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traGtor – GUI for ffmpeg/avconv
Convert all your Audio and Videofiles in Ubuntu, Debian or Gentoo through FFmpeg without using a terminal
Die vollständige deutsche Anleitung zur aktuellsten Version gibt's auf ubuntuusers.de im Wiki.
traGtor is a graphical user interface (GUI) for the awesome conversion tool ffmpeg and its fork avconv for the use with Linux-OS. It is written in Python and uses the GTK-Engine (standard in GNOME desktops) for displaying it's interface. The goal of traGtor is not to bring you all of the features ffmpeg offers, but to be a fast and user friendly choice for converting a single media file into any other format. For a full ffmpeg featuring GUI please refer to the other great projects listed below. This GUI is written for not dealing too much with command lines, options and parameters and so on, and refers mostly to the real keyboard haters.
One may edit the command line sent to ffmpeg to fit all of his needs, but for those cases the more command line oriented tools (with nice GUI's too) could be the better choice. But if you need a tool for click oriented and flawless conversion like stripping an mp3 from a youtube movie, resizing and recoding a clip to fit your mobile's screen or just changing the format of a movie-file to be able to play it in a flash-media-player – traGor may be Mr. Right for you.
Please note!
The help below ist still stuck in version 0.4 or 0.5 – a lot of new functions have been knitted in since, like multistreaming, using multiple files, volume fader, stream-copy and so on. Please be patient till I find some time to update this one.
- The philosophy of traGtor
- Download & Installation
- The interface of traGtor
- Start traGtor
- Source file
- Format
- Meta
- Target
- Proceed
- Settings
- Plans
- Version history
- Contributions
- Other cool projects
The philosophy of traGtor
Linux (and UBUNTU in special) is the greatest operating system available today imho. everything is possible – even things one can't imagine today. You will never reach an end or will be jailed in your possibillities things should work. The best tools linux can give you are the ones controlled by a CLI (Command-Line-Interface), but specially for the newbies on Linux platforms these ones are overwhelming – fitted with hundreds of options and values with nothing like a simple overview what you are doing. I wouldn't call myself a terminal-n0ob, but studying a 7k man-page everytime just for doing a simple task once or twice a month isn't really that effective. I love the allmighty of the command line for shure, but simple tasks have to be accessed in a simple way I think. This is inspired a bit by the actual philosophy MacOS X 10.5 is going for – (okay, for apple it's a shame what they're selling with this version, but…) Linux could perhaps take some inspirations from apples actual grab-in-the-cream. Just visited an Apple presentation of Air Book and Leopard in boomtown Berlin – and was disappointed. Nothing really new, nothing really cool. And with a huge lack of apple-like functions for applications while dealing with the new medias. On A-day we visited a forum for pod- and vodcaster where a friendly Apple technician explained how to produce a complete podcast including publishing on web and in iTunes store in some very VERY simple steps. I was amazed how easy it could be. But for the question of how to … (imagine anything you may would edit in this process) or to … or perhaps to … there always was the default answer: "No… but you could do it with the command line".
Thats a really cool way for my personal needs to use a computer, and especially the GNOME-desktop follows this philosophy in perfection. Some single GUI's for the complete usability of common or everyday tasks, but if you have to configure the disabling of a touchpad while a mouse is plugged in you have to take a terminal or texteditor. Perfect.
And that's the exact way traGtor was designed for. Most things can be set with some simple clicks, the keyboard should not be touched to much (better: never). But even so the values should be changeable by hand and the command line should be completely editable in the confirmation dialog. Huge icons and buttons and wider paddings as normal should give unexperienced users an overview of what they are doing. And a lot of information should prevent from tapping in the dark about things one could meet with
To learn how to add my DEB repository to your package management visit the following page:
If you want to download a package directly you'll find it in the version history there.
The dependencies (ffmpeg and id3v2) should be installed without problems if you have universe repository enabled.
If you don't know what I mean with "universe", "dependecies" and "repository" please refer to the Synaptics section of your local UBUNTU community
The package adds a new entry in the start menu inside the multimedia section.
Note: ffmpeg is not installed with support for MP3 by default under UBUNTU! To fix this you have to enable the MEDIBUNTU repositories, where ffmpeg is available with MP3 support enabled. Check your local UBUNTU-community for information about ffmpeg, medibuntu and stuff. The german one for example is located here:
The best way of getting the full experience is to compile FFmpeg yourself. Grab the sources from subversion:
svn checkout svn://svn.ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg/trunk ffmpeg
and have a look at the english ubuntu wiki for further information.
Blafoo came up with the information that it's better to install FFmpeg from multimedia unstable repos under Debian. Thanks for the tipp!
Here are some packages I don't maintain:
Adrian has offered a PKGBUILD for Arch-Linux – thanks a bunch!
Darkstar has offered a script for Slackware – thanks a lot!
Deny Dias from Brasil used Darkstars script to build ready-to-use Slackware packages for the public. Thanks a lot, mate! If the link doesn't work it may be that Deny hasn't had the time to build the newest package by now. So please be patient or substitute the version number with one version earlier.
Everything else is available on the repository page mentioned above.
The interface of traGtor
The window of traGtor is build in six sections appearing in the order you will step through a common conversion task. All sections have some short explanation and icons about their function and are made mostly self explaining. So stepping one-after-another through the tabs on top of the window leads you comfortable through the settings until you reach the big "do it now!"-button. This one shows you problems in a readable way in case some settings are incorrect, filenames are invalid and so on. A confirmation dialog and a progress bar will make the final process more understandable.
Start traGtor
traGtor can be fired up in different ways. The most common one is to go through applications-menu and search the multimedia section where traGtor is installed in. Another way is to make a right click in nautilus and choose "open with…" on a media file. Or you can just start it in a terminal by typing "tragtor [infile] [outfile]" in the command-line. In- and outfile are optional parameters, while outfile can only be set if infile is set, too. The GNOME way is to put a starter (simply by dragging the icon from the applications-menu) in one of your panels or the avant-window-navigator. Dragging any readable media file on this starter will open traGtor with the file preselected.
The first time traGtor is started, it creates a folder inside you home directory ~/.tragtor where all settings are stored. It doesn't contain any media data or stuff so it won't use more than a few kByte on your harddrive.
On it's first start traGtor tries to guess your systemwide language settings and looks for some fitting language files. If it doesn't find any english is the default. This setting is stored for your next sessions.
On the first page everything input related is done. With the wide button on top of the text area you are able to choose a source file for conversion. Other ways are starting traGtor with an input file as parameter or drag and drop a file from nautilus or desktop to the button on top.
The button next to the file chooser switches between "single" and "multi" mode. The first one is the standard method of converting one file into another. Everytime you select a file while you're in this mode, the last one is removed from the list so you always have a single file to work with.
While in "multi" mode you can add as many files as you like to the list of possible sources. This mode is useful for mergin files together like adding an MP3 to a JPG in order to create a simple Youtube vid. Or imagine you have recorded/edited/translated a new audio stream that you want to add instead of the existing one to your video. Or you want to create a matroska video containing different audiofiles for example.
While you add files to traGtor, every stream contained in the files will appear in two list below the sources – one fills with video streams, the other with audio streams. Every stream will display some details about itself and provides a checkbox to select or deselect this stream for the process. If there are no audio streams or none of them is selected, all settings for audio on the settings page are disabled. The same goes for video streams.
The input files are remembered – next time you'll open traGtor without any arguments they are preselected in this dialogue.
This page is the most complicated one – so much entries and buttons and… calm down, it's made up really easy.
First of all: All entries are set to a value depending on the source file directly after you selected a valid file. So if you open a video in 240×180, the size is preset to this value. Same for bit- sampling- and frame rates.
Second: If a value has changed from default, a little icon is displayed in front of the entry. A left click on this one will reset the value to it's default. This may happen on startup on selecting a source file in case an invalid bit rate is detected. Those bit rates are detected and auto set to the next lower and valid value.
And the last common info: If no audio stream is detected for example, all audio related settings are disabled. Same counts for video. So if you wonder about some grey entries make sure your source contains the right streams and the disable buttons in the render section are unset. Toggling those buttons will pop up a message if the selected stream isn't available.
The window is tiled in four parts, while the first one contains all video related settings, the second one the audio section, third one displays the render settings and at the bottom you will be shown some calculated values depending on your settings.
Force Codec: The first selector may be the most confusing one. Different Containers (such as .avi for example) are able to contain different video formats. So it's possible that an avi file contains a mpeg video and another one a Cinepack codec. Same goes for audio codecs. So use this setting only if you want to force a codec in a specific container. If you are unsure and only want a specific file format as result you should set the suffix on the target page to the desired container format and leave this field untouched.
Bitrate: The bit rate is expressed as kilobit per second and means the transfer rate. A higher bit rate increases file size and quality, lower ones do the opposite. Please refer to the results spit out at the bottom area of the window to control the file size. Lower values will result in a more "pixelated" view and less detail. They are calculated using amongst this value. The up/down buttons on the right changes the value but it may also be typed in by keyboard.
Framerate: This value changes the amount of frames (single pictures in a movie) shown during one second of the clip. The up/down-buttons on the right changes the value but it may also be typed in by keyboard.
Width / Height / Ratio / fixed ratio: Depending to the setting of "fixed ratio" these three values are auto-set while changing one of them. That means you only have to turn up the height value and width is set automatically based on the ratio value. For resizing only one of width and height, "fixed ratio" has to be unset. in this mode, ratio is changed to a proper value depending on width/height settings. If you want to change the ratio, please refer to the settings in the render section for selecting if the screen should be cropped, stretched or filled with an arbitary color.
Deinterlace: toggles the use of a simple deinterlace filter. Because TV signals are completely different from digital video signals, you can choose to deinterlace the material to get rid of possible thin stripes appearing in high-motion-scenes. This should not be enabled while converting one PC format to another. What is the main difference? TV-signals are sent as only half of the full image, tiled in really thin stripes. The second half of the image is sent as the next picture as the missing lines. This one is taken really short after the first one, so the movement in the image has gone one step in time. This was made due to anti-flickering on old TV tubes. The image got much calmer. Todays PC formats only store one full image after another, so just copying interlaced material to none-interlaced format results in "choppy" edges at fast moves, where you can see the two halves of a full screen added to one.
Force Codec: This is the same as in the video-section: different container formats may contain different audio codecs. Again the example of avi: one may contain a mp3 as audio stream, another may contain raw-pcm-audio. So choose only if you know what you're doing: forcing the use of a different audio codec as the default one.
Bitrate: Same as in video section. The bit rate specifies the overall quality of the material, but higher values increase the filesize. You can type a custom value instead of selecting from the drop down, but it may not fit the requirements of the codec afterwards. Lower bit rates will result in less high and low frequencies and the lower the bitrate is the more artefacts are added to the signal. They are heard as a bit "birdy" noise.
Samplerate: The sample rate is the frequency at which samples are taken from the original analog signal. Higher sample rates mean higher quality but bigger file size. They are expressed in kilo Hertz which means a thousand ticks per second. 44,1 kHz is the level of CD-quality. Do not increase to get a better sounding audio file, missing information can't be added afterwards, only use this one if you have to have a specific audio format in your file. Or decrease the value to get a lower file size. Changing from 44 kHz to 22 kHz means the file size is halved.
Audiochannels: This value sets the amount of audio channels inside the file. "1" means you get a mono audio file, "2" leads to stereo output. The file size is reduced about the half when converting a stereo- to a mono file. Switching from mono to stereo will not bring you any stereophonic experience back to your material, it will acoustically remain mono. Only use it when you need a stereo format.
Start Offset: This is the time in seconds your target file will begin in comparison to the source file. The real-time is displayed in the second line of the label as HH:MM:SS.XXX where XXX means milliseconds.
Duration: This value in seconds describes the final length of your media file. Format of the label is like start-offset HH:MM:SS.XXX where XXX means milliseconds. Duration and Offset are depending on each other, so increasing the offset will decrease the duration automatically.
Scaling: This drop-down lets you select the method for resizing your video clip if you have changed the ratio.
- Pad adds areas in the specified color to the original to fit the new ratio. So nothing is taken away from your material.
- Crop cuts overhanging pixels from your source to fit the selected ratio. So two sides of your source will get cropped depending on the ratio-change.
- Resize does no cropping or adding at all but distorts your video material to fit the new width and height.
Padding Color: here you can choose the color to fill the added ares with in case you changed the ratio an selected Pad from the drop-down above.
Disable Video: This button disables the video stream in the target file. With this option you can extract an audio file from a youtube-movie for example. If you choose ex. MP3 for output, it's not really necessary to disable video, because ffmpeg can't export video to MP3 anyway. But deselecting this one will show you the correct file size of your target at the bottom of the window. If video is disabled by default and can't be enabled your input file doesn't contain any decodeable video streams.
Disable Audio: The same as disable video goes for the audio stream: you can prevent ffmpeg from adding an audio stream to your target if you only want to have the video-part of the source. Being a less common function it may be usable to decrease file size in some cases.
2-Pass: Some codecs are able to encode your video data in two passes rather than a single encoding pass. The results are much better but the time the process takes will increase. You have to know what you're doing using this setting. If enabled, traGtor will execute both passes without asking directly one after another, the current pass is shown in the window title. Both processes are visualized in the process window which will close and reopen between both passes. Do not trust the progress bar – especially while first pass!
Additional Options: Here you can add your own options not accessible via the GUI. The button in front of the text entry wipes out all options. The button on the right of the entry opens a window displaying the help files of FFmpeg.
This section shows the final values of length and file size. This information may differ from the real results because bit rate for example is a variable value in some cases and may differ during conversion process. If you convert ex. flv to mp3 and do not enable the "disable video" switch, the result shown is including the video size anyway. Same goes for audio here. It doesn't take care of header-data, too – so only consider it as a rough estimate.
Here you can save and restore some personal presets of all settings on this page. Usage is kept as simple as can – select a preset from the drop down an hit "open" to load a setup. If the toggle for the container format is active, the container in the output section is set, too. The state of this toggle is restored everytime traGtor is started. To delete a preset select it from the list (or type it's name in the textfield) and click "delete". A confirmation rises up to prove your decision. Saving presets: make your settings, enter a (new) name in the textentry and hit the "save" button. If the name exists you'll be asked if you want to override the specified preset.
This page lets you edit some meta- or id3 tags stored in the target file. At the moment this feature is implemented poorly (only based on the four fields ffmpeg supports) and has to be updated.
To write the tags through ffmpeg toggle the "activate"-switch for enabling this feature. Due to the lacking implementation it is disabled by default.
What does work:
An id3v2 wrapper is implemented basically. At this time it is only able to read ID3v1-Tags from the source file at selection. Found tags are inserted in the related fields. If nothing is found, filename and program names as comment is used. The values are written through ffmpeg till now which is not satisfying.
So a complete ID3-support is planned for the next version. It will be able to read ID3v1 and ID3v2tags from source and generate the require fields. Those tags can be edited and written to the target file automatically with the tool "id3v2" after ffmpeg has finished processing.
The goal is that one don't has to deal with those meta tags at all if it's not really necessary.
Here you can select the file to encode to. Note that it is set to the same as input after you changed the input file selection. This is done due to the common task traGtor is written to use for: Create a mediafile from source with the same name in the same folder with changed fileformat only.
To change the path of the targetfile simply click around in the folder selector. The selected path is show on top in front of the filename.
To change the filename you have to use the keyboard 😉 if you only want to convert to another format keeping your source name you can easily choose the desired suffix from the drop down list on the top right. Selecting any format disables the suffix in filename, so you are unable to edit the suffix, if drop down isn't set to the first option "by filename". If the first entry is selected, you can edit the suffix to your needs. keep in mind that a known suffix is needed for ffmpeg to work properly.
This page contains the "magic button" and a text area for displaying the output of ffmpeg.
The button
The button to start the process will act as a final check for your settings and is disabled and enabled automatically depending on some tests with your settings. Also it contains some useful information about the value that seems invalid. If a file will be overwritten it will warn you about it.
Confirmation and command line
If everything seems okay you can click the big button to get a useful confirmation dialog. This popup shows you some basic information of what will be done and has the option to view and edit the command line for running ffmpeg. Change it only if you know what you're doing. At this point I will give you once more the hint that complicated conversions aren't the things traGtor was build for. Please refer to the other conversion related projects for GNOME and UBUNTU listed at the bottom of the page.
If you're happy with your selections, you can click on the proceed button located bottom right. To cancel and edit your settings you can click on the left button.
Activating the Process pops up a status bar showing the overall process and the information generated by ffmpeg while converting. You can interrupt the conversion by clicking on cancel in the status window.
While converting video material you should watch the "quantizer" value. It is a value between 1 and 32, while 1 means "best" and 32 means "failed". The quantizer indicates whether ffmpeg could hold your chosen bitrate for the videostream, or not. If this value is always tumbling near the roof it indicates that your desired quality and filesize won't fit your needs, because ffmpeg couldn't pack enough data in the frames to get a good result and the size is above your desired bitrate also. Click "cancel" and have a look at your settings again.
After ffmpeg has finished traGtor will show up the results in the text area. if encoding of the material failed, this is the place to look for some errors or stuff.
The settings page lets you reset settings, rescan the input file and switch language.
Reload: If a valid file was selected for source, you can reload all settings with one click. This function is for unexperienced users who got stuck in many changes on format page. One click resets formats and meta entries to the default ones set by traGtor at source selection.
Reset: This button resets the whole application to default. If no source or target files were set as option on startup, everything is reset to application values. Ex. source and target folder /home/user etc.
Language: This selector sets all labels, drop downs and values to the selected language. Available atm: german and english. (Translation is easy! look at the lang_*.py files in /usr/share/tragtor)
This setting is remembered for all further usage of traGtor.
It's a nice base for further experiments with this type of GUI. Some points are planned – I just need some time to build…
- Complete ID3 support (read and write ID3v1 and ID3v2 tags for automated meta information)
Configuration file to save settings like preferred source and target folders, language and stuff(realized in 0.5.0) Youtube support for grabbing and converting in one simple step(unneccessary due to hundreds of easier to use applications for grabbing youtube-vids) Preview button for source file(realized in 0.7.5) Open target folder button(cancelled due to usability and less sense)
- multipass option for better results in some formats (realized in 0.4.2)
aspect ratio selector to prevent disorted output in some formats(realized in 0.8.17)
Version history
Here you find all versions of traGtor for Download if a newer one doesn't work for you.
- Youichi: This guy did a lot of testing with traGtor and was always a helping hand in finding misunderstandings between FFmpeg and traGtor. He inspired traGtor with some cool feature requests, too
- Martin Pavlík: contributed the czech language file
- Fabio "Regulus" Boccaletti: contributed the italian language file
- Bersil: contributed the spanish language file
- Scott "DasFox": He reworked the english language file and fixed my bloody english tongue.
- 杜宏羽 (Dong Feng Wei Xiao): contributed the chinese language file
- VaGNaroK: contributed the brazilian language file
- Florian Bigard: contributed the french language file
Other cool related projects
It seems that GUI's for ffmpeg have had a boom for the last weeks. At the time I needed one, nothing was available it seemed. Now after finishing my one and making another check in google, they are available like pharmacy spam..
This one is a really cool idea. It's a GUI for editing and saving different command lines for ffmpeg and mencoder with some special (and well documented) commands. It comes with a huge amount of presets in different categories, so you can start directly with a lot of common stuff and some really freaky setups. The GUI takes a bit getting used to, specially for unexperienced users, but gives one a great tool to learn more about ffmpeg an mencoder commands. Batch processing is another cool feature, though. But installation of this thing is afaik a bit more terminal oriented. Check it out if traGtor doesn't fit your needs.
This programm seems to be another handy thing to encode media files into other formats. Haven't tested it, but the screenshots look good. Also capable of batch processing and other cool things.
Another cool coversion tool but it didn't fit my needs for a click-through app.
haven't tried it. It's based on tcl/tk.


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Putting a lot of faith in a forecast 10 days away is a bit risky, but there seems to be agreement among meteorologists that the Charlotte region will enjoy a warm and dry Easter this year.
And the news is good for the many Charlotte-area students who will be on spring break next week. The run of May-like weather is forecast to continue all the way through Easter weekend.
We're in need of rain, but there isn't a sign of a major rain-producing system in our forecast for at least the next 10 days. A cold front will cross the region late Tuesday, and that might trigger some thunderstorms, but the rest of the forecast is dry.
First, for Easter.
Dry conditions are likely, and forecast highs are 82 degrees from Accu-Weather and 78 degrees from the Weather Channel. NOAA's long-range forecast for that period calls for above-average temperatures, but that's nothing new. We've been basking in very warm conditions for months.
The only sticky point comes from a few computer models that indicate a back-door cold front could push into the area from the north, on the day before Easter. Accu-Weather takes stock in that, calling for a high of 69 degrees a week from Saturday. The Weather Channel ignores it, with a predicted high of 76.
So it's probably safe to plan on nice weather.
If you're off next week, prepare to have a good time. Forecast highs are in the low 80s early next week, falling back a bit to the mid 70s on Wednesday and Thursday after a weak cold front comes through.
A sad note: If you've ever been in an area which uses Pennsylvania-based Accu-Weather for its forecasts (WBT is a client here in Charlotte), you undoubtedly heard Ken Reeves give the forecast from time to time.
Reeves was with Accu-Weather for 29 years, and by all accounts, he was a friendly, helpful meteorologist and a good human being.
Reeves, 50, was killed Sunday in a freak accident at his Pennsylvania home. Accu-Weather officials say he was on the roof of his house, taking down Christmas lights, when he fell. Our prayers and condolences go to his family and the fine folks at Accu-Weather.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Great forecast for Easter ... and Easter break
Putting a lot of faith in a forecast 10 days away is a bit risky, but there seems to be agreement among meteorologists that the Charlotte region will enjoy a warm and dry Easter this year.
3 comments:
- Michael Procton said...
Umm...he was taking down Christmas lights? In late March?
- March 29, 2012 at 8:05 PM
- Anonymous said...
WCNC's Brad Panicovich has been hyping below normal highs for Easter weekend. Of course he ALWAYS forecasts the most extreme - and is usually dead wrong.
- March 30, 2012 at 3:41 PM
- Anonymous said...
Nice to hear from you with the exact same post again, jdshaw.
- April 6, 2012 at 1:26 PM

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Notice to Members 01-44
SEC Issues Interpretive Guidance Concerning Exchange Act Rules 11Ac1-5 And 11Ac1-6
NASD Regulation Inc. (NASD RegulationSM) is issuing this Notice to Members to inform members about interpretive guidance recently issued by the Division of Market Regulation (Division or SEC Staff) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) concerning Rules 11Ac1-5 and 11Ac1-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act). On June 22, 2001, SEC staff issued two Staff Legal Bulletins. Staff Legal Bulletin No. 12R (Revised) addresses frequently asked questions about Rule 11Ac1-5. Staff Legal Bulletin No. 13 addresses frequently asked questions about Rule 11Ac1-6. The SEC also granted five requests for exemptive relief under these rules.
Please note that Rules 11Ac1-5 and 11Ac1-6 are SEC rules. Accordingly, questions of interpretation or other concerns about the rules should be directed to the SEC staff. Information regarding these rules also can be found on the SEC Web Site at www.sec.gov. In addition, Rules 11Ac1-5 and 11Ac1-6 are discussed in more detail in Special NASD Notice to Members 01-16 and NASD Notice to Members 01-30. Members also may direct general questions concerning this Notice to Kathleen O'Mara, Assistant General Counsel, or Philip Shaikun, Assistant General Counsel, NASD Regulation, Inc., at (202) 728-8071.


text:
My Bag
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Dress them up in tiny TOMS dress shoes, designed for kids ages 1-4. From Mary Janes to Brogues, these shoes come in a variety of fabrics including glitter and chambray. The easy slip-on design is perfect for kids who are still mastering that tricky shoe-tying maneuver. With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a new pair of shoes to a child in need. One for One®


text:
One last thought about repairs. Jacuzzi jets, light fixtures, treadmill belts, shower handles — they all inevitably break at one time or another. Whether it's long-term wear-and-tear on your elliptical or damages caused by a clumsy client, it's how you put the pieces back together that determines whether you'll have a breakthrough or a breakdown when it comes to upkeep.
Your members deserve a clean club in working order, and if they don't get it, believe me, they'll demand it. After working at a few clubs, I've heard the complaints (most reasonable, some not), and as a member at various facilities over the years, I've had my own serious, get-your-rear-into-action complaints. The good clubs respond in a timely manner. The bad clubs? Well, let's just say they aren't open anymore.
One such club had serious problems with equipment, and, I'm not talking about the occasional broken recumbent bike. This place had what I, and many other fellow members, referred to as the "treadmill plague." The mid-sized facility was outfitted with roughly 15 treadmills (of a model that hasn't even been made in six or so years, which was most of the problem). At any given time, five of them would have a ratty, "out of order" sign hanging over their consoles. One of these plagued treadmills seemed to have been hit harder than the others. While most were out of commission for about two weeks before regaining their "health," one treadmill was out of order for three months before the club took a crack at fixing it.
While running just a few treadmills away, I saw what I assumed to be Mr. Fix-It using various tools to open its front panel, exposing its inner workings. Three months later, the sick treadmill was still strewn apart — innards, tools and all, across the facility's cardio floor. I'd like to report that eventually the treadmill was put back together again and nursed to health, but when I visited the club a few weeks ago, the poor treadmill was still in mortal peril (or maybe prolonged death, depending on how optimistic you are).
Another club that I taught group exercise at had a set of equally worrisome woes: the hot tub. Many of my kickboxing participants loved soaking in the hot tub after a particularly high intensity class of jabs, crosses and hinge kicks. After my third month of teaching at this club, the hot tub stopped doing the two things it was created for: the water wouldn't stay warm and its soothing bubbles stopped bubbling. My participants, many of whom belonged to this facility for years, complained to management's seemingly deaf ears. Management posted signs stating the problem was being worked on, but when I left the club a year later, there were still no bubbles or heat. Eventually, my participants and I grew sick enough of the run-down facility that we threw in our towels and left (did I mention that the mats for group exercise were literally crumbling apart?).
I'm sure these facilities had an explanation for both incidences. Expensive maintenance costs, finding the right person to complete repairs and not having enough capital to fix costly equipment, such as a hot tub, are all legitimate explanations, but leaving your health club in broken disarray doesn't make any business sense unless you're simply prolonging the bankruptcy of your fitness facility. What happens when requests and eventually demands go unanswered? Eventually, your clients, members and your club's positive image and money all walk out the door. When it comes to repairs, make them — not tomorrow, next week or next month. Fix them, now.


text:
Latest media releases
UBS Outlook 2nd quarter 2004
Swiss industry shifts up a gear. Swiss industry received a substantial boost from foreign demand in the first quarter, with order books buoyant and a significant increase in sales. Domestic demand was also healthy, and according to the latest UBS business survey, the strong upward trend is set to continue in the second quarter.
Business activity in Swiss industry improved significantly during the first quarter of 2004. With the global economy improving strongly, incoming orders rose markedly, and sales to Switzerland's major markets moved sharply upwards. The upturn is broadly based across a majority of sectors.
Clear confirmation that the Swiss economy has returned to growth comes from the UBS business survey of over 300 firms in the industrial sector conducted in March, and the UBS business cycle indicator which is derived from the survey results. This indicator is a very reliable gauge of the short-term trend in Swiss GDP, anticipating the official data by two quarters. The latest figures point to clearly positive growth of around 2% for the Swiss economy in the first half of 2004, after a final quarter of 2003 in which it stagnated year-on-year.
Increasing momentum
The optimism expressed by companies early in the year regarding orders received, production and sales has been entirely vindicated. Increased capital spending on production facilities has given an especially strong boost to the machinery, metals and electrical engineering industries: while only 40% of firms in these sectors polled in the final quarter of 2003 reported higher levels of orders received (with 28% stating that orders were down), this figure climbed to over 50% in the first quarter of 2004, with only some 15% of companies still reporting a decline. On a sector comparison, the capital goods industry was thus the leader in terms of growth. Chemicals & pharmaceuticals, and the plastics and food industries, also saw a sharp upturn in business. The only sector failing to benefit was the textile industry, where the fall in business activity actually accelerated.
With order books filling up once again, industry ramped up production in the first quarter after nine quarters of cutbacks. Order backlogs also rose. Earnings stabilized for the first time in a long period, and price pressure declined - clear signs that the industrial recovery is taking hold.
Growth drivers remain intact
Expectations for the second quarter remain optimistic, with the upward trend actually expected to gain momentum. Foreign orders are likely to pick up strongly, and the consensus assessment of domestic demand is also very positive. Overall, 50% of firms expect sales to grow, while only 9% anticipate a decline. The industrial companies surveyed by UBS are therefore planning to expand production again. Profits are improving steadily, while the pressure on prices is declining visibly. There is, however, still no sign of a turnaround in demand for labour, and the majority of firms still believe they will have to reduce headcount. Nevertheless, the dominance of negative over positive reports regarding the recruitment trend has grown progressively smaller over the last few quarters. Only the chemical & pharmaceuticals industry and watchmaking, however, are expecting a modest requirement for extra staff in the April to June period.
Optimism right across the board
The various sectors of industry take a unanimously confident view of prospects for the months ahead, with all the sectors covered by the UBS survey expecting an increase in incoming orders. In the capital goods industry especially, the growth drivers are still fully intact, and this sector is also anticipating the strongest business increase of any industrial branch in the second quarter. Also very confident are chemicals & pharmaceuticals and the watchmaking and plastics industries, while paper, printing & graphics and the textile industries are forecasting below-average levels of orders received, production and sales. In general, however, earnings are less dynamic than sales.
UBS Business Cycle Indicator and gross domestic product
(Change year-on-year in %)
Zurich / Basel, April 5, 2004
Data (%)
Sources: seco (GDP); UBS (survey and calculations)
*provisional official figures
Zurich / Basel, 5 April 2004


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Satya is co-founder of the The Indian Type Foundry (ITF) in Ahmedabad, India. He studied Graphic Design at the National Institute of Design (NID) in India and interned with Linotype in Germany. He has also worked at Dalton Maag in London and L2M3 in Stuttgart. He now works full time at ITF, creating original fonts in all the major Indian scripts along with their Latin companions.
He was the recipient for the prestigious "2010 SoTA Catalyst Award" presented by the Society of Typographic Aficionados in Los Angeles.


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Subscribe To Does It Matter That The Voice Hasn't Produced A Star? Updates
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Fans may have enjoyed watching The Voice shake things up a bit last season by bringing in guest judges Shakira and Usher to replace Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera, but when the upcoming block of episodes begins in the fall, all four of the original stars will be back to man their big red buzzers. No doubt many fans will be happy to see the foursome back together, but fortunately or unfortunately, their mere presence won't be able to answer the one critique consistently thrown at the show: it's never produced a star.
According to E! Online, earlier this evening, Aguilera, Green, longtime judge Adam Levine and host Carson Daly all took part in the Summer TCA press tour in order to generate a little hype for the upcoming Voice season, and, of course, like at almost any other event, someone asked the judges how the reality program holds up to the American Idol, considering the latter has produced a slew of stars including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Hudson while the former hasn't produced anyone. Sure, the reality competition program's winners have put out some good music and done all they can, but none of them have even come close to surpassing the lofty heights set by the stars.
Here's what Levine had to say…
We totally understand because of the comparisons that might exist out there, why it might seem to be a failure on the show's part. The immediacy of winning and becoming a huge star is a fairytale that we would love to see take place, but it's still a fairytale."
Let me go ahead and translate that answer for you. Hitmakers don't just grow on trees. There might be scores of people out there with great voices, exceptional control and interesting haircuts, but an overwhelming majority of them still don't have what it takes to be a star. There's something about them that just doesn't scream commercially viable.
On the one hand, it's ridiculous to ask a program to produce an A-list talent by the end of the season. Even at the height of American Idol's power, that reality competition program still missed quite a few times when it came to picking the right person. As such, it seems like we should all leave The Voice alone. On the other hand, if the program is going to sit there to claim it's out to find the next big thing in music, they kind of need to do just that at some point. The program arguably has the best judges on television, but if they're not finding real talent, what's the point?
What do you think? Does The Voice need to produce a star this year for the show's future? Let us know your thoughts by voting in the poll below…
Does It Matter That The Voice Hasn't Produced A Star?
For more questions of the day, head here


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By ThinkGoat
Seneca, South Carolina Police got lucky in a way when they responded to a 911 report of a burglary occurring at a private residence. Lucky because they didn't have to look far for the "alleged" perpetrator. When they arrived, they found 31-year-old Noah Smith lying nekkid on the floor of the doorway, sunny side up. Their luck quickly ran dry when they thought this would be an easy apprehension. They learned a valuable lesson: people who would break into a place buttass naked are probably not right in the head and one should proceed with caution. Me? I've covered enough of these stories to know "peeled" antics most often include drug use of some form. Which again, one should proceed with caution. Be prepared. And for God's sake, carry elephant tranquilizer, tasers don't affect these wild creatures. (more…)


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Turning 32 means that I am now the same age that both of my sisters were when they had their first child. Since that isn't on my agenda for the coming year, I have been trying to shake the feeling that I am falling behind. It is a strange thing being a younger sibling and having these artificial benchmarks of when certain life events should be happening. You would think that this would have disappeared after taking seven years to finish college, but it hasn't.
Then, last night while taking this family photo, I realized that I am not actually falling behind. Since Jack is now a member of our family, that makes me his Mom. And since that happened when I was 31, I am actually ahead of the game. There may not be diapers to change, there is still plenty of poop to clean up. And a lot more fur.
It has been hard to think about celebrating my birthday without Derek. But the day is here, and he isn't, and life goes on, right? But I miss him. Last year he and I got into a fight about my birthday, because he wanted to have a party, and I didn't. What a stupid thing to fight about, huh? If he were alive I would probably still be bickering with him about something as equally ridiculous. Meh.
I want to finish this on a happier note, so here is another one of my little guy. We weren't actually touching, which is what makes this photo so much better.
And one more of the my other guy.


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This lodge, with its lush garden setting, is home away from home to travellers, tourists and holiday makers. It is situated at the historical pulse of central Mossel Bay; near picturesque beaches, harbour, restaurants and vibrant entertainment activities.
Mossel Bay is the front door to the spellbinding beauty of the Garden Route. The magnificent scenery of indigenous forests hemmed by sunbleached beaches makes a journey of this region an unforgettable experience. The sight of the brilliantly blue Indian Ocean juxtaposed to luxurious expanses of regal greens strikes amazement and admiration from around the world.
Whether you are setting off to explore this country's wonderful places or winding down from the exhilleration of it all, Mossel Bay is the ideal junction in the Western Cape to destinations around South Africa. Mossel Bay is situated halfway between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth off the N2 highway and 35 min from George airport. The town is also strategically located to provide easy access to Route 62. For those allured by adventurous alternatives: this less-travelled road leads to delightful discoveries!
World renowned for its moderate climate and 300 plus sunny days annually, Mossel Bay attracts visitors all year round. Rich in heritage, it also boasts two championship golf courses, a glamorous casino and a full spectrum of commercial services. Gorgeous beaches, sweeping ocean views and superb surfing conditions add to the cosmopolitan appeal of this seemingly laid-back village.
Park House Lodge is at the heart of it all. This is where anticipation turns into excitement, the concerned become the courageous; where the know-how is as firm as a handshake and the hospitality as warm as a smile…and where no story can ever be retold enough. Welcome!
Email: email@example.com


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There are a lot of great explanations for what the Model-View-Controller design pattern is, but I am having trouble finding good resources showing how to use it in practice.
So, when you are starting a new application (doesn't matter what it is), what is in your toolbox?
For example, it was suggested that using UML collaboration diagrams ( http://www.objectmentor.com/resources/articles/umlCollaborationDiagrams.pdf ) can be useful when designing an application around MVC, although, I am not certain exactly how or why this might be the case...?
So, what is in your toolbox for MVC?


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We're a bit of an overachieving community as lifestyle designers. We want to live exciting, rich, over-the-top travel-the-world in a single suitcase lives.
We can slip into this idea that we're Lifestyle Rockstars (guitars not included).
Yet we can't be rockstars all the time. The interesting rockstars in most fields are honest, down to earth, simple people who just happen to have worked their ass off to get where they are. Sure they've got talent and a bit of flair which separates them from others but is that all?
Surely not. They believed in their idea when it wasn't popular, when their friends thought they were crazy and they still struggled to maintain momentum when they woke up everyday.
Believing in yourself when it is only your idea is a hard thing to do, yet when we make it (in some form or another) we should take care not to flaunt our idea as if it were always better than sliced bread. Despite how awesome your lifestyle is and how many hours you've spent designing it and hacking it, there are millions of other people in the world living exceptionally happy lives that are entirely different from our own.
Being a lifestyle designer, liberation artist or vagabond is not necessarily the better life choice, it is merely the most fulfilling for our place in our life at this moment. The world might come around in the long run to agree with you but you can't change peoples minds you can only sway those who are already looking for change.
So while you may be a rockstar in your positive thinking, personal development, location independent mind it's good to take a reality check sometimes and realize that on occasion you're only playing the air guitar.


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|2012-06-11, 05:24
|Link #703
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: HONEY~
Kirito will always look like a chick. Anyone who read the GGO arc will remember how the guy said his avatar was rare. The biggest criticism most people have about accel world is how could you make a fat kid a lead when you made a character like Kirito for SAO.
|2012-06-11, 18:17
|Link #704
The Crossroad
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Almost in There
|2012-06-11, 19:55
|Link #705
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: The Big Durian
|2012-06-12, 05:10
|Link #707
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Real world
Spoiler for integrity knight:
|2012-06-12, 07:05
|Link #708
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2011
Spoiler for :
so if that's how integrity knights are named then there's at least 50 of them.
|2012-06-12, 14:49
|Link #710
U mad?
Join Date: Apr 2012
Assuming physical abilities degrading ~40 years; from the time one takes the sacred task of being a guard, it takes 10 years before he can receive further training (travelling to other cities). The boy Eugeo won against, he spent 6 years as a guard and he lost to a slightly above basic skill like slant, the learning speed of an average village boy is apparently rather slow.
Being an Integrity Knights thus require immense talents in sacred arts, which most people in UW don't have.
|2012-06-12, 15:47
|Link #711
Yandere maniax
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Somewhere close to Valhalla
Age: 29
Well, most players in MMO are bound to be martial artists someway. UW is like having 95% of NPC taking the role other than fighting with 1% being able to fight (become guards or soldiers or hunters). Those 95% is considered inferior than normal MMO players because they're NPCs who can never have fighting skills, but the rest are different. However, talents involving something like magic is a bit...
Let's say that the magic chant is in English language (sacred arts = lifeless sound English), people who are MMO players that aren't too retarded should be able to remember the chant that sound exactly like language every school is required to learn. While NPCs in that world would think of it as an alien language they can't decipher. Or maybe chanting magic require something we won't be able to comprehend like umm... dedication towards to gods...
And unlike SAO, UW has magic while SAO relies solely on sword skills. Considering that Kirito is now able to use the Blue Rose Sword he could hardly lift before easily, the likeness of UW compared to reality is questionable.
Also, it's virtual world, the real Kirito is lying somewhere in real world without physical activity. There's no point to really train your body in UW when you would gain almost nothing but maybe reflex in return from virtual training.
And thus, making Kirito having to gain EXP again seems... No matter how realistic looking the world or how smart the AI is, it's just making trouble for Kirito. I hardly believe that a normal human can fight a dragon, or withstand sword cut just because high STR stats.
|2012-06-12, 16:32
|Link #712
U mad?
Join Date: Apr 2012
Having practical experience does more than simply swinging your sword everyday.
Who do you think the rest are? Kirito assumed he is the only player in UW, the rest are NPCs. Eugeo was a woodcutter, but defeating the goblin caused him to gain sword experience, which was reflected in his stacia window. He turned from a simple woodcutter to someone who can potentially rival Kirito if he gains enough sword experience. So all NPCs posses the ability to have fighting skills, but since all villagers have a sacred task they must devote their entire life to, they only train skills necessary for their task.
Kirito was assigned to be a woodcutter, so learning sacred arts was impossible for him, not to mention the young Kirito in UW has no knowledge of the real world.
Not to mention both bleed when cut (Kirito&goblin), which can lead to death.
If they made the physics exactly the same as the real world, isn't it obvious that humans will be wiped out when faced against dragons etc? The goal is not to introduce real physics and then see how humans go extinct, but something else. This arc is called Alicization and there is a character called Alice, having the test subject die is likely not the goal.
|2012-06-13, 08:23
|Link #713
The Crossroad
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Almost in There
|2012-06-13, 09:42
|Link #714
Darkest Light
Join Date: Feb 2012
Also, asuna's quip about the coat of midnight signifies reki's attempt tO properly link the SAO storyline
|2012-06-13, 12:08
|Link #715
Yandere maniax
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Somewhere close to Valhalla
Age: 29
Well, it seems like now Kirito isn't someone special anymore since he's not as overpower as previous arcs, pitting against fellow MMO players.
But Alice seems to be special. I wonder who she really is. Even the NPCs of the game says she's special, different from the rest of them.
In real life, there are actually someone who are so talent at something they can make normal people feel like their efforts are worthless. Someone who are the evidence that god is not fair. I thought Kirito was one of them.
I now have to exclude Kirito from my list of invincible hero. Hell, why do most of super strong characters happen to be girls especially lolis anyway?
|2012-06-13, 14:55
|Link #718
Dedicated Lurker
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: You Guess
Age: 26
"Yea. The front line is still the seventieth floor, and there's still thirty left above... but I wonder why. I had a hunch-no, a belief that when I fight the last boss of this castle, what I will be holding, is this Dark Repulser."
And whaddaya know?
|2012-06-13, 15:50
|Link #719
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Thanks for the tip....
|2012-06-13, 22:45
|Link #720
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: アッバス
Age: 28
|action, gaming, harem, kirito, non-harem, romance, shounen, tragedy, virtual reality
|Thread Tools


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Material suppliers will provide you with the raw materials and components of your end product.
"I'm looking for factories to help me create my product"
"I'm a manufacturer or supplier and want to connect with brands"
Not sure what type of user you are?
Click here to learn more.


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Another movie reviewer opines on intelligent design theory
You can sure tell that an idea is taking hold: All kinds of people offer an opinion who are not embarrassed by knowing nothing about it. Roger Ebert who, like A. O Scott , is reviewing the recently released pitchfork opera, The Exorcism of Emily Rose - which has nothing to do with intelligent design - opines:
The church is curiously ambivalent about exorcism. It believes that the devil and his agents can be active in the world, it has a rite of exorcism, and it has exorcists. On the other hand, it is reluctant to certify possessions and authorize exorcisms, and it avoids publicity on the issue. It's like those supporters of Intelligent Design who privately believe in a literal interpretation of Genesis, but publicly distance themselves from it because that would undermine their plausibility in the wider world.
Now first, just for the record, the Catholic church is not ambivalent about exorcism; it is discreet about exorcism, and with good reason. Some people out there are obsessed by demons (not possessed, just obsessed). Avoiding publicity over the rare cases where exorcisms are done is prudent.
But on the main point, would Ebert like to say which supporters of intelligent design he is talking about? The major "literal interpretation of Genesis" group is Answers in Genesis. AiG has, famously, slammed the ID folks, for not relying on the Bible. I have interviewed and listened to many supporters of intelligent design, and those who are young earth creationists admit it.
It's no secret, I suppose, that a major source of controversy among actual ID scientists has been the demand by some that the few literalists in their midst (usually called "young earth creationists") be expelled, a demand that has so far been resisted. But those YEC scientists also admit that they are YECs. So I have a professional interest in knowing who Ebert is talking about - if indeed, he does himself.
Labels: Emily Rose, intelligent design, Roger Ebert


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By Dawn May
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July 18, 2019
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Exploring the Marlborough Sounds on the Magic Mail Run
The Magic Mail Run is a great way to see the Marlborough Sounds and is the only official NZ Post delivery service by boat in the Queen Charlotte Sound.
1 / 10
I loved getting mail as a kid, the anticipation of ripping up that envelope or parcel to see what was held inside no matter how small. So combine this with another childhood love, that of boats and one of my most favourite places in the world, the Marlborough Sounds – the Magic Mail Run is a match made in heaven. Well that might be taking it a little too far as I wouldn't actually be getting any mail but then again it's better to give than receive right?
The Magic Mail Run with Beachcomber Cruises is the only licensed New Zealand Post Rural delivery service by boat in the Queen Charlotte Sound. It operates ex Picton from Monday to Saturday, all year round delivering mail and groceries to the families that live in these beautiful remote places. Each day is different as the route changes daily and you never know who you are going to meet or what you are going to deliver. I have noticed however, that a fairly regular item is that of the region's finest Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc! In some places the internet is either unreliable or non-existent so you will often have children running down to greet the Mail Boat, I've never seen kids get so excited about school work…
Your skipper gives you a commentary about your surrounds and the history of the area and a real highlight is the 15-minute stop at Ship's Cove. Ship Cove was named by Captain James Cook in 1770 when his ship The Endeavour anchored here and is also the starting point of the Queen Charlotte Track. I love that there is complimentary coffee and tea, I love even more that you are also able to bring any food or drink on-board because there is nothing quite like fresh sea air to make you hungry! I hope you will give the Magic Mail Run a try, not only because I work there but because it truly is a great way to explore the Marlborough Sounds.
Artikel von
Beachcomber Cruises Ltd
Beachcomber Cruises are the Marlborough Sounds cruise, transport and Queen Charlotte Track transfer specialists. Proudly family owned and operated since 2006 we are open for business 364 days of the year.


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About us
We work through two main intergovernmental bodies: the UNECE Committee on Housing and Land Management (CHLM) and its subsidiary body – the Working Party on Land Administration (WPLA). Their work is supported by the Real Estate Market Advisory Group (REM) which advises both the CHLM and WPLA.
The UNECE Housing and Land Management Unit provides the secretariat to the Committee, the Working Party and the Advisory Group.


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Thursday, January 13, 2011
This weekend is the opening of the StaticCreep Exhibition of Sequential Art at Las Manos Gallery here in Chicago. Included will be my illustrations from Paul Is Undead, so I'm posting my thumbnail sketches from that project here.
And despite a busy holiday season, I managed to find time to contribute a page to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Year In Review Minicomic. Look for that at the CBLDF booth at conventions, as well as member stores, in limited quantities.
2 comments:
about your work, in spanishReplyDelete
I hope you know how important your work is, to me and (hopefully) to a lot of others. Your work is a treasure....rare and beautiful. You inspire, move, and amuse...ReplyDelete
I don't really know what else to do but keep buying your books and keep hoping that there will be more, and to say thank you.
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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The following are arrests and citations recently issued in Craven County:
The following are arrests and citations recently issued in Craven County:
New Bern Police Department:
Phillip Eugene Scott, 50, streets of New Bern, Aug. 8, resisting public officer. Officer: A. Williams.
Havelock Police Department:
Shawn Dwight Allen, 20, 7132 Wisteria Lane, Havelock, Aug. 24, consumption of alcohol by person age 19/20. Officer: G. LeBlanc.
Tami Jauante Cherry, 20, 140B Witten Circle, Havelock, Aug. 24, consumption of alcohol by person age 19/20. Officer: G. LeBlanc.
Bobbie Lynette Clark, 42, 101 Lynnwayne Circle, Lot 3, Havelock, Aug. 29, driving while license revoked, failure to wear seatbelt. Officer: A.H. Swearer.
Casy Lee Hester, 16, 330 McCotter Blvd., Havelock, Aug. 29, weapons on educational property. Officer: B.A. Elam.
Laura Michelle Adams, 37, 255 Taylor Road, Havelock, Aug. 29, driving while impaired, misdemeanor larceny. Officer: A. Swearer.
Vanceboro Police Department:
Dahriek Derek Bradley, 20, 1410 Devers Circle, New Bern, Aug. 28, driving while license revoked, speeding. Officer: J.L. Jenkins Jr.
N.C. Highway Patrol:
April Everington Johnson, 41, 163 Powell Road, Newport, Aug. 28, resisting public officer, unsafe tires. Trooper: S.F. Brown.
Craven County Sheriff�s Office:
Richard Owen Potter, 49, 1313 Bray Ave., Aug. 29, driving while impaired, reckless driving with wanton disregard. Deputy: C. Desmarais.
Bradley Anderson, 17, 778 Spring Garden Road, Aug. 29, conspiracy to obtain property by false pretense, misdemeanor larceny. Deputy: N. Fiedler.


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Tag Archives: London
Lit On Tour: A Season of Ontario Sights
Lit On Tour's IFOA Ontario 2016 season saw author events in 15 locations across the province.
As the staff person who toured to all of these locations, save one (sorry to have missed you, St. Catharines!), I was fortunate to have been able to visit parts of the province I had never seen before. Throughout our touring, our hosts pointed out local natural landmarks, or we found some interesting sights on the way.
Here is a brief tour of TEN of these Ontario sights, in no particular order:
1. Sleeping Giant, Thunder Bay
For months, I had heard tell of this natural wonder in Thunder Bay and seeing this rock formation – which really does look like a giant asleep on its back – myself was just incredible. The mythology around this jutting peninsula is also equally fascinating.
2. Stuffed Animal Fall Picnic Display en route to Midland
Seeing is believing with this sight, and since we drove straight by this incredible display of stuffed animals (mostly bears) having a autumnal tea party, I was the only one in the car to witness it. Thankfully, this Toronto Star article proved I did not imagine huge stuffed animals perched on a tractor and seated around a picnic table on someone's front lawn to amuse my fellow passengers.
For proof, you'll just have to drive along County Road 93 yourself. Keep a sharp eye out on your right hand side when you hit Waverley, Ontario or you'll miss it!
3. The Knox Presbyterian Churches: Woodstock & Stratford
Having two venues with the same name in different cities was, I admit, a little confusing. Seeing both of these local landmarks, I was struck by their beauty and history. Both had dark wood interiors and gorgeous side rooms.
4. Owen Sound & Grey Union Public Library, Owen Sound
We got to partner with a number of libraries this season, and I don't mean to play favourites, but the library building in Owen Sound was such a noteworthy mix of old and new. I'm also a sucker for ivy-clad buildings. Look at how much ivy there is!
5. Brant Street Pier, Burlington
On a brief walk before the event, we stumbled upon this pier off Lake Ontario with some of the funkiest waterfront architecture. The pier mimics the shape of waves or, considering it's a very windy spot, wind.
6. Kakabeka Falls, en route to Oliver Paipoonge
Our trip to Thunder Bay and the neighbouring town of Oliver Paipoonge would not have been complete without a stop to this breath-taking regional landmark. As a southern Ontarian, I've gotten pretty used to referring to Niagara Falls as THE falls in the province, but as you can see, Kakabeka is also pretty spectacular. Well worth the stop before our author event in O.P.
7. Bobby Orr Hall of Fame, Parry Sound
Now I'm not a hockey fanatic, but every time I've heard the name 'Bobby Orr' it's either been in connection with the phrases: 'Stanley Cup' or 'Parry Sound.' Getting to experience, even quickly, the impressive sight that is the Bobby Orr Hall of Fame during our visit to Parry Sound (which is conveniently housed in the Charles W. Stockey Centre, where our event was held) made me feel a little more Canadian.
8. Heritage Homes, Port Hope
Seeing the vast number and types of Heritage Homes in Port Hope can help you understand why this Ontario city has been named "one of the finest inventories of historically important homes and buildings in Canada." Rows upon rows of heritage homes greet you as you drive in off Hwy 401, and continue until you reach the two heritage districts in downtown Port Hope itself.
9. Great Western Park, Windsor
As a group of Torontonians we were so used to having water always to our south – so we were quite disoriented when we arrived in Windsor to find water, the Detroit River, and Detroit itself to the north. To help get our bearings, we took a stroll through the park that hugs the downtown Windsor-side of the Detroit River and happened upon a green space bursting with monuments, statues and dedicated gardens. I could have stayed for several more hours just reading all of the plaques.
10. Western University, London
Walking to the building for our event at the University of Western Ontario, we were absorbed in the steady stream of students flitting from class to class. One could easily get lost in a haze of caffeine-fueled midterm mayhem on this sprawling university campus, and there are a lot of gorgeous buildings to take in too!
By guest blogger Rebecca Hallquist, Executive Assistant at IFOA. You can follow Rebecca on Twitter @mecsbecs28


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When a hijacked jetliner crashed into Tower 1 of the World Trade Center, many electricians were wiring tenant spaces in the top floors of the 110-story Twin Towers. Down below, engineers and other contractors were working in their sublevel offices.
Jim Usher, vice president of communications for E-J Electric Installation Co., a Long Island City electrical contractor, was one of them.
His office had recently moved from Tower 5 to the sublevel of Tower 2. On the morning of Sept. 11, he was working downstairs in his office when he heard a deafening explosion and smelled gunpowder, which he realized later was jet fuel.
"The plane went into Tower 1 and at the time, I was in Tower 2 underground," Usher said. "When the first explosion occurred, I went to our engineering office to advise our folks there."
Engineers gathered together and discussed what happened. E-J built the new security system after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and the engineers were able to monitor the security system and review footage.
"They started to pull it up on the cameras to see what had happened because at this point, no one knew that it was an airplane that had gone into the building," Usher said.
When Usher suspected that it was a bomb, his priority shifted from reviewing the security tapes to getting his team out of the building.
"I told them to stop trying to find out what happened and just immediately evacuate the building," Usher said. "I didn't know it was an airplane, but it was obviously a huge explosion."
Many electricians and engineers then heeded Usher's warning and evacuated. Usher, however, stayed behind to alert the other contractors in "Shantytown," a slang term for the contractors' offices in the sublevel of Tower 2.
"I went back because it dawned on me that there were 10 or 12 contractors' offices down there right in a row," he said. "A whole pile of other contractors down there didn't have a clue. I was concerned that if and when the evacuation over the PA ever happened, it wouldn't be announced down there in the basement levels since the PA only works mainly in the concourse, the tenant floors and the towers."
Usher then banged on all the closed doors to make sure everybody knew that there was an explosion and they needed to evacuate. When he came upstairs, he found total chaos.
"People in Tower 2 had come down and there was some confusion as to whether or not they should evacuate," Usher said. "There was conflicting information going over the PA system."
Many people were hanging around in the lobby wondering whether or not they should exit the building. Usher helped the security officers deliver one message — GET OUT.
"I told them to evacuate — ask questions later, but just get the hell out," Usher said.
Usher then tried to exit the building onto Liberty Street, but the exit was blocked.
"Two World Trade faced out to Liberty Street," he said. "That exit had already been closed off because at this point, stuff was flying through the air. It was all over the place. They did not want people exiting there."
Some people took an escalator up to the plaza level, but it had been blocked off as well.
"When I went up to the escalator and realized there was no way I was going to exit out onto the plaza, I did a U-turn and went back down," Usher said. "I walked down around 2 World Trade lobby again and then came back out on the main concourse of the mall level."
Usher then directed everyone out of Tower 2 and down to the east side of the complex so they could exit through 4 and 5 World Trade. He then finally got himself out of the building.
"I went out on to Liberty Street at 4 World Trade," he said. "Debris was still falling, but it was more on the paper side. It was not hunks of metal or anything dangerous. The visibility was horrible. Obviously, people were panicking, yelling, screaming and running all over the place."
Usher then discovered two injured men on Liberty Street and helped carry them into an infirmary on the ninth floor of Deutsche Bank, which is directly across from 2 World Trade.
"I took the first man up the stairs and into the doors and then jumped on the elevator," he said. "I went up to the infirmary and there were a couple of nurses and a doctor there. I dropped him off and went back down to get his buddy."
Usher then walked back down to Liberty Street, where he heard the second hijacked plane roaring above him. He quickly picked up the other man and carried him up the stairs to the entrance of the bank.
"When I got up about 15 steps, that's when the plane went into 2 World Trade," Usher said. "That was scary."
At this point, debris was flying through the air, he said.
"I had to run for cover, so I went up another five steps to the top," he said. "There was no way that I could make it up to the building."
Instead, he crouched down by a waterfall, he said.
"I put the waterfall between the Trade Center and me," Usher said. "Hunks of steel were flying through the air. I knew that if we got hit, that was the end of us. I laid down on top of the guy for a minute and all this stuff came down."
Some of the employees and customers of the bank had still not evacuated the building when a jetliner slammed into Tower 2.
"They were standing inside the plaza looking out at 1 World Trade and by now, of course, they are looking at the plane going into 2 World Trade," he said. "The guys opened the door and a couple of them yelled, 'Make a run for it.'"
The second explosion worsened the visibility, Usher said.
"It was very hard to see," he said. "You could tell it was just paper and concrete. Smashed up concrete was still flying down, but there weren't the big hunks of steel, which is what I was concerned with."
Usher then carried the man up to the infirmary. When he went back down to the street, Tower 2 collapsed, Usher said.
"When 2 came down, I was standing on Liberty Street by 2 World Trade," he said. "You knew it was a matter of time before it would come down, but you didn't know if it was going to be one minute, one hour or 10 hours."
The sheer heat generated by the explosion was a sign that it was going to eventually collapse, Usher said.
"You knew it was coming down because of the huge fireball," he said. "I felt a tremendous blast of heat when I was on the street after the plane went into Tower 2."
Usher recalls that it was about a half an hour before it finally came down.
"When it started to topple, you heard it," he said. "You knew it was coming down, but it was so engulfed with all the concrete, dust, a cloud of smoke and the black stuff that you did not have a clue as to which direction it was going to fall. At that point, I literally told the folks to run for their lives. I did likewise. I ran south of the tower toward the Staten Island Ferry."
Usher said he ran 10 or 15 blocks to escape from the scene.
"You heard the thing coming, but you didn't want to turn around and look," he said. "Once I got down 10 or 15 blocks, I turned around and I looked. I knew it had come down, but I still couldn't see it because of tremendous smoke and dust."
Rather than falling sideways, the tower crashed straight down to the ground.
"I knew it didn't fall toward me," he said. "I was worried at that point about the domino effect — if it is going to fall on another building, which would fall onto another building. At that point, I did not know that it had imploded."
When the plane slammed into Tower 2, Usher realized that the World Trade Center was under a terrorist attack.
"When we heard that the plane had gone into Tower 1, we didn't even think of a terrorist attack," he said. "We heard it was a little plane. Everyone made the assumption that it was a four- or six-seater and something happened to the pilot and it flew in. Nobody even knew that the plane penetrated the building."
The explosion in Tower 2, however, made Usher realize it wasn't an accident.
"When I saw the whole thing on No. 2, it was obvious that it was a terrorist attack," he said. "It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. I saw the plane go into Tower 2 and then a fireball erupted."
All of his coworkers made it out, but about 16 IBEW Local #3 members were still missing.
"It was a horrific event and Local #3 has suffered a huge loss," Usher said.
The electricians were wiring tenant spaces on the 100th floor and above when the plane crashed into Tower 1, Usher said.
"Those people didn't stand a chance to get out of Tower 1," he said. "There was no way that they were going to make it."
If it wasn't for Usher, more people may have been trapped in the building, said E-J President Tony Mann.
"He's very modest, but he got out but then helped injured people," Mann said.
Usher said he only did a fraction of what other rescue workers did to save lives.
"There's been a tremendous outpouring of people, both professionals and volunteers, that have literally worked around the clock to find any more survivors," Usher said. "I did nothing compared to what other people did."


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Standard & Poor's recently reported that stock buybacks are finally on the decline after almost three years of increases. Stock buybacks are a fairly common way for companies to return wealth to their shareholders. Although not as tangible as dividends, which get mailed directly to anyone owning the stock, the mechanics of a share buyback also can provide shareholder value and give shares a boost.
Consider that while Apple AAPL, +1.08% made waves with the announcement of a long-awaited dividend, at $2.65 a share, the tech giant also committed $10 billion toward stock buybacks at the same time. There's a reason the company made these two big announcements hand-in-hand.
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The concept of a buyback is simple: If there are 100 equal shareholders in a $100 million company, each owns a 1% stake, or $1 million. But if the corporation decides to "invest in itself" and buy back the ownership stake of 10 people, the remaining 90 shareholders now own a bigger part of the company — a $1.1 million stake instead of a $1 million stake, presuming the value is constant.
In short, fewer shareholders means the remaining folks owning stock have a bigger piece of the pie — that theoretically is worth more.
Another benefit is that as the relative ownership stake of each investor increases, the earnings per share naturally increase, too, because there are fewer shares outstanding.
Let's say a company has 1 million shares outstanding and has net income of $1 million. Simple math says earnings per share total $1. But if the company buys back 100,000 shares, the EPS increase simply by virtue of the math -- $1 million in profits divided by 900,000 shares gives us $1.11. Earnings per share "increase" like magic this way to the tune of 11% despite no real movement in total net income.
There obviously is a risk here that the "fuzzy math" of buybacks isn't really growth. Wall Street is smart enough to figure out these games eventually, and a company can't mask underperformance forever merely through repurchases that juice EPS numbers.
Also, there's the very real cost of buybacks. Stock repurchases aren't cheap, and if a company spends billions of dollars out of optimism in current operations, it might take away from funds for research, acquisitions or other equally compelling investment opportunities.
On the whole, however, many investors see buybacks as a very positive sign. If you're in this camp, then here are 17 companies with the biggest buyback programs on Wall Street — averaging $2 billion spent on stock repurchases over the past seven years.
- Exxon Mobil XOM, +1.00% :$170.2 billion in stock buybacks since 2004
- Microsoft MSFT, +1.11% : $101.2 billion in buybacks since 2004
- International Business Machines IBM, +0.94% : $81.8 billion in buybacks since 2004
- Intel INTC, +1.18% : $43.1 billion in buybacks since 2004
- Wal-Mart Stores WMT, -0.03% : $37.4 billion in buybacks since 2004
- Goldman Sachs GS, +0.35% : $36.1 billion in buybacks since 2004
- ConocoPhillips COP, -0.15% : $33.1 billion in buybacks since 2004
- Amgen AMGN, +0.38% : $29.1 billion in buybacks since 2004
- Time Warner TWX, +0.00% : $29.0 billion in buybacks since 2004
- Pfizer PFE, +0.75% : $26.2 billion in buybacks since 2004
- Chevron CVX, +1.51% : $24.0 billion in buybacks since 2004
- UnitedHealth Group UNH, +0.08% : $21.5 billion in buybacks since 2004
- Philip Morris PM, +0.06% : $21.3 billion in buybacks since 2004
- DirecTV DTV, +0.83% : $18.5 billion in buybacks since 2004
- Travelers TRV, +0.36% : $17.6 billion in buybacks since 2004
- Coca-Cola KO, +0.41% : $16.4 billion in buybacks since 2004
- Oracle ORCL, +0.49% : $16.2 billion in buybacks since 2004
Of course, some of those buyback plans didn't necessarily result in market-beating returns — and some of these companies have either increased or decreased their pace as of late. Here's a more in-depth look at buybacks and performance for these top stocks:
InvestorPlace contributor Ivan Martchev wrote a great post recently pointing out how since 1998, AutoZone AZO, -0.29% has repurchased a whopping 128.8 million shares — three times the current number of total shares outstanding! He then went on to highlight some of the other massive stock buyback plans in recent memory.
But as this table shows, sometimes buybacks fail to pack a punch. Although the vast majority of these stocks have outperformed, it's worth noting that Oracle, Travelers and Goldman underperformed in 2011, despite big money dedicated to repurchases. And in Goldman's case, the underperformance is pretty darn ugly.
The same holds true in the long term, with Intel, Amgen, Time Warner and Pfizer all lagging the market during the past seven years despite a minimum of $26 billion spent on repurchases in that period.
So while it's certainly a plus for a company to be repurchasing shares, it also pays to look beyond just the cash spent on stock buybacks.
Disclosure: As of this writing, Jeff did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
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TRENTON, NJ March 16, 2011 -The appointment by Governor Chris Christie of Thomas J. Perna, Berkeley Heights, to the Civil Service Commission has been confirmed by the State Senate.
Mr. Perna is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Quadriserv Inc. a privately-held company that has created a centrally-cleared marketplace for securities-lending transactions. Prior to joining Quadriserv, he was head of the Financial Institutions Banking, Asset Servicing, and Broker Dealer Services Sectors at The Bank of New York, where he was also a member of the Executive Committee.
Mr. Perna Serves on the Boards of Directors of the Pioneer Mutual Fund Group, Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc. and Quadriserv Inc. He is a Senior Advisor to GTCR Golder Rauner LLC and the Gerson Lehrman Group. In 2003 Mr. Perna became the first recipient of Operations Management's Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of the leadership role he played in the securities industry.
Mr. Perna joins Chair CEO Robert M. Czech, Robert E. Brenner, and Richard E. Williams on the Civil Service Commission, an unbiased, independent State body that hears and rules on appeals filed by State, county and municipal civil service employees, candidates for employment, and appointing authorities. The CSC provides a forum for appeals to be heard, and fair and impartial decisions to be rendered.


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|Early Supplementary Feeding and Cognition (Society for Research in Child Development, 1993, 123 pages)
Embedded Figures. - This test assesses children's ability to distinguish a figure from among a meaningful visual array. It was developed by Witkin, Dyk, Faterson, Goodenough, and Karp (1962) as a measure of the tendency to be field dependent (influenced by the context) or field independent. There were two versions of the test. In the 3-year-old version, the child was first shown a picture of a common figure, then a larger picture with that figure embedded in it, and asked to point to the figure. The first nine items required the child to select the target figure from a group of other forms, and the second nine required the child to locate the embedded figure. The version administered to 4-7-year-olds used a red triangle as the target figure. After practice, a copy of the triangle remained visible to the child, who was asked to find where it was hidden in each of 12 pictures. The score was the number of items located correctly.
Memory for Digits. - This test is similar to those included in the Stanford-Binet and the WISC. The child was asked to repeat sequences of numbers read by the tester at a rate of two per sec. The lowest number of digits per span was two, and there were four series at each length of span. The score was the total number of digits recalled correctly, plus one point for each span totally correct.
Memory for Sentences. - The child was asked to repeat meaningful sentences after the examiner, who read them at a rate of two words per sec. The items were a series of sentences of differing length, with 2 items at each length (number of words); all words were two syllables long. The score was the total number of words correctly recalled, plus one point for a correct sentence.
Vocabulary Naming and Recognition. - This was a picture vocabulary test, similar to the early items of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. None of the items in this test required inferences about actions. The child was shown a notebook containing about four pictures per page, all of which depicted objects common in the village. The child was first asked to name each picture; various synonyms were acceptable. The total number correct was the Naming score. After seeing all the pictures, the name of each picture that had not been named or had been named incorrectly was supplied, and the child was asked to point to the appropriate picture. The Recognition score was the total number of items named, plus the number recognized.
Draw-a-Line Slowly. - This test was developed by Maccoby, Dowley, Hagen, and Degerman (1965) to measure impulse control. As reported by the authors, this measure was significantly associated with Stanford-Binet scores in a preschool population but was unrelated to overall activity level measured by "actometers"; it may measure ability to follow instructions as well as impulse control. The child was asked to draw a line between two marks on a page as fast as possible and then to do it as slowly as possible. The score was derived from the latter; it represents the velocity of the line, that is, its length divided by the time taken to draw it. A lower score indicated greater impulse control.
Persistence on a Puzzle. - This test attempted to measure persistence in an impossible situation. The child was given a puzzle with 18 pieces, which he or she was supposed to fit into the board; in reality, this could not be accomplished by any means. The child was given a maximum of 3 min to work on the puzzle. The score was the number of 10-see intervals that the child continued to work on the puzzle.
Memory for Objects. - This test was both a standard memory test and a measure of a child's ability to use categories of objects in order to enhance recall. The children were shown a large round circular tablet with 12 familiar objects placed around the edge of the circle. These items belonged to three conceptual categories (animals, clothing, and kitchen utensils). The children were asked to look at the objects; the objects were then covered with a cloth, and the child was asked to recall as many as possible. The score was the number of objects recalled.
Verbal Inferences. - This test was a Guatemalan adaptation of a verbal analogies test used in both the Stanford-Binet and the WISC. The child was first given two simple test items; corrections were given if the child could not complete the item or completed it incorrectly. A partial sentence was read to the child, who was expected to complete the idea by supplying the missing word. The first two examples were the following: "Shoes go on feet; a hat goes on - "; and, "Water is to drink, tortillas are to." If the child did not understand these first two, the test was not administered.
Knox Cubes, Slow Version. - This test was an adaptation of the Leiter (1940) International Performance Scale. The child was asked to repeat a series of taps on four stimuli. A board with four small familiar miniature objects (fan, bow, etc.) lined up in a row was shown to the child. With a stick the length of a pencil, the tester tapped these objects in a particular order; the child was then asked to tap them in the same order. The slow presentation had 1 tap per sec (the subsequent fast presentation with 4 taps per sec was not used). The score was the number of series of taps correctly completed.
Incomplete Figures. - Both the Stanford-Binet and the WPSSI contain a measure of the child's ability to identify a missing part of a common object in a picture. The child was shown 16 items common to Guatemalan village life and asked to point to where the missing part should be. The score was the total number of missing parts correctly identified.
Elimination of the Odd Figure. - The child was shown a series of five drawings in a row and was asked to point to the one that was different. Some differed on perceptual grounds (e.g., a girl with black rather than white shoes) and some on conceptual grounds (e.g., one child in the picture was doing a different kind of activity from the other children). The score was the total number of items correctly identified.
Block Design. - This test was similar to one of the subtests of the WPSSI. The child was asked to replicate a design displayed on a card by using a series of small blocks. Some of the more difficult designs use blocks with diagonal lines. The score was based on points for each correct cube's color, position, and orientation, plus one point for a completely correct design.
Memory for Designs. - This test was designed to assess children's ability to remember a design and replicate it using 1-inch cubic blocks, painted a different color on each side. The examiner constructed a design using four colored blocks (red, green, yellow, and blue, plus some blocks with diagonals) and allowed the child to inspect it for 5 sec. The blocks were then scrambled, and the child was asked to reconstruct the design from memory. Three trials were allowed per design. The first two items had only two blocks. The score was the number of points based on the color and the position of the blocks.


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No matter how many pictures you may have seen of the Grand Canyon, nothing compares to the first real glimpse of this natural wonder of the world. The immense depth, the rocks in all different shades of red, and the glistening Colorado River at the bottom of the canyon all make for an unforgettable experience. The vast size of the canyon can only be truly appreciated by standing on the edge. And even then you are only seeing a fraction of this natural phenomenon.
Nobody knows exactly how old the Grand Canyon is, but estimates indicate that the stone at the bottom of the canyon dates back to 1.8 billion years ago. From Las Vegas you can make a day trip by plane or helicopter, but to really experience the Grand Canyon it is best to travel by car and spend the night in one of the many park lodges. A sunset in the Grand Canyon is a truly memorable moment.
The many hiking trails in the Grand Canyon offer ideal opportunities to explore this natural wonder on foot. You can also hike all the way down to the Colorado River but this requires a fair amount of preparation. Friendly rangers in the visitor's centres are on hand to recommend the most appropriate hikes. The easiest route is the Rim Walk: a walk of several kilometres along the edge of the canyon which offers spectacular views. Those who prefer a short descent may opt for the South Kaibab Trail. The first descent along the canyon wall is quite steep, but you will quickly be rewarded by great views into the canyon. The South Kaibab Trail continues all the way to the Colorado River, and you can make the hike as long or as short as you like. Fit hikers can take the trail all the way to the end and spend the night at the Bright Angel Campground.


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Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) is looking for developers with C++, Java, or Ruby experience to build and operate the software behind our innovative pricing models and markets that are revolutionizing the software industry. Our team is tasked with exciting and challenging problems, like:
- Building out and optimizing the software behind our pricing models (think of everything it would take to build and scale a stock exchange for computing resources)
- Empowering developers from around the world to migrate their applications to these new pricing models (e.g. features to reduce friction, APIs, tools, architectural patterns, etc.)
- Developing a platform for other AWS teams to build their own versions of our pricing models (e.g. Amazon RDS Reserved Instances)
Members of this team have the opportunity to work with some of the smartest software engineers in the industry to deliver significant impact for the Amazon EC2 business by driving additional revenue and reducing the costs. For instance, this team is tasked with selling Amazon EC2's ever-changing unused capacity. The first iteration of Spot Instances, a dynamically priced offering based on supply and demand, is just the beginning. This pricing model enables customers to set the price they are willing to pay for an instance, and run their instances while their bid (e.g. the price they set) meets or exceeds the current Spot price. We are growing this team to significantly expand our feature set and manage our rapidly increasing scale.
We are looking for passionate, experienced Ruby, Perl, Java or C/C++ software developers that can design and deliver high quality solutions in a hyper-growth environment where priorities shift fast. Developers on this team need a sound understanding of the fundamentals of Computer Science and practical experience building large-scale distributed systems. You should be someone who enjoys working on complex system software, is very customer-centric, and feels strongly not only about building good software but about making that software achieve its goals in operational reality. Experience with web-based applications and/or web services-based applications, especially at massive scale, is also helpful.
As general guidance, the following will help ensure a successful application:
- 3-5+ years of industry experience
- Demonstrated ability to achieve stretch goals in a highly innovative and fast paced environment.
- Linux operating system development.
- Experience with Ruby, Perl, Java or C/C++.
- Experience with Linux development.
- Expertise in delivering high-quality, innovative applications
- BS/MS in Computer Science or equivalent (PhD a plus)
- Strong analytical skills with excellent problem solving abilities.
- Knowledge of system performance methodologies along with hands on empirical monitoring
- Strong desire to build, sense of ownership, urgency, and drive.
- Excellent written communication and verbal agility are strong assets.
If you feel like you may fit all or most of these qualifications, we would encourage you to apply by forwarding your resume or any questions to our AWS Recruiting Lead, Kelly O'Mara. Thank you for your interest in AWS.