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HAW RIVER � Ernest Moore said if he could tell state legislators one thing, it�d be simple.
�I�d tell them they�ve got better things to do than stop people from having a good time,� he said.
Moore frequents Village Marketplace Sweepstakes on West Main Street in Haw River. It�s in the Village Marketplace Shopping Center off North Church Street. Moore goes to the sweepstakes cafe an average of twice a week, he said.
His investment in gaming isn�t big, Moore said � no more than $40 a week. He said he�s never won much in the sweepstakes, either � his top prize never topping $100.
Still, Moore likes it, as much for the camaraderie of the establishment as anything.
�It�s very, very entertaining and fun, too,� he said. �It�s like fishing � it gives me the chance to get out of the house and socialize.�
If the state has its way, Moore�s fun and the fun of thousands like him across the state may soon be coming to an end. Recently, the N.C. Supreme Court overturned lower court rulings that favored the Internet sweepstakes industry. The move reinstates North Carolina�s laws against the businesses and upholds a previous ruling that sweepstakes halls are gambling operations.
This past week, the likelihood of the sweepstakes parlors being closed increased dramatically after the state�s highest court refused a request from industry officials to delay closings while they appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The refusal could close within weeks hundreds of businesses across North Carolina, including numerous establishments in Alamance and Guilford counties.
Industry officials said they don�t expect the ruling to be enforced for at least two weeks, until it becomes final.
STATE OFFICIALS and others claim sweepstakes gambling is a problem that inordinately affects those who can afford it the least � families on the lower end of the socio-economic scale. They say it leads to domestic problems and serves no productive societal purpose.
Backers of Internet gaming counter that it�s no worse or more addictive than the state-run N.C. Education Lottery.
For the moment, what becomes of Internet sweepstakes parlors is unclear. Will it be police raids similar to those once staged at illicit video-poker sites?
Who knows? Law enforcement officers contacted seemed as perplexed as anyone as to the fate of Internet gaming cafes. Alamance County District Attorney Pat Nadolski predicted further legal wranglings.
Don Bullis, the owner of Village Marketplace Sweepstakes, said he doesn�t know how it will play out.
�If we�re stopped, there�s going to be a lot of people out of work,� he said.
Bullis bought Village Marketplace Sweepstakes in June. The business had been home to an Internet caf� prior to his purchase and Bullis admitted the property �left a lot to be desired.� He straightened the place up considerably.
Bullis paid to have the building gutted and rebuilt � repainting everything and installing new carpet, ceiling fans and expensive light fixtures. Bullis said he�s got almost $350,000 invested in the property that he�s expanded from 2,200 square feet to about 4,200 square feet.
�I cleaned it up and business started to increase,� Bullis said. �It grew so quickly, it swept me off my feet.�
Customers at Village Marketplace Sweepstakes are fiercely loyal � both to the business and one another. They come across more as family members than clientele that merely frequent a shared business. When they walk in the door, they�re greeted � both by fellow customers and employees.
Remember �Cheers� where everybody knows your name? It�s that kind of feel.
The sweepstakes shop looks nice � nothing about it coming across as a shady establishment. Anyone who steps inside is welcome to free soft drinks and coffee. The sale of alcohol is banned from Internet cafes and Bullis said he wouldn�t offer it even if legal.
The majority of Village Marketplace Sweepstakes is open to smokers, but there�s a game room where smoking is prohibited. Walls are decorated with portraits of Hollywood legends as well as a photo of President Kennedy and his wife. One room is �The Carousel Room� � its walls adorned with paintings of merry-go-rounds.
�I�ve never had to call the police, never had a fight,� Bullis said. �I�ve never had shouting, never had a confrontation between a male and a female. I challenge the government to compare my business to establishments that serve alcohol.�
Of his customers, Bullis said: �They come for relaxation � whatever.�
BULLIS, 69, who has a background in the service industry, said he got involved in Internet sweepstakes after suffering a serious fall and injury in December 2010. He had trouble walking and said during recuperation his doctor advised him it�d do him good to get out of his house more often. Bullis began visiting a sweepstakes caf� in Burlington.
�I thought, �Hey, I could do this,�� he said of owning such a business.
Bullis said he realized the move was a gamble in itself. The state put the clamps on Internet gaming in 2010 � legislators passing a law against such businesses. Backers of the games countered with the legal case the N.C. Supreme Court settled last week.
�I knew there was a risk,� Bullis said. �I never dreamed it�d materialize.�
He doesn�t like to read articles that refer to the sweepstakes business as �gambling.� Bullis said his customers merely purchase Internet time, then do with it what they wish. Most, he admitted, play games where they can win cash � as much as hundreds or (on extremely rare occasions) thousands of dollars.
Winnings, say proponents of Internet cafes, are predetermined.
Bullis said he�s mystified by the backlash against businesses such as his. Haw River has among the lowest taxes of any local municipality on the games, but Bullis said he still pays a fee of $250 on each of his 99 machines.
Bullis said he�s always been well-received by officials with the town of Haw River, but others say that�s not true of how gaming businesses have been welcomed in some local municipalities.
IN AUGUST, members of the Graham City Council imposed much stricter guidelines on new Internet sweepstakes businesses looking to move to town � including restrictions on how closely they can open to everything from schools to parks.
In May, Burlington City Council members upped the fee they charge for gaming machines to $2,500 for the first terminal at a caf� and $1,000 for each additional one. Previously, business owners were charged $25 for every four terminals.
�I think singling out an industry like this is just not right,� Jerry Stewart, the owner of Interstate Sweepstakes on Ramada Road, said at the time.
Bullis said he feels the same. He noted his business has done much for the community. A donation box at the register with proceeds earmarked for Christmas Cheer of Alamance County is filled with dollar bills. Bullis tossed in a check for $1,000 from the business.
He looks out for his 10 employees. When Bullis decided to have a Christmas meal for them, he did two � one at lunch and another at dinner to make sure everyone involved in keeping the business open 24 hours a day could attend.
On the other side of Burlington, Brad Hall, the owner of Glen Raven Business Center at the intersection of West Webb Avenue and West Davis Street, said Internet cafes give more back to the community than people realize. He said he and his customers provided Christmas presents for a needy family that would have otherwise done without.
�We�re trying to put a positive spin on it,� Hall said of the gaming industry. �We do a lot of good.�
He said police have been called to his establishment only once since he opened in June 2011. That occurrence, Hall said, was for help when there was a bump-up of cars in the parking lot.
�There are bigger fish to fry,� Hall said of the courts looking to close down gaming industries like his.
He said his customers come to the business as much for the chance to talk to others as try and win Internet games.
�These are people who�d be sitting at home watching a movie if they weren�t here,� Hall said. �It�s a form of socialization.�
BACK AT Village Marketplace Sweepstakes, Trent Chrisp, one of the employees, said he�s got something to tell the courts and legislators if they close his place of employment.
�I won�t be able to pay my bills,� he said.
Meanwhile, Bullis wondered aloud if the money he�s paid in taxes will be refunded if he�s closed. He said he paid $13,500 in taxes for new machines just last week.
Bullis said he worried his speaking out about the merits of the gaming industry and questioning those seeking to shut him down might make him a target if those closures come to fruition. He said if he�s ordered to close, he�ll close, and said the last thing he wants are police officers showing up at his door to force the issue.
�I hope owners like me will get the courtesy of a call,� Bullis said. �If I get a call telling me to close, I�m going to the circuit breaker and shutting off the power. It is what it is.�


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Santa Fe Culture
A beautiful entry way that I found while visiting Santa Fe, NM recently. The color of Santa Fe is a reminder of the tribal arts that are very much alive in the city.
Cross of the Martyrs
During our trip to Santa Fe we thought it would be nice to take in a New Mexico sunset. This shot was from a spectacular location overlooking the city. It's definitely a must see if you go to Santa Fe.
A fisherman looking for that big one at Waterton Canyon just SW of Denver, Colorado.
Fallen Tree
A fallen tree found during a hike at Waterton Canyon which is just southwest of Denver, Colorado.
Compilation of C's
Compilation in C - This image is a compilation of various images I've taken over the years. The reason I refer to it as "Compilation in C" is because the sunrise & tracks are in Colorado. The image of the boat was taken in the Caribbean. Finally, the photo of the stream was taken near Cork Ireland. Add a bit of lens flare and there you have it. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did putting it together.
Pottery Petals
As winter continues to keep us indoors we are seeing things close to home that take our breath away. Here is a beautiful piece of pottery created by our dear friend Mr. John Nelson of Castroville Pottery. We are happy to share this photograph with our followers and invite you to see more of his work at www.castrovillepottery.com
A Touching Memory
They say "Cherish the moments that take your breath away." These flowers were delivered to our home just after cancer reared its ugly head. Life is incredibly delicate as this touching memory reminds us every time we look at it. Thank you Bobby and Ashly for being a beautiful part of our lives.
Her Hands
In honor of Mom's 80th Birthday! You are so very loved.
Grapes of Sonoma
These grape vines are from the Cline Cellars located in the Sonoma Valley of California. This was taken just after the fire of 2017 and their final grape harvest. They mentioned that it will be interesting to see if the taste of smoke evolves in the Napa Valley wines of 2017.
Colorado Sunrise
This was an experiment as part of a photography challenge to only take one shot. The sign is no longer there but the memory remains. Pikes Peak backdrop at 14,110.
Phone Graffiti
During a stroll through the Old Northend of Boston came across this out of commission pay phone that was covered with graffiti.
Fire Alarm on the Bay
This is a fire alarm box located near Fisherman's Wharf and the Ferry in San Francisco, California. Likely a result of the devastating fire and earthquake that occurred in 1906.
Classic Americana
An old farm rake adorning the front of a farmhouse located in Hudson, Colorado.
Western Spanish Dancer Dahlia-Nightshot
Captured in our very own backyard in all of her glory with a bit of light painting after dark. It is early October in Colorado and she has bloomed to just about dinner plate size. Absolutely stunning.
Historic Victor Gold Mine
The remains of the Victor Gold Mine located in Victor, Colorado
Light Painted Lily
This brilliant lily was immerse with a unique lighting effect after dark.
Labor Day Lift-off
First day of Labor Day Lift-off in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Grist Mill bedstone
This bedstone is located inside of the Wayside Inn Grist Mill near Sudbury, MA. The mill is still in operation.

subset: commoncrawl


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Later this year, viewers will get to see actor Elijah Wood making his leading debut on television in the unusual new FX television series Wilfred. The comedy is a remake of the Australian show of the same name, and it follows the life of a young man named Ryan (Wood), who is an introvert that struggles to find personal and professional happiness. Then, he meets Wilfred, his neighbor's canine companion, who the rest of the world sees as an Australian Shepherd dog, but who Ryan sees as a man dressed in a dog suit.
While at the party to celebrate the Fox/FX portion of the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour, Elijah Wood talked about this rather bizarre concept, his desire to work in comedy on television, how the season starts production in March and juggling this new project with the film roles he has lined up. He also shared some thoughts on his excitement about returning to Middle Earth, alongside director Peter Jackson, for The Hobbit, which he says is slated to start filming in February. Check out what he had to say after the jump:
Question: How is series work for you? Do you like it?
ELIJAH WOOD: Yeah, it's great. I like the pace. I think the pace is exciting. It keeps things fresh. Especially when you're dealing with comedy, I think it's nice to move at a faster pace. I've only done the pilot so far. We start shooting the season in March, for three months. That will be the true test, but I'm excited.
Had you heard of the original Australian series before they pitched this to you?
WOOD: I'd actually not heard of the original show before. It is bizarre, but I think that's why I fell in love with it so much. It's very unique. It's unlike anything I've read or seen on television, and it's very, very funny.
Why television? Were you looking for something, or did they approach you with this?
WOOD: I had started reading television scripts. I think television has become such an interesting place for characters and for incredible storytelling. Half of what I watch now are television shows that I've become obsessed with. I just think that it's opened up so much, over the last five years, to be such an interesting and creative medium, and so many wonderful directors and actors are moving to television because it is a great medium for telling stories and for creating a character over a long period of time. And, I love comedy, so I was interested in exploring what there was out there, in regards to comedy. I read Wilfred and fell in love with it.
What kind of TV do you enjoy watching?
WOOD: I'm a huge AMC fan. Mad Men is amazing. Breaking Bad is genius. The Walking Dead is great. I'm really excited to see where it's going to go. I'm a big [Frank] Darabont fan, and I love the graphic novel. There's all sorts of shows that I love.
Because this show is so unusual, how would you describe it to people?
WOOD: It's not exactly easy to describe. It's a comedy about a man who befriends a dog that everyone thinks is a dog, except he sees the dog as a man in a dog suit. The comedy comes out of that. That's the basic premise of the show.
Is it like an updated Harvey?
WOOD: It is, sort of. That's something I really clued into as well. I'm a huge fan of the Jimmy Stewart film and I love that sort of disconnection from reality that he has with that character, and there is definitely a kinship, for sure.
Does it feel odd to act opposite a guy that's dressed in a dog suit?
WOOD: It's great. There's no acting required.
How have you been able to juggle this series with all the movies you have coming up?
WOOD: Oh man, it's all scheduled out. That's how it's done.
Was there a chance that you wouldn't be able to do The Hobbit because of Wilfred?
WOOD: No. As it was always with The Hobbit, they wanted to do it very early in their schedule, so it just happened to work out very well.
So, did you always know that you were going to be going back and doing it?
WOOD: I didn't always know. I had an idea.
What's it like to be returning to Middle Earth again?
WOOD: It's a gift. We're now going on over a decade since I went out to New Zealand to start The Lord of the Rings, so it's just going to be a beautiful reunion. I was actually out there in February and a lot of the same crew and designers, and so many of the family are a part of making The Hobbit as well. It's just going to be a beautiful, very surreal reunion.
Does it make it that much more special to have Peter Jackson back for it?
WOOD: Yes, absolutely. I was very excited at the prospect of Guillermo [Del Toro] doing it. I'm a huge fan of Guillermo's work and he's a wonderful man, but it obviously makes it that much more special that Peter is doing it. It's going to be a true reunion, in that sense.
Who else is coming back?
WOOD: Ian McKellan is back. Andy Serkis is reprising his role as Gollum. Cate Blanchett is coming back as Galadriel. There's a few others from the original trilogy.
When will you start filming?
WOOD: Sometime in February.
That soon?
WOOD: Yeah.
How long will the shoot be?
WOOD: They're going for over a year. They've got two films to make.


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Life under Apartheid has created a secure future for Robin Conrad, a ten-year-old white girl living with her parents in 1970s Johannesburg. In the same nation but worlds apart, Beauty Mbali, a Xhosa woman in a rural village in the Bantu homeland of the Transkei, struggles to raise her children alone after her husband's death. Both lives have been built upon the division of race, and their meeting should never have occurred . . . until the Soweto Uprising, in which a protest by black students ignites racial conflict, alters the fault lines on which their society is built, and shatters their worlds when Robin's parents are left dead and Beauty's daughter goes missing. After Robin is sent to live with her loving but irresponsible aunt, Beauty is hired to care for Robin while continuing the search for her daughter. In Beauty, Robin finds the security and family that she craves, and the two forge an inextricable bond through their deep personal losses. But Robin knows that if Beauty finds her daughter, Robin could lose her new caretaker forever, so she makes a desperate decision with devastating consequences. Her quest to make amends and find redemption is a journey of self-discovery in which she learns the harsh truths of the society that once promised her protection.
It's already October but I've found another favorite. Hum If You Don't Know The Words will definitely make my Best Of 2017 list and it's already one of those books I know I will keep recommending to everyone. I devoured this beautiful novel in less than two days and I highlighted many quotes and dialogues, which is always a great sign. I haven't felt this way since I read The Trouble With Goats and Sheep, which, incidentally, has a similar main character, which must be part of the reason why I love them both.
I was recommended this book by two of my favorite bloggers, Renee and Susie. Like them, I was attracted to this story because of the comparisons to two of my favorites: The Help & The Secret Life of Bees. And yes, I can see the resemblance, especially when it comes to female friendship and racism (although the stories are obviously really different). I'm happy to say that Hum If You Don't Know The Words deeply moved me and left a lasting impression too. I won't forget about this novel.
This is the story of two women: Robin Conrad, a nine-year-old white girl, and Beauty Mbali, a black woman searching for her daughter. These two characters have apparently nothing in common, but their lives will connect in a wonderful way. Most of the reviews I read praised Beauty's narration and I agree that hers was a heartbreaking and engaging story. I admired her courage and determination. But I also fell in love with Robin's perspective (and I admit I totally didn't see that first "twist" coming). I get that she acted too mature for her age, but I've realized I don't mind that when reading fiction, as long as it helps with the story. And yes, I'm fully aware that the last part of the story wasn't realistic at all, but I was enjoying the book so much that it didn't even bother me. I deeply enjoyed reading about Robin's relationship with Cat, her aunt Edith (whom, despite her flaws, I really liked!), and, of course, Beauty and her Jewish neighbour.
What I liked the most about Hum If You Don't Know The Words was that both women showed us two different perspectives of the same world. By following Beauty's journey, we learn about students protests and racial conflicts and we also get a glimpse of how the world used to treat black women. Beauty's difficult relationship with her daughter Nomsa was also key in understanding how everything worked back then. How could she possibly come to terms with her daughter's decisions? On the other hand, Robin's story was more focused on grief, innocence and it shed light on a different kind of prejudice as well: homosexuality in the 70s South Africa.
One thing that I found extremely interesting was the portrayal of Robin's parents. They were clearly racists but the author didn't try to turn them into "villains"; in fact, they were really good with Robin -especially her father-. Like with Lightning Men, I find it so shocking that people could behave that way and discrimination wasn't even unusual. Even Edith, who clearly prides herself on being modern and tolerant, has a very disturbing scene that made me feel quite ashamed.
As you can see, I could talk about this book for ages, but I don't want to spoil the experience for you. Hum If You Don't Know The Words is a wonderful exploration of grief, loss, tolerance, friendship and family and it helped me learn a lot about the Apartheid and South Africa. I wish all books I read made me feel this way.
P.S; Not that it's important, but this is probably also my favorite book title of the year.
P.S 2: I was so happy when Rodriguez was mentioned! I love him and the fact that he was so popular in South Africa.
Netgalley, G. P. Putnam's Sons , 2017


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Enlighten Greater London (Westminster) vs Laser teeth whitening Greater London (Westminster)
Quite some ads are being pedalled on teeth whitening and may confuse one on the best option available. Laser teeth whitening Greater London (Westminster) is new in the market and has quite a lot of hype surrounding it.
How laser teeth whitening works in comparison to enlightening teeth whitening trays Greater London (Westminster).
In contrary to the notion that lasers themselves do remove the dirt from your teeth, the laser doesn't do the cleaning, but dentist has to apply a peroxide paste. Some of this include but not limited to carbamide peroxide or hydrogen peroxide. The laser is used to heat up this gel and thus a faster release of oxygen which dissolves through the enamel. On the other hand with the whitening trays, the peroxide releases oxygen that seeps through the enamel (outer layer of the tooth) and hence break down the stains
Enlighten teeth whitening Greater London (Westminster)
- One is guaranteed to lighten their teeth to up to sixteen shades with minimal potential damage to your teeth or gum.
- One has the freedom to do a 'top up' afterwards at home whenever you want. You just need to buy a mouth guard and gel which then you are required to sleep with over a couple of nights and your teeth will regain their white colour.
- The effects are durable almost 1-2 years with regular daily brushing. This is impressive as the client just needs to maintain their teeth through brushing and flossing to prevent cavity build up.
- It cost close to ninety percent cheaper in comparison to laser teeth whitening which makes it quite attractive to budget cautious clients hence mostly preferred method as the results equal those of laser treatment procedure.
- It takes quite a lot of time to see tangible results; this is on average two weeks. The slow progress may cause some patients to give up in the process.
- It may interfere with sleeping patterns as one is required to sleep with the trays which may be distressing to some patients.
- One needs to undergo a final laser treatment to seal in the bright white shade.
- There is sensitivity, and one is provided with anti-sensitivity toothpaste to aid with the process which is supposed to minimise the pain.
- One can't take drinks such as black coffee, red wine or any food with strong colours during the period of treatment. Some clients may find this disturbing as they may feel restrained from taking their favourite dinks or meal.
Laser teeth whitening
- Change is almost instant as it's immediately visible than any other treatment with multiple sessions of roughly thirty minutes. It's also the best dental tool to achieve good results in a few seconds.
- Takes quite a short time for the procedure hence quite convenient to the client.
- One requires paying only one visit to the dentist hence suitable for people who have a busy schedule.
- You can have it done at home no need for multiple visits to the dentist.
- One major challenge in this treatment is that it may cause sensitivity where people show sensitivity towards the laser but this might only last 6-18 hours afterwards.


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About Hearst Television
We are Hearst Television, a national multimedia company. We own and operate 30 local television stations and two local radio stations, serving 26 television markets across 39 states, reaching approximately 21 million US television households. Our mission is to be No. 1 in broadcasting, achieving that status with integrity, respect and community spirit.
That's the bigger picture. But there's another story here too. A story of an award-winning, diverse, stable, supportive employer, guided by strong principles and engaged, involved professionals who believe in what they do.


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MONROE, La. – The Conservation Fund recently that it was on the verge of achieving of two spectacular milestones — the planting of its 2 millionth tree as part of its voluntary carbon offset program, Go Zero, and a total of 1 million trees in the ground at Upper Ouachita National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Louisiana — all made possible via private donations.
Since 2010, donations from hundreds of thousands of individuals, together with gifts from leading companies, have been put to work at Upper Ouachita NWR to restore nearly 3,000 acres with native seedlings. As part of its "Plant One for Ouachita" campaign, The Conservation Fund will oversee two plantings at the refuge this December, which will mark the two millionth tree for Go Zero and the Fund's 1 millionth tree at the Upper Ouachita NWR.
All photos: Sean Gardner/USFWS
Forestland once blanketed the 46,500-acre refuge, providing shelter for ducks and bears and slowing floodwaters for communities downstream. In the 1960s, when food prices began to rise, lush forests and waterways throughout Louisiana — including the Upper Ouachita area — were slashed and burned, leaving behind a drastically altered landscape.
Today Upper Ouachita NWR is one of the largest floodplain restoration projects in the nation. The Conservation Fund, together with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and others, aims to repair the Ouachita River's natural hydrology and restore much of the native forestland that once covered the region. As they grow, the new forests will provide cleaner air, cleaner water for those downstream — including the cities of Monroe and West Monroe — and more places to roam for threatened species like the Louisiana black bear.
"Our partnership with The Conservation Fund's Go Zero program has been ground-breaking," USFWS Southeast Regional Director Cindy Dohner said. "USFWS could not have achieved what this public-private partnership has been able to accomplish. Together, we are returning significant portions of the Lower Mississippi Valley to its native state, conserving fish and wildlife, and fighting climate change. We are extremely grateful to The Conservation Fund and its donors for their work to achieve these milestones. Now let's push ahead to another million-tree mark."
"Over the next century, these trees will provide food and habitat for hundreds of thousands of waterfowl and other migratory birds and wildlife," said refuge manager Joe McGowan. "It's a partnership that has greatly improved our wetlands restoration efforts here. With the help of The Conservation Fund and its donors, Upper Ouachita NWR will continue to provide some of the very best wetlands for wildlife and the American people."
"We are incredibly proud of our donors and honored to work with the Service to restore special places in America like Upper Ouachita NWR. Its biologists and foresters are the very best stewards we could ask for to care for these new trees," said The Conservation Fund's Go Zero director, Jena Thompson Meredith.
To date, The Conservation Fund's reforestation-based carbon programs, including but not limited to Go Zero, have helped to protect and restore more than 26,000 acres with 8 million trees that will trap an estimated 9 million tons of carbon dioxide as the forests mature.
Story courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Related posts on MNN:
- Indian man single-handedly plants a 1,360-acre forest
- More trees than there were 100 years ago? It's true!


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This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.
WILMINGTON, Del. — Amtrak says it is canceling service across the northeastern U.S. on Monday as Hurricane Sandy threatens to create a wet, windy mess in the region.
Amtrak said in a news release Sunday that it was canceling all service north of New York at 7 p.m. Nearly all service across the Eastern Seaboard will be canceled starting Monday.
Amtrak says it has not yet determined when train services will resume. Alternate transportation is not available.
Some trains will continue to run in Florida and the Carolinas.
The news release says customers can receive a refund or voucher for future travel.
Credit: The Associated Press.


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Consumers are calling for portable account numbers to enable easier switching between bank providers, but are concerned about banks sharing IT infrastructure to make this happen.
According to a YouGov study carried out by BT, which saw more than 6,500 people across the world surveyed, the majority of consumers in the UK (62 percent), Spain (76 percent), France (64 percent) and Germany (61 percent) agree that a portable identity number to enable easy switching of bank accounts would be useful.
However, the prospect of banks sharing back-end infrastructure and having access to customers' personal information to enable this is less appealing, reflecting a concern around the security of personal data.
Many respondents felt that banks sharing IT infrastructure would be a bad idea (38 percent), whilst a significant number were still undecided (28 percent).
Only in Hong Kong (75 percent) and Spain (54 percent) did the majority of consumers think that a shared IT infrastructure for banks was a good idea.
"There is clearly an appetite for technology and services which help increase transparency and competition, such as number portability and richer online comparison tools. But there is also a significant level of apprehension around the creation of a shared banking infrastructure," said Tom Regent, president, global banking and financial markets, BT Global Services.
"With any new solution that the industry moves forward with, they will need to be mindful that consumers need reassurance around security and protection of their data."
He added: "Increasingly, we are working with our bank customers to develop security strategies, helping them to put effective risk and compliance management in place, test for malicious system attacks, and support identity and access management."
Interestingly, consumers are also unconvinced by the benefits of mobile banking – particularly in the UK and Germany. Only five percent of Germans and 10 percent of Brits said that mobile banking is one of their three most trusted banking technologies. Across the board, internet banking, in-branch self-service and ATMs were viewed as the most trustworthy technologies.
Tom Regent continued: "Banks are increasingly focused on providing services via smart phones and tablet devices in order to keep pace with digital changes and innovation.
"While this is an important strategy, banks must be careful not to lose sight of the need for human contact in either the branch or via a local call centre agent. Our research shows that these continue to be customers' most trusted and preferred channels."
Banks in the UK have come under scrutinyin recent months after a number of high profile IT failures, most notably RBS's botched upgrade to batch processing software CA 7 from CA Technologies, which left millions of customers unable to gain access to funds in their bank accounts.


text: Loading Content... Share a Link to this Message The link has been copied to your clipboard; paste it anywhere you would like to share it. Close - Browse Series - ------------- View Series Archives ------------- Psalm 23 - Directional Living Another Look At The Book Christmas 2019 Seize This Moment Heroes The Blessing of Trial From the Graveyard to Glory One Small Step As Your Soul Prospers The Secret To Success Can Be Summed Up In One Word Body Building The Functions of Fatherhood How to be happy Things I have learned (and you should too) God's next BIG event What you need to know when life gets hard God's Sufficient Grace True Motherhood Life on Mission Working the Field of Souls The Last Day of Jesus Each One Reach One Boot Camp Purpose Driven Church This Changes Everything The Mystery of Christmas The Gift of Joy Joy in the Journey Three Forces At Work In The World Teaching the Truth What did I sign up for? A Great Church is... Showtime We Are A Blessed Nation Christmas In July How's Your Heart Father's Day Graduation Sunday All Things New Jesus The One & Only This Is My Story Loving God Stronger Living By The Book Misfit Christmas Thankful For...the Gospel The 5 Solas Worship Cast Away God Math The Soul That Prospers America: God Shed His Grace On Thee The Resurrection Personified Advice from the Aged The Ultimate Rehab Center The Model of a Faithful Mom The Case for Christ Nehemiah: Doing A Great Work The Meaning of Love Against the Wind The Purpose Driven Church Hope Personified Thanksgiving in Trial Cliff Notes On The Bible The Days of Elijah Saved for Sure September 11th As Your Soul Prospers Why God is a "VOL" Fan Living the Impossible Life Happiness Vs. Joy Pray. America's Only Hope Bryan Osborne Dad's Most Important Job DOING MISSIONS GOD'S WAY Rick McKnight Memorials Jimmy Turner Inside Out Thank You Embrace The Cross Born Again Dr. Gregory Frizzell Four Habits of Highly Effective Christians The Mystery of Christmas All About Christmas Dollars and Sense 5 Things the Bible Says About Orphans Dare To Be A Daniel Whirlwind Tour Through Revelation The Successful Christian Life You are a Church Sign The Feasts of The Lord Baptism The Great Adventure The Triumph of Truth The Strength of Weakness For Freedom Jun 28 The Bible: Why We Believe Easter At Coolidge Behold The Lamb Jonah The Book Of Ruth Unleashing The Church The Game Of Life - Browse Speakers - Smith Brian Dennis Culbreth Gaddy Darryl Darrell Davenport Jim Fleming Dr. Gregory Frizzell Ken Herring David Ivarson Jon Jackson Gary Jared Dr. Ternae Jordan Rick McKnight Bryan Osborne Joel Richardson Brian Smith Jimmy Turner Sandy Zensen - Browse Topics - christmas Ruth Missions Father's Day Father's Day Memorial Day Graduation Gary Jared - April 14, 2019 Pray with Him Listen More Messages from Gary Jared | Download Audio From Series: "The Last Day of Jesus" Facebook Tweet Link Share Link Send Email More From "The Last Day of Jesus" Love Like Him Gary Jared March 3, 2019 Listen Listen to Him Darrell Davenport March 10, 2019 Listen Learn from Him Gary Jared March 17, 2019 Listen Receive from Him Brian Smith March 24, 2019 Listen Examine with Him Gary Jared March 31, 2019 Listen Look at Him Brian Smith April 7, 2019 Listen Pray with Him Gary Jared April 14, 2019 Listen Powered by Series Engine


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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will unveil its 2014 football signing class this afternoon, capping months – and even years – of work on the recruiting trail.
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will unveil its 2014 football signing class this afternoon, capping months – and even years – of work on the recruiting trail.
Chris Hauser, who is Arkansas' director of recruiting, spent a few minutes discussing the work that went into the 2014 class with the Arkansas News Bureau on Tuesday afternoon. Here are some of the highlights from the 10-minute conversation:
Q: What is it like around the office the day before signing day?
A: "Things are good. They're exciting. All of the emotions because you have a sense of unknown as well. There's still some guys out there that you just don't know which way they're going to end up going. I think you're excited because you know who you have and you're excited about it, but you could be a lot more excited depending on who makes the call towards us in the next 12 hours, 24 hours."
Q: Your class isn't loaded with big stars and this group won't wow people with its ranking. But how well do you think the program has addressed its needs?
A: "Our philosophy is, you always have to recruit to what you believe in and the type of culture you want to create in your program. Obviously, there's some great football players that are athletic enough to achieve success at this level, but also have the characteristics off the field. Understanding that school is very important to get a degree. What they do off the field will also show up on the field in the long term. A lot of people think star rankings – the quick fix is getting the four- and five-star kids — but we kind of look at it almost in a different light. If you can find those three stars or two stars or four stars, whatever they are, that are kids that have a higher ceiling than maybe that five star. That could really become bigger, faster and stronger, really starting to become a great football player than already having, for lack of a better word, tapped out as far as their potential."
Q: Bret and the staff have made a big deal of that 'Be uncommon' theme. You've put it on literature everywhere. Commitments have made it a part of their vocabulary, it seems. So how well do you think the message has caught on?
A: "Is has. Kids buy into what you're selling and if you're consistent with it, I think they really see that we believe in that. We're not just going to go the everyday common route and try to go after, again, guys that everybody else wants. Everybody else in the country could offer a kid and for whatever reason we might not feel that that kid is what we want in our program. And vice versa. There's kids that we've taken chances on that, for whatever reason, we feel that he's going to be a guy that will fit into Arkansas. Korliss Marshall, to this point, has been someone who has obviously shown he's got a bright future and we've been right on."
Q: You've had some obvious challenges this month in recruiting without a defensive coordinator. How has that affected what you've tried to get accomplished on the defensive side of the ball?
A: "I just don't think we've let it affect us. I'm not saying it maybe hasn't in some instances. But we're obviously a great university, a great program with coach Bielema. He's going to play things the way he wants to play them. We're going to hire a successful coach that has a great background and is obviously going to help us win football games. So I think people understand that. In the meantime, it's hard sometimes maybe for the defensive side of the ball to identify with exactly that guy that's going to run the defense. But I think coach Bielema has handled those questions in meetings and people have been pleasantly surprised with the insight that they get when they've met with him."
Q: The staff has made an emphasis from building this program from the interior out and it looks like you've done well on paper in this class. How much progress do you feel like you've made in building your offensive line since arriving in Dec. 2012?
A: "It goes unsaid, (offensive line coach) Sam Pittman is probably the best recruiter in the country at the offensive line position. With that, you're able to go get the guys you really want and we've been able to do that again in this year's class. There's always that attraction, I guess, to get the best wide receiver, the best running back or this and that. We do believe it starts from the inside out and that's our offensive line. They're recruited very well and also coached very well. (Offensive coordinator) Jim Chaney has a huge hand in that, too, because of his offensive background and his offensive line background. The kids realize when they get in here that when they talk with coach Pittman and coach Chaney it's basically the same terminology, the same everything. When they, hopefully, want to achieve their dreams at the next level they're more prepared coming into our program than 90 percent of the other programs in the country. They realize that when they get in here and get around our guys and our coaches and see how similar it will be to the next level."
Q: Bret said in mid-December, right after Charlie Partridge left, that he didn't think it would create much more than a "blip on the radar" for South Florida recruiting. How well were you able to recruit down there even without Charlie?
A: "I don't even know how words can describe how valuable that area has been with the last two recruiting classes and it continues again to go into the '15 class with some of the kids we've been on. (Linebackers coach) Randy (Shannon) has done a phenomenal job as far as – I'll be honest, I don't know if I felt that way that it would be a blip because Charlie Partridge is really, really good and has a lot of solid connections there. But Randy has done an outstanding job. Again, from my standpoint, we need to have some type of tie just besides Randy down there with how good things are for us at this point. That will be something to figure out, obviously, with this next hire and so on and so forth. But it's been really good to us. I don't know where we'd be without it."
Q: I know recruiting never ends for you guys, but what is today like when the 2014 class is signed and you can present it at all of the events that are lined up?
A: "It goes through its stages. In the morning, everybody is so on edge. Until you get that fax you just never know for sure. Come mid-afternoon when we have the faxes and you have the full story on some of those kids that are still trying to decide between us and another school possibly, it will just be a sign or relief really. And I think everyone can kind of exhale and their body will relax a little bit and take a breath. You just try to enjoy it. And, again, it's a lot of sitting around and looking at each other at times. We really, obviously, don't do that a lot in this profession. So it's kind of a bonding time for us. But it's also a time to, again, get those 2015 kids on the phone. Contact their high school coaches. We have a schedule of kids to call in and tell them this is what we want you doing a year from now on this date. It's more of a fun thing than a work thing. It will be enjoyable, hopefully, after about noon, 1:00."
— Robbie Neiswanger • Arkansas News Bureau


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Lesson Plan
Heroes Are Made of This: Studying the Character of Heroes
|9 – 12
|Lesson Plan Type
|Estimated Time
|Six 50-minute sessions
|Lesson Author
Washington, Washington DC
Designed to explore the hero and the heroic in literature, this sequence of activities can be used as a unit or as stand-alone activities. In the first activity, students work in small groups to brainstorm lists of heroic and unheroic traits. They create lists of heroes and villains and discuss and categorize their choices. They explore how heroism can be relative by reading about a mock trial of George Washington. In the third activity, students read and analyze an heroic text. They create word portraits of a hero from the text by ranking lists of characteristics, then create and discuss character maps. Finally, students compare the heroic qualities of multiple characters from one or more works of literature, using a Venn diagram.
- Hero's Traits Reader's Log: Have students use this reproducible to track character traits as they read.
- Literary Elements Map: Use this online tool to map character traits.
As Rodrigues and Badaczewski explain in their section on "Involving Students with Character" (59-68), students often need structured activities to help them analyze the fine detail of characters, even stereotypical characters, within the context of their specific text. Brian Moon explains, "Like cars, computers, clothing, and other consumer goods, written texts are products of culture; as cultural artifacts, these things are made to fit into people's lives and to support certain ways of thinking and acting" (30). This lesson is designed to encourage students to explore the hero and the heroic not as fixed ideas but concepts dependent upon contexts such as situation, culture, gender, expectations, etc.
Further Reading
Moon, Brian. 2000. Studying Literature: New Approaches to Poetry and Fiction. The NCTE Chalkface Series. Urbana, IL: NCTE.
This lesson is based in part on: Rodrigues, Raymond J., and Dennis Badaczewski. 1978. A Guide Book for Teaching Literature. New York: Allyn and Bacon.


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The image shows the Assignment section of the Human Task editor. On the left are the following links from top to bottom: General, Data, Assignment, Presentation, Deadlines, Notification, Access, and Events.
To the right and at the top are the Make Parallel icon, Make Serial icon, Up arrow, Down arrow, Add icon, Edit icon, and Delete icon. The Add icon is selected and a dropdown list is displayed with the following options: Sequential participant block, Parallel participant block, Sequential stage, and Parallel stage.
Below this is a box labeled Stage1. Connecting to this box from below is a block named Stage1.Participant1.


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"Where has this team been?"
That was the question a TV producer tossed out after San Diego State walloped No. 15 New Mexico Saturday – the same San Diego State squad that had lost two straight and scored nine first-half points vs. Wyoming a week earlier.
Um, where has this team been? The same place it's been for 14 years – in the Mountain West.
The Aztecs learned their lesson about the conference's perils in Laramie last Saturday, where they needed nearly 21 minutes to crack double-digit scoring. The AP college basketball voters should have learned something similar this Saturday, when SDSU buried New Mexico 55-34 and held the Lobos to their lowest point total in the shot-clock era.
Heading into the game, only one, one team from the conference was ranked in the nation's top 25. This is the same conference that has the second-highest RPI in the country, possesses six teams among the RPI's top 50, and is projected by ESPN's Joe Lunardi to send six representatives to the NCAA Tournament.
Quite frankly, having just one school from the Mountain West with a number next to its name is insulting. And even if it is due to a lack of knowledge, in this case – ignorance is diss.
New Mexico coach Steve Alford vented such frustration earlier in the week, saying he was "amazed" with the "bothersome" rankings, and that his conference is punished more than it is rewarded when teams beat up their own.
Uh…ya think?
Yes, after losing to UNLV and Wyoming last week, the Aztecs (16-4, 4-2) were justifiably bumped from the poll. But to drop from No. 15 after receiving 704 points to what is technically No. 31 while receiving 26? That's a felony sentence for a misdemeanor offense.
And to completely leave out a 16-4 UNLV team whose only conference losses were on the road to New Mexico and Colorado State – the latter of which has won 24 straight at home? You can still see the saliva on the Runnin' Rebels' cheeks.
"At any given game any team can be shut down and any team can be great," said SDSU point forward JJ O'Brien when asked about the depth of his league. "You can't really get caught up in one game because the next game can be anything."
It would be tough to find a better set of games to reflect O'Brien's words than what the Mountain West has produced over the past couple of weeks. The then No. 15 Aztecs got blown out by Wyoming, then crushed New Mexico (17-3, 4-1) seven days later. UNLV, which downed SDSU in Viejas, needed overtime to beat Air Force in Vegas on Jan. 12. And Nevada improved to 2-3 in conference on Saturday via a 16-point win over Boise State, which has the 49th best RPI in the country.
But like a crowd leaving an Adam Sandler flick, everyone seems worse off than when they started.
The Big Ten is the only conference with a better RPI than the Mountain West, and has five teams in the AP top 25. The Big East has four, the SEC has three, the ACC has three, the Big 12 has two, and the Pac-12 has two.
After the Aztecs' win Saturday, folks on press row were wondering how high they'll be placed in Monday's poll. Personally, I think the result will hurt New Mexico more than it will help San Diego State.
"The Lobos lost to the team that scored nine points at halftime?! Sayonara suckers!"
It doesn't help that the Mountain West is situated on the West Coast and until recently has been in the Pac-12's shadow. And it was of virtually no assistance that, until this year, people could only watch games consistently if they had The Mtn network, which, well…did you have The Mtn network?
But regardless of access or general interest, voters need to realize that with the depth and sometimes excruciating travel, a Mountain West team losing is like a Portland resident seeing rain – inevitable no matter who you are.
"This is a great league that we're in. This is a league that I think we can go into any league in the country – a bunch of us – and challenge for a championship," San Diego State coach Steve Fisher said. "And I think that people know that and not just in San Diego."
Yeah, they know it in the other Mountain West cities, too.
But as far as clued-in voters...where have those guys been?


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Racist chants cause Panama forward Luis Tejada to abandon game in Peru
Panama forward Luis Tejada walked off the field in a match between Peruvian clubs Juan Aurich and Cienciano after suffering racist abuse from fans on Sunday.
Tejada, who plays for Juan Aurich, angrily kicked the ball into the stands in the 70th minute and walked off in response to racist chants directed at him from the Cienciano supporters.
Tejada was issued a yellow card by referee Ivan Chang for booting the ball away and told Peruvian outlet Depor.pe after the game: "I am sorry about...


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UH Institute for Astronomy Open House 2006
Annual event to be held on April 30thUniversity of Hawaiʻi
Karen Rehbock, (808) 956-6829
UH Institute for Astronomy
How do you build a rocket?
What are the latest discoveries from Mauna Kea?
Why does "dark matter" matter?
For answers to these questions, head for the annual UH Institute for Astronomy Open House on Sunday, April 30 from 11 am to 4 pm at its Manoa headquarters on Woodlawn Drive.
New this year will be an opportunity to simulate a Mars landing (using raw eggs), learn about King Kalakaua's enthusiasm for astronomy, and watch a puppet show that connects Hawaiian culture and modern astronomy.
There will also be family lectures on hot astronomical topics such as the Deep Impact mission, dark matter, and the origin of the oceans, plus accounts of recent observing expeditions by Hawaii astronomers to the Sahara Desert and Antarctica.
Children will have the opportunity to make comets, travel through space in our Starlab planetarium, and engage in a "find the planet" hunt. There will be telescopes available to safely view the sun, the moon, and Venus, as well as practical advice for novice amateur astronomers on how to buy and use telescopes and astronomy software.
Kupuna Leilehua Omphroy and the Hawaiʻiana O Honomu, a troupe of eight educators, are traveling from Hilo with their 18 hand-carved puppets to present "ʻAno Lani ʻAno Honua, the Relationship between Heaven and Earth." They have been performing shows to great acclaim on the Big Island over the past year; this is their first visit to Oahu.
There will be tours of the IfA's research laboratories, where visitors will be able to see the world's largest digital camera under construction.
Other Oahu astronomy groups that will be represented at the IfA Open House will include the Hawaiian Astronomical Society and the Bishop Museum. Hawaii's budding astronomers will be represented by several schoolchildren who will be exhibiting their displays from the recent Schools Science Fair.
Admission and parking are free.
For more information, go to http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/open-house.
For more information, visit: http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/open-house


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Permit Information
Why do I need a Permit?
Public road rights-of-way serve a number of purposes - transportation routes for vehicles and pedestrians; corridors for the installation of electricity, phone and other utilities; and access to abutting properties. It is vital to the safety of all users of road rights-of-way that conflicts are kept to a minimum, and that work done within a right-of-way occurs in a safe, efficient manner. The permit process allows Public Works to monitor and coordinate activities within county road rights-of-way.
As of January 1, 2020, permits fees are:
Driveway Approach $225.00
Road Encroachment $130.00
Waivers $65.00
Development Construction Plan Review $ 600.00
Development Construction Inspection $3,000.00
(plus $100 per lot)
What types of Facility Permits does the Public Works Department issue?
Facility Permits cover work affecting roads and right-of-way under county jurisdiction. Facility Permits include:
-Driveway/Road Approach
-Road Encroachment
-Major Road Improvement
-Minor Road Improvement
-Utility Permit
-Special Permit
-Driveway/Road Approach
A Driveway/Road Approach Permit is required for all new driveways or for changes to an existing driveway within a county road right-of-way. This permit must be obtained before a Development Permit or Building Permit can be issued. Only a prequalified licensed contractor may apply for the permit. A certificate of liability insurance is required naming Josephine County Public Works as holder. The applicant must additionally supply the legal description of the property (Township, Range, Section and Tax Lot number). A wooden stake will be given to the applicant to mark the desired location of the driveway. A Field Supervisor will check the marked location to determine if the location has adequate sight distance and if a drainage culvert is required. After the field inspection is made, the Supervisor will notify the office of the requirements. The permit will then be issued.
-Road Encroachment
A Road Encroachment Permit is required whenever private facilities are proposed to be constructed within a right-of-way. Examples include fences, structures, signs and landscaping. Public Works will determine if the encroachment should be allowed, and if so, whether it should be on a temporary or permanent basis.
-Major Road Improvement
A Major Road Improvement Permit is required for construction or alteration of a county road that necessitates detailed plans, as determined by Public Works.
-Minor Road Improvement
A Minor Road Improvement Permit is required for construction or alteration of a county road that does not require detailed plans, as determined by Public Works.
A Utility Permit is required whenever public facilities, such as water, sewer, gas or transmission lines, are proposed to be constructed within a right-of-way.
A Special Permit is required for the temporary use of a county right-of-way for business or non-business operations or public events, such as log loading, removal or alteration of vegetation, scheduled public walks, runs and biking events.


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Urania's Well: Astrology for Changing Times
PaganSquare is a community blog space where Pagans can discuss topics relevant to the life and spiritual practice of all Pagans.
Retrograde, by Jove!
"Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith." - Margaret Shepherd
I've gotten some questions about Jupiter going retrograde, and there also seems to be a lot of fear and trembling around Saturn's move into Scorpio last week. People want to know how these planetary changes will affect them personally.
In a horoscope, the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars are the personal planets, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto the transpersonal ones. Jupiter and Saturn, though, are the social planets — they rule the way we interact with each other, the way we form and interact with cultures and civilizations. So it's not unlikely that the lessons of these transits on a personal level will be triggered by, and reflected in, the interlocking social structures within which we all live, and the zeitgeist — the web of ideas and beliefs that underlie those structures.
Has something in your life that was growing and expanding begun to slow down, to stagnate? Is there a situation in which you seem to be losing personal power? Perhaps a situation where you are uncomfortable with or uncertain of the moral parameters and need to think carefully about what you believe, and what you value? That's Jupiter moving retrograde.
Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Along with Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, it is classified as a "gas giant", its thick hydrogen and helium atmosphere making up most of the planet's mass around a small core of heavier elements. Appropriately, given its physical nature, Jupiter rules growth, expansion, and the widening of horizons. It is a mental planet, like Mercury, but oriented towards the future, while Mercury is in the here-and-now. Mercury keeps the records, Jupiter makes the laws. It rules philosophy, law, and both personal and cultural values.
When a planet goes retrograde (abbreviated Rx) there are a couple of things you'll want to pay attention to. First, determine which degrees will be visited by the planet as it moves backward and then forward again in the sky, as well as the degrees at which it is stationary (when it goes Rx or direct). If you have planets or sensitive points in your natal chart in those degrees, you'll be receiving a major dose of energy from that planet. With Jupiter, there is always an opportunity to move beyond your limits. Of course, a lot of people would rather face the zombie apocalypse than move beyond their limits, but with Jupiter, you usually get moved, one way or another. Best to skillfully ride the wave rather than get tumbled.
Grab the Brass Ring
Where these opportunities will manifest for you personally depends on which houses Jupiter is transiting in your chart, plus any aspects between Jupiter and any natal planets, as well as the houses ruled by those planets, and the houses in your natal chart with Sagittarius and Pisces (Jupiter-ruled signs) on the cusp. Which means, of course, this Jupiter Rx is likely to make itself known in several areas of our lives.
A planet going retrograde heralds a process of review and development. As Jupiter first turns Rx, you'll find there is a shift in the energy and you will be given an opportunity to evaluate and assess as it approaches a trine to the Libran Sun on Monday. As the retrograde progresses, you may find yourself losing enthusiasm, even hope in those areas of your life being affected by this transit. When this happens, look closely at your personal values and beliefs, and what might be challenging your sense of integrity. Jupiter Rx gives us the gift of re-assessing certain situations in our lives so we can be sure that we are acting in line with our personal values, and that we are not the victims of conflicting beliefs.
Conflicting beliefs can be found at the root of many, if not most of the problems in our lives. A lot of the beliefs we hold are not really close to consciousness — many were formed in, and carried over from, childhood. As an example, you may believe now with all your heart that you are capable of going back to college and getting a degree (Jupiter rules higher education), but you may still carry repressed beliefs laid on you by bad or misguided teachers or parents in your childhood. You may have heard from them that you are "stupid" or "bad at math" or "a loser". Unless you uncover, assess, confront and change these beliefs, you may well fail in your educational attempts. So, in this hypothetical situation, the effect of the Jupiter Rx may be to delay your college application process, to give you an opportunity to think about whether starting school and a new job in the same month is a good idea, or if it really is a setup for failure. Or whether or not you want to go for the MBA your mom and dad want you to get when your heart is set on marine biology. We set ourselves up to fail when we let negative beliefs stay hidden while they pull our strings.
The turning point in this process will happen when Jupiter opposes the Sun early in December, and it is likely that some decision will be made, or a decisive event happen. Then, through December and January, as Jupiter approaches another trine to the Sun a few days before it goes direct January 30th, you'll set new goals, make revisions, adjust plans to fit and then begin forward motion again. At some point in this rebuilding period, you may find that you need to take a leap of faith to move ahead. Faith — both religious and secular — is ruled by Jupiter.
The Devil Is In the Details
The second thing to pay attention to with a retrograde is the sign the planet is in. In this Jupiter Rx period is Jupiter is in Gemini, the sign of its detriment, in opposition to the sign it rules. The six oppositional polarities of the signs of the Zodiac are always in elements that are friendly to each other — Fire with Air, Water with Earth — and so I tend to think of the whole rulership/detriment, exaltation/fall designations given to the planets by the ancients as a challenge of integration and synthesis, not judgements of good and bad. With Jupiter in Gemini, one of the challenges is to back up your faith with facts, and to measure your beliefs against reality. Great scientific theories — brilliant leaps of understanding into entirely new territory — are worthless until they are backed up by data that has been meticulously collected and analyzed. Jupiter is the theorizing, Gemini is the data collection and analysis. The broad scope of Sagittarian theorizing must be supported by Geminian facts, and Jupiter is challenged to organize those facts into paradigms that incorporate our deeply-held values. Theories are necessary, but unless they are supported by facts and practical details, they aren't very helpful.
The retrograde period of a planet is a time of distillation of power, an opportunity to re-assess, re-visit, shift, and change in certain areas of your life. That power can be used or wasted. Your attention to and awareness of the process will determine the outcome.
As for Saturn in Scorpio -- well, I did mention that in last week's post, and I'll have more to say on it in the weeks ahead.
(P.S -- This note added later: A few hours after I posted this, I read that Jason Pitzl-Waters has decided to move his blog, The Wild Hunt, back to an independent platform. Here's the whole post. I can't help but note what a perfect example this is of Jupiter going retrograde in Gemini. A decision about a religious communications outlet, based on Jason's personal values, and a previous decision is being reconsidered. Then, in 60 days, as Jupiter opposes the Sun, the actual move will take place. A textbook example!)
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Three times on two days in September 2009, diluted chemicals used to coax natural gas from the Marcellus Shale spilled from broken pipes and hoses in Susquehanna County and leaked into a wetland and creek.
Safety documents kept at the well site for the concentrated fluid, a Halliburton product that lowers the friction of water, listed two ingredients with generic names and no unique chemical identification numbers.
The documents, which are meant to detail a product's hazards, did not specify the chemicals in the fluid and provided virtually none of the information environmental regulators needed to evaluate the spills.
Instead, before inspectors with the state Department of Environmental Protection could begin to determine the extent of the contamination in the soil and stream, they asked Halliburton if they could take a sample of the raw gel in order to track down its chemical fingerprint - an analysis that was not finalized until more than two weeks after the first spill.
- Search for natural gas leases in our expanded database
- Complete coverage of natural gas drilling in NEPA
The prolonged investigation into the spills, which is detailed in over 100 pages of DEP documents reviewed by Times-Shamrock newspapers, shows the stakes of a push in Congress and in several states to force drilling companies to fully disclose the chemicals they use to break apart gas-bearing rock often a mile underground.
To release the gas from the Marcellus Shale, companies inject millions of gallons of water, silica sand and chemicals into the formation at high pressure to break apart, or hydraulically fracture, the rock. Full disclosure of those hydraulic fracturing chemicals, which make up about 1 percent of what is injected underground, has been at the heart of the drilling debate.
The precise identity and concentration of the chemicals is considered chief among the unknowns by some researchers, landowners and lawmakers who have found that vague identification of the chemicals interferes with spill investigations, emergency response and drinking water testing.
It is the subject of legislation proposed in Congress and in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and it is addressed in updated well reporting rules proposed by the Department of Environmental Protection that will likely go into effect this fall.
'Well known, well understood'
The natural gas industry says it already offers full disclosure.
The national organization Energy In Depth, the state-based Marcellus Shale Coalition, and individual company spokespeople consistently cite a list of 33 different fracturing chemicals DEP posts online to prove that complete information about the chemicals is readily available to the public.
"The entire universe of chemical information is out there," said Chris Tucker, a spokesman for Energy in Depth.
DEP officials have repeatedly maintained they know what is in the hydraulic fracturing fluids because companies must submit safety documents, called Material Safety Data Sheets, for the chemicals they use at their well sites as part of the permitting process - documents like those kept at the spill site in Susquehanna County.
In May, DEP Secretary John Hanger testified at hearings that the safety sheets reveal "all the chemicals" used by the fracturing contractors. He said the only unknown is the exact proportions of the chemicals that are used, which the companies protect as trade secrets.
Kathryn Klaber, executive director of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, said the industry is "absolutely supportive of full disclosure" and already offers it through the Material Safety Data Sheets.
"These chemicals are well known, well understood, highly diluted when they're being used, but nevertheless available."
'Leap of faith'
But the analysis of the fracturing gel that spilled at the Heitsman farm in Dimock Township on Sept. 16 and 22 identified 10 compounds, none of which is included on DEP's online summary of chemicals drilling companies told the department they use to fracture natural gas wells in the Marcellus Shale.
The list also does not include the Halliburton product used during the spill and does not name the generic ingredient "paraffinic solvent" listed by Halliburton on the chemical safety document.
One of the chemicals DEP identified in the gel - 1,2,4 trimethylbenzene - was found in the soil in amounts above the state's health limit. Several other chemicals were found in a swale and the stream after the spill.
Those chemicals, like many used in hydraulic fracturing, have undergone few studies to determine their risks to human health. Because Pennsylvania has not developed rules on the limits of those chemicals that are safe in streams, DEP instructed Cabot Oil and Gas Corp., the driller deemed responsible for the spill, to determine how toxic they are to aquatic life and humans.
In an e-mail response to questions about DEP's process of investigating the spills, the agency would not address whether its investigation would have been expedited or changed if inspectors knew the precise chemical composition of the gel at the time of the incidents, calling it a "speculative question."
The department did state that it takes samples "at many spill sites to confirm or identify the material spilled."
Records from the investigation also show that even as state regulators publicly declare the usefulness of the Material Safety Data Sheets for characterizing the drilling chemicals and their risks, officials with the department have expressed doubts about the sheets' reliability.
After the first fracturing fluid spill on the Heitsman site, Cabot submitted a revised safety sheet to DEP saying that although a first document said the product was a potential carcinogen, follow-up tests by Halliburton showed it posed no cancer risk.
In an internal e-mail, a regional DEP manager said the department was "not ready to make that leap of faith" until it finished its own lab analysis of the fluid, "especially in light of the facts" that the sheet classifies the gel as a combustible liquid "and our UV-IR scan showed it contains diesel fuel" - a component Cabot has denied was in the fluid.
Disclosure and regulation
Told of the spill investigation, Klaber said Material Safety Data Sheets are "not perfect" but have long served as a "very important data point" in many industries.
"If it were so bad, we should go to OSHA, not the industry, to fix it," she said, referring to the federal job safety agency that regulates the forms.
She added that the industry "wholeheartedly" supports the increased disclosure rules put forward by DEP, which would require drillers to report the names and total volume of chemicals used to fracture a well within 30 days after it is completed.
The new rules will not require drillers to report the volume of each chemical used, DEP's Oil and Gas Bureau director has said.
Last year, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey joined with three other members of Congress to introduce legislation that would bring the hydraulic fracturing process under the regulatory control of the federal Environmental Protection Agency and would also force drilling companies to disclose all of the chemicals they use during the process.
The oil and gas industry says the legislation, if passed, would cripple domestic gas production because they say it amounts to a ban on hydraulic fracturing - the technique that has made unconventional sources of gas, like the Marcellus Shale, accessible and affordable for the first time.
When similar disclosure requirements were considered and later rejected in another energy bill in May, the industry pushed back.
Lee Fuller, executive director of Energy in Depth, wrote to the committee chairman saying the reporting requirements could squelch companies' efforts to develop less toxic fracturing fluids,
"The release of information to competitors - both foreign and domestic - on initiatives such as the development of 'green' chemicals could have the perverse effect of forcing companies to cut their investment in this important research, or abandon it altogether," he wrote.
Casey said his bill, called the FRAC Act, is not going to stop hydraulic fracturing. "It's about disclosure and regulation and we need more of both," he said.


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Scott is not having very much fun with his cable modem setup.
He was able to EMail me from his Mom's IMac and asked me to pass along that Monday's strip has been posted to Keenspace ok, but the high rez flavor and his ability to log on here and Live Journal are off line until he is able to pound Win '98 into submission.
So Don't Panic and Thanks for all the Fish. Scott will be "back" as soon as he can.


text: When we name a stamp set "Beautiful Bouquet," you'd better believe we mean it! With sentiments for any occasion and countless ways to combine the floral images, this set will help you create beautiful bouquets that live on forever.Photopolymer stamps* Are totally transparent for perfect image placement.* Have just enough give to create a perfectly stamped image every time. * Cling like crazy to our clear blocks so you don't have to worry about slipping.* Save space—you need only one set of blocks for all your photopolymer stamps (blocks sold separately). * Come packaged in cases with images on the spine for easy storage and quick reference.Quantity: 37 photopolymer stampsSuggested clear blocks (sold separately): a, b, c, g, h


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What you need to know BEFORE you download Adobe's Creative Cloud.
If you have a Mac you must be running 10.7 or 10.8 to run the newest version of Adobe Photosop CC. That is Lion or Mountain Lion. Don't believe anyone who tells you differently be they a friend or support person. You need to be connected to the Internet and have Multicore Intel processor with 64-bit support. If you have Windows you need a Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD Athlon® 64 bit processor (2GHz or faster). The tech specs are displayed on Adobe's tech specs page.
The Tech Specs, I believe, seriously underestimate how much RAM (1 gig minimum) you need to run Photoshop CC. (Apple says just to run Lion you need 2 gigs of RAM. Microsoft suggests 1 gig of ram just to run Windows 7) At the college I work at we suggest at least 4 to 8 gigs of RAM to run Photoshop and still the 3D features are disabled if the video card of your computer has less than 512 MB's of ram or video ram.
Why buy the Cloud? The CS6 discs are scarce and now more expensive than ever, as they will not be offered in the future. Everything with Adobe will be by subscription. Even if you are a student and want to buy the CS6 disk; the price from Academic Superstore and Journeyed is now almost double what it was before. Hmmm? If you are a student, you can subscribe to the cloud for almost 4 years for that price.
The Adobe Creative Cloud applications that were released on June 17th 2013, offer a limited time savings to students (offer ends June 25th 2013) and owners of CS6 (offer ends July 31st), who can subscribe to the Cloud (all the apps) for $19.99 or a single app like Photoshop for $9.99. If you own Creative Suite 4 or 5 you can subscribe to the Cloud for $29.99.
What you can do with the new Photoshop Creative Cloud does approximate magic more than in any previous release; especially for Photographers. As a former photographer for jazz magazines I shot in the dark, without a tripod with very slow exposures because flash was not allowed. As a result many of my photos were blurred by camera shake, something that is all too common with IPhone or Android phone photos.
The new ShakeReduction filter will correct a photo that is blurred by camera shake but not if it is out of focus. To get to the ShakeReduction window click filter>sharpen> ShakeReduction. It diagnoses the amount of shake and the direction of camera movement and then corrects it. Here is one of my own iphone photos that started out extremely blurry and was improved through ShakeReduction. Once you use the filter, you can reduce any artifacts through the slider I have highlighted.
There are a number of different plugins and applications (OnOne's Perfect Resize, Photozoom and the free SmillaEnlarger) that you can buy to upres or resize a smaller image to make it larger. Photoshop's new image dialogue may not be the best resizer on the market but it is the best included inside any application.
In the revamped image size dialogue change width and height to percent (not pixels or inches) and check Preserve Details (enlargement). If you have picked up a little noise from enlarging the photo you can play with the reduce noise slider till you are satisfied with the result.
You can now open any photo or any layer in Photoshop and apply Camera Raw to it as a filter. In the video below I used a vignette feature that allows you to change any parameter of the photo. The difference in the new creative cloud release is that you can creative multiple vignettes to change multiple areas of the photo. I can take a trio of musicians and make it look like a spotlight is on them only, separating them from the background.
Adobe Exchange Panel
The best things in life sometimes are free like the ADOBE EXCHANGE PANEL. Thanks in a large part to Russell Brown, one of Adobe's mad geniuses, whose Watercolour Assistant, Painting Assistant and Paper Texture Panel can now be accessed from within Photoshop by clicking window>extensions>Adobe Exchange. Once you are there you can search through all the free offerings, find what you want and then hit install. Here I took the photo I sharpened and used Russell Brown's Paper Texture Panel to add a beautiful and complex background to the photo.
Here is an example of what you can do to turn a photo into a painting using Russell Brown's Painting assistant.
Feel free to explore more links by Adobe's top teachers like Russell Brown, Terry White and Julieanne Kost for free on Adobe TV.
Tim Warfield photo taken by Bob Hershon
Published on Jun 21, 2013


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We are working on a number of devellopment projects. Instead of just providing a single project, we decided to split the development up in some smaller subproject. This allows the groups to work independently from each other and avoids the problem that a compile error in one code causes an issue in another. All projects listed her are managed in github.
A project to do bare metal and VM based dynamic provisioning for a HPC cluster, OpenStack, Eucalyptus, Nimbus, ... .
A project to interface easily with multiple clouds from the command line and a command shell.
A project to create a SLURM based cluster in your cloud and run MPI jobs on it.
A project to analyse the users demand.


text:
Seussical I-Spy
March 1 - April 1, ALL DAYMain Library
Type: I Spy
Age: Children, Elementary 6-11 Years, Family
Topic: Dr. Seuss, I Spy
Those wacky Seuss characters are on the loose in our Children's Department and we need your help rounding them up! Find all the characters on your game sheet to earn a prize from the treasure chest.
Location Details: Children's Floor/3rd Floor
Contact Email: email@example.com


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Monday, November 20, 2006
Eric Sall reviewed in artUS
Eric Sall's atm show is reviewed in the Oct/Nov 2006 issue of artUS. Click here to see it bigger and read it.
The reviewer, Nadja Sayej, has an interesting article/interview with Tino Sehgal in the same issue.
8 comments:
- Unknown said...
I read Nadja's other writing (that Martin linked to) and it is obvious, at least to me, why she is trashing Eric's work. I am very skeptical of the motivations behind the work I see in galleries and perhaps even more so of "successful" artists showing in New York. I am also turned off by a lot of work that falls under the category of new abstraction. But that isn't really any different then other categories. I won't list the reasons why I dislike different types of paintings, sculptures, or anything that people call art, because the list is to long to even entertain – I would become bored.
I will consider why someone might be turned off to new abstract painting. People are more comfortable with abstract painting then ever before. All the people that sort of liked art, except for that scary theory part, have finally gotten the memo. Abstract painting is not scary theory any more, no, it is only that painting over there on the wall - look it's nice, don't you like it? Yes. And that is bad. People should be scared of abstract painting because it is complicated. And there are scary theories so if we want to be sophisticated art people then we simply must not stand for abstraction of any kind unless it is a name that is formerly verified by someone having to do with these theories. And we should say all new abstraction is meaningless because it doesn't feel the need to abide by the rules or even pay attention to us critics, "hey listen to me, why are you leaving?"
Alright, maybe I am going too far. But this article bothered me in a way that I usually reserve for visual art only. There are a lot of bad paintings in galleries, selling for a lot of money, but that is not specific to new abstraction. Eric's paintings are certainly not bad, meaningless, or soulless. Eric's paintings are some of the few paintings I think of as great. I could analyze every part of them; look through all my art history and theory books, try to justify them, and still come up with nothing that approaches how great they truly are. I think Nadja took a stand against the wrong person. I think critics need to really step back and think about whether they are really looking at the artwork in front of them, or if they are already writing in their heads, moving towards their own agenda, proving their theories to be correct. I think Nadja should think about her own meaningless abstraction and possibly start her own soul searching.
- Unknown said...
sry for the long post dudes
- Anonymous said...
Thanks for posting the review Martin, it is the first time I've read it, and thanks for the comments Bruce. For the record, I was born in South Dakota, not North Dakota as Nadja stated, and yes, there is a difference.
- Anonymous said...
isn't nadja sayef a current grad student at hunter? i think maybe.
more people around here, interesting in writing, should consider submitting to magazines like that, or to that saatchi site her articles are on.
- Anonymous said...
Art criticism can be useful beyond the author's intentions. Sayej's criticism of Eric Sall's work articulates some important qualities that might be the very reason to like his paintings. An intoxication with prismatic, multiple colors, a kind of placed thingness (Sall's gravity bound ground plane), a wide wide variety of marks (thin washes and cake-icing slabs), a courting with pop culture cartoon imagery, which is never explicit, only a feeling, and, perhaps most importantly, this forced disjunction, seeming about to spin out of control or to collapse, along with a brazen playfulness, a denial of modernist program (She mentiones Malevich, but we could also cite Buren).
But that's not all that can be said about Sall's work. The above words sound like a generic description of a great deal of 80s-90s critically-intended abstraction (I'm thinking of David Reed or 90s Shirley Kaneda or even 1980s Richter), but Sall isn't re-hashing them: all you have to do it look. But it does seem as if he is taking that mode of abstraction's-language-estranged as a baseline, and building on that. So for that reason the work is somehow familiar, even if highly skilled and inventive.
I don't quite understand Bruce's position re: scary theory and abstraction's relationship to it. It sounds like he is criticizing two poles: both easily likable painting AND the intellectual's outrage at being rendered irrelevant by nice abstraction, and if that's the case then bravo.
Whether he was sincere or sarcastic, he is absolutely right that abstraction should be scary and complicated, i.e., the most exciting work gnaws at our ideas of what a painting should be. The hard part is to keep gnawing 10, 50, 300 years later.
As for "Nadja's own meaningless abstraction," after a quick google, sure it's suave, but so is Sall. She has committed (?) to a certain territory, a certain language, and perhaps she interprets a lack of committment in Sall's work, and reads it as a cynical market play.
Art criticism is always a power play.
- Unknown said...
VC, very good. Thanks for sharing your wisdom.(sincere)
- Anonymous said...
Paul Valery said:
"The eyes are organs of asking."
- Anonymous said...
anime, animme, 徵信, 徵信社, 外遇, 徵信, 徵信社, 外遇, 情趣用品, 情趣用品, 免費a片, a片, 免費av, 色情影片, 情色, 情色網, 色情網站, 色情, 成人網, 成人圖片, 成人影片, 18成人, av, av女優, 性, 情慾, 走光, 做愛, sex, H漫, 免費a片, a片, 免費av, 色情影片, 情色, 情色網, 色情網站, 色情, 成人網, 成人圖片, 成人影片, 18成人, av, av女優, 性, 情慾, 走光, 做愛, sex, H漫, a片, 離婚, 抓姦, 外遇蒐證, 外遇抓姦, 外遇, 侵權, 仿冒, 應收帳款, 工商徵信, 美姬情趣網, 情趣風情, 中部人情趣網, 台北情趣用品, 情人節禮物, 成人情趣用品, 一夜情趣用品情趣, 情境坊歡愉用品, 情人視訊網, 美姬成人用品, 情人花束, 按摩棒, 情人歡愉用品, 成人視訊, 交友愛情用品館, 視訊交友, 情人視訊網, 成人視訊交友, 情趣交友, 美姬用品專賣, 高雄轉角, 情趣用品, 情趣用品, 辣妹視訊, 情色論壇, 情惑用品性易購, 紅煙論壇, 高雄轉角, 情趣用品, 性感睡衣, 免費視訊聊天, 視訊交友網, 美姬圖影, 紅煙論壇, 交友聊天室, 海角七號, 美姬圖影, 紅煙論壇, 成人視訊交友, 上班族聊天室, 情人節禮物, 高雄轉角, 情趣用品, 同志聊天室情書, 聊天室交友, 中部人聊天室, 情惑用品, 性易購, 紅煙論壇, 高雄轉角, 情趣用品,


text:
The Fuzzball Saga is ending in a few episodes. It's been a good year and a bit, but I ran out of funny stuff, and I don't want to stretch it out with a bunch of filler crap that nobody wants to see. So the ending that I've planned out from the beginning is well on it's way to happening. I will continue to animate things, so join my damn mailing list if you want to see them. Seriously, it takes two seconds to do and you won't get spammitized.
In conclusion, Courtney is a ho.


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Friday, January 23, 2009, 17:41 - Ancient Greek LanguageI have previously written about the use of ancient languages in modern company names: Company names: never boring!. So, here comes another one. Geron.
Posted by Administrator
Posted by Administrator
Geron is a Greek word that literally means "old one", "old man", "Elder". If you ask me, a pretty strange image for a company. Wouldn't one rather see the ideas of innovation and modernity to be oozing from a company that has anything to do with technology. According the the company website, "Geron is developing first-in-class biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer and chronic degenerative diseases, including spinal cord injury, heart failure and diabetes." I have to assume that their initial interest in the name was influenced by the term "gerontology", but there is something nefarious in the face of the old man that appears in the company's promotional materials. The company's role in stem-cell research thus becomes something straight from sci-fi: (white) old men preying on the young. Well, we shall see...


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richardmawer necesitaba un nuevo diseño de otro y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 67 diseños de 8 diseñadores freelance.
Racing Profits
My name is Richard Mawer - I am setting up http://www.racingprofits.net a membership site / blog designed to train people how to profit from horse racing and how to become a betting professional. I have been a betting pro for 10 yrs now and am aiming to share my knowledge.
Aiming predominantly at the betting and horse racing markets - crrently advertising through horse racing forums and blogs plus putting up free videos on you tube etc
I am releasing a Free DVD which will contain a 60 min video revealing many of the secrets I have learned over the years. The video will show the watcher the "what" and my weekly training will show them the "how".
The title of the DVD will be:
"The Top 10 Secrets to making money from Horse Racing"
"Racing Profits expose the Pro betting secrets that the bookmakers don't want you to know"
I would like a design for the front cover, side and back of the insert in the DVD case. Also a simple design for the DVD disc itself. These will need to be in the correct format to be sent to printer or kunaki for production.
If anyone uses software such as Box Shot 3D - I also need some graphics for my website to promote the Free DVD.
I have attached copies of my logo and some images to help get the design juices flowing.
Thanks for all your help.


text:
Maggie Comstock
Associate, Policy
U.S. Green Building Council
Last week marked the kick-off of the BlueGreen Alliance's annual Good Jobs, Green Jobs (GJGJ) Conference. The founding premise of the BlueGreen Alliance was to marry the aims of organized labor and environmentalists in common support of good, green jobs. This eclectic, yet compatible, mix of attendees makes GJGJ different from your typical green jobs affair. For the conference's fifth anniversary, GJGJ left Washington, DC and hit the road with a series of four regional conferences.
First Stop: Atlanta.
Good Jobs, Green Jobs South brought the green jobs message to a new audience; though, that is not to say that this is a new concept for the region. The conference held a wide range of educational a plenary sessions with case studies and experts from Atlanta and beyond. Attendees traveled far and wide to attend, from Virginia and North Carolina to Alabama and Texas. The South showed up in force and proved that they support good, green jobs.
As a veteran attendee of past Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conferences held in Washington, DC, I was very impressed by both the inspiring local speakers and passionate attendees. Did you know that Atlanta was one of the three cities initially selected to participate in the President's Better Buildings Challenge? Did you know that the State of Georgia has nearly 5,300 LEED credentialed professionals and ranks 9th in the country for total number of LEED commercial projects? The South is by no means behind in the green jobs game, but there is still more to be done.
If you weren't fortunate enough to make it to Atlanta, check out one of the three upcoming conferences to be held in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Detroit. You won't be disappointed by what you learn and the connections you will make. When blue and green align, what do you get? (Other than teal…) You have a strong and unified voice in support of high-quality, long-term, environmentally-conscious jobs. The next step is to show our leaders and policymakers that this alliance is an unwavering force for change.


text:
This harmless looking fellow is named David Barrett, and he's probably made you cry too many times in your life. Yes, he might look like a mime without his make up or a professional puppeteer, but, in fact, he's the songwriter who penned "One Shining Moment." On his website, this is how the song that launched a thousand goosebumps came to pass:
"In 1985, I was visiting a friend in New York City who just happened to write for Sports Illustrated. We were watching the NBA Finals, talking about sports and life and I remembered that I had written this song about sports and achievement, so when I got home I sent it to him. He took it over to CBS without me knowing, and they called me up out of the blue."
And, since then, he's become a professional singer/songwriter with plenty of other albums under his braided belt. No, he's no one-hit wonder. Surely, you've got "The Music of Golf" and "The Magic Never Ends: The Life And Times Of C.S. Lewis," also both wonderful musical masterpieces, in your record collection. These are must-haves, especially to musicphiles desperately searching for that one-of-a-kind artist who can pull off the whole Harry Nillsson-meets-Zamfir vibe without sounding too "neo-folk revisionist."
And those in Michigan area are in luck: On April 12, Barrett will perform at the Trinity House Theatre in Livonia on a monster twin-bill with violinist/singer Jake Armerding for a show that's just guaranteed to rock your fucking face off.
David Barrett Home Page [David Barrett]


text: The colossal Humphead Wrasse, also called the Napoleon Wrasse, is one of the largest fish inhabiting coral reefs. It is easily identifiable by its thick lips, prominent bump on its forehead, and two black lines behind its eyes. The coloring of Humphead Wrasses can range from a dull blue-green to brilliant shades of green or purplish-blue. The Humphead Wrasse swims in outer coral reefs during the day and sleeps in reef caves or below coral ledges at night. Humphead wrasses, like most wrasses, are protogynous hermaphrodites, meaning that they can function as members of both sexes over their reproductive lives and that they will start as females. Later in life they may transition to males, but in some species not all individuals will transition. The exact queues that trigger this amazing transformation are still being studied. Did You Know? This fish is immune to the toxic spines of animals like the crown-of-thorns starfish. Diet The Humphead Wrasse feeds on mollusks, reef fish, sea urchins, crustaceans, and other invertebrates. They can even eat toxic sea hares, boxfish, and starfish. Size These enormous fish can grow up to six feet and weigh a whopping 400 pounds! Range The Humphead Wrasse can be found throughout the Indian Ocean, from the Red Sea to South Africa and the Tuamoto Islands. It also ranges from the Ryukyu Islands to New Caledonia in the Pacific. Population Status Conservation Alert! The Humphead Wrasse is classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and is currently on the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service's Species of Concern list. This species is rare in the wild and is extremely vulnerable to over-exploitation because of its slow breeding rate and predictable spawning sites. The population has seen a 50% loss just in the last 30 years. Predators The Humphead Wrasse is subject to population loss from the live reef fish trade, especially in Southeast Asia. It is highly valued because of its large size and is considered a luxury food in some countries. Back to the Top


text:
Opinie o ECM
Opinie o ECM.
simple GUI for the tech-challenged wannabe gamer ★★★★★
by ratman_6885 – Version 1.0.4 – Sep 11, 2012 – PH
I only have one use for files in ecm format, and that is to play old ps games with. But this free app takes the hassle out of getting them to work. If you wanna play games on psxr like I do, get this. It's well worth the download. Cheers!
ottimo ★★★★★
by – Version 1.0.4 – Jun 11, 2012 – IT
app gratis che permette di convertire i fastidiosi file .ecm in .iso o .bin, velocemente e con un interfaccia semplicissima da usare. consigliatissima! (provato per Snow Leopard)
It ★★★★★
by amixinh – Version 1.0.4 – Aug 5, 2012 – USA
plus, simple interface <3
Great Compression Tool ★★★★★
by WHAT THE HECK IS THIS!?!?@32 – Version 1.0.1 – Feb 8, 2012 – USA
There needs to be an easier way to de-compress, or at least have some type of gui which states what is coming from and where it is going to. this app does not yet have many downloads yet but I can assure that it is an easier solution to learning the command line functions.


text:
Amazon: No Kindles for You This Year
If you were planning to buy that special someone on your holiday shopping list an Amazon (AMZN) Kindle e-book reader, you better come up with something else.
Amazon notes on its Web site that "due to heavy customer demand, Kindle is sold out." Amazon advises ordering now, though, "to reserve a place in line," noting that orders will be filled on a first come, first served basis. The site says that the Kindle usually ships "in 11-13 weeks." Silicon Alley Insider notes that the long wait suggests that those who order now could actually end up with Kindle 2.0, which is expected to launch in Q1.
Maybe Oprah bought them all.