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It is simply a battle of ecosystems?
Everyone has their favourite smartphone and tablet. Ask them why they love it and they'll probably rattle off a list of specs and features which help it stand out from the crowd -- the slender design, amazing display, raw grunt, varied connectivity and impressive photographs. Clearly it's the best gadget money can buy, with the OS and ecosystem the icing on the cake.
But here's an interesting experiment. Imagine that the iPhone 5 ran Windows Phone 8, the Galaxy S III ran iOS and the Lumia 920 ran Android. Think about it seriously -- would you still be blown away by all those amazing features if your gadget of choice was suddenly part of a different ecosystem?
I think we simply pick out the best parts of the spec sheet to justify our bias. Android owners wouldn't be as impressed by the Galaxy S III's raw grunt if it ran Windows Phone 8. Alternatively the Lumia 920's impressive camera and strong mapping features would lose their appeal for WinPho 8 lovers if it suddenly ran Android. We'd all simply go back to the spec sheet and pluck out the biggest numbers to support our love of our platform of choice.
When you think about it this way, the gadget wars will never be won with gadgets. Nokia's new Lumia 920 could print money and it would still struggle to win over Apple and Android fans. So how does Microsoft claw back market share from its established competitors? It's all about the ecosystem -- about offering devices which play nicely together and make your life easier, rather than devices which simply boast the best spec sheet.
Microsoft is actually leading the way with Windows 8, uniting computers and handheld gadgets under the one interface and ecosystem. But to be honest I'm not confident that Microsoft can pull it off. Not because Windows 8 is terrible but because Microsoft is terrible at selling itself. I saw my first Windows 8 advertisement on television last night and it simply looked like an iPad wannabe. There was no sense of the ecosystem and smooth interoperability between devices, because that would require a consistent wider strategy which Microsoft seems incapable of maintaining.
Surface tablets were treated as an aside at last week's Windows 8 launch and only two units were available for the country's tech media to try out. The so-called pop-up Windows 8 stores around the country are reportedly not much to get excited about either. Meanwhile Windows Phone 8 was relegated to an entirely separate launch this week. Individually these Microsoft gadgets will struggle to win people away from Apple and Android, regardless of their spec sheets. The ecosystem is the killer feature, but Microsoft seems so large and fragmented that the left and right hands never synchronise their calendar appointments.
What floats your boat, a sexy spec sheet or a smooth ecosystem? How will they influence the gadget wars?


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Posted on March 17, 2012
Top St Patrick's Day TV Shows On Netflix Streaming
Here are some fun St Patrick's Day and Irish themed episodes of great shows that are currently on Netflix. Watch 'em while you are readying to go out, instead of going out or whilst recovering. Click the show's… Read More
Posted on March 16, 2012
Boozy Playlist
Yes, I am partially Irish and yes I enjoy drinking. So here's a little playlist for your St. Patty's Day weekend. Boozy from Emma_moon on 8tracks. Tweet
Posted on March 17, 2010
St. Patrick's Day Thoughts
Somewhat Offensive Leprechaun Joke This used to be my all time favorite joke. I read it in Maxim years ago. P.S. I didn't write this joke. If you aren't of average height (some people prefer 1 term while… Read More

subset: commoncrawl


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Guest ka swaal:- Hath mein fame aur dhan ki rekha kon si hoti hai?
Uttar:- Surya rekha ko dhan aur fame ki rekha mana jata hai.
Is post ko padiye:- Naam aur Paisa
You can learn secrets of indian palmistry in this palmistry blog and apply them but you need lots of practice. Learn important palmistry combinations here. The secret is in your hand, palmistry and professional palmistry secrets revealed. Astrology. Psychic.


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IOWA CITY -- Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz sees a danger in assessing too much blame or too much credit to one player following games like the ones the Hawkeyes have played the last two weeks.
Ferentz said today the Hawkeyes return to the practice field this week ready to move past Saturday's pounding by Penn State.
"We've got a lot of work to do, and after a game where we didn't do much well, the best thing is to move on, work to correct the mistakes and move on to the next one."
The only position changes Ferentz expects to make for this week's game at Northwestern are those necessitated by injury.
Offensive linemen Brandon Scherff and Andrew Donnal are both out for the remainder of the season. Scherff underwent surgery Sunday to repair a broken fibula in his right leg and Donnal will miss the rest of the year with a knee injury.
Nolan MacMillan and Austin Blythe are listed as projected starters at the tackle spots.
At running back, Mark Weisman continues to make progress as he works his way back from an ankle sprain and Damon Bullock has been cleared to return to practice this week.
"I'm getting closer every day, but I have to be smart about things," Weisman said. "I'll be spending a lot of time in the training room this week getting treatments. The idea is to be ready to go this week."


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Americans by-and-large admire scientists -- unless they get crosswise on issues with religious overtones such as evolution, global warming, embryonic stem cell research -- according to a new survey released today from the Pew Forum.
Dr. Alan I. Leshner, of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, called it a "communications gap" but it may be more of a belief gap.
The survey found 55% say science and religion are often in conflict and 36% say science sometimes conflicts with their own religious beliefs. Among those 36%:
*41% refer specifically to evolution, creationism, Darwinism and debates about the origin of life.
*15% cite differences over the beginning of life, primarily concerns about abortion(12%) but also cloning and birth control.
*9% are concerned about the use of stem cells.
While 95% of the public said they believe in God or a higher power, 41% of scientists don't believe in either. Nearly half of scientists say they're atheist, agnostic or believe "nothing in particular" but only 17% of the general public is unaffiliated.
You can see that big gap in action on a hot issue such as embryonic stem cell research where, according to the report:
Majorities of Catholics (60%), white mainline Protestants (59%), black Protestants (54%) and the religiously unaffiliated (74%) favor federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Just over half of white evangelical Protestants (52%) oppose it.
It doesn't seem like a mere "communications gap" to me, one that people could talk their way across if they knew just the right words to choose.
Coincidently, the survey was released a day after born-again genome-mapping super-scientist Francis Collins, author of the best selling book, The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief was named by President Obama to head the National Institutes of Health.
DO YOU WONDER... If the divide is based in deeply held beliefs -- or values not based in religion but still comprising a strong ethical system -- can there really be a bridge? Is there really a middle ground? Is that where Francis Collins stands?
Illustration by Kevin Dupuis, University of Toronto at Mississauga: Scientists have uncovered the oldest dinosaur embryos ever found, dating to the beginning of the Jurassic age - 190 million years ago. Embryonic skeleton of the prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus as preserved inside the egg.
Cathy Lynn Grossman is too fidgety to meditate. But talking about visions and values, faith and ethics lights her up. Join in at Faith & Reason. More about Cathy.
Sign up for Faith & Reason e-mail alerts


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Our property is conveniently located near shopping, restaurants, parks, golf, and the public library. Units include the following great amenities: fitness center, underground. heated parking. Call to schedule your personal tour today!
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Welcome to Lybergers
Our Business Philosophy
At Lyberger's we do business differently...a lot differently! We treat customers with respect and hold you in high esteem. When John and Carrol Lyberger opened the doors at Lyberger's Car & Truck Sales in August of 1999, they wanted things to be different from every other car lot, starting with quality vehicles, everyday low prices and excellent service. We want to make purchasing a car is a happy and relaxed experience, not a frustrating, drawn out and intimidating exercise in madness. Because of our respect for you, we offer a full disclosure of any information we have on the vehicle you are purchasing. This includes a copy of the CARFAX and a vehicle inspection report prepared by an independent repair facility. We want to make sure you have enough information to make an educated decision. Our cars and trucks sell themselves! We do not and will not strong arm or manipulate you into purchasing a vehicle. We are confident that if you do not find a vehicle the first time, you will return.
Two things are important at Lybergers:
1. Honesty is the best policy; and
Monday~Saturday 9am to 9pm
Sunday 12pm to 8pm
Please feel free to come see us, or give us a call.
Phone: 907-349-3343
9530 Old Seward Hwy, Anchorage, AK 99515
Email: email@example.com
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2016 Chevrolet Equinox
Price: $21,863
Map To Our Lot
Get An Answer
Please contact us with any questions or comments you have, and we'll get back with you right away.


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The growth of an independent kingdom with Damascus as centre must date from very early in the aramaean occupation.
Then he had himself proclaimed the ruler of the aramaean State of Damascus.
He had evidently been left in peace by Assyria, and the monument he erected to his god is of aramaean workmanship and design.
The elaborate system of nail-writing of the ancient Sumerians was too involved for the aramaean business man.
The aramaean tribes never let slip an opportunity of encroaching on the southern frontier.
Such monuments surely illustrate the adaptability of the Semitic craftsman among men of Phoenician and aramaean strain.
There a covenant is made between the aramaean and the Hebrew, and a cairn of stones is piled up to commemorate the fact.
A number of aramaean kingdoms had come into existence in Mesopotamia and throughout Syria.
Other political narratives may underlie the stories of the aramaean wars; with vi.
The inhabitants were transported, and "Suti" aramaean peoples settled in their homes.
northern branch of Semitic language group, 1834, from biblical land of Aram, roughly corresponding to modern Syria; probably related to Hebrew and Aramaic rum "to be high," thus originally "highland."


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Nellene Geneva Atkins Hull 1933 – 2013
Nellene Geneva Atkins Hull, 79, loving mother, sister and grandmother, died Saturday, May 25, 2013.
The graveside service was held Saturday, June 1 at Azleland Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, Nellene requested that donations be made to Building Fund, New Hope Baptist Church, 782 New Hope Road, Boyd, Texas 76023, 817-221-2184.
Nellene was born July 30, 1933, to James and Ruby Francisco Atkins.
Nellene was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Howard; son, Phillip; granddaughter, Bethany; and brothers, Kenneth, Lloyd and Wayne.
Survivors include her son, David Hull and wife, Meredith; 12 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; sister, Francis Adams and husband, Don; brother-in-law, Chuck Hull; and sister-in-law, Billie Jo Atkins.
The Azle News,
June 5, 2013 Edition
Category: Obituaries Archived


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iRiver's rep for kooky PMPs has garnered it a small if loyal following in recent years. And its first e-reader, the iRiver Story was a critical hit when it landed earlier this year.
Step forward, then, the touch-sensitive Cover Story, its successor, which arrives at a time when e-readers are getting ever more competitive and classy.
Wireless woes
Rather than going mano-a-mano with the Amazon Kindle like its older bro', the Cover Story has ditched the physical QWERTY panel and is now squaring up to Sony's Reader range, specifically the Pocket Edition.
Unfortunately, the model we tested lacked Wi-Fi skills, and while such a version is in the pipeline, there's no plan to bring 3G to the party – a huge miss if you want to get books on the go.
This rather large oversight aside, loading up books to the iRiver Cover Story is breezy. Snaffle the EPUB or PDF file you're after and simply drag it across to the device on your Mac or PC.
Drag and drop also works well for MP3s, making it a worthwhile, if somewhat oversized, music player. File format is vast, stretching to Docx, Doc and even Powerpoint. As a document viewer it's dead handy and the 2GB of storage, expandable by a well-hidden SD slot, is more than ample.
Reading skills
When it comes to reading, the Cover Story is every bit as classy as its Sony foes. Pages refresh quickly, although the usual eInk lag can become infuriating and you're best using the excellent navigation bar on the left-hand side of the device for flicking through pages.
The touchscreen is not particularly responsive and this is of particular concern in the note-taking process, where the virtual QWERTY keyboard is a real pain to use. The handwriting recognition tech is clever and works well with the stylus, but still feels like a massive gimmick to us.
Occasionally, there's some nasty glare from the eInk panel, too, particularly if you're reading under strip lighting. Catching a vague reflection of yourself in the words of Wuthering Heights is a mildly chastening experience and one that makes the Cover Story slightly less alluring than its predecessor. You can't help but feeling that the screen should be a tad higher res as well.
Design dream
If you're looking for an e-reader that rocks stellar design as well as being able to handle hundreds of books, the iRiver Cover Story is it.
The gloss off-white finish screams class, while the magnetic cover, which you can slip round the back while reading, means you don't need to sweat about the screen getting scratched in your bag.
The UI is also brilliant, with a bookshelf style design that even the most gadget-phobic user could get to grips with instantly. Easy-to-understand icons and well-ordered files make it every bit as good as its rivals in this department.
However, at £150 for a Wi-Fi-less version, it's not cheap. The Sony Pocket Edition is similarly pricey, but with the Amazon Kindle only costing £109 with Wi-Fi, there's no doubting the iRiver Cover Story will struggle.
It's a cool and clever e-reader, but if you're looking to convert to digital books, it's a bit pricey and lacking in killer extras for our liking.


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Thai new-vehicle sales fell 3.0% to 682,500 units in 2006 amid growing political and economic instability. The new-car segment edged up 2.0% to 191,885 units. Commercial-vehicle sales slid 4.8% to 490,615 and, within it, the 1-ton pickup truck segment declined 4.2% to 449,796. Despite the overall drop, Toyota Motor Thailand Co. Ltd. boosted sales to 289,108 units to capture 52.4% of the market, with increases in both the passenger- and commercial-vehicle segments. Toyota sold a total ...
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Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton (24 January 1862 – 11 August 1937 / New York City / United States)
» Click to list general statistics » OR, select a date :
The Sonnet
PURE form, that like some chalice of old time
Contain'st the liquid of the poet's thought
Within thy curving hollow, gem-enwrought
read more >>
- Hits: Number of visitors who read the poem on the given date.
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Warning: These wiki pages have not been edited in years and may well be out of date/inaccurate. We recommend that you use them as a starting point for further investigation, rather than gospel.
What companies provide Mason hosting services? Please contribute.
Recent thread about this on the user's list: http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?t=100500023400009&r=1&w=2
There is a large list of ISPs supporting mod_perl at http://perl.apache.org/help/isps.html. Some of these may support Mason as well. It's not clear whether this list is still being maintained though. --JonathanSwartz
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IT assistance GmbH
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Contact email@example.com for details or visit http://sus4.net/.
[http://edgreenberg.com] is my small hosting business. I offer several tiers of hosting, email, mailing list and similar services and a [http://www.essaywriter.co.uk/services.aspx essay writing service UK]. I have several Mason sites and am open to installing most perl modules on request. I provide Mysql as well. I also do virtual private servers in [http://www.essaylib.com custom papers].
--EdGreenberg 5/18/2004
[http://somebox.com somebox.com] is a hosting and company in New York City. Some box hosts custom mod_perl sites using Apache, MySQL, and advanced customizations such as Image::Magick, GPG, PDF output, and customer libraries
SomeBox also provides [http://www.essaykey.com/ college essays] a development environment with CVS repository services, shell access, and system management by a professional sysadmin company.
[http://www.42inc.com 42, Inc], based in Berkeley, CA provides hosting for Mason, as well as Mysql, Postgres, and the more tranditional options.
MasonOnIPowerWeb - I managed to get HTML::Mason working in CGI mode on http://www.ipowerweb.com/ - hopefully the instructions will help others do the same if they have accounts there too. --PeterPayne 7/Sept/2005
[http://www.livingcitadel.com Living Citadel] - Mason setup upon request either upon account setup or at a later point. Plesk 8.6 offered with every account for easy re-selling custom sites and applications. Apache, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and many other technologies [http://www.equityreleaseuk.net equity release uk] available.
[http://hosting.t-online.de T-Home Webhosting] - Mason is supported by default (one-click installation) on [http://hosting.t-online.de/server-uebersicht.html servers] and [http://hosting.t-online.de/homepage-uebersicht.html] and also every other hosting plan] (although not mentioned on their website). Hosting plans start at 4,99 EUR per month.
= Virtual Private Servers =
One appealing Mason option for those who like the idea of administrating their own server is that of Virtual Private Servers:
"[ http://www.webhostingsearch.com/virtual-private-server.php Virtual private servers ] are a means of splitting a single physical server into multiple virtual servers. Virtual private servers are sometimes called virtual dedicated servers. The practice of partitioning a single server so that it appeared as multiple servers was common practice in the days of mainframe computers, but has seen a resurgence lately with the development of software such as User-mode Linux and Xen."
Any VPS could be used for Mason hosting. Here are some that have listed themselves or been recommended on the mailing list:
[ http://www.budgetdedicated.com BudgetDedicated ] offers Xen based VPS'. Xen is characterized as a uniquely high performance VPS technology. They offer many extra services free of charge, offer very competitive European bandwidth from a top gigabit network (datacenter in Amsterdam). They have special access features such as a Console Service. It's virtually riskless... no long term commitments, just month-to-month. Moreover, they provide a [ http://www.budgetdedicated.com/calc completely free 7 day trial! ]
[http://www.greatnet.de/cms/front_content.php?idcat=5 Greatnet VServer] Greatnet is a large Hosting Company who offer Xen high performance based VServer`s. Easy reinstall, reboot and rescue mode is included ]
[ http://www.bytemark-hosting.co.uk/index.html Bytemark Hosting] doesn't really provide Mason accounts, but instead provides UML (User Mode Linux) virtual machines. With these virtual machines you get root access to your virtual computer, so you could set up Mason, your choice of SQL,
etc. I realize that this is akin to me pointing you to a place that does co-location, but there are a couple differences... the biggest of which is that this approach is much cheaper. I have not tried these guys, or even UML, but have done a lot of work in another virtual machine, VMWare, and can attest to the fact that if they can correctly virtualize the environment, you will be able to do whatever you want on your virtual system. The only thing to consider is that you are sharing real hardware, so other people's VMs may affect your performance at times. --GordonMcCreight 10-28-03
[http://rimuhosting.com/index.jsp?s=masonhq RimuHosting] offer [http://rimuhosting.com/vps/aboutvps.jsp vps hosting]. They'll get you setup with Mason for no extra charge if you ask for it on the order confirmation page.
[http://jvds.com/ JVDS] offers VPS accounts starting at $12.50/month, and provides numerous plans and many add-ons.
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[http://www.redwoodvirtual.com/ Redwood Virtual] offers VPS accounts starting at $10/month. Add-ons can not be purchased separately; you must upgrade your account to get more disk space or bandwidth.
[http://www.egenius.com/ eGenius] is a open-source solution provider in New York city. It offers HTML::Mason [http://webspacehost.com website hosting] and solutions including mod_perl, and custom development.
[http://www.rocketdogcreative.com/ Rocket Dog Creative] offer HTML::Mason hosting, and custom development, with prices designed to suit what you want. Call them up for more info!
[http://vpslink.com/ VPSLink] is a virtual private server hosting provider with plans starting at less than $7 USD /mo. Available Linux operating systems include CentOS, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Gentoo, and more. [http://vpslink.com/openvz-vps/ OpenVZ] and [http://vpslink.com/xen-vps/ Xen VPS] hosting platforms are [http://www.gossimer.com/hosting.php Web hosting] supported.
[http://vpsblaze.com/ VpsBlaze] is a cheap [http://vpsblaze.com/ VPS host] with plans starting at $14.95 USD /mo. Most Linux operating systems are supported. All VPS' come with full root access, and easy upgrades/downgrades between plans. --Mir
AnHosts.com (aka AnHost.com and Anhosting.com) just installed Mason on my account today. They offer some really great and affordable packages: http://www.anhosts.com/webhosting/compare.htm
Customer service, [http://www.essaybank.com/ free essays] and response times to any questions are great.
[Edit] AnHosts.com will not install mod_perl for security reasons. I tried using Mason with CGI but we were not successful.
--Kevin Miller


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Mixology Night
78 Degrees
Thursday, April 18, 2013 from 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM (PDT)
Who's Going
San Francisco, California
London, United Kingdom
Florence, Italy
Event Details
In this mixology class you will learn, from the 78 Degrees staff, how to make four different cocktails. You will be able to make every cocktail yourself, with guidence from the staff, as well as be able to enjoy each one of your concoctions. Exquisite hors d'oeuvres will be provided by Mosaic Restaurant and Lounge during the Mixology classes.
- If you love cocktails, you don't want to miss this event.
- If you ever had a secret wish to be a bartender, you don't want to miss this event.
- If you love to dine on exquisite cuisine, you don't want to miss this event.
- If you love having a great time, you don't want to miss this event.
- Plain and simple: YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS EVENT!!!
At the 78 Degrees Mixology, you'll learn all about the different types of cocktails and how each type stands out from one another. You'll be able to make and try each of the four cocktails featured, as well as gain knowledge about proper glass selections, ingredient pairings, and all the secrets to achieve the perfect cocktail. You will be able to enjoy fine foods provided by Mosaic. And, at the end of the night, you'll pat your belly and smile with a warm, cocktail-inspired glow!
1) Is there a phone number or email where I can contact the organizer with any questions?
You can email firstname.lastname@example.com or email@example.com with questions.
2) What is your refund policy?
You can request (and will receive) a full refund up until 48 hours prior to the event. After that point, no refunds will be issued.
3) Are there ID requirements or an age limit to enter the event?
You must be 21 to enter this event.
4) Do I need to print out and bring a ticket to get in?
You do not need to print out a ticket in order to get in. We will be checking IDs at the door, and will simply find you on our registration list.
5) Will you be selling tickets at the door?
If the event doesn't sell out, we may sell tickets at the door. Door prices will be higher than advance prices.
6) Is there parking at the event?
Yes, there is on-street parking as well as several nearby parking lots and structures: http://www.sjdowntownparking.com/parking_map_new.html
7) Is there public transportation to the event?
The VTA light rail L2 Santa Clara stop is two blocks away.
8) Is the venue wheelchair accessible?
About 78 Degrees:
78 Degrees was started by two cognac and scotch enthusiasts. They noticed that many people (including themselves) had misconceptions about scotch, cognac, and other premium liquors. They also learned that many people found exploring scotch and cognac to be somewhat intimidating, and were unsure where to begin. Since then, they have been on a mission to remove the shroud of mystery surrounding the world of cognac, scotch, and other aged spirits, making it more accessible to a larger audience. 78 Degrees will be holding events at bars all around the Bay Area at which guests will be presented with specially-selected flights and cocktails, along with fun and interactive education. A combination of education, fun, and approachability is used at the events to encourage nearly everyone to find a way that they can enjoy these fine spirits.
When & Where
Mosaic Restaurant and Lounge
211 South 1st Street
San Jose,
Thursday, April 18, 2013 from 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM (PDT)
Add to my calendar


text:
Published in the Tacoma Weekly
Thursday, 7 June 2012
Nancy LeMay and David Madeira, president and CEO, were all smiles at the grand opening, as they celebrated the historic occassion.
Photos Courtesy of LeMay/ACM / The Tacoma Weekly
A host of dignitaries, including car enthusiast Jay Leno, attended the grand opening celebration.
Members of the Puyallup Tribe offered up a prayer and blessing.
With key to museum in hand, Nancy LeMay declared the museum open for business.
Seattle Mariner Edgar Martinez signed autographs for fans.
Connect with Tacoma Weekly


text:
Mattel says nearly 50,000 toy cars made in China were decorated with paint containing lead, which can be harmful.
It is also recalling 1.9m magnetic toys including Batman, Barbie and Polly Pocket as the magnets may come loose.
There are worries they could be harmful after three kids in America had surgery after swallowing more than one magnet.
Toy expert Gary Grant told Newsround to check with your parents if you're worried your toys are among those affected by the recall.
He said: "It's important to remember that it's not all of the Polly Pocket, Barbie and Batman ranges that are affected, it's limited toys only.
"Safety is the most important part of toys and the recall is happening because safety checks have highlighted a possible problem."
It is the second time in two weeks that the American toy-maker has had to recall some of its products.
Then, Mattel pulled 94,000 Fisher-Price toys off shop shelves in the UK and Ireland over concerns about levels of lead in their paint.
Lots of you have been emailing Newsround about this story and some of you are worried you're going to end up with no toys, but Gary said you're unlikely to lose out if you contact Mattel directly.


text:
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text: Throughout the year at Tools of the Trade, we see hundreds of products cross our desk. But fall has a special feel for us, as it's the season when many manufacturers are ramping up their new introductions in time for the Specialty Tools & Fasteners Distributors Association (STAFDA) show and even winter's International Builders' Show. And this means more cool stuff for us to pass along to you. On the following pages is a preview of 38 new tools, accessories, and equipment products that will be showcased during this year's STAFDA show. And don't worry–this show may be members-only, frequented mainly by manufacturers and distributors, but we'll be on hand to bring you even more great introductions straight from the show floor. Stay tuned.


text:
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Discernment and help for the possessed: part 1
Free will and possession...
"He [satan] possesses the body of any unclean soul, be it man, woman or child." - Our Lady of the Roses, March 25, 1972
"They will use the body of a human being, one who has fallen out of grace and the light. Any man, woman, or child is susceptible to this possession." - Our Lady of the Roses, August 21, 1975
We are indebted to Fr. Gabriele Amorth, Fr. Malachi Martin, and several other exorcists for providing invaluable information on demonic possession, and for dispelling much of the disinformation surrounding this subject. Dr. Scott Peck's insights have also been very helpful.
Jesus is the exorcist
Fr. Gabriele Amorth, one of the most famous exorcists in the world, writes, "Redemption is the first, true, great exorcism; Jesus is the first exorcist, and all the power of every battle against the demon derives from him."[1] Fr. Amorth emphasizes Jesus' absolute superiority over Satan:"Jesus clearly reveals his absolute superiority and the defeat of Satan; 'When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace; but when one stronger than he assails him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoil' (Lk 11:21-22). The reference is obvious. The strong man is Satan, who believes himself to be safe. When Jesus comes, the demons complain through the demoniacs: 'Have you come to destroy us?' Because Jesus is the stronger one, he overcomes the demons."[2]
Demons are real
Pope Paul VI stated on November 15, 1972, "What is the greatest need of the Church today? Do not think that our answer is simplistic or superstitious and unreal; one of the greatest needs today is the defense from that evil we call the devil…. He is our number one enemy. He is the tempter par excellence. Thus we know that this dark and perturbing being truly exists and continues to act with treacherous cunning. He is the hidden enemy who sows errors and calamities in human history."
The demons will continue to test all the baptized until the end of time, with God's permission. This permission, says St. Irenaeus, is granted "to punish them for their sins, in order better to purify them, and to teach them brotherly charity."[3]
Our Lady of the Roses warned us on March 15, 1978, "Unless the parents teach their children of the existence of this other world unseen to the human eye, the children cannot then be protected from the attacks of these agents from hell. My child, they are real, they are living, and they have great power. They too possess names as do the high angels in the Kingdom of your God in Heaven."
Human free will and the process of diabolical possession
Dr. Scott Peck, who is the first psychiatrist to have written a book on exorcism, states, "There are two states of being: submission to God and goodness or the refusal to submit to anything beyond one's own will—which refusal automatically enslaves one to the forces of evil. We must ultimately belong either to God or the devil."[4]
Mortal sin: a frightful change is wrought
If the Christian falls into mortal sin, he/she is no longer in the state of sanctifying grace and has allowed the demon to exercise his power in a much greater degree. Fr. Delaporte writes:"Every Christian is, by his own free choice, in one or the other of these states: the state of grace—the state of mortal sin. Man, in the state of grace, is beloved by God; he is united to Jesus Christ, as the branch is to the trunk that nourishes it with its sap: in his soul, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost do dwell, lending him a habitual and uninterrupted aid. It is true that devils prowl around him—some of their darts may perchance have wounded him; but he remains living with a Divine life, because God, the true life of every spirit, is in him, and with him. Adopted son of the King of kings, that Christian is free. But as soon as the unhappy being has, by a mortal transgression, willfully broken the bond of charity which united him to God, a frightful change is wrought. God withdraws His habitual aid; the branch severed from the trunk becomes barren. The demon takes the place which the Lord, in departing, left vacant; he reigns there by right of conquest, and if the Saviour's mercy did not interpose, he will reign there forever. A prodigal child, a rebel, a fugitive, that man is a slave."[5]
Our freewill cooperation (or lack of cooperation) with God's grace will determine our eternal destiny:"The final damnation of the reprobate was occasioned by this: having too long neglected recovering the state of grace, they were urged by the devils from one crime to another, even to the obduracy in which death struck them. To let those spirits of darkness abide in our soul, is to cast ourselves madly into the most evident danger of an eternal slavery: let us never forget this."[6]
Fr. Conor, an accomplished exorcist mentioned in Fr. Martin's book, gives general outlines for the process of possession:"First, the actual entry point, at which the Evil Spirit enters an individual and a decision, however tenuous, is made by the victim to allow that entry. Then, a stage of erroneous judgments by the possessed in vital matters, as a direct result of the allowed presence of the possessing spirit and apparently in preparation for the next stage. Third, the voluntary yielding of control by the possessed person to a force or presence he clearly feels is alien to himself and as a result of which the possessed loses control of his will, and so of his decisions and his actions. Once the third stage is secure, extended control proceeds and may potentially reach the point of completion—perfect possession. In any individual case, these four stages will dovetail and overlap differently. And, while the process may be swift, more often it seems to take years to accomplish."[7]
"At some point during this earliest stage there arrives a delicate moment when each person chooses to consider the particular offer made to him or her. The exorcees in this report agree individually that they made such a choice, and that they had a sense of violating their consciences when they made it, though at the time in some cases it seemed a fairly minor violation."
- Fr. Malachi Martin, Hostage to the Devil, p. 437
The diabolical invitation
Among the five possessed persons mentioned by Fr. Martin in his book Hostage to the Devil, "All the exorcees here mentioned admit in retrospect that they knew—whether they acknowledged it vaguely or explicitly—that the source of the offered help was neither a human being nor any religious source. The source was always vague, always reassuring. It always alienated them from their surroundings and from those nearest to them."[8] All five of the possessed also sensed a violation of their consciences when they accepted the diabolical invitation: "At some point during this earliest stage there arrives a delicate moment when each person chooses to consider the particular offer made to him or her. The exorcees in this report agree individually that they made such a choice, and that they had a sense of violating their consciences when they made it, though at the time in some cases it seemed a fairly minor violation."[9]
According to Fr. Martin, "possession is an ongoing process. A process that affects the two faculties of the soul: the mind, by which an individual receives and internalizes knowledge. And the will, by which an individual chooses to act upon that knowledge." [10] He describes an "aspiring vacuum" which is formed, making the person an easy prey for demonic possession. He writes:"In the context of possession, all disposing factors produced within a person a condition of those two faculties of soul—mind and will—that is most aptly described as an aspiring vacuum. Vacuum, because there is created an absence of clearly defined and humanly acceptable concepts for the mind. Aspiring, because there is a corresponding absence of clearly defined and humanly acceptable goals for the will."[11]
Fr. Martin explains that the light of reason is progressively snuffed out for the possessed soul and "into that vacuum the Evil Spirit pours its own light and knowledge."[12] Similarly, Our Lord has told us in the Bayside messages, "Keep pure and holy thoughts entering your mind, for it is also the focal point of entrance for the evil spirits." (Jesus, November 24, 1973)
Dr. Scott Peck agrees with Fr. Martin that the human will is the key to understanding possession. He has written the first book on possession by a psychiatrist, entitled Glimpses of the Devil. In this book, Dr. Peck gives detailed accounts of two exorcisms. An article by Christianity Today reported:"Following Martin, Peck believes the human will is key to understanding both possession and exorcism. People make choices that have consequences. One patient chose to believe her father's lies when he abused her sexually as a 12-year-old. The patient in the other case study avoided talk about her childhood, but the starting point of possession may have had to do with an evil book that fascinated her. There is always some act of the will, however small, that opens the self to possession."[13]
Fr. Amorth makes it very clear that possession does not deprive the victim of freedom, except in times of acute crisis:"No matter what the origins, possession does not deprive us of freedom except during times of acute crisis, when we are not responsible for our words and actions. Freedom of the will, nevertheless, remains. We are still free to commit good or evil actions, to sanctify ourselves or to damn ourselves."[14]
From partial to total possession
Once a person has opened his will to demonic influence, the demons will begin to build strongholds within that person. An assistant to a Polish priest exorcist stated that serious sins are like broken windows; our soul is no longer secure. It is through these broken windows, openings into the house of our soul, that the demons gain entrance. Fr. Martin explains that demonic influence and control will quickly grow more expansive if not firmly resisted:"If the victim, by now partially possessed, does not withdraw consent and succeed in freeing himself, with help or by dint of his own strength of will and resistance, he will arrive at one sure, critical moment. He will be presented with an increasing and finally unremitting pressure to allow an 'inner control' by an alien force. This control will affect thoughts, emotions, acts of will, intentions, likes and dislikes. Each of our exorcees had this experience. Each felt an eerie 'pressure' to allow 'someone else' to give them directives; and that 'someone else' was 'inside' them in some way or other. The pressure was not physical, just as the presence inside them was not physical. There were physical results when they tried to resist that pressure, however. Once they yielded, they started to receive 'instructions'—ready-made judgments and attitudes arose in them, even words on their lips and actions in their limbs."[15]
"When dealing with evil possession, tricks are the norm, and much prayer is needed to receive the grace of discernment."
- Fr. Gabriele Amorth, An Exorcist Tells His Story, p. 121
The demonic strongholds built within the possessed weaken the victim from recognizing that he/she has been captured, and to prevent friends and relatives from rescuing the possessed from the trap he/she has fallen into. Demonic walls and defensives are erected. Demons will seek to camouflage their presence as much as possible. Fr. Amorth notes that demons go to any length to avoid detection, and they try to hide during an exorcism as well. Fr. Martin writes, "The light and knowledge of the Evil Spirit has its own effects, striking, immediate and self-protective. It puts the possessed on their guard against circumstances, people, places, and objects closely associated with God and Jesus. It will lead the possessed to avoid situations that constitute a threat to the possessing power of the Evil Spirit."[16] An American exorcist said something similar, that normally the demon will show itself only when its possessive rights are being threatened. A significant intervention by a friend or family member on behalf of the possessed can trigger the "crisis", one of the hallmark signs of a possessed person. The demon has been partially flushed out when it attempts to sabotage the intervention through a "crisis".
Fr. Martin also notes the extraordinary and dramatic changes the possession will effect "in the judgments, principles, and outlook of the possessed, together with an ever-growing sense of loss of self-control, even to the point of a loss of awareness of one's actions."[17]
As the victim continues to cooperate with his/her possession, demonic control will become more complete. "If extended control continues unabated, if total consent is achieved," writes Fr. Martin, "then total (or perfect) possession is achieved."[18] Father Jayachandra, a priest and exorcist from India explains: "Partial possession means in a certain part of the body. Full possession means the devil takes control over the consciousness of the person. It uses the mouth of the person to speak. It uses the hands and legs of the person to do violence. It uses the mouth of the person to abuse and blaspheme."[19]
Contrary to common belief, possessed people can and do function reasonably efficiently in their jobs and in society in general. Fr. Martin makes this sad observation:"Actually, the more perfect the possession, the less likely any disturbance in one's functioning on the level of human being. Jay Beedem, whom Father Mark [an exorcist] seemed to uncover as one of the perfectly possessed, was a model of cool efficiency."[20]
"Many demons can only be dispelled by much fast and penance, the greatest source being prayer." - Jesus, December 31, 1973
"Keep pure and holy thoughts entering your mind, for it is also the focal point of entrance for the evil spirits." - Jesus, November 24, 1973
"Demons from hell shall enter into the body of any man, woman, or child who has fallen from grace." - Our Lady of the Roses, June 16, 1977
[1] Fr. Gabriele Amorth, An Exorcist: More Stories, p. 42.
[2] Ibid., p. 37.
[3] Fr. Gabriele Amorth, An Exorcist Tells His Story, p. 178.
[4] C.S. Lewis, "Christianity and Culture" contained in Christian Reflections, Walter Hooper, ed. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1967; quoted by M. Scott Peck, M.D., in Glimpses of the Devil: A Psychiatrist's Personal Accounts of Possession, Exorcism, and Redemption, p. xvi.
[5] Father Delaporte of the Society of Mercy, The Devil: Does He Exist and What Does He Do?, pp. 150-151.
[6] Ibid., p. 152.
[7] Fr. Malachi Martin, Hostage to the Devil: The Possession and Exorcism of Five Living Americans, p. 436.
[8] Ibid., p. 437.
[9] Ibid., p. 437.
[10] Ibid., p. xx.
[11] Ibid., p. xxi.
[12] Ibid., p. 440.
[13] "Scott Peck vs. Satan," Christianity Today, February 2005.
[14]Amorth, An Exorcist: More Stories, p. 181.
[15] Hostage to the Devil, p. 439.
[16] Ibid., p. 440.
[17] Ibid., pp. 440-441.
[18] Ibid., p. 441.
[19] Tom Hoopes, "The Dark Backward: Demons in the Real World," Crisis Magazine, November 4, 2003.
[20] Hostage to the Devil, p. 410.
Our Lady of
the Roses amazing Bayside Prophecies...
These prophecies came from Jesus, Mary, and the saints to Veronica Lueken at Bayside, NY, from 1968 to 1995.
"Yes, My child, you see that I am the true Source of Life. For when you come to Me, you will nourish your soul. You will nourish your eternal being. You will learn, My child, in due time that the Bread of life will sustain you without earthly food. Man must return to fast and penance. Many demons can only be dispelled by much fast and penance, the greatest source being prayer.
"You must keep a constant vigilance of prayer in your homes and the houses of your God. You must also recognize the faces of evil about you: those who parade themselves as angels of light but are truly ravenous wolves, agents of hell. They seek the destruction of souls." - Jesus, December 31, 1973
"I give you the greatest of hope in your world of darkness that the victory shall be with Heaven. Know that the greatest trials suffered are but a small forfeiture for the great glory of being victorious over the adversaries loosed upon your earth. They come as creatures of night, but they must possess the bodies of humans. Understand this in the supernatural, My children: no man, woman, or child of reasoning is free from the attacks of satan." - Jesus, September 7, 1976
"Unless the parents teach their children of the existence of this other world unseen to the human eye, the children cannot then be protected from the attacks of these agents from hell. My child, they are real, they are living, and they have great power. They, too, possess names as do the high angels in the Kingdom of your God in Heaven." - Our Lady, March 15, 1978
"My child, you will work with much haste. The time grows short. The enemy has entered into your government. Pray much for them. The demons possess many. They come in great multitudes, for they know the strength of prayer in your area. Should this be removed, your city, your state, and your country will go through a period of great suffering never seen before in this country." - Jesus, September 13, 1974
"There are many agents of hell loosed upon earth now. They have entered into the House of God, and they possess the body of many men to do the will of satan. You must not abandon the sacramentals that I have given you through the Father for your protection and your salvation." - Our Lady, August 14, 1973
Be knowledgeable, My children, and understand that satan will not come to you as himself. He possesses the body of any unclean soul, be it man, woman, or child. I repeat to you now: all parents will be held responsible for the fall of their children's souls. Give them a good foundation, and when they are subjected to the storms of evil, they will not crack and crumble under the onslaught." - Our Lady, March 25, 1972
"Michael must be returned to My Son's House. The demons must be cast from My Son's House. They have taken possession of many to do the will of Lucifer." - Our Lady, February 10, 1973
"I repeat Myself, as in the past, My children. The demons have a form, but they do not use this form unless the Eternal Father gives you the knowledge and insight into the supernatural to observe them in action. They will use the body of a human being, one who has fallen out of grace and the light. Any man, woman, or child is susceptible to this possession." - Our Lady, August 21, 1975
"My heart is torn now at the full acceleration of the evil in your country, your cities, and your world. My Mother made it quite clear to you that mankind is not beyond possession by satan. The human body and the human souls now are being corrupted by evil man through the influence of satan, My children. You must learn to avoid the faces of evil that come to you. You must do all in your human power with the graces that will be given to you freely to cast off the inclination to evil." - Jesus, August 5, 1977
"He has an army of ogres wandering now throughout your country and all of the countries of the world. They are in possession of great power, so wear your sacramentals and protect your children and your households. Learn the use every day of holy water throughout your household. Insist, even with obstructions, insist that your children always wear a sacramental. One day they will understand that they will repel the demons." - Our Lady, September 13, 1977
"My children of God, have no fear. You will keep your sacramentals about you. You will keep your children's souls guarded, for none shall be attacked who are in the state of grace.
"Be ye known now, it has been loosed on earth—satan; satan, the king of darkness, satan, the master of deceit. His time is short, but he is loose.
"He entered into the body of a man in 1975, a man who gave himself to him in the practice of occult. He entered into the body of this man, as he cannot roam without the body. He will enter in, when he has finished his mission, into another body. And you will pray a constant vigilance of prayer that he is removed from your country." - St. Michael, August 13, 1977
"Satan was a murderer and a liar from the beginning, and satan has been allowed upon your earth to separate the sheep from the goats. My children, he is the master of deceit. I must tell you as your Mother, that unless you remain in the state of grace, you cannot recognize him. He is a man of a thousand faces. He has great power: he can throw his voice, My children, into animals and even into the air. Unless you give your children a firm foundation in knowledge of their Faith, they will fall to his subtleties, My children." - Our Lady, September 7, 1977
"Satan is loosed upon earth, but he knows that his time is growing short. Therefore, he will make a concerted effort to destroy those who are not in the state of grace, so that he can take them into hell. That is why, My children, you must always wear a medal, your armor about your neck. And the best armor of all is the Scapular, the Rosary, the St. Benedict medal, and also your newest armor: Our Lady of the Roses, Mary Help of Mothers. My child and My children, I tell you this because you cannot do without any of them. At this time, all armor is needed for the fight ahead." - Our Lady, May 17, 1986
"Any man, woman, or child of the age of reasoning who has fallen from grace shall become a consort of satan." - Jesus, November 20, 1975
Directives from Heaven... http://www.tldm.org/directives/directives.htm
D28 - Hell PDF
D44 - The Occult PDF
D149 - Satanism, Part 1 PDF
D150 - Satanism, Part 2 PDF
D151 - Possession PDF
D152 - Angel of light PDF
D153 - Astrology PDF
D245 - Demons PDF
D260 - Satan, the Deceiver of Mankind PDF
Discernment and help for the possessed, part 2 (common misconceptions about possession)
The Ouija board and demonic possession
Pope Paul VI on confronting the devil's power
World famous exorcist Fr. Gabriele Amorth: The devil is behind Harry Potter, seducing children
Vatican's new rite of exorcism called "a blunt weapon" by world's most famous exorcist
David Berkowitz (the "Son of Sam") confirms he was possessed, as Our Lady of the Roses said he was
Demonic possession
The lure of the occult
Spiritual warfare: the occult has demonic influence
John Paul II recommended praying the St. Michael exorcism
Exorcism: Marta the possessed, Spero News, April 11, 2005
The new rite of exorcism: the influence of the evil one, Latin Mass magazine, Summer 2002
A woman possessed?
Dr. Scott Peck vs. Satan: A well-known psychiatrist describes and analyzes two exorcisms, Christianity Today, February 2005
Priest who is expert on exorcism warns on a single visit to fortuneteller
Exorcism: the facts
The reality of satan and the victory of Jesus and Mary
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text:
Google has a bad habit -- a terrible one: it leaps before it thinks. That's precisely what's happened in the company's adventures in NFC-based payment systems within Google Wallet. While this gave the company a short-lived PR advantage against Apple [AAPL] and the iPhone, that advantage failed to translate into anything of any significance whatsoever for most human beings on the planet.
Bad habits
It's a Google thing.
The company's haphazard approach to innovation has seen it use its market advantage to launch high-profile services in numerous fields. Each time it does it likely takes the oxygen out the room for the new market segment, driving smaller players out the business as they try to battle the media, online search and discovery advantages of the search giant.
The company is a giant, but a haphazard one. That's why a recent study found the company shuts down one out of every three services it launches. The lumbering monolith the company will eventually become seems to have better luck with services created in-house: but if you get acquired by the company your outcome seem less likely to stand the test of time.
Add to this that when the company prances into a sector competing segment players will see their business plummet. That may simply be an opinion, but be logical: what businesses ever do well in direct competition with one of the world's largest corporations? I doubt there's many, if any.
Then there's the services the company does manage to attract converts to but then shuts down. Google Reader, for example: this service became so popular it starved other solutions from ever achieving their more modest ambitions of market velocity or scale. That's bad for consumers of course, as now Google Reader's set for closure, they are challenged to find a tried and tested alternative they can trust.
That's what happens when an uber-powerful company doesn't think things through.
Google Wallet is empty
The problems with Google Wallet this week saw the leader of that initiative leave the firm. This reflect a host of challenges Google faces in trying to make NFC-based payment services on mobile phones popular. The company jumped into that pool way before NFC became truly ready for prime time, ignoring a few salient challenges as it skipped into the new sector:
- Payment systems aren't broken;
- The lack of NFC-capable terminals;
- The lack of a cohesive national or international standard for NFC;
- Beyond technologists, consumers are resistant to NFC;
- Consumers (quite rightly given Android's track record) don't yet trust mobile networks or device security.
Even Samsung's SVP mobile communications, Hankil Yoon said: "In Korea I think there are tens of millions of NFC devices already in the market. (But) consumers, they don't know how to use it. They don't even know they have something called NFC that they can use for transportation and mobile payment."
I sometimes speculate the only reason Google raced into NFC was because it thought (as I did) that Apple intended to enter this space. You can even imagine it being whispered about at Apple's board meetings around the time of the original iPhone launch, if you like. You can imagine anything.
Google didn't commit. It failed to educate its audience, and so far failed to popularize the technology in any significant sense. It produced a few videos and press conferences, but didn't work to meet an existing human need. The great authority on what you will find online clearly thinks that if deigns to introduce something it must be good, classic "build it and they will come" stuff -- except the people didn't come along for that ride, at least not so far -- though the company apparently hopes to extend its list of participating retailers in hope, perhaps, of summoning a new church of participating consumers.
An Apple approach
Apple meanwhile has been quietly working on payment systems for years, hiring in some of the world's experts on NFC and (presumably) other potential payment technologies.
Except, payments are more than technology. Payment underpins most people's experience of the world we're in. We pay for food, drink, and fun. We're used to using cash and have used it for thousands of years. It's only relatively recently we began to use credit cards.
Apple differs from Google because it designs things with the end user in mind.
This is why Passbook works, at least enough to make the tech interesting to airlines and larger retailers. Passbook enables retailers to offer limited payment systems in conjunction with voucher deals and other added-value items; it also accelerates ticketing and door entry at public spaces.
If deployed in conjunction with a tried and tested payment system (iTunes) Apple has quietly built a system which can be extended not to replace the way we use cash to make payments, but to augment it.
Apple understands that innovation needs to be applied incrementally. It has also put together an answer to consumer concern for mobile device security. It isn't trying to stand in the middle of every interchange, selling advertising based on your purchasing patterns as it does.
Google now stands as a company that tried and to a large extent so far failed in mobile payment systems. Apple remains untested. In the event it does choose to enter this sector, then it can do so gradually, incrementally and effectively, and learn from Google's mistakes.
This particular adventure is working out pretty much just as I predicted some time ago.
Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when these items are published here first on Computerworld.


text:
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For the second week in a row, the Buckeyes posted a relatively easy victory against a nonconference foe Saturday in Ohio Stadium, and for the second week in a row, they dropped a spot in the Associated Press' writers poll.
Even worse for the Buckeyes, they dropped a spot in the coaches' poll – which is part of the eventual BCS rankings at the end of the season – to third place after yesterday's 42-7 victory against San Diego State.
OSU was passed by Oregon in the coaches' poll after the Ducks posted a second straight dominating victory, this one at a Virginia team that beat BYU – which embarrassed Texas last night – in week one. The Buckeyes actually received two first-place votes to Oregon's one but finished 18 points behind the Ducks overall.
Meanwhile, in the AP poll, Ohio State was passed by Clemson, which posted a 52-13 win vs. South Carolina State and also watched the team it beat in week one, Georgia, down No. 6 South Carolina yesterday. Oregon is also ahead of the Buckeyes, who are fourth.
So far, it's clear OSU – which went 12-0 last year to finish as the only undefeated team in the Football Bowl Subdivision but still did not receive strong consideration for the national title – will have to post some big wins, both against the ranked foes still on the schedule as well as some large margins of victory, to earn voters' respect.
The good news is, though, that three top-25 teams are on the schedule still, including Michigan, which moved up to No. 11 in the AP poll after its Saturday night win vs. Notre Dame. Northwestern is up to 17th after beating BCS teams Cal and Syracuse to start the year, while Wisconsin checks in 20th after consecutive shutouts to open the season.
Among the rest of the Big Ten, Nebraska is 23rd while Michigan State, Illinois and Penn State received votes.
Two-time defending national champion Alabama, which was idle, stayed at No. 1 in both polls.


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Chloe had a big New Year's Eve...and an unofficial open house yesterday
While downtown yesterday afternoon, we thought we'd stop by Chloe for a happy-hour drink and start the new year out right. Opening the unlocked front door just before 5 p.m., we found what looked like the remnants of a very big New Year's Eve party -- but not a soul inside tending to the venue.
Judging from the fallout we spotted in the space, we're guessing the staff might have had a little too much fun on New Year's Eve and forgot to lock the front door.
We thought of helping ourselves to a cocktail, but cooler heads prevailed, and instead we called the owner, Francois Safieddine, to let him know that the foxes could easily raid the henhouse. He assured us that someone would be on the job at the bar on Monday evening; let's hope they gave the place a good cleaning.
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by Staff Writers
Moscow (AFP) Oct 24, 2013
Greenpeace on Thursday urged Russia to release its crew members after investigators reduced the charge against them from piracy to hooliganism over their protest on an Arctic oil platform.
"Our general position has not changed: the investigation must wind up this laughable case, apologise and set them all free," Greenpeace lawyer Anton Beneslavsky told AFP.
Russia's powerful Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, late Wednesday announced it was softening the charge against the 30 crew members.
The maximum punishment for piracy in an organised group is 15 years while hooliganism can carry a sentence of seven years.
The piracy charges against the crew members from 18 different countries on a Dutch-flagged ship prompted international protests and pushed the Netherlands to launch legal proceedings against Russia.
Russia said Wednesday it would boycott maritime court hearings sought by the Netherlands seeking the release of the crew and the ship.
Greenpeace lawyer Beneslavsky said the hearings before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea would be unaffected by the change of charge.
"The basis for proceedings at the international tribunal is the seizure of the ship by Russia. How the side that seized the ship justifies its actions does not influence the jurisdiction of this case."
The new charge of hooliganism is the same used against the Pussy Riot punks for their protest performance against President Vladimir Putin in a Moscow church which landed two band members in prison for two years.
"The Greenpeace action in the Arctic has been equated with the Pussy Riot in the Church of Christ the Saviour," rights lawyer Pavel Chikov wrote on Twitter.
The crew members, including two journalists, have been detained behind bars in the northern Murmansk region after two activists scaled a state-owned oil platform to protest against Russia's energy prospecting in the Arctic, one of Russia's top economic projects.
The government is preparing to host the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi in February, and many see the tough line against Greenpeace as a warning to any activists thinking about protesting during the games, the Kremlin's key prestige project.
Last month, Putin fiercely pledged to protect Russia from foreign influences, saying its sovereignty and independence were "red lines" that could not be crossed.
Maria Lipman, a political analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center, outlined what she sees as the Kremlin's line of thinking: "People who dare to tell Russia what it should or should not do should be punished."
Yet Greenpeace and political commentators said investigators moved to cancel a clearly excessive charge after mounting international pressure.
Even Putin said publicly that the activists were "obviously not pirates."
"They finally realised that the idiocy of the Investigative Committee is disgracing us all," opposition leader and lawyer Alexei Navalny wrote on Twitter.
The crew members are currently being held under pre-trial detention until November 24.
Some predicted they could now avoid a prison term or even be released ahead of the trial.
"It's possible they will get suspended sentences," said Lipman.
Navalny said he thought the international activists could receive a minor punishment.
"They'll take away the foreigners' passports, put them under house arrest and then hand them community service," he wrote on Twitter.
Navalny, a top Putin critic, this month had his five-year prison sentence for embezzlement changed to a suspended term that bars him from political office in the foreseeable future.
But Greenpeace cautioned that the activists are not experiencing any immediate benefits.
"The charge is changed but that does not make the team's treatment any lighter. They are still under a grave charge," said Alexei Kiselyov, a Greenpeace representative.
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Former Reds Utility Player Ryan Freel Found Dead of Apparent Suicide
The 36-year old was found in his Jacksonville, Florida home the victim of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Ryan Freel, a former utility player who played in 544 games for the Cincinnati Reds, was found dead in his Jacksonville, Florida home on Saturday afternoon according to a report from the Florida Times-Union. Freel played baseball professionally from 2001 until 2009 when injuries forced him to cut his career short. Often noted for his reckless style of playing in the field, Freel spent most of his career playing centerfield, but occasionally saw time at both third and second base due to his versatility. As a defensive player, Freel was often known to dive hard for balls in all areas of the outfield, as well as diving into the stands and crashing into outfield walls to make a play. Freel was also known to have the occasional collision with a teammate, and after one particularly jarring collision with Norris Hopper in 2007, he suffered a concussion, one of several that Freel suffered during his eight-year career.
To his teammates, Ryan was often looked at as a funny, light-hearted albeit curious fellow, but Freel also had a troubled side as well. He was arrested twice for alcohol-related offenses, and teammates often found him talking to himself, something that Freel would often attribute to an imaginary friend named "Farney" whom he would often tell teammates he was talking to when they asked about his ramblings.
Freel leaves behind a wife, Christie and at least two daughters. He becomes the latest in a series of professional sports figures who have committed suicide over the past few years. In May, former NFL star Junior Seau was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, he too suffered several concussions over the years and many will likely point to that as a possible cause for Freel's death as well. Former athletes dealing with health problems and concussions have become the topic of much conversation as of late, and studies are undergoing to see how many negative effects playing sports have on the human brain and the human body. For Ryan Freel and his family, the studies and their results did not come soon enough, and one can only hope that we will not see more cases like this in the future.
Robert Gonzalez


text: > > Now that we have Ports Console, will System Manager still be used to Fetch Ports? I just tried on the > > latest ISO and it didn't get installed to the jail. Is this a work in progress or will there be another > > utility that will be used to add /usr/ports to the jail? > > > > Cheers, > > > > Dru > > !DSPAM:1,4aef4a9f15312049164005! > > > > I haven't gotten around to figuring out how that'll work yet :) > > Right now as you've seen, it only extracts your systems regular /usr/ports tree, and your port console > is still empty. Here's some of the possible solutions, feel free to chime in and let me know what > you guys think would work best: > > * Setup system manager to provide option to select if you want to install into the ports console or > the base system > > * Default to only extracting ports into the ports console, since you probably shouldn't be building > ports on the main tree anyway > > * Do some nullfs mount of /usr/ports to into the port jail, so they can share > > > Any ideas on which one would work best or be ideal for us? My vote is to extract only to ports console since I've consistently warned users to only play with ports in there. Unless someone has an option #4. Cheers, Dru -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.pcbsd.org/pipermail/testing/attachments/20091103/076c535b/attachment.html>


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Why we don't have cloth diapers anymore.
As of October, Granola Babies no longer offers cloth diapers. And some of our customers are asking why. We even had one customer who attended our free breastfeeding support group and was able to breastfeed with the help she received there, leave us a negative review on Yelp because we don't carry cloth diapers. But we also have many customers that understand why and would rather see us stay open. So with that, I will explain.
Granola Babies offers an amazing, much needed resource in Orange County. We offer classes and events from prenatal through preschool, many of which are free to the community and led by local experts. Granola Babies also offers the only eco children's boutique in all of Orange County, offering a curated selection of natural fiber clothing, wooden toys by American and European brands, functional and fun diaper bags, comfortable baby carriers, reusable food containers, nursing bras and more. In addition we also offer the only Waldorf-inspired indoor playspace in the county. Yes, you can say that we're pretty passionate about what we do and we strive on the positive and energizing energy that we receive from our customers and community. They shop at the store and in doing so, help us keep our doors open.
So, why did we stop carrying cloth diapers?
The industry of cloth diapers has changed dramatically from the time we opened Granola Babies. There are now copy-cat versions of the brands we carried, made unethically overseas, but at a price that is dramatically less than the originals. There are also countless online stores offering cloth diapers and at prices set lower than what the brand suggests. Why? Because many are hobbyist without the costs of keeping a brick and mortar (aka physical location like Granola Babies) open. In addition there are also cloth diapers in "big box" stores like Babies R Us but with coupons that the "big guys" can afford to do, but small businesses cannot.
Yet, online stores and big box stores can't help you choose and use your cloth diapers, right?
So, while customers were purchasing the majority of their cloth diapers online, they were coming to Granola Babies for free cloth diaper education and to learn how to use the cloth diapers they didn't buy at Granola Babies. In addition, even when customers bought their cloth diapering packages at the store, the amount that goes back to the store is very little. It's very hard to keep doors open with cloth diapers.
Guess what that means?
If you don't make your purchase at the store you learned about cloth diapers, you just increased the chances of that said store to close.
Two stores in Orange County that also sold cloth diapers closed in 2013. And we almost did as well. Yes, in 2013, we almost had to close Granola Babies.
We almost had to close Granola Babies. Wow. How devastating would that have been to our community, to our staff, to our family?
Fortunately, there are other places to purchase cloth diapers. Yet there aren't many other places that offer the many other natural parenting products we offer. So, we made MORE room for those products and now refer to others for cloth diapers.
And what does that mean to our community?
That while there's the loss of being able to purchase cloth diapers at Granola Babies, there's a Granola Babies to still go visit. We're still open, we're providing a need that no other store in Orange County and surrounding areas provide…and we're super proud of that. It takes A LOT of work. You can't even imagine. But, we love what we do.
But, it's all you. You, our customers that support the store, tell others about it and shop with us. You keep Granola Babies in the community.
So we thank you for understanding. We hope this all makes sense to you, who may have wondered why. And we thank you for being an awesome part of our community. We're excited for all the unique and lovely products that have arrived (and more coming) and can't wait to see you at the store.
Much love,


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This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
An understanding of the functional mechanisms of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) is very important for GPCR-related drug design. We have developed an integrated GPCR database (SEVENS
G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are membrane proteins characterized by seven transmembrane (TM) helices. They respond to various ligands such as, biological amines, peptides, hormones, and odorant substances, from the extracellular side of the cell. Such stimulations induce GPCRs to activate G-proteins and to transmit signals to the interior of the cell. GPCRs exist in most cells and the abnormal signal transduction of GPCRs is related to various serious conditions, such as allergy, heart trouble, cancer, high blood pressure, and inflammation,
First, we identified GPCR genes from genome sequences using a computational gene discovery pipeline that is composed of the GPCR gene finding stage and the GPCR gene screening stage [
Currently, the SEVENS database (version 1.70) stores 64,090 genes from 56 eukaryotes and more than half (35,125 genes) of the total genes are olfactory receptor. It is an integrated database in which various kinds of functional and structural information of each GPCR gene are visually presented and organized in a hierarchical manner.
In the gene annotation information page, the genetic coordinate of a selected GPCR is displayed on the chromosomal map together with information of known regulatory regions, GC contents, and other genes near the query. Furthermore, such information as sequence similarity search results, gene expression patterns, ligand binding, G-protein binding, amino acid sequence composition, predicted TM helix regions by SOSUI [
Because several three-dimensional (3D) structures [
Using the aligned sequences we performed the statistical analysis of subfamily distribution, gene structure, amino acid residue conservation, and 3D structure information. For the analysis of subfamily distribution and gene structure, we used all sequences deposited in SEVENS database [
In eukaryotes, we identified a few GPCRs in yeasts, a dozen in plants, approximately 200 in insects, several hundreds in fishes and birds, and from several hundreds to several thousands in mammals. When we broke down those numbers into the subfamily classification (
On the other hand, the number of receptors for chemical substances is distributed uniquely in different species. For example, the percentage of olfactory receptors (colored in purple in
Interestingly, such chemical substance receptors that are characteristic to each species show biased distribution on the genome sequences. Those receptors form large clusters in which several dozens of genes are found at high densities. For example, large clusters appear on human chromosome 11, mouse chromosome 1, dog chromosomes 18 and 21, and C. elegans chromosome 5,
From the viewpoint of comprehensive collection of GPCRs, Fredriksson
On examination of the amino acid lengths of GPCR sequences (
Based on the exon-intron mapping information stored in the SEVENS database, we obtained the number of exons for each gene.
From the gene mapping information, we observed that exons have long dispersion genomic regions of 2,000,000 nt at most. It is natural that GPCR genes with a large number of exons require long genomic regions, although there is no clear correlation between the number of exons and the length of the dispersion region of each exon. We found a gene with 14 exons requiring the longest dispersion region (1,982,894 nt) and this region is longer than that of the gene with the largest exon number (
Based on our method of gene identification, the genomic coordinate of some GPCRs is the product of prediction and is not confirmed by experiments. However, the results of statistical analysis seem to be similar to that of previous work that dealt with all of the genes [
To understand the functional mechanism of GPCRs, it is important to study the amino acid residues conserved in GPCR sequences. Conserved residues at the extracellular side affect ligand-binding selectivity, whereas those at the cytoplasmic side affect G-protein coupling selectivity. Many articles have reported the positions of conserved residues [
For statistical analysis of conserved residues, we retrieved the sequences of Class A GPCRs deposited in the SEVENS database [
Statistics of the 1,272 vertebrate sequences show that the length of the third cytoplasmic loop (CL3) varies considerably (average: 34), ranging from 1 (chemokine receptor) to 230 (acetylcholine receptor). A similar tendency was observed in the N- and C-terminal loops. It is interesting that almost all loops of these N- and C-terminal loops and CL3 are predicted to have disorder regions by using DISOPRED program [
Because GPCRs exist in the membrane environment, crystallization is difficult and the number of 3D structures available is very small. However, in the past two to three years, the number of 3D structures of GPCRs has increased rapidly. β1- and β2-adrenergic receptors [
Beside the PDB entries of complete structures (29 structures of five subfamilies), there are many fragmentary structures related to GPCRs. For Class A GPCRs, we can compute the statistics of the fragmentary structures mapped on the TM helix and loop regions as the actual boundary of the two regions can be obtained by alignment to known structures [
These positions are schematically shown in
Meanwhile, most of the revealed structures for Class B and Class C GPCRs are the products from long N- and C-terminal loops. It should be carefully examined why some of the domains of non GPCR proteins (globular proteins), such as tubulin-like domain, SH3-like domain,
In this review, we overviewed the sequences and structure spaces of GPCRs in the integrated SEVENS database from the viewpoint of family distribution, gene structure, amino acid residue conservation, and 3D structure. As the dataset stored in SEVENS has been identified accurately and comprehensively from complete genome sequences, the available information and the results of analyses are expected to reveal the GPCR proteome and the evolutional diversity of GPCR functions.
It is necessary to take into account the recent achievements in the research on the 3D structures of GPCRs. For a long time, bovine rhodopsin is the only GPCR whose 3D structure has been solved and it has been used as a template for the comparative modeling of GPCRs analyzed in drug discovery researches. However, from 2007 to 2010, the GPCR structures of different families [
From the new 3D structures, the diversities in the structures of the ligand binding sites and the G-protein binding sites have become clear and should be considered in the case of studying different families. Thus, it is necessary to determine the 3D structures of all major GPCR families. However, such high throughput structure determination is impossible because the producing functional receptors in the membrane and crystallization of receptors are bottlenecks. Therefore, structural information must be obtained through a new approach that does not directly depend on 3D structure determination. It is important to extract and overview information that reflects the available 3D structures for each family at the sequence level by bioinformatics, and the SEVENS database has been constructed to serve this purpose.
WEB presentation of SEVENS database. By selecting the species on the top page, one can access a new page with the search list, the phylogenetic tree viewer, or the chromosomal map. This new page is linked to the gene annotation information page in which structural and functional information is found, and one can access other information pages.
Number of GPCRs in 58 eukaryotes. Data from 56 eukaryotes (except sloth and horse) are deposited in SEVENS database. Each bar represents the total number of GPCRs with subfamily information indicated by different colors. Olfactory and pheromone receptors of vertebrates are in purple and blue, respectively. The specific names of members in four species are as follows. Bat1:
Statistics of gene structures. (
Schematic representation of PDB data that are annotated to Class A type entry sequences in SEVENS database. The 3D structures of five subfamilies were solved completely: bovine rhodopsin (colored in red), adrenergic receptor (in blue), adenosine receptor (in magenta), chemokine receptor (in green), and dopamine receptor (in pink). Fragments of these receptors are shown in the same color code. Number in parenthesis represents the hit count of PDB regions to the sequences identified in SEVENS database.
This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (Kakenhi 20300104) from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. We thank Wataru Fujibuchi for useful discussions.


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Tagged: 'UCL'
Atlanta Braves No Longer Breaking Bad News on Brandon Beachy
September 30th, 2013 at 2:20 PM
Brandon Beachy underwent surgery on his right pitching elbow for the second time in just over a year. However, the most recent surgery was a minor procedure to remove some anomalies causing discomfort in his pitching elbow. After returning to the Atlanta Braves' lineup, Beachy was only good for 5 starts...