text:
A firmware upgrade for ScopeMeter test tool 190B Series is available, major changes are:
- Remote Control improved (V7.06)
- Zoom in 2s/div timebase setting improved and micro symbol added in readings symbol table (V7.04)
- Improved screen update rate (V7.02)
- Deeper waveform memory up to 3K spectrum analysis using Fast Fourier Transformation (V7.00)
- Two new trigger modes (n-cycle and dual edge) (V7.00)
- Cursor limited automatic measurement (rms Watt etc between cursors) (V7.00)
Upgrading Version V7.00, V7.01, V7.02 or V7.04 to Version V7.06 - Instruments with version V7.00 to V7.04 are field upgradable free of charge.
Please contact the Fluke service department for firmware updates on this product.
FlashTool Software requirements:
- Fluke 190 B Series ScopeMeter or 190B Series (Monochrome) ScopeMeter, with firmware V7.00 - V7.04. (See Firmware Level Check above);
- A PC, running Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, NT 4.0, XP or Vista, with a free RS-232 or USB port to perform the software installation;
- PM9080 or OC4USB (RevII) optically isolated serial interface cable (as included with the ScopeMeter 19x B /S model and with the SCC-190 kit) for data interconnection between the PC and the instrument
Upgrading earlier Versions - Instruments with firmware version V5.0x and V6.x cannot be upgraded to V7.06 in the field. These instruments require re-calibration after upgrading. Therefore these units must be returned to a Fluke Authorized Service Center. Contact your local service center and order a firmware upgrade and calibration according to PCN 4841. Note: For the firmware upgrade and calibration a nominal fee will be charged!
Please contact the Fluke service department for firmware updates on this product.
For Versions V6.00, V6.10, V6.11 and V6.12 to V6.13


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Indeed, the market for carbon credits has reached new lows. On Thursday, the price of carbon credits dropped 40 percent within 30 seconds before regaining most of the losses. In an indicator of just how vulnerable ETS threatens to become, the volatility followed a nearly meaningless vote for a non-binding recommendation by the industry committee of the European Parliament that the backloading plan be rejected.
Energy-heavy industries and coal-dependent countries like Poland argue against market intervention in the ETS while noting that higher carbon prices leads to higher energy costs that result in a burden on businesses while European economies remain weak. The arguments against intervention may be working, as Germany -- which also harbors deep concerns about the burden cap-and-trade could have on industry -- continues to stall, and the ETS remains mostly useless. A failure on backloading would likely drop carbon credits to a level only slightly above penny stocks.
"This should be the final wake-up call," said EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard, according to wire reports. "Something has to be done urgently. I can therefore only appeal to the governments and the European Parliament to act responsibly."
Indeed, the failure of the ETS should be a wake-up call for all sane European - and international - decision makers: It is time time to sink the senseless ETS "flagship" and start concentrating on solving real problems!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
A few weeks ago I made a very big decision. I decided to quit smoking, and man have I had a hard time. There have been a few times I"ve had to quit smoking because I had no choice, like the whole year I stopped due to the fact that I was pregnant and breast feeding. It was hard to deal with, but I did it because that was the only option.
This time it"s harder. There have been obvious hits to my health that I am noticing, and being that I just turned 23-years-old on the 23rd of September, I became alarmed enough to stop cold turkey. Three weeks in and I"ve managed to irritate just about everyone that I know.
Controlling the urges to run to the store and buy a pack that first week was excruciating in a number of ways. I spent a lot of time in my room reading just to make sure my mind spent little time thinking of anything else. If one good thing came out of it, I read the "Hunger Games" series during a very rare three days without my husband and daughter where they spent a few days in Oregon with his brother. That probably couldn"t have come at a better time.
Speaking of my husband, he"s about as happy as a hyena with the fact that I"ve quit smoking. He was once a smoker, who hasn"t smoked in a few years, and he loves to ask me when I"m going to quit. As a smoker, that question irritates me, whereas to non-smokers it seems like a reasonable question. Other than my dad, he"s been the only person who has ever actually stayed on my case about my smoking.
So he got me an E-cigarette (an electronic cigarette that vaporizes nicotine instead of me inhaling smoke and chemicals) and I haven"t been able to let it go. I"ve woken up with it stuck to my leg after falling asleep with it in my hand, but I"m proud of myself nonetheless.
I always told everyone that I would keep smoking until I felt like I was done, because I really enjoy smoking. The social side, and the solitary side. I know I"m better off of course, but it"s also weird that I"ve given up something that was such a big part of my life.
A lot of the events in my life have had those terrible little smokable devils. A lot of my memories have been somehow connected to smoking, or I at least was smoking when those memories came to be. But I"m happy that I can start making new memories with my husband and baby that don"t have smoke breaks. Plus, my clothes smell better, which is also cool.
I know I could count all of the blessings that not smoking will bring me, including health and the ability to hug my loved ones without feeling like I have to apologize, but I"m really excited to be able to run around the park after my baby and not feel like keeling over. I can follow her around the jungle gym for longer than a minute.
I"m excited my quality of life can be enhanced by my big decision, but I"m also happy that hers can as well. If I can keep remembering what brought me to quitting, I may not ever go back, which, I guess, is a blessing.
Jade Williams is a Magalia resident and one of four columnists for North State Voices, which appears each Thursday. She can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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History |
View |
Annotate |
Updated ButtonControl and SonarControl.
Finally, the behavior compiles. Had to fix a lot of problems involving misunderstandings with Publisher/Client/ServiceServer/ServiceClient confusion.
We can now run priya_behavior as an executable, though the process for generating behavior executables still needs some work.
Updated the licensing information in many files.
This is a broken commit because I decided to do this at a bad time. Sorry! The build will be working after next commit, I promise (and I won't push till then). This commit reflects the licensing in the files after I used my auto-add/remove script.
Modified the Behaviors to take a scoutname.
Scoutname now specifies which scout the behavior will affect. Scoutname must be passed to the constructors of each control module (some of which are now in need of modification), so that they can publish to the correct topic....
Rewrote libbuttons to use objects (ButtonControl).
Also removed query_motors (motors node now responsible for publishing changes)
bugfix: removed -lmotors from manifest files (causing rosmake errors)


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- Need a quick way to add your signature to a document? Create a custom rubber stamp of your signature to simplify the signing process.
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text:
Check out the latest RPG news | Podcasts | Twitch Streams
No recommends for Zettai Hero Project? A thousand lashings for each of you!
And in terms of PS1 classics, a lot of people dislike Legend of Dragoon, but I liked it and think it is one of the most underrated Playstation RPGs: http://www.rpgfan.com/reviews/The_Legend_of_Dragoon/index.html
Am I the only one who really didn't like Hexyz Force? It's...inoffensive, I guess. But it did absolutely nothing to grab me. Everything about it feels tired and generic.


text:
As far as I can tell, it depends on the individual retailer.
I ordered a Japan only exclusive toy of Arcee (https://imgur.com/a/rT0aS) and the price they charged for shipping was quite reasonable, less then the cost of the toy I obtained.
And that was with international tracking so my package couldn't be misplaced.
The best retailers will allow you to choose an option from a variety of price ranges.
I prefer the lowest cost solution with international tracking.
Mostly because I don't want the item to be lost in some dispatch processing depot on the way to me.
And yes, that did happen once. They eventually found it though, it was on the wrong shelf!


text:
A Chinese grandfather is proving love knows no bounds as he models looks to promote his granddaughter's clothing store for teens. The photos went viral after they were posted on the Internet.
Updated at 9:43 a.m. ET: BEIJING -- Liu Qianping is a retired farmer from China's Hunan province. But after jokingly modeling a range of ladies' wear, the 72-year-old has become an online sensation.
"I never dreamed all this. I used to be a farmer, but now, after coming to the big city, I have become famous," Liu told NBC News.
Daily sales for the outlet he models for, Yecoo Fashion Store, have jumped from an average $160-a-day in May to more than $1,100. Altogether, Yecoo's site has recorded 250,000 visits. China's Twitter-like social networking site Weibo has recorded more than 9.6 million searches for "granddad," how Liu is now known by millions.
It all started with Lv Ting, Liu's granddaughter. Armed with lots of enthusiasm but no experience, the 24-year-old and four friends set-up Yecoo out of a tiny apartment in Guangzhou, the capital of the booming southern province of Guangdong, in May.
Lv borrowed 160,000 Renminbi ($25,000) from her brother as security deposit to register her store on Taobao, China's leading online shopping site.
At first her sister-in-law modeled the clothes -- models are expensive in Guangzhou – and Lv served as photographer. However, in the first five months, with only several items sold per day, they could barely make ends meet.
"It wasn't smooth sailing at all in the beginning," Lv said.
Courtesy of Lv Ting
Liu goes "Gangnam Style," left, and in his regular clothes, right.
Then Taobao announced a big discount ahead of November 11 -- China's Bachelors' Day -- for all its shops. Lu and friends decided to splash out on a new collection for the big day.
Coincidentally, Lv's grandfather came to visit her during this time. As a joke, Liu tried on some of the merchandise.
"I saw they bought lots of new colorful clothes, and so I started trying out a new cloak coat, because it was cool," Liu told NBC News.
More China coverage on NBC's Behind the Wall blog
Lv and her colleagues took pictures, and sent them to friends for a laugh. To their surprise, the feedback was positive, and soon decided that the skinny former farmer was the supermodel they have been looking for.
Courtesy of Lv Ting
Liu Qianping, 72, started modeling clothes from his granddaughter's online shop as a joke, but he has become an online sensation.
The fashion photos went viral on Weibo, and Taobao posted them on their cover page to attract sales.
But none of this has gone to Liu's head.
"Besides cleaning up the apartment for my little granddaughter every day, I get interviewed by many people. And I still enjoy playing poker online as usual," he said.
When asked if he was embarrassed about the pictures, he said no.
"I will definitely share these photos with [my friends] when I go back to Hunan during Spring Festival!"
Courtesy of Lv Ting
Liu takes his role as supermodel lightly -- and still finds time to clean his granddaughter's apartment.
Most important to Liu was that he had been helpful to Lv.
"Most special is that I could do something for my little granddaughter. I feel fulfilled," he said.
More world stories from NBC News:
- Despite US woes, Twinkies reign supreme on the Nile
- Analysis: Why Hezbollah sat out the Gaza conflict
- Vote rejecting women bishops was 'willfully blind,' Anglican leader says
- Too much democracy? Apathy triumphs in UK's latest election
- Obama's visit a sign of Myanmar's dizzying pace of change
Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook


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Accessories - Cascading Desktop Context Menu
How to Add a "Accessories" Cascading Desktop Context Menu in Windows 7
Published by Brink
13 Jun 2011
|20 Jun 2011
Another Great Tutorial
Another Great Tutorial... Thanks
|My System Specs
|20 Jun 2011
You're most welcome Kevin. :)
|My System Specs
|26 Jun 2011
reg entries gone missing
Ok Brink here is a strange one.
I recently applied this reg hack to my win7u x64 system.
Worked like a charm for a while - but now the reg entries have gone missing...
I performed the hack manually (being careful of course) using regedit.
Got myself a great little Applications menu going for several days. Then installed one of NirSoft's excellent tools (specifically view web cache)
It didn't do what I wanted so I uninstalled it and rebooted.
The HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell\Accessories entry is still present and accounted for but...
The HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell entries I manually added have disappeared entirely from the registry - yet the functionality of the "Applications" in the desktop context menu still work, icons are still present and as long as I don't add any more it all continues to work somehow.
Deep searches of the registry don't show up the CommandStore\shell entries at all - which is strange given the paths must be held somewhere for the applications and associated icons to be found.
Strangely enough my reg key for "Explorer" shows up as lower case "explorer". Don't think this is related because a system image restore from a backup well before this reg hack was done shows a lower case "explorer" in the reg key. Only a clean install image shows it as an upper case "Explorer" key.
Worse still if I now try to add any additional entries to the Applications list the newly added application does not show up in the context menu (indicating it is not registered) even though the entry under the CommandStore\shell key is present (but the previous ones still AWOL).
I have also checked under the WoW6432Node and that is the same (as would be expected given it is a mirror of the normal reg entries as far as I understand).
Anyone seen this before or have any suggestions?
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell\Apps] "MUIVerb"="Applications" "SubCommands"="explorer;maxthon;firefox;|;outlook;paintxp;cmd;|;others" "Position"="Top"
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer] "ListViewPopupControl"="{8be9f5ea-e746-4e47-ad57-3fb191ca1eed}" "BrowserCFCreator"="{57f8510b-a5e2-41da-a8f0-8a5ae85dfffd}" "GlobalFolderSettings"="{EF8AD2D1-AE36-11D1-B2D2-006097DF8C11}" "LVPopupSearchControl"="{fccf70c8-f4d7-4d8b-8c17-cd6715e37fff}" "FileOpenDialog"="{DC1C5A9C-E88A-4dde-A5A1-60F82A20AEF7}" "IconUnderline"=dword:00000002 "GlobalAssocChangedCounter"=dword:0000006d <...snip...> [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\CommandStore] [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\CommandStore\shell] [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\CommandStore\shell\Windows.burn] "CanonicalName"="{c501e86c-b7e3-4667-95c5-73872080c0a8}" "MUIVerb"="@shell32.dll,-31352" "Icon"="shell32.dll,-320" "Description"="@shell32.dll,-31383" "CommandStateHandler"="{3756e7f5-e514-4776-a32b-eb24bc1efe7a}" "CommandStateSync"="" <... snip other Windows.* entries...> [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\CommandStore\shell\Windows.burn\command] "DelegateExecute"="{b91a4db4-3630-11dc-9eaa-00161718cf63}" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\CommandStore\shell\Windows.undo] "CanonicalName"="{9220429d-663d-4b4e-be56-6be053c9a71c}" "MUIVerb"="@shell32.dll,-31261" "Description"="@shell32.dll,-31262" "CommandStateHandler"="{3756e7f5-e514-4776-a32b-eb24bc1efe7a}" "CommandStateSync"="" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\CommandStore\shell\Windows.undo\command] "DelegateExecute"="{50cc2c18-b48c-4764-8f3f-0331ed295ce4}" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\CommonPlaces] <... snip ...>
|My System Specs
|26 Jun 2011
Hello Steve, and welcome to Seven Forums.
The entries you mention in the code box you posted above are not entered properly, and is not included in the REG file download in this tutorial. Since it was not entered properly in the registry, this is why you are having this issue.
You should either delete what you manually entered in the registry, or do a system restore using a restore point dated before you did this to undo it.
Hope this helps,
|My System Specs
|27 Jun 2011
I seriously need a truckload of dead chickens, voodoo dolls and a couple of high level priests qualified to do exorcisms.
Ok as my system config mentions I have two identical laptops (the second one is for business continuity disaster recovery or just trying Win7 things out before I mess with my production laptop). As part of the DR plan I make a system image of the primary laptop then load that system image onto the secondary laptop.
Now the original registry hack was done on the primary laptop. It was the one that "lost" the additional CommandStore\shell reg entries.
I thought ok I will apply the supplied reg hack download files to the secondary laptop (as Brink suggested). The hack worked perfectly as I would expect. Now what is wierd and requires the dead chickens is that I had the primary laptop running regedit next to the secondary laptop.
When I confirmed that the reg hack file had done its job on the secondary laptop I went back to the primary laptop and to my surprise the CommandStore\shell entries that were previously missing had magically (que sound of Twilight Zone doo doo doo doo) reappeared.
Before anyone wonders - I manually change the computer name and IP addresses (I use static IP) after I load the system image of the primary laptop on the secondary laptop. So there is (as far as I can tell no name or network overlap between them).
I am totally mistified...
|My System Specs
|27 Jun 2011
You got me as well, but I'm happy to hear that they are back and working for you now.
|My System Specs
|27 Jun 2011
bug in regedit?
Ok I think the two laptops talking to each other was a furphy (for anyone old enough to remember the movie Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) - IMDb - the quote "WARN: THERE IS ANOTHER SYSTEM" comes to mind LOL).
First up I am running Win7 Ultimate 64 bit - not 32 bit (not sure if this has anything to do with the issue but it is worth stating it). The 64 bit registry has a 32 bit "reflection" system in it - cf WoW6432Node which according to Microsoft has a "last writer wins" setup cf:
Registry changes in x64-based versions of Windows Server 2003 and in Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
If I run Brink's script the context menu appears and works as expected, but it would seem if the registry key for "explorer" is in lower case then the added sub keys don't appear. For some strange reason the registry key turned upper case "Explorer" did appear at one stage (clean install shows it as Explorer) in which case the added sub keys under CommandStore\shell are visible.
If I try to add the keys manually (as my original setup had done) then the context menu fails to work (sometimes...)
If I make my own context menu reg script (see below) it works properly but if the reg key for CurrentVersion\Explorer shows as CurrentVersion\explorer then the added subkeys are not visible.
From what I understand the registry is not case sensitive, so I can only put this down to one of the following:
1. a bug in regedit for 64 bit systems
2. the lookup mechanism for the DeskTopBackground\Applications\SubCommands is somehow hard coded for a match on "Explorer" not "explorer"
3. not enough dead chickens...
4. there is some application/service on my systems that continually updates the registry in some strange way.
I would be interested to hear if anyone else's "explorer" entry is starts with a lower case "e" instead of an upper case "E".
The key in question is:
My own modified version of Brinks context menu code
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DesktopBackground\Shell\Applications] "MUIVerb"="Applications" "SubCommands"="explorer;maxthon;|;cpanel;outlook;|;faststone;paintxp;|;others;run" "Position"="Top" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\explorer] @="Explorer" "icon"="C:\\Windows\\explorer.exe" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\explorer\command] @="C:\\Windows\\explorer.exe C:\\Users\\stephen" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\maxthon] @="Maxthon" "icon"="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Maxthon\\Maxthon.exe" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\maxthon\command] @="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Maxthon\\Maxthon.exe" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\cpanel] @="Control Panel" "icon"="C:\\Windows\\System32\\control.exe" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\cpanel\command] @="C:\\Windows\\System32\\control.exe" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\outlook] @="Outlook Express" "icon"="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Office\\Office14\\Outlook.exe" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\outlook\command] @="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Office\\Office14\\Outlook.exe" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\faststone] @="FastStone" "icon"="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\FastStone Image Viewer\\FSViewer.exe" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\faststone\command] @="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\FastStone Image Viewer\\FSViewer.exe" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\paintxp] @="Paint (XP)" "icon"="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\MSPaintXP\\mspaintxp.exe" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\paintxp\command] @="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\MSPaintXP\\mspaintxp.exe" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\others] @="other apps" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\others\command] @="C:\\Windows\\explorer.exe C:\\Desktop\\apps" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\run] @="Run" "icon"="imageres.dll,-100" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CommandStore\shell\run\command] @="RunDLL32 shell32.dll,#61"
|My System Specs
|27 Jun 2011
By default, it's "Explorer" instead of "explorer". The REG downloads in the tutorial all use Explorer.
Yeah \ vs \\ is a bit tricky. For a REG file, you must use \\ to add a path, while only \ if you are entering it directly while in regedit.
|My System Specs
|22 Sep 2011
Windows 7 Home Premium
I am really pleased to see such great things here. Thanks for these shares.
|My System Specs
|Thread Tools
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After years of not being worth targeting with major malware, it's been discovered that 600,000 "virus-proof" Macs have been infected with a nasty trojan that installs itself via a Java vulnerability. Cue the PC fanboys, it's a friggin' state of emergency!
Russian antivirus vendor Doctor Web first reported that a Java vulnerability has lead to a backdoor method for a trojan to install itself on machines running OS X.
Systems get infected with BackDoor.Flashback.39 after a user is redirected to a bogus site from a compromised resource or via a traffic distribution system. JavaScript code is used to load a Java-applet containing an exploit. Doctor Web's virus analysts discovered a large number of web-sites containing the code.
The exploit saves an executable file onto the hard drive of the infected Mac machine. The file is used to download malicious payload from a remote server and to launch it.
You can see a list of some of infected sites to stay awy from on Doctor Web. It's believed that there could be four million websites that are infected that can spread the trojan.
Doctor Web's research shows that most of the 600,000 infected Macs are in the U.S. with 56.6 percent of the pie, Canada coming in second with 19.8 percent and the U.K. rounding out third with 12.8 percent. The rest of the infections are scattered across the globe.
To check if your Mac is one of the 600,000 infected, follow these steps at F-Secure. Instructions for manually removing the trojan are also detailed over there.
Apple's since issued a Java security update to patch the vulnerability. If your Mac isn't infected, hit up the Software Update and grab the patch to protect your computer.
One of the reasons Apple claims Macs don't get viruses (for the most part) is because Macs compromise of so little of the PC market that malware programmers would gain little from targeting them. With Windows on so many more PCs, it's more lucrative to infect them instead.
But now that Macs are becoming more popular, we could see a shift in tactics for malware programmers.
Doctor Web, via ArsTechnica


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I may not yet own an Android phone but that doesn't mean I haven't been keeping up to speed with the latest offerings from those who are using Google's mobile OS. For the most part though the phones that I've been interested in are unfortunately incapable of being used in Australia thanks to our lack of CDMA and 4G services. Still there are quite a few nice handset options available for us Australians most of which come from the handset giant HTC. However after asking my far more Android savvy friend about which handset I should go for (after giving up on getting anything more than a HTC Desire) he said that I should check out the Samsung Galaxy S as it's been a very popular handset of late. What I found surprised me.
The handset itself is quite impressive with specifications easily rivalling that of all its competitors. The 1GHz CPU and 512MB RAM are what we've come to expect in almost any high end smart phone. However the use of a Super AMOLED screen and a dedicated graphics chip (the same as the one found in the Apple's A4 processor that powers both the iPad and iPhone 4) is what sets this handset apart from it's pack. Considering this handset can be picked up for just under $700 unlocked it's really quite competitive when compared to other handsets. It's no wonder that Samsung has managed to move over a million of these to date.
You'd be forgiven for thinking that Samsung wasn't capable of delivering such a quality piece of hardware; I thought the same thing too. Whilst they have a reputation for making quite beautiful TVs and monitors they haven't exactly been seen as being synonymous with quality when they've branched out into other areas. Still I can't say that I've had a bad experience when it comes to Samsung's products, in fact most have performed quite adequately. The stigma then is most likely because people have seen them as one of the cheaper brands for consumer electronics, unfortunately tagging them as lower quality as well (however valid or invalid that might be).
Still they've managed to prove that they can build and deliver high end consumer devices that not only work, but can also be counted amongst the best of breed in their class. You can then imagine everyone's excitement when they announced the upcoming Galaxy Tab, building on the success of the Galaxy handset line:
London, UK, September 2, 2010 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a global leader in mobile technology, today announced the launch of the Samsung GALAXY Tab (GT-P1000). Powered by the Android Operating System 2.2, the GALAXY Tab is the first of the company's tablet devices, representing a new category of mobile products for Samsung.
The Samsung GALAXY Tab brings together all of Samsung's leading innovations to provide users with more capabilities while on the move. Consumers are able to experience PC-like web-browsing and enjoy all forms of multimedia content on the perfectly sized 7-inch display, wherever they go. Moreover, users can continuously communicate via e-mail, voice and video call, SMS/MMS or social network with the optimised user interface.
The specs on this little beasty are really quite impressive. In fact if you go down the list pretty much every gripe that anyone has ever had about the iPad has been addressed as it comes in a smaller size, packs a higher resolution screen and has both front and back facing cameras. Couple that with expandable storage and it looks like Samsung might be onto a winner here, especially if the rumours of it being aimed somewhere between US$200 and $400 turn out to have some truth to them. The question then remains: will this device sell?
Well 1 million Galaxy owners can't be wrong and you can bet that many of them who've favoured Samsung in the past would definitely give such a device heavy consideration. It's definitely aimed at the anti-iPad crowd what with its cherry picked features and Android OS, leading me to believe that this might become the flagship tablet for the Android platform. Whether it will sell or not is heavily dependent on how the market sees it. The iPad did well thanks mostly to its brand name, something which Samsung just can't leverage the way Apple did. Still the Android crowd has proven to be just as loyal and cashed up as their Cupertino counterparts so Samsung is definitely in with a shot here.
What's the most interesting thing about the announcement of this tablet is Samsung's recent mindshift that has spurred them to innovate in the mobile sector. Just on a year ago if you bought a Samsung phone you probably weren't buying an Android device and no one predicted that they would bring out something that would capture such a large market. The introduction of a tablet means that they're looking to square up with Apple and hopefully take a piece of their deliciously profitable hardware sector pie. They're definitely a force to be reckoned with as they have a net income of over $10 billion a year and enough sway with a whole lot of manufacturers to really give Apple (and all other companies producing tablets) a run for their money.


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ContractorsFor Contractors
HomeownersFor Homeowners
DesignersFor Designers
MembersFor Members
California Landscape Supply
Ceres, CA
United States
The two-day classroom based course equips individuals currently employed in the segmental concrete pavement industry with training to properly install interlocking concrete paving systems. Participants have the opportunity to pursue certification and industry recognition after completing a seperate application form that includes installation experience.
Course Content:
Registration Fee (all fees listed are in US dollars)
$400 Non-member
$320 Informational Member
$280 Affiliate Member
$240 Voting Member
Want to get the discount? Become an ICPI Member.
Ceres Community Center
2701 Fourth Street
Ceres, CA 95307
8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., both days
Course Results and Certification Requirements
Please note that upon successful completion of the classroom based course and exam, participants will receive a Record of Completion from ICPI, about a month after ICPI receives the course materials. Those interested in earning an ICPI Concrete Paver Installer certification will need to complete an Application for Certification, showing that they meet the minimum installation experience requirements (5 or more projects totaling at least 10,000 sq. ft.). Additionally, continuing education will be required during each two-year certification term. For information on how to become an ICPI Certified Installer, click here.
Cancellation Policy
Registrants who provide written notice of cancellation at least seven days in advance of the course start date shall receive a refund less a $75 administrative fee. No refunds will be made for not attending or if notice of cancellation is received seven (7) days or less of the meeting starting date except in cases where participants cannot attend due to inclement weather. In such cases, the Executive Director may waive the seven (7) day notice requirement at his/her discretion. Substitutions shall be permitted from the same company at any time prior to the meeting start date without penalty. For registrants wanting to transfer to an alternate program, a $25 administrative fee shall apply. Credit balances must be used within a one-year period for future programs. ICPI is not responsible for expenses incurred due to cancellation of program.
Disclaimer and Understanding
The Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute ("ICPI") Concrete Paver Installer Programs are intended to communicate industry guidelines to paver installers on estimating, planning and executing residential and commercial projects and to educate individuals in applicable construction and general business practices.
ICPI recognizes only that a Record of Completion awarded to a participant conveys that the participant has completed the required course of instruction and earned a passing grade on the examination administered by ICPI at the conclusion of the course. For a participant obtaining ICPI Concrete Paver Installer certification or designation status, ICPI recognizes only that the certificate holder has earned a Record of Completion and has also met the minimum amount of installation experience required by ICPI. ICPI exercises no control or direction over certified concrete paver installers and does not in any manner endorse, guarantee, or certify the performance or quality of services rendered or products used. ICPI further disclaims any and all liability for injuries or damages to persons or property or for monetary damages arising out of or resulting from the failure of performance of services rendered or products used by an installer holding an ICPI certification or designation.


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|TK-Squared (talk)
|Date Created:
|11th May 2009
|Please feel free to edit constructively!
Variant Weapon Specialization [{{#arraymap: General, Fighter|, |x|Type::x}}] Summary::A variant of the general Weapon Specialization feat that's not lame. Prerequisites: {{#arraymap: Proficiency with selected weapon, Weapon Focus with selected weapon, Fighter 4 or base attack bonus +8|,|x|Prerequisite::x}}Benefit: With a weapon that you have Weapon Focus with, you gain extra damage equal to half your ability modifier used to determine extra damage. For melee weapons, this is generally Strength. For ranged weapons (with the Marksman feat), it is Dexterity.
For example, an Orc with 18 strength wielding a bastard sword, he gains 1.5x his strength modifier to damage. If he were to use it as a two-handed weapon, he would gain 2x his strength modifier to damage.Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new type of weapon that you have Weapon Focus in. A fighter may select Variant Weapon Specialization as one of his fighter bonus feats.
Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Character Options → Feats


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- Newt Gingrich thinks World War III would be good for Republicans.
- Greenwald suggests that journalists should devote some attention to the eliminationist nature of the rhetoric coming from the pro-Bush blogosphere.
- Alonzo Fyfe on the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and the need to protect innocents from harm.
- In Turkey, if you call the 1915 - 1923 Turkish genocide of Armenians genocide, you can be placed in prison for three years.
- Matthew Yglesias has developed a Green Lantern theory of geopolitics (via, ironically enough, The Green Knight)
- Kevin Baker's must read Harper's essay on the development of the Götterdämmerung (stabbed in the back by internal enemies) meme in American politics.
- A thought provoking interview about the universal principle of human rights (and related topics) from a man I'd never heard of before seeing the article linked at Butterflies and Wheels.
Finally, a quote. I saw this on the cover of Of Empire, a collection of essays* by Francis Bacon:
"Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider..."
*The entire line of Great Ideas books from Penguin have fantastic quotes on the cover.


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HPC blog While at IBM's Smarter Computing Summit last week, I had the great pleasure of hearing Big Blue's Bernie Meyerson talk about limits to today's tech, and the associated implications.
Bernie is IBM's VP of Innovation and one of the rare technologist-scientist types who can clearly and directly explain highly technical concepts in a way that they can be understood by a reasonably intelligent grey squirrel (and me too).
Even better, he's highly entertaining and doesn't hedge when it comes to stating what's what in the world. Back in 2003 he predicted that Intel would never deliver on its promises of 4 to 5GHz CPUs and would, in fact, be forced to shift to multi-core processors.
Meyerson backed up his brash prediction (it was plenty brash back then) by sharing electron microscope images of individual atoms that showed they're kind of lumpy. The problem with lumpy atoms is that when you use only a handful of them to build gates, they leak current like a sieve. When asked about this, Intel denied over and over that there was a problem – right up to the point when it announced it was scrapping its entire product strategy in favour of a multi-core approach.
So when Meyerson talks, I pay attention. And Meyerson is talking again.
In his presentation at the Pinehurst golf resort in North Carolina, he was again playing on the theme that we can't shrink our way to higher performance any more. In fact, when it comes to chips, we have only a generation or two left before we reach the end of the line.
So where's the end of the line? According to Bernie: 7 to 9 nanometers. When the features on a chip get to this minute size, you start to see quantum mechanics effects that are "very nasty" that impairs the performance of the processor's decision-making gates.
The problems at 7nm are profound to the point where there isn't really any way around them – it's just too damned small – and there isn't a way to scale down an atom. It's a fundamental limit, and it's finally in sight. Chips in mass production these days have a 32nm or 22nm feature size, and 14nm is not far down the line.
Unfortunately, I can't toss around the correct scientific terms to pretend I know what I'm talking about here. I have only my own deplorable notes for reference; plus Meyerson's time slot forced him to move pretty quickly through his material. But he was probably talking about quantum tunneling, a phenomenon where particles (such as electrons) travel through barriers, like those in very thin semiconductor gates, that they should not cross. This results in lots of current leaking from these tiny switches, relatively speaking, which ramps the device's power consumption.
Meyerson also talked about the limitations facing us on the storage side. Like most great stories (and many great ideas too), it starts in a bar. In this case, it was Bernie in a bar with a bunch of other smart guys, probably knocking back drinks that aren't accessorised with little umbrellas. Like all barroom conversations, the topic eventually turned to magnetic storage density. More specifically: how many atoms would you need to reliably store a single bit of data?
This prompted some non-barroom research and scientific activity. The resulting answer? Twelve. It takes twelve atoms to reliably store a bit of data. Any less and you lose stability, meaning that parts of the data might disappear, or morph into something you didn't store. This is related to the same quantum effects discussed above and are ultimately the result of the fact that we can't scale atoms down to a handier size.
From what Meyerson said, it sounds like we have a bit more room before we start to run up against the limit on storage density. If my notes are correct, we won't approach the 12-atom limit until we get around 100 times more dense. Right now, a 1TB per platter is the highest density available. Theoretically, we may be able to get to 100TB per platter and 300TB per drive at maximum density.
So how long do we have until we hit the limit? It depends on how fast density grows. Historically, we've seen density grow anywhere between 20 per cent and 100 per cent per year. Lately (last decade or so), growth has ranged between 20 per cent and 40 per cent annually, meaning that we might hit the twelve atom limit in as few as 13 years or as long as 25 years.
That's an eternity in the tech business – maybe even long enough for someone to figure out how to shrink atoms down to a more convenient size. ®
Sponsored: Practical tips for Office 365 tenant-to-tenant migration


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The Prophet 12 is an epiphany!
The Prophet 12 is the next step for Dave Smith's revered line of Prophet synthesizers. Each of the Prophet's twelve voices is composed of a brand new hybrid digital/analog architecture that sounds different than any other DSI synth, yet retains the true Prophet vibe. With a humongous twelve voice polyphony, streamlined design, and sophisticated architecture, the Prophet 12 is ready to handle any sound you can dream up!
The Prophet sings
The Prophet 12's brand new hybrid voice has a digital front end followed by an all analog signal path output. Each voice has five high resolution digital oscillators, a digital character effects section, a resonant Curtis low-pass filter, a high-pass filter, a tune-able feedback circuit, a four-tap delay line with feedback per line, four loopable five-stage envelope generators, four syncable LFOs with slew and phase offset, a sophisticated arpeggiator, and a sixteen slot modulation matrix with 26 mod sources and 97 modulation destinations. The Prophet 12 is packed with a plethora of sonic potential and power!
The digital oscillators can be frequency and amplitude modulated by each other with incredible accuracy. They can be freely assigned in whatever operator and modulator configurations you would choose. You can even assign each of the oscillators to modulate LFOs, envelopes, and filters.
The Prophet controls
The Prophet's sleek and instinctive interface invites full control of the synth. Every parameter is fully programmable and editable from the front panel. The controls are laid out in a coherent and logical fashion allowing quick and precise access in the studio and on stage.
The Prophet's full-sized, five-octave, semi-weighted keyboard with velocity and channel aftertouch is rugged without sacrificing great feel and playability. Two backlit, smooth and precise pitch and mod wheels are accompanied by two location and pressure sensitive touch sliders. The Prophet offers a myriad of controls for creation and performance of its innovative sounds.
A prophecy for the future
The Prophet 12 is the most cutting edge hybrid synthesizer on the market and defines what a modern polyphonic synthesizer is. Designed and manufactured in San Francisco, the Prophet 12 has a glorious combination of form and function in a sturdy, yet refined and elegant build.
Dave has been a pioneer in the field for 35 years. After creating such greats as the Prophet-5, '08, and VS, this is his favorite Prophet yet!


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Law enforcement agencies in Australia will continue to be stymied in their efforts to combat cyber crime unless measures such as proposed two year online data retention laws are passed, according to a representative of the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
Speaking at the Cyber Security Summit 2012 in Sydney, AFP Assistant Commissioner, Neil Gaughan, told delegates that data retention could help the AFP with investigation of internet protocol (IP) addresses which had been used to download child pornography content, the use of Facebook for activities such as grooming a child for sex or the promotion of terrorist activities and cyber crime.
"This information collecting relates to meta data which is the record of a telephone call or IP information," he said.
"This is separate to the contents of the communication which, under [AFP] warrant, is recorded in real time by law enforcement."
He added that the lack of data retention legislation in Australia meant the AFP could not present the best and fairest evidence gathered from internet sources in court.
"Without data retention laws I can guarantee you that the AFP won't be able to investigate groups such as Anonymous over data breaches because we won't be able to enforce the law," he said.
In addition, the lack of specific mandatory reporting requirements for data breaches in Australia was a problem for information sharing on cyber criminal groups.
"Australian government agencies and certain industries are covered by the Privacy Act where we are required to report breaches of personal privacy, " Gaughan said.
However, the Privacy Act does not require individuals to be notified when their personal information has being compromised or subjected to a security breach.
According to anecdotal evidence, he said there were "significantly more data breaches" in Australia that go reported compared to overseas countries where mandatory breach notification legislation is in place.
"I can understand why businesses are reluctant to report that [data breach] because it is an issue of reputational damage.
However, I think there is a lost opportunity to prevent attacks on victims, and, a lost opportunity for individuals to take mitigating steps to prevent data being compromised," he said.
Gaughan floated the idea of a voluntary data breach regime where enterprises report breaches to a trusted information security agency such as CERT Australia for the purposes of information sharing.
He added that the lack of data retention and mandatory data breach notifications were not the only challenges being faced by Australian law enforcement agencies.
Investigation of cyber criminals, most of who operate overseas, was proving difficult for the AFP because of information sharing limitations with overseas law enforcement agencies.
"Electronic evidence is difficult to acquire in a timely manner and information exchange is limited to countries with developed infrastructure," he said.
For example, Gaughan said the AFP's High Tech Crime Operations unit was investigating a cyber intrusion into a small to medium business (SMB). The investigation started three years ago and it was still a "fair way" from resolution because the criminals are based in an overseas jurisdiction.
"For us to exchange information with the overseas law enforcement agencies is an arduous process," he said. "Cyber criminals treat the fact that they operate in another jurisdiction as an opportunity to commit more crimes."
Follow @CSO_Australia and sign up to the CSO Australia newsletter.


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It's official -- Pinnacle Classical Academy will open in August as Cleveland County's first charter school.
It's official -- Pinnacle Classical Academy will open in August as Cleveland County's first charter school.
The NC Department of Pubic Instruction awarded a full charter to the school this week.
�It brings us into existence,� said Wes Westmoreland, vice chairman of the school's board of directors. �Before, it was just an idea, but now, we exist.�
Pinnacle plans to start accepting student applications Tuesday.
The school has been accepting letters of intent for several months now, but it was not able to accept applications until the full charter was granted, Westmoreland said. Those who submitted letters will be notified that the application process is under way.
All applications for the 2013 school year must be postmarked by April 5.
If there are more applications than there are student spaces available, the school will hold a public lottery Friday, April 12 at 4 p.m. at the Cleveland County Extension Building Auditorium.
Once students are notified of their acceptance, they must make a final decision on whether or not they want to attend, which requires filling out a final step to the application.
All rising kindergarteners through sixth graders are eligible to attend Pinnacle Classical Academy.
Pinnacle will open in the fall as a tuition-free school open to North Carolina students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Each year, the school will add an additional grade to the school until grades K-12 are offered.
�We have worked for nearly two years to receive our official charter, and have all of the pieces in place now to move forward; a lot will happen very quickly,� Debbie Clary, Pinnacle Classical Academy board chairwoman, said in a press release.
For its first year, Pinnacle will operate in the old Hallelujah Acres building at 900 South Post Road in Shelby while the permanent campus is under construction. Pinnacle plans to build a permanent location off Joe's Lake Road in Shelby.
�Now that we have a charter, our lease (at Hallelujah Acres) becomes official,� Westmoreland said.
Renovations to the temporary campus are expected to be done in time for a ribbon cutting in mid-to-late July.
In addition to accepting student applications, Pinnacle will be accepting applications for teachers, assistants and support staff beginning next week. The school will eventually employ about 60 full-time and 15 part-time faculty and staff members.
Reach Star intern Jeanie Groh at 704-669-3333.
How can you apply?
* Applications will be available online at http://pinnacleclassicalacademy.com/
* Applications will also be available at Badcock Furniture at 1404 South Lafayette St. in Shelby and Westmoreland Printers at 2020 East Dixon Blvd. in Shelby.
* Updated information is also available on the Pinnacle Classical Academy Facebook page.


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The Flat World of Hanan Pacha
Hanan Pacha is flat world, conical on the bottom, hovering above an open sea, like a massive, floating island. Being saucer-shaped, the land is ringed and divided by mountain ranges and volcanic peaks. Rumor has it that nothing can fly, dig or walk past the mountains that circle the top of the world. The air up there is very thin and the atmosphere is very cold. Beneath the flat world is the conical bottom, little is known about the world of the open sea.
Evil runs amok in the catacombs of the lower half of the conical base. All manner of airborne fiends fly in and out of the caverns. They are mingling and conniving with pirates that inhabit a large flotilla of vessels that gather in the sea below. The ships are docked with massive barges, lashed together to create a floating city of debauchery. Ruled by the pirate lords, this community's sole purpose is to overthrow those that hold the lush, coveted lands above. Numerous demonic gates have also been established within the floating black city and in the lower levels of the cone-base above. The ancient order of dragon and roc riding knights (known as the Pearl Lance Order), protects the world above. Their resources are stretched to the limit defying the evil that seeks to invade and overthrow them from below. They have only the power to maintain balance for now. A larger force of griffon riders provides close support for them and other types of military. The age is ripe for this time of heroes!
Check out this review of one of our best seling adventures, then check out this series of reviews at RPG Resource.
We also have a free adventure that is written in serial format right here.


text: Your rates could rise if your credit score declines. Here's what you can do. By Kimberly Lankford, Contributing Editor August 13, 2009 Our auto-insurance company increased our premiums by $150 per year based on our credit score. Can it do that?It certainly can, in most states. In fact, many insurers changed their pricing models over the past few years to make credit scores a much larger factor in setting auto- and homeowners-insurance premiums. That's one reason it's important to monitor your credit report and keep a good credit score at all times -- even when you aren't about to buy a house or car. RELATED LINKS What You Need to Know About Your Credit Score Five Ways to Boost Your Credit Score It might seem that credit scores would have nothing to do with insurance. But insurers have found a strong correlation between credit scores and claims: People with low scores are a lot more likely to file insurance claims than people with high scores. Sponsored Content In 2004, the Texas Department of Insurance conducted its own study to see whether this was true. After studying the claims records of two million insurance policies, the insurance department found "the difference in claims experience by credit score was substantial," according to the regulator's report. The 10% of policyholders with the worst credit scores were 1.5 to 2 times more likely to file a claim than the 10% of policyholders with the best credit scores, for both auto and homeowners insurance. They also found that drivers with the best credit scores are involved in about 40% fewer accidents than those with the worst credit scores. Advertisement But because of the current economic situation, some states have recently adopted laws requiring insurers to let people request an exception to the credit-based rating because of "extraordinary life circumstances" that affect their credit score -- such as a serious illness or injury to themselves or an immediate family member; death of a spouse, child or parent; divorce; identity theft; temporary loss of employment for three months or more; or military deployment overseas. "Many companies had an appeals process through which you could explain why your credit was tough and you could get special dispensation, but this formalizes it," says Wes Bissett, senior counsel, government affairs, for the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America. Texas, Delaware, Louisiana, Montana, New Mexico and Illinois have adopted laws granting this type of appeal; other states are expected to follow suit. But even if you live in a state that hasn't adopted this law, Bissett says it doesn't hurt to let your agent or insurer know upfront about any special circumstances that have affected your credit score -- even before you apply for a policy (you can find an independent agent at www.iiaba.org). "If they know in advance, they might be able to reach out to the company or focus on companies that might work better for that particular person," he says. Some insurers count your credit score a lot more than other insurers do when setting rates. A few companies might offer particularly good deals for people with low scores, and the reverse can be true, too: "If you have a less than sparkling driving history and accidents that aren't of a horrible nature, there are some companies that are more willing to overlook those because of a strong credit history," says Bissett. Also, some companies check your credit score only when setting your rate as a new customer; others review your score once a year. Advertisement The credit score the insurer uses is actually a bit different from the credit score a potential lender uses -- usually a proprietary "insurance score" with a formula that the company doesn't publicly disclose. But you can take the same key steps to improve your credit score and your insurance score: Check your credit report at AnnualCreditReport.com. You can get a free copy of your report from each of the three credit bureaus every 12 months; stagger your requests so that you see a copy every four months. Fix any errors on your report promptly. Also be sure to pay your bills on time (if you can't make the full payment, at least pay the minimum by the deadline), try to keep your charges below 25% of your available credit (even if you pay the bill in full by the deadline), and don't open or close a lot of cards at once. See Five Ways to Boost Your Credit Score and Demystifying Your Credit Score for more information. Got a question? Ask Kim at firstname.lastname@example.com.


text: Hello, i installed the latest CVS-drivers (stv0299.c Rev 1.69). Then I got this errors in vdr: vdr[9208]: ERROR: device x has no lock, can't attach receiver! I downloaded stv0299.c Rev 1.68, compiled the driver and now everything is fine again. I have two cards with this frontend: one budget, one full featured. The error occurred with both cards. Martin


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Blue Wave Booster Club purchases new high jump pit
The Blue Wave Booster Club recently delivered a new high jump pit at Darien High School, and it has been seeing a lot of use so far by both the boys and girls teams.
"A critical component for practice and training, it is an important tool used by athletes on both the winter (indoor) and spring teams," coach Tyson Kaczmarek said.
As an example of its impact, high jumper Nick Lombardo set a new record at the New Haven Invitational last month with a jump of 6 feet, 7 inches. Then he shattered his own school record again in Wilton with a mark of 6 feet, 8 inches.
Formed in 2006, the BWBC raises funds to provide assistance to the Darien High School athletic program, to foster sportsmanship and school spirit among students, parents, teachers and staff, and to develop an interest in and awareness of athletics at DHS within the town community.
For more information or to become a member, write to Blue Wave Booster Club, P.O. Box 2263, Darien CT 06820 or email Heidi Naughton at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Rose Quartz Sterling Silver Hoop Earring
This earring is in sterling silver with a big Rose Quartz gemstone. The Rose Quartz gemstone helps to love yourself, spread love and brings harmony.
This earring is sold per piece. So you will not receive a pair of earrings but only 1 single earring.
14mm diameter
Availability: In stock
- Sku
- Producer
- Artisans Workshop
- Type
- Earrings
- Color
- Silver, Pink
- Gemstone
- Rose Quartz
Shipping costs
Netherlands € 1,95
Outside EU €9,95
Netherlands 1-3 working days
Europe 3-6 working days
Outside Europe 6+ working days
In case you have any questions or concerns about your delivery, don't hesitate to contact our Customer service
change & return
Change or return within 14 days is possible.
For more information check Terms and conditions


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September 12, 2009 at 6pm to December 13, 2009 at 7pm – Art Center Silkeborg Bad Artists´ Books collected directly from the international and censored triennial in Vilnius, which for a number of years has been an important centre for this very special artistic expression, where g… Organized by | Type: triennial, art, exhibition
January 8, 2009 at 6pm to January 8, 2010 at 7pm – fine art school of rouen Opening Thursday, December 3 at 17:30 This exhibition is intended to promote the trip to New York for students of 5th year. Press Release: 13 Who are we to challenge paraskevidékatriaphobie? The f… Organized by ecole des beaux arts de Rouen | Type: fundraiser, exhibition
April 13, 2009 to March 30, 2013 – Blurb on line http://www.blurb.com/books/508534 Miniscapes" book launch. Book covers a 15 year period of works portraying over 40 original illustrations approximately 10" x 14". They are essentially mixed media: m… Organized by Susan Shulman | Type: book, launch
July 19, 2009 to November 30, 2009 – New York City - Manhattan - Brooklyn ONGOING CALL : This call has been launched in July 2009. Deadline for registration and submission is SEPTEMBER 6, 2009. September 14, 2009: ANNOUNCEMENT OF WINNERS AND PUBLIC PRIZE WINNER. • Octobe… Organized by gila paris, CI Europe & frank shifreen, CI USA | Type: international, art, call, &, exhibition, usa, première
July 24, 2009 at 7:30pm to September 24, 2011 at 7pm – 272 Clinton Ave. Brooklyn NY, 11205 Contact Gallery House 808/385 0312 or email@example.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS ADVISORY GALLERY HOUSE IS PROUD TO PRESENT STYLE OF NATURE BY JONATHAN LEVY 50% of all proceeds go to Council… Organized by Gallery House | Type: art, exhibition, fundraiser, environment
August 27, 2009 to December 31, 2009 – Yani Art Galleries Yani Art Galleries proudly presents a new graphic art collection from Cholasinth. His art works reflect stories of daily life, which contains memories of both good and bad, happiness and sadness, and… Organized by Yani Art Galleries | Type: new, art, collection
August 27, 2009 to December 31, 2009 – www.yaniartgalleries.com Yani Art Galleries.com proudly presents a new Intaglio Art collection from Samart Suttima. His imagination and inspiration of real-life experience can be displayed fascinatingly through Intaglio work… Organized by Yani Art Galleries | Type: new, art, collection
August 27, 2009 to December 31, 2009 – www.yaniartgalleries.com Yani Art Galleries.com gives you a new Lithography art collection from Naj Phonghanyudh. Her works represent indulgences, materialistic, and fashion conscious harmoniously. Please see more of Naj's w… Organized by Yani Art Galleries | Type: new, art, collection
August 27, 2009 to December 31, 2009 – www.yaniartgalleries.com A new Thai traditional art from Mathasit Addok. His works present stories of Load Buddha with a combine of Thai flora curve design that enlightens the truth of Buddhist belief. Please see more of his… Organized by Yani Art Galleries | Type: new, art, collection
September 26, 2009 at 6pm to December 13, 2009 at 12:30am – kickstarter.com Vapidus Designs needs an RV: Last year, Chantelle Gobeil, one-half of Vapidus Designs and chief bill payer of the collective, quit her corporate job to live as an artist full-time. While this was a… Organized by Chantelle Gobeil | Type: fundraiser
September 27, 2009 at 4pm to November 7, 2009 at 6pm – Corridor Gallery Opening Reception: Sunday, September 27, 2009 • 4:00 – 6:00PM "Brooklyn Influence" commemorates the one year anniversary of "A Great Day in Brooklyn" and "Another Great Day in Brooklyn", organized… Organized by DOPE SWAN | Type: photography, exhibition, fundraiser
September 29, 2009 at 7:30pm to November 15, 2009 at 10pm – Perfomance Space 122 "The boundaries between dance, artwork, installation and performance are subtly blurred...every sculptural position suggests unverifiable meaning...The quality of the darkening light is as beautiful… Organized by Performance Space 122 | Type: performance, art
October 5, 2009 to November 29, 2009 – Internet In the context of IV Congress of CyberSociety, we would like to invite to everyone interested about the digital world and the museums to share with us ideas, reflexions, etc. in the Work Group "Museu… Organized by Margari León, Josu Aramberri and José Miguel Correa | Type: living_congress
October 23, 2009 to November 15, 2009 – {CTS} creative thriftshop @ Dam Stuhltrager Gallery Intimacy featuring Victoria Campillo Curator Lynn del Sol Run Dates: October 23rd- November 17th 2009 Opening: October, Friday 23rd 2009 6-9pm Location: {CTS} creative thriftshop @ Dam Stuhltrager G… Organized by CTS creative thriftshop | Type: gallery, opening
October 23, 2009 at 6pm to November 15, 2009 at 6pm – {CTS} creative thriftshop @ Dam Stuhltrager Gallery In the words of Pablo Picasso who may have uttered "Good Artists Borrow, Great Artists Steal" Victoria Campillo pokes fun at every imaginable modern artist in her photographic series entitled Intimac… Organized by Lynn del Sol | Type: gallery, opening, and, exhibition
October 23, 2009 at 6pm to December 23, 2009 at 12pm – THE WORLD VIDEO ABOUT PAINTINGS with the voice of Pope John Paul II Organized by CLAUDIA EMANUELA COPPOLA | Type: video, on, youtube
October 23, 2009 at 7pm to December 18, 2009 at 7pm – The Williamsburg Music Ctr HEAVEN and HELL October 23-December 18, 2009 Opening: Friday, October 23, 2009 7pm-10pm The Williamsburg Music Center (WMC) 367 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, NY # 718. 384.1654 "One man's heaven is… Organized by gary dunn/booker t williams/wmc | Type: art, exhibit
October 24, 2009 to November 14, 2009 – Perfomance Space 122 Performance Space 122 presents the WORLD PREMIERE of Temporary Distortion by Americana Kamikaze "I've never seen anything like this on the stage...so compelling, so haunting, so thoroughly absorbi… Organized by Performance Space 122 | Type: performance, art
October 27, 2009 at 6pm to November 17, 2009 at 5pm – ARTINFO MODERN PAINTERS RE:VISION Design Awards 2010 http://www.artinfo.com/modernpainters/ DEADLINE: 11/17/09 ATTENTION ALL DESIGNERS ANNOUNCING THE RE:VISION DESIGN AWARD CALL FOR ENTRIES Modern Painte… Organized by Louise Blouin Media | Type: competition
October 28, 2009 at 5pm to November 15, 2009 at 9pm – 3LD Art & Technology Center ZEE is a rigorous mindscape; a hallucinatory architecture of light; a dream machine. An enclosed space is filled with a dense, odorless fog that completely obscures the walls, floor and ceiling. Ind… Organized by Performance Space 122 | Type: art, exhibition
October 30, 2009 at 5pm to November 22, 2009 at 8pm – Jon Frum Art Foundation opening reception friday 30 october 5-8 pm Organized by Jon Frum Art Foundation | Type: art, exhibition
November 1, 2009 to November 15, 2009 – The Queens Museum of Art A Book About Death is moving to the Queens Museum for a special exhibition! Selections from "A Book About Death" is an artists' collaborative project conceived by collage artist Matthew Rose for the… Organized by Elke Reva Sudin | Type: museum, exhibition
November 2, 2009 at 6pm to January 2, 2010 at 7pm – NEW YORK, NY Organized by Toyan | Type: new, product, sampling...!!!!


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One of the biggest health stories of 2012 was a study of more than 200,000 adults that concluded: Prolonged sitting can shorten your life. Even if you manage to hit the gym a few times a week, there's a good chance you won't live as long if you're not moving for the other 23 hours of the day.
Are you ready to take the leap? Here's what you need to know, whether you plan to buy one or take the DIY route.
How popular are standing workstations?
Since 80 percent of our workday is spent seated, it's no wonder that sales of standing desks are increasing. Although total sales figures for these ergonomic alternatives are hard to come by, Steelcase, a leading brand of high-end office furniture, reports that sales of its non-seated workstations have increased five-fold in the last five years; today, these healthier workstations generate more than $40 million for the company.
Another company, Ergo Desktop, sells a version of a standing desk that converts standard desks to the standing variety. Ergo predicted last year that sales figures for its attachment was triple that of 2011.
Internet behemoths like Facebook and Google are adding dozens of these standing desk stations at their campuses.
What type of standing desk should I get?
It depends on budget and how much space you need. Frugal varieties can be purchased for less than $200. Rolls-Royce varieties of standing desks sell for almost $10,000 (chauffeur not included). This one pictured at right, which uses electric height adjustment, runs around $4,000.
One of the higher-end varieties of standing workstations is a treadmill workstation (typically priced around $1,000-$3,000). Some companies sell stations that include a brand-new treadmill; others sell attachments that can be mounted on your treadmill.
If you prefer to alternately stand and sit at your workstation, several models starting at about $160 are available. More expensive varieties feature programmed settings that will raise and lower the desk with the touch of a button.
If your workstation requires more than one monitor and room for several files or papers, curved standing desks are an option.
Need room for only a laptop? One model features a pneumatic lever that can be adjusted for standing and seated positions. It also has a tray that pops out either on the left or right side; a cup holder, fan and USB plug to keep your computer's internal fans from overheating; a tilting shelf for better eyesight alignment; and rolling casters for easy relocation. This model costs roughly $200.
Should I try to stand all day at work from now on?
At least one prominent researcher says "no." Alan Hedge directs the ergonomics program at Cornell University. Quoted in a New York Times article, he suggested that working from a standing position can be problematic, in part because it dramatically increases the risks of carotid atherosclerosis because of the additional load on the circulatory system. Standing all day, he said, also increases the risk of varicose veins.
A good compromise is work desks that can be alternately raised and lowered. While lowered, it might be ergonomically prudent and healthier for blood circulation to be seated on an exercise ball.
With nearly 20 percent of the U.S. government's budget spent on health care, much of it paying for preventable chronic conditions due to sedentary lifestyles such as obesity, standing desks offer an affordable and simple solution to get us out of our chairs.
Do you have a standing workstation? How does it work for you? Let us know below.
Judd Handler is author of "Living Healthy: 10 Steps to Looking Younger, Losing Weight and Feeling Great." He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Related healthy workplace stories on MNN:
- Fight the negative effects of sedentary jobs with active workstations
- Depression and long hours: Here's a good reason to go home on time
Click for photo credits
Top: Clockwork Active Media Systems/Flickr
Middle: Anthro
Bottom: ramsey everydaypants/Flickr


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I really like this Screwtape Files post, "Worldwide Turmoil, Financial Upheaval and Cataclysm" (aka WTFUC).
Something that's held up really well is...
...IKN's call on Argentina's bond default back in July 2014 (somebody reminded me about the post today and I just re-read it). When the whole issue was hot we asked "who cares?", we answered "very few people outside of the vulture funds", we explained why. Here we are nigh on a year later and surprise surprise, nobody cares whether Argentina's in default or not. The link is here, the essence is in the wrap-up:
"The bottom line here is that Argentina doesn't need to pay and it can fall into default, because 1) the consequences for the country are much better than the chain reaction that it might (repeat might, lot of discussion over RUFO right now) set off if it pays and 2) the consequences for the country really aren't that bad even compared to a neutral position.
"...this is at least part of the point I alluded to a couple of days ago in this post, the bit about the difference between the law and justice. Yes for sure the law says that Argentina defaults and it's in the wrong, but only according to the eyes of the law, which in this case is personified by a dusty idiot of a biased judge in New York who should have been put out to grass a decade ago and is showing signs of Alzheimer's. Therefore Argentina can and indeed will ignore this book-driven law and bide its time until the real terms of agreement are struck and that will only happen via true justice, a far more powerful thing than a mere law."
whole thing here
Ireland offers the world a lesson in equality
Voted, too. By referendum and democratic majority, too. A landslide result, too. In a country deemed to be deeply Catholic, too. No matter what age, gender, sexuality, skin colour, financial wealth, physical health, education, location or any other matter that authorities and dogma might want to impose on humans in order to separate and categorize us, we're all equal.
A standing ovation for Ireland today, the country that truly understands equality.
The most visited IKN post this week is...
...this one, "Insider selling at Hudbay (HBM) (HBM.to)".
It was the most popular by a long way, too. To repeat the refrain, if I could be bothered to write on more widely held, larger market cap and altogether bigger companies and stocks, this blog would get a lot more hits and visitors. But I don't. Because I can't. And it doesn't. Which is fine.
Friday night classic junior mining NR of the week
Thank Altan Nevada (ANE.v) for this week's edition. The most satisfying thing about this one is that it has all the feeling and gist contained in the title line:
About that "60 day pause" called by Southern Copper (SCCO) at Tia Maria
Just the one protester dead this afternoon, plus four others injured and three police officers hurt as well. Hey, good job they're all on a pause, could get serious otherwise.
The Friday OT: Goldfrapp; Strict Machine
Because all videos should have dancing dogs.
Checking in on the value being added to First Mining Finance (FF.v) by Daniel Ameduri of Future Money Trends
In "Has First Mining Finance (FF.v) fired Daniel Ameduri of Future Money Trends yet?" dated May 14th, IKN wondered out loud as to the general wisdom of hiring the owner of a hard money goldbug website with limited reach as your investment relations expert and floated the merest possibility of a suggestion that perhaps maybe Keith Neumeyer's act of throwing $7k a month straight down the toilet was symptomatic of greater issues at FF.v.
That was when FF.v traded at 37c. It's now 33c. Apparently Mr Ameduri is still employed by FF.v and is in line for a 100,000 option payout from the company very soon, too. Adding value, Keith. Adding value.
Chart of the day is...
...the second look at the gold/copper ratio this month:
On May 4th we asked "how low can it go?" and as it happens, that day was the low. Probably just a coincidence. So I suppose the question now is to wonder how high it can go and more pertinently, whether it'll go higher via gold upping or copper downing. As things stand today, the latter seems more likely.
PS: And just so you know, at some point today it'll get to the stage when I see the word 'lasagna' in the title line of an e-mail and won't even bother opening it. Thank you for your kind comprehension.
PS: And just so you know, at some point today it'll get to the stage when I see the word 'lasagna' in the title line of an e-mail and won't even bother opening it. Thank you for your kind comprehension.
Even more Guatemala
Mike Allison at Central American Politics has you covered on this accelerating story, keep your eyes peeled there, here's today's episode. President Otto Pérez Molina is looking shakier by the day. By the hour, in fact.
NioCorp (NB.to): The Tommy Humphreys bullshit pump job collapses
Surprise. Not.
Yes indeed retail sheep, Tommy can do all this to your portfolio. And more!
And yeah, toldyaso.
And so.
More Trevali (TV.to): The result of the KY Jelly application by company to retail shareholder
IKN made reference yesterday to Trevali (TV.to) and its propensity to dilute the living sexual intercourse out of its share count, but what does that mean to you, dear reader? Well, take a look at these two charts:
First here's the market cap of Trevali at each quarter end. We get this by using the filed number of shares outstanding (thank you SEDAR), plus the share price at end quarter (thank you TSX website).
As you can see, since end 2010 TV.to has changed from a $100m market cap company into a near-$350m once this latest dilution is factored in (presumably it's closed before end 2q15). Yes indeed TV.to is a growth story, getting bigger and better and all sorts of capitalist wonderful, right? Well yeah, except for one group of stakeholders:
You guys at retail shareholder level have watched TV.to the company grow, but TV.to the stock flatline. All the pain, none of the gain. And to be clear, the descriptive noun for somebody taken advantage in this way is "sucker".
UPDATE: And the bot deal gets upped to $30m. You can't make this shit up.
The lasagna recipe
I make lasagna maybe once a month on average*, basically because the kids like it. Hey, who doesn't like lasagna? This morning's mailbox includes reader WL (a new mailer), who noticed it's been mentioned a couple of times on these humble pages and asked for the recipe. So rather than just send it to one person...
There's no big secret; if there is one it's to care about the tomatoes; what you use and how you use them, because it makes all the difference.
3kg plum tomatoes (they grow round here, delicious and dirt cheap). Go for the bigger ones if you have a choice, always go for ripe, red ones.
3/4kg minced beef
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 kg cheese (50% a tilsit-type that melts completely, 50% a harder whiter cheese that doesn't, both local cheeses, nothing out the ordinary, use whatever you prefer in the end) EDIT for clarity after a mail came in: The tilsit here isn't real tilsit with that way strong flavour, it's a cheese "made in the style" that's normal tasting and melts nicely. Bottom line: the cheese and its strength is up to you, the point is to have one that melts a lot and one that melts a bit.
Milk, flour and butter for the bechamel
Packet dried lasagna (a decent local brand, works perfectly)
Olive oil/cooking oil. You'll need salt on hand, too.
Cut tomatoes in half, then grate them through the large holes of a cheese grater so that you grate up all the flesh and you're left with the skin in your hand (which you throw away). The pips are grated through too. 3kg of this takes time, so stick some decent music on and be careful about those fingernails on the grater. And yes, it's worth it. And no, don't stick the tomatoes whole into a blender and make them into a liquid skin and all. Do it right, you'll notice the difference when you get that first fork of finished lasagna in your mouth, this is way waaay more important than getting anal about the over-debated fresh/dry pasta question.
Big pan, 50% olive oil/50% cooking oil in the bottom, heat it up, when hot (not mega-hot though) throw your grated tomato in there. Bit of salt, bit of water, put the lid on, wait til it starts boiling, turn the heat right down, leave it there a couple of hours minimum, remember to stir every so often, maybe last half hour without the lid on to help the final reduction process. All this matters. Again, do it right and your tomato sauce will pay you back with interest. The difference between this and that shit they sell you in jars is enormous, measure it in light years.
In another pan (I use a large frying pan) sweat off the finely cut onion and the very finely cut garlic cloves (low heat). Add the minced beef, stick the heat up to medium, cook through until brown, salt to taste.
When the tomato sauce is done, add 90% to the minced beef. Make sure your mix is nicely sloppy. Cook through a little more. Okay, the mix is now done, that's the work out the way, relax.
Two Pyrex dishes (we use them, metal baking trays are just as good I suspect), into which:
Layer of dry lasagna
Layer of mince/tom sauce mix
Layer of dry lasagna
Layer of mince/tom sauce mix
Layer of dry lasagna
Layer of mince/tom sauce mix
Layer of dry lasagna
Then a final layer of the tomato only sauce you held back from earlier.
Then on top of that the two types of cheese, grated, sprinkled on top. Put as much or as little as you like (we tend to put a lot because the kids like cheese). Into a hot oven for 30 minutes.
You now have 30 minutes to make bechamel. Melt butter, add flour (equal quantity to butter), make roux, add milk and a little salt (be careful with your salt in bech, it gets salty quickly esp if you're using salted butter, go for a very small pinch here) low heat to boiling point, stirring all the time (not joking). When thickened turn off heat, it's done. Don't ask me for the quantities, I do this by eye, but while I'm here and if memory serves, it's 30g butter and 30g flour for one pint of milk. But I could be wrong, check somewhere else if you're not sure.
Take out the lasagna, spoon a layer bechamel over the top, back in the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes (do that by eye, depends on your heat setting). Job done.
Some green leaf salad's nice with lasagna. Serve on a plate and put it in your mouth and chew it and swallow it, repeat until plate empty. End
*Though make enough for two full meals for four people and half gets frozen
Chart of the day is...
...zinc 12 months (again):
We noted a few days ago that ity couldn't break that stubborn $1.10/lb line. Now it's broken back under $1.00/lb (not shown on this Kitco daily updated, Zn went to 99.5c this morning and right now is a few thousands under the buck). Not blaming the dollar today, either. It's down half a penny.
Trevali (TV.to) raising money by selling shares? Say it ain't so!
Trevali: Production at Santander mine expected to commence in late 2011
Santander finally made it to production over three years after that splash header and had managed to get the share count to 280m in the process. Now they're going to pull the same trick on the back of their latest marginal operation at Caribou and hope that nobody notices.
Oh cool, more dilution. Tonight's news puts this company at a minimum 305.537m shares out (and it's probably more already), over double the "oh we gonna be miners any minute" number above. How this company gets away with this scam year after year, all the while getting its free pass from the sycophant brokerages due to the commish generated, it's absolutely.....well, it's this:
Trevali Mining Corporation ("Trevali" or the "Company") (TSX:TV)(LMA:TV)(OTCQX:TREVF)(FRANKFURT:4TI) announces that it has entered into an agreement with Dundee Securities Ltd. on behalf of a syndicate of underwriters (together, the "Underwriters"), to purchase on a "bought deal" basis by way of short form prospectus, 19,610,000 common shares of the Company ("Shares") subject to all required regulatory approval at a price per Share of $1.02 (the "Issue Price") for gross proceeds of $20,002,200 (the "Offering"). continues here
Oh cool, more dilution. Tonight's news puts this company at a minimum 305.537m shares out (and it's probably more already), over double the "oh we gonna be miners any minute" number above. How this company gets away with this scam year after year, all the while getting its free pass from the sycophant brokerages due to the commish generated, it's absolutely.....well, it's this:
Guatemala news: The presidency's reeling
May you live in interesting times, Otto. Mike Allison over at his blog dedicated to Central American politics has been covering this one closely, he's the guy to read and here's how his post today starts:
"Earlier today, the presidents of the Central Bank (Julio Suarez) and Social Security Institute (Juan de Dios Rodríguez) were arrested by Guatemalan authorities. Over a dozen other officials were arrested including the vice president of the Social Security Institute. The charges range from fraud, conspiracy, insider trading, illegal collection of fees, and active and passive bribery."
Dilbert on geology (now more than just Dilbert)
I was sent this today. Sharing it here.
That's massively good.
UPDATE: MM sends in a couple more. Both worthy. I particularly like the C&H.
Chart of the day is...
...the US Dollar index (USD):
Don't ask me, I don't have a single clue either. I'm justing sticking this up here to remind myself what's centre of the universe right now. I'm now going to have a shower, another coffee and then probably make some lasagna. A better use of my morning than watching the open.
UPDATE: Lasagna came out well, thanks for asking.
UPDATE: Lasagna came out well, thanks for asking.
B2Gold (BTG) (BTO.to): The Clive speaks about fight night
On this BNN TV link, with video and everything. Here's your excerpt:
Back in January, a punch up erupted between Clive Johnson, the CEO of B2Gold (BTO.TO 0.49%) and Daniel Earle, a sell side analyst for TD Securities at a posh dinner hosted by the bank as part of their annual mining conference in Toronto.
The clash at Modus Restaurant, which was said to be largely fuelled by generous amounts of red wine served to the mining luminaries, left Johnson with black eye and a pair of broken glasses.
Both B2Gold and TD acknowledged the incident, but declined to elaborate on the circumstances. Speaking in his first televised interview since the incident, Johnson told BNN he regrets the what happened.
"I don't think anyone involved in that was particularly proud of what happened at the end of the day. It had nothing to do with business. It was an incredibly unfortunate situation," he said.
Whole thing here
PS: A little music while you check out the linko up there:
PS: A little music while you check out the linko up there:
The funniest thing about Bitgold (XAU.v)
Before anything else, be clear that I don't have a dog in this fight. This is not my thing, I don't care enough (about cryptos or about money in general), I own no shares of Bitgold (XAU.v) and that's not going to change, however high or low it might go. And though I'm sure that one fine day it'll collapse to a more sensible level, at which point it might (or might not) be worth looking to see if there's any steak behind all that sizzle, I couldn't hazard the slightest guess as to when that might be so if it goes higher than today it won't surprise me much. And before you try to get all fundamental (and fundamentalist) on me about the company and what it has, be clear that I've also done what most of you out there haven't done and read the 126 page Bitgold listing application dated May 8th and filed to SEDAR by XAU.v on May 12th. Yeah all of it, top to bottom, even the boring bits, so I know about the thing, how the company is structured, who has the shares and how much they paid for pieces. That's not the funny bit.
I've also watched with amusement as XAU.v shares have taken off and flown like the veritable eagle since the IPO
last Monday two Mondays ago. Which has been fun, and rather silly too, but that's not the funniest part either.
Nah, the fun has been watching the rise in seething hatred for the stock in people who play the Canadian junior mining companies, partly because they now feel stupid for caring about digging holes in the ground and thinking that precious metals are the true source of all wealth, partly due to the nostalgia and the "hey, remember when we could hoodwink em all like that too?" feelings it brings on by watching from the sidelines. Or maybe it's the thought of what XAU.v directors would do if they were offered a 100m share bought deal at $3 by some brokerage tomorrow morning. Or even $2. Fark, they could raise a quarter billion, buy out ten shitty explorecos and reinvent themselves as Sandstorm's next acquisition target. And face it, Nolan's bought into worse stories.
All because somebody has managed to out-think the Canadian Venture Exchange regulars and man oh man, they're gonna hate Roy for that. So good luck to Bitgold says IKN, I hope the bubble doesn't burst too soon and even when it does, the company has enough real backbone to make something of its plan.
Why I've always wet myself laughing about this asteroid mining thing
SMBC sums it up neatly, here.
The Southern Silver (SSV.v) pump begins to take shape
You may not remember this post back in March that looked at the participants of the placement ran at the time in Southern Silver (SSV.v), but basically it noted that Electrum Group looked as though it was making a long term bet, while various hangers-on getting ready to make a short-term killing on the back of the bigger sponsor.
And so to today, with this NR on Electrum buying into one of the specific SSV.v projects and this NR announcing a new round of financing for insiders. IKN would again like to make crystal clear its opinion of Electrum's position compared with the opportunists who'll drive the upcoming promo, as from what we see the bigboy player is actually in this to try to do some real development and discovery work on the SSV project, thereby going for longer-term gains. The others milling around, less so. It's going to be interesting to watch how this one pans out the in the weeks to come, if only as a case study in how retailers get raped by a corrupt system. Let's see how the pump runs come end June/early July, when those first placement shares come out of escrow.
Imperial (III.to): Murray Edwards bails them out (again)
Further to that classic late night Friday NR. This eventual $42m so or makes the total...errr...invested (?) by Mr Edwards in III.to since Mt Polley went haywire at around $150m, give or take.
Imperial Metals Corporation (the "Company") (TSX:III) announces that its board of directors, subject to regulatory and legal approvals, has approved an agreement to borrow $30 million from Edco Capital Corporation ("Edco") by means of an unsecured loan at an interest rate of 12% per annum and maturing in six months from date of issue (the "Loan"), with an arrangement fee of 1% of the principal of the Loan payable in cash. Edco is owned by N. Murray Edwards, a significant shareholder of the Company. The proceeds of the Loan will be used to support the ongoing ramp up of production at the Company's Red Chris mine and provide working capital for the Company.
The board of directors has also approved the Company undertaking a rights offering of approximately $80 million to shareholders, debentureholders and warrantholders ("Rightholders") subject to definitive terms and conditions as well as approvals from the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") and securities regulatory authorities. The rights offering will be for units comprised of a combination of common shares and convertible debentures. Proceeds of the rights offering will be used to repay the Loan, to support the ongoing ramp up of production at the Red Chris mine, to fund the restart of operations at the Company's Mount Polley mine and to provide working capital for the Company. The rights offering will proceed after the Company has obtained an extension of the completion date under the Senior Credit Facility to a date which is reasonably expected to follow the successful completion of the ramp up of production at the Company's Red Chris mine.
Rightholders will be able to subscribe for more than their proportionate share of units should not all Rightholders take up their pro rata share and the Company expects the rights will trade through the facilities of the TSX.
Edco, its affiliates, and The Fairholme Partnership, LP, significant Rightholders collectively holding approximately 56% of the Company's issued and outstanding shares, 69.5% of the outstanding debentures and 100% of the outstanding warrants, have advised that their current intention is that they will subscribe for their proportionate share of units and, in exchange for a fee of 3% of the subscription proceeds in respect of all rights not owned by them, back stop the rights offering such that they will purchase all units not otherwise purchased pursuant to the exercise of rights by other Rightholders. All directors of the Company have agreed to participate in the rights offering.
Your author's mind is cast back to November and the 3q14 results, in which III.to pointed out that the recently completed $115m raising was expected to be enough to get Mt Polley sorted out and Red Chris running nicely. And give or take $80m (and counting) they were absolutely right. Beats me why people think mining companies are run by bullshitters and liars...
Chart of the day is...
Tia Maria: Peruvian reporters finally get round to asking locals about the protests...
...and when they do, you suddenly get a very different picture to the one being force-fed to the general public by neoliberal media.
It's Spanish language and it's eight minutes long. It was part of a Sunday night popular national level TV reporting show aired last night. The presenter, one Nicolas Lucar, is normally pretty lapdog towards the Lima society and its governments, too. Youtube link here
American Pharoah
I hope the Triple Crown goes to American Pharoah, it's been way too long. But win or lose, he won't do it in two minutes and twenty-four seconds.
The day when Ron Turcotte decided to show the whole horse. Forty-two years on, it's still hard to believe.
So how's your uranium call going this year, permabull?
Is it the normal flatulent sales-pitch nonsense that's quickly proven wrong?
Or is it like IKN's from the late December 2014 predictions for the year?
3) Uranium will go nowhere again. We're in the high $30s today, it could fluctuate up into a 4-handle, down through to the 2s, but the prediction is to watch it flatline in general terms. Uranium's going the way of the buggy whip, the world has moved on from the fallacy of "near limitless/near free energy" and knows how expensive these things are to decom, the type of cost that's built into projections by serious countries (China an obvious exception to that category).
Chart of the day is...
The IKN Weekly, out now
IKN314 has just been sent to subscribers. 31 pages and 13,500 words, most of them...wait for it...spelled...yes indeed you've guessed, spelled correctly! Oh hah hah.
Labels: otto, the IKN weekly
Canadian capital markets quiz question (answer at the bottom)
Question: What do the following companies (presented in alphabetical order) have in common?
Advanced Explorations Inc.
Alhambra Resources Ltd.
American Natural Energy Corporation
American Oil & Gas Inc.
Angus Mining Inc.
Aqua-Pure Ventures Inc.
Birch Lake Energy Inc.
Blue Zen Memorial Parks Inc.
Brigadier Gold Limited
Cadan Resources Corporation
CanAm Coal Corp.
Changfeng Energy Inc.
Charlotte Resources Ltd.
Copper Point Mining Corp.
Cosigo Resources Ltd.
Crimson Bioenergy Ltd.
Cygam Energy Inc.
Dealnet Capital Corp.
Desmarais Energy Corporation
Ditem Explorations Inc.
DOT Resources Ltd.
Enssolutions Group Inc.
Fletcher Nickel Inc.
Geovic Mining Corp.
Global Key Investment Limited
Goldex Resources Corporation
Hudson River Minerals Ltd.
Hunter Bay Minerals plc
Immunall Science Inc.
International Millennium Mining Corp.
Jaguar Resources Inc.
Jetcom Inc.
Josephine Mining Corp.
Leader Energy Services Ltd.
Lovitt Resources Inc.
Matrix Asset Management Inc.
ME Resource Corp.
Microplanet Technology Corp.
Mobi724 Global Solutions Inc.
Nextraction Energy Corp.
Noble Iron Inc
NX Phase Capital Inc.
Pacific Bay Minerals Ltd.
Palliser Oil & Gas Corporation
Phoenix Metals Corporation
Pivot Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Premium Exploration Inc.
QSolar Limited
Quattro Exploration and Production Ltd.
RB Energy Inc
Redwater Energy Corp.
Regent Ventures Ltd.
Rosehearty Energy Inc.
Sendero Mining Corp
Silcom Systems Inc.
Stealth Ventures Inc
Stealth Ventures Ltd.
Stratabound Minerals Corp.
SweetrLife Technologies Inc.
Titus Energy Corp.
TrinCan Capital Corp.
Victory Mountain Ventures Ltd.
Winchester Minerals and Gold Exploration Ltd.
Xemplar Energy Corp.
Zone Resources Inc.
Answer: They've all had a Cease Trade Order (CTO) imposed on them by the BCSC in the last ten days. Overall, I'd say that's a pretty good sign.
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Leading up to day one of I/O, there were rumours Google would launch a big update to Google Wallet that would rely less heavily on NFC. And it's done that, sort of, with the company quietly announcing that it will begin to accept cash-free payments for items bought within video games.
The problem is, Google Wallet hasn't been embraced. Using it to buy virtual goods—clothing for avatars, World of Warcraft gear, a cerulean core to build stuff in a game of Edgeworld—is not exactly the way to get it to catch fire with regular folks. Sure, it's good for game developers, as it ensures players are spending more time on their sites. But what about, you know, retail partners in real life?
The silver lining is that Google is moving in a more cloud-based direction with the service. It's just not exactly the direction most consumers need. [Google Wallet]