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All flourishing business owners depend on productivity, whether it is from their staff members or from themselves. Improving business productivity is essential to run a business easily as productivity is one of the main ingredients that can win a competitive advantage for your business.
Is your business suffering from low productivity? If it is so, you will have to vigilantly watch your business activities as improper business activities are main reason for low business productivity. The more productive you are, the more money you will earn.
You don't need to be nervous about your low business productivity, since in this article we are going to explain some essential tips that will definitely assist you to improve and sustain your business productivity.
1. Improved Communication
If you want to improve your business productivity, then you will have to construct a healthier working environment that should be profitable for your productivity. Open communication with your employees will assist you a lot in making it achievable. Employees should be given an opportunity to give their suggestion and thoughts associated to matters like working strategies, procedures etc. When you will engage your employees in your business matters, they will feel that their ideas are being invested in the success of your company and this will motivate them to work more professionally and efficiently.
2. Have an Action Plan
Without an action plan, if you are trying to hit a moving target, then you will not succeed. You should always set up goals in all areas of your business from promotion to sales to leadership and management to expansion and modernization. Try to make sure that you energetically and constantly work on action plan each week which will make simpler to carry out your tasks properly.
3. Prioritizing
When you make a record of what you need to get things done, always give priority to those tasks that will make you to achieve your goal for the day. Never feel troubled by projects that you haven't scheduled for the day.
4. Pump Yourself Up
Although this might sound unpleasant but it works seriously. If you are finding it tough to dedicate time to your project, you should start giving yourself a little spirit boosting talk, you should always try to learn what it takes to inspire yourself, and make sure to apply it whenever you require that additional boost to make you work at your best.
5. Stop Multitasking
Multitasking does not get things done correctly. It is just a justification to leave one thing you are having difficulty to work with on something else, even if it is of lower priority. By concentrating 100% on one task then moving after that, you are evading the transition phase your mind must go through to adjust. With 100% focus, you are mind is entirely on one subject and therefore functioning much more professionally.
6. Hammer the Toughest Nail First
Habitually, we like to knock the easy stuff out but this is a wrong approach. If we end up concluding the simple task first, it still gives us a sense of achievement. We end up delaying and when we get to the tough part, the day keeps dragging forward. After a good night sleep it is good to strike the toughest nail first. Get a head start by finishing the complex task first and gradually make a move into easy ones.
7. Allocating Tasks To Staff Members
If you have staff working to assist you, hand over some of your everyday tasks which you can swiftly train someone else to take accountability of. Once you pass on something, just a fast review to make sure it's completed properly and on time is all that you should need to do. Assigning few of your tasks to your staff members will free up your time for more dedicated work.
8. Break It Up
We all want to get bigger projects, but with bigger projects there are more responsibilities and more work to do. Instead of getting lost and fruitless, try to break up each project in smaller parts, and always finish one project before starting the next. This way your work will be much more organized, and putting the whole thing together at the end will be much easier.
Use these 8 tips to start improving your business productivity and truly become the high performance business that you desire to be.


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LAS VEGAS -- Ferndale's Billy Bugenig tied for third place in steer wrestling action during the fifth round of the National Finals Rodeo on Monday night.
Bugenig dropped the steer at 4.1 seconds and tied with Les Shepperson (Wyoming) and Tom Lewis (Utah) to win $7,754.
Three-time and defending world champion Luke Branquinho of Los Alamos, Calif., placed second with a time of 3.9 seconds and took over the world standings lead with $128,043.
Two-time world champion Dean Gorsuch of Gering, Neb., who has earned $116,067, didn't place among the top six and fell from the top spot to second place.
Ethen Touvenell of Napa, Calif., third overall with $112,536, finished sixth in 4.4.
Wade Sumpter of Fowler, Colo., was fourth in the world standings with $106,532.
Trevor Knowles of Mount Vernon, Ore., won in 3.3 and was in sixth in the standings, only $26,296 out of first.
"If you've ever put a cowboy hat on and competed at a rodeo, you've thought about a world title," Knowles said. "If you haven't, you're in the wrong sport. If I come here and do great, and I can come out of here as a world champion, it's the greatest personal accomplishment I could have."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Steer Wrestling
1. Trevor Knowles, Mount Vernon, Ore., 3.3 seconds, $18,257; 2. Luke Branquinho, Los Alamos, Calif., 3.9, $14,429; 3 (tie), Les Shepperson, Midwest, Wyo.; Billy Bugenig, Ferndale, Calif., and Tom Lewis, Lehi, Utah, 4.1, $7,754 each; 6 (tie), Ethen Thouvenell, Napa, Calif., and Gabe Ledoux, Kaplan, La., 4.4, $1,472 each; 8. Todd Suhn, Hermosa, S.D., 4.5; 9. Dean Gorsuch, Gering, Neb., 4.6; 10. Wade Sumpter, Fowler, Colo., 4.9; 11. Bray Armes, Gruver, Texas, 5.2; 12. Casey Martin, Sulphur, La., 5.5; 13. Beau Clark, Belgrade, Mont., 6.2; 14. K.C. Jones, Decatur, Texas, 7.0; 15. Matt Reeves, Cross Plains, Texas, NT.

subset: commoncrawl


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Will O.B. parking situation stop Target?
South Beach bar's agreement with Antique Center muddles situation
Julie Stalmer 5:30 p.m., Sept. 22
Contact: Mira Mesa High School, 10510 Reagan Road, San Diego, 619-699-5950; harborpc.org
Membership: 57 (attendance 115)
Pastor: Bob Klein
Age: 58
Born: Baltimore, Maryland
Formation: Hope College-Western Theological Seminary, Holland, Michigan; Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California
Years Ordained: 17
San Diego Reader: How long do you spend writing a sermon?
Pastor Bob Klein: It's an average of about 8 to 12 hours. I do a variety of things in the course of the year, but ordinarily the sermons are expository. I'll read a passage and explain it — I go with the "proclamation-explanation-application" model of things. First, here's what it says. Then I explain what needs to be explained in order to take a 21st-century understanding of something that was 2000 years ago, or if we're talking about the Old Testament, as far back as 3500 years ago. Then I answer the question "So what?" by showing how the passage applies practically in our lives.
SDR: What is your favorite subject to preach about?
PB: The idea of being a citizen of Heaven and a citizen here on Earth. Someone summed up Augustine's City of God by saying that because we are citizens of the City of God, believers can be the best citizens of the cities of man. Because God has saved us and because of our security in him, we're unleashed to serve people and our city and to glorify God by overcoming oppression, righting wrongs, feeding the poor and homeless.
SDR: Which of the Ten Commandments does your congregation have the hardest time keeping?
PB: The first one. Breaking all the other commandments are just variations of breaking the first one…. It was John Calvin who said the human heart is an idol factory. We turn all kinds of things into the thing we think will love us and bring us satisfaction.
SDR: Why did you become a minister?
PB: I tried doing different things as a businessman, but they didn't work out. I don't think God said these words to me, but in my reasoning it was as if God was sitting there with me, saying…"What do you think, given all the things you've done, and all the gifts I've given you, what do you think I've made you to do?" Then I said to him, "Well, Father, I don't want to be a pastor." From that point on I sensed God sitting there, smiling at me and nodding his head.
SDR: Where do you go when you die?
PB: Ultimately, when you die, one day God will look at you and say, "Okay, here at the gates, why should I let you into My Heaven?" The only answer that would be acceptable, according to the Bible, as I understand it, would be to say something like this: "Lord, You shouldn't let me into Heaven on anything I did. I'm trusting entirely in the life Jesus lived on my behalf, as my substitute, and the death He died as my substitute. He's my only hope." So, other than that, God has prepared a place — a place that is extremely unpopular, especially in our 21st-century culture, which sees it as very narrow-minded and judgmental of God, a place called Hell…. Hell is basically separation from God — to be cut off from the fellowship, the blessedness, the grace of God; to be in Heaven is to be in full fellowship with God and His people.
What, in God's name, is a religion doing at a high school? Is this constitutional?
If they are just renting an auditorium on Sunday it is legal. Although I have never heard of this.
It's done all the time, often at middle schools. When I was doing Sheep & Goats, I got very used to church in the school auditorium.
I'm currently reading "Dogs of God" an account of Queen Isabella and the Spanish Inquisition. I'm always suspicious when people say god called them to do something. Torquemada the Spanish inquisitor was doing gods work too.


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Tag Archives: health
SuperBugs kill 23,000, sicken 2 million, and cost at least $1 billion in the US each year
The CDC has a new report on the impact of drug-resistant pathogens in the US (primarily antibiotic-resistant bacteria). They find that at a minimum in 2012, drug-resistant germs caused 23,000 deaths, more than 2 million illnesses, and more than $1 billion … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged antibiotic resistance, drug development, health, health care Comments Off on SuperBugs kill 23,000, sicken 2 million, and cost at least $1 billion in the US each year
Anti-Ghrelin Vaccine to Fight Obesity
Ghrelin is a hormone that helps regulate body weight and metabolism. Higher ghrelin levels lead us to expend less energy and to eat more in an attempt to conserve resources. Now a group in Portugal has shown that it's … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged biotechnology, health, transhumanism Comments Off on Anti-Ghrelin Vaccine to Fight Obesity


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Company loses millions in dispute with litigation portfolio outsourcer
Case reminds in-house counsel to scrutinize all contracts
Technology: Cloud computing 101
Cloud computing is exploding worldwide
E-discovery: Managing litigation vendor costs and information flow
Lawyers know that litigation, large and small, usually requires the assistance of a variety of non-lawyer vendors, service providers and consultants.
Litigation: Managing document production in asymmetrical lawsuits
While the best way to minimize the expense and disruption of discovery is to avoid it entirely or to limit its scope at the outset, full blown discovery is often unavoidable in asymmetrical litigation.
E-discovery: An uncertain standard for cost shifting can restore a level playing field
In the federal courts, the question of whether Rule 54(d) allows a prevailing party to recover as taxable costs its e-discovery expenses is a hotly contested issue, with no clear consensus yet emerging.
E-discovery: How to avoid document review traps
Document reviews are deceptively complicated.
Cadillac or Chevy—Picking the right information governance program
Don't succumb to fear mongering
Regulatory: Follow the leader when it comes to preventing data breaches
According to a study by the Ponemon Institute, 39 percent of data breaches in 2010 involved third-party service providers such as outsourcers, contractors, consultants and business partners.
Report offers insight into what's next for e-discovery
The eDJ Group recently released a report reviewing e-discovery in 2011 and forecasting what the major trends will be this year.
Technology: 4 considerations in procurement contracts
Proper preparation can save the business considerable time and money.


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Car shows are different in Tijuana
"You do not have to babysit the people from leaning or touching the cars."
Mike Madriaga 2:30 p.m., Sept. 19
Last fall, the story made its way around the media fish tank to the North County Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, Orange County Register, Orlando Sentinel, Honolulu Advertiser, and Anchorage Daily News, to dog websites, surfer websites, surfer magazines, to PetLifeRadio.com, Huffingtonpost.com, to countless blogs, to foreign newspapers (Kuwait's Arab Times), to San Diego's KFMB-TV and KUSI-TV, to The Today Show, Animal Planet, ABC News, CBS News, and all ships at sea.
It is an irresistible story, how Escondido's Judy Fridono, a certified professional dog trainer, acquired a golden retriever puppy to train as a service dog for people with disabilities. But, puppy Ricochet washes out because she likes to chase birds. Trainer has an epiphany, accepts dog for who she is — a natural surfer. Dog is hooked up with Patrick Ivison, a 15-year-old quadriplegic boy. Ricochet enters dog-surfer events, finished second at Del Mar, placed second in the large-dog category at Huntington Beach. Dog trainer uses teenage surfer dog to raise money for quadriplegic boy. Trainer and dog raise $10,000 for Patrick, and WebMD Health Foundation donates three years of physical therapy.
Which brings us to the homemade video. Shots of Ricochet as a pup, shots of Ricochet growing up, shots of Patrick surfing, Ricochet surfing, Patrick and Ricochet tandem surfing. Shots of Patrick struggling, fighting, learning to use a walker. The video slams you in the stomach like a rifle shot (go to YouTube, type, "SURFice dog" in the search box).
And then life moves on. Ricochet has since raised money for children in hospitals and is currently working for a young boy with a traumatic brain injury. Patrick got a Labrador retriever service dog, Kona, and vows to cross the stage in a walker at his high school graduation.
I've wondered how things went for the trainer, Judy Fridono. What follows is culled from two telephone interviews.
"I can't talk about it without shedding tears," Fridono says. "That's how emotional it is. Pretty much every single person that left a comment [on YouTube], talks about how they've cried watching this video."
"How many people?"
"It's 1,246,550 views right now. And that's just on YouTube. The video went viral: most views have come through people sending emails to each other."
Fridono says, "During the time I was training Ricochet not to chase birds, it was frustrating because she lost interest in training. I couldn't figure out what was wrong. We struggled. I wasn't always accepting. But, when I finally let go [of wanting her to be a service dog] and stopped trying to control, then all these amazing things started happening. The fundraising was so successful, the video went viral. Things bigger than life started happening. I wanted Ricochet to make a difference in one person's life as a service dog and instead she's made a difference in tens of thousands of lives through the video.
"I've made new friendships. The closest ones are Patrick and his family. I don't have family here, so holidays and such, I've usually been with my dogs. [Patrick's family] invited me for Thanksgiving and Christmas. They're having a birthday party for Patrick's service dog today and invited me to come. Another friendship would be Robbie Nelson, who is Ricochet's surf coach [and owner of Happy Barrels Surf Instruction in Encinitas]. He helps Patrick surf, but when we wanted to try tandem surfing, he was right there, no questions asked."
We chat for awhile, then Fridono volunteers, "I have a disability, but I can still help people — I can still do something meaningful with my life."
Hate asking this... "What is your disability?"
"It started with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis when I was 16 years old. I'm 51 now. I've been in pain my whole life. It never goes away. And then I developed degenerative joint disease, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome.
"I can walk okay. I do have some issues in one of my feet. I have an artificial joint that's broken and a torn tendon and some dislocations and things like that, but I think I get around relatively well. I don't have much strength. If I do something, I'm going to hurt myself. I can't manage to be in the water with Ricochet and a surfboard. I need someone to help me. That's where Robbie plays such a big role in our lives. He's building a bond with Ricochet in order to keep me out of the water. He really loves her. That's where I was yesterday — we went to the beach. Ricochet heard [Robbie's] voice and just flew to him."
Send money, offer help. Judy Fridono can be reached at 707-228-0679 or [email protected] Ricochet's Facebook page is: tinyurl.com/ydat25x. Her website is: ripcurlricki.com.


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Hello. This is with PostgreSQL 8.2.3 and jdbc driver 8.2-504. I have a table with a "text" column. When using DatabaseMetaData to inspect the column, it is returned as type Types.VARCHAR. I expected it to be reported as Types.CLOB. Am I doing something wrong? Regards, - Tore.
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Annual search by CIX to find the most innovative ideas, products and companies in Canada.
IGLOO Software, a leading provider of online community and social software solutions has just been named as one of the top 20 most innovative technology companies in Canada in the fields of information technology and digital media by the Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) .
Each year the CIX conducts an exhaustive search to find the 20 most innovative ideas, products, services and companies in Canada. A selection committee comprised Canadian experts in the fields of finance, investment and consulting rate companies from all over Canada based on the following four key criteria:
- Competitive Advantage
- Growth Potential
- Management
- Technology Innovation
I am delighted that IGLOO Software was selected by the CIX selection committee. Our online community and social software platform is helping businesses around the world improve corporate productivity and drive innovation by leveraging the talent, knowledge and relationships that exists in every organization. Social interactions drive business interactions.
The CIX Top 20 is open to all Canadian companies who consider themselves, their product, technology or service to be innovative in the fields of clean technologies, information technology and digital media.
On December 2nd, IGLOO Software and the other top 20 companies will be delivering a seven-minute presentation live on stage at CIX to a group of leading industry experts who be evaluating the merit of our online community and social software solutions. The CIX community at the event will vote for the CIX 2009 Award for "Canadian Innovation Leader".
The CIX Top 20 is open to all Canadian companies who consider themselves, their product, technology or service to be innovative in the fields of clean technologies, information technology and digital media.
About IGLOO Software
IGLOO Inc. is develops online communities and social software solutions for organizations of any size. Our online community platform combines powerful Web 2.0 technology with on-demand hosting (SaaS), consulting, e-engagement and all of the community support services necessary for a sustainable and successful deployment.
Organizations use IGLOO communities internally to improve employee productivity (Workplace Communities) or externally to foster relationships with members, customers, partners and suppliers (Marketplace Communities). Fully integrated collaboration, knowledge sharing and Web 2.0 social networking tools enable organizations to quickly and cost-effectively create online communities to leverage talent, knowledge and relationships across organizational and geographical boundaries. IGLOO is funded by RBC Venture Partners. Jim Balsillie is Chair of the IGLOO board.


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Long Lovely Locks Green Tea Hair Cleanse
- 1 reviews See the Breakdown
- Product Info | Add Your Review
Long Lovely Locks Green Tea Hair Cleanse Reviews
Wonderful productI use this on my daughters hair for years. Very gentle and able to comb natural hair with ease. No tears and no stripping moisture from hair. — 2 years, 10 months agotwitgritz | 1 reviews
This review is: Helpful | Not helpful | Inappropriate | 0 of 0 people said helpful
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My Reasons for Reporting This


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Welcome to the Office of Industry & Corporate Research
Industry & Corporate Research in Action
Tom Russo (row 2, second from rt.) stands with fellow semifinalist judges of the 2016 GW New Venture Competition. In April, the top 10 teams were awarded over $250K worth of cash and in-kind prizes for innovative ideas for new products and/or services. See competition highlights video at https://newventure.gwu.edu.
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Edna Hospital
Monday, July 7, 2014 | 5:27 p.m.
For the first time in 70 days, 53-year-old Henderson grandmother Helene Neville is off her feet, and instead of running more than 25 miles a day, she's back behind a steering wheel. Ahead of schedule by four days, Helene completed her amazing 2,000-mile run from Atlantic Beach, Fla., to Portland, Maine.
The incredible achievement adds to her history-making world records. Helene has now successfully completed three-quarters of her brutal trek of the perimeter of the United States. But upon return this Saturday from a cross-country drive, she now faces a year of preparation — physically and emotionally — for the final leg next spring from the Maine border in Canada across the top of America to Washington state.
That's a 3,400-mile run but will complete her 10,000-mile contiguous run of the perimeter of the lower 48 states. She plans to start that next spring. I spoke with Helene in New York this morning:
"I feel fantastic except for the blisters and sore feet. I did the run ahead of schedule — one day as many as 60 miles but others the normal 25 miles per day. I'm in great shape and am just hoping my 1998 Isuzu gets me back to Las Vegas this weekend. I have a party to go to!"
The indomitable nurse, author, inspirational speaker and four-time cancer survivor said in my story posted April 10: "My run is not to realize my own dream but to inspire others to realize theirs." She stopped in so many fire stations along her amazing journey that the Portland Fire Department set up fire trucks with an arch of water to mark the finish line.
She told me today: "Sometimes I had to ring stranger's doorbells asking for water, and I know one man thought I was an outer-space alien in my running outfit and actually checked to see if a flying saucer had landed nearby." Helene credits all the volunteers who drove her car each day to her new overnight motel or friend's home.
In 2010, she became the first to run the southern route from Ocean Beach, Calif., to Florida covering 2,520 miles in 93 days in the heat of summer. In 2013, she covered 1,500 miles in 45 days from the Canadian border down to the Mexican border. On this Florida-to-Maine route, she stopped in Philadelphia to place her brother's ashes she'd carried in an urn in their maternal grandparents' grave.
Bravo, Helene — an extraordinary accomplishment!
Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world's premier platinum playground.
Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.
Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.
Follow Sun A&E Senior Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.


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I miss Paris. Even though I've only been once, it felt so familiar. Wonderfully nostaglic almost… like home. Maybe it's the New Yorker in me. I don't know. But having a gluten allergy in Paris was NOT easy. NOT AT ALL. Bread is pretty much eaten with every meal. I'm surprised they don't have a baguette on the French flag for crying out loud!
It was tricky circumnavigating my way thru the city with bread heavy culture. But the huz was so supportive, he hardly even touched the stuff while were were there, which was so very considerate of him. I almost had to ask him not to hold back and enjoy himself and all the bread stuffs France had to offer.
In my PGF days, (that's Pre Gluten Free), I was an avid bread and pastry eater. I indulged in the stuff on a regular and even used to joke that I'd rather give up meat than bread. I guess the universe has a dark and ironic sense of humor and here I am with a gluten allergy. Go figure.But I digress…
Since the advent of my allergy, I have actually been missing one of my all time fave treats: croissants. Light, buttery, soft, flaky just melting in your mouth with fatty slightly sweet goodness… Man, I tell ya. I haven't had one in years. You would think that living in the New York City area I would have had some luck by now with this. And believe me I have searched and I have tried, but so far, to no avail. Le sigh.
This is not to say that I haven't seen any GF croissants around. They sporadically make appearances at local bakeries that specialize in gluten free treats and in a few other places. But I have to say, these are not the croissants that I once knew. Oh no, no. These seem to the contrary rather dense, bulky and dare I say even awkward looking! Almost like one of those weird Pilsbury crecsent rolls thats fashioned into the shape of a croissant to try and make it seems more appetizing. I have yet to see the subtly attractive, soft and flaky layers of the croissants that I once longed for. And it really makes me wonder: are there really not ANY good gluten free croissants out there??? Is no one making a GF version that could actually rival the real thing??? Say it aint' so! Really every time I think about it, it actually makes me a bit sad. Like a little piece of me just curls up into a ball inside and weeps for the seemingly non-existent deliciously flaky gluten free croissant.
And so I am left searching, for an amazing gluten free croissant. Who knows, maybe I'll get the patience to try and make my own one day. Despite the labor intensive nature of it's production. In the meantime, I"ll continue my search and will be looking for a good (GF) croissant, and believe me, when I find it, you guys will be the first to know! 😉


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Fittingly, Abba conquered us most completely while sitting around a campfire, where the likes of Lawson and Banjo long ago found Australians most comfortable absorbing the music and the myths that brought them together.
But neither of our national poets could have imagined this: the birth in 1976 of a fresh legend as foreign as could be to the land of the jolly swagman. Like Paterson's morose sheep thief, Abba's Fernando was a man once young and full of life, but there the similarities ended.
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Australia's love affair with ABBA still continues.
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ABBA: Bang a Boomerang
Australia's love affair with ABBA still continues.
Neither the song nor the singers had any logical claim on Australian hearts. These were Swedes, singing about a Mexican, sitting around a shabby piece of studio fakery purporting to be a campfire - not a jolly jumbuck in sight.
But, my, how we loved them.
For 14 weeks in early 1976, Fernando drove the nation to distraction as it stayed atop the singles chart for so long that it was banned in Sunday church, otherwise known as Countdown, where high priest Ian ''Molly'' Meldrum learned he'd made a big mistake in banishing the fireside film clip.
As Meldrum recalls in Bang a Boomerang, a new documentary exploring Australia's love affair with the Swedish foursome, this was not a relationship to be trifled with.
''After the 10th, 11th week and it was still No.1, I made this rash decision that we can't play it again … we'll show it as No.1, but we'll then show in full our prediction for what we think will be the next No.1,'' Meldrum recalls in the program, airing January 30 on the ABC. ''And all hell broke loose. The ABC switchboard was jammed.
''People complaining, how dare we not play this song again.''
Meldrum was not the only music industry figure startled by the intensity of Australia's affection for the Swedes, though by 1976 he'd had a while to get used to it.
As Bang a Boomerang tells it, it was Countdown's hunger for video clips to fill its weekly airtime that played a critical role in Abba's explosion as a musical force. The documentary aims to put on the historical record once and for all the truth: that while the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest may have been the band's first big break, the true birth of Abba as global pop conquerors began in Australia.
It is a compelling case. As Meldrum says, it was only his badgering of RCA - the group's local record company - that persuaded them to release the album track Mamma Mia as a single.
Thanks to its accompanying video clip - which established the trademark Abba visual style - the song went gangbusters.
''They had no option but to release it as a single,'' Meldrum says.
Meldrum was a key player, but just as instrumental was RCA's Australian PR rep, Annie Wright. She was in her early 20s then, and was the go-between for the dealings between Countdown and the faraway Swedes.
''I had no idea what lay before me,'' Wright says. ''It was just an explosion. We knew they were perfect pop songs but no one could have predicted the extent of how Australia would embrace them. It was like nothing I've ever experienced before or since.''
Wright would become an Abba intimate - through 1975, when she delivered the video clips that won over the Countdown crowd; in 1976, when she was side-by-side with the group on a promotional tour; and then in 1977, the year of the band's astonishing concert tour.
The 1976 trip should have been warning of what was to come: a Reg Grundy-funded TV special hosted by Daryl Somers drew higher ratings than the moon landing. But the '77 tour stunned even industry veterans who thought they'd seen it all, Wright says.
''It was very surreal, for everyone, from [promoter] Paul Dainty, to the band themselves … Nothing has ever come close to the hysteria, the adoration. And most people never knew that Australia was where they broke.''
Bang a Boomerang sets the record straight on that score, and for those who played a part in that long-ago madness it is a welcome documentation of a time they will never forget.
For Annie Wright, who grew so close to the band they invited her to Sweden to holiday on their private island, the memories are many.
Among her favourites is the anxiety that preceded the group's Sydney concert in March 1977, which was threatened by wet and wild weather.
But Wright had a direct line to god, or a reasonable facsimile: legendary weatherman Alan Wilkie.
''I was ringing him at Channel Nine every hour,'' Wright says.
''I had a hotline - no mobiles in those days, no emails or faxes - I was calling him every day prior to the concert. He was great, and we were living on hope.
''But the show must go on. Paul Dainty had written on the tickets, 'Come rain or shine'. I bet he regretted that.
''And they went on despite it being dangerous. Frida had a fall, they were mopping down the stage constantly. But the audience didn't care. There was just this great love and it was mutual.
''They loved performing for Australians, they loved the reaction. It became a real family, Australians became their family.''
Nearly four decades later, the love affair continues - despite that 1977 tour being the first and last time the group performed here in concert.
There was a period of estrangement - the documentary shows just how deathly uncool Abba became for a time - but affections were re-established with fervour many years ago.
Wright is delighted the history of Abba has been preserved in documentary form.
''It made sense to tell a new generation where it began. I'm surprised even people of my generation don't realise that it all started in Australia.''
Bang a Boomerang, ABC1 on Wednesday at 8.30pm


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The decision by current owners to stick with Fenway dates to before Henry took over a partnership first led by Les Otten, founder of American Skiing Co. Otten, who sold his minority stake in the club in 2007, said he was committed to preserving the grounds since making a visit to Fenway around 1998 to see his friend and then-general manager Dan Duquette.
As they looked down on the largely empty field from Duquette's box, they spotted a man on a paid tour shaking his trousers as he stood on the center-field warning track. Dust plumed from the bottom of his pant legs.
"Dan said, 'You won't believe the lengths people will go to spread the ashes of a loved one on the field at Fenway Park,'" Otten said in an interview.
Fenway Park at 100 Doubles Revenue as Red Sox Seek More Profit
Current Status: Blessed (1)
Seeded on Fri Apr 20, 2012 5:45 AM
keyboard shortcuts: V vote up article J next comment K previous comment


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Get an overview of this hotel3-star hotel with free breakfast and indoor pool
Popular property highlights
Situated in Erie, this hotel is 1 mi (1.6 km) from Millcreek Mall and within 6 mi (10 km) of Erie Zoo and Presque Isle Downs and Casino. Bayfront Convention Center and Erie Maritime Museum are also within 9 mi (15 km).
Hotel Features
Along with an indoor pool, this smoke-free hotel has a 24-hour fitness center and a snack bar/deli. Free buffet breakfast, free WiFi in public areas, and free self parking are also provided. Other amenities include a 24-hour business center, coffee/tea in a common area, and a meeting room.
Room Amenities
All 117 rooms offer free WiFi and free wired Internet, LCD TVs with satellite channels, and comforts like pillowtop beds and down comforters. Guests will also find sofa beds, refrigerators, and microwaves.Information missing or incorrect? Tell us!Opens in a new window
Springhill Suites by Marriott Erie
Hotel Amenities
Hotel Amenities
Springhill Suites by Marriott Erie features an indoor pool and a 24-hour fitness center. The hotel offers a snack bar/deli. A complimentary breakfast is offered. A computer station is located on site and wired and wireless Internet access is complimentary.
Business-related amenities at this 3-star property consist of a 24-hour business center and a meeting room. This business-friendly hotel also offers a terrace, tour/ticket assistance, and barbecue grills. Onsite self parking is complimentary.
Springhill Suites by Marriott Erie is a smoke-free property.
- 24-hour front desk
- Number of floors - 4
- Barbecue grill(s)
- Coffee/tea in common areas
- Free breakfast
- Concierge services
- Free newspapers in lobby
- Fireplace in lobby
- 24-hour fitness facilities
- Elevator/lift
- Express check-out
- Tours/ticket assistance
- Free WiFi
- Designated smoking areas (fines apply)
- Computer station
- Dry cleaning/laundry service
- Laundry facilities
- One meeting room
- Total number of rooms - 117
- RV, bus, truck parking
- Garden
- Terrace
- Picnic area
- Luggage storage
- Safe-deposit box at front desk
- 24-hour business center
- Free self parking
- Snack bar/deli
- Smoke-free property
- Indoor pool
- Television in common areas
- Free wired Internet
Family Friendly Amenities
- Family Hotel
- Indoor pool
- Free Wi-Fi
- Snack bar/deli
- Laundry facilities
- Sofa bed
- Refrigerator
- Microwave
Available in all rooms: Free WiFi , Free wired Internet
Available in some public areas: Free WiFi , Free wired Internet
Free self parking, RV, bus, truck parking
Room Amenities
- Premium TV channels
- Pay movies
- Air conditioning
- In-room climate control (air conditioning)
- Phone
- Refrigerator
- Coffee/tea maker
- Microwave
- Daily housekeeping
- Private bathroom
- Free toiletries
- Hair dryer
- Shower/tub combination
- Desk
- Iron/ironing board
- Down comforter
- Pillowtop mattress
- Sofa bed
- Cribs/infant beds available
- Satellite TV service
- Connecting/adjoining rooms available
- Free WiFi
- Free wired Internet
Where to Eat
Guests are offered a complimentary hot/cold buffet breakfast.
Nearby Things to Do
Recreational amenities at the hotel include an indoor pool and a 24-hour fitness center.
If you have requests for specific accessibility needs, please note them at check-out when you book your room.
- Accessible bathroom
- In-room accessibility
- Roll-in shower
Hotel Policies
Check-in time ends at midnight
Check-in time starts at 4 PM
Check-out time is noon
Payment types
Children and extra beds
- Children are welcome.
- Rollaway/extra beds are not available.
- Cribs (infant beds) are available.
- Pets not allowed
You need to know
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy.
Hotel Name
- Springhill Suites Marriott Erie
We should mention
The property has connecting/adjoining rooms, which are subject to availability and can be requested by contacting the property using the number on the booking confirmation.


text: I've read the boards off and on for several years now, but this is my first post, as I just joined today! I just got confirmation yesterday that DH has a business trip July 23 thru July 27 in San Diego... This means I will be "hitch hiking" along with him and extending the "business" trip to include a few days at Disney!! After leaving the "business" hotel in SD on the 27th, we will be staying 4 nights in the Anaheim area and spending 3 days in the parks. Last year, it was our family of 4 and we stayed at Holiday Inn on Walnut street. This year, it will either be just DH and I or possibly our youngest daughter (13). I would like to stay closer to the park, preferably within walking distance, but money will be tight, so I'm looking for any tips I can get to get both lodging and park tickets as cheap as possible. I don't think we need to park hop, because in the past when we paid the extra, we didn't actually hop... We will spend one day in each park and then for the 3rd day, we will choose which park we want to spend our last day in. I guess on this day, it might be worth having the "hopping" option?? From what I've read here on the boards, I think I'm leaning toward Candy Cane or Residence Inn Maingate... any recommendations as to whether to buy a package deal or lodging separate from tickets, etc is GREATLY appreciated! Thanks, moogiepet P.S. I think I might try to make myself a LGMH and do me up some Disney inspired nail art too! Loved reading those two threads this morning!


text: My expectations are to remove the fat layer that I have carried all my life in my lower abdomen, despite exercising 4-6 times a week (cardio, some weights, yoga, planks, etc). In addition, I hope to say goodbye to the fat which has accumulated on my abdomen since menopause which began when I was 46. I am not telling anyone about this and am trying to figure out how to keep it a secret. Only my husband knows and he is very supportive.


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Nick on Mariah: Never say never
Nick Cannon has revealed a reconciliation with his estranged wife Mariah Carey is not out of the question.
The 34-year-old actor and musician filed for divorce from the pop star in December 2014, following six years of marriage. But it seems there may still be hope for the famous pair.
"Um yeah, you can never say never," Nick told TMZ when asked on camera if there was a chance for reconciliation with Mariah.
His admission came after he'd dished out advice to the reporter in the game of love. When asked for advice on how to approach relationships, Nick advised not to hold back.
"Just go for it, love hard," the America's Got Talent host suggested.
He and Mariah confirmed in August 2014 that they had separated a few months earlier. At the time, Nick tweeted that he "love[s] @MariahCarey and that will never change!!"
Recently, Nick slammed speculation that he was planning to write a tell-all book about Mariah. To him, there is no such "negativity" between them.
"I'm so disappointed in the media," he told E! Online. "It's funny, even to see people that I know and respect kind of report rumours and just ridiculous stuff that comes from nowhere. You could have just called me and asked me. I guess it's like people go for the story and sensationalism instead of figuring out the truth.
"And when there is no drama, people want to create drama. Like I said, if you guys want to continue to perpetuate negativity, do that. But I'm good and happy and so is my family. I don't know anything about no tell-all books or anything like that."
Together, the couple has three-year-old fraternal twins named Monroe and Moroccan. They reportedly reunited this month to spend Easter together with them.
© Cover Media


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The next time you find yourself decluttering the medicine cabinet, make sure you don't flush old medications down the toilet, and don't throw them in the garbage either.
The safest way to dispose of old medications and over-the-counter health care products is to take them back to your local pharmacy. (The same goes for old pet medications! Take them back to your vet.)
Flushing unused or expired prescription medications down the toilet or throwing them in the garbage means they'll eventually find their way into our streams and rivers — also known as our drinking water.
Sign up for Queen of Green tips by email
Not only will you be eliminating the risk of an accidental poisoning in your home, you'll also be playing a role in keeping our oceans and landfills free of pollution.


text: As some of you know, I had a pile of rounds (well, several actually) that had sat for far too long. I had agreed to clean up all my 'old' wood before getting any new to help keep the peace around here. Sort of makes sense of course, but it was harder to do than say. At any rate, this weekend a friend of mine rented a splitter and I helped him do his pile. After we were done he let me take the splitter home - I just had to get it back to the rental place by 5pm. Thus I had several hours to use it and I managed to get all those rounds done. Not that it was a whole lot - probably about 1/2 cord once stacked (in a heap right now). It is all sorts of mixed wood - some pine, some mystery wood and then there are the oak rounds that I had set aside last year because they were all crotches and large knots. It was rather fun to feed these to this 22ton splitter (in vertical configuration btw - I would never have wanted to lift these rounds). It clearly was working pretty hard on a few of those crotches but that's what it is for eh? This was my first experience using a power splitter - overall it was faster than I would have been with the axe/maul but I was surprised at just how long it took to get the job done. Somehow I thought it would have been even faster. As much fun as it was to get the job done in the time it was done on Saturday, I think I still would rather do it by hand for most wood - the nasty/difficult crotches I'll save for the splitter though - those were well worth it. So my status now is basically all caught up on rounds. I have some oversized wood to cut to length and of course this pile to stack somewhere but then I'll be in serious need of some more wood to process. It does feel nice in a way to get those ugly pieces split and out of my todo list, but it's also weird to think that I'm going to have to score some more wood before I have any more to do other than carrying it in to burn. Once I get it all stacked I can measure it out and know how much wood I do have. (and take some pictures of course).


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Monday, August 27, 2007
Writing Sample Question
i personally chose my samples based on the page limits, but i wouldn't necessarily do that again if were to apply all over again. there are no hard and fast rules. first priority i feel is the quality of the work. if a piece of writing stands out to you significantly more than others, then that's the one you should use.
on the other hand, i feel like a certain amount of tailoring to programs can be done, as long as an applicant has relatively accurate information. if i were to do it over, i would probably send my most experimental pieces to brown, and my most character-driven work to cornell, for instance. but one should also be careful, because faculties and admissions committees change all the time.
i don't think publication matters that much. it may actually hurt in certain instances, if a committee feels that a writer doesn't have room to grow. i've heard faculty here talking about people here who were accepted based on their perceived potential, over candidates who had more polished work, but that faculty felt weren't as ambitious in their writing goals.
ultimately, i think it comes down to a matter of taste a lot of the time. by the time things get winnowed down, everyone's a fantastic writer and it's just the particular choices of the committee members. i think it's important to remember that humans are making these choices, and humans make many mistakes. so it's all a big crapshoot in the end...
6 comments:
- Luke said...
As a follow-up, is it okay if your sample is a few pages over the requested amount?
- August 27, 2007 at 4:35 PM
- Lincoln said...
I've found this to be a hard question when I was applying.
Tom Kealey's advice of simply sending the two best stories to every school makes sense to me, but only if you write traditional domestic realism stories around 15 pages. When I was applying I had one or two such stories I thought were pretty good and then a handful of shorter (one to 5 page) more experimental pieces. Saying "send the best work" makes loads of sense, but it wasn't easy for me to determine whether a one page weird prose poem was better than a 15 page domestic realism story of mine.
In the end I went largely by what the schools requested. If they asked for "two stories no exceeding 40 pages" I sent my two long stories. If their guidelines were looser ("up to 30 pages max" no story amount requirement) I sent one of the domestic realism stories and then a handful of other stories in different styles. I think I was trying to to showcase my range.... though I honestly have no idea if writing programs care about this. I could even see them looking down on a varied manuscript. I could see them loving it too though. I've never seen anyone say which is preferred.
Although I like TK's idea that sending the same pieces everywhere will make you not second guess yourself later, I think it again depends on the situation. Like I said, I couldn't easily call two of my stories the best given that they were all in different styles and about different things. And as has been pointed out on here recently, different programs quite clearly have different preferences. If I could do it over again I would probably tailer my submissions more, as M. said.
- August 27, 2007 at 4:40 PM
- Shopping Blog said...
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- August 18, 2010 at 9:49 PM
- aliya seen said...
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- February 12, 2017 at 1:22 PM
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- August 12, 2017 at 11:18 AM
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- August 19, 2017 at 7:42 AM


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=?iso-8859-1?q?Gary=20Cowell?= <gary_cowell(at)yahoo(dot)co(dot)uk> writes: > So it seems the idea that oracle is dropping duplicate > rows prior to the sort when using distinct may indeed > be the case. Okay. We won't have any short-term solution for making DISTINCT do that, but if you are on PG 7.4 you could get the same effect from using GROUP BY: instead of select distinct version from vers where version is not null try select version from vers where version is not null group by version You should get a HashAggregate plan out of that, and I'd think it'd be pretty quick when there are not many distinct values of version. regards, tom lane
Next: From: Gary Cowell Date: 2004-06-18 23:06:29 Subject: Re: Major differences between oracle and postgres performance - what can I do ? Previous: From: Scott Marlowe Date: 2004-06-18 18:58:27 Subject: Re: [BULK] Problems with vacuum!


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Processors still seeing green as a key manufacturing initiative
Sustainability remains one of the top 10 trends affecting plant operations, according to Food Engineering's state of food manufacturing report.
While FSMA requirements, staffing issues, increased productivity and constantly evolving consumer demands may be top of mind for many people reading this column, sustainability remains one of the top 10 trends affecting plant operations, according to Food Engineering's most recent State of Food Manufacturing report. This November, Food Engineering will honor one North American plant that best exemplifies innovation in sustainable manufacturing with its Sustainable Plant of the Year Award.
Any new food or beverage plant or major sustainable plant project that became fully operational in calendar year 2013 is eligible to compete. Plants must produce processed food and/or beverage products designed for human consumption to participate in this competition. However, they do not need to be certified by LEED or any other organization.
Entries will be judged according to the following criteria:
• Sustainable building, design and site innovations
• Energy usage, recovery and reuse
• Water usage, reuse and treatment
• Sustainable process optimization
• Sustainable packaging initiatives
• Sustainable innovation in equipment and technology usage
• Sustainable warehouse, transportation and supply chain management
• Employee safety, comfort and health initiatives
• Community impact
• Corporate sustainability mission statement implementation.
Entries are due June 3, 2014. All plants entered in the competition must be available for an editorial staff visit by June 15, 2014 to be part of Food Engineering's November issue. Please do not submit any plant that will not be available by this date.
A detailed narrative, a maximum of 10 pages long, plus images in support of the entry are required. The entry should document the ways in which the plant excels with reference to the stated judging criteria.
For more information about preparing your entry, please contact me or visit http://www.foodengineeringmag.com/spoy. Use this link to view complete entry requirements, download entry forms and read articles about past Sustainable Plant of the Year winners such as Frito-Lay, Sierra Nevada Brewing and Plumrose USA.
Did you enjoy this article? Click here to subscribe to Food Engineering Magazine.


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How to Market Your Mobile App
Mobile Monday Brisbane
Monday, February 17, 2014 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM (AEST)
Event Details
How to Market Your Mobile App
- The basics of marketing your mobile app
- Driving download metrics
- Tips for successful user engagement
***Remember: Our free events fill up quickly - register now to secure your seat!***
When: Monday 17th February at 6:00pm for a 6:30pm start. Pizza ordered for 6.15pm arrival.
Where: River City Labs, Level 2, 282 Wickham Street Fortitude Valley.
Cost: FREE* (but spaces are strictly limited - you MUST register to attend)
With thanks as always to our amazing venue sponsor, River City Labs. And to our 2013 sponsors, who are listed below. We're now recruiting sponsors for 2014 - contact us if you are interested.
When & Where
River City Labs
Level 2
282 Wickham Street
Fortitude Valley,
Qld 4006
Monday, February 17, 2014 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM (AEST)
Add to my calendar
Mobile Monday Brisbane
MobileMonday is a worldwide community of mobile professionals. The open community promotes the mobile industry and fosters cooperation and networking among industry people and their companies by providing opportunities for personal and virtual contacts.
Mobile Monday Brisbane was founded in 2008, and generally holds meetings on the third Monday of every month. Attendees include leading mobile developers, designers, content producers and representatives from the mobile network operators.


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The Cost of Knowledge
Our Open Access Week celebration ends with a guest post from Gaëlle Krikorian, coeditor of Access to Knowledge in the Age of Intellectual Property (Zone Books).
Mobilizations for access to knowledge often pose the question of price. Price directly impacts the affordability of a good or a service. In the field of research publications, academics and researchers have also, interestingly, raised the issue of cost. The price is what you pay to acquire something, but the cost refers to the amount paid to produce a good or service. It represents the sum of the value of the inputs in production (labor, capital and enterprise). It is certainly not an accident that academics and researchers choose to call their international mobilization for open access to publications "The cost of knowledge."
Those who produce knowledge are well placed to know what is invested into the production of publications: besides the research, part of their working hours is dedicated to writing, and part of their time is dedicated, through peer review, to the scientific evaluation of the written products of others. They are responsible for the content and its quality. Yet, they are almost never paid to do this, and in some fields they must pay the journal to be published. Thus, they know well the cost of the production of knowledge and its dissemination.
Due to exorbitant subscription prices, thousands of academics across the world and in many different research fields are calling for "open access" to become the norm for publication. Knowledge would become more easily and broadly accessible to students, researchers, academics, universities, and libraries. Price would no longer be an obstacle to access to knowledge and to innovation itself, in both the global North and South. Academics promote, and in some cases develop, new publishing models that fit the technical environment more adequately than the old ones. These new models may help fix major incongruities and abuses that have occurred over the years in the context of what looks like than oligopoly.
In the United States, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has already embraced an open access policy. The European Parliament is currently discussing the issue. Hopefully, they will make it the rule for all research financed by the European Union.
If you'd like to learn more about the basics of open access and what it is (and isn't), be sure to check out Peter Suber's Open Access.
Or, if you prefer to use an RSS reader, you can subscribe to the Blog RSS feed.RSS
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Books, news, and ideas from MIT Press
The MIT PressLog is the official blog of MIT Press. Founded in 2005, the Log chronicles news about MIT Press authors and books. The MIT PressLog also serves as forum for our authors to discuss issues related to their books and scholarship. Views expressed by guest contributors to the blog do not necessarily represent those of MIT Press.


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SCOTIA -- The Beukendaal Volunteer Fire Department 12th Remember Our Troops Drive will be held 9 a.m.-noon today. Among the items needed are flip flops, snack foods, current magazines, toilet paper, socks, holiday items, hard candy, batteries and more. Donations to help cover the cost of postage will also be accepted. Addresses of soldiers who would like to receive packages will also be accepted.
VALLEY FALLS -- The VFW Post 1938, Poplar Avenue, will host a Halloween Party beginning at 8 p.m. Oct. 31 at the post.
WATERFORD -- A Grace Harvest Night of Halloween fun activities for children and youths 10-18 will be held 7-10 p.m. Oct. 31 at Grace Church, 34 Third St. Karaoke, games, a trivia contest, a donut-eating contest, decorating pumpkins and other activities are planned. Pizza, treats and other refreshments will be available. For information, call 237-7370.
GRAFTON -- The Grafton Volunteer Fire Department and Ladies Auxiliary will serve an all you can eat buffet breakfast 8-11 a.m. Oct. 31 at the Grafton VFW-Fire Hall on South Road.�The menu includes Belgian waffles, pancakes, French toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, home fries, toast, orange juice, coffee, and milk.�Adults, $8; children 12 and younger, $4; children 5 and younger, free.
TROY -- The Troy Public Library district board of trustees will meet at 7 p.m. Oct. 27 at the main library, 100 Second St.
VOORHEESVILLE -- Cornell Cooperative Extension Albany County annual meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Nov. 5 at the William F. Rice Extension Center, 24 Martin Road.�This meeting is open to the public and will include featured speaker Patrick Hooker, Commissioner, state Department of Agriculture and Markets, a business meeting, educational exhibits, and provide an opportunity to meet with Extension personnel.�Albany County residents 18 years of age or older are eligible to vote for members of the Board of Directors and various program committees. Ballots will be available the night of the meeting. For information and to make a reservation, call Cornell Cooperative Extension at 765-3500.
TROY -- The Brunswick Community Library, 4118 Route 2, presents the following programs. Storytime on Saturdays at 11 a.m. for children through age 5. The Girl Scouts Troop 1416 are hosting a six week program of skits, crafts, stories and more for children in kindergarten through grade 4. The program begins at 6 p.m. the first Wednesday in November and continues January through May. Pre-register for the program by calling 279-4023.
TROY -- John Robinson will sign his new book, "Get Off Your Knees" at noon Oct. 31 at Market Block Books, 290 River St.
AVERILL PARK -- Fred LeBrun, columnist, will speak at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 1 at the Sand Lake Center for the Arts, 2880 Route 43. A reception will follow his discussion. The event is free and reservations can be made at 674-2007.
RENSSELAER -- The Friends of the Rensselaer City Library will hold a bake sale Nov. 3 at St. John's auditorium on Herrick Street and Head Start auditorium on Third Street. All proceeds will go toward reading prizes and special items for the new library located on East Street across from the Rensselaer Rail Station which is due to open in November.
ALBANY -- The American Diabetes Association 11th annual Diabetes Community Forum will be held beginning at 5:45 p.m. Nov. 2 at the Holiday Inn, Wolf Road. "Back to the Basics-The ABCs of Diabetes Management" will be the topic discussed by the keynote speaker Dr. Matthew Leinung. The program is free, but reservations are required and can be made by contacting the American Diabetes Association at 218-1755 ext. 3632.
WEST SAND LAKE -- The West Sand Lake Fire Department Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament will be held Nov. 7 at the fire house on Route 43. Doors open at noon with the tournament begins at 1 p.m. The donation of $20 goes to the fire department; $40 will go to the prize pool. Seating is limited to the first 100 people who sign up. Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling Heather at 674-0073.
WATERVLIET -- A baked ham dinner will be served family style 5-7 p.m. Nov. 7 at the First Presbyterian Church, 819 23rd St. Adults, $10; children 12 and younger, $5; children 5 and younger, free. Tickets available at the door or from church members. Reservations can be made by calling Dave Meyer at 273-4193 or Lois Beaudoin at 785-8077. Take outs available.
WYNANTSKILL -- The First Reformed Church, Main Avenue, annual roast pork dinner will be served 4-6:30 p.m. Nov. 7.�The menu includes Route 66 roast pork, applesauce, apple dressing, gravy, squash, cole slaw, rolls, beverage and pie for dessert. Adults, $10; children 5-12, $5; children under 5, free. Take-outs will be available.�For information call 283-4420.
AVERILL PARK -- The Knights of Columbus will serve a spaghetti supper 5-7 p.m. Nov. 11 in the community hall of St. Henry's Church. The menu includes spaghetti and meatballs, salad, rolls, dessert and beverages. Adults, $8; children under 12, $4. Take out available. Tickets will be available at the door. For reservations, call Andy at 674-3377.
HOOSICK FALLS -- The Hoosick Falls Elementary School Ski/Snowboard Club is accepting registration for students in grades 5, 6, 7 and 8. Skiing is held at Willard Mountain for six weeks beginning Jan. 6. The bus leaves at 3:30 p.m. from the school and returns at approximately 9:30 p.m. Lift with included lesson is $115 and lift, lesson and rentals is $150. Forms are available at the school or by calling 686-9492 ext. 1034.
ALBANY -- CNSE Community Lecture Series presents Jazz & Nanotechnology with CNSE�Associate Professor of Nanoscience Dr. Robert Brainard and John Chmaj combining a live musical performance with thought-provoking discussion illustrating how the unique worlds of jazz and nanotechnology intersect, 6:30 p.m. Nov. 9 at CNSE's Albany NanoTech Complex, 257 Fuller Road. For information and to pre-register, visit cnse.albany.edu/events/CNSECommunityLectureSeries.html. Admission is free.
SCHENECTADY -- Dr. Shamshad Ahmad will sign "Rounded Up: Artificial Terrorists and Muslim Entrapment After 9/11" 1-2:30 p.m. Nov. 7 at The Open Door Bookstore and Gift Gallery, 128 Jay St.
ALBANY -- College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering Community Day will be held 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Nov. 7 at CNSE's Albany NanoTech Complex, 257 Fuller Road. The event will feature presentations, booths and interactive demonstrations that showcase the exciting breakthroughs being enabled by nanotechnology; guided tours of the cutting-edge cleanroom facilities at CNSE's Albany NanoTech Complex; and, a chance for adults, children and families to participate in hands-on experiments and activities that promote greater understanding of nanotechnology. For information and to pre-register, visit cnse.albany.edu/events/CNSECommunityDay.html. Admission is free.


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Berlin (May. 23)
While a Jew named Reinhold Fiedler was waiting in the street for a motor bus, a group of five Hitlerists came up and started making fun of him, proceeding presently to hit him. Fiedler ran away and took refuge in a neighbouring house, where the Hitlerists followed him, knocked him down, and best him, inflicting serious injury. The House Porter tried to rescue him from his assailants, whereupon the Hitlerists turned on the Porter, who fearing for his life-fired his revolver. One of the Hitlerists, Wolfgang Huth, was hit and fatally wounded. The police have arrested the Porter and the other Hitlerists, among them a notorious agitator named Karl Hartung, formerly a courier of the ex-Kaiser Wilhelm, who claims to be the illegitimate son of the ex-Kaiser and his present (second) wife, Princess Hermine.


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Men's Discernment Dinnner
Men's discernment dinners are for single Catholic men (high school-adult) with an openness to discerning a priestly vocation. The evenings include dinner and evening prayer with discussions about the priesthood, seminary and discernment. Dinners are on separate Wednesdays from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The high-school men's group meets on the first Wednesday of each month in the Religious Education Building of St. William Parish in Round Rock. The group for men 18 and older meets on the second Wednesday of each month at the St. Charles Borromeo House of Discernment at 905B Duncan Lane in Austin. For more information, visitwww.austinvocations.com; date exceptions will be posted online.


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|By MEG KINNARD, Associated Press
|Associated Press
While race is certainly part of the man he has become, Scott hesitates to say it has anything to do with his status as a rising GOP star in a strongly conservative Southern state.
"What I've not ever really heard on the campaign trail was, besides the fact that you're black, or because you're black, here's what we want to do," Scott said Monday. "They've asked me questions about values and issues, and that's an amazing thing."
On Monday, Scott stood by as
Haley, the daughter of Indian-American immigrants and
"I knew that he was the right person," Haley said. "It is very important to me, as a minority female, that Congressman Scott earned this seat."
Born in poverty in
"I am very thankful to the good Lord, and to a strong mom who believed that sometimes love has to come at the end of a switch. And she loved me a lot," Scott said. "My mother did not quit on me."
As his mother struggled to sustain their family, Scott struggled in high school, flunking a handful of classes and working a movie theater job to help make ends meet.
Along the way, he was befriended by the late
Scott earned a degree in political science from
Scott became the only black Republican in
Scott was the contest's favorite after winning a nine-way Republican primary for the seat that had not elected a Democrat in 30 years, defeating
After his election to
On Monday,
"Obviously he's black, but I don't think that discussion has ever come up in selecting Tim to represent us at any level," Bennett said. "He knows what he believes in. People vote for him based on where he stands on the issues."
U.S. Rep.
Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.
|(c) 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Life Insurance
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Hey gamers, Soms here! Today I will be doing a battle of epicocity against the Xbox One's Controller, vs PS4's Dualshock 4! So lets get started
Design: Xbox One
The Xbox One's controller has a very design to the Xbox 360's controller. If you take off the black piece attached to the top above, it almost looks identical. On the front, this fancy controller is sporting a new, Nintendo like d-pad, two analog sticks with improved rubber gripping, and the A B X and Y buttons. At the part of the controller where the start and select buttons used to be, we see two new buttons. The one on the left looks like a screen in front of another. Maybe Microsoft will pull of a PS Vita and make to push that button, and open up a previously viewed page. On the place where Start would have been, we have a button that has white column lines. Possibly, that is a new version of Start, but with a new design. And at the top, we have a glossy piano-black finish with the Xbox button, RT, LT, RB, and LB. I like the style that Microsoft was shooting for this time around, making it more bold than the sleek. I think that it will be more comfortable in all of our hands.
Design: Dualshock 4
Now, the Dualshock 4 is looking like a sexy beast! With a slick and bold design, this thing just looks stunning. On the front, we have a new and improved d-pad, new analog sticks that are a better improvement over the Dualshock 3. We also have a Playstation button in the middle, which will most likely be used for a home button. We also are sporting a nice looking touch pad like the Vita, a Share and Start button, and X SQUARE CIRCLE and TRIANGLE. At the bottom, it looks like the controller has a grip like attachment, and that the controller will be much longer then the Xbox One's controller. On the back, we have our usual R1, R2, L1, and L2.
This round, it is going to have to be a tie. The Xbox One has a nice bulky controller, which will fit very comfortably in your hand, and is most likely lighter weight because of it not have a touch pad. But the Dualshock 4 is very sexy, smooth, and bold, so I could not make a decision on this one.
Looks: Dualshock 4
This round, the Dualshock 4 is a beast! It has the really nice sleek thin design, has new sexy looking triggers, and with the touch pad and playstation button in the middle, this one is going to be tough to beat!
Looks: Xbox One
This is where the Xbox One mist stumble. It looks very sleek in with the new d-pad and buttons and new Xbox button. Its not that I don't like the new controller, as of matter of fact, I love it! But it just cant beat the Dualshock 4.
The winner of this round is going to have to go to the Dualshock 4 for its sleekness, just doesn't get better then that.
Hardware: Xbox One
The Xbox One doesn't have much to say about hardware. Besides the two buttons that have replaced Start and Select, which functions are at the moment unknown, the only thing to talk about is the new glowing power button that looks like it will blow me away when its in my hands. But other then that, thats it, nothing else new to see here.
Hardware: Dualshock 4
The Dualshock 4's hard ware is a beast. Mainly, because of two things. The share button, and the d-pad. Yes, Xbox One has a sharing function, just not in the controller. The Dualshock 4's touch pad will be used for several things in game, providing a new way to play at your living room. It also has the share button. So if your a youtuber, and want a better quality capture card, you can now get one for free with your PS4.
The Dualshock 4 wins once again in this round! Lets go to the final round!
Price: Dualshock 4
Here is the Dualshock 4's only problem. Price. This thing, I am guessing, will be around $100 to buy. With its touch pad, glowing bar censor on the back, this thing will not be cheap to buy!
Price: Xbox One
The Xbox One, since it not having to many expensive features, I am guessing will be around the same old $60. And this will be a problem for the Dualshock 4 fans, if they want to buy, lets just say, 4 for everyone in the family, then you just spent $400 on controllers alone. But with Xbox One, you would only be paying $240, almost 2 time less.
Obviously, the Xbox One's controller wins this round
Well there you have it folks, the winner for best controller will have to go to the Dualshock 4. With its sleek and sexy design, great hardware, it just cant be beat! So do you guys think I made a good choice with my scoring. Do you think Dualshock deserved the win, or was I too hard on Xbox One's controller. Talk about it in the comment box below!


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Zanata SM, Lopes MH, Mercadante AF, Hajj GN, Chiarini LB, Nomizo R, Freitas AR, Cabral AL, Lee KS, Juliano MA, de Oliveira E, Jachieri SG, Burlingame A, Huang L, Linden R, Brentani RR, Martins VR. Stress-inducible protein 1 is a cell surface ligand for cellular prion that triggers neuroprotection. EMBO J. 2002 Jul 1;21(13):3307-16. PubMed.
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One of the most diverse populations in Northern Ireland went to the polls in Fane Street in Belfast on Thursday.
The school, which is located in the Botanic electoral area around Tates Avenue, has a long-established group of residents who are overwhelmingly unionist, but it now also has a larger immigrant and student population.
There are also young professionals who live in the streets near to Belfast City Hospital and Queen's University.
Among those who voted unionist on Thursday morning were Mo McDevitt and her 93-year-old mother Margaret, who expressed concern at the behaviour of some people from what they called the transient population. "We have major anti-social behaviour in this area," said Mo.


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5 Foods for Losing Abdominal Flab
From the YMCA:
While no food can specifically target one region of your body for fat burning, some foods can help support fat loss as part of a well-balanced diet, combined with routine physical activity. Incorporating such foods into your diet can help increase your metabolism and ward off fat as you strive to achieve the lean and sculpted body you desire.
Milk and Yogurt: Low-fat milk and plain low-fat yogurt are both excellent sources of calcium, which serves as a metabolic trigger. According to a study by the University of Tennessee, individuals who consumed between 1,200 and 1,300 mg of calcium each day lost about twice as much weight as individuals who did not consume as much calcium. Furthermore, an insufficient amount of calcium triggers the secretion of calcitriol, a hormone that causes you to store fat.
Lean Meats: Lean turkey, beef and chicken are all rich sources of protein, which helps you feel full faster, thus increasing the chance that you will eat less in a given meal. Turkey in particular has fewer calories per gram than any other source of animal protein. Turkey also contains the amino acid leucine, which helps preserve muscle mass as you lose weight. Including lean meats in your diet can help reveal lean and toned ab muscle definition when combined with an active lifestyle.
Fish: Several different types of fish contain elements that support fat burning. Salmon and tuna are rich sources of omega-3 fatty acids, which are responsible for lowering the levels of leptin in your body. Lower leptin levels are associated with a faster metabolism, thus helping you to burn fat and calories at a more rapid rate. Sardines and fish oil supplements also contain healthy fats that support efficient weight loss.
Whole Grain Cereal: Eating breakfast alone helps rev up your metabolism and keep your insulin level low. Whole grain cereal makes the perfect fat-burning breakfast, as it is rich in fiber and complex carbs. These components help boost your metabolism and help keep insulin levels low to reduce the rate at which you store fat.


text: As I have mentioned the school MinecraftEDU server before, now I need to disable the power button. The computer is in a place where many kids are a lot, so we need the power button disabled so nobody can turn off the computer. I tried just unplugging the power button, and it didn't like me for doing so. All the fans sped up and the hardware went a bit nuts. I haven't figured out how to disable it through the software, which is Ubuntu 12.04 64-bit. I hope someone can help!


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Munch on Your Popcorn: Broadway Takes History on the Road to a Movie House near YouCulture Watch
'Mamma Mia' was a hit Broadway show that was turned into a movie. Critics howled that everyone would go to the movie instead of the show and that the play would shut down faster than a dancing queen when the music stops. Just the opposite happened. The musical became more successful than ever, thanks to the fame given it by the film. 'Phantom of the Opera' and 'Chicago' were both made into movies and the films helped extend the runs of both shows, each running for years now.
Now 'Memphis' and 'The Importance of Being Earnest' are doing the same thing, in a smaller way. Each has been filmed in its entirety and will be shown in hundreds of movie theaters across the nation this spring. 'Memphis' began its screenings last week and will continue this week. 'The Importance of Being Earnest' will be on film screens during the first week of June.
The producers of 'Memphis' are hoping that the fame of the film will help them sell tickets when the show goes on its national tour this fall. They believe that people will see the film, love it and want to see the actual musical, the real thing. They hope will tell their friends.
Critics, of course, have wondered why anyone who sees the movie for $9 will then pay close to $100 to see the play.
'Memphis' producer Randy Adams scoffs at the suggestion. "It didn't hurt other theater show sales at all," he told a news service, referring to 'Mamma Mia.'. "If anything, it revitalized them. People like to go with what's familiar. So I think the more familiar people are with 'Memphis' the more likely they are to see the play (if they saw the movie)."
Fellow producer Sue Frost agreed. "We thought it would be a great marketing tool, particularly for the road," she said, and added that they wanted to film the show with the original cast.
The shows, both history plays, are two of New York's best.
'Memphis,' in fact, is one the best American musicals in years. It is loaded with good songs, laced with sensational dance numbers and features some superb acting. The strength of the show, though, and the reason it won so many Tony Awards, including best show, is its music history and strong, riveting, interracial romance story set in the early 1950s.
People who see the show must remember that it is set in a club on Beale Street, the heart of the Memphis music and entertainment district, in 1952. That is just five years after President Truman integrated the armed forces and two years before the U.S. Supreme Court integrated public schools in the landmark Brown vs. the Board of Education decision. Racism was alive and very unwell in America that year, especially in the south and places such as Memphis.
A liberal white DJ in the city, Huey, played majestically by Chad Kimball, becomes famous almost overnight and falls in love with a black singer, Felicia, played by Montego Glover. The two are unable to marry and live openly in the city, despite their prominence, because of racism. One night the two of them are accosted by a gang of white thugs and it turns their life around.
'Memphis,' despite its glorious music, is a searing story of racial conflict in one of the South's largest and most legendary cities. The girl wants to be a famous singer and move to New York. The DJ understands that the only way they can live as an interracial couple is to move north, but he is Memphis born and bred and has trouble leaving his mother, neighborhood and roots. The show concentrates on racial division then, and now, and why all of the speeches and books about racism do not make it go away.
Glover is achingly lovable as the singer, but Kimball steals the show, and will steal the movie. He slinks and slips and slides across the stage, mesmerizes all with his twangy accents, the sweeps of his arms, cock of his head and his never ending belief that racism can be beaten back. You like him at first, and love him later.
The show's book and lyrics are by Joe DiPietro. David Bryan wrote the music and also wrote the lyrics with DiPietro. The choreography is by Sergio Trujillo and Christopher Ashley directs.
There is a new market for taped shows like 'Memphis' and 'Earnest'. There were only 32 screens that used high digital equipment for show films like these two a few years ago. Today there are almost 8,000 screens.
Today, audiences are more familiar with filmed shows than ever before. The Metropolitan Opera has been filming many of its operas and then showing them in hundreds of theaters across the U.S. (this year the Met showed operas on 1,500 screens worldwide and earned $48 million). The National Theater of London has been doing the same thing. The films give all theaters the chance to build an audience for any shows that will travel around the country, but it also brings theater and opera to towns where people might never have the chance to go to those shows.
The companies of 'Memphis' and 'the Importance of Being Earnest' are the Johnny Appleseeds of theater/film entertainment
Will this work, though?
Ken Davenport, a producer who writes a theater blog, thinks so. He thinks it can sell tickets now and build an audience for later. "One of the goals of the movie musical is to expose the tuner to audiences around the country, educating them well before the national tour of 'Memphis' gets to their market," he said.
Davenport added that movies always help plays and songs (remember the theme to 'Titanic'?). "Even mediocre musical movies help keep their source material running," he said, and pointed to 'Phantom of the Opera,' also a movie, as an example.
"Broadway musicals in movie theaters around the country? It'll help them," he said.
The screen version of 'The Importance of Being Earnest,' starring and directed by Brian Bedford, is just as challenging. During the intermission of the play on screen, audiences will listen to actors Alfred Molina and Michael Hackett discuss Oscar Wilde the man and the actor. Television and theater star David Hyde Pierce will lead audiences on a backstage tour during another part of the film.
'The Importance of Being Earnest' will not just be shown in traditional cinemas. It has a schedule that starts June 2 and ends on June 28. There will be hundreds of screenings in the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, South Africa and Mexico. It will be screened at places well off the beaten path, such as the Phoenix Art Museum, in Phoenix, Arizona, Colorado Mountain College, The Sterling and Francine Clark Art institute in Williamstown, Mass and the fabled Guthrie Theater, in Minneapolis.
The future to this process is limitless. Just imagine yourself five years from now. It is cold and rainy outside and you are having a cup of coffee in Biloxi, Mississippi. You want to be entertained, so you push a few buttons on your combination phone/ipad/itunes/musicbox/film/TV theater phone, four inches high and two inches wide, adjust your ear plugs and start watching a filmed production of the latest Tony Award winning play on Broadway or an experimental new play in Los Angeles by a theater company just booted out of Libya.
And the curtain on the phone opens…
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Choose from Three Options
- $44 for a 60-minute massage with aromatherapy (a $90 value)
- $54 for a 90-minute massage with aromatherapy (a $115 value)
- $59 for a 90-minute hot-stone massage with aromatherapy (a $135 value)
With the the first two options, clients may choose from an ashiatsu oriental bar therapy, which uses the feet instead of the hands, sports therapy, or a combination therapeutic massage with Swedish, deep-tissue, and neuromuscular techniques.
JLM Therapeutics
Josh McGirk has been in practice as a massage therapist for more than a decade, and is certified in therapeutic massage, hot-stone modalities, and ashiatsu oriental bar therapy, a technique that uses pressure from the feet rather than the hands. But as evidenced from his info page, he has many talents. He's ACE certified in group exercise and also teaches a slew of exercise classes and aerial yoga. When not mending muscles or in yoga pose, Josh is a black belt in Chinese shaolin kung fu and speaks six languages, including English, French, and kangaroo.


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The escalating controversy over recent bankruptcies at solar start-up companies like Solyndra and Abound Solar is a distraction from real story about the solar power industry. It is not only here to stay, but poised for rapid and relentless growth over the next 20 years. Make no mistake about it: the future of widespread solar poweris now inevitable. The same can be said about electric vehicles, energy storage and fuel cells, but perhaps the most underappreciated change coming down the pike is the advent of market-aware energy consuming assets. Here are five reasons why these changes are inevitable:
- Human intelligence - and the ability to build upon past discoveries – is increasing every day. It's the positive side of Toffler's Future Shock. With computational capabilities, we can run virtual tests, in parallel, on many different technologies, and learn far more quickly than ever before. And we can instantaneously disseminate knowledge. Thus, technological advancement that might have taken decades to achieve in the pre-computer age may now take only a few years. For proof, look at what is happening in solar with all of the different technologies. Solyndra is an example of this, and a good one. While pointing out the weakness of investing too heavily in a single technology, the case also highlights a reason for optimism: Solyndra lost because (forget the Chinese subsidies for a minute) the competing technologies advanced too quickly and became too cheap too fast for Solyndra to keep up. Other technologies are similarly advancing, though perhaps not as quickly.
- Our grid is aging. Much of it is older than I am. And it is extremely expensive to replace. Those high avoided costs create an opportunity for efficiency,decentralized supply solutions, and responsive demand assets.
- Prices. We have seen a bottoming out of electric energy prices. Natural gas is unlikely to ever get cheaper than it was last year when we were punching so many holes into the shales that short-term supply overwhelmed demand. Many people seem to confuse short- and long-term elasticities. Over time, new demands for shale gas will emerge; gas-powered trucks and vehicles, LNG exports (Cheniere is the first of many in line in the permitting process), and new gas-fired power plants. The EIA projects retirement of 49 gigawatts of electric demand through 2020. Gas-fired generators will meet a large portion of that demand..
- Carbon. We have fallen into a believer/non-believer dialogue (if one can call it that), which appears more driven by ideology than science. Yet, assuming the majority of scientists are correct, the dynamic will not go away, ideology notwithstanding. This July was hotter in the US than the year of dust bowl; one month doesn't make a climatic trend. But ten years just may. The odds appear to favor hotter, drier, and more volatile weather. Sooner or later (if you agree with the Economist), that leads to higher energy prices through some sort of carbon based pricing.
- Economic growth. Even an anemic 2% economic growth rate would see a doubling of electricity consumption in 35 years. 3% moves it to 23 years. The average annual rate from 1948 to 2009 was 3.28%. A doubling of consumption and associated infrastructure and fuel costs suggests higher underlying fuel AND infrastructural costs.
So the stage is set for potentially higher prices (absent some black swan event we cannot foresee), and improved relative economics of new distributed technologies whose costs continue to come down. We can expect to see deployment of these technologies in four distinct areas: 1) where subsidies and regulatory decisions provide early safe havens; 2) where high avoided costs improve the economics (the island of Omotepe in Lake Nicaragua is said to have 60 cents/kWh electricity rates – the race for solar should be on!); 3) where volatility is most pronounced; and 4) where distributed technologies can add the highest value in terms of what and when avoided resources are displaced.
The key to optimizing many of these investments, irrespective of technology, is to tie them into an economic context. In other words, we need to make them market aware, and profitable. In so doing, we can optimize the size of the assets during the initial investment phase, and their performance on a daily basis. Let's take gas-fired back-up generation in Texas for example. Assuming a consumer requires 1 MW of back-up gen for a business-related need such as reliability, the question during the initial assessment phase should focus around trade-offs between size of the unit and value of participation in energy markets. Given market volatilities, capital costs to supersize the unit, and underlying fuel costs, the optimal investment could be a unit x% larger, which could sell into the market whenever the real-time price exceeds a specific price. Such decisions require analytical capabilities, an understanding of past and expected future market dynamics, and an awareness of the regulatory environment. Most of all, it requires knowledge of real-time market characteristics.
The future grid will be characterized by market awareness of many decentralized resources, and require an intelligence which does not currently exist.
Author: Peter Kelly-Detwiler
Original Post


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All you need to know about coming in for a raise in a cash game, be it against limpers, raisers or if you are opening the action.
"Limping" means entering a pot by only matching the big blind, rather than raising. Usually a limp indicates weakness, so if you are in position on a limper, you should leverage your advantage and raise to put pressure on your opponent(s), especially with a strong hand.
With a speculative hand, in position, you might want to limp too, allowing you to see a flop for cheap. There is already a lot of money in the pot thanks to all the other limpers, so your pot odds increase.
A checklist of what you need to remember before entering a pot, plus a useful chart to reveal how to proceed in ...Go to Next Lesson
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If you have forgotten your PokerSchool password you can reset it by following these steps here.:
(Note: your PokerSchool password must be at least 8 characters long, and begin with a number 1-9.)


text: I just gathered some scraps together, rounded a few corners, used some decorative scissors, and a couple of small stamps. I used a polka dot background stamp then added some translucent embossing powder for a subtle appearance on the pink cardstock. A few rhinestones, a ribbon and voila a bookmark is born, lol...TFL


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There's been a lot of debate in the aviation community over the value and challenges of LSA as flight trainers compared to old standards like Cessna 150s. I'd like to weigh in on some the questions being raised.
Are LSA harder to fly — specifically, are they harder to land? The best way to respond is to say that they are different. [Read more…]


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Trend Alert: Feminine, Elegant Chairs
In the current issue of Vanity Fair, writer Bob Colacello interviews Nancy Reagan on everything from her late husband to stem cell research in his article "Nancy Reagan's Solo Role." While the article is full of fascinating information about the former first lady, my eyes were immediately drawn to this photo on the website. The green expanse of lawn, framed by the diminutive Reagan perched upon an elegant, feminine chair, seemed to be the perfect portrait of the quiet, composed woman. Nancy Reagan's interest in high-end fashion was one of her defining qualities during her time in the White House, and the fashionable look of this portrait's elegant chair is definitely an ongoing trend in home décor.
I decided to track down some other chairs that matched the femininity and elegance of Reagan's chair. To see my favorites,


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Fiction is for Sharing ...
|Category: General & Literary Fiction Books
Transfers: PDF 386 ePub 138 Kindle 48
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A timeless a story of rebellious youth and tragic love set in an anonymous metropolis that could be anywhere in the modern world.
Jackie is an enigmatic teenager obsessed with dark Japanese comics and vintage motorcycles who is repelled by the future life set out for him by adult society. His efforts to seek revenge on his enemies and steal a statue to impress a girl escalate into arson and when his best friend takes all the blame he gets sent away to reform school. The girl's father then falls in love with Jackie's mother and moves in. When he learns of Jackie's designs on his daughter, he forbids Jackie to see her and sends her away to a catholic boarding school.
Torn away from everything that means anything to him he begins to relish dark fantasies about killing his mother's new lover, who he sees as the centre of all his problems. But when his best friend escapes from reform school and hides out in Jackie's garage these fantasies strangely come true and Jackie is forced to escape.
Tormented by thoughts of whether the murder was premeditated or accidental, he becomes a fugitive in the inner city and after being abandoned by his best friend he seeks to rekindle his love for the girl and make a new life outside the grips of the law and adult society, a futile quest that ultimately ends in tragedy.
Inspired as much by Rebel Without a Cause or Quadrophenia as it is by Dostoevsky, Mishima, or Faulkner, The Frozen Ocean is a dark psychological thriller guaranteed to mesmerise to the very end.


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There are some situations where it's nice to monitor the amount of bandwidth that's being used by your computer. One reason would be if your Internet Service Provider (ISP) caps the amount of data that you're allowed to plow through in a given month. This kind of thing is especially prevalent in wireless carriers who tend to cap Internet usage at about 5GB per month, which actually isn't all that much when you get into watching YouTube videos or streaming music.
Networx is a freeware utility for Windows that tries to provide you with every possible tool you can imagine for monitoring your bandwidth usage. You can see graphs of your usage, view your transfer rate, get detailed reports organized by time period or by the user logged into the machine, and keep an eye on how close you are to reaching your quota. Here are some more features it offers:
- Clear graphic and/or numeric display.
- Usage reports with export to a variety of file formats, including Excel, MS Word and HTML.
- Permits close supervision of uploads and downloads.
- Works with dial-up, ISDN, cable modems, ADSL, Ethernet cards, and more.
- Includes network information & testing tools with advanced netstat that displays applications using your Internet connection.
- Scalable to your own modem download capabilities.
- Option to notify user or disconnect from the Internet automatically when network activity exceeds a certain level.
- Speed meter to accurately time downloads and report the average transfer rates.
- Dial-up session journal with detailed information about every session.
On top of all that Networx can also be used on-the-go thanks to the portable version, which means there's nothing you need to install on your PC to start using it. And when you run it for the first time there's nothing that you have to configure… it will just sit in your System Tray and immediately start keeping tabs on your network activity.
It's not often that I come across an app that thoroughly covers what it sets out to, but this one does. If you want something that monitors bandwidth usage, this has got to be the best freeware utility available to do it. The wide range of utilities and customizability make this an extremely versatile app that will be tough to beat.
Networx Homepage (Portable Freeware, Windows only)
Thanks Tyler for the tip!


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Protect your tailgate from scratches and dents
This Diamond Series Rubber Tailgate Mat For Ford Ranger/ Mazda Mini Trucks protects your tailgate from scratches and dents (which can lead to rust) with this custom-fit, 3/16"-thick rubber mat. This mat is made from Nyracord®, which is thicker and lasts longer than traditional rubber mats. Mat can be trimmed to provide a custom fit. Truck bed mat, item number 109672, (sold separately) can be added for additional protection. Black color. USA made.
Fits the following trucks:
82-06 Ford Ranger (6' bed)
93-06 Ford Ranger Splash (6' bed)
94-06 Mazda Mini (6' bed)
See all vehicle accessories