text:
767 comments found
Is there specific documentation for getting products incorporated using WooCommerce on this theme? Not sure where to start.
Hi, for Mural and any other theme you just need to install the WooCommerce plugin. I recommend reading the official WooCommerce plugin documentation: http://wcdocs.woothemes.com/category/user-guide/getting-started/
The theme doesn't change anything about the plugin, it only integrates and blends its design into the theme, in other words, WooCommerce always works the same way regardless of the theme that is activated.
Best regards
Cool, thanks.
can check my cetegory page? -> http://18.104.22.168/category/sma-1/
how can i make the sidebar become to the left. And how can i change the layout for the post view?
Hi, from looking at the category page I see that you've already changed it to the Masonry template.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Best regards
sorry.. ignore my last question…. =P
same page http://220.127.116.11/category/sma-1/
i use masonry template for the blog layout. But how can i show sidebar on the left?
and currently each post showing full body text which i think its not nice how can i make my post shows only excerpt of the post?
Hi, I ignored your last question too late
Unfortunately you can't show a sidebar with the masonry template, it doesn't support it I'm afraid.
Regarding the excerpt I see that you've managed to sort it out.
Best regards
How do I make the social media links open in a new window?
Hi, try adding the following code to the Custom Scripts field in the Theme options panel:
jQuery(document).ready(function() {
jQuery('.widget-social-container li a').each(function(){
jQuery(this).attr('target', '_blank');
Best regards
Thanks! This theme and it's SUPPORT are the best I've seen!!!
Hi, I have added a left aligned image to my page using the shortcode. How do I make that image a link to another page URL ? I have tried adding the normal href wording but the image disappears.
I forgot to add that the left aligned image is within an info box.
Thanks for the new update, the site is displaying on my iPhone properly!
Hi Melinda, replied to your question in the comment below.
Best regards
I though I figured it out but what I need is a combination of a left aligned and custom URL destination image shortcode. Can I do that?
Hi, you can use the theme [image] shortcode to create an image that links to another page, here's an example:
[image img="http://edge.unispheredesign.com/wp-content/uploads/placeholders/210x125.jpg" url="http://www.google.com" lightbox="false" alt="title"/]
Best regards
Hi, Awesome theme! The coolest I've seen on ThemeForest so far. However, on activation, I am getting the errors as noted below. I have tried installing it multiple times with the same result. The site is hosted on PHP 5 .3.9 – any ideas?
Warning: fopen(): Filename cannot be empty in D:\Sites\xxxx\xxxx2012test.com.au\home\wp-content\themes\mural\functions.php on line 140 Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in D:\Sites\xxxx\xxxx2012test.com.au\home\wp-content\themes\mural\functions.php on line 151 Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in D:\Sites\xxxx\xxxx2012test.com.au\home\wp-content\themes\mural\functions.php on line 151 Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in D:\Sites\xxxx\xxxx2012test.com.au\home\wp-content\themes\mural\functions.php on line 151 Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in D:\Sites\xxxxxxxx2012test.com.au\home\wp-content\themes\mural\functions.php on line 151 Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in D:\Sites\xxxx\xxxx2012test.com.au\home\wp-content\themes\mural\functions.php on line 151
Hi, are you able to email me admin access to your WP installation so that I can take a proper look? I can see that you are hosting WP on Windows, right?
Best regards
I've been purchasing this theme every time I use it. Is there a way to change the identity from Mural to me so clients don't know it's a purchased theme? Example: shortcodes, updates, icons, etc?
And is this ok to do?
Hi, yes it's ok to do
First you should edit the file style.css and change the info at the top to anything you like. Then you should edit the functions.php file and change the following contact values:
define( 'UNISPHERE_THEMENAME', 'Mural' ); // The theme name
define( 'UNISPHERE_THEMESHORTNAME', 'mural' ); // The theme short name
define( 'UNISPHERE_THEMEOPTIONS', 'mural' ); // The theme database option variable
Careful changing these values, keep them to one word only (no spaces).
Then you are left with the theme icon that you can change in /library/admin/images/theme_icon.png
Best regards
Wow, much appreciated!!!
Hi, is there an easy way to make a full width blog post in Mural? (note: post, not page)
Hi, yes it's very easy, just edit your post and replace the main sidebar with an empty sidebar, see screenshot: http://www.evernote.com/shard/s235/sh/2d59bf0b-b980-44b0-b16d-3f8b2815cf94/e1d4a1fa904c54d0838949a591ee2a0d
Best regards
Hi,It's not a "true" full width. There're some empty spaces beside the video box. How to make it a "true" full width post? https://dl.dropbox.com/u/84453831/ScreenShot150.jpg
Hi, add the following code to the Custom CSS field in the Theme Options panel:
.blog-detail-page .format-video .post-title { margin-left: 0!important; }
.blog-detail-page .format-video .post-left-wrapper { display: none!important; }
.blog-detail-page .format-video .post-right-wrapper { width: 100%!important; }
Now make sure that you edit the post and set the post as format as "Video" in order for the above CSS to take effect.
Best regards
Thanks a lot, it's working. Really great support.
One more question With Show the "Tweet" button?, Show the Facebook "Like" button?, Show the "Google Plus" button? options checked, is it possible to show the tweeter / facebook / google+ button? Let's say below the bottom right corner of the video? (previously it was shown at the left side of the video)
Hi, unfortunately no because in order for the video to be full-width with the changes I provided earlier, the left element that contained the meta information and social media share needs to be hidden I'm afraid.
Best regards
Hi Wonderful, Flexible and just plain amazing theme,
I want to remove the hover effect on the images on my homepage
Thank you so much!
Hi, glad you like the theme
Could you post a link to your home page so that I can take a proper look?
Best regards
Hi, site is starting to look good, good job
Instead of removing the hover effect from the portfolio images on the home page I would recommend using [image] shortcodes instead to place an image and give it a destination URL when clicked (and you can stack them side by side using any of the column shortcodes available on the theme).
Here's an example of an image that follows a link when clicked:
[image img="http://path_to_your_image.jpg" url="http://www.google.com" lightbox="false" alt="title"/]
Best regards
Is there a way to change the text that shortcodes put in?
Example – Call to Action Button says: Mural, for WordPress
I want to change it to something more generic. Thanks!
Hi, when you add a shortcode using the built-in shortcode manager you are able to change any of the default text in the shortcode parameters, they are there just for demo purposes.
For example, the following call to action shortcode can have any text you like:
[call_to_action_big title="Mural, for WordPress" excerpt="Do you want to make a lasting impression with your website?
Mural is your new theme, you just don't know it yet." buttonText="Download the Theme ?" buttonUrl="#" buttonNewWindow="true" buttonType="fancy" buttonCorners="rounded" /]
Best regards
I'm hoping to change the demo so when people use them I can have sample text there. Make sense?
Hi, it makes sense now
You should take a look at the file /js/shortcode_plugin.js and replace any strings you'd like.
Best regards
Hopefully this is a simple question: For the toggle shortcode, is there a way to make any of them 'open' by default instead of closed? Thanks!
Hi, yes it is possible, just set the parameter open="true".
Best regards
Thank you!
Hi, for some reason now my posts show just the "blog" name on the "Sub-Header Bar", instead of each post's name? any ideas:
Hi, that's correct and it's the default behavior for the blog section (as you can see in the theme demo). If you want to change the sub-header title for a particular post detail page you can edit the post and on the "Mural Post Settings" override the sub-title in the "Sub-header bar" toggle.
Best regards
Also when I set a post "Sticky" it doesn't stay on top when I add a new post.
Any ideas?http://www.dinogomez.com/blogpost/
Hi, the blog pages on Mural display a certain number of categories you choose in the blog page, this enables you to have any number of independent blog pages as you want. It happens that WordPress has a limitation, the sticky posts don't work when you filter by one or more categories in a query and that's what's happening.
I don't know if there are any plugins that counter this but I would bet some developer had this issue in any other theme and maybe created a plugin.
Best regards
Is it possible to define the width of a slider? For example if wanted to have a slider on the left and a form to the right or left of it can I set up the slider to be custom to fit the width I need?
Hey buddy, I'm afraid not, what you can do though is select to display a description to the left of the slider item and then try adding your form to this description.
Best regards
The form is created with a shortcode. Can I insert a shortcode in there?
Hi, yes you can
Can I make the width of the description box wider?
Hey buddy, please post a link to your site so that I can try and provide you with a custom CSS to fit the form.
Best regards
Hi, I'm receiving the following warnings from Google, can you please help?
hfeed hentry Warning: At least one field must be set for HatomEntry. Warning: Missing required field "entry-title". Warning: Missing required field "updated". Warning: Missing required hCard "author".
Hi, keep in mind that those are just warnings and won't have a major impact on your site. I've never worked with Google's Rich Snippets, in fact, it's the first time I've heard about them.
To disable those warnings try editing the content-single.php and look for the 4 occurrences of the following line (shortened for demo purposes):

...

Replace them with:

...

Also find the 3 occurrences of the following code:

Replace them with:

Finally find the 3 occurrences of the following code:
<abbr class="published-time"
Replace them with:
<abbr class="published-time updated"
Keep in mind that you may need to implement these changes in other files that start with "content-XXXX.php"
Best regards
I replaced the code on ALL contentXXX files to no avail???
Take a look here: http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets
and here: http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=99170
Hi, I've just tested a single post in your site using the Rich Snippets tool and there are no warnings, it seems to be working, take a look: http://bit.ly/Uray5A
Best regards
Posts work fine, but please try the homepage.
Hi, I don't think that Google service is for home pages since on the home page you don't usually have blog entries (hentry) and author information.
Best regards
hi Thank you for the continued support! Beautiful theme, we want to set up 2-blog pages I know we can use one of the archived categories, but wanted access to the templates, any way to assign a blog page template to a category like normal but not have it assiged as the posts page under the reading settings?
Hi, with Mural you can have any number of independent blog pages. To do that you just need to create pages, assign them one of the blog templates and choose what categories should be displayed in that particular blog page (you can and should completely ignore the "posts page" under "Settings » Reading"), see screenshot: http://www.evernote.com/shard/s235/sh/7698daee-0366-45ac-91ee-dd41bd7fd4e7/fffccd056b74bb50338008097253557c
Best regards
At http://paperblazer.com/ ... The video loads in the slider, but if you click another link, then return to the home page, it won't load. Even refreshing the page doesn't work.
This has happened on different computers….
Please help.
Hi, I can't reproduce the error, tried with all major browsers on my mac and it works everytime. Have you managed to solve it? If not, please post complete instructions on how to reproduce the error, what link do you click on, etc.
Best regards
Every time I try, I get the error—both in Chrome and Safari. After I click a link, the slider doesn't load. There's a huge blank space where the slider should be.
I'm using a Mac.
Hi, I can see the issue in Chrome but I haven't been able to replicate it in my local installation. I've setup a slider with a Youtube video as the first item and it displays perfectly everytime.
I believe this may be caused by some plugin that you have installed so my advice is to disable plugins one by one and test it.
A last resort would be to force the Youtube video to load as flash but it wouldn't display in iOS devices.
Best regards
You can see it in Chrome?
The issue has to do with the "auto play."
I removed all plugins, and that did nothing. However, when I turned off auto play, then the error went away.
Is there a way to fix that? It'd be nice to go back to the main page and have the slider auto play.
Hi, yes I can see it in chrome, the strange thing is I can't replicate the error in my development installation, it just works.
Are you able to email me admin access to your site so that I can try and hack a solution?
Best regards
Hi, as a 'breeze'-fan i was waiting for the 'responsive update'. But it seems tablet & smartphone sales in my region are booming, so i cannot wait longer. Therefore i'm willing to switch to mural. Although, my services are mainly videobased, i want to play them smooth. I watched the vimeo and youtube videos on mural with a android-tablet and experienced strange videoflicks-stutters (same problem in breeze), and it ain't not lagging or connexion related. The html5-player (sublimeplayer): no problem, nice smooth play. No problem on some other video-blogs or sites. So it only happens with vimeo and youtube movies (prettyphoto?). Is there a possible fix for this, i'll buy mural?
Hey buddy, in Mural the Vimeo and Youtube videos use their official API , there's nothing different from any other site. I've tested the videos on my brother's Android phone (mid-range 2.3.1) and I can't see any problems with it, and even if I did I wouldn't know where to start changing code because there's not much code to change, the videos are just iFrames for the HTML5 video player.
Have you tried with different tablets?
Best regards


text:
Super High Me - Part 1
- Gabriel23
- uploaded: Mar 16, 2010
- Hits: 1058
Super High Me documents the comedian Doug Benson avoiding alcohol and cannabis for a cleansing period of 30 days , and then smoking and otherwise consuming cannabis every day for 30 days in a row.
Benson said that the conception of the film originated with a joke in his stand-up act, asking, "If there's a movie called Super Size Me about a guy who ate McDonald's every day, why couldn't there be this movie called Super High Me, where I smoke pot every day?" He shared the joke with friend and filmmaker Michael Blieden, who saw potential in producing a film.
The film also includes interviews with marijuana activists, dispensary owners, politicians and patients who are part of the medical marijuana movement.
3 comments
Shibbydougy March 17, 2010 12:23:59 AM CET
I wasn't too impressed with the documentary to be honest... And before anyone says anything I am in a position to make a comment on this issue! ;) If you want something less glorified for TV yet rather more authentic viewing, then try to watch any of the Cannabis Cup videos. Plenty on GoogleVideo or Youtube!!
Gloomylunatic March 16, 2010 10:17:57 PM CET
good video......the OG kush is the best keep that in mind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TheDuck March 16, 2010 7:22:41 PM CET
Seen before, this rules man, if you smoke then it'll make you wanna roll one up!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Military Sites and Battle Studies
Recommended Battlefield Sites
Battlefield sites are national or local parks that have been formed to remind us of pivotal battles in our past. Many of them are well worth a visit; here's where you can recommend those you've visited.
American Battlefield Protection Program
From the National Park Service, a description of their program on protecting battlefield sites. Includes a good range of lesson plans in addition.
Battlefields Trust
A site dedicated to the preservation of battlefields, specifically those of the English Civil War.
An electronic discussion list on military archaeology and military architecture.
Military Artifacts of Spanish Florida
A pictorial Internet museum of buttons and other military paraphenalia from 1650-1821.
NPS Battlefield Archaeology
The US National Park Service maintains several Civil War battlefield sites, including Manassas, Petersburg, and Monocacy. This site describes the ongoing investigations.
Battlefield Archaeology
Battlefield archaeology is the archaeological investigations of the sites of military battles.


text:
In Stock
Made from a mixture of nubuck, suede, synthetic material and volcanic ash from a remote Hawaiian island, the mythical Lakai Vincent skate shoes are not for mere mortals. Don't underestimate them due to their low profile, for the Vincent shoes provide excellent comfort and support with their EVA sockliner and padded collar and tongue. Moreover, their seamless, perforated toe cap allows you to become one with your board and keeps your feet cool by providing ventilation. If you want a shoe that came from the fires of Hawaii and is touched by the old gods, you must buy Lakai Vincent skate shoes.


text:
STERLINGTON, La., (KNOE 8 News) - Sterlington Police Chief Barry Bonner says that, acting on an anonymous tip, they have arrested a fugitive from West Union, Iowa.
28-year-old Curtis Williams, wanted for 1st degree kidnapping and 1st degree burglary in Iowa, was found hiding in a closet.
He'd apparently come to Sterlington to visit friends, who apparently gave the police permission to search, during which he was discovered and taken into custody without incident.
Williams was taken to OCC where he is awaiting extradition back to Iowa.


text:
Showing for only the third time solo on the fashion week schedule, Michael van der Ham made a big leap forward on the journey from rising star to established name with his spring collection.
Already known for his love of collaged colours and textures, he'd refined his technique and broadened his interpretation of it, so that although the patchwork of fabrics was there the emphasis was on more simple pieces and on great prints, made to look like torn pieces of patterned paper..
Block colour cigarette pants, cream in the front and pink at the back, were paired with colourful silk blouses. silk blouse. Pencil skirts were made from block colour wrapped with beautiful scarf-like printed silk and teamed with textured T-shirts, and the paint splattered, metallic foil printed trousers are sure to be a next-season must-have. As for the dresses they spanned the spectrum from beautifully cut, simple shapes covered with perfectly placed panels of print to more complicated, layered pieces wrapped toga-like with different fabrics. And, with ever a magpie-like eye for a great accessory, we're keeping our fingers crossed that the colorful, sparkly bags will be going into production
The collection was fresh and elegant, cool, grown-up and incredibly polished. And we suspect that Michael will have won over a new army of fans with it too.


text:
Donald L. Evans
Died: April 15, 2013
WASHINGTON-Donald L. Evans, 67, of Washington, IL died at 12:28 AM Monday, April 15, 2013 at OSF Richard L. Owens Hospice Home in Peoria, IL after a short and courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.\\n\\nBorn on November 27, 1945 in Aurora, IL to Robert J. and Alice M. (Wittry) Evans, he married Margaret Lucille "Lucie" DeVous on August 12, 1972 in Ridgway, IL. She survives.\\n\\nAlso surviving are one son, Patrick Evans of Hudson;two daughters, Kristin (Mike) Techmanski of Bloomington and Jill (Anthony) La Penna of Chicago;two brothers, James (Sue) Evans of Aurora and Ronald Evans of Sugar Grove and his stepmother Lorraine Evans of Plainfield. Don was also a devoted grandfather to his grandchildren: Sylvia, Jonas, and Maeve Techmanski and Xavier La Penna. He was preceded in death by his parents and one sister, Mary.\\n\\nDon was a US Army Veteran serving during the Vietnam War.\\n\\nHe thoroughly enjoyed his career at Caterpillar, Inc. for 37 years where he worked in management positions at the Aurora and Davenport, IA plants, retiring from the Mossville CAT facility as Logistics Manager in 2003. His dedication brought him back to CAT as a consultant for almost four additional years.\\n\\nDon was an active member of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Washington where he served as an usher. He was also a member of the Knights of Columbus Father John Menco Council #6707, the 4th Degree Knights of Columbus Spalding Assembly, and the VFW Post #9016 in Washington. Don enjoyed golfing and fishing with all of his many friends and family and "running the roads" with Lucie and the kids. \\n\\nA Funeral Mass will be at 11:00 AM Friday, April 19, 2013 at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Washington. Visitation will be from 5-7 PM Thursday, April 18, 2013 at Deiters Funeral Home &Crematory in Washington with recitation of the Rosary at 6:45. Additional visitation will be one half hour prior to mass at the church on Friday. Burial will be at Glendale Cemetery in Washington where military rites will be accorded.\\n\\n


text:
(forgot?) or Register
Hypho-o is a plugin that automatically can hyphenate your articles, pages and comments
Download Version 1.0.0
Requires: 2.9 or higher
Compatible up to: 3.0.5
Last Updated: 2010-9-9
Downloads: 1,371
Got something to say? Need help?
0 people say it works.
0 people say it's broken.
Log in to vote.


text:
We work with the Ruislip Chamber of Commerce to improve the High Street, while trying to maintain its character.
Father Christmas will be visiting his grotto in John Sanders between 11.30am and 5pm. Come and see.
Let him know what you would like to see under your Christmas tree this year!
We will have some small children's rides and Carol Singers around the High Street, with the Brownies from around 11am and the Cadet band from about 1.30pm.
The much loved Children's Treasure Hunt is returning again this year and will be on-going throughout the day between 10am and 5pm, where the Children will have to walk around the High Street to find items in shop windows in the hope of winning one of our super prizes. There will also be the opportunity to guess the number of toys in a Playmobil giant figure. This year Father Christmas has to find the 14 Gold stars which are missing from the night sky.
Talking about the night sky, this will be lit up by the festive lights along the High Street from dusk.
Ruislip Chamber of Commerce


text:
Lebih Baik Miskin Asal Bahagia_Shitta De...
by Peter N. 12,900 KB | 2010-01-15 | MPEG Audio Stream |
Send Ringtone to Mobile
www.anginsurga.eu memiliki album dari Shitta Devi penasaran? Angin Surga ahli lagu2 jaman dulu.
Share Add to my account
Is owner
View only
Upload & Edit
Members may only view items in this folder.
Members may view, add, edit and delete items in this folder.
Checked by McAfee. No virus detected.
0 comments Add new comment
Download all files from this folder
Download folder as:
This file will be created in your 4shared folder
File name:
Zip as:
What is B1?
Remove Ads x
Show QR Code
More files...


text:
Videos > Madison Parker > Dark haired babe Madison Parker gets too hot to handle wanting to play solo
Twistys At Twistys you are guaranteed to have access to videos of the hottest stars in the industry. With daily video updates, over 1 million scorching photos, and more girls than u can shake your dick at, you wont know what to fap off to first!
Featured Pornstars:
- Madison Parker


text:
December 16, 2010
This month the U.S. and the U.N. Security Council must choose: Will they hold accountable major perpetrators of continued atrocities in the Congo or collaborate with them to put the blame on a few guilty but minor scapegoats and some innocent people who are guilty only of challenging the major offenders?
September 13, 2010
On the fifth anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Gulf Coast residents are still trying to rebuild their lives after years of broken promises and government neglect. The Gulf Coast Civic Works Act to provide hundreds of thousands of jobs languishes in Congress. Affordable housing eludes both survivors and those displaced by the storm.
August 4, 2010
The liberation of Congo requires that people in countries that profit from Congo's wealth stand in solidarity with those who rightfully own it. As Lumumba once famously said, "Free and liberated people from every corner of the world will always be found at the side of the Congolese."


text:
Celebrity Plastic Fan calls Avb a muppet
Kevin Pietersen the English middle-order batsman and one time captain of the team call Andre Villas-Boas a muppet on twitter. Says he wont last even 6 months compared to SAF's 25 yrs. Another interesting incident invloving KPs outspoken-ness is as follows- On Englands cricket tour of India some years back,he called an Indian cricketer Yuvraj a pie-chucker. Result-Yuvraj ran away as man of the series scoring 3 tons in 5 games and claiming KPs wicket 4 times,3 of those when he was in single digits. Then he whole world asked him whos the pie-chucker. Now when Avb proves him wrong,the world will ask him whos the 'muppet'.


text:
Hottest Girl Candidate Laela Pryce At Exxxotica Chicago This Weekend
VENICE, CA –Tony Batman's A Entertainment News – Laela Pryce's ass has been wildly popular of late and fans can see why when they check out the new release from Immoral Live Productions, Amazing Asses 9.
Better yet, more refined fans should look her up this weekend in Chicago where she'll be signing at the LA Direct Models booth. They'll see her winning personality and her Verified Booty that measures a sassy 40 inches. It's no wonder that ass is getting her some attention.
She just shot her first anal for Mike Adriano at Evil Angel, as well as a BJ scene, and an ATM with Cassandra Nix.
The most exciting news in the past few days has been her nomination in the Sex Awards for Hottest New Girl. The winners are based on fan voting, which can be done at thesexawards.com.
For more information on this week's Exxxotica Expo go to chi.exxxoticaexpo.com.
This Sex Awards show is open to the industry only and will be held on October 9 in Hollywood. To vote and for more information go to thesexawards.com.
Laela's birthday party will be held Aug. 30 at Eden Hollywood. It is open to the public (21+).
Follow Laela on Twitter @LaelaPryce.
Posted on www.AentertainmentNews.com & www.PlanetPlatypus.com
We give props to our sponsors the Screaming O, 2001 Live, AEBN Network, The Strip Mall, Skindustry Contests, Monroe's Palm Beach, Cadillac Lounge RI, Striptaculous Radio, and Xpeeps Live, we are thankful to have such great companies on tour with us
Category: Adult Movie Industry News, All Industry Events, Press Release, Sexy Midwest


text:
It's the most common addictive drug and it's what keeps most of us fueled for work or running family errands. Ninety percent of Americans consume caffeine - from coffee to chocolate, energy shots to soda - every single day. But too much caffeine or cutting it out cold turkey can cause big health risks.
The frightening fact is too much caffeine can be dangerous.
Dr. Christopher Holstege, director of University of Virginia's medical toxicology division, said, "Could you over-caffeinate yourself? You could."
Caffeine is like any drug. It's addictive and dangerous in large doses. Holstege stated, "You can build up to it slowly or take a large amount and notice the signs and symptoms."
Two to four cups of coffee a day is fine for most healthy adults. More than that? Consider cutting back or suffer the consequences. "Being revved up, tremulous, can't sleep, diarrhea, just anxious," said Holstege.
Research finds men are more likely than women to experience the side effects, but your body can build up a tolerance. Holstege says it's gotten worse with the easy availability of energy drinks that give you a quick boost.
Holstege stated, "The other problem we've seen arise is that people take so much caffeine and other stimulants that they can't get to sleep at night and want to have something to help them sleep at night."
If you're trying to cut back on caffeine, don't drop it cold turkey. That can cause negative side effects, including headaches and queasiness.
"Drinking in the morning as you're starting to wake up," said Holstege. "Using it during the day time and in the evenings taper it off. Go with a non-caffeinated beverage, for example, so that at nighttime you can sleep."
Holstege advised, "Everything in moderation. Caffeine is an evil thing not to have at all, but certainly moderation."
An energy shot inhalant went on the market earlier this year, and is already garnering warnings from doctors and demands from lawmakers for the Food and Drug Administration to review its safety. Click here for more information.


text:
Market Trends: Recapping the Rise in Mortgage Ratesby Tim Manni
Today's issue of HSH's Market Trends Newsletter focuses on the larger-than-expected rise in mortgage rates, discusses last week's decision by the US to invest billions the nation's largest banks, as well as documenting the latest economic reports and their effect on consumers:
The Federal Reserve, the Treasury, and the FDIC called nine of the nation's most important bankers to a special meeting over last weekend, where they were asked to sign an agreement to sell the government preferred equity positions in each of the firms to help more fully capitalize them, and in turn, hopefully loosen frozen lending markets. At the same time, and in order to not spook investors, they offered to guarantee bank debt obligations for the next three years. An initial $125 billion was spent at the meeting, with another $125B available for any other banks which might voluntarily wish to participate.
The rise in rates came as markets reacted to at least two new factors. The first factor is fairly common: With a truly massive amount of sovereign debt to be unleashed into the markets — hundreds of billions of dollars here and across the globe — it's fair to expect that supply will outstrip demand for some time to come, causing a rise in yields (see our blog entry A Bond's Influence on Interest Rates for a simplified explanation of supply and demand dynamics as it pertains to bonds). Second, and perhaps more important, was the government's full guarantee of bank debt for the next three years. That caused a selloff of "agency debt" (bonds backed by Fannie and Freddie), which, although also guaranteed, do have a greater level of perceived risk due to Fannie and Freddie's difficulties as well as the uncertain nature of the marketplace. The selloff even extended to Treasuries, which are fairly low yielding at the moment. With higher yields than Treasuries available with no increase in risk, it's little wonder investors shed other holdings in favor of bank debt.
HSH's free weekly Market Trends Newsletter, an in-depth analysis of various financial markets of the week prior, is published every Monday. Email subscribers — receive it in your inbox by Friday night, so sign up today!


text:
Hey we've all got to learn sometime! So in a nutshell here's what you need to know.
A growing tree is a thirsty monster and every day it needs a healthy supply of water to sustain its growth. Now to transport the water from the roots to the leaves the tree is constructed of thousands (if not millions) of microscopic tubes that pump the wet stuff to where the tree needs it.
Now you can imagine when a tree is cut down those microscopic tubes are still full of water and if you burnt the tree straight away you'd effectively be trying to burn water with a just a hint of woody overtones. Not a good idea!
You see, freshly cut trees can easily contain up to 60% of moisture and to burn wood efficiently we've got to try and reduce that figure to about 20%.
So what do we do?
Well not to put to fine a point on it we dry the wood by cutting it into short lengths, splitting it and then leaving it outside in the sunlight and wind. In other words we season it. Then roughly about a year later after a little careful tendering our firewood should be dry enough to burn.
O.K. I've made some sweeping generalisations there but I'm sure you getting the overall picture 'Wet unseasoned wood is bad – Dry seasoned wood is good'.
Admittedly if you want a fire straight way you can easily buy 'Kiln Dried Logs' but will cover that in a separate article.
How can I recognise seasoned firewood?
Thankfully for all of us who haven't been raised in a forest you can tell properly seasoned wood by:
- Looking at the bark – the bark on seasoned wood has loosened it hold
- The ends of seasoned logs will be darkened
- A seasoned log is lighter in weight than its unseasoned brother
- When a log is seasoned the ends start to naturally crack or 'check'
- Tap two seasoned logs together and you'll hear a satisfying clunk. Knock two unseasoned logs together and you'll hear a heavy thunking sound
- Use a moisture meter and look for a reading of 20% or less.


text:
I noticed yesterday after the tragic injury to our beloved Chauncey that the shoes may play a part.
And the conclusion is Adidas.
Mr. Big Shot
All injured during play yesterday and yes DRose did not have a foot injury it was a Back Spasm and sometimes Shoes play a part but he has been battling foot issues all season.
From what I have seen is that many of Adidas Athlete's in Basket Ball have Chronic injury's.
I do not follow other sports so I can not comment so I put this out there, how many others in all sports that use Adidas can be named?


text:
With one swing of the bat, Gregor Blanco put the San Francisco Giants ahead to lead-off the game. An inning later, he laced an RBI single in front of Jason Heyward, who both didn't get a good read on that ball and had fallen down on the double that had put the runner in scoring position. It was a sign of the night that was to come for the Braves.
Madison Bumgarner was outstanding in this one. Taking a perfect game into the fifth and a no-hitter into the sixth, Bumgarner dominated the Braves to the tune of a 7 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 10 K line. The talented lefty was in full command of his stuff, and he took advantage of some generous strike calls from home plate umpire, Gary Darling. It wouldn't have mattered much, regardless, as Buster Posey (3 2B), Gregor Blanco (HR, 2 RBI), and company beat up on the Braves' pitching staff.
Kris Medlen ended his string of excellent starts by missing frequently in the middle of the zone, and the Giants took advantage by lining balls all over the park. He exited after the sixth inning with a line of 6 IP, 9 H (career-high), 4 R, 0 BB, 4 K. Alex Wood entered and promptly threw 34 pitches in his worst MLB inning thus far - 1 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 2 K - to put the game completely out of reach.
It didn't matter as the Braves couldn't even match Posey's hit total on the night.
Tonight certainly wasn't the Braves' night, but they are still 39-28 and remain 5.5 games ahead of the Nationals in the division.
Win Expectancy Chart
(For the uninitiated, this is a chart showing how likely it is that either team wins at a given point in the game as well as the degree of leverage for a particular situation. You can see how certain events affected the outcome of the game and which were the most important. It's based on Wins Probability Added, whose definition can be found here.)
MVP: Chris Johnson, .016 WPA
LVP: Kris Medlen, -.187 WPA


text:
With just two weeks left until the 2013 NFL Draft, here's another mock draft for the Carolina Panthers. In this draft, the Panthers address the need at the wide receiver position, and add depth to the offensive line and secondary.
1.14: Keenan Allen, WR, California
There is a good chance that Allen is going to be the pick at this spot, as the Panthers have shown the most interest in him out of all the prospects during the pre-draft process. Although Allen had a disappointing 40-time at his Pro Day, he is still an excellent prospect because of his big size, smooth route running ability, and strong hands. Allen would be an excellent addition to the Panthers offense as a top possession receiver.
2.12: Matt Elam, SS, Florida
Elam is one of the most violent safeties in this year's draft, as he is a hard hitting, physical enforcer over the middle of the field. Although Elam doesn't have excellent size or range, he displayed good ability in coverage, as he matched up well against tight ends and slot receivers. However, Elam will need to learn to consistently wrap up when tackling instead of going for the knockout blow. Despite these minor flaws, Elam would be a good pickup in the second round as he'd immediately upgrade the Panthers secondary.
4.11: Alvin Bailey, OG, Arkansas
The Panthers desperately need help at the guard position, and Bailey fits the bill perfectly as a traditional mauler. He is a powerful run blocker and is capable as a pass blocker as well. Bailey would instantly start at the right guard position on the Panthers offensive line.
5.15: Chris Faulk, OT, LSU
Faulk is an intriguing prospect - he flashed some ability in 2011, but due to a torn ACL he suffered in September, he missed all of the 2012 season. Faulk played left tackle at LSU, but is too stiff and lacks the technique to play that position in the pros. This is why he is projected to play right tackle in the NFL. Faulk would be good competition for Byron Bell for the starting spot at the right tackle position. At worst, he is an excellent depth player who could play either tackle position in a pinch.
6.14: Brandon McGee, CB, Miami
Although McGee struggled against receivers last season, he looked much more comfortable during the East-West Shrine Game practices. Make no mistake – McGee is not going to be a starter any time soon. At the moment, he is a raw player with poor technique, but he has the size and athleticism to become a valuable contributor in a year or two. In his rookie year, McGee would add good depth to the Panthers secondary.
So, what are your thoughts on this mock draft, Panthers fans? What do you like about this draft? Would there be any picks you would change? Feel free to sound off in the comments section!


text:
How to Get People to See Your Short Film Online with Vimeo Curator & SotW Co-Founder Jason Sondhi
If you're a regular reader you'll be aware that work featured on Short of the Week sometimes makes its way to our pages. In fact, if you spend anytime at all watching shorts online, it's highly likely that SotW co-founder & Vimeo staff curator Jason Sondhi was (in)directly responsible for some of that work making its way to you. As filmmakers looking to find an audience for your work, I'm sure there are several questions you'd love to put to Jason, both in his curatorial role and as a producer who launched The Thomas Beale Cipher to 170K online views (now over 500K). Well, during a recent stop in Québec at the REGARD festival, Jason sat down for a 25 minute chat about his work at SotW and Vimeo:
Unfortunately the embed appears to have gone private, but the full interview can still be watched here.
There's a lot of insightful information in there, but some of the key elements that stuck out for me as someone who spends a lot of his time curating were:
- Upload a trailer and set a clear release date.
- Don't set that date over the weekend.
- Actually think about it as a launch; get everyone you can behind it in those initial stages.
- Reach out to sites/individuals with an established audience.
- Make sure the film's description and (especially) thumbnail are enticing.
I would also add, make yourself easy to find and painless to cover; have a website, update your contact info, provide stills, write production notes and director's statements. You may have made the world's greatest short, but if people can't get hold of you or find everything they need to write up an article, your film will become nothing more than a pleasantly fading memory and last I checked, memories don't generate views.
What would you have asked Jason if given the chance?
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!
Thank you NO FILM SCHOOL.com & Mar Belle for this interesting post!
Laurel on 03.21.13 @ 10:11AM
Whats wrong with the sound?
Its saying private video when its embedded. I think you may have to go here https://vimeo.com/channels/shortoftheweek/61916222 to watch it
Mar Belle on 03.21.13 @ 5:30PM
Thanks Ben, I've updated the post with the link to the playable one on Vimeo.
I have been following this advice for a while now. I finished a short film in the fall and have been waiting… and waiting… and waiting… to hear from festivals. The approach featured here is a sound and current one. I have several colleagues in the filmmaking-ball-of-wax that suggested I skip the whole film fest route all together and put the money for submissions towards an online marketing campaign. About half-way through a disappointing hail of rejection emails I decided to put this plan into action.
Bottom line: Everyone involved in making our film simply wants it to be seen! Waiting 6-12 months to hear that only a few audiences are going to see our film (most of them full of other filmmakers looking for someone to finance their next film) is not productive. That being said, we are grateful for the festival selections we have received!
There is a lot of valuable info in a blog by Sam Mestman (http://wemakemovies.org/resources-2/distribution-resources/about getting your film seen and distributed) about leaving behind the antiquated fairly tale of getting "discovered" for the new paradigm of independent – independence – filmmaking and distribution.
Following Jason Sondhi's advice, I have posted a new trailer for our film LAPSE, premiering on Vimeo Monday, March 25, 2013. Check it out if you're interested: https://vimeo.com/62396367
Perhaps we can be a case study of Jason's theory in action! I deeply value the advice, expertise, and artistry demonstrated on this site by both it's contributors and visitors every day!
Here's a proper link for Sam Mestman's article: http://wemakemovies.org/resources-2/distribution-resources/
shorts with the highest artistic value remain unseen in this (and old, too) system. The rules is simple; medium wins. Tottaly crap and masterpieces have always very limited audiences. It's corresponding to Kandinksy' triangle theory of art perception and it's obvious for any realist.
Some kind /mix of luck and effort make the very limited exception f.e. Greeneway cinema etc. – but no one give even Peter Greeneway more than 3 – 5 million to make his arthouse feature. it's simply to much money to invest, even in masterpiece.
It's reality of MEDIUM. Except clean tech&esthetics shorts, which are pleased, cause shows the trinket bubles of cinema :)
I followed this advice to the T on our latest short film and really saw no bump in views over what I'd get by just throwing it up on Vimeo and posting it to Facebook with no fanfare. I set a date, then spent a month constantly tweeting, Facebooking, emailing, putting the trailer and poster up everywhere I could, etc… it was quite disappointing, to have put in all that work without any real results.
The main problem is that everybody is doing this now. So unless you have a big name or website behind you, you're not going to get any more notice than any other schmoe. It's just adding to the noise.
This is the curse of Vimeo, YouTube, social media, etc. My very first film remains my most successful, it played 30 festivals, won a few awards along the way… I think this is because it came before this, before "everyone" thought they were a filmmaker.
I'm gonna keep making films regardless… It's all I want to do. I'm just not sure how to garner any attention to them anymore.
Welcome to short films
Many people are talking about Lithasa ! what is it? http://www.lithasa.com .
I've see that some where a guy said that he liked the design. I myself went to the website and it is simple but good.
But I would like to know is it perfect for new authors and upcoming authors?
They do have a separate publishing model.
PLEASE WATCH https://vimeo.com/89155031


text:
This is Strata!
There is only one word to describe the speed, style, and power of the ZaReason Strata 6880 laptop.
First things first: This laptop is wide — a 15.6-inch-screen-wide-in-high-definition wide — and it is powerful, to the tune of the test model's Intel i7 Quad-core with 8 threads running at 2 GHz. The 8GB of memory below the keyboard coupled with the Nvidia GTX 540M video card make this a well rounded machine for, well, just about anything. The width of the laptop — oh, it still fits on my lap because that itself is wide, too — allows the laptop to have a full keyboard that includes a number pad on the right.
For something this fast and powerful, you should probably have a license of some sort — a pilot's license comes immediately to mind.
As mentioned yesterday in my review of the ZaReason Alto 3880, my current ThinkPads come in the basic black. This laptop, too, comes in basic black, but it's a shiny, slick black as opposed to a staid, utilitarian black favored by IBM and then Lenovo. In terms of black, if the ThinkPad makes you think of a limousine, the Strata 6880 in turn makes you think of the Batmobile.
Strata 6880's strengths
Originally, I thought that for a laptop, this was kind of big — maybe wide would be a better word to describe it. Sure, I have a wide lap, as I mentioned before, but for something this size? Anyway, it only took an hour or two to become accustomed to the extra witdth in screen real estate — a bonus on a machine like this that's so nimble and quick. Multiple windows are a snap here and there's a lot less promoting and reducing when working on multiple projects simultaneously. And the screen: a crystal-clear LCD display with a 1980-by-1080 footprint shows whatever I choose to bring up with a clarity bordering on perfect. This comes in handy especially when watching DVDs or streaming video — which you can do while working on other things (why would you? I don't know, but for the sake of testing this machine, the Strata 6880 handled everything I had thrown at it) . Not only does the streaming audio/video come across clear and uninterrupted while working on other things, the performance was nothing short of remarkable. I would imagine that most of the graphics performance would have to do with the Nvidia video card, that seems to handle things easily.
Like in yesterday's review of the Alto 3880, the Strata 6880 ran three different distros: Linux Mint 12, Fedora 16 and CrunchBang Statler. It ran each perfectly and, with the addition of Flash on Fedora in the post-install, everything ran as it should out of the box. If you're wondering, I did spend extra time with Fedora, only because I wanted to give some extra time to GNOME 3 and, while I can see some of its advantages now working on a machine that will run it, personally speaking that desktop is not for me. As for Linux Mint, MATE and Cinnamon ran quite remarkably, and my home distro — CrunchBang — was flawless and fast on this hardware.
There are times when using the Strata 6880 that I feel like I am driving a Testarossa to go to the grocery store and back. I don't mean this as a slight — the capabilities and potential for this machine are far wider that what I would use it for. What I'm currently using it for is this — Web stuff (including streaming audio and video), a little testing (though most of that is done on a desktop), correcting photos in GIMP, making and running presentations in LibreOffice Impress (which worked well, by the way), and watching DVDs. This laptop, though, does make me want to break out the Blender book again and give that program another shot, maybe seeing what more the laptop can do.
Still, when I was running multiple programs like GIMP, LibreOffice and streaming a video, the warmest the Strata 6880 got was 54 degrees C — doing the same thing with the ThinkPad usually get the temperature up to the 70s (though, kids, don't try this at home). All of which is to say that the laptop does all the work thrown at it and seems to look for more.
I understand that the Strata 6880 can be a gaming platform, and I would believe it judging by the high performance. I don't "game" — I may have game, but I don't usually play on the computer — so I didn't try it out the gaming side of things. But with the current setup, it would not surprise me that games would be an easy fit for this laptop.
Needs improvement?
To be honest, I had a few qualms about the wide screen at first, but they quickly subsided as soon as I started getting used to the width and found I could put it to good use. Like the Alto 3880, it has the same single-button-on-a-fulcrum setup where you push either side of the single button to get the left/right mouse button, and having a separate left- and right-button mouse set up on the laptop is more of a personal preference than anything. Unlike the Alto 3880, the Strata 6880 had a stiffer keyboard which was more to my liking, so it gets high marks there. One thing that could be a reflection of how much I was using the machine unplugged moreso than anything — and I don't think it's a "need improvement" item, but some might: I only got a little over two hours of battery time while unplugged, but again it was while multiple programs — including streaming video — were running. To be honest, I'm never more than two hours away from an electrical socket, so battery life is not a big issue with me.
A final look
As I said a couple of days ago, I don't have a ranking system — I still don't, even after yesterday's review of the Alto 3880 — but I would give the Strata 6880 the highest marks across the board for design and performance. Looking more closely at the machine itself and judging by the firmness of the keyboard, the laptop also feels durable. My only regret in having this laptop for several days is that I couldn't make it break a sweat — again, the activities I normally do in my day-to-day digital life include the typical Web stuff augmented by some Web and photo work, some software testing for programs that are not terribly complex and a lot of LibreOffice, either writing or using Impress. Also, as I mentioned yesterday, I can't emphasize enough how important considering a purchase from a Linux hardware vendor is, and apparently the differences in prices are not as much as I thought: After a trip to Best Buy in Capitola yesterday, the difference in price between this laptop and others like it is marginal. The $849 base price for the Strata 6880 is about $50 less than a comparable HP laptop with similar specs on the showroom floor at $799. So if this is in your price range, the Strata 6880 is a good buy.
Of course, the worst part of this process now comes with me having to pack up these laptops and send them back to Berkeley. Thanks, ZaReason, for allowing me a chance to give these two laptops the once-over, and thanks, too, for making such great Linux-based hardware.
Specs as tested
Screen: 15.6-inch bright glossy LCD display at 1920-by-1080 pixels
Processor: Intel i7-2630Q 2 GHz, Quad-core, 8 thread
Memory: 8GB DDR3-1333
Graphics card: Nvidia GTX 540M 2GB
Hard Drive: 128 GB SSD
Optical Drive: CD-RW/DVD-RW
Audio: Speakers above the keyboard for quality sound output
Wireless: #WZF B/G/N
Reader: 3-in-1 card reader — SD/MMC/MS supported
Camera: 1.3 Megapixel webcam included
Ports: HDMI and VGA monitor ports; Gigabit Ethernet port; 2 USB 2.0 ports; 1 USB 3.0 port
Operating System: Your choice from a variety of Linux distros, or no operating system
Battery: Six-cell battery
Weight: 5.51 pounds
Basic price: $849
Price as tested: $1,426
(Larry Cafiero is one of the founders of the Lindependence Project and has just started developing software at Redwood Digital Research, a consultancy that provides FOSS solutions in the small business and home office environment.)
High on the Alto 3880
Those of you who know me know that I'm an old ThinkPad guy, in more ways than one. I myself am older than many of you reading this — well on my way to AARP membership status as I reach 55 this November — and the ThinkPads I use on a daily basis are themselves old, namely a T30 and an R40.
ThinkPads are painfully utilitarian, amazingly solid, and like the Model T Fords come in a wide variety of colors as long as you choose black. For these reasons, ThinkPads lend themselves to being the laptop of choice for many laptop users, mostly developers. To make them more attractive — for loss of a better word — many a ThinkPad is embellished with stickers on the cover, rivaling the best of the NASCAR field. Mine is no exception: My ThinkPad does its laps with EFF, SCALE 10X, Oregon State University Open Source Lab, Open Source for America, two Google Summer of Code, and No Starch Press stickers gracing the laptop cover.
So when ZaReason sent me an Alto 3880 to put through its paces, my first reaction was, "Wow. This is too nice to put stickers on."
The Alto 3880's cover is a very stylish silver and should be kept in its pristine form. A look around the laptop before opening it shows that ports are readily available on the sides — with monitor, ethernet and USB ports conveniently located on the left side instead of on the back. While many might find this a simple design, ThinkPad users would be thrilled to know that the oft-inconvenient ThinkPad reacharound to plug in USB cables or thumb drives is not necessary here. In giving it the once over before opening it, the Alto is light in one's hands, but it still feels sturdy.
Opening the cover and pushing the on button reveals a screen with remarkable clarity contrasted on a black background and base. If you're a regular ThinkPad user, the keyboard is different — flat keys at the same level — and takes getting used to. With heavy fingers like mine, the pounding I would normally offer the ThinkPad feels like I'm mercilessly pounding this keyboard and suggests some behavior modification. But ultimately the keyboard is tough enough to withstand it and after adjusting to the new keyboard — wider than the ThinkPad's — it is easy to adapt to and to get accustomed to the additional real estate for your hands.
Performance wise, the Alto 3880 flies on the trio of distros I used on it, and without boring you with the minutiae, with one exception that turned out to be a software clash, the laptop performed without a hitch. With the 1366-by-768 resolution on a an remarkably clear 14-inch screen, the laptop would make a fine — no, make that an outstanding — replacement for my old ThinkPads.
I used three different distros on the Alto 3880, and each performed well, and each would make a fine choice for the person owning this laptop. The three contestants, for the sake of argument, are Linux Mint and Fedora — both which you can have preinstalled by ZaReason — and CrunchBang, which you can install on your own (until I convince ZaReason to make it a choice). However, as I understand it, if you request a different distro, ZaReason will install it. Or if you want no operating system, they'll send it like that, too. Unlike other Linux hardware vendors, ZaReason offers a wide choice in this department.
But I digress. Here's how the distros did:
Alto 3880 with Linux Mint: Originally, the laptop came to me with Linux Mint 12, which is the latest version of the distro with the GNOME 2.x-type desktop. The Alto 3880 did remarkably well with Linux Mint, which is growing on a lot of people (including me). Switching from MATE to GNOME to Cinnamon was a snap, and the performance was outstanding. In one instance on a busy morning where I forgot to plug in the laptop, I got just over four hours from the battery using multiple programs on Linux Mint.
Alto 3880 with Fedora 16: I'm waiting for the myth that Fedora is too "cutting edge" for the average user to go the way of the Studebaker and the hula hoop. It's just that — a myth — and Fedora 16 runs circles around just about everything else on this machine. After installing Flash so one can — oh, I don't know — participate in the wider Internet world, the distro and hardware handled everything I threw at it from a video and audio standpoint with aplomb.
Alto 3880 with CrunchBang Statler: The laptop has the horses, so to speak, to run the previous two desktop environments without breaking a sweat. So when faced with handling the Openbox window manager on CrunchBang, the distro soared. Also, the built-in camera worked flawlessly during a Google+ Hangout with the CrunchBang crew.
Alto 3880 strengths
Regardless of what distro is running on it, the Alto 3880 is remarkably versatile and handles a wide range of work without complaint. In fact, the only problem I had was helping my daughter solve what turned out to be a common GIMP and Banshee problem where the programs, both running simultaneously, weren't playing nice with each other — clearly not a reflection on the hardware. The screen is very clear and handles high resolutions flawlessly, which is a benefit for those who want to do things like watch videos or do intricate graphics work (Note: My daughter Mimi will be writing her own review of this laptop as well). Across the distro board, the audio and video performance was outstanding, with the onboard speakers sounding good enough to forgo plugging in speakers in some cases (though the speakers sounded good, too, when used to watch DVDs). the laptop itself is lightweight but solid, and the design is top-notch — this is a beautiful laptop.
Needs improvement?
There is a lot to like on this laptop, but the one thing that took getting used to is the keyboard. Again, this might be just something for the personal preference folder, but the keyboard at first tends to feel a little light to the touch. Also, the mouse button, which is a single bar at the same level as the touchpad operating on a centered fulcrum (click the left side for the left mouse button, right side for the right) is hard to adjust to when coming from hardware where the buttons are raised. To be fair, it would be difficult to imagine that a ThinkPad-like keyboard would work, design wise, on a laptop like this.
A final look
I don't have a rating system — stars, penguins, horseshoes, whatever — in place, but if I did I would rank the Alto 3880 very high; for the sake of argument, let's say 4.5 penguins out of a perfect 5 penguins. Its combination of sleek design and high performance make this laptop one that would easily draw me away from the ranks of the ThinkPad users. The retail price for this machine is $599, which many of you might think is a little high compared to what you could get at Best Buy. But when you consider that when buying from a Linux hardware vendor, you're not only getting a quality machine with a great OS, your purchase supports FOSS, for starters, by not putting another "sale" in Redmond's tally. With its wide range of capabilities and performance, the Alto 3880 is a laptop I would be proud to own and, if Uncle Sam is generous with a tax return, would be glad to purchase.
Screen: 14-inch HD, 1366-by-768 Glossy LED Backlit Display
Processor: Pentium B940, 2 GHz, 2 core, 2 thread
Memory: 4GB DDR-3
Graphics card: Intel Integrated HD Graphics
Hard Drive: 250GB 5,400 RPM (NOTE: Tested with 400GB HD)
Optical Drive: Combo CD/DVD burner
Audio: Speakers above the keyboard for quality sound output
Wireless: 802.11 B/G/N WiFi included and Bluetooth
Reader: 3-in-1 card reader — SD/MMC/MS supported
Camera: 1.3 Megapixel webcam included
Ports: HDMI and VGA monitor ports; Gigabit Ethernet port; ensington lock port; Headphone and microphone jacks; three USB 2.0 ports
Operating System: Your choice from a variety of Linux distros, or no operating system
Battery: Six-cell battery, up to 5 hours
Weight: 4.5 pounds
Price: $599
Coming tomorrow: This . . . is . . . STRATA! A look at the ZaReason Strata 6880.
(Larry Cafiero is one of the founders of the Lindependence Project and has just started developing software at Redwood Digital Research, a consultancy that provides FOSS solutions in the small business and home office environment.)
One way or another
Originally, I had started a blog item on the newly released, Mideast peace-securing, cancer-curing, saivor-of-all-mankind Head-Up Display from Ubuntu — "head up" what, exactly, is unclear, but not much imagination is needed — in which I promised to try it, but I still wonder aloud about the degree of "innovation" in what appears to be a GUI for the command line, to say nothing of the competing ease between clicking on a menu item versus typing it in a field.
No, I'm going to leave that pinata alone for the moment.
The real news this week is that Cinnamon 1.2, the Linux Mint fork of Gnome 2.x desktop, rolls out and gives an option to those who can't (due to hardware limitations) — or won't (due to the fact they don't like it) — use the latest GNOME 3 version. Linux Mint really nailed it here, but . . . .
I'll get back to that one soon, too.
What causes the bloggus interruptus today is an exchange I had a couple of days ago on a CrunchBang forum — it was completely tongue-in-cheek by both parties — where doing a task had more than one method to fix what a new user wanted to achieve.
In the exchange what was said, in effect (and in jest), is that you can do it the cool, "l33t h4xx0r" way using the command line, or you can use the n00b-oriented, menu-driven program written for the window manager that comes with the program. While poking fun, the subtext here still speaks to a digital caste system where the more experienced are on some sort of higher plane, either real or imagined (and I choose the latter), than the inexperienced.
Naturally, I concur that there is more than one way to a solution: Yes, the command line is the more direct way to get things done. However, not everyone using Linux — even CrunchBang, if the threads on the CrunchBang forum to which I refer are any indication — is that well-versed in using the terminal, and when it comes to tools, some of the menu-driven ones can be a godsend.
The point I'd like to make is that there are folks out there who have made and maintained programs like Obmenu and Obapps in Openbox, to use the example from the forum exchange, that essentially give the keys to those less experienced to change their digital experience without having to traverse the potential landmine the command line can be for new or less-experienced users.
For that reason, when the tools are available I use them, and when asked on a forum about how to do things and I know an option like this exists, I'll make this Plan A in my suggestion. Again, there is more than one solution, and if someone goes to the effort of explaining the commands to use in a terminal, more power to them.
(Let me be clear about one thing, too and point this to the new users: Learning some of the more basic commands — even some simple bash scripting — should be part of a Linux users repertoire, and chances are you'll find it fairly interesting. Or, if you're like me, you'll find it fun. But even if you don't find it fun, it's something you should know, and I would suggest taking the time to look up how the command line works and why.)
Yes, it may be a little less "h4xx0r" to do it from a program, but using these tools gives those who put in the effort a tip of the hat for going the extra mile and providing a method that helps out.
So to those of you who work on developing tools like Obmenu and Obapps — thanks for your efforts and keep up the work that, though anonymous, is vital to the success of distros everywhere.
We now return to writing another blog item, which is already in progress . . . .
(Larry Cafiero is one of the founders of the Lindependence Project and has just started developing software at Redwood Digital Research, a consultancy that provides FOSS solutions in the small business and home office environment.)


text:
38/8 Sukhumvit soi 11, Klong Toey Nua, Wattana,Bangkok 10110, ThailandTel: +66 2 207 9300Fax: +66 2 207 9301Email: email@example.com
Find us on Google Maps
The national language is Thai, a tonal language with its own alphabet. If you wish to take a taxi to a specific destination, you need to be equipped with the Thai language, as taxi-drivers who speak and understand English are few and far apart! Bilingual Thai / English road signs are found on all road signs including BTS and some local buses.
GMT +7hrs
Travellers should check the visa regulations at a Thai Embassy/Consulate prior to their journey. All foreign nationals entering Thailand must hold valid passports. At the airport, citizens from most countries will be granted a free transit visa valid for a period of up to 30 days, provided that they have a fully-paid ticket out of Thailand.
The unit of currency is Baht(Thb). ATMs generally display both Thai and English info signages and will accept most internationally recognised foreign cards. Many ATMs also accept cards under the CIRRUS, Maestro, VISA or MasterCard system. Most traveller cheques can be cashed at banks with proof of passport or ID.
Bangkok is the paradise for shoppers. From high fashion outlets to bargain hunting markets and specialty stores, shoppers will be spoilt for choice with the extensive range of products on offer.
Browse for trendy buys in one of the many well-known shopping malls, such as Central Chidlom and stop for lunch or dinner in one of the many eating pots. Walk along Rama IV Road or Sathorn Road and find inexpensive delectable treats around every corner.
Take a trip to the famous Chatuchak market and be amazed at the selection of wares available. From clothing to accessories, art to pets, Chatuchak market embodies the variety of Bangkok's shopping. Chinatown Centre, located on Yaowarat Road and Sampheng Lane boasts a variety of gold shops and traditional shopping places such as Ban Mo Jewellery Street and Phahurat Cloth Market. Other sites for jewellery and gemstones are situated along Mahesak Road and Charoenkrung Road.
Located on Maharat Road, near the Memorial Bridge, Pak Khlong Talat is an ideal place to buy all kinds of cut flowers and vegetables for the household. About 80 kilometres west of Bangkok, is the famous Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. It is accessible by bus from the Southern Bus Terminal. The variety of wares and the busy atmosphere is indeed a worthwhile experience.
Goods purchased in Thailand are inclusive of VAT at 7%. If you're visiting for less than 180 days in a calendar year, not an airline crew member, and leaving Thailand by plane, you can claim for VAT refund (Non-Thais only).
Tipping is not expected, but is increasingly more common. A 10% service charge is normally added to the total bill at most hotels and restaurants. In restaurants, tipping is usually between 10 % - 15% but at small roadside eating places, it is not necessary for tips. Taxi fares should be rounded up to the nearest 5 or 10 Baht, to 'reward' the knowledgeable metered taxis-drivers who remain incredibly patient even in the midst of the infamous Bangkok traffic!
Bangkok is a city brimming with exotic taste experiences and innovative food sensations. Apart from renowned Thai cuisine with its blend of spicy, sour, sweet and salty taste, there's also many other national dishes from every country to be found. Dining options are as unpredictable as some of the cuisine on offer; from great-value food courts, riverside bar-restaurants, Thai-style dining in teak pavilions, air-conditioned fine dining to international and local fast food chains. Bangkok offers a total eating experience even forthe fussiest gourmet foodie!
Travellers can move around Bangkok by buses, private cars and vans, taxis, tuk tuks, motorcycle taxis and ferry services. A little knowledge of the widely spoken Thai language is helpful when asking for directions or bargains. Bring along your accommodation card when heading out as it usually comes in handy.
There are 3 mobile telephone service providers - Tue Move, AIS and DTAC.
Travellers should seek medical advice at least three weeks prior to their trip to Thailand. Protect yourself against mosquito bites at all times and be careful about what and where you eat. On the whole, if you follow the general guidelines, you should not experience any major problems. Should medical attention be required, rest assured that Thailand provides excellent health services. In fact, the medical services are regarded as being so exceptional, that the Kingdom is increasingly becoming popular as a health tourism destination.
Voltage is 220 Volt AC with flat 2 pin plugs. You can buy an adapter for shavers, laptop computers, mobile chargers, etc., on arrival at most department stores.
New Year's Day; Chinese New Year; Makha Bhucha Day; Chakri Memorial Day; Songkran Festival; National Labor Day; Coronation Day; Visakha Bucha Day; Buddhist Lent Day; HM The Queen's Birthday; Rama V Memorial Day; HM The King's Birthday; Constitution Day


text:
I strongly feel every Zeller brother will continue to do bad in the NBA, including Cody. I can totally feel Cody becoming the biggest bust out of this not so good looking draft. For me he is too skinny and the lack of smart offense with the ball in his hands. But the BIG factor for me is the lack of skill he thrives off of his talent and height, and we all know how far that gets you into the association. Once he starts bangin with the REAL bigs this will all shine brighter than the sun. I feel bad for any team that drafts him. What are YOUR thoughts?
via i.imgur.com


text:
Can anyone recommend fitted/athletic fit climbing pants? Preferable some that stretch. Thanks
Last year I bought a pair of Prana stretch zion pants. I wore them and loved them. Now I have 3 pairs of stretch zion pants. I'm sure there are plenty of other good pants out there, but these are tough to beat for a climbing pant. Jeremy
Thanks! I'm looking them up now!
Verve's "The Verminators" are great all around pants
How do they fit?
Like mix of Lycra cargo pants and skinny jeans....it's hard to explain
+1 for the prana stretch zion pants and shorts
Look, I just want some pants. A decent pair of pants!
ive got a pair of the prana axiom jean that i do the majority of my climbing in unless its hot enough for shorts. pretty burly, i've had them since 09 and the only thing that crapped out was the pocket, which was promptly fixed....just enough stretch, and like i said, burly
OR Ferrosi
+1 for the Prana Zions. I don't actually have the pants yet but I have 2 pairs of the shorts and love them. Super tough and stretchy. I'll probably pick up the pants, soon.
All of these suggestions seem really good but can anyone recommend a tighter fitting pant? Something more like a straight leg that fits more like fitted pair of jeans.
Ummm... "Can anyone recommend a tighter fitting pant"? Is this a real conversation? Any logger will tell you, it's not how tight the pants are, it's how high you hitch up your suspenders.
It's just personal preference. I want pants I can wear to work and then go straight to the gym. I prefer a "slim" fitting pant. All my jeans are considered "fitted" meaning there slightly tighter than your standard jean and this is what Im looking for. So yes, this is a serious conversation. :)
I got some biking tights for cold weather (kind of stretchy fleece) from a scratch and dent sale (Novara brand) they probably have some on the REI outlet for cheap. I paid maybe ten bucks. For my uses thrift stores and scratch and dent sales are the only way to get climbing garb of the non-bad weather variety...It just gets too beat up to spend money on.
The new Patagonia Rock Craft pants beat the shit out of the Prana pants with a steel pipe any day of the week.
well if it's skinny jeans you want why didn't you say so... Climbing magazine did a review on pants a few editions ago. Thunderbolt Softshell skinny Jeans...just $188 and your nuts and your wallet will be crushed. +1 for normal fit jeans with lycra
You could raid your little sister's closet like most emo kids do.
Since you are wanting the slimmer fit, check out the Stoic Overhang pant. I have the shorts and am a big fan of them so far. If you can find them on sale definitely give them a shot!
David said = people that pay $70 for climbing pants that they are going to beat the crap out of make me lol. You get what you pay for David. If you climb often in the backcountry, a light synthetic - breathable soft-shell or DRW treated nylon pant sure beats the hell out of a pair of cotton work pants. The best all around pant that I can wear all year in all conditions all the time is a pair of Patagonia Simple Guide Pants. I've gotten two years out of single pair climbing ice/mixed, ski-touring, frequent cragging, and frequent alpine rock missions. I'm a total metrosexual though...
Friend of mine gave me a pair of Blur pants. Not sure what model but so far I love them. A little stretchy and they seem to be durable. Check them out. If I like them enough I might buy a pair so you know who can LOL.
Anyone ever try these? They seem somewhat fitted and there on sale. www.campsaver.com/bronson-pants-men-s


text:
A 22-year-old Collier County man is in jail after allegedly stealing money from vending machines.
According to arrest reports, Brett Larson used to work for a vending company.
He's accused of keeping a remote control after he was fired and using it to steal money from vending machines at two different hotels.
Deputies say the thefts happened at the Fairfield Inn on David Boulevard and Inn on Fifth in downtown Naples.
According to the report, Larson got away with almost $850.
He now faces grand theft charges.


text:
PRIME TICKET: Mayor Richard Ward, third from right, purchases the first ticket to the San Marino Firefighter Association's annual Pancake Breakfast, which is scheduled for Saturday, May 18 from 7:00 – 11:00 a.m. PICTURED ABOVE, left to right, are Firefighter/Paramedic Sam Benites, Firefighter – Paramedic Shawn Stewart, Firefighter – Paramedic and Pancake Breakfast Chair Dominic Petta, Mayor Ward, Firefighter – Paramedic Mike White and Firefighter – Paramedic Jeff Tsay. Tickets are $5, and available at the Fire Department. Mitch Lehman Photo
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading …
Comments are closed


text:
Where do you get your food from? When Jamie Reaume, executive director of the Holland Marsh Grower's Association asks this question, "19 out of 20 people name a supermarket. When, in fact, we get our food from farmers - famers who work on farms somewhere in the world," Reaume says.
From a community economic development point of view, food and farming are very important to the local community. Farmers are independent business people who provide an essential product - like vegetables, fruit, berries, meat and dairy, and who spend money on wages, farm supplies and items for their own use. Our local farms can also play a key role in protecting our environment and promoting the health of our communities.There are business opportunities to be found in this sector - whether through farmers' markets that supply locals and tourists alike or the development of regional distribution systems for institutional and commercial buyers.
While farming may not be described as a "growth industry", the agriculture and food sector still plays a key role in our economy. According to the most recent census data, there are over 57,000 farms in Ontario. Simcoe County as a region is strategically positioned to benefit because it is situated on prime agricultural land, it has close proximity to major markets such as Toronto, a strong tourism industry and a strong farming heritage. However, before these untapped economic, educational, and health opportunities can be fully realized, there are some barriers that need to be addressed.
In Simcoe County, the average age of farmers is 53.5 years old (2006, Statistics Canada). And, while statistics specific to Simcoe County are not readily available, in Ontario the average farmer's income is $20,000 (2009, Roberts). Because income can be low, retirement plans often include selling farmland for other development purposes. There is a growing interest in farming for younger farmers, but the high cost of start-up can limit entry into the sector. In addition, there are some legislative and institutional barriers that can inadvertently constrain this sector from reaching its full potential. For instance, inaccurate labelling, seasonal procurement instability, lack of distribution mechanisms, and health inspections geared toward large-scale operations that pose a challenge for locally owned slaughter houses.
This issue is especially relevant in the Orillia Area Community Development Corporation (CDC) part of Simcoe County where cattle, lamb, sheep and dairy make up the bulk of the farming in Ramara, Rama, Orillia, Oro-Medonte and Severn. But rural character is still an important part of the area's cultural heritage and is cited in almost every economic and planning document reviewed by the CDC in 2009. Farming can provide for a basic need, economic opportunity and a more secure future if we want to develop sustainable and more self-sufficient communities and regions. After all, everyone has to eat.
The first step is to get to know the farm community and understand where the challenges and opportunities lie. Farming is not a new subject. With the rise in concern about food safety, the environment and new bans on the export of foods, consumer demand for locally produced food has significantly increased. There also appears to be a growing interest in producing your own food given the number of community garden groups, gardening and knowledge exchanges, and the availability of farming courses and materials that have cropped up in the last three years in and around Simcoe County.
For the CDC, this venture into investing in the farming and food sector started in 2009 through a series of "Adding Value to Your Farm" workshops offered by the Ontario Ministry of Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) to current farmers. In 2010, connections were made with the Simcoe County Farm Fresh, a not-for-profit, farmer-run, Simcoe County-based marketing organization and the newly formed Simcoe County Food Partners Alliance, a not-for-profit, food-policy and education organization. This year, the Orillia CDC partnered with Nottawasaga Futures and their Green Economy Centre in support of a farmer focused forum called Ag Knowledge. Our local agricultural community was invited to participate in the event, which focused on two important issues identified by our local farming communities: a national/provincial food policy and the opportunities and risks of alternative revenue streams for Simcoe County farmers.
In collaboration with the Food Partners Alliance, we will also be supporting a second educatinal forum, where a variety of speakers will focus on topics around developing a sustainable food system, including environmental, economic and planning/policy impacts. This event will take place later in April of this year. Through our involvement, we hope to hear what farmers have to say, what they want to do and find ways to support them. We hope that farmers in ur area will respond positively and be encouraged to talk to us and build a long-term relationship that will see farmers, the community and the environment prosper.
Remember Me


text:
The local chapter of the Boy Scouts of America is holding its "Over the Edge" fundraiser Friday in downtown Portland.
For a $1,500 tax-deductible donation, anyone who is over the age of 18 can rappel 24 stories down the Broadway building.
Over the past two years, the event has raised nearly $150,000 for the Boy Scouts, money that Scout leader Michael Egan says helps the local community.
"It all stays right here in our area, funding scouting impact programs, and and we have a new program for our children living in at-risk homes, so that's one of the big sources it goes to," Egan said.
"Over the Edge" takes place Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Broadway building in downtown Portland. Participation is limited to the first 76 people who sign up.
Copyright 2014 KPTV-KPDX Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.


text: When CM Punk gave his now famous promo 3 weeks ago, wrestling fans noticed. There aren't many other wrestlers working in WWE now that could pull it off, but he did. This is the Main Event tonight. This is the match that most who are watching want to see. Can CM Punk pull it off? Can he win the WWE Title and leave with it? Will he retire that ugly belt? If this is indeed Punk's last PPV for a while in WWE I will be sad. I only wish they used him better during his time. Too bad they realized how good he is as he is leaving. The other big stipulation in this match is if CM Punk wins the belt and leaves with the belt Cena will be fired. I don't see that happening since he has a Wrestlemania match with The Rock. Well enter your vote here. In the comment section, tell us if you think Cena will get fired or make your predictions to the outcome of the main event.


text:
American League
Brett Gardner, OF, New York Yankees - No game. The Holly Hill native is batting .272 with 7 HR's and 30 RBI
Matt Wieters, C/DH, Baltimore - No game. The Stratford alum is batting .232 with 12 HR's and 44 RBI
Justin Smoak, 1B, Seattle - No game. The Goose Creek native is batting .272 with 8 HR's and 22 RBI
Pacific Coast League
Asher Wojciechowski, P, Oklahoma City (Houston Astros) - No game. Wojo was named the PCL Pitcher of the Week for June 8th-14th. The Beaufort alum is 5-4 in 85.1 IP with 69 K's and a 2.95 ERA in AAA.
AA: 2-1 with 1 save, 26 P, 27 K's and a 2.08 ERA for Double-A Corpus Christi
Reese Havens, 2B/3B, Las Vegas (NY Mets) - 7-Day disabled list. The Bishop England alum is batting .237 with a HR and 8 RBI
Chris McGuiness, 1B, Round Rock (Texas Rangers) - No game. The James Island alum is batting .271 with 7 HR's, 41 RBI
Texas League
Mike Cisco, P, Arkansas (Los Angeles Angels) - Did not pitch in a 5-2 win over Springfield. The Wando alum is 2-4 in 38.1 IP with 31 K's, 1 save, 7 holds and a 3.05 ERA
Southern League
Justin Greene, OF, Mobile (Arizona Diamondbacks) - No game. The Stratford alum is batting .318 with a HR and 21 RBI
A Advanced
Florida St. League
John Murrian, C, Lakeland (Detroit Tigers) - 0-5 with 2 K's in a 10-9 win over Ft. Myers. The Stratford alum is batting .186 with 2 HR's and 14 RBI
Carolina League
John Cornely, RP, Lynchburg (Atlanta Braves) - Did not pitch in an 8-1 win over Wilmington. The Bishop England alum is 1-1 with 29.1 IP with 43 K's, 1 hold, 2 saves and a 4.60 ERA
Midwest League
Drew Cisco, SP, Dayton (Cincinnati Reds) - Pitched 6 innings giving up 4 hits, 1 run with 2 K's in a 3-1 win over Quad Cities. The Wando alum is 3-5 with 97.1 IP, 78 K's and a 3.61 ERA
A Short Season
New York Penn League
Austin Pritcher, P, Connecticut (Detroit Tigers) - Did not pitch in a 5-4 loss to Brooklyn. The James Island native is 0-1 with 1 save and has pitched 15 innings with 8 K's and an ERA of 4.30
Daniel Aldrich, OF, Staten Island (New York Yankees) - Did not play in a 7-4 win over Auburn. The Wando alum is batting .080
Appalachian League
Ryan Gunther, P, Danville (Atlanta Braves) - Pitched 1 inning giving up 1 hit, 1 run with 1 K taking in the loss in a 6-5 loss to Princeton. The Stratford alum is 0-1 with 1 save and 1 hold in 8.1 IP with 12 K's and a 6.48 ERA
Ryan Connolly, P, Greenville (Houston Astros) - Did not pitch in a 3-1 win over Elizabethton. The Bishop England alum has 7.2 IP with 7 K's and a 4.70 ERA
Gulf Coast League
Nick Ciuffo, C/DH, GCL Rays (Tampa Bay Rays) - 1-4 with an RBI in a 4-3 win over the GCL Red Sox. The Mt. Pleasant native is batting .243 with 5 RBI
2126 Charlie Hall Boulevard
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2014 Worldnow and WCSC. All Rights Reserved.
For more information on this site, please read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.