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John was born in Helensburgh Dumbartonshire in approximately 1882 . He was the son of John Leitch of 14, West Clyde Helensburgh . John and his wife Christina C Leitch lived in Arbroath Forfarshire at 1 Culloden Crescent at the time of his enlistment in 1914 with two daughters Ina & Elizabeth . John s/n 3103 was KIA the night of July 15 1917 during the battle of the Dunes near Nieuport Belgum . I would like to thank my friends at The Great War Forum for much of the information we have of Johns war service . After spending two years of research I have adopted John as my own but he is actually my lovely wife's Great Grand Father . If this information could put us in touch with long lost family members in your great Country that that would be our ultimate goal. Best Regards Bill & Catherine
A photo of my Grandfather George McFadyan HOLLEY (1883 - 1945)
Circa after 1905 (year of enlistment in the HLI) and before 1914 (year immigrated to USA from Glasgow with my Grandmother Martha MCDOWELL HOUSTON and my father Thomas). Back of photo reads: "No. 9562, Pvt. Geo. Holley, K. Coy, 1st H.L.I., Dum Dum, India"
A photo of my Grandfather George Holley with his Daughter (my Aunt Helen) and Son (my Uncle Chuck)
Helen was a U.S. Navy Aviation Machinist Mate and Chuck a U.S. Navy Signal Man 3rd/Class. Chuck served aboard the USS Nashville (CL-43) - he was awarded the Purple Heart from injuries sustained during a Kamikaze attack. Both my Aunt and Uncle have said that my Grandfather was very proud of their military service during WWII.
George McFadyan Holley: United States - WWII Draft Registration Card at age 58
Also within the DOWNLOADS section you can view within "PDFs" a three (3) page copy of the Highland Light Infantry Chronicle, Vol V, No.1, January, 1905 where George is listed within the "Depot Notes" under "Recruits Joined Since Last
Issue": 9562 G. Holly (surname misspelled).
Page three of the Chronicle contains a recruiting advertisement for: "Smart Respectable Young Men of Scottish Nationality" to join the HLI.
Wondering if anyone can comment on my Grandfathers uniform and/or the history of
the 1st HLI between 1905 and 1914. And the translation of:
as noted at the end of the HLI Chronicle article.
Ron Holley
I've heard from my Dad's friend Angus McWilliam, who is still in touch with my old man and who is a whole week younger than my Dad, they're both 85 years old. Angus has very kindly sent me some photos and memories to share with you.
Angus and my Dad, Charlie Dobson, have remained friends since meeting on basic training in Northern Ireland in 1944. I'm told that there were three of them in their little gang with a Yorkshireman named Freddie Brannan making up the trio. Freddie Brannan took the photograph below, which shows Bob Hope, with his arm raised pointing at something. Bob Hope was with some American officers and was spotted by Freddie and other lads from the HLI, somewhere on the outskirts of Hamburg a few days before VE day.
Angus tells me that despite the HLI being a Scots regiment, at least half of their number were Englishmen back in those days and that there was always lots of banter regarding the various football teams they all supported. Angus was in Hamburg when the war ended and he remembers that part of the Army rations given to the troops was a sweet ration of seven sweets a day. Angus, my Dad and their mate Freddie used to give their sweets, usually caramels, to the local German children. Angus says that the look of delight on the kids' faces was wonderful to see.
The soldiers were also given a carton of 50, Woodbine or Players Navy Cut cigarettes a week and Angus, being a non smoker, did well trading them with Germans who were desperate for British cigarettes. The photo below is of Charlie Dobson with a pipe clamped in his mouth with a Scots guy who's name neither Angus or my Dad can remember. My Dad gave up his pipe for a £5 bet when he turned 50, some 35 years ago.
Angus writes that his memories of the HLI's time in Palestine and Egypt are of extreme boredom and heat, being stuck in the desert for weeks at a time, with only the occasional jaunt into Jerusalem or Cairo to break the monotony.
Photo above shows Angus McWilliam on right with a unidentified HLI soldier.
Photo below is of Freddie Brannan on the right, with a soldier Angus names as Joe McDonald and was taken somewhere in Europe, Belgium or Holland or Germany, sometime in 1945.
Photo below shows a Corporal Murphy sat alongside Angus who appears to be doing a Winston Churchill impression and flashing the V for Victory sign!!
Angus says that he has more photos and information somewhere in his loft and will try to find it and pass it on. Hope you've enjoyed his photos.
In my first entry of stories from my Dad ( Charles Robert Dobson 1st Battalion, HLI, 1944-47) I mentioned a TV programme and how we thought that a we saw a brief glimpse of HLI soldiers in Jerusalem. I've managed to take a photo of the TV screen that shows these soldiers. I'm afraid that the quality isn't good, because firstly you can see the reflection of my camera and tripod and secondly the picture is grainy anyway. The soldier that we think is my Dad is the one second from the right, leaning against the Bren Gun Carrier, my Dad was a marksman with the Bren Gun.
UPDATE:- I've just been informed that this episode of Infamous Assassinations - Yitzhak Rabin Isreal 1995, is being shown on the Yesterday channel at 11:30am on Tuesday 12th April 2011. see http://www.locatetv.com/tv/infamous-assassinations/3657947
Here is my Dad's discharge book when he eventually got home after more than three years with the HLI.
There was a slight mistake on the discharge book as my Dad is shown as a Lance Corporal, when he was by that time a Corporal.
My Dad seems to think that the document was signed by a Major who was the 2IC, to the Lieut. Colonel. It looks like the Major was J.G. Coulter or Coultard. It says that Dad's Military Conduct was Exemplary and the Testimonial reads "Classified Signaller. Thoroughly honest, sober and dependable. Intelligent and thoroughly respectful in his manner. A good signal ??(word unclear)"
Apparently this was the Army equivalent of a letter of recommendation to be used when getting a job.
Hope it's of some interest.
My Dad, Charles Robert Dobson, known as Charlie or "Scouse", was in the HLI, his memory for names of his platoon and company members isn't brilliant, but I've got a few more stories from him that I thought I'd share. Don't forget that these stories are from a man who turns 85 in two months, so exact dates and historical accuracy is not guaranteed
My father remembers that in Hamburg, his company (A Company) had a Sergeant by the name of BARTELLI. The sergeant was from a Glasgow family who owned a Fish & Chip shop that was right next door to the Maryhill Barracks. Maybe some older Glaswegian's may remember the shop? I believe that Glasgow was home to a lot of families of Italian descent.
Another name he recalls from his platoon was a Geordie from Newcastle by the name of DENNIS COCKING, a guy who was football mad and a dyed in the wool Newcastle United fan. In 1946 a Newcastle player named Albert Stubbins transferred to Liverpool, my Dad's team. At the time my Dad said it a major move for a record fee of £12,500 and this Dennis Cocking guy moaned and whinged for about two months after the move as he couldn't believe Stubbins had deserted his home town team for Liverpool. Stubbins' later claim to fame was an appearance on the front cover of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, the only footballer to be given that honour.
The photo below was taken approximately late 1946 or early 1947 and my Dad appears to be showing off fairly fresh tattoos. They don't look anywhere near as crisp and sharp now he's 85 years old.
My Dad also remembers a man by the name of MITCHELL, who won the Military Medal and if you asked him why he had been awarded the medal he would tell you that he got it for throwing snowballs at the Germans. I'd like to know why he had won it? Dad thinks that they had about six MM recipients in the regiment.
There is another reason that my Dad remembers Mitchell, was because their company were detailed as a guard of honour for a visit by the Emir Abdullah, the King of Jordan to the then High Commissioner of Palestine, General Alan Cunningham. The Commissioners residence was at the top of a hill, the King walked up and down the rows of the honour guard, stopping occasionally to speak to some of the soldiers. He stopped to speak to Mitchell who was two away from my Dad. The King said to Mitchell "How long have you been in the British Army?" Mitchell took a breath and bellowed at the top of his lungs "21 years, your Majesty!" The Kings face was a picture apparently.
Another soldier Dad remembers from his platoon was a chap called HARRISON who was a tall, blond lad who came from Keithley in Yorkshire and loved the game of cricket. Many years later watching a TV programme about the bombing of the King David hotel in Jerusalem, there was photo of Harrison stood with his rifle outside the remains of the hotel were 80+ people had died. At the time of the bombing the battalion were in the Allenby Barracks, which was just up the road from the hotel. Several members of the HLI, Dad included, were called out to help get the wounded and dead out of the ruins.
Dad remembers quite a lot of trouble surrounding the issue of demobilisation, a lot of soldiers had been through WWII and now they found themselves in a hot, desolate country, miles from home, whilst others were returning to their wives and families, some of the soldiers got a bit disgruntled. At this time the Battalion had come out of Palestine and were stationed in Egypt. In late 1945 or early 1946 a number of Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) men barricaded themselves on board some barges they were unloading in Port Suez, Egypt, they were protesting because of the slow demob. Some days after they were forcibly brought out of the barges and found themselves posted to other regiments in the area. The 1st HLI received about 20 of the RASC soldiers who were told in no uncertain terms that if any trouble started in the Battalion, then they would immediately have to report to the Company Office for duty, if they failed to report they were told that they would be tried and shot for mutiny.
Some time later in 1946 Dad and a number of other soldiers from the Battalion, including the Commanding Officer, Colonel Rose, were sent home on a 21 day leave. On their return to Egypt they were told that whilst they were away the Battalion had formed a mass march from their camp to take part in a meeting, with other Regiments in the area, at an open air cinema, they too were protesting about the very slow demob. The story goes that the RSM tried to stop the march and had ordered the soldiers on guard duty to fire upon their mates; they refused and let the march pass through. The HLI had been led on the march by a Provost Sergeant named SLOPER, for this act Sgt. Sloper received a term in the glasshouse, my Dad doesn't remember how long his prison term was. All this had happened under the watch of the 2IC, a Major whose name Dad can't remember, the Major was very quickly posted away.
Conversely, another story tells of a group of men with age and service group numbers as low as 6 or 7 who were being demobbed, sat on the front of a Jeep crying like babies as their Jeep was towed along by another Jeep. These men were in their late 40's or early 50's and the army had been their life since they had left Glasgow years before. My old man said that at the time Glasgow and indeed his home town of Liverpool had terrible slums and these guys knew what they were going back to and preferred army life, harsh as it was.
Finally all that association with Scots must have rubbed off on my Dad, because after he'd returned to Civvy Street he met and married a half Scots girl, my Mum, who can trace her family roots back to the early 16th century to the island of Fetlar in Shetland.
I hope that you've enjoyed Dad's stories.
My father, Stan Rumble, was a Canloan officer who served with the HLI, and was wounded in action in Normandy in June 1944.
He passed away some years ago.
I am interested in learning any information about his military service, and his career with the HLI.
Thanks very much.
Ted Rumble - Toronto, Canada
HLI Association Cyprus veterans Jimmy Urquhart and Jim Fury attended the presentation ceremony at Glasgow City Chambers where Mrs Jean Andrew, the sister of their fallen HLI comrade John Beattie, was presented with the Elizabeth Cross.Somme VC Commemoration
HLI Association members attend the unveiling of Victoria Cross commemorative plaques for Sgt James Turnbull VC (17th Bn HLI) and Drummer Walter Ritchie VC (2nd Seaforth Highlanders) on the 100th anniversary of their heroic actions on the first day of the Battle of The Somme. More details:
The Last Post: Major Robert Barbour Cameron
HLI WW2 Veteran John Lamont leads the Glasgow VJ Day Parade from a Jeep
Photo courtesy of Derek Crowe
100th Anniversary of the Battle of Loos. Sunday 27th September 2015
William Angus VC Memorial Unveiling
200 years ago the 71st (Highland Light Infantry) Regiment captured the reserve battery of the French Imperial Guard and turned the guns to fire the last shot of the Battle of Waterloo 18th June 1815.
The Highland Light Infantry Association is the official organisation for ex-members of all regular and territorial Battalions of the Highland Light Infantry, and their descendant units within the 52nd LOWLAND Volunteers and The Royal Regiment of Scotland.
Associate membership is also available to members of other UK and Allied veteran associations, descendants of HLI veterans, and serving military personnel.
The HLI Association meets for various veteran events in and around the City of Glasgow, including: VE Commemoration Day, Armed Forces Day, VJ Commemoration Day, and of course, Remembrance Sunday. Members also travel further afield to commemorate fallen comrades of the HLI and their brothers in arms now resting in foreign fields.
A small band of the "Maryhill Die-hards" meet up socially in the Iron Horse Bar in Glasgow on the third Thursday of the month.
HLI Veteran gets a smacker when he came up with his Son from Birkenhead to join us for our VE Day celebrations in Glasgow in May 2015
HLI Association School Visit for Remembrance Assembly November 2014St Mark's Primary School Visit November 2014Click this link for a short video of a WWI Discovery visit last week by Highland Light Infantry Association members to St Mark's Primary School, Hamilton. The soundtrack is the Primary 7 children singing their own arrangement (assisted by S6 Pupils from John Ogilvy High School) of "In Flanders Fields". (This will take you to YouTube. Use your browser "Back" button to return to this site) In Memoriam: The Somme 2014Click this link for a short video.(This will take you to YouTube. Use your browser "Back" button to return to this site) Highland Light Infantry Remembrance Ceremony Nijmegen 2014Click this link for a short video.(This will take you to Vimeo. Use your browser "Back" button to return to this site)
Jonkerbos War Cemetery, Nijmegen, Netherlands. Monday 22nd September 2014. 70 years since the brave soldiers of the Highland Light Infantry, and their brothers in arms from the Parachute Regiment, gave their lives for the liberation of Holland in Operation Market Garden. A ceremony of remembrance by members of the Highland Light Infantry Association with Parachute Regimental Association (Central Scotland-Glasgow Branch) comrades in attendance. With thanks to Mr John Hawthorn for the excellent video footage taken with his mobile phone in Nijmegen, Netherlands.
Glasgow Highlanders Parade and Church Service Sunday 5th
Click for detailsHLI Members at the GH Church Service
Birkenhead Memorial Unveiling: Wednesday 5th March 2014
Birkenhead Merseyside
Images courtesy of Bob Warwick, Steve Dobson, and Jim Fury
HLI Members attended the unveiling of a new memorial to the gallant actions of the 74th of Foot when the troopship HMS Birkenhead sank of South Africa in 1852.
This was the first occasion when the term "women and children first" was used as the Officers and men of the 74th Regiment of Foot (which became the HLI) formed up in order on deck as the ship went down to avoid swamping the lifeboats carrying the women and children on board.
Wreck of The Birkenhead Thomas M. Hemy 1892
The Highland Light Infantry Standard was in attendance with a delegation of HLI members including local Merseyside members Ken, Charlie, and Steve.
Charlie showing he still knows how to carry the Standard. Supported by a Standard Party including Ken and Chris.
HLI Liverpool Lad Charlie in 1944 and at the Birkenhead Memorial unveiling in 2014. Still an HLI Lad!
HLI on Merseyside with the Liver Building in the background
Jimmy makes the acquaintance of Jemma the young designer of the Birkenhead Memorial
Jemma is a student at Birkenhead Sixth Form College. The Memorial was constructed by apprentices at Cammel-Laird Shipyard
Glasgow Remembrance Service Sunday 10th November 2013
Evening Times 11/11/13
Remembrance Service Bridgeton Glasgow Monday 11th November 2013
2 Scots Homecoming Parade Glasgow Friday 15th November 2013 2 Scots Homecoming Video by David McNay (This link will take you to YouTube)
The Glasgow Highlanders Association held a service of dedication of their new standard in St Columba Church of Scotland Highland Cathedral on Sunday 18th November 2012.
The new Glasgow Highlanders Association Standard flanked by the RHF Association Standard and our own proudly borne by a 1 HLI veteran
(Photo by the Secretary)
Members of the HLI Association and other ex-service associations supported and participated in this splendid event. HLI Association members also assisted in raising funds towards the cost of the new GH Association standard. It is intended that both the HLI and GH Associations will continue to march together at parades with both standards flying!Kilts V Trews 1957
Click on the link above for a short British Pathe news film on the battle over amalgamation.
(Link will open in a new browser window)
Liverpool lad in the Highland Light Infantry!
Charles Robert Dobson, Service Number 14986559, A Company, 1st Battalion, Highland Light Infantry, City of Glasgow Regiment. (Photograph c.1944 courtesy of Steven Dobson)
Do you recognise Charlie? Also known (inevitably!) as "Scouse". He would like to hear from old comrades. Read more about Charlie in the "HLI Stories section".
Service of Dedication of a new Standard for the Highland Light Infantry Association 13th August 2010
This website has been developed to raise the awareness of the Highland Light Infantry Association and facilitate communication between its members whilst also appealing to the wider general public.
The website will grow over time and will hopefully stimulate further research and study into this famous Regiment.


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Rob Eshman: June 5, 1967
Levi Eshkol was one of the greatest Israeli heroes you never heard of. Eshkol was Israel's prime minister during the Six Day War, which began 44 years ago this week, on June 5, 1967.
In six days — 132 hours — Israel defeated three major Arab armies. It turned imminent invasion into a rout — by the last day of war, Israel's largely reservist soldiers had captured territories four times the size of pre-1967 Israel. The war changed the map of the Middle East — of the world — in ways so profound, our president and pundits spent last week arguing over its aftermath.
In the wake of victory, the laurels went to the military. Among other achievements, the Six-Day War redefined the image of the Jew — generals like Moshe Dayan and Yitzhak Rabin now symbolized a proud, virile sabra.
Eshkol, a Yiddish-speaking immigrant from Ukraine, was 72 when war broke out. His thick accent and bookish wit paled beside Dayan's charisma and ambition. After Israeli forces captured East Jerusalem, Eshkol decided to race to the Western Wall to take part in the momentous occasion. Dayan dissuaded him, lying that it was still too dangerous. Meanwhile, Dayan posed for photos as the great liberator of Jerusalem, pushing Eshkol literally out of the picture.
Not surprisingly, as historian (and now Israel's ambassador to the United States) Michael Oren wrote in a 2003 essay on Eshkol in the journal Azure, in a 1967 poll for "Man of the Year," 42 percent of Israelis picked Rabin, 27 percent chose Dayan, and only 10 percent selected Eshkol.
But through the work of Oren, historian Tom Segev and others, Eshkol's role in securing Israel's victory has become clear, to the point that it's possible to say, as Paul Johnson wrote of Winston Churchill, no one else could have done it.
"Courageous yet wary, flexible but resilient, [Eshkol] combined an engaging personality with an unswerving dedication to his people and his homeland," Oren wrote. "Rather than dictate his positions, Eshkol listened carefully to allies and opponents alike, and worked hard to forge a broad consensus before deciding on fundamental issues."
In the accounts of the run-up to war, Eshkol is often the voice of both caution and vision.
Israelis were panicked at news of Egypt's massive army deployed at its southern border. Eshkol faced a war room full of generals who maintained that Israel would pay in lives and territory for every day it waited to strike.
Eshkol saw beyond the immediate to the essential. He knew time was not on his side, but he also knew Israel could not act without at least tacit approval from its most important ally, America.
"Military victory will end nothing," Eshkol snapped at one cabinet member. "The Arabs are here to stay. So never tell me you don't give a damn about allies."
Even the left saw Eshkol's patience as dithering. Historian Abraham Rabinovich recounted how the editor of the liberal newspaper Davar cornered Eshkol and asked, "What are we waiting for?"
"Blut vet sich giessen vie vasser," Eshkol replied in Yiddish, his most expressive language — "Blood will run like water."
Eshkol, historian Segev wrote, emerges in the history of these encounters as a "statesman with nerves of steel."
The generals got well-deserved credit for daring and successful battles. But it was Eshkol, an expert in irrigation and agriculture, who planted the seeds of victory by methodically building up Israel's armed forces and defense strategies during the previous five years.
On the eve of war, with every Israeli tuned in to the radio looking for strength and comfort from their leader, Eshkol rambled through an unrehearsed statement. At one point, he mixed up the pages of his address, lost his place, stopped. National morale plummeted. It made "The King's Speech" look like Henry V on St. Crispin's Day.
But if Eshkol hedged to avoid isolation and catastrophe, behind the scenes he pushed President Lyndon Johnson hard to understand Israel's urgent plight.
When Egyptian planes buzzed Israel's nuclear reactor at Dimona, Eshkol yelled at Ambassador Abba Eban to call Washington.
"You tell Johnson in 1964 he promised he will always back Israel if attacked. Write it down! Write it down!" Eshkol said, then broke into Yiddish: "Tell that goy we're dealing with Arabs! Do you hear? Arabs!"
When the battle began, Eshkol pursued total victory. Though Dayan tried to snatch credit, it was Eshkol who made the fateful decisions regarding the capture of the Golan Heights and Jerusalem.
And when it was over, Eshkol, still mindful of Israel's place in the world, was both generous and forgiving.
"Mr. President," he addressed Johnson, "I come here with no sense of boastful triumph, nor have I entered the struggle for peace in the role of victor. My feeling is one of relief that we were saved from disaster in June, and for this I thank God. All my thoughts now are turned toward getting peace with our neighbors — a peace of honor between equals."
Eshkol died two years after the war, of heart failure. Those close to him say he never recovered from the stress and burden of those six days.
It's tempting to enlist the great man's legacy to assert a specific course of action for Israel now. But it's safer to recall the principles he stood for — a clear-eyed awareness of Israel's place in the world of nations, a belief in the strength of Israel's democracy, a pragmatic assessment of how far Israel can and must bend, without breaking.
Guided by those qualities, perhaps Israel, and its supporters, can avert yet more disasters in June.
Rob Eshman is the Editor-in-Chief of The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles.

subset: commoncrawl


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Archive for the 'Pies' Category
Southern Comfort Apple Pie
I love pies but rarely make them since my husband and I can easily polish off an entire pie in just a couple of days (I wish I was kidding)! But since my parents came to visit a few weeks ago I decided to make a pie for their arrival. I searched through all of my cookbooks to find the perfect pie, and trust me, it took a lot of time since I have way too many cookbooks.
While I was going through The Pastry Queen cookbook, my eyes lit up when I saw this recipe for Southern Comfort Apple Pie. I immediately called my mom to tell her the good news! Since both of my parents are HUGE fans of anything sweet (and big Southern Comfort fans) I knew they would appreciate this amazing recipe!
I did everything the recipe called for except I used this Williams Sonoma pie dough recipe. This Williams Sonoma recipe is my go-to dough recipe whenever I make a pie.
I topped the pie with homemade cinnamon ice cream, which was the perfect compliment to the pie. My parents enjoyed it so much they had it for dessert Friday night and breakfast Saturday morning!
Chef Mark's Southern Comfort Apple Pie
1 unbaked Basic Pie Crust
1/2 cup pecans
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (5 1/3 tablespoons) chilled unsalted butter
Apple Filling:
5 to 6 medium-size tart apples (Braeburn, Cortland, or Winesap)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup Southern Comfort liqueur
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
To make the topping: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Arrange the pecans on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast them in the oven for 7 to 9 minutes, until golden brown and aromatic. Coarsely chop the nuts.
In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, process both sugars, the cinnamon, salt, and flour for about 1 minute. Cut the butter into small pieces and add to the sugar-flour mixture. Pulse about 10-15 times, until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in the pecans. Refrigerate the topping, covered, in a medium bowl until ready to use.
Line a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate with the pie dough. Press it into place and crimp the outside edges with your fingers or a fork.
To make the filling: Increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Peel, core, and cut the apples into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter starts to foam, add the apples and saute for 5 to 8 minutes. In a small bowl, stir together the cinnamon and sugar; sprinkle it on the apples and stir to combine. Simmer the apples over medium-low heat about 1 minute longer. Remove the apples from the skillet with a slotted spoon, leaving as much of the butter-sugar mixture in the skillet as possible. Transfer the apples to a baking sheet and arrange in a single layer. (If heaped in a pile, the hot apples will steam-cook and become soggy.)
Pour the Southern Comfort into the butter-sugar mixture in the skillet. Simmer the mixture over medium heat at least 5 minutes, until the alcohol burns off (carefully sniff the mixture at close range; if it burns the insides of your nostrils, the vapors are still burning off). Add the cream and continue cooking about 5 to 10 minutes, until the mixture is as thick as pourable caramel. Return the apples to the skillet.
Pour the apple filling into the unbaked pie crust and sprinkle the topping evenly over the apples. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the filling is bubbling and the topping is brown. Serve the pie warm or at room temperature.
Source: The Pastry Queen


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Today the Federal Reserve unveiled part of its proposed rules for regulating "too big to fail" banks and other financial institutions. The 173 pages of rules, called for in the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, are designed to minimize the amount of damage one TBTF institution can do to the economy in the event it goes under.
From Donna Borak at American Banker:
Regulators opted to roll out risk-based capital and leverage requirements in two phases. First, firms will be required to follow the Fed's November guidelines to capital planning, which require companies to conduct stress tests and maintain adequate capital, including a Tier 1 risk-based ratio of greater than 5%, both under expected and stress conditions.
As part of the second phase, the Fed will issue a proposal to implement a risk-based capital surcharge for systemically important firms based on principles already agreed upon by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.
It is not clear exactly which institutions will face a surcharge. The largest 8 U.S. banks have already been targeted by international regulators for a surcharge of between 1% to 2.5%.
But Fed Gov. Dan Tarullo has previously suggested that all firms with greater than $50 billion of assets could face at least a "modest" surcharge. Fed officials did not provide any further information Tuesday on what kind of surcharge such firms would pay.
What this all means for consumers is higher regulatory costs for TBTF financial institutions, which will likely try and pass some of those costs on to customers. Checking accountholders have seen a lot of that lately, as banks have raised fees and discontinued services like debit card rewards to try and make up for pricey new regulations.
But there might be some benefits for consumers beyond whatever stability the regulations add to the financial system. One possible benefit for customers at smaller banks is that they'll be a lot less likely to see their account absorbed into a larger bank because of a merger, which tends to shake up account terms and conditions overnight, and not for the better.
That's because the new regulations will make being TBTF much less attractive for financial institutions. Once upon a time, it made a lot of sense for banks to try and become as big as possible, because once a bank reached the TBTF threshold, they received a host of benefits. The Fed proposal alludes to this:
The market perception that some companies are "too big to fail" poses threats to the financial system. First, it reduces the incentives of shareholders, creditors and counterparties of these companies to discipline excessive risk-taking. Second, it produces competitive distortions because companies perceived as "too big to fail" can often fund themselves at a lower cost than other companies. This distortion is unfair to smaller companies, damaging to competition, and tends to artificially encourage further consolidation and concentration in the financial system.
The new capital requirements, which require TBTF banks to hold more of their money in the form of low-earning liquid assets, imposes a penalty of sorts on excessive size that should, along with all the new compliance costs and the Durbin amendment's $10 billion cut-off for swipe-fee limits, make being a financial juggernaut seem much less attractive.
What do you think? Should TBTF institutions have stricter rules than smaller institutions?
Follow me on Twitter: @ClaesBell


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If you are not prepared, you can easily destroy an interview by asking the wrong questions. The way you ask questions in an interview can easly get you or your company in legal trouble. Read this article and share the Top 10 Interview No No's with every interviewer you know.
Some interview questions can get you into trouble; others can destroy the success of the interview. You need to be aware of the topics that can easily qualify you for a discrimination lawsuit. Poorly phrased questions may result in weak answers or even scare away a candidate.
Use the following list to help you stay out of trouble and keep candidates interested in working for your company.
There are some rare exceptions to the above rules. For example, when interviewing for positions where children are involved, it is often acceptable to ask for more details about criminal background. Or, when a church is interviewing a pastor, it is acceptable to ask detailed questions about the candidate's religious beliefs. Again, to keep yourself and company safe, if you believe you have an exception to the above rules, contact an attorney and avoid the risk.
Help your business grow and improve results by signing up for the CareerBuilder.com Employer Newsletter. You will receive insightful articles like this one once a week, as well as occasional discounts and coupons.
Every year, HR professionals share new and unusual stories about the interviews they conduct. People make mistakes, but some mistakes are so over the top that they make the decision not to hire a very easy one. Check out this year's top 10 list.
Interviewing should be taken seriously and anyone giving an interview must be prepared. Learn ways to run a more effective interview, asking great questions that can keep candidates on their toes, and allow you to learn more about your prospects.
Have you ever interviewed a candidate who was arrested for stealing a pig? A recent CareerBuilder.com survey found several strange items included in resumes. Have a good laugh, and learn some principles for dealing with these oddities as a hiring manager.


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Panorama view from the mountain Centralen in Oscar II land, on Spitsbergen (part of Svalbard). Taken during the 2011 geology fieldwork by the Norwegian Polar Institute, by Boele R. Kuipers. We use a helicopter to drop us at various mountaintops in order to map the surrounding geology.
Used a compact camera and no tripod so limited quality but as this is such a special place I would like to share it with you.
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway.The islands were first utilized as a whaling base in the 17th and 18th centuries, after which they were abandoned. Coal mining started at the beginning of the 20th century, and several permanent communities were established. The Spitsbergen Treaty of 1920 recognizes Norwegian sovereignty, and the 1925 Svalbard Act made Svalbard a full part of the Kingdom of Norway. This act also established Svalbard as a free economic zone and a demilitarized zone. The Norwegian Store Norske and the Russian Arktikugol are the only mining companies remaining on the islands. Research and tourism have become important supplementary industries. Two major research facilities are the University Centre in Svalbard and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. No roads connect the settlements; instead snowmobiles, aircraft and boats serve inter-community transport. Svalbard Airport, Longyear serves as the main gateway to the rest of Europe.The archipelago features an Arctic climate, although with significantly higher temperatures than other areas at the same latitude. The flora take advantage of the long period of midnight sun to compensate for the polar night. Svalbard is a breeding ground for many seabirds, and also features polar bears, reindeer and marine mammals. Seven national parks and twenty-three nature reserves cover two-thirds of the archipelago, protecting the largely untouched, yet fragile, nature. Sixty percent of the archipelago is glacier, and the islands feature many mountains and fjords.source: wikipedia


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Brad Pitt will get a break from changing diapers soon.
People magazine reports that Pitt has agreed to play Lt. Aldo Raine in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming WW II action flick Inglorious Bastards.
Pitt first saw the film's script—which Tarantino has been talking up and working on for years—early last month, while awaiting the birth of his and Angelina Jolie's twins, Knox and Vivienne. A couple of we
eks ago, the Man They Call Q went the extra 5,700 miles and flew to France in order to convince Pitt to take the part.
The film—which Simon Pegg and Leonardo Dicaprio are also being courted for—is scheduled to begin filming in Germany on October 13. Filming will be on an accelerated schedule to make next year's Cannes Film Festival. Which would cut into Pitt's parenting time, but hey—like every guy with a growing family, he could probably use the cash. And those $300,000 tables don't grow on trees.


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Giles Island is frequently featured on Mossy Oak Television Productions
The Ultimate Outdoor Experience
Experience the premier hunter's paradise at Giles Island. Here at Giles Island, our passion for hunting and our dedication to family, honor, and tradition combine to provide the most exclusive Hunting Club in the South. Our expansive hunting acreage, excellent accommodations, and complex history are enticing to hunters of all types, including both rifle and bow hunters.
Steeped in the heritage of the Deep South, Giles Island is the perfect destination for your fair chase Trophy Whitetail excursion. The island supports a deer population of over 1,000, with a buck-to-doe ratio of one to one. An intense focus on wildlife management contributes to the quality of our Trophy bucks on Giles Island. The average buck weight is 200 pounds, with some bucks weighing in at 280 pounds. The average Trophy score on Giles Island ranges in the mid 140's, with several bucks scoring over 170 inches.
With a total acreage of 9,400 and located only 15 minutes from Natchez, Mississippi, Giles Island is the perfect hunter's retreat. Giles Island offers a variety of hunting scenarios, from dense thickets to wide open fields. In addition to deer hunting, Giles Island offers turkey and white perch and bass fishing from our eight lakes. Other hunting opportunities include dove, squirrel and alligator hunting.
Giles Island is home to many historic events, including the famous 'Sandbar Fight' involving Jim Bowie and his knife, which today is probably the most recognized weapon in the world. Here at Giles Island, we like to uphold the tradition of fair sportsmanship in a true Deer Hunter's paradise, while providing the luxury of private, five-star accommodations and full amenities. Explore Giles Island today for the ultimate experience of man's oldest pastime.
Unlike many other outfits, our techniques and experience make Giles Island an excellent choice for archery. Whether you are a novice bow hunter or an experienced archer, we will put you on the deer.


text:
The former director of the CIA, David Petraeus, reportedly told his biographer Paula Broadwell, the woman with whom he allegedly had an affair, to stop sending threatening e-mails to family friend Jill Kelley after he was notified of the harassment, according to officials.
Former staff members and friends told The Associated Press Petraeus was "shocked" when he learned about the emails and contacted Broadwell around the middle of the summer.
They say his relationship with Kelley was strictly platonic.
Petraeus resigned Friday, after an FBI investigation brought to light his affair with Broadwell, who was the source of the anonymous e-mails to Kelley, CNN reported.
Federal investigators said the emails to Kelley "told her to stop behavior she saw as overly friendly toward Petraeus, or she would be exposed," according to the Washington Post.
The Post said Kelley contacted a friend in Florida who worked at the FBI, saying she did not know who was sending the threats, according to officials.
"The new information, provided by two law enforcement officials, helps fill in a summer timeline when Petraeus's e-mail account became the subject of a federal investigation," the Post wrote.
As the story continues to unfold following his resignation, it raises additional questions about possible security leaks and national security.


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Inspiration - 5 Day - Feb 2011: Carnival Inspiration Cruise Review by slang1272
Overall Member Rating
Inspiration - 5 Day - Feb 2011
Destination: Western Caribbean
Embarkation: Tampa
We stayed at the Doubletree - Westshore and took advantage of the "Park and Sail" package. The hotel was VERY nice. The room was spacious and clean. The parking area is in a garage, so it made us feel a bit safer leaving the car there for an extended period.
The morning of the cruise, we got up and enjoyed an incredibly overpriced breakfast in the hotel before heading off to a drug store to pick up some last minute items. Then back to the room for an hour before, taking the hotel shuttle to the port. The port was less than 15 minutes away. We departed the hotel at 11am and were on the ship just after noon.
I would highly recommend this hotel for anyone looking for a "Park and Sail" package. The hotel is wonderful. It's easy to find, the staff was very friendly, and the shuttle service was very well organized and fast. The only downside was the breakfast, which in my opinion, was overpriced. The food wasn't bad, it was just pricey. More
Embarkation / Day 1
We have never been to the Port of Tampa before. Embarkation was pretty quick and painless. Security was a breeze. The lines to check in were not very long by the time we arrived at 11:15 and the lines there were there were moving pretty quickly. We arrived just as they were boarding VIPs. After checking in we waited in the seating area for about 20 minutes before our number (8) was called and we were on the ship shortly thereafter.
We were not very hungry when we got on so we headed to the Lido pool bar for the first of several Funship Specials. I forgot how strong they were! Whew! They go down so easily!
After drinks we dropped our bags off in the room (which was ready a bit early,) we went to the spa for the tour. I'm not sure why we keep doing the spa tour, but it's kind of a tradition. We already know most of the services, so the tour is really just a time killer for us.
By that time, I needed to get some food in my belly, so off to the deli for sandwiches. We met up with our friends there as well. We relaxed a bit before the muster drill. The drill was as expected: a few complainers, but otherwise uneventful.
Sail away was fun. I even danced a bit (which RARELY happens.) We explored the ship a bit, threw some mone before heading to dinner.
Dinner: normally, I take LOTS of food pictures. On this cruise though, I completely forgot and just enjoyed the food. We sat at a 10 seat table at the late seating and had a wonderful first dinner (though for the life of me, I can't remember what it was.) Service was outstanding.
We were exhausted after dinner, so we skipped the show and went off to bed.
Day 2: Sea Day
We grabbed breakfast in the dining room and went out to enjoy our first sea day. We had a couple mimosas before heading to the Paris Lounge for trivia. After 6 cruises, I finally got my hands on the much coveted Ship-on-a-Stick!!
I spent most of the day on the Serenity deck away. I love, love, love the Serenity area, however I recommend getting there early if you want a seat. I'm not a sun-worshiper to a seat in the shade was fine with me. In fact, I could spend almost the whole cruise on Serenity.
Late in the afternoon, I went to the atrium bar for Name That Tune trivia. In the past, we never spent much time at the atrium bar because we were smokers. Now that we've stopped, I found the atrium bar to be a great spot for a quite drink. I didn't win trivia, but still had fun and we were introduced to Calvin, the piano player, who just started his contract with the ship.
After trivia, we stopped off for sushi. One of the reasons we like the late seating for dinner is that we can enjoy sushi and still have room for dinner.
We only went to one show on this cruise. I didn't recall seeing "Shout" on any of the previous cruises, and it was quite good. There were a couple parts that didn't really fit: specifically, the "Achy Breaky Heart" part and the incredibly white lead singing trying to rap. The rest of the show, though, was enjoyable.
Dinner that night was "Elegant Night." I enjoy dressing for dinner and it was nice to see everyone in their elegant attire that evening. I had the lobster and also some prime rib. The lobster was especially good this cruise.
After dinner we had some pictures taken, threw away some money in the casino, and went to bed. We had a big morning planned in Grand Cayman.
Day 3 Grand Cayman
I woke up at 5:30 so I could hit the gym and get ready for our jet ski tour in Grand Cayman.
The gym facilities on ship were nice. It's a small gym, but probably the perfect size for the size ship. It had plenty of treadmills (which was all I was really interested in) For those interested, the treadmills have tvs in them, so you can watch while running. I didn't take advanatage of the tv, and relied solely on my ipod and the view of Grand Cayman getting closer and closer.
Here's where things get a little disappointing. While I was running on the treadmill, I noticed the ship was rocking quite a bit. I nearly fell a few times while I was running. I didn't really think anything of it. The slightly rough seas didn't affect me otherwise...until the announcement.
As we were coming into port, the cruise director announced that due to the high winds and rough seas a few excursions had been canceled. We did not book with the ship, so we had to wait until we were on the island before we could find out if our jet ski tour was also canceled (though we suspected it would be.)
We tendered over and made our way to the Hard Rock, which was the meeting point for the Fat Fish Jet Ski tour. It was just as we suspected: canceled.
Even with a canceled excursion, we decided to have a great day. It wasn't raining, it was warm and sunny and we were on vacation. There are worse fates! So, we wandered around the island. We stopped off at Margaritaville and several other shops. We had lunch at some restaurant on the water. It wasn't the best. I had turtle soup and conch fritters. My partner had conch chowder. The turtle soup tasted like beef and barley soup. I've never had turtle before so I don't know if it's supposed to taste like that or not. I was a little disappointed. My partner's chowder wasn't traditional chowder. It was creamy, but there weren't any potatoes. The conch fritters were delicious! The jerk mayonnaise that came with them was outstanding too! I could have eaten several platefuls.
After lunch we made our way back to the ship. We got back just in time for Movie Quotes Trivia where .....
Yep! A 2nd ship-on-a-stick!
Since our excursion in Grand Cayman was canceled we decided to see if we could find one that interested us for the next port (Cozumel) We are huge Amazing Race fans and thought we would check out The Amazing Cozumel Race. We checked with the excursion desk and were told that they didn't have enough participants at the moment, but we would be placed on a waiting list. We REALLY wanted to do that one, so we hoped that there would be a surge of interest in the 15 hours that followed, but the representative at the excursion desk told us it would be very wise for us to start thinking of a back-up plan.
More relaxation on Serenity and then to the Past Guest Party. The music was great and I always enjoy cheering for the ships we've sailed. What put me off a bit was the people there just to pound down drinks. Just because something is free doesn't mean that it should be a contest to see how much of it you can suck down your throat. Really, all I wanted was a glass of champagne, but the group to our left snagged every glass as it came by. Finally, a server came by and asked what I wanted and she walked past the champagne hogs and brought me a glass. It seemed like she went a bit out of her way to bring it to me and I appreciated it very much. Off to dinner!
After dinner we returned to the room hoping to find our Amazing Cozumel Race tickets. Our hopes were dashed. So we went down to the cigar bar for a stogie and a Jameson and ginger. Everything seems better with Jameson.
We spent some time there with our friends and then back to the room where we would find the tickets for our Amazing Race excursion! woo hoo!
Next up....the Amazing Cozumel Race!!!
Day 4 - Cozumel
Our next stop was Cozumel. We had been here once before, on our first cruise, but I have little recollection of it.
I went to the gym again and hopped on a treadmill. I watched and ran as we came into port. It was very peaceful and relaxing. However, if I had known what was in store for us later that day, I probably would have skipped the treadmill!
As I said before, our excursion in Grand Cayman was canceled, so we decided to try the Amazing Cozumel Race. It was probably the best excursion I've ever been on. Ever! Fair warning: it's not for the sedentary. The race took us through the main downtown area of Cozumel and some areas that many would never see. It was so much fun. I'm smiling about it now as I type about it. I even felt a little like a celebrity at one point. During one of the challenges, someone came up and asked us if we were on the Amazing Race. I told her, "Yes" and then confessed that it was just a ship excursion. Still, it was amazingly fun!
The challenges were just challenging enough for a vacation. But it was still a race and we covered a lot of ground quickly (although not as quickly as others!) The race ended at a local restaurant where we enjoyed the 2 complimentary beverages and also the best freaking fajitas ever. The tortillas were so fresh and so was the salsa! It was here that they had the awards ceremony. We came in 5th place (out of 8.)
For anyone looking for something a little different than the normal excursions, try the Amazing Cozumel Race. If you are a fan of the show, you will absolutely love it!
After the race, we did a bit of shopping in the main square before catching a cab back to the ship. I don't know what time we got back, but I know we were both exhausted!
I scheduled a massage that evening before dinner. I scheduled a "deep tissue" massage. Big mistake. I should know better than to try deep tissue on a cruise because I was a mess by the time it was over. It hurt. I had to ask the massage therapist a couple times to ease off the pressure. Note to self: next time, go with Swedish. Do NOT get deep tissue.
We were two of the few that made it to dinner. The dining room was pretty empty that night and those of us that did make it looked pretty peaked.
We tried to stay awake to enjoy the "Mega Deck Party" but lost steam around 11pm and crashed shortly after.
Day 5 - Sea Day
Our last day. It looked like a beautiful day outside. The sun was shining, but it was chilly. Really chilly. I spent a little time in the sun but spent most of the time inside the ship reading and recovering from the previous day's massage. My shoulders hurt even to the touch for the whole day.
We spent a bit of time in the casino too. We managed to rack up a little dough that afternoon! It was an unusually profitable couple of hours. We stopped while we were ahead and cashed out before dinner.
Dinner is always so sad the last night of a cruise. The food was good, but it's sad to know that the vacation is coming to an end.
After dinner we put our bags in the hallway and headed downstairs for a couple drinks before hitting the hay.
Disembark / Final Thoughts
We were fortunate enough to get #1 luggage tags so as soon as the self-assist folks were finished we were called. It was the fastest we've ever gotten off a ship. We off the ship around 9pm. The shuttle had us back to the hotel in no time and we were on the road by 9:30.
Overall, it was an AWESOME cruise. Probably my 2nd favorite ever. The ship was in a great condition and the crew was great as well, for the most part.
We did have an issue one morning in the dining room where the service was was not up to par. It took forever to even get someone to take our order and then another eternity to get the food. We had to ask for coffee refills. I don't know what the problem was, but we normally have great service in the dining room so it was quite a shock to say the least.
Another downside that I found was with the dining room "entertainment." I normally like the singing waiters and the conga line through the dining room. This cruise though, it seemed like they started the festivities earlier than normal. Many people, us included, were just beginning to eat their main courses when the lights were dimmed and we were beckoned to dance. In all of our other cruises, showtime didn't usually begin until dessert. It's a small issue, and it didn't detract from our overall enjoyment, but it was noticed.
The room steward was exceptional. We never wanted for anything. Also, the gentleman at the excursion desk was very nice when we were purchasing our Amazing Race excursion. Honestly, when he told us that we would be on a waiting list for the excursion, I never even expected that we'd get to go, but he took care of it beautifully and we enjoyed the excursion immensely.
All in all, it was a great time and I would happily sail the Inspiration again. Less
Published 02/21/11
Cabin review: 4EV8 InteriorInterior (4E) Reviews >>
Read Cruise Critic's Carnival Inspiration Review >>
Lots of winners and few losers...
Great first cruise !
Not bad for what it is
Pleasantly surprised by Carniv...
Truly "The Fun Ship"
Lots of winners and few losers...
Not bad for what it is
Sponsored Links


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Really? Is that what my tax dollars are for? Investigating sports while millions continue to languish in the unemployment lines while Banksters go unpunished. What a bunch of idiots we seem to have chosen to lead this country. Here is a News Flash for Congress: Major League Sports are NOT your forte. MLB hearings proved that.
On the other hand, this may prove to be a good thing as the fact that bonuses are paid for bad behavior not only in Boardrooms, but amongst nearly all of the NFL teams; not just the Saints. By the time Congress is done with its investigation and hearings we could see nearly all head coaches suspended for the
2013 2020 (they take forever to go nowhere) season along with their defensive coaches suspended indefinitely. Or maybe we will see the NFL Commisioner eating crow as the players and fans demand his hide for sweeping this league-wide practice under the rug for so many years.
Somewhere along the way of opening this can of worms, bonuses for doing a good job (hitting hard) became "bounties". Nothing like putting a negative conotation to engender outrage so let's try it here:
Dear Congressmen,
When will you investigate the paying of Bounties to the Banksters responsible for gutting the Economy of the United States and the World?
The Screwed
Nothing like a little sleight of hand to distract the news media and John Q. Public from discussing what a miserable failure you Congress people are when it comes to acting like leaders and upholding the Constitution you swore to protect is there? The Corruption and obvious lack of Morals and Ethics in your own Halls far outweigh anything going on in the lockerrooms, but investigating yourselves and your Corporate ties would implicate you as the Most Corrupt Government in the world. Yet you owe this to America and the World at large. Bring these Banksters to justice. Expose them for the criminals they are. Hold their shady practices up for the world to see. Expose the utter contempt they had for their clients and the People at large.
Oh wait, that's right, you won't because you don't want to bite the hand that feeds you...
Time to vote out EVERY incumbent. Maybe that will get the Commissioners message across to Congress: Bad behavior will NOT be tolerated!


text:
Am 1998-7-23 um 14:24 hat Edward Cherlin geschrieben:
> Bitstream was giving away Cyberbit,
Was -- but lately I was not able to find any downloding offer on their
WWW page. Is there currently any offer I may have overlooked?
> I have not seen a properly encoded page including Arabic and any of CJK,
This UTF-8 encoded page is properly rendered by Alis' Tango browser
(disregarding the Georgian part, for which I haven't any font available).
Netscape Communicator 4.05 and MS-IE 4 properly render all but R-L samples
(Arab, Hebrew, and Yiddish), because I do not have R-L enabled versions of
these programs (as another poster in this thread has said, these are
available for download, but I haven't tried them yet).
This is the same text, using NCRs (cf.
<http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/charset.html#h-5.3.1>). Tango and MS-IE
display this page as the previous one; Netscape, however, breaching the HTML
specification, cf. <http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/charset.html#h-5.1>, dis-
plays only characters from the Latin-1 repertoire, in this page.
Best wishes,
Otto Stolz
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Tue Jul 10 2001 - 17:20:40 EDT


text:
This content has been marked as final. Show 1 reply
1. Re: Problem to undersand some Patterns in a project !!jduprez Jul 19, 2010 7:59 AM (in response to 843853)Hello,
I know you will not get much from my reply, and I suspect others (me included if I get some more time) will help you with the terminology (still, you can find a reasonable definition of all of the tech terms you mention on, e.g., Wikipedia).
But first I feel compelled to warn you that you should ask someone in your project's team to guide you through the organization of code and features, rather than asking anonymous souls for help on an Internet forum.
Recently we got a beginner in our team. He was used to university work, sequences of lone research, resourcefulness, and evaluation. He was guided by someone in the team but after his welcome period started working on his own, and was reluctant to ask questions because he thought he would be looked down as incompetent if he did.
Indeed, it's exactly the contrary: I had to spend a couple of hours discussing with him, convincing him that it was in his best interest to ask questions to his fellow team members, and that it would be even regarded as suspicious if he was not asking question. He did a better job after he accepted to openly ask for help when he was in trouble.
Any program that you may intervene onto nowadays is not trivial, otherwise noone would be paying you for that; so it is obvious that you won't guess everything ritght by yourself, and people in your team, including management that evaluates you, will certainly not expect you to get by doing everything without being advised, guided, and even mentored, by your team fellows.
Indeed not asking for help, and remaining stuck, or worse walking towards dead ends, is utterly unprofesional.
Ironically, it takes experience to acknowledge that, so it's a common beginner mistake :o)
Good luck with your new job anyway.
Best regards,


text:
Faculty advisors and academic counselors play an important role in assisting all students with academic decisions. Students are provided with personal assistance when planning semester course schedules, developing a plan to move toward graduation, and specific tips on transferring. Students MUST meet with their academic advisor or an academic counselor before registering for courses.
Your method of registration will be based on your student status.


text:
Today, my 4-year-old niece told me she likes it when I'm around because I'm "squishy and smell like fried chicken all the time." FML
Consolation prizeYour FML was denied. We had to at least give you a badge to cheer you up a bit.
50 favoritesLove knows no boundaries. You've already added 50 FMLs to your favourites list!
Up and coming moderatorIt's nice of you to help us sort out the submissions, using FML's moderate feature.
MobilityYou are connected to FML via the mobile site or an app. How modern.
Keen reader – Level: student ninjaYou have voted for 15% of the entire collection of FMLs to date.
Keen reader – Level: godlike ninjaYou have voted for 100% of the entire collection of FMLs to date.19%
Keen reader – Level: master ninjaYou have voted for 50% of the entire collection of FMLs to date.38%
The return of the thumbYou have thumbed 5000 comments.0%
The thumb strikes backYou have left your thumbprint on 2500 comments.0%
YDI MasterYou made your 500th "You deserved it" vote.0%
JudgmentalYou have voted "You deserved it" over 100 times.1%
One more and it's business timeYou've received 68 Hugs on your profile. Kinky.0%
Today, my drunk mother got into a fight with the lady at Krystal burger. Why? "Because the bitch said they aren't making special orders." FML
Today, my son pooped in his diaper and managed to somehow take it off without my knowledge. He then sat down on the carpet and imitated a dog with worms, all the way down the hallway, through the living room, and into my bedroom. FML
Today, while on my way to the break room, it seemed as if everyone was staring at me and giving me odd looks. I asked my friend, "Did I get prettier overnight or something?" She answered, "No, your shirt is just see-through." FML
Today, my boyfriend, who hasn't shaved in a month, went to go shave. I was pretty excited since his beard was starting to make my face itch whenever we kissed. When he came out of the bathroom he had a handlebar mustache. FML


text:
Kids love to be just like mom and dad, and now they can with our Denim Upholstered Rocker with Slip Cover.
This adorable furniture set is a comfy spot for kids to read stories, play "let's pretend" or just relax after a long day of playing.
- Sized with growing toddlers in mind
- Made of velour fabric
- Padded, thick cushioning for cozy comfort
- Secured on a solid wood base for safety
- Requires no assembly – unpack it out of the box and it's ready to go!
Furnished Over 1 Million Homes Since 1997...
I was very satisfied with One Way Furniture Service. I have referred them to many friends, family, and customers. Thank you. Kathy A. Eisele, Boston, MA
Product Review - Kidkraft - Rockers - Rocking Chair
Furniture Brand
KidKraft is a leading creator, manufacturer and distributor of children's furniture, toy, gift and room accessory items.
Originally formed in 1968 as a manufacturer and supplier to the early-childhood sector, KidKraft began competing in the multi-billion dollar juvenile retail market in 1996. Today, KidKraft creates a wide array of room furnishings, gifts and toys, including licensed juvenile products for Harley-Davidson, John Deere, Hello Kitty, Strawberry Shortcake, and the PGA TOUR. Kidkraft
Weight & Size
Reference - Sku: 18685 - Kidkraft - Rockers - Rocking Chair by Kidkraft


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Lucky 7: Flower ConfidentialNovember 30, 2012 • No Comments • category: Algonquin Books Blog, Lucky Stars
"This book is as lush as the flowers it describes." – Publishers Weekly
Flowers can say everything from "get well" to "I love you" to "I'm sorry." But they are also a multi-million dollar business. Amy Stewart investigates in her book what goes into creating and pricing the beauty and sentiment of flowers Flower Confidential. It's one of our Lucky 7 titles this month and cheaper than a bouquet at only $1.99 through November 30th.
You can buy Flower Confidential at AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, INDIEBOUND, KOBO, GOOGLE, APPLE, and POWELL'S.
Award-winning author Amy Stewart takes readers on an around-the-world, behind-the-scenes look at the flower industry and how it has sought—for better or worse—to achieve perfection.
She tracks down the hybridizers, geneticists, farmers, and florists working to invent, manufacture, and sell flowers that are bigger, brighter, and sturdier than anything nature can provide. There's a scientist intent on developing the first genetically modified blue rose; an eccentric horitcultural legend who created the most popular lily; a breeder of gerberas of every color imaginable; and an Ecuadorean farmer growing exquisite roses, the floral equivalent of a Tiffany diamond. And, at every turn she discovers the startling intersection of nature and technology, of sentiment and commerce.
"Stewart's journey takes us down many such paths, all connected by her own curiosity and highly readable prose. The greatest value of Flower Confidential, however, is that it was written at all." — The Washington Post


text:
Home | Site Map | Cisco How To | Net How To | Wireless | Search | Forums | Services | Setup Guide | Chicagotech MVP | About Us | Contact Us|
Virtual Network issue in Hyper-V server - Resolution with screenshots
Allow management operating system to share network adapter
Case 4: I just installed Windows 2008 R2 with Hyper-V enabled. If I don't create Virtual network, both NICs connecting to LAN and SAN work fine. If I create virtual network for both LAN and SAN, virtual LAN work fine but not SAN virtual network. The SAN virtual network can't access the SAN and other computer in the SAN can't ping the server SAN IP. If I disable the SAN virtual network, the server can access the SAN. I posted the screen here: http://www.chicagotech.net/server/hyper-v6.htm
Resolution: please refer this post: Network doesn't work after creating Virtual network
Case 5: I'm new in Windows 2008 Server Core environment. I had installed Windows 2008 Standard Edition Server Core on a Dell PE2950 server. The system has 4 NIC cards, 2 x Intel PRO/1000 and 2 x Broadcom NIC. I then created 2 Teaming using Intel ServerCore Script, i.e. Team0 consisted of 1 x Intel PRO/1000 + 1 x Broadcom NIC; Team1 consisted of 1 x Intel PRO/1000 + 1 x Broadcom NIC. Team0 was used for remote management; whereas Team1 was used for the External Network for the Guest OSs. Then I used the Hyper-V manager on another Windows 2008 Standard Full server to connect to the Server Core and tried to new virtual network but failed with the error "Error Applying New Virtual Network Changes - Setup switch failed. The switch could not bind to TEAM: Team1 because it is already bound to another switch." Some guys said virtual switch protocol should be disabled. However, there is no GUI to access the network protocol in Server Core environment.
Resolution: please refer to this post: Error in creating virtual network using Windows 2008
Case 6: I have two HP ML110 64-bit servers. I have
installed Hyper-v on one of windows 2008 computers to run windows 2003 as
guest for half year. Now, I try to install windows 2003 on another windows
2008 computer. The windows 2003 installs OK but it doesn't have network
connection (it is empty in the Network Connection and only icon is New
connection wizard).
The Network Adapter in the Hyper-V Settings is Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet - Virtual Network. I check the working computer and the network settings is the same.
Resolution: Please check this post: No network connection in win 2008 Hyper-V VM
Case 7: When trying to add external NIC in the Virtual Network Manager of Hyper-V, you may receive this message: "Error Applying Virtual Network Properties Changes. Setup switch failed. The WMI Task object tracking this operation's progress no longer exists".
Resolution: please check this page: http://www.chicagotech.net/server/hyper-v4.htm
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CONTACT: Justin Hoyt, (518) 629-7898, email@example.com RELEASE: Immediate, Tuesday, April 9, 2013
The Hudson Valley Community College softball team (1-5) lost to North Country Community College (2-0) 5-3 and 17-13 on Tuesday afternoon.
Maggie Miller (Maple Hill/Schodack) pitched the first game, recording nine strikeouts in the two-run loss. Emily Johnson (Tamarac/Wynantskill) went 2-2 with two doubles, a run scored and an RBI, and Katie Traver (Shenendehowa/Clifton Park) added two hits and an RBI.
The Vikings managed to put 13 runs on the board in the second game, but fell just short. Johnson led the team with four hits, a double, two runs scored and five RBIs. Miller, Katie Traver (Shenendehowa/Clifton Park), Alyssa Hand (Columbia/East Greenbush) and Sierra Bailey (Hoosick Falls/Hoosick Falls) each recorded two hits in the loss.
The softball team travels to Herkimer on Thursday for a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m.


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Peterson Will Not Play Saturday, Preseason Involvement Doubtful
By: Aj Mansour | KFAN.com
Mankato, MN -Whether or not it truly matters for his regular season success, the preseason status of Adrian Peterson has been one of this year's recurring topics at Training Camp in Mankato. With two more days before the team's preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals, Coach Zimmer again fielded questions about Peterson's involvement.
Asked if Peterson will be part of the Vikings' plans Saturday night against the Cardinals, Zimmer simply said "No."
Missing Saturday night will effectively put Peterson outside of the window to play in front of the home crowd in Minnesota. With two games remaining after this weekend, and only one where Peterson might play, it's continuing to look more and more like Adrian Peterson will not play at all this preseason for the Vikings.
Is that the right choice?
History would tell us that Peterson doesn't need the preseason reps to get ready for the regular season. After all, he did run for 2,097 yards in 2012 after taking ZERO snaps in the preseason. Other years also saw Peterson with little to no carries in the preseason and all but one of Adrian's seasons have gone for more than 1,000 yards.
But then there's the argument that would claim that Peterson needs to get on the field within the new offensive scheme to familiarize himself with some of the nuances that Norv Turner is employing in the Vikings playbook.
What do you think, does Adrian Peterson need to play in the preseason to better ready himself for week one?


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text: Lots Knock this house down and give em a Bigger and Better one! He's Ready to move some suff with his big fork lift all the golf carts for the important people... Is that a steam roller?!? So when ya think they gon' knock down that house? Palm Harbor Homes a bigggg part of the Extreme Makeover This is one of the trailers for the production staff....thats nicer then my house! the driveway...isnt it lovely! The football team prepares to go do some damage Ty gets ready for his closeup! There's always a guy in a cowbot hat! Hmmm.....who is she ;-) Ty gets ready to throw the ball FUMBLE!!!!!!!! Nice Sheriff car! So thats where all that money goes!!!!! some of the people that make the show happen so shes the water girl huh?! LETS GO BREAK SOME STUFF! Gettin' allll painted up! AHHHH thats COLD! in just a few mins this house wont be here anymore! GO PATRIOTS! gettin ready to demo this house! HELLOOOO down there!!!!! anybody in there! Some sort of really big something HA well atleast it looked REALLY big in the other pic lol Ty wondering when he can give the cue to rip the house down Us: Hey Ty can we talk to you for a min! Ty: "Just a sec" btw he never came back over to us haah Mark & Mark from ESPN Some of the Production Crew doin a little dance! Gettin allllll Excited this house is goin' downn FOUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mark Mays from ESPN Mark S. From ESPN Mark & Mark from ESPN give us the Play by Play TOUCHDOWNNNN Wow..... Hmmmmm.....what should i do next? take another break or make the show go on? WAIT DONT DO IT! Something was funny! lol Jeremy decideds he should take a picture before the house goes bye bye OKay were ready any day now yep were still ready 3 2 1 BAM! Theres no turning back now That thing cut through it like butter Photo 1 of 1 Continue Gallery


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Regional television broadcaster Prime Media has pulled out of industry body Freeview Australia saying it does not wish to invest in new channels for FreeviewPlus, the soon-to-be-launched digital/broadband TV service.
The move is a major snub to Freeview's plans and is stark contrast to Prime's metropolitan affiliate Seven West Media, which is investing more heavily than any of the networks in FreeviewPlus.
FreeviewPlus is the brand name for HbbTV, or hybrid broadcast broadband TV, which allows broadcasters to offer several additional channels and is being used by Seven for some brand-funded content.
Mr Audsley said that under current projections only 16,700 HbbTV sets and set-top boxes will have been sold by the by end of first quarter 2015 in its market.
"There are 3.9 million TV sets and 2.16 million homes in the regional TV market so you're talking about less than half of 1 per cent at current projections," said Mr Audsley.
"We would have to form content-rich, relevant HbbTV channels. We have decided the best course of action is to wait."
Former News Ltd (now News Corp Australia) CEO John Hartigan recently joined Prime as chairman.
Sources close to Seven said the decision would have no impact on its affiliation deal with Prime
The Australian Financial Review


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Securities Times, 2/07/12
Broadcasting system management products provider Chengdu Geeya Technology (300028.SZ) announced yesterday that following a successful tender bid the company is now a supplier of set-top boxes (STB) for Sichuan Cable Television Network, beginning with an order of at least 2.5 mln STB units.
The contract represents a shift for Geeya, amid ongoing government efforts to consolidate broadcast networks at the provincial level throughout the country, from sales to second- and third-tier network operators to a new focus on first-tier operators.
Keywords: supply contract television cable TV 300028.SZ Geeya Sichuan Cable Television Network TV broadcasting equipment set-top box


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- 2 cups basil leaves (from one 2-ounce bunch)
- 1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
- 5 garlic cloves—1 whole, 4 thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 3 large shallots, thinly sliced
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 5 pounds mussels, scrubbed and debearded
- Crusty bread, for serving
In a mini food processor, combine the basil, walnuts and whole garlic clove and pulse until fine. Add the Parmesan and 2 tablespoons of the oil and process until smooth. Transfer the pesto to a medium bowl and add the butter. Stir in the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
In a very large, deep skillet or large soup pot, heat the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil until shimmering. Add the shallots and sliced garlic and cook over high heat, stirring, until lightly golden, about 4 minutes. Add the white wine and a generous pinch each of salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Add the mussels and stir for 1 minute. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until all of the mussels have opened, about 6 minutes. Add the pesto and tomatoes and stir until the butter is thoroughly melted and the mussels are evenly coated. Transfer the mussels and broth to bowls and serve with crusty bread.


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The voice of Canberra greyhound racing, Kel O'Rourke, says the industry is like the NRL - the "abhorrent" actions of a few is tarring everyone "with the same brush".
And O'Rourke is confident former minister for sport Shane Rattenbury's call to have greyhound racing shut down won't come to fruition.
O'Rourke is a life member of the Canberra Greyhound club and has been calling their races for 32 years, but he doesn't train or own any greyhounds.
He said no one involved in greyhounds in the ACT had ever been found guilty of live baiting and a majority of people involved in the sport around Australia also had clean records.
O'Rourke said the industry had been taking action over the last 12 months, since an ABC Four Corners investigation revealed shocking footage of live baiting.
The NSW governing body, to which Canberra is affiliated, has tripled it's investment in its re-homing program, Greyhounds As Pets, restrictions have been introduced to decrease breeding by 47 per cent and former police officers have been employed as investigators.
Canberra has also installed a 24-hour surveillance system at the track, which allows them to check whether any illegal activities take place at their track.
"I think it's a little bit like the rugby league, just because you get one footballer that gets on the drink, acts up like Bill the goose - you can't generalise and say all rugby league players are tarred with the same brush and that's the same with the ACT as far as the trainers are concerned here," O'Rourke said.
"We've had a couple of irresponsible trainers and people associated within the industry in Queensland, NSW and Victoria, but up to date Canberra has a 100 per cent clean record and there's no one who's ever been charged in relation to animal cruelty and live baiting."
Even though there is no evidence ACT trainers were involved with illegal practices, given a majority of greyhounds raced in Canberra were brought from interstate there are concerns those visiting trainers could be.
In a statement last year, the ACT government revealed two suspended trainers - one from NSW and one from Victoria - had raced in Canberra in previous years.
Rattenbury's comments follow previous calls from the ACT Greyhound Support Network and the RSPCA to shut down the industry.
Protest rallies took place around Australia on Sunday, with O'Rourke saying about 90 people turned up in Canberra.
Canberra Greyhounds receive $1 million funding from the ACT government, which Rattenbury has also called for an end to.
But O'Rourke said they had three full-time employees, with many more part-time employed on race day.
He said the industry also brought tourism from interstate and helped provide other jobs in the ACT.
"I don't think the industry will close down, I think that's a pretty radical view," O'Rourke said.
"The racing and gaming minister Mick Gentleman, he's given his full support behind the club, he's got a good understanding of the greyhound industry.
"His position is to ensure the operations are conducted professionally and within the Territory laws and that's what's been happening."


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The controversial rapper stated to the press that the famous producer/rapper has already finished on working for "Detox".
Snoop Dogg revealed an exciting news to rap music fans as on a recent interview the rapper said to the press that his mentor, Dr. Dre's long awaited record "Detox" has been finished. Revealing the news, Snoop said in a statement, "That record is real, it's coming."
Snoop then said that at first, just like many people, he too has some doubts about the long delayed LP saying, "I was starting to doubt it myself and then I went up in there and he played so much music for me it knocked my head off." Moreover, he added that the new record is worth waiting for stating, "I see what he got them waiting for, it's on and poppin'."
Moreover, Snoop also stated that all the songs for the album are done but Dre is still deciding on which songs he will use on the new album. The controversial rapper reportedly also has a hand on the rapper/producer's new LP as he has also recorded some tracks for "Detox".
Dr. Dre's "Detox" has been one of the records that got delayed for such a long time as it was first scheduled to be outed in 2004. It was said that the postponing of the record was due to Dre's decision to concentrate on producing records for his artists.
Beside Snoop's confirmation, previously there were statements from Dre himself, who told the Los Angeles Time that his upcoming LP will indeed be released and it is being scheduled to drop right after Eminem's new record. According to reports, on "Detox", the successful rapper/producer is working with Snoop and also 50 Cent.


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This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
This paper presents a prototype of a platform for biomolecular recognition detection. The system is based on a magnetoresistive biochip that performs biorecognition assays by detecting magnetically tagged targets. All the electronic circuitry for addressing, driving and reading out signals from spin-valve or magnetic tunnel junctions sensors is implemented using off-the-shelf components. Taking advantage of digital signal processing techniques, the acquired signals are processed in real time and transmitted to a digital analyzer that enables the user to control and follow the experiment through a graphical user interface. The developed platform is portable and capable of operating autonomously for nearly eight hours. Experimental results show that the noise level of the described platform is one order of magnitude lower than the one presented by the previously used measurement set-up. Experimental results also show that this device is able to detect magnetic nanoparticles with a diameter of 250 nm at a concentration of about 40 fM. Finally, the biomolecular recognition detection capabilities of the platform are demonstrated by performing a hybridization assay using complementary and non-complementary probes and a magnetically tagged 20mer single stranded DNA target.
Biochips are biological sensing devices used in lab-on-chip platforms to obtain higher levels of integration and, nowadays, are already used as disposable cartridges [
The research in the pursuit of a fully integrated platform capable of performing biorecognition assays has experienced a major evolution in the last few years. The Philips Research Laboratories have developed a biochip that internally generates the magnetic excitation signal using on-chip aluminium tracks [
This paper describes a fully autonomous and portable platform designed to incorporate all the electronics required to perform a biorecognition assay. The implemented platform supports linear and matrix type biochips using SV or MTJ sensors and is capable of addressing up to 256 sensing elements. Sensor signals are locally processed in real time in the platform and results are displayed in a PC or a personal digital assistant (PDA) through a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows full control over the assay.
The paper is organized as follows. Section 2. introduces the types of biochips supported by the platform and presents its most relevant electrical specifications. The proposed architecture and its most important circuits are introduced in Section 3., while at Section 4. the remaining circuits and the platform prototype are described. Experimental results showing the measurement noise level, magnetic nanoparticle detection and biomolecular recognition detection are presented in Section 5. Finally, Section 6. provides the paper's conclusions.
Magnetoresistive sensors are magnetic field transducers that, when properly biased, exhibit a linear change in electrical resistance under an external magnetic field [
In the SV based biochip 32 SV sensors are organized in four different areas, each area with seven active sensing units and one reference sensor. The magnetoresistive ratio for these sensors is about 7%, its resistance is in the range of 700-1,200 Ω and require a bias current in the range of 850-1,000
For high-throughput applications (i.e. genetic disease detection, genetic expression analysis) the biochip needs to comprise a larger number of sensors and thus a new type of biochip was designed, incorporating at each sensing site a MTJ sensor in series with a thin film diode, in a configuration similar to an architecture already employed for magnetic random access memory (MRAM) [
The noise level of the sensing elements depends on the biochip architecture and on the type of MR sensor. For a SV sensor with a resistance of 859 Ω, a noise of
To achieve an autonomous, flexible and secure system, the platform must also fulfill the following four requirements:
The platform is composed by three main modules:
The biochip requires electric and magnetic driving signals and also a fluid controller. The required signals are generated with the supervision of the microcontroller/digital signal processor (MC/DSP) through the control of digital to analog converters (DACs). The SPM includes a sensor interface block that performs multiplexing and conditioning of each sensor's signals.
The DAC output voltage is converted to current by using a non-inverting amplifier topology with a NPN bipolar transistor (
The magnetic drive circuit is one of the most critical parts of the measurement system. An AC magnetic field has to be applied, because the measurement is performed in AC in order to avoid low frequency noise. Since the optimal DC bias field is unknown, and depends on the type of MR sensor, the circuit must be able to generate positive and negative DC fields. A specific electromagnet must be designed for this specific application and targets the generation of the external magnetic field typical values provided in Section 2. The large size and required supply power make the optimization of the magnetic field generator a crucial aspect to deal with, in order to achieve a portable and autonomous platform. Besides having low size and power, because the noise generated by this circuit is added to the signals acquired from the sensor, it is necessary to guarantee that the generated noise has a very low level. The devised solution, described in Section 4., is based on an electromagnet and two low noise power OPAMPs.
Since the amplitude variation in the sensor's electric signal, caused by a single 250 nm MP, is in the order of tens of nanovolts, the noise introduced by hardware components of this block must be quite low. An additional requirement is low temperature sensitivity, because temperature can significantly change during recognition assay. The conditioned signals are then digitized and processed in the MC/DSP. A high resolution analog to digital converter (ADC) must be used in order to detect low concentrations of magnetic labels. Since 1 bit corresponds to 6.022 dB and
Most of the signal filtering and processing is performed in the digital domain, taking advantage of the processing capabilities provided by the MC/DSP. This simplifies the design and ensures a high degree of flexibility, since different algorithms may be implemented by simply changing the MC/DSP firmware. Finally, a data formatter converts the processed information into a format suitable to be serially communicated to the ACoM.
In the core of the ACoM there is a data transfer manager and a set of standard interfaces for wire and wireless communication [
The AnM is an autonomous computing system that has full control over the embedded system. The user interface allows the execution of complex preprogrammed tasks at the SPM. The AnM also acts as a second communication layer allowing an internet connection to a remote database by using WebServices. Using this connection the AnM can upload or download data from a database located in a remote server.
The developed portable platform prototype is depicted in
The full platform includes all hardware components that are required to perform a biorecognition assay and its size (13×15 cm2) ensures its portability. To attain low temperature drift and high precision in the measurements, thin film resistors were employed in the critical parts of the circuits. The autonomy of this design is also adequate as it can perform continuous recognition assays during eight hours when powered by a 3.7 V, 1,300 mA/h battery. The cryptographic engine and the fluid controller are still under development and are not included in the platform prototype herein described. The following subsections provide a description of the implemented circuits in which it is shown their most important characteristics. The AnM implementation for a PC is also presented.
In the SPM, electric signals, required to drive the biochip, and to individually address and readout signals from individual sensing sites, are generated by a dsPIC30F6014 digital signal controller (DSC) [
An important characteristic of the measurement system is the adoption of a PCB as chip carrier [
The bridge topology in the circuit of
The biochip also includes the CL to generate on-chip magnetic fields that guide the labeled biomolecules over immobilized biological probes. The current required for CLs is controlled using a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal generated by the DSC. Only two additional components are required: a transistor, operating as a switch and a resistor to limit the peak current. The prototype includes two CL drivers that can deliver up to 50 mA DC current to CLs with a resistance up to 100 Ω.
As depicted in
The amplifier gain is set by the DSC through the control of a switch (signal
A simplified version of the ACoM presented in Section 3. was used in the work herein presented. This ACoM prototype only includes an USB interface [
Microsoft operating systems and tools were adopted to program and operate the AnM. Different classes were programmed in C# for decryption, communication and general user interfacing with the Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2005 environment. Code portability is ensured by using the .NET 2.0 Compact Framework, which is supported by a broad range of Microsoft operating systems, both for mobile and desktop devices [
At the user interface, the transmitted data is displayed in real time allowing the user to follow the measurement evolution. The screenshot shows the several phases that are required to perform particle detection. A first baseline was measured during 10 minutes, after this the suspension at 8.1 pM was dispensed on the biochip and was let to settle down during 30 minutes. After this the biochip was washed and the signal returned to the baseline. The number of particles above the sensor is proportional to the voltage difference between the baseline and the signal just before the washing step. The same procedure was applied to analyze the 81 pM suspension. The graphic shows a signal variation of about 0.4 mVrms for the particle concentration of 8.1 pM and 1 mVrms for the concentration of 81 pM, at the concentration of 81 pM the sensor is already saturated. The GUI can also display in real time a simple analysis of the measured data, such as the sensor's signal (
The following subsections present results of the platform performance at different levels: measurement noise level, nanoparticle detection and biomolecular recognition detection.
The total noise in the measurement system was experimentally evaluated for a biochip based on SV sensors and for a test load in which the biochip was replaced with a set of precision metal film resistors. The prototype boards were placed inside a steel box in order to block interference from external noise sources [
Notice that since bins are used to calculate the signal's power spectrum, the energy associated with a carrier signal can have effect in multiple points of the spectrum. The SV signals with electric/magnetic drive are overlapped and have a large peak of 99 dB and 88 dB above the noise floor, respectively; without drive, no signal is noticeable. The signal level with the magnetic drive is lower due to the maximum allowed AC field and due to the fact that the sensor is used not far from the saturation region for the applied DC field. Analyzing the results one can conclude that the external interference was successfully blocked as the only visible peak occurs at the excitation frequency. No signal is noticeable at the power line frequency or at its harmonics. The noise floor is similar in all measurements and only in the magnetic drive a slight increase of about
The MP detection is performed by measuring the resistance variation of the MR sensor. Since the sensor bias current is known, the resistance can be determined measuring the
In our previous work, the sensor resistance was evaluated by only using DC measurements or AC measurements with the AC component introduced by current. In the results herein presented, the sensor resistance is determined using an AC magnetic drive. When an AC magnetic drive is applied and the amplifier is in AC mode, the value of the acquired voltage is
To illustrate the measurement capabilities of the developed system, four MPs suspensions were prepared by seriated dilutions of 10× from an initial MP solution with 5 × 1011 particles/
As expected, an increase of
A model biomolecular assay was performed using 20mer single stranded DNA oligonucleotides hybridization. The DNA oligonucleotides were synthesized by MWG-Biotech (Ebersberg, Germany), encoding for a sequence of the conservative region of the 16S rDNA from
The biochip used in these experiments is composed by 32 U-shape SV sensors with a parallel state resistance of 662±47 Ω and a magnetoresistive ratio of 5.89±0.03%. The sensors were biased with a 1 mA DC current and the magnetic drive was set to 2.79 kA/m DC and 1.07 (kA/m)rms AC at 211 Hz. The CLs are used to attract the MPs target DNA conjugates to the sensor region. The CLs were driven with a 40 mA DC current and an external 0.2 Hz magnetic field with 2.39 kA/mrms amplitude was applied. As in the MP detection experiment previously described, the sensors were sequentially addressed and the signal was measured using the same gain, sample rate and filtering procedure. Four steps are performed to analyze a suspension:
The described portable platform is able to effectively replace a standard benchtop, bulky measurement apparatus as a much more practical and cost effective solution for biomolecular recognition detection. The presented platform prototype has a size of only 15×13 cm2 and includes almost all the modules that are required to perform a full biorecognition assay. It also has the ability to run only on battery power for almost eight hours, which enables its usage in field experiments where no external supply power is available. Furthermore, the platform is able to achieve even lower noise levels than a conventional setup, allowing the robust detection of smaller concentrations of MPs. It has been shown that the system is able to detect 250 nm MPs at 41 fM. Considering a target DNA functionalization protocol of 1 DNA strand per streptavidin molecule on the surface of the label [
Currently the remaining modules of the biochip platform, namely the cryptographic engine and the fluid controller, are in the prototyping stage. Additionally, a new method is being developed to improve the correction of the temperature related signal variations.
José Germano, Filipe Cardoso and Verónica Martins thanks FCT for their PhD grants SFRH/BD/30056/2006, SFRH/BD/23756/2005 and SFRH/BD/13725/2003 respectively. INESC-ID as an Associated Lab acknowledges FCT funding.
Detection of complementary single strand DNA.
Microphotography and transfer curve of MRsensors of two biochip sensing sites: (a) spin-valve in a lineararray; and (b) magnetic tunnel junction in a matrix.
Architecture of the biochip platform.
Biochip electric drive and interface.
Topview of the platform prototype: 1) biochip encapsulated in a PCB chip carrier; 2a) digital signal controller and external memory; 2b) signal conditioning and acquisition; 2c) current generator, addressing circuits and biochip connector; 3a) magnetic drive; 3b) power supply circuits; 3c) USB interface; 4) noise shielding enclosure (the PCBs are placed inside this box); 5) electromagnet; 6) button to lift the electromagnet and allow the removal/insertion of the biochip; 7) battery; and 8) USB connector.
Magnetic drive circuit diagram.
Signal conditioning and acquisition.
Snapshot of the graphical user interface for particle measurement; sensor biased with 1 mA, magnetic drive set to 2.15 kA/m DC and 1.19 (kA/m)rms AC at 211 Hz, signal acquired at a sampling rate of 844 samples/s with a gain of 40 and the SPM digital bandpass filter set to 1 Hz [
Power spectrum of the acquired signals for different loads and driving signals.
Particle signal,
Magnetic detection of DNA-DNA biomolecular recognition using the portable platform.