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Geo::Raster - Perl extension for raster algebra
use Geo::Raster; or use Geo::Raster qw(:types); or use Geo::Raster qw(:types :logics :db);
Geo::Raster is an object-oriented interface to libral, a C library for rasters and raster algebra. Geo::Raster makes using libral easy and adds some very useful functionality to it. libral rasters are in-memory for fast and easy processing. libral rasters can be created from GDAL rasters. GDAL provides access to rasters in many formats.
Geo::Raster also adds the required functionality to display rasters in Gtk2::Ex::Geo.
Each cell in raster/grid is assumed to be a square.
The grid point represents the center of the cell and not the area of the cell (when such distinction needs to be made). TODO: This needs more attention.
A grid is indexed like this:
j = 0..N-1 ------------------> . i = 0..M-1 . . . V
there is also a (x,y) world coordinate system
maxY ^ . . y . minY . ------------------> minX maxX x
minX is the left edge of first cell in line. maxX is the right edge of the last cell in a line. minY and maxY represent similarly the boundaries of the raster.
Constructors have either a specified set of parameters in specified order named parameters.
To start with opening a previously saved grid:
$gd = new Geo::Raster(filename=>"data/dem", load=>1);
or simply
$gd = new Geo::Raster("data/dem");
A Geo::Raster object maintains internally a gdal object. To get data from the gdal object into the grid, use the load option (load is not assumed if only filename is given) or cache method (see below).
To start with a new grid:
$gd = new Geo::Raster(datatype=>datatype_string, M=>100, N=>100);
or simply
$gd = new Geo::Raster(1, 100, 100);
or even more simply
$gd = new Geo::Raster(100, 100);
$datatype is optional, the default is 'integer', 'real' is another possibility (actual types of integer and real are defined in libral). Opening a previously saved grid sets the name attribute of the grid.
Other constructors exist, this is a copy:
$g2 = new Geo::Raster(copy=>$g1);
or simply
$gd = new Geo::Raster($g1);
See below a note about known extensions.
to create a grid with same size use like:
$g2 = new Geo::Raster(like=>$g1);
In both copy methods the datatype of the result is the same as in the original grid. Use named parameter datatype to upgrade an integer grid to a real grid or downgrade a real grid to an integer grid.
Read all data:
Use an existing raster as a model (bounding box, cell_size):
Use a bounding box:
$gd->cache($minX,$minY,$maxX,$maxY); $gd->cache($minX,$minY,$maxX,$maxY,$cell_size);
If the cell_size is not given, the cell_size of the dataset is used.
If the cell_size is specified, it is used if it is larger than the cell_size of the dataset.
The given bounding box clipped to the bounding box of the dataset. The resulting bounding box of the work raster is always adjusted to pixel boundaries of the dataset.
If no filename is given the method tries to use the name attribute of the grid.
The default saving format is a pair of hdr/bil files.
Some grids may contain very little information, then dumping and restoring is an option which saves disk space. Note, however, that dumping does not save the size or other attributes of the grid:
Dump is in fact grid print method (see below) using options quiet and nonzeros with a redirect to $to. Note that restore is not a constructor, so you may need to create the grid before restoring it:
$g = new Geo::Raster(like=>$some_other_grid);
$to and $from can be undef (then dump uses STDOUT and restore uses STDIN), filename, or reference to a filehandle (e.g., \*DUMP).
The name of the grid is (or may be) the same as its filename (including the path) without extension. The name is set when a grid is constructed from a file (or files).
Setting and getting the name:
$name = $gd->get_name(); $gd->set_name("dem");
$gd->setbounds(cell_size=>1, minX=>0, minY=>0, maxX=>10, maxY=>10);
at least three parameters must be set: cell_size, minX and minY; minX, maxX and minY; or minX, minY and maxY. minX (or easting) is the left edge of the leftmost cell, i.e. _not_ the center of the leftmost cell.
The world coordinate system can be copied to another grid:
Conversions between coordinate systems (Cell<->World):
($x, $y) = $gd->g2w($i, $j); ($i, $j) = $gd->w2g($x, $y);
$gd->setmask(); $gd->removemask();
The mask is used in ALL grid operations made on _this_ grids.
$gd->set($i, $j, $x);
If $x is undefined or string "nodata", the cell value is set to nodata_value.
If $x is undefined or string "nodata", the cell value is set to nodata_value.
$g needs to be a similar Geo::Raster.
The return value is 0 in the case of an error.
$x = $gd->get($i, $j);
The returned value is either a number, 'nodata', or undef if the cell is not in the grid.
The same in world coordinates
$x = $gd->wget($x, $y);
Both integer and floating point grids may have nodata values. The nodata value is a special integer or real value, which is stored in the grid data structure. Nodata values behave a bit like a mask, they are not used in queries and in arithmetics operands do not affect them. For example if c is nodata value then after
a = b + c
a is nodata.
b += c
b is nodata.
Also in comparisons the result is nodata if either of the values to be compared is nodata.
In the construct "if a then b = c" for grids. b is assigned c only if a is data and c is data.
The method "data", which can be used as in-place or as normal method which returns a value and does not affect the grid itself, returns a binary grid, which has 0 where there were nodata values and 1 where there were data.
$b = $a->data();
($minval, $maxval) = $gd->getminmax();
$minval = $gd->min(); $maxval = $gd->max();
These methods have quite another meaning if a parameter is supplied, see below.
($datatype, $M, $N, $cell_size, $minX, $minY, $maxX, $maxY, $nodata_value) = $gd->attributes();
Use the specific methods instead:
$datatype = $gd->datatype(); # returns a string ($M, $N) = $gd->size(); $cell_size = $gd->cell_size(); ($minX,$minY,$maxX,$maxY) = $gd->world(); $nodata_value = $gd->nodata_value();
Size is interpreted as a size of a zone, if a cell is given as a parameter to size method:
$zone_size = $gd->size($i,$j);
Add/subtract a scalar or another grid to a grid:
$b = $a + $x; # is equal to $b = $a->plus($x); $b = $a - $x; # is equal to $b = $a->minus($x);
In-place versions
$gd += $x; # is equal to $gd->add($x); $gd -= $x; # is equal to $gd->subtract($x);
Multiply/divide the grid by a scalar or by another grid:
$b = $a * $x; # is equal to $b = $a->times($x); $b = $a / $x; # is equal to $b = $a->over($x);
In-place versions
$gd *= $x; # is equal to $gd->multiply_by($x); $gd /= $x; # is equal to $gd->divide_by($x);
NOTE: THIS IS NOT MATRIX MULTIPLICATION: what goes on is, e.g.:
for all i,j: b[i,j] = a[i,j] * x[i,j]
$b = $a % $x; # is equal to $b = $a->modulo($x); $gd %= $x; # is equal to $gd->modulus_with($x);
$b = $a**$x; # is equal to $b = $a->power($x); $gd **= $x; # is equal to $gd->to_power_of($x);
DO NOT use void context algebraic operations like $a + 5; The effect is not what you expect and it will generate a warning if run with the -w switch.
Integer grids are silently converted to real grids if the operand is a real number or a real grid or if the operator is "/" (except in modulus, which is defined only for integer grids).
Integer grids are silently converted to real grids if these methods are applied. The only exception is abs, which is defined for integer grids:
$b = $a->abs(); $b = $a->acos(); $b = $a->atan(); $c = $a->atan2($b); $b = $a->ceil(); $b = $a->cos(); $b = $a->cosh(); $b = $a->exp(); $b = $a->floor(); $b = $a->log(); $b = $a->log10(); $b = $a->sin(); $b = $a->sinh(); $b = $a->sqrt(); $b = $a->tan(); $b = $a->tanh();
abs, atan2, cos, exp, log, sin, sqrt are overloaded
In-place versions (use always methods for in-place versions) change the original grid:
If $a is not a grid, the functions fall back to standard Perl math functions.
NOTE: ceil and floor are defined only for real grids and return a real grid. Geo::Raster method round can be used to convert a real grid to an integer grid.
$b = $a->round();
Comparison of grid to a scalar or to another grid:
$g2 = $g1 op $x;
where op is "<", ">", "<=", ">=", "==", "!=", or "<=>". $x may be a scalar or another grid. The return value is always an integer grid. For in-place versions of the comparisons use the methods lt, gt, le, ge, eq, ne, and cmp.
So there are four cases of the use of comparison operations:
a unchanged 1. b = a->lt(0); yes 2. a->lt(0); no 3. b = a < 0; yes 4. b = 0 < a; yes
DO NOT use void context comparisons like $a < 0; The effect is not what you expect and it will generate a warning if run with the -w switch.
$b = $a->not(); $c = $a->and($b); $c = $a->or($b);
in-place versions (changes a)
$a->not(); $a->and($b); $a->or($b);
use Geo::Raster /:logics/;
$b = not($a); $c = and($a, $b); $c = or($a, $b);
$g2 = $g1->min($x); $g2 = $g1->max($x);
again, in-place versions also work.
The effect is (for the method "min"):
g2[i,j] = min( g1[i,j] , x[i,j] ) or, if x is scalar, g2[i,j] = min( g1[i,j] , x ).
If $x is undef these methods refer to the minimum and maximum values of the grid. In scalar context the methods return the minimum value.
Cross product of two grids is defined for integer grids only.
$c = $a->cross($b);
or in-place
c = a x b
If a has values a1, ..., ana (ai < aj, na distinct values) and b has values b1, ..., bnb (bi < bj, nb distinct values) then c will have nc = na * nb distinct values 1, ..., nc. The c will have value 1 where a = a1 and b = b1, 2 where a = a1 and b = b2, etc.
$a->if($b, $c);
$a and $b are grids and $c can be a grid or a scalar, the effect of this subroutine is:
for all i,j if (b[i,j]) then a[i,j]=c[i,j]
if a return value is requested
$d = $a->if($b, $c);
then d is a but if b then c
If $c is a reference to a zonal mapping hash, i.e., it has value pairs k=>v, where k is an integer, which represents a zone in b, then a is set to v on that zone. A zone mapping hash can, for example, be obtained using the zonal functions (see below).
This has the same effect as writing $g->ne(0);
$g2 = $g1->bufferzone($z, $w);
Creates (or converts a grid to) a binary grid g2, where all cells within distance w of a cell (measured as cell center to cell center) in g1 having value z will have value 1, all other cells in g2 will have values 0.
g1 has to be an integer grid. The return value is optional.
$count = $gd->count(); $sum = $gd->sum(); $mean = $gd->mean(); $variance = $gd->variance();
Return scalars. All cells except those having nodata values are taken into account.
Similar zonal functions are below. Min and max functions are above.
Generating a proximity grid:
$d = $g->distances();
The returned grid has in the nodata cells of grid $g the distance to the nearest data cell in $g.
Generating a direction_to grid:
$d = $g->directions();
The returned grid has in the nodata cells of grid $g the directions to the nearest data cell in $g. Directions are given in radians and direction zero is to the direction of x-axis, Pi/2 is to the direction of y-axis.
NOTE: The generation of proximity and direction_to grids in the case of large grids (more than 100 000 cells) and few data cells is very timeconsuming.
$g2 = $g1->clip($i1, $j1, $i2, $j2);
$g2 = $g1->clip($g3);
to clip from $g1 a piece which is overlayable with $g3.
If there is no lvalue, $g1 is clipped.
$g3 = $g1->join($g2);
The joining is based on the world coordinates of the grids. clip and join without assignment clip or join the original grid, so
$a->clip($i1, $j1, $i2, $j2); $a->join($b);
have the effect "clip a to i1, j1, i2, j2" and "join b to a".
$g2 = $g1->transform(\@tr, $M, $N, $pick, $value);
or, again just (changes the g1 instead of creating a new grid):
$g1->transform(\@tr, $M, $N, $pick, $value);
g2 will be of size M,N, transformation uses eqs:
i1 = ai + bi * i2 + ci * j2 j1 = aj + bj * i2 + cj * j2
whose parameters are in array @tr:
@tr = (ai, bi, ci, aj, bj, cj);
$pick and $value are optional, $pick may be "mean", "variance", "min", "max", or "count". If $pick is "count" then $value should be the value which needs to be counted -- this works only for integer grids. Result grid is the same type as input except for mean and variance which are always floats. Division by n-1 is used for calculating variance.
In the case when $pick is not defined, the value which is stored into the target grid is looked up from the source grid using the equations above, and rounding the indexes to the nearest integer value.
In the case when $pick is defined, the value which is stored into the target grid is calculated from the (possibly rectangular) area into which the i2,j2 cell maps to. NOTE: In this case the cell coordinates are assumed to denote the upper left corner of the cell. This makes it easy to keep the (x,y) of the upper left the same BUT it is different than the usual assumption that (i,j) denotes the center of the cell.
simply prints the grid to stdout.
$aref = $gd->array;
The $aref is a reference to an array of cells and values:
$framed_grid = $grid->frame($with);
$with is a scalar and the border cells of $grid is set to that value.
Histogram may be calculated using the method "histogram":
$histogram = $gd->histogram(\@bin);
which returns a reference to an array which holds the counts of cells in each bin, first bin is values <= $bin[0], second bin is values > $bin[0] and values <= $bin[1], etc.
If the parameter is an integer value, the bins are internally created by splitting the range [minval..maxval] into that many parts and the return value is a hash where the key is the center value of the bin (suitable for gnuplot histeps plotting style).
A simpler tool that resembles histogram is contents:
$contents = $gd->contents();
which returns a reference to a hash which has, values as keys and counts as values. This works for both integer and floating point grids.
All zonal functions require two grids: the operand grid and the zones grid. The operand grid may be any grid. The zones grid has to be an integer grid. The zonal functions all return a hash, where the keys are the integers from the zones grid (not nodata but 0 yes). The values in the hash are either all the values (nodata values skipped) from the zone (as a reference to an array) or some function (count, sum, min, max, mean, variance) of them. The method which returns all the zone data may of course be used to calculate whatever function but this can take a lot of memory and computing time in the case of large grids. Division by n-1 is used for calculating variance.
$zh = $gd->zones($zones); $counts = $gd->zonalcount($zones); $sums = $gd->zonalsum($zones); $mins = $gd->zonalmin($zones); $maxs = $gd->zonalmax($zones); $means = $gd->zonalmean($zones); $variances = $gd->zonalvariance($zones);
The zones grid can be changed using the method
$new_zones = $zones->growzones($grow);
which "grows" each zone in the zones grid iteratively to areas designated by the (binary) grid grow.
Note that also zero zone is also a zone. Only nodata areas are not zoned.
$a = $b->interpolate(method=>"nn");
This method interpolates values for all nodata cells. Currently only the method of using the value of nearest cell ("nn") is implemented.
$g->function("<function of x and y>");
fills the grid by calculating the z value for each grid cell separately using the world coordinates. An example of a function string is '2*$x+3*$y', which creates a plane.
Drawing a line to a grid:
$gd->line($i1, $j1, $i2, $j2, $pen);
a filled rectangle:
$gd->rect($i1, $j1, $i2, $j2, $pen);
a circle:
$gd->circle($i, $j, $r, $pen);
Without $pen these change into "extended" get. Then the method returns an array (i,j,value, i,j,value, ...) of all values under the line, rect or circle.
$img2 = $img1->map(\%map);
or, for example, using an anonymous hash created on the fly
Maps cell values (keys in map) in img1 to respective values in map in img2 or within img. Works only for integer grids.
Hint: Take the contents of a grid, manipulate it and then feed it to the map.
$colored_map = $img->colored_map();
Uses the least possible number (?) of unique colors to color the map (= image which consists of areas).
The "apply template" method is a generic method which is, e.g., used in the thinning algorithm below.
$gd->applytempl(\@templ, $new_val);
applytempl which takes a structuring template and a new value as parameters. A structuring template is an integer array [0..8] where 0 and 1 mean a binary value and -1 is don't care. The array is the 3x3 neighborhood:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
The cell 4 is the center of the template. If the template matches a cell's neighborhood, the cell will get the given new value after all cells are tested. The grid on which applytemp is used should be a binary grid. In void context the method changes the grid, otherwise the method returns a new grid.
$thinned_img = $img->thin(%options);
This is an implementation of the algorithm in Jang, B-K., Chin, R.T. 1990. Analysis of Thinning Algorithms Using Mathematical Morphology. IEEE Trans. Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence. 12(6). 541-551. (Same as in Grass but done in a bit different, and more generic way, I believe). Options are algorithm=>, trimming=>, maxiterations=>, and width=>. Algorithm is by default "B" (other option is "A"), trimming is by default 0 (other option is 1), and maxiterations is by default 0 (no maximum, will iterate until no cells are deleted), if width is used, maxiterations is set to int(width/2). Trimming removes artificial branches which grow on the side of wide lines in thinnning but it also shortens a bit the real branches. The thinned grid must be a binary grid.
The thinning algorithm defines a set of structuring templates and applies them in several passes until there are no matches or until the maxiterations is reached. Trimming means certain structuring templates are applied to kill emerging short limbs which appear because of the noise in the grid.
$borders_img = $img->borders(method=>simple|recursive);
The default method is "recursive" which finds all areas (8-connected cells with non-zero values) and marks their borders with respective values and leaves the rest of the area zero.
$areas_in_img = $img->areas($k);
The $k (3 if not given) is the number of consecutive non-zero 8-neighbors required before the cell is assumed to be a part of an area.
$img2 = $img1->connect();
If two 8-neighbor opposite cells (1-5, 2-6, etc) of a cell are the same and the cell is zero, then the value of this cell is set to the same value.
$map = $img->number_areas($connectivity);
$map or $img contains each consecutive area in $img colored with an unique integer. $img should be a 0,1 grid, the result is a 0,2,3,... grid. The connectivity of areas is either 8 (default) or 4.
Generate an aspect grid from a DEM:
$aspect = $dem->aspect();
$dem->aspect(); # to convert the DEM to an aspect grid
The returned aspect grid is a real number grid (-1,0..2*Pi) where -1 denotes flat area, 0 aspect north, Pi/2 aspect east, etc.
Similar method exist for calculating a slope grid from a DEM:
$slope = $dem->slope($z_factor); $dem->slope($z_factor); # to convert the DEM to a slope grid
Slope and aspect calculations are based on fitting a 9-term quadratic polynomial:
z = Ax^2y^2 + Bx^2y + Cxy^2 + Dx^2 + Ey^2 + Fxy + Gx + Hy + I
to a 3*3 square grid. See Moore et al. 1991. Hydrol. Proc. 5, 3-30.
Slope is calculated in radians.
z_factor is the unit of z dived by the unit of x and y, the default value of z_factor is 1.
$fdg = $dem->fdg(method=>$method);
$dem->fdg(method=>$method); # to convert the DEM to a FDG
The method is optional. The default method is D8 (deterministic eight-neighbors steepest descent) and the returned FDG is of type D8, i.e., an integer grid (-1..8) where -1 denotes flat area, 0 a pit, 1 flow direction north, 2 north-east, etc. A pit is the lowest point of a depression. Another supported method is Rho8 (stochastic eight-neighbors aspect-based) which also produces a D8 FDG but the direction is chosen between the two steepest descent directions (assumed to being next to each other) so that the expected direction is the true aspect (Fairfield and Leymarie, Water Resour. Res. 27(5) 709-717). The third method is "many" which produces a FDG, where the bits in each byte (actually a short integer) in each cell denotes the neighbors having lower elevation, i.e., value 1 (2**0 = 1) means only the cell in direction 1 is lower, value 3 (2**0+2**1 = 3) means both cells in direction 1 and in direction 2 are lower, etc.
$gd->movecell(@cell, $dir);
this returns undef if the cell moves outside of the grid.
If $dir is not given we assume this grid to be a FDG and then the dir is in the grid.
A method for flow direction grid to get the directions of upstream cells of a cell:
($up,@up) = $fdg->upstream($streams,@cell);
(@up) = $fdg->upstream(@cell);
$up is the direction of upstream stream cell and @up contain directions of other upstream cells.
$fixed_fdg = $fdg->fixflats($dem,method=>$method);
The method is either "one pour point" (short "o") or "multiple pour points" (short "m"). The first method, which is the default, finds the lowest or nodata cell just outside the flat area and, if the cell is lower than the flat area or a nodatacell, drains the whole area there, or into the flat area cell (which is made a pit cell), which is next to the cell in question. This method is guaranteed to produce a FDG without flat areas. The second method drains the flat area cells iteratively into their lowest non-higher neighboring cells having flow direction resolved.
raise or lower cells which are lower or higher than all its 8-neigbors. The z_limit is the minimum elevation difference, which is needed to consider a cell lower or higher than all its neighbors. $z_limit is optional, the deafult value is 0.
A depression (or a "pit") is a connected (in the FDG sense) area in the DEM, which is lower than all its neighbors. To find and look at all the depressions use this method, which returns a grid:
$depressions = $dem->depressions($fdg, $inc_m);
The argument $fdg is optional, the default is to calculate it using the D8 method and then route flow through flat areas using the methods "multiple pour points" and "one pour point" (in this order). The depressions grid is a binary grid unless $inc_m is given and is 1.
Depressions may be removed by filling or by breaching. Filling means raising the depression cells to the elevation of the lowest lying cell just outside the depression. Breaching means lowering the elevation of the "dam" cells. The breaching is tried at the lowest cell on the rim of the depression which has the steepest descent away from the depression (if there are more than one lowest cells) and the steepest descent into the depression (if there are more than one lowest cells with identical slope out) (see Martz, L.W. and Garbrecht, J. 1998. The treatment of flat areas and depressions in automated drainage analysis of raster digital elevation models. Hydrol. Process. 12, 843-855; the breaching algorithm implemented here is close to but not the same as theirs - the biggest difference being that the depression cells are not raised here). Breaching is often limited to a certain number of cells. Both of these methods change the DEM. Both methods need to be run iteratively to remove all removable depressions. Only the filling method is guaranteed to produce a depressionless DEM.
The non-iterative versions of the methods are:
$dem->breach($fdg, $limit);
The $limit in breaching is optional, the default is to not limit the breaching ($limit == 0). The $fdg, which is given to these algorithms should not contain flat areas.
If the $fdg is not given it is calculated as above in the depressions method and the depressions are removed iteratively until all depressions are removed or the number of depressions does not diminish in one iteration loop.
A method, which produces a pitless FDG is
$fdg = $dem->pitless_fdg();
This method is similar to the above methods but it does not change the DEM. It changes the path in the FDG from the bottom of the pit to the lowest pour point of the depression. The method is also iterative as the above methods. It first computes a FDG without flat areas and then applies the method $fdg->fixpits($dem) until there are not more pits or there is no change.
$water->route($dem, $fdg, $flow, $k, $d, $f, $r);
routes water out from a catchment. The method is recursive and routes water from each cell downslope if water from all its upslope cells have been routed downslope.
The catchment tree is traversed using the flow direction grid, which thus must contain only valid directions (no pits nor flat area cells).
The flow from cell a to a downstream cell b is calculated using eq:
slope = r * (h(a) - h(b)) / (UNIT_DISTANCE * distance_unit(dir(a->b))) flow = k * (slope + d) * water(a) r is the unit of z dived by the unit of x and y, e.g, if z is given in cm and UNIT_DISTANCE = 25 m, then r = 1 cm / 1 m = 0.01. $r is by default 1 h(x) is the elevation of x dir(a->b) is the direction from a to b UNIT_DISTANCE is a property of the DEM distance_unit() is 1 if direction is north, east, ... and sqrt(2) if direction is north-east, south-east, ... k is a parameter d is a parameter water(a) is the amount of water at cell a
$water Storage at each cell [grid] $dem DEM (input) [grid] $fdg FDG (input) [grid] $flow Amount of water leaving each cell (output) [grid] $k parameter [grid] $d parameter [grid] $f determines if water is routed from each cell to all of its neighbors having the same or lower elevation ($f == 1) or to the cell pointed by FDG ($f == 0) (default 1) $r is the unit of z dived by the unit of x and y (default 1)
Upslope area (as a number of cells) grid (UAG) from D8 FDG:
$uag = $fdg->uag();
upslope area (as a cell area) directly from a depressionless DEM
$uag = $dem->uag(fdg=>$fdg);
The FDG should be calculated from the DEM and have no pits or flat area cells (the FDG returned by the filldepressions is ok).
UAG is a real number grid.
From a 8-direction FDG one can get the upslope area (catchment) of a cell:
$catchment = $fdg->catchment($i, $j, $m);
or to mark on an existing grid
$fdg->catchment($catchment, $i, $j, $m);
The method marks the catchment with $m. $m is not required 1 is used by default. In an array context the returned array is ($catchment, $size) where the $size is the size of the catchment.
$d = $fdg->distance_to_channel($open_water_grid,[$steps])
Returns a new (real-numbered) grid whose cell values represent the distance to nearest channel (non-zero value in streams grid) along the flow path (defined by flow direction grid fdg). The distance is in the grid units. If steps is given and non-zero, the returned integer grid measures the distance in steps from pixel to pixel.
Streams grid may be obtained from the upslope-area grid by thresholding. If it is to be used with a lakes grid in the subcatchment method, it should be elaborated using methods:
$streams->prune($fdg, $lakes, $i, $j, $l);
which removes streams shorter than $l (in grid scale), note: also streams which end in a lake may be removed. If $l is not given the method removes one pixel streams. The lakes grid is optional and can be left out.
$streams->number_streams($fdg, $lakes, $i, $j);
Gives a unique id for each stream section in a stream-tree, which root is at (i,j). The lakes grid is optional and can be left out.
Subcatchment grid shows all subcatchments defined by a stream network.
$subcatchments = $streams->subcatchments($fdg, $i, $j);
($subcatchments, $topo) = $streams->subcatchments($fdg, $lakes, $i, $j);
where the i,j is the outlet point of the whole catchment. $topo is the topology of the catchment as a hash of associations:
DInfinity grids can be made but otherwise the methods to handle them do not work.
gdalconst, gdal
This module should be discussed in email@example.com.
The homepage of this module is http://libral.sf.net.
Ari Jolma, ari.jolma _at_ tkk.fi
Copyright (C) 1999-2006 by Ari Jolma
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself, either Perl version 5.8.5 or, at your option, any later version of Perl 5 you may have available.


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text:
Diabetes and Exercise
Managing diabetes can be a stressful, time-consuming process. But what happens when you add exercise to the mix?
Listen now to learn about diabetes and exercise: (MP3 3:45 min 2.2MB) Play
The following is a partial transcript taken from this audio broadcast:
Return To Medical Podcast Library »
Related Articles & Centers
Recommended Reading:
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text:
When a power outage struck part of Silicon Valley on a Thursday morning in early October this year, Andrew Peterson, director of finance and accounting at Cartridge World North America, sent his accounting staff home with succinct instructions. "We're still completing our month-end close, as scheduled, by noon tomorrow," he announced. "If you need anything, call me."
The power failure gave the Emeryville, Calif.-based global franchiser of printer-cartridge refilling stores a good opportunity to test its business continuity and pandemic preparedness procedures. "In the event of a pandemic, we would send as many employees responsible for key processes home as possible," Peterson explains. "We would also activate other processes, including scanning and e-mailing critical mail to them ... An important part of business continuity and pandemic preparedness is having employees who are willing and able to work from home. We've given them the tools to do that."
Cartridge World's response to the power outage may have served as valuable preparation. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes the occurrence of a pandemic as "highly likely, if not inevitable." A similar description comes from epidemiologists with the World Health Organization (WHO), who declare that the occurrence of a human pandemic influenza is a matter of "when" rather than "if." A pandemic will likely disrupt organizations on a much longer and more widespread basis than a Category 5 hurricane, a terrorist attack or most other kinds of natural or man-made disasters.
Peterson's company is on the right track: Preparedness planning for such a major upheaval boils down to "people, not just infrastructure," says Barbara Hawkins, manager, corporate health and safety, for E.ON U.S., a global energy-services company headquartered in Louisville, Ky. The next pandemic will leave buildings intact, but it could keep up to 40 percent of an organization's entire workforce off the job. Moving crucial functions and processes to other work locations will not be an option.
Rather than focusing on returning to full operations as quickly as possible, businesses should expect to operate at reduced capacity for 18 months or more. Although it appears likely that a vaccine will be developed after a pandemic emerges, it could take a year or more for one to be ready. Further, once a vaccine becomes available, countries and communities will face the challenges of procuring and distributing it. For those and other reasons, most traditional business continuity plans need enhancements that strengthen an organization's pandemic defenses.
The WHO has pegged the current pandemic alert level at Phase 3 on its six-step scale. "That means there has been very limited human-to-human transmission of a possible pandemic virus," explains Lisa M. Koonin, chief, private and public partners branch, and director of business partnerships for the CDC in Atlanta. "The good news about that is that there is still time to plan."
Planning Needs A Shot In the Arm
As recently as last spring, the vast majority of U.S. companies appeared ill-prepared to respond to a pandemic. In March, a Watson Wyatt Worldwide survey of 90 multinational companies found that only 15 percent of U.S. companies had plans in place to address the consequences of the most likely source of a pandemic: a strain of avian (bird) flu that mutates into a human-to-human flu.
Results of a July survey of 553 companies conducted by The Conference Board suggested that pandemic preparedness planning is advancing, although most of that progress has taken place at larger companies. In that survey, 93 percent of executives at companies with annual revenue of $10 billion or more indicated that their organizations have completed pandemic preparedness plans or were in the process of doing so. However, that proportion steadily decreased according to the size of a company's revenue. Less than 60 percent of companies in the $100 million to $1 billion range said that they had completed or were in the process of completing pandemic-specific continuity plans. Worse, only about 35 percent of companies with annual revenue less than $100 million indicated that they were in the process of developing pandemic preparedness plans -- and none of those companies had completed the plans.
In many cases, CFOs possess the final responsibility for business continuity management and pandemic preparedness efforts. Although the same Conference Board study indicated that only 2.5 percent of CFOs have primary responsibility for planning and implementing their organization's pandemic preparedness, most functional areas that own that primary responsibility -- including risk management, business continuity, procurement and supply chain -- typically report to the CFO.
Worst-Case Scenarios?
If your corporate directors, fellow executives or anyone else needs additional motivation for jump-starting pandemic planning efforts, the following figures might help:
• The World Health Organization estimates that 2 million to 7.4 million people might die.
• The Centers for Disease Control estimates that the economic impact of a pandemic on the country will range from $71.3 billion to $165.5 billion.
• The U.S. Congressional Budget Office reports that a pandemic will cause a recession while reducing U.S. gross domestic product by more than 4 percent.
• The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Commerce report that illness rates will be highest among school-aged children and that an average of 20 percent of working adults will become ill when a pandemic appears in their community.
• HHS and Commerce project that workforce absenteeism rates could reach as high as 40 percent during the peak weeks of an outbreak due to illness, fear of infection and the need to care for stricken family members or school-aged children.
Beyond Traditional Continuity Planning
Traditional business continuity plans are insufficient defenses against a pandemic, but companies with the most advanced pandemic preparedness plans typically use existing continuity plans to build a strong pandemic defense.
"Pandemic planning represents a very broad challenge," notes Michael C. Evangelides, a principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP in Chicago. Evangelides and other pandemic- planning experts point to several areas where the impacts of a pandemic on an organization differ most acutely from the impacts of other disasters and business interruptions:
The Human Challenge. A pandemic will affect employees within every business unit and pose severe challenges. The finance function and IT department will need to address cash-flow and system-overload problems, respectively, with greatly reduced staffs. A seriously truncated HR group will face complex and highly stressful benefits, healthcare and procedural demands. At the same time, employees will bombard them with pressing questions such as, What happens when my sick leave runs out? Can I come to work if my spouse or child is infected? Is my life insurance policy still in effect? Should we let visitors into the building?
"Succession planning and cross-training are vital components of effective planning efforts, because a pandemic will affect so many people," Evangelides says. "This is not a matter of being able to shift key operations to a backup location in the event of a fire." In a highly blogged Law.com article, Baker & McKenzie lawyers Brian Arbetter and Peter Gillespie presented a long list of legal considerations a pandemic would spark, including Occupational Safety and Health Act claims, wage-and-hour laws, Family and Medical Leave Act questions, union contracts, workers' compensation and short-term disability policies, foreign-legal requirements and more.
E.ON U.S is offering annual flu shots, as it does every fall, as part of its corporate wellness program. This year, the company's communications group developed pandemic education notices to accompany the flu-shot program. The communications plan emphasizes the importance and value of basic disease-prevention steps, such as the covering of mouths when coughing, good hand-washing and other such practices that would also serve as valuable defenses in the event that a pandemic influenza occurs. "We're going to use that seasonal flu clinic, as the CDC has suggested, as an opportunity to push that information out to our employees," Hawkins says.
Supply Chain Continuity. In a pandemic, says Evangelides, "the supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link." A typical weak point in prevailing business continuity management has been supply-chain preparedness. "That's where tradi- tional business continuity often falls off a cliff," says Karen Avery, leader of the national continuity risk practice at Marsh Inc., a risk consulting firm in New York City. "Either the plans don't sufficiently identify critical internal and external people or they don't take a deep enough look at their supply chain or 'value chain.' The plans tend to only look within a company's own four walls."
Aon, a Chicago-based risk management and insurance brokerage firm, has asked its major vendors to fill out a pandemic-planning questionnaire. "Most of them are giving us information that we think is reasonable," reports Karl Bryant, director of business continuity. "We don't expect a supplier to have every 'i' dotted and 't' crossed in the documentation of every conceivable pandemic situation ... We're primarily looking for the fact that they have thought this through and have a reasonable level of planning and process in place."
Finance Function Flexibility. Finance and accounting staffs rarely consist of large numbers of telecommuters. That will need to change in the event of a pandemic. Cartridge World and other businesses are now laying the groundwork for more mobile staffs by designing processes that can be conducted remotely. The company strives to work with vendors through electronic billing and payment methods. "We're not very far from running a paper-free office," says Peterson. Plus, the majority of the Wells Fargo banking services the company regularly uses involve electronic exchanges conducted through an Internet connection.
The franchiser and its payroll partner, Paychex, are "working together to ensure that we can process payroll even when our servers are down," says Peterson. "We are developing alternative methods of uploading our payroll numbers to them. We also make sure that we have multiple finance and HR people who can ensure that the payroll process operates in case the people normally assigned to the process are unavailable."
IT Stress. Cartridge World also uses a hosted enterprise resource planning (ERP) system from NetSuite, which includes features that contribute to business continuity, according to Peterson. "They provide us with a data-integrity and data-backup system as well as guaranteed up time that is simply unachievable for most small and mid-sized companies trying to run their own servers," he explains. The hosted solution also can be accessed through a Web browser, the same interface Cartridge World's finance and accounting employees use to access the system within the office.
Telecommuting features prominently in most pandemic plans. However, as Electronic Data Systems Corp. (EDS) fellow Kas Kasravi points out, "IT is young and has never lived through a world-changing event." EDS, based in Plano, Texas, provides IT and business process outsourcing services. Not only are most corporate IT infrastructures "untested," but so are external telecommunications and IT infrastructures. Whether corporate and public systems can support a surge in home-to-office data and voice transmissions represents a crucial pandemic-response question. Forward-looking companies and IT functions have begun trial work-from-home days in which large numbers of employees put virtual private networks through their paces.
Local Relationships. CDC's Koonin affirms that public-sector responsibilities for pandemic responses largely reside with state and local health-services agencies. Those officials will be responsible for decisions on school closures, transit restrictions and the distribution of medicine. "The worst time to exchange business cards is in the middle of a crisis," Koonin says. "It's really important to get to know the local emergency and public-health planners right now."
A Six-Step Preparedness Program
Last spring, Aon initiated a program to retrofit the company's existing business continuity plans to address the unique challenges a pandemic would pose. The company treated the process as a greatly enhanced version of the normal business continuity planning updates that the entire organization conducts quarterly. Although Bryant emphasizes that the company is still in the process of adding many of those enhancements, its six-step approach, which follows, serves as a useful model. It also happens to reflect a similar approach that Aon's business continuity management consulting arm delivers to client companies:
1. Educate executives. Bryant wanted the company's leaders to develop a consistent, fact-based understanding of a pandemic's range of likely impacts. "We gave them some basic science about pandemic influenza," he says. "And then we worked through the planning assumptions in greater detail." For example, Bryant and his team explained that remedies would not be immediately available and that absentee rates could reach as high as 40 percent or more during peak infection waves. They also explained their reasoning behind linking important pandemic-response actions to the WHO's pandemic phases. For example, if Aon Americas needs to change certain terms in a supplier relationship, that shift would be initiated when the WHO raises its pandemic scale to Phase 5. "Relying on shifts set by the WHO is more reliable and more organized than having to negotiate the timing of changes during the actual pandemic," says Bryant.
2. Create "pandemic flu focus groups." Aon's business continuity planning function briefed subject-matter experts selected by each corporate function and business unit to serve as the point people responsible for guiding their groups through their own response plans.
3. Develop a communications plan. Each function and business unit scrutinized its existing continuity plans to ensure that all of the contact information for employees, customers, suppliers and other constituents was up to date.
4. Identify the company's most critical operating processes. "A pandemic flu plan has to take into account that almost everything, including schools, public transportation, may shut down for a period of time," Bryant explains. "Given that possibility, we identified our most critical functions -- those that directly affect the survivability of the business. The goal of the planning process is to figure out how to conduct those critical processes in the face of extremely challenging conditions." Policy administration, which includes renewals, binding coverage and certificates of insurance, and payment processing represent two critical functions at Aon.
5. Organize crucial processes. Aon divided important operating processes into those that can be suspended, those that can be maintained with remote access, and those that require human interaction in an office environment. For the first category, the company analyzed the impact of suspending processes, assembled a communication plan to alert all internal and external parties affected by the suspension, and determined how employees responsible for the suspended process can be reassigned to more important processes.
Next, the company drafted procedural guidelines for continuing to operate processes while responsible employees worked remotely from home. For crucial processes that cannot be operated remotely, the company drafted guidelines for conducting the processes during a pandemic. The guidelines include procedures for limiting direct contact among workers and for protecting employees (via protective gloves, masks and hand gel) who must closely interact with one other.
6. Coordinate an overall mitigation strategy at the corporate level. Finally, Bryant's corporate business continuity planning function reviewed all business-unit and functional plans to ensure that they were consistent with one another. "It is our responsibility to be the shepherds of these plans," he declares.
That shepherding has applications beyond pandemics. "Whether a pandemic ever comes or not, the planning is not a waste of time," Hawkins says. "[It] can apply to any situation in which large numbers of employees cannot get to work for whatever reason."
Just ask Peterson, whose staff met its noon deadline for the month-end close despite the power failure. "We endured no down time at all from the outage," he adds, "except for the time it took them to drive home."
Pandemic Planning Checklist
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have developed a "Business Pandemic Influenza Planning Checklist," available online at http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/businesschecklist.html. The checklist includes the four steps summarized below. Each step contains several action items.
1. Plan for the impact of a pandemic on your business. Understand how the workforce might be disrupted during a pandemic. Employees may fall ill. Or, they may need to stay home to care for sick family members or even healthy children in the event of school closures.
2. Plan for the impact of a pandemic on your employees and customers. Unlike other disasters (with the exception of some forms of bioterrorism), pandemics are unique in that they are infections and jump from person to person through coughing, sneezing and touching. Examine the principles of "social distancing" steps designed to limit close contact between people to prevent or reduce the spread of the virus. Lisa Koonin, chief of the private and public partners branch and director of business partnerships for the CDC, advises companies to consider restrictions on large meetings and, where possible, rely on telecommuting.
3. Establish policies to be implemented during a pandemic. Revisit sick-leave policies and related rules. For example, HR departments that normally require a sick note to support an extended absence should reconsider that rule in the event of a pandemic, when doctors will be overloaded.
4. Allocate resources to protect your employees and customers during a pandemic. For example, if telecommuting is offered as an alternative work arrangement, ensure that the supporting processes and technologies are in place.


text:
life student of travelology
outgoing joker planning on traveling the world with a smile. love meeting new people and having a blast wherever i go and lighting up peoples faces with smiles.
ourdoor activities, learning, guitar, travel
laughlin, nv....jamiaca
Posted by coot97 | 17th February 2007
sample diary entry
18 Feb 2007 - 26 Feb 2007
Visiting: USA.
18 Nov 2006 - 26 Nov 2006
Visiting: USA, Haiti, Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Mexico.
california, nevada, arizona help... i know good sking, hiking, beaches in these areas
coot97 hasn't been active in the wiki travel guide yet. Have you?


text:
Cherry Squares Recipe
A scrumptious coconut crust complements cherry pie filling in these quick-to-fix squares. Try them the next time you're entertaining a friend or two for coffee. —Mildred Schwartzentruber, Tavistock, Ontario
- 1-3/4 cups sweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 can (21 ounces) cherry pie filling
- 1. In a bowl, combine first four ingredients. Press half the mixture into a greased 9-in. square baking pan. Top with the pie filling and sprinkle with remaining crumbs. Bake at 375° for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Yield: 9 servings.
Nutritional Facts
1 piece: 375 calories, 17g fat (12g saturated fat), 27mg cholesterol, 163mg sodium, 54g carbohydrate (33g sugars, 2g fiber), 3g protein.
Reviews for Cherry Squares
Average Rating
Reviewed Apr. 10, 2015
"The cherry squares were tasty, but the crust was on the soft side. It was difficult to pick up without it falling apart. It might be better to put more than half of the crust on the bottom and less on the top."
© 2017 RDA Enthusiast Brands, LLC


text:
Originally written on Fox Sports | Last updated 9/25/14
Sprint specialist Mark Cavendish has become the latest member of Britain's cycling team to be involved in a bike crash after hitting the back of a car during a training run in Italy. The 2011 world road race champion says on Twitter he sustained a bruised arm after a car in front slammed on the brakes, but he is ''relatively ok.'' Cavendish's accident came two weeks after Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins and British Cycling head coach Shane Sutton were hospitalized after being knocked off their bikes. Wiggins spent one night in the hospital with bruised ribs and hands when he was hit by a car. Sutton had surgery on a broken cheekbone and also sustained bruising and bleeding to the brain, but has already returned to work.
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text:
A FATHER and son duo braved subzero temperatures when they trekked to Everest base camp and raised more than £7,000 for two charities close to their hearts.
John Burgess, aged 67, of Amblecote and his son, Greg, aged 35, completed the Himalayan trek in aid of Side by Side, a Stourbridge theatre company for learning disabled actors and Birmingham Children's Hospital.
John, who is an avid supporter of Side by Side, has volunteered behind the scenes for six years and wanted to raise some vital funds for the group and Greg chose to fundraise for the children's hospital as he used to work there.
The pair began their 12 day expedition on October 25 and arrived back in the UK on November 11.
Greg, who recently moved from Kinver to Mid Wales, said: "We got to base camp on the eighth day and it took us four days to get back. It was quite daunting, we were walking for nine hours a day but we managed to keep fit and healthy."
John added: "It was very strenuous but I thoroughly enjoyed it and the scenery was wonderful, I couldn't put it into words.
"When I told people at Side by Side what I was doing, they were shocked and amazed because of my age but when I got back I had a wonderful reception."
John and Greg wished to thank everyone who had donated so far.
Anyone who wishes to add to their impressive total, can do so by visiting http://www.justgiving.com/JohnandGreg-Burgess


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Hazzardous_Material says: "Please welcome the beautiful Kelayne to Zivity in this tribute to Catwoman. "
Only voters receive the private messages a model sends to her fans.
Voting is how you show love and appreciation to your favorite models & photographers.
Zivity pays them a cash royalty for each vote they receive.
Because there's simply not a "best" one in the bunch. Although in a way, you saved the best for last. Really great work.(deleted) LazarusArisen
Buy votes to support this artist on Zivity. Votes are $1 each, and when you vote on a set you like, 55% goes to the model and 30% to the photographer. You can vote in the next step after registering and purchasing votes.


text:
Wow. Was that the most sensational Adland headline ever? Probably not. Still, the story is true.
In Van Nuys a couple weeks ago, a shark used during a Kmart shoot died.
A 5-foot-long white-tipped shark died March 6 after being shipped from New York to Los Angeles and placed in an above-ground pool in a Van Nuys backyard for a commercial for Kmart, according to a letter sent to the American Humane Assn.
In the L.A. time story though, it points to an interesting squabble between Peta (the people for the ethical treatment of animals, even if we have to kill 1600 dogs and cats like we did last year ) and the American Humane Association whose job is to supervise tv and movie shoots involving animals among a lot of other things.
Sounds like some drams across the board. But it gets worse...
Citing a "whistle-blower" who worked on the commercial, Gallucci said in her letter that the production company, Boxer Films of Los Angeles, had recommended against using a live shark. When the animal died, Kmart asked that a second shark be brought on set, but the production company refused and replaced the animal with an animatronic hippopotamus, Gallucci alleged in her letter.
Yikes. Kind of makes the official statement of condolences and respect for animals from parent holding company Sears seem a bit, what's the word...hollow?
So Peta points fingers. The AHA orders an investigation, and Sears tries damage control.
Question: How long before the ad agency gets some of the blame? Who has Kmart these days? Is it still DraftFCB? I know it was up for review, but it seems like for now they might be the culprits.


text:
This is part three of a six-part op-ed series in which I make my predictions for Apple's product line-up for 2012. Today we'll look at the company's iPod.
The iPod no longer gets the big love and attention it once did. That goes to the iPhone and iPad, products that have evolved from the iPod and cannibalized some of its sales. Despite this, Apple's MP3 player remains dominant in its market and has years of life left.
But there'll be fewer models to choose from. Per my crystal ball, the iPod shuffle and iPod classic have seen their last updates and will quietly disappear in 2012.
The iPod nano won't have any major redesigns (no iOS support, for example). A few bells and whistles will be added. Pricing will drop a bit or else Apple will up the storage capacity slightly and keep prices steady.
The iPod touch is the top dog in the iPod world and will continue to be one of Apple's shining jewels. It will finally get cameras on a par with the iPhone, as well...| Read more »


text:
Skiing and riding (like most experiences) are best when you can enjoy it with friends. This season New Jersey skiers and riders can save big when they travel to the mountain with a posse, and the more they bring along, the better the experience for everyone.
Mountain Creek's Carload Thursdays start on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2013 and continue every week through Mar. 8, excluding Thursday, Feb. 23.
THE DEAL: To participate, friends must pre-purchase tickets online and print out a ticket voucher. Vouchers must be redeemed for lift tickets at the ticket window and can be picked up at anytime of the day.
THE STEAL: All the passengers in your car (maximum of 10) get a Full Day All Access Lift Ticket for just $99 total. That's just $10 bucks a person! Meaning you'll have enough money left to split a couple of pizzas. Heck, maybe even get 'em delivered to the lot.
The more people, the better the savings for everyone, so call up your friend with station wagon or A-team van and pack it to the gills. If you're thinking of out-smarting the system, Mountain Creek beat you to it. Passenger cars only -- that means no busses, cargo vans, moving trucks or commercial vehicles.
Plus, every Thursday is also college tubing night. Whether skiing or riding's not your thing or you just want to mix it up after last chair, head to the new Drop Zone Tubing Park between 4-7 p.m. Don't forget your college ID, you'll need to show it in order to save yourself $10 off of a 2 hour session. That's half off the normal rate, just for being a student. Bet you never thought a higher education would pay off so quickly.
More info at mountaincreek.com.


text:
Disaster Response
Recovery efforts continue if the Lumberton North Carolina area. Volunteer teams are needed to help rebuild
There is a great deal of work to be done. Volunteer teams need to be flexible in the work they are willing and able to do, as job priorities may change. Chainsaw and debris cleanup is still going on. And then of course, there is the rebuilding of homes involving drywall, taping, painting, flooring, and other finishing work . Lumberton contact information.
Now is a good time to review your readiness plans in the event a disaster happens in your community. Check your lists, your phone numbers, your contact system, and your batteries.
Know your congregation's emergency response procedures so that you are able to check in with members and your communities. Be ready to offer the church facilities as emergency gathering places or safe places - if you are able.
Finally, know that if the worse happens and you are in the midst of the disaster, there are additional resources and help available through the larger church. Sally Hiller and the Southeastern District Office stand ready to assist in connecting you with resources through Lutheran Disaster Response, LCMS Disaster Response, and a host of SED congregations and people who are prepared and ready to serve as early responders.
The Southeastern District has numerous resources to assist in Disaster Preparedness, Response, and Recovery. Check the resource page on the right. If you are interested in a congregational training session (for church, home, and community) contact Liz.
The Southeastern District Disaster Response Task Force works to collect and provide information to assist congregations and members to be prepare for times of disaster.
The Southeastern District encourages:
_____ each congregation to identify a disaster coordinator for the congregation. Please forward a name and contact information on a contact for your congregation to firstname.lastname@example.com
____each congregation to prepare a congregational disaster plan (a six module program to assist in this planning has been developed by the district task force and is available from the link above.
A series of video modules developed for Congregations
Disaster Preparedness Resources - this page is a link to resources for congregations


text:
Foals release brand new single and video for 'Inhaler'
Foals continuously blur the lines between rock dance and music. Playing modern day math-rock that we have come to love, the Oxford band presses on in their new single "Inhaler." The song starts out with a funky bass line that is a staple in many Foals songs. It comes on strong at about a minute in and never stops.
The accompanying video includes the band playing in an abandoned pool. The video includes a bunch of inter-city kids doing a dance routine. Also included is a babe with a heart tattoo, skateboarding, and fucking fireworks. Check out the video below and pick up the album on February 12th via Warner Bros Records.
Follow Kevin Camps @kpcamps.


text:
I like red wine, airports, cats & reading an actual newspaper.
I am the secret love child of Jean-Paul Sartre and Ally McBeal, with all of the attendant peculiarities.
OkCupid used to make you sum yourself up in three adjectives, for the benefit of those users too impatient to read an entire profile. For the record, I am intuitive, discerning, and analytical.
I sell dreams, you see.
I am the driving force behind two consumer-facing technology startups, only of one of which is funded, so it gets preferential treatment lately.
I finished grad school at the University of South Florida in 2010. I spent ten months out of the year working in East Africa hunting parasites in 2011 and 2012.
When I was in school I worked as a graphic designer at an ad agency and a clerk at an auction.
Before all that I served in AmeriCorps for two years.
being an INTP
This is not a low or self-deprecating standard. It is good to round out your rough edges. I have invested in that process.
House, among current options on the small screen.
I was a vegetarian for twelve years. I am drifting back in that direction, but it is a very slow drift... so slow that there are continents outpacing me at the moment.
2. Pockets
3. Sunshine
4. Aspiration
5. Transport
6. Wikipedia
- markets
- nomenclature
- the light that hits the room
- control and experimental groups
- how to explain my job to people
- iambs
- emergence
- tradeoffs
- rules
- international development
- how the subjective experience of cognition would differ for us and other entities that I can metaphorically endow with some form of intelligence, like insect swarms and chess pieces. The bishop thinks the board looks like a diamond to you too, by the way.
Also, why is the artistic merit of a song inversely proportional to the euphoria produced by dancing to it at a club?
Let's use this section for Poem of the Week instead.
I am waiting for a plane to DC.
I am wearing a t-shirt with owls.
I have a sport coat on over it.
There was no room in my suitcase.
My back crackles with the strain
Of the last six months digging
Post-holes at Glen Lake Village,
Amalgam of suburban aspiration.
My hands tingle or go numb.
The man standing next to me
Has a designer breed puppy
On a pink leash at his feet.
This dog is enthralled, enraptured,
By abso-fucking-lutely every
Person in this terminal. Its eyes
Might soon explode. It pants.
The zone ahead of me is called.
Woman cradles her sleeping daughter
They have the exact same color hair.
I used to think that pain was a clarifier
But now I hope it will do more, I hope
It will keep me close to my senses,
I hope it will make me extra polite.
I hope it will keep me light-footed,
Even if the animating principle is fear.
Fear of the golden bolts that flash
Down my spine, fear of losing words.
I sit in 20B. My coat covers my lap.
Those golden bolts make it hard to
Look in any particular direction.
I don't feel light. I feel tired.
I tuck the phone in my pocket and
Hope now only for sleep.
"Without your wounds where would your power be? It is your melancholy that makes your low voice tremble into the hearts of men and women. The very angels themselves cannot persuade the wretched and blundering children on earth as can one human being broken on the wheels of living. In Love's service, only wounded soldiers can serve." - Thornton Wilder
I am not into being silly. I sometimes end up being silly anyway.
I refer to cities by their airport code. More people should do this.


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she didnt want any ogf his semen near her mouth did she..like it was poison! then again this guy is fucking total non event..should be a tyre changer not an amateur porn boy
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It is the organic plant based alternative to chemical laden hand sanitizers. Organic Lavender Essential Oil is naturally antiseptic with anti-microbial benefits. Fragrant and soothing, it delivers 62% Organic Alcohol (non-GMO) to sanitize hands.
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We've entered the Lenten season, a time for reflection and sacrifice as we await the joyous Easter holiday.
We're paying tribute to this season of mediation with today's free worship background called "Cross of Jesus".
This iconic clip will create a serene atmosphere during your next worship service!
Free Religious Symbols Worship Background "Cross of Jesus" Preview
The Free Worship Backgrounds logo is removed when you download the clip.
Quality: Full HD quality, 1920x1080p, 30 fps
License: 100% royalty free license that allows you to use the background in all types of productions, for worldwide distribution, forever. There are never any licensing fees. Read our license agreement here.
Download "Cross of Jesus" Worship Background
Compatible with...
- Easy Worship
- PowerPoint
- Pro Presenter
- Media Shout
- Song Show Plus
- Windows MovieMaker
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Looking for information about the parents of the five CAMPBELL brothers who lived in Augusta Co. until 1809 by which time they had migrated to Green Co., Kentucky and founded Campbellsville, Ky. The brothers were: (1) Andrew CAMPBELL, b. Augusta Co. ca. 1765, m. 29 Jan 1793 Rebecca CAMPBELL, d. 15 May 1819 Campbellsville, Ky., (2) James CAMPBELL b. Augusta Co. ca. 1775, m. 23 Jun 1809 Rachel SPEAR, d. 26 Feb 1832 Campbellsville, Ky., (3) Michael CAMPBELL b.Augusta Co., m. 15 Jan 1805 Elizabeth MATEER, d.10 Aug 1847, (4) Adam CAMPBELL b. ca. 1778 Augusta Co., m. ca. 1805 Sarah STEELE, d. 6 Feb. 1850 Campbellsville, Ky., (5) David CAMPBELL b. Augusta Co., m. 4 Jan 1816, Green Co., Ky. Mary "Polly" NELSON. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vaaugust/query/exportc.htm
Categories: Surname in place | Early Settlers of Old Augusta | Campbell Tapestry | Old Augusta Campbell Tapestry


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Co-operative members have helped out two groups in Hayle with cash grants.
The Hayle rowing and pilot gig club received a grant of £2,000 for a new pilot gig boat.
The Hayle Film Club were granted £2000 towards a new blu-ray system and projector, improving the film experience for all its members.
The groups received the cash boost from The Co-operative's Community Fund, a pot of money accumulated by member customers opting to donate all or part of their annual dividend to good causes in the area. The money is distributed by The Co-operative's local area committees.
Christine Ryall, from the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Area Committee, said: "Supporting local communities has been an inherent part of The Co-operative's values and principles since the very beginning of the Co-operative Movement.
"We are particularly proud of our Community Fund, as it demonstrates how the generosity of our members can make a real difference in their local area, and now we have stores and branches in every postal area of the UK it makes it all the more relevant."


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The New York Yankees took plenty of pitchers in the 2014 MLB draft, but none of them look like Kenny Powers of HBO's Eastbound & Down quite like West Virginia's Sean Carley.
Baseball America's Ben Badler tweeted the comparison:
Yankees draft Sean Carley, whose Baseball America scouting report compares him to Kenny Powers. Spot on: pic.twitter.com/q681QdfHzs
— Ben Badler (@BenBadler) June 7, 2014
The similarities are certainly there for these two pitchers, although if Carley wants to play for the Yankees he's going to have to do some grooming first.
Or maybe he has, per John Torres of Florida Today:
"I was just getting shaped up for Saturday night's graduation/draft party," he said. "It's funny that I was getting my hair cut because the Yankees are known for having strict rules about being clean-cut and all that."
Carley was drafted in the 14th round as the 422nd overall pick.
Yanks to Target Lester in Offseason
Yanks Offense Their Biggest Problem
Yanks a Suitor for A's RP Johnson?
Complete List of Yanks' Draft Picks
Yanks' No. 1 Pick Talks Becoming a Reliever
Phelps and Nuno Will Force TradeTags: 2014 mlb draft, Baseball, HBO, Kenny Powers, MLB, New York, New York Yankees, Sean Carley


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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/8/2014 (1103 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The race is already a crowded field -- so bunched up at the gate that without the help of a pollster it's hard to know which horse has the best chance of replacing our Old Grey Mayor.
And, there are no political polls in sight.
Well, maybe one.
This week, hoping for your help, a Winnipeg polling company decided to try to make the process, if not the field, even more crowded and the result more predictable.
On Wednesday, Probe Research Inc. president Scott MacKay launched what he's calling "Canada's first crowdfunded election survey." It's an online appeal over two weeks to raise $8,000 from individuals and sponsoring organizations, all by way of trying to gauge who's out front in mid-September, as they gallop or trot to the wire on Oct. 22.
"There is significant public interest in the 2014 municipal election campaign in Winnipeg," MacKay said in statement. "For the first time in a decade, an incumbent mayor's name will not be on the ballot, and a higher-than-average number of candidates have stepped forward to compete for the city's highest political office."
Crowdfunding is more commonly used to raise money for startup companies, not existing ones.
So why is Probe trying this novel approach?
More importantly, why would anyone give a minimum of $25 -- much less $100 or more -- to be part of it?
On Friday, MacKay explained Probe decided to give it a try because of all the chatter about the election on Twitter.
"My colleague, Curtis Brown, who is an avid tweeter, kept coming into my office every morning and saying, 'Man there's a lot of interest in having a poll out right now. All the Twittersphere is atwitter about why we should have a poll."
Which is when the idea of crowdsourcing came up.
Probe searched to see if public online donations had ever been used to fund a political poll.
They couldn't find a precedent.
"And then we thought, 'Well let's try this.' "
They're trying it, as you might have guessed, because no one else was willing to fund the poll at this stage of the campaign.
That's primarily because as media-industry revenues have shrunk, so has the funding for political polling.
"In the good old days, we used to do three polls," MacKay recalled.
One at the beginning of a campaign, one in the middle and another near the end.
But polling is expensive, MacKay acknowledges.
At $8,000, he said, this one is break-even, which suggests MacKay and Brown are even more eager for an answer to where this election is headed than all those tweeters.
So why would anyone -- other than the media or a candidate -- supply funding for a political poll?
"There's something very egalitarian about the crowdsource model," MacKay said. "If you believe in these kinds of surveys and that they're an important part of democracy, then you would want to have a poll and we're just not going to have one unless this happens."
But that presents other questions.
Does the public still believe in polling?
What happened to the accuracy polling used to guarantee 19 times out of 20?
That's a question that's been haunting the polling industry of late.
It's been at issue at least since some high-profile national pollsters failed -- and failed miserably -- to predict the outcomes of the most recent Alberta and B.C. elections.
As for why pollsters were so wrong, MacKay said after doing their own self-analysis and hiring others to do it for them, there are no conclusive answers.
Only theories.
MacKay has his own theory, and it goes back to the media pulling back from spending on political surveys and how the polling industry reacted.
"When the media stopped underwriting polls in the last decade, polling companies still wanted to participate," he said. "So they started giving them away."
As a result, he suspects, the polling industry hasn't been applying the rigour to the methodology, or spending enough money, to get the results right.
Or maybe it has something to do with so many people being off the polling grid because they only have cellphones.
Whatever the reason, MacKay said Probe has never been willing to give their product away and risk sacrificing what's most important to them.
Their credibility.
Which is why they decided to make the online public appeal.
MacKay is anticipating media organizations and candidates will help kick-start the crowd-sourcing, if for no other reason than it's affordable and all donors will get the results before they're released publicly.
MacKay doesn't even know if his "experiment" will work.
This much he does know.
"If this doesn't work," he said, "people get their money back."
He also knows this; without media and candidate support, the model would need 80 people playing a minimum of $100 each to make it work.
"I mean, do you really know 80 political junkies that care that much to do this?" MacKay asked. "I don't." But, over the next couple of weeks, before the appeal closes, we're going to find out who really wants to know who's out front, heading home.
See Probe's crowd-funding appeal: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/904940/emal/8430859


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Why must you arbitrarily insert unnecessary <div> tags into my code, making my paragraphs run together? If I wanted to hand-code the site I would have stayed on my old CMS. Stop, please.Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for October, 2011
Thank You, Occupiers
While I've admittedly mocked the Occupy protestors (more on Twitter than here), I haven't been able to generate the least bit of anger for them. I'm often exasperated with them, and confused by them, and wonder what the heck they are thinking. If that sounds a lot like a parent talking, well, you wouldn't be […]Read the rest of this entry »
No media bias here
A Presidential candidate is traced by an eyewitness to a late-night hotel rendezvous with a beautiful young woman who is not his wife, and several prominent media outlets who have actually spoken with the eyewitness chose to spike the story to protect the politician. – or maybe – A Presidential candidate is traced by an eyewitness […]Read the rest of this entry »
Hello, Gorgeous
I've written about Templar Custom rifles numerous times, from the full-auto .50 Beowulf PDW that I've had the opportunity to fire on several occasions to the Multi-Caliber-Weapons System (MCWS) that I reviewed for Shooting Illustrated recently. Well, now I have one of my own. It probably doesn't look like much in this photo, just another M-forgery, […]Read the rest of this entry »
Steal, Loot, Scavenge
Thanks to a little encouragement here—and the fact I can't seem to get the idea out of my head—I've started plotting out some ideas behind the novel I want to write. I've a rough bullet-point outline of the first four chapters, and have already run into an interesting moral theme that I've run into in […]Read the rest of this entry »


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Hepatic Hemodynamic Changes and Simulation in Living-Related Liver Transplantation
The recruitment status of this study is unknown. The completion date has passed and the status has not been verified in more than two years.
Verified September 2005 by National Taiwan University Hospital.
Recruitment status was: Recruiting
Recruitment status was: Recruiting
National Taiwan University Hospital
Information provided by:
National Taiwan University Hospital
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
First received: October 5, 2005
Last updated: NA
Last verified: September 2005
History: No changes posted
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
This 1-year project is intended to study the hemodynamic changes of poratal and hepatic artery during living related liver transplantation. We hypothesize that after right hepatectomy for living related liver transplatation, portal vein overflow will change the remnant liver contour and result in liver hyperplasia.
|Right Hepatectomy
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Observational Model: Defined Population
Observational Model: Natural History
Time Perspective: Longitudinal
Time Perspective: Prospective
|Official Title:
|Hepatic Hemodynamic Changes and Simulation Before /After Living-Related Liver Transplantation in Donors/Recipients
Resource links provided by NLM:
MedlinePlus related topics: Liver TransplantationU.S. FDA Resources
Further study details as provided by National Taiwan University Hospital:
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|21 Years to 65 Years (Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria: - Informed adult-to adult living donor underwent right lobectomy
Exclusion Criteria:
- no written informed contents
Contacts and Locations
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below. For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00234624
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00234624
|Contact: Cheng-Maw Ho, MD
|+886-2-23123456 ext 9801914
|Contact: Po-Huang Lee, PhD
|Taipei, Taiwan, 100
|Contact: Cheng-Maw Ho, MD +886-2-23123456 ext 9801914 email@example.com
|Contact: Po-Huang Lee, PhD +886-2-23123456 ext 5104 email@example.com
|Sub-Investigator: Cheng-Maw Ho, MD
|Principal Investigator: Po-Huang Lee, PhD
Sponsors and Collaborators
National Taiwan University Hospital
|Principal Investigator:
|Po-Huang Lee, PhD
More Information
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on August 18, 2017
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT00234624 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|Study First Received:
|October 5, 2005
|Last Updated:
|October 5, 2005
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on August 18, 2017


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|You are in: Football
Monday, 3 February, 2003, 09:05 GMT
Warnock nets award
Sheffield United's cup exploits have helped manager Neil Warnock win the Nationwide Division One manager of the month award for January.
The Blades won both of their league games during the month, beating leaders Portsmouth at Fratton Park before overcoming local rivals Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 at Bramall Lane.
Warnock's side also defeated Cheltenham and Ipswich in the FA Cup, while they narrowly lost out on aggregate to Liverpool in the Worthington Cup semi-final.
Crewe boss Dario Gradi took the Division Two award after they won all four of their league fixtures to push them into the automatic promotion places.
Hartlepool's Mike Newell won the Division Three award.
The Third Division leaders were unbeaten during January, winning four and drawing one of their five games.
Newell only replaced former boss Chris Turner last November, but has guided the side to an eight-point lead at the top.
Halifax manager Chris Wilder won the Nationwide Conference award.
Top Football stories now:
Links to more Football stories are at the foot of the page.
|E-mail this story to a friend
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Spot the Shih Tzu Needs a Loving home
Spotless Spot is a very handsome, gentle and super sweet, eight or nine-year-old, 11-pound, male white Shih Tzu looking for a loving guardian. Spot is such a love of a dog. He was dropped off at Chicago Animal Care and Control when his family could no longer care for him. Spot is wonderful with people and other dogs. He loves walks and snuggles with his people. Spot is up-to-date on vaccines, micro-chipped, heartworm-tested and on monthly preventative. He is scheduled to be neutered. To meet and possibly adopt him, please fill in the on-line adoption application at http://famousfidorescue.com/rescueforms/machform/view.php?id=26727 and follow up by contacting Gloria at email@example.com or 773-907-0305. His adoption fee of $200 benefits the rescued pets of Famous Fido's. Spot is staying at rescue headquarters at 5430 N. Clark Street in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood. Make an appointment to stop in and meet some of the adoptable dogs.
Posted by sheri00000, Community Contributor
Copyright © 2017, Chicago Tribune


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Cena Restaurant
Cena is a modern, fresh and simple Italian food served in a contemporary and stylish setting. Located in the Grand Central building at the heart of the vibrant Channel District of Tampa, Florida – Cena is dining from the roots – great ingredients, traditional dishes, and attentive service. Join us.


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2011-12 Myron and Margaret Winegarden Visiting Professor – Kenneth Waltzer
Renowned historian Kenneth Waltzer, Ph.D. has been appointed as the 2011-12 Myron and Margaret Winegarden Visiting Professor.
Dr. Waltzer attended SUNY Binghamton's Harpur College and was a Graduate Prize Fellow and earned a Ph.D. in History from Harvard University. He joined MSU in 1971 where he helped build the highly reputed James Madison College, and where he also later served as Dean and Associate Dean. Dr. Waltzer also served as Director of General Education in the arts and humanities at MSU and is currently Director of Jewish Studies. He received a State of Michigan Teaching Excellence Award in 1990 and an Alumni Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher Award in 1998.
Dr. Waltzer has a fascinating background. He began his social history research in American urban and immigration history. His American Identity Explorer: Immigration and Migration CD-ROM [with Kathleen Geissler] (McGraw-Hill, 1999, 2001) follows seven migrating groups through four portals to America into immigrant and migrant neighborhoods in six American cities during the Ellis Island era and assesses comparative experiences, American responses, and more.
In more recent years, Dr. Waltzer has been in the news as the Holocaust researcher who discovered that a survivor memoir titled Angel at the Fence – soon to be a blockbuster movie – was a Holocaust memoir fraud. He is also currently consultant to Big Foot Productions in New York, which is making a film about kinderblock 66 at Buchenwald and the rescue of children and youths inside a concentration camp.
Dr. Waltzer's nominees include: Professor of English Jacqueline Zeff; Lecturer of English Julie Colish; and Professor of History Teddy Robertson.


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An ad for this website just came up in my Gmail account.
Sadly, the $1599 "Bear with Hounds" hunt is already sold out, but the good news is that father and son bear hunts are still available, with kids under 18 hunting free!
This page admits that, of the hunters who see a bear, fully half either miss their shot, don't get one off, or end up wounding the bear.
I've always thought big game hunting was priced well beyond what the middle class could afford. I clearly couldn't have been more mistaken: a five day bear hunting trip can be purchased from these assholes for under $900, lodging included. Link.


text:
Printer Repair Questions? Ask IT Technicians for Answers ASAP
Hello!Thank you for your question. I am Shefin and I look forward to helping you with your issue today.
Please let me know the Mac OS X version (Mac OS X 10.7) and connection type (USB or wireless), so that I can assist you better.Thank you.S H E F I N


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FRIDAY, Aug. 24, 2012 (MedPage Today) — Children and teens who are overweight or obese — and girls in particular — are at risk for developing gallstones, a large cross-sectional study showed.
Compared with their normal weight peers, young people who are even modestly obese have more than four times the risk for gallbladder disease, according to Corinna Koebnick, PhD, of Kaiser Permanente Southern California in Pasadena, and colleagues.
Compared with boys, the adjusted odds ratio for girls also was quadrupled, the researchers reported online in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition.
Risk factors such as female sex, family history, and particularly obesity have been recognized for gallstones in adults, but because of the former rarity of gallbladder disease in children, little is known about potential contributing factors.
To explore the possible effects of the pediatric obesity epidemic on rates of gallstones in youth, Koebnick and colleagues examined the electronic health records of more than 500,000 health plan enrollees ages 10 to 20.
Overall, the prevalence of overweight, defined as a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 30, was 19.6 percent.
Moderate obesity — BMI between 30 and 35 — was seen in 13.7 percent, and extreme obesity, or BMI of 35 or higher, in 7.7 percent.
A total of 766 had been diagnosed with gallstones.
Girls who were oral contraceptive users also had a doubling of risk.
Gallstones form when bile becomes supersaturated with cholesterol, either from increased uptake or synthesis in the liver, as commonly occurs in obesity.
Biliary cholesterol secreted by the liver also is elevated in the presence of estrogen. In this study, girls exposed to estrogen from oral contraceptives were at notably high risk, although the researchers cautioned that in an observational study such as this, causation cannot be inferred.
The racial differences seen in this study, with Hispanics having a 55 percent greater risk for gallstones than non-Hispanics, also have been seen in adults, although the highest rates among adult women is for Native Americans, then Hispanics.
"Further longitudinal data are needed to investigate factors contributing to the observed racial and ethnic disparities and to implement strategies to reduce and eliminate such disparities," the researchers wrote.
Limitations of the study included the reliance on electronic health records for the diagnosis of gallstones and the possibility of some cases being undiagnosed and some oral contraceptive users being unidentified.
The researchers concluded that gallstones should be added to the list of obesity-linked disorders such as dyslipidemia and diabetes that are on the rise among youth.
"Due to the shift towards extreme childhood obesity, especially in minority children, pediatricians can expect to face an increasing number of children affected by gallstone disease, which has previously been limited to adults," they advised.
Additionally reviewed by Dorothy Caputo, MA


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Official NCAA Fields
NCAA East Preliminary Round Homepage/Results
Updated Outdoor School Record Book
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Junior Victoria Strickland finished second in her heat on Thursday at the NCAA East Preliminary Round in Bloomington, Ind., to automatically advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals in the 800 meters for the University of Pennsylvania women's track and field team.
Strickland will compete for a spot in the NCAA semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Friday. Also competing on Friday for the Quakers is sophomore Morgan Wheeler in the javelin at noon. Both have to finish in the top 12 to advance to the NCAA Semifinals and Finals in Des Moines, Iowa.
In the NCAA First Round, on the E.C. Billy Hayes Track at Indiana University's Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex, Strickland was second to fellow Ivy runner, Kate Grace of Yale. The top three in each heat reach the quarterfinals and Strickland was clear by more than a second over the fourth-place finisher with her time of 2:09.14. She is seeded 12th heading into Friday's quarterfinals and finished with the 23rd-best time among the 48 first-round competitors.
The NCAA Championship meet extends over two weekends in a three-week span at three different sites. The first weekend is now known as the NCAA Preliminary Round and is broken up into two different sites - East (Bloomington, Ind.) and West (Eugene, Ore.), which host the NCAA first round and quarterfinal round in each event as well as some of the NCAA semifinals.
The top 24 finishers in the first round advance to the quarterfinals where the top 12 will advance to compete in the semifinals and finals of the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, June 8-11.A full recap will be available at PennAthletics.com shortly after the conclusion of each day's events.


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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Release Date: 8th April 2013
Return to Middle Earth for the adventure that started it all as The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey arrives on Blu-Ray, 3D Blu-Ray and DVD.
Brought to the screen by director Peter Jackson and the talented team behind the Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the first chapter in a bold new three-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic tale.
Starring Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, Richard Armitage as dwarf-leader Thorin and Ian McKellen returning as wizard Gandalf the Grey, follow our reluctant Hobbit hero as he joins the 13 Dwarves on an epic quest to reclaim their kingdom from the Dragon Smaug. On the way there (and back again) they'll encounter goblins, orcs, trolls, and a certain "precious" ring...
Put your fuzzy feet up and order The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey today!
copyright: © 2013 The LEGO Group. ™ & © The Saul Zaentz Company ("SZC"). ™ & ® WBEI. (s13)
TM The Saul Zaentz Co. © WBEI. All rights reserved.


text:
ED Magedson – Founder
Ripoff Report
Star Propane Inc.1805 Highway 281 South Lampasas, Texas United States of America
Does your business have a bad reputation?
Fix it the right way.
Corporate Advocacy Program™
Set the record straight:
Arbitration Program
This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 12/18/2012 04:46 PM and is a permanent record located here: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/star-propane-inc/lampasas-texas-76550/star-propane-inc-awful-company-lampasas-texas-983961. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year.
Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content
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text:
A Mouse for Charity
Buy Now...
The Si750LE is a wireless laser mouse developed specifically for use with a notebook system. This small three-button input device is being marketed with the tag line of "Go Pink". Although the mouse does feature various pink flashes along the sides and around the scroll wheel, this is not the real reason for the Pink reference which I shall return to at a later stage.
Kensington has designed this mouse with women in mind. While there are a number of smaller mice currently available, the sculptured lines of this device offer a combination of comfort and easy control. Running along either side of the mouse's body, just under the side-mounted pink flashes, are ridged rubberised grips which help ensure a more pleasant tactile sensation. The mouse's symmetrical design means that this mouse will be suitable for both left and right handed users.
As mentioned earlier, this mouse features both wireless and laser technology. The wireless element, using the latest 2.4GHz technology for better signal strength and secure connectivity without undue interference, involves the need for a USB receiver. There should be no problem in receiving signals at distances up to 30 feet or so.
Simply slot this mini receiver into an available USB port and a communication link with be established with the mouse. When the mouse is not in use, the mini receiver can be tucked away in a compartment concealed within the body of the mouse. This compartment, which also holds the single AA battery required to provide power, can be accessed by pressing the sides of the mouse at the rear.
The process of inserting the receiver into the compartment will have the effect of automatically turning the power off so saving on battery life. Power can also be turned off manually. A LED light on top of the mouse will flash red to indicate when the battery is in need of being replaced.
One immediate difference that is noticeable when using a laser mouse is the lack of the light pulsing feature from the base that is normally associated with an optical device. You might also notice an improvement with regards to accuracy in positioning the cursor but this will only really apply to precise work required in certain games and drawing applications.
As this mouse is meant to be a travelling companion of your notebook, you should not be surprised to discover that a soft carry pouch is included in the box along with the mouse, mini receiver and single battery. But what about the Pink connection you may well ask.
While this device might have some pretensions to be regarded as a fashion statement, it has a far more serious side with a commitment to the Breast Cancer Campaign (the only charity that funds independent Breast cancer research throughout the UK). You may not have personal experience of Breast cancer but the chances are you know somebody who has. By making this mouse your device of choice, you will be helping the campaign against Breast cancer as Kensington will donate 10% to a local Breast Cancer charity.
The Pink Mouse will work on any Windows 2000/XP/Vista or Mac OS X 10.2.8 machine and later. Pricing for this mouse has been set at £39.99 with 10% going to charity.
|add to del.icio.us
|Digg this review


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Family Law
Family Law Questions? Ask a Family Lawyer Online.
Hello there
What type of conference does this concern
a pretrial hearing?
Custody and visitation
Ok, I am familiar with those
and I have participated in may telephonic hearings
Typically you are informed as to whether it is ok to use a cellphone
I am more interested in the time interval of 2.5 months.
it seems absurd
I understand your frustration.
i filed for telephonic hearing only 3 days before hearing
That time frame depends on the court's docket
This may be a court that has a heavy docket
nevertheless, whatever the docket is it seems there is an inappropriately long time interval
it is common for courts to disallow cellphone usage
yes, that is long
but not all that unusual
not unusual does not make it less wrong
You could attempt to request an earlier date
You could inform the court of an extenuating circumstance
that would make it impossible for you to participate in the time frame given
Next hearing is october 24. Is that worth doing now?
for example if you could not miss work
well, it depends on how important it is to you to reschedule the conference
if it is not a big deal, you can just wait it out
but if it is a huge inconvenience, I would speak up now
I am more interested in whether I can say there has been delay of justice in my appeal
subsequent appeal
No, I don't think you can use that particular argument
What evidence would you have?
the psychiatric evaluation was ordered 8 months too late
I see
who was responsible for that
even though the question right from the beginning was "mental instability" by opposing counsel
the psych eval did not support that
the referee could have ordered the psych eval right from the get-go...
the court ended up paying for it anyway
It sounds like you may have some good arguments with regard to the eval
However, you would need to convince the court why the conference needs to occur sooner than 2 1/2 months later
Technical that time from would not deny or significantly delay justice
although I know its frustrating!
Sorry, meant to type technically
are there guidelines for what the time frame should not exceed?
Sometimes the wheels of justice turn slowly...
No, particular guidelines that I am aware of
It really depends on the court's calendar
Perhaps you can call the court and see if there is a sooner dat
if so, you can request that the hearing be rescheduled
Can I just do so by phone?
I am self representing and hard for me to write a motion and have it notarized etc
Sure, if you do not have an attorney. Otherwise your attorney needs to call
Ok, I would call first
Ok great.
sometimes the clerk will assist with getting the other party on the phone
What other party?
is there an opposing party in this case?
If not that is even better
the court will be more likely to reschedule
yes. why would the other party have to be contacted by phone?
can't they just reschedule for earlier and send them notification?
that was just a suggestion I made. Sometimes the clerk will jut call the parties to expedite things
both parties usually need to agree to rescheduling a matter
I meant jsut
ok great
That way you can select a date that works for you and the opposing side
ok i will try that
i like doing things by phone
i have a hard time with paperwork like i said
I understand. I wish you the best.