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Your analysis of your local problem should give you a better understanding of the factors contributing to it. Once you have analyzed your local problem and established a baseline for measuring effectiveness, you should consider possible responses to address the problem.
The following response strategies provide a foundation of ideas for addressing your particular problem. These strategies are drawn from a variety of research studies and police reports. Several of these strategies may apply to your communitys problem. It is critical that you tailor responses to local circumstances, and that you can justify each response based on reliable analysis. In most cases, an effective strategy will involve implementing several different responses. Law enforcement responses alone are seldom effective in reducing or solving the problem. Do not limit yourself to considering what police can do: give careful consideration to who else in your community shares responsibility for the problem and can help police better respond to it.
In a project that applied situational crime prevention to school vandalism in Manchester, England, the task force narrowly defined school vandalism as a building security problem, which led to their selecting target-hardening measures only, to the detriment of the initiatives effectiveness (Barker and Bridgeman 1994). [Full text]
Physical measures to improve building security have great appeal. Their use is already widespread in many places, is easy to understand, and usually involves a one-time outlay of funds. In contrast, measures focused on offenders, new administrative practices or policies, and community involvement appear to be more complex and difficult to implement. It may be difficult to gain group consensus on more-complex responses; however, the initiatives overall balance depends on it.33
The large number of possible responses can be overwhelming. For this reason, they are categorized into four main sections: those that impact the physical environment, those that impact the offender, those that focus on school administrative practices, and those that enlist the communitys help. The overall initiative should include a balance of responses in each category, and should use the most potent combinations.
The Southampton (England) Safer Schools project employed a diverse range of responses to combat problems with vandalism and burglary on school property. The responses included improvements to the schools design and layout, student- and staff-focused awareness activities, and opportunities for community engagement. Over an 18-month period, there was a 90 percent reduction in reported burglary and damage, and a 75 percent reduction in damage- repair expenditures (Hampshire Constabulary 2004).
Finally, responses should be implemented with great sensitivity to the goal of creating schools that are inviting public institutions. The cumulative effect of multiple responses can make schools appear fortress-like.
The National Crime Prevention Council's School Safety and Security Toolkit includes detailed information on forming an action team, identifying problems, and developing action plans. The toolkit also includes sample surveys for parents, administrators, and students, as well as a sample school-safety assessment.It is vital that students be involved in the problem-solving effort, including school leaders and more-marginalized students.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg (N.C.) Police Department implemented a school safety program in which students were taught problem-solving skills and applied them to a range of school safety issues. Teachers served as facilitators, and the school resource officer served as an information source, offering expertise in dealing with crime and disorder. While none of the projects dealt with vandalism specifically, one could apply the process to it (Kenney and Watson 1999).A coordinator is often needed to organize the various stakeholders efforts, and to ensure that all of the selected responses are implemented according to design.
Though well-planned, an initiative to combat school vandalism in Manchester, England, suffered from the absence of someone to coordinate the overall implementation. Only 15 of 30 targeted responses were implemented, which severely compromised the initiatives effectiveness (Barker and Bridgeman 1994). [Full text]
Barriers such as interior gates can help keep unauthorized persons out of areas vulnerable to theft or vandalism after hours.
There are numerous mechanical and electronic fixtures to deter unauthorized entry. See Schneider, Walker, and Sprague (2000) for a description of the full array of options.
Such measures can also delay intruders efforts to get away. The potential effectiveness of this response decreases with inconsistent or improper use of the hardware. Some jurisdictions assign a teacher or other staff member to check all locks and gates at the end of each day.37
Intruder alarms, motion sensors, heat sensors, and glass-break sensors are useful for quickly detecting unauthorized entry. Because putting alarms and sensors throughout the school is likely to be cost-prohibitive, focusing on passageways to different parts of the building, and on areas where valuable equipment and records are stored, is most effective. Alarm signals should be sent to police, on-campus security posts, and the school principal.38 However, alarm systems are prone to high rates of false alarms, which not only cost the school if a fine is imposed, but also waste police resources. Faulty or inappropriately selected equipment, poor installation, and user error are the main causes of false alarms.39
Signs clearly stating school procedure and policy can increase awareness of rules while removing ambiguity and ignorance as excuses for improper behavior.
Consolidating valuable equipment in a secure area when not in use is an effective method of preventing theft.
Your police department may have an Operation ID program for inscribing equipment. The program is usually free, the inscription is visible but not unattractive, and the police keep records of the identification numbers.
The International Dark-Sky Association (1997) offers suggestions for defining lights out policies and guidelines for implementing the practice. The San Diego school system saw a 33 percent reduction in property crime over a two-year period and saved more than $1 million in electricity costs after establishing such a policy (Patterson 1996).
See Goldstein (1996) and Schneider, Walker, and Sprague (2000) for more detailed information on using target-hardening devices at schools.
Computer labs and classes that use expensive equipment may be located on the second floor to impede access and removal.46
Prompt removal of graffiti denies graffiti artists the satisfaction of seeing their handiwork and, in the case of gang-related graffiti, the likelihood of retaliatory tagging.
Zeisel (1976) recommends involving students in the care of school buildings and grounds, and engaging them in ongoing, active projects. Further, motivating marginalized students, in addition to school leaders, can help to deter all students from future vandalism.
Conspicuously placed surveillance cameras can be a useful deterrent by increasing the risk of identification and prosecution.
If this response is selected, many strategic decisions must be made regarding the system and component specifications, camera placement, wiring, etc. For a thorough discussion of these issues.Though the initial financial outlay may be significant, over the long term, CCTV may be less expensive than funding a full-time security patrol.
Poyner (1984) notes that schools are sometimes located in quiet areas some distance from busy commercial areas or traffic, for safety and amenity reasons. This isolation can diminish the advantage of having clear sight lines to key vulnerability points.Clear sight lines in key locations, such as entrances, parking lots, hallways, and playgrounds, maximize the ability of residents and passersby to observe activity in vulnerable areas.
The Turner-Fenton Secondary School in Ontario used the principles of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) to reduce the number of trespassers loitering on and vandalizing school property. Reorienting the schools parking lot increased opportunities for natural surveillance and improved entry-point control. Separating the gymnasium from classroom areas with partitions and safety glass improved opportunities for natural surveillance in vulnerable corridors (Peel Regional Police 1996).Opportunities for natural surveillance are enhanced when staff offices are located throughout the school building, and staff should be vigilant as they move around the school.51
It is important that mobile units be positioned to afford a clear view of as much of the school as possible, including the most likely approach and escape routes (Poyner 1984).An alternative to having an on-site residence is to stagger custodial shifts for 24-hour coverage. In either arrangement, it is important that the caretaker or custodian is instructed not to intervene in suspicious activity, but rather to alert security staff or the police.52
The most traditional approach to offender accountability involves either individual or group counseling to address the underlying motivations for the behavior. There has been some success with juvenile arsonists using this approach, and counseling that entails behavior modification (token economy, contingency contracts, incentives, and rewards) has had some success.53
Restitution programs include a set of administrative and legal procedures to get money from offenders to pay for repair or replacement of damaged property. Publicizing the results of these efforts is important to maintain their deterrent effect.54 Obviously, these programs are effective only to the extent that offenders are identified and apprehended.
One of the more promising approaches to encouraging offender accountability is to bring together all of the stakeholders in the issue to develop a resolution collectively. The goal is for the offender to make up for the offense, either by paying restitution or by repairing the damaged property.
Strang (2002) describes how restorative justice programs have been implemented in Australia to deal with school vandalism. Nicholl (2000) explains the seven basic elements of restorative justice.
A handbook containing practical guidance on property risk management was created and distributed to all head teachers in Scotland as part of a vandalism reduction strategy (Accounts Commission for Scotland 2001). [Full text]
Typically, the school administers the account. One possible variation is for students to administer the account and to take responsibility for paying all of the bills for property replacement and repair. This helps students to better appreciate the real costs associated with even minor acts of vandalism (Casserly, Bass, and Garrett 1980).Programs involving rewards are most effective with younger students, but older students often respond to the opportunity for shared administrative authority and responsibility.60 Some jurisdictions do not deduct repair costs if the perpetrator is identified and restitution is made, which gives students an incentive to provide information.61
Mayer et al. (1987) created a school discipline survey to assess the quality of disciplinary procedures (pp. 204206).
Aryani, Alsabrook, and Garrett (2001) provide specific information for setting up a Scholastic Crime Stoppers program, including administrative tips and responsibilities for police agencies, school administrators, and students. [Full text]The most effective programs actively involve students in collecting and synthesizing information for police, and in determining payout amounts in the event of apprehension.63
Schools in Hartlepool, England, took the unusual step of targeting young school children (ages four to 11) in their efforts. After the initiative was launched in 33 primary schools, all students received pens and pencils with the School Watch logo, and were reminded of the initiative throughout the year through creative classroom activities. Involving students makes them feel important and also teaches good citizenship. As a result, the number of incidents and the associated costs decreased (Cleveland Police Department 1999). [Full text]Effective practices include:
In response to a specific problem or rash of incidents, School Watch has produced short-term reductions in vandalism.65 However, community watch programs are difficult to sustain, have not been shown to reduce crime over the long-term, and may actually increase the fear of crime.66
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After selecting your desired items and adding them to your cart you will reach the checkout page.
Make sure to use a correct email address as this is the email we will use. You will then receive two emails - the first is your receipt and the second will be an email with a link to print your tickets. You will need a PDF reader to open and print your tickets.
No, there will not be any hidden fees in your order as Ripley's does not believe in charging print at home fees, "convenience fees", or any other fees that other e-ticket sites add to orders.
Yes, all Ripley''s e-ticket sites meet all current credit card compliancy requirements as well as being encrypted by the #1 SSL encryption company VeriSign.
All tickets purchased are good for one year from the date the of purchase.
What if I can''t print my tickets, didn''t receive the email, or I need to pick up my tickets at the ticket counter?
If you did not receive the email, please call us and we will forward your email as quickly as possible. If you are not able to print your tickets, please stop by the ticket booth and we will gladly print your tickets out.
No, taxes will be added to the order when items are added to the cart. All required state and city taxes will be clearly displayed in your cart.
Absolutely. Why do you suppose TV's "Ghost Hunters" have been here so often? All of the places our Ghost Adventures will take you, all of the stories you'll hear, all of the incidents that we'll tell you about; they've all been verified by our St. Augustine Historical Society – often referred to as the "hysterical" society due to its voracious appetite for historical integrity. As Yogi Berra once famously said "you could look it up."
We encourage all of our guides and story-tellers to give any personal accounts and tell of any experiences that pertain to our stories and paranormal history. Not all of us are "sensitives" and not all have had similar experiences, but all of us have seen the bizarre photos taken on our tours and seen the meters go berserk and felt the chills…and…well…you'll see.
Count the legs of all the people around you and divide by two. That's how many different opinions you're bound to receive concerning what is paranormal or what is an experience. Here's a simple way to narrow it down:
Humans have five senses. But many people believe that certain energies are all around us, all the time, existing in a realm which is undetectable by these senses. Except when this barrier is pierced, broken, chipped, shattered, violated – WHATEVER – in some way.
Possibly. Are we ALL equipped but we just don't know how to utilize it? Again, it's possible. Can we tap into this realm at will, or does an event (death, extreme fear, deep sleep) need to occur? Can I keep answering your questions with questions? Yes.
There are no guarantees you'll experience anything – except an enlightening trip in the dark in the nation's Oldest City. Our tour is an interactive paranormal investigation. No one is going to jump out from behind a tree or bush or tombstone. And if they do, they're not on our payroll.
EMF meters are used by carpenters and electricians to find Electro-Magnetic Fields, hence the name. Live wire might be a great song by AC/DC, but it's a real bad thing to drill into. Any steady flow of electrical current will be detected and shown as a steady level of light on your meter, but a quick burst of energy will trigger a quick burst of light. Many paranormal investigators believe such a burst is energy given off by a spirit. Our K-II meters are the same ones often used by the T.A.P.S. crew on TV's "Ghost Hunters". We like 'em 'cause they light up real nice in the dark.
Yes. Unless you want people to think you snapped 27 photos while locked in a trunk. Flash will not affect the appearance of energy orbs or ribbons. It'll let you know where you were when you took the shot.
Absolutely! We encourage it.
YYou won't need to go to CVS or Costco to develop your film. Beyond the obvious, though…digital cameras allow instant feedback, photos can be shared with the group right away, and it's easier to shoot 6 or 7 frames very quickly to track any movement of an object in question. And we haven't even mentioned storage capacity and downloading, uploading, emailing, etc.
Our Red Trains are on the road at 8:30 a.m. and run continuous loops along our 24 stops until about 5 p.m. One round trip, from wherever you get on, lasts about 80-90 minutes. Please plan to start your tour by 4:30 p.m to be sure you get back to your starting point.
When do the tours start?
You can purchase tickets right now online or call (904) 829-6545 between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. If you're already here in town, stop by one of these places: Ripley's Believe it or Not! Museum, Many hotels and Bed & Breakfasts, Local restaurants and attractions, Several convenient ticket booths in the Downtown area.
FREE Parking is available at our Red Train stops 1, 2, 3, 5, and 18. Our city's Parking Garage is convenient to stops 4, 5, and 6. We provide a free shuttle service to and from many area hotels, so please ask your concierge or at the front desk.
The Sightseeing Trains come by every 15 to 20 minutes at each of our 24 locations.
We do allow small dogs under 15 pounds as long as they do not disturb the tour and of course, service and guide animals certified under ADA guidelines.
Our Red Trains require our guests to take one step approximately 13" off the ground. Fold-up wheelchairs and collapsible walking aids may be taken on the train, but guests must board under their own power.
There is no beginning or end of a tour. All of our trains stay on the road continuously from 8:30 a.m. until about 5 p.m. One round trip, from wherever you get on, lasts about 80-90 minutes. In order to get a full tour, you must have purchased your tickets by 4:30.
The Red Trains do not cross the Bridge Of Lions, but our FREE Shuttle service does!
Get off at Stop 4 and let us drive you directly to the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum and also to the Alligator Farm. The shuttle leaves on the hour from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm.
Our final downtown hotel shuttle leaves Stop 2 at 4:30pm*.Our final Anastasia Island shuttle leaves Stop 4 at 4:00pm*.Our final outlying hotel shuttle leaves Stop 2 at 4:30pm*.*NOTE: schedule subject to change for holidays and special events.

subset: commoncrawl


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After reading Long Live Your Laptop Battery, where I advised readers to remove their Laptop's battery when using AC power, John Stevens asked if he needed a UPS.
In that article, I recommended removing the battery if you're going to keep the laptop plugged in over an extended period of time--say, a week or more--to limit wear and tear on the battery. It also helps keep the battery and the laptop from overheating.
I admit that when I wrote that article, I didn't think about the UPS question. I live in an area where power outages are rare, and I've never felt the need for a UPS myself--even with a desktop. I also tend to save my work frequently, so that a sudden stop--whether from a power outage or a Blue Screen of Death--won't lose me much work.
But if you feel you need full protection against power outages, you should either ignore my advice and keep the battery in the laptop, or buy a UPS. To help you consider the right course of action, compare the price of a UPS against that of a replacement battery for your particular model. But remember that buying a UPS is a definite expense, while running the risk of possibly having to replace your battery is only a possible expense.
Contributing Editor Lincoln Spector writes about technology and cinema. Email your tech questions to him at email@example.com, or post them to a community of helpful folks on the PCW Answer Line forum. Follow Lincoln on Twitter.


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New Final Audio FI-BA-A1 and FI-BA-SB balanced armature earphones
UPDATE: Review of FI-BA-SB Heaven S and FI-BA-A1 Heaven A is up!
Any headline from boutique audio house, Final Audio Design, is news at TouchMyApps. Recently, their first balanced armature series headphone, the Final Audio FA-BA-SS hit the market to some good reviews, but with a price around USD 1000$ and sold in very limited numbers, this flagship earphone didn't have a chance to capture the market before selling out. The two new models, FA-BA-A1 and FA-BA-SB (ostensibly in aluminium and brass), however, are sold at the much more reasonable prices of 300$ and 400$. Final Audio look to be following Monster and Jays' lead by introducing a flat tangle-free cable for the FA-BA-SB. A more traditional cable will adorn the FA-BA-A1 earphone.
Currently, both models are sold out across Japan, but FAD are accepting pre-orders for the next batch. If you are scared about ordering from Japan, don't be. There are a couple of reliable options. One is Seyo Shop, an exporter of fine Japanese headphones and camera equipment. Their prices are usually excellent. Currently they don't carry Final Audio.
Musica Acoustics, a feisty audio importer based in Tokyo, will be carrying FAD's new earphones. Musica Acoustics' president, Mr. Dimitri Trush, is quick to answer email questions, so fire away!
Preliminary review impressions of the FA-BA-A1 are up at TMA's Forums. For more pictures and product spec, jump the gap:
heaven s Specification (FA-BA-SB)
Type: Balance Amateur
Sensitivity: 112dB
Length of Soft Cord:1.4m
Weight: 23g
Model: heaven s (FI-BA-SB)
Headset Pad S/M/L
Carrying Case
Operation Manual
heaven a Specification
Type: Balance Amateur
Sensitivity: 112dB
Length of Soft Cord:1.4m (Adopted Flat cable)
Weight: 15g
Model:heaven a (FI-BA-A1)
Headset Pad S/M/L
Carrying Case
Operation Manual


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New York-based Monitor110, a data- and information-gathering service funded by DFJ, DFJ Gotham, and Acadia, fired a third of its employees last week. As one insider described it, the company's new CEO, Brennan Carley, felt that Monitor's burn rate had gotten too far ahead of revenue. (Another way to put this, presumably, is that revenue was materializing more slowly than expected.)
Monitor is in talks with Reuters about a variety of possible deals, including a sale.
Monitor gathers information from the web and other sources and sells it to institutional investors. The company's competitors include Collective Intellect.
UPDATE: Carley shuttered the company July 15.


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Straighten Up and Fly Right
Jeez, it's not like flying on the holidays sucks big time, all by itself.
Terror Attempt Seen as Man Tries to Ignite Device on Jet
This is going to get ugly, and fast.
I am surprised, that Liz and Dick Cheney weren't on the tube last night (Faux News, of course), perhaps still donning Christmas stocking caps, wagging fingers, saying "I told you so", over-and-over, as well as planting conspiracy seeds that President Obama, himself, planted a bomb on the plane ... Or that he was rushing to Detroit, to embrace the wanna-be terrorist, and give him a Cabinet post.
It shouldn't take too long, today, for the Flying Monkeys of the Right Wing Freak Show, to start connecting-the-dots, between loser terrorist in Detroit, and the woman who attacked the Pope (only knocking him down, damn it) and how that means we're all being fucked by Obama, and that the new Healthcare Reform Bill will be extended to cover terrorists (and there'll be a new "Birth Certificate" controversy tucked in there, somewhere, since the hapless terrorist was from Nigeria, which is close to Kenya, or, you know, in Africa, thereby making it a slamdunk)
Josh Marshall, at TPM, shows a hint of that, reporting that "9:07 PM: In advance of being briefed, Rep. Hoekstra (R-MI) uses the Detroit incident to attack President Obama and tie it to the Fort Hood shooting."
Hoekstra, if you recall, teamed up with Rick "Man Fucks Dog" Santorum a few years back and, irrefutably, discovered the Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq.
Unlike the Congressman, Steve Benen was a bit more pragmatic;
We'll no doubt have a better sense of what transpired in the coming days, but at this point, plenty of key questions have gone unanswered. How did Abdulmutallab, whose name appears to be included in the government's records of terrorism suspects, get his materials on board? How dangerous were the materials? What, if any, ties did he have to larger terrorist networks?
And, Jeff Fecke, on Alas, A Blog, sets what should be the tone;
No, this attack is not reason to panic. It's reason to laugh long and hard at those who want to scare us, reason to invoke bad double entendres about this wannabe's crotch fire, like the one in this sentence. And most of all, it's reason to cheer the demise of al Qaeda, a truly terrible organization that now has been reduced to setting small fires. I just hope no terrorist decides to egg my house. That could be horrible.
Take it away, Nat;
Nat King Cole - Straighten Up and Fly Right
Bonus Links
Ben Frumin: White House Believes NW Incident An Attempted Act Of Terrorism
Sarah Wheaton: From a 'Pop' to a Headlock, Passengers Recall Flight 253
Faiz Shakir: Hoekstra Quickly Politicizes Attempted Terrorist Attack, Suggests Obama's Clueless On National Security
Larisa Alexandrovna: The no-fly-list fail...
(Cross Posted at The Garlic)
Labels: terrorism, terrorists, war on terror


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It's been a while since Joaquin Phoenix finally came clean about his "retirement," but he's yet to find work. The drought (again) appears to be over.
Phoenix is in talks to star in writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson's Scientology allegory, "The Master," reported Variety. It would be Phoenix's first role since the "I'm Still Here" debacle.
Philip Seymour Hoffman has long been attached to the role of Lancaster Dodd, aka The Master, founder of a faith that suspiciously just like Scientology. Phoenix is considering the part of Freddie Sutton, an alcoholic drifter who joins the church and becomes one of Dodd's star disciples.
U.S. & World
Jeremy Renner had originally been on tap for the role of Sutton, but backed out when he and PTA "kept coming up against a wall that we couldn't overcome. Or at least Paul couldn't overcome."
This film has been beset by troubles for some time now--our corporate cousins past on this film last summer, and it's been delayed by script issues and Renner's departure.
It looked for a time as though the project was dead, but then Oracle heiress Megan Ellison swooped in and gave it new life. We still can't shake the suspicion that she was inspired to get behind this by Lawrence Wright's 25,000-word must-read New Yorker piece about Oscar-winning writer-director Paul Haggis' 35-years in the Church of Scientology and his ultimate disavowal of the faith as a cult.


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7-Eleven(R) Partners with Cinemark to Bring Slurpee Drinks to Movie-Goers
DALLAS, July 7, 2011 // PRNewswire // -- 7-Eleven, Inc. and Cinemark USA, Inc. are partnering to bring Slurpee® drinks to the movies, offering the convenience retailer's iconic beverage at 32 select Cinemark theatres in Dallas, Houston and Portland. 7-Eleven has stores in Dallas and Portland; it does not have locations in Houston.
Starting this week, movie-goers at participating Cinemark theatres can pour themselves a frozen Slurpee drink before settling in for the show. This marks the first time Slurpee beverages have been sold at outlets other than a 7-Eleven® store with the exception of a test at a Dallas sports arena.
The move by the two Dallas-based companies brings Slurpee drinks to the movie-viewing public. Cinemark theatres will have three Slurpee flavors provided by Coca-Cola in both crew-serve and self-serve settings.
Slurpee enthusiasts can now participate in the Slurpee Rewards program when they buy the drink at either 7-Eleven stores or Cinemark and get points for buying a Slurpee, which they can redeem for special rewards on Slurpee.com, including movie passes from Cinemark.
For years, 7-Eleven, Inc. has brought the movies, particularly major summer releases, into its stores with 3D images on Slurpee® and Big Gulp® cups, movie action-figure straws, exclusive products, and special offers and displays.
"Our research and past promotional successes show that movie fans love Slurpees, and Slurpee fans love movies," said Jesus Delgado-Jenkins, 7-Eleven senior vice president of merchandising, logistics and marketing. "Our partnership with Cinemark gives us the opportunity to reach even more Slurpee fans by bringing the drink to them. The only thing better than watching the latest hit movie – especially for Slurpee-lovers – is watching it while sipping on a Slurpee drink."
"At Cinemark, our main focus is to create the best movie-going environment possible for our customers," said Bob Shimmin, Cinemark's vice president of food and beverage. "We believe that offering the finest food and beverage options actually enhances the entertainment experience. By teaming up with 7-Eleven on this initiative, our customers can enjoy ice-cold Slurpee drinks while watching the hottest blockbuster movies in select Cinemark theatres this summer."
Delgado-Jenkins said he thinks the new venue will attract new customers to visit 7-Eleven stores. Offering Slurpee drinks in an area without 7-Eleven stores provides a taste of the retailer to people who wouldn't be able to enjoy the drink otherwise.
About 7-Eleven, Inc.
7-Eleven, Inc. is the premier name and largest chain in the convenience retailing industry. Based in Dallas, Texas, 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses more than 8,600 7-Eleven® stores in North America. Globally, there are approximately 41,400 7-Eleven stores in 16 countries. During 2010, 7-Eleven stores worldwide generated total sales close to $63 billion. 7-Eleven has been honored by a number of companies and organizations recently. Accolades include: #2 on Forbes magazine's 2011 list of Top Franchises for the Money; #4 spot on Entrepreneur magazine's Franchise 500 list for 2009, #3 in Forbes magazine's Top 20 Franchises to Start, and #2 in Franchise Times Top 200 Franchise Companies. Hispanic Magazine named 7-Eleven in its Hispanic Corporate Top 100 Companies that provide the most opportunities to Hispanics. 7-Eleven received the 2010 Retailer of the Year honor from PL Buyer because of the company's private-label brand initiative. 7-Eleven is franchising its stores in the U.S. and expanding through organic growth, acquisitions and its Business Conversion Program. Find out more online at www.7-Eleven.com.
About Cinemark Holdings, Inc.
Cinemark is a leading domestic and international motion picture exhibitor, operating 431 theatres with 4,941 screens in 39 U.S. states, Brazil, Mexico and 11 other Latin American countries as of March 31, 2011. For more information go to www.cinemark.com.
SOURCE 7-Eleven, Inc.
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Guerrero stays in No. 4 spot
After a robust August, hitting .337 with a .625 slugging percentage, Vladimir Guerrero needed a big September kick to prolong one of the game's most remarkable streaks.
Batting a quiet .262 with two homers and 12 RBIs in 28 games, Guerrero fell short of .300 for the first time in his career, ending a stretch of 12 consecutive seasons at .300 or higher with a .295 average. It was also the first time since his rookie year in 1997, when he played 90 games, that Guerrero didn't hit at least 25 homers, finishing with 15.
He's a .321 career hitter with a .568 slugging percentage, having launched 407 home runs and produced 1,318 runs batted in. That counts for something in the mind of his manager, Mike Scioscia. But, fans being fanatics, it's not enough to stop malcontents from calling for a new lineup spot for the cleanup man.
In Game 1 of the American League Division Series against Boston on Thursday night, Guerrero singled and scored a run in four at-bats. He also had a hit taken away in his first at-bat on a fine play by third baseman Mike Lowell.
But in a big spot early in the game, bases loaded and two outs in the third inning, lefty Jon Lester made Guerrero look bad, striking him out on an elevated fastball at his shoulders.
One of the great bad-ball hitters in the game's history, Guerrero looked bad in that at-bat. But not bad enough for Scioscia to drop him in the order and elevate, say, Kendry Morales, who was in the No. 5 slot in Game 2 against Josh Beckett.
"Veteran's pride is a non-issue," Scioscia said, denying the widely held notion that Scioscia doesn't want to hurt his slugger's feelings. "In that one at-bat, he expanded his zone. One at-bat, he fouled a ball straight back that would have ended up in the rocks [beyond center field]. He hit a sharp ground ball in the hole that Lowell dove for. He had some good swings. In one at-bat, he got a little out of his element."
Scioscia said he likes the "presence" Guerrero brings to the lineup hitting behind Torii Hunter, whose three-run homer was the big blow in Game 1.
"With Vlad, it takes one good swing, and he gets back where he needs to be," Scioscia said. "In the middle of the lineup, we need a consistent presence, and we feel it's going to be Vlad. He hasn't hit the ball that poorly. In the Texas [AL West] clinching game, he hit four bullets all over the field. That was a week ago."
Scioscia said that if Guerrero's struggles warrant a move down in the order, he'd do it.
"If a player's not getting it done at a level you would need, you would understand a change has to be made," Scioscia said. "For our lineup to go, we're definitely going to need Vlad going. We're a better lineup if he's swinging the way he can."
3 Comments
After tonight's loss, I think Scioscia needs to pull the trigger and move Vlad down in the order. I have been posting for 2 months that Vlad needs to be moved down in the order. He is just not the same hitter with runners in scoring position. And again he proved me right tonight. He left 8 runners on base tonight with bases loaded twice….twice! This is ridiculous. Mike, please pull the trigger and move him. There is no tomorrow.
And as for Fuentes, I say sit him down the rest of the post season. I knew something was going to go bad tonight when he came in. He is just awful. This guy is not a closer that will get it done against a lineup like the Yankees. I say put the kid Jepsen in the closer spot the rest of the post season. Fuentes can come in for relief if we have a sizable lead. What a terrible loss tonight.
I don't want to sit here and bash Vlad for no reason. I think he's a first ballot hall-of-famer. That being said, its time Mike takes a real look at the post-season stats he's produced. He's horrible at the plate. One productive at-bat this season should not dictate the amount of time he's receiving. He's consistently late on his swings and when he does make contact is an easy out. Right now he's just like Bengie running. They let Bengie walk when they felt he was done, so why not Vlad. I am against signing him to a long year deal after all his post-season results (or lack there of).
I did not mean to bash Vlady. I am a big fan and will continue to be. I just would like to see him lower in lineup. I must give him some credit for today though. Man did he come through with that big 2 run homer! So he did prove me wrong today. I really hope he continues to. I will say though that I agree that his swing on good fastballs is very late. He made good contact today, but it was a hanging breaking ball. I hope he is healthy and can continue to produce some runs for us. Go Vlady, keep it going! Good win today boys, way to bounce back!


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AWS Lambda
Run code without thinking about servers. Pay only for the compute time you consume.
AWS Lambda lets you run code without provisioning or managing servers. You pay only for the compute time you consume.
With Lambda, you can run code for virtually any type of application or backend service - all with zero administration. Just upload your code and Lambda takes care of everything required to run and scale your code with high availability. You can set up your code to automatically trigger from other AWS services or call it directly from any web or mobile app.
AWS Lambda automatically runs your code without requiring you to provision or manage servers. Just write the code and upload it to Lambda.
AWS Lambda automatically scales your application by running code in response to each trigger. Your code runs in parallel and processes each trigger individually, scaling precisely with the size of the workload.
With AWS Lambda, you are charged for every 100ms your code executes and the number of times your code is triggered. You pay only for the compute time you consume.
With AWS Lambda, you can optimize your code execution time by choosing the right memory size for your function. You can also enable Provisioned Concurrency to keep your functions initialized and hyper-ready to respond within double digit milliseconds.
How it works
Use cases
What can you build with AWS Lambda? Learn more about the use cases below:
Data processing
You can use AWS Lambda to execute code in response to triggers such as changes in data, shifts in system state, or actions by users. Lambda can be directly triggered by AWS services such as S3, DynamoDB, Kinesis, SNS, and CloudWatch, or it can be orchestrated into workflows by AWS Step Functions. This allows you to build a variety of real-time serverless data processing systems.
Real-time file processing
You can use Amazon S3 to trigger AWS Lambda to process data immediately after an upload. For example, you can use Lambda to thumbnail images, transcode videos, index files, process logs, validate content, and aggregate and filter data in real-time.
Reference Architecture: Sample Code
The Seattle Times uses AWS Lambda to resize images for viewing on different devices such as desktop computers, tablets, and smartphones. Read the case study »
Real-time stream processing
You can use AWS Lambda and Amazon Kinesis to process real-time streaming data for application activity tracking, transaction order processing, click stream analysis, data cleansing, metrics generation, log filtering, indexing, social media analysis, and IoT device data telemetry and metering.
Localytics processes billions of data points in real-time, and uses Lambda to process historical and live data stored in S3 or streamed from Kinesis. Read the case study »
Extract, transform, load
You can use AWS Lambda to perform data validation, filtering, sorting, or other transformations for every data change in a DynamoDB table and load the transformed data to another data store.
Zillow uses Lambda and Kinesis to track a subset of mobile metrics in realtime. With Kinesis and Lambda, we were able to develop and deploy a cost effective solution in two weeks.
You can build serverless backends using AWS Lambda to handle web, mobile, Internet of Things (IoT), and 3rd party API requests. Take advantage of Lambda's consistent performance controls, such as multiple memory configurations and Provisioned Concurrency, for building latency-sensitive applications at any scale.
Web applications
By combining AWS Lambda with other AWS services, developers can build powerful web applications that automatically scale up and down and run in a highly available configuration across multiple data centers – with zero administrative effort required for scalability, back-ups or multi-data center redundancy.
IoT backends
You can build serverless backends using AWS Lambda to handle web, mobile, Internet of Things (IoT), and 3rd party API requests.
Mobile backends
AWS Lambda makes it easy to create rich, personalized app experiences. You can build backends using AWS Lambda and Amazon API Gateway to authenticate and process API requests. Use AWS Amplify to easily integrate your backend with your iOS, Android, Web, and React Native frontends.
Bustle runs a serverless backend for its Bustle iOS app and websites using AWS Lambda and Amazon API Gateway. Serverless architectures allow Bustle to never have to deal with infrastructure management, so every engineer can focus on building out new features and innovating. Read the case study »
Case studies
The Coca-Cola Company, an American multinational beverage corporation, used AWS Lambda and AWS Step Functions to build a cost-effective serverless solution.
iRobot, a leading global consumer robot company, is building the next generation of connected devices for the smart home using a serverless architecture.
Benchling, a life science software company, created a technique that researchers use to modify parts of a genome with extreme precision using serverless architecture.
Thomson Reuters uses AWS Lambda to process up to 4,000 events per second for its usage analytics service, and it took five months to deploy into production.
Get started with AWS Lambda
Sign up for an AWS account
Learn with step-by-step tutorials
Start building with AWS Lambda
Visit the AWS Management Console.
Learn more about AWS Lambda


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- Early use of PI3K inhibitors may prevent or delay treatment resistance.
- Cancer cells resistant to anti-HER2 therapy had high levels of survivin.
- Newly identified biomarker may help predict anti-HER2 therapy resistance.
The data, published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, indicated that failure of the anti-HER2 antibody trastuzumab to block HER2 from activating the phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway can lead to resistance to treatment. Therefore, dual simultaneous inhibition of both HER2 and PI3K may prolong the use of anti-HER2 therapies in women with breast cancer.
"HER2 breast cancer is a subtype of breast cancer for which we have an increasing number of effective treatments, including trastuzumab, an antibody that targets HER2," said Carlos L. Arteaga, M.D., director of the Breast Cancer Program at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tenn. "Unfortunately, many breast cancer tumors learn how to resist this therapy."
Arteaga and colleagues explored the possibility that aberrant signaling through the PI3K pathway was a mechanism of resistance to trastuzumab. They used breast cancer models of trastuzumab resistance with different modes of aberrant PI3K pathway activation, and treated the cells with a PI3K inhibitor with or without trastuzumab.
Inhibiting PI3K reduced cancer cells' ability to proliferate and induced the death of trastuzumab-resistant cells. In addition, combining PI3K inhibitors with trastuzumab resulted in superior anti-tumor effects against trastuzumab-resistant, HER2-positive cells in xenografts compared with the PI3K inhibitor alone.
The investigators also conducted analyses to determine how the drug combination decreased resistance to trastuzumab.
"We found that the trastuzumab-resistant cells in which the PI3K pathway was activated had high levels of an anti-death protein called survivin," Arteaga said. "This implied that if we could get levels of survivin to decrease, these cells would become sensitive to treatment."
They also measured pretreatment levels of survivin in HER2-positive breast cancer tumors and found that higher pretreatment levels of the protein correlated with a poor response to therapy.
"This suggests that we could measure levels of survivin in tumors, and if they are high or do not decrease with treatment, we could predict that the tumor is resistant to anti-HER2 therapy and try to find alternative treatments," Arteaga said.
Arteaga and colleagues plan to continue testing PI3K inhibitors, which are already in early clinical development, in combination with other HER2 drugs in breast cancer. They also plan to measure survivin levels in HER2-overexpressing breast cancer tumors to determine if levels can predict tumors that will benefit from combination treatment.
About the American Association for Cancer Research
Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world's first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR membership includes more than 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in more than 90 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 20 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 17,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes eight peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the scientific partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration and scientific oversight of team science and individual grants in cancer research that have the potential for near-term patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer. For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.
Media Contact:
Jeremy Moore
(215) 446-7109


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Another View: Save the intimidation for the game
Not long ago, NFL coaches routinely rushed injured players back onto the field before they were ready. Coaches also ran their teams like despots, with their ears closed to player concerns.
Nowadays, things are a bit different. Sensitive to its image and the possibility of litigation, the league requires teams to treat injuries, particularly concussions, much more seriously. And coaching styles have evolved away from the General Patton-like model.
But if coaches have changed with the times, the locker rooms they rule haven't changed much since players wore leather helmets. The mess in Miami, where Dolphins tackle Jonathan Martin left the team after being subjected to epithets and other abuse from offensive lineman Richie Incognito, exposes how destructive outdated player rituals can be.
In its most common form, the hazing of teammates is harmless enough. Veterans make rookies sing songs or perform skits at training camp. But at the extreme exhibited by Incognito, it involves physical or emotional abuse, or forcing younger players to pick up dinner tabs that can reach five figures.
Incognito took it up another notch, alleged to include racially offensive language delivered by voice mail and text. So far, that level of intimidation appears to be an aberration, and if that's the way it stays, the incident probably doesn't warrant some sweeping new league-wide policy. But it does show how quickly such behavior can spin out of control if coaches ignore it, or even encourage it as a way to "toughen up" a player regarded as "soft," as some news reports suggest happened in Miami.
As a result, Miami is now without two of its starting linemen — Martin because he was fed up and Incognito because he was suspended. Any coach with an ounce of ability can find more effective ways to motivate his players. At least two highly successful National Football League coaches, Andy Reid and Tony Dungy, have said in recent days they had anti-hazing policies.
By getting rid of hazing, coaches who still allow it would also set a better example for college and high school teams that often take their cues from the pros.
What's particularly galling about hazing is that veterans claim that it is essential to building team chemistry. That's a pretty self-serving justification for people who receive favors and get to act like bullies.
It is also contrary to common sense.
In what other business — and pro football is, at its core, a business — does a company bring in top-notch employees, pay them huge salaries, and then allow them to be demeaned or even extorted by co-workers?
As a classics major from Stanford with two Harvard-educated parents, Jonathan Martin is not your average NFL player. Perhaps because of his pedigree, and conduct on and off the field that struck some as insufficiently aggressive, he was apparently targeted for abuse by a player with a history of thuggish behavior.
Any smart boss would keep hazing out of his workplace. That should include coaches. It doesn't really make players better or help teams bond.
And in some cases, as we're seeing with the Miami Dolphins, it can backfire disastrously.
--USA Today


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Builders' Show, Day Three
Today is my third and last day at the Builder's Show in Orlando, and while I have a bit of "building product" overload, I still managed to find some new products that proved unexpected, smart and "green."
Jeld Wen, manufacturers of quality wood doors and windows, stopped me in my tracks with this copper-clad double hung window. Part of the company's custom program, the window can be made in a variety of interior woods—pine, knotty alder, douglas fir, mahogany, oak, walnut and cherry—or any one of 41 clad exterior colors. My vote is for the copper!
AZEK, known for their low maintenance cellular PVC deck, trim, porch, molding and rail products, debuted their VAST pavers—a composite masonry product that utilizes up to 95% post-consumer recycled materials (primarily rubber tires and plastic bags). The 4″ x 8″ pavers, which weigh one-third that of standard concrete varieties, come in five colors and are stain, scratch and fade resistant. Perfect for patios, walkways, entryways and driveways, the pavers are installed on a patented grid system that significantly reduces time and labor. Green, durable and smart—we like that.
ClosetMaid, the first company to manufacturer ventilated wire shelving for closets in new home construction, continues to showcase innovative wire and laminate/wood storage solutions for every room of the house. The garage storage was pretty impressive with its combination of door cabinets and open shelving, work table and wall-hung organizers. Best of all, the products are designed with the DIYer in mind—and for all levels from novice to expert.
New offerings at James Hardie included this cedar-like shingle siding. The company's fiber cement composition products—that also include vertical and lap siding and exterior trim boards and soffit panels—are designed to last up to 50 years with color integrity and durability intact. The HardiZone System ensures that product specifications are well-suited for regional climate zones.


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Global and Chinese Pocket Photo Printer Market Revenue (million USD) Growth Ratio Analysis 2018
MarketResearchNest.com presents "Global and Chinese Pocket Photo Printer Industry, 2018 Market Research Report" new Research to its studies database.
This comprehensive Pocket Photo Printer research report includes a brief on these trends that can help the businesses operating in the industry to understand the market and strategize for their business expansion accordingly. The research report analyzes the market size, industry share, growth, key segments, CAGR and key drivers.
The 'Global and Chinese Pocket Photo Printer Industry, 2013-2023 Market Research Report' is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Pocket Photo Printer industry with a focus on the Southeast Asia market. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Pocket Photo Printer manufacturers and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the industry. Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including its definition, applications and manufacturing technology. Then, the report explores the international and Southeast Asia major industry players in detail.
Request a sample copy at
Global and Chinese Pocket Photo Printer in its database, which provides an expert and in-depth analysis of key business trends and future market development prospects, key drivers and restraints, profiles of major market players, segmentation and forecasting. A Global and Chinese Pocket Photo Printer Market provides an extensive view of size; trends and shape have been developed in this report to identify factors that will exhibit a significant impact in boosting the sales of Global and Chinese Pocket Photo Printer Market in the near future.
The Companies include:
KODAK, HP, LG, Fujifilm, Lifeprint, Polaroid, Canon et al
In this part, the report presents the company profile, product specifications, capacity, production value, and 2013-2018 market shares for each company. Through the statistical analysis, the report depicts the Global and Chinese total market of Pocket Photo Printer industry including capacity, production, production value, cost/profit, supply/demand and Southeast Asia import/export. The total market is further divided by company, by country, and by application/type for the competitive landscape analysis. The report then estimates 2018-2023 market development trends of Pocket Photo Printer industry.
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Moreover, the research report assessed market key features, consisting of revenue, capacity utilization rate, price, gross, growth rate, consumption, production, export, supply, cost, market size & share, industry demand, export & import analysis, and CAGR.
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For the week ending 8 February 2003 / 6 Adar I 5763
Charity Saves from Defeat
Charity, said the wisest of men, King Solomon, saves from death.
A soccer team in Israel recently turned this advice into a strategy for avoiding defeat, a fate comparable to death for sports competitors.
Beitar Yerushalayim was scheduled to play against the national champions, Maccabi Haifa, and an extra measure of motivation was needed to overcome superior opponents. Team sponsor Eddie Mor hit on the idea of saving his players from defeat through charity. He set up a partnership between the team and Aleh, an organization serving children with disabilities with centers in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak and Gedera, and kicked it off with a donation of $10,000. His players responded with their most inspired play of the year and scored a 4-0 upset.Its one of the secrets of team sports, said Mor after also organizing regular visits to the centers by team players. They play better when they look beyond themselves and focus on the team.


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Flights to Sardinia
British Airways fly from London Gatwick to Cagliari three times a week and to Olbia two times a week, making holidays in Sardinia irresistible.
British Airways fly from London Gatwick to Cagliari three times a week and to Olbia two times a week, making holidays in Sardinia irresistible.
Sardinia has inimitable appeal with powder white sands and dazzling turquoise waters drawing most visitors to this picturesque Mediterranean island. Combine this with flamingo inhabited lakes, centuries-old ruins and inviting Italian seaside towns and you have the perfect beach holiday.
Everything about Sardinia is diverse. With its changing landscapes that evolve from Grand Canyon-style gorges to hidden-away grottoes and spectacular wildlife reserves. To the unique personalities of its resorts - as cosmopolitan Cagliari, exclusive Costa Smeralda and picture-perfect Santa Margherita di Pula adorn the coastline. Charismatic piazzas and charming trattorias are bursting with colour and character, and sit comfortably alongside the African flavours of neighbouring Tunisia and the influences of its intricate history.
A cosmopolitan city that surrounds a medieval centre. The Sardinian capital, Cagliari, is bursting with history and makes a great city-meets-beach destination. The area boasts one of the longest beaches in the Mediterranean, Poetto Beach, with its waterfront dining and nightlife. Ancient archaeological ruins exist effortlessly alongside the spectacular natural scenery – with lagoons, bird sanctuaries and wildlife reserves. As cobbled piazzas reveal traditional tavernas that will tantalise your taste buds. Make sure you get a photograph of the pink flamingos that reside in the city's ponds.
Hotels in North Sardinia we recommend
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Why Nominate
Being recognised for an Award offers a distinct competitive advantage to those offering products and services to a highly visible, global market. It provides recognition of excellence for current and prospective employees, investors, clients and customers, and industry collaborators and partners.
DRIVENxDESIGN award programs also offer a unique platform for brands to reach a highly specialised audience through the Awards communication streams.
The Awards are open to anyone with an interest in developing products and services that are designed to have both a commercial and market impact.
Immediate benefits on nomination submission are:
- After passing the review standard nominations are selected to be in the collection to be presented to the jury and displayed on the awards website visible to our extensive audience.
- You will also receive a notification email with promotional tools including awards logos.
- Selected nominations will be featured across in our eNewsletter, media releases and social media channels
Participation in the awards is the first step in a series of recognition moments:
- Promote your courage, innovation, creativity and craft leadership to your peers across three continents
- Gain marketplace exposure of your project or brand
- Increase awareness of your work and gain marketplace and peer comment
- Provide a mark of distinction for your project or brand
- Selected award winning projects will be invited to participate in the associated design summit. This is a live interview and puts your design work and team front and center as design leaders.
The Awards enable your brand to:
- Benchmark your work
- Impress clients and customers
- Boost confidence in your products and services
- Add unmistakable gravitas to your marketing materials
- Boost employee morale and demonstrate company pride in their work
- Demostrate your business is listening to and adapting to your clients' and customers' needs
- Stand out from your competition by being recogized as an award winner
According to a study by the University of Leicester*, award winning companies experienced:
- Higher growth in sales over non-award winning companies by an average of 77%
- Higher increases in operating income over non-award winning companies by an average of 18%
- Higher growth in assets over non-award winning companies by an average of 44%
*Source: University of Leicester, sponsored by the British Quality Foundation (BQF) and the European Foundation for Quality Management (http://www.quality-foundation.co.uk/pub_reports.htm), based over a period of 11 years.


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There are no pictures because there are none on the internet, but it was super gorgeous: ZviDance's ZOOM
I don't know a ton about dance. I know what I like, but then I'm like that person who always orders pad thai when they go for Thai food... I guess, to keep the analogy alive, unless they're presented with some free coconut curry, but only if the curry looks really good. ZviDance is my pad thai. I saw them perform at Jacob's Pillow a few years ago when I was in MA with a friend's family, and fell in love with their style. I still remember the undulating duets, especially the men together, lifting and leaning body weight against one another. It was gorgeous, and strong. One of those things where it's like, "Whatever you guys do, if I can, I will see it."


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Everything old is new again at this movies this year. And we're not just talking about sequels.
Everything old is new again at this movies this year. And we're not just talking about sequels.
Hollywood has taken its "rely on established 'brand' names" thing to the next level.
So we have a new "Hercules" (this Friday) and a new Jack Ryan (Chris Pine, "Shadow Recruit," Jan. 17). Aaron Eckhart is a new Frankenstein ("I, Frankenstein," Jan. 24).
There's a new "Godzilla" (May) and a new "Annie" (December) to go along with that rebooted "Spider-Man" (May) duking it out for box office supremacy with those new "X-Men" (May).
And if you think about it, "Divergent" (March) could be the new "Hunger Games," with Shailene Woodley taking a sci-fi turn to match Jennifer Lawrence's big bow-and-arrow payday.
Skipping past the almost Biblical deluge of sequels, from "Captain America" ("The Winter Soldier," April) to "Madagascar" ("Island of Lemurs," April), "The Hunger Games" ("Mockingjay, Part 1," November) to "The Hobbit" ("There and Back Again," December), ignoring even the last desperate gasp of Jim Carrey and the Farrelly Brothers ("Dumb and Dumber To," November), there's still a lot to look forward to on the big screen.
The engaging documentaries and breakout foreign films will find their way to us more indirectly. But here are 14 titles with firmer release dates, films tempting enough to tease us through 2014.
"The Monuments Men" (Feb. 7) would have gotten lost among the other Oscar contenders over Christmas. So say good-bye to its Oscar chances, but "hello" to having a potentially artsy and cerebral action film with George Clooney leading John Goodman, among others, as they try to save Europe's cultural treasures from the Nazis and combat damage in the last days of World War II. A true story.
"300: Rise of an Empire" (March 7) is not the only sequel to have history (Greco-Persian conflict) as its subtext. But this brawny, two-fisted "How the Greeks Saved Western Civilization" could have more going for it than "X-Men: Days of Future Past," where the mutants, um, save mutant Western civilization.
"Veronica Mars" (March 14) could turn out to be the ultimate expression of fandom, a paradigm-shifting movie with implications for the future of film. Fans financed Kristen Bell's return to the character that made her famous, going outside the studio system to get something they want to see on the screen. They paid to get a movie based on a TV show about a young, (now older), sassy private investigator made. And based on the trailer, they, and the rest of us, won't be disappointed.
"The Grand Budapest Hotel" (March 7) is Wes Anderson's latest foxtrot into "twee." And he takes Ralph Fiennes, in a rare comic turn, with him as Fiennes plays the legendary concierge at a legendarily daffy Old World hotel. Bill Murray and Jeff Goldlum are here, of course. Angela Lansbury, too.
"Noah" (March 28) could be, if we're pessimists, this year's "Lone Ranger" or "John Carter" or "Battleship," that head-scratching fiasco that seemed like a hare-brained idea from the get-go. Darren Aronofsky ("Black Swan") directing Oscar winner Russell Crowe in a no-expense-spared Biblical epic? Then again, it could be great, and Hollywood is at least trying to reach that supposedly built-in Christian film audience, as evidenced by February's "The Son of God" and April's "Heaven is for Real."
"The Fault in Our Stars" (June 6) is a promising summer teen romance from the writer-director of "Stuck in Love." The always-real Shailene Woodley stars as a cancer patient who falls for a lad (Nat Wolff of "Stuck in Love") in her support group. We're about to find out if teenagers will show up for a date movie that's a weeper.
"Tammy" (July 2) is where Melissa McCarthy cashes in on her epic 2013 at the box office, co-writing and starring in this road trip comedy about a newly unemployed, newly-ditched woman who hits the road with her foul-mouthed, hard-drinking diabetic grandma (Oscar winner Kathy Bates). If McCarthy is still a hot commodity, this will be the comedy that devours the summer.
"Magic in the Moonlight" (July 26) lets Emma Stone and Hamish Linklater, along with Oscar winners Colin Firth and Marcia Gay Harden, get their turn in a Woody Allen summer comedy.
"Gone Girl" (Oct. 3) gives us David ("Zodiac") Fincher's take on Gillian Flynn's best-selling thriller about a missing woman (Rosamund Pike) and the husband (Ben Affleck) everybody thinks did her in. Hitchcockian? Count on it.
"The Interview" (Oct. 10) is the new farcefrom the "This is the End" team of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. James Franco plays a talk show host, Rogen his producer and Lizzy Caplan is the C.I.A. agent who drags them into her assassination plot. Yeah, it'll be dark, profane and, chances are, fiercely funny.
"Interstellar" (Nov. 7) is Christopher Nolan's latest thinking-person's sci-fi epic, about wormholes and the possibilities of where humans can travel once we harness them. Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain are the headliners in the cast.
"Exodus" (Dec. 12) has Oscar winner Christian Bale as Moses, leading the Chosen People out of Egypt. Joel Edgerton should make a fearsome Ramses, and Ridley Scott found work for his old pal Sigourney Weaver ("Alien") for this, the final Bible epic of the year.
"Unbroken" (Dec. 25) is based on the true story of an American Olympic hopeful who survives being shot down in the Pacific and imprisoned and tortured by the Japanese. Relative unknown Jack O'Connell won the role, and Angelina Jolie ("In the Land of Blood and Honey") directs this film based on Laura Hillenbrand's best-seller.
"Into the Woods" (Dec. 25) offers up a little Sondheim twist on classic fairy tales, a more highbrow "Wicked" if you will, with songs by one of America's greatest Broadway composers. Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Emily Blunt, Chris Pine and Anna Kendrick are the stars of this Rob Marshall musical.


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Most Helpful Review
Offers a single pane of glass that allows views into inventory, code version management, and inner operations with...
Find out what your peers are saying about DX Spectrum vs. PRTG Network Monitor and other solutions. Updated: May 2020.
419,360 professionals have used our research since 2012.
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Offers a single pane of glass to view inventory, code version management, and inner operations.
The most valuable feature is the auto-discovery, which is nice because you don't have to do anything to add a new component.
We were able to standardize the internal processes across all internal departments, resulting in almost an elimination of non-standard process flows through our organization.
I have found the cross analysis feature to be the most valuable.
The Spectrum tool improved our network assurance levels for our business units.
All networks (or network equipment) are monitored through CA Spectrum.
It is a central solution in terms of how to actually use it. It has a very easy dashboard. Everything is concise. We are able to create custom sensors. For different parts of the business, we have many products across many environments, and it works for everything.
The fact that I can use custom MIB files to customize my sensors for the things that are not there as a default is a good feature.
The most valuable feature is the ability to span multiple technologies and multiple vendors.
We can see trends for a lot of different things, such as hard drive space and bandwidth usage. We can see and plan for the future by knowing, "We're sort of at 75% capacity now. In three months time, we know we're going to be up to 90%,so we need to plan ahead for it, getting upgrades booked in place." Since things like this take time and effort, it's handy to see trends into the future of where our company is going.
The solution provides us with needed feedback on our IT infrastructure. It gives us really good quality of service when it comes to monitoring of available space and available resources. It allows us to preempt issues before they become a problem for the business.
It is easy to use and intuitive, which is really important. It does what it says on the box by giving you a visual of the state of what is going on at any one time.
It is pretty simple to use, which is always a good thing. It's been very reliable in updating us if any issues crop up.
We use the remote probes a lot for our branch offices. Instead of deploying the full instance of PRTG, we'll put a remote probe out there. This simplifies the whole deployment for us.
The company is trying desperately to sustain the platform by bolting on changes to it to enhance it. It is not a long-term solution.
The interface is not nice and needs to be improved.
We want to make our own choice for the AIOps solution and do not want to be forced to use the Broadcom OI solution by default.
For us, the implementation was quite complex but it's because of the large number of different environments we're dealing with.
The CA Technologies sales team destroyed their relationship with our business units.
It needs better integration with other CA products.
OS monitoring needs to be better developed, as well as their services, e.g., cluster monitoring, URLs, etc.
With custom sensors, there is a lot of work which needs to be done in the background, just for it to be tailor-made for the specific thing that we are actually monitoring. We take a lot of time with the custom sensors. I would like to see the customer sensor be more robust and a bit more varied.
I have an issue with DFS, distributed file services... there isn't one by default. Taking into account the difference between DFS and DFSR as well would be great.
The dashboarding definitely needs improvement.
The only sort of limitation is the actual probes. So, if you don't have enough probes on there, you can over flip them and cause the WMI sensors and SNMP sensors to sort of overload. Sometimes, they might timeout for a minute, but they do come back.
The desktop app is the one area where it do with some improvement. From a user's perspective, I would like to be able to get more out of the desktop app as opposed to where we are now with it.
While the desktop app is good, they could slightly improve it. We would like it to be a single pane of glass. At the moment, you can only see certain portions of information. You have to scroll through to make it more granular. We want them to develop the desktop app to be more user-friendly.
Once you start going above 5000 sensors, things do start to get a bit shaky. There are some best practice out there that you will need to adopt and be aware of.
We would like more cloud native sensors for AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, etc. A lot of businesses are moving in that direction, so having something where we can pull performance stats out of these cloud services would be great for us.
Pricing and Cost Advice
The product, support, and maintenance are all expensive, which is another reason that we are switching to another solution.
In general, the license cost will be about 30% of the total TCO for this tool (hardware/support team, OS costs, and OS management).
We used a product called SolarWinds in the past, and its cost was high. Whereas, PRTG came in at a third of SolarWind's cost.
Cost was a factor when selecting this solution, but it just did everything we wanted it to do.
Our licensing costs are 10,000 euros over three years.
At the moment I'm only using 500 sensors. I pay yearly, so it's a cost that's easily swallowed.
We have an unlimited perpetual license, so we just pay support costs and it can scale throughout the organization.
We looked at PRTG and SolarWinds. From a cost side perspective, compared to PRTG, and from what you get back from it, PRTG was sort of a hands down the winner.
While I am not the person who deals with pricing, I would say that we pay around 1000 pounds a year.
It is about £4,500 for the first year, then about another 15 to 20 percent annually after that. So, we are looking at about £1000 running costs a year. When you think about how much an outage costs per minute, it's negligible.
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Also Known As
|CA Spectrum
|Paessler AG
|CA Spectrum can enable your organization to discover, optimize and improve its infrastructure and the business services running on top of it. By delivering large-enterprise scalability, robust features and superior root cause analysis, this solution can help your organization effectively manage its dynamic, complex IT infrastructure including physical, virtual and cloud environments as well as network virtualization.
PRTG Network Monitor runs on a Windows machine within your network, collecting various statistics from the machines, software, and devices which you designate. PRTG comes with an easy-to-use web interface with point-and-click configuration. You can easily share data from it with non-technical colleagues and customers, including via live graphs and custom reports. This will let you plan for network expansion, see what applications are using most of your connection, and make sure that no one is hogging the entire network just to torrent videos.
To monitor a large IT environment, it's important to be able to scale PRTG up. Paessler PRTG Enterprise Monitor includes all the proven capabilities of PRTG Network Monitor, which are enhanced by exclusive ITOps Board for a service-oriented, central overview of multiple PRTG servers.
Learn more about DX Spectrum
Get ahead of IT infrastructure issues
With PRTG Network Monitor you can identify and solve potential issues before it affects anyone. Download a free 30-day trial today and experience the benefits of 24-hour IT Infrastructure Monitoring.
Sample Customers
|National Informatics Centre India, Banese, Olympus, AlphaServe Technologies, Sicredi
|Jameson Bank, Sidnix, RungeICT, MedicalAnimal, Truck-lite, GamingGrids, The Covell Group, Forsythn County Schools, NetMass, Musgrove Park Hospital, Lanes Health, Columbia Southern University, Vodafone, Intrust Bank
Top Industries
Healthcare Company16%
Financial Services Firm14%
Insurance Company11%
Software R&D Company37%
Comms Service Provider21%
Media Company6%
Comms Service Provider13%
Financial Services Firm13%
Construction Company9%
Health, Wellness And Fitness Company4%
Software R&D Company36%
Comms Service Provider14%
Media Company6%
Company Size
Small Business13%
Midsize Enterprise15%
Large Enterprise73%
Small Business30%
Midsize Enterprise30%
Large Enterprise39%
Small Business25%
Midsize Enterprise21%
Large Enterprise54%
See also DX Spectrum Reviews, PRTG Network Monitor Reviews, and our list of Best Network Monitoring Software Companies.


text:
Paul Harris Human Potential Scholarship Fund to benefit Camp Dreamcatcher campers
By ACL
Doug Harris (right), the owner of the Eco Boutique in Kennett Square, presents a check to Camp Dreamcatcher Executive Director Patty Hillkirk (left). Harris established a fund honoring the memory of his uncle, Paul Harris.
Kennett Square business owner Doug Harris has established a fund that will provide two yearly $1,000 scholarships to HIV/AIDS impacted youth served by Camp Dreamcatcher.
Patty Hillkirk, the executive director of Camp Dreamcatcher, said that the first recipients of this scholarship are Tranessa and Tyrell.
"The scholarship winners have demonstrated positive leadership and service in their own communities and at Camp Dreamcatcher," said Hillkirk. "They are both positive role models for the children served by Camp Dreamcatcher and are an inspiration to me. I am very proud of them and grateful to Doug Harris for honoring the memory of his Uncle Paul by establishing this scholarship program."
Tranessa is an HIV positive young woman attending a community college. In her application, she wrote that, "The issue of HIV/AIDS has impacted me as a leader in such a big way. Being a young woman who was born with HIV gives me the drive to help younger children who were born with HIV to be proud of who they are and to know that there is a beautiful world awaiting them. My main hope and dream that I have for my future is to be a nurse practitioner for children with chronic illnesses."
Tyrell is a young man with the dream of attending community college and studying carpentry. In his application, he wrote that, "The issue of HIV/AIDS has impacted me as a leader because I realize that I can make a change in people's lives because I understand their situations. I want to be a positive role model to younger kids, especially in my community, because it was hard for me and I know it is hard for them. I want to own my own business and build a recreation center in my community."
For Doug Harris funding the scholarship is personal. He explained, "My Uncle Paul was a hero to me and he was always there to help someone in need. Because of his generosity and his believing in me, I was able to finish college and create a life of my own. My intention for creating this scholarship fund is to continue the legacy of believing in our youth, and empowering them to create a life they want to live, based on their dreams. Each year, I will host an annual Concert for Dreams to increase the scholarship funds, which will enable more Camp Dreamcatcher children to fulfill their dreams of going to college."


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Get ready for the show here.
Notable 9
Best Picture Nominees
�Amour� � This French film explores the stresses on the relationship of an elderly married couple, who are retired music teachers, in the midst of the deterioration of the wife�s health.
�Argo� � Ben Affleck directs and stars as Tony Mendez, the real-life CIA agent who helped six American embassy workers make a daring escape from Iran during the hostage crisis by posing as a Canadian film crew.
�Beasts of the Southern Wild� � A young girl who goes by �Hushpuppy� is at the center of an incredible tale of survival, often fending for herself before and after a storm�s massive flood devastates her town in Louisiana.
�Django Unchained� � A freed slave played by Jamie Foxx teams up with a bounty hunter portrayed by Christoph Waltz, and one of their goals is to rescue his wife from her cruel owner (Leonardo DiCaprio).
�Les Miserables� � The story of forgiveness, love and redemption excels in its newest iteration with stellar performances by Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway, among many others, in a breathtakingly beautiful film.
�Life of Pi� � A young boy loses his family in a shipwreck and survives for weeks at sea, aided largely by his dynamic fear-care relationship with a tiger named Richard Parker.
�Lincoln� � Daniel Day-Lewis brings to life the revered American president in his quest to pass the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, before the end of the Civil War in 1865.
�Silver Linings Playbook� � A man and a woman facing excruciating personal trials meet during their struggles and form an unorthodox bond that includes some wildly entertaining dancing.
�Zero Dark Thirty� � It�s the story of the CIA�s massive manhunt for Osama bin Laden, told largely from the vantage point of an unbreakably determined CIA agent played by Jessica Chastain.
Triumphant trio
This year�s Best Actress category features three performances that could easily be the frontrunner. Each is in such a different type of role that it�s hard to compare them. One thing is clear: Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Lawrence and Naomi Watts delivered three of the most unforgettable performances of 2012.
Jessica Chastain
The movie � �Zero Dark Thirty�
The role � CIA agent Maya, who worked the Osama bin Laden trail for years until finding the tip that helped lead to his killing
How she shined � Chastain made you feel the personal loss and close calls experienced by the real-life agent she portrayed, as well as her incredible wit and determination.
Jennifer Lawrence
The movie � �Silver Linings Playbook�
The role � Tiffany, a young woman whose husband was killed; she forms an unlikely friendship with a man named Pat who was institutionalized after finding his wife with another man
How she shined � Her connection with Pat, played by Bradley Cooper, was a rare realistic portrayal of a complicated relationship, including her perfect combination of vulnerability, honesty and strength.
Naomi Watts
The movie � �The Impossible�
The role � Maria, who with her husband and three boys are vacationing in Thailand during the 2004 tsunami
How she shined � She perfectly conveyed the emotional weight of Maria and her son being separated from her husband and other two boys, plus the incredible physical anguish of surviving. Her ability to remain focused on caring for others, including another young boy, in unbearable circumstances was unbelievably refreshing.
Ben Affleck�s moment
It�s likely to always be remembered as one of the more puzzling moments in this year�s Oscars race: Ben Affleck being passed over for a Best Director nomination. But the resulting surge of support and other awards for his masterful film �Argo� leave him with a likely priceless consolation prize: A Best Picture win.
Clark calls it
Best Picture � �Argo�
Best Actor � Daniel Day-Lewis, �Lincoln�
Best Actress � Jessica Chastain, �Zero Dark Thirty�
Best Supporting Actor � Robert De Niro, �Silver Linings Playbook�
Best Supporting Actress � Anne Hathaway, �Les Miserables�
Best Director � Ang Lee, �Life of Pi�
Original Screenplay � �Zero Dark Thirty�
Adapted Screenplay � �Silver Linings Playbook�


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This was published 6 years ago
Ticket price gouging taking consumers for a ride
Consumers are being slugged by booking fees.
So, you've decided this weekend to see the Sydney Festival's baroque show-stopper Dido & Aeneas; choreographer Sasha Waltz's underwater spectacular set to Purcell's 17th-century opera at the Lyric Theatre. How deep are your pockets?
You're about to be slugged a booking fee that Australian consumer advocacy group Choice criticises as ticket sellers ''creaming'' ticket buyers.
Those attending concerts, arts and music festivals, sports and theatre around the country are charged up to $9.15 on top of already expensive tickets no matter which option they use to buy them - phone or internet; home delivery or pick-up. Sometimes there is a fee even for buying online and printing at home. So what are you paying for?
Most of this money is going directly to the festival organisers or to the venue, or is split with the ticketing agency if selling is outsourced. The usual culprits - credit-card charges - account for little of booking fees. The Reserve Bank of Australia estimated in September the average merchant service fee for MasterCard and Visa is 0.81 per cent of the transaction.
On the Sydney Festival website, the general ''how to book'' and ''ticketing fine print'' pages state ''transaction fees may apply'' without stating amounts. The Dido & Aeneas page gives the price range of seats, with no mention of extra fees.
Choose a cheap ''restricted view'' seat, select a date and you're told $55 is the ''full price''. But, after selecting the number of tickets, the truth is revealed: ''a transaction fee of $6.50 will be applied to this booking'', a 12 per cent mark-up on a $55 ticket, but the same flat fee is charged to those buying $199 premium seat tickets.
It's more expensive to book those same Dido & Aeneas seats on the Ticketmaster website, which, before selecting your seat, states ''a handling fee from $7.95 per transaction applies''. The Sydney Festival's phone lines - managed by Ticketmaster - charge $7.95 per transaction, too.
A Sydney Festival spokeswoman said no one was available to explain where the booking or handling fee money goes. However, she pointed out it was possible to avoid ticket fees by buying the small number of $25 bargain tickets made available for many shows each day at the Tix 4 Nix booth in the Hyde Park festival garden.
Ticketing agencies are often the only option when a big concert name tours. Tickets for the Rolling Stones at Allphones Arena on March 25 are $99 to $577.70. But the Ticketek website says in fine print below the event you will also be up for a ''service/delivery'' fee ''from $5.35 per transaction'' - and the additional 1.95 per cent ''credit/debit card processing fee''.
The Sydney Opera House adds an $8.50 fee per phone, internet or email transaction, or $5 at the box office. A spokeswoman said that, as a non-profit organisation, the Opera House must generate 85 per cent of operating costs independently of government.
Such surcharges are ''standard practice worldwide'', she said, and ''cover the costs of running a ticketing operation - this includes a call centre, website, box office counters, back office operations, sales and marketing and significant technology development and infrastructure''.
But Choice spokesman Tom Godfrey said such surcharges are excessive and the price of a show ticket should already include the cost of providing the ticketing service.
''Sure, the Opera House needs to make some money but it shouldn't be doing it at the expense of the consumers' interest,'' Godfrey says. ''Surcharges should not be over and above what it costs to administer the service.''
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which declines to disclose how many complaints it has received about booking fees, says while businesses are free to set their prices, it is investigating whether there is adequate disclosure of fees and charges, with concerns noted about the entertainment industry.
''The practice of incremental disclosure of additional fees and charges - often referred to as drip pricing - is a key focus,'' an ACCC spokeswoman said.
Godfrey says ticket buyers should be quoted the full price.
Booking, transaction and service delivery fees are ''credit-card surcharges by another name'', Godfrey says. He says credit-card surcharges should be capped at less than 1 per cent of a transaction.
Ticketmaster, which merged with Live Nation in 2010 and calls itself the world's largest ticketing company, and Ticketek, which bills itself as Australia's largest sports and entertainment ticketing company, charge ''astronomical fees'', Godfrey says.
A Ticketmaster spokeswoman said only the managing director could comment and was overseas.
Ticketek did not respond to Fairfax Media's request for comment before deadline.
As of March 18 last year, the Reserve Bank introduced new rules allowing credit-card companies to cap retailers' credit-card surcharges closer to what the companies actually charge as a merchant service fee. But, in Australia, there is no regulatory body overseeing the setting of ticket prices or pricing structure.
At Sydney Theatre Company, patrons pay $7.50 per online transaction and $8 over the phone but there is no extra charge on tickets sold over the counter.
''Transaction fees go to the costs associated with running and maintaining a box office,'' a Sydney Theatre Company spokesman said. ''And yes, STC does need to pay credit-card companies a merchant fee, which is calculated against the gross cost of the transaction.''
Choice has noted smaller ticketing agencies, such as Moshtix, charge a few dollars less for online and phone bookings than the Ticketmaster-Ticketek duopoly.


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On 25-26 April 2017, join us at Ricoh Arena in Coventry for a coffee and a chat with our team at stand 214. You'll learn more about NSF International's pharma biotech services including world-class regulatory and compliance consulting, auditing, training and clinical testing on a global basis.
John Johnson, Vice President of NSF Pharma Biotech, will be presenting the keynote session What Organisation Behaviours Drive Perpetual Adherence to cGMP? on the 25 April at 4:05 p.m. John will speak about how the best companies use knowledge from the government's behavioural insights team to influence mind-set and culture, so that GMP is embedded into the organisation and how this knowledge can be used to simplify complex processes as well as mitigate risk to the supply chain.
Pete Gough, Executive Director, will be presenting the session Brexit – The Potential Impact for Pharmaceuticals on the 26 April at 11.30 a.m. Pete will review the potential impacts on a range of administrative process around the manufacture of medicinal products. This will include the potential impact on the EMA, on exporting and importing medicines to and from the EU, on the role of the Qualified Person and to existing marketing authorisations and the changes to UK pharmaceutical legislation required.
This year's event brings 80+ technical presentations and workshops, with a comprehensive exhibition featuring over 100 companies. Register early to avoid the queues when you arrive. NSF look forward to seeing you in April at what is set to be the best Making Pharmaceuticals event yet.
Click here to register.


text:
For the week ending 22 December 2007 / 13 Tevet 5768
Clothes for the Maid
The home of Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzenski in Vilna was the haven of hundreds of Roshei Yeshiva and their students when the Nazi menace threatened them at the outbreak of World War Two. This Torah giant offered compassion, counsel and financial assistance to those fleeing from the terror of war.
His selfless dedication, day and night, to everyone who came to him so impressed the director of the local office of the Joint Distribution Committee that he offered to grant him any request in appreciation of his public service.
The rabbi's reply was that his poor maid's clothes were worn out and she could not afford to buy new ones. "If you really want to do something for me," he said, "see to it that some new clothes are provided for her."


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It is straightforward to get ZBrush to start the way you want. All you need to do is record a startup macro. You can then edit the DefaultZScript to automatically play the macro when ZBrush launches.
First you need to record your macro:
1. Before you start recording, make sure to initialize ZBrush by pressing the Init ZBrush button at the top of the Preferences palette. This makes sure ZBrush is cleared of any custom tools and so on which might mean your startup macro doesn't run correctly.
2. Press the New Macro button in the Macro palette. When you get the message about initializing ZBrush click Yes. This ensures that your macro will run correctly.
3. Now set up ZBrush how you want. When you're done press Macro>End Macro. Save the macro to the ZStartup\Macros\Misc folder and call the file StartupMacro.txt.
You should now have a new button called StartupMacro in the Misc submenu of the Macro palette. If it's not there press the Reload All Macros button and it should appear.
It's a good idea to test your macro to see that it runs correctly. Initialize ZBrush first, so that you're starting from the default state, then press the button.
Changing the DefaultZScript:
Once you have your startup macro recorded you need to edit the DefaultZScript so that your macro is run automatically on startup. If you've followed my instructions exactly you can simply copy the attached file:
1.In the ZBrush 3.5 R3/ZScripts folder you'll find a file called DefaultZScript.txt. Rename this DefaultZScript_bak.txt. This is so that you can restore the original start up if you want.
2.Put the attached DefaultZScript.txt in the ZBrush 3.5 R3/ZScripts folder.
3. Restart ZBrush.
More detail - for those interested
All this edited DefaultZScript is doing is executing a bit of code that presses the macro button. It's important that the code is correct and the macro button is actually there or the code will fail. If you get an error message saying that the interface item can't be found then you'll know you've made a mistake somewhere.
The full (revised) DefaultZScript code is below. The important bit is the IPress command. (It's wrapped in an If statement because it is not a top level command and so can't exist on its own.)
The code after IPress, is the button path. You can find this for any ZBrush button by holding Ctrl while the cursor is over the button. The button path will be shown at the bottom of the pop-up window.


text:
What is a computer virus?
Viruses are malicious software programs that easily replicate themselves, infect your computer, and often spread to other computers. The spreading of viruses is often done via e-mail attachments or network traffic.
What risks are involved?
Virus programs can delete files, format disks, attack other computers or slow your system down. They can also create "backdoors" that allow hackers to run programs on your computer or gain access to your files.
How do I know if I have a computer virus?
To find out more on determining if your computer is infected visit our FAQ on infected computers.
What can I do to protect myself?


text:
Rosedale church hit with big stormwater fee
Nonprofits charged $20 per 2,000 square feet of impervious surface area
A Rosedale pastor is asking Baltimore County to reconsider new and increased fees charged to his church that were attached to his recent property tax bill.
Father Donald Grzymski at St. Clement Mary Hofbauer Church in Rosedale said he worries he may have to cut services provided by the church to pay the bills. The issue for the pastor is how to stretch the church budget. He said, right now, most of a Sunday collection will go to pay the new and increased fees.
The church may be able to handle it this year, but the pastor said he is extremely worried about the next.
Grzymski said the church faces a new financial reality amid an already tight budget. He said he wonders how to pay all the bills while continuing to serve community needs because his concern centers on the increases in state and local fees.
The latest bill from Baltimore County includes the new stormwater fee also known as the rain tax.
"We knew it was going to go up, but it was up more than we thought," Grzymski said.
The fee is for impervious surfaces such as St. Clement's parking lot, building roof line, driveways and private roadways. That's expected to cost the church nearly $1,700. The Chesapeake Bay restoration fee jumps from $360 to $720, but the largest increase comes from the sewer service fee, which rises from $1,800 to $5,100.
"All of them together was kind of a shock. You worry about it and say, 'How can I pay for this? How is it going to impact the parish? Where are we going to find the money for it? What are we going to have to cut out?'" Grzymski said.
The WBAL-TV 11 News I-Team checked with Baltimore County about the rate increases. Vincent Gardina, the director of environmental protection and sustainability, checked on the stormwater fee charged to the church and said the bill is correct.
"They have 49,000 square feet of impervious surface area. It's based on the rate of $20 per 2,000 square feet. They have no stormwater treatment in place. The total bill is $1,691 per year," Gardina said.
Gardina said the county has tried to make this fee as low as possible for institutions and nonprofits.
"We have one of the lowest nonprofit rates in the state. We realize nonprofits have limited resources, but they also contribute significantly to the pollutant load. If we don't charge them, we have to charge residences or businesses more," Gardina said.
The church could remove part of its parking lot or install a system that collects and treats stormwater as it flows off the buildings and the parking lot, officials said, but both options are expensive.