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ninja has quickly become the #1 selling paintball tank in America. Being light on your feet during an intense battle is just as important as having a good team to back you up. The goal at Ninja with their carbon fiber tanks was to make it as light as possible while using the best possible parts. The Ninja Pro line of carbon fiber tanks are extremely light when compared to their aluminum counter parts, and with a ninja regulator, you know you will be getting the best in the industry. This tank features the new PRO Series regulator, the PRO is the first of Ninja's regulators to include Twist Technology, a new feature that allows users to "twist" their regulator to relocate the fill nipple and gauge to wherever you want it.
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'"It was a great play by (Jaroslav) Spacek to keep the puck in," said Vanek. "I was going to go off, but when I saw that, I stayed in front and the puck came to me. I knew that if I just turned and shot, Price was pretty solid and I had to put him off because I was in so tight, so I put it between my legs and shot it and it worked out."'
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There's no one type of Drexel student and the University's clubs and activities reflect its diversity.
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Located in a city known for its museums, murals, and music, Drexel encourages students to work on their own art and seek inspiration through classes, organizations, and esteemed art collections and galleries.
Drexel athletics are a big part of campus culture. Each year, more than 9,000 students participate in club or intramural sports.
Living on campus is a big part of the college experience.
Involvement in student life is essential in making Drexel's campus life a valuable experience. We encourage students to participate in out-of-the-classroom activities, become involved, and learn from those experiences.
Drexel strives to educate students to embrace good health practices.
Civic engagement not only unites neighborhoods—it also educates students in problem solving, understanding diversity, good citizenship, and leadership.
Organizations work to provide social, cultural, and educational opportunities that promote student involvement outside of the classroom.


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Topic: New to Board
Hello Everyone!
I have been using this board for months to research the best course of action for fighting this cancer. I am a young mother of 3 children, 5, 3 and 9 months. I never thought I would actually post to this board as I tend to be private but my case was recently published in The Oncologist Journal and thought it may help some people who are in the same situation as I am in. I have attached the journal article which tells you more than you probably want to know about my case (Intrahepatic, Resected, Stage 2A). You will see two doctors responses to my case, a pro and a con response as far as adjuvant therapy. The pro response is from Dr. Andrew Zhu of Massachusetts General Hospital and the con response is from Dr. Jennifer Knox from Princess Margaret Hospital.
I have currently completed 4 cycles of Gem/Cis and I am one week into Chemoradiation. I am a patient at Massachusetts General with a great team of doctors, Kenneth Tanabe (Surgeon), Andrew Zhu (Oncologist) and Ted Hong (Radiation Oncologist). I hope people find this article helpful!


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All ships come with cast metal masts and sails, and can be assembled and ready to use in five minutes. Each kit contains complete coloring and rigging instructions as well as a full section on flags. They are fine pewter metal castings, unassembled and unpainted.


text: Chicago Auto Show to Host Technori Pitch Event During 2013 Media Preview November 8, 2012 12:00 PM The Chicago Automobile Trade Association (CATA), producer of the Chicago Auto Show, announced plans to bring Technori Pitch to the 2013 Chicago Auto Show Social Media Preview on February 8, 2013 - the second of two Media Preview days at the show. Technori Pitch is a monthly event where Chicago's most innovative companies have the chance to pitch their latest technologies before an audience of entrepreneurs, executives, and enthusiasts. This year, Chicago entrepreneurs will take the stage at the Social Media Preview to present their automotive-related innovations to manufacturers and media alike. "Technology is continuously evolving and sparking change within the automotive industry," said Michael Ettleson, Chicago Auto Show chairman. "By bringing the Technori Pitch event to the Social Media Preview, we're able to provide Chicago entrepreneurs with a powerful platform to reach key influencers as well as fuel conversation around new technologies that may be industry game-changers." The Technori Pitch event will open with a keynote from Howard Tullman, founder of Tribeca Flashpoint Academy, a premier digital arts college and venture with Robert DeNiro's Tribeca Enterprises. The four startup companies scheduled to present include: parking convenience pioneers, SpotHero and FasPark; auto repair estimate app Body Shop Bids; and budgeting tool Motozuma.com. The four hopeful businesses pitch their innovation to the audience. Following each presentation, the startups will be on the hot seat for a three-minute Q&A session where the audience submits questions directly from their mobile devices. "Startup companies have become a global phenomenon, each with the opportunity to become much greater than the sum of its parts," said Seth Kravitz, CEO and co-founder of Technori. "The Chicago Auto Show is a perfect partner to help us achieve our goal of positioning Technori Pitch participants in front of an influential crowd, and we applaud show organizers' efforts in supporting local Chicago startups." Chicago Auto Show credentialed media are automatically granted access to the Technori Pitch event. Event registration will also be open to the general public in January 2013. Tickets will be priced at $15 and can be purchased at Technori.com/pitch. Ticketed attendees will also have access to the show floor during the Social Media Preview from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Back to News


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UCSC Zimride helps you offer or request rides for commutes, road trips, and popular events. If you have a car, split costs by offering rides. If you don't have a car, find rides where you need to go.


text: Politics 15 February 2013 Miliband's promise to clamp down on payday loans is a good first step The start of a One Nation economy Sign up for our weekly email * Print HTML While bloggers and columnists have focused on Ed Miliband's call for a reintroduction of the 10p tax rate, scrapped by Gordon Brown, paid for through a mansion tax on £2m properties, it should be noted that the opposition leader signalled signs of hope on personal finance as well. In his speech, he noted that as a start to building a One Nation economy Labour would: Break the stranglehold of the big six energy suppliers. Stop the train company price rip-offs on the most popular routes. Introduce new rules to stop unfair bank charges. And cap interest on payday loans. The financial pinch that people are feeling will not be easy to undo, but I want to suggest two things to complement Ed Miliband's call for building the One Nation economy. Firstly he must take seriously wages. While millions of state sector workers will see their wages freeze, the average private sector worker's pay has risen by just 1.4 per cent. All the while, according to latest ONS figures food prices have risen by 4.5 per cent in the last year. Indeed the real wages of many workers fell to 2003 levels. For many years wages were effectively supplemented by the relative free flow of credit. Today, access to mainstream credit is denied to people who have for a long time seen their wages stagnant, losing the battle against inflation and the rising cost of living. As academics from the university of Bristol pointed out, while the UK may be out of a technical recession, the public's recession has never gone away and is getting worse. People having to drive their own personal austerity measures just to get to the end of the month. Others have not been so lucky - which brings me to my second suggestion. Last year the charity Shelter published findings showing that a million people took out a payday loan to help with their mortgage payments. Research by Which?, also published last year, showed that 40 per cent of payday loans are being taken out to buy basics such as food and bills. Many payday lenders can charge up to 4,214 per cent interest on amounts ranging from £50 to £800. On average a payday lender will charge £25 for every £100 borrowed on a loan of 28 days but costs can soon go up if there are missed payments, with fees anywhere from £12 to £25. Compared to authorised bank overdrafts or loans from credit unions these are extortionate figures. What Labour should be calling for is a total cost of credit cap. Instead of just targeting interest rates a total cost of credit cap would legislate for how much a lender can charge in total, such as administration fees (in Australia, for example, lenders got around interest rate caps by obliging borrowers to buy their financial DVDs). As I have been told time again, market rules do not seem to be working with high cost credit. Given the large amount of market entrants, prices for credit are still sky high. However when I spoke to Matthew Fulton, a key figure in the End the Legal Loansharking campaign, he told me that an internet company's break-even point is at around 70 per cent APR, while payday lenders with a shop front can average at 130-40 per cent depending on the types of scheme and duration. Payday lenders are in the business of ripping off the poor and hard up. So it is very encouraging that Ed Miliband has already pledged himself to place a cap on the prices that payday lenders can charge at. But it can not be an isolated move. As Veronika Thiel put it in her report on doorstep lending: "Interest rate caps have to be levelled among a series of other regulations and interventions." › Retail sales drop year-on-year Carl Packman is a writer, researcher and blogger. He is the author of the forthcoming book Loan Sharks to be released by Searching Finance. He has previously published in the Guardian, Tribune Magazine, The Philosopher's Magazine and the International Journal for Žižek Studies. Subscribe from just £1 per issue More Related articles How US states are fighting inequality with a "millionaire tax" Laying the foundations for conflict-free construction Lowland: small and mid-caps for…income? Subscription offer 12 issues for £12 + FREE book LEARN MORE Close This week's magazine


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BEAVERTON — Holy Trinity Parish here will celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Peñafrancia Sept. 9 at 11 a.m.
An Aug. 26 run aims to unite the faith community in Salem and raise support for the area's Catholic schools.
It all started with an angel appearing to shepherd children in
Portugal during World War I. Soon, the apparitions and miracles that
occurred in the village of Fatima swept across the world, bringing about
the creation of a statue reflecting the image of Our Lady of Fatima.
SALEM — Queen of Peace Parish is pursuing a long-hoped-for parish
expansion project. Plans call for a new parish office, youth center,
several meeting rooms, new parish kitchen and a space for music
"As we tear down the current church structure we honor and remember all those who built this church which has been the place of so many life events. Many have celebrated baptisms, weddings, and funerals under this roof," Father William Holtzinger, pastor at the parish, said in a statement to the press.
As churchgoers meander out of a morning Mass at Holy Cross Parish in early July, a few stop to glance across the gray slab of parking lot at a once-barren wall. They are checking in on a city in progress.
Inches from the wall, a man with a ponytail and flash of white in his black hair squats atop scaffolding. Surrounded by paintbrushes of all sizes, he dips bristles into a can of swirled paint.
With each dab and stroke, longtime parishioner Senen Angon is creating a mural of Jerusalem across the side of the Holy Cross School gym.


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Ever wonder why the human resources department at work is so very insistent that you staple a canceled check to your direct deposit form?
A recent report from Patrick Collinson of The Guardian illustrates why. In October, a hairdresser in the United Kingdom named Sally Donaldson discovered that she had been mistakenly transferring her paycheck into someone else's checking account for two years.
Donaldson had arranged to have the money transferred from her HSBC account to her and her husband's joint account automatically every time she got paid, but she accidentally entered in one digit wrong while entering in her account number in the online form.
According to The Guardian report, she's been fighting for return of the money, which added up to 26,650 pounds, or about $40,000, with little success. The third party doesn't want to return the money, and their bank is prevented from sharing the customer's information with Donaldson.
So if something like this happened in the U.S., how would an American Sally Donaldson get her money back?
It's possible the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau might step in on behalf of a consumer in that situation, says Justin Hosie, an attorney and partner in the Tennessee office of the law firm Hudson Cook.
Regulation E, which is the law governing wire transfers and other online banking transactions, doesn't specifically address this issue given the length of time this consumer took to address the issue. But the CFPB's unique role among financial regulators as a consumer advocate could lead it to contact the bank and try and persuade it to voluntarily turn over the money.
"If it was one of the banks that's over $10 billion in assets, the CFPB would have direct authority and you might actually have a shot at them exerting some pressure and forcing the right action," Hosie says.
Failing that, an American version of Donaldson could bring an unjust enrichment or other equitable lawsuit naming her bank, the bank that received the transfer, and the unnamed party in whose account the funds were deposited, Hosie says. There is likely a two-year statute of limitations that could keep some of the earliest transfers out of the suit, but considering the amount of money at stake, it would probably be worth it.
"If we're talking $40,000, I would say it's worth the legal action even if you end up paying one-third to some plaintiff's lawyer to get back two-thirds of it," Hosie says.
Assuming the rogue account holder hasn't already spent the money, the courts could force him or her to turn it over. And if the rogue account holder was insolvent, courts could garnish his or her wages to pay back the money.
"You or I, if we started to receive $5,000 a month just sort of by surprise into our checking accounts, we would as decent human beings say, 'Hey bank, something's going on here.' And we would be bad actors if we didn't do that," Hosie says. "I can't believe the courts wouldn't have any recourse."
Of course, the easier course of action is avoiding the situation in the first place.
Direct deposits and automatic transfers are powerful money management tools. Especially for those trying to build savings, they can help remove the temptation to spend money you'd like to save by whisking it out of your checking account before you can even start thinking about spending it.
But double- and even triple-checking the account numbers before arranging an automatic transfer seems like a good idea. And of course, exercise due diligence in making sure any money you transfer actually makes it into the second account so if some of your cash does get caught up in some kind of dispute, it won't involve two years' worth of paychecks.
What do you think? Should Donaldson have caught the error sooner? Should the banks involved cough up the money on their own? Have you ever had a money transfer go bad?
Follow me on Twitter: @ClaesBell.


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Pound for pound, Tadiran lithium batteries are among the most powerful and reliable lead-free batteries in the world, delivering unrivaled performance to power today's increasingly sophisticated technologies. Able to last over 25 years under the most challenging conditions, Tadiran lithium batteries and battery packs are ideal for remote locations and challenging environmental conditions.
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Great place to order. Always fast shipping and service. Customer service is great. Thank you MCM for your dedication.


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October 13th is the date of the next Pacers Digest Party.
We're attempting to determine which location works best for the most people.
Where would you like the next party to be?
In the poll I mistakenly listed Bill S as living in Brownsburg... it should be Danville!
If you select "other", please post your choice.
Thanks for your help


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Blue Jays place Reyes on disabled list
The TORONTO BLUE JAYS have placed SS JOSE REYES on the 15-day disabled list with left hamstring tightness and have selected the contract of INF JONATHAN DIAZ from Buffalo of the International League (AAA).
Diaz, 28, appeared in five games for Boston last season, making his Major League debut on June 29 vs. Toronto. The 5-9, 155 pound right-handed hitter was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 12th round of the 2006 draft and has spent all but last season in the Blue Jays organization.


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2008 Lawrence V. Fowler Award
Dec. 8, 2008
News Highlights
- Park Authority Board representative Gilbert S. McCutcheon honored.
- The award recognizes the distinguished service of a longstanding member of a board, authority, commission or committee.
More Information
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors presented the Lawrence V. Fowler Award to Gilbert S. McCutcheon at its meeting today. The award recognizes the distinguished service of a longstanding member of a Fairfax County board, authority, commission or committee (BAC) whose exceptional service contributed to the overall quality of life in the community.
Selected from among distinguished members of BACs who are dedicated to public service, McCutcheon has been the Mount Vernon District representative on the Park Authority Board for more than 16 years. He was recognized for his tireless work to provide recreational facilities, acquire new parkland and protect natural, cultural and historic resources throughout Fairfax County. On the Park Authority Board since 1992, he has been an instrumental leader and advocate for the acquisition and establishment of parkland at Laurel Hill. Where once the District of Columbia Department of Corrections Lorton Prison stood, newly developed parkland offers recreational amenities including a championship golf course and club, ball fields, trails, disc golf and historic re-use and preservation of existing buildings.
|Click to Enlarge
McCutcheon devoted tremendous effort to improve Frying Pan Farm Park, which interprets 1920s farm life, providing a realistic return to the early agricultural process, rural community life and landscape. During his tenure, new interpretive displays were added, the historic meeting house was restored and a visitor's center and rentable picnic pavilion have been added to the site. In his role as president of the Board of Directors of Frying Pan Park and the Youth Supervisory Board, this facility has flourished.
Parks and facilities throughout the Mount Vernon District are reflective of his many accomplishments. The Lamond House renovations; Gristmill Park synthetic turf field conversion; and establishment of an off-leash dog park; and George Washington and Mount Vernon RECenter renovations are all examples of the kind of success McCutcheon has achieved. New concert series; support of the 4-H clubs; and empowerment of local park advocates have also been at the top of his agenda.
His most regular contributions to the community occur at the Mount Vernon Farmers Market. He serves as market master and presides over the many vendors and customers who visit the popular market regularly.
The prestigious Lawrence V. Fowler Award was established to honor the accomplishments of Fowler, who served for 41 years on the Consumer Protection Commission and its predecessor. Fowler set the bar for exceptional and long-term volunteer service for Fairfax County government. His work on consumer issues had a major impact on the quality of life of the community. To be considered for the award, individuals must have served on a county BAC for at least 10 years demonstrating exceptional service contributing to the overall quality of life in the community.
Contact: Merni Fitzgerald, Director, Office of Public Affairs
703-324-3189, TTY 711, Media Pager: 703-324-NEWS (6397)
To request this information in an alternate format, call 703-324-3187, TTY 711


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Product Summary
A Tap solution is a system designed to copy traffic running through a computer network and send that traffic to probes and analyzers to improve network efficiency or security. Fluke Networks' Taps feature industry-leading innovation and unsurpassed quality. Our Tap solutions are suitable for numerous IT groups including network operations, network engineering, information security, quality assurance, web analytics and application analysis.
General Information
|Product Type
|Network Tap
|Manufacturer Part Number
|Manufacturer Website Address
|Fluke Networks
|Product Model
|Product Name
|Combination Dual Link Taps
|Brand Name
|Fluke Networks
Technical Information
|Test Services
|4 x RJ-45 10/100/1000Base-T Network Monitor
|1 x Management
Media & Performance
|Connectivity Media
|Twisted Pair 10/100/1000Base-T
Physical Characteristics
|Weight (Approximate)
|1.60 lb
This product is shipped only within Canada and Warranty valid for Canada only.
Computer Valley makes every effort to provide accurate specifications, descriptions, images and price on all products that are found on www.computervalley.ca
However for complete and updated descriptions, compatibilities, specifications and actual photo we recommend our clients to consult with manufacturer's websites or simply call us for proper clarifications. Computer Valley is not responsible and will not accept returns for items purchased that are not compatible with your system. Please ensure that you have verified compatibility and actual photo with your system by visiting the manufacturer's web site prior to purchase or give us a call to make sure what you are purchasing.
For more information, visit our Shipping and Return policy.
Computer Valley wants to provide you with the best and fastest possible service. We try to ship in stock orders placed before 2:00pm EST the same day. For in stock orders placed after 2:00pm EST they are usually shipped the next business day. However there are always exceptions. Please contact us prior to placing your order if you need your purchase by a certain date.
We ship by UPS, FEDEX, USPS, CANADA POST , PUROLATOR and LOOMIS from the nearest locations possible based on stock in hand.
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When I heard several brokerage houses upgraded Research In Motion (RIMM), I almost lost my lunch. The stock is up 93% from its 52-week low mostly on positive comments and a legendary short squeeze (over 20% of the float is short). But is the stock really a buy or is it just a short-term trade that you probably already missed?
If you take a look at the second fiscal quarter that RIM reported late September, it's clear the company has a lot more work to do. Revenue was down 31% year over year to $2.9 billion. The company shipped 7.4 million BlackBerry smartphones and 130,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets. By comparison, Apple (APPL) sold 26.9 million iPhones and 14 million iPads. Apple posted quarterly revenue of $36 billion, up 27.2%. In fact, Apple had four times more profit in the quarter than RIM had revenue. Ouch! Now you see the scale of the problem that RIM faces.
Because of the weak sales, gross margins were destroyed. Margins fell to 27% vs. 41.5% the year before. For the six months ending Aug. 31, the company lost $1 billion and expects to end the year with a loss as well. Management is part way through its cost-cutting plan. The company is trying to lower costs by $1 billion by cutting about 30% of its workforce (5,000 jobs) by March of next year. Name a tech stock that has cut its way to greatness? You can't.
The stock moved higher on the thesis the worst is over and the new BlackBerry 10 smartphone, which is expected to ship in January, will jumpstart sales. The company has received very positive reviews of its new product and analysts have upgraded to stock based on those comments.
But let's face it. Research In Motion has a monumental task ahead of it. So what if the new devices have garnered some positive reviews? Positive chatter hasn't turned into sales yet. Even with positive reviews, the smartphone marketplace is so much more crowed nowadays it's going to be difficult to sway consumers who are on their fifth-generation iPhone. Or should I say it's going to be difficult to sell consumers a phone that ships in January for Christmas? Why couldn't they have targeted the months before the holidays to launch a new device? The consumer marketplace has become much more important than the business market where RIM made its bones.
The dramatic move in the stock is just a manufactured short squeeze designed to make a few traders money and not a fundamental change in RIM's business.


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GROSSE ILE, Mich. - A 56-year-old employee of the Grosse Ile Department of Public Works has died after a construction accident last week.
James Farrell was part of a team working on a broken water main. Two volunteer firefighters worked frantically to try to rescue the man from the trench - digging the heavy soil with their hands
Farrell died Monday night at Henry Ford Hospital.
The construction accident on Meridian Road happened as crews worked to repair a small water main break.
The men dug a 20-foot long, 12-foot deep trench.
Three of the workers jumped into the muddy trench to start repairs, and then the walls caved in on them. Two men were able to free themselves, but Farrell was buried over his head.
The workers immediately started digging him out.
"They immediately put a pump in there to try and get the water, that it wasn't going over his head," said Grosse Ile Police Chief Joseph Porcerelli. "One firefighter who is a DPS worker, was trying to hold his head above the water."
It took 14 minutes to free Farrell from the hole, and an ambulance rushed him to a sub-division where the helicopter was waiting.
It is still unclear if the workers were following all safety procedures and the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) is now investigating the accident.
Copyright 2013 by ClickOnDetroit.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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34 35th St., Unit 26, Brooklyn, NY, 11232
We are creating several different designs for suspended, hydroponic, modular, low-energy, high-yield light-augmented window farms using low-impact or recycled local materials. These prototype window farms, to be located in high-profile windows throughout the city, are intended to inspire other New Yorkers to design and implement their own window farms. Signs in the windowfarms will challenge New Yorker to create their own and direct them to a website where we can all share photos, plans, designs, and information. Together, we will derive viable methods for growing food under the local conditions of our own homes in a way that is efficient enough for New Yorkers' lives.
Research: Sustainability, Urban Research
Project Type: Architecture , Green, Hacking, Installation, Learning, Open Source
Tags: bioart, chemistry, community-based design, crowdsourcing, DIY, food, hydroponics, open source, R&D, sustainability, urban agriculture, vegetables, vertical farming
Do you recognize that it is
Do you recognize that it is the best time to receive the personal loans, which will realize your dreams.
Hi All: This is encouraging
Hi All:
This is encouraging and I am pleased to see others working in this area. Please check out http://www.farmfountain.com to see other approaches.
ken Rinaldo


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Tree-huggers mobilize to stop FPL from building Everglades power plant
Alex Larson has many endearing qualities — but tactfulness isn't one of them.
"Knowing me is bad," the roly-poly, middle-aged environmental activist concedes in a scruffy smoker's voice. "Real painful."
When her friend got pregnant, for instance, Larson pointed out that because of the recent national bank bailout, the child was already "$45,000 in debt, and it hasn't even come out of the birth canal yet!" When former Gov. Jeb Bush came to town to preside over a "golden shovel" groundbreaking ceremony for a biotech center, Larson and a friend rented an airplane and buzzed over his head.
For almost four years now, Larson has dedicated her life to opposing a $2 billion natural-gas-fired power plant now being built within the Everglades Agricultural Area. Once complete, the plant will have a generating capacity of 3,800 megawatts — enough to power about 750,000 homes. Pop into any official meeting where it's being discussed, Larson says, "and you'll see my puss in there saying, 'What are you, nuts?' "
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The blond, fair-skinned homemaker would be getting a lot more sleep these days if she hadn't read the newspaper with a real eagle eye in July 2005.
She saw an advertisement in the Palm Beach Post — one of those big public notices with dry technical language about an upcoming hearing. She swears it was buried on the sports or obituary pages. It said that Florida Power & Light was planning to build a power plant, called the West County Energy Center, about a mile from her house. She visualized her darkest nightmare: a massive, emissions-spewing industrial complex plopped down in the sawgrass.
Larson alerted neighbors and fellow activists and set out to stop the plant, which is scheduled to begin operating in 2009. Today, the battle between these grassroots conservationists and the powerful electric utility has reached a crucial stage. As a last-ditch effort, Larson and her friends have filed a federal lawsuit.
The plaintiffs say the power plant will use obscene amounts of water, devastate the drinking-water supply, ruin habitats of threatened and endangered species, and have a dangerous effect on air quality and global warming. They accuse FPL and government agencies of ignoring local residents' concerns and skirting environmental protections.
This, they say, is David versus a mega-utility Goliath backed by an army of corporate lawyers.
FPL balks at the charges. The plant "is a Next Generation Clean Energy Center... one of the cleanest of its kind in the nation," company spokeswoman Pat Davis wrote in an email. The site, she says, "was chosen because it meets important criteria for siting a power plant. For example, it is located adjacent to the electrical substation and transmission lines needed to deliver power to the electric grid."
FPL is required by law to provide reliable, affordable service to its 4.4 million customers. Since the last power plant was built in Palm Beach County in 1963, demand has increased 890 percent. The company has spent years satisfying complicated regulatory requirements to build the new plant, and the environmentalists' roadblock is a surprise hassle introduced late in the game. Davis called the lawsuit "another example of the group's meritless claims."
Here in the unpredictable swamps of South Florida, though, scrappy underdogs have prevailed before.
To reach the site of the West County Energy Center, travel west — way west — on Southern Boulevard, past the Florida Turnpike, past the car dealerships and box stores that have sprung up in recent years on once-wild fringes. Go beyond the South Florida Fairgrounds, past a few remaining fruit stands and plant nurseries, past the giraffes and ostriches at Lion Country Safari, now encroached upon by development. Finally, the landscape gives way to vast sawgrass and sky.
The Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge sits on the south side of the street. Across from it lies the entrance to Palm Beach Aggregates — a busy rock-mining company that sells concrete and fill. Hundreds of dump trucks come and go each day. In 2005, FPL purchased a 220-acre parcel of land within the Aggregates site for $42 million, where the electric company has now almost finished building the innovative West County Energy Center.
At first, FPL said the power plant would be a combined-cycle plant with two generating units and a capacity of 3,300 megawatts. Each of the two units would consist of three combustion turbines that are "similar to, but larger and more efficient than, traditional jet engines." Those would be hooked up to generators that produce electricity. In addition, the heat given off by those turbines would be captured to create even more electricity.
FPL said that the West County Energy Center would pump almost 15 million gallons of water per day from the Upper Floridian Aquifer. Wastewater, in turn, would be shot 3,200 feet deep into the ground via a method called deep-well injection.
The plant will be fueled by liquid natural gas. According to court documents, the fuel arrives by ship at ports in Mississippi and Alabama, and it's funneled into an underground pipeline that runs across the Gulf of Mexico and the State of Florida. The pipeline was already 691 miles long. A new section of it — 34.26 miles — extends to reach the West County Energy Center. A company called Gulfstream Natural Gas is building it.
Getting a power plant approved is no simple task. Local governments must approve the proposed site for such use. The Florida Public Service Commission must rule that a new plant is needed. The utility must also comply with all federal regulations. And it must go through a complicated state site-certification process.
For that last piece, ten public agencies are invited to submit concerns about the proposed plant. The state Department of Environmental Protection collects and analyzes that input and writes its own report. A judge from the state Division of Administrative Hearings presides over a series of hearings. After all that, the Power Plant Siting Board, AKA the governor and his Cabinet, give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down.
On top of that, the pipeline and the deep-well injection require separate permitting processes. That, environmentalists say, is part of the problem.
FPL had asked the Palm Beach County Commission to zone the parcel of land inside the Palm Beach Aggregates for power plant usage as early as 2002; in 2004, it did. Only later was it determined that Commissioner Tony Masilotti, who voted in favor, stood to profit from a secret deal with Palm Beach Aggregates. He is now in prison.
The rest of the steps, however, went smoothly: The Public Service Commission agreed that the plant was needed, and the state agencies that had been asked for input either had minor concerns or chose not to comment at all.
The only major objections were raised by the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council, which cited troubling amounts of air emissions — such as the anticipated annual 3,030 tons of carbon monoxide and 264 tons of "volatile organic compounds." The council raised concerns that the facility would "remove a significant amount of water from the current system of water resources" and then inject its industrial wastewater into the ground. Yet the agency refrained from saying the plant should be denied.
The state Department of Environmental Protection agreed that air pollutants would "exceed 100 tons per year" but wrote that FPL had appropriate "control technology" to prevent harm to humans or the environment. DEP recommended that the plant be approved.
In the middle of this process, Alex Larson picked up her newspaper and saw the ad about one of the administrative hearings. Public records show that she, along with friend Sharon Waite, attended the hearing and spoke out about their concerns as though they were modern-day Erin Brockoviches. Wouldn't the plant spew tons of emissions? they demanded. Why build it next to the wildlife refuge — home to 63 protected species of plants and animals? The natural gas pipeline ran next to Aggregates property, where blasting happened regularly — what if the pipeline exploded?
The administrative judge later ruled that the women's concerns did not count as sufficient evidence to stop the land from being zoned for a power plant. The process moved along.
FPL also embarked upon a voluntary program of public outreach that included creating a brochure and giving "over ten community presentations." FPL advertised that the public was welcome to view the full, detailed application for the power plant at three local libraries.
Larson says she went looking for it. She wanted to study it. The final administrative hearing for the plant was to be September 6, 2006. It would be her last chance to speak out before the application went to the governor.
"All the documentation was supposed to be available at every library!" Larson cries now. She says she couldn't get a complete copy until the day of the hearing. "They handed me a red book, two inches thick. We even told the judge, 'This was supposed to be available in July, and this is September!' How would anyone make an informed decision — or even a comment — if you are only handed documentation on the day of the hearing? It's all very cloak and dagger! That right there should have stopped the administrative judge [from approving the plant's application and sending it to the next step of the permitting process]."
By then, Larson had enlisted some like-minded friends, many of whom were loosely organized as a group called the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition. Notably, the group included progressive lawyer Barry Silver and bearded young community activist Panagioti Tsolkas, as mischievous as he is dedicated, known around town for organizing protests and staging acts of civil disobedience.
In 2005, local and regional environmentalists had stopped the Mecca Farms agricultural site from being developed into the Scripps Biotech Center. Because about $110 million in taxpayer money had been spent preparing the Mecca site, construction began hurriedly; workers tore down trees and began laying foundations for buildings. The Florida Wildlife Federation and Sierra Club sued. Federal Judge Donald Middlebrooks ruled for the protesters, agreeing that a detailed environmental impact statement was required. His ruling effectively halted construction. Today, the abandoned Mecca farms site is like Palm Beach County's very own Road to Nowhere. Larson and company envision the power plant meeting a similar fate.
Shortly after the Scripps battle, environmental groups battled Florida Power & Light's proposal to build a coal-fired power plant in Glades County. Eventually, the Public Service Commission nixed the plant on the grounds that it wasn't cost-effective.
"Now, it looks like the coal plant was a red herring," Larson says, suggesting it was proposed only to distract environmentalists, bleed their coffers, and make FPL look oh-so-green when it came time to pitch its natural gas plant. To Larson, FPL is not a benevolent energy provider but a money-grubbing behemoth. She cites the ranking of Lewis Hay III, CEO of FPL's parent company, FPL Group, as the second-highest-paid executive in the state. Hay raked in $10.39 million last year. FPL Group's 2007 profit was $1.3 billion.
In contrast, Larson quit her job as a bookstore manager to concentrate full-time on fighting the West County Energy Center. Heavyweight environmental groups, whether exhausted, broke, or pessimistic about the odds of prevailing, have declined to join the fight this time, leaving the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition to go it alone. Larson has remortgaged her house and taken on thousands of dollars in credit card debt.
"Nobody pays you to be a good guy," she laments. Still, the role brings its small satisfactions: She jokes that when lawyers from FPL see her coming, they tremble and run into the basement.
Resisting the powerful tidal pull of the power plant has required Larson and company to be ever alert. The FPL operators are skilled at the game.
In court documents, FPL states that Larson and friends did not formally get involved in the site certification process until that crucial hearing on September 6, 2006, when attorney Barry Silver showed up and asked to be included as an intervener.
Too late, ruled the administrative judge; Florida statutes required that he give notice 30 days prior. Still, the judge allowed 29 members of the public to air their concerns. FPL introduced testimony from 14 of its experts, plus additional written exhibits and testimony. Studies and modeling, they all said, showed that the plant would have few adverse effects.
A month later, the judge ruled that the public comments were merely "speculation on what might occur" and could not compare with the weight of FPL's evidence. He recommended the plant be approved and passed the matter on to Tallahassee.
Larson says that the very last hearing — in front of the governor and his cabinet, including then-State Attorney General Charlie Crist — was initially scheduled for February. But it was "suspiciously" moved up to the week before Christmas, which was one of Jeb Bush's last days in office. Larson and company scrambled to Tallahassee to plead their case.
Larson told the governor, "Anybody with an ounce of brains — I could talk to a 2-year-old. They'd say, 'This ain't good, guys. This doesn't look good.' " Judging from the transcript, Bush did not seem amused.
At the same hearing, Eric Draper, president of Audubon of Florida, told Bush he had no problem with the plant.
But nobody is above suspicion in a 21st-century environmental battle. Tsolkas dug up one of Audubon's newsletters and found Enrique Tomeau, co-owner of Palm Beach Aggregates, listed as a donor in the $25,000-to-$49,000 range. FPL had given Audubon $10,000 to $24,999.
In the end, the Siting Board gave the go-ahead for the plant. Construction on the West County Energy Center began in February 2007, employing 1,700 workers. When finished, the plant will employ 30 to 50 permanent staff.
Later in 2007, though, FPL unveiled a second application. Saying that it would need more electricity during the summer, the utility proposed adding a third power-generating unit to the West County Energy Center, bringing its total capacity to 3,800 megawatts. This would, of course, use more water (now 21 million gallons per day) and create more emissions.
The application triggered a whole new round of the approval process. It also gave the environmentalists more chances to object.
On February 18, more than 100 activists — most in their 20s, many with dyed hair and thrift-store fashion sensibilities — gathered at the entrance to Palm Beach Aggregates along with Tsolkas, Larson, and Silver. They held signs, chanted, and demanded that the power plant construction be stopped. When police told them to move their protest out of the driveway — where they were effectively blocking dump trucks from entering the mine — to a cordoned-off "Free Speech Zone," many of the protesters declined.
Some of them sat down in a circle and slipped their arms into tube-like devices they'd fashioned earlier from PVC pipe, chicken wire, and tar. Locked together, they now formed an immovable human snowflake.
The Sheriff's Office reacted in full force, bringing riot gear, shields, and a K-9 contingent. It was an intimidating show of force, though officers gently tipped cups of water into the chained protesters' mouths. Other deputies used precision power tools to carefully cut them free from their contraptions and lift them to waiting police cars when they made their bodies go limp.
Few locals actually witnessed the protest, since the Sheriff's Office shut down passing traffic for most of the day. Annoyed truckers who were trying to access the mine were forced to sit in their idling trucks, and Palm Beach Aggregates lost a day's worth of business.
Six months later, four of the 27 arrested — Robert Kent, David Weickert, Brian Sprinkle, and Rebecca Woods — met again, in front of Judge Barry Cohen at the Palm Beach County Courthouse. They faced charges of trespassing, unlawful assembly, and resisting an officer without violence. (Others had separate trials.)
The prosecution argued that the protesters had cost the Sheriff's Office and the Aggregates time and money.
The defense countered that the protesters were acting for the good of the community. "They [pursued legal avenues against the power plant] for years and years and years, and no one's listening," their defense attorney said. "Some of these guys are like Gandhi with a sweater vest!"
Judge Cohen told the jury they could find the defendants not guilty if "an imminent and impending danger made it necessary to commit the crime." In the end, the jury let all four off on the illegal assembly charge but found them guilty of trespassing and resisting an officer.
But they sure felt bad about it. In the hallway after the trial, jurors gushed sheepishly to the activists that they admired their spirit. "Our hearts were all for you guys and gals," said a white-haired man who hadn't known of FPL's plans. "I live within ten miles of where the plant is being built. I think we're all appalled."
Even a juror who'd admitted owning FPL stock said he wasn't happy about the plant. "It needs more publicity," he said.
One juror quipped that if she'd been more aware, "I probably would have been one of the protesters!"
Collectively, the jury apologized for doling out the guilty verdicts but said they had to consider the rights of the businessmen and the cops.
The four defendants nodded politely and thanked them for the sentiment. But they couldn't really relate. They felt the same about their civil liberties as they did about the environment, several explained: Why compromise?
Environmental wars are fought not only at construction sites but in science journals and commissioned reports. FPL has a slew of scientists on its side — and on its payroll. They include staff as well as outside consultants. The environmentalists, in comparison, have two unpaid scientists as their main witnesses. Betwixt them is a subplot laced with intrigue.
Dr. Sydney Bacchus holds a PhD in the field of hydroecology. She describes herself as "the infamous Dr. Bacchus who says the secret words."
In 2005, she explains, she spoke out at a public hearing against a proposed mining operation in Central Florida. Soon afterward, a rival and supporter of the mine named Robert Kirkner complained that by testifying, she was practicing geology without a license. Bacchus says Kirkner's charges were based on her saying words like topsoil. Kirkner requested the Board of Professional Regulation to fine her $5,000 and publicly reprimand her. He was backed by another prominent geologist and mining consultant: Thomas Missimer, who would pop up later as a consultant for FPL's power plant. Bacchus saw their moves as an affront to her freedom of speech, and she fought back in court. She was eventually offered a settlement of $100,000.
Bacchus says her case illustrates how scientists can be quashed by business and political interests. "It's pretty astounding," she says. Because Bacchus owns her own environmental consulting company in Athens, Georgia, she is free to say what she pleases. Sometimes, that gets her labeled as "a typical tree-hugging environmentalist who really twists the facts to what support her cause," as an anonymous commenter called her online.
On a late summer day, Bacchus drove near the Aggregates site while jamming out to a CD by Eco Elvis (featuring songs such as "Viva Las Vegans"). The slender, long-haired scientist stopped her car and pointed to a batch of frail-looking pine trees that had lost their needles.
The dying pine trees, she said, are evidence of underground water sources being depleted. "You are watching the desertification of Florida," she warned. "When you suck the water out of the ground, you alter all of the surrounding environment." Trees die and dry out, making them susceptible to hurricane winds and turning them into tinder for wildfires. Animals lose their habitat. "The whole ecosystem collapses," she said sadly. Bacchus contends that the amount of water the West County Energy Center will draw daily is equivalent to the amount used by 500,000 homes.
In its application, FPL explains that drinking water sits about 1,950 feet below the ground. FPL intends to inject its wastewater much deeper, at 3,200 feet. A solid confining unit in the middle, FPL's paperwork says, "will prevent the upward migration of the injected fluids" into the drinking water.
Bacchus begs to differ. She describes the ground beneath us as fractured, with all subterranean water systems interconnected. Any wastewater pumped into the ground will eventually travel into the drinking water, she insists, as well as into regional lakes and marshes and even out to the ocean.
Dr. William Louda agrees. Louda, 61, is an environmental geochemist who teaches at Florida Atlantic University. He also holds a position on the Town Council in Loxahatchee Groves. In his office, wearing a cowboy hat and a pair of gray Levis, he plops down a briefcase and describes his concerns.
Think of Florida as "a carbonate sponge," he says, in which water percolates subtly between layers. He believes that injected wastewater could potentially migrate upward to taint the drinking water.
And, Louda says, guess who wrote a paper about the phenomenon of "Vertical Migration of Municipal Wastewater in Deep Injection Well Systems, South Florida, USA," in the Hydroecology Journal last year? Thomas Missimer, Bacchus' old foe who later testified on behalf of FPL. During his testimony, Louda says, Missimer ignored his own research. "I call him a geostitute," Louda says. "A person who sells his expertise for the benefit of his employer."
Missimer did not return calls for comment, but an administrative judge ruled that, although Missimer had found upward migration of wastewater at three other South Florida sites, the geologist gave sufficient scientific reasons why he did not think such problems would occur at FPL's proposed injection wells.
Louda echoed Bacchus' concerns about the plant's heavy water demands and added his own concerns about nitrogen and sulfur oxides leading to acid rain. He agrees that "a natural-gas-fired, combined cycle plant is the cleanest fossil fuel plant. But it still puts out over 100 tons of [dangerous emissions] in the air." As for the need for that Unit Three? That's "a bunch of buffalo chips," Louda says.
Louda shakes his head and makes some sobering predictions: "Fresh, potable water is the problem of the 21st Century. The next war will be over fresh water. I think man is done. I give him three generations."
The U.S. Department of Energy rated FPL number one in the nation for energy conservation, and its sister company, FPL Energy, operates the world's largest solar field in the Mojave Desert as well as 58 wind power sites. Locally, however, the company's environmental credibility took a hit this summer when its Sunshine Energy Program was revealed to be a bust.
Nearly 39,000 FPL customers paid an extra $9.75 per month with the understanding that those fees would be used to develop renewable energy. An audit found that 69 percent of the funds — $11.4 million — was spent on marketing materials about renewable energy rather than, as most participants assumed, on renewable energy.
Customers are not getting refunds. FPL argues that it had, after all, purchased 952,000 renewable energy credits with the money, which in turn helped construct a solar energy project in Sarasota County. According to news reports, that project powers about 20 homes. "We appreciate your participation, and you can be proud of what you helped to accomplish," FPL says on its website.
FPL now plans to build three solar energy facilities in Florida by 2011. Combined, the three plants will generate 110 megawatts of electricity, enough to serve about 35,000 people.
Alex Larson, unsurprisingly, considers it all a bunch of lip service. "I've seen these articles about all the solar they're gonna do," she barks. "They've bought nothing and done nothing. The emperor has no clothes! He's naked, and that's a lipstick tube! And it's tiny!"
The Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council, in commenting on FPL's Unit Three, suggested that the utility beef up its commitment to renewable energy. As it stands, FPL's Ten Year Plan covering 2008-17 actually increases reliance on fossil fuels by a couple of percentage points to 82 percent of its energy mix.
The council also warned about the power plant's water usage — especially considering that in recent years, the county imposed water restrictions and "Lake Okeechobee [has been] near record lows." The agency again warned of the effects of air emissions into the sensitive Everglades. "The full economic cost of allowing these emissions into the environment is not being considered," read the report.
Since last summer, Larson, Waite, Tsolkas, Silver, and friends have tried to thwart the plant in any way possible. They appealed some of the rulings. They attended as many hearings as they could manage. But each hearing addressed only a little piece of the puzzle. At every step, FPL was found to have met its legal requirements.
For example, Silver attended the hearing about the pipeline, but the judge wouldn't let him address concerns about potential explosions — only about the digging of the trench.
The activists visited the site where the pipeline was being laid and discovered more than 100 burrows of gopher tortoises, a "species of special concern." They hoped a judge would halt construction; instead, the tortoises were "relocated."
When they challenged the pipeline's permit on a number of grounds, Gulfstream, the pipeline building company, changed its path.
The environmentalists chided Crist when he came to the Everglades for a news conference to announce big plans to buy land from sugar giant U.S. Sugar and restore the ecosystem. They showed up at a County Commission meeting dressed in clown suits. They held another protest at the Aggregates on September 20.
On May 23, the environmentalists filed a federal lawsuit. The suit claims that the plant violates the National Environmental Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Clean Water Act.
The group argued that no one in power was looking at the big picture. They hoped a judge would require an in-depth review and a detailed environmental impact statement to examine the effects of the plant, the pipeline, and the deep-well injection over time. Judge Middlebrooks — the same judge who stopped Scripps — was assigned to the case.
Larson sighed. "[FPL is] assuming we get [to trial] and the judge will say, 'Well, it's already built.' Just do an [impact statement]! Prove us wrong!"
FPL's lawyers shot back, arguing that the law specified opportunities and deadlines for public input and that the environmentalists had missed many of them. They'd been "sleeping on their rights for over 18 months."
In court papers, FPL sounded tired of the hassle. "Plaintiffs continually try to convince the court that the WCEC is part of a segmented or phased project designed to circumvent environmental laws," lawyers wrote. "This is simply an inaccurate representation of the facts."
If construction were halted, FPL's lawyers wrote, it would cost $1 million per day in delays. And besides, they argued, federal courts did not hold the proper jurisdiction to decide the case. FPL asserted that the plaintiffs had virtually no chance of prevailing.
At a hearing in October, two Fish and Wildlife biologists testified that they had written up some concerns about the power plant during the permitting process but that supervisors had effectively ignored them. Judge Middlebrooks heard them out, but he wondered aloud whether he even had jurisdiction to address many of the issues in the case.
After the hearing, Tsolkas was still hopeful: "We're supposedly spending $10 billion restoring the Everglades. You would think they would have jurisdiction at the federal level."
He noted that if it weren't for Alex Larson's reading the paper three years ago, "you could be out there fishing in Loxahatchee, look up, and go, 'Oh my God — what the fuck is that?' "
As the federal case progressed, environmentalists marked their calendars for October 27, the date of the last big administrative hearing for Unit Three before the matter would go to the governor and Siting Board for final approval.
But the hearing was abruptly canceled. All of the official parties involved had filed a joint motion saying they had no qualms about the third unit, so there was no reason for a hearing. The judge relinquished his jurisdiction to the Department of Environmental Protection. With that move, the Siting Board was now irrelevant. The governor's approval was no longer needed for Unit Three. There would be no more hearings. The environmentalists were effectively shut out.
Tsolkas sent out a call to storm the offices of DEP on the 27th instead.
On that Monday, about 20 young environmentalists in jeans and T-shirts showed up. They were met by about a dozen representatives from DEP, mostly in pressed shirts and khakis, who invited them to sit around a conference table. Tsolkas took control and laid out seven points of concern. DEP staff politely took notes.
Attorney Barry Silver, wearing a tie-dyed T-shirt, spoke up in a grave voice. He pointed to a piece of DEP letterhead. "It says here 'more protection, less process,' " he noted. "I suggest you remove this phrase from your letterhead." He then pointed to the state flag in the room. "There are two things on there that have been obliterated by the government of Florida," he said, referring to the Seminoles and the wetlands. "If that flag means anything besides decoration, you should try to protect them." He offered free legal representation to any staff scientists who might defect from DEP and join the environmentalists' cause.
Mike Halpin, the DEP administrator in charge of the siting process, weighed in by phone from Tallahassee. "My job is to execute the law as it's written," he stated. FPL had met every regulatory requirement. If the environmentalists weren't happy with regulations, he suggested, "Go talk to your legislator."
As the tone deteriorated, the meeting was snapped to an end, with DEP staff bristling at the suggestion that they were somehow at fault.
"We don't work here for the money," noted one.
"Whether you like it or not, FPL has rights," another said.
"Why don't [these environmentalists] apply for jobs at DEP?" another asked.
Tsolkas walked out to the street corner, where he assumed a familiar pose. He slipped a devil mask on his face, turned toward passing traffic, and unfurled a banner that read "DEP: Don't Expect Protection."
Later that day, FPL Group released news of its third-quarter profits: $774 million, up from $533 million last year.
Electricity usage? Down 4.3 percent.
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. - The family of Darrell Brackett, who was set on fire outside a Miami gas station, is suing the gas station for negligence.
Members of the Brackett family and attorneys from Haggard Law Firm discussed the lawsuit Wednesday.
"He said, 'You know I love you.' He said, 'You know I love you,'" said Bridgett Brackett, the victim's mother. "He said, 'You be cool. I got to make my rounds. I've got to go say merry Christmas to everybody,' and that's the last time I saw him with a smile on his face."
Darrell Brackett ran out of gas and went to the U-Gas gas station off Northwest 47th Street and 27th Avenue to fill up a can, police say. That's when the 44-year-old man got into a fight with three men. The group doused Brackett in gasoline, set him on fire and took off.
One man was questioned in the attack. He was not charged.
Brackett suffered burns on 75 percent of his body. He died Feb. 15 from his injuries.
According to the Haggard Law Firm, the U-Gas is located on the same street as another gas station where Trinard Snell was shot and killed in 2009. Attorneys say Urbieta Oil Co. owns both gas stations, and nothing to improve security was done after Snell was killed.
"On December 7th of last year, our firm received a $5.7 million verdict against the gas station owned by Urbieta Oil on behalf of the family of Trinard Snell who was killed while working at a car wash," said attorney Todd Michaels. "The car wash he was working at was located at a gas station that the Urbietas owned just up the street, also on 27th Avenue. Despite the horrific crime problem on their premises and despite this verdict against them, Urbieta Oil refused to take any action whatsoever to make their property safe."
Ignacio M. Urbieta, the general counsel of Urbieta Oil Co., released a statement Wednesday, saying: "Urbieta Oil is a family business that sells fuel at South Florida gas stations, including those displaying our U-Gas brand. We express our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Darrell Brackett, the victim of a heinous crime committed near a U-Gas station on 27th Avenue in Miami. We support police in their efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice.
The Haggard Law Firm represents Mr. Brackett in a lawsuit against our company and others. This morning, lawyers held a press conference in an apparent effort to sway public opinion outside of court. The Haggard Law Firm alleged unsubstantiated facts about the incident and made dishonest statements disparaging our personal ethics. We vehemently deny their version of events and will address their accusations at the appropriate time and place. Most importantly, we would like to emphasize that safety is and always has been our priority."
Copyright 2013 by Local10.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Hi guys,
We're having a debate over the pros and cons of using file_exists() to check whether an image exists or not, prior to deciding whether to show it or a holding image. Generally we agree that it's a good thing as it prevents image placeholders being displayed by accident, but on some pages that have a lot of images, especially ones with a lot of traffic, it hammers the server somewhat and introduces significant processing delays.
The way that it's used in this case is basically to check whether a resized, cached version of an image exists or not. If not then the image will be processed and saved as necessary. It seems to be the only way to do this particular task but we still have these performance considerations, especially on large directories on busy sites.
So I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts and real-world solutions? Is file_exists() the best solution? is_file() instead? stream_resolve_include_path()? Just curious about what different people have chosen to do with these requirements.
file_exists() is what I've always used. According to the PHP documentation, "Note: The results of this function are cached. See clearstatcache() for more details." The same is true of is_file(). You would have to look at the PHP source code to see which function does more work and what order that work is done in (my guess is that both are equally performant).
The bigger problem is how you are processing the images. You are waiting until the last possible second to create a cached, resized the image. Traditional "lazy evaluation" doesn't work well in multi-user environments under load. This is because multiple users will make the same request for the same resource and then the system has to work twice as hard to resolve each request (i.e. both users run the image resizer code on the same image). And you will also start seeing weird scenarios that involve file locking.
What you want to do instead is schedule the resize operation by storing finished images in one directory and working images in another. Then, scan the working directory periodically and resize and move images to the final location. Your script can check for the existence of a scheduled image and show a different image (e.g. "This image isn't available yet.").
Ideally, you would create all the sizes of the image you will ever need during the upload process of the original image, but that isn't always possible.
Just a few ideas to chew on.
Thanks for that. Different articles I've read (including comments on PHP.net) suggest that file_exists() is as much as half as fast as the other two, though these appear to be very simple benchmarks and don't take in to account a heavily loaded server, for example, or massive directories.
I agree that this is a lazy way of doing it. The problem with doing it at upload is that a) not all images need to be resized to all sizes and b) if we add the requirement for another size at a later date then we'll not have the sizes that we need. Ideally we could do with a combination, I suppose, or schedule them to be resized as you say.
My boss at a previous employer wrote a caching system (for HTML really) whereby he had a status file that was checked first. It had either a 0, 1 or 2 in it. I forget exactly which meant what, but one stated that a page was already cached, one stated that a new cached version was being generated (you wouldn't expect this to last for long) and another that the cached file had expired. If I hit an expired page then the status file would be changed to indicate that a new one was being generated but I'd still see the old file. If you then hit it while the cached file was still being generated then you'd be given the old file again but no further action would be taken. After the page was generated the status file would be updated to say that it was cached and the next person would see the new page. If you wanted to manually expire a page then you just changed the status.
It prevented people ever having to wait for a new page to be generated (in some cases that was a god-send as some pages took forever to generate due to poorly designed database schema and massive data-sets) but it also meant that you might be looking at data that is no longer valid. Some files we regenerated over night to ensure that they were the up to date every day (like what the best selling products were yesterday, as that would be the same from midnight to midnight). Not sure if you can implement something like this for images though. In fact, it's going to be significantly more intensive than just checking if a file exists or not.
Hi Antnee,
Have you looked at page file caching your site? I believe there are lots of PHP options available, search and see if there are suitable options.
If file_exists() should only be used once and results used to build the HTML page. The resultant HTML page should be cached and then used for subsequent requests.
Cached pages can be deleted at any time and the php script used again to generate a new page which is cached once again...
edit:Looks like you posted just as I was creating my response to your original post
We can't cache whole pages, just sections of it, unfortunately. But yes, I agree and have done so in the past
For the first issue: With hard drive space cheap as dirt, is this really an issue?
For the second issue: When that happens, write a script that walks the directory and converts the originals to the new size. Only has to be done one time and can be done all in one go.
Also, when working with large numbers of images, prefer GraphicsMagick over GD and ImageMagick. It takes advantage of multi-core hardware to pipeline the conversion and also has built-in features like "I'm going to be sizing this to WxH, so don't bother loading the whole image into RAM."
Hard drive space is cheap, managed backup space is not I'm currently on a mission to find as many directories as possible to exclude from some of our backups as they already cost a lot and we're way over quota on some servers. We're also running a lot of sites on a small number of servers. Some sites get a lot of traffic, some get the odd person every few weeks. I'm reluctant to schedule anything as it'll probably end up doing a load of unnecessary work. Lots of considerations to make before making a start on anything... like how am I going to update 1200+ sites with no common codebase?
You could also consider using JS to check if an image exists, this would take the burden off your server.
Really? Would doing it via JS not still be making additional checks to the filesystem?
No, you would pass the image in PHP without checking. In JS, it would check to see if the image loaded, it provides an onerror event handler, from where you could replace it with the placeholder image.
Is file_exists() really the source of "hammering" the server? I only ask because it sounds like the machine will have a lot of other things happening, including the actual image processing too, which would commonly be more of a problem.
It's still a lot slower if the cached images are found than with file_exists() disabled
What about using htaccess to detect broken image files and replacing them with a placeholder? Not sure if this is viable, but you would then be able to drop the file_exists and allow apache to do the work.
Can you supply a link to your site?
Have you tried using the file_exists() and not displaying the images. Does nt loading the images "still hammer the server" and slow the page rendering?
Have you tried moving the images to a sub-domain? There are many helpful articles explaining ? I like this one:
Host images on a subdomain
Did you ever have a kiddie pool? Do you remember how long it took to fill it up with your one hose? What if you could've used your neighbor's hose at the same time and filled up the pool twice as fast?
Most web browsers allow only two to four "hoses" or connections from a single domain (like TheHobbyBlogger.com) to download content. So if you have a lot of images on your blog, your readers might have to wait for one or more images to load before they can begin reading your content.
By creating a subdomain such as img.yourdomain.com to host your images, you effectively add a second set of hoses to fill your readers web browsers. This allows your blog content to load simultaneously with your images and speed up your page loads.
@cpradio - that might not be a bad idea and would be worth investigating. All requests already go through an .htaccess to direct the requests to the right place so I suppose it should theoretically be possible. Have never done such a thing though so would require some additional learning. Never a bad thing though!
@John_Betong - As I mentioned earlier, there are a huge number of sites on a small number of servers and it's the cumulative effect that is causing the problem. It's not a massive problem - the servers get by fine - but I just noticed that if we removed the file_exists() checks that performance increases even more.
Ultimately this was a hypothetical question, just to back up a debate we were having, though I really appreciate the practical solutions, so thanks guys.
A quick [search shows it should be possible. [url=http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7744869/404-image-placeholder]Example 1 and [url=http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum10/2915.htm]Example 2](https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ie=UTF-8#hl=en&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=htaccess%20to%20replace%20broken%20images%20with%20placeholder&oq=&aq=&aqi=&aql=&gs_l=&pbx=1&fp=3ea52b9c0e6750ee&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1440&bih=784)
Thanks Saved me some effort later
@Antnee, you could use it two ways (maybe even more).
1) You could just always try and output the file requested, let Apache pick up on its broken, and send the REQUEST_URI to a new php file that outputs a placeholder and kicks off a background task that generates the necessary image. (ie: placeholder.php?requestedFile=%{REQUEST_URI}
2) You can continue your image resizing the way it exists today, and let Apache pick up on any broken images after your request has been served to the user. (ie: using placeholder.jpg for your rewriterule).
I'd personally got with option #1, but it gives you discussion opportunities in your team.
Indeed. I like option #1 too. Thanks


text:
Photo By: Courtesy of Allyson Johnson
Tech Trek alumnae Emiley Kim, left, and Margaret Redfield enjoy the American Association of University Women's annual Bridge Benefit Party at the Los Altos Youth Center.
Nearly 100 local bridge players filled the Los Altos Youth Center March 16 to earn masters points, socialize and raise funds at the American Association of University Women's Bridge Benefit Party.
The annual event, sponsored by the AAUW's Los Altos-Mountain View branch, raised more than $4,000 for scholarships that enable local middle-school girls to attend Tech Trek Science & Math Camp at Stanford University in the summer. The camp features hands-on activities in math, science and related fields. Several of last year's scholarship winners volunteered to help set up, serve refreshments and clean up after the event.
The fundraiser included American Contract Bridge League-sanctioned duplicate bridge for serious players, party bridge for the less serious and a Tripoli table for the bridge-impaired.
Local residents and merchants donated more than $2,000 in gift certificates for a silent auction that included produce from a local farmers' market, bridge lessons and a stay at a Lake Tahoe condominium.
For more information, visit www.aauw-ca.org/index.cfm/go/pages.view/page/tech-trek.


text:
Not sure if this is worth a topic or not, but...
I guess I always felt that, to the extent there was a goal in Buddhist practice, my goal was to end up empty-handed. If, at the end of some imaginary adventure, I ended up with anything whatsoever in my hands, anything concrete and praiseworthy, then that could not possibly be the end of the line. (Yes, I know ... end of WHAT line???)
Naturally, this view led to a lot of squirming along the way. Every time I did my best to 'let go,' sure enough something would come along to replace whatever it was I had let go of. When I found myself empty-handed, then sure as god made little green apples, I would find something to pick up ... something like empty-handedness, for example.
I'm not sure what the point of all this is. It just crossed my mind. These days I'm too old and fat a lazy and occasionally I worry about that. What the hell, it's something to hold in my hands.


text:
New Delhi, Feb 12 (ANI): Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha has reportedly demanded 5 crores for a Telgu film by Krish Jagarlamudi in which she will be seen opposite Mahesh Babu.
According to reports, the 25-year-old Sinha had limited dates but she liked the script and was also keen to do a period film, so she gave her consent.
Apparently, Jagarlamudi, who began writing the film three years ago, wanted to narrate the story to her back then, but at that point of time the actress was not interested in doing South films. (ANI)


text:
Phil Richards posted a blog about Ben Ijalana.
He was given clearance to lift last week, so he attacked the weights along with some cardio and his demanding rehabilitation program.
My lifes pretty good. I really like football. My names on my locker, he said with a gesture at his stall. These things happen. Worse things happen. Im still on the team. I get paid great money to play a game. Compared to the real world, pretty good. I dont know any other way to act.
Sounds like Ben hasn't given up on playing for the Colts. I hope he makes it back next season, we can use him.


text:
Coach Todd Williams reckons Surbiton men were the best English side in the last 16 of the EuroHockey League, despite falling at the first hurdle.
A 3-1 defeat to Oranje Zwart, the eventual beaten finalists, ended Surbiton's interest in Europe, and they may have to wait another season for another shot after a league reorganisation reduced England's representatives from three to two.
Williams said: "Everyone knew we had the toughest opponent, they had just won the Dutch national title.
"But we were excellent, and the feedback I've had is that we were the best of the three English sides out there."
Rob Moore hit Surbiton's consolation in Eindhoven, but it was the overall team performance that impressed Williams the most.
"I was really pleased that we pushed such a great side all the way. It was not a case of us hanging on."
He added: "It proves we are moving in the right direction, and we are determined to get into Europe next season and use this experience to do better."
Reading lost 4-2 to Spaniards Real Club de Polo de Barcelona and Beeston 4-3 to Belgians Waterloo Ducks, while Harvestehuder of Hamburg won the title.


text:
|Trad, 2 pitches, 290'
|YDS: 5.10c French: 6b Ewbanks: 20 UIAA: VII ZA: 20 British: E2 5b [details]
|Danny Meyers, Mike Ward 1991
|Page Views:
|Submitted By:
|Todd Ritter on Aug 29, 2004
|RAIN AND WET ROCK The sandstone in Red Rocks is fragile and is very easily damaged when it is wet. MORE INFO >>>
|Comments on Breakaway
|Add Comment
|Show which comments —
Comments displayed oldest to newest — Skip Ahead to the Most Recent Dated Oct 23, 2015
By Todd Ritter
From: Lafayette
Sep 7, 2004
|In the above photo of Icebox Canyon, Breakaway climbs the black streak rising between the "S" and the "u" of Sunnyside.
By Karsten Duncan
From: Sacramento, CA
Sep 27, 2006
rating: 5.10d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b PG13
|Some scary climbing to the first bolt on the second pitch. Don't do like me and climb in from the left side. The rock is shit and there is no pro. This climb is a classic and you'll be amazed that every hold doesn't pop off in your hands. A cool head is necessary for this one. Sweet and steep climbing on this fine line.
By Xavier Wasiak
From: Las Vegas, NV
Oct 9, 2006
|Just climbed this fun and exciting route. It felt harder than 10c. Most of the route is pretty well protected, but the last 30 feet or so is run-out. Like Karsten said, a cool head is helpful. Most of the route stayed to the left of the black streak and the mostly edges (not flakes),that I pulled on, seemed pretty solid. Having said that, some holds did give me reason to pause and consider the options. I thought the second bolt of the second pitch seemed a bit awkward to clip.
By meo
May 20, 2007
|Instead of climbing the first pitch up and right following the bolts climb up and left after clipping the third bolt. Run it out (easy climbing) to a large pedestal just left of second pitch. You can set up a nice comfortable belay here with camalots (2 #2's and a #3) This makes for easier and safer access to second pitch.
By OKClimber
From: Folsom
Apr 29, 2010
|Great route! We belayed at the base of a chimney at a bolted anchor. This added a dozen feet or so to the traverse to the top of the pedestal out left, then up to the bolts, but it wasnt bad. The holds to get to the first bolt (from the left side, looking at the wall) seemed good to me and were nicely chalked up. Clip the first bolt, breath a sigh of relief, then fire up the sustained goodness!
By Jason Halladay
From: Los Alamos, NM
Jan 1, 2012
rating: 5.10c/d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b
|The second pitch looks improbably steep and intimidating for 5.10+ but the holds are positive. Dubious but positive. The position and sustained climbing on P2 is fantastic. If the rock quality was better this would easily be four stars. As it is, definitely pull down, not out, on the holds and go easy on the pulls.
By Tim Wolfe
From: Salt Lake City, UT
Mar 29, 2012
rating: 5.10d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b
|An absolutely stunning line reminicent of the hard pitch on Levitation or Dogma - just easier. Away from the crowds,in the shade, pulling perfect crimpers on a steep wall with the need for a little gear near the top. One of my favorite plated face pitches in the park. Pitch 1 will keep down the crowds due to a 50 foot 5.5 runout. Belay on top of the pillar just left of the line - sit down belay with great gear in the crack (any cam from 1 inch to 4 inches). You can then rap down to the top of La Cierta Edad belay to rap off.
By Brian Prince
From: morro bay, ca
Nov 29, 2012
The steep and clean (from far away) face and exposed postion made this one pretty cool. I mean when I saw the face (it stands out) and that water streak running down the middle, I was a little scared. Cool, sustained, classic RR face climbing. We also ended the first pitch on top of the little pillar. Seemed obvious.
Anyway... You can get down with a 70m if you want. The anchor was extended (wish I had some webbing) probably about a meter and that definitely helped but it was still very close. This was going to the top of the first pitch of La Cierta by the way.
By Cunning Linguist
Nov 29, 2012
|80m rope or doubles sounds smarter to me. Adding that much cord to an anchor to *barely* make it down is more of a bail technique than standard operating procedure on a trade route. The anchor will be cordless and nice beefy ASCA stainless once I get a day to jump on it again with Shirtless Tendon. Downclimbing a blank overhanging wall because you didn't bring the correct rope to descend sounds like not-fun in my book.
By Brian Prince
From: morro bay, ca
Nov 30, 2012
|Yeah, I wasn't necessarily recommending only bringing a 70m; It works if you're up there and didn't plan accordingly and/or are just lazy. Anyway, that'd be awesome of you to update the anchor because, yeah, it's pretty shitty lookin. Thanks in advance. Maybe place it a bit lower even ;) There's no reason it needs to be up that high imho
By ccmski body
From: Seattle, WA
Oct 23, 2015
rating: 5.10d 6b+ 21 VII+ 21 E3 5b
|Climbed this on 10/12/15. Bolts at the top of the crux pitch are in need of replacement. 1 is good, the other 2 are half out. I left a #7 DMM offset nut and carabiner to back up the rappel- PLEASE DONT BOOTY THIS!!! The anchor can be backed up with a Red #1 Black Diamond C4 Camelot in a pod as well.


text:
Beltran plans to play through toe pain Tuesday
JUPITER, Fla. -- Despite persistent pain from a fractured right small toe, Carlos Beltran said he plans to play through the discomfort and take the field for Tuesday's game against the Mets. Doing so without any further setback would certainly boost Beltran's chances of being able to start the season off the disabled list.
The Cardinals' season opener against the D-backs now sits one week away.
"I'm going to do whatever it takes to get back into playing full games," Beltran said. "I want to be ready for Opening Day. There's no doubt I'm going to be there. If I'm there and feel healthy, everything is going to be good."
Beltran has not played in a Grapefruit League game since a pitch hit him on the toe on Feb. 28. Days later, he left to participate in the World Baseball Classic, where he appeared in nine games for Puerto Rico. Beltran hit .188 (6-for-32) en route to the Classic title game against the Dominican Republic, serving as designated hitter in all but one game due to his toe injury.
Since returning to Spring Training on Friday, Beltran has done limited work. He played five innings in Minor League game Sunday and spent Monday morning taking swings in the batting cage.
"It's something that's not going to go away," Beltran said. "It's going to be there. I just need to find a way to try to do something that makes it better. It still hurts and it still bothers me. I talked to the doctor already, and he said it's not going to get worse. I need to get the treatment and try to get the swelling out and play through it as much as I can. I just want to make sure that when I'm in, that I stay in."
Because Beltran took 32 at-bats in the World Baseball Classic, the Cardinals are more concerned about his mobility and readiness on defense. Beltran agrees, noting that though he played through pain during the Classic, he was able to get enough at-bats to make this recent inactivity less of a concern.
"It forced me to do something every day," Beltran said. "Maybe if I would have stayed here, it would have been a little bit different. There, I have no options. It's kind of like I need to get in the lineup because that's the only option. In that [regard], it was good."
If Beltran appears in Tuesday's Grapefruit League game, it will eliminate the Cardinals' ability to potentially backdate a disabled list stint the maximum 10 days. To do so, a player cannot play in a Major League spring game after March 21.
Jenifer Langosch is a reporter for MLB.com. Read her blog, By Gosh, It's Langosch, and follow her on Twitter @LangoschMLB. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text:
Catch the Twist buzz!
This canvas bag will hold your knitting projects on your way to work, the park, and knitting get-togethers. Graphic by Marianne Dubuc, featured illustrator in the Spring issue.
Sorry, Sold out
Details: Natural with black imprinted design; 12 x 16½ x 7"/30.5 x 42 x 8 cm; 20" handles
Powered by Joomla!.
Valid XHTML and CSS.


text:
BWW Blog: Sneak Peek at our November Blogger, Molly Tynes of A.R.T.'s PIPPIN
Hi! I am Molly Tynes from the cast of the upcoming production of "Pippin" at the American Repertory Theater. Over the course of the next few weeks, I will be blogging about our rehearsal process and giving you an inside look into the creation of this exciting new production!
This version of "Pippin" will be very special because of the unique and fresh approach our director, Diane Paulus, and the rest of the artistic team are taking. Our choreographer, the legendary Chet Walker, is paying homage to much of the original iconic choreography by Bob Fosse (my absolute favorite choreographer – so a real treat for me!). Additionally Gypsy Snider, of Les 7 Doigts de la Main is incorporating stunning circus elements into the show that will help to tell the story in a new way and to create an enchanting and often seemingly dangerous world in which The Players perform death-defying feats with ease and finesse.
I have the privilege of getting to participate in both of these worlds! The company has started calling me the "crossover player," because I am at times grouped with the dancer/singers and at other times with the acrobats (I am performing some aerial elements in the show). It has been amazing so far switching back and forth between Fosse rehearsals with Chet and his assistant Brad Musgrove and circus training with Gypsy and the acrobats in our cast. As the weeks progress, we will all get to learn elements of both worlds and meld them together.
Already in the first week we have made some serious headway! We have learned most of the score with our amazing music director, Charlie Alterman and music supervisor, Nadia DiGiallonardo. We have also started piecing together a couple of the larger production numbers, and Diane has spent some valuable one-on-one time with the principals exploring their characters and the script.
For those unfamiliar with "Pippin," all of the characters in the show belong to a traveling troupe of players. As an acting exercise, Diane gave us homework to create and then present the "back stories" of our individual players – where did we come from, why did we join the troupe, etc. There were certain requirements and a given structure to the assignment, but it was also very open to individual interpretation. On Friday, we were given the opportunity present our "homework" to the rest of the company. This was by far the highlight of the week. I was so impressed by the level of creativity, commitment, and trust that our entire cast showed in these presentations. People did everything from pizza twirling to knife throwing to performing wrapped head to toe in saran wrap. After watching all of that I can honestly say that this group of performers is one of the most talented, versatile, and special groups with whom I have ever had the privilege of sharing the stage. I am so excited to see what the weeks ahead will bring. I know that we are creating a truly special show, and I can't wait for all of you to see it!
Here are some photos from week one of rehearsals. There will be many more to come!
Molly Tynes rehearsing on the cerceau (aerial hoop)
Rachelle Rak decked out in full costume for her "homework" presentation
Philip Rosenberg and Greg Arsenal rehearsing on canes
Viktoria Grimmy and Olga Karmansky rehearsing contortion
Dancers rehearsing a section from "Glory"
Acrobats training. YanNick Thomas, Greg Arsenal, Orion Griffiths, Lolita Costet
Related Articles
From This Author Guest Blogger: Molly Tynes


text:
In the week end I went to our local temple and the monk gave some Dhamma talk about above topics.
I found some info in the net about the same subject.
http://dharmafarer.org/wordpress/wp-con ... 7-piya.pdf
I like to have your opinion about it.
chownah wrote:Mahat,
Do you think that this story is an indication that merit actually can be transferred from one person to another?
Return to "General Theravāda discussion"
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Submit News
New Windows Chief Talks Sinofsky, Windows 8, Surface
Tiffany Kaiser
December 14, 2012 2:28 PM
Recipient E-mail
Sender E-mail
(Source: Mashable)
Julie Larson-Green is working to fill Sinofsky's shoes
When Microsoft's Windows Chief Steven
Sinofsky hit the road
last month, Julie Larson-Green stepped in as the new sheriff in town (as far as Windows 8 goes, anyway). Larson-Green didn't inherit an easy role, so it's fair to ask: Can she fill Sinofsky's shoes?
Larson-Green, who has worked for Microsoft for 20 years and led the introduction of huge ideas like the ribbon interface for Microsoft Office, recently interviewed with Tom Simonite at
MIT Technology Review
in an attempt to offer insight on what it's like to grab hold of Windows' biggest redesign and attempt to bring everyone on board with the new look and feel.
According to Larson-Green, so far, so good. While Sinofsky was a strong force in the Windows environment with a brilliant mind and explosive personality, Larson-Green insists that "not much" has changed since she took over his position.
"I've worked directly with Steven for seven years but known him for the whole 20 years I've been at Microsoft," said Larson-Green. "We think a lot the same about what the role of Windows is in society, what computing looks like, and getting people on board with that point of view."
Getting everyone on board hasn't been easy. Windows has had a solid user interface design since Windows 95, which was the start of a more object oriented interface. Users had become accustomed to this for nearly two decades, and
Windows 8 flipped that entire concept
on its head.
Julie Larson-Green [Image Source: Microsoft]
Windows 8 features what was once called the Metro style user interface, with colorful live tiles and a repositioned Start button. The new design was mainly for touch purposes in mobile products like Microsoft's Surface and Windows Phone 8, but some have had a hard time digesting this new look for desktop use. So why the radical change?
"When Windows was first created 25 years ago, the assumptions about the world and what computing could do and how people were going to use it were completely different," said Latson-Green. "It was at a desk, with a monitor. Before Windows 8 the goal was to launch into a window, and then you put that window away and you got another one. But with Windows 8, all the different things that you might want to do are there at a glance with the Live Tiles. "
She added the importance of touch on desktops as well as mobile devices to enhance the experience of using Windows 8, while still giving users the option to have a keyboard and mouse. She said it takes people anywhere from two days to two weeks to get adjusted to all the changes in Windows 8, depending on how invested they were in the traditional versions.
This brings us to the Surface tablet, which is Microsoft's first homemade hardware running Windows. Larson-Green addressed the new product briefly (nothing about sales numbers or demand, which have been in speculation lately).
"It was a way to test our hypothesis of a new way of working," said Larson-Green. "It takes time for individuals to adjust, but it also takes time for the industry to adjust to new things—all the complicated things about the supply chain and issues like what sizes of glass gets cut. Surface is our vision of what a stage for Windows 8 should look like, to help show consumers and the industry our point of view on what near perfect hardware would look like."
Sinofsky, former president of Microsoft's Windows and Windows Live division, announced that he was
leaving the company
last month after a little over 23 years with the tech giant. It was reported as a "sudden" move that no one expected, but details about the departure show that the decision was contemplated for a while and even
backed by Microsoft co-founder and chairman Bill Gates
While Sinofsky was seen as a brilliant figure at Microsoft, his downfall was that he didn't get along with others within the company. He was notorious for picking fights with other executives, including current CEO Steve Ballmer, and even pushed former executives like chief software architect Ray Ozzie to quit.
MIT Technology Review
"Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment -- same piece of hardware -- paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that's a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be." -- Steve Ballmer
Related Articles
Bill Gates Agreed with Ballmer: Sinofsky Had to Go
November 13, 2012, 2:43 PM
Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft's Windows Chief, Leaves Abruptly
November 12, 2012, 10:11 PM
Windows 8 to Arrive October 26
July 18, 2012, 7:49 PM
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