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Giant robots and wisecracking cats. They're such great cartoon tropes that you wonder why someone hasn't tried to mesh them together before now. But mesh they do in Brian Ralph's Reggie-12, an episodic comic strip about an constantly plucky, ever-optimistic Astro Boy-like robot who constantly is saving the city he lives in from danger (usually in the form of other, bigger robots), only to face withering indifference from everyone back home, especially the afore-mentioned cat.
Originally serialized in the pages of Giant Robot magazine and other assorted comics anthologies, the Reggie-12 strips have now been collected in a handsome, oversize, hardbound book from Drawn and Quarterly. Ralph was at the Small Press Expo this year, signing copies of his new book and generally helping man the D& Q booth. I pulled him away for a bit and, once we found a place to sit down, peppered him with questions about Reggie-12.
Chris Mautner: When was the first appearance of Reggie-12? Do you remember when you started these strips?
Brian Ralph: You know, I don't. I had done comics in Giant Robot earlier before Reggie-12. There was this thing I did called The Legend of Giant Robot. It wasn't funny. It was trying to be an ongoing serialized comic. I just didn't have the storytelling chops yet. I ended it and wanted to start something new. That's when Reggie-12 started and it was such a better fit for the magazine. It's hard to do a daily strip in a magazine that comes out every month. I got so much more story packed into a smaller space. I don't know the exact year [it began] though. Ten years ago?
Does this book collect all the Reggie-12 appearances?
Yeah, every single one.
Obviously Astro Boy is the main influence here, but I was wondering what else might have been thinking about while making these strips.
When I was a kid I had a Shogun Warrior, this big, 24-inch giant [toy] that launched missiles. That influence me. I just loved the design and shapes of robots. That was big and also just Japanese comics in general. I found all these old 1970s comics like Tobor, the 8th Man. It was that period of '60s and '70s manga that influenced me and I just borrowed and stole from there. Something between Shogun Warriors, Astro Boy and very simple cartoons was very attractive to me.
Reggie-12 is very obviously a parody. In fact, this is your only straightforward comedy, I think. Was that something you wanted to do? Did you not feel comfortable doing straight adventure stories?
I had been doing this stuff for Nickelodeon too so I became very interested in the timing of jokes and telling jokes. Because it was in a magazine and I was trying to reach an audience that perhaps didn't normally read comics or was new to comics, I wanted to make the poppiest, most accessible thing I could, and that's jokes. Everybody loves jokes. So I tried to fill it with as many jokes as I possibly could, with as many exciting robots as I possibly could, I tried to make it very digestible and appealing to readers. It turned out I really enjoyed the joke craftsmanship. It was an interesting puzzle to solve. The timing of any comic has to be really thoughtful. If you don't hit the punchline in the right way it's not funny. I found that endlessly interesting. It was a puzzle to figure out.
A lot of your comics up till now had been standalone stories. You didn't have a lot of recurring stories or characters before. Was that an interest for you as well?
I was interested in making standalone pages that would work, but also in having the characters grow and change ... and figuring out who each person was and what their driving force was, and why does the cat behave like that? I got to know the characters. There was no overall story to it but everyone developed through each comic.
So when you started out you didn't have the characters as fully defined?
No. I look back at the early strips and the jokes were there – I knew Reggie-12 was going to be this endlessly hopeful character who was an optimist, kind and friendly, and of course so easy to poke fun at. And everyone around him was going to be an inept and ineffectual and almost ill-willed or indifferent to him. But he's never deterred by anybody's lack of interest in what he's doing.
He's very plucky. There's also a lot of experimentation on these pages. You were open to that anyway, being one of the original members of Fort Thunder. But I was I curious: Did you go into this thinking, "I want to play around with the format?"
Absolutely. Originally I did this under a different name, Ralph Stevenson.
'Cause when I started it I felt like I had these books I did – Cave-In and Climbing Out – I wanted Reggie-12 to be a place where I could explore new ideas. I felt like if I didn't use my name, if I used a new name, I could have some freedom without tarnishing the Brian Ralph name. Ultimately, it turned out people knew it was me anyway. The name popped into my head and sometimes I just stick with a dumb idea. The ultimate goal was trying to do big pages that have huge robots and build big illustrations around them.
There was even some Frank King-like sequences.
Oh, yeah, that was a huge influence. I wanted to do big illustrations, but I also wanted to tell a story and I found that was the perfect mix. A readable story but you still got to do big imagery and you didn't have to work in small boxes. All these panels also experiment with seeing the character multiple times in one image, which I had seen done and seemed so exciting in terms of motion and storytelling. It blew it wide open for me.
Why are the strips colored blue?
Tobor the 8th Man was in black and white. The animated shows were all in black and white. I wanted it to look like a comic that could have existed in the '60s; I wanted it to have this old look. I felt like if I did these two colors it would look like a historical piece. Like it was being reprinted in this magazine. It was a split second decision that I just stuck with, and I love the two color look.
I was wondering what kind of reception the strip got while you were serializing it. Did you get any feedback from readers?
No. The creators of the magazine they would let me do the comic but it wasn't ever clear to me if they actually read the comic. I would ask them "Do you think it's funny" and they'd say "Oh, I didn't realize it was supposed to be funny."
In that way it was really freeing: "Darn it, I'm going to make people laugh at this. I'm going to try to write the funniest comic I can possibly write." No one ever tried to talk to me about it. I think it reached a lot of people and yet frustratingly, here I was looking for this response I was looking for – laughs – and I wasn't getting it. And it drove me to do the next one. "OK, they didn't like the last one but the next one will be even better." There was this guy who would write hate mail to the magazine saying he hated the comic. Maybe to get my goat [the editors] would publish the letters. I always thought it was maybe a prank. Who could hate this comic? It's not hatable. But no, I was never getting the response I was looking for, but I think that was actually good. A really good thing for a cartoonist is to have a chip on their shoulder. It drives them to do better and better.
One thing that struck me is that – and it's a good thing for comedy – all the characters are obnoxious in their own special way. Even Reggie for all of his innocence makes some pretty bad gaffes. There's a lot of hurt feelings in the book and people desperate for friendship and acceptance and just not getting it at all. Were you conscious of that?
That's a really good question. All these characters want to be friends with each other and yet no one can quite make the connection. You're right. There's a comic in there where Reggie has a rival named Sebastian X, who's more talented than he is. Maybe it's some sort of deep rooted problem that I have but having characters not being able to find friendship is really funny I guess. I don't know, it just happened that way.
They're all operating on their own selfish ends and hoping the other person will help them.
Everyone's really indifferent to each other.
Which is interesting for a funny comic about a giant robot. Are you interested in doing more Reggie-12 strips or do you feel like you're done?
I could always do more. Once you've drawn these characters, they are … you can just pick them up at any moment and do another one. I always have a voice for these characters. I don't know if I'm going to pursue another book of Reggie-12 but if there was interest, yeah.
So if this sells out today …
I'll do some more, yeah, sure. But what is lasting for me is the storytelling and the jokes. What I learned from writing those jokes ... I can have any character, a piece of pizza talking to a cupcake and I could use that joke-telling in the same way. It would be just as desirable as Reggie-12.
What are you working on now?
Even if I don't do a straight-up comedy book, I want to always be joking. I can never take anything too seriously. I even think Daybreak had a sense of humor to it. The dialogue was humorous to me.
It's pretty open, what I'm doing next. I know I wanted to work more with Drawn and Quarterly on another book. I have a book with First Second that I've been working on for years and years.
Tell me about that.
It's a book I tried a couple of different times and never gotten quite off the ground. It's called Shipwrecks. I've had tons of pages of this done for a long time and First second has been so patient with me as I've been trying to knock this thing out. It's a relationship between a little kid and an alligator and they go on this extended adventure. And it's funny and it's poignant and it's sad. The jokes are always in there and that's a book I hope to finish.
When do you think you'll have it done?
Oh, my gosh, I'm constantly "I can get this done, just knock it out," and then I look at the pages and I have all these uninked pages and its' "Oh, I'll never get this done." I've got ten more years.
You're going to rival Paul Pope.
When I saw Paul Pope had put out the first Battling Boy book I was like, if Paul Pope can get this done, Brian Ralph has to get his book done. So there's some hope for it. It will happen. I would hate for it not to be completed.


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Seattle Public Utilities Mami Hara, General Manager/CEO
If You Live Creekside
Keep leaves and other items out of the creek
- Do not store furniture or other items like firewood, fuel tanks, containers and loose items in flood-prone areas or near stream channels, as high flows can wash these items into the creek.
- Anything that enters the creek can result in blocking downstream culverts, causing local flooding.
- Even leaves and branches washed into the creek and culverts increase the risk of flooding. Store your yard waste and debris in secure bins or bags for curbside pickup - not along the creek.
Exercise caution during storms
- Urban creeks can be unpredictable during storms.
- Stay out of the creek until the storm passes through, even if you see debris building up.
- Instead of trying to remove debris yourself, report concerns to (206) 386-1800.
Create a backyard berm or restore a floodplain with neighbors
- FEMA defines a floodplain as "Any land area that is susceptible to being inundated by water from any source." Most properties near creeks are likely in a floodplain.
- These are more permanent solutions to flooding than sandbags - made of soil and plants.
- It is critical that neighbors work together on these projects. The best results will occur by working together within a specific stream reach or section. You need to design your projects so that floodwaters are not sent to your neighbors' homes.
- In areas where urban streams flow through private property, it may be possible to utilize your yard as a temporary floodplain. For this to be effective there must be sufficient space between structures (house, garage, etc.). The structures you are trying to protect must be at a higher elevation than the stream channel.
- You may be able to construct either a natural floodplain (preferred) or a "backyard berm."
- Restoring or creating a floodplain or backyard berm requires professional eco-engineering and flood management assistance.

subset: commoncrawl


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Discipline: Political Science
Theory of human rights.
Rights arise from the nature of human or social existence, in the same way as does natural law. There is disagreement as to whether rights are surrendered, or transformed, or held in abeyance when people enter political, law-governed society.
David Miller et al., eds, The Blackwell Dictionary of Political Thought (Oxford, 1987)


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Stratford Pointe is a family-friendly community offering residents the perfect blend of amenities. Homeowners are only minutes away from shopping at the newly built Hammock Landing Mall, as well as the nearby Melbourne Square Mall. Recreational facilities that offer something for everyone are located close by. The neighborhood is also conveniently located by great schools in the area, such as Meadowlane Elementary, Central Middle School, and Melbourne High School. The elementary and middle schools are within walking distance of our community and the high school has convenient bus service right beside our beautiful clubhouse.
Stratford Pointe Listings
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Hands-On Preview of the BFG Phobos
I've used the term "monolith" to describe gaming rigs before, but this is the one that lives up to the description.
The BFG Phobos literally turns over a new leaf in its design, with a chassis that works so you don't have an unsightly mass of wires coming out of the "back" of the PC. The five visible planes of the monolith are sleek and, for the most part, featureless. It's a gaming PC writ large.
The Phobos is larger than most of the other high-end gaming PCs I've reviewed. To find a more imposing specimen I'd have to go back to the Voodoo Rage F50 back in 2004, and that was the one that used the whole chassis as a heat sink to cool the CPU. Take a look at the pictures in the slideshow: for scale that's an Apple 30-inch panel above the system. This thing is a beast. The ports are on the bottom, and the fans blow down. This helps the Phobos keep its visible surfaces uncluttered, and keeps the fans from sucking dust up into the chassis.
Regardless of the size, it's the details that impress: the system uses cherry-picked components from BFG's stock of components, including a pair of overclocked BFG/Nvidia GeForce GTX 275 graphics cards, a BFG 1kW power supply, an Intel Core i7-920 processor with a BFG CPU liquid cooling unit, Corsair memory, a 128GB SSD, and a pair of 640GB spinning hard drives. There's even a built-in iPod/iPhone dock hidden on the top, with a connector, not just the space for a dock like on some of the old HP Pavilions. The system includes home installation and a six-month follow-up home visit for tech support. You could of course have BFG put in updated components at that time for the cost of the parts. Home visits after the second freebie are an extra charge.
You would want them to come to your house, since the Phobos isn't designed for user tinkering. Aside from the primary ports being on the bottom, the case really isn't built to open and upgrade by the end user. At first I thought this was a disadvantage, but BFG's reps assure me that this system is designed for the hardcore gamer that may (or may not) already have the knowledge to DIY the building and upgrading, but doesn't have the time or the interest anymore. So basically, older 30-something and middle aged guys that make a decent living, who don't want to spend a whole weekend tweaking a voltage setting in the BIOS to get five more fps on a game like Far Cry 2.
To that end, the guys at BFG have installed the Phobos' more distinctive feature: the touch screen LCD panel on the front that's basically all I ever wanted from Microsoft's SideShow (and that Redmond never delivered). The touchscreen is powered by an embedded Linux PC, and is linked to the motherboard so you can monitor the health of the system in real time, including temperatures, clock speeds on the CPU and graphics cards, memory status, hard drive capacity, and even a neat graphic showing the status of each thread on the CPU (eight processing threads on the Core i7). The screens also control multimedia playback (MCE or iTunes), power up/down. And there's a clock.
The neatest feature of the system is on the performance screen: The front panel controls all of those myriad settings on the motherboard and BIOS, so you don't have to. You can set the system for auto, the default state, or quiet, which underclocks the components and spools down the fans for simple tasks like web surfing or watching videos. Then there's "Max" which pushes the system to the overclock presets and spools the fans up too. It's a one-touch overclocking scenario, making it simpler than hitting delete on bootup, tweaking the BIOS, then spooling up the fans manually to keep up with the changes. Oh, and this performance screen works anytime the Phobos is on. No reboots necessary.
So what's does all of this awesome cost? $3,450. Yes, that's a lot of money in this economy, but you do have to spend a bunch of green to get smooth gameplay at high resolution on today's games, and think of the bragability of a system like this. Remember that systems like this used to cost over $5,000, and those didn't come with free setup services. Yes, you could "built it yourself" but that's not the point. After a certain point (growing family, making your first large six figure income) the thrill of tweaking loses its luster and your time becomes more important.
Look for my full review in the coming weeks.


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Mount Shasta woman charged with felony and misdemeanor counts
Nurse Practitioner Naomi LeGate (aka Katy LeGate), of Mount Shasta, was arraigned on August 2, 2016, after the Shasta County District Attorney's Office charged her with nine felony counts and one misdemeanor count for false impersonation, identity theft and fraud, as well as issuing fraudulent and forged prescriptions and practicing medicine without a license.
These charges came as a result of a joint investigation between the Shasta County District Attorney's Office and the California Department of Consumer Affairs' Division of Investigation (DOI).
The investigation was initiated after the California Board of Registered Nursing and DOI's Investigation and Enforcement Support Unit discovered that LeGate might be in violation of her felony probation from Santa Cruz County. In October 2014, LeGate was convicted of identity theft and prescription forgery in that county. According to her probation terms, LeGate was prohibited from possessing prescription pads and prescribing medicine to patients.
The investigation revealed that while she was employed as a nurse practitioner at a medical office in Redding, LeGate wrote prescriptions despite the probationary terms from Santa Cruz County.
Additionally, LeGate did not have a Nurse Practitioner Furnishing Certificate and was unable to legally authorize or sign any prescription forms. All prescriptions issued by LeGate required authorization and a signature from her employing doctor. The investigation found prescriptions which were issued by LeGate and were not authorized by or signed by her employing doctor.
LeGate was arrested in Mount Shasta on July 19, 2016, as a result of a no-bail bench warrant issued by Santa Cruz County Superior Court. She will appear in that court on August 24, 2016.
The Board of Registered Nursing issued a Cease Practice Notice to Legate on February 23, 2016. She is currently prohibited from practicing as a Registered Nurse or a Nurse Practitioner.
The Shasta County District Attorney's Press Release can be read here.


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Orthopedic surgeons Dr. John Baker provides care for all types of orthopedic injuries and conditions at our Boca Raton office. We do pain management, injections, casting, and more in Boca. You'll find us located on the northwest corner of Glades and Lyons Road near PNC Bank.
Phone: (561) 330-4358
Fax: (561) 330-4390
9033 Glades Road, Suite B
Boca Raton, FL 33434
Office hours at this location vary. Please call for details.
Services at this location:
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Back Injuries Common in Young Athletes


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Report by Paula Antolini
September 27, 2017 1:01PM EDT
Byrd's Books Bring 'Cooking for Picasso' to La Zingara
Please join us for a special evening at La Zingara Ristorante with Camille Aubray, author of "Cooking For Picasso". The $50.00 fee includes the book, a farm-fresh meal, tax and gratuity. Cash bar. This is a registration only event.
Date/Time: Wednesday October 4th, 6:30pm
Where: LaZingara, 8 P.T. Barnum Square, Bethel, CT
Byrd's Books in located in the center of downtown Bethel, across from P.T. Barnum square. We have plenty of free parking in the lot behind English Apothecary- our rear entrance is located at the end of the lot.
Author Camille Aubray
Byrd's Books
126 Greenwood Ave.
Bethel, Connecticut 06801
p: (203) 730-BYRD (2973)
twitter: @ByrdsBooks


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What is a variance?
A variance is a relaxation of the restrictions imposed by the Zoning Ordinance and can only be granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals. Variances may be granted by the Board from the restrictions imposed on height, lot size, lot coverage and setback. The ordinance only makes variance provisions for structures not uses. The variance criteria are very difficult to satisfy.


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Lower Normandy is one of the first ports of call for many tourists on a driving holiday due to its proximity to the UK. A stone's through from London (well if you can throw a stone across the channel) and not very far from Paris lies this great region.
With its 600 kilometers of coastline contrasting seaside with cliffs, pebbly coves and long stretches of golden sands this is an attractive destination for many holiday makers.
Gites, campsites and hotels alike all bask in the warmth of the Gulf Stream. Deauville, Trouville, and Cabourg are well-established and desirable seaside places that you might want to visit along the way.
Things to do in this region include the Cider Road and the Cheese Road both of which are beautiful drives.
Along this drive you will encounter many treasures: the pretty harbor of Honfleur, the Bayeux Tapestry, William the Conqueror's place of birth at Falaise, the basilica at Lisieux dedicated to Saint Theresa, Claude Monet's treasured garden at Giverny and the world-famous Mont Saint Michel, with its spectacular views from the fortifications.
The closest international airport to Normandy is Paris Beauvais Airport, with direct flights from Edinburgh and Manchester Airports.


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As I mentioned previously I said I'd post the occasional scribble about the current homebrew campaign I'm playing my kenku bard in, particularly her background. I don't usually write huge backgrounds for my characters – some games just don't need one (Encounters, Lair Assault, WWGD) but for my friend's homebrew I wanted to give him some hooks or NPCs to use if he ever desired to. My friend DMs a great event and character driven campaign, so I didn't want to disappoint him with a flat or uninteresting background. At the same time, before the campaign began (when I wrote this) I didn't know what the current state of things would be in his homebrew world. I had to word some parts of my background vaguely to avoid causing unintentional discrepancies. It was fun, challenging, and inspiring to write this out. Chiva as a character really formed in my mind when I finished it.
The Traveling Travesty Troupe is one of the larger and more popular entertainment groups in Vornos. An organization consisting of 15-25 wagons depending on the season, the TTT prides itself on its variety and quality of entertainments. Started fifteen years ago by Lord Lucas Travesty, the human noble had moderate wealth but his parents had left the noble name of Travesty in poor standing with the other nobles due to their abrasive attitudes. Their deaths left the entirety of their estates in Lucas' hands. Lucas was an adventurous young man who cared nothing about politics and he sold all but one large country estate and took half the money from the sales and started his own traveling circus.
Lord Lucas no longer travels with the troupe, instead remains at the Travesty estate keeping it cared for and well stocked for the troupe's return during the off-season where he also manages the money earned by the troupe and reviews the year's performance with his illegitimate daughter, Reveca Travesty, who now leads the troupe on the road.
Chiva honestly enjoyed her life in the troupe, the troupe members initially treated her like one of the other clever animals, but as it became obvious Chiva was very intelligent, she was given more respect and privileges. The family sense typical to any group of nomadic performers made her feel at home and Chiva never resented her role in the troupe. Her cage was a mockery, for customer displays only; she normally stayed in one of the wagons with the other performers.
Chiva was actually part of the more theatrical section of the troupe that put on dramatizations. She had small roles in many performances, but usually her mimicry was more useful. Some nights she never even went on stage, but stayed behind the curtains making sound effects for the other performers. Because she was intelligent and usual looking, she also often went into the towns as part of the front groups sent to spread word and raise interest in the troupe's arrival. This let Chiva see more of the towns they went to and she slightly familiar with more than a dozen major cities across Vornos, although not deeply so as she has rarely spent more than a week in any location except Travesty Manor.
Chiva has never known her egg was stolen and sold, the only time she ever asked about her own kind she was told they were only animals and that Chiva was different because she was smart and could talk and therefore she belonged among people and not animals. She was also told she belonged "to" the troupe, but her understanding of that was that the troupe was her flock; she belonged to them the same way a child belonged to his ma and pa. Chiva is slightly naive in this and still believes the troupe is sort of her "family" that she can happily return to at any time. Individuals that don't know her history may hear her talk about her family and assume she's referring to other kenku.
On her last season abroad, the troupe was not doing well due to the state of things in Vornos. As the overall attitude in the troupe was turning sour, and travel was occasionally dangerous, the decision was made to keep the troupe safe by taking them away from conflict – so the rest of the season was canceled the troupe headed back to Travesty Manor. To keep the troupe busy, Lucas and Reveca decided the troupe could go through all their equipment and wagons to repair and improve them, practice and improve their acts as well as improvise and rehearse new acts. A few individuals would be sent out to stock up supplies, others would go to purchase new animals for pulling the wagons, and a few others would travel to further and more exotic locations to acquire a new unique creature or two for displaying in the menagerie.
Chiva actually left the troupe before they got back to Travesty Manor. With the announcement of an early end to the season, many people were leaving the troupe to go visit family or do their own thing – most agreeing to return to the Manor in a few month's time. Some left forever, which was not unusual, the troupe was never a fixed number of people, but rather a core of long-timers with others joining and leaving in a semi-constant flow.
Chiva's personal intent was not to sneak away, she observed and well-wished many others going out to take a break from the troupe's lifestyle and decided that she too wanted to take a break and be on her own for a while. In the chaos of those leaving and the turnaround to the home base, Chiva slipped away practically unnoticed. She advised a few friends she was going (which they may have misunderstood in hindsight), and left early one morning as the troupe's wagons were pulling away from the field they had camped in, striking out for the small town a short distance away.
I also included a short synopsis of some NPCs for my DM to utilize, if he ever wanted to:
Lord Lucas Travesty
Chiva has only met this human male once, he seemed nice and energetic but she really knows almost nothing about him. In his late thirties, he manages the troupe from the enormous Travesty Manor estate. The estate is a several dozen acres of land, most of it forested but a large section of it is devoted to barns, fenced pastures, and level clearings for the troupe's animals and wagons. The manor house is an impressive building with dozens of rooms and an enormous banquet hall.
Lady Reveca Travesty
Chiva has only spoken to Reveca a few times, and makes an effort to stay out of the Lady's notice. Chiva is intimidated by Reveca and the no-nonsense way she runs the troupe and keeps the chaotic lifestyle of the nomadic troupe from getting out of hand. She has never been on the bad side of Reveca, but she has witnessed people that have gotten her ire and it wasn't pretty.
An elderly halfling that Chiva had the closest relationship to, Tersa took Chiva into her wagon when Chiva was old enough to start helping out around the camp. Tersa taught Chiva the ins and outs of the troupe's lifestyle. She was also the one to realize the talent of Chiva's mimicry and with her matronly influence got the kenku moved from creature performances (where Chiva was faring poorly) to the theatrical acts.
The half-elven male seems young and has a surprisingly cheeky attitude, but he's actually one of the older members of the troupe and the beast keeper. His knowledge and talents keep all the animals well cared for and mostly content. Ruhn incubated Chiva's egg and cared for the kenku hatchling during the early days of her life.


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It is Homecoming weekend for Conant High School in Hoffman Estates, the winners of our Prep Destination of the Week.
Hundreds of students gathered at the school's gymnasium on Friday for an early morning tailgate with NBC 5 News Today.
Tim Cannon, Conant High School's principal, said he expects the same school spirit Friday night at the homecoming game against the Fremd Vikings.
Cannon said he was reluctant to wake up the star football athletes on this crisp September morning, but asked the rest of the student body to celebrate for them.
Homecoming Queen Christina Rosales, sported her royal crown and sash, and took center stage as she danced to "Around The World" while showing off Navy Blue and White pride with hundreds of other Cougars!
Think your school has what it takes? Want to show off your dance moves? Your school could be the next Prep Destination of the week.
NBC 5 News Today will announce the finalists Monday morning and open up the voting poll on Facebook until Wednesday at noon.
Vote and decide where you want to send our NBC 5 News Today crew.
Be sure to watch for your favorite school on Facebook! Cast your Prep Destination vote, and watch NBC 5 News Today on Thursday to see where we'll head for that week.
Prep Destination Dance Friday: Conant H.S
Conant High School was featured on NBC 5 News Today for winning Prep Destination of the Week
It is Homecoming weekend for Conant High School in Hoffman Estates, the winners of our Prep Destination of the Week.


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Ukulele Upbeat Music
Funny, catchy and upbeat ukulele music for your video projects. Perfect as a background music for your advertisement, presentation, radio commercial, journey or cooking vlogs, personal YouTube Channel, etc.
Thank you for attention! Hope you will like this track, as much as we do. Have a nice day!
PS: You are more then welcome to send us a link to your project with this item, for the mutual advertising. Thanks in advance!


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Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Scottish Government extends business rates
relief to more small firms
AN EXTRA 3,600 small Scottish firms are set to become eligible for a discount on their business rates bill through an expansion of the Small Business Bonus Scheme.
Changes coming into effect from 1 April 2010 mean almost 60 per cent of all business premises in Scotland will be better off, with average savings on their business rates bill of over £1,300 - almost double the reported figure in England.
Finance Secretary John Swinney (pictured above) today visited an Edinburgh business already benefiting from the Scottish Government's Small Business Bonus Scheme. The scheme has removed business rates entirely for around a quarter of all business premises in Scotland.
The scheme is being extended from 1 April 2010 so that a further 3,600 properties in small chains become eligible for a discount. For example, an eligible retailer with three small shops with a total rateable value of £24,000 would not previously have received any discount. But now each shop will receive a discount of 25 per cent and the business will save over £2,400 next year.
Speaking on a visit to Heritable Ltd, an independent financial advisor based in Edinburgh's New Town, which receives a 25 per cent discount on its bill through the scheme, Mr Swinney said: "The Scottish Government has always been clear about the importance of creating a supportive business environment.
"The latest five-yearly revaluation of business rates has been carried out in this context. As a result of our decisions, the vast majority of businesses in Scotland will see their bills fall from 1 April. At least half of all firms will be eligible for a discount on their bills through a total rates relief package worth £2.4 billion over five years.
"This includes the extension of our successful Small Business Bonus Scheme, which is already helping companies like Heritable Ltd through the economic downturn by allowing them to make vital savings and re-invest in the business.
"Initiatives of this kind underline our determination to do all we can to help Scottish companies through the challenges of recession, encourage a strong recovery and help firms make the fullest possible contribution to building a strong and sustainable Scottish economy."
The Scottish Government set a 2010-11 business rates poundage of 40.7p - 15 per cent lower than 2009-10, matching the English poundage and the lowest poundage ever set in Scotland.
Eight out of 10 companies set to see bills fall from 1 April will benefit from the Government's decision not to have a Transitional Relief scheme similar to England. Such a scheme would fail to pass on savings to those who should legitimately see their bills fall - the majority being SMEs and high street businesses. Transitional relief similar to that in place in England would have increased bills by almost £70 million for high streets and SME businesses.
At least half of all firms in Scotland will be eligible for a discount on their bill from 1 April 2010 as part of a relief package worth £2.4 billion over five years. The threshold for payment of the supplement for larger businesses and for relief to firms in rural areas is being increased.
The thresholds for the Small Business Bonus Scheme are also being uplifted, with around 3,600 additional properties in small chains becoming eligible for a discount through extension of the scheme. The scheme has been expanded in 2010-11, to allow a business with two or more properties with a cumulative rateable value of £25,000 or less to qualify for relief of 25 per cent on individual properties with rateable values of up to £18,000.
And following agreement of the world-leading Climate Change Act, the Scottish Government is introducing a new targeted relief scheme for the renewable energy sector, offering discounts of up to 100 per cent.
Business rates are paid by non-domestic properties - including shops, offices, warehouses and factories, and any other property that is not classed as domestic property. A revaluation of non-domestic subjects in Scotland is carried out every five years by the independent Scottish Assessors. The principal purpose of a revaluation is to ensure that the distribution of the rates burden between ratepayers remains equitable.
Scottish Government
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Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Seeking Admin/Mod
Well, we need help doing that.
If you use Facebook and enjoy The Weirding, please drop us a line to let us know. We aren't just a music page although we plan on playing quite a bit of music; like the site itself, our foci are broad in scope and deep in richness. We'll be talking Art, tabletop RPG, video games (especially World of Warcraft), books and Literature, comedy, horror (films, TV, books, et. al.), and so much more. In fact, our admin staff has carte blanche to forge their own identity, style, and so forth.
We do not have a schedule, either (at this time). Admins will come and go as they please, when they please. This may cause some confusion at first but hopefully thing can be worked out. If it becomes necessary, or simply desired, we will develop a schedule.
Everything is like that: We're leaving it wide open so things will develop on their own and hopefully fall into place.
Again, drop us a line and let us know you're interested in helping us run the page and we'll get back to you! Thanks.
© C Harris Lynn, 2013
3 comments:
- Christine Graves said...
Honey, honey sweetie,sweetie darling, darling.
Did not know there was a TH page for the site. Will be checking it out.
- January 29, 2014 at 8:29 PM
- C Harris Lynn said...
"TH" Page? I'm afraid I do not understand your banter.
Yes, I've had a FB Page for the site for like five years now but I had no real idea what to do with it until I became admin on some music Pages. They inspired me! They gave me some ideas as to what I could do with the thing as well as some practical experience in actually running a Page.
But I can't do it alone (well, alright, maybe I could but that's nowhere near as much fun)!
- January 29, 2014 at 10:49 PM
- Christine Graves said...
LMAO sorry honey. I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas and have to train it to think like me. I meant FB but this thing decided that it didn't like those letters.
I'm way happy for your brainstorm and a little jealous. And I guess I did know about the page as I was already a member. So beware, I will be watching you. Lol
Miss you my friend!
- January 29, 2014 at 11:33 PM


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Archive for November, 2012
Commercial Cleaning
Commercial Cleaning NSW
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We know how important it is to have a clean and tidy working environment. That's why we recruit all staff to meet the high standards. Read the rest of this entry »


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Polk County Fire Rescue offers several ways to pay your ambulance bill. The online payment center provides a fast, safe and easy way to make payments.
Ambulance Fee Schedule
Pay Ambulance Bill
Ambulance Billing: (863) 519-7321
The Polk County Board of County Commissioners is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer.
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First things first… How about dem Redskins!?
3 in a row – We are on fire!
All day I was brainstorming ideas to make healthy tailgating recipes for last nights game. But then, I made nothing. Instead I thought I'd share with you one of my Grandma's (or possibly great granny's) recipes!
Not only is this the easiest side dish you will EVER make but it's also a people pleaser.
5 ingredients. 1 dish. It doesn't get better than that.
Broccoli Cheesy Rice (Grandma's Recipe)
- 3 boxes of chopped broccoli
- 1 jar of Cheez Wiz (15 oz)
- 1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup
- 1 cup of White Minute Rice
- 1 stick of butter
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
- Add all ingredients to 9×13 dish
- Cover with tin foil and cook for 30 minutes
- Uncover and stir
- Place back in oven for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown
It's a good thing we only enjoy this three times a year (Easter, Thanksgiving & Christmas) because it's definitely not healthy. Like Julia Child's says – Everything in moderation!


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6 of 26
20. Whataburger
Whataburger does pretty well on blind taste tests, as it should: It's based in Texas, where people know about beef. The onions are diced, but the pickles are sliced, which doesn't seem like a big deal, but is actually pretty rare. There's lettuce, too, but not nearly so much as on California-style cheeseburgers.


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Random Artist/Design Industry Blurb
This is random, but I thought it was interesting. Plus, I like artists and designers, and I need to get my mind off healthcare stuff. So my coworker told me he designed the look of Ken Block's new Ford, as seen here:
The skull logo seen at 0:42 is designed by his friend, Huck. Ken Block had seen a similar logo at Huck's site, which can be seen here: http://huckgee.com/.
I guess he makes a pretty nice living as an artist/designer. They were just going to license the skull logo to Block, but QuickSilver wanted to buy the logo out completely (and they did, for a nice sum).
Huck also designs for kidrobot.com, which sells zany stuff, such as a Soviet walrus plush. The artists primarily have urban roots, according to my coworker.
I don't know how this led to Nigo, and Bathing Ape, but it did. Nigo is some popular designer from Japan, and Bathing Ape is his brand of trendy clothing that people like Kanye West wear. All for ridiculous prices of course. Nigo has teamed up with two others to form the Billionaire Boy's Club/Ice Cream, where you can buy $80 shirts, and $250 hoodies. Insane.
What was the point of this? I don't know anymore, sorry. Well I stripped out all the business parts because I didn't know how much of that I could talk about, but it looks like if you have talent, there's some fun ways to make some money!


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Nearly 95% of all home and car owners are buying on credit and loans, because it is quite impossible to have that much free cash these days. But if you have bad credit, you can only get high risk personal loans and your refinancing options are quite limited which prevents you from benefiting from the low interest rate environment available now. Although such refinancing options are rare, you can still find lenders that help people to pay off their debts faster with reduced payments.
For homeowners with bad credit that are trying to refinance their home loans in order to take advantage of the recently lowered interest rates, many have experienced the frustrations: you are flipping TV channels and notice a home mortgage refinancing plan advertisement at a low 5% interest rates and you immediately called the number shown.
However, after giving your particulars to the other party, they informed you that the "special" bad credit home loan refinancing rate available to you with be much than that advertised 5% simply because you are a high risk loan borrower, a homeowner with poor FICO score. This example reminds us how important good credit history can be and how a few minor debt defaults in your borrowing history can cause a lot of problems these days. So stop relying on installment loans with online income verification.
Looking for an appropriate mortgage refinance lender is not so easy. If you have previously filed for bankruptcy or defaulted completely on multiple debts, these bad history take a long time to be removed from your credit report and every other banks and credit unions will be wary to offer you business.
Thanks to the widespread use of Internet, you need not try obscure refinancing providers and hope to lie about your bad borrowing history. It takes just a few mouse clicks to retrieve a free credit report that shows your complete portfolio of poor debt management from the central bureau databases. It is not that they are unwilling to serve you as a customer; they just wanted a lot more interest fees to justify the higher risk of defaulting on repayments yet again and becoming bad debt!
The funny thing is, in certain times, you can still get low interest bad credit refinancing loans. Banks open up for business and earn money by lending away their money. When they have a surplus of deposits and low on loans, they get into trouble. In recent times, many subprime rate loans providers have sprung up all over the place to offer relatively low interest rates refinancing loans that specifically targets people that have been traditionally turned away by established banks.
They offset the higher risk of accounts becoming bad debts by charging slightly higher but still manageable interest rates which have been carefully calculated to draw in deals from homeowners with high existing home mortgage interest rates while remaining profitable with the increased risk.
It is very important to take advantage of cheap home loan interest rates trends and do refinancing at favorable times because that can help you save tens of thousand dollars on the average. If you are rejected by a bank or given any unacceptable terms for home loan refinancing with bad credit, that is ok and do not give up and continue to ask for debt consolidation deals at various websites. Do not let your FICO score hold you back from a better home mortgage refinancing or to buy a home with no money down.
Just browse online and look for the cheapest mortgage refinancing providers and you may just find a better deal. Home loan refinancing are long term loans that span 20 to 40 years and even a tiny 0.1% can still add up to literally thousands of dollars, therefore do not wave off the small details.


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Should have been easy, but somehow isn't. Especially as I wanted to find a moment that isn't about Jack. I'm actually, genuinely, at a loss here. Adam, because there's a lot of meaning in a single 'you'? The beginning of Ianto's story in Fragments? The end of Cyberwoman, when Ianto finally tries to shoot Lisa, but can't? Close, I guess. And not about Jack. What I'm also leaning towards is the 'the world is always ending' conversation in CoE, because if I cheered Gwen on in Meat, that was the moment where I was cheering Ianto on. Those questions should have been asked (and, more importantly, answered) a long time ago.
Day 01: Favourite Torchwood Member
Day 02: Least Favourite Torchwood Member
Day 03: Favourite Series
Day 04: Favourite Episode
Day 05: Least Favourite Episode
Day 06: Something You Liked That Most People Didn't
Day 07: Favourite Alien/Villain
Day 08: Favourite Minor Character
Day 09: A Scene That Made You Cry
Day 10: A Scene That Made You Smile
Day 11: A Scene That Made You Angry
Day 12: Favourite Quote
Day 13: Favourite Promo Picture
Day 14: Favourite Couple
Day 15: Favourite Couple Scene
Day 16: Favourite Piece of Music
Day 17: Something You'd Like To Re-write
Day 18: Character You Relate To The Most
Day 19: Favourite Outfit
Day 20: Favourite Gwen Moment
Day 21: Favourite Ianto Moment
Day 22: Favourite Jack Moment
Day 23: Favourite Owen Moment
Day 24: Favourite Toshiko Moment
Day 25: Shag/Cliff/Marry?
Day 26: A Torchwood Geek Moment You've Had
Day 27: Favourite Location Or Set
Day 28: Where You Think The Series Should Continue To
Day 29: Best Torchwood on Doctor Who Moment
Day 30: Why You Love Torchwood


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A Brief Biography
Though having crossed the Atlantic twice, once on a freighter and later on a tanker, the oceans held little interest for me as a young man except as a painful reminder of the displacement, physical as well as emotional, that wars create. Because of the direct impact that WWII had on my life the oceans were to me a vast body of water separating me from the home and the people of my birth.
Even as a zoology student I developed little interest in the Oceans. It was not until 1969 that an unanticipated and very direct experience altered that opinion and set into motion a journey now coming full circle.
By this time I had a MS degree in Medical Microbiology, but no ambition to be trapped in a research laboratory. Teaching had not even entered my mind.
During a road trip through Bodega Bay I noticed a sign indicating the UC Bodega Marine Lab. Upon returning home I called and asked if there were any research positions open for a marine microbiologist. There were none but there was a position open for a collector. I was fortunate to get the job and for the next two years emulated the life of Jacques Costeau as best I could. Most of it fantasy of course.
The experience required an intimate relationship between myself and the ocean. Not necessarily a competent one nor indeed spiritual one, just a new respect and familiarity. I left that position for a number of reasons, none of which make sense today but... oh well!
It was not until 20 years later that I would again be drawn to the sea. This time with an opportunity to direct a good part of how the experience would evolve and what its focus might be.
In 1992 I was offered the position of Executive Director of Pelagikos, a marine research NGO with an 84 ft. sailing schooner (Dariabar) and dynamic ideas about how to use this vessel to better understand the oceans and its creatures. I acted as Director for six years, and had the good fortune to sail on Dariabar a number of times.
During the summers of 1995 and 1996, we made three voyages to the Channel Islands with students from Mendocino College to document Blue and Humpback Whale sightings. (Plans are to conduct similar expeditions this summer. Anyone interested can contact me.
During the winter of 97-98 I sailed as a proud, albeit inexperienced crewman (not director or teacher), on Dariabar across the Pacific to Hawai'i where we stayed for a number of months as the research vessel for Cornell University's Humpback studies.
From these experiences I developed a fondness for the sea and its creatures; particularly warm, clear seas and the creatures within them. I am now closing in on retirement after almost 30 years of teaching at Mendocino College. I started here in 1973 as the college's first biology/chemistry instructor but life changes redirected my energies and I could only teach part time after 1975.
I am also closing in on my 60th year of life. A great time for change.
My wife and I have found a delightful little village in southern Baja where we have purchased some land. Last Christmas we found a 1962 Airstream trailer, fixed it up and hauled it down there where it now sits awaiting our next visit.
Something else has happened which ties things together in a way fantasized but not really expected. I would like to continue doing marine research, and I would like to do it in the Sea of Cortez where our land is. Maybe start a little lab associated with the local high school.
I want to do reef work. Basically surveying, according to GCRMN (Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network) methodology, the six reefs found in the area. Reefs worldwide are in danger. The ones in the Sea of Cortez are not protected and are being badly damaged through both human and natural causes.
What has happened is that on a recent visit to La Paz I was granted access to CIB (Centro de Investigaciones de Biologicas del Noroeste, S.C.) and an interview with one of its directors. After expressing my fantasies in my usual demure manner, it became evident that the fantasy need not remain so.
They were enthusiastic about my reef/lab idea and interested in the possibility of working together. The interest was heightened when I mentioned Dariabar and its research capabilities. Upon returning home I contacted the Captain and found to my delight that he saw a strong possibility of having the vessel in Cortez waters during the winter season.
This is of course the time I would like most to be there, and when the reef work would be most productive and enjoyable. It is necessary to survey the reefs twice a year for three years to get a "baseline" of conditions. This would entail a stay of 4-6 months in Baja for me and lots of dive and kayak time. In between surveys, there is some important whale work to be done also.
If I am graced by the gods, I may be on the verge of an exciting new chapter in my life and an opportunity to use what talents I have to affect environmental policy. I will also have more stories to tell.
Five years have now passed since I wrote the above. Much has changed, not the least of which is my marital status. Once again I am divorced and have spent the last 4 years adjusting, very comfortably I must say, to my new situation.
The reef work has been slow due to two factors: one, a need for a dive partner and two, because I found in 2004 that there is a significant Humpback breeding and calving area directly off my beach and I chose to engage in photo ID work again. I have been collaborating with Dr. Jorge Urban at the Univ. of La Paz as part of the SPLASH* project involving the entire North Pacific.
I have also been collaborating with Richard Sears of Mingan Island Cetacean Study in the photo identification of Blue Whales.
I am returning to El Cardonal in Jan. 2008 to continue my studies. What began as a mere pastime has become the dominant passion in my life. I expect to have the data necessary after two more seasons to perhaps persuade the authorities to declare the area a whale sanctuary.
URMAS KALDVEER, PhD
URMAS KALDVEER, PhD
El Cardonal, BCS, Mexico
B.A. Zoology, San Jose State College, 2/65
M.S. Medical Microbiology, Univ. of Arizona, 2/69
Ph.D. Higher Education & Social Change, Western Institute for Social Research, Berkeley, 12/93
Hold Community College Teaching Credentials in Natural Sciences, Physical sciences, Natural Resources and History
Professional Experience:
To present
Collaborador in The Programa de Investigacion de Mamiferos Marinos with the Univ. of LaPaz, Baja California Sur. Dr. Jorge Urban, Director
Research Colleague with The Mingan Island Cetacean Study, Quebec, Canada, Richard Sears, director
Professor of Natural Sciences, Mendocino Community College (1973-2009)
Independent Researcher (Whales, Coral Reefs, Native Americans of Northern California)
Education Consultant (mentor)
Founder & Coordinator, Janus Program (elders continuing education)
Executive Director, Mendocino Institute of Science & History
Retired Board of Directors, Cloud Forest Institute, Ecuador
Advisory Board , Cetacean Studies Institute, Australia
Eight year ethno-historical research (three LJ & Mary C. Skaggs Foundation grants)
Crewman, sailing schooner Dariabar, SF to Hawai'i passage, 1997-98
Laboratory station for Cornell University and The ATOC experiment
Administrative Director, Lake County Elderhostel Program
Founder & Main teacher, New School of Ukiah
Consultant & teacher, DQ Univ., Native American College
Journeyman carpenter, California Yurts
Specialty teacher & chairman of the board, Mendocino County Waldorf School
Chief diver & boat Handler, UC Bodega Marine Lab. , 1970-72
Pacific Coast Div. Dir., Permaloy Mktg. Co.
Additional experience
Substitute teacher, Ukiah Unified School District
P.G. & E. Lineman, 1960-64, 1969
Practicant Microbiologist, Bjare Ind., Sweden, 1965
Laborer, Berchtesgaden, Germany, 1965
A Single Fathers Survival Guide to the Kitchen
Cultures in Collision: an Ethnohistory of the Huchnom
Birth date: November 29, 1941
Birthplace: Tallinn, Estonia single, two children: 40 & 43
Listed in Whose Who of American Teachers


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Two U.S. regulatory agencies have unveiled a new export certification program for food products containing egg.
The new program, established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), will help companies certify exports, which often is required by companies outside the U.S. and foreign governments. These certifications help ensure importers the products are safe and fit for human consumption, according to a statement from the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN).
The program will allow U.S. exporters to request a certification from the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) either for the entire facility or for individual products. AMS inspectors must then verify the facility has good sanitation and the appropriate manufacturing processes, along with any other criteria required by the foreign nation, such as microbiological testing.
USDA and FDA regulate products containing egg. USDA is in charge of dried, liquid and frozen egg products. FDA covers precooked products, such as omelets.


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It is with heavy hearts that we share this news with the Steppin Razor Massive today. Our drummer, co-founder, creative collaborator, and long-time manager, Mark Patterson, has decided to abdicate the throne (drummer humor). We've copied his announcement below, and we want to emphasize the invitation to our last three gigs together. It certainly will never be the same without Mark, who sells himself way too short. Rufus, as we often refer to our drummer of over 10 years, has been a tremendous asset to this band, through all of his hard work, his devotion to his craft, his voice of reason, and his creativity. More importantly, he has been a good friend, and we will miss the fun and ridiculousness at gigs and rehearsals, especially the jokes that we wouldn't dare repeat to anyone outside of the band.
Mark, we wish you the best of fortunes in your new and exciting position, and we're glad that your many years of commitment to the company have finally paid off in a big way. We also hope you keep your creativity alive through your photography. You have some serious talent, and we look forward to watching what you do with it for years to come.
"So what will become of Steppin Razor?" you ask? Steppin Razor will never die, of course; and no, we're not going to lay down our axes anytime soon. We will most likely have a few more acoustic trio gigs over the next few months, but just as we always slow things down through the winter, we have every intention of emerging in the early spring to play some shows in one form or another. But let's focus on the near future! We'll see you:
Thursday, October 8th – Drake Tavern
Thursday, October 29th – Drake Tavern
Now heed the words of Rufus:
Hi all,
I'll try to keep this relatively short, but no promises. Thursday, October 29, my band Steppin' Razor will be playing at The Drake Tavern in Jenkintown.
This will be my final performance with the band.
Words haven't been on my side this week, but I'll try to break this down for those of you who want to know more. Is a band a band if it doesn't have any kind of support network; fans, friends, family? No, I don't believe it is. For 10 years I've seen this network grow and evolve with this band. For those of you who've never experienced something like this, please believe me when I say it's amazing.
But as wonderful as it's been, I now have a need to move in a different direction with my life, and maintaining my role within the band while I do so will not be possible. (Sounds cryptic, huh? No, I'm not dying. I mean, we all are, technically, but I don't think I have any immediate life threatening diseases or anything).
Why? Man, you people are nosy. Okay, fine. I've always wanted to work in the music industry. I was hoping it would be as a professional drummer, but the reality is I'm nowhere near good enough to do that. I'm not just saying that because I'm down on myself but because it's true. I've had some amazing opportunities when it comes to learning more about the craft of drumming and I squandered them. I was much younger and overflowing with derp (I'm sorry I let you down, Martin). Now, somehow, this college dropout has found his way into the industry, and over the last year, I've earned a position within one of the top 10 largest music retail companies in the country where my voice and ideas are heard and respected. I know, crazy, right!
I know what you're going to say; "dude, you're leaving the band for your day gig in an office?! What the actual F is that?!" One, it's not the only reason, Two, I actually like what I'm doing, and I'm not ashamed of it. Three, there are other reasons, but they are incredibly personal and I have only shared them with my bandmates and the people in my life that are the closest to me. For now, I just have to leave it at that.
I've always thought of regret as a wasted emotion. All of the mistakes we make in this life are really opportunities, and I've made a ridiculous number of them. However, I do have one regret when it comes to this band; I don't think I ever really expressed how grateful I was for every kind word said about us. For every person who decided to spend their time and money with us. For every gig we played. For every dollar we made. Maybe the opportunity lies in how I choose to live my life from this point forward. I guess I'll find out later.
All that being said, everyone is invited to our last few gigs together. We're (hopefully) playing 2 more shows at The Drake, Thursday October 8 and 29. We hit at 8:30. I'm not going to lie, I won't have a drink with you because I'll be driving a long way home, but I'll gladly share hugs and handshakes. In the immortal words of Wyld Stallyns, "Be excellent to each other."


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A matter of volume
The mainframe has the potential to meet the challenge presented by big data.
IT must be viewed as the "new innovator" in dynamic data centres. IT staff must move from just maintaining technology, to delivering business innovation that will help their company be successful.
For example, they must research, evaluate and acquire reliable, easy-to-implement storage solutions that actually improve their velocity to provide business services. Businesses today are operating at a speed that can result in incredible and sometimes unexpected storage demands on the dynamic data centre. Ways need to be found to blend various capabilities with ever-evolving architectures such as: cloud storage to deliver greater flexibility and responsiveness to changing business demands.
Big data is an increasingly big deal. As the world continues to generate ever-spiralling quantities of information, the challenge faced by businesses is how to take advantage of this new resource. Doing so depends not only on massively scalable storage infrastructure; it also depends on the kind of flexible and dependable computing platforms that only the mainframe can consistently deliver.
Worldwide, IT leaders who responded to CA's research indicated that 41% will maintain their hardware budget, while 23% expect a drop, and 36% will spend more. It's the same with services: 39% will stay the same, 18% will lose some resources and 44% will spend more.
In context, the broad-based increase comes in a generally bleak growth market for IT outlays. Research firm Gartner's Global IT Spending Forecast projected a 3% rise for 2012 over 2011, which in turn saw a 7.9% rise over 2010.
Commenting in CA's research, Jon Toigo, managing principal of Toigo Partners International, in Tampa Bay, Florida, says: "We can assume that the staggering growth of real-time data and the need for massive processing power to collate and analyse all that information surely has a lot to do with this view.
"E-commerce alone is generating huge volumes of data, and larger corporations in particular need a blend of power, scalability and security to manage the incoming information. They need the best tools, and a mix of good technologies, including the mainframe, to stay competitive.
Really big data requires Big Iron
Here's a sense of just how big, big data is. Research firm IDC predicts the volume of digital content alone will grow to 2.7 zettabytes this year, up 48% from 2011. By way of reference, the first one terabyte commercial system didn't hit the market until 2010. A zettabyte is equal to one billion terabytes.
IT departments are further challenged by the fact that this data is presented in a dizzying variety of form factors, operating systems and applications, and an even broader range of data types. The vast majority of this information is unstructured, from videos and MP3 files to social media posts.
The data is surely rich in value, but it's hard to organise and analyse.
This data is presented in a dizzying variety of form factors, operating systems and applications.
"It still comes as a surprise to some industry observers, but today's mainframe offers perhaps the clearest path to taming big data," said Robert Rosen, a former president of IBM user group. "The mainframe's bulk-processing capacity at high rates of speed presents a real solution to this growing problem."
How does the Big Iron mainframe solve the problem? In one customer project discussed at a recent conference, a mainframe was used to deploy 16 images into a virtual environment. It took one hour; a distributed environment required three days for the same task.
This isn't the only instance of new needs being met by old capabilities. Because of its continuing viability in the enterprise, the mainframe has become intrinsic to innovation.
For example, as Mainframe as a Mainstay of the Enterprise 2012 reveals, the largest form factor is keeping pace with the smallest. More than 36% of US companies, and 44% globally, have either already sanctioned mobile management of the mainframe or will do so in the next six months, while another 30%, both in the United States and worldwide, predict the same in six to 18 months.
Of course, there are still holdouts: 13% of US respondents and 9% internationally say they will "never" enable mobile mainframe management.
In the final Industry Insight in this series, I will look at the human factor and the future.
Gordon Hayden is enterprise accounts sales manager and executive, mainframe, CA Southern Africa. He has more than 25 years of IT industry experience. He commenced in mainframe operations at the University of Natal in Durban and then moved into Unix operating systems, and IDMS and Oracle DBA work. He has managed programming departments and operations teams. Hayden spent 12 years at HP working firstly as a SAP Basis administrator and then ran the consulting team at HP for four years. In his last three years at HP, he provided solutions architecture consulting to some of the companyâs largest customers in South Africa. The enterprise sales team at CA Southern Africa is focused on three industry verticals: financial services, telecommunications and government. Hayden is responsible for driving a sales team of account directors in these verticals.


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447-53 West 18th Street Condominium
Intercom srl
New York
Share with
Veneto Vetro is present with its processed glasses also in New York, more precisely at 447-53 West 18th Street Condominium.
The customer Intercom has entrusted our company with the supply of glass for the facade of this residential building.
As shown in the photos, architect Audrey Matlock wanted to design an eccentric and irregular building.
The facades made of glass sheets of different colours are asymmetrical and offset, one with respect to the other, providing the building with a sort of undulating movement.
Since this was a building used for private homes, it was very important to develop the project taking into account the privacy to be given to the interior spaces.
From a technical point of view, the facade has been in fact composed of structural cells with staggered double-glazing composed of low-emission selective glasses.
This type of glass provides a high level of privacy and limits the penetration of heat in summer and of cold in winter.


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Live Event: 6th - 8th May 2020
Wellingborough, UK
What's the next problem you need to solve?
Let's solve these together in:
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Ready to transform your
design or web agency?
Many of us started our agency by accident. We are surrounded by so many loud voices telling us how we should be running our business. It can be so overwhelming! How do you cut through all the information, and create a clear path to growth, happiness and success?
We have put together a line up of speakers and industry leaders who will give you clear and actionable advice and directions.
This conference is focused on the 5 steps of transformation in your business:
Understanding your identity as a business, the problems you solve and who you solve them for. This will drive everything your market, your offer and your messaging.
Recognising the value of your work and understanding how to charge for it. Understand and develop the skills to get the right information to get the budget nailed.
How to choose the right platform. The marketing channels, sales techniques and strategies you will be using to reach out and to attract those that you want to help.
Managing multiple projects and continuing to deliver high quality output. Learn from others the tools, processes and systems to help your business achieve excellence.
Develop a plan for your next steps. What do your next 90 days of transformation look like? What will your life and your business look like in 12 months from now?
Learn from the experts and other agency owners and develop your agency action plan for the next 90 days, 6 months, 1 year and beyond.
Who's it for?
Be you established, launching or solo, this event will help you transform your business.
Content will especially benefit: web agencies, design agencies, freelancers, digital agencies, social media agencies, marketing agencies, other creative businesses
What to expect
A conference filled with exciting speakers that will provide you with actionable advice and strategies you can use to bring about the transformation you want in your agency.
A fantastic location where you will be fed and watered.
Here is what to expect in Agency Transformation Live 2020…
Day one
Day two
Day three
Focused on implementation this day will include a range of workshops as well as practical sessions where you begin to action the plans you've made as opposed to losing steam by the time you get home from the event! More details to follow!
Location information
The venue
I'm inviting you to join me where everything changed for me in my business nearly 5 years ago. Everyday Champions is my church and also a fantastic location for a conference based just 1 hour north of London and on many main train lines and near the M1 and M6.
Note: Ample free parking onsite
It is here I've heard amazing messages that have changed the way I look at my business and have used the content to transform my agencies. Where better to help others than where it all started? Be my guest and welcome home.
Local accomodation
We've chosen to have the event at Everyday Champions located on Havelock St, Wellingborough NN8 4QA. This is my hometown and the building is the church/conference centre that I used to rent an office in and where I learned amazing lessons in business. My company was transformed so what a fitting place to bring you all to my local area where we can plan your next transformative steps!?
What they said
Lee has been providing online training, consultancy and content for years building up a wonderful community of legends. Here is what a few of them said.
Lee is a very caring and sharing guy, generous in giving advice, help, support and resources to grow your business and yourself. He has tons of empathy and patience and is always willing to listen. He is an inspiration as a mentor and teacher and I would highly recommend investing your time working with Lee.
Lee has helped me identify WHY I do what I do, WHO I should do it for and WHAT I should be offering. I've gone from run down, almost beaten Oliver to the exact opposite. I owe him a great deal and I'm proud to call him my friend! I feel confident and empowered to make better business decisions and thrive.
Having Lee Jackson as a coach is a unique experience. He breaks down complex content eloquently, finds the right examples that everyone can relate to and opens eyes, minds and hearts of his listeners. Lee has the rare to find ability to give yourself the confidence to thrive and let your business grow.
I don't think I know anyone else so dedicated to making life more awesome for web designers and agencies. Lee has been instrumental in helping develop my business to the point it is today.
Lee effortlessly delivers content and training in a relaxed style. He has the ability to explain complex and intricate concepts in an easy to understand way. Lee brings people together and building community through the content he delivers.
Lee he goes deeper and wider to be sure to cover everything that will help us to succeed. His "sexy" voice make the all experience unforgettable. I highly recommend him to anyone who wants to learn easily.
No matter what Lee's venture is, I'd do business with him without hesitation solely because I know he's a genuine guy who works hard and does honest work.
Lee is a people person. He genuinely wants to get to know the people he does business with to better understand their wants and needs.
Lee's integrity and professionalism are unmatched. I trust him implicitly. He is his brand's biggest asset.
Every attendee must be registered and have purchased a ticket. Please ensure you've purchased the right amount of tickets for your party.
The venue has a huge car park that will be reserved for attendees. When you drive to the venue one of our car park attendants will guide you in and get you parked.
There is also ample free parking in the surrounding streets and numerous free car parks around Wellingborough.
Yep! Complimentary Wifi is provided by the venue.
You bet ya! When Lee organises something, food is at the TOP of the list ;). We are using local suppliers to ensure we have a lunch buffet for each conference day. There will also be drinks available, and snacks.
YES! Content Snare are sponsoring a champagne reception after day one!
Any other drinks need to be arranged offsite at all the local pubs!
Drink responsibly please 🙂
Yes, if you are an Agency Trailblazer member then you get a 40% discount. Log into https://agencytrailblazer.com to register.
Yes, audio and video will be recorded of all sessions and keynotes. Workshops however require participation therefore they will not be recorded.
We will be adding any recordings to the Agency Trailblazer Membership in the future, as well as repurposing in ways we see fit.
Sales are final. If you can no longer attend, you are able to sell your ticket to a friend and inform us of the name change. You can also promote your ticket in our facebook group. We will be unable to change tickets after 17th April 2019.


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Catherine Tate
Director of 3D Animation / School of Animation & Visual Effects
Catherine Tate is an accomplished Visual Effects Artist and Compositor who has worked on some of the industry's most recognizable films and video games. Catherine Tate is currently the Compositing Lead in the Animation & Visual Effects department at Academy of Art University where she has been teaching since 2004.
She established a collaborative class in 2006 at the Academy known as "Studio400A" which has produced visual effects on numerous independent films.
Her objective is to connect visual effects students to filmmakers to create a more real world experience in the classroom. Some of Studio400A's most recent work includes Beasts of the Southern Wild, which was nominated for four Academy Awards including best picture, 2013 Sundance and Festival de Cannes winner Fruitvale Station, and the feature Bluebird, which opened the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival.
Studio400A also worked on the features Half-Life and Circumstance, along with the short Crazy Beats Strong Every Time, which were also official selections at the Sundance Film Festival.
Some of her studio feature film credits include: Men in Black, Contact, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Sleepy Hollow, Galaxy Quest, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Hulk, and Hellboy.


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Instrumentation: Horn/Keyboard
Range: b flat b'' flat
Difficulty (I-VI): IV
Parts for Horn in E flat or B flat alto
Series: Facets of Brass
Editor: Max Sommerhalder
The present concerto for horn, which has become known throughout the world as a trumpet concerto, is generally ascribed to Johann Baptist Georg Neruda. His authorship is extremely likely, although not conclusively proven, as the horn concerto is not contained in the listings of his works and the manuscript does not mention the composer's first name. Theoretically, the work could have been written by one Jan Chrysostomus Neruda (17051763), violinist, monk and church musician in Prague; no other works of his have survived, however, whereas Johann Baptist Georg wrote "a huge number of symphonies, violin concertos, trios etc.", including a Salve Regina and even an opera Les Troqueurs. His six sonatas for two violins appeared in print in 1764, published by Breitkopf and Härtel in Leipzig. Johann Baptist Neruda's biography is still largely a matter of speculation no records of his birth or death have been found. According to Moritz Fürstenau, the chronicler of the Dresden Court Orchestra, Neruda was born in 1710 in Prague; the lexicon of Gottfried Johann Dlabacz states that the composer died about 1780 aged 74, thus giving rise to the oft read statement that Neruda was born ca. 1707. Dlabacz mentions "Rossicz in Böhmen" as Neruda's birthplace, but for the years 1706 to 1710, no mention is found of his name in the parish records of the two villages (near Pardubice) in question. The records in Rossitz (Rosice) in Moravia have not yet been researched. The only certainties in Neruda's curriculum vitae are that he was engaged for the Electoral Orchestra in Dresden in 1750 as a violinist and retired from his post there in 1772. According to Fürstenau's chronicle, Neruda was never leader of the orchestra in Dresden, as is alleged by Richard Engländer, but rather CammerMusicus (chamber musician), who earned additional money as an hardworking and valued composer of church music. Dlabacz states that Neruda trained as a violinist in Prague and that he was employed there in the theatre orchestra for a time before he moved to Dresden.
The Source
The only source of Neruda's horn concerto is a contemporary set of parts with the title: CONCERTO / à / Corno Primo / 2 Violini / Alto Viola / Con Basso / Del Sig: Neruda, found in the library of the Cistercian monastery in Ossegg (Osek) near TeplitzSchönau (Teplice) in northern Bohemia and now in the Czechoslovakian National Museum in Prague under the signature XXXII A52. The manuscript, presumably the work of a copyist, contains so many mistakes that it is doubtful whether the work was ever or more than once performed from this material.
The Music
The style of Neruda's horn concerto places it in the middle of the 18th century, rather earlier that later. The work follows the Vivaldi concerto form faithfully. Neruda's extreme homophony is typical of the "gallant" style the violins are often in unison and the violas play frequently "col basso", giving a transparent, perhaps even meagre tonal colour. The many incomplete chords often lead to ambiguous harmony, leaving considerable latitude in interpretation when it comes to realizing the basso continuo. The coming renunciation of the continuo is discernible in Neruda's style, so that a performance without is justifiable; the practice in Neruda's time, however, was very probably with keyboard. Also typical of Neruda's style are the frequent cross relations and semitone dashes. which are on no account to be "tempered", as has been done in some earlier editions. The solo part represents the zenith of horn playing in the clarino register. The fact that this work was found in the border area between Saxony and Bohemia is certainly not a coincidence, as Bohemia is thought to be the cradle of artistic horn playing, and the Dresden school of horn playing produced several legendary horn virtuosi, such as Anton Joseph Hampel and Jan Vaclav Stich-Punto. Whether Neruda wrote the present concerto before or during his employment in Dresden is not clear, although the location of the manuscript indicates that the work was written for the Ossegg monastery. This important Bohemian musical centre had its own orchestra, whose inventory included two Litui vulgo Waldhörner as early as 1706.
The Solo Instrument
Neruda wrote this concerto for the valveless natural horn (corno da caccia) in low Eflat and used only the high register (the so called clarino register) of the instrument, from the 8th to the 24th partial (sounding E flat' to B flat"). The range required is astonishing, although not unique; works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Jan Dismas Zelenka or Johann Matthias Sperger go just as high. Even trumpet concertos of the time reached the 24th partial, e.g. by Michael Haydn or Georg von Reutter II (whose two concertos for solo trumpet are also published bymcnaughtan). Surprisingly, playing accuracy in the 5th octave is relatively good. Incidentally, there are indications that the early horn players were also trained as trumpeters. As late as 1778, a memorandum reports that the Dresden hom player Hummel had to "play the trumpet for the Guard". Horn players can use instruments in B-flat/high B flat or high F/high B fiat for modem performances on valved instruments. Trumpet players have also used Flugelhoms or Fürst-Pless horns in B flat, in addition to the normal trumpet Absurdly, a 4valve version of the Fürst-Pless-Horn has recently become known as a corno da caccia or a clarino horn. The Pless Horn, a hunting instrument belonging to the bugle family, is a developement of the l9th century and is just as far removed from the real corno da caccia and clarino playing as the piccolo trumpet is from the natural trumpet.
The composer sets four fermatas at different points in the work, apparently to give the performer the opportunity to include cadenzalike figures over a dominant pedal point The fermatas are n.b. always over a unison dominant in the strings, never over rests or 6/4 inversions, suggesting that lengthy cadenzas in the style of classical concertos were not intended. As late as 1752, "Cadenzas for wind instruments ... must be playable in one breath", according to Johann Joachim Quantz. Nonetheless, long cadenzas have become customary in performances of the work, so that I have included both long and short examples (For reasons of space, the long cadenzas are printed on a separate sheet). Only the notes obtainable on the original E flat natural hom should be used in the cadenzas.
The Present Edition
We have attempted to prepare this edition with an absolute minimum of modifications to the original manuscript All alterations are given in the list of corrections below. With the exception of the continuo part, our suggestions for the performance of the grace notes, the cadenzas and the metronome markings, we have made no additions. The articulation, the dynamic markings and the decorations have only been extended where this is justified by similar passages elsewhere in the work. All extensions are marked by dotted lines, square brackets or small print both in the score and in the solo part. We have based the piano part as closely as possible upon the original score.


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One of the latest benefits to show up at many companies is a wellness program. With some of the biggest and "funnest" out there creating
The Guardian just put out a great article on Google's business practices, and it's a scathing report. Titled "Google's problem is that it now believes itself above others – even governments," you can probably guess what it's all about.
"Eating your own dogfood" is a slang term used by software companies to describe the scenario where they use their own software. The website you're looking at represents a "dogfood feast" that we've just consumed. Yes, we just built our own new website using our very own SiteWorks content management system. Not only did we enjoy the meal, but we're looking forward to lots of snacks in the months to come.


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Giuseppe Mazzini
Italian patriot, politician and philosopher
Giuseppe Mazzini (22 June 1805 – 10 March 1872), nicknamed "Soul of Italy," was an Italian politician, journalist and activist for the unification of Italy. His efforts helped bring about the independent and unified Italy in place of the several separate states, many dominated by foreign powers, that existed until the 19th century. He also helped define the modern European movement for popular democracy in a republican state.
- Inexorable as to principles, tolerant and impartial as to persons.
- Watchword for the Roman Republic (1849)
- The epoch of individuality is concluded, and it is the duty of reformers to initiate the epoch of association. Collective man is omnipotent upon the earth he treads.
- Watchword for the Roman Republic (1849)
- One sole God;
One sole ruler, — his Law;
One sole interpreter of that law — Humanity.
- Life and Writings: Young Europe: General Principles. No. 1., reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1923), p. 318
- Every mission constitutes a pledge of duty. Every man is bound to consecrate his every faculty to its fulfilment. He will derive his rule of action from the profound conviction of that duty.
- Life and Writings: Young Europe: General Principles; reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 207
- Hope nothing from foreign governments. They will never be really willing to aid you until you have shown that you are strong enough to conquer without them.
- Life and Writings, Young Italy; reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 333
- The mother's first kiss teaches the child love; the first holy kiss of the woman he loves teaches man hope and faith in life.
- Reported in Thomas Jones, The Duties of Man and Other Essays (1915), page 61
- Art does not imitate, but interpret. It searches out the idea lying dormant in the symbol, in order to present the symbol to men in such form as to enable them to penetrate through it to the idea. Were it otherwise, what would be the use or value of art?
- The Life and Writings of Joseph Mazzini (1864), p. vii
- Ideas grow quickly when watered with the blood of martyrs.
- Attributed in The Cambridge Modern History (1907), ed. Adolphus William Ward et al., Vol. 10, p. 122
On the Duties of Man (1844-58)Edit
- Your first duties-first as regards importance-are, as I have already told you, towards Humanity. You are men before you are either citizens or fathers. If you do not embrace the whole human family in your affection, if you do not bear witness to your belief in the Unity of that family, consequent upon the Unity of God...if, wheresoever a fellow-creature suffers, or the dignity of human nature is violated by falsehood or tyranny-you are not ready, if able, to aid the unhappy, and do not feel called upon to combat, if able, for the redemption of the betrayed or oppressed-you violate your law of life, you comprehend not that Religion which will be the guide and blessing of the future.
- Country is not a mere zone of territory. The true country is the Idea to which it gives birth; it is the Thought of love, the sense of communion which unites in one all the sons of that territory.
- So long as a single one amongst your brothers has no vote to represent him in the development of the national life, so long as a single man, able and willing to work, languishes in poverty through want of work to do, you have no country in the sense in which country ought to exist-the country of all and for all.
- So long as you are ready to die for Humanity, the life of your country is immortal.
External linksEdit
- Works by Giuseppe Mazzini at Project Gutenberg
- Biography (in Italian) at cronologia.it
- Media related to Giuseppe Mazzini at Wikimedia Commons


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The Musical Landscape
Gordon JACOB (1895 1984) Overture (1966) [3:47]
Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872 1958) Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis (1910) [13:06]
Edward ELGAR (1857 1934) Serenade in E minor, op.20 (1982) [11:09]
Benjamin BRITTEN (1913 1976) Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, op.10 (1936) [25:50]
Royal Academy Soloists/Clio Gould (violin/director)
rec. 4-5 May 1999, Angel Studios, London DDD
I well remember, from many years ago, a BBC Radio 3 announcer, whilst making the back announcement at the end of a series of programmes of British String Quartets, telling us, the audience, that there was a wealth of great music being written on our shores for the medium; even more so now as this was some forty years ago. He ended by telling us that we can rest assured that British composers have reached the top of the tree in string combinations. Now that I have put the image into your head of old VW sitting on the topmost branch in his string vest and pants composing a new string work, lets look at this CD which celebrates the British composer and a string combination.
For the Royal Academy of Music to inaugurate their recording series with such a programme is most welcome and to hear these young players relishing the music is a real joy. The Royal Academy Soloists is a small string group which is as adept at a Corelli Concerto Grosso as it is in John Woolrichs Capriccio, which I heard them give in concert in March this year. They are led by the ever dependable Clio Gould. The astonishing thing, with the membership changing year by year as old students leave and new ones take their places, is that it can produce results as good as this. This is as much a reflection of the work Clio Gould does with them as of the high standards of our music students.
All the works here, with the exception of the Jacob, are well known these days and they make a delightful programme. It was a lovely idea to start with the Jacob Overture - such a black and white name for a colourful piece - for it is great fun and a real pleaser. It exploits the orchestra to the full, making jokes, and generally having a good time. It makes no claim to be anything more than entertainment and it certainly entertains. The players obviously enjoyed this piece, and their jaunty performance is perfect.
For the Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis a second group of players is employed; it would have been impossible to do the piece without them. Its a fascinating performance for it is more small-scale than one would have imagined, and what we have come to expect from a large string section of an orchestra. Perhaps Gould is a touch too fast to allow the music to really blossom at the climax, but it isnt a rushed performance, just that some of the mysticism is lost in the straightforward approach. Gould allows no time for reflection. The Elgar Serenade, played in the concert I mentioned the one that included the Woolrich piece - is given a gentle performance with the finale rather on the fast side, but which relaxes into an incandescent coda.
Brittens Variations on Theme of Frank Bridge has over thirty recordings listed in the catalogue at the moment, including a reissue of Boyd Neels 1938 recording - made only a couple of years after he directed the première. You might ask, why do we need yet another? The answer is clear: when it is as good as this one. Here Goulds predilection for brisk tempi works wonderfully well, for it helps to point the bluff humour of the work. There is much humour here in movements such as the March (goose-steeping to the fore, in a kind of crazy John Cleeselike way) and the Wiener Walzer. Couple that with a real depth of feeling in the Funeral March. Theres also a quite ecstatic coda, as the music gradually winds down and the theme reappears, rather more mature than it was at the start, due, entirely to Brittens brilliant manipulation. This is very good indeed. Incidentally, the Royal Academy Soloists is a group of fourteen players, which would have been about the size of the orchestra Boyd Neel conducted at the first performance. Its also good to hear the work as it would have been heard early in its life.
I can heartily recommend this disk for it brings together three masterpieces of English string music with an unknown delight in performances which radiate joy and pleasure in music-making. The sound is excellent, and the booklet notes are fine, except that it credits Elgar with being born in 1872. A typo no doubt, but a silly mistake, especially when accompanying something as good as this.
Bob Briggs


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 UV Filtration/Steriliser
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I have used a UV filter for some time now and never had a problem with it. Before I go on I should mention what a UV filter does. Although more often referred to as a filter it's not. It is in fact a steriliser and is claimed to kill bacteria, algae and even viruses. I have always accepted that as fact and I still do. Only a month or two ago I was attracted to a thread on another sites message board. (A MSN group) It made reference to a fact or, may be a fictional idea, that it's use lowers a fishes immune system. This hypothesis was based on the idea that when a UV filter is used it makes the water sterile. This to a degree is true but, can only be applied to the water as it leaves the UV unit. Once the water is back in the tank it will become rapidly recontaminated. Not to the same levels as to what is was before but non the less it will become recontaminated. What has to be taken into account is the fact that not all bacteria are what might be deemed as free swimming. Remember all our friendly ones that colonise our filters, rocks, substrate and even the glass, well remember this as well, you also get the non friendly type. Both can and, do under what we call the ideal for our fish, procreate at a rapid rate of knots. Back to the point and the implications of it all. It was implied that fish reared/kept in systems using UVF/S's although perfectly healthy and in prime condition are more susceptible to disease when moved to a non UVF/S setup. I as I stated in the beginning, I have never had any problems and I am constantly having to move fish out of my sump run tanks which is where my UVF/S is incorporated. I would also like to mention that I have never had any reports on fish I have sold that would contradict my last statement. I look forward to your opinions,


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