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Smith Family Foods/ Quality Welding Night Photos |
Sunday, 22 July 2012 | |
Check out last week's racing action through the lens of our local area photographers...A collection of photos from Jim & Elaine Collum of Action Photos from Christmas In July Night presented by Smith Family Foods/ Quality Welding have been posted in the photo gallery. Several shots from Area Auto Racing News & National Speed Sport News photographer Rick Sherer have been added. |
Last Updated ( Saturday, 28 July 2012 ) |


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chino pant
by BAND OF OUTSIDERS
Scott Sternberg launched Band of Outsiders in 2004, designing re-contextualized vintage inspired looks with hand-sewn seams and shrunken proportions. The brand's overall look is one of sharply cut dress shirts and slim-fitting tailored suits and knits with a boyish appeal. The quality of the clothes is impeccable, with each tailored piece of the collection handmade at Martin Greenfield Clothiers, a 100-year-old tailoring company in Brooklyn, New York. The brand's preppy, classics-with-a twist can be worn dressed up or laid back and causal.
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was $265.00

subset: commoncrawl


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Early inspections of freeze-damaged citrus in California's Kern County pegged mandarin orange and lemon losses at around 20%, and navel losses at less than 5%.
But the week before Christmas, the toll of a Dec. 4-10 cold snap remained unclear there and in Fresno and Tulare counties.
"In the cuttings so far, as an average throughout the county we're seeing about a 20% loss to mandarin and lemon crops," Glenn Fankhauser, assistant director at the Kern County Department of Agriculture and Measurement Standards, said Dec. 18. "But until they ramp up picking and the damage becomes more apparent, we really don't know. It's ongoing."
"The damage doesn't seem widespread, but we are rejecting lots and bins that exceed the tolerance," said Fred Rinder, Fresno County deputy agricultural commissioner. "Probably the most damage we're seeing is in the cara cara navels and mandarins. Lemons are spotty and navels are hit and miss too."
"We'll be out there doing freeze (inspections) at least through late February," Rinder said Dec. 19. "We haven't even started our historically coldest period. We could easily have another freeze by the end of January that would throw everything caddywompus."
Harvesting slowed down, said Bob Blakely, director of industry relations for Exeter-based California Citrus Mutual.
"Growers are finding a lot of packable fruit, but they're walking away from some blocks to give the damage time to manifest," he said. "They're finding good fruit in the interiors of those groves but are hesitant to run it because they can't really identify the damage or do a good job of separating it."


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5 Reasons Why the Washington Redskins Will Win the NFC East in 2014
NFL QB Bias On Display With MVP Result
J.J. Watt never really stood much of a chance against Aaron Rodgers, and it had nothing to do with statistics or play on the field. Read More
Gronk Should Have Been Unanimous For CPOY
Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots is the clear-cut choice for Comeback Player of the Year. Anyone else considered would be a giant waste of time. Read More
Aaron Donald a Deserving Winner for DROY
Why the St. Louis Rams rookie was a deserving winner. Read More
Retaining Ryan a Mistake that Will Haunt Saints
The New Orleans Saints had a big chemistry issue last season thanks to the feud between Sean Payton and Rob Ryan. See why bringing the defensive coordinator back was a big mistake. Read More
Bruce Arians Rightfully Named AP NFL COY
After overcoming a number of injuries to key players on both sides of the ball in 2014, Arizona Cardinals Head Coach Bruce Arians was rightfully named AP NFL Coach of the Year. Read More
J.J. Watt Easy Choice for Defensive Player of Year
Watt's season was spectacular and special enough that we're unlikely to witness a year of such dominance again anytime soon. Read More
DeMarco Murray Was the Right Choice For OPOY
DeMarco Murray had one heck of a season, so it is no wonder why he was named the Offensive Player of the Year. Read More
Odell Beckham Jr. Only Option For Offensive RoY
New York Giants rookie Odell Beckham Jr. was easily the most outstanding rookie this season, and very much deserved the Rookie of the Year Award. Read More
5 Players the Tennessee Titans Could Franchise
Who could the Tennessee Titans use the franchise tag on? Find out here. Read More
5 Players the Jacksonville Jaguars Could Franchise
Who could the Jacksonville Jaguars use the franchise tag on? Find out here. Read More
5 Players the St. Louis Rams Could Franchise
Who could the St. Louis Rams use the franchise tag on? Find out here. Read More
5 NFL Teams Ready To Regress In 2015
Check out the five NFL teams that showed promise this season, but are due for a dose of harsh reality in 2015. Read More


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Order Information
Meet rugged, independent, determined, and hard-working Joe Redington, Father of the Iditarod, a man who found his destiny in Alaska. In an inspirational biography, Lew Freedman chronicles Redington's birth on the Chisholm Trail and his boyhood in the Depression -- homeless, motherless, roaming the country looking for work. Alaska was his rebirth in 1948. On his own piece of dirt, a man could raise a family, hunt, fish, run dogs, and stand up for what he believed. Redington helped rescue Alaska dog mushing from extinction, creating a legacy in a thrilling thousand-mile race across Alaska, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
"If you're looking for a delightful book to read, FATHER OF THE IDITAROD is one! There are many humorous stories about Joe that had me laughing out loud. --Alaska Women Speak magazine
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lew Freedman has written numerous books about Alaska and especially about the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Freedman is the outdoor-adventure reporter for the Chicago Tribune.


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If you are a Band, or Performance Act, interested in performing at the 2015 Illinois State Fair, please fill out this (2015 Illinois State Fair Free Stage Performer Application. APPLICATIONS MUST BE FILLED OUT IN THEIR ENTIRETY, AND SUBMITTED NO LATER THAN C.O.B. ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2015, IN ORDER TO BE ACCEPTED BY THE FAIR FOR REVIEW.
Once completed, the application can either be submitted via email from this website or printed out and mailed to the Illinois State Fair Administrative Office.
If submitting via email, please attach an audio and/or video clip, or a "link" to a past performance (i.e. YouTube, EPK, website reference, etc.) and click SEND at the bottom of this application.
Performers mailing in their applications should forward them to the address documented below along with a sample CD and/or DVD. If the performer does not have a CD/DVD, they should reference a website or other cyber location, where a past performance can be viewed (Please NOTE this web address in the "Additional Comments" section located on the bottom of this application).
To better serve our guest, the Illinois State Fair has developed a mobile friendly version of our website. Althought the current site is already mobile friendly, isfmobile.info is more stream-lined and uses much less bandwidth.


text: I work in an environment that requires standing and walking for the entire shift, which is typically 8 hours. The floor surface has little support. I bought these shoes based on my experience with the Moab hiking shoe and other reviewers experiences. I have found the Siren Sport 2 to live up to my expectations. I feel it provides tremendous support to my feet and legs, while being very comfortable. They fit my wide feet perfectly. Very pleased!


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A dark, ultra-skinny essential you'll wear season after season
One of our skinniest fashion fits, this low-rise style hugs your body from top to bottom—comfortably holding you in while maintaining its shape. Constructed on mid-weight, super-stretch denim, these dark jeans are lightly rinsed for a soft, sleek finish.
• Low rise, sits low on hips
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• 29" inseam. Also available in 31 ½" inseam.
• 73% Cotton, 14% Rayon, 11% Polyester, 2% Spandex
• Machine wash
Measurements taken from a size 27
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I managed to catch my live-wire son in a rare moment of calmness and contemplation on the morning of his first day of Primary School.
This week the I Heart Faces theme is "Back to School" , and although (as usual) I have lots of photos of all 3 kids, this is the one I have chosen to submit.
He actually looks quite daunted and nervous in this photo, but let me assure you, he bounced into the classroom with a grin, and immediately started to play without even a backward glance towards me.
Later in the week, he told me he loved his new teacher lots and lots ….. as much as a cheese sandwich!!! Yes, coming from my son, this is high praise!
14 comments on Back to School …..or First day of School really!
That is a great capture on the first day. I think I will feel like that tomorrow – we start tomorrow. I like that his teacher ranks up there with a cheese sandwich. Too cute!
Hi Janmary! Remember me?? Your little guy is getting so big!!!
I LOVE this photo!!! Great entry!
Great picture! I love the expression and how excited he was for school!
Very sweet! I am glad he is enjoying his first year! My son started Kindergarten this year, too! Such a milestone!
That is a wonderful picture! He is quite the little cutie!
Glad i could help you find even MORE blogs to add to your reader! haha! It is addicting, isn't it?
Such a sweet picture! I love his expression!
Thanks for your sweet comment on my blog! I have a lot of acquaintances who live in N. Ireland. Someday, I would love to come visit. My parents lived in Belfast for a year after they were married back in 1979-1980.
Take care!
Wonderful picture. I wonder why I'm partial to redheads? LOL
He does look rather nervous.. Bless Him!! x
How cute is that? That's like me saying I love something just as much as a peanut butter sandwich! My ultimate favorite sandwich ever!
He's adorable.
Love it! I love the tilt on this too.
Love the pic.
Isn't great when we can catch those calm moments…proof that they exist!! -
Yippee! Second place! Fun to see that this adorable photo placed so high.
As much as a cheese sandwhich : ) that is a LOT of love! So nice to meet you! Congratulations on being a winner this week at I heart faces. What a wonderful picture. I love the out of the box perspective : ) And I love his hair and his glasses. He is a little cutie : )
Congrats on your top 10 finish – #2 is awesome!!


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I just discovered this amazing set of set up videos from Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. If you're not set up yet for this year, you may want to check these out. There are twenty videos and the instructions are very detailed and thorough.
Other folks have have made other videos, such as the videos from a teacher in Maryland that you can see here.
Remember to take all this advice with consideration of the requirements of your state and your program.
Happy new TIC year!


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Williams, a native of Rosedale, said the building has meant quite a bit to west Bolivar Countians for nearly a century.
"The courthouse is vital — a nucleus — to the community," said Williams. "We are excited all the services will be available again."
A ceremony will take place at 11:30 a.m. to honor the completion of restoration projects that have disrupted the flow of the building's different offices for years.
Tours of the facility, speakers, refreshments at each department office and an announcement of full court services are scheduled for the event.
The celebration will begin after the board convenes in Rosedale for its first monthly meeting beginning at 9 a.m.
Because of reconstruction, the board has not met in Rosedale since April of 2012.
Williams said repairs were funded by approximately $1 million of grant support from the U.S. Department of Urban Development, United States Department of Agriculture and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
An additional cost of about $300,000 went to the county — leading to an approximate 70/30 grant-funded overhaul.
In 2009, Bolivar County Administrator Will Hooker and a board-delegated crew of local leaders traveled to the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C., to rally for the financial support.
The majority of restoration focused on building stabilization, a problem that continued to progress as the years passed.
"About 70 percent of the work went into re-stabilization efforts," added Williams. "This problem was causing some of the walls to lean and pull away from the original structure."
Hooker explained that unstable ground was the root of the problem.
"Soft soil and the building's poor foundation played a role in the stabilization issues," said Hooker. "Over the years, the weight of the internal vaults in the building and the ground giving and pulling contributed to this problem.
"We've made repairs to have a much stronger foundation, and we'll now be able to utilize the north wing of the building that wasn't available before."
Installing a new roof and a number of interior retouches were also big parts of the restoration.
Rosedale Mayor Carey Estes said he is pleased with the progress and the new look.
"I think a wonderful job has been done in restoring the courthouse into a safe and beautiful facility," said Estes. "The people and records will now be much safer.
The courthouse serves many purposes beyond a house of law for the county's western citizens. Residents handle tax payments, vehicle tags and even cast their voting ballots in the building.
"It's a big deal to finally get things running to full capacity again," said Williams. "It's important that we don't let it get in a state of disarray again. We'll do a better job with upkeep and maintenance.
"We're excited — the courthouse is almost 100 years old, but with all the repairs it looks like a new building."
Hooker said the project was successful through a collaborative effort.
"This was the result of a lot of people working together for a common goal," said Hooker. "It's been a long struggle but we're happy to finally have everything fixed."


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Venue: Various Venues Presented by: Sydney Opera House
We hope you enjoyed Vivid LIVE 2014!
Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House is a 10-day celebration of ambitious popular music within the city's annual Vivid Sydney festival of light, music and ideas.Embraced by the public as a unique contribution to Sydney's cultural calendar, Vivid LIVE cultivates artist-driven projects including unique collaborations, one-off projects and special events that take over all the venues and spaces of the House, including the iconic Lighting the Sails.Sign up to our enews to be the first to hear about this year's programLike us on FacebookFollow us on twitterSubscribe to us on YouTubeDon't forget to check out our all year round contemporary music program featuring some of the most original and innovative artists from Australia and around the world - see what's on now at Music At The House.
Music at the House is an annual contemporary music program presented by Sydney Opera House. More info
Help support Australia's greatest icon and personalise your tile! Buy a Tile


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Cars > hollywoodnc's Garage
About hollywoodnc's Garage
About me and my passion for cars
Multiple GM dealership parts departments
Basic Auto Mechanic (night) school
GM "H" body specialist (owned 13 Vegas/Monzas)
1976 Buick Skyhawk total rebuild
My first car
1974 Vega GT
Car I wish I still had
1973 Hi-Po Vega, 4 spd., with 12:1 cr, sleeved 140, 3/4 cam, Offy Dual Port 360, 390 cfm, Mallory dual point, misc. IECO parts...
Drove from Toms River, NJ to Los Angeles, Ca. (70 mph average)in 4 to 5 days and did not burn a drop of oil!
In San Diego, oil return tube fell off and had to stop over in Yuma, Ar. to change Main bearings with eng. in car.
Drove to Virginia, stayed a month visiting relatives, then drove back to Bakersfield, Ca. and sold the car...it still didn't burn oil.
My dream car
1973 Corvette w/454 LS-7, standard trans. OR
Ferrari, Lamborgini, or Delorian
Car clubs I'm in
Vegabonds of America (Vega owners club)
- Type of racing: Drag
- Driver: John Force
- Driving song: Highway Star by Deep Purple
- Car movie: Heart like a Wheel
- Car book: V-6 Performance
- Car magazine: Hod Rod
- Car game: Slot Car Racing
— Profile last updated: Jul 12, 2014
hollywoodnc's Groups 1 – 3 of 3
Club Groups
H-body Club Club
For everyone who owns an h-body, another fun place to express our love for these overlooked collectibles!
Georgia, United States
This is a club that is located in Cookeville, TN. We have a variety of Chevy, Mopar, and others that are represented by members in our group. We meet on the second Monday of the month at the soup kitchen, and attend shows as they arise. There are people of all ages that are members of our...
Tennessee, United States
Texas H-body club Club
hollywoodnc's Events
hollywoodnc's Garage Comments
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hollywoodnc's Car Garage Blog 1 – 3 of 9
May 4, 2012
Project FRANKENHAWK is 98% complete and just needs a few tweeks here and there. Working on those custom door panels. The old plastic that seems to come apart in pieces, when you remove them from the door, has a thick fiberglass and resin makeover (front...
Uh, UPDATE on door latch clips...
Dec 12, 2011
Forever Classic (in my Dec. 3rd Update) didn't get the door latch clips that I wanted. Instead, I paid .38 each for those clips from Performance Specialties in Winston Salem, NC. Persistence pays!.
Dec 2, 2011
OK...No more HELP!!!!!! needed for the rod clips that attach the rod from the door handle latch to the door mechanism. Rodders...There's a New Kid in Town when it comes to getting parts for classics... Forever Classic Restoration. They handle classic...
Cars > hollywoodnc's Garage


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Canary Wharf
On a day of Olympics Opening Ceremony we went to Canary Wharf to see so called Billionaires Playground where super rich moored they yachts, as well as huge German cruise liner which accommodated German Olympic team.
This photo was shot on film. Taken by neja with a Lomo LC-A+ RL (available in our Online Shop) loaded with Lomography Color Negative 800 (120) film in London, United Kingdom. These tags describe this photo: london, canary, wharf, billionaires, playground, olympics, ship, boat, liner, vessel, skyscrapers, splitzer, double, and exposure. Date: 2012-07-27. Time: Afternoon. This photo can also be found in the album Billionaires playground .Please login to get more out of this site
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20 people like this photo
Liking photos helps us to present the best ones to you and others. 20 people like this photo. 20 people like this photo: mariskaviska, tsingtao, funfun, ehmahh, modern_nmt, clickiemcpete, javihacefotos, pogolomo, usha_berg, atria007, bloomchen, rik041, meryl, dreadlockboy, andrus_n, pearlgirl77, tiano, kekskonstrukt, aton, and adi_totp.
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We are sorry to see you leave - Beta is different and we value the time you took to try it out. Before you decide to go, please take a look at some value-adds for Beta and learn more about it. Thank you for reading Slashdot, and for making the site better!
An anonymous reader writes "An opinion piece at ReadWriteWeb makes an interesting suggestion: Microsoft's efforts in the tablet market aren't aimed at competing with the iPad or any of the Android tablets, but rather inventing a new facet of the PC market — one Microsoft alone is targeting. Quoting: 'Microsoft wants everyone to think the Surface Pro 3 is a tablet, but its pricing gives the game away. Microsoft wants to recreate the lucrative PC market that made the company billions of dollars by repackaging a PC into tablet clothing and then hammering away at the Surface product line until everybody believes that PCs never really went anywhere, they just got a touchscreen and a cellular connection.' This is also supported by the lack of a smaller Surface tablet, which many analysts were predicting before this week's press conference. Microsoft is clearly not pursuing the tablet-for-everyone approach, but instead focusing on users who want productivity out of their mobile computing device. The Surface Pros are expensive, but Microsoft is hoping people will balance that cost against the cost of a work laptop plus a personal tablet."
Lucas123 (935744) writes "After using Google Glass for several weeks, Computerworld columnist Matt Lake had plenty of reasons to explain why he returned them, not the least of which was that they made him cross-eyed and avoid eye contact. Google Glass batteries also drain like a bath tub when using either audio or video apps and they run warm. And, as cool as being able to take videos and photos with the glasses may be, those shots are always at an angle. Of course, being able to do turn-by-turn directions is cool, but not something you can do without your smart phone's cellular data or a mobile hotspot. The list of reasons goes on... Bottom line, if Google Glass is in the vanguard of a future class of wearable computers, the future isn't the present."
An anonymous reader writes "MIT Technology Review reports that French company Sigfox will soon roll out a cellular data network in the San Francisco Bay Area aimed exclusively for low-bandwidth, low power devices such as household appliances and sensors. It's the U.S. debut for a technology already in use in France. The network uses the 900 MHz unlicensed spectrum used by cordless phones. Sigfox says that and their technology's very low bandwidth makes it possible to connect devices significantly more cheaply than with conventional cellular modems and service."
crookedvulture (1866146) writes "Microsoft unveiled its Surface Pro 3 tablet at a press event in New York this morning. The device has a larger 12" screen with a 2160x1440 display resolution and a novel 3:2 aspect ratio. Intel Core processors provide the horsepower, starting with the Core i3 in the base model and extending all the way up to Core i7 in pricier variants. The tablet is just 9.1 mm thick, which Microsoft claims is the thinnest ever for a Core-based device. Microsoft developed a new radial fan that's suppose to distribute airflow evenly inside the chassis without generating audible noise. The tablet weights 800 g, shaving 100 g off the Surface Pro 2, and it's supposed to have longer battery life, as well. Microsoft has also rolled out new keyboard accessories, a pressure-sensitive stylus, and a docking station that supports 4K video output. The Surface Pro 3 is scheduled to be available tomorrow with prices starting at $799." Update: 05/20 17:12 GMT by T : Mary Jo Foley points out at ZDNet that one thing not announced today is an ARM-powered Mini version.
Advocatus Diaboli (1627651) writes "The National Security Agency is secretly intercepting, recording, and archiving the audio of virtually every cell phone conversation on the island nation of the Bahamas. According to documents provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, the surveillance is part of a top-secret system – code-named SOMALGET – that was implemented without the knowledge or consent of the Bahamian government. Instead, the agency appears to have used access legally obtained in cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to open a backdoor to the country's cellular telephone network, enabling it to covertly record and store the 'full-take audio' of every mobile call made to, from and within the Bahamas – and to replay those calls for up to a month."
An anonymous reader writes "Just when people got used to good smartphones costing $200 with a 2-year contract, they also started to realize that those 2-year contracts were bad news. Still, it's often more palatable than fronting $600 for good, new hardware. But that's starting to change. Cell phone internals are getting cheap enough that prices for capable devices have been creeping downward below $200 without a contract. We ran into something similar with the PC industry some years back — previous-gen chips had no trouble running next-gen software (excluding games with bleeding-edge graphics), and so the impetus to keep getting the latest-and-greatest hardware disappeared for a lot of people. That revolution is underway now for smartphones, and it's going to shake things up for everybody, including Apple and Samsung. But the biggest effects will be felt in the developing world: '[F]or a vast number of people in a vast number of countries, the cheap handset will be the first screen, and the only screen. Their primary interface with the world. A way of connecting to the Internet where there are no telephone lines or coaxial cables or even electricity. In nations without subsidized cell phone contracts or access to consumer credit, the $50-and-you-own-it handset is going to be transformative.'"
An anonymous reader writes "We've all heard about iPhone users switching over to Android-powered phones and no longer being able to receive text messages from friends and family still using iPhones. Well, a woman with exactly this issue has filed a lawsuit against Apple, complaining that '[p]eople who replace their Apple devices with non-Apple wireless phones and tablets are "penalized and unable to obtain the full benefits of their wireless-service contracts."' To be specific, '[t]he suit is based on contractual interference and unfair competition laws.' She is seeking class action status and undetermined damages."
An anonymous reader writes "Reuters reports that Apple and Google's Motorola Mobility unit are settling all patent lawsuits over smartphone tech. The settlement 'does not include a cross license to their respective patents,' and the companies will work together for patent reform. According to Reuters, 'The two companies informed a federal appeals court in Washington that the cases should be dismissed, according to filings on Friday. However, the deal does not appear to apply to Apple's litigation against Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, as no dismissal notices were filed in those cases. The most high-profile case between Apple and Motorola began in 2010. Motorola accused Apple of infringing several patents, including one essential to how cell phones operate on a 3G network, while Apple said Motorola violated its patents to certain smartphone features.'"
SmartAboutThings (1951032) writes "After it was long rumored and discussed about, the ability to text 911 in case of emergency is slowly rolling out in the United States to subscribers of AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless. For the time being, the service is available in areas of Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont and Virginia. According to the FCC, the service will gradually roll out to more areas and by the end of this year, virtually anyone with a cellphone and enough service will be able to make use of it. Which means that all carriers will support it." TechCrunch has a deeper article that explains why "you probably can't use it yet," and links to the FCC's own explanation of the service.
redletterdave (2493036) writes "When my best friend upgraded from an iPhone 4S to a Galaxy S4, I texted her hello. Unfortunately, she didn't get that text, nor any of the five I sent in the following three days. My iPhone didn't realize she was now an Android user and sent all my texts via iMessage. It wasn't until she called me about going to brunch that I realized she wasn't getting my text messages. What I thought was just a minor bug is actually a much larger problem. One that, apparently, Apple has no idea how to fix. Apple said the company is aware of the situation, but it's not sure how to solve it. One Apple support person said: 'This is a problem a lot of people are facing. The engineering team is working on it but is apparently clueless as to how to fix it. There are no reliable solutions right now — for some people the standard fixes work immediately; many others are in my boat.'"
An anonymous reader writes "BlackPhone was designed by Phil Zimmermann (inventor of PGP). The 4.7" display phone features a 2 GHz NVIDIA Tegra 4i ARM Cortex-A9 quad-core processor with 60 GPU cores, 1GB RAM and 16GB storage [more specs]. The OS is a customized version of Android called PrivatOS which offers encrypted calls, texts and emails that can't be unscrambled even by spy agencies. It also offers built-in resistance against malicious software which will be most welcomed for users worried about free Apps that are becoming increasingly invasive, if not pure data collection spyware for unknown 3rd parties. It's coming out this June, and many Fortune 50 companies have already ordered the phone to protect against industrial espionage."
jfruh (300774) writes "BlackBerry broke its longstanding business model recently by announcing that its BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 management platform would be able to manage not just BlackBerry devices, but Android and iOS gadgets as well. Now, in a new announcement, the company is also exploring the flipside of that coin, allowing software from other companies to manage BlackBerry phones. The moves acknowledge a world in which fewer and fewer people are interested in a vertical BlackBerry solution — but also seem to kill the last things that make BlackBerry special."
redletterdave writes: "The other shoe has dropped for Square. The once-hyped mobile payments company is killing off its Wallet payments app and replacing it with a new app called Order, which will allow users to order food and beverages ahead of time at their favorite cafes and restaurants. For entrepreneurs, the concept of a mobile wallet seems so logical that the payments industry looks like it's ripe for disruption. If everybody is always carrying around a powerful computer in their pockets, it's natural to consider loading payment information onto that secure device as an alternative to cash or plastic cards. The problem comes when this logical entrepreneurial spirit merges with an industry segment that is classically illogical. The payments system in the United States is a mess of entrenched interests, fragmented business opportunities, old infrastructure (like point-of-sale systems), back room handshakes and cut throat competition. This behavior is not going to change any time soon, which means mobile wallets like Square are going to continue to struggle — at least until a more legitimate, easy-to-use and cost-effective solution comes along."
Freshly Exhumed (105597) writes "Tomi Ahonen's newly released 2014 Almanac reveals such current mobile phone industry data gems as: 'The mobile subscription rate is at or very very nearly at 100%. For 7.1 Billion people alive that means 7.1 Billion mobile phone subscriptions worldwide.' Compared with other tech industries, he says: 'Take every type of PC, including desktops, laptops, netbooks and tablet PCs and add them together. What do we have? 1.5 Billion in use worldwide. Mobile is nearly 5 times larger. Televisions? Sure. We are now at 2 Billion TV sets in use globally. But mobile has 3.5 times users.' Which mobile phone OS is the leader? ''Android has now utterly won the smartphone platform war with over 80% of new sales. Apple's iPhone has peaked and is in gradual decline at about 15% with the remnant few percent split among Windows, Blackberry and miscellaneous others.'"
First time accepted submitter Dimetrodon (2714071) writes "It is an unspoken rule of military procurement that any IT or communications technology will invariably be years behind what is commercially available or technically hobbled to ensure security. One case in point is the uncomfortably backronymed NeRD, or Navy e-Reader Device, an electronic book so secure the 300 titles it holds can never be updated. Ever."
Mark.JUK (1222360) writes "Japanese mobile operator NTT DOCOMO has announced that they'll make use of Ericsson's advanced antenna technologies and radio base stations in order to conduct one of the world's first trials of a possible 5G based Mobile Broadband technology in Yokosuka (Japan), which aims to deliver downstream speeds of more than 10 Gigabits per second using the 15GHz radio spectrum frequency. But this is just one possible candidate for 5G connectivity and many organizations are still working to try and define an official standard, while most countries don't expect the first services to be deployed until around the year 2020."
dryriver sends this BBC report: "The USB flash drive is one of the most simple, everyday pieces of technology that many people take for granted. Now it's being eyed as a possible solution to bridging the digital divide, by two colourful entrepreneurs behind the start-up Keepod. Nissan Bahar and Franky Imbesi aim to combat the lack of access to computers by providing what amounts to an operating-system-on-a-stick. In six weeks, their idea managed to raise more than $40,000 (£23,750) on fundraising site Indiegogo, providing the cash to begin a campaign to offer low-cost computing to the two-thirds of the globe's population that currently has little or no access. The test bed for the project is the slums of Nairobi in Kenya. The typical income for the half a million people in the city's Mathare district is about $2 (£1.20) a day. Very few people here use a computer or have access to the net. But Mr Bahar and Mr Imbesi want to change that with their Keepod USB stick. It will allow old, discarded and potentially non-functional PCs to be revived, while allowing each user to have ownership of their own 'personal computer' experience — with their chosen desktop layout, programs and data — at a fraction of the cost of providing a unique laptop, tablet or other machine to each person.'"
An anonymous reader writes "Mobile gaming is crystallizing around one concept: games must be free-to-play. As an industry, it seems to work — there's no shortage of players willing to drop money on microtransactions and in-app purchases. But for making compelling or unusual games, this is a problem. 'Pitch a title that isn't games-as-a-service to publishers or investors and they'll practically install new doors to slam in your face. ... Free-to-play advocates naturally think their model is dominant because "that's what mobile gamers want," explaining that in-app purchases are just the players way of saying they care. If they've entertained the more dull notion that free-to-play is popular because... well, it's free? They seem not to let on. ... Recent data shows 20 percent of mobile games get opened once and never again. 66 percent have never played beyond the first 24 hours and indeed most purchases happen in the first week of play. Amazingly only around two to three percent of gamers pay anything at all for games, and even more hair-raising is the fact that 50 percent of all revenue comes from just 0.2 percent of players. This is a statistically insignificant amount of happy gamers and nothing that gives you a basis to make claims about "what people want."'"
An anonymous reader writes "Mozilla today released Firefox OS version 1.3 to its partners for implementing in their smartphones. There are many new features for both users and developers, and the first phone to feature them is the ZTE Open C, which is available for sale as of today on eBay. First and foremost, Firefox OS users can expect dual-SIM dual-standby (DSDS) support, which gives you two lines on compatible phones, a popular feature in emerging markets. DSDS lets dual-SIM devices individually manage two different SIMs for calling, texting, or data through the 'SIM Manager' interface."
The New York Times is one of many outlets reporting that Snapchat has agreed to settle with the FTC about the gap between promises made about the company's "disappearing" communications system and reality. "The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday said Snapchat had agreed to settle charges that the company was deceiving users about the ephemeral nature of the photos and video messages sent through its service. The messages were significantly less private than the company had said, the commission said. In marketing the service, Snapchat has said that its messages "disappear forever." But in its complaint, the commission said the messages, often called snaps, can be saved in several ways. The commission said that users can save a message by using a third-party app, for example, or employ simple workarounds that allow users to take a screenshot of messages without detection." Besides the monetary side of the settlement (details of which are promised soon on the FTC's site), the company has agreed to operate for the next 20 years with special supervision of a new privacy program; it seems a little optimistic as a timeframe for any social-media related business. Here are the FTC's charges (PDF).
Trailrunner7 (1100399) writes "If law enforcement gets hold of your locked iPhone and has some interest in its contents, Apple can pull all kinds of content from the device, including texts, contacts, photos and videos, call history and audio recordings. The company said in a new document that provides guidance for law enforcement agencies on the kinds of information Apple can provide and what methods can be used to obtain it that if served with a search warrant, officials will help law enforcement agents extract specific application-specific data from a locked iOS device. However, that data appears to be limited to information related to Apple apps, such as iMessage, the contacts and the camera. Email contents and calendar data can't be extracted, the company said in the guidelines."
trbdavies (979982) writes 'Only in San Francisco' used to refer to issues like whether public nudity should be restricted to certain hours of the day. Now I hear it most often in connection with the interplay between the city and tech companies. SF Weekly reports on one such development: 'Anyone who's visited San Francisco for 35 minutes knows that easy parking is a rare find. Enter Paolo Dobrowolny, an Italian tech bro who decided San Francisco was the perfect spot to test out his new experiment. Here's how it works: You find a parking spot, revel a little, let Monkey Parking know where you're located, and watch the bidding begin. Finally, give your spot to the wealthiest victim willing to pay the highest price for your spot. Drive away that much richer.'" Update: 05/08 15:52 GMT by T : I suspect that Dobrowolny's a tech pro, rather than bro, or at least that's what I suspect the Weekly meant to say.
An anonymous reader writes "The op-co.de blog has a post about the incredibly poor job Samsung did securing its new NX300 'smart camera.' One of the camera's primary features is that it can join Wi-Fi networks — this lets it upload photos, but it also lets you use your smartphone to access the photos on the camera directly. You can also connect with NFC. Unfortunately, the way they set it up is extremely insecure. First, there's an NFC tag that tells the camera where to download the app, and also the name of the access point set up by the camera. 'The tag is writable, so a malicious user can easily 'hack' your camera by rewriting its tag to download some evil app, or to open nasty links in your web browser, merely by touching it with an NFC-enabled smartphone.' Things aren't much better with Wi-Fi — a simple port scan reveals that the camera is running an unprotected X server (running Enlightenment). When the camera checks for new firmware, it helpfully reports your physical location. Its software also sets up unencrypted access points."
zarmanto writes: "The numbers have been telling us for a while now that (formerly expensive) feature phones have been slowly displaced by more feature-rich, high-end smartphones. Thus, it should come as no surprise that the other end of the market is also receiving active encroachment by low-end smartphones. Now, ARM is suggesting that it's actually quite conceivable for OEMs to produce a 'smartphone' for as little as $20 — as long as you compromise a bit on those things which actually make it a smartphone in the first place. So, is this just more graying of the line between smartphones and feature phones? Or is this an indication that the feature phone (as we used to know it) is finally well-and-truly dead?"
InformationWeek reports that check-in app Foursquare is splitting into two pieces. One of them -- the part that will retain the Foursquare name -- is actually losing the original check-in functionality, in favor of local reviews and recommendations; a second app called Swarm will get the who's-where-right-now part of the Foursquare functionality. From the article: "Foursquare isn't the first company to unbundle its features into new apps. Last month, Facebook announced that it will separate in-app messaging from its official iOS and Android apps and require users to download Messenger to chat with friends. Users will have two weeks to download Messenger before the service in the main Facebook app disappears, the company said. ... Foursquare's changes also aim to capitalize on a mobile app trend: Taking online friendships offline to meet up in person. Most recently, Facebook announced its opt-in Nearby Friends feature, which will display your friends' locations on a map and track, store, and share your location with others."
theodp (442580) writes "Thankfully, no one's gone full-Charles-Bronson yet, but the NY Times reports that victims of smartphone theft are using GPS to take the law into their own hands, paying visits to thieves' homes and demanding the return of their stolen phones. "The emergence of this kind of do-it-yourself justice," writes Ian Lovett, "has stirred worries among law enforcement officials that people are putting themselves in danger, taking disproportionate risks for the sake of an easily replaced item." And while hitting "Find My iPhone" can take you to a thief's doorstep, LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith urges resisting the impulse to do so. "It's just a phone," he said. "it's not worth losing your life over. Let police officers take care of it. We have backup, guns, radio, jackets — all that stuff civilians don't have.""
GottaBeMobile offers a better explanation than many other reports of a recent Google upgrade (some users would say more of a lateral move) that makes offline document creation and editing a first-class option for users of Google's office apps, but removes editing capabilities from Google Drive per se. Instead of creating or editing documents directly through Drive, users will instead be able to do this (including offline) with a dedicated app called Docs and Sheets. The article explains a few ways in which the new configuration is confusing, including this one: "Splitting out the editing functionality from Google Drive into the new Apps certainly seems odd given that fundamentally there are no new or different editing features offered in the new Google Docs and Google Sheets standalone Apps. Some users won't appreciate having to download the new stand alone Apps to replace previous functionality, especially limited functionality."
Iddo Genuth (903542) writes "Photographer and videographer Alec Weinstein was in the market for a new smartphone. He realized that the new Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Note 3 both have 4K video recording capabilities and decided to compare those to his 1080p 5D MKIII pro DSLR camera – the results are extremely interesting — Can you tell the difference between a Canon 5D MKIII shooting 1080p video and a Samsung Galaxy Note III smartphone shooting 4K video?"
An anonymous reader writes "Apple has removed encrypted email attachments from iOS 7. Apple said back in June 2010 in regards to iOS 4.0: 'Data protection is available for devices that offer hardware encryption, including iPhone 3GS and later, all iPad models, and iPod touch (3rd generation and later). Data protection enhances the built-in hardware encryption by protecting the hardware encryption keys with your passcode. This provides an additional layer of protection for your email messages attachments, and third-party applications.' Not anymore."
An anonymous reader writes "One of the most interesting notes from Apple's recent quarterly report was that iPad sales are down. Pundits were quick to jump on that as evidence that the iPad was just a fad, but there were still more than 16 million units sold. iPads, and the tablet market as a whole, clearly aren't a fad, but it's also unclear where they're going. They're not convincingly replacing PCs on one end or phones on the other. Meanwhile, PCs and phones are both morphing into things that are more like tablets. New form factors often succeed (or fail) based on what they can do better than old form factors, and the iPad hasn't done enough to make itself distinct, yet. Ben Thompson had an insightful take on people demanding desktop functionality from the iPad: 'This sounds suspiciously like the recommendation that the only thing holding the Macintosh back was its inability to run Apple II programs. It's also of a piece with the vast majority of geek commentary on the iPad: multiple windows, access to the file system, so on and so forth. I also think it's misplaced. The future of the iPad is not to be a better Mac. That may happen by accident, just as the Mac eventually superseded the Apple II, but to pursue that explicitly would be to sacrifice what the iPad might become, and, more importantly, what it already is.'"
itwbennett writes: "A class-action lawsuit filed Thursday (PDF) accuses Google of strong-arming device manufacturers into making its search engine the default on Android devices, driving up the cost of those devices and hurting consumers. The suit does not argue that device manufacturers entered Mobile Application Distribution Agreements involuntarily, but that the market power of Google compels them to. 'Because consumers want access to Google's products, and due to Google's power in the U.S. market for general handheld search, Google has unrivaled market power over smartphone and tablet manufacturers,' says the suit."
rjmarvin (3001897) writes "In a since-removed bug report on Launchpad, Ubuntu's issue tracker, Canonical's Matthew Paul Thomas stated that Ubuntu for Android is no longer in active development. In a statement, Canonical stated that while the project is not completely dead, Canonical is currently focusing on pushing Ubuntu for Phones. The company is open to working with partners on Ubuntu for Android, but will not proceed with further U4A development unless they can form a partnership with an OEM partner to launch it. The Ubuntu for Android project was first announced in early 2012."
Bennett Haselton writes: "It's not trivial to explain why cell phone companies find it profitable to sell phones at a deep up-front discount and make it back over a two-year contract. Why don't other companies sell similarly-priced goods the same way? (And why, for that matter, has T-Mobile found it more profitable to do the opposite, selling the phone and the service separately?) I'm trying to come up with an explanation that makes realistic and consistent assumptions about the stupidity of the buying public, and still makes sense." Read on for the rest of Bennett's thoughts.
MojoKid writes: "Google's open source Android platform has the distinction of being the most popular mobile operating system in the world. That's great in terms of dominating the market and reaping the rewards that come with it, but it's also for that very reason that Android finds itself the target of virtually every new mobile malware threat that emerges. According to data published in F-Secure's latest Mobile Threat Report (PDF), over 99 percent of the new mobile threats it discovered in the first quarter of 2014 targeted Android users. To be fair, we're not taking about hundreds of thousands, tens of thousands, or thousands of malware threats — F-Secure detected 277 new threat families, of which 275 honed in on Android."
redletterdave writes: "April was National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Unfortunately, the recognition of this month for distracted driving was a hollow gesture — just like the half-hearted attempts at developing apps that prevent cell phone use while driving. After a week of trying to find an app that prevents me from all cell phone use from behind the wheel entirely, I've given up. The Distracted Driving Foundation lists about 25 apps on its website — there are a few more on Apple's App Store — but I couldn't find a single one that was easy to use. Most were either defunct, required onerous sign-up processes, asked for subscription plans, or simply didn't work as advertised."
curtwoodward (2147628) writes "Amazon is well-established as an e-commerce and cloud computing pioneer. So why do its ambitions include a bigger push into consumer electronics, including a long-rumored leap into the very competitive smartphone market? In a word, control — of data, consumer profiles, and royalties on purchases."
DroidJason1 writes: "Revealed from a 10-Q filed by Microsoft with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Microsoft has been losing $300 million and counting for the Surface in the last nine months. Data from Strategy Analytics has also revealed that Microsoft's Windows-powered tablets now own a 6% global tablet share, in Q1 of 2014. Android, on the other hand, remains at the top with a 66% global share. Apple's iOS fell to 28%."
New submitter freddieb writes: "An individual who had been jamming cellphone traffic on interstate 4 in Florida was located by FCC agents with the assistance of Hillsborough County Sheriff's Deputies. The individual had reportedly been jamming cellphone traffic on I-4 for two years. The FCC is now proposing a $48,000 fine for his actions. They say the jamming 'could and may have had disastrous consequences by precluding the use of cell phones to reach life-saving 9-1-1 services provided by police, ambulance, and fire departments.'"
MojoKid (1002251) writes "AMD has just announced their upcoming mainstream, low-power APUs (Accelerated Processing Units), codenames Beema and Mullins. These APUs are the successors to last year's Temash and Kabini APUs, which powered an array of small form factor and mobile platforms. Beema and Mullins are based on the same piece of silicon, but will target different market segments. Beema is the mainstream part that will find its way into affordable notebook, small form factor systems, and mobile devices. Mullins, however, is a much lower-power derivative, designed for tablets and convertible systems. They are full SoCs with on-die memory controllers, PCI Express, SATA, and USB connectivity, and a host of other IO blocks. AMD is announcing four Beema-based mainstream APUs today, with TDPs ranging from 10W – 15W. There are three Mullins-based products being announced, two quad-cores and a dual-core. The top of the line-up is the A10 Micro-6700T. It's a quad-core chip, with a max clock speed of 2.2GHz, 2MB of L2, and a TDP of only 4.5W. In the benchmarks, the A10-6700T quad core is actually able to surpass Intel's Bay Trail Atom platform pretty easily across a number of tests, especially gaming and graphics."
digitalPhant0m writes: "A story at the L.A. Times details how Verizon Wireless has started pushing the envelope (or downright abusing it) when it comes to tracking users without their knowledge. The company said, 'In addition to the customer information that's currently part of the program, we will soon use an anonymous, unique identifier we create when you register on our websites. This identifier may allow an advertiser to use information they have about your visits to websites from your desktop computer to deliver marketing messages to mobile devices on our network.' While newsworthy, the rate of privacy abuse revelations over the last few years makes it unsurprising."
Last September Microsoft announced it would be purchasing Nokia's Devices and Services business. The terms have been worked out, the shareholders gave approval, and the regulatory issues were hurdled. As of today, it's official: Nokia's phone business is now Microsoft Mobile. The final price is around $7.5 billion, and 30,000 employees are transferring to Microsoft. "The purchase of the unprofitable division makes Microsoft the world's second-largest maker of mobile phones with about 14 percent of the market, according to researcher IDC." Here's Nokia's official statement, and a rather more personal one from an employee. According to The Verge, "Nokia's Android handsets are the most intriguing part of the deal, as they shed some light on how Microsoft might approach the messy and complex nature of shipping devices that don't run the company's Windows software. The Nokia X introduces a new "forked" version of Android that's akin to what Amazon does with its Kindle Fire line, but it also includes a Windows Phone-like UI and an Android store that's separate to Google Play. Microsoft has the chance to control another app store, but also a solid opportunity to push its own cloud-based services." One interesting note: Nokia's phone manufacturing plant in India is not part of the deal because of an ongoing tax dispute. Nokia will continue to operate it as a contract manufacturing unit for Microsoft.
alphadogg (971356) writes "Google is considering deploying Wi-Fi networks in towns and cities covered by its Google Fiber high-speed Internet service. The disclosure is made in a document Google is circulating to 34 cities that are the next candidates to receive Google Fiber in 2015. Specific details of the Wi-Fi plan are not included in the document, which was seen by IDG News Service, but Google says it will be 'discussing our Wi-Fi plans and related requirements with your city as we move forward with your city during this planning process.'" And while Google's had some experience running large-scale WiFi, and adding WiFi seems a much lower burden than providing fiber to the home, floating an idea (as AT&T did, to accusations of "smokescreen") is not the same as turning the switch to "On."
Hugh Pickens DOT Com (2995471) writes "Christina Bonnington reports that the public is not gobbling up iPads like they used to. Analysts had projected iPad sales would reach 19.7 million but Apple sold 16.35 million iPads, a drop of roughly 16.4 percent since last year. 'For many, the iPad they have is good enough–unlike a phone, with significant new features like Touch ID, or a better camera, the iPad's improvements over the past few years have been more subtle,' writes Bonnington. 'The latest iterations feature a better Retina display, a slimmer design, and faster processing. Improvements, yes, but enough to justify a near thousand dollar purchase? Others seem to be finding that their smartphone can do the job that their tablet used to do just as well, especially on those larger screened phablets.'
While the continued success of the iPad may be up in the air, another formerly popular member of Apple's product line is definitely on its way to the grave. The iPod, once Apple's crown jewel, posted a sales drop of 51 percent since last year. Only 2.76 million units were sold, a far cry from its heyday of almost 23 million back in 2008. 'Apple's past growth has been driven mostly by entering entirely new product categories, like it did when it introduced the iPod in 2001, the iPhone in 2007, and the iPad in 2010,' says Andrew Cunningham. 'The most persistent rumors involve TV (whether a new Apple TV set-top box or an entire television set) and wearable computing devices (the perennially imminent "iWatch"), but calls for larger and cheaper iPhones also continue.'"
An anonymous reader writes "Spec-wise, OnePlus One will go toe-to-toe with the latest flagship phones like the Galaxy S5, HTC One (M8), and Sony Xperia Z2. In some areas, it even surpasses them, and at a price point of $300. The One has the same 2.5 GHz Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC SoC as the Samsung Galaxy S5, build quality similar to the HTC One (M8), and the large 3000+ mAh battery and Sony camera of the Xperia Z2. It also runs CyanogenMod 11S, which is based on Android 4.4."
Bennett Haselton writes: "If you watch a movie or TV show (legally) on your mobile device while away from your home network, it's usually by streaming it on a data plan. This consumes an enormous amount of a scarce resource (data bundled with your cell phone provider's data plan), most of it unnecessarily, since many of those users could have downloaded the movie in advance on their home broadband connection — if it weren't for pointless DRM restrictions." Read on for the rest of Bennett's thoughts.
An anonymous reader writes "Tablets have come a long way in the past few years, and it has become possible to find a capable device for under $200. But what about the tablets pushing toward the high end of the spectrum? Xplore Technologies sells a line of tablets that top out at $5,600. Who on earth would pay that much? The military, of course. 'The DMSR models both have handles and are encased in tough protective covers. They can be dropped more than 2 meters onto a plywood floor and 1.2 meters onto concrete, and can operate in temperatures between -30 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit (-34 to 60 degrees Celsius). They've been tested to the U.S. military's tough MIL-STD-810G standard for extreme conditions. The tablets run Windows and come with Intel's latest Core i5 or i7 Haswell processors. Solid-state drive options extend to 480GB. ... They display images at 1024 x 768 resolution. That's less than some cheaper Windows tablets, but Xplore claims to offer excellent LCD visibility in sunlight thanks to a display luminescence of 1,300 NITS. The tablets have internal fans but can still run for up to eight-and-a-half hours on a 10-cell battery, Xplore said. They weigh a hefty 2.4 kilograms.'"
An anonymous reader writes "Now that Google's modular phone effort, Project Ara, looks a bit less like vaporware, people are starting to figure out its implications for the future of cellphones. One fascinating possibility is that it could transform the cellphone purchasing process into something resembling desktop computer purchasing. Enthusiasts could search out the individual parts they like the best and assemble them into cellphone Voltron. People who just want a decent phone with no hassle could look at pre-built offerings — and not just from Apple, Samsung, and the like. It could open up a whole new group of phone 'manufacturers.' Of course, this comes with drawbacks, too — if you think fragmentation is bad now, imagine trying to support thousands of different hardware combinations."
alphadogg writes: "Apple is making a billion dollar bet on sapphire as a strategic material for mobile devices such as the iPhone, iPad and perhaps an iWatch. Exactly what the company plans to do with the scratch-resistant crystal – and when – is still the subject of debate. Apple is creating its own supply chain devoted to producing and finishing synthetic sapphire crystal in unprecedented quantities. The new Mesa, Arizona plant, in a partnership with sapphire furnace maker GT Advanced Technologies, will make Apple one of the world's largest sapphire producers when it reaches full capacity, probably in late 2014. By doing so, Apple is assured of a very large amount of sapphire and insulates itself from the ups and downs of sapphire material pricing in the global market."
New submitter katiewilliam (3621675) writes with a story at Hardware Zone about a new feature that Google's working on for Android phones' built-in cameras: the illusion of shallow depth of field in phone snapshots, which typically err on the side of too much in focus, rather than too little. Excerpting: "The Google Research Blog [note: here's a direct link] revealed that there's quite a fair bit of algorithms running to achieve this effect; to put it in a nutshell, computer vision algorithms create a 3D model of the world based on the shots you have taken, and estimate the depth to every point in the scene."
CowboyRobot sends in an article about how Samsung's constantly shifting plans for its smartwatches are making it hard for developers to commit to building apps. Quoting: "Samsung's first smartwatch, released in October last year, ran a modified version of Google's Android platform. The device had access to about 80 apps at launch, all of which were managed by a central smartphone app. Samsung offered developers an SDK for the Galaxy Gear so they could create more apps. Developers obliged. Then Samsung changed direction. Samsung announced a new series of smartwatches in February: the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo, and Gear Fit. Unlike the first device, these three run Samsung's Tizen platform. ... This week, Samsung made things even more interesting. Speaking to Reuters, Yoon Han-kil, senior vice president of Samsung's product strategy team, said the company is working on a watch that will use Google's Android Wear platform. In other words, Samsung will bring three different watches to market with three different operating systems in under a year."


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In another life, Liz McLaughlin worked as a stock trader in Chicago and her native Scotland. But for the past 18 years, she's worked in international aid in regions like the Balkans, Africa and the Middle East. Most recently, she traveled to refugee camps in Dadaab, Kenya and Borena, Ethiopia, as part of her role as executive director of the Foundations Unit for CARE, to examine the ongoing fallout from the famine in Somalia. Dadaab is, in fact, the largest refugee camp in the world; at the beginning of the crisis, it was home to 380,00 people, and is currently experiencing 1,600 new arrivals every day. With the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of African worsening by the day — the latest numbers show that more than 12 million people have been severely affected by the worst drought in 60 years — aid workers are largely concentrated outside of Somalia, where workers and officials face significant barriers to entry. I spoke with Ms. McLaughlin about the effects of the food crisis and drought on women and children, who make up the majority of the refugees entering Ethiopia and Kenya.
Most of the refugees, including 80 percent of those arriving at Dadaab, are women and children. Why?
That was one of the first questions that I asked. I interviewed many people, mostly mothers and children. Almost all of them said, the men remain in Somalia to look after the elderly, which makes a lot of sense because a lot of these women were traveling up to 21 days to get to the camps.
What are the consequences or additional risk factors for mothers who arrive without the fathers of their children?
It certainly adds a lot of added pressure to the mothers. The children are with them non-stop and there's no mechanism there – the women often go and collect water, they have to take the children with them. I've not seen a lot of gender-based violence here, but there is some going on, and that's another — it's obviously a risk factor.
One of the ladies I interviewed was a victim of gender-based violence. CARE has the mechanism in place [to help such women]. I was so impressed – as the women and the families come in to register, there are several steps. And one of them is medical checks. We have people standing by who have experience with gender-based violence.
So Dadaab doesn't seem to be experiencing the levels of gender-based violence that can arise in such situations?
Not that I've seen. I think the key thing is to ensure that there is support there.
What are the immediate aid needs for women and children?
Definitely food, food security, water, sanitation and health. The children that are coming in – malnutrition is the biggest problem at the moment. It's [always] babies and children that are affected first, [but here,] you're seeing it in the parents. I've [worked in conflicted regions] for 18 years, I've done 4 years in Darfur, and I've never seen such hungry men. That's the first time. It's the first time to see men in such shock.
What we were hearing from the mothers and fathers when they were traveling, the little food they did have was given the children. So not only were they not getting food and nutrition in Somalia, they then walked up to 21 days. The priority for the families, as well as NGOs, is the children.
Tell us about the educational programs that are set up for children in Dadaab.
When I was there, there were 4000 children there, and it was fantastic – definitely, almost half of [the children] are girls in the education programs. Unfortunately, what we are seeing is that the facilities that are there were built for refugees that have been there 20 years. The numbers have gone up drastically, and now we've got this massive influx of children. They're being taught outside in the hot weather, and I'm not talking about 10 or 20 per classroom. I counted seven classrooms, about 50 children in each classroom, outside. I was so happy to see it looked like it was an equal split boys and girls. One of the saddest moments was when we were standing and interviewing the headmaster [of the school] and the gates opened and another 60 refugee children ran into the playground. [One benefit is that] CARE has feeding programs in the schools as well as education, and the children are desperately in need of food.
Also, many of the children didn't get education [where they came from]. So you're dealing with a variety of levels. Classrooms are all different ages – I didn't see any secondary school classes, they were all primary school, with 5 to 12 years olds in one classroom. We interviewed some of the schoolteachers, and some were babies when they were brought to refugee camps 20 years ago, or they were born in the camp. Now they're teachers.
What are the long-term health and social repercussions for women and children?
Unless we get all the nutrition and interventions underway – and there's a lot of hard work to try to get that done – we're going to see a higher mortality rate for sure. The pregnant women, we're definitely going to see more women dying because of lack of nutrition, et cetera. I think as we get the nutrition and the feeding programs, for a long time, this problem isn't going to go away. We need to stay on top, the whole international community needs to stay on top, and make sure we've got strong feeding programs in place. This isn't a new problem, we all have been aware of it, and we need to find a long term solution. What that is is to make sure people in Somalia are getting food and don't feel the need to travel to Dadaab. Every person I spoke to said, 'No, I didn't leave because of war, it's because we have no food.' The answer is really clear: let's try to solve the problem. Let's get food into Somalia.
CARE has been working Dadaab for 20 years now, and we were and still are focused on food security, livelihoods, vocational training. So families are growing their own crops, have livestock, feeding programs for the livestock, and that's not stopping among the refugees who we've worked with for 20 years. But we'll have to scale up a notch for the new refugees.
There's a hesitance in some circles to use the word "famine." Why?
The situation is that in Dadaab – the international community is trying really hard to address the problem to prevent it to reach that stage in Dadaab. In Somalia, it's a different matter – the international community is not able to get in there as readily.
How are women specifically coping?
Going back to those that have been there for 20 years, the livelihood programs that CARE and other NGOs have been implementing, a lot of it has been focused on the women. Dadaab, with the new influx, is now about the size of Miami. We'll continue to train with the women, work with the women's association, train them on livelihood, vocational training.
Women's associations?
CARE works through local partners all over the world, and these are women's groups that can be made up pf the host community with the refugees, or just refugee associations. Almost all of these are made up of village savings and loans schemes, a sustainable way for women to pay back to community and create a livelihood for themselves. A small vegetable stall, pots and pans, and things like this. We'll train them in how to run small businesses and how to keep the records, restock et cetera.
What's been the response to this crisis, both in the U.S. and abroad?
[Recently,] because of the debt ceiling deal in D.C., which was covered in all the media, we hardly got any donations, and we understand because the media was not covering this as well as they are this week. We hope now to see more awareness. This isn't going to go away, and we really need the media to help on this. Hopefully that will help to bring in funds, and help the work we've been doing for the last 20 years. The institutional donors are definitely showing a lot of interest in Dadaab and Ethiopia. It can't be, 'Ok, we'll support you now,' and come back to us in a couple years. This problem isn't going to go away. We're going to need support for a long time.
You were once a stock trader in Chicago. Looking at how different your life is now, do you ever want to go back?
First of all, I love Chicago. I was fortunate to get a very junior job in stock broking, and I loved it. I was living an amazing life. I also went back to Edinburgh and worked. It was a choice to pull out of that business.
It was when the Balkan Wars broke out [in the early 1990s]. I really thought, I can't go on with this life. Everything was becoming quite material, for me. It just wasn't working, and then the Bosnian conflict came. I was driving trucks into Sarajevo within a month. I don't have one single regret. My life was a complete turn. I was so happy to put all of that in plastic bags and put all of that away. I love every single day in my job. I love that I can help people.
[At first,] I did a few volunteer trips into Sarajevo and convoys, and I just couldn't walk away from it. I remember one person saying to me, 'Liz, do you know people [in Scotland] who could harm their neighbors like they have done in the Balkans?' And when I really reflected back on everyone I knew in my life, I thought, I probably do know some people that could be in the same position in Scotland [as in the Balkans]. I thought, I can't sit back and take it. It changed my life.
Any last comments?
Please help in any way you can. Start reading everything about the situation that isn't going to go away. Every day we see the numbers rise, and the numbers are going to continue. To donate, go to www.care.org.
Photos by Kate Holt for CARE.


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This letter from Mr. Early shows that the the fir operation was going - great guns — in 1900. The mill was at Chinowith - first mill B and then mill 6 - both of these mills happened to be in operation during some of the same time. The planer and railroad shipping point was on the Oregon side of the river at Viento.Viento, Oregon., Feby, 14th, 02., David. Eccles Esq. Ogden, Utah., My dear Sir;- I am more than pleased to acknowledge the receipt of your kind letter of 7th, inst; and check therein inclosed. I thank you kindly for the check, and letter as well. After the ups and downs connected with a years business it is a relief to one to know that their efforts have been along lines that have proven satisfactory to you. Of course, when we look back to 19oo, which, so far has broken all records so far as quantity goes at least last year makes poor showing. Up to the time that Mill B. burned, everything was moving along nicely. After that it was more or less of a drag, to the end of
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04 October 2011
Shepherd Neame has acquired The Bell Hotel, Sandwich, for £3.6 million. The renowned 37-bedroom hotel, in heart of the Cinque Port town, is a further addition to Shepherd Neame's growing accommodation estate, now totalling seven hotels and 450 rooms across the South East.
Read more
02 October 2011
The collaborative Ginger Porter brewed by head brewer Stewart Main with RealAleGuide Simon & MrsRealAleGuide Mel is now available. As well as sending a polypin of the ale to Simon & Mel we also have it available at a few of our pubs:
29 September 2011
A popular London pub has received an extensive makeover, courtesy of Shepherd Neame, Britain's oldest brewer.The Rugby Tavern has benefited from a £120,000 external and internal refurbishment, reinforcing the traditional appeal of this lively Clerkenwell pub.
22 September 2011
A Shepherd Neame pub is putting itself literally at the heart of the community by taking delivery of a potentially life-saving piece of equipment.The Highwayman in Horsmonden, near Tonbridge, now has a defibrillator, a machine to treat emergency heart conditions such as cardiac arrest, courtesy of South East Coast Ambulance Service (SEACamb).
21 September 2011
On Saturday I spent the evening at the Wye Hops Beer Festival, this is a new event run by Wye Heritage to commemorate hop development at Wye College. I was there to give a talk and tutored tasting as part of the day, which is always a great opportunity to discuss beers and peoples likes and dislikes as well as giving a taster of future developments.


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Subscribe to a Dragonballz Online Price Guide and Get Access to 6,131 cards
Date | Card |
12/05/2008 | 2003 Yamcha Season #L3-5 A Pair of Goodness |
No pricing history exists for items related to this player |
From Marketplace Power Dealers |
This item is not currently in stock on the Beckett Marketplace. Please check back again soon! |
Vince Wilfork might be the biggest collector of the bunch after his comments to Panini Kid Reporter Dylan Cooperider on Super Bowl Media Day.
Read More »It's a busy time of year with a new wave of baseball coming, the Super Bowl on tap and plenty of new cardboard arrivals. For this latest edition of 20 Questions, we're tackling, well, a little bit of everything.
Read More »


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Pivotal Web Server
Pivotal and VMware are partnering to deliver well-managed, agile and secure data and application infrastructure for VMware environments across public, private and hybrid clouds. Pivotal Web Server formerly known as VMware vFabric Web Server, is now part of the Pivotal portfolio of products.
Increase your web tiers performance, scalability and security while reducing deployment times and complexity Pivotal Web Server.
Learn more about Pivotal Web Server through the following resources.
Business Resources
Read more about Pivotal Web Server.


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Although I've been surrounded by baseball this weekend, it's been the under 5 feet tall kind. So today I heard the end of a very nice win and a very goofy KNBR broadcast on the way home and just went to the NL West standings and checked them out. Then I did a double take.
West W L GB L10
Arizona 29 24 – 9-1
San Francisco 29 24 – 5-5
Colorado 25 27 3.5 2-8
Los Angles 24 30 5.5 4-6
San Diego 23 31 6.5 4-6
I did not see Diamondback brilliance in my crystal ball at all. And while I guess they've been pretty amazing for 10 games, I have only just taken real notice of it. Move over, Mile High people. The dessert is giving you a run for your money. And then, of course, the Giants. Who are showing signs of taking my advice (okay, everyone's advice. I admit it has nothing to do with me.) and heating up. I'm not trying to jinx them or anything. But they looked good today.
Especially Torres, who is officially the Cutest Player in the MLB. He gives the Little Leaguers a run for their money with his adorableness. I want to bottle up his good games and sprinkle them over depressing ones, to get the energy going. Heck, sprinkle them over depressing moments of my life, to get the energy going.
Sometimes it takes those lows (read: being swept by Milwaukee) to get some highs and maybe, just maybe, this is the start of something good. It kind of feels like it. I never liked Kevin Towers anyway.
And do me a huge favor and tell me "hip contusion" actually means "he's eating ice cream and watching corny romantic comedies on demand in his hotel room" in code, okay? Because it would make my Memorial Day Monday a little better.
Diamond Girl
p.s. If you're looking for something to see on demand on your hotel room (other than corny romantic comedies) I recommend Wall Street: The Money Never Sleeps. The acting, the script, the story… me and my bowl of raisins/blue chips really enjoyed it for the second time last night.


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Losing weight is never easy. Talk to your doctor or nurse about how to lose weight in a healthy way that's right for you.
Screening and counseling for obesity are covered under the Affordable Care Act. Depending on your insurance plan, you may be able to get these services at no cost to you. Talk to your insurance provider.
It helps to write down questions for the doctor or nurse ahead of time. Print out this list of questions and take it with you to your appointment. You may want to ask a family member or close friend to go with you to take notes.
Content last updated on: September 30, 2014


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[Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended]
[Complex Selections Made Easy]
[Bryan O'Neill Hughes, Product Manager]
Let's take a look at some of the changes we've made to Selections in Photoshop CS5.
On the left-hand side of the screen, you see the best mask that I could make in CS4.
This is a very difficult situation because we've got, not only a low-resolution file,
but we have hair in this image--and it's very difficult to isolate that.
I've taken the selection I used in CS4,
I've loaded it in CS5, and we're going to come in to
Refine Edge, which has been completely redesigned.
One thing that you'll notice is the Preview
uses the same image as yours.
so it's directly within context there.
The next thing we're going to do,
we're going to give ourselves a larger radius
and immediately, we see that we start picking up a lot of the hair that's in our image.
So already, with just one mouse click,
we've got a much, much better selection of that hair.
The next thing I'll do is click Smart Radius
and Photoshop will look around the edge of the image.
It knows that difference between the hard edge of the cat's ear
and the soft edge of its fur.
Now what we can do is, we can use this Touchup Brush,
to come around and just clean up our mask.
I'm Option clicking to remove areas
from the mask--and I click that.
And, if you recall, there was a cat's whisker right here.
I'll just draw and that will appear immediately there.
We have a lot of other control here, but--
not only do we have powerful control for selecting hair,
but it's really quick and easy as well.
Let's look at one other change we've made to that feature
And this is around removing color contamination.
This is a very common case, where we have this woman against a green backdrop.
Another case you'd often see is if you had a person with blonde hair
standing in front of a blue sky.
Some of the blue pixels would start leaking into her hair.
In this case, what we want to do is remove that green fringing
that appears on the edge of her jacket.
Now, we don't want to contract the selection,
because then we would lose part of our mask there
and we don't want to go around and selectively desaturate it.
Not only is that time-consuming,
but we'd end up with a fringe that was desaturated.
Now in CS5, we have the ability to just click on Decontaminate Colors
and we've immediately removed that color fringe.
I can pull that over more and toggle it off and on so you can see before and after.
Complex Selections Made Easy in Photoshop CS5
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About This Episode
Take the time and frustration out of making precise image selections. New Truer Edge selection technology in Photoshop CS5 and Photoshop CS5 Extended offers better edge detection and masking results in less time—even when you select the trickiest image elements, like hair. Eliminate background color around the edges of your selection with new color decontamination capabilities.
Runtime : 00:02:17
Added : 04/12/2010
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A Women's Strength Program, Client Handout
© 2002 by IDEA Health & Fitness Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited.
Get the award-winning IDEA Fitness Journal delivered to your door every month!
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Extreme Interval Training
In this course you'll learn goal-focused intervals and over 50 dynamic exercises and drills to create extensive and intensive training formats. |
Cut to the Core
This is a raw, unedited video filmed live at the 2009 IDEA World Fitness Convention™. Cut to the Core is packed full of core-focused exercises that aim to improve the way you look, feel and live. |
September 2011 IDEA Fitness Journal Quiz 4: Plyometric Training
This continuing education quiz is an in-depth look at plyometric training. Plyometric exercises—jumping, bounding, hopping, arm pushing, and catching and throwing weighted objects such as machine balls—are movements that involve rapid eccentric and concentric muscle actions. |


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Oh, that glorious extra hour! Why can't we change the clocks back every day? Imagine – waking up every morning and realizing you have an hour more to sleep, to cuddle, to eat breakfast or catch up on the news… I campaign for 25 hour days, indefinitely. But alas, this might get confusing. So, with our one lucky "fall back" day of the year, I say take that extra hour you've been blessed with, and use it at the spa.
We've got many hour-long spa treatments in our November Spa Deals, and there are many actual proven reasons to use your extra time on the massage table. TIME just featured "8 Ways to Beat the Daylight Savings Blues," and much of it resonated with the spa lifestyle:
- Getting a massage – The country's most popular spa treatment is also great when the days get shorter and the winter blues set in. According to TIME: "(Massage) can be as effective in treating depression as talk therapy. During massage, levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which is often high in depressed people, fall while levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin — the same brain chemical increased by antidepressant medications — rise."
- Deep breathing – "Taking slow, deep, relaxing breaths stimulates the vagus nerve, which is responsible for counteracting the stress response," reports the TIME article. Our yoga expert, Elena Brower, created her Spa Week Daily Challenge around this fact – check out her 5 minute breathing tips. So when your in-laws are in town for the holidays, just remember to take deep breaths!
- Drinking caffeine - Go ahead and feed your Starbucks addiction, because a recent study showed that women who drank more than four cups of coffee a day had a lower risk of depression. Lattes, here you come!
- Exercising - Elle Woods said it best: "Exercising gives you endorphins, and endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands!" Exercising repeatedly at the same time each day or days of the week helps create a habit, and the more you repeat that habit, the harder it becomes to let yourself deviate from it.
- Socializing – It can be difficult to motivate yourself to go out especially during the bitterly cold winters here on the East Coast but, get yourself to the spa (maybe grab a few friends too) and you'll be doing yourself a service! (Click for the rest of TIME's tips.)
Here are some great spa deals around the country to fill that 60 minutes of time you've been blessed with, and to help you fight off those winter blues:
Bahn Sabai Day Spa in Los Angeles has a choice of 60 Minute Body Massage with 30 Min Facial or 60 Minute Body Massage with 30 Min Foot Massage. Special: $65 Each; Originally: $95 – $120.
Facelogic Spa in Encinitas, California has a 60 Minute Microdermabrasion Facial with Upper Body Massage. Special: $59; Originally: $109.
La Petite Rose in San Francisco has a choice of Luminous Vitamin C Facial or 60 Minute Pure Relaxation Massage. Special: $65 Each.
mySpa at InterContinental Miami has a choice of a 50 Min True Transformation Facial or My Massage, 60 Minute Anti-Cellulite Body Wrap or 95 Min Journey Manicure and Pedicure with choice of Lavender or Ginger. Special: $50 Each.
U-topia Spa in Naples, Florida has a choice of 60 Minute Bliss Massage or Glisten Body Polish. Special: $70 Each.
Newbury Electrology & Skin Care in Boston has a choice of 60 Minute Spa Facial with Enzyme Peel and 15 Min Electrolysis for $55, normally $125, or 60 Minute Deep Pore Cleansing Facial and Eyebrow Wax for $50, normally $95.
Suede Salon, Spa & Body in Marlton, New Jersey has a choice of 45 Min Pomegranate Brightening Peel for $69, normally $104, or 60 Minute Massage for $59, normally $81.
Monty Beauty Spa in Brooklyn, New York has a choice of 60 Minute Aromatherapy Massage with Cupping Therapy, 60 Minute Lava Hot Stone Massage or 90 Min Vitamin C and Seaweed Facial Treatment. Special: $60 Each.
Epiphany Day Spa in Hempstead, New York has a choice of 60 Minute Microdermabrasion or 60 Minute Aromatherapy Massage. Special: $65 Each; Originally: $120.
Click here to see all November Spa Deals.
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Satellite Offices
Since light pollution is a global problem, IDA believes it warrants a global solution. Thanks to the dedication of IDA Board members, IDA has been able to establish regional offices in Europe and Australia. Satellite offices act as regional liaisons and operate under semi-independent budgets. These offices help IDA maintain a strong global presence in meetings and activities.
Get updates on specific offices by clicking the links:
- European Office (Hever, Belgium)
- Asia Pacific Office (Turramurra, Australia)
Please continue to direct all inquiries to IDA Tucson, AZ, USA. We will be happy to forward your communication to the appropriate contact.


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The Orlando Science Center's public relations efforts generate awareness for its exhibits, films, programs and events through media coverage as well as enhance its image as a community resource.
Through careful planning and good relationships with local newspapers, TV networks, websites and radio stations, the Orlando Science Center enjoys consistent coverage.
The Orlando Science Center also functions as a reliable resource for area reporters in need of quick story ideas or colorful backgrounds for live reports. Area media often interview guests and staff on issues involving science, technology and current events.
24 February 2014
Posted in
Press and Media
Enjoy All the Science Center Has to Offer For Only $5 Thanks to the Walmart Foundation
Sunday, March 2, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
ORLANDO, Fla. (Feb. 24, 2014) — Orlando Science Center, in partnership with the Walmart Foundation, has announced that the next Walmart $5 Day will be Sunday, March 2, 2014.
On that day, guests can enjoy exhibits, giant-screen and 3D films, and live programs for the significantly discounted price of $5. General admission fees are usually $19 for adults and $13 for youth (ages 3-11). For many, this event presents the opportunity to experience the Science Center for the first time.
Discover the latest traveling exhibit, "Zoom into Nano"; see the newest 3D film "Mysteries of the Unseen World 3D"; catch the giant-screen spectacular "Flight of the Butterflies"; and experience four floors of hands-on exhibits and live activities that will engage your family and inspire their curiosity.
In our newest traveling exhibit, "Zoom into Nano," discover how scientists view and make things that are too small to see. Look inside a butterfly wing, build a carbon nanotube or stretch a molecule. Learn how scientists are using nanotechnology to develop new tools and materials that may affect our lives today and in the future.


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So now we shall have a comp using this method(fewest piece)
Lowest score wins.
To see your piece score, multiply your rods by your wheels.
Then divide that by the number of badges you got.
Add your score for the three levels.
Simple enough?
Round 1 levels and deadline:
February 16th
Only 8 contraptioneers will make it to the 1 on 1 round 2!


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Traditionally, it was not brought in and decorated until Christmas Eve and was removed from the home on the day after the Twelfth Night, Jan. 5.
It was considered bad luck to have a tree up before or after those dates.
In contemporary variations, after trudging into the attic to retrieve our polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tree we blanket them with shiny baubles, deco mesh, tinsel, and electric lights as early as the day after Thanksgiving.
If the number of trees determines luck, then one woman in Cleveland should have the best luck of anyone.
By Nov. 1, Mary Helen Waller has her entire home adorned with over a dozen Christmas trees housing over 4,000 ornaments, more than 70 Santa figurines — taller than 6 inches— a gingerbread village, an assortment of snowman, an array of Christmas Countdowns and hundreds of other Christmas trinkets, baubles, nativities, and garlands.
"It started with one little Santa," said Waller. "I call him my 'seed Santa.' He cost $20 in 1980. That was a lot of money then."
For 32 years Waller has collected ornaments, figurines and nativities.
Most of her trees are themed – birds, Santa, Peanuts characters, cats, Wizard of Oz, and golf, for her husband Bob.
"Ninety-nine point eight percent of these are from Hallmark." Waller continued with a smile, "I have become very friendly with the store managers."
Indeed she has.
After retiring from the public school system in May 2007, Waller began working part-time at the Hallmark in downtown Cleveland that July.
She has even passed the enthusiasm for Christmas down to her daughters, Tara and Caroline, and her grandsons Tanner, 10, John Albert, 6, and Crawford, 4.
"My daughter, Caroline had the idea. Years ago when my mother passed away, I didn't want to get rid of her jewelry or have it sit in a box, so Caroline put all of her jewelry on the tree. Every time I look up I think of my Momma," Waller said of the one tree that remains year round — her mother's jewelry tree.
Caroline also painted the Santa overlooking the den mantle.
Grandsons, Tanner and John Albert of Southaven, like Christmas as well. Each has his own tree.
"Tara had to get a six and a half foot tree for her boys to put their ornaments on," she added. "They have series, and I purchase the next one in the series. Tanner played soccer. He got a snowman playing soccer. John Albert got one playing baseball. He," she said, looking at Crawford, "has a series called Santa's Sweet Ride. This year it was a yellow submarine. A helicopter was last year."
"I kind of go crazy," she said referring to her Christmas ornament shopping sprees. "I go get 6, 8, 10 ornaments a year. And then AFTER Christmas when the sales happen, I'm right there buying some more!"
Waller said she tends to seek Santas and cats for herself and looks for something memorable that occurred during the year for her family members.
"Every year I say I'm going to quit, but I never do," she grinned. "I just love Christmas."