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Sprint Announces First Major Markets to Receive 4G LTE in 2012
SAN FRANCISCO – Jan. 5, 2012 –Sprint (NYSE: S) CEO Dan Hesse announced today at the annual Citigroup Entertainment, Media and Telecommunications Conference that customers in Dallas, Atlanta, Houston and San Antonio are expected to be among the first to benefit from 4G LTE and improved 3G coverage in the first half of 2012.
The launch of these metropolitan areas marks the next step in the company's overall network strategy, also known as Network Vision. Sprint customers can expect to enjoy ultra-fast data speeds, improved 3G voice and data quality, and stronger in-building signal penetration providing a more reliable wireless experience. Whether a Sprint customer is on a smartphone streaming video, browsing the Web with a mobile hotspot, or making a voice call to someone across the country, everyone[1] in the upgraded areas is expected to benefit from the advanced 3G/4G LTE network.
"Within the first half of 2012, Sprint customers should experience first-hand the wide-reaching improvements we have made in terms of boosting voice and data quality," said Bob Azzi, senior vice president – Network, Sprint. "With advanced smartphones and sophisticated wireless modems, our customers are using more and more mobile data, and one of our top priorities is to provide the best technology possible to improve our customers' experience."
Sprint's Network Vision platform involves the deployment of multimode base stations across many of Sprint's cell sites throughout the country. As base stations are deployed, customers will notice immediate improvements in voice quality, signal density and data speeds. The first completed deployment of a multimode base station was in Branchburg, N.J., in December 2011. As additional areas receive 3G enhancements and 4G LTE service, announcements will be made.
Another component of Sprint's network strategy has been the deployment of Sprint® Direct Connect®on the CDMA network. Sprint's legacy in push-to-talk leadership continues with new CDMA devices that launched in September, 2011. More CDMA push-to-talk devices will be announced in the coming months.
Sprint has been an innovator with 4G since first launching the technology in 2008. Sprint has launched more than 25 4G-enabled smartphones, USB connection cards, notebook/netbook products, mobile hotspots and routers. Sprint offers a proven, reliable 4G experience for millions of customers compared to other national wireless carriers. Additionally, Sprint is a leader in value, with Sprint Everything plans with Any Mobile, AnytimeSM, including unlimited data, texting and calling to and from any mobile phone in America while on the Sprint network. With Sprint's unlimited data plans, customers don't have to worry about throttling or data overage charges on their monthly bill as they might with tiered data plans from other carriers.
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 53 million customers at the end of 3Q 2011 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The 2011 American Customer Satisfaction Index showed Sprint is the #1 most improved company in customer satisfaction, across all industries, during the last three years. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 3 in its 2011 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation's greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
* This news release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the securities laws. The statements in this news release regarding network performance, coverage and capabilities, business and network efficiencies, migration of services new technologies, timing of deployment, and products and services, as well as other statements that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements. The words "estimate," "project," "forecast," intend," "expect," "believe," "target," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are estimates and projections reflecting management's judgment based on currently available information and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. With respect to these forward-looking statements, management has made assumptions regarding, among other things, development and deployment of new technologies; efficiencies and cost savings of multimode technologies; customer and network usage; customer growth and retention; service, coverage and quality; availability of devices; the timing of various events and the economic environment. Sprint Nextel believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable; however, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations and speak only as of the date of this release. Sprint Nextel is not obligated to publicly release any revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events after the date of this release. Sprint Nextel provides a detailed discussion of risk factors in periodic SEC filings, including its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2010, in Part I, Item 1A, "Risk Factors," and in Part II, Item 1A, "Risk Factors," of its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2011.
[1] These improvements are for CDMA networks only. Only customers with devices operating on the Sprint 3G network and/or Nationwide Sprint Network will benefit.


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Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
Please contact Republic Services online or by phone at 954-583-1830 to request additional garbage and recycling carts. In addition to a $50.00 delivery fee, there is a cost for additional carts. The available sizes and costs for garbage are: 35-gallon ($55.00), 65-gallon ($60.00) and 95-gallon ($65.00) and the available sizes for recycling carts are 35-gallon ($55.00) and 65-gallon ($60.00). In addition to the cost of the cart(s), there is a delivery fee of $50.00, all payable to Republic Services.
Show All Answers
City of Margate Water Billing Department
901 NW 66th Ave
Margate, FL 33063
Phone: 954-884-3666
Email Water Bills
Monday - Friday,
8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Monday - Friday
During Non-Business Hours:
Request for reconnection made after 6 p.m. or over the weekend will require payment of a $40 non-payment charge, past due balance, and $50 after-hour fee. To request an after-hour reconnection, please call 954-972-0828.
City of Margate Environmental and Engineering Services Department
901 NW 66th Avenue
Suite A
Hours: Mon - Fri 8:00am - 6:00pm
Phone: 954-972-0828
After Hours Emergency Number: 954-605-9812
Check your cart(s), yard waste, and/or bulk waste for a non-collection notice. If there is a non-collection notice, it will explain why your garbage, recycling, yard waste, and/or bulk waste was not collected. Please correct the reason your cart(s), yard waste, and/or bulk waste was not collected to ensure that it is collected on your next scheduled collection day for that type of waste. If you did not receive a non-collection notice or have questions regarding your non-collection notice, please contact Republic Services online or email email@example.com or by phone at 954-583-1830.
View the Solid Waste and Recycling Collection Map to determine your collection days. Properly place your cart(s), yard waste, and/or bulk waste at the curb prior to 7 a.m. on your collection day. For garbage and recycling, place your carts at the curb no earlier than 5:00p.m. the day before your collection day. For bulk and yard waste, items can be placed at the curb no earlier than three (3) days before your collection day.
Garbage carts are available in 35, 65, and 95 gallons and recycling carts are available in 35 or 65 gallons. If you would like a different size cart, please contact Republic Services online or by phone at 954-583-1830 to request a different size cart. Please specify the size cart you would like.
Once you have setup your water service account with the City of Margate, contact Republic Services online (please specify the size cart you would like) or at 954-583-1830 to request your cart(s). There is no charge for your initial garbage and recycling cart(s). However, you must request your cart(s) within 90 days of establishing your water service to receive your cart(s) at no cost. Please allow up to three (3) business days for delivery.
View Household Hazardous Waste for information about where to recycle or properly dispose of (paint, pesticide, chemicals, fuel, etc.).
Also, view Electronics.
To recycle your old bins, simply place them into your recycling cart. You may also keep your recycling bins to use around the home. However, the bins cannot be used for recycling collection.
Damaged carts should be reported immediately to Republic Services at 954-583-1830 or email email@example.com. There is no charge for your first replacement. For any subsequent damaged carts where the damage is due to neglect, abuse, modification, or any other damage not covered under the warranty, you would be responsible for the cost of repair or replacement along with any applicable delivery fees. However, if your cart is damaged during the collection process or has a manufacturer defect, your cart will be repaired or replaced free of charge.
Contact the police non-emergency number, 954-764-4357, to file a police report. Once you have your case number, contact Republic Services online or at 954-583-1830. Please be sure to provide your police report case number. There is no charge for your first replacement. Please allow up to three (3) business days for delivery.
Yes, you are responsible for maintaining your garbage and recycling carts in good, sanitary condition.
The garbage and recycling carts that were provided free of charge are the property of the City of Margate and must be left on the premises for the next resident. However, any additional garbage and/or recycling carts that you may have purchased are your property and can be taken with you.
For information on the City of Margate Recycling Program contact the Department of Environmental Services by Emailing Department of Environmental Services or call 954-972-0828. For missed pickups, contact Republic Services online or at 954-583-1830.
When it is available, free recycled paint is distributed to Margate residents (proof of residency required) on Thursdays by appointment only at:
Oriole Park
7055 NW 1st Street
(corner of Rock Island Road and NW 1st Street, south of Atlantic Boulevard)
8:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
Please contact the Solid Waste and Recycling Coordinator at 954-972-0828 to find out the availability of paint and colors for the week you are planning to pick up the paint.

subset: commoncrawl


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Man Surrenders After Five Hours Threating to Blow Up Residence
Santa Barbara County Sheriff released the following information:
A Montecito resident who threatened to blow up his residence in the 1300 block of Virginia Road early this morning, was taken into custody by members of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Special Enforcement team after a five hour negotiation period.
66-year-old David Tallman called 9-1-1 at approximately 3:15 a.m. this morning and told Sheriff's dispatchers he had several acetylene tanks which are highly flammable, and that he was going to blow up his residence which was located near other homes and adjacent to the 101 freeway.
He also claimed to have firearms and ammunition. Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office personnel responded and included members of the Hostage Negotiation Team, Special Enforcement Team and Bomb Squad.
The Sheriff's Office was assisted by the Santa Barbara Police Department, the Montecito Fire Protection District, the Santa Barbara City Fire Department, California Highway Patrol and American Medical Response.
At approximately 4:15 a.m., 138 reverse 9-1-1 calls were sent out to nearby residents instructing them to evacuate. An evacuation center was set up at All Saints by the Sea Episcopal Church.
Freeway access to Olive Mill Road was shut down. Coast Village Road was closed for several blocks from Olive Mill Road to Coast Village Center as was Virginia Road.
As talks with Tallman progressed, a reverse 9-1-1 was sent out to the same group of residents at 7:15 a.m. instructing anyone who had not evacuated to shelter in place or to call the Sheriff's Office to be escorted out of the area. At approximately 8:10 a.m. a fire ignited inside the residence and the 101 freeway was shut down at Olive Mill Road for a brief period as a safety precaution.
Shortly after the fire broke out, the suspect was successfully negotiated out of his residence and was taken into custody. The Montecito Fire Protection District declared the fire out at 8:49 a.m. Sheriff's and fire investigators searched Tallman's home and found two small acetylene tanks and one oxygen tank which he allegedly used to make jewelry.
They did not find any firearms or ammunition. Tallman was booked at the Santa Barbara County Jail on felony charges of making criminal threats and resisting arrest.
The Montecito Fire Protection District is investigating the cause of the fire that broke out inside the residence.


text: Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes Submitted by: Dj Simo Game notes: ----------- 1. Talk to EVERYONE, including your pal Dr. Watson! 2. Try ALL the replies you see on screen. 3. Look at EVERY OBJECT. Especially those you picked up. They usually lead to a new location on the map. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Go to Alley. Get cigs butts, battered piece of paper, white powdery residue, and iron pipe. Look at EVERYTHING! Like the corpse, abrasions, scratches, etc. Anything you can point at: LOOK AT IT. Likewise, LOOK AT EVERY OBJECT you pick up. Talk to Inspector Lestrade. Exhaustively use up all your reply option. It's also a good idea to talk to Dr. Watson or anyone else. Just use all the reply option. You never know what sort of information you can get from them. Open stagedoor and go into the dressing room. Get perfume bottle, spring (under the wardrobe), flower, and handwritten note. (REMEMBER TO LOOK AT EVERY OBJECT YOU GET!) Talk to Henry Cattruthers. Give him the spring. Talk to Shelia Parker. Tell Watson to give her a sedative to calm her down. Question Shelia again. Go to Sarah Carroway's Flat; it should be on the map now. Open umbrella; get brass key. Look at laundry basket; pick up sweater; look at rugby sweater. Go to Belle's Perfumerie (this will appear on the map once you look at the perfume bottle). Talk to Belle about the man who purchased the perfume bottle. Just exhaustively ask/answer her questions. Buy perfume number 4: Cote D'Azur. Belle will go into the storage room to get it; this is your chance to talk to the cleaning woman. Again, ask her about the man who purchased the perfume bottle. Go to 221b Baker Street and go inside your house. Use flower on lab table; use flower on microscope. Use oil-wicker burner. Use flower on flask. Use powdery residue on lab table. Use residue on flask. Use oil-wicker burner. Use reside on test tube. Go outside and give flower to Wiggins (the boy next to the newspaper stand). Tell him to locate the person who sells this artificially dyed flower. Go to Southwark Morgue. Ask the coroner for the effects of Sarah. Try to get the large key. He'll tell you that you need permission. Talk to Inspector Gregson. Go to Scotland Yard. You won't be able to go in; go back to the Morgue. Talk to Gregson AGAIN. He'll fix things for you. Go in and talk to Duty Officer. He'll tell you to get lost. Go outside and talk to apparently blind vendor. Tell him that you need some advice on getting pass the Duty Officer or else you will turn him in. Go in and talk to the Duty Officer again. Ask for Inspector Lestrade; tell him that you need his permission to get at Sarah's effects. Talk to Duty Officer to obtain permission slip. Go back to the Morgue. Show permission slip to the coroner. Now get large key. Go to Alley. Open stagedoor with large key. Go inside; open drawer with brass key. Look at top drawer and get the opera tickets. Go to Chancery Opera House. Show tickets to usher on the left. Talk to the manager. Tell him you want to see Anna Carroway's dressing room. He'll say no. Don't worry. Go right and show tickets to usher on the right. Go upstairs. Show your tickets to the elderly woman. Follow the dialogue and she'll give you a note saying you can have access to Anna Carroway's dressing room. Pump the elderly woman for ALL the information you can; it's crucial she tells you that Sarah's boyfriend (the one who HATES Sarah's pendant) name's is JAMES. Go down and show the note to the manager. You need to open up the drawer inside the dressing room. Talk to Watson so he can distract the manager by going into the closet searching for something. Open the drawer and look at the middle one. Get the ring of keys. Leave the opera and ... Go to 221b Baker Street. Wiggins should be back by now. If not just wander around other locations until he is. He'll tell you that he's located the flower seller in Covent Gardens. Go to Covent Gardens. Talk to the young girl selling flowers. Buy a flower from her first and then pump her for all the info. she's got! Pick up the flower bouquet in the barrel. Use the wire basket in the barrel to get the cuff-links. Go into the Moongate pub. Ask the bartender (publican) about the cuff links. Then ask him about the guy who came into the bar. You'll have to beat him at darts before he gives you this bit of info. Challenge the other three drunks. Beat them and then challenge the bartender. Go to Hattington Street Chemist. Buy any potion from the chemist first. Then talk to the stockboy. Pump him for all he's got. Go to South Kensington Field. Now the guy you're looking for his named James. You need these three pieces of info. in order to find him. What he smokes (from the cleaning lady in Belle's Perfumerie), his name (from the elderly woman in the opera), and his physical appearance (from Belle of Belle's Perfumerie). If you have all that then talk to the coach and James will come running out from the field. Talk to him about Sarah Carroway. Then lower the boom by showing him the perfume bottle! Go to the Dormitory. Talk to James; in the end he won't believe his beloved Sarah's dead until you bring him PROOF ... like a death certificate. If anyone managed to snag the certificate from the Morgue let me know! I can't do it. Instead let's bring James something else ... like a NEWSPAPER! Go to 221b Baker Street. Talk to Jonas the newspaper seller. Tell him that you want last week paper. Then talk to Wiggins as he can get it for you. (Actually he HAS it.) Go to the Dormitory. Show the newspaper to James. Now while he's all depressed fire those questions away! Go the St. Bernard's Publick House. Talk to the two billiard player and the spectator. You won't get much from them initially. The player in the yellow sweater (Jack Mahoney) has the info. you need. After talking to the trio, talk to the bartender. Ask him about the marriage status of Jack Mahoney. Then talk to Jack again. He'll probably tell you to bug off at first, but then he'll listen when you threaten to tell his wife about his mistress. He'll give in and tell you where Antonio Caruso's flat is. Go to Antonio Caruso's flat. Talk to Antonio. Ask him all the questions you can. He'll tell you the location of Anna Carroway's flat and a little boy who's attached to Anna and how he likes to play with a gyroscope. Go to Anna Carroway's flat. Ring the doorbell or pull the knocker a couple of times first. Then you can just use the ring of keys to open up the door and go on in. Look at the silver salver and get the calling cards. Be sure to grab the calling card of Jacob Farthington, Barrister. You can ignore the calling card of Antonio Caruso. Now MOVE the left plant pot to spill over some dirt. Go upstairs and talk to the cleaning lady. Tell her you spilled some dirt downstairs. When she's gone move the statue and get the book. Look at the book. Go to The Law Officer of Jacob Farthington. Talk to him and he'll tell you the whole sob story of the Carroway's family. Go to 221b Baker Street. Talk to Wiggins and get his gyroscope. Go to Picnic Site and Playground. Use gyroscope on solitary boy. Talk to him and then GIVE him the gyroscope. He's going to leave his cap. Take it and LOOK at his cap. Go to Eddington's Equestrian Shop. Talk to the counterman. He won't tell you who purchased the cap. Not yet at least. Look at the coat of arms. Some of them are FAKE! Cry fraud and watch the two customers depart! Talk to Watson and see what he thinks and then talk to the counterman again. Now he's singing a different tune! Go to Bradley's Tobacco Shop. Talk to the young man behind the counter. Then start moving those crates. When he says you can't just talk to him again. Move all three crates so they form a step under the moose head. Step up and look at the head. Then MOVE it. Go to Oxford Taxidermy. Get the knife (right next to the carcass on the table) and the smock. Look at both item. Talk to Watson. Talk to Lars. Tell him that if he doesn't tell you where Blackwood is then he's a whole mess of trouble. Then talk to Watson so you can get Toby the wonder dog to sniff out Blackwood in the Surrey. Go the Sherman's Place. Talk to Sherman. Get the leash. Use the leash on Toby (he's under the store's two front windows) and you'll be transported to the docks. Open shed door and get hammer. Move barrel so it's in front of the right door. Step up on barrel and get pail. Get rag. Use pail on Thames River. Use rag on pail. Use wet rag on window. LOOK in window. Use hammer on door. Now you're back at 221b Baker Street. Go to Scotland Yard. Talk to Duty Officer and tell him you need a pass to visit the prisoner in Row Street Police Court. Go to Row Street Police Court. Show pass to guard. Open gate and talk to Blackwood. Go to Jaimeson Buying and Selling. Talk to Nigel Jaimeson. Just try all the different dialogue and Nigel will cave in eventually. Go to Moorehead and Gardner Detective Agency. Talk to the receptionist. Try all the different dialogue here, too. Go to London Zoological Gardens. Talk to Officer Dugan. Open the gates. Go right. Look at corpse, its broken leg, etc. Talk to Inspector Gregson and his constable. Go into Head Keeper office. Talk to Hollington. You just need to get the name of lion keeper from Hollington: Simon Kingsley. Exit Hollington's office. Go right to where the elephant is. Go right again. Look at the shiny object in the lion's den. Try to get it. Exit zoo. Go to Simon Kingsley's flat. Talk to Simon. Look at his boots. Talk to him again. Look at the picture of Felix the lion. Talk to him. Look at his books about animals. Now you should be able to ask him to hold down Felix while you go into the lion's den to retrieve the shiny object. Go to London Zoological Gardens. Go to lion's den and retrieve shiny object. Look at it. It's a pocket watch with a piece of paper inside. Go to Moorehead and Gardner Detective Agency. Try to open the door. Talk to Watson. Talk to the receptionist. Pick up typewrite and throw it through the door! Watch the scene between Robert Hunt and Moorehead and Holmes and Watson. Like those English accent (if you have a SB or PAS-16)! You'll be back at 221b Baker Street. Go to Moorehead and Gardner Detective Agency. (What a ROYAL receptionist! Both her bosses are DEAD and yet she's still here!) Go into office. Move comfy chair. Move the false shelf of book. Use safe combination (the piece of paper) on safe. Open safe and get pendant. Look at pendant. Read letter. Go to Lord Brumwell's Manor. Ring bell. Go in and talk to Lady Brumwell. Open door and confront Lord Brumwell. He's going to leave and lock you in the room. Move left Persian sword. Move painting and open safe. Get key and use key on door to open it. Follow Lord Brumwell outside. Watch the bridge jumping scene. Go to Robert Hunt's flat. Open small book (on the night stand next to the bed) and get bookmark. Go to Jaimeson Buying and Selling. Give bookmark to Nigel. Look at Tarot cards. Go to Covent Garden. Go into the Palmist place. Use key on desk drawer. Open it and get silver key. Move the candle that's on the left column. Use silver key on strong box. Open it and get parchment. Look at parchment. Go to Savoy Street Pier. (Save your game here if you want, because the next move is the LAST move.) Use iron bar on door. Sit back and watch the ending ..


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Lawyers representing Indiana asked an appeals court Monday to refund much of the money the state has paid IBM for a failed welfare privatization effort, but the company countered it's actually entitled to even more.
Former Gov. Mitch Daniels outsourced the intake of welfare clients to a team of private contractors led by IBM in 2006. He canceled the 10-year, $1.37 billion contract with Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM in 2009 amid widespread performance complaints from clients, their advocates and federal officials.
The state sued IBM for breach of contract, and the company countersued. Marion County Judge David Dreyer ruled last year that neither side deserved to win, but awarded IBM $52 million, including another $10 million in interest payments.
A three-judge panel from the Court of Appeals heard 45 minutes of arguments from both sides Monday.
The state told the judges that Dreyer erred in his reading of the law when awarding IBM a portion of what it had sought. Attorneys for IBM said the company should have actually received another $43 million in service fees and other costs because the state broke the contract.
Indiana officials have moved on since then with a hybrid version of the welfare system, led in part by one of IBM's former subcontractors on the projects, but the legal fighting has stretched on.
IBM lawyer Jay Lefkowitz said the company was shorted in the lower court because they are owed more in service fees and other costs included in the contract. Peter Rusthoven, a Barnes and Thornburg lawyer hired by the state, argued that the judgment should be tossed out because Dreyer followed the wrong court tests in determining the state owed IBM.
But both lawyers frequently returned to the same arguments they have been making since suits were first filed more than three years ago.
Lefkowitz said the state must, at least, pay for the IBM equipment it kept when it cancelled the contract.
"It makes perfect sense you have to buy this equipment if you want to use it," he said.
And Rusthoven returned to the central argument that IBM officials painted a rosy picture of improved operations and reduced costs when they sold the state on the contract, but quickly changed their tune when problems started popping up.
"Now, all of the sudden (they say), 'We're just the Geek Squad from Best Buy doing what you tell us to do'" Rusthoven said.
Appeals Judge John G. Baker did not offer a specific timeline for issuing an opinion in the case.


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Solar Energy Tips That Can Help You Out
Solar energy is a natural choice for powering your business or home. Solar energy can save on your utility bills and it is great for the environment. This article will help you learn about solar panels can do in your home. The power you get will be determined by how many solar panels as well as the number of solar panels installed. You can do some simple calculations to determine the number of solar panels you need. You may get better results using a few high performance panels so that you can invest in those that really do their job well. You need a backup solution in case your panels are not functioning like they should. You can use a generator or stay on the power grid. Check the inverter every so often if you add solar panels. You want to find a green light which means all is in order. Call a professional if it's blinking lights or off. Most owners do not know how to troubleshoot problems with solar energy panel problems. Solar energy is an excellent way to reduce the amount of


text: Stability is formulated specifically for the aquarium and contains a synergistic blend of aerobic, anaerobic, and facultative bacteria which facilitate the breakdown of waste organics, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Unlike competing products, the bacteria employed by Stability are non-sulfur fixing and will not produce toxic hydrogen sulfide. Stability is completely harmless to all aquatic organisms as well as aquatic plants, thus there is no danger of over use. Stability is the culmination of nearly a decade of research and development and represents the current state of the art in natural biological management.


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Show All Answers
Council Meetings are held on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month starting at 7:30 P.M. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 521 W. Cedar Street, phone number 307-328-4500. Special Meetings are advertised in the (local paper) Rawlins Times at 307-324-3411 and on our website .
To be placed onto the agenda, contact Lynn Shearer, City Clerk at 307-328-4500, Ext. 1001, or firstname.lastname@example.com. Deadline for submission of all agenda items is by Tuesday, 8:00am, the week prior to the next scheduled council meeting.
A member of the public may request an item be placed on a future agenda while addressing the City Council during a regular meeting and/or by submitting the request in writing to the City Council through the Clerk's Office.


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A woman in the front row threw an apple at the old astronaut, and it struck dully against his forehead. He paid the missile little mind, only nodding a bit in the woman's direction, smiling a half-smile.
"My Ex-Mother-in-Law, ladies and gentlemen." He smiled and raised a hand to indicate the woman who had thrown the apple. "Please, give a warm round of applause to a lady with immense patience and care."
The woman spat on the ground and stormed out of the apple grove.The astronaut was overcome by a starry wistfulness. Some of the people in the crowd turned away for a moment, though, watching the woman grow smaller and smaller. But then they turned back.
"Ahhh... the moon. Who can explain this passion? Who can explain the understanding I have for her, dear Luna, and she, I hope, for me? Arrow drawn, through the forest running, naked, I have hunted her. Alone and cold in high stony towers staring, with ground lenses and long bronze, I have peered at her. With mortar and stone stacked high and far across the Mandarin plain, fortified, I have called out to her. With lights and fires and bloody sacrifices, I have cried and cried and cried yet more to her. And still, forever it seems, she has turned away. Each month, again and again, her face turns away and darkens before my tearful salutations. Oh... the pain of it has laid me low. Low."
The astronaut, his hair white with age and experience, held out his hands, still gloved in the thick white of his space suit, and he held the palms upright in submission.
"Luna! I have hunted the white stag. I have killed the white whale. I have burned the bones and I have taken the lime and drawn my face on the hillside, etched it deep and on a scale that you must not ignore. I have inscribed the spider onto the floor of the desert and I have hidden secret heads in the soil of distant islands. I have killed my son for you! His blood collected in huge casks, dribbled each month on the ground to pledge my obedience to you. I have called these people here as my witnesses before the Earth and these fruit-filled trees. I love you, Luna! My Earthly wife has nothing to counter your cool and ivory embrace."
Another woman, younger than the last, got up tearfully then and fled from the crowd. The astronaut paused and his voice caught in his throat. It was his wife running, her thick legs turning out as she ran, her full thighs rising, her long black hair...
The crowd began to shift uneasily.
"You see..." the astronaut began. But then his wife turned back to look at him from the hilltop where she stood with her mother. She crossed her arms, wrapping up her strong, heaving bosom in an attempt to be perfectly still with reproach. The astronaut looked down at the podium and fiddled with a sheet of his speech for a second.
"You see, Luna," he started again, more forcefully, "you have driven them all away. You are everything they could hope to be, but better, bigger, stronger and more beautiful. I have blotted out the sun with my smoke for you. The thick scent of the succulent meat burning, rising. And now, here in this Apple Grove, at this late hour of the night, before these good people, I am finally ready to join you."
With that, the old astronaut picked up his helmet and locked it on. The golden face shield fell down into place, and he turned away from the podium toward the rocket ship. There, gleaming, pointed, strong, was the essence, the heart of all there had been in his life ever.
He stepped down from the platform and slowly, carefully, made his way through the trees to the ladder leaning against the white metal ship. Three-quarters of the way up he turned back and surveyed all the people, his mother and father, his sisters by the thousand, his brother, the corpse of his son laid out on a pyre about to be ignited by the explosion of the rocket's engine, his wife and her mother far off away but not yet gone, turned back watching.
When he caught sight of his wife, he paused for a moment because she was very beautiful. Then, slowly, he waved to her. She hesitated, glanced at her mother, then waved back.
On a video monitor in the cockpit of the little rocket ship was the face of the President.
"Good job, Scott. We're very proud of you and what you are doing for all of us back here on Earth. We'll miss you. Godspeed."
The President gave the old astronaut the thumbs up sign and smiled like a cowboy in a cigarette advertisement.
"I am happy," the astronaut said. Then, the fuel ignited, and he shot faster forward into the sky and out deep into space.
And so I say now, where else can any of us men go except to the moon? Where else do we belong? Who else in this universe could possibly want us?Hunters, hunters, careless hunters all.
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This article is more than 1 year old
Home truths: Bionic man takes the Metal Mickey
How CNN, Wired, the BBC, The Times, Guardian, Daily Mail et al fell for the cyborg saga
The cover of this month's Wired features "cybernetics pioneer" Kevin Warwick explaining how he is pushing the boundaries of science and humanity by turning himself into a cyborg -- part man, part machine. A small implant into his arm will allow a computer to decide its movements, paving the way for a future where humans and machines are inexorably linked.
An intriguing story, except that it is unproven, untenable and little more than the latest PR puff piece collected in an interesting academic career.
That Wired dedicated seven pages to this "breakthrough" is perhaps unsurprising, but it is also the first indication that what has been a peculiar UK disease for the past three years has finally crossed the Atlantic.
Professor Kevin Warwick of the Cybernetics Department at Reading University has become one of the best-known scientists operating in the UK. His exploits are frequently covered by the national media and he is never far from newspaper columns, championing his book on the future of mankind, In the Mind of the Machine.
It remains incredible then that none of his well-publicised experiments have achieved their goals and the extrapolated philosophy from such failures is still given credence by a usually cynical press. The academic community is up in arms.
Jumping off Towers
"It's difficult to describe how frustrating it is in the field seeing this man being our spokesman," Richard Reeve of the Department of Artificial Intelligence at Edinburgh University told The Register. Buffoon, said Inman Harvey of the University of Sussex. Irresponsible, said Professor Alan Bundy of Edinburgh. Idiot, says Joanna Bryson of MIT. Unrealistic, said Professor Blay Whitby from Sussex. The list goes on.
So what has gone wrong? While academics are understandably anxious about a public slanging match, have journalists become so used to the great pace of technology that the fear of looking foolish has overriden the need to investigate astonishing claims?
Why, for example, did no one mention that a previous nine-day implant, far from sparking the advent of man-machines, was little more than a transmitter beneath a few millimetres of skin? And what is the possible connection between applying an electric current to nerves in the arm and telepathic communication? The questions continue but the answers are conspicuously absent.
The fact that CNN, the BBC and nearly all UK newspapers have reported Prof Warwick's dabblings as fact has even led to determined efforts to remove the cyborg guru from the British Association's list of competent spokespeople.
Prof. Whitby neatly sums up the situation: "For centuries before there was serious scientific and engineering progress in artificial flight, people tried strapping feathered wings to their arms and jumping off towers. The frequently fatal, always humiliating, results of such self-experimentation were not seen as serious progress. The scientific fields upon which Warwick pontificates are at such an early stage of development that we would do well to give more attention to the serious scientists than to the 'tower jumpers'."
I, Robot: those hi-tech experiments in full
Implant 1 -- August 1998
Prof. Warwick inserted a 23mm chip in his left arm. This sent out a low-frequency signal picked up by detectors in his department. As the chip drew close to doors, they opened, when he walked into rooms, the lights came on. What's the difference between this and any other form of non-cutaneous location detector?
Implant 2 -- before July 2001
Another arm implant, this time in contact with nerves. Electric pulses will cause muscles to contract. Prof. Warwick claims this will help people with spinal injuries and eventually lead to telepathic communication by sending impulses from one person to another. Similar to trying to peel a banana with a sledgehammer.
Volleyball -- September 1999
An intelligent robot competition for volleyball between five universities slipped into farce when all entrants but the Reading University team, under Prof. Warwick, were given the wrong dimensions of the court. Despite this, Reading University came last.
Composer -- July 1998
Prof. Warwick created an "intelligent" composer to mix music together and create something on a par with human composers. A sound engineer isolated the machine-composed music immediately. Prof. Warwick argues in his book that machines are bound to like different music to human beings.
Marathon robot -- October 1997
A robot was designed to run a half marathon in Bracknell, England. ROGERR was to run two metres behind Prof. Warwick following a signal from a transmitter on his back. ROGERR went about 20 yards, veered violently off, smashed into a kerb and put himself out of action. It seems the robot preferred the sun's infra-red rays to those in the transmitter.
Robot Hand -- 1993
One of many attempts to recreate the power and sensitivity of the human hand, Prof. Warwick's CybHand was embarrassed when a photographer took a picture of it dropping a china cup during a demonstration of the hand's capabilities. ®
Related stories
World's first cyborg: man/machine or pipedream?
Robot cat barred from flight to Moscow
Day of The Robots is coming, says UN
Check out NTK.Net for this lovingly preserved example of a Prof Warwick/News of The World/Cyber Drug classic.


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Here's a new twist on fantasy sports: a San Francisco startup is offering a chance to bet on the moneymaking potential of star athletes.
The unusual investment opportunity kicked off Thursday with an IPO filing proposing to sell stock for a stake in the future income of the Houston Texans' Arian Foster, a top running back in the National Football League.
The initial public offering hinges on a deal requiring Fantex Holdings Inc. to pay Foster $10 million in return for a 20 percent share of his remaining contract with the Texans, his endorsement income and any other future money tied to his football career. Those earnings could include potential broadcasting jobs that Foster gets after his playing career is over. It doesn't include money Foster would make if he pursues a career unrelated to football.
Fantex plans to sell about 1 million shares at $10 apiece to pay Foster and cover other expenses. The tracking stock won't trade on a major stock exchange; instead, it will be bought and sold on a trading platform set up by Fantex, which was co-founded last year by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Buck French.
Foster, who is in his fifth season with the Texans, is just the first player in what Fantex hopes will become a diversified line-up of star athletes. Foster declined to comment citing Securities and Exchange Commission regulations.
The company is aiming to do IPOs featuring players in professional baseball, basketball, hockey and golf, as well.
"Our philosophy is to work with people who we believe have interesting brand attributes that we can work with and they can work with us," said French who got rich during the dot-com boom after selling a software company to Siebel Systems. "You don't have to be a superstar. I could see us working with big names and no names. The question is do they have attributes to build a brand for the long haul."
Sports Connection
Connecting you to your favorite North Texas sports teams as well as sports news around the globe.
At least one person associated with Fantex knows something about a long sports career. John Elway, the former Denver Broncos quarterback who is now executive vice president of football operations for his former team, is a member of Fantex's parent company, Fantex Holdings.
This isn't the first time that a public figure has bet on his future moneymaking potential in the securities markets. British rocker David Bowie famously sold shares in his future earnings with the issue of "Bowie Bonds."
Just like any securities investment there are risks. The marketability of professional athletes can go through wild swings if they become embroiled in scandals, as superstars such as bicyclist Lance Armstrong and golfer Tiger Woods have proven. There's also no guarantee that athletes will have long playing careers.
Foster, 27, already has suffered injuries to his knees and hamstring that have sidelined him in previous seasons and limited his ability to play in other games. He also has been plagued by an irregular heartbeat since he was 12, according to the IPO filing.
So far, Foster has remained healthy enough to be one of the main cogs on the Texans, a team that was widely expected to be a Super Bowl contender. It's been a disappointment so far this season with a 2-4 record.
The NFL could not be reached for comment.
Fantex is betting it can help Foster line up a lot of lucrative endorsements, as well as help him make money after his career is over. The Texans signed Foster to a five-year contract that will pay him $23.5 million during the period covered by the Fantex IPO. He also could earn up to $2 million in bonuses, depending on his performance, according to the IPO filing. He's also lined up endorsement deals that could pay nearly $700,000.
If Foster collects the maximum amounts from his Texans contract and current endorsements, Fantex would receive about $5 million.
AP Sports Writer Kristie Rieken contributed from Houston.


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BOULDER, COLO. – Gluten-free products at such large fast-food chains as McDonald's and Burger King might be a couple years out, but retail outlets right now have the opportunity to create gluten-free sections, said Steve Hughes, chairman and chief executive officer of Boulder Brands, Inc., Boulder.
He spoke Aug. 1 in an earnings conference call for the second quarter, which saw sales increases for the company's gluten-free brands Udi's (45%) and Glutino (36%).
"In North America we are engaged with one of the largest coffee chains who's looking at a muffin, bagel, brownie," Mr. Hughes said. "We've got one of the largest donut chains engaging us on bagels and muffins. We're getting good placement in, what I would call, the regional specialty burger chains, Smashburger, Red Robin, TGI Friday's.
"We've had hot and cold conversations with the big ones, Burger King and McDonald's. It could be 24 months for them."
Retail research shows the gluten-free consumer wants a destination section at such outlets as supermarkets, he said.
"One, they don't really trust having a gluten-free product next to a gluten-full product because these packages are not hermetically sealed," Mr. Hughes said. "Two, they just don't want to go on a treasure hunt. I mean, you think about the mom who's got one gluten-sensitive child. She's shopping through the whole store. She wants to be able to go one place to just buy the five or six products she needs."
As part of the company's Project Gluten Freedom, Boulder Brands seeks three retail placements: 4-foot to 12-foot grocery shelf set, half-door or full-door in the frozen foods aisle, and a frozen or shelf-stable rack in bakery.
"I think the next 12 to 24 months is going to be pretty remarkable here," Mr. Hughes said. "I think you're going to see ubiquity of gluten-free sections, and I think you're going to see these three sections."
Boulder Brands continues its work to get gluten-free products in club stores, but Mr. Hughes compared that effort to baseball's spring training.
"That's not going to be a huge business this year for us," he said. "We're going to work that out and figure that out, but by 2014 it could be fairly significant."
Boulder Brands' presence in Canada is growing overall.
"While we have gained 400 incremental warehouse items accepted in conventional grocers in the U.S. year to-date, we have gained another 243 incremental warehouse acceptances in Canada year-to-date," Mr. Hughes said. "Also in Canada this quarter, we began selling Glutino bagel chips and Glutino pretzels in Costco."
In the second quarter ended June 30, Boulder Brands had net income of $3,098,000, equal to 5c per share on the common stock, which compared with $484,000, or 1c per share, in the previous year's second quarter. Second-quarter net sales of $110,669,000 compared with $75,989,000 in the previous year's second quarter.
Boulder Brands changed its full-year fiscal outlook on Aug. 1. The company now expects net sales in the range of $455 million to $460 million, compared with previous expectations of $450 million to $460 million; EBITDA in the range of $69 million to $71 million, compared with previous expectations of $64 million to $69 million; and adjusted EBITDA in the range of $77 million to $79 million, compared with previous expectations of $72 million to $77 million. Boulder Brands expects earnings per share for the year to be in the range of 29c to 31c.
Mr. Hughes said he expects increased competition in the gluten-free category.
"I personally believe that, over the next three to five years, 10% of all gluten-full categories are either going to go away or they're going to go gluten-free," he said. "I think you're going to see a lot of innovation here. We're committed to continuing to obsolete ourselves, in terms of improving our products constantly. We have our eyes wide open for anything new."
The second quarter of 2013 received a boost from the acquisition of Udi's, which Boulder Brands completed in July 2012. Udi's, Glutino and Earth Balance are in the company's Natural segment, which saw second-quarter sales increase to $65.3 million from $24.3 million in the previous year's second quarter.
The acquisition and integration-related costs associated with Udi's impacted the second quarter of 2012 unfavorably. In the second quarter of 2013, higher depreciation and amortization had an impact of about $1.7 million when compared to the second quarter of 2012.
In the company's Smart Balance segment, sales in the second quarter dropped to $45.4 million from $51.7 million as Bestlife spreads and Smart Balance butter blends were discontinued. According to Nielsen data, the premium spreads and butter category industrywide declined by 5.5% in the 12-week period ended July 6, 2013. Boulder Brands' premium spreads and butter declined by 2.7% in the same period, Mr. Hughes said.
Net sales of Smart Balance milk decreased 4.4% in the second quarter. Beginning in the third quarter, Byrne Dairy, Lafayette, N.Y., exclusively will distribute and market Smart Balance milk. Boulder Brands will receive royalty payments.
"With the transition of milk to licensing, net sales will be reduced by approximately $10 million in the back half of 2013," said Chris Sacco, chief financial officer and treasurer of Boulder Brands, in the Aug. 1 earnings conference call. "And we will have approximately $1.5 million in transition costs impacting our brand profit.
"Beginning in Q1 2014, however, we will benefit from royalty income, and the milk business will become a profit contributor compared to what we expect to be a $3 million loss within 2013."
For the six months ended June 30, Boulder Brands had net income of $7,059,000, or 12c per share, up from $4,187,000, or 7c per share, in the same period a year ago. Net sales totaled $217,322,000, which was up from $155,280,000 in the same time period of the previous year.


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A company in India has developed a smartphone for the blind.
The device, three years in the making, will be equipped to read text messages and emails, and it will then convert the text to Braille. It will utilize shape memory alloy technology, which exploits a metal's ability to "remember" its original shape. The phone's screen is not a screen so much as a grid of pins that move up and down to form the Braille characters required.
The company spearheading the effort, Kriyate Design Solutions, was "incubated" at the Center for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship in Ahmedabad.
[Source: Times of India]
Microsoft Closes Deal With China's ZTE
With the ink still drying on its ballyhooed patent deal struck last week, Microsoft has reached a similar deal with Chinese tech firm ZTE.
The deal covers all Android and Chrome devices produced by ZTE, and comes one week after Miscrosoft's patent deal with Taiwanese smartphone maker Hon Hai, which owns the infamous electronics manufacturer Foxconn.
Details of the ZTE deal were not disclosed, but Microsoft said they were similar to those agreed to by Hon Hai, which will pay a flat fee for every Android and Chrome-based gadget coming off of Foxconn's production line.
ZTE is one of the five biggest Android smartphone manufacturers in the world, having shipped 9.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2012.
This marks Microsoft's first deal with a top Chinese company.
[Sources: Financial Times, Tech Crunch]
UK's Public (WiFi) Sanitation Campaign
British Prime Minister David Cameron has vowed to promote "good, clean WiFi" in public places as part of a campaign to eradicate smut from public WiFi.
Children's charities have been pushing to get adult content restricted over publicly accessible WiFi, and Cameron is apparently sympathetic to their concerns.
UK lawmakers have been on a quest to stymie online pornography. Last year, officials discussed a potential ban of online pornography, and followed that up with a proposal that would force Internet users to "opt in" should they want access to adult sites.
[Source: The Telegraph]
Booksellers Deliver Petition Against Amazon
Independent British booksellers Frances and Keith Smith delivered a petition calling on David Cameron to "make Amazon pay its fair share" of corporate taxes in the UK.
The petition, launched last December, decries Amazon's tax practices. It has more than 150,000 signatures so far.
Amazon, along with Google, Facebook and others, has been under fire in the UK for clever, if legal, methods of avoiding UK tax.
Amazon's European headquarters is in Luxembourg, which has lower tax rates than the UK, allowing Amazon to pocket a little more dough than it might otherwise.
The petition pointed out that Amazon made more than US$5 billion in the UK last year, yet it does not have to pay any UK corporation tax.
[Source: The Guardian]
Apple to Double Down on Chinese Retail
Over the next two years, Apple plans to double the number of retails store it has in China, the company's second-biggest market.
Apple's sales in China rose 11 percent during the fiscal second quarter, to $8.8 billion — pretty good, but still a slower rate of growth from the fourth quarter of 2012, when sales grew at 67 percent. To be fair, that was the quarter the iPhone 5 came out, so it was a tough act to follow.
Apple has 11 stores in the country (more, though, if you include the fake ones).
Apple recently apologized to Chinese consumers after it was taken to task by state-run media outlets for offering substandard post-sale service to China.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has made China a focal point of Apple's growth strategy.
[Source: Bloomberg]


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Somewhere in Israel, a printing house awaits Ehud Olmert's decision on his political plans before printing a Hebrew version of that most despairing of election slogans, "Vote for the Crook. It's Important." Or so you might think while reading Israeli headlines of recent days.
The implausible idea of Olmert as political savior, as the cigar-smoking man astride a mud-stained white horse, has been in the air since his acquittal, or conviction, depending on your viewpoint, on corruption charges in July. Once Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called early elections, Olmert's possible candidacy became every political reporter's favorite story. A Haaretz poll last week showed that Olmert was the one candidate of the center or left who could get more votes than Netanyahu.
Olmert is the most compellingly contradictory character in Israeli public life. But the seeming support for his comeback reflects a deeper contradiction of politics here: there is still a constituency for peacemaking, and certainly a constituency for replacing Netanyahu. It just doesn't have a credible candidate.
Olmert, let's remember, inherited politics from his far-right Knesset-member father, and entered parliament at age 28 on the Likud ticket. For most of his career, you could have put his picture next to the word "cynicism" in the dictionary. He maintained a private law practice while in office, acquired rich friends, was charged with fraud in fundraising for the 1988 election but acquitted. During his tenure as Jerusalem's mayor, the city got dirtier and poorer, while Olmert racked up frequent-flier points.
Then, in 2003, as Ariel Sharon's deputy prime minister, Olmert had a Big Idea, new for him: Israel had to get out of Gaza and most of the West Bank, lest it become a binational state. As Sharon's successor and candidate of the new Kadima party, he led the center and left to winning a solid majority in the Knesset. As prime minister, he conducted talks on a two-state solution with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas—talks that both he and Abbas say brought them close to agreement. Then the idealist's slimy past seemed to catch up with him: facing police investigations, he resigned. That paved the way for Netanyahu to take power. You had to look at Olmert twice—as an idealist, and as a fitting candidate for governor of Illinois—to see him once.
This summer, a Jerusalem court decided that reasonable doubt existed in two of the major corruption cases against Olmert and acquitted him. Pundits split into two camps: those who saw the judges as falling for a fairy-tale defense, and those who saw the prosecution as responsible for driving a prime minister from office on flimsy evidence. Olmert supporters and critics of the prosecution suggested that right-wing American Jews provided at least part of this evidence in order to get rid of the peacenik prime minister.
So for Olmert to consider a comeback looks reasonable. Given that Olmert-the-idealist still wants to complete a two-state deal—an agreement that would end the moral folly of occupation, an agreement that Netanyahu has done all he can to avoid—it also looks reasonable for a moment or so that supporters of peace would welcome his comeback.
But only for a moment. Olmert is the prime minister who initiated the disastrous war in Lebanon in 2006. Besides that, he's still on trial on charges of taking bribes while mayor of Jerusalem. And besides that, the court that acquitted him last summer in two cases convicted him in a third: as a minister, he gave favored treatment to companies represented by his ex-law partner. Because of the price he'd already paid, the judges gave him only a fine and a suspended sentence. The sentence doesn't erase the guilty verdict.
The problem is that the other announced candidates of the center and left don't look like potential prime ministers. Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz lost all credibility by joining and quitting Netanyahu's government within 10 weeks. Labor leader Shelly Yacimovich has revived a dying party with her attacks on Netanyahu's robber-baron economics. But she's an ex-journalist who lacks the ministerial or military experience that Israeli voters expect. Yair Lapid, founder of a new centrist party, hasn't shown that he stands for much more than being Ashkenazi and secular. Former Kadima leader Tzipi Livni has yet to find a new party, enter the race, or demonstrated that she has the flexibility to pick up peace negotiations where Olmert left off.
The support for Olmert should be read as longing for a for a plausible generic candidate who can make the case for negotiating peace. But in the course of the campaign, Olmert the idealist would not be able to free himself from Olmert the sleaze. The missing figure in Israeli politics is someone who can take the place of the crook.


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I write iOS and TVOS apps in Objective C, using Apples native IDE, XCode. This enables a more fluid user experience and allows us developers full control of the solution we are creating. For Android applications I use the latest Android Studio with a combination of XML and Java. Website development I will always try and use WordPress as it's easy, looks great and most importantly easy for the client to update their content.
If you would like to discuss opportunities please use the contact form on this website. Please note that I expect to be paid in full before any work is carried out, after a quote has been accepted.


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Despite Senate stonewall, Democrats focus on bills for widely-supported gun background checks
WASHINGTON (Nexstar) — With Congress back from a summer session,
Democrats said their first order of business is to help protect lives.
"We will make sure the issue of gun safety remains front and center," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York).
Schumer is calling for a vote on bills including H.R.8, which would expand background checks. The House already approved the measure, but it stalled in the Senate.
Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) said supporters aren't giving up.
"Be relentless, just because one chamber chooses not to govern doesn't mean we are going to acquiesce," Escobar said.
Another bipartisan bill up for consideration would expand background checks to all commercial sales. But some lawmakers say passing more laws focused on background checks won't keep guns out of the wrong hands.
"Are you suggesting we pass a law to pretend like we are doing something but actually not have a positive impact on saving lives?" said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).
Cornyn said new laws alone won't prevent crime and supports further discussions on legislative solutions.
"What can and what should we do to stop incidents like these in the future?" asked Cornyn.
But Virginia Senator Mark Warner urges lawmakers to take action
"Let's start with where there is the most agreement, universal background checks. 93% of Americans agree we need to put in place universal background checks," Warner said.
In addition to examining background checks, lawmakers say they're weighing "red flag" laws as another option to keep guns away from dangerous people.


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This historical novel, set in and around 18th-century Wilmington, traces the events around the murder of a political leader. After Harry Tresmayne is found murdered beside a Cape Fear road, his friend Matthew Livesey finds that both motives and suspects abound.
Check this title's availability in the UNC Library Catalog.


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Salmon Salad with Bagel Chips
Serves 2 / Consider this cocktail-party food for lunch. It's also good on a toasted bagel with cream cheese.
1 cup cooked salmon, fresh or canned
2 tablespoons small capers
2 tablespoons chopped red onion
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Toasted bagel chips
1. In a medium bowl, flake salmon with a fork. Add capers, onion, eggs, and dill. Stir gently.
2. In a small bowl, blend lemon juice and olive oil. Pour over salmon mixture. Stir until blended. Add salt and pepper and stir. Serve with bagel chips.


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Halo: Combat Evolved
1001 Video Games
The Xbox version of Halo: Combat Evolved appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.
The end of the PC demo features a 49 second infomercial-style video, narrated by Sgt. Johnson, which extolls the virtues of buying the full version. "Buy one! Heck, buy two!"
Halo went through many changes during its development. As originally conceived, it was a real-time tactical game for Windows, something like a sci-fi version of Myth. The focus shifted toward direct control of one of the individual units and it became a third person shooter and work began on a Macintosh version as well. This is how the game was originally announced.
After Microsoft bought Bungie, Halo was shifted to being an Xbox exclusive. Around the same time, it became a first person game, with Bungie saying there wasn't any way to get precise aiming to work in third person. Many of the art assets changed too, with the Master Chief's armor in the game as shipped looking quite different than the original trailer. Eventually, Halo was ported back to its original platforms of Windows and Macintosh bearing no resemblance to how it started.
Beat the game in Legendary difficulty and you get an additional funny cutscene at the end.
Halo has a strange enemy hidden in the game code called the Engineer. You can only access it using a mod chip. It's a pink, blobby thing that just sort of floats around. It's the same creature as seen in one of the earliest videos of the game, the one with the marines going into the huge building.
- If you look closely at the shotgun shells taken out when Master Chief reloads, you'll see there are hippo heads pictured on them.
- If you highlight the "Edit Gametypes" section in the multiplayer section of this game, you come across an image of Master Chief with text that, to the reader, seems to be schematics for each of his body parts. If you look closely, some of the text aren't schematics, but text: Text on Head/Gun: "UV Protectant Sun Visor for Protection from Elements". Text on Upper Right Leg: "Sometimes I give myself the creeps, sometimes my mind plays tricks on me" (lyrics from the Green Day song "Basket Case"). Text on Lower Right Leg: "Hydraulic Suspension Thigh Pads with cool Kevlar crap". Text on Left Leg: "Directional Locks MJOLNIR cyborg dealer parts". Text on Arm: "Action/Reload see may flexible joint system". Text on Torso: "All your base are belong to us".
Halo: Custom Edition
On May 5th, 2004, Halo: Custom Edition was released for free. It is a multiplayer only, 170MB standalone version of Halo PC which enables gamers to play user created content created with the halo editing kit. It requires the original cd and a valid key to play. Download it here.
Halo is used to film the machinima web series Red vs. Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles, which is currently in its fifteenth season.
As of July 2017, there are a total of twenty-one Halo tie-in novels. The first three being: Fall of Reach (prequel), The Flood (novelization of the game), and First Strike (successor).
Halo was originally rated T for Teens.
References: Marathon
- At the center of the Halo logo, you can see the
Marathon logo (Marathon being the FPS series Bungie was previously famous for). The Marathon logo can also be seen in several places throughout the game, including on the hull of the human battleship, on Captain Keye's uniform, and on several of the doors found around Halo. The character design of 343 Guilty Spark, one of the game's pivotal characters, also strongly resembles the Marathon logo. - The cyborg Master Chief wears a suit of Mjolnir battle armor. The hero of the Marathon series was a Mjolnir class cyborg.
- The alien grunts sometimes scream out "They're everywhere!" in combat. The human civilians from Marathon would also scream the same thing during the alien invasion.
- Certain weapons have similar names and appearances in both games, such as the SPNKR rocket launcher.
- Both games have very whimsical chapter names, like "Wait! It Gets Worse!" or "Fourth Floor: Tools, Guns, Keys to Superweapon" in Halo or "Kill Your Television" or "You Think You're Badass? You're Going to Die Badass!" in Marathon.
- Rampancy, or "When AIs go nuts and rebel against humanity", played a major part of Marathon's story. If you kill the command crew in Halo's opening level, Cortana will complain that you've gone Rampant and will sic the Marines on you.
- The hero of the Marathon series spend most of his time taking orders from Durandal, a megalomaniacal A.I. named after a mythological sword who had few qualms about breaking a few eggs (using humans as expendable pawns) to make an omelet (liberating a slave race). The hero of Halo spends most of his time taking orders from Cortana, an A.I. named after a mythical sword who's beginning to show signs her ego is expanding, and who has few qualms about breaking a few eggs (destroying Halo and killing the marines on it) to make an omelet (saving Earth).
- Much of the dialog of the "Grunt" characters is taken from the Human characters in the first Marathon: "Thank God it's you" was spoken by characters called "Exploding Bobs", which were sythetic Humans who would run at the player and explode. The line "They're Everywhere" was spoken by frightened Humans the player would come across.
- The architecture in Halo is very similar to Jjaro architecture - the Jjaro were an equally ancient race in Marathon.
Some of the dialogue spoken by the marines, comes directly from the film Aliens.
- As of 2005, Halo is the best-selling Xbox game of all time. It has sold three and a half million copies.
- On August 31, 2003 has Halo (Xbox) won the Gold-Award from the German VUD (Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland - Entertainment Software Association Germany) for selling more then 100,000 (but less then 200,000) units in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Many people believe that Halo takes place during a one-hundred-and-thiry-nine year gap in the Marathon timeline, in which the creators wrote "This century intentionally left blank. Seriously, nothing really happened."
Voice acting
Much of the dialogue spoken by the Covenant Elites is in fact dialogue by the human Sergeant, reversed, with some pitch alterations.
Windows and Macintosh versions
- Gearbox took over programming of Halo PC and discovered that they can't use much of the existing networking code (for the XBox). They had to rewrite that entire section, delaying the title for PC by several months.
- The PC version (and probably Mac, too) of Halo adds a few bonus features for the multiplayer mode, these include two weapons: a Flamethrower (which was scrapped from the game at the last minute) and a Fuel Rod Gun (the weapon that the Hunters use in the main game) as well as allowing you to use the Banshee and a rocket-launcher version of the Warthog.
- 4Players
- 2002– Best Xbox Action Game of the Year
- 2002– Best Console Multiplayer Game of the Year
- 2002 – #2 Best Xbox Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
- Computer Gaming World
- March 2004 (Issue #236) – Year's Biggest Letdown
- Electronic Gaming Monthly
- April 2002 - Game of the Year
- GameSpy
- 2001 – Xbox Game of the Year (Readers' Choice)
- 2001 – Xbox Action/Adventure Game of the Year
- 2003 – #6 PC Game of the Year
- GameStar (Germany)
- Issue 12/2008 - One of the "10 Coolest Levels" (for the level "The Silent Cartographer". It combines all fun elements from the first person shooter genre into one level.)
- Interactive Achievement Awards (Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences)
- 2002 - Game of the Year
- 2002 - Console Game of the Year,
- 2002 - Console Action/Adventure Game of the Year
- 2002 - Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering
- PC Powerplay (Germany)
- Issue 03/2005 - #1 Biggest Disappointment
- Issue 12/2006 - #9 Hype Disappointment (was no longer impressive when it was ported two years after the console version)
- Retro Gamer
- October 2004 (Issue #9) – #18 Best Game Of All Time (Readers' Vote)
- The Strong National Museum of Play
- 2017 – Introduced into the World Video Game Hall of Fame
- Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (VUD)
- August 31, 2003 - Gold Award
- Walk of Game
- 2005 - Member
Information also contributed by ~~, Ace of Sevens, Alan Chan, BurningStickMan, Kartanym, Kasey Chang, Maw, MegaMegaMan, Ray Soderlund, Sciere, Xoleras, Zack Green and Zovni
Trivia contributed by Entorphane, Patrick Bregger, FatherJack, yellowshirt, SoMuchChaotix.


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Story highlights
Many register trademarks of well-known foreign brands in China to sell them for large sums
Top Australian winemaker at center of legal dispute after failing to register Chinese name for its brand
China's trademark laws tend to favor so-called "trademark squatters" over foreign companies
New amendments to laws and greater understanding of China's system likely to make things easier for companies
They're known as trademark "squatters" and they've long caused headaches for foreign companies entering the Chinese market.
Savvy to China's complex trademark laws, these individuals target valuable foreign brands and register them as trademarks in China.
When international companies want to launch their products on the Chinese market, they're often left with little choice but to cough up huge sums to buy back the trademark, rebrand their product or fight for the right to use the brand through lengthy legal battles.
One of Australia's most popular wine brands, Penfolds, is currently at the center of a legal dispute over the use of its own name in China. Treasury Wine Estates, the owner of the wine, said this week that someone in China has claimed ownership of the Chinese name for Penfolds – Ben Fu – a transliteration that means "chasing prosperity."
The company is engaged in legal action with the individual to "ensure the integrity of the brand is protected," a spokesperson for Treasury told CNN in an emailed statement.
Notorious squatter
That individual, according to the Australian Financial Review, which first broke the story, is a "notorious trademark squatter" named Li Daozhi. A Spanish-Chinese wine distributor, Li won a similar case against a French winemaker last year.
Treasury is confident it is the lawful owner of the trademark, the company's spokesperson said, and the Australian winemaker did initially win a court case allowing it to use the Chinese name for its wine in China.
But Li is now appealing the decision, according to the AFR.
"It will take some time for the Chinese legal system to process this matter," Treasury said.
Treasury's case and the many others that have made headlines in recent years should be a warning to foreign companies of the risks they can be exposed to if they fail to familiarize themselves with trademark laws in one of the world's largest consumer markets, legal experts say.
'First to file' wins
Many foreign businesses have come unstuck because China's trademark laws follow a "first to file" principle. That means whoever has a trademark registration approved first in China, owns the rights to that trademark. This differs from countries like the United States and many Commonwealth countries that follow a common law system, where a person registering a trademark also has to show they've used, or plan to use the mark in business.
But companies do have opportunities to challenge trademarks already registered in China. One option is to prove the individual deliberately claimed ownership of the brand with the intention of blackmailing a foreign brand entering the market. Another is to show that the brand was already well-known when the trademark was registered.
In practice, convincing a court on these points has proved difficult for many companies, but legal experts believe recent amendments to China's trademark laws, among other factors, could improve trademark protection for foreign brands.
Here are some of the most recent, prominent cases.
Earlier this month, Chinese businessman Zhan Baosheng reportedly sued U.S. electric car manufacturer Tesla for illegally using its own name, and demanded that the company stop all car sales and marketing activities in China.
Zhan, who has a history of filing trademarks for names used by foreign brands, is seeking 23.9 million yuan (US$3.84 million) from Tesla. He says he filed for the right to use the English name Telsa in 2006, and planned to manufacture an electric car named after the inventor Nikola Tesla. He later applied to register related trademarks, including a Chinese transliteration of the name and the U.S. auto manufacturer's logo.
Tesla, which launched its Model S luxury electric car in China last year, says its claim to the name has already been upheld by other Chinese authorities and the lawsuit is without merit. A Beijing court is due to hold an appeal hearing on August 5.
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer fought an 11-year trademark, patent and 3-D trademark battle over the Viagra brand after it failed to register the Chinese name for the erectile dysfunction drug before it introduced the product on the Chinese market in 2000.
It won the patent and 3-D trademark litigation but lost the trademark case because it couldn't provide sufficient evidence to show it had become well-known among Chinese consumers under the name Weige (meaning "mighty brother"). For similar reasons, luxury retailer Hèrmes and whisky brand Chivas Regal have lost bids to stop clothing manufacturers from selling products under their names.
Singers and sports stars
Celebrities aren't immune either. A man in Guangzhou owns the right to use the name of Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber, while the names of World Cup stars like Germany's Philipp Lahm and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo are used to promote products ranging from shoes to pesticide, according to China Daily.
Two years ago, U.S. basketball legend Michael Jordan filed a lawsuit against a sportswear company called Qiaodan Sports (a transliteration of Jordan's name). The multi-million dollar company even registered trademarks for the names of his two sons, Jeffrey and Markus (Jiefuli Qiaodan and Makusi Qiaodan).
And it's not only foreign stars who have been affected. In 2006, Chinese NBA star Yao Ming managed to block the trademarking of his name on a line of women's sanitary products.
Castel Frères
In the largest trademark litigation case in China's wine industry to date, French winemaker, Castel Frères had to completely rebrand its wines in China after losing a four-year legal battle to Li Daozhi, the defendant in the Penfolds case.
Li's company reportedly registered "Kasite" to import Spanish wines, and later French wines, into China about 15 years ago. Around the same time, Castel began bottling wine in China and became known to Chinese consumers by the same Chinese name. (In a market where many consumers don't read Latin letters, Chinese characters hold much more sway when it comes to brand recognition.)
Li reportedly offered to sell the trademark to Castel for 1 million euros ($1.3 million). Castel refused the offer and chose to sue Li in 2005, arguing that his company had not used the Kasite name in three years. Li subsequently sued Castel for trademark infringement and was awarded 33.73 million yuan (US$5 million) by a Zhejiang court last year. But China's supreme court overturned the verdict and has ordered a retrial, which is still pending. In the meantime, Castel has registered a new Chinese trademark, "Kasidaile."
Will things improve?
New amendments to China's trademark laws that came into effect in May this year could make things easier for foreign companies. "The extent of which we're not sure," said Deanna Wong, a partner at law firm Hogan Lovells, because there haven't been any major decisions handed down subsequent to the changes.
Stan Abrams, Asia legal counsel at Bentley Systems in Beijing, said the laws will make things easier, but the number one reason these kind of disputes are likely to decrease is that companies are better informed about navigating the Chinese market these days.
"A lot of (these disputes) originated years and years ago. It's been a multi-year process of litigation," Abrams said.
"In some cases, when you're talking about companies from common law countries, they came over here and were really unfamiliar with the legal system. They didn't realize it was a file-first system."
"A lot of them didn't do their homework and were making crazy mistakes when using their foreign names in the local market."
Overseas companies better understand what evidence they need to make a good case these days, added Wong.
What can foreign companies do?


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© ANDRZEJ GRYGIEL/epa/Corbis
From the GT archives - A minute with a great guitarist is enough to discover what really makes them tick. This time we quiz Al Di Meola…
Who was your first influence to play the guitar?
Elvis, Ventures, Beatles.
What was the first guitar you really lusted after?
A Guild Starfire.
What do you think was the best gig you ever played?
The one in fourth grade with my pal George where I realised for the first time the power the guitar could have with winning over the girls!
And your worst playing nightmare?
When back in the '80s the Synclavier hook-up to my guitar glitched during a piece we were playing and this super-loud squeal blasted through the PA and would not shut off - seemed like an eternity!
What's the most important musical lesson you ever learnt?
Alternate picking, loose wrist, chords, scales and arpeggios. Sweep picking is for cissies!
Do you still practise?
Yes, it's my meditation and I love more then anything to read music as part of the routine.
Do you have a pre-gig warm-up routine?
If you could put together a fantasy band with you in it, who would the other players be?
Steve Gadd, Jan Hammer, Anthony Jackson.
Present company accepted, who's the greatest guitarist that's ever lived?
Ralph Towner.
Is there a solo you really wish you had played?
I'm sure there is.
What's the solo/song of your own that you're most proud of?
Any one off [latest album] Pursuit Of Radical Rhapsody; also the electric solo off of a CD called Kiss My Axe on a tune called Global Safari.
What would you most like to be remembered for?
The depth of the compositions followed by having my own voice on the guitar in a particularly unique, articulate percussive way - not to mention also being a nice guy - hopefully!