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Nikon Coolpix S800c Android camera first look
Preview based on a pre-production Coolpix S800c
Smartphones have quickly become the most serious challenge to face the conventional compact digital camera since they first emerged onto the market. It's no exaggeration to say that all the big camera makers are becoming desperate to develop camera models that can stand up to this challenge. Nikon's response is the Coolpix S800c - the first camera from a major manufacturer to be openly based on the Android mobile operating system.
There are several reasons why smartphones have become so compelling as photographic tools: they're devices that people tend to have with them at all times and they are well connected to mobile data services to allow uploading and sharing of images. An additional benefit has come from the emergence of apps and the platforms through which they're sold which have encouraged third-party developers to create software adding new capabilities to the devices they run on. From Instagram to Angry Birds, apps have encouraged people to use their Smartphones for all sorts of things the hardware makers couldn't have predicted.
This seemingly boundless flexibility comes in stark contrast to conventional cameras, which tend to offer the same capabilities and features on the day they're consigned to a dusty shelf as they had when they were taken out of the box. The S800c is a full Android 2.3 (known as Gingerbread) device, meaning it can run any apps that an equivalent smartphone could offer - so you can run Photoshop Express to spruce-up your images, rather than being dependent on the manufacturer-supplied processing options. For that matter, there's nothing to stop you passing the time with a quick game of Temple Run or Fruit Ninja.
Compact cameras do still have some advantages though - they tend to have larger sensors (which means better image quality, particularly in lower light), and they tend to have optical zooms, giving greater photographic flexibility. They also tend to come with removable memory, meaning you can easily expand and swap-out the storage of your camera - something most smartphones don't allow. The S800c offers the same 10x zoom lens and 16MP backlit CMOS sensor as the Coolpix S6300, meaning you get a proper compact camera as well as the capabilities of a fully-functioning tablet computer. For perspective, the S6300 had a list price of $199 at launch, compared to the $349 Nikon is asking for the S800c.
Nikon Coolpix S800c key specifications
- 16MP 1/2.3"-type BSI CMOS sensor
- 25-250mm equivalent F3.2-5.8 lens
- 3.5" WVGA OLED touchscreen
- Android v2.3 operating system
- Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS
- 2GB of internal memory (690MB of this for Apps)
- Up to 8fps continuous shooting
- 1080p30 video
Apps such as Instagram and Hipstamatic have made a virtue of smartphones' generally disappointing cameras. It'll be interesting to see whether any app developers will develop apps that take advantage of the better camera that the S800c offers. In the meantime, the only app Nikon offers is its exisiting 'My Picture Town' app for uploading to its cloud storage service of the same name.
In addition to apps, the use of Android means the S800c gains all the capabilities of the operating system. As such, it has well-established tools for connecting to Wi-Fi networks and gives a choice of browsers, so you can even log on to Wi-Fi networks that require a web form to be filled-in. This means you can access your email and browse the web from the camera, if you need to research something you just photographed. The S800c also has GPS capabilities, meaning you can add location data to your images as well as making use of the many navigation and mapping apps available for Android.
|In addition to letting you run apps, the S800c allows you to check your mail, or perhaps browse dpreview from your camera.
Battery life is pretty disappointing at just 140 shots per charge (when tested to CIPA standards), but the S800c has an advantage over most smartphones of having a removable battery. This means that, unlike most smartphones, you can swap a charged battery in when the existing one is exhausted. The small EN-EL12 battery offers 3.8Wh of power. For perspective, the Nikon S8000 managed to get 210 shots per charge from the same battery.
Gingerbread isn't the latest version of Android, with 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) taking hold on flagship smartphones and 4.1 (Jelly Bean) on its way, but it is the most widely supported. Nikon isn't clear on whether it might upgrade to one of the newer versions of the operating system - enabling use of the Chrome web browser. The majority of current apps are compatible with 2.3, however.
Hacker's delight
In addition to the intended app capabilities, a camera running such a common mobile operating system is a big deal because it opens up all sorts of unofficial customization, especially if the Android 'hacking' community takes an interest. Groups such as CyanogenMod offer custom ROMs (modified versions of the underlying firmware) for a wide range of Android phones and tablets. These versions offer modifications such as CPU overclocking and other performance and interface enhancements. CyanogenMod also usually makes the latest Android version available on many devices before the manufacturers or telecom-providers do. There's no reason why the same thing could not be done on the S800c, so we may well see Android 4.1 'Jelly Bean' running on a Nikon rather sooner than later, with the Google Now 'personalized search application' telling you what the traffic is like on your way home from your photo excursion.
Handling and first impressions
Camera control is essentially via the touchscreen (aside from zoom and shutter) – our first impressions are that it's responsive and looks quite intuitive. The camera can connect to Wi-Fi hotspots directly, and will be able to set up a peer-to-peer connection with smartphones to transfer images to them, if they're running the Nikon apps for Android or iOS. You can also run Nikon's 'My Picture Town' app to upload images directly to the company's cloud hosting service, but this makes more sense for backup than anything else.
When you turn the S800c on you reach a simple menu screen with the choice of going straight to the camera. However, if you choose to go through to the Android home screen, the camera can be accessed just as the camera on any other Android device would be - by opening the camera app. Based on our use the S800c seems powerful enough to jump to the camera very quickly, though we didn't time it.
Because you've got the familiar apps for whichever social networking services you use, you can send images from the S800c to those sites just as easily as you would from any smartphone. It's a directly-comparable transformative experience towards using a compact camera as the iPhone was for many mobile phone users. Suddenly you have a device that acts as a little portable computer on the back, and a pretty decently-specced camera on the front. Our biggest concern is the price (which is significantly higher in Europe than in North America).
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I get this for Christmas and do love the shots and video this camera takes. I did get my smartphone based on its amazing camera because its always with me .:) so I really didn't need another, but the appeal of uploading things to the internet because of the android is nice. I am looking for a remote for this device so I can usr it on a tripod. Anyone with info on that???
This is just right! I can't take a steady shot with my Android phone - holding steady while touching screen BAD! But, I love that I can edit shots on my Android with Camera FX, and then upload them to Facebook, Google+, or other sharing service. This Nikon camera does it all!! Climb on board this wagon or be left behind!!
People are looking primarily for compactness in phone. Hence this is not a phone but could inter-operate with one.
I say this is a draft for Nikon, but imagine a professional using a DSLR equipped with Android, having a phone sharing the 3g connection through wifi in his pocket. He could use any professional photography tools that would be available on android. All these apps run straight on the camera and Nikon does not have to develop them. I doubt anyone would really want to place calls from a D800.
"the S800c has an advantage over most smartphones of having a removable battery"
Are you an iPhone owner, by any chance? :)
Most smartphones have a removable battery, and have had for a long time. It's mostly just Apple that buck the trend.
good idea, but it is even better if it uses QNX platform because it doesn't crash.
QNX? Really? Is anyone still using this OS? There are many reliable OSes that rarely crash. Android or other OSes using the Linux kernal would be great. The only reason there are no QNX viruses is there aren't enough machines running QNX to make it worth the hacker's time.
Strange, ONLY 140 shots at one charge!!
Very disappointed here....
iPhone do MUCH more than this though.....
I think Apple missed the boat with this one.. I cant imagine Pentax, Sony, or Canon wanting to partner with them .. Maybe Olympus would like too as a kind of life line ..
I dont see how adding functionality to a device can be a negative thing. Point and shoots are a good platform to test on, more and more recently I have cursed my phones camera quality and wished I had a decent camera with an internet connection and apps so I can upload better quality images sooner.
Personally I think its a great idea, given a little time and refinement it will develop into something we all end up benefiting from, the obvious plus to a mobile OS is that you can incorporate tried and tested internet and network solutions, be it mobile data or wifi, also a huge amount of useful apps, imagine Flickr, Facebook or Photobucket, shoot photos, immediate upload to online account, could even shoot with out on board storage. About time this pushed ahead.
Don't worry Apple will find a way to claim it as their own and sue everybody. But not necessarily in that order. And the faithfull will follow.
I find this a little odd. Android is an OS for doing everything and the camera is a piece of hardware for a specific task. they dont seem to go together. I dont need to be able to play angry birds on my camera. Now if it replaced a mobile phone I would kind of get it. similar to the pureview. I wonder if a camera with wifi and some software for social sharing wouldnt be more logical
It's for apps. More control over your camera. More customisability.
You might not want to play Angry Birds on your camera (although you might!) More likely, you might want to do HDR in-camera, tag and edit your images in-camera, or automatically upload images to all your photo-sharing sites at once.
Will there be an app that will convert it into conventional mobile phone?
Why did Nikon not just add 3G and have a phone as well? Completely barmy, still need two devices...
I think that developing a mass market mobile phone might be abit more work that you think.
There's the engineering and the regulatory side of getting it apporoved in however many markets you want to sell it it.
Plus establishing relations with the networks, where there might be 3 or 4 networks per market.
Non trivial.
If they are going to do that they really need a partner that has all that already.
But yes it would be much better if it was a phone and they did partner up.
Ironic, this has a better OS but mediocre camera against the Nokia Pureview.
I don't know that. And neither does anybody else until we get a proper side by side comparison.
What a neat idea. I never heard of this before until now. I guess all you need is a phone added to it and then you have it all...lol...Crazy idea but I am actually thinking of purchasing one.
Yes, it's not a phone. Wow. You know, there are these devices out there that have android on them along with wifi WITHOUT data plans. They're called tablets, maybe you've heard of them? They sold millions of em last year. Maybe you already own one? I do.
What a lame comment ! And you own a Android tablet, even lamer... lol !
And lots of tablets *do* have 3G and a data plan. Kinda depends what you want, right? And from reading the comments here, most people want these new Android cameras that are appearing to have 3G and phone functionality too.
Just because you don't seem to want that, there's no cause to be rude to other people expressing their wishes.
An "A" for effort, it was an idea that had to be tried.
Digital cameras with capacitive touchscreens and fluid "smartphone-like" menu navigation are long overdue. I'm just not convinced this "compact camera + iPod touch" hybrid is what people were waiting for...
1/2.3" BSI CMOS sensor, just like the Pentax Q. I'm not expecting IQ to be nearly as good as the Q, but it should be decent.
Speaking of the Q, it's odd that DPR never reviewed the Q, or plans to, since the Pentax Q is the first ILC to ever feature such a sensor. And I don't know if anyone has ever downloaded DNGs from the Q, but they are superb. But I guess the powers that be here at DPR, and the sensor size fanatics discounted the Q right off the bat. Pity as it's a fascinating little camera with outstanding IQ and a huge fun factor. But I digress.
I hope this new Nikon has somewhere in the ballpark of the Q's image quality, and not the somewhat crunchy images we've seen from the P300.
The Pentax Q image quality isn't that great, even as base ISO. It's just a little better than average, with the standard prime lest at least. Completely outclassed by anything with a significantly larger sensor, from the Fuji X10 on up...
still it is interesting that dpreview has done several compact cameras since Q was available and clearly have no plans to do t he Q. I assume they would just use the Jeff Keller review if they cared in any way..which obviously they do not. too bad it is an absolutely adorable and fun camera esp. with the fish eye..
"Gingerbread isn't the latest version of Android, with 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) taking hold on flagship smartphones and 4.1 (Jelly Bean) on its way,"
It is not "on its way", it is the current since June.
" but it is the most widely supported. Nikon isn't clear on whether it might upgrade to one of the newer versions of the operating system"
With only 2GB of internal memory - no chance.
" - enabling use of the Chrome web browser."
Chrome was the Android's browser since it started shipping, what are you talking about?
"With only 2GB of internal memory - no chance."
Most ICS ROMs are under 1GB. The RAZR ICS ROM is stated as ~340MB (http://www.phonearena.com/news/New-RAZR-ICS-leak-matches-file-size-from-Verizon-documents_id29587) while the Galaxy S3's ROM is significantly larger but still 785MB (http://news.softpedia.com/news/Samsung-GALAXY-S-III-Android-4-0-4-ICS-ROM-Leaks-Includes-S-Voice-TouchWiz-and-More-270644.shtml). I, myself, have been able to run a CyanogenMod Alpha of ICS on my Motorola Triumph which has 2GB of onboard memory.
Upgrading to the newest operating system is a matter of Nikon devoting the dev resources to porting the operating system over, or releasing the kernel to third-party developers to customize.
"Chrome was the Android's browser since it started shipping, what are you talking about?"
The default browser on Android is still called the "browser" or the "web browser". Chrome is an additional browser app that can be downloaded and installed, but only on phones with Android 4.0 and above.
Wow so many ppl ranting about not having a phone functionality in this model!
It is the first Android based digital camera- This opens up a hell lot of avenues for app developers to come up with creative photography apps. Imagine something like Instagram on a PROPER camera! This is just the beginning of a new range of cameras and thumbs up to Nikon for coming first.
Infact Samsung should have come up with this way back, with its feet in the Digital Camera as well as Smartphone business. And for all the ppl cursing Nikon about not including a phone in this, dare to do the same with Apple! Why doesn't anyone question the Wifi model for not having 3G or ability to make calls? Bcos that is Apple and we are all fanboys! Come on and get real folks!
surely the most obvious glaring omission is that it doesn't work as a phone. It does everything else, so why not make it a phone as well.
I would have bought such a device in a flash if it did so I only have to carry one device.
Yeah, but it would also cost a lot more as a phone, not to mention having to build relationships with mobile carriers, get regulatory approval, etc.
It doesn't make sense. This whole "one device" thing is a bit useless. I'd rather have a few devices that do things superbly than one device that does everything poorly.
complain, complain, complain.So may whiney comments already, Geezzz. Someone had to go first, so good on Nikon. I already do have an Android phone with the typical poor phone camera. So I also have a little Nikon AW100 that I carry around a lot (especially fly fishing) just to be sure a have a camera with me. So this would mean one less thing to carry. Will they get better, sure, but for now and at the rate I buy new phones, this looks pretty good to me.
Sounds like this will be my next cell phone . . .
DPR - smartphones do allow extra memory to be added. No idea why you think otherwise.
Consumer wants : Phone with good camera.
Consumer gets : average camera with ... whoops.
It's still asking the consumer to carry two devices when they want one.
Consumers don't care if it can run Android, let alone which version of Android. It could run DOS if it did what they wanted.
Can't tell if this thing has an audio-out socket. If it doesn't it would be a HUGE fail, as that would mean no MP3 playing.
In case Nikon et al haven't noticed all Apple or Nokia or the rest of them have to do to make a better product is add a zoom lens in a phone. All Nikon et all have to do is build a phone, get it certified and make deals with carriers, which is a lot harder.
Some of the more recent Android, Windows Phone, and all iPhone smartphones are opting to not use expandable memory. They are the minority but they do include high profile ones like the Galaxy Nexus and Nokia Lumia 900.
This could due to a want for less failing hardware pieces, simpler file systems and file management, or generally more control over the user experience (i.e., not having to make sure the user has XX MB of free onboard storage), or something completely different.
@Richard Shih - The real reason some smartphones (e.g. Apple) don't have expandable memory is so their producers have a simple mechanism for price discrimination (e.g. charging $100 extra for a piddly 16gb more storage space). It's difficult to price discriminate via different amounts of storage memory if expandable memory slots are allowed.
Is this camera have a phone function ?
Phone are populaire camera because they have both... why not a camera with a phone ?
Not a phone. It would cost several hundred more to put a cellphone in there, money that the carriers usually eat up, and Nikon wants to sell these.
One thing everyone seems to be overlooking: WiFi is NOT everywhere. In fact, once you go outside, it's pretty much gone for sure. Nobody who buys this camera is ever going to take pictures outside?
The use-it-anywhere appeal of smartphone cameras is based on the fact that they DO work anywhere there's phone service -- if no WiFi is available, they can fall back on their 3G or 4G connection. That's not an option for any WiFi-only device... at best, it would let you connect to your smartphone and use THAT to do your uploads. Janky.
When somebody brings out a real camera with a slot for a SIM card, THEN I might start getting excited...
WiFi not being everywhere isn't really the problem (although it is a problem, I agree). This is essentially an iPod Touch -- except running Android and with a much better camera and (I'm assuming) VASTLY worse battery life. If I could use it all day as a pocket computer/music player it might have some value. But it's a third rate Android device, it's big and fat and ugly and has no juice.
Nikon sucks at software. This is a really dumb direction for Nikon since it plays to its weaknesses.
how does it play to their weaknesses? the software is being done by Google et al, exactly not by Nikon because as you said they suck at software. The photoshop touch app is done by adobe not nikon. the real question i have is does this device really have the horsepowr to run photoshop touch or instagram? will have to wait for the real review to find out..
This matters a lot for my photographic and communication needs. I almost never use my phone as a phone, but checking e-mail on it matters a lot.
I very rarely use my phone as a camera because it simply sucks. IQ and ergonomic wise.
Put a very basic phone in a compact camera, let it speak to my MicroSoft exchange server, and I'll buy it over a smart phone any day ....
It's a great concept BUT I wish they would have decreased the number of pixels in order to improve low light / high ISO performance and file size for uploading. 16MP Files are too big to upload and FB will shrink them anyways
S800c - A Phone that can never make any call........
A camera driven by a general purpose operating system is a fantastic combination. So is a camera that can directly connect to Facebook, 500px, or whatever, even if it is not a general purpose computer or pda.
Purely for personal reasons, my two issues with this particular one is: (a) I prefer iOS to Android, and (b) I prefer DSLRs to compacts.
Now if Apple got into bed with Nikon, and developed a version of the D800 with iOS, and special support for wireless "tethered" shooting using iPad as the live view preview screen and control surface, THEN I would be seriously excited.
Is it known what SoC this camera is running? That would be interesting to know. Also, I don't think CyanogenMod will be introducing JB very soon to this device. There will be some serious propriatary drivers for the camera and I don't think that will be reverse-engineered very soon. I do think it is a cool concept and am very keen to find out more.
It seems like a brave new step. a big step perhaps. One we've been expecting and desiring. Now it's here... I feel no desire for it, and can't think why I'd want it. But that's because it's a consumer cam. Maybe. So if this was in the P7700 instead (or some other prosumer or ILC), why would I want it, bearing in mind that I shoot raw and use my desktop to edit my photos? What apps would I be able to make use of, I wonder. I can kind of imagine what they might be, but this morning I can't imagine me using them. I'm a photographer. Do I want to distort people's faces and make doggy birthday cards? And do I really want to mess about learning how to use Android when I have an iPhone in my pocket? Suddenly I'm not sure I see the point. Isn't it a bit like having Android on my washing machine? Cool but ultimately useless. I don't know.
This is going to start a debate:
Should I buy a good phone with a decent camera, or should I buy a good camera with a decent phone built-in? Decisions, decisions...
Or you can buy this Nikon, plus a simple little phone that runs for a whole week on one charge and never worry about not being to make a call when you have to when the smartphone run out of battery. You would then be able to talk to someone on the phone while at the same time checking your diary or some contact details, or read some email that you are talking about, or take a photo of something, all while talking. You can also buy that simple phone outright and not tied to some plan or you can change phone at any time or use different phone depending on where or what you do.
Everybody could foresee this. I am really wondering why is Nikon the first to do this. Samsung, where are you ?
Why didn't Nikon put a phone in it too? You don't need the modem for data connectivity for 3G/4G for a 1st gen product, but at least make it so it can make a phone call in order for someone to actually think about carrying this as the sole gadget on the go.
Then it needs a much larger battery, baseband chip, antenna (with good reception), microphone located where people talk into it, SIM card reader, more powerful CPU to run Android 4.0/4.1, and more RAM. All that adds quite a lot to the price. It stops being an enhanced P&S camera with a comparable price and instead costs $100 or $200 more and is competing with other phones, but carriers won't be willing to subsidize it so it costs five or six hundred dollars.
This is a dud. No one is going to give up their smart phone for this, or use this instead of their smart phone. The only room for innovation in this space is to provide a complete API for the camera itself, and let the market develop the apps. Nikon missed the opportunity.
It's not a phone, for pete's sake. Nikon never intended it to replace your phone. It's only radio is wifi. It offers an alternative interface for the camera and, if software developers embrace it, the ability to do tricks other phones can't do.
How do you know there's no API? The camera's not even released yet, and there's no documentation available yet. Chill.
If you can't create a good intuitive touch screen/OS, steal one from google! A2.3 is an antique but good enough for a camera.
Hope it still uses 'real' software to handle the sensor processing & AF,etc otherwise, SLOW!!
How will they keep the hacking away???
Awesome. Makes perfect sense. I wonder how long it will take before most cameras take this approach. Would love to see an android based DSLR.
I love the idea. When I saw the headline, I mentally thought, "Sold!" Then I read a bit more. Android 2.3? Are they serious? Someone tell Nikon that Android 2.3 was released in 2010, and they're on 4.1 now.
I disagree. Going back that far is asking for trouble. Software is written for the latest version of Android, not for old versions. Things that work perfectly on Android 4.1 could easily be buggy on 2.3. I'm not interested in going back to 2010.
2.3 can run smoothly with a processor that uses less battery compared to 4 and 4.1. Camera batteries have been lower capacity than smartphones for years. Nikon evidently wasn't ready to drastically re-engineer the guts of the camera to fit a large, flat smartphone battery.
the primary diff btwn 2.3 and 4 is the support for tablets (i.e. fragments) and screens of differing pixel density.
I personally think 2.3 was a good choice for this kind of device and it is appropriate for a $350 device.
Don't get me wrong, a more expensive and more capable device is surely coming if not from Nikon from Samsung and/or the others.
so i am sure you will get JB eventually.
Kudos to Nikon for being first with the next gen compact.
Who woulda thunk it?
Polaroid, or a licensee of the name, put the brand on an existing contract-manufactured smartphone - not quite the same thing.
As far as I'm aware, the SCH-W880 was only sold in Korea. The Polaroid SC1630 I've only seen in write-ups dating back to Feb. 2012. Neither of these products can be found on B&H's website. In my opinion thus Nikon is the first company to actually deliver, as you can pre-order your S800c as we speak!
As an amateur photographer and long-time Android user (I currently have a Galaxy Nexus) I have to say I am very excited about the possibilities of this camera. This would be the perfect device for an internet (facebook) obsessed geek on holiday. I'm going to Japan on holiday in a few days and wish it were available now!
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Most creative photographer ever! She captures real life. Love it!
By: Anonymous
March 13, 2012
I needed to update my business portrait and I went to Kelley. She took serveral photos of me in her studio, with various backgrounds, while I changed shirts and ties. After she sifted through the results she gave me about 10 of the best as JPG files. Her price wsa quite reasonable. I'm very pleased.
March 6, 2012
Kelley was a guest at my wedding and took the most amazing candids. Her pictures were so 1000x better than the photographer we paid. I didn't even know she had taken 100's of shots until after my wedding. All my favoriate shots were from Kelley. I can only imagine how awesome our photos would be if we had hired her. Thank you Kelley!!!!!
By: Raequel Rhodes
April 10, 2010
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Valerie Holloway Skinner | HOLLOWAY FAMILY FOUNDATION
Do you recall where you were in the spring of 2000? Perhaps not. Don't feel badly; I have to confess that ordinarily I couldn't tell you where I was last Friday, much less 10 years ago.
But I had a conversation in April of the beginning of this decade that changed my life and the lives of so many others so drastically that I'm sure I will recall it distinctly 10 years from today.
The then-executive director of AIDS Outreach Center, Mike McKay, called me to meet him for a cup of coffee and to discuss an idea he had been tossing around in his head about a fundraising event — an event we now know as the Lone Star Ride Fighting AIDS. Since I was the V.P. of the Holloway Family Foundation, he asked me to ask our board to consider being the presenting sponsor of the event, which would raise money and awareness for the AIDS Outreach Center, AIDS Services of Dallas and Resource Center Dallas.
As our foundation was already committed to supporting these agencies individually, even a dull blade like me could figure out pretty quickly that having a $40,000 contribution potentially return $100,000 to these agencies was a sharp idea.
And so, here I am, 10 years later, enthusiastically anticipating the thrill of pedaling my way across what seems like a thousand miles of searing Texas wasteland — straight uphill!
A rational person might ask, "Why not just write a check and, pardon the pun, move on down the road?" Let me see if I can explain. In 2001 I was that sensible person, and so I never even considered riding a bike in the scorching Texas sun for 175 miles into the middle of Nowheresville.
The thought literally never occurred to me.
In fact, the last time I had ridden a bicycle, I was fairly certain my mother was walking alongside of me making sure I didn't fall over.
And so with a fair amount of detachment and nonchalance, I showed up at the closing ceremonies that first year to congratulate the riders and crewmembers for their dedication and determination. But standing on that platform, staring into those exhausted, exhilarated faces and hearing that enthusiastic, endearing crowd — well, I knew in an instant that I didn't want to be in the audience, I wanted to be in the show.
And it's been showtime ever since.
Is it hot? Yes. Does it sometimes rain? Yes. Are there potholes the size of Kansas and hills that would bring tears to Lance Armstrong's eyes? Yes and, well, no.
But there are also themed pit stops to refresh and rehydrate you; motorcycle riders to guide and protect you; crew members to pamper and encourage you; and an old friend or a potential new one just around every corner — or "on your left" as it were.
Those are a handful of the somewhat superficial reasons that I have participated in some form or fashion in this ride for the past 10 years (well, maybe not in '05 when Hurricane Rita hit, but hey, nobody could expect the Queen of Damn Near Everything to cycle in a typhoon!)
But the primary reason, the reason that keeps me coming back year after year after year after — well, you get the point — is that if I don't ask, somebody won't give, and if I don't do, somebody won't have, and if I don't tell, somebody won't know.
And when my kids and my grandkids look back at this decade and the crisis that is AIDS, and ask me what I did to help, I want to be able to look into their faces and tell them I did my part.
And so, as is my way, let me close with a few lines of corny prose:
If you've never been a part,
Ask yourself, "Why?"
You don't know if you can do it
Until you give it a try.
You've nothing to lose
But a few pounds of sweat,
There's so much to gain
And so I just bet
That 2010
Will be the year that we see
Over 200 riders
And YOU are the key
To the success of the Ride,
To the future of those
Who are counting on you.
And so I propose
That you join the Ride Family,
Even if now you don't "get it."
Trust me, I know,
You will NEVER forget it!
God bless and godspeed and I'll see you in September.
To donate to Valerie Holloway Skinner, go online to LoneStarRide.org.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition July 16, 2010.


text:
New York -- Enterprise business solution-provider Jesta I.S. Inc. said Thursday that Sterling Shoes, a division of Toronto-based Town Shoes, has gone live with its Vision Store and Vision Merchandising software.
Town Shoes completed the acquisition of 69 Sterling Shoes stores in April 2012 and immediately launched the selection process for POS and merchandising software solutions that could be implemented by Labor Day weekend.
Town Shoes selected Jesta I.S.' Vision Store and Vision Merchandising solutions for ease of use, and launched implementation in May.
According to Jesta, all 69 Sterling Shoes stores needed to be simultaneously switched over to the new Vision Store system and taken live, which occurred on Sept. 4.
"The implementation of the Vision Store and Vision Merchandising software for the Sterling stores within such a compressed time frame … underscored the abilities of two companies to work together and ensure smooth implementation of Vision solutions for our core business with minimal impact to the normal operations," said Peter Gerhardt, Town Shoes CFO.


text:
Mrs. Edwards was born Dec. 21. She was a lifelong resident of Oregon City.
She was preceded in death by her husband George. She is survived by her son, Greg; daughters, Susan and Kathleen; seven grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; brother, Nick; sister, Dorothy; and many nephews and nieces.
A celebration of life Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m., Monday, March 26, at St. John the Apostle Church in Oregon City. Memorial donations can be made to the Benedictine Sisters of Mt. Angel.


text:
Children & Youth: Building tomorrow today
As young people mature, the decisions they make have an enormous impact on their families, their communities and our world. But growing up surrounded by poverty, war or in the aftermath of disaster increases their risks and limits their choices.
That's why giving children and youth the right support at this most critical time is essential to building tomorrow's strong, productive communities.
When disaster strikes, young children are especially vulnerable to developing emotional and social problems that can jeopardize their futures. Mercy Corps worked with experts to design our signature Comfort for Kids program that helps children process their trauma and recover through play, sports and art activities. See our expert's recommendations for how parents and caregivers can help children through times of crisis ▸
For adolescents faced with violence, early marriage and interruptions to schooling, we provide opportunities for community involvement, vocational training and life skills development. Our goal is to empower youth in the toughest places to make smart life choices and invest their energy in developing solutions to their countries' biggest challenges.
All stories about Children & Youth
Haiti: Christmas trees, glitter and giggles
In a small classroom on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, 16 children are hard at work on today's art therapy project: create and decorate paper Christmas trees!
Kenya: Protecting the children of Bililburbur
Bililburbur is a new community in Wajir, created over the past year as families who lost their herds of animals in the historic drought were forced to settle and search for other ways to survive.
Yemen: Addressing conflict by helping youth
As Yemen continues to grapple with political turmoil and multiple conflicts, Mercy Corps is hoping that engaging youth in their communities can help the country realize a brighter future.
Haiti: 'Soccer for Life' kicks off on World AIDS Day
December 1st is World AIDS Day. This year, Mercy Corps and Partners In Health are joining forces in Haiti to launch Foutbol pou Lavi — Soccer for Life — a program designed to harness the power of soccer to stop the spread of HIV.
China: Supporting migrant youth
Millions of Chinese continue to migrate from rural areas to cities in pursuit of a better life.
Afghanistan: Helmand-born, university-bound
I was at the Mercy Corps Vocational Training Centre this morning checking in with the team and catching up with some of the students and teachers.
Ethiopia, Kenya: Responding to historic drought
West Bank and Gaza: Getting Google to Gaza
Through an innovative Mercy Corps' partnership with Google and the Source of Hope Foundation, young Palestinian web developers receive firsthand training and mentoring from engineers and business people from cutting-edge technology companies – as well as potential seed capital funding.
Libya: Comforting kids in Misrata
When unrest began in Libya earlier this year, Misrata was at the very center of the conflict. Today, as I look around this city, signs of prolonged fighting are visible everywhere: destroyed buildings, abandoned shops, streets littered with garbage.
Ethiopia: A mother's appeal
We're outside the Mercy Corps office in Gashamo, Ethiopia – a bone-crunching nine hour drive from Jijiga, the regional capital. It's early in the morning, and the noisy generator is cranking out its last few minutes of power before we shut it down for the day.


text:
Dear Members,
This Friday, I would like to take you all to Karachi, Pakistan....very exotic indeed![
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/i ... ttractions
Pad had an older cousin,Ravi, who was a Thai military ambassador in Karachi, his wife was a Miss Thailand second runner-up, very pretty even at her 40. Whenever Pad and I were in Karachi, Ravi/wife would take us shopping at the Empress Market or The Karachi Bazaar...lots of exotic merchandises..our favorite places and also the beaches.
One day Ravi/wife introduced us to his super rich friend 'Saeed'who owned almost all gas stations in the city and he had a beach house at the Turtle Beach. Saeed invited us to stay at his beach-villa, just like we had the beach to ourselves. we swam/floated all the afternoon (his floats had umbrellas attached), in the evening we rode on the beautifully decorated camels along the beach. Late at night, Ravi/wife/Saeed walked with Pad/me on the beach to look at sea-turtles'eggs, some already hatched and baby-turtles crawled to the sea..it was so amazing..wow..what a wonderful life !!
We were so excited that we were not sleepy at all. The full moon shone so brightly that we could see all kind of small crabs running around... we had to be very careful not to step on them. Luckily it was Friday night, ravi/Saeed had no need to work the next day. Saeed's great hospitality extended through Sunday...Pad had to fly to Rome on Monday and I had to prepare to fly on Tuesday. So the fun must end. Saeed took us back to our Intercontinental Hotel, Pad/I invited him to have gourmet dinner at a Chinese restaurant nearby...Saeed loved sweet/sour lobsters and Pomegranate-juice here was the best with lemmon twist. We thanked him profusely for his kindness. And I promised to bring him a beautiful silky blanket/silk pillow-cases, the next flight I came to Karachi again...Saeed, our generous friend, smiled happily.
Love baby sea-turtles,


text:
Fourth quarter same store sales inched up 0.9% at Best Buy and profits were better than expected as the company fared better during the holiday season than many thought.
Fourth quarter revenue increased slightly to $16.7 billion for the 13 week period ended February 2, and the company reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.64 compared to $2.18 the prior year. The company also said adjusted free cash flow totaled $965 million thanks to aggressive inventory reductions.
"These results were driven by a compelling assortment of new products in key growth categories, increased 'blue-shirt' training and higher customer engagement in our retail stores, and impactful 'traffic-generating' marketing activities," said Best Buy president and CEO Hubert Joly. "It was a quarter that was driven, not given and we are encouraged by the intensity, collaboration and momentum that was generated by both our front line and corporate teams as we began to execute against our Renew Blue initiatives."
While the meager comp increase was better than expected heading into the holiday season, it comes against a weak prior year comparison when comps declined 1.1%. Accordingly, Joly noted that the company is intently focused on stabilizing and improving comps and increasing profitability across its global businesses during the current year.
"We recognize, however, that fiscal 2014 is a year of transition and that further investment will be required to advance our Renew Blue transformation," Joly said.
Renew Blue is the name the company gave to six strategic priorities that include: accelerating online growth; escalating the multi-channel customer experience; increasing revenue and gross profit per square foot through enhanced store space optimization and merchandising; driving down cost of goods sold through supply chain efficiencies; continuing to gradually optimize the U.S. real estate portfolio; and further reducing expenses.
The company didn't provide first quarter or full year financial guidance, but did say directionally it expects there to be significant pressure during the first quarter. CFO Sharon McCollam said despite the financial pressures Best Buy is experiencing inspiring energy around its Renew Blue strategy.
"Our fourth quarter results and the actions that we have taken since then to begin rationalizing our infrastructure, have given the organization something that they have not had in a long time – pride in the outcome and belief in what is possible," McCollam said.


text:
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one of my favorite cubs of all time just behind ryno and erine
he we be missed not only by cubs fans like myself but by the whole chicago cummuinty great guy great radio broadcaster also
As a Cubs fan, I'm gonna miss listening to Ron on the radio. He may have stumbled through his words a lot of the time, but Pat and Ron really made me want to listen to baseball on the radio, and I don't even like watching baseball that much.
a comment to the espn.com wojo story on ronnie:
Why someone like Ron Santo is beloved and someone like LeBron is not - and why fantasy/roto is so popular today:
About Santo: "Cubs fans adored him because he was one of them. When the Cubs lost, he lost. When they won, he won. You could hear it in his voice during the game. You could see it in his face when he left the booth afterward, made his way down the narrow Wrigley Field press box hallway and down the two flights of stairs to the upper deck concrete concourse.
"He ate, breathed, slept, drank -- everything was the Cubs,'' said Masur."
Meanwhile, the 2011 Cavs - aka. LeBron's "boys" - laught it up with him as they lose a nearly 30-point blowout in a game where its obvious that the fans of Cleveland care infinitely more about the Cavs than the actual Cavs do.
On the one hand, totally identifiable passion, shared by player and fan/city... on the other passion by fans and cities that is the antithesis of the apathy, outright disregard, and lack of pride demonstrated by the players who play for teams representing those fans and that city... any wonder that, faced with that apathy, outright disregard, and lack of pride fans root for "their" fantasy teams instead of "their city's" teams and athletes?
RIP Ron Santo - not only was there only one Ron Santo - there are far too few Ron Santos around these days...
RIP ron u will be missed
There is no way Ron Santo is 70....why wasn't he just playing a year or so ago??? Sure seems like it.
Ever notice how friendly folks are at a shootin' range??.
lol no i know he stated broadcasting in 1990
Elected to hall of fame today...disgraceful that they waited until he died...
By Nick Pietruszkiewicz
Chicago Cubs third baseman Ron Santo was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Monday with at least 75 percent of the vote from the Golden Era committee.
Ron Santo wanted this day for so long, and now that it's finally here, he isn't. The Hall of Fame call, the one he waited for and agonized over pretty much his entire adult life, came on Monday, but he's no longer with us to answer the phone and hear this: "Ronnie, welcome to the Hall of Fame." And that's not right.
He was asked once, on one of the many days a new group of inductees was announced and he wasn't among them, if he'd be OK getting a spot in Cooperstown, even if it came after he died. And, in that style that endeared him to generations of Cubs fans, he said "I don't want to go in post-humorously." Of course, he meant posthumously, but then an E-5 on words was part of what made Ron Santo.
I spent seven years in Chicago, covering the Cubs and White Sox, and to this day say the most interesting person I've ever covered was Ozzie Guillen. The most impressive was Ron Santo. And for so many people, Ron Santo didn't belong in the Hall because he was one of the best third basemen of his generation. They didn't want him in because of his 342 homers, 1,331 RBIs and 2,254 hits. I mean, those were good enough reasons. But so many of them wanted him in because he was Ron Santo.
I know it's not the best baseball argument, and that writers who serve as gatekeepers to Cooperstown shouldn't vote with their hearts with something as important as entry into the Hall of Fame. But all those people that wanted Ron Santo in for being simply Ron Santo, I get it. So no, this isn't a piece about the numbers and the on-field credentials.
I admit that when I first arrived in Chicago, I didn't understand what Ron Santo meant to the city, to these people, to Cubs fans and to those suffering from diabetes. To me, he was a shrieking, name-mispronouncing homer cluttering up a radio broadcast. Before his health rapidly declined, Santo took a few days off from Cubs broadcasts. In his absence, I wrote a column for the small suburban newspaper for which I worked, a piece saying what a break it would be for his partner, the classy Pat Hughes, to have a few days off from Ronnie's malapropisms, from the recaps of his between-innings trips to the bathroom, from his butchering of the English language. I recalled some of his classic mistakes. (Note: Let's get something straight, I wrote this before the leg amputations, before the bladder cancer, before the suffering reached the unimaginable levels it would in the years to come. I mean, even I'm not heartless enough to pick on someone fighting debilitating illnesses). People wanted me fired. Or shot. Or fired, and then shot. And you know, they had a point. All these years later, I regret nothing more in my professional life than that column. I was young and stupid. Mostly, I couldn't have been more wrong.
No, these aren't baseball arguments, but if you spent time around Ron Santo, you quickly realize you don't think with your mind, you think with your heart. You don't think the radio broadcast going off the rails is ridiculous; you think it fits, it's perfect. (Here's a brief, but oh-so-perfect sampling).
Photo Gallery: Santo
Santo A look at Ron Santo's life on the field and in the booth. Gallery »
Ron Santo was the crazy grandfather who overlooked your flaws; seriously, how else could someone love some of those awful Cubs teams the way Ronnie did. He was the voice of a fight, raising millions upon millions for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). He was a stubborn patient, the one who wouldn't let the disease -- actually, the diseases -- keep him from living his life. I saw no-hitters and 60-homer seasons in Chicago; I saw a team on the other side of town win a World Series. Yet, the achievement that stands above all else was watching Ron Santo, on two prostheses, work his way down that steep flight of stairs into the Cubs' clubhouse, finally get to the bottom and smile. Not complain. Never complain. Smile. Walk through the clubhouse and say hello to reporters and players and clubhouse staff, asking "How you feeling today, big boy?"
Oh, I saw or heard about some funny ones, too. About the hairpiece catching on fire in the booth at Shea Stadium. The countless drinks he spilled on his notes or the fax machine in the broadcast booth. And, oh, the mess he made with words. OK, so the man could never remember my last name. And so, to see what kind of torture we could put him through, his partners handed him a piece of paper during a broadcast so he could wish me happy birthday on the air. He looked at the 15 letters and fought for 10 minutes -- live on radio -- that there's no way that "Pietruszkiewicz" was a real last name. I still have the tape. Listening to everyone laughing in the background might be the best birthday wish I ever got.
In a city that loved people with one name -- Jordan … Ditka … Sweetness … Ernie … -- it's not an exaggeration to say the name they loved the most was Ronnie.
And in his life, too short but incredibly well lived, he wanted two things more than anything -- a World Series title for his Cubs and to hear someone say, "Ronnie, welcome to the Hall of Fame."
I wish we could all see him push himself out of his chair on that stage this summer, surrounded by Hall of Famers -- fellow Hall of Famers -- and fumble and mumble and shriek his way through a speech that wouldn't leave a dry eye anywhere in Cooperstown.
Yes, this is a happy day. It's a sad one, too.
Nick Pietruszkiewicz is an editor for ESPN.com Follow him on Twitter at npiet_ESPN.
The HOF selection process has always annoyed me. An unnecessarily slow, arbitrary process. Not all of us have the luxury of waiting forever.
Ron is on record saying getting his number on the foul pole at Wrigley and retired meant way more to him than the HOF could ever mean. It is well deserved just about 10 years late IMO.
It's pretty sad when people go, oh god he's dead, we have to get him in the HoF now, when its either you decide he's a hall of famer or not. It just makes the baseball people look dumb, and they should self-evaluate how they do things.
"It's just unfortunate that we've been penalized so much this year and nothing has happened to the Pistons, the Palace or the city of Detroit," he said. "It's almost like it's always our fault. The league knows it. They should be ashamed of themselves to let the security be as lax as it is around here."
----------------- Reggie Miller


text:
Steel Cut Oats with Christmas Confetti 1 of 15Wake up to a warm bowl of oatmeal — with a sprinkling of festive confetti made of healthy nuts and dried fruit.
Make Steel Cut Oats with Christmas Confetti »
Roasted Beet and Orange Salad 2 of 15Don't let the word "salad" fool you — this serves as a lunch or a substantial starter dish.
Make Roasted Beet and Orange Salad »
Beef Vegetable Soup 3 of 15This soup will keep bellies full and souls warmed without weighing you down.
Make Beef Vegetable Soup »
Slow Cooker Lentil Chili 4 of 15You can leave this hearty, healthful dish cooking all day, and it'll be ready
when you get home from work.
Make Slow Cooker Lentil Chili »
Light 5 of 15The only thing this soup is heavy on is flavor!
Make Light & Hearty Angel Hair Soup »
Slow Cooker Leg of Lamb 6 of 15This hearty leg of lamb is easy to make and filling without the fat found in standard roasts.
Make Slow Cooker Leg of Lamb »
Pasta with Avocado 7 of 15Just try avocado in your pasta — it adds a smooth depth that's so much better for you
than cream sauce.
Make Pasta with Avocado & Pancetta »
Traditional Spaghetti and Meatballs 8 of 15Not an avocado fan? You can easily throw any veggie into the marinara of this
kid-friendly comfort food.
Make Traditional Spaghetti and Meatballs »
Mark Bittmans Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry 9 of 15Make your own take-out the healthy way!
Make Mark Bittman's Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry »
(Light) Broccoli Cheddar Cheese Soup 10 of 15Broccoli finds its way into this creamy soup that sticks to your ribs without expanding your waistline.
Make (Light) Broccoli Cheddar Cheese Soup »
Ratatouille 11 of 15Don't let the fancy name fool you — this sauteed veggie dish is full of flavor, not calories.
Make Ratatouille »
Orzo with Mushrooms 12 of 15This decadent orzo dish only looks like high-fat risotto and it's loaded with healthy mushrooms.
Make Orzo with Mushrooms »
Pork Chops with Apples and Winter Squash 13 of 15This inexpensive, hearty meal is a one-dish winner for feeding a crowd.
Make Pork Chops with Apples and Winter Squash »
Zucchini Green Bean Potato Stew 14 of 15This filling stew is an easy way to bulk up on your veggie intake during the winter.
Make Zucchini Green Bean Potato Stew »
Turkey Noodle Soup 15 of 15Give chicken a pass and make this soul-warming turkey noodle soup, even lower in fat than
its poultry cousin.
Make Turkey Noodle Soup »
Article Posted 7 years Ago


text: I love it, they ***** about everything. Everytime they lose someone did something to make the lose, they never played bad. Everytime they get called on a foul, Sheed and Prince cant belive it and start crying about it to the refs. Finally they get to play a team thats healthy in the playoffs and they are about to get their asses handed to them, and I love it.No more luck for you Pistons.


text:
Editor's Note: The following article is from the Vita Plus Calf Care E-Newsletter, April 27, 2012. In the article, Al Martens, veterinarian with Waupun Veterinary Service, Waupun, Wis., adresses the question: Why is Mycoplasma so difficult to manage and what can I do to control it? Here is his answer:
Mycoplasma bovis is a common problem in calves, contributing to pneumonia, the classic ear infections with dropped ears, and joint infections. Whenever a herd has cows diagnosed with Mycoplasma, the calves are considered to be at-risk too. And, just as important, any time a calf is diagnosed with a positive culture for Mycoplasma, at the very least bulk tank screening should be done because the cows are often the source of the infection in the calf.
The organism is slow growing, taking three to seven days in the lab to identify, but it makes up for this slow growth by producing huge numbers of organisms so that a single drop of milk is a risk to cows milked after an infected cow as well as calves fed raw milk or raw colostrum. That single drop of milk can be on a milker's hands, calf feeding equipment, a fresh cow bucket, or a calf pail, and infect several calves.
The good news is the organism is easy to kill with disinfectants and pasteurization because it lacks a cell wall. The bad news is that many of the antibiotics used to treat bacterial infections work by damaging the bacterial cell wall, so they do nothing to the Mycoplasma organism.
Once calves are infected again, the infection is often slow to express itself, so it may be several weeks before we see the symptoms. Dropped ears is an easy way to diagnose and I assume that any calf with an ear infection has Mycoplasma.
With calf pneumonia, Mycoplasma likes to team up with other bacteria and there is no way to tell what bugs are actually involved in the pneumonia without good samples for a diagnostic lab. That said, I like to use an antibiotic that has a label claim for Mycoplasma when I'm treating calves with respiratory problems. With joint infections, I usually do a joint tap and culture the fluid to identify the cause.
Remember, the best medicine is prevention. Because pasteurization kills Mycoplasma, it is a valuable tool in keeping your calves healthy while they are at risk if they are fed any fresh milk or colostrum.


text:
A POLICE officer who admitted having sex while on duty has been found not guilty of misconduct in a public office.
But PC Lee Haworth told a judge that regardless of the outcome of his four-day trial, his resignation from Lancashire Police was 'in hand'.
The defendant, described by his colleagues as an 'exemplary' officer, had earlier admitted two breaches of the data protection act, for which he received a £700 fine.
His barrister told Liverpool Crown Court: "He embarrassed the force, he let himself down and he let his partner down."
But claimed the rapid response officer was still within the patch, would have been able to respond to any emergencies he was called to and he did not take any other breaks of any sort resulting in spending the smae amount of time on visible patrol.
The PC, from Blackburn, had visited Katrina Ianson-Hughes's house in Oswaldtwistle for sex while on duty on April 5 last year, the court heard.
Prosecutors said the pair met during an investigation into an alleged assault on Miss Ianson-Hughes and had exchanged flirtatious' texts 'of a sexual nature' which involved Haworth's police-issued personal digital assistant (PDA) device.
The dad who was already in a relationship received a 'grade two' call during a visit to the Tennyson Avenue home, the court heard.
Prosecutors said the 39-year-old said he would attend an incident in Rutland Close, Clayton-le-Moors, but despite telling the call handler to mark it on the computer system he was attending, he did not leave Miss Ianson-Hughes's kitchen.
The court heard moments after receiving the call, another officer said they would also go to the incident.
GPS records for Haworth's police car showed that the car was parked outside her home for about an hour, prosecutors said.
Shortly after there was then a call to a 'grade one' emergency, which Haworth did not volunteer to help at even though the call handler had to speak to a sergeant to rearrange patrols because they were 'struggling for back up', a judge was told.
Haworth told the court he thought there was no need for him to volunteer.
Finally, prosecutors alleged he did not respond immediately to a call for concern about an elderly man in Monk Street, Accrington.
The jury heard evidence from call handlers who said that night was a 'reasonably quiet' Friday and that all demands were met by other police officers.
Haworth also told the judge that while he was having sex with Miss Ianson-Hughes he kept his radio on and had been listening to it in case he might be needed.
Nick Clarke, QC, for the defendant, said: "He was not on visible patrol, it was said, whilst he was at Katrina's, but he was still there within the patrol area and he would have been able to respond to any emergency that he was in fact called to.
"He was not asked to go. If he had have been, there would have been no problems. She would have understood.
"The reality is he was on duty for that shift. He did not take a meal break or break of any sort.
"The total time he was out on visible patrol was the same as anybody else."
Haworth had admitted he was 'in dereliction of his duty', but denied it crossed the threshold for the jury to find him guilty of misconduct.
Mr Clarke said: "There is no doubt Lee Haworth admits that he was in dereliction of his duty when he was visiting Katrina Ianson-Hughes whilst he was on duty.
"He behaved that night in a way which was an embarrassment to the police force."
Before the jury retired to consider its verdict, Mr Clarke reminded the seven men and five women that the case was a criminal trial and not a 'court of morals'.
Mr Clarke added: "It is a shameful incident for him, but he is not to be condemned just for that."
The data protection breaches, include accessing logs for information about a personal matter and sending a copy of a log praising his work to his then partner Annie Heggarty without blanking out the name and address of a suspect.
Sentencing Haworth, Mr Justice Holroyde told him: "The punishment you have brought upon yourself is a heavy one.
"It is serious to misuse the police computer and any police officer who does so should expect to be punished for it.
"There is an obvious need for the confidentiality of the personal data.
"There is a clear obligation on any police officer to use the computer system for legitimate reasons. The serious aspect of these two offences is that it shows a rather cavalier attitude to that important obligation."
Haworth, who refused to comment as he left court, was told he must also pay £500 prosecution costs and a £70 victim surcharge.
Mr Clarke told the judge his client had been treated for depression and that after his medication was increased to the maximum level available, matters 'came to a head' last week.
He said: "Financially, he will lose his income. He will have frozen that part pension to which otherwise he would have been entitled.
"In the short term, his life is uncertain."
Speaking after the hearing, a Lancashire Police spokesman said: "We acknowledge the guilty pleas which have been entered for the data protection act offences and we thank the jury for giving all of these matters their due consideration.
"A decision will now be made as to whether any further disciplinary proceedings are appropriate given all the circumstances."


text: About 3 years ago I completely revamped my drive using the right pec drill with putters and mids. I started getting teebirds past 400 and mids in the 350s and then switched focus to other aspects of the game. After watching these videos in slomo, I'm starting to think some more right pec drills would be beneficial but I'd like to hear any other thoughts the experts might have. FYI, these drives were in the 360-380 range but once the camera stopped rolling, I hit some better distance including teebird get out to about 420'.


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Elizabeth Davis
An Interview with Heather Long
© 2006 Midwifery Today, Inc. All rights reserved.
[Editor's note: This article first appeared in Midwifery Today Issue 77, Spring 2006.]
[Photo by Jennifer Rosenberg]
Elizabeth Davis
Elizabeth Davis was thrilled to be pregnant at the age of 20. It was 1972. She read the only two books she could find on the subject: Lester D. Hazel's Commonsense Childbirth, and Thank You, Dr. Lamaze, Marjorie Karmel's best-selling book that introduced the Lamaze method of childbirth to the US. These books were enough to convince her that she wanted a homebirth, but she couldn't find a midwife. She got a copy of Emergency Childbirth (by Gregory J. White, MD), which was what the do-it-yourselfers used then, and started gathering supplies, not entirely sure what she was going to do with them. When she was five months pregnant, a woman whom Elizabeth had only recently met invited her to attend the birth of her third child. The woman intended to give up the baby for adoption to a friend who couldn't have children.
"I witnessed this birth in a milk shed with a woman demonstrating more power and beauty and strength than I had ever seen. And, to top it off, she handed the baby directly to the adoptive mother who put it to her breast. That took an amazing amount of restraint on the part of the birthing mother and it just blew my circuits. I'd never seen anything like it, and I immediately did as other women of my era did and asked her to be my midwife."
However, when Elizabeth went into labor a month early her midwife was not in town. She had to make a decision: stay home and attempt the birth unassisted and with very limited knowledge, or go to the hospital where she would be literally tied to her birth bed. Concerned with her baby's prematurity, she chose to birth in the hospital. It was worse than she imagined it would be. She was given a lateral episiotomy, and her son was immediately taken from her to be scrubbed and processed. Although the birth itself was joyous and later she was able to breastfeed and bond with her son, the experience, she says, left her damaged. Elizabeth looks back on that decision as an intersection of her life and fate. She realized that in order to grow into a powerful woman, a confident person, she would need to transform painful aspects of that experience into growth on her path. She didn't know yet that her path was midwifery.
Elizabeth recalls the homebirth of her second child, a daughter, as a "beautiful, empowering, ecstatic, exquisite, orgasmic" experience. She was determined that, no matter what happened, she was not going to the hospital. "My midwives were very low-key. They stayed in the living room. They let me do my thing." What was so powerful about this birth experience was that she didn't take direction. "I really birthed from the inside out. I birthed according to every subtle nuance inside my vagina."
Today, Elizabeth Davis is a renowned expert on women's issues. She has been a midwife, women's health care specialist, educator and consultant for over 25 years. She also is the author of the classic Heart and Hands: A Midwife's Guide to Pregnancy and Birth. The book is an excellent and thorough resource for parents-to-be who are thinking about birthing their child with a midwife, or who are concerned about the medical establishment's over-control of birth. It's the sort of book that Elizabeth had searched for all those years ago. Elizabeth says that her recent updating of the book (for the fourth edition) reflects some of her own changing attitudes toward midwifery. "There were areas in the book where I recognized [that] in the early renaissance of midwifery, we really did tend to overdo it a little with the perineal massage and the internal exams." Elizabeth says when she first came to midwifery, "there were no midwives except those who were self-starting. There were no schools or ways to be trained to be a midwife. As a result, midwifery was often in reaction to what the medical community practiced." They made women lie down; midwives told them to squat. They ignored the perineum; midwives felt like they had to do more to support the mother through massage and compresses. "Now that we understand the physiology of birth, we know how to witness signs of progress without making excessive physical assessments."
The book also has been updated with new information on Group B Strep (GBS) and opportunistic infections, VBAC (single layer vs. double layer closures) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) guidelines, as well as revised forms and a new, extensive section on postpartum depression. "I got to use Anne Frye's manuscript of Holistic Midwifery, Volume II, to update the whole thing, which was a great blessing. Her book is remarkable," says Elizabeth.
Feedback on the revised Heart and Hands has been positive. "The central message of the book hasn't changed, but I did a dramatic revision—I basically rewrote it from start to finish." The idea that birth is a natural event and that a woman knows how to birth is the essence of Elizabeth's message. In an excerpt from Heart and Hands, she says, "What makes midwifery so desirable to women? Simply put, midwifery promotes well-being. It is an art of service, in that the midwife recognizes, responds to and cooperates with natural forces. In this sense, midwifery is ecologically attuned, involving the wise utilization of resources and respect for the balance of nature."
Elizabeth's second book, Women's Sexual Passages, reaches out to women who wouldn't necessarily pick up a book on midwifery. Sexuality is presented as an expression of how we feel from decade to decade. "Each stage [of a woman's life] has its integrity and its importance, and it's perfect," says Elizabeth. "I want women to embrace all of what it means to be a woman." Women's Sexual Passages also contains a lengthy section on the sexuality of pregnancy and birth. She intentionally used the subject of the book to share the midwifery model and show the truth of what birth is really like. She also confided that she had trouble getting the book published because it didn't fit into a specific category—sexuality, psychology or women's health. "And that's the point," said Elizabeth. "The point is the integration of all these aspects of what we are."
Her third book, The Circle of Life: Thirteen Archetypes for Every Woman, written with midwife Carol Leonard, focuses on the psychological development of women with the hinge pins being the blood mysteries of menarche, birth and menopause. This book also fills out what women are in the second half of life. "I worked on this book when I was 45, stepping out of my nurturing years and really curious to know what was next. I didn't have a clear vision of what was coming for me." Leonard and Davis relied on interviews to gain a clearer picture of women as they age. "When we wrote the book, Carol and I were too young to articulate the stages beyond our own years. So we interviewed older women, who would look at the stages and go, 'Oh, yeah, I'm there,' and we'd say, 'Well, tell us about it. We're not there yet. We want to know.'"
Elizabeth believes this wanting to know is natural to women's ways of learning. Women want to see the bigger picture, to know how one stage fits with the next, what changes to expect and how to respond to those changes. This is the context around which she has built her midwifery program. Elizabeth is the co-director (with partner Shannon Anton) of the National Midwifery Institute, Inc. (NMI), a three-year, MEAC-accredited program that prepares midwives using the apprenticeship model. In studying educational theory, she found that most educational systems are built on the male model, or what she calls the "brick layer" approach, which puts together separate chunks of information that build and build to the "gold star" on top. When designing her education program, Elizabeth thought purposefully about how women learn. "Women use both hemispheres of their brains all the time. They multi-task. If a woman has a question or a concern, she will factor in as much as possible, deliberately soliciting conflicting viewpoints to see the matter from as many angles as she can before moving to the center for solution."
Heart and Hands is the beginning component of the curriculum, which starts with an integrated overview of midwifery at a basic and very practical level. "For example, when we touch on preeclampsia, we focus on how to recognize it and how to respond, not every detail of what causes it," Elizabeth explains. Once a student midwife has covered the general information surrounding childbirth and midwifery, the next step is topical coursework. The student now takes an entire section on preeclampsia and learns the finer details of this syndrome. This second portion of the NMI course work (taught by Shannon) has 52 modules, which students can take in any order that they find interesting. "This upholds our philosophy of education based on women's ways of knowing, as women want to know the context before applying themselves to the details. They want to know why they need to know. Ideally, a student will do these modules according to current issues in her apprenticeship." The program also supports a feedback system in which the senior midwife and student share their thoughts on births they attend and formulate together the student's next clinical challenges.
Elizabeth stresses the importance of sharing birth stories in one's personal life as well. She says that after 13 years in one of her women's groups, only now are the details of birth stories coming out. She encourages women to reach out to one another. Put up a notice at the neighborhood laundromat or YWCA that says, "Want to share your birth story? Let's get together for a potluck at_______." Or form a breastfeeding group, or create a support network for yourself and other menopausal women. When you hear a woman's story, Elizabeth says, encourage her to listen to someone else's story.
Elizabeth also noted the success of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues, the hit Broadway play that celebrates female sexuality in all its complexity and mystery. "This is something that grew from grassroots storytelling, and now is part of our national consciousness." Along these lines, Elizabeth pictures a production about childbirth that wouldn't just be about birth itself, but all the planning and care that comes beforehand. She sees a split stage: on one half, a woman in a doctor's office asks a question, this side then goes dark and the other side lights up to show a woman talking with her midwife in her own living room. The audience sees that all these seemingly tiny interactions truly affect the final birth outcome and how the mother connects to her child. "How do we get this message out there? Midwifery is full of social and political elements. It needs to be brought to the forefront."
"We're in a culture that would rather women didn't go wild," says Elizabeth. "Our cultural response to women in any of the blood mystery passages is medication, subjugation and operation. We have Prozac for PMS, myriad medications for childbirth and only now is hormone replacement therapy for menopause disappearing." The operation part of what Elizabeth calls "the taming process" is surgery in the form of plastic surgery, episiotomy, caesarean section and hysterectomy. "In each of these beautiful, powerful passages, women have to find strength to go through them naturally, to really learn the lessons so that they are changed on the other side. My real mission is to expand the midwifery model to take care of women throughout the life cycle and to popularize a whole woman view."
"Midwifery is part of an international movement for women and children," says Elizabeth. Women's Sexual Passages and The Circle of Life were intended "to help women awaken to their beauty sooner, to help them empower their daughters and to love themselves no matter what age they are."
Throughout the changes of her life, a woman can become powerful and fully able to inhabit her place in the world. For example, imagine a woman birthing a baby girl with joy and confidence, and this girl later birthing in the same way. Elizabeth's daughter recently chose a waterbirth at home, and Elizabeth was there to catch her first grandchild.
Now imagine our world if more women passed on that faith in their own power.
Heather Long lives in beautiful Fall Creek, Oregon, with her husband and her daughter, who was born about a year following this interview.
If you enjoyed this article, you'll enjoy Midwifery Today magazine! Subscribe now!


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Blessings Gentle Reader and welcome to another post designed to inspire and encourage you to reach for gold. ====================================================================================== Have you noticed when you are on a roll, you feel alive and energised? You are happy to stretch outside your comfort zone and embrace new technologies and ways of being. When you are been challenged […]
About Ntathu Allen
Yoga Teacher, Blogger and mum to three bubbly teens, I aspire to support, educate and encourage busy mums and working women to weave moments of calm into their hectic schedule.
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Species Profile
Slender Woolly-heads
Scientific Name: Psilocarphus tenellus var. tenellus
Other/Previous Names: Slender Wooly-heads
Taxonomy Group: Vascular Plants
Range: British Columbia
Last COSEWIC Assessment: April 1996
Last COSEWIC Designation: Not at Risk
SARA Status: No Schedule, No Status
Quick Links: | National Recovery Program | Documents
Image of Slender Woolly-heads
PLEASE NOTE: Not all COSEWIC reports are currently available on the SARA Public Registry. Most of the reports not yet available are status reports for species assessed by COSEWIC prior to May 2002. Other COSEWIC reports not yet available may include those species assessed as Extinct, Data Deficient or Not at Risk. In the meantime, they are available on request from the COSEWIC Secretariat.
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WATSONVILLE -- Aiming to avoid a repeat of last winter's flooding at Pajaro Dunes and in nearby fields, Santa Cruz County officials are keeping a close watch on the lagoon at the Pajaro River mouth.
Wednesday, county Public Works staged heavy equipment at Palm Beach at the end of Beach Road to be ready to breach a sandbar that blocks the river from draining into the Monterey Bay.
"From there we can move very quickly," said Bruce Leclergue, county flood control manager.
The sandbar forms annually, blocking the river and Watsonville Slough from draining into the Monterey Bay. If the river is unable to break, water backs up into the lagoon at the end of Watsonville Slough, eventually causing flooding.
The county can breach the sandbar, but only if state and federal permit conditions aimed at protecting marine life are met. First, water in the lagoon must rise above 4 feet, and second, rain must be on the way. Late Wednesday morning, Leclergue said the water remained about a foot below the required levels.
"We don't have conditions representing an emergency for public health or safety, but rain is in the forecast," he said. "If we get any indication it's moving that way, then we'll move."
Though the lagoon is high and ditches along Beach Road brimming, Wednesday's storm fell heavier on the northern end of the county, dropping little rain in the Watsonville area.
Still, at Pajaro Dunes, Carol Turley, manager of the homeowners association, wants to see action sooner rather than later.
In January, water flowed through the grounds of the condo complex and across Beach and Shell roads before the county finally stepped in. By then, brackish water had flowed three miles up Watsonville Slough and contaminated cropland and irrigation water with plant-killing salt.
Turley worries the county will hold off until the next storm rolls in and crews can't safely work.
"(January) was pretty bad," she said. "We're hoping that the county will act before it's too late."
Leclergue acknowledged last winter's flooding put public works "under a microscope." But he said an unusual set of circumstances created the problem, including big waves that surged over the berm and into the lagoon and mild weather that didn't allow the river to gain the strength during storms to punch through the sandbar.
He's said Wednesday's full moon should bring tidal swings that, along with a little pressure from a rain-swollen river, could cause the sandbar to collapse naturally.
"That's the best of all possible worlds," Leclergue said.
Follow Sentinel reporter Donna Jones on Twitter at Twitter.com/DonnaJonesSCS


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ONTARIO — The Inland Empire Walk to End Alzheimer's in Ontario broke the fundraising record with nearly $200,000 to fight Alzheimer's disease in October.
More than 1,600 Alzheimer's Association supporters from across San Bernardino and Riverside counties set the record with more than $199,700 raised for Alzheimer's disease care, support and research. The 2011 walk raised just over $150,000.
Pauline's Angels from Rancho Cucamonga was the top family team for the fourth year, led by Sarah McCutcheon, who walked in honor of her grandmother, Pauline. The team raised $14,225.
El Monte resident Alberto Villalobos of Team Tita was the top individual fundraiser for the second year by raising $4,890. Terry Jeffers of Right at Home in Rancho Cucamonga and Julie Savage of Emeritus at Villa de Anza in Jurupa Valley were the second- and third-place individual fundraisers.
Information: 800-272-3900


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I decided today to have a read of the Vinaya, and so far it has been an illuminating window into the monastic way of life. I came across a rule that I cannot as yet see the value of, and I was wondering if comeone could please explain to me why it is an offense entailing confession:
Bhikkhu Pāṭimokkha wrote:Pācittiya: Rules entailing confession
Part One: The Lie Chapter ...
...4. Should any bhikkhu have an unordained person recite Dhamma line by line (with him), it is to be confessed.
What exactly is meant by 'reciting Dhamma line by line', and if I may ask, why is it considered an offense? If such recitation was for the purpose of instructing the unordained person in dhamma, would that still be considered an offense, or would it be ok?
Thanks in advance


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Mentors Key to Student's Physics Research
When she was a junior in high school, Terri Poxon-Pearson, BS physics '13, almost dropped her physics class. Twice.
"Things I thought were really basic were much more complicated, and I really like figuring out things that I can't understand," she says. "So I kept working at it, and at a certain point it just clicked. It didn't get easier; I just found joy in figuring it out."
Poxon-Pearson is currently working on her AU capstone in nuclear physics at the University of Maryland, following an intensive summer research project through a National Science Foundation program at the University of Notre Dame.
For 10 weeks, she worked closely with an advisor, a nuclear astrophysicist, studying a certain kind of nuclear reaction that occurs inside stars. "In order for atoms to fuse, they have to get really close together," she explains. "Because all the protons repel each other, you have to smash them together really fast. This [creates] a lot of energy. Although stars are really hot, these reactions don't actually happen that often. It's really hard to measure how often it happens because it's so rare."
The research focused on this type of carbon fusion because it could be the reaction that fuels the weak s-process, a nuclear process in stars responsible for creating many heavy elements.
Among the many learning experiences afforded her through the program, Poxon-Pearson had the opportunity to run the particle accelerator at Notre Dame to measure the rate of this carbon reaction.
She presented her research at the fall 2012 meeting of the American Physical Society Division of Nuclear Physics in California.
At the University of Maryland, Poxon-Pearson is working with physics professor Carter Hall to identify a rare nuclear reaction, which, if found, would challenge the current understanding of particle physics. (The reaction is so rare that there can be almost no radioactive background in the detector.)
She is conducting research to determine whether Cobalt-60 is a significant possible source of background radioactivity. Materials in these experiments are selected for their natural low radioactivity. The detector she worked with was mostly made of copper.
"The particular copper was extracted and then machined in France," she says. "The copper spent 20 days at sea level while it was rolled and processed and then 45 days at sea level while it traveled by boat between France and the U.S.
In that time, something remarkable happens: the low background material that left France is now more radioactive. This is because at sea level, without hundreds of feet of shielding, cosmic rays are constantly bombarding the material. Some of these rays react with the copper, and Cobalt-60, a radioactive material, is formed."
Poxon-Pearson says her research experience has taught her that "you learn as you go. You don't necessarily know what you're doing all the time, but there are people there to help you learn as you're doing it."
It's also given her a direction and defined her passion for particle physics. She would like to land a job with a large research component. "I have caught the research bug," she admits.
What she loves most about research is when all of the hard work comes together. A researcher can do a lot of work, she says, before really understanding what the work means. "At a certain point, it all begins to fit together and you can really understand why you are doing whatever it is you are doing," she says. "It is a rewarding feeling."
AU physics professor Ulysses J. Sofia, who mentored Poxon-Pearson in the past, also sees research in her future. "I would be surprised if Terri didn't end up in a job where research plays a significant role," he says. "She's a natural."
The two worked together on a project to calibrate data for a French satellite that observes the sun to study its effects on global climate change. "The breadth of Terri's research experiences to date is exceptional," Sofia says. "It's extremely rare in physics for an undergraduate student to work on three different projects with three different mentors who are at three different universities."


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Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, (born 28 May 1968), is an Australian pop singer, songwriter, and actress. Minogue has achieved worldwide record sales of more than 60 million, and has received notable music awards, including multiple ARIA and Brit Awards and a Grammy Award. She was awarded the Order of the British Empire "for services to music", and an Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2008.
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Quick Links
Ohio Cobra Insurance Resource
State Insurance Department Information:
Ohio insurance department documents and articles of interest:
The Federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) allows retiring employees, or those who lose coverage due to quitting a job or reduced work hours, to continue group coverage for a limited period of time. This also applies to their dependents who lose coverage because of divorce or legal separation; death of the covered employee; the covered employee qualifying for Medicare; or a loss of dependent status under the health plan's provisions. COBRA applies only to employers with 20 or more employees.
If you work for an employer that has over 20 full-time employees: Then federal COBRA law applies, go to COBRA summary
If you work for an employer that has under 20 full-time employees: If your employer has less than 20 employees, you will fall under Ohio continuation state law.
Continuation if you are laid off by a "small" employer:
Ohio State Insurance Department Contact Information:
Ohio Department of Insurance
2100 Stella Court Columbus, Ohio 43215
Consumer Hotline: 1-800-686-1526
Important Disclaimer: COBRA is a law (It is not an endorsed insurance plan or company). Answers and comments provided on Cobrahealthinsurance .com website are general information, and are not intended to substitute for informed professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, tax, legal, investment, accounting, governmental, or other professional advice. Cobrahealthinsurance .com does not endorse, and expressly disclaims liability for any product, manufacturer, distributor, service, health plan, or service provider mentioned or any opinion expressed in the website. Replies, comments, or information gathered on Cobrahealthinsurance .com website may not be accurate but are intended to be helpful. Health and life insurance company directory.
Copyright ©2006 SASid Inc. All rights reserved.


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Category: baby name Lazarus
Last week we brought you our selection of rare girls' names destined for stardom; now we bring you our pick of unusual boys' names ready to climb the popularity ladder.These are names given to fewer than 100 boys last year in the U.S. But in Nameberry's analytics, we see them drawing twice as much attention as other names.What that means: No matter how unusual these names are by the numbers, they're attracting considerable buzz. And that's bound to translate over the coming years into usage for a lot more babies.
As with the girls' names, these names share much beyond their potential popularity. Most are ancient names, slumbering for centuries. While they hail from a range of cultures, a quorum are rooted in Ancient Rome or mythology. And as has been the trend with boys' names, how they end — in n, r, us, or o — seems to be more important to their fashion status than their first initial.
Here, 9 unusual boys' names we see ready to pop.
Post Categories:


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Upper Compression
Top Pocket
Top Load Access
Stretch Mesh Front Pocket
Sleeping Pad Straps
Side Pockets with InsideOut™ Compression
Integrated Raincover
Daisy Chain
Although designed for youth, this pack has the same award-winning LightWire™ suspension as Osprey's adult models. The mesh back panel and shoulder harness ensure all-day comfort.
The lid of this top-loading pack is removable for quick forays from camp. There are two zippered compartments in the top lid to keep sundries organized.
Two additional mesh side pockets and a front mesh pocket add more quick storage options. A separate sleeping bag compartment at the bottom of the main compartment provides security and compression for this bulky but critical item. Additional compression and gear storage options come with upper and lower side straps. A sewn daisy chain, an adjustable ice tool or fishing rod loop, and zippered hip belt pockets make this pack a truly trail worthy companion. And with the torso length adjustable up to 5", this pack will last your child for many years of outdoors adventure.
Key Attributes
Torso Adjustment
This pack offers the maximum in torso adjustment so the pack can grow with the user. The upper back panel and harness adjust up to 5" (13cm) along the peripheral LightWire™ frame for optimum load transfer and a fine-tuned fit.
An integrated and removable raincover protects your gear from foul weather. It stows away in its own external pocket at the bottom of the pack.
Additional Features
- Top load access to main compartment is simple and easy
- Zippered under-lid pocket for sundries
- Upper side-release buckle compression straps to quickly adjust the load
- Daisy chain for additional gear
- Lower InsideOut™ side compression straps add stability
- Dual stretch mesh side pockets for easy access to snacks or water bottles
- Lower zippered sleeping bag compartment with divider keeps bag compressed and secure
- Large stretch mesh front pocket for quick storage
- Sleeping pad straps save space inside pack
- Integrated rain cover keeps gear dry
- Zippered top lid pocket keeps small items handy
- Internal reservoir sleeve for hydration
- Removable floating top lid adds packing versatility
- Zippered hip belt pockets secures camera or snacks
- Internal compression strap provides load stability
- Adjustable ice tool or fishing rod loop for extra fun
Carry Information
Lightwire™ Frame/HDPE Framesheet Suspension
- LightWire™ frame and 1.2mm HDPE frame sheet
Airscape Backpanel
- Mesh covered ridged foam
Spacermesh Harness
- Adjustable seamless spacer mesh harness
Spacermesh Hipbelt
- Fit-on-the-fly™ adjustable hipbelt (75l / 50l)
- Fixed spacermesh hipbelt (38l)
|3051 in3 / 50 l
|26h x 13w x 12d in.
|2.95 lbs.
|3051 in3 / 50 l
|67h x 33w x 30d cm
|1.34 kg
- Main
- 210D Nylon Double Diamond Ripstop
- Accent
- 420HD Nylon Packcloth
- Bottom
- 420HD Nylon Packcloth
REVIEW SNAPSHOT®by PowerReviews
Reviewed by 1 customer
- Affordable
- Comfortable
- Easy To Load
- Highly Adjustable
- Large Capacity
- Lightweight
Best Uses
- Extended Hikes
- Heavy Loads
- Travel
- Wet Weather
Comments about Osprey ACE 50:
At the time of my trip I was 5'3 and 125 lbs. I have a very short torso and finding a fitting pack is difficult. I went on a week long solo canoe trip in Algonquin park using this pack. Although not as advanced or designed for a specific activity, this is a solid, simple pack. It has held up extremely well and is very adjustable.
- What Is Your Gear Style:
- Minimalist
- Was this a gift?:
- No


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Wednesday September 21, 2005 8:05 pm
PowerSquid Outlet Multiplier
Posted by Edwin Soto Categories: Accessories, Household
The PowerSquid Outlet Multiplier can be viewed as both geeky and creepy. Its design looks like some perverted alien hand, yet the functionality is brilliant. We are all for making life easier in any way possible, and while this may not be the most beautiful design, it definitely gets the job done. For $14.99 you get 5 grounded extensions that combine into one plug. Why? Don't you have power adapters bigger than life that reside in the same room?
Read More | ThinkGeek
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