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By Larry Weisman, USA TODAY
Brett Favre looks at football records with the same disdain aficionados of MP3s and iPods hold for the vinyl ones: mere relics of the past, and oh-so-breakable.
Entering Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings, the Green Bay Packers quarterback needs one touchdown pass to break the NFL record of 420 he shares with Dan Marino and further burnish a 17-year career of streaks, peaks and unequaled achievements.
Talk about long-playing records: Favre is the NFL's only three-time Most Valuable Player (one award was shared). No quarterback has more victories (150). None has been more durable (260 consecutive games started, including the playoffs). And there's probably no one more excited about the Packers' surprising 3-0 start that has put Green Bay — which missed the playoffs the last two years — atop its division, the NFC North.
"Here in the building, the record hasn't been a deal," Favre tells USA TODAY in an interview. "I'm more pleased that we're 3-0, that we've been productive on offense the last two weeks. This has been fun."
COSTLY MISTAKE: Atlanta's loss is Green Bay's gain
He says emphatically that records — the personal kind — don't matter much to him. "I was never about records. I wasn't brought up that way."
But then he goes on to describe a personal journey in which setting records, and piling up big statistics, once were important.
His late father, Irvin, coached him in high school and preferred the run to the pass. His son executed the plays faithfully. "My senior year I threw for 300 yards. Guys (now) have that in one game," Favre says. "Did I complain about it? Sure, I did. Then I went to Southern Miss and played four years, and we never threw the ball, not like they do now. All my records have been broken."
He acknowledges that he cherished them when he set them. But time wore away the grooves.
"When I left Southern Miss, I had every (school) passing record that you could hold. And for the first three or four years, I didn't want them to be broken. That meant something to me," he says. "And as time passed and records got broken, it meant less and less to me. And finally I figured if they forget me after all my records are gone, I didn't do too well. It's the things you don't read in the box score that mean the most."
So even though he has amassed stats like few other quarterbacks before him — stats that make him a certain first-ballot choice for the Pro Football Hall of Fame — Favre talks more about the need for him to be a good teammate and a veteran presence on the NFL's youngest team. And about leadership. And undergoing the transition from young hellion to venerable maestro. And about winning.
"I never dreamt that a team I was quarterbacking would ever have a losing record and we went 4-12" in 2005, he says. Being a winner again, he says, "means more" than piling up numbers.
For the Packers, Sunday's game at Minnesota (1-2) is a chance to start a season 4-0 for the first time since 1998. Favre, who turns 38 on Oct. 10, has shown a quicker release of the ball this year, a little less recklessness and results that smack of the old (actually younger) Favre.
Last season, when the Packers were a team in transition with a new coach (Mike McCarthy) and several new players, the team struggled to a 4-8 start before closing with four victories. Favre ranked 13th in the NFC in passer rating (72.7 on the combined measure of four passing statistics that tops out at 158.3) and threw 18 touchdown passes and 18 interceptions. In 2005, he led the NFL with 29 interceptions.
This year's 3-0 start has come against three playoff teams from 2006. Favre has six TD passes, two interceptions and a passer rating of 93.5, a mark he has exceeded over an entire season only once (2004) since 1996, the year of the Packers' last Super Bowl title.
In the Packers' win against the Chargers last Sunday, Favre threw three touchdown passes to tie Marino's mark. With the verve of days gone by, he brought the team from behind, the lead changing hands on his 57-yard pass to Greg Jennings with 2:03 left to play.
"Throwing that touchdown at the end, everyone's over there celebrating and cheering and congratulating me, and I said, 'Look, this will mean nothing if we don't win this game.' That's what it's all about," Favre says.
Eliminating mistakes, spreading the ball around to various receivers, igniting rallies. So far Favre has been as good as ever, maybe better.
"He looks like the MVP guy he was," says Vikings safety Darren Sharper, a teammate of Favre's from 1997 to 2004. "He looks like the quarterback making all the right reads, showing confidence in his receivers, putting the ball on the spot, making good decisions. You don't see him making some of the throws that he previously made."
Packers coach McCarthy agrees that Favre has "been very disciplined with the football. A big part of quarterback play, obviously, is decision-making. I think these last two weeks he's been excellent with his decisions with the ball."
Favre, the NFL's oldest starting quarterback, is showing enough of the gunslinger mentality that made him a star to mesh with a new generation of Packers on a team whose players' average age is 25.8.
"I know (Favre's) got the gray hair, and he looks around the locker room and there's not a lot in common (with other players), but if you could watch him interact for a day, I think everyone would have a clearer understanding of the uniqueness of him as a person and as a player," McCarthy says. "I think deep down inside he will always be a kid. He loves to play. He's a joy to coach."
'Nothing short of miraculous'
Records fall. It's a function of time and durability. Marino threw 420 TD passes in 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins and played in 242 games, starting 240. Favre will pass him in starts on Sunday.
Marino once started 95 consecutive games but injuries cost him 11 games in 1993, three in 1996 and five in 1999, after which he retired. Favre hasn't left the Packers lineup since entering it in 1992. With his 241st consecutive start, he would have the second-longest recorded streak among NFL players. Former Minnesota lineman Jim Marshall holds the record at 270.
"For him to be able to get through his entire career without missing a football game to me is nothing short of miraculous," says Troy Aikman, who quarterbacked the Dallas Cowboys to three Super Bowl victories and entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
"To do that and to play at the level he has been able to play at for as long as what he has, that's really how you define greatness," Aikman says. "The (TD passing) record is not a real big deal. But in order to break (it), what you have to do to get there is pretty special."
Records fall. That might not mean much to Aikman, though Marino sounds a bit wistful as Favre approaches the TD mark. If Favre moves past him, "it's not going to make me happy," Marino says. "But that's part of life."
In his life after football — like Aikman, Marino gabs about the game on television — records matter.
"When you're playing, it's really about getting to the playoffs and wanting to win the Super Bowl," Marino says. "But then you look back at what you accomplished in your career, and it's something you're proud of."
Marino went to one Super Bowl and lost. Favre's Packers won after the 1996 season and returned the next year but lost. Records fall, championships endure.
"That will always be there," Favre says of winning the NFL title. "I never thought about records or MVPs. I thought it would be nice to dress out and the Super Bowl would be awesome."
Dress out? That almost didn't happen.
Favre joined the Packers in 1992, acquired from the Atlanta Falcons for a first-round draft pick after a disastrous rookie season on the bench. He partied and paid little mind to his job.
"Out of shape, drinking, couldn't run the scout team. I thought we had drafted a bust," says Ken Herock, then the Falcons' director of player personnel.
Had Mike Tomczak not held out for more money when the Packers began training camp, Favre would have been the No. 3 quarterback.
Instead, he backed up often-injured Don Majkowski and replaced him in the first quarter of the third game of the season, when Majkowski sprained an ankle. Favre led the Packers to a 24-23 comeback victory, throwing a 35-yard TD pass with 13 seconds left in the game.
He became the starter a week later — on Sept. 27, 1992 — and has never let go of the job. Not through a separated shoulder, ankle sprains, knee sprains, thumb sprains and breaks, elbow tendinitis, bone chips in his ankle. Not through a stay in 1996 at a rehab clinic to kick a dependency on a prescription painkiller. Not through the death of his father the day before a Monday night game in 2003. Not through wife Deanna's bout with breast cancer in late 2004 and the spring of 2005or damage Hurricane Katrina did to his family's home in Kiln, Miss., in 2005.
"There were so many things he had to overcome," says Steve Mariucci, the Packers' quarterbacks coach from 1992 to 1995 and a close friend of Favre's. "He had to suck it up and play anyway, practice anyway. It was amazing. Yes, he was a little bit lucky not to have that major injury. But he probably stayed in some games that others would not have played in."
Favre has done it with flair and often with a gambler's recklessness, to the point that he's also closing in on an unwelcomed record for quarterbacks.
He's three interceptions short of breaking George Blanda's all-time mark of 277, set during a career that ran from 1949 to 1975. In 2002, Favre threw six interceptions in a playoff game, then announced "it didn't dent my armor." He always has been willing to take the consequences of trying to get the ball to well-covered receivers.
"He can wow you with a touchdown pass that gets 4 feet off the ground from the 19-yard line," says Sterling Sharpe, who caught 300 passes from Favre over three seasons (1992-94). "He can wow you with a throw over his shoulder that's intercepted. Very rarely do you run into a guy who can wow you on two separate throws, one positive and one negative."
They're meant to be broken
Favre's departure from football isn't imminent, but he knows it's coming.
"We've been talking about his retirement for almost as long as he's been playing," Aikman says, referring to Favre's Hamlet-like internal argument each recent offseason over whether to walk away.
"I'm proud here that I put up the numbers, but the most important thing is that I played the game the way it's supposed to be played. I busted my ass every play and never gave up and was, I like to think, a good teammate," Favre says.
"I will never be better than Dan Marino or Joe Montana. All those guys I've played against — Aikman, (Jim) Kelly, Warren Moon, (John) Elway — I'm just fortunate to be thought of as one of the best."
He left out one name: Peyton Manning. The Indianapolis Colts quarterback, in his 10th season, has 280 TD passes and has started 145 consecutive regular-season games. If he stays healthy and productive, he'll likely surpass the marks Favre is about to take from Marino.
"Every record, whatever it may be, you're just holding on to it for a brief time," Favre says. "That's why they have records — so the next guy can break them."
Contributing: Michael McCarthy
Conversation guidelines: USA TODAY welcomes your thoughts, stories and information related to this article. Please stay on topic and be respectful of others. Keep the conversation appropriate for interested readers across the map.


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In the virtual world, you have it too easy at the moment. You just play your games, waltzing your character into lethal combat, smacking your car into lamp posts or hitting the afterburners with no thought for the G-forces that would ordinarily turn your insides into Angel Delight. But what if your actions had real, physical consequences – not serious ones, but enough to make you a little more careful?
Researchers at Tokyo's University of Electro-Communications have discovered that by using vibrating devices on either side of your hand, they can simulate the sensation of something passing through your palm and out the other side. Thankfully, the key word here is 'sensation', rather than 'pain', which why it's called the University of Electro-Communications and not the Castle of Mind-Mangling Electrical Torture.
This is an early step towards super-realistic gaming, in which touch will add as much to the experience as sight and sound. But aside from enhancing your fragfests, anything that lets you interact with virtual objects in a more natural, real-world way could be used in all walks of life, adding an extra dimension to everything from your Kinect to an ATM. Regular touch contact will soon seem like old hat.
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BN: Developer censured for wanting affordable homes
The director of the company which was set up to develop the controversial Taman Manggis had been ticked off for saying that the land would be used for affordable housing.
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Definition of secondaries
plural of secondary 1
The word "secondaries" uses 11 letters: A C D E E I N O R S S.
No direct anagrams for secondaries found in this word list.
Words formed by adding one letter before or after secondaries (in bold), or to acdeeinorss in any order:
t - desecrations
List all words starting with secondaries, words containing secondaries or words ending with secondaries
All words formed from secondaries by changing one letter
Other words with the same letter pairs: se ec co on nd da ar ri ie es
Browse words starting with secondaries by next letter
Previous word in list: second
Next word in list: secondarily
Some random words: role oka hm its do aeolian odalisk
This is not a dictionary, it's a word game wordfinder.
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text:
Welcome to Gypsy Wools!
Brand: Gypsy Wools
The Blue Faced Leicester breed produces long glossy wools. It is considerably lighter than other yarns while still being warm and durable. Knits up beautifully and has great stitch definition.
As a result of our dyeing process, each skein of Gypsy Wools yarn is unique. Yarns will be closest in color if dyed together, so we recommend that you buy all that you need for a project. We will do our best to send you closely matching skeins, but this may not always be possible.
Remember that all monitors are different, so yarn colors may be slightly different in person.
7464 Arapahoe Ave Unit A5
Boulder, CO 80303


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Florence Hudson '80 has received the 2008 Society of Women Engineers' Upward Mobility Award, which is given for exemplary business and technical leadership and serving as an outstanding mentor and model for women.
The Society of Women Engineers hosted about 60 high-school girls Nov. 18 for its always-popular annual colloquium on the Princeton campus. The students toured E-Quad labs, engaged in a Lego car competition, built spaghetti-and-gumdrop towers and heard from keynote speaker Suzanne Jeniches, vice president of Northrop Grumman.


text:
Two hundred beers, an eclectic selection of food, and did we mention desserts?
Live music and valuable coupons – a perfect combination
Check out the latest news at European Street Cafe.
San Marco, Riverside, Southside or the Beach. If you're in Jacksonville, then you're nearby
The Listening Room presents the Larry Mangum Songwriter's Circle featuring Scott and Michelle Dalziel, as well as Amy Speace. The show starts at 8 pm, tickets are $10 and all ages are welcome. Call 904 399 1740 for reservations.
Created by MMLZ On 1/29/2012
Web Design and Web Development by Station Four
Copyright © 2010 European Street Cafe


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After all the ridiculing of pumpkin seeds, goji berries and buckwheat pancakes with probiotic yoghurt, Graeme Swann has staunchly defended England's dietary habits – while tucking into fish and chips.
The spinner enjoyed a meal that definitely did not feature in England's 82-page Ashes recipe book at an event in Sydney organised by Yorkshire Tea, which is sponsoring his latest video diaries.
Swann pointed out that he was entitled to go off menu – "We're allowed fish and chips occasionally – once in a blue moon doesn't kill you" – before insisting that attacks in Australia on the team's eating habits are wide of the mark.
"Some of us have to take it quite seriously because we're getting on a bit and, if we don't eat healthily, we tend to pile on the pounds," he said. "There's been a lot about the recipe book that's arrived. It's quite surprising.
"We don't see that book; obviously it's sent on our behalf to the grounds and it's obviously a guideline for what our nutrionists would like the players to be eating to recover from a day's play.
"All very good healthy stuff, so I'm surprised it's raised so many snooty questions, to be honest, because let's face it, healthy eating is the way forward."


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American Water CEO Jeff Sterba and National Grid US President Tom King will join C2ES in launching a new report, "Weathering the Storm: Building Business Resilience to Climate Change." Register here to attend the event July 17 in Washington, D.C.
Natural Gas Webinar Series
Join us for a summer
Making an Impact at SXSW
The C2ES Make an Impact team will host an event on Sparking Climate Interest & Action in Communities at the SXSW Eco 2013 in October in Austin. Make an Impact was chosen by the public from more than 300 entries. C2ES In the News
C2ES analysis and reaction to President Obama's climate action plan was cited by many media outlets, including The Washington Post, Houston Chronicle, Louisville Courier-Journal, Indianapolis Star, Global Post, Voice of America, Hindustan Times, and Le Monde.
Coverage of the new C2ES report on leveraging natural gas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions included stories in Bloomberg, NPR Texas, Public Radio International, The Guardian and Oil and Gas Journal.
Eileen Claussen talks about the prospects for low-carbon fuels in this video summit hosted by National Journal
Manik Roy is featured in Mother Jones' tongue-in-cheek infographic, "How to Fix the Climate, in One Simple Flowchart."
|Subscribe to Center for Climate and Energy Solutions' newsletter
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My first car that i had bought right out of high school was a 1974 AMC Hornet. I was into muscle cars back then and i thought that this car would be perfect for me. I bought my AMC Hornet at a local dealership, and had many options put into it such as dual side pipes , a 360 engine, racing seats and an orange pin stripe going down the side. This was my get to work car, but i also did some street racing with it, and let me tell you, it won many races. My Hornet has been in my…Continue
Posted on April 28, 2010 at 9:30pm


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Jason Biggs Defends Wife Jenny Mollen's Hooker-Hiring Antics
He's famous for having sex with a pastry in "American Pie" so there's nothing morally out-of-bounds for Jason Biggs.
However, when his wife Jenny Mollen received criticism for her story of hiring a hooker for a threesome during Biggs' birthday, Jason rushed to her defense and appeared on "The View" yesterday (June 19).
During his chat, the "My Best Friend's Girl" hunk explained, "We are very open people, we are real people. My wife is amazing. This is not a habitual thing on our part. We don't have a group of prostitutes who come in and out of our house on a regular basis."
Furthermore, "I didn't have a good time in the end. It took three ladies over the course of three different days. Let's just say I didn't complete the mission. My wife found the whole thing to be quite hysterical even while it was happening. She was actually on the bed, watching, eating a bag of chips, laughing, so as you can imagine, I wasn't really performing to the best of my abilities. Also, said prostitute wasn't engaging with my wife the way I hoped she would and so it all kind of fell apart, and the rest is in the book."
Photo Credit: ABC


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MCKEE-L ArchivesArchiver > MCKEE > 2005-08 > 1123178514
From: (Patricia Menson)
Subject: McKee
Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2005 14:01:54 -0400
My gggrandfather was born in Lancaster PA. His name was Robert Mckee.
He went on to Ohio and one of his sons went to IL. I would like your
info, please.
Patricia McKee Menson
o IL
This thread:


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It's Sunday in Toronto. Sunny, cool, pleasant.
The line of black cars lined up outside the major hotels signify that for many stars here, it's a wrap. They're flying to New York or Los Angeles, accompanied by their retinues and reps.
The fans lined up outside the Ritz-Carlton have one thing in their minds: Bieber fever. Justin is here with his better half, Selena Gomez, and eventually, he'll have to come down. Everyone is hoping for a glimpse. Hey, as I said earlier, Toronto is more about star-spotting then moviegoing.
Over at the Trump, Emma Watson was gamely doing interviews. She, too, hadn't stepped out of the hotel, except to do more interviews.
In terms of celebrity, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith were in town for a party celebrating the doc Free Angela, but sadly weren't doing any press. And there's a party later on tonight for Naomi Watts. If I'm awake -- and that's a big IF -- I'll let you know how it goes. Too many events, not enough stamina.


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Student Practice License
Some externships may require students to obtain a student practice license. After speaking with the Externship Director, you will be advised whether the license is required for your particular placement. If it is needed, you will contact Debi Schrock, Law Clinic Managing Director, at (785) 670-1953 or debi.schrock [at] washburn.edu with questions and to begin the application process.


text: "On the dry and dusty road...the nights we spend apart, alone. I need to get back home, To cool, cool rain. I can't sleep an I lay and I think...the night is hot and black as ink. Oh, God I need a drink...of cool, cool rain!" * Last Sunday with a 1/4 mile to go before the end of the workout at Groom Creek, my left hamstring tightened up. It is a lower strain, just above my knee. I ran 1.5 on the Peavine trail onWednesday night before it tightened again. There has been lots of stretching, Tiger Balm, and swimming since then. Tonights run in the dark was fun, and my leg loosened up after about a mile. I don't think I will be ready to run on Sunday morning. Thanks for the invite, Terri!! Maybe next time. *from Quadrophenia, The Who Cactus Jon


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Arthur Henry Adams
Arthur Henry Adams (6 December 1872 – 4 March 1936 / Lawrence / New Zealand)
» Click to list general statistics » OR, select a date :
About me leagues of houses lie,
Above me, grim and straight and high,
They climb; the terraces lean up
Like long grey reefs against the sky.
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From the Archive
"Snow Is a Hat Worn By Mountains"By Dan Piepenbring
Some might suggest that for a literary blog to feature three snow-related posts in a day is excessive. Well, tough. The weather has always been a great common denominator. And to our credit, we've refrained from calling this "Winter Storm Pax" or "the snowpocalypse." We have standards.
Here, then, are seven poems from our archives fit for a snowy night. I won't claim they'll warm or comfort you—they're poems, not pap—but they're terrific reads, and they will be of some help. Next time you share an elevator with a distant colleague, you'll use the weather as a conversational crutch, as one does; but instead of saying, "Man, it's cold out!" you'll say, "Snow is a hat worn by mountains." You'll make a lasting impression.
Note, too, that the majority of these poems were published in the spring or summer: a reminder that what's unendurable now will be desirable in a few months' time.
Debora Greger, "To the Snow" (from The Paris Review No. 154, Spring 2000)
Snow, let go. It's late,
You are cornmush. You are cold.
Let me cover you with this white sheet.
No one will know.
Agha Shahid Ali, "Snow on the Desert" (from No. 107, Summer 1988)
the sliding doors of the fog were opened,
and the snow, which had fallen all night, now
sun-dazzled, blinded us, the earth whitened
out, as if by cocaine, the desert's plants,
its mineral-hard colors extinguished,
wine frozen in the veins of the cactus.


text:
Public Health
Wirtz Hall 235, DeKalb, IL 60115
Phone: (815) 753-1384
Fax: (815) 753-5406
Email: email@example.com
Public Health (B.S.) is an exciting, diverse major concerned with the health needs of populations. Focusing on health promotion and disease prevention and addressing complex health problems at the community level, students may choose to concentrate their studies in one of four focus areas: General Public Health, Health Administration, Environment & Health, and Health Promotion.
Through extensive classroom and hands-on experience, students acquire the health care planning and information handling skills needed for a diverse and constantly changing field.
Alumni are employed everywhere in health care including: hospitals, health care management organizations, county health departments, nursing homes, health care accrediting agencies.
As professionals, public health alumni work in a variety of capacities to:
Among the many position titles for public health professionals are: epidemiologist, health administrator, health educator, geriatric care manager.
Working behind the scenes everywhere in health care, public health professionals make the lives of countless individuals healthier and safer.
© 2017 Board of Trustees of Northern Illinois University.
All rights reserved. Web Site Privacy Policy
DeKalb, Illinois 60115 | Regional Sites | Contact Us
Emergency Information | Employment | Maps | Accessibility


text:
The New Orleans Film Society's 25th annual New Orleans Film Festival will take place Oct. 16 through Oct. 23 at venues throughout the city.
The festival's film submissions regular deadline is April 11. The festival features eight juried categories: narrative feature, narrative shorts, documentary feature, documentary shorts, Louisiana features, Louisiana shorts, experimental, animation and the new category of music videos.
Festival submissions have doubled in the past three years, program director Clint Bowie said. "The festival is fast becoming known as an event where emerging filmmakers flock for the opportunity to connect with each other and interact with a diverse audience."
The festival's late film submission deadline is May 9. Extended late deadline for narrative shorts, documentary shorts, animation, experimental and music videos is June 20. The extended late deadline for narrative features and documentary features is July 1. The extended late deadline for Louisiana submissions is July 11.
For more information about submitting films, see neworleansfilmsociety.org.
Last year's New Orleans Film Festival drew more than 300 filmmakers, representing 212 festival selections.
The 2013 festival also saw the Louisiana premier and pre-release screening of "12 Years a Slave," a Louisiana-set drama that later won Academy Awards for best motion picture, best supporting actress and best adapted screenplay.
"12 Years a Slave" director Steve McQueen and cast members including Lupita Nyong'o, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alfre Woodard and Sarah Paulson walked the red carpet for the film's Civic Theatre screening in October.


text:
Capita appoints business transformation director
Jonathan Simcock will help deliver large scale business transformation and turnaround projects
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text:
Who sings the song on the BBC tv licensing advert and who sings it?
British brainwashing corporation
Who sings this song...i think its called im an american( funny song)?
Macklemore - American
"You are a cinema" what song is it, who sings it?
its cinema by benny benassi. skrillex did a remix of it
What is the theme song and who sings it for Phineas & Ferb?
there's 104 days of summer vacation,and school comes along just to end it,so the annual problem for our generation is finding a good way to spend it,like maybe...buildin' a rocket,or fighting a mum...
Read More »
What is the title or who sings the song used in the direct tv commercials?
The following explaination is all well and good, but the main reason that you can't use a single LNB by itself and connect two receivers together to it is because the LNB switches between either th...
Read More »


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On 5 September 2011 Ipswich City Council entered an agreement with Norwood Park Limited, trading as Ipswich Cemeteries, to provide deathcare services for Warrill Park Lawn, Ipswich General, Stone Quarry, Tallegalla and Haigslea Cemeteries.
All burials, ashes placements and plaque enquiries should be directed to Ipswich Cemeteries at Warrill Park Lawn Cemetery on (07) 5464 3145. For more information, visit www.ipswichcemeteries.com.au.
All cemeteries are open to the public from sunrise to sunset and are locked outside of these hours.
Warrill Park Lawn Cemetery is entirely a lawn cemetery and is the main cemetery in use.
The Ipswich General Cemetery is a historic, monumental cemetery closed to new burials. There are a limited number of reserve and family plot burials still taking place.
Tallegalla, Stone Quarry and Haigslea Cemeteries are also of historical significance, comprising of both monumental and lawn burial areas. Their rural location provides a peaceful and scenic setting.
Ipswich Cemeteries offer various services relating to these cemeteries including:
A maximum of two vases are allowed on each grave. These vases cannot be made of breakable material (such as glass or ceramic). A selection of cast bronze and stainless steel vases are available for viewing and purchase at Warrill Park Lawn Cemetery.
Plastic vases are available free of charge at Warrill Park Lawn Cemetery.
Fresh flowers are permitted to be placed.
The placement of artificial flowers may be permitted provided they are placed in an approved vase and are effectively secured to such vase in a manner approved by Ipswich Cemeteries. Artificial flowers will be removed once they, in the opinion of the cemetery staff, show signs of fading, deterioration or damage.
No ornaments, garden edging or other materials are permitted to be placed on the grave or garden.
A large range of cast bronze plaques and granite headstones are available for viewing and purchase at Warrill Park Lawn Cemetery.
The placement of photgraphs on lawn plaques is not recommended as they are brittle and are not designed for this purpose. Should you choose to place a photo on a lawn plaque, all care will be taken, however Ipswich Cemeteries takes no responsibility for any damage that may be incurred.
The maximum size allocation for plaques on an adult lawn grave is 700 mm x 500 mm, with only one plaque per grave allowed.
The objective of this group is to get input/feedback from people who have loved ones buried in cemeteries previously operated by Ipswich City Council. Meetings are usually held quarterly and are advertised in the Council information pages of local newspapers.
If you require any further information regarding this subject, please contact Ipswich Cemeteries during business hours on (07) 5464 3145 or email firstname.lastname@example.com


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Join as a member. There's a certificate with your name on it.
After activating "File (Field) Paths" and saving the settings for a (file|image) field, the settings "file_directory" is set to the value entered in the ffp-settings ("file_path").
Modules, relying on "file_directory" (e.g. "Media") therefore fail to upload the files into the correct directories.
Any suggestions on how to fix this? At the moment I undo
$form['instance']['settings']['file_directory']['#access'] = FALSE; (filefield_paths.module L26) in a custom module to allow entering the directory.
Comment #1ericclaeren CreditAttribution: ericclaeren commented
Hi, I have the same problem, when using file with the media module (media selector widget), the file(field)path directory is completely ignored. Could you explain what exactly goes wrong, cause I don't get it.
Comment #2hepabolu CreditAttribution: hepabolu commented
After much time debugging (with my limited knowledge of PHP and Drupal inner workings) I noticed that the Feeds module also has this problem, because it calls file_field_widget_uri somewhere along the line.
I think a better approach would be if filefield_paths intercepts the file_field_widget_uri function and provides a version that takes the different file path location into account.
I'm sorry I'm unable to write such a module.
Comment #3dgtlmoon CreditAttribution: dgtlmoon commented
Comment #4Deciphered CreditAttribution: Deciphered commented
|» Closed (duplicate)
Marking this as a duplicate of #1572206: Is it possible to disable FFP for a certain field?, not because it's the same issue, but because the solution in that issue should resolve this issue (allow you to disable File (Field) Paths on a Media field and set 'file_directory').


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TDF Announces LibreOffice 3.5
The Document Foundation has announced LibreOffice 3.5, the third major release of what they call "the best free office suite ever."
LibreOffice 3.5 is the result of the combined effort of full-time and volunteer hackers, coordinated by the Engineering Steering Committee. According to the announcement, during the past 16 months, an average of 80 developers each month have provided more than 30,000 code commits and a long list of new features. LibreOffice 3.5 is the first release in which the contribution of local communities and associations, such as ALTA in Brazil, has been acknowledged.
New features include: reintroduction and improvement of online update checking, multiline input bar, improved font hinting for high-quality docs, new import filter for Microsoft Visio drawings, and a new filter for PostgreSQL databases.
The Document Foundation (TDF) invites power users to install LibreOffice 3.5 and suggests that more conservative users stick with the LibreOffice 3.4 branch. Corporate users are strongly advised to deploy LibreOffice with the backing of professional support from a company able to assist with migration, end-user training, support, and maintenance. TDF will soon provide a list of certified organizations providing these services.
LibreOffice 3.5 is available from http://www.libreoffice.org/download. The new features and the improvements are described in the infographic.
Issue 201/2017
Buy this issue as a PDF
Kolab Now Integrates Collabora Online
Kolab Now subscribers now have access to Collabora Online.
Endless OS, a Distribution Without Internet
A new version of Endless OS has been released.
GitHub Announces Open Source Friday Program
They encourage people to take time out and work on open source projects on Friday.
System76 Announces Their Own Distro, Pop!_OS
Pop!_OS is based on Ubuntu and uses the Gnome stack.
Linus Torvalds Talks About His Motivation
He never tires of working on the Linux kernel.
Debian 9 Stretches Its Wings
The new release of Debian has a very strong focus on security.
Trojan Turns Raspberry Pi into a Cryptocurrency Mining Device
Two trojans in the wild are targeting Linux machines.
Fedora 26 Beta Comes with New Features
The workstation comes with the latest Gnome desktop environment and support for many application build systems.
Raspberry Pi Foundation Merges with CoderDojo Foundation
The two foundations join forces to expand their efforts to reach young people.
Samba Security Hole Patched but Risk is Bigger
Millions of devices that use Samba Server are vulnerable to attacks.


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The bottom line is mental health is such a terribly spotty field.
mental health experts differ on whether those who suffer PTSD pose a greater threat to themselves or others.
He was told he could return only if, among other things, a mental health professional agreed he did not present a danger.
mental health needs to be taken as seriously as physical health; the two are inseparable.
We should think about mental health more like how we tailor physical training routines.
Physical well-being has an undeniable influence upon one's mental health.
"For health, for your mental health, my boy," rejoined the newspaper man.
The happier, truer, and more wholesome it is, the more really can she help her patient to both bodily and mental health.
This over-working of the brain began to tell upon his mental health.
But mental health and strength are not the inheritance of all.


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Samsung UN40F5000AF
Part Number: UN40F5000
Samsung UN32F5000AF un32f5000afx
Samsung UN22F5000AF un22f5000
Samsung UN50F5000AF un50f5000afxz
Pricing is currently unavailable.
Visit the manufacturer's web site to view their availability. The price is not yet available.* Product and pricing data are sourced from third parties for informational purposes only. We strive to provide correct information, but are not responsible for inaccuracies. Should you find any errors, please help us by reporting it here.


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$ 13.50
These classic orange and black decorated 3" Halloween Surprize Balls make beautiful and memorable Halloween gifts for all ages. Celebrate the joy and surprises of the spooky season with laughter & delight. Unwind layers of colorful crepe paper ribbons to reveal precious vintage inspired keepsakes tucked carefully within this beautifully handmade surprise ball.
A smaller version of our Deluxe Halloween Surprize Ball. Contains 6 prizes. Surprises inside vary by style & may include: vintage-inspired toy, keepsake, charm, gem, sweets, confetti popper, fortune, temporary tattoo, quote, & more.
3" Halloween Surprize Balls are sold individually. If requesting a specific style, please note in the "Special Instructions" field upon checkout. (Children over 3 yrs, small parts.)
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The Story of Surprize Balls - A tale of spontaneity, synchronicity and smiles! TOPS Malibu believes in bringing people together through the art of surprise and the sharing of...
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There are 12 prizes hidden in a Deluxe Surprize Ball. 6 keepsakes in a 3 inch Surprize Ball 4 gifts in a Mini Surprize Ball Marvel in unraveling the element...
$ 19.50
Create fun memories with a Deluxe Striped Surprize Ball wrapped in cello with a bow. Unwind layers of colorful crepe paper ribbons to reveal vintage-inspired keepsakes tucked carefully within this handmade...


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ONLY poems listed here or in the current printed anthology are eligible for the 2016-2017 competition.
What People are Saying
"I learned that I had the ability to capture the attention of an audience and evoke emotion from them. When I recited my first poem in 9th grade for a mock POL class competition, I was incredibly shy and barely audible. But eventually I grew to love sharing the emotions poems gave me."
Chiara Raimondo


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2013: the year of TD wireless?
The latest signals indicate the telecoms regulator may issue 4G licenses as soon as the first quarter of 2013, with China Mobile set to offer its own commercial 4G service shortly afterwards.
Related topics
A flurry of new signals from the public and private sectors are all indicating that TD, a home-grown Chinese technology for third- and fourth-generation wireless mobile services, may finally be gaining momentum after several years of languishing, providing a welcome boost for China Mobile (0941.HK; NYSE: CHL), the technology's main proponent. The latest news bits include word that China Mobile itself is preparing to purchase large volumes of handsets that can operate on the 4G standard known as TD-LTE, and that global smartphone chip leader Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) will roll out a highly anticipated TD chip by the end of the year. From the regulatory end, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), which oversees the telecoms sector, is also reportedly preparing to finalize its spectrum plans for TD-LTE and 4G in general within the next month.
I'll take a look at each of these news bits separately in a moment and try to decipher what they mean. But first I want to say that frankly speaking, this kind of broader push into 4G is long overdue from China. Most of the world's other major markets announced their 4G plans years ago and have all been building 4G networks for the last two years, even as China's three major telcos focused on developing their older technology 3G networks.
The MIIT, which had previously indicated 4G licenses could still be 1-2 years away, must finally be realizing that a major reason China lags the rest of the world in telecoms development is that the country's telcos are constantly one generation behind their global peers due to overly conservative regulation. Accordingly, the MIIT may finally be waking up to the fact that it will need to move a bit more quickly in granting licenses and laying the groundwork for new product development if China ever hopes to become a major telecoms innovator.
Let's look quickly at these three most recent news bits, starting with media reports that China Mobile will soon sharply accelerate its purchasing of TD-LTE smartphones and other devices, with plans to order more than 200,000 such terminals in the fourth quarter alone. In fact, China Mobile has been aggressively developing TD-LTE all along, after its 3G network, based on the related technology called TD-SCDMA, was plagued with problems due to its newness and lack of support from telecoms equipment makers. This latest bullish procurement plan shows China Mobile intends to move quickly ahead with its bigger plan to offer commercial TD-LTE service as soon as next year.
China Mobile's aggressive TD-LTE plans should also get a strong shot in the arm from the highly anticipated roll-out of a high-performance TD-based smartphone chip that Qualcomm plans to roll out by the end of the year, according to other media reports. Perhaps most importantly, the roll-out of this chip will remove the last major obstacle preventing China Mobile from offering a model of Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) popular iPhone that can run on its 3G and 4G networks.
Lastly there's the news bit from the MIIT itself, which has reportedly said it would issue its spectrum allocation plan for TD-LTE and other 4G services within a month, in the latest indication that China Mobile and its two main rivals will receive 4G licenses in the near future. With all these increasingly loud signals in the airwaves, I wouldn't be surprised to see the MIIT issue its 4G licenses as soon as the first quarter of next year, and for China Mobile to start offering commercial 4G service soon afterwards, perhaps by June 2013.
Bottom line: The latest signals indicate the telecoms regulator may issue 4G licenses as soon as the first quarter of 2013, with China Mobile set to offer its own commercial 4G service shortly afterwards.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own. To read more commentaries from Doug Young, click on youngchinabiz.com
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First, a PSA. It's been quiet around here for too long, but I'm happy to say the project that nearly put me in the grave is nearing it's end and things will return to normal here next week. I thank you for your patience and I only wish there was more we could talk about.
But it is Friday, so here are a couple of topics for you to mull over:
- Besides Nocioni and Allen, who's most likely to play overseas from the Sixers if the season is lost?
- Over/under for Marreese Speights' weight when the lockout ends: 330lbs. What's your bet?
- Assuming the season isn't entirely lost and there's an extremely short window for teams to make roster changes and hold an abbreviated training camp. Would the Sixers have an advantage because they won't be installing a new system, they'll have the same coach and most likely very limited turnover in their roster?
Time is yours, folks.
by Brian on Aug 19 2011
Tags: Basketball | Lockout | Pressing Questions | Sixers |
Tags: Basketball | Lockout | Pressing Questions | Sixers |


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Red Rock Bag by Berroco Design Team
Welcome! You are browsing as a guestWould you like to see 27 projects made from this pattern and much more? create a free account What am I missing?
Red Rock Bag
This pattern is available for free.
Berroco yarns for this pattern have been discontinued. Directions are still available.
Our Red Rock handbag features a leather handle and a button closure. (Berroco)
Skill Level: Easy
BERROCO JASPER (50 grs), 1 Hank #3831
Jasper stripes naturally. This means that the stripes will not match up at seams
16" length circular knitting needle, size 7 (4.50 mm)
2 Double pointed needles (dpn), size 7 (4.50 mm)
Three 1" buttons
1 St marker
Waxed thread and a sewing needle
One 3/4" wide x 13" long leather handle with hole on each end from Homestead Heirlooms
Bag is worked from the top down.
Directions call for button loop to be created from thread.
For more information, see: http://archive.berroco.com/exclusives/red_rock/red_r...


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Every time I get behind the wheel, I use the Zero Edge Technology Z-Edge Z3 to record everything happening in front of me. After considering dozens of dash cams for this guide, and ultimately selecting 10 for testing, the Z-Edge Z3 came out solidly on top. It hits the mark in terms of image quality, usability, and value, and it avoids unnecessary features such as GPS and Wi-Fi that are found in many pricier cameras. Instead, it focuses on great image quality and reliable, automatic operation each time you get in your car. Other cameras tick these boxes as well, but none hit them all quite as perfectly as the Z3 while also selling at a great price. In short, it's the best for most people.
We do our best to stay on top of prices.
If something's changed, let us know.
The camera features exceptional 2560×1080 resolution at 30 frames per second, the current maximum available in consumer dash cams and our preferred resolution. It also comes with a 32GB microSD card, a capacity that's both big enough for many people's needs and the largest among the few dash cams that include memory cards at all. While buying your own microSD will set you back about only $15, it's one fewer thing to worry about and makes the package an even better bargain. The image quality reveals crisp detail across all lighting conditions, and the photos and video are so good that you'll have no qualms about sharing the footage via social media if you want to share anything crops up in the camera's generous 145° field of view. (Nearby meteor strike, anyone?) That field of view hits a sweet spot, where the coverage is neither too narrow and excludes the edges, nor so wide that it's hard to get enough detail where it counts. The high resolution we prefer means wider FOVs are managed better, as you can zoom in as necessary when examining footage later.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $150.
The Vantrue OnDash R2 slots into our runner-up position on cost rather than quality. It produces great videos, but it's too expensive compared with the Z-Edge Z3—almost $50 more at the moment before factoring in the cost of the Zero Edge's included microSD card, which the Vantrue lacks. Its images are just a hair too dark compared with the Z3, but they still blow most other dash cams out of the water, leading us to recommend this as a backup if its price drops or the Z3 sells out and you need a dash cam right away. The Vantrue was our top pick in testing until the Z3 arrived late in the process and displaced it.
If you live where temperatures regularly cook your car, we recommend the Spy Tec G1W-CB. It has a number of drawbacks relative to our top pick—a lower-resolution, 1080p camera for one—but it uses a capacitor instead of a battery. Batteries perform poorly in extreme heat, delaying or preventing a camera's boot-up or normal function. The capacitor draws its power directly from the car, but only while the car is running. As a less pricey alternative that should work when it's too hot (and also, in some cases when it's too cold) for a battery-operated dash cam to do its best, we find it meets the bar.
I've been an automotive and consumer-technology journalist for 15 years, contributing not only to The Wirecutter, but also Gear Patrol, Popular Science, Wired, Men's Health, and many other outlets. Within the automotive realm, I've produced content covering both the technology side as well as driver behavior and vehicle safety. Additionally, I'm a photographer who frequently experiments with new camera technology, both still and video.
For this update to our 2014 dash cam guide, I surveyed about 50 cameras, then spent hours working with our narrowed-down selection to see how they performed. Incidentally, this has made me a believer in the technology's use and usefulness—it's now safe to say I'll be using these things for the rest of my driving days, and am looking forward to tracking the technology as it continues to evolve.
You need a dash cam if you're concerned about being the victim of an accident and want documentary footage that you could provide to an insurance company or the police, for a lawsuit, or at a criminal trial. You might be considering one because of a past collision, or you've been too close to too many before. You might also want to record footage as a matter of course to help others (if you spot something happening nearby), help improve road conditions by having graphic examples on hand, or want to monitor the driving habits of someone else with their knowledge (such as a teenager).
Dash cams became popular first in Russia, where insurance fraud is a widespread problem. Drivers installed cameras to show their side of the story when others claimed the driver was at fault. In the United States, the problem has typically been the opposite (though fraud happens, of course): You want to prove what someone else did in a situation to harm you or your car. Our survey of readers shows that's your primary concern.
But there are more entertaining and socially useful purposes, as well. You've almost certainly seen the YouTube footage of meteor strikes (again in Russia) and from police cars. You might enjoy passively filming something strange, amazing, or funny on the road, and want to share it for entertainment or even a taste of viral fame. Or, you might capture an incident you're not directly involved in, and would feel compelled to turn over footage to those involved or the authorities.
Finally, as I discovered within literally one hour of installing a dash cam in my own car, you can also capture incidents that highlight road-safety problems. In the linked video, one driver stops at the end of a merge lane in order to cut across traffic to make a left at the next light, while another car stops dead at a green light and cuts across two lanes to try to make that same left-hand turn. A pickup truck had to swerve twice to avoid each vehicle, and a van and a semi-trailer were forced to apply emergency braking to avoid hitting the second driver—though the audio doesn't reveal the braking. It's an unsafe intersection, and I forwarded this video to the local township.
Because the primary job of dash cams is to protect their owners' interest by documenting what happens in front of them in a wide-angle view, when they offer other features—everything from lane-departure warning to collision alerts to red-light camera warnings—they're usually not that good at them. Most cameras can capture a still photo, and some of the ones we tested do that well. Most also have batteries that will allow limited use while detached from the car, but they work poorly as a camera you want to tote around: They don't fit well in the hand, and the rechargeable batteries won't provide long enough use for most purposes. Dash cams are simply meant to mount on your windshield, power up every time you start the car, and capture video endlessly while driving.
Before proceeding, a word on using the cameras as security watchdogs: They don't particularly excel at this. In theory, most of the cameras can use optical motion detection or G-sensors to "wake up" and start recording if something happens to or around your vehicle. But the odds of them picking up useful information while facing in a single direction is low, and they also require persistent power to do this. That is, they must be on all the time, which in the long run could strain the system and shorten the device's lifespan—in addition to potentially draining your battery.
Keep your devices charged with our pick for the best USB car charger.
Most respondents were uninterested in extra features, like a built-in GPS, lane-departure warnings, handheld use, and Wi-Fi functionality, among other things. We also found that most readers very reasonably hoped to spend around $100 for the camera, though a quarter would go as high as $150. Our fundamental takeaway? Respondents wanted reliable, well-made cameras that require zero manipulation to record video automatically every time they turn on the car, after some initial configuration.
This let us rule out a number of cheap cameras—some of them unbelievably below $20—as they lack the resolution, video and build quality, and other basics we wanted, plus we were skeptical about warranty support at that price. More expensive cameras also abound, but most have far too many unnecessary add-ons, and none beat our ultimate selections in terms of pure video quality. Paying more than $175 just isn't worth the extras you get.
We also shied away from cameras for which we couldn't trace the sourcing or manufacturer. For instance, a camera ostensibly from Philips—the renowned Dutch electronics manufacturer—kept turning up in our searches. But listings to purchase this camera appeared mostly on sites in Singapore, and it was likely a case of the manufacturer legitimately licensing the Philips brand for sale in Asia. While technically it was a "Philips" product, it's not one made under the direct supervision of the brand-name company.
Overall, we used authoritative reviews, conversations with experts, interactions with retailers, and access to company representatives to validate the provenance of any given camera before testing. This included dash cam reviews at key sites: Dashboard Camera Reviews, Techmoan, Car Cam Central, and Dash Cam Talk. We also examined Amazon reviews, which provide signals about a product rather than any definitive answer. For instance, products that have a spate of reviews may have benefited from giveaway programs or paid for reviews. (Amazon has a program to disclose these, and some reviewers voluntarily and properly note it as well.) We also find mismatches between what's described in a review and the product on which page it appears, especially with newly released items.
Finally, we considered new entries to the market, in particular those from widely recognized mainstream manufacturers. Garmin, Magellan, Polaroid, and Cobra all make dashboard cameras now, and we evaluated their products equally among the roster of cameras from the legitimate Asian manufacturers.
Dash cams have a core set of features and specifications that let them perform their primary task. And newer dash cams have raised the bar over our picks in the previous version of this guide. After surveying the field, we set baseline requirements for several areas.
While we kept the same 1080p (1920×1080 pixel) baseline for cameras we tested, our new ideal is 2560×1080—a 21:9 (technically 2:37:1, or 64:27) ratio compared with 1080p's 16:9. This additional resolution captures more of the real estate in front of your vehicle when paired with an appropriate lens and offers useful details when you zoom in. (Even at this higher resolution, it's extremely difficult to capture license plates legibly unless both your vehicle and the one you're looking at are both stock-still and relatively close, such as at stoplights.)
We looked for lenses with a broad field of view (FOV). The models we tested ranged from 120° to 170°. Not surprisingly, there's a sweet spot, and our chosen model, the Z-Edge Z3, hits it with a 145° FOV. Any lower and you'll lose real estate, while larger FOVs risk distortion and a loss of detail.
Capturing detail at high resolution with little distortion doesn't help if the camera's image sensor and processor can't capture details crisply and clearly at a great distance, or across a variety of lighting and weather conditions. It turns out that you don't have to pay a premium for the best video quality. We discarded a number of models that met other feature specs, but had significantly inferior video quality.
There are two primary ways to mount a dash cam to a car's windshield: suction and adhesive. Adhesive mounts permit more discreet placement, so the camera doesn't intrude as much into your view, and it's not as noticeable from the outside. But it also requires precision placement when you install it, since you can't adjust it without a lot of hassle or getting new adhesive material once you stick it on. Many are difficult to remove, as well, requiring a razor blade and patience.
We favor a suction mount, even though it descends lower from the mounting point, because it has two key advantages: You can aim it (and adjust it) easily, and you can remove it quickly if you want to take it down for any reason. (For instance, perhaps you're parking overnight in a dicey area, or you want to take it on a business trip to use in a rental car, or you move it between several of your own vehicles.) Whatever the mount type, you want it to have a high build quality and remain firmly in place once positioned, so that it's not easily jostled if you or passengers accidentally nudge it.
Every camera we tested records automatically while a car's ignition is turned on; recording stops when the ignition is turned off. The cameras all "loop" their recording, as well, so when the memory card fills up, it starts erasing the oldest files. Users can set the camera to record in 1-, 3-, or 5-minute clips, and most cameras have a save button that, when pressed, protects the current segment against deletion. We looked for dash cams that also have an accelerometer to trigger protecting footage when a change-of-velocity threshold indicates an accident or other sudden stop.
Dash cams require power, and many have internal batteries. We find models that have Micro-USB or Mini-USB jacks and an internal battery the best because they can be put in place and removed with the least amount of fuss. It's a plus when models include an appropriate cable and a dual-port USB adapter for a 12-volt car jack, and the best units we tested did. A USB cable lets you use a USB port if your car comes with one; a dual-port adapter lets you plug in other devices along with the dash cam, like a navigation unit, a smartphone (or tablet), or radar detector—without giving up the 12-volt car port entirely.
The dash cams we prefer all include long cables—at least 48 inches—so you're able to snake the cable from the camera, into the car's structure, and behind the dashboard to avoid having the cable hanging conspicuously from the windshield. (If your car has a secondary battery or doesn't cut power to its 12V outlet when the ignition is turned off, you'll need to hardwire a dash cam directly into the car's fuse box, or unplug your dash cam from the outlet every time you leave the car.)
We considered cameras that use capacitor-based power, which only work while a car's power system is on, because battery-powered units perform poorly in extreme weather conditions, which are more typically in already hot areas when a camera is left baking in a car—objects can reach 180°–200°F! Lithium-ion batteries can overheat and need to cool, and suffer in very cold climates when they're too chilled to function right away. In both cases, the battery can degrade over time. However, a battery-backed unit can also be taken outside of the car for brief periods, such as to document accident damage.
There's a flip side to features we think every dash cam should have and our minimum acceptable specification: Those that we felt didn't meet our readers' stated needs and our evaluation—at any price or quality.
After narrowing our list to 10 cameras, we tested each one for everything from packaging and build quality to button and menu configuration to overall design, display organization, ease of use, and—most critically—video quality. Initial testing took place indoors with the cameras plugged into a 12V power supply. This enabled more focused attention on initial setup and menu navigation.
After that, we hit the road with the cameras, using them individually or in pairs so as to eliminate distraction and windshield obstruction. We drove short distances with the full complement of cameras on the right hand side of the windshield—though even that array was still not terribly obtrusive. This was necessary to get footage in identical situations to make apples-to-apples comparisons.
We tested each camera in daylight and at night, in direct sunlight and in shade, and in rain, fog, and overcast skies. During the course of several road trips over the holidays and occasional commutes into New York City and Philadelphia, we racked up scores of hours of use with the cameras. All of them got a fair shake, but the front-runners quickly emerged, and they eventually became our focus.
After the road testing was complete, we pulled the footage off the memory cards for analysis on a PC. We assembled clips and screenshots that portrayed each camera's capabilities and weaknesses across the spectrum of usage conditions. Then we compared the results and narrowed down our selection to the top pick, factoring in value, usability, and overall quality.
Though the Zero Edge Z3 was a late entry in our testing, it impressed us with its high-quality video and build, which is on a par with dash cams that cost almost twice as much. It also includes a 32GB microSD card, making it an even better deal. Combine that with the best mount of any camera we looked at, video footage that is easy to see fine detail with, rock solid build quality, and easy setup, user interface, and installation, and you have a camera that easily beats the competition.
The full and proper name of the camera is the "Zero Edge Technologies Z-Edge 3″ 2560*1080P Full HD Car Black Box Car DVR," but the company lists it on Amazon simply as the Z3. We've seen it go out of stock temporarily as Zero Edge rolls out the slightly pricier Z3P (Z3 Plus) dash cam. We have a few notes about the Z3 Plus in the What to look forward to section, and we plan to look at it in our next round of testing.
Once in place and powered up, you can forget the camera exists until you need it. But you won't want to. The image quality is so good that you'll want to squeak out screen grabs of sunsets, dramatic roadside vistas, and other views that you come across on road trips, but for which it might be impractical to try to shoot on the fly with your smartphone.
Credit for this goes to the camera's excellent sensor, which generates appropriately contrasty footage, but—another case of the Z3 hitting the sweet spot—keeps dark areas from being too dark. They remain balanced enough to present a clean, consistent, and high-fidelity image of the scene ahead of you. Some might interpret the footage as slightly washed-out, but this camera is designed for functionality, not attractiveness. The lighter contrast helps in changing light and low light, and at night.
When we looked at the video on a computer, our pick was crystal clear. Scenes were crisp in the daytime: You could still read highway signs even with direct sunlight behind them. At night, streetlights have minimal halos around them, and the video shows similarly low levels of grain, avoiding a common night-time shooting problem. The camera uses a strategic balance of clarity and contrast to provide the most useful image possible.
We showed the footage to Sebastian Rex, the lead reviewer at Dashboard Camera Reviews. Though Rex differed from us on which product was functionally better, we agreed on the overall quality: "Personally, I find the Vantrue to be a bit sharper, and the Z3 a bit more washed out, with a bit more glare from streetlights and such in night images. Except for the night parking lot picture, where the Z3 seems to be a bit sharper. It's hard to say though just from looking at a couple of still images, [but] the quality is really quite good for both cameras!"
The Z3 has the best suction mount of any model we tested, with a screw-in attachment to the camera body, as opposed to some plastic-slot base options, and a compact, well-built articulating arm extending to the lockable suction mount. Everything feels strong and solid. It also uses our preferred cable configuration: Micro-USB to USB Type-A, and includes a dual-USB 12V adapter setup.
Using the camera is a breeze. The default settings are the best and the most appropriate of the options: maximum resolution of 2560×1080, 5-minute segment lengths, motion detection off, and an acceleration sensor with sensitivity set at medium. The Z3 organizes its buttons on the side, with icons revealing their use; this is better than other cameras that have inconsistent button placement and cryptic functions. For instance, the time and date are easily set via clearly marked buttons. This seemingly straightforward task was a grind on other cameras, highlighted by repeated accidental mis-presses of the wrong buttons—followed by cursing.
The Marietta, Georgia, company provides an excellent consumer experience, far better than most dash cam makers. Everything from the copy on the box to the instructions is clear and concise, and all the functions are precisely explained in the instructions. Inside, the camera is well-protected and in a vinyl wrap and surrounded by foam. This was better than even some of the other top models we tested. The Vantrue, our runner-up, is similarly well-presented, but the G1W-CB, our chosen step-down model, includes vaguely labeled packaging and incomplete instructions with stilted translations.
Unlike most dash cams, the Z3 comes with a high-capacity microSD card—32 GB. You could get away with as little as 8 GB, but the combination of Zero Edge including this card and the package costing much less than competitors of similar quality means you get the benefit of storing much more footage without having to make any trade-offs or spend a dime. You'll find yourself taking more photos and capturing more events for later review, too, as you won't be worrying about looping your video storage even over a long trip. The microSD slot has a cover, which prevents the slot from gathering grit or spitting out the card if it's tapped somehow—it's the only camera that didn't have an exposed microSD slot.
The camera also has the largest screen of any model we tested, with a full 3 inches diagonal, while most cameras ranged between 1.5 and 2.5 inches. This isn't critical for daily use—and you could argue that smaller screens mean less intrusion in your field of vision—but the larger screen allows you to ensure the camera points to the right place, and you can clearly see its interface, with well-organized icons on the LCD indicating the settings and modes. (While many users will want the screen off during daily operation, with just a blinking LED indicating that the camera is recording, I prefer to keep the screen on. It's just satisfying to be able to glance over and see the view ahead being recorded in such crisp clarity.)
We found the Z3 to be such a well-made product, one that met all of our criteria so well, that we considered it even though the company itself is fairly new, and even though we disqualified Zero Edge's original product, the Z1, early in our testing because the video quality was so low. Zero Edge is a young enough company that even its website can be hard to find, but the Z3, which arrived late in our test process, showed considerable improvement over its predecessor. We contacted the firm, based in Georgia, to make sure it had a legitimate point of contact, and beyond our own examination of the product, we showed footage from the Z3 to experts to get their input. If you're concerned about dealing with a relatively unknown firm with a new-to-market product in regards to warranty services or technical support, our runner-up is more expensive but comes from a company with a much longer track record and a much higher online profile. However, that extra peace of mind comes at a premium of $60 or more. Between the build quality, the packing and documentation, and the well-implemented technology features, we feel comfortable recommending the Z3.
While the Z3 is a great dash cam, it's not perfect. Button arrangement and labeling could be better. The gold standard for user interfaces among the cameras we tested is the Cobra CDR-835, which shows text labels of button functions on the LCD screen, varying by what mode you're in. Because users will fiddle with the Z3 only rarely, it would benefit from more help in identifying button use.
Also, the Z3 is only average in terms of size and intrusiveness—its big, 3-inch screen and rectangular design make that unavoidable. But the compact suction mount helps, and it doesn't bother us much. Finally, reflective elements on the front of the camera, notably a silver ring around the lens, might betray its presence to passers-by and other vehicles, making it a potential target for theft.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $150.
If the Z3 sells out or becomes otherwise unavailable, consider the comparably excellent, though substantially more expensive, Vantrue OnDash R2. Its packaging, instructions, and general usability are on a par with the Z3, and its image quality is also top notch. While just as crisp as the Z3, the R2's images have slightly more contrast. This makes them more attractive, but not quite as useful as they could be in different scenarios, as some areas tend to be too dark, and the night vision is also a hair darker.
It also has a slightly wider 170° field of view, which exceeds our preference just a bit. But we're hair-splitting here: Both the R2 and our top pick, the Z3, are sensational cameras. The deciding factors for us came down to cost (the Z3 is about $50 less), and the R2 doesn't come with a microSD card, further increasing the practical cost differential. If you like its slightly better photographic output or you need a dash cam right away and the Z3 is unavailable, we recommend the R2.
While the user interface isn't as great as our other two picks, and it has a much narrower resolution, the Spy Tec G1W-CB, is our pick for extreme weather. It's capacitor-powered system means it'll turn on instantly in boiling hot conditions (as well as freezing cold), where traditional batteries will take time to boot and can lose capacity. It's also cheaper than our top pick—about $40 less. The camera tops out at 1080p resolution, but its image quality is excellent. It has a 2.7-inch screen, high-quality construction, and a matte-black front to minimize reflections and maximize discretion.
We liked the Spy Tec Mini 0806 a lot, due to its solid video quality and a very discreet mounting profile. However, because that discretion is combined with a tricky set of wedges to get its adhesive mount—which we recommend against—to proper aiming angles, we were put off. It's more expensive than our top pick due to unnecessary extra features (GPS and dual microSD slots), and its tiny screen with mostly illegible text doesn't help, either.
The Spy Tec A118-C is another capacitor-powered camera, and also one with an alternative configuration meant to encourage discreet mounting. In this case, though, the camera is designed to sit forward of the rearview mirror, and basically out of view. The problem is that the instructions don't explain very well how to do that, or even how its two separate pieces are meant to fit together. It's a solid 1080p camera that sells for about $80, and its unique shape may be precisely what some users are looking for. But its small screen also has tiny text, and in most mounting positions can't be looked at directly—you have to crane your neck a bit to see the image and access the menus.
Cobra is a well-regarded maker of radar detectors, CB radios, and other mobile technologies, and its Cobra CDR-835 has what we're convinced is the best button arrangement and user interface of all the cameras, with on-screen labels and explanations of hardware buttons depending on where you are in the menu. It was excellent in most lighting conditions—including at night—but its higher price, at $140, just couldn't win us over. A newer model, the CDR-855BT, is now available, and a reviewer for Digital Trends likes its 160-degree viewing angle and great user interface. Unfortunately, this model costs more than our top pick and has a lower-resolution camera, so we can't name it as a pick.
The Polaroid PD-G55H is generally good, with excellent color rendition and detail, but it records too-dark video. This makes identifying scenes a challenge in low light. It's also large and clunky, with a gloss-blue front that's mildly reflective. It includes GPS, which we don't think is useful, as well as a sensor-based lane-departure warning system, which we found shrill and exceptionally imprecise. The PD-E53H—once the least expensive of any camera we tested—has acceptable video at 1080p, but the images are fuzzy overall. When you can spend the same for tack-sharp quality, there's no argument for this model. (You might be comforted by the Polaroid brand name, but the current company has no connection other than the name with its storied past.)
There are two other cameras that we also rated as competent performers, but without much distinction. The Rexing F9 is apparently a repackaged variant of the G1W line of cameras, and we indeed found its image quality to be equally good as that camera. The Transcend DrivePro 200 has Wi-Fi and is generally very good for night vision, but it washes out daytime footage unacceptably.
Finally, we took a look at Garmin's most recent entry, the Dash Cam 35. Garmin's products are among the priciest on the market, but they're packed with features, and makers lean on the company's reputation for quality and durability. We ruled it out because it baffles us with omissions: Information on screen is scant and instructions are so terse as to be nearly non-existent. It also has an adhesive mount that, while it permits full articulation of the camera courtesy of a ball/socket connection, it is also the hardest to remove. If you're not careful you can break either your windshield or your arm—or so it seemed when we tried to remove it. The Garmin does have excellent build quality and perfectly good 1080p image quality, and it features collision alerts, lane-departure warnings, and alerts for red light and speed cameras courtesy of its updateable onboard database and GPS receiver. If you want that stuff, go for it—but those pricey add-ons are not essential enough to win our recommendation, and we think 1080p is no longer the resolution standard to which dash cams should aim.
While 2560×1080 is the new minimum resolution we think is acceptable for most people, we also think cameras will creep up in specs with better optics and higher resolutions, and prices of current models will drop. We'd like to see more attention paid to reliability, because a permanently mounted dash cam experiences harsh conditions, especially continuous, extremely high temperatures.
We also hope that one day manufacturers will introduce a form of image stabilization to further sharpen the image, and enable even long-range license-plate legibility.
Zero Edge, the company that makes our top pick, now offers the pricier Z3P (Z3 Plus) dash cam. The new model has a higher-resolution camera (2.5K Ultra HD, versus the Z3's 2K) and a broader field of view (its 155-degree viewing angle just barely trumps the 145-degree viewing angle of the Z3). We've noticed that stock of the Z3 has become thinner as the new camera becomes more widely available. We will be looking to see if the new version's features justify the increase in price soon.
In May 2017, Anker released its $100 Roav DashCam. The DashCam has a 2.4-inch LCD screen, shoots in Full HD 1080p at 30 frames per second, and sticks to your windshield with an adhesive mount. It also has built-in Wi-Fi support to send recordings to your phone or laptop. We'll look into the Roav DashCam soon.
We do our best to stay on top of prices.
If something's changed, let us know.
Splurge on the tools of your craft or trade.


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I'm happy to announce that my newest release, This I Promise You, is now available on Amazon and B&N!
For those who may be wondering, this is the sequel to Tempt Me at Midnight featuring Quentin and Lexi. After the release of Seducing of Wolf, I heard from so many people who wanted to know why the novel took place before Quentin and Lexi became a couple. They wanted to know how the Reddicks were doing and whether they had started a family. Although I did provide an update on them in my 2012 novella "A Holiday Affair" (Merry Sexy Christmas anthology), many people had never read that story or the anthology.
This I Promise You started out as a short update that turned into a full-length novel. It was so much fun to revisit Quentin and Lexi, as well as the Wolf Pack and Morehouse Nine.
I will eventually continue the Wolf Pack series with books for Manning's brothers, as well as Sterling and Asha. In the meantime, look for the official kickoff of the Morehouse Nine series featuring Percy Sheldon and Summer Austin (Lexi's sister).
I hope you will enjoy This I Promise You! Thank you for your continued love and support!


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Patrick has a rough night with Mistress Robyn. (Poor soul.)
Category: Fall Out Boy - Rating: R - Genres: Erotica,Humor - Warnings: [R] - Published: 2008-07-16 - Updated: 2008-07-16 - 1023 words - Complete
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Lomography is a globally active organisation dedicated to experimental and creative visual expression, a playful combination of lo-tech and hi-tech, and a cultural institution involved in commercial photography and design. It is dedicated to the unique imagery and style of analogue photography, and well as the continuation of its development. Produce lo-fi, dreamy images on 35mm film with this smaller version of the Diana F+, available now in a noir.
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building a game layer on top of the world
Alumnus and entrepreneur Seth Priebatsch [Junior '98, Intermediate '02-03] is taking his mobile gaming company, SCVNGR (pronounced "scavenger"), to new heights. In fact, he plans to make SCVNGR "a game layer on top of the world." The premise of SCVNGR — the game, the platform, and the company itself — is to "discover new places, new things, and to share your experiences with friends." Talk about a mission that hits close to home.
SCVNGR is a location-based, mobile social game that anyone can play. Participants "go places, do challenges, and earn points." Seth believes that one of the things that has made SCVNGR so successful is its simplicity. The company offers the following explanation of how it works:
"You visit a place, say your favorite burrito shop, open up the SCVNGR app and are shown a list of challenges. One challenge might ask you to snap a pic for a couple points. Another to solve some location-based riddle that the owners of the shop have added. And yet a third to do the tin-foil origami challenge, where you must carefully unwrap your burrito and create an origami sculpture out of foil. Snap a photo of your creation for three points!"
Build up enough points and earn rewards — a mini burrito, for example, at your favorite dive. Straightforward, fun, delicious. What's not to like? People are playing SCVNGR around the globe. By early 2011, the company surpassed more than a million players.
SCVNGR is also wildly popular at the corporate level. Businesses, ranging from local coffee shops to large universities (participating businesses include Sony Pictures, the Smithsonian Museums, the Celtics, Zip Car, and more than 100 colleges and universities) are engaging customers by developing fun, creative challenges for them to complete. More than a thousand institutions are building on SCVNGR. "It's powerful enough," Seth says, "that we can see that it hooks people into these dynamics, pulls them back to the same local businesses over and over, creates huge loyalty, and is able to drive meaningful revenue and fun to the businesses." Players and businesses alike are reaping the rewards of this deceptively simple, inventive gaming application.
An inventor and entrepreneur from a young age (he launched his first start-up at age 10 — a professional lemonade stand for which he secured a permit from the city of Boston to set up shop on Newbury Street and managed to earn nearly $1,000 a day), Seth's latest enterprise is by far his most successful. Initially backed with $730,000 of early venture funding from Highland Capital Partners, SCVNGR later received $4 million in funding from Google Ventures, and most recently secured $15 million from European firm Balderton Capital. Seth says there were about 20 firms competing to invest in SCVNGR in this latest round, and he spent a long time negotiating the right deal. Balderton, he says, is "an awesome fit." The alliance with a European company that has so much global experience is perfectly timed with Seth's goal to take SCVNGR "big internationally."
For now, though, Seth is keeping it local. He grew up in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston and currently works with his team about a mile and half away in Cambridge. At company headquarters, which he describes as a "26,000-square-foot palace," Seth goes by the title "Chief Ninja" and can usually be found barefoot and in one of his six orange polo shirts, a testament to the fact that although this young entrepreneur is engaged in serious work (Seth has been known to work for 96 hours straight and to regularly sleep in the office), he isn't taking himself too seriously. Other job titles at SCVNGR include Chief Rockstar, Pixel Czar, and King of Bling, so it's clear that a sense of humor and a bit of irreverence are SCVNGR job requirements. There are currently 55 employees at SCVNGR, six times the staff that were at this time last year. And just over two years ago, SCVNGR was a company of one.
Both SCVNGR and its Chief Ninja are receiving due accolades in the press, including several articles on technology news websites and in the New York Times, as well as a recent mention in Boston Magazine. The company has also engaged in fundraising and PR work, doing a promotion in Times Square on New Year's Eve, partnering with American Eagle to raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters, as well as a promotional giveaway with Coca-Cola.
As impressive, Seth has been invited to be a keynote speaker for some major technology and innovation events. Last summer, he was asked to speak at the 2010 TED Talks in Boston (TEDxBoston 2010), an event organized by "a team of executives committed to fostering a culture of innovation and sharing revolutionary ideas with citizens around the world." Seth's TED Talk insisted that "building a game layer on top of the world," is a powerful and significant objective for the next decade. It is the important next step, he asserts, now that the last decade's work of establishing a framework of social connection is complete ("It's called Facebook," he jokes). Seth is clearly excited about this mission, both on the micro-level of SCVNGR and on a much larger one. He stresses that this next decade of "building the game layer" will require collaboration, and he invites us all to take part. "Let's all build it together. Let's do it well — and have fun playing." The executives at TEDxBoston 2010 "sought out luminaries who hail from the local area, are driven to make the world a better place, and have developed viable business models for implementing their game-changing ideas." This is one Exploration alumnus who is doing that... quite literally.
Seth was also asked to be a present an hour-long keynote address at the South by Southwest Conference (SXSW) held in early March in Austin, http://acheterdufrance.com/ Texas. Seth's talk was a kickoff to "five days of compelling presentations by the brightest minds in emerging technology." The interactive address about the powerful implications of "the game layer" to a crowd of more than 2000 people was very well received. Seth's talk included audience participation in a live collaborative game, which resulted in a $10K donation from SVNGR to the National Wildlife Foundation for a job well done (this "win" had quite an incentive). The response in the press to the SXSW presentation has been outstanding, and both Seth and SCVNGR have benefited from the buzz.
Named one of the "top young entrepreneurs to watch" by mashable.com, this talented, opportunistic young man with a laudable affinity for the color orange (the signature hue for both SCVNGR and Exploration) is ready for the next level (see "LevelUp" sidebar at right). A trailblazer with keen business sense, Seth has bottomless energy for ideas, work, and--perhaps most importantly--play.
To learn more about Seth, SCVNGR, and to follow the achievement and antics of both, visit the SCVNGR "blag", follow them on twitter, or "like" them on Facebook.
Published February 21, 2011


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Diane Knott, 48
KEMPVILLE -- Funeral services will be held 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23 at the Hackett Chapel of Sanderson Funeral Home for Ms. Knott, 48, of Watertown.
Survivors include: daughter Jasmine Chandler Caray and husband Casey of Villa Rica, GA; parents Larry and Frances Knott of Watertown; brothers Doug (Kathy) Brown of Lebanon, Chris (Rhonda) Knott of Difficult; grandchildren Alyssa Chandler, Jacob Lewis and Caden Caray. Pallbearers include: Gary Allen, Justin Niznik, Steven, Mike, Ralph and Draper Cook.
Arrangements by Sanderson Funeral Home of Kempville.


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Nine months ago, Donna Smith and her husband, Steve, opened their catfish restaurant, Dip Net. The dining room, once an auto body shop, has been redesigned with refurbished wood and tin. A chandelier made of Tabasco bottles, created by Smith, her husband and their oldest son, Luke, acts as a center piece to the country-style design, and a variety of antique windows and doors, used as wall décor, add an elegant finish.
Smith grew up outside San Antonio and her husband was raised in Fort Worth. They met in San Antonio and have been married almost 28 years. They moved to Hopkins County 24 years ago and have two children, 18-year-old Luke and 14-year-old Drake.
Smith and her husband had been considering opening a new restaurant for a while. They opened their first restaurant, Big Smith's BBQ and a barbecue catering company, 23 years ago. Since then, Smith said they have wanted to build a restaurant that would have the "wow" factor.
"We had all these ideas of how to do the interior of a restaurant dining room," Smith explained, "to make a dining room that Sulphur Springs people would be able to take their guests, and their guests would go, 'wow, this is a neat place.' It took us nine months to do this dining room. It took a lot to put it together. We just felt like Sulphur Springs needed something that was different from anything else."
For months, Smith and her husband listed possible names for their new restaurant. They went through each name, weighing the pros and cons of each, before settling on Dip Net. They looked at several different buildings downtown, but Smith says they couldn't find anything that appealed to them.
"A big problem in town was none of the places had parking — you had to share with other people," Smith said. "Customers shouldn't have to walk two blocks to get to your business. Our real estate lady suggested this place. We came and looked at it and made an offer."
The owner of the former auto shop accepted the Smith's offer, and Dip Net opened in November 2012.
Smith noted that Dip Net customers come from the Mount Pleasant, Mineola and Tyler areas in addition to Hopkins County patrons. Two men from Tyler stopped by after hearing about the interior of the dining room and the quality of the food. They took a menu intending to bring their wives back with them soon. Smith says one of the reasons so many people come to their restaurant is because of their ability to offer tableside service to their customers.
"We constantly were hearing people complain that all the fish places were buffets," Smith said. "People were telling us they didn't like going to a buffet, because they couldn't sit down as a family and visit with each other. Someone's constantly getting up. At Dip Net, they don't have to constantly get up to get their own food. The waitress will bring it to them."
All of the recipes they use in both of their restaurants and catering company have been created by members of the Smith family over the years.
"The four of us can get in the kitchen, and we start playing with spices," Smith explained. "We'll have a bowl of this mix of spices, and a bowl of this. Sometimes we'll have eight different bowls with a different mix of spices.
"There are times," Smith continued, "that we'll play with a recipe for a few days, and then we'll back off of it. Sometimes, we'll wake up at night and go 'a-ha,' and we'll come in that day, and fix it and it'll be perfect.
Smith said the opening of Dip Net affected her family in a big way. After her eldest son was born, she moved the office for Big Smith's and the catering company to her home, where she was a stay-at-home mom until a year and a half ago. She and her husband never left their children with a babysitter, so unless the boys were at school, Smith was in charge of their care. Now that her boys are older, Smith spends many hours of the day at Dip Net.
"We were always there," Smith explained. "One of us was always there with our kids in everything they did. Now, I'm working more hours. I'd been working, but I had also been a stay-at-home mom for years."
Both of the Smith children have grown up helping their parents in the restaurants. The eldest, Luke, began working at Big Smith's when he was 14 and presently works as an employee of Dip Net. The youngest, Drake, started working this year.
"At 14, they're not really on the schedule," Smith explained. "But when we're shorthanded, we'll have them fill in here and there. They learned everything from the dishwashing all the way up. Luke, now that he graduated high school, is starting to learn office work. He knows every end to both of the restaurants, and now he's starting to learn about the bookkeeping. Drake pretty much knows both of the kitchens real well, and he just loves working in the kitchen."
Although Smith says it would be nice if her boys decided to remain in the restaurant business, she wants her boys to pursue their own goals.
"Our dream was to have a restaurant business," Smith said. "That restaurant grew into a catering company and then another restaurant. We've always said to our boys, 'We decided to go into the restaurant business; we decided to go into the catering business. That's what we wanted for us.' If that's what they want, then they'll play a big part in the restaurants and help run them, but if that's not what they want, then whatever they want to do, I'm behind them 100 percent. They need to go do what will make them happy, because if they're not happy, they're not living. I don't want them to live my dream; I want them to live their dream."
Last spring, Smith says the outside seating area was very popular. When the weather cools down, Smith says they turn off the air and heating in the dining room and open the three sets of doors leading to the outside tables. Smith says the idea came from her memories as a child in San Antonio.
"Back in San Antonio, the ice houses, which are convenience stores, would have big roll-up doors," Smith explained. "When they opened those doors, it was like a free feeling, like everything was open and calm and fresh. When we opened all three sets of doors here, that's what it felt like."
Smith and her husband agree that if given the opportunity to go back and reopen Dip Net, they would do it again. At the moment there are no plans to open a third restaurant, but Smith and her husband are keeping their options open.
"We've got ideas," Smith said. "But every hour of the day is taken. I could easily put together a menu for another place that's totally different from barbeque or catfish."
Recently, Smith and her husband entered the US Foods Next Top Product recipe contest. Of the four recipe categories, Smith entered their chipotle tartar sauce into the sauces category. Winners will be chosen from each US foods division and regional winners will be chosen by online voting.
Eight regional finalists will then compete in Las Vegas, Nev. for cash and a restaurant makeover, a prize package worth $20,000 as well as the title of Next Top Product. For more information about the contest, visit usfoods.com/food/next-top-product-contest. Online voting for regional winners will begin August 26 through September 20.
Dip Net is located at 4858 S. Texas Highway 154, and is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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Tourist Spots in Cagayan Valley
From Wikipilipinas: The Hip 'n Free Philippine Encyclopedia
This is a listing of major tourist attractions found in the Cagayan Valley region.
Province of Cagayan
- Callao Cave - Located just outside Peñablanca town proper, this cave has seven chambers which are all explorable. The guide says that there are more than seven chambers but the others are not yet open to the public. The cave has great rock, limestone and mineral formations. It also has two skylights and a man-made chapel inside Chamber 2.
- Pinacanauan River - The river can be seen from Callao Cave. It offers boat rides and rafting, kayaking and swimming.It don't have running water like other rivers
- Basilica Minore of Our Lady of Piat - Found in the town of Piat, this basilica houses the famous and miraculous image of Our Lady of Piat, which was brought to the Philippines from Macau in 1604 by the Dominican friars. The image is also known as the Black Mary.
- Calvary Hills - This is a favorite pilgrimage site during the Lenten Season since it has larger than life concrete statues of the 14 Stations of the Cross. It is located on top of an 11 hectare rolling hills in Iguig.
- Buntun Bridge - This is the longest river bridge in the Philippines connecting Tuguegarao City proper and the town of Solano. The bridge crosses the famous Cagayan River.
Batanes Islands
- House of Dakay. This traditional Batanes house is one of the only five remaining structures that withstood the 1918 earthquake which leveled the town of Ivana to the ground. It was constructed by Luisa Estrella in 1887, and later on she gave the house to her nephew Jose Dakay Estrella. The house is made of limestone walls and cogon roof.
- Lighthouses of Batanes. The lighthouses of Batanes are being setup in strategic locations in different parts of the province, providing fishermen a guide while exploring the nearby seas. Climbing these towers also provide the tourist a good view of almost the entire province.
- Mount Iraya. Usually covered by clouds, this dormant stratovolcano can be climbed by mountaineers in about five hours and descended in three. It is a primary forest that is of great interest to ecologists and environmental scientists.
- Sabtang Island. Though the province of Batanes makes one feel that he has left the rest of the world behind, Sabtang Island, north of Basco, further increases the feeling. The lifestyle is more laid back and traditional, and the scenery is more beautiful, with the island's limestone-house villages, rocky coastlines and small beaches.
Isabela Province
- Magat Dam Tourism Complex. Once the biggest dam system in Asia, Magat Dam offers the tourist a variety of water-based activities, such as fishing, boating, and water skiing, among others. The plant is accessible through jeepney and bus stationed on Santiago City.
- Sta. Victoria Caves. These caves feature naturally formed lattices and rock formations ideal for sightseeing. The nearby Pinzal Falls also offers the tourist recreational activities such as swimming and horseback riding. The park is 15 km from Ilagan town proper.
- Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park. This natural park is the largest protected area in the Philippines, with more than 300,000 hectares of rainforest. With its rich biodiversity it is one of the top 10 biodiversity hotspots in the world, and is the habitat of endangered species such as the Philippine Eagle and the Cloud Rat.
- St. Mathias Church. A declared National Historical Landmark, this unique ultra-Baroque church is famed for the extensive use of baked clay in its finishing and ornamentation, as well as its cylindrical bell tower. Traces of Chinese ancestry are also evident on its architecture.
- San Pablo Church. The Church of San Pablo, built in 1624, is the oldest church in Isabela. Its six-layer belfry made from adobe bricks is also the tallest in Cagayan Valley.
Original content from WikiPilipinas. under GNU Free Documentation License. See full disclaimer.