text:
AL follows Torii's pregame speech to a T
Tigers All-Star calls for win to honor Mariano's last appearance
NEW YORK -- When Detroit Tigers veteran outfielder Torii Hunter addressed the American League squad before Tuesday night's Midsummer Classic at Citi Field, he urged his fellow All-Stars to get the victory for Mariano Rivera, the retiring Yankees closer making his final appearance in baseball's showcase.
They listened.
"That was the plan," Hunter said. "We had a meeting earlier before the game. We went out there and tried to give it our all for him. Those guys on the National League side over there have a lot of good pitching, and we got three runs off some good pitchers over there. Mariano came in, man, it was a great moment. He's one of the great pitchers to ever play this game and I'm honored to play behind him in center field. It was a great night."
AL manager Jim Leyland knew Hunter was the right man to make the traditional pregame address.
"I think it would be more attractive for the fans, maybe to see what a player has to say rather than an old manager saying this game means something," Leyland said. "I think it's good. Torii can express himself however he wants, and that's what I want him to do. I just felt I think he's the elder statesmen, a 17-year veteran, maybe just [talking about] what it means to him and what we're trying to accomplish here."
Before the AL took the field for batting practice Tuesday, Hunter talked about the memorable pregame speeches that Ichiro Suzuki used to make at All-Star Games.
"Ichiro was funny, man," Hunter said. "Every year he gave a little speech. It was pretty weird, can't give you everything. It'll be weird without him up here, but somebody's going to have to step up and take that role, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be a guy that's going to make All-Stars for the next 10 years. We'll see."
Hunter's speech had a different tone. He said there was a little bit of football halftime speech in it, but there was also the insight of a 17-year veteran making quite possibly his last All-Star appearance.
Hunter made his fifth All-Star appearance, and his first since 2010. His fellow Major League players voted him onto the team as a reserve, a sign of how much respect he has around the game.
"Just tried to pump the guys up and let them know some of you guys might not ever make it back here, others are going to be here numerous times," Hunter said. "Savor the moment and have fun with it and just telling them to soak it in. Then a little speech saying, 'Let's go out and eat and have fun.'"
After that, he turned it over to Rivera.
"It was cool, both [Rivera] and Torii," Prince Fielder said. "These guys are veterans, so they know how to pump you up. It was very nice."
Leyland has insisted over the years that he is never a rah-rah manager. While players did that job, Leyland said he simply asked his players to compete.
"I can't tell you how emotional it was in the clubhouse before the game," Leyland said. "That was very touching."


text:
Hi Graham,
Sorry you've been nobbled by botophuket as well!
Here's my advice at least for the interim:
1. Only upload COPIES of any images you want to post and keep the originals on your own PC (with backups to external hard disk, "pen" or DVD's or all of them!! For convenience I personally keep my images in folders on my PC but keep the them and the reports I do backed up on DVD's. Periodically (not often enough!) I back up all my data folder by folder onto an external hard drive for added peace of mind.
2. I have migrated myself onto Imgur for the simple reason that I find Flickr, which most people seem to prefer, to be cumbersome and in my case impossible to log in to! I tried to register an account and learned that as I'm registered into Yahoo, then I am already automatically registered on Flickr. However when I tried to log in using my flickr user name and password I was told it was incorrect, so in the end I lost patience and tried Imgur out based on recommendations from others.
3. Registration is very easy and straightforward the only difficulty I experienced was convincing the process that I am not a robot, but I got there in the end after 3 attempts! Once registered, I have found it to be very smooth and easy to use, quick and clear. Imgur have confirmed to people who have queried with them that they are fine with using it to host photos for posting on forums, they don't allow commercial usage which includes hosting photos for use on eBay etc.
4. I've used it already a number of times on NGRM and found that photos can be posted from very clear and straightforward copy of BB code via a selection window that opens with each photo and pasted into the forum. Recommended provided you take the common sense precaution of keeping your original images safe!
Hope this helps a bit

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Get help with your Graflex questions here
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Looking for a long lens for my Pacemaker
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Joined: 23 Apr 2013
Posts: 3
Location: FRANCE
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 6:13 pm
Post subject: Looking for a long lens for my Pacemaker
Hi !
First of all, I have to introduce myself.
My name is laurent I live in the eastern area of France and I've been practising large format photography for two years. I develop and i print in my lab.
I have just bought a Pacemaker and in order to prepare it for my summer holidays at the seaside, I'm looking for a long lens.
Do you think that a 15" raptar tele can fit on in the graflex bellow ?
Are there any other lenses from 240 to more that can be used on a Pacemaker Graflex ?
Thanks for your help
Best regards
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Billy Canuck
Joined: 04 Apr 2006
Posts: 165
Location: Calgary AB Canada
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 9:01 pm
Post subject:
Hello Laurent, welcome to the seductive world of Graflex! I'm not familiar with the 15-inch Tele-Raptar, so I'm not sure how close you can focus with one of these on a 4x5, but it is a telephoto lens, so you might not have to rack out the bellows all that far. There are others on the forum who will know more.
You don't say if you have a Pacemaker Crown (lens shutter only) or a Pacemaker Speed (lens shutter + rear shutter). I have a 10-inch (254mm) Tele-Optar in barrel that I use with the rear shutter on my Speed. It's a good portrait lens. Barrel lenses are cheaper than lenses in a shutter.
Optars and Raptars are identical, both made by Wollensak.
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Dan Fromm
Joined: 14 May 2001
Posts: 2061
Location: New Jersey
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 10:24 pm
Post subject:
Billy, the 12"/5.6 Tele-Raptar (also badged Tele-Optar) is one of the two standard-issue tele lenses for 4x5 Graphics. The other is the 15"/5.6 Tele-Raptar. Both will fit and focus to infinity and even closer on a 4x5 Graphic. The 12" is the longest standard issue lens for 2x3 Graphics.
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Joined: 23 Apr 2013
Posts: 3
Location: FRANCE
Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 6:43 am
Post subject:
Thanks !
I do own a Graflex Speed Graphic Pacemaker bought from a famous Uk Seller on Ebay. It has its own shutter and works great.
Having searched for my options, I think the raptar 15" is the best choice I can make for the reasons brought by Dan and because I think that it really sticks with my projects at the seaside this summer.
Yesterday evening I was worried about the size of the rear elements, fearing it should not enter the bellows, but both Dan and a page I found reassured me on this point.
Now I just have to look for a solution to fix this lens on a Graflex board because it is sold without retaining ring (flange ?) and a solution to activate the cable release which is quite special on this shutter cause the thread is outside !
As soon as I find some solutions for these issues I will buy a Raptar 15".
I just love this name, it sounds like a dinosaur's name !
Today I will make some test with a Industar 51 and I will receive an Aero Ektar mounted for the Pacemaker, it's a loan from a friend.
I have so many projects with my Pacemaker !
Thanks a lot
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Dan Fromm
Joined: 14 May 2001
Posts: 2061
Location: New Jersey
Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 11:53 am
Post subject:
The Alphax shutter's cable release socket is threaded internally as well as externally.
If you know what size the shutter is, you can buy a retaining ring or flange from skgrimes.com
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Joined: 23 Apr 2013
Posts: 3
Location: FRANCE
Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 12:59 pm
Post subject:
Hi Again Dan !
A friend of mine who has some great skills to make such operations will do the job for me I will send him the lens and he will make a board and a retaining ring or a flange.
I'm thinking about all this but I'm sure that I'm about to buy this lens.
My Pacemaker will have a weird look with this huge shutter covering the board but as long as it works I don't care.
Thanks for your tip about the shutter's cable release, a double thread, I have never seen this before.
Now I must get back to work in the garden, got a lot of work to do before playing with my pacemaker and its borrowed Aero Ektar.
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Become a Filmanthropist!
GlobalGiving has been involved in philanthropy for a long time. But starting last week, thanks to a new effort in conjunction with Snagfilms.com, GlobalGiving is now involved in "Filmanthropy!" At SnagFilms.com, you can both watch full-length documentary films for free and "snag" films to put them anywhere on the web.
When you embed a widget (like the one below) on your web site, you open a virtual movie theater and become a "Filmanthropist." With a rapidly growing library of 250 films, you're bound to find films that resonate with causes you care about; and with links to GlobalGiving projects on most film pages, you can easily give directly to a project related to that cause.
SnagFilms is committed to finding the world's most compelling documentaries, whether from established heavyweights or first-time filmmakers, and making them available to the wide audience these titles deserve. Donate your pixels and support independent film!
1 Comment
Katieabout 12 years ago
yay for Marisa's very first blog!


text:
The Literacy Council of Williamson County is offering FREE English as a Second Language Beginning Classes from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., Fridays, Literacy Council Office, second floor, Round Rock Public Library. No registration is required. This class is for people who know very little to no English.
The Literacy Council also offers ESL and GED information on a walk-in basis, Mondays through Saturdays, from 9 to 11:30 a.m.


text:
Food & Drink
National Park Service Centennial
Gettysburg: Tranquil place to soak in momentous history
Katia Hetter, CNN • Updated 30th June 2016
View Gallery
8 Pictures
Editor's Note — CNN.com's weekly Summer in the Park series turns to rangers at the United States' most popular national parks to get insider recommendations for your visits, whether you have just one day or can stay longer. The series will run through Labor Day.
When the Battle of Gettysburg was over after three days, the Civil War's bloodiest battle had claimed 51,000 casualties.
The Union Army of the Potomac clashed with Gen. Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in
July 1863
. The battle turned against Lee and his invaders on July 3, and Confederate forces returned to Virginia.
The ferocious battle, considered a turning point in the war, occurred 150 years ago this week, on land that is now a
national military park
Gettysburg anniversary provides a bigger story
With soldiers' graves on the battlefield and near a former hospital site, Gettysburg residents pleaded with state officials to create what is now called the Soldiers' National Cemetery.
At the cemetery's dedication on November 19, 1863,
President Abraham Lincoln
gave his epochal two-minute Gettysburg Address, reminding listeners "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
In 1864, a group of citizens established the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association to preserve part of the battlefield as a memorial to the Union soldiers who fought there, according to the National Park Service. In 1895, the association transferred its land holdings to the federal government. The NPS took over administration of the park in 1933.
This week,
the park will continue to mark the 150th anniversary of the battle
with a series of commemorative events. At least 25,000 visitors per day were expected from June 28 through July 7, according to the
Gettysburg Convention & Visitors Bureau
Park stats:
Gettysburg National Military Park
welcomed about 1.2 million visitors last year.
The nearly 6,000-acre site
includes 1,320 monuments and memorials, 148 historic buildings, 410 cannons and the Soldiers' National Cemetery (with 7,756 total interments). (About 3,500 are Civil War burials. The rest came from subsequent wars.)
The location:
The site is in Adams County, Pennsylvania, about 35 miles southwest of Middletown's Harrisburg International Airport.
If you go:
There's no fee to enter the park but there is an
admission fee
for the Gettysburg Museum Experience, the film "A New Birth of Freedom," narrated by Morgan Freeman, and the Gettysburg Cyclorama. (National Park passes are not accepted for entrance to the museum and visitor center.) Visitors can book licensed battlefield guides for private tours for a fee, and reservations are recommended. During the summer months, bus tours are available for a fee.
Meet our ranger:
Seasonal park ranger Caitlin Kostic fell in love with the history of the Civil War in the fifth grade, when her teacher played the 1993 movie "Gettysburg" as part of a history lesson on the war.
"After watching it, I couldn't get enough of it and bought books and watched specials," said Kostic, 24, who lived in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, about 120 miles northeast of Gettysburg. "As a result, my parents brought me to Gettysburg that summer for a one-night stay. I told my mom that someday I would be giving tours of the battlefield at Gettysburg."
Kostic started interning at the park in college and is working her third summer as a seasonal ranger, having just completed a master's degree in applied history.
"I love getting up every day and coming to a place that is rich in history, and I love spending my time reading, researching and teaching the public about things that are so much bigger than myself. It's a very humbling experience."
For a day trip, don't miss
: The battlefield. "That's the reason we are here." A basic introduction to the battlefield can take two or three hours, Kostic said. "You step out onto the field, and you are walking in the footsteps of the soldiers.
"You get a sense of what they saw and their struggles. It gets pretty hot and humid in the summer. You experience that heat and humidity in that terrain, putting yourself in the mindsets of the soldiers who fought here. That helps place (people) back in time. "
During the summer, there are about 20 free park ranger programs each day, every day of the week. Visitors can also purchase an audio CD to help navigate the field, take a bus tour or hire a licensed guide for a private tour.
Favorite less-traveled spot:
Power's Hill, located on the Baltimore Pike, was part of the Union army's artillery line and the site of Gen. George Gordon Meade's temporary headquarters on July 3. At the time of the battle, the hill was about half-covered in trees, while the other half was bare. Over time, the hill has been completely covered by trees.
A park effort is underway to remove some of the trees "to recapture the historic landscape" of 1863, Kostic said. "It's a very strategic part of the field. It's hard on a program to imagine those trees not there," she said. "When the battlefield is rehabilitated, we can give more effective programs."
Favorite historical spot:
Soldiers' National Cemetery. Created after the battle, but before the war ended in April 1865, there are 3,500 Union soldiers interred in the cemetery where Lincoln came to deliver his Gettysburg Address. It also contains the graves of soldiers of subsequent conflicts through Vietnam, Kostic said. It was closed to new burials in 1972.
"It shows that sacrifice is a generational thing," she said. "Every generation has been called to sacrifice something. That sacrifice can be linked throughout the years ... and you can capture a lot of American history in that cemetery."
Favorite nature spot:
Little Round Top.
Part of the Union position on July 2-3 and perhaps the most visited part of the battlefield, the entire western slope of Little Round Top (which is also a hill) is void of trees.
"You can see the entire battlefield from this hill," she said. "You can see the South Mountain range and part of the town, and you get a whole sense of the area. People enjoy going in the evening because they can watch the sunset.
"We look upon these fields as beautiful landscapes, but the only reason we look at them is because of the carnage that took place 150 years ago. At one point these fields were ugly because of the wounded and dead that littered the field."
Most transformative moment in the park
: Last year on July 2, 2012, it was the anniversary of the battle. During anniversary days, the rangers give programs in real time, sharing history at the time it was actually being made on the battlefield. Located at Little Round Top, Kostic was giving her first-ever real time program at 4 p.m., at the time fighting had occurred at that spot.
"The actions of the people 149 years ago made the site important [that anniversary day]," she said. "Knowing the stories of the men, knowing that many of them were wounded and dying ... it's an extremely humbling experience."
Favorite other park to visit:
The National Mall
in Washington, D.C. "I love the fact that there is so much to do, and it's free," Kostic said. If she had to pick one site at the mall, it's the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
. "That's my favorite spot at the mall."
A year of the world's
Best Beaches
There's a perfect beach for every week of the year. Join us on a 12-month journey to see them all
Go to the best beaches


text:
Born in New York City, Steven Colucci's art has been described as neo post-impressionism. But it's much more than that. Colucci's art is a firework over the night sky, an explosion of colors, life, movement and personality. Paintings that tap into our subconscious yet, at the same time, visually stun the viewer.
A graduate of The School of Visual Arts, Colucci began his career as a professional dancer and ballet and dance mirrors in his artwork.
On Friday, Feb. 10 and Feb. 17, from 6pm to 9:30pm Colucci's exhibit, "A Concept in Motion" will be on display at Belenky Brothers Gallery on 91 Grand Street, New York, NY.
"A Concept in Motion" is a series of eclectic new mixed media works from Colucci and it will be unveiled at a reception for the artist curated by Jacquelyn Lipp. Proceeds will benefit the American Friends of Herzog Hospital in Jerusalem, which goes to the research and care of Alzheimer's disease.
Primary sponsors include Fasolino International Foods, Wines & Spirits as well; Mark Fahrer Caterers will provide signature cocktails and treats such as pastas and select wines. Another sponsor, Medea Vodka will serve its 16x-distilled vodka while Moet Hennessey will have Glenmorangie Single Malt Scotch behind the bar.
Like Haute Living New York? Join our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter @HauteLivingNY. Want Haute Living New York delivered to your inbox once a week? Sign up for our newsletter.


text:
Monday, 1 March 2010
Sunday Blessings ; Chundra Lela
Posted by Amrita at Monday, March 01, 2010
Labels: Sunday Blessings
11 Fertilize my soul:
- The Dementia Nurse said...
Thank you for sharing this with us, Amrita! I think it is especially easy here in the West to take many things for granted. I appreciate hearing true accounts of those who literally suffer for the sake of the Gospel. Chundra Lela's story stirs my heart this morning.
- 1 March 2010 at 18:19
- Sita said...
I don't think the 'west' can quite easily grasp the sacrifices made by those who come to Christ in India, the absolute devotion, the perseverance. This blesses me more than you know. Thanks for sharing this.
Love, Sita
- 1 March 2010 at 19:55
- Holly, the Old Western Gal said...
Oh I love how you write, Amrita!
- 1 March 2010 at 20:57
- Gerry said...
A very interesting blog entry to me. I like to learn more about the trials of those who embrace Christianity in a country where they are apt to meet more than the usual opposition. Where the country is largely Christian the trials are not apt to be so great. So it seems that converts in your country must be especially devoted to withstand their trials.
- 1 March 2010 at 21:35
- David Edward said...
oh for faith and discipline like that of blessed Chundra Lela
- 1 March 2010 at 21:39
- Felisol said...
Dear Amrita,
A captivating story of Chundra Lela.
Somehow I seem to recognize the name, but not the story.
It's a joy and a privilege to sit by your feet, being taught about what really matters.
I thank you and hope you will continue to educate me.
From Felisol
- 2 March 2010 at 06:06
- Simply Shelley said...
Such a wonderful post Amrita and such a faithful saint of God...thanks so much for sharing this....blessings on your week...
- 2 March 2010 at 06:53
- Amrita said...
Yes indeed Chundra was a remarkable woman. She stepped out of the comfort , security and identity of her society and religion during feudal times when religious conversion was very costly more so for a woman.She wouldn 't have done this hadn 't she found THE TRUTH in Christ.My forefathers also forsook everything to follow Christ....they were turned out of their homes with only the clothes they wore.
Today thousands all over the world face persecution and death for the sake of Christ.If Christianity was just vain philosophy, or delusional, emotional or fanatacism, they would never have put their lives at stake.
- 2 March 2010 at 11:12
- Amrita said...
A very close friend of mine Geeta Grace found Christ as a student in New Delhi. Her Hindu parents were coming to take her away andf forcebly marry her off. Our friends hid her in their home and paid her college fees till she graduated.
Later on after her baptism she visited her home , where she was locked up in a room for a week and pressurized to denounce Christianity. They just had to give up.
Later on she worked as a librarian in the school I was teaching in.
Later on when she married a fine Christian man, her family visited and gave them lots of wedding gifts.
- 2 March 2010 at 11:18
- Kimmie said...
Hi Amrita;
I had never heard of her before, thank you for sharing her testimony with us.
Hope this finds you and your family well.
mama to 7
one hoemmade and 6 adopted
- 3 March 2010 at 06:24
- Roo said...
wow. thank you for sharing this story. married at 7!!! what a bright testimony.
- 4 March 2010 at 02:02


text:
Latin America's Pacific Pumas
WSJ's Mary Anastasia O'Grady examines which Latin American countries are winning, while others in the region are engaging in less promising pursuits. Photo: Getty Images.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... I ... well ... Dan Henninger and with me as are America's columnist Mary Anastasia O'Grady ... and very ... well ... twenty twelve does not strike a lot of people was the most productive you and it was tucked in euro crisis in the ... fiscal cliff United States you been taking a look at some of our ... neighbors south of the border and you follow some problems down there been some ... success stories as well let's talk about the bright lights first is doing okay gonna ... well I'm down there ... about four I we didn't do enough high for countries that are doing really well and what's interesting is they're just doing the heavy lifting and plodding along in other not trying to do anything fancy they're doing the simple ... macroeconomic ... things that make an economy work and opening opening ... by opening their markets to world trade ... on ... protecting the stability of the currency ... the only country should on the Pacific ... Coast ready yet as well starting with Mexico Colombia ... Peru and Chile Visa and read the winners ... and on their opening their ensuring monetary stability ... they're working on competition in ... Mexico is still got a ways to go there but you know it least it has been as bad call ... and I there they're keeping a tight rein on the budget so they're not letting their governments on if you look over any fiscal cliffs that lenders that important footnote role that is most of these countries banks dodged into thousandeight financial crisis they were holding a lot of the toxic ... mortgage backed securities they did they manage to act to avoid a lot of the Proms they of course had problems from the fact that the largest economy in the world ... I you know he hit the wall but ... they did not continue to move on and again I think that a lot of that had to do with the openness of trade ... I'm you know ... chilly start opening trade in the seventies and it sort of the leader in this group ... of back during the Fujimori government ... over the Fujimori open Peru and Colombia just signed a free trade agreement with the US and of course Mexico has announced that ... and that openness I think has forced the government's to be ... more aware of the importance of having to compete ... let's contrast that story with the eighty three a more significant countries down their water resources long tell the not doing quite as well ... Venezuela Argentina ... any interesting case of Brazil ... yet well obviously Venice Whelan has really committed Harry Carey I mean going with the word Chavez called the oil money in the hands of a government that is not transparent very corrupt ... and didn't want any competition in many sectors really move to nationalize a lot of properties and businesses and so forth ... so in a week I know how that story and send similarly ... in Argentina ... I've they are very uncertain Union Center trade union center economy ... I very much built on the model of Mussolini in Italy ... and that we know how that ends in their starting to hit ... the wall right now ... I'm in Brazil I think what you're saying is more just a general underperformance and it has to do with the fact that ... you know since the nineteen sixties the Brazilian ... government has tried to centralize economic power ... and I'm you know the kind of a corporate state so I had this plan to become and the industrial giant in the world but all that was directed by the government ... and because of the large internal market ... is still very protected it's a very closed economy so ... it it doesn't ... take advantage of what would happen if you open end and begin to try to compete with the world know ... Rytary thanks so much easier than ...


text:
Check your watch!
We stay what we play
for better or worse...so we must choose our play with care
If we stop the play in our lives it is harder to start it again...
be cautious when you push the pause button trying to act all grown up. Once paused can be forever paused and play can feel so uncomfortable when it's not the norm anymore.
And we stay how we play which means when we play fair and when we play nice with others when we are young we will likely do the same as we age. Different game but played the same.
Must we forget how to play to be an adult?
When was the last time you played for play's sake?
Do you remember how to play? Wouldn't it be more fun?
I believe that play is an important part of growth...
"There's a time for work and a time for play" is what they tell us and that could mean an even split, couldn't it? Sounds great!


text:
The musical is based on Bret Easton Ellis' 1991 novel of the same title. Rupert Goold (Macbeth, King Lear, Enron) will stage the production that will begin performances Dec. 3 prior to an official opening Dec. 12. The run is currently scheduled through Jan. 25, 2014.
Commercial producers David Johnson and Jesse Singer of Act 4 Entertainment are developing the musical along with the U.K. non-profits the Almeida Theatre and Headlong. The producers are raising additional funds to allow for an extended seven-week rehearsal period, in addition to enhancing production values and hiring live musicians for the engagement. The goal is to raise $150,000 in enhancement money by May 24.
The Kickstarter page also gives fans a first-listen to songs from the production. Individuals who donate a minimum of $5 will be able to download "You Are What You Wear," one of Sheik's songs from the production. Additional packages include more demos from American Psycho, as well as t-shirts, limited edition prints and signed copies of Ellis' novel.
Click here to check out the Kickstarter page.
American Psycho centers on a 26-year-old Manhattan investment banker who moonlights as a serial killer. It has music and lyrics by Sheik and a book by Aguirre-Sacasa, who also penned the revised book for Spider-Man, as well as the television series "Glee" and "Big Love." Aguirre-Sacasa previously spoke to Playbill.com about the property in 2011. The staging features an original score by Sheik, with a few 80's pop songs sprinkled in.
"It's one man's horrific, misguided attempts to connect with the world around him," Aguirre-Sacasa pointed out, "to make sense of the societal chaos that's threatening to crush him and his friends. Patrick wants to belong—he wants to feel—he wants what we all want, on some level. But he is—to say the least—a deeply disturbed individual. With very few things keeping him tethered to the rest of the world we ('normal people') live in, as the musical begins, he loses one of those touchstones—his best friend, Tim Price—and things start spiraling out of control for him."
It is also the intent that the brutal murders depicted in the novel and film will be shocking on stage. The novel stirred controversy with its graphic accounts of how Bateman murdered his victims and mutilated their bodies. "The hope is to theatricalize the violence in such a way that it packs a visceral punch without being completely grindhouse," he said.


text:
People who claim RFID marks the end of the world should probably step aside for a moment now that Citibank is starting to release credit cards that use the radio technology. The MasterCard PayPass looks like a ordinary keychain, but the embedded RFID chip replaces the traditional magnetic strip found on regular credit cards. Once waved in front of a PayPass reader, the user's credit card is automatically charged. Considering such readers aren't very common yet, the RFID credit card is still some time away from replacing your precious piece of plastic.
Many have gone to great lengths to protect themselves from the tentacle-like reach of RFID technology because they're
crazy concerned about the risks that the technology brings. A big overreaction, or justified paranoia?
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My RFID Credit Card [Gearlog via Popgadget]


text:
Original Title:
Statehouse Gives Okay to Bolster Folsom Dam Flood Control
With the widespread flooding of New Orleans very much in everyone's consciousness, state legislators have approved a measure that would raise Folsom Dam and build a permanent bridge to replace the road atop it.
Senate Bill 347 gives necessary legislative approval for California to commence working with federal government, regional and local agencies to construct a bridge downstream of Folsom Dam. Security concerns have kept the once highly traveled road across the dam closed since shortly after September 11, 2001.
The bill, authored by Sen. Deborah Ortiz, D-Sacramento, includes $9 million in state funding toward the estimated $66 million cost of the new bridge.
Citing traffic congestion and economic loss, the city of Folsom has sought to have Folsom Dam Road reopened. In May the federal government proposed granting limited road access to cars and motorcycles during the morning and evening commute hours. The plan would require the city to first pay $6.2 million for security, then wait as much as six months for the road to re-open. The road would be closed during heightened terror alerts and if reservoir water rises above a certain level. It would be closed permanently when the new bridge is completed.
SB 347 also authorizes the state to participate in ongoing efforts to raise the level of Folsom Dam. Increasing the dam height by seven feet would provide another 95,000 acre feet of water storage during spring runoff and help protect the Sacramento region from flooding.
"Sacramento is one of the nation's urban areas most at risk of massive flooding," said Ortiz, urging passage of the bill. "The tragedy we all saw when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and the southern gulf brings home only too clearly the tremendous risk we face and the need to shore up our flood control protection."
1 個解答
- 1 0 年前最佳解答
非常新奧爾良普遍洪水everyone'的; s知覺,
票據,創作由Deborah Ortiz, D薩加門多參議員,
SB 347也批准狀態参加持續的努力提高Folsom水壩的标准。
" 薩加門多是一个nation' 最s市区冒險巨型的洪水,
" 說的Ortiz,敦促票據的段落。
" 悲劇我們全部看見了颶風卡特里娜什么时候擊中了新奧爾良,
并且南部的海灣太清楚帶來在家我們面對和需要支持我們的防洪protection."仅的巨大风险;參考資料: 自己


text:
Even rhythm action fans already accustomed to new concepts and ideas were blown away by Frequency's stunning mix of hypnotic, trance-inducing visuals, big-name musical artists and finger-warping gameplay. However, creator Harmonix wasn't content with just messing with our minds and turning us into non-blinking FreQs, and so they've crafted the mighty Amplitude in a bid to make our heads completely explode. As before, your aim is to combine your sense of rhythm, reflexes and digital dexterity to 'capture' individual tracks from a host of popular tunes and create music on the fly. The line-up is even stronger than before, with appearances from legends such as David Bowie, Run DMC and Herbie Hancock as well as popular mainstream bands such as Garbage, Papa Roach, Weezer and Pink. This truly is Frequency taken to whole new echelon, so dim the lights, turn the volume up and prepare to become immersed in a world of audio-visual excellence.
Before you get going, you're going to have to create a FreQ - your virtual identity in Amplitude's world - once again. This time, however, the simplistic two-dimensional creation tool has been replaced with a fully three-dimensional create-a-Freq mode that resembles those seen in certain popular wrestling titles. They're also fully animated, so as you switch between tracks in the middle of a game, your FreQ will begin to play the relevant instrument.
The distinctive presentation of the original has also been given a gorgeous overhaul, from the breathtaking new option and mode selection screens to the new way that levels have now been divided into distinctive 'worlds'. Each of the worlds - Neotropolis, Beat Factory, Metaclouds, Elektro Kore and Blastlands - also feature a 'boss' track, which can range from a funky 2002 remix of Herbie Hancock's classic 'Rockit' to the grinding metal of Slipknot's 'I Am Hated'. High-scorers will also be rewarded with a further bonus track if they accumulate enough points in the preceding four songs. Help is on hand in the form of new collectible power-ups. In addition to the return of the instant track capturing Autoblaster, you can pick up the self-explanatory Score Doubler, go scratch crazy with the Freestyler and capture phases with ease thanks to the awesome Slo-Mo.
You'll be pleased to learn that the excellent four-player mode remains if you prefer to play offline, but those of you with the mighty Network Adaptor will be able to play FreQs from around the world thanks to the new network gaming options. The new Duel mode will sate your desire for rhythmic supremacy. Effectively 'Duelling Banjos' with a futuristic twist, you must lay down a track and then challenge your opponent to repeat it. Play then switches over until only one of you remains.
If the original Frequency offered almost unlimited replayability, then Amplitude removes the 'almost' from the equation. As always, the selection of tunes has been deliberately picked to please a wide range of tastes, so you may well find that it also expands your musical horizons. Play it, experience it - love it.
1-4 Players
1-4 Player Types
See it in action


text:
Resource controls provide a mechanism for the constraint of system resources. Processes, tasks, projects, and zones can be prevented from consuming amounts of specified system resources. This mechanism leads to a more manageable system by preventing over-consumption of resources.
Constraint mechanisms can be used to support capacity-planning processes. An encountered constraint can provide information about application resource needs without necessarily denying the resource to the application.


text:
Red Hat's Inktank Buy Bears 1st Fruit
Jul 17, 2014 4:25 PM PT
Scarcely two months have passed since Red Hat announced its plans to acquire open source storage company Inktank, but already the union has produced results: Inktank Ceph Enterprise 1.2, which made its debut Wednesday.
Ceph is a scalable, open source, software-defined storage system that runs on commodity hardware, and the Inktank Enterprise version is designed to deliver object and block storage software to enterprises deploying public or private clouds.
Targeting enterprises with data-intensive applications, the new Inktank Ceph Enterprise 1.2 comes equipped with features to help users store and manage an entire spectrum of data, ranging from "hot" -- or mission-critical -- data to "cold" archival data.
"Our goal is to do for storage what Linux did for servers," Ross Turk, Red Hat's product marketing director for storage and big data, told LinuxInsider. More specifically, "our long-term goal is to provide an alternative to the proprietary storage appliances that own a lot of the industry today."
Cache Tiering
Three key features star in Inktank Ceph Enterprise 1.2.
First is erasure coding, a feature that makes the platform suitable for archival storage by reducing the cost per gigabyte of storage.
Cache tiering, meanwhile, enables data to be moved onto high-performance media when it becomes "hot," or active, or onto low-performance media when it is no longer active.
"The new archiving and tiering functionality enables users to define pools for storing data densely, and therefore more cost-effectively, as well as pools that serve data very quickly," explained Neil Levine, Red Hat's director of product management for storage and big data.
Finally, Calamari v1.2 updates the platform's on-premises management and monitoring application with tools and performance data that simplify operational management and enable administrators to adapt to changes in their Ceph clusters.
As a result, administrators now can manage the core functionality of the reliable autonomic distributed object store (RADOS) storage cluster, including individual storage devices and pool policies.
Red Hat earlier this year announced that Calamari had been open sourced as part of the upstream Ceph community.
Red Hat's Inktank Ceph Enterprise 1.2 is supported on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5 and 7, and Ubuntu 12.04 and 14.04. It offers comprehensive integration with the new Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform 5, as well as version 4 of that platform.
'Tons of Data'
"The highlights for me in this release are the erasure coding, which can reduce storage requirements, and the cache tiering, which can optimize performance by matching data to a storage medium appropriate to its importance," Stephen O'Grady, cofounder and principal analyst at RedMonk, told LinuxInsider.
OpenStack was the platform's first big use case, and "that's what we've become known for," Red Hat's Turk pointed out.
Now, "this opens it up for another, second use case" he added. "We're looking at the traditional enterprise that has tons of data and is looking for ways to store it online that are economical."
'Critically Important Capabilities'
At one level, "this is simply a practical announcement of how Red Hat is integrating the capabilities of Inktank into its larger platform and ecosystem," Charles King, principal analyst with Pund-IT, told LinuxInsider.
However, "that isn't to denigrate the company or information in any way," he added.
"Inktank brings significant new capabilities to Red Hat's portfolio, particularly in regards to storage management, software-defined storage, private and public clouds and Big Data environments," King said.
Those are "critically important capabilities" for Red Hat commercially -- "especially given the company's focus on delivering end-to-end data center capabilities for Linux-using enterprises and organizations," he pointed out.
Overall, then, it's "absolutely" a significant release, King concluded. "The company has notably broadened its storage offerings and capabilities in ways that existing customers will appreciate, and which should also be attractive to prospective enterprise clients."


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Sari Dana is one of my very best friends. Have you ever seen an exercise instructor sweat through a whole hour and 15 minutes of cardio blast with super positive energy, grace, elegance, and a smile? Well, there you have it in a (protein packed) nutshell. Meet Sari Dana. Stay tuned for more recipes and sugar detox inspiration. Marlene
The Ultimate Spring Detox-a Quick, Easy Way to Sugar Detox:
Every so often I meet someone on the street, in a restaurant or just in passing who would reach out to me and share their sugar detox challenge experience.
In case you're not familiar with my Sugar Detox story, I would love to share it with you.
Even though I, like most people, have a difficult time expressesing the truth about my negative habits, I sum up the energy to do so, by thinking about my desire of a higher cause. The cause of helping others. I know my story will help hundreds if not thousands, possibly even millions. You see, it's a ripple effect. If I can help someone from my experience, and that person helps someone else, a family, a community and possibly the world at large can benefit.
So here it goes…
April 2008 was the turning point for me. The month that changed my life.
In April 2008 I embarked on the biggest feat of my life. A 30 Day Sugar Detox Challenge. You may have read my articles for each of those days on the Jewish Hostess blog, or followed me through my emails. The writings were raw. I was simply stating my experience. I didn't have a plan, just a goal to complete 30 consecutive days sugar free. I, along with my group at the Sephardic Center, and my dedicated readers, embarked on a challenge that would change my life forever.
What was so exciting about being sugar free? I could sum it up in one word, a word that most people search a life time for. HAPPY. When I became Sugar Free- I became HAPPY.
Yes, my life is filled with many things to make me feel happy. I am blessed with a wonderful family and friends. I have a career in fitness that is extremely rewarding. Yet, the only time that I am truly happy is when I am sugar free.
Why would living a life without sugar have such profound effects? Refined sugar does not benefit our bodies or mind in any way.
While it has many negative effects, like rising triglcerdies significantly and suppressing the immune system, the biggest on my list is brain fog and mood swings that occur when you eat refined sugar. If you ever expirenced a brain fog- you know what I mean!
Without sugar in your system you can conquer the world! It is such an empowering feeling. Sugar brings you up for a short period of time, and then brings you down. Sometimes so down that you just need to sleep. If you ever over-ate a large meal, then you know what I'm talking about.
Without sugar, your brain can work with clarity. Focusing will become easy. This is especially helpful in children, who need to focus in school for 8 hours at a time. You will always have an even temperament, and trying to lose weight will become a thing of the past.
After helping hundreds of women, I decided to attain my degree from the American Associastion of Drugless Practicioners and enrolled in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.
Being a health coach and a fitness professional has helped me to gain access to help so many more people in our community. By blending my two careers, my clients are able to reap many rewards. I truly feel blessed.
If your are ready to have more energy, fewer cravings and take control of your life, then you don't want to miss my most amazing event yet.
The Ultimate Spring Cleanse: a fast and easy sugar detox program.
A workshop filled with inspiration and motivation!
What: Sari's Sugar Detox
Where: In Brooklyn. Address upon request
When: to be announced soon!
contact me at firstname.lastname@example.com
I look forward to meeting you!
This is a edamame ,mango and beans recipe that my sister in law, Olga Schweky made at my Sugar Detox Event- it was a big hit- and gets 2 thumbs up on Sari Sugar Detox! Its low calorie, low fat and a great way to add plant based proteins into your diet. Triple dose of plant protein from the edamame, red and black beans.
Mango Edamame Salad:
- Shelled edamame (boiled and drained)
- 1 mango cubed
- 1 red onion, chopped small
- 1 can black beans or 1and 1/2 cups fresh black beans
- 1 can of red beans, or 1 and 1/2 fresh beans
- 2 colored peppers,diced -1/2 cup each color (not green)
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar,
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Mix all ingredients and add dressing.
Sari Dana
Related articles
- Sugar Detox Snack! Roasted Garbanzo Beans (thejewishhostess.com)


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Love Your Roof!
Another happy customer completing his new roof. Western Red Cedar No.1 Blue Label 18" Perfection shingles, CCA Preservative Pressure Treated. Customer photo - 2004.
Call Us: (866) 419-0635 or (604) 476-1579
Another happy customer completing his new roof. Western Red Cedar No.1 Blue Label 18" Perfection shingles, CCA Preservative Pressure Treated. Customer photo - 2004.
Western Red Cedar No.1 16" 5X shingles applied on a wall in Berkley, CA at a 5" (125mm) exposure. The shingles were stained with an alkyd oil translucent stain. Staff photo - 2005.
Western Red Cedar Premium Grade 24" x 3/4" Heavy Handsplit & Resawn Shakes, CCA treated, applied at 10" exposure using felt paper interlayment. Staff photo - 2012.
Photo taken at Whistler/Blackcomb, BC. It is a beautiful example of a Western Red Cedar Premium Grade 18" x 5/8" Tapersawn Shake. Staff photo - 2003.
A custom built house along the Seattle waterfront required some special shakes for an extra special roof. Alaska Yellow Cedar 18" x 1/2" Handsplit and Resawn Shakes applied at a 5-1/2" exposure, CCA treated. Staff photo - 2011.
Ensure your roof or sidewall project uses the finest, recommended fasteners, tools and techniques. All too many times we hear about incorrect applications not lasting to their full potential. Ask us for help! Staff photo - 2012.
We have shipments departing around the globe almost every day. USA & Offshore shipments are our specialty. This photo shows a beautiful teak roof on a Buddhist Temple in Northern Thailand. Staff photo - 2011.
If you are new to WoodRoof.com - welcome! Returning visitors... welcome back! We have appreciated all your compliments on our old website. We hope you will find our new site to be more informative and user friendly.
We have learned many things since bursting online in 2001. Most importantly, shoppers want to gather information about a product quickly. Secondly, selling cedar shingles and shakes via a true eCommerce platform with shopping carts, freight calculations and online payment doesn't really work. Our new format offers great product detail, current prices and a portfolio of ideas.
You don't need to spend a long time looking for the cedar shake roof, shingle siding, or other products that you want, nor wait for a long while to get the service that you need. We may have changed the look and structure of our website, but our dedication to giving you the ultimate in customer experience still stays the same.
Please enjoy your stay. Look, learn, and get an idea of what you need. Call or email with your questions. Send us a Request for Quote. You will be rewarded with a prompt, detailed, delivered quote. Thank you again for visiting WoodRoof.com. We look forward to hearing from you!
As your reliable online source for several types of shingles and shakes – from cedar shake roofing products to cedar shingle siding materials and other accessories – we make sure that you don't have to look elsewhere. We carry a wide range of products for all your needs so you can conveniently choose products that you want – whether you're a homeowner, a contractor, a builder, or a reseller.
We have been lauded a lot of times for the quality of the products that we offer, and we have taken it seriously. Too seriously that we don't know how else to do it: we guarantee you of finding cedar shake siding and roofing products, as well as shingles, that will be one of the best purchases of your life.
Find Us On Google+


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NEWARK, N.J. – An airline whose plane clipped another plane on a taxiway at Newark Liberty International Airport and lost part of a wing said Thursday it has started an investigation into how it happened.
The Scandinavian Airlines plane's left wing clipped the tail of a United Airlines plane on Wednesday night as they were preparing for takeoff at one of the nation's busiest airports. No one was injured, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Scandinavian Airlines Flight 908, bound for Oslo, Norway, was behind ExpressJet Flight 4226, destined for Nashville, Tenn., and was turning right to enter another taxiway when it touched the ExpressJet plane, officials said. Photos and video from the scene showed a significant portion of the left wing jaggedly torn off.
Scandinavian Airlines said its plane's left winglet, an upturned part at the end of the wing that helps minimize drag and reduce fuel consumption, was damaged and was being removed. It said the aircraft can fly without winglets, which are designed to improve flying efficiency.
The ExpressJet plane was towed back to the gate, and the Scandinavian Airlines plane taxied back to the gate, where passengers disembarked, New York's WNBC-TV reported. Other flight accommodations were made so the passengers, 31 on the ExpressJet and more than 70 on the Scandinavian Airlines jet, could get to their destinations.
Scandinavian Airlines, which is known as SAS and has hubs in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, said Thursday it wouldn't speculate on the cause of the accident.
U.S. authorities also were investigating. ExpressJet Airlines said it was "working in co-ordination with officials to determine a cause."
ExpressJet, which bills itself as the world's largest regional airline, operates as a United Express partner from United's Newark hub. United, which has headquarters in Chicago, is part of United Continental Holdings Inc.


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House committee seeks Ohioans targeted by IRS
Lawmakers schedule July 25 hearing at UC
A state House committee wants to hear from Ohioans who believe they were targeted by the Internal Revenue Service because of their political leanings.
The House Policy and Legislative Oversight Committee scheduled a July 25 hearing at the University of Cincinnati. The committee Thursday stated that comments from those testifying will be submitted to Ohio's congressional delegation.
An IRS Cincinnati office played a key role in what agency officials have said was improper scrutiny of tea party and other groups when they sought tax-exempt status.
Several Ohio-based tea party groups and leaders have charged they were unfairly singled out. IRS employees have denied partisan motives.
Committee chairman Mike Dovilla says it is unacceptable that government personnel would "harass ordinary citizens" and their groups. He is a Berea Republican.


text: Sijun Forums :: View topic - ROAC [Mech] Final [crit] Log in to check your private messages Sijun Forums Forum Index >> Archive : Sep99 - Dec00 View previous topic :: View next topic Author Topic : "ROAC [Mech] Final [crit]" ZosomemberMember #Joined: 23 Dec 2000Posts: 132Location: Stuttgart, Germany Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2000 5:02 am Allrighty, i'm finally finished with this thing. BIG sigh of relief. Thanks to everyone who have me some needed pointers. There are still one or two things that I am not *completely* happy with, but I had come to a good stopping point. The weapon is too flat, mostly due to the way it is being held. As far as the background goes, it's really just filler. I think that it helps the image overall. I'm posting this thing in it's original rez, since the file size is under 90K. My apologies to anyone who's on 56K or worse. Just be patient, it'll be worth it. Please post your comments, thoughts, suggestions, tips or anything else that comes to mind. Back to top v1510nArymemberMember #Joined: 31 Dec 2000Posts: 611Location: London , England Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2000 5:12 am Damn i wish i could do that. I don't know quite a lot about digiart, but heres my pov The pictures a bit to Dark you can hardly see the gun The bullet Holes are nice, but since the rest of the mech doesn't have any rust or some what texture of being mashed up it looks kind of plain And mabye a bg would be nice other than that its sw33t .: | v1510nAry | :. Back to top ZosomemberMember #Joined: 23 Dec 2000Posts: 132Location: Stuttgart, Germany Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2000 5:21 am Too dark.. hmmm. Point well taken. I suppose I was in a rush to get this thing finished. Maybe I'll whip up something lighter later today. I didn't want to go much further with the bullet holes or rusted surface (or something like that) because I felt it would make this thing too busy. Thanks for the comments v1510nAry. ------------------ Zoso http://www.digitaldeities.net ICQ: 2883426 Back to top sheriftariqjunior memberMember #Joined: 16 Dec 2000Posts: 28Location: New Jersey Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2000 7:32 am Hiyya, Nice mecha, he must work out Overall very nice. The bullet holes seem a little out of place though, I can't place why. Are the bullet holes on a separate layer or something? The lighting on them seem a little odd. Otherwise, very nice pic. Great work! ------------------ Sherif Tariq Member: Neuro Evolutionary Rostral Developers Society (N.E.R.D.S.) Back to top RagnarokmemberMember #Joined: 12 Nov 2000Posts: 1085Location: Navarra, Spain Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2000 7:41 am Hey, I remember your sketch and it turned out quite good. You should add some shading to the gun to make it less flat. The problem with the bullets is that some aren't shaded correctly, they are in parts where the shape changes, but the light doesn't. If you added a backlight you could have a very good piece =) Back to top ZosomemberMember #Joined: 23 Dec 2000Posts: 132Location: Stuttgart, Germany Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2000 8:57 am sheriftariq - thanks. The bullet holes are on a seprate layer, but they aren't really holes. It was my intent to convey pitting and cratering from the impact of a round. Guess it hasn't worked out as well as I thought. Oh well - not bad for my first (ever) attempt at coloring anything like this. Ragnarok - glad you remember the sketches I posted a few days back. Getting that gun shaded was tough. I picked a bad position for it, and the muzzle flash as the primary light source was a bad choice as well. Keep em coming folks. ------------------ Zoso http://www.digitaldeities.net ICQ: 2883426 Back to top mickememberMember #Joined: 19 Jan 2000Posts: 1666Location: Oslo/Norway Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2000 10:27 am That's pretty cool. I think the lines(outlines) could be removed since you've chosed to shade the pic properly. Also maybe mix some yellow/white on the brightest areas of the robot caused by the muzzleflame. The head looks a bit flat to me. It's shaded like it's round, but the lines tells me somethingg else. Might wanna check that. Hope this can help. -Mikael ------------------ Mikael's artwork Back to top ZosomemberMember #Joined: 23 Dec 2000Posts: 132Location: Stuttgart, Germany Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2000 11:24 am micke - thanks for the comments. I suppose I need to get rid of the semi-gradient shading on the head. I didn't really notice that until you pointed it out. As far as removing the black lines, I will try that out and post the results in the next couple of days. Love your website by the way! You've got some really amazing artwork up there. Back to top GeckomemberMember #Joined: 07 Mar 2000Posts: 876Location: Finland Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2000 11:34 am It turned out really well! I like the craters, and for a first colored photoshop piece this is a good one. Only thing that bothers me still is the gunfire, it's a dark setting, and I'd imagine the fire would go all the way to bright white... having the metal parts on the gun go brighter as well. Still, really well done. I like the shading of the feet especially. Micke had some good points as well. Keep doing these :) ------------------ Gecko firstname.lastname@example.com GeckoArt.Net Back to top ZosomemberMember #Joined: 23 Dec 2000Posts: 132Location: Stuttgart, Germany Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2000 3:33 pm I was hoping you'd catch this one Gecko Overall this thing has it's good and bad points, and has definitely been a learning experience for me. Man is it GOOD to get back into art! I really hadn't been doing anything besides doodling for the past 5 years. I'm going to take all the tips I get in this thread into consideration (did I say that allready ... probably, but it's 00:36 at the moment ) and come back to this drawing in about a week or so. I'll post an update when it's done. In the meantime, I've been working on a winter setting for this thing. But that's a whole different thread. ------------------ Zoso http://www.digitaldeities.net ICQ: 2883426 Back to top FlinthawkmemberMember #Joined: 14 Oct 2000Posts: 415Location: Los Angeles Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2000 3:44 pm Nice job, Zoso, it came out really good. The only things I'd say about this piece were already said by micke and Gecko so if you want to improve upon this at all I'd look into those comments or keep them in mind for your next project Keep up the good work! -Flinthawk Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First Sijun Forums Forum Index -> Archive : Sep99 - Dec00 All times are GMT - 8 Hours Page 1 of 1 Jump to: Select a forum Digital Art----------------Digital Art DiscussionWork in ProgressGallery/Finished Work Miscellaneous----------------Random MusingsArchive : Sep99 - Dec00 You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum Powered by phpBB © 2005 phpBB Group


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Over the years, I've had the opportunity to read a few contracts. Some of them I was expected to agree to and sign, others I just happened to read to see what commitments we had made to customers.
Now there are certainly some contracts that I don't bother reading because it probably isn't worth my time. These are things like iTunes agreements which are 70 pages long, and most software licensing agreements. But some are more exciting, like customer service contracts and employee agreements.
And it's amazing what gets put into these things. Really amazing. And clearly nobody reads them, or if they do, they misread them. here are examples of some of the stuff I've come across (paraphrased):
- Any wrong-doing by the Corporation is cause for dismissal of the Employee.
- We warrant that the product does not meet our published specifications.
- None of the above shall restrict the Employee from purchasing the generally available shares in any public company, provided said public company competes with the Company and provided Employee and Employee's family do not control, in aggregate, more than 3% of the shares of said public company.
In each of these, the logic is backwards to what one expects. In fact when many people read them, they also immediately read what the clause was supposed to mean, not what's actually written down. This doesn't mean that you'd want to agree to it. Of course, if you're desperate for a job, you might not want to rock the boat too much.
But how does this stuff happen? I can imagine in some cases that a contract has been around for a few years, and every once in a while, somebody edits the current corporate contract. In some cases the person doing the editing doesn't understand why a clause was in place and when they notice something that looks like it may be bad for the company, they turn the logic around. Either that, or somebody is adding a sub clause to add some new restriction, or to specifically remove some implied restriction but they just get the logic wrong (1, 2, 3).
This sounds exactly like software development. Without adequate controls on software, programmers will fix features and add bugs all the time. At one company, we specifically implemented a process that required the programmer to write a proposal for fixing a bug or adding a feature, and this would be reviewed by a senior developer. This was in response to programmers removing features (usually security or privacy related) because somebody reported them as bugs! The success of this depended, of course, on the senior developer knowing what the software was supposed to do.
Some of the latest techniques for avoiding this are things like design by contract and test driven development. These effectively give you a reference against which to check the code. The idea would be that hopefully you didn't get the logic wrong twice, so once you've got software that passes your tests or satisfies your contract you've got a good place to start from for next time you want to make changes. The tests, in particular, should still pass even if you make changes to the code to add new features. If they don't, then you need to go fix what you just broke.
I wonder whether companies should always have a lay-speak version of their contracts maintained with the contracts that describes the intent of each clause and sub clause. This way someone can read two versions of the same clause and if they clearly don't agree, then something needs to be fixed. Somewhere the intent needs to be documented so that random edits don't expose the employee to lawsuits for patent infringement! One could also imagine that this second document could include test cases like: " Employee's wife owns controlling shares in a Filberts Dairy Farms, a public company with shares traded on the TSE. This ownership MUST be permitted by the agreement." (clause (3) would fail this test if the Company was an Oil company, because the Farms do not compete with the oil company!). But can this be automated?


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Season Two Premiere of Hit Docu-Series Posts Double and Triple Digit Gains Across Key Demos versus Season One Debut, Becoming Most Watched Telecast Ever for DANCE MOMS
LOS ANGELES, CA (January 11, 2012) - The Dance Moms are back and the eagerly anticipated return of Lifetime's hit docu-series last night did not disappoint. In posting double and triple digit gains across key demographics versus its season one debut, last night's episode became the program's most watched telecast ever and Lifetime's best ever Tuesday season opener among Total Viewers.
Last summer's most talked about show, featuring infamous dance instructor Abby Lee Miller, her world-class students and their mothers, Dance Moms averaged 2.5 million Total Viewers in the 9:00pm ET/PT time period, a 150% jump versus its season one debut last year. The series also secured 1.2 million Adults 18-49 viewers (+126%), 1.0 million Adults 25-54 viewers (+75%), 997,000 Women 18-49 viewers (+141%), 798,000 Women 25-54 viewers (+83%), 704,000 Adults 18-34 viewers (+337%) and 542,000 Women 18-34 viewers (+299%), according to Nielsen Media. Dance Moms averaged a 1.8 Household rating, a 125% increase from season one premiere. With a median age of 37, Dance Moms is Lifetime's youngest skewing series. Since its premiere last July, it has been viewed by more than 60 million viewers across all platforms, including linear, online and VOD.
Online, Dance Moms continued to build momentum on myLifetime.com, with last night's premiere driving 187,000 unique visitors to the show's minisite, more than any Lifetime premiere on record, per Omniture.
Once again set in Pittsburgh's renowned Abby Lee Dance Company, owned and operated by the notoriously demanding and passionate Miller, Dance Moms follows children's early steps on the road to stardom and their doting mothers who are there for every rehearsal, performance and bow... all under Miller's discerning eyes. Presenting a powerful cast of characters that continues to inspire water-cooler talk across the country, the show immerses itself in the highs and lows surrounding dance competition season, delivering a captivating and dramatic look at the cast's intense pursuit of National Dance titles. Centered on the devoted Miller, who runs her school with an iron tap shoe as she instructs her young, talented students while also dealing with impassioned mothers who go to great lengths to help their children's dreams come true, Dance Moms will continue to pose the tough questions many people have been asking since the show's launch about what really goes on behind-the-scenes in the fast-growing and controversial sport of competitive dance. The program is produced by Collins Avenue.
Lifetime Television is committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming, and advocating a wide range of issues affecting women and their families. Lifetime Television(R), LMN(R), Lifetime Real Women(R) and Lifetime Digital(TM) are part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, LLC, a subsidiary of A+E Networks. A+E Networks is a joint venture of the Disney-ABC Television Group, Hearst Corporation and NBC Universal.


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SaaS teams are living a lie.
They believe the same value that acquired a customer will lead to a renewal. While focusing on customer retention is commendable, teams must reexamine their data to exceed customer expectations and achieve business growth.
"With the right insights, you can target your efforts in a meaningful way that will maximize renewal rates by showing your customers you're paying attention to their needs," writes Raj Badarinath, former vice president of product marketing at Avangate.
That means monitoring your target audience's behavior to improve customer success. Let's explore how data impacts your SaaS renewals.
Analyze Product Usage
Engagement is critical to encouraging customers to renew their monthly or yearly subscriptions. If a customer isn't using your product, don't expect them to stay a customer for long.
When customers initially purchase your product, they're excited and ready to dig into the platform. The problem arises when that excitement dwindles and they don't see the value anymore.
It's similar to when children receive a popular toy adore. They play with it for a couple of days. Then, next week it's buried under a pile of clothes not being used.
You don't want that to happen to your products. By monitoring your product usage data, you can learn how often and when your customer logs into your application. This insight serves as a roadmap to engage the customer in product adoption.
Identify key behavioral actions that most renewal customers take. Let's say that's completing their full profile within your platform. Then, it's in your best interest to start sending emails and in-app messages persuading customers to finish their profiles.
Also, set up triggers in your analytics platform to alert team members when the usage data drops for specific customers. This proactive measure ensures you connect with customers when the decline starts, not months later.
Product usage is helpful for spotting "at risk" customers. Use the data to facilitate customer renewals.
Validate Customer Value
Customers buy products to solve a particular problem. They want solutions that will offer some type of benefit.
For SaaS businesses, that value must be ongoing; your company can't survive if it's solving one-time challenges.
Dave Blake, CEO and founder of ClientSuccess, suggests creating milestones throughout the customer journey:
"Define success milestones along the journey. This should be very clear to everyone. These milestones are moments that manifest that a customer is progressing and having success with your product or service. We call these moments of truth."
This strategy works because your team can monitor the growth of the customer's success. Also, if you add these milestones to the customer's dashboard, she can see her achievements within your application.
One of the best ways to confirm value is to simply ask the customer. You don't need to conduct one-on-one interviews with every single person. A short email works well, too.
Below is an email Alex Turnbull of Groove received during the early years of starting his company. The customer validates the value received and states a concern as well.
Asking for customer feedback prepares your team make critical business decisions. It also gives you perspective on which customers will renew.
Monitor Customer Support Tickets
A huge part of customer success relies on exceptional support services. No matter how streamlined your product may be, SaaS customers will have questions about your product.
Customer support tickets are qualitative data showing whether or not your customer understands how to use your platform. By simply tagging their questions with beginner, intermediate, or advanced, you can monitor over time if the customer's product knowledge is progressing.
Depending on your business, this strategy may indicate gaps where you need to offer more educational tools. Encourage your marketing and support teams to work together to produce content addressing the ongoing needs of the customer, like integration setup and common feature mishaps.
Sometimes the quality of the ticket response isn't the issue. Analyze your response times and channels to track if you're offering the best support at the right time and place. A three-day response time might be too long of a wait, and your customers may prefer live chat, rather than email.
Keep in mind that support also extends to social media channels. Customers constantly leave messages on Twitter and Facebook to give suggestions and air out grievances.
Asana understands the importance responding to social media posts. Here's their response to an upset customer:
The company might not earn a renewal from this customer, but it shows a good faith effort to the rest of their customer base.
Track Net Promoter Scores
Satisfied customers serve as a step in the right direction for earning renewals. When people can offer more positives than negatives about your product, you know your team is making progress.
With the Net Promoter Score, your team can gauge the satisfaction of specific customer interactions. You can learn their feelings towards email support or even a live chat session.
And if you're monitoring the customer satisfaction within a time period, you can identify areas of improvement in your system—which is beneficial for your business.
"The great thing about NPS is that it's totally customer driven. When you track it over time and see what causes fluctuating scores, you can move into a cycle of continuous improvement where you quickly respond to any issues that affect your customers. This is good for long-term growth," states Trevor Hatfield, founder of Inturact.
Skyword recently sent me an email asking for my feedback. Without directly asking if I like their platform, they gained data from me based on my response to a 1-10 rating scale.
Focus on delivering your brand's promise to boost customer satisfaction. It's helpful for earning the customer's trust to gain that next subscription renewal.
Investigate Internal & External Factors
Every customer renewal isn't solely determined by your actions. Internal and external factors beyond your control can force customers to cancel their subscriptions.
So exactly what major influences are affecting your customers? And how will you learn about these changes?
As a B2B brand, your customer's management might be evolving, and they've decided to select new vendors. Or another company acquired your customer, and now new leadership is moving in a new direction.
Other outside influences could include changes in shopping trends that eliminate your customer's product demand, or a public relations crisis diminishes the company's value.
Your SaaS business isn't responsible for these possible cancellations. However, you are responsible for doing the research the mitigate this revenue loss for your business.
Do the research to learn more about your customer's industry to prepare for these incidents. Setting up a simple Google Alert can notify you about fluctuations in your customer's market.
Also talk candidly with customers about their current and future needs. They may feel comfortable discussing how certain changes affect their relationship with your business.
While every customer won't renew, you can take proactive steps to forecast for these adjustments. Take the time to counteract revenue drops before they happen.
Analyzing Data to Secure Renewals
Don't assume your current customers will automatically renew their subscriptions. Take a look at your data to analyze post-purchase behavior to ensure customer retention.
From product usage to customer support tickets, your SaaS customers are leaving behind clues on whether or not they will continue with your service. Leverage this data to increase your renewals.
About the Author: Shayla Price lives at the intersection of digital marketing, technology and social responsibility. Connect with her on Twitter @shaylaprice.
Source: New feed 2


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This morning in Las Vegas, at re:Invent, Amazons inaugural partner and user conference for its AWS (Amazon Web Services) juggernaut, the company unveiled a new set of big data warehouse and business intelligence services collectively known as Redshift.
Andy Jassy, Senior Vice President of Amazon Web Services, discussed the high cost of on-premises big data warehouses and business intelligence solutions currently on the market, which puts them firmly out of reach for smaller businesses. Redshift provides a new entry point.
[ Download the Big Data Analytics Deep Dive by InfoWorld's David Linthicum for a comprehensive, practical overview of this booming field. | Harness the power of Hadoop with InfoWorld's 7 top tools for taming big data. ]
AWS CTO Werner Vogels blogged that "Amazon Redshift enables customers to obtain dramatically increased query performance when analyzing datasets ranging in size from hundreds of gigabytes to a petabyte or more, using the same SQL-based business intelligence tools they use today."
Amazon Redshift promises to easily and rapidly analyze petabytes of data at one-tenth the cost of traditional data warehouses, while maintaining compatibility with popular business intelligence tools from IBM Cognos, SAP Business Objects, Microstrategy, and Jaspersoft. The latter has already announced that its cloud-based analytics platform works with Redshift.
Customers will be able to choose from options of 16TB local disk with 128GB of RAM or 2TB local disk with 16GB of RAM. The solution can be configured up to 100 nodes for up to 1.6PB.The cost is expected to weigh in at only $1,000 per terabyte per year, versus an estimated cost of $19,000 to $25,000 per terabyte per year for an on-premises solutions, as estimated by the analyst firm ITG in June 2011. Redshift is expected to be generally available in early 2013.
This article, "Amazon's Redshift brings cheaper big data analytics to small businesses," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Follow the latest developments in business technology news and get a digest of the key stories each day in the InfoWorld Daily newsletter. For the latest developments in business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.
Read more about big data in InfoWorld's Big Data Channel.


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With the official kick-off to Formula D right around the corner, Team Scion Racing wanted to show off some of their new hardware before the big show. In a relaxed atmosphere, VIPs were invited to downtown LA's Far East club to meet the drivers, the team and enjoy the festivities.
With an open bar and some good eats attendees were also entertained with videos playing on all big screens highlighting the Scion Racing effort from 2010. The overall vibe communicated loads of excitement for the upcoming 2011 season especially with Rookie of the Year, Fredric Aasbo ready to make a bold statement.
Both Gushi and Aasbo were there to meet and greet with the media while several other drivers stopped by through the night to check out the scene.
Fredric Aasbo
TEAM: Need for Speed
CAR: 2011 Scion tC
ENGINE: 2.7L Inline-4 2AR-FE Turbocharged
SUSPENSION: KW Suspensions
BRAKES: Wilwood Brakes
WHEELS: Motegi Trak Lite
EXTERIOR: Seibon / Jon Sibal designed custom wide body kit.
Andy Blackmore designed Need for Speed Livery
Ken Gushi
CAR: 2010 Scion tC
ENGINE: 2AZ-FE: BC custom crank and rods CP pistons BC custom
rods, pistons, intake and exhaust cams. Garrett 3788R Turbo, HKS Race
Gate 60mm wastegate, Custom intake and exhaust manifold,
Mechanical water pump bypass to Steward Electric water
pump, 2000cc fuel injectors, Descendant fuel rail, Dual feed
Bosch fuel pumps, Custom intercooler and dual pass radiator.
G-Force 4-speed transmission; Tilton triple carbon clutch;
Kaaz LSD, Driveshaft shop axles.
RS*R coilovers, custom control arms, custom tie rods,
RS*R polyurethane bushings, 28mm front swaybar, TRD
19mm rear sway bar.
Front - Wilwood 6 piston caliper and rotors,
Rear – Wilwood 4 piston hand brake 2 piston foot brake and
Super Advan Racing Ver. 2 (17x9.0 front, 18x10.5 rear);
Hankook RS3 tires (255/40/17 front, 285/35/18 rear)
EXTERIOR: Custom concept wide body kit
Sparco Corsa seats, 6-point harnesses, steering wheel, shift knob
ELECTRONICS: Motec M800 ECU and Motec SDL3 display


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69th Annual Peabody Awards Winners Announced
ATHENS, Ga., March 31 -- Thirty-six recipients of the 69h Annual Peabody Awards were announced today by the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. The winners, chosen by the Peabody board as the best in electronic media for 2009, were named in a ceremony in the Peabody Gallery on the University of Georgia Campus.
The latest Peabody winners reflect great diversity in genre, sources of origination and content. The recipients included "Modern Family," ABC's droll, perceptive comedy about a multicultural extended family; HBO's "Thrilla in Manila," a documentary that probes the hype, mythology and meaning of the politically charged Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier fights in the early 1970s; and "The Great Textbook War," a fair, balanced radio documentary from West Virginia Public Broadcasting about a 1974 skirmish that presaged "cultural wars" still raging in America. "Jerome Robbins -- Something to Dance About," a richly insightful portrait of the director-choreographer from Thirteen/WNET's "American Masters," received a Peabody Award, as did the Desmond Tutu installment of CBS's consistently surprising "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," a talk show without borders.
Peabodys went to "Sichuan Earthquake: One Year On," a thorough assessment of the damage, grief and anger in the quake ravaged Chinese province by Hong Kong's Now-TV News, and "A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains," ABC News' illumination of the abiding poverty of our most forgotten region, Central Appalachia. Peabodys also were awarded to "The Madoff Affair," a comprehensive examination by WGBH's "FRONTLINE" of the Ponzi scheme that cost investors $65 billion, and "Hard Times," Oregon Public Broadcasting's smart, compassionate radio coverage of the impact of the financial crisis on ordinary folks.
Other entertainment programming recognized by the Peabody Board included "Glee," Fox's invigorating musical dramedy about the diverse members of a high-school choral club; "In Treatment," HBO's mesmerizing therapy-session drama; "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency," HBO's charming series about a female private eye in Botswana; and "Endgame," a PBS/Masterpiece film about secret negotiations that facilitated the end of apartheid in South Africa. A Peabody also went to "The Day That Lehman Died," a riveting radio docudrama from the BBC World Service that reconstructed the frantic negotiations that preceded the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy filing that shook the financial world.
In the realm of arts and culture, Peabodys were awarded to "Noodle Road," a visually scrumptious survey of the Asian culinary staple by South Korea's KBS 1TV; PBS' "Inventing LA: The Chandlers and Their Times," a portrait of a family newspaper dynasty that pursued civic goals and personal agendas with equal zeal; and two "Independent Lens" documentaries: "The Order of Myths," a look at race relations through the prism of the Mardi Gras of Mobile, Ala., and "Between the Folds," an exhilarating, awe-inspiring study of the art of origami and paper folding.
A Personal Peabody was awarded to Diane Rehm, whose eponymously titled show on Washington, D.C.'s WAMU-FM and National Public Radio epitomizes vigorous, courteous political discourse. Peabodys also went to "BBC World News America: Unique Broadcast, Unique Perspective," a model "world" newscast crafted for U.S. cable subscribers by BBC America; National Public Radio's topically boundless web counterpart, npr.org; and SesameStreet.org, the celebrated children's television series' cheery, interactively educational web site.
"Every year the Peabody Board faces the daunting task of selecting examples of the most outstanding work in electronic media," said Horace Newcomb, Director of the Peabody Awards. "Our work is made more difficult because every entry is selected by a producer, a studio, a network or cable channel as their best work of the previous year. We begin at the top and have to go even higher."
The Peabody Board recognized the meritorious efforts of several local news organizations. Awards went to "Under Fire: Discrimination and Corruption in the Texas National Guard," a startling investigative series by Houston's KHOU-TV that led to the firing of three Texas Guard generals; "Derrion Albert Beating," a series of reports by Chicago's WFLD-TV about the sidewalk murder of an honor student that had national repercussions; and "BART Shooting," a series of reports in which KTVU-TV in Oakland, Calif., doggedly pursued the facts of a deadly, train-station confrontation.
In the Peabody-honored "Up in Smoke," Los Angeles' KCET-TV explored the state's cannabis culture and found, among other surprises, that medicinal marijuana clinics, thanks to an inadvertent regulatory loophole, outnumbered Starbucks shops in the city. In "Chronicle: The Gift," WYFF 4 in Greenville, S.C., made a man's tragic, accidental death the impetus of a public-service campaign on behalf of organ donation, showcasing the stories of the recipients his generosity saved.
Other radio winners included "Mind the Gap: Why Good Schools Are Failing Black Students," a documentary in which independent producer Nancy Solomon focused on a suburban New Jersey high school, asking difficult questions of teachers and students alike, and "Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson: Covering Afghanistan," a collection of uniquely insightful reports about everyday life as well as the ongoing warfare by the chief of National Public Radio's Afghan bureau.
"To those who say all media content is the same, or presented from a single perspective, we offer this great range of material as a response," said Newcomb. "Our selections demonstrate that great work available in 2009 varied widely and appealed to viewers and listeners with very different tastes interests, and concerns."
CBS News' "60 Minutes" added another pair of Peabodys to its collection: "Sabotaging the System" looked at the clear and present danger of cyber attacks from Russia and China on our computer-dependent infrastructure and what we are doing to thwart them. Even as airwaves and town halls were buzzing with talk of health-care "death panels," "The Cost of Dying" took a courageous, objective look at the actual monetary cost of end-of-life care. A Peabody also went to "Where Giving Life Is a Death Sentence," a BBC America news report by Lyse Doucet about a remote Afghan province that has the world's worst recorded rate of maternal mortality.
The notable documentaries honored also included "Iran and the West," BBC2's comprehensive, three-hour explanation, complete with exclusive new interviews with key leaders, of how the current nuclear impasse evolved, and "The OxyContin Express," a shocking documentation by Current TV of the extent of prescription-drug abuse in America. "Brick City," a gritty documentary series shown on Sundance Channel, paints an unvarnished picture of life, politics and hopes for revival in gang-banged and impoverished Newark, N.J. "I-Witness: Ambulansiyang de Paa," from the Philippines' GMA Network Inc., memorably chronicled how residents of a poor, remote town can only get their sick and injured to medical care using the "ambulance on foot," woven hammocks that they carry over dangerous terrain.
The Peabody Awards, the oldest honor in electronic media, do not recognize categories nor are there a set number of awards given each year. Today the Peabody recognizes distinguished achievement and meritorious public service by TV and radio stations, networks, cablecasters, Webcasters, producing organizations and individuals.
The Peabody Board is a 16-member group, comprised of television critics, broadcast and cable industry executives, academics and experts in culture and the arts. They make their annual selections with input from special screening committees of UGA faculty, students and staff.
All entries become a permanent part of the Peabody Archive in the University of Georgia Libraries. The collection is one of the nation's oldest, largest and most respected moving-image archives. For more information about the Peabody Archive or the Peabody Awards, visit www.peabody.uga.edu.


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Fla. unemployment rate drops to 7.5 percent
Gov. touts jobs numbers
Gov. Rick Scott announced Friday morning that the state's unemployment rate is still dropping.
The March unemployment figures show Florida's jobless rate dropped to 7.5 percent.
Florida's unemployment dipped to its lowest level in more than four years in February to 7.7 percent. It's the lowest jobless rate in Florida since October 2008 when unemployment stood at 7.4 percent.
Scott announced the latest dip in Naples.
Scott has spent much of his time in recent weeks reminding Floridians that things have gotten better since he took office in January 2011. Scott ran on a promise to create 700,000 new jobs in Florida over a seven-year period.
Scott, during his Naples visit, also plans to renew his call for legislators to approve a tax cut for manufacturers he is seeking.
To view the unemployment data visit Floridajobs.org.


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NEW YORK - June 1, 2011 - Syfy has named Scott Vila, who was instrumental in the development of water cooler hits such as 24, Dark Angel and Firefly, to the newly created position of Vice President, Current Programming, Scripted. Based in the Los Angeles office, Vila will report to Erik Storey, Senior Vice President, Original Programming, Syfy.
Vila will be responsible for Warehouse 13, the network's highest rated show, as well as two of the network's sophomore hits, Haven and Being Human.
Mark Stern, President, Original Content, Syfy, and Co-Head, Original Content, Universal Cable Productions, said: "Throughout his career, Scott has consistently developed quality television. His diverse strengths, from targeting compelling stories to overseeing successful execution, will contribute immeasurably to the growth of Syfy's scripted programming."
Before joining Syfy, Vila was Vice President, Original Programming, A&E, since 2006, where he was responsible for the development of series including The Glades, The Beast and The Cleaner. Prior to that, he served as executive producer for NBC's Medical Investigation (2003-05) and producer of Fox's The Simple Life (2002-03).
During his three year tenure (1999-02) as Senior Vice President, Drama, Twentieth Century Fox Television, he worked on an array of top series such as 24, Dark Angel, The Practice, Boston Public, American High and Judging Amy.
Vila was graduated with an MBA in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
On July 11, Syfy will launch its new three-hour Monday night scripted programming block featuring returning powerhouses Eureka (8PM) and Warehouse 13 (9PM), followed by the premiere of Alphas (10PM). Later that week, Haven will return for its second season on Friday, July 15 (10PM).
Syfy is a media destination for imagination-based entertainment. With year round acclaimed original series, events, blockbuster movies, classic science fiction and fantasy programming, a dynamic Web site (www.Syfy.com), and a portfolio of adjacent business (Syfy Ventures), Syfy is a passport to limitless possibilities. Originally launched in 1992 as SCI FI Channel, and currently in more than 99 million homes, Syfy is a network of NBCUniversal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies. (Syfy. Imagine greater.)


text: About Andrew McAllister Andrew McAllister is a Northern Utah-based photographer specializing in contemporary landscape and commercial portraiture. Originally from Akron, Ohio he documented the construction of the Co-op Himmelb(l)au addition to the Akron Art Museum and operated a small commercial photography studio in Akron until moving to Utah in 2011. Since that time Andrew has become enamored with the unique landscapes of the West and he has photographed extensively in the Great Basin, Colorado Plateau, and Snake River Plain. As a staff photographer at Utah State University he has photographed over 2,500 works of art for the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, provided professional portraits and documentation for the Caine College of the Arts, the Huntsman School of Business, and the College of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences. When not exploring the West or photographing for USU he works with select local clients. Available for select assignments and collaborations. Clients: National Park Service Caine College of the Arts (USU) Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art (USU) The Akron Art Museum Incite Creative Kilgore Trout Gear Star Challenger Hardware Summa Foundation Akron Canton Airport Icon Fitness Cache Valley Electric Selected Exhibitions: 2017 Towns Less Occupied (solo show), USU Eastern 2016 Our Land, Akron Art Museum, Akron Ohio (group show) 2015 Observations of a New Westerner (solo show), USU Eastern 2014 Enchanted Modernities, Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art (contributing photographer) Achievement in Art: The Fred and Laura Bidwell Collection of Photography, Amarillo Museum of Art (included photographer) 2011 Parks and Recreation, Seiberling Gallery, Cuyahoga Valley National Park (Solo show) 2010 The I of the Text, Riffe Gallery, Columbus, Ohio (Curated group show) 2009 Coop Himmelb(l)au: Beyond the blue, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio (Contributing photographer) 2007 Akronography, Summit Art Space, Akron, Ohio (Curator and Participant) Building a Masterpiece, Akron Art Museum, Akron, Ohio (Solo show) 2006 Fresh (the juried exhibition), Summit Art Space, Akron, Ohio (2nd place award winner) Restless in Akron, Summit Art Space, Akron, Ohio (Group show) 2005 The NEO show, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio (Juried show with catalog) Akron: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, Summit Art Space, Akron, Ohio (Two-person show) 2004 Wanderer NL, Gallery U, Cleveland, Ohio (Solo exhibition) Unknown Writer, Summit Art Space, Akron, Ohio (Two-person show) M-80 magazine Show, Square Records, Akron, Ohio (Group show) 2003 Armed and fairly well equipped, A Cleveland Art retrospective, The Black Eye, Cleveland, Ohio (Group Show) 2002 Wanderer, Gallery U, Cleveland, Ohio (Group Show) Towering "celebrating the inspiration of the world trade center", 1300 Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio (Group show) BFA (Photography) University of Akron


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Laurence Freeman OSB,
"The Fear of Death," THE SELFLESS SELF
(London: Darton, Longman, Todd, 1989), pp. 129-131.
By meditating. . .we are facing death every day. And if we face death every day, if we allow ourselves to die a little more each day, then the experience of death will allow us to live each day more fully. Death faced with faith takes us beyond the fear of death and has us live each day with the certain hope of eternal life. That hope is why meditation is a way of life.
Because it is a way to die. Death cancels out our sense of the future and so forces us to concentrate wholly in the present moment. Where else is there to go? When we really face death we are totally in the present moment. We enter eternity before we die, if we can face death with this unevasive attentiveness. But we always try to escape the present moment.
We usually evade the present, either by living in the past, or by creating a world of fantasy. But when we are meditating, the saying of the mantra closes off those two options or escape routes. There is nowhere to go except to be here. The mantra points in one direction, towards the center. It is a narrow path, but it is the path of truth. As we follow the way of the mantra, as we learn to say it with courage and humility, it leads us along a way in which everything in us dies that would hold us back from fullness of life.
We die each day in faith and that is the supreme preparation for the hour of our death. But as a way of dying in faith it inevitably brings us to confront two very powerful forces that we must also be prepared to face. They are the forces of fear and anger. [. . . .]
[But] anger, and the fear that it springs from, is everything that meditation is not. The deepest anger comes from our deepest fear—of death. But it comes from all sorts of secondary causes too, from everything that makes up our psychological history. We need to be aware when we meditate, and as we cleanse ourselves of that anger, that it is not our immediate concern to trace where it comes from.
All that is really important is that we are shedding it. . . What is important is that the love active in the faith of the mantra casts out anger from the heart. We begin to meditate with a great advantage if we start with a developed faith because we begin by being able to understand that anger is cast out by the power of Christ. . .Christ in the power of the Spirit can cast out anger because he is the one who has overcome the primal fear of death and who is now empowered to free us from that fear. . . .[In the words of 1 John 4:16-18], "God is love; he who dwells in love is dwelling in God, and God in him.
This is for us the perfection of love, to have confidence on the day of judgement, and this we can have, because even in this world we are as he is. There is no room for fear in love; perfect love banishes fear."
Meditate for Thirty Minutes.... Remember: Sit down. Sit still and upright. Close your eyes lightly. Sit relaxed but alert. Silently, interiorly, begin to say a single word. We recommend the prayer-phrase "Maranatha." Recite it as four syllables of equal length. Listen to it as you say it, gently, but continuously. Do not think or imagine anything—spiritual or otherwise. Thoughts and images will likely come, but let them pass. Just keep returning your attention—with humility and simplicity—to saying your word in faith, from the beginning to the end of your meditation.
After Meditation from St Augustine, Sermons, noted in THE ROOTS OF CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM, Olivier Clement (London: New City, 1995), p. 249.
Fear is a suffering that oppresses us. But look at the immensity of love.
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JLP Golden Lime Margarita Review
JLP Golden Lime Margarita (NOM 1416) Hands down, the best ready-to-drink margarita on the market today! When Javier Martinez sent us samples of his JLP Tequila ready-to-drink margarita in a can, we really weren't sure what to expect. Before I learned about sipping tequilas, I was a margarita girl. I've tried every ready-mixed margarita I … Read more