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Integrated Rich-Media Conferencing
Figure 1. Rich-Media Conferencing Session
Product Overview
Improve Productivity and Accelerate Business Speed and Reach
Superior Cost-Effectiveness and Enterprise Security
Simple Rich-Media Conference Setup, Attendance, and Management
Key Features and Benefits
Tightly Integrated Rich-Media Conference Setup
Easy Attendance of Rich-Media Conferences
Advanced Rich-Media Conference Capabilities and Control
Figure 2. Advanced Rich-Media Conference Control
Rich-Media Conference Recordings
Enterprise-Class Conferencing Platforms
Product Architecture
• Cisco Unified MeetingPlace 8100 Audio Server platforms for audio conferencing applications: The Cisco Unified MeetingPlace 8100 solution bundles include the Cisco MeetingPlace IP Gateway for IP deployments and the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Conference User Interface for integrated voice, video, and Web scheduling. Both the Cisco MeetingPlace IP Gateway and Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Conference User Interface software must be installed on a Cisco media convergence server (MCS). Figure 3 shows the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace 8100 Audio Server platforms.
• Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing software: The Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing application is installed on Cisco MCSs. Refer to the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing data sheet for details.
• Cisco Unified Videoconferencing 3500 Series MCU for video conferencing applications: Refer to the Cisco Unified Videoconferencing 3500 Series MCU data sheet for details.
• Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Video Integration is integration software that requires a separate Cisco MCS and integrates Cisco Unified Videoconferencing systems into Cisco Unified MeetingPlace 6.0.
• Cisco Unified MeetingPlace integrations are software applications that run on Cisco MCS platforms-Cisco Unified MeetingPlace integration applications include Cisco Unified MeetingPlace for Microsoft Outlook, Cisco Unified MeetingPlace for Microsoft Office Communicator, Cisco Unified MeetingPlace for IBM Lotus Notes, Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Directory Services, and Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Jabber Messaging Integration. These integration options are available for enterprise desktop and infrastructure integration. Refer to the corresponding data sheets for detailed information.
Figure 3. Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Audio Server 8112 and 8106 Platforms
Product Specifications
Table 1. Cisco Unified MeetingPlace 8112 Audio Server Specifications
• Compact Peripheral Component Interconnect (cPCI) chassis, PICMG 2.1 and H.110 compliant
• Twelve digital signal processor (DSP) slots for Cisco SmartBlades or Cisco Multi Access Blades
• Redundant 72-GB hard disks
• One DVD-ROM drive
• One 3.5-in. floppy drive
• One external modem
• Three hot-swappable N + 1 power supplies with fans
• One external breakout box (T1/E1 Primary Rate Interface [PRI] only)
• IP: 180 to 960 conferencing ports
• T1-channel associated signaling (CAS): 192 to 1152 conferencing ports
• E1-PRI: 180 to 960 conferencing ports
• T1-PRI: 180 to 736 conferencing ports
• Mix-and-match time-division multiplexing (TDM) and IP conference ports
• Nonblocking N/2 simultaneous conferences
• Recording space: 2700 hours, 100 simultaneous recording sessions
• Maximum 550 participants per meeting
• Maximum audio join rate of 6 calls per second
• H.323 and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) with Cisco Unified MeetingPlace IP Gateway
• G.711 and G.729a audio compression
Physical dimensions
• Height: 21 in. (54 cm)
• Width: 18.9 in. (48 cm)
• Depth: 17.13 in. (44 cm)
• Weight: Approximately 110 lb fully loaded
• System power: 90 to 260 VAC, 47 to 63 Hz
• output: 350W
• EIA Standard RS-310-C in 19-in. (48.26-cm) rack
• Three hot-swappable, N + 1 redundant power supplies and fan units
• Dual 72-GB disk drives
• Network backup to remote servers
• Shadow server option for complete database synchronization at remote site
Table 2. Cisco Unified MeetingPlace 8106 Audio Server Specifications
• Compact PCI chassis, PICMG 2.1 and H.110 compliant
• Six DSP slots for Cisco SmartBlades or Cisco Multi Access Blades
• Redundant 72-GB hard disks
• One DVD-ROM drive and one 3.5-in. floppy disk tray
• One external modem
• Two hot-swappable N + 1 power supplies
• One fan tray
• One external breakout box (T1/ET1-PRI only)
• IP: 30 to 480 conferencing ports
• T1-CAS: 48 to 576 conferencing ports
• E1-PRI: 30 to 480 conferencing ports
• T1-PRI: 30 to 368 conferencing ports
• Mix-and-match TDM and IP conferencing ports
• Nonblocking N/2 simultaneous conferences
• Recording space: 2700 hours, 100 simultaneous recording sessions
• Maximum 550 participants per meeting
• Maximum audio join rate of 6 calls per second
• H.323 and SIP with Cisco Unified MeetingPlace IP Gateway
• G.711 and G.729a audio compression
Physical dimensions
• Height: 7 in. (18 cm)
• Width: 18.9 in. (48 cm)
• Depth: 14.5 in. (37 cm)
• Weight: Approximately 40 lb (18.2 kg) fully loaded
• System power: 100 to 240 VAC, 50 to 60 Hz
• Maximum consumption: 510W
• EIA Standard RS-310-C in 19-in. (48.26-cm) rack
• Two hot-swappable, redundant power supplies
• Dual 72-GB disk drives
• Network backup to remote servers
• Shadow server option for complete database synchronization at remote site
System Capacity
Table 3. System Scalability Table
Audio and Web Conferencing Deployments - Simultaneous Connections
Unified MeetingPlace 8112 Audio Server
Voice connections
Web connections
Voice Conferencing
• In-session meeting features:
– Announced entry and departure
– Roll call
– Breakout sessions
– Mute individual users
– Mute all participants
– Outdial capability to an individual or a team
– Lock meeting
– Screened entry
• Reservationless option: Allows users to conduct voice and Web meetings with a personal meeting ID without the need for scheduling; reservationless meetings can be configured as internal or external meetings
• Recording: Allows automatic recording and playback of meeting sessions
• Lecture-style meetings with Q&A-Provides listen-only meetings with facilitated question and answer sessions
• Continuous meetings: Allows meetings that do not end, which are especially useful for crisis-management applications
• Conference user interface:
– Speaker ID: Identifies who is speaking at any given moment
– Participant lists: Lists all participants attending the meeting
– Meeting controls: Allows meeting organizer to mute and unmute, change speaking ability, record, lock, eject, and end meeting
• Find participant: Allows searches for users by calling a sequence of main phone, alternate phone, and pager numbers
• Meeting message: Allows users to prerecord messages for other participants to hear before entering the meeting
• Multilanguage support: Provides voice prompt options for American English, British English, Japanese, French, French-Canadian, German, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (Latin American)
• Scheduling using phone interface: Allows users to attend meetings or initiate reservationless meetings using the phone user interface
• Web Conferencing: Refer to the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web Conferencing data sheet for details.
• Presentations: Users can share PowerPoint presentations, graphics files (jpg), Flash content (swf files), and Flash movies (flv files) using only a Web browser under Windows or Mac OS. Animations within the presentations are preserved as slides advance. Viewers can attend a conference using a Web browser on Windows, Mac OS, Linux, and Solaris.
• Presenter preparation area: Only presenters and moderators can see and access this portion of the screen, in order to facilitate private discussions away from general view.
• Annotations and whiteboards: Users can annotate shared applications, presentations, and multiple whiteboards.
• Application and desktop sharing with remote control: Users can share any application or desktop (including dual monitor systems) and pass control to others for collaboration. Shared content automatically resizes to the viewer's desktop resolution. Multiple people can share at the same time for side-by-side viewing.
• Recording and playback: Users can automatically record and play back synchronized Web and voice meeting content without the need for additional hardware or software at the desktop. Voice recordings can be exposed as WAV, MP3, or Windows Media files.
• Meeting templates: For ease of use, standard templates (collaborative, presentation, or Web seminar) are provided with preset tools and layouts for easy access.
• Customizable layouts: Users can create their preferred meeting layout and save it for use in future meetings.
• Chat: Meeting participants can use text messaging within meetings.
• Moderated chat: Presenters and moderators can select specific audience-submitted questions submitted to which to respond, either to the individual or to the entire group.
• Polling: Participants can vote on questions and give feedback during the meeting.
• Multilanguage support: Users can choose Web interfaces in English, Japanese, French, German, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (Latin American).
Meeting Management
• Meeting console: Cisco Unified MeetingPlace conferencing provides a browser-based interface to manage the voice, video, and Web elements of meetings.
• Personal controls: Meeting participants can call out to their phone or video endpoints, mute and unmute themselves, pause and play video, change their video layout from active speaker to multiple videos (continuous presence), disconnect from video, move to breakouts (phone), and leave the meeting (leaving disconnects their voice, video, and Web sessions).
• Meeting controls: The meeting moderator can change voice and Web conferencing permissions, call out to others to bring them into the meeting, mute and unmute selected participants, mute all participants, pause and play another participant's video, rename users, move participants to waiting room or breakout sessions, merge users (audio and Web) on the participant list, move the meeting from an internal to an external Web server, record the meeting, change voice conference announcements, lock the meeting, eject multiple users, and end the meeting.
• Real-time identification of speaker and sharer: Users can view a list of who is speaking and sharing at any given moment.
• Participant list: This list includes all voice, video, and Web conference participants with permission icons and their emoticon status.
• Chat: Users can send public and private text messages within collaborative meetings (refer to the discussion of collaborative, presentation, and Web seminar meetings later in this document). In presentation and Web seminar meetings, presenters can chat with anyone, and audience members can chat only with presenters.
Video Conferencing
• Cisco IP video telephony: Impromptu videoconferencing for Cisco Unified CallManager video telephony endpoints is available.
• Video encoding: H.261, H.263, H.263++, and H.264 are used. Cisco Unified CallManager Skinny Client Control Protocol (SCCP) ports currently support H.261 and H.263.
• Enhanced display options: Voice-activated continuous presence with up to 16 participants and enhanced continuous presence with a choice of 26 different layouts are offered.
• Rate matching: Each endpoint in a videoconference can participate according to individual video bandwidth capabilities without affecting the connection of other participants.
• Audio transcoding: The MCU matches the audio capabilities of each calling endpoint before mixing the audio from all participants. H.323 conference participants can use G.711, G.722, G.722.1, G.723.1, G.728, or G.729 audio encoding. SCCP conference participants can use G.711, G.722, G.728, or G.729 audio encoding.
• Video scalability: Video automatically cascades across multiple MCUs.
• Automatic outdial of video terminals: At the start of a meeting, all invited video terminals can be automatically outdialed.
• Easy scheduling of video terminals: Users can search for and check availability of video terminals at the schedule time.
Meeting Setup and Attendance
• Users can schedule or initiate immediate voice, video, and Web conferences through a Web interface, touch-tone or Cisco Unified IP phone, Microsoft Outlook or IBM Lotus Notes calendar, and IM.
• Reservationless meetings: Users can set up always-available voice, video, and Web conferences with a personalized meeting ID for each designated user. Reservationless meetings can be configured as internal or external meetings, and a maximum number of ports can be set for a reservationless meeting.
• Video scheduling and attendance: Users can schedule integrated rich-media meetings with voice, Web, and multiple video Cisco Unified Videoconferencing MCUs, and video terminals. They can search the directory to check the availability of specific video terminals that are automatically outdialed from a Cisco Unified Videoconferencing MCU when the meeting starts. Users can also set up video-only meetings that connect through an MCU as well as select from multiple, preconfigured service codes that define bandwidth, video layout, and access restrictions.
• Collaborative, presentation and Web seminar meetings: Cisco Unified MeetingPlace conferencing allows users to set up collaborative meetings for small, peer-oriented meetings such as project and staff meetings, presentation meetings for more structured Web conferencing meetings such as group training sessions, and Web seminar meetings for large, controlled meetings such as external presentations. In all meeting types, the meeting organizer can change user permissions as needed.
• Invitations: Calendar or e-mail invitations are automatically distributed to invited participants with the information needed to attend the integrated rich-media conference.
• Point-and-click attendance: Users attend voice, video, and Web conferences directly from their calendar, e-mail notification, URL link, IM, or browser.
• Integrated IM: With Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Jabber Integration, users can easily initiate integrated voice, video, and Web conferences from Jabber Messenger. Similarly, with Cisco Unified MeetingPlace for Microsoft Office Communicator, users can initiate conferences directly from Microsoft Office Communicator. And with Cisco Unified Personal Communicator, users can initiate Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Web conferences.
• Dedicated on-network system: Each customer is provided with a dedicated Cisco Unified MeetingPlace solution integrated with the private network.
• Internet lockout controls: Meetings can be set up as internal-only meetings and held entirely behind the corporate firewall or as external meetings that are accessible to Internet and internal participants. Administrators and meeting organizers have complete control.
• Access authentication: Meeting organizers can require that participants authenticate themselves using individual logins to attend a meeting or to access the documents and recordings for a meeting. In addition, the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace system can automatically block out users after multiple failed login attempts.
• Automated account management: Cisco Unified MeetingPlace conferencing integrates with corporate directories, automatically removing accounts of employees who leave the company. For details, refer to the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Directory Integration data sheet.
• Encryption: Cisco Unified MeetingPlace conferencing supports encrypted Webpages and Web conferencing traffic using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).
• In-session meeting controls: Meeting organizers can change voice and Web conferencing permissions, specify announced entry and departure, require passwords, lock the meeting, and eject unwanted attendees.
• Public key infrastructure (PKI) certificates can be set up between desktop clients and the Web server.
System Administration
• Configuration: The system has options for setting use, scheduling, access, and meeting preference parameters.
• Prompts and fields: Voice prompts and database fields can be customized.
• Reports: The standard configuration provides use (voice, video, and Web) and billing reports. Detailed raw data reports to track meeting and participant details are also available.
• Capacity management: System parameters optimize port use and meeting traffic charts.
• System status: Remote management and monitoring are performed using Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) traps; alarms outdial to a phone or pager.
• Disaster recovery: The automated database backs up to network drives, and a shadow server configuration synchronizes profile and meeting databases to protect against a site disaster.
Ordering Information
For More Information
Cisco Unified Communications Services


text:
My Nonprofit Reviews
Maryann Hubbard
Review for Seedlings of Change, Lolo, MT, USA
I greatly admire the mission and passion set forth by the Seedlings of Change organization: to connect people, around the world, and within their local communities. The focus is diverse--from a project to encourage strength and confidence in young women in Missoula, to supporting development of a school garden in a small village in Africa--sending the message that a small seed planted indeed can create change.
More Feedback
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
The message put forth by SoC has influenced me to reach out more through my business.
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
I can't really think of anything that I would change.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Many people have stories of driving behind tractor-trailers and having sheets of ice crash onto the highway in front of them – or worse, right into their lines of vision.
"It just hit the windshield and scared me," said Aneasha Iverson of Waterbury.
In an effort to prevent that from happening, Connecticut has adopted a law, nicknamed the "ice pellet" law, requiring snow and ice to be removed from all vehicles before they reach the highway. Violations are punishable by tickets of $120.
Since New Year's Day, state police logged 86 such tickets. Sgt. John Netkovick wrote two early in the day Thursday, after a substantial storm dumped several inches on the state.
"I found one car that had accumulated snow completely covering its rear window, and another with six to eight inches of snow on top of the car," Netkovick said.
Authorities urge drivers to budget time to clear their cars and trucks after a storm.


text:
* Monday's decline was S&P 500's biggest since November
* Dell to go private in $24.4 bln deal, shares up
* Archer Daniels, Estee Lauder both up after results
* Indexes: Dow 0.8 pct, S&P 0.9 pct, Nasdaq 1 pct
* Monday's decline was S&P 500's biggest since November
* Dell to go private in $24.4 bln deal, shares up
* Archer Daniels, Estee Lauder both up after results
* Indexes: Dow 0.8 pct, S&P 0.9 pct, Nasdaq 1 pct
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK, Feb 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday,
with the Dow rising above 14,000, as earnings came in stronger
than expected and investors sought bargains a day after the
market's biggest drop since November.
Dell Inc's stock rose after the world's No. 3
computer maker agreed to be taken private in a $24.4 billion
deal, the largest leveraged buyout since the 2008-2009 financial
crisis. The stock gained 0.8 percent to $13.39 after a delayed
Major stock indexes fell about 1 percent in Monday's
selloff, pressured by renewed worries over the euro zone's
sovereign debt crisis. Still, equities have been strong
performers recently, with the benchmark S&P 500 index up about 5
percent for 2013.
Wall Street has advanced on strong fourth-quarter earnings
and signs of improved economic growth, suggesting the market's
longer-term trend remains higher.
"Yesterday was the first real down day of the year, which
shows that we are in this strong bull market. Today we are back
to the normal pattern. People are realizing that we've
overreacted to Europe yesterday," said Uri Landesman, president
of Platinum Partners in New York.
"Money in the euro, euro bonds and euro stocks are coming
back to the good, old U.S. stock market and 1,545 (on the S&P
500) is the short-term target, probably in the first half of the
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 110.50
points, or 0.80 percent, at 13,990.58 after rising as high as
14,006. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 13.42
points, or 0.90 percent, at 1,509.13. The Nasdaq Composite Index
was up 30.96 points, or 0.99 percent, at 3,162.13.
Archer Daniels Midland reported revenue and adjusted
fourth-quarter earnings that beat expectations, boosted by
strong global demand for oilseeds. Shares rose 3.4 percent to
Estée Lauder Cos Inc reported a higher quarterly
profit on Tuesday and raised its full-year profit forecast. The
stock rose to a new 52-week high of $66.07 earlier but traded at
around $64 in afternoon.
According to Thomson Reuters data, of the 53 percent of S&P
500 companies that have reported earnings thus far, 69 percent
have beaten profit expectations, over the 62 percent average
since 1994 and the 65 percent average over the past four
Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected
to rise 4.5 percent, according to the data, above the 1.9
percent forecast at the start of earnings season but well below
the 9.9 percent forecast on Oct. 1.
The S&P is less than 5 percent away from its all-time
intraday high of 1,576.09, reached in October 2011.
McGraw-Hill slumped 5.4 percent to $47.55 after the
Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit against it seeking $5
billion over mortgage bond ratings. Standard & Poor's, a McGraw
Hill unit, was accused of inflated ratings and understated risks
out of a desire to gain more business from investment banks.
The stock has dropped more than 20 percent over the past two
U.S. shares of BP Plc rose 1.1 percent to $44.07
after the company reported earnings that beat expectations and
said underlying financial momentum would be "strongly evident"
by 2014.
The Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing
index was 55.2 in January, as expected and down slightly from
the previous month.


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Settling a case early on can have advantages. One of these is that you can include a confidentiality clause that bars a former employee from talking about the case. Now a California court has said that such clauses are valid, meaning you can sue a former employee who breaks a confidentiality agreement.
Recent case: David and other Molina Healthcare employees settled a claim that challenged their termination during a reduction in force. Each accepted cash and promised to keep their claims confidential, specifically agreeing that in "the event you are asked about your dispute with Molina, you will respond only by saying 'The matter has been resolved.'"
Somehow, the media got wind that Molina was alleged to have laid off U.S. citizens and imported foreign workers to replace them. Other related lawsuits followed.
Molina sued David and his colleagues after a news article stated that the group had settled their cases through mediation. Molina told the court that the information could not have come from the company since it kept the details strictly confidential, as it and the employees had agreed.
The court said Molina's case could go forward; it can try to show that the information must have come from someone in the group. (Molina Healthcare v. Beasley, et al., B239208, Court of Appeal of California, 2nd Appellate District, 2013)


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Image copyright:
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I honostly don't remember what it was pretty sure it was a stick or pole of some sort in the ground.
Looks like they corked off their stash of "white lightening".......lol.Just kidding......not really knowing what this is about. Only give2006 knows.Thank you for the interaction....Janine.
Looks like a stick rammed into a boulder to me, too.
This looks like a stick which was rammed into a boulder, am i right?


text:
These are the stories of a gardener and her adventures in and sometimes out of her eclectic and eccentric garden in a suburb of Houston, Texas.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Sadness on My Corner of Katy
My daughter is without a doubt the bravest, most compassionate and most selfless person I know. She made the difficult decision yesterday to say goodbye to her beloved kitty Loki rather than put him through more treatments that had only a small chance of saving his life. Loki was only 2 years old so it was especially hard to know what was best for him. She held him in her arms as he crossed the Rainbow Bridge and the last thing he saw was her face. Hayley, you are my hero and you make me proud every day but never more so than yesterday.
8 comments:
- getgrounded said...
I'm crying with you as a fellow cat lover, MCOK. So so sorry; I know how hard that is as I've done it also. Heartbreaking, absolutely. Many hugs.
- April 16, 2012 at 8:38 PM
- HolleyGarden said...
So sorry. It must have been especially hard since he was such a young cat. I hope her heart heals soon.
- April 17, 2012 at 10:23 AM
- Rose said...
My heart goes out to your daughter, Cindy. Such a difficult decision to make, but no doubt the best for Loki. I hope that memories of happier times with her precious kitty can bring Hayley some comfort.
- April 19, 2012 at 8:50 AM
- Gail said...
Hugs to you both, xoxogail
- April 20, 2012 at 2:39 PM
- Barbara said...
I can't begin to find the words to say how sorry I am, I have 7 dogs and 7 adult cats and 4 brand new kittens....I love them all. I live in the country and we are the drop off station for unwanted animals. Please give your daughter my love.
- May 6, 2012 at 3:44 AM
We know how you are feeling,we lost two of our much love dogs,we pray that time will heal us all...I live in Katy and will like to know where to get and take care of Chaste tree(VITEX), Take care.Mrs Bee.
- May 6, 2012 at 2:55 PM
- Skeeter said...
As a Furbaby mommy, my heart aches for your daughter! It is never easy to make that call but up to us to do the best for our baby's. Loki is now running the fields over that special bridge with many loved babys such as my Skeeter boy...
- May 18, 2012 at 9:03 PM
- Cindy, MCOK said...
Thank you all for your kind words. Hayley was touched by your caring and concern. She'll miss him for a long time but she's over the worst.
Mrs. Bee, you can get Vitex at most of the nurseries around here.
- June 13, 2012 at 12:36 PM


text:
With the March 10 season opener against Kansas City quickly approaching, the upcoming Carolina Challenge Cup offers Ben Olsen one final dress rehearsal ahead of his second full season as head coach of D.C. United. Thanks to a rash of call-ups, nagging injuries and late signings, the Black-and-Red have yet to put their entire team on the field at the same time this preseason, a fact not lost on United's young coach.
"The real end game out of this is to get this team on the same page," Olsen admitted hours before departing for Charleston late Wednesday afternoon. "We haven't had the luxury of having everybody together, so the next two weeks is vital for us to take a big step in our identity."
What exactly that identity is, remains to be seen. With newly-inked designated player Hamdi Salihi set to make his debut Saturday against the Chicago Fire, D.C.'s attack is still very much a work in progress. Midfielders Branko Boskovic and Andy Najar excelled in training over the last few days, but with plenty of options going forward, United fans can expect to see a myriad of different combinations in the attacking third.
"I think it's a real nice luxury to have six, seven, eight guys when you look down that bench that can come in and change the game," Olsen added. "It's an exciting group of attacking players but we've got to get out there and try to get these guys feeling comfortable with each other."
For United's players, the trip south serves as a final litmus test. Less than six months removed from breaking his leg, winger Chris Pontius is a perfect example of a player looking for confirmation in Charleston. Despite solid performances in recent practices, Pontius admits to having some work to do over the next eleven days.
"We are going to push my minutes down in Charleston," the Californian said on Wednesday. "That'll be a good gauge for me to get some long minutes heading into the season opener so hopefully I can be ready for that."
With three different opportunities to mix, match and evaluate personnel, Olsen says he plans on using multiple formations in the coming week. The tournament will be Olsen's first opportunity to get De Rosario, Salihi and Boskovic on the field at once, and though Perry Kitchen and Bill Hamid won't join the squad until next Saturday's match because of U-23 national team camp, United's coach believes there's really only minor adjustments left to be made to D.C.'s overall game plan.
"What formation is going to suit us is maybe something we'll tinker with," Olsen noted. "We've been playing catch up with that so we certainly will be trying some different things."
D.C. opens the competition Saturday at 5:00 p.m. against the Chicago Fire followed by a Wednesday night clash with the host Charleston Battery. United then wraps up play next Saturday against Columbus. You can watch all three D.C. matches via live stream on dcunited.com.


text:
✒Nothing – not government cuts, not the Middle East, not even cats in bins – gets you commenting as furiously as sexual politics. If all we cared about was starting a rumble – and, honest, it's not – we'd know just how to wind you up.
So we expected a big response to Kira Cochrane's cover story last Friday. What we got was a huge one. As the readers' room went to press, there were 830 comments at theguardian.com/g2, and more than 150 tweets.
What had you fired up? Kira's denunciation of "rape talk" after the boxer David Haye promised his title fight with Audley Harrison would be as "one-sided as a gang rape". "The use of the word 'rape' to describe all kinds of bad experience – from getting beaten up in a boxing match, to having your hairdo completely ruined – has recently become usual, average, shruggable," Kira wrote. "It is now regularly used where 'nightmare' or an apt expletive would previously have been in order." Then there are the "jokes". "When you use rape in jokes, or as a glib aside about the terrible sandwich you ate at lunch, you're suggesting the crime just isn't very serious."
Quite a few of you were shocked that Kira was shocked. "Haye is paid a great deal of money to go into a 20 x 20 ring in front of thousands of people and beat another man to a bloody pulp," objected Ghengis. "You would think the comment had been made via an MP's question at Prime Minister's Questions." Paul Marsh emailed firstname.lastname@example.com to say: "I often enjoy Kira's writing but on this occasion she was wildly off the mark."
batz, meanwhile, reckoned the article was "a fantastic example of Guardianland/CiF's occasional trips to la-la land. None of us has been given the right to go through life without being offended. That's the price of free speech. Can you please get your head round that and desist with your censorious knee-jerking? Thanks."
If only everyone could be so detached. "I was raped when I was 16," commented LibertarianLou, "and sometimes hearing these sorts of jokes/stories makes me have some pretty nasty flashbacks. It's not the fault of the person making the joke, I don't expect them to know this or even [that it should be] their problem – I imagine it's my fault for never having talked about this to anyone rather than their fault for making jokes. But I'm just saying, this is not a made-up issue – it's pretty horrible hearing colleagues shout 'Yes, totally raped them with that deal!' and high-fiving each other or whatever. I have had to leave the room and sit in a loo cubicle having a flashback on more than one occasion."
✒Monday's report on Greenland's oil rush provoked some surprisingly civilised debate, given it touched on global warming. Yes, there was some to-and froing about the benefits for the locals ("They should just look at the Gulf of Mexico to see how offshore oil drilling will transform their lives," warned ikesolem, while NeverMindTheBollocks countered: "It's great to see that native people will be benefiting from this find"), but the tone remained courteous.
Well, mostly. When Desperado2012 suggested Britain might meet its fuel needs by planting industrial hemp over a third of the country, perhaps with the help of the unemployed, Gangoffour could not restrain himself: "I look forward to the British being forcibly displaced from their homes, the forests mowed down and whatever else that is important to somebody being removed so monolithic agriculture of an invasive weed can occur. Frankenweed . . . brought to you courtesy of your delusional and stoned tree-huggers."
✒ If you like more glamour in your paper, you got it on Tuesday, when Pamela Stephenson Connolly became a Strictly Come Dancing contestant. "OMG," she marvelled (that's "Oh my God", unless she was dictating with her mouth full), "I – a 60-year-old author and mental health professional – have joined the latest lineup of celebrity contestants for BBC1's beloved primetime show. This is no reality show; rather it is an unreality show – a fantasy ride for contestants and viewers. It is a journey of frothy dreams, camp comfort and elegant escapism." Plus, she revealed, fake tan and total below-stairs depilation. "I have been metamorphosised into a purveyor of camp."
"I'm sorry," tweeted @JLucas86. "It is just too early in the day for me to be reading about Pamela Stephenson's shaved pudenda." But max867's concerns were broader. "One of the great things about the British people used to be their disdain for crap like 'Strictly'. Now all the years of Big Brother and X Factor seem to have created a collective softening of the national brain. What happens on 'Strictly'? A bunch of people who you have more or less heard of are put on television to engage in an activity which they're no good at . . . And somehow that's worth reporting at length in every serious national newspaper? 'Dumbing down' doesn't begin to describe it."
It must be hard to feel so isolated from popular culture. How kind of Oceane to try to bridge the gap: "Let me see if I can explain this. I think it's going to be a tricky concept for you to grasp, so please concentrate . . . It's fun."
✒What about Wednesday's "essential guide" to the pope's visit? "The pope is as catholic in his prejudices as he is in his faith," warned John Crace. "Never a shrinking violet even before he was elected to the papacy in 2005, he has managed to insult just about everyone . . . If he hasn't got round to anything you care about yet, just give him a bit more time."
This article too was "a bit of fun", according to Jisabel. But JamesdelaMare begged to differ: "More like a vicious attempt by a bigoted journalist to make the visit seem like a crime and the pope a criminal. Not the way for what is supposed to be a liberal newspaper to behave.
"Over the years many people far, far worse than him have visited Britain and been politely welcomed," he continued. "I'm not a Roman Catholic or religious, but I do believe the RCs should run their church in the way THEY see fit, not as emotive busybodies like [Peter] Tatchell and Crace presume to tell others it should be run."
But hold on! What about the big issue: the Guardian's . . . ummm, idiosyncratic approach to capitalisation? "Upper-case Q for the Queen, lower-case p for the Pope," noted columbus. "He's only the spiritual leader of a billion people, but the Guardian's loathing of Catholicism is too great to expect courtesy even in a typeface. Hugo Young must be turning in his grave."
✒And finally . . . a skateboarding duck. No, sorry, it's Thursday's cover story, in which the readers' room janitor was briefly allowed out to forage for wild mushrooms. "This is when woods and meadows fill with boletes and parasols and blewitts and wax caps," I wrote, before blahing on about "sun-chequered woods" and "the fungal equivalent of the bike with training wheels".
Thank you, dear readers, for being so gentle. Rather than pointing out the article's many shortcomings, you diluted them with your own stories. Trilobyte was "delighted to have found a particular rich picking ground for ceps miles from anywhere deep in a forest. I've picked absolutely pounds and pounds of them this year – delicious in an omelette", while fionaflynn had "picked three big white mushrooms from a patch on the sea bank on the Wash, early Saturday morning. They were fantastic, and did for a big fried breakfast and an omelette the following day."
It wasn't just the edible ones you got all lyrical about. "When I was a kid back home in Finland I sometimes followed my parents to mushroom picking excursions," recalled Villiorvokki. "My mom made sure I knew what I was dealing with; until today I can easily recognise the most beautiful of all mushrooms, Amanita muscaria."
That particular species is better known as fly agaric; as well as giving you hallucinations, it can make you extremely sick. Best avoid it: we need you well enough to comment.
Briefly speaking
"How do they know she's a prostitute? Maybe that was less embarrassing to say than her real job, like Tory MP or something" – singleta sniffs out the real scandal at The X Factor
"My hometown has been judged 'snobby' by the @Guardiang2. Do them in next time they're here" – @kirstenjjpeters sticks up for Lymington
"When I want to work I take my internet cable, walk down three flights of stairs and lock it into my postbox. It's the only way" – KuchenCake offers Charlie Brooker some productivity tips
"What about Jesus? He was British, wasn't he?" – tommi103333 spots a gap in Tom Meltzer's list of great Britons
• If you would like to comment on any of the stories in G2, or just want to join in the debates, go to theguardian.com/g2 to add your comments, tweet us @guardiang2 or email us at email@example.com. On Fridays the most interesting feedback will be printed on these pages


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Jotta A, Joseph Antonio Viana, (his family calls him Tony). Yes the little Brazilian boy who took the Gospel by storm when he sang his heart out at Brazil Talented Kids Show and transformed famous songs into new age Gospel sensation, is still in the scenes and is working on a new album which will be out this year. If you love Jotta A, you will love his CD Essencia.
Most know or remember Jotta A as a little boy singing perfectly, "Halleluiah" version of WH Smith, "Still" by Hill Song and other big songs sung by big artists like Aline Barros "Sonda me", hitting the high notes in perfect vocal chords with a difference, like never heard before, giving gospel music a new meaning . Now Jotta A, still driven by his Ministry and an idol for millions of both Christians and non Christians fans and supporters is all grown up, a 15 year old, with a new look, and is coming up with a new album, to be released this year.
Jotta A is a role model for both Christian and non Christian Youth of today. Apart from his commitment to his Ministry, Jotta is still a young teenager just like any other teenager but with a passion for Christ and is supported by his Christian family and Christian supporters all over the world. One of his role models is He is usually fully booked throughout the year, performing in churches and events around Brazil, reaching out through his Ministry.
Jotta A is compared to the likes of Michael Jackson and on meeting him, speaking to him and hearing him live myself, I thought this young, God Loving little man is non comparable to Michael Jackson at all. He is highly gifted, confident and talented in his own special way. I was a big fan of Michael Jackson myself back in the 80's and I can admit that Jotta A is way ahead of Michael Jackson. They are both talented, but in their very special different ways in which I would say Jotta is on the lead.
I heard Jotta sing myself, live, with his original, non tuned or enhanced voice and the young man sings like an angel, with a naturally enhanced voice. Not only does he worship when he humbly sings, but the anointing that is on him just splashes everywhere in the room, overflows and connects with the audience, making everyone feel an extraordinary feeling of love for the Lord and making way to worship the Lord in the Spirit. Jotta bubbles with love and I believe that this is what makes him unique, compared to other Gospel singers. One has to witness it to believe it, so I did. Jotta connects spiritually with God before he connects with the audience, making the audience feel what he is feeling and sharing it too. This "love for God feeling" is just heavily contagious.
When Jotta is on the stage singing, he is out of this world and in a worshipping state but still connected to the audience and conveying the Word of God through singing. It's not everyday that you hear songs that tear you apart and really make you see or know who you really are and where you are heading spiritually. Jotta's singing does exactly that because he is not only singing, but ministering to the listener, in a very special way.
Now with a mature voice, Jotta is even more perfected and still has love and affection in his ministry. Of course, after puberty (which happens to all males), His vocals have changed but even more perfected. Some have criticised his vocals after puberty, but voice breaking is common and by nature. Jotta's Ministry is a singing. He was born to sing and is still doing just that perfectly and conveying the messages of his ministry. He recorded his first CD when he was six years old and is still heading on and improving each and every moment.
If you are a fan or want to experience this phenomenon sensation, listen to all his music and look out for the coming album in November 2013.
"Waterfall of Agape Love" a new book – A Jotta A Testimony is now available on Kindle Version at Amazon
Jotta A Website
Jotta A's Official Twitter
Jotta A Face book
Jotta A News Update
Jotta A UK Fanclub on Twitter


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Trawler Alumtech 65 Custom
"San Marino" is a genuine Trawler, designed by David Napier (Bertram, Hatteras) and built under supervision of the ABS (American Bureau of Shipping) and their strict rules on all aspects of construction.
She received the maximum classification: "Lotus A1 + AMS," the first Brazilian small vessel to receive this status. This means that the trawler can navigate in any seas, suffering inclinations from any angle, including 180° (capsizing), and returning quicjly to its original position.
The initial design of the hull was subjected to computer testing and recalculated by ABS that suggested several modifications. Subsequently, the Brazilian Navy calculated all hydrostatic curves. When ready, it was again tested by ABS.
This is the first trawler built in Brazil with autonomy and strength to make long-distance travel in dangerous seas.
Autonomy is 2500 nautical miles, important to navigate the Arctic, where there are few ports. The distance between Honolulu and San Francisco is 2,200 miles. Covering this leg she can go to any place on the planet, except Easter Island.
The boat was designed to be a dwelling in the waters and on land. It is possible to strand her and keep her horizontal, by lowering side-arms, built into the hull.
The hull was constructed in 4inch fibreglass, with an integrated heating and cooling system, that runs throught the fiberglass, either cooling or heating it.
Already tested 14 years at sea and sailed more than 33,000 miles, many rough seas and rivers at different temperatures and conditions, this vessel is a never resting warrior, offering all the comfort a home can offer.
Microsoft Word - Document1
Consumption cruise - 80l / h both engines
Hull and houses - ultra- reinforced laminate 10 cm - 4 inches - solid glass fiber.
Bow - covered with high strength stainless steel for impact with ice. Keel - lead and fiberglass, 6 tons - 13,227 lbs.
Windows and portholes - 14mm and 12mm, bulletproof glass.
Contact en France Paul: +336-11-53-46-08
Microsoft Word - Document1
Computer with Maptech Offshore Navigator plotter, C-Map, Visual Passage Planner 2, Vessel Management System.,Electronic charts
2 automatic pilots Furuno 1 fixed GPS
2 Furuno Radars
2 Depth sounders
3 Electronic Compasses Brookhouse NMEA Multiplexer
Raymarine / Autohelm - Depth, Speed, Wind, Electronic Compass, Multi (3), Graphic (3x).
Inmarsat M - satellite phone
Inmarsat C - telex, Navtex, fax and e-mail via satellite
Microsoft Word - Document1
Winches: 02 at the bow, 01 at stern Electronics: TV, DVD, CD
01 Flexboat 15 '+ yamaha 40hp 2-stroke 01 Avon + 15hp Yamaha 4 stroke
Gelcoat appearance: 95%
6-71 n 220hp, vacuumed 509 2.48: 1
Upholstery: 100%
01 50kw Northern Lights generator (John Deere 120hp engine) 01 Air conditioning 100.000btu with 9 vents and through hull circulation.
01 Watermaker: 400l / h
01 Connverter 110 and 220V
04 Batterychargers
06 Gel batteries, total 2.400A
Bio-active wastewater treatment
02 Cranes 400kg
01 Crane 700kg
01 Compressor for diving cylinders
01 washing machine
01 Dryer
Central heating with through hull circulation.
Complete kitchen with trash compactor
The Company offers the details of this vessel in good faith but is not able to guarantee the accuracy of this information nor warrant the condition of the vessel. It is the buyer that should instruct his agents, or his surveyors, to verify and validate the information of their choice. It is the buyer's right and responsibility to verify all specifications and equipment listed above are accurate. This vessel is offered subject to prior sale
100 SE 2nd ST
Suite 2000
Miami, FL 33131
United States


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Meta Search
search across all the following databases:
Data Catalog
Data and documentation
Common questions and answers.
Entire collection of data resources.
Census is in trouble: decennial and economic
Opoid Use and Labor Force Participation
PSC Data Catalog: Study Bibliographic Details:
|Access to Files:
|Data and Documentation
|Detroit Child Care Study, 1986 [United States]
|Study Number:
|Catalog Date:
|Primary Investigator(s):
|Mason, Karen
|Access Restrictions:
|The study includes information related to the process and criteria by which mothers of preschool-aged children search for, select, and evaluate alternative methods of child care and how the availability and costs of alternative forms of child care influence women's employment decisions and reproductive behavior. The study includes data on marital and fertility history and fertility expectations, employment histories and expectations, child care histories and current arrangements, the child care search for the first and/or the most recent non-maternal care arrangement, perceptions of child care and child care attitudes, and other background and sociodemographic data.
|Women under age 40 residing within the Detroit SMSA who have at least one natural, adopted or step child under age six residing with them for whose care they are responsible.
| by Title . by Number . Search . Browse . Help . Next |


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Do you know what "phubbing" is? Would you be surprised if we told you that you do that all the time, but you are not aware that there is a term for that particular behavior?
Phubbing seems to be a very big problem in communication nowadays and its definition is "the act of snubbing someone in a social setting by looking at your phone instead of paying attention". As a matter of fact, this word has been made up by ad agency MacCann Melbourne in order to promote the Macquarie Dictionary.
Firstly, the problem in communication was detected: it seems that people are using their smartphones more frequently, instead of participating in real-time conversations. Then, the question was asked: If there is a problem, why aren't we discussing it? The answer was simple: there is no word for this behavior.
SEE ALSO: Wiki Korea, Brought to You by PSY
So, a team was formed to create a word. The team consisted of one poet, lexicologist, phonetician, debating champion, cruciverbalist and other authors. The team came up with the word "phubbing" and all its forms; "you have just been phubbed", "don't be a phubber" etc. In order to stop phubbing, they have created a website that contains only one page and it is loud and clear – stop phubbing.
The whole campaign was planned with the goal to reinforce the importance of words and to revive print dictionaries. And they have succeeded, the word became popular in the UK, US, Mexico, and Latin America. It is set to conquer Europe also, so grasp the trend and stop phubbing!
Take a look at the short movie that documents the entire campaign from the creation of this word to its spreading across the globe:


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Intro to caching, caching algorithms and caching frameworks (0 messages)
Increasing an application's performance is a multi-step process, which often contemplates things like refactoring, profiling and the use of special tools or frameworks. This five part blog post series explores the concepts of caching, caching algorithms and a series of caching frameworks that target the Java platform. Read the series 'Intro to Caching,Caching algorithms and caching frameworks': http://javalandscape.blogspot.com/2009/05/intro-to-cachingcaching-algorithms-and.html
- Posted by: Daniel Rubio
- Posted on: May 03 2009 20:05 EDT


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SYDNEY, May 23 (UPI) -- Financial guru Larry Williams, the father of Oscar-nominated actress Michelle Williams, was arrested in Sydney for international tax evasion.
U.S. authorities asked Australian police to apprehend the stock market trader when he arrived in Sydney Saturday for a lecture tour of Australia and New Zealand, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service alleges Williams, 64, who lives in the Virgin Islands, owes the U.S. government about $1.5 million in taxes for earnings between 1990 and 2001.
His attorney told the Central Local Court in Sydney Tuesday Williams had been negotiating with the IRS for about a year and paid off about $400,000 of tax debt.
Williams turned over his passport and was freed on $1 million bond. He was also ordered to check in with Sydney police three times day until his next court hearing set for Monday.
His daughter, Michelle, received a best supporting actress nod for her role in "Brokeback Mountain."


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- Plan a Visit
- Events
- Exhibits
- Education
- Research
- Publications
- Support MHM
With a history dating back to 1820, The Missouri Harmony was the most popular of all frontier shape-note tune books. The 185 songs compiled in the collection were favorites used in Protestant churches and singing schools, and many were deeply rooted in American culture by the time of its first publication. The story of the book is the story of a burgeoning nation, with its origins in a St. Louis school (where it was introduced by singing master Allen Carden) and its spread along the Mississippi River and its tributaries. It's said that even Abraham Lincoln and his sweetheart, Ann Rutledge, sang from The Missouri Harmony at her father's tavern in Illinois. Compilations like The Missouri Harmony not only helped teach Americans to read music but also carried on the European heritage of shaped notes, a format used by congregations and choirs around the world. And yet despite its significance, the book was, until now, unavailable to contemporary choral and church music communities. Collected by Wings of Song, an organization of St. Louis shape-note singers, this new version of The Missouri Harmony contains over 350 pages of new and old music and a narrative introduction that includes photographs and illustrations that illuminate the shape-note tradition. With this compilation, published nearly two hundred years after its inception, the heritage of a very different, yet ever influential, America thrives, and its songs, rich with our country's history, live on.
"This book is a remarkable achievement, an amazing resource for all lovers of choral music."
-Dave Kirby on WTBF-AM/FM


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Exceptional GCSE Results for Tring School – Thursday 26 August 2016
Tring School is celebrating an exceptional set of GSCE results with 11% of students achieving at least eight A* and A grades − and more than half of pupils gaining at least one A* or A. The overall performance shows a 5% improvement upon 2015 which was itself a very successful year.
Amongst the many outstanding GCSE performers are:
Maisie Bradfield: 9A*s and 3As
Thomas Hood: 9A*s, 2As and a B
James Burkhalter: 7A*s, 5As
Joe Bowman: 6A*s, 5As
Matthew Cowan: 5A*s, 6As
Lisa Murphy: 5A*s, 6As
Paddy Dunphy: 6A*s,4As and a B
Harriet Grout: 5A*s, 6 As, and 1B
Georgina Haddock: 6 A*s, 3As, 2Bs
Haider Maqsood: 4A*s, 6As and a Distinction*
Anna Sevigny: 4A*s, 6As
William Marshall: 4A*s, 4As, and 3Bs
Ella Morris-Skingley: 3A*s, 5As and a Distinction*
Paddy Dunphy gained an A^ in Further Maths − an achievement which places him amongst the very top Maths students in the country.
Many of Tring's GSCE students will move on to the school's Sixth Form – which achieved outstanding A-level results this year, with almost half gaining A* and A grades.
Commenting on the results, Headteacher Sue Collings said: "We are absolutely delighted for our GCSE students, whose exceptional exam results will provide a very strong foundation for their next steps in education and future careers.
"We are particularly pleased with the continued progress that this group of students have made during their time at Tring and we look forward to welcoming many of them into our Sixth Form in September.
"Staff, parents and governors can all be very proud of these achievements − not just academic success alone, but also in the Tring School philosophy of nurturing well-rounded students who are fully prepared for today's world".


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Mountain Lakes Virtual Backpack
November 23rd, 2016 Edition
Want to browse the Virtual Backpack faster? Try the all new streamlined Backpack! All the same flyers as the booklet, but on one page so you don't have to flip through one at a time. Check it out here: http://www.mlvb.org
Click on the image below to access the Mountain Lakes Virtual Backpack in it's Flip Book form.
Once the book has loaded you will find the following options helpful:
1) At the bottom right of the bottom right of the display you will find a print icon that will allow you to print any flyers that interest you.
2) At the bottom left of the display the four-box icon allows you to move quickly through the book in thumbnail form.
3) Click on the page number at the bottom center of the display to type in a page and go directly there.
4) If you have any problems opening the book, you can download the Virtual Backpack book by clicking on the pdf link at the bottom of this page.


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Skype for Windows 6.16Skype is a freemium voice-over-IP service and instant messaging client, currently developed by the Microsoft Skype Division. The service allows users to communicate with peers by voice using a microphone, video by using a webcam, and instant messaging over the Internet. Phone calls may be placed to recipients on the traditional telephone networks. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free of charge, while calls to landline telephones and mobile phones are charged via a debit-based user account system.
Skype 6.16 for Windows 6.16
Skype for Windows version 6.16 is available now - Skype Community
The Windows 8 classic Start Menu will arrive in August!Looks like the folks that still hate Windows 8 will have one less reason in August, as Microsoft have announced that both a more classic start menu and the ability to run "modern" applications within a Window as shown below.
I am always pleased to see such great momentum with operating system developments, but I must admit I was starting to get used to the new full screen menu but I am sure I can adjust back just as quickly if it is done correctly.
I do find the live tiles fairly useful in some applications but must admit for services like Twitter and Facebook I continue to use the web versions just as well, although I appreciate that on Tablets the apps are always far more accessible.
Windows 8 Start menu should return in August, thanks to new, faster release cycle | ExtremeTech
Dropbox for Windows 2.6.30Dropbox is an online storage provider and with all the options out there is still one of the best. I use this application to easily sync files between my work and home PC but as a super easy way of getting files to other people. I also find the Android application very useful to get non-Play Store applications quickly across my various devices.
Both Microsoft and Google are making a huge push to get people using their various offerings, but this one I just keep coming back to. What is new since 2.6.28? Not alot but change is good!
You need to act - Heartbleed bugHeartbleed is a security bug in the open-source OpenSSL cryptography library, widely used to implement the Internet's Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol. This vulnerability results from a missing bounds check in the handling of the Transport Layer Security (TLS) heartbeat extension, the heartbeat being behind the bug's name. A fixed version of OpenSSL was released on April 7, 2014, at the same time as Heartbleed was publicly disclosed. At that time, some 17 percent (around half a million) of the Internet's secure web servers certified by trusted authorities were believed to be vulnerable to the attack, allowing theft of the servers' private keys and users' session cookies and passwords. (Heartbleed - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Here is a listed of places that are or were affected by the Heartbleed bug.
If something you use is on the list and their services have been patched you may want to change your password.
If they have not yet patched yet it will do no good to change your password so wait for that service/site to be patched then change password.
For example, Gmail was affected but is now patched so you should probably change your gmail password.
More details are in the following link:
The Heartbleed Hit List: The Passwords You Need to Change Right Now
Steve Ballmer To Retire As Microsoft CEO Within 12 MonthsIn a surprising move today, Microsoft just announced that long-time CEO Steve Ballmer will retire in the coming 12 months. He will stay at the helm of the company until a special committee appoints a new CEO.
Steve Ballmer To Retire As Microsoft CEO Within 12 Months | TechCrunch
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Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
Price: $39.99
System(s): PS4 (Also on PS3 and PC)
Release Date: April 14, 2014
Publisher (Developer): Square Enix (Square Enix)
ESRB Rating: "Teen" for Alcohol Reference, Animated Blood, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
Final Fantasy XIV started off on a bad note. I mean if you have to go free2play while you're trying to fix it, there might be a major issue for the game. If you realize you need to reboot it by destroying the world, again, there might be a major issue. There were problems in storytelling, design, and programming. Square Enix admitted that they messed up on the development of the game, and set to work on Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn . When it was released, it was like a breath of fresh air, mostly because it actually worked. Huzzah! Now, the PS4 version proves itself just as capable as the PC and PS3 installments.
Life after the Cataclysm
With Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, the story takes place five years after the Cataclysm, where the primal elder Bahamut destroyed most, if not, all of the continent of Eorzea. This, in real world terms, is known as Square Enix hitting the big red reset button. Because of a last ditch effort and spell, the lives that would've ended in the Cataclysm were held in stasis until it was safe to re-enter the world.
The events of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn cover two main plot lines. Everyone is left trying to rebuild civilization on the continent of Eorzea after the destruction, which leads to a war between empires not based on the continent of Eorzea as well as the various forms of beastmen. At the same time, figuring out what happened between Bahamut's release and the adventurers returning from the magic that had saved them is quite a mystery. It leaves plenty of potential for expansions and months of play.
The primals, characters that are the equivalent of summons from previous games, also play a major part in the story. Specifically, since the energy needs for summoning the primals seem to be damaging the planet, the Garlean Empire is intent on killing the primals. There is another reason why the Garlean Empire is attempting to permanently kill the primals, and that reason is a reference to the conflict between Christianity and pagan religions. Specifically, the primals are heathen gods. If you are playing as a summoner though, you'll be able to summon smaller versions of the primals known as Egis.
Entering an improved Eorzea.
World building is hard, especially in a MMORPG, as you need to create something that people want to return to. The mechanics and logic for the way the world works need to be solid, the stories within compelling, and of course there must be plenty of things to do or see. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn does mostly well, but there are times when the experience is still barely adequate.
FFXIV: A Realm Reborn looks stunning on the PS4, even though its graphics engine is a stripped back version of the original FFXIV. It's hard to walk away from, because, much like any other Final Fantasy games, it's just gorgeous. I kept wanting to explore and get a closer look at anything that I could examine, which made questing occasionally difficult. With how much the world invites exploration, it is great that the continent is as big as it is. Just be forewarned on the size of the world that, much like Final Fantasy XI, travel is deliberately paced. So, until you unlock the Aetheryte fast travel system in different areas, it's going to take a while to go places. Then again, the deliberate pacing is only bad if you don't enjoy taking in the sights and possibly gaining experience from discovering something that you haven't found yet.
The user interface for the console versions of FFXIV: A Realm Reborn, something that had some complaints for the PS3 version, works a lot better on the PS4. Part of what makes it an easier and more streamlined UI is the touchpad, which works as a mouse and tracking pad. While there is some awkward HUD navigation if you're not using the touchpad, it would be foolish to not take advantage of something that helps make sense out of the HUD and menu navigation. Using a keyboard and mouse is still an option and will make both navigation of the HUD and messaging easier. However, the Dualshock 4 does allow a control scheme that is almost as comfortable and intuitive if you take advantage of the ways that the Dualshock 4 has been upgraded from the Dualshock 3. It just takes a little getting used to if you're used to playing MMOs on a PC without a gamepad and using voice comm programs like Ventrilo.
Something that A Realm Reborn could use more work on are some of the quest lines. It's not to say they're bad or there isn't any form of logic behind the weaker quest lines. However, some of it really just feels like busy work. For example, one of the first quests you get is to deliver a pie. I can see why, since you might need to bribe the head of the market to gain access to it. There's logic to it. However, possibly a better possible way to introduce and gain access to the market would be news of a thief that you have to find and catch. That being said, there are quite a few quests that feel more like unnecessary busy work, which is more a problem of the genre rather than the game. Moving forward and creating expansions won't necessarily fix this problem, but it would minimize it by creating more strong content.
FFXIV: A Realm Reborn's FATE system is fun. However, the novelty of it is rather short lived. There needs to be more variety in what happens during each FATE. At least with my experience of it so far, it's just dropped in one of the more common low level enemies that you run into in a specific area. The amount of time that it runs rarely changes unless it's a bigger FATE zone. There's little variation in the tactics of your enemy, for example, charging almost blindly in a certain direction. Due to how uniform the FATEs are, they just feel like you're trying to grind for experience. They really don't feel like they're adding anything to the game. The Guildhests are better handled as missions that you don't just wander into. You have to find a Battlewarden to accept and start a Guildhest, Aside from usually having a greater variety of enemies, they also serve a bit like a tutorial or refresher on how to do battle in the best ways against different enemies and odds. Guildleves also act in a similar way to the FATEs, but in a deeper way by shifting a random event to a contract in the form of a card given with a specific mission on it. The missions for each style of the Guildleves also are suited to the type of disciple you are. Battlecraft Leves are for the classes best suited for combat (Disciples of War or Magic). Another way of thinking about the Battlecraft Leves would be bounties. Landcraft Leves are best suited to the classes that work with the land (Disciples of Land), so there will be different resource harvesting and land survey missions. Tradecraft Leves cover the classes that are directly related to crafting (Disciples of Hand), so you're going to be working on filling orders for manufactured items.
There is also something else that gets a little annoying. There's the occasional spammed message in the chat with an alert sound that makes it sound important. Don't worry, it's not. It really just seems to amount to a third party asking for real world money for a set benefit. You see it in all MMOs. It uses roughly the same language, just adapting certain terms to fit the specific game. The only reason why these spammed messages become an issue is the fact that they are long enough and happen frequently enough to make you need to start paying attention to the chat log more than the game just to scroll back through messages to see if you missed anything important.
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn also already has a thriving community, even having been out for just a month. There are guilds that will invite you pretty quickly. You can start up conversations to get more information if you're lost. It just makes the game more approachable. And an MMO with a strong and active community, even if you want to play on your own, just makes it a bit easier to dive into a world that you'll be spending a lot of time in. That's definitely a good thing if you're not used to playing MMOs. The option of playing with rather than around guilds or other players is great. However, if you don't have friends already planning, you can meet new players by using the Duty Finder, which allows you to join in with other players on a variety of quests. dungeons, hests and leves. The great thing about the Duty Finder is the fact that it's not limited to the world your character is on.
On the guild front, there are multiple different types, two of which you will have to join to advance in the story (Adventurer's Guild and the class specific guild, in my case, it's the Lancers' Guild). However, there are also the free companies, which are the player created guilds. I haven't had experience with the free companies yet, mostly because trying to understand the other aspects of the game. One of the great things though is that if you aren't able to find a free company to join, whether through application or invitation, you can apply to create your own Free Company at level 25, provided you have at least four starting players and 15,000 gil.
Depending on how you play, character progression is pretty freeform, at least in comparison to other Final Fantasy games. Classes are more adaptable, allowing you to switch when you feel you've gained a certain level mastery. Jobs are more fixed as they are a specialization within a class. However, if you want to do a multi-class character, you can. The changing of classes can be done through the armory system, which makes class changes as easy as changing your weapons. You're a lancer and want to become mage? Use the armory system to swap out your lance for a mage's weapon(s). You can change classes at almost any time except for within battle. If you want to use some of the more prestige jobs, you'll want to multi-class anyway. For example, if I wanted to become a Dragoon I would need to increase my lancer level to 30 and then multi-class to a marauder by bringing that class to level 15.
Eorzea reborn.
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn fixes pretty much everything that went wrong with the original version of the game. There are still some rough edges in terms of some of the quest design and spammers, but that is more a MMO genre problem than a game-specific issue. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is gorgeous, with intuitive Dualshock 4 controls that elevate this installment above the PS3 port. It's easily played, with an active community, and feels like it's was built for the PS4. This might be a MMO I can actually stick with, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. If you want to play Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn on a console, the PS4 version is the way to go.
Editor's Note: Apologies. A comment saying there was no cross-play functionality has been removed. The statement was false, and there is cross-play functionality with the PS3/PS4/PC copies of the game.


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Leroy Lockwood
Found 10 Records, 10 Photos and 775,768 Family Trees
Born in Connecticut, USA on 1877 to Charles Eugene Lockwood and Mary Elizabeth Andrews. Leroy married Elsie M Barrett and had 4 children. He passed away on 1931 in Weston.
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Surname meaning for "Lockwood"
English: habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire, probably
named in Old English as 'enclosed wood', from loc(a)
'enclosure' (see


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Sat 4th May 2013 9:00amshoresurf's Godrevy Surf Report
2-3ft messy; however rippable with mod onshore wind. Brightening up! Call 07855755556 for Surf Instruction, Hire & Surf Holidays. Follow Shore Surf School link or like on FB 4more info.
View the Godrevy Surf Report and Forecast. shoresurf's Reports have received a total of 704268 views.
This report has received 456 views since 4/5/13.


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Langleigh Guest House is set in an acre of landscaped gardens with a southerly aspect in a pretty conservation village and offers a relaxing and peaceful atmosphere in which to unwind. We are close to both the sea, coastal path, and Exmoor National Park (1 mile) and are situated in an area of outstanding natural beauty. The accommodation consists of 3 double rooms, 1 twin room and 1 two room family suite looking out over the Sterridge Valley or The Village.
All rooms are en-suite and are decorated and furnished to a high standard through a policy of continued improvement. Each room has tea and coffee making facilities, remote control television, alarm clock/radio and hairdryer. Refrigerators with fresh milk are available to guests on both landings.
Breakfast can be served in our charming dining room or taken on the terrace or decking with beautiful views of the surrounding countryside, weather permitting. In season we pick our own apples and pears from the garden.
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Heritage Rated from 1- 5 (low-exceptional) on historic interest
Chambercombe Manor - 2.8 miles (Historic House)
Arlington, St James Church - 3.8 miles (Historic Church)
Arlington Court - 3.9 miles (Historic House)
Marwood Hill - 5.2 miles (Garden)
Marwood, St Michael's Church - 5.2 miles (Historic Church)
Parracombe, St Petrock's Church - 6.1 miles (Historic Church)
Braunton, St Brannock's Church - 7.4 miles (Historic Church)
Swimbridge, St James Church - 10 miles (Historic Church)
Brendon, St Brendan's Church - 11.3 miles (Historic Church)
Tapeley Park - 11.8 miles (Historic House)
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What are some alternative words for words?
Synonyms for words
This thesaurus page is about all possible synonyms, equivalent, same meaning and similar words for the term words.
Princeton's WordNet
the words that are spoken
wrangle, lyric, quarrel, language, row, run-in, dustup, speech, actor's line
lyric, words, language(noun)
the text of a popular song or musical-comedy number
oral communication, nomenclature, spoken communication, wrangle, run-in, linguistic process, actor's line, speech communication, words, voice communication, spoken language, quarrel, dustup, terminology, lyric poem, row, language, lyric, linguistic communication, speech
language that is spoken or written
wrangle, lyric, quarrel, language, row, run-in, dustup, speech, actor's line
quarrel, wrangle, row, words, run-in, dustup(noun)
an angry dispute
words, wrangle, course, lyric, haggling, quarrel, language, speech, wrangling, row, run-in, dustup, rowing, actor's line, haggle
actor's line, speech, words(noun)
words making up the dialogue of a play
manner of speaking, spoken communication, wrangle, run-in, delivery, actor's line, talking to, speech communication, words, voice communication, oral communication, quarrel, lecture, dustup, address, row, language, lyric, spoken language, speech
Dictionary of English Synonymes
PPDB, the paraphrase database
List of paraphrases:
terms, word, phrase, lyrics, mots, expression, remarks, phrases, term, expressions, speeches, paroles, comments, statements
Translations for words
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
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"words." Synonyms.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2017. Web. 21 Nov. 2017. <http://www.synonyms.net/synonym/words>.


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Artist description:
if you look closer you can see a heart shaped cloud . i didn't realize i did it until i finished this draw which is horrible. I wish i could draw better.Uf! No ref used ....
Canvas Draw Created Jul 01, 2011 460 x 640px Unless noted Copyright 2011 nabunici270.
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Buna!!!! Imi place mult desenul asta :) App. cand imi faci si mie desenul ala cu floricele? :)


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USA Today has come out with its annual database of college coaching salaries. Not surprisingly, Alabama's Nick Saban tops the chart with a salary of $5,545,852 for 2012.
Those questioning Bret Bielema's move from Wisconsin to Arkansas might change their opinion after seeing Bielema's 2013 salary with the Hogs ($5,158,863), which ranks third behind Saban and Texas' Mack Brown. Then again, Bielema's compensation also includes a $1.9 million buyout that had to be paid to Wisconsin.
Where do the Big Ten coaches stack up?
Ohio State's Urban Meyer is first in the Big Ten and sixth nationally with a salary of $4,608,000, two spots ahead of Michigan's Brady Hoke ($4,154,000). Meyer and Hoke both are eligible for $550,000 bonuses in 2013.
Iowa's Kirk Ferentz follows Hoke and ranks ninth nationally in salary ($3,985,000). Ferentz also has an insane maximum bonus of $1,750,000. The conversation about his value for a program hovering around .500 isn't going to go away.
Penn State's Bill O'Brien ($3,282,779) and Nebraska's Bo Pelini ($2,975,000) also appear among the top 20 coaches in 2013 salary. The SEC has three of the nation's four highest-paid assistants, four of the top seven and eight of the top 20. The Big Ten and Big 12 are tied for the second-most in the top 20 with five each.
But there's a sizable dropoff after Pelini as Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald comes in next at 41st nationally ($2,221,153). Michigan State's Mark Dantonio undoubtedly is the best value in the league at $1,959,744, behind first-year coaches Darrell Hazell of Purdue ($2,160,833) and Gary Andersen of Wisconsin ($2,120,823).
Purdue had been criticized for underpaying for coaches, but Hazell's deal, which includes a maximum bonus of $1,095,000, is certainly competitive nationally.
Illinois coach Tim Beckman comes in 60th nationally in salary ($1,700,000), while Indiana's Kevin Wilson ($1,291,220) and Minnesota's Jerry Kill ($1,200,000) round out the list. Both Wilson and Kill earn less than coaches from Colorado State, Navy, South Florida and Central Florida. That seems a bit troubling for teams in a loaded league like the Big Ten.
Although the Big Ten is somewhat competitive with the SEC at the top in paying coaches, the overall numbers aren't close.
Maryland coach Randy Edsall, whose team joins the Big Ten in 2014, ranks right behind Andersen in salary at 48th overall ($2,025,440). Rutgers coach Kyle Flood is earning just $860,000, trailing the coaches from Air Force, Memphis, Wyoming and others. Fairly or unfairly, that won't help the perception that Rutgers doesn't belong in a league like the Big Ten.
What are your thoughts on the coaching salaries around the Big Ten and nationally?


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Final route for £500m Western rail access to Heathrow to be announced by end of year
From the Slough Observer:
A final route for the £500m western rail access to Heathrow (WRaTH) project is expected to be announced by the end of the year.
The plans would slash train journey times from Berkshire stations to Heathrow Airport and could be in place by 2021.
The WRaTH stakeholder steering group met on Monday (7) and Malcolm Parsons, Network Rail's senior programme development manager, said:
"This wil mark a significant milestone to the scheme, taking us one more step closer to achieving the aspiration of delivering this major rail upgrade."
The group also approved plans to re-establish a public interest group (PIG) as part of a wider communications and engagement process to keep people up to date.
Ruth Bagley, chair of the steering group and lead for Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said: "Identifying a single option will mark a considerable step forward for our plans to improve rail access to Heathrow from the west."
She added: "What has marked this project out is the coming together of stakeholders around a preferred route which will be in the best interests of the largest number of passengers.
"Once the single option is published, minds can be focused on the more technical stages of delivery."
The next step would be to get a development consent order, which needs ministerial approval to proceed. This stage could be concluded towards the end of 2015.
The proposed rail link would directly serve Slough with four trains every hour – slashing travel times from 45 to six minutes.
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text: I've never played Zelda and would like to. I'm thinking of picking up the GameCube version of Twilight Princess to play on my Wii, because for longer games I like a more traditional control scheme. Am I out of my mind, or do I have some company here? Are the older versions of Zelda, such as those found in the Collector's Edition, worthwhile for Wii owners?


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i enjoyed this - but I´m convinced, that the painter is Rubens... :)
The title of this painting is Allegory of Hearing. I think the Allegory paintings are fascinating!Thanks for all these great puzzles.


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At least two churches in the shadows of McCormick Place have made plans to amend service plans during the upcoming NATO Summit.
Among them is the Quinn Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, which is certainly no stranger to social activism. Its pulpit has been visited by luminaries ranging from Frederick Douglass to Susan B. Anthony to Martin Luther King.
But it's difficult to hold services when congregants can't even reach their place of worship.
"There are going to be traffic jams. There is going to be heightened security. It will take a couple of hours just to get to this building. So why put our congregants through that?" said Pastor James Moody.
Moody said services for Sunday, May 20 have moved to the Wabash YMCA near East 37th Street and South Wabash Avenue.
Likewise, Second Presbyterian on South Michigan Avenue has opted to close its doors, telling parishioners to attend services at a sister church on the south side.
Old St. Mary's Church will close its school on Monday, May 21, conducting classes electronically from students' homes.
"It's really logistics of getting the kids here and parents here. A lot of them work in the loop so they just can't get here. And also emergency vehicles; we have to look at the safety of kids," said Old St. Mary's Assistant Principal Cathy Hart.
Old St. Mary's Church, however, Chicago's oldest congregation, will be open NATO weekend. After all, said Fr. Mike Kallock, they watch the marathon run by every year, and he is stepping out on faith that even with thousands of demonstrators parading by the building will be secure.
"What little I've heard is that there's no evidence from past demonstrations at NATO where they've vandalized churches," he said.


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Serving Northeast Wisconsin and the U.P. of Michigan
Pictures coming soon!!!
Be a part of the latest trend in candy! Provide your guests with an assortment of candies that's sure to please. I will work with you to create a custom candy buffet that is "YOU".
This is a great alternative to individually packaged favors at weddings and will provide something your guests will talk about for a long time after your big day!
Did you know "The Knot" has ranked candy buffets in their "Top 10 Reception Trends" for the past three years?
Elaine Sotka
920.834.4470 or 715.923.0949
920.834.4470 or 715.923.0949


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Weirdly enough I havent had a weekend as good as this one in ages. Sorry if it has no importance to anyone, or doesnt interest anyone, but to all who were involved they will equally admit it was a dope time. I apologize for the lack of decent photos, a lot of them are random shots on my pentax scanned on my shitty scanner, or they have been taken by randoms just picking up my camera. Anyway to start it off, it was my girlfriends birthday weekend. So the plan for me was to head up friday and stay till tuesday, with a bbq and party shindig on the saturday and then a family meal on the monday. I packed up all my stuff to head over friday, which was a slog in itself, I had the job of carrying up all my clothes, my camera stuff, a canvas, some snacks, and the speakers for the party. Lugging these around was the most un fun thing I have done in a while. But I man'd up and onwards I went. I was on a few trains missioning it to her house, I was to lazy to que for the large baggage barriers so I just squeezed through the normal ones which left me stuck in a few. I found it hilarious as it pissed off every cunt trying to rush through. Anyway to cut that boring story short I arrived and had a good sit down to relax my arms as they felt as if they were gonna fall off. Friday night was really a relaxing evening, with MustB turning up later on in the evening. All we did that night was have a blaze, watch City of Paranoia, and play some GTA, which to me is still time well spent.
We had a pretty good sleep that night, but we had to wake up early to get everything setup, it was only a gazebo, some chairs, get the bbq's out and mow the lawn. Some how I got set the job of mowing the lawn, which to be fair is actually a nice job when your in the sun. I was also appointed the chef for the breakfast which was going well until I couldnt get away from her nieces. So I flopped a bit on finishing the cooking, but the main portion was done, well I had started it! We ate and had to pop cost-co to get some supplies for the day. I was soon tempted by the booze section. A few minutes later we had a 1L bottle of Courvoisier in our grasps. Back at her house, we poured
ourselves some yak and awaited the first people to arrive. First person to arrive was an old crew member from the FMS, known as Soar or Bora. Was nice to see him again, he has recently moved back down to London after finishing his Uni course. More people turned up through out the evening. It was a crazy mix of people, graff heads, explorers, college friends and the car lot. Its quite astonishing when you get a bunch of random people together from all different places and communities but they all get along. I think thats the first sign of knowing you are surrounded by a good set of people.
|A few people...
|I love children.
The whole day just consisted of eating bbq food, chatting rubbish, drinking and having a good smoke up. Which as I have said might seem boring to a few people but it was a proper chill out. There was some funny moments when I got a phone call from Patch asking if he can have a shower when he arrives. He had been a naughty boy the night before and had just walked out of a police station, which to me is classic! I can see why he wanted a shower, he was covered in Fail Rail dust and dirt. He explained his story to us all, and it was a funny one, involving videos which will probably be uploaded very soon for all of your viewing needs. Also trust me in saying it will be one of the funniest UE videos in a while. The evening went on and it ended up moving closer to the cabin house for warmth, and for the fact there was Sega Megadrive games and GTA being played again.
|Even more badmanurisms....
The night drew to a close and we all pretty much flopped into bed. All of us apart from one who bombed something silly, which well, kept him up all night! We awoke to a very very fresh day. Probably one of the best all year so we realized we couldnt waste it. I was supposed to be going on a picnic with the misses, yet a couple of people had an idea of going painting at South Tottenham. Which well, seemed like a decent proper plan to both of us. We quickly decided a paint and a picnic was the winner of the two ideas. So we all got ready, had a quick clean up, big ups to Yaz for cleaning nearly everything up in the morning before we had even woken up. That deserves a mega high five, so thanks! So in we jumped to some cars and we sped off to Chrome and Black to grab a few cans of paint to do some simple things. We quickly jumped out, grabbed a few cans each, we decided on white fills, with purple outlines. Easy enough and only meant we needed 3-4 cans each. On the way someone said lets stop by Mr Siologens, we knocked and had no answer, so we carried on to grabbing some food and disposable bbq's. Straight after grabbing more supplies we headed to the wall in the back of the Markfields Project.
|We were amazed by this little speaker. Thanks scott!
We finally arrived at the wall, and my word was a good sit down needed. I swear it was the hottest day I have ever experienced in London. To add to the struggle I was carrying the cool box filled with meat, drink, ice and now ice lollies. Plus my paint and everything else in my rucksack. Anyway a sit down in the shade, a quick zoot and a few drinks and I was nearly ready for a paint.
|Mountain Dew and Strongbow, chillin!
I do apoligize for my attire, no top and a dodgy t-shirt made into a headscarf. But more so I apologize for the shorts rolled up into hotpants. It looked stupid but fuck me was is a millions times nicer than wearing them normally. This is how it looks when standing up, even more ridiculous, but I rocked it hard.
|Rocking the Hipster Look
We had a fat chilled paint session. We spoke to a load of the blokes repairing the wall who ride. They had some mad motivation, they were doing hard laboring, for no wages, in the hottest weather known to any englishmen, and it was just for the love of riding the little park that had been made. I was last down at this wall painting about 5-6 years ago, and they had only done a few tiny sections. To see it now it looks amazing, so props to the guys who have slaved away at creating it! I havent really got that much to say about the actual painting of the pieces as well, we just painted them. So you can just have some actions and some photos of the quick pieces painted.
|Okae by Bora FMS
|Muff FMS (Muffin) Haxo MPS and Site FMS
|Click for Larger Image
Anyway we finished our paint session and Urban Fox turned up, but to be fair we were all pretty ruined. I wanted to jump in the dirty aids canal just behind the wall but Patch had been scouting on his iPhone and there were some big reservoirs just over the canal. The only way to cross this was to climb onto the disused railway bridge and bop across that to the reservoir. So after waiting for a semi clear time, we all bopped up and stashed all the stuff we wouldnt need to take like the cool box, I mean fuck was I lugging that thing around. We had families and their children all staring at us, but no one seemed to say a thing. I think the warm, sunny weather just puts people into good moods.
|Prawn Cracker Canal Munch Up
|Badman Bridge UE
We crossed over the bridge and jumped down, dodging some old raggo motorbike which had been dumped. Straight away a large hole in the fence was spotted so in we went. We had to proper trek through brambles and stinging nettles. This was more of a mission than half of the exploring stuff posted on forums. All we could think of was what the reservoir was going to be like. We half expected some form of security I think, but we finally stumbled out of the bushes, all itching like mad, and scratched beyond belief from the brambles. But we all simultaneously ran up the bank to behold the freshest looking reservoir, which looked even better considering the heat. We took a quick wander around until we found a suitable place to sit down, take clothes off and go for a relaxing swim. We all stripped down and got to the waters edge, but my word the water was cold. All of us were to pussy to be the first to just jump in and brave the cold, but Lucy being a G was the first. We all followed like loosers though. It has to be one of the most refreshing feelings going though. We forgot about how dirty the water kind of looked, and just had a good swim. It didnt last to long as we were all tired and very unfit, but we cooled off and did what we set out to do.
|The view
|Man'in Up
|Fucked up Double Exposure
We all ended up snapping a quick group shot just before hopping out and getting dry in the sun real quick. We headed off back to our nifty stash point on the bridge. None of us could be arsed to go back the way we came so we headed out on the main road to the front gate. We ended up walking past some fishing hut by a car park. I think people must pay here to fish in the other reservoirs. Here is when we all spotted the funniest poster going, it said that the reservoirs or some of the lakes contain killer shrimp. It made us all think would we of gone swimming knowing they were in there? Either way we joked about it and walked back to grab all out bits and bobs. I think 2 of the funniest things I had witnessed for years happened while we were back at the bridge. Patch decided taking a pooh on the bridge would be hilarious, so we all stared on as his poop plonked into the canal below. I cant explain how immature but funny this moment was. But it was an all time classic seeing pooh drop for 10ft before hitting water. The next thing to occur was a pretzel being thrown, but it was how the pretzel landed on a swans back. Now it doesnt sound very funny, but when you see a swan spazz out and go mental for 30 minutes just because it has a pretzl on its back, it makes it pretty damn hilarious. We have no videos or even a photo of this happening. But all I can say is a certain someone has 1Million cool points.
|Patch Haxo Site Zero Muff UrbanFox


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With all the noise T-Mobile is making, it's easy to forget that the other U.S. carriers can do some interesting things as well.
Sprint announced yesterday new service plans that would offer customers unlimited data, texting, and talktime for as long as they keep their accounts active (or as long as Sprint stays in business). The new plans, which start at $80, are available beginning today, and current Sprint customers can sign up without extending their current contracts.
Sprint calls its new effort the "Sprint Unlimited Guarantee", and it puts the carrier in a very different camp from AT&T and Verizon, which have both snatched unlimited data away from their customers. On Sprint, unlimited is here to stay. (Unsurprisingly, Sprint is charging an extra $10 a month if customers want to run their phones as personal hotspots. Sprint isn't that crazy.)
While this all sounds pretty solid, the problem is that "unlimited data" isn't particularly useful if it's coming over a sluggish network, which Sprint has become increasing known for. Obviously that will change once Sprint completes its Network Vision rollout later this year — but for now, Sprint is still a bad sell for a lot of people.


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The family of a 9-year-old boy who was killed last year after being hit by a car outside his elementary school has filed a $1.54 million claim against the school district.
Anthony Robert Jellison of Lakeside died of his injuries April 8, 2009 following the collision outside the Riverview Elementary School parking lot. Jellison skateboarded into the path of a car on Winter Gardens Boulevard south of Rockcrest Road, according to a California Highway Patrol report.
Claims are generally precursors to a lawsuit. It says the collision occurred at a dangerous blind spot where there are no sidewalks or crosswalks.
The district rejected the claim, Superintendent Stephen Halfaker said.
"It's always a tragedy when a young person is injured or killed in an accident like this," Halfaker said. "Our hearts go out to the family. It's just a tragic situation."
Messages to San Diego-based attorney Marianne Johnson, who is representing the family, were not returned.
Jellison, who was a student at Riverview, was skateboarding with friends in the school parking lot during spring break, according to the police report. They became scared and started to run away when they saw a school official. Jellison then skateboarded into the road, where he was struck by a car.
The driver of the car, Ryan Allan Freymiller, swerved to his left to try and avoid Jellison but didn't have enough time to stop, according to the police report.