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New at the Trials
With the introduction of so many new and unique poinsettia cultivars, it has become impractical for a grower to evaluate them all. In conjunction with the breeding companies, we organized these trials several years ago to screen the new introductions and help growers in selecting the ones they will evaluate for their own production. Every poinsettia cultivar is different and performs better in some climates and production situations than in others.
A common question we receive is "which cultivar shouldI grow." The answer to that question is complex, and eventually, only theindividual grower can make that decision. Some cultivars are relatively easy togrow and may be better for larger production operations. Other cultivars may bemore difficult to produce but have strong desirable traits in the retailmarket. Therefore, they are better for growers who can pay individual attentionto each cultivar's particular characteristics. Other important factorsfor many growers are timing and handling. Some growers need later-finishingcultivars for a later market and others do not. Some growers like cultivarsthat can be finished early and held cool until shipped. In other situations,growers want cultivars that finish in sequence to ship at different times.
We visit each other's trials and trials at otherlocations in the United States and Canada each year. The information from thesetrials is compiled to produce these articles. We are putting emphasis on thenewest cultivars, and detailed descriptions are included here. In accompanyingpieces, we have provided a list of recommended cultivars for differentclimates, page 10, and our selections of the best cultivars from thisfall's trial, page 24. Next month, we will provide the results of consumersurveys conducted at the University of Florida and Purdue University. We alsodirect readers to our Web site, www.poinsettiatrial.org, where additional andmore detailed trial information on all of the cultivars can be found.
Red Cultivars
'1-99' (previously labeled Thanksgiving Redin some trials). 1-99 is anearly-flowering plant for upscale markets. Bracts are large, smooth and heldup. Branch strength is good, but it is more susceptible to Botrytis and BractEdge Burn than most other dark-leaf cultivars. Growth habit and appearance aresimilar to 'Red Velvet'. At the time of this writing, the cultivarhad not been given a name. Ecke.
'Christmas Dream'. Christmas Dream has the potential to be a good cultivar, and we needto see it in wider production. It finishes early and has an average amount ofvigor. The large, dark red bracts are held up above the foliage, giving theappearance of a nice uniform plant. (Not pictured.) Selecta Klemm.
'Eternity Red' (previously labeled Rebel Redin some trials). Eternity made our Best ofthe Trials list. It is important because it offers a nice bract presentation ina slightly vigorous, early cultivar. It should make a nice upscale plant. Dummen.
'Gala Red'.Gala Red is a good, new dark-leaf cultivar with considerable promise. Itfinishes early and has a compact growth habit. The bracts are bright red andare held up above the foliage. This gives it a slightly different appearancethan most other early cultivars, and consumers gave it one of the higher rankingsamong red cultivars. We need to learn more about this cultivar. (Not pictured.) Oglevee.
'Premium Red'. The general appearance of Premium is similar to 'FreedomRed' in terms of its bract color and shape and its dark greenleaves. However, Premium is lessvigorous than Freedom, as can be seen in the data from the three trial sites. Dummen.
'Red Diamond'. Red Diamond is important because it adds a good dark-leaf cultivar tothe late market. It is upright and will make a nice upscale plant. In warm climates,the bracts may roll down at the edges. It may need a little more growthregulator because of the late finish time. Fischer.
'Redberry Punch'. Along with 'Champagne Punch', 'SnowberryPunch' and 'Strawberry Punch', Redberry Punch is new tocomplement 'Cranberry Punch'. Redberry is slightly less vigorousthan Cranberry. The punch cultivars have good upright branches and greater thanaverage vigor. They have excellent postharvest performance. Redberry probablyhas the best color. Ecke.
'Winterfest Red'. Along with Winterfest Pink, also new this year, Winterfest Red is anew dark-leaf cultivar. It performs much better in cooler climates than in warmclimates. In cool climates, it has medium vigor and timing is midseason. Inwarm climates, it is more vigorous and finishes later. Oglevee.
Rose Cultivars
'Champagne Punch'. Along with Snowberry Punch, Redberry Punch and Strawberry Punch,Champagne is new to complement Cranberry Punch. The growth habit, appearanceand timing generally fit with Cranberry. The punch cultivars have goodupright branches andgreater-than-average vigor. They have excellent postharvest performance. Ecke.
White Cultivars
'Festival White'. Along with 'Festival Pink', Festival White adds color thathas been needed to complement 'Festival Red'. Its growth habit andtiming are similar to Festival Red, and like most dark-green leaf cultivars, itdoes not have strong bract color. Oglevee.
'Snowberry Punch'. Along with Champagne Punch, Redberry Punch and Strawberry Punch,Snowberry is new to complement Cranberry Punch. The growth habit, appearanceand timing generally fit with Cranberry. The punch cultivars have good uprightbranches and greater-than-average vigor. They have excellent postharvestperformance. Ecke.
Coral Cultivars
'Freedom Coral'. The Freedom family has two groups of cultivars: those like Freedom Redand those like 'Bright Red Freedom'. Bright Red is less vigorousand has smaller leaves and bracts than Freedom Red. Additionally, the bractsare held up on Bright Red, and it finishes a little later than Freedom Red.Freedom Coral is a new color in the Freedom family that is similar to BrightRed Freedom. It will be most useful in specialty markets where designer colorsare desired. Ecke.
Pink Cultivars
'Festival Pink'. Along with Festival White, Festival Pink adds color that has beenneeded to complement Festival Red. Its growth habit and timing are similar toFestival Red, and like most dark-green leaf cultivars, it does not have strongbract color. Oglevee.
'Freedom Bright Pink'. The Freedom family has two groups of cultivars:those like Freedom Red and those like Bright Red Freedom. Bright Red is lessvigorous and has smaller leaves and bracts than Freedom Red. Additionally, thebracts are held up on Bright Red and it finishes a little later than FreedomRed. Bright Pink is new in the Freedom family and is similar to Bright Red. Itwill be useful in markets where designer colors are needed. (Not Pictured.) Ecke.
'Malibu Pink'. This is an improved pink that fits the Malibu series well. Dummen.
'Strawberry Punch'. Along with Champagne Punch, Snowberry Punch and Redberry Punch,Strawberry is new to complement Cranberry Punch. The growth habit, appearanceand timing generally fit with Cranberry. The punch cultivars have good, uprightbranches and greater than average vigor. They have excellent postharvestperformance. Ecke.
'Winterfest Pink'. Along with Winterfest Red, Winterfest Pink is a new dark-green leafcultivar in the Winterfest family. It performs much better in cooler climatesthan in warm climates. In cool climates, it has medium vigor and timing ismidseason. In warm climates, it is more vigorous and finishes later. Oglevee.
Jingle Bells Cultivars
'Sonora White Glitter'. This is an important addition to the jingle belltypes and is on our Best of the Trials list. It has very strong appeal withconsumers. This is a Sonora and has Sonora characteristics. It will finish inlate midseason. Also, it will have a tendency for the bracts to expand down intothe leaves. So, for upscale markets, the appearance will be improved by pullingthe bracts up to the top (fluffing). Fischer. Á
Novelty Red Cultivars
'32-2000′.This is a novelty red that made our Best of the Trials list, where there is adetailed description. It should become an important cultivar and has potentialfor both chain store and independent retail markets. At the time of thiswriting, the cultivar had not been given a name. (Not pictured.) Ecke.
'Freedom Fireworks'. Fireworks is similar to Freedom Red, but the bractcolor is slightly brighter than Freedom Red. Fireworks' distinguishingcharacteristic is the narrow, pointed bracts that are supposed to resembleflames of fire. Fireworks made our Best of the Trials list because it addsdiversity to the early red cultivars. Ecke.
'Jester Red'. The unique Jester series now has a Red to go with 'JesterJingle'. The plants are very upright with a fewer-than-average number oflaterals. The bracts are long and pointed and are held slightly upright, whichmakes the plant resemble a jester's hat. It can be produced in manydifferent formats and would best be used as a novelty. Timing is early, and ithas medium vigor. Ecke.
Novelty Cultivars
'Avant Garde' (previously labeled J-57 insome trials). This is a novelty, marbletype that has similar appearance to 'Strawberries 'N Cream'.The appearance of these two cultivars is so different from other poinsettiasthat it is interesting two of them are being introduced in the same year. AvantGarde has more vigor and will make a larger plant easier than will Strawberries'N Cream. Dummen.
'Cortez Burgundy'. This is a new and exciting color that is appealing to consumers. Itis on our Best of the Trials list, where there is a discussion of it. It isimportant to recognize the characteristics of this cultivar to be successfulwith it. Fischer.
'Da Vinci'.Da Vinci should allow growers to go back to producing peppermint-typepoinsettias for the early market. It finishes a little ahead of Freedom Red andis slightly less vigorous. Consumers rated Da Vinci higher than the other earlypeppermint types, and it is on our Best of the Trials list. Not pictured Fischer.
'Strawberries 'N Cream'. As noted above, Strawberries 'N Cream andAvant Garde have the same general appearance. Strawberries 'N Cream hasvery low vigor and should be used in smaller formats. Strawberries 'NCream made our Best of the Trials list because of the high consumer ratings. Itwill be a good novelty plant. (Pictured on page 16.) Ecke.
'Winter Rose Deep Pink'. This is the newest addition to the importantWinter Rose family. The growth habit of Deep Pink is similar to Dark Red, andthey should be grown the same. It is important to avoid over watering,especially early. Also, try to use very little PGR; PGR used should be appliedearly in the crop. Ecke.
Author's Note: These trials would not be possiblewithout support from the breeders, our technicians, our universities and thepoinsettia growers. Special thanks: Dummen USA, Fischer USA, Selecta KlemmHorticultural Marketing Associates, Oglevee Ltd. and Paul Ecke Ranch. We extendthanks for technical support to Ingram McCall, North Carolina State University;Terri Kirk, Purdue University; and Carolyn Bartuska, University of Florida.


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Santa Cruz police are working with the FBI to find who's responsible for his past weekend's May Day gathering in downtown Santa Cruz that turned violent.
Saturday's incident that left 18 businesses vandalized. Damages are estimated to be in excess of $100,000.
Two people have been arrested. Jimi Hayes, 24, was arrested on suspicion of felony vandalism and parole violation, and Thomas Williams, 41, was arrested on suspicion of public intoxication and obstruction of a public officer. Both men were identified by police as transients.
Police spokesman Zach Friend said the event appears to be the work of an organized group of anarchists that sought to strain city resources.
About 250 people had gathered downtown Saturday night for an international workers' day rally. At about 10:30 p.m., some of the people rallying started smashing storefront windows and painted graffiti in the form of anarchy signs on dozens of businesses on Pacific Avenue.
Santa Cruz police said the combination of fliers directing people downtown, with the words "Dance Party" on them, and bogus 911 calls may have been part of a larger plot.
"We believe this was a direct challenge to us based on our staffing levels," Friend said. "People were aware of how many officers we would have in the area. We believe they were pretty sophisticated and know how to divert these police resources."
One of the men arrested told officers he received anarchist information from SubRosa Café on Pacific Avenue, police told Action News.
Before asking an Action News crew to leave the premises, Jennifer Charles, of SubRosa Café, said that just because one person saw some material at her establishment, it doesn't mean the group organized or had anything to do with what took place Saturday night.
Charles was the spokesperson for the Tree Sitters, a group of protesters who delayed construction on the UC Santa Cruz campus for months between 2007 and 2008, and is now part of the collective at SubRosa Café, a nonprofit under the name, Revolution Garden Society. About 20 to 30 people are part of the collective.
The group's space also houses the Anarchist Lending Library, which features books on anarchy and other reading materials.
"From our perspective, they're operating legally as a business right now within the city of Santa Cruz," Friend said. "The blame doesn't lie within a business, the blame lies with the individuals who committed the acts."
Late Monday afternoon, SubRosa Café reiterated in a post on its Web site that it had nothing to do with Saturday's violence.
"If they're not involved, I'd like to see them help clean some of the glass up, and helping the businesses that were affected," Ryan Coonerty, vice mayor of Santa Cruz, said. "That's the least they could do."
Police said Saturday's protest was not related to earlier, peaceful protests in support of immigrant worker rights.
Video was posted on YouTube that shows a march down Pacific Avenue and police arriving at the scene.
This article originally appeared on KSBW.com.

subset: commoncrawl


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I am attempting to create a little sub program that reads a number rrom
the user then prints if it is odd or even. This is what I have come up with, but it keeps printing the number is odd. Is there anything I can do to change this?
int main ( void )
int n;
cout << "Enter a number: ";
cin >> n;
if (( n % n ) / 2 )
cout << "\nThe number is even" << endl;
cout << "\nThe number is odd" << endl;
cin.get(); // freeze console window
return 0; // indicate program ended sucsessfully


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After 23 years, woman finds birth mother in 15 minutes on FacebookSat May 10, 2014
Paralyzed as a bride, woman sets her sights on becoming a momMon Apr 7, 2014
Chef Grant Achatz starts Twitter debate: Should babies be banned from high-end restaurants?Mon Jan 13, 2014
Going deep V: Amy Adams' plunging neckline returnsSun Jan 12, 2014
'Get me off this plane': Man locked in dark cabin in worst layover everMon Dec 9, 2013
Jamie Lynn Spears covers 'Oops! ... I Did It Again' in nod to BritneyFri Dec 6, 2013
Home invaders torture woman with hot knife, threaten to kill child, 2Sat Nov 9, 2013
What do you do before a double mastectomy? Dance, of courseThu Nov 7, 2013
'A sense of identity': Adult adoptions offer instant roots to a chosen fewThu Nov 7, 2013
'Price Is Right' contestant wigs out, pulls off 'hair' as she makes it to stageWed Nov 6, 2013


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Environment Canada has issued a Special Weather Statement for Halton Hills-Milton at 4 p.m. today forecasting wintery weather on Wednesday.

The statement reads: Precipitation will spread into Southern Ontario overnight through Wednesday morning, associated with an approaching weather system.

For most areas within Southwestern Ontario and the Golden Horseshoe, the precipitation will fall primarily as rain through most of the day on Wednesday. It may, however, begin as a patchy freezing rain for a period in the morning, and locally slippery conditions may develop during the morning commute.

Further north into Central Ontario, the precipitation may begin as snow for a few hours, becoming mixed or changing to freezing rain in some locales, before changing to rain Wednesday afternoon. 5 to 10 cm of snowfall are possible over northern sections.

Additionally, for areas east of Lake Huron, especially in the Huron-Perth and Grey-Bruce regions, rain will change to snow Wednesday night and brisk northwest winds gusting to 60 km/h could produce local blowing snow with low visibilities.

Freezing rain warnings have been issued for regions where the freezing rain is most likely to occur and be prolonged. Please monitor the latest forecasts and warnings from Environment Canada at www.weatheroffice.gc.ca.


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Written on: 21/06/2013
So I wanted to buy some shoes and a new shirt from sports direct, but they didn't have it in stock so told me to go online. I did this, but when I ordered them with amazon payments about 5 minutes after the order confirmation I had to cancel the order because there was a 'problem'. I had enough money in my bank account, so I don't know what their problem was but I won't be buying from there again. As well as this when I went onto my Amazon account the delivery was 'standard' despite me ordering the Saturday deliver, so they planned on cheating me of £4 and making me wait for a least a week, and buy the other reviews probably about a month. I will never buy from there again. Awful shop.


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Artist description:
iluvrmd #2
Flash Draw Created Dec 28, 2010 640 x 460px Unless noted Copyright 2010 ashley_6025.
We encourage you to submit a comment and let the artist know what you think of this drawing. Please log in or join to post a comment.
Post a comment
midnighter_01 Dec 28, 2010
i love RMD too xD
yubytzyca_09 Dec 28, 2010
Page 1


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Altera and Northwest Logic deliver 667-Mbps DDR2 SDRAM interface solution
Post a comment
Altera Corporation and Northwest Logic have announced the immediate availability of a hardware-proven, 667-Mbps DDR2 SDRAM interface for Altera's high-density Stratix II and Stratix II GX FPGAs. This interface combines Altera's auto-calibration DDR2 PHY and Northwest Logic's full-featured DDR2 SDRAM Controller Core to significantly simplify DDR2 SDRAM interface design while maximizing memory throughput.
Altera's DDR2 PHY has been optimized to provide robust performance over process, voltage and temperature variations. It is supported by a complete set of technical documentation, software and tools, intellectual property (IP) cores, demonstration boards, characterization reports and simulation models, all designed to help designers successfully interface Altera FPGAs to DDR2 SDRAM. Customers can contact their sales representative or visit www.altera.com/memory for more information.
Northwest Logic's DDR2 SDRAM Controller Core is part of a family of high-performance, easy-to-use memory controller cores which provide support for double data rate 2 (DDR2), DDR, mobile DDR, single data rate (SDR), mobile SDR SDRAM, and reduced latency DRAM II (RLDRAM II) memories. The DDR2 SDRAM Controller Core provides high bus efficiency using request reordering, bank management and look-ahead processing. Northwest Logic also provides Error Correction Code (ECC), Read-Modify-Write and Multi-Port Front-End add-on modules to further simplify user designs. The core supports the highest memory clock rates, requires a minimal gate count and comes with complete documentation and a verification suite. For more information contact Northwest Logic. Customers can download Northwest Logic's DDR2 SDRAM Controller Core from Altera's IP MegaStore website at www.altera.com/memorycontrollers.
To learn more about Altera's Stratix II FPGAs, visit www.altera.com/stratix2. To learn more about Altera's Stratix II GX FPGAs, visit www.altera.com/stratix2gx. To learn more about Northwest Logic's memory controller cores, visit www.nwlogic.com.


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A Marion County Pastor will take a mission trip to Nicaragua in December as part of "Operation Flip-Flop."
East Dale Elementary School students helped make the mission possible by donating more than 300 pairs of flip-flops to Immaculate Conception Parish.
The church put a message in the church bulletin and said the idea sky-rocketed.
Members of Immaculate Conception Parish donated more than 800 pairs alone.
"A couple of members of the church who worked here as teachers brought that idea with them to work one morning and it just flourished. I thought it was just going to be just part of the church collecting 100 or 200 flip-flops. But I have over 800 right presently at the church. There is another 300 or 400 here at East Dale. Great community service," said Father Walt Jagela, Immaculate Conception Parish.
All of the flip-flops will go to children in Nicaragua.
"They've never seen or they've maybe heard of the people in Nicaragua or the people there," Jagela said. "They've never seen them but they wanted to do something. They wanted to make a difference in the lives of other people. It does my heart good to see that."
Father Jagela said Nicaragua is the poorest country in the western hemisphere.


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This product is no longer available.
You can try these similar gifts instead.
Personalized Butterfly Heart Framed Art Print
Some things are so delicate, so beautiful, and so important. One of those things is the love they share. This framed print is a celebration of the amazing days they've shared, and the time they still have to spend together.


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US Bachelor contestant Ben Flajnik has denied speculation that he is Kris Jenner's new man after photos of the pair were posted online.
"I did Kris' talk show a few months back, brought my wines on the show. Of course I offered her a visit to the winery whenever she had a chance," Flajnik tells Us Weekly. "That's how we met. Recently, she ended up contacting me about a month ago or so and asked me if they could film an episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians at the winery. I of course obliged."
He said he took Jonathan Cheban - a well-known, longtime Kardashian family friend - for the winery visit. "I showed them around Sonoma. Who doesn't want to ride bikes and drink wine? That's where one of those photos were from."
He said he was "surprised" that Kris Jenner, 57 and her husband Bruce had separated.
"I'm kind of caught in a crossfire," he said.
Flajnik, 30, said he is dating a girl for a few months now who is in the wine business.


text: I have a 61 Precision that I've owned for 30+ years. It was once my regular gigging bass, then became my studio bass when I scored a 64 Precision for silly cheap money. Now that I'm no longer playing 5 nights per week (I now go weeks/ months between gigs) the 61 P-bass sits in its case sometimes for 6 months or more between visits. This lack of attention finally caught up with me and the neck has gone out of adjustment. I need a truss rod tweaking, but this is not an ordinary bass. Besides being a 53 year old custom color, 100% original Fender Precision bass, it is the best sounding Precision that I have ever heard (in person - you can't tell how a recorded bass sound came to be - the amp, the studio, the board - who knows how the sound was produced) This bass through a portaflex (without any EQ tricks) is the sound other gear strives for. In a perfect world, or if I was somebody famous, I could call up the Fender custom shop and ask them to take care of business. But that is not an option, so I need a local repairman, but not someone who is the 'go to guy for modern technology' cause this bass ain't got no modern technology. There is a guy back in Boston who I trust with this kind of work, but who is "the guy" in LA for the careful work required with half-cnetury old truss rods? Not to be greedy, but the value of this bass drops in half if something goes wrong during the adjustment. Who is trusted with these real vintage instruments?


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Beverly Ann Harris
Beverly Ann Harris, age 78, passed away Sunday, April 20, 2014, at Jefferson County Health Center in Fairfield, Iowa.
Visitation for family and friends is 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. today, April 23, 2014, at Behner Funeral Home.
A funeral service will be held 11 a.m. Thursday, April 24, 2014, at Behner Funeral Home with Stephen Burns officiating. Following the service the body will be cremated. Burial of cremains will be held at a later date at Garrett Cemetery north of Delta.
Bev was born November 17, 1935, to Jack A. and Genevieve (Garrett) Rockwell in Rose Hill, Iowa. On February 11, 1956, she married James Lee Harris in What Cheer, Iowa.
Bev and Jim lived in the Fairfield area from 1963 – 1980, returning to Fairfield in December 2013. Bev opened Allen Travel Agency in 1966 and was involved in the family business until it closed. Bev's hobbies included bowling, golfing, fishing, traveling, quilting, knitting and crocheting. She continued her crafting hobbies until her last days, providing friends and family many treasured memories.
Bev was very involved in the Fairfield community belonging to various community organizations. She and Jim loved attending the activities of her kids and grandkids.
Bev is survived by her husband, James; three children, Jeffrey L. (Mary) Harris of Marshalltown, Iowa, Kirk Harris of Fairfield and LeAnne Harris of Fairfield; five grandchildren, JoAnne Harris, Benjamin (Chelby) Harris, Jilianne Harris, Jackson Harris and Cody Moran; and one great-grandchild, Jacey Harris.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested memorials be sent to 1705A Linden Drive, Fairfield IA 52556
She was preceded in death by her parents and one infant sister, Linda.
- Paid obituary -


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Fearless Dog Bites Shark [VIDEO]
One pooch recently proved he's alpha dog material by driving away a shark in the waters near One Arm Point, a remote community in western Australia. Good boy!
In a YouTube video featured on 'Today,' the dog can be seen paddling contentedly through the ocean while two sharks lurk beneath the surf. It's difficult to gauge the size of the fish, but they certainly appear to be large. The dog showed no fear, however, and dove beneath the waves to deliver a bite to one of them.
Geyser Erupts From Manhole, Lifts Car Into the Air [VIDEO]
Earlier in the week, a massive storm dumped almost 12 inches of rain in less than hour on Montreal, causing the city's sewer system to swell. In this amateur video shown on 'Today,' a cameraman filmed as a geyser of water blew off a manhole cover and lifted a parked car into the air.
The geyser started slowly at first, lifting the car only inches off the ground. But eventually, a massive torrent of water exploded from the sewer system and hoisted the backend of the vehicle several feet off the ground.
Bride Arrested While Wearing Wedding Dress [VIDEO]
Michigan police were kind enough to help 53-year-old Tammy Lee Hinton with some gratis portraits on her wedding day. Unfortunately, mugshots probably weren't the sort of photos she had in mind.
According to 'The Early Show,' police arrested Hinton last Saturday on a three-year-old warrant for identity theft only moments after her vows.
'Today' Show Finds Monster 2,000-Pound Crocodile [VIDEO]
Fans of Brutus, the monstrous saltwater crocodile, take heart: He's real! Ever since a photograph of the 18-foot-long, 2000-lb. crocodile surfaced earlier this week, some have alleged that it may have been a hoax.
So, an intrepid crew from 'Today' embarked on a tour of the Adelaide River in Australia in search of the massive reptile. Lo and behold, the crew managed to film footage of the approximately 80-year-old animal as it happily munched on buffalo provided by their tour guide. And, disturbingly, Brutus appeared to be every bit as large as the stories said.
Scotty McCreery Previews New Video for 'I Love You This Big' [VIDEO]
It's been a roller coaster ride for Scotty McCreery ever since he won 'American Idol.' And now, the season 10 winner is filming his first-ever video for the single 'I Love You This Big.' McCreery recently spoke to 'Access Hollywood' and gave a preview of the upcoming video, reported PopCrush.
"This is pretty insane. I mean, really. All the hard work that's been put into this and now I'm sitting here doing my first music video. And it's just a really cool thing to finally be here," he said in disbelief.


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Sign In
Save and Track Your Favourite Properties
some of the wonderful cards and letters I have received from clients.
Welcome to my webpage!
A Little about me....
I have been a realtor in Oxford County since 2006.
I am a dedicated, trustworthy, personable, full time realtor who loves my job & love helping people!
For most people Real Estate is their largest investment, it is important to have someone looking out for you and your best interest that you can trust and with whom you feel comfortable around. When buying or selling the process can be quick or sometimes very lengthy so having a personable realtor you enjoy being around is also very important.
I've purchased & sold real estate before becoming an agent so I know and understand what its like to be the client. I know how important it is to be able to trust and reply on your real estate agent. I treat my clients as if they are my friends, which is how I came up with my slogan, Your Friend in Real Estate. I am always there for my clients whether they need help with finding the right mortgage broker for them, movers, repair people. etc. I became a top producer in my first year in the business, so I know my business strategy works and I am also proud to say that a lot of my business now comes from referrals and repeat clients.
I say I am full time realtors, why is that important? Real estate is a fast moving process, especially on the good deals. Sellers wont hold off selling their home until your Realtor is available and your opportunity will be missed.
What I offer...
When hiring me you hire a team.
I have an assistant. ( Currently unlicensed but in school for his real estate license and still a great asset! )
I have a graphic designer. He creates ads and brochures. My brochures are unlike anything any other realtor offers their sellers. I place these in literature boxes on my listing signs and they are a valuable tool in getting a buyers interest and selling your home.
I have a professional photographer - You can't sell it if you cant get people in your door. Showing your home off in its most attractive light is an important piece to selling.
I offer home staging, anyone who watches T.V knows this works! Top price and faster sale. Who doesn't want that!
I utilize all facets of social media - people don't buy what they don't know is for sale.
50% of realtors still do not have their own website. (I know!) you're here so you already know I do and it works... because you're here! : )
I also have a business kijiji page, Facebook page as well as a twitter page.
I am truthful, even sometimes when things are hard to hear you will have my complete honesty. I am not doing you any favours by lying to you.
I am knowledgeable. being a top producer for over nine years now I have bought and sold a lot of homes!! I know my way around the contracts and have a ton of negotiating experience to put to work for you.
I communicate and often. I wont list, enter data and walk away. I stay in touch by calls, texts, emails and visits.
I live in Woodstock, sounds crazy but not all the agents that advertise they work here live here and they are not familiar with our area.
My networking, this is a big one! In 9 years I have established a lot of good working relationships that help with a smooth transaction, faster sale and getting you what you need quicker than most can.
So if you're thinking of buying or selling I am looking forward to hearing from you!
Your Friend In Real Estate
client Letters and my most recent awards
I am a wife, a mother and a full time realtor.
I grew up in the small beach town of Kincardine, Ontario. At the age of 12 my family & I moved to Oshawa, Ontario when my father was transferred from the Bruce power plant to the Darlington plant.
I went to college and became a certified animal care aide and worked for the Oshawa humane society. This is a tough job on any animal lover!
I later moved on to become a business manager.
I have volunteered my time helping to raise money in bingo halls for Epilepsy, Humane Society, Search & Rescue and The March of Dimes.
In 2002 I moved to Woodstock,Ontario to be closer to my family. I fell in love with the close knit community and I am proud to call Woodstock home.
In my spare time. my husband and I love to travel and have enjoyed such adventures as Thailand and Mexico. If I am away I will always leave you in the good hands of a colleague.
I have volunteered my time for several years and wore the accountants hat along with many others on the Century 21 Golden Gala committee raising money for our local hospital.
I also try to help provide funds and necessities whenever I can to homeless shelters and mental health programs. These charities are near and dear to me.
Last year I also involved my husband's business and together we brought more awareness to the Children's Aid Society's Christmas program to help provide a little something to children on Christmas morning who would otherwise have received nothing.
Sadly, many of these children asked for bed sheets, clothing and simple toys.
If you are able to help, please keep them in mind next Christmas. :)
Your Friend In Real Estate


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There is enormous potential in Angola in the hunting and safari business. The areas are huge. I was amazed to see all the different species that are available, too. They even have forest buffalo (dwarf buffalo), etc. up in the north. Unfortunately, I did not have time to drive around in the areas. We mainly just flew over these areas. Of course, not all is rosy. The red tape is unbelievable for one thing. The upshot is, I do not think we will be able to start operating commercially in 2007, though it may be possible to take a couple of guys who like roughing it and are willing to hunt and explore at the same time.
For the record, we take this e-mail seriously and believe things are about to start happening in Angola. Stay tuned for updates.


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So what does the Wilfork deal mean?
1) You have your best defensive player locked up through 2014: So this one isn't complicated. Ty Warren is the only player who was locked up even through '13, which shows this is a pretty significant commitment on both sides.
2) You send a message to your locker room: Think about this … When was the last time the Patriots paid top dollar to keep a guy they drafted when the pressure was on? You'd have to say it was Richard Seymour, and that deal was signed four years ago. Deals like these show younger players still on their rookie deals that, if you work and buy in and perform, you will be rewarded. There's most certainly an implicit value to that.
3) You get on with your offseason: Let's face it, any big deal the Patriots were going to make in this uncapped environment was almost going to have to come after this one got done. There really weren't any two ways around it. It'd have been pretty difficult for the team to negotiate Wilfork's deal, while opening the vault for someone coming in from the outside, and somehow not poison the talks. Now that Wilfork's done, that's not a problem anymore.
4) You gain a powerful recruiting tool: Players sometimes say they only worry about themselves, and tune out all those things around them. That's crap. They hear and see everything. And unrestricted free agents see deals like Wilfork's go down, and it shows a team's commitment. The Patriots can't hang the "Come gravy train a ring here" sign on the front door and get vets cheap quite the way they used to. But Wilfork is a foundation piece that could help create perception among UFAs that New England will keep winning like it has, which is important if a tie between teams in pursuit of a player has to be broken.


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ATLANTA - A state agency began warning 465,000 Georgia drivers and government workers Friday they potentially are at risk of identity theft as a result of a security breech discovered last April.
However, the Georgia Technology Authority said it has received no reports of misuse of confidential information found on the home computers of a former programmer for the agency, and revealed for the first time that the breach occurred in 2002.
The incident went unnoticed until April 2005 when another employee noticed the programmer logged in after hours to a data system in which he was no longer assigned to work. An investigation followed.
GTA is the state's chief data agency, operating and maintaining the state's computer and telephone systems.
The programmer, Asif Masood Siddiqui, was fired and charged with computer trespass and theft.
Three computers at his home were seized and scanned over the summer by investigators using specially written software which allowed them to sift through an estimated 1.5 million computer files.
Based on that investigation, GTA began mailing letters Friday to the first of some 465,000 people whose records were found on the three home computers. It also posted a special Web page to provide information about the breech at gta.georgia.gov/notify.
About half of the records were extracts of driver's license files, including names, dates of birth and driver's license numbers.
The remainder were records of teachers and some retirees who are members of the State Health Benefit Plan, the state's medical insurance plan for government workers. That data included names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, 2002 mailing addresses and the Social Security numbers of covered dependents.
The letters, being mailed in batches through next month, encourage those whose names were found on the three computers to monitor their credit card charges and bank statements and to keep an eye on their credit rating, even though no instances of identity theft have been reported from the incident.
"Our advice, as always, is to be diligent," said Mark Reardon, director of information security for the agency. "In the electronic age, you've got to be checking your receipts monthly on your credit card and making sure you understand each of the charges."
Joyce Goldberg, a spokeswoman for the agency, said there is much about the matter investigators still don't understand.
"The investigation is looking at what might have been done with this information," Goldberg said. "It was apparently downloaded in 2002, and it was 2002 information. We have no indication what, if anything, was done with the information or if it was shared in any way."
Siddiqui, the former programmer, has referred reporters to his lawyer, Ed Garland. Garland was out of the city Friday, a secretary said.
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 102205
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October 9, 2013
LOCAL HARRIERS hit the pavement for the Columbia Gorge marathon last year. Starting on Oct. 27, large numbers expected to turn out in Hood River for the fifth annual running extravaganza.
Stories this photo appears in:
CG Marathon to bring the Northwest's best
More than 1,300 expected to head to Hood River event
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What's Going On Here: Ring Around Saratoga
Alabama winner Elate's family comes full circle at the Spa
Alabama winner Elate's family comes full circle at the Spa
Arch, the sire of 11 grade I winners, died Jan. 20 of an apparent heart attack, according to Bernie Sams, representative of Claiborne Farm near Paris, Ky., where the 21-year-old son of Kris S. stood at stud.
View Arch and several of his progeny who have had careers on the race track. View this feature in the March 23, 2013 issue of The Blood-Horse.
When Paul Saylor purchased Fleet Indian at the 2006 Keeneland January mixed sale, he had modest expectations and plans for the then 5-year-old mare.
The Eclipse Awards, honoring achievement in American racing in 2006, will be announced later today when the annual awards dinner is held at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. The winners in each category will be announced at bloodhorse.com immediately after each award is presented
Ogden Mills Phipps said the fatal injury suffered by his family stable's Pine Island in the Nov. 4 Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I) only serves to recommit him to additional attention and resources to equine research and organizations such as the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation.
Pine Island, who was euthanized after breaking down in the Nov. 4 Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I) at Churchill Downs, was buried at the Hancock family's Claiborne Farm near Paris, Ky., Monday afternoon.
An equine ambulance was delayed in getting to Fleet Indian after the mare injured her left front suspensory ligament during the Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I) because Churchill Downs personnel were following state regulations regarding ambulances on the track.
The Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I) epitomized the highs and lows of the sport. Round Pond won the 1 1/8-mile race, but co-favorites Pine Island and Fleet Indian suffered injuries.
The two 5-2 co-favorites in the Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I) both broke down during the running of the race and failed to finish.
Tragedy struck the $2 million Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I) Saturday at Churchill Downs when the co-favored Pine Island was fatally injured and Fleet Indian suffered a serious injury in a race won easily by Round Pond.
Pine Island, bred and owned by the Phipps Stable, probably wouldn't win an equine beauty contest. But she's Miss America on the racetrack.
After finishing second in Juvenile Fillies (gr. I) two years ago, Balletto returns to the Breeders' Cup, this time in the Emirates Airline Distaff (gr.I).
Fleet Indian is right where her owner, Paul Saylor, wants her to be in the Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I).
The "Todd Squad" was out in full force at Belmont Park on a windy Sunday morning. Twelve Todd Pletcher-trained horses had their final tune-ups for the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup World Championships. Also working were Henny Hughes, Invasor, and Pine Island.
Even-money favorite Pine Island edged past Teammate in the final sixteenth of a mile and went on to post a measured one-length win in the $250,000 Gazelle (gr. IT) for 3-year-old fillies at Belmont Park Saturday.
Bushfire appears to be the one to beat as she returns from a two-month layover in the grade I, $250,000 Gazelle Stakes at Belmont Park Sept. 9. Standing in her way is Pine Island, recent winner of the grade I Alabama Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.
The fast improving Pine Island, second in grade I company in back-to-back starts, put it all together Saturday to win the $600,000 Alabama (gr. I) for 3-year-old fillies at Saratoga Race Course.
Pine Island could very well turn out to be the best 3-year-old filly racing in Saturday's running of the $600,000 Alabama Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga.
Surprising Wonder Lady Anne L shook off Sugar Shake on the final turn and rode a big lead to victory over the favored Pine Island in the $300,000 Coaching Club American Oaks (gr. I) on a muddy Belmont Park track Saturday, closing day of the spring/summer meeting.
Javier Castellano did not have an easy time choosing between Pine Island and Sugar Shake -- two fillies he had ridden to victories at the meet -- in Saturday's 90th running of the grade I Coaching Club American Oaks, the closing day feature of Belmont Park's spring/summer meet.
Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey doesn't rush his horses into stakes races. So when Pine Island ran in the Mother Goose Stakes (gr. I) after just two starts--granted two wins--is was clear he thought a lot of the daughter of Arch.
Bushfire completed back-to-back grade I wins at Belmont Park Saturday when she held off the fast-closing Pine Island for a three-quarters of a length victory in the $250,000 Mother Goose for 3-year-old fillies.


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Do you have defined and documented processes that describe all the activities and deliverables for testing? Do you have a documented road map for repeating test project successes? The test group at Kaiser found themselves overwhelmed with too many projects, understaffed on most projects, lacking repeatable procedures, and without testing tools. Randy Slade describes how they identified the needed test processes and tools, set priorities, developed new procedures, and implemented them. Their "Framework for Testing" has become the blueprint for all testing activities. Its flexibility makes it applicable to software projects of all types and sizes. It guides testers and managers from A to Z in performing their duties by describing the "what, when, how, and why" of all testing activities and deliverables.
- Five phases of a software testing life-cycle
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Citing poor handling of the lifting of the excommunication on the bishops of the Society of St. Pius X, Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi called for the creation of a "communications culture" at the Vatican.
The lifting of the excommunication provoked much controversy and negative media coverage, especially following revelations that SSPX Bishop William Richardson had made statements minimizing the suffering of Jews during the Holocaust.
"We didn't control the communications," Fr. Lombardi said to the French daily La Croix.
Pope Benedict XVI's decision to lift the excommunications was initially announced by the Vatican Press Office in a simple statement accompanied by a Vatican legal document.
According to Fr. Lombardi, the communiqué accompanying the announcement "left too much in doubt, giving rise to different interpretations."
"I think we still have to create a communications culture inside the Curia, where each dicastery (ministry) communicates by itself, not necessarily thinking of going through the press room or issuing an explanatory note when the issue is complex," Fr. Lombardi said to La Croix.
He said that the Vatican could have avoided the recent controversy if it had issued the order for Bishop Williamson to recant his views along with the announcement of the removal of the excommunications.
"Especially when it's about hot topics, it's better to prepare the explanations," he told La Croix.
While some Vatican documents are meant for specialists of canon law or theology, he explained, others are meant for all Catholics.
"But today, whatever the type of document, it all ends up directly in the public sphere. It gets difficult to manage."
Fr. Lombardi said that Vatican officials had focused on the views of SSPX leader Bishop Bernard Fellay and not those of Bishop William and the other bishops.
"They didn't take the views of the other bishops enough into account," he said. "One thing that's certain is that the pope didn't know. If someone should have known, it was Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos."
Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos heads the Pontifical Commission of Ecclessia Dei, dedicated to reconciling breakaway traditionalist Catholics with Rome.


text: WOw did we ever have issues. FIrst he fell apart as soon as we walked into the vet's office. Something he has not done at DR Beckers or THe humane society. THo he doesnt' like it either place, he doesn't get all wild eyed and quiver. I was almost afraid we weren't even going to get to start. HE NEVER does this when we go into hospitals or nursing homes. I am sure it has to do with the vet's office, they didn't have a shelter in the small town he was picked up in. So he was kept in the basement of the town's vet clinic i think. I don't know for sure. Maybe they use the same disinfectant, who knows but talk about getting off on the wrong foot. I took my grandaughter with me as well. VIctor has some issues with her because she is a clumsy child and has hurt him in the past. She decided that this was going to be the time she was going to ignore being told to sit down and stay quiet. During the test she got up and walked about the room (i am still furious) and he was more concerned with what she was doing and exactly where she was then he was about the distraction and scary stuff that was involved in the test. I never realized how much he doesn't trust her and i am going to have to find out why. SO that was problem number two. Problem number three is that i took him to the park to run off the edge this afternoon and he cut his foot. It bled quite a bit but i never did find the source and by the time i got him home and bathed it had stopped so i didn't worry about it. I guess soreness had set in and when the tester reached for the back food he carefully avoided her touch. WHich is not good. I am a wreck. Hyia embarrassed the crap out of me and i was about in tears by time the whole thing was over, and that upset him too. All in all he didnt' score as well as he did the first time around, honestly i thought if this had been his first test they might have failed him. THe good news is when we were walking past a doorway and the tester wearing a big scary hat with an umbrella on top jumped out at him it upset another dog across the room that set off barking giving VIctor a double whammy. He did very well and let the scary person come up and pet and touch him afterwards which they said was just fine. ITs a hard test, and i am really glad it's over with for another two years. WE are getting ready to join the NOrthcare Hospice team. I have had my background checks, my drug screen, my tb tine test, all that is left is a day of training and we will be done. THis will be much closer to home and we can visit on a better schedule. Less drive, more openings and one on one visits making it much better for both of us. Whew i am glad that is over. ANd by howdy is one little girl in trouble.


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Post Game TV Recap: STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS S3E1-2
The Clone Wars, 3.1 - "Clone Cadets," 3.2 - "ARC Troopers"
Clones. Brothers, teamwork, unity; they are the lifeblood of the Republic Army. The two part premiere of season 3 of Star Wars: The Clone Wars tells some of their stories. We learn about their struggles, flaws, and defects. Then we get to see how the clones overcome setbacks to unite and become a single fighting force.
The first episode, Clone Cadets, may not have been the intense, action-packed return fans were hoping for. However, it sets the scene for a stronger finish in episode two. The episode begins with a training simulation for the somewhat pathetic Domino Squad. You'll recognize a few of the clones; we first met Echo, Fives, and Hevy in the first season episode Rookies. Clone Cadets is a prequel showing their training. The squad is clearly a mess. Though they are biologically the same, each trooper has one or more traits that keep the squad from becoming a true unit. They consistently fail to work together. Watching them stumble, you realize how much work and training it takes to make the clones a strong fighting force.
Jedi Master Shaak Ti oversees the training on Kamino, and she is assisted by contracted bounty hunters Bric and El-Les. Bric is especially disappointed in the squad, and after they fail their graduation test, he wants to permanently assign them to maintenance. El-Les has faith in the clones though and shows that he is on Kamino for more than just collecting a paycheck. In fact, he is unexpectedly compassionate. He requests that Shaak Ti allow the squad to retake the final test. After she agrees, the troops are informed they have one more chance. When Echo and Fives come to her and ask for reassignment to a different squad, she tells them: "I am a Jedi, where the individual and the group are one and the same, much like you clones." She encourages them to solve their problems as a whole rather than as individuals.
Throughout the episode, we encounter the clone 99. Something went wrong with his cloning. He is a bit deformed and has always worked in maintenance for the facility. He is continually around the barracks offering encouragement to the Domino Squad. He never had a chance to even try to become a trooper; instead of being bitter, he wants to help his brothers. He is mostly brushed aside; it doesn't seem that the clones like to be reminded of the possibility of bad batches. But when Hevy thinks about going AWOL the night before the second graduation test, 99 is there to talk him out of it. He reminds Hevy that he needs his brothers, and they need him. He gets Hevy to embrace his personality and recognize that the clones are more than just numbers.
The next day, the Domino Squad takes a different approach to the final test simulation. They fight as a single unit. Because they worked together, they were able to succeed despite minor sabotage by Bric. They graduate, and they are sent into the fight. Before they go, Hevy gives his graduation medal to 99.
Part two of the premiere, ARC Troopers, brings the viewer right into edge-of-the-seat action. It is a dramatic change of pace from Clone Cadets. The Separatists have focused an attack on Kamino. As you can imagine, the clones are incensed. Kamino is their birthplace and home, and even the young cadets are ready to fight for it. The Separatists are throwing a heavy assault against the planet though. General Grievous and Asajj Ventress both come for the battle, and they bring new droids with them in impressive numbers.
Jedis Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Shaak Ti are present to defend Tipoca City. Anakin takes off into space to fight off the enemy ships. He quickly turns ships into debris, and the wreckage falls from space into the oceans of Kamino. Once underwater, aqua droids assemble the pieces into large attack droids that look like octopi. Though Obi-Wan recognizes that the attack in space was going too well and heads beneath the surface to investigate, it is too late. The octopus droids begin a full scale attack on Tipoca City; they land on the structures and stab through them with their arms. These arms, of course, hold many droids. Grievous and Ventress land and jump into the battle, meeting face to face for the first time. Ventress clearly does not think much of Grievous, but he reminds of her mission: to go to the DNA room and obtain a sample.
The fighting in this episode is fast paced, and we see clones defending the city with everything they've got. Droids and clones seem to fall in equal numbers. We run into 99 again as he assists the troopers by replenishing ammunition and helping them navigate the city that he is very familiar with. The young cadets even join the battle. Here, more than anywhere, it is their war to fight. While they are defending the barracks, Anakin has returned to the planet and heads to defend the DNA room. He is able to catch up with Ventress, but only after she has taken a DNA sample. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan has engaged his familiar nemesis Grievous.
The following action sequence cuts between three scenes. We catch pieces of the troopers fighting against the droids, Grievous spinning his duel lightsabers and battling Obi-Wan, and a fierce showdown between Ventress and Anakin. During these battles, troopers are busy destroying the octopus droids. Obi-Wan falls during his fight with Grievous. Though Obi-Wan is rescued by a sea creature of Kamino, Grievous gets away. Just as Ventress is cornered by Anakin and the clones, she escapes in a ship with Grievous. The getaway is fortunate because Anakin states that he was going to let the clones execute her. The troopers destroy the droids near the barracks. In an emotionally charged scene, 99 runs for more grenades. He was doing his part to defend his home. However, he took hits in the back from droid fire and perished. The troops, especially Echo and Fives, mourned the loss of their brother.
The episode ends with Echo and Fives being promoted to ARC (Advanced Recon Commandos) Troopers. They are amazed and grateful. They have been through much since their training time on Kamino, and this really brings their (ahem) arc full circle. If Clone Cadets was the prequel to Rookies, this was the next, but hopefully not the final, chapter for these two troopers.
Trivia & Notes
We meet Shaak Ti for the first time on the series. She is voiced by Tasia Valenza. If she sounds familiar it is because she voiced Aurra Sing in the video games Star Wars: Demolition and Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds. She also worked on the video game Batman: Arkham Asylum alongside Mark Hamill. She voiced Poison Ivy.
Shaak Ti was heretofore missing from the series because George Lucas wanted to fully establish Padawan Ahsoka Tano, and not confuse children with a similar-looking member of her race.
A few references were thrown in that will make fans happy.


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Condensed Sugar: The East Coast Oscars Reign!
Monday night marked the most star-filled event we've seen in months (literally), the Costume Institute Gala at The Met. Most of the women looked totally fabulous, but there were a few who were, um, less stunning. Here's what else went down:
- Last weekend had its share of fun times, what with the Kentucky Derby, Spider-Man record breaking, Shrek the 3rd premiere and Oscar de la Hoya Fight. Wheeee!
- Speaking of Cameron (we were?) she looked pretty seriously smoking this week. Unfortunately, sometimes she should watch what comes out of her mouth. Just saying.
- The Paris Goes To Jail story plugged along. This week, with 100% more completely ridiculous comparisons to former presidents! Hey, at least she got herself a fancy new statement writer.
- Meanwhile, Lindsay's week was clean and mischief free. NOT. Heh. She started out the week with a scandal. Rather than acknowledge it, she just shacked up with a new man, did some interviews, and went on her her way. Also, her mom is still totes crazy and attention starved.
- We got to see little Maddox with his parental units going to and from school. Being such a badass at such a young age, perhaps he should be the one to suggest that hid dad lose the hat.
- Got some time on your hands? Here's a puzzle. Here's a game. And go vote on our Pop100 list -- every rating counts!


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01-11-2011 #1
- Join Date
- Aug 2008
- Posts
- 104
wireless won't connect, frustrating in it's ridiculousness
with some troubles, i finally installed the broadcom wireless driver. it says it's installed and activated, the blue light on the laptop is on saying the wireless is activated, but for the life of me i can't figure out how to make it connect. the only network connection icon i have is the wired one. it's not showing the wireless, or available wireless signals or whatever.
this is my first time using wireless with linux (thought i've been using linux for about 4 years now), so maybe there's some stupid little box somewhere i didn't check or something. any ideas?
the laptop is an HP Pavilion dv9000, the distro is Ubuntu Studio 10.4, and the wireless card is a broadcom, and is installed/active according to the hardware drivers window
thanks!She sells C Shells by the sea shore.
01-12-2011 #2
- Join Date
- Apr 2009
- Location
- I can be found either 40 miles west of Chicago, in Chicago, or in a galaxy far, far away.
- Posts
- 14,036
First, right-click on the network icon on the top bar. Then, make sure that the "Enable Wireless" selection is enabled.
Next, go into the System -> Preferences -> Network Connections form, and select the Wireless tab. If you see your access point there, click on it and then select "Edit". If you don't see it, select "Add", enable the "Connect automatically" checkbox, input the SSID, leave the mode to Infrastructure, and click on the "Apply" button. It may ask at this point for your passphrase to connect to the access point. It should detect automatically the correct protocol (WEP, WPA-PSK, etc). If not, then you are still OK. Close the Network Connections form, and left-click on the network icon on the top bar again. Your access point should appear so you can click on that. If not, logout and reboot. Unfortunately, while not necessary to do this last step with Ubuntu 9.04, it is with 10.10. However, since I am only running 10.04 in a virtual machine with no wireless, I don't know if it has regressed in a similar fashion.Sometimes, real fast is almost as good as real time.
Just remember, Semper Gumbi - always be flexible!


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Event: Model Railway Day
1 November 2014, 10am-3pm
Cost Free
Suitability All
Model Rail Day will hit the track at the National Wool Museum from 10am-3pm on Saturday 1 November.
It will be a chance for visitors to see 20ft layouts of Cilgerran to Cardigan and one of Manorbir, Pembrokeshire.
Carmarthen Modellers Club will have a static display of many interesting models including trains and dioramas and for the children, the Museum will showcase its own hands-on Thomas the Tank and Percy track.
Other activities include themed family crafts, promotional stands featuring corgi cars and matchbox vehicles, as well as the opportunity to discover more about the historical railways located in Cardigan and Cilgerran.
Free entry


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PARIS, July 31 (UPI) -- The head of a trade union in France said Air France had plans to cut as many as 3,000 jobs, although the airline did not confirm the figure.
"We've been hearing that 2,500 to 3,000 jobs will be cut," said Didier Fauverte, the head of the CGT trade union.
Fauverte said the airline is expecting to cut costs to be able to position itself to compete better with discount carriers while Europe remains mired in a prolonged recession.
"Altogether, 10,000 jobs will have been lost over the past four years," Fauverte said.
The Local.fr reported Wednesday the airline reported a loss of $215 million in the second quarter of the year.
The airline has begun its own discount service called Hop!, which began in March and currently has a fleet of 98 aircraft. It serves 136 destinations in Europe.


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Entrelacement, a literary technique in which several simultaneous stories are interlaced in one larger narrative. This technique allows digression and presents opportunities for moral and ironic commentary while not disturbing the unity of the whole.
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Mathematical Problems in Engineering
Volume 2012 (2012), Article ID 369472, 16 pages
Adaptive Regularized Level Set Method for Weak Boundary Object Segmentation
1College of Mathematics and Statistics, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
2School of Mathematics and Finances, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Yongchuan, Chongqing 402160, China
3College of Mathematics and Statistics, Chongqing Technology and Business University, Chongqing 400067, China
Received 24 August 2011; Revised 31 January 2012; Accepted 3 February 2012
Academic Editor: J. Jiang
Copyright © 2012 Meng Li et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
An adaptive regularized level set method for image segmentation is proposed. A weighted -Dirichlet integral is presented as a geometric regularization on zero level curve, which is used to diminish the influence of image noise on level set evolution while ensuring the active contours not to pass through weak object boundaries. The idea behind the new energy integral is that the amount of regularization on the zero level curve can be adjusted automatically by the variable exponent to fit the image data. This energy is then incorporated into a level set formulation with an external energy term that drives the motion of the zero level set toward the desired objects boundaries, and a level set function regularization term that is necessary for maintaining stable level set evolution. The proposed model has been applied to a wide range of both real and synthetic images with promising results.
1. Introduction
Image segmentation is a key initial step before performing high-level tasks such as objects recognition and tracking [1, 2] in most computer vision applications. Until now, image segmentation is yet a difficult task although it has been studied extensively in past decades. Typical difficulties result from facts that most natural images include noise, low intensity contrast with weak edges, and intensity inhomogeneity. A number of segmentation techniques are developed to overcome these difficulties, in which the level set methods [3–6] have been proved to be a class of efficient techniques.
The level set method, originally introduced by Osher and Sethian [7], is a general framework for the computation of evolving interfaces using implicit representations. In image processing and computer vision applications, geometric active contours (GAC) [3–5], that is, active contours implemented via level set methods [7], were first introduced independently by Caselles et al. [3] and Malladi et al. [4] for image segmentation. Afterwards, many works constitute very interesting applications of the level set method within the active contour framework [8–10]. The basic idea is to represent an active contour as a zero level set of an implicit function in a higher dimension, called level set function, and to deform the level set function according to an evolution partial differential equation (PDE). They are appealing for the ability to handle topological changes automatically, which is generally impossible in the traditional parametric active contours [11]. The evolution PDE for the level set function can be derived from the related evolution equation of a parameterized contour [4–6]. Alternatively, it can be directly derived from the minimization problem for an energy functional defined on the level set function [8–10, 12]. This type of methods is known as variational level set (VLS) methods. There are several desirable advantages of the VLS methods over classical image segmentation methods, such as thresholding and region grow. First, the VLS methods allow incorporation of various prior knowledge, such as shape and intensity distribution, under a principled energy minimization framework. Second, they can provide closed and continuous contours for further applications, such as image analysis and object tracking. Third, they are amenable to the introduction of constraints on level set function; smoothnesses of level set function are typical constraints. Generally, the constraints within a model can be categorized into two parts: level set function regularization and zero level curve regularization.
In conventional level set methods [3–6], the level set function may develop shocks during the evolution, which cause numerical errors and eventually destroies the stability of the level set evolution. To overcome this difficulty, level set function regularization, commonly known as reinitialization [13, 14], was introduced to restore the regularity of the level set function and maintain stable level set evolution. Although re-initialization as a numerical remedy is able to maintain the regularity of the level set function, there are serious theoretical and practical problems, as pointed out by Gomes and Faugeras [15]. Recently, Li et al. [16, 17] proposed a variational level set formulation with an intrinsic mechanism of maintaining the signed distance property of the level set function.
A problem for GAC models is the extraction of weak boundaries in noise and/or intensity inhomogeneity images. As we know, Gaussian kernel filter is a valid denoising method which smoothes away the isolated points. For example, Zhang et al. [18] proposed a local image fitting (LIF) energy based on Gaussian filtering for variational level set to regularize the level set function. Wang et al. [19] proposed a region-based tensor level set model for image segmentation, in which a three-order tensor involving the Gaussian filter bank was introduced to comprehensively depict features of pixels. These models are robust to noise. However, the level set evolution only depending on Gaussian kernel filter cannot achieve an accurate separation between weak objects and noise in complex images since the Gaussian kernel filter often eliminates weak boundaries or details. Some regularity must be imposed on the zero level curve to diminish the influence of image noise on level set evolution.
In this paper, we focus on the issue of zero level curve regularization with variational method. Length regularization [6, 8, 9, 18] is an initially popular choice of the geometric constraint on zero level curve, in the spirit of the Mumford-Shah functional [20]. But it is less robustness to noise. In [21], two smoother regularizations and were introduced. However, the smoother regularization may cause the active contours to pass through weak objects boundaries. Recently, there were many different choices of regularization in the literature, for example, p-Dirichlet integral regularization [22] and weighted p-Dirichlet integral regularization [23]. Different value of results in a constrain which is somewhere between length-based and smoother regularization. However, the constant exponent cannot reflect the local property of image, thus the p-regularization do not adapt the exponent to fit the data automatically. This problem has limited their application.
This paper proposes an adaptive variational level set formulation with a weighted -Dirichlet integral, an external energy, and a level set regularization term. The weighted -Dirichlet integral integrating the gradient information is designed as a geometric regularization on zero level curve, which is used to diminish the influence of image noise on level set evolution while ensuring the active contours not to pass through weak object boundaries. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the weighted -Dirichlet integral, we apply it to an edge-based GAC model for image segmentation. So an external energy based on Laplacian of Gaussian (LoG) filter is defined, and then it drives the level set function to deform in opposite direction (up or down) on either side of edge. The level set regularization term makes level set function behave approximately like a signed distance function, which ensures stable level set evolution. The resulting evolution of the level set function is the gradient flow that minimizes the overall energy functional. Due to the image data fitting in the weighted -Dirichlet integral term, intensity information in local regions is extracted to guide the regularization of contours. Thereby our model can extract weak boundaries in noisy and/or intensity inhomogeneity images. An added benefit of the proposed model is that the level set function can be initialized to a constant function. The constant function is more easier to use in practice than the widely used signed distance function or binary step function.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, we simply review level set method and some typical regularizations on zero level set curve. The proposed model is introduced in Section 3. Numerical algorithm and experimental results are presented in Section 4. This paper is summarized in Section 5.
2. Background
2.1. Level Set Method and Level Set Function Regularization
In the level set formulation, a moving curve is represented by the zero level set of a Lipschitz function defined on the entire image domain. The evolution of the curve along its normal direction with speed is described by the following evolution PDE [7]: with the initial condition . For image segmentation, the speed function depends on both image data and the level set function .
The function in (2.1) may develop shocks during the evolution. As a result, some regularities must be imposed on in order to prevent to be too steep or too fat near the zero level curve. A common means is to initialize and periodically reinitialize the level set function to a signed distance function so as to keep steady level set evolution and ensure usable results. The reinitialization equation is where is the function to be re-initialized, and sign is the sign function. Although re-initialization as a numerical remedy is able to maintain the regularity of the level set function, it still remains a fundamental problem as when and how to apply the re-initialization [14, 15].
In [16], Li et al. introduced an internal energy to keep the regularity of the level set function. It is formulated in a variational framework on the level set function as follows: where is the internal energy and is a certain external energy that would drive the motion of the zero level curve of .
Let be the image domain, the internal energy term is defined as which makes the level set function behave approximately like a signed distance function, and so eliminates the re-initialization step during level set evolution. With this internal energy, level set evolution can be implemented by simple finite difference scheme and is initialized to a binary step function [8, 9, 16–18].
2.2. Some Typical Regularizations on Zero Level Curve
In order to control the smoothness of the zero level curve and further avoid the occurrence of small, isolated regions in the final segmentation, the regularization on zero level curve is very crucial in level set methods. The length regularization [6, 8, 9, 18] is to minimize the following energy functional: where is Heaviside function and is Dirac delta function. The energy functional in (2.5) computes the length of the zero level curve of in the conformal metric . The length regularization imposes a penalty on the length of the curve that smoothes the zero level curve and diminishes some false contours. But the smoothing is only along the tangent direction of each level line, so this regularization is less robustness to noise.
In [21],Chung and Veseproposed a smoother regularization: This regularization means isotropic smoothing at every point , so the level lines tend to maintain smoothing and further penalize the false contours in noise image. But the smoother regularization cannot stop the active contours to pass through some weak object boundary.
In [23],Zhou and Muproposed a weighted p-Dirichlet integral regularized level set evolution. The geometric regularization has the following form: Different value of results in a tradeoff between length regularization and smoother regularization. However, if the image intensities representing objects are nonuniform or if an image is highly degraded, this regularization may become sensitive to exponent .
3. Weighted -Dirichlet Integral Regularized Level Set Evolution
In this section, we propose a new variational level set formulation for image segmentation, in which a weighted -Dirichlet integral is presented to regularize the zero level curve.
Let be a image domain. For a given image and a level set function , we define an energy functional by where are constants, is the zero level curve regularization term, is a certain external energy that would drive the motion of the zero level curve of , and is the level set function regularization term that controls the smoothness of the level set function during the level set evolution.
3.1. Weighted -Dirichlet Integral
The zero level curve regularization term is defined as follows: where is gradient operator and is the convolution of the image with the Gaussian function with standard deviation . The exponent is a monotonically increasing function with and . A simple example is
The functional (3.2) is in fact a weighted -Dirichlet integral with variable exponent , thus it is called the weighted -Dirichlet integral in this paper.
Remarks. (1) If , the functional is simplified to
It is well known that the energy functional computes the length of the zero level curve of .(2)When is a constant, the functional is the weighted -Dirichlet integral. It is chosen as one of geometric regularization on zero level curve in [23].
However, the constant exponent is not an intelligent choice. An important reason is that the constant exponent does not reflect the local property of image, and so does not adapts the exponent to fit the image data automatically. We let depend on local intensity information. This way the regularization ensures weak regularization () in regions where the image almost has a constant intensity (i.e., where the intensity gradient almost is zero) to avoid the disappearance of weak boundaries, while it ensures strong regularization () in other regions to force the false contours to vanish in final segmentation. We will show this by a simple experiment in Section 3.4. Therefore, the variable exponent controls the tradeoff between weak regularization and strong regularization automatically.
3.2. External Energy Term
In image segmentation, an external energy depending on image information must be defined to move the zero level curve toward the objects boundaries. The weighted -Dirichlet integral in (3.2) can be used in various applications with different definitions of the external energy . In this subsection, we only provide an application of the weighted -Dirichlet integral to an active contour model using edge-based information in the external energy, as a demonstration of the effectiveness of the weighted -Dirichlet integral formulation.
Next, we define the external energy based on the Laplacian of a Gaussian (LoG) filter as follows, which drives the level set function to deform in opposite direction (up or down) on either side of edge: where is the LoG filter. The LoG filter calculates the second derivative of an image, which is often used for zero crossing edge detectors. It is well known that at the inflection point the second derivative vanishes and changes sign. The LoG response is zero in areas where the image has a constant intensity. In the vicinity of a change in intensity, the LoG response is positive on the darker side and negative on the lighter side. By incorporating the edge-based information (the LoG filter) into the external energy term, the level set function can move up or down on either side of edge and cause the sign of to flip around edges. And the objects boundaries can be extracted at image locations where two opposite directions of flow encounter. In this formulation, the level set function can be initialized to a constant function. Such initialization scheme is quite simple and computationally efficient in practice application.
3.3. The Energy Formulation
In order to keep the regularity of level set function, the energy in (2.4) is adopted in our model. This functional makes our level set formulation that has an intrinsic mechanism of maintaining the desired shape of .
With the energy functionals (3.2),(3.5), and (2.4), the proposed energy formulation (3.1) can be rewritten as
In order to compute the associated Euler-Lagrange equation for the unknown function , we consider slightly regularized versions of the function and , denoted here by and , as . Let be a regularization of , and . In a dynamical scheme via steepest descent, minimizing the energy functional (3.6) with respect to , we obtain the evolution PDE: with the initial condition .
In all numerical experiments, we choose the following functions: for our evolution PDE (3.7).
3.4. Weighted -Dirichlet Integral Effect
In this subsection, we demonstrate the weighted -Dirichlet integral (3.2) effect by a simple experiment, just as shown in Figure 1. We will see that the variable exponent in effectively controls the tradeoff between the weak regularization and the strong regularization automatically. The test images are an aerial image (128 × 128) with cognitive boundaries (i.e., discontinuous boundaries) and a blood vessel image (103 × 131) with intensity inhomogeneity, as shown in Column 1. In this experiment, we take , , . The level set function is initialized to and the level set function evolves according to (3.7) with different exponents . We observe from Figures 1(b) and 1(f) (where , length regularization) that some false contours appear in final segmentation (see the interior of object in Figure 1(b) and the upper left and right corners in Figure 1(f)). We can see from Figures 1(c) and 1(g) (where , weighted -Dirichlet integral regularization) that some weak edges cannot be extracted effectively although the false contours are suppressed (see the middle of Figure 1(c) and the bottom of Figure 1(g)). With the variable exponent (weighted -Dirichlet integral regularization), the proposed model not only successfully extracted the weak boundaries, but also effectively suppressed the false contours, as shown in Figures 1(d) and 1(h).
4. Numerical Algorithm and Experimental Results
4.1. Numerical Algorithm
In this subsection, we briefly present the numerical algorithm and procedure to solve the evolution (3.7). Equation (3.7) can be implemented via a simple explicit finite difference scheme as in [16, 17] rather than a complex upwind scheme as in the traditional level set methods [14]. We consider the 2D case with a time-dependent level set function . The spatial derivatives and in our model are approximated by the central difference, and the temporal partial derivative is discretized as the forward difference.
We recall first the usual notations: let be the time step, be the space step, and be the grid points. Let be an approximation of , with , , the central differences are Set , and start with initial level set function , we first compute according to (3.3). Then, the numerical approximation to (3.7) is given by the following discretization: where This system (4.2) is solved by an iterative method, and we use fixed space step (implies pixel spacing) for computing spatial derivatives. The choice of the time step for this finite different scheme must satisfy the condition for numerical stability, and for more details, we refer the reader to [17].
It is worth noting that the spatial derivatives in conventional level set formulation are discretized by upwind scheme [14]. Due to the added the level set regularization term in our model, Central difference scheme is valid for the PDE (3.7). all the spatial derivatives in (3.7) can be discretized by central difference scheme, and the corresponding numerical scheme is stable without the need for re-initialization. Moreover, the central difference scheme is more accurate and efficient than the first-order upwind scheme that is commonly used in conventional level set formulation, as pointed out by Li et al. in [17].
In summary, the main steps of the algorithm (3.7) are as follows.
(1) Initialize the level set function constant, set .
(2) Compute according to (3.3).
(3) Solve the PDE in from (4.2), to obtain .
(4) Check whether the evolution has stationary. If not, and repeat.
4.2. Experimental Results
This section shows the results of the proposed model for both synthetic and real images. The level set function is simply initialized to (nonzero constant); we choose for all experiments. Besides, we use the following default parameter setting for all experiments: , , , . The parameter is not the same in different experiments; we will give the exact value of in each experiment, together with the sign of . For pixels on the borders of the image , we take a mirror reflection in all experiments.
Figure 2 shows the segmentation process of the proposed model on a synthetic image (88 × 85), a T-shaped image (127 × 96), an X-ray image of vessels (176 × 167), and a hysterosalpingography (HSG) image (130 × 96) which are plotted in Column 1 of Figure 2. All of them are typical images with intensity inhomogeneity. In these images, parts of the objects boundaries are quite weak, which make it a nontrivial task to extract the objects from the background. Since the level set function is computed from the initial condition (top to bottom: = 0.5, −0.5, 0.5, and 0.5, resp.), there are no initial contours (zero-level curve) superimposed on the original images. The contours (zero-level curve) evolution processes are shown in Column 2 to Column 5. We see from Column 2 that the contours (zero-level curve) emerge automatically in a single iteration due to the introduction of the external energy term. And then the generated contours evolve toward objects boundaries, as shown in Column 3. Afterwards the evolving curve continues to propagate and the generated false small contours gradually disappear (see Column 4). This shrinking effect can be interpreted as the regularization of the weighted -Dirichlet integral. Finally, the evolving curves convergence to the objects boundaries (see Column 5). These results show that our model, starting with a constant function, can detect weak boundary objects in intensity inhomogeneity images.
Figure 3 shows that our model starting with a constant function can work well for images with multiple weak objects and is compared with the RSF model [8] and LIF model [18]. The RSF model and the LIF model represent the state of the art of variational level set methods which are able to handle intensity inhomogeneity efficiently and are less sensitive to noise. The codes of the RSF model and the LIF model are cited from http://www.engr.uconn.edu/~cmli/ and http://www4.comp.polyu.edu.hk/~cslzhang/papers.htm, respectively. Two test images, which are shown in Column 1, are a DNA channel image (229 × 168) and a bacteria image (173 × 173). These images intensities representing objects are typical nonuniform. To make fair comparison, we try our best to choose the optimal parameters and initial contours for RSF model. We can see from Column 2 and Column 3 that some unwanted contours were generated in the results of the RSF model and the LIF model. Our level set evolution starts with (top: = 0.5, bottom: = −0.5). Column 4 shows that our model successfully extracts all objects contours from background.
Figure 4 shows the robustness of our model to noise. For this purpose, we create four images by adding Gaussian noise to a synthetic dragon-like image (128 × 128) and a vascular biopsy image (94 × 123), as shown in Row 1. Then, the RSF model, the LIF model, and our model are applied to these original and noisy images. We observe that the three models are able to segment the objects in the original images (see Column 1 and Column 4). But for the noisy images, the contours of the RSF model collapse due to boundary leaks (see Row 2). Although some false contours are generated in the results of the LIF model, it still work by and large (see Row 3). We can see from Row 4 that our method successfully extracts all objects correctly in these noisy images (see Row 4).
Figure 5 shows the comparison of the proposed model with the LIF model on bimodal images. The goal is to show the accuracy of our model. Five test images, which are shown in Row 1, are a synthetic image (84 × 84), wrench image (100 × 100), hand image (108 × 130), plane image (135 × 125), and rice image (128 × 128), respectively. The true objects can be extracted from the original images by a thresholding algorithm (see Row 2). The segmentation results obtained by the LIF model and our model are shown in Rows 3 and 4. It can be observed that the LIF model and our model have achieved similar final results for the first three images by visual comparison. For the plane image, the LIF model incorrectly identifies parts of the plane projection as the objects (see Figure 5(n)). For the rice images, the rice are very close to each other, and the LIF model fails to segment them (see Figure 5(o)). With the constant function initialization ( = 0.5), our method can achieve satisfactory results for the plane and rice images (see Figures 5(s) and 5(t)). We also demonstrate the accuracy of our model by quantitative comparison. The metric adopted in this paper is the dice similarity coefficient (DSC) [24] as follows: where indicates the number of pixels in the enclosed set, and and represent a given baseline foreground region (e.g., true object) and the foreground region found by the model, respectively. The closer the DSC value to 1, the better the segmentation. Table 1 shows the DSC values of the LIF model and our model. It can be clear that our model achieves more accurate results.
Figure 6 shows the segmentation results of our model for five real images with intensity inhomogeneity. Five medical images in different scenario are chosen to serve as the test images, which are two X-ray vessel images (111 × 110, 132 × 131), a bladder MR image (180 × 107), a brain MR images (120 × 160), and a wrist image (90 × 196), as shown in Row 1. Our level set evolution starts with (left to right: = 0.5, 0.5, −0.5, 0.5 and 0.5, resp.). As can be seen in the second row of Figure 6, our model successfully extracted all objects contours from nonuniform background. This experiment also demonstrates that our model can handle more general images with intensity inhomogeneity.
Figure 7 shows that our model can extract weak objects boundaries from images with complex background (250 × 180). In actual sky-mountain-water conflicts, the background of these real infrared images was quite complex (see Row 1). Moreover, parts of objects (boat, sun) are quite weak. Our level set evolution starts with = 0.5. As can be seen in the second row of Figure 7, our model successfully extracts the desired objects from the complex background.
Figure 8 shows that our model can handle real noisy image with different types of shapes. Five test images, which are shown in Row 1, are two breast cyst images (91 × 92, 157 × 110), an MR image of a human brain (159 × 122), a skin lesion image (180 × 180), and a ultrasonic image (100 × 100). These images are contaminated by texture tissue and clutter noise, thus it is very difficult to segment the objects in such images. Our level set evolution starts with (left to right: = 0.5, 0.5, 0.5, −0.5 and −0.5, resp.). As can be seen in Row 2, our model successfully extracted the desired objects from the noisy images.
5. Conclusion
We have proposed a novel variational level set formulation for image segmentation based on weighted -Dirichlet integral and LoG filter. By incorporating local intensity information into the weighted -Dirichlet integral, this regularization term preserves the good properties of both length regularization and -Dirichlet integral regularization, as well as a combination of the two. The external energy based on the LoG filter drives the level set function up or down on either side of edge and locates objects edges. Due to the good properties of the weighted -Dirichlet integral term, our model can extract weak edge in noise and/or intensity inhomogeneity images. The proposed model also allows the use of more general initialization of the level set function, that is, constant function. This implies that our model is free of manual initialization. Given its efficiency and accuracy, we expect that the proposed model will be useful for real-time applications. In our future work, we will extend the current model to motion tracking, where motion information can be included in the segmentation process.
The authors are very grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their careful reading and useful suggestions, which greatly improved the presentation of the paper. This work is supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (CDJXS10100005) and Natural Science Foundation Project of CQ CSTC (cstcjjA40012) and CQ CSTC (cstc2011jjA40029).
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