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Frequently Asked Questions
General Questions
- What is Yelp?
- Is Yelp free?
- Who uses Yelp?
- What is the "Yelp Elite Squad"?
- Is Yelp just a place for rants? How do the reviews break down by rating?
User Reviews
- What should I review on Yelp?
- What if I had a bad experience? Can I say something negative?
- Does Yelp mind if I get a freebie in exchange for my review?
- Can business owners publicly comment on my reviews?
- My review doesn't show on the business's profile page unless I'm logged in. What's going on?
- How do I get the Useful, Funny, and Cool buttons at the bottom of my reviews?
- How do I publish my reviews to Facebook or Twitter?
- Are reviews displayed in any particular order?
- Do reviews ever get removed?
Recommended Reviews
- Does Yelp recommend every review from every user?
- How does Yelp decide which reviews to recommend?
- Why would a review not be recommended?
- Do Yelp advertisers get preferential treatment?
- Does Yelp recommend more positive or negative reviews?
- Why are different reviews recommended on different days?
- Are employees at Yelp allowed to manually override the recommendation software to recommend (or not recommend) a particular review?
- Should I ask my customers to write reviews for me on Yelp?
- Why doesn't Yelp recommend every review?
Business Listing Information
- What are "Yelp Ads"?
- Will Yelp remove or reorder bad reviews if a business pays for sponsorship?
- To rank highly in Yelp search results, do businesses have to buy advertising?
- Can Yelp salespeople manipulate reviews for prospective advertisers?
- Do Yelp salespeople take "no" for an answer?
- How do I verify my Yelp account?
- How do I change my basic account information?
- How do I change my email address?
- Who can find me and my reviews on Yelp?
- How do I close my account on Yelp?
Followers, Friends, and Other Favorites
- What's a friend on Yelp?
- How do I invite friends?
- How do I remove a friend?
- What is a "fan"?
- What does it mean to "follow" another reviewer?
- What are Bookmarks?
Check-In Offers
Check-In Badges
Android App Permissions
Business Regulars and Royalty
- How do I become a Regular at a business?
- What are Regular rankings and how do I move up in rank?
- How do I become the Duke or Duchess of a business?
- How do I become the Baron or Baroness of an Area?
- How do I become the King or Queen of a City?
- My Dukedom and/or Regular count went down. What the heck?
- The current Duke has less check-ins than I do, why am I not the Duke of the business?
- I check-in all the time, why haven't I moved up on the Leaderboard or become the Duke/Duchess?
- Why can't I see the number of check-ins that the Duke has? Same for others on the Regulars list and the Leaderboard?
- What happened to Qype?
- What happened to the photos and reviews I already posted on Qype?
- Do I need to create an account on Yelp?
- I don't want to be on Yelp. What do I do?
- What happened to Restaurant-Kritik.de?
- What happened to all of the photos and reviews on Restaurant-Kritik.de?
- Do Restaurant-Kritik.de users need to create an account on Yelp?
- I don't want to be on Yelp. What do I do?
- What happened to Cityvox?
- What happened to all of my reviews on Cityvox?
- Do Cityvox users need to create an account on Yelp?
- I don't want to be on Yelp. What do I do?
General Questions
What is Yelp?
Yelp is an online urban city guide that helps people find cool places to eat, shop, drink, relax and play, based on the informed opinions of a vibrant and active community of locals in the know. Yelp is the fun and easy way to find, review and talk about what's great — and not so great — in your world.
Is Yelp free?
Yes! Other than some of our advertising features, you can use the site for free.
Who uses Yelp?
You'll find a wide range of people on Yelp, including locals who are "in the know" about what's cool and happening in their city, visitors who want to get an insider's local perspective, and anyone trying to find a great local business.
What is the "Yelp Elite Squad"?
The Yelp Elite Squad is our way of recognizing and rewarding yelpers who are active evangelists and role models, both on and off the site. Elite-worthiness is based on a number of things, including well-written reviews, great tips on mobile, a fleshed-out personal profile, an active voting and complimenting record, and playing nice with others. Members of the Elite Squad are designated by a shiny Elite badge on their account profile. If you think you or someone you know might be ready to be Yelp Elite, visit http://www.yelp.co.uk/elite.
User Reviews
What should I review on Yelp?
Any local business, service or place with a physical presence is fair game. Think: restaurants, shops, bars, salons, spas, dentists, mechanics, parks, museums, etc. Make sure you take a look at our Content Guidelines before you start writing.
What if I had a bad experience? Can I say something negative?
We like to hear about the good, the bad, and everything in between. Be sure to include all the relevant facts and details, and don't embellish your story for effect. We are big believers in freedom of speech, but beware the legal consequences if you post false information.
Does Yelp mind if I get a freebie in exchange for my review?
Please don't write a five-star review of your local watering hole in exchange for a free drink. That said, if you independently luck into a free drink or two because of your charming personality, by all means, enjoy the largesse but don't forget to mention the free perks when writing your review.
Can business owners publicly comment on my reviews?
We've created a feature that allows business owners to publicly comment on a review. You are able to message them back if they post a public comment on your review.
My review doesn't show on the business's profile page unless I'm logged in. What's going on?
If your review isn't showing up on a business's page unless you're logged in, your review isn't one of the reviews we are showcasing today for other users. Don't worry: even if your review isn't one of the millions we currently recommend, other people can still see it on your profile page and it might be recommended on another day. You can read more in the "Recommended Reviews" section below.
How do I get the Useful, Funny, and Cool buttons at the bottom of my reviews?
Users can vote on reviews that they think are - you guessed it - Useful, Funny or Cool. You can't vote on your own reviews, but once others begin to realize just how brilliant you are, you'll be racking up the Useful, Funny and Cool votes in no time.
How do I publish my reviews to Facebook or Twitter?
Easy! Go to the External Applications page in Account settings and following the instructions there.
Are reviews displayed in any particular order?
Users can decide for themselves how best to order reviews by clicking one of the links just above the reviews (e.g., date, rating, voting, etc.). Yelp's default sort order takes a number of factors into account and reflects our own attempt to present reviews in a meaningful order. For example, we'll favor reviews from your friends and the users you follow. The sort algorithm does not take into account whether the business is an advertiser or not.
Do reviews ever get removed?
Users can remove their own reviews, and our user support team can also remove the ones that violate our Content Guidelines or Terms of Service. Whether a business is a Yelp advertiser has no impact on this whatsoever. We also use automated software to recommend the most helpful and reliable reviews among the millions we get. The ones that aren't selected are featured less prominently on a business's page and don't factor into the business's overall star rating, but they are not removed from the site. You can read more in the "Recommended Reviews" section below.
Recommended Reviews
Does Yelp recommend every review from every user?
No. We get millions of reviews from our users, and our job is to showcase the ones that best reflect the opinions of the Yelp community. These recommended reviews comprise about three quarters of the reviews we get. The remaining reviews are accessible from a link at the bottom of each business's profile page, but they don't factor into a business's overall star rating or review count.
Note that this approach is very different from other sites that tend to feature every single negative rant and positive rave. We do our best to nurture a community of users who actively contribute reliable and useful content.
How does Yelp decide which reviews to recommend?
We use automated software developed by our engineers to recommend reviews from the Yelp community. The software looks at dozens of different signals, including various measures of quality, reliability, and activity on Yelp. Most of all, however, it's looking for people who are intrinsically motivated to share the wide range of rich and detailed experiences they have every day with local businesses.
Why would a review not be recommended?
There are a number of reasons why a review might not be recommended. For example, the review might have been posted by a less established user, or it may seem like an unhelpful rant or rave. Some of these reviews are fakes (like the ones we see originating from the same computer) and some suggest a bias (like the ones written by a friend of the business owner), but many are real reviews from real customers who we just don't know much about and therefore can't recommend.
Do Yelp advertisers get preferential treatment?
No. Our recommendation software treats advertisers and non-advertisers exactly the same. You'll find plenty of Yelp advertisers with negative reviews, and plenty of non-advertisers with five-star ratings across the board. Furthermore, there is zero relationship between the timing of when a review gets recommended and when a business decides to – or declines to – advertise: reviews can be recommended or not recommended days, weeks, or even months after they were first posted, and your friendly Yelp sales representative doesn't have any influence over when that might happen.
In short, there is no relationship between reviews and anything having to do with Yelp Ads or the Yelp Ads sales process. Period.
Does Yelp recommend more positive or negative reviews?
About 80% of the reviews we recommend are three stars or higher, but that's mostly just because our users write more positive reviews in the first place. Indeed, researchers at Harvard and Boston University debunked the myth that Yelp skews negative by showing that Yelp recommended far more positive than negative reviews.
Of course, a number of positive reviews never make the cut either – that's perfectly normal too, and assuming there's no funny business going on (like someone writing reviews from multiple accounts), it's just the normal operation of the recommendation software trying to highlight the most helpful and reliable reviews regardless of star rating.
Why are different reviews recommended on different days?
Our recommendation software runs on a daily basis, so the results can change on a daily basis. You'll sometimes see situations where a review is recommended or not recommended days, weeks, or even months after it is initially posted. For example, our recommendation software might pick up new information that makes a reviewer seem more trustworthy than was initially assumed. The reverse also happens. Sometimes, the information we have about a reviewer grows stale or is incomplete, so the software can take that into account too.
The important point here is that our recommendation software routinely produces different results on different days based on the information that feeds it.
Are employees at Yelp allowed to manually override the recommendation software to recommend (or not recommend) a particular review?
No. Our recommendation software is automated precisely so that it can apply the same objective standards to every business and every review without being overridden by someone's personal preferences. As a separate matter, our User Support team can manually remove reviews that violate our Content Guidelines, but there is nothing they can do to monkey with our recommendation software or override it.
Should I ask my customers to write reviews for me on Yelp?
No, you shouldn't ask your customers to post reviews on Yelp.
For one thing, most businesses tend to ask their happiest customers to write reviews, not the unhappy ones. These self-selected reviews tell only part of the story, and we don't think that's fair to consumers. We would much rather hear from members of the Yelp community who are inspired to talk about their experiences without a business owner's encouragement.
As a result, you shouldn't be surprised if our software fails to recommend the reviews that you've asked your customers to write. Your best bet to get high quality and unbiased reviews about your business is to provide a memorable and amazing customer experience – it has nothing to do with asking your customers to post on Yelp.
Why doesn't Yelp recommend every review?
There are plenty of review sites that collect and display as many reviews from as many reviewers as possible. Yelp is different; we try to emphasize a smaller selection of reviews in an effort to keep the focus on helpful and reliable consumer experiences from our core community.
We think we're doing a good job given the sheer volume of reviews we receive and the inevitable differences of opinion that people have when it comes to reviews. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter what we think — consumers will only use Yelp if the experiences they read about on Yelp match the experiences they have in real life.
Business Listing Information
How did my business information end up on Yelp?
We license basic business information from third party data providers who gather this type of information from public records and other sources. We also get business information from our users, who are helpful enough to correct the info we have, or let us know about a new spot that just opened down the street. Please feel free to let us know if our information is out of date!
Where does Yelp get information about how expensive a business is, whether it's good for kids, etc.?
These subjective attributes are voted on by users who have reviewed the business. They can change over time as more people review the business and cast more votes. The more objective attributes that we show in the business listing (whether the business accepts credit cards or is wheelchair accessible) can be set by the business owner if he/she has signed up for a free Business Owner's Account.
Do business owners have a voice on Yelp?
Every business owner can claim their business and set up a business owner's account on Yelp. The free tools provided allow a business owner to respond to reviews (both privately and publicly), post descriptive information about their business, add photos, and track activity and customer leads from their Yelp page. This is all available at biz.yelp.com.
What are "Yelp Ads"?
You may see "Yelp Ads" when you search for a business or land on a business profile page. These are advertisements that are paid for by local businesses. For more information, please visit the Business Support Center.
Will Yelp remove or reorder bad reviews if a business pays for advertising?
No. You can't pay us to remove or reorder your bad reviews — it's just that simple. It's worth pointing out some additional checks and balances that we build into the system: among other things, we separate the revenue side of our business from the content side of our business, just as a newspaper might put a firewall between their advertising and reporting functions.
To rank highly in Yelp search results, do businesses have to buy advertising?
Yelp search result pages often feature one or more clearly labeled Yelp Ads, but Yelp's numbered search results (all of the other listings in white background) have absolutely nothing to do with who is paying us. For example, check out this search result for the very popular "Restaurant, San Francisco" query. As of March 2014, none of the resulting top 10 restaurants is a Yelp advertiser.
Can Yelp salespeople manipulate reviews for prospective advertisers?
We have every reason to trust the smart, hard-working and ethical salespeople who work at Yelp. Beyond this, to avoid even an appearance of impropriety, we've taken several steps to ensure no member of our team is tempted to game the system. Specifically:
- Yelp salespeople don't have back-end administrative privileges that would allow them to alter the Yelp review database.
- Every Yelp salesperson signs an agreement that s/he will not write reviews of any business while employed by Yelp. We trust our teammates in sales to live up to this commitment. We also have several monitoring systems in place to help us ensure nobody (accidentally or otherwise) crosses this line.
- If we ever did find out that a salesperson was trying to game the system, their employment would end that day.
- When a new advertiser signs up with Yelp, that business owner then participates in a new orientation webinar that, in addition to providing further information about Yelp, confirms that reviews have nothing to do with advertising.
Do Yelp salespeople take "no" for an answer?
Our salespeople call local businesses to introduce our targeted advertising programs; we're trying to establish warm new relationships, never to irritate someone. Persistence is part of sales, and if a business manager asks one of our salespeople to "keep in touch" or "call next week," we will! On the other hand, our salespeople don't like wasting time (yours or theirs), so if you tell your Yelp sales rep to call back in three months, we'll do that. And if you really want us never to call again, we will add you to our "Do Not Call" list. Simply notify the member of our sales team who contacted you, or send in your request.
How is the ranking of search results determined?
Yelp's search results are based on an algorithm that is designed to provide the best results based on a number of different factors including review text, ratings, and number of reviews. We are constantly working on improving our search results so that we can deliver the most relevant local results to our users.
How do I verify my Yelp account?
When you've completed the registration process, you will receive an email with a special link. Click it to verify your account. When the verification message arrives in your email in-box, click the verification link, or copy and paste it into your browser. Your account will be verified at this point. If it doesn't work please let us know.
How do I change my basic account information?
To edit your profile or to change your account preferences, log in and click your user name that appears at the top of any page (next to "Friends' Activity") and then choose "Account Settings". You will be able to edit your account preferences here.
How do I change my email address?
Your email addresses and password are found under "Account Settings" which appears when you click on your user name in the upper right section of any page. Click that link and you will be taken to your Account Settings page, or click here to go directly to your email addresses.
Who can find me and my reviews on Yelp?
Everyone can read your reviews and take a look at your account profile, photos, bookmarks, and other content that you've contributed to the site. Your public profile will be tied to your first name and last initial (e.g., "Jeremy S."). Other than just stumbling upon you and your great reviews by browsing the site, other people can find you using the "Member Search" feature, Facebook's "Instant Personalization" feature, and the various features that allow users to add their friends on Yelp. You can manage your privacy settings here.
How do I close my account on Yelp?
To close your user account, please click here. If you don't mind telling us, we'd love to hear why you want to leave. While Yelp continues to evolve your feedback makes a big difference. If there's something you found unsatisfying about Yelp, tell us about it and we'll do our best to try to do better.
Followers, Friends, and Other Favorites
What's a friend on Yelp?
Well, a friend on Yelp is pretty much the same thing as a friend anywhere else. It's someone you enjoy interacting with on Yelp and want to hold out to the world as your pal. Of course, you don't need to be friends with someone to send them compliments or read their reviews, so keep in mind that just like life itself, the Yelp experience extends beyond your close-knit group of friends.
How do I invite friends?
Yelp is so much better when the people you know are here. So invite all your friends, family and work colleagues, maybe even some enemies just as long as they have some good reviews! Click on the "Invite Friends" tab in the header of any page on Yelp, and enter the email addresses of the people you'd like to invite to join your network.'
We've already created an invitation message for you, but feel free to personalise it. The invitation will automatically contain your first and last name as entered in your Yelp account settings, and will contain your email address in the "From:" line. When you're finished customising your message, just click "Send."
The invitation will include a link that brings your friend to Yelp, where they'll be able to read more about why Yelp is the fun and easy way to make, recommend and talk about what's great in their world. If they accept your invitation, they'll automatically appear in your network.
How do I remove a friend?
Easy! Start by going to the Friends page in Account settings. To remove a friend, click on the gray "X" to the right of the person you'd like to remove.
What is a "fan"?
Users can "follow" you (see the "Follow This Reviewer" links on user profiles) and in doing so they become your fan. You won't be able to see their identity, but they are showing their appreciation for your passionate Yelping and they'll also see your reviews first when browsing any businesses you've reviewed.
What does it mean to "follow" another reviewer?
By clicking the link on a user's profile to "Follow This Reviewer", you'll be showing your appreciation for their reviews by becoming their fan. You will also see their reviews first in our default sort order whenever you browse a business they've reviewed.
What are Bookmarks?
Similar to bookmarks in your web browser, bookmarks on Yelp are a way for you to mark a business or review so you can remember to come back to it later. Bookmark buttons are conveniently located at the top of each business listing and at the bottom of business reviews. Clicking on a bookmark button adds that business to your list. You and others may look at your bookmark list by going to your profile and clicking on the "Bookmark" tab at the top of the profile. Users can always see their own bookmarks but may want to keep it private and prevent others from seeing it. "Private" can be clicked at the top of their listing. "Make Public" is the default and will allow anyone to see your bookmark list.
Check-In Offers
What are check-in offers?
Certain businesses offer discounts when yelpers check in to that business. You can tell which places provide these offers by viewing their business page in the mobile app or by tapping "Check-In Offers" on the Nearby screen.
How do I earn a check-in offer?
When you check in to a business that offers one, you'll immediately be presented with a check in offer certificate in the mobile app. You can choose to use it at that time, or save it to use later.
How do I redeem a check-in offer?
From your mobile app, visit the Deals section and tap "My Deals", which holds all of the offers you've earned. Simply show your phone to an employee of the business to redeem it.
Check-In Badges
How do I earn badges?
You can earn badges by checking in to businesses. What type of badge you get depends on what businesses you check into - for example, checking in to many sushi places will earn you the Sushi Sensei badge. You can also earn certain badges by checking into businesses along with your friends.
Where can I see all the badges that I or another yelper has earned?
You can view your badges by opening the Yelp mobile app for iPhone, Android, or BlackBerry, and tapping the About Me section. From here you can see how many badges you've earned. You can also view other peoples' badges by viewing their user profile from the mobile app.
Android App Permissions
Why does Yelp ask for access to my contacts data?
If you are logged in to Yelp, you have the option to find friends from your phone's contact list that are also on Yelp. You can then decide whether to add them as friends on your Yelp account. This info is also used to auto-populate contact data when adding a Yelp Deals gift for your friends, as well as when placing a reservation with OpenTable, in order to make filling out this information faster and easier. No emails are sent to anyone in your address book without your authorization, we don't expose this contact data to any marketers, and we don't store this contact data any longer than it takes to process the transaction.
Why does Yelp ask for access to my device's photos & camera?
This allows the app to use your device's camera to upload photos of businesses to Yelp. Additionally, the Yelp Monocle feature accesses the camera to overlay business information on-screen wherever the user points their phone. No photos are taken or retrieved without your knowledge, and all camera actions require the user to initiate them.
Why does Yelp ask for access to my device's SD card?
Certain images like business photos are sometimes cached and stored on your phone for faster retrieval. Photos you take are also sometimes stored as they're uploaded. We always remove these photos from your SD card shortly after the upload finishes.
Business Regulars and Royalty
How do I become a Regular at a business?
You can become a Regular at a business by checking in there two or more times in the past few months. You can lose your Regular title if you stop checking in to the business.
What are Regular rankings and how do I move up in rank?
Regulars are ranked according to how many total check-ins they have at a business with more recent check-ins counting more. To move up in rank simply visit the business frequently and remember to check-in. The top Regular (the Regular ranked #1) gets to wear the crown as the Duke or Duchess of the business.
How do I become the Duke or Duchess of a business?
The top Regular (the Regular ranked #1) gets to wear the crown as the Duke or Duchess of the business. To move up in rank and become the Duke or Duchess simply visit the business frequently and remember to check-in. You can lose your crown if someone else checks in to the business more regularly than you or if you simply stop checking in there for a few months.
How do I become the Baron or Baroness of an Area?
Easy: just get the most Dukedoms in your 'hood and we'll crown you as its Baron or Baroness.
How do I become the King or Queen of a City?
Lofty aspirations, eh? We like that. It is decreed that the user with the most Dukedoms in a city will be crowned as the King or Queen of the city. If you're an iPhone user, it's rumored that you'll be rewarded with a gilded app.
My Dukedom and/or Regular count went down. What the heck?
In real life you can't really be considered a Regular at a business that you stop visiting. Similarly, if you stop checking into a business you can lose your Regular title. Because the Dukedom is awarded to the user who is the #1 Regular, you can also lose your crown if you stop checking in to that business.
The current Duke has less check-ins than I do, why am I not the Duke of the business?
Because recent check-ins count more and suspicious check-ins (e.g. checking in too frequently) count less, it's possible for someone to be the Duke or Duchess even if another user has more total check-ins at that business.
I check-in all the time, why haven't I moved up on the Leaderboard or become the Duke/Duchess?
If the users ranked higher than you are also regularly checking in to the same business they will continue to keep a higher rank. Additionally, suspicious check-ins (e.g. checking in too frequently) are counted less towards your ranking.
Why can't I see the number of check-ins that the Duke has? Same for others on the Regulars list and the Leaderboard?
We always show your total check-ins at a business and on the Leaderboards. We don't show the total number of check-ins other users have because it's not the only factor determining rank. For example, recent check-ins count more and suspicious check-ins (e.g. checking in too frequently) count less.
What happened to Qype?
Yelp acquired Qype in October 2012. Qype has now been integrated into Yelp.
What happened to the photos and reviews I already posted on Qype?
We moved most of the photos and reviews from Qype to Yelp. If you posted photos and reviews to Qype, you can attach them to your Yelp account by visiting the link here www.yelp.co.uk/qypeaccount. Please note that you won't be able to import some of your other Qype contributions, like check-ins, lists/guides and reviews of virtual places.
Do I need to create an account on Yelp?
You only need to create an account on Yelp if you want to (a) claim the photos and reviews you originally posted to Qype, or (b) post new photos and reviews. You can get started by clicking here.
I don't want to be on Yelp. What do I do?
Please contact our user operations team at www.yelp.co.uk/contact to remove any of the photos and reviews you originally posted on Qype. Please include your Qype username so we can find, verify and handle your request.
What happened to Restaurant-Kritik.de?
Restaurant-Kritik.de was acquired by Yelp in October 2014, and later integrated into Yelp.
What happened to all of the photos and reviews on Restaurant-Kritik.de?
We incorporated most of the photos and reviews from Restaurant-Kritik.de into Yelp. Once you have an account on Yelp, you can link your photos and reviews from Restaurant-Kritik.de to your Yelp account.
Do Restaurant-Kritik.de users need to create an account on Yelp?
Now that Restaurant-Kritik.de has been migrated to Yelp, you need to create an account on Yelp if you want to (a) claim your photos and reviews from Restaurant-Kritik.de, or (b) share new photos and reviews with the community. You can get started by clicking here.
I don't want to be on Yelp. What do I do?
We'd be sorry! But if you want to remove the reviews and photos you originally posted on Restaurant-Kritik.de, you can contact our user operations team at www.yelp.co.uk/contact. Please include your Restaurant-Kritik.de username so we can find, verify and handle your request.
What happened to Cityvox?
Cityvox was acquired by Yelp in October 2014, and later integrated into Yelp.
What happened to all of my reviews on Cityvox?
We incorporated most of the photos and reviews from Cityvox into Yelp. Once you have an account on Yelp, you can link your reviews from Cityvox to your Yelp account.
Do Cityvox users need to create an account on Yelp?
Now that Cityvox has been migrated to Yelp, you need to create an account on Yelp if you want to (a) claim your reviews from Cityvox, or (b) share new photos and reviews with the community. You can get started by clicking here.
I don't want to be on Yelp. What do I do?
We'd be sorry! But if you want to remove the reviews you originally posted on Cityvox, you can contact our user operations team at www.yelp.co.uk/contact. Please include your Cityvox username so we can find, verify and handle your request.
What does Yelp do with my personal information?
We take privacy very seriously and we hate spam even more than you do. Please take the time to review our privacy policy so you can see exactly what we do with your personal information.
If you receive spammy messages from another Yelp member, or if you receive a message that is harassing, abusive, or contains a violation of our Terms of Service, please report it here.
Who can contact me on Yelp?
Other users can contact you on Yelp, including the businesses you review. If you'd prefer not to be contacted by business owners, you may change your settings here. You can also block future messages from specific users by selecting "Block User" under their account name when viewing a message from them.
I'm not happy with what consumers are saying about me on Yelp - should I get my lawyer involved?
We have nothing but love and respect for lawyers (ahem), but you may want to consider the following. First, beware of the so-called Streisand Effect, which can quickly turn a manageable customer service problem into an unmanageable disaster. Lawyers love to draft threatening letters. However, far from being cowed, recipients will sometimes go public with them as a warning to others not to patronize your business. Second, beware of lawyers who are quick to file lawsuits without telling their clients that it can cost them dearly (see example here). Last, take a step back: if you find yourself insisting that a review is obviously untrue, there's every reason to think that your customers will draw the same conclusion as you. Even if they don't, Yelp's recommendation software is always on the prowl, and it may eventually be able to put enough pieces of the puzzle together over the long-term to avoid recommending the bogus review.


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Training-of-Trainers Programs
NAEYC's Training-of-Trainers for Program Administrators sessions are intensive one-day experiences that provide program administrators and staff professional development specialists with the skills, knowledge, and materials to train the staff at their own center or school.
Sessions are conducted at NAEYC Headquarters in Washington, DC and at the annual Conference and Institute. Three topics are currently in rotation. Select a topic from the list below for more information.
Upcoming Sessions:
June 6, 2015 - New Orleans, LA
Developmentally Appropriate Practice: Training-of-Trainers for Program Administrators
This event is offered as a separate-fee workshop the day before the start of the National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development. The fee is $299 for NAEYC members and $375 for non-members. Register now.

subset: commoncrawl


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See your black on these designs right now!
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Save The Dates
I was very happy with the flexibility even in the template design. I asked to tweak a few parts and it was done quickly. I love a good deal so the $7 dollar off coupon was great. The final presentation was also more than I would have expected. I would definitely buy from MagnetStreet.com again!
Save the date cards
They came out perfect! Loved the way they were packaged as well.
I recently purchases these save the dates and am very happy with them. It was very easy to personalize it and change whatever wording or color I wanted. I wanted something that was Irish designed and this was my favorite. The only bad part was that since there was no outside envelope some of the pictures got smudged in the mailing process.
Super Great but...
Totally Love my Save the Dates all around great product and reasonable price but the postcard came in 5x7 size and the postage for a postcard does not apply to the 5x7 size because it is too big so I had to pay .44 cents a stamp versus .28 cents. Kind of a bummer, was looking forward to saving a little money somewhere! Other than that PERFECT product!!


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This book has 24 step-by-step demonstrations exploring how to refine the basic assembly of spheres and foundation of color to produce realistic animals. it is full of tips for painting facial features, fur and feathers. Lee Hammond helps the reader discover a simple and fun approach to painting their favorite animals.
Author: Lee Hammond
Publisher: North Light, 2007
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Little Puggles can march and listen to their own club music - just like the older kids do!
This CD contains 12 engaging songs appropriate for active and quiet times. It's perfect for club meetings and also makes a great gift parents. The "Puggles Song" is included. Awana music is now available on iTunes®.


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Magnetstreet had exactly what I was looking for at a reasonable cost. I am having a small cruise wedding and ever place I checked they had minimum orders of 45 which was too much for our budget. Because of magnetstreet I was able to get my invitations, save-the-dates, thank you cards, and favors for less than budgeted! Everything was beautiful, excellent quality and came in a timely fashion! I would recommend magnetstreet to any bride.
Beautiful customization
I love my save the dates! We're doing a cruise destination wedding and I searched high and low to find a save the date that made sense. This one fit the bill perfectly. I love that I could add my colors and loved the font options! Thanks magnet street!
Exactly what I was looking for
While planning a cruise wedding, I found it difficult to think of the right words concerning the cruise date versus our wedding date. I saw these magnets and knew they were perfect! I changed the colors to match a more tropical feel. Loved the end result.
We used these cards not as a traditional save-the-date, but rather as a reminder for our guests to book their cruise by a certain date. They look great, were easy to design, and arrived quickly- what more could you ask for? I love these!


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You've probably heard a lot about height-adjustable desks as more and more people are beginning to see the benefits of standing for part of the day. A standing desk can help you stay focused, and it will also improve you circulation, productivity and increase the amount of calories you burn throughout the day. There are a lot of options to wade through, but the UPLIFT 920 Electric Sit-Stand No-Crossbar Desk has it all. From the crossbar-free design for mounting accessories to the memory keypad, which comes standard, to the sleek, minimal profile of the frame, you need not look any further!
|Height range including desktop thickness
|24.5" - 50.5"
|Desktop thickness
|1" thick laminate
|Travel speed
|1.5''/second (varies - slowest with maximum load) with soft start/stop actuator motors
|Base width
|Adjustable from 42.25" - 70" W
|Desktop width
|48" - 80" W (Please note: Choosing the 48" x 30" model will leave a little less than 1/4" desk overhang on the sides.)
|Weight capacity
|355 lbs
|Memory Switch
|4 programmable memory presets with digital desk height readout
|Adjustable foot leveling studs
|0.25" adjustment for uneven flooring
|Input: 110 V
Output: 31 V
|Transformer power
|200 W (0.2 W on standby)
|Power supply current
|5 amps
|BIFMA/ANSI X5.5-2008 Certified
|5-year all-inclusive warranty on the entire desk base, which includes the motor, frame, controller, switch, electronics and mechanisms
Download more information
Read more on our blog!
UPLIFT 900 Series Desks completely meet all requirements of BIFMA/ANSI X5.5-2008 Test Sections 4.3, 4.5, 5.2-5.5, 6.0, 7.0, 8.0 & 15.0. We encourage you to compare our quality to anyone else's. With UPLIFT Desks, quality is our primary objective!
See our UPLIFT 900 Electric Sit-Stand Desk in action below.
Check out our video of the UPLIFT 900 Series Electric Sit-Stand Desk below.
Assembling an UPLIFT 900 Series Sit-Stand Desk is easy! See how to below.
Note: Assembling an UPLIFT 920 Desk is exactly the same as assembling an UPLIFT 900 desk, but you can skip the step where you insert the center rails back into the mounting brackets.
See what percentage of your desktop surface area actually falls within your Optimal Reach Zone.
The UPLIFT 920 Black Base Standing Desk is available with a durable cherry, mahogany, maple or black laminate top, in the following sizes:
A butcher block wood desktop is also available in a 61'' W x 29.5'' D cut. The butcher block top features a smooth-sanded surface made of natural beech for a clean, raw look. The wood can also be stained or finished for a more traditional appearance.
The Advanced Wire Management Kit is a complete cable organization system for your height-adjustable desk. We developed this kit after years of desk installations. It's a proven way to easily manage all computer and electric desk cords. The kit includes the following:
Click the video below to get some helpful tips on making the most of your UPLIFT Advanced Wire Management Kit:
The included cable organization tray forms the crux of your wire management solution with a sleek, black design that seamlessly blends with your desk's design and mounts securely to the desktop with two self-tapping wood screws or a strip of included double-sided tape. At 3.6'' wide, this tray is wide enough to accommodate cords, power supplies and the included power strip, minimizing below-desk clutter.
10 self-adhesive wire mounts and 100 single-use cable ties allow for cables to be bundled and pulled taut against the bottom of the desk, eliminating hanging wires.
As your workstation develops over the years, it's likely that you'll need to re-bundle wires for routing or storage inside the wire management tray. A set of 10 reusable cable ties is also included, allowing for modification of cable bundling as needed without needing to replace individual cable ties.
Additionally, the Advanced Wire Management Kit provides a desk-to-wall cable organizer to organize wires running from an outlet or equipment to your desk in a single bundle. The desk-to-wall cable organizer's heavy-duty "spiral" design protects the cables inside from wear and tear, while also allowing cables to be integrated into the organizer or removed from it easily. An included quick wire add/remove tool rapidly and efficiently routes cables into the organizer.
Finally, if you need more power outlets close at hand, or just need an all-in-one power solution, a clamp-on surge protector with USB charger can be added to the Advanced Wire Management Kit or ordered as a standalone product. This unique surge protector features six power outlets with space for two large AC adapters as well as a pair of ports for charging USB devices. Capable of clamping onto any surface up to 1 3/8'' thick, this surge protector can placed nearly anywhere on your desk for convenient outlet access. Please note that this surge protector will not fit inside of the wire management tray and must be mounted on the desk edge.
A 3'' grommet hole can be added to your UPLIFT desk to allow for through-desk cable routing or monitor arm mounting. The holes can be drilled on the rear of your desk in either the left, right, center, or a combination of the three. Corner desk grommet holes are drilled 2'' from the left or right side and 2.5'' from the rear edge, with central grommet holes placed in the center of the desk 2.5'' from the desk's rear edge. Each grommet hole includes your choice of black or chrome grommet hole covers. The black grommet hole covers also feature flip-top tabs that cover the cord slot when not in use. For custom grommet hole positions, please call us at 1-800-531-3746.
The UPLIFT 920 Standing Desk can be ordered with optional casters. The casters come in a set of four - two for each leg. They can be locked to keep the desk stationary, but easily unlocked when you need to roll the desk.
Please note: the casters will add approximately 2.25 inches of height to your desk.
Add an UPLIFT Sit-Stand desk mat to your desk order, and receive an additional discount off the regular mat price. Our UPLIFT Sit-Stand anti-fatigue desk mats are extremely durable and comfortable. The padding is an inch thick and the surface is puncture-proof to withstand high heels or even the wheels of your chair. Choose from a 2' x 3' size or a 3' x 5' size.
Note: If you wish to use your UPLIFT Sit-Stand desk mat as a chair mat as well, you will need the 3' x 5' size.
Add an optional footrest to your standing desk to improve your sit-to-stand experience and your overall health. See the links and descriptions below to determine which footrest would best suit your needs.
When using a sit-stand desk, we recommend mounting your computer beneath your desktop to prevent cables from being stretched and pulled out of their ports when moving the desk from sitting to standing positions. We don't recommend leaving your CPU on the floor, as most cords aren't long enough to stretch from a computer placed on the floor to the standing height of your desk. While one option is to place your CPU on top of your desk, a CPU holder allows you to securely attach your computer tower to the bottom of your desktop to free up desk space. For an adjustable CPU holder at a discounted price when bundled with this desk, our own UPLIFT CPU Holder features a 360° swivel mount and a gliding track mechanism for easy access to your computer.
Click the video below to see the many features and benefits of the UPLIFT CPU Holder:
A monitor arm is almost always better than the stands that most monitors come with. Monitor arms allow you to easily move the monitor in and out, side-to-side, and up and down, while allowing you to make use of the desktop surface under the monitor. It is best not to use valuable and convenient desktop space with your monitor stand - most people push their monitor too far back to save desktop space and end up with a hunched back as they strain forward to see the screen. Most people that we sell a monitor arm to come back to us and say that they should have gone with a monitor arm years ago.
The Budget Single Monitor Arm and Budget Dual Monitor Arm allow you to elevate your VESA-compatible displays off of your desk and easily move the monitor in the horizontal plane (in and out, side-to-side) by using your fingertips to move the monitor. To move the monitor vertically you need to adjust the vertical position of the arm where it mounts to the vertical pole at the back of your desk. For users who want easier vertical adjustment, there's the Innovative EVO II and Innovative 7500 Wing Dual LCD monitor arms. These stylish, heavy-duty monitor arms provide complete fingertip adjustment for height, depth and lateral movement. They support monitors weighing up to 20 lbs. with an adjustable vertical counterbalance system that allows for fingertip vertical monitor adjustment, and we offer them at a discount when bundled with your UPLIFT standing desk. For dual monitor users with a wide desktop or a chair next to a treadmill or bike, we recommend the Innovative 7500 because it can easily swing the dual monitors in tandem from one side of the desk to the other.
See how easy it is to adjust the position of your monitor with the Innovative EVO II LCD Monitor Arm by clicking the video below:
An ergonomic keyboard tray is an excellent accessory for your UPLIFT desk, and our UPLIFT Large Keybord Tray, with its easy lift-and-release knob-free locking height adjustment that adjusts a full 8'', wheel tilt adjustment, and easy-to-read height and tilt indicators, gets your keyboard and mouse in the proper position whether seated or standing. The 27'' wide, low-profile phenolic keyboard tray also features a removable foam palm rest and a separate foam mousing platform with sliding mouse catcher and cord manager that can be switched from the right to left side for ambidextrous mousing. The low-profile, heavy-duty platform gets your keyboard and mouse even closer to your lap and is wide enough to comfortably fit most keyboard and mouse combinations. All necessary mounting hardware is included, with a standard 21'' track that allows for full, compact storage of your low-profile platform underneath the desktop. This high-quality keyboard tray system is available at a discounted price when bundled together with your UPLIFT desk.
For a little bit of extra storage, add an UPLIFT Half Circle Desk Drawer at a discounted price when bundled together with your desk. This half-circle-shaped, swiveling drawer easily attaches to the underside of your desktop via a central mount and pivots in either direction, rotating out to give you quick and easy access to smaller accessories that you don't want cluttering up your desktop. Featuring pen and pencil trays, a notepad slot, a tape dispenser, and storage compartments, the 13.6'' W x 7.4'' D x 1.3'' thick UPLIFT accessories drawer will help keep your height adjustable desk cleaner and more organized.
The Two-Drawer Mobile Pedestal is a great addition to your sit-stand workstation. When ordered with the desk, you'll receive an additional $80 off the pedestal price. The pedestal is available in a maple, mahogany, cherry or black finish, to match your laminate desktop.
This pedestal provides a stylish and convenient place to store your documents and office supplies. Includes casters for easy movement and a locking top drawer for security and privacy.
The Raynor Evo Chair is an extra-comfortable executive task chair. Covered in soft foam and upholstered in stain-resistant fabric, this chair is available in three fashionable colors at a significant discount when purchased with your UPLIFT 900. You won't be sitting as often anymore, but it's still nice to have an attractive and functional chair. We don't recommend this chair for users who sit more than 3-4 hours per day, as they should buy a more ergonomic chair like the Ergohuman V2 chair.
The Raynor Nuvo Mesh Chair with Headrest has an array of ergonomic adjustments that include adjustable lumbar support, a seat slider and adjustable arm rests. The Raynor Nuvo also features extremely comfortable and breathable Italian Soft Touch Mesh upholstery and a removable headrest. Already a great value, bundle this chair with your desk and get a great discount!
The Ergohuman V2 Chair is one of our most popular ergonomic chairs, featuring a five-position back angle tilt lock, four-way adjustable arms, a seat pan slider, and well-pronounced lumbar support. These chairs are available in both mesh and leather upholstery, and can be bundled with the UPLIFT 900 for great savings!
We also have a variety of ergonomic stools that make a great accessory for your UPLIFT Standing Desk.
Want to see all the features and adjustments available on these chairs? Watch the videos below for a demonstration:
Each desk and its components are carefully packaged for maximum protection during shipment. Most desks will ship via freight carrier, and standard delivery will include curbside or dock-to-dock delivery. However, we have many delivery options available to meet your needs. Please click the links below to read detailed descriptions of our freight shipping and white glove delivery options:
If you're looking an affordable adjustable-height desk that gives you the freedom to mount and completely stow a keyboard tray, look no further! The UPLIFT 920 Electric Sit-Stand Desk is our most versatile standing desk yet.
List Price: $899.00
Our Price: $639.00
List Price: $759.00
Our Price: $469.00
List Price: $2,038.00
Our Price: $1,349.00


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VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict's former butler could serve time in a Vatican jail unless the 85-year old pontiff pardons him in the next few days.
The Tuesday (Oct. 23) announcement by the Vatican's chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, reverses previous Vatican statements that, if convicted, Paolo Gabriele would eventually serve his jail term in an Italian prison.
Lombardi also seemed to somewhat downplay widespread talk about a papal pardon, saying one is "possible," but it's not known when or if the pope would grant it.
A Vatican tribunal sentenced Gabriele to 18 months on Oct. 6 for stealing the pope's private papers and leaking them to the press.
The conviction came after the Vatican had been rocked for months by revelations of alleged corruption and infighting in the so-called Vatileaks affair.
Gabriele's attorney decided not to appeal the conviction, but Vatican prosecutors still have "a few more days" to appeal the ruling, according to Lombardi. If they decide to leave the verdict unchallenged, the sentence will come into force and Gabriele will have to leave the Vatican home where he now lives under house arrest with his wife and three children.
Lombardi said Gabriele would be serving his sentence in the small detention facility inside the headquarters of the Vatican police, where Gabriele alleged he had suffered abuse during the two months he spent there after his arrest on May 23.
Lombardi said an investigation of Gabriele's claims of mistreatment is ongoing.
Claudio Sciarpelletti, a Vatican technology expert who is accused of aiding and abetting Gabriele, will go on trial on Nov. 5, Lombardi said.
In the full text of the Oct. 6 conviction sentence, which was released on Tuesday, the Vatican court sharply criticized Gabriele's actions as "harmful" to the workings of the Vatican, to the pope and to the wider Catholic Church. It also said they "violated" the pontiff's right to "secrecy" and "good reputation."
But the judges partially accepted the former's butler defense that he had acted out of love for the church and the pope. They stressed that Gabriele's motives were "erroneous" but nevertheless credible on account of his "simplistic" intellectual capacity.
Copyright: For copyright information, please check with the distributor of this item, Religion News Service LLC.


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Considering South Point's team balance during its run to the 2012 Gaston County Baseball Tournament championship, Andrew Locklear had no idea he was going to be selected the tournament's most valuable player.
A year later, Locklear again finds himself surrounded by a wealth of talent on a Red Raiders team that must be considered the favorite to repeat its title this week. Locklear and the Red Raiders take a 10-0 record into the weeklong event that begins Monday at Sims Legion Park.
"It's a fun stadium to play at," Locklear said. "We go and we like to have a good time. As long as I relax and play my game, then it could be another special year."
Locklear helped South Point make this a special tournament last year, batting 5-for-11 with two doubles over the three games. The infielder/right-handed pitcher also tossed five shutout relief innings — three in the first round and two in the semifinals for a save.
In the championship game, Locklear went 2-for-3 with a double and a run as South Point defeated Forestview 6-0.
That victory gave South Point a 15-0 record for the season, and the Red Raiders again carry an unblemished mark into the tournament (third time in a row, actually). They've made things interesting lately, though, winning their last two games by one run each: 3-2 against Forestview and 1-0 against North Gaston.
"We come out some games and we hit the ball well and we come out some games and it's a close game," Locklear said. "It all comes down to defense. As long as we keep playing good defense and keep pitching well, we should have a good season."
Locklear, a senior and Charleston Southern signee, has done his part on the mound. He improved to 3-0 on Thursday with a complete-game three-hitter against North Gaston. Nine days earlier, he pitched a no-hitter against Ashbrook.
Locklear figures he'll take the mound in South Point's second or third game this week. Aaron Biggerstaff is the likely starter for Monday's first-round game against Ashbrook at 1 p.m. Monday's other games pit Hunter Huss against Bessemer City at 10 a.m., East Gaston versus Forestview at 4 p.m. and North Gaston against Cherryville at 7.
In addition to Locklear, five other all-tournament selections from last year return: Forestview's Taylor Adams, East Gaston's Jared Chapman, Ashbrook's Sawyer Sparrow and North Gaston's Garrett Lowery and Jared Wallace.
South Point leads all teams with seven tournament titles and 48 wins. North Gaston is next in the championship category with five while Cherryville is second in wins with 45.
"We're always excited to play in it," South Point coach Jason Lineberger said. "We're just going to go in it and take it day by day and try to play the best we can."
Phillip Gardner: 704-869-1843; twitter.com/gazettephil
Gaston County Baseball Tournament
Monday-Friday at Sims Legion Park, Gastonia
Hunter Huss vs. Bessemer City, 10 a.m.
South Point vs. Ashbrook, 1 p.m.
East Gaston vs. Forestview, 4 p.m.
North Gaston vs. Cherryville, 7 p.m.
Huss-BC loser vs. SP-Ash loser, 4 p.m.
EG-For loser vs. NG-Cville loser, 7 p.m.
Huss-BC winner vs. SP-Ash winner, 4 p.m.
EG-For winner vs. NG-Cville winner, 7 p.m.
Seventh-place game, 4 p.m.
Fifth-place game, 7 p.m.
Third-place game, 4 p.m.
Championship, 7 p.m.


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MOUNT HOLLY – A year from now, the East Gaston-North Gaston matchup will again be a conference rivalry as East Gaston will return to the Big South 3A Conference.
On Tuesday, their final non-conference doubleheader was the last tuneup for North Gaston before it begins Big South play and East Gaston was playing its first game since opening MEGA 7 3A/4A Conference action last Friday.
And North Gaston's girls (49-34) and East Gaston's boys (79-55) were the victors in games that were once hotly-contested before the margin grew large for the winners in the fourth quarter.
North Gaston's girls avenged a season-opening 51-36 loss and improved to 4-3 as they prepare for Friday's home game against Hunter Huss.
"That first game was a lot of jitters for us," said Wildcats coach Anna Slentz, whose team has only two seniors and four freshmen on its roster. "We talked a lot about working together and keeping our composure this time."
The Lady Wildcats did just that, especially after East Gaston (1-5) closed with 34-31 early in the fourth quarter.
Junior Jamie Staley, sophomore Breanna Davis, senior Aliyah Lynch and freshman Kendal Cloninger all contributed buckets in a game-ending 15-3 run that gave North Gaston the 15-point victory.
"I'm very satisfied with how hard this team has worked so far this season," said Slentz, who is expecting a child on Dec. 22.
Cloninger, who led Friday Middle School to the county title last March, led the Lady Wildcats with 15 points and eight rebounds. Staley added seven points and 16 rebounds and Janay Polk had 12 points, Davis eight and Lynch seven.
For East Gaston (1-5), which hosts Hunter Huss in a non-league game tonight before visiting Berry Academy on Friday, Sa'Mauria Shannon had 11 points, Carly Kluttz nine and Raven Brooks eight.
East Gaston's boys snapped a two-game losing streak, though coach Gene Farrar was concerned about what he considered "sloppy" play in its 24-point win that completed a seasonal sweep of the Wildcats: The Warriors won 71-56 at North Gaston on Nov. 20.
Wildcats "coach (David) Handsel did a good job starting their defense out in a zone," said Farrar, the first-year Warriors' coach who used to be an assistant coach alongside Handsel under former East Gaston coach Ken Howell. "Their zone slowed us down some because we want to play up-tempo."
Plus, East Gaston was without junior starting point guard Elijah Gore, who was out with the flu.
Without the player who usually gets the Warriors into their offensive sets, East Gaston got 25 points from DeSean Murray and 19 from Jawontee Olds to roll past the Wildcats (3-4).
Olds had nine first-quarter points and seven third-quarter points, while Murray had six or more points in each quarter. Center Jalen Nash contributed eight of his 10 points in the third quarter.
"It just seemed like we didn't play with intensity throughout the game," Farrar said. "We played well at Catholic (in a league-opening loss last Friday) and we just have to recognize that we have to play with energy and intensity every game."
Behind the sharp-shooting of Joe Rogers, who had 22 points and four 3-pointers, the Wildcats cut a 40-28 halftime deficit to 40-38 just two minutes into the second half.
But Olds and Nash scored the game's next 12 points to push that lead up to 14 points at 52-38 with 2:34 left in the third quarter.
North Gaston got no closer than 10 the rest of the way.
In addition to Rogers, the Wildcats got nine points from Deon McCree and eight from Daquan Mintz.
Richard Walker: 704-869-1841; twitter.com/JRWalk22


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222 Tongass Drive, Sitka, AK 99835
Phone: (907)966-8753
Fax: (907)966-8705
The SEARHC Help Line, 1-877-294-0074, is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to residents of Southeast Alaska. The crisis call center is staffed by a team of master's degree- level mental health therapists who will listen and provide effective, compassionate and confidential care.
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Elon University's disappointing football season reaches its last stop today.
The Phoenix arrives at Chattanooga the loser of three straight games, six of its previous seven and relegated to a next-to-last finish in the Southern Conference.
That's pretty depressing stuff.
But it still can't conceal several powerful sources of inspiration that remain attached to this afternoon's season finale.
"If you need motivation for this game, all you've got to do is look in our seniors' eyes," Elon center Clay Johnson said. "That's all the motivation you need."
Or look at Johnson's beard, specifically the whiskers that he tugs on his chin as his voice chokes with emotion while reflecting on the finality faced by fellow offensive linemen Kyle Herbert and Justin Ward and the team's eight other seniors.
Their college careers are coming to a close, and no blocking technique can prevent it.
"Workouts, meetings, practices, thousands of hours logged together," Johnson said. "We're brothers and it's going to be a real sad to see those guys go.
"So I'm really looking forward to sending these guys off on a good note. That really is the motivation."
There's also the momentum boost Elon could ride into the offseason with a victory.
Last year's season-ending heartbreaker against Appalachian State — when the Phoenix went scoreless in the second half and lost 28-24 after rocketing to a 21-0 lead — remained a prevalent yet frustrating conversation topic through winter workouts, spring practices and summer conditioning.
"Obviously winning would put a smile on our face and make for a nice trip home," Elon coach Jason Swepson said.
Elon already is stuck with its worst record since slogging through back-to-back 3-8 seasons in 2004 and 2005. But however incremental, notching a fourth victory on the season and second win in the league today could help recruiting efforts during the coming weeks and months.
And as defensive end Jay Brown pointed out, there's no reason to leave any drop of fuel in the tank this afternoon.
"We've got some guys banged up, no doubt about it," he said. "But there's really nothing to conserve for after this game. There's no point in holding back."
The Phoenix has become bogged down by slow starts in recent weeks, an issue that has resulted in halftime deficits of 28-10 against Furman, 24-6 at The Citadel and 13-0 against Samford.
Elon quarterback Thomas Wilson was sacked five times last week by Samford and absorbed a beating that can't bode well for today.
Chattanooga's stout defense is the top-ranked unit in the Southern Conference. Sack master Davis Tull (10 on the season to lead the league) and space eater Derrick Lott figure to pose plenty of problems for Elon's thin offensive line.
"They'll be a handful," Johnson said.
"This is another team that we can beat if we play our good game," Brown said, "or we'll lose if we don't play to our potential."
Swepson said the result in this season finale won't affect Elon's offseason transition toward the 2013 season. He's calling for a dogged approach.
"Either way, it's not going to change what we need to do and how we've got to work," Swepson said. "We've got a lot of work to do in the offseason. That's not going to change if we win or lose."


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Okay so the CPU comes with a fan right?
I bought another fan serperate, I'm saying should I use the one included or the extra bought one?
You should be using the one you bought, with the paste that is included in the package. It'll be cooler and quieter performance.
CPU: Intel i5-3570k (4.5GHz) MB: ASUS Z77 Sabertooth (uefi 2003)
GPU: Asus 280X TOP (1130MHz/1750MHz) RAM: Corsair LP/LV white 8GB 1600MHz
SSD: Samsung 840Pro 256GB + Crucial m4 128GB (040H) PSU: Seasonic 620M CASE: Corsair 500R (White/Black) Monitor: 1440p BenQ GW2765HT 1080p LG 237L-BN IPS
Current build! ||Old Build || Bitdefender Total Security 2015 || AV-TEST 2014
Okay thanks all ^^ will post pictures when it's built (not allowed all the parts until Christmas since parents bought me some) or when I have more problems :P
If you are really going to be doing "a lot of video encoding" then I would seriously think about the i7.
So all the parts are here. Get to build it tomorrow * excited little girl scream*. Only problem is I'm REALLY nervous about a few things;
Static, what's the best way to avoid it? I'll be building it on a wooden table but it's legs are sitting on a rug. Is their something certain I should wear/do to avoid static?
Breaking things, this is probably my biggest worry, the parts seem very volatile and fragile and I'm pretty heavy handed (awesome). Anyone have any tips to helping me keep my cool?
I'm probably over thinking things and I *hope* it'll be a breeze.
Thanks for the help ^^.
---------- Post added 2012-12-26 at 10:03 AM ----------
Bump /tenchar
---------- Post added 2012-12-26 at 12:56 PM ----------
Okay. Everything is going fine so far. Apart from one thing. I'm about to install the gpu but their are multiple PCI express slots. Does it matter which I use? I looked in the mobo manual and it doesn't specify.


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#2 Mount Olive Sweeps Baseball 13-1, 7-4 in Saturday DH; Coach Ferebee's Jersey Retired
April 20, 2013
MISENHEIMER, N.C. - Mount Olive College, ranked #2 in the latest NCBWA poll, won their 19th and 20th-straight games sweeping Pfeiffer University 13-1 and 7-4 in a Conference Carolinas doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Joe Ferebee Field. The Trojans improve to 42-4 overall, 19-3 in league play while dropping the Falcons to 18-28, 11-10.
Mount Olive would put three up in the second on a crucial mistake by the Falcons. With the bases-loaded and two out, Falcon starter Tyler Ring appeared to get himself out of a jam with a little liner into left. However, the ball was misplayed in left allowing all three unearned runs to score. An error at second would consequently start the inning for the Trojans.
In the fourth, a leadoff single by Tyler Farmer would later payoff as a two-out single to left off the bat of Bradon Reitano gave the Trojans a four-run lead. Mike Mercurio would quickly add two more on a double to left extending the visitors lead to a half-dozen in the fourth.
The Falcons got on the game one board in the fourth as a two-out single by Matt Wade kept the inning alive for Izzy Perez. After scampering to second on the fourth Trojan wild pitch of the day, Perez lined a double to left to bring home Wade cutting the deficit down to 6-1.
Mount Olive pushed the lead back to six with a one-out single to center by Reitano in the eighth. Reitano plated Zak Orrison would ledoff with a double down the left-field line. A two-out error by the Falcons, their fifth of the game, would continue the inning as Mount Olive tacked on two more thanks to a pair of stolen bases, a groundout to second by Jermaine Berry and a wild pitch.
Insurance in the ninth came via four more runs, all unearned, as the key blow of the inning was a three-run blast to left-center by Mercurio. Pfeiffer would end up with seven errors made in game one.
Both starters cruised in the start of game two being perfect through the first two frames until Mount Olive's Daniel Oliver blasted a solo shot to straight-away center for a 1-0 Trojans lead. Later in the frame, a bloop single to left by Reitano would score Matt Petrone for a 2-0 advantage.
The Falcons looked poised for a big third inning until controversy arrived at first base. After Tyler Summers and Dalton Lindley walked, Kevin Price would drop down a bunt to third and would originally be called safe after being tripped up at first base. Upon further review and a conversation with the plate umpire 90 feet away, Price was ruled out on the play. A groundout and pop out would soon end the inning and take away a bases-loaded threat for the Falcons.
Pfeiffer would get one of those runs back in the fourth as a bases-loaded double play ball hit into by Kyle Hackney would score Aarin Sharpe slicing the deficit in half at 2-1. Mount Olive came right back and responded with three runs in the fifth as Mercurio connected again, this time for a three-run shot to left-center, putting the Trojans up 5-1.
Two more came around for Mount Olive in the sixth as a Matt Petrone single back up the box pushed the advantage to 7-1. Pfeiffer would get their final runs of the day in the bottom of the inning using a solo shot to left-center courtesy of Wade, a RBI groundout by Price to score Summers in the seventh along with a Jon Gray single to score Dalton Lindley.
Before the games, longtime Pfeiffer baseball coach Joe Ferebee had his #23 jersey officially retired in a pregame ceremony. April 20, 2013 was also officially declared Joe Ferebee Day in the Village of Misenheimer.
Pfeiffer and Mount Olive will make-up Friday's originally scheduled series-opener on Sunday as the series-finale beginning at 1:00 p.m. Live stats will once again be available courtesy of http://www.gofalconsports.com.


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Looking Back At A 2006 Email From Vince Russo To Dixie Carter
Today In Wrestling History 5/30: Shawn Michaels Fired, Jim Duggan Nearly Dies From Injury, And More
Samoa Joe Note, WWE Diva With NXT Star At Live Event, Steamiest Love Triangles, WWE In Greensboro
WWE Announces Guest Host For Upcoming RAW
Shaq On How Long He Could Last With Ronda Rousey, UFC Raises Minimum Fight Pay, UFC 188 Trailer
WWE Live Event Results From Raleigh (5/29): John Cena Cage Match Headlines, Rusev's Replacement
The Rock's New Movie Exceeds Expectations, Is Set To Be His Biggest Opener
Brock Lesnar Working First House Show In Eleven Years, Opponent Revealed
Brock Lesnar Returning To WWE Television
Possible Replacement For Rusev At WWE Elimination Chamber, Backstage Notes On His Injury
More On Kevin Owens Moving To Main Roster, His NXT Status
Former WCW Tag Team Champion Signs WWE Legends Deal, Talks Infamous Shockmaster Incident


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North American P-51D Racer
The Museum's P-51D was built January 26, 1945 and assigned to the 340th Base Utility Squadron. After the end of World War II it designated as unneeded war materials and sold July 1, 1946 to W.W. Edmondson of Lynchburg, VA. It was registered as NC69406 as an experimental aircraft to be used for exhibition flying or racing. It was re-registered in December, 1946 as N13Y, the designation it would carry for most of its career. Later in December, it was sold to DiPonti Aviation in Minneapolis, MN, who then sold it to Anson Johnson, a pilot for National Airlines, who intended to race it.
Johnson began its racing career in 1947 in the Kendall Trophy Race and did not finish. He upgraded the engine by replacing the Packard Merlin V1650-3 with a modified V1650-225 for better sea level performance. He also added a new paddle-blade propeller and removed as much excess weight as he could. He had previously also "clipped" each wing by about two feet.
He entered the 1948 Cleveland Air Races Thompson Trophy against a strong field which included the modified P-39 "Cobra II" owned by "Tex" Johnson, two Goodyear F2G "Super" Corsairs, two Bell P-63 Kingcobras, andfive other Mustangs (one P-51A piloted by Woody Edmondson). Johnson formulated a strategy of endurance rather than outright speed. His strategy paid off as planes began to drop out due to an incredible race pace with laps at over 400 mph. He was the surprising (and surprised) winner when he finished first of three competitors left after 20 laps.
For 1949, Johnson was offered an opportunity to pilot "Beguine," a highly modified P-51C. Despite this offer, Johnson decided to refine N13Y even further, with help from National Airlines VP for Engineering, and some mechanics. They shortened the prop blades by six inches, faired the engine cowling with only a small air intake, removed the engine and oil cooler from the belly and replaced with modified P-63 coolers, and faired the wing leading edge slots. The result was one of the sleekest and cleanest P-51s ever produced.
The competition for the 1949 Thompson Trophy was again tough including three "Super" Corsairs, one Kingcobra and four Mustangs, including "Beguine." Two laps into the race, "Beguine" missed a pylon and in an attempt to get back onto the course crashed into a house killed a woman and her baby. The race continued but Johnson withdrew with smoke coming into the cockpit.
Racing ended in Cleveland after the crash. And the end of the Air Races, N13Y was finished with racing, at least against other aircraft. Johnson now wanted to set a new world speed record which was currently 469.22 mph set in 1939 by a Messerschmitt ME-109 in Nazi Germany. Luck was against Johnson when on his official run, the timing equipment failed. No one will ever know just how fast N13Y would have gone.
In 1959, Johnson sold the plane. It passed through several owners finally being purchased by the New England Air Museum in 1972.
When completed, the P-51D will take its place next to the other racers in the Museum's collection.
You can follow monthly updates on the the progress of the restoration here.


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Product DescriptionThe Kenda Small Block 8 is part of cycling legend JohnTomac,The Small Block 8 uses a series of 8 small Nevegal shaped knobsTo provide excellent bite onTheTrack. Excellent hard pack raceTire 8 Nevegal shaped but smaller knobs acrossTheTire for better bite DTC DualTread Compound offers cornering grip with faster center line acceleration One ofThe fastest rollingTires inThe Kenda Premium line Weight(claimed): 355 g 60TPI Wire Bead
Review Options: Sorted by Latest Review | Sort by Best Rating
|Reviews 1 - 15 (25 Reviews Total)
|| Next 15
User Reviews
Date Reviewed: September 26, 2014
Strengths: Fast, light, good handling on dry hardpack or the street if you don't turn aggressively. Appear well made.
Weaknesses: Flat prone. Very thin, soft rubber tread/low knobs easily punctured by thorns, cut by glass, sharp rocks... What others said about loose terrain front tire grip. The tread "feels" like I could cut through through it with my thumbnail. Probably not though.
Bottom Line:
Did some pre-rides adjusting the new bike and settled on 50 psi as good enough for now. My first real ride consisted if 3 miles of pavement, 12 miles of dirt roads and trails, and then back on the pavement. Groomed trails-nothing that could be considered even remotely rough or wilderness-like. Almost lost the front end twice. Washed out with little warning. The next morning the front tire had about 10psi and the rear was flat. 7 small punctures from thin, short, sharpy things that nature distributes all over eastern Washington-not just goathead's thorns-and some small tears in between the knobs. The 700c Vittoria Randonneurs on my wife's comfort bike haven't flatted in two years of her riding in the same area, on some of the same trails I rode that day.
I suppose you could add the "flat-proofing" method of your choice to fight off thorns and such, but that would add weight and you'd still be stuck with a tire that lacks the grip to keep the front end upright if you ride fast through a sharp corner, as many other reviewers have noted.
I feel these tires are just too lightly built and too narrow in focus to be a good choice for the vast majority of riders, even though they are very popular. For a racer in the right terrain, riding with the right technique to work around the front end handling, they might be magnificent, but I need something a lot sturdier and more versital. Most riders probably do as well. That's why I gave them the one chili rating. It wasn't because they were poorly made.
Expand full review >>
Duration Product Used: 1.5 rides
Purchased At: lbs
Similar Products Used: Various brands/purpose oriented mountain bike tires since before Rockshox was started.
Bike Setup: Typical Hardtail 29er with Reba Solo Air.
Date Reviewed: June 7, 2014
Strengths: Price, durability, overall riding in NJ, switchbacks, packed dirt, fire trails
Weaknesses: Sand, deeper mud
Bottom Line:
Expand full review >>
Purchased At: Stock
Date Reviewed: May 31, 2014
Strengths: Price, availability, weight, rolling resistance and grip in dry conditions.
Weaknesses: None really.
Bottom Line:
In my opinion, not even big lugged tires really bite when you ride on , say a hardpacked fire road but has a bunch of various sized, up to palm sized, rocks because no tires knobs are big enough to penetrate. THIS is where the SB8 surprised me. All tires will spin out on a larger rock but these would be the fastest to stop spin and grab the surface below on a very steep fire road with areas covered in various rocks brought to the surface over the rain season. They also stuck like glue on smooth rock face and even roots were gripped. I made my way up a tight switch backed trail which was hardpack but covered in dry needles from fir trees. I was worried but they grabbed and held. Going down tight single track on ground for which it was designed was simply excellent. The small knobs don't squirm at all leaving you with complete confidence in throwing yourself into corners. It just felt easier to ride. As far as breaking on steep pitches of loose dirt, I didn't really notice anything special good or bad. Finally, it made the ride back home on pavement much easier. A really good tire.
Date Reviewed: April 16, 2014
Strengths: smooth rolling, light, great for hard pack and pavement.
Weaknesses: Anything wet and loose.... you're gonna have a bad time....
Bottom Line:
But.... It teaches you soooo much. It makes you analyze the trail like a fiend, because if you loose traction its hard to get it back with these tires.
So if your going to compete prob not the tire for you at least not as a front tire.
It sure keeps ya alert!
Date Reviewed: January 19, 2014
Strengths: Fast rolling tire, sidewalls have held up better than anything I have ever run, seem to last a long time. I literaly run them until no tread is left.
Weaknesses: none really
Bottom Line:
Expand full review >>
Duration Product Used: 2.5 years
Price Paid: $35.00
Purchased At: jenson usa
Similar Products Used: pythons
Bike Setup: scott rc 29er
Date Reviewed: April 21, 2013
Strengths: Very light and fast rolling.
handles great on hard packed surfaces
Weaknesses: Not a good tire for sandy & loose conditions.
Very weak side walls.
Bottom Line:
i live in southern california, so the only time i see hard pack is after the rains (which we hardly get any).
once the terrain begins to loosen up it was a huge change... i find myself sliding left and right. I am ok with this, its a bit more tricky, but so far i have managed. The biggest disappointment is the weakness of the side walls. I have experienced 2 pinch flats so far (this is something i have never had problems with the specialized branded tires on my geared bike). It could be just me and my riding style. both times happened while riding uphill and making a turn on rocky conditions. Next set of tires will be tubeless..
Date Reviewed: March 28, 2013
Strengths: light weight and fast
Weaknesses: poor traction on muddy, wet surfaces, slippery on snowy pavement and super scary to run on sand
Bottom Line:
Date Reviewed: December 15, 2012
Strengths: This tire is light and rolls fast on the pavement and hard pack trail. You can find them pretty cheap online.
Weaknesses: This tire is a death trap on the front of a bike in the woods. The first time out on this tire I hit just a little loam and I was doing the monkey dance. I spin this tire out on the back all the time also. There are better tires for going fast.
Bottom Line:
Expand full review >>
Purchased At: LBS
Date Reviewed: December 7, 2012
Strengths: Fast, smooth, good all round xc type tire. The product description of this tire is right on and it deserves 5 chilis IMO.
Weaknesses: It will not work for everyone in all situations....what a bummer!!
Bottom Line:
Being a newbie the only thing I noticed was I felt very fast on my new bike. I did not have any problems with grip on any of the trails I rode in Virginia. I'm not the fastest guy out there, but I am pretty aggressive and I had no problems even at 40 PSI weight 180lbs. I was thinking about lowering the psi but what's the point if all is working great.
My friend gave me two 2.2 Nevegals and said I needed real MTB tires. They do look good on a MTB!! I put them on and it felt like I was pulling him behind me compared to the SB8's. I also struggled to keep up with the slowest guy I ride with. I then left the Nevegal up front and put the SB8' on the rear and it still lacked the speed I was use to. I think the SB8 handles better too.
I ended up putting both SM8's back on and I think I'm going to leave it. These tires make me feel like a pro and I have not had one problem on the trails I ride as far as grip. I don't see much mud but roots, rocks, leaves, and loose dirt seem to not be a problem...at least for me.
So my point for writing the review is to express that you may not need big Knobbies like you think you do. The SB8 or other XC, race type tires may more than enough grip for what you do or need. I've tried to get my friends to try them but they think they need big, slow, knobbie tires even though they see me hammering up and down the hills way ahead of them. I think they just like the look of the big dogs!!
Date Reviewed: May 12, 2012
Strengths: Keep them on the dry track. They'll hold up a little on moist track if air pressure is correct and running tubeless.
Weaknesses: sidewalls feel thin but no problems yet riding rocky trails around austin.
Bottom Line:
Date Reviewed: January 18, 2012
Strengths: FAAASSTTT - Fastest rolling tire I've ever ridden.
Weaknesses: If there is wet mud anywhere near this tire you better be prepared to become a ice skater!
Bottom Line:
Expand full review >>
Duration Product Used: Less than 1 month
Purchased At: Came on bike
Similar Products Used: Specialized Captain's, WTB Weirwolf's & Velociraptors, Dart/Smoke Combo.
Bike Setup: Airborne Goblin
Date Reviewed: September 29, 2011
Strengths: These tire rock!! Super fast rolling, corner like a champ, rail around the corners and keep you smiling. I just did the Vermont 50 with this tire on the rear and the Maxxis Ignitor on the front. Had no problems and blasted right through the mud which was quite deep at times. Obviously, if you try to stand up while climbing in areas that are wet they will spin on you. I normally ride them front and rear set up tubeless and love them. Just decided to put something with a bit more tred up front knowing that this race was going to be muddy.
Weaknesses: None so far
Bottom Line:
Expand full review >>
Duration Product Used: 3 months
Price Paid: $40.00
Purchased At: Kenda
Similar Products Used: Nevegal, slant six, maxxis ignitor and many others
Bike Setup: Tall Boy 29er
Date Reviewed: September 14, 2011
Strengths: Fast. Very fast. Be prepared to be using a taller gear than usual because this tire flys. Super low rolling resistance.
Weaknesses: I have flatted more times with this tire than any other tire I have ridden on. It has nothing for puncture protection. This could be remedied by going tubeless.
Bottom Line:
Expand full review >>
Similar Products Used: Kenda Karma, Specialized Fast Trak, Specialized Renegade.
Bike Setup: 34 lbs. hardtail brawler.
Date Reviewed: July 28, 2011
Strengths: -Fast rolling
-Good on hardpack
Weaknesses: -anything close to loose soil and these tires break out
Bottom Line:
Expand full review >>
Date Reviewed: November 14, 2010
Strengths: Fast, supple, with suprising grip. Good price, particularly if you shop around.
Weaknesses: None
Bottom Line:
Expand full review >>
Duration Product Used: 3 months
Price Paid: $35.00
Similar Products Used: Specialized Renegade
Bike Setup: Specialized carbon Stumpjumper HT. The Captain on the front, Small Block 8 on the rear.
|Reviews 1 - 15 (25 Reviews Total)
|| Next 15
Review Options: Sorted by Latest Review | Sort by Best Rating
Related Small Block 8 29 Forum Posts
S-Works Renegade vs. Small Block 8 (29's)
I've got Renegades on my Stumpy HT. Would Small block 8's roll any better? Quieter on pavement? thx bobRead More »
Small Block 8 with Stans Arch 29 / Won't Stay Inflated?!
New 29er Stans Arch, factory yellow tape mounted with brand-new Kenda Small Block 8 2.1 won't hold air for 24hrs. Start out at 42# and end up with 10#, maybe in 8-10 hrs later. They inflated nicely and did the soapy water / shakey thing many times. I've hung them, layed them on bucket horizon ... Read More »
small block 8 vs spec fast trak lk - 29'er
i searched a bit but cannot find a thread with this specific topic... i'm going to be racing on 29er i9's with stan's rims. i want a dry/race tire and i'm checking out the kenda small block 8 and the fast trak lk (control not SWorks). i will be using yellow tape and sealant. it looks like the ... Read More »
29 x 2.1 Small Block 8's...need a good deal.
i am looking for two 29 x 2.1 Small Block 8 tires, anyone know where a good deal can be found?Read More »


text:
Rosglue documentation
From Brown University Robotics
Reinforcement learning (RL) is a sub-area of machine learning concerned with how an agent should select actions given its environment and often cites robotics as a potential application area. While some researchers have bridged the gap and used RL algorithms in robot applications, most RL experiments happen in simulation and are never ported over to the robotics due to the difficulty of programming and maintaining a robot. Additionally individuals in the RL community use their own software frameworks for evaluating and creating learning techniques. RL-Glue is a standard interface that allows RL researchers to share agent, environments and experiment programs together. Robotics has suffered from similar problems where labs have primarily created their own infrastructure and evaluation across different techniques has become difficult if not impossible. ROS is a large sophisticated research tool that is currently be used by many roboticists world-wide.
We introduce rosglue, framework that allows robots running ROS to be environments for RL-Glue agents. Our hope is that this may lead to increased communication between the fields and open further collaborations.
Short Primer on ROS
ROS is an open-source robot middle ware system. It provides many services including hardware abstraction, low-level device control, implementations for commonly used functionality, and message-passing. If you're familiar with ROS, feel free to skim or skip this section. If you've never heard of ROS before or know very little about it you can learn more by checking out the tutorials and documentation on http://www.ros.org/wiki/ However, our goal is to allow you to use at least some robots running ROS with as little understanding of this as possible.
Topics and Services
Perhaps the most important thing to understand about ROS is how it exposes the functionality of the robot. This happens in one of two ways, as a topic or as a service. Both services and topics can be used for observing the robots environment or for performing control.
Topics are an asynchronous communication of streams of objects. A process can publish topics and other processes may subscribe to these topics and use the data as they wish without directly communicating to the publisher process.
Services are a synchronous communication system and are much like function calls in many programming languages, they take in arguments and return responses. Services, under ROS, will always return an object which can be arbitrarily complex.
Short Primer on RL-Glue
RL-Glue provides a standard interface for the three major components of an RL system: the agent, the environment, and the experiment. Much like with ROS you're familiar with RL-Glue, feel free to skim or skip this section. If you've never heard of RL-Glue before or know very little about it you can learn more by checking out http://glue.rl-community.org/wiki/Main_Page
In order to program in RL-Glue developers download a codec for the language of the user's choice, currently C/C++, Java, Lisp, Matlab, and Python are supported. The RL-Glue interface is a series of functions that are defined by the codec.
These functions define a low level protocol for connecting agents, envirionments and experiments. The developers fill in the functions with the desired functionality and then rl_glue passes the messages between the agent, environment and experiment. Users can also use the RL-Library [1], an open-source collection RL-Glue compatible agent, environments, and experiments.
One of the most important things to understand about RL-Glue is the Task Spec. The task speck is essentially the problem definition in RL-Glue. The task spec follows the following template:
VERSION <version-name> PROBLEMTYPE <problem-type> DISCOUNTFACTOR <discount-factor> OBSERVATIONS INTS ([times-to-repeat-this-tuple=1] <min-value> <max-value>)* DOUBLES ([times-to-repeat-this-tuple=1] <min-value> <max-value>)* CHARCOUNT <char-count> ACTIONS INTS ([times-to-repeat-this-tuple=1] <min-value> <max-value>)* DOUBLES ([times-to-repeat-this-tuple=1] <min-value> <max-value>)* CHARCOUNT <char-count> REWARDS (<min-value> <max-value>)
EXTRA [extra text of your choice goes here]";
VERSION RL-Glue-3.0 PROBLEMTYPE episodic DISCOUNTFACTOR 1 OBSERVATIONS INTS (2 0 1) DOUBLES (3 -2 0.5) (-.5 .5) ACTIONS INTS (0 4) REWARDS (-5.0 5.0) EXTRA additional notes go here (for exampe author and problem name)
This defines the learning problem as:
Using rosglue
rosglue is designed to be a bridge between RL-Glue and ROS. As pictured in the figure, rosglue treats a robot running ROS as an RL-Glue environment.
Currently rosglue allows observation to be ROS topics. Actions may either be ROS topics, published by rosglue, or ROS services. Reward and termination functions may either be ROS topics or custom python functions created by the user. When the user creates a custom function they must use rosparam. For example if the function can be found in the mycode_reward.py file in the same directory as rosglue the following call will be issued:
rosparam set /brown/rosglue/rewardfile mycode_reward.py
The same thing can be done to define the termination condition.
Other than custom reward and termination conditions a user does not need to perform any other RL-Glue coding. Instead the user defines the robotics environment through a yaml configuration file. This yaml is similar to the RL-Glue task spec in that it defines the problem. In the yaml configuration file the user defines not only the RL task but also which portions of the ROS environment will provide the observations and action interfaces. rosglue will use the configuration file to automatically handle all of the messages and translate from the RL-Glue environment to ROS for the user. The RL research is no longer required to program in ROS and the robot research can use RL-Glue agents available in the RL-Library without understanding the RL-Glue interface. Launch files (scripts to launch the appropriate ROS nodes) and sample yaml files can also provide a means of allowing users with little previous experience in ROS to immediately begin working with the robot.
In order to make this more concrete we show an example yaml file for a task in which the learning agent uses an iRobot Create for a navigation task. The observations provided by ros are topics that are published on the /position topic. This topic has three fields that the agent will use during learning: x, y, and theta (orientation). The actions are then provided using a service named /act. This service takes in three values 0 (right), 1 (forward), 2 (left).
problemtype: episodic discountfactor: 1 observations: /position: x: - -0.05 - 3.0 y: - -0.05 - 3.0 theta: - -1.6 - 3.5 actions: /act: - service - action: - 0 - 2 reward: type: glue #ros or glue /position: x: - -0.05 - 3.0 y: - -0.05 - 3.0 range: - -1 - 10 termination: type: glue #ros or glue extra: iRobotCreate by Sarah Osentoski


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- Welcome to the 2014/15 season
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Kateryna Kasper
Kateryna Kasper made her debut at Oper Frankfurt in 2011 singing the Voice of a Forest Bird in Siegfried and Bellangère in Ariande et Barbe Bleue (2012) before joining the Opera Studio last season, during which she sang Barbarina (Die Hochzeit des Figaro/Le nozze di Figaro), the Voice of a Forest Bird, Belinda (Dido and Aeneas; which went on tour to the 2012 Edinburgh Festival) and Anima (one of the title roles in Cavalieri's Das Spiel von Seele und Körper/The Game between Soul and Body). During the 2013/14 season this Ukranian soprano will be taking part in new productions of Rusalka and Der goldene Drache/The Golden Dragon and sing Pamina / Papagena (Die Zauberflöte) and Angelica (Orlando furioso). Kateryna Kasper got her diploma in Nürnberg, where she was taught by Edith Wiens, and now studies with Hedwig Fassbender in Frankfurt. Masterclasses in which she has participated include those held by Helmut Deutsch, Ileana Cotrubas, Margreet Honig, Malcolm Martineau and Thomas Hampson. Recent competitions where she has enjoyed great success include the 2010 "International "Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch" in Holland, the 2011 "Queen Sonja International Music Competition" in Oslo and the 2012 "Trude-Eipperle-Rieger-Lieder Prize".