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The algorithms used to derive sleep variables from actigraphy were developed with adults. Because children change position during sleep more often than adults, algorithms may detect wakefulness when the child is actually sleeping (false negative). This study compares the validity of three algorithms for detecting sleep with actigraphy by comparing them to PSG in preschoolers. The putative influence of device location (wrist or ankle) is also examined.
Twelve children aged 2 to 5 years simultaneously wore an actigraph on an ankle and a wrist (Actiwatch-L, Mini-Mitter/Respironics) during a night of PSG recording at home. Three algorithms were tested: one recommended for adults and two designed to decrease false negative detection of sleep in children.
Actigraphy generally showed good sensitivity (> 95%; PSG sleep detection) but low specificity (± 50%; PSG wake detection). Intraclass correlations between PSG and actigraphy variables were strong (> 0.80) for sleep latency, sleep duration, and sleep efficiency, but weak for number of awakenings (< 0.40). The two algorithms designed for children enhanced the validity of actigraphy in preschoolers and increased the proportion of actigraphy-scored wake epochs scored that were also PSG-identified as wake. Sleep variables derived from the ankle and wrist were not statistically different.
Despite the weak detection of wakefulness, Acti-watch-L appears to be a useful instrument for assessing sleep in preschoolers when used with an adapted algorithm.
Bélanger M; Bernier A; Paquet J; Simard V; Julie Carrier J. Validating actigraphy as a measure of sleep for pre-school children. J Clin Sleep Med 2013;9(7):701-706.
Sleep is considered to be of paramount importance for brain development during the first two years of life.1 In fact, children spend over half of their first two years of life sleeping, with daily sleep duration decreasing from 14.5 to about 13 hours between 6 months and 2 years of age.2,3 In the preschool years, daily sleep needs remain high, decreasing from 13 hours at 2 years to about 11 hours at 5 years.2–4 During infancy and childhood, frequent night awakenings or difficulty falling asleep are among the most frequent developmental complaints. Studies estimate that from 10% to 75% of parents report that their children have sleep problems.5 Importantly, sleep problems tend to persist during childhood6 and are associated with several adverse consequences for behavioral, cognitive, and emotional health. For example, it has been shown that sleep problems are associated with behavioral and emotional self-regulation problems.7 In fact, results suggest that when the sleep of pre-schoolers is insufficient or fragmented by wakefulness, they show more difficulty inhibiting emotional responses and more frequent impulsive and aggressive behavior.8 Poor sleep quality also seems associated with obesity in preschool children.9 Studies further suggest that sleep problems, whether occurring in infancy10 or at school age,4,11 are associated with lower cognitive performance. In light of the prevalence and the serious consequences of pediatric sleep problems, it is essential to accurately measure sleep quality in young children.
Studies and clinicians use different methods to assess children's sleep, each presenting strengths and weaknesses. For example, parental retrospective child sleep questionnaires and prospective sleep diaries are often criticized because parents can notice that their children awaken only when the children signal it.12 These measures are also influenced by the reporter's perception (usually the mother).13 Videosomnography and direct behavioral observations are often used in home settings, but they may interfere with family routines and privacy.13 Although polysomnography (PSG) is the gold standard for measuring sleep,13,14 it requires considerable equipment and technical resources. Furthermore, this invasive method may interfere with sleep, and therefore mask habitual sleep quality.13
Current Knowledge/Study Rationale: The algorithms used to derive sleep variables from actigraphy were developed with adults. Because children change position during sleep more often than adults, algorithms may detect wakefulness when the child is actually sleeping (false negative). This study compares the validity of three algorithms for detecting sleep with actigraphy by comparing them to PSG in preschoolers.
Study Impact: Despite the weak detection of wakefulness, Actiwatch-L appears to be a useful instrument for assessing sleep in preschoolers when used with an adapted algorithm. However, further studies are needed to validate its ability to detect wakefulness in pediatric populations with sleep disturbances.
Actigraphy, which uses a watch-size movement sensor to determine sleep and wake episodes, provides a useful alternative: the device is small and inexpensive, and it allows for multiple-day data collection. Actigraphy is also easily used in a child's natural environment, thereby conferring ecological validity to collected sleep data. However, the standard algorithms proposed in the literature were developed with adults, and have not been definitively validated with children. Because it has been shown that children change position during sleep more often than adults,15 it is crucial to develop child-specific algorithms. Sitnick et al.19 showed that an algorithm commonly used with adults is too sensitive with a population of young children, resulting in high false negative rates (i.e., actigraphy detects wakefulness when the child is probably sleeping). In fact, although several studies with infants and children have reported that various actigraphy devices are highly correlated (> 80%) with PSG or videosomnography,14,16–23 most of these studies have shown very low ability to correctly identify wakefulness14,17,19,22 and hence, sleep fragmentation.24 Nevertheless, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) states that the use of actigraphy in normal children and special pediatric populations is indicated for the assessment of sleep patterns and response to treatment.25,26 However, the AASM also mentions that additional research is warranted to further refine and broaden the clinical utilization of actigraphy. Notably, additional research is needed to validate actigraphy against PSG.
Sitnick and colleagues proposed adapting an adult algorithm to reduce false negatives when the child is sleeping but shows high activity.19 However, this algorithm has not been validated in preschoolers against PSG. The present study aims to compare the validity of three algorithms for detecting sleep with actigraphy by comparing them to PSG in preschoolers.
Three algorithms are tested: one recommended for adults and two designed to decrease false negative detections of wakefulness. Because preschool is a transition period between infancy (when the actigraph is worn on the ankle because the wrist is too small for most devices) and school age (when the device is most frequently worn on the wrist), we also examined the putative influence of device location (wrist or ankle).
Twelve children (4 boys, 8 girls) aged from 2 to 5 years (M = 3.1, SD = 1.0) participated in this study. None had sleep problems, according to their parents. The project was approved by the institutional review board of the investigators' university. The parents of all participants signed a consent form that informed them on the nature and risks of participating, and they received financial compensation for the study.
Children simultaneously wore an actigraph (Actiwatch-L, Mini-Mitter/Respironics) on the non-dominant ankle and wrist during a night of PSG recording in their home. A qualified technician and a research assistant went to the homes 1 h before each child's usual bedtime (as previously reported by the parents over the phone) to install the PSG and actigraphy recording equipment. No child refused to wear the equipment. Precise synchronization between the PSG and actigraph is required to assess epoch-by-epoch concordance. Prior to each sleep recording, the PSG and the actigraphs were precisely synchronized with the main server. PSG records and actigraphy activity bursts were then visually inspected to detect any temporal gaps between the 2 measures. Once the child was asleep, the technician and the research assistant left the home. The research assistant returned in the morning to remove the electrodes and bring the equipment back to the laboratory.
Non-dominant wrist and ankle activity were recorded using an Actiwatch-L (Mini Mitter Co., Inc., Respironics, Inc., Bend, OR). Actigraphy data were collected in 30-s epochs. Two Actiwatch-L activity monitors were used. The same monitor was used on the wrist or the ankle for all children. To calibrate the 2 monitors, they were fixed to a piece of wood (3/4" × 3" × 12") that rotated on a vertical axis at 15 different intensities. Estimated activity counts differed between the 2 actigraphs even if induced movements at the 15 intensities were identical for the 2 actigraphs (see Figure 1). Consequently, a regression was used to adjust the monitor with higher activity counts (ankle) to activity counts of the other (wrist; y = 0.513x). Both raw and adjusted data are presented in this paper.
Equation and percentage of fit are also illustrated.
Linear regression between activity counts at the wrist and ankleEquation and percentage of fit are also illustrated.
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A digital ambulatory sleep recording system (Vitaport-3 System; TEMEC Instruments, Kerkrade, The Netherlands) was used to record sleep at home. Electroencephalograph (EEG) electrodes (Cz, Oz) were placed according to the international 10-20 system, using a referential montage with linked ears, right and left electrooculogram (EOG), and chin electromyo-gram (EMG). EEG signals were filtered at 70 Hz (low pass) with 1-s time constant and digitized at a sampling rate of 256 Hz. Sleep stages were scored visually on-screen with 30-s epochs (Stellate System, Montreal) according to the AASM criteria,27 but using only the C4 derivation. The 30-s epochs were chosen to match the 30-s actigraphy epochs.
Two sets of analyses were performed to determine PSG and actigraphy agreement: an epoch-by-epoch agreement analysis and a sleep variables concordance analysis. The epoch-by-epoch agreement analysis provided sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and negative predictive value (NPV) parameters. Sensitivity was defined as the proportion of all epochs scored as sleep by PSG that were also scored as sleep by actigraphy. Specificity was the proportion of all epochs scored as wake by PSG that were also scored as wake by actigraphy. Accuracy was the proportion of all epochs correctly identified by actigraphy. NPV was the proportion of epochs scored as wake by actigraphy that were also scored as wake by PSG. The second set of analyses involved comparisons between sleep variables estimated with PSG and with actigraphy.
Three methods of scoring the actigraphy-derived sleep/ wake activity counts were applied. The first 2 were threshold-based method algorithms included in the Actiwatch-L software (Mini Mitter Inc. Respironics, Inc. Bend, OR). Actiware uses a weighting algorithm with 3 different thresholds: low (20), medium (40), and high (80), which were validated on sleep disordered patients. They score original activity counts by a weighting scheme that reflects the temporal distance relative to the scored epoch. Each 30-s epoch is rescored as follows:
The third actigraphy scoring method (AlgoSmooth) used in the current study is described in a paper by Sitnick and colleagues19 and has never been validated with PSG. These authors rescored or secondarily "smoothed" actigraphy data derived from the ACT40 sensitivity threshold to reduce the number of awakenings per night to a range more consistent with parent diaries and video recordings. More precisely, this method requires a minimum 2-min awakening period following sleep onset (WASO) to score an awakening. The scoring criteria are:
When ≥ 2 consecutive minutes with activity counts > 100 were immediately preceded by any activity count above 0, that epoch was considered the start of the awakening;
The end of a wake period, or a return to sleep, was scored at the first of 3 consecutive 0s (no activity).
This third method was automated using an Excel (Microsoft, Redmond, WA) spreadsheet.
Four sleep variables were calculated, with the same definitions for PSG and the 3 actigraphy scoring algorithms. The sleep variables derived from PSG, from the 2 threshold-based method algorithms (ACT40 and ACT80) and from the smoothed algorithm (AlgoSmooth), were calculated using an in-house visual C++ program. Sleep latency was defined as the number of minutes from the time of lights off to the first 10 successive sleep epochs (the default criterion for the Actiware program). Total sleep time (TST) was the number of minutes scored as sleep from lights off to lights on. The number of awakenings was equal to the number of wake periods. Sleep efficiency (SE) was TST/total recording time * 100.
Two-way repeated measures ANOVAs with activity type (ankle, raw wrist, and adjusted wrist) and algorithm (ACT40, ACT80, and AlgoSmooth) as factors were performed on sensitivity (ability to detect PSG sleep), specificity (ability to detect PSG wake), accuracy (PSG sleep and PSG wake), and NPV (percentage of wake detected by actigraphy that is PSG wake). Similarly, 2-way repeated measures ANOVAs with activity type (ankle, raw wrist, and adjusted wrist) and scoring method (PSG, ACT40, ACT80, and AlgoSmooth) as factors were performed on sleep variables. Simple effect analyses were performed when significant activity type by algorithm interactions were found. The post hoc Tukey HSD test was used for multiple comparisons of means on significant main effects. Since repeated measures had more than 2 levels, the Huynh-Feldt correction for sphericity was applied, but epsilon values and original degrees of freedom are reported. The Dunnett post hoc test was also used to determine whether the results derived from the actigraphy algorithms differed significantly from the PSG-derived results. Finally, to assess PSG and actigraphy agreement, intraclass correlations were computed on the 4 sleep variables. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS version 17 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). Significance level was set at 0.05.
Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and NPV values (means and SD) derived from epoch-by-epoch comparisons between each actigraphy scoring algorithm and PSG for the 3 activity types are presented in Table 1. Overall, sensitivity was higher than 88%, whereas specificity was lower (from 57% to 81%).
Means (± SD) for sleep sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and NPV of epoch-by-epoch comparisons with PSG of the three actigraphy scoring algorithms with the three activity types
A 2-way repeated measures ANOVA performed on sensitivity revealed an interaction between algorithm and activity type, F4,44 = 13.02, p < 0.001; ε = 0.63. AlgoSmooth showed the highest sensitivity and ACT40 the lowest, with ACT80 in between, but these differences were more pronounced for adjusted wrist data. A significant interaction between algorithm and activity type was also found for specificity, F4,44 = 4.08, p = 0.045, ε = 0.38. ACT40 showed the highest specificity and AlgoSmooth showed the lowest, with ACT80 in between, for both adjusted wrist and ankle data. For raw wrist data, ACT40 also showed the highest specificity, but specificity did not differ between ACT80 and AlgoSmooth activity type. The 2-way repeated measures ANOVA performed on accuracy revealed an interaction between algorithm and activity type, F4,44 = 5.92, p = 0.003; ε = 0.70. AlgoSmooth showed the highest accuracy and ACT40 the lowest, with ACT80 in between, but these differences were more pronounced for adjusted wrist data. A 2-way repeated measures ANOVA performed on NPV showed an algorithm effect only, F2,22 = 33.0, p < 0.001, ε = 0.52. Post hoc mean comparisons showed significant differences (p < 0.05) among the 3 algorithms, with AlgoSmooth showing the highest NPV (AlgoSmooth: 76.6%; ACT80: 52.7%; and ACT40: 42.8%).
Sleep variables calculated from PSG and estimated with the 3 actigraphy scoring algorithms for the 3 activity types are presented in Table 2. Sleep latency derived from the 3 algorithms did not differ significantly from PSG. A significant interaction between algorithm and activity type was found for TST (F6,66 = 10.81, p < 0.01; ε = 0.62) and for SE (F6,66 = 13.42, p < 0.001; ε = 0.78). Dunnett post hoc results showed that the ACT40 algorithm underestimated TST by > 25 min and SE by > 4% (p < 0.001) compared to PSG for the 3 activity types (ankle, raw wrist, and adjusted wrist). TST and SE derived from ACT80 and AlgoSmooth did not differ significantly from PSG when using ankle or raw wrist data. However, when using adjusted wrist data, ACT80 underestimated TST by 21 min and SE by 3.5% (p < 0.001), whereas AlgoSmooth overestimated TST by 6 min and SE by 1% (p < 0.001). Finally, a 2-way repeated measures ANOVA performed on number of awakenings showed an algorithm effect only, F6,66 = 139.93, p < 0.001, ε = 0.62, with ACT40 and ACT80 yielding a significantly higher number of awakenings and AlgoSmooth a lower number of awakenings than PSG (p < 0.001).
Sleep parameters (mean ± SD) scored with PSG and estimated by the three actigraphy scoring algorithms with the three activity types
Table 3 shows the intraclass correlations between sleep parameters derived from PSG and estimated from the 3 actigraphy scoring algorithms for the 3 activity types. In general, the correlation coefficients were high for all algorithms and activity types regarding sleep latency (ICC > 0.75), TST (ICC > 0.91), and SE (ICC > 0.70). In contrast, the correlations were low for all algorithms and activity types regarding number of awakenings (ICC < 0.42).
Intraclass correlations between sleep parameters (mean ± SD) scored with PSG and estimated by the three actigraphy scoring algorithms with the three activity types
We evaluated the ability of the Actiwatch-L device to detect sleep/wake in preschool children using three algorithms. Results clearly showed that the Actiwatch-L is better able to detect sleep than to detect wake. Importantly, ACT80 and AlgoSmooth enhanced the ability of actigraphy to detect sleep in preschool children compared to ACT40. However, ACT80 and AlgoSmooth decreased the ability of actigraphy to detect wakefulness compared to ACT40. The low specificity (about 60% of PSG wakefulness is scored as wakefulness by actigraphy) observed in our data is similar to that found in previous studies that compared different brands of actigraphy with PSG in infants14,20 and children,17,21 highlighting the difficulty of correctly identifying wake with actigraphy. Nevertheless, when the actigraphs scored wake, AlgoSmooth showed higher agreement with PSG (NPV = 76.6%) than the other two algorithms (42.8% and 52.7%), suggesting that AlgoSmooth is better suited for this purpose. Importantly, the general accuracy of actigraphy to detect sleep and wake remained high, despite the low specificity, probably because most of the assessed intervals consisted of sleep.
Statistical comparisons between sleep variables derived from actigraphy and PSG as well as intraclass correlations suggest that ACT80 and AlgoSmooth performed better overall than ACT40 in preschoolers. Except for number of awakenings, ACT80 and AlgoSmooth showed no substantial differences from PSG, and intraclass correlations were high. Consequently, the results suggest that ACT80 and particularly AlgoSmooth should be used with populations of preschoolers. The two Acti-ware algorithms (ACT40 and ACT80) clearly overestimated the number of awakenings, whereas AlgoSmooth underestimated them. These results indicate that number of awakenings is not a valid indicator of sleep quality when assessed with actigraphy in preschoolers. For this reason, we attempted to adapt the smoothing algorithm (AlgoSmooth) described by Sitnick and colleagues19 to increase the number of awakenings detected. The adapted criteria were: (1) when there was 1 or more consecutive minute(s) with activity counts greater than 100, that epoch was considered to be the start of the awakening; (2) the end of a wake period, or a return to sleep, was scored at the first of 3 consecutive 0s (no activity). This method was automated using a Matlab function and was applied to the wrist data. The number of awakenings estimated by this adapted algorithm did not significantly differ from the number of awakenings derived from PSG (M = 22.6, SD = 6.0 for the adapted algorithm vs M = 23.0, SD = 9.8 for PSG, t11 = -0.20, p = 0.85). Unfortunately this was at the expense of sensitivity and accuracy; these were significantly lower with AlgoSmooth, which had higher values (sensitivity: M = 88.4; SD = 4.2, t11 = -5.83, p < 0.001; accuracy: M = 87.8; SD = 3.6), t11 = -7.11, p < 0.001). Hence compared to PSG, the adapted algorithm showed lower sleep efficiency (M = 80.6; SD = 6.2 vs M = 90.9, SD = 3.5; t11 = -9.85, p < 0.001) and reduced sleep duration (M = 495.5; SD = 56.3 vs M = 558.8, SD = 49.2; t11 = -10.07, p < 0.001), and was therefore discarded. These results further suggest that actigraphy-derived number of awakenings is not a valid indicator of sleep quality with preschoolers.
To our knowledge, most laboratories use actigraphy without calibration. In this study, when similar movements were induced, estimated activity counts differed between the two actigraphs. The criteria for most algorithms to determine wake and sleep require absolute activity counts. Thus, for similar movements, actigraphs with higher activity counts will detect more wakefulness than those with lower activity counts. This is reflected in our data by lower sleep efficiency with adjusted than raw wrist data. Importantly however, when using ACT80 or AlgoSmooth, sleep variables derived from ankle, raw wrist, and adjusted wrist data were comparable.
Overall, the Actiwatch-L appears to be an effective instrument for assessing sleep in preschoolers. However, further studies are needed to validate its ability to detect wakefulness in pediatric populations with sleep disturbances.
This was not an industry supported study. The authors have indicated no financial conflicts of interest.
This study was supported by funding from the Fonds de Recherche en Santé du Québec (FRSQ) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). We thank Sonia Frenette (project coordinator), Manon Robert (research assistant), Nicolas Pellerin, and Jonathan Godbout (computer programmers) for help with data collection and analysis.
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Chemistry & Biochemistry Seminars, Spring 2014
The Department of Chemistry continues its new series of multidisciplinary lectures and discussions featuring scientists from within AU and beyond. All spring events will be held in Room 102, Beeghly Chemistry Building, on Fridays at 2:00 p.m. Please join us.
Friday February 14, 2:00
Dr. Jennifer A. Swift
Chemistry Department, Georgetown University
"A Materials Chemistry Approach to Crystal Deposition Disease."
Friday March 7, 2:00
Dr. Colin Saldanha
Chair, Department of Biology, American University
"Estradiol, Where and When It's Needed: Aromatization in the Vertebrate Brain."
Friday April 11, 2:00
Dr. Abigail Miller
Department of Chemistry, American University
"How to Investigate Individual Molecules"
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To celebrate this year of the Olympics and a presidential election, Cooking Channel asked fans what dishes represent their states and then worked with our kitchens to create original recipes for each of the 50 states. (Read all about the project here.) Each state has its own unique food scene, but we couldn't help but notice some trends across the map from coast to coast.
Every state has its iconic dish that stirs up all kinds of pride. It sparks countless arguments over where to get the ultimate version, whose grandma's recipe is better or what ingredients are completely sacrilegious to the original. Even the way you serve and eat the dish can separate true locals from pretenders.
To represent my home state of Maryland, Cooking Channel fans were 100 percent accurate in nominating Old Bay steamed blue crabs. Every summer growing up, my family would drive an hour and a half just for dinner on the Chesapeake Bay's eastern shore, where we'd feast on crabs at a dockside place with rustic picnic tables covered in butcher paper (the only way hard-shell crabs should be served).
Continue Reading Trends Across the Country: East Coast Seafood


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Getting Your Final Paycheck: When you should be paid in full
- An employer's inability to pay final wages is not a valid reason for avoiding waiting time penalties.
- An employee will not be awarded waiting time penalties if the employee avoids payment or refuses to receive payment of wages fully tendered to him.
- If the employer mails the employee's wages, the date the wages are mailed is considered the date of payment. Likewise, direct deposit wages are considered paid as of the date the employer makes the deposit.
- Waiting time penalties apply only to unpaid wages after the employment relationship has ended. An employer cannot be assessed waiting time penalties for withholding unpaid wages while the employee continues to work for the employer.
Final pay when an employee is fired or laid off
An employer that terminates (fires or lays off) an employee must immediately pay the employee all of the employee's unpaid, earned wages (California Labor Code Section 201). This final payment must include wages earned for days of work up to and including the last day of work, as well as payment for any accrued and unused vacation time (see "Vacation Pay" below). If there are any unpaid wages from earlier pay periods, the employer also must make up all those wages in the final paycheck. For example, if an employee is owed hours, overtime, or if the employee had wages unlawfully deducted during an earlier pay period, the employer must make up for the mistake when the employee is fired or risk paying the employee a penalty. See section 4, below, for more information about this penalty. It is illegal for an employer that terminates an employee to withhold final payment until the end of the regularly scheduled pay period.
The Labor Commissioner's office (California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement), which enforces California's wage laws, says that a suspension of an employee is to be treated as a discharge if the suspension is used simply to avoid having to meet the final pay requirement. An employer may, however, suspend an employee without paying all unpaid, earned wages if the suspension does not result in termination or if the purpose of the suspension is to conduct a legitimate investigation of misconduct before making a decision whether termination is appropriate and the employer can show it actually investigated.
Temporary Layoffs
If an employee is temporarily laid off without a specified return date within the same pay period, all wages owed to the employee should be paid on the day of the layoff. If the employee will return to work for the employer within the same pay period, wages may be paid on the next regular pay day.
Working for Two Employers
Where an employee is working jointly for more than one employer (for example through a temp. agency), both employers are jointly responsible for ensuring that final wages are paid in a timely fashion.
Seasonal Workers
A seasonal employee (e.g., farm worker) is entitled to a full, final paycheck regardless of whether the worker is scheduled to return to work at the same employer in the next season.
Exceptions to Immediate Final Pay
An exception to the requirement that wages be paid in full on the last day of work may be made when the employee's work is done away from the employer's administrative offices. Industries in which this exception applies include the motion picture and oil drilling industries. Yet even in these cases, all owed wages must be paid within 24 hours of the termination, excluding weekends and holidays. Employers that terminate seasonal employment in the preparation and packaging of foods may have up to 72 hours after termination to pay final wages. Where these exceptions apply, the date wages are mailed is considered the date of payment.
Final pay when an employee resigns from a job
An employee who resigns from a job must be paid all unpaid, earned wages within 72 hours (3 days) of the resignation (Cal. Labor Code Section 202). If, however, the employee gives notice of resignation more than 72 hours in advance, the employer must pay all such wages on the day of resignation. This payment must include wages for days worked up to and including the last day of work, plus payment for any accrued, unused vacation time (see "Vacation Pay" below).
If final wages are mailed to an employee who resigns, the date wages are mailed is considered the date of payment for purposes of the 72-hour rule.
It is unlawful for an employer to withhold final pay until the regular payday if that payday is later than the last day of work and is more than 72 hours after the employee gives notice of resignation.
Unused vacation should be paid with final wages
Employers are not required by law to provide paid vacation benefits to employees. However, if an employer does provide vacation benefits to an employee, the vacation time an employee earns is a form of wages which "vest" as the employee works (Cal. Labor Code Section 227.3). This means (1) that vacation "wages" (unused vacation time) are earned as the employee works; and (2) that any earned vacation time that remains unused when employment is terminated must be paid on time as part of the employee's final wages. See our Fact Sheet Vacation Pay/Sick Pay for more information about vacation pay rules.
"Waiting time" penalties for late final wages
An employer that "willfully" fails to pay all final wages to an employee within the time limits specified above may be assessed "waiting time" penalties (Cal. Labor Code Section 203). If an employee files a claim for unpaid wages and penalties are assessed, the employer must pay the employee—in addition to the unpaid wages—a full day's wages for every day the wages remain unpaid. Waiting time penalties stop accruing when a complaint for unpaid wages is filed with a court, but penalties do not stop accruing if, instead, a claim for unpaid wages is filed with the Labor Commissioner's office (see "Taking Legal Action to Recover Unpaid Wages" below for further information). Regardless of the type of legal action taken, however, waiting time penalties stop accruing when they reach the legal limit of 30 days' pay.
The Labor Commissioner's office interprets a failure to comply with laws regarding final pay as "willful" if an employer intentionally fails or refuses to pay final wages to an employee on time. However, an employer will not be assessed waiting time penalties where there is a "good faith dispute," which generally applies when the employer believes it has a valid reason for withholding the final wages. Even if the employer's reason is ultimately rejected by the court or Labor Commissioner's office, the waiting time penalties will not be assessed if the withholding is considered a "good faith dispute." If, however, the employer's reason is unsupported by evidence, is unreasonable, or is presented in bad faith, a waiting time penalty should be assessed.
A few things to know about waiting time penalties:
Calculating penalties
Waiting time penalties are calculated by multiplying the number of calendar days (not business days) since final wages were due by the employee's daily wage rate. The number of days per week or per month the employee actually worked does not matter when calculating the penalty. If, for example, an employee who worked two days per week and earned $75 per day is paid final wages two weeks late, the accrued waiting time penalty is 14 (days) x $75 = $1050. If the unpaid employee's daily wages varied, an average daily wage should be used for calculating the penalties. If the unpaid employee's daily wages changed while employed, the daily rate that was in effect when the job ended should be used for calculating the penalties.
Taking action to recover unpaid final wages
Letter requesting Unpaid Final Wages
If you have not been paid final wages, you can send or deliver a letter to your employer to request immediate payment before taking legal action. This option is often taken by workers who need their final wages immediately. The following form letter is provided to help individuals who decide to draft such a letter to their employers.
[Employer Name/Address]
Re: Payment of Final Wages
Dear [Employer]:
On [date], I [was terminated/resigned] from my job at [employer]. To date, however, I have not been paid $[amount] in wages [including vacation pay] due at the time of my termination in accordance with California Labor Code Sections 201/202). By this letter, I request that you immediately send me these unpaid wages at [address] or make them immediately available for me to pick up at [employer]. Prompt payment of the full wages due will eliminate further liability for waiting time penalties under California Labor Code Sections 203.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
[Employee Name]
Filing a Claim with the Labor Commissioner's Office
If you need to take legal action to recover final wages and/or waiting time penalties, contact your local Labor Commissioner's office (look in the state government listings at the front of your local phone directory under California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement). You do not need an appointment to pick up a claim form for unpaid wages and there is no fee for filing a claim with the Labor Commissioner's office. These claims take months to resolve because of the volume of claims your local Labor Commissioner's office receives. For further information on filing a wage claim, see Do-it-Yourself Recovery of Unpaid Wages (500 KB PDF).
Filing a Complaint in Court
You may also file a civil complaint for unpaid final wages with the appropriate court (see the government listings in the front of your local phone directory). If the amount of unpaid wages (plus any penalties) is under $7,500, you may file your complaint in Small Claims Court where neither you nor your employer is represented by attorneys. If your complaint is for more than $7,5000 in unpaid wages, you will have to file in Superior Court and may need an attorney to represent you or assist you with the rules of court and civil procedure. For further information on filing a wage complaint in Small Claims Court, see Do-it-Yourself Recovery of Unpaid Wages (500 KB PDF).
This Fact Sheet is intended to provide accurate, general information regarding legal rights relating to employment in California. Yet because laws and legal procedures are subject to frequent change and differing interpretations, the Legal Aid Society–Employment Law Center cannot ensure the information in this Fact Sheet is current nor be responsible for any use to which it is put. Do not rely on this information without consulting an attorney or the appropriate agency about your rights in your particular situation.


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MasterCard Pins ATM Fraud on Owners
Thousands of ATM owners, from megabanks to mom-and-pop operators, could be on the hook for millions in fraud losses if they miss a deadline this month to upgrade their machines.
The shift will come if the owners fail to meet an April 19 deadline set by MasterCard Inc. for ATMs to authenticate debit-card transactions using computer chips rather than magnetic stripes.
"Virtually no one is going to be ready," says David...


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Synology Expands Evansport Arsenal with 4-bay DS415playby Ganesh T S & Mahendra Lodha on 7/15/2014 4:00 PM EST
12 Comments
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ZPrime - Tuesday, July 15, 2014 - linkI was considering upgrading my old DS412+ to one of these for the transcoding boost, but without a second gig port and eSATA, it's out of the running already. I wonder if they will come out with a "415+" that adds back enterprise-ish / SMB features... Reply
Lundmark - Tuesday, July 15, 2014 - linkI've got the ds214play and it's a great NAS – reliable, silent and full of features – but its transcoding ability isn't one of them. It only works with Synologys own apps and not within Plex, which at least for me makes it pretty useless. This will apparently not change either due to the way Evansport works.
Next time I get a NAS, I will probably throw more money to get a decent CPU that is powerful enough to do the transcoding. Specialized hardware doesn't seem to be the way to go. Reply
jb510 - Tuesday, July 15, 2014 - linkI have a DS213 for home office use, I really like it and the DSM software. I really want to upgrade to a 4 bay unit with more CPU. That's because I want to run 3 HDDs (RAID 5) + 1 SSD (Cache). I've never understood why but have been told in the past on Synology 4 disk NASs one needs to run 2 HDDs and 2 SSDs with the SSDs mirror the HDDs. That seems perhaps crazy, but at least unfortunate. Otherwise this looks perfect.
FWIW, the CPU upgrade desire isn't actually for transcoding, it's because BTSync and other apps I run on the DS will often max out the CPU for hours at a time. Reply
PitneFor - Tuesday, July 22, 2014 - linkya'lls be dumb for trying to do everything with a nas. you need a real machine running twenty fo seven. ideally a hypervisor so your not limited to one OS at a time Reply
jay401 - Tuesday, July 15, 2014 - link"given Synology's commitment to firmware features"
I dunno, reading the Synology forums, I don't get the impression that they care very much to fix the issues customers have with their products in a timely fashion, including the DS214Play. Nor is there any word on adding DTS audio support back in that was apparently left off the 214play for licensing reasons.
In fact, reading user experiences with their devices is what saved me spending hundreds of dollars by holding off buying a DS altogether until I see some promising updates from Synology.
They are pricey and while the OS is more featureful than the competition, each of their devices still seem to lack a bit in various key areas such that there is no one completely satisfactory solution. Either you get the right I/O connectivity but a weak CPU, or you get the Intel CPU but poor connectivity and no DTS support, and so on.
If they could release a model with a high quality CPU that can handle encryption and transcoding duties and also pair it with assorted connectivity options and not drop something else off the feature plate, that would be nice. Although, they'd probably then charge an extra hundred dollars for that, pushing it well beyond an appealing price bracket.
As someone who typically buys top quality products in a given industry, home NAS is the one area I have been unable to do so because I don't see anything that's actually the correct combination of features, price, and hardware, despite the fact that my needs are right in line with the average person's needs. So apparently manufacturers in the home NAS market have a ways to go yet. Reply
jay401 - Tuesday, July 15, 2014 - linkI should note regarding the DTS issue, that the thing that irks people so much about it is that the DS214play is the one model where it would be most relevant to ensure you have those sort of features available, given its focus on transcoding media. It's such a head-smackingly obvious thing, yet it epitomizes perfectly the frustration I find when browsing their various DS models and trying to find one that checks all the right boxes. There simply isn't one. It seems there's always some unreasonable compromise required with every model. Reply
Tewt - Thursday, July 17, 2014 - linkCouldn't agree more, jay. The reasons you outline are why I have yet to buy a NAS. They may be the most robust home user option, imo, compared to other companies but as you say there is always one or two items missing from the checklist that keep me from hitting the buy button. And yes, I'm also afraid that if it had all the features in a 4-bay offering such as decent CPU(at least a Core i3), good transcoding, 2Gb of RAM and dual ethernet, I would probably have to pay $200 to $300 more. Reply
reshea1950 - Saturday, July 26, 2014 - linkI do agree with you. For a NAS one would like to get as much functionality as possible. Realizing that price does come into play for all things. But, I too have held off buy a NAS due to seeing that one feature or more is always missing.
Just have to see what the remainder of the year brings. I guess if one waits 'forever', one would never buy waiting for the 'perfect' thing. For me, if I cannot use a USB connection to at least copy files to a USB drive for backup purposes, that stops me from buying a 415play.
-->I see there are USB ports; but due to my ignorance of what is possible, the lack of the 'USBCopy' feature has me stopped -- for now. THE DSM OS is what is keeping me interested in Synology. Reply
w7hm - Monday, July 28, 2014 - linkI am very surprised that I can't copy my files to my 415play. The lack of this feature is amazing Reply
2mny - Wednesday, July 16, 2014 - linkGiven the comments here it might make more sense to buy a 'dumb' NAS and use the savings to put together a dedicated media streaming box running PLEX or XBMC fed from the NAS. It might be more expensive and slightly more complicated setup but it would also be much more flexible. Reply
ProPrime - Wednesday, July 16, 2014 - linkWill you guys be doing a review between the DS415play and the DS412+ ? Pricing wise they are close and ports and speed the DS412+ has it but want to know before I make my purchase. Reply
Dunkurs1987 - Monday, February 15, 2016 - linkHere is comparison between 4 bays.
DS416J DS416 DS415play DS415+
http://www.span.com/compare/DS416J-vs-DS416-vs-DS4... Reply


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Act Natural
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Leather Principle


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Texture Mapping Character Meshes in Blender
Texture mapping a mesh with an image you assign on a vertex-by-vertex basis. Blender 2.37a makes this easier by creating seams, a grouping of one or more faces. By assigning an organized number of faces to a seam, we can easily organize the surface of our mesh for UV texture mapping.
Before proceeding, read the Unwrapping Suzanne tutorial in the Blender Documentation Volume I User Guide.
Building a Test UV Map
First we need to build a test texture map that allows us to test our mapping coordinates and ensure nothing gets out-of-scale. The easiest way to do this is to create a checkerboard pattern thats is 512x512 pixels. Since this will be a grid of many small squares, we can check our mapping on the fly and make sure we don't stretch our scale our texture incorrectly on our seams.
Creating a test texture in GIMP is easy. Just create a new 512x512 image, then select a new background/foreground color that is contrasting but easy on the eye. Pick something that doesn't shout – more mellow tones are much better; after a while your eyes can strain at striking colors. Select Filter->Render->Pattern->Checkerboard... from your image, then an offset of 0. This will give you a grid, that alternates your foreground and background colors.
Building Seams
First, jump into face select mode for your mesh. Are some of your faces see-through? You didn't switch your normals earlier – go back to "Finishing the Mesh†in the above section and make sure all your normals are facing outward.
Once your faces are ready, we need to start grouping together faces for texturing. In Blender you can group together faces by using "seams,†reference lines that don't have any particular meaning to the mesh itself but help the artist divide up the surface of the object.
In the UV/Image Editor window, go to Image->Open and open the UV test texture you just created. In your 3D editor window, switch to face select mode and change the viewport shading (or draw type) to textured. Select all the faces of your mesh, then hit the U key to bring up the UV mapping window. Select Standard 1/1. Now move your cursor over to the UV image window and hit A again to select all the vertexes in the image window. Hit the S key to scale all the vertexes selected, then shrink your square down to about the same size as one of the squares in your grid. Grab it (G key) until it overlaps one solid square color located on your grid. This should give you a single, consistent color across the whole mesh; it will be our panic color. Should we ever accidentally forget to map a face to our UV image, this ensures some (albeit ugly) mapping will still exist. We should also more readily notice when a face doesn't have an assigned section on the UV image.
Now it's time to divide up our vertexes & faces. Switch into edit mode in order to start back with vertex manipulation. It should be a fairly straightforward operation: we select each vertex around our faces, so in the end we've outlined a ring of vertexes that will surround the mesh that compromises the face, including the neck.
After you select this ring of vertexes, hit Ctrl-E to create a seam. You can test it out by jumping back into face select mode, picking one 3D face, then hitting the L key to select all faces bound by this seam. Assuming all went well, you should see all the faces within the seam selected at once.
Continue creating seams around the body in much the same way for the back of the head, front of arms, back of arms, hands, torso, front of legs, back of legs, top of the feet and bottom of the feet. Don't be surprised if you have nearly a dozen or so seams separating your mesh into distinct regions. The way I usually distinguish what parts of the mesh are grouped by a seam is by visualizing what type of texture they might have. The face will have very detailed textures, so it will be its own seam. The back of the head may be more or less uniform, so it gets its own seam. Things that are still cylindrical, such as arms, legs and the torso can be tricky; you may need to divide them into half and texture them likewise. Blender doesn't quite understand us when we attempt to "wrap†a seam around in a sort of deformed cylinder, so it's best to divide the top half and bottom half of the arm into to planes for ease in grouping. Same with legs and the torso; it's somewhat easier to divide them into front and back halves by grouping the front or backward facing faces likewise with seams.
There are a couple of good rules of thumb you should follow when creating seams. First, make sure you don't select three adjacent vertexes together... this will case faces to be selected and confuse Blender as to what you actually want to loop together. For example, let's look at the back of the head. It's very easy to select a midline vertex at the base of the occipital region of the skull, one close to the clavicle and then another adjacent vertex close to the temporal region. This selects a face that lies in a region of the neck, and makes Blender think that this polygon is what needs to be encapsulated in a seam.
To make things more plain to Blender, we need to de-select one of the vertexes. You may need to make some trial-and-error as to which of the three vertexes Blender can do without, but you should be able to remove one and still define a more sensible seam. In our example on the back of the head, we would remove the temporal vertex so that the occipital and clavicle vertexes would define the seam.
The second rule is that seams are reflexive – that is you can select everything inside a seam or everything outside a seam. It all depends on which face you select first; if you select a face inside your seam and hit L, you select all face inside the seam's bounds. If you select a face outside the seam, everything outside will be selected. This means you could define seams for everything but the back of your torso, hands and tops of the feet.
Once you have all your seams defined, you should have a series of grouped faces to texture. Now for the difficult part; mapping them to our UV texture in correct proportion. We'll use the checkerboard pattern of our test texture to ensure that we are maintaining a consistent scale between seams and that we aren't warping our texture by making some areas bulge while other areas squish the texture together.
Once again, just to beat this point into the ground, make sure your object has all local coordinates by using Ctrl-A, Alt-G, Alt-R and Alt-S to apply all transformations and clear any transformations/rotations/scaling on your mesh. We don't want to be doing transformations relative to some object origin that doesn't sync with our mesh origin.
Texture Mapping
We will do our mapping work while in UV Face Select mode in Blender with our viewport shading sent to textured (Alt-Z key). First, let's select the faces on the front of the torso. Our seam should have defined all the faces we want, so we should just be able to jump into face select mode in Blender, select a single face on the front of the torso, then hit the L key to select the rest. Next, hit the U key and select LSCM to map our selected faces to our test texture.
The same least square conformal map method (LSCM) algorithm preserves angles and skews very well but does not preserve the scale; the resulting texture map will fill up our test texture window and probably be rotated the wrong way. Use the R key in the UV/Image Editor window to rotate the selected vertex until they appear oriented upright, in the same alignment as on the mesh. Next, scale your UV selection using the S key in the UV editor so the selection only takes up about 1/8th of the test image. Your end result should have a checkerboard pattern mapped onto your mesh's chest in a horizontal and even pattern.
To the back half of the torso in the same way, and transform the resulting UV map next to the front half of your torso on our test image.
Continue to use the LSCM method for the arms. Once you create the UV mapping for one half of one arm, you should uniformly scale the remaining UV vertexes to be the same size and dimension. Do the same for the legs as well. And while you're at it, find a scratch piece of paper and write down which group of faces (top of left arm, back of right leg, etc.) is at what part of your test image.
You can also use this method for the tops of the feet; but the bottoms of the feet we'll save for a later technique. Use LSCM for the tops of each foot, then scale it to match with the size of the leg's checkerboard pattern.
Hands are a little different. For our purposes we are just going to map our hands with a uniform skin texture, so we don't need to worry terribly about getting the proportions correct for each little finger. Switch into overhead view (7 key), select the faces for one hand, then select From Window from the UV mapping menu (U key). Scale it until it looks correct in proportion to the arm's test texture, then transform it in the UV editor window and place it next to some other UV vertexes you've been mapping out. Perform the same mapping for the other hand, and scale it until it's the same size as the first hand you mapped.
Use the same method for the bottoms of our feet. Rotate your viewport until you're looking directly at the bottom of your mesh, then select the faces at the bottom of one foot. Use the From Window algorithm for UV mapping, then scale accordingly. Repeate for the other foot.
Let's try the face next. The head seams are a bit more difficult since they are already rather angular and deformed. As a result, LSCM can't take us all the way. We'll first need to do the best approximation that we can then neaten up our UV mapping afterward.
First, let's select all the faces inside the seam for the front of our head. Once our faces have been selected, ensure we're looking at a 100% front view of our mesh by hitting the 1 key. From here, hit the U key to select our UV mapping and choose From Window. This should give you a UV mapping that pretty much resembles what you see in your viewport... which is great if you're just looking directly at the front of your mesh. But rotate to either side and you'll notice our UV map is seriously stretched out.
To fix this, we first need to pin the UV vertexes that look correct so they can't change. By using the UV editor's pin feature, we can alter the rest of our UV mappings without altering the ones we like.
In the UV editor, use the border select tool to select the vertexes in the center of the face that look correct. If you notice, mostly the cheeks and temporal regions are out of whack, so we'll largely select the inside area and affix it to our UV mapping. Once you select the appropriate vertexes, hit the P key in the UV editor to pin them to our map.
Now that we've made sure the faces that are correct won't move, let's fix the remainder. In the UV editor window, hit the E key and select good ol' LSCM. The LSCM algorithm should now take the angles of our faces into account and scale our UV mapping accordingly. The faces that were improperly mapped should be expanded into place, and all is right with the world.
You can now unpin your vertexes by mass-selecting them all using the border select tool, then using Alt-P to unpin all of your vertexes and return them back to normal. Zoom out a bit and now take a look at how the checkerboard pattern on your head looks in comparison to the checkerboard pattern on your torso. Chances are pretty good that the squares on the head aren't the same size or scale as the the squares on the torso. Select the vertexes in the UV window that correspond to your head, and use the S key to scale them appropriately. When you're done, the squares on the head should be approximately the same size as the squares on your torso.
Perform a similar mapping for the back of the head. You may need to tweak a few individual vertexes, but the process should remain the same.
You should now be done mapping the test texture to your mesh! Rotate your model around a bit and double-check all your UV mapping. Ensure the checkerboard pattern is uniform and consistent throughout. If not, tweak vertexes as necessary. You should also notice that the little UV mapped square that we created at the beginning of this chapter has now disappeared – we've should have since re-mapped all of the vertexes that were once part of that global pool of UV vertexes. Once you're happy with the results, save a backup of your Blender file if you haven't yet done so.
Creating UV Textures
Now we'll work on replacing the test texture we've been using with a "real†texture that looks vaguely interesting. Before we paint textures onto an image, we need to build a template image that we can fill in. This template should allow us to see the bounds and sizes of our UV map, so when we import it back into Blender our current definitions match up exactly.
First organize your UV vertexes so that they fit into more of a "square†arrangement. This should shove your mapping into the lower-left corner and have minimal dead space; all of our mappings should be crunched into the smallest square surface area possible.
If Blender and Python is installed correctly, you should be able to move your mouse over to the UV/Image Editor and click on UVs->Save UV Face Layout. Once the dialog for this plugin comes up, we need to select All Faces, Wrap, Wire Size: 1 and change the Size parameter to be 512; equal to the size of our test UV texture. Deselect Ob so that the object name does not become the file name, and type in the full path for the exported image including the filename, such as /home/user/uvmap. Once you're ready, hit EXPORT.
Open the resulting image up in GIMP. Note that each face is distinctly drawn in our UV map... something that we don't necessarily need. Using the select contiguous regions tool (Z key) with a threshold value of 0, select the whitespace surrounding your mesh. Reverse your selection using Select->Invert (Ctrl-I), then grow your selection by one pixel using Select->Grow... - this will give some margin of error on our texture. Use the bucket tool (Shift-B) with the Fill whole selection option to fill your UV maps with something nice and loud, like magenta. Using a fairly obvious color will let us know when a texture hasn't been properly UV mapped.
Next we need to create a skin pattern, as described in the earlier section BuildTxtGimp_Tutorial. You can use a digital photo of your arm if you wish; just select an area that's fairly uniform in tone and texture.
Next you can start filling in arms, hands and head with the skin texture. This will provide a base to start working with on a more detailed level. Create other patterns for clothing, hair, etc. and apply them to the UV map. keep going until all the magenta is completely eclipsed.
Once you have completed your pattern fills, start adding details such as eyes, teeth, more hair, whatever. This is your chance to be as (un)artistic as you wish.
Once you're either satisfied or repulsed by your final work product, save it. Jump back into Blender and open this newly revised image in the UV/Image Editor, then open the new image using Image->Open with the Relative Paths button selected. If all remained right with the world, this should overlap all of your current UV mappings and you should see a newly textured character model, ready for action.


text: This news item expired on 2/21/2013, so the information below could be outdated or incorrect. Parks & Rec Winter Newsletter Available Come Out & Play is a guide to the activities of Parks, Greenways and Recreation Services. This bi-monthly publication reports on upcoming events, park improvements, athletic leagues, and all of the other services offered through PG&R. You can download a free copy by selecting the link below. Stay informed and active with Come Out & Play! Come Out & Play (PDF)


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The Crap We Missed – Monday 6.2.14
Welcome to Monday's The Crap We Missed, bringing you a very random selection of celebrity crazy, all starting with Khloe Kardashian, her new boyfriend and his prop machine gun. Apparently everyone's losing their shit over it, and I'm guessing it's because pairing an automatic firearm with aviators, jewelry and other luxury items to intimate some level "cool" just days after another horrific and senseless gun tragedy, this time at the hands of a rich kid, could possibly be the most insensitive and stupid move you could pull. Or maybe it's because Khloe's drinking directly out of that bottle and everyone knows that whole thing about their mouths being super clean is just a myth. I'm not a Sociology professor, but I'd peg the outrage evenly on either of those theories.
*lowers bifocals slightly, resumes cropping of nipple photos, looks back up* Yes, that'll be everything for today, move along now,
- Photo Boy
Click Here To Start The Gallery
Photo: Fame/Flynet, INFphoto, Pacific Coast News, Splash News, WENN


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Ants and Gingham Cocktail Plate Set of 4
These plates are perfect for an outdoor bbq or picnic.
ecosphere via bumblesea blogTags: home, humor, environment, glass, gifts, unusual, modern, home decor, tablesAdded 8 Years Ago from Bumblesea
Add some humor to your bbq or picnic with these little guys.
Next time you're having a bbq or picnic, serve your food on this clever platter.


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Gino's Hamburgers, a fast-food company that had a huge presence from New Jersey to northern Virginia ("Everybody Goes to Gino's"), will make a comeback in 2010.
In charge is Tom Romano, who was C.O.O. in 1982 when the chain was sold to Marriott Corp., which converted the eateries into Roy Rogers restaurants. Gino's took its name from Baltimore Colts player Gino Marchetti, who will consult.
"It's apparent there's a need for better burgers out there," said Romano, citing the success of such chains as Five Guys.
Romano, who worked for the company for 20 years, said Gino's would make its burgers to order from fresh beef and would also offer chicken. (Gino's was the mid-Atlantic outlet for Kentucky Fried Chicken.)
Romano plans to start offering franchises next week, and to have the first location (possibly in Northeast Philly or Montgomery County) this summer.
Nostalgists can visit his Web site.


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Looking for more information about Zofia Yamaika?
Search through millions of records to find out more.
Search through millions of records to find out more.
1925 — Warsaw, Poland
Zofia was raised in a well-to-do, prominent Hasidic Jewish family in Warsaw. Uneasy with the constant tension between the Polish people and the Jewish minority, Zofia joined the communist student club Spartacus when she was a teenager. Spartacus actively campaigned against the growing fascist movement in Europe.
1933-39: When Warsaw surrendered to the Germans on September 28, 1939, Zofia was 14 years old. She stopped going to school. Though the Nazis banned Spartacus, she secretly helped to revive the club, which printed antifascist posters and leaflets and distributed them throughout Warsaw. The work was dangerous--German troops were all over the city.
1940-43: A year later, Zofia and her parents were among nearly half a million Jews "resettled" in a small section of Warsaw. The ghetto was sealed in November 1940. Through Spartacus, Zofia trained with a pistol smuggled in by communist partisans. Zofia wanted to join them, but escaping meant endangering her parents' lives. When they were deported in July 1942, Zofia escaped and joined the Lion partisans near Radom. Some 300 Nazis attacked her group of 50 on February 9, 1943. Zofia and two Poles offered to cover their unit's retreat.
Zofia, 18, armed with a machine gun, let the Germans come within eight feet before she fired. Her position was overtaken, and she was killed. Her unit managed to retreat.
Brave and Beautiful. We know they all sing with joy now. I want to write her name again. Zofia. I would like to write all their names again. TODAY November 30 2012
Anyone can contribute to this page. Please sign in or sign up—it's free.


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How to Install HP 38A Toner in HP Laserjet 4200 PrinterMarch 9, 2016 No Comments
Steps to Install HP 38A Toner in HP Laserjet 4200 Printer Step 1 – Open the front panel of your HP Laserjet 4200 printer. Step 2 – Hold the HP 38A toner cartridge by its proper handle as it is seen in the video then gently insert the toner cartridge in the cartridge tray. Step 3 – Once […]Tags: how to install hp 38a toner, how to install hp toner in HP 4200 printer, hp 38a toner, hp 38a toner cartridge, HP LaserJet 4200, HP LaserJet 4200 printer, HP LaserJet 4200 toner, HP Q1338A, HP Q1338A tonerVideos


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Teen Book Club
Wednesday Afternoons, June 11-July 23, from 3-4pm we will be talking about a popular young adult book as well as whatever other books you have read that week. The first book will be handed out when you register (TBA.) Did I mention that treats would be provided?


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52Then Jesus said to him, Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.
The New Revised Standard Version (Anglicized Edition), copyright 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Enter another bible reference:
v 2.2.7
10 February 2011


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Researchers and other medical professionals are crucial allies to families living with food allergies. They are the ones who break the news when a child gets diagnosed, treat reactions, conduct food challenges, provide advice, run innovative clinical trials and stand at the front lines of our mission to find a cure. Doctors like Philippe Bégin spend each day helping patients living with food allergies and working to find effective treatments. He will be speaking about his work at FARE's Food Allergy Conference in Anaheim, CA on June 1.
We asked Dr. Bégin to tell us a bit about his sessions and his motivation for working in the food allergy field.
What was your interest in getting involved in food allergy research?
From a scientific point of view, food allergies are very interesting (I guess I am kind of nerd). It is quite a puzzle how the body could mistake something as vital as food for a harmful substance and mount such a strong reaction to it. Food allergies kind of took us by surprise at the end of the last century, and everything we think we know about them changes at the speed of light. However, we are making progress and this is certainly a very exciting field to work in. As a clinician/scientist, I get to see both the lab and clinic sides, and I get my motivation from my patients. When you deal with families who are managing food allergies, you see how much your work matters and how it affects lives. Every small step toward a better understanding or an effective treatment feels like a huge victory and is more motivation to keep going.
This is your first FARE conference – what are you most excited about?
One of my mentors used to say that having food allergies is like carrying a bomb with you at all times. It's the quality of our teaching that can make sure that bomb doesn't go off and we can potentially save lives. The FARE conferences do just that. They are the ultimate learning and teaching experience for families dealing with food allergies, covering topics from the scientific point of view to the very practical tips for the day-to-day life. There is no cure for food allergies, but you can learn to outsmart and outplay them. I'm very excited to be part of this great educational event and to have the opportunity to make a difference.
What do you hope attendees will be able to take away from your sessions?
My sessions will focus on the medical and scientific sides of food allergies. The first talk entitled "Understanding Food Allergies" will cover the who, what, where, how and why of food allergies. I will give the answers to typical questions that I get asked by patients or families in clinics, such as "What is a food allergy?" "Why is there so much more today?" "How should I diagnose/follow it?" and "How should I deal with an acute reaction?"
We may not have a cure yet, but I am confident we will get there in the future. The second session will discuss food allergies from a research point of view, focusing on emerging therapies that are being studied, giving a feel of the different ideas out there and where we are now. I will also describe the type of research we do here at the Stanford Alliance for Food Allergy Research, what it is like to be in a clinical trial, and the challenges that await us in the future.
Philippe Bégin is a visiting scholar at the Stanford Alliance for Food Allergy Research (SAFAR), a leader in therapies and prevention for severe food allergies. He completed his medical and specialty training at the University of Montreal in Canada, where he currently holds a position as an allergist and associate researcher.
There's still time to register for our conference in Anaheim, CA (June 1). Register today on our website: www.foodallergy.org/conferences


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Ever since the doctor told me that I have a diagnosis of narcolepsy I have been exploring ways to generate an income without having to drive anywhere. Even though the doctor says that he cannot tell the DMV to pull my driver's license, he has strongly encouraged me to avoid driving as much as possible – just in case a sleep attack should hit. So now I am going to be looking at ways to make money from home. Perhaps I will be sharing some of those ways with my readers.
First off, there still is an opportunity for me to help other people earn a good income through selling life insurance, and I can earn a small fee by helping them to do so. Hopefully that will help in some small way. So far, however, that has not panned out. But that is because I have suddenly been needed to deal with some family health issues and it has been difficult to get everything done that needs to be done!
In addition, I've been advised that I can file for SSDI, as narcolepsy is an accepted and approved disability. And since I also have those injuries from the school bus accident that make it difficult for me to do things that require using my hands (I use Dragon Naturally Speaking software, which is huge lifesaver!) So I have filed for disability and am now in the "wait for an answer mode." I've been told that I will be given an answer by August 8.


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BlackBerry Curve 8530 User Reviews
Overal user rating
The overall rating is the average of all user reviews, while the overall alternatives are the ones that has been listed most.
Multimedia8.7/10Internet7/10Call quality8.8/10Battery6.9/10Reception9.6/10Display8.1/10Build quality7.2/10Text input9.2/10Everyday usage8.7/10UI speed7.3/10Camera6.7/10
Post new review
Please note that each user review reflects the opinion of its respectful author and not of Phone Arena.
posted on 28 Jul 2012, 23:13 (Posts: 0; Member since: 28 Jul 2012)
Good Phone
RedWings44 has owned it for more than one year before publishing this review
I just recently got a new phone. This BlackBerry served me well. It was time for a software update. Anyway, to the review.
Contrary to what the site claims, this phone DOES have a light sensor. The screen brightness change isn't as dramatic as most phones, but it is there. The sensor is locaated in the hole where the LED light is emitted. Test it. At night, take a flashlight and shine it into the hole. Works better with a small flashlight as to not affect your eyes when doing this. You will see the screen get brighter to offset the lighting it thinks you are in. This goes for all BB's.
The internet: slow no question. However, get Opera mini from the app world and you will have a browser which rivals that of an iPhone. (Yes, I did several comparrisons).
BlackBerry's are business phones, and there is no doubt that this phone would serve that purpose a lot better than most non-BlackBerry phones. This means it isn't good for gaming.
Battery: quick to charge but also quick to drain. However, it does have a built-in feature to stop the phone from charging if the battery gets too hot (mainly from heavy use while charging).
Call quality was great along with texting. I loved the chat room type atmosphere...it is on most phones now but was new to me.
I did have some errors to deal with. After a while, my phone read "App error 523." And the only option was reset (which reset the phone to the same screen called "eaternal reset"). I had to re-install the Operating System, which wiped...Build quality 9/10Reception 9/10Call quality 9/10Internet 7/10Multimedia 9/10Camera 8/10UI speed 7/10Everyday usage 9/10Text input 10/10Display 9/10Battery 8/10
- Great email system
- Tangible (sp) keyboard
- Automatic spell check
- WiFi connectivity
- LED notifications
- Quick access buttons on top for multimedia playing
- Slow internet
- Not truly built for games
posted on 19 Jun 2012, 17:51 (Posts: 0; Member since: 17 Jun 2012)
blackberry 8530
stonecoldw has owned it for more than one year before publishing this review
It's good phone. The only thing I don't like the rubber around the phone. You can't use the volume or camera button a lot. the rubber just eat way. I think if rim never use that rubber it a great phone.
Build quality 1/10Reception 10/10Call quality 10/10Internet 10/10Multimedia 10/10Camera 9/10UI speed 9/10Everyday usage 10/10Text input 10/10Display 10/10Battery 8/10
- it work will with ps3
posted on 01 Mar 2012, 17:34 (Posts: 3; Member since: 24 Jan 2012)
Love It
dakota1202 has owned it for less than month before publishing this review
I have always been a blackberry person the 8330 curve was my first smartphone when i was a bit younger. but then i got a job as a cell phone salesman and i ended up getting a new droid charge loved it and then hated it, traded it for the LG revolution loved that for awhile but the touch screen grew old on me and i found texting not as fast as i can be on the physical keyboard. just recently caved in and decided to buy a 8350 from a used cellphone shop and bought a new screen and full housing with a nice case and i am never going to be able to switch back to a touch screen (unless it is the bold touch)Build quality 10/10Reception 10/10Call quality 8/10Internet 10/10Multimedia 10/10Camera 8/10UI speed 10/10Everyday usage 10/10Text input 10/10Display 10/10Battery 10/10
- Keyboard
- Display
- Build of Phone
- Fast Browsing
- UI Is Great
- Battery Life
- Music / Media
- Camera (Low Resolution / No Flash)
- The Earpiece Is Not That Great (Could Just Be My Phone)
posted on 11 Dec 2011, 15:08 (Posts: 1; Member since: 11 Dec 2011)
Terrible Phone
RedblackG has owned it for more than one year before publishing this review
I had the curve 8330 from Alltel and I loved that phone. Very few problems with it and it ran very smoothly. The processor in the 8530 is far too small for what I use the phone for. I rarely use my browser because it is so slow and I try not to use the camera because of the poor lens quality.Build quality 8/10Reception 9/10Call quality 7/10Internet 4/10Multimedia 6/10Camera 4/10UI speed 5/10Everyday usage 7/10Text input 10/10Display 6/10Battery 6/10
- Keyboard
- Picture quality
- Browser speed
- Processor
posted on 18 Oct 2011, 11:51
Good solid BlackBerry
hltechie has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review
I really upgraded to this phone because I had never had a BlackBerry before and wanted to give it a try. It was a great decision! I loved this phone from day one out of the box. Everything was easy to understand, organizing my work and social life became much easier. The keyboard was great! The build quality seems kinda cheap but it held up to being dropped on occasion. Over all this is a solid phone and really is a work horse in an office work place.Build quality 9/10Reception 10/10Call quality 10/10Internet 8/10Multimedia 10/10Camera 9/10UI speed 10/10Everyday usage 10/10Text input 10/10Display 9/10Battery 10/10
- battery life
- great OS
- easy to use
- feels cheap
- camera could be better
posted on 14 Oct 2011, 10:44 (Posts: 0; Member since: 14 Oct 2011)
A great overall phone!
leviwarfel has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review
I had used this phone on Virgin Mobile USA services. I only had this phone for about 2 1/2 months because I switched to AT&T. The phone was too business oriented for a teenager like me, being 16 years old. There weren't that many apps to chose from, besides social networking applications. I thought it would take a while to get used to the tiny keyboard, but it didn't take long at all. I actaually loved the keyboard and found I could type much faster on it! The trackpad can at times be very sensitive but I got used to it. The only thing I could say bad about it is the battery life, which barely would last half a day with just average usage.Build quality 9/10Reception 10/10Call quality 9/10Internet 10/10Multimedia 10/10Camera 8/10UI speed 9/10Everyday usage 7/10Text input 10/10Display 7/10Battery 5/10
- Keyboard
- Camera
- Music Player
- Music keys on top of phone
- Not very many applications
- Battery life
posted on 25 Sep 2011, 22:49 (Posts: 0; Member since: 25 Sep 2011)
good phone
kdeltoro26 has owned it for less than year before publishing this review
i being having these phone for about 5 months now, it hasnt dropped any calls, it works with my email n internet accounts, it sometimes gets frozen on the main screen, when u zoom the picture or the video looks blurry and nasty also no flashBuild quality 10/10Reception 10/10Call quality 10/10Internet 7/10Multimedia 7/10Camera 5/10UI speed 6/10Everyday usage 10/10Text input 8/10Display 7/10Battery 6/10
- nice phone
- great with emails
- plays music loud
- not enough apps or games
- no flash
- needs more accessories
posted on 24 Sep 2011, 15:06 (Posts: 0; Member since: 23 Sep 2011)
Excellent for a basic Blackberry
Bionikman has owned it for less than year before publishing this review
This BB has its up and down sides: it has Best keyboard ever!!, nice 2 mp camera (too bad doesn't have flash), awesome for playing music, excellent speakerphone, outstanding call quality, but internet is really basic and cannot install all the apps in BB app world, very good as a phone but kind of limited as a smartphone, it does freezes out sometimes so that you have to reboot, if you use two batteries be patient it takes 4 minutes to reboot when you take battery out, this is one of most practical phones, if you just talk and do lots of BBM messages, email, text and social networks this is a very nice choiceBuild quality 10/10Reception 10/10Call quality 10/10Internet 8/10Multimedia 8/10Camera 9/10UI speed 10/10Everyday usage 9/10Text input 10/10Display 10/10Battery 9/10
- Best keyboard ever!!, nice 2 mp camera, awesome for playing music, excellent speakerphone, outstanding call quality, best phone for social networks, text, email and talk
- cheap graphics, limited apps, freezes out sometimes
posted on 25 Jun 2011, 22:52 (Posts: 1; Member since: 25 Jun 2011)
mgunter93 has owned it for more than one year before publishing this review
My screen went out four times and on the fourth time Sprint refused to replace it. It always locks up and lags. I hate it. It was the biggest disappointment for a phone that I have ever seen. The battery life was decent but it would constant drop calls even if you had signal.Build quality 1/10Reception 8/10Call quality 6/10Internet 4/10Multimedia 8/10Camera 4/10UI speed 2/10Everyday usage 6/10Text input 8/10Display 4/10Battery 5/10
- Quality
posted on 13 May 2011, 03:07
tiz has owned it for more than one year before publishing this review
awsome phone and the best phone i every had and will always keep and i am never going to give up on it serious you should have one it will be the one you choose so go and buy a one and use it and you will see what i mean about it. buy one now and see the diffence between it and your other phone.Build quality 10/10Reception 10/10Call quality 10/10Internet 10/10Multimedia 10/10Camera 10/10UI speed 10/10Everyday usage 10/10Text input 10/10Display 10/10Battery 10/10
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Do you?Report
posted on 02 May 2011, 20:24
Great for most
nottoohappy has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review
I love this phone but the casing around the phone bubbled up with out any reason. I didn't pick at it or drop it. I put it in safe places. I love it for most reasons except the battery and quality of manufactering. ITS A GOOOOOD phone I would not recomend getting this phone. i recomend the bold. my dad has it and has dropped it down stairs and its fine.Build quality 6/10Reception 10/10Call quality 9/10Internet 5/10Multimedia 9/10Camera 8/10UI speed 2/10Everyday usage 9/10Text input 10/10Display 7/10Battery 2/10
posted on 24 Mar 2012, 04:20 (Posts: 0; Member since: 13 Feb 2011)
Great phone, limited features
CrocadileUT has owned it for less than year before publishing this review
Great SmartPhone overall, ideal for email and texting, EXCELLENT for music because of the media buttons, but the camera and web surfing are terrible. I'd recommend this SmartPhone to any business user who only cares about email, need a good battery, and listen to music during your commute. But if your priorities are games and web experience then stay away from this model.Build quality 7/10Reception 10/10Call quality 9/10Internet 2/10Multimedia 10/10Camera 1/10UI speed 9/10Everyday usage 9/10Text input 10/10Display 6/10Battery 10/10
- keyboard
- media keys
- lightweight
- battery
- easy to use
- web browser
- camera
- display
CrocadileUT alternatives:
posted on 11 Dec 2010, 14:47
Worth every extra penny with Virgin Mobile
ShawnIAm has owned it for less than year before publishing this review
I picked this up a few months after Virgin Mobile released it. While there was some MMS issues with this device, they were fixed within a month of me getting the device (PROTIP: if MMS issues still persist, re-provision your device). A solid performer for the price, and is no-contract thanks to Virgin Mobile.
The battery is horrible, though, but it seems to be expected, and the build quality is not the best it could be, but other than that (and no flash on my camera), I have few complantsBuild quality 3/10Reception 10/10Call quality 10/10Internet 9/10Multimedia 10/10Camera 8/10UI speed 9/10Everyday usage 9/10Text input 8/10Display 10/10Battery 3/10
- Support for Windows Media, MP4, h.264, (e)AAC(+), and others
- Decent reception and call quality
- Good speed on the internet (despite no Flash support)
- Poor stock battery
- Build quality needs improvement
- No flash on camera
- Keypad not for the fat-fingered
posted on 28 Oct 2010, 07:31
I like it but had to make one adjustment.
pedalfasternow has owned it for less than year before publishing this review
I really like this phone. Initially had a problem with the battery life but found an after market 3000 milli-amp-hour hour battery and it lasts me about 3 days without having to recharge! AND it allowed me to block unwanted texts (via the security options/firewall settings) and unwanted calls via an app (call blocker pro). Finally a phone that can grow with me!
I admit I got this phone SPECIFICALLY to keep an ex-girlfriend from texting and calling me!Build quality 8/10Reception 8/10Call quality 6/10Internet 4/10Multimedia 5/10Camera 3/10UI speed 4/10Everyday usage 7/10Text input 5/10Display 9/10Battery 5/10
- Flexibility
- Able to block unwanted texts without using phone company
- Able to block unwanted calls without phone company via APP
- Camera
- Battery
- Browser slow - even on wifi
Michael G.
posted on 16 Oct 2010, 15:11
RIM Blackberry Curve 8530 Review [SPRINT]
DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE! I WARN YOU!I upgraded my cell phone in March of 2010. This phone is my first Blackberry and I fell in love with it. The internet browser is slow on both Sprint and Wifi. This phone lags heavily sometimes. It is wears VERY EASILY. I had this phone exactly 7 months and the screen went out, luckily it was still under warranty and got it fixed free of charge. Although, I love this Blackberry, I am currently looking for another phone that is reliable and can multitask. Good luck to you all who buy this phone. BE AWARE!Design 8/10Features 6/10Performance 3/10
- *Easy To Use
- *Full QWERTY Keyboard
- *Great Speakerphone
- *Operating System
- *Super Light
- *Threaded SMS Messaging
- *Track Pad
- *Feels Cheap
- *LCD Screen Went Out At Exactly Seven Months
- *No Camera Flash
- *No Group Contacts
- *Poor Battery Life
- *Screen/Case Wears Easy
- *Slow/Lags
- *Wifi doesn't work properly
1 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Do you?Report
Daniel Gomilar
posted on 18 Sep 2010, 09:51
Curve 8530
I have had a BB for many many years going back to the 7130 with a side track roller. This phone is a great improvement over the original curve with the track pad, expanded memory and improved OS. I did struggle with the battery life at first but have found that if you close out of your applications rather than just ending them with the end call button the battery life increases tenfold. This is a great phone and I would recommend it for anyone that is interested in an upgrade or first time smart phone.Design 8/10Features 8/10Performance 9/10
- Design, optical track pad, expanded memory, upgraded OS, applications,
posted on 31 Aug 2010, 00:49
i love this phone i love it love it love it love it my cons tho r battery life camera i switched from the omnia tht phones awful i recommend this phone cuz its from a good company bb and its not to expesive its my 2nd smart phone so yet again i wud say to only get it if its ur first or second smartphoneDesign 6/10Features 9/10Performance 10/10
- track pad
- easy to use
- wifi
- fast internet
- awful battery life
- bad camera
2 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Do you?Report
posted on 30 Aug 2010, 01:00
I WISH I GOT THE TOUR 2 CUZ THIS PHONE IS GOOD BUT IT FEELLS LIKE A MCDONALDS TOY OR SUMTHIN THE CAMERA SUX WEB IS IIGHT KEYBOARD IS DECENT I WUD RECOMEND THIS FONE ONLY IF U WANT AN AWFUL PHONE ITS A NICE PHONE FO A FIRST PHONE MAYBE. if i were u tho i wud not get this phone
Design 1/10Features 1/10Performance 1/10
- DESIGN is good wifi
- everything else
2 out of 14 people found this review helpful. Do you?Report
posted on 29 Aug 2010, 23:53
ive had this phone fo 6 months its fallin apart
my silicone case i the only thing holding my phone together its a good phone for text and internet tho but if u do get this phone be careful i liked it when i got it and then like a month ago it start to break alilDesign 1/10Features 1/10Performance 1/10
- good for messaging and utube
- everything else
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Jennifer L Bruecker
posted on 17 Aug 2010, 16:57
love my 8530 curve
I love this phone, the track pad is awesome. The only down fall is that their is no flash-stupid thing to get rid of but definitely was not a deal breaker. Call quality is excellent, battery life is good- heavy use it will last the day, unless using gps to travel for an hour or two. However you must shut down your apps as you get out of them or you will suck alot of battery up and slow down everything. Very glad I purchased this phone- previously had the Motorola Renegade, biggest piece of crap out their.Design 10/10Features 9/10Performance 9/10
- blackberry app world
- very easy to use
- no flash
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Do you?Report
posted on 19 Jul 2010, 12:40
Ive had this phone for a while now and its not a bad phone it could be betterwhat i don't like is that it doesn't have a flash on it like the previous curve but i over looked that once i saw how good the pics do come out using this phonebut all in all i think its a pretty decent phoneDesign 8/10Features 9/10Performance 8/10
- track-pad , good display screen
- no flash, keyboard is cheap feeling
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posted on 14 Apr 2010, 20:36
wow what a great phone. i multitask on it and the media keys are great for going through songs while doing tons of things. its so slim i can hold it easily. its easy for texting on and does not feel cheap. the wifi helps a lot at most of the time with verizon it has 3G sometimes it has 1X but nothing less.Design 10/10Features 10/10Performance 10/10
- everything
- nothing
11 out of 15 people found this review helpful. Do you?Report
posted on 01 Apr 2010, 11:12
What a terrible experience!
This is my first "smart" phone. I bought it eight days ago. I am on my second one and this one is going back. My first one fried within the first 48 hours. I clicked "accept" when asked if I wanted to download the software update. I was alerted the update would take approximately 30 minutes. I put the phone in a gym locker. 45 minutes later when I went back to the locker I picked up the phone it felt like it was 150 degrees. The screen was black and I could not get it to do anything. I immediately went back to the Verizon store, they told me this has never happened before with this phone and they gave me a new phone. Now, six days later, I am experiencing a terrible problem with dropped calls with the new phone. The phone does not keep a call more than 90 seconds while I'm driving (Using bluetooth of course). I will be making a second trip to the store since the original purchase and get a different phone. Fool me once, shame on me...............Design 1/10Features 2/10Performance 1/10
- 30 day return if not satisfied!!!!
- See review.
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posted on 23 Mar 2010, 16:10
great phone-must get
most of the things people say is wrong with the phone besides no flash and the battery life you can change in the options menu. and for the people who complain about the battery life I am pretty sure that you can go to a store and buy a stronger battery. the trackpad can't break like the trackball can. the keypad isn't that hard to see on the purple one without the backlight and when you get used to it you'll know where all of the keys are. the media keys help a lot. the phone does not feel cheap but if it seems like it does just get a case for it.Design 10/10Features 9/10Performance 9/10
- everything
- no flash for camera
11 out of 15 people found this review helpful. Do you?Report
posted on 01 Mar 2010, 16:36
I don't think I'm keeping it
I had the blackberry curve 8330 and loved it. It had everything I wanted but I had to get a new phone so I got this new curve and figured it would be twice as great. I do love the trackpad. It actually works really well and I don't have any problems with it. I was excited to see it had wifi which was definately a plus but other than that, it had no new features. I was so mad when I noticed it didn't have a flash on the camera! Who even makes a phone now without a flash? I am also having problems with dropped calls and SLOW internet but idk if the phone is to blame for that. I am thinking of trading it in for the Samsung Moment. I think I'll probably like it better. Oh and battery life is horrible!!! My other curve lasted a day and a half and with this, I'm lucky to get through the day.Design 7/10Features 4/10Performance 5/10
- Trackpad
- Wifi
- No flash!
- Battery life
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I'm playing mad scientist today and doing a modification of Steve's Bourbon brined chicken on page 398 of BBQ USA. The chicken breasts are brining for dinner as we speak. Here's my wacky concoction:
1/4 cup Anejo tequilla (good stuff not rot gut gringo crap like Jose Quervo, make sure it says 100% agave if you're not sure)
1/4 cup course salt
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 TBsp of lime juice ( I felt this would be better than lemons with anejo)
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and lightly crushed with side of knife
1 TBsp black peppercorns
1 TBsp mustard seeds
1 tsp ground corriander
4 cups water
3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Oak for smoke (Anejo is aged in oak barrels so I'll go light here)
I'll be serving it with grilled pineapple and a rice dish of some sort. I'll be eating it as is this first time to establish a baseline and determine what sauce would pair with it well if any at all.
The directions for the rest are in the book. No sense rehashing it here.
"Got Tex-Mex cajun Latin groove
We like them green peppers, too.
Floribama Georgia line barbecue will always shine.
Carolina north and south, Arizona's gonna burn your mouth.
Colorado get me high, don't get the pepper in your eye.
Albuquerque to Buffalo, we like them wings with tobasco.
I want it
Red voodoo style." Sammy Hagar