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Posted by Cindy on Wednesday, October 19th, 2011
One last word on our Florida trip. "Steampunk"....raise your hand if you have ever heard the word "steampunk". Until last weekend I had not heard it either... then I met two sisters, Kitty and Jennifer. They are the authors of this new book Steampunk Chic, http://www.oneilsisters.com/ Their book teaches how to use vintage finds like keys, gears, old clocks etc. and incorporate them in home decor items.
No they did not invent the word. It is even found on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk.
It is a particular look that was brought about from the 1980s. What does that have to do with Riley Blake? I am glad you asked because we have steampunk fabric. Let me show you a few prints. This is from Mod tod...by Sheri Berry. These gears are an example of steampunk fashion.
Take a look at a few prints from Grandma's house, these keys are also an examples of steampunk chic. (This line will arrive next month along with Mod Tod)
Now that you know, look around, and you will see steampunk everywhere.
We want to thank the Bernina Sewing Centre www.sewithappens.com located in Lake Mary, Florida for making table runner kits with Riley Blake fabric which were sold at the Where Women Create booth. We are going to have a give-away soon for one of those table runner kits.
We also saw many Riley Blake Designs products in The Sewing Studio Fabric Superstore booth. Their store is located in Maitland, Florida. http://www.sewing.net/. There were so many nice people working in their booth that love Riley Blake fabric.
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NBC News reported in a March 11, 2014 story about a dust up that pits the International Astronomical Union against a campaign on Uwingu to raise funds for science education and research by allowing people to pay for suggestions on what to name some 500,000 known craters on Mars. The IAU maintains that the right to name anything beyond Earth is reserved to the IAU. Uwingu suggests that the IAU is being a bunch of elitists.
It may be just a coincidence that Alan Stern, the principle investigator for the New Horizons expedition to Pluto, has disagreed with the IAU's downgrading Pluto from a planet to a "dwarf planet."
The question thus has been asked, who gets to name things in space? Should it be a group of international astronomers or some other body, perhaps along the lines of Uwingu, using the process to raise funds for worthy things like educating future scientists and funding research?
Neither, suggests a group called Citizens in Space. They maintain that the decisions of what to name features on Mars will made by the first Martian settlers. Rather cheekily, the group suggests rustic names like "Broken Axel Crater."
There is some earthly precedence for this. When former colonies of European countries achieved independence the new governments renamed a number of places to suit their own cultures. Hence Salisbury, Rhodesia became Harare, Zimbabwe and Bombay in India became Mumbai. It will certainly be an act of independence if the first Martians decide to give the middle finger to the Mother Planet and name places on their planet to suit themselves.

subset: commoncrawl


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Since the vapid plot line of the new film, "Getaway" focuses largely on several repetitively tedious and chaotically crafted car chases; let's figuratively cut to the chase… and declare emphatically from the start - "Getaway" is truly one of the worst films of 2013.
"Getaway" features actor Ethan Hawke, who put forth an extraordinary performance, along with Julie Delpy, earlier this summer in "Before Midnight". Sadly, after hitting a home run with that wonderfully nuanced and powerful film, Hawke decided to sign on for this abysmal piece of crap that should have never left the executive pitch-room dugout.
Hawke plays Brent Magna ( yes, that's really his name ) an ex-race car driver who has left the sport for rather nebulous reasons as barely explained in this film and indeed, reasons that are inconsequential to the threadbare plot anyway. Without much introductory exposition, Hawke returns to his home in Sofia, Bulgaria one evening to discover his wife ( Rebecca Budig ) has been kidnapped. The foreign Bulgarian location might as well have been shot in Scranton, PA given the sheer lack of local flavor or minimal recognition to the surroundings that director Courtney Solomon displays in this literal car wreck of a film.
In short order, Magna receives a phone call where "The Voice" ( as described in the film's closing credits ) instructs him that he has to perform a number of seemingly inexplicable and dangerous acts behind the wheel of a souped-up, custom-built Shelby Super Snake Mustang. If Magna fails any of the tasks, he's told his wife will be killed. The sleek vehicle used to accomplish these deeds has been tricked out for Magna's usage with special armor and rigged with multiple cameras designed to keep tabs on his actions under the watchful eye of Magna's mysteriously malevolent puppet master on the phone ( Jon Voight )
The voice instructs Magna to do all sorts of reckless acts such as plow his car at high speed into street markets, parks and more locales that are crowded with all sorts of innocent nighttime pedestrians and bystanders. He's ordered to crash into things without regard for damage or endangering the people nearby who are forced to jump for cover like scurrying rats. However, we're expected to believe Magna's superb skill as a former race car driver helps him manage to avoid hitting not even one person among dozens over the course of the film.
In one of the many ludicrous moments in "Getaway", Magna's car even traverses across a skating rink filled with skaters at high speed and not only avoids hitting anyone; but also, the car defies the law of physics by maneuvering over a sheer ice surface without Magna losing control. Of course, before long, Magna's car is being chased by scores of police cars leading to plenty of cliched car crashes, pile-ups and flying vehicles landing on their roofs and worse. All this random mayhem is supposed to be rivetingly exciting action. However, instead it quickly becomes merely excruciatingly boring and repetitive.
Just once, I'd like to see a director make a film that courageously features, however briefly, the realistic aftermath of such car crash mayhem. In real life, you don't plow into crowds of people on the sidewalk or have dozens of cars crashing head-on without someone being injured and/or killed. A film like "Getaway" turns otherwise horrific car crashes into mere video game-like fodder, where despite the widespread carnage, no one really dies.
Then again, "Getaway" has worse problems beyond it's being unrealistic.
During one of Magna's brief respites following the voice's thus far indiscernible instructions, a young woman ( Selena Gomez ) attempts to steal the car from Magna at gunpoint. Magna quickly and easily disarms her of the weapon ( in part because, well - she's cute, young Selena Gomez. At least there's some realism right here. ) After that, the voice orders Magna to take Gomez' young character along for the wild, crazy ride ahead for reasons that are left unexplained for much of the film. Over the remaining 60-odd minutes of this 90-minute embarrassment, we are witness to more and more car crash mayhem, as the voice orders Magna on a mission that seems to have no purpose.
However, Gomez' character reveals herself to be a sort of bratty techno-genius who ultimately figures out the felonious end game of the voice's night of confusion - which involves the robbing of a special kind of bank that handles billions of dollars in electronic currency.
"Getaway" is nothing more than a horribly constructed action film with no heart, no purpose, no characters really worth caring about. Any attempts at character development are displayed in wooden shallow snippets shoehorned amid amateurish direction and shabby editing. Scene after scene is chopped together like it was edited in a Cuisinart. A close up of a gas pedal here, a screeching tire there, a police car careening into a pole or something else; all of which matters not a whit to advance any semblance of a coherent story.
At one point, we're witness to the film's lone "money shot" of the climactic car chase where finally the camera stays on the action for a bit more than a mere millisecond. The main problem, among many, is that the scene takes place during the dim-morning glow of sunrise, and then cuts abruptly to the same car chase clearly shot in the much brighter light of mid day at least.
Continuity, anyone ?
Hawke and Gomez are relegated to silly bickering amid the mayhem before deciding to work together to get themselves out of this jam and outthink the voice that's taken control of their lives for the night. Hawke is forced to evoke one-dimensional frustration, fear and confusion while constantly steering the car.
Gomez suffers from simply being too cute and unrealistic for a role that calls for a tougher looking actress rather than a still cherubic-faced former Disney star. At least, in the far superior "Spring Breakers", director Harmony Korine utilized Gomez' "good girl" looks and acting skills to fine dramatic effect by capitalizing on her perceived innocence. When Gomez' character brandishes a gun at Hawke in "Getaway", you have to try hard to stifle an outburst of incredulous laughter.
Both Hawke and Gomez are also hindered by incredibly bad and simplistic dialogue written by screenwriters Sean Finegan and Gregg Maxwell Parker.
As for "the voice", Jon Voight is displayed throughout the film via a leering mouth with bad teeth seen in close up. Only until the film's ridiculously contrived finale do we see Voight revealed full on, as if it's supposed to be a hugely satisfying surprise to the audience. It's not.
"Getaway" is nothing less than a throwaway film intentionally meant to be lost and quickly forgotten in the theatrical garbage bin of a Labor Day weekend where most audiences will be enjoying a barbecue rather than a movie theater. At least one can give this so-called "film" one bit of positive acknowledgement.
It's one movie this summer that inadvertently offers an audience advisory warning in it's very title. Once you've seen this film, you truly will want to get as far away from this travesty as soon as possible.
Or simply take heed of the title beforehand, and getaway before wasting your time and money.
Tim Estiloz is a member of The Broadcast Film Critics Association and The Boston Online Film Critics Association. Follow Tim on Twitter @TimEstiloz and at www.TimEstiloz.com. - Be sure to LIKE his page on Facebook at: Tim Estiloz Film Reviews.


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'Fantasy Fiction Podcast' is a regularly updated show about two guys sharing their love of storytelling. Josh and Dom of YouTube hit series Continue? Show, each tell a short story about their shared world of death metal ballad wizards and 'sexecutioners.' Characters include Buff Cat, Throm, and Thaddeus Thunderbeard that each week get mixed up in awesome mis-adventures.
Each episode constitutes approximately a little under an hour. They often recap their past week's exploits and fantasy related content experiences. For fans of Continue? Show, Josh plays a much larger role and you get a larger helping of his brand of comedy. For fans of Dom--he is there too!
The short stories they tell are often nonsensical comedy with heavy genre overtones and parodies laced through out. Casting a spell for example may require reciting rock ballads from the 80's before they work. Characters often use highly sexual, provacative, extreme, and downright awesome ways to complete everyday tasks.
In many ways it sounds like a radio play version of an adult(er) version of 'Adventure Time' with more cursing and blood. Each episode usually involves a certain amount of killing while characters try to solve problems like finding a date or saving a family member from their 'sexecution.'
A word of warning about the show. It is very very very adult with strong language and violent scenes. It is not advisable for young children, those easily offended, or anyone that is a big wet blanket.
Despite the amount of language and gratuitous sexual themes the series is spectacular. Each episode is like listening to your drunk friend tell a story about their last game of D&D. In addition there is a thriving community for the show who often communicate through Twitter or post through the 'Fantasy Fiction' Wiki page.
I give 'Fantasy Fiction Podcast' five out of five dancing hamsters for creativity, engagingness, and their pure unadulterated psychedelic overdrive rad-ness.
Make sure to check out the Podcast, follow them on Twitter, and see their amazing merchandise in their online store.
Wiki http://fantasy-fiction.wikia.com/wiki/Fantasy_Fiction_Wiki
Store http://fantasyfiction.bigcartel.com/
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/fantasyfic
iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fantasy-fiction/id702153454
PodOmatic http://fantasyficpod.podomatic.com/
Twitter https://twitter.com/FantasyFicPod
Review http://danielolsen.co/post/67011388532/lady-saberblood-and-muscles-bear-of-fantasy


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Is There a Fine Art to Illustration?
The line between fine art and illustration is blurrier than the art world acknowledged just a few decades ago. Find out what sets illustrators apart from fine artists, and what brings them together.
Njideka Akunyili's 'Nwantini'
Nigerian-born, U.S.-based artist Njideka Akunyili explores the dynamics of her culture and community through mixed-media art, melding limitless combinations of acrylic, charcoal, pastel, marble dust, colored pencils, oil, fabric or Xerox transfers into figurative collages with distinct narratives. Both critics and collectors have responded positively to her work. At Art Basel in 2012, five of […]
Exhibiting 101
Despite today's fast-paced world of social-media marketing and networking, there's still no substitute for meeting customers and prospects in person. And there are few better places to accomplish just this goal than at a trade show.
Photographer Charlie Carter chooses path of tradition
Meet artist and photographer Charlie Carter. Clinging to the traditional means of the gelatin silver process, photographers like Carter continue the practice through the use of film and silver-coated papers.


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Acer palmatum 'Ever Red'
Although its name is slightly misleading, my wife jokingly calls it never red; 'Ever Red' is one of our favorite lace leaf varieties. I understand that this old cultivar holds its color well in other parts of the world; 'Ever Red' will not stay red all summer in the southeastern United States. In fact it turns bronze and then green faster than many dissectums we grow. What makes 'Ever Red so great is the color changes it goes through during the season and the sturdy growth habit. Starting with silver hairs on the leaves when they first come out in spring, then the wonderful red color through spring and early summer, changing to a nice dark green in summer and then flaming red in fall. 'Ever Red' is a truly wonderful maple.
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Kidney Preserving Surgery for Kidney Cancer Prevents Osteoporosis
by Dr. Reeja Tharu on August 19, 2011 at 12:04 PM Health Watch - G J E 4
Research carried out by scientists at the San Diego School of Medicine emphasizes the importance of kidney-sparing surgery to reduce the risk of later-life osteoporosis.
New research emphasizes the significance of carrying out kidney-sparing surgery on patients with renal cancer to preserve kidney function and to minimize the risk of bone fractures later in life.
AdvertisementThe study performed by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine was published in the July 19 edition of Urology.
Ithaar Derweesh, MD, senior author and urologic oncologist at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center said, "When weighing the risks and benefits of partial versus radical nephrectomy, doctors and patients should take into account the impact on a patient's bone health".
"This study illuminates the fact that preserving the kidney helps to prevent chronic kidney disease and significantly reduces bone fractures and risk of developing osteoporosis", he said.
Complete /Partial Nephrectomy
Renal cell carcinoma is a kind of kidney cancer and nephrectomy is one of the treatment methods used to treat the disease.
But of late, with advancements in medical technology, kidney-preserving treatments are the preferred mode of treatment for small renal masses.
When compared to radical nephrectomy, they offer the same cure rates and offer better kidney function protection.
The total removal of a kidney, nephrectomy, is understood to be a significant risk factor for chronic kidney disease (CKD). This in turn, increases a person's risk for metabolic complications, cardiovascular disease and even death.
When partial nephrectomy is carried out, healthy and viable kidney cells are preserved. This can help to reduce or even prevent the chances of developing metabolic acidosis (chemical imbalance), which may later pave the way for kidney dysfunction, muscle wasting and osteoporosis.
"Women facing kidney surgery should investigate whether partial kidney removal is an option to treat their disease as it may help prevent bone brittleness. Too often urologists have done radical nephrectomies for patients who were candidates for partial nephrectomy. While partial nephrectomy is more complex for the surgeon to perform, it can offer better quality of life later in life," said Christopher Kane, MD, Professor of Surgery, C. Lowell and JoEllen Parsons Endowed Chair in Urology and Chief of the Division of Urology, and paper co-author.
About the Team
The UC San Diego team of researchers has one of the best kidney preservation rates in the USA. They use robotic technology to carry out partial nephrectomies to patients who would have, earlier, gone in for the traditional surgery.
Derweesh is a nationally-acclaimed surgeon who is committed to preserving kidney function in patients undergoing kidney cancer treatment.
Fellow researchers of Derweesh include at UC San Diego Aditya Bagrodia, Reza Mehrazin, Wassim M. Bazzi, Jonathan Silberstein, John B. Malcom, Sean P. Stroup, Omer Raheem, Robert W. Wake, Anthony
1. HealthCanal.com
Source: Medindia
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Women allegedly forced into prostitution to pay off their drug debts will not face criminal charges, federal prosecutors announced Friday, the same day that documents charging alleged pimp Jeremy Mack with human trafficking were unsealed.
"The victims in this case are just that — victims of crime and will be treated accordingly," Mike Tobin, spokesman for U.S. Attorney for Northern Ohio Steven Dettelbach, said in a statement. "They will not face criminal charges. Instead, we have been working and will continue to work to get them the help and services they need."
Mack, 37, and Ashley Onysko, 23, were arrested on local charges when Elyria police raided a Tattersal Court house from which the pair was allegedly running their online prostitution ring. Federal human trafficking charges against Onysko were unsealed Thursday.
Mack, who has a lengthy criminal record, allegedly lured young women, including a 16-year-old girl, into his prostitution business by selling them heroin and cocaine and then when they couldn't pay offering to trade sex for drugs.
Ultimately, the women's drug debts became too much for them to pay and Mack used violence and intimidation to hold them at his house, forcing them to go to area hotels to have sexual relations with as many as 10 clients in a day, FBI Special Agent Kelly Liberti wrote in an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court.
Mack often was armed with a gun and carried a stun gun, the affidavit said.
Tobin wrote that it's not uncommon for victims of human trafficking to have legal issues such as drug abuse. Those who target women for exploitation often use those vulnerabilities to control their victims, he wrote.
"When anyone is forced, through threats or coercion, to have sex against their will, it's not prostitution," Tobin wrote. "It's rape, plain and simple."
Onysko allegedly managed the women for Mack, posting photos of them on websites such as Backpage.com and Craigslist.com advertising their "escort services," which cost $120 for 30 minutes or $220 for a full hour.
Onysko also tracked the money the prostitutes were earning, how long they spent with clients and kept a list of client names and appointments, Liberti wrote.
Tobin said he couldn't say whether the men who hired the prostitutes controlled by Mack and Onysko will be charged in connection with the case, which remains under investigation.
The women told investigators that they gave any money they made to Mack, who applied it toward their drug debt. Because the women weren't allowed to have any money, Mack provided them with clothes, makeup, condoms, cigarettes and drugs.
Onysko, who allegedly got a 30 percent cut of the money made by the prostitution business, told investigators that she carried heroin with her to give to the women before they met with clients so they would be able to perform.
Mindi Kuebler of the Human Trafficking Collaborative of Lorain County said that the women are receiving not only substance abuse treatment, but mental health counseling and other services to help them recover from their ordeal.
"Human trafficking, which we're talking about here, is modern-day slavery," Kuebler said.
Both Mack and Onysko are in federal custody and will appear in court next week for hearings on whether they should remain incarcerated while the case moves through the justice system.
Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or email@example.com.


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K. Mark Ansel, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Sandler Asthma Basic Research Center
505 Parnassus Avenue
UCSF Box 0414, HSE-201H
San Francisco, CA 94143
Tel: 415-476-5368
Fax: 415-502-4995
Email: email@example.com
Ansel Lab Website
Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program
Immunology Program
Dr. Mark Ansel is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology. He completed a B.S. in biochemistry at Virginia Tech, a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences at UCSF, and postdoctoral training at the Immune Disease Institute at Harvard Medical School. His laboratory in the Sandler Asthma Basic Research Center focuses on the regulation of gene expression in the immune system.
MicroRNAs (miRNA), transcription factors, and epigenetic regulation shape the gene expression programs that determine cell identity and function. The Ansel lab studies how these molecular mechanisms work together to control lymphocyte development, differentiation, and function in immunity. We use in vitro cell differentiation systems, mouse genetics, disease models, and gene expression analyses in cells from human clinical samples to unravel the regulatory networks that underlie immunity and immune pathology, especially allergy and asthma.
Lymphocyte lineage decisions and the deployment of their effector functions are critical for the development of protective immunity against a great diversity of pathogens. However, improper or exaggerated responses underlie the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, chronic inflammation, allergy, and asthma. Our primary experimental system is the differentiation of helper T cells, the central coordinators of adaptive immune responses. Upon immune activation, naïve CD4+ T cells can differentiate into several different helper T cell effectors subtypes (e.g. Th1, Th2, Th17, iTreg, Tfh, etc.). These lineages are defined by their characteristic gene expression programs and mediate distinct immune functions. These gene expression programs are controlled by external factors that derive from other cells or the environment, signaling-induced and lineage-specific transcription factors, epigenetic regulation of transcriptional responses, and posttranscriptional mechanisms, including RNAbinding proteins and miRNAs. The depth of our knowledge about the networks that control helper T cells makes them an attractive model for studying basic mechanisms of gene regulation.
Active projects in the laboratory mostly focus on miRNAs. We study how individual miRNA families regulate helper T cell differentiation and immune function, as well as the regulation of the miRNA pathway itself during immune responses. Naive CD4+ T cells that cannot produce any miRNAs exhibit reduced cell division and survival in response to immune stimuli. Surprisingly, they also undergo rapid unrestrained differentiation into effector cells. We have developed a screening technology that allows us to rapidly determine which specific miRNAs regulate each of these T cell behaviors, and a high throughput nanoscaled pipeline for determining miRNA expression patterns in small clinical samples (such as sorted T cell subsets from the airways of human asthmatic subjects, serum, sputum, and other sources of extracellular miRNAs, etc.). In addition, we discovered that T cells rapidly reset their miRNA repertoire upon activation. This process that involves ubiquitination and degradation of Argonaute proteins, but the signaling mechanisms and the fate of associated miRNAs remains unknown. This rapid change in miRNA expression may be important to allow T cells to change their gene expression programs and develop effector functions.
Lab Objectives:
- To define the molecular mechanisms that control miRNA homeostasis, and determine how the miRNA repertoire is so dramatically remodeled during T cell activation.
- To characterize the function of individual miRNAs that regulate T cell differentiation and immune effector functions.
- To determine how the expression and function of miRNAs contribute to the pathogenic properties of T cells in human asthma.
Selected Publications:
- Sperling AI, Ansel KM. Editorial Overview: Allergy and hypersensitivity. Curr Opin Immunol 31:ix-xi (2014)
- Simpson LJ, Patel S, Bhakta NR, Choy DF, Brightbill HD, Ren X, Wang Y, Pua HH, Baumjohann D, Montoya M, Panduro M, Remedios KA, Huang X, Fahy JV, Arron JR, Woodruff PG, and Ansel KM. A miRNA upregulated in asthma airway T cells promotes TH2 cytokine production. Nat Immunol 15:1162-70 (2014)
- Seumois G, Chavez L, Gerasimova A, Lienhard M, Omran N, Kalinke L, Vedanayagam M, Ganesan AP, Chawla A, Djukanović R, Ansel KM, Peters B, Rao A, Vijayanand P. Epigenomic analysis of primary human T cells reveals enhancers associated with TH2 memory cell differentiation and asthma susceptibility. Nat Immunol 15:777-88 (2014)
- Thomas MJ, L'Etoile ND, Ansel KM. Eri1: A Conserved Enzyme at the Crossroads of Multiple RNA Processing Pathways. Trends Genet. 30:298-307 (2014)
- Baumjohann D, Ansel KM. MicroRNA regulation of the germinal center response. Curr Opin Immunol 28:6-11 (2014)
- Baumjohann D and Ansel KM. MicroRNA regulation of T cell differentiation and plasticity. Nat Rev. Immunol. 13:666-78 (2013)
- Baumjohann D, Clingan JM, de Kouchkovsky D, Bannard O, Bluestone JA, Matloubian M, Ansel KM*, Jeker LT*. The microRNA cluster miR-17~92 is essential for follicular helper T cell differentiation. Nat Immunol. 14:840-8 (2013) (*co-corresponding authors)
- Ansel KM. RNA regulation in the immune system. Immunol Rev. 253:5-11 (2013)
- Bronevetsky YB and Ansel KM. Regulation of miRNA biogenesis and turnover in the immune system. Immunol Rev. 253:304-16 (2013)
- Bronevetsky Y, Villarino AV, Eisley C, Barbeau R, Barczak A, Heinz GA, Kremmer E, Heissmeyer V, McManus MT, Erle DJ, Rao A, Ansel KM. T cell activation induces proteasomal degradation of Argonaute and rapid remodeling of the microRNA repertoire. J Exp Med. 210:417-32 (2013)
- Seumois G, Vijayanand P, Eisley CJ, Omran N, Kalinke L, North M, Ganesan AP, Simpson LJ, Hunkapiller N, Moltzahn F, Woodruff PG, Fahy JV, Erle DJ, Djukanovic R, Blelloch R, Ansel KM: An integrated nano-scale approach to profile miRNAs in limited clinical samples. Am J Clin Exp Immunol. 1:70-89 (2012)
- Solberg OD, Ostrin EJ, Love MI, Peng JC, Bhakta NR, Hou L, Nguyen C, Solon M, Nguyen C, Barczak AJ, Zlock LT, Blagev DP, Finkbeiner WE, Ansel KM, Arron JR, Erle DJ, Woodruff PG. Airway Epithelial miRNA Expression is Altered in Asthma. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 186:965-74 (2012)
- Thomas MF, Abdul-Wajid S, Panduro M, Babiarz JE, Rajaram M, Woodruff P, Lanier LL, Heissmeyer V, Ansel KM. Eri1 regulates microRNA homeostasis and mouse lymphocyte development and anti-viral function. Blood. 120:130-42 (2012)
- Vijayanand P, Seumois G, Simpson LJ, Abdul-Wajid S, Baumjohann D, Panduro M, Huang X, Interlandi J, Djuretic IM, Brown DR, Sharpe AH, Rao A, Ansel KM. Interleukin-4 Production by Follicular Helper T Cells Requires the Conserved Il4 Enhancer Hypersensitivity Site V. Immunity 36:175-87 (2012)
- Baumjohann D, Okada T, Ansel KM. Cutting Edge: Distinct Waves of BCL6 Expression during T Follicular Helper Cell Development. J Immunol.187: 2089-92 (2011)
- Steiner DF, Thomas MF, Hu JK, Yang Z, Babiarz JE, Allen CD, Matloubian M, Blelloch R, Ansel KM. MicroRNA-29 Regulates T-Box Transcription Factors and Interferon-γ Production in Helper T Cells. Immunity 35:169-81 (2011)
- Thomas MF, Ansel KM. Construction of small RNA cDNA libraries for deep sequencing. Methods Mol Biol. 667:93-111 (2010)
- Ansel KM*, Pastor WA, Rath N, Lapan AD, Glasmacher E, Wolf C, Smith LC, Papadopoulou N, Lamperti E, Tahiliani M, Ellwart JW, Shi Y, Kremmer E, Rao A, Heissmeyer V*. Mouse ERI-1 interacts with the ribosome and catalyzes 5.8S rRNA processing. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 15:523-30 (2008) (*corresponding authors)
- Djuretic IM, Levanon D, Negreanu V, Groner Y, Rao A, Ansel KM. T-bet and Runx3 cooperate to activate Ifng and silence Il4 in Th1 cells. Nat Immunol. 8:145-53 (2007)
- Ansel KM, Djuretic I, Tanasa B, Rao A. Regulation of Th2 differentiation and the IL4 locus. Annu Rev Immunol. 24:607-56 (2006)


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This Tuesday's new DVD and Blu-ray releases include some movies you likely missed in theaters earlier this year, but that are still worth checking out. George Clooney directs and stars in the World War II film "The Monuments Men", while Kevin Costner plays a secret agent/dad in "3 Days to Kill" and "Vampire Academy" is sure to satisfy teens and fans of "Twilight". Read about those movies and this week's other new releases below, and leave a comment at the bottom letting us know what you'll be watching.
Pick of the Week: "The Monuments Men"
Directed by George Clooney, this war drama follows a World War II platoon who set out to retrieve pieces of art stolen by the Nazis and return them to their owners. The cast includes Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, and Jean Dujardin. Runtime: 118 minutes. Rated PG-13 for some images of war violence and historical smoking.
Read my full review of "The Monuments Men" here.
Other new releases:
· "3 Days to Kill"
· "Pompeii"
· "Vampire Academy"
· "About Last Night"
· "In Secret"
· "Grand Piano"


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There have always been two passions in my life: art, and food. As a kid, I grew up wanting to be a chef. Perhaps it was brought on by the fact that the kitchen was the only civil place in an otherwise hectic household. There is just something about food that brings people together. But, about five years ago I crossed being a chef off my list of dream jobs. Mainly because I became a vegetarian. Can you picture a vegetarian deboning a duck? That has internal struggle written all over it – but that's an entirely different story for another day.
As an adventurous eater, having the opportunity to try out Veri Peri was a gift from above. All of these sauces are wonderful, and since they're both gluten free, and dairy free I wasn't too worried about any health factors (I have a bit of an oversensitive digestive system).
Unlike other hot sauces which tout physical pain, Veri Peri is smooth and delivers a heat experience without being overwhelming. It offers cooks an exhilarating flavor experience and can be used directly in a favorite recipe, as a marinade for meat, poultry or fish, or as a condiment on burgers, pizza, chops dips and soups. With its range of five flavors, Veri Peri offers a wide variety of heat levels to satisfy any palate.
There were so many great things about these sauces; they were spicy, but they never got quite to the point of 'physical' pain. The heat in the sauce was merely a spice, not some kind of toxic burden with the main purpose of heat instead of flavor that hurts going in, but not as much as it does coming out.
The first sauce I tried was the lemon & herb. It was probably one of the best sauces I've ever used to marinate with a vegetable. I let the zucchini I was cooking with sit in the lemon & herb sauce with some olive oil for a good 30 minutes before coating it in a paste like substance made with saltine crackers, croutons, and more of the Veri Peri sauce. Let me tell you, that sauce was like some sort of rave inside my mouth, making my taste-buds dance some wild booty jerk (I doubt that's even a thing, but this sauce made it a thing). And, the spicier sauces were top notch. The Hot was probably my favorite. That Bird's Eye-Chili is a glorious thing. I'd love to dress it up and take it out on a date. But, I suppose I will just have to suffice with digesting it instead.
The only thing I think that Veri Peri could improve on is increasing the amount in which they sell these Veri Delicious sauces. I mean, COME ON! 4.22 oz is not nearly enough for people that like to eat. And, lets be honest, the people that will actually be taking their time to read this ity bity review are the type of people that like to eat. At least take it into consideration, Veri Peri Gods (and, I say "Gods" simply because nothing else could have created something so glorious as to induce booty jerking taste-buds).
Needless to say, I would recommend anyone that wants to try something a little bit different from their normal, day to day, run of the mill hot sauces. Veri Peri offers more than just heat, it offers a wonderful abundance of flavor. I'm sure once you wonderful readers decide to try it, you'll end up fantasizing about bathing in these sauces. I know I do.
Buy It:
Veri Peri sauces retail for $4.99 each and can be purchased through Amazon.com
Win It:
One lucky reader is going to win a bottle of Veri Peri Sauce and a Veri Peri apron!
Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below. Giveaway is open to US residents only.
Good Luck!


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State of the Net Conference 2006
About the Conference | Agenda | Sponsors | Download Brochure | Video/Audio
On the Internet, Can/Should Everyone Be A Publisher?Breakout Session
Download MP3 Audio [In Windows, right click the link and "Save As." In Mac OSX, CTRL click and choose "Download Linked File As."]
Panelists Included:
- Adam Thierer, Progress & Freedom Foundation
- Rob Pegoraro, Washington Post
- Andrew Baron, Rocketboom
- Joe Keeley, House Judiciary Committee
- Clay Shirky, New York University
- Lee Rainie, Pew Internet & American Life Project (Moderator)


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- Company: Timex
- Price: $35 at Timex.com
- Official Site: Timex.com
Fine thing when a vintage-themed watch has a vintage-themed price. At least it would seem that way with this economical offering from Timex that is as much about nostalgia as it is about function. Based on a watch made in 1918 from Ingersoll Watch Company (which eventually became Timex), the Classic Camper is a true homage to American watchmaking history. It defines practical and simple in a thin and unobtrusive plastic case with a durable "throw me around" quartz movement. Guys should also appreciate the watch's heritage, as it cemented wristwatches as being cool for men -- not just women -- to wear.
Resembling the past is part of the Classic Camper's charm, and as such is shaped more like classic timepieces. With a petite size by today's standard of 35 mm wide, the watch hearkens back to a time before a man's watch was intended for fashion, but was rather meant for utility. The 24-hour scale (often referred to as military time in the U.S.) on the dial exists because the Timex Classic Camper is one of the only watches officially sold to soldiers at military PX stores, and because the watch it is based on was given to U.S. soldiers in World War I -- which incidentally made it cool for a man to wear a watch, as the pocket watch was the previous norm. Today's use of a nylon strap is done like the classic canvas once used. Two models in black or olive drab are available each with minor dial design differences.
Timex's quartz movements are quite hardy and can go for about 5 to 10 years between new batteries. With high-contrast hands and a full set of Arabic numerals, the Timex Classic Camper is about easy reading. Luminant allows for night viewing while a metal caseback protects the watch. The case is formed from a plastic resin and the crystal is mineral. Durability is excellent for the price -- and worst-case scenario, you procure an economical replacement. The small wave water icon on the watch dial alludes to the field and stream nature of "the camper." Take it outside and beat it up without much worry. Thirty meters of water resistance is acceptable for wading in water, but not for your Navy SEALS-style swimming sessions. The dial design is classic in almost every way without need for embellishment or excess. The Timex Classic Camper is an almost pure form of American watch design, and for the right price.
Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.
Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.


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Michael S. Kang
Professor of Law
Areas of Expertise
Courts and Judges, Business Associations, Election Law, Politics and Democratic Governance
Assistant: Daniel Kim
Michael S. Kang's research focuses on issues of election law, voting and race, shareholder voting, and political science. His work has been published by the Yale Law Journal, NYU Law Review, and Michigan Law Review, among others. Professor Kang also serves as co-editor of the book series Cambridge Studies in Election Law and Democracy and co-authored a chapter for the first book in the series, "Race, Reform, and Regulation of the Electoral Process." Professor Kang visited Cornell Law School during the 2008 spring semester and Harvard Law School during the 2009 spring semester.
Professor Kang received his BA and JD from the University of Chicago, where he served as technical editor of the University of Chicago Law Review and graduated Order of the Coif. He received an MA from the University of Illinois and his PhD in government from Harvard University. After law school, Professor Kang clerked for Judge Michael S. Kanne of the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and worked in private practice at Ropes & Gray in Boston before joining the Emory Law faculty in 2004.
Education: BA, JD, University of Chicago; MA, University of Ilinois; PhD, Harvard University
Journal Articles
"Attacking Judicial Elections," 114 Michigan Law Review (forthcoming 2016) (with Joanna Shepherd).
"The Brave New World of Party Campaign Finance," 101 Cornell Law Review (forthcoming 2015).
"Sore Loser Laws and Congressional Polarization," 39 Legis. Stud. Q. (forthcoming 2014) (with Barry Burden & Bradley Jones).
"Party-Based Corruption and McCutcheon," 108 Northwestern Law Review Colloquium (forthcoming 2014).
"Campaign Disclosure and Direct Democracy," 97 Minnesota Law Review 1700 (2013).
"The Partisan Foundations of Judicial Campaign Finance," 86 Southern California Law Review 1239 (2013).
"The Year of the Super PAC," 81 Georgia Washington Law Review 1902 (2013) - Symposium.
"The Hydraulics and Politics of Party Regulation," 91 Iowa Law Review 131 (2005).
"From Broadcasting to Narrowcasting: The Emerging Challenge for Campaign Finance Law," 73 George Washington Law Review 1070 (2004).
"Democratizing Direct Democracy: Restoring Voter Competence through Heuristic Cues and Disclosure Plus," 50 UCLA Law Review 1141 (2002).
"Don't Tell Juries about Statutory Damage Caps: The Merits of Nondisclosure," 66 University of Chicago Law Review 469 (1999).
Panel Discussions and Presentations
- "The Brave New World of Party Campaign Finance" (Florida State Law Review Symposium) Tallahassee, Florida, March 27, 2015 and Keller Center for the Study of the 1st Amendment at the University of Colorado-Boulder on April 13, 2015, and at a public law workshop at Columbia Law School in New York City on April 3, 2015.
- "State and Local Elections in Court: Mixing it Up," 13th Annual Richard E. Nelson Symposium, University of Florida, Levin College of Law, February 7, 2014
- "The Future of Campaign Finance," George Washington Law Symposium on Political Law. November 16, 2012. Participants: Prof. Richard Briffault (Columbia); Eliza Newlin Carney (Roll Call); Prof. Michael Kang (Emory); Trevor Potter (Campaign Legal Center); Prof. Brad Smith (Capital University).
- "Do Partisan Primaries Serve the Public Interest?" A COMPASS Conversation, co-sponsored by the Bipartisan Policy Center, Ohio State University.
- Work referenced in "Why Politicians Who Lose a Primary Can't Win a General Election," Washington Monthly, September 30, 2013.
Radio Interviews
- "Campaign Finance and the Roberts Court," The Takeaway with John Hockenberry, October 8, 2013.
- "Supreme Court Decision Impacts GA Elections," GPB News, June 25, 2013.


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Residential Property with Commercial Opportunity
Excellent property with great potential for various commercial purposes, in the prime district of Camaçari, located on the main paved street (one block back from the beach). 5 minutes walk to Lucena town centre and 2 minutes from the nearest bus stop.
Enjoys the advantage of 24 hours security staff in a neighbouring Government-owned building.
Plenty of opportunity to develop part of this property as a commercial venture, or simply enjoy your prime position and one of the region's best beaches.
All its documentation is in order, and the entire unit is walled and exceptionally secure. At the front, there is a huge brick barbecue with chimenée in a very strategic position for trade and with enough space to establish a small restaurant, or snack bar.
Everything is in place to open immediately!
The owner has indicated a choice of 3 options he's willing to consider;
Total area: 8×30 = 240m²
Yard: 8×13 = 104m² – walled and with guava tree. With a little creativity, you could turn this backyard into a beautiful garden with lots of privacy and peace.
This property is fully walled and consists of two units with a small garden in the middle. The unit in front (8×10) is composed of a spacious kitchen measuring 2,5mx8m, 2 large sliding steel windows, 2 bathrooms each w / sink, shower and toilet and a large room measuring 5,5mx10m. The ceilings are high for good ventilation, flooring is tiled throughout. The front of the building has two garage-style doors, perfect for a business. At the back, there is a door with access to the backyard with a window for more lighting.
The second unit measures 8mx5m and the current owners use it as a separate two room dwelling. All the flooring has been tiled with 1 door, 2 windows and many outlets.
This is perfect to expand your residential property combined with a business, since the setting offers various possibilities for expansion at a low price and has a superb location.
Total area: 4mx30m = 120m²
Yard: 4X13 = 52m² – All walled. With a little creativity, you can convert this yard in a lovely private garden.
This property is fully walled and consists of two units and a yard in the middle. The unit measures 4mx10m in front and just needs plastering and painting,. Ideal for use as an office or shop.
At the back, there is a unit consisting of a suite measuring a total of 4mx5m with a window, door, ensuite bathroom and tiled flooring.
This unit has an independent drive from the front to enter into the yard. A perfect and unique investment for residential and commercial purposes at a very affordable price.
Total area: 12mx30m = 360m²
This consists of Option 1 + Option 2.
This property has huge potential to be devloped as a private residence and attached business – perfect for creating a financial return while living by a picture postcard beach.
There are several possibilities to turn this property into a half residential household and half as a business or instead renting all or part of the units. The choice is yours. Enjoy your property on the beach and get a financial return at the same time! Check it out for a visit!
The owner acceps a used car as part payment!
3 Large Beachfront Plots
3 Plots Right on the Beach in Lucena – Perfect for a small development or large family home.
Beachfront House in Lucena
Built to European standards, using high quality local materials this beachfront house comes fully furnished and ready to move into immediately.
Casa Projeto em Camacari, Lucena
Unfinished Luxury Home in Camacari – A great building project with lots of investment potential
Fabulous Rural Residence and Small Holding
Dream The Life… Live the dream.
Exceptional Rural Residence and 5 Hectare Estate
A wonderful opportunity to purchase this turn key dream home, on it's own 5 hectare estate, just minutes from some of Brazil's finest beaches.
Spacious 2 Bedroom House – Huge Potential
Solidly built 2 bedroom home, with fantastic mature gardens including fruit trees and a river forming one boundary.
Light and airy, ready to go. Affordable paradise and an excellent investment opportunity at an unbeatable price.
Superb Meditteranean Style Beach House
span style="color: #003366;">The house lies on the limit of Carapibus and Tabatinga Beaches. A spot with an amazing coastal landscape, and fantastic views. A completely furnished "turnkey" property, secluded and quiet without being remote. Ready to move into immediately.
If you've ever imagined living a hassle-free beach lifestyle Tabatinga may be the dream location you've been looking for.
Stunning House, Breathtaking Views
Enjoying a privileged south easterly facing position above the beach, this 2 bedroom home at Praia Bela.
The views from this house are outstanding. There's absolutely nothing that can ever get between you and the Atlantic Ocean.
House & Restaurant in Carapibus
Situated in the Carapibus area close to Jacuma village and only 280m from the sea, above a beautiful freshwater lagoon, close to pousadas (guesthouses) beach houses and shops, this 2 bedroom family house with an adjoining restaurant has heaps of potential for anyone looking for a ready made commercial property in Paraiba.
Exceptional New Build House
Brand new, one of a kind, property right in the heart of Jacuma.
Designed and built by the owner, a professional builder and real craftsman. Constructed to the highest possible standards, this huge 6 bedroom family home is made from the very best quality materials and has many unique features.


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with One Shoulder
- Alterations: The Dress has been taken in on the sides. It is a beautiful dress needs a new home. Can not only be used once! Needs to be used again. Price does include the slip I wore under as well
- Preservation Method: None right now. Trying to find a new owner first
- Terms of Sale: All Sales Final
- Original Owner: Yes
- Has Original Receipt: Yes
- Location: Milwaukee,
- Will Ship to: Other
- Payment Methods Accepted: Escrow.com
Please read our BUYER'S GUIDE before purchasing a dress online.


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This site will look much better in a browser that supports web standards, but it is accessible to any browser or Internet device.
by James Naples
We've all heard about the sudden deaths of apparently healthy young athletes on the football practice field or following a basketball workout. How can such things happen? The answer is often a condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the most common cause of heart-related sudden death in people under 30. Ongoing research at the University of North Texas is targeting HCM and its underlying causes.
We're trying to understand the processes by which the disease works," says Douglas Root, Ph.D., associate professor of biological sciences. "This understanding will provide a theoretical basis for developing therapies and diagnostics for this illness." Root's research is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and by funding from the American Heart Association. With the assistance of a group of graduate and undergraduate students, he is studying the interaction of proteins responsible for heart muscle contraction. Mutations in the genes of these proteins are responsible for HCM.
|The research of Douglas Root, associate professor of biological sciences, is leading to a better understanding of the most common cause of heart-related sudden death in people under 30.
"When we understand the mechanism of muscle contraction and its regulation at the atomic level, it will be possible to have a model that includes the molecular changes known to give rise to this disease," Root explains. Such a goal would have two benefits, he says. "We would be able to see how the hundreds of mutations are related, thereby clarifying routes to therapies, and genetic profiles could be analyzed as a diagnostic tool to determine if a patient carries mutations that could cause the disease," he says.
What, then, is this disease that can end a young life seemingly without warning? A person with hypertrophic (enlarged) cardiomyopathy (disease of the heart muscle) experiences a thickening of the septum, or wall, of the heart over time. This thickening — caused by an increase in the size, not number, of cardiac muscle cells and most frequently occurring in the left ventricle, or lower chamber — stiffens the heart wall, decreasing the efficiency with which the heart pumps.
|Researchers in Root's lab and collaborators at the National Institutes of Health isolate elastic portions of myosin molecules and stretch them with an atomic force microscope. They are studying the contributions of elasticity to muscle contraction at the atomic level.
In some cases, Root says, the heart can go into sudden cardiac arrest. The process that causes this arrest is not well understood. Some researchers point to a chaotic heart rhythm known as ventricular fibrillation as a cause of death. By most estimates, about 0.2 percent of the population has HCM, and heredity is a factor in a large majority of the cases. The disease occurs equally in both sexes and across races. In Root's research laboratory, he and his assistants are focusing on myosin and actin, two proteins that bind to one another and affect the contraction of the heart. "The disease can result from any of more than 150 mutations that can affect these proteins and several other proteins responsible for regulating contraction," he says. His work is not made any easier by the fact that more mutations are constantly being discovered. "Understanding the function of proteins at the molecular level would enable us to say that this change or that change is likely to give rise to the disease," Root says. Using sophisticated microscopic, spectroscopic and biochemical techniques, Root's team is able to observe single molecules of proteins. "We can dilute myosin down to a low concentration and add it to a surface coated with actin," he explains. "When the two proteins bind, we can tag the myosin fluorescently and watch the physical or structural characteristics of that myosin. "We can narrow down which part of the molecule is giving rise to the response we're seeing. If that's a hot spot for mutations that give rise to HCM, then we can say mutations in that region are likely to affect the myosin molecule important to the mechanism that contracts the heart."
|Graduate assistant Dipesh Patel analyzes the structural changes of proteins that occur when skeletal muscles contract.
HCM is often undiagnosed until it's too late. Those who die from the condition usually don't know they have it. Symptoms — including shortness of breath or fatigue upon physical exertion, rapid heartbeats, dizziness and fainting, and occasionally chest pain and cardiac arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms) — are often ignored. Even the characteristic thickening of the heart is not always due to HCM; ironically, the ventricle wall can become harmlessly enlarged due to physical conditioning.
Doctors may use echocardiography, which employs ultrasonic waves to visualize structural and functional abnormalities of the heart, to examine patients with such symptoms. The procedure can easily detect thickening in the wall of the ventricle. If the condition is found to be a result of HCM, family members can be genetically screened and those with mutations advised to make appropriate lifestyle changes, such as avoiding strenuous exercise or rigorous athletic competition, to minimize their risk. "Most people," Root says, "can live a normal life with HCM." Treatment varies with the severity of the condition. For some, medications such as beta blockers and calcium channel blockers, which help relax the heart and reduce the degree of obstruction, are effective in maintaining proper cardiac function; anti-arrhythmic drugs may also be used. A recently developed technique for treating the disease is alcohol ablation, which involves injecting alcohol directly into an artery that supplies blood to the extra muscle, resulting in the destruction of the muscle. It's still considered experimental. Some cases require more drastic intervention — myectomy, or surgical removal of the extra muscle. Pacemakers, implantable defibrillators and even heart transplants are also possibilities. One of the goals of Root's research is to provide a basis for developing new therapies for HCM. "If we find a common molecular mechanism affected by the variety of mutations that give rise to this disease," he says, "then it will become clear which aspects of muscle biochemistry should be targeted with drugs to ameliorate the condition."
Happily, Root's research will have applications for other muscle diseases such as other cardiomyopathies, nemaline myopathy (characterized by extreme muscle weakness) and muscular dystrophies. "These are all diseases that require understanding of muscle protein mechanisms at the atomic level," says Root. Protein research, he believes, can unlock the mysteries of any number of diseases. "A detailed understanding of proteomics (the cataloging of the identities, quantities, structures and function of proteins) can be critical to the handling of genetic diseases," he says. "While we have the sequence of the human genome, the 33,000 genes encode a large variety of protein structures. Until we understand how those structures function, it will not be possible to harvest all of the potential benefits from that DNA code."
For more information about Root and his research, go to www.biol.unt.edu/~droot/Index.html.


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Practice your acrylic product control & create.
CREATIONS with ACRYLIC including, nail extensions
is comprehensive and a full colour book offering photographic step by steps.
CREATIONS with ACRYLIC including, nail extensions
also includes inspirational images of nail extensions and natural nail overlays
for both hands and feet,
as well as creations made with acrylic.
A book to encourage enthusiasm.
LOUISE CALLAWAY has drawn from her professional experience within the nail industry, as a successful Nail Salon & Nail Training Academy owner, to bring the belief that dedication to education is the important factor that signifies the desire for development. With the benefit of her abilities and expertise Louise has written a collection of professional nail guide and books. "your imagination is your only limitation"
Comment posted.
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NUTURING a NOBLE NAIL Published May 12, 2009
NAILS & SHOES Published May 10, 2009
Salon Freehand Nail Art Published November 29, 2008
Creative with Nail Art Canes Published November 16, 2008


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Bethel College Commencement Planned for First Weekend in May
Posted by Marketing & Communication
This year, 582 students plan to participate in Bethel's two commencement ceremonies. Commencement for nontraditional programs, organizational management, Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) and Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing (BSN) completion will take place on Saturday, May 4 at 2:30 p.m. Traditional undergraduate and graduate programs commencement will be held on Sunday, May 5 at 2:30 p.m. Both ceremonies will take place in the Wiekamp Athletic Center. Bethel College Senior Vice President Dennis Engbrecht, Ph.D., will speak at the nontraditional student ceremony on May 4 and the Rev. William Hossler, president of the Missionary Church, will speak at the traditional and graduate student ceremony on May 5.


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Football at Boise State, 10/17/14, Photos by Geoff Thurner.
Football at Boise State, 10/17/14, Photos by Geoff Thurner, Copyright 2014.
Football Practice - 08-06-14 - Photos by Geoff Thurner, Copyright 2014.
Football Practice - 08-06-14 - Photos by Geoff Thurner, Copyright 2014.
Last updated on July 15, 2014
2013 (Sophomore): Switched from wide receiver to defensive back early in the season ... played in 11 games ... was the teams primary kick returner for much of the season, returning 28 kickoffs for an average of 21.5 yards ... his long kickoff return went for 56 yards against Rutgers and came when the Bulldogs were down by seven with 2:34 left to play, setting Fresno State up with the ball on the Rutgers 40-yard line ... he had a season-high seven kickoff returns for 181 yards in that win over the Scarlet Knights in the season opener ... recorded three tackles on the year, two of which came on sacks in back-to-back plays at Idaho ... recorded one carry for four yards in the Cal Poly victory, Sept. 7 ... finished the season with 605 all-purpose yards ... moved back to wide receiver in the spring of 2014.
2012 (Redshirt Freshman): Played in 12 games ... caught two passes for 73 yards on the year ... first catch went for 26 yards against San Diego State ... second catch was a 47-yard touchdown against Hawai'i ... had two rushes for three yards on the season ... converted from running back to wide receiver in fall camp.
2011 (Freshman): Redshirted.
High School: Ran for a total of 1,854 yards on 262 carries as a senior ... longest rush of the season went for 85 yards ... carried the ball 33 times against Mt. Whitney for a season-high ... had a season-high 311 rushing yards against Hanford ... recorded 29 rushing touchdowns ... helped the Rangers to an 8-4 mark in 2010 ... had 14 receptions for 92 yards and one touchdown ... had 12 kickoff returns for 206 yards with a 17.2 average ... longest return was 41 yards ... named second-team all-state and first-team All-Bee ... named WYL Offensive Player of the Year ... ran a 10.8 in the 100-meter and reached the finals of the state track meet.
Personal: Born in Santa Barbara, Calif. ... one of three children of Erica and Brent Root ... he likes to fish and wakeboard ... his favorite athlete is Emmitt Smith because he is a good role model ... biggest athletic thrill was his first touchdown on varsity during a rivalry game ... most admires his grandfather for telling him to play football when he was younger ... chose Fresno State because of the history, tradition, and honor that comes with wearing the Bulldog red ... also recruited by Cal, Arizona, Arizona State, Nevada, and Washington ... majoring in kinesiology.
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Topic: multichannel marketing
How Facebook's Autoplay Videos Are Ushering in a New Era of Silent Storytelling
The impact goes beyond your news feed
By Nicole Spector on Aug. 11, 2015 - 5:12 PM EDT
Getting aurally blasted by a loud, autoplaying video ad while you're browsing online is certainly one of the more annoying experiences you can have on the Internet. But when the volume…
Times Square Plus Facebook and WeChat Equals 54,000 Photo Submissions for HTC
Electronics seller likes results from unusual effort
By Christopher Heine on Feb. 11, 2014 - 11:45 AM EST
Brands don't typically allow campaign metrics to go public unless they've exceeded expectations. With that in mind, HTC today says a just-wrapped 11-week campaign that mixed global social media with…
Maaco Calls Twitter Sales Program 'Game-Changer'
Encouraged by 'Twestimates' despite modest beginning
By Christopher Heine on Apr. 24, 2013 - 5:17 PM EDT
Maaco, the collision repair and auto painting chain, offers some perspective to brands looking to monetize their Twitter presences. And it perhaps supplies traditional companies—that yet have taken social media…


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Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey said this morning his office has received more primary election ballots than he anticipated.
On Tuesday evening, Kimsey estimated that there were 15,000 ballots yet to be counted. He revised that figure to 21,000.
Kimsey said about 15,000 ballots will be counted today and included in the updated results, which will be released at 5 p.m. today.
Results will also be updated Thursday.
Kimsey said 3,954 ballots were dropped off Tuesday at the red ballot box in downtown Vancouver, 10,361 ballots were retrieved from drop-off locations and 6,512 ballots arrived in the mail today.
The closest race involves Clark County Commissioner Marc Boldt. Tuesday's results showed Republican David Madore in the lead by 250 votes over Democrat Roman Battan, with Boldt, a Republican, trailing Battan by 37 votes.
The top two finishers will advance to the Nov. 6 general election.
Tuesday's preliminary results reflected a voter turnout of 21 percent. Kimsey estimates the final turnout will be 31 percent.


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David Winston Pugh Jr.
Position: DT
Height: 6-2 Weight: 270 lbs.
Born: July 24, 1979 in Madison Heights, VA
High School: Amherst Co.
College: Virginia Tech (school history) (Pugh college stats)
Drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the 6th round (182nd overall) of the 2002 NFL Draft.
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 1 (13070th overall since 1950)


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I want to parse a string for specific submatches and output those - one submatch per line - into a file.
Essentially I would like to extract the value of each href-attribute:
$ cat Fin
AXBYC
$ echo Fin | [grep, sed, awk, ...?] > Fout
$ cat Fout
I tried few things with named tools but things don't work or are too complicated. I would like to perform this transformation within a single command line concatenating as few as possible commands with piping.


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May 3, 2012 9:15 AM
Kate says: "My fiancé and I are planning a wedding for next spring (hopefully May) in Baltimore. We're planning a somewhat traditional wedding, but we're more of a nontraditional couple (two women!), so I've been looking for a wedding dress that's slightly nontraditional. I've found it, and it's beyond perfect! It's the Reem Acra Twist Front Gown with Jeweled Sleeves, IN SILVER! Here's the kicker. it's absolutely the to-die-for dress of my dreams, but its nearly $5,000 price tag isn't at all in my budget. I keep thinking that there just HAS to be a knockoff or similar dress out there, something silver and fabulous that's close to the same style and might be possible for me to afford. I'm hoping to stay under $1,000, but am open to going a little beyond if necessary."
The good news, Kate, is that the dress you're looking for actually has some super affordable sisters - several of our finds were well under $400, never mind $1000. The (minor) catch is that some of our picks are sleeveless: we figure with all the money you save, you'll have enough left over for a tailor to add the jeweled cap sleeves.
1. Mignon VM650 Cap Sleeve Prom Dress ($458)
2. Column Square Neck Capped Sleeve Floor-length Sequined Evening Dress ($249)
3. Dessy Wedding Dress 1027 ($345)
4. Bari Jay Destination Wedding Dress 2012 with Detachable Straps ($208)
5. Mirabelle Gown ($625)
6. Nicole Miller Silk Crêpe de Chine Strapless Gown ($1,265)
Frustrated in your search for that perfect leather handbag, red stiletto pump, or whatever makes your heart go thump in the night? Click here to check out our requests for you, the reader, and to contact us, and we might do the shopping work for you in a future Personal Shopper feature!
Check out Sarah Seven too. Has one very very similar. Slightly above $1,000 I believe but so similar it may be worth it!
If you've got a product or service that you'd like to promote on Outblush, click here to find out about our advertising opportunities.
Outblush is a blog for girls who love to shop. Our staff digs up the best clothes, home stuff, beauty items, and more. New items are posted every day — bookmark us and check out:


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CAMAS/WASHOUGAL — East County Fire & Rescue still has space for a few more students in its 20-hour Community Emergency Response Team course.
The classes are 7 to 9:30 p.m. Fridays, April 13 and 20, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays, April 14 and 21 at East County Fire & Rescue Station No. 91, 600 N.E. 267th Ave., Camas. The $25 cost covers training supplies and materials. Class size is limited, and payment is due at time of registration. For registration or information, call 360-834-4908 or visit http://www.eastcofire-rescue.org.
The CERT program educates people about disaster preparedness and offers training in basic disaster response skills such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization and disaster medical operations. CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace after a disaster when professional responders are not immediately available.


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Coaching Tip Number 1 - Drills v Games
As players develop, their technique improves more rapidly than any other part of their game. They can usually learn to kick, catch, fist, block, solo etc. with a fair degree of comfort. The better players often practise these skills at home and come on faster than those who only rely on drills in coaching sessions once or twice a week.
What they find more difficult is to develop the ability to make the right decision in a game - when to pass, who to pass to, where to run, how to pass.
A coach who prepares a squad through sessions filled with drills, is only working at one part of the game.
How can a drill solve problems like 'forwards bunching' or 'lack of midfield support' or 'no width' or 'poor use of quick frees'? The answer is...it CAN'T!
If a player is a poor kicker of the ball, there is work done to solve that problem. What are we doing to help the player who takes the wrong option more often than the right one in a game?
Get working at games. Remember...Games = Problems. Start solving the problems!
Coaching Tip Number 2 - From Technique to Team play
One of the more difficult things to coach to young players is the need to modify their individual styles for the good of the team.
If you have spent time ensuring that players are comfortable on the ball, it means you have worked on kicking, catching, lifting, blocking, tackling, shooting, evasion skills and solo running.
The most attractive of these skills to a young player is very often 'solo running'.
The feeling the player gets when he/she can run while making a ball spin from toe to hand is tremendous. Many players want to use this technique as often as possible.
So, when you step in to coach team play and take players to another level, some see it as a denial of the right to try out this great skill of solo running.
However, it has to be done. There are no easy answers, but if you explain that you recognise their position and, at the same time, remind them that your job is to take them to higher and higher levels of play [i.e. adding more skills to their repertoire] you may find it easier to introduce.
Conditions, limits, modifications....whatever you choose to call them, must be set for players to experience the beauty of good teamwork and to learn how passing, support running and shooting can bring as good a feeling as individual solo running.
Remember.....you may only have to limit a few players at a time, rather than impose a blanket ban on all solo running. One trick is to take a team aside [e.g. in a 9v9 game] and choose two of the players from one team who must play the ball immediately. Only inform their team-mates [not the opposition] and let them respond to this for a five or ten minute spell. The roles may be rotated among the team to let all practise.
This lets you see how well two players can change their games to benefit teamplay and how quickly their team-mates learn to make themselves available for passes from them.
Try it out - soon!
Coaching Tip Number 3 - Cut The Queues!
One of the most annoying sights in coaching is a long queue of players lining up to take part in a drill or an exercise.
Who can state a valid reason for a queue of 8, 9 or 10 players [or more], each waiting in turn for two seconds of action?
All coaches, when designing drills or exercises, should look carefully at how the WORK:REST RATIO pans out.
If an exercise means that a player has 2-3 seconds of movement for a ball, followed by 30-40 seconds of lining up for the next bus, there is something wrong with the drill set-up.
Think the exercise through and divide the group or increase the number of footballs being used - do anything except let the queue continue to form and the players continue to lose out!
If the drill involves jogging, a good rule of thumb is a work:rest ratio of 1:1. Should the emphasis be on speed, then set a ratio of 1:4 or 1:5.
In effect, this means that you simply include two players in a queue for the jogging exercise and five or six players maximum in the speed drill. The numbers used will determine the work:rest ratio.
Coaching Tip Number 4 - Probables v Possibles
Many people will associate this title with Rugby. For years now, Rugby coaches and selectors have played 'probables v possibles' games when coaching. This simply means that they pick the strongest team on paper and play them as a unit. The opposition is made up of the remainder of the squad.
Ask any top Rugby coach and he'll tell you that this system helps in a number of ways:
Those players most likely to make up the first team get the opportunity to play together, get used to habits, patterns of play etc.
Those players on the 'possibles' who stand out and catch the eye will have done so against better opposition.
Those on the 'probables' who find it tough may find themselves replaced by a 'possible' who really wants a place.
In Gaelic Football we tend to take a squad of 30 players and play our strongest backs against our strongest forwards. There is nothing wrong with this if you wish to play like v like, but it will never give the best 15 a chance to play together, blend and prove themselves. Nor will it give the coach/selector a true picture of the reserve player who shines.
So, if you are blessed with a big squad, think about promoting the use of 'probables v possibles'. Go a step further and always 'bib' the probables in your own club colours. The task for every 'possible' is to win a bib and the task for every 'probable' is to retain it.
Coaching Tip Number 5 - Develop Your Shooting from Distance
Let's assume you have a squad of 30 players and only one pitch on which to train. You'd really like to work on shooting from distance in a game situation but the 15v15 set-up doesn't lend itself to it. Well, here's one recipe!
Take out two goalkeepers and put them in goals at either end. Set out a line of markers across the pitch about 30m from goal. Do likewise at the other end of the pitch. Now take your players and create four teams - red, blue, green, yellow [7 outfield players in each]. Play Red v Blue inside the zone created by the two lines of markers [i.e. in the middle 70m of a typical pitch].
No outfield player may enter the 30m zones close to either goal. Effectively these become the goalkeepers' areas only. Ask the 'keepers to take kick outs as normal and let play develop. To speed up play, the goalies should always have a spare ball set up for the next kick-out. Players may only score from outside these zones. Play a 10-minute game.
So...do the Greens and Yellows simply wait about and get cold while this game progresses? Not at all. If you think about it, the 30m zones at either end of the pitch should only be used for kick-outs. Why not set up a drill inside each zone, staying closer to the corners than to the goals? For example - run a tackling exercise for 4 minutes in one corner and a catching exercise in the other corner for the same period. The drills will not get in the way of the game. Swap the Greens and Yellows over, run the drills again and there's the 10 minutes used constructively.
Now play Greens v Yellows in the game and let the Reds and Blues work on the drills. Swap once more and you have a 45 minute session after warm-ups.
You'll find that the game not only promotes shooting from distance, but also shows players the value of ball being played quickly and accurately upfield rather than across the park. The game also forces players to work harder and to get the ball into the shooting area before the other team has an opportunity to regroup.
Coaching Tip Number 6 - The Three-Part Pitch
Here is one way to develop teamplay. It also allows you, the coach, to step back, spot where things are going wrong and move to fix them.
Think of the pitch as three separate zones: The first, Zone A, runs from your own team's end line to the 45m line. Zone B lies between the two 45m lines and Zone C is that section from the far 45m line to the opposition's end line. When your team is in possession, watch carefully what happens in each zone.
Priority in Zone A is 'KEEP BALL', with the emphasis on keeping possession through close passing and plenty of support play.
Once in Zone B, the focus changes to 'SET UP'. In this area a player should aim to use the ball quickly and directly to set up teammates who are inside the opposition's 45m line. The ball must not stay in this zone for any longer than 3-4 seconds or for more than 2 passes.
Zone C is the 'SCORE' zone. In here the aim is to get into position to either go for a score or to directly assist a score. Aim to reduce the passes in this zone to no more than 2 before a shot is taken.
NB. It does not matter which player is in which zone.....the task remains the same.
Coaching Tip Number 7 - Spot and Fix
Find the player with no technical problems in his or her game and I'll find you a leprechaun in return. All players need specific technical coaching at some time during their careers. Granted, this is best done at an early stage [e.g. between the ages of 7 and 11], but the reality is that coaches deal with many older players who still have problems with kicking, catching, tackling, blocking, evading, lifting, fist passing etc. that were probably not fixed years ago.
If you coach, then you should be able to 'spot and fix' faults in technique. To ignore such problems is tantamount to saying….'He never could do it and he never will'. Let's hope you're not the coach who recognises the problem, but prefers to work on physical fitness instead – there are plenty about! So, how do you fix once you have spotted?
The secret lies in the phrase 'Head, Hands, Feet for Better Technique'. If you watch a player perform a technique [e.g. a shot for a point] you must look for head position, hand position and feet position during the execution of the technique. This sounds so complicated and yet it isn't.
Take the example of a player kicking for a point with his right foot. More often than not, he misses to the right of the posts. Some coaches may try to solve the problem by asking the player to 'aim left', but that is like asking a golfer who slices to aim down another fairway so that the ball can curve back. Better to look for the following –
HEAD…is his/her head up as he/she kicks? This will cause the player to lean back and push the ball further to the right.
HANDS…is he/she dropping the ball two-handed, cross-handed or is he/she holding the ball too far from his body?
FEET….is his standing foot pointing nowhere near the target? Is he playing the ball off the outside of his/her boot?
Think about coaching through HEAD, HANDS, FEET.
Coaching Tip Number 8 - Gaelic Football's Lost Tribe
Is it not time that we rethought the role of half-forwards?
Flavour of the month is to by-pass this group when attacking and employ them more and more as defenders who track back to block opposition attacks and close in to look for breaks from midfield. More than any other group, we need half-forwards to help the team keep its shape.
A centre-half forward should be a creative player...one who orchestrates, who has great passing ability [preferably with both feet] and who has a tactical brain. Wing half-forwards must be blessed with both stamina and pace, for they are link players who have to fetch, carry and support more often than any other group.
So, how about looking at your own team! Have you a playmaker pulling the strings at CHF? Do your wing forwards have the necessary characteristics to take them through a game? Or have you simply created three extra defenders who help the defence and watch long balls fly over their heads at such a rate that a Derby horse would do well to get up in support?
Oh...and one more thing they should be able to do.......SCORE!
Coaching Tip Number 9 - The Three Second Game
One of the traits a good player has is the ability to look up when in possession and scan the area ahead. He/she is scanning in order to make the right decision.
It is this very decision-making process that we, as coaches, must help players to speed up. Too often we simply admire the player who appears to have an innate ability to receive the ball, scan and make the quick and proper decision. This allows us a 'get-out clause'....the most famous one in coaching.......
"You can't teach that....it's instinctive. You either have it or you don't."
Not so! You may not be able to coach players to the very high standards set by the instinctive footballer, but you can certainly close the gap and improve both players and team when doing so.
One of the easiest methods is by running the 'Three Second Game'. This simply means playing a match or a backs v forwards game and introducing the rule that allows each player a maximum count of '3' on the ball.
To highlight this, the coach should referee the game and think "1, 2, 3" when a player receives the ball. Should the ball be played on the count of '2' then the coach begins again as the next player receives the ball. Should any player still be in possession after the count of '3', a free may be awarded to the opposition. The same count applies to the free kick.
The 'Three Second' approach has proved much better than the traditional 'one toe-tap, one bounce' game, for many players took this too literally and made sure they got in a toe-tap and a bounce before scanning for possibilities. Counting to '3' forces more players to look up first and, indeed, leads to more team-mates making better-timed runs for passes.
A few coaches decry such conditions, saying they do not mirror the real game. The same coaches, however, never seem to be able to suggest an alternative way to help speed up decision-making. They still prefer to hide behind the call 'You can't teach that..it's instinctive'.
Which type of coach are you?
Coaching Tip Number 10 - 'Increasing the Traffic'
Many drills and practice exercises on the pitch are excellent, but often they do not mirror reality.
For example: A coach may run two or three drills in different areas of the pitch, all involving passing or catching or solo running or lifting etc. and all happening at the same time.
Small groups of players take part in each and there is always plenty of space in which to work. This is fine up to a point.
If coaches took two different drills, let players get used to them first and then moved the cones to superimpose the exercises one on top of the other at different angles, this would allow players to practise skills and techniques while others moved among them and around the same area.
Players who can learn to cope with 'increased traffic' in a smaller area will be able to carry this through to a game, where there are team-mates and opponents getting in the way of passes etc.
Go on...try it!


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Author Archives: Melba Kurman
If the Supreme Court gives universities greater control over the inventions created by their faculty and grad students, the Court should also require universities to publish metrics that shed light into how they are managing their invention portfolios. Continue reading
Have you ever lingered in a colleague's office after a particularly frustrating staff meeting, dissecting your boss's most recent veto of a potentially beneficial innovative new process or product? Continue reading
A few months ago, Bernie Knight, General Counsel of the USPTO, stated that in order to ensure optimal ROI on tax-payer-funded university research, the Patent Office would likely come out in support of giving universities stronger ownership rights. Continue reading
The "tech transfer health index" is a simple but powerful technique to quantify the impact and productivity of the entire long tail curve of technologies in a university's IP portfolio. Here's why we should adopt it. Continue reading
I've spent the past week combing thru almost 200 responses to the RFI on improving university commercialization issued last spring by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Continue reading
An effective university technology transfer model should take advantage of lessons learned from the current process, tap into the power of the free market, use today's internet technologies, and enlist emerging open innovation paradigms. The good news is that drastic change to today's university tech transfer process may not be necessary. Let's call this proposed model the "Plan B" approach since it introduces a second, alternative path to invention commercialization that would complement, rather than replace, the work of the university TTO. This proposed model would maintain the core of today's university tech transfer model, but would take advantage of the power of the free market, capture the long tail of invention licensing, and make use of open innovation licensing paradigms. In the Plan B approach, universities would give their TTO first right of refusal for new inventions, remaining the first step …
Successfully using small-scale, high risk, high reward pilot programs by Melba Kurman The President of the Windows Division at Microsoft, Steve Sinofsky, is fond of saying "don't ship the org chart." What does that mean? It means your product or service (in the software business, a product is completed when it is "shipped" to customers) should reflect your customers' needs, not your organization's internal structure and politics. Revenue-dependent organizations such as businesses, intuitively understand this, and if they don't, they go out of business. It's not so simple for university business units such as the technology transfer office. On campus, university business units are the campus administrative units that don't teach or do research. Let's start with the org chart part. U.S. research universities are split into two major service areas: the teaching and research portion (faculty and students) and the …


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Classic Sofa in the banker's-style strikes the perfect balance with traditional or contemporary decors. The rounded features of the Classic Sofa add a fresh approach to this time-honored design, appreciated by guests, students and administrators alike.
The traditional look is further enhanced by long-lasting comfort featuring Mocha-colored faux leather upholstery nicely accented with Cherry-finished legs and quality hardwood construction.
Affordably priced. Ships assembled, simply attach feet.


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While their tone is complex and sweet, their volume could use a tweak…
Triple-X banjos are well known for their complex tone, some referring to it as sublime: Lange design and engineering at its finest. Triple-X banjos are also known for their relatively quiet tone: Lange design and engineering not fully fulfilled. The reasons for this contrasting paradigm are found in detail on the Design page, but a comparatively thick pot and tone 'leakage' between the rim and pot are the likely reasons. That said there may be an improvement in tone between Early and Late Version Triple-Xs; a gap that was evident between the resonator and pot was eliminated with the updated Late Version.
Today's banjo owners have a wealth of banjo parts choices with which to improve and adjust the tone and volume of their instruments. On this page I discuss some things that may be done to tweak and 'improve' the Triple-X tone and volume.
A Baseline Triple-X Sound
To start, I have what I call a late version Triple-X Style A tenor banjo (Types and Styles). I am essentially the second owner, with the children of the original owner, a woman from Missouri, selling it to me on the promise that it will have a good home. Her children never heard her play it but the story goes she was very creative and played it in the 1930s. Purchasing it brand new in the early 1930s would have been entirely feasible. This is a Late Version Triple-X. Henry Stadlmair was marketing Triple-X in late 1926, and likely after that period with old stock. Music stores, such as the one where this Triple-X was purchased may have had stock of these for a few years.
More to the point: it is in original condition, with original friction tuners and calf-skin (or goatskin) head. When I purchased it I believed that I would have to replace the head and friction tuners. However, having almost no experience with banjo maintenance and set-up (thanks to Mike Keys for getting me started), I got it up-and-running with only a new 1/2 inch Gold tone tenor bridge, mismatched material 40-30-20-16 strings, and the minor tightening of the head. Re the latter, it was almost drum-tight when it arrived in the mail. I loosened it then carefully re-tightened. I now know why so many laud the tone of the Lange Triple-X banjo as being complex and sublime; the tone is simultaneously bright-bassy-harmonic-ringing — very pleasing I must say!
By the way, I am a Traditional music player, so it is tuned to GDAE. The string gauges appear to work well, although I've tried no others, and the friction tuners are actually working. I've already received from Bob Smakula the widely recommended Small Shaft Banjo Planet Banjo Tuners by ABM, Berlin — thanks, Bob! However, I do not yet feel the absolute need to install them. There is a small bit of reaming to do to get them to fit, plus, as mentioned, the friction tuners seem to be working OK. By the way, do not hesitate to contact Bob Smakula about anything banjo-related — he'll likely know what you need and goes the extra mile to assist you — highly recommended!
In its current condition I believe that this Triple-X banjo will provide a nice baseline from which to understand and tweak the sound — if it sounds good with a skin head I suspect the tone/volume may even be improved with a modern head. Very shortly I will be posting videos/sound clips in order to capture the baseline sound, with and without the resonator.
We have very few examples of Triple-X banjo clips online. The only video/soundclip I know of is of Jill McAuley performing an exceptionally good version of Paddy from Portlaw on her Triple-X Style A, Intermediate Version tenor; it sounds great, but her exceptional playing certainly helps! Jill's Triple-X set-up includes a Rennaissance head, custom bridge, and new ABM tuners. It will be interesting to compare this with that of the sound from my original skin head Triple-X.
More content on the way… ; )


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Elkhart County school officials discuss Indiana's potential loss of NCLB waiver
Indiana could lose a 2012 waiver that granted schools flexibility in measuring student success.
A 2012 waiver gave Indiana and other states some freedom from the strict requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
But recently the U.S. Department of Education let Indiana know that its wavier could be in jeopardy.
According to the Associated Press, the U.S. Education Department is concerned with how Indiana is working with low-performing schools, the state's teacher evaluation systems, and Indiana's decision to withdraw from the Common Core.
The federal education department outlined these concerns in a May 1 letter obtained by the Associated Press, placing Indiana's waiver into a conditional status.
Related Stories
Indiana's education department has until June 30 to respond.
If Indiana loses its NCLB waiver, schools in the state will revert to old requirements about how student success is measured.
Some local educators say losing the waiver would most impact Title I schools – schools with a high percentage of children from low-income families.
That's because Title I schools used to be required to pay for transportation to other schools for students who chose to leave the Title I school, and set aside funds for education services with outside contractors, according to Renee Cocanower, director of secondary curriculum for Concord Community Schools.
"The effect of that is less money for school-based interventions for students in need," she added.
There are 31 Title I schools in Elkhart County, according to a 2014 report from the state.
Jim Bennett, director of curriculum and instruction for Wa-Nee Schools, said he is not quite sure how the loss of the NCLB waiver would affect local schools.
But he wonders if school grades from the state would be affected.
Part of the NCLB requirements say that 100 percent of a schools' students should pass standardized tests. Under the waiver, Indiana schools have avoided that difficult-to-achieve benchmark.
"NCLB says that every kid…has to pass the test," Bennett said. "Well, that's probably not realistic for long-term purposes."
Kids who aren't yet proficient in English, who have special needs, or those who are just new to the school district will have issues passing the tests, Bennett pointed out. Indiana's waiver from NCLB allowed schools to work with those students and show their progress in different ways.
Cocanower, from Concord schools, said the effect losing the waiver may have on school grades is not clear yet.
Elkhart Community Schools spokeswoman Shawn Hannon said administrators are discussing the possible implications of Indiana losing the NCLB waiver.
But "we are waiting on guidance from the department of education," she said.
After the news broke that Indiana's NCLB waiver is on conditional status, Indiana School Superintendent Glenda Ritz said in a statement that she's willing to work with the federal education department to get the situation worked out.
"Moving forward, we will respond to USED within the next two months with amendments that capture steps we have taken to ensure full compliance with our flexibility waiver," Ritz said in a May 2 statement. "I look forward to working with Secretary (Arne) Duncan to improve education for all Indiana students."
Indiana's board of education is in the midst of talks with Ritz about what the education department is doing to secure the waiver.


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Helen Woodward Animal Center (HWAC) is a big name in animal rescue on the West Coast, but is quickly becoming a household name across the entire USA. It helps when big name partners reach out to them, helping get the word out about all of the incredible things that HWAC does not only for the animals but for the public through their educational center and with the programs they invite the community to attend.
The latest in a string of big name partners is the Keller Williams Realty group. They are helping to keep critters at the heart of the annual corporate day of giving. This PAW-mazing organization is doing their best to benefit Helen Woodward and the good people that work there.
This fantastic event took place on Thursday, May 8th when 47 volunteers from the local Keller Williams Realty branches will arrive at HWAC to extend their philanthropic paws to a variety of the Center's programs. The animal-loving group, decked out in red t-shirts bearing the statement "Give Where You Live," set out to do their part for the community on the company's annual day of giving – RED Day. Helen Woodward Animal Center's AniMeals Program, Therapeutic Riding Program, Orphaned Objects Resale Store, Education Department, Adoptions Department, Administration Building and Club Pet Facility all received tender, loving care from the kind-hearted organization.
Keller Williams Realty, Inc. has been recognized as the largest real estate franchise company in North America. They currently boast about 700 offices and 90,000 associates all around the world.
Recognized as the largest real estate franchise company in North America, Keller Williams Realty Inc. boasts approximately 700 offices and 90,000 associates around the world. The company was founded by Gary Keller and Joe Williams with the mission "to build careers worth having, businesses worth owning and lives worth living®" for its associates. In 2009, the company introduced its RED Day, an annual day of service held on the second Thursday of May. RED Day, which stands for Renew, Energize and Donate, encourages its associates to spend this special day away from their businesses serving worthy organizations and causes in their communities. HWAC was the lucky recipient of this year's generosity by the local Keller Williams branches.
The group of realtors arrived early Thursday morning with an impressive quantity of Center program "Wish List" items, including 20 lbs of carrots for Therapeutic Riding horses, 100 pounds of dog food and 60 pounds of cat food (packaged for delivery) for AniMeals recipients, towels and dog beds for Center adoptables, electronic equipment for Critter Camp, office supplies for the Center administration offices and an assortment of high quality, gently-used goods for the Orphaned Objects Resale Store.
The top-notch real estate firm dug right in to get their hands dirty; not afraid of a little dirt and hard work. In record time the group built multiple shade structures for the Center's Club Pet Facility – a necessity with the warm summer months rapidly approaching.
"We are always impressed when we have the good fortune of meeting individuals from this type of a company," said Helen Woodward Animal Center Vice President of Development Renee Resko. "They were so enthusiastic about finding every possible way to help our organization. The items they provided and the work they did translates to months of aid for our Center programs, and ultimately means more lives saved. We are incredibly grateful."
For information on how you or your organization can help Helen Woodward Animal Center, call (858) 756-4117 x 305 or click on www.animalcenter.org/volunteer! For information on Keller Williams Realty or their annual RED Day, click on www.kw.com.


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In headlines Larry Flynt dreamed of, JLo, Casper Smart and Sofie Vissa share Friday's bizarre news. As TMZ exclusively reported Jennifer Lopez and Casper Smart's breakup, which was apparently not instigated by alleged sexting with Sofie Vissa, the transsexual that reportedly sent JLo's ex sexy Instagram photos has been offered her own xxx adult film according to Radar Online.
Tabloid rumors blamed Casper Smart's sexting for the breakup with Jennifer Lopez. However, a source close to JLo and Smart told TMZ the pair split almost two months ago, before the alleged sexting scandal with transsexual Sofie Vissa occurred. The 44-year-old "Jenny From the Block" singer had been involved with the much younger, 26-year-old choreographer for more than two years, and according to TMZ, the breakup was amicable, the pair just "grew apart."
The TMZ source guffawed at the idea that Casper Smart would "knowingly text a transsexual person, he's not that guy." The informant went on to say, however, that Casper is single and can interact with anyone he wants to, after all "Smart is like a lot of single guys online that likes to look at T and A."
At the same time, Steve Hirsch of Vivid Entertainment, known for releasing a multitude of celebrity porn, offered the 23-year-old transsexual an xxx pornographic deal, with the working title, "DownLo with Sofie Vissa." In the letter to Vissa, Hirsch promised Sofie would be actively involved in casting the "Casper Smart lookalike," and although the adult film company "normally doesn't do transsexual celebrity tapes, an exception would be made" for Vissa. It hasn't been reported if Vissa will accept the proposal, but the offer gives Sofie "input into what sex acts would be performed."
According to Radar Online, Vivid Entertainment hasn't released how much Sofie Vissa would receive for the adult film, but the celebrity porn manufacturer is very interested in Sofie because she has "JLo looks." But, does she have Jennifer Lopez's greatest asset?
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