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Half-resolution images are something we've already seen with the 3D games currently available on the 360: both Blitz Games' Invincible Tiger and Ubisoft's far more impressive Avatar render in a user-defined choice of non-HDMI 1.4 stereo 3D techniques, but all of them are based on the principle of two distinct images crammed into one 720p framebuffer.
This then gives the PlayStation 3D solution a clear resolution advantage. The 1280x1470 framebuffer format allows for a full 720p resolution - you see it in Super Stardust HD, WipEout HD and also in the forthcoming Gran Turismo 5. However, despite these titles, there are many others which operate with resolution handicaps - Killzone 3 for example operates at half-res in its E3 guise, so while the 3D framebuffer is used, it makes no effective difference compared to a side-by-side Xbox 360 game.
A potential solution for this is to go for a 1080p framebuffer on 360: a 960x1080 image per eye actually offers more resolution than native 720p, the only disadvantage being the use of rectangular pixels, an effect we can simulate by downscaling an existing 1080p game.
Aside from question marks over whether this 1080p format is actually standards compliant with HDMI 1.4, going for a 1080p framebuffer also presents technical issues with the 360 in tiling from the 10MB of eDRAM, plus of course it introduces fill-rate issues too. More pixels need to be generated, meaning more of a load on Xenos.
All true stereoscopic 3D games face an additional challenge over and above the generation of more pixels, as Criterion's technical director, Richard Parr told us in a discussion about the implementation of 3D in the PS3 version of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.
"Yes, fill rate, GPU geometry processing and RAM are the big challenges, although CPU is also a potential issue if you haven't designed the architecture from day one to support stereo 3D - and we haven't," Parr says. "Fill rate and RAM can obviously be offset choosing a lower resolution, as Killzone does, but the GPU is still left needing to process twice the number of vertices. "
In theory, the Xbox 360 should be able to match PlayStation 3's 3D performance - when taken as a whole, the two systems are capable of remarkably similar results. However, the 360's Xenos GPU is markedly superior to the RSX in terms of both fill-rate throughput and geometry processing. While PS3 can draw upon the performance of the SPUs to make up the deficit, the question is whether developers - particular on multi-platform titles - will make use efficient of them. This is the sort of implementation you'd really need to see added to the basic architecture of the engine, as Parr suggests.
As Ubisoft's Rob Cooper pointed out, and it already has extensive 3D experience by retrofitting stereoscopy to its state-of-the-art Dunia engine, as used in Far Cry 2 and James Cameron's Avatar.
"There are some special optimisations that were done for the stereoscopic version. Rendering for stereoscopy only impacts your rendering thread and GPU performance," Ubisoft international brand manager Luc Duchaine tells us.
"As such, game logic, physics, etc, don't need to be run twice per frame. To decrease the GPU performance hit, we are re-using the same shadow maps and we also implemented some specific optimisations. Overall, the stereoscopic version's frame rate is close to that of the monoscopic version's."
This is something we can put to the test fairly easily by carrying out like-for-like tests on the game running on both PS3 and 360. In these tests the darker line signifies 2D performance, the lighter line 3D. Tear graphs for 2D are on the top of the graph, 3D on the bottom.
On Xbox 360 the game copes well processing those additional vertices, but it's clear to see that the same game on PS3 - already running at a performance disadvantage in 2D mode - has trouble keeping up. Bearing in mind how many game engines on cross-platform titles run smoother on Xbox 360, there is the very possibility that as 3D gains traction on multi-platform games, the 360 may well end up providing the smoother 3D experience on these titles while PS3 leads from the front with its first party output.
Other developers are planning 3D solutions that aren't true examples of proper stereoscopy but should at least provide a decent approximation of real depth without over-taxing the capabilities of consoles that were never really designed for the kinds of workload 3D demands from what are - by today's standards - pretty old and decrepit graphics chips.
The performance factor is something that can be mitigated and perhaps overcome by adopting a pseudo 3D approach, or 2D plus depth as it should be more accurately described. Instead of two power-sapping passes, the conventional single pass is carried out, but with separation of elements in the scene carried out based on the depth or z-buffer.


text:
Water always finds a way out. -Old proverb of Cameroon
In my earlier post I spoke about Blue Water. Blue Water is also called horizontal water because it is the water that we see flowing on earth in an almost horizontal direction. It is also the visible water. There is however an unseen part of water, unseen but moving in the vertical direction. This water is known as vertical water or Green Water.
Traditionally our approach towards freshwater resources remained centered only on specific aspects, aspects concerning the visible water while overlooking aspects that are equally or even more important for human development. For example when we talk about the quality of freshwater, we mostly find pollution as relevant. There is thus the invisibility of freshwater and related eco-system services that are quite important with respect to direct freshwater services. Entire pollution debate seems to be around how human health is going to be affected as if eco-systems can tolerate pollution indefinitely.
Green Water is the invisible part of water that keeps the soil moist, flows through the root systems of plants to make up cellulose and exists in the unseen evapo-traspiration of the plant world plus the constant evaporation of water from extensive water bodies like oceans, lakes, rivers, wetlands etc. If you refer to my post titled "Water Paradox: An approach to understand Water Crisis", you may see that I have mentioned about 113,000 cubic kilometers of unseen Green Water contained in soil moisture and atmosphere. This part of the water balance does not popularly figure in our water discourses because we do not see this water or rather do not extract water from these reservoirs. There is, however, no reason why we should not bring this water into our active debate and consideration. Green Water is what sustains non-irrigated plants, including forests and woodlands, grasslands and rain-fed crops.
There is another very good reason for us to be concerned about the Green Water. A part of Green Water exists in the atmosphere as water vapor which is the largest green house gas so any large scale change in its absolute magnitude or distribution has a direct impact on warming/cooling of earth surface and ultimately related to Climate Change.
Green Water balance impacts humanity more globally and long term than Blue Water Balance. We can fight and survive draughts and floods, albeit with hardship. But if our actions interfere with the Green Water flow and balance, the resultant stress has the potential to get out of control or survival capacity. For example think about and try to imagine the impact in the following scenarios (all concerning disturbing Green Water flow or balance).
1. Deforestation. No evapo-transpiration and the soil moisture and water vapor tend to transfer to Blue Water reserve.
2. Large-scale black topping. No evaporation from soil and the soil moisture tend to transfer to ground water.
3. Over-irrigation. Abnormal evaporative surface and Blue Water tends to transfer to Green Water.
The hydrological cycle of earth is meant to store and maintain the water reservoirs in a specific way for the Global Weather and Climatic engine to function normally. If our actions disturb that balance we can never manage the Water Crisis effectively.
[Image Credit: Stan Kaufman]
[Feature Image Credit: otoinclus.com ]

subset: commoncrawl


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Keeping M2M platform development in-house could help operators to exploit M2M opportunities by lowering their costs, according to new research from Heavy Reading Insider.
"Telecom operators have their eyes firmly set on winning M2M market share," said Simon Sherrington, a research analyst with Heavy Reading Insider and author of the report. "While many telecoms operators appear inclined to buy expertise from third parties in order to speed their market entry, there are some significant players not taking this path, and others may be planning to go it alone longer term."
Perhaps the most prominent platform specialist is Jasper Wireless (Mountain View, CA, USA), whose system is used by the M2M alliance that includes Etisalat (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates), KPN (The Hague, Netherlands), NTT DoCoMo (Tokyo, Japan), Rogers Communications (Toronto, Canada), SingTel (Singapore), Telefonica (Madrid, Spain), Telstra (Melbourne, Australia) and VimpelCom (Amsterdam, Netherlands).
But Sherrington believes an increasing number of operators will rely on internal expertise for platform development as they seek to lower costs and spur M2M growth.
"Managed, cloud-based M2M solutions offer telecoms operators a swift means of entering the M2M market with services that cater for a wide range of different customers and industry sectors," said Sherrington. "Ultimately, many of the biggest telecoms operators will want end-to-end control of their M2M platforms, and we can expect to see more of them launching their own in-house platforms, despite their existing or imminent relationships with managed service providers."
Seeing third-party options as a "quick fix", compared with the "long-term solution" of in-house development, Heavy Reading Insider argues that operators must adjust their operational processes to cope with average revenue per user (ARPU) of just a few dollars per device.
Unless they do so, "they have no hope of profitability," writes Sherrington.
Despite this, the report recognizes that cloud-based managed M2M platforms have made it easier for network operators to enter the M2M market, and says "the jury is out on whether cloud-hosted solutions will be used long-term, or whether operators will develop in-house platforms once they have learned how the market works".
If managed platform providers are to survive in the long term, they will need to combine global reach with vertical market support, says Heavy Reading Insider.


text:
Gender-related asylum claims may concern harms directed solely or nearly exclusively at a particular gender (such as female genital cutting) or harms inflicted because of gender (such as repressive social norms that restrict women's freedom). Gender-based harms are often inflicted by private individuals rather than governmental actors, but these harms are often encouraged, tolerated, or ignored by governments.
Because gender-based refugee claims, including those based on sexual orientation and gender identity, differ from traditional asylum claims, they have historically faced significant challenges. In recognition of these challenges, UNHCR and state parties to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its protocol, including the United States, have developed guidelines and training materials for adjudicators considering claims for protection from gender-related persecution. The guidelines explain, for example, the importance of considering legal and social norms as well as the ability and willingness of a state to control such gender-based violence to understand gender-based motivations for harm.
United States
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Servs., Asylum Officer Basic Training Course: Female Asylum Applications and Gender-Related Claims (2009)
- Memorandum from Phyllis Coven, U.S. Dep't of Justice, Considerations For Asylum Officers Adjudicating Asylum Claims From Women (1995) (published in 72 No. 22 Interpreter Releases 771 (1995))
- U.S. Dep't of Justice Asylum and Withholding Definitions, 65 Fed. Reg. 76588 (proposed Dec. 7, 2000)
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Servs., Guidance for Adjudicating Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI) Refugee and Asylum Claims (2011)
UN High Commissioner for Refugees
- U.N. High Comm'r for Refugees, Guidelines on International Protection No. 1: Gender-Related Persecution within the context of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, U.N. Doc. HCR/GIP/02/01 (May 7, 2002)
- U.N. High Comm'r for Refugees, Guidelines on International Protection No. 9: Claims to Refugee Status based on Sexual Orientation and/or Gender Identity within the context of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, U.N. Doc. HCR/GIP/12/09 (Oct. 23, 2012)
Foreign Jurisdictions
Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, Review of Gender, Child, and LGBTI Asylum Guidelines and Case Law in Foreign Jurisdiction: A resource for U.S. Attorneys, (May, 2014).


text:
Hawaii Whale Watching Tours Big Island
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#1 Whale Tours Hawaii - Great info about Humpbacks
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Hawaii whale watching tours from Kona, offering a spectacular, up-close experience with one of the ocean's most incredible creatures - the Humpback Whales. These marine mammals stay during summer months in cold Alaskan waters and migrate annually to the warm tropical waters of Hawaii for giving birth and mating. Marine mammal specialists estimate that up to 10,000 of these giants weighing up top 45 tons vacation in Hawaiian waters from January through April. 100% SIGHTING GUARANTEE on all HawaiiActive.com whale tours!
Hawaii Whale Watching on Big Island with whale boat tours. Hawaii whale watching and humpback tours from Kona.


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|Sport, 1 pitch, 75'
|YDS: 5.10c French: 6b Ewbanks: 20 UIAA: VII ZA: 20 British: E2 5b [details]
|Dan and Tina Godshall
|New Route:
|Page Views:
|Submitted By:
|Dan G0D5H411 on May 16, 2010
|Comments on Leverage
|Add Comment
|Show which comments —
By slim
Dec 2, 2013
rating: 5.10c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b
|I thought this was a really good addition for the area. It is fairly long, the climbing is really fun, and it is well-protected.
By Chris Perkins
From: Buena Vista, Colorado
Apr 10, 2014
rating: 5.10c 6b 20 VII 20 E2 5b
|New guide lists this as Sicilian Style, 11a/b.
By Dan G0D5H411
From: Colorado Springs, CO
Apr 10, 2014
|Hi Chris, I'm not sure which route you climbed, but Sicilian Style and Leverage are two different routes. Sicilian Style starts about 10 feet to the left in a series of dihedrals before tackling a crack and rounded black face just before the anchors. Leverage is a new route, not in the latest D'Antonio guide, and starts immediately behind a large black flake. Hope that clears things up.


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PARISHVILLE – A landlord who threatened a man with a baseball bat and struck his truck with it was arrested by St. Lawrence County Sheriff's deputies.
Deputies charged James W. Barney, 37, of 499 Sylvan Falls Rd., Hopkinton, with second-degree menacing and fourth-degree criminal mischief after he allegedly hit the truck of a man at a rental property with a metal baseball bat and, still holding it, threatened to hit the man with it.
Barney was arraigned in Hopkinton Town Court and released. He is to return at a later date.


text:
by Staff Writers
Laxenburg, Austria (SPX) Jul 04, 2014
Addressing climate change will require substantial new investment in low-carbon energy and energy efficiency - but no more than what is currently spent on today's fossil-dominated energy system, according to new research from IIASA and partners.
To limit climate change to 2 Celsius, low-carbon energy options will need additional investments of about US $800 billion a year globally from now to mid-century, according to a new study published in the journal Climate Change Economics. But much of that capital could come from shifting subsidies and investments away from fossil fuels and associated technologies. Worldwide, fossil subsidies currently amount to around $500 billion per year.
"We know that if we want to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we need to drastically transform our energy system," says IIASA researcher David McCollum, who led the study. "This is a comprehensive analysis to show how much investment capital is needed to successfully make that transition."
The study, part of a larger EU research project examining the implications and implementation needs of climate policies consistent with the internationally agreed 2 C target, compared the results from six separate global energy-economic models, each with regional- and country-level detail. The authors examined future scenarios for energy investment based on a variety of factors, including technology progress, efficiency potential, economics, regional socio-economic development, and climate policy.
Investments in clean energy currently total around $200 to 250 billion per year, and reference scenarios show that with climate policies currently on the books, this is likely to grow to around $400 billion. However, the amount needed to limit climate change to the 2 target amounts to around $1200 billion, the study shows.
The energy investments needed to address climate change continue to be an area of large uncertainty. By comparing the results from multiple models, the scientists were able to better define the costs of addressing climate change.
"Many countries say that they're on board with the a target of 2 Celsius global mean temperature stabilization by 2100; some have even made commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. But until now, it hasn't been very clear how to get to that point, at least from an investment point of view. It's high time we think about how much capital is needed for new power plants, biofuel refineries, efficient vehicles, and other technologies-and where those dollars need to flow-so that we get the emissions reductions we want," says McCollum.
IIASA Energy Program Director Keywan Riahi, another study co-author and project leader, says, "Given that energy-supply technologies and infrastructure are characterized by long lifetimes of 30 to 60 years or more, there's a considerable amount of technological inertia in the system that could impede a rapid transformation. That's why the energy investment decisions of the next several years are so important: because they will shape the direction of the energy transition path for many years to come."
The study shows that the greatest investments will be needed in rapidly developing countries, namely in Asia, Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
"Energy investment in these countries is poised to increase substantially anyway. But if we're serious about addressing climate change, we must find ways to direct more investment to these key regions. Clever policy designs, including carbon pricing mechanisms, can help." says Massimo Tavoni, researcher at the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, a climate research center in Italy, and overall coordinator of the LIMITS project, of which the new study is a part.
The researchers note that their analysis of future investment costs does not attempt to quantify the potentially major fuel savings from switching from fossil fuels to renewable sources, such as wind and solar energy. As shown in the IIASA-led Global Energy Assessment, such savings could offset a considerable share of increased investment on a global scale.
This study provided an important input into the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report, Working Group III, Chapter 16 on Cross-cutting Investment and Finance Issues.
Related Links
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Climate Science News - Modeling, Mitigation Adaptation
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text:
by Christian Ruhm
About the Book
Impressions of the former concentration camp Sachsenhausen in the north of Berlin (Germany).
Features & Details
- Category Fine Art Photography
Small Square, 7×7 in, 18×18 cm
64 Pages
- Publish Date Oct 08, 2010
- Tags Concentration Camp, Sachsenhausen, Germany, Oranienburg, Art, Photography, Portfolio, colour, reduced, straight, Museum, Memorial
About the Creator
born 1967 in Berlin freelancer & artist since 2002 lives and works outside Berlin
Log in or create an account to post a comment.
2 Comments
Christian Ruhm Thank You for Your comment Mr. Lavelle,
I suppose it is always difficult to deal with such a delicate subject artistically.
These pictures in conjunction with their simplification and emptiness reflect truly my view that day.
The volitional reduction intends to put the viewer in a position to reflect on the horrible history of this place.
With this book I don't want to clarify or document what is already well documented but to give a thought-provoking impulse.
I hope this might help to describe my intention. Please excuse me if my english is not accurate.
Frank Lavelle What a lovely, graphic place. Is that your intention?


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MCKEE-L ArchivesArchiver > MCKEE > 2002-01 > 1010944992
Subject: [MCKEE] George Wahington McKee
Date: 13 Jan 2002 11:03:35 -0700
This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list.
Classification: Query
Message Board URL:
Message Board Post:
My George Washington Mckee was born in New ity, Ilinois and son of James Mckee.
Don Myers
This thread:


text:
About ProxyTor (originally short for The Onion Router) is a system intended to enable online anonymity. Tor client software directs internet traffic through a worldwide volunteer network of servers to conceal a user's location or usage from anyone conducting network surveillance or traffic analysis. Using Tor makes it more difficult to trace Internet activity, including "visits to Web sites, online posts, instant messages and other communication forms", back to the user and is intended to protect users' personal privacy, freedom, and ability to conduct confidential business by keeping their internet activities from being monitored.
"Onion Routing" refers to the layered nature of the encryption service: The original data are encrypted and re-encrypted multiple times, then sent through successive Tor relays, each one of which decrypts a "layer" of encryption before passing the data on to the next relay and, ultimately, its destination. This reduces the possibility of the original data being unscrambled or understood in transit.
The Tor client is a free software and use of the Tor network is free of charge.


text:
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Chocolate Truffle Layer Cake
This outrageous chocolate cake was born from a lucky mistake. Pastry chef Kimberly Sklar was baking a crème fraîche-spiked chocolate cake and, by accident, took the pan out of the oven early. Discovering that the cake was superfudgy, she layered it with dark chocolate and white chocolate ganache, then covered it in dark chocolate frosting.


text: Naya Raipur Development Authority (NRDA) is a special area development authority established by GoCG under the Chhattisgarh Nagar Tatha Gram Nivesh Adhiniyam, 1973 for development and administration of Naya Raipur. As part of development activities, NRDA is developing and shall develop infrastructure, utility and social projects by various procurement methods such as Public Private Partnership framework, Engineering procurement contracts Percent Rate/ Item Rate/ lump sum contract etc, depending on the nature of projects.The authority thus formed is named Capital Area Development Authority (CADA) which is now called as Naya Raipur Development Authority(NRDA). NRDA is the nodal agency undertaking comprehensive development of this Greenfield & City.


text: Going into this event, six anglers had failed to earn a check this year: Scott Ashmore, James Elam, B.J. Haseotes, Derek Remitz, Joe Sancho and Dennis Tietje. Elam (15th going into Day 3) and Remitz (24th) have gotten off the "schneid." The rest are still looking for their first payday of 2014.


text:
Have a Tax Question? Ask a Tax Expert
Having dug deeply into the Michigan Treasury website, I see no provision that would leave the residence taxable value as it was before the old residence burned. There are exemptions for those in the poverty income level, but my review of all the government forms for real property disclosed no exclusion due to disasters such as a fire. I did read Proposal A as you can below. With a newly build structure valued at $123,000, there is no provision that would allow it to be given a taxable value of $43,000. There is no mention of hardship exclusions for fire or disaster....only for the poverty exemption.
The land valuation is protected under Proposal A and you should make sure that the land value was not reassessed, but not the new construction as you can see from the direct quotation below:
"Beginning in CY 1995, Michigan property taxes are levied on taxable value. A constitutional amendment requires that the taxable value of a residence or business cannot increase in any one year by more than 5 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less (excluding the value of new construction). "
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/628f_2685_7.pdf Notice by Owner of Property Incorrectly Reported or Omitted From Assessment Roll
http://www.michigan.gov/taxes/0,1607,7-238-43535_43539---,00.html Principal Residence Exemption Program
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/2368f_2605_7.pdf Homeowner's Principal Residence Exemption Affidavit
I hope you review the above website when you have the opportunity. The information is enlightening, but offers no relief for you on the taxable valuation.


text:
A government panel is recommending that young boys also get the controversial HPV shot. That's the vaccine now given to girls to prevent cervical cancer.
Doctors argue that it could protect boys against genital warts and some kinds of cancers. But they also say vaccinating 11- and 12-year old boys could also help prevent the spread of the sexually transmitted virus to girls.
Boys Should Get HPV Vaccination, Too: Panel
Current Status: Blessed (1)
Seeded on Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:58 AM
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text: One of the advantages of this found footage format is that you can have deliberately badly composed frames. Here we can put a camera in the weirdest angle and it kind of throws you off. You never know what you are supposed to be paying attention to. It's deliberate chaos.


text:
NFL Commissioner Gave 'Thumbs Up' to Pro Bowl
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told ESPN radio Monday that Sunday's Pro Bowl game "was a very, very positive step" for the game. He said it was very competitive and exciting with the players playing harder. Goodell said he had a fun time watching it and he thinks fans did, too. Less than a year ago, Goodell had considered canceling the Pro Bowl game.


text:
SHREVEPORT, La. — Keith Poche spent Tuesday on his knees. This marks 30-year-old Poche's first Bassmaster Classic appearance, and he is looking for some Divine Guidance.
"I'm scared as hell," Poche said. "I was in my room, on my knees, praying. I'm just getting my thoughts together, really."
The Bassmaster Classic begins Friday on the Red River. There was no practice time allowed Tuesday. The 49 qualifiers will get a half-day on the water Wednesday to put the finishing touches on a game plan formed during the three days of practice that concluded Sunday.
Poche grew up in Natchitoches, La. He qualified for the Bassmaster Elite Series last year and easily qualified for this Bassmaster Classic through the season-long Elite Series point standings.
"I've got confidence in myself that I can catch them," Poche said. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't have confidence. But I'm kind of worried. I'm a little bit nervous."
Ott DeFoe, on the other hand, doesn't think about anything but the immediate task. The Knoxville angler who won last year's Toyota Tundra Rookie of the Year Award, spent the day thinking about his kids, not bass fishing.
DeFoe said it was "my turn" when one of his twins, Parker, woke up at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday not feeling well.
"I held him and kind of rocked him until about 8 o'clock," DeFoe said.
DeFoe attended a required meeting for competitors at the Hilton Hotel at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Then DeFoe went back to the Red River Marina campground, where he and his wife, Jennie, and the twins are staying in their camper this week. Upon their arrival, the family took a long walk.
"I don't get nervous," DeFoe said. "I just kind of leave it in God's hands and go with it."
It's that levelheaded approach, which DeFoe exhibited throughout the 2011 Elite Series schedule, that has put him on the short list of favorites here, even though DeFoe is fishing in his first Bassmaster Classic.
Taking care of kids was a common theme Tuesday. Chris Lane of Guntersville, Fla., and his wife, Holly, had their fourth child four months ago. Chris took care of the newcomer Tuesday morning while Holly took the oldest kids with her for some exercise. Then Chris joined his brother, Bobby, who is also competing this week, for lunch. Chris said he didn't think much about bass fishing on Tuesday.
"I think this tournament is going to depend solely on the decisions that are made each day, not so much an area or a spot," Lane, who is fishing in his second Bassmaster Classic, said. "The guy that makes the right decisions—to move or to stay—that's going to be the key."
Bill Lowen picked up his wife, Jennifer, and their two kids at the airport Tuesday morning. He spent most of the day entertaining their newborn son, who arrived Feb. 1.
"Practice has been really kind of tough," Lowen said of the three-day, Friday to Sunday practice period on the Red River. "I'm sure somebody has fished through the winning fish in practice. I wish we had a full day [Wednesday], but it is what it is."
Lowen and the rest of the Bassmaster Classic field will be allowed only a half-day of practice Wednesday.
Fletcher Shryock of Newcomerstown, Ohio, thought of nothing but bass fishing Tuesday. Shryock, 27, qualified for his first Bassmaster Classic by winning the Bass Pro Shops Southern Open last year on North Carolina's Lake Norman.
"I really worked on my game plan," Shryock said of his day. "I've been looking at Google Earth, I've got Post-it notes all over the place, I'm just trying to figure it out. If I don't do well, it isn't going to be from a lack of trying."
Shryock said he has been surprised by the number of people aware of the Bassmaster Classic in the area. But performing in front of a crowd hasn't been a problem for him. Shryock competed in the Motocross National and Super Motocross motorcycle racing series before he dedicated himself to bass tournament fishing.
"I qualified for a Supercross main event in Toronto that was in front of 72,000 people," he said. "This is definitely a huge event, but I'm kind of used to what's going on here. I just really want to do good in this tournament. I've wracked my brain today trying to figure out how to pull this off."
Click here for the TV schedule of 2012 Bassmaster Classic coverage.


text:
Would you like to save as your currency permanently or for this visit only?
staff is very kind rooms are very poor and not well maintained : my first room had huge graffiti on the walls, it was changed and the 2nd room had no wifi
very quick checkin and check out, friendly staff. very nice restaurant, we had an excellent dinner there with very cheap price, also very good snack in the night. easy to go to the town, and the small town is quite nice. nothing, good small hotel and really good food, well prepared salad, kid friendly.
It was relatively cheap and still nice. The room was clean, no sign of mold in the bathroom, unlike someone else mentioned it before. It was also quit there, so we could sleep very well. The breakfast was good and when something ran out, it was filled up again immediately.
the beautiful bar and restaurant. really nice surroundings to relax. the mosquitos in my room. I was bitten alot and needed to visit a doctor for some medication.
Easy to find. Good cycle storage Needs refurb to bedrooms. Public areas are however up to date
use of computer for emails, ample car parking, breakfast was ok no tea/coffee facilities in room, needed decorating in bedrooms, no hotel information in room, single beds in double room
The easy access to the downtown. The lovely view out the window. The friendliness of the staff. Steps are rather steep and curvy and there is no lift. Also offers no safe, refrigerator or toilet items. Offered no help to take our luggage down from second floor.
Complete lack of spare electrical sockets in room, noisy from the road
The staff here is extremely nice. The room was spick & span. The hotel is conveniently located in a corner next to the freeway, yet you do not hear the cars at all. The rooms are like little appartments with the room's door leading straight to an outside gallery. The food at the hotel's restaurant was excellent, high standard and very tasty, which is not reflected in the price at all. We were warned that it might take a bit longer as there was a large group of people ordering food at the same time, despite the advance warning we got our food very quickly. No showercaps.
Very Helpfull staff (Nancy) no
wifi available for free location out of the city
location to the exhibition hall full of smoke when you eat and drink
The very uncompicated and friendly staff. That the room was clean. It was a non smoking room.
The helpfulness of the staff. Very friendly people. WiFi was only available in certain rooms, so i had to be moved when i first got there, however the staff helped locate a new room for me.
Nice and helpful staff. Easy to find.
Close to our friend's apartment. Room had limited space.
it is a bit to expensive
The room was lovely and the bathroom facilites were excellent. I loved all the complimentary toiletries. The beds were comfortable although they were just two single beds pushed together which tended to seperate a bit in the middle. There was a tv with lots of channels and access to the internet through the tv although it costs about 17 euro for 24 access. There is a lovely hotel resturant and bar. The resturant food is delicious although expensive. All the staff spoke english and were very friendly and helpful We had to get taxis everywhere cos the hotel is a bit far out, although if you rent a car this will not be a problem and the location of the hotel is easy to find and its very quiet. Staff at reception will also call a cab if you need it.
breakfast offered, was very good The choise of music in the restaurant (same cd over and over again). No free Wi-Fi in the rooms.
Woman's Room
Clean, comfortable rooms. Extensive breakfast. Really good facilities for business travellers and loads of parking. There were no facilities for children. We travelled with a 9 and 1 year old and it would have been nice to have an area where they could play. Check out was rather difficult as we were charged for an extra bed when our booking confirmation quite clearly said that child beds were free of charge. This caused a queue and some embarrassment but amounted to an extra 60 euros on the final bill. Also tea/coffee facilities in room but no milk - we had to purchase milk from the bar.
Everything was good. The hotel is located near the highway and quite far from any settlements. Good only for wheels travellers
Friendly service and the quality of the accommodation and food and it was reasonable value as well. no
Visited Efteling
Clean room, big bathroom. Shower pressure quite low, room dimly lit (romantic, but not good for business travellers). Checked out at 5 o'clock on day of departure to meet at customer's site and asked reception if they could keep the room available until noon as I was hoping to have time to go back and freshen up before driving to the UK. Was told it was not possible, I would either have to go back at noon and checkout or leave the room at 5am.
very friendly and helpful staff
room, location, staff, kind reception! the kitchen was much too slow!
The decorations are very cute, the staff very friendly, the breakfast very nice
excellent for children, very comfertabel and cleen 4 star hotel with excellent price for the category. beautiful and exciting for children
except for location that would be the room, its size and comfort buffet and food service was pretty poor (also for breakfast); not much choice from vegetables :(
A nice hotel, especially for kids, because the hotel is really aimed at their wishes. Great service, extremely kind people. If you are visiting the attraction park, a stay in the hotel makes your day 100% perfect!
Spacious rooms, very good restaurant
very close to efteling parc
The location is great as it is right next to the Efteling and we could access the park 15mins before the official opening time. The staff were very friendly and it has many facilities for the kids; i.e. indoor and outdoor playground, buffet dinner with entertainment and story telling activities at the lobby.
The hotel is very children friendly and the size of the room is comfortable.....even with 3 adults and 2 young children. Plus it is only a very short walk to the attraction park. The beds were much too soft. They don't offer good support for the spine and the adults woke up with back aches the following morning.
Conevenient. Right nest to the attraction that we visited (Efteling amusment park). Cosy. Excellent restaurnat. Very family oriented.
Very nice hotel with great service and the Efteling Park is beautiful and exciting as ever. The park is great for all ages and is a real institution in Holland; it is difficult to describe, you have to experience it. Staying at the hotel gives you lots of extras; you have your own (queue free) access to the park, easy parking and the hotel has the same fairytale-esk atmosphere as the park. It is a real family hotel; so lots of little children around. Don't go for a quiet, romantic break perhaps.
Quiet room. Signage to find the hotel very poor. At night in rain, even with GPS a sign from the major roads would be helpful and especially near the entrance which is accessed via a barrier (why ?) and you can't see it is the entrance to the hotel until you pull into the barrier. Try doing this in heavy rain at night as I did. Secondly, no tea or coffee making facilities in the room. Given the price you would expect this. Don't think I'll be staying here again.
No aircondsion
Great buffet breakfast. High quality/price ratio. Quiet location but conveniently close to the highway. Wifi connection too expensive.
Did not spend enough time at the hotel at IBC
Location, comfort, price the room a little too far from lobby, minor miscomfort
Staff and food were extremely good Just a small thing, vegetables were the same every day
It is very well-staffed and all of them know their job, and seem genuinely to make an effort. Its a vast place but it all works well. Restaurant is not wildly adventurous, but fairly extensive menu and good value for money.
Sunday noise
Little bit too expensive.
I thought the food was great and service very good, the location was good for us too. The only thing i could fault that we couldnt get room service for snacks, sandwiches etc.
Excellent facilities, and extremely friendly and helpful staff
convenient for motorway - room clean, warm, comfortable - tea/coffee making facility - well presented food available at reasonable price in pleasant surroundings - staff welcoming/ friendly /helpful - hotel fulfilled its functions entirely as expected
The staff was very nice and friendly.
conveniently located near the City Plaza Nieuwegen no heating only cooling AC while the room was very cold in the night
Great hotel, very tidy and generally a nice place to stay the night.
Easy to get there by car, nice rooms, good workplace in the room
Nice hotel, very helpful staff and good service. No shops close to the hotel.
Friendly Staff, Nice Foyer Bar and Restaurant Rooms are lloking a little tired and could do with an update
I have stayed at this hotel on several occasions and the rooms and facil;ities are good.The restaurant has a good menu and its location in central Holland adjacent to the motorway makes it a perfect base from which to get everywhere quickly. Most of all the staff are all very welcoming, friendly and helpful. Thoroughly recommended.
Comfort & location.food was really good but a little bit expensive.could be cheaper.
Close to Efteling Park. Friendly staff. Cheap internet access.
Requests were promptly handled by reception. e.g. When asked for a quiet & cold room, it was provided. Breakfast was good, but the tables were not cleared promptly. Information about breakfast & service times not available in room.
Pleasant and accomodating Reception and Restaurant staff.
Quite place, close to my distant family No
Great value for an excellent hotel. Friendly staff and we loved the breakfast.
I would have appreciated some vegetable at breakfast.
The staff was great and so was the food. Construction madethings a little awkward. Plus I'm not use to the sidelanes.
easy to find off motorway
the staff. the food and the proximity to Efterling lack of parking space in the evening. Smoking in the restaurant area
the breakfast was really good,plenty of selection.The room was clean and spacious.The staff was very helpful.
The room was very spacious (suite) and the view on the river is great. The hotel could use some decoration, it seems a bit 'cold'.
A very calm hotel, the staff was very nice and helpful, finally the food was the best the chef is the best I have tried across 5 countries!!!!
Friendliness and helpfulness of the staff. Qulity of facilities, food and drink. Location was further from train station than indicated on the map.
Well located and well appointed. Restaurant performance was poor. Breakfast was average.
I particularly liked the size and decoration of the room and the hotel in general
The hotel is clean and the staff very pleasant. n/a
It is very closed from the city, and in the countryside as well. Very relaxing, clean, and convenient. Nothing to complain.
We had the suite: it was huge, plenty of room and aa nice view In most hotels, in the suite, you might expect a mini-bar, and a stereo to play your own music or something like that. Not here: a bed, a bath, a TV, a desk (and an infrared cabin, but who uses that?). Pretty bare for a suite
Pleasant surroundings, very helpful staff. First class stay. Wheelchair ramp from car park could do with relaying, but disabled facilities inside hotel first class.
Hotel Ara was very a relaxing, enjoyable overnight stay. Staff were excellant and food terrific albeit very expensive for us Brits on holiday. Have to agree with most reviews...very difficult to find. If the maps on booking.com had motorway exit numbers on them we would of had a better chance.
Its friendly atmosphere and proximity to Eftleing
Friendly owners !!
Family atmosphere Rooms need renovation
Very family friendly, nothing too much bother for the staff. Childrens room excellant, children happy so an enjoyable stay. No kettle, tea making facilities in room, I did however get a kettle on a request but no cups, tea, etc luckily I had my own!!!
The staff was absolutely fantastic and sweet nothing at all
The hotel is very conveniently situated at a 5 minute walk from Efteling; and the staff was very friendly. The rooms were comfortable and the breakfast was very good. The kids also enjoyed the play area, and we all enjoyed these 2 days despite the terrible weather!
Very friendly owners, made welcome immediately with nothing too much trouble. Very Good No
Breakfast was excellent and bar was also vert good
Friendly staff, always ready to assist, close to the Efteling.
The owner is great, he helped with everything he could.
Room clean, good beds, attention to detail. Staff Friendly.
pleasant and flexible staff. connected rooms with regard to the questionnaire: 3d should also have an option "I don't know". And the address when submitting should not read "Amsterdam" but Rotterdam
During the stay we could smell cigarette smoke which was drifting down through the ceiling into the non-smoking room. The double bed consists of two single beds with single bed linen pushed together which is unusual for people who are used to hotel/motel accomodation in the UK or Australia.
Hotel was quiet,was easily accessable,the rooms were clean.
Very comfortable hotel, friendly, welcoming staff
No air conditioning in the rooms and stiffling hot.
Excellent Hotel, friendly efficient staff. Enabled one of the business meeting rooms to be used for bicycle storage. A far better use than for meetings!
Ease of access to my work during my stay in the Netherlands Disappointed to stay in the Garden Wing rather than the main part of the hotel, however, I guess based on the price I paid it was a good deal.
Great staff and near Kinderdijk. Goede medewerkers en in de buurt van Kinderdijk.
friendly stuff, restaurant extremely hot room in garden wing
Good for a romantinc night out (but was not my case...) Limited choices for the dinner at the restaurant, rooms in need of refurbishment
Efficient staff, reception staff very pleasant. Lovly country setting, but easy access. Good budget breakfast. Overall, for the money, I would stay there again. Bedroom ok, but miniscule tv; second room of family suite (Room 104) room a bit cramped with a bunk bed.
Very friendly, helpful staff; great breakfast; lovely location; large comfortable rooms; nice pool - had a wonderful stay. Nothing!
The hotel is an old building with nice decoration. breakfast was pleasent. Smell of "old", the room was not nice. The water heat in the not modern bathroom was not stable. Also, from the website I did not get the impression that the hotel is located in a village. I though it is more in the country.
The staff was very helpful The hotel as a whole is in desparate need of refurbishment. The work is in progress but there is still a lit of work ahead
Location and food are very good, but the only problem the room was too warm and no air condition No air condition in the room
The meals served here are the best we have had in a long time. Full credit to the chefs. Nothing to report
Downstairs has been improved since last visit (restaurant, bar and pool areas). Breakfast much better. Change of prices when changed dates.
Small room, furniture old.
Location and convenience The Marie Celeste atmosphere - no staff available most of the time. Asked to leave room keys, which were then left on the reception desk in an unstaffed hotel with an unlocked front door.
Good location and nice staff Expensive breakfast
close to town center,one minute away.plenty of parking just at the back of the hotel,1 euro 20 cents per day
The hotel is directly related to a house of retired people! This atmosphere can felt!
perfect location
Free wireless internet connection. Good restaurant. Exterior of the hotel looks actually better than seen on photos.
no private parking
well situated no
Clean room, all the usual facilities -- no complaints
I liked that it was centrally located close to the center of town. I like that the staff was very friendly, spoke very good english, and called to have bikes brought to the hotel for us. The smoking rooms were across the hall rather than being on a different floor.


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Now that the annual general meeting season has come to an end, it is worth reflecting on the value of annual general meetings.
The AGM remains the oldest and most stable forum for shareholder engagement. It is the biggest day in a corporate calendar, requiring careful planning and attracting lots of media interest.
But have AGMs completely lost their way?
And is it shareholders, rather than the corporates, who are responsible?
The truth is that shareholder engagement through a typical AGM has become a mind-numbing exercise. "I believe we have a question at microphone #1" says the chairman. The attendant announces: "Chairman, may I re-introduce Mr X" and the audience groans.
In a typical AGM, there will be 30 to 40 questions, several asked by "repeat offenders" and some so long and misguided that everyone loses the thread before the answer. They try to dominate the floor while the chairman does their best to remain in good humour.
Many shareholders and their representatives have given up on AGMs because of the time it takes to get down to the real business of the meeting.
Sections 250S, 250SA and 250T of the Corporations Act are half the problem. They require the chairman of an AGM to allow a reasonable opportunity for members to ask questions and make comments on the management of the company, the remuneration report and the audit. Those provisions and the modern mantra of supporting shareholder engagement make it hard to close down debate, even when it is uninformed and off track
I like Jack Tilburn as much as the next guy, but let's face it, he gets far more airtime than warranted.
And then there is Stephen Mayne. Another nice fella. He's spent years making noise and nominating for boards simply because he can. He has built a whole sub-culture around it (and a business he sold). The US Securities and Exchange Commission is currently debating the preposterous idea that shareholders have "proxy access", meaning the ability to put anything at all on the agenda for an annual meeting - including a board nominee. The idea was proposed in October 2003 and subsequently archived in 2004, but somehow made it back on the agenda this year. If you told an American that individuals could just get on the ticket, and that the company would have to facilitate it, they would start to tremble.
Shareholders who have fashioned a life from AGM limelight have driven away any serious investors. Those investors get their engagement through digesting corporate announcements, analyst reports, webcast investor briefings and The Australian Financial Review. AGM attendance thus represents a fraction of the constituency.
The latest development is the saddest of all - the debate and non-binding resolution on the remuneration report.
Firstly, the Corporations Act provisions and accounting rules render these reports impossible to prepare with clarity and impossible to evaluate. Secondly, the non-binding concept is infantile. Thirdly, the Productivity Commission's notorious two-strikes proposal is unworkable (even if 25 per cent was the right threshold for "against" votes, no self-respecting director will be prepared to stand for a contingent election in place of a director voted out on account of the second strike - so no prizes for guessing what the likely names on the ballot paper will be). And finally, not one of the multitude of "reforms" in the last 20 years on executive and board remuneration have actually achieved a reduction in corporate excess.
It is said shareholder meetings are designed to keep boards and management accountable. But in the Australian business environment, the media really plays that role - and far more effectively.
Anyone who has been to an analyst briefing knows the level of meaningful engagement, compared with what occurs at an AGM, is chalk and cheese. There you have a knowledgeable crowd that is busy and needs to get through things efficiently.
One solution could be to encourage productive engagement by taking the theatrics out AGMs and filtering questions so that only those that would be of genuine interest to the body of shareholders are addressed. Keep AGMs short. And of course repeal sections 250S, 250SA and 250T.
This would provide better, not worse, engagement at AGMs. For all shareholders.
The Australian Financial Review


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It is the day that everyone has waited for: the Tomorrow People's savior has returned. But just what will Roger (Jeffrey Pierce) do? Will he stay to fight the war with the Founder or will he want to spend a little down time with his family before running back into the battlefield again. And will John (Luke Mitchell) ever be able to forgive Roger for the trick he played in making John believe he had killed him and all those years he had to live with the gnawing guilt over it?
In an exclusive interview, star Jeffrey Pierce talked about what happens when Roger wakes up and what his first move will be to save THE TOMORROW PEOPLE. [Read more…]


text:
posted by anonymous .
"Huck, Continued"
In my boyhood summers, we lived in a Dutch-fieldstone house a dozen yards from the western shore of the Hudson, and the river's damp sounds and smells, its wide white expanse of glassy or wind-mottled water, its brackish tides, its ceaseless movement, and its night lappings impinged on my young consciousness unawares. Twenty miles up from the Battery, I waded in the Hudson, swam in it, fished in it (for eels and tommycod and blue crabs), skipped stones on it, shot fireworks over it, and all day dozily studied its upstream and downstream traffic. Catboats, rowboats, and runabouts appeared and went away, while, over in the eastern cahnnel, river freighters and sluggish tugs with low processions of barges made passage with banner-streaming vessels from the great white fleet of the Hudson River Day Line. Way off, along the New York Central's water-level route, trains silently drew and redrew the straight line of the farther bank.
I must have been eleven or twelve when I first encountered "Huckleberry Finn," but from the moment Huck and Jim took to the river - their river, the Mississippi -- I was overtaken with a thrilling proprietary excitement, because, of course, Mark Twain had it right: this was what a great wide-water, north-south stream was like, and here was how it felt to pass time on its banks. For the first time, literature had confirmed for me a patch of life that I recognized from my own experience.
In the book, Twain appears to give little attention to scenery, but his river-prospect interludes preserve the clarity and unhurried gazing of an empty-sky morning passed within the sound of moving water:
A little smoke couldn't be noticed, now, so we would take some fish off of the lines, and cook up a hot breakfast. And afterwards we would watch the lonesomeness of the river, and kind of lazy along, and by and by lazy off to sleep....Next you'd see a raft sliding by, away off yonder, and maybe a galoot on it chopping, because they're most always doing it on a raft; you'd see the ax flash, and come down -- you don't hear nothing; you see that ax go up again, and by the time it's above the man's head, then you hear the k'chunk! -- it had took all that time to come over the water.
The famous passage -- it comes along early in Chapter 19 --lies near the center of this most central American novel, and one returns to it each time with refreshed alertness. One might even look at that "sliding by" and then recall how often Twain uses the word or a variant --not just when he is writing about the river but when he is writing about Huck Finn himself. Huck by turns slides out of houses and bedrooms, slips off quiet, slides into a canoe, slips down a ladder, clears out away from his drunken father, and, with his companion, Jim, hurries again to the raft and lets her go a-sliding down the river. Each of these hero-outcasts holds secret hopes of finding a place for himself somewhere in proper, dry-land society, but they are kept on the run by the grownups they encounter-- thieves and lynchers, rapscallions and skin-artists and murderers -- during their precipitous vertical odyssey. Almost without noticing, they discover that the great sliding river itself is the only constant, their one fixed home.
"Huckleberry Finn" invites rereading, but I find less sunshine in it each time around. Its crue and oafish backwater crowds, and the itinerant grotesques who prey upon them, don't feel all that funny or far away, and the bitter pains of Jim's condition, on which Twain poured out his irony, are dated more in details than in substance. I notice, too, as I did not before, that HUck and Jim become older in the book, partly as the result of their comical and horrific experiences but really because they are also riding that other stream whose insensible, one-way flow is felt perhaps even by children staring at distant sails and trains on a summer afternoon. In the end, the two run out of river, and so does their story, which becomes less when it must find a way to stop. Time has slid away, and we wish ourselves upstream again, beginning the voyage.
Roger Angell
I need help restating the author's central claim or thesis. I need help coming up with insightful commentary to explain how the author supports his claim. I need help determining its assumptions, assessing its evidence, and weighing its conclusions.
Does he view The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as something of praise or controversy?
This seems to be his central idea:
"For the first time, literature had confirmed for me a patch of life that I recognized from my own experience."
The supports are the main ideas in each of the paragraphs between the first and last paragraphs.
He saw the work positively when he first read it, but then he writes that the book "invites rereading, but I find less sunshine in it each time around." In other words, as he grows older and has more of life's experiences, he sees the book differently each time he rereads it.
I hope this helps.


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Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many aid, construction and election workers were killed in Afghanistan in (a) 2003; and (b) the first six months of 2004. [HL3949]
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: There are no authoritative statistics, but media reporting suggests that 18 aid, construction and election workers died in 2003; and 42 died in the first six months of 2004. These totals include both foreign nationals and Afghan citizens working for the United Nations and non-govermental organisations.
The Earl of Sandwich asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their response to the recent proposal of the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit for a long-term plan for security in Afghanistan. [HL4039]
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: We welcome the emphasis on a long-term plan for security in the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit's June briefing paper, "Minimal Investments, Minimal Results: The Failure of Security Policy in Afghanistan". We continually review our own, and partners', efforts in this area, but we believe that a
7 Sept 2004 : Column WA135
long-term plan already exists and is being implemented.
In the short term, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the US-led coalition are assisting the Afghan authorities to build a secure environment. NATO is currently implementing plans for expanding ISAF.
In the longer term, sustainable improvement in security can only come through developing the capabilities of Afghanistan's own security and law enforcement institutions. The international community has made a long-term commitment to Security Sector Reform (SSR). The UK has been very active in this. We have committed £70 million over three years from 200304 to assist the Afghan authorities in their efforts to combat the production and trafficking of illegal narcotics. The UK is also active in police reconstruction; reform of the Afghan National Army; the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration process; and the justice sector. As the paper points out, provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs) provide both short and long-term support, helping the Afghan authorities create a more secure and stable environment and thereby facilitating SSR. We fully support the PRT "stabilisation" model promoted in the paper, and the UK PRTs in northern Afghanistan have demonstrated what it can achieve.
Lord Pearson of Rannoch asked Her Majesty's Government:
What European Union policy areas do not apply to non-European Union members of the European economic area under the European economic area agreement; and [HL4046]
What joint European Union-European economic area institutions provide for decision-shaping and decision-making by non-European Union members of the European economic area when European Union bodies are preparing new European economic area-relevant legislation. [HL4053]
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The European economic area (EEA) agreement establishes rules to facilitate the movement of goods, services, capital and persons between EU and EEA member states in an open and competitive environment. It binds EEA members into most EU single market rules.
Broadly the EEA agreement does not cover the following EU policy areas:
common agriculture and fisheries policies (although the agreement contains provisions on various aspects of trade in agricultural and fish products);
the common commerical policy, including customs union;
justice and home affairs (although Iceland and Norway participate in Schengen co-operation);
public health (except in the context of the environment of health and safety in work);
economic, financial and technical co-operation with third countries; and
economic and monetary policy, including monetary union (EMU).
EEA European Free Trade Association (EFTA) states have no formal access to the EU decision-making process. Only EU membership can give such access. The EEA agreement contains provision for input from EEA EFTA states at various stages of the preparation of EEA-relevant EU legislation but this is not the same as joint decision-making. EEA EFTA experts are consulted informally by the Commission when drawing up legislation and experts also have access to Commission comitology and programme committees but they do not have a vote. Again, only EU membership provides for this.
Once relevant EC legislation has been formally adopted by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament, or by the European Commission, the EEA Joint Committee takes a decision concerning any appropriate amendment of the EEA agreement with a view to permitting a simultaneous application of legislation in the EU and the EEA EFTA states. The EEA Joint Committee is assisted by four sub-committees and various working groups. The EEA council provides political impetus for the development of the EEA agreement and guidelines for the Joint Committee.
Further information about the EEA can be found on the website of the EFTA Secretariat: www.secretariat.efta.int.
Lord Chan asked Her Majesty's Government:
What action they have taken since January to persuade the Government of Iran to release from prison the Iranian political dissidents, Ebrahim Khodabandeh and Jamil Bassam, who have previously been granted asylum in the United Kingdom. [HL4078]
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: We continue to raise the case of Ebrahim Khodabandeh and Jamil Bassam with the Iranian Government. We have urged the Iranian authorities to respect the human rights of the two men and ensure that they are treated in accordance with the law, held in humane conditions and given a fair trial.
7 Sept 2004 : Column WA137
Lord Jopling asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 30 March (WA 147), how many doctors, nurses, ambulance staff, scientists and others have been vaccinated for smallpox so as to enable them to deal with a terrorist attack; and how many of them have suffered side effects from their vaccination. [HL3720]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner): At 13 July 2004, a total of 294 people in England have been vaccinated against smallpox as part of our contingency planning. Of these people: 141 are doctors, 126 are nurses, 19 are scientists, six are ambulance staff, and two are from other occupations. The vaccination programme is on-going.
Lord Chadlington asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many people have received medical treatment abroad following a referral from their local primary care trust. [HL3778]
Lord Warner: Patients are referred for overseas treatment by their acute trust with the agreement of the commissioning primary care trust or directly by their primary care trust. Acute trusts and primary care trusts use the services of the National Health Service overseas commissioning team at Guys and St Thomas' NHS Trust which sources suitable overseas providers, and procures treatment in Europe for the NHS. The overseas commissioning team also holds the contracts for treatment overseas on behalf of the NHS. The number of patients referred overseas directly by their primary care trusts has not been recorded by central monitoring. In total, however, 879 patients have been referred overseas for treatment since January 2002.
Earl Baldwin of Bewdley asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 28 June (WA 6), and in light of the finding of the systematic review of water fluoridation in 2000 by the National Health Service Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at the University of York that few safety studies of even moderate quality could be found (Level B, Appendix D), on what basis "further reassurance of the safety of fluoridated water" can be provided by a study which did not address itself to safety; and [HL3799]
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 28 June (WA 6), what are the population studies on which they base the statement that "No
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 28 June (WA 6), how they reconcile the finding of the School of Dental Sciences of the University of Newcastle with their statement that "no evidence" has been found for any differences between the absorption of artificially and naturally fluoridated water; and [HL3801]
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 28 June (WA 6), whether, in claiming "no evidence of any differences" in the bioavailability study on fluoride recently conducted at the Newcastle School of Dental Studies, they have taken note of the authors' warning in section 6 of their report that "some caution is necessary when interpreting the results" because of "the small number of subjects", and of their comments in section 7 on the benefits of further research on this topic. [HL3802]
Lord Warner: The report by the School of Dental Sciences at Newcastle University concludes that "There was no statistically significant difference [in absorption of fluoride] between artificially and naturally fluoridated water, or between soft and hard water". For the subjects in the study, there were small differences in indices of bioavailability between the trials of the various types of water, but the results were compatible with the conclusion that the source of fluoride and the hardness of the water had no important influence on the bioavailability of fluoride. This conclusion agrees with the findings of the earlier study quoted in the report, Chemistry and bioavailability aspects of fluoride in drinking water, which concluded "In terms of chemistry and bioavailability there is absolutely no difference between added and natural fluoride". Much of the evidence bearing on the safety of fluoridation of drinking water consists of epidemiological studies in populations exposed to fluoride occurring naturally in water supplies. The Newcastle study adds further confirmation that there is no evidence that the epidemiological findings relating to natural fluoride are inapplicable to artificial fluoridation.
Studies in England have found no relationship between fluoride naturally present in drinking-water and any of the non-dental health outcomes considered, including mortality from all causes, tuberculosis, cancers, cardiovascular diseases, influenza, pneumonia, bronchitis, peptic ulcer, nephritis, nephrosis, congenital malformations, mortality from accidents/poisonings/violence, stillbirths, infant mortality, osteochondritis juvenalis of the spine, goitre, excessive accumulation of fluoride in bone, and hip fracture.
We commissioned the bioavailability project as part of the programme of research with which we are strengthening the evidence base on fluoridation in accordance with the recommendations of the systematic review of fluoridation undertaken by the University of York.
7 Sept 2004 : Column WA139
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General enquiries
+44 (0) 20 7079 4399
Call HCA from 8am-8pm Mon-Fri and 9am-5pm Sat
HCA Healthcare UK
Our Specialists
Mr Mohamed Hammadeh
MSc (Urol), FEBU, FRCS (Eng. ,Urol.)
Urology, Urological Cancers
Female urology and incontinence, urodynamic studies, prostate disease, andrology, and male infertility
Mr Mohamed Hammadeh is a Consultant Urological Surgeon and the lead for continence service at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in London. He is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer at King's College London. Mr Hammadeh's postgraduate training in Urology in London was at Great Ormond Street Hospital, The Royal Free Hospital, Whipps Cross University Hospital, North Middlesex University Hospital, Charing Cross Hospital, Bart's and The Royal London Hospital. He is a keen researcher and has an MSc degree in Urology from University College London and has a considerable number of publications in urology.
© copyright 2008 - 2017 HCA Healthcare UK.
Registered Name: HCA International Limited; The part of the UK in which it is registered: England and Wales;
Registered Number: 03020522; Registered Office Address: 242 Marylebone Road London NW1 6JL.
£500m has been invested by HCA International in the latest medical technologies and facilities over the last 10 years.
Your hospital will be one of our world-class private hospitals: HCA's world-class hospitals are accredited by The CHKS Accreditation Unit, a leading provider of healthcare intelligence and quality improvement services. The accreditation is a measure of the overall quality of a hospital and hospitals with CHKS accreditation have been shown to provide a better quality of service.
Your safety will be protected because we have more critical care beds than any other private hospital group: HCA hospitals achieved 100% compliance with all Care Quality Commission inspected outcomes of care in 2011.
Your treatment will be undertaken using the most advanced diagnostic and treatment facilities: Oliver Wyman, Corporate Accounts: Driving quality and value, January 2012.


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Welcome to Our Gallery and Studios
We present up to 50 regional artists each month. All artists' work is for sale. We offer all original artwork, clothing, and gifts. Payment plans and gift cards are available.
Normal Hours of Operation
Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat
10:00am - 5:00pm
First Friday of every month
6:00pm - 9:00pm
Holiday Hours (Nov. 1 - Dec. 31)
Sun, Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat
10:00am - 5:00pm
First Friday of every month
6:00pm - 9:00pm
About the Gallery
Noyes Art Gallery is a co-op art gallery, featuring approximately 24 artist members that show their work and volunteer their time to help operate the business. The gallery features a variety of original painting, photos, pottery, and jewelry.
We have a new show each month, and a reception on the first Friday evening of every month. We hope that you will join us for these from 6:30pm - 9:00pm
The "Main" Gallery includes the first and second rooms. They contain works of our co-op artists, associate artists, consignment items, and rental space artwork.
The "Focus Gallery" is our third room in the Noyes Art Gallery. We rent the room out for month long exhibits. It can be booked one to two years in advance.
The "Gold Room" will feature private openings, special events, and some class activities.


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Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon
by: XL Communities • 2
All Android applications categories
by: XL Communities • 2
This is the official app of the Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon. Included in the app is all the information and services you will need for the events.
There's no need to print directions or coupons. Simply download our app for everything you need while you're at the events. We have information on all events, including times and exact GPS locations. We also have hotels and restaurants. We'll also keep you updated on the news page if anything comes up.
The following are race-day features in the app so that you'll have the best possible race weekend experience.
- Set your goal time so spectators can estimate your location until you reach the first split
- Auto-post your split and final times to Facebook and/or Twitter on race day
- View any participant's estimated location along the course route based on their goal time and real-time split data
- View start times, splits and final results for any participant
- View the event leader board in real-time as the leaders cross timed points
- View real-time announcements such as the countdown to the official start and other updates during the event
- View unofficial results and rankings as participants finish the race
- View detailed results for any participant and easily share on Facebook/Twitter
Download the official Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon app and get connected today!
Tags: myrtle beach mini marathon , myrtle beach mini marathon route
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Experience Historic Kent Manor Inn and the many activities
available to you with our Marketing Partners
Our marketing partners can provide that finishing touch to your planned meeting or retreat. Whether you need a profesional meeting facilitator, a team building expert or just a recreational break from work, our partners are here to support your event.
Meet and Recharge at Historic Kent Manor Inn...
Where meetings become successful!
Dr. Elliott Jaffa
Dr. Elliott Jaffa is a behavioral and marketing psychologist who blends creativity and humor to convert your team building event into a motivating, fun, fast paced, hands-on, interactive experience. Dr. Jaffa incorporates the challenges faced by your organization into his most popular topics: Creative Problem Solving & Critical Thinking; Omnichannelization: Increasing Your Revenue Streams; The Competitive Edges: How to Get Ahead in Life, Your Career & Your Job; and Relationship Selling: Everyone's a Salesperson!
(703) 931-0040 firstname.lastname@example.com
Gooseworks Consulting
Customized team-building activities
Our experiential workshops create an environment that challenges teams to reflect on and improve the dynamics of the group. All sessions are designed to be engaging and fun in order to serve as a team bonding experience as well as a collective learning opportunity.
(410) 952-5143 Phil Kiracofe email@example.com
Destination Paradise
Customized activities and team building professionals who can provide services at the Inn and Annapolis.
(800) 391-6560 email@example.com
Grab–A–Crab Charters
Lighthouse cruise, fishing charter or Crab and Shrimp Feast on board boat. Boat for up to 26 passengers. Leave & return from Kent Manor Inn's dock or from Harris's Crab House's dock.
(410) 758-1837 (Office) / (410) 490-1137 (Capt. Dan)
Lead Dog Charters … The Lucky Dog
Set sail from home port; Kentmorr Marina, 6 miles from Inn. 40 person max passenger / 50' MD built charter boat, heated & AC, side curtains, cabin seats 12.
(410) 643-7600 or boat cell (301) 704-4246
Capt. Brian Hardman: firstname.lastname@example.com www.rockfishing.com
CD Outdoors- Capt. Chris Dollar
Kayaks, paddle boards & bikes can be delivered to the Inn, where you can enjoy enjoy Thompson Creek right outside your door.
Or Visit us at The Wharf on the Corsica River in nearby historic Centreville. We also offer guided fishing and nature tours. Call or email for rates. Be sure to mention that you're a guest of the Inn.
(410) 991-8468 firstname.lastname@example.com
The Wine Coach®
Wine Tasting, an entertaining way to motivate your staff with a new form of team building.
(410) 820-4212 firstname.lastname@example.com
Yoga at the Inn
Yoga increases flexibility, strength and balance while relieving stress.
(410) 956-6025 firstname.lastname@example.com
Massage Therapy at the Inn by Under the Palms
Full body, Seated-Chair (perfect for groups), aromatherapy and hot stone massage.
(410) 643-9910
Isabel Bardwell-Jones CMT, BS, Nationally & State Certified
Zumba Fitness/Cardio-Dance
Be prepared to sweat and smile your way through a session that mixes great music with easy-to-follow moves. It's exercise in disguise!
(410) 924-6632
Michelle O'Brien email@example.com
XP Laser Sport - Mobile Laser Tag at the Inn
XP LaserSport can now bring the party to you with our portable arenas and outdoor laser tag equipment. Our advanced gear can play indoors or outdoors day or night. We can even play in light rain (or snow).
(301)953-2266 - Marc Mueller
Talk of the Town
Your event source for fun, interactive entertainment – Casino nights, Virtual Reality, Game Shows, Arcade Games, Photo Fun, Moonbounces, Water Games, Field Games, Team Building, Entertainers, Props.
(301) 738-9500
TRANSPORTATION: Kent Island Sedan Serices (KISS)
Providing full transportation services to all regional airports (BWI, Reagan National, Dulles). Town cars, limousines, vans and motor coaches in the fleet. Services offered include: Airport delivery and pick-up, trains, cruise terminals, Weddings, proms, restaurants, marinas, shopping, day trips, movies, theatres, package delivery
(433) 988-3345 firstname.lastname@example.com
Steve Moody's Entertainment Connection
Steve Moody's Entertainment Connection - Maryland's premier Disc Jockey entertainer. Steve also offers Karokoe, line dancing, games… tons of fun for all ages.
Felix the Cat Sailing Yacht Charter
Relax and enjoy a private charter ride aboard the catamaran "Felix", a British designed 45' Prout catamaran. The Boat can accommodate up to 12 guests. Felix is based out of the Bay Bridge Marina, a short 5 minute ride from the Inn.
(443) 822-9153
Scavenger Hunts / Geocaching
Use hand-held GPS devices on a scavenger hunt on the grounds of the Inn. Groups led by a member of the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center.
(410) 827-6694
Wye River Designs—Creativity Studio
Wye River Designs offers a unique creative experience in arts, crafts and wellness for the beginner or the experienced crafter. Offerings include mixed media art including collage, mosaics, jewelry making, ecology crafts, and herbal crafts. Wye River Designs also offers informal talks on herbs, spices, home remedies and other herbal and wellness topics. Classes can be conducted at the shop or on-premise at the Inn.
410 827-0700 Candace Liccione email@example.com
Stand Up Paddleboarding: Lessons and Yoga
Get out an enjoy the Chesapeake Bay with stand up paddle boarding (SUP). Kent Island Passion Paddlesports offers SUP & Yoga classes and SUP lessons for groups and individuals by ACA certified instructor & registered yoga instructor, Julie Phillips-Turner of Chesapeake Yoga & Wellness. Classes can be conducted right off the shore at Kent Manor Inn.
866-735-5926 email@example.com
Bay Pilates and Wellness
Bay Pilates and Wellness offers private and group Pilates or CoreAlign lessons for the deconditioned senior to the elite athlete. Mat classes can be scheduled to take place at the Inn.
410 924-0451 firstname.lastname@example.com
Artworks...A Team Building Painting Activity
Queen Anne's County Arts Council Program
Creating art together is an enjoyable bonding experience that all groups find rewarding (even if all are terrified that they are not creative enough). Talented instructors will guide you step‐by‐step right here at the Inn.
(410) 758-2520


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In the aftermath of the explosion, first responders rushed into the smoky gymnasium to aid the 22 victims.
Fortunately, this was just an exercise and the victims were volunteers. The first responders, however, were real.
Approximately 35 medical personnel from nine different emergency response agencies participated in a "mass casualty" drill at the University of North Georgia's Gainesville campus.
The exercise simulated an explosion from a homemade bomb at a local high school basketball game.
"Our goal is to a create a realistic situation with a large number of patients in a short period of time," said Lisa Janak Newman, a public affairs officer for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.
"We want to overwhelm them."
The drill was designed by the Georgia Tech Research Institute to stress the response effort in order to identify problems and improve multijurisdictional coordination, communication and resource management among the different agencies.
Volunteers were dressed as victims, complete with fake wounds, and played various roles, including unconscious or hysterical victims and "walking wounded."
Emergency Medical Service personnel arrived on the scene, addressed the situation, set up a command system, treated the volunteers on site and then transported them to a staging area.
This scenario involved a fictional bomb made from a pressure cooker filled with nails, similar to those used in the Boston Marathon bombing.
"There is heightened awareness because of the Boston Marathon events," said Newman. "We drill to prepare for those types of events but not because of them."
GEMA hosts similar exercises annually in Georgia, often in different locations to prepare for possible disaster scenarios. Last year's drill took place at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth.
"If an explosion were to happen that caused mass casualties, we want emergency medical personnel to be ready," said Newman. "We want their response to be second nature."
Newman recommends visiting GEMA's Ready Georgia website, ready.ga.gov, to learn how to properly prepare for any kind of disaster.


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Q: The feet of metal chairs have made black stains on my hardwood floors. Oil soap, powder cleaners and bleach do not have any effect on the spots. Ammonia seems to lighten them, but not much. Steel wool removes the wood finish before it has any effect on the stains. Are there any other chemical solutions I can try before I resort to sanding? - Tom Davis, Fort Washington, PA
A: Household chlorine bleach is ineffective on black wood stains, which most often are caused by moisture. Ammonia can darken wood (fumed oak is darkened with ammonia), as can the iron oxide in steel wool. So what works? Many furniture restorers prefer wood bleach for removing black stains. You can find two types of bleach: oxalic acid and two-part A/B wood bleach. Try the oxalic acid first. You should be able to find it at any hardware store. Rainbow is one common brand.
Oxalic acid is cheaper than two-part A/B wood bleach and requires just one application. It's also the preferred chemical for removing black stains caused by metal reactions (such as the stains sometimes seen around nail heads).
Two-part A/B wood bleach (available at woodworking specialty stores) is often used to lighten the overall tone of wood, but it can be used to spot-treat stains. You apply the alkali solution and then the peroxide solution immediately afterward.
Whether you use oxalic acid or A/B bleach, you'll need to sand off the finish topcoat over the stain area so the solution can penetrate. Read the usage information on the container before you begin. After the solution has either worked or dried, rinse the area with a neutralizing agent such as two tablespoons of baking soda dissolved in one cup of distilled water. - HANDY


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I was looking over some of my .COM.AU domain names that I own that are hyphenated, I don't have many hyphenated domains but I still think if the search phrase is a strong one then it is worth having. In Australia I have been surprised to find many businesses online that have the "'hyphenated" version of the name if the the "non-hyphenated" name is already taken and they build very solid online businesses out of them.
So while I was looking at these names that I own –
I came across this website www.bicyclestore.com.au which on its own is a half decent domain name to have, but I also discovered that this same business owned www.mountainbike.com.au, www.mountainbikes.com.au, www.roadbikes.com.au & www.bmxbikes.com.au, which all redirect to his main website, not a bad effort and who knows how many other generic domain names he owns relating to his products and services.
Now without talking with the owners of the business I can never be sure of how much traffic that those names are bringing in but I did a quick calculation using the Google AdWords Keyword Tool set for "Australian" stars and it would be over 360,000 searches per month just on the exact match phrases alone for those names.
So its great to see that more and more businesses seem to be getting a grasp of the true value of generic domain names.


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Saturday, 7/9. 18th WYANDOT COUNTY FAMILY BICYCLE TOUR. Upper Sandusky. Ride starts and finishes at Bicentennial Park. All routes will visit Parker's Covered Bridge for food and rest stops. A chicken sandwich awaits each rider at the finish. Routes of 9/17/25/32/50/62 flat to rolling miles are offered. Reuben & Rosa Rall; 410 Spring St.; Upper Sandusky, OH 43351-9680. (419) 294-4166.
Thursday to Sunday, 7/14 to 7/17. 8th GREENE TRAILS CYCLING CLASSIC. Xenia. Rides offered on one to all four days mean up to 265 miles of riding flat to rolling countryside. Award-winning trails appeal to the novice rider, alternative routes offer choices for the more adventurous. Ride your own pace, desired distance. A broad network of trails leads to different communities and experiences each day. Century ride available. Evening entertainment included. Greene County Parks: Andrea Malavich; 651 Dayton-Xenia Rd.; Xenia, OH 45385. (937) 562-7440. www.GreeneTrailsClassic.com
Saturday, 7/23. 10th COMMUNITY TIES. Westerville. Ride 8/30/62/100 flat to rolling miles through scenic areas, rare bird habitats, parks, and on a new sections of the Ohio to Erie Trail. A full-service tour with lunch included. Fundraiser for community all-purpose trail. Delaware County Friends of the Trail: Dave Staats; PO Box 2302; Westerville, OH 43086-2302. (740) 815-9008. www.dcft.org
Scoops 4 Stephanie: Waldo, Ohio, Saturday, July 24. Visit dairy bars in small towns and explore quiet farm roads, while raising money for the Stephanie Lust scholarship fund. Distances of 10, 20, 30, and 40 miles. www.scoops4stephanie.com/
Saturday, 8/20. BEST "WURST" BICYCLE RIDE. Bucyrus. Flat to rolling tour of 12/32/65/100 miles in association with annual Bratwurst Festival. Full-service tour including pancake breakfast at first rest stop. Several awards to riders. Historical sites, nature center, parkland, fresh country air during the ride. Ice cream, showers, available massage at finish. Bucyrus Tourism and Visitor's Bureau: Donna Bauer; PO Box 1023; Bucyrus, OH 44820. www.bucyrus.org
Saturday, 9/10. 31st POPCORN 100 BIKE TOUR. Marion. A relaxing and family-oriented tour with route options: 25/62 flat miles. Rider Limit: 500. Marion General Hospital: Kim Wenig; 1000 McKinley Park Dr.; Marion, OH 43302. (740) 383-8980. www.MarionGeneral.com
Sunday, 9/11. 41st HHH: HANCOCK HORIZONTAL HUNDRED. Findlay. One of the flattest rides in Ohio and an excellent choice for a first 100-mile "century" attempt. Bicycle dealer/vendor displays, ice cream social, classic ride patch to first 1,000. Full services include rest stops with snacks, lunch, sag support, marked roads, maps, road corners swept. Entry Deadline: Aug. 31. Online registration available. Hancock Handlebars: Matt Ankrom; PO box 232; Findlay, OH 45839. www.HancockHandlebars.org
Sunday, 9/18: The annual WooMan event, a grassroots cycling tour through the Ohio rolling hills between Wooster and Mansfield, will be held September 18, 2011. Who will you ride for on September 18th? We are all affected by breast cancer. We all have family, friends or personal experiences with breast cancer. With your help, The Pat Kracker Breast Cancer Fund and Wooster Community Hospital can continue outreach about Breast Cancer education and awareness in the communities that we call home. For more information, please go to www.woomantour.org or call Tricia James at 330-263-8266.
For more great rides, see the Ohio Bicycle Events calendar!
Event Calendar


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We don't usually cover TV at ITworld, but this story was just too good to pass up.
A TV Week article claims that NBC Universal has decided to change the name of their Sci Fi Channel in an attempt to pull in a more mainstream audience. The new name? Syfy. (Tagline: Imagine Greater) This move is being made as The Sci Fi Channel comes off its best year to date.
The immediate reaction of sci fi fans on the web? Disbelief and derision. Followed by anger.
Why anger? Because, proving he has his finger on the pulse of the current generation, "TV Historian" Tim Brooks has this to say:
The name Sci Fi has been associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that, as opposed to the general public and the female audience in particular.
Way to win friends and influence people, Mr. Brooks.
In all fairness, Brooks is listed as someone "who helped launch Sci Fi Channel when he worked at USA Network" so maybe we shouldn't be annoyed with NBC over that quote.
Dave Howe, president of the Sci Fi Channel, had this to say about the name change:
It gives us a unique word and it gives us the opportunities to imbue it with the values and the perception that we want it to have.
The perception I'm reading from the folks on twitter is that "Syfy" sounds like slang for syphilis. Probably not the perception that Howe was hoping for. (For a more immediate 'twitter-pulse' in regards to the term, click here.)
Granted, we twitterers are exactly the people that Howe no longer sees as important to the success of the channel. Or are we? Another Howe quote:
When we tested this new name, the thing that we got back from our 18-to-34 techno-savvy crowd, which is quite a lot of our audience, is actually this is how you'd text it," Mr. Howe said. "It made us feel much cooler, much more cutting-edge, much more hip, which was kind of bang-on what we wanted to achieve communication-wise.
I'm hearing mixed signals here. Do they want the geeks or not? Or do they see "techno-savvy" and "geek" being two different demographics. One starts to wonder: is this all a big prank? An early April Fool's joke? He can't really believe what he is saying, can he?
But syfy.com (destined to replace scifi.com) is already live. And in truth, the channel has content that isn't even remotely science fiction related, like wrestling or the new WGC Ultimate Gamer reality series. So perhaps a change of branding is in order. But... Syfy? Really?
Syfy is set to go live on July 7th, 2009.


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You have decided to pursue a degree or certificate, but how do you get there? Having a plan of action on how to obtain the degree or certificate that you want is very important to your success. The educational plan answers three questions:
Educational plans are mandated for special populations like the programs listed below, however edplans are recommended for all students who are pursuing a degree or certificate.
New Students will meet with a counselor during their orientation (SOAR) appointment to set up an initial edplan. It is your responsibility to make arrangements to meet with a Counselor or advisor to update an educational plan every year.You can do this by making an appointment, walk ins, or in some cases calling or emailing your counselor or advisor.
Make sure you keep your advisor or counselor informed about changes to your educational plan.


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This nonprofit is the most incredible organization that positively changes the lives of volunteers and disabled athletes alike. This is the most incredible nonprofit organization with which I have ever been involved.
My daughter belongs to the Pikes Peek chapter. She has Cerebral Palsy and Cortical Vision Impairment. Her disabilities require her to have a guide runner. Achilles allows her to participate in an activity that she loves, running. My daughter has waited what seems like a lifetime to find a group that she belongs in. Winning races with a PC category has been an added bonus:) In the short time she's been attending Achilles, the group has become part of our family.
I was introduced to Achilles in Houston Texas, a few years ago and I found a home.
The support and acceptance of all levels of disabilities is amazing. Achilles allows us to expand our abilities in sports and to discover that this applies to everyday life.
Anyone with any level of disability is welcomed...all is needed is a desire and willingness to try.
Achilles gives people a safe place to try and excel at something new.
I can't recommend these guys enough.
I found Achilles International in 2010, and was added to the Achilles Freedom Team as an adaptive wounded veteran handcyclist. My first race was the Marine Corps Marathon. I was blown away by the atmosphere and love that was poured out of the Achilles staff members for each individual. They made the experience memorable with their family-style approach to event planning. On November 6, 2016, I will participate in the New York Marathon, making it my eighth marathon with Achilles. In addition to marathons, I execute fundraising campaigns to give back for all they've done for my family and I over the past six years. Achilles is family. Achilles is a movement that breaks down barriers and removes the 'dis' from disability.
I cried the day I filled out my application to join. I was 50 years old and all of a sudden my vision made running unsafe. I was so nervous the first day I went but EVERYONE welcomed me and helped make me comfortable.
I went from not wanting to get out of bed in the mornings back to living! The other athletes have been helpful and supportive and taught me about accepting life with a disability. The volunteers - there is just no way to explain how their selflessness impacts me.
Achilles changed my husband'a life. He saw other disabled men, and it had a profound effect on his self esteem. He now hand cycles every Saturday!
Achilles International has helped me run in over half of the World Major Marathons, including the New York City, Chicago and Boston Marathons. The best part of Achilles International is the friends from all over the world that I have met through it. I have left sided Cerebral Palsy and Achilles shows all people can exercise no matter what their physical or mental challenges are.
When I first moved to the Upper West Side of Manhattan, I thought Achilles was a sport clothing company. On every walk I took in Central Park, with my dog, by myself, with my family, I'd pass countless runners, walkers, cyclists, of all ages, in groups or alone, wearing their logo tee-shirts. They all looked so happy, healthy and dedicated to outdoor pursuits that I suppose I can be forgiven for being surprised to learn that Achilles is a charity that assists the disabled.In an instant, my thinking was upended. Achilles changed my view of the disabled from people who are lacking something to people who are amazing and can overachieve right up there with the best of us. Love this group.
My husband has been doing marathons with Achilles Freedom Team for two years and it has dramatically improved his outlook on life. Achilles is more like family than a non-profit. They always have race weekends organized and make us feel special. Janet and Joe are amazing and we look forward to many more races with Achilles!
I've been with Achilles since I was 6 years old - first as an Achilles Kid, then a member of their adult program, and just recently, I got the chance to intern with them over the summer. I've said it before and I will say it again: I love Achilles! Everyone at Achilles is so warm, welcoming and encouraging; they make you believe that you can do anything you set your mind to and that -the feeling that you CAN cross that finish line - is what makes you push yourself harder and achieve what you never thought possible. Thank you so much, Achilles!


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About RuneScapeRuneScape is a massive multiplayer online game, that is Java-based. A 3D adventure, with tons of monsters to kill, quests to complete, and treasure to conquer. You control your own character that you create who will improve and become more powerful the more you play. The game has more than 100,000 currently playing players.
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Tag Archives: 10th Anniversery
The Last Breakdown
RuneScape's 10th anniversary celebrations is coming up this weekend with more top balloon droppery from Mod Crow and Mod Karolina, who'll be leaving more cryptic clues to party locations all over RuneScape. They'll be showing up at tons of parties … Continue reading