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DUBLIN/NEW YORK (Reuters) - When Kelly Martin, a former Merrill Lynch banker with no drug industry experience, took over as CEO of Ireland's Elan ELN.I in 2003, analysts assumed his mandate was to clean up the troubled company and sell it.
But 10 years later, despite boardroom battles, drug failures and headlines criticizing his use of private jets, Martin is still in charge.
That might change after Monday, when shareholders vote to back his vision for Elan or open the door for U.S. firm Royalty Pharma ROYPH.UL after a fractious takeover battle.
On offer for shareholders is Martin's plan to reinvest a chunk of the $3.25 billion Elan received from former partner Biogen Idec (BIIB.O) for its interest in multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Tysabri, in a series of deals aimed at reshaping the company.
Or they can vote down the acquisitions, a $200 million share buyback and drug spinoff, clearing the way for Royalty, which had its third increased bid valued up to $15.50 per share firmly rejected by Elan's board this week.
Its offer is contingent on shareholders rejecting all four resolutions at the meeting.
A third option is that shareholders vote against Martin's planned acquisitions, but back the other resolutions, allowing the CEO to live to see another day.
"It's more than amazing, but my guess on the outcome is Kelly Martin is still CEO after that meeting despite everything that has gone on," said Ib Sonderby, who spent years campaigning against Martin and Elan's board and created a rallying point for angry investors with his now-ceased website, www.saveelan.com.
Martin's allies - loyal colleagues past and present - believe the low-key family man, who prefers sweaters to suits, has never got the credit deserved for fixing the troubled company and lifting its share price almost six-fold.
But his detractors - from embittered former board members to former investors - are stunned that the 54-year-old one-time investment banker, who often runs the $7 billion drug firm from his home office in Connecticut, is still in charge.
"I am worried that just as he has sold a bunch of things too cheap over the years, now he will just pay too much to buy things," said Sonderby, who owned 2 million shares in Elan in 2010 including his personal holdings and those of companies on whose boards he sat, but sold out this year.
The bitter takeover battle, involving injunctions, court hearings and a war of words, is reminiscent of Sonderby's days of campaigning against what he and other activists perceived to be Elan's mismanagement and poor corporate governance.
Elan has always rebuffed Sonderby's charges.
The Danish investor's gripes came to a peak when Elan shares tumbled to under $5 in 2010, from $35 two years before. Martin's allies say you have to go back to his arrival seven years prior, when the stock was as low as $2, to properly judge his tenure.
"Martin has been very shareholder-friendly when you look at the stock," said a person familiar with Elan, who wished to remain anonymous because he is friends with Martin. "And he did clean it up, until he started buying things."
Martin declined to be interviewed for this story.
Once Ireland's biggest public company, Elan was reeling from an accounting scandal and was under investigation by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) when Martin swapped 21 years on Wall Street for a first crack at the pharmaceutical industry in 2003.
Elan's share price had sunk to $2 from over $60 in the space of a year and some analysts feared it could go bankrupt.
"It was a very, very precarious situation, but Kelly and the board had nerves of steel and one by one by one, he and his team dealt with the challenges," said Michael Tory of Ondra Partners, one of Martin's key external advisers over the past decade.
"Most people don't want to run apart from the pack, but Kelly has no fear of doing that. He is relentless in his dedication to creating value for shareholders and never takes his eye off that goal."
That dedication sometimes means London-based Tory having his Sunday mornings interrupted when Martin, out walking at 5 or 6 a.m. his time, phones his friend to discuss ways to take the company forward.
"He'll call me from his son's hockey game with an idea he wants to test out," ex-Lehman Brothers executive Tory recalls.
Another long-time colleague, who wished to remain anonymous because he was not permitted to speak to the media, said the CEO is underrated because he "doesn't play the game", preferring to spend his spare time with his wife and five children rather than attend conference after conference.
Detractors and supporters agree that the laid-back exterior should not fool anyone and that Martin is a fighter.
In a colorful 10 years, due to end last year before he decided to postpone his retirement, Martin has proved he is no pushover, something former dissident directors Jack Schuler and Vaughn Bryson saw first hand.
Nominated to the board in June 2009 in a move that appeared to be the beginning of the end for the Elan CEO, the pair quit 15 months later after their challenge to Elan's transparency and governance ultimately failed.
In a letter published in the Financial Times on Wednesday headlined "Elan's current actions have a ring of familiarity about them", Schuler said he had no confidence Martin was acting in shareholders' interests.
Elan rejected Schuler's remarks and noted in a statement that its shares had almost trebled in value since it announced Schuler had expressed his desire to resign from the board.
Among those who have filled Schuler's place, however, are new chairman Bob Ingram, a former top executive at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L), and one-time U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Andrew von Eschbach, big industry names who have effectively staked their reputation on the turnaround expert.
They will soon know if they were right.
"If you look at this company, you need to be able to marry world-class science with world-class business management," Martin told Reuters on the day he took charge in January, 2003.
"What I would hope to bring to the party fairly quickly is an ability from a business point of view."
Editing by David Holmes


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SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A Savannah judge has set an Oct. 4 trial date for country singer Billy Currington, who is charged with threatening a 70-year-old tour boat captain who cruised past the dock of a waterfront home where the singer was staying.
Currington's attorney, Alex Zipperer, entered a not guilty plea for the singer Wednesday in Chatham County Superior Court. Currington was not in the courtroom.
Prosecutors charged Currington with making terroristic threats and abuse of an elderly person, both felonies, in April. Tour boat captain Charles Harvey Ferrelle and his two passengers told police they were cruising along a coastal creek near Tybee Island when an angry Currington jumped in a boat to chase them.
Police say Currington followed Ferrelle's boat to a dock and told Ferrelle he would "finish him off."

subset: commoncrawl


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Come celebrate the Savior's Birth this Christmas with Calvary Chapel of Salt Lake at the Salt Palace Convention Center in the Grand Ballroom located at 100 South - West Temple in Salt Lake City. The event and parking are FREE - Service time is 11:00am to 12:00noon on Christmas Day, Sunday, December 25th. Call with any questions to 801-264-9999 or visit us on the web at www.calvaryslc.org


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Overview: Last week proved to be cooler than normal in the East (with an exception being Florida, which was above normal) while much of the West was warmer than normal. It was dry across much of the West as well. The only drought-affected region seeing much in the way of precipitation was the Southeast. In general, this has led to more in the way of intensification rather than improvements as we turn our attention toward spring and all the planting activity and watering needs that will follow as nature's furnace turns over to the heat mode.
Midwest: Cooler weather and some scattered rains still dominated most of the region, and the drought depiction remains unchanged across northern Illinois and up into Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. The eastern half of the region is in better shape than the western reaches at this point and the better rains of last week (1 to 2 inches or more) fell across the southern portions of Illinois and Ohio. Longer-term Water Year deficits (Oct. 1 to date) leave some concern for deeper soil moisture reserves (even in the D-free areas of the region) unless spring rains can erase them altogether, thus the Abnormally Dry (D0 H) and Moderate (D1 H) designations.
The Mid-Atlantic: Generally modest (0.5 to 1.5 inches) rains and unseasonably cooler temperatures (4 to 8 degrees below normal) were widespread across the Mid-Atlantic, with the better amounts falling in the western highland country of the Carolinas and Virginia. This led to some minor reduction of Abnormally Dry to Moderate (D0-D1) along the western flank of the drought within the Carolinas. It also means there is no more Severe Drought (D2) within central North Carolina, based on reports from the N.C. Drought Monitoring Task Force this week. The area still bears watching going into the warm season because precipitation is 50-70% of normal since October 1 across most of the region.
Southeast: Last week brought widespread beneficial rains of 1 to 3 inches or more across a large portion of the region from Mississippi to Georgia and into central Florida. This led to more improvements in the drought depiction this week, with 1-category improvements noted in central Mississippi, northern and east-central Alabama, southern Georgia and northern and central Florida. Notably, Extreme Drought (D3) was removed from Alabama and northeast Florida. A large swath of improvement is also marked across central Florida where heavy rains (3 to 5 inches or more) continued the improvement trend seen here in recent weeks. Cooler temperatures accompanied the rains (lowering fire risk) across Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia while most of Florida experienced above-normal readings. In general, the region is seeing a trend of improvement over the past month in soil moisture (observed and modeled) and USGS streamflow levels from the north and west down to the south and east within the region.
Delta: Last week's weather brought a mixed bag to the Delta region, with cooler temperatures to the north and above-normal temperatures in the southern/coastal reaches. Precipitation was a bit spottier as well with the heaviest rains falling over the Severe Drought (D2) parishes of southeastern Louisiana. This has led to a removal of the D2 there but most of western and northern Louisiana remains in the grips of a Severe (D2) to Extreme (D3) drought. Both year-to-date and water year-to-date (since October 1) precipitation totals are running in the 50-70% of normal range after a lackluster tropical storm season last year.
Southern Plains: This region was again marked by hot, windy conditions, which served to continue fanning several fires of late. Wheat conditions are generally dismal and significant precipitation will be needed to help pasture and rangeland recover along with reducing the risk of fire as we head into the hot season. The only improvement of note in the region was a slight trimming of the D3 in north-central Texas around the Dallas area where some good rains were reported. Elsewhere in Texas, the story is much worse as widespread advancement is noted in Severe (D2) and Extreme (D3) drought across the Texas Panhandle and western, southeastern, and deep southern counties along the Rio Grande and down to Brownsville.
To the north in Oklahoma, it is pretty much the same story, another verse, with blistering temperatures, fires, poor wheat conditions and not much relief on the horizon. Severe Drought (D2) remains over a good portion of the state, but this week leads to more in the way of Extreme Drought (D3) across the southern and southwestern counties of Oklahoma.
The first USDA soil moisture reports are out and they don't paint a pretty picture, with 86% of Oklahoma showing short or very short topsoil moisture conditions. Texas is reporting 90% short/very short as well. Other statistics provided by the National Weather Service (Austin/San Antonio WFO) show that Del Rio has reported only 0.31 inches of precipitation for October-March, the 2nd driest since 1906. Austin reported its 5th driest October-March since 1856 and San Antonio came in as the 12th driest October-March since 1871.
Central Plains: Much of the Central Plains saw a nice warm-up, but it was also predominantly dry. This recent, persistent dry pattern has led to more advancement of Abnormally Dry (D0) conditions across eastern Nebraska and northeastern Kansas leaking into southwestern Iowa and northwestern Missouri as well. Additionally, a lobe of Moderate Drought (D1) has now moved into central Nebraska from north central Kansas. Winter wheat conditions and sub-surface soil moisture recharge concerns lead the list heading into planting season in the next month or so.
The West: The heat is on in the Southwest after some unseasonably cooler weather recently, with readings some 6-10 degrees or more above normal last week. That and no precipitation made it feel like summer as Extreme Drought (D3) has now spread across much of southern New Mexico this week. D0-D1 have also pushed northward up into the Four Corners region as soil moisture and streamflow levels have fallen behind as of late. In northern Colorado, fires are a concern as well and there is a slight push north of D2 in and around the Ft. Collins region and to the east toward Sterling. Farther north, a favorable wet pattern leads to some trimming of the Abnormally Dry (D0) regions in both the southwest and northwest portions of the state.
Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico: The only change of note this week is found on the Big Island of Hawaii, with a reduction of the D0 on the windward side after a series of beneficial rains. The rest of the islands remain unchanged this week.
Alaska and Puerto Rico remain unchanged this week.
Looking Ahead: The next 5 days (through April 11) show a favorable pattern of precipitation across the Great Lakes, Midwest and Ohio Valley regions along with a more spotty chance of decent precipitation in the upper elevations across the West. The southern tier states from New Mexico across the Gulf Coast and Florida along with the Mid-Atlantic show a pretty dry outlook, though. Temperatures are expected to be well above normal (6 to 9 degrees) from the Rockies to the Atlantic while the opposite holds true across most of the West, with readings expected to be 6 to 9 degrees below normal.
The CPC 6-10 day forecast (April 12-16) is calling for cooler temperatures in Alaska and the west coast along with the Great Lakes and Northeast. The odds are enhanced for seeing a repeat of above-normal temperatures in the Four Corners region, southern Rockies, and southern Plains into the Mississippi Delta. Above-normal amounts of precipitation are more likely across the Pacific Northwest, Great Lakes and Florida with below-normal precipitation more likely in Alaska, the Southwest, central and southern Plains and the lower Mississippi Delta.
Author: Mark Svoboda, National Drought Mitigation Center
Dryness Categories
D0 ... Abnormally Dry ... used for areas showing dryness but not yet in drought, or for areas recovering from drought.
Drought Intensity Categories
D1 ... Moderate Drought
D2 ... Severe Drought
D3 ... Extreme Drought
D4 ... Exceptional Drought
Drought or Dryness Types
A ... Agricultural
H ... Hydrological


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SM Entertainment has revealed that the members of Super Junior will not be accompanying fellow member Heechul's enlistment at the Nonsan training camp on September 1st. According to SM, the members will say their farewells to him at the dorm before his leave. Considering that other singers usually accompany their members to the site, this piece of information comes as a surprise to fans. As it turns out, Heechul specifically made the request himself. He had told the members, "Don't come out to greet me goodbye." Due to his car accident in 2006, Heechul will be serving as a public service personnel instead of an active duty soldier, so he didn't want his enlistment to be too over the top. In addition, he'll be back home after his four weeks of training is up, so he'll only be away from his members for about a month before he's allowed to attend his service from home. Heechul will not be having a press conference at the scene of his enlistment and will be entering as quietly as possible. Source + Photos: OSEN via Naver
B.A.P shares individual images of Youngjae, Himchan, and Bang Yong Guk for 'BLUE'
19 hours ago 16,052 4,245 106


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I know I'm pretty late to the party on some of this stuff, but I wanted to point out a couple more instances of "new"-ish entertainment and storytelling possibilities which I think indie filmmakers can explore.
One thing I love about this is it's low-budget nature. It's dependent entirely on the writing and the performance. Anyone with skills in those two things can do this. You don't need a crew. You don't need a RED camera. You don't even need a budget. Something good for poor indies to think about here…
Here's another great recent example. This one is particularly funny to people in technology.
Again, the key thing here is that it's dependent on writing and performance.
What I also like about this is, it's a kind of entertainment purely made for the web. Sure you could have done this on TV, or in a film, but I think the length of the piece and your expectations for the length of web content combine to make this only really possible on the web. You will check this out at your desk when your boss isn't looking, but would you sit down on the couch and tune into this? Probably not. Likewise, the concept, funny as it is, can only really be carried on for a few minutes at a time.
Or can it?
Enter Mr. Plinket
So this guy started doing these reviews online. He's done a number of sci-fi movies, which kind of gives him a built in audience. What's striking is that what he does is a mix of an actual good review, and comedy. He plays a character while reviewing. But what he says is usually very sharp and spot on. So what is this beast? A review? A comedy sketch? Whatever it is, it's pretty telling that I've watched Phantom Menace twice; once when it came out, and one more time just to make sure I wasn't on drugs the first time. But I've watched this guy's entire review series for Phantom Menace 6 times. That's the whole batch of 7. I've watched some individual episodes many more times than that.
Here's the first one for Phantom Menace. But I strongly encourage everyone to go watch the rest. These will probably have less of an effect if you're not a fucking geek, but I think you'll still get the point. Would love to see him do Sex in the City 2 though.
So we're looking at some entertainment here made specifically for the web. But what else is it about these? POV? They are all subjective camera? They are all from the protagonist's POV. They all primarily tell their stories through speech and screen-capture. Plinket's videos have some inter-cut "scenes," which I find far less entertaining than his actual reviews. But for the most part, it follows this model.
What else can you do this way? A Sci-Fi story, for sure. A horror story? A Drama? Let's try something. Anyone have any good story ideas you think would translate to this as a medium?
Posted in Storytelling transmedia


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Hi - I am trying to better understand scope to do with 'self-executing anonymous functions', as I understand that - no variables declared inside of the function are visible outside of it.
How about variables inside of an self-executing anonymous function ( or just an anonymous function for that matter ), but declared without the 'var' keyword.
Can they also not be accessed outside of the self-executing anonymous function ( or a plain anonymous function ).
Variables can't be declared without the var keyword. I'm not sure what you're asking then. See, you can declare & define a variable outside of the SEAF and then use it within the function, but you wont be able to get that value outside of the function.
Check this out for some great info on self-executing anonymous functions: How Self-Executing Anonymous Functions Work | Brian Crescimanno
I was looking at a jQuery Fundamentals, PDF, from the internet, and their it mentioned when talking about SCOPE :
If the variable wasn't previously defined, it will be defined in the global scope,
Then it went onto give an example :
var myFunction = function() {
var foo = 'hello';
var myFn = function() {
foo = 'world';
return myFn;
var f = myFunction();
f(); // logs 'world' -- uh oh
And then it illustrated how 'bar' can be accessed from the outside because it was defined without the 'var' keyword :
// a self-executing anonymous function
(function() {
var baz = 1;
var bim = function() { alert(baz); };
bar = function() { alert(baz); };
console.log(baz); // baz is not defined outside of the
bar(); // bar is defined outside of the anonymous function
// because it wasn't declared with var;
// because it was defined in the same scope as baz,
// it has access to baz even though other code
// outside of the function does not
bim(); // bim is not defined outside of the anonymous
// so this will result in an error
But after doing some novice coding I found that a simple variable if defined within an anonymous function without the var keyword cannot be accessed from the outside...
I think know where I was getting mixed up. But It has clarified another issue for me that is variables declared within a callback should be within an enclosure or otherwise you will get unpredictable results.


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For the next installment of our series on the Helix Review, we recently spoke to , a pastor, head of a Christian ministry, and author of "God's General." Patterned after real events in a front-line Christian ministry, the book tells the story of a pastor who became so powerful, highly anointed and popular, but ultimately came to his demise. Dr. Olowosoyo turned to the Helix Review to gain insight into how "God's General" compares to other similar work and shared his thoughts with us.
How would you describe your writing style?
[It] is very simplistic and sincere. [I] write from the Christian and biblical perspective.
Why did you decide to submit "God's General" for a Helix Review?
I wanted to have a second opinion about my books.
How are you going to use what you learned?
I learned that my writing is unique to me, but could compete very well with the best in the market. It has given me more confidence in writing.
What would you tell someone considering trying Helix?
It's worth it!
For more information about Oluwagbemiga Olowosoyo and "God's General," please visit:
About the Helix Review
Back in May we launched an experimental new offering called Helix, and dubbed it The Personality Test for Your Book. Helix is powered by The Book Genome Project, a massive database of over 100,000 of the world's best-known books. And basically, it gives you a way to upload your manuscript and get back an incredibly rich and unbiased perspective on your book.
Lulu authors are currently using Helix to gain a better understanding of their book for marketing purposes, and in some cases to gain insight into their writing style. For the first time, we've caught up with some of the earliest Helix Review customers to hear more about their book and writing style and what they hoped to learn from Helix.
If you are an author that has used Helix and would like to be featured in the future, please tell us about your experience here.
– See more at: http://www.lulu.com/blog/#sthash.mEHSR4zO.dpuf


text: +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | TPWD News Releases Dated 2013-11-12 | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | This page contains only plain text, no HTML formatting codes. | | It is not designed for display in a browser but for copying | | and editing in whatever software you use to lay out pages. | | To copy the text into an editing program: | | --Display this page in your browser. | | --Select all. | | --Copy. | | --Paste in a document in your editing program. | | If you have any suggestions for improving these pages, send | | an e-mail to firstname.lastname@example.com and mention Plain Text Pages. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [ Note: This item is more than three years old. Please take the publication date into consideration for any date references. ] [ Media Contact: TPWD News, firstname.lastname@example.com, 512-389-8030 ] [ Additional Contacts: Rafe Brock, (817) 732-0761; firstname.lastname@example.com ] Nov. 12, 2013 TPWD Shocks Up Big Bass at Lake Ray Hubbard Recent electrofishing surveys conducted by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Inland Fisheries biologists turned up a surprising number of big largemouth bass in Lake Ray Hubbard. TPWD's Inland Fisheries district office in Fort Worth is responsible for managing and monitoring Lake Ray Hubbard's fishery. Each fall they conduct a nighttime electrofishing survey on Lake Ray Hubbard. Electrofishing, commonly known as "shocking," uses electricity to temporarily stun fish, which are then collected using dipnets, measured and weighed. The two-night survey consisted of 24 randomly selected stations around the shoreline of the lake. Each area was electrofished for five minutes and all target species, which included shad, sunfish and black bass, were collected. Despite low water levels, this year's survey revealed record catch rates for largemouth bass over 14 inches. Incredibly, the best five fish weighed 34.62 lbs. That is not bad for a lake within easy driving distance for many DFW area anglers. Most big fish were collected along the many areas of riprap found around the lake. The two biggest fish were each 23 inches long and weighed 8.1 and 7.2 pounds. Ray Hubbard continues to be a great spot for sportfishing and has produced two Toyota ShareLunkers, fish weighing 13 pounds or more. The most recent ShareLunker entry was in 2003. Because of its big fish history and good habitat, Ray Hubbard has been stocked annually with Florida largemouth bass since 2010. This year TPWD added another 502,264 fingerlings with expectations that the Florida influence will produce even more big fish. -30- [ Note: This item is more than three years old. Please take the publication date into consideration for any date references. ] [ Media Contact: TPWD News, email@example.com, 512-389-8030 ] [ Additional Contacts: Craig Brooks, (903) 670-2222, email@example.com ] Nov. 12, 2013 Fly-Fishing Classes Coming Up at Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center ATHENS--Master fly-fisher Bob Cappallo of Corsicana will teach fly-fishing for beginners at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens January 4, 2014; January 18, 2014; January 25, 2014; and February 15, 2014, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The classes are open to adults 18 and older. No fly-fishing experience is required. Equipment will be provided, but students may bring their own. The $50 fee for the class includes entrance to TFFC for the day of the class, lunch and a season pass to TFFC so students can return for more fishing as often as they like. Instruction will focus on equipment selection, knot tying, casting and fishing for rainbow trout in TFFC's 1.5-acre casting pond. Catch-and-release fishing is free, but anglers may pay $5 for the opportunity to catch and keep up to five fish. Cappallo is a member of the Brazos Valley Fly Fishers and lives on Richland-Chambers Reservoir. He fly-fishes for trout in New Mexico and redfish and tarpon on the Texas coast. Cappallo also builds handmade fly rods and ties flies. Reservations are required, and each class is limited to 20 persons. Checks should be made payable to "Friends of TFFC" and may be mailed to Craig Brooks at 5550 F.M. 2495, Athens, TX 75752. For more information or to register by telephone for the class, call Brooks at (903) 670-2222. -30- [ Note: This item is more than three years old. Please take the publication date into consideration for any date references. ] [ Media Contact: TPWD News, email@example.com, 512-389-8030 ] [ Additional Contacts: Michael Baird, (254) 666-5190; email@example.com ] Nov. 12, 2013 Fishing Great in Central Texas Reservoirs Despite Drought ATHENS--Low water levels at some Central Texas reservoirs have seemed to improve anglers' chances of catching fish. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) inland fisheries biologists conducting fish population surveys at Lakes Pat Cleburne and Mexia report particularly high numbers of quality channel catfish. Lake Pat Cleburne is a 1,568-acre reservoir located approximately four miles southwest of the town of Cleburne. The sportfish assemblage at Pat Cleburne consists of largemouth bass, white bass, white crappie and three species of catfishes (channels, blues and flatheads). Lake Mexia is a 1,009-acre reservoir located approximately six miles west of the town of Mexia. Mexia contains largemouth bass, white bass, white crappie and channel, blue and flathead catfish. Like many larger reservoirs in the area, both these smaller reservoirs have been plagued with drought conditions for several years, and much of the reservoirs' natural fish habitat, such as shoreline structure, aquatic vegetation, coves and points, has been dry for some time. This can frustrate some anglers as their "go-to" sites are unrecognizable or worse, no longer wet! Monitoring fish populations over time can be similarly frustrating for TPWD, as some standardized gears and techniques are also less efficient than they would be during periods of normal water levels. Despite tough conditions, TPWD observed some unusually high catches of popular sportfish during recent surveys. At Pat Cleburne, the 2012 channel catfish catch rate was the second highest on record for the reservoir, second only to the 1997 survey. In addition to large numbers of channels, individual condition, or plumpness, was good and improved with increasing length. Most of the channel catfish observed during this survey were perfect eating size, two to four pounds. Populations of blues and flathead catfish can also be found in the reservoir, but are in much lower densities. There are currently no water body records for any of the catfishes in Pat Cleburne, because anglers have never brought these species in for certification. Largemouth bass anglers should also be happy to learn the fall 2011 survey of Pat Cleburne observed the second highest catch rate of this species in nearly 20 years. Although the catch was dominated by 10-inch fish at the time, these fish are a harvestable size now and should offer black-bass anglers some good sport for the foreseeable future. The current water body record for largemouth bass in Pat Cleburne is 11 pounds. Survey results for Lake Mexia were even more promising. The 2012 channel catfish catch rate was the highest on record for the reservoir. Large numbers of fish in excellent body condition were collected. Most of the channel catfish observed during this survey were in the two- to four-pound range. The current water body record for channel catfish in Lake Mexia is 7.4 pounds. Blues and flatheads can also be found in the reservoir, but in much lower densities. The water body record for blue catfish is over 25 pounds, while no record exists for flathead catfish. So the next time you're wondering where to fish, consider Lakes Pat Cleburne and Mexia. For more information on water body records, visit tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/programs/fishrecords/. If you think you have a record fish, please contact the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Inland Fisheries Management office in Waco at (254) 666-5190. --- On the Net: http://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/programs/fishrecords/ -30-


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Our children need places to play
Saturday, Dec 15, 2012 06:00 am
I am replying to the letter of Dec. 1 about the money being spent on the bike park that could have gone to affordable housing. Is it more important for the struggling to have a roof over their heads than a bike park? Yes. Is it more important to have affordable housing than people being able to swim? Yes. Or people being able to borrow books and read, or baseball, football, hockey, or soccer?
What Mr. Borgstede fails to see is the big picture. Not only do people need an affordable home, they need exercise for health and activities for recreation and good mental health. A city with no facilities for our kids to enjoy will have them turn to other less appealing options to fill their time. History has shown that theft, graffiti and vandalism are popular replacements. We end up spending more money on law enforcement and repairs than the cost of having parks, pools, rinks and libraries.
We may have a reputation of being snobs in this community, but I know the people of St. Albert are a very generous people. I cannot help but notice the growing number of stories, all year long, of our youth stepping up to the plate and taking on causes, where they sense a need. I believe that you would be better served explaining the need and importance of your worthy cause to get the kids on your side, rather than taking away their facilities.
If you want to be upset about how council is spending our money, instead of looking at money invested in our future (our youth), why not call out Len Bracko, who refuses to give up his one-trick pony of wasting half a million dollars on an LRT review that will not happen for two to three decades? Don�t turn your compassion for the struggling into ire against our children.
Tim Andrew, St. Albert


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Heh. I'd ask you to file this one under "crazy brainstorming ideas" but it is the third time I've been inspired to scribble down and evolve this idea. Over at Techcrunch there's a quick feature on Seriosity. What Seriosity allows you to do is attach a virtual e-payment to emails you send. Not real money. This is a virtual currency; the Serio. I agree with the psychology. People like to collect things. One of the reasons, I think, sites like LinkedIn do well is because people like to be seen to have connections. They collect connections. Attaching Serios to emails means your email will stand out. If you're collecting Serios then you're much more likely to open an email associated to 100 Serios (and keep the 100 Serios for doing so) than you are to open an email from a name you do not recognise (and earn nothing). Serios are there to make your emails stand out.
Arrington argues that the Serio is pointless and worthless unless you're allowed to cash out (as you could with beenz and other boom currencies). He may be right.
The debate reminded me on my past ramblings on Blog Comments 2.0 and CAPTCHA versus Cash. Each post discusses the idea whether people would be willing to pay a micro deposit in order to leave a comment on a blog. Real money. You'd invest something like 0.1p (which would be 0.05c currently) in order to comment. If the blogger approved your comment then you'd get this back. If not - then you'd loose it.
The idea is that if you're an average user you might invest up to, what, 10p (100 comments!) a day. Not much of a risk. Of course, you'd loose 0.1p now and then but could make it back by not approving unwelcome comments on your blog. Once you get over the initial technological and psychological hurdles this would not be too scary at all. Spammers, on the other hand, would risk £pounds as they dumped thousands of comments a day and would be unlikely to get anything back.
This real money solution depends on Google or someone else cracking micro-payments. However, there is an alternative.
Do I think a real money solution would work? Today, right now, when I think about this - nah. No. Never. People are unwilling to comment on a blog when there's a
rel="nofollow" around. It seems that if people need an incentive (all be it a small and free one) in order to be persuaded to comment then the psychological barrier that paying to comment represents would be unscalable.
Maybe Seriosity and I can combine ideas. You use a virtual currency in order to leave blog comments. If your comment is approved you get the virtual token back. If your comment is rejected then the blogger keeps it. You can cash in your virtual currency for - gosh, extra hosting space for your blog, Google Checkout cash, a mention on a Seriosity/Digg hybrid newspaper which highlights blog posts or maybe you could use your comment currency in conjunction with a site like co.mments in order to ensure your contribution triggers an email alert.
Thoughts? I promise it's free to comment!


text:
Gloucestershire Northern Senior League Division One
Dursley Town 1 Ramblers 0
BRUNO Goncalves fired Dursley to a desperately-needed triumph over fellow-strugglers Ramblers at the Rec to put a timely end to their eight-game winless run.
The Gloucester side made the more lively start to the match and created a couple of early chances, but they were caught by a quick break on the quarter-hour mark.
Having gathered a Ramblers corner in unorthodox fashion, Keith Watson launched a big kick that the visitors made a mess of and Goncalves shot home from 20 yards.
Dursley came close to a second goal before the break when Jim Stevenson headed just over the bar, while Ryan Stevenson had a shot kicked off the line by a defender.
The visitors were always dangerous, though, and ought to have at least been level at the break, but Watson made two one-on-one saves and several other interventions.
Ramblers really turned the screw after half-time as Town made their customary slow start to the second period, but they were repeatedly denied by the home rearguard.
Watson made a superb one-handed save to turn one effort away from the top corner, while a header from a free-kick flew inches wide with the goalkeeper motionless.
The hosts were really hanging on, but defenders Steve Hobbs, Chris Wilkins, Matt Workman and skipper Dan McNally headed everything to claim a battling victory.
Dursley: K Watson; S Hobbs, C Wilkins, M Workman, D McNally; N Vines (L Jones 85), J Stevenson, C Bailey, S Miles; B Goncalves (M Humphrey 80), R Stevenson. Not Used: C Dolbear.
Goals: Goncalves (15).
Stroud League Division Two
AC Royals 1 Dursley Town Res 1
ONE point each was not an entirely unexpected outcome given that AC Royals and Dursley have drawn more games than every other team in the division this season.
However, for a long time it looked as if the visitors would take all three points after scoring early on and then holding their higher-placed hosts at arm's length.
Town right-back Wayne Taylor headed his side into a first-half lead when Jack Aldridge nodded a corner back across the face of goal for his team-mate to finish.
Royals looked like being frustrated by a dogged defensive performance from the visitors, but they eventually fashioned an equaliser inside the final ten minutes.
Dursley: P Dykes; W Taylor, D French, R Swift, R Crowcombe; J Minett, L Peters, Antony Nash; J Aldridge (K Ward 70), J Knight, J Warner.
Goals: Taylor (15).
* Dursley 3rds endured a miserable afternoon at the hands of McCadam as they went down 8-0 in Division Five.


text:
WASHINGTON (Aug. 28)
A full investigation of the income tax and finances of William Dudley Pelley will be undertaken by the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Chairman Martin Dies of the House Committee Investigating Un-American Activities, revealed today.
At the same time it was learned that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is probing into Pelley's activities as a "unregistered foreign propagandist."
The frenzied finance of the Silver Shirt leader was exposed before the Dies Committee today. At the same time it was revealed by Dies that all efforts to bring Pelley before the committee had failed and that he has recently "disappeared" from his head quarters at Asheville, N. Carolina. "We don't know where he is, although he was last reported in Montana," Dies said, "and he has refused to avail himself of every opportunity to appear before us."
Robert E. Barker, committee investigator, said that he had followed Pelley's erratic financial trail from Mexico to Canada and from California to Washington. He said that on the day after Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, Pelley founded his Silver Shirts.
At the opening of the hearing, Dies remarked that the record would show that Pelley intended his Silver Shirts to be a military organization, that he had been able to penetrate into nearly all the states through powerful financial support, and that he was an admirer of Hitler and Nazism.
Barker told the committee that Pelley's attacks upon the Jews dated from the rise of Hitler to power. "I'd like to point out," Dies interrupted, "that a good many of the articles appearing under Pelley's name in his publications were actually lifted in their entirety from German propaganda documents."
Out of the financial morass into which Pelley plunged his publications and Silver Shirt organization, the committee investigator brought several concrete revelations.
One of Pelley's contributors was Dr. John R. Brinkley, the "goat gland" doctor with as half million watt radio station in Mexico. Brinkley sent Pelley $ 629 in November, 1938.
Sarah C. Scott, 61, of Belmont, Mass., sent Pelley a total of $4,800. When Barker attempted to see her, after her last two $ 500 contributions in March, 1939, she had gone to Canada, he said.
Another heavy contributor was George B. Fisher, of New York, fashion expert for the Crowell Publishing Company and owner of the Just So Dress Company. His donations totalled $4,600.
Repeatedly, testimony showed that Pelley was linked with other notorious anti-Semites, including George Deatherage, of the Knights of the White Camelia, and James True.
The committee was startled when Barker testified that ten per cent of all mail handled in Asheville, N. C., was for the Pelley organization. He sends out 1,000,000 pieces of mail a year. He conducted correspondence with several members of Congress. Their names were not revealed. A great deal of mail came to him from Germany and Italy, Barker said. In the first six months of 1938 Pelley's sales of literature jumped 150 per cent.
Dies closely questioned Barker on Pelley's present status, after Barker pointed out that Pelley is now at liberty on probation; following his sentence–suspended for five years — to between one and two years in prison for violating the North Carolina State security laws.
Charges against Pelley grew out of manipulations in the sale of stock in the Galahad Press and the Foundation for Christian Economics. The charter of the Foundation was suspended Feb. 1, 1930, by the State of North Carolina.
"Didn't about $100,000 disappear between 1931 and 1934?" Dies asked. "Yes," Barker said, "and the records of the Galahad Press were burned."
After Pelley escaped with a suspended sentence as the Galahad Press went under, he founded the Skyland Press, publishing the anti-Semitic Liberation and continued to build the Silver Shirts Legion of America. Liberation is a weekly magazine "with some thousands" circulation, Baker said. Barker said thirty persons were employed by Liberation, with a considerable payroll, in a building purchased for $20,000.
The committee investigator produced a "library of horrors" booklets attacking American Jewry, the Dies committee, President Roosevelt, Secretary of Interior Ickes, Secretary of Labor Perkins, and even J. Edgar Hoover, which he said were distributed by Pelley "by the ton" throughout the United States.
The distribution is heaviest on the West Coast, and particularly in Oregon and Washington, Barker said. Pelley sells the booklets for from 25 cents to 10 cents each. One just recently published, in praise of General Moseley, sold for only ten cents. "Recently," Pelley's sales have been growing, "Barker said.
The committee definitely linked Pelley to the German-American Bund as the investigator produced a list of persons receiving the largest shipments of Pelley's anti-Semitic pamphlets. Huge shipments went to Hans Dibel, owner of the Aryan Book Store in Los Angeles and a West Coast Bund leader, Dies pointed out. Others listed as receiving larges shipments included S. H. Loebe, Portland, Oregon; I. R. Crower, Spokane, Washington; George Tiesen, Centralia, Washington; E. O. Towley, Colorado; Spokmane, Washington; George Tiesen, Centralia, Washington; E. O. Towley, Colorado; W. A. Lobbay, Cclorado; Stella Blake, Salt Lake city, and Dr. D. B. Clake, Olympia, Wash.
Of fifteen persons who contributed to Pelley in New York, Barker said, ten were women– "some quite prominent, and most of them interested in spiritualism. For several years, Dies had shown, Pelley had practiced spiritualism. "Once," said Dies, "it seems that Pelley claimed to have died, and spent seven minutes in heaven. He wrote a book about it."
Dies indicated today that his investigation of American Nazis and Nazi sympathizers will extend through this week. At the end of the week, Dies said, the committee will prepare a preliminary report on Nazi and Fascist un-American activities.
"That doesn't mean that we'll finish entirely with Nazi and Fascist organizations this week," Dies said. "We'll come back to them again later."
Dies today asked that perjury charges be brought against Fraser S. Gardner, secret agent for the Skyland Press of the Pelley publications. Uardner repeatedly sought a post as a committee investigator. In a letter to District Attorney David Pine of the District of Columbia, Dies said: "It appears that Mr. Gardner has testified falsely concerning material facts while under cath before a congressional committee."


text:
- {{matchup.date.fullday}}{{matchup.date.month + ' ' + matchup.date.day}}
Recap - Jazz Defeat New Orleans 100-96
Gordon Hayward scored 21 points leading the Jazz to a 100-96 victory over New Orleans at EnergySolutions Arena on Friday.
The match was decisive in favor of Utah, but bettors saw the game push as the margin of victory was the same as the closing point spread. The game went OVER the consensus closing total of 194.5.
Utah got 21 points from Alec Burks and another 20 points from Derrick Favors. Trey Burke contributed 8 assists, while Derrick Favors cleaned the glass with 9 rebounds.
New Orleans got 26 points from Anthony Morrow in a losing cause and another 18 points from Brian Roberts. Brian Roberts contributed 6 assists for the Pelicans, while Anthony Davis had 6 rebounds.
First-half bettors who backed New Orleans were victorious, as the score was 45-43 at the break.
New Orleans had a 36-34 advantage in the rebounding department as they won the battle in the paint.
Next game, Utah takes its act on the road to face Golden State looking for another win. For New Orleans, they head on the road to face Portland.


text: Home Recipes Cooking Style Grilling Recipes Grilled Seafood Grilled Shrimp Share: Grilled Shrimp Looking for recipes for grilled shrimp? Taste of Home has the best grilled shrimp recipes from real cooks like you, featuring reviews, ratings, how-to videos and tips. Recipe Spotlight Honey Grilled Shrimp My husband was given this super-simple recipe by a man who sold shrimp at the fish market. It's now become our family's absolute favorite shrimp recipe. We've even served it to company often, with great success. Enjoy! —Lisa Blackwell, Henderson, North Carolina Get Recipe More Grilled Shrimp Sort: Most Relevant Highest Rated Previous Page ... 4 5 6 ... 9 Next Page Quick Spicy Shrimp Kabobs Quick Spicy Shrimp Kabobs Shrimp lovers will adore these spicy, juicy kabobs. Adjust the cayenne to suit your preference for more or less heat. So quick and easy! —Michele Tungett, Rochester, Illinois View Recipe Grilled Shrimp Skewers Grilled Shrimp Skewers "This recipe is similar to a barbecue shrimp dish I love at a restaurant in Florida," writes Sandy Lutz from North Canton, Ohio. "I serve it as an entree with brown rice and a salad, but it could work as an appetizer, too." View Recipe Mango Shrimp Pitas Mango Shrimp Pitas Mango, ginger and curry combine with a splash of lime juice to coat this juicy, grilled shrimp. Stuffed in pitas, the shrimp combo makes for an easy-to-hold, fabulous entree! You could also serve on a bed of rice for a less casual presentation. —Beverly O'Ferrall, Linkwood, Maryland View Recipe Advertise with us ADVERTISEMENT Grilled Shrimp Kabobs Grilled Shrimp Kabobs My family always asks me to prepare these tangy and juicy kabobs during our beach getaways. They fit perfectly with our healthy lifestyle. —Cheryl Williams of Evington, Virginia View Recipe Bacon-Wrapped Seafood Skewers Bacon-Wrapped Seafood Skewers With a little kick from cayenne, these scrumptious kabobs will be the hit of your next barbecue. The crunchy bacon wraps create moist, tender shrimp and scallops. —Audrey Hagerty Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. View Recipe Finger-Lickin'-Good Shrimp Finger-Lickin'-Good Shrimp My husband and I were vacationing in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico when we happened upon a terrific restaurant that served shrimp wrapped in bacon. Though I've changed them slightly, these delicious appetizers are enjoyed by everyone who tries them. —Sandi Solari, Manteca, California View Recipe Sausage Shrimp Kabobs Sausage Shrimp Kabobs We love these full-flavored kabobs and fix them often, even in winter. A sweet sauce is used to baste and later serve alongside the colorful combination of sausage, bacon, shrimp, vegetables and pineapple. —Gloria Warczak, Cedarburg, Wisconsin View Recipe Appetizer Shrimp Kabobs Appetizer Shrimp Kabobs Talk about fuss-free! I love this appetizer because the skewers are simple to assemble, and they grill to perfection in minutes. Guests enjoy them alongside spicy seafood sauce. View Recipe Grilled Shrimp Lettuce Wraps Grilled Shrimp Lettuce Wraps "This recipe makes a great summer dinner," says Gretchen Perkins of Richmond, Virginia. It's also fits in nicely to a gluten-free diet. View Recipe Pineapple Shrimp Kabobs Pineapple Shrimp Kabobs In Fairbanks, Alaska, Isabel Fowler fires up the grill to cook these easy kabobs. Try them at your next backyard gathering! View Recipe Chili-Lime Shrimp Kabobs Chili-Lime Shrimp Kabobs Lime and chili add a kick that really make this recipe pop. Plus, the grilled peppers are a great way to get my family to eat veggies. —Libby Walp, Chicago, Illinois View Recipe Previous Page ... 4 5 6 ... 9 Next Page Advertise with us ADVERTISEMENT Advertise with us ADVERTISEMENT


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|2012-04-01, 17:48
|Link #681
Join Date: Apr 2011
Ok, I just finished watching the entire series and... I'm at a loss. I can't understand what the war is all about. Can you guys help me, please?
Spoiler for 3rd series plot:
Seriously, I feel like I'm missing a large part of the plot, because as of now it makes no sense whatsoever, and I only have confusion in my head. If someone could be so kind as to enlighten me, please do.
Last edited by RedKey; 2012-04-01 at 17:53. Reason: uuh... forgot spoiler tag.
|2012-04-01, 18:08
|Link #682
Goat Herder
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: The middle of the Middle of Nowhere
Age: 30
Spoiler for Response:
|2012-04-07, 05:26
|Link #687
Join Date: Apr 2011
Spoiler for shana 3:
Actually, I have one more question, but it isn't anime or manga related, hope it's still on-topic in Q&A thread.
I searched the Internet for the novels — I can't possibly hope to buy them raw, since that level of Japanese is way too difficult for me atm, and I could find only the first two volumes in English from a few years ago. Does this mean it won't be translated anymore?
|2012-04-07, 10:26
|Link #688
Join Date: Jan 2012
|2012-04-13, 18:26
|Link #689
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
I don't get why Shana never had a name. She is older than she looks right?
She says stuff like she's a flame haze and not human so she doesn't need a name (she said that right?) but uhm... all the other flame haze have names. I mean what the hell has everyone been calling then before Yuuji called her Shana?
|2012-04-13, 18:37
|Link #690
Goat Herder
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: The middle of the Middle of Nowhere
Age: 30
|2012-04-13, 19:12
|Link #691
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
I don't understand the distinction between Tomogara (Denizen) and Ou (King). Are Kings the only ones that can make a contract with a human to create a flame haze? So all flame haze have kings in them. But how did Spiral Organ make a contract with Lamie then if Spiral Organ isn't a King?
Do the Flame Haze titles come with the King? So whoever Tiamat contracts with is "Manipulator of Objects"? Did Lamie get the title "Corpse Retrieve" because he's contracted with Spiral Organ?
|2012-04-13, 21:08
|Link #692
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Tomogara(Denizen) and Ou(Lord/king) are classified by their ability to store and manipulating the Power of Existence. Those who have these abilities will be honored as King. But there are also those who seclude themselves in the world without showing their true power; they will not be called Kings until the others acknowledge them.
Some Kings who form contract with human are not "King", their classification is tomogara but in honor of their devotion to protect the balance, they are called "King" after contract.
The title of the Flame Haze comes with the King who he/she made contract with. There are two examples of those who have the same titles with same Kings: Mathilde Saint-Omer >> Shana and Karl Berwald >> Chiara Toscana.
|2012-04-13, 22:17
|Link #693
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
|2012-04-14, 21:36
|Link #694
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Flame Hazes with same Kings usually use same powers instead of creating their own unique spells. But if Tiamat makes contract with others after Wilhelmina, that person has the choice to follow his/her predecessor's style of fighting or not:
-Chiara seems to follow her predecessor's footstep by training Karl's renowned ability to shoot aurora arrows and doesn't create her own spell. Another person is Yuri Chvojka (the Flame Haze kid who made an appearance in season 2, during Margerie's flashback) who use the same power as his many predecessors to control insects.
-On the other side, They could create new spells or abilities of their own. Like Shana who doesn't have to follow her predecessor's power to create an army of knights but choosing her own perspective of "strength". She creates her own spells: sword of flame, manifestation of Alastor's fist, etc.
|2012-04-21, 05:58
|Link #699
Yuri µ'serator
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: FL, USA
Age: 29
|Thread Tools


text: Alexion's primary drug, Soliris, is one of the most expensive drugs available, costing $500,000 a year. The company is now seeking to expand Soliris to treat rare kidney diseases, which could add another $900 million to Soliris already $2 billion in revenues. Tack on other possible uses for Soliris and Cramer said Alexion could have $5.4 billion in revenue over the next few years. That's part of the reason why shares of Alexion are up 321% since Cramer first recommended it in October 2010. Then there's Gilead Sciences, primarily known for its quad pill HIV treatment that can be taken just once a day. Gilead also has a strong hepatitis-c franchise, which could be worth $8 billion over the next six years. Cramer explained that unlike the current treatment, which is a 24-week injection regiment with varied results, Gilead's treatment is only a 12-week oral treatment that has seen 100% cure rates in some patients. Unlike many other stocks, Alexion and Gilead are secular growers, said Cramer, and therefore don't need a strong global economy to do well.


text:
Learn the Sloth Skank (part 2 of 2)
Today Charlie is challenged by Diversity's Ashley Banjo to create a new dance....bring on the Sloth Skank!
Hear brand new music from Ti2bs, S.A.S and Giggs.
Plus another chance to hear what happened when Charlie caught up with K Koke.
Last on
Thu 17 Jan 2013 18:00


text:
5 Recommendations
sallyking's recommendation
Unsurpassed for grating chocolate, Parmesan cheese, and lemon zest
My Collections:
emilykaiser's recommendation
Everyone loves this one--fine fresh citrus zest in seconds, not to mention freshly shaved nutmeg and cinnamon. A miracle invention.
My Collections:
stephanielucianovic's recommendation
This thing is amazing. I use it for zesting citrus, grating whole nutmegs and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and it is freakishly easy when trying to get the most out of fresh, peeled ginger -- I can get both ginger flesh and juice when I scrub the pieces across the metal teeth.
My Collections:
loft3's recommendation
The Microplane is a marvel of technology, function and clever marketing. What makes the Microplane so great? Hundreds of tiny razor blades are created through a chemical etching process. These little razors tend to slice, not rip or shread. This gadget made it into the kitchen after a short stint in the tool shed. Its original use was to shave wood (microPLANE, get it?).
My Collections:
GrubGals's recommendation
Can someone tell us why this masterpiece wasnât invented years ago? Microplane graters are perfectly designed for cutting precision and durability. Try it to create beautifully fine and delicate fruit zests. A must for the well-stocked kitchen.
My Collections:


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text: About Macy's Macy's, the largest retail brand of Macy's, Inc., delivers fashion and affordable luxury to customers at more than 800 locations in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. Macy's stores and macys.com offer distinctive assortments including the most desired family of exclusive and fashion brands for him, her and home. Macy's Herald Square is New York City's most iconic department store, welcoming more than 20 million guests from around the world each year. The world-famous flagship is a retail institution known for its fashion and epic events -- most notably the Annual Macy's Flower Show ®; Macy's 4th of July Fireworks ® and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade ®.For Macy's media materials, images and contacts, please visit our online pressroom at www.macys.com/pressroom. About NYC & Company NYC & Company is the official marketing, tourism and partnership organization for the City of New York, dedicated to maximizing travel and tourism opportunities throughout the five boroughs, building economic prosperity and spreading the positive image of New York City worldwide. For the official source on all there is to see and do in New York City, go to nycgo.com.


text:
Buyers Laboratory Inc. (BLI), an independent evaluator of document imaging hardware and software, has announced that Konica Minolta's PageScope Enterprise Suite 2.1 has won the summer 2011 pick award for the Outstanding Device/Print Management Suite. For the picks, BLI editors and test technicians select the best products evaluated during the previous six months.
"With the introduction of the PageScope Enterprise Suite 2.0 and the updated version 2.1, Konica Minolta has helped develop and improve functionality, fleet management and user convenience for its customers," says Andrew Griffith, product manager for office products at Bidvest company, Konica Minolta South Africa. "The increasing number of installations and the growing size of PageScope Enterprise Suite user environments prove that this Konica Minolta solution is a very helpful instrument. "Receiving the Outstanding BLI award underlines this success and provides objective evidence that the PageScope Enterprise Suite is a highly valuable tool for today's corporate environments." BLI technicians found PageScope Enterprise Suite 2.1 to be an impressive suite of applications with an ambitious scope consisting of five integrated modules – the Net Care Device Manager, PageScope Account Manager, PageScope Authentication Manager, PageScope My Print Manager and PageScope My Panel Manager. The suite offers, inter alia, remote device monitoring and management, meter reporting and complete user management – including the ability to set quotas and restrict function usage. It contains accounting functions, secure pull printing and follow-me printing as well as customised control panel screens. Customers gain all this functionality in a single suite with an integrated installation and common management console, rather than having to deploy individual solutions from different vendors or multiple modules with other solutions. With the PageScope Enterprise Suite Konica Minolta helps administrators, IT specialists and users streamline their work, minimise their efforts and achieve more in less time. With its pick awards, BLI gives special recognition to the hardware and software products that performed best in BLI's bi-annual evaluations. Software solutions undergo a comparative hands-on review that focuses on special target markets' demands. Pick winners rise above the competition in areas such as value, feature set, ease of use, ease of administration, hardware compatibility, software integration, security and support.
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©2017 Konica Minolta South Africa (operated by Bidvest Office (Pty) Ltd).


text:
The Hawk Hits the Streets This Weekend
If you're staying in town this weekend, you're welcome to come hang with the Hawk.
Today, we'll be rockin' live at Metra Park with Rim Rock Kia at Biggest Yard Sale in Billings. Sam Talkington will be there from 3:30 to 5:30 with your chance to win one of our new Hawk Rockaholic T-shirts and FREE movie passes for the Amusement Park Drive-In in Laurel.
Then tomorrow afternoon from 2 to 4, we're headed over Vann's Appliance on King Ave West with more T-Shirts and movie passes.


text:
Washington As Washington returned to some sort of normality with federal workers back at the office and the zoo reopening,
After largely sitting on the sidelines during the 16-day budget impasse, Mr Obama downed his partisan weapons and in a conciliatory tone urged legislators on both sides of politics to work together towards accomplishing policy outcomes on the budget, immigration and agriculture.
As the President spoke of putting the ugly fight behind the White House and Congress, fresh details emerged of just what it took to end the bitter spat between Republican and Democrats in an eleventh-hour deal.
Senate Minority Leader
There was also $US450 million allocated for flood rebuilding in Colorado and $US174,000 for the widow of late Congressman Frank Lautenberg, one of the richest members of Congress before he died in June.
What Australians may call pork barrelling is part and parcel of deal making in Washington.
Conservative actions groups like the Tea Party and Heritage Action For America lambasted centrist and moderate Republicans for caving in to President Obama and Congressional Democrats.
Highlighting the divisions in conservative ranks Republican Senator and former presidential candidate against Mr Obama,
Mr Obama chose his words carefully and avoided directly criticising Republicans on Thursday at the White House. In fact, he thanked the Republican leaders who ushered through the deal and avoided the US government running out of money.
"The American people are completely fed up with Washington," the President said. "To all my friends in Congress, understand that how business is done in this town has to change."
He also said American diplomats had received concerned messages from foreign allies about the episode.
The President urged the Congress to reach agreement on three priorities before the end of the year: the long-term trajectory of the budget, immigration and the farm bill which the Senate has already passed.
"Those are three specific things that would make a huge difference in our economy, right now, and we could get them done by the end of the year," Mr Obama said.
Conservative elements in the Republican ranks are resisting the immigration bill, which would provide citizenship to millions of illegal migrants living in America, but require them to pay fines through back taxes.
A broad agreement on the budget is also likely to prove difficult, given the fundamental differences that remain between Republicans and Democrats.
Republicans including the former vice-presidential candidate,
Democrats are already concerned the spending reductions initiated in the 2011 Budget Control Act are harming the economy and taking money away from some of their social programs. Mr Obama urged both sides to come to the negotiating table with a fresh mindset.
"Let's start the negotiations," he said.
The Australian Financial Review


text: Enjoy these Spicy Bloody Mary Pickle Spears by Forest Floor Foods--the newest addition to the Forest Floor Foods pickled line of products. Fresh pack crunchy pickle spears are bathed in garlic and jalepeno brine. Perfect as a garnish or straight from the jar. Just enough heat but not too hot. These pickled spears will make your bloody mary the best ever. Enjoy three 24-oz. jars.


text:
Derry volleyball team rounding into form as postseason looms
The Derry boys volleyball team has picked up where it left off last season, when it was the WPIAL runner-up after losing to Ambridge in five games at the finals.
This season, Derry entered the week 6-1 overall, including a 5-0 mark in Section 2-AA mark. In tournament play, Derry started with a third-place finish in the 16-team North Allegheny tournament March 23.
"This is a totally different style of team than last year's," coach Shawn Spencer said. "They aare more of a defensive and ball-control team this year. We have a chance to get back (to the WPIAL championship), and we have been playing well this year."
Derry followed the third-place finish by taking second in the Derry tournament after losing to North Allegheny in the finals. The Trojans also lost to Central Dauphin in the second round of the Koller Classic on April 20 at Central York.
"Ambridge, they are a very strong team this year. They are the prohibitive favorites to beat. But in life, there are no guarantees," Spencer said.
The Trojans mostly are led by underclassmen. The team includes four seniors, three of whom see significant playing time.
The senior class is led by setter Andy Panizzi and outside hitter Josh Wanamaker. Panizzi leads the tem with 412 assists, and Wanamaker has 165 kills.
"The team last year, we had a bunch of hitters that could put the ball away," Panizzi said. "This year, we have hitters but we have more of a focus on being defensive and not making a mistake rather than trying to get the kill."
Junior outside hitter Matt Vasinko is the team leader with 224 kills, and junior libero Izaak Fulmer-Moffat leads the team with 103 digs.
"I think we need to continue to improve with different aspects of the game," Spencer said. "We need to control what we can control in the second half of the season. They have experience of being there before with being in the playoffs last year. Hopefully, the experience can propel them deep into the playoffs again."
The team's youthful roster could bring some growing pains. But the team's experience, especially in the playoffs, looks to be paying off.
"The young kids we have on our team have a substantial amount of volleyball experience. The kids are still learning. They are receptive and willing to work hard and get better," Spencer said. "Whenever you have young kids, they will make some mistakes. But you have to learn to live with them and keep pushing forward."
The next big matchup for Derry comes Thursday, when it travels to section rival Deer Lakes.
"In our section, Deer Lakes is growing to be their rival. Earlier in the season, we were able to beat them, 3-1," Spencer said. "They have had some success in the recent tournaments, so they will be amped up to face us. We will go into their place and, hopefully, pull out the victory."
The remaining regular-season schedule includes matches against Ford City, West Shamokin, Northern Cambria, Summit Academy and Forest Hills before the playoffs begin in mid-May.
"We are a bunch of scrappy kids, and they work hard for every point and everything we get," Spencer said. "I'm just enjoying the ride these kids have me going on, and I hope it continues as a very long and enjoyable one."
Andrew John is a freelance writer.


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Ashland, Alabama resembles the epitome of a small, southern town. With a picturesque town square, an
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|From: Eric Hanchrow (eric.hanchrow at gmail.com)
Date: Mon Apr 30 12:16:37 EDT 2012
diff --git a/collects/scribblings/reference/sets.scrbl b/collects/scribblings/reference/sets.scrbl index d9ea0c6..44cc41d 100644 --- a/collects/scribblings/reference/sets.scrbl +++ b/collects/scribblings/reference/sets.scrbl @@ -27,8 +27,8 @@ unpredictable when keys are mutated. @defproc[(seteq [v any/c] ...) set?] )]{ -Creates a set that uses @racket[equal?], @racket[eq?], or - at racket[eqv?], respectively, to compare elements. The given +Creates a set that uses @racket[equal?], @racket[eqv?], or + at racket[eq?], respectively, to compare elements. The given @racket[v]s are added to the set. The elements are added in the order that they appear as @racket[v]s, so in the first two cases, an earlier element that is @racket[equal?] or @racket[eqv?] but not @racket[eq?]
|Posted on the dev mailing list.


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It is the mission of the Berks District Attorney's Office, in conjunction with Berks County Children and Youth Services, to investigate incidents of reported child abuse. This is accomplished through a coordinated system designed to provide the victims with a unified approach in order to promote the well-being of child victims of abuse in Berks County.
The Berks County District Attorney's Office currently haseight detectives assigned to the Child Abuse Unit. This sexual assault unit is led by Sergeant Gerardo Vega, who is a Certified Forensic Interviewer.Sergeant Vega leads a core group of detectives who investigate child abuse incidents, both sexual and physical in nature. The unit works closely with other county agencies, which include Berks County Children and Youth Services and the Children's Alliance Center of Berks County.
Sergeant Harold Shenk supervises the physical abuse unit, which consists of three fulltime detectives and sometimes as many as six fulltime detectives, depending on the caseload.
What is Child Abuse?
What County agencies are involved in Child Abuse investigations?
Berks County District Attorney's Office (DA): is responsible for prosecuting child abuse cases and protecting the rights of child victims in the judicial system.
Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA): includes municipal police departments and the Pennsylvania State Police who have the training and expertise needed to investigate incidents of alleged abuse.
Victim/Witness Unit: located within the District Attorney's Office, prepares child victims and their families for participation in the criminal justice system. The Victim/Witness Unit will assist child victims and their families to secure funds from the Pennsylvania Crime Victims' Compensation Fund.
Berks County Children and Youth Services:Berks County Children and Youth Services is assigned to protect children, up to eighteen years of age, from abuse and neglect. The staff investigates all reports of child maltreatment in Berks County. For families at risk of future abuse or neglect, services and monitoring are implemented to ensure child safety and allow the children to remain in their homes.
Berks County Children's Alliance Center: The Children's Alliance Center (CAC) of Berks County provides a child-friendly environment that welcomes abused children and non-offender family members and caregivers. Children will be interviewed once at the CAC. Various agencies will observe the interview simultaneously, thereby reducing the number of interviews and the amount of emotional stress.


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Paradoxplace France Photo Galleries
Links to all French Cathedral and Abbey Photo Pages in Paradoxplace
Link to all Abbey and Cathedral Pages in Paradoxplace
Basilique St-Andoche, Saulieu
Links to Autun Cathédral St-Lazare and Vézelay Basilique Ste-Madeleine
Back to Paradoxplace Burgundy & Champagne Pages
The central Burgundy road north from Autun to Avallon takes one through the hills, woods and sloping pastures of the Morvan National Park. This is Charolais country, and for meaties the town of Saulieu in the middle has a Charolais Festival on the third weekend in August each year.
Saulieu also has a famous *** Michelin restaurant / hotel - it's worth having a look at their website, then decide whether you want to save up for a few years:
One would not travel far for this trumeauless, lintelless, archivoltless, statueless portal, but what is inside is a different story .....
Bernard Loiseau, who built up the restaurant from nothing,
"became a television celebrity, the first chef to launch his business on the Paris bourse, the second chef ever to be awarded France's Legion of Honour, then -- at the height of his fame in February 2003 -- he took his own life, apparently over rumours that his flagship restaurant might lose its third Michelin star (which it didn't). Rudolph Chelminski's fascinating 2005 biography The Perfectionist charts the extraordinary life of Bernard Loiseau and explores the arcane world of French haute cuisine. But to experience the Loiseau legacy first hand, you must pay a visit to Le Relais Bernard Loiseau itself." (Sugarvine.com - Gastrotourist)
Adriano for once was not here for the meat, but for the old (circa 1130) Abbey Church, now the Basilica of Saint Andoche, which has been beautifully restored over the past six years and has a small feast of medieval Burgundian narrative and decorative capitals ... this time with good modern lighting available.
On this page are some of the capitals with biblical themes
The next page picks up on some of the animal life
There are also some lovely narrative wood reliefs in the choir which, along with the museum next door, we missed .... next time!
The flight to Egypt
Balaam stopped by a sword wielding angel (hiding on right)
Judas Hangs
Fallen Archangel Lucifer (aka Satan) on Tempting Duty
"Noli me Tangere" - after the Resurrection
On to Saulieu's Animal Capitals
For other Paradoxplace links visit the home page
All original material on this site © Adrian Fletcher 2000-2015 - The contents may not be hotlinked, or reproduced without permission


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Deux Lux - Women's Gold Pasha Zip Clutch Wallet
Genuine Leather Gold Flare Clutch. It almost looks like a lot of gold coins.
Hot pink bracelet made of Indian religious string embedded with glittery stones that symbolize "Friendship, Love and Good Luck" ....
Lock up! Modern Key bracelet with curved and weathered vintage-style key and attached double leather cord.Added 8 Years Ago from Urban Outfitters
Oversized layered bracelet trimmed with strands of raw leather and large metal baubles. Finished with a magnetic clasp.Added 8 Years Ago from Urban Outfitters
Sleek tear-shaped drop earrings wrapped in leather and trimmed with beaded leather fringe.Added 8 Years Ago from Urban Outfitters
Cute oval gold earrings with diamond accent!
Convertible Deux Lux bag with a zippered fold-over closure and adjustable shoulder straps for use as a backpack or messenger. Great for shopping!
Luxe Alexander McQueen skull clutch in black crystal embellished satin with a dusty pink Nappa leather lining. The skull has purple river pearl eyes and smoke Swarovski teeth and studs.Added 8 Years Ago from Alexandermcqueen
These ever-chic Juicy Couture Rickey ballet flats are so adorable!
I love the look of ankle boots with a short dress, but you definately have to have the right kind of legs for it, which I unfortunately do not. Oh well, these shoes are still great!
Cute white cuff with black bow tie and pearl accent.
The gleaming 18kt yellow goldplated large scale watch features a glittering band of swarovski crystals ringing its outer perimeter, set on a matching bracelet for definite notice-me style.Tags: fashion, events, accessories, style, stylish, gifts, watches, silver, white goldAdded 8 Years Ago from Chickdowntown
Pretty leather and rhinestone ring designed by Nicole Richie for her House of Harlow 1960 line.
I love the way the bow is to the side on these shoes! So cute!
Petite bows in a richly wrought rope-twist style feature delicate chains and a single strand of sparkling prong set rhinestones.Added 8 Years Ago from Chickdowntown
This fabric box clutch gleams with faceted metal stones outlined in black seed beads. Gunmetal clasp opens to reveal jet black satin lining.Added 8 Years Ago from Chickdowntown
Brighten up any look with this fun necklace!
Look ultra cool in this pair of retro sport sunglasses featuring a neon green front with black details. Smoke lenses with 400 UV protection.Tags: fashion, humor, sunglasses, accessories, retro, style, stylish, glasses, greenAdded 8 Years Ago from Hot Topic
This bright neon pack of earrings features three pairs: neon green peace signs, turquoise stars and pink peace hearts.
Cute grafitti tee with I heart Paris on it.
The cool kicks that never go out of style. Available in 30 different colors.
Cute neon stretch skinnny jeans at Patricia Field.
Plastic laminate lips ring at Patricia Field.Added 8 Years Ago from Patricia Field
Hellooooo Sailor! *whistle* Super cute neon pink admiral hat that is adjustable with cap strap from Patricia Field.Added 8 Years Ago from Patricia Field
Cute rhinestone chain link bracelets come in four colors: purple, pink, blue, and white.Added 8 Years Ago from Patricia Field
This neon bow clutch is sure to command some attention! And guess what?! Its on sale for only $4.99.
This adorable necklace is from Patricia Field's Barbie Collection and comes in silver or gold!
This cute tee is from Patricia Field's Barbie collection.
Awesome little accessory to add to any outfit!Added 8 Years Ago from Patricia Field
Yow. Light up the dance floor, girl.


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It only takes a minute to get started. Fill out our simple sign up form and login to the website.
This step is voluntary but will greatly boost your chances of your profile being viewed by interested members. Type a little about yourself, your interests and upload any nice photographs of yourself.
Utilise our website's sophisticated search to locate members who satisfy your needs. Or just scan through listings and locate members that take your fancy.
Identified someone who appeals to you? Send them a word or two or just a wink and take it from there. With a little luck you'll be on your way to finding your soulmate.
It doesn't take long


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During Samsung's media event last week in New York City for the Galaxy Tab, Samsung's very own Omar Khan showed how easy it was to slip and conceal the 7" tablet in a pocket. And now, we're beginning to somehow realize that Samsung is going to do its best to market the Android powered tablet as something that's pocketable.
Case in point with this new video advertisement about the Galaxy Tab where it not only talks about all of the rich features it has to bring to the table, but even shows twice how it can be simply tucked away in the back pocket of our pants without any worries. However, these pockets in the video seem to be wider and deeper than others just because it easily accommodates the Tab's figure with no problems. But still, it's hard to say if Samsung is indeed trying to tell us all that we can simply place this device, which isn't exactly a smartphone friendly sized device, so smoothly into our back pockets.
Still, we'd imagine that there would be some people upset if they accidentally sat down with the Tab still loosely moving around in their back pocket. So there goes one hefty piece of technology reduced to something that's just another paper weight.
Samsung Galaxy Tab Specifications | Preview
via Gizmodo
The Samsung Galaxy Tab is apparently all about being placed in a back pocket
3 Comments
posted on 20 Oct 2010, 01:48 0
1. tomorrowisnow (unregistered)
News??? More like snooze...........
posted on 20 Sep 2010, 16:00 0
2. zerglisk (Posts: 544; Member since: 09 Feb 2010)
No more phone calling ability No video chat over 3G... No fit resolution to run market on the tablet All these turns me down from owning one :(
posted on 21 Sep 2010, 10:00 0
3. partyhard1 (Posts: 11; Member since: 21 Sep 2010)
its not a phone....
The Samsung Galaxy Tab is apparently all about being placed in a back pocket


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Our tough and regularly serviced telehandlers are available at specialist Coates Hire branches nationwide. Click here to find your nearest branch.
This week, Coates Hire Racing's very own Nick Percat, swaps his Porsche Carerra for a ruggard Coates Hire Telehandler - very safely and cautiously of course!
Receive the latest Coates Hire product updates & promotions in your inbox


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"Did You Know that Video Can
Boost Response Rates by 5 to 10 Times!?"
If you want to grab a customer's attention – on your website, your blog, or your social media profiles – static text and images aren't always enough. Studies have shown again and again that video is more engaging, and that video clips are remembered longer.
More importantly, video boosts response rates, click-throughs, and shares.
In fact, the only problem with using video has been the time and costs involved. That's where Stock Marketing Videos can help…
By giving you access to our large library of royalty-free whiteboard videos, we make it easy to add professionally-produced clips to your website and social posts. It's the fastest and most cost-effective way to give yourself an instant Internet marketing boost.


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A Richmond woman survived for three days in the KwaZulu-Natal heat without food or water when she got lost walking in a plantation behind her home on New Year's Eve.
Stephanie Leeston-Smith, 63, lives on her own at her Byrne Valley home in Richmond after her husband died three years ago. The rest of her family reside overseas.
However, Byrne Valley is a close-knit community and her disappearance was quickly picked up.
Lilian van Rooyen, a friend of Leeston-Smith's for the past 25 years, said a security guard from the Byrne Security Association who stays in the valley realised she was missing at about 6am January 1.
"Stephanie gives the night security guard tea at about 10pm, but on New Year's Eve he didn't see her.
"The following morning he realised she was missing."
Van Rooyen said the valley was very safe and Leeston-Smith would often take walks in the plantation by herself.
A search was initiated, with teams checking the surrounding areas with sniffer dogs and volunteers.
However, Leeston-Smith was not found.
On Friday morning, security members from the Byrne Security Association found Leeston-Smith in a ravine in the plantation.
"She had gone for a walk and got lost. It was extremely hot and she had no food or water. We had found her jersey and a handkerchief belonging to her. She had also managed to write 'Stephanie was here' in the sand, but she wasn't responding when we called her by name.
"Unfortunately, she didn't have a cellphone with her," said Van Rooyen.
Goodman Madonda, a local councillor and supervisor of Byrne Security Association, had gone out early on Friday morning and covered all the ravines, Van Rooyen said. "Most of them are very overgrown, but they eventually found her."
Madonda said he searched surrounding farms and asked some of the farm workers to assist with the search on Friday.
"We searched five streams before we found her sitting in some shade. There was so much heat. I called to her and she saw me. She was awake. I then went to get help," said Madonda.
Werner Vermaak, a spokesman for ER24, said paramedics managed to stabilise Leeston-Smith after SAPS Search and Rescue got her out the ravine.
"She was severely dehydrated and malnourished. She also suffered multiple cuts and abrasions, believed to have come from her falling down into the ravine."
Leeston-Smith is recovering at Mediclinic Pietermaritzburg.
Daily News


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TWO St Helens District under 11s cricket team players are leading county sides this season.
Wicket-keeper Mathew Hurst and all-rounder Ben Walkden, who play for Newton le Willows Cricket Club, are captains of Lancashire under 10s and under 11s respectively.
John Williams, county manager for both age groups, said "Not only are these two young men very promising cricketers they are proving to be excellent ambassadors for our county."


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I am always excited when I get a chance to relive my childhood with handheld gaming. Of course every little kid has played a very simplistic type of handheld game like racing cars or shooting basketballs. To see how far we have come from that is astonishing. Graphics on those devices were crappy at best. The delay from pressing the button to the action happening seemed like days, and as time move forward we got our hands on Nintendo's Gameboy. Tetris took the world by storm and it revolutionized handheld gaming.
To now where the market it dominated with Smartphone gaming like Angry Birds or Draw Something, it would almost appear as if real true handheld gaming is out the door. Then you see a device like the PlayStation Vita that has the ability to take handheld gaming to a whole new level. Here we are going to take a good look at this device and help you figure out if it is the right device for you. You can check out my video review of the PlayStation Vita and see for yourself.
The PlayStation Vita has been around for a few months getting its debut in Japan, to some soft sales, and when it finally arrived in North America, UK and Australia it brought with it some new software features, a vast array of games, and some great online features. There are some limitations in its proprietary technology, unintuitive software and of course steep price.
When you see the American version it is identical to the Japanese unit except for a few small changes. It is an all plastic case but still has a premium look and feel with a silver metallic-finish accents and edge work. You get a nice 5-inch OLED display, which has some of the best visual display I have seen and it even comes close to the iPhone 4S retina display.
Now the overall design of the Vita is made for keeping the overall footprint low. The D-Pad, action buttons and joysticks are small placed closely together to keep it very easy to hit all the buttons in a very quick manner. The shoulder buttons are responsive and the action buttons, while smaller than the average gamepad, are still separated far enough so that you aren't hitting two buttons at once. The control sticks are like the action pads and are smaller than a standard Dual Shock and are just as effective.
The touchscreen and rear touch panel are fairly accurate, though performance would vary by application and game. My main issue with the rear touch pad is that sometimes while playing a game you forget that the rear touch pad is on and can cause a bad reaction to gameplay. For example FIFA Soccer uses the rear pad, when you are close to the goal, and acts as a representation of the goal. Touch the top right corner and the ball goes top right corner. After some usage you get used to it but when you aren't used it to and you are holding the game in the normal position you fingers and hand can make the rear touch panel go bananas.
The PS Vita comes in two flavors–a Wi-Fi-only model and a 3G model, priced at $249 and $299, respectively. The 3G model's service is furnished by AT&T in the U.S. and offers constant connectivity to the PSN, turn-based multiplayer, the system's mobile browser and social functions. The 3G connectivity does allow you to do some online functions, however when downloading anything over 50MB the Vita tells you to look for a WiFi connection to continue the download.
Battery Life and 3G connection
The battery life of the Vita is the big issue here, as you want to know just how much gaming you are going to be doing. Of course with 3G turned on it will drain the battery very quickly. You can turn that off and tune some other settings to get about 5 hours of battery life. The 3G connection is what you expect it to be around and isn't really anything to be proud about. 1.7MB down and .9MB up at times. I found I was around more WiFi spots so I kept the 3G off and just ran on WiFi
Let's be honest here you aren't going to be using this thing to take photos and with good reason. The camera quality on this device leaves a lot to be desired. The camera is perfect for the augmented reality games and for using Skype. The video looks grainy and washed out, so what we are trying to say is don't throw away your smartphone camera anytime soon.
User Interface
The main display of the Vita is a Bubble icon that when you look around the edges looks choppy and for a system such as this you shouldn't be having laggy edges at all. Everything should be smooth. So when you click a bubble it opens up in a new window that displays links to DLC and a few other options and then you have to click ANOTHER button to start the game. Just too many steps for one game
What's more, the system ships with a variety of app-style functions that seem to overlap. Here's the full list of functions:
- Near – A GPS-based social app that shows nearby Vita.
- Maps – A Google Maps app that provides directions and GPS data.
- Photos – The system's camera and photo/video viewing app.
- Party – Connect with other PSN friends with voice and text chat.
- Group Messaging – Basic text communication with friends and PSN users.
- Trophies – View the trophies you win during gameplay.
- PS Store – Direct access to the PSN Store.
- Browser – Basic web browser and we mean BASIC.
- Content Manager – An app that allows you to copy content to/from your PS3 or PC.
- Remote Play – App that allows you to access a paired PS3 remotely via Wi-Fi.
- Settings – Primary system settings interface.
This is what this whole review has been leading up to. The games and all about the games. I will say this about the Vita; every single game looks AMAZING on the device. I played a handful of demos on this unit and was impressed with the gameplay and controls on each one. FIFA soccer was by far the favorite game to play for the people I showed.
The control sticks were very responsive and allowed for easy control of the players. Unlike the Sony Xperia Play where I couldn't get the guy to move half the time, never had a problem with this device. Like I said earlier in the review the rear touchpad can be a bit of a headache when you aren't used to it but after playing many games and losing MANY MANY times I got the hang of it and won maybe one or two out of the dozens I played.
Uncharted: Golden Abyss was a fun game to play at times the controls were confusing for me as I haven't played that style of game in a while. ModNation was a fun little time waster. I could go on and on, I would like to mention the augmented reality games like Cliff Diving were fun to show people a cliff coming out of a table. Even those games were fun and enjoyable at times.
Another great feature of the device is the cross platform playing. Where you can start a game on your PS3 and finish it on the Vita. How amazing is that, just think you don't have to sit on the train thinking about your game and how much farther you could have gotten, now you can continue the game and have fun. The possibilities are endless really at just how great this could become.
Sadly the downside is the price. At $249 and $299 respectively for the WiFi only and 3G model the price of the Vita will be a huge a barrier to many people. Then you add in the price of the system's memory cards and the games themselves it all adds up. When you look at the bigger picture it would cost the same or even more than a PS3 or an Xbox 360.
Check me out talking about the PlayStation Vita on All For Geek…show those guys some love as I show up from time to time!
Final Thoughts
Overall I really enjoyed what the PlayStation Vita is, at its core it is a solid gaming device that has its eyes set on doing more than it should. If it was just a pure gaming platform this thing would be a solid 10/10 but it wants to do more and it suffers because of it. Not too much suffering of course just some flaws in design and application of said innovations.
With that we got to the Kyle Scientific Scale-o-Rama and on the scale of Buy It, Flip It or Skip It we are going to give the Sony PlayStation Vita a Buy It. The price may set people back but the gameplay and ability to take a game from home and continue it on the road outweighs that. This device just has to much going for it to not perform well.
Article first published as Sony PlayStation Vita Review on Technorati.


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Never heard of Invisible Illness Awareness Week? You're not alone. Jody Smith sheds a little light to make it more visible
Discuss the article on the Forums.
DNA Adduct and Mitochondrial (Studies) Testing
Discussion in 'Other Health News and Research' started by BEG, Sep 28, 2010.
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Essen Time
Use the above converter to visually and very quickly convert time in Essen, Germany to another timezone. Simply mouse over the colored hour-tiles and glance at the hours selected by the column.
Current time zone for Essen, Germany is CEST, whose offset is GMT+2.
DST started on Sun, March 26 2017 at 2:00 am local time, when time in Essen moved forward 1 hour to 3:00 am.
DST ends on Sun, October 29 2017 at 3:00 am local time, when time in Essen moves back 1 hour to 2:00 am.
Related: Essen to PST, PST to Essen
Getting Started


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An article appearing today in The Times of India ties together current research showing the heart-healthy benefits of milk.
"Milk and dairy are the most nutritious and healthy foods available and loaded with naturally occurring nutrients, such as calcium, potassium and protein, to name a few," Cindy Schweitzer, of Global Dairy Platform, is quoted as saying in the article.
The article cites several research projects that confirm the benefits of milk.
Read "Drink lots of milk to cut heart disease."
Source: The Times of India


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NHS England's new chief executive has been invited to visit Airedale Hospital.
Hospital board of directors were informed last week that Simon Stevens had been asked to go to Airedale to see some of its more innovative services.
Airedale NHS Foundation Trust chief executive, Bridget Fletcher, said: "I believe what we are doing here resonates very well with Mr Stevens' widely reported 'think like a patient, act like a taxpayer' speech.
"I think what we are developing presents a new blueprint for local health and social care economies.
"My invitation has been acknowledged by Mr Stevens' office, and I hope to confirm he will be able to join us at some point."


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Animals Dancing presents
Animals Dancing: Daniel Wang Tickets
8:00pm, Fri 18 January, 2013 - 8:00am, Sat 19 January, 2013
The Mercat Basement, VIC
Buy Tickets
This event has passed and sales are now closed
Event Details
Animals Dancing are excited to announce the long-overdue Melbourne return of Daniel Wang
Born in California and raised in Taiwan, the well-traveled producer Daniel Wang has been among the most restless and classically minded members of the dance music community over the last decade. Wang made a name for himself in the mid '90s Chicago house scene with a series of playful, funky, sample-delic 12-inches on his own Balihu label, compiled on 1998's I Was a Disco Malcontent: The Best of Balihu Records. Rooted
in the pioneering disco and techno innovations of Giorgio Moroder, Kraftwerk, Francois K, Arthur Russell, the releases earned Wang a reputation for being something of a dance music purist, a notion underscored by his philosophy that the whole of house music can be summed up in 200 pieces of vinyl, while all the rest are merely variations.
Later in the '90s, Wang relocated to New York City, where he forged a friendship with the similarly retro-minded Morgan Geist of Metro Area. By this point, Wang had given up on the samples which cluttered his early releases, taking his back-to-basics ethic one step further. He'd also become an avid theremin enthusiast. In 2001, Geist's Environ label put out Wang's soulful, '70s boogie-inspired album Idealism.
Wang left the states in 2003 to live in Berlin, where his involvement in the club culture plays an important role in the city's gay culture and political climate.
Support from Animals Dancing DJ's (Andee Frost, Tornado Wallace & Otologic)