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Dec 4, 2013: When You're this Little, They call you, Ms. Little
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September 9, 2010
Ryan Abraham USCFootball.com
The Trojans have a new coaching staff, new practice policies and this week, a new practice regiment after playing last Thursday against Hawaii. For Lane Kiffin and this young Trojan squad looking for significant improvement going into their home opener against Virginia, it is all part of the learning process. ...More... To continue reading this article you must be a member. Sign Up Now for a FREE Trial
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subset: commoncrawl


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A small test tube holds about a petabyte -- a billion megabytes -- of data. DNA storing this much information is about as big as the space between the top two joints of your little finger, Goldman said.
"A gram of DNA would hold the same information as a bit over a million compact discs," Goldman said. "Your storage options are: one thing a bit smaller than your little finger, or a million CDs."
Given DNA's small size and long endurance, according to Goldman and Birney, the method could be used to propagate information about our current selves thousands of years into the future - assuming, of course, our descendants in the year 4013 understand languages as we speak and write them today.


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Rejuvenating facials at Long Island spas
After a loooong, cold winter, it's the right time for a refresher course -- we're talking about your face. Skin gets dull, congested and D-R-Y during the colder months, and a facial is a wonderful rejuvenator.
But there's a lot going on in the world of skin care, and it seems that the days of the very basic facial are virtually extinct. So to learn about some variations on the theme, we went under the steam, the stone, the cream and, eeks, even the razor. And besides the relaxing, pampering experience (some more relaxing and pampering than others), the greatest benefit of all is beautiful, healthy skin.
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At The Gates Slaughter Of The Soul - T-Shirt
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KTUH on the Web
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69 photos VIP
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Vintage Charm, Across Fom Park and Lincoln Park Zoo...Lake and City Views...Steps to Public Transportation...
You can find Lincoln Park rentals in one of Chicago's sweet spots. For starters, the vast park of the same name enlivens the neighborhood's eastern edge. There you'll find the Lincoln Park Zoo, the Lincoln Park Conservatory, the Chicago History Museum, acres of fields, and prime lakefront. In between the park and the Chicago River to the west, the neighborhood shows off fine dining, shopping, nightlife, and some of the most sought after apartments in town. Lincoln Park includes the neighborhoods of Lincoln Central, Mid-North, Old Town Triangle, and others.
This part of the Windy City is known for high-end shops and restaurants. Ritzy retailers and boutiques are easy to find, as are friendly booksellers and other alternatives. Alinea restaurant is one of only two in the city to receive three Michelin Stars. If you care to spend considerably less, never fear. Lincoln Park serves up casual eats, too. You can find bars and clubs along Lincoln Avenue. Expect more student joints as you get closer to DePaul University.
For outdoor enjoyments, Lincoln Park is over 1,200 acres of boating, playing fields, and beaches. At DePaul, the Ray Meyer Fitness Center is open to the public. It's got great facilities including a lap pool, racquetball courts, and gym equipment. Oz Park, named in honor of L. Frank Baum, is also in the neighborhood.
Lincoln Park is one of the wealthier neighborhoods in Chicago. Most of the people who live here are young professionals, college graduates, or raising families. Rental options include old brownstones from before the fire of 1871, courtyard apartment buildings, and upscale condos. A two-bedroom in Lincoln Park rents for an average of $1,843 a month.
Part of Lincoln Park's higher prices pay for convenience. The 'L' Red, Brown, and Purple lines all stop in Lincoln Park. You can catch Chicago Transit Authority buses here as well. The Loop isn't far away.
Lincoln Park falls within two Chicago City Council wards—the 32nd and the 43rd. The Lincoln Park Branch of the Chicago Public Library is in the neighborhood. There are two United States Post Offices in Lincoln Park. Children's Memorial Hospital is here as well.
Lincoln Park is covered by the 60614 zip code.
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Encore at Wynn Las Vegas
3131 Las Vegas Boulevard South Las Vegas, NV 89109
Las Vegas Strip
Some important information about your hotel.
Collapse What you should know:
- Encore at Wynn Las Vegas charges a daily 25.00USD resort fee plus tax, which is paid directly to the property.
- If reservations include a RESORT CREDIT, the credit is valid toward items charged to your room at Wynn Las Vegas and Encore during your stay excluding room rate, room tax, resort fee, retail items, casino play, gratuities, Encore Beach Club and Surrender Nightclub. The RESORT CREDIT will not show on your guest folio, but rather be automatically applied.
- Guests must be 21 years of age to check in and this hotel requires a 150.00USD per night deposit upon check-in for incidentals, which will be released at the time of check-out.
- Hotel only reservations: An early check-out will result in forfeit of (1) one full night room and tax at the original booked rate.
- Package (flight + hotel) reservations: An early departure will result in forfeit of all nights room and tax charges.
Rates from $189.00/night
More Information About this Hotel
Note: Unless otherwise noted, the rates shown above do not include (if applicable) Extra Person Fees (Opens in a new window), Child Fees (Opens in a new window), Additional Mandatory Hotel Charges (Opens in a new window) or optional incidentals, such as parking, room service or movies.
Need Help with Your Booking? Call Travelocity Toll-Free: 1-888-TRAVELOCITY ( 1.866.207.1488 )


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Zebra RugsZebra rugs are all the rage this season. From kids rooms to playrooms and bedrooms Zebra rugs have taken over as the hottest selling rug pattern for fashion forward decorators and moms across America. Zebra area rugs bring a sense of adventure and excitement to dull floors. At Rugs USA we carry a wide selection of Zebra animal prints. From Hand tufted wool weaves to easy to clean machine made Nylon rugs we have the area rug of your dreams. When you buy a Zebra rug direct from us we offer fast free shipping plus discount pricing that makes owning your rug easy and affordable.
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Area Rugs : Contemporary | Traditional | Animal Print | Outdoor | Kids | Shag | Natural Fibers | Braided | Southwestern | Country & Floral | Solid & Striped | Transitional | Novelty


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Derek Medina appears in Miami-Dade court for plea hearing on his first-degree murder charge with attorneys Mauricio Padilla (L) and Rick Yabor (R) in Miami, Florida, December 4, 2013. Medina was arrested on August 8, 2013 after confessing to shooting his wife and posting pictures of her body on Facebook. REUTERS/Walter Michot/Pool (UNITED STATES - Tags: CRIME LAW)
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HONG KONG FOR LESS Take advantage of our Hong Kong deals or enjoy guaranteed savings on package bookings.
BOOK TOGETHER AND SAVE Save money with British Airways when you book a Hong Kong flight + hotel package.
HONG KONG ON A BUDGET Take advantage of our fantastic package deals for a cheap Hong Kong holiday to remember.
HONG KONG HOTEL SAVINGS Don't miss out on our fantastic offers on luxury or great value Hong Kong hotels. Reservar
Hong Kong dealsTake advantage of our Hong Kong deals and escape to the glittering Chinese city for less. Search for our cheapest air fares using Low Price Finder and benefit from great package offers on flights and hotels. Don't miss our special offers on luxury or cheap hotels across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories. Use the Holiday Finder tool to search for our best holiday packages and find our cheapest fares on flights to Hong Kong. We've now made paying easier with online deposits and guarantee you savings on flight + hotel bookings.
Hong Kong Island Half-Day Tour Visit Hong Kong Island's most famous places and landmarks on this comprehensive half-day tour. You'll start with a tram ride up to Victoria Peak for spectacular views over the city and surrounding islands. Your next destination is the famous fishing village of Aberdeen with its junk-dwelling community. After some bargain hunting at the renowned Stanley Market, your tour concludes at a well known jewellery factory where you can see sparkling works of art meticulously crafted from gold and gems. Learn more Lantau Island and Giant Buddha Day Trip from Hong Kong Cruise by express ferry across Hong Kong's famous harbour to Lantau Island. Here you'll stop at beautiful Cheung Sha Beach on your way to the unique fishing village of Tai O, where the local fishermen live in stilt-mounted homes. Then it's on to Ngong Ping Plateau to see the majestic 111 feet high Big Buddha. After a guided tour of the colourful Po Lin Monastery, drink in the spectacular panoramic views during a 25 minute cable car ride down the mountain. Learn more Hong Kong Harbour Night Cruise and Dinner at Lei Yue Mun Seafood Village Combine sightseeing and gourmet dining on a relaxing night cruise around Hong Kong's floodlit harbour - you'll enjoy unlimited free drinks from the open bar aboard a traditional Chinese tour boat. You will then disembark at the renowned Lei Yue Mun Seafood Village on the Eastern Harbour. After a short walk through a traditional fish market, you'll enjoy a sumptuous banquet of delectable Chinese seafood dishes at the excellent Hoi Tin Garden Restaurant. Learn more Symphony of Lights Hong Kong Harbour Night Cruise Cruise Hong Kong's impressive Victoria Harbour in a traditional Chinese junk and enjoy an uninterrupted view of the dazzling Symphony of Lights. During this spectacular 20 minute display, laser beams bounce off 33 towering skyscrapers on both sides of the harbour, accompanied by synchronised music and commentary. On your 1.5 hour evening cruise you can enjoy unlimited drinks from the open bar while you watch one of the world's greatest light shows unfold. Learn more See Hong Kong Sightseeing Pass Explore Hong Kong at your own pace and at a fraction of the cost with the See Hong Kong Pass. Experience four of Hong Kong's top attractions or activities and visit them any time within a month after your pass activation date. Choose between the following: Victoria Harbour Cruise; Peak Tram and Sky Terrace; Hop-on hop-off bus; Sky100 Observation Deck; 8th Estate Winery Tour & Tasting; Noak's Ark theme park; Fisherfolks' Village on Lamma Island; Round-trip airport bus transfer. Learn more


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Rope Cultured Mussels
- Online Only
- Vendor Shipped
- Summary
We love these blue mussels—grown on ropes in the cold, pristine waters of Casco Bay, Maine—for their sweetness, tenderness and taste of the sea. Plump and satisfying, the mussels make one of the easiest dinners imaginable. Just steam for a few minutes with aromatics like herbs, garlic and fennel, or the classic mix of white wine, shallots, parsley and butter. They even take well to Indian spices like garam masala. Pair with vegetables and crusty bread, and dinner is served.
- 2 lb. total; approx. 18–20 mussels per pound.
- Shipped fresh.
- Caught in USA.
- Use & Care
Receiving instructions
- The mussels ship fresh with ice packs. Upon receipt, remove the mussels from the packaging, place them in a bowl, cover them completely with a damp kitchen towel and refrigerate. Dampen the towel if it dries out during storage. Live mussels need air—do not cover them with water or seal them in a plastic bag. The mussels will keep, properly refrigerated, up to 3 days.
To prepare
- Scrub grit off the shells of fresh mussels with a stiff-bristled brush, then de-beard each mussel, as needed. Remove the beard, the little tuft of fibers the mussel uses to connect to rocks or pilings, by cutting and scraping it with a knife or scissors. You may also pull it sharply down toward the hinged point of the shells with your fingers, but this tends to pull away a bit of the meat. It's important not to de-beard the mussels more than 1 hour before cooking, as doing so kills them.
- While cleaning, discard any mussels that are very light (as they are likely dead), or any that are heavy with sand. Remember that live mussels will close tightly, if a little slowly, when touched. If in doubt, try twisting the shells sideways in opposite directions, as if unscrewing a bottle cap. The shells of dead mussels will break apart easily. The mussels should open up again after cooking. Check cooked mussels and discard any that failed to open.
- To shuck mussels, or remove the shells, steam them with 1 inch of liquid for 2 to 3 minutes, just until they loosen and open slightly. Using a small knife—preferably one designed for shucking clams—pry open the shells and cut the meat away. Reserve the steaming liquid to use in a sauce.
Adapted fromWilliams-Sonoma Kitchen Companion (Time-Life Books, 2000).
- Ingredients
- Blue mussels.
- Shipping
Shipping Information
To ensure freshness, perishable items are shipped overnight from the supplier and are not eligible for rush shipping. Please allow up to one week for delivery.
Shipping Rates
The shipping rate varies depending on your order total and shipping destination. View Shipping Options and Charges.
Return Policy
At Williams-Sonoma, we take great pride in the quality and craftsmanship of our products. If, within 90 days, you are not completely satisfied with your purchase for any reason, please return the item for an exchange or refund of the merchandise value. View Full Return Policy.


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National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon: Colt wrote:Nice weather? You think we're having... nice weather? I guess you didn't lose the only one that meant anything in your life. I guess you don't feel burned out by the human misery and despair perpetrated by the criminal vermin that infest every pore of this decaying city, forcing you to guzzle cheap wine and cheaper whiskey to dull the pain that shatters your heart, rips at your soul, and keeps your days forever gray. What flavor Icee you got today?
Same movie as above wrote:Desk Clerk: That her?
Wes Luger: No, that's a picture.
Same movie wrote:Mr. Jigsaw: [holding a gun on York] In a little while, Miss York, you will be begging for mercy.
Sgt. Billy York: No, no, I'll beg now.
Same movie wrote:Sgt. Billy York: [after being questioned about the microfilm] McCracken!
Mr. Jigsaw: Thank you, Ms York!
[shoots York]
Mr. Jigsaw: [turns around, confused] Is that Dan McCracken, or Mike McCracken?
Sgt. Billy York: Mike...
[Mr. Jigsaw shoots York again]
Mr. Jigsaw: [turns around again] Is he on Alpine or Oak?
Sgt. Billy York: [thinking] Alpine...
Mr. Jigsaw: [shoots York again]
Sgt. Billy York: Psst... Park on Third- you'll never find a spot on Alpine.
Mr. Jigsaw: [smiling] Thank you! You have been most co-operative!
Sgt. Billy York: [in pain] Don't mention it.
Mr. Jigsaw: [shoots York again]


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In 1982, Brian Slagel started a record label that would turn into one of the premiere labels in the world of hard rock and metal. Celebrating 30 years in the industry with Metal Blade Records, Slagel decided to throw a party for the fans in New York City. Michigan heavy metalers Battlecross opened the night at Santos Party House, and As I Lay Dying closed things out.
Being with Metal Blade for nearly a decade, it was no doubt an unbelievable honor for As I Lay Dying to help Slagel celebrate 30 years. Before the gig, Loudwire had the chance to catch up with Nick Hipa and Phil Sgrosso, both guitarists from the band, to chat about their new album, what it was like touring on the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival and more.
As I Lay Dying is excited to announce that the band will be performing at RAMfest 2013 in South Africa.
Dates are as follows:
- 09/03/2013 - RAMfest Capetown: BUY TICKETS
- 15/03/2013 - RAMfest Durban: BUY TICKETS
- 16/03/2013 - RAMfest Johannesburg: BUY TICKETS
Enter for your chance to win an autographed Ibanez guitar from As I Lay Dying. ENTER HERE
New album "Awakened" available now at your local FYE for $9.99.
Order Awakened from iTunes: http://smarturl.it/Awakened
The album is also on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, FYE, Hastings, Hot Topic, Target, Walmart and all your favorite places to buy new music. Check www.mymetalclub.com for a free As I Lay Dying fabric patch with purchase at your local independent record store!


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Wednesday, December 11, 2013
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President Obama's announcement Wednesday that he supports same sex-marriage is continuing to have political repercussions across the nation and in the city. Our Josh Robin explains.
UNITED STATES -- "Calling it marriage creates a whole host of problems."
Just hours after his historic shift, President Obama is running an ad and raising money off his new support for gay marriage.
On the other side, Republicans have a new attack line to attack the president: He's a flip-flopper, trying to distract voters from the economy.
"You don't change your position to try and win states, or certain sub groups of Americans. You have the positions you have. And as you know for a long time, I think from the beginning of my political career, I've made it very clear that I believe that marriage should be a relationship between a man and a woman," said presidential candidate Mitt Romney. "The president was for same-sex marriage before he was against it and now he's for it again," former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said.
But the current mayor whose endorsement both Obama and Mitt Romney are after is praising the Democrat for shifting stances on marriage equality.
"And my hope would be that Governor Romney also evolves," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
That is highly unlikely to happen. What isn't clear, though, is whether his opposition to same-sex marriage will draw conservative voters to the polls in key states, perhaps swinging the election to the Republican.
"I think it shows how out of touch the president is," said Tami Fitzgerald of the NC Values Coalition.Fitzgerald helped led a successful bid on Tuesday to constitutionally ban gay marriage and civil unions in that state, which Obama won four years ago.
"These are the people that care about families, that care about traditional values in North Carolina and I think that they will be motivated," Fitzgerald said.
The same was said before the 2004 election, when anti-gay marriage laws were on the ballots in eleven states, including Ohio, which George Bush narrowly won. Studies since then, though, argue that they did not contribute to Bush's re-election.
Meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden apologized to the President, the New York Times reports. Biden is said to have accelerated the President's rollout of his gay marriage shift, when he announced his own support during an interview Sunday.


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Select a tag to browse associated projects and drill deeper into the tag cloud.
ISPConfig is an open source hosting control panel for Linux. ISPconfig 3 is capable of managing multiple servers from one control panel. Managed Services and Features *Manage one or more Servers from one Controlpanel (Multiserver Management) *Different permission levels (Administrators
Internet - Multi Server Control Panel (i-MSCP) is an open source project founded to build a Web-based control panel intended to personal and professional usage.
Copyright © 2013 Black Duck Software, Inc. and its contributors, Some Rights Reserved. Unless otherwise marked, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License . Ohloh ® and the Ohloh logo are trademarks of Black Duck Software, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.


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abstractEmpirical analyses presented by Acs and Audretsch suggest differences in the market structure determinants of innovation between large and small firms in U.S. manufacturing. The evidence they offer is ambiguous. By using data for a different country (The Netherlands), a different measure of
abstractThis paper introduces the special issue of Small Business Economics on Innovation. What binds the papers together is either their focus on the effect of firm size on the causes and consequences of innovation or their focus on the role small firms play in reshaping the industrial landscape.
abstractIn this study the determinants of entry and exit and the interrelationship between these market phenomena are investigated. We examine incentives, barriers, displacement and replacement for a panel data-set of 23 Dutch shoptypes for the 1981–1988 period. Results indicate that profit as a rat
abstractThis paper introduces the special issue of Small business Economics on Performance. The concept of economic performance refers to the degree to which society's resources are being used as efficiently as possible. Where the field of industrial organization has emphasized the influence of mark
abstractThis paper introduces the special issue of The Review of Industrial Organization on The Dynamics of Industrial Organization. What binds these papers together is a focus on markets in motion—the process by which new firms enter an industry, either grow and survive, or else ultimately exit out
abstractThis paper addresses the empirical analysis of wholesale profit margins using data of the Dutch wholesale sector, 1986. At the heart of the analysis is the typical nature of wholesale production: wholesalers do not produce a tangible product, but offer a service capacity. This has an immedia
abstractThe paper investigates the extent to which small firms' price-cost margins follow those of large firms. A two-equation mode! is used with data for 36 Dutch three-digit manufacturing industries over the period 1975-86. The effects of market structure characteristics are also examined. The mai
abstractThis article examines the differences between Dutch and German retail price setting. The study is based on an econometric approach in the sense that the estimates of the coefficients of a one-equation model explaining retail profit margins are compared. Extensive datasets are used for both t
abstractWe develop a two equation error correction model to investigate determinants of and dynamic interaction between changes in profits and number of firms in retailing. An explicit distinction is made between the effects of actual competition among incumbants, new firms competition and potential
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Supports Healthy Function of the Immune System.* Ingredients: extracts of: Echinacea root 1 F Goldenseal rhizome & roots 1 D Other Ingredients: vegetable glycerine & distilled water. CONTAINS NO ALCOHOL The herbs used to prepare this compound are Certified Organically Grown 1 without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. They are hand-harvested at their optimal potency, and are then promptly extracted while still fresh & succulent F or after being carefully shade-dried. D Suggested Use: Shake Well Before Using Two to five times per day take 30 to 40 drops in a little water. Caution: Seek expert medical advice before taking during pregnancy or nursing. Keep Out of the Reach of Children
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Eric Hjorleifson Interview
An interview with Eric Hjorleifson
Arc'teryx big mountain specialist Eric Hjorleifson can't actually recall his first day on skis. Raised in the shadowy spine of the Rocky Mountains which rise dramatically from his Canmore, AB, home, "Hoji"s parents started him skiing just before his second birthday. The early days were spent on the rope tow at Mount Norquay in Banff National Park. Eric and his brother Steve honed their skills in the Nancy Greene and provincial ski racing program and eventually joined the Banff Alpine Racers ski team. "Racing was an excellent way to learn the fundamentals of skiing technique. We used to train in the mornings and free ski with our coaches in the afternoons, our coaches we amazing skiers and enjoyed shred the whole mountain. On powder days they had a game called "Shred or Die" where we had to keep up with the coaches as they shredded all over the mountain and if we fell off the back, we had to wait the rest of the day out in the lodge." Eventually ski racing became too competitive driven and regimented, "There was no time to free ski and we would leave the hill early to go dry land training in the gym, this is when I decided racing wasn't for me".
"One of our coaches Guy Mowbray realized that many kids who were passionate about skiing were quitting racing, so being the visionary that he was he started the first free skiing program in Canada and perhaps North America". The Rocky Mountain Freeriders (RMF) was built around skiing the entire mountain with a focus on big mountain riding. By the second season of RMF's existence Eric was coaching along side Guy and local professional big mountain skier Kevin Hjertaas.
Growing up in the Rockies Eric had been exposed to Calgary based production company Real Action Pictures (RAP Entertainment). "I grew up on the RAP ski films, I still have the whole VHS collection, hahah." One of Eric's earliest influences was Banff local ski talent and star of RAP films Andrew Sheppard. Andrew, Kevin and Eric were all invited to join the freeride team of Monod Sports in Banff, this was Eric's first true introduction to Andrew and the start of his career as a professional skier. Kevin and Andrew mentored Eric introducing him to big line skiing in the backcountry. "Kevin would bring me out to ski lines in the backcountry around Lake Louise and Sunshine Village, Andrew would invite me to come sled skiing in Revelstoke." Kevin and Andrew helped Eric gain experience in the mountains, "They taught me not only about skiing lines but also about snow safety and mountain knowledge".
At the end of the season in 2002 Andrew invited Eric to join him on a ski trip to Argentina with aspiring sports cinema photographer Dustin Lindgren. Dustin brother of Scott Lindgren owner/operator of California based Kayak/action sports film production company Scott Lindgren Productions (SLP).
Dustin was relatively new to filming and the trip was a learning experience for everyone. "The night we arrived in Las Lenas it was raining slightly, the rain soon turned to snow and it snowed three days straight. It snowed over 3 and half meters in the village, still one of the biggest snow falls I have witnessed to this day". The resort was totally shut down, two lifts were damaged by massive avalanches and the crews hopes to film in the high alpine of the surrounding Andean mountains were put on hold. "At the end of our 5 week trip we finally had a decent day of weather and we made the most of it, Dustin and I started skiing from the village at 6 am directly after leaving the bar from Andrews 30th birthday party. Dustin and I skinned for 6000 ft on alpine trekkers, we took turns caring the 16 mm camera and tripod. By noon we were at the top of the spine lines on Cerro Torresillas above the resort".
Dustin captured Eric dropping into the spine line below the rock spires of Cerro Torresillas, "the line was the pinnacle of our trip as well as my ski career at that point".
The next season in 2003 Scott and Dustin invited Andrew and Eric on a film trip to Haines Alaska for Scott's next project Burning Time.
"Haines was an amazing experience for me and a true introduction to the world of filming big mountain skiing using helicopters"
"The avalanche conditions in Haines were at the worst I have seen, there were natural avalanches on every aspect, we were triggering massive slides by landing on top of slopes or even from just flying by them in the machine". The unstable conditions in Haines reinforced the importance of mountain awareness to Eric, "Andrew took control of the trip, it was incredible to watch him apply his experience and basically guided our trip". Despite the unstable snow conditions the crew managed to get some solid footage for SLP's film.
With a demo edit provided by Scott and Dustin, Eric was invited to film with Colorado-based Matchstick Productions (MSP) in the season of 2004/05 for their film Yearbook. MSP also hired Dustin on as a cinema photographer.
With very little budget to film for the season Dustin planned one of the first media trips to newly established Mica Heli Guides located North of Revelstoke, BC. "It was a gamble, I only had enough budget to pay for the helicopters minimums for less than 5 days" a very short weather window for filming. "We rolled the dice and pulled the trigger, I was the only athlete on the trip so I brought Andrew along to help. The weather co-operated and we managed to fly the first 2 days and burn up all of my budget, conditions were perfect cold clear Rockies spring weather excellent stable powder snow." Dustin's footage from the Mica trip was featured in MSP "Yearbook" and launched Eric's professional skiing career to the next level as a feature athlete in MSP's films.
For the past five years, Hjorleifson has scored major segments in all of MSP's award-winning movies and has developed an incredibly fast, fluid style that makes moving down massive mountain faces look effortless.
Audience tastes are moving away from pure action movies, though, with greater interest in compelling stories to go along with stellar visuals. Last winter, Hoji teamed up with athlete Mark Abma for a two week trip out of Golden Alpine Holidays (GAH) Meadow Lodge located in the Esplanade range of the Selkirk Mountain North of Golden, BC. Skiing uphill was as important to the story line as skiing back down. All of the footage shot for Hoji and Abma's segment in The Way I See It was self-propelled―earning turns by skiing. "Ski touring was the first way I accessed the backcountry to ski lines, over my filming career the focus has been on utilizing Helicopters and snowmobile access terrain, they are efficient methods but intimate experience with the mountains that you get from ski touring is lost."
Ski touring in simplicity is really the best way to access "pillow lines" which have become one of the most popular forms of adventure skiing," he says. Often found in avalanche runouts or steep creek gulches, pillow lines are massively covered 'rock mushrooms' and the idea is to jump from one 'pillow' (massive, snow covered rocks) to the next.
Hoji says, "Pillow lines require a lot of thought to ski well because you have to try and estimate how fast you need to go, how to safely stomp the landing, where to land on the next pillow, and ski the whole line smoothly. The beauty of ski touring is that on the skin up you see the features in the terrain from a variety of vantage points and angles, you can really study every detail and subtle contour enabling you to piece together very technically difficult lines." Whether viewed through a helmet cam or filmed from below, these drops make for dramatic footage.
In the future, Hjorleifson sees himself pushing farther into the backcountry.
This new emphasis on performance-based adventure backcountry skiing makes Hoji a perfect fit for Arc'teryx. "Every piece of clothing I used last year was of the highest quality. For most of the season, I used the Sidewinder SV jacket and Stinger bib pant from the Whiteline series. One thing I really like is that the medium fit was consistent across a variety of products; I wasn't a medium in some items and a large in others. I also really appreciated the warmth and comfort provided by the Atom SV. On the Freshfields trip, it was perfect for wearing around camp after a day of exploring and skiing."


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Newspaper clipping about A. Milton Graham published January 11, 1923
Click here to view the item (new window) | |
Type: | Obituaries | Clippings (information artifacts) | Text |
Title: | Newspaper clipping about A. Milton Graham published January 11, 1923 |
Date: | 1923 Jan. 11 |
Description: | Newspaper clipping collected by the Calhoun-Gordon County Library as part of the Gordon County, GA Obituaries project. Gordon County, GA Obituaries is a project of the Digital Library of Georgia in association with the Calhoun-Gordon County Library as part of Georgia HomePLACE. The project is supported with federal LSTA funds administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Georgia Public Library Service, a unit of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. |
Subjects: | Death notices--Georgia--Gordon County | Obituaries--Georgia--Gordon County | Georgia--Social life and customs--20th century | American newspapers--Sections, columns, etc.--Genealogy | Dead | Graham, A. Milton | Gordon County (Ga.) |
Contributors: | Calhoun-Gordon County Library |
Online Publisher: | Athens, Ga. : Digital Library of Georgia in association with the Calhoun-Gordon County Library, 2010 |
Original Material: | Calhoun-Gordon County Library Obituary File, Calhoun-Gordon County Library, Calhoun, Georgia |
Rights and Usage: | For uses of the Gordon County, GA Obituaries beyond personal research and study, please contact the Calhoun-Gordon County Library. Cite as: [clipping title], Gordon County, GA Obituaries, Calhoun-Gordon County Library, as presented in the Digital Library of Georgia. |
Related Materials: | System requirements: PDF-reader required to view clippings. | Forms part of: Gordon County, GA Obituaries Collection. |
Persistent Link to Item: | http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/gordonobits/do:gco-dg-00008544 |
Related Institutions: | Digital Library of Georgia Calhoun-Gordon County Library |
Collection Information: | Gordon County, GA Obituaries |


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I get nervous on steeper waves and tend to stop paddling once my board is raised, because i feel that if i over paddle i won't stand up in time and just get thrashed.
justloafing wrote:3)Paddle harder and when you feel your board start to glide across the wave pop up and look where you want to go on the wave.
letting another person catch a wave RELATED: Surfing Lessons For All Author: 55funsurf Replies: 10 |
What's New at Surfing Waves RELATED: Welcome to Surfing Waves Author: SW Media Replies: 21 |
catching waves with minimal paddling RELATED: Surfing Lessons For All Author: hcfkavh Replies: 8 |
question? board for 5-6ft- 6-7ft waves RELATED: Surf Chat Author: PandaJosh Replies: 4 |
reef breaks with smaller waves RELATED: Surf Chat Author: gd6 Replies: 1 |


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St. Jilji was founded in 1238 by Bishop Jan IV, then remodelled by Dominican monks between 1340-1370. During this period it also became the base of the religious reformer Milic of Kromeriz.
Gothic on the outside, Baroque within, St. Jilji is a large church with intricately crafted high ceilings and ornate decorations. The Baroque elements added during the 18th century include the stuccoed interior by B. Spinetti and ceiling frescoes by V.V. Reiner.
The main altar is breath-taking, adorned with polished gold relics centred around an image of the crucifixion. There are also impressive marble spiral columns and intricate wood-carvings throughout the church.
A notable feature of St. Jilji are the four confession booths, carved in the 18th century by R. Prachnerem.
Extensive restoration works, paid in part by visitors' contributions and receipts from the evening classical concerts, allow us to admire the finer details and the vibrant colours of the church once more.
The St. Jilji organ dates from 1737 and has rare historical value, with Baroque wood-carvings by F.I. Weise. It is one of the biggest classical organs in Prague, with 3500 reed-pipes.
The unique acoustic quality of the organ is demonstrated during classical concerts, which draw some of the finest organists in the country to perform at all year round.
If you wish to attend a concert, it is wise to book in advance - in the knowledge that by doing so you are contributing to the upkeep of this wonderful old church (even the benches you sit on date from around 1686).
During the winter the interior of the church is heated, but it is advisable to wear warm clothing for the concerts.
For concert listings and to book tickets: Prague concerts.


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It will likely come as no surprise to the thousands of famously loyal members of Bearcat Nation, but a recent survey indicates that an overwhelming number of students at Northwest Missouri State University like it there.
According to selected survey results released last week by the university, 90 percent of first-year students at Northwest rate their experience as "good" or "excellent," and 87 percent of seniors said they would choose the school again if they were starting their college careers over.
Those statistics were among findings contained in the 2012 National Survey of Student Engagement, which about 1,400 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada have used to gauge student participation and satisfaction since the research tool was introduced in 2000.
Overall, NSSE findings showed that 88 percent of first-year students surveyed nationwide rated their college experience as "good" or "excellent," and 82 percent of seniors said they would select the same institution again.
A total of 817 Northwest students responded to the survey last year with results showing that Northwest exceeds national norms several areas:
·89 percent of Northwest seniors stated that they discuss career plans with faculty, compared to 82 percent nationally.
·84 percent of first-year students believe Northwest places substantial emphasis on academics, compared to 83 percent nationally.
·84 percent of first-year students said Northwest provides substantial support for their academic success, compared to 79 percent nationally.
·81 percent of first-year students report that their peers are friendly, supportive and give them a sense of belonging, compared to 79 percent nationally.
·63 percent of students, by the time they are seniors, participate in community service or volunteer work, compared to 59 percent nationally.
Northwest President John Jasinski said the survey results offer a snapshot depicting the university's often-stated emphasis on student success.
"Research shows engagement leads to enhanced chances for success, and our faculty and staff embrace that, along with our mission of focusing on student success – every student every day," Jasinski said.


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Dell UP3214Q UltraSharp 32" 3840x2160 IPS Monitor @ $3150 with Free Shipping
Subject: General Tech | December 5, 2013 - 01:39 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: deals
Dell has updated their UltraSharp lineup with a professional class 4K IPS monitor, the UP3214Q. It is 32" and features 99% AdobeRGB and 100% sRGB coverage and a claimed 8ms g2g response time which makes it usable for gamers as well though this really is aimed at the graphics professional. HDMI, DisplayPort, mini-DisplayPort, USB 3.0 and a 6-in-1 media card reader round out the features on this display.
Traditional PC shipments continue their steep decline
Subject: General Tech | December 5, 2013 - 01:31 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: sales, pc sales, market share
The PC market has eroded over the past few years to the point where sales are only slightly above what they were in 2008, roughly 300 million sales. Even more worrisome for vendors is the predicted 10.1% decline predicted for the overall sales in 2013. DigiTimes cites a lack of reasons to upgrade being a root cause and to an extent that makes sense, a first generation i5 laptop will still compete with a current generation laptop with an equivalent Haswell model. Another reason is the changing market, with tablets and phones providing good enough connectivity for many who previously would have had to purchase a 'traditional' computer. Commercial sales are not declining as quickly yet but that could change with the spread of the BYOD disease.
"Worldwide PC shipments are expected to fall by 10.1% in 2013, slightly below the previous projection of 9.7%, and by far the most severe yearly contraction on record, according to IDC. Interest in PCs has remained limited, leading to little indication of positive growth beyond replacement of existing systems. Total shipments are expected to decline by an additional 3.8% in 2014 before turning slightly positive in the longer term."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Someone's Been Siphoning Data Through a Huge Security Hole in the Internet @ Wired
- PS4 @ The Inquirer
- EMC on XtremIO SSD brickup ballsup: Its LIFETIME downtime is under 3 minutes @ The Register
- Exclusive interview with LN2 OC Guru Petri Korhonen @ Kitguru
GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) Working on Mozilla's Rust
Subject: General Tech | December 5, 2013 - 03:59 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: GCC, Rust, mozilla
Rust is an interesting language in that it aims to be safe and concurrent. It was discussed frequently at Mozilla Summit back in early October both on its own and in terms of the experimental HTML5 rendering engine, Servo. From how it was describe to me from other attendees, it prides itself on its task-based architecture. Basically, your application is (or, at least, is often) set up like a bunch of tasks that get scheduled concurrently and pass messages to one another if they want to communicate. This concept allow for efficient multithreading because each task is inherently independent.
This may remind you of the experiments John Carmack did with Wolfenstein and Haskell.
Apparently at least one developer from the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) is also paying attention. Philip Herron has been working on the "gccrs" branch to create a GCC front-end for Mozilla's language.
We will need languages like Rust in the near future as processors continue to ramp up in thread count. Just look at the Xeon Phi story from last week: a bootable 288-thread standalone processor based on the Silvermont architecture. If you want this processor to be used efficiently then you better be light on the main thread otherwise your 6 TFLOPs (3 TFLOPs double-precision) will only be quick to behave like an Atom.
(Phoronix) Four Monitors on Linux: AMD and NVIDIA
Subject: General Tech, Graphics Cards | December 5, 2013 - 03:17 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: linux, nvidia surround, eyefinity
Could four 1080p monitors be 4K on the cheap? Probably not... but keep reading.
Image Credit: Phoronix
Phoronix published an article for users interested in quad monitor gaming on Linux. Sure, you might think this is a bit excessive especially considering the bezel at the center of your screen. On the other hand, imagine you are playing a four player split-screen game. That would definitely get some attention. Each player would be able to tilt their screen out of the view of their opponents while only using a single computer.
In his 8-page editorial, Michael Larabel tests the official and popular open source drivers for both AMD and NVIDIA. The winner was NVIDIA's proprietary driver although the open source solution, Nouveau, seemed to fair the worst of the batch. This is the typical trade-off with NVIDIA. It was only just recent that The Green Giant opened up documentation for the other chefs in the kitchen... so these results may change soon.
If you are interested in gaming on Linux, give the article a read.
Valve, Cloudius, and HSA Join Linux Foundation (Separately).
Subject: General Tech | December 5, 2013 - 03:03 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: linux, valve, SteamOS, hsa foundation, hsa
Valve may very well produce one of the near future's most popular non-mobile, consumer, Linux distributions. SteamOS will be marketed for gaming PCs (some very compelling ones at that) starting next year. CES will definitely be interesting. With such a popular distribution, and as an existing member of the Khronos Group, it makes sense for Valve to join the Linux Foundation... and they just did.
It is still unknown to what extent Valve joined Linux (members are classified by level of contribution from Platinum to Silver) and we likely will not know until their list is updated. While they probably will not be hanging out with Intel and others in the platinum category, Silver is not the most noteworthy of statuses... alongside Barnes and Noble (likely because of the Nook) and Twitter.
Another addition is the HSA Foundation. AMD is already a Gold member (y'know... HSA's faja) and ARM is Silver so I cannot see HSA being much more than that. Still, Linux will be an important focus for the heterogeneous computing architectures to endorse: both in terms of back-end server optimization and customer-facing devices.
Of course I am not belittling any contribution. Still, there is that desire to see Valve lead the pack. Ultimately, though, it is not the size of the badge: it is how you wear it.
iBuyPower Steam Machine: $499?
Subject: General Tech, Systems | December 5, 2013 - 02:38 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: amd, r9 270, Steam Machine, SteamOS
I cannot see how they will be making any money at this but, next year, iBuyPower will launch their first Steam Machine. At the price of $499, the same as an Xbox One, you will get an AMD CPU bundled with a discrete Radeon R9 270 graphics card.
Image Credit: The Verge
Oh, and Valve's controller will be included in that price.
Sure, they can save money on the free operating system, but that still looks pretty awesome. In terms of actual dimensions, the case is said to be between the size of the PS4 and the Xbox one. Frankly, if you like the look of home theater appliances, this could be a nice twist on that aesthetic. It will also come with a 500GB hard drive. Don't worry, though: it is a PC. If there is a USB 3.0 port anywhere on it, you can attach a giant drive for your games.
And the power supply is internal, too!
iBuyPower is expected to ship this device at some point in 2014 along with a wave of other Steam Machines. Prepare for many of these innovations to come out of CES.
PC Gaming Alliance: Certification for the PC.
Subject: General Tech | December 5, 2013 - 02:26 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: pcga, certification
Okay, so we all know I hate certification. Art platforms should be as open as possible to allow small businesses, hobbyists, and even casual users to share their expressions and ideas. Certification is the basis for my distrust of Windows Store and the "modern" Windows platform altogether. When you have someone between you and sharing, terms will be dictated for every transfer.
I am reminded of Harvest Moon which was pressured with ESRB certification (unclear where the pressure was coming from, however) to remove same-gender relationships in a North American release. If you build censorship, they will come. This is not censorship... but keep that in mind.
That said, the PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA) should only get between you and an advertising logo. They will not prevent you from sharing your app, unlike Windows Store, but rather just not say you have a satisfactory title.
Testing will not be free, of course. A non-PCGA member will need to pay $500 per game to be submit their title for certification; another $2000 will be required to request help with certification from the organization.
Metrics that the certification looks at is whether it runs at a smooth 30FPS at 720p medium settings on some reference platform and whether it supports gamepad and couch use cases (if those users would reasonably expect that environment for the title... ex: StarCraft would probably be exempt).
I can see this being... okay. It is a bit pointless for users who do the slightest bit of research before they purchase a title. That said, under the condition that it will not be a mandatory certification, it might be beneficial for smaller companies to market their goods. Cheap endorsement for small businesses is not a bad thing as long as it does not lock the art, itself, in any way.
All Hands on DICE. Fixing Battlefield 4 is "#1 Priority"
Subject: General Tech | December 5, 2013 - 01:59 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: dice, BF4
DICE has announced that they are working on Battlefield 4, its expansions, Mirror's Edge, and Star Wars: Battlefront 3. Or at least, they have been working on them. For now, Battlefield 4 will be the only product in active development. DICE and EA have acknowledged issues with the game in terms of stability and connectivity. Until that becomes satisfactory, they will pause development on all other titles and expansion packs.
PC Gamer received a statement from an EA spokesperson about these claims. Apparently the China Rising DLC was basically completed before this decision was made; everything else will wait. Really, you just cannot keep bombers and motorbikes sitting on the shelf.
I mean, it is interesting that they say this. Still, I cannot see what this actually means. EA will not pull environment artists and sound engineers to fix these issues. It is a good "commitment to our customers" statement and I applaud them for admitting problems with the game (oddly, I found this version much less error prone than Battlefield 3) but, despite sounding clear, I wonder how much extra resources will result from this. Sure, it was a petty example, but it questions where the line actually is.
Battlefield 4 is available now from multiple retailers (just not Steam).
Elder Scrolls Online Explanatory Video
Subject: General Tech | December 5, 2013 - 01:32 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: elder scrolls online
The Elder Scrolls Online is coming and one of the hooks of the franchise is its character customization. Hours can be spent preparing and building characters into whatever the player desires. Many factors can be tweaked to make the perfect archer, mage, or thief. Some versions even allow the player to be infected with vampirism or lycanthropy to become a vampire or a werewolf.
Bethesda has just released a video outlining various possible customizations. Yes, there will be quests to infect your character with the two aforementioned diseases. I am sure that is what you all really wanted to know.
Basically the levelling system is as follows: when you gain a level you gain a point to add to your stats and another point to add to your skills. Attribute (stats) points let you choose whether to increase your health, magika, or stamina. Skill points allow you to learn spells or abilities; using these skills pushes that skill further down its "line". You can then branch ("morph") that ability's skill tree out in some direction. The example given is a friendly restoration skill: at some point you will be allowed to choose whether to heal three (instead of one) allies or have it replenish some of your magika. A common mechanic but, now, one confirmed in the game.
The Elder Scrolls Online is expected to be released this spring for PC, Mac, PS4, and Xbox One.
Streaming games straight from NVIDIA
Over the weekend NVIDIA released a December update for the SHIELD Android mobile gaming device that included a very interesting, and somewhat understated, new feature: Beta support for NVIDIA GRID.
You have likely heard of GRID before, NVIDIA has been pushing it as part of the companies vision going forward to GPU computing in every facet and market. GRID was aimed at creating GPU-based server farms to enable mobile, streaming gaming to users across the country and across the world. While initially NVIDIA only talked about working with partners to launch streaming services based on GRID, they have obviously changed their tune slightly with this limited release.
If you own a SHIELD, and install the most recent platform update, you'll find a new icon in your NVIDIA SHIELD menu called GRID Beta. The first time you start this new application, it will attempt to measure your bandwidth and latency to offer up an opinion on how good your experience should be. NVIDIA is asking for at least 10 Mbps of sustained bandwidth, and wants round trip latency under 60 ms from your location to their servers.
Currently, servers are ONLY located in Northern California so the further out you are, the more likely you will be to run into problems. However, oing some testing in Kentucky and Ohio resulted in a very playable gaming scenarios, though we did run into some connection problems that might be load-based or latency-based.
After the network setup portion users are shown 8 different games that they can try. Darksiders, Darksiders II, Street Fighter X Tekken, Street Fighter IV, Alan Wake, The Witcher 2, Red Faction: Armageddon and Trine 2. You are free to play them free of charge during this beta though I think you can be sure they will be removed and erased at some point; just a reminder. Saves work well and we were able to save and resume games of Darksiders 2 on GRID easily and quickly.
Starting up the game was fast, about on par with starting up a game on a local PC, though obviously the server is loading it in the background. Once the game is up and running, you are met with some button mapping information provided by NVIDIA for that particular game (great addition) and then you jump into the menus as if you were running it locally.
Continue reading our first hands on with NVIDIA GRID on SHIELD!!
Podcast #279 - R9 290 Variance Issues, OCZ's Bankruptcy, Kaveri Leaks and more!
Subject: General Tech | December 4, 2013 - 05:10 PM | Ken Addison
Tagged: video, ultrasharp, toshiba, R9 290X, r9 290, podcast, ocz, Kaveri, dell, amd, A10-7850K, A10-7700K, 4k
PC Perspective Podcast #279 - 12/04/2013
Join us this week as we discuss R9 290 Variance Issues, OCZ's Bankruptcy, Kaveri Leaks and more!
You can subscribe to us through iTunes and you can still access it directly through the RSS page HERE.
The URL for the podcast is: http://pcper.com/podcast - Share with your friends!
- iTunes - Subscribe to the podcast directly through the iTunes Store
- RSS - Subscribe through your regular RSS reader
- MP3 - Direct download link to the MP3 file
Hosts: Ryan Shrout, Jeremy Hellstrom, Josh Walrath, and Scott Michaud
Week in Review:
NOW ONLY: Assassin's Creed IV for $29
0:29:45 Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler Review
0:55:20 Alas poor OCZ, we knew them well
Scott: Stanley Parable
Trying to tempt people onto The Elder Scrolls Online beta
Subject: General Tech | December 4, 2013 - 02:30 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: mmorpg, gaming, elder scrolls online
Long time fans of The Elder Scrolls series have not been jumping on the online version in great numbers, partly due to the changes that were made to the game to make it an MMORPG but also because that particular market is rather saturated. Over at Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN is a short video intended to offer an enticing look at the skills that you can develop over time. They are much more in depth than the constellation of skills available in offline TES games and can be gained in more ways that just levelling up. As well they can be tweaked and modified in such a way as to make your character much more personalized, take a peek and see if it convinces you to give the game a try.
"When I was little, I wanted to grow up to be a fireman and an astronaut and a cowboy and a monster truck and Batman and a shoe and a barn and a machine that could produce infinite popsicles and the head of a moderately successful middle management firm. Eventually, however, I realized that I'd have to settle on just one thing, so I decided that I hated money and became a games journo."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- New PlanetSide 2 Progression Won't Involve Gear Or Power @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- Give It A Trya: Maia Lands On Steam Early Access @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
- Steam's concurrent user record breaches 7 million @ HEXUS
- Super Mario 3D World @ The Inquirer
- A Flippin' Good Time: The Pinball Arcade PC Review @ Techgage
Could it be true? A reversible USB plug!
Subject: General Tech | December 4, 2013 - 12:39 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: usb, obvious, reversible
Backwards compatibility is a big issue for PC users who do not want to have to constantly upgrade everything from connectors to add-in cards every time they do a small upgrade. That compatibility comes with a cost, many devices which should have been allowed to die long ago still live on. It is possible that one such abomination may be going away in the near future, the trapezoidal USB plug that only connects in one orientation. The USB Type-C connector will be square, similar in size to the current USB 2.0 Micro-B plug found on non-fruit based cellphones and most importantly it will not have a specific orientation required to connect. Hopefully Slashdot isn't discussing something too good to be true.
"Extreme bandwidth is nice, intelligent power management is cool... but folks should be spilling into the streets in thankful praise that the next generation miniature USB connector will fit either way. All told — just how many intricate miracle devices have been scrapped in their prime — because a tiny USB port was mangled? For millennia untold chimpanzees and people have been poking termite mounds with round sticks. I for one am glad to see round stick technology make its way into consumer electronics. Death to the trapezoid, bring back the rectangle!"
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Toshiba tweaks SSD model: She's flashy, but she's not dense ENOUGH @ The Register
- PC market staging a RECOVERY. (Only joking, it's through the floor) @ The Register
- NAND flash suppliers to cut production to stabilize chip prices @ DigiTimes
- Creating Bootable Windows XP, 7 & 8 Flash Drive Installers @ Techgage
- A Collective Pitch Quadcopter @ Hack a Day
CES 14: Corsair & Cherry Partner on RGB-backlit Keyboard(s)
Subject: General Tech, Cases and Cooling | December 4, 2013 - 03:52 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: mechanical keyboard, corsair, Cherry MX, cherry, CES 2014
The three little letters that instill fear in tech journalists (and vendors) right around the holiday season: CES. This will be the first of many news posts coming out of that event -- it is still a month away! Companies are already preparing for what will come after the holidays. Brace yourselves!
Corsair and Cherry have just released a preview of their upcoming CES announcement. Mechanical keyboards (at least those based on Cherry MX switches) were only rarely backlit. Pretty much every model of Cherry MX-based keyboard with per-key LED lighting was, at one point, developed by iOne (they produced the XArmor line of backlit keyboards and collaborated with Razer on the BlackWidow). I am not particularly sure what the difficulty was from an engineering standpoint but I do know it was rare.
Cherry, themselves, are assisting the next evolution of this technology. The company has developed a special version of their MX Red-class switch with built-in RGB illumination. The mixture of these three colors allows for a key to be lit by any color in the visible spectrum (up to the precision allowed by hardware and software). Their press release suggests 8-bit per channel control (~16.7 million colors). Their exclusive launch partner for this 2014 debut will be Corsair.
Clearly their K-series keyboards sold well.
If you want to learn more about the Cherry MX switches, be sure to check out our overview from 2012. Also, check out the Cherry website for a ridiculously informative breakdown of the switch all each of its components. Seriously, this puts my animation to shame; it is kind of depressing.
Also, check out the press blast after the break.
MSI Z87I GAMING AC Motherboard and GTX 760 GAMING ITX Video Card
Subject: General Tech, Graphics Cards, Motherboards | December 4, 2013 - 12:02 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: uppercase, msi, mini-itx
MSI is calling these products, "Mini, but Mighty". These components are designed for the mini-ITX form factor which is smaller than 7 inches in length and width. Its size makes it very useful for home theater PCs (HTPCs) and other places where discretion is valuable. You also want these machines to be quiet, which MSI claims this product series is.
The name is also written in full uppercase so you imagine yourself yelling every time you read it.
The MSI Z87I GAMING AC Motherboard comes with an Intel 802.11ac (hence, "GAMING AC", I assume) wireless adapter. If you are using a wired connection, it comes with a Killer E2205 Ethernet adapter from Qualcomm's BigFoot Networks (even small PCs can be BigFoot). Also included is an HDMI 1.4 output capable of 4K video (HDMI 1.4 is limited to 30Hz output at 2160p).
Good features to have, especially for an HTPC build.
The other launch is the GTX 760 GAMING ITX video card. This card is a miniature GeForce 760 designed to fit in mini-ITX cases. If your box is a Home Theater PC, expect it to run just about any game at 1080p.
No information on pricing and availability yet. Check out the press release after the break.
Gold Box: Assassin's Creed IV is $29 on Steam, Xbox 360, PS3
Subject: General Tech | December 3, 2013 - 02:09 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: gold box, amazon
If you haven't picked up Assassin's Creed IV yet, today might be the best chance you'll get before the holiday. Amazon.com's Gold Box deal today offers you the PC DVD, Steam, Uplay, Xbox 360 and PS3 versions for just $29.99.
Just keep in mind that the Amazon Gold Box deal ends at the end of the day!
That is half off the current Steam price and based on my time with the game, and reviews in general, Assassin's Creed IV is much better than AC3 and currently sits at a score of 87 on Metacritic.
Lenovo's ARM powered, JellyBean flavoured Yoga tablet
Subject: Mobile | December 3, 2013 - 01:58 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: Lenovo, yoga, arm, jellybean, tablet
Both the 8" and 10" models of the Lenovo Yoga tablet have a 1280x800 IPS display and run on a 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A7 processor, sport 1GB of DDR2 and have 16GB of onboard storage. The only difference apart from the size of the tablet is the battery 9000mAh on the larger model as compared to 6000mAh on the 8". Benchmark Reviews liked the rather unique look of the tablet though they would have preferred a newer version of Android and a higher resolution screen to be available. Check out the OS and included apps in their full review.
"The Android-based tablet market is exploding, with new entries almost every day. We're even seeing what once were dedicated e-readers, like the Nook and Kindle, re-marketed as general purpose tablets. Lenovo's been in this market for a while, and thus it's no surprise to see them introduce another entry, the Lenovo Yoga tablet computers."
Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:
- Amazon Kindle Paperwhite E-reader @ Benchmark Reviews
- Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 @ The Inquirer
- Advent Vega Tegra Note 7 @ The Inquirer
- Google Nexus 5: The TechSpot Review
- iPad Air vs iPad 4 head to head @ The Inquirer
- MSI Primo 81 (Snow White) 8" Tablet @ Kitguru
- Apple iPad Air: The TechSpot Review
- The HTC One Max Tech Report @ TechARP
- Motorola Moto G @ The Inquirer
- Patriot Fuel+ 9000mAh Mobile Rechargeable Battery @ eTeknix
HP ENVY 15t-j100 @ $650 with Free Shipping
Subject: General Tech | December 3, 2013 - 01:22 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: deals
You can go several different ways with today's top deal but the base 15.6" system is very acceptable with a Haswell Core i7-4700MQ @ 2.3GHz, 8GB DDR3 and a 1TB HDD for storage. The base system has a 1366x768 display but this can be upgraded to a proper 1080p display aliong with a 2GB GeForce GT 740M which raises the price but offers a more attractive deal for gamers.
Top Deal
- HP ENVY 15t-j100 Quad Edition 4th-gen Core i7 "Haswell" Laptop for $649.99 with Free Shipping (normally $819.99 - use coupon code: LOGICBUY20).
Additional Deals
- Dell Inspiron 660s Dual-core Slim Desktop w/ 20" Monitor for$399.99 with Free Shipping(normally $593.98).
- Xbox One Day One Complete Bundle for $669.95 with Free Shipping
- Corsair Vengeance K60 FPS Mechanical Gaming Keyboard for $59.99 (normally $109.99).
- XFX FX-785A-ZNL4 Core Edition Radeon HD 7850 Video Card for $89.99 with free shipping (normally $169.99).
- ASUS VX238H 23" LED Backlight Monitor for $114.99 with Free Shipping(normally $199.99).
- Kingston SSDNow V300 120GB 7mm SATA 6Gb/s SSD for $88.84 with Free Shipping(normally $159.99).
OCZ's new controller; Toshiba
Subject: General Tech | December 3, 2013 - 01:15 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: purchase, ocz, toshiba
It is hard to say just how much per gigabyte Toshiba paid but for $35 million US they now own all of OCZ's storage, both consumer and enterprise. In the statement released at OCZ it is implied that not much will change at OCZ, the sales teams and engineers stand a good chance of retaining their jobs and the OCZ brand will live on. This lends credence to the statement made by OCZ yesterday that all warranties will continue to be honoured after their bankruptcy which should make many an enthusiast feel much more secure. It will be very interesting to see what the future will hold for Toshiba's SSD business now that they have access to all of OCZ's intellectual property. The Register has comments and a link to the press release here.
"The Japanese concern has indeed ridden to OCZ's rescue, thanks to a $US35m cheque that will see it "acquire OCZ's client and enterprise solid state drive business" according to the canned statement about the deal."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Logic operations on a nanomagnetic staircase @ Nanotechweb
- Keeping warm in winter the el Reg way: Setting a NAS box ON FIRE @ The Register
- HP dishes up FAIL-filled public cloud @ The Register
- Intel expected to ship 30 million tablet processors in 2014 @ DigiTimes
- Inforce IFC6410: Quad ARM A15 Snapdragon for $150 @ Linux.com
- Cellphone Charging Inductive Purse @ Hack a Day
- Christmas Global Joint Giveaway @ NikKTech
Video Perspective: Anker E150 5V / 5A 5-Port USB Wall Charger
Subject: General Tech, Mobile | December 3, 2013 - 10:32 AM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: video, usb, charger, anker
In my eternal goal to find the perfect USB charging solution for my varied use cases, I came across a 5-port unit from a company called Anker that is as close as I have found thus far. My needs are pretty concrete: lots of ports, high power to those ports and the ability to sit on a desk or table. The Anker E150 5V/5A 5-port wall charger is pretty close.
Though ideally I would like to see more than 5 ports, this capacity seems to be reasonable for most people with the standard allotment of electronics. As the name suggests, the Anker unit maxes out at 5A of output TOTAL for all 5 ports, though each port is rated at different amperage. The two ports labeled iPad will output up to 2.1A, the rest vary a bit.
Obviously the total amp output of those ports goes PAST the 5A maximum of the unit, so expect charging to slow down if you have all ports populated. I also wish that Anker would just label the outputs with their respective amperage rather than attempting to get product SEO with the current naming scheme.
Even better, the Anker E150 5V/5A 5-port wall charger can be picked up at Amazon for an impulse purchase price of $19!
Check out my full video overview below!!
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text: World leaders to speak at massive Mandela memorial JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa prepared Monday for a massive memorial in a soccer stadium honoring Nelson Mandela, where an eclectic mix of world leaders will eulogize the anti-apartheid icon before a crowd of nearly 100,000 mourners. Purge sends chilling message to NKorea's elite SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — While the rest of North Korea's top brass leaped to their feet before Kim Jong Un, clapping wildly in a requisite show of respect at high-level meetings, his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, often seemed nonchalant, at times even bored. Once considered the force behind the young leader, he displayed a bold insouciance that seemed calculated to show he was beyond reach.


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If so, does anyone know where it is or who originally posted it?
Please click HERE
for details of our DVDs, books and downloads!
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text:
How well does your ISP stream Netflix?
As promised, Netflix released a report today on the company's tech blog about which Internet service providers are best at distributing the company's streaming video to customers' homes. According to Netflix's data, the nation's largest cable operators are tops in delivering the company's content.
Netflix, the high-flying video rental service, said cable operator Charter Communications was the best-performing Internet service provider, with Cox Communications, Comcast, Cablevision, and Time Warner Cable all outperforming phone companies AT&T and Verizon Communications, as well as wireless broadband provider Clearwire.
Ken Florance, Netflix's director of content delivery, … Read more


text:
Gabriel Tirador - President and CEO
Christopher Graves - VP and Chief Investment Officer
Theodore R. Stalick - CFO, Principal Accounting Officer and VP
Meyer Shields - Stifel Nicolaus & Co.
Alison Jacobowitz - Merrill Lynch
Mercury General Corporation (MCY) Q3 FY08 Earnings Call November 3, 2008 1:00 PM ET
Good afternoon. My name is Ashley, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Mercury General Third Quarter 2008 Results Conference Call.
All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions].
This conference call may contain comments and forward-looking statements based on current plans, expectations, events, and financial and industry trends, which may affect Mercury General's future operating results and financial position.
Such statements involve risks and uncertainties, which cannot be predicted or quantified, and which may cause future activities and results of operations to differ materially from those discussed here today.
I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Gabriel Tirador. Sir, please go ahead.
Gabriel Tirador - President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you very much. I would like to welcome everyone to Mercury's third quarter conference call. I'm Gabe Tirador, President and CEO.
In the room with me is Mr. George Joseph, Chairman; Ted Stalick, Vice President and CFO; Chris Graves, Chief Investment Officer; John Sutton, Senior, Vice President Customer Service; and Robert Houlihan, Vice President and Chief Product Officer. On the phone, we have Bruce Norman, Senior Vice President of Marketing, and Ron Deep, Vice President of the South East Region.
Before we take questions, we will make a few comments regarding the quarter. In California, our combined ratio increased from 91% in the third quarter of 2007 to 97.7% in the third quarter of 2008. There were many factors contributing to the increase in the combined ratio during the quarter, including higher severity in our auto line that was partially offset by reduction in frequency.
A higher homeowners' combined ratio, one large commercial property loss and approximately $9 million of adverse reserve development compared to $3 million in the third quarter of 2007.
In our California personal auto line, we recorded an overall increase in severity in the high single-digits during the quarter, which was partially offset by a reduction in frequency. In addition the approximately 2% rate reduction that went into effect in April of this year had a negative impact on combined ratio as about 65% of the earned premium during the third quarter was earned at the lower rate level.
In our California commercial auto line we recorded a net severity in high single-digits that was partially offset by reduction in frequency.
The third quarter of 2008 continued the trend of increasing severity in medical, labor and parts costs. For the nine months ended September 30th, 2008, we recorded an increase in California severity in the mid single-digits and a reduction in California frequency in the low single-digits.
Our California auto frequency has been positively impacted from what we believe was reduced driving as a result of higher fuel costs and the over all economic slowdown. However it is difficult to predict whether the reduction in frequency will continue for the next several quarters or driving levels will revert to previous levels as a result of declining fuel cost.
Our statutory combined ratio for our homeowners' line increased to 99% in the third quarter of 2008 from 80% in the third quarter of 2007. The deterioration in our homeowners' results was primarily due to a few large non-catastrophes related buyer loss and some negative reserve developments. We believe this quarter's homeowners' results was an anomaly and we do not expect our California homeowners' results, excluding any catastrophes to post such a high combined ratio in next quarter.
Lastly as I mentioned earlier, our California combined ratio was adversely affected by a large commercial fire loss during the quarter. The commercial fire loss was approximately $5 million and added about nine tenth of a point to the overall California combined ratio during the quarter as compared to prior year.
Our third quarter 2008 combined ratio of a 117.7% in our non California operations was significantly worse than a 105.5% combined ratio posted in the third quarter of 2007. The deterioration in the combined ratio during the quarter was primarily due to adverse development in New Jersey and increased losses and Texas related to Hurricane Ike.
The adverse development in our non California operations was $7 million, which was comprised of $13 million of adverse development for New Jersey, partially offset by $6 million of net positive development from other states. The development in New Jersey was primarily related to the reestimation of prior year's loss reserves for the PIP coverage. Losses from Hurricane Ike totaled $6 million during the quarter.
New Jersey continues to be the most difficult state to estimate our ultimate liabilities for the bodily injury and PIP coverages, due to the lack of historical data and a long-tail nature of these coverages. We will continue to monitor the results closely. However, until we obtain more operating history in New Jersey, estimating our ultimate losses will be challenging.
As we've discussed on previous calls, we are taking steps to improve our results in New Jersey. Our new territorial pricing changes went into effect on August 1st, 2008 and a new rating plan was filed recently with improved segmentation and a rate increase of about 5%.
In addition, we are tying [ph] our underwriting, are working with agents to improve results and have made changes to our claims processes for PIP and BI. The early indication is that the clean [ph] process changes are having a positive impact on our PIP cost for current accident year. However, data is too green to make any changes to our selection to the accident year. We believe we will turn the New Jersey operations around similar to what we did in Florida.
In Florida improved claims handling, pricing, underwriting and agent selection has improved our Florida results significantly. Our Florida combine ratio is now in the low to mid 90.
Our company wide expense ratio increased from 27.7% in third quarter of 2007 to 28.5% in third quarter of 2008. The increase was primarily due to an increase in technology related expenditures, the establishment of our new product management function and assessment for the New Jersey guarantee fund and the fact that fixed costs have not declined in proportion to the declines in premiums. To address the increase in expense ratio during the soft market, we are freezing new hiring except for certain positions.
We continue to aggressively make changes to our rating plans to improve our segmentation and overall pricing adequacy. During the third quarter, we implemented five rate changes and we expect to implement two additional rate changes in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Although the competitive environment remains intense, we continue to observe more filings for rate increases than rate reductions. The industry is experiencing a reduction of frequency but we believe the increase in severity more than offset the reduction of frequency. We believe we will continue to see an increased level of rate action taking by some of our competitors. However, we expect our growth rate for the next quarter to be negative in the mid to high single digit.
Earlier this month, we announced that we entered into a definitive agreement with Aon Corporation for the purchase of Auto Insurance Specialist Incorporated. AIS is a major producer of automobile insurance in the State of California and our largest independent broker producing over $400 million of direct premiums written, which represented 14% of the company's direct premiums written during 2007.
A few months ago, we were informed by AON of their desire to sell AIS as part of their strategy to focus on commercial lines. When we were informed by AON of their desire to sell AIS, we felt that it was important for us to consider that a significant portion of our California business is written by AIS. We concluded that it was in a company's and our agent's best interest for Mercury to acquire AIS.
Our intention is for AIS to continue to operate as an independent agency under the same management. We believe the purchase will be slightly accretive to earnings. Before we take your questions, Chris Graves, our Chief Investment Officer will provide information on our investments and Ted Stalick, our Chief Financial Officer will comment on our capital position, Chris?
Christopher Graves - Vice President and Chief Investment Officer
Thank you, Gabe. Mercury's investment portfolio's market value was adversely impacted by numerous market events that transpired over the summer. As reported Mercury's realized loss for the quarter was $276 million. But half of that amount came from valuation changes to municipal bonds and the other half from declines in common stock.
At the start of 2008, Mercury adopted FASB 159 for the entire investment portfolio. Under FASB 159, Mercury recognized its market value changes as realized gains or losses on the income statement, regardless to whether the security is actually sold. The lion's share of the $276 million is truly unrealized, that is to say that Mercury still owns the positions that contributed to the accounting loss.
While most of our investments declined with the market, we have two impairment... two prominent impairments. We took an impairment charge of $40 million for our positions in Lehman and Fannie Mae preferred stock. We do not own much in the way of other financial stocks.
In the quarter we experienced a drastic reversal in market direction from Q2 for both bonds and stock. Our common stocks after a strong second quarter weakened very quickly despite many holding announcing earnings exceeding estimates and having strong financial statements. Strong pressure in municipal bond also increased. Many levered tender option bond programs collapsed, and another levered players pushed many millions of bonds into the market.
Selling pressure from these two market segments was not unique just to them as most markets were experiencing much more supply than willing buyers. While the market freezed [ph] the investment portfolio, we've tried to manage risk through conservative asset allocation. 2.3 billion or 72% of the portfolio is in municipal bonds, that even after the downgrades of the monoline insurers have an average rating of AA3AA. $250 million or 8% of the portfolio is in short term cash and cash equivalents.
And now I'll turn over to Ted for discussion of our capital.
Theodore R. Stalick - Chief Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer and Vice President
Thank you, Chris. I'd like to make a few comments about our capital position. Mercury maintains a strong balance sheet, so that we are able to weather turbulent times without putting our operations at risk. We have resisted significantly levering up the company in the past to protect ourselves in difficult times just like this. So even with the recent valuation adjustments to our investment portfolio, Mercury's capital position remains very strong.
Operating leverage today is as low as it is been over the past five years. As September 30th, our underwriting leverage as measured by premiums to surplus is a very comfortable 1.7 to 1. And this compares to the past five years where it's ranged between 1.7 to 1 and 2 to 1.
Financial leverage is currently near historic lows at 8% debt-to-total capital and has ranged between 7% and 12% over the past ten years. With the planned $120 million of financing for the AIS transaction, financial leverage will go up to around 15% which is an amount that we feel comfortable with. In the future, we would not expect this ratio to go much higher.
There is nothing like having a strong balance sheet in times like this. We believe that our current capitalization is strong enough to allow us to observe more shocks, should they occur. It also allows us to begin to grow when the insurance markets start to harden and to continue to paying dividends to our shareholders. And now with all that background, we will now open it up open for questions.
Question And Answer
[Operator Instructions]. Our first question comes from the line Meyer Shields from Stifel Nicolaus.
Meyer Shields - Stifel Nicolaus & Co.
Thanks, hi, everybody.
Gabriel Tirador - President and Chief Executive Officer
Theodore R. Stalick - Chief Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer and Vice President
Meyer Shields - Stifel Nicolaus & Co.
I guess one reporting question?
Gabriel Tirador - President and Chief Executive Officer
Meyer Shields - Stifel Nicolaus & Co.
For the AIS business that can be shown directly [ph] broken out in terms of your recording?
Gabriel Tirador - President and Chief Executive Officer
We don't anticipate it being broken out as far we as reporting now.
Meyer Shields - Stifel Nicolaus & Co.
Okay. But will be, is it reasonable to assume that it will be in other revenues and other expenses... the revenue expense on it?
Theodore R. Stalick - Chief Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer and Vice President
Well the majority of that Meyer will be consolidated, 90% of the business that AIS currently produces is directly with Mercury. So the portion that they don't produce with Mercury will be broken out separately.
Meyer Shields - Stifel Nicolaus & Co.
Okay I got. With regard to California I guess, I think it went through the percentage of auto premiums in the quarter that were at lower rate levels, and I was wondering if you get same number for homeowners.
Theodore R. Stalick - Chief Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer and Vice President
For homeowners' it was negligible because the rate went into affect on 1-8-15 and at their annual policies.
Meyer Shields - Stifel Nicolaus & Co.
Okay so we look forward I understand that there are steps taken outside of California, but within California's I guess you've got sort of an increasing percentage of the book of business will earned at lower rate levels and that cost continued to rise on a net basis. Is there anything that you can do to offset that commodity [ph] ratio deterioration?
Theodore R. Stalick - Chief Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer and Vice President
Well a couple of things. One, in our homeowners' line, we're coming from a very low combined ratio and this quarter VCO was an anomaly. We're also obviously taking a look at making sure that our coverage A replacement cost for our insurers are adequate which also has an impact on the overall premium level in homeowners. In addition to that, we have filed as part of the territorial rate finds [ph] that were mandated a few months ago, a slight increase in our California auto business.
Our next question comes from the line of Alison Jacobowitz with Merrill Lynch.
Alison Jacobowitz - Merrill Lynch
Sorry, if you've answered this or if it's somewhere. I didn't hear it of see it. I'm just wondering for the California. Did you quantify, I get the large loss, I get the adverse reserve development, did you quantify what happened in homeowners. I think you said there was some prior losses this quarter that pressured the margin a little bit?
Gabriel Tirador - President and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. I think we, in my prepared remarks Alison, we basically said that there is a 99% combined in the quarter compared about 80% a year ago or and that roughly I believe added to the California combined ratio, almost 2 points..
Alison Jacobowitz - Merrill Lynch
Alright, Okay, great, thank you, sorry.
[operator instructions]. And there are no further questions at this time
Gabriel Tirador - President and Chief Executive Officer
Okay, I would like to thank you everybody for joining us on this quarters call. And we look forward to speaking to everybody next quarter.
This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect. .
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text:
This supplement is a collection of seemingly random encounters that can be inserted into any ongoing Chaos 6010 A.D. campaign, with a focus on the urban environment. A quick chart is included to upgrade any NPC's to make them more of a challenge for any level.
Includes short fiction by Robert Scott, the description a few noteworthy gangs that dwell in the massive city of Haven, and a fe... [click here for more]


text:
The Magic Show: Creative Couple Shows How To Make A Baby Out Of Thin Air
By Dovilas • Oct 21st, 2013 • Category: Funny, Latest Posts, PhotographyThe latest in a recent flurry of excellent baby and maternity photo shoots is Daddy's Little Prop, in which Anthony Stuart and his lovely associate (and wife) create a baby out of thin air. The shoot is set up to look like a traditional magic show, with Stuart in a magician's getup and his wife dressed in a racy assistant's outfit. The couple's sense of humor is what makes the series to fun – the wife looks surprised (or shocked) at the baby inside of her, while the dad looks proud of his work.


text:
Frederick County Maryland - Md. - Find-A-Business A-Z Yellow Directory ("A"= Attorney "C"= Church "R"= Restaurant)
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