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Cuts possible for Planned Parenthood
MIDDLEBURY ––Planned Parenthood has drawn more attention on the national stage over the past few years, largely due to concerns about the organization's provision of abortion care.
Zeroing in on that single service, which is only two percent of what Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE) does, grossly overlooks the other 98 percent of primary and preventive services, explained Weybridge's Diana Barnard, a palliative care assistant at Fletcher Allen. Barnard used to practice in Middlebury and often referred patients to the Middlebury Health Center, a small branch of PPNNE.
"The most important thing about Planned Parenthood is really handing out birth control and condoms, creating access to safe sex and spreading the word about prevention," she said. "Prevention and thinking ahead and having really good access to birth control is more important than the things that people are complaining about."
Preventive care is an important aspect of Planned Parenthood for many patients. A large number of the patients at the Middlebury site and of PPNNE qualify for Medicaid and Title X funding. Without this federal assistance, they would struggle to afford important services such as cancer screenings and sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing.
Title X and Medicaid are often on the chopping block when it comes to setting the federal budget. This is unfortunate, said Jill Krowinski, PPNNE director of Vermont public affairs, because it politicizes people's basic health needs.
"It's really unfortunate when politicians use Planned Parenthood as political tool instead of thinking of us as a health care provider," she said. "For a majority of patients we are their primary source of health care."
Congress already made $2.9 million in cuts to Title X while setting the 2013 budget. Krowinski explained that cuts on this scale are damaging and more could come.
"This $2.9 million cut, basically every time it goes through another committee or another process it's vulnerable to more cuts," she said. "Trying to plan out our budget and staffing based on money coming from D.C. is really challenging. I suspect it will be cut further and we're going to have to plan for that."
Each year as Congress works on the federal budget, officials from PPNNE and other regional affiliates watch carefully for potential cuts to Title X and Medicaid. Last year Planned Parenthood faced the threat of being defunded by the federal government. This would have meant that Planned Parenthood would no longer receive any federal money. Had the measure succeeded, Planned Parenthood health centers across the nation would have suffered and smaller centers like Middlebury would have been shut down.
"The thought of completely being defunded and having no Medicaid or Title X dollars is huge," Krowinski said "The impact on our patients would be devastating. We're not talking about cutting hours and staff, we're talking about closing health centers. That would be devastating in communities like Newport, Hyde Park and Middlebury where we serve that very targeted demographic and community."
Beyond numerous patients losing their only source of primary care, the defund would have caused serious public health consequences, explained Krowinski.
"The defund would affect the access to health care for patients and the long-term consequences of that, I think in a public health world, we're talking about an increased number of pregnancies because women don't have access to birth control, increase in cervical cancer and breast cancer because they don't have access to those screening services, an increase in STIs because they don't have access to testing and treatment," she said.
While the defund failed, it speaks to the constant uncertainty that PPNNE must deal with. The organization can never be sure that its patients will have the access they need to Title X and Medicaid funding. New cuts come each year and are not without consequences.
"It always comes back to Title X and Medicaid because that is support for so many of our patients and the deeper those cuts get the bigger effect that they will have on our health centers, whether it's cutting down hours that we're open or cutting staff," Krowinski said.
Krowinski explained that PPNNE works to make up the difference if a patient loses Medicaid or Title X money. They may need to alter something else to accommodate those expenses, but they do not cut services or make the patient pay.
"We work really, really hard to ensure that we raise the funds to help cover those costs through donations because the last thing we want to do is put the burden on the patients," she said. "That means making sure they still have access, but we're open one day less a week, things like that."
However, ongoing federal cuts make it challenging to maintain several centers in a state as small as Vermont.
"The past three years we closed (centers in) St. Johnsbury, Waterbury and Springfield because of the cuts that have been coming down," Krowinski said. "Making those really tough decisions about closing those health centers, we thought about things like can patients drive to another health center that's within the service area."
The Middlebury Health Center is still open and doing fairly well.
"We've worked hard to keep Middlebury as consistent as possible," she said. "They may have had a couple tweaks in their hours, but Middlebury is a site that we definitely try to keep consistent with hours. We aren't open every day, we are open four days a week there."
Krowinski said that dealing with rigid beliefs about reproductive and women's health creates many of the obstacles the organization faces. Controversial issues can cause hang-ups in funding that patients need to obtain basic care.
"Every nonprofit has their unique set of challenges because of the services they provide," she said. "For us, we have a lot of challenges because people don't always agree with our mission of women having access to all women's health services."
The financial uncertainty for Planned Parenthood and its patients is unfortunate because the services provided are so valuable, said Barnard.
"I think it's really a matter of targeting a population that always isn't able to advocate for themselves," she said. "Being in a warm, welcoming and affordable environment where they can get care when otherwise they couldn't is so important. Young women who don't know where to go, young women who might not know what options they have, women in abusive relationships who might not trust medical officials, they can all feel welcome at Planned Parenthood."
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Tactics Theatrics!!
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First broadcast
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English themes
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Japanese themes
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Tactics Theatrics!! (Japanese: バトルドーム!炎と水のフュージョン!! Battle Dome! Fusion of Fire and Water!!) is the 153rd episode of Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, and the 427th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on November 24, 2005, and in the United States on September 30, 2006.
Ash has finally reached the Battle Dome, and what a reception! An eager crowd of journalists wants to meet the new challenger who's going to take on Tucker, the famous Dome Ace. Ash is whisked off to his first press conference and he's having fun until he admits he doesn't know who Tucker the Dome Ace is, to the horror of all the reporters.
Team Rocket knows who Tucker is—when they're not selling snacks at the Battle Dome, they're busy pretending to be his hairdressers. Tucker knows how to please a crowd, and Ash makes his big Battle Dome entrance only to be outshone by Tucker and his tons of screaming fans! Tucker sends out Swampert and Arcanine, so Ash chooses his Corphish and Swellow. But type advantage won't be enough against Swampert and Arcanine's teamwork and combos!
The battle heats up immediately and there are plenty of surprises in store for Ash. For one thing, Tucker's speedy Arcanine knows Aerial Ace, and goes head to head with Swellow! Ash also needs to find a way around Swampert's strong defense. It turns out Tucker's all about strategy as well as showmanship, so Ash has a rough time until he figures out how to counter Tucker's tactics with a few of his own. Corphish and Swellow then deal a knock-out combination to win the round. Ash leaves the Battle Dome with a shiny new Tactics Symbol and memories of an amazing experience!
Successfully arriving at the Battle Dome, Ash is flooded by many reporters and personnel. Scott pops out, saying to go to the press conference. A press conference takes place with various reporters questioning Ash about his upcoming battle in the Battle Dome. Meanwhile, Team Rocket is grooming the Frontier Brain, Dome Ace Tucker, and making battle preparations. Arriving at an inner platform within the Battle Dome, Ash can easily see the battle platform from above. Team Rocket is doing their usual errands while serving the normal concessions and snacks.
The lights dim within the arena as a nearby screen illuminates, displaying various information about Ash from Pallet Town, including his achievements in the Orange, Indigo, Johto, and Hoenn Leagues. A giant plume of smoke and dust erupts in the arena as Ash makes his appearance. The arena lightens with various colors of light as Tucker, the Frontier Brain, makes his appearance. Landing majestically atop the adjacent platform, the crowd goes hysterical. Seeing the Dome Ace of the Battle Dome for the first time gives Max and May thoughts of their father.
The battle about to take place, Tucker displays the coin for defeating him in this battle as he sends out both Arcanine and Swampert in a veil of fire and water. This battle will be a two-on-two Pokémon battle. Ash analyzes Tucker's choice and chooses to call upon Swellow and Corphish.
The battle quickly goes underway with Swellow launching into a devastating Quick Attack towards Swampert. Arcanine rushes towards Swampert and is thrust into the air, reaching a high velocity, and collides with Swellow, knocking it backward. Swellow recovers from the attack as Corphish attacks with a Bubble Beam. Swampert jumps in front of Arcanine to shield themselves from the attack with Protect. Brock notes that both Pokémon support each other with Arcanine's Speed and Swampert's Defense.
Swellow goes for another attack, flying around at high speed with Arcanine running to achieve an equal speed and jumping into the air to defend against Swellow's attack. The two attacks collide, thrusting Swellow backwards and forcing Arcanine to the ground unable to stop himself from the fall. Corphish sees the opening and goes for the attack with Vise Grip while Swampert launches a Mud Shot attack right behind Arcanine. Just before Arcanine and Corphish make contact, Arcanine dodges Swampert's attack with Corphish taking direct damage and slamming into the nearby wall.
Scott explains that Tucker is known for his astonishing battle tactics while both May and Max are surprised. Tucker thanks Ash for his battle spirit and effort but Swampert quickly resumes the battle with a Water Gun. Both Swellow and Corphish dodge this attack, with Corphish thrusting towards Swampert with a devastating Crabhammer. Swampert retaliates with a Dynamic Punch as both attacks collide in an explosion of light and color. Arcanine dashes toward Swampert to perform another aerial attack. While Swellow comes forward for the Peck, Arcanine launches a strategic Flamethrower towards Swellow but the attack is avoided with Double Team. Arcanine increases its firepower with Fire Blast, hitting Swellow. May comments that it was like watching a Contest Battle.
Meanwhile, Swampert is controlling the water from the air and shaping it with a Water Pulse attack. Swellow dodges Arcanine's first attack, Extreme Speed, and launches towards Arcanine once more, with the second attack making contact and creating a gigantic explosion. Corphish goes for an opening with Crabhammer as Swampert forces the nearby Water Pulse towards Swellow and Corphish, which collides creating a structure formed of water and ice. Arcanine launches a devastating Fire Blast within the structure rotating around creating a fusion of fire and water, Tucker's greatest of tactics.
Both Swellow and Corphish are suspended within this structure as a gigantic explosion takes place between the two forces and both Pokémon are forced towards the ground. Team Rocket is spectating the battle as neither Corphish nor Swellow has enough energy to continue the battle. Both Pokémon revive with a fighting spirit greater than ever. Both Arcanine and Swampert launch a Flamethrower and Water Gun towards Corphish. Both attacks are diverted by Corphish's Bubble Beam attack. Swellow thrusts towards with Quick Attack as Swampert uses Dynamic Punch, and just as Arcanine goes for the opening, Swellow dodges forcing Arcanine into Swampert for a direct hit. A giant plume of smoke and dust engulfs the arena. Arcanine launches another Fire Blast attack but this is again diverted by another Bubble Beam attack. Visibility is lowered by a great amount of fog lingering within the arena.
Both Arcanine and Swampert are unsure of Swellow's exact location and fly towards Corphish and Swellow. Just as both attacks are to make contact, Swellow floats to the left and flies from the bottom, making a direct hit with Corphish's Crabhammer and Swellow's Aerial Ace. Both Arcanine and Swampert are now unable to continue after taking the hits, granting Ash the win.
Most of the female crowd is disappointed with Tucker's loss as Tucker congratulates Ash for his victory, with the crowd crying out wildly. He mentions that he's a top tactician. As Tucker congratulates Ash, everyone begins to scream. Tucker thanks Ash for the battle. As Tucker leaves, Ash mentions that he forgot to give him the Tactics Symbol. Tucker points to the top of his hat as Ash pulls it from atop his head and happily displays his newly obtained Symbol.
Major events
- Ash and his friends arrive at the Battle Dome and meet Dome Ace Tucker, the third Frontier Brain.
- Ash battles Tucker and wins, earning the Tactics Symbol.
- For a list of all major events in the anime, please see the history page.
Pokémon debuts
- Ash
- May
- Brock
- Max
- Jessie
- James
- Norman (fantasy)
- Tucker
- Scott
- Victor
- Female reporter
- Cameraman
- Male reporter
- Audience
- Child
- Middle-aged woman
- Pikachu (Ash's)
- Meowth (Team Rocket)
- Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
- Swellow (Ash's)
- Corphish (Ash's)
- Arcanine (Tucker's)
- Swampert (Tucker's)
- The opening animation changes a fourth consecutive time to reveal Tucker.
- This is the first time in the anime where Aerial Ace is used by a Pokémon that can't fly. In the games, many Pokémon who can learn the move have no flight-related abilities.
- Bill Rogers revealed at the Men of Anime convention that it was his intention that his dub of Tucker sounded similar to the performance of Kenta Miyake, his Japanese voice.
- Battle Frontier and music from Mewtwo Strikes Back are used as background music.
- 4Kids background music is used in this episode.
- This is the first episode since its debut where James's Mime Jr. does not appear.
- Team Rocket doesn't blast off in this episode.
- James and May narrate the preview for the next episode.
- When Swellow gets knocked back by Arcanine's Extreme Speed, part of its head is cut off.
- The same thing occurs later when Swellow gets knocked back by Arcanine's Aerial Ace.
- In one scene, Brock mentions that Arcanine can use Protect. However, it was Swampert who could use Protect, not Arcanine.
- When Ash speaks right before he calls out to Corphish and Swellow, his mouth overlaps on Pikachu.
Dub edits
In other languages
Language | Title | |
Mandarin Chinese | 對戰巨蛋!炎與水的融合! | |
Danish | Taktik, tak!! | |
Dutch | Theatrale tactieken!! | |
Finnish | Taktiikkapeliä | |
European French | Tactique et coups de théatre! | |
German | Taktisches Theater! | |
Hebrew | עניין של טקטיקה | |
Hindi | टाक्टिक सिम्बल Tactic Symbol* | |
Italian | Ash a lezione di strategia | |
Korean | 배틀돔에서의 불꽃 대결! | |
Norwegian | Taktikk, Takk! | |
Brazilian Portuguese | Táticas Teatrais | |
Russian | Тактика и шоу | |
Spanish | Latin America | Tácticas teatrales! |
Spain | ¡Tácticas teatrales! | |
Swedish | Taktik som musik! | |
This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime. |
- Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire episodes
- Episodes written by Atsuhiro Tomioka
- Episodes storyboarded and directed by Yūji Asada
- Episodes storyboarded by Yūji Asada
- Episodes directed by Yūji Asada
- Episodes animated by Akihiro Tamagawa
- Episodes animated by Masaaki Iwane
- Episodes by multiple animation directors
- Episodes focusing on Ash
- Episodes with Frontier Brain challenges
- Episodes in which Ash receives a Frontier Symbol

subset: commoncrawl


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These works are licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.
The kernel language is extended by means of ``definitional transformations'' which define new concepts in terms of those already present. The extensions include practical programming constructs, including recursive procedures, local variables, functions and expressions with side-effects. This expands the language into a ``Wide Spectrum Language'' which covers the whole range of operations from general specifications to assignments, jumps and labels. We develop theorems for proving the termination of recursive and iterative programs, transforming specifications into recursive programs and transforming recursive procedures into iterative equivalents. We develop a rigorous framework for reasoning about programs with EXIT statements that terminate nested loops from within; and this forms the basis for many efficiency-improving and restructuring transformations. These are used as a tool for program analysis and to derive algorithms by transforming their specifications. We show that the methods of top-down design and program verification using assertions can be viewed as the application of a small subset of transformations.
The source code is available.
Note: This paper was updated on 9th April 1996
transformation in place of a more conventional theorem prover.
We show that this combination of pruning and simplification-as-reasoner
leads to a more scalable approach to conditioning.
In today's fast-changing, competitive environment, having an up-to-date information system (IS) is critical for all companies and institutions. Rather than creating a new system from scratch, reengineering is an economical way to develop an IS to match changing business needs. Using detailed examples, this practical book gives you methods and techniques for reengineering systems for flexibility and reliability. It helps you reengineer a system to continue to provide for business critical missions as well as achieve a smooth transformation to an up-to-date software technology environment. What's more, it shows you how to redevelop a flexible system that can evolve to meet future business objectives, reduce start time and save money in the reengineering process.
This unique resource places particular emphasis on the reengineering of legacy assembler systems using the FermaT workbench, and describes other widely available general techniques. The book poses the key questions that you need to address before reengineering can provide an integrated framework that reveals the answers. A built workbench is used to illustrate the approach with the application of real case studies.
Constant Software Changes - Legacy Systems. Business Changes. Software Evolution.
Software Engineering and Software Maintenance - Software and Software Engineering. Software Maintenance. Summary.
Software Reengineering - Introduction. Taxonomy of Software Reengineering. Reverse Engineering. Issues of Reverse Engineering. Current State of Formal Methods in Reengineering. Classification of Formal Methods. Criteria and Results. Analysis and Summary.
An Integrated Reengineering Framework - Characteristics of Legacy Systems. The Reengineering Approach. Wide Spectrum Language.
Process for Reengineering - A system Architecture for Implementing the Process of Reengineering. Abstracting. Translation of Source Code to an Intermediate Representation. Restructuring. Elicitating Business Rules. Abstraction and Abstraction Patterns. Reusing Components. Retargeting. Measuring Reegineering.
Reengineering Workbench - FermaT Workbench.
Case Studies. Conclusions. References.
This paper reports on a lightweight approach to theorem proving using the FermaT simplify decision procedure. This is used as a component to ConSUS, a program conditioning system for the Wide Spectrum Language WSL. The paper describes the symbolic execution algorithm used by ConSUS, which prunes as it conditions.
The paper also provides empirical evidence that conditioning produces a significant reduction in program size and, although exponential in the worst case) the conditioning system, has low degree polynomial behaviour in many cases, thereby making it scalable to unit level applications of program conditioning.
Properties are classified into "floor" requirements: all slices satisfying the property must be considered as valid, and "ceiling" requirements: slices which do not satisfy the property must not be considered valid. Any slicing relation which lies above a "floor" requirement, or below a "ceiling" requirement, satisfies the property in question.
The main result of the paper is the proof that, given a certain property of the programming language (informally: it is possible to write an infinite loop in the language), two of the most basic and fundamental properties of slicing are sufficient to completely characterise the semantic part of the slicing relation. These properties are: behaviour preservation and truncation.


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As Cyber Threats Mount, Business is Booming in the Security World
With everyone from Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) to the Federal Reserve suffering high-profile cyber intrusions, it's never been a better time to be involved in the multibillion dollar cyber-security business.
The dramatically increased attention from corporate America and the federal government alike has helped transform cyber security from a niche area few CEOs lost sleep over to a key growth sector that is likely to receive a larger and larger chunk of both private and public sector budgets.
"Clearly people are now paying attention. Cyber security is no longer a footnote in the needs of supporting a business end-to-end," said Frank Cilluffo, director of George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute.
Not unlike how a hurricane may boost sales for demolition companies, the increased pace, intensity and disclosure of cyber attacks has proven to be a boon to the bottom lines of cyber-security firms.
"It's the best it's been and I hope it will even get better," said Roy Zisapel, CEO of Radware (NASDAQ:RDWR), a networking solutions company that sells security products. "For us, the level of activity, engagement and budgets in Fortune 100 accounts to cyber security is dramatically higher than any year before. It's night and day."
Cyber Concerns Grow
The increased willingness to spend on security comes as attacks have become more commonplace.
According to the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, the number of cyber attack incidents reported by federal agencies has skyrocketed 782% since 2006 to nearly 49,000 in 2012. Attacks jumped 13% last year alone.
On the corporate side, a caravan of companies have acknowledged cyber attacks in recent weeks, including Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Twitter, The New York Times Co. (NYSE:NYT) and PNC Financial (NYSE:PNC).
And those are just the ones we know about.
"There are far, far more attacks than are being reported," said Zisapel, who estimated that just 1% of all attacks are disclosed.
According to a Deloitte survey of almost 2,000 executives last week, 58% plan to boost spending on cyber security measures in the next 12 months and 79% are not confident about the efficacy of their existing measures.
Sequester Effects Eyed
Attacks are not only increasing, they have shifted in motive from financial to political gain amid a rising number of attacks from state actors like China and hacktivist groups like Anonymous.
"This has triggered a greater sense of urgency for security initiatives at the federal level," Aaron Schwartz, an equity analyst at Jefferies, wrote in a note to clients.
Of course, the U.S. government has some serious spending limitations, especially given the impact of the $85 billion in spending cuts mandated by sequestration.
"I see it a bit like kid's soccer right now where everyone is swarming the ball. At some point I think the field will even out and you will have some big winners."
Dave Aitel, CEO of cyber-security firm Immunity, is already seeing a "trickledown effect" caused by lower defense spending, which has hurt orders from big contractors and increased competition among security firms catering to the commercial sector.
"Everyone is buying less because of sequestration," said Aitel. "Deep down sequestration is a shadow that looms over the landscape quite a bit. We'd definitely feel happier if the federal government got its budget act together."
Schwartz said while federal cyber security spending may be more "back-loaded" due to sequestration, overall it "should be immune from broader budget pressure."
Zisapel concurs, saying: "These are types of projects you cannot cut. I don't see any impact. I think this issue is completely isolated."
Believe the Hype?
Remembering cyber scares of the past (see: Y2K), some worry the current cyber threat is being overhyped by an industry that clearly has a lot of skin in the game.
Cilluffo, a former homeland security aide to President George W. Bush, believes in the seriousness of the cyber threat but said the old Reagan adage of "trust but verify" can apply here.
"Obviously we need empirical evidence and data to be able to determine just how much of a risk it is," he said. "We should never be overhyping a set of issues, but I also think this space moves so quickly we want to look forward not just backwards."
Others note that while business is looking up for many cyber security players, the current strategies being deployed have not stopped attacks from skyrocketing.
"These firms seem to be doing pretty good business but I don't think the problem seems to be getting any better. Where are they failing their customers?" said Christopher Bronk, a fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute.
Bronk said the industry has been slow to grasp the predictive logic needed to forecast attacks. "Cyber security is good at seeing what and how. Rarely do we ask who or why?" he said.
Zisapel doesn't dispute the notion that cyber security needs to do a better job as a whole.
"A lot of the legacy security vendors are failing to protect customers. That's where the opportunity lies for us and the new generation of companies that actually build solutions," said Zisapel.
Patchwork Investing Picture
Even though the industry should be a focal point for investors, the cyber security landscape is currently very fragmented, especially given a lack of guidance from Congress on security standards.
"Right now you have a lot of neat services and technologies but no one really knows what that good housekeeping seal of approval will look like," said Cilluffo. "I see it a bit like kids' soccer right now where everyone is swarming the ball. At some point I think the field will even out and you will have some big winners."
Cilluffo notes that today there aren't really any major security firms that offer comprehensive solutions on the cyber front. "I think a smart investor is going to look back and pick and choose the best pieces," he said.
Some of the biggest names in the industry include Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC), Intel's (NASDAQ:INTC) McAfee, Sourcefire (NASDAQ:FIRE), F5 Networks (NASDAQ:FFIV), Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW), Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO), Juniper Networks (NASDAQ:JNPR) and Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT)
Schwartz, the Jefferies analyst, said he prefers Check Point Software (NASDAQ:CHKP) as an investment in the IT security space, projecting a re-acceleration in product growth in 2013 thanks to a better product mix.
Robert Breza, an analyst at RBC (NYSE:RY), recently told FOX Business he's bullish on a number of security stocks, including Symantec, proactive messaging company Proofpoint (NASDAQ:PFPT) and identity management company Lifelock (NASDAQ:LOCK).
Given the evolving nature of the security industry, some of the best investments are likely still in the startup phase and will eventually join more established players by testing the IPO waters in the coming years.


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Date(s) - 03/17/2016
4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
Animal Humane New Mexico Training Center
6-week course of training
Is your dog new to training or need a refresher course in basic obedience? Dogs will receive real-world basic obedience training in sit, down, stay, loose leash walking and coming when called. Common behavior issues such as housetraining, jumping up on people, mouthiness when excited will also be addressed.
Click here for our Train Humane class policies and rules.
Dog ages: 6-months of age and older
Cost: $100
Animal Humane Adopter Cost: $80
This event is fully booked.


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This VTR-125 form is used when the state requires you to file for a bonded title when registering your vehicle or property pertaining to the Texas DMV.
This VTR-125 form may only be used to establish the value of a motor vehicle if the department is unable to establish the value by using the Standard Presumptive Value or from a national reference guide. Use this form to strictly limited to stabling the value of a motor vehicle for use in a bonded title or tax assessor-collector hearing.
Please contact Pinnacle Auto Appraisers at 877-988-9911 to have your form filled out by a licensed adjuster:
Click here to print/view the form: HERE


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A while ago a lady contacted me about banh mi, saying how she was starting a new Vietnamese food venture in the city and how my banh mi post from Hanoi had inspired her to recreate the pointed ended baguettes of that region when they did. I was more than intrigued so soon as I'd heard it had opened - not from her I should add, but from London Eating - I hopped on the tube and made the rather-long-for-lunch journey from Mayfair to Bank.
Upon entering I was struck by the decor. They've tried to recreate the feel of Vietnam here and, outside of the lack of 35 degree heat and uncomfortable humidity, they have succeeded. I love the sun bleached colonial yellow walls, the handwritten food related Vietnamese messages around the tables and the inclusion of a real life banh mi hawker cart, imported from Vietnam and stuck at the end of the counter, is the kind of attention to detail I like.
On this trip I was mortified to find they didn't have banh mi yet due to a lack of baguettes, my mortification was short-lived though when I turned to the old faithful beef pho, which was a respectable example of this dish. The stock - made themselves - had good flavour, a strong beef aroma and nice aromatics. One of my favourite things about it was the cut of beef which came complete with a little grizzle and fat, maybe not to everyone's taste but I wouldn't want it any other way as it provided variety of texture and flavour and reminded me of Vietnam. I was pleased to find the accompanying sliced red chilies had a bit of heat, which isn't always the case.
My dining companion's rice with char-grilled pork was described as having lots of flavour, a bit of chew but nice and moist. A free salad comes with the main dishes which is basically some pickles, cucumber, coriander and some animal - mine pork and prawn, my friend's chicken - which makes a nice side to the meal. One criticism would be the pickles were a little flat, the vinegar not coming through as much as I would have liked. We shared some summer rolls too which had a good balance of herbs, noodles and prawns, the dip that came with them was an interesting peanut affair that I'd not had before.
Along with the salad all customers were given a free cafe sua da, a cold Vietnamese coffee topped with condensed milk - I'm assuming as an introduction with the hope of repeat trade. Julie has since said they also add fresh milk, to improve the taste for the Western palate, but I was instantly transported to a Hanoi street corner by the chicory overtones of the bean, which is bought from Ca Phe VN on Broadway market. If you've never had one of these before I'd definitely recommend giving it a try.
After my first visit I got in touch with the owner Julie to let her know I'd been, saying I would introduce myself next time, and she invited me back the next day to taste their pre-production banh mi. I could hardly turn down that offer so after work I made my way back across town to see if their dedication to finding the right baguette had paid off. The bread, which is by far the most important thing in a banh mi, was light and fluffy on the inside with a thin, crisp crust - just as it should be. Julie said they'd spoke to a number of Vietnamese bakeries, in Vietnam and abroad, before settling on the recipe which ended up being pure wheat flour, which was in line with other bakeries they'd spoke to. A lot has been said about the importance of rice flour in banh mi but here it's definitely not missed.
I ate all the fillings and favourites where the classic (rolled belly, pate and Vietnamese luncheon meat) and chargrilled pork, the five spice in that setting the banh mi off a treat. Chicken was chicken, beef fragrant with lemongrass and the vegetarian fried tofu with oyster mushrooms surprisingly meaty. Whilst eating I got to meet the family behind it, who were all lovely, and regale them with my tales of eating in Vietnam on my travels. Well sated I left promising I would return for the production item.
I was worried that the location was a bit out the way but having returned now they're fully in operation that doesn't seem a problem, there is no shortage of customers. I needed to try the banh mi proper so ordered the classic (I just can't turn down all those different porcine delights) to see how it compared to my tasters. As before the bread was light and crispy and the fillings crunchy and flavoursome, being a glutton for heat a little squirt of the provided chili sauce takes them another step up. Trying to work my way through the menu a bit the banh mi was joined by some fried spring rolls, nice and meaty with a gorgeously pungent nuoc cham (fish sauce and vinegar based dip).
Having now been twice I'm happy to say City Caphe is definitely doing things to my taste and it won't be long before I hop on the bike again for a Mayfair to Bank lunch time banh mi. A welcome addition to London's burgeoning banh mi scene.
City Caphe, 17 Ironmonger Lane, EC2V 8EY


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Hey Zach, I have one of those Fender modeling amps called the Cyber Deluxe. It has all kinds of controls, knobs, buttons, and a built-in tuner. I used it
Hey Zach,
I have one of those Fender modeling amps called the Cyber Deluxe. It has all kinds of controls, knobs, buttons, and a built-in tuner. I used it a lot when I bought it new, but it has since worked its way into the storage room. I dug it out the other day to play around with it again, and I remembered how much fun you can have with it. Although it isn't the easiest amp figure out, it is cool nonetheless. I'm curious about modeling amps, their effects, and what this unit is worth today.
Adam Hendrickson
Charlotte, North Carolina
Hey Adam,
"Innovate…Don't Emulate" was Fender's catchphrase for their new line of modeling guitar amplifiers in 2001, which is kind of an oxymoron since these new amplifiers were made to recreate the sounds of yesteryear. Modeling guitar amplifiers became extremely popular in the early 2000s, but they have since subsided a bit and there are several reasons for this. Although there doesn't seem to be much history on modeling amps (tube amps dominate most of the available amplifier books), I'll shed a little light on these multibutton, multi-tasking machines.
Basically, modeling amps simulate or reproduce the sounds of various popular amplifiers and cabinets (Fender, Marshall, Ampeg, and Vox are some of the favorites). Many of them also have several built-in effects (reverb, chorus, delay, distortion, etc.). Most of these amps create these sounds through digital processing, although there have been a few analog designs along the way. The user could select from their favorite amp head/combo and speaker combination, and select from a variety of effects all in one box. This development, for a time, threatened the rest of the amp industry by offering a "one size fits all" piece of equipment. However, modeling amps have not taken off as much as most companies had thought.
Line 6 is most often credited with releasing the first digital modeling amp in 1996 with the AxSys 212. This unit was a 100W, 2x12 combo with both digital amplifier and effect models. Line 6 really captured the guitar modeling market with the release of the POD in 2000. Several other amp manufacturers jumped on the modeling bandwagon shortly thereafter, including Johnson, Tech 21, Roland, and Vox. Variations of modeling amps have also expanded with the use of tubes and other more traditional equipment.
In 2001, Fender introduced their modeling guitar amplifier called the Cyber Twin. This hybrid chassis (containing both tube and solid-state components) featured 35 different amp models (26 of these 35 are based on Fender amps) and 85 custom amp designs with effects. A digital display along with selfadjusting motorized controls added to the Cyber Twin's versatility. A lot of fanfare and mostly warm reviews followed the introduction of the Cyber Twin. To supplement the line, a Cyber Twin Head and 4x12 speaker cabinet was introduced in the same year. The Cyber Deluxe was introduced in 2002, and the Cyber Champ in 2003. An updated Cyber Twin SE combo was introduced in 2005, and is currently the only Cyber modeling guitar amplifier in production by Fender.
Your amp, the Cyber Deluxe, features 65 watts, a 1x12 Celestion G12T-100 speaker, a solid-state chassis, 16 amp collection presets, 16 Custom Shop presets, and an additional 32 presets that can be rewritten by the user. The preamp is actually analog, and the digital effects such as Delay and Chorus are placed post-distortion, while effects such as Touch Wah are placed pre-distortion. Other features include a digital tuner, digital display, and speaker emulated stereo line outputs. The Cyber Deluxe last retailed for $1000 and sold new for around $700. Today, this amp is selling for between $375 and $450 in excellent condition. This may seem a bit low (less than half of the original retail), but it reflects the saturation this amp has in the market, as well as the overall negative feeling toward modeling amplifiers. Also note that the optional Cyber Foot Controller that originally retailed for $250 can add $100 to $150 on top of this value.
As far as I'm concerned, guitar modeling amps will never replace the real thing. Although they provide the user with almost unlimited options for tone, most guitarists I've spoken with often comment that they can hear that the tone is being digitally created and is, at times, incorrect. After all, these amps take the signal from the guitar and convert it to sound like something else that is not natural. While Fender is probably the most worthy manufacturer to offer an amp like this (look at almost any other modeling amp and you'll find a plethora of Fender models on it), don't expect this amp to replace your entire arsenal. These amps are definitely a treasure to the beginner, but for more advanced players and those playing live, traditional amps will sound better.
Zachary R. Fjestad
Zachary R. Fjestad is the author of the Blue Book of Acoustic Guitars, Blue Book of Electric Guitars, and the Blue Book of Guitar Amplifiers.
Questions can be submitted to:
Blue Book Publications
Attn: Guitar Trash or Treasure
8009 34th Ave. S. Ste #175
Minneapolis, MN 55425
Please include pictures of your guitars.


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Last chance to take advantage of current contract pricing
CHICAGO–(ENEWSPF)–April 16, 2013. Illinois parents have only two weeks to sign up for the College Illinois! 529 Prepaid Tuition Program before the current enrollment period ends April 30. The College Illinois! program allows families to prepay for college years in advance at significantly lower cost.
"With ever rising costs of higher education, College Illinois! offers parents a great opportunity to plan ahead and make college more affordable for their kids," said Eric Zarnikow, Executive Director of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, which administers the program. "We're urging parents to seize the day and sign up for College Illinois!, or talk to one of our advisers now, before the enrollment period closes."
"For as little as $44 per month, parents, grandparents or guardians can start on the path to a prepaid college education for their children."
Zarnikow noted that a child born today is projected to incur college costs of as much as $180,000 to attend an Illinois four-year public university. College Illinois! allows families to lock in a lower price today to cover the expense of future tuition and fees.
Hundreds of Illinois parents and grandparents have signed up for College Illinois! since the current enrollment period opened in October 2012.
Since inception in 1997, College Illinois! has paid more than $400 million in tuition and fees and helped tens of thousands of Illinois families make postsecondary education more affordable. A College Illinois! prepaid tuition contract also offers tax advantages including state income tax deductions, tax-free growth and exclusions from federal Gift Taxes. While about 75 percent of College Illinois! beneficiaries have opted to attend college in Illinois, the program's benefits can be used at nearly all public and private colleges throughout the country.
College Illinois! offers various plans which let purchasers choose a pricing option that best fits their financial needs. For additional information about ISAC's College Illinois! Prepaid Tuition Program, please visit www.prepayandsave.org, www.529prepaidtuition.org or call 877-877-3724.
To request an interview with a member of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission regarding College Illinois!, please contact Joanna Klonsky at 312-307-0840 or [email protected].
Source: illinois.gov


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LOS ANGELES -- Duke teammates RJ Barrett and Zion Williamson are among the 10 players named to the John R. Wooden Award All-American team, representing the top vote-getters to earn college basketball's player of the year honor.
Others on the team announced Wednesday are: Brandon Clarke of Gonzaga, Carsen Edwards of Purdue, Rui Hachimura of Gonzaga, Markus Howard of Marquette, De'Andre Hunter of Virginia, Ja Morant of Murray State, Grant Williams of Tennessee and Cassius Winston of Michigan State.
Barrett, Morant, Williams, Williamson and Winston have been invited to Los Angeles for the Wooden Award presentation at the College Basketball Awards on April 12.
Hunter and Winston will be playing with their teams in the Final Four this weekend.
Voting took place from March 18 to 25, which included the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament. Fans also voted online.


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At the end of last month, we were invited to sign an MOU with the East African Community (EAC) at the East African Community Investment Conference in Kampala. This was the follow-up to last November's meeting in Arusha, Tanzania for the 10th Anniversary of the East African Community and Legislative Assembly (EALA). Lidet has been organizing this series of meetings, and helped schedule the week around this latest event.
There was a press conference and signing, with Matt, Lidet, Julia and Sam from OLPC Rwanda, the Secretary General of the EAC, the Speaker of the EALA, Ministers from several countries, parliamentarians from five countries, and Uganda's Ministers of Education and Technology. Coverage of the event was extensive in Uganda, with some international coverage, and press questions were enthusiastic.
The seriousness of the EAC and EALA was striking. So often lip service is paid, promises to follow up are pledged, but at the end of the day, conversations slip away. But both the Speaker and the SG pledged to move quickly, spoke passionately about the future in education for East Africa, and discussed how to work with individual countries and with the EAC collectively. They also publicly stated olpc East Africa (30 million children) as a goal for 2015.
We discussed our collective commitment to East Africa. And we addressed different ways to find funding to achieve the stated objectives, including drafting a public letter to garner support for the initiative.
The progress in the region is moving swiftly forward. Lidet continues to build regional support from her office in Addis, and we are finding support both within the governments themselves, and with multilateral institutions that support the region. In terms of the countries themselves, we have already been invited back to the region later this year as a result of this MOU to discuss regional saturation projects.
Finally, an obvious point that bears repeating for anyone pursuing similar international work: there is nothing like having advocates on the ground. This trip lasted a bit longer than expected, but our week-long presence was an expediting factor in the immediate commitments we received, and the time spent in person with high-level officials — and the existence of two offices in the region — was invaluable.
Next in this series: Meeting with President Museveni, and next steps in Uganda


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Classic is a multi-purpose muse template. It is the best template for corporate, agency and portfolio websites. This is a fully customizable template. You can edit each and every part of this template according to your needs.
- Parallax Scrolling
- Font Awesome Icons
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Images shown in demo are not available with the main download file.


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Artistic Director
Neil Leonard works as an interdisciplinary arts composer and saxophonist. His work includes jazz performance; composition for orchestra with computer-generated video and sound; and sound/music for dance, theater, installation, and film. Leonard's collaborative work with visual artist Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons was featured in the 49th Venice Biennale and Museum of Modern Art (NYC), purchased by the Guangzhou Contemporary Art Museum (China) and National Gallery of Canada, and presented by the U.S. State Department at the Dakar Biennial (Senegal).
Leonard composed the music for "Relatives" by Tony Oursler and Constance DeJong featured in the Whitney Biennial in New York City. His compositions and performances have been featured by Carnegie Hall, the Boston Globe Jazz Festival, Havana Jazz Festival, Panama Jazz Festival, International Computer Music Convention (Montreal), Tel Aviv Biennial for New Music, Moscow Autumn, Auditorium Parco della Music (Rome), and Museo Riena Sofia (Madrid). Leonard is professor of electronic production and design at Berklee College of Music and artistic director of the Berklee Interdisciplinary Arts Institute.


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OK, well I got this boring assignment about ethics in IT - you know the stuff - all very exciting...not. Anyways, it kinda got me thinking. Our topic is about whether or not it is right to monitor employee emails to see whether they are using it for work-purposes or if they are using it for personal reasons.
You may think that this is very similar to that CARNIVORE thread that was floating around, and still is, but it isn't. I was totally for that carnivore program, but this is completely different. It may be 'monitoring email', but think about it - one is to see if you are basically a terrorist and the other is simply to see whether you are doing your job.
Now that this is all clear, I will point out my opinion. I believe that it is simply wrong! Monitoring employee's emails will not benefit anyone in the long run. Firstly, they are trying to see if workers are 'wasting time' using email for non-work related purposes. Isn't monitoring of these emails 'wasting time' too?? Who is going to monitor the emails? The boss? Surely he has enough on his plate.
Secondly, it makes workplace environment feel threatening to the employee. If you know that the company you are working for is monitoring your email, everytime you send one you will be thinking about this and wondering 'should I send this'? It creates a burdon on the employee and reduces job satisfaction, thus, affecting proctuctivity in a negative way.
Also, say you want to simply send a message that says,
'Pete, I asked Jenny and she said she'll be right for Saturday - it's on, the Dolphin's will slaughter the King's - you got no hope of winning!! See ya then'.
Surely this message will have taken less then 2 minutes to write. What is wrong with that? The employee will be thinking, 'can I send this?' and will have all these worries which really do not need to be there. If they send it, they will be satisfied and get on with their job feeling better, as they have communicated with their friend and not worrying about 'how am I going to tell him?'
If I were a manager/boss at a company, I would simply expect my employees to do their job. If the job gets done, what does it matter if they sent 10 personal emails during the day. What if John got the job done and sent 10 personal emails. Sally isn't performing well, but she doesn't send email. What will the purpose of email scanning echieve in this situation?? The more personal emails you send, the better the job you do will be??
Again, I believe email monitoring in the workplace is totally useless and should not be the measure of 'how well an employee works'. It is a great distraction to the employee and a waste of time for the boss.
Please post your opinions up, I would like to know how you all feel about this topic. If you get negative antipoints for simply stating what you believe, forget about it - I know how you feel, I get em sometimes too. The people who dish them out have to seriously take a look at themselves cos they have very little brain matter.


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To promote parallel computing among Ohio faculty, the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC), its Statewide Users Group, and the Ohio Board of Regents are soliciting a third round of Cluster Ohio faculty research proposals. OSC will distribute Athlon AMD computer system clusters -- complete with hardware, software programming environment, and maintenance -- to this year's Cluster Ohio awardees. Proposals are due on January 14, 2004.
Each time an OSC system is upgraded, the existing system is separated and distributed to Cluster Ohio proposal awardees. In the first revision, OSC provided a number of Pentium III systems. For Cluster Ohio Rev2, OSC provided Itanium (64 bit) systems. For Rev3, OSC will provide five AMD Athlon clusters, each with 24 compute nodes, one login node, and one storage node.
At today's prices, the cost of a comparable cluster would be approximately $100,000.
"This program was originally going to occur every 24 months, but we've decided to up the frequency," said Doug Johnson, OSC Systems Developer and Engineer. "More frequent installs provide more opportunities to researchers around the state."
Faculty members of Ohio higher education academic institutions (four-year and graduate programs) are eligible to apply for the Cluster Ohio grants. Faculty members are expected to make a commitment in the form of space, power, and basic system administration. They are also expected to make idle cycles available to the Ohio research community, and participate in a statewide Globus (or similar) environment.
"Past responses have fostered innovative cluster and grid computing activities," said Leslie Southern, OSC's High Performance Computing Director. "Watching this program build a strong cluster community is exciting. The quality of this round of proposals will surely challenge the review committees."
More information is available at http://oscinfo.osc.edu/clusterohio/rfp/.
Deadlines for Cluster Ohio Rev3:
Week of October 3, 2000 | Release of the Call for Proposals |
January 14, 2004, 5:00 p.m. | Proposals due |
January 15-29, 2004 | Review Process |
January 30, 2004 | Award announcements |
February - April 2004 | PIs prepare physical facilities and schedule deliveries |


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Many people ask if starting an LLC for your virtual assistant can be tax beneficial or not. The answer is simple and straight.
An LLC protects your personal assets, offers tax advantages, and boosts your business's credibility. So, in start, starting a limited liability company has many perks. But how? let dig it deeper.
Why Start an LLC for an virtual assistant?
Everyone wants to start an LLC for an virtual assistant, but a few very know why they need it. There are 3 main reasons to set up your virtual assistant as an LLC:
- Limited Liability Protection
An LLC shields your personal assets like your house and car if your business is sued. As an virtual assistant, you could face lawsuits over slander, copyright issues, or client disputes. An LLC limits your personal liability in these situations.
- Tax Benefits
LLCs allow pass-through taxation where business profits pass to your personal tax return. You can also elect S corp status for further tax savings. We estimate an virtual assistant owner paying themselves at least $10,000 yearly in distributions would benefit from an S corp.
- Credibility
Forming an official business entity boosts your legitimacy in clients' eyes. Customers view LLCs as more credible for important, long-term business relationships. An LLC also lends credibility when applying for business loans, financing or credits.
LLC Formation Tips for an virtual assistant
When starting an LLC for an virtual assistant, it's crucial to have a clear and well-drafted operating agreement that outlines the management structure, member roles, and financial distributions. It's also important to understand and comply with local and state regulations, including obtaining necessary permits and adhering to advertising laws.
Additionally, investing in comprehensive insurance coverage can protect your agency against potential liabilities and ensure long-term stability. To set up your advertising agency as an LLC, follow these key steps:
Choose a business name – Select a memorable agency name that's available in your state.
Appoint a registered agent – All LLCs need an in-state agent to accept legal/tax documents. Use a low-cost provider like ZenBusiness.
File formation documents – Submit your Articles of Organization and pay fees to make your LLC official. Costs range from $40 to $500 depending on the state.
Create an Operating Agreement – This document outlines financial rights, voting procedures, rules for members. It's an essential governing reference for an agency's owners.
(Optional) Elect S corp status – File IRS Form 2553 to gain tax advantages as an S corporation while keeping your LLC protection.
Ongoing Costs for an virtual assistant LLC
Running an virtual assistant LLC involves various ongoing costs that are essential for maintaining smooth operations and ensuring legal compliance. These costs can include recurring state fees for annual reports or franchise taxes, which are necessary to keep the LLC in good standing.
Operational expenses such as office rent, utility bills, and payroll for creative and administrative staff are substantial and continuous outlays. Marketing tools, software subscriptions for design and project management, and technology upgrades also contribute to the operational overhead.
Furthermore, professional services like legal counsel, accounting, and tax preparation are critical for navigating complex business laws and financial regulations, representing a significant portion of the ongoing expenses. Proper budgeting and financial management are crucial in effectively handling these costs and ensuring the sustainability and growth of the virtual assistant LLC.
Office rent & utilities – Physical space for meeting clients and your creative team.
Salaries for your team – Creative staff, graphic designers, account managers, support staff. Pay competitively.
Computers & software – High-quality equipment for design, content creation, data analysis.
Website hosting/updates – Clear communication of services 24/7. Refresh site content regularly.
Advertising expenses – Market services to potential new clients. Budget at least 5-10% of revenue.
Vendor subscriptions – Productivity software, specialized ad creative tools, analytical services, etc.
LLC Advantages for virtual assistant
Forming an virtual assistant as a Limited Liability Company (LLC) can offer a multitude of benefits that are especially conducive to the dynamic and creative nature of the advertising industry.
The structure of an LLC uniquely combines the liability protection found in corporations with the tax efficiencies and operational flexibility of a partnership.
For ad agencies, this means not only safeguarding personal assets from business-related debts and legal issues but also enjoying the freedom to tailor the business model to the rapidly evolving market trends, all while optimizing tax obligations and enhancing the agency's professional image among clients and stakeholders.
- Risk Mitigation through Limited Liability Establishing an LLC ensures your personal assets, like your house, car, and savings, remain protected if your virtual assistant business faces legal action or debt issues. This structure is particularly beneficial due to the heightened risk of intellectual property disputes in the virtual assistant domain. For instance, if your content leads to copyright infringement, defamation, or fraud allegations, an LLC ensures that any legal liabilities are confined to the business assets, not your personal holdings.
- Favorable Taxation and Versatility LLCs enjoy a default pass-through taxation, akin to sole proprietorships or partnerships, where the net business income is taxed once, through the owner's tax return. Unlike these structures, however, LLCs can opt for S Corp status, providing additional tax benefits under certain conditions, like receiving a reasonable salary and substantial distributions. This status can mitigate the burden of self-employment taxes and overall tax liabilities.
- Enhanced Credibility and Trust Operating as an LLC can bolster your channel's credibility, fostering consumer trust, crucial for business growth. This perceived professionalism and legitimacy can be a significant asset in the competitive virtual assistant market.
The Necessity of Business Insurance for LLCs
While LLCs shield your personal assets, your business assets still need protection, making business insurance essential. Insurance safeguards against legal fees, damages from lawsuits, and costs related to damaged business property. Specifically:
General Liability Insurance: This is pivotal for covering legal expenses from copyright infringement, defamation claims, or accidents occurring within your business premises.
Commercial Property Insurance: Necessary if you own a studio, covering damages from incidents like natural disasters or vandalism.
Professional Liability Insurance: Crucial if your content includes professional advice, covering losses from errors or misinformation.
Home-Based Insurance: For businesses operated from home, protecting commercial equipment and space not typically covered by standard home insurance policies. This insurance is vital to cover commercial-related losses incurred during home-based business operations.
Moreover, depending on the specific aspects of your virtual assistant business, other insurance types might be necessary:
Commercial Umbrella Liability Insurance: This supplements a general liability policy, providing additional coverage once the basic policy's limits are reached, ensuring protection against substantial legal claims.
Workers' Compensation Insurance: Essential when you transition from a solo operation to having employees, covering injuries or accidents employees might encounter while working. Note that this doesn't apply to contracted employees but is a must for part-time or full-time hires.
Considering these points, it's clear that while forming an LLC for your virtual assistant offers significant advantages in terms of asset protection, credibility, and taxation, complementing it with the right insurance coverage is crucial to safeguard your business assets and ensure comprehensive protection and longevity of your venture.
Forming An virtual assistant is a service-based business dedicated to creating, planning, and executing advertising and promotional strategies for its clients. introduces key protections and credibility that enable your virtual assistant to thrive. Be sure to take the necessary legal and operational steps outlined above when establishing your virtual assistant's structure. Maintain adequate insurance safeguards as you grow.
With the right business foundations in place, you'll be equipped to provide tremendous value to clients by Promotion. Implement sound budgeting and client billing practices to cover yours's ongoing operating needs. Reinvest wisely for continued growth and evolution.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the steps to form my virtual assistant?
The key steps are choosing a business name, appointing a registered agent, filing formation documents with your state, and creating an operating agreement.
What type of business insurance does virtual assistant need?
At minimum, obtain general liability, professional liability, workers compensation and commercial property insurances. Each serves an important purpose in protecting your virtual assistant's finances in different legal/risk scenarios.
Why should I consider starting an LLC for virtual assistant
Forming an LLC for your YouTube channel offers multiple benefits. Firstly, it provides limited liability protection, meaning your personal assets (like your home, car, and savings) are protected if your business faces legal issues or debt.
Secondly, LLCs enjoy favorable tax treatment with pass-through taxation, and you have the option to choose S Corp status for potential additional tax benefits. Lastly, operating as an LLC enhances your channel's credibility and trust among viewers and business partners, which is vital in the competitive digital market.
Is business insurance necessary for virtual assistant if it's an LLC?
Yes, while forming an LLC protects your personal assets, your business assets are still at risk. Business insurance is crucial to protect against potential lawsuits, damages, or losses related to your business operations.
Types of insurance to consider include General Liability Insurance, Commercial Property Insurance, Professional Liability Insurance, and Home-Based Insurance.
Depending on the nature of your operations and whether you have employees, you might also need Commercial Umbrella Liability Insurance and Workers' Compensation Insurance. These insurance policies ensure that both your personal and business assets are safeguarded.
What skills do I need to start virtual assistant?
Success requires a mix of skills like leadership/management competence and strong presentation skills. Surround yourself with a talented team to complement your capabilities. Business finance, accounting and legal knowledge also beneficial.


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Introducing the Pulse Brushless Racing ESC with X-Drive (#1755). This pure, sensor-based brushless pro racing ESC is designed to accommodate the high-end demands of any and all heavy-duty 2S LiPo racing applications, from modified touring to open 4×4 SCT. The Pulse is a ground-up firmware re-design to a proven, race-winning hardware platform, for ultra-reliability. The Pulse features Novak's new Super-Tuner™ interface for the fastest set-up changes with the simplest & most adjustable menu system to-date, Xtra-Timing™ that adds the maximum possible timing advance at full-throttle for unbelievable top speeds, and Novak's X-Drive™ for ultimate performance. Also standard is the most robust built-in 5 Amp BEC on the market, and ultra-duty 12G power wire. The next generation of heavy-duty racing ESCs has arrived, the Novak Pulse. Keep your finger on the pulse of the racing world!
Novak's All-New Super-Tuner™ Interface
To deliver unmatched performance and usability in the high-end ESC category, Novak engineers developed enhanced, on-board programming to ensure that customizing and tuning the Pulse to your racing style has never been easier. With Novak's Super-Tuner™ interface, nothing extra is needed, and making changes trackside is a snap! Gone are the days of special boxes, programmers, or lugging expensive laptops to the dusty track. Novak's Super-Tuner interface features a modern menu system that is accessed with the ESC's programming button and 5 different-colored LEDs. Multiple parameters are adjustable including Start & Final RPM. These values use a unique table system that covers all usable RPM ranges. Dynamic Timing Advance™ can be adjusted in 1-degree increments, or in 10-degree steps. The tuning options are endless!
Five Customizable Profiles
The Novak-developed Super-Tuner also has 5 throttle profiles that can be tuned individually and saved independently. Never before has ESC customizing and tuning been this robust and so easy to make changes at the track. The Super-Tuner interface allows a driver to set up 5 profiles for different types of classes, or 5 similar profiles to quickly and easily make major changes to the ESC. Each setting can be set up for different conditions and can be changed faster than you can say "Where's my laptop?". The Pulse comes pre-loaded with factory profiles suited for today's most popular applications:
Profile 1
No timing, "blinky mode", with classic default values that are suited for most conditions.
Profile 2
No timing, "blinky mode", with higher minimum brake & drive values for higher-grip conditions.
Profile 3
Mild timing set-up similar to Profile #1 with timing turned ON and a wide default RPM range.
Profile 4
Medium timing profile with mild timing settings and a more aggressive RPM range.
Profile 5
No timing, "blinky mode", just like Profile #1, but with Reverse turned ON. Great for practice or bashing!
*All Throttle Profiles have Smart-Stop LiPo Voltage Cut-Off Circuitry active by default for safe operation with LiPo battery packs.
Warp Speed Is Back!
For unmatched top speeds & incredible power, Novak engineers took electronic motor timing to a whole new level. Novak's Xtra-Timing™ is the all-new algorithm to control the second-level timing that is applied "on top of" the Dynamic Timing Advance when the exact conditions have been met. The Xtra-Timing interface looks at your motor's RPM, how quickly the motor is accelerating, the throttle position, as well as a few other top secret factors to give your motor insane RPM increases. This feature is for experienced experts only!
Timing Tuning Options
The Super-Tuner firmware in the Pulse ESC includes 6 specialized RPM tables for fine-tuning of the Dynamic Timing Advance. Tables include: 1S Racing; 2S Spec Racing; 2S Mod Racing (fine step range); 2S General/SCT Racing (coarse steps & wider range); Open/Speed Run; and a very specialized 10.5T Large Track RPM table. Each table features evenly-spaced RPM steps throughout the range of user-selectable start and final RPMs that are independently chosen to tell the ESC when to turn on the Dynamic Timing Advance.
Equipped with Novak X-Drive™
Novak X-Drive™ will provide incredibly smooth throttle response while maintaining an extremely connected and controlled feel. This motor-firing technology has been taking the racing world by storm and is now included in the Pulse. No competition ESC is complete without Novak X-Drive!
Race-Ready Controller
You race to win. So why install a controller that's not up for the challenge? The Pulse uses rugged, high-quality components to ensure your vehicle keeps running pack after pack.
- 12 Gauge Power Wire – The Pulse is factory-wired with 12G silicone battery and motor power wires that are easy to replace for factory-like rewire jobs. These wires don't just have a 12 printed on them─ they are top-quality, Novak Super-Flex wires.
- Extreme Duty BEC– The Pulse features a first for the racing world─ an ultra-duty 5 amp BEC to ensure your power hungry servos will get what they ask for…Power!
- Full Coverage Heat Sink – Heat sink is cross-cut and makes direct contact with all 18, ultra-low RDS-on, dual-cool power MOSFETs for optimum heat dissipation.
- Heavy-Duty, High-Power PCB – PCB is embedded with thick, pure-copper traces to ensure minimal losses and the best performance. No wimpy PCB for this ESC!
- Designed to Last – A silicone-gasket between the case & PCB protects against dirt, debris, & moisture. The Pulse is built to take the abuse that racing dishes out.
Added Protection and Enhanced Error Monitoring
- Low-Voltage Protection – A low-voltage LiPo protection segment monitors the LiPo pack's voltage thousands of times per second and prevents the pack from ever falling below the critical safety voltage.
- Thermal Protection – The ESC keeps tabs on its core operating temperature and will back down its power to prevent the ESC from overheating.
- On-Board Temperature Diagnostics – With a quick tap of the One-Touch button, multi-colored LEDs will indicate how hot the ESC is for instant temperature information. No external device is needed.
- Error Sensing – The ESC provides additional feedback via multi-colored LEDs, allowing for quicker trouble-shooting.
- Motor Lock-Up Protection – If your drive train or motor becomes bound up or jammed, the ESC will detect this and cut the power to prevent damage.
- Hall Effect Sensor Test – This built-in test allows you to confirm that your motor's sensors and sensor harness are in good working order.
Motor Compatibility
The Pulse Racing Brushless ESC is compatible with all popular 540 and 550-size sensor-based brushless motors like Novak's Ballistic 550, Ballistic Racing, Ballistic Spec, and Ballistic High-RPM series. All Novak Ballistic motors feature adjustable timing and interchangeable components for full customization, cleaning, and repairability.
Four Systems Available – 540 & 550-size
#3170 Pulse / Vented Ballistic 550 4XSC Brushless System- 4.5T- Novak's premier Short Course system, recommended for 2S 4WD SCT class racing when you want extra top speeds down the long back stretch. Motor features vented end bells and Novak's low-resistance red wire for top-level performance.
#3175 Pulse / Ballistic Racing Brushless System- 6.5T- Novak's fastest Pulse brushless system available recommended for 2S Mod class racing in applications where horsepower and top speed is critical.
#3176 Pulse / Ballistic Spec Brushless System- 10.5T- Ideal for 10.5 Spec class racing and timing or non-timing 1S & 2S set-ups.
#3177 Pulse / Ballistic Spec Brushless System- 17.5T- Ideal for 17.5 Spec class racing and timing or non-timing 1S & 2S set-ups.
Novak Built and Supported
Novak takes pride in its manufacturing facility in Irvine, California and also with its use of high-quality components, assembly, and testing processes. Every Novak Pulse Racing ESC and Ballistic motor is built and tested in the Novak factory to Novak's exacting standards, and all are supported by Novak's knowledgeable customer support staff and race team.
Customers looking for a brushless controller that can tackle any high-power setup with a wide range of tuning options will find the perfect balance with Novak's next evolution of the modern racing ESC─ the Pulse.
The Novak Pulse Racing Brushless ESC with X-Drive (#1755), Novak Pulse / Vented Ballistic 550 Brushless System-4.5T (#3170), Novak Pulse / Ballistic 540 Brushless System-6.5T (#3175), Novak Pulse / Ballistic 540 Brushless System-10.5T (#3176), and Novak Pulse / Ballistic 540 Brushless System- 17.5T (#3177) are scheduled for shipping late October 2012.
Input Cells – 1*-2S LiPo / 4-6-cell NiMH (*Receiver battery pack or Novak 1S Booster Module (#5477) recommended)
Size – 1.16" x 1.47" x 0.97" (29.5 x 37.3 x 24.6 mm)
Weight (w/o wires) – 1.29 oz. (36.6 gr)
On-Resistance – 0.0004 ohms @ 25°C trans. temp.
Motor Compatibility – 540-Size: 3.5-turn or higher sensor-based; 550-Size: 4.5-turn or higher sensor-based
BEC – 6.0 volts DC / 5.0 amps
Wire Size – 12G Super-Flex Novak Silicone Wire
Status LEDs – 5, multi-colored, on-board
For features and specifications for Novak's Vented Ballistic 550-4.5T (#3504V), Ballistic 540-6.5T (#3606), Ballistic 540-10.5T (#3610), and Ballistic 540-17.5T (#3617) Brushless Motors, please visit the Novak web site: www.teamnovak.com
- Full-featured racing ESC ideal for all forms of 1/10th racing from Mod Touring to 4×4 SCT, even 1S set-ups
- Novak Super Tuner™ firmware for quick and complete custom tuning:
- Drive Tuning: Dynamic Timing Advance, RPM (Start/Final/Range), Drive Frequency, & Minimum Drive
- Brake Tuning: Brake Frequency, Drag Brake, and Minimum Brake
- Additional Tuning: Dead Band, Reverse Disable, and LiPo Protection (On/Off)
- 5 profiles that can be independently customized & saved for multiple set-ups and easy trackside changes
- Designed to meet ROAR Sportsman Class Racing specs; includes non-timing racing blinking white LED
- Novak X-Drive™ provides enhanced throttle response, ultra smooth power delivery, higher top speeds, and cooler operating temperatures
- NovaBrakes™ provide instantaneous braking under any condition
- Dynamic Timing Advance™ increases the motor's RPM throughout the throttle band for higher speeds
- 6 specialized RPM tables of Start & Final RPMs for fine-tuning the Dynamic Timing Advance™
- Novak Xtra-Timing™ for 2nd level timing that dramatically increases motor RPM for unmatched power
- Extreme-duty 5A BEC to handle the demands of today's high powered servos
- Auto-detect LiPo battery protection circuitry automatically detects the battery voltage (1S/2S) and reduces the power as needed to protect 2S Lipo batteries from going below their critical safety voltage
- The original, Novak-developed, One-Touch Set-Up™ for quick and easy transmitter set-up
- Sensor-based system for excellent torque and low-speed drivability
- Water-resistant case with protective silicone gasket seal to help keep out the elements
- Cross-cut heat sink for reduced weight & efficient cooling
- Included cooling fan with plug-in connector and hardware
- On-board diagnostic temperature monitoring that lets you quickly check the ESC's temperature at any time
- Thermal overload protection circuitry to protect from overheating
- On-board Hall Sensor Test to easily and quickly verify that the motor's sensors are working properly
- Gold-plated, direct-solder wiring tabs for flexible soldering options
- User-replaceable input and switch harnesses, and motor sensor harness
- Carries Team Novak's commitment to excellent quality and support, and a 120 day warranty
- Designed and manufactured by Team Novak in Irvine, California using the best components from around the globe. All ESCs are 100% tested to ensure your product works right out of the box and on the track!
#1755 Novak Pulse Racing Brushless ESC with X-Drive
#3170 Novak Pulse / Vented Ballistic 550 4XSC Brushless System – 4.5T
#3175 Novak Pulse / Ballistic 540 Racing Brushless System – 6.5T
#3176 Novak Pulse / Ballistic 540 Racing Brushless System – 10.5T
#3177 Novak Pulse / Ballistic 540 Racing Brushless System – 17.5T
[nggallery id=954]


text:
Many people find the holidays a delightful, upbeat time of year. But for others, the holidays – that time between Thanksgiving and New Year's – can be a lonely, stressful time of year.
Feelings of sadness, low energy, and wistfulness can be hard to cope with, particularly if you've lost a family member or friend at this time of year. Or feelings of loneliness may be present if some of your family members will be away and won't make it home for the holidays this year.
If you are feeling empty or sad during the holidays while everyone around you seems to be having fun, you can make practical changes that allow you to feel less stressed and more relaxed.
First, it is important to recognize stressors that may lead to feeling blue and overstressed. Try to work on reducing these stressors throughout the year so the holidays will be more joyful.
Next, recognize that you can choose a new way of thinking that reduces holiday stress and sadness.
Keep in mind that unrealistic perceptions and expectations are part of every holiday season. Some people feel so stressed and anxious at this time of year they want to be left alone. But you can work on having a new attitude of looking forward to joining in the festivities of the season.
If you have battled anxiety, stress, and low energy during the holidays, you are probably looking for a respite from a variety of stressors that can make life miserable.
Think of stress this way: stress is crucial if you are in a crisis. Stress is a natural and important biological "fight or flight" response. The body is designed for short bursts of activity, but the ongoing nature of daily stress often means that the system is left 'on' to respond.
Use these tips to make this holiday season the best it can be – a season of less stress and more meaning for you and your family.
1. Take care of yourself by eating right. People tend to skip meals, eat on the run, and eat more sugar during the holidays. Manage stress by managing your health.
2. Give yourself permission to feel a mix of emotions during the holidays. Most people feel an ebb and flow of emotions throughout the year but often more so during holidays because it is a season that evokes memories of the past.
3. It is okay to spend time taking care of yourself. When you do, you'll be more apt to relax and enjoy the season. People have different levels of needs so pay attention to your own unique circumstances.
4. Give yourself permission to have more control in your life. You don't have to say 'yes' to every holiday invitation or request.
5. Time management is very important for reducing stress. For example, let some of your children or grandchildren prepare holiday meals, bake cookies or help decorate the house.
Mark Underwood is a neuroscience researcher, president, and co-founder of Quincy Bioscience, a biotech company located in Madison, Wisconsin focused on the discovery and development of
medicines to treat age related memory loss and the diseases of aging. Visit www.TheGoodNewsAboutAging.com for more articles and tips for healthy aging.


text:
In 2001, there was a history-making conference of software-engineering
thinkers in Snowbird, Colorado. The product of that meeting was a remarkable
document called the Agile Manifesto,
a call to overturn many of the assumptions of traditional software development.
I was invited to be at Snowbird, but couldn't make it.
Ever since, though, I've been sensing a growing convergence between
agile programming and the open-source movement. I've seen agile
concepts and terminology being adopted rapidly and enthusiastically by
my colleagues in open-source-land—especially ideas like
refactoring, unit testing, and design from stories and personas. From
the other side, key agile-movement figures like Kent Beck and Martin
Fowler have expressed strong interest in open source both in published
works and to me personally. Fowler has gone so far as to include
open source on his list of agile-movement schools.
I agree that we belong on that list. But I also agree with
Fowler's description of of open source as a style, rather than a
process. I think his reservations as to whether open source can be
described as just another agile school are well-founded. There is
something more complicated and interesting going on here. and I
realized when I read Fowler's description of open source that at some
point I was going to have to do some hard thinking and writing in an
effort to sort it all out.
While doing research for my forthcoming book, The Art of Unix
Programming, I read one particular passage in Fowler's
Refactoring that finally brought it all home. He
One argument is that refactoring can be an alternative to up-front
design. In this scenario, you don't do any design at all. You just
code the first approach that comes into your head, get it working, and
then refactor it into shape. Actually, this approach can work. I've
seen people do this and come out with a very well-defined piece of
software. Those who support Extreme Programming often are portrayed
as advocating this approach.
I read this, and had one of those moments where everything comes
together in your head with a great ringing crash and the world assumes
a new shape—a moment not unlike the one I had in late 1996
when I got the central insight that turned into The Cathedral
and the Bazaar. In the remainder of this essay I'm going to
try to articulate what I now think I understand about open source,
agile programming, how they are related, and why the connection should
be interesting even to programmers with no stake in either movement.
Now I need to set a little background here, because I'm going
to need to have to talk about several different categories which are
contingently but not necessarily related.
First, there is Unix programmer. Unix is the operating
system with the longest living tradition of programming and design.
It has an unusually strong and mature technical culture around it, a
culture which originated or popularized many of the core ideas and
tools of modern software design. The Art of Unix
Programming is a concerted attempt to capture the craft wisdom
of this culture, one to which I have successfully enlisted quite a few
of its founding elders.
Second, there is hacker. This is a very complex term, but
more than anything else, it describes an attitude—an
intentional stance that relates hackers to programming and other
disciplines in a particular way. I have described the hacker stance
and its cultural correlates in detail in How To Become A
Third, there is open-source programmer. Open source is a
programming style with strong roots in the Unix tradition and the
hacker culture. I wrote the modern manifesto for it in 1997, The
Cathedral and the Bazaar, building on earlier thinking by
Richard Stallman and others.
These three categories are historically closely related. It is
significant that a single person (accidentally, me) wrote touchstone
documents for the second and third and is attempting a summum
bonum of the first. That personal coincidence reflects a larger
social reality that in 2003 these categories are becoming increasingly
merged — essentially, the hacker community has become the core
of the open-source community, which is rapidly re-assimilating the
parts of the Unix culture that got away from the hackers during
the ten bad years after the AT&T divestiture in 1984.
But the relationship is not logically entailed; we can imagine
a hacker culture speaking a common tongue other than Unix and C (in
the far past its common tongue was Lisp), and we can imagine an
explicit ideology of open source developing within a cultural and
technical context other than Unix (as indeed nearly happened several
different times).
With this scene-setting done, I can explain that my first take on
Fowler's statement was to think "Dude, you've just described
I mean something specific and powerful by this. Throwing together
a prototype and refactoring it into shape is a rather precise
description of the normal working practice of hackers since that
culture began to self-define in the 1960s. Not a complete one, but it
captures the most salient feature of how hackers relate to code. The
open-source community has inherited and elaborated this practice,
building on similar tendencies within the Unix tradition.
The way Fowler writes about design-by-refactoring has two huge
implications for the relationship between open source and agile
First, Fowler writes as though he didn't know he was describing
hacking. In the passage, he appears unaware that design by
repeated refactoring is not just a recent practice semi-accidentally
stumbled on by a handful of agile programmers, but one which hundreds
of thousands of hackers have accumulated experience with for over three
decades and have in their bones. There is a substantial folklore, an
entire craft practice, around this!
Second, in that passage Fowler described the practice of hacking
better than hackers themselves have done. Now, admittedly,
the hacker culture has simply not had that many theoreticians, and if
you list the ones that are strongly focused on development methodology
you lose Richard Stallman and are left with, basically, myself and
maybe Larry Wall (author of Perl and occasional funny and illuminating
ruminations on the art of hacking). But the fact that we don't have a
lot of theoreticians is itself an important datum; we have always
tended to develop our most important wisdoms as unconscious and
unarticulated craft practice.
These two observations imply an enormous mutual potential, a gap
across which an arc of enlightenment may be beginning to blaze. It
implies two things:
First, people who are excited by agile-programming ideas can
look to open source and the Unix tradition and the hackers for the
lessons of experience. We've been doing a lot of the stuff the
agile movement is talking about for a long time. Doing it in a
clumsy, unconscious, learned-by-osmosis way, but doing it
nevertheless. I believe that we have learned things that you agile
guys need to know to give your methodologies groundedness. Things
like (as Fowler himself observes) how to manage communication and
hierarchy issues in distributed teams.
Second, open-source hackers can learn from agile programmers
how to wake up. The terminology and conceptual framework of
agile programming sharpens and articulates our instincts. Learning to
speak the language of open source, peer review, many eyeballs, and
rapid iterations gave us a tremendous unifying boost in the late
1990s; I think becoming similarly conscious about agile-movement ideas
like refactoring, unit testing, and story-centered design could be
just as important for us in the new century.
I've already given an example of what the agile movement has to
teach the hackers, in pointing out that repeated redesign by
refactoring is a precise description of hacking. Another thing we can
stand to learn from agile-movement folks is how to behave so that we
can actually develop requirements and deliver on them when the
customer isn't, ultimately, ourselves.
For the flip side, consider Fowler's anecdote on page 68-69, which
ends "Even if you know exactly what is going on in your system,
measure performance, don't speculate. You'll learn something, and
nine times out of ten it won't be that you were right." The Unix guy
in me wants to respond "Well, duh!". In my tribe, profiling
before you speculate is DNA; we have a strong tradition of
this that goes back to the 1970s. From the point of view of any old
Unix hand, the fact that Fowler thought he had to write this down is a
sign of severe naivete in either Fowler or his readership or both.
In reading Refactoring, I several times had the
experience of thinking "What!?! That's obvious!" closely followed
by "But Fowler explains it better than Unix traditions do…" This may
be because he relies less on the very rich shared explanatory context
that Unix provides.
How deep do the similarities run? Let's take a look at what the
Agile Manifesto says:
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools. Yeah,
that sounds like us, all right. Open-source developers will toss out
a process that isn't working in a nanosecond, and frequently do, and take
gleeful delight in doing so. In fact, the reaction against heavyweight
process has a key part of our self-identification as hackers for
at least the last quarter century, if not longer.
Working software over comprehensive documentation. That's
us, too. In fact, the radical hacker position is that source code of
a working system is its documentation. We, more than any
other culture of software engineering, emphasize program source code as
human-to-human communication that is expected to bind together
communities of cooperation and understanding distributed through time
and space. In this, too, we build on and amplify Unix tradition.
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation. In the
open-source world, the line between "developer" and "customer" blurs
and often disappears. Non-technical end users are represented by
developers who are proxies for their interests—as when, for
example, companies that run large websites second developers to
work on Apache Software Foundation projects.
Responding to change over following a plan. Absolutely.
Our whole development style encourages this. It's fairly unusual for
any of our projects to have any plan more elaborate than "fix
the current bugs and chase the next shiny thing we see".
With these as main points, it's hardly surprising that so many of
the Principles
behind the Agile Manifesto read like Unix-tradition and hacker
gospel. "Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks
to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
Well, yeah—we pioneered this. Or "Simplicity—the art of
maximizing the amount of work not done—is essential." That's
Unix-tradition holy writ, there. Or "The best architectures,
requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams."
This is stone-obvious stuff to any hacker, and exactly the sort of
subversive thinking that most panics managers attached to big plans,
big budgets, big up-front design, and big rigid command-and-control
structures. Which may, in fact, be a key part of its appeal to
hackers and agile developers—because at least one thing that points
agile-movement and open-source people in the same direction is a drive
to take control of our art back from the suits and get out from under
big dumb management.
The most important difference I see between the hackers and the
agile-movement crowd is this: the hackers are the people who never
surrendered to big dumb management — they either bailed out of the
system or forted up in academia or industrial R&D labs or
technical-specialty areas where pointy-haired bosses weren't permitted
to do as much damage. The agile crowd, on the other hand, seems to be
composed largely of people who were swallowed into the belly of the
beast (waterfall-model projects, Windows, the entire conventional
corporate-development hell so vividly described in Edward Yourdon's
books) and have been smart enough not just to claw their way out but
to formulate an ideology to justify not getting sucked back in.
Both groups are in revolt against the same set of organizational
assumptions. And both are winning because those assumptions are
obsolete, yesterday's adaptations to a world of expensive machines and
expensive communications. But software development doesn't need big
concentrations of capital and resources anymore, and doesn't need the
control structures and hierarchies and secrecy and elaborate rituals
that go with managing big capital concentrations either. In fact, in
a world of rapid change, these things are nothing but a drag. Thus
agile techniques. Thus, open source. Converging paths to the same
destination, which is not just software that doesn't suck but a
software-development process that doesn't suck.
When I think about how the tribal wisdom of the hackers and the
sharp cut-the-bullshit insights of the agile movement seem to be
coming together, my mind keeps circling back to Phil Greenspun's brief
but trenchant essay Redefining
Professionalism for Software Engineers. Greenspun proposes,
provocatively but I think correctly, that the shift towards
open-source development is a key part of the transformation of
software engineering into a mature profession, with the dedication to
excellence and ethos of service that accompanies professionalism. I
have elsewhere suggested that we are seeing a close historical analog
of the transition from alchemy to chemistry. Secrets leak out, but
skill sustains; the necessity to stop relying on craft secrecy is one
of the crises that occupational groups normally face as they attain
professional standing.
I'm beginning to think that from the wreckage of the software
industry big dumb management made, I can see the outline of a mature,
humane discipline of software engineering emerging — and
that it will be in large part a fusion of the responsiveness and
customer focus of the agile movement with the wisdom and groundedness
of the Unix tradition, expressed in open source.


text: We are Prabu UPVC Repair and Services, General Contractors Firms in Bangalore. We are into service from almost 10 years having a very rich experience in this field. We know exactly what customer wants and how to cater to it. We are extremely happy to provide you exquisite services through Hometriangle.


text:
Consumer Reports: 'Purple haze' pics not unique to iPhone 5
(CNN) -- Maybe this iPhone 5 "purple haze" issue isn't such a big deal after all.
In the few weeks that the phone has been on the market, a number of users have grumbled about a purplish glow appearing in their photos when the lens is angled toward the sun. Because no detail about Apple is too trivial to go unreported by the tech press, their complaints were magnified throughout the blogosphere.
But Consumer Reports said Wednesday, October 10th that this effect is not unusual. The respected product-review publication tested the iPhone 5 and found that it is "no more prone to purple hazing on photos shot into a bright light source than its predecessor or than several Android phones with fine cameras."
The iPhone 5's purple-haze effect was no more pronounced than with the iPhone 4S or two Android-based smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy S III and the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx, when tested those under the same conditions, Consumer Reports said.
"All camera lenses, even those made for expensive SLRs, can yield lens flare, which is produced by scattered reflections inside the lens from a bright light source," Consumer Reports added. "How much flare appears in an image depends on how you orient the lens."
Apple said basically the same thing in a recent post on its website and suggested that iPhone users angle the camera or shield the lens with their hand to keep bright light from shining into photos taken with the phone.
"Some expensive advanced cameras, and even many point-and-shoots, have special lens coatings that can limit or eliminate such flare, and possibly associated colored haze. So can attaching a shading hood around the lens's edge," Consumer Reports said. "But smartphones' cameras are designed differently, so it's typically more difficult for manufacturers to minimize flare in them."
Perhaps this will put an end to the purple-haze saga, and iPhone 5 users can go back to griping about the new Apple maps.
CLICK HERE for additional iPhone 5 coverage via FOX6Now.com.


text:
Our very own "Firenze" cycling jersey. Cycling jersey in Diamonds flake structure fabric at the forefront of cycling clothing, developed with odor control, fast drying and moisture control, which keeps the rider comfortable in long rides. With reflective details allowing more visibility in the dark, and an earphone hole. Seamless clean cut sleeves.
* Diamonds flake fabric with moisture control, fast dry, odor control and sun protection UPF 10.
* Mesh on side panels and short sleeve with clean cut ending for greater comfort.
* Long front nickel free Zipper, with semi-automatic glider.
* Three back pockets + 4th zippered, water repellent pocket.
* Reflective piping on the edge of pockets.
* Front waist clean cut power band for a better fit.
* Silicone band on inner waist hem.
* Protective tab on zipper to avoid tearing of the bib shorts due to constant contact.
* Pocket with hole for headphones.
* Imported inks free of azoic components harmful to skin (Azo Free)
* Light mesh on side panels for ventilation and breathability.
If your size is not available, please contact us: firstname.lastname@example.com and we will check on availability.
***Please be aware our cut is European. If this is your first time trying our gear you could possibly be one size larger than your regular size. We appreciate your business and want nothing more than your comfort and satisfaction.
New and unused NON-CUSTOM gear can be returned/exchanged within 30 DAYS for a full refund or for a different product (less shipping and handling). The item/s must be returned in the condition received including manufacturer's tags. No refunds will be processed after 30 days. Clearance sales are final. No refunds.
Please send your item directly to us. Returns/exchanges must be insured and shipment costs paid by the shipper to:
Safetti USA
Attn: Warranty Dept.
5051 Castello Dr
Suite 226
Naples, Fl 34103