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Albert Low
Albert Low holds degrees in philosophy and psychology, and was for many years a management consultant, lecturing widely on organizational dynamics. He studied Zen under Roshi Philip Kapleau, author of The Three Pillars of Zen, receiving transmission as a teacher in 1986. He is currently director and guiding teacher of the Montreal Zen Centre. He is the author of several books, including Zen and Creative Management and The Iron Cow of Zen.
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Kensho is the Zen experience of waking up to one's own true nature—of understanding oneself to be not different from the Buddha-nature that pervades all existence. The Japanese Zen Master Hakuin (1689–1769) considered the experience to be essential. In his… Read More
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About the Author
Albert Low was a business executive for the first half of his life, employed as a senior human resource executive in South Africa and later in Canada. In Canada, he was responsible for introducing a new way of company organization, and he lectured widely on creativity in management. He has a degree in psychology and philosophy, and was awarded an honorary doctorate degree by Queen's University, Ontario, for academic achievement and community service.
At the same time, he has studied and practiced Zen Buddhism intensely for over fifty years. In 1976 he retired from the business world to study and teach Zen Buddhism on a full-time basis. He spent three years on the staff of the Rochester Zen Center. He has been the teacher and director of the Montreal Zen Center since 1979.
Widely read in Western and Eastern philosophy and psychology and Western science, Low has spent many years as a psychological counselor. He has given frequent TV and radio broadcasts and has written numerous articles for magazines; because of this, he is well known in Europe, Australia, and throughout North America.


text: Hey everyone, I joined the forum to add some data to the 2006 Silverado Vortec Max information found on the web. While there are many arguments going around about whether or not the 1/2 truck "should" be used to tow long vehicles, there's a big difference between the 1/2 Silverado, and the 1/2 ton Vortec Max. Please note. This is a PERSONAL REVIEW OF THIS VEHICLE. I do not believe, nor advocate that my personal viewpoint is the "end-all" or replaces anyone else's opinion or experience. My experience should not be taken as fact for YOUR vehicle. Conditions are different, vehicles are different, driving habits are different, modifications are different... and most importantly, your personal feeling of safety and what you will tolerate is different! I'm posting this review to add to the wealth of information and opinion this forum provides. Most of you will know this, but I'll point out some major differences for folks who come in from the web looking for the 2006 Vortec Max package differences. Vortec Max package includes: 6.0L VHO engine (this is different than the 6.0L HD engine... it provides a touch more power) 9.5" Semi-Floating 14-bolt Differential 10,000lb towing capacity (give or take a few depending on your specific configuration) I tow a 30-foot Starcraft 309BHU. This thing is 7000lbs dry, and with the 96 gallons of water and loaded with gear, it hangs out right around 9000lbs. It's 33-feet long with the hitch. I use a Draw-tite 1200lbs tongue weight weight distribution system (round bar), and use the Draw-tite Dual-cam sway control. I was scared spitless when I bought the trailerr. 9000lbs is a LOT of weight. I was very concerned that I would need a new truck if one of two things would occur: 1) I wouldn't be able to handle the grades (up to 7.5%) in the local mountain range, which is required to be crossed before you get anywhere decent to camp/hunt. 2) The length of the trailer would be a huge liability for safety, due to the sail-like nature of 30 feet of siding! First off, I need to say, not everyone will ever be comfortable towing this length, or weight with a vortec max. If you're that concerned, go buy a bigger truck or a smaller camper. Second, my truck is NOT a stock vehicle. It's been modified to add an additional 49 HP, and 80 ft.lbs of torque (Dyno tested). It's got a cold-air intake, cat-back exhaust, performance tune, and more importantly in my book, a fully built transmission (the 4L70e was gutted and all parts were upgraded. The transmission now can handle 600+HP in preparation for a potential supercharger in the future). I've also got a 35,000lb GVWR transmission cooler added to the front of the vehicle (adding almost 2 quarts of additional fluid and significant cooling). MY EXPERIENCE: 1) Power. ZERO problems with power. Yeah, it's a 4 speed transmission, but man that thing is a beast. When I tow, I carry 2 adults, 2 kids, snacks, and I carry a generator and canned gasoline (butted against the cab in the bed) and the trailer. I'm about 1000lbs less than the combined weight rating for the truck/trailer combo. (GVCWR is 16,000 on my truck). When I hit the 6% grade, it's zero problems to maintain a 55MPH speed (right around 4000RPM). The engine temp climbs to about 235 and stays there pretty much permanently up the long grade (3-4 miles). Since the transmission is in the radiator core as well (I added the aftermarket cooler in-line), this is a good gauge of whether or not the transmission temp is continuing to climb. I'll eventually add a transmission temp gauge, but not this year. So.. it's 55MPH up on the 6% grade (the speed limit). The last half-mile of the grade is 7.5% and by the time I get to the top, the speed has dropped to 52MPH (still right around 4000RPM). I imagine if the grade were longer, I'd continue to slow, until it had to drop gears again. My buddy with a 1-ton Ford E350 (albiet with the smaller engine) doesn't climb this grade well. He's got the same trailer setup and weight. I lose him after the first mile and he takes an addition 6-8 minutes to get up the 4 miles. This shows that just because you've got a 1-ton, it doesn't mean you have power. If you go with a bigger truck, you might consider a stronger engine, too! The power of the 1/2 Vortec Max makes it easy to pull things. That's only half the story, though. 2) Towing Safety. I would NEVER want to tow this long of a trailer without sway control. The dual-cam sway control is absolutely amazing. I would also consider it a requirement to tow safely regardless of the truck type. 30 feet is a lot of sail! My buddy is towing his trailer with weight distribution only, and there's a HUGE difference. We went down a stretch of 15 miles with 15-20MPH cross winds. We were traveling 65MPH. (My Vortec Max was on cruise control, no problems, btw) I didn't realize it was windy till we stopped at the gas station at the end of it. He told me he was white-knuckling and had a hard time keeping his trailer in his lane (it would be in one, while he was in the other). With the dual-cam setup (about $200 and about an hour of your time to install), I one handed the steering wheel and had zero noticeable sway. It is simply an amazing experience. Big rigs come by, buses will pass, and the rig is just straight as an arrow. In fact, it tows better than the 19-footer that I had only with weight distribution. The dual cam sway control is a definite for me, for the rest of my life. It's such a huge safety advantage, and just takes the fear out of towing something so long. That and dual sway control also enables me to back-up without having to disengage anything! MPG: I average about 9-10MPG towing at rated speeds (never above about 66mph) on the highway, in the mountains, etc. Up the hideous grade, I averaged 6.7MPG (according to the dash readout, which has always been accurate). I get 13.5 around town in the winter, and 14.5 in the summer. Two weeks ago, I drove from Boise to Portland, oregon, at highway speeds (no speeding) and got 18.2 MPG, with a family of 4, and 4 suitcases in the bed. Oregon has 65MPH speeds. If I travel 55MPH (lots of highways around here like that) I usually clear 20MPG (around 20.4). If I TOTALLY baby the thing, and lay off the gas whenever possible (and the air conditioner) I can get better than 22MPG at 55 (up and down hills included). Ride Control: Lastly, I love the ride control button in the cab. When towing a heavy trailer, the ride-control takes out the bounce. Very nifty feature. Didn't seem to help any until I got over 6000lbs towing, though! Summary: This is a VERY capable 1/2 ton truck. I have ZERO personal issues towing 9000lbs (33 feet long) with my truck, but I'd NEVER want to do it without dual-cam sway control. I love the 6.0L engine and the fact it's got a cast-iron bottom (looking forward to adding a supercharger someday). For a truck of this power, the mileage is outstanding, and when towing a heavy load, 9-10MPG is reasonable! Cheers, Skippy

subset: commoncrawl


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Hello all.
I have a FP helmet (#5) with the works...metal ear pieces, range finder and chin strap. I may be selling off everything as a package deal but I have no idea what a fair price would be, I am not looking to sell this rig at a profit...I just want to get back my investment. Everything is as it was when it all shipped to me way back when and I have yet to work on it so its good to go...I just don't remember what everything costs me. :confused
Anyway, if someone with a better memory than myself could shoot me a PM that would be wonderful.


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When Dean Morris received a letter in the mail this week attacking him for flying an American flag outside his house every day, he couldn't believe somebody could be so enraged by the nation's symbol.
"I take great umbrage at somebody being offended by the American flag," the San Rafael resident said. "I'm a veteran and I have a lot of friends who didn't make it back from Vietnam."
The typed letter, an apparent photo copy of an original, was hand-addressed to "resident," had no return address and was postmarked out of San Francisco.
After checking with his neighbors, Morris learned his Riviera Drive friends who also fly American flags received the same note. It included profanity, and assumed its receivers were Republicans who did not agree with the politics of what the writer described as the nation's "black president." The letter states the recipients are no more patriotic than anyone else, just "confused." It goes on to say: "Show some respect and fly your flag on important holidays instead of trying to make a moronic statement. It is not cute!"
At first Chase Pennington thought the letter in his grandmother's mailbox was a joke. But the more he thought about it, the more it bothered him.
"My first reaction was I kind of laughed because I was caught so off-guard and it was written very poorly," Pennington said. "I started sharing it with my friends, and we talked about how outrageous it was for somebody to type up the letter, get addresses and send it through the mail."
For as long as Pennington can remember, his grandmother — who died recently — flew a flag at the home she lived in for more than 50 years, even lamenting the fact that more of her neighbors didn't follow suit. The flag currently flying at her house was a present from Pennington on Mother's Day.
He said the flag is not a partisan symbol as the letter writer suggests. Instead, he believes that flying it honors the nation and those who fought for citizens' freedom.
"I have friends that are in the service and it's in part to honor their sacrifices and family members who have been in the service over the years — and a sense of pride from where we're from," Pennington said.
Flag-flying neighbor Tom Williams was also disturbed by the letter's message.
"This is a little unhinged. Somebody is stewing in some unnecessary anger," Williams said, holding the letter he received.
A block away, neighbor Chris Welch was horrified to learn of the letters sent to his neighbors. While he doesn't fly a flag, he said the letter came across as threatening and made him uncomfortable.
"It's befuddling," Welch said. "Of all the things you could do to affect change, (and) that's what you choose to do?"
Many of the neighbors took to Nextdoor, a private neighborhood online social network, to talk about the letter. There they learned people flying flags in Glenwood and Loch Lomond had also received the same correspondence. They used the forum to ponder whether the culprit lives in the area, and a couple of people said they had contacted the police department to see what could be done.
San Rafael police Chief Diana Bishop said although the letter is not pleasant, it does not meet the threshold of being threatening.
"We can't control what comes to the mailbox. If it is something dangerous or the words in a letter are threatening, that's where the police get involved," Bishop said. "If someone said 'If you don't put your flag down, then I will do A, B and C,' then that would be considered threatening."
As far as Morris is concerned, he thinks the writer's assumptions are a bit comical. He said he has no plans to stop flying his flag. "I've been flying my flag for over 20 years. I've been through a lot of presidents," Morris said.
Inspired by the letter, Pennington has dotted his grandmother's hedges with small American flags typically held by revelers at parades. He hopes more people in the neighborhood will respond by hoisting the colors.
"I talked to my mom, who lives up the street, and she's trying to get a flag up," he said.
Follow Megan Hansen's blog at http://blogs.marinij.com/bureaucratsandbaking.
• Flag should be lighted at all times, either by the sun or a light source
• Flag should be flown in fair weather only, unless it's designed for inclement weather use
• When the flag is lowered, no part of it should touch the ground
• To store the flag it should be folded neatly and ceremoniously
• Do not fly the flag upside down unless you are sending a distress signal
• Do not fasten the flag or tie it back. Always allow it to fall free
• When it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, the flag should be burned in a flag retirement ceremony
• Retirement ceremonies are often held by the Boy Scouts of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars, or the American Legion


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I am going to start raising bees againg after 10 yrs being absent. My sons are old enough and interested. I would like to know if there are any clubs or beekeepers in the Gwinnett Co. area.
I am going to start raising bees againg after 10 yrs being absent. My sons are old enough and interested. I would like to know if there are any clubs or beekeepers in the Gwinnett Co. area.
I don't know about Gwinnet, Co. but I know there are a few prominent beekeepers in the state of Co. Many of them are part of community farming and organic lifestyle communities.
There is a website http://www.dag.org which outlines one of the organizations. It might be a good starting point to find out about similar community projects or beekeepers in your area, they might be one of the first places to look.
Scot Mc Pherson
BeeSourceFAQ: http://linuxfromscratch.org/~scot/beewiki/
Linux is a Journey, not a Guided Tour" ~ Me
"Do or not do, there is no try" ~ Master Yoda
hello new bee
you can look up georgia beekeepers *** . there alot in your area. also many beekeepers around atlanta put up your e mail address and I am sure someone would be helpfull.
I help my area beekeepers on how to's of makeing euiptment to raiseing there own queens.
Welcome! I am not sure about Gwinnett County, I live in Butts County south of Atlanta. I can tell you there is a great bee club called Tara Beekeepers Association. They meet the third Monday of every month at 7:30 in Morrow, GA. (One Tonight) They are a great group of people and are very friendly and helpful to new beekeepers ( I am a newbee also). http://tara.markfarm.com/ is thier website if you are interested.
Hi lilburnjoe,
This site will have a link of the who's who in apiculture. It goes by state I think and will have the local clubs on it.
This is the UGA Bee research lab. Lots of info and should have a link to the local clubs. Also have links to bee related problems in the state.
This is the Georgia Beekeepers Association site. It like the others have a list of local clubs. The GBA is having the fall meeting on the 28th of this month. You could meet alot of beekeepers in the state and meet the leaders of the clubs there too.
I'm the Chairman of the Eastern Piedmont Beekeepers Association, and live next door to you in Walton Co. If you need any help e-mail me.
[This message has been edited by BILLY BOB (edited February 17, 2004).]
Thanks for all the information. I look forward to future correspondence.


text:
DVB technology has become an integral part of global broadcasting, setting the standard for satellite, cable, terrestrial and IP-based services. This section includes a large family of DVB Standards and Specifications covering many categories and more than 100 specification documents. When a new specification is completed by DVB, it is published as a BlueBook, after which the document is usually published as a formal standard by ETSI.
Click here to read more about the process and the types of documents such as DVB BlueBooks and ETSI standards.


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|GTA V Latest News | #GTAV | #GTAOnline
2012 GTA IV Mod: LCPD First Response v0.95 RC2
Grand Theft Auto IV - Modifications | @ 03:32 PM MDT | By rappo
After you've completed every available mission in Grand Theft Auto IV (two or three times), what's left besides wreaking havoc throughout the city? Honestly, not a whole lot, but that's why the GTA community never stops modding. If you're running GTA IV on the latest patch (v22.214.171.124), there's a script mod available that can add a whole new dimension to the game: LCPD First Response.
LCPDFR is a police simulation mod for GTA IV and EFLC. It transforms the game into a law enforcement sim where you arrest the crooks, rather than working for them. LCPDFR 0.95 RC2 adds the ability to use a slick new Taser which acts like a native weapon, stop and search multiple suspects, search the trunks of vehicles, issue parking citations, and engage in high speed pursuits.
This mod, featured in the February 2012 issue of PCGamer, is available for download now at GTA4-Mods.com.
For more information about the project, check out LCPDFR.com.
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text:
Hi all I need an advice about the oscp
My name is Uri I am sys-admin with a lot of experiences and knowledge in networking with all the aspects of this.
Holding the cissp and ceh certification.
I am abit familiar with backtrack and some tools.
I don't have any experiences with programming….I can understand code but in this filed I have very little knowledge
I won't to assign to the oscp lab (60days) and take the exam.
I am married and having family and full time job. I can learn about 3-5 hours every day.
What do you think? Honestly ….am I qualified to take the course and the exam?
Thank you all


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A Notre Dame Man. A man who attended Notre Dame and feels that he has higher moral standards than any non-Notre Dame alumnus.
Did you see that dirty hit Ndamukong Suh put on Aaron Rodgers last weekend? An ND man would never deliver a low blow like that.
by motorcityhater November 05, 2013


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I just want to know what that person knows
get a 247 account brah, will save you a lot of trouble like this in the future
get a 247 account brah, will save you a lot of trouble like this in the future
That person knows that LSU has not backed off of Tim Williams. Did you miss that part of the conversation?
You want to know who I talked to. Too fricking bad. There are times on this board where people have information independent of the pay sites. I said you can choose to believe what you want, but I'm not the one spouting bull shite.
not saying much at all about it, which to me, means they have not backed off....do i think hes going to lsu? no. but i do think they are still after him
you can get a free 30 days, check it out....the difference to me is 247 is straight up with its readers and the other sites tell their readers either what they want to hear or something that will stir up drama
From Shea Dixon at Geaux247: We got word from a source this morning that LSU does not plan on adding Tim Williams in the 2013 clas.
As for "draft experts" every year at this time they have a player or two ranked as a first rounder that will end up being a 6 7 or undrafted FA, so that's hardly Gospel.
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SciVis and InfoVis face off
Robert Kosara
Every branch of science needs to observe phenomena and each has its instruments: microscopes, telescopes, spectrometers, interferometers. While many phenomena have meaningful, intrinsic spatial components, many more do not: the spectral composition of light, the genetic variety in a habitat or observations in a clinical study. To fully observe these, we need not only instruments to measure data, but also a tool that helps makes sense of it all: visualization.
Visualization is often valued for producing pretty pictures for publications. But in scientific disciplines that work in nonspatial realms (bioinformatics, chemistry, the social sciences and so on), visualizing data is useful very early in the process of discovery. Turning numbers into pictures enables scientists to use their human prowess with reading visual data to spot patterns, trends and outliers.
There is a historic distinction in the field of visualization between scientific visualization (SciVis) and information visualization (InfoVis). In SciVis, spatial information is almost always a given, coming from measured or simulated three-dimensional objects—photographic images of sorts. In InfoVis, researchers choose the most appropriate and informative layout.
The image at right combines both approaches. At the top, there is a three-dimensional, SciVis rendering of CT (computed tomography) measurements of a man's head. Below that, data measured within the head—curvature of structures, the boundaries between them and more—are isolated from each other in space. Separate and mostly triangular fields of varying densities and colors allow a trained viewer to better understand structures of interest within the head.
Bioinformatics, which uses computers and mathematics to make sense of biology, also greatly benefits from visualization. I was reminded of this recently by Anthony Fodor, a colleague at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Fodor works in metagenomics, the study of genetic material retrieved from environmental samples. In recent research he used common but effective visualizations to explore bacterial genomic data collected in a wastewater treatment plant.
His team used pyrosequencing to extract short segments of DNA (around 250 base pairs) from individual organisms in a sample. The resulting data set of about 350,000 sequences was compared to known bacteria genomes using the widely accepted BLAST algorithm. As it turned out, more than 60 percent of the DNA sequences retrieved from such a well-controlled, artificial environment did not match known bacterial sequences. Even partial sequence matches were not common. The best match, the known bacteria Acidovorax JS42, shared only about 25 percent of its sequence with DNA retrieved from the plant. To better examine these strangers, Fodor isolated plasmids, even shorter DNA segments that bacteria exchange during reproduction, from his sample. Potentially they could produce more matches with known bacteria. As the upper right figure shows, they produced fewer.
To take a look at the treatment-plant organisms from a different vantage point, Fodor and colleagues developed an interactive program that let them scroll through the entire genome of a particular organism. The lower screenshot at right shows DNA segment sequences shared by the treatment plant bacteria and, again, Acidovorax JS42. The base pair position of the known bacteria's sequence is denoted on the horizontal axis; the vertical axis represents how frequently matching DNA from plant samples matched specific sequence spans. Black rectangles represent data from the treatment pools; red rectangles show data from a seawater sample for comparison.
Even though the vast majority of the DNA segments are not shared across the two samples, here one can easily spot frequently shared code. In Acidovorax JS42, this code is positioned in non-gene, or non-coding, parts of its genome, territory once considered "junk DNA" that hosts a transposon. Transposons are short DNA segments once known as jumping genes that can cut and paste themselves in a cell's DNA. Transposons can activate non-coding DNA, and evidence is growing that, unlike most genomic regions, they are widely conserved in different environments. Based on this and other evidence, Fodor has hypothesized that "perhaps all life only exists to shepherd transposons."
While these visualizations are simple, they are powerful. Without them, important patterns would be almost impossible to discover. For nonspatial data such as these, visualization is the microscope.
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Marion turns out to send off troops
MARION, Va. - The town of Marion gave a farewell sendoff to members of the 760th Engineering Reserve Unit Thrusdayis morning as they left for further training, followed by deployment to Afghanistan.
It was a farewell march down Marion's Main Street for the 760th Reserve Unit and the town paused to say thank you and goodbye. The troops are heading for Mississippi and then to Afghanistan.
The faces of commitment and dedication lined the street as friends and families said farewell.
A flag that was given to the town when they received a piece of steel from the World Trade Center site was folded and given to them by local VFW commander Turk Johnson to fly over their forward position. "We want them to know that we love them and we're here for support, not only while they're gone but for their families if they need support," Johnson said. "That's what we're all for, veterans to help veterans."
A large crowd showed up to say goodbye. Schoolchildren, along with citizens and family members, gathered. "The turnout today didn't surprise me, but I was really proud of it," said town mayor David Helms. "When you get the word out, our people will be out to support our veterans."
Cheers rang out as the troops headed toward their buses for the trip to Mississippi.
As the buses rolled by, the emotions began to flow for people like Beth Ritter, whose son was on board. "My heart, my soul, my everything was on that bus that just left," she said.
As veteran motorcycle group Rolling Thunder led the procession, thoughts turned to their return. "It was a good sendoff, but I wish they were coming home instead of going," said Judy Gross, grandmother of one of the soldiers.
And so does the whole community.


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"The problem remains one of a contaminated beeswax supply."
You may need to import wax from Australia. Very few chemicals are permitted here in Beekeping. We have no Varroa ( so far!) and thus the need to use chemicals is much reduced.
I don't produce a lot of wax and have all of it processed into foundations but there is wax for sale from time to time. I know that we can export honey ( and bees!) to the US but I'm not sure about wax.


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Useful Links
The Criminal Investigation Division is made up of two sections; Major Crimes Unit and the Intelligence Unit (Threat Assessment Team). Read about the Criminal Investigative Division
The Patrol Division is the most highly visible division of the NC State University Police Department and has the responsibility to pro-actively patrol the campus in a effort to prevent crime, solve problems, investigate crimes and accidents, make arrests pursuant to criminal behavior, provide safety escorts, serve as building liaisons, conduct safety programs and building partnerships within the campus and local community. Read about the Patrol Division
The Support Services Division reports to the Support Services Commander and contains the administrative and support functions of the NC State Police Department and also contains specialized law enforcement units. Read more on Support Services
The primary purpose of the Crime Prevention Division is to act as a liaison between the Police Department and the campus community. Officers provide education outside the classroom to help prevent students, faculty, staff, and visitors from becoming victims of criminal activity. Read more about the Crime Prevention Division
The NCSU Police Department is equipped with a 24 hour Emergency Communications Center with trained and certified Emergency Communications Officers that answer both 9-1-1 phone lines and non-emergency administrative phone lines. Read about the Emergency Communication Center
The Hiring and Recruiting Unit is the primary recruiter for the University Police Department and works closely with the University's Human Resources Staff to coordinate the Department's recruitment activities. Read more on the Hiring and Recruiting unit
The Special Events mission is to support the university community during pre-planned events. Events may range from a fraternity evening event with a few hundred in attendance to an NCSU Football game with several thousands in attendance. Read more on Special Events
NC State University Police Department
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text:
WDC Buys STEC: Bulls Cheer, Though Risk Involved; Is FIO Next?
Shares of disk drive maker Western Digital (WDC) are down $1.55, or 2.6%, at $58.64, after the company this morning announced it will pay $340 million, or $6.85 per share, to acquire solid-state drive maker Stec (STEC), a more than 80% premium to Stec's close on Friday.
Solid-state drives, which make use of NAND flash memory chips like those used in Apple's (AAPL) iPod, are increasingly being used where their superior read performance can justify a price premium, including in laptop computers and for enterprise storage systems, the latter of which has been Stec's focus.
The Street today is contemplating the implications of it, especially for server-accleration technology maker Fusion-IO (FIO). Fusion sells a plug-in board for servers that uses flash chips and accelerates access to data in storage systems.
Shares of Western competitor Seagate Technology (STX) are down 90 cents, or 2%, at $41.35.
RBC Capital's Amit Daryanani, who has an Outperform rating on Western stock, and a $67 price target, writes that the move could maker Western a leader in flash-based drives, but it comes with risks, especially given a checkered past for Stec:
The Company's acquisition of STEC should expand WDC's footprint in enterprise SSDs but will come with some investor concerns. While valuation was relatively low for a storage company (1.5x FY14 sales compared to industry averages closer to ~5x sales) we believe investors will focus on operational execution, synergies with WDC and changes to the current management structure at STEC […] 1) recent management changes due to insider trading issues (September 2012 Manouch Moshayedi resigns) and 2) Mis-execution issues highlighted by lower than expected earnings and negative earnings estimates for both FY13 and FY14 according to Street numbers […] hile the acquisition should fit in nicely to HGST's existing SSD line, we believe this is a relatively risky play for WDC. We believe investors will zero in on 1) returning the Company to profitability, 2) Synergies associated between HGST and STEC, 3) changes in management structure and 4) new products and pricing strategies. While the Company is not holding a conference call today, we believe the acquisition will be a hot topic during the Company's earnings release on July 24th.
Lazard Capital's Edward Parker, who has a Buy rating on Western, and a $68 price target, writes that the buy is a "smart move," as the products are very good and the valuation is "reasonable":
We hold sTec's technology in high regard. Challenges associated with smaller geometry NAND are exacerbated in enterprise workloads, which require significantly more performance and endurance than consumer applications. Based on published specs, sTec's products carry endurance ratings that are best in class. The fact that so many well- capitalized companies are behind in this respect demonstrates that challenges associated with leveraging NAND in enterprise applications is a non-trivial engineering challenge. WD boasts world class distribution and strong OEM credibility and should have little trouble leveraging both the product and patent portfolio to drive HGST's enterprise SSD business forward […] sTec will be acquired by WD's HGST unit for $340M in cash, a 90% premium to Friday's close, and at an EV of just over $200M. This equates to 0.5x 2009 revenues, which was sTec's peak year. Based on our current estimates, the deal values sTec at 1.5x 2013 revenues. Revenue-based valuation is less telling in this circumstance, as better execution should have resulted in a much high revenue base given the strength of products and the growth in the market. Anobit, Pliant, and Sandforce, all companies with strong NAND IP, went for $300M+ all on a lower revenue base.
Mark Moskowitz of J.P. Morgan, who has a Neutral rating on Western shares, and a $59 price target, writes that he was surprised by the announcement:
WD's HGST unit already possesses a decent building block for flash-based storage for enterprise systems. Today's deal implies that WD decided that quicker expansion of its flash-based solutions could occur through the buying of technology assets instead of building on its own. Based on WD's commentary today, the asset purchase focuses on PCIe- based flash solutions. This market is more competitive given the participation of Fusion-io, EMC and IBM, which is why we think WD was not willing to pay more than 1.4x EV to Sales for sTec.
Moskowitz thinks the deal highlits the risk to Western's traditional disk drive market of displacement by flash:
While the collective discipline of HDD vendors have propped up margin and cash flow profiles, we think that flash-based solutions still present a long-term risk to HDD models, specifically in notebook PCs and enterprise systems. This risk is likely to limit revenue growth of HDD vendors from outpacing the growth of other tech segments, in our view.
Shares of Fusion-IO, meantime, are down 2 cents, at $12.99, but some think the M&A effort in flash products may continue, lifting its stock
Abhey Lamba with Mizuho Securities USA reiterates a Buy rating on Fusion-IO shares, writing that it would make a good acquisition candidate:
We continue to view Fusion-io as the market leader in the enterprise class flash storage space where it has defensible intellectual property. STEC's acquisition multiple implies a value of only about $11 per share for FIO but we expect FIO to attract a much higher multiple due to its product leadership over other enterprise players. Even if FIO were to get about half of the acquisition multiple garnered by other enterprise class storage vendors, we expect the acquisition price to be in the $20s.
Lazard's Parker also weighs in on Fusion today, writing that there is a bit of an "identity crisis" since founder David Flynn departed the company last month and stepped down from the board of directors a week ago.
Parker, who has a Buy on FIO, and a $23 price target, thinks the company's beaten-down shares can be revived if management imposes some stability, but he concedes some of the longer-term potential may now be gone:
The story of identity crisis. What is Fusion-io? Component company? Storage company? Software company? To some, FIO is a component vendor, a business based on PCIe-based flash cards that will inevitably commoditize. Others correctly point out that FIO boasts a unique software portfolio, but we believe many are oblivious as to what the strategy and value proposition of FIO's software portfolio really is. While we all have our view, we believe there may have been an identity crisis within the company itself […] Former CEO Flynn was a visionary. His ambitions extended well beyond that of selling flash cards. Rather, flash cards were seen as the initial agent, vehicle, carrier, or host of a broader software-defined storage vision designed to break apart incumbent control of storage and the traditional disk array model. But FIO has a real product, real customers, real shareholders, and the opportunity (obligation) to start making money. Is it a stretch to imagine that the board had enough of Flynn's efforts to "shoot the moon" and chase a grand campaign to upend the $15B enterprise storage market with a software- defined storage model? […] If new management can provide more consistent results, maintain secure relationships with its OEM customers, and improve operating leverage, then we think it's a win for shareholders and the stock in the near-to-medium term. However, scaled back strategic ambitions may take some of the long-shot upside off the table and limit FIO's ability to navigate the commoditizing pressure on PCIe flash cards.
Fusion shares today are up 3 cents at $13.04.


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|"Wallace, John" <email@example.com>
|"'email@example.com'" <email@example.com>
|st: Software question different install drive than C
|Thu, 21 Nov 2002 13:30:50 -0800
Hi Introduction first - my name's pretty obvious from my email address, as my work location. Basically I'm a biologist who limps along with undergraduate statistics when interpreting experiment results (and to design experiments that can reasonably be analyzed statistically). I use Stata at work, and at home when I'm either behind a deadline or noodling with something on the side. My home computer has a bunch of partitions on the hard drive, and I installed Stata to the H:\ partition. There is no C:\ drive on the computer… its F:\, G:\, and H:\ (Windows box - to be clear) The problem comes when I want to download an ado file from the Technical Bulletins or the like. Stata can't install it, because the little script? seems to expect to find the right directories on C:\. I've manually gotten around this by munging my way into the file directory where the ado files are stored on the remote server and then copying them into the right subdirectory on my computer. Is there a way to tell Stata, or the script, that C:\ should be H:\ on my computer? Thanks for any replies -JW --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.410 / Virus Database: 231 - Release Date: 10/31/2002 * * For searches and help try: * http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/res/findit.html * http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq * http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
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Blog Archive
Commonwealth Club Thought Leaders on Prop 8
By Mehroz Baig
Over the past few years, The Commonwealth Club of California has hosted a number of experts who've discussed Prop 8 and its repercussions. Take a look at what they had to say and what they predicted as Prop 8 made its way up to the Supreme Court:
• Retired Chief U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of California Vaughn Walker, who first struck down Prop 8 in California. He spoke at the Club in April 2012, after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld his earlier decision.
• Theodore B. Olson, a partner with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and a former U.S. solicitor general (2001-2004) talks about his experience challenging Prop 8 in federal court. Olson has argued 58 cases in the Supreme Court, and in 2009 he teamed up with his sometimes Democratic adversary David Boies to challenge California's Prop 8.
Listen to the full program online.
• Civil rights attorney, Frederick Hertz, on same-sex marriage laws—listen to his thoughts online.
• Molly McKay, the media director for Marriage Equality USA; Jennifer Morse, president and founder of Ruth Institute at the National Organization for Marriage; and Therese Stewart, chief deputy city attorney for San Francisco and attorney for the plaintiffs in the court case challenging Prop. 8; and Kevin Snider, chief counsel for Pacific Justice Institute. In this video, they discuss the legal issues that federal and state courts are encountered with Prop 8 and the appeals filed against it:
Bob Kraft, Vladimir Putin, David Brooks & the "Stolen" Super Bowl Ring
The story of whether or not Russian leader Vladimir Putin stole the Super Bowl ring of New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft has generated cross-continental political controversy. The Russian prime minister, for his part, has denied he stole the ring.
But the story is not a new one. In January 2011, New York Times columnist David Brooks talked about it during a visit to San Francisco's Commonwealth Club of California. He told the story as part of a discussion about, well, how weird people can be:
But the story I tell to illustrate [how odd people can be] was told to me by Bob Kraft, who owns the New England Patriots. He was in a business delegation to Russia and he had a meeting with Putin with his other business leaders. Kraft's team is a great team, and they've won the Super Bowl, and he had on his finger his first Super Bowl ring. Vladimir Putin saw this ring and said in the middle of the meeting, "Can I see that ring?" Kraft handed it to him, and Putin put it on his finger.
Then during the meeting Putin was gesturing with the ring on his finger and at the end of the meeting Kraft says, "You know, Mr. President, I'd be happy to make you a copy of that ring, but that particular ring has great sentimental value to me; it's our first Super Bowl ring." Putin pretends he doesn't hear him, and he puts the ring in his pocket.
Kraft goes back to the State Department and says, "I don't want to make a big international incident, but I'd really like that ring back; I'll make him a copy, I'd be happy to." So the State Department people, the embassy, send their feelers out to the Kremlin. They come back to [Kraft] the next day and say, "You know, we think we're gonna issue a press release that you've decided to donate that ring to the Russian people." And that's exactly what happened.
Read more about weird people and other topics from Brook's program at The Commonwealth Club in The Commonwealth.
Google, PRISM, and Privacy
PHOTO: Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt. Photo by Bryan Hewitt.
On Monday, the San Francisco political roundtable Week to Week included a spirited discussion about the cascading revelations about U.S. government monitoring of phone and internet communications. What limits should there be? Who should control information? At what price do we buy security?
Less than a week earlier, The Commonwealth Club's Climate One host Greg Dalton conducted a wide-ranging conversation with Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman, and Jared Cohen, director of Google Ideas. Schmidt and Cohen were discussing their new book, The New Digital Age, which naturally gets into all kinds of issues of technology, privacy, and security.
The discussion took place before the recent revelations about PRISM, the program that allegedly gives the U.S. government direct access to user information on central databases of Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and other tech giants. However, Dalton asked the duo about government information gathering, personal privacy, and the Utah Data Center, all of which would be central to the controversies that arose just a few days after their conversation. Here, in their own words, is the discussion of these issues.
GREG DALTON: The [data] collection ability has given some people concern about big data or the privacy. I'd like to ask about the Utah Data Center, which is being built by the National Security Agency in the United States, [and which] reportedly collects 60 billion iPhones worth of data. That's five zettabytes? You know what those are; I don't. It's a lot of data. It's going to be online later this year.
How should the U.S. approach that? Reportedly, Thomas Drake is an NSA whistleblower who says they will collect information on Americans. Should we be concerned about that much data in the hands of the government, given the power of the tools you've been talking about?
ERIC SCHMIDT: In the industry, we've gone through a series of these proposals, and they're often somewhat over-hyped, which is what they can actually do. Let me suggest what can be done; I don't know if this proposal could be done. And then we can debate whether this is a good idea.
As I understand it, the NSA's job is essentially foreign communications; they're not allowed to operate in the United States, but I could be wrong there.
DALTON: That's the law, but there's question whether they're actually following that.
SCHMIDT: You can't ask a theoretical question [and] then assume that the people are sufficiently incompetent, they're not going to follow the law. So I think we have to assume that any activity is legally appointed. If it's not legal, then people should not do it. Certainly in America. So assuming that this is a legal activity, presumably what they would be doing — and again I'm speculating — is they'd be assembling some of this information and doing data-mining. The way you would do data-mining is you would look for patterns.
A simple example is that they're looking for people who are racketeering. You know, you'd look for the signals there. Computers are quite good at tracing this. So far, I've got everybody here in the audience quite upset; you're worried about this, you're worried about your civil liberties.
On the other hand, there's some evidence that the surveillance world is actually losing because of the amount of data that's going on. That, in fact, the amount of communication has so overwhelmed the very legitimate and proper functions of the police and the FBI and so [we] are in fact less safe as a result.
I'm not going to take a position on the specifics, but I would suggest that when you think about it, think of it in a more nuanced way. Our government does need a certain amount of ability to watch — again, legally and correctly, again [within the] law and [in] a democracy in a country like the United States. The question is, the proliferation of devices has made it very difficult for them to do it.
DALTON: Jared, your response to people concerned about their civil liberties with all these tools and tracking?
JARED COHEN: You talk about specific government-level, and then just for us as individuals, I think getting nervous about this assumes that different bureaucratic arms of the government are willing and able to work together. I'm quite serious. You have different agencies that have different authorities to collect different types of data; they're not so good at working together. So there's a level of confidence and cohesion that just isn't there.
And this is a democracy.
Eric and I went to Mexico to look at how the Mexican government was dealing with the drug cartels; it's killed more than 60,000 people in the last five to six years. We went to see this sort of underground bunker that's called Platform Mexico, where they have unbelievable -- I mean you want to talk about real government cohesion around data related to their citizens, it is here in Mexico. And this is democracy. We walk out of this thing thinking, we really hope that no autocracy ever gets their hands on that —
SCHMIDT: There was more than that, because you can imagine that for legitimate reasons. There's a terrible drug war, terrible infiltration of the police, you have to go back in Mexico. So let's assume that they get the problems fixed and five or ten years from now, [despite] of the civil liberties or protections that the Mexican citizens have, once their systems are built, they're not turned off.
This caused us to say, and we say this in the book, that you need to fight for your privacy or you're going to lose it. We were in Britain last week; there was a terrible terrorist act — one soldier was killed by one apparently lone Muslim extremist in the entire country. And the whole country's excited about this, it's obviously a terrible thing, one person's dead. The home secretary calls for broad regulations and surveillance of the Internet. Not a good thing.
So it's easy for governments to overreact and take away your privacy, your security, and so forth in the name of the security. We would say that the open principles, the way in which we work today, is a much, much better way. You'll be ultimately safer with our approach.
DALTON: There's a proposal in California, the Right to Know [Act]. It would allow citizens in California to request data from organizations so they could know what companies know about them, and that's similar to what exists in Europe. But Silicon Valley industry has opposed that. Can you tell us about your position on the right to know from consumers, how much information companies have about them?
SCHMIDT: I don't know the specific legislations so I couldn't comment.
DALTON: It was quite broad and it was …
SCHMIDT: In general, Google answers this by agreeing with the principle. For example, in Google there's a panel you can get to where not only will it show what Google knows about you but you can delete it. That I think is the correct standard. The general view we have is the information that we collect through our normal course of business with you is really for you to control. And there are some laws that cover that. So for example, you can't just delete all your searches, though we will allow you to do it yourself manually.
But generally, we keep your searches for 12-18 months, and that's largely governed by some other laws. And then we anonymize and get rid of it.
DALTON: Let's quickly ask the audience. How many of you knew that you could really find out and then delete the information Google knows about you? Maybe a third of the audience. A lot of people don't see —
SCHMIDT: One-third is pretty good. So two-thirds have now been educated by the one-third.
DALTON: Jared Cohen, should people be able to have more access to information that companies hold about them?
COHEN: We have a whole chapter in the book where we look at the future of privacy and security. There's sort of a broader point that we try to make: When you look at the existing debate around privacy, it really does center around issues related to this first 2 billion that are already online. When we traveled around to some of these other environments, you bring up privacy to people and they just sort of look at you like a deer in headlights, like, "who gets privacy?" when you're living in North Korea or Libya or Myanmar.
So we came back with a sense that when you're going to talk about privacy, you need to also talk about security. The two concepts are deeply intertwined. One observation we make is that every generation seems more willing to share than the previous generation. It seems more comfortable with it. Maybe that trend will change. In the book, we make a small argument around the role that parents will play. In the future and on the book tour, we've sort of become champions for the idea that the good old-fashioned methodology of parents intervening and talking to their kids is actually still going to be relevant.
Listen to the audio of the complete program with Schmidt and Cohen.
Elder Abuse and Technology
By Mehroz Baig, Butler Koshland Fellow, Commonwealth Club
In a world of Silicon Valley technology where tourists take photos using iPads and Google Glass can practically read your mind, it may sound surprising that there remains a sector of our population that is only now beginning to learn about the Internet. Yet that is true of older Americans. According to a 2012 Pew Research study (link opens a PDF), 53 percent of Americans aged 65 or older use the Internet or at least email. But once they get online, 70 percent use it on any given day. It is likely that more and more older adults will begin to use the Internet and use it more extensively as our demographics shift toward an older population.
Between 2000 and 2010, the number of people aged 65 or above rose by 15.3 percent in the U.S. and 18.3 percent in California, according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services (link opens a PDF). A United Nations Population Fund report (link opens a PDF) reports that "around the world, two persons celebrate their 60th birthday every second." And over the next 20 years, the Stanford Center on Longevity projects that California's older adult population will double, from 4.3 million in 2010 to 8.4 million in 2030.
As prevalence of Internet use increases among older adults, so does the possibility of scams and frauds, many of which lead to financial abuse of the elderly. "It's surprising how many elders are on their computers and on their iPhones," said Talitha Guinn, director of the Elder Abuse Prevention program at the Institute on Aging. "It opens them up to a whole level of exploitation." The losses from and the impacts of financial elder abuse are increasing. According to a MetLife Mature Institute report (link opens a PDF), the estimated loss due to elder financial abuse in 2011 was $2.9 billion, a 12 percent increase from 2008.
Martha Deevy, director of the Financial Security Division at Stanford's Center on Longevity agrees. "Fifteen years ago, email didn't exist, so the fact that almost 45 percent of these incidents are originating from the Internet is pretty profound." A study (link opens a PDF) by the Center on Longevity found that "the means by which fraudsters contact targets and obtain money mirror trends in everyday transactions, with the Internet outpacing all other mechanisms." However, Deevy is quick to point out that there is no profile for victims; different people can be defrauded under different circumstances. "There's a myth that older people are more susceptible to being victims of financial fraud, but we find that older people are more targeted."
During the 2010-2011 fiscal year, the San Francisco Police Department received and assessed 445 cases of elder and dependent adult financial abuse, according to a report by the San Francisco Department on the Status of Women. This was the third year in which the percentage of cases increased. However, crimes like these are difficult to prosecute: Of the 100 elder abuse cases received by the San Francisco District Attorney's office, only 35 were filed. Of those, 29 led to convictions by guilty pleas, two were brought to trial and one conviction resulted from those trials. This data includes all cases of elder abuse, not just financial abuse cases.
Elder financial abuse as a category is highly complicated, with abuse taking place in many forms and through many people. Guinn notes that family members perpetrate 90 percent of all abuse, but financial abuse provides more avenues for stranger involvement. Though email is one way through which scams advance and are perpetrated, social networking sites also offer another outlet, especially as increasing numbers of older adults use sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. According to Pew, one in three seniors uses Facebook and LinkedIn and for adults over 50, the main reason for using social networking sites is to stay in touch with family members. That opens the gates for scams such as the "grandson scam," where a perpetrator pretends to be a grandson or granddaughter in an emergency and asks for money, targeting potential victims through spam emails or through viruses that hack into social media accounts.
Experts simply suggest being extra vigilant and realizing that your information may not be as private as you might imagine. "We believe that self awareness is really the best prevention," Deevy said. Additionally, there are a myriad of resources available for older adults to learn more about online safety as well as to report any incidents of abuse. Guinn encourages people to be familiar with Adult Protective Services and other resources such as those available through the Institute on Aging. Additionally, Facebook has information on security measures — however, their advice is targeted to a general audience and is not specific to older adults.
Guinn adds that in addition to being aware of resources, preventing isolation can also prevent elder abuse. She notes that isolation is the greatest risk factor for abuse. Ironically, for many older adults, it is perhaps that isolation that pushes them to learn and use the Internet in the first place.
Recent news on elder abuse in the Bay Area:
- 2 charged in Berkeley elder abuse embezzlement case
- East Bay banker charged with stealing $2 million from elderly clients
- Millbrae caretaker to stand trial on assault, elder abuse charges
- "Blessing scam" suspects convicted of swindling Chinese seniors in San Francisco
- Woman sentenced to jail for 'sweetheart scam' that targeted Campbell man
Additional resources:
- To report abuse or neglect in San Francisco: (415) 355-6700 or (800) 814-0009 (24 hours)
- San Francisco Department of Adult & Aging Services
- California Department of Aging Resources Section
- California Area Agencies on Aging by County
- Institute on Aging
- Institute on Aging's Resources for Elder Abuse Prevention
- Stanford's Center on Longevity
- National Center on Elder Abuse


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Michael Schiavello's Cry: Good Night Irene
- Written by Dave Walsh
Our good friends at HDnet have been working hard to make their website all sorts of new, and a part of that is their blog section, which has brought us some great Michael Schiavello content. Schiavello has been one of those love him or hate him characters in the MMA community. Many of us love the absolute passion he brings to every fight that he calls, loves the way he puts himself right there into the action and makes the fights come to life. Other people enjoy more subdued commentary and want the fights to speak for themselves, to each their own I guess.
Schiavello is known for his now legendary cry of "Good night Irene!" whenever a fight has the pace pushed so hard that you have to reach a spectacular conclusion. Well, for those of us that have wondered the exact origins of the cry, he fills us in. For those who missed the part of their childhoods that involved professional wrestling, it involves Adrian Adonis and Gorilla Monsoon.
For a big man Adonis had an amazing repertoire of techniques including a sleeper hold finish called "Good Night Irene." Nothing gave me more pleasure during my days of wrestling fanaticism than seeing Adonis put an opponent in a sleeper and hearing Gorilla Monsoon announce "he slaps on Good Night Irene."
To this day I'm not really sure what caused those words to come out of my mouth while commentating the APS Track and Field Championships as a 16 year old. I would later use the phrase when commentating Victorian Premier League soccer on radio, and eventually made it my fight sports catch-cry when I began commentating Muay Thai and kickboxing as a 21 year old on Fox Sports.
To find out how a track and field meet plays into a sleeper hold, read the rest of the entry and support every fight fans' best friend, HDnet.


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Initiative, Referendum and Recall Introduction
In 1902, Oregon voters overwhelmingly approved a legislatively referred ballot measure that created Oregon's initiative and referendum process. In 1904, voters enacted the direct primary and, in 1908, Oregon's Constitution was amended to allow for recall of public officials. These were the culmination of efforts by the Direct Legislation League, a group of political activists that progressive leader William S. U'Ren founded in 1898.
This system of empowering the people to propose new laws or change the Constitution of Oregon through a general election ballot measure became nationally known as "the Oregon System."
Registered voters may place on the ballot any issue that amends the Oregon Constitution or changes the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS).
Registered voters may attempt to reject any bill passed by the Legislature by placing a referendum on the ballot.
The Legislature may refer any bill it passes to voters for approval. It must do so for any amendment to the Oregon Constitution.
Since 1902, the people have passed 127 of the 367 initiative measures placed on the ballot and 23 of the 65 referenda on the ballot. During the same period, the Legislature has referred 434 measures to the people, of which 257 have passed.
Both houses of the Legislature must vote to refer a statute or constitutional amendment for popular vote. Such referrals cannot be vetoed by the governor.
To place an initiative or referendum on the ballot, supporters must obtain a specified number of signatures from registered voters. The number required is determined by a fixed percentage of the votes cast for all candidates for governor at the general election preceding the filing of the petition. In the 2016 General Election, 1,946,046 votes were cast for governor. Therefore:
• Referendum petitions require four percent, or 77,842 signatures.
• Initiative petitions for statutory enactments require six percent, or 116,763 signatures.
• Initiative petitions for constitutional amendments require eight percent, or 155,684 signatures.
The original constitutional amendment, passed in 1902, provided that a fixed percentage of the votes cast for justice of the Supreme Court would determine the number of signatures required to place an initiative or referendum on the ballot. Both a statutory enactment and a constitutional amendment required eight percent of the votes cast, while a referendum required five percent of the votes cast. In 1954, the people amended the Oregon Constitution to increase the required number of signatures to 10 percent for a constitutional amendment. In 1968, a vote of the people established the current requirements.
Prior to 1954, measures on the ballot were not numbered. They are listed below in order of appearance on the ballot. The 2001 Legislature amended state law to require that ballot measure numbers not repeat in any subsequent election. Numbers assigned for each election begin with the next number after the last number assigned in the previous election.


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The 4Cs of Diamonds
This short tutorial explains the Four C's- cut, colour, clarity, and carat weight - the most important characteristics of buying a diamond.
By using our website you are accepting our use of cookies. More information on our policy can be found here.
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Diamond Education
This short tutorial explains the Four C's- cut, colour, clarity, and carat weight - the most important characteristics of buying a diamond.
The cut of a diamond determines its brilliance. Put simply, the better a diamond is cut, the more sparkle it will have.
A diamond's colour grade refers to the lack of colour. The more colourless the diamond, the higher quality grade it will receive.
Almost all diamonds have tiny imperfections. Diamonds with few or no imperfections receive the highest clarity grades.
This is the term with which people are most familiar, but bear in mind that carat is specifically a measure of a diamond's weight.
Shape describes a diamond's form, mostly from a top view, and all shapes (round, princess, radiant, etc.) have different attributes.
Unbiased diamond grading reports are offered with every Blue Nile diamond.
For most people, buying a diamond is a new experience, but that doesn't mean it should be overwhelming. Understanding a diamond's quality characteristics is straightforward and simple.
Our quality standards are among the highest of all jewellers. As the largest online diamond retailer, Blue Nile offers the largest collection of the world's finest cut diamonds. Pre-selected for exceptional quality, the cut, colour, and clarity of our loose diamonds are evaluated based on a standardized grading scale. Also, each loose diamond is accompanied by a grading report from either GIA, AGSL, independent diamond grading labs with the most stringent grading scales of all labs.
What Are Other Customers Choosing?
Visit our recently purchased rings and see the engagement rings and diamonds other customers have recently chosen
Read our tips and hints for finding the perfect diamond.
Read how to keep your diamond sparkling, and securely set in your ring.


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do you have a photo of tis bullet it sound very very interesting
Well guys,
The discussion that evolved from the poll regarding caliber preference brought out some good points and got me to thinking about calibers that are less common than the typical ones we think of in self defense firearms. I tend to enjoy some calibers that are less popular, due to many reasons, that some of our other participants may or may not be familiar with. One of my favorite odd-ball cartridges is the 9x23 Winchester.
For those of you not familiar with the 9x23, it dates back to the early seventies, when Jeff Cooper cut down .223 brass, stuffed it full of powder, topped it off with 9mm 125grn bullet and stuck it in a handgun and dubbed it the 9mm Super Cooper. The result was a full size 1911 driving that bullet to velocities approaching 1500fps. The cartridge has been through several periods of interest, with the most recent being in about the mid 1990s when it actually went into production from Winchester, with both Colt and Springfield offering a limited run of guns to shoot it in. Unfortunately, for many reasons, the cartridge was not a success. This is a cartridge that had real potential in a lot of different applications, that I am truly sorry to see go away.
I came into possession of one of the Colt guns in 1998 and started experimenting with handloads as well as factory loads. The factory Winchester ammo clocked right at 1400fps with their 125grn silvertip bullet. I don't care whether you like 9mm or not, THAT'S IMPRESSIVE!!! Doing the math, that's comes out to 543.96 foot pounds of energy. As there was very little reloading data that I could find for this round, handloads became a matter of careful experimentation. I learned early on that the colt pistol had a generous chamber that lead to a few split cases. I did the only thing I could think of to do...I ordered a chamber reamer from Clymer cut to my specs, and a Bar-sto barrel and went to work fitting them to the Colt. That solved the split case problem, and allowed the experiment to continue. After a great deal of trial and error, I came up with a load using Accurate arms #9 that would drive the Speer Gold Dot bullet to 1520fps from a 5" Government model gun. This matches many and exceeds some .357 magnum loads fired from a 6" revolver. Pretty cool stuff. Oh and by the way, the gun held 10 rounds in the mag too. Anyway, the 9x23 fell victim to many things and is now a thing of the past for most shooters. I have not tried to find brass recently, but my last attempt ended with me cutting down .223 brass and resizing it, just as ole Colonel Cooper did at the outset.
I am not sure that there is much of a need for the 9x23, but it was an interesting cartridge that I think would have made a fine self defense or law enforcement round. It was both powerful and easy to shoot, with mild recoil.
so how bout it guys, any of you like to play with obsolete or odd-ball cartridges??
do you have a photo of tis bullet it sound very very interesting
The 9x23 is just a 9mm that has been stretched by 3mm. If you were to view it without something else for a size comparison, you most likely would indeed mistake it for a standard 9mm Parabellum.
I think it was too close to 9mm largo to find a following.
9x23 was what the 38 super could have been with the modern powders
and strong brass


text: I have been kicking around the idea of planting 10 acres of Buckwheat. I thought I would plant it aroung july 1 so it would come into bloom when the the natural honey flow stops so I could harvest two crops. Has anyone tried this? How many hives per acre can I run without crowding them and what would a reasonable yield be in a normal year?


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To check the status of
an outdoor pool or spray park call the Aquatics Weather Hotline at
Daily 9 a.m.-7 p.m. (weather
Free admission
Looking for a way to cool off in the summer? Look no further than the spray
park at Ray Ross Park! Designed to look like a baseball diamond, this spray
park offers interactive water features that are sure to delight kids and
adults of all ages. Whether you are stealing third, or scoring a home run,
Ray Ross is the perfect wet and wild experience to beat the summer heat!
Weather permitting, the spray park is open each summer from mid-May through
September from 9 a.m.-7 p.m. each day.
The shelter is located on
the west side of the park next to the playground and splash pad. It has eight
tables and two grills and accommodates 80 people.
restrooms are located by the concession and ball fields at the northeast area
of the park and are open approximately April 15 - October 15 weather
permitting. Port-a-lets are located near the shelter and playground.
Rental Fees and Reservation InstructionsAdd $25 for
Non-Resident Fee
Shelter rental hours are in the
evenings only from 5pm-10pm
Monday - Thursday: $150
- Sunday (and City Holiday's): $180
Reservations can be made
over the phone (if paying with MasterCard, Visa or Discover) at 303-987-7800
or in person Monday through Friday 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. at 480 S. Allison
Pkwy. (Wadsworth & Alameda). All shelter rentals are made on a
first-come, first-served basis.
Cancellation Policy
Cancellations received two or more weeks prior to an event will forfeit a
service charge in the amount $20. No refunds or rescheduling of reservations
will be made for cancellation received less than two weeks prior to a
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text: the sexual act between two gay men. where one man stands facing the wall and the other stands behind him with his hands on his shoulders and then they interlock there feet. the man in front yells archers on my mark unleash hell. then the man in the back leans back thus looking like a bow with his erect penis acting as an arrow he thrust forward into the man in front's ass.


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Motorsport doesn't have enough women in it - this is not a reference to fans, pit crew, mothers, daughters, girlfriends, wives or pit girls. There are just not enough females behind the wheel taking on the males.
But the annual Toyota Racing Series is one avenue for women to have a go at racing.
Tatiana Calderon does have a pedigree in single seaters. In her rookie year in the US Star Mazda Championship, she became the first female to finish on the podium with two thirds and finished sixth overall.
Moving to Europe, the 19-year-old Colombian joined the European F3 series as the only woman and again finished on the podium ending the season in ninth beating out a lot of talented young male drivers.
After two rounds in the TRS championship, Calderon sits 12th on the points table and thinks this category is an important part of her learning curve.
"One of the best decisions I have made in my career so far has been to come and race in this championship [TRS]," said Calderon.
"I've come here to prepare myself for my next season and I'm racing against drivers who I will race against in Europe."
Calderon has a calm, measured way about her that is reflected in her racing style, staying out of trouble and collecting points.
"I'm getting familiar with everything here and taking it a bit easy. Sure I want to win, but I don't want to push too soon. I think us girls think a little bit more than the boys.
"When I am confident with everything, I can go as fast as anyone. It is something I have to work, finding the limit a little bit earlier.
"I'm trying to find a balance between being aggressive and not being too stupid. I'm not going to take a corner flat-out because someone told me to - I want to check it out first. Maybe a boy doesn't really care about it and is not worried if it works or not."
Calderon's path into racing started as most young drivers does with karting. When she was about 8, she and her elder sister noticed a new karting track had been built near their home and decided to have a go.
The Calderon sisters were hooked and raced together in karts and now share endurance drives in a Kia. Calderon was reluctant to admit she was quicker than her sister moving up through the ranks, but really enjoys sharing driver duties in the endurance rounds.
"I did beat my sister in karts but I had an advantage. It's not that I am eight years younger, but that I had more time to practise and race.
"My sister had gone on to university and was studying whereas I was in the kart much more.
"I have finished school and decided, at the moment, to concentrate on my racing to see if I can make a go at it.
"If it doesn't work out, I'll go back home and carry on studying."
Cauldron hasn't put pen to paper and signed up for any specific championship in Europe yet. She wants to see where she's at come the end of the TRS series to make a final decision.
At the moment though, her eyes are on the European F3 championship.


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Verified Purchase
Very very taste!!! And all ingredients are organic, all our family loves these pops!!!
Posted by Reviewer2803352 on Feb 14, 2011 | Verified Purchase
Very very taste!!! And all ingredients are organic, all our family loves these pops!!!
Yummy, just like the name
Posted by healthydoesit on Oct 10, 2013 | Verified Purchase
These lollipops are so good. They have a ton of flavor and taste just like any store bought suckers...even better. And knowing they're organic really tops it off. Great product at a great price. Take a look at my page to see over 100 real reviews from products I've purchased and tested here at Iherb!
Great taste, perfect size
Posted by ghovland on Jan 29, 2012 | Verified Purchase
This Lollipoos are quite small, perfekt for the little ones in the family. And the big ones in the family likes them as well...
Even my husband likes it!!!
Posted by Reviewer2921516 on Sep 12, 2010 | Verified Purchase
My husband hates sweet things, but after trying this candy, he eats! My kids also loves it. Moreover, it has a USDA ORGANIC mark, I am more comfortable when I give a candy to my kids!
Very Good
Posted by BestOrNothing on Nov 14, 2013 | Verified Purchase
Very Good
Posted by Reviewer3022289 on Feb 28, 2011 | Verified Purchase
There is not much to say actually. These pops are DELICIOUS! And it's great to have a candy in the house that is natural and not doing any harm to your body. And you can't beat the price.
Posted by holahola on Apr 29, 2010 | Verified Purchase
These are amazing! They taste SO good and helps me with my sweethunger after dinner. I've given some to my friends as well, and they love it to. Will order again wery soon!
Highly recommended!
Posted by greenisthenewblack on Feb 04, 2011 | Verified Purchase
These are fabulous. Great taste, great ingredients. Will buy again!
Delicious and safe ingredients!
Posted by Reviewer1747568 on Jun 05, 2011 | Verified Purchase
These lollipops (or suckers, as we call them) are wonderful. I don't let my son have artificial colouring, flavouring or preservatives, and I avoid corn syrup and other nasty sweeteners as much as possible. I am so happy I found these so that he doesn't always have to miss out when his cousins and friends are eating candy, but I still have the peace of mind knowing I'm not poisoning his body. They also taste so good that even my extremely-skeptical-of-anything-natural husband says they are delicious.
Posted by werych on Jul 21, 2011 | Verified Purchase
Each candy is individually packed. I bought them for my child. I tried a pop with water melon taste - would never guess the taste.


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[quote user="JPizzack"][quote user="byron"][quote user="JPizzack"]
[quote user="DavenIII"]
also just like I said before just because everyone does something doesn't mean it's right, if 25RB's are picked before my 3rd round pick then that just means to me that people are over valuing the RB position and I'm gonna get a steal at WR or QB.
There's definitely not nearly as much value at RB as their used to be. Not as many sure things....aka studs...and there are like 5 breakthrough players every year that went undrafted in fantasy.
I'll take the elite QBs and WRs first ALL DAY!!

[/quote] This ! ffpoint getter's...of coarse this can be off set by changing the ffpoint system..[:|][/quote]

yea....i mean...look at the RBs from last year, and how many of the the impact guys specifically in the 2nd half of the season were just jobbers who got big roles later on. You can count on guys like Rice, and Foster......but....why waste high picks when you can get Calvin and Brees early on?!
[/quote] I'm with ya...rbs get hurt far to much for my taste then the two back systems all around the leauge goal line guys and such...some of the nfl coaches are ****ing crazy how they use their rbs... jmo....I think going into this year there are a lot/or will beof questions surrounding the big names of the past also ...I see a changing of the guard comingfor the top tier ffrbs....we will see how guys like AP and Fred Taylor come back from thier injurys ...


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Re: *THE UNOFFICIAL*Make NEW PSN FRIENDS.[ Edited ]
I'm a mature, laid-back, part-time gamer looking for some people to play co-op with. I have Playstation Plus and a headset. Message me on the "HERE" if you are interested. And tell me a little about yourself. Please don't send a random friend request through your PS3. Thanks.
I have over 150 games (Retail and PSN included) so I won't bore anyone with a list, but I will list those games that I'm looking to start, complete or play through again. If you have another game in mind, just message me, I may own it, or be willing to buy it. (I also have many PSN games that have co-op, like Dungeon Hunter Alliance.)
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
Dead Space 3
Resistance 3
Resident Evil 5
Skate 3
Borderlands 2 (I just picked this game up. I would love to find some people who are also going to be playing it for the first time.)
Battlefield 3
Far Cry 3
Transformers: War for Cybertron
Sacred 2: Fallen Angel
And possibly these games--which I don't own but might be willing to buy:
Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel
Resident Evil 6
Warriors Orochi 3
Dynasty Warriors 8
I know these last two didn't get good reviews, but it might be fun to play through anyways, flaws and all.
Hunted: The Demon's Forge
Lord of the Rings: War in the North--I bought this game, it's very good. I'm still looking for co-op partners though.
And lastly, these are games not yet out that have peaked my interest:
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist
Dragon's Crown
Saints Row IV
Re: *THE UNOFFICIAL*Make NEW PSN FRIENDS.
Re: *THE UNOFFICIAL*Make NEW PSN FRIENDS.
PSN: Marq-uise
Call of Duty: Black Ops II (Online play and Zombies)
Doom 3: BFG Edition (Online play on all the Dooms)
Mass Effect 3 (Online play)
Call of Duty: World at War (Zombies and online) P.S. I have surprises for you on that game, lol.
Dead Space 2 (Online)
Haze (Currently signing a petition to get online servers back to the game. More info, go to the Games section and click on shooters)
Dark Souls (Enough said)
Zombie Apocalypse: Never Die Alone (Co-op)
Saints Row 2 (Co-op)
Shoot Many Robots (Co-op)
Tekken Revolution (Online play)
Pac Man: Championship Edition
Spec Ops: The Line (Online play)
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Online Co-op)
House of the Dead 4
Super Stardust HD
GodMode (Co-op)
Mass Effect
Mass Effect 2
Saints Row: The Third (Co-op)
Re: *THE UNOFFICIAL*Make NEW PSN FRIENDS.
I am interested in playing some Co-op with you. Especially on Borderlands 2
I have a list of others, but I don't have anything else one the list you posted lol. I am looking to get them, especially Dead Space 3.
All I have so far is what i posted all the way below, lol.
Re: The UnOfficial PSN Friend Finder[ Edited ]
PSN ID: tommyk1985
LOCATION: Nottingham, UK
GAMES: GTA4, TBoGT, The Last of Us, Battlefield 3, GT5, Red Dead Redemption, THPS, Far Cry 3, Skyrim
BIO: Work a lot of shifts but I try and get online as much as I can. Love messing around in sandbox games like GTA with a fun bit of chat. Need to level up on BF3 with some help, still quite a noob. Love racing games, or anything that's fun multiplayer. From the UK so I can will be online some pretty random hours.