text:
Clear-eyed Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood
416pp. Bloomsbury. £18.99.
978 1 4088 1970 8
(US: Knopf. $27.95.
978 0 385 52878 8)
" The act of naming is the great and solemn consolation of mankind." Margaret Atwood found this first epigraph for her William Empson lectures, published as Negotiating with the Dead: A writer on writing (2002), in Elias Canetti's The Agony of Flies: Notes and notations (1992). The act of naming explains the peculiar title of Atwood's new novel MaddAddam – the third volume of a dystopian sequence, so far including Oryx and Crake (reviewed in the TLS, May 16, 2003) and The Year of the Flood (TLS, September 18, 2009). The title MaddAddam looks and sounds like a stretched (or stuttered) version of the appellation "Madam", but in Atwood's dystopia it is the collective name for the grandmasters of an elaborate computer game: "EXTINCTATHON, Monitored by MaddAddam. Adam named the living animals, MaddAddam names the dead ones. Do you want to play?"
Mankind's relationship with the natural world motivates Atwood's apocalyptic vision. Oryx and Crake begins with Snowman, formerly known as Jimmy, an archetypal last man, waking before dawn:
"Out of habit he looks at his watch – stainless-steel case, burnished aluminum band, still shiny although it no longer works. He wears it now as his only talisman. A blank face is what it shows him: zero hour. It causes a jolt of terror to run through him, this absence of official time. Nobody nowhere knows what time it is."
Mankind's relationship with the natural world motivates Atwood's apocalyptic vision
Following a twenty-first-century plague spread through a health supplement (the BlyssPluss pill promising sexual ecstasy, birth control and prolonged youth), most of the human race has been cleared from the earth. Amid the destruction, Snowman remains responsible for a small community of gene-spliced children, the Crakers. They are named after their creator whose EXTINCTATHON title is Crake, formerly known as Glenn, a classmate of Snowman/Jimmy when they were growing up – watching porn and playing computer games – in the HelthWyzer complex, where their parents lived and worked for a fortified corporation under the protection of the security service CorpSeCorps.
Crake, a scholarship boy with a troubled family background and no friends besides Snowman, attended Watson-Crick, a dystopian Ivy League university, then returned to work at HelthWyzer, where he assembled the gene-spliced geniuses intent on subverting CorpSeCorps from within. Oryx is the EXTINCTATHON name of the girl Crake and Snowman are both in love with. They first saw her, or someone like her, on a child-porn site. Crake then found her via Student Services: Watson-Crick provides prostitutes for clever men who don't like clever women. In the utopia Crake is planning, Oryx will be a tutor to the gene-spliced Crakers and the guardian of the still living animals.
Crake has designed his new breed of children without the capacity for guile, jealousy or acquisitiveness. After puberty, when fertile, a female Craker turns blue and mates cheerfully with as many male Crakers as possible. No one becomes possessive or starts squabbling about the scarce resources. The community stakes out its territory in harmony, the boys forming a circle and urinating in unison on the perimeter. The language of the Crakers is simple, formal, non-ironic: "O, Snowman, tell us about when Crake was born". Slowly Snowman is assembling a mythology for them.
The Year of the Flood tells the other side of this story: the view from the "pleeblands" – the wilderness beyond the CorpSeCorps – protected compound borders, where God's Gardners struggle to lead non-violent lives in a degraded landscape. On the rooftops of the slums that were once a part of a prosperous city, the religious sect cultivates vegetables and bees. Its members teach the convergence of Nature and Scripture, reinterpreting the Old Testament accordingly. Genesis 9:2, where God tells man that "the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air . . . into your hands they are delivered", becomes a warning to God's beloved creatures to beware of man and his evil heart. All around are examples of man's corruption. Local "pleebmobs" pay the CorpSeCorpsMen to turn a blind eye to kidnappings and assassinations, crack labs and organ harvesting. At the fast-food chain SecretBurgers it is unclear where the animal protein in the burgers comes from: "The meat grinders weren't 100 per cent efficient; you might find a swatch of cat fur in your burger or a fragment of mouse tail. Was there a human fingernail, once?" The girls behind the counter wear T-shirts and baseball caps with the slogan: "SecretBurgers! Because Everyone Loves a Secret!" The character Toby was working for SecretBurgers when she was rescued from her sexually abusive boss by the gardening gang and rehabilitated as an Eve. After the "waterless flood", or plague, Toby, like Snowman, thinks she is an isolated survivor.
By the beginning of MaddAddam, Toby, Snowman, the Crakers and a few other familiar characters have found each other. Snowman falls into a coma, so Toby takes over telling the Crakers stories about their provenance, answering their questions by raiding the treasure chest of life, death and the regeneration myths embedded in the world's religions, past, present and fictional.Halfway through the book, Snowman wakes up and says, "Oh fuck!" One of the Crakers asks:
' "Who is this Fuck? Why is he talking to this Fuck? That is not the name of anyone here."
It takes Toby a moment to figure it out. Because Jimmy said "Oh fuck" rather than plain "fuck", they think it's a term of address, like "O, Toby." How to explain to them what "Oh fuck" means? They would never believe that the word for copulation could mean something bad: an expression of disgust, an insult, a failure. To them, as far as she can tell, the act is pure joy.
"You can't see him," says Toby a little desperately. "Only Jimmy, only Snowmanthe-Jimmy can see him."
"Fuck is a friend of Crake's?"
"Yes," says Toby. "And a friend of Snowman-the-Jimmy."
"This Fuck is helping him?"
"Yes," says Toby. "When something goes wrong, Snowman-the-Jimmy calls on him for help." Which is true in a way.
"Fuck is in the sky! With Crake! We would like to hear the story of Fuck." '
Atwood has given God a new name, or named a new god. This is not the first time she has turned her subversive humour on structures of authority, belief and the stories that sustain them, but it is certainly the most efficient. "Fuck" equals "God", and therefore "God" equals "Fuck": as simple and transgressive as that.
In her Empson lectures, Atwood advanced a hypothesis suggested to her by "a throwaway sentence" in Dudley Young's book, Origins of the Sacred: The ecstasies of love and war (1991), to the effect that the Minoan civilization which once flourished on Crete left remarkably few written texts because the Minoans were not overly afraid of mortality, writing being, above all, a reaction to the fear of death. Atwood proceeded to push this idea to its extreme: "not just some, but all writing of the narrative kind, and perhaps all writing, is motivated, deep down, by a fear of and a fascination with mortality – by a desire to make the risky trip to the Underworld, and to bring something or someone back from the dead". In addition to the bedtime stories Toby tells the Crakers in MaddAddam, she casually teaches one of them to write. Tearing a page from the back of her journal and writing the name of a Craker called Blackbeard on it, she hands it to him and tells him to show it to one of the other God's Gardener characters who can read: "He doesn't trust what she's told him, but he takes the piece of paper anyway, holding it gingerly as if it's coated with invisible poison". He comes back radiant because the paper has "told" his name. Soon afterwards Blackbeard is writing his name in the sand and the other Craker children are watching him. "What comes next? Rules, dogmas, laws? The Testament of Crake?" Toby wonders if learning to read and write will be the ruin of these hybrid humourless humans.
The more immediate consequence of Toby's storytelling is the decision to take the Crakers on a journey, back to where they originated in a laboratory inside the ruins of the HelthWyzer complex – an Underworld of sorts.
"They set out the next morning just at sunrise. The vultures that top the taller, deader trees are spreading their black wings so the dew on them will evaporate; they're waiting for the thermals to help them lift and spiral. Crows are passing the rumours, one rough syllable at a time."
They travel through what used to be called Heritage Park. They enter the hallways of "the Egg", where the Crakers were spliced into existence, and when Snowman comes upon the carcasses of his friends, Oryx and Crake, he falls to his knees in grief. The now literate Blackbeard asks: "O Toby, is this Oryx and is this Crake? But they are a smelly bone, they are many smelly bones! Oryx and Crake must be beautiful! Like the stories! They cannot be a smelly bone!" Then Blackbeard cries, "because they were dead ones, very dead ones, and all fallen apart". The journey achieves nothing more, or less, than a story.
Atwood's exploration of the boundaries between myth, storytelling and written fiction has previously been combined with her interest in sexual politics and the power structures that arise from the raw, biological facts of human reproduction. Most memorably in The Handmaid's Tale (1985) she evoked another dystopia, the Republic of Gilead, where in the aftermath of nuclear war, fertile women were appropriated by the state and assigned to the households of the governing elite to serve as surrogate wombs. Towards the end of the novel, the Handmaid's Commander takes her to a secret brothel, where she encounters a friend from her student days, before the repressive regime arose:
"This is what she says, whispers, more or less. I can't remember exactly, because I had no way of writing it down. I've filled it out for her as much as I can: we didn't have much time so she just gave the outlines. I've tried to make it sound as much like her as I can. It's a way of keeping her alive."
MaddAddam revisits the subject of female fertility in the brave new world of gene splicing. After a gang rape, which involves some of the male Crakers, who are unable to distinguish the situation from their habitual mating routine, Amanda, one of God's Gardeners, discovers she is pregnant. No one knows how the pregnancy will progress, because the gestation of Craker embryos is faster than that of ordinary humans. "What if the baby gets too big, too fast, and can't make its way out? It's not as if there are any hospitals. Or even any doctors. As far as the facilities go it will be like giving birth in a cave." Atwood evokes in one poignant visual image the timeless despair of an unwanted pregnancy: "Amanda is sitting on one of the children's swings, moving gently back and forth. She doesn't quite fit the swing; it's close to the ground, and her knees are sticking up awkwardly. Slow tears are rolling down her cheeks". The rhythm of the swing and the angle of her knees quietly recall the act that brought her here, but the violence has passed and only sadness remains.
There is much that is bleak and terrifying in Atwood's fiction, but it is leavened by her humour
There is much that is bleak and terrifying in Atwood's fiction, but it is leavened by her humour. The brothel in MaddAddam, first visited in The Year of the Flood, is called Scales and Tails and run by the formidable Katrina WooWoo, "tip-top liar" and trapeze artiste. When one of her clients is murdered, this is how she breaks the news to his colleagues:
' "Your friend has unfortunately had a lifesuspending event . . . . Total bliss can be taxing on the system. But as you know, he had – excuse me, he has a contract with CryoJeenyus – full-body, not head-only – so all is well. I'm so sorry for your temporary loss." '
The Empson lectures end with Ovid, who has the Sibyl of Cumae speak, not only for herself, but also – Atwood suspects – for him, and for the hopes and fates of all writers: "But still, the fates will leave me my voice and by my voice I shall be known".
What, ultimately, does Atwood's dystopian trilogy add up to? How much value is added in recasting the stories and characters established in Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood? MaddAddam opens with Atwood's leaden summary of the previous two volumes, "The Story so Far". Readers are advised to skip it. Writers are rarely the best summarizers of their own work, and Atwood is one of the worst. But there is no question that it is necessary to have read the earlier volumes to appreciate MaddAddam's complexity.
Atwood's narratives are typically driven by distinctive voices. In this novel, her ear for dialogue is unsteady, frequently falling back on dated or strange colloquialisms and vocabulary. Of a pair of rapists, captured and roped to a tree, the narrator remarks: "Those guys looked like macramé". After a life-threatening battle, Toby is suddenly very tired: "all she wanted to do was stumble into her cubicle and conk out". Worrying about whether or not her lover has survived the battle, Toby reflects on the fact "she'd never worn her heart anywhere near her sleeve". Toby's lover, taking a rest under a tree, notices the lichen on it "frilly and intricate and see-through, like a whore's underpants". "Cripes", says one character. "I don't want to go into the gory details", says another, "because you'd think that was oversharing. It's girl stuff."
Beyond these glitches, MaddAddam is remarkable for enacting the transition from oral to written history within a fictional universe – one complete with myths and false gods. "Please do not sing yet!" Toby repeatedly tells the Crakers, who burst into a communal singsong at every opportunity. With Toby's encouragement, Blackbeard (Blackbard) emerges as the first Craker writer to set himself apart from the group and create a text, or a score for voice, that does not disappear in performance, but remains to be passed on and interpreted by future generations.
In her Empson lectures, Atwood reflected on the coldness of the artist or writer's eye: "This is the eye of the scribe of the Egyptian and Mesopotamian Underworlds, or of the recording angel of the Christian Heaven. The eye is cold because it is clear, and it is clear because its owner must look: he must look at everything. Then she must record". MaddAddam is the work of a wild, subversive writer who has looked long and hard at her craft. Like her own Penelope in The Penelopiad (2005), Atwood unravels the warp and weft of narrative fiction and insists again that it is always a shroud for the dead.
Ruth Scurr is Fellow, Tutor and Director of Studies in Politics at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. She was a judge of the Man Booker Prize in 2007 and is a member of The Folio Prize Academy. Her book England's Collector: A biography of John Aubrey is due to be published next year.
We hope you enjoy our free selection of reviews and articles from this week's Times Literary Supplement. The TLS is available in print and as an app, with full access to our online archives.
In the latest episode of TLS Voices, Sam Graydon explores Robert Browning's crucial role in the development of the dramatic monologue, with a selection of readings from his works:
Follow @TheTLS
Our Blogs
In the next TLS
- PETER COATESTeddy Roosevelt, naturalist
- WENDY LOWERGermans on all fronts
- ERIC BULSONTechnicolor dawn
- ZOE CORMACKAfrica's riches, Africa's curse


text:
im back.working on a track that i will send for a digitally released compilation.
well,it is what the name suggests.it is a group for the fans of dark ambient,industrial,noise and any other genre or subgenre related.If you enjoy those creepy background sounds in games or You are a Dark Ambient fan,join us in this Dark haven.We also upload some of our works here.
No articles were found matching the criteria specified. We suggest you try the article list with no filter applied, to browse all available. Post article and help us achieve our mission of showcasing the best content from all developers. Join now to share your own content, we welcome creators and consumers alike and look forward to your comments.
im back.working on a track that i will send for a digitally released compilation.
i know.no updates for a long time.im just really busy right now but it will get a hell of a lot better after 2 weeks so there be new trax and newer versions of the old trax.
for the ones that care.
welcome death5421
due to monstrum hitting higher than 100 listeners i upped it on mediafire.heres the link :
the one on mediafire is different than the one in the vid sec.ull be surprised.
welcome jrgl_cuchallain to our humble dark nook
im currently working on a new track for asylum a horror HL2 mod.u can check us here :
the new forum address for asylum :
added HN darkraft in the addon section.
if ur curious currently im working on "deep in dark space",its an extended version with additions in the begenning part also.and yes it has gotten longer.
thank you for your kind words.if u have any suggestions for making this place more livlier than what it is u can always tell me.im always open to suggestions.
(supposed to be a reply.messed up again)
welcome dread_nott!
Thanks, bloodstalker. Those are some pretty good pieces you've put up here.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Daniel Almeida, MV, MSAssistant Professor of Anesthesia
Dr. Almeida graduated from Veterinary School in his hometown of Brasilia, Brazil in 2003. After a few years of private practice experience and a position as an official veterinarian for the Brazilian government, Dr. Almeida started his residency and graduate program at the U of M in 2007. After finishing his Masters degree and residency in Comparative Anesthesiology, Dr. Almeida became an instructor in anesthesiology and joined the rest of the faculty shortly after as an Assistant Professor. His clinical interests include local and regional blocks as adjuncts to general anesthesia/acute pain management and post-anesthetic morbidity and mortality. Dr. Almeida's other interest lies in Forensic Veterinary Medicine, and he currently serves as a board member of the International Veterinary Forensic Sciences Association.
Liz GoudieResident
Dr. Liz Goudie is a 2010 graduate of Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine. She completed an internship in surgey, medicine, critical care, and neurology at Blue Pearl Veterinary Partners in New York, New York.
Lynelle F. Graham, DVM, MS, DACVAClinical Professor of AnesthesiaDr. Graham graduated from the University of Minnesota CVM in 1995, and then completed a rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery at Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Graham then returned to her alma mater where she completed a residency/graduate degree in anesthesiology (1996-1999), and has advanced training in veterinary acupuncture, chiropractic and herbal medicine. Her clinical interests include pain management, critical care, herbal medicine and acupuncture. She is a board certified Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Anesthesiologists (DACVA).
Maria Angeles "Angie" Jimenez, DVM, CertVA, DipECVAAAssistant Clinical Professor of Anesthesia
Dr. Jimenez Lozano (she goes by Dr. Jimenez) graduated from the veterinary school of the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona (Spain) in 1999. After a year, she moved to the United Kingdom, where she worked for two years before joining the Royal Veterinary College of London (RVC). From 2003-07, Dr. Jimenez completed an anesthesia internship and residency at the RVC. She worked as a clinical instructor in anesthesia for the RVC from June 2007 to August 2011. Her clinical interests are pain recognition and management, anesthetic management of the compromised patient and artificial ventilation. Dr. Jimenez holds a Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons certificate in veterinary anaesthesia (CertVA) and is a board certified Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia (DECVAA).
Notice of Privacy Practices
Return to:
Veterinary Medicine:
Academic Health Center:
U of M Home


text:
I am creating this group so that parents in my situation can support each other. I am currently 14 weeks pregnant with a baby boy. At our first ultrasound my baby was diagnosed with a cystic hygroma. I had the CVS testing done and the results came back normal. We now have another ultrasound scheduled at 16 weeks, two days before christmas, to have another look at the baby. They have now mentioned it could be a heart or skeletal defect. Im not quite sure they have any idea what could be wrong now. I am completely devastated at what the outcome might be. This is my third pregnancy, i have two beautiful, healthy children so i never thought something like this would happen. Nobody i have talked to is familiar with this, i am looking for others in my situation for some support. I dont think anyone can understand what this feels like unless they have had to deal with it themselves.
cystic hygroma
My heart breaks for you. I'm so sorry to hear you are going through this. You sound like an amazing strong woman and mother. I will be thinking of you and praying for you to feel some comfort during this time.
Hi im 14weeks pregnate and last week my fetus was diagnosed with Cystic Hygroma, i was sooo scarred and criied. I never thought this could happen to me, and it caused me and my boyfriend to argue alott, he doesnt even like to talk about it. I took the chromosome test Mondayy and should recieve the results by next week..im soo scarred to get anyymore bad news. What are my chances of it being diagnosed with a syndrome?
I am new to this group - I have been reading tons of post re: CH - the good/bad, etc. Thanks for all the posts. I wish you all the best of luck and many blessings. My baby was diagnosed with septated CH from crown to rump two days ago at 13 weeks. I am digesting the news, prognosis, etc. The specialist gave very little hope - said there's little chance of survival - same prognosis as many in this group (possible trisomy 15, 18, 21, Turner's syndrome, heart or kidney defect). I will be having an amnio at next appt (2 weeks from now), but the wait is diffiuclt to say the least. I have been feeling the baby move for 2 weeks now-this is my second child and I guess the CH is making it easier to feel the baby earlier, because of the increased size. It is tough, because I am hvaing all these mixed feelings - excited about feeling the baby, but so sad knowing it is sick and most likely not survive. Anyone ever had a CH from crown to rump clear up and have a successful pregnancy?
We have two beautiful sons and lost our twins to Trisomy 18 and HPLHS in 2012.
I joined this group because I am 12 weeks pregnant and last week my baby was diagnosed with cystic hygroma. This is my first pregnancy and I'm very scared for my baby.
Hello everyone,
I'm from Ireland but I live in Italy. I have two healthy boys, the first one 7 years old and the second 16 months. I had a missed miscarriage between pregnancies on the 12th week. I am 42. This board has been of tremendous help to me since the foetus was diagnosed with a 5mm cystic Fibroma with some fluid on the belly region also at my scan on monday at 11wks2 days. I have literally been prostrate since then..I think for various reasons, shock and perhaps part of me thinks that if I do not move between now and the CVS in 6 days time, it will somehow not exacerbate it.
Of course, I went to the scan on my own, as most other women here have, not in the least expecting anything ontoward when before the obsterician said anything at all, I saw it with my own eyes. I took a deep breath as I had been fearful since the start of this pregnancy. Intuition is the strongest I think in pregnancy. I always felt there was something not right but that positivism still prevails hence the hubris on going alone. It was the same the last time..staggering down streets after it, tears flowing unashamedly, blaming myself for everything and feeling impotent.
I arrived home, got into bed and haven't left since. I found this board and have read every post, followed all your stories, good, bad and factual and in all my years on the interweb have never found anything so supportive. These are stories about real people, their fears, angst, elation, unjudgemental and often very pragmatic with the one goal, to do the best thing for their babies and themselves.
I am strictly atheist tending to take ascientific approach but do not rule out philosphical or spiritual feelings either so I know rationally this is not my fault as such..still i go back and ask myself was it the flu I had at the start of this pregnancy that caused this..my age..and a smorgasbord of other paranoia. I do know that none of this will help this child nor its prognosis. It is tthe waiting game for me now just as all of you have gone through before me, and many will after. without being anodyne, thanks to you all for reading..I hope you do find answers to your soul searches and tests. I'll keep you updated on mine as I have hungrily devoured your blow-by-blow accounts I want to be part of something now and not to have to go through this on my own. Outside of yourself who is carrying this child, no one can empathise other than other's in a similar position, not a partner, a friend, parent or child no matter how much you share with them, they won't get this as you do. Talk soon and I look forward to reading your news.
Just an update, seemingly no one reads these anymore, but writing is cathartic anyway. It didn't go so well for this baby afterall. She was diagnosed with Trisomy 18. Looks perfect on the scan but that is not enough to go by. I go in for termination on Friday. I can't eat, and when I sleep I have nightmares..the one that I never really wake up from is there during the day too. Good luck to all the other mammas, I wish you the world.
Hi, i have never posted here before but wanted to find some women who are going through what I am. I had to tx a pregnancy 8 years ago at 13 weeks due to turners syndrome and have been blessed with 2 healthy beautful girls since then (age 7 and 5). I am now 13 weeks pregnant today and was told last week that our baby has a 6.5mm cystic hydroma around the head and neck with possible hydrops and it may actually be turners syndrome again. we are devastated and can't believe that this is happening again.
Hi, ladies. I have been reading all of your posts for a few days now and have found it very comforting to know that I am not the only one going through this. I am 35 and have reciently been through 2 miscarriages (one at 12 weeks and one at 13.5 weeks) which were complete shocks to us because we had ultra sounds done on both of them just a few days before they passed both times and they looked completely normal and my doctor had no idea why they would have passed especially so late in the first trimester. I should also mention that I have to beautiful healthy girls (2 and 4) and had no complications with them. Anyway, as you can imagine going into this current pregnancy made us more than a little nervious and we were very anxious to go to our first appt. at 12 weeks. Unfortunately we were in for a huge shock when we were informed that our baby had a CH of more than 10mm! It's not even been a week since we found out and it's so hard for me to wait for our next US. It's so hard to know what to think or feel at this point but my husband and I are just trying to stay open to any possibilty and be ready for whatever God has planned for us. I ordered a Fetal Dopplar on line a few days ago to get some idea of what's going on with the baby on a daily basis. Can't wait to get it in the mail.


text:
This morning, Lady GaGa did a bit of posing without any make up on for the first time since she was about four years old. The singer, who normally piles it on with a trowel to match her elaborate costumes, tweeted this snap of herself in some sort of posh bathroom (you can tell it's posh by the whiteness of the white towels) with nothing on her face but a big pout.
With radiant skin and perfect eyebrows, we'd probably say that Lady Gaga looked even more beautiful without the war paint – like many other celebrities, she really doesn't need it.
Take Kelly Brook for example – she's rarely seen without red lipstick and false lashes, but she volunteered this snap of herself on holiday earlier this year with a lovely fresh face. She pretended that the twitpic was about 'breakfast' – but no one was paying attention to the coconut. Not that one, anyway.
Following last year's Royal Wedding, the entire world went nuts for Pippa Middleton and, more importantly, her bum. But imagine our glee when the royal (sort of) was snapped maintaining her bottom during a jog – minus the make up – and she looked like a normal person.
Kim Kardashian is always talking about how she likes to hang out at home in her tracksuit, but we were yet to see it until she tweeted this picture of herself along with the caption: 'Look! No make up!'. We would have preferred a close up, but we enjoyed the, um, tracksuit nonetheless.
Kate Moss minus the make up? Looks exactly the same. Damn those supermodels.
Saying that, Claudia Schiffer does look a bit different without her modelling face on, but she's still lovely to look at with her pale, bright skin. Again, damn those supermodels.
Katherine Jenkins may be a huge star in the States right now, but she's not adverse to leaving the house straight out of the shower (or swimming pool?) with her hair scraped back and her eye make up scrubbed off.
Mischa Barton: No make up AND no bra. We're too good to you.
Given that most of Chloe Sims's face has been permanently enhanced, it's no surprise that the TOWIE star looked just as preened without her war paint when she hit the supermarket last month. We prefer the mum of one like this – ditch the falsies for series four yeah?
And finally, Rihanna. The star was snapped at the airport after her holiday in Hawaii in January, looking fresh faced and refreshed like a celebrity who's just had a two week holiday on a tropical island should. The singer looks just as hot without the dramatic hair and make up and she damn well knows it.
What dark secrets do your clothes reveal? Dress codes decoded via Kate, Jordan, Rihanna and more


text:
Toni Bachman's disappearance 15 years ago re-investigated
Toni Bachman disappeared 15 years ago, her last communications recorded via email April 25, 1997.
"I think Norm [her husband] is coming home to fight again," Toni wrote to a listserv. "Only this time I mean FIGHT in a much bigger way. He is threatening me with stuff."
Forty minutes later, she sent out another message advising that she couldn't chat because her husband was home. "Love You! Toni. P.S. He's staring at the screen too! I LOVE YOU!!!!"
Toni, 38, was planning to leave her husband of ten years. Then she disappeared.
Her husband, Norman, denied having anything to do with it and claimed at the time to have seen his wife two days later, on Sunday, April 27, 1997, but their sons didn't remember seeing her all weekend, according to a report in the Star Tribune. Blood stains were found in the basement at the time.
Later that year, Norman was convicted for assaulting his new girlfriend. In 1998, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
The Ramsey County Sheriff's Office won't reveal more information about their investigation. But in March, they began a new investigation into her disappearance and received a new lead. Norman refuses to cooperate with investigators, according to WCCO.
Get the This Week's Top Stories Newsletter
Every week we collect the latest news, music and arts stories — along with film and food reviews and the best things to do this week — so that you'll never miss City Pages' biggest stories.
In Case You Missed It
Popular Stories
Sponsor Content


text:
Already a subscriber?
Subscribe today for full access on your desktop, tablet, and mobile device.
Already a print edition subscriber, but don't have a login?
Manage your account settings.
View the E-Newspaper
Manage your Newsletters
View your Insider deals and more
Member ID Card
Log Out
An official called the $375 million medical school facility "a milestone."


text:
Blogs Home
with Tags: nerdgirls X
- Sort by:
- Date ▼
- Title
- Likes/Votes
- Comments
- Visits
Spark Ideas and the Great Geek Challenge return For Connect 2014
Colleen Burns firstname.lastname@example.com Tags: ibmconnect spark_ideas gabriella_davis nerdgirls nerd_girls_group great_geek_challenge 3,886 Visits
Spark Ideas and the Great Geek Challenge return For Connect 2014 Gabriella Davis, The Turtle Partnership @GabTurtle On behalf of the Nerd Girls Group We are very happy to announce the...Modified by Colleen Burns email@example.com
What's fun, challenging and geeky - all at the same time?
Colleen Burns firstname.lastname@example.com Tags: kathy_brown nerdgirls social_business ibmconnect great_geek_challenge 4,449 Visits
#NerdGirls, #IBMConnect, #GGQuiz What's fun, challenging and geeky - all at the same time? By Kathy Brown, Guest Blogger Consultant, PSC Group @RunningKathy Fun but challenging. Geeky yet cool. I must be talking...
A sparkling start to 2013!
Colleen Burns email@example.com Tags: femke_goedhart connect nerdgirls ibmconnect 4 Comments 6,805 Visits
A sparkling start to 2013! By Femke Goedhart , Business Consultant, Silverside With the holidays looming and everyone looking back at 2012, as well as looking forward to 2013 - it's no wonder some of us are already thinking of IBM...


text:
Woman dies in Vt. crashApril 29,2013FAIRFAX Vermont police said a New Jersey woman was killed in a two-vehicle crash at a street intersection in Fairfax.
Police said 21-year-old Davis Bodette III of Cambridge, was driving Saturday when the car went past a stop sign on Fletcher Road and was hit on the passenger side by a pickup, driven by 36-year-old Michelle Messier of Milton.
Police say a passenger in Bodettes car 21-year-old Karleigh Baumann of New Jersey was injured and taken to a hospital, where she died.
Bodette and Messier each had minor injuries.MORE IN This Just In
BENNINGTON – Three local law firms filed a class-action lawsuit in the U.S. Full StoryMANCHESTER Throwing a lit cigarette out of a moving car led to a felony charge of heroin... Full StoryVERNON The second big wave of layoffs at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant occurred Thursday. Full Story
- Most Popular
- Most Emailed


text:
It was announced last month that Bon Iver's long-awaited follow-up to 2007's self-released classic For Emma, Forever Ago would be released in June, and yesterday the Justin Vernon-led band released "Calgary," the first single from their upcoming self-titled album.
After a few initial listens, "Calgary" is quite a bit of a departure from Emma's introspective, acoustic-based folk. The music is both insular and inviting, but it owes these qualities to the synthesizers and electric guitars that now surround Vernon's evocative tenor. It's a sound that Vernon explored at length with his Volcano Choir project, and it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to think that the new album will owe more to that group's 2009 effort Unmap than it will to Bon Iver's debut.You can download the track from the band's website after entering an e-mail address. Bon Iver drops June 21 on Jagjaguwar.


text:
I need to crop a certain section in my PDF file to PNG (this will be automated using Ghostscript with PHP). This is what i do now which basically turns the first page of a PDF to PNG:
gs -q -dNOPAUSE -dBATCH \
-sDEVICE=pngalpha -dEPSCrop \
-sOutputFile=output.png input.pdf
Specifically, i'm trying to crop this top left card to a PNG. I'm also open for more suggestions on how to accomplish this.


text: This morning i rode out from el segundo and up the coast into Malibu, and I tried to get a little froggy up Las Virgenes and could not handle it!!!!! I have gone up this road a hundred times but in my car, I never noticed how inclined the first few miles are! My legs started getting real hot and my heart rate was pretty high, and seeing how i had to make it back i opted to turn around. Anyone go up any of the roads in the area?


text:
medders Artist/Painter
Natasha VuModel Female Renton, Washington, US
Mayhem # 2583224
About MeHello!
I have been very interested in the modeling industry for quite a while now. I have done some photo shoots, but not professionally experienced yet. I hope to further my knowledge and experience through more photo shoots from this website. I am pretty much comfortable with everything except for nudity, for now. I am an open person, and like to meet new people.
I am currently a student and working part time, but I will always find time to do a shoot! So please message me with any ideas!
Thanks for checking my page out!
Have you worked with Natasha Vu? Add Credits for Natasha Vu! >>
medders Artist/Painter
ProjectRZ Photographer
Tim Bracey Photographer
TDubois Photographer
Vicente Lujan Photography Photographer
Mays Photography Photographer
Loading Content


text:
Neddy by KarentownsendWatch
©2008-2016 Karentownsend
beautifully done!
Wow, I am very jeolous of your beautiful equine art skills. I love it! Neddy looks like an old black and white photograph with all the detail.
Very cute, looks just like a photo! Love the ears ^_^
beautiful shading!
beautiful job on the shading, I can feel the texture of the coat and every muscle underneath it.
Cheers for that, it does like funny, will fix that up
Wonderful work only the back leg looks a bit weird where you draw the tail


text:
Rogers Granted Letters Patent Of Incorporation By The Minister Of Finance
TORONTO, May 3, 2013 /CNW/ - Rogers Communications today announced that, further to its application in September 2011, the Minister of Finance has issued Letters Patent, incorporating Rogers Bank, an initiative primarily focused on credit card services. "Today's announcement is a significant milestone in our plan to issue a credit card," said David Robinson, Vice-President, Emerging Business, Rogers. "The Rogers credit card program represents a new growth opportunity while giving customers an opportunity to accumulate value in a future Rogers loyalty program."With the Letters Patent of Incorporation, Rogers has twelve months to move forward with the application process to meet the requirements of an Order to Commence and Carry on Business. Upon meeting the requirements for the Order to Commence, Rogers will have the approval to begin offering credit card services. For more information on the formal application process, visit the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada online at http://www.osfi-bsif.gc.ca. About Rogers Communications Rogers Communications is a diversified Canadian communications and media company. We are engaged in wireless voice and data communications services through Wireless, Canada's largest wireless provider. Through Cable, we are one of Canada's leading providers of cable television services as well as high-speed Internet access and telephony services to consumers and businesses. Through Media, we are engaged in radio and television broadcasting, televised shopping, sports entertainment, and magazines and trade publications. We are publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RCI.A and RCI.B) and on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: RCI). For further information about the Rogers group of companies, please visit www.rogers.com. SOURCE Rogers Communications Inc.
Check Out Our Best Services for Investors
Action Alerts PLUS
Portfolio Manager Jim Cramer and Director of Research Jack Mohr reveal their investment tactics while giving advanced notice before every trade.
Product Features:
- $2.5+ million portfolio
- Large-cap and dividend focus
- Intraday trade alerts from Cramer
Quant Ratings
Access the tool that DOMINATES the Russell 2000 and the S&P 500.
Product Features:
- Buy, hold, or sell recommendations for over 4,300 stocks
- Unlimited research reports on your favorite stocks
- A custom stock screener
Stocks Under $10
David Peltier uncovers low dollar stocks with serious upside potential that are flying under Wall Street's radar.
Product Features:
- Model portfolio
- Stocks trading below $10
- Intraday trade alerts
Dividend Stock Advisor
David Peltier identifies the best of breed dividend stocks that will pay a reliable AND significant income stream.
Product Features:
- Diversified model portfolio of dividend stocks
- Updates with exact steps to take - BUY, HOLD, SELL
Trifecta Stocks
Every recommendation goes through 3 layers of intense scrutinyquantitative, fundamental and technical analysisto maximize profit potential and minimize risk.
Product Features:
- Model Portfolio
- Intra Day Trade alerts
- Access to Quant Ratings
Real Money
More than 30 investing pros with skin in the game give you actionable insight and investment ideas.
Product Features:
- Access to Jim Cramer's daily blog
- Intraday commentary and news
- Real-time trading forums


text:
A definite MUST when visiting Nashville! Everyone there is so friendly!
Really great , very interesting. I had been demoted to a wheelchair and the gentleman looking after our tour was fabulous, looked after me well.
The best tour I did while in Nashville
I enjoyed the tour very much
Great tour very interesting , enjoyed it very much. Our driver was very friendly and informative, picked us up on time and bus comfy and clean.
Very impressed with Gaylord resort but would have liked even 15 or 20 minutes to wander some of the shops.
Great show. Has me thinking of coming back to Nashville.
More walking than I expected
We had an excellent time! Loved the tour of both locations and our tour guide was very knowledgeable. Will use your service again next time we travel to Nashville.
Dana C.
Great tour and information about the Grand Ole Opry and Opryland Resort. Be prepared for a lot of walking through the resort, but very enjoyable and beautiful!
My sister and nephew and I went on the Legends tour of the Grand Ole Opry, and the Gaylord Opryland Resort. Our tour guide was wonderful and interacted with everyone. She was very knowledgeable and answered all our questions. She gave us suggestions as to where to eat on our vacation. completely enjoyed this tour and would book again if I was in the area.
Excellent tour. Well worth doing this. And the guide was very informative.
Lots of fun and very interesting.
This tour was amazing!
It was the best! Our tour guide was friendly, outgoing and gave us a great tour! Behind the scenes is quite the production and it was fun to be in the midst of it!
The guide was very knowledgable, and had a sweet personality. We loved seeing behind the scenes at the Opry . The Hotel was amazing! Wish that I had booked a night or two there.
Excellent tour. All six of us on the tour enjoyed it very much..
A must see!!
The tour was fantastic. Would definitely recommend it as an important part of anyone seen visit to Nashville
Very interesting tour!
Tour covered a lot of interesting sites in Nashville.
Very informative tour
This was a great tour. There was a lot of history to be learned and the guides were excellent. We were going to have our pictures taken on the stage but just as we were coming up there, they were taking the set down so we didn't get to have the pictures taken. That was disappointing but the tour was great just the same.
This was a great tour with a very entertaining and knowledgeable guide. She sure knows her history.
This was a great tour . It was well worth it !


text:
The recent revelation that Loretta Lynn is two years older than the country music star has long claimed means she was 19 years old when she cleaned up at the Northwest Washington Fair, winning several awards for her canning skills.
"I swept the whole thing," Lynn told an interviewer in 1973. "When I found out I won I leaped up in the air; I looked like a clam. They took my picture, blowed it up and had it standing by the gate. I was up in the air, hair going every way, 'Canner of the Year.' I went to the fair every night to see my picture by the gate."
But while the slew of blue ribbons has become a fixture of Lynn's autobiographies and cookbooks, the details of her victory appear lost to history: It's not known what Lynn canned or how many awards she won for her work.
According to Lynn's You're Cooking it Country: My Favorite Recipes and Memories, Lynn's mother, who canned in the Appalachian tradition, was too busy to teach her daughters how to preserve greens and beans. "Mommy would have me washing the jars while she would be doing the canning," Lynn wrote. After Lynn followed her husband to Custer, Wash., where he'd landed a job cutting wheat and baling hay, she befriended Edna Brann, who yearly entered the fair's canning contests.
"Edna showed me how to can," Lynn wrote. "She told me how to put everything in the jars. She taught me everything about canning and, by golly, it didn't take me long to pick it up. I took that canning and run with it. I canned everything I had in the garden, stuff that people wouldn't even think about canning."
The following year, when Brann competed at the fair, she lost to her mentee in every category. Lynn later recalled winning 17 first-place prizes, 13 second-place prizes and seven third-place prizes.
"The lady that taught me how to can, she lost," Lynn told the Weekly in 2001. "She said, 'I shouldn't have taught you!"
Bellingham Herald photographer Jack Carver shot a picture of a triumphant Lynn in her kitchen soon after the fair, an image which was recently exhibited in a Carver retrospective at the Whatcom Museum.
"I was not able to find exactly when the photo was originally taken," curator Jeff Jewell says. "I believe it was one of only a few, out of 60 images in the exhibition, where I failed to deliver the actual day."
Without an original cut line to consult, Jewell wasn't able to determine how many ribbons Lynn won.
Carver, now 94, told Jewell he wasn't sure whether the Herald ran the photograph, although Lynn in 1979 told the Chicago Tribune it was the first picture of her ever to appear in a newspaper. "Certainly I looked through many a microfilm, but did not find it," Jewell says.
Nor did Jewell come across a comprehensive list of ribbon winners in his newspaper search.
"As you might expect from a county fair, it's not exactly above the fold front page material or sent out on the AP wire," he says.
The director of the Northwest Washington Fair did not return multiple messages, but an archivist at the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies said the Fair Association's records don't include any winners' lists.
"I would most certainly be interested in knowing what else you find out," Roz Koester e-mailed.
What is known is that Lynn remained an enthusiastic canner after leaving Washington. Deejays joked about her penchant for showing up for radio interviews with hands stained from berry canning, and in Still Woman Enough: A Memoir, she wrote about her husband's violent "green bean rampage."
This one time I got up at 4 a.m. and canned green beans that I'd picked from my garden. I worked all day to put up a hundred quarts. Supper wasn't ready because I'd spent all of my time canning, and Doo was furious about it. He began to throw them quarts of green beans...Doo just kept getting madder and throwing harder until he broke all hundred quarts...I turned right around and started canning again.
Follow Voracious on Facebook & Twitter. Follow me at @hannaraskin


text:
Is she just running for the fun of it, or is there something more complex happening in this picture? Is the pun "Vixxed" supposed to remind me of a particular verb? Because I'm not catching on.
What exactly is happening in this picture? Is the pun "Vixxed" supposed to remind of some verb? Because I can't seem to catch on.
She's unusually cute for a superheroine. More like a normal woman than most.
I love the flow in her hair; it looks nice too with its shades of orange.
Run, Vix, Run!!!!!!!!! Nice job on the colors dude!
Very Niiiiice!
I love this one
That pixel effect for the super speed is just brolic man.
Dat ass.
I gladly run second
I gladly run second
amazing !
Nice graphics.
Nice flow!!
Cool pose/angle. Nice smile!
Nice work! The coloring is very good.
That blur is quite Vixelated. Har har.
gotta go fast
Oo! a different shaped posterior! I love your style, how you vary things up so much ^_^
Escher girls candidate?
Pretty cool looking though.
Pretty cool looking though.
Nope. Sure if you could've seen both breasts and butt, but this post is definitely not "escher", especially considering where the edge of the ribcage and breast lies.
Very cool shot of her - nice motion in her body, and that smile backwards is just all kinds of fun. A little impish, a little teasing - very very cute.
were you streaming this? when do you stream?
Looks good Bro
Love the Pixel Based Speed effect
Love the Pixel Based Speed effect


text:
Cache: LinuxCon Lessons
Cache: LinuxCon Lessons
A first-hand look at the state of journalism, passing the Mom Test, and the LinuxCon 2010 battle of the Nerds vs. the Geeks.
The Linux Foundation held its second annual LinuxCon USA in Boston, Massachusetts, August 10-12. The event included mini-summits, a small expo floor, and three days of keynotes, talks, and tutorials. Check out our site for some video and news from the event.
One session that got great reviews from attendees was Hype vs. Reality: Today's Linux Story from the Media's Perspective. The panel was made up of respected veteran tech journalists Joe "Zonker" Brockmeier, Jason Brooks, Sean Michael Kerner,
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Visit Our Shop
Direct Download
Read full article as PDF:086-086_cache.pdf (1.15 MB)
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS released
"Xenial Xerus" comes with a new packages format and several improvements for the enterprise.
Microsoft Visual Studio Code v1.0 is Available for Linux!
Linux users can now download and install the Windows code editor
Open Container Initiative announces Image Format Project
New initiative will address security and interoperability concerns around container technology.
Red Hat Lures Developers with Free RHEL and Container Development Kits
Developers can use RHEL as a development platform without a subscription fee.
Microsoft Brings the Linux Command Line to Windows
Windows users will soon have native access to the Bash shell.
Internet Research Group Proposes Better Email Standard
Improvements to SMTP will provide better guarantee of confidentiality
New Nvidia Driver Offers Wayland Support
Graphics vendor embraces new reality in Linux graphics
Inventor of Email Dies
Pioneer Ray Tomlinson bequeathed the @ sign to billions of Internet users
Microsoft Announces Linux Version of SQL Server
Redmond says its classic database tool will run without Windows
Strange New Attack Lets an Intruder Gain Access Through a Mouse Dongle
New intrusion technique affects most non-Bluetooth wireless mice


text:
24 CFR 100.145 - Loss of privilege.
(a) The self-test report or results are not privileged under this subpart if the lender or person with lawful access to the report or results:
(1) Voluntarily discloses any part of the report or results or any other information privileged under this subpart to any aggrieved person, complainant, department, agency, or to the public; or
(2) Discloses the report or results or any other information privileged under this subpart as a defense to charges a lender violated the Fair Housing Act; or
(3) Fails or is unable to produce self-test records or information needed to determine whether the privilege applies.
(b) Disclosures or other actions undertaken to carry out appropriate corrective action do not cause the lender to lose the privilege.
Title 24 published on 2015-04-01
The following are ALL rules, proposed rules, and notices (chronologically) published in the Federal Register relating to 24 CFR Part 100 after this date.


text:
| LSU Ticket Exchange
| Single ticket needed for today - BayouBengal on 10/17/15 at 12:50 pm
Need just one ticket for today. Prefer north end zone. Send me an email. Add @gmail.com to my username. I'm on campus so we can meet up and do the deal. ...View Topic - Replies (0)
| Food and Drink
| Olive Garden Food Truck rolls into Houston - BayouBengal on 6/29/15 at 3:05 pm
At this food truck, you're family! http://blog.chron.com/foodchronicles/2015/06/olive-garden-food-truck-rolls-into-houston-this-week/#33966101=0 Who's going to join the Breadstick Nation? I'll be at the Astros game tomorrow night but I think I will have to skip eating at this one. :lol:...View Topic - Replies (6)
| O-T Lounge
| Game week in Houston - Best strip clubs!? - BayouBengal on 8/25/14 at 10:30 am
It's a game week in H-Town. What are the best/worst places to get a lap dance in the Bayou City? :pimp: :beaver: :cat: ...
Posted on O-T LoungeView Topic - Replies (9)
| Tiger Rant
| Fewer fans travel to A&M on Thanksgiving? - BayouBengal on 7/28/14 at 11:28 am
I've had the discussion with a couple of friends about what the expected LSU crowd would be this years given the game is now a Thanksgiving night affair. A couple years ago LSU brings a nice crowd as it's the first SEC meeting b/t us despite it being at 11a. It makes sense this would be one of the b...
Posted on Tiger RantView Topic - Replies (18)
| Food and Drink
| Good kegerator cleaning kit? - BayouBengal on 10/3/13 at 2:12 pm
I need a cleaning kit, plain and simple. Is this a good one? http://www.defalcos.com/virtuemart.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=1362&category_id=139 I assume so as Defalco's is the go-to place in Houston for brewing supplies. ...View Topic - Replies (3)
| LSU Ticket Exchange
| 2 LSU v Aub tickets for sale North Endzone face value - BayouBengal on 9/20/13 at 5:43 pm
North Endzone. Face value $70 each. Add @gmail.com to my username. ...View Topic - Replies (2)
| Food and Drink
| Katy family says Applebee's called police over their active kids - BayouBengal on 9/20/13 at 3:28 pm
[link=(http://blog.chron.com/momhouston/2013/09/katy-family-says-applebees-called-police-over-their-active-kids/?cmpid=hpts)]LINK[/link] Of course no F&D Board poster would ever step foot into an Applebee's. Has anyone ever seen the police called about a person's kid?...View Topic - Replies (7)
| LSU Ticket Exchange
| LSU v Kent 4 Tickets available - BayouBengal on 9/13/13 at 11:59 am
Section 612 Row 16 Add @gmail.com to my user name and we can swap contact information then. I can meet later tonight around Perkins or on campus in the AM. ...View Topic - Replies (1)
| Food and Drink
| Brunch in Dallas? - BayouBengal on 8/31/13 at 12:46 am
I'm near downtown and victory park. I'd like a brunch place where I can get eggs Benedict. But a good diner style breakfast would be good too. And go!...View Topic - Replies (2)
| Food and Drink
| How to act when dining out - BayouBengal on 8/21/13 at 10:20 am
Thought some of you heathens could use this article. http://blogs.houstonpress.com/eating/2013/08/how_to_behave_when_dining_out.php...View Topic - Replies (10)
| Food and Drink
| Beer line cleaner - BayouBengal on 8/11/13 at 2:09 pm
Kegerator guru's, what product do you recommend for cleaning of the lines? I am coming into possession of a kegerator and first order of business will be flush and clean the line. I see several different cleaning systems online. Which is recommended?...View Topic - Replies (3)
| Food and Drink
| Grill replacement parts - BayouBengal on 8/1/13 at 1:42 pm
Other than the manufacture's website, what's a good retailer to buy from? Amazon doesn't have the part I'm looking for and the Charbroil website says it's on back order. The local Home Depot didn't have any replacement parts for non-Weber grills....View Topic - Replies (1)
| Food and Drink
| Sandwich Spread - BayouBengal on 7/29/13 at 4:19 pm
Who actually eats this crap? I can do about one bologna sandwich a year and it usually has this on it. [img]http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/02/10/00/02/0002100002699_500X500.jpg[/img]...View Topic - Replies (1)
| Food and Drink
| Late start to growing veggies or herbs - BayouBengal on 6/17/13 at 10:52 am
What could I plant in a pot or window box and still have something edible before the season is over? I'm in Houston. I really enjoy peppers and okra....View Topic - Replies (5)
| Money Talk
| Successfully challenging an appraisal? - BayouBengal on 5/30/13 at 10:43 am
Has anyone here successfully challenged an appraisal on a home? I have an appraisal that came in lower than the original contract price in which the appraiser stood firm in his valuation so we went with it and renegotiated the contract price. Well the underwriter requested an additional comp. It cam...View Topic - Replies (6)
| Money Talk
| Form 4506t can't locate transcript - BayouBengal on 5/20/13 at 5:01 pm
I have the pleasure of being on hold at the moment with the IRS. :banghead: I'm squaring away financing and getting my transcripts for tax year 2012 is hitting a snag. My mortgage broker is unable to order them. I had the same issue when I tried the website myself. They certainly cashed my check as ...View Topic - Replies (1)
| Money Talk
| REP in Texas, what's the difference? - BayouBengal on 5/13/13 at 11:06 am
As many of you know, in Texas electricity is deregulated allowing the customer to choose their retail energy provider. I haven't had to deal with a REP in a few years as I've been renting and electricity was covered in rent. I am now buying a home and choosing my provider. So I head over to [link=(h...View Topic - Replies (4)
| O-T Lounge
| Owlfan a suspect in Minute Maid hot dog wiener prank? - BayouBengal on 5/10/13 at 3:15 pm
http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2013/05/10/astros-investigating-fan-who-pretended-to-expose-himself-during-broadcast/?cmpid=hpfsln Sounds like something Owlfan would do. That sick bastard!...
Posted on O-T LoungeView Topic - Replies (2)
| Food and Drink
| Wings in Houston? - BayouBengal on 4/29/13 at 3:03 pm
So far I've been underwhelmed with wings in Houston. There are a few pubs that put out decent wings but nothing special. Last week I went to a place called BreWings and dear God did it suck ass. Very cheap interior, wait staff was confused by the menu and the bathroom looked like a piss balloon went...View Topic - Replies (5)
| LSU Ticket Exchange
| 2 LSU V So Car Sunday for sale - BayouBengal on 4/25/13 at 10:07 pm
I have 2 tickets for Sunday for sale. I can email the tickets or give you a print out this weekend. Section 124. Add gmail.com to my user name to email me. ...View Topic - Replies (1)
Advertising Info
Privacy Policy
Where to Watch LSU
Contact Us
© 2016 TigerDroppings.com. All Rights Reserved


text:
So we went to do our registry and how 'bout it... all the winter things are super marked down and on clearance. We ended up buying a ton of 6-9 month old winter clothing for our baby. We found some cute Christmasy shirts. DH will be out of the country for Christmas, so I'll be taking lots of pics. We aren't finding out the gender, and we did have to pass on some things, but most of it would work for both.
Just thought I'd throw it out there for all the other bargain hunters out there that live in places that get cold!


text:
Top Definition
A Floyde Blake is a person that has no ability to PvP whatsoever and still owes an MRev guild dues.
Hey, look over there! That guy really sucks at PvP and still owes us money, he must be a Floyd Blake
by Mike G April 01, 2005
Type your email address below to get our free Urban Word of the Day every morning!
Emails are sent from firstname.lastname@example.com. We'll never spam you.×


text:
Community Capital Management Continues Sustainability Leadership in Sixth Year CarbonFree®
What does consistent environmental leadership look like? Over the past six years, CarbonFree® Business Partner Community Capital Management has neutralized over 850,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions – equivalent to the emissions created by burning almost 43,500 gallons of gasoline.
Community Capital Management is a registered investment adviser whose mission is to deliver strong investment performance for its clients in strategies aligned with their organizational purpose. The firm primarily manages fixed income impact investing portfolios that finance a variety of community initiatives such as affordable homeownership and rental housing, environmental sustainability, job creation and training programs, affordable healthcare facilities, childcare programs, and neighborhood revitalization activities. As a leader in the impact investing space, Community Capital Management maintains its commitment to operating an environmentally-conscious business practice.
"Community Capital is excited to partner with Carbonfund.org in committing to offset our carbon footprint. We hope that we will help lead the way and encourage others in the investment management industry to do the same," said Jamie Horwitz, Director of Marketing at Community Capital.
The firm is proud to lead by example, offsetting its carbon emissions by supporting the development of renewable energy, forestry projects and increased energy efficiency through its partnership with Carbonfund.org.
In addition, Community Capital Management's CarbonFree® commitment includes encouraging office recycling programs, minimizing the use of plastic water bottles by offering a water filtration system in their office, using energy-efficient lighting, conducting more marketing online rather than using printed media, living within close proximity to their office to reduce vehicle pollution, and continually seeking other ways to grow their business in a sustainable, eco-friendly manner. This consistent leadership in operational sustainability sets Community Capital Management in the forefront of its industry as an environmentally responsible fixed income investment management firm.
CarbonFree® Partner Clarke Leads Sustainability Initiatives in Integrated Environmental Management Services
Industry leadership is often demonstrated by implementing internally the best practices promoted to customers. This notion of "getting and keeping one's own house in order first" is exemplified by the sustainability strategies of CarbonFree® Partner Clarke, a global environmental products and services company with the mission is to make communities around the world more livable, safe and comfortable.
In 2008 Clarke established a set of aggressive sustainability goals, and put into motion initiatives to achieve them. Every employee is charged with making everyday decisions, big and small, through a sustainability lens. In 2009, Clarke completed its first sustainability report, and in 2010, began reporting greenhouse gas emissions according to GRI standards. For the past three years, Clarke has neutralized its electricity usage and onsite fuel consumption by supporting Carbonfund.org's clean air technology and carbon emissions reduction projects around the world.
"We are committed to creating policies and procedures that reduce our carbon footprint," states J. Lyell Clarke III, President & CEO of Clarke. "Our commitment is a journey and we cannot continue on our journey without the partnerships of our stakeholders, customers and employees, and Carbonfund.org, which has demonstrated its transparency and helps us to further mitigate our impact today."
Clarke helps its customers improve the health and safety of communities by developing and delivering environmentally responsible mosquito control and aquatic services to help prevent disease, control nuisances and create healthy waterways. Clarke's product innovations include EarthRight™, a groundbreaking municipal public health service that uses only products made from naturally-derived active ingredients, and employs earth-friendly application methods including bicycles and all-electric sprayers. EarthRight™includes a unique pairing of two Environmental Protection Agency-registered and Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) Listed® products to give communities a highly sustainable choice for effective mosquito control.
Environmentally-conscious product development coupled with a disciplined strategy for internal and operational sustainability make Clarke an industry leader and partner that Carbonfund.org admires.
Experience the Channel Islands and Other Eco-Adventures with CarbonFree® Partner CIO
The Channel Islands National Park, off the coast of Santa Barbara, CA, is one of the most astounding and best-kept-secret wilderness attractions in the U.S. It is the only National Park that isn't open for vehicle traffic and does not charge an entrance fee. New CarbonFree® Business Partner Channel Islands Outfitters (CIO) offers tours to experience this natural amusement park, as well as other guided kayaking, sea cave exploration, hiking, backpacking expeditions and multi-sport adventures.
CIO is an employee owned and operated company of adventure enthusiasts who share a passion for the Channel Islands, Santa Ynez Mountains, and other amazing outdoor experiences. But the company recognized that its tour operations create unavoidable carbon emissions. By joining the CarbonFree® Business Partnership and supporting clean air and carbon reduction projects, CIO has neutralized its annual operational emissions.
"Traveling to an island on a regular basis requires fossil fuels to be burned, which contributes to CO2 emissions, "says Garrett Kababik, CEO and Co-Founder of CIO. "We can't avoid this and stay in business, so we are doing our part to offset this carbon in other ways, which is why we partnered with Carbonfund.org."
The guides and advisory board of CIO have been serving Santa Barbara Community and the Channel Islands National Park for over 20 years. CIO also educates the public about ocean related issues and volunteers in restoration and preservation efforts in the Santa Barbara Channel watersheds.
This level of environmental leadership is evident in CIO's overall operational commitments. In 2013, CIO officially became a certified For-Benefit Corporation. By voluntarily meeting higher standards of transparency, accountability, and performance, Certified B Corps are distinguishing themselves by offering a more positive and transparent way to do business. In addition, CIO established an Adventure Co-op that gives local community members and regular adventure travel guests to join the co-op and lower the ongoing costs of CIO services while enjoying access to the Paddle Sports Center facilities, equipment and fitness plans.
Carbonfund.org welcomes CIO to the CarbonFree® Business Partnership program and supports their efforts to run a more sustainable and responsible adventure tourism business.
Eagle-Eye Tours Focuses on Birding and Wildlife Adventures While Neutralizing Carbon Emissions
As is the case with many of our eco-tourism business partners, Eagle-Eye Tours of Windermere, Canada recognizes the environmental impact of their educational tour programs and is doing something about it. Eagle-Eye Tours covers the globe with diverse tours, ranging from ones with a birding focus to tours combining photography and wildlife, birds and gardens and more, visiting some of the wildest corners of our planet. Tour travel and onsite lodging creates carbon dioxide emissions, which Eagle-Eye Tours works to minimize but also realizes that all emissions cannot be avoided.
To address this negative by-product of their tours, Eagle-Eye Tours has maintained a CarbonFree® operation for the past five years by calculating annual tour-related emissions then supporting Carbonfund.org's clean air technology and carbon reduction projects to neutralize those emissions. To date, Eagle-Eye Tours has mitigated almost 2 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions through their CarbonFree® program, equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide sequestered by almost 23,000 tree seedlings planted and grown for ten years.
"We travel the world enjoying birds and other wildlife, but realize that many of these species are threatened by climate change," explains Cam Gillies, Director of Eagle-Eye Tours. "We are excited to continue to offset the carbon emissions from our operations and to take concrete action in the conservation of the biodiversity we so enjoy."
Eagle-Eye Tours offsets all of the carbon dioxide emissions produced from all guide and on-tour participant flights, vehicle use during tours and operations, ship use, and the electricity used by their office. They also design tours that visit reserves and lodges that have been established to demonstrate and deliver benefits from conservation to the local community. Eagle- Eye Tours offers tour participants the option to help with environmental sustainability by offsetting flights from their departure to the start of the tour. This ongoing commitment to sustainable tour management helps to set apart Eagle-Eye Tours as a leader in ecotourism and demonstrated environmental responsibility in all aspects of their operation.
Hello Gorgeous – and CarbonFree® – Alima Pure Celebrates Fifth Year of Partnership
Businesses that use ingredients directly from nature ought to have a heightened sensibility to giving back to the environment and preserving the Earth's resources. Five-Year CarbonFree® Business Partner Alima Pure does just that.
Alima Pure creates mineral-based makeup using only the purest cosmetic-grade mineral pigments. There are no additives, fillers or fragrances that can irritate skin or clog pores. Their mineral pigments are beneficial to the skin, offering sun protection and anti-inflammatory properties.
Alima Pure was founded on the premise of minimal ingredients for maximum impact. They follow the theory that a few simple, natural ingredients crafted in just the right way can give every woman the power to present her best self to the world with confidence and beauty at its most beautiful.
And Alima Pure is committed to reducing their operational carbon footprint by maintaining energy-efficiency manufacturing processes, using wind-powered electricity and recycled materials for printing. To counterbalance the remaining impact, Alima Pure has been a CarbonFree® Business Partner for the past five years, offsetting 100% of their net corporate carbon emissions through contributions to Carbonfund.org that support energy efficiency, renewable energy and forestry projects around the globe.
Alima Pure is also a proud member of 1% for the Planet, since their first year in business, donating 1% of annual gross revenue (sales, not profit) to grassroots environmental organizations dedicated to protecting the planet.
All Alima Pure cosmetics are cruelty-free, and most products are vegan (the only exception is a bit of beeswax in lipbalms). This dedication to product purity and operational sustainability sets Alima Pure apart as a leader in the natural cosmetics industry and a committed CarbonFree® Business Partner.
5th Anniversary CarbonFree® Partner Founding Farmers Offers Farm-Inspired Dining with Focus on Sustainability
The trend towards "farm-to-table" dining is everywhere, and locavores "rule" in many parts of the world. But how can you tell if a restaurant truly "walks the walk" and is not just "talking the talk"? An inspiring example is CarbonFree® Business Partner Founding Farmers, with locations in Washington, DC and Potomac, MD (with Tysons Corner, VA slated to open in Summer 2014). Since September 2008, the award-winning Founding Farmers has been one of the country's leading restaurants to offer farm-inspired "American True Food & Drink" in a modern, casual setting.
Founding Farmers is a business that is fully committed to preserving, protecting and enhancing the earth with a "Triple Green Approach" to bringing great food from Farm to Fork. The menus at Founding Farmers are based on regional and sustainable agricultural resources whenever possible, and the freezers on site are for ice cream only!
For the fifth consecutive year, Founding Farmers is proud to be an official CarbonFree® Business Partner, supporting global climate-friendly renewable energy projects and the Carbonfund.org mission of education, offsets and outreach. Founding Farmers is 100% carbon neutral by offsetting its CO2 emissions annually with Carbonfund.org.
"As Washington DC's greenest restaurant, and one of the greenest in the country, our business model is earth-friendly from the inside out. It was logical, affirmative and natural for the restaurant to partner with Carbonfund.org," explains Dan Simons, PR Advisor for Founding Farmers. "We believe in setting an example as a leader in the green/LEED restaurant category, and partnering with Carbonfund.org allows us to share in the mission and share what we've done with others."
Secondly, the restaurant operates with the earth in mind, by sorting and recycling all non-food products, processing used cooking oil into bio-diesel, composting all organic waste products, using an in-house super water purification system to eliminate water bottle waste, and cleaning with earth-friendly and chemically neutral products. Even the menus are printed on recycled papers with soy-based inks.
Finally, the architecture and design of the space itself meet the USGBC's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold design standards and criteria, with the use of reclaimed and recycled materials for the floors, surface finishes and fabrics; with high-efficiency lighting, HVAC and general energy use.Beyond the building itself, Founding Farmers is a Certified Green Restaurant™ as recognized by the Green Restaurant Association for eco-friendly operations.
A collective of American family farmers owns the flagship restaurant, where products are sourcedfrom family farms, ranches, and fisheries across the United States. They celebrate and share the longstanding connection between farmers — the first to lead the green movement — and their historic stewardship of natural resources. Carbonfund.org is proud to partner with Founding Farmers in achieving sustainability leadership in the restaurant industry.
Pure&True Beauty and Skin Care Products Celebrate Six Years CarbonFree®
Environmentally-responsible business entrepreneurs come by their inspiration through a variety of experiences. For Michelle Garcia, Founder and President of Pure&True, a natural and organic beauty and skin care products company based in Oahu, the inspiration began with researching the requirements for LEED building certification. Through the process, Michelle learned of the many toxic ingredients contained in home and personal care products. Her continued research led her to develop Pure&True as a cosmetic company devoted to pure, natural and organic product ingredients and with a strong commitment to environmental and social responsibility.
As a company, Pure&True cares about the choices the business makes and how those choices impact customers' health and the environment. They believe it is possible to indulge oneself with skin and beauty care products while making a meaningful difference in the world. Six years ago, Pure&True made the decision to offset the carbon emissions from its business operations and product shipments by joining the CarbonFree® Business Partnership program and supporting our global reforestation and sustainable energy projects. As a CarbonFree® Partner, Pure&True has neutralized over 430,000 pounds of carbon emissions, equivalent to the quantity of carbon dioxide sequestered by over 5000 tree seedlings grown for ten years.
"As a cosmetic company, I believe that Pure&True should be a vehicle to making a difference in the world – through the products it creates and the support it lends to environmental and social charities," explains Michelle. "This is the vision that sparked the birth of Pure&True, and I look forward to developing this vision as the company grows."
In addition to maintaining its CarbonFree® operations, Pure&True also donates 5% of the profits from each product sale to selected social and environmental charities. Pure&True makes it possible for their customers to support their products while making positive contributions to protecting and preserving the environment, and improving lives of women and families around the world.
Six-Year CarbonFree® Partner LightHawk Lends a Bird's-Eye View to Environmentalists
The view from a small aircraft brings environmental problems into focus. Long-term CarbonFree® Partner LightHawk is devoted to assisting environmental protection efforts through the unique perspective of flight. LightHawk provides aerial services as a tool to help protect land, water and wildlife in the U.S., Mexico, Central America and parts of Canada to a wide variety of organizations working on conservation issues.
As part of its commitment to environmental protection, LightHawk has maintained CarbonFree® operations for the past six years, neutralizing the emissions from all business travel and the fuel consumed by LightHawk flights. As a CarbonFree® Partner, LightHawk has neutralized over 3.3 million pounds of carbon emissions, equivalent to the quantity of carbon dioxide sequestered by over 38,000 tree seedlings grown for ten years.
"Based on LightHawk's commitment to the environment, we feel it is our responsibility to adhere to sustainable practices in our emissions, including all flights done by our volunteer pilots," explains Rudy Engholm, LightHawk's Executive Director. "LightHawk believes that by partnering with Carbonfund.org, we are truly making a contribution towards removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere."
Founded in 1979, LightHawk is a nonprofit organization that provides donated flights through a network of volunteer pilots to more than 250 partner conservation groups throughout Central and North America each year. The aerial view provided by LightHawk flights lends itself particularly well to issues that benefit from a large-scale perspective, particularly protection of wildlife migration corridors, monitoring illegal uses of protected lands, and species-specific scientific research and protection efforts. Carbonfund.org congratulates LightHawk on achieving its sixth year CarbonFree® and for continuing its important work in providing donated flight services to environmental protection and conservation groups.
CarbonFree® Partner Gone Green Maui Offers Eco-Friendly Lawn Care Services
Summer is here, and the "weekend warriors" are out in force, perfecting their manicured suburban lawns. Each weekend, about 54 million Americans mow their lawns, using 800 million gallons of gas per year and producing tons of carbon dioxide emissions, accounting for up to 5% of the nation's air pollution. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a new gas powered lawn mower produces as much volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides emissions air pollution in one hour of operation as eleven new cars each being driven for one hour.
Environmentally-responsible lawn care companies are innovating ways to reduce and eliminate the harmful emissions associated with meticulous lawn maintenance, and new CarbonFree® Business Partner Gone Green Maui is leading the way.
Gone Green Maui is committed to offering an eco-friendly alternative to traditional landscape maintenance. They offer all natural control applications for weeds, insects, diseases and fungus. All fertilizers and soil amendments are made from natural products to prevent the pollution to the water supply. And now, Gone Green Maui has taken a further step by neutralizing its remaining operational emissions through the CarbonFree® Partnership program.
"Gone Green Maui is committed to reducing the carbon footprint associated with landscape maintenance and is happy to have become a member of Carbonfund.org to offset the carbon we are unable to reduce currently," states Sean T. Woods, Owner of Gone Green Maui.
By supporting Carbonfund.org's global forestry projects, Gone Green Maui mitigates its own emissions while contributing to important forest preservation and restoration efforts, thus leading its industry in environmentally aware actions.
Special Tree-Planting Honors Lather's Five Years CarbonFree®
Throughout 2013, Carbonfund.org will be recognizing our business partners who are reaching their fifth and sixth years as CarbonFree® Partners. Part of this recognition includes special tree-plantings, 10 for each partnership year, by Carbonfund.org in honor of each of these anniversary Partners.
The CarbonFree® Business Partnership and this special tree-planting commemoration augment the environmental responsibility that many of our business partners exhibit in their ongoing operations. One such partner, LATHER, producing skin care products that inspire a healthier more radiant life, maintains various sustainability initiatives as part of their environmental commitment.
LATHER offers its customers an in-store packaging recycling program and has pursued more environmentally sustainable plastic packaging made with EcoPure, an organic compound that accelerates natural biodegradation in plastics.
Since 2008, LATHER has partnered with Carbonfund.org to offset the carbon footprint of their corporate office. To date, LATHER has offset over 40,000 pounds of CO2 emissions through projects supporting renewable energy, methane destruction, and reforestation. This equates to the amount of carbon dioxide sequestered each year by almost 16 acres of US forests.
When notified of the 50 trees planted for their 2013 CarbonFree® anniversary, our friends at LATHER pointed out that the traditional five year anniversary theme is wood.
LATHER acknowledged the benefits of tree planting efforts and the wide range of ecosystem services that trees contribute, including their ability to:
- Produce oxygen - without which life would not be possible
- Absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, to mitigate climate change
- Improve local air and water quality by filtering pollutants
- Restore biodiversity while providing habitat and nutrition for wildlife
- Control flooding by minimizing runoff and topsoil loss
- Protect against storms such as Southeast Asia's monsoons and hurricanes in the Caribbean
- Help regulate water and nutrient cycles (e.g., phosphorous and nitrogen)
- Create jobs managing tree nurseries, planting and care
- Provide various aesthetical, spiritual and cultural benefits to local communities
We're proud to partner with LATHER to help them continue their commitment to environmental sustainability and to helping others lead a more radiant life.


text:
Lighthouse by Tasha0228xWatch
©2012-2016 Tasha0228x
Took this photo while taking a round trip with my family on Aruba.
This is se Aruban lighthouse
This is se Aruban lighthouse
Beautiful!!, great view!.
so nice ..no snow, no frost, no any damn winter
haha yea, its really nice, all year long sun <3 and beautiful weather, and the sea is always warm the beach is the perfect place to go and relax.
Hidden by Owner
and entertained from time to time being eaten by an very nice but hungry shark or another piranhas :-D


text:
Ved brug af dette site godkendes brug af cookies til analyse, personalisering af indhold og annoncer.
After years of growth, Alert Life Sciences Computing, a software solutions provider, needed to update its IT infrastructure. The company's seven IT professionals required better tools to support the business, employees needed a way to collaborate
and communicate, and management wanted to standardize software acquisition among the subsidiaries. After signing the Microsoft Enterprise Agreement with the Enterprise Client Access License Suite option, Alert eliminated redundant software purchases, streamlined
the IT infrastructure, and gained management tools that the IT staff use to work an estimated 99 percent more efficiently, while saving US$25,000 annually by retiring third-party products. Employees use enterprise-grade communication and collaboration technologies,
helping them to connect with colleagues around the world and to build a more professional, cohesive business.
Founded in 1999, Alert grew rapidly for the next 10 years, adding subsidiaries in Brazil, Mexico, France, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Focused on developing new software and winning customers, Alert did not
implement a corporate technology acquisition policy. The company's head office and its subsidiaries acquired business productivity software or IT management tools on an as-needed basis. The lean IT staff of seven professionals, including one person on the
help desk in Brazil, had only a few third-party management tools to support a global environment. "When I joined the company in 2005, there were 35 employees and one IT staff," says Filipe Pinto, now IT Manager at Alert Life Sciences Computing. "We grew 100
percent a year until 2007, and by 2009, it was getting very challenging for the IT staff to manage and support the business."
Today, Alert has more than 250 servers, 85 percent of which run the Windows operating system. It has 550 personal computers standardized on the Windows 7 Professional operating system and Microsoft Office 2010. Approximately 60 percent of these are desktop
computers. The rest are laptops used by employees when they travel or visit customers. Mobile employees connect to the office through a corporate virtual private network. "Our goal is to support our employees so that they can work productively, no matter where
they are," says Pinto.
To protect computers from malicious software, the IT department used the open source tool Anubis and deployed a Symantec antivirus solution in combination with a Linux-based firewall. This worked well until the employee count passed 400. "Then the proxy
server on the Linux-based firewall started overwhelming the system, and I had to reboot the system all the time," says Pinto. "Our disc-cloning software from Symantec, called Ghost, also lost its effectiveness as the number of PCs grew into the hundreds. It
was a manual process to deploy the image. To install just the basics—Windows, Windows Update, Microsoft Office, Skype, Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash, the Internet browser—would take up to seven hours per computer. Then we would have to ship the CDs to the subsidiaries.
It was becoming impossible to support the employees with these tools and manual processes."
Poor Insight into Global Operations
As the subsidiaries grew, it was increasingly difficult for the central IT team in Portugal to keep track of global hardware and software inventories. Each subsidiary purchased software on its own; some acquired Microsoft technology through an Open Value Subscription,
while others had no licensing agreement at all. Subsidiaries also purchased hardware as needed. "This was an expensive way to acquire technology that resulted in multiple flavors of software and duplicate costs," says Pinto. "And it impacted our ability to
control the corporate IT environment. With all those different PCs and laptops and approximately 17 images to manage, I couldn't be sure of our inventory at any one place or time."
Communication and Collaboration Issues
As the company grew, employees needed more robust communication and collaboration tools to span global operations. Alert did not offer an enterprisewide collaboration platform or content management capabilities beyond shared files on the network. There was
no way to collaborate on content, track document version history, or manage and run customer engagements. Employees used GoToMeeting from Citrix Online, but the company only had eight licenses and it was difficult to schedule web conferences, so people resorted
to phone calls and email messages.
Alert needed to standardize on productivity-enhancing, cost-effective technologies while simplifying global software acquisition. The company began looking for an enterprisewide technology licensing policy.
"We could have purchased more disparate, third-party tools that would have forced us to learn different interfaces, but we liked the idea of standardizing on one vendor to simplify licensing and streamline IT management with a single tool set," says Pinto.
"When we took a closer look at the Enterprise CAL Suite from Microsoft, it became clear that it was the most cost-effective way of acquiring the technologies we needed."
The IT staff was most excited about the suite of infrastructure management tools that it could use to protect the network and keep employees up-to-date with the latest software. IT professionals use Microsoft Forefront client security solutions to enhance
endpoint security. They retired Anubis in favor of Microsoft Forefront Online Protection for Exchange, an Internet-based service that protects inbound and outbound email from spam, viruses, phishing scams, and email policy violations. They replaced the old
proxy server with Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010, a network security and protection solution. They replaced Symantec with Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 to help strengthen endpoint security. Forefront Endpoint Protection is
built into Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration Manager so that Alert IT staff can combine client management and security using a single console. IT staff had no software to manage its servers and desktops, but with System Center Operations Manager 2007
R2, they can centrally monitor endpoints across the organization and take steps to quickly solve issues.
"Of the System Center products, the star for us is Configuration Manager," says Pinto. "We can retire the Ghost software distribution product. There's no comparison between the tools. Now we have automated software deployment, both locally in Portugal and
for the global subsidiaries.
Outside of the Enterprise CAL Suite agreement, Alert also upgraded to Microsoft Project Server 2010, which is used by 55 people on the operations team to manage customer engagements, and to Microsoft Visio Professional 2010 drawing and diagramming software.
"We use Visio 2010 for designing unified modeling diagrams and for workflows and procedures," says Luis Ribeiro, Systems Analyst at Alert Life Sciences Computing. "In other departments, we have hundreds of Visio diagrams used by Alert teams for their internal
Instead of manually deploying software to PCs, the IT staff use automated processes with System Center 2012 Configuration Manager. If employees want to upgrade to the latest version of Visio, all they have to do is open a ticket with the help desk, and the
IT staff can fulfill the request in five minutes by using Configuration Manager to download the program to their PCs. It is just as easy to deploy operating systems and applications. "With Ghost, I would have to insert the CD, start the machine, install the
image, and go to the next PC. By using Configuration Manager, I just start the machine from the network and install the image," says Pinto. "When we upgraded to the Windows 7 operating system, it only took one hour to deploy the image, compared to the seven
hours per computer it took before."
IT staff use Lync Server 2010 to expedite remote support for employees in the head office, on the road, or at a subsidiary on the other side of the world. Sharing desktops and initiating an audio conference is a click away, and employees can rely on IT staff
to keep their PCs and laptops working so that they can be productive anywhere. "Lync Server makes remote support seamless because everyone has the Lync 2010 client on their desktop," says Pinto. "Since we began using this tool, we've eliminated at least 10
minutes at the beginning of each support call. At an average of 32 calls a day, that adds up to approximately 5 hours a day saved."
Simplified IT Environment
Since Alert implemented a corporatewide software licensing agreement, it has standardized software acquisitions among the subsidiaries, reducing the number of images it maintains from 17 to five. "Before, we had to manage multiple desktops and images," says
Pinto. "Now there is a lot less complexity in our environment. And thanks to Configuration Manager, what we do have, we know about, right down to the serial number on every machine."
Enhanced Security
Increased visibility has empowered the IT staff to "take control of the park" according to Pinto. And where there is control, there is enhanced security. For example, Alert developers, all of whom have administrative rights on their PCs, were uninstalling the
antivirus software to improve PC performance, so the IT staff needed to address the problem. "We can easily see when this happens and, in minutes, re-install the software," says Pinto. "And when Operations Manager reports that employees are surfing unprotected
websites, I can take steps to address the issue. With these tools, we can enhance our network security and provide more professional service to the business."
Reduced IT Costs by €19,000 a Year
With a single licensing agreement that covers the entire company, Alert is no longer wasting IT budgets on duplicate software purchases among the subsidiaries. Because it simplified the IT environment and the IT staff work more efficiently with interoperable
management tools, Alert saves money on IT labor costs. "We are also saving money by retiring third-party products," says Pinto. "So far, we will be able to retire five products, saving at least €19,000 [US$25,000] a year."
Transformed Communication and Work Styles
Alert employees use presence information in Lync 2010 to see where their colleagues are and to choose the most appropriate communication option to reach them: PC-to-PC calls, IM, audio, or videoconferences—communication options that were not readily available
before. At the head office, most desks are shared by six people and there is just one desk phone, but with Lync 2010, everyone can make PC-to-PC calls and use their headsets. "We don't have to pay for a license to have a soft phone because it comes with the
Enterprise CAL Suite agreement," says Pinto. "People like to IM instead of sending an email, especially knowing that there will be a record of the IM conversation stored for future referral. I'm frequently out of the office, but people can reach me on my mobile
phone using Lync forwarding. I'm working harder and producing more."
While Alert is only just beginning to build up a collaboration platform where employees can take advantage of document management capabilities within SharePoint Server 2010, the company has begun to automate workflows so that staff can save time on administrative
details. "Now, instead of filling out multiple paper forms and taking them around to get signed, staff can submit and process vacation requests through a SharePoint workflow," says Pinto. "This is the beginning of a new way of working at Alert: before the
Enterprise CAL Suite, we had to work twice as hard to get half of what we wanted done: now we have all the technology we need to accomplish our goals, and we are doing it more professionally."
For more information about Microsoft infrastructure optimization, go to:
For more information about Alert Life Sciences Computing products and services, call (351) (22) 832 89 80 or visit the website at:
Based in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, Alert Life Sciences Computing develops solutions to help healthcare providers transition to paper-free business environments. It employs 485 people.
Alert wanted to standardize its IT infrastructure on interoperable products to boost employee productivity and IT management.
Alert signed a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement, choosing the Enterprise Client Access License to acquire tools that improve IT management and support flexible work styles.