as significant, and personnel management issues can be difficult with a large staff.
Other benefits include the ability to easily hire or contract with professionals who are located anywhere across the country.
Virtual isn't for everyone.
I noted that going completely virtual may not be as desirable or carry the same benefits for larger practices, although some have found success in such a move, such as AccountingDepartment.com, which has a staff of more than 40 full-time employees dispersed across the United States. But there are many other reasons that going virtual might not fit other practices, starting with client needs.
Think about your firm and how often your clients actually come into your office. If it is a somewhat rare event, then perhaps you could go virtual, meeting with clients at their business, at a shared office space, or by video or phone conference. But if you have more of a retail practice that relies on frequent client visits or walk-ins, then it's probably not for you.
Some people desire the structure and organization that a traditional office instills, and some worry that they may be too easily distracted in a home office setting. And there are those who consider the idea just completely ludicrous. For these individuals, "the office is the office," and it shall not be mingled with a home office.
The hybrid alternative.
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subset: commoncrawl


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From the Boardroom to the Classroom
Perfectly suited for anyone with an undergraduate degree in business as well as experienced professionals who want to leave the rat race for a rewarding teaching career, this Master in Education in Business Education degree program trains you to teach middle and high school business courses. Offered at the Manchester, N.H., campus, the MEd in Business Education degree program leads to initial teaching licensure from the New Hampshire Department of Education, which allows you to teach grades 7-12, and is capped by a 16-week student-teaching experience.
Some of the subjects you will be qualified to teach with your MEd in Business Education degree include:
- Accounting
- Business communications
- Business literacy
- Marketing
- Economics
- Financial literacy/personal finance
- Information technology
Along with classroom teaching experience and New Hampshire state licensure preparation, the MEd in Business Education also offers the following benefits:
- Exceptional value – Considering the low cost of tuition and quality of instruction, the MEd in Business Education degree program provides one of the best values in higher education in New England.
- Convenient – You can take MEd in Business Education courses all year long, full time or part time.
- Caring, knowledgeable faculty – Your instructors are experienced teachers and administrators who are plugged into the New Hampshire educational system.
Founded in 1932, SNHU is a fully accredited, private, coeducational university with a main campus in Manchester and satellite campuses in Portsmouth, Salem, Nashua, N.H., and Brunswick Maine
Education programs are accredited by:
- Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs
- New England Association of Schools and Colleges
- New Hampshire Postsecondary Education Commission
- New Hampshire State Department of Education for Teacher Certification


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My friend, Joy, told me about Kenny's last show that he played back in 2009. He was burned out, had been on the road for the last 15 years and needed a break! He performed "Better As A Memory" and just let it all go....shows he was in need of a rest and BOY, is it gonna be a party at Lambeau Field!!!
Love me some Kenny...watch him..


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Engaging Science in the Life of Your Congregation
With so many issues to discuss, Christians can easily get the feeling that science is always attacking the faith. It is essential to balance such conversations with positive responses to God's creation. After all, the primary response to the natural world in the Bible is to praise the God who made it.
Where are the Transitional Fossils?
A common argument leveled against the theory of evolution is that scientists have not been able to produce transitional fossils that show the change of one species into another. In this podcast, we address a common misconception about what transitional fossils actually are.
Series: The Human Fossil Record
In this series, James Kidder provides an intriguing study on transitional fossils and the evolutionary history of modern humans. He begins by discussing the fossil record, explaining how new forms are classified. He then explains the physically distinguishing trait of humankind—bipedalism. From the discovery of Ardipithecus, the earliest known hominin, to the australopithecines, the most prolific hominin, Kidder focuses on the discovery, the anatomy, and the interpretation of these ancestral remains.
Psalm for the January Thaw
God shows himself not just in the orderliness of nature, but powerfully, joyously and always surprisingly in its beautiful "non-order" as well.
Science and the Bible: Assessing the Evangelical Encounter with Evolution
Having now completed our study of the five main views about "Science and the Bible" held by conservative Protestants, I conclude with a final column, assessing the whole situation as I see it today.
Series: Science and the Bible: Intelligent Design
In this series, Ted Davis identifies the history, core tenets and assumptions about the Intelligent Design view.
Series: Surprised by Jack: C.S. Lewis on Mere Christianity, the Bible, and Evolutionary Science
In this five-part series, David Williams responds to the book The Magician's Twin: C.S. Lewis on Science, Scientism, and Society by John West and the Discovery Institute, showing that C.S. Lewis was a very complicated thinker whose views are hard to line up exactly with any camp in the current debates over the compatibility of Christian faith and evolutionary science.
Surveying George Murphy's Theology of the Cross
If God himself is willing to die, particularly in such a gruesome way, then perhaps we should at least consider the possibility of God allowing the death of other creatures, too. But would this really be compatible with what we know of God through Scripture?
Series: Behe, Lenski and the "Edge" of Evolution
In this series, we reexamine the claim made by Intelligent Design proponent Michael Behe to have found a limit to "Darwinian" evolution in light of recent results from the laboratory of Richard Lenski.
Frenetic Sequence
We tend to think of creativity in terms of flashes of insight and brilliance, of novelty, and especially of unexpected things bursting upon the scene. But creativity is no less creative and no less remarkable when it proceeds step by step, according to discipline, according to rule.
Willing to be Wrong
The debate is often not about evidence, but about making sure that others do not transgress our interpretive boundaries and insist that we're wrong. We've bitten from the tree of knowledge and we love its taste.
Series: Decoding ENCODE
The BioLogos Foundation explains to the findings of the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project and responds to the claims that its discoveries challenge the theory of evolution, especially regarding so-called "junk DNA".
Stumble On
The song is built around the image of a river flowing through a canyon it has sculpted—an image that can easily be played out as a picture of the way that the Lord has been at work preparing a path for us in the material world, complete with signposts to his former and present activity.
Series: Biblical and Scientific Shortcomings of Flood Geology
Gregg Davidson and Ken Wolgemuth seek to remove the stumbling block of the Genesis flood in this four part series. Though many believe in an ancient world-wide flood, the evidence given does not hold up to geological scrutiny, but points rather to something regional instead. It is their hope that Christians will not walk away from faith in Christ simply because a global flood is not supported by science. Looking at natural phenomena like the Grand Canyon, salt beds, and fossil deposits, they reveal reasons for these deposits and structures while showing that their origin did not stem from a violent flood that covered the planet.
Freedom and Grace in Tennessee
Towards the end of the last school year, the Tennessee legislature passed the Teacher Protection Academic Freedom Act, a law that became more popularly known as the "Monkey Bill." I was doing research in a Tennessee high school biology classroom the morning that I learned that the bill had passed.
Series: Asa Gray and Charles Darwin Discuss Evolution and Design
Many Christians believe that they face a painful choice-- either life was designed by God or it is an evolutionary product of natural selection. Charles Darwin himself believed in this dichotomy, and people ever since have felt the need to "choose sides". However, looking back at history, we find that one of Darwin's chief scientific colleagues, Asa Gray, did not share this perspective. In this three-part essay, part 1 charts the relationship of Asa Gray and Charles Darwin. Part 2 describes Darwin's struggle with the problem of natural evil and design in nature, and part 3 explores how Asa Gray was able to embrace evolution without rejecting the idea of design.
Hominids Lived Millions of Years Ago, but How Can We Tell? (Videocast)
This BioLogos videocast addresses the age of recently discovered hominid fossils and how scientists are able to obtain those dates.
Series: Beauty, Science and Theology
It doesn't take a scientist to appreciate the beauty with which God has arrayed his creation. But scientists do have the opportunity (and training) to appreciate different kinds of beauty than do most non-scientists, whether they are ordinarily "hidden" in the extremes of scale, the elegant processes of an experiment, or in the abstraction of mathematics. Indeed the appreciation of various kinds of beauty has always played a critical role in motivating scientists to investigate the world, and in helping them decipher its workings. In the three-part essay, Ruth Bancewicz explores some of the ways beauty, science and theology intertwine.
Gracious Dialogue
Our desire to engage in gracious dialogue with fellow believers who reject biological evolution has been receiving increased attention in both the Christian and secular press. More importantly, we are being joined in this reconciling project by our brothers and sisters in Christ who have often been defined primarily as our "opponents".
The Fossil Record
There are two opposite errors which need to be countered about the fossil record: 1) that it is so incomplete as to be of no value in interpreting patterns and trends in the history of life, and 2) that it is so good that we should expect a relatively complete record of the details of evolutionary transitions within all or most lineages.
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By HDN Staff
MISSOULA Lillian J. Schock, 82, a resident of Frenchtown, passed away on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2002, at Frenchtown care center of natural causes.
Cremation has taken place.
A memorial vigil service will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Holland and Bonine Chapel in Havre. Interment of the cremated remains will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday at the Highland Cemetery.
Lillian was born on on Aug. 14, 1919, at Harlem to Rufus and Josephine Hobbs. She lived most of her life in Havre. She married Jack McConwell in November of 1939. He died in August of 1951. She later married Sebastian (Butch) Schock in June of 1957. He preceded her in death in 1997.
She will be remembered as a friendly, outgoing person who loved to visit with family and friends.
She was preceded in death by her two husbands, and one son John Schock.
She is survived by her children; Mary Stimpson of Frenchtown, Mike Schock of Sunnyvale, Calif., Karol Vining of Pasco, Wash., Ken McConwell of Fallon, Nev., and Don McConwell of Los Angeles, Calif.; sisters, Kay Hellebust of Havre and Ellen Brinkman of Litchfield, Minn.
Memorials in Lillian's honor may be made to the American Cancer Association.
Holland and Bonine Funeral Home is in charge of local arrangements.


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Students without significant healthcare work experience will complete a traditional internship (8 hours) with a preceptor at a pre-approved site within our comprehensive data bank of internship sites or at a site of that the student identifies. Students with healthcare experience may elect to l complete an internship or a 6-hour project, with two one-hour mentoring courses in the terms prior to their projects. Mentors can be individuals who are considered thought-leaders or seasoned professionals in the student's proposed area of interest/discovery. Preparation might include higher level skill development through lessons learned or a journaling project.
Previous internship sites have included:
- First Consulting Group, Boston, MA
- Integris Health System, Oklahoma City, OK
- North Mississippi Medical Center, Tupelo, MS
- Partners Healthcare System, Boston, MA
- Providence Health System, Portland, OR
- University of Alabama (UAB) Health System, Birmingham, AL
- University of Colorado Hospital, Denver, CO
- Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
Previous projects have included:
- "Evaluation of Voice recognition technology on Radiologist Performance: Does it really help productivity?"
- "Wireless Proliferates In HealthCare: What About Privacy, Security and HIPAA Compliance?"
- "The Successful Procurement of a Home Healthcare Information Systems Solution"
- "A Biometric Technology Evaluation for St. Vincent's Hospital"


text:
General Location:
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Don't have time to sift through profiles? Let us be your "production concierge." Simply submit your request & we'll match you to qualified vendors in our network who will respond directly to you.
To begin: simply enter one brief sentence, then click start.
Find out more about a ProductionHUB Featured Profile.
After working for two years at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Westchester, NY I am looking to break into the media/production industry. I graduated magna cum laude from the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati with a degree in Electronic Media. I was responsible for filming the university's basketball…
ProductionHUB Directory profiles can only be contacted regarding hiring their services. Contacting Directory profiles in order to try and sell them something or promote yourself, your company, idea, script, website, film, band, book, contest or find employment is a violation of our TERMS OF USE and may result in your account being suspended.
The ProductionHUB Directory is where production companies & professionals get listed so they can be found by people needing to hire production services. If you are in the industry, and haven't added a profile yet, GET LISTED.


text:
No title, paperwork reads - A NATION REJOICES President and people celebrate 10th Anniversary of Foundation of Republic of Czechoslovakia. Prague.
L/S of parade riding down street, various shots of soldiers on horseback. A man, possibly President Tomas Masaryk, rides past soldiers saluting....
We always welcome comments and more information about our films.
All posts are reactively checked. Libellous and abusive comments are forbidden.


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The board will gather at 9 a.m. in the Evans Medine Meeting Room at the Central Office Complex in Centerville to hammer out a spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year.
By law, the budget does not have to be adopted until September.
Also on the agenda, the board will consider:
—Granting permission to advertise for a curriculum facilitator and school secretary, both at M.D. Shannon Elementary School, and a custodian at LaGrange Elementary School in Franklin.
—Approve resolutions authorizing signatories for Berwick Junior High School, B.E. Boudreaux Middle School in Baldwin, Franklin Junior High School and Patterson Junior High School, as a result of recent appointments.
—Receive quotes and award a contract for replacement of the kitchen hood at J.S. Aucoin Elementary School in Amelia.
—Funding fencing replacement at M.E. Norman Elementary School in Morgan City using the school's future capital improvement monies.
Wednesday's meeting is open to the public.


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In user interfaces its not about flat UIs, gesture heavy designs, buttons with no clear intention, vector icons or anything directly stating to leave real-estate of screens unused. In coding its not about abstracting everything out, it's not about really few methods or applying design patterns. In your home its not about keeping your rooms empty!
Minimality has one solid purpose avoid distraction and stay focused on what's important
I've many times covered how your SQL databases can be smartly used as schemaless store, today we will a specifically target a use-case and see how we can play a little smart to change SQLite3 into a schemaless store. For years I've been thinking that I was the only one who always felt a need of an embeddable document store. Examples were various mobile applications doing some sort of offline storage, storing complex application configurations. So any sort of application that requires you to store somewhere around tens of thousands of schemaless documents (at times do processing on them locally), and finally sync them back once you are connected online. Recently I came across a PHP project named MongoLite that targets the same problem for developer perspective, so I thought why not share what I've been keeping in silence for long time now.
Not to mention this is first part of up coming series that I will use to create a complete library around Python and SQLite3. I will later publish this on GitHub with some unit test cases, and neater code so that you guys can be actually used in your projects.
SQLite3 has this awesome thing called create_function. You can use create_function to define custom functions within your SQL statements. As an example from python documentation:
def md5sum(t):
return md5.md5(t).hexdigest()
con = sqlite3.connect(":memory:")
con.create_function("md5", 1, md5sum)
cur = con.cursor()
cur.execute("select md5(?)", ("foo",))
So create_function basically allows you to define any arbitrary function, that can take parameters and return values. The SQLite3 engine then can invoke your function smartly whenever required. Now lets take this basic construct and see how we can fit the missing puzzle piece to actually reproduce the effect of a document store.
So imagine a table with just two columns id that is INT, and a document field that is BLOB (will allow us to use various formats like msgpack, or cPickle rather than only JSON); storage part is breeze. Your dictionary or document can simply be serialized (in whatever format you choose) and simply inserted into table as row, so your statement:
collection.insert({'foo': 'bar', 'say': True})
will be effectively translate into (assuming I am dumping into JSON):
sqlite_cursor.execute('INSERT INTO doc_table(document) VALUES(?)',
(buffer(json.dumps({'foo': 'bar', 'say': True})),)
Pretty straight right? But now since you have stored everything as plain BLOB, SQLite has no idea how to look into field if you ask something like:
collection.find({'say': True}) #All documents with say = True
But we can use custom functions here to do that job for us. Look closely at problem and you see the SQLite3 doesn't know how to parse your JSON and match the fields of JSON, but we can ask SQLite3 to invoke our function that in turn can do the comparison for SQLite. So imagine SQL statement:
SELECT * FROM doc_table WHERE json_matches(document, "{'say':true}");
Now we can implement the compare_match function in python, that can actually do the comparison and return True or False according to if we want the current (passed as parameter) document to be part of result set or not. Let's have a quick look at a very simpler version of this registered function:
def doc_matches(self, doc, query):
q = json.loads(query)
d = json.loads(doc)
return self.__is_sub_dict(d, q)
except Exception as e:
print e
def __is_sub_dict(self, d, q):
for k, q_val in q.items():
if not k in d:
return False
if q_val != d[k]:
return False
return True
Remember its really basic for giving you an idea, in reality this matching function will be much more complex. Now we can register the doc_matches function and actually do the comparison using python statement like this:
cursor.execute('SELECT * FROM doc_store WHERE json_matches(document, ?)',
Simple and basic yet working. I've already done it in this gist. I've also implemented various serialization formats that you can try out your self by passing a different adapter to the constructor of the store (see gist's main to see how I am doing that, by default it uses JSON as serialization format).
So our new toy document store and it works fine but it suffers with the great dread of complete table scan every time you do a query. We can avoid this nightmare by using indexes of SQLite and this is exactly what we will be doing in our next blog iteration.
Till then chill out and let me know your comments and suggestions.
Yesterday I did a post on the idea that Redis now needs a binary protocol. Seems like people are listening actively and I was followed up with a reply (which I am not ready to believe) in this post saying:
We actually found at Tumblr that the memcache binary protocol was less performant than the text protocol. I also know a number of other large web properties that use the memcache text protocol. I don't think the 'benefits' of a binary protocol are super clear cut for applications like this.
There is just so much in my head as an argument ranging from lesser number of bytes (imaging reading 4 byte plain integer versus reading string '6599384' and then parsing it to 4 bytes) to really simple jump tables for executing the operation. Then I thought let the evidence speak for itself and wrote some Go code available in this Gist to simply benchmark 100K, and 1M get operations (also tried various numbers various machines). For testing purposes I used Go ; with various reason like saving myself from complex configurations, avoid any VMs, simulate the complete client library written in purely in same language Go in this case (assuming the implementations were decent enough) and get the coding part done really quick.
It's a really simple benchmark always getting same key (to remove any other variables) and simply discarding the results trying to benchmark pure get/parse time. Results were just what I expected; with 100K gets took 6.560225s in ASCII protocol and 5.288102s in binary protocol. As I scaled the number of gets up to 1M the time grew linearly (see gist).
In closing I think an ASCII protocol can never beat binary protocol (assuming you have not designed a stupid protocol). To me it sounds like interpreting bytecodes vs lines of code. There is a reason why many of NoSQL stores (e.g. Riak on Protobufs and HTTP) ship purely on binary protocol or an alternative binary protocol. I would love to know the libraries and methods Tumblr used to communicate with memcached over binary protocol. I am not convinced! If readers of this post have done some benchmarks, or anything that brings up a valid argument be free to share!
A news today was the post saying that Yahoo is using Redis as secondary index for serving its front-page. I think Redis is getting all the attention it deserves, and it's time now for Redis to think in terms of binary protocol. Just like Memcached with its binary protocol Redis will have several advantages. As far as I know Redis community is working on it's cluster support and introducing a Binary protocol won't only reduce network traffic for Sentinel and upcoming cluster features; but it will also require less parsing time and performance optimizations (both in server and client libraries). We can either inspire our protocol from Memcached or something existing (msgpack). What do you think?
In my previous post I explored how to replace the storage engine of Whoosh to Redis. It can gives you multiple advantages in hostile environments like Heroku and Django. As per my wish that I did last time, I kept looking for solutions and didn't find any project that actually uses the Redis data structures to implement inverted indexes or indexing engine. Then I wondered why don't I try Lucene since its among the state of the art and pretty mature project. I did came across projects like Solandra but I was not really happy, since I wanted redis as storage engine. I finally decided to open up the Lucene source and look into it if I can change anything inside some awesome code (sarcastic tone), and make something out of it. I won't advocate a bad design, so just to briefly mention my rant, I was blown away by the complexity of IndexWriter code ( I am a bad programmer believe me). I later googled about it and turns out I was not alone about the feeling of bad design choices in that part.
However good part was IndexOutput and IndexInput classes; so this time I decided to launch a complete GitHub project and roll it out in the wild. I've also done some heavy data loading and basic testing with sharding. I took the famous PirateBay data dump and indexed it on Lucene.
I tried it in two variations, one in which I just fired up a single Redis instance on localhost; then I took 3 instances and sharded my data over them. The source code used can be located in this Gist. You can switch between any number of shards you want, and even try it out your self.
On a single instance the database dump file was some where about 200MB. On 3 instance shard the size was 46MB, 83MB, and 104MB respectively. Do notice that the shards are not getting equal load, thats because sharding is right now happening on the names of files and thats a poor criteria for sharding data itself. In next iteration I am taking the sharding to file's block level. Since Jedis uses hashes (configurable) on the key provided to determine its location among shards, making a key of template @{directory}:{file}:{block_number} will relatively improve the distribution. Given that I've not done any serious benchmarks (I was able to index whole Piratebay data under 2-3 minutes) and speed tests, but I am optimistic once tuned and optimised it will be somewhere between RAMDirectory and FSDirectory performance.
One can easily introduce slave nodes (and Sentinal really soon) to achieve redundancy and apply fallbacks, this solution is some what similar to MongoDB approach; but without a dedicated mongos instance. The clients themselves are intelligent and handle sharding.
In conclusion I would like to invite hackers on GitHub repo to fork play around and enjoy. I would be happy to accept pull requests. Happy hacking!
Update: I've just enabled Solr support checkout GitHub repo for details on how to set it up.
After my previous article the PostgreSQL landscape has changed totally. We have a total new version (9.2) with lots of speed optimisations and new features. That brings me out of my cave to visit the (promised) FriendFeed's schema-less data in MySQL casestudy. I found FriendFeed technique to be one of the best examples of knowing your tools, and not following the buzz; even with very simple software stack they were able to create some great marvels (remember Python Tornado now being used by Facebook?). I will try to keep the whole thing really scientific and re-imagine how Postgres could have change the scenario completely. I will briefly explain the solution from FriendFeed, and then show how I would have done same thing using Postgres.
I am in no way trying to do a comparison of MySQL and PostgreSQL features. I am not trying to prove which RDBMS is better and which one you should choose over the other. It's just imagining a solution of a problem with a different tool!
So just to revisit briefly FriendFeed was facing issues when adding new features due to its increasing user base, one of the biggest issue was schema changes. "In particular, making schema changes or adding indexes to a database with more than 10 - 20 million rows completely locks the database for hours at a time", nobody would like to have Facebook account blocked just because a new timeline was introduced! The solution they produced was nifty, incremental and very inspiring. They stored JSON entities with 16-byte UUID, now JSON due to its schema-less nature can dynamically add or drop values from the entity (JSON object). You can simply choose a BLOB (even TEXT for simplicity) to store the JSON. For each property (JSON property) in entity that requires to be indexed; they created a separate table with primary key of {user_id, property_of_entity}; and this rule can be applied vitally everywhere. This allowed them to dynamically create and drop indexes on different fields of an entity. Since tables can be shraded, each index table can be sharded.
Now we can do the exact same thing PostgreSQL (we can choose to completely stick to FriendFeed solution and don't anything special/specific to Postgres); but the good news is that Postgres has some really neat features that can help us improve, and remove extra coding overhead! Here is entity table's schema redefined for PostgreSQL:
Notice nothing changed much except the BINARY going to BYTEA, and HSTORE for body. Yep you guessed it I am going to use HSTORE to actually store the body. Now if you don't know what HSTORE is you can refer to my previous article. So representing an entity can actually be quite simple, consider entity (taken directly from blogpost):
Can be represented as
Inserting this entity into table is pretty straight forward:
INSERT INTO entities (id, updated, body)
ARRAY['updated', 'user_id', 'title', 'feed_id', 'link', 'published', 'id'],
'We just launched a new backend system for FriendFeed!',
In Python using psycopg2 its even more pythonic. Here is just an example script to do that:
One can use SQLAlchemy to create even better looking code (using adapter like in this gist). Also you can use sharding just like FriendFeed guys, and yes SQLAlchemy supports sharding. That takes care of two major issues:
Now the last part is the indexing on the fields of our "structure free" body. FriendFeed used separate tables to do this and separate code in application code was maintaining that. Well good news PostgreSQL can do that form me without additional tables:
CREATE INDEX entities_index_user_id
ON entities USING BTREE(((body->'user_id')::bytea));
There are different options for types of index you can create (GIN, GIST, HASH, and BTREE), and the best part is usual rules for functional indexes apply on these indexes as well. I won't go into details but you can look into documentation, and have a detailed look what does this precisely mean. Creating index like this will usually cause the same lock issue on complete table; and this is where PostgreSQL shines again. You can create index concurrently by simply adding CONCURRENTLY in your CREATE INDEX statement:
CREATE INDEX CONCURRENTLY entities_index_user_id
ON entities USING BTREE(((body->'user_id')::bytea));
Now what about the case when I don't want to index a field any more? FriendFeed did it by dropping the index table and updating the code for not hitting the indexing table. What about PostgreSQL? You can either disable the index, or simply get rid of it and drop it:
DROP INDEX CONCURRENTLY IF EXISTS entities_index_user_id;
The above technique gives me multiple advantages; it helps me reduce code complexity by a huge margin! Imagine the pain of every time updating your code and dealing the complex architecture just because you introduced a field that needs indexing. Consider it against a simple CREATE INDEX statement. For me simplicity matters the most, and these builtin features are convincing enough for me to use PostgreSQL (even migrate to it). Secondly, if you look closely the index will lie on same shard where the tuple lies; this simply removes the possibility of accidentally moving the table used for indexing of field to a different shard (this may be done at times but it would compromise atomicity). Using the index created simply gives me all the powers that I would have on normal column index, which means inserting a row automatically hits the index removing the possibility of row being skipped due to buggy code. Schema updates become simpler and easier to maintain. Not to state the obvious its ACID! You can use modern JSON support to serialize your output directly to JSON. I am leaving the disadvantages portion to the audience.
Friendfeed is not the only case where such structure would have been required. At numerous occasions I've seen developers make a choice for the tools they know best, and same is true for Friendfeed.
Before I begin let me make one thing clear, I was just playing around and the code you are about to see is just something that came to me out of random,it's not meant for production but its an idea I want to shootout. For me Redis can turn out to be an excellent inverted index storage system due to its available data-structures. I won't be implementing anything from scratch or anything; but just to kick off and get some more minds into circle, I took whoosh (no particular reason) and tried to modify its storage for Redis, so that it becomes a semi equivalent of RamStorage. So without further delay here is the gist for my code:
Just to try it I've also made a python script to index the Piratebay's data dump [Complete Gist is here]. Now just to mention I've indexed the Piratebay's dump before in Lucene and it was disk stored index. I am not going to compare them today as I am not satisfied with the speed yet and I am planning to write my own IndexWrite and IndexReader classes. Let's see if somebody can pull similar solution for Lucene in the mean time.
In my previous post I've shown how can you squeeze more out of your datastores by using compression. Similar rules apply to bandwidth and data transmission over the wire. There are various serialization formats you can choose from Protobuf, Thrift, Avro just to name few. I always prefer schema free serialization formats in case of key/value stores, this gives me error free data loading even when your data changes over time. The most favorite format for structure free schema is obviously JSON. However the new kind on the block is MsgPack. I've been playing around for a while with MsgPack in few projects of mine and it is actually good, compact, well documented and supports lots of platforms. But how does it compare to JSON (not in terms of performance or speed)? We all have a huge trust on JSON, its already a superhero who slayed XML despite its weaknesses. In this little adventure I set out to compare JSON vs MsgPack in terms of bytes when compressed! Lets get straight down to the business, here is the source code I used:
I am simply loading about 200 random tweets, then encoding those tweets to JSON, MsgPack, with Gzip and LZ4 compression. Results are pretty disturbing in case of GZip:
One of the most awesome things about python is its ability to pass parameters by name to a function, for those of you who don't know it look something like this:
my_foo_function(param_name="value", another_param_name="another value")
Today I wanted to do same in PHP 5.4 (can be easily ported to 5.3), so I thought of making a call_user_func_named just like the PHP native one call_user_func_array, here is the gist, you are open to contribute, modify or reuse in whatever way you like. Have fun!
Update: thanks to some nice contributors here are improvements in existing code
Since the usage Google's LevelDB in Riak, and cases like BerkleyDB at Yammer we (developers) have realized how we can take a trivial building blocks, and build something really awesome out of them. One of the great lessons that I've learned from my experience of the wild (LevelDB, Pinterest just to name a few) can be summarized as
If possible at all try to minimize the length (bytes) of values you save (or write) in a data store.
Developers usually don't care much about the values they are storing in a data store, which in turn results in performance issues. In this post I would be trying to convince you about keeping an eye on average length of values and for sake of a demo (also throwing out a new combination of tools Tokyocabinet and LZ4) I would be doing a benchmark.
As an example if we look at the JSON from twitter's REST API; a tweet can be (see this for example) almost around 3K-4K (even longer in case of retweets). Let's take Tokyocabinet and LZ4, and do some benchmarks proving how much difference we can make! One of the key points here is to choose speed efficient library rather than space (compressed size) efficient library (we don't want to spend too much time on compressing the data). LevelDB uses Snappy to exploit the same principle for speeding itself up.
So for benchmarks I took some of my tweets (11 to be precise), dumped them into files. Later read those tweets in random order as value for storage to emulate some real world data, here is the link to gist of source code that I used. The last flag (true/false) to function put_in_db line 183 turns compression on/off. Compiling (command gcc -O2 testcab.c lz4.c -ltokyocabinet -o test) and running on my desktop machine gives me:
Total time consumed for 100000 entries 503514(ms)
File size (dump.tcb): 382.5 MB (382,522,880 bytes)Compressed:
Total time consumed for 100000 entries 244250(ms)
File Size (dump.tcb): 197.5 MB (197,468,416 bytes)
Amazed? The 100,000 random entries are almost random order due to CRC32. Do notice the time and size difference; it takes us HALF the size and speed of uncompressed tweets. Lesson to be learned from this technique is to put our bet on a more powerful unit (CPU), rather than a weak-spot (HDD) of our machine. Which is safe and it simply works!
Taking a good care on size can give us good numbers, and they are applicable mostly everywhere. Compression can make even better sense when you have smartphone applications. In that case you can simply pull out data from your data-store and stream it to your smartphone to do the rest of the job. Saving space and time both is a rare combination and it can be possible if you use the compression technique wisely.


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Sweet Treats Gift Basket
$49.99Sweet Treats Gift BasketItem #1274(1 reviews) Can't be beat.The gift basket that any true Southerner would be proud to give. And giddy to receive! All candies are individually wrapped or boxed to keep their sweet freshness intact. And every pretty basket includes Savannah's Pecan Pralines, Milk Chocolate Pecan Gophers, Praline Pecans and a Southern Pecan Log Roll. Total weight: 2 pounds.Email to a friend |
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Product Reviews (1 reviews)JACKIE
May 12, 2013 User Rating
SWEET TREATS GIFT BASKET I am always pleased no matter what I get from Savannah Candy Kitchen either online or at their stores, their customer service is top notch just like the gooey good treats! |


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Should you require further information then please contact Environmental ServicesTel: 01276 707330Fax : 01276 707365Email: Environmental ServicesOr write to us at:Surrey Heath Borough CouncilKnoll RoadCamberleySurreyGU15 3HD
In accordance with the Water Industry Act 1991 the Council holds up to date mapping information of all the Public Sewers in the Borough. The Sewers are owned by Thames Water who have responsibility for dealing with blockages and other problems within their sewers. Most of the sewers are located in the highway (or more correctly, below the highway!). Many are in gardens and private land. It is important to note that the public sewers have a much more important status than the private drains which connect your property to the sewer. Thames Water needs to ensure access for maintenance, some sewers carry very high flows and the implications of blockage or collapse can be serious: large numbers of people could be deprived of mains drainage.
You may want to know if there are any public sewers in your land if you are contemplating an extension to your house or doing some other works in your property. It is also useful to check for any public sewers within a property you may be interested in buying, it may be difficult to build extensions or there may be risk of sewage flooding from the sewers from time to time.You can view the Sewer Map information any time during office opening hours, it is held electronically and viewed with a pc. Staff can assist you if necessary.The Council has a library of information on private drainage also, possibly covering your property, although the information is not comprehensive. To enquire about drainage information serving your property contact Infrastructure on telephone 01276 707465.
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"Twilight" Actors Cemented in Hollywood
Nov. 3, 2011: "Twilight" stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner were immortalized in cement in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
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"Twilight" Actors Cemented in Hollywood
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Exoplanet catalog?, What's the best? |
Exoplanet catalog?, What's the best? |
Apr 27 2012, 11:48 PM
Bloggette par Excellence Group: Admin Posts: 3982 Joined: 4-August 05 From: Pasadena, CA, USA, Earth Member No.: 454 |
With the new site switchover it's not clear that we're going to be able to carry over our old Catalog of Exoplanets, and I'm not sure it was the best one out there anyway. But I haven't been paying enough attention to exoplanet surveys and discoveries to be able to assess the quality/currency of the other catalogs out there, and there are several. Do any of you have favorite site(s)? A catalog is only good as long as it's kept current; which one is kept most up-to-date?
-------------------- |
Apr 28 2012, 11:31 PM
Member Group: Members Posts: 138 Joined: 1-October 06 Member No.: 1206 |
Related, possibly useful links:
http://circumstellardisks.org/ http://var2.astro.cz/ETD/index.php https://sites.google.com/a/upr.edu/planetar...atory-upra/home P |
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 19th June 2013 - 06:56 AM |
RULES AND GUIDELINES Please read the Forum Rules and Guidelines before posting. IMAGE COPYRIGHT |
OPINIONS AND MODERATION Opinions expressed on UnmannedSpaceflight.com are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UnmannedSpaceflight.com or The Planetary Society. The all-volunteer UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderation team is wholly independent of The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society has no influence over decisions made by the UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderators. |
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Wolverines ambush Braves, 32-0 | Football
September 22, 2012 · 3:35 PM
The Wolverines tallied their second straight shutout and third of the season with a 32-0 victory on the road, Friday, over league rival La Conner.
Leading 12-0 at the half, Friday Harbor scored another 20 unanswered points in the third quarter to seal the win. The defensive unit held the Braves to just over 100 yards of total offense in helping to raise the Wolverines record to 4-0 on the season.
Friday Harbor's undefeated record will be put to the test this coming Friday, Sept. 28, when the Wolverines square off on the road against regional 1A rival Meridian; kick off is 7 p.m.
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Welcome to English Heritage Image Shop
Browse through a selection of exclusive prints, framed prints and canvas prints brought to you by English Heritage. You will find images illustrating the historic landscapes, architecture and heritage of England and its regions, as well as the rich legacy of fine art, reconstruction graphics and historic photography in our care.
APSLEY HOUSE, London. Interior view. The Waterloo Gallery.
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You may also be interested in these collections Architecture of England » Interiors Also of Interest » Waterloo 200 Collections » After the Battle - Apsley House Heritage of England » English Stately Homes » Apsley House » Apsley House interiors Similar Colours
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Aran Baby Knitting Pattern to fit sizes 45-60cms (18-24 ins). Jacket round neck, collar or with hood. Pattern uses Aran Wool with 4mm and 5mm knitting needles.
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Aran Childrens Jacket Knitting Pattern to fit sizes 50-75cms (20-30 ins). Choice of Jacket with or without Hood. and Diamond Aran Pattern at the front. Pattern uses Aran Wool with 4mm and 5mm knitting needles.
Baby/Toddler Aran Cardigan and Jacket Knitting Patter to fit sizes 50-75cms (20-30 ins). Pattern use Aran Wool with 3.75mm and 4.5mm knitting needles.
Baby Matinee set with Cardigan and Bonnet. Knit with 4 ply knitting wool to fit sizes 35-50cms (14-20 ins). Uses 2.75mm and 3.25mm knitting needles.
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You'd have a great turn-out, and for me and the few other Marines stationed here it would be cool as hell of you. Land of the free because of the brave
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Your Born Sinner series is really good. Love the photos, and the way the stories dive deep in the second half.
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artichoke burritos & green dogs in #theville (at Castroville Artichoke Festival)
Follow Zoo-Books for the coolest animals on tumblr
Every time someone walks in the room while I'm on Tumblr.Can I help you?
I've been wanting an area rug recently. Mainly because the carpet in our shitty dump of a 70's apartment is so ugly. Anything to cover it up! But up...
A calendar made from tea, one cup per day.


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With its pictures of earnest schoolchildren busily learning, Regie Routman's book doesn't look dangerous. But like many textbooks used in colleges of education, Invitations: Changing as Teachers and Learners K-12 (Heinemann, 1994) may be keeping thousands of children from mastering basic academic skills. Future teachers learn from Routman, for example, that entirely too much attention has been paid to phonics, with the result that "some children have difficulty learning to read." In fact, research has repeatedly shown almost the opposite: Attending to phonics is important to preventing reading difficulties.
Invitations, one of the most widely used textbooks in ed schools (it's at Vanderbilt, Michigan State, and the University of Arizona, to name a few), illustrates why efforts to improve American education are so often frustrated. Even when evidence about effective teaching abounds, education colleges tend to ignore it, and future teachers don't learn about it. This is true even in states committed to methods shown by research to be effective. Since 1997, for example, Massachusetts has had reading standards that call for the formal teaching of letter-sound relationships. Yet at Lesley College, which prepares more teachers than any other institution in the commonwealth, education students are still learning from Invitations that phonics instruction is useless or even a "handicap." Since 1996, California has had a law requiring that future teachers be instructed in "systematic, explicit phonics." Yet education professors at many California institutions (including California State and San Diego State) are still assigning Routman.
Short on evidence, Routman's book is long on anecdotes -- which ed schools have lately been claiming constitute a special qualitative "research," far more useful to teachers than the old-fashioned quantitative kind. Routman presents the case of Maria, a teacher so frustrated that "she often ended the day in tears." The problem is that Maria, who herself had a traditional education, feels obliged to pass on to her students information about such matters as grammar and punctuation. "But," Routman reports, "no matter how hard she tried, things didn't seem to come together for her." Fortunately, Maria attends a summer workshop that shows her the error of her ways and the wisdom of "whole language," an approach based on the idea that children will naturally evolve into readers (and spellers and punctuators) if only adults will get out of the way. With this enlightenment, Maria becomes a teacher who "can offer children choices in decision making about their own learning." Her classroom, freed from focusing on dull matters like capitalization, is a "joyful, collaborative community."
Lest any reader miss the message, Routman also reports on Loretta, a second-grade teacher who has a similar conversion. Her eyes are opened to what she really wants to do (which includes "abandoning spelling workbooks and phonics pages") by a week-long conference called "Creating the Whole Language Classroom." As a result of her enlightenment, Loretta now presides over "a child-centered room where children are productively in charge of their own learning." Once struggling and frustrated, she is now "a relaxed teacher clearly enjoying herself."
For all the psychic rewards it brings, the conversion that Routman is urging on teachers can apparently be wrenching. Routman quotes a kindergarten teacher who decided to let her students discover phonics for themselves. "I felt real guilty for a long time," she says. A first-grade teacher reports feeling pressured by second-grade teachers who expect kids to arrive in their classrooms knowing phonics: "Also, I feel guilty for not giving spelling tests." Routman, an elementary school teacher in Ohio, notes that she herself has had difficulties abandoning the explicit teaching of phonics. "It has taken me well over ten years to feel completely comfortable with this approach."
A sensible reaction to all this guilt would be to explore whether there's some justification for it. Are whole-language teachers perhaps aware, at least at a subliminal level, of the extensive research showing that a knowledge of spelling-sound correspondences and common spelling conventions is important to becoming a proficient reader? Indeed, this finding has been so well publicized, most recently in a report from the National Research Council entitled Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children, that it would be hard for them to miss. The American Federation of Teachers has highlighted the research supporting explicit, systematic phonics instruction. The National Education Association recently helped sponsor a project that looked for programs of proven effectiveness and found two for elementary schools -- Direct Instruction and Success for All -- both strongly based in phonics.
But rather than exploring the sources of whole-language teachers' anxiety, Routman recommends support groups to diminish it. In these groups, like-minded souls offer encouragement to one another and discuss such matters as how to handle parental discontent. One of the support groups she attends, Routman reports, also lobbies against standardized tests in early grades, a campaign that if successful will allow teachers to decide for themselves whether their methods are working. Such a process would be more "meaningful," Routman claims, though it would, of course, leave parents without a clue about how their children are doing in comparison with others.
Routman maintains that her purpose in writing is to help other teachers develop their personal philosophies of teaching. But her book, although it is 758 pages long, doesn't contain information that teachers need to develop a truly informed view. Routman repeatedly mentions whole-language gurus like Kenneth Goodman (who says that phonics-based reading instruction represents a "flat-earth view of the world") and Frank Smith (who says that the ability to read and write is overvalued: "Literacy doesn't make anyone a better person"), but she entirely neglects both Jeanne Chall and Marilyn Adams, authors of landmark studies synthesizing decades of research and making it perfectly clear that reading programs should include systematic and explicit phonics instruction.
Routman is hardly alone in advocating independence for teachers while effectively restricting their choices. Creating Classrooms for Authors and Inquirers by Kathy G. Short and Jerome C. Harste with Carolyn Burke (Heinemann, 1996) begins by approvingly describing teachers who "develop their own personal theories of reading and writing" but by page nine has made clear that the only valid theories anyone could possibly develop are whole-language ones.
Similarly, although Short and Harste repeatedly state that children's agendas should drive the classroom, they are also adamant that students sometimes profess goals -- such as wanting to spell correctly -- of which teachers must be wary. When one of their students, third-grader Maria, writes that she wants to "learn how to spell," she is carefully observed until the authors are sure she does not suffer from "an overconcern with spelling." Even then she gets not a spelling book, but "lessons on strategies," such as "discussing possible spellings with peers." Short and Harste refer future teachers who want more information to J. Richard Gentry's Spel . . . Is a Four-Letter Word (Heinemann, 1987), a book that views "good spelling" as "merely a convenience." Writes Gentry, "There are some people like secretaries, who need to be accurate, but usually even they can use a word processor with a good spelling check." Confessing to being a bad speller himself, Gentry helpfully advises students to "make an honest attempt to spell werds wright."
The Short and Harste book dominates elementary education instruction at Indian University's School of Education, the third largest ed school in the country and the place where Harste teaches. The fact that Harste is president-elect of the National Council of Teachers of English lends added significance to Creating Classrooms. The ideas in it are those that the council, an organization some 90,000 strong, promotes through its publications, conferences, and conventions. Future teachers who learn from Creating Classrooms that it is a mistake for the curriculum to be "mandated by 'experts' outside the classroom" are getting something close to the official doctrine of their profession -- as well as a rationale for ignoring standards set by states to establish what students should know and be able to do at various stages in their education.
The very idea that there are certain facts that kids should know is, according to Creating Classrooms, symptomatic of an antiquated way of thinking. In the updated, postmodern world, people (or at least professors) know that there are no such things as facts. There are only "perspectives," and the proper job of a teacher is to help students develop them. One way to do this, Short and Harste advise, is to ask students "to find a 'fact' that is not true from the perspective of another knowledge system." This is, of course, postmodern nonsense. A fact is not a fact if it is not true. It is an error, no matter one's perspective.
Short and Harste sow further confusion when they write about research. They inform their readers:
Recently, there has been a new shift. Instead of seeing research as objective and language as value free, researchers are now realizing how subjective the whole process is. . . . The only thing research can do is help a learner or a community of learners interrogate their values.
The fact that total objectivity is impossible does not mean that we are condemned to explaining everything subjectively. Striving for objectivity, as scientists around the world can testify, yields important results. While research in social sciences is often less exact than research in the hard sciences, it still produces important information, particularly when data converge, as they do in the case of reading.
But how are future teachers to know any of this? They leave Short and Harste and head for elementary classrooms uninformed about the findings of several decades of scientific research on reading instruction and, in any case, encouraged to regard such research as meaningless.
Lest future teachers ever be tempted to think reliable, replicable research has significance, Western Michigan University professor Constance Weaver in Reading Process and Practice (Heinemann, 1994) paints a picture of the distasteful types they would be aligning themselves with: members of the Far Right, driven not by the wish to teach children to read, but by "the desire to promote a religious agenda and/or to maintain the socioeconomic status quo." According to Weaver, who directed the Commission on Reading for the National Council of Teachers of English in the late 1980s, right-wing extremists believe that kids who study phonics will get "the words 'right'" and thus read what the Bible actually says rather than approximate its meaning. Moreover, she writes, "Teaching intensive phonics . . . is also a way of keeping children's attention on doing what they're told and keeping them from reading or thinking for themselves."
Nor, in Weaver's view, is it just their own children that phonics-obsessed right-wingers want to oppress. "The political Far Right's agenda is well-served," she writes, "by promoting docility and obedience -- on the part of the lower classes." Ultraconservatives advocate phonics teaching because it is authoritarian, she says, and serves to socialize "nonmainstream students, especially those in so-called lower ability groups or tracks . . . into subordinate roles."
Weaver neglects to mention that the phonics cause has advocates who are not Republicans, much less conservatives. One of the standard-bearers in California, for example, is Marian Joseph, a longtime Democrat, who took up the battle against whole language when one of her grandchildren was expected to figure out reading for himself. In the California legislature, Democrats as well as Republicans have enthusiastically backed pro-phonics bills.
But facts haven't stood in the way of ed school professors claiming a political plot of the very worst kind is afoot. A recent president of the National Council of Teachers of English, infuriated with policymakers who insist that government ought to fund only "reliable, scientific" educational research, linked his opponents not only to the red-baiters of the fifties but to advocates of "slavery, racism, genocide, the incarceration of dissidents in mental hospitals, and a host of other injustices."
California State University, which prepares more than half that state's teachers, is one of the institutions at which Weaver's Reading Process and Practice is used. Last year, the academic senate there condemned the state's requirement that ed schools teach phonics as a threat to academic freedom. Apparently convinced that he and his colleagues have a right to fill future teachers with anti-scientific claptrap, one Cal State professor told the Los Angeles Times, "What we have in the state right now is McCarthyism."
But, as the textbooks used in many ed schools clearly show, what we really have all across the country is a situation inimical to making classrooms function more effectively. Colleges of education, long criticized for teaching trivia, are now doing something much worse: sabotaging the best efforts of reformers to get schools to use methods that work.
Lynne V. Cheney is a senior fellow at AEI.


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Lena Dunham Reportedly Creating New Fashion-Themed Show, Opening Ceremony Talks About DKNY Collab
And NYFW is getting Occupied.
Lena's New Show? Lena Dunham is reportedly teaming up with GIRLS executive producer Jenni Konner to create a new HBO show about legendary Bergdorf Goodman personal shopper Betty Halbreich. The network has reportedly optioned Halbreich's upcoming book All Dressed Up And Everywhere To Go, and has assigned Dunham the task of fleshing it out into a viable series. [Deadline]
OC x DKNY: Opening Ceremony's collaboration with DKNY launches today in the cool-kid retailer's four worldwide locations. The project is intended to bring back DKNY's signature look of the 90s—a decade that's received a serious fashion revival in recent seasons. Of the collaboration, Opening Ceremony co-founder Carol Lim exclusively told The Daily Beast, "All of our partnerships begin with a personal connection or conversation. The storytelling needs to be authentic for us to share it with our customers." [Fashion Beast Inbox]
Lanvin's Skype Inspiration: Lanvin has released their new video ad campaign, shot by famed photographer Steven Meisel. In the short film, which features models Karlie Kloss, Saskia de Brauw, and Daria Strokous, Lanvin creative director Alber Elbaz pops onto the screen in a Skype call to deliver his opinion on the shoot in action. [Grazia UK]
Riccardo Tisci Re-Signs at Givenchy: Givenchy's creative director Riccardo Tisci has bunked the current trend for ousted designers by resigning his contract with the LVMH-owned fashion house. WWD reports that Tisci has signed on for at least another three years and will help oversee plans for brand expansion. [WWD]
Occupy Headed to Fashion Week: Occupy Wall Street is rebooting for New York Fashion Week. The motley crew's Intern Labor Rights division will take to fashion week's varied venues to protest unpaid internships, following up with demonstrations at London and Paris Fashion Weeks. The group plans to hand out swag bags including pins that say 'pay your interns.' [BuzzFeed Shift]
Ellen Dons Madonna's Corset
Now we know the real Ellen DeGeneres. On Monday's episode of 'Ellen,' Madonna showed up wearing something rather, well, Madonna-esque (read 'highly unusual and just a little kinky'). When Ellen was similarly outfitted, the host cheekily said, 'I finally feel like myself.'
Dapper Dudes
Mr. Beast
Real Men Wear Concealer
Makeup for men is on the rise—and it's no longer a taboo. Alessandra Codinha reports.


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Los Angeles based High Arte, recognizing that any business – regardless of its size – is the sum of its parts, offers a holistic approach to its client services.
We work with start-ups, professionals and established companies, as well as companies in the need of a make over. Our job is to help them develop a strategy that will effectively communicate who they are and what they do to the people who need to know.
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Since communication is what we do, we offer a 30-minute Complimentary Consultation, so that we can better understand what you're looking to accomplish and how we might be of assistance.
Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!
Bolen has redone my website, optimized my social networking and used his SEO skills to get my website on the 1st page of Google in at least 12 categories.
He also produces my newsletters and blogs for me. I wouldn't be where I am with out his knowledge and keen eye.
He is the best.
Eva Knoppel, Garden of Eva Landscape Design


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Paradise Garden Grill
Paradise Garden Grill Information
Food/Dining Type: | Quick Service |
Meals: | |
Location: | California Adventure / |
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Menu: | Paradise Garden Grill Menu |
NOTE: * Indicates buffet item and cost represents total cost of buffet.
Menu is subject to change.
Menu is subject to change.
Lunch (Updated:
Entree/Main Course-
Greek Salad
- Fresh greens, tomatoes,cucumbers, red onions, pepperoncini and oregano dressing salad with pita bread
- $7.99
Mediterranean Skewers - Select one: grilled steak, lemon oregano chicken, beef Kefta (spiced ground beef) vegetable or tofu. Select one sauce: Moroccan chili, chimichurri, tandoori spiced yogurt or tzatziki - $11.49
- pastry stuffed with chopped pistachios and walnuts dipped in a orange flower flavored syrup
- $3.49
apple or orange juice
- in box
- $1.79
Beer - Blue moon or Samuel Adams - $7.00
Coffee, tea or cocoa - . - $2.79
Milk - Low fat for 1.79 or chocolate 2.79 - $1.79
Soft Drinks - Coke, diet coke, sprite, fanta orange, lemonade. regular 2.79, large 3.29 - $3.29
Souvenir sipper - includes soft drink at time of purchase - $6.49
Paradise Garden Grill
Child's Menu
Child's Menu
Lunch (Updated:
Entree/Main Course-
Kid's meal - Turkey, beef slider or Peanut Butter Pita wrap. Served with sliced apples, carrots, and a choice of low fat milk, small low fat chocolate milk, juice box, or small bottled water. (soda upon request) - $6.49
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If you have menu discrepancies or corrections, please let us know
- VIDEO: Disney Beyond The Parks - Producing the Aulani Live Show - Visit http://www.wdwinfo.com/beyondtheparks/#hawaii to view the full DIS Unplugged show from Aulani in Hawaii. For the latest updates on our trip to Aulani and Hawaii, visit http://new.livestream.com/TheDIS/aulani Join the DIS Team as we explore Disney beyond the parks, starting with Aulani, a Disney Resort and Spa in Hawaii!
- Southern California CityPass price increase June 3rd - Beginning June 3rd, the price for the Southern California CityPass will increase. Adults will be $319, children will be $279. Attractions will remain the same. Passes purchased prior to June 3rd are valid through January 4th.
- Follow along as the DIS goes... Beyond The Parks!! - Members of the DIS Unplugged podcast team are headed to Disney's Aulani Resort, sailing on an Alaskan Disney cruise and taking an Adventures by Disney Backstage Magic trip!
- Blog - Help! A Walt Disney World Vet's First Time at Disneyland – Part 5
- Watch our live broadcast from Disney's Aulani Resort - Tue. May 21 at 8pm EDT - Disney... Beyond The Parks! Come with us as we visit Disney's Aulani Resort, sail on an Alaskan Disney cruise, and take an Adventures By Disney trip! We're kicking off the trip with a live broadcast from Disney's Aulani Resort - Tue. May 21, 2013 8:00pm EDT.
- HalloweenTime at Disneyland begins September 13! - HalloweenTime at the Disneyland Resort, including Haunted Mansion Holiday and Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy, begins September 13, 2013. Mickey's Halloween Party begins September 30, 2013.
- Swing dancing returns to Disneyland Park beginning June 15th - Swing Dancing returns to the former Carnation Plaza Gardens (now Fantasy Faire) stage on a limited basis beginning June 15th!
- VIDEO: Disney Park Bench - Disneyland - Rivers of America - With our "Disney Park Bench" series, we're giving you a 5-minute break to relax with the sights and sounds of Disneyland.
- 2014 dates chosen for DIS-exclusive Backstage Magic trips - Three dates have been selected for 2014 Adventures by Disney Backstage Magic trips with members of the DIS Unplugged podcast team!
- VIDEO: Disney Park Bench - Disneyland - Indiana Jones Queue - With our "Disney Park Bench" series, we're giving you a 5-minute break to relax with the sights and sounds of Disneyland.
- Woody's All-American Roundup at Disneyland this Summer - Beginning June 14th, Sheriff Woody will be bringing his Talent Roundup to the stage at the Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree. Woody and Jessie will be entertaining guests with their lasso skills and slingshot tricks, plus greeting guests along with Mickey and Minnie.
- Limited Time Magic: Disneyland Passholder Animation Academy - Annual Passholders are invited to learn to draw a classic Disney character and hear behind-the scenes stores from Disney Animator Eric Goldberg. The event will be held at 3pm, 4pm, 5pm and 6pm in the Disney Animation building at Disney California Adventure. Passholders must register in person the day of the event.
- WonderGround Gallery to host Cocktail Party for Hipster Collection - In celebration of the new "Happiest Hipster on Earth" collection, Disneyland Resort's WonderGround Gallery will be hosting a Cocktail Reception featuring an artist signing opportunity with Jerrod Maruyama. Tickets go on sale May 21st.
- New Disneyland restaurant reservation policy delayed indefinitely! - The new Disneyland Resort policy requiring a credit card for reservations at Disney owned restaurants that was to go in effect soon has been delayed indefinitely.
- Disneyland's Magical fireworks now Glow with the Show - Disneyland's Summer Fireworks, Magical, now incorporates the Glow with the Show ears. Also on select days, guests wearing them can access a special viewing area.
- VIDEO: Disney Park Bench - Grand Californian Hotel - Lobby - With our "Disney Park Bench" series, we're giving you a 5-minute break to relax with the sights and sounds of Disneyland.
- VIDEO: Disney Park Bench - Disneyland Hotel - Pool - With our "Disney Park Bench" series, we're giving you a 5-minute break to relax with the sights and sounds of Disneyland.
- VIDEO: Disney Park Bench - Cars Land - Cozy Cone Motel - With our "Disney Park Bench" series, we're giving you a 5-minute break to relax with the sights and sounds of Disneyland.
- Blog - New Disney Dooney & Bourke Release This Summer
- VIDEO: Memories of the Disneyland Resort Hotels - Visit http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneyland/ for more information on the Disneyland Resort.
- Blog - Help! A Walt Disney World Vet's First Time at Disneyland – Part 4
- Blog - Disneyland 101 – Dining Strategies
More Info DISNEYLAND HOTELS
See AllDISNEYLAND NEWS STORIES
- Calfornia adjusts safety citations and fines against Disneyland
California agency reduces violations and associated fines that came as a result of April 13th closure of three major attractions. - Space Mountain reopens at Disneyland
After a safety-related closure, Space Mountain is back open. - Disney contractor fined by Cal-OSHA
A Disney contractor was fined in relation to the incident in November where a worker fell from the roof of Space Mountain. - Updated: 3 Major attractions suddenly closed at Disneyland
Several major attractions closed at the Disneyland Resort. - No more free coffee refills on Disneyland's Main Street U.S.A.
Market House at Disneyland will not offer free coffee refills after it changes into a Starbucks this fall.
See AllDL DISCUSSIONS


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Abengoa to develop cogeneration plant in US state of Texas
Wednesday, 01 May 2013 REMAbengoa has been selected by Rentech Nitrogen Partners, L.P. to construct a $30 million cogeneration plant in the US state of Texas.
US solar thermal firm eSolar raises $30 million
Thursday, 28 March 2013 Dan McCueThe six year old, US-based solar thermal firm eSolar has raised $30 million in its latest financing round, according to its latest SEC filing.
IRENA hails launch of Shams 1 CSP project in UAE
Tuesday, 19 March 2013 REM The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) welcomed the activation of the world's largest operational Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) facility on Sunday, 17 March, as the Middle East turns to...Masdar, Total and Abengoa launch world's largest CSP plant
Tuesday, 19 March 2013 REMMasdar, along with its partners, Total and Abengoa, has launched Shams 1, the largest concentrated solar power plant (CSP) in operation in the world.
Report says South African CSP ready for late April start
Monday, 18 March 2013 REM The Bokpoort concentrated solar project near the city of Upington in South Africa's Northern Cape province is scheduled to expected to get underway the third week of April, according to a report by CS...World solar expert to shine light in Australia
Monday, 18 February 2013 REMDr. Manuel J Blanco has joined CSIRO as Director of the Australian Solar Thermal Research Initiative (ASTRI).
Australia's CSIRO to lead solar thermal research initiative
Monday, 18 February 2013 Dan McCue Australia's CSIRO is partnering with six Australian universities and the United States' Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Sandia National Laboratories and Arizona...SolarReserve project receives unanimous approval from California Public Utilities
Tuesday, 29 January 2013 REM SolarReserve, a US-based. developer of large-scale solar power projects, has received unanimous approval from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to sell power from its 150 MW solar proj...SENER and Torresol Energy to attend World Future Energy Summit
Tuesday, 08 January 2013 REM The SENER engineering and technology group and its joint venture with Masdar, Torresol Energy, have announced their participation in this year's World Future Energy Summit, 15 to 17 January in Abu Dha...New report promotes economic benefits of CSP with storage
Tuesday, 08 January 2013 Robin WhitlockConcentrated Solar Power with thermal storage can offer significant economic value for utilities and grid operators


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Richard McCourt, Ph.D.
Phone: (215) 299-1139Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Dr. McCourt's research is on the biodiversity, evolution, ecology, and systematics of green algae, specifically a group known as charophyte algae. These green algae are among the closest living algal relatives of land plants and include some well-known algae such as stoneworts and Spirogyra. He is working on reconstructing the phylogeny of these algae-that is, the evolutionary tree of green algae and land plants. A comprehensive phylogeny of green algae will help explain ancient evolutionary events that allowed the descendants of green algae to emerge from their habitats in freshwater ponds and diversify into the hundreds of thousands of species that live on land today.
Dr. McCourt has also conducted research on the ecology of intertidal algae in the Gulf of California, Sonora, Mexico. He studied habitat partitioning and phenology (seasonal patterns of growth and reproduction) of sympatric species of Sargassum, large brown seaweeds that occur in huge floating masses in Atlantic gyres, as well as in subtidal and intertidal areas in the subtropics and tropics. He has also worked in historical botany, publishing a number of papers on the Lewis and Clark Herbarium at the Academy, and he co-authored with Earle E. Spamer a Special Publication CD-ROM and a short book on the Lewis and Clark Herbarium.
Assembling the Green Algal Tree of Life, www.gratol.org The Phycological Society of America, www.psaalgae.org Botany Department of the Academy of Natural Sciences, http://www.ansp.org/research/systematics-evolution/collections/botany/
Dr. John D. Hall. 2011-present, NSF funded, Assembling the Green Algal Tree of Life project (www.gratol.org). Dr. Hall works on the systematics and phylogeny of conjugating green algae, as well as other algal groups.
Dr. McCourt has worked at the Academy since 1997. Before that he was an Associate Professor at DePaul University in Chicago, where he taught algal biology, aquatic biology, ecology, evolution, and introductory biology. Dr. Rick McCourt is Associate Curator of Botany at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University in Philadelphia.
Dr. McCourt is Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Phycological Society of America (www.psaalgae.org), and also serves on the Publications and Financial Advisory Committees of the Botanical Society of America.
Previous to joining BEES, Dr. McCourt worked at the National Science Foundation as Program Director in the Division of Biological Infrastructure (Collection in Support of Biological Research, Major Research Instrumentation, Living Stocks Collections), the Division of Environmental Biology (Systematics and Biodiversity Science Cluster), and the Division of Graduate Education (NSF Graduate STEM Fellows in K-12 Education [GK-12], Graduate Research Fellowship Program). He also served on the Interagency Working Group on Scientific Collections and co-authored a report on NSF-supported collections (Skog, J., McCourt, R.M., Corman, J. 2009. The NSF Scientific Collections Survey: A Brief Overview of Findings). He was on the working group for Advancing Digitization of Biological Collections at NSF (ADBC).


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5:00 am
Tue April 17, 2012
The Saucier's Apprentice
Whether it's Béarnaise or Béchamel, Hollandaise or Mayonnaise, a sauce adds a little something extra to a meal.
Scott Hutcheson says when it comes to BBQ, he looks to the Carolinas for a great sauce.
North Carolina-Style Vinegar Sauce
2 cups cider vinegar
3 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon hot sauce (like Frank's Red Hot)
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons black pepper
Combine all these ingredients and whisk until the salt and brown sugar dissolves. You can store this covered in the refrigerator for several weeks. Use on pulled pork.


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That must be the "face-saving" measure they are talking about.
Philippines, China talking again
2 sides to disengage without losing facehttp://newsinfo.inquirer.net/192359/...-talking-againThe Philippines and China are talking again, and they are trying to work out a temporary solution to their dispute over Scarborough Shoal, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said on Friday.
I'm pretty sure, this was China's idea. roll eyes. Philippines will just go-along with it. It's typhoon season on those months. Who are they kidding. Roll eyes again.


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Read reviews (4)
Rate recipe
In Hickory, North Carolina, Nadeen Shrewsberry wouldn't think of squandering squash. "A friend gave me the recipe for this best-of-the-season slaw," she offers. "If you like the light taste of zucchini in a simple salad, you're sure to ask for a second helping of this one."
This recipe is:
Diabetic Friendly
Nutritional Analysis: One serving (3/4 cup) equals 71 calories, 4 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 4 mg cholesterol, 249 mg sodium, 9 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 2 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 2 vegetable, 1/2 fat.
Originally published as Zucchini Slaw in Light & Tasty August/September 2001, p5
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Reviewed on Nov. 03, 2011 by bobcarolm
Very good. I especially like the dressing. I've used it on other slaw recipes as well.
Reviewed on Aug. 29, 2011 by ris1
I was looking for some recipes for the zucchini I had gotten. I saw this recipe and it sounded good. I made it for church picnic and I liked it and others at the picnic said they liked it also. I'd make it again. Even though a previous reviewer said thet did not like the recipe.
Reviewed on Aug. 28, 2011 by ris1
I was looking for some type of recipe to use for the zucchini I had gotten. Saw this recipe- it sounded good - even though a previous reviewer said they did not like the recipe. I made it for a church picnic and liked it and others at the picnic said they liked it also - will make it again.
Reviewed on Jul. 11, 2010 by 5xamom
I am a zucchini lover! I eat it in anything and love it plain, raw, however. But I have to say this is not very tasty at all. In fact, no one in family enjoyed this recipe at all. I will never make this again!!
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Unemployment for Veterans Goes Down
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released unemployment numbers for February this morning and the numbers were surprisingly encouraging for Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans. While the national unemployment rate held steady at 8.3 from January to February, the unemployment rate for new veterans dropped from an already relatively low 9.1 percent in January to 7.6 percent - and was lower than the national average for the first time since August 2010. There are many possibilities for this dramatic fall, including the aging of the new veteran population and the national push to hire veterans. It is also possible that because of the small sample size BLS uses, this is just an anomaly that will not continue in the next few months.
Age has been a defining factor in new veteran unemployment during the past few years. Although Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans of all ages had higher unemployment rates than the national average in 2011, younger veterans were hit hardest. In 2011, the average unemployment rate for new veterans aged 18-24 was 30.2 percent, almost twice the national average of 16.3 percent. Such a difference implies that there are reasons that new vets are having trouble finding work that are different from their civilian peers.
Education likely plays a key role, as the youngest veterans are less likely than civilians to have a college degree. For all Americans, higher education means a better chance at employment. On average in 2011, Americans with less than a high school diploma had a 16.6 percent unemployment rate, compared to an 11 percent rate for high school graduates, 8.6 percent for those with some college or an associate degree and 4.5 percent for college graduates. Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans with a high school degree had a 16.4 percent unemployment rate in 2011; if they had part of a college education, the rate went down to 13.4 percent, with an Associate degree the rate was 11.9 percent, and with a full college education (undergraduate or higher) the rate was 6.3 percent.
According to the BLS numbers, there were fewer veterans between the ages of 18 and 24 in February, compared to January and the 2011 average, and more between the ages of 25 to 34 and 35 to 44. Older new veterans have a lower unemployment rate and are more likely to have pursued some college education. This difference might account for at least some of the drop in the unemployment rate.
Since the unemployment rate dropped for new vets of all ages, though at different rates, there is likely another reason for at least part of the drop in the rate. During the past year, the private and public sectors have come together to hire veterans. Joining Forces, a White House initiative, has made this one of its top priorities, asking employers to hire veterans and military spouses. The private sector has also stepped up in a significant way. A coalition currently made up of 16 major companies, including AT&T, Delta and Verizon, and led by JP Morgan Chase has pledged to hire 100,000 transitioning service members and veterans by 2020. Many of these companies have already hired a considerable amount of vets. The White House and private sector efforts are working in tandem. With an average number of 234,000 veterans unemployed in 2011, companies that hire thousands of veterans can make a big difference to unemployment rates.
The important thing to look at with BLS numbers is trends—are the numbers going down for months at a time? Are they going up and down? Where is the trend line going? At the moment, the trend for new veteran unemployment is still going up. It will take a few months to know if the factors mentioned above—the changing demographics of new veterans, the national push to hire veterans—are having a real impact along with other potential factors, or whether this month's rate was just a blip that will not repeat itself.
IAVA will continue to track the numbers and, hopefully, the percent of new veterans with jobs is actually going up and will continue to go up. Whatever the outcome, with so many more new vets expected to enter the job market, continued efforts to hire veterans must remain a critical priority for our country.
Moran Banai, March 9


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ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has taken strong notice of the incident of firing on a bus in Khadan area of Turbat, Balochistan that has resulted in loss of eighteen precious lives and injured many others.
While condemning this brutal act of firing on a passenger bus, the President has called for a report on this unfortunate incident and has directed to bring culprits to justice.
He expressed his grief and sympathies with the bereaved families and prayed for the departed souls.


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Undefeated UTSA made short work of Division II Northwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday, rolling to a 56-3 victory in its last tuneup before starting play in the Western Athletic Conference next week.
A crowd of 25,742 at the Alamodome cheered on the Roadrunners, who set several program records in the rout.
The Roadrunners, who ran their record to 4-0, play at New Mexico State on Saturday.
"Obviously, it was a very convincing win for us," UTSA coach Larry Coker said. "It was a game we needed to win, and needed to win convincingly. We really felt like we had better players, we had a better team, we had more numbers.
"But you have to play that way. You have to play to win. Our players did a really good job today in responding.
UTSA is making the transition this year to the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division I-A, as a member of the WAC.
"Going into conference play next week, obviously it's going to amp up quite a bit," Coker said. "It's an exciting time for us and for our program and we're looking forward to it."
Roadrunners led 42-3 at halftime
After an open date Oct. 6, the Roadrunners face Rice in a nonconference road game before playing six consecutive WAC opponents. UTSA clashes with rival Texas State in its season finale on Nov. 24, two two days after Thanksgiving, at the Alamodome.
The Roadrunners pounced on Northwestern Oklahoma early and scored on six of their eight first-half possessions, including a 38-yard interception by safety Triston Wade, to take a 42-3 lead at halftime.
The 42 points were the most UTSA has scored in a half in its 14-game history. The Roadrunners led Bacone (Okla.) 41-0 at halftime last year and beat the Warriors 54-7.
UTSA piled up 299 yards in the first half, setting a program record, and outgained the Rangers 445-167 in total offensive yardage for the game. The Roadrunners gave up only 24 yards rushing on 24 carries.
Only a 20-yard field goal by Edgar Colmenares on the last play of the half prevented UTSA from setting a program record for most points in a half, set in the game against Bacone.
The 53-point margin of victory is the largest in program history. The Roadrunners also set program records with six rushing touchdowns and for most points scored in a game.
Coker pulled most of his starters after a 32-yard pass from Eric Soza to tight end Cole Hubble, and extra-point kick by Kristian Stern, put the Roadrunners up 42-0 with 6:47 left in the half. Stern replaced place-kicker Sean Ianno, who was sidelined with a hip injury after converting UTSA's first extra point.
UTSA capitalizing on turnovers
Soza completed 5 of 7 passes for 115 yards and one TD.
"We took care of business and that's what we needed to do," Soza said. "I credit the team, credit the coaches for keeping us focused, and being able to go out there and perform."
Evans Okotcha, who set a school record with three TDs in UTSA's 38-14 win over Georgia State, last week, scored twice against the Rangers on runs of 2 and 9 yards. His TDs came on two of the Roadrunners' first three possessions and put them ahead 14-0.
Wade scored on his interception return a little more than a minute later to give UTSA a 21-0 lead after one quarter. The score is the first by the defense this season and the third interception for a TD in program history. Wade now has four career interceptions and has been involved in eight turnovers since playing his first game at UTSA last year.
UTSA scored another TD later after a turnover, raising its take-away total this season to 12. The Roadrunners have scored nine times (7 TDS, two field goals) off those 12 turnovers.
Starting tailback David Glasco II scored the first two TDs of the second quarter on runs of 7 and 11 yards. His first TD came two plays after Kenny Harrison returned a punt 54 yards to the Northwestern Oklahoma 26.
Sean Luchnick set up Glasco's second TD with a 12-yard fumble return to the Rangers' 18 on the ensuing kickoff. Linebacker Blake Terry jarred the ball loose from Jared Jackson with a hard tackle. Glasco scored two plays after the turnover.
After the defense forced a three-and-out, the Roadrunners capped a five-play, 68-yard with Soza's scoring strike to Hubble with 9:40 left in the half.
UTSA scored two touchdowns in the second half on a 1-yard run by backup halfback Nate Shaw and a 2-yard run by third-string quarterback Ryan Polite.
The Roadrunners made it clear that they're ready to start playing in the WAC.
"I'm tremendously excited to see how we measure up against other opponents in the WAC," Terry said. "Just to see how our defense fares against other offenses."


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Blissful Escape
Tying the knot this year? You don't have to go far to indulge in a perfectly romantic honeymoon. Here are five destinations that will make the fist few days of wedded bliss all the more memorable.
More from iVillage.ca
- Dos and don'ts of buying a wedding dress online
- 6 Steps to Stress-Free Holiday Travel
- Travel in Style Like a Celebrity
- Free Entertainment Across Canada: Festivals, Concerts and More!
- Packing List! The Stylish Travel Essentials You Need Right Now
Montreal, Quebec
A little piece of Europe tucked just kilometers away, Montreal offers French flair close to home. With its high-end cuisine to boutique hotels to cobblestone streets, this city ups the ooh la-la factor with romance—guaranteed.
Jasper, Alberta
This national park offers ice fields, lakes and mountains, and so much more. Take advantage of breathtaking views with plenty of opportunities for hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding. For the ultimate in luxury stay at the Fairmont Jasper and indulge in the local hot springs.
Niagara Falls, Ontario
A top honeymoon destination year after year, the Falls continue to bring lovers together from around the world. With a choice of contemporary hotels, outlet shopping and various attractions we know why the newly wedded crowds keep coming back.
Tofino, British Columbia
Located in Pacific Rim National Park, this resort town is made up of inlets, sandy shores and fresh ocean air. With tons of activities to choose from including surfing, rainforest hiking and dipping in hot springs, Tofino boasts equal parts relaxation and recreation.
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
No need to head south to enjoy sandy beaches and sandstone cliffs. Romantic sunset strolls on the shoreline, lobster dinners and colourful music make this eastern province, with its abundance of inns and B&Bs a homegrown honeymoon.
Connect with iVillage.ca:


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Sleeper Cell: American Terror - The Complete First SeasonSet in post-9/11 America, SLEEPER CELL is a Showtime series that capitalizes on the country's fear and paranoia about terrorist...
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Set in post-9/11 America, SLEEPER CELL is a Showtime series that capitalizes on the country's fear and paranoia about terrorist organizations. Michael Ealy stars as Darwyn, an F.B.I. agent who has managed to infiltrate an Islamic terrorist cell in Los Angeles. Introduced to the group by leader Farik (Oded Fehr), Darwyn learns of their plans to attack Los Angeles, and faces some tough challenges as the time for the group to carry out the mission approaches. SLEEPER CELL is a brave piece of programming that resembles Fox's 24 in both its theme and its frantic pace. The entire first season is collected here.
Key Information | |
Stars | Alex Nesic, Grant Heslov, Michael Ealy, Oded Fehr |
Available Formats | DVD |
Genre | Dramas • Television |
Subgenre | Terrorism • Terrorists • Post-9/11 • Thriller |
MPAA Rating | Not Rated |
Release Date | 2006 |
Languages | |
Original Language | English |
Professional Reviews | |
Professional Reviews | (10/01/2006, p.128, Nikki Baughan): 5 stars out of 5 -- "Uncompromising, challenging and thought-provoking, SLEEPER CELL should be applauded for telling the other side of the story in such an enthralling and intelligent way.", (12/01/2006, p.136, Total Film Staff): 4 stars out of 5 -- "SLEEPER CELL's first season sees Darwyn infiltrate an extremist group readying a devastating attack." |


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Hilary Clinton's public speech circuit role could net big bucks: Experts
Hillary Clinton's two cents on politics and world issues is likely going earn her a pretty penny.
Now that she's stepped down from her post at D.C., Hillary Clinton is being represented by the Harry Walker Agency -- a public speaking booking company -- and is poised to make big bucks on the speech circuit the could rival what her husband brings in.
The agency, which also represents Bill...
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