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What ever happened to mobile learning?
Even after years of anticipation, there continues to be significant excitement about the power and possibilities of emergent mobile protocols, platforms, and devices. There is also growing awareness of what this means for designers of learning solutions and experiences. Yet there are many unanswered questions about why the promise of mobile learning has been harder to achieve than many proponents had assumed it would be. I offer you here my thoughts about key variables likely to affect the short-term and long-term adoption of mobile learning as part of an enterprise learning strategy. You will be able to read more about these variables and others in The eLearning Guild's 360° Report on Mobile Learning, which will be available July 17.
Much of the current activity surrounding m-Learning has focused on exploring possibilities and methodologies for designing and creating learning content that can be produced once and reused on a variety of portable devices. "Portable devices" includes smart phones, ultra-portable computers, and the iPod/iPhone family. The mobile devices are already here, and, as eLearning Guild Research will show in the 360° Report on Mobile Learning, many (if not most) learners worldwide already have several of them (see Figure 1, from the Report). The number of learners so equipped gets larger every month. Therefore, for many learning designers, it makes sense to simply begin now to figure out how to develop a learning module that works on an iPhone or other mobile device. It certainly makes more sense, and is a better use of time and talent, than the classic top-down approach: considering what enterprise performance goals need to be achieved by a distributed mobile work force and then considering whether or not an iPhone provides a means of helping those mobile workers to achieve those performance goals. (Note to management: the mobile workers aren't waiting.)
Learning professionals will most likely find that, as with every other new wave of technology innovation, the obvious and self-evident promises and possibilities that mobile learning offers will have to get past any number of barriers. Mitigating factors include the state of essential IT infrastructures, availability of user support services, and an organizational culture that is committed to serving all members of the enterprise, no matter where they might be located.
It may be that the success of mobile learning, with a stronger focus on enterprise mobility, will depend on eventually finding common ground among learning designers, enterprise IT managers, line-of-business stakeholders, and enterprise end users. Learning designers must balance their hopes for solutions for connecting people with information, ideas, and each other regardless of physical location, time of day, or choice of digital transmissions and reception, with the realities of what it takes to support the needs of mobile workers, students, and citizens. The degree to which an enterprise is willing to support its mobile stakeholders' needs will be one of the most significant factors in determining whether or not mobile learning will provide a viable solution for serving its distributed performance support and professional development needs.
Goin' mobile
The "mobile Web" is coming into its own. The days of needing to be tethered to a desktop computer wired with Cat 5 Ethernet cable (see Jargon Glossary in Sidebar 1) to engage in and contribute to today's digital conversations are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Today, more than half a billion mobile telephones connect to the Internet every day, bringing information to where people need or want it, anytime, anywhere. Multiple millions of iPods and other MP3 players found in pockets and purses all over the world have changed expectations about how we create, capture, and share "occasionally connected" experiences. These experiences can involve images, animations, games, movies, videos, and music. Portable, relatively inexpensive personal GPS (global position services) devices continue to proliferate. Location-based services that can ride on the same technology infrastructures make it possible to "smart-find" just the right ATM, restaurant, or service provider of choice, just as one can get directions while driving across town.
The IBM Institute for Business Value recently predicted that nearly a billion people would access the mobile Internet by 2011, engaging in transactions and interactions representing $80 billion in Web services revenue. When queried about the kinds of mobile services people are most interested in purchasing, respondents noted that mapping (68%), banking (56%) and IM (56%) top the list of Mobile Web features they want most, followed closely by news (55%), mobile television (53%) and email (52%).
Many of us have had a taste of the conveniences and efficiencies that these mobile services promise, and there is a growing sense of anticipation about what these services will include in the near future. The eLearning Guild Research on Mobile Learning shows that, among e-Learning professionals, the results (see Figure 2) were significantly different from IBM's, with respect to types of activity, amount of activity, and their distribution between men and women. Of course, The Guild's results reflect actual current use, rather than respondents' interest in purchasing.
However, before people can do much of what they envision, mobile device makers are going to need to create handsets more geared to services, with infrastructure that is more scalable and cost-effective than today. IBM predicts that adoption of the mobile Web will be different around the world: in semiliterate areas, people will use low-cost handsets for access to voice and data services. In emerging markets, they'll go directly to high-end mobile platforms that provide services similar, or identical, to those available on PCs. In mature markets, adoption will be an extension of, and a complement to, PCs. (See the Information Week article by Gardiner in the Resources section at the end of this article.)
Key enterprise trends affecting mobility
To have a shot at broad adoption, mobile learning applications must be an integrated part of a larger organizational vision for building capacity through learning, education, training, and performance support. It must move past the point where people see it as "bleeding edge" or incidental, and find a home nested within existing enterprise operations. Without reliable and supported infrastructure, there is no possibility for a mobile deployment of any significance. Consequently, one of the arenas where mobile learning must find enterprise champions will be among those individuals responsible for enterprise IT. It will be just as important to establish a culture that prizes and invests in support for the distributed organization, one in which all enterprise functions, including learning, are supported equally.
Devices, networks and IT
In these early days of mobility, the focus on devices and networks continues because so much depends upon ensuring reliability, security, and ease of integration with existing infrastructure. Gray and Silva (See References) suggest that IT professionals are key members of any team hoping to explore the power and possibility of mobile learning, and are tracking the following device trends:
- Mobility is more than deploying smart phones and iPods on an ad hoc basis. Today, mobility has as much to do with moving from desktop computers to laptop computers, as it does with figuring out how to integrate smart phones into the existing network. Decoupling today's enterprise workers from their desktop computers continues to consume significant enterprise IT time, energy, and resources. While some mobile learning proponents suggest that a laptop may not be a mobile learning device, enterprise IT organizations are finding that converting from desktop to laptop and notebook computers has contributed significantly to the perception of value that comes from being "unplugged."
- Mobility is becoming a core IT initiative. As enterprises continue to increase their mobile voice and data spending, IT organizations are in a better position to spread the benefits of a mobile work style to a larger portion of users than ever before.
- Mobility, and the operating systems, devices, and applications associated with it, will be different for various users around the organization. As a result, many enterprises will implement mobility based on job roles, offering a different level of service to each disparate group, and especially for those whose responsibilities involve field support, field service, and sales.
- Productivity needs are driving enterprise mobility adoptions. Leading companies are thinking beyond just mobilizing applications – they're optimizing business processes, which often span multiple applications. For most enterprises, the pioneering mobile application pilot programs were wireless email and personal information management (PIM), including personalized contacts and calendars. Enterprises are beginning to mobilize more applications, including inventory management, sales force, customer-facing roles, ?eld service, and logistics. The logical conclusion is that the more that learning professionals can demonstrate productivity gains from mobile learning deployments, the more likely organizations will systematically mobilized them – sooner rather than later.
- Manufacturers will no longer optimize mobile devices for personal or business life only. As consumer electronics continue to encroach upon what used to be "business only" territory, the already murky line between personal and business lives is likely to blur even further.
mobility Enterprise
In a 2008 Forrester Research report, Pelino and co-authors define enterprise mobility as the ability of an enterprise to connect to people and to control assets from any location. Technologies needed to support enterprise mobility include wireless networks, mobile applications, middleware, devices, and security and management software. They note that there continues to be confusion over which wireless networks need to support speci?c kinds of enterprise mobility needs, particularly when considering relatively new technologies like WiMAX and 802.11n. They also note that enterprises want to know the pros, cons, and deployment issues associated with various wireless network options (e.g., WLAN, public Wi-Fi, WiMAX, EVDO, 3G, 4G, etc.). Along with increased interest in new types of mobile applications, there are corresponding concerns about who should have access to them, and how to cost-effectively deploy and maintain these applications.
3G: third generation mobile phone standards and technology. 3G enables wide-area wireless cellular voice telephony, video calls, and broadband wireless data, for a mobile environment
4G: fourth generation wireless communication, the successor to 3G. When implemented, 4G will provide a comprehensive IP (Internet Protocol) solution, and be able to connect users to voice, data, and streamed multimedia services on an "anytime, anywhere" basis at higher data rates than 3G
802.11: IEEE 802.11 is a set of standards for wireless local area network (WLAN) computer communication. These technologies are short-range, and not part of wireless cellular voice telephony
802.11n: a proposed amendment to the IEEE 802.11-2007 wireless networking standard, intended to significantly improve network throughput over previous standards (specifically, 802.11b and 802.11g). If achieved, this standard's potential 248 Mbps data rate will allow consumers to move beyond traditional wired Ethernet LANs. Expected release date is 2009
Cat 5 Ethernet Cable (also known as "Cable and Telephone"): a twisted pair cable type designed for high signal integrity. It is used in structured cabling for computer networks such as Ethernet. It also carries other signals such as basic voice services, token ring, and ATM. Over short distances, this cable can carry data at up to 155 Mbps.
Enterprise mesh: a wireless mesh network is a communications network made up of radio nodes organized in a mesh topology to increase the coverage area, and to improve reliability through redundancy
EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution): a digital mobile phone technology that allows increased data transmission rates and improved data transmission reliability. EDGE is usable for any packet-switched application, such as an Internet connection. EDGE can carry data speeds up to 236.8 Kbps in packet mode
EVDO (also EV-DO or EV): a telecommunications standard for the wireless transmission of data through radio signals, typically for broadband Internet access
GPRS (General Packet Radio Service): a packet-oriented Mobile Data Service available to users of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and IS-136 mobile phones. GPRS data rates range from 56 Kbps up to 114 Kbps. GPRS supports services such as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) access, Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), and Internet communication services such as email and World Wide Web access
Hotspot: a venue that offers Wi-Fi access
Wi-Fi: a trade name for popular wireless technology used in home networks, mobile phones, video games, and to support peer-to-peer connection of devices (also referred to as an ad hoc network). Uses IEEE 802.11 technology and standards, but implementation varies. Most commonly, Wi-Fi supports private, restricted networks in homes and offices. However, public Wi-Fi may make access publicly available at hotspots, provided either free of charge or to subscribers
WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access): a telecommunications technology that provides wireless data in a variety of ways, from point-to-point links to full mobile cellular type access. The WiMax Forum (industry group) describes WiMAX as "a standards-based technology enabling the delivery of last-mile wireless broadband access as an alternative to cable and DSL." WiMax is based on the IEEE 802.16 standard
WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network): refers to linking of two or more computers or devices through radio technology in a limited area. Users are able to move computers (usually laptops) and devices around within the coverage area, and still connect to the network. WLANs are nearly always based on IEEE 802.11 technology, but there are some rare competitors. Security, range, reliability, and slow speed of the connection are the four primary problems with current WLAN technology.
Many IT executives are confused about which mobile devices to support, which mobile platforms to use, and how to address changing requirements associated with the evolution of mobile devices (e.g., whether to support the iPhone). These decisions have an impact on the security of corporate information, and the range of devices and platform options becomes even more varied as employees bring personal mobile devices to work, further blurring the lines between personal and corporate activities.
Clearly, as more companies provide employees with mobile computing and remote access capabilities, establishing an enterprise-wide corporate mobility policy becomes increasingly important. Among the wide-ranging issues addressed by these policies are determining which employees should have mobile and remote access, identifying best practices for developing a corporate mobility policy, and the pros and cons of speci?c policies.
Ubiquitous mobility
Chris Silva and his colleagues had formerly suggested that the emergence of ubiquitous mobility would strongly influence enterprise mobility. Enterprises are increasingly connecting people, processes, and technologies outside the traditional boundaries of the enterprise. At first, Silva et al noted that enterprise users were interested in having access to personal business information – contacts, calendar, and email – when they were out of the office or while traveling on business. Today, users are seeing the value of taking their entire digital workplace with them.
Yet, as in the case of enterprise mobility, technologies associated with ubiquitous mobility have not yet evolved to a point where they are easily configurable. To achieve ubiquitous mobility, Silva notes that enterprises must first address migrating from desktop-heavy PC deployments to secure, wireless, laptop-centric deployments. Further, they must make this change while simultaneously embracing dual-mode (voice and data) mobile telephony. Consequently, the mix of network types that users must connect through must accommodate a variety of public cellular EVDO/EDGE/GPRS, private WLAN, public Wi-Fi hotspots, and enterprise mesh. In the future, they will also make use of carrier-owned 4G networks like WiMAX. This is going to make configuring wireless exceedingly complex for the average user.
Furthermore, current high-speed cellular services are not providing universal coverage in most markets. In addition to the relatively high penetration of base stations needed to blanket an area, the high cost of these base stations keeps the cost-per-byte on these networks high. The fact that mobile users must still manually choose which network will provide adequate coverage and speed complicates matters. Outside of the office, multiple choices exist from multiple sources. In addition to having to monitor coverage and speed, users must manually associate with, and re-authenticate across, each new network connection. Clearly, the current technology environment must continue to mature to attain the level of reliability needed to ensure that connections truly are available.


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I want to order the other game tonight like I did the other day, where I called 1-800-GET-SPORTS. I paid $24.95 for the game in HD that time, but the online guide at directv.com is offering me for $19.95, is that SD, and $24.95 is the HD price or did I get charged the $5 assistance fee to get the game by phone?
I've tried using the guide on my box - it will let me record the game and has a $ symbol, but won't tell me how much it is if I order by remote
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Guest Message by DevFuse
Mega March Madness Per Game
Started by tuff bob , Mar 26 2010 02:02 PM
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Posted 26 March 2010 - 02:02 PM
Half a DLB, Half a DVR.

subset: commoncrawl


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Max Payne 3
The first Max Payne was one of those games for which you would gather your friends to gather around you, if only to show off the beautiful graphics, the hard action, and of course the blindingly tough and innovative gameplay. Remember how you could occupy yourself for hours with the physics of a couple of paint bins and some cloths? All interwoven with the great bullet time and the dramatic anti-hero Max is.
But times change and 2001 is far behind us. Rockstar isn't scared of some risk and even less from controversial games and now launches Max Payne 3. And just like then this is a game you'll love to play, even if all in all little has changed compared to back then.
The story is again one of misery, corruption and lots of casualties but this time set in the heat of Sao Paolo. Max has fallen deeper than usual and as bodyguard with the necessary rehab issues he needs to fight old and new demons. However, Rockstar has found a good balance between drama and credibility of the characters, something they've always been good at.
The presentation got quite the paint job, one worthy of the year 2012. The cut-scenes are no longer in comic-style but there's a clear hommage to the previous style. Both the script and the voicing – and actually all the sound – are very atmospheric without getting over the top. Something we did see sometimes in previous Max Payne games. In 2001 the locations were already very memorable and also now thought has gone into how to make the places where you get into action as varied and appealing as possible.
Think of the very detailed and vivid slums, the aged buildings of which you just feel the decay, and the burning sun that drenches everything. More color, but that doesn't diminish the atmosphere, something you shouldn't underestimate as the gameplay of this series has always been quite limited: shooting as never before and with as much show as possible.
The variation won't come from bullet time but the 100th time you activate it it's still equally exciting and addictive as the first time thanks to its simple formula: beautiful graphics, tons of detail and interiors and objects that are just waiting to get destroyed, penetrated and broken. A marble elephant exploding in a glass shop is nothing against it!
Opponents fall by the dozens, not sparing any blood and injuries. An extra is that your last victim gets treated to a killcam shot (so you get to see all the gory details, you know?) and the possibility to add a couple of bullets extra. Not to be played with the faint at heart around.
The biggest difference with before is that jumping, activating bullet time and shooting isn't enough anymore. Your opponents aren't wussies and you'll need to take cover and use some tactics here and thre. Some may find this less appealing, I think it was necessary to make sure we aren't fed up with the game after an hour or so. On top of that the realistic vulnerability of Max is now more in line with the more realistic approach throughout the entire game. You do feel Rockstar doesn't reach the level of Epic or Naughty Dog when it comes to pure action sequences thoug. But of course that's not why we came here, even if the comparison isn't unlogical anymore due to the large focus on cover and the many parts where you get to do other things.
I do have to add to that that you get a plethora of choice in weapons to keep you happy throughout the entire campaign. From automatic to semi-automatic, to pistols and shotguns. Dual wielding is also an option for the smaller arms. Once finished you can go in Arcade mode and fight for higher scores or choose for the New York Minute in which time and killcount are crucial.
Still not enough? Then you can try the multiplayer but I found it a bit disappointing. Not that it's bad – you can have quite some fun with it and bullet time was well-implemented – but the unique aspects of the game tend to fade away and there are better options available. Gears of War for instance, or just about any serious FPS.
The most innovative options are Payne Killer where you need to try to become Max or his partner by killing them and then trying to stay alive, and Gang Wars. The latter is done in different rounds where you each time get an objective that changes throughout the game. Just a bit more immersive and interesting than the standard modes.
In the end Max Payne 3 is just the same as over ten years ago, but also totally not. The gameplay is still as addictive, but the presentation has leaped forward and the story as well as the character have grown and become more adult. Bullet time of course doesn't have the same impact but does guarantee tons of stylish fun and bloodshed in the surroundings that you'll love to shoot to pieces. Add to that a lead character who's become an icon and you know the campaign is rock solid. The multiplayer disappointed a bit but that's not why you would buy this game.
FIFA Street EA: The Big, Bad Wolf
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Recent Press Releases
Caplio R5 Major Specifications
|Effective 7.24 million pixels (total 7.41 million pixels), 1/2.5-inch primary color CCD
|Focal length: f=4.6-33 mm (equivalent to 28-200 mm for 35 mm cameras. With Step Zoom set, option of seven fixed length: 28 mm, 35 mm, 50 mm, 85 mm, 105 mm, 135 mm, and 200 mm) Brightness (F value): F 3.3 (Wide-angle)-4.8 (Telephoto)
| Vibration Correction
|CCD shift method
|Optical 7.1x zoom (equivalent to 28-200 mm for 35 mm filme cameras),
Digital zoom: 3.6x, Maximum:25.6x(equivalent to 720 mm) when used with optical zoom
Auto Resize Zoom: 4.8x 1, Maximum:34.1x 1(equivalent to 960 mm) when used with optical zoom
|Object Distance
|Approx. 0.3 m - ∞ (Wide), approx. 1.0 m - ∞ (Telephoto)
|Macro Object Distance
|Approx. 0.01 m - ∞ (Wide), approx. 0.14 m - ∞ (Telephoto)
|Resolution (pixels)
|Picture Mode 2
|F (Fine) / N (Normal)
|ISO Sensitivity
|Flash Off /Auto / Red-Eye Flash / Flash on / Flash Synchro
Flash Range 3: approx. 0. 2 m - 2.4 m (Wide-angle), approx. 0.14 m - 1.8 m (Telephoto)
|Auto Focus / Manual Focus / Snap / ∞ (includes AF auxiliary light)
|Exposure Adjustment
|TTL-CCD Metering Method: Multi (256 segments)/ Center weight/ Spot
|Exposure Compensation
|Manual Compensation (+2.0 to -2.0EV in 1/3EV steps), Auto Bracket Function (-0.5EV, ±0, +0.5EV)
|White Balance
|Auto / Fixed (Outdoors, Cloudy, Incandescent Lamp, Incandescent Lamp2, Fluorescent Lamp, Manual settings) / White Balance Bracket
|Recording Media
|SD Memory Card (3.3V: 32, 64, 128, 256, 512 MB, 1GB, 2GB) / Multi Media Card, Internal Memory (26MB)
| Storage Capacity 4
(No. of Pictures)
(Internal 26 MB Memory)
| Storage Capacity
(Internal 26 MB Memory)
| Storage Capacity
(File Sizes)
|Recording Mode
|Still Modes (Still, Continuous, S-Continuous, M-Continuous), Scene Modes (Portrait, Sports, Landscape, Nightscape, Skew correction, Text, Zoom Macro, High Sensitivity, My Setting 1 and 2), Movie Mode
|Recording Format
|LCD Monitor
|2.5 inch Transparent Amorphous Silicon TFT LCD (approx. 230,000 pixels)
|Self Timer
|Operating Time: approx. 10 sec./ 2 sec.
|Interval Timer
|Shooting interval: 5 sec. - 3 hours (in 5 sec. increments) 7
|PC Interface
|USB2.0 (Hi-Speed USB) mini-B, Choice of Ricoh original or Mass Storage driver 8
|AV Interface
|Audio Out/ Video Out
|Video Signal Method
|NTSC/PAL switchable
|96.0mm (W) x 55.0mm (H) x 26.0mm (D) (excluding projections)
|Approx. 140g (without battery, SD memory card, hand strap), Accessories approx. 30g (rechargeable battery, hand strap)
|Rechargeable battery (DB-60)x1, AC adaptor (AC-4c, optional accessories)
|Shooting Capacity 9
|Based on CIPA Standard: using the DB-60, approx. 380 pictures
|Operating Temperature
- 1:VGA image size
- 2:Only F (Fine) is available for 3072 x 2048 size. Only N (Normal) is available for 640×480 size.
- 3:When the flash range is set for ISO AUTO
- 4:Estimated number of still images it is possible to record
- 5:Maximum recording time of 330 min. 42 sec. is possible with a 2 GB SD card.
- 6:DCF is the abbreviation of JEITA standard "Design rule for Camera File system".
(It does not guarantee perfect inter-camera compatibility.)
- 7:With flash off
- 8:Mass Storage driver is compatible with Windows Me/2000/XP, Mac OS9.0-9.2.2, and Mac OSX10.1.2-10.4.6
It is not compatible with Windows 98/98SE or Mac OS8.6,
- 9:Shooting capacity was measured using CIPA-standard parameters. This is only an estimate, and performance may vary according to usage conditions.
- *Windows is a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S.A. and other countries.
- *Mac OS is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. in the U.S.A. and other countries.


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BRIDGETONLibrary board meets
The regularly scheduled Cumberland County Library Commission board meeting scheduled for Dec. 27, at 4:30 p.m. in the library's New Jersey Room has been cancelled. The next scheduled board meeting will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 20, at 4 p.m. in the previously scheduled location.
DEERFIELD TWP.Master Gardeners meeting
Cumberland County Master Gardeners training/accreditation courses begin in January and are held weekly until the end of May. Each three-hour course is open to the public for a fee of $20, which includes intensive topic training, handouts and refreshments. The January courses are as follows:
Jan. 10, Landscaping Design
Jan. 17, Indoor Plants
Jan. 24, Managing Insect & Disease Problems Starts With A Good
Jan. 31, Native Plants & Butterflies
All classes run from 9 a.m. until noon and are held at Rutgers Cooperative Extension Education Center, 291 Morton Ave., Rosenhayn. For further information or to register for a session, call 451-2800, ext. 4.
Youth Services meeting
The next Cumberland County Youth Services Advisory Council meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 21, beginning at 3 p.m. at the 4-H Center, 291 Morton Avenue, Rosenhayn.
VINELANDChurch blood drive
The Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Anthony in Vineland will host a Red Cross blood drive on Tuesday, Dec. 27, between 2 and 8 p.m. at the parish community center, 310 W. Wheat Road, Vineland. For information and to set an appointment to donate, call Stephanie Ballassi at (856) 453-7069.


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Financial difficulties are enormous when a taxpayer ends up owing money to the IRS. Tax liens and levies leave a lasting negative impact on an individual's finances. A tax lien, or "hold" to secure the IRS money owed, can stay on your credit report for up to seven years. This can affect many areas of your life, from buying a home to taking out a loan for a child's college tuition. With the guidance and quick action of a professional tax company, you can get the help you need with your IRS debt and have a tax settlement request submitted and accepted before the IRS sends a notice of levy.
Not all taxpayers are eligible for a tax resolution with the IRS. Owing the IRS does not necessarily entitle you to have a resolution. In some cases, the IRS may deem a taxpayer capable of paying their debt and require payment in full. On the other end of the spectrum of resolution are taxpayers who cannot financially pay the IRS without unfair financial hardship. These individuals are typically dealing with close to negative income at the end of each month. By working with a professional tax company, both taxpayers with extreme financial hardship and those who simply cannot afford the full amount, can get a tax settlement negotiated to their satisfaction.
There are three types of tax resolution that a taxpayer who owes the IRS may qualify to enter. Installment agreements are reached when a taxpayer agrees to pay all or most of their tax debt back to the government over the course of a maximum six years in monthly installments. An Offer In Compromise is a tax resolution in which a taxpayer is capable of paying most or some of their income tax debt within a shorter amount of time (six months to two years) and can show the IRS they meet the eligibility requirements.
Finally, taxpayers in financial hardship who can show the IRS they are close to or at negative income each month may qualify for Currently Not Collectible Status (CNC). CNC status enables delinquent taxpayers to have the relief of having the IRS stop tax collection actions. CNCs remain in effect until the tax debt expires or the individual who owed money to the IRS has a better financial status and can pay. A taxpayer who owes to the IRS can get relief quickly from a professional tax company. A financial investigation will begin immediately to determine what information the IRS has on the taxpayer. Comparing that data to what you submit to the professional tax company, the experts will make a decision on the best tax resolution for your case.
Anyone that owes money to the IRS can call now for a free consultation. Know your rights, understand your options and discover your best chances for success for getting tax relief. The IRS money you owe can be resolved with the experienced and trusted experts at a professional tax company. Call today for a free consultation!


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While anglers across South Louisiana have been cursing the recent west winds, Chas Champagne has been kneeling on rice, praying they stick around.
That's because the owner of Dockside Bait & Tackle in Slidell has discovered a hotspot that only produces fish when winds are out of that dreaded direction. Actually, "discover" is too strong a word. Champagne has long known the place is there, and he's fished it countless times over his life, but he said it's been especially productive lately with day after day of winds without a hint of east in them.
"On a west or southwest wind, that shoreline between the Twin Span and the Chef is an excellent place to fish, and the redfish are packed on the marsh line there," he said. "That place is really good."
Champagne first fished the stretch this season on Friday, and it's been paying off for him in spades ever since.
"What we're doing, when the clouds get out the way of the sun, we put the boat right up on the shoreline, and you can see the redfish. The sheepshead, as well, are everywhere over there," he said. "Then when the clouds kind of cover over the sun, we just start casting as many times as possible.
"When that sun's out, you just sit there on the bank and look for them. You don't even throw the bait until you see the fish."
Champagne said the fish are hitting absolutely anything. He's been working them over with ultraviolet and shrimp creole Matrix Shads on 1/4-ounce jigheads.
Because of the orientation of that shoreline, it's entirely protected on a westerly wind. Even if the rest of the lake is muddy, that shoreline is typically pretty, Champagne said.
The shoreline breaks open into a couple of ponds, and Champagne said there are definitely some fish holding at the mouths of the ponds. Deeper in the grass-rich ponds, though, the action is sporadic.
"I haven't seen much in the ponds," he said. "The fish are definitely favoring the actual Lake Pontchartrain shoreline. It's the most redfish I've ever seen on the Lake Pontchartrain shoreline."
An angler who works from the mouth of Irish Bayou to the Chef will eventually hit a line of rocks that were installed for shoreline protection. The first stretch of rocks is high and solid, but closer to the Chef, the line gets lower and thinner.
On a falling tide, the fish will ambush bait at the rock washouts, Champagne said.
The whole area is one of those hotspots you'll need to file away in your memory bank because the forecast for the next several days calls for east or southeast winds.
"If you get a north or east wind crashing into that shoreline, you can forget that," Champagne said. "It's a good place on a west or southwest wind. With that wind, there's not much else you can do in the lake, but that area stays clean and protected. It's very underutilized."
Anglers who remember last June know it probably won't be long until the wind switches to the west again, and when it does, the fish will be there. Until then, it probably doesn't matter because options abound on a southeast wind.
For a close-up map of the area, click here.


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|By Confetti (Confetti) on Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 05:35 pm: Edit
I know that the essay is supposed to be personal. But I was wondering how personal is too personal?
I wrote an essay last night, and I think it's the best of all the ones I've written so far. It starts out with a friend asking me to go drinking with him and when I decline, he asks me why. I then relay the fact that my father is an alcoholic and the day I realized he was and how it forced me to grow up (I say this in the essay, not when speaking with my friend). The essay doesn't whine. It isn't even that bitter since I maintain that I love my father. But it justifies my reasons for not drinking. The essay ends with me telling my friend how I want to have as much control as possible over my mind and body-- and how I know alcohol would not allow me to have that control. That's a very quick overview of the essay.
I'm not sure if it's appropriate though. Any comments?
|By The_Slc_Bug (The_Slc_Bug) on Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 05:41 pm: Edit
I certainly think it's appropriate, because you didn't take the alcohol. The essay is about your values. I personally think it will show that you are very mature, not afraid to discuss this with the adcom, and able to learn from the experience (as many people tend to follow the habits of their parents). If you want to send it to me, I will read it and let you know first-hand whether it is a good thing to send to the adcom. Email in profile.
|By Special_Foreign (Special_Foreign) on Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 05:45 pm: Edit
it could make or brake you depending on the quality of the essay. it would be a good thing if you're just telling about an event which was significant in your life. on the other hand depending on how you wrote it it could sound like you're just trying to win their pity and show and say to them through your essay "hey see i declined drinking i'm a great responsible person pick me pick me." have others read the essay and see what's the message it sends out. but no its not too personal. it might actually show them what type of person you are.
|By Confetti (Confetti) on Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 08:43 pm: Edit
ah, thank you guys for replying
i refuse to post my actual essay on the board for fear of unscrupulous lurkers.
but the_slc_bug: you've always seemed very nice and helpful in the posts you've made, so I will probably send you the essay (though im still editting it). And good luck with Cornell!
im afraid the subject may be a bit cliche. i guess im not sure, since my father is an alcoholic and i've become accustomed to it. sometimes i forget that's not normal. but still-- im afraid it could be cliche, though i tried to present it in a fresh manner.
special foreign: the essay really isn't whiny at all. im pretty humble, and the last thing i would ever write would be an essay that screamed, "im wonderful so pick me!" heh and i will definitely have other people read the essay
|By The_Slc_Bug (The_Slc_Bug) on Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 08:56 pm: Edit
Ha! Thanks.
Actually, my father is an alcoholic too, though doing better than he was when I was little. It is fairly common, but it just depends on the extent of the problem. It didn't really affect me much until my mother left him for it, and we still have arguments about his drinking. And one of my uncles just died last year of cirrhosis.
But the fact that it's common doesn't lessen the effects on a child or family, and if your experiences have touched you or caused you to learn something in any way, its not a bad thing to write about in the essay.
|By Confetti (Confetti) on Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 11:18 pm: Edit
the_slc_bug: i just sent it and im sorry
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BOSTON (AP) -- Materials from the Nobel Prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway's Cuban home are available to researchers for the first time at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
The 2,500 digitally scanned materials were housed at Hemingway's former Cuban estate, called the Finca Vigía, where he lived for 21 years. He died in 1961.
This material reflects Hemingway's everyday life in Cuba, said Susan Wrynn, an Ernest Hemingway curator at the Kennedy Library.
"It's a personal peek into his life -- it's just wonderful," Wrynn said.
This is the first time the material is available for examination in the United States. The collection includes car insurance for a 1941 Plymouth station wagon, a license to carry arms in Cuba, bull fighting tickets and even a recipe from his fourth wife, Mary Hemingway, for "Papa's Favorite Hamburger."
There is also a telegram from Dr. Anders Osterling of the Swedish Academy telling Ernest Hemingway that he has been awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature. A first wave of material was released to the library in 2008.
Hemingway's most famous works including "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "The Old Man and the Sea" were written at the Cuban residence.
The collection was made available through the efforts of the U.S. Finca Vigía Foundation under an agreement with the Cuban Council of National Heritage.
The Kennedy Library has the world's largest collection of Hemingway's life and work, containing 90 percent of his manuscript material.


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"Into the Woods" kicks off 2013 at Slidell Little Theatre on Jan. 18 with productions also planned for Jan. 19, 25, 26, 27 and Feb. 1, 2, 3. "In a far-off kingdom lived a fair maiden, a sad young lad and a childless baker with his wife." This is the beginning to "Into the Woods," which features an ambivalent Cinderella, a blood-thirsty Little Red Riding Hood, a Prince Charming with a roving eye, and a witch...who raps?
They're all among the cockeyed characters in James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim's fractured fairy tale.
What begins as a lively irreverent fantasy becomes a moving lesson about community responsibility and the the stories told to children.
One of Sondheim's most popular works, "Into the Woods" is a timeless yet relevant piece and a rare modern classic. NOTE: It is not appropriate for children 5 and younger. 'Into the Woods" is presented through special arrangement with MTI. Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; and, book by James Lapine. For information, including reservations, visit www.SlidellLittleTheatre.org.
Also On the Stage are:
Little Stars Performance Academy, in cooperation with Cross Gates Family Fitness, has begin registering children, 5 and older, for its spring session. This semester-long program for students is designed to be an enjoyable, in-depth study of dramatic techniques and theatrical performance in a fun and noncompetitive atmosphere. Academy director Rebecca Beckham, a veteran acting instructor, writer and seasoned producer of contemporary children's plays, designed the multifaceted curriculum and is directly involved in every aspect of instruction, rehearsal and production.The session begins Jan. 15 and ends May 7, with classes meeting every Tuesday (excluding the weeks of Mardi Gras and Spring Break) at Cross Gates Family Fitness, 200 North Military Road in Slidell. Ages 5-7 will meet from 5:30-6:30 p.m.; and ages 8 and older, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Mandatory rehearsal dates are May 6-10 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and the performance date is May 11 at 7 p.m. The fee is $150 for members and $175 for nonmembers, with monthly payment plans available. Sign up at Cross Gates Family Fitness Youth Activity Center by calling 985.643.2049 or call Little Stars Productions at 985.201.0099 for information.Cutting Edge Theater: is holding auditions for the regional premiere of "Sordid Lives" by Dell Shores. Auditions will be Jan. 13 at 6 p.m. "Sordid Lives" is a black comedy about white trash. Auditions will consist of cold readings from the script, with the exception of those auditioning for Bitsy Mae. Those auditioning for Bitsy Mae are asked to prepare roughly 16 bars of music to show vocal and guitar skills. The cast calls for several males, mid-30s to mid-50s; several females, mid-30s to mid-50s; and one male in their 20s; and one female, 20-30, fit to slender build who can sing and play guitar. Auditions will be held at Attractions Salon /Cutting Edge Theater, 747 Robert Blvd., Slidell. Arrive early to complete audition forms. Performance dates are April 5-20, with performances on Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. Successful candidates will receive a small stipend for each weekend of performance. For information, visit www.cuttingedgetheater.com or call 985.640.0333.
Le Cafe du Bon Temps provides venue for "All This Talk Is Killing Me": A talk show, murder mystery, dinner theater production of "All This Talk is Killing Me, " written by James Daab and directed by Justin "Spice Fox" Laperyouse, is coming to Slidell. Show dates are Jan. 12, 13 and 19. Doors will open at 6 p.m. The cost is $50 per person for this dinner theater production. For reservations, call 985.641.6067. Le Cafe du Bon Temps is located at 40261 U.S. 190 East, Slidell.
Submit announcements for On the Stage to email@example.com.


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Speaking on the House floor, the Detroit Democrat praised the Obama administration, military forces and the intelligence community for a job well done, but argued that the nation should scale back spending on military action and civilian aide in the country where bin Laden found refuge before fleeing to Pakistan.
"We could take a portion of that money to help rebuild our cities, rebuild our manufacturing capacity, rebuild our roads and bridges, build industrial parks and new schools," he said. "We're doing all of this right now in Afghanistan. We could do more of that right here at home for Americans.
"We could create jobs if we invest some of that in manufacturing, invest some of that in cities like Detroit, which are the basis or our manufacturing capacity."
In response, California Democratic Rep. John Garamendi told Clarke his "concern about the economy, and in a sense, the larger economy of the United States, is very, very well founded.
"There is no doubt that the economic and social strength of America is the foundation on which every other aspect of the war on terrorism must be fought," Garamendi said. "We have to deal with our economy and you're quite correct about the allocation of resources."
Earlier this week, Rep. John Conyers (D-Detroit) reiterated his long-held opposition to the so-called war on terror in a letter to President Barack Obama.
"Now is the time to end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, while also creating a new foreign policy in which terrorism is but one issue among many that policymakers must address when it comes to keeping Americans safe," he wrote.
"With the death of Osama Bin Laden, the Long War that began on 9/11 is finally over. It's time to bring our troops home, refocus our resources, reward the resiliency of the American people, and rededicate ourselves to rebuilding our nation."
The war in Afghanistan, which is the longest in U.S. history, costs the United States billions of dollars a year and has led to the deaths of more than 1,500 U.S. troops and at least 8,000 Afghan civilians, according to ABC News.
Obama has made the war his primary military focus since taking office, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday characterized bin Laden's death as "an opportunity to renew our resolve and redouble our efforts."
"In Afghanistan," she said, "we will continue taking the fight to al Qaeda and their Taliban allies, while working to support the Afghan people as they build a stronger government and begin to take responsibility for their own security."


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Millions of lead-laced toys and other unsafe products were cause for a demonstration by the United Steelworkers in Marion. They gathered outside the office of Representative Dan Burton demanding action against cheap goods that often come with an expensive price.
Rick Kramer knows first hand. He says, "My son...he's a Thomas the Train freak. He loves Thomas the Train."
But there was one thing Kramer's son didn't love."We had to take him in and have him tested for lead, you really don't think about it, until it happens to you and then you think, hey this could really impact people's lives."
The recall of 1.5 million Thomas the Tank Engine toys last June was just the beginning. Since then more than 6 million toys have been recalled.
Keith Olmstead, a representative from the United Steelworkers, said,"Numerous product recalls with toys, food, pet foods within last few months that's the things we need to stop."
Another big concern for the demonstrators is job security.
"We've lost a lot of jobs in this community due to stuff going to China," said the president of the Marion United Steelworkers Steve Shively."I hope doesn't get any worse than this."
The group wants Burton to co-sponsor the U.S. Food and Product Responsibility Act which would require distributors to prove they can financially cover the risks associated with recalls.
Burton agrees with the protestors intent, but thinks the bill they are promoting could have unintended consequences for small business in America. The bill will be introduced in the U.S. House by Representative Pete Visclosky next week.
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Lisbon Schools renewing drug-testing program; expanding online school
By TOM GIAMBRONI
Staff Writer
LISBON – The Lisbon school district will renew its drug-testing program and online school for a third year after the board voted to do so at this week's meeting.
Implemented at the start of the 2012-13 school year, the policy requires all student participating in sports to be tested for alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and tobacco, among other things. Students participating in non-athletic activities are subject to random tests, with 20 percent chosen during the testing period. Athletes are also to be included in the random testing.
Anyone testing positive is allowed to continue participating if they enroll in a treatment/counseling program and stay clean. A third violation results in a one-year suspension from participation, and fourth violation will result in a permanent ban.
Superintendent Don Thompson told the board they have been pleased with the program, especially its emphasis on treatment over punishment.
Lisbon's online school was begun the same year in an attempt to stop the loss of students to cyber schools and the state funding that goes with them – $5,700 per student.
Online coordinator Jim Watt reported at the April board meeting that of the 27 students who started the year enrolled in the program, only four withdrew. Approximately 26 students completed the online school the previous year. Meanwhile, the number of Lisbon students attending other cyber schools has dropped from 61 to 15 over the past several years.
Lisbon's online school is being expanded this upcoming year to include an elementary school curriculum because they have 14 elementary school students currently enrolled in other cyber schools.
Thompson said the online school is paying off all the way around, noting it costs $30,00 to $35,000 per year, which includes the portion of Watt's salary counted towards the program. Retaining 23 students resulted in an additional $131,110 in state funding for the district that would have likely gone to another cyber school.
In other action, the board formally agreed to join with three other school districts to share bus services, starting this fall. The other districts are Beaver Local, the county Educational Service Center and the county Board of Developmental Disabilities. Thompson said joining with the others to share dispatching and other services is expected to save the district $10,000 per year.
The board also awarded the following head coaching contracts for the fall sports season: football, Jim Tsilimos; volleyball, Cara Nyardy; golf, Jason Thompson; cross country, Jim Watt.
Thompson said Watt is the only new addition, and he replaces Kathy Randolph, who took a job in the Southern Local school district.


text: A week ago, we let you know that comedians Jeffrey Ross and Gilbert Gottfried would soon star in Atom.com's original new series M'Larky, a twisted take on cop dramas. Well, the premiere and second episodes just went live and we couldn't wait to share it with you. Actually, that's a lie. We want you to watch the trailer (right below) first so you get a good sense of what you're in for the rest of the season. And then, do check out the first two episodes. The next episode will go live on May 25. We're pretty sure you're going to enjoy it.


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Do you have links to any of the articles you have read?
I have read a lot of information regarding obesity and there is the oft quoted association between obesity and systemic inflamation, with the inference that it is the abundance of fat which results in excess cytokines that cause inflamation.
Reading in more with regard to leptins role in the immune system and the causes of elevated leptin levels I am starting to wonder if the entire process is not an immune response by the body.
So, say we have the body finding itself in a defensive position, under siege from excessive carbohydrate, Omega 6, AGE's, environmental toxins etc. so it ramps up the immune system to process, eject or store & contain the toxic overload, hence we have a weight gain situation which goes hand in hand with higher leptin levels, which also set a new baseline level for inflamation.
As Leptin level is roughly corrolated to adipose tissue, does this then suggest that the elevated state of inflamation is actually required to maintain the containment process within the adipose tissue and elswhere in the body to deal with toxins slipping through the containment lines.
Whilst we continue to push crap into our mouths, this process is continuously being ramped up.
Once we decide we can do better, then by reducing the crap going in, allows the body to better deal with and repair existing damage, but there is still the toxic dump in the adipose tissue that needs to be eliminated. So this would suggest that until the rest of the body is healed to some degree can the inflamation begin to subside gradually, but only at the rate with which the body can process the toxins coming out of the adipose tissue.
So this hypothesis is that obesity is the desired result of inflamation enacted by the immune system.
The article's and study's below suggests toxins are released during weight loss.
If this is the case, then this begs the question of whether it is actually healthy to force a weight loss situation by calorie restriction, or is it more appropriate to assist the body by restricting the toxins ingested and providing it with nutrients density and allowing the body to deal with detoxing as it deems appropriate?
Should CICO be pronounced SIcKO?
Last edited by Omni; 04-17-2013 at 11:46 PM.
Do you have links to any of the articles you have read?
Now when I decrease calories, I really eat clean. Meat, fish, eggs, butter, CO, and cooked greens and tomatoes probably make up about 95% of my food intake.
"Right is right, even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong, even if everyone is doing it." - St. Augustine
Who says back fat is a bad thing? Maybe on a hairy guy at the beach, but not on a crab.
I would think that a smarter, more evolved, human body will in the future dispose of the toxins as they presented themselves rather than holding onto them in adipose tissue. It is a difficult situation we have put ourselves into. Sort of like storing nuclear waste. Everything is fine until the drums start to leak!
Some of you may die, but that is a risk I'm willing to take.
Now the issue with any testing we only get a result for what we test for, hence half of the problem is deciding what to test for, so what else was in the fat tissue, did those individual's have those toxins because we can't clear them or were their bodies dealing with more pressing issues, hence those chemicals were contained to be dealt with in the future.
I don't know much about environmental toxins. Can DDT ever be gotten rid of entirely? I know there are some metals that once you 'got 'em,' you're stuck with them.
I don't think there will be one answer to obesity. I was encouraged by the experiments done on the mice who'd had gastric bypass surgery and what injecting their post surgery intestinal flora into obese mice did. But I think there will be many components such as immune response, genetics, etc.
Any new information helps. The "eat less you stupid fatty pants" model certainly isn't working.
"Right is right, even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong, even if everyone is doing it." - St. Augustine
Who says back fat is a bad thing? Maybe on a hairy guy at the beach, but not on a crab.
Here's my theory. I'm sure there are many other theories that could work but this is mine.
Obesity starts because a person is not getting enough nutrients from food. This leads to hunger. Hunger despite adequate calories. Hunger leads to eating. You eat more calories than you need because your body has not satisfied its needs. The hunger is why diets are very difficult. It is hard to overcome such a fundamental biological urge.
Because it is a fundamental biological urge, we give in. But we are bombarded in our culture with the word "gluttony" and if we're women there's an additional layer of shame piled on top of this. We turn to junk foods. We eat in secret. We binge. We develop eating disorders.
If we are poor or of ordinary income and just not that into the whole "health food scene" we'll shop in stores that provide industrially produced foods that are nutrient deficient. So even when we do try to eat well and proper, we'll still be sabotaging our biology.
The nutrients we don't get enough of are the ones in saturated animal fat from healthy animals, real vitamin A like you get from liver, trace minerals that modern foods are becoming very deficient in, Vitamin D because we all wear sun block and avoid the sun, real protein from animals, choline from the egg yolks we aren't supposed to enjoy, Omega 3, etc. So when we try to eat "healthy" or restrict calories, we tend to avoid these nutrients. This only makes the situation worse. We become malnourished.
The Primal Blueprint works because we're told to move toward the foods that provide the nutrients we really need and stay away from the substitutes we've been taught are healthier but really aren't and to also stay away from the junk foods everybody knows are bad. Isn't it interesting how similar the so-called healthy foods are to the junk foods? The Omega 6 fats are in both, the difference between whole grain and refined grain is nil, meat as a condiment (where's the beef?) is equal to both, both a junk food diet and a "healthy" diet are high in high glycemic index carbohydrates.
We still have to restrict calories to lose weight. But it is so much easier to do when the food we do eat has adequate nutrients. There is less hunger. The food is delicious and satisfying. We can eat less if the food is nutrient dense. We feel better. We have energy for exercise. Our bodies return to something closer to normal. That some of us don't return to normal easily is probably testament to the damage that has been done by years of malnutrition and endocrine disruption.
Basically my theory revolves around gnolls.org Why we are hungry series, the recent article about the science of junk food, and that article about the healthiness of people in Victorian England. I think the gutsense guy was hinting at these things in his never ending series.
Why Are We Hungry? Part I: What Is Hunger? Liking Vs. Wanting, Satiation Vs. Satiety - GNOLLS.ORG
How the Mid-Victorians Worked, Ate and Died
Female, 5'3", 50, Max squat: 202.5lbs. Max deadlift: 225 x 3.
I do think Obesity is very much a Hydra (greek mythology) type of situation and nutrition, overconsumption, genetics and behaviour all come to play a role.
The main issue I see is there are significant exceptions to all of these, maybe that is just part of the multifactorial nature of obesisty or maybe it's because these things only address some aspects of the problem. One of the triggers for me to go down this path was reading about some of the Omega 6 studies, general findings indicating that with over 8% of calories being O6 always resulted in weight gain, whether the diet was isocaloric or not.
Then I have also seen studies with overfeeding that did not result in any weight gain, so overfeeding to gain nutrition does not seem to be the key.
The other component that I do not believe is adequately explained elswhere is the issue of plateaus, that refuse to be broken by caloric restriction, that's some serious determination to hold that fat in place by the body to risk significant metabolic dysfunction just to hold onto a bit of fat, I don't find the starvation response adequately explains this in obese individuals.
The logic seems, for me, to suggest releasing what's in the adipose tissue is far worse than downregulating metabolism.
The more I read the more I find that the body is far smarter and more purposeful than we give it credit for and everything that we have considered as an abberant response in the past, falls into the most logical response once enough information becomes available, so to that end, without an adequate explanation for a seemingly abberant response, I assume it is logical and we just need to look deeper to understand.
The gradual detoxification through good nutrition does seem the best explaination for the majority of weight loss anomolies IMO at this stage.
Everything the body does is intelligent every time. It's an intelligent response to circumstances that we put it in. Most chronic diseases are simply intelligent physiological adaptations to a stress that would have killed you outright should those adaptations not been made.
Chris Masterjohn actually did a talk where he explained diabetes as an intelligent response quite well.


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Police said Thursday that a Davenport couple manufactured methamphetamine in the presence of their 21-month-old child.
auren Smeltzer and Joshua Stalder were arrested early Thursday after police found meth in the home and materials used to make the drug.
Both face felony drug charges, as well as a misdemeanor child endangerment charge.
The Quad-City Times newspaper reports the child may be tested for meth exposure. The child has been turned over to a relative.
The couple remains at the Scott County Jail.


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Research Topics
Heng Sopheab
Detail Information
- Community action for preventing HIV in Cambodia: evaluation of a 3-year projectHeng Sopheab
National Center for HIV AIDS, Dermatology and STD, 170 Preah Sihanouk Blvd, Boeung Keng Korng I Quarter, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Health Policy Plan 23:277-87. 2008..The project is likely to have powerful long-term effects through strengthening of capacity and establishment of systems for the national programme...
- Sustained high prevalence of sexually transmitted infections among female sex workers in Cambodia: high turnover seriously challenges the 100% Condom Use ProgrammeHeng Sopheab
National Center for HIV AIDS, Dermatology and STDs, Cambodia
BMC Infect Dis 8:167. 2008..In 2005, we conducted a sexually transmitted infection (STI) survey among FSWs. This paper presents the STI prevalence and related risk factors, and discusses prevalence trends in the context of the 100% CUP in Cambodia...
- Distribution of HIV in Cambodia: findings from the first national population surveyHeng Sopheab
National Center for HIV AIDS, Dermatology and STDs, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
AIDS 23:1389-95. 2009..A limited number of studies in Asia have investigated HIV transmission in the general population in order to better guide preventive efforts. We examine HIV prevalence patterns in men and women aged 15-49 years in Cambodia...
- HIV-related risk behaviors in Cambodia and effects of mobilityHeng Sopheab
National Center for HIV AIDS, Dermatology and STDs, Ministry of Health, Cambodia
J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 41:81-6. 2006..To study HIV risk behaviors in different population groups, linkages to bridge populations, and to examine factors affecting such behaviors and links...
- Current HIV/AIDS/STI epidemic: intervention programs in Cambodia, 1993-2003Vonthanak Saphonn
The National Center for HIV AIDS, Dermatology and STDs, Ministry of Health, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
AIDS Educ Prev 16:64-77. 2004..More research and prevention programs should focus on the vulnerable populations. HIV/AIDS modeling indicates that Cambodia needs to prepare for increasingly large numbers of AIDS patients who will require expensive medical care...
- Changing behaviors and patterns among Cambodian sex workers: 1997-2003Pamina M Gorbach
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 900095, USA
J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 42:242-7. 2006..Identify patterns and behaviors among direct and indirect female sex workers (DFSWs and IDFSWs, respectively) across Cambodia's 5 major cities from 1997 to 2003...


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"Thanks to The South Whidbey Record (Some residents forced to vote by mail, Aug. 4) for helping to inform the community about the vote-by-mail implementation. There are several precincts on South Whidbey and several in Oak Harbor that have been designated vote-by-mail. RCW 29.36.120 allows this process when a precinct has fewer than 200 active registered voters, not including permanent absentee voters. The county auditor may declare that the entire precinct will vote by mail.Let me tell you some of the factors in my decision:The trend toward mail voting. When I took office in November 1997, there were 7,739 absentee voters, or about 19 percent, compared to current registration. In 1998, the percentage had grown to 33 percent, and in November, 2000, it had reached 50.5 percent. The number of absentee voters has multiplied about two times in less than four years. The cost of operating a polling place. The costs of any election are wages, ballots, envelopes, postage, other supplies, rental of facilities, maintenance of equipment, and the capital investment in the ballot tabulation equipment and software. Each new VBM precinct will have added postage, envelopes, and wages (for processing the returned ballot,) but I can mail a ballot to the maximum number of new VBM voters, and process it when it is returned, for about 50 cents each, or $1,200. A precinct has three board workers on election day for 14 to 16 hours. Together they are paid about $308 for that day, so these 12 precincts cost about $3,696.00. This does not include any other election cost.Staffing the polling places. My staff is having increasing difficulty scheduling experienced workers and finding new people to train. The hours are long and often tedious because not many people vote during the day. They are wonderful public servants, but there are too few of them. Their ranks have been reduced by fewer stay-at-home parents, more snowbirds, and general attrition.Finding polling facilities. Schools are required to allow voting at their facilities, but the fact is that most schools don't want polling places. They are not unpatriotic, but they are short of classroom space, short of parking, and long on concerns about security. To them, elections mean a lot of cars blocking their driveways and strangers walking into their building. Facilities must meet ADA requirements. It's hard to find this in the older buildings that populate Island County. They must have restrooms available for the workers who are there for 14 or 16 hours. There must be parking. Hopefully, the building has a phone, but not all of them do. Workers bring their own cellphones, but the effectiveness depends on the location. Voter registration list maintenance. We are required to perform annual voter registration list maintenance procedures, which rely heavily on mailing to voters. Mailing ballots (which are not forwardable) to voters for an election satisfies this requirement, so we can a Changing to VBM for eligible precincts will allow us to use our current equipment more efficiently, and spare us the expense of purchasing more.Increased voter turnout. Perhaps the most important benefit will be increased voter turnout. Mail balloting produces about 85 percent turnout, as opposed to an average 65 percent for poll voters. People are reminded by the arrival of the ballot, and they have a larger window of opportunity to cast their ballot.Who pays the cost of elections? All tax dollars lead to the taxpayer, of course, but the cost of taxing district elections which comprise the odd-year elections is paid from the budgets of the towns, fire districts, port districts, and other smaller districts with small revenues. In even years, the cost is paid by Island County, not the state.My decision was neither arbitrary nor capricious. The factors listed above may not persuade you to like my decision, but I hope it will help you understand the reasons. Any properly completed and sealed mail ballot can be dropped off at any polling place, so if mailing your ballot seems too impersonal, please feel free to deliver it to the ballot box in the nearest polling place. All of the usual polling places will be open except there will be no workers for the VBM precincts. Thank you for your interest in your community and elections. We are all in this together.Suzanne Sinclair is the elected Island County Auditor. "
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Splash DamageBlogETQW Official Competition Mod Released
Splash Damage Blog
ETQW Official Competition Mod Released
Submitted by badman on Fri, 06/20/2008 - 12:12
The Official Competition Mod for Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars is here! The mod allows server admins and tournament organizers to easily implement and enforce specific rule-sets via a host of new customization options. An extensive Wiki page detailing the features of the mod and how to use them can be found here in the Splash Damage Wiki. You can grab the mod from the mirrors below:
- etqw.hu
- FileFront
- PlanetQuakeWars.net
- QuakeWars.fr
- Quake Wars Territory
- Wolfenstein City
- Wolfmap.de
- Official .torrent
More mirrors will be added as we get them. We are also planning to release the Competition Mod source code in the near future so that you can use it for your own Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars mods.
1 Comments
Just one question, In the in-game server list what gametype are these competition mod servers supposed to be showing up as? Competition? The only mods I see running are etqwpro and a handfull of other ones, but I see no Competition servers up.
Posted on 24 June, 2008 - 15:30


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WINSLOW -- A homeless man was arrested Friday afternoon after he allegedly approached and followed a group of schoolchildren as they exited a school bus, according to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.
Lewis Mills, 36, was charged with attempted aggravated sexual assault and is being held at the Camden County Correction Facility in lieu of $50,000.
None of the children were touched or injured.


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As you can see, STDs are a growing epidemic in Anaheim, California and nationwide. Protect yourself by practicing safe sex.


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The cost-of-war clock showing the rapidly rising U.S. expenditures on the war in Afghanistan has begun to tick slower.
There are fewer soldiers from the Alabama National Guard in harm's way.And Robert Horton, who has tracked every death from Alabama since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has not had to add as many names and pictures to a memorial for fallen service members at the old Alabama Supreme Court chamber in Montgomery.
"Fortunately, we have not lost as many Alabamians in the war on terror as we have in past years," said Horton, a spokesman at the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs who began logging war deaths when he was at the National Guard.
In the year since AL.com highlighted the cost of war in Afghanistan – in financial and human terms – the state has lost one soldier in combat. Pvt. Errol "Elijah" Duran Aster Milliard, a combat engineer, died on the Fourth of July in the city of Shewan in the Farah Province of Afghanistan when an insurgent lobbed a rocket-propelled grenade at his unit.
Milliard was the 139th Alabamian in service since 9/11, according to military records. Horton said the memorial in the state capital would be updated next year to include Milliard.
"There's a reason that we want to honor them and make sure the public will understand the cost of war and the cost of freedom," he said.
'Valley between peaks'
The reason for the slowdown in spending and casualties is that the United States has withdrawn from the war in Iraq and is winding down operations in Afghanistan. The current plan calls for beginning that drawdown in earnest next year and completing it by 2017.
But experts caution that costs are likely to rise again as the United States bears the extra expenses associated with moving tens of thousands of service members and their equipment halfway around the world.
"I think we're in a valley between peaks," said Jo Comerford, executive director of the Massachusetts-based National Priorities Project. "Leaving anywhere is almost as expensive as going. … Getting out well will be expensive."
She said those costs include transportation expenses, security and humanitarian needs and replacing lost and damaged equipment that will not return home.
Even as the soldiers leave, Comerford said, the United States will be incurring expenses in the form of aid, training local security forces and other costs. Those expenses are hard to predict, she said.
"People aren't really sure what it's going to take to keep Afghanistan strong, stable and vibrant," she said.
One thing is not in doubt: The 12-year war effort has been expensive. The Afghan war has cost $664.19 billion. Throw in the $815 billion the country spent on the war in Iraq, the nation has invested almost $1.5 trillion on war. It has climbed by about $100,000 since this time last year.
A variety of cost-of-war clocks on the organization's web site tick off the second-by-second costs, broken down by state, congressional district and some cities and counties. For instance, Alabama taxpayers' share of the war since 2001 is $109,633 per hour. The total exceeds $7 billion – and counting.
That ranges from $4,178 per hour in Birmingham (total cost $268.8 million) to $52 per hour fin tiny Hokes Bluff in Etowah County (total cost $3.36 million).
The cost assigned to taxpayers in other major Alabama cities include:
- Huntsville: $7,025 per hour, for a total cost of $451.8 million.
- Montgomery: $5,041 per hour, for a total cost of $324.2 million.
- Mobile: $4,565 per hour for a total cost of $293.6 million.
- Tuscaloosa: $2,218 per hour, for a total cost of $142.7 million.
To find the cost to taxpayers in your city or county, click here. The website also offers a look at potential tradeoffs from the war.
Alabama's share of the war in Afghanistan, for instance, could have paid for 9,710 elementary school teachers for the last 12 years. Birmingham's share would have paid for 446 cops on the street during the duration of the war.
Mobile's share could have paid for 3,000 students to enroll in Head Start classes each year. And it would have been enough university scholarships – valued at $7,000 – to 5,316 Huntsville students each year.
As the war has dragged on and costs have mounted, opposition to withdrawing has receded. It is notable that when pulling out of Afghanistan came up during a debate in the Republican runoff in Alabama's 1st Congressional District, neither candidate voiced opposition.
Comerford said it is reflective of an emerging national consensus that might make it easier to wind down the war effort.
"The nation tires of war. It's been a long time," she said.
Citizen-soldiers still overseas
Much of the war effort has been borne by the citizen-soldiers of the National Guard. Alabama, which has one of the nation's larger Guard contingents. It has sent more than 21,000 soldiers and airmen on foreign missions since the start of the Afghanistan war – a number than includes folks who have made multiple deployments.
- 226th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade
Home base: Mobile
Mission: Garrison support
Strength: About 200 soldiers
Deployed: April
Due back: Early 2014
- 135th Expeditionary Sustainment Command
Home base: Birmingham
Mission: Oversee supply and troop moves Strength: 240 soldiers
Deployed: January Due back: Within a month
- 1169th Contingency Contracting Battalion
Home base: Huntsville
Mission: Managing contracts
Strength: 4 soldiers
Deployed: June
Due back: Spring
- 1151st Engineer Co.
Home base: Huntsville
Mission: Building construction, improving structures
Strength: 160 soldiers
Deployed: August
Due back: Summer 2014
- 1103rd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion
Home base: Eufaula
Mission: Base closure
Strength: About 60
Deployed: September
Due back: Late summer
"It certainly, we think, has been a lot for Alabama," said Maj. Andrew Richardson, a spokesman for the Alabama National Guard.
The Guard currently has about 850 people deployed overseas, including 420 in Afghanistan.
And even though the war in Afghanistan is nearing an end, Richardson said, the Guard anticipates additional rotations in coming years.
"But the numbers are few than before," he said.
One of the larger units currently deployed, the Mobile-based 226th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, has about 200 soldiers who hail from all over the state working on bases in and around the Afghan capital of Kabul. Having arrived May, the unit is scheduled to return shortly after the new year.
"We're over halfway there," said Staff Sgt. Sandra Lewis, a spokesman for the unit. "Everybody has started their countdown."
Lewis said the unit has been fortunate. Other than having to dodge rocks hurled by kids with "really strong arms," she said, the unit has not come under attack, and no has died. But danger lurks close enough to keep service members on their toes, she said.
Lewis pointed to a 4 a.m. blast that killed several people nearby on July 2.
"That kind of thing wakes you up," she said.
Lewis said the challenge is to keep aware of potential dangers even though day-to-day life can appear quite normal.
"It's difficult, and you're right. You get into this routine," she said. "What you have to constantly remind yourself is you have to say alert."
The 226th is part of Task Force Tarpon, which is responsible for many of the behind-the-scenes tasks necessary to keep a base functioning – providing water, removing trash, maintaining equipment. "Just the logistics of life," Lewis said.
She said the unit also has assisted with training the Afghan National Security Forces that will take over after the U.S. leaves. Already, she said, Afghanis are primarily responsible for keeping the peace in the Kabul area.
Last week, the 226th helped organize a job fair for Afghan civilians who work on U.S. bases, Lewis said.
Sacrifice, accomplishment
In her civilian life, Lewis lives in Montgomery. She has worked on several political campaigns and served in the administration of former Alabama Gov. Bob Riley. She said she had lived 23 years in the Washington area and lost five friends during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
That, Lewis said, is what motivated her to join the Guard. She said on a previous deployment, she mainly served a U.S. military command center in Florida and only had a short stint in Afghanistan. She said she has found this current tour rewarding.
"This particular deployment made me feel like I really accomplished something," she said. "It's probably the most satisfying thing I've ever done."
Like all members of the Guard, the deployment has meant separation from friends and family. Lewis said she has gotten through it by reminding herself that she joined by choice. She said she made the best of her 20th marriage anniversary by celebrating with friends at dinner.
"We laughed a lot," she said. "Of course, it was nowhere near the same. But there was no crying, no moping, no sadness."
Despite the hardships that repeated foreign deployments can have, Alabama Guard officials said they have been able to maintain the authorized strength level of 11,000. Maj Todd Wheeler, operations office for recruiting, said Alabama currently is over that mark by 34.
That puts the state among the largest Guard forces in the nation.
"Historically, we are relatively high," he said. "We have a rather patriotic populace within Alabama."
During the height of demand for service members, Wheeler said, the military relaxed some of its requirements. The Pentagon granted waivers for applicants with lower aptitude test scores or did not meet age, height or weight requirements.
For instance, applicants could be as old as 42 in some cases, rather than the normal age 35 cutoff.
Wheeler said now, though, recruitment standards have returned to prewar levels. He said the 11,000 strength level has remained steady and pointed out that the Guard has many non-war duties, such as responding to natural disasters in the state.
He said he did not know if recruitment targets would change once the war is completely over.
"Five years from now, I can't project what that will be," he said. "Who know what's around the corner?"


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Katie Holmes got a BIG cup of coffee on her way to the theater! She was gearing up for another performance of 'Dead Accounts,' her play on Broadway. It must be exhausting to have to perform daily in front of a live audience. The energy is probably incredible, but I'd be exhausted. Add in Katie has a child to run after, to boot.
She may prefer to do a movie after this. Then you only have to perform in front of the camera. After the shoot wraps, you get time off. Katie's also said she wouldn't be opposed to a 'Dawson's Creek' reunion. Once her Broadway play wraps, she'll be available. 'Fringe' is ending, so Joshua Jackson should be available, too. Maybe someone can make it happen.
Photos by Mr. Blue/WENN