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Investigation by Patrick-Murray Administration's Division of Professional Licensure Shows Real Estate Licensees Regularly Fail to Disclose Whose Interests They Represent
Investigators find 94 percent of licensees checked not in compliance
Under state regulations whenever a consumer asks a real-estate licensee to discuss a particular property, the licensee must disclose in writing whose interests the licensees represent, the buyer or the seller. Without such a warning consumers can make tactical mistakes in negotiating the best possible deal, such as disclosing their bottom-line price to a real-estate licensee who is actually the seller's representative.
"The summer and fall are periods when consumers are often active in the real-estate market. This effort is designed to ensure that consumers encounter real-estate professionals who are complying with the law," said George Weber, Director of Division of Professional Licensure.
Real Estate offices in over 40 cities and towns in all parts of Massachusetts were visited as part of the investigation. Each non-complying real-estate licensee will be sent a warning letter indicating that further noncompliance with state regulations could result in loss of a license to practice real estate.
"Adhering to these regulations is a simple task, but a very important one for real-estate brokers to follow," said Barbara Anthony, the Undersecretary of the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. "This disclosure is a fundamental piece of a transparent relationship between a broker and a homebuyer."
Consumers are urged to visit the Division of Professional Licensure's website at www.mass.gov/dpl and select the check a license option to determine whether a professional they are considering doing business with is licensed and in good standing.
The Division of Professional Licensure is a regulatory agency responsible for ensuring regulatory compliance and the integrity of the licensing process for approximately 330,000 licensees across 43 trades and professions under the jurisdiction of 31 Boards of Registration. The Division of Professional Licensure is an agency within the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. Follow the Office at www.mass.gov/consumer , its Consumer Connections Blog and at its Twitter feed, @Mass_Consumer.


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Who Motor-Boated Alex Rodriguez? Slugger's Speedboat Stripped of $30,000 Engines
Keith Allison via Wikimedia Commons |
But the All Star slugger is not simply a celebrity succubus sapping the neighborhood of its beauty in order to turn a tidy real estate profit. He is also a victim.
This summer, thieves stole three outboard motors worth at least $30,000 from Rodriguez's North Bay Road mansion. Friends, Miamians, countrymen, lend A-Rod your tears.
See Also:
- As A-Rod Battles His Neighbor, Miami Beach's $100 Million Film Industry Hangs In the Balance
While reporting on A-Rod's penchant for permitting film crews shoot Victoria's Secret commercials and X-Factor episodes at his bay-front bachelor bad, we requested police reports for his home at 4358 North Bay Road.
Despite being salaciously (and misleadingly) filed under "Miscellaneous/Murder-Manslaughter," most of the records were pretty boring.
Apparently, A-Rod's $24 million mansion doors don't work so well. Since construction was completed a year ago, Miami Beach police have responded to half a dozen false alarms at the house caused by the wind knocking open the doors.
Kevin Cannon |
A-Rod is one of several Miami Beach celebs to turn his mansion into a movie studio |
But on July 27, cops arrived to discover that a crime really had taken place. Thieves had stripped Rodriguez's green-hulled speedboat of its three Mercury Verado engines worth around $30,000.
Security cameras at the A-Rod estate captured footage of the Biscayne Bay pirates in action. But Miami Beach Police say crime was never solved.
Not that A-Rod is really out that much money. Last season he made $62,635 per
A-Rod did not return our requests for comment (we're all ears, Alex).
Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes. Follow this journalist on Twitter @MikeMillerMiami.
Sponsor Content

subset: commoncrawl


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This bridge carries pedestrians and the metro train on the top deck and regular traffic on the lower level. It was designed by a student of Gustave Eiffel and opened in 1886
Archive | Portugal
RSS feed for this sectionGrown-up Travel Guide Daily Photo: Old-school fire alarm, Guimarães, Portugal
The figures indicate the number of rings of the bell for the respective villages. Very clever…
Grown-up Travel Guide Daily Photo: Catholic souvenir shop, Braga, Portugal
Grown-up Travel Guide Daily Photo: Old-school toys for sale, Porto, Portugal
They don't make 'em like this anymore. Happily, they still sell them in this wonderful emporium of old Portuguese wares in Porto
Grown-up Travel Guide Daily Photo: Steps inside Castelo de Guimarães, Portugal
Grown-up Travel Guide Daily Photo: The narrowest house in town, Braga, Portugal
Portugal for the Adventurous Grown-up Traveller
This is a guest post by Masha Silko with additional material by Andy Higgs Portugal is one of our favourite countries in Europe. It boasts magnificent landscapes and many centuries of history. Picturesquely stretching along the western part of the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal offers numerous activities and attractions to its visitors. We covered four of the […]


text:
Updated on
May 28, 2010,
asks from
Orem, UT
May 26, 2010
Things to Do with a 7 Month Old.
I"M SOOOO BORED!!!!! I feel like I'm not doing enough with my son, but there isn't a lot that I can think of doing. We play with toys, feed, change bums, go for walks, play outside, tummy/roll on the floor time, cleaning time, cook/bake time, all of this is so repatiative and I'm going insane. It doesn't help that I don't have a car that I can take a baby in ( I have a sports car. . .not a good family car) All but 3 of my friends have moved away to start graduate schools or their husband is starting med school. I do have some friends that occasionally come over and hang out or we go places, but that's about once a week.
Are there other things and activities I can do? My son is a high needs baby and usually doesn't sit and play by himself for to long before needing to be held. Right now he also has an ear infection and a diaper rash from the antibiotics so he isn't being a happy baby. I'm about to go insane!
1 mom found this helpful
So What Happened?™
p.s. we are trying to get a better car for me, but the how much I can sell it for would not cover the cost of a better vehicle. And we are dirt poor. Maybe in a month we might be able to swing it.
Thanks everyone!!
Featured Answers
A.J. answers from Salt Lake City on May 27, 2010
Get a bike trailer or bike seat on the back. I like the bike trailer the best. Then we take that everywhere it was a lifesaver for me last year. When my boys were a little younger now they are 3 and 2. This will help with excercise and boredom. Good luck !!
More Answers
S.H. answers from San Antonio on May 26, 2010
I'm laughing inside because I could have written this when my baby was that age! Sorry, I know it's frustrating. I just want to offer to you that he's not going to be a baby forever and you are doing exactly what moms with babies do. I found that taking up jogging (never ran a step in my life before i turned 30) was a great thing because I spent that time running away from my baby, and after an hour of guilty "me" time, I was ready to run back to her. It saved my sanity, and I had a great figure. Added bonus.
I'm not a baby person. I like my kids better starting at age 2.5 or so. That's just me. The repitition, the hearing myself talk all the time, the pressure of having a baby was just not my strong point.
You are doing everything right, though. Hang in there. Soon he'll be walking and life will change.
2 moms found this helpful
R.M. answers from Portland on May 26, 2010
Hi MegandOllie-
This is a tough age for Mom's, the baby isn't really small enough to go anywhere & sleep anywhere, but not big enough to go to the park & really play.
It is a good time to start playing peek a boo and other concept games, like cause & effect. Jean Piaget studied cognitive development in little guys, so his research may be a great resource to help you create games to play with your child. There are also great books about games to play with babies at specific ages.
Good Luck!
R. Magby
1 mom found this helpful
S.M. answers from Denver on May 27, 2010
I feel your pain! I was there, too. I'm having much more fun now that they boys are 3 and almost 2. Here are a few things that kept me from going nuts:
- Get out of the house EVERY day - get rid of the sports car and get a mini-van or small SUV. Take up running or walking, buy a jogging stroller and go to different places.
-Join a MOPS group. Look online for a MeetUp group of other moms with babies.
- I did a "Baby and Me" class every week with a local non-profit. Loved it and am still friends with some of the other moms.
good luck!
R.G. answers from Los Angeles on May 27, 2010
Do you put on Baby Einstein tapes? My son was and is entranced by those Baby Bach where he loved the music, the images captivated him and it bought me some "me" time to be on the phone with a friend, check emails etc. He also loves when I sing to him and we'd have our own little music sesion, dancing and singing which I would love as he's so responsive, smiling and laughing. My son was much easier than yours it sounds like at that age since he also slept for hours and hours, still does at almost 12 months. At 7 months, he took a morning nap for 3 hours, when I also nap, then an afternoon nap for another 1-2 hours. Your son should be taking good naps during the day at that age - he may be overtired and overactive if not getting adequate sleep during the day. And during those nap times, it will give you a chance to relax and have a break. Mom's club or other playgroups in your area are also a good idea. Good luck!
T.H. answers from Kansas City on May 26, 2010
Besides doing everything you said, make sure you're reading! I also support finding some sort of mom's group or at least a few moms to hang with. You can always go to the park and sort of "stalk" the other moms! It sounds creepy, I know, but you can find moms who have kids your age and start hanging out with them. My baby is 8 months (and I also have a 2.5 yr. old) but I forget how tiring it is to take care of this little one!!!! Hang in there and just do as much as you can! It's never too early to go out and about and explore and give your child experiences, but having a friend with you makes all the difference! Making mommy friends is the best decision you can make! ;) Good luck!
J.D. answers from Denver on May 27, 2010
get a new car
look for mom groups on www.meetup.com or a locam MOPS or MOMS Club groups. Check out storytime at the local library. Check out www.babycenter.com for the message boards for support.
I try to stay very busy with my 7 month old son, and I still feel like I'm losing my mind. It's normal to feel that way. So, make sure to stay busy by finding friends and getting out of the house as much as possible.
A.J. answers from Salt Lake City on May 27, 2010
Get a bike trailer or bike seat on the back. I like the bike trailer the best. Then we take that everywhere it was a lifesaver for me last year. When my boys were a little younger now they are 3 and 2. This will help with excercise and boredom. Good luck !!
A.L. answers from Salt Lake City on May 28, 2010
Walk to a library- they have board books he can look at while you get some much needed brain/adult time. You can find lots of books to take home with you then when you're ready just walk home. I see that you're from orem- take your son to one of the malls ((provo towne center or university mall)and walk around- window shop or really shop. All this walking will make you grateful for some down time :) You can even ask around to find out if there are mommy groups in your area that meet and do things- like Utahcountymommies.com Don't worry- the tummy-non-mobile-time doesn't last long- and when it does you'll be wanting the tummy time back ;) I miss the utah county area with young kids- there are SOOO many young moms in that area that you just need to look for them. Don't be shy to ask someone out on a mommy play date :)


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Villa 11538, Kamala
- Kamala, West Phuket
- 3
- 6
- 3
- Ref No. 11538
Registering online only takes a few seconds and allows you to customize your experience.
Contact us about properties with one click
Once registered, you won't need to fill out another form! You can easily contact us online with just one click when you want more details about a property or to arrange a viewing.
Save your favourite properties
Save properties that interest you for quicker access in the future. Access your saved details from home or from work, or via your mobile or share a log in with your partner and view properties you have both saved simultaneously.
Create your property profile
Set up your property profile to help our advisors better serve your specific requirements.
Looking for a perfect hideway for long-term residence or vacation in Phuket, this contemporary style 3 bedroom 3 bathroom house will offer all guests' requirement. Situated in Kamala beach area, it is only a few minute drive to the well-known Phuket FantaSea and unspoiled Kamala Beach. Once driving through electronic front gate, guests will reach a double car port from which they can enter internal open plan space. Interior is decorated in white and sand-beige theme to make it look spacious and spotless clean. A kitchen is fully equipped with all necessities including hob, microwave, oven, fridge and built-in cabinets. There is also a 6-seat dining table aside. Living area is well furnished with comfy sofa and completed with LCD TV with satellite channels and internet connection. Floor to ceiling glass sliding door opens out to the 8 x 10 x 1.8 meter swimming pool and nice garden. Outdoor sala is set close to the pool and furnished with a wooden table set for pleasant alfresco chilling out. Master bedroom and the second bedroom are ensuite and offer direct access to the pool area. The third bedroom comes with 2 single beds, which is applicable for families with children or guests
Holiday rental minimum stay: 37 days are required in the peak season..
Rates are inclusive of 10% service charge and 7% VAT.
Please note: These rates are subject to change. Final rate will be confirmed prior to payment of deposit.


text:
Measure for Measure is a play that explores sex and power and the interplay between the two. Read more
Measure for Measure is a play that explores sex and power and the interplay between the two.
About this project
Performances start 7/25/12
Years ago, Vienna was a place where the people were pure and the city was clean and beautiful. Fast forward to today and you find a gritty, dark world filled with sex, drugs, and debauchery. To bring it back to the glory that it once was, the Duke leaves a pure man, Angelo, in charge to right the sexual wrongs he has let slide for so long. Temptation prevails, however, when a smart, beautiful, and outspoken nun touches Angelo and he offers to save her brother's life only if she will sleep with him. Measure for Measure is a play that explores sex and power and the interplay between the two.
What we need:
The production's gritty contemporary New York City setting brings all of Shakespeare's themes and characters into the present day, reminding viewers of how vital these words still are. This is where you come in! Without money all we have is ourselves. We need the funds to buy everything that will bring this story to thrilling life as you've never seen it before. We need props ranging from a head in a bag, to a riding crop, to an axe! The costumes we're looking for include apparel for men of the cloth and dominatrix's. And our environment needs graffiti, lots of graffiti!
Bedlam is all over the web:
An article about The Delirium of Edgar Allen Poe, a past Bedlam production:
The Delirium of Edgar Allen Poe on Digital Journal
Articles and listings about Measure for Measure:
Or What You Will Article about our kickstarter campaign
Directed by Samantha Lee Manas
Produced by Michel Chahade and Samantha Jane Williams
Dramaturgy by Rosa Schneider
Scenic Design by Zachary Tomlinson
Costume Design by Samantha Lee Manas
Graphic Design by Dan Streeting
Kimberly Marie Freeman
Damien Gautier
Graydon Gund
Amelia Huckel-Bauer
Ruya Koman
Jeremy Rafal
John E. Sims
Anna Stefanic
Zachary Tomlinson
Rin Olsson
Have a question? If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.
Pledge $10 or more
4 backers
Thank you acknowledgement in our monthly newsletter, and a shout out our on our Faceboook page.Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $15 or more
3 backers
The above + shout out on our website.Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $20 or more
3 backers
Cell Mate
The above + signed poster by the cast.Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $35 or more
4 backers
The above + Bedlams T-Shirt + Acknowledgement in our program. (And you'll have proof, because we'll send you one).Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $50 or more
3 backers
Open Unit:
The above + one ticket to Measure For Measure.Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $100 or more
2 backers
Crisis Stabilization:
The above + 2 tickets to Measure For Measure + 2 tickets to any show in Bedlams next season.Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $150 or more
0 backers Limited (6 left of 6)
Secure Unit:
The above + your company (Headshot photographers, demo reel makers, hair salons or stylists, spas, etc.) will have a featured add on the programs FIRST PAGE.Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $200 or more
2 backers
Involuntary Treatment:
The above + credit in the program plus unlimited drinks for the evening, and a script signed by the cast.Estimated delivery: -
Pledge $500 or more
0 backers Limited (3 left of 3)
Total Institution:
The above + Associate Producer title + private viewing of the show by the Assoc. Prod. for you, your friends and family!Estimated delivery:
Funding period
- (30 days)


text:
This resource provides more than 750 useful websites for health professionals, medical library communities, publishers, and NGOs in developing and emerging countries.
Users should note that the compilers do not have sufficient resources to evaluate the scientific accuracy of each website that is included in Essential Health Links. See Criteria for selection and evaluation.
Click here for background information about this resource.
We comply with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here. |
Essential Health Links is organized into three sections:
A. General Health Resources


text:
Secondary Window Tools in Scribus
Scribus is designed so that the main window shows only the document you are designing. Other tools are positioned to secondary windows, where they have all the room they need for detailed settings. You may discover some of these secondary windows via menus and toolbars as you work, but not all. Consequently, it's worth taking the time to look at them, to ensure that you don't miss some useful tools.
The secondary Windows are available in the Windows menu, along with the usual list of open windows and the choice to cascade or tile them on the screen. They're listed more or less in order of the frequency that you are likely to use them:
The Properties window shows all the design details for the currently selected object or frame. Change the selection, and the Properties window also changes.The Properties window includes seven tabs: X, Y, Z for naming and positioning, Shape for the outline of the frame and how other text flows around it, Group for the outline of grouped objects, Text for font and spacing choices, Image for positioning and resolution, Line for how lines end and intersect, and Colors for object fill. Any tab inapplicable to the currently selected objected -- such as the Image tab for a text frame -- is grayed out and unavailable. You can also reach the Properties tab via an object's context menu, or by pressing F2.
Like the Navigator in LibreOffice, the Outline Window shows all of a document's pages and objects, and can be used to jump to them immediately. It is most useful in long documents, and when you replace the default names (like Text2) with names that meaningful to you.
The Scrapbook is a repository for items that you might want to reuse or don't yet have a place for in a document. You can have multiple scrapbooks (one for text and one for images is often useful), and drag objects on to a page as needed.
You can set the Scrapbook behavior from File -> Preferences -> Scrapbook. The options you can set are to have copied items moved automatically to the scrapbook, to retain copied items the next time you open Scribus, and the number of copied items to keep in any Scrapbook.
In complex documents, many designers prefer to work in layers, isolating elements from each other, then turning their visibility on and off to reduce clutter. Scribus' Layer window is a standard one that should be instantly familiar to anyone who has worked in another graphics or layout program. Along the bottom are tools for adding, deleting, and duplicating layers, as well as controls for moving the currently selected layer up and down the stack.
For each individual level, you can can also set whether it's visible, printable, locked to prevent changes, and -- somewhat less usual -- whether text in lower levels flows around it or whether it is shown as wireframe to speed its rendering. You can even assign each layer an associated color, if tht seems useful to you.
Arrange Pages
The Arrange Pages window has several functions. To start with, it shows what master pages are available and how pages are arranged in a two page spread, including whether the first page is a left or a right page (generally, you want the first page to be a right page, as you can tell by opening any book on hand). Second, it serves much the same purpose as the Outline window, allowing you to jump to a page by clicking it. Finally, you can apply a master page to an existing page or add a new page that uses a specific master page by dragging between the panes. You can also drag a master page or ordinary page to the trash can in the window to delete it.
Scribus assumes that one of your probable outputs will be PDF. Accordingly, you can right click on a text frame and select PDF Options -> PDF Bookmark to create a bookmark.
Even if you do not plan to output to PDF, setting text frames as a bookmark is another useful way to navigate your documents. Open the Bookmark window, and you have an alternative to the Outline window.
The Measurements window is a kind of moveable, high-powered ruler. When opened, it allow you to draw a temporary line from mouse-click to mouse-click on the document. The window shows the coordinates for the starting (X1, Y1) and ending points (X2, Y2), the length of the line along the X (DX) and Y (DY) axis, the angle of the line, and its length. When you close the window, the line disappears, but it displays the next time you open the window.
For many users, this is probably more information than is strictly necessary. However, the Measurement window can be useful when you are manually positioning objects and you need a quick measurement.
Action History
The Action History window shows each change to the document, and what page it occurred on. You can either undo an action by clicking on the previous item in the window, or else highlight an action and click the Undo button.
Preflight Verifier
Before you print, save, or export a document, run the Preflight Verifier to check for problems in the layout -- just set the output to a variety of PDF or to postscript, then read the report.
The window tells you such information as whether the document includes empty frames, low-resolution images, or text frames that are too small to display all the text assigned to them. Using the window, you can jump to the problem, correct it, then run the Preflight Verifier again to check that you have caught all the problems. It's really an invaluable tool, and worth making part of your general work flow.
Align and Distribute
The Align and Distribute window is an aid for repositioning frames and objects relative to each other. To use it, select either the Align tab to give objects a common alignment, or the Distribute tab to place objects out of alignment. Then set the criteria for repositioning: what the movements are relative to, and whether the alignment is to be done by changing position or size, and the type of alignment or distribution.
Although you may need to experiment with the settings to find the ones most useful to you --especially since the icons on each tab are practically useless without the mouseover help-- this window can be a practical alternative to aligning manually.
Picking and Choosing
Probably, few users will want all the available secondary windows. For instance, if you are accustomed to the Outline window, you probably have no interest in the Bookmarks window, and the other way around. Similarly, designers used to positioning objects with grids and guides may see little need of the Align and Distribute window.
Still, that's the point of Scribus' secondary windows -- to provide tools to accommodate a variety of different user preferences. Explore all of them, and you'll soon find out which ones suit you.
-- Bruce Byfield (nanday)
sort of right
Anonymous and bobsongs are both correct I was lazy and could have google'd the answer.
But my objective was to post a concise message that the author could understand.
I am a user who clearly has nothing invested in this type of software but was intriqued enough to read through it. If I had a simple 1 sentence description at the top of the article just like the one bobsongs posted from scribus.net I would have been able to understand the unclear concepts the author was trying to demonstrate with out the need to google anything.
Thanks all.
You ask and shall receive.
The answer to your question can be found here:
Bruce has written quite a few articles on the inner workings of Scribus, following the general introduction found by following the link above.
Kevin Bush is a Linux systems admin, dad and book-lover who spends far too
much time tinkering with gadgetry.
ughh what?
No offense, but this article is completely useless to me. What is Scribus? One sentence at the top would do. Thanks.
R U Serious
If you don't know what Scribus is, why didn't you just Google it? Quicker than writing a comment that demonstrates a high level of ignorance.
The Opposite of Help
Is exactly what you did by insulting the new user...
It's probably wiser...
...to avoid insulting a person who asks a question, no matter how lame it is.
It's easy to point at lazy users who've grown accustomed to letting others do the thinking for them. We have a choice. Either we can rant like an angry dad, or we can point to the answer they're looking for.
I've seen too many forums where gurus post angry and impatient answers. They're disgusted that the general population is ignorant about their field of expertise. They quickly lose sight of their purpose in the forums and resort to rage.
If someone like "Ben" is willing to post such a question (and we all know he should have started with Google) who are we to use frustration in order to educate him?
R U Serious also?
I used the word ignorance (not knowing) as opposed to stupidity (inability to understand, perhaps due to low IQ) so it can hardly be considered an insult.
Imagine taking the time to click through the links to an article with a name that would clearly mean nothing to the OP, then taking more time to read it, only to say "I don't understand it" at the end of the whole exercise.
In any case, I think the OP was only pulling our leg and was just commenting on the fact the the article didn't have an introductory paragraph leading into the body of the story. I can agree with that and perhaps the editor should have picked up on it.
But really, if we want to take the OP at his word and believe he didn't understand the article, how would a non-geek be able to navigate to this article without possessing at least some rudimentary browsing skills, like using a search engine which could be used to help clarify any doubt in a situation like this?
Scribus is ...
No offense, but this article is completely useless to me. What is Scribus? One sentence at the top would do. Thanks.
-- Ben
"Scribus is an Open Source program that brings professional page layout to Linux/UNIX, Mac OS X, OS/2 Warp 4/eComStation and Windows desktops with a combination of press-ready output and new approaches to page design.
Underneath a modern and user-friendly interface, Scribus supports professional publishing features, such as color separations, CMYK and Spot Color support, ICC color management, and versatile PDF creation."
As Linux continues to play an ever increasing role in corporate data centers and institutions, ensuring the integrity and protection of these systems must be a priority. With 60% of the world's websites and an increasing share of organization's mission-critical workloads running on Linux, failing to stop malware and other advanced threats on Linux can increasingly impact an organization's reputation and bottom line.
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text:
Two projects of HandMade in America, a support system for artisans, provide excellent starting places for art and crafts adventures. "The Craft Heritage Trails of Western North Carolina" is an excellent guidebook to open studios and galleries, and provides related information on historic sites. It includes eight highway loop tours, most with easy connections to the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Visitors may also use the craft registry found on the organization's website, www.handmadeinamerica.org. It tells where artists' work may be found even if they don't have open studios.
The 500-mile Blue Ridge Parkway runs north to south, following the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains through Virginia and North Carolina.
Some of the Blue Ridge Parkway's oldest settlements and restored historic structures provide perspective on 200-plus years of Appalachian culture and its influence upon the region's art and crafts. Along the way, overlook signs and visitor centers lead to points of interest.
About seven miles from downtown Asheville is the Folk Art Center, a cooperative effort of the Highland Craft Guild, the National Park Service, and the Appalachian Regional Commission. Representing more than 800 juried craftspeople from nine Southeastern states, it offers craft demonstrations, free educational events, and gallery exhibitions.
Near Spruce Pine, the Penland School of Crafts educational program provides classes and artists' residencies, exhibitions, demonstrations, tours, and a retail shop where you may see and buy the work of instructors, resident artists, and students. Founded in 1929, the school comprises 400 acres and 41 structures (see sidebar at left).
The John C. Campbell Folk School began in 1925 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is located on 380 acres in Brasstown near Murphy and offers courses in music, dance, and crafts, has a retail shop that includes work from many of its instructors, and includes a history center.


text:
£10 for a relaxing Swedish massage
There are many fairy tales that we'd love to come true for ourselves. A magic carpet to take us where we want, a handsome prince rescuing us from our 9-to-5, or the ability to fly with a light sprinkling of gold dust. However there's one fairy tale that no one dreams of; not one person would like to spend the rest of their lives ringing a bell in a tower with a hunched back. Thanks to today's deal you won't have to…
Get yourself down to one ofLiverpool Therapy And Wellness Centre and treat yourself to a deluxe facial, back massage, hand & arm massage. The price? Just £18!
Theory: we are all born to indulge in small luxuries every once in a while. We don't mean opulence, we don't mean overdoing it. Just a little something that will make us feel like we deserve a treat as much as the next (rich) woman.
Reality: yes, we do. That's why we've put our bargaining skills to work and bagged you this relaxing Swedish massage that will give you a taste of heaven for a relaxing £10.


text:
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Clay Trap Shooting
Do-All Triple Drop Tine
$61.00The freedom to mount your camera where you need it. The Triple-Drop-Tine is crafted of a light weight high strength steel with a draft design that provides a strong, rigid base. The triple spike footer grips the earth and provides lasting stabilit Learn More


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Posted: Jun 4, 2014 12:34 PM by Russell Jones
Updated: Jun 4, 2014 1:00 PM
Source: WBRZ
NEW ROADS - Authorities said Wednesday they hope to reopen the swollen False River in Pointe Coupee Parish before this weekend, depending on how much water levels decrease.
The river is currently closed and at 17.5 feet, and still a threat to homes and properties on the river according to emergency officials.
Jim Bello, the parish administrator, said they hope to have the river open Thursday.
People with questions should call the parish police jury at (225) 638-9556.


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Welcome to the UPPAbaby UK Website
We understand that having a child can be an overwhelming experience, not to mention a life changing one. We've been there! Most of us are parents of pushchair age children, while the rest of us are aunts and uncles who have done our fair share of strolling with a pushchair. We've personally tested pushchair after pushchair in countless scenarios and have learned a lot about what parents need to make life easier.
UPPAbaby is loved by North American families and is now getting rave reviews in the UK with the VISTA holding a coveted Which? Best Buy Award. Our mission stays the same wherever we are: to make high-quality baby products that fit the true needs of your new life as a parent, while appealing to the sense of style you've always had. Within every country and with every child we learn something new.
We bring this knowledge to work with us every day. It is always present, driving our commitment to innovative design.
The UPPAbaby VISTA
Two new colours for our award-winning VISTA
We are pleased to introduce 2 new VISTA colourways in the UK for 2013; Ella and Taylor. Whether zipping through the urban jungle or breezing down a winding country way, the VISTA takes your child on the road in style. Part sports car, part super-utility vehicle, the VISTA is fully equipped to master any terrain.
Find out more


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Thank you for watching "The Pete Holmes Show." We'd like to share the comedy love and show you even more fun stuff our crew found online this week. Click, watch, laugh and drink a kale smoothie. They're all delicious.
Jon Gabrus, who played Pinchy the Crab in our sketch "New Public Service Mascots", debuted his new Comedy Central webseries this week. [Strong Island]
The Birthday Boys lived up to their name with this special birthday sketch. [The Birthday Boys]
Featured along with The Birthday Boys in a New York Times article this week were New York sketch group Murderfist. Here's an older sketch of theirs that's pretty fantastic.[Murderfist]
A really fantastic remote from Conan, where he shared a Lyft with Ice Cube and Kevin Hart. [Conan]
The Onion gives us some tips for decorating a Christmas tree. [The Onion]
A sketch from British comedian Matt Berry's BBC show "Toast of London", which just got a second series this week. [Toast of London]


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Fishing in Canada
True nature adventures
Fishing is always an adventure in Canada. Canada has close to 5592 square miles (900,000 sq km) of freshwater lakes, ponds, rivers and streams. Freshwater, saltwater, ice fishing and fly-fishing are all popular Canadian pastimes. Fish and wildlife are abundant and you can enjoy a true unspoiled wilderness fishing vacation.
Fishing in Canada is ideal as water and fish are plentiful. There is also a variety of fishing outfitting companies offering sportsmen and women superior fishing vacations. They range from organized guided vacations to personalized fishing trips for small groups or large company getaways. Many lodges and resorts offer additional activities such as whale watching, wildlife viewing and hiking tours. You can even 'own' a lake for a week by choosing a fly-in outpost fishing experience.
Fly fishing in crystal-clear waters far into the remote Canadian wilderness or the thrill of sport fishing for trophy lake trout, Northern Pike or Muskie are just two options to explore. Salmon fishing and bass fishing are popular, but no matter what your challenge, you won't be disappointed with the day's catch. Whether you are new to fishing or a seasoned pro, Canada has a variety of fish to challenge your angling skills.
Canada offers first-class fishing trips complete with a little adventure slipped into your tackle box!


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- Overview
The VA-1 offers a twin solution for capturing unique shots, enabling focusing to be carried out from virtually any position by offering full size-view and 2x magnification. It is very useful when using telephoto, close-up and macro lenses. The VA-1 fits over the camera's optical viewfinder. Its viewing tube rotates a full 360°, with click-stop positions every 90° for even the most difficult shooting angles. A built-in diopter corrector ring allows adjustments between +3 to -5 diopters. The VA-1 can be attached to the Olympus E-1 or E-3 as well as to the Olympus Evolt series cameras with the supplied adapter rings. Item #260222
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social care services
This report is the outcome of the work of many people across Scotland. Shortly before the publication of the Getting it Right for Every Child in Kinship and Foster care report the Government in Scotland asked BAAF and tFN to set up a Reference Group composed of the main stakeholders in kinship and foster care.
The group worked through the areas identified by the Government in Scotland through five Task Groups each of whom were allocated a specific area of the Strategy to develop.
One in ten of school-aged children have a diagnosed mental problem, with only a quarter of them receiving specialist care recommended in NICE guidelines. The document discusses the scale of the problem and the financial consequences. It then looks at the cost-effectiveness of available treatment and the adequacy of services.
This report aims to describe the benefit system as it applies to kinship care, as well as considering related issues that kinship carers may face when attempting to access their benefit entitlement and an indication of the types of assistance which could enable households to access the benefits system more easily.
One of a series of six transforming community service best practice guides for frontline staff and their leaders which aim to help to deliver High Quality Care for all: the Next Sate Review. Each guide has a similar framework, clearly setting out ambitions, taking action to deliver the action, using best available evidence and demonstrating and measuring achievement.
Paper developed with input and advice from a range of partners who deliver for young people. It is set out in 3 sections: context, common principles, and connections.
It is intended as a practical resource for anyone making decisions that affect the support we give young people or anyone involved in delivering services to them. It can provide a point of common reference and a tool for making connections.
The proposals put forward by the Social Work Task Force and MPs to improve the training of social workers are examined. The introduction of the social work degree in 2003 undoubtedly raised the status of the profession. However, six years on, the taskforce and select committee are both questioning its content.
The term 'co-production' is increasingly being applied to new types of public service delivery in the UK, including new approaches to adult social care. This briefing explains how staff should be encouraged to access co-productive initiatives, recognising and supporting diversity among the people who use services. And the importance of creating new structures, regulatory and commissioning practices and financial streams is necessary to embed co-production as a long-term rather than ad hoc solution.
The Practice Learning Qualification (Social Services) is a suite of qualifications set at four different levels and aimed at supporting the learning of staff and students in the workplace.
The qualifications reflect the importance of practice learning throughout the workforce and enable those involved in supporting practice learning at all levels of their organisation to gain recognition for their knowledge and skills.
More information and downloads available from http://www.sssc.uk.com/Learning/practice-learning-qualifications-social-services-plq-ss.html
This briefing is the first output from the ippr-PwC social care programme. This programme seeks to generate public debate about the future of social care; and consider how the social contract between the state, organisations, communities, families and individuals may need to fundamentally change to ensure that the future of social care is based on principles of fairness and sustainability. This publication it's free, in order to download there are two ways to do it, by registering or just by following the link to download it.
One of a series of six transforming community service best practice guides for frontline staff and their leaders which aim to help to deliver High Quality Care for all: the Next Sate Review. Each guide has a similar framework, clearly setting out ambitions, taking action to deliver, using best available evidence and demonstrating and measuring achievement.


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User Guide to MP3
A guide to the creation, manipulation and use of audio flies in the popular MP3 format, including a close look at the many audio and metadata options which MP3 offers, and its use within teaching and learning.
- Introduction
- Why use MP3?
- What is MP3?
- Archival suitability
- Who is MP3 for?
- How does MP3 work?
- How to make an MP3
- How to manage and play MP3s
- Delivery tools
- ID3 - Tagging and the MP3 metadata schema
- The future for MP3
- References
Most of us have experience of MP3 audio in some form, either through the internet, a portable audio player, a podcast, or in one of its many other incarnations. MP3 is one of the most widely used and accepted media formats in the digital world, and this advice document aims to explain in more detail what it is, how it works, and the features and options which the format offers to enable you to get the most from it.
We'll also look at why MP3 is so popular, who its audience is, and its suitability to the pedagogic needs of audio in education.
Why use MP3?
MP3's key benefit to all users is its reduced file size when compared to an uncompressed audio file. This smaller size enables faster delivery via the internet, and easier sharing and portability, as well as its obviously reduced mass storage requirements. Where file transfer and internet bandwidth is an issue, MP3s offer a simple solution with few drawbacks.
Enhanced learning
Either in its own right as an audio podcast or download, or enhancing visual materials such as presentations, slideshows and video, audio improves accessibility, and can be a useful tool for engaging those less attuned to text-based learning styles.
MP3 is an excellent format for delivering audio in education, and for embedding into enhanced learning materials. Not only can audio recordings and archives be easily and flexibly compressed as MP3 and tagged for delivery by podcast or download, but MP3 audio can be embedded into Powerpoint presentations and used within production tools like Camtasia, Garageband, and most non-linear video editors.
Whether MP3 is the final target format, or a working format for audio within a larger project, it provides a flexible and easily managed feature set.
Rich audio
As an example of an audio object, a vinyl LP carries far more information than the audio signal alone, and its labels and sleeve can provide information on copyright, production, lyrics, personnel, as well as cover art and sometimes background information on historical or musical context. In this sense it is a rich audio document.
In the same way, an MP3 can carry a large amount of extra information to inform the listener and enhance the learning experience, though it does so in digital form. For example, a recording of a poetry seminar could be accompanied by text excerpts, images, quotations, references etc, to be viewed while listening to the audio:
Screengrab from iPhone of MP3 audio playback accompanied by embedded text
See ID3 - Tagging and the MP3 metadata schema below for more ways to package additional information with MP3 audio.
What is MP3?
Defined by the Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG), MP3 is an open standard - ISO11172-3 - forming the audio part of the MPEG1 standard ISO11172. Files in the MPEG-1 format (file extensions .mpg .mpeg) incorporate video encoded as MPEG-1 and/or up to 2 channels of audio, which is encoded as MP3.
MP3 is an abbreviation of 'MPEG1 Audio Layer 3' (not, as is sometimes wrongly assumed, MPEG-3), and is a method of compressing (reducing the size of) a digital audio signal. The MP3 compression algorithm reduces the complexity of the signal using a method called 'Perceptual Modelling' (explained below), simplifying the audio content and thus enabling it to be more succinctly expressed in digital form - the result: a smaller file with minimal audio degradation.
However, during the encoding process some of the audio information is irretrievably lost, hence MP3 is termed a 'lossy' compression format. Full range audio cannot be restored from an MP3. Depending on the factor by which the filesize is reduced, the degradation in audio quality from MP3 compression can be either subtle, almost to the point of transparency, or - at high compression ratios - clearly audible, where its effects can become intrusive.
MP3 now also allows extensive tagging of the audio file with details associated with its ownership, production and contents - a system which can be used to catalogue and manage collections of MP3 files in an intuitive and flexible fashion.
MP3 was developed between 1987 and 1991 by engineers at Fraunhofer Gesellschaft as an attempt to reduce digital audio file size with the minimum degradation of perceived audio quality. The format was adopted in 1992 by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) as part of its first standard for digital file compression - MPEG1 - and included as part of the 1993 ISO/IEC standard 11172 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Fraunhofer were awarded a US Patent for MP3 in 1996, and following the release of the first free MP3 player - Winamp - in 1998, closely followed by the first commercial online sales of music in MP3 format in 1999, MP3 rapidly established itself as the format of choice for delivering compressed audio files via the internet.
The MP3 standard has since been expanded through its inclusion in the subsequent MPEG2 standard.
Also introduced in 1999, the portable MP3 player allowed the user for the first time to transfer digital files to a convenient portable device and interchange files between this mobile player and a larger library located on computer, without needing to use any physical media (disc, tape etc). Owners of CD collections could now encode or 'rip' them to much smaller MP3s for use on correspondingly smaller portable players, whilst retaining acceptable sound quality, or music could be bought online and downloaded already encoded to MP3. In the years since, this method of listening has become virtually ubiquitous, especially amongst younger generations, and has brought deep change to the music and broadcast industries.
Archival Suitability
As stated earlier, and explained in more detail below, MP3 is a destructive or 'lossy' form of audio compression, and as such is unsuitable for archiving sensitive audio data. That said, the content of some audio material destined for long term storage will not be significantly compromised by the MP3 compression process, and the benefits of reduced storage requirements and rich metadata may sometimes outweigh the concomitant loss of sound quality This will be at the discretion of the user. If a lossy format is deemed acceptable for your archiving requirements, you should also look at the newer AAC format, offering all the benefits of MP3 but with superior audio performance.
For standards-compliant archiving, an uncompressed Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) file format should be used, preferably in accordance with the recommendations of the International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA), who recommend Broadcast WAV (Waveform Audio File Format) as a suitable archive format. However, some respected bodies (eg the BBC) have elected to use MP3 and AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) for some parts of their archive. This document hopes to explain some of the reasoning behind such a decision, to enable users to make an informed choice.
As an open standard with much free encoding and decoding software in existence, there is little danger of format obsolescence in the foreseeable future. With such a large amount of material already in MP3 form, support at least for playback and conversion into other formats is anticipated to be long term.
MP3 is a mature format, and has been improved and honed to meet user needs for over ten years.There are unavoidable side effects of lossy compression, but at high bit rates the differences between MP3 and uncompressed audio are subtle and often only discernable by expert listeners making direct A/B comparisons. When compared to other audio file types MP3s offer a good balance of small file size, good quality audio, rich metadata and public acceptance.
However, when auditioned on reference monitors MP3s can exhibit a slightly 'hollow' sound, lacking solidity in the stereo image. Additionally at low bit rates temporal quantisation can create phantom 'pre-echo', caused by the processing of the audio in packages or 'blocks', and MP3 is sometimes characterised as having a sharper, more abrasive and 'metallic' sound.
The MP3 standard also does not include an analysis band for frequencies above 15.3kHz, and therefore will not reproduce them. For this reason it cannot be considered 'full range' audio, even at the highest available bitrates (the human hearing range being generally accepted to be approximately 20Hz-20kHz).
MP3 has a maximum of 2 simultaneous channels (stereo), and cannot therefore be used for surround sound or any other format requiring more than two audio channels [Note - the MPEG-2 standard does have a 6-channel implementation of MP3, but this is accessible only within the MP2 container].
While low bitrate MP3s can be noticeably compromised in audio quality, at higher rates (192kbps and over) they are largely indistinguishable from uncompressed originals, or 'transparent', to the casual listener.
MP3 Key Facts
- Open standard ISO11172-3, part of MPEG1 and MPEG2 media compression standards
- Lossy compression method, based on psychoacoustic modelling
- Sample Rates: 32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz [16, 22.05 and 24kHz MPEG2 standard only]. 44.1 kHz is by far the most commonly used (same as CD).
- Data Rates: 8 to 320 kbps, giving filesize compression ratios of between 176:1 and 4:1 when compared to uncompressed CD audio (1411kbps)
- Maximum 2 channels - Monophonic, Split stereo and Joint stereo modes
- ID3 v2.x tagging system (metadata)
- Very widely used and supported
- Superceded by the AAC format
Who is MP3 for?
As the first commercially available compressed audio filetype, MP3's popularity and acceptance has grown exponentially alongside the growth of the internet - its natural habitat, due to its smaller storage and bandwidth requirements, easy cataloguing and management. All computers and mobile media devices (including smartphones) do or can support MP3 audio - almost without exception - and the acceptance of the format is correspondingly wide.
Most users are comfortable accessing and playing back MP3s, with more advanced users happy to encode, tag and organise their MP3 collections with the files' metadata. Expert users have access to one of the most comprehensive embedded metadata schemata of any digital audio filetype - the ID3 tagging system - and can build and use rich audio objects enhanced with images, transcriptions and extensive notes.
The reduced data rate of MP3 also makes it (in common with other lossy formats) an ideal medium for audio streaming via the internet. A live audio stream can be broken down into smaller packets, transmitted via the internet, reconstructed by a webcast client and played by the listener anywhere in the world within a matter of seconds. This process - known as 'webcasting' - differs from podcasting in that it does not require that the audio is downloaded to the listener's computer before playback, but allows live playback from source at the time of webcast.
Alternatively MP3 can be streamed from an embedded player, again allowing playback but not download, but where the audio is available 'on demand'. When the player's controls are operated the audio is streamed from the web server. There are many of these players available, mostly Flash based. Streaming audio is often also accompanied with a separate link to download the file, which is one of the most flexible combinations of online delivery methods currently available, and our embedded audio player is of this type.
Thanks in part to this versatility the public profile of MP3 is arguably higher even than those of long-established uncompressed formats such as AIFF and WAV, and indeed MP3 could well be one of the most globally recognised digital formats of any sort. It was - in the words of one of its key architects, Karlheinz Brandenburg - "the right technology available at the right time". As such, MP3 is an excellent delivery format for reaching the widest and most diverse audience.
MP3s are playable on the vast majority of current digital audio systems and - as one of the first popular digital audio standards - legacy support is also good. MP3 players of all generations are still able to play back current files (though some metadata included with newer files may not be viewable on some devices- see ID3 standard and versions) and there are no issues with cross-compatibility or transferrability.
Much MP3 compatible software is open source or free, and while comparable hardware players do cost money, most students and final users will already own an MP3 compatible device of some sort for personal use - either a portable media player, or integrated into a 'smart' phone - and MP3 distribution can broadly be seen as an enabler to sharing and using audio.
How does MP3 work?
Frame-by-frame analysis
The first action of an MP3 encoder is to divide the source audio into 'frames' for individual analysis. It does this every .026 seconds - equivalent to approximately 38 frames per second.
The audio in these frames is then analysed and compressed to a target number of bits using psychoacoustic modelling (see below), followed by a further lossless data compression stage. Each frame is assigned a 32-bit header, comprised of a synchronisation reference number and various other identifiers of the frame's contents (bitrate, sample rate, joint/split stereo etc). The header is then followed by the frame's audio data. This series of frames constitutes the standard MP3 file.
MP3 frame header contents:
- Frame sync reference - 11 bits
- MPEG audio version - 2 bits
- MPEG layer - 2 bits
- Protection on/off - 1 bit
- Bitrate (from look-up table) - 4 bits
- Sampling Rate (from look-up table) - 2 bits
- Padding bit - 1 bit
- Application-specific reserved bit - 1 bit
- Channel mode (mono/dual/split stereo/joint stereo) - 2 bits
- Mode extension (for joint stereo mode) - 2 bits
- Copyright (on/off) - 1 bit
- Original (on/off) - 1 bit
- Emphasis - 2 bits
Total - 32 bits
Psycho-acoustic perceptual modelling
'Psychoacoustic' is a term used to describe how we hear and perceive sounds. Audio measurement equipment, or skilled and experienced listeners may be able to discern differences between subtly altered sounds, but often the 'average' listener cannot.
For example, when we hear a loud noise (a drum, car horn etc) the brain will momentarily 'focus in' on it, drawing attention away from other background noises and effectively 'masking' them. This is an involuntary and subconscious process common to all humans. MP3 encoding takes advantage of this psychoacoustic phenomenon to make largely imperceptible changes to the audio signal, and so reduce the amount of information needed to express it in digital form, reducing its file size consummately.
If an audio signal is split into many different frequency bands, then the fidelity of the quieter bands can be reduced and their data simplified (or in some cases removed completely) when a louder sound is present in another band to mask the effect, without hugely affecting the overall subjective sound quality to listeners. The fidelity of louder frequency bands - which the brain listens to more closely - is preserved, and when all bands are recombined these will 'mask' the reduced quality quieter signals, and fool the brain into thinking that all the signal is being played at the higher quality. This 'psychoacoustic masking' is the key principle behind MP3 and several other audio compression algorithms based on psychoacoustic encoding.
MP3 encoders split the signal into 22 frequency bands and then process each band separately (though interdependently) for storage. These signals are then decoded and recombined for playback.
How to make an MP3
Most MP3 encoder software allows you to start with any type of audio file (including another MP3), specify encoding or import options, and then render the compressed MP3 file.
Once you have selected your encoding options (bitrate, stereo mode, VBR etc. - see below), simply select your original file and choose 'Convert to MP3', 'Import Selection' or the equivalent menu command within your encoding software.
Encoding options
All encoders will have a set of importing options for creating MP3s files which can be set to provide a file of suitable size and quality for your uses. These are usually accessed through the software's 'Preferences' or 'Options' menu, and can be set within the following limits:
'Bitrate' describes how many bits of binary data are used to store each second of audio. Simply put, the lower the bitrate, the smaller the file (all other factors being equal).
The target bitrate of an MP3 is the chief factor in determining its filesize and compression ratio. Bitrates of between 8 and 320kbps (kilo-bits per second) can be selected, with 128kbps often considered the minimum bitrate below which audio artefacts start becoming easily discernable - a good rule of thumb if you are unsure, giving just over 10:1 filesize reduction.
As a reference point, standard CD quality audio (16bit 44.1kHz) has a data throughput rate of 1411kbps, so even at its best quality (320kbps), MP3 will offer better than 4:1 compression of CD quality audio.
- <64kbps - low quality - clearly audible compression artefacts
- 128kbps - good quality - 10:1 compression ratio with little audible degradation. Default setting for many encoders
- >192kbps - high quality - barely discernable from uncompressed originals without careful critical listening
Variable BitRate (VBR) encoding offers further file reduction by reducing the bitrate during simpler or silent sections and increasing it for complex passages, with a target average bitrate. Each frame of data in an MP3 file includes a header which specifies that frame's bitrate, and while the 'master' bitrate is used as the target average setting, the bitrate of individual frames will be increased and decreased for sections containing more or less complex material, which is what VBR accomplishes. The LAME encoder is again often thought to excel at VBR encoding.
Some older players can have problems playing back VBR files, but this is rare and easily overcome by installing a newer free player.
Channel mode
A stereo signal can be encoded as two discrete mono signals (Split Stereo mode), using double the bitrate of a monophonic signal. Alternatively the stereo signal can be expressed as a sum & difference representation of the stereo spread of the signal (Joint Stereo mode), similarly to the Mid/Side stereo recording technique.
Also, Joint Stereo mode will sometimes (depending on your encoding software's implementation) reduce the stereo spread of bass frequencies - again to help simplify the signal with minimal audible effect (another psychoacoustic process). Location of bass signals within the stereo image can be difficult, even for expert listeners, so essentially making the bass content monophonic is a simple way of reducing file size.
Joint Stereo can reduce the file size, particularly for signals with simpler stereo images, but may have some adverse effects for sound quality; auditioning and comparison of both Joint and Split stereo encoded files is recommended where possible.
- Mono
- Joint Stereo
- Split Stereo
- Dual Channel
Encoding quality
As there are several stages to the encoding process, each of which can involve varying levels of detail in their analysis, some encoders offer the ability to balance between speed and quality of encoding. Unless dealing with a very large quantity of audio, or using a very slow computer, it is advisable to choose the 'best quality' option where possible.
Encoder choice
Many pieces of software exist which are capable of encoding MP3 files, though this is a non-standardized process, and they will use different algorithms yielding different results. Some incorporate the LAME (LAME Ain't an Mp3 Encoder) encoding engine, which was developed an open source educational tool. LAME is a well evolved project offering high quality encoding (especially at higher and variable bitrates), as well as freely available and customisable source code. Some digital audio applications use their own proprietary encoding algorithms, licensed by the developers according to the various MP3 patents.
These encoder algorithms all use different implementations of the same psychoacoustic encoding principle described above, and produce (sometimes subtly) different results for MP3s compressed to the same bitrate. The starting point is the same and so is the target format and file size, but this goal can be reached by different routes.
Since the encoding method used does not however in any way affect future playback compatibility, the choice of encoder is entirely a personal and subjective one. It is also the subject of some debate, with most encoders having their own supporters and detractors. Critical users may want to research the various options and alternatives, or carry out comparative listening tests themselves.
As a general rule, any application incorporating the LAME encoder should give good results and (being open source) a relatively future-proof workflow:
LAME open source project - available as plug-in for Audacity, iTunes and many other host applications.
How to manage and play MP3s
Unlike encoding, MP3 decoding (playback) is a standardised process, and part of MP3's official definition, so different players should not give significantly different results. Playback quality will still of course be affected by other elements of the computer/player's audio chain, including the Digital to Analogue (DA) converter and associated post-conversion volume controls (headphone level on a soundcard for example), but your choice of playback software should have no major repercussions for sound quality if chosen from the MPEG recommended player list.
[Note on digital audio playback from a computer: It is very important to present the DA converter with as large a range of digital values to convert as possible, thereby allowing it the highest resolution signal with which to work. Where possible, to avoid internal bit reduction all internal (digital) level controls should be at 0dB (ie no cut or boost to the signal - often the maximum setting), and the playback level through headphones or speakers altered only after conversion has taken place, and preferably as the last stage in reproduction. This maxim is true of all audio playback.
Think of it like taking a digital photograph of an optician's sight chart from across a large room; if the chart is large (analogous to full volume) and fills the whole frame, then the photo will not need enlargement for the letters on the chart to be seen clearly. If, however, the chart is small (low volume), then the digital photo will need to be zoomed or enlarged, and in the process pixels and other artefacts will begin to show, making the letters more indistinct and details less clear. The blank wall photographed around the chart is the equivalent of wasted digital 'headroom' (space available for recording but not used), and is similarly discarded.
In short, keep the volume control of your MP3 playback software at full, and if you want to turn down the volume then use the controls on your amplifier or headphone output (if available) to do so.]
Portable MP3 players
Portable MP3 players are available in a large variety of sizes and capacities. They will usually have access to limited metadata - for example browsing files by artist or genre - and some will display cover art on small screens.
They obviously decode the MP3 data (by the standardized method mentioned earlier), but also convert the digital bitstream into analogue sound and output to headphones or an external amplifier, and as such will have an effect on playback quality.
Some players are designed to work best with specific pieces of software, so check compatibility and functionality if you have a strong preference for a particular feature or file management system.
Delivery tools
- Cloud
- Web Services
- Podcast
The reduced size of MP3 audio files makes them the ideal medium for delivering audio via the internet, and the web is - as noted earlier - MP3's natural environment. MP3 audio can be uploaded to VLE, various online file sharing services or other 'Cloud' repositories for access and download by users. Many sites have embedded players which allow the user to listen to the audio online, without downloading it.
Similarly MP3 is ideal for audio podcasting, with a stereo 128kbps MP3 requiring less than 1Mb download per minute of audio. Furthermore the ID3 tagging system offers many useful options for organising cataloguing and managing podcast episodes and series (though see 'Device compatibility' below for caveats).
Device compatibility (and the accompanying metadata which can be viewed thereon)
All modern operating systems and portable media players are MP3 compatible, as are practically all mobile phones. Thanks to standardized decoding, playback quality will depend largely on the compression settings chosen at the time of encoding, and the quality of the Digital to Analogue (DA) converters of the playback device or its audio interface (soundcard).
While playback of the audio file is of course a core feature of all these devices, some will offer better features for interrogating the file's tags and metadata than others. For example the iPhone, while a capable portable MP3 player, allowing the user to search by artist, genre, title etc, and even view lyrics and images, still provides no facility for viewing the complete ID3 contents of a file.
Constructing a thorough metadata schema for your files is obviously an advantage. However, the range of devices on which the material may be played back should be considered when planning what information to enter into which fields - for example, most portable players have no way of searching or viewing MP3s by Composer, Date, Record Label etc, but only core values such as Artist, Album and Genre. These core fields should therefore contain all vital file information, even if duplicated elsewhere.
ID3 - tagging and the MP3 metadata schema
Reduced file size is of course a key benefit of MP3 use, but even setting aside the convenience of smaller files MP3s offer the advantage of a larger, more accessible and well supported metadata structure than almost any other audio filetype. This is especially valuable in education for placing the audio in context (artistic, historical or otherwise) and enabling correct use and attribution of its content. Additionally, MP3s' ability to package substantial amounts of simple text and images with the audio enables access for all users by providing scope to include notes and text transcripts, as well as accompanying images.
MP3 uses the ID3 tagging system, which allows a standardized metadata package or 'container' to be attached to the MP3 audio data to allow it to be decribed in detail, and text and image relating to the audio to be stored with it.
ID3 was designed with MP3 tagging specifically in mind, so integration is seamless and transparent. However, ID3 containers are quite separate from the MP3 audio data, and can be used by several other audio file types - including AIFF, AAC and MP4, though with varying degrees of integration. ID3 is a de facto standard for embedded audio metadata, though newer container formats (eg MPEG-4) offer flexible and scalable alternatives.
ID3 standard and versions
The informal ID3 standard has been revised several times - usually to increase data capacity. Current version is ID3 v2.4, and specifications for users and developers can be found at www.id3.org.
Version 1
The first ID3 tags were a small 128 byte header for storing descriptive track information, and were used from 1996 to 1998. These version 1 tags offered four 30-character text fields and a few other numerical fields. Information could be added describing:
- Title
- Artist
- Album
- Comment
- Year
- Genre (from a list of 80 predetermined genres)
- Track number (v1.1 only)
Users quickly outgrew this capacity, and version 1 was replaced by the more flexible ID3 v2 system in 1998. ID3 v1 tags are no longer in general use, though most players will read them.
Version 2.x
Over its first couple of years ID3 v2 was further revised and expanded, and ID3 v2.4 (the current standard) was introduced in May 2000. Most MP3 players are ID3 v2.4 compatible, with the notable and inexplicable exception of Windows Media Player, which can mishandle and even overwrite or damage v2.4 tags. If full cross-compatibility with WMP users is desired, it is advisable to use v2.3 tags.
The v2.4 ID3 metadata container is divided into 'frames', each of which consists of an identifier of the frame's contents (eg 'title', 'artist', 'year', 'image' etc from the list of declared frame values) and its size, followed by the frame data itself - text or a jpeg or png image, audio settings (such as equalisation), web links etc. A null byte then indicates the end of the frame, and the identifier for the next frame will follow.
ID3 v2.4 structure allows the creation and attachment of multiple standard (declared) and custom metadata frame types, each of which may be up to 16Mb in size, with a maximum total container size of 256Mb. Frame length is variable, and will expand to fit up to 65,536 Unicode UTF-8 or UTF-16 characters or a 16Mb image per frame. Earlier versions of ID3v2 use the UCS-2 character set.
There are 83 declared frame types described within the ID3 v2.4 standard. Each of them is assigned a four character identifier - for example, COMM for comments, WPUB for a link to the publisher's official web page and APIC for an attached picture. Some of these frames can occur more than once (APIC for example) and others - which describe unique attributes - only once. These frame types cover all the common MP3 attributes such as title, artist, cover art, composer, lyrics, genre etc as well as some more esoteric and less well known values. (See 'declared frame values' link above for a full listing)
Being quite music orientated, there are some Dublin Core elements which are absent or are not easily represented within the ID3 schema, although conversely all ID3 values can be mapped to the more open and flexible Dublin Core. The Dublin Core is an international standard ISO15839:2009 for metadata architecture, used to describe digital items of all types. To ensure maximum interoperability of your resources you should be aware of their compliance (or not) with it.
If desired fields are not available within ID3 then custom frame types can be constructed within a suitable editor, but this will inevitably sacrifice an element of standards compliance and associated interoperability with other users. Alternatively a separate metadata structure can be used; refer to our advice document Metadata and Audio Resources for guidance.
Editing ID3 tags
ID3 tags can be accessed and edited in several ways. Depending on the amount of files' metadata you need to edit, and the depth of view required, these are some possible methods:
- Windows XP allows viewing and editing of a basic set of ID3 tags. Simply select the file(s) whose data you wish to edit and right click>Properties>Summary>Advanced. This will display a list of core tags (Title, Artist etc), some of which are editable.
- Most software media players can organise their library by Artist, Genre, Album etc, using the ID3 tags, and often offer more viewable tag values than Windows alone. They often also allow editing of single or multiple files' metadata.
- For in-depth editing of ID3 tags there are many dedicated tag editor applications. ID3.org provide a list of recommended ID3 tag editors and implementations.
Batch editing
When managing a collection of MP3s it is often necessary to assign the same attribute to multiple files, or successive values of a parameter to a series of files. This is known as 'batch editing', and is easily accomplished in several ways, via the methods just described.
Batch editing requires the selection of multiple files (usually by holding down the Ctrl or Shift key while selecting); shared fields can be viewed and edited via the 'Get Info' or 'Properties' command (or equivalent). Most ID3 editors feature batch editing tools.
Proprietary metadata
Some players create custom metadata which they access to describe files in their library, but which is not written to the MP3 files themselves. For example, Apple iTunes allows a user rating of 1 to 5 stars, and stores this rating information in .itl and .xml files in its library folder; thus, if the MP3s are transferred to a different player, the ratings will not go with them.
This is also incidentally how iTunes allows extensive tagging of files which do not themselves have metadata containers (WAV for example).
Care should be taken when editing tags that one is editing the 'raw' metadata - rather than updating the player's library alone - if it is intended that these tags travel with the audio.
Copy protection
MP3 does not provide any way to apply serial a copy protection system or DRM (Digital Rights Management). This omission may account in some part for the eagerness with which AAC, which does allow DRM, has been embraced by the music industry (see The Future for MP3 below).
2004 saw an abortive attempt to introduce a DRM protected version of MP3, but compatibility issues brought this initiative to a swift end.
The future for MP3
MP3 has evolved significantly to meet the global needs of the internet and users of digital audio. It has in turn had a profound influence on these groups and on the commercial, educational and creative audio industries, and continues to dominate the market for delivering and sharing digital audio, with which it is inextricably linked. However, though it has proved flexible and eminently fit for purpose for ten years, MP3 is not perfect.
MP3 compression has well documented - if sometimes marginal - detrimental effects on audio quality. The lessons of MP3, combined with the intervening years of research, have revealed better methods of psychoacoustic encoding which cannot be implemented within the MP3 standard.
The new AAC (Advanced Audio Codec) format, which is based on the same psychoacoustic approach as MP3 but with improved encoding algorithms, gives improved sound quality for the same filesize reduction and is positioned as the natural evolution and successor to MP3. Many major suppliers of MP3 (most notably the iTunes Store) switched some time ago to AAC as their chosen format, so it would seem the writing is on the wall. Both objectively and subjectively AAC is superior to MP3, and AAC forms part of the MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 standards.
Like many popular legacy audio formats, MP3 will no doubt hold on long after it has been superceded by superior formats; however, unlike the old physical format wars there is no requirement for new hardware to play back the new formats, and suitable players can be downloaded freely and immediately. If the audience are informed, and care about improved sound quality or smaller files, these new formats will logically replace MP3. Interestingly however, according to a study by Stanford Professor of Music, Jonathan Berger, some (especially younger) users may be becoming accustomed to the effects of MP3 compression to the point of actually in some cases preferring it to the sound of uncompressed audio.
Despite its inevitable obsolescence, accessing MP3 data is not likely to present problems for future users, as there are several complete open source solutions for MP3 encoding, management and playback, which provide a framework for long term support.
- MP3 and AAC Explained - Karlheinz Brandenburg, Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits
- Study by Jonathan Berger (cited by Murad Ahmed and Kaya Burgess) 2009
- The MP3 open standard and the music industry's response to Internet piracy - Robert F. Easley, John G. Michel, Sarv Devaraj 2003
- Sustainability of Digital Formats, Planning for Library of Congress Collections - Library of Congress
- ISO/IEC 11172-3 - International Organization for Standardization
- MP3: The Definitive Guide - Scott Hacker 2000
- Guidelines on the Production and Preservation of Digital Audio Objects - IASA March 2009
Published in: Digitisation
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Mixed within an article on Forbes.com by Alex Veiga is both good and bad news regarding Seattle's real estate market. The bad news: home sales in Seattle are down 41% over last year. The good news: home prices have only declined 11% over last year. Yup, an 11% price decline is good news… when you consider that the median home price in the West was down 24% from a year ago.
"Seattle and Portland, Ore., meanwhile, were among the top 10 metros in the nation with the most pronounced drop in home sales. The Las Vegas metro area, which has had among the highest foreclosure rates in the nation for more than a year, had the biggest sales spike, according to the AP-Re/Max report."
Sorta makes sense that Las Vegas, with its fire-sale pricing is seeing more home sales than Seattle, where home prices have declined less. San Francisco also showed an increase in home sales. Though I've a feeling their 6% increase is due more to popularity than simple pricing trends. Just like in New York, if price is your primary consideration, these cities just aren't for you.
I wonder if popularity can work for us too? Though with the rainy season almost here, I'm thinking further price declines are probably in store. I'm just hoping we can limit further declines to single-digits.


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OASIS has partnered with the Sacramento Public Library to offer OASIS Connections computer classes, a proven program specifically designed to help mature adults develop the skills and confidence to use technology in their personal lives and at work.
The Sacramento Public Library offers computer classes for older adults at library branches throughout the county. Class schedules are published on the library website at www.saclibrary.org.
For more information, contact Cathy Crosthwaite at the Sacramento Public Library.
OASIS is a national educational organization offering opportunities for adults age 50 plus to learn, grow and serve.


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- Tech+ - http://blogs.denverpost.com/tech -
Publishers to pay $69 million in e-book price-fixing settlement, $1.5 million to Colorado
Posted By Andy Vuong On August 29, 2012 @ 5:18 pm In Technology | 4 Comments
[media-credit name="Bloomberg file photo" align="alignright" width="270″] [1][/media-credit]
Three of the nation's largest book publishers – Hachette Book Group [2], HarperCollins Publishers and Simon & Schuster – have agreed to pay $69 million to settle claims [3] that they illegally conspired to fix e-book prices.
The companies also agreed to change the way they price e-books going forward, according to Colorado Attorney General John Suthers [4], who joined with attorneys general in other states in announcing the settlement. The new pricing scheme will allow retailers such as Amazon.com [5] to lower prices on e-books without prior approval from the publishers.
The settlement and associated antitrust lawsuit were filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Suthers said. The lawsuit alleges that the publishers conspired, among themselves and with others, to increase retail e-book prices and eliminate competition by imposing a distribution model in which the publishers set the prices.
A separate lawsuit against Apple, Macmillan, and Penguin, is continuing before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Under the proposed deal, which requires court approval, Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster will compensate consumers who purchased certain e-books between April 1, 2010, and May 21, 2012. Payments will begin 30 days after court approval. Consumers eligible for payments or credits will be notified by the retailer from which they purchased the qualifying e-book.
Consumers in Colorado are expected to receive roughly $1.5 million in compensation, Suthers said.
"We will not tolerate publishers colluding to overcharge consumers millions of dollars for some of the most popular e-books," Suthers said in a statement.
Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster have also agreed to terminate their existing agency agreements with certain retailers, requiring the publishers to give retailers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble the ability to discount e-book titles. For two years, the publishers will be prohibited from making any new agreements that constrain retailers' ability to offer consumer discounts.
Article printed from Tech+: http://blogs.denverpost.com/tech
URL to article: http://blogs.denverpost.com/tech/2012/08/29/publishers-pay-69-million-ebook-pricefixing-settlement-15-million-colorado/6166/
URLs in this post:
[1] Image: http://blogs.denverpost.com/techknowbytes/2012/08/29/publishers-pay-69-million-ebook-pricefixing-settlement-15-million-colorado/6166/hold-2300-embargo/
[2] Hachette Book Group: http://blogs.denverpost.com/tech/tag/hachette-book-group/
[3] agreed to pay $69 million to settle claims: http://www.coloradoattorneygeneral.gov/press/news/2012/08/29/colorado_attorney_general_secures_69_million_agreement_three_us_publishing_com
[4] John Suthers: http://blogs.denverpost.com/tech/tag/john-suthers/
[5] Amazon.com: http://blogs.denverpost.com/tech/tag/amazon-com/
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As many of you know Grand Theft Auto V was recently announced several days ago and in a few short hours the trailer will be shown showcasing the game's new city, features, protagonist and other new aspects of the game. However, many people really enjoyed Grand Theft Auto 4 but there were a few reservations about the game. The online was fun for the most part, but it had a few issues with friend invites and also some modes were not all that fun to play. Its greatest attribute online was the free roam mode that allowed you to play with a bunch of friends in the same way that you played the single player mode.
As a person who played a ton of hangman's noose to reach the coveted level 10, I have to say I really hope that in the multiplayer they don't go about the way of Call of duty games and other such games that incorporate prestige ranks. I really feel that this will kill the multiplayer ranking system and will commercialize an already lackluster experience in my honest opinion. The shining light in this game that I believe most fans are here for is the side missions or optional quests for gamers to complete. I would much rather have a GTA5 along the lines of something that embodies Vice City, and San Andreas into one game. Taking the best of both titles and combining them together.
That's just a few of my thoughts about the impending trailer that will launched later today. Watch the video below of my thoughts on what we can expect from the GTA V trailer.
Leave your comments below!
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New York is re-examining the way energy is regulated, priced, and distributed in the state in order to emerge with a 21st century business model. This change will deliver on a broad range of objectives, including increased customer value and environmental benefits, among others. However, achieving greater system efficiency could lead to the most impactful outcomes for customers, the environment, and society as a whole. Not only does increasing system efficiency have the potential to significantly reduce costs, energy use, and carbon emissions, it also makes the customer an integral part of the solution to meeting our future energy needs.
The challenge
Electric utilities are tasked with meeting consumer demand for electricity at all times and, until now, have done so primarily by installing additional infrastructure on the electric grid whenever needed. While this has resulted in a fairly-reliable way to meet our energy needs, it has and continues to be extremely expensive and inefficient given the evolution in how energy is used today. Read More


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Boartusk Liege Magic The Gathering Card
Casting Cost: Card Type: Creature - Goblin Knight Card Text: Trample
Flavor Text: The boar leads its rider to victory in battle, but it doesn't know how close it is to becoming the victory feast. Artist(s): Jesper Ejsing: (Shadowmoor) Power/Tough: 3/4 Rarity: Rare: (Shadowmoor) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Boartusk Liege Mtg Card Availability* All cards are Mint/NM and in English unless otherwise specified.
Magic The Gathering Combos Utilizing Boartusk LiegeWe do not currently have any combos that utilize Boartusk Liege. If you have your own Boartusk Liege combo, we would greatly appreciate it if you would consider Adding Your Combo to our site. Magic The Gathering Decks Utilizing Boartusk LiegeThere are currently 3 Boartusk Liege decks listed on our site. If you have your own deck that has Boartusk Liege in it, we would greatly appreciate it if you would consider Adding Your Deck to our site. Red-Green Tokens
47 Cards Value: $239.07 Please rate my Deck. Its not that hard. Its just a few klicks Gruul
84 Cards Value: $96.21 This Deck is quite similar to an Elf Deck or a Goblin Deck because it is very fast. Once you got Abundance and Aluren out, you can play a creature every round(or boost the creatures you already got). Red-Green Tokens
61 Cards Value: $250.02 As the name says, this deck bases on loads of tokens.
Please rate it. It´s just a klick Boartusk Liege Set Specific InfoBoartusk Liege was originally printed, and so far only exists in the Shadowmoor magic the gathering set.
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