text:
Get free delivery when you order online www.freedeliveryuk.co.uk
Free Delivery UK - which shops offer free delivery
Order online and get free delivery
We list the shops which offer free delivery all the time and those who have special discount codes to give you free delivery
We list shops offering free delivery on minimum order amounts
Think of this site as the free delivery directory for the Uk. If saving money on postage charges is important to you then bookmark this site so you'll always be able to shop online and get free home delivery.
Have you ordered online recently, got as far as putting things in your
basket and being ready to checkout before finding out just how much
you're being charged for delivery?
I've visited all the sites listed on FreeDeliveryUK.co.uk and checked out how much postage charges are for Uk deliveries and where the charge is nothing I've added the company to the list. Where companies offer a minimum order for free delivery I've listed this too as I feel this often gives you a good deal. With many shops you're going to be spending more money than the minimum anyway, and so you will get free delivery.
If you come across a company that offers free delivery and we've not listed it then please get in touch.
If you'd like to get free delivery it is well worth looking at some of the free delivery with minimum order offers. You can sometimes top up your basket to meet the limit if its close and save money on the postage charges. I've done this at a couple of online shops when I've only had to spend a pound more to get free postage - saving myself nearly £6 on one shop - so I duly mooched on the site until I found something for £1.
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text: On Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:26:05 am Anton Starikov wrote: > Which means that PBS_MOM already registered memory usage above limit and > even updated this information on server, but didn't react and kill the > job. > > What can be wrong? Do I miss something in the config? I think you are misunderstanding what the mem/vmem/pmem/pvmem limits in Torque actually do - they apply resource limits (ulimits in the shell, RLIMIT's in terms of kernel APIs) to the processes that are launched by pbs_mom. The problem is that in the old days malloc() in glibc just called brk() and in the Linux kernel brk() obeys the RLIMIT_DATA limit which pbs_mom sets for mem and pmem. But then glibc changed and now calls mmap() for allocations over a certain size and mmap() in the Linux kernel does not observe RLIMIT_DATA. Perhaps the simplest fix is to translate any reference of mem or pmem to vmem or pvmem as they will set the RLIMIT_AS limit which is observed by RLIMIT_DATA, or use the Maui/Moab tricks which use the data reported by the node to decide whether or not to kill the job. For more information on the various RLIMIT's see the setrlimit() manual page. cheers! Chris -- Chris Samuel : http://www.csamuel.org/ : Melbourne, VIC This email may come with a PGP signature as a file. Do not panic. For more info see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenPGP -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 481 bytes Desc: This is a digitally signed message part. Url : http://www.supercluster.org/pipermail/torqueusers/attachments/20100320/62d3c9b2/attachment.bin

subset: commoncrawl


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Massage therapy is among the best ways to achieve relaxation, on par with listening to actor Ed Harris chant in whale song. Sink into serenity with this Groupon.
$125 for a spa package for one (up to a $255 total value)
Spa package includes the following per person:
- Mini facial (a $45 value)
- Spa pedicure (a $50 value)
- One-hour massage (a $75 value)
- Keratin deep-conditioning treatment (a $50 value)
- Blowout and style (up to a $35 value)<p>
Though this merchant sometimes offers a discounted price online, this Groupon is still the best deal available.
In the Buff Day Spa and Salon
In the Buff Day Spa and Salon's hair designers love what they do, whether updating hairstyles or polishing toenails. Driven by the goal to provide top-notch value and service, specialists observe flexible scheduling when booking appointments and industry standards when administering them. Hair experts nourish and color manes with products by brands such as Goldwell, Moroccanoil, Pureology, and Keratage, while aestheticians lavish bodies with award-winning lotions and serums by Jan Marini Skin Care and Hydropeptide. The salon's massage therapists entered the finalist round in the Times Free Press's best therapeutic massage competition, gaining accolades thanks to deeply relaxing bodywork and the ability to defeat even the most tightly clenched tendon fists.


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6. Melbourne
Australia hosts some of the best metropolitan areas on the planet. With a shot out to Sydney, Melbourne has become the main travel destination, skate-wise there over the past five to ten years. With a bustling scene, and a solid collection of spots, from the popular museum gaps to the old Flinders Street gold rail of Dollin fame (how many rails have a Dunk named after them?), Melbourne is in the club.
Melbourne and Dollin go hand in hand.


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Heart hair bands pinkItem #: 660361
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text:
During World War I, the French created a dummy version of Paris to the city's immediate north. The plan was to fool German planes into thinking the Potemkin city was the real thing, thus leaving the City of Lights untouched by bombs.
The fake city was built just north of the real one. There were electric lights, replica buildings, and even a copy of the Gare du Nord—the station from which high-speed trains now travel to and from London.
Fortunately, the plan was never put to the test. The war ended before the fake city was finished. Both the real Paris and the fake one escaped significant damage.The fake version has long since disappeared, though photos of it remain.


text:
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Magnesium May Boost Post-Pill Fertility
Ensuring adequate magnesium may help you to get pregnant 51% faster after stopping the contraceptive pill.
Malaria Drug Treats Recurrent Miscarriage
An anti-malaria drug has helped a UK women to have a baby after 20 miscarriages.
Male BPA Exposure May Harm Embryo Quality
Male BPA exposure may reduce embryo quality, learn how to keep exposure levels low.
Male Diet May Help IVF/ICSI Success
Certain kinds of diets may have a 'drastic effect' of pregnancy rates with ICSI, your doctor may not tell you this but what you eat may make a difference to success rates.
Male Phthalate Exposure Delays Pregnancy
When men have higher levels of urinary phthalates, conception may be delayed markedly. Learn how to reduce phthalate exposure to boost male fertility.
Mastodynon Homeopathic Remedy For Infertility
Mastodynon is a German homeopathic remedy proven to improve pregnancy rates in women with luteal phase defect, unexplained infertility and secondary amenorrhea.
Mediterranean Diet May Boost Female Fertility
Adhering more closely to a Mediterranean diet can boost female infertility according to a 2011 Spanish study.
Mediterranean Diet May Prevent Birth Defects
The quality of your diet before conception may be able to reduce the chances that your child will have a birth defect such as neural tube defects. A Mediterranean diet may be very protective.
Mediterranean Diets Can Help Sperm
Sticking closely to a Mediterranean diet may boost all aspects of sperm health.
Melatonin May Help Clomid Conceptions
Melatonin may help increase the success of Clomid cycles by improving egg quality and increasing fertilization rates by reducing hydrogen peroxide levels in ovarian follicles.
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text:
Regional Reviews: Cincinnati
The musical adaptation of The Color Purple recently ended its Broadway run, and a movie of the musical version is planned for a few years from now. In the meanwhile, the national tour crisscrosses the country, and can currently be seen for a few weeks at the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati. As on Broadway, the show is a crowd pleaser and has some extremely talented performers involved, but it isn't free of its share of problems in thanks to the material itself.
The Color Purple is based on the novel by Alice Walker and the film directed by Steven Spielberg of the same name. The story follows the forty year journey of Celie, starting when she's a pregnant (for the second time) 14-year-old, due to being repeatedly raped by her step-father. Celie's faith is tested over and over again by a number of horrible events and circumstances. Her babies are taken away from her, she's forced to marry an abusive older man, she's separated from her sister and betrayed by the only love of her life. Still, she perseveres the best that she can, with her dignity and trust in God intact.
The book for the musical by Marsha Norman (Secret Garden) has its pros and cons. Despite being a bit episodic, the characters and events are presented clearly, and a trio of nosey townsfolk women (serving as a Greek chorus) provides narration and exposition that fills in the back story sufficiently. Ms. Norman also does well in capturing the emotions, drama and humor of the tale. However, having to fit in all the songs (which take up more time than dialogue) results in some plot points being rushed or barely touched upon rather than deeply explored. Also, the motivations and development of some characters are too shallow. One shining example is the transformation of Celie's husband Mister from selfish brute to well-meaning do-gooder. The change happens too quickly, and without a foundation of support within the show, to make it seem believable. Still, an emotionally powerful ending brings the show to a dramatic close.
The score is likewise a mixed bag. A number of songs are first rate, especially those that rise naturally from the story and advance the plot. "Our Prayer" (in which young Celie and her sister Nettie talk about the future), "Too Beautiful For Words," "What About Love" (an attractive duet for Celie and Shug), and Celie's big eleven o'clock number "I'm Here" are song highlights. However, too often the score, in both music and lyrics, settles for style over substance. The gospel and blues infused tunes and often repeated words written by the trio of Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray sound more like pop songs than theater songs.
The national tour boasts a strong cast. Understudy LaTonya Holmes is playing Celie for the entire Cincinnati run. She is a sympathetic and moving Celie and sings sweetly. Ms. Holmes also convincingly ages and moves from a meek and broken victim to a strong, independent survivor. Angela Robinson brings the sass and sex appeal required as Shug, and handles some of the show's best songs with great skill. Felicia Fields, who originated the role of Sophie in the original Broadway cast (and garnered a Tony nomination), recreates the role here in winning style and captures the humor of the role excellently. Latoya London of "American Idol" fame is a sweet and appealing Nettie and delivers wonderful vocals. Stephanie St. James makes the most of the underwritten Squeak, and understudy (on opening night) Lesly Terrell Donald is a capable stand-in as Harpo. Rufus Bonds, Jr. is appropriately menacing as Mister. The entire cast does their best to bring energy to the piece, and the dancing throughout is athletically executed.
Director Gary Griffin handles the transitions and blocking of the show smoothly, and the tone remains appropriate throughout. However, there's little subtlety to be found, which is surprising, considering some of Mr. Griffin's previous work. The choreography by Donald Byrd is apt and pleasing to the eye, and Sheilah Walker capably leads a talented pit band.
The set design by John Lee Beatty is more abstract than most Broadway shows, but it is attractive and fits the setting well. The lighting by Brian MacDevitt is mood enhancing, and the Paul Tazewell's costumes assist with showing the passage of time and the time periods associated with the story. Unfortunately, there were sound issues (both volume and clarity) on opening night which kept much of the crowd from fully comprehending many of the lyrics.
As with New York and other stops for the show, The Color Purple tends to bring a large African-American audience to the theater, and this added diversity is welcome. The national tour showcases a wealth of talent, and the show is indeed a crowd-pleaser despite its shortcomings in the book and score departments. The show continues in Cincinnati at the Aronoff Center through April 27, 2008. Tickets can be ordered by calling (800) 294-1816.-- Scott Cain


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NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are rising in midday trading after the European Central Bank moved to support that region's lenders and U.S. retailers reported stronger sales for September.
The ECB said it would extend more emergency loans to banks. It also said it would buy bank bonds to make it easier for them to lend. Investors have been worried the banks could get hurt if the Greek government defaults on its debt, causing its bonds to lose value.
Target, Nordstrom and other retailers reported sales that beat Wall Street's expectations. The gains suggested the U.S is not headed for another recession.
The Dow was up 111 points, or 1 percent, to 11,051 shortly before noon. The S&P rose 14, or 1.3 percent, to 1,158. The Nasdaq rose 31, or 1.3 percent, to 2,491.


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Without regular care, people often lose confidence in their nails, letting high-fives become waist-level threes and jazz hands turn into manual Muzak. Show off proud digits with this Groupon.
Choose Between Two Options
- $35 for a Shellac mani-pedi that lasts up to 14 days (a $75 value)
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Natural Nails by T
Natural Nails by T's squad of keratin technicians brightens talons with high-quality, chip-resistant OPI, Shellac, and CND polishes. To bolster health and foster strong nail growth, doting techs carefully cleanse, trim, and file nails. Routine maintenance transforms into relaxing rituals with hot-stone and aromatherapy add-ons, and after nail-art manicures, the blank fingertip canvases sport painted zigzags or miniature renditions of Picasso's Guernica. The studio also houses a team of massage therapists, whose discerning touch untangles tension knots during Swedish massages.


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FreightScan Completes First Installations of Its FS100 Cargo Dimensioning Systems for DHL
Carlsbad, California, October 27, 2009 – FreightScan, LLC, a leader in the development and deployment of innovative technology solutions for the freight and logistics industry, announced it has completed the installation of two FS100 automated cargo dimensioning systems at DHL Aviation Americas in Miami, Florida. Following several days of installing and training, the automated systems are now fully operational by the DHL staff, which is scanning 100 percent of its shipments with the FS100.
DHL signed a contract with FreightScan in December 2008 that called for installations of the FS100 at the Miami International Airport (MIA) in the second quarter of 2009, and several others in various locations dependent upon the performance of the first installation. The first FS100 was installed at the Miami facility in May 2009, and a second system was installed in June 2009.
"Our team is very pleased to have our first FreightScan FS100 automated dimming systems in place and operational," said Reiner Wolfs, Vice President of Aviation Operations for DHL. "We are finding that by implementing the sophisticated FS100 dimensioning system, we are able to capture the actual volumes of our shipments with increased efficiency and accuracy, and more precisely determine any discrepancies in weight or volume at the time the cargo is tendered at our facilities. We are seeing numerous benefits from the FS100, which is streamlining our process of collecting dimensional weight and giving us better information for our customers."
DHL has notified its customers that the new automated dimensioning systems are in place and that they will have the benefit of more accurate data and a back-up record for every shipment, including dimensions, dimensional weight, scale weight, a scan image and photo. The FS100 units were integrated directly with DHL's scale so that gross weight information automatically becomes a part of the back-up record.
"The FreightScan systems were installed very quickly, and the training period went very smoothly," said Marines Sibilla, Aviation Station Manager, Miami International Airport for DHL. "There was no disruption in the workflow at DHL as the FS100s mount directly over a scale in our acceptance area to capture dims at the same time the shipment is being weighed, providing superior data capture at a faster pace. Our staff finds the system easy to operate, and the reaction from the warehouse agents on the floor through to management is very positive."
"DHL has been an ideal customer," said André Johnson, CEO of FreightScan. "Its entire team is dedicated to improving customer service and warehouse efficiencies. The leadership is committed to exploring how innovative new technologies can bring increased performance to each facility, and it has been a tremendous experience to work with them on these installations. The DHL Miami facility is a great example of how the FS100 system can be effortlessly woven into the existing acceptance process to deliver substantial value to cargo operations. We look forward to an ongoing relationship with DHL."
DHL is the global market leader of the international express and logistics industry, specializing in providing innovative and customized solutions from a single source.
DHL offers expertise in express, air and ocean freight, overland transport, contract logistic solutions as well as international mail services, combined with worldwide coverage and an in-depth understanding of local markets. DHL's international network links more than 220 countries and territories worldwide. Some 300,000 employees are dedicated to providing fast and reliable services that exceed customers' expectations. DHL is a Deutsche Post World Net brand. The group generated revenues of more than 63 bn euros in 2007.
FreightScan, LLC is a leader in the development and deployment of innovative technology solutions for the freight and logistics industry. Its groundbreaking automated dimensioning systems include the FreightScan FS100, an overhead scanner, and the FL1000, the world's first forklift-mounted scanner.
Utilizing revolutionary D.I.M.M. Tech™ (Defined Imaging and Multiple Measurement Technology), the FS100 and FL1000 have the capability to scan cargo in all configurations within seconds, providing companies with the ability to maximize warehouse resources, establish accurate billings and significantly improve revenues and profit performance. FreightScan has also recently introduced CargoVizion™, a cargo screening system that provides non-radiation technology for detecting and locating potential threat objects and materials. Logistics industry segments it serves include air freight, ground freight, rail freight, sea freight, multimodal transportation and container logistics. For more information, please visit: www.freightscancargo.com.


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Featured Video On Q101: Arcade Fire – Reflektor
Reflektor is the fourth studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on October 28, 2013 on Merge Records.
A double album, Reflektor was co-produced by former LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy, regular Arcade Fire producer Markus Dravs, and the band itself.
Influenced by Haitian rara music, the 1959 film Black Orpheus and Søren Kierkegaard's essay, "The Present Age", Reflektor's release was preceded by a guerrilla marketing campaign inspired by veve drawings, and the release of a limited edition single, "Reflektor", credited to the fictional band, The Reflektors, on September 9, 2013.
The track has all the hallmarks of late 70's French disco, check it out below.


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|Scuba Equipment USA - Marine Species Gallery
The Black Cod (Epinephelus daemelii), (Gunther 1876) has been protected in NSW since 1983 and is listed as a vulnerable species under the threatened species provisions of the NSW Fisheries Management Act 1994. The black cod is a large reef dwelling grouper species belonging to the family Serranidae. In Australia the black cod is also known as black rockcod or saddled rock cod, and in New Zealand it is generally referred to as spotted black grouper.
The colour pattern of black cod is highly variable, and can change quickly from a uniform dark grey-black to a blotched or distinctively banded dark and light pattern. Young black cod often have a number of distinct black markings that tend to fade as the fish grows. These markings include a distinct black spot or saddle just forward of the tail, and five dark diagonal sloping grey to black bars which generally fade towards the belly. Some black cod have small black spots and occasional whitish blotches on the body and/or fins. Black cod are found along the entire New South Wales coast and are most common in the waters off northern NSW.
Black Cod can grow up to 2 metres in length but are more commonly seen around 1 to 1.5 metres in size.
|Scuba Equipment | Marine Species | Vacations | Equipment Store


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HXS10 - Dual Loop Controller with Solar Tracking
Product Announcement from Yokogawa Corporation of America
The HXS10 combines the proven process control engine found in the YS1000 series of controllers with up to six universal analog inputs. The HXS10 has a powerful communication system that supports Modbus Ethernet and Modbus RS485/RS232 making it ideal for pairing with HMI and SCADA systems. It can also communicate to remote devices via Modbus in Client/Server and Master/Slave mode for peer to peer communications and polling specialty instruments like inclinometers and power meters. The HXS10 includes optimizations that make it ideal for solar tracking applications including NREL Solar Positioning Algorithm, pulse inputs for encoders, and robust operating temperatures.
- Dual Loop PID Process Control
- Up to 1200 function blocks of programming
- 12 digital in/outputs, 6 universal analog inputs, 2 pulse counters, 2 analog outputs
- Built-in Solar Position Algorithm
- Sunrise, Sunset and Solar Culmination time calculation functions available
- Open loop/closed loop hybrid control available
- Excellent Environmental Performance
- Low power consumption (5W or less)
- Wide operating temperature range (-20C to 70C)
- User Programs Meet Wide Range of Requirements
- Hardware Design Enables Optimization
- Real-time Clock w/ Network Time Synchronization
- High Quality & Reliable Support
For additional information or to contact us for a demo, please visit the HXS10 website!
|More Info


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Juan Gabriel Vásquez is a critically acclaimed Colombian writer, translator, and award-winning author of a collection of stories LOS AMANTES DE TODOS LOS SANTOS, as well as the novels HISTORIA SECRETA DE COSTAGUANA and THE INFORMERS, which has been translated into seven languages. He has translated works by Victor Hugo, E.M Foster and John Hersey, among others, his essay "El arte de la distorsión" won the Premio Nacional Simón Bolívar, and he is a regular columnist for El Espectador, the newspaper of dissent in Bogotá. Educated in Colombia, and in Paris at the Sorbonne, he now lives and teaches in Barcelona, Spain with his wife and twin daughters.
Juan Gabriel Vásquez


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Would You Want Women-Only Subway Cars To Stop Sexual Harassment?
I had a particularly delightful experience this morning while bounding down the subway steps into the station. A young man, probably about 20, was sitting on the bottom steps next to the handrail in the middle. As I clip-clopped down the stairs past him, he purposefully tilted his head around, focusing on my bare legs, and peered up my short, summery dress. On the train platform, I turned around to glare at him and he stared vacantly back at me, as if to say "Yeah?", which was super-creepy. I walked down the platform, where I saw a cop, and told him that a guy sitting on the steps had looked up my dress and perhaps the cop might want to keep an eye on him. When I tried to point out where this creeper had been sitting, I saw he'd left.
So, I read with interest this morning that Seoul, South Korea, is looking to reintroduce female-only subway cars in its transportation system in September to fight sexual harassment and sexual assault. In 1992, Seoul, South Korea, introduced women-only cars to its subway system. Only women were allowed in the front car and the back car of the trains from 7-9 a.m. and 5-7 p.m. daily. But the women-only cars were quickly abandoned, in part because they are so controversial. They were re-introduced in 2007 and abandoned again.
In September, two women-only cars will be re-reintroduced on one subway line but only run at night after 11:30 p.m. A security guard will also ride on the women-only car to make sure men don't break the rules. This is the city's response to an 80 percent spike in reported gropings/sexual assaults on the subway from '09 to '10; so far this year through July, 600 victims have reported a sexual crime took place on the subway, which carry 6.4 million passengers daily. (By way of comparison, New York City had 5.1 million passengers daily in 2010.)
Despite what happened to me this morning — which, to be clear, was an annoyance of the typical-for-NYC variety, but obviously not anything I would consider a sexual assault — I'm not in favor of segregating men and women on subway cars. That's a Band-aid solution to a societal problem that tells men it's acceptable to take liberties with women's and girl's bodies. Men have to learn sexual harassment is inappropriate, scary and illegal; men and women of conscience have to act as security guards and help out a victim when he or she is being harassed. And men who do grope and sexually assault on the subway must be harshly punished.
However, many cities do have women-only transportation (buses and "pink" cabs in Mexico City, for one) and I would imagine there are some women in these cities for whom this is a relief. If cost was not a factor, would you want America to have women-only subway cars, buses and trains in our public transportation system? Or to you agree with me that it's just a Band-aid fix that would ultimately be useless? Let us know in the comments.
[Los Angeles Times via Clutch Magazine]
[Los Angeles Times]
Want to contact the writer of this post? {encode="[email protected]" title="Email her"}!


text:
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/).
Deployment of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) has drawn much attention in recent years. Given the limited energy for sensor nodes, it is critical to implement WSNs with energy efficiency designs. Sensing coverage in networks, on the other hand, may degrade gradually over time after WSNs are activated. For mission-critical applications, therefore, energy-efficient coverage control should be taken into consideration to support the quality of service (QoS) of WSNs. Usually, coverage-controlling strategies present some challenging problems: (1) resolving the conflicts while determining which nodes should be turned off to conserve energy; (2) designing an optimal wake-up scheme that avoids awakening more nodes than necessary. In this paper, we implement an energy-efficient coverage control in cluster-based WSNs using a Memetic Algorithm (MA)-based approach, entitled CoCMA, to resolve the challenging problems. The CoCMA contains two optimization strategies: a MA-based schedule for sensor nodes and a wake-up scheme, which are responsible to prolong the network lifetime while maintaining coverage preservation. The MA-based schedule is applied to a given WSN to avoid unnecessary energy consumption caused by the redundant nodes. During the network operation, the wake-up scheme awakens sleeping sensor nodes to recover coverage hole caused by dead nodes. The performance evaluation of the proposed CoCMA was conducted on a cluster-based WSN (CWSN) under either a random or a uniform deployment of sensor nodes. Simulation results show that the performance yielded by the combination of MA and wake-up scheme is better than that in some existing approaches. Furthermore, CoCMA is able to activate fewer sensor nodes to monitor the required sensing area.
A wireless sensor network (WSN) is a telecommunication network that consists of a number of wireless sensor nodes. Given the limited energy and communication range of wireless sensor nodes, many previous studies have attempted to improve the quality of service (QoS) through prolonging network lifetime. Some fundamental issues have also been investigated to enhance the reliability of WSNs, such as power management [
In general, the
On the other hand, the problem of selecting a minimum number of sensor nodes to cover all the required POIs belongs to the NP-Complete problem [
Memetic algorithms (MAs) are population-based heuristic search approaches for optimization problems [
This study presents a MA-based coverage-preserving algorithm to optimize the point coverage of a CWSN. We investigate how the MA can be applied to an optimization problem in CWSNs. Note that many sensor nodes may be redundant after all of the nodes are deployed. In general, redundant sensor nodes cover sensing areas that are overlapped with other neighboring sensor nodes. In order to reduce energy consumption, the CoCMA determines which sensor nodes should be switched to sleeping modes. The CoCMA can also awaken some of the sensor nodes when sensing coverage declines. This step is called the wake-up scheme, which is different from that in the MA. Using evolutionary operations, our CoCMA is time consuming, so we develop a wake-up scheme that is less complex to determine an optimal schedule for nodes, awakening one or more sensor nodes near a dying one. The lost coverage of POIs can therefore be retrieved. The CoCMA can allow a minimum number of active sensor nodes to achieve maximum coverage and prolong the network lifetime simultaneously. This is very different from the aforementioned algorithms; for example, the NSGA-II [
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. Section 2 describes the preliminary models and assumptions. In Section 3, we formulate the SCP and present the energy-efficient coverage control that employs a MA to solve the SCP. Section 4 shows our experimental results in comparison to different approaches and then provides discussions on the comparisons. Finally, Section 5 gives our conclusions.
In this paper, we assume that all of the wireless sensor nodes (referred to sensor nodes or nodes) and the sink node (sink) are stationary after deployment. These nodes are assumed to be homogenous, with the same communication capacity, sensing range, and data processing capacity. In addition, we assume that the position of every sensor node is known
The proposed approach considers the point coverage problem in a given area. The POI is the place where the event occurs. We assume that an event signal is always generated at each POI. As shown in
If the distance between
According to a previous study [
The SCP, one of the NP-Complete problems, was first defined in [
Meta-heuristics are a group of approximate methods, designed to cope with optimization problems. For example, genetic algorithms, memetic algorithm (MA), problem-space search, neural networks and simulated annealing are all members of the family of meta-heuristics. In order to efficiently find the optimal solutions, we develop a meta-heuristic method that employs an iterative generation process to explore the search spaces based on learning strategies [
In this study, we propose a method, called Coverage Control Using Memetic Algorithm (CoCMA), and apply it to CWSNs. The CoCMA contains two optimization strategies: a MA-based schedule for sensor nodes and a wake-up scheme. The first optimization strategy inactivates the redundant sensor nodes in a given CWSN according to the MA-based schedule for sensor nodes. The flowchart of the MA procedure is illustrated in
In the CoCMA, every individual represents a solution with a corresponding fitness value, derived from a fitness function. The fitness function is used to represent the goodness of a solution. After completing the GA operations, the local search is utilized to further enhance the goodness of the solutions. By doing so, a new population of superior individuals is generated, and, the individuals in the new population are much closer to the global optimal solution. In addition, the evolutionary process will be terminated (i.e., the optimal solution is found) if a termination criterion is satisfied. In following subsections, the CoCMA will be presented in detail.
Designing a genetic representation that focuses on a given problem is essential for MAs and GAs. A better genetic representation can improve the performance of evolution. For the energy-efficient coverage optimization, it is necessary to convert the schedule for nodes to genetic representations. In this study, an optimal schedule for nodes is used to activate or inactivate sensor nodes in CWSNs at a specific time, so, the network lifetime can be prolonged. For the schedule, solutions are represented by binary strings of 0s and 1s, and the status of a node is represented by an allele. For example, 0 denotes that the sensor node is inactivated, while 1 denotes that the node is activated.
The genetic representation for the energy-efficient coverage optimization is depicted in
The fitness function is a measure that indicates the goodness of a particular chromosome. The objective of the CoCMA is to achieve the optimal coverage ratio using fewer sensor nodes. As a result, the goodness of schedule for active sensor nodes is regarded as the fitness function of the proposed CoCMA.
For each node, a coverage vector is proposed to represent the coverage of POIs. According to the sensing coverage model described in Section 2.1, the coverage vector of one particular node
Since the coverage evaluation process is simplified into binary operations, the performance of the CoCMA can be improved greatly. In addition, we can calculate the coverage ratio for the chromosome
The GA operations encompass selection, crossover and mutation. There are several kinds of strategies for the selection operation; the most popular ones are the proportional fitness, roulette wheel and tournament. In the CoCMA, we adopt the tournament selection strategy that seeks the optimal fitness of each generation more efficiently. The tournament selection runs a tournament among randomly chosen individuals and then selects the winner for crossover. According to the genetic representation for the CoCMA described above, every allele represents the status of a sensor node: 1-active or 0-inactive. The chromosome with higher fitness implies that the CWSN has a better schedule for sensor nodes to cope with SCP while applying CoCMA. In the process of tournament selection, ten chromosomes are randomly selected from the population, and the elitist chromosome is then selected as parent chromosome 1. The second best chromosome is selected as parent chromosome 2. Both the selected parent chromosomes will breed the new chromosomes of offspring by crossover.
In order to maintain the diversity of a population, determining an appropriate crossover rate is important. The crossover rate
Mutation is a genetic operator that helps the entire GA to prevent the population from being trapped in a local optimal solution. It alters one or more values in any possible gene allele. Thus, the new individual is added to the original gene pool. The mutation of GA operations usually occurs after crossover. The mutation rate
In this study, a simple local search strategy is developed to feature the CoCMA with fast convergence and thus further improves the goodness of the population computed by GA operations. For one generation, local search modifies every chromosome (individual) by the proposed local search strategy. This strategy changes the value of every allele from one to zero and determine whether to keep the modification by comparing the fitness of the original and the new chromosomes. The strategy is applied to allele ℓ
Record the allele ℓ Let In Let
The hromosome could be refined to a better one if unnecessary nodes are found. Unlike the conventional GAs, the proposed CoCMA can get better results by performing the local search process. Using the developed local search scheme, the CoCMA converges quickly. It is worthy to note that selecting an appropriate number of chromosomes in each generation is important, since the large number of chromosomes will slow down the process of convergence.
The proposed CoCMA keeps evolving until a termination criterion is satisfied. In the proposed CoCMA, the evolutionary process is terminated when its optimal solution is unchanged for
Considering the energy-efficient coverage, we propose a wake-up scheme to awaken some sleeping nodes to recover the uncovered POIs due to energy exhaustions on some sensing nodes. When applying the proposed CoCMA to a CWSN [
For the CWSN [
When the sink receives the signal transmitted from a dying node, it will determine which nodes should be active and then activates them, when another new round comes. According to the MA-based schedule for sensor nodes, some sensor nodes are switched to sleeping mode, and the remaining sensor nodes are responsible for the sensing task. The MA-based schedule of sensor nodes is conducted in the first round, and the proposed wake-up scheme awakens some sensor nodes in the next round if there is one sensor node about to run out its energy.
According to the coverage vector, which is defined in Section 3.2.2, the sensing coverage can be evaluated by using bitwise Boolean operations. If one node
Let node
In order to recover the lost network coverage using sleeping nodes, the wake-up scheme will seek the neighboring nodes of
The main objective of the wake-up scheme is to generate an optimal schedule to awaken some sensor nodes in a sleeping mode. Similar to MAs, the wake-up scheme also emphasizes on energy-efficient coverage. The proposed wake-up scheme requires the sink to transmit a wake-up signal to the neighboring nodes of the dying node from the sink. If these sensor nodes constantly receive the signals, energy consumption will increase significantly. To deal with this problem, some studies [
As mentioned above, the sink will awaken some sensor nodes according to the optimal schedule of nodes yielded by the wake-up scheme at the beginning of the next round. If any sensor nodes die again, the wake-up scheme will re-evaluate the coverage and decide to awaken some other sensor nodes to recover the uncovered POIs. Through this way, the coverage preservation of POIs can be achieved effectively.
In this section, we suppose that a virtual field is monitored by a CWSN with some POIs. The numbers of nodes and POIs are predetermined by the administrator. Each POI and sensor node is stationary after either random deployment or predetermined deployment. All the simulations are conducted on the MATLAB platform.
In order to verify the quick-convergence characteristic of the CoCMA, we evaluate the computing time and the fitness of the CoCMA applied to various sizes of the CWSNs. The results will be compared with those of GAs. We consider 64 POIs randomly distributed in a 100 m × 100 m monitoring area and the number of deployed nodes varies from 50 to 500. The sensing range of a node is fixed as 17.675 m, regardless of the number of deployed sensor nodes. All sensor nodes are randomly distributed. Each experimental simulation was repeated 30 times.
In general, GAs need more generations to generate an optimal solution because of their evolutionary constraints. However, the CoCMA is able to generate the optimal solution within fewer generations as the additional local search scheme is used. We suppose that the CoCMA and GA use the same criterion to stop the evolutionary process. The evolutionary process is terminated when the fitness of the best chromosome is higher than the predetermined threshold. The thresholds of fitness for different network sizes are determined according to our previous experimental studies. We found that the CoCMA has a great leap of fitness around the second generation based on the experimental results. The discrete timestamp and fitness are recorded when one generation finished. Both timestamp and fitness of the GA are also recorded. We utilize a cubic spline interpolation to fit the time-fitness curve for the CoCMA. We then compare the computing time of the CoCMA with that of the GA at different fitness values. The corresponding simulation results are shown in
Note that the higher fitness implies a better energy efficiency schedule for nodes according to the definition of fitness function mentioned above.
In this section, we present the evaluation results for the performance of the CoCMA with respect to network lifetime prolongation and coverage preservation. The CoCMA is applied to the sink and used to control the activation or inactivation of sensor nodes to maintain higher coverage ratio of POIs with energy efficiency. In this scenario, we suppose that there are 64 POIs and 400 nodes distributed uniformly in a sensing field with size of 100 m × 100 m. The initial energy for every node is the same, and all the nodes are assumed homogenous. Similarly, the nodes share the same sensing range of 17.675 meters and can communicate directly with the sink and other nodes in the sensing field. The corresponding parameters of this simulation scenario are summarized in
For the simulation scenario of uniform deployments, the redundant nodes can be efficiently found by the CoCMA and then be inactivated to conserve energy.
In the next simulations, we will verify the feasibility of applying the proposed algorithm to a CWSN [
In order to compute the energy distribution over the network, a 2-D Gaussian distribution is utilized as a point spread function to estimate the spatial strength of energy.
Clearly, the position of a sink will significantly affect the distribution of the remaining energy for the entire CWSN. If the sink is placed at the center of the CWSN, the remaining energy will be distributed over the field evenly, which can be seen in
Through the proposed CoCMA, preserving the sensing coverage and prolonging the lifetime can be carried out successfully in the CWSN. In CWSNs applying the CoCMA, the position of the sink will affect the performance of the CWSN according our simulation results. The spatial distribution of energy is more even if the position of the sink approximates the geometric center of the CWSN. This is caused by the innate restriction in CWSNs. We will keep studying the related issues in the future.
In this paper we have proposed an energy-efficient coverage-preserving algorithm, called CoCMA, which encompasses optimization for initial deployments using a MA and a wake-up scheme. The CoCMA turns off the redundant nodes according to the MA-based schedule for nodes in order to save energy. It also used the wake-up scheme to awaken some sensor nodes in a sleeping mode through an optimization strategy to preserve the sensing coverage of the CWSN. The experimental results show that the proposed CoCMA can be successfully applied to the CWSNs. It minimizes the number of active nodes during the operation period of the CWSN, so the sensing coverage is better preserved comparing with the LEACH, LEACH-Coverage-U, PEGASIS and EGDG. Moreover, the performance of the CoCMA could be significantly improved if the positions of the sink are chosen and the nodes are chosen appropriately. With the promising results demonstrated in this paper, the proposed CoCMA might be applied to other WSNs with different structures, and we reserve this as future work.
This work was supported financially in part by the National Science Council, Taiwan, under contracts no.: NSC 97-2218-E-002-006 and NSC 96-2628-E-002-252-MY3. The authors would also like to thank the Council of Agriculture of the Executive Yuan, Taiwan, for their financial supporting under contracts no.: 97AS-9.1.1-FD-Z1(3) and 98AS-6.1.5-FD-Z1.
For the coverage-preserving application for a WSN, the events at the position marked by stars will be detected and reported to the sink node through the surrounding nodes.
The energy consumption model used in this study.
Flowchart of the optimization strategy using MA in the CoCMA.
Genetic representation used in the CoCMA.
Illustration of sensing coverage in a CWSN for environmental sensing application. In this case, 16 nodes are activated to cover 10 POIs.
The response surface of
An illustration of time slot arrangement in one round in CWSN.
An illustration of uniform deployments of sensor nodes and POIs in the sample network and the simulation result after applying the CoCMA. The yellow star-shaped points represent POIs, and the blue circles represent the sensing ranges for nodes.
Illustration of random deployments of sensor nodes and POIs in the sample network and the simulation result after applying the CoCMA. (Left) A random deployment of 100 sensor nodes and 100 POIs in a 50 m × 50 m sensing field. (Right) The optimal schedule for nodes is yielded by the CoCMA.
Sensing coverage ratio versus the number of rounds in the uniform deployment scenario.
The number of rounds versus percentage of dead nodes (%) for the uniform deployment scenario.
Spatial distribution of the remaining energy for the CWSN during simulation. The dark red regions indicate that the regions reserve more energy, and the dark blue regions preserve less remaining energy.
Spatial distribution of the remaining energy for the CWSN, under a same uniform deployment but with previously mentioned case for a uniform deployment, except for a different position of the sink which is changed to (50, 50).
Comparison of average computing time (second) for the CoCMA and GA at different fitness values. The number of nodes varies from 50 to 500. There are 64 positions of POIs randomly located in a CWSN with sensing field of 100 m × 100 m. Every case is repeated 30 times.
Parameters used in the CWSN-type sample network.
The sensing range
Crossover rate
A sink is located at the coordinate (50, 200), which is far from the sensing field and power-rich.
The size of every data packet is 2,000 bits, i.e.,
Initial energy = 0.25 Joules.


text:
S.F.: Parking at 8th and Moraga safe for now
Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Parking question in S.F.: To ticket or not to ticket - that was the question facing parking-control officers at Eighth Avenue and Moraga Street, where cars were parked at a dead end that, in theory, was also a crosswalk. The officers decided to ticket every time, which infuriated ChronicleWatch reader Carol Bogue, who said drivers have been parking at the San Francisco intersection for decades without being cited. Late Monday, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency announced an important update: Parking-control officers have been told to stop citing vehicles parked along the dead end at Eighth Avenue and Moraga Street. In addition, drivers who recently received parking tickets there will have their citations waived, said Kristen Holland, a spokeswoman with the transportation agency. Drivers and residents with questions can call (415) 701-3000, Holland says. In the meantime, the agency is having its staff work with the Department of Public Works to "survey the location and determine the extent of the safety issue (for pedestrians) and the best remedy." In other words, the city may decide the dead end deserves to have a painted crosswalk - and signage that warns drivers not to park there.
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Who's responsible: Nathaniel Ford, director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, (415) 673-6864; firstname.lastname@example.com
Is something broken in your neighborhood? Call us at (415) 777-7170 or e-mail us at email@example.com.


text: OverviewBack to top Futurebiotics - Vegetarian Super Multi - 120 Tablets Item# :61780UPC# :049479001026 Brand:Futurebiotics Size/Form:120 Tablets Ship Weight:0.70 Servings:40 Dosage:3 Tablet(s) Futurebiotics - Vegetarian Super Multi - 120 Tablets Futurebiotics Vegetarian Super Multi. In this past-paced, stress-filled world, getting all the nutrients your body needs isn't always easy. Even eating a well-balanced diet doesn't ensure you're getting the nutrients your body needs to stay healthy. Vegetarian Super Multi is a daily, high-potency supplement of vitamins, minerals and herbs, along with nutrient-rich Chlorella that helps provide the nutrients and tools needed for good health. Futurebiotics Vegetarian Super Multi: Daily Vitamin, Mineral, Chlorella and Herb Formula Unique botanical blend Vegetarian formula Vegetarian Super Multi combines a complete multi-vitamin and mineral formula with protective, detoxifying and balancing herbs in a vegetarian form. It provides over 100% of the recommended daily value of most nutrients, including a whopping 500 mg of vitamin C, a full complement of B vitamins, 25 mg of Zinc and 200 mcg of Chromium, plus Iron, Calcium and Magnesium to name just a few. Each daily dose provides 400 mg of Chlorella, a nutrient-rich, single-celled algae that utilizes broken cell technology to facilitate the release of its nutrients. Chlorella is a natural, whole food that provides a tremendous source of concentrated nutrition and is one of the most efficient foods on earth. Chlorella is one of the world's richest natural sources of chlorophyll. Futurebiotics Vegetarian Super Multi Contains: No Added Yeast No Salt No Sugar No Starch No Wheat No Gluten No Corn No Dairy No Artificial Colors No Preservativies No Animal Products Botanical support is provided by a unique blend that includes Milk Thistle seed, Dandelion and Burdock that help support detoxification, cleansing and digestion; along with Horsetail, which helps facilitate the absorption of calcium and nourishes nails, skin, hair and connective tissue. Additional support is provided from Sea Vegetable, Alfalfa, Goldenseal and Ginkgo. Glass packaging extends natural freshness and helps maintain product potency. FuturebioticsFuturebiotics provides real health solutions. Guaranteed. Each product employs natural ingredients based on the latest science and research that deliver proven benefits - consistently, by design. Cutting-edge science is complemented with natural co-factors for intuitive natural fit. And many products feature Futurebiotics unique BioAccelerators™ that enhance digestion and absorption. Only the finest natural ingredients from around the world, skillfully formulated, are preserved in sealed amber glass. Futurebiotics. Products that deliver on a promise: Of purity. Of efficacy. Of commitment Of caring. Of health. There is real power in Nature. Power to awaken, nourish and rejuvenate. Power to heal. Nature packages the wisdom and harmony of healing using subtle, ingenious, and sophisticated methods of delivering health and longevity naturally. Taking inspiration from Nature, Futurebiotics provides power and symmetry in cutting-edge active, natural ingredients and delivers them with sophistication and care - just as nature intended. Health and healing are life's natural gifts when body, mind and spirit align with Nature's wisdom. Every Futurebiotics targeted nutritional supplement delivers on a promise: specific, targeted health solutions using clinically-proven natural ingredients. Labeling is clean and crisp - laden with information and clarity about the design and uses of each product. Their commitment doesn't end with the product. Every package provides health strategies meant to deliver meaningful results in the Futurebiotics Action Plan. Strategies that make sense. For real results. For life.


text: Incyte Corporation (Nasdaq: INCY) announced results of an interim analysis from a 12-week open-label, dose-escalation Phase II clinical trial involving more than 85 patients with intermediate or high-risk myelofibrosis (MF) for its proprietary oral JAK1 inhibitor, INCB39110. These results were presented today at the 2013 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting in New Orleans. In this preliminary analysis of an ongoing Phase II trial that involved three doses (100 mg twice daily, 200 mg twice daily and 600 mg once daily), treatment with INCB39110 at doses of 200 mg twice daily and 600 mg once daily provided meaningful improvements in MF-related symptoms, including symptoms associated with splenomegaly. At week 12, 22.2 percent, 34.9 percent, and 50.0 percent of patients in the 100 mg twice daily, 200 mg twice daily, and 600 mg once daily dose groups, respectively, achieved at least a 50 percent improvement from baseline in their total symptom score (the primary endpoint); median percentage improvements from baseline at this time point were 28.5 percent, 45.8 percent, and 76.8 percent, respectively, across dose groups. Reductions in spleen volume were modest, with median percentage changes from baseline to week 12 of 5.0 percent, -14.1 percent, and -9.9 percent, respectively, across dose groups. The most common hematologic adverse events, regardless of causality, were anemia and thrombocytopenia, and the most common non-hematologic adverse events were fatigue, constipation and nausea. In comparison to JAK1/JAK2 inhibitors and JAK2 inhibitors, the findings from this analysis suggest that JAK1 inhibition may result in less myelosuppression. In patients not receiving post-baseline transfusions, mean hemoglobin levels in each dose group increased by week 2 and remained approximately 0.5 to 1.0 g/dL above baseline through week 12. To access the presentation: ASH 2013 - Mascarenhas "With the interim analysis of this trial combined with data from two other proof-of-concept trials in rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, we have a better understanding of JAK1 as a disease target, and we're using this knowledge to focus the development of our broad portfolio of JAK1 inhibitors," stated Richard S. Levy, M.D., Incyte's Executive Vice President and Chief Drug Development and Medical Officer. "We are taking INCB39110, our most advanced JAK1 inhibitor, forward initially in solid tumors, starting with combinations that may not be as well-tolerated with a JAK1/JAK2 inhibitor as a result of the potential myelosuppressive effect of JAK2 inhibition."


text:
The world is aging, and the life expectancy is increasing. The number of older persons has tripled over the last 50 years and it will more than triple again over the next 50 years. More older people and longer life expectancy will lead to more demand for retirement savings. According to the article written by Stephen Miller, CEBS, the average 401(k) balance in plans administered in the U.S. by Fidelity Investments reached a record high of $77,300 at the end of 2012, up from $69,100 one year earlier-an increase of 12 percent. About two-thirds of the 2012 increase was attributable to market action, and one-third was due to participant contributions. Fidelity Investments is one of the largest plan service providers.
Another study conducted by research firm, LIMRA, indicated that Generation X workers (born 1965-1980) have contributed to their current employer's defined contribution plan for nine years, accumulating nearly $70,000 (January, 2013). On the other hand, Generation Y workers (born 1980-2000) have contributed to their current employer's defined contribution plan for four years, accumulating slightly less than $26,000. According to Cecilia Shiner, senior analyst, LIMRA Retirement Research, while there are a lot of attentions on the Baby Boomers (78 million), nearly 116 million Americans (aged 20-47) need help on how to plan and save for retirement. As quoted from Cecilia Shiner:
Most Gen X and Y Americans will have to rely solely on their savings to fund their retirement, yet few are taking full advantage of the retirement savings vehicles available to them.
The study further suggests that if financial literacy could be improved for these consumers, the likelihood of participating in their employers' plans may rise.
Furthermore, employer contribution does encourage more 401(k) contributions. According to the Stephen Miller's report,
Participants on average saved 8 percent of their annual salaries in their 401(k) plans. When the typical employer contribution is factored in, be it a match or profit sharing, the average participant's total savings rate increases to 12 percent.
In short, the demand for retirement savings is increasing for all age groups as more Americans will have to reply on their savings to fund their retirement. The retirement saving participation rate will be improved by increasing financial literacy for consumers and employer contribution. A great detail report on trends in 401(k) plans and retirement rewards can be reviewed here.
Investment Implications
Mega banks, such as Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), are competing in an effort to win a bigger share of the trillions of dollars in 401(k) saving plans. According to Bloomberg's report:
Bank of America Corp., the second- largest U.S. lender, attracted record new assets last year to its unit servicing retirement and other employee-benefit plans as it cross-sold products through the commercial bank.
BAC saw $24.3B in new assets, a 28 percent increase from a year earlier, said Kevin Crain, head of institutional retirement and benefit services at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have been trying to win more of the $3.5 trillion that Americans held in 401(k) retirement plans as of September. BAC and JPM are trying to compete with traditional account managers, such as mutual-fund firms Fidelity Investments and Vanguard Group Inc. Wells Fargo had also been adding features that allow employers to more closely track their employees' saving and investing to attract more 401(k) customers.
"The highest-selling product in terms of extending the relationship has been the 401(k)," said Bob Arth, regional executive for the global commercial bank. Bank of America has been trying to expand its retirement business since its 2009 acquisition of Merrill Lynch by selling to clients of the commercial bank. Cross-selling has been the strategy, laser-like focus, post crisis when banks try to find new sources of revenue, according to Sophie Schmitt, a senior analyst at Aite Group.
Investors look to benefit from raising demand for 401(k) can review the following investment targets:
Bank of America Corp: (BAC) is currently trading at $12.57. BAC had been trading in the range of $6.72-$12.66 in the past 52 weeks. The company has a market cap of $135.48B, with a high beta of 2.38. BAC has a low Forward P/E of 9.8 (vs. the S&P 500's average of 13.9). BAC is currently trading below its book value of $20.24 and is offering a forward annual dividend yield of 0.30%.
JPMorgan Chase & Co.: (JPM) is currently trading at $50.02. JPM had been trading in the range of $30.83-$51.00 in the past 52 weeks. The company has a market cap of $191.45B with a beta of 1.37. JPM has a lower P/E of 9.6 (vs. the industry average of 18.9) and lower Forward P/E of 8.3 (vs. the S&P 500's average of 13.9). The company is currently trading below its book value of $51.27 and is offering a forward annual dividend yield of 2.40%.
Wells Fargo & Co: (WFC) is currently trading at $38.20. WFC had been trading in the range of $29.80-$38.20 in the past 52 weeks. WFC has a market cap of $201.35B with a beta of 1.36. WFC has a lower P/E of 11.4 (vs. the industry average of 14.5) and lower Forward P/E of 9.7 (vs. the S&P 500's average of 13.9). WFC is currently trading above its book value of $27.66 and is offering a forward annual dividend yield of 2.70%.
Investors can also review the following ETFs to gain exposure to above banks:
- Financial Select Sector SPDR (NYSEARCA:XLF)
- Dow Jones U.S. Financial Services Index Fund (NYSEARCA:IYG)
Note: All prices are quoted from the closing of March 15, 2013. Investors are encouraged to research further on 401(k) trend. However, the list above is provided only as a starting point for interested investors to research further, and the author does not recommend individual stocks at this moment.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, but may initiate a long position in BAC, WFC over the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.


text:
The two assailants could, indeed, just be a couple of deranged freelancers.
Or must they have been pushed, perhaps by her disreputable boyfriend or even a deranged stranger?
That, I think, is what makes these right-wing men say these deranged things.
At age 5, he was sent to live with his deranged grandmother.
The justices are going to cling to their seats like deranged limpets until a president of their party is ready to replace them.
Bonaparte was enraged at the folly of the Genoese democrats, which deranged his plans.
The finances were deranged, and province after province rebelled.
His account is, as I am informed, that Mr. Howe's projects are all deranged.
I have arranged this, and am very unwilling to have it deranged.
The bill proposed to give those officers who should be deranged, three months' pay when they were dismissed from the service.
c.1790, "insane;" of things, "out of order," from 1796; past participle adjective from derange (v.).
1776, "throw into confusion," from French déranger, from Old French desrengier "disarrange, throw into disorder," from des- "do the opposite of" (see dis-) + Old French rengier (Modern French ranger) "to put into line," from reng "line, row," from a Germanic source (see rank (n.)). Mental sense first recorded c.1790.


text:
The idea that wealthy school districts have an unfair advantage over poorer districts is commonplace. It has driven a 27-year legal fight over school finance that is once again before the state Supreme Court.
However, the Midland Independent School District puts that truism to the test.
Midland ISD is among the top 2 percent of school districts in the state with regard to wealth, thanks to the oil and gas industry, yet its academic results are poor by almost every measure.
"As a district, we literally have some of the lowest scores in the state compared to districts our size," Superintendent Ryder Warren wrote recently.
It's not just by size, either. When compared to other districts with similar demographics, wealth, region or tax rate, Midland ISD still academically ranks among the worst districts in Texas. According to an assessment by the state comptroller, Midland ISD's per-student costs are higher than 90 percent of its peers, while the district trails 35 of its 40 peers in academic performance.
Its junior high schools, in particular, are a problem. All four of them finish at the bottom of statewide rankings of year-to-year academic progress. That creates further repercussions for all the grades that follow.
Despite its own problems, Midland ISD is sending $32.3 million in locally collected property taxes to other, poorer, districts around the state this year.
This state policy is known as the "Robin Hood" approach because it takes from the rich districts and gives to the poor districts. A ruling from the state Supreme Court on this arrangement is expected soon.
However, Midland's wealthy reputation doesn't always match the policy reality.
The area has plenty of working class families, and its schools are populated with the children of immigrants who've come to work in the oil fields.
And much of the region's wealth is in its oil infrastructure. So, thanks to a 22-year history of judicial oversight of the state's school financing system, much of that money is unavailable for improving the local schools.
In the name of equality, rich districts in Texas are prevented from tapping into much of their property wealth through property tax caps, and the taxes they do reserve for annual operations are redistributed above a certain point. In effect, local officials are powerless to raise taxes to pay for more or better teachers.
Taxes that school districts in Texas collect to pay off bonds, however, are free from garnishment by the state, which is one reason that school bonds measuring in the hundreds of millions—or even billions of dollars—have become commonplace, while teaching reforms have languished. Even though teachers in Texas aren't unionized, the system favors building new classrooms over reforming what takes place inside them.
Midland, however, has resisted calls to put money into its school buildings. Longtime residents of this oil patch town have seen the population hollowed out before following busts and are reluctant to invest heavily in infrastructure that might not be needed for long.
All school districts in Texas collect a dedicated tax for bond repayment; Midland's is one of the lowest in the state. Although the district got a $163 million bond approved in 2012, residents had rejected six separate school bond measures dating back to 1996.
School officials have been working with a group of community leaders for the past two years to try to gain support for a larger construction bond, but have reached an impasse: officials say more spending would produce results, but some of the influential community leaders want to see results before putting any more money into a system that hasn't been working.
The policy of a former longtime school superintendent has been characterized as delivering "average results at below average costs," and for years, that's roughly what happened. Only now, according to the assessment by the state comptroller, it's become poor results at a high cost.
The comptroller's study seized on a single telling measurement from among the hundreds maintained by the Texas Education Agency (TEA): a three-year average of individual student progress on state math and reading tests.
Statewide, Midland ranks in the 26th percentile on this "academic progress" measurement. That's a marked improvement from the district's position in the 9th percentile when Warren took over as superintendent in 2010.
Also in Warren's favor (as well as a testament to the power of a good principal), several of the district's elementary schools are outperforming schools of similar size and demographics across the state.
DeZavala Elementary School, for example, ranked in the 82nd percentile for academic progress in 2012-13, despite the fact that 40 percent of its students were English language learners, and 78 percent counted as economically disadvantaged. The 23,491-student district has a dozen other elementary schools, out of 27 in all, that rank above average on academic progress.
On the other hand, seven of the district's elementary schools have been languishing on the state's Needs Improvement list for anywhere from two to five years.
Unfortunately, the students who make such good progress through their early years stop performing as well academically once they hit junior high school. The best of Midland ISD's four junior highs is in the bottom 4 percent statewide for academic progress. The other three: 2nd percentile, bottom percentile, bottom percentile.
That forms a sort of choke point, where every student passing through the system suffers through two years of minimal learning. After those children spend two years in Midland ISD's junior highs, they arrive at high school far behind where they should be.
Midland High School is in the bottom 3 percent statewide for academic progress; Lee High School is a step better, in the 13th percentile, according to data assembled by the state comptroller's office.
Meanwhile, over the last decade, the number of college-ready students that Midland produces has fallen by nearly half, even as graduating classes remain the same size. Texas sets a benchmark for achievement on the two main college readiness exams, the SAT and the ACT. In Midland's Class of 2005, 22.6 percent of the class met it. By 2014, it was down to 12 percent.
Charting a new course
That dynamic, of bright and eager children of working-class families slipping into an institutional quagmire in junior high, is all the more apparent when contrasted with the record of Midland Academy, a public charter school housed in an unimpressive little concrete and aluminum building east of downtown.
Midland Academy starts out with struggling students: in 2013, just 37 percent of its third-graders could hit the state's math benchmark; just 21 percent of its Hispanic fourth-graders hit their mark. Reading scores were scarcely better. By comparison, in Midland ISD, 54 percent of all third-graders (and 48 percent of Hispanics) hit their math benchmarks in 2013. In this case, a common argument against charter schools – that they peel away the best and the brightest – doesn't match the data.
By eighth grade, Midland Academy's students are almost all doing well. In 2014, 95 percent of its eighth-graders met benchmarks in both math and reading, with Hispanics at 92 percent, and they beat the statewide averages in science and social studies by more than 15 points and Midland ISD's scores by 30 to 40 points.
According to a racial and special needs breakdown required by the No Child Left Behind Act, Midland ISD has left many children behind over the last two years. The report, which in Texas is called System Safeguards, breaks down the student population by race, economic disadvantage, special needs, and whether or not English is their primary language, then cross references each group by whether or not it hits a benchmark in reading, math, writing, science and social studies. In 2013, Midland ISD was meeting the standard in 36 of 47 categories. Two years later, it was down to 19 out of 45.
In 2013, English language learners were the only group falling short in every category; in 2015, white students were the only ones hitting every mark. The state has had to intervene in both the district's special education and English language learner programs.
A common explanation heard in Midland is that the district's struggles are a result of an influx of non-native speakers whose parents have come to work in the oil fields. While the district is 60 percent Hispanic and 28.6 percent white (compared with statewide averages of 51.8 percent and 29.4 percent, respectively), the district actually has a much lower percentage of non-native speakers than the rest of the state. Just 10 percent of its students are in ESL or bilingual classes, compared with 17.5 percent statewide.
District boosters say that it is difficult to retain talented teachers because of Midland's remote West Texas location. That's reflected in a turnover rate of 22.5 percent, six points higher than the state average. A group of backers put together a pool of money to pay new teachers $10,000 signing bonuses last year. The school district even spent $850,000 last year to build a small neighborhood of prefab housing to offer teachers, to offset the rising cost of rent caused by the many oil workers moving to town.
However, Midland ISD isn't that different from other districts around the state. In 2013-2014, just 11.7 percent of its teachers were in their first year, compared with a statewide average of 8.3 percent. Local teachers on average are just a half-year less experienced than their colleagues elsewhere. Teachers at all levels in Midland ISD make $2,000 to $3,000 more than the average.
District administrators, however, have an edge on their peers, collecting an average of $117,089, compared with the state average of $94,630. That focus on administrative compensation hasn't yet produced results. The complaints from teachers reveal a host of things that can go wrong: the principal at one school is years too slow to shift students into special education classes; central administrators change up the curriculum too quickly, replacing one year's program with another that leaves gaps at best, or leaves the children crying in frustration at worst; another is too wrapped up in managing personalities to attend to results. The specifics of the dysfunction remain a mystery, to the insider as much as the outsider. It's the curse of all large bureaucracies; nobody can know enough to run them perfectly. Charter schools present the opposite dilemma: they're small enough that the successes stand out clearly, but that intensely local excellence is difficult to build out on a large scale.
West Texas woes
There are some successes at Midland ISD.
A no-frills Early College High School that shares space with a community college produces results for a few hundred students a year, but attendance is limited to those who face some sort of disadvantage.
But one factor that's kept Midland residents from realizing how poorly their district performs is context. If you don't count Del Rio, a remote town along the Mexican border that does quite poorly in academic progress, there's only a single school district among Midland's 40 peers that is inarguably worse, and it's right next door.
According to an assessment of school district performance by the state comptroller that grouped districts by their financial and demographic profile, Ector County ISD in Odessa is the worst of the bunch — not only very expensive, but weak academically, ranking in the bottom 2 percent of all districts for academic progress.
Together, Midland and Ector County dragged their West Texas region — Region 18, as TEA calls it — to the very last place of 20 regions in all four of the major categories that TEA tracks: student achievement, student progress, closing performance gaps and postsecondary readiness.
Among 44 other similarly sized districts around the state, only Waco ranks consistently worse than Midland. With the five districts most closely matched in demographics—Lamar, North East, Pflugerville, Hays in San Marcos, and Spring Branch—Midland ranks last in all four of the TEA's major categories.
And so it goes, through comparisons by wealth, tax rate and geography, Midland ranks at or near the bottom for Texas schools, dragged down most of all by its low-performing junior highs.
RELATED: Small town wants to build 5 of the costliest schools in Texas history
In October, Warren announced some reforms. While admitting that "we stink at standardized testing, and we have for years," he decried the state's insistence on using one standardized test to judge all its schools. Henceforth, he said, Midland would be measuring itself other ways, both objective and subjective. These included attendance rates, graduation rates, Advanced Placement tests scores and second-grade reading levels (which the state doesn't start testing until third grade).
It was a peculiar position in its way, one that sums up the accountability problem. No one test or metric captures a whole student or a whole school, yet the billions of data points the state collects paint no better a picture, virtually incomprehensible to anyone but a statistician. Even in those cases where outlying data show that something is broken, the folks who are supposed to manage it all, the data and the fixes, sometimes don't.
The junior highs stay broken. And the man who doesn't want to reduce a child to a number calls for collecting more numbers.
Contact Jon Cassidy at [email protected] or @jpcassidy000. This article was originally published at ballotpedia.org.


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Phantom Braid Cabled Pullover by Kirsten Hipsky
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© Valley Yarns
Phantom Braid Cabled Pullover
This pattern is no longer available.
All-over cables hug your curves beautifully while the mock turtlneck cradles the neck in silky softness. The finished Phantom Braid Cabled Pullover fits a range of sizes due to the stretch the cables provide. Dress this sweater up or down. It is truly a wardrobe staple.
Finished Chest Measurement: 33 (37, 41, 45, 49)"
Yarn: 13 (14, 16, 18, 21) sks Valley Yarns Valley Superwash color 391 Blue Mist
Needles: US size 7 needles or size needed to obtain gauge
Gauge: 24 sts and 26 rows = 4" in Phantom Braid Cable, slightly stretched


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American Express 11 Tears Memorial
Lobby of American Express Headquarters (at the World Financial Center)
The American Express memorial honors its 11 employees killed on 9/11. A 600-pound, tear-shaped and 11-sided Brazilian quartz is suspended at the center of the memorial. The quartz hangs from 11 thin cables over the center of a black granite pool with 11 sides. The names of the victims who worked for American Express are inscribed on the sides of the pool.
Designed by lower Manhattan artist Ken Smith
Bell of Hope
209 Broadway (at St. Paul's Chapel)
Presented to New York City by the city of London one year after 9/11, the Bell of Hope stands in the churchyard of St. Paul's Chapel as an enduring memorial, rung on occasions when the parish pays tribute to victims of terrorism. Following the tradition of the FDNY's salute to fallen comrades, the chapel's clergy tolls the bell in four sets of five rings. The bell has been rung in remembrance of 9/11, in honor of the Virginia Tech shooting victims, and following the London, Madrid and Mumbai bombings.
British Memorial Garden
Hanover Square, intersection of Hanover and Pearl streets
The garden, designed by the British Memorial Garden Trust and completed in 2006, is a living memorial and public park in Hanover Square in lower Manhattan's Financial District. The British Memorial Garden features hand-carved stone from Scotland and plantings from Prince Charles's estate. It commemorates the 67 British citizens who died in New York on 9/11.
Designed by Isabel and Julian Bannerman, 2006
Double Check
Zuccotti Park, intersection of Liberty Street and Trinity Place
"Double Check" is a bronze sculpture that was added to Liberty Plaza Park in 1982. Relatively undamaged after 9/11, "Double Check" stayed in the park during the recovery effort and soon became covered with tributes. When the sculpture was returned to the sculptor for repairs, Johnson also created a new cast of the sculpture with all of the tributes attached. This new sculpture was called "Makeshift Memorial," and is located in Liberty State Park in New Jersey, overlooking the WTC site from across the Hudson River. The repaired "Double Check" returned to its original location in the park, which was rebuilt and renamed Zuccotti Park. The sculpture represents the hundreds of business people who come to the park during the day for relaxation, fresh air and renewal.
Created by J. Seward Johnson, 1982
FDNY Memorial Wall
Greenwich Street (at Liberty Street)
The memorial wall is located at the FDNY Ladder Company 10, Engine 10 firehouse, directly south of the WTC site. The firehouse lost five firefighters on 9/11. The 56-foot-long bronze wall was unveiled in 2006 as a gift from the law firm of Holland & Knight and its charitable foundation under the direction of Brian Starer. The wall serves as a tribute to the 343 FDNY victims and is dedicated to one of the firm's partners, volunteer firefighter Glenn J. Winuk who perished on 9/11. Depicting the equipment and tactics used on September 11, 2001, the wall displays the names of every active FDNY member who was killed in the collapse of the towers.
Designed by Viggo Rambusch, 2006
Koenig's Sphere
Battery Place, Battery Park
The Sphere once stood between the twin towers on the Austin Tobin Plaza and was placed temporarily in Battery Park. The large metallic sculpture, created by German sculptor Fritz Koenig, was commissioned by the owner of the WTC, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, in 1966. Following 9/11, the sphere was recovered from the WTC site. It remained structurally intact but was visibly damaged. On March 11, 2002, the sphere was re-erected and rededicated in Battery Park as a memorial to the victims of 9/11.
Created by Fritz Koenig, 1971
New York City Police Museum: 9/11 Remembered
100 Old Slip
Dedicated to preserving the history of "New York's Finest," the New York Police Museum is home to a permanent multimedia exhibit that educates the public about and honors and the sacrifices made by the members of the NYPD on 9/11. The exhibit features first-person interviews, photographs and artifacts.
St. Paul's Chapel
209 Broadway (at Fulton Street)
Built in 1766, St. Paul's Chapel is Manhattan's only remaining colonial church, and stands directly across from the WTC site. On 9/11, St. Paul's was saved from severe damage by an uprooted tree that helped to buffer the impact of the towers' collapse. The chapel served as a comfort station during the nine month rescue and recovery effort after 9/11, offering pews as beds for exhausted recovery workers. The chapel itself houses an exhibition titled "Unwavering Spirit," which includes artifacts from the relief effort and honors those lost in the attacks of 9/11. In the days and months following 9/11, visitors, workers and volunteers transformed the fence around St. Paul's Chapel into an impromptu memorial for those killed by posting banners, flowers, notes and missing posters.
9/11 Tribute Museum
92 Liberty St.
The Tribute Museum offers a place where members of the 9/11 community can connect with the thousands of daily visitors to the WTC site. Through walking tours, exhibits and programs, the Tribute Museum offers person-to-person history, linking those who want to understand 9/11 with those who experienced it first-hand.
Trinity Root
Broadway (at Wall Street)
The uprooted tree that protected St. Paul's Chapel has been made into a bronze sculpture by Steve Tobin. The Trinity Root can be seen outside Trinity Church.


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gtdaniels says: "Tina heats up the Las Vegas desert with her fiery red hair and sexy femininity."
Only voters receive the private messages a model sends to her fans.
Voting is how you show love and appreciation to your favorite models & photographers.
Zivity pays them a cash royalty for each vote they receive.
Hot, hot, hot!Ginary
Buy votes to support this artist on Zivity. Votes are $1 each, and when you vote on a set you like, 55% goes to the model and 30% to the photographer. You can vote in the next step after registering and purchasing votes.


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The Envato Awards are here! It's time to celebrate the best items of 2012.
Head to the Envato Awards page and check out the Marketplaces' best selling files in 2012. We are rolling out the red carpet and we want you to get involved. The best part is, you get to choose the winners! Vote on your favorite item and decide what items will be the best of the best.
The items with the most votes will be the top 8 items from our Marketplaces in 2012! There can only be one winner per Marketplace, so choose wisely. Voting starts at 5pm on the 15th of March and will run until 12pm on the 22nd of March, 2013 (AEST).
Congratulations to all authors who's items made the top sellers list! We are so proud of all you have achieved.
For the rest of you, it's time to decide! Which items from 2012 are truly the cream of the crop?
Why isn't my item nominated
No, just joking Good Luck to the Winners – I've already voted
Voted! Some great items in there, good luck to the authors.
Voted! Good luck to all and creative success.
Excellent! Voted. Can't wait to see the winners… good luck to all the authors!
Heeey, thanks for my pocket xmas card nominated and and good luck to all of us!!! Is there any reward for winners like new badge for example?
Excellent ! Good Luck to the Authors & Winners
These are some high quality items, no wonder their sales numbers. Congratulations to all the nominees, they all deserve some appreciation.
Voted Great quality files.
Carmen do you realize that some of the themes don't have an adaptive design? Some of them have so many number of DOM elements and amateur fancy transitions that even my Chrome browser can't stand it, and begins to slow down. Because they have a lot of sales it doesn't mean they are the best.


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Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey has been hitting at a remarkable rate with top contenders on the turf this year. On Oct. 13 he looks to return grade III victor Boisterous to winning form in the $150,000 Knickerbocker Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Belmont Park.
The 1 1/8-mile Knickerbocker, to be run on the inner turf as race nine on a 10-race card, is an opportunity for Boisterous to recover from a disappointing ninth at odds of 7-2 in the Aug. 18 Arlington Million (gr. IT) at Arlington Park. A drop in level should help him regain the winning form he demonstrated in the 1 1/16-mile Fort Marcy Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Belmont back in May.
Boisterous was no worse than third in two other stakes attempts between the Arlington Million and his earlier win for Phipps Stable. Lightly-raced this season, he missed the Arlington Handicap (gr. IIIT) by a neck to Rahystrada and was a narrow third in the Woodford Reserve Manhattan Handicap (gr. IT) at Belmont in June.
The 5-year-old homebred son of Distorted Humor has been assigned 2-1 favoritism on the morning line by New York Racing Association oddsmaker Eric Donovan, and will break from post 3 under jockey Jose Lezcano carrying co-highweight of 124 pounds.
Sky Blazer, 3-1 on the morning line, exits a third-place finish behind Dominus and Data Link in the Sept. 1 Bernard Baruch Handicap (gr. IIT) at Saratoga Race Course. The 4-year-old Sky Mesa gelding leapt at the break and conceded about six lengths to the leader, but finished with good energy 2 1/2 lengths behind the winner to get his best placing in graded stakes company so far. Trainer Barclay Tagg and owners Joyce B. Young and Gerald McManis sent him to only one other graded stakes event this year; a sixth in the Arlington Handicap.
Also entered is improving contender Bombaguia, a 4-year-old son of Borrego who recently ran second by just a head to one of McGaughey's other runners, Air Support, in the Sept. 8 Bowling Green Handicap (gr. IIT). It was his first attempt outside the allowance ranks for GoldMark Farm and trainer John Kimmel.
Florida-bred Tune Me In shoulders the other 124-pound impost in the field, looking for his third straight grade III win. The 5-year-old son of Concorde's Tune took the July 29 Oceanport Stakes (gr. IIIT) on the Monmouth Park grass and then won the Cliff Hanger (gr. IIIT), also at Monmouth, for trainer Bruce Alexander and owner Patricia Generazio. With a 6-7-4 record from 22 starts, the gray gelding rarely finishes outside of the trifecta.
Completing the field are David Willmot's Ontario-based Stormy Lord, winner of the Sept. 15 PTHA President's Cup Stakes last time out for trainer Ian Black; Japan Racing Association stakes winner See Tobe; Wildenstein Stable's Japan-bred allowance winner Barocci (trained by Christophe Clement after racing in Europe in 2010-11); and allowance winner Freud's Honour.
$150,000 Knickerbocker Stakes (gr. IIIT, Race 9, approximate post 5:06 p.m. EDT), 3YOs & Upward, 1 1/8 miles (inner turf)
PP, Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer, Odds
1. Freud's Honour (NJ), A. Garcia, 117, G D Sacco, 20-1
2. Sky Blazer (KY), C.H. Velasquez, 117, B Tagg, 3-1
3. Boisterous (KY), J. Lezcano, 124, C R McGaughey III, 2-1
4. Bombaguia (KY), E.S. Prado, 117, J C Kimmel, 4-1
5. Tune Me In (FL), R. Maragh, 124, B F Alexander, 10-1
6. Stormy Lord (ON), J. Alvarado, 121, I Black, 5-1
7. Barocci (JPN), I. Ortiz, Jr. 117, C Clement, 12-1
8. See Tobe (FL), J. Pimentel, 121, G Capuano, 12-1


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Speaking engagements have taken Kevin from Shanghai to Saudi Arabia.
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Describing the incident as 'depressing,' the veteran actor's appealed to U.S. lawmakers to tighten up their rules about who can be licensed to own a gun.
Veteran actor Harrison Ford is urging American officials to change the country's gun laws in the wake of a fatal shooting, which left six people dead, in Arizona last weekend. Jared Lee Loughner is alleged to have embarked on a shooting spree at a political event in the state on Saturday, killing six, including a nine-year-old child, as well as seriously injuring congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
Ford was stunned to read about the atrocity and he's appealed to U.S. lawmakers to tighten up their rules about who can be licensed to own a gun. He tells Britain's The Times, "I don't think that what we have now is so much politics as it is merchandising. It's a service... and that's what's so discouraging, the lack of willingness to come together and get things done."
"It's depressing. It's terribly simple, in a way. I mean, I'm talking about Arizona, now. A nutbag with a computer is just a nutbag with a computer, but you put a gun in his hand and suddenly you've empowered him. It would be so easy to change our mindset about guns, but we seem incapable of it."
Loughner appeared in a Phoenix, Arizona court on Monday, January 10 to face a number of charges in relation to the attack. He was held without bail and is due back in court on January 24.
In the same interview, Harrison Ford also said he is surprised Hollywood bosses decided against changing the name of his new movie "Morning Glory" for British audiences - because the phrase has a sexual meaning in the U.K. The actor teams up with Diane Keaton to play the warring co-hosts of a flagging morning news show in the comedy, which is set to debut in Britain later this month.
But Ford admits he was shocked to discover the film's title wouldn't be altered for its release in the country, as 'Morning Glory' is a well-known term for an erection of the penis during sleep. He tells Britain's The Times, "Oh yes, I do (know what it means). I couldn't believe that they didn't change it. It's amazing. But nobody seemed interested in even talking about it."
But the actor is full of praise for his latest project, insisting the funny script is "rare" in modern comedy movies. Ford adds, "I thought it was intelligent, witty. I thought the script was good, which is rare in comedy these days. They're mostly profane and adolescent."


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Remember the good old days, when adventures were underground, NPCs were there to be killed, and the finale of every dungeon was the dragon on the 20th level? Those days are back. Dungeon Crawl Classics don't waste your time with long-winded speeches, weird campaign settings, or NPCs who aren't meant to be killed. Each adventure is 100% good, solid dungeon crawl, with the monsters you know, the traps you fear, and the secret doors you know are there somewhere. Centuries ago, a seemingly immortal yuan-ti warrior known as Xiuhcoatl, the Emerald Cobra, ruled over the vast Eztenqui Jungles with an iron fist. Finally, a wizard managed to end the evil serpent's reign of terror by trapping its life essence in a magical staff. The staff became both the figurative and literal heart of Voltigeur, resting in an enchanted case in the center of the town as a symbol of victory. But now the magic staff has vanished. Since the disappearance, merchant caravans traveling to Voltigeur have been savagely attacked. The few survivors report that their attackers were serpent-men swearing fealty to the reborn Emerald Cobra! Legends speak of an old pyramid near Mount Icpitl that was once the Emerald Cobra's palace. Can the heroes locate this ancient ruin and destroy the reborn Emerald Cobra?
Other Items from Dungeons and Dragons
Tome of Horrors 3 -
Winter Runes, BR I (d20 Companion Book w/map) -
Heart of Glass (d20 Companion Book w/map) -
L2: Vampires and Liches (Necromancer Games D20 Adventure) -
B2: The Lost City of Barakus (Necromancer D20 3.5 Sourcebook & Adv., Hardback -
F-1: Vindication (Necromancer d20 Adventure) -
G-4: Crystal Skull (Necromancer d20 Adventure) -
The Mother Of All Encounter Tables (3.5 Comp. Necromancer Sourcebook, Hardback) -
Vampires and Liches -
Gary Gygax's Extraordinary Book of Names -
Mother of All Encounter Tables HC -


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Published six times a year the magazine will feature masterclasses by James Halliday the most sought-after wine reviews, travel through the great wine regions of the world, wine and food news and lunch interviews with winemakers.
Halliday Wine Companion magazine takes a fresh and stylish approach to wine, food and travel. With an easy going and approachable editorial style the magazine features articles by James Halliday (who better to explain what to look for in wine than the great man himself?), the most sought-after wine reviews, travel features through the great wine regions of the world, wine and food news, lunch interviews with winemakers, cheese makers, cider makers, coffee roasters and even brewers.
We want our readers to develop their wine experience as we know it's an essential part of their lifestyle and that's why our magazine is grounded in enjoying good wine, food and travel. Edited by renowned wine writer Campbell Mattinson, Halliday Wine Companion is flush with new voices, new stories, and a new look.
If you enjoy great wine and entertaining family and friends, Halliday Wine Companion is the magazine for you.
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Live updates
Body recovered from River Usk
A body has been recovered from the River Usk in Caerleon.
Gwent Police confirmed they assisted the Severn Area Rescue Association lifeboat in the operation, after a call from a member of the public.
The body was recovered from the water at around 5pm.
Identification is yet to take place.
- ITV Report


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The length of the forepart from the summit of the withers to the termination of the neck.
They went to the forepart of the ship and began talking to the sailors.
The boat drove under, and at eighteen feet three bombs burst on the surface in quick succession over the forepart of the hull.
I shot off a rocket with a rope to the forepart of the vessel.
His cabin was in the forepart of the gundeck; and was very neat, having four guns in it.
Jukes, motionless on the forepart of the bridge, began to speak at once.
Under the forepart of the auditorium, built out from the hill, are immense vaults.
The forepart had disappeared completely, and the hind part up to the axle.
Desmond ordered the box to be stowed away in the forepart of the cabin, which he and Archie intended to occupy.
About the end of the fourth or forepart of the fifth day, the eruption is complete.