text:
Page 1
|Save page Remove page
|1 of 111
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
Large (1000x1000 max)
Extra Large
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
All (PDF)
This page
MODEL-GUIDED PERFORMANCE TUNING FOR APPLICATION-LEVEL PARAMETERS by Yoonju Lee Nelson A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (COMPUTER SCIENCE) August 2009 Copyright 2009 Yoonju Lee Nelson
Object Description
|Model-guided performance tuning for application-level parameters
|Nelson, Yoonju Lee
|Author email
|email@example.com; firstname.lastname@example.com
|Doctor of Philosophy
|Document type
|Degree program
|Computer Science
|Viterbi School of Engineering
|Date defended/completed
|Date submitted
|Restricted until
|Date published
|Advisor (committee chair)
|Hall, Mary W.
|Advisor (committee member)
Nakano, Aiichiro
Lerman, Kristina
Lucas, Robert F.
Prasanna, Viktor K.
|The enormous and growing complexity of today's high-end systems has increased the already significant challenge of maximizing performance on today's equally complex scientific applications. In this research, we address the question of how application programmers can interface with tools and automatically search a space of application-level parameters that are believed to significantly impact the performance of an application. We begin with applications for which a programmer has identified a set of integer-valued parameters believed to impact the performance of the application significantly.; We explore two techniques for modeling performance sensitivity of application-level parameters. First, we propose qualitative parameter models that capture common behaviors of an optimization parameter, and use high-level programmer-specified models of the expected performance behavior of individual parameters. A second modeling technique uses statistical methods on a small sample of parameter values to derive a functional model, and to dynamically identify the neighborhood of the best-performing result. By capitalizing on properties of these models, we develop search algorithms to prune the multi-variate search space for the collection of parameters associated with an application.; We study performance tuning of three large scientific applications: the LS-DYNA Solver, the visualization component of molecular dynamics simulation, and warping component of biomedical image analysis. We validate our models by comparing against performance results from an exhaustive set of experiments across the parameter range. When compared with the exhaustive experimental data, we show that we are able to drastically reduce search time, examining an average of less than 5% of the search space. Our experimental results show speedups of up to 12.83X as compared to the worst-case in user-given parameter ranges, and speedups of up to 1.75X as compared to the user default parameter value.; To support model-guided performance tuning, we have developed a tool called a code isolator. Its purpose is to extract a key computation from the application and creates an executable program, including representative input data. To derive an isolated code fragment that uses storage efficiently and has similar memory hierarchy behavior to the original computation, we develop compiler and runtime optimizations to limit the input data and number of parameters as well as to warm up the cache state. We applied this tool to two case study applications, UMT2K and the LS-DYNA Solver, reducing their size and execution time by several orders of magnitude.; In considering the burden of achieving high performance for developers of current scientific and engineering applications on complex high-end computing platforms, model-guided performance tuning is a feasible and useful tool for finding the best-performing application-level parameters.
|performance tuning; empirical optimization; compiler technique
|Part of collection
|University of Southern California dissertations and theses
|Publisher (of the original version)
|University of Southern California
|Place of publication (of the original version)
|Los Angeles, California
|Publisher (of the digital version)
|University of Southern California. Libraries
|Electronically uploaded by the author
|Legacy record ID
|Contributing entity
|University of Southern California
|Nelson, Yoonju Lee
|Repository name
|Libraries, University of Southern California
|Repository address
|Los Angeles, California
|Repository email
|Archival file
|Page 1
|Contributing entity
|University of Southern California
|Repository email
|Full text
|MODEL-GUIDED PERFORMANCE TUNING FOR APPLICATION-LEVEL PARAMETERS by Yoonju Lee Nelson A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (COMPUTER SCIENCE) August 2009 Copyright 2009 Yoonju Lee Nelson


text:
NEW YORK - Apple missed Wall Street earnings expectations for the second straight quarter, as iPad sales fell short of analyst forecasts.
The slowdown in the growth of iPad sales was not unexpected, as the rumor mill correctly predicted that Apple would launch a smaller, cheaper iPad. It announced that device, the iPad Mini, on Tuesday.
Net income in the fiscal fourth quarter was $8.2 billion, or $8.67 per share. That was up 24 percent from $6.6 billion, or $7.05 per share, a year ago.
Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting earnings of $8.84 per share.
Revenue was $36 billion, up 27 percent from a year ago. Analysts were expecting $35.8 billion.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
email page print page
Maybe before I say anything else I should say that How To Stop Time is well written and interesting. I found it fascinating in fact. All the way through it, I debated whether or not I liked Ann Marlowe, whether I agreed with her, and whether I believed her.
I'm sure my reaction is largely personal, because I have some things in common with Marlowe: she is just a couple of years older than me, and she was into the New York indie-rock scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s, as I was to some extent, when I was at graduate school doing a Ph.D. in philosophy in New Jersey. So we probably listened to some of the same songs and maybe even went to some of the same concerts. She was a philosophy major at Harvard, and her preface is probably the only drug memoir that thanks three major American philosophers for their influence.
On the other hand, it's clear to me that I'm very different from Marlowe. I've never taken hard street drugs, and have never been even remotely tempted. Reading her memoir made me feel like a soft person. I often felt repelled by her. While my reaction to the book may be very personal, I suspect that most readers will have similar reactions even if they don't have the same parallels with the author's life.
On the back of the dust jacket, the praising blurbs use phrases like "stone-cold dissector," "very moral," "austere," "unflinching," "blunt, unsparing," and "intellectually incendiary." The adjective that came to my mind was "brutal." She describes her friends, her fellow users, her family, and her love life. Let me give a longish quote to convey some of the flavor of the book. She was with her boyfriend Scott for seven years, through college and after. One day they go for a pizza and he tells her, out of the blue, that he wants her out of his apartment "in the next day or two." She describes her reaction to the breakup, in the "dumped" entry.
Life without Scott was lonely at first. I did go to bed with Hans, who turned out to have the smallest dick of any man I've been with before or since, and then I thought: what's next? None of the men I knew were right. Single life didn't offer many advantages, since I'd done what I wanted to even when we were together, and there were the usual awkwardnesses about shared friends. I had been part of a couple for my entire post-college life, and since I had taken coupledom as the norm, I felt profoundly out of step. Scott did not come crawling back. I met his new girlfriend, Sandy, who was sweet, socially smooth and unlike me as possible in physique and sytle: boyish-figured, short, pale, freckled, with a Saphic buzz cut and loose-fitting pastel Brooks Brothers clothes. She ran even more every day than I did and I privately thought of her as the Women's Pro Golf Tour girl. Sandy was a Catholic, and I was infuriated when I heard she was converting to Judaism to marry Scott. It had never occurred to me to try to please Scott at all, much less take a drastic step like that.
Scott did not come crawling back. I met his new girlfriend, Sandy, who was sweet, socially smooth and unlike me as possible in physique and sytle: boyish-figured, short, pale, freckled, with a Saphic buzz cut and loose-fitting pastel Brooks Brothers clothes. She ran even more every day than I did and I privately thought of her as the Women's Pro Golf Tour girl. Sandy was a Catholic, and I was infuriated when I heard she was converting to Judaism to marry Scott. It had never occurred to me to try to please Scott at all, much less take a drastic step like that.
Often coming across as a bitch, Marlowe is hard on others and herself. She makes no excuses for her heroin use, and she makes no apology. She is clear that doing heroin is a bad idea. Being a user means wasting large amounts of one's life in finding the drug and living under its influence. It messes with one's relationships, and means one is not facing life. At the end of the book, she suggests that it prevents one from facing one's mortality--indeed, that's the point of the book title, How to Stop Time.
Combining her hardness with armchair philosophizing, Marlow generalizes about the nature of addiction. She denies that the craving for heroin is ever overwhelming: in her view, addiction is always a choice. Of course, it is generally an irrational choice, attempting to re-experience the magical First Time one experienced it. But it continued to have real attractions: being a "heroin user" made her feel special and different. She shows pride in the identity and the drug effects, expressing contempt for hippy drugs like pot that deliver a spaced out high. She credits heroin with making her a better, more rigorous writer. But she felt that she really only got the benefit after she had stopped taking it.
Marlowe did not go through any treatment program, and does not see drug addiction as an illness. She stopped cold, but rejects the horror stories of quitting "cold turkey." She says the withdrawal symptoms are comparable to bad flu, and are no excuse for any criminal behavior. Her own career did not seem to suffer from her drug taking: she worked on Wall Street after Harvard, making plenty of money. She travelled to remote places around the world on her own. She also started writing, mostly rock criticism, for publications like the Village Voice. Marlowe never injected heroin into herself: she always snorted. She was never a junkie, and she never had to prostitute herself or degrade herself in order to get money for drugs. She was never arrested, and I imagine that even writing a memoir about her illegal activities in the past does not place her in danger for future arrest. She knows how to benefit from her experiences.
Her childhood was as individual as any other. She grew up in an intellectual east coast family; her father suffered from Parkinson's disease which cast a shadow over her life after the age of eight. Also important was the revelation, after her father's death, that he had had an incestuous relationship with his sister. This news leads Marlowe to reinterpret many memories, and alters her relationships with both her mother and brother. But she never suggests that her difficult childhood drove her to drugs.
Even granting that Marlowe is accurately depicting her own drug life without self-deception, we are left with the question of how much she is entitled to generalize from it. Of course there are plenty of accounts of drug taking, and Marlowe is familiar with most of them. She is impatient with many of them. One she does not mention is The Heroin Users by Tam Stewart. Stewart describes her first hit of heroin as a disappointment: she didn't get high and she vomited. In contrast to Marlowe's description of heroin use as trying to recapture the first time, Stewart says she had to work at becoming an addict. While Stewart, like Marlowe, is unwilling to plead the victim role, she does put heroin addiction into more of a social context, and condemns many of the current drug policies. Even though Stewart is from Britain, many of her points apply equally to the US.
A comparison with Stewart's book also highlights maybe the most distinctive feature of Marlowe's writing. Although Stewart tells her story from a first-person perspective, she nevertheless adopts the style of a sociology textbook. Marlowe's tale is far more stylized. The book is split up into 130 different entries, in the manner of a small encyclopedia. Different entries cross reference each other, but there are no footnotes or bibliographies. The entries tell her life story in roughly chronological order, but each entry takes the opportunity to serve as a meditation on a theme. Marlowe is more of a philosopher than a sociologist. What she is more than either, though, is an autobiographer. Even if How To Stop Time is ultimately more about the author than about heroin, it is still a good read.
Welcome to Metapsychology.
Note that Metapsychology will be moving to a new server in January 2020. We will not put up new reviews during the transition. We thank you for your support and look forward to coming back with a revised format.
Metapsychology Online reviewers normally receive gratis review copies of the items they review.
Metapsychology Online receives a commission from Amazon.com for purchases through this site, which helps us send
review copies to reviewers. Please support us by making your Amazon.com purchases through our Amazon links. We thank
you for your support!
Join our Google Group!
Interested in becoming a book reviewer for Metapsychology?
To apply, write to our editor.
Metapsychology Online Reviews
About Us | About CenterSite | Terms & PrivacyCopyright © CenterSite, LLC, 1995-2020


text:
Gangsta Bang
Gangsta Bang is the first chapter of missions in Grand Theft Auto 1. Set in Liberty City, it features four phone missions and seven secret vehicle missions (six in the PlayStation version). The player works for Bubby. Most of the missions involve screwing over the Sonetti Gang. Once the player has earned 1 million points, he will be asked to meet with one of Sonetti's men. This man warns the player not to cross Bald Man Sonetti again and the second chapter (Heist Almighty) opens up.


text:
National Hurricane Center
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
Figure 1. Storm surge along gently sloping (left) and steeply sloping shoreline (right). A larger surge occurs on the gently sloping shore; the steeply sloping shore has higher waves on top of the surge. The source of this material is the COMET© Website at http://meted.ucar.edu/ of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), sponsored in part through cooperative agreement(s) with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC). ®1997-2009 University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. All Rights Reserved.
Weather Underground Storm Surge Articles
Storm Surge Safety Actions
Source: NOAA
National Hurricane Center
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
Storm Surge
Tropical Storm Outlooks
Monthly Hurricane Summaries
Tropical Weather Discussions:
Other Tropical Imagery
Aircraft Reconnaissance Reports
Blank Tracking Charts


text:
From My Bloody Valentine's Many Layers, An Orchestral Pop Song Emerges
We're still anxiously awaiting My Bloody Valentine's long-promised followup to the band's 1991 classic Loveless. Frontman Kevin Shields announced at a live show recently that it could come out as early as today. But in the meantime, check out this lovely orchestrated version of the MBV song "To Here Knows When," from Canadian soprano Rachel Zeffira.
Zeffira says she'd never even heard of My Bloody Valentine until a few years ago, when a friend turned her onto Loveless. But the moment she heard it, she says she could imagine "To Here Knows When" as a fully orchestrated, acoustic pop song. The live recording of Zeffira's version featured here was captured in a homemade video, in one take, at Abbey Road Studios in Westminster, London. The song also appears on her upcoming album, The Deserters.
In an email, Zeffira tells us she heard "a whole world inside My Bloody Valentine's guitar layers that I thought could be translated to an orchestral world. The cellos and violins play glissandi in order to interpret Kevin's guitar bends, and on the album version, I also used a broken English horn to play a harsh drone throughout the song. I couldn't use it for the live recording, though, because its keys fell off right before the session — so that was the end of the English horn. The Abbey Road live version uses a stripped-down orchestra, whereas on the album there are double the number of instruments."
Zeffira says she relied on her own ear to puzzle out My Bloody Valentine's famously indecipherable lyrics. "To be honest," she says, "I'm still not sure if it's 'kiss your fear' or 'kiss your feet,' but I decided to go with 'fear.'"
The Deserters comes out in the U.S. on March 12. But her version of "To Here Knows When" is already available online.
My Bloody Valentine's followup to Loveless is out... who knows when?


text:
The City Administrative Offices consists of several departments. They are General Administration, City Clerk, Finance, and Planning.
General Administration focuses on the general management of the city and direct support of the elected City Council, and it includes administration of contracted services such as legal counsel, planning, and engineering services.
The City Administrator is appointed by the City Council and serves as the chief executive officer of the organization.
The City Clerk's Office is responsible for the records management system of the city as well as providing election services and has custody of the City Seal.
The offices of the City Administrator, City Clerk, and City Council can be found at 100 North C Street, at the northwest corner of C Street and Pine Street, alongside the Police Department.
The Finance Department is responsible for all financial management services and activities provided by the city. This includes payroll, accounts payable, business license, fixed assets, and general accounting and auditing of the city.
The Planning Department is responsible for processing zoning requests, conditional use permits, site plan reviews, subdivision work, tenative and final maps, annexation requests, and environmental impact reports.
Both Finance and Planning can be found at 137 North F Street, alongside the Community Services Department, which includes Recreation, Animal Control, and other services.
For more information on Exeter, please call 559.592.3710 or visit Exeter City Hall at 137 North F Street, Exeter, CA 93221
Office hours are generally 8:00am – 4:30pm, but some offices may vary.
Exeter City Plan
Exeter City documents are available for download here.


text:
CHA CHA CHA FILMS is the name of the new production company started by Mexico's three most successful and acclaimed directors: Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo del Toro. But don't go looking for an office or a telephone number here, or anywhere else for that matter, because you won't find one.
That's not just because of a dislike for bureaucracy and unnecessary overhead. After scoring a series of box office hits and Oscar nominations and awards in recent years with movies like "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (Mr. Cuarón), "Babel" (Mr. González Iñárritu) and "Pan's Labyrinth" (Mr. del Toro) the three directors now have their pick of big-budget, studio-supported projects to take them all over the world.
But that means the Three Amigos, as Hollywood has taken to calling them, don't spend as much time with one another as they would like. So an official business relationship, with lots of phone calls and e-mail messages flying back and forth across the planet, seemed the best way to continue the conversation about cinema they have been having since they were starting out and first met here two decades ago.
"We don't have a mission statement," said Mr. del Toro, 44, who also has directed "Hellboy" and "The Devil's Backbone" and is now at work on "The Hobbit" in New Zealand. "Right now we can do anything, make a movie in French or in Spanish, together or apart, producing or not producing, helping with the writing and ping-ponging ideas. It's more like a virtual company than a big development company."
The first film being released under the Cha Cha Cha banner is "Rudo y Cursi," or "Tough and Corny," which the three partners produced but did not direct. Set to open in the United States on May 8, it is a bittersweet comedy about two brothers of humble origin who become big league Mexican soccer stars almost overnight. Spoiled by their success, they see their careers collapse just as rapidly.
The brothers Tato and Beto Verdusco are played by Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, probably best known to American audiences for their breakout roles in "Y Tu Mamá También." That film, nominated for an Academy Award in 2002 for best original screenplay, was directed by Mr. Cuarón, 47, who wrote it with his brother Carlos, 42. Carlos Cuarón makes his feature-length debut as a director in "Rudo y Cursi" in what can only be called a family setting.
"Rudo y Cursi" is set in the world of sports and examines issues like corruption and celebrity, but "this is really a film about brotherhood," Carlos Cuarón said in an interview here. That seems an appropriate assessment not just because of the plot and Alfonso Cuarón's involvement as a co-producer, but also because Mr. del Toro and Mr. González Iñárritu, 45, are "like a pair of older brothers to me," Carlos said.
That means they are willing to offer tough love to help their younger sibling get his directing career off on the right foot. "I don't think you can find producers who are more demanding than these three, and in a very positive way," Mr. Luna said. "They gave Carlos a structure and a mechanism that allowed his talent to flourish, but they questioned him a lot too. What do you want to say? Are you sure you want to say this? Is this the best way to say this?"
As Carlos Cuarón recalls it, Mr. del Toro was the one who originally encouraged him to become a director. One night more than a decade ago, when the two men were having dinner together here, Mr. del Toro noticed that Mr. Cuarón was feeling "sad and depressed," and asked why.
"I told him, that I was writing all these screenplays that weren't getting produced, and that it was like giving birth to dead babies," Mr. Cuarón explained. "Being the wise man he is, he answered 'Don't be stupid, direct them yourself, damn it,' and that's how all this began."
The presence of Mr. García Bernal and Mr. Luna also adds to the familial vibe. Though they are close friends, this is the first time they have acted together in a film since "Y Tu Mamá También." In "Rudo y Cursi" they are cast against type, with Mr. García Bernal as the sentimental brother and Mr. Luna as the loutish one, because, as Carlos Cuarón put it, "I didn't want to make 'Y Tu Mamá También II.' "
For all the talk about the Three Amigos, their personalities, backgrounds and tastes are quite different. Mr. del Toro, for example, is a self-described nerd, renowned for his warmth and good humor, reflected in the cuddly nickname el Osito, or the Little Bear, who had to work his way up to director, starting as a makeup and special effects artist.
Mr. González Iñárritu, on the other hand, has always been regarded here as something of a golden boy. Nicknamed el Negro, he has matinee idol good looks and was a successful director, of commercials and of television programs at Mexico's leading network, before Mr. del Toro and the Cuaróns, whose careers he helped at crucial moments.
Their work styles and the types of films they have tended to make are different too. "With Guillermo the shots are almost mathematical everything is planned," Alfonso Cuarón said in an interview at the Sundance Film Festival in January. "But Alejandro never knows what he is going to shoot until he is there in the place. He is like a field reporter. He has to see to know what he wants to do."
Mr. García Bernal has a distinctive vantage point, having worked with both of the Cuarón brothers and Mr. González Iñárritu. He described Alfonso Cuarón's style as "more intimate" and character driven, endorsed the prevailing notion of Mr. González Iñárritu as an auteur fond of complicated, interlocking stories and said Mr. del Toro's strongest suit was genre films, especially fantasy.
What unites the three, Mr. García Bernal continued, is their hunger to work and their encyclopedic knowledge of film and other forms of pop culture. "They speak a common language, with a lot of shared references that come from the fact that they grew up here in Mexico at the same time," he said. "Cha Cha Cha is really the formalization of their friendship, but in a work setting."
As a business venture Cha Cha Cha was clearly conceived as a way for the three to combine and multiply their clout and bargaining power. The company's deal calls for some of its coming films to be distributed through Universal Pictures, which released Alfonso Cuarón's "Children of Men" and, through its boutique division Focus Features, Mr. González Iñárritu's "21 Grams." In return for shouldering the bulk of the financial risk themselves the Three Amigos get what they prize most: creative independence.
"We all had movies out at the same time in 2006," Mr. Cuarón said. "Alejandro had 'Babel,' Guillermo had 'Pan's Labyrinth' and I had 'Children of Men.' There was a synchronicity to that, a lot of layers, and I think it deepened our interest in working together." Combined these films received 16 Academy Award nominations and won 4 Oscars.
For Latin America cinema the Cha Cha Cha experiment also represents a new way of engaging and relating to Hollywood. Directors of earlier generations, like Glauber Rocha and Ruy Guerra, to cite two examples from Brazil, often defined their identities quite vocally in opposition to Hollywood and took pride in operating outside a studio system that might not have been all that interested in them either.
But the Cha Cha Cha directors and their contemporaries, who include Brazilians like Walter Salles and Fernando Meirelles, move easily in and out of Hollywood, using the studio system when it seems to suit a particular project but going elsewhere for financing and marketing when it does not.
"These guys are Mexican through and through and embrace their heritage and everything that comes with that," David Linde, a chairman of Universal Pictures, said of the Three Amigos. "But they have a global perspective, much as I hate that phrase. It fascinates them to tell stories in Mexico, Spain, the U.K. and the United States because what drives them, quite simply, is an interest in what it means to be human."
That flexibility doesn't always sit well with Latin American critics, intellectuals and even some filmmakers working in the local system, which often relies on government rather than private funds. Here, for example, Cha Cha Cha's founders, while often praised as examples of how Mexicans can succeed on the world stage, have also found themselves accused of selling out to Hollywood and Europe and toning down or even sacrificing what is specifically and distinctly Mexican in their work.
"That's an infantile argument, a really simplistic concept that is often used to defend limits and mediocrity," Mr. González Iñárritu said. "Yes, I am a Mexican, and I have a past and a culture. But what matters is the film itself, not where it was financed or cast. Cinema is universal, beyond flags and borders and passports."
Cha Cha Cha's second production will be Mr. González Iñárritu's "Biutiful," a drama starring Javier Bardem that Mr. González Iñárritu is now editing in Spain but did not want to discuss. After that three more films are due Universal, and then the Three Amigos will pause to assess whether they wish to continue as a team.
"This is a friendship, not a marriage, and when there is the first symptom that business is going to make it a problem, we will walk away," Mr. del Toro said. "There is nothing, no big company that ties us together, other than our friendship."


text:
Cavery777 brauchte ein neues Logo Design und hat einen Wettbewerb auf 99designs gestartet.
Aus 227 Designs von 53 Designern wurde eine Gewinner gewählt.
Crossfit Interactive
Crossfit interactive is a full service digital agency for the Crossfit industry. Crossfit interactive designs, develops and executes online websites that empower Crossfit affiliates to inform, engage, educate and empower their members.
Intensity is the CrossFit manifesto, its El Dorado, its Holy Grail. In CrossFit we are engaged in a constant quest for higher intensity. Intensity translates into results--faster times, heavier weights, more reps, greater fitness. Intensity is what separates us from all the other gyms. We have no machines, no mirrors, no cables, no chrome, no supplements, no gimmicks, no 7 minute ab routines. In short, no bullshit!!. We have intensity.
Colors: Red Grey Black Blue
Please go to Crossfit.com - view the videos and understand the sport - it is going to be the next HUGE fitness tsunami to take over the world - look at the videos and see what these nutters go through ....its intense and one of the worlds most satisfying sports ever created !!
Make the logo represent the sport and also drive home the main purpose of our business to build the best Crossfit website for the affiliates all around the world
CrossFit is the primary training regimen used by an ever-growing wide variety of people...elite athletes such as mixed martial artists, Olympians, big wall rock climbers, big wave surfers, professional athletes; first responders such as paramedics, firefighters, SWAT and other LEO; special forces such as Navy SEALS, Marine Reconnaissance, Army Special Forces, Canadian Rangers and the Australian SAS; Federal Agencies such as the DEA, FBI and Secret Service. These widely differing groups all use CrossFit for one huge, but really very simple reason--it works. Incredibly well.
Finden Sie heraus, wie ein Designwettbewerb funktioniert, oder lernen Sie mehr über unsere Logo-Design-Angebote.


text:
Talk:Metal Spider Temple
Your count seems off. You claim to have a death threshold at exactly 71 tiles, but you have 81 tiles already revealed in the human tinker screenshot. Discounting the original 9 at the temple entrance, that's 72 tiles explored.
Using ENDISWAL, you can claim everyone on one side of the temple with only 45 tiles revealed. This leaves you just enough tiles to get the entire left side and still be able to go straight for the burn salve.
The altar square starts out pre-explored, so it's really 71 instead of 72. -Sidestepper
If my math is right, it should be just feasible to get the two alchemy scrolls, the two salves, and the altar. With ENDISWAL, you're just short of being able to get six items. You'd have to leave behind one of the seals or one of the healing or mana potions. --Darvin 17:53, 11 October 2012 (CDT)


text:
Woodland Hills
123ContractorQuotes.com helps you find qualified home improvement professionals
for all of your project needs. For many people, the most difficult part of
planning your home improvement or home repair projects is locating the right
contractors to help you estimate the cost, materials, manpower and time
involved with your plans.
Our mission is to provide you with a service to quickly match your needs with
local professionals who are available when you need them. Simply fill in our
easy-to-use request form, and we will connect you
with pre-screened contractors with proper service specialties and
From fence construction to simple fence installation, whether you are building home fences or need commercial fencing, it's always safer and less stressful to hire a professional fence company for your outdoor project.
Discussing the details of your project and getting price quotes from different fence companies can be time-consuming and frustrating.
Why spend valuable time and effort shopping around for the best fence installer in town? Let local fencing companies contact you and compete for your business!
Simply fill out our easy form - we'll do the extra work and have several fence contractors in your area send you free quotes. Enter in your information today so that you can get the best fencing installation service and price quote in the time frame needed.


text:
My baby's life but gone, forgotten,
Bless You!
Thursday, 25 September 2014: One Year, One Hundred and Seventy Eight Days Old
Ayla has started saying "bless you!" and I'd completely forgotten to make mention here on the blog until today when I had a sneezing fit this morning.
I don't know how Ayla picked it up – I guess from me saying "bless you" to her and "bless mummy" to myself when she or I have sneezed – but I hardly believed my ears last week when she proclaimed "bless you" to me!
I thought I may have misheard the first time but Ayla's kept up her polite little blessing every time I or someone else has sneezed around her.
This morning Ayla dutifully said bless you after ever sneeze (and there was about five of them!) and her words were so clear it was a little unnerving!
I think it's totally adorable though and it just goes to show how much Ayla understands about what's going on around her. She's such a clever little sausage…
Tuesday, 23 September 2014: One Year, One Hundred and Seventy Seven Days Old.
Ayla had her first weigh-in in nearly a month this morning, and she's put on 200 grams; her first weight gain in seven weeks!
When we first started weighing Ayla back in July she was 8.68kg; equal to what she weighed when she was nine months old. Since then however Ayla's weight consistently declined week after week, hitting an all time low of 8.25kg in early August.
Just before we went down south Ayla's weight seemed to have stabilised at 8.35kg, and while that was still extremely small for her age and height we were grateful she was no longer losing weight.
The whole time we were away there was no changes to Ayla's weight, but after starting the prescription formula on Friday I swear I've already been noticing a bit more chub in her face, arms and legs (even though no one else can!).
So it's not surprising I was keen for Ayla's weigh-in this morning, if only to find out whether I was believeing my own wishful thinking or not! But, when I popped Ayla on the scales I coudl hardly believe my eyes when I read 8.55kg.
My theory, so far, is this….
As Ayla is not growing upwards at all, she doesn't need much food to sustain her activities and therefore she hardly eats, hence why she's not been putting on weight either.
But, now Ayla's on prescription formula that's full of good fats and oils it's providing all the nutrients Ayla could possibly need and more. So although she's is still not growing upwards, the extra calories Ayla's consuming are making her gain weight, because I guess they need to go somewhere!
It's all positive I suppose, although sudden and unnecessary weight-gain comes with it's own problems. But, hopefully by plying Ayla's body full of goodness something might trigger inside that makes her grow again. If not though, we can rest assured Ayla's not losing weight, becoming malnourished or damaging her organs or brain through not having enough energy to sustain her. Mind you, this is only the first weigh-gain in a while and if I've learned anything through all of this it's to take each day one at a time.
Back to it!
Monday, 22 August 2014: One Year and Twenty Five Weeks Old.
It was back to work for me and back to day care for Ayla today and it was like we'd never been away.
Because I'd been working from home while Ayla and I were interstate my return to work was rather uneventful but I was glad to be back in the office and around people again!
Ayla was also glad to be back at day care with her friends, not even coming close to tears as I handed her over, gave her a kiss and waved goodbye. I was surprised really because I expected her to be clingy and emotional after all the upheaval of the past few weeks, even though I'd had a sneaking suspicion she'd been missing her little friends.
It's funny really, how Ayla and I loved our intense time together while we were away, but we both seemed equally grateful to be back to our routine and normal activities again.
Such a good girl
Sunday, 21 September 2014: One Year, One Hundred and Seventy Three Days Old.
Hubby, a friend of his and I went out fishing in the boat today and of course we had Baby Ayla in tow.
Ayla was SUCH a good girl; I can't express how proud and grateful I am of the beautiful, calm, friendly and content little girl she's growing in to!
We were out on the water for 7 hours, right through the middle of the day, and Ayla was literally an angel the whole time. She spent the the day sitting up on my chair, chewing on biscuits, chatting away to us and playing with her dolly. And whenever a fish came on board Ayla would get as excited as we were, happily pointing and declaring "fish! fish!" over and over until we threw it back.
Ayla's awesomeness meant it was the first time since becoming a mum that I've actually been able to join in on the fishing action properly, without worrying about her getting into lures, falling over at every wave or eating bait… Mmm yum! Instead, I was confidently able to relax and enjoy being out on the water with my bestie (Hubby) doing what we love, while the person we love most (Ayla) watched over us and cheered on from the sidelines.
As if in thanks for her great behaviour, (in case the perfect weather, calm water and good fish weren't enough) the "Fish Gods" put on an amazing display of beauty when a pod of dolphins came up to play beside the boat. Ayla stood up on the deck while I held on tight and we watched in awe as the dolphins swam effortlessly beside the boat coming up for breaths of air and riding the bow wave.
We all felt so lucky and happy to be witness to something so naturally beautiful; it was one of those perfect moments that make you feel blessed and thankful and get a sense that maybe you are on the right path afterall and that everything's going to be ok.
Dizzy Whizzy
Saturday, 20 September 2014: One Year, One Hundred and Seventy Two Days Old
I caught Ayla giving herself dizzy whizzies today!
I was in the kitchen doing something or other and I looked over to Ayla who was hanging out in her little play area. Ayla had her head down and was walking around in a tight little circle, almost spinning on the spot.
I couldn't work out what she was doing at first and of course my mind instantly went into panic but I stood and watched for a few moments until Ayla stopped spinning. She then stood still and stared at the ground about a foot in front of her before her eyes suddenly went wide eyed and her eyebrows raised in a look that said "woooaaaahhhh!".
Ayla then went to take a step but decided against it, bringing her little feet back together with a little wobble. It was only then that I realised Ayla had simply made herself dizzy!
I have no idea if Ayla discovered how it by accident or if she purposely knew what she was in for as she spun herself around on the spot, but when I laughed Ayla looked up and chuckled with a cheeky grin on her face.
Homeward bound, for now.
Friday, 19 September 2014: One Year, One Hundred and Seventy One Days Old
Ayla and I headed home today to see Daddy, The Dog, Cat Cat and the "Ju-jus" (chook-chooks!)
Ayla was so excited to be home, running over to Daddy as soon as she saw him at the airport and gluing herself to his side. Then, when we pulled in the driveway at home and Ayla saw The Dog she gave him the biggest smile and a pat, and later when she saw our cat lounging under the outdoor setting she squealed Cat Cat, pointed and ran on the spot in excitement.
The cutest was seeing Ayla go inside and rediscover all her toys! Ayla ran straight to her little piano, pulled out the stool and bashed on the keys for a few minutes, then toddled over to her toybox and touched everything in her reach. Best of all though was when Ayla layed eyes on her little couch – her most very favourite thing of all! Ayla screeched with delight and plonked herself down, grinning from ear to ear as she looked from me to Hubby and back again.
Ayla excitement about being home meant that an afternoon nap was completely out of the question, so instead she joined Hubby and I out in the yard as we caught up on some gardening. After three weeks of beautiful, crisp spring weather it didn't take long for home's 36 degree heat and build-up humidity to have an affect on Ayla, flushing her cheeks pinky-red and putting tiny beads of baby sweat on her top lip.
When bedtime finally rolled around Ayla was pooped but happy, and I was looking forward to a night in my own bed! It felt like we'd accomplished the first leg of an endurance marathon and I relished the chance for some routine and normalcy, even if it's just for a couple of weeks before returning interstate for the next lot of tests. Thankfully though, Ayla has taken to her prescription formula easily and seems to love it, so we can at least rest assured we're actually doing something that might help her in the meantime.


text:
As I'm currently working on the prequel to Times of Trouble, which is taking me a whole lot longer to write than anticipated because of having to replace a computer part, causing me to re-install Windows 7, with everything else on my computer, then not having an updated version of Word, since it was at my brothers' house (who is my IT guy), and finding out that I'm doing more research than I had originally anticipated, I had an idea pop into my head as I was watching the "Gospel Music Showcase" on Daystar (I enjoy Southern Gospel) the other day. It's an idea that I have no idea if it's been done before, so I'll share it with you, my readers.
Here's what I wrote down in a notebook I have for such occasions:
The novel starts off with a narrator on a TV show focusing on the life of a once famous musician, I guess like what they do on, I think it's on VH-1, sort of a "Where Are They Now" kind of thing and how they got to where they were at. Then, the story will go back to the time when this musician was only known to his friends, family, and fellow church members, because he sings in church. He's discovered, is asked to show up on a national singing competition, sort of like "Star Search" or "The Voice," and he wins the competition. As he begins recording music with a record label when he gets the contract, the singer begins experiencing various temptations. He also ends up with an agent that will eventually convince him to leave Christian music behind because no one important listens to it and he'll make more money in secular music (shades of Amy Grant, Whitney Houston, or Katy Perry). So our singer begins recording secular music (not sure which kind of rock yet). At a party, he's introduced to a girl, who the singer eventually marries, but she is most definitely not a Christian. She introduces him to drugs and alcohol, while his agent gets the singer into all the right parties, eventually giving him enough visibility to win awards, like a Grammy.
He gains the attention of President-elect David Collins, who invites him to sing the national anthem at the inauguration, followed by an invite to the NFL to sing at the next Super Bowl, and an invite by NASCAR to sing the anthem at the Daytona 500. Our singer's on top of the music charts, along with being the most popular singer on Earth, when tragedy strikes. His whole family dies in a plane crash on the way to wherever he was touring. Unfortunately for him, he had an argument with his wife over his gambling and all sorts of other things he shouldn't be doing, and he went on tour without apologizing or patching things up. The singer feels guilty, but instead of praying and trying to get right with God, he responds by drinking more and more. His grief and general drunkenness gets to be so bad, he gets dropped by his record label and agent, his expensive cars get repossessed, and house gets foreclosed on. In an attempt to help him, his home church tries to reach out to him, but he angrily rejects their help, because he'd rather rely on his worldly friends, but they reject him. At his lowest point, when he's living in a broken down car, he prays for the first time in years by asking God to forgive him for going down this path. He feels a peace come over him, when he hears a trumpet sound, and is taken up along with thousands of other Christians.
The novel ends with the TV show saying they hope the singer is happy wherever he is.
So, what do ya'll think? Would you read something like this? Or back to the drawing board?


text:
How did you get involved in the Queen of the Universe Pageant?
My Father had always wanted me to participate in pageantry; he used to watch the ones on Spanish TV and would tell me "You should do that." One month prior to hearing of Queen of the Universe, I lost my Father to Cancer. So I went in representing my Father's country, Spain. It was as if he put the pageant in my path; as if he was showing me he was still with me. During the rehearsals and the pageant process I always had my Mother by my side she always came with me, so it became our therapy; my Dad was with us every step of the way.
How did you prepare for the Pageant?
I had to really know my current events I watched a lot of CNN and read the newspaper; you really need to know what's going on around the world.
Tell me a little about the Queen of the Universe Pageant.
Queen of the Universe is different from any other pageant because it is a charity based pageant that benefits the UNESCO Foundation for Children in Need. In Queen of the Universe, unlike other pageants, girls can be single, married, divorced or have any particular gender choice. Our president believes that woman should never be judged on those things. The only important thing is that all the contestants must have a charity base platform. The great thing about my year was that I made friends that I know will be in my life forever and a lot of the girls have their own charities and now we get to support each other.
What was your Charity Platform?
I have a couple of Charity Platforms; my main one is "My Sister's Closet." It is a charity for teens that are homeless or financially struggling. I collect clothing, jackets, prom dresses, shoes, accessories and makeup and they come and I will help them put things together. Another charity I'm involved in is "Casey's Rescue." My sister, a few friends and I created an animal rescue program, we find animals off the street, or abandoned, and find them good homes. It becomes difficult at times because we are all animal lovers so we get attached, but we keep in contact with all our adopters and they send photos and keep us posted on how happy they are.
How has being Queen of the Universe changed your life?
During my reign I have been involved in many charities, I have met so many children that are in need, or that are ill, or are bullied. I would like to continue this path in charity work; it has really opened my eyes to the important things in life. I know that I won't have my crown any more to make a child smile when I walk in the room (I'll be minus that super power) but I will continue to try to make someone's day shine a little brighter.
Now that your reign is over what's next for you?
I will continue my goals in becoming an actress and a model, which has been my dream since I was a little girl. I am an athlete and a competitor by nature so I will be taking on the fitness world and start in bikini fitness modeling.


text:
What will be interesting is how Bonds' apologist Harold Reynolds reacts on BBTN. He's been Barry's biggest cheerleader over the years.
My guess is he will say the steroids didn't help him hit a baseball.
What will be interesting is how Bonds' apologist Harold Reynolds reacts on BBTN. He's been Barry's biggest cheerleader over the years.
My guess is he will say the steroids didn't help him hit a baseball.
Grape works as a soda. Sort of as a gum. I wonder why it doesn't work as a pie. Grape pie? There's no grape pie. - Larry David
Of course not, doubling your HR rate after age 35 is a common occurence.Originally Posted by MWM
What are you, people? On dope? - Mr Hand
Something like that would border dangerously close to collusion. I'm not sure the owners want to travel that path again.Originally Posted by M2
"...You just have a wider lens than one game."
--Former Reds GM Wayne Krivsky, on why he didn't fly Josh Hamilton to Colorado for one game.
"...its money well-spent. Don't screw around with your freedom."
--Roy Tucker, on why you need to lawyer up when you find yourself swimming with sharks.
So that's why my baseball game has Reggie Stocker instead of Bonds...Originally Posted by BRM
The real ground of this discussion should not take place around violation of MLB rules, rather potential violation of federal laws regarding steroid use. Obviously, MLB did not have rules in place to punish users beyond their use of illegal substances. That will have to be the angle of pursuit.
Games are won on run differential -- scoring more than your opponent. Runs are runs, scored or prevented they all count the same. Worry about scoring more and allowing fewer, not which positions contribute to which side of the equation or how "consistent" you are at your current level of performance.
Didn't he get immunity to testify in front of the grand jury? If so, the only thing the feds could get him for would be perjury - if he actually did perjure himself.Originally Posted by RedsManRick
As long as the league doesn't put out an edict against signing Bonds I think it's safe. My guess is he'd just go the way of Palmeiro, where everyone independently decided against signing him.Originally Posted by Reds Nd2
The only team that might try to ink him would be the Yankees if Steinbrenner got desperate.
Friends don't let friends fWAR.
Coddle thy pitchers.
I checked barrybonds.com earlier, no statement yet
"Rounding 3rd and heading for home, good night everybody"
I hope you are right but I don't think Bonds cares. He's been heckled before. If he's physically able (a big if) , he'll play this year. I look for him to break Ruth's 714 and fall short of 755 while playing in about 80-100 gamesOriginally Posted by M2
Either that, or the Giants would just tell him to stay home and not play him. I don't see Bonds playing another game after this, honestly. The spectacle would simply be too great.Originally Posted by M2
We'll burn that bridge when we get to it.
I dunno...I definitely see your point given the man he is, but I think this may overpower even his paranoia. All along the big thing backing it up was "NO EVIDENCE!!" and this is pretty damning evidence. I admit that my belief that he's done now is colored by my own viewpoint; I can't even imagine giving up what little dignity I had left my stepping onto a baseball field at this point when it seems almost worthless to do so. what's he going to prove now? But admittedly Bonds and I probably don't think smililarly.Originally Posted by flyer85
Griffey looks better to me than ever. If he ever were to be accused of something like this I would cry for days.
There is no such thing as a pitching prospect.
Washington Nationals are operating under a similar umbrella.Originally Posted by Reds Nd2
Bonds may not care--and honestly probably doesn't. But the Giants care. if they think the Barry Bonds show has been a circus in the past, they couldn't possibly be prepared for what would come if Barry keeps playing this year and manages to threaten Aaron's record.Originally Posted by Sea Ray
We'll burn that bridge when we get to it.
Has that ever happened before?Originally Posted by M2
Originally Posted by M2
That's a good example and it might work. Although, I think someone would at least offer him a job. Maybe only a minor league contract but I think someone would be willing/desperate enough, to take a chance on him.
"...You just have a wider lens than one game."
--Former Reds GM Wayne Krivsky, on why he didn't fly Josh Hamilton to Colorado for one game.
"...its money well-spent. Don't screw around with your freedom."
--Roy Tucker, on why you need to lawyer up when you find yourself swimming with sharks.
First, Bonds is a member of MLBPA, however, he is not a part of their merchandise contract.
Second, I'd be surprised if Bonds' health permitted him to play this season. His knees are shot. If he plays at all, I don't think he'll be travelling to opposing parks. The Giants are going to milk the Bonds circus until that cow has gone dry. Maybe it already has, but I'm sure the idea of a controversial Bonds spurring big ticket sales is music to that club's ears.
Board Moderators may, at their discretion and judgment, delete and/or edit any messages that violate any of the following guidelines: 1. Explicit references to alleged illegal or unlawful acts. 2. Graphic sexual descriptions. 3. Racial or ethnic slurs. 4. Use of edgy language (including masked profanity). 5. Direct personal attacks, flames, fights, trolling, baiting, name-calling, general nuisance, excessive player criticism or anything along those lines. 6. Posting spam. 7. Each person may have only one user account. It is fine to be critical here - that's what this board is for. But let's not beat a subject or a player to death, please.


text:
Okaloosa darter on the road to recovery
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reclassifying the Okaloosa darter (Etheostoma okaloosae) from the status of endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act, saying that the population is being managed so well, the small fish is making major strides in its fight for recovery. The announcement was made today by Acting Director Rowan Gould at a ceremony at Eglin Air Force Base to celebrate the accomplishment and honor those involved.
"With the help of our partners at Eglin Air Force Base, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, U.S Geological Survey, Loyola University and so many others, I am thrilled to say the Okaloosa darter is no longer in danger of extinction," said Rowan Gould, acting director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "The downlisting is a result of tireless work to restore the habitat, and a strong, successful partnership."
Originally listed as endangered in 1973, the Okaloosa darter is a small, perch-like fish known to occur only in six clear stream systems draining into two Choctawhatchee Bay bayous in Walton and Okaloosa counties in northwest Florida. About 96 percent of this watershed drainage area is under the management of Eglin Air Force Base, as is most of the darter's present range. The remainder of the watershed and the species' range lies within the Niceville and Valparaiso urban areas.
Working in partnership, the Service, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC), and Eglin Air Force Base have accomplished a significant number of recovery efforts for the darter. Eglin's natural resource managers estimate that about 95 percent of the planned erosion control projects in darter watersheds were completed. Over a period of 18 years, the base restored more than 534 acres on 356 clay pit sites that proved the primary action in achieving the downlisting.
"We are dedicated to wildlife conservation at each of our installations," said the Honorable Terry Yonkers, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environment and Logistics. "More broadly, the United States Air Force understands the vital importance of environmental conservation. We must continue not only to preserve the Okaloosa darter but to advance our efforts to preserve all wildlife that exists on our Installations."
Together with the FWC, Eglin AFB, Three Rivers Conservation and Development Council, the Service has removed or replaced many road crossing structures and manmade impoundments to allow for fish passage and proper stream function. For example, a crucial project outlined in the Service's Okaloosa Darter Recovery Plan, the Mill Creek stream restoration project, located on the Eglin Golf Course, has been completed. During initial construction of the golf course, the stream was substantially altered by culverts and other man-made impoundments. The FWC provided \$400,000 for the project, which was matched with funds from the Service's fish passage program.
Service biologists also worked with the City of Niceville to improve its wastewater collection system and install more appropriate culverts at a number of road crossings.
Using innovative sampling and monitoring techniques, U.S. Geological Survey and Loyola University New Orleans researchers provided monitoring data that were used by the Service to support reclassifying the Okaloosa darter from endangered to threatened. For the past 18 years, this research team has monitored the Okaloosa darter, and its efforts have shown that the average number of darters has almost tripled at monitoring locations. Other partners in the restoration effort include the University of West Florida, University of Florida, and Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
The final rule will be published in the Federal Register later this week. Additional details and the rule can be found at http://www.fws.gov/panamacity/.
The Okaloosa darter does not meet the definition of an endangered species. An endangered species is defined as being in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. A threatened species is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range. Reclassifying a species from endangered to a threatened designation is often reflective of recovery efforts reducing imminent threats and allowing populations to increase. The threatened status also offers additional flexibility in how the species is protected and managed for recovery.
Although the status of this species is changed from endangered to threatened, section 7 of the Endangered Species Act and regulations codified at 50 CFR 402 will still require federal agencies to ensure that activities they authorize, fund, or carry out are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of this species. In addition, the species remains fully protected under the Act as a threatened species.
Division of Public Affairs
External Affairs
Telephone: 703-358-2220
Website: https://www.fws.gov/external-affairs/public-affairs/
The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. For more information on our work and the people who can make it happen, visit fws.gov. Connect with the Service on Facebook, follow our tweets, watch the YouTube Channel and download photos from Flickr.


text:
Friday, November 28, 2008
Why I Like Cloze Exercises
By Richard Firsten
Retired ESOL Teacher, Teacher-Trainer, Columnist, Author
Over the many years I taught ESOL, one type of exercise that I decided should become a staple kind of classroom language learning activity was the cloze procedure or cloze activity. Nobody seems to really know where the name cloze comes from, but in spite of that, it can play a very important role in any language classroom. Actually, there are two main types of cloze, the pure cloze and the modified cloze*.
The Pure Cloze: The most important use of pure cloze exercises is to test your students' overall mastery of the language (whole language). As you'll see, a blank may replace any kind of word; generally, it's the competence and comprehension that your students have which will allow them to figure out what possible item can go in each blank. You'll get more bang for your buck by using a pure cloze activity with high-intermediate and advanced students, but you might want to try simplified ones with lower level students as well.
To create one, take any passage that's as close to 350 words in length as you can get. Leave the first and last sentences intact. Beginning with the second sentence, take out every fifth to ninth word and replace it with a blank. Make all your blanks equal in length. Only a single word is acceptable for each blank, and keep in mind that a contraction is a single word, too. If the blank falls where there's a date, number, proper noun, or otherwise unreconstructible word, then the next word should be replaced by the blank instead. The words that are omitted should be words that your students already know.
By the way, it's a more difficult exercise if every fifth word is omitted than if every ninth word is omitted. You'll probably prefer to eliminate every seventh or ninth word, at least at the beginning.
As far as correcting cloze exercises that students have completed, there are two lines of thought on the subject. Some people insist that only the exact word that was eliminated should be accepted as the correct answer. Others, however, argue that any word that completes the idea appropriately should be accepted.
Just in case you'd like to know, here's the thinking on the two methods of correction. Accepting any appropriate word while correcting a cloze seems only fair way to go with, at least on the surface. Why shouldn't teachers accept any answer that works? Why should students be penalized for not being able to read the mind of the person who wrote the text? Well, here's why:
1. Accepting any appropriate word makes it much harder to correct because the teacher needs to keep in mind the entire context while trying to focus on each answer. It's also harder to correct when there are very large groups doing the activity.
2. Correcting in this way takes a lot more time.
3. Using this method is only slightly more statistically reliable, so you be the judge.
The Modified Cloze: This form of the cloze can be used with students at any level and, instead of dealing with whole language competence, a modified cloze zeroes in on one particular discrete point of language that you've chosen to concentrate on.
To create one, write your own sentences or passages and make sure they contain the discrete point you've chosen to work on. The length of the sentences or the whole passage depends on your knowledge of what your students can handle. If you're dealing with prepositions or articles or the like, eliminate whatever words are being targeted and keep the blanks equal in length throughout. If you're dealing with verbs, draw in each blank and write the verb to be used in parentheses before or after the blank. The students will quickly learn that they're to use the verbs in parentheses to fill in the blanks.
And as for correcting this kind of cloze, you should apply the rule of thumb that any appropriate words or verb forms that work to complete the sentences are acceptable.
Grammar textbook series have incorporated cloze activities more and more over the years because they've proven to be so effective, but personalizing them yourself can prove much more meaningful to your students if you choose topics or even students in your classes that they can all relate to. And nothing makes a language activity more impressive or effective than one that's meaningful to your students!
Another wonderful thing about cloze activities is that they offer some very good reading comprehension practice. Students really need to understand what they're reading in order to fill in those blanks appropriately. So go ahead. Make up your own cloze procedures, and see what happens.
*Richard Firsten with Patricia Killian. The ELT Grammar Book: A Teacher-Friendly Reference Guide. Alta Book Center Publishers. 2002
Tags: cloze exercises, Richard Firsten, teaching tips
Comments: 4


text:
Want more not-so-great news?
Vin Scully announces tentative '10 retirement plan (Dodger Thoughts)
Vin Scully To Retire After 2010 (True Blue LA)
Random rantings and ravings about the Los Angeles Dodgers, written by a small consortium of rabid Dodger fans. With occasional comments on baseball, entertainment, pop culture, and life in general.
Want more not-so-great news?
Vin Scully announces tentative '10 retirement plan (Dodger Thoughts)
Vin Scully To Retire After 2010 (True Blue LA)
His last call needs to be "Swung on and missed...and the Dodgers have won their second consecutive world championship!" or there is no justice in this world.
Here's to wishful thinking!
So conflicted. Do you go to that game, or do you stay home to listen to it? Or maybe they do a special full simul-cast.
Easy. Record the game and be there in person, so you can take part in the 5-minute-long "Thank you, Vin!" chant.
Oh god no......thats worse than the first time I saw Steve Garvey in a padre uniform!
I'm going to try like hell to be at the Dodgers' final (regular season) home game in 2010. There won't be a dry eye in the house.
Erin, I love that photo.
I remarked to Mrs. Dusty this morning that it sounds like I will be at fewer games next season so I can listen to Vin's last season of calling the games. But yeah, you have to be in the Yard on the last day of the season. They'll have to back an ambulance up to me and administer fluids, I'm sure, but I have to be there.
I saw the Vin vignette they played on the jumbotron on Bobbleslam night and it was pretty powerful. Can't iamgine what all that the Dodger front office may be thinking about to celebrate his career and what he's meant to the team and its fans.
@Josh S. - you're getting me weepy thinking about that chant. Stop it! I'm weepy enough over last night's embarrassing loss.
One thing I always look forward to, and I will pay special attention to doing so tonight, is when Vin first comes on and does his "Hi everybody and a very pleasant good evening to you, wherever you may be" bit, I have, for as long as I can remember, felt the need to announce to him where I am, as if to answer his famous words. Most often it's "On the sofa, Vinny!" with a point and nod to Chavez Ravine, but maybe I'm driving somewhere, and it's "In the car, Vinny!" There is no way I can ever break the spell and not announce where I'm watching or listening from...
[I know I'm lame, but it is what it is.]
Is it wrong to get weepy just reading about Vin retiring? I didn't think so.
Just the other day, I was thinking that Vin would go out like Chick. Difference is, and this is no slam on Chick because I loved his style and it made me a Laker fan early in life, Vin is a humble soul. He care far too much for the game and the Dodgers to stay on too long and die with his boots on. Of course, baseball is a much easier game to call than basketball, but still, if Vin started seeing his skills deteriorate, you can bet he'd step down the next day.
Finally, I was telling my niece the other day that there are certain things about the Dodgers that will always set them apart and make being a fan special. I listed Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Koufax, Drysdale, Lasorda, et al, but more than any other, we have Vin.
Excuse me, I'm getting weepy again.
Can you feel the love in this thread? I can.


text:
For months, we've been speculating on who Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levitt might play in Chris Nolan's final Batman movie. Well, guess no more — both actors' roles have been revealed. And they're almost too bland, if you ask us...
The Hollywood Reporter has announced the official casting of Cotillard and JGL in The Dark Knight Rises which is also being being described as the "conclusion of the Dark Knight legend":
The studio said Cotillard will play as Miranda Tate, a Wayne Enterprises board member eager to help a still-grieving Bruce Wayne resume his father's philanthropic endeavors for Gotham.
Gordon-Levitt will play John Blake, a Gotham City beat cop assigned to special duty under the command of Commissioner Gordon.
Wow, those are two innocuous characters. But it's not like we suspected Nolan to reveal his characters' full identities to the press at such an early date. In fact one could almost argue that these characters are so bland, that there has to be much more beneath the surface. Is this Miranda Tate character just a cover for her rumored character, Talia Al Ghul? Now that we know that her father will be appearing in a possible flashback, surely this is setting up a bigger reveal? Who knows, with Nolan? Either way we're extremely happy that both actors are now officially attached to this project.


text:
Classes are currently being taught online. All physical facilities are closed to the public at this time, and employees are working remotely.Please visit
dcccd.edu/coronavirus for additional information and to
find contact information for various departments.If you need additional assistance, please visit
My Community Services and our
Community Employment Resources.
This article appeared in a September 2016 issue of the student newsletter.
By the
Richland Student Media Staff
Do you remember exactly where you were on Friday, Nov. 22, 1963?
Unless you were too young or weren't born yet, most of us remember exactly where we were the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in downtown Dallas. This November will be 53 years since the tragic event occurred.
Stephen Fagin, newly named full curator at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, was on campus Aug. 11 to give some insight into the assassination to a group of emeritus students. The museum is located at the former Texas School Book Depository at Elm and Houston Streets.
Fagin said the site at Dealey Plaza is now a national historic landmark. For many people, it's a "sacred space," like Pearl Harbor, the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City or the World Trade Center.
Fagin, who served as associate curator before his promotion, has been with the museum for 16 years. He discussed pictures of Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, from the
jfk.org website. He could relate the experience to about everyone who attended the lecture because emeritus students must be at least 50 years of age.
"These moments and memories really connect us to that time period," Fagin said. "All of you here could tell me exactly where you were at 12:30 p.m. Central Time on Friday, Nov. 22, 1963. It's a common bond that we all share; it's part of the human experience."
Fagin said at the museum, he talks to a lot of groups, especially young students and explains to them what he does as curator.
"Curators create narratives out of the chaos of history," he said. "Certainly, when you think of the Kennedy assassination, the terms, 'history' and 'chaos' apply … so often you lose sight of the meaning of the moment because the assassination sadly gets weighed down by a lot of baggage brought about by books and documentaries, films and TV shows over the last half century."
Fagin will focus on the Kennedy assassination in a four-week noncredit course at Richland titled, "JFK, Dallas and the Power of Memory," from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Sept. 12 to Oct. 3 in Crockett Hall, room C102. The cost is $30. It will rely heavily on films, video and photographs.
"We'll do an extremely vivid walk-through of Nov. 22, told through the first-hand perspectives of more than two dozen participants – from a young girl who shook the president's hand at Love Field, a high school student at W. W. Samuel High School to the press secretary who announced the president's death to some of the Parkland Hospital physicians who struggled to save the president's life – to some of the reporters who were waiting for the president at the Dallas Trade Mart for a luncheon he never arrived at," Fagin said.
Fagin said more people believe in a conspiracy than those who believe that Lee Harvey Oswald, a 24-year-old disillusioned ex-Marine, acted alone. The controversy still exists and Jack Ruby is also part of the assassination story.
"When I recount fun facts about our museum to people, I often say we are the second most visited historic site in the state of Texas behind the Alamo in San Antonio," he said. "More than two thirds of our visitors were born after 1963. More than two thirds of the people that come to our museum, and we have attendance roughly of over 350,000 people per year, don't have the memories you have. They don't remember the assassination."
Fagin said the museum has oral history recollections from a number of people in this community who remember going to other states or countries and being harassed or criticized because they came from Dallas, "the city that killed the president."
"The Kennedy assassination is about us. It's about who we are and our memories," he said. "And so, as part of this course, I'm going to offer attendees the chance to add their stories, their voices to this ongoing oral history project that we've been doing at our museum since we opened way back in 1989."
There are over 1,500 storytellers in the collection who have shared where they were on that fateful day, according to Fagin.
Anyone of any age can sign up for this course through the Emeritus Plus 50 Program in Thunderduck Hall, Room T160, call 972-238-6972 or 6989, or go to


text: Isolation is a problem. Because there is a direct correlation between living in isolation and chronic poverty. Because many people living in remote places have never heard the Gospel. Because when a person in isolation has a medical emergency they often can't get the help they need. We believe that everyone—even the isolated—deserves a chance to experience the love of Jesus Christ. So we use aviation, technology, and training because in many places those are the only ways to reach isolated people with Christ's love. You can make a difference through prayer, giving, or by serving with MAF. Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:39


text:
A long time ago, we had kids who attended Gastonia�s Victory Elementary School.
A long time ago, we had kids who attended Gastonia�s Victory Elementary School.
It was a good school, had a strong, steady pulse � both inside the building and out. Always a lot of activity. Hardly any foolishness going on.
I sometimes wondered about that. Hard to pick up a smudge.
R.D. Lingerfeldt was principal at the time (a long time), and he was pretty much the reason that school ran like a well-oiled clock.
Years ago, the county�s school execs saw fit to name the school after Mr. Lingerfeldt. Obviously, they knew what they were doing. The name not only has survived a half a century but the pulse that throbbed through the school back then still beats in the background.
The other day, I sat down with a former Victory School student, Dr. Henry Thomason. He was a student there in the eighth grade when an incident occurred that still flashes in his mind like a caution traffic light.
The doctor, a cardiologist here for more than 30 years and now retired, obviously has a tendency to hang on to details. Comes in handy if you are working on somebody�s right ventricle. He remembered, for instance, that Mr. Lingerfeldt had a little black cocker spaniel named Be-be, and that Be-be was the first to get into the principal�s black Ford sedan any time it left the school grounds. Followed by Mr. Lingerfeldt.
The doctor also remembered that Mr. Lingerfeldt�s wife taught at the school. Her room was down the hall from Henry�s. Any time Be-be wanted a cookie, she would leave the school office and high-tail it for Mrs. Lingerfeldt�s room. There was always a cookie waiting for a hungry puppy. Appetite satisfied, Be-be returned to the office to help conduct business for the rest of the day.
Everyone knew that Mr. Lingerfeldt was a nice man. Very pleasant. Easy to get along with. But he had his rules.
�He didn�t want students to misbehave,� said the doctor. �There were definite rules, and people knew what they were. If he caught somebody misbehaving, it was always the same. He would catch them by the ear, and everywhere that ear went, that kid went with it. And most of the time it was to the office where the kid got his ear released but still active. He could hear. And, he heard a lot.�
At that time, ballpoint pens hadn�t come on the scene. When they did, the result was the same as running up a red flag over the school. Why? That was the forerunner of what later was to become something called the �tattoo."
You couldn�t get a tattoo with the old-type pen. Just wouldn�t work. But, with the ballpoint, you could get a pretty good imitation. It didn�t take long for the firm-minded principal to set up against ink tattoos as if they were a disease that needed stamping out.
Infractions of rules often ended with the offender being taken by the ear � by the principal � to the office. Not a happy time.
One day, the principal spied two boys with inked-in tattoos on their arms. He grabbed one by one ear; the other, by another ear. And, off to the office they went.
According to Dr. Thomason, who was there, the message went out to every classroom by loud speaker:
�This is your principal, and this is what happens when you write on your skin.� That was followed by two sets of spankings, over the loud speaker in each room.
Followed by dead silence.
�After that, you could not find a ballpoint pen within 500 yards of Victory School,� Dr. Thomason said. �I had one in my pocket but I threw it into the bushes on my way home. I didn�t want to take the chance that it would leak on my skin.�
He was in high school, he said, before he touched another ballpoint pen.
Bill Williams is a former editor of The Gazette and writes a weekly column.


text:
The same freshman who helped lead Bishop's to a San Diego Section championship in girls soccer also started for the Knights basketball squad that reached the section finals.
Unable to pick between her two favorite sports, Olivia Erlbeck decided to play both during the overlapping winter seasons in high school. While she has taken on twice the workload, the Rancho Santa Fe resident also has doubled her pleasure.
"I've always played these two sports since I was young, and I always wanted to play both during high school," said Erlbeck, whose two teams each advanced into Southern California Regional competition. "So I'm just happy that I've helped lead both of my teams to the (section) finals."
In soccer, Erlbeck stepped right into the lineup as an attacking midfielder and recorded 16 goals and 16 assists through the regular season.
"Olivia's flamboyant and outgoing," Bishop's soccer coach Brian Quinn said. "She has this confidence that only good players have. She hasn't missed a beat. She came as a freshman and started. She has this stand like, 'OK, what's the next challenge?' "
In basketball, Erlbeck soon established herself as a shooting guard who could move to the point position. With increased production as the season progressed, she closed the regular season averaging 7.4 points and 2.5 assists per game.
"Olivia is the ultimate competitor," Knights basketball coach Marlon Wells said. "Every day at practice, she wants to be first in the sprints and first in every drill. If I say, 'Hey, water break,' she's the first one over there to get water. She just competes and goes hard every time that she steps on the floor."
As the schedules worked out, the 5-foot-5 Erlbeck played games in each sport on the same day about 60 percent of the time. There would be soccer with a 3:30 p.m. start, followed by basketball at 6 p.m.
Her mother, Stephany, and older brother, Luke, have provided transportation as needed. Still, the ability to handle games and practice depends on the inner drive of the younger Erlbeck.
"I've always had a lot of energy," Olivia said. "I've grown up with three brothers, so that's helped a lot with my competitiveness. I'm really competitive and want to win. That just pushes me. I might be tired during a practice and not have as much energy, but the willingness to give everything is still there."
As a soccer highlight, Erlbeck converted a 35-yard free kick early in the second half for the deciding score in a 2-1 victory over Francis Parker in the section Division IV final.
Bishop's entered the regional Division III playoffs as the top seed. Because of her involvement with an outside premier event March 3, Erlbeck was forced to sit out as the Knights won a quarterfinal match but lost in the semis.
Meanwhile, the Bishop's basketball team opened the regional Division IV playoffs as the No. 3 seed after being beaten by powerful La Jolla Country Day in the San Diego Section finals. The Knights began regional play with a victory over Torrance Bishop Montgomery followed by a loss to Playa del Rey St. Bernard.
"Even though they're different sports, I'm still the same player," Erlbeck said. "There's my vision. I'm really good at passing at soccer and basketball. It's just a little different because it's hard going from running on grass to running on the court."
Still, she brings the same mantra to each venue.
"If you work hard, you build skills," Erlbeck said. "Hard works pays off."
With twice the pleasure in her case.


text:
DC Stop Smoking: Quit Smoking with our Cessation Treatment (Auriculotherapy)
The Colorado DC Stop Smoking Centers offer a safe, quick and effective treatment that has an 85% success rate with one treatment. We provide smoking cessation treatment programs to nationwide clients. If you want to quit smoking or chewing, try DC Stop Smoking. We use Auriculotherapy (or Ear Acupuncture) to help people become non-smokers. This treatment can also be successful for
weight loss
What do we do? Auriculotherapy
Auriculotherapy (also called Auricular Therapy) is a proven, effective tool to quit smoking and chewing by minimizing cravings and calming the nervous system.
In most cases, relief of cravings is noticed immediately after just ONE treatment! There are no known adverse side effects. The treatments are non-invasive and remarkably effective.
• No more withdrawal symptoms
• Affordable
• One treatment can change your life
• A desire to discontinue nicotine use is not always necessary for a successful result
• Free lifetime follow-up
• Free booster treatments if needed
• We do not use needles, beads, pills, nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, herbs, or substitute habits to help you stop smoking
The DC Stop Smoking Centers have helped thousands of people quit smoking after only one treatment. Quitting can be an emotional, trying time, and it is important that we offer you ongoing support to help you succeed and enjoy your life as a non-smoker.
Our customer's feedback is important; not only for you to evaluate our services, but also for us to ensure that we are offering the best quality product in the most effective, professional manner.
How it works?
In Grand Junction CO
In Denver Co
Learn More!
See what our customers have to say about DC Stop Smoking!
CALL NOW or BOOK ONLINE.
Grand Junction: 970.609.7867 (STOP) ~ Denver: 303.477.7867
© 2020 DC Stop Smoking Centers®. All rights reserved.


text:
Size :27 3/8 wide 15 1/2 tall .
Thanks for visiting our shop.
The piece shown in this listing as a sample of our custom work. You can order this design in any size color or Texture you prefer.
Shipping is based on your location and size of the piece you need please contact us with your zip code and dimensions for an exact quote.
Elegant Traditional-Stained Glass Transom Window - (TW-156)
* All of our designs can be modified to fit just about any size or application you may have and you can customize any piece in our shop with clear textured glass or colors that match your style & decor. Just click the Customize button above and tell us what you need or give us a call.
Our friendly and knowledgeable staff are ready to assist you anytime.
* Our standard pieces are all single pane stained glass units but any of them can be upgraded to insulated, energy efficient units. We also offer custom wood frames and a variety of services.
* You can follow our artists progress as they build your piece on our facebook page. facebook.com/terrazastainedglass


text:
Here is Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson dumping the puck into the Penguins zone and using the boards to fake out Penguins goalie Tomas Vokoun four minutes into the second period. Carlson successfully got Vokoun to anticipate where the puck should have been and banked the puck into a wide open net for a game-tying goal thanks to a friendly bounce off the board partitions.
As Pierre McGuire noted, a similar bounce almost slipped past Vokoun earlier in the game, so he should have been aware of the Capitals sneakily exploiting the new, player-safe boards. All is not lost, however, as of posting, the Penguins lead 5-3 with 13:00 left in the third period. Still, John Carlson is a magician.


text: The Bloom & Grow Bundle includes the Bloom & Grow Photopolymer Stamp Set and the Budding Blooms Dies. Also available in French.Bloom & Grow Photopolymer Stamp Set The Bloom & Grow Stamp Set offers beautiful decorative flower bouquets for all occasions. All for you to color in! * Quantity: 13 photopolymer stamps* Suggested clear blocks (sold separately): c, e, h, iBudding Blooms DiesCreate die-cut bouquet frames in record time using the Budding Blooms Dies. * 10 dies * Largest die: 4-3/8" x 1-3/4" (11.1 x 4.4 cm)* Use with a die-cutting and embossing machine


text:
Author: Susan Linton
Sidux, a relatively new desktop Linux distribution, is based on Sid, the unstable developmental branch of Debian. The developers strive for an easy-to-install and easy-to-use modern Debian derivative, and pride themselves on remaining true to the principles and values of the Debian project. Despite a few inconveniences, I like Sidux a bit more each time I use it.
Sidux comes as a live CD in a few different configurations. I chose the 2GB DVD with a full KDE desktop for both i686 or AMD64 architectures, but you can also choose from a KDE-Lite or XFCE desktop version for either architecture; each uses less than 500MB. The download page warns that it's very important to burn the ISO onto a high-quality medium with disk-at-once, but I didn't see that until I was already running tests on the system; despite the warning, I didn't do anything different from usual and suffered no ill effects.
Both architectures on my DVD booted quickly with no issues into the optimal resolution for my Nvidia graphics chip and LCD screen. I liked the bright spring colors used in the background images this release, although the window decoration and widget theme are uninspired. I found most of my hardware detected and working. The wired Internet connection came up if it was plugged in during boot, and CPU speed scaling was enabled by default.
The KDE 3.5.9 desktop and panel are neat and tidy, but the menu still retain the redundant four-step-deep Debian menu. The rest of the menu was stock KDE with many added entries. There appeared to be lots of KDE applications and configuration tools available.
The installer
After those first impressions, it was time to install Sidux to my hard drive. The user-friendly installer, invoked from an icon on the live CD desktop, walks you through a quick and painless process. It features many of the same steps found in most Linux installers, presented in a tabbed format. As such, you can easily return to any previous step to make changes.
To progress through the steps, you can either click the tabs or the Forward button. The Welcome screen lists an option to install Sidux onto a USB key drive. The Partitioning tab contains the options to start a partitioner, define your root partition and filesystem, and specify other optional mount points. Next, set your timezone and GRUB preferences under the Grub/Timezone tab, then set a root password and user accounts on the User tab, and your machine's hostname on the Network tab. The next step, Firmware, allows you to install drivers for some wireless Ethernet adapters. When you click Next on the last screen Sidux will install itself on your hard drive as configured.
Software and system tools
Sidux uses KDE as its primary desktop, and many of the included applications were developed for KDE. It is no surprise to find software such as KMail, Konqueror, Akregator, and Kwrite. You also get digiKam, Gwenview, Kooka, Krita, and Xsane to read, display, scan, and edit your images. OpenOffice.org provides the office apps. Use Amarok, Kaffeine, and TVtime for entertainment. KNode, Konversation, and Kopete keep you in touch, KTorrent and KGet download your files, and Iceweasel surfs the Internet. Lots of accessories are included as well, such as KSayIt, KCalc, Kate, BasKet, and Ark.
There are way too many applications, tools, and utilities to list, but let's take a look at some of the more interesting. Hermes Upgrade Sentinel is a system tray app that monitors the News section at Sidux.com to warn you of any showstoppers with the dist-upgrade packages. If a warning is detected, it will display a red "stoplight." It can also brief you on regular news postings, list other package advice from Sidux, and update packages.
VirtualBox OSE 1.6.6 is available to run other operating systems inside the regular desktop. It supports several guest operating systems, such as all popular Windows versions, many Linux distributions, some Unixes, and a few others. Hopefully VirtualBox 2.x will show up in the updates soon.
Debian Package Search is a package manager for Debian and Sidux software. It has quite an elaborate interface for filtering and searching, and it will install and remove your finds as well. As delivered, it's configured to use the Aptitude package-managing back end, which isn't included in Sidux, so you'll need to either change the back end to apt-get or install Aptitude. After this minor adjustment, the utility seems to work really well. Of course, Synaptic is included too for those who prefer it.
Yet another software management option is the Metapackage installer. It lists software by groups such as Disk, Education, and Games. Most of these have further subdivisions, but you can check a box to install the whole Metapackage or a subgroup, which can be quite the time-saver. For example, the 3_to_10_years group under Education includes Khangman, GCompris, GnuChess, TuxType, TuxPaint, TuxMath, Childsplay, Lletters, Lmemory, Gtans, Kanagram, and Ktuberling. You also have the option to enable non-free sources.
Sidux features its own control center utility. It isn't as extensive as those of some other distros, but it has a few nice options. From it you can adjust your display resolution, choose your default browser, and install or remove new kernels and modules. In addition, you can configure network adapters and connections, configure and start services, and view upgradeable packages and basic system information.
Hardware compatibility isn't the issue it once was in Linux. Most common hardware is automatically detected and configured for users these days, and I found this to be true with Sidux. After the Firmware step added ethernet drivers during the install, all my hardware in my trustly old laptop was functional. I did have to configure the wireless connection, but no distro can guess a passkey.
While Sidux doesn't ship with the proprietary software needed for ATI or Nvidia 3-D acceleration and video viewing, it meets all other display needs. I installed Flash from Adobe Labs, video codes from the MPlayer Web site, and the mozilla-mplayer plugin through Synaptic in order to watch videos on disk and over the Internet. I enabled DVD navigation and read libraries from packages in Synaptic, and libdvdcss2 is available at debian-multimedia.org.
With other distros out there providing all these proprietary files, why should you choose Sidux? Perhaps one reason is outstanding performance. Sidux is blazingly fast and rock solid. It provides a pretty and uncluttered desktop environment with lots of applications installed right from the start. Between the Sidux and Debian repositories, there isn't too much software for Linux that's not available. Sidux has an active and friendly community supporting the distribution, good documentation, and vigilant developers. All in all, it just might be worth the little bit of trouble it takes to add a few proprietary bits.
- Sidux
- Reviews
- Linux
- Distributions


text:
Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY - Winter storms that dumped ice and snow across Oklahoma in December have cattle ranchers and wheat farmers optimistic about their fortunes in 2014, even as they say that more moisture is needed.
The water from melting ice and snow as a result of December's precipitation has helped keep hay and pastures green and moist enough to keep cattle fed, according to rancher Paul Schilberg in Clinton in western Oklahoma, but more is needed.
"We're not in bad shape right now, but we sure need some rain," Schilberg said.
"We had some timely rains in August and it sure made the hay crop moist, and the wheat pastures are looking really good this year," Schilberg said. "We just need a big old rain. For the most part, the rain we've gotten has pretty much soaked in, not that much runoff," to fill dry ponds.
Agricultural economist Darrel Peel at Oklahoma State University said 2014 also appears to be shaping up as a good year for cattle ranchers after two years of drought conditions that had many ranchers selling at least some of their herd in order to feed, water and support the remainder of the herd.
"In the second half of (2013) these cattle markets have recovered very strongly. Cattle numbers are very limited and (because of) that tight supply ... in 2014, we're predicting record cattle prices and record returns in profitably," for ranchers, Peel said.
In southwestern Oklahoma, where the U.S. Drought Monitor reported extreme to exceptional drought conditions, the wheat crop was benefiting from the recent precipitation, said David Gammill, who has about 1,000 acres in wheat planted near Grandfield.
"We've gotten some pretty decent moisture. It's encouraging enough to maintain the wheat, it's enough to get us over to February," when, Gammill said, rain will be needed to continue the wheat's growth until harvest in late May to early June.
"We've got a good stand. We do have hope for a good crop," Gammill said.
Oklahoma Wheat Commission Executive Director Mike Schulte said it's too early to predict what the wheat crop will produce, but said he is optimistic thus far and hoping for about 4.5 million acres of wheat harvested in 2014.
"A lot of that is based on the moisture that we have received compared to the moisture that we had when last year's crop was put out," Schulte said. "In 2012 we had 4.3 million acres harvested, last year we had 3.4 million acres. We're hoping that we'll be above that," for the 2014 crop, Schulte said.
"That harvest number is always around 3.8 to 4.5 million" acres, he said.
"I' don't like to predict this early out - a lot can happen with Mother Nature," Schulte said. "A lot can happen between now and harvest."
Significant moisture in the immediate future, through the end of February and early March, would not be typical, according to Gary McManus, associate climatologist for the Oklahoma Climatological Survey.
"We'd probably expect where there is drought right now, it probably will continue," McManus said. "There's really just no way to know right now what our fortunes are going to be, the science just isn't advanced enough to tell us what specifically is going to happen down in southwest Oklahoma over the next three to four months.
"Through February - that's probably how long we're projecting the drought to continue," McManus said.
Oklahoma ranchers, farmers optimistic about 2014


text:
ANAHEIM, Calif., Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Corey Perry's power-play goal with 46 seconds left in overtime Sunday handed the Anaheim Ducks their sixth straight win, 4-3 over Colorado.
The Ducks went on a 4-on-3 power play when Ryan O'Byrne was whistled for hooking Cam Fowler as Fowler headed toward the net on a breakaway.
On the ensuing man-advantage, Ryan Getzlaff got control of the puck in the left circle and fired a pass to Perry standing at the side of the net, which he tipped past Jean-Sebastien Giguere for his fifth score of the season.
The goal was Perry's second of the game to go with an assist.
Getzlaff finished with a score and two assists. Francois Beauchemin added four assists for the Pacific Division-leading Ducks.
Jonas Hiller earned with win with 20 saves.
Cody McLeod, P.A. Parenteau and John Mitchell tallied for the Avalanche.
Giguere ended with 35 saves for Colorado.


text:
The One Million Mark!stevejb68 on July 9, 2014 in Anniversary, camping, High Adventure, Philmont No Comments »
Today is the day! Today marks the one millionth camper at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. That is a lot of Scouts! To commemorate this milestone a new patch has gone on sale at the Tooth Of Time Traders website. What do you think of this patch?
I wanted to buy this patch last month when I was at the Philmont Training Center but they were not selling them yet. The Philmont decision makers decided to wait until this date to release the patch for sale. I did get to see the patch while I was there. They had already given them out to the staff members and one of them showed me his patch as we hiked one afternoon to see the T-Rex footprint. I will admit I was a little envious, but I got over it.
Bob and I will now have to go to the website to place our order, which can be found at the Tooth of Time Traders site listed below. http://www.toothoftimetraders.com/2014-Adventure-Patch/PABAADJPFCJOEKNF/Product .
Do you plan to buy this patch and add it to your collection?


text:
Bend it like a fisherman
Near the Norwegian hamlet of Henningsvær off the island of Austvågøya in the Lofoten Archipelago, there's a soccer pitch set in spectacular surroundings.
Henningsvær Idrettslag Stadium has no grandstand and no roof, just astroturf and floodlights. In fact, it's a regular soccer pitch where amateurs play, except that it's on a rocky island in the middle of the Norwegian Sea. As you dribble the ball across the heated green – remember, we're talking north of the Arctic Circle – you'll enjoy a dramatic panoramic view of dark waters and rocky outcrops but also notice an unmistakably fishy smell in the air emanating from racks hung with drying halibut at the edge of the pitch.