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Im at 24 weeks into my pregnancy and im very stressed. Since I got pregnant or 3 months before we got pregnant, my husband was laid off from his work. I was the only one who supported us. He barely speak english so he can't really find job that fits him. I was understanding and took care of our problems. He doesn;t even know how i handle things. I had to borrow money from family and friends in order to survive, sometimes i wouldnt have money for food. Now i have to stop working in a week and he just started construction job that's going to last month. He already started complaining that he is tired. He doesnt care for me and my baby, he just sleeps. If i want to talk to him about how i feel, he just gets mad. I seem to find my self crying a lot recently. His parents ask us for money from our country and he doesn;t let them fully understand that we are broke and pregnant. His parents may think im selfish not sending them money. What shoudl i do.Im unhappy in my marriage
a BabyCenter member
Asked 9/15/12


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By Emily Wagster Pettus
Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant of Brandon continues to be the top fundraiser in the race for Mississippi governor, with less than a month to go before the Aug. 2 primaries.
In the race for lieutenant governor, Republican Tate Reeves of Flowood, who's in his second term as state treasurer, has still collecting the most money.
Candidates filed their most recent campaign finance reports Friday, to show money raised and spent through June 30.
Reeves reported spending nearly $1.3 million this year and having more than $1.4 million cash on hand. Among Reeves' contributors is state Sen. Billy Hudson of Hattiesburg, who gave $10,000.
Five-term state Sen. Billy Hewes III of Gulfport, who's also in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor, reported spending $1.4 million and having $567,289 on hand.
His father, Billy Hewes Jr. of Gulfport, has given $7,300 cash and has made a $100,000 loan to the campaign. Among the other big contributors to the Hewes campaign is longtime Republican money man W.D. Mounger of Jackson, who gave $25,000.
The lieutenant governor's race will be decided, for all practical purposes, by the two-person Republican primary. No Democrat is running. Two Reform Party groups are trying to get a candidate on the Nov. 8 general election ballot, but Reform candidates have no history of financing significant statewide campaigns in Mississippi.
Source: http://www.tatereeves.com/news/hattiesburg-american-bryant-reeves-still-at-top-with-funds

subset: commoncrawl


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Taylor Swift Debuts "Eyes Wide Open" in Auckland: Watch Now!
Performing her heart out, Taylor Swift was busy rocking out at the Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand on Sunday (March 18).
The county cutie looked amazing through her numerous outfit changes, sporting everything from a white lace dress to a bright red sparkling frock with cowboy boots.
During the course of the gig, Miss Swift spoke to the audience leading into her "The Hunger Games" soundtrack "Eyes Wide Open" live premiere, saying, "This next song is from the soundtrack of 'The Hunger Games'. I was luck enough to have, um, two songs on that soundtrack, so I'm really excited about that."
With "Safe & Sound" being Taylor's other movie-made song, she told Rolling Stone that writing about someone else's life was a nice change, explaining, "It's pretty intense writing about my own life, my own struggles. It was almost like a vacation to get to write from someone else's perspective."
Enjoy the pictures of Taylor Swift performing live on stage at Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand (March 18).
Photo Credit: Getty Images


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In the mass chaos that comes along with the Fashion's Night Out event in New York City, Emma Roberts and Chord Overstreet were spotted making a quick exit on Thursday (September 8).
The "Valentine's Day" beauty and her "Glee" guy attempted to sneak past the paparazzi as they departed the John Varvatos soiree and hopped into an awaiting taxi cab.
Enjoying some well-deserve pampering, Emma Roberts hit up a Los Angeles, California nail salon for an afternoon mani-pedi appointment yesterday (August 23).
The 20-year-old "Scream 4" actress looked adorable as she was polished up in a super-cute purple nail lacquer, wearing a loose-fitting striped sweater, beige-colored skinny jeans and over-sized red bag to her midday beauty stop.
They sure know how to put on a show, and the cast of "Glee" has released a new music video for Fashion's Night Out - which takes place on September 8th this year.
The talented cast filmed and recorded the creative offering to David Bowie's song "Fashion" while it premiered during a rebroadcast of a Season 2 episode on Tuesday night (August 23).
Kicking off their week with a lunch date, Emma Roberts and Chord Overstreet were spotted out to eat in West Hollywood yesterday afternoon (August 22).
The "Glee" guy and his "Hotel for Dogs" date hit up the celebrity-popular Joan's on Third for some delicious grub and looked plenty affectionate toward one another.
The September issue of Vogue magazine is getting a harmonious upgrade- the stars of "Glee" are featured in a fabulous pictorial.
There's an amazing range of photos depicting our favorite television stars in some seriously high fashion hijinks, and the accompanying interview is quite telling.
With their relationship in full bloom, Emma Roberts and Chord Overstreet looked ever the happy couple during a trip to Disneyland in Anaheim, California on Monday (August 15).
Drawing one of the largest crowds in recent memory, the stars of "Glee" gathered together for the "Glee: The 3D Concert Movie" premiere in Los Angeles on Saturday evening (August 6).
Taking their romance for a ride, Emma Roberts and her beau of a couple weeks Chord Overstreet were spotted spending time together at the 14th Annual Super Saturday Event, in Watermill, New York yesterday (July 30).


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To make an enquiry or if you have any questions Click Here
A Little About The All-new Renault Kadjar
Robust, dynamic styling, assertive line and an aggressive grille... The All-New Kadjar leaves a lasting impression. With fluid lines and athletic shoulders, the Kadjar is very easy on the eye. Offering sculpted and enveloping rear lights, a "C" shaped LED light guide on the daytime running lights, and light 17" and 19" alloy wheel rims, the Kadjar asserts itself with authority and distinction, proud of its innovative lighting signature.
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Additional £1,250 deposit contribution is available when taking out Renault finance on a Kadjar, Captur, Clio and All-New Megane. Finance provided by Renault Finance, PO Box 149, Watford, WD17 1FJ. Subject to status. Indemnities may be required. UK residents only (excludes the Channel Islands). Over 18s. Terms and conditions apply. Offer based on 6,000 miles per annum, excess mileage 8p per mile inc. VAT. Offer cannot be used with other scheme offers and is available on new vehicles when ordered between 1st November 2016 and 9th November 2016 and registered before 30th November 2016. Hartwell PLC reserve the right to cancel or amend all offers without prior notice. Not to be used in conjunction with any other offer.


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Welcome back, as we continue reviewing the ITV series Agatha Christie's Poirot. (For previous posts, see: series 1 – 6, series 7 – 8, series 9). Read on …
June 17, 2011
"Agatha Christie's Poirot": Series Ten & Eleven ReviewPosted by therebelprince under Poirot | Tags: agatha christie, aridane oliver, crime fiction, David Suchet, David Yelland, Harriet Walter, hercule poirot, itv, Mark Gattis, Richard Hope, Zoe Wanamaker |
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Death is part of life and is a profoundly transformative transition for everyone involved.
We support an individual during this very important stage of life by helping them to come to a place of inner peace, balance and harmony.We offer "Exercise in Consciousness" to help those in this transition, using light, so all fears and grief can be released and the individual can recognize their purpose and the Soul's choice, making this passage a passage of expansion, exhilaration and freedom.If someone has already passed, we help the spirit go into the light-- bringing light and awareness to assisting in the transition of dying.We also help caretakers to help the dying person be released into the light and release any lingering residues.
For The Light Institute, The Nizhoni Institute, and The Sanctuary of Light to continue and grow in the world.
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Investor Roundtable
Video: Are investors getting too confident? Add to ...
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Markets may not be heading off a cliff, but the Roundtable team would advise a little caution
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Could Spanish crisis have ripple effects in Canada?
The lessons from Facebook's rocky IPO
Facebook: In the same league as Apple and Google?
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Is Canadian debt as bad as Mark Carney says?
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What have we learned from Warren Buffett?
Alcoa: A harbinger for better-than-expected U.S. earnings?
Can markets stand without the policy crutch?
Growth, bonds and China: Market themes for the second quarter
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Banks will struggle with earnings in 2012
Credit cards are worse than you think


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Orgia Daemonicum is a somewhat different beast than the previous Thou Art Lord albums, in not necessarily for a change in genre, then for the slightly more organic production aesthetics. They use this punchy, springy guitar tone here that gives the album more of a black/thrash aesthetic than the more blustering, symphonic theatrics of Eosforos or Apollyon. Strangely enough, this is also the album that reminds me of Sakis Tolis' other, more prominent band, Rotting Christ. If you took Rotting Christ and condensed them into a more thuggish, thrashing beast, it might turn out quite like what I'm hearing on this.
Not that the little eccentricities of this duo's past have entirely abandoned their modus operandi, but they all feel more subdued, like subtle guitars layered in for ambiance in straight, chugging black thrashers like "An Apparition of Vengeance". There are a number of the tracks that use a lot of the familiar Rotting Christ counter-melodies off the straight, hammering rhythm guitar, such as "Hecate Unveiled", "Necromantic", "The Gnostic Code". But the Greeks also branch out a bit, with a slower, ritual chuggernaut in "The Royal Invocation of Apophis" or some straight shots of eerie melodic death in the title track. At best, though, the band will break into this great, ripping thrash riff reminiscent of Slayer ("He, the Great Worm") and really bind together the wider dynamic range into a fit of sheer headbanging rage.
Almost as if to mirror their stylistic deviation here, they include a cover of Onslaught's "Power from Hell", off the album of the same name. Actually sounds quite good with Magus Wampyr's charismastic gutturals, and once more I have to point out that I love the guitar tone, not to mention the inflections of atmosphere they hurl under the riffs with some synthesizer/choirs. This all helps top off what I might consider the most 'fun' of Thou Art Lord's efforts, even if I enjoy the music from all its predecessors more. It's clear that the band did not wish to merely repeat itself, and so the change is welcome, but there's just not much food for thought here. Tense, coiled fists to the face without catchy enough notation to resonate for long.
Thou Art Lord is as you may know a black metal band with some of the most famous "stars" of the Greek metal scene, and you can see that with their two main members like Sakis the vocalist of Rotting Christ and Magus the vocalist of Necromantia.
Now the review: Orgia Daemonicum is the latest effort from the Greek black metal kings, widely known for their main bands. This album shows that there is still plenty of good metal out there, and that the scene still alive. One of the most interesting things about this album is the sound quality. It's raw but at the same time it manages to sound clear, and the listener won't have problems because every instrument can be heard.
Another interesting thing about this album are the lyrics. The lyrics are written in a Satanist way (Which is good) and sometimes it makes the listener feel like they're in the middle of a ritual calling for Lucifer, like in the song "Royal Invocation of Apophis". The guitar work is outstanding and these guys never seem to run out of riffs and it's also needless to say that these riffs are catchy as hell. The drumming in this album is totally kick ass. Akis did a wonderful job on the drums. Every song is well played, and it's not only blast beats like many black metal bands do most of the time. Last but not least is the cover of Onslaught's Power from Hell; this is the kind of cover that in my opinion metal bands should be doing covering some awful pop bands.


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Walt Disney Pictures is bringing back the creative team of "The Game Plan" to work on its new family comedy "Pool Rats" together.
Continuing its commitment in providing entertainment appropriate for the whole family members, Walt Disney Pictures is developing a new family comedy titled "Pool Rats" and has appointed the creative team behind its forthcoming flick "The Game Plan" to work on the project.
Being so, Andy Fickman thus is reuniting scribes Nichole Millard and Kathryn Price to join forces in writing the screenplay for the flick, which he will also direct. Meanwhile, Mark Ciardi and Gordon Gray will join them once again to handle producing matters via their Mayhem Pictures.
Project is said to be a semiautobiographical story inspired by Fickman's wild times coaching a neighborhood league swim team during a summer that he says changed both his life and his swimmers. Despite the fact that the real events took place in Houston in the 1980s, the movie will be set in present-day instead.


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Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co has advised the owners of Kennet Equipment Leasing on its sale to a new fund raised by European fund manager STAR Capital Partners.
As part of the deal, STAR has put in place a total funding line of more than £100m.
Kennet Equipment Leasing, a UK equipment finance broker to small and medium-sized enterprises, was acquired via the STAR Finance Partnership vehicle — a fund established for the purpose of and to consolidate the asset finance broker market.
Head of enterprise Andrew Lawton Smith led the Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co team, which also included directors Jonathan Segal (regulatory and finance) and Chris Towle (corporate).
The team worked alongside KPMG Corporate Finance in Birmingham, led by Stephen Craik and Khush Purewal.
STAR was advised by Slaughter and May (Mark Horton and Chris Cowley).


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Thursday, July 24, 2014 - 1:00pm to 3:30pm
Thursday, July 24 • 1:00 - 3:30pm • $90 (Mystery Writers Conference Participants) or $125 (General Public)
Ripped From the Headlines:
Turning News into Fiction
Turning News into Fiction
The best plots come from life. In the headlines everyday, we see stories that can be adapted to dozens of different times and places, given different endings, and more. Participants will learn how to take a current news story and adapt it to work in a story set a hundred years ago or in the distant future. The class will discuss what elements to keep and which to change. Learn how to retell great disasters, conspiracies, romances or crimes, in a totally different setting. This writing exercise will force the imagination to work overtime. Loads of detailed examples from Anne's own experiences will provide context throughout the class.
Anne Perry is an acclaimed English author of historical detective fiction, known for her Thomas Pitt and William Monk series. She has also written a series of YA novels and a number of short stories including "Heroes," which won the 2001 Edgar award for best short story.


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Bigger. Faster. Stronger.
Throughout the summer, West Torrance running back Barry Thomas bought into the weight lifting that running backs coach Jonathan Hokama had been preaching.
Thomas did not want to be just another serviceable running back in a spread offense. Thomas wanted to redefine the role completely.
"It's my senior year, and I wanted to show that in the spread, you can run the ball too," Thomas said.
So Thomas was all in, accepting Hokama's challenge. Soon the 5-foot-11, 195-pound Thomas made the 1,000-pound club in the weight room.
A star was unleashed.
"Coach Hokama said if I get strong, people will bounce off me, and it's paying off. I have him to thank for that," Thomas said. "I feel strong when I run the ball. I feel powerful."
It did not take long for Thomas to notice the difference.
Thomas leveled a Culver City defender on a run in the season opener that drew an "Ooooh" from the crowd, and Thomas knew he was poised for a big season.
"I trucked the dude," Thomas said. "Right then, I knew. That was weight room."
Thomas enjoyed a stellar senior campaign, finishing as the South Bay's regular-season rushing leader with 1,586 yards and 25 touchdowns on 190 carries. He also has 21 catches for 206 yards and another touchdown.
Thomas was a vital part in West's 5-0 start.
And Thomas is one of the reasons why the Warriors (7-3) feel confident as an at-large team traveling to fourth-seeded St. Joseph in Santa Maria for a CIF Southern Section Northern Division first-round matchup tonight at 7.
"He's relentless. He's just a non-stop worker," said Hokama, a former South Torrance standout who graduated in 2007 and has been serving as West's running backs coach for the past four years.
"He bought into it. Every morning at 6:30 a.m., he was there, working hard. Even when he was playing baseball, he was still coming for 6:30 workouts. How many 17- or 18-year-olds do that? He's a hard worker and a good leader."
Thomas said Hokama showed him several different run schemes for the spread offense.
Thomas also credited Hokama for building a rapport with him and giving him the confidence to pursue the weight room.
Thomas also put Hokama in his crosshairs. Thomas wanted to surpass the 1,500-yard, 18-touchdown season Hokama had while starring at South Torrance in 2007.
"He was a great running back when he played, and going after his numbers really pushed me," Thomas said. "He's had a major influence on my run game. He taught me to be a good running back."
Thomas also went to Redondo Beach in the summer and ran on the cliffs and on the sand.
"I had to get faster," Thomas said. "Last year, I would break free, but I would get caught from behind. That hasn't really happened this year."
Thomas said he loves his offensive line, particularly the effort from Tommy Oslund, Mo Faqhi, John Newman, J.J. Allen and Fred Furuta.
"They've done a great job opening up holes, being physical and getting up to the next level," Thomas said. "They help me out so much. Without them, I can't do anything. No running back can run the ball without a good offensive line."
Thomas has football coursing through his bloodlines.
His grandfather Aurelius Thomas was an All-American defensive end at Ohio State who led the Buckeyes and coach Woody Hayes to the 1957 national championship. He was also inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
His other grandfather Joe Barrington played at San Jose State.
Thomas said he has received attention from Cal Lutheran and Northern Arizona, but said he is expecting more offers to come in after the season.
"My granddad and my dad have been trying to help me out. They've been talking to a lot of people," Thomas said. "Most of the family has played high school football."
Thomas also has played high school baseball at West as a corner outfielder, seeing time in left and right field.
"It's fun making plays in baseball," Thomas said. "People look at me and think who is this guy playing baseball. A buff, black dude playing baseball, they're not used to it. It's fun."
Thomas said he might forgo baseball to participate in track and field before he graduates.
Thomas envisions himself as a 100-meter runner and a 4x100 runner, but said he has not made his decision on which sport to play this spring.
"I'm still not sure yet. Still deciding on that," Thomas said.
Thomas almost followed his sister to Bishop Montgomery, but told his mother he wanted to go to a public school.
It's turned out to be a pretty good decision.
"I love it at West," Thomas said.
Thomas said he thoroughly enjoyed beating rival South Torrance in West's 50th anniversary celebration game.
But Thomas is focused on the playoffs and said he believes West can put together a playoff run.
"It's a new season, and anything can happen in the playoffs," Thomas said. "My mentality is to get 10 yards for that first down, then look to score.
"No negative plays. Everything is positive."
Positive indeed.


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lispdoc - results for make-ssl-client-stream
|Function: Returns an SSL stream for the client socket descriptor SOCKET. CERTIFICATE is the path to a file containing the PEM-encoded certificate for your client. KEY is the path to the PEM-encoded key for the client, which may be associated with the passphrase PASSWORD.
|By Bill Moorier


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DeAnna Pappas Takes the Girls to the Beach
Bachelorette? With curves like this, it's a mystery how DeAnna Pappas isn't at least a divorcee by now, let alone how she got booted off the 11th season of The Bachelor.
On the plus side, sweet board!
The 25-year-old realtor from Georgia narrowly missed finding "love" with Brad Womack, but screw him. Pappas is doing the booting on The Bachelorette.
Has all that power really made DeAnna believe she can magically ride the surf with a book in her hand and her shades on her head?
Nah, chances are she's taking a quick splash to hide a furtive pee.
Check out more pictures of DeAnna pissing about beach side at Pacific Coast News Online.


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neneface's Mom Answers Activity
neneface is a star in these topics:
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Cramps, but no period... Am I pregnant? Help please! Watch this
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I'd hold off on the pills until you know for sure and use protection for the week your off your pills if your trying to avoid pregnan...posted by RainaBanaina
DHA or prenatal DHA? Watch this
posted by a BabyCenter Member 12/04/2014
Am I pregnant and testing too early???? Watch this
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I was in a similar situation where I had a medical procedure, then hadn't gotten my period in months, and I was unsure if I was pregn...posted by neneface
What to expect with a miscarriage. Watch this
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Every miscarriage is different. Almost like every birth is different. I had a friend who miscarried and the process was slow but not pa...posted by thea1990
Negative pregnancy test after postive and ultrasound? Watch this
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About a week and a half.posted by birch2
How to get my two year old to stop hitting? Watch this
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Agreed. Great idea to teach a replacement behavior! I'm kicking myself for not thinking of it for my initial answer for you.posted by neneface
Recommendations on baby gates please! Watch this
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How do I deal with not having a sex drive!? Watch this
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you should plan a day for you to go to the spa and have a "mommy day". letting go of the stress could help... although sex is ...posted by bannow
Ideas to keep my baby entertained? Watch this
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Introducing new foods Watch this
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I would wait the 4 days between each one personally. You never know what kids will react to. It's more a precaution in my eyes. I unders...posted by angela012606
How do I get my son to take his medicine? Watch this
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I've tried mixing the meds with prunes and now he won't eat prunes even without the meds in them. He used to gobble them up... Hopefull...posted by neneface


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We demonstrate low residual timing jitter of 10 GHz pulses from a 1.55 µm optical frequency comb generator based on a doubly-resonant electro-optic modulator. The pulse timing jitter is analyzed, and we illustrate that the pump laser's linewidth plays a dominant role in the timing jitter. For Fourier frequencies from 1 Hz to 10 MHz, integrated residual timing jitter at 10 GHz was reduced from ~ 94 fs to ~ 8 fs when the pump laser's linewidth was reduced from ~ 10 MHz to ~ 1 kHz. An electronic servo was used to stabilize the operation point of the comb generator. With the servo, the integrated residual timing jitter was further reduced to ~ 6 fs, and the corresponding residual phase noise power density is -105 dBc/Hz at 1 Hz frequency offset from the 10 GHz pulse carrier.
© 2008 Optical Society of AmericaFull Article | PDF Article
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This difference is wrongly set forth if the antithesis to voluntarism is called intellectualism.
The two great characteristics of the British race—initiative and endurance—are due to this burning flame of voluntarism.
Carried into practice, voluntarism would be as like Anarchism as two peas.
To the idol of voluntarism a veritable holocaust of victims has been offered up.
Other provisions governing the establishment of agroindustrial complexes, however, conflicted with the principle of voluntarism.
voluntarism supplements and gives life to universal labor service.
One particular school of voluntarism (Wundt) reduces the motive-force of energy to will.
On the contrary: voluntarism, we say, is right in every respect except in believing itself to be psychology.


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From the time my son was just a toddler, as a mother, I had concerns over some of his behaviors. I remember taking him to the doctor when he was not quite two and asking about hyperactivity. The doctor felt my son was a "highly active child." From that point on, I questioned his activity level, his lack of sleeping patterns, his inability to sit still. Even when the other children in the day care seemed to be able to listen during story time, my son was wandering around, picking up toys, totally disinterested in what was going on in the room. But over and over, physicians told me that his behaviors were within normal levels for his age and that there was nothing to worry about.
Throughout the next ten years, my son was referred to the school psychiatrist, the school psychologist, and the guidance counselor and yet none seemed to feel there was a problem, until, at 12 years old he was diagnosed with ADHD. In some ways, the diagnosis helped, as it let me know that I had been right all along. It gave a name to the actions that I knew were not "normal." But in other ways, the diagnosis brought even more questions. Did I do anything wrong? How could this have happened? What do I do now?
At that time, there was a limited amount of information available on ADHD. There were books, of course, but there was also a great deal of conflicting information. Television shows claimed that ADHD was a fictitious condition and that medication was making children into zombies. Some doctors believed that the diagnosis was real, but was over-diagnosed and so they were hesitant to provide medication or give a definitive diagnosis, instead adopting a wait-and-see attitude. Some teachers were not much help, insisting that he would grow out of it, arguing that boys matured slower than girls. Some teachers were not even familiar with the term ADHD.
As a parent, this was immensely frustrating. I had been given a diagnosis and medication and told that behavioral strategies such as charts worked well. But that was about all the information I had to go on. I didn't know what to do or how to do it; all I had was my determination to help him. I searched for parent support groups but only found two, the closest 45 minutes from my home. With school work taking hours each evening, taking hours one evening a week to attend a support group so far away just wasn't an option. But still, I needed information, not just from medical professionals, but from other parents, those that had experience, those that had similar problems. I needed to know what to do and how to do it. I needed someone to talk to that would understand. I needed to know that I wasn't alone.
The internet became my research medium and evening after evening, I sat and looked up information on ADHD. I talked to other parents in discussion groups. To my amazement, there were so many other parents in the same position. There were so many other parents asking the same questions as I was. There were so many parents feeling worried, isolated and ashamed. Using my background as a writer, I dedicated myself to helping others and myself. I began to take the information I was learning and created a website for parents in an effort to educate parents and to help them find solutions to everyday problems. It astonished me when I began receiving emails from parents around the world, thanking me for my efforts and asking questions. Writing about ADHD became my new mission in life, letting others know they are not alone, that there are ways to help themselves, help their children and help their families.
One question I have been asked, as well as wondering myself, was what to do about medication during the summer months. Do children need a break from medication or should they take medication every day, even during school breaks?
After many discussions with parents and doctors, as well as reading various articles on the subject, there seem to be three distinct thought patterns on medication during school breaks:


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6f. Turning in closed position
It's the same 8 steps as in the triple step (1 & 2, 3 & 4, back-step) (remember, it's 8 steps in 6 counts), while the gent is leading the couple to turn in place.
When the gent steps left-right-left
(on 1 & 2), the arms are down...
When the gent steps right-left-right,
the arms are up.
On the backstep, the arms are down
on the "back", and up on the "step"
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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has flagged new guidelines to cover the growing mobile application industry after it identified three-quarters of supposedly free games failed to disclose in-app purchases would be required.
The ACCC said it had conducted a sweep of more than 340 game apps in the Google Play and Apple App stores, and fewer than 25 per cent of the child-friendly game apps mentioned that real world money could be used to make purchases within the games. Many of these payments are made by simply tapping on an image in the game, with the funds debited from existing iTunes or Google Play accounts or linked credit cards.
The ACCC said its sweep highlighted the potential for misleading and deceptive conduct in the promotion of apps, as well as inadequate disclosure of key terms and conditions associated with using the apps.
"Once you're playing, many games make it clear that you can get ahead or avoid getting bogged down if you shell out for in-app purchases," ACCC deputy chair
"Children exposed to this won't always connect a tap on the screen in the heat of the action with spending their parents' money in the real world."
The ACCC is backing the local implementation of proposed principles for the online and app-based game industry that have been released for discussion in the UK by the UK Office of Fair Trading.
These principles say consumers should be told up front about any possible in-game costs or advertising, important terms should be prominently disclosed prior to download, and an account holder, such as a parent, must give informed consent to payments before they are authorised.
The ACCC said many of the games it reviewed did not provide access to the terms and conditions prior to downloading and playing the game.
Therefore parents or children purchasing and using these games may not be aware of important information about games including the suitability of content; third party collection of personal information; and social sharing through app games.
The ACCC said it was continuing to investigate concerns about misleading conduct in relation to a number of specific apps, and could take enforcement action where contraventions of the Australian Consumer Law were identified.
The Australian Financial Review


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Reneh Agha/Porterville Recorder Porterville Developmental Center Lt. Scott Gardner (left) and Cmdr. Jeff Bradley make their way to Tulare County Superior Court in April 2010. The two were indicted for embezzling about $121,000, but the charges were later dropped.
An unusually high number of police officers at the state's board-and-care facilities for the developmentally disabled have doubled their salaries with overtime, enabling some to earn more than $150,000 a year, a California Watch investigation has found.
The state-run police force, called the Office of Protective Services, last year paid about $2 million in overtime to 80 of its officers. The officers patrol five facilities that house about 1,800 patients with intellectual disabilities in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Tulare and Sonoma counties.
The small police force is one of the most proficient in the state at accumulating overtime – the percentage of officers boosting their salaries far exceeds the proportion at other agencies.
In total, the police department's payroll has increased 50 percent through overtime in the past four years. For several of the officers, their overtime payouts would have required them to work 70 to 100 hours a week the entire year to earn the extra cash.
Twenty-two officers, about one-fourth of the entire police force, have claimed enough overtime to double their salaries – a rare occurrence at other police agencies, both big and small. The average salary for the 22 officers is about $124,000 a year.
At one point, the Office of Protective Services paid its officers overtime for patrolling a nearly empty facility. Patrol officers and detectives at the Agnews Developmental Center in San Jose claimed hundreds of hours of overtime – months after the institution closed in March 2009, finance reports show.
One officer working at the state's center in Tulare County acknowledged in an interview that he received overtime pay for hours spent sleeping at work. A detective there was paid during a 2008 trip to Las Vegas that officials later said was unrelated to his job, court records show.
As the Office of Protective Services has accumulated overtime, questions have been raised about the quality of the work taxpayers have received from the police force.
A California Watch investigation in February found that over the past decade, the Office of Protective Services failed to conduct basic police work even when patients died under mysterious circumstances. State officials have documented hundreds of cases at the facilities of abuse and unexplained injuries, almost none of which have led to arrests.
In March, state officials announced they had hired an independent manager for the Office of Protective Services to oversee new training guidelines, and state lawmakers have introduced legislation that would direct serious criminal investigations to outside law enforcement, among other changes.
No one has claimed more overtime than Thomas Lopez, an entry-level patrolman at the Porterville Developmental Center. On top of his base salary of $54,133, Lopez's paychecks have included at least $80,000 in overtime every year for much of the past decade, doubling and tripling his compensation.
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In 2008, Lopez collected $208,000 in pay, including $146,000 through overtime. To achieve that income level, Lopez would have had to work 107 hours each week for the entire year, without any vacation or leave time.
Overtime has lifted Lopez into the same income bracket as doctors at the developmental center where he works. He's paid more than his boss, Terri Delgadillo, the Department of Developmental Services director, who earns $158,000 for running the $4 billion state agency.
Even Lopez acknowledged that his paychecks are large. "If I were investigating overtime, I'd be the top suspect," said Lopez, who owns seven houses worth $1.2 million and two classic cars valued at $50,000 each, according to two car auction websites.
Last year, Lopez received $150,275 – just below the salaries of Attorney General Kamala Harris and state schools superintendent Tom Torlakson. Sixty percent of Lopez's income was from overtime.
Lopez contends he spends every waking hour at the Porterville center. He volunteers for day shifts and night shifts, weekends and holidays. The patrolman said his superiors are responsible for his hours, not him.
"The only thing I can tell you is it was signed and allowed by a sergeant," Lopez said. "Even people who don't like me will testify I was there."
Bob Lewis, a commander with the Office of Protective Services, was responsible for police operations at the Porterville center most of the past three years and had final authority over Lopez's overtime hours. The office's overtime policy directs commanders to "reduce OT whenever possible."
Lewis declined to comment because the Department of Developmental Services does not permit employees to talk to reporters. "I wish I could speak with you, but I can't," he said. Lewis received a promotion in September and now leads the police force at the Sonoma Developmental Center.
Documents show the vast majority of extra hours at the Office of Protective Services are for patrol shifts, with officers waiting for calls about incidents or circling the institutions' parking lots, rather than investigating potential abuse cases.
"At night, it gets a little bit slow. It's hard not to doze off sometimes," Lopez said. "You try to stay up. But you better take your calls, and you better take your reports. It's hard because that time drags."
When asked if he sometimes sleeps during overtime shifts, Lopez replied, "Yes."
The force currently has 27 vacant jobs out of 94 positions, but most of the shifts are covered by increased overtime and by hiring retired officers for temporary duty. Some of those officers – so-called retired annuitants – also have earned overtime pay.
Coby Pizzotti, a lobbyist for the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association, which represents the institution's police, said the overtime payouts are a symptom of understaffing at the developmental centers. Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa and the Lanterman Developmental Center in Pomona, for example, are staffed with just four patrol officers each.
"The budgeted positions aren't sufficient to do the job adequately without getting an incredible amount of overtime," he said.
The base pay for the force averages about $44,000 – relatively low compared with departments of similar size. At the Vallejo Police Department, for example, the average base pay is $98,000.
Delgadillo, the agency's director, declined to comment on her department's overtime payouts. But in a statement, the department said overtime was required "to meet the safety and security needs of the 24-hour licensed residential health care facilities" amid a state hiring freeze and worker furloughs.
"These residents require constant and immediate law enforcement supervision for all court hearings, community outings and medical appointments outside of the secure treatment area," the department said.
At the same time, the department said it has moved to curb overtime payouts. In 2009, it implemented a new policy that requires police supervisors to approve overtime requests in advance and to assess whether officers' workloads are reasonable.
Patricia Flannery, the official who oversees operations at California's developmental centers, that year also ordered an internal audit of police overtime. Documents from the audit, obtained through a public records request, do not show any attempt to evaluate whether the officers actually worked the hours on their timesheets.
Between 2009 and 2011, overtime payouts at the Office of Protective Services declined about 25 percent. State officials said their "aggressive actions" to curb overtime – as well as using closed-circuit cameras to monitor patients instead of security towers – has led to the drop in overtime.
Despite the changes, seven officers at developmental centers still managed to double their pay in 2011.
City police and sheriff departments often generate large overtime bills. But the Office of Protective Services far outpaces other California law enforcement agencies in overtime, according to state and local payroll data of five agencies reviewed by California Watch.
The developmental center police officers on average added $19,600 to their paychecks through overtime in 2010 – $2 million in total, according to state pay data. Overtime accounted for 28 percent of all Office of Protective Services compensation that year. Eleven officers doubled their salaries with overtime.
By comparison, overtime was 12 percent of pay for police officers in Vallejo and at the similarly sized Santa Cruz Police Department. And at larger agencies, such as the California Highway Patrol and the San Jose and San Francisco police departments, the percentage of overtime hovers between 6 and 10 percent of pay, an analysis of local pay data shows.
To Loren DuChesne, former chief of investigations for the Orange County district attorney's office, the overtime looks suspicious. DuChesne examined the Office of Protective Services for the state attorney general's office a decade ago, finding shortcomings in the force's ability to conduct criminal investigations.
"What I'm seeing here is just a carte blanche abuse," DuChesne said. "Given the nature of the job, those guys on graveyard (shifts) at Sonoma or Lanterman, if you had more than one person, you had to be the most bored person that ever worked in a law enforcement vehicle."
Lopez is among dozens of developmental center police officers who have recorded extra hours on their timesheets.
One patrolman at the Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa, Daniel Butler, regularly collected more money from overtime than from his base pay. He worked for 14 years at the facility, but netted at least $60,000 a year in overtime from 2007 until his retirement in March 2011.
Butler did not respond to repeated interview requests.
Another Porterville officer, Rick Shannon, neared Lopez's overtime levels in 2008. His paychecks included $114,000 from claiming extra hours.
Shannon, whose base salary was $50,000, was on pace to exceed $100,000 in total income for at least the fourth straight year when he suffered a fatal heart attack in July 2010 in the middle of a shift. In just seven months that year, Shannon received $44,830 in overtime.
At the Porterville center, supervisors have long approved overtime claims without verifying the patrol officers actually showed up for the shifts, said Martin Espinoza, a former detective at the institution. (Records show Espinoza earned $8,000 in overtime pay during the four years before he retired, much less than many of his colleagues.)
"I couldn't comprehend how they could allow such a thing," Espinoza said of the overtime claims. "These people are fairly intelligent and can figure some of this stuff out. It was so obvious."
Indeed, a Tulare County grand jury in 2010 indicted the Office of Protective Services' police chief and a top detective on embezzlement charges related to overtime abuse.
The police department in the town of Porterville found evidence that Scott Gardner, the developmental center's investigator, claimed overtime hours on days when he was in Las Vegas, said Capt. Eric Kroutil, who conducted the investigation for the Porterville Police Department.
The detectives concluded that Jeffery Bradley, then chief of the Office of Protective Services, had sanctioned Gardner's overtime. Bradley and Gardner were indicted on embezzlement charges in February 2010, but the prosecution was short-lived.
A judge threw out the charges last year, saying an Office of Protective Services internal investigation into the matter violated Bradley and Gardner's rights under the California Peace Officers' Bill of Rights. The internal investigation had been characterized as "administrative" rather than potentially criminal, meaning any evidence collected could not be used in a court of law.
Gardner declined to speak with California Watch. Bradley referred questions to his attorney, W. Scott Quinlan, who did not respond to several phone calls and e-mails. The Department of Developmental Services fired Bradley after his arrest, and Gardner resigned. Bradley has since appealed his dismissal.
Overtime at closed facilities
Patrol officers with the Office of Protective Services have accumulated overtime even without crimes to investigate or patients to protect.
At the Agnews Developmental Center in San Jose, which closed in March 2009, officers accumulated between 200 and 460 hours in overtime pay to patrol empty buildings in the three months after the facility shuttered.
Agnews officers claimed 1,307 extra hours in total during those months. By comparison, that's twice the number of hours taken by officers and detectives at the Lanterman Developmental Center in Pomona, which then housed 440 patients with cerebral palsy and other intellectual disabilities.
The Department of Developmental Services operated an outpatient clinic at Agnews for two years after the closure. In a written statement, state officials said the agency "remained responsible for the safety and security" of the center as long as it owned the property.
State officials did not provide an explanation for why the Office of Protective Services spent more on overtime at Agnews than at Lanterman in 2009. But they said the Agnews overtime was necessary, "as the two full time peace officers employed were insufficient to cover the required 24 hour schedule seven days per week."
Police overtime is supposed to serve a law enforcement purpose, protecting people or investigating crimes, said Leonard Matarese, a criminal justice consultant at the International City/County Management Association.
Matarese, a consultant and retired Florida police chief, said departments should account for extra hours on a weekly, if not daily, basis. The number of extra hours alone at the Office of Protective Services – 65,000 a year on average from 2008 to 2010 – raises alarms about the institution force.
"As a police chief, I just wouldn't allow that," Matarese said. "It sounds like it's completely out of control."
Patrolman cashes in on overtime
Lopez,the entry-level patrolman in Porterville, owns seven houses worth a combined $1.2 million, scattered across Porterville and the Los Angeles area. Lopez lives in one of his Porterville homes – a nondescript tan structure with a well-manicured front yard. The patrolman said he uses the house primarily to sleep and store his belongings.
In the garage of his main residence, he keeps two pristine 1956 Chevrolet Bel Airs, collectors' items that gleam with the original factory paint colors of "Tropical Turquoise" and "Sierra Gold." Each car is worth at least $50,000, or about the same as Lopez's base salary.
His paychecks have included at least $80,000 in overtime every year for much of the past decade, state data shows.
Porterville, where Lopez works, is home to more than 500 people with developmental disabilities. About 200 of the patients are inmates, placed at the center by courts because they are unfit to stand trial. Because of this, a majority of the Office of Protective Services is based at Porterville.
Some days, Lopez said he earns extra hours by standing guard in the secure housing units. Other days, the overtime calls for him to transport patients to appointments and court dates outside the developmental center.
But many shifts don't require him to do anything but show up – long stretches spent watching movies on his laptop and napping, he said.
"How many times can you spin around the facility?" Lopez said of his patrol work. "You're waiting for a call, waiting for a help call, waiting for a report."
Few at the Office of Protective Services have ever worked for a major law enforcement agency. But Lopez received his basic training at the Los Angeles Police Department's academy before signing on with the developmental center force in 1996, personnel records show.
Judging by his training, which could have placed him at a much larger and better-paying police force, Lopez's decision to work at the Office of Protective Services is unusual. The department typically hires detectives from other state agencies, such as the Department of Social Services, and other people with no law enforcement experience.
Lopez's reported workweek is unusual, even if he spends a portion of it idling. In an interview, Lopez claimed he worked regular 12-hour shifts every week, and some days, he would work 20 hours.
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In 2011, state pay data shows, Lopez's workload averaged 85 hours a week at the Porterville center for 52 weeks to earn his $144,000 income. Of that, $90,730 was overtime.
Last year was nothing compared with 2008, when Lopez's compensation peaked at $208,000 – 70 percent of it overtime pay. His timesheets claimed an average of 107 hours of work every week. He claimed no sick days or vacation.
Department of Developmental Services officials would not answer questions about Lopez's overtime, citing California law making personnel information about police officers confidential.
Martin Espinoza, the recently retired detective at Porterville, wondered how Lopez avoids crippling fatigue from putting in more than 200 overtime hours a month.
"How is that possible?" Espinoza said. "You've got to sleep sometimes."
This story was edited by Robert Salladay and Mark Katches and was copy edited by Nikki Frick.


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Communication wiring overview
You may not think you'll ever need an updated communication system, but with the increasing digitizing of our society, you will. The need is now. Within a few years, digital TVs will be the only show in town, and the high-speed links to the Internet will be more necessary and affordable. More and more, electronic components will need to "converse." And your old phone and cable wires just won't be up to the task.
It's easy to feel intimidated by all the electronic jargon. However, for now, all you need to know is that your telephone, TV, Internet and other communication needs can all be handled by running only two types of cable—all headquartered in a central distribution system you can install yourself. It's as easy as fishing in a new phone line, except that you'll need four cables (two phone and two coaxial) to each jack to do the job right.
We'll show you how to run the wires, install the proper jacks and hook up the central distribution box. The new system doesn't mean you have to scrap your old cables and jacks. Existing phone lines and jacks can coexist with your new system.
We recommend that you initially install new cables and jacks to rooms only where they're needed, and upgrade the system with new jacks and lines as your electronic needs change. The beauty of the installation system shown in this article is that it will be easy to reconfigure, enhance or expand it in the future. Eventually you'll be able to connect any compatible devices simply by "jumping" cable or phone lines in the distribution box (much like old-time telephone operators used to do in the first half of the 20th century).
It's easiest to install the system when you're remodeling, adding on or building a new home. The walls are open and it's simple to route the cables to every room. But in most cases, you can also retrofit your existing home (although it'll take a little more effort fishing cable and sometimes cutting and patching walls). We'll show you some strategies that'll help.
Capabilities of a New Communication System
- One DVD, VCR, and cable or satellite TV receiver will be able to transmit to any television in the house.
- Computers can be networked to share files or computer peripherals like printers and scanners.
- Remote closed-circuit TV cameras can be hooked up to televisions anywhere in the house, and security-system hookups are a breeze.
- You'll have enough telephone-line capacity to run the Pentagon.
- Your home will be rigged for either cable- or telephone-based high-speed Internet service.
- The necessary lines will be in place to handle the inevitable switch from analog to digital TV.
- Whole-house audio systems can be routed over the same cables.
- Depending on the system, integrated home controls can be coupled with "smart appliances."
Step 1: Plan the distribution panel location and cable routes
The key to an upgradable system is to place the main distribution panel in a location where it'll be easiest to fish additional wires and jacks to the rest of the house. In the example home (Fig. A, below), we show the laundry room as the logical place for the distribution box. From there, wires can be easily fished to the basement and to the attic and then on to selected outlet locations anywhere in the house. But the best location for the distribution panel may be different in your home—a furnace room, garage or even a closet.
You'll also need to create an access into the stud space above and below the panel. For easiest access, position the panel in an open stud space so you can fish new lines into the panel. We show you how to do this with a panel that unscrews from the wall (Photo 18).
Next, plan your cable routing paths. Attics, basements, crawlspaces, garages and even closets offer the easiest unimpeded routes. Then you can usually drill holes through top or bottom plates and fish the cables in without opening up finished walls. But middle floors that are sandwiched between finished floors can be more challenging. Routing to those rooms by surface-mounting cables through closets is one good strategy, but sometimes cutting and patching holes in finished walls or even ceilings to run the wires is inescapable.
Here we show you the most useful jack configuration: two cable jacks and two phone jacks, all in the same cover plate. (A single cover plate will handle four different lines.) And a cable jack will handle video- or cable-based Internet.
The extra two phone and coaxial cables will handle "interhouse" networking. You probably won't need all these lines right away, but pull the wires in anyway. However, you don't have to hook them all up. Just attach the jacks and snap them into the cover plate and coil the extra lines neatly inside the distribution box.
All four of the lines from each outlet go back to the distribution box. That calls for a lot of wires, but wiring and jacks are relatively cheap. If you know that you'll only need one cable or one phone jack, just run single lines and use a different cover plate.
Step 2: Mount the distribution panel
Photos 1 – 4 show how to cut out a stud space and mount the distribution panel. We opened up the stud space within a few inches of the ceiling and floor to mount the distribution box and to fish the cables (Photo 2). But that stud space has to remain accessible for running new cables later as your system grows.
A handsome cover panel made from painted MDF (medium density fiberboard) screwed through the drywall into the studs makes access just a matter of unscrewing it from the wall (Photo 18).
Step 3: Run the cable
Following your plan, position and cut holes for the low-voltage remodeling boxes (Photo 5) and run the cables (Photo 6). When you fish wire from the jacks, label one cable of each pair with an "in" and the other with an "out." It's easy to get confused once all of the lines have been run. Use colored tape around both ends (Photos 7 and 14) of the cables and identify the outlet by writing its room location on the tape at the end you feed into the wall before you fish it. To keep everything straight, do the same on the outlet end after it's cut to length.
We used orange tape to designate "in" and blue tape for "out." Retape and mark the ends as you cut the cables to final lengths within the distribution box for hookups (Photo 16).
Handle CAT-5e cable with care. CAT-5e cable is made to exacting standards with specially designed twists between each individual pair of wires. For best performance, follow these wiring guidelines:
- Make sweeping, gradual bends of no less than a 2-in. radius, not sharp bends.
- Gently pull phone cables when fishing, with no more than about 20 lbs. of force (about the tension you'd use for good, tight bootlaces). Don't jerk or yank on the wires or pull them around sharp corners.
- Never crush CAT-5e with staples or other fasteners like bent-over nails. Instead, bundle it or strap it to framing with loose loops of Velcro and then use special cable staples after all the cables are run.
- Cross any existing electrical cables at 90-degree angles to avoid electrical interference. Never run them side by side unless there's at least a 2-in. separation.
Photo 6: Fish in the Cables
Fish the cables from the openings into the distribution box in pairs of coaxial and CAT-5e. Mark the ends of the cables with colored electrical tape for the outlet location.
Run the fish tape down into the outlet stud cavity through a 3/4-in. hole drilled through the plates from the attic, then tape both of the marked cable ends to the fish tape. Pull them up into the attic and then push them down to the distribution box. Leave about 3 ft. of extra cable at the distribution box. Cut off the outlet end of the cables about 12 in. past the openings and mark the ends with more colored tape.
Step 4: Wire the phone (CAT-5e) jacks
Photo 9: Punch down the wires
Gently Untwist the colored pairs and bend them into the matching terminals. Work from the front of the jack toward the back, using the punch-down tool that comes with the jacks. Push them in until you feel the little snap that tells you the connector has bitten into the wire. Using the scissors, cut off the excess wires flush with the side of the jack.
Note: You don't have to strip the insulation. The connector cuts through it when you punch it down.
Photos 7 – 9A show you how to wire the CAT-5e jacks. It's easy to get confused by the "A" and "B" markings on modular jacks (Photo 9A).
The color-coded sticker on the side of the jack shows you where to punch down each wire. Generally, residential phone systems and telecommunication modules are designed for the "A" layout while commercial systems are designed for the "B" system.
Tip: When you're installing jacks or punching down wires on the terminal board, untwist pairs carefully and punch down within 1/2 in. of the beginning of the untwist.
Step 5: Wire the coaxial cable jacks
Photo 10: Strip the coaxial cable end
Clamp the stripper tool around the coaxial cable with about 5/8 in. of the cable projecting past the tool. Spin it around the cable several times until the sound of cutting metal stops, then remove the tool. You may need to adjust the cutting depths of the little knife blades inside until it strips the cable as shown below right. Expose the three layers of the cable by stripping with your fingernails to reveal the inner signal wire, white insulation and metal shielding.
Photos 10 – 12 show you how to attach the coaxial cable connectors and jacks and snap them into the wall outlets. You need special tools for this operation (Photos 10 and 11).
Step 6: Wire the distribution panel
Photo 14: Organize the panel
Snap in the telecommunication module and cable splitter and organize the phone and coaxial cables within the box for easy hookups using loose-fitting Velcro straps. Leave an extra loop in the main coaxial cable line from the street for a future signal booster. Route coaxial cables in from the top of the box for easier splitter hookups.
Photo 16: Connect the other cables
Crimp F-connectors onto the "in" coaxial cables and screw them to the splitter terminals. Cap any unused terminals with terminating resistors. Strip the CAT-5e cables (Photos 7 and 8) and punch them into the terminals on the voice and data module, then clip off the excess wires with the electrician's scissors.
The punch-down markings on the module in the distribution box also can be confusing because the slots are marked with a color but no stripe designation. You'll have to study the instructions that come with the module to make sure.
Usually the mostly white wire with small colored stripes goes in the uppermost or farthest left slots followed by the mostly colored wire with the thinner white stripe (Photo 16).
If you get either the module wires or the jack wires mixed up, your phones probably won't work, so be sure to consult the directions before hooking up either one. To further alleviate confusion after the system's installed, plan on using colored jacks, too (Photo 7).
Remember to ground the system
It's important to ground the distribution box (Photos 13 and 14) before snapping in the telecommunication module. Even small static charges you introduce to the system from your body can damage delicate electronic components.
We show connecting a 10-gauge wire from the ground screw in the box to the main ground wire of the electrical service panel. Hook the new ground wire anywhere on that main ground wire. You can also attach the ground to your main water supply pipe within 5 ft. of its entrance point, if the pipe is metal.
Let the phone and cable companies do the main interface hookups
The phone and cable TV interfaces (the boxes where the lines from the street hook up to your home lines) can be positioned either inside or outside the house. It's up to you to get the lines from the distribution box to the interfaces. Run them to the interface locations and leave a couple of extra feet of cable. Call the phone and cable TV companies to take care of the actual hookups.
What Should I Buy?
You'll find all the materials and tools you need for your wiring project at most home centers in the telephone accessories department. The big-ticket items are the distribution box and its components. After this initial investment, expanding the system is cheap.
Buy your cable in bulk— it's much cheaper that way. CAT-5e phone cable is sold in 1,000-ft. spools. It's made to extremely high standards and contains four twisted pairs of wires, so it'll carry up to four different telephone lines per cable. RG-6 coaxial cable is sold in 500-ft. spools.
The heart of the system is the distribution box (Photo 2). If you think you'll only need six or fewer outlets throughout the house, buy a small box. But if you want to leave room for expansion with lots of outlets and space inside the box for networking, signal amplifiers or other hardware, get a larger one.
Go to any electronics store or home center and you'll find plenty of hardware designed to speed up, expand or improve your basic system. The space needed for this hardware is one of the main reasons we recommend going with the larger distribution box.
The telecommunication module (Photo 14) is the nerve center for phone jacks and jack-to-jack link-ups. Also included in the module is a coaxial splitter. The splitter distributes the cable connection from the street and "splits" the signal to send it to any components you hook up to it. You can add more phone banks or splitters as needed. A starter module will take care of your immediate needs. You can snap in banks of jacks or even more modules as required.
At the outlets, you'll attach modular telephone jacks that snap into the backs of the cover plates. Don't worry—they'll accept old and modern phone lines.
You'll find crimp-on F-connectors in packages of 10. End all coaxial lines with crimp-on male F-connectors, which then screw on to splitters within the distribution box or onto snap-on female F-couplings at the cover plates. F-connectors screw into these, which in turn snap into the back of four-port cover plates.
The four square holes receive either modular jacks or F-jacks in any configuration. In addition to buying the hardware, you'll have to buy these must-have specialty tools for working with communication wiring and fittings:
- Coaxial stripper (Photo 10)
- F-connector crimping tool (Photo 11)
- Electrician's scissors (Photo 8)
- Plus, you'll need a right-angle drill (rental; Photo 3) and a 2-1/2 in. hole saw (Photo 3) to drill the wire-run holes.


text: Hi all, I use qsub to submit the job to my queue. Currently I've the following lines in the pbs script invoked by qsub: -------- #PBS -l nodes=2:ppn=8 #PBS -l walltime=99:00:00 #PBS -j oe #PBS -o out #PBS -e err #PBS -V #PBS -q default ---------- As you can see, in the above example, the job will use 16 cpus equally supplied by two nodes. But now, I want to let pbs assign the cpus and nodes to this job according to the following requirements: 1- There are 8 cpus used for this job. 2- All of the these cpus may belong to one node, or can come from different nodes, say, supplied by two/three/four nodes and so on. Could you please give me some hints on this issue. Thanks in advance. Regards -- Hongsheng Zhao <zhaohscas at yahoo.com.cn> School of Physics and Electrical Information Science, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China


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Positive Feedback ISSUE
september/october 2007
clayton audio
M-200 Class-A amplifiers
as reviewed by Dave Clark
A few issues back I wrote a brief intro to what was to be an actual full-fledged review of the new Clayton Audio M-200 amplifiers. Unfortunately, it has taken me a bit longer to complete the actual review for various personal reasons. Anyhow here is the scoop on the M-200 amplifiers... Uh… buy them. Or at least put them on a very, very short list of amplifiers to audition if you got the scratch. Inexpensive they are not, but they are worth every penny!
Not good enough for ya? Well then, let's start from the beginning. Clayton Audio may be a new name to you, but not to us here at Positive Feedback Online. Head audio guru Wilson Shen (for more on Clayton and Wilson read an interview in Issue 33)—the man behind the black face-plates—has been in business as Clayton Audio for 11 years (aptly titled Clayton Audio because they are located in Clayton, Missouri). All their products run in Class-A and are rather unusual in their appearance by being more like large shoe boxes with top-sided heat sinks running front to back, than the typical rectangular box with side-mounted heat sinks.
Round back are the usual IEC for the AC connection (I like the Claytons with JPS Aluminata AC cords), input connections, three fuses (I run mine with the HiFi Tuning fuses which allowed the M-100 and now the M-200 amplifiers to sound just that much better), a grounding post, and a red LED light to let you know the amps are on before you blow something up. Clean and simple.
I have had the pleasure of owning Clayton Audio amplifiers for a number or years now: first with the M-70 monoblocks (70-watts per channel), then upgrading these to the M-100 monoblocks (100-watts per channel). The upgrade was a simple (well, not that simple) boost in the power rating via a few internal parts swapping.
The M-100 amplifiers are a stellar amplifier expanding upon the sonic and musical virtues of the M-70 amplifiers. I am not going to go into what they sounded like (you can read the reviews of the M-70 amplifiers here if you need more), but let me quote what was written by several current PFO reviewers way back in 1997…
That pretty much sums up what the M-100 amplifiers sound like, except any sense of current limiting or a dynamic glass ceiling of the M-70 amplifiers is gone. Dynamics and whatnot go up several notches… after all the M-100 amplifiers were passing on another 30-watts of pure Class-A power. Got to mean something. The M-100 amplifiers simply sound like a more powerful version of the M-70 amplifiers.
Okay, but what does this have to do with the new Claytons… and what has Wilson been up to lately? Well after taking a way too long respite of sorts from audio (due to personal issues); he has come back strong with a new line-up based on all the previous models' strengths. Wilson wanted to improve upon as well as to address specific areas of the weaknesses in the previous models. Weaknesses that only a designer would appreciate, though I know sonically the new M-200 amplifiers are much, much better in every way than the M-100 amplifiers. The new M-200 amplifiers feature 200-watts of Class-A power at 8-ohms (400 @ 4 ohms), do not allow for a low-bias setting like the M-100 amplifiers did, and only accept XLR balanced connection. The M-200 amplifiers are a true balanced design featuring two identical mirrored Class-A amplifiers—one for each phase. Additionally, the M-200 amplifiers make use of separate power sources for the driver and output stages. The driver stage incorporates a high-precision regulation circuit for improved stability. The output stage is an extremely high current design using a π filter to enhance stability and minimize noise. No capacitors are used in the signal path.
The M-200 amplifiers look just like the older M-100 amplifiers, though they feel like they might weigh a few pounds less. This is due to the new transformer (1KVA toroidal transformers with up to 160,000 microfarads of capacitance) that replaced the one used in earlier models. The problem is that the M-100 amplifiers were rather immune to DC in the AC, whereas the new M-200 amplifiers seem to respond rather poorly to this gremlin by humming a bit when DC enters into the line. Easy to solve by hunting down the cause and beating it a few times with a decent bat—unless it is the neighbor of course, though the thought has crossed my mind to deal with that problem the same way… or try a PS Audio unit that address DC. That works quite well.
Yes, the new amplifiers run hot (Wilson suggests that they will only get 55 degrees above the ambient room temperature—though they are thermally protected). Even so, they are built to be left on 24/7 if you can stand the heat and feel that being green is for weenies. Well… personally we try to be as green as possible and living in SoCal precludes the need to heat the house that much, so we leave the M-200 amplifiers off when not in use. Sorry to say though that they do sound better if warmed-up for a good hour or more, so gee… it would be nice to have the low-bias option allowing them to be ready to play at a minutes notice. Problem is that Wilson says the low-bias option actually imparted a degree of degradation to the sound, as did the RCA single-ended option, so minimal we go with the M-200 amplifiers. Regardless, if one is not green or has no need to save a few bills on their electricity, one can leave them on 24/7 as they are built to withstand the heat for a good 20-30 years before one has to worry about any component failures. Wilson has built to a very high military standard. I did find that a good 300-400 hours were necessary to shake any and all cobwebs from their circuits. Packing is first-rate, the manual is a bit sparse, and they worked right out of the box.
Objective Position
Objectively, these amplifiers are based on a Class-A design and require an AC cord to connect to an AC outlet. The choice of a Class-A design may or may not have any audible benefits over other designs such as Class-A/AB, D, C, or G. The M-200 amplifiers are inefficient and produce a large amount of heat as a by-product of their design (go here to learn more about Class-A and A/AB amplifiers). Even so, as an audio amplifier the M-200 amplifiers amplify an audio input signal producing sound at the loudspeakers. This amplification of the signal can be heard as music or noise (depending on your tastes and what you use as an input signal) possessing audio frequencies audibly flat from 20Hz to 20kHz. Any subtle deviation is moot as one can not hear such changes. With a gain of 26dB, they can either produce more or less of this music or noise depending on the input signal being reduced or increased at the preamplifier via a volume control as well as any other like amplifier. Input is only by XLR balanced connectors based on the amplifier's balanced design (input impedance is 100K ohms). This choice, and use of balanced cables, may or may not have any benefit over single-ended designs or other input options.
Whether the M-200 amplifiers are audibly better than another amplifier is potentially a moot point as all well designed modern day amplifiers will measure so well (or practically the same) that any differences should be inaudible to the listener. Along with this, many measurements or claims as to circuit design and parts choices are irrelevant and are simply for marketing. They have no practical implications as to what and how the amplifier amplifies as long as it does it within acceptable measurable guidelines. Case in point is that the M-200 amplifiers are claimed to have virtually zero negative feedback. This might or might not mean anything in a DBT against other amplifiers that either possess this design artifact or not. The M-200 amplifiers' power rating specifications are acceptable for any practical load one might encounter in a realistic audio playback situation.
The amplifier has shown itself to be stable and to not have any operational or electrical issues that would preclude its use in an audio situation.
Of all the amplifiers I have used in my system, the M-200 amplifiers are certainly one of them (going way, way back and then back to the present, that would be: Blue Circle BC-6, Kora Titan monoblocks, NTA Calla monoblocks, Audio Magic Stealth 250 monoblocks, McIntosh MC352, Joule Electra Stargate monoblocks, Majeel Laboratories Pristine SA10, Audion Silver Night, Monarchy SM-70 monoblocks, Marsh A200s, Simaudio W-3, Marsh A450M monoblocks, Pass X250, Cary Audio 211 Anniversary Edition monoblocks, Edge Electronics G4, DK VS-1 MK 2 integrated amplifier, Edge G8m monoblocks, Audio Space 6M-KT88 monoblocks, and the Red Dragon Audio's Leviathan monoblocks, plus this or that, here and there). They amplify the signal and work fine with my speakers. Therefore, any audible preference for one amplifier over another is based purely on preconceived biases, illusions or delusions, misconceptions, and/or ignorance. You are a fool for liking one amplifier over another. You are an idiot and an impressionable (make that gullible) snob for spending what you can afford for what you want. You are easily fooled and can not actually be hearing what you think you are hearing. You are a liar and fraud in claiming to hear what you hear.
Subjective Position
The M-200 amplifiers take all that Francisco, Larry, and Victor wrote about with respect to the M70 amplifiers way back in 1997 and then move that up several notches... well not several notches, but a lot of notches… so many notches that comparing the two is rather irrelevant other than to say that if you liked earlier Clayton amplifiers, you are going to go gaga over these. The new M-200 amplifiers redefine what Clayton Audio can do with Class-A solid-state. They continue the Clayton house sound and build upon that in ways that one could never imagine: the M70 and M-100 were so damn good. The M-200s are quite simply one of the most wonderful amplifiers I have ever heard. They possess a very deep and powerful bottom-end, an airy and spacious high-end, all with a rich and natural tonality through the midrange. Speed and clarity are exemplary as they should be for a solid-state design, but the virtues of running straight Class-A means that one gets the benefits of solid-state and the glory of tubes—with little to nit-pick.
Okay so let's dig a bit deeper here. The M-200 amplifiers produce such rock-solid (think of a sharply defined massive boulder where the surface is clearly defined in natural clarity) slamming bass that is deeper, faster and more articulate (think nimble and agile), slamming (did I say that already?), punchier, even (no bloat or fullness), tactile (reach out and feel it), and visceral that my speakers are now able to really strut their stuff. We have always been able to impress visiting audiophiles and music lovers (the two are not all inclusive) with how well the speakers could rumble and energize the room with bass from this disc or that (say Yello, Laswell, Cheb i Sabbah, Badawi, and him to name just a few), but the new M-200 amplifiers almost make the older M-100 seem anemic. Well, not really, but playing old standards that impressed the locals has revealed just how impressive the Reimers are in terms of bass and dynamics… and how much we had been missing prior to the new M-200 amplifiers versus the older M-100 amplifiers (the Reimers use four 8.75" woofers per side in a dual isobaric chambers—two woofers per chamber). Now, all this bass energy/frequencies are experienced with nary a hint of sludge, bloat, an overly full mass of indistinct stomach churning crap that can impress so many, while being so wrong. No, the M-200 amplifiers do bass with a speed, clarity, and agility that is quite startling to hear. Bass starts and stops with a natural sense of quickness: dynamics (both in terms of micro- and macro-) possess an awareness of the edge defining shadings of the instruments' decay and presence that is clear and distinct. The M-200 amplifiers offer the nether region a rock-solid sense of control and definition that can be felt in your chest and stomach. Fast and clean they are! They lock onto the Reimers' woofers and won't let go. Bass-wise, they are without a doubt the best I have heard here in my system.
The midrange is equally as impressive. Images (voices, instruments, animals, furniture, or whatever…) appear in free space with a great sense of palpability and thereness. No grain or grit, no exaggerated forwardness or recession, no unevenness—things sound like they should from my memory of how real things sounded in real space. Nothing stands out to make you aware that something is amiss or to call attention to itself. Instruments are portrayed naturally and in balance to each other. Vocals have a very natural sense of chest and presence—like real people singing between the speakers (take for example the vocals of Mimi Parker and Alan Sparhawk or Low or those of Kurt Wagner of Lambchop). The M-200 amplifiers are a tad more upfront or out-into-the-room than other amplifiers which tend to portray the event as being further back in relation to the speakers. Since we prefer this more forward perspective, the M-200 amplifiers fit the bill quite well thank-you. Are they best in this area? I have heard the better tube amps do their magic and the Claytons get awfully close. Even so, tubes can do it better, but it is so close I really don't give a rat's ass. These are very remarkable solid-state amplifiers.
These are not detail freaking in-your-face amplifiers. They are not the "my God they are like a blinding light on the soundscape, can you hear that?" sort of amplifiers. Yes, they get all the details across—you can hear the tinkling of this and the tapping of that: things sound clear and distinct, things sound real and naturally portrayed in the soundscape. If it is there you will hear it as it was intended. It is just the M-200 amplifiers will not spotlight this or that, it will not cause you to freak out that you had never heard that before… though you might freak out that you never heard that sound like that before. Their tonal color is rather neutral: not white, not bleached or bare, never lean and stripped of life or color (though they are not a colored amplifier in the least, in that they do not appear to impart a sonic signature into the music). The M-200 amplifiers merely offer you the color and richness of what is on the disc or LP—they are honest, though they are not ruthlessly revealing. Simply put, their tonality is that of a well-balanced tube amplifier with no trade-offs: warm, natural, and full of life, but with solid-state control. They are clean and fast with no grain, grit, or crap.
The treble is sweet and airy. Never sounding grainy and chalky (unless that was how it was recorded), the highs come across as they should: again what I heard is as close to my aural memory as I can recall. Things sound real and natural. There is no spotlighting and no added presence. The M-200 amplifiers do not sound bright, nor do they sound the least bit recessed. The high end sounds as a part of the complete sonic tapestry. Bright recordings will sound bright and those that are more well-balanced will sound as they should. Again the M-200 amplifiers are honest in what they do with regards to the top-end. They are not ruthless-revealing, nor are they forgiving—what you hear is what is there. But again, are they the best…? No, as the better tube amplifiers love to do the top-end with air out to the stratosphere. Yes, the Claytons come really, really close—so close for me that it is nothing more than a matter of close enough!
when things get busy the M-200 amplifiers will not congeal, congest, or turn over and die. Toss the discs by the Budos Band, Antibalas, or any other big raucous amalgamation of instruments and the Claytons hold it all together. Rhythmically and dynamically they allow the music to unfold and propel the feeling of a big band blasting things out together. Yeah, the Claytons get that right! Pace and timing with each instrument holding its rightful place in a large ensemble, all working together to make one get up and dance. Cool
We have built a system knowing what we want in our music. We want it all and we want it balanced. The M-200 amplifiers are a complete amplifier that presents the music in an even, well-balanced tapestry. They are complete in the sense that everything sounds as it should with nothing jumping out at the listener. The M-200 amplifiers offer dynamics and tonal shadings to die for, offering neither too much or nor too little. They are easy to listen to when you feel the need to drift off, and they are easy to listen to when you feel need to get a good woody with your music! These are as involving (exciting) an amplifier as I have heard since the Cary Audio 211 Anniversary Edition monoblocks played center stage.
The best summation I can offer came from a neighbor who is a professional bass player (electric and stand-up). In listening to the system one night, he remarked that what he was hearing was exactly what he had heard earlier when practicing with his stand-up bass. The tonality, presence, palpability, that essence that makes whatever sound right and real, was right there before him. The system was reproducing a stand-up bass in way that was real: he could see and feel a real person playing bass right there.
Of course, one could argue that he is responding to the system and not just the amplifiers. Which is true to a great extent, but since he has heard the system in many configurations before, it is interesting that this session with M-200 amplifiers put him over the top. For him, this was it. The M-200 amplifiers were making the difference. Still it is a system, meaning that the M-200 amplifiers and everything else is working synergistically to do their thing—they match wonderfully here. But his response is still quite telling as to the M-200 amplifiers' abilities to recreate an event in one's room.
Quibbles? Well they do run hot. They are susceptible to DC and one can have ground hum issues, but so can just about anything else these days. They do benefit from quality AC cords (like I said the JPS Aluminatas work well offering a balance of sorts that works best for me… though the Kubala-Sosna Emotions offer a slightly different balance that is also quite good …and I prefer the amps straight from the wall with no AC filtration), RFI-EMI treatments (say a Shakti Stone and On-Lines, or even the Acoustic Revive RGC-24 Ground Conditioner), and some sort of decent isolation (a quality amp stand, cones, or feet to get what you want, though the M-200 amplifiers do feature their own machined aluminum feet/pillars to sit upon). They only accept balanced in, but since my system is balanced by design (CD players and preamp are all true-balanced designs) why muck with things? They are not all that inexpensive at $9500 a pair, but then again they compete with amplifiers costing considerably more. These are stellar products that will last you a life-time. Having experienced no serious operational issues other than a hum here and there (all easy to deal with); the M-200 amplifiers are as stable and non-temperamental as anything else out there. No problems here. They work and play music.
Are they perfect? We would have to define what we mean by perfect. Perfect for this system, this listener, this room, this music, this now? Well yes they are …they are pretty much perfect for us. Can't say that they would be perfect for you, but I can find little if anything to fault sonically. Sure they could always be a tad more of this and tad less of that, but we are talking about tads here: morsels, crumbs, specks, etc. This falls into the realm of synergy and tastes—or better put aural preferences. Simply put, they work mighty well here in forming a great synergy with the rest of the system, so perhaps they are more or less as perfect as a Class-A solid-state amplifier can be in today's audio reality …well at least my audio reality. No doubt I could bring some other amplifier that might sound even better than these do, hey there is a lot I have not heard and some that look mighty interesting …but till then these are the king on the block.
Alright, but $9500 a pair!? The M-100s were $6500 and at that they were a steal (it should be noted that Wilson can not upgrade the M-100 to an M-200 due to differences in their designs and parts). Well, at $9500 we are entering the way up there how many can afford that price point range. But even at $9500 the M-200 amplifiers are a bargain. They are built like a tank right here in the States by Wilson and his assistants, they sound wonderful, and they have the appropriate fit n' finish. Yeah, they ain't flashy and all—they are quite understated in appearance - but Clayton has not cut any corners in their design (internal or external): what you get is what you need to get. So the issue of value is up to the individual. Hard for me to say what is of value to you based on what is of value to me, though I can certainly offer you my experience with them and what I heard. With that, you have to decide if the M-200 amplifiers are worth the price of admission … well, at least the price of an audition, I would hate for anyone to buy something simply because I liked it. After all I am just reporting on an experience succinctly and honestly while trying be somewhat entertaining (though some might disagree).
Yeah, I sold the M-100 amplifiers and was able to purchase these at a price that we could all live with; meaning yeah, I got them at discount, but even at discount it was a lot of cash for us to part with. Would I have purchased them at full retail? Most definitely. No way could I have let these leave the house. Visa? Dave Clark
Clayton Audio
Dealer Sales, Marketing, Technical Support:
TRI Audio Marketing


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Prince William Makes First Public Appearance at Charity Gala Since Leaving Hospital With Pregnant Wife Kate Middleton (PHOTOS)
The Duke of Cambridge, who was without pregnant wife Kate Middleton, also 30, looked all sorts of dapper as he took part in a benefit for homeless charity Centrepoint and reportedly made jokes about morning sickness.
The Duchess was admitted to London's King Edward VII Hospital earlier this week for severe nausea related to her pregnancy.
"He said they shouldn't call it morning sickness as it's a day and night sickness," former Centrepoint chairman Michael O'Higgins told reporters [via The Daily Mail].
The scene was a refreshing change from the tragedy that stemmed from the hospital where Middleton had stayed for four days.
Queen Elizabeth, for an update on the pregnant Duchess.
On Friday, the body of Jacintha Saldanha, a nurse receptionist, was found around the corner from King Edward VII Hospital. Scotland Yard is treating the death as a possible suicide.
Since the tragic news, the hospital's chairman has penned a letter to 2DayFM's parent company Southern Cross Austereo.
"King Edward VII's Hospital cares for sick people, and it was extremely foolish of your presenters even to consider trying to lie their way through to one of our patients, let alone actually make the call," Lord Glenarthur wrote.
"Then to discover that, not only had this happened, but that the call had been pre-recorded and the decision to transmit approved by your station's management, was truly appalling."
The DJs have since been suspended as the station has pulled all ads from its airwaves in the wake of the tragedy.
Be sure to check out the gallery, above, for Prince William's night out for Centrepoint.
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Pardot and Salesforce - A Partnership for Sales and Marketing Success
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Salesforce has become an indispensable tool of the modern marketer by helping to increase efficiency, sales and marketing alignment, and strategic insight. Pardot is the go-to marketing automation tool for marketers looking to supercharge Salesforce into an all-in-one marketing powerhouse.
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