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Local history: The orphans down the streetPosted: April 20, 2010 Filed under: Genealogy | Tags: Local history, orphans 5 Comments
Two doors down from the house in which I grew up sat a big, unusually imposing Victorian house on a huge lot.
"House" doesn't do it justice; it wasn't what you'd call a Victorian charmer. It was subdivided into five apartments, but truthfully, it was hard to imagine a single family rattling around in that big barn. It also had the widest, flattest driveway in the east end of town, where every kid on my street learned to ride a bicycle, provided the landlord wasn't looking.
The grownups called it "the orphanage," a description I didn't take 100 percent seriously. It sounded made up. Why would an orphanage be sitting in the middle of a suburban neighborhood, anyway? The grownups also said that our property, and our neighbor's, too, once belonged to the orphanage. This was interesting, but not nearly as interesting as the odd objects we found now and then, digging around in our backyard — patent medicine bottles, bits of crockery and once, something that looked like a toy doll's bottle. We thought they were buried treasure. The grownups said they were from the orphanage. We rolled our eyes.
A few months ago I was doing census searches on Ancestry.com, trying and failing to break through one of my brick walls. To give myself a break, I decided to browse the 1910 census for my hometown. Wouldn't it be interesting to see what the big Victorian barn really was in the olden days? Answer: The Children's Home. In residence were a superintendent, an assistant superintendent and a female domestic servant, plus 11 girls and 10 boys.
The grownups had it right, after all.
How strange that I'd grown up practically next door to an orphanage — a real Victorian orphanage. How long was it an orphanage? How many children passed through its doors?
Since I have at least one adopted relative in my family tree, the topic of orphanages and adoptions in the 19th and early 20th centuries has always interested me. I was mainly interested in the history behind the landmark of my childhood, but I also hoped that studying it might give me insight into my own family's encounters with adoption.
My curiosity led me to look at more census records, some old news clippings and, eventually, at a detailed register of the children who passed through the home in its first few years of existence. The orphanage's story is the story of children whose families fell through the cracks in a time of no safety nets. Sometimes the fall was broken, sometimes not. I will share more of what I learned in my next post.
Next: Why did children go to the orphanage? Not always for the reasons you'd think.
Links, April 19, 2010Posted: April 19, 2010 Filed under: Genealogy | Tags: Cemeteries, libraries, Link Love Leave a comment
Today in history: In 1934, Shirley Temple appeared in her first movie, Stand up And Cheer! It would be more accurate to say "starred in her first feature," since Temple appeared in a series of "Baby Burlesks" shorts and bit parts prior to …
What did you say? Something else happened today? Yes indeed, today in history the shot heard 'round the world was fired at Lexington, Massachusetts, igniting the American Revolution. The event was dramatized by re-enacters at dawn today, as it is every year. Here is a rundown of other notable events on this day (or any day) in history.
More history lessons: I am indebted to my brother Jim, a fan of what I like to call Extreme History, for pointing out this news item on the Donner Party, famous for their ill-fated trek westward and subsequent creative cooking experiments. Apparently their menu was not all it was cracked up to be. Jim is very disappointed.
Genealogy and Macintosh: James Tanner at Genealogy's Star posted last week about why he does his genealogy on Macs. I've been a Mac person myself since the get-go (minus a brief, disastrous fling involving a double-disk-drive Radio Shack PC). Still, I roll my eyes at the mindless cheerleading that often comes with the territory. Which is why I love Mr. Tanner's reasonable but positive commentary about what makes Macs and iPhones great tools for genealogists. (He is also noodling around with the iPad but thinks the jury is still out on its usefulness to his genealogy work.)
Larceny at the archives: I've posted before about ways to treat your library right, especially when you're working in the local history archives. It did not occur to me to include the rule "Don't Steal The Holdings." However, this is just what happened to the entire vintage sheet music collection at a suburban Chicago library. The story has a happy ending — the unknown thief returned all 327 pieces of the collection to the police. The accompanying note said only: "I am sorry."
Better cemetery photos: Tombstone photography can be a nervewracking experience, especially if you are making a special visit to a distant cemetery and it's a cloudy day. This article gives some helpful tips on making the most of your lighting to get a clear-cut view of the headstone's lettering, even on an iffy day. I definitely appreciate the advice.
Any exciting news of your own? Share it in the comments, if you like. Enjoy the week!
Follow Friday: The Burgenland BunchPosted: April 16, 2010 Filed under: Genealogy | Tags: Austria, communities, Follow Friday Leave a comment
My mother-in-law's family emigrated to the United States from Austria in the 19th century; that much was certain. But the Germanic village names on a handwritten family fact sheet presented the spelling confusion that occurs when an American-born child or grandchild writes down what they hear.
In this case, it took only little bit of poking around to figure out that "Tahton" was actually the village of Tadten, and "Halbthurn or Holfturn" meant Halbturn. Both of these places are in the region of southeast Austria called the Burgenland, and isn't my mother-in-law lucky? The Burgenland Bunch has this area covered, and I mean covered.
The Burgenland Bunch is the brainchild of the late Gerry Berghold, who in 1996 started sharing tips by email with fellow Burgenlander researchers he met on AOL. The first official email newsletter came out in January 1997.
From a simple email newsletter the Burgenland Bunch has morphed into an organization whose extensive website includes archival material, surname query lists, maps and research tips. It has worked in an enthusiastic partnership with officials in present-day Burgenland — in fact, Gerry Berghold and several of the Bunch's staff were recognized by the Austrian government for their efforts in promoting knowledge and appreciation of the Burgenland.
Gerry Berghold grew and tended the Burgenland Bunch for a decade, retiring from the organization only a month before his death in 2008, five years after being diagnosed with cancer. The Burgenland Bunch goes on due to the efforts of 15 volunteers from the United States and Austria. It's a remarkable example of international genealogy cooperation, born out of an AOL email loop.
Who Do I Think I Am? The Nerve.Posted: April 15, 2010 Filed under: Genealogy | Tags: Rants and riffs, TV 6 Comments
Recently on the LinkedIn genealogy discussion group, a link popped up to a cranky commentary prompted by NBC's Who Do You Think You Are? Don't click through if you're feeling a bit cranky yourself. Suffice it to say that if this guy had a TV show, it would be called Why Should Anyone Care?
I'm not sure what gets certain backs up about genealogy. Years ago, at a party, I fell into a conversation with a woman who, like me, was tracing her family tree and happily addicted to the pastime. It being the B.A. Era (Before Ancestry.com), we were harmlessly discussing microfilms and NARA repositories when the woman's spouse came by to say hi. Upon realizing what we were talking about, he launched into a diatribe against genealogy hobbyists. He was pretty witty about it but, like, totally negative, you know? Wrecked our buzz big-time, I can tell you. His assumptions, as I recall, were:
1. Genealogy is elitist, practiced by snobs who are on a stuck-up quest for presidential and royal ancestors.
2. Genealogy is pointless, since the silly snobs will never find that royalty anyway.
3. People who are descended from nobodies, like himself, should be proud of who they are and stop the genealogy nonsense.
The conversation has stuck in my mind, not only because I wonder how that marriage turned out, but because Assumption #3 is so fascinatingly opposite of what I've found genealogy to be. See, I don't think I've got any kings or even any colorful Fenians in my tree. Never have. The ordinary people I find are more than enough for me. Especially since nobody's been looking out for their stories as historians have looked out for the kings, queens and presidents. (At least, not until pretty recently.)
Anti-genealogy sentiment is often driven by assumptions that it's an elitist pursuit. True, press coverage has a way of playing up this angle. (Hey! Didya see that Brooke Shields is descended from Henri IV of France?) Less covered, but more important, is how diverse genealogical studies have become. The immigrant experience is included, thanks very much — you can read specialized works on tracing Italian, Irish, Polish ancestry. Alex Haley's groundbreaking book Roots spurred a generation to study African-American genealogy. It's not all about European royalty.
And yet … If people do find kings and queens in their tree, that doesn't make them pathetic elitist snobs. It means they found somebody interesting. What are they supposed to do with these ancestors? Give them back?
Obviously I need my own TV show to process this. I think I'll call it What's It To You, Anyway?
Tombstone Tuesday: J. N. LynchPosted: April 13, 2010 Filed under: Genealogy | Tags: Tombstone Tuesday Leave a comment
JN [John Nelson] Lynch • Born Sept. 5, 1850 / Died June 6, 1917
[Rosanna Frances] his wife • Born Feb. 28, 1857 / Died May 1, 1928
Leitchfield, Grayson County, Ky.
Today I cross over to my husband's paternal side of the family, who, in contrast to my relatively recent immigrant ancestors, are Lynches descended from William Lynch, an 18th-century resident of Brunswick County, Va. William had an excitingly high number of children — 34 by one count. My husband and children descend from William's son Meredith.
Although I really enjoyed discussing genealogy with my late father-in-law, there's no way I could claim expertise on this family, which is a genealogical cottage industry in its own right. A fascinating book called "Our Lynch Line" (1975), compiled by Cecil Pryor, brings together an enormous amount of data and is in the holdings of the Family History Library.
This headstone belongs to John Nelson Lynch, my husband's great-grandfather, Sept. 5, 1860-June 6, 1917, and his wife, Rosanna Frances (Dennison), Feb. 28 1857-May 1, 1928. John Nelson was born in Washington County, Ky. but as an adult lived in Grayson County, where he farmed and taught school. He was also a Baptist preacher who rode from church to church on horseback, according to my father-in-law, who was four when John Nelson died.
I haven't yet visited this cemetery myself — the photo is from one of my sisters-in-law. Even several years ago when it was taken, the condition of the stone presented a challenge, so I wonder what the situation is now. At any rate, since I live pretty far away from this churchyard, I'm glad to have this photo.
Links, links: April 12, 2010Posted: April 12, 2010 Filed under: Genealogy Leave a comment
Oh noes, genealogy wrecked my family: The biggest news story for genealogists last week was doubtless the Warwick University study, in which researchers determined that probing into family history might tick off your relatives. Followup studies of genealogy enthusiasts uncovered reactions ranging from "Duh" to "Oh, wow, did I just yawn? Sorry!"
That second sentence? I made it up. But the results as reported did have a duh-worthy quality. Many of the issues cited are longstanding staples of genealogy forums — what to do when you find out that Great-Grandma married Great-Grandpa when she was two months pregnant, for example. Tact and empathy are always in order when a bombshell lands. In his amusing take at the Genealogue, Chris Dunham submits that the difficulties described in the study "are more about being unpleasant human beings than about making unpleasant discoveries." Which, I believe, nails it nicely.
Genealogy as tourist lure: Really? Roots-finding trips to Ireland are certainly a staple, so it can't be surprising that a five-star hotel in County Clare, Ireland has hired on-site genealogists to assist guests who are researching Irish roots. Rich American guests, probably. Hope they don't destroy family harmony while they're at it.
Replanting the online family tree: Dean at GenLighten talks about advances in public document citation online and ways in which they might lead to a new generation of online genealogy collaboration. I'm intrigued by the notion of a Wikipedia-style way of doing online trees. Online data sharing has been a blessing beyond doubt, but a mixed one. Who hasn't heard a complaint about bad data being unthinkingly cut and pasted and cut again? Increasing our ability to cite sound data is a good thing.
Have a great week, and don't go starting any family feuds, OK?


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Holiday Music
Season's greetings will be heard throughout Alpine's lodge with the time honored tradition of holiday music. Live music will add a little spirited jingle to the ski day, as the band sings old favorites and fun new classics in the day lodge.
Friday, December 23, 2011 - 2:00pm to 5:00pm
Alpine Bar

subset: commoncrawl


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In 2013, local sports teams made divisional victories and even history. Some of the highlights included:
New sport
The Clover Blue Eagles were the latest York County High School to field a lacrosse team with the sport making its debut in Memorial Stadium in February.
The first-ever storming the field in celebration of a 9-2 conquest of visiting Nation Ford.
Clover High is fielding boys and girls JV lacrosse teams in the schools debut season of a sport. This years team consisted of players from seventh through 10th grades. In the 2013-14 school year, Clover will add the 11th grade. The first varsity team will start in two years.
Team captains Riley Crysler, Dante Redfern and Griffin Bailey were all smiles after the win over Nation Ford.
Lacrosse is more fast-paced than soccer, said team captain and sophomore Riley Crysler. It has more of an offensive flow. I love the sport.
For those unfamiliar with lacrosse, coach Matt Lindner compares the international sport to basketball.
Interest in lacrosse is growing locally and across the state. Fort Mills state championship performance against J. L. Mann drew attention to the sport here in York County, said Carroll Hester, CHS athletic director. Lacrosse is a growing sport. There are a good many kids showing an interest in the sport and participating in club lacrosse.
Olympic High makes history
In 47 years, Olympic High School had never won a major sports state championship. Thats history now.
The Trojans basketball team held off Raleigh Broughton 56-53 for the N.C. 4A championship in March , ending nearly five decades of frustration.
It feels so good. All our hard work has paid off, going to the gym, to the weight room and just being together as a family, said Olympic senior point guard Jevon Patton. Man, 30-0. Thats something as you get older, you can get together and talk about.
I dont think it was nerves at all, Trojans coach Ty Baumgardner said, fighting back tears in the postgame media session. I think it was a combination of them going after (offensive rebounds) and us standing around and not blocking out and tracking the ball down. Free throw-wise, weve got some great shooters, but if you look at our free throw percentage as a team for the year, it wasnt that great.
Olympic worked to a 44-36 lead early in the fourth quarter, but Broughton point guard, an Appalachian State recruit, simply willed his team back into the game. He finished with 23 points, on 9-of-25 shooting, and had seven rebounds, six assists and two steals.
Devonte Graham scored 11 of his teams final 14 points. With about two minutes to play, he made his only 3-pointer of the game. That tied the score at 48, and Olympic needed to make free throws to win. The Trojans made eight of their final 10, including 6-for-6 from championship game MVP Deriece Parks (19 points) and CJ Jackson (17 points, four rebounds). Jackson made two with 20 seconds left for a 54-50 lead and two more with one second left for the final margin.
For the game, Parks and Jackson made 11-of-12 free throw attempts and 7-of-15 3-point attempts.
Olympics players made a big pile across from their bench. Everyones mouth seemed to come agape at the same time.
Their look said it all: We did it.
Finally. After 47 years.


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Dabe Alan
Call of Duty is making us dumb: how modern shooters are robbing us of skill
The problem with modern competitive first-person shooters, and I'm willing to accept debate about whether this is a problem, is that they're aimed squarely at the mass market. It can be difficult to jump into a game like Call of Duty or Halo and to enjoy yourself as a new player. If you're one of the generation of gamers who grew up playing games like Quake or Unreal Tournament, that was part of the joy. Each level was a chess board, and we all began with the same skills. You could pick up power-ups, and find the best weapons, but those upgrades were available to everyone, and we all knew where they were located. In fact, controlling those areas, and using them to predict the movements of your opponent, were incredibly important skills. You could get into their heads, know that they were going after the quad damage power up or the rocket launcher, and use that knowledge to move into position to take them out. The problem is that modern shooter design isn't used to increase your skill, but to make it easier to draw in new players, and to keep them playing. That's not a bad thing, but we're all losing our mechanical edge these days.
How shooters used to be played
Watch this video of an old match between Rapha and Cooller, and start at 2:45 if you want to skip to the game play. Listen to the player explain what he's doing and why, and pay attention to how well he understands the movements and reactions of his opponent. This isn't the sort of first-person shooting we're used to in modern days, it's much closer to a duel, or a game of chess. The analysis of the play is amazing, and that sort of strategy simply isn't possible in modern games to the extent that you saw in Quake.These days, that ability to read a map and out-shoot other players has been consumed by perks, leveling systems, weapons with splash damage, air drops, loadouts, armor abilities, you name it. All of these systems are designed to keep the play fair, while smoothing out skill levels so that a wide variety of players can pick up the game and enjoy it. Everyone is made to feel powerful at all times. There is always a way to get a kill, and players grind out levels and perfect their loadouts. "One of the things that Call of Duty does, and it's smart business, to a degree, is they compress the skill gap. And the way you compress the skill gap as a designer is you add a whole bunch of randomness," Tripwire President John Gibson said in an interview with PC Gamer. "A whole bunch of weaponry that doesn't require any skill to get kills. Random spawns, massive cone fire on your weapons. Lots of devices that can get kills with zero skill at all, and you know, it's kind of smart to compress your skill gap to a degree," he continued. "You don't want the elite players to destroy the new players so bad that new players can never get into the game and enjoy it." Gibson brought up something that I've heard from many people in the industry: the way that newer games reward the clever use of abilities and the time spent earning them over pure skill. "These guys, when I actually watch them play, they're actually very poor FPS players. And I don't think it's because they're incapable of getting good, I think it's because they never had to get good. They get enough kills in Call of Duty to feel like they're awesome, but they never really had to develop their FPS skills beyond that," he stated. The entire interview is worth reading, and is a fascinating look at someone who loves the classics, dealing with what people expect out of modern first-person shooters.
Quake would be rotten for microtransactions
As I said, this may not be a problem. More players than ever are buying first-person shooters, and they're enjoying them. The Call of Duty series is filled with fun games, and the Halo series remains enjoyable. We've traded our skill away for this sort of level playing field, however, and that's hard to take if you grew up valuing your abilities with a rail gun. The other aspect of this shift in first-person shooters is that it would be very hard to monetize Quake and Unreal Tournament. The levels were designed to be fair, the weapons balanced, and the power-ups added strategy to play, and they always existed in the same amounts in the same places. The only thing you'd gain after playing for ten hours was skill due to your practice. There were no levels to gain or powers that gave you an inherent advantage over others. This limits what you can sell a player. Publishers have long used bonus XP, weapons, abilities, and aesthetics to push more expensive collector's editions of games, and of course microstransactions in free-to-play games allow you to unlock weapons and abilities instantly instead of earning them through player. Compressing the skill gap is enormously profitable, and it's something we've come to expect. Anyone who designs a game like Quake is leaving money on the table. What's clear is that we're losing much of our mechanical skill at shooters. You simply don't have to be as quick, as precise, or as disciplined to excel at modern shooters. The best players are kept away from the new players anyway, and intricate matching systems make sure you're always somewhere in the middle of the pack. I won't even bring up the fact that most modern FPS titles are played on the console, with both a controller and varying amounts of aim assist so the player can hit their targets to begin at all. You still have to practice and learn the maps to excel, but the core skills are less important than they ever were. We're not as good as we used to be. This is something I hear from many in the competitive gaming world, and it's one of the major reasons first-person shooters simply aren't as interesting in a modern competitive setting. "Some people would argue that these games are twitch and not talent," MLG CEO Sundance DiGiovanni told me as reminisced about classic shooters, "but I'd argue that twitch is talent." I'd agree, and that talent is being eroded in the interests of a wider audience, more welcoming learning curve, and a bigger market.


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My elf haul :)
I had a few baked eyeshadows as well, but I gave them to my sister :) I got 50% off because everything I got was a best seller. I got 38 things for 45 dollars :)
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You're making me want to place an order of my own lol. Right now they have the brush set for $3 if you spend $30. Maybe I can get creative with my budget this week lol
by New Member on Feb. 22, 2013 at 8:22 AM
I just ordered for the brush set! I ordered eyeliner, lipstick, shimmer, etc. Let me know how the kabuki brush is as I ordered that as an extra too.
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Presenting: Catania's win over Udinese -- The Musical!
Whatever Rolando Maran said to his side during the interval must have brought out the performers hidden deep inside Catania. For the next 45 minutes, they put on a marvelous song and dance routine, very nearly eclipsing the dreadfully boring show put on during the first act. The rossazzurri did allow Udinese to sing a little song of their own, but for the most part, the home side hogged the spotlight.
Don't want a kiss, don't want a touch, just want a goal in for us
"Ale-Alejandro, Ale-Alejandro," you could almost hear Lucas Castro singing as he received the ball from Pablo Barrientos. Castro executed a lovely little hip shimmy, attracting the attention of Zeljko Brkic. The Udinese keeper, distracted by Castro's moves, didn't notice Alejandro Gomez appearing to his right. Castro slid the ball over, Gomez pounced and Catania had the lead in the 48th minute.
You know that I love you boy, hot like Argentines rejoice
The same trio took center stage again twenty minutes later, once again allowing Gomez his chance in the spotlight. Breaking forward, Castro slid the ball on to Barrientos, who continued racing up the right. It looked as though Pitu would have a go himself, but he pulled back to send to send the cross in to Gomez, who deftly headed it on.
The Argentine choreography was simply exquisite, with the three attackers perfectly in step. Barely a hair moved out of place during either routine.
Things got bad, and things got worse, I guess you know the tune
(performed by Udinese goalkeeper Zeljko Brkic)
Udinese had barely recovered from Gomez's second goal when Catania struck again. Gabriele Angella, apparently terrified of Castro by this point, hauled down the attacker, giving the elefanti a free kick. Brkic sized up his opposition, took up his position between the sticks, and pulled out his guitar. Slowly he began to strum, "Oh lord, stuck with old Lodi again."
Francesco Lodi took aim, causing Brkic to fling aside his guitar and lunge to his left. But the ball took a deflection off the Udinese wall, veering to the left. The keeper was unable to get back in time, and Catania were up 3-0.
All by myself ... don't wanna be ... ALL BY MYSELF ... anymore ...
With ten minutes left to play and Catania assured of victory, the home side elected to exit stage right, feeling their time would be better spent plotting next week's performance. This allowed Luis Muriel the opportunity to go on a great solo run, slipping by to rossazzurri defenders, nutmegging Nicola Legrottaglie, and scoring the only goal for Udinese.
Muriel, again left all on his own, tried to find a second just a minute later, but this time the Catania defense managed to remember what they were meant to be doing and blocked the shot.
Catania: Mariano Andújar; Pablo Álvarez, Giuseppe Bellusci, Nicola Legrottaglie, Giovanni Marchese; Francesco Lodi, Sergio Almirón (Marco Biagianti 79); Mariano Izco, Lucas Castro (Keko 92), Pablo Barrientos; Alejandro Gómez (Souleymane Doukara Doukara 89)
Udinese: Zeljko Brkic; Mehdi Benatia (Piotr Zielinski 87), Danilo, Gabriele Angella; Marco Faraoni (Matías Campos 59), Emmanuel Badu, Allan, Alexsander Merkel (Mathias Ranégie 79), Gabriel Silva; Roberto Pereyra; Luis Muriel
Goals: Gómez 48 (C), Gómez 67 (C), Lodi 71 (C), Muriel 81 (U)
Extra dramatic flair: Alessandro Potenza ejected from the bench (57)


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Monday, June 3
There is a LPS (Low Pressure System) over the NE U. S. with a cold front stretched South along the Atlantic Coastline. A secondary LPS is developing over the Central Plains with some High Pressure wedged between the to lows.
In The Tropics
There is an area of interest stretched from the Yucatan Peninsula, up to the Florida Straits.
For the First Alert Hurricane Blog and the latest information on the Tropics, follow this link to the First Alert Online Hurricane Center.
As a front moves away from our area, skies are still very cloudy with high humidity values. This front will continue to slowly move to the SE and away from Cenla. With this, drier air will begin to filter across the region this afternoon and through the next couple of days. This will bring our dew points up and moisture levels down. Nevertheless, Afternoon highs will still climb well into the lower90s under skies that will become mostly sunny.
Rain chances will go up after Wednesday as a system begins to approach the area from this LPS over the Central Plains.
For the rest of the day
Expect decreasing clouds becoming mostly sunny with low rain chances for the next couple of days. Highs today will climb well into the upper 80s with a light to moderate wind out of the North & East.
For the rest of the 7day planner
After a front finishes moving out of the area today, we will see a pleasant and cool feel overnight. Through midweek, expect plenty of sunshine. Late this week, Southerly winds will return and moisture will begin to be pumped into the area, from the GoM (Gulf of Mexico). Scattered showers and thunderstorms will last through the weekend.
TODAY...Mostly sunny skies with continued clearing. We will see Plenty of Sunshine and warm temps. Highs 86-92. NE wind 2-12mph.
MONDAY NIGHT...A fair
sky and cool. Lows 68-68. A light and variable wind.To stay ahead of the weather, you can download our weather
app and interactive radar onto your Andriod or Apple powered smart device by
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The city of St. Petersburg is still in talks with Major League baseball about the future of the Tampa Bay Rays, and things are not looking good with this stadium stalemate.
Mayor Bill Foster wrote a memo to council members saying Major League Baseball is not being cooperative.
READ: St Pete mayor's memo to city council (September 4,2013)
This season, the Tampa Bay Rays have been holding their own in the AL East, sprinting toward the post season.
But they struggle to draw large crowds at home, and it's coming to a head.
The team has a contract with St. Petersburg to play games at Tropicana field through 2027, but team owners have expressed interest in moving the team.
St Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster said he has been holding productive talks with the team about exploring other options around Tampa Bay.
But on Wednesday, he updated council members on the talks with Major League Baseball, and things don't look promising.
He wrote- 'Major League Baseball has no intention of assisting the city and Rays in reaching a mutually beneficial solution. Nor does Major League Baseball seem interested in a cooperative effort to keep the Rays in the Tampa Bay region for the long term.'
City council member Charlie Gerdes wants to keep the Rays in the Tampa Bay area for generations to enjoy, and he thinks Major League Baseball is losing sight of that.
Gerdes said, "That objective I think is getting lost in the near term, and that objective I think is getting lost in the near term problem of low attendance, revenue sharing from the other owners."
Gerdes add, "I think [the Rays' owner] has said publicly, and I take him at his word, he wants to find a way to make it work here. He's going to do everything he can to find a way to make it work here, and when I say 'here', I mean Tampa Bay."
The Tampa Bay Rays are currently in Anaheim, focused on the pennant race.
The team did release a statement saying, 'It is unfortunate and unproductive in so many ways that Mayor Foster chose now to publicly describe our conversations.'
Mayor foster did not speak to the media on Thursday. In his memo, Mayor Foster said he wants to continue talks to find an outcome that supports not only the team but his city.
Into Thursday night, people responded.
"I think that we are paying the price for what happened in other cities when teams were thinking of leaving and coming to St. Petersburg," said Rich Herrera, a host on 98.7 THE FAN who's covered baseball for years. "I worked at Candlestick Park. I knew how bad Candlestick Park was and I remember the day that the Giants were going to leave to come to St. Petersburg and how much it hurt that community and now you see where they are today."
Herrera doesn't believe the Bay area has hit that sense of urgency yet.
"What Mayor Foster is saying is - yeah true, baseball is looking at the people of the Bay area: 'show me a sense of urgency, show me you want this baseball club," Herrera said. "I think we'll see the Rays stay here. I think cooler heads will prevail, but there's going to be anger along the way. People are going to accuse the Rays of things. They're going to accuse baseball of things. The Rays are going to accuse the city of things and Major League Baseball's going to get upset. But I think eventually we get it done."
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text: we have had several days of temperatures in the mid to low 20s and below, followed by a high of 43 and rainy yesterday, rain last night and up to 68 today. when I went down to the shed it looked like there had been a monsoon in there. All the tools in the tool box were wet, there was water on the sides of the cubs, and in puddles under them. The H even had trails of water across the floor from all the condensation. I see this problem a couple times a year, but this is the worst I have ever seen it.


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An Answer Called Cheap Loans with A Low Interest Rate
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In 1980, Tineke, who is originally from the Netherlands,
travelled overland to India and Nepal as part of a trip around the world.
She had heard very little of Auroville, and yet, on her way to Sri Lanka
she stopped by, just for five days..
Special place, special people
I remember, when walking into Auroville, that some of the people struck me with an incredible light radiating from their eyes, and I knew these people were special. Later I learned that they were Aurovilians, and then I knew this place was special too. After a visit to the Ashram in Pondicherry, a change happened deep within me and I knew Auroville was where I wanted to stay..
Getting into greenwork
After a few days in 'Fraternity' guesthouse, I moved to the Success settlement adjacent to Forecomers where I got involved in afforestation work, a cause close to my heart. At that time hardly any women were involved in 'greenwork'. It was a challenging time, from working physically on the land to fighting off village 'goondas' during the period of the early-years hostility between Auroville and the SAS (Sri Aurobindo Society).
Center Guest House
I first returned to Holland for a visit some two years later. When I came back to Auroville I house-sat for some time before the opportunity came to manage the Center Guest House. In those days the guesthouse didn't have many rooms, but throughout the years it has grown. Today we are expanding again, adding eight more rooms in the coming year to be already existing 15.
True challenge!
My partner Silvano (from Italy) and I try to create an atmosphere in the guesthouse that is homelike and friendly, where everyone is treated as family. Guests can be themselves here and often come back to stay with us, again and again.
We like to be transparent in the way we run the
guesthouse. The work requires a full time commitment- no free Sundays..!
It helps that we, the three Aurovilian staff members, know five languages
amongst each other, and although there are moments when I feel totally
stressed and need to get away from it all, most of the time this work
IS my get-away.. In it I find all that I need for my inner progress,
and more: peace, warm contacts, loyal workers..
What I would like to see realised in Auroville is Aurovilians trusting each other more, and ourselves as well.
Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com
|Auroville Universal Township


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The Bismarck State College Aquatic Center will soon be under new ownership.
This week the park board decided to purchase the facility and end its current lease with Streamline.
Every five years under the lease, the park district can decide whether or not to buy the facility and they said now is the right time.
Bismarck Parks and Rec Finance Director Augie Ternes says there should be no changes in the operation and BSC students will still have access to the facility.
"I think with the Park District owning that, we can make various improvements to the facility with the programs and the operation of the Aquatic Center," says Augie Ternes, Finance Director for Bismarck Parks and Rec.
Ternes also says they've seen a 16 percent increase in revenue from 2011 to 2012.
They hope to continue to see the facility being used more by members and for different events.
Evangelist Franklin Graham prayed on a sidewalk outside the Pentagon Thursday after his invitation to a prayer service inside was withdrawn because of comments that insulted people of other religions. More>>


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Who has the best chance of winning in Brazil?
Aston Villa currently top of the Costly Injuries table with 43.5% of overall squad value sidelined...
The record of teams who qualified after playing 120 mins in the previous round versus teams who qualified after 90 minutes is W12 L31.
24 of 117 World Cup 2014 goals have been scored by subs so far (21%). In the Top 5 European leagues last season the figure was 11%
The average time of the last match goal at World Cup 2014 is now up to 67th minute - in 2010 it was 59
Bayern Munich didn't spend much time trailing last season - they only fell behind 10 times. Yet when they did they bounced back 80% of the time.
Which players score the most importat goals for their clubs?View Data Widget


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As an employer, you need to be aware that your workers will at some point in their lifetime seek some days off work by handing in some free doctors notes. These excuses will come in the form of doctors' notes. Beware that some of them may not be genuine even though everything may be done to make sure that they appear real.
You must be concerned with time to time presentations of doctors' notes from your workers. Since it would be tough to identify fake doctors' excuses, you may be forced to make use of some tips below just to verify whether they are actually ill or have from time and again been enjoying days off work through the use of fake notes.
You expect a doctor's note from your employee only when he is sick. So, you need to checkout for any lingering signs of the illness stated in the document. If you find out that there is nothing to show that the employee is sick, you should start questioning it.
A doctors excuse form should also be having verifiable telephone numbers. You as the employer will use these numbers to call the doctor just to confirm that he is the one who wrote and signed the note. In many cases, you will realize that the document does not come from the doctor.


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Westwinds Beach House in Clearwater Beach
- bedrooms 4
- baths 3½
- sleeps 10
- pool yes
- hot tub no
- pets allowed yes
- type House
- community
rates (USD)
/ week
vacation rental description
Remarkable Caribbean style four bedrooms, three and one half bathroom home in a gated Gulf front community, located just south of Clearwater Beach in the beautiful town of Indian Rocks Beach.
The open floor plan features great room with French doors to the terrace, island kitchen has two breakfast bars, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, gas range top, two wall ovens, built in microwave, wine cooler and a walk in pantry.
The master bedroom offers French doors to a covered terrace, two walk in custom closets, double sinks, tub and separate walk in shower. There is a "master bedroom" on the lower level of the home containing two queen beds; on the upper level there is a master bedroom containing a king bed, a bedroom containing a queen bed and the remaining bedroom which contains two twin beds. The downstairs "master" bedroom features French doors to the heated splash pool.
Indian Rocks Beach is a barrier island one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, where dolphins are a regular sight from the shore. It is an unspoiled vacation destination for travelers seeking adventure and unsurpassed natural beauty. This is a truly private vacation getaway yet you are just minutes away from boating, fishing, diving, snorkeling, surfing, parasailing, museums, tennis, golf, playground/parks and nature walks as well as great restaurants serving locally caught fresh Florida seafood.
A perfect vacation place to enjoy island life in a luxurious setting.
vacation rental location
property availability
- dates with deals
- unavailable dates
Last modified on 01-15-2013 at 6:52 PM.
email owner view full calendar
house rental amenities
Within walking distance are shops and great restaurants. There is a large grocery store within a five-minute drive. The City of Tampa offers great museums, shopping and theme parks. Orlando is only a one and a half hour drive.
activities and attractions in Clearwater Beach Gulf Coast Central
You are just minutes away from boating, fishing, diving, snorkeling, surfing, parasailing, museums, tennis, golf, playground/parks and nature walks; a wealth of activities to choose from.
vacation rental rates
Rates from low season $2999 to high season $4900 /wk
(rent subject to 12% tax)
Pet deposit $200.00 (non refundable)
End of term cleaning fee $350.00
Reservation deposit $500.00 per rental week
Minimum 7 night rental
accepted payment methods
Prior to paying a reservation deposit, always verify payment instructions by calling the phone number displayed on this listing page. By contacting the owner directly and paying by an approved method - credit card, paypal, check or bank transfer - your reservation payment will be protected up to $1,000.Learn more in our Security Center


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Reusable Bamboo Utensil Set (kit) by To-Go Ware SKU: Kit3utensil
To-Go Ware's reusable bamboo utensil set will help you cut down on plastic while eating off of a non-toxic surface. These eco-friendly and non-toxic utensils are made from 100% natural bamboo. This reusable flatware set includes a fork, knife and spoon.
- Bamboo utensils are heat and stain resistant
- Will not impart or absorb flavors
- Utensils are lightweight, strong and long lasting
- The bamboo utensils are hand finished with a top grade natural, food-safe, vegan wood oil to further ensure their durability
About To-Go Ware
To-Go Ware's mission is to make available innovative products that provide a solution, tell a great story, and are enjoyable to use. To-Go Ware seeks to stimulate positive practices for the way people live in relationship with themselves, their neighbors and the planet. They hope to empower people to participate in the process of changing the world they live in by providing them the tools to do so.more »
About MightyNest
We make it easy for families to create a healthy home. Each of our 1000+ products has been thoroughly researched to be free of concerning chemicals, and hand-picked for its quality and design. With products for the whole family, ranging from kitchenware to reusable lunch gear to skincare, it is truly better living made easy.


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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - The end of the government shutdown is good news for some, but locals are not happy with another temporary fix.
The vote to restart the government and avoid default only delays potential problems and sets up new deadlines to avoid a repeat.
Mahoning county commissioner Carol Rimedio-Righetti says that not what the people want.
"This idea that they're putting on a band aid and they think we should praise them is not happening, at least not in our world," Rimedio-Righetti said.
At the Youngstown Air Reserve Station, the restart means that flight crews can again have fuel and supplies to put their aircraft back in the air. But it's only temporary, and the 910th Airlift Wing will be waiting to see what happens as the next funding deadline approaches.
It's the same situation for programs like the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority, which for the fist time last month hit 100 percent occupancy for it's 1,200 rentals. The executive director says the next budget and funding deadline is a major concern.
"We're good till the end of the year, there's not a problem with that, but looking into the future we have some questions of what will occur," said YMHA Director Carmeita Douglas.
Others say there's another group of people who are going to bear the real burden.
"The sad part is we're just passing higher debt and liability down to the younger generation. I fell sorry for the people 25 and under and what they're going to inherit," said Ron Maketa, a retiree and military veteran.
Others say those in Washington need to remember they were elected to do what is best for the people.


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Christopher Walken's Most Family–Friendly Roles
Christopher Walken has always possessed an intensity that has lent itself well to heavy films like At Close Range and King of New York. His newest film, Kill The Irishman, is no exception, casting the veteran actor as a hardened mob boss. Yet a perusal of Walken's impressive resume also reveals a surprising trend in the actor's oeuvre: his penchant for family–friendly children's fare. He may have been terrifying in Sleepy Hollow, but the kids sure do seem to love Walken. In case you're lookin for lighter fare this weekend, Street takes you through Walken's most precious roles.
Puss in Boots (1988)
Christopher made his debut in kid flicks after proving himself as an actor in a few real downers (see: The Deer Hunter). Walken stars as the titular cat, who possesses a pair of magical boots that make him appear human whenever he puts them on. At least he stars as the human incarnation of Puss in Boots — we're pretty sure the cat version was played by a cat.
Mousehunt (1997)
Maybe getting recognized on the street by children didn't amuse Walken, because his next foray into family–fare was almost a decade later and much less cuddly. Walken's persona is put to good use in this surprisingly dark children's comedy, wherein he is cast as a sadistic exterminator who meets his match in the havoc–wreaking mouse of the title.
The Country Bears (2002)
Despite having to act opposite people in bear costumes, it was Walken who managed to be nominated for a Razzie in this universally–panned flop. But since his role was that of a greedy banker who conspires against an all–bear musical band, Walken should have seen this one coming.
Kangaroo Jack (2003)
Once again channeling his villainous presence, Walken stars as a mob boss who tries to trick his stepson into paying for his own execution by charging him to deliver a mysterious box with money inside. This might sound like a serious subject for a children's film, but rest assured; the film's plot is driven by the pursuit of a kangaroo across the Australian Outback who wears a red sweatshirt and sunglasses.
Hairspray (2007)
Finally acting alongside an all–human cast, Walken shines as the father of Tracy Turnblad, an overweight dancer with dreams of stardom in this musical remake of John Waters' 1988 cult classic. Armed with a pair of dancing shoes and a fit partner in John Travolta (in drag, playing Tracy's mother), Walken shows off his storied dancing skills to an audience of all ages.
Tags: 03.24.2011, christopher walken, hairspray, john waters
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A wall of dust engulfed parts of the valley Thursday.
Take a look at the video -- SkyFOX was over the storm which began in Casa Grande, but then moved northwest towards parts of Laveen and then to Glendale.
There was a blowing dust advisory that expired around 7 p.m.
The storm also brought some gusty winds as it moved through.
WTTG FOX 5 & myfoxdc5151 Wisconsin Ave. NWWashington, DC 20016Main Number: (202) 244-5151Newsroom: (202) firstname.lastname@example.com


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Our cabin was spacious,the bathrooms and closets are good size. The route was fantastic with enough stop time at each port to explorer and have a good time. The ship is old and need some renovation it is however in a good shape but no WOW factors. Most of the carpet is old, stained and need to be replaced. The complimentary washers and dryers was a nice touch.
Temperature is kept very cold in most of the ship and in middle of summer, most women had their sweaters on. Complaining to staff about the temperature did not help.Our first dinner was at the Signature restaurant, it was kept so cold that we couldn't enjoy our meal. Prime 7 restaurant was however kept at normal temperature and food was superb! and service was excellent. We also went to Compass Rose restaurant 3 times, first 2 times, we got good food and service, the third night service was slow and food was tasteless.
The excursions are handled/managed poorly. They get everybody out in the bottom of the ship and you have to wait in long lines to get numbers and assignment. This is the worst experience I have had in terms of getting on any excursion. They could easily assigned different time to different activities to prevent the bottle neck and the chaos.
I am not impressed with the entertainment, I have seen much better in Celebrity or even Carnival ships.
House keeping is fantastic, our butler and the 2 guys that maintain our room do a great job.Fresh linen every day.
Overall when I compare this experience with the 2 cruises I took with the Celebrity Cruise line, I must say with Celebrity, we got better experience for a lot less money.


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There is a killer drug sweeping Clark County, but instead of back alley drug deals users are getting it from the pharmacy. According to the Clark County coroner, a drug designed to help addicts has claimed more lives than heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine.
More than 80 people in Clark County died from an overdose of methadone last year. And so far this year's numbers suggest more of the same.
A mother first brought it to the I-Team's attention when she wrote to us about the loss of her son. She hoped his death may help to save someone else's child.
These are Kristine Conger's screams recorded by a 911 operator moments after discovering her son, Matthew, cold in the bathroom:
"I reached for him, I reached for him and he was stiff. And I tried to pull on him and it was like he pulled back and I don't even know what happened. I wrapped myself. I was on the back of the toilet and I just took him to the ground and he was gone, he was gone, gone.
According to the Clark County coroner, Matthew died from an overdose of methadone, a drug most commonly known as a treatment for heroin addicts. But Matthew didn't use heroin and wasn't in treatment.
None of it made any sense to Kristine until she found something in his back pack a month after he died. "It's so hard to take in, because it wasn't him. It so wasn't him. I don't know why he took the methadone," she said.
Matthew had been getting high on prescription drugs that weren't his. Kristine suspects a patient at the Adelson Clinic illegally provided the methadone to her son. Whoever diverted the drug took care to cover their tracks.
Though patients in treatment take the majority of their methadone on site, every clinic in the valley is closed on Sunday, so federal and state regulations allow addicts a take home dose.
Lisa Jones is the bureau chief of the state agency that licenses methadone clinics. "Obviously, it's always a concern and in the situation you just described, there's no repairing that loss. But the system is really targeted at being aware of all of the potential pitfalls, recognizing that they occur and trying to put the pieces in place to prevent that from happening."
Despite that national research suggests methadone diversion is on the rise, not only from treatment centers, but from private physicians who prescribe the drug for pain. A state epidemiologist found of 156 methadone deaths in Clark County and only 13 were patients of a drug treatment facility. The rest either had a prescription or got it illegally, like Matthew.
Kristine Conger said, "The clinics, the professionals should be held accountable, whether it's obtained legally or illegally, for the deaths that are happening."
State licensing officials plan to investigate Matthew's overdose.
It's little comfort to Kristine, who lost her only child to a death. "Matthew was a good kid and he didn't know, he didn't know. I lost him and I would die a thousand times just for him to be living."
Matthew was one of those 80 people in Clark County who died last year from an overdose of methadone.
After initially agreeing to an interview with the I-Team, the Adelson Clinic cancelled it and decided not to comment.
Thursday at 5 p.m., the I-Team will look at the rise in methadone prescriptions and the corresponding increase in deaths.
E-mail your comments to Investigative Reporter Colleen McCarty.


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---- — Kids raised on white bread, fast food and sweets are not going to be thrilled by school lunches featuring whole wheat, salads and fruit. That's the crux of the reason some schools are now dropping out of the $11 billion National School Lunch Program.
It's not a mass exodus, by any means, but some school districts are opting out of the program because, they say, kids aren't eating what it now requires. Officials in Catlin, Ill., told the Associated Press that they saw a 10 to 12 percent drop in lunch purchases, amounting to $30,000, last year.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines for school lunches have come in response to a childhood obesity epidemic and other health concerns. Comfort-food lunches that were served in school cafeterias for years — meatloaf with gravy, buttered corn, white rolls and frosted cake, among other staples — were loaded with calories, sodium and starches.
You can't blame the schools. That food was served by families at home. Government programs supplied it, and it could be produced in mass quantities at a reasonable cost. But it wasn't doing kids much good.
Consuming a better balance of nutrients, less sugar and sodium, reasonable portions and less processed food is healthy for anyone — especially children who are forming habits that will determine their longevity, not to mention our future health care costs. So, the government is wise in forcing schools to serve more fruits, vegetables, whole-grain foods and snacks like granola bars.
Schools that give up the lunch program take a big financial risk in turning down reimbursements of about 30 cents for each full-priced lunch, and $2.50 to $3 for each free or reduced-price lunch. Instead, schools and local health departments should continue to educate students and families about proper nutrition. Cafeteria workers should make the new foods as appealing as possible.
And parents must buy into the emphasis on nutrition. If they can encourage their children to eat these better foods at school — and stock their own cupboards with healthier choices — they will do everyone in their family a service.
— Plattsburgh (N.Y.) Press-Republican


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Product Summary:
Brushed and polished silver mingle in graceful harmony with sparkling stones in the Bling and Buckle ring. Elegant and wearable, this exquisite piece beautifully captures the essence of the equestrian spirit. Handcrafted by the artisans at Kelly Herd, long-celebrated designer of fine Western jewelry.
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· Quality .925 sterling silver
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· Adds a special equestrian flair to any look
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Raymour & Flanigan Furniture Inc - Distribution Center7230 Morgan Rd, Liverpool, NY 13090
(315) 453-2500
Raymour & Flanigan offers the Northeasts largest selection of brand name home furnishings. Shop Raymour & Flanigan Furniture for sofas, mattresses, beds, leather furniture, kids bedrooms and dining room sets. We have something to suit every style and budget with delivery in 3 days or less.


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Progress for Liam
@progressonline – a great source of ideas in the labour party. Well worth a follow—
Liam Byrne (@LiamByrneMP) June 14, 2012
They gave Liam Byrne a punishment beating. The Labour left demanded his head on a platter, so Ed removed him from his policy role. Now they want the Blairite Progress faction outlawed.
Whatever could Liam mean by this tweet?


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For the third year in succession Visual Productions from the Netherlands will be exhibiting at Prolight+Sound 2007.
Visual Productions is the company behind the lighting control software VisualDMX. This software is aimed primarily at light jockeys, live events, clubs, and bars for both live and pre-programmed control for intelligent and conventional fixtures. The hardware interfaces that Visual Productions produces make the software applicable for both freelancers and installation projects to consider.
VisualDMX will be controlling the lights on their stand using the latest software release, demonstrating new features, and highlighting the intuitiveness of VisualTouch, the touch screen interface.
Alongside demonstrations of the latest version of current software, Visual Productions will be launching a new software lighting control product called Canvix. This is ideal for use with the current trend of lighting products and LED fixtures.


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About the AuthorJosephine Herrick Project (RTP)
connollybrit 64 Fulton Street, New York, NY Suite 905
We are a non for profit that focuses in helping those without a voice communicate and express themselves artistically in their community and in society.
Publish Date March 13, 2013
Dimensions Small Square 42 pgs Standard Paper
Category Nonprofits & Fundraising
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text: A Few of Lil's Favorite Things: February A Few of Lil's Favorite Things: February by POPSUGAR Moms 2/01/08 0 Reactions 0 Shares Print 0 0 0 0 0 February's a fun-filled month for families with the Super Bowl, Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year. So whether you are looking for a celebratory gift for your lil one or are in need of some retail therapy, here are a few of our favorite things. Source Baby Emi Anklet What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Babe can have bells near her toes with these delicate silver anklets ($40). A Cambodian tradition, the jingle bells are said to ward off bad spirits. And, keep mommy aware of her lil one's whereabouts. 1 / 5 Cake Clutch What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Have your cake and baby too! The sassy black velvet on tan clutch ($105) by Petunia Picklebottom has gold-tone hardware, a wristlet strap and everything you need for changing your lil one. Perks include diaper wipes dispenser, a pacifier pocket and a detachable changing pad. 2 / 5 Books to Bed What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 A sweet way to say goodnight to the lil one in your life, the Books to Bed sets ($42) come with a bedtime story and coordinating pajamas. The list of reads include, "Guess How Much I Love You," "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom," and "Ella The Elephant." 3 / 5 California Calming Shampoo and Bodywash What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 This gentle organic body wash ($18) comes in a pump dispenser that allows easy access while scrubbing kids in the tub. It won't irritate babe's eyes and can be used on cradle cap and eczema. 4 / 5 Yoga Pretzels What's Your Reaction? 0 0 0 0 0 0 Fifty fun ways to keep kids calm, this box of cards $15 has activities that keep families focused on bending, stretching, breathing and balancing. 6 / 5 0 0 0 0 0 Read More Hot Kids ItemsFebruaryMust Haves Link Love Mom forced to stop feeding baby homemade formula — BabyCenter Blog The easiest ways to save on organic food — The Stir A look inside Fergie's second baby shower — Celebrity Baby Scoop Danielle Jonas debuts her baby bump — People Moms & Babies 7 light and fresh recipes to take you through Summer — FitPregnancy Does where you live affect your risk for PPD? — The Bump Where to find the best deals on school supplies — Real Simple Now this is how you announce a pregnancy! — HuffPost Parents


text: Photos of Xavier Samuel by POPSUGAR Celebrity 10/30/09 0 Reactions 0 Shares Print 0 0 0 0 0 Previous Photo 1 of 13 View on One Page Next 1 Photos of Xavier Samuel Read More Xavier Samuel Xavier Samuel Naomi Watts Breaks From Award Season to Kick Off Sundance 1/19/13 Naomi Watts and Robin Wright Hit the Beach in Bikinis 2/17/12 Xavier Samuel Tells a Twilight Mistaken Identity Tale and Talks About Anonymous 10/07/11 Rhys Ifans, Jamie Campbell Bower, and Xavier Samuel Present Anonymous to the Toronto Crowd 9/12/11 Robert, Kristen, and Taylor — See All the Pictures of the Twilight Stars Inside the MTV Movie Awards! 6/06/11 Blake, Cameron, Jason, and the Twilight Gang Celebrate in the Movie Awards Press Room 6/06/11 Get a Personalized Celebrity & Entertainment Newsletter! Help us customize your newsletter by selecting your interests (optional): Movies A Listers TV Young Hollywood Link Love Nicole Kidman gets candid about her personal life — Us Weekly Jon Voight is "very happy" about his new son-in-law, Brad Pitt — People Kendall Jenner denies texting at the VMAs — HuffPost Celebrity Selena Gomez lands in Canada with Justin Bieber — Lainey Gossip Alicia Silverstone's Lifetime-movie character has an awful wig — Dlisted Jennifer Aniston admits to drinking breast milk — ET Is this why Britney Spears and her boyfriend broke up? — Pink Is the New Blog Wentworth Miller looks as hot as ever — JustJared You must see Ed Sheeran as little orphan Annie — BuzzFeed Ice T's wife, Coco, hits the beach in a thong — The Superficial Kim Kardashian doesn't want to be Beyoncé's friend anymore — PopBytes Alessandra Ambrosio is red hot in Venice — Hollywood Tuna Latest


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Meeting Minutes - October 22, 2008
9:30AM Commuter Lounge, Memorial Union
Kathleen O'Connell, President
Barbara Smith, Advisor
Old Business
1. Barbara Denaro sent us an e-mail indicating that the 2008 Holiday Sharing Program will be focused more on necessities for older children, like clean, lightly used coats and mittens, rather than gifts for younger children. Along with CNTSP, we are offering the Commuter Lounge as a drop-off point.
2. Kat appeared at the Student Government financing meeting this week and they were kind enough to approve the funds to pay for the lunches for Nontraditional Students Week. All advertising materials for this week and the Live 'N' Learn series will need to include Student Government, Inc. as a sponsor.
3. The movie for the Family Movie & Pizza Night was changed by the supplier (as sometimes happens). This also changed the date, so we will be showing "Wall E" on October 30. The Bangor Room was already reserved by Kappa Delta Phi, so we reserved the Bumps Room, but the big screen in the Bangor Room is preferred, so Barbara Smith asked if we could switch with them and they were gracious enough to make the trade.
Meeting adjourned at 10AM. Minutes submitted by Kat O'Connell


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By SUZANNE MOORE
---- — PLATTSBURGH — Ann Witt was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years probation in connection with prescription medication fraud.
The former licensed practical nurse, who worked at CVPH Medical Center, obtained more than 1,500 pills of Hydrocodone and Xanax from pharmacies in and around Plattsburgh, according to Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman's office.
Originally charged with second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and second-degree forgery, both felonies, as well as seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, she recently pleaded guilty to second-degree forgery, a felony, by way of a Superior Court Information.
Witt, who was sentenced in Clinton County Court by Judge Patrick McGill, waived her right to appeal the conviction and surrendered her nurse's license.
"Prescription drug abuse is an epidemic that must be stopped," Schneiderman said in a statement.
"(This) sentence sends a clear message that medical professionals who use their position to break the law and put innocent patients in harm's way by abusing drugs will be held accountable."
From about August 2010 through February 2011, Witt obtained blank but signed prescriptions from doctors at the Plattsburgh hospital, saying they were for patients, the release said. She then forged them to include her own name, the type of drugs and quantity and had them filled at area pharmacies.
The attorney general said the method, which allowed her to obtain controlled substances at various drug stores in a short period of time, "is an example of what the newly enacted Internet System for Tracking Overprescribing (I-STOP) was intended to prevent.
"The ... legislation will crack down on abuses like doctor shopping and prescription forgeries by creating an online database to report and track certain controlled substances in real time."
The aim, the release said, is to "arm medical professionals with the necessary data to, among other things, identify patterns of abuse by patients, doctors and pharmacists, help those who suffer from crippling addictions and prevent potential addiction before it starts."
The case was investigated by Michael Connelly under the supervision of Supervising Special Investigator Dianne Tuffey and Deputy Chief of Investigations Ted Fisher and Deputy Chief of Investigations Milton Branch, along with the assistance of Deborah Stewart, director of risk management at CVPH.
Prosecution was handled by the Albany Regional Office of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Office of the Attorney General. Erin Lynch represented the People under the supervision of Regional Director Kathleen A. Boland, Fraud Control Unit Director Monica Hickey Martin and Executive Deputy Attorney General Kelly Donovan.
Email Suzanne Moore:


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The new season of UFC's The Ultimate Fighter kicked off last weekend and was overall a very solid start to the year. Coaches Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen were interesting, but more to the point, the UFC also brought a different feel to the show from a production standpoint. Many comparisons have been made to the stellar HBO 24/7 series, and that's a good thing. Now, teams are chosen and we're ready to move into the house and let the real season get underway.
Can The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen build on the momentum of last week with another solid episode? Find out tonight. Tonight's episode of TUF airs on FX at 9 p.m. ET. As you watch, join us here at Bloody Elbow for live discussion.
And in case you missed last week's episode, get caught up here with our recap, plus TUF contestant Josh Samman's Bloody Elbow blog on his experience:
- The Ultimate Fighter 17 debut recap: Jon Jones meets Chael Sonnen and other highlights
- The Ultimate Fighter: Josh Samman breaks down episode one
See you tonight for The Ultimate Fighter!


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Latest presentations and materials
I'm still at a conference in San Francisco, but I thought I'd post up the links to my last two presentations. These links are both on Github and include an HTML-based slide deck and demos. The JavaScript Lab one will be pretty useless probably without me presenting it, but the IndexedDB one has a set of demos that slowly build up. I think these could be useful for folks looking for some simple examples of the technology.
For folks interested in learning about IndexedDB, I'll be giving the same presentation online via Adobe TechLive on February 28th. Details here.
(Note: Opinions expressed in this article and its replies are the opinions of their respective authors and not those of DZone, Inc.)


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The following is a message from real-democracy.gr:
Videos of the eviction here.
The Square is Us and We Are Everywhere
After 60 days of occupation, Greek police forcefully evicted the protest camp at Syntagma Square in Athens. This is the defiant reaction of the protesters.
Like thieves, who fear the people's outcry and public shame, police forces entered the square at 4:00 AM.
The district attorney and work crews of the Municipality of Athens invaded the square and began a wholesale destruction and removal of tents and the infrastructure of the various work groups of the square. They took 13 people into custody, 8 of which are now considered arrests.
We condemn the ban on communication of lawyers with those held at the police station in Omonoia. (For this reason, there is no clear picture of the number of arrestees or who they are).
Activists who were present in resistance to the annihilation of the square, saved what material they could and took videos of what was happening, scenes which make it plain that we are living under a cowardly democracy and a justice system that functions on the basis of the law of the jungle.
Let them realise the obvious truth:
The square is all of us, thousands of ordinary people who stand up to a cynical, antipopular, antidemocratic, corrupt economic and political status quo. A status quo, that in desperation, facing its own failure, is trying to save itself in any way possible.
We will not become its victims.
We do not fear, we do not submit.
We inform them that they are fooling themselves if they think that "cleaning" and making a fortress of Syntagma square, they will protect themselves. There are tens of squares now all over Athens, with their own general assemblies, hundreds of squares all over Greece. We are in every neighborhood, along with every citizen of this country.
We are the millions of society set against a handful of a corrupt and subservient minority who try to pretend they have strength by using the police, mercenaries of the power elite.
We are everywhere.
Whatever they do they cannot makes us leave. The streets and the squares, like jobs, productive structures, the wealth of this country and our rights belong to us. They are not for sale. We will continue to demand their return to the people.
We have said it before and we say it again:
We will not leave until they do.
Everyone at Syntagma Square today Saturday 30th of July at 6:00 PM.
The terrorism of this dictatorial goverment, the IMF and memorandum, shall not pass.
You do not scare us. You infuriate us.
We continue the fight peacefully, with determination and creativity.


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The foreclosure abuse settlement that was intended to speed relief to homeowners is ending as it began: with controversy and complaints that the program isn't working.Read more
On Tuesday, some of the first people to receive payouts under the $9.2 billion deal between federal regulators and the mortgage industry called into a government hotline to report that their bank would not cash their check, the Federal Reserve announced in a press release. Though the unspecified problem was resolved, the Federal Reserve noted, the episode is likely to further erode confidence in a program that has failed to deliver on almost every promise made by federal regulators.
... Late last week, regulators announced that the first batch of payments were on their way. Most of these checks are small, with payouts averaging less than $1,000. A small number of borrowers, mostly military personnel who were improperly foreclosed on, will receive checks for the maximum amount of $125,000.


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Reload the page and try again.
It depends on the season. It rains most of the year and the heat of August, September and October is horrible!!
Guys & Girls:
There's variety... from ugly nerds, to good looking and responsible, to completely-hot-but-no-brain guys and the same for girls.
Greek Life:
There are no sororities or fraternities that I know of.
There are a couple of computer labs but nor many printers (and they are mostly out of service). The WiFi SUCKS! It is slow and the signal is just terrible. You can only register your tablet and laptop; no Android, iPhone or iPod allowed.
Parking permit cost is $5 (2013). You definitely need a car to get to campus or take the public bus. The availability of spots is terrible (you'll only find a spot easily if you arrive before 8am).
Local Atmosphere:
The atmosphere is pretty good (way better than the campus life). A lot of shopping places and the movies are just a few meters away
Off-Campus Dining:
There's definitely no student discount but the variety is great!!Longhorn, Chili's, Famous Dave, ColdStone, Churrasco Factory, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Wendys, Fudruckers, El Meson, Ponderosa, Taco Bell, Sushi place, Subway, McDonalds, etc..
It makes me depressed to see how this campus life is. It is not united. The "campus feeling" a lot of people want does not exist here.
Campus Dining:
We just have 1 dinning hall and 2 other small places to eat (a cafe and a place for snacks and pizza)
There's no special study option; no masters offered; not a variety of programs. Though we finish our grades really fast.
We just have 2 classrooms with design tables. The curriculum is poor as the internships opportunities. The workload depends on the professor.
Campus Strictness:
I haven't seen any altercation regarding the students and the academics .
Health & Safety:
We receive an email almost every week about a laptop or purse stolen and some car that had its window broke.
There aren't a lot of Internships offered for my Interior Design Associate Grade.
I'm doing an Associate Grade in Interior Design and I've been hearing since i started in in 2012 that we would have the opportunity to start a Bachelor Degree by the 2013 fall semester. That didn't happen... this grade leaves a lot to be desired
This campus is completely diverse in every aspect. We don't judge by race, religion or sexual orientation. We are very welcoming.
Fafsa said I was supposed to receive a good amount of financial aid and my financial officer said I couldn't receive anything because of my house income (according to them I could pay for collage even if my dad had been unemployed for more than 6 months).My financial officer never received me in her office, we would always talk in the front counter where everybody in the waiting area could hear. I definitely hated the financial aid process.
Off-Campus Housing:
The apartments tend to be expensive but the security is worth it and the shopping area has variety.
There isn't any transportation available. Just our own cars
Sports in this university is good but definitely can be improve.
The quater system proves to be very useful to make the degrees in a much shorter time with more intense course study and very convenient for trasnfer programs to other UPR campuses.
Drug Safety:
I barely see anyone doing drugs and i've seen no alcohol inside campus yet there are a lot of activities where people hang out and have some drinks.
Sports at UPR Carolina are in progress but need better facilities.
First of all the university is not responsible if something happen to your car. Second if you don't arrive at least one hour to get the good parking if not then your stuck with the worst kind of all. Best way to get there is that you hitch a ride with someone or the bus for the safety of your car.
Off-Campus Dining:
Fast Food – Fast food are what you can mostly find on a walking distance from the university Here we have from a gran variety of hamburgers, tacos and burrito, to your classic foot long sandwich. My favorite place just have to be Starbucks and Taco Maker, though their a bit expensive its the nearest one to the campus.
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world news
- Roof collapse kills dozens in Poland
A roof on an exhibition hall has collapsed killing at least 60 people. A number of foreigners and… 29/01/06 09:01 CET
- Finnish presidential race too close to call
Millions of Finns are going to the polls for a second time this month to elect a president. It is a… 29/01/06 09:01 CET
- Hanonen re-elected as Finnish president
Finland's left-leaning President Tarja Halonen has won a second six-year term in a run-off vote… 29/01/06 09:01 CET
- Poles mourn dead in Katowicz
Rescuers combing through the ruins of the collapsed exhibition centre in Chorzow, Poland, have… 29/01/06 08:01 CET
- Olmert calls for international Hamas boycott
Israel's interim prime minister has urged the international community to shun any Hamas-led… 29/01/06 08:01 CET
- Hopes fade for survivors in Polish roof collapse
Hopes are fading fast for the chances of survival for those still trapped in the collapsed… 29/01/06 02:01 CET
- More grandstanding as Saddam trial resumes
The trial of Saddam Hussein and seven other co-accused has resumed in Baghdad. New judge Raouf… 29/01/06 02:01 CET
- Israel warns Hamas to change its ways
In the first meeting of the Israeli cabinet since Hamas's victory in the Palestinian elections the… 29/01/06 02:01 CET


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- Jun 14:
- 9:00 p.m.: Firefighters 'turned the corner' on Humboldt Fire
- Humboldt Fire tops state's priorities
- Jun 13:
- 10 p.m.: Officials assess damage of Humboldt Fire
- Humboldt Fire items
- Animals rescued from fire, too
- Butte College converted to fire base; flames reach campus
- Flames race toward Paradise: Residents scramble to leave ridge under evacuation orders
- Tired firefighters protected homes
- Fire elicits varied emotions among residents on Honey Run Road
- Jun 12:
- Power back on for most of Paradise
- Pet evacuations continue, cash needed
- 9:45 p.m.: Humboldt Fire doubled Thursday; homes destroyed, evacuations ordered
- Humboldt fire grows to 6,000 acres
- Jun 11:
- Center taking small pets
- Paradise watching fire to the north
- 9:30 p.m.: Residents evacuated; fight against fire continues through night — Photos
Flames raced through neighborhoods on either side of the town limits in south Paradise Thursday afternoon, taking homes on several streets around Neal and Wayland roads.
The fire later moved about four miles down Clark Road, reportedly destroying a few homes in Butte Valley, just north of Butte College.
- E-R FIRE PHOTOS (376 Photos - Updated: 10:50 p.m.)
- SUBMIT your photos of the fire
- VIEW user submitted photos of the fire
- MAP showing approximate location of fire (5:45 p.m.)
- ROAD CLOSURE info from Public Works
A ring of flames singed the perimeter of the campus much of Thursday night, but no buildings were damaged.
Durham Pentz Road was closed, but the fire was held to the north side of the roadway.
Late Friday night, officials said nearly 23,000 acres had burned. The number of structures destroyed, most believed to be homes, stood at 52.
The cost of fighting the fire was estimated at more than $1.2 million Friday night. The figure doesn't include losses to private and public property.
At least 2,500 firefighters and just under 400 engines were on the lines Friday, with personnel coming from as far away as Nevada and San Diego.
While containment on the fire only rose from 15 percent Thursday to 16 percent Friday, Cal Fire-Butte County spokeswoman Janet Upton said some good progress was made.
Doe Mill Ridge was the exception, where several flare-ups Friday pushed flames into unburned vegetation. The activity prompted a voluntary evacuation order for Centerville Road above Cable Bridge Drive.
Upton said it was hoped down-canyon winds, expected Friday night, would push the flames back toward a burned area.
Evacuation orders remained in place Friday for Paradise residents living east of Clark Road, below Pearson Road. Residents east of Clark were allowed to return home, reducing the number of estimated evacuees from a high yesterday of about 9,000 people.
More than 4,200 structures in the Paradise area remained threatened by the fire Friday, along with an estimated 800 commercial buildings, according to state officials.
While some media reported the death of an elderly woman in upper Paradise Thursday as fire related, officials said the connection between her death from an apparent heart attack and an evacuation order was tenuous. The woman reportedly lived 10 miles from the fire area.
Five firefighters have suffered minor injuries since Wednesday, and the command vehicle for one was heavily damaged Thursday by flames at Indian Valley and Neal roads.
Several roads, including Clark and Durham-Pentz, were opened Friday to two-way traffic. The Skyway was also opened, but conditions forced it to close intermittently.
Neal and Honey Run roads remained closed throughout Friday.
The Humboldt Fire started around noon Wednesday just south of Old Humboldt Road. A two-acre fire when the first crew arrived, it grew to 6,000 acres by nightfall.
The destructive blaze prompted a massive public and private effort that saw several shelters opened for evacuees Thursday and Friday in Chico and Paradise.
Some hotels, as well as health clubs, churches and a high school, were offering free beds and food. Several organizations activated plans to rescue and shelter evacuated animals, and care for displaced people with special needs. Businesses around Chico donated food and other necessities.
Enloe Medical Center activated nurses and social workers to provide services for evacuees at the Neighborhood Church and Pleasant Valley High School in Chico.
Enloe also provided two ambulances and a van to transport evacuees, and delivered 39 hospital beds to a Chico rehabilitation center, which took in patients from an evacuated facility in Paradise.
Staff writer Greg Welter can be reached at 896-7768 or email@example.com.


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Think Your Encoding Job is Tough? Every Netflix 'Watch Instantly' Video is Encoded over 100 Times
Netflix is undeniably a bargain for consumers. The variety of content it features is immense, even though instant viewing choices fluctuate somewhat frustratingly — but don't expect the average consumer to be understanding about the rather ugly licensing problems that cause this. It's hard to argue with the price, despite Netflix's problems. The removal of its native social component, splitting DVD/streaming subscriptions, its sensory overload/option paralysis layout, and its lame payouts to creators are all issues to take with the service. That said, anyone who appreciates the engineering behind modern content delivery can respect Netflix's ease of viewing — possible via multi-device integration, and, more vitally, the number of encodings each video must undergo for that famous 'instant view' ability.
Support for almost 1,000 devices is certainly a key facet of Netflix's internet-based On Demand fluidity — that's true "On Demand." But what goes on in the background for each and every such device including your computer (and each and every piece of media), is really the lifeblood of what makes the Netflix engine tick. Netflix has recently shared some explanation of this, with props to Gigaom for their subsequent write-up.
It's a fairly straightforward concept that video on YouTube, for instance, must be encoded for each of the resolution options available for your manual selection — but theoretically, only that many encodings are necessary. Netflix, on the other hand, simply can't leave you waiting on the buffer to give you uninterupted viewing, a luxury YouTube may have, because viewers may be patient for the sake of guaranteed quality.
Netflix has to just work — and to do so, the service must almost instantaneously (the feature is called 'Watch Intantly,' after all) and automatically gauge things like latency and bandwidth of your connection, assumedly each time you demand a 'play' (if not more often). Then, without missing a beat, the service starts feeding whatever-quality version of the media in question your connection can take, and no higher, to work as seamlessly as changing a TV channel or the On Demand your cable provider brings you. Even with all this in mind, though, 120 discrete encodings is simply staggering — but Netflix wouldn't implement specifications for this many separate versions of the same thing if it didn't find doing so a necessity. Streamlining is the name of this game, and even with a trimming-the-fat mentality, quality control considerations are, reassuringly, governing such a workflow.
Furthermore — as Gigaom also highlights — content creators who can provide media optimized to this model are primed to make out with more cash at the end of a deal:
Frequently Netflix finds itself looking for opportunities to grow its streaming catalogs quickly with budget dollars that have not yet been allocated. Increasingly the Netflix deal teams are considering the effectiveness of a content owner's delivery abilities when making those spending decisions. Simply put, content owners who can deliver quickly and without error are getting more licensing revenue from Netflix.
Does this information surprise you? Thinking about it, would you expect a service like Netflix to use quite this many encodings — or perhaps even more? Do you think this is a strong gesture for a balance between quality and 'watch it now' considerations?
Link: Complexity In The Digital Supply Chain — Netflix Tech Blog
[via Gigaom]
We're all here for the same reason: to better ourselves as writers, directors, cinematographers, producers, photographers... whatever our creative pursuit. Criticism is valuable as long as it is constructive, but personal attacks are grounds for deletion; you don't have to agree with us to learn something. We're all here to help each other, so thank you for adding to the conversation!
Great article, Dave!
As someone who encodes live video on a daily basis, I have indeed always been curious as to just how many copies Netflix had encoded of its content. Its main base content, to my understanding, has always been VC-1 for its Silverlight player, but then one must consider the PS3′s unique ability (or rather, privilege) to get 1080p content from Netflix, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's delivered in AVC, purely on the basis of the PS3′s more flexible AVC decoder.
The implication in Netflix's content agreements seems to be that if you can provide your content in as many formats as possible, you can cut costs from Netflix's encoding services. I'm genuinely intrigued as to what their encoding specs are, simply from the perspective of someone who is always delivering multiple video formats…
marklondon on 12.19.12 @ 1:00AM
Me too. It does some nifty uprezzing on the fly once it has bufferred enough.
I work for an encoding house that encodes media from a few major studios and delivers the content to several streaming VOD services; one of whom is Netflix.
Even I didn't know the number of encodes Netflix requires.
In case anyone is wondering, it works like this:
We get an order from a studio who works out a deal with a VOD provider. We ingest their media (whether it be from HDCAM-SR tape, Digibeta, or .mov file on a hard drive, etc), capture it at ProRes 422 (HQ), it goes through one and sometimes two quality control checks (i.e. two different people watch the same movie and check for errors), then it goes to the fix department to repair any issues found during QC, on to Conformance to sync up the CC file and/or add any 5.1 audio or subtitles that may have been missing, on to Encoding should the file need to be converted to another format (usually it does, to several different formats), then to Packaging who prepare the metadata (all the info on the VOD provider's site about the film: actors, director, synopsis, run time, release date, etc), then to a final Audit team who checks all the previous departments' work.
All of the work is then itemized by Accounting and billed for accordingly.
Yikes! A very complicated process when I step back and look at it.
Wow. I was getting grumpy about having to wait for one render/encode so I could upload to youtube yesterday.
Now… not so bad!
I have to wonder how one gets such a job. ; )
Nick Seaney on 12.19.12 @ 5:22PM
Lol. Craigslist of all places! Luckily I don't have to deal with all the tedious encoding. I get to fix the errors with FCP 7 :)
DIYFilmSchool on 12.19.12 @ 10:28AM
I don't use Netflix; never really have, but I have done quite a bit of encoding for various projects and to hear that this has to be done over 1000 times to meet market demand and device standards, I have pity and compassion for the people tending to such a thing.
Hopefully they have a batch system in place per format; that would make things a little less labor-intensive. Of course, with the technical knowledge one would have to have for a gig like this, I can't imagine someone wouldn't have brought that up at the company.
While I appreciate the work that goes into producing live-streaming content, as the end consumer, it is irrelevant to me how many encodings or processes go into the final streamed movie or TV episode. Ironically, this little animation about all the steps it takes to get to streamed content, and all the "quality control" that goes on just makes me wonder why so much of Netflix' content looks so unbelievably awful when I'm streaming through a cable connection on a hi-def TV, much of it virtually unwatchable.
Maybe a problem with your connection? O.O
Brad on 12.22.12 @ 2:19PM
Nope, def not a problem with the connection as I've watched Netflix not just on my cable-internet system, but through friends systems' too.
anyone got any idea how PPTV does it ? – their steaming is byfar the best and totally instant streaming to my ipad. it's a Chinese movie streaming program ( mostly Chinese movies and Chinese tv ) streaming service for free but the quality is totally off the charts – even when viewed on the big flat screen on the wall – it still holds up very nicely.. and virtually no buffering at all. like none… I'd love to know more bout how they do it. nothing on any platform come even close to it. the app is only in Chinese which I cannot read though :( only bumma thing about it.
Can you guys in other countries find that app on your itunes stores?