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Autobiography On Foreigner's Lou Gramm Is Announced
A new autobiography details the courageous battle that ex-Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm waged against an egg-sized brain tumor that nearly killed him in the late 1990s.
Even after a then-revolutionary surgery, he writes in the forthcoming 'Juke Box Hero: My Five Decades in Rock 'n' Roll,' Gramm was forced to keep written lyrics to hit songs he'd written for Foreigner like 'Waiting for a Girl Like You' and 'Juke Box Hero' at his feet during live appearances, because of memory lapses. He also suffered through a notable weight gain, the result of a damaged pituitary gland and prescription steroids.
'Juke Box Hero: My Five Decades in Rock 'n' Roll,' co-written with Scott Pitoniak and due May 1 from Triumph Books, details a dizzying rise to fame from working-class Rochester, N.Y., as Gramm joins Foreigner and begins writing and performing a string of hits with Mick Jones. In fact, Foreigner's initial eight singles all made the Billboard Top 20. Eleven years after first auditioning for the band, Gramm issued his initial solo album, and then continued an on-again, off-again relationship with Foreigner. He's been solo since 2003, while Foreigner has gone forward with vocalist Kelly Hansen.
Still, a defining moment remains Gramm's life-threatening battle with craniopharyngioma, which began with several physicians telling him he'd never recover from the tumor in 1997. After undergoing laser surgery, Gramm then had to struggle through radiation treatments and years of rehab.
He eventually returned to touring and recording, though it was with a different perspective. A Christian since the early 1990s, around the time he went into rehab, Grammy placed a newfound focus on faith-based compositions, notably on 2009′s 'The Lou Gramm Band.' He will be inducted, along with Jones, into the Songwriters Hall of Fame awards ceremony in New York City on June 13, where the two erstwhile bandmates are finally scheduled to perform on stage together again.


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The Study does not provide test proctoring services for Loyola students, except those registered with Disability Support Services (DSS). Students who are not registered with DSS should make arrangements with their instructor to make up exams or any missed class work.
The Study serves as an alternative testing location for students registered with DSS. Students needing specialized adaptive technology or who need to take a test after normal business hours are welcome to test at The Study. However, please note that all testing must be scheduled and processed through the DSS office.
Learn more about DDS testing.

subset: commoncrawl


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I am trying to make a animation. There is a 3D animation which is sharp, I need to put some layers over it with descriptions about some parts that are shown.
The original video is extremly sharp, but when I render my own version in After Effects it isn't sharp at all. I changed the 'Interpert footage > Main' a couple of times but it doesn't help. Also in the render queue I changed the export settings, still nothing changes.
I am trying to export as a QuickTime > Photo > Quality 100%. I am using AE CS5.


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The country's first dairy cooperative has helped farmers more than double their incomes.
from the November 4, 2008 edition
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - Zakaria Ahmadzai's dream of saving thousands of Afghans from war and poverty sounds a bit far-fetched at first.
He wants to revolutionize Afghanistan's dairy industry, creating as many as 100,000 jobs. It is an ambitious plan, considering that the industry essentially did not exist seven years ago, and that back then Mr. Ahmadzai was a manual laborer earning $3 a day.
But the nascent dairy trade has made entrepreneurs of men like Ahmadzai, now head of Afghanistan's first dairy cooperative. His income has doubled since he began selling milk from his three cows – a practice once forbidden by the Taliban. Other dairy farmers' salaries have increased 10-fold since 2002 to about $545 – more than twice the average yearly income here.
To Ahmadzai, it demonstrates how – with international help – Afghans can find alternatives to opium or insurgency.
"This changes the life of our people," he says. "If they can have money easily with peace, why do they need to fight?"
The Afghan economy is growing at double-digit rates – 13.5 percent during the past year, according to the World Bank. At the same time, billions of dollars of foreign aid is pouring into the country. Yet neither the economic growth nor the aid is having a substantial impact on the lives of ordinary Afghans, 85 percent of whom make a living in agriculture.
A wide array of aid projects has targeted agriculture – from pistachio growers in the north to pomegranate farmers in the south. Some have had success, many have not – for a variety of reasons, ranging from a reluctance among aid organizations to work beyond secure compounds in Kabul to an unwillingness to embark on long-term projects.
Incomes jump fivefold
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's (UNFAO) dairy scheme, which began in 2001, has required no small amount of patience, persuasion, and creativity. But the result has been Ahmadzai's Kabul Dairy Union, a cooperative of 620 local farmers established in 2006 that runs its own affairs and covers its own expenses.
The project's success has been in its simplicity, says the UNFAO's Mustafa Zafar. Afghan farmers generally keep one or two cows for family use, and the goal was to teach farmers how to leverage those cows into a better life, he explains.
For Ghulam Sediq, it has worked. Like Ahmadzai, he used to make his living as a day laborer, filling trenches with sand for construction projects. The work was hard and the pay meager. "Feeding my eight children was very, very difficult," he says.
Now, with his five cows, Mr. Sediq makes $20 a day – five times what he made as a laborer. "With that, I can take care of my family easily – feeding them and buying them good clothes," he says. "And it's not a lot of work."
One of the cooperative's collectors, Mohammad Hanif, still runs a butcher shop on the side. With the extra money from selling milk from his two cows and collecting the milk from Logar Province, he built a $15,000 house – making him rich by his village's standards, he says with a wide smile. Now he wants to buy more cows.
"It's a big difference, because people are making legal money," says Khair Mohammad, an assistant at the Kabul Dairy Union.
Speaking generally, he adds: "If these farmers didn't have this, they would be growing poppy."
Based on its success in Kabul, UNFAO has established two more cooperatives in the northern cities of Kunduz and Mazar-e-Sharif. The Italian Provincial Reconstruction Team in the western city of Herat is planning a fourth.
From family cows to dairy coop
To get to this point has required countless conversations to build trust. The notion of an Afghan dairy farmer, curious to outsiders, was no less curious to Afghans themselves at first.
"Afghan farmers told us: 'This is not our culture,' " says Dr. Zafar.
It took a year of preliminary work to convince them. Part of this was training farmers how better to care for their cows, increasing yields. But part of it became a debate on Islamic doctrine. In 2001, the Taliban had opposed the scheme on the grounds that milk was the food of heaven and should not be sold.
Even after the Taliban left, collector Mr. Hanif remembers when farmers used to bring their milk to him hidden beneath their vests, embarrassed. Now he points to the dozens of canisters lined up on the slick white tiles of the Kabul Dairy Union's receiving dock. Eventually, logic won out.
Farmers milk their cows three times a day. Their families cannot drink all of it, meaning the rest is given to the poor or left to go sour.
"You have to throw milk away," Mr. Hanif recalls a member of the UNFAO project telling him. "Why not sell it?"
Zafar and Ahmadzai built the Kabul Dairy Union on this simple principle.
Still needed: storage, safe passage
There are numerous challenges. No farmers say they have been harassed by the Taliban for selling milk, but Taliban fighters confiscated one of the cooperative's two trucks about a month ago because it had UN license plates. The cooperative has had to rent another for $60 a day.
Perhaps a bigger problem, though, is that police at checkpoints routinely demand bribes, says Hanif. "They ask for milk, but we don't give it to them, because if you give it to them, they will start asking for more milk every day," he says, adding that they have to pay $3 to $4 instead.
Despite this, Ahmadzai has been able to build a modest operation – two rooms filled with shiny silver equipment donated by Germany that spins, whirrs, and clatters in the background, separating the raw milk into milk, yogurt, cheese, and butter.
In a country with virtually no refrigeration outside Kabul, farmers at collection points keep milk cool by draping canisters with wet rags or immersing them in pools of water.
Still, a bootstrap mentality can only take the cooperative so far, says Ahmadzai. Without cold storage at collection points, the cooperative can operate only in two neighboring provinces, Logar and Wardak. Moreover, it can make only one collection a day, cutting potential profits by two-thirds.
Ahmadzai imagines foreign donors helping to build cold-storage centers across the country. With more advanced equipment that packages milk to stay good for weeks without refrigeration, he says, Afghanistan could employ thousands of people and lessen its reliance on imports. Currently, the Kabul Dairy Union supplies less than 1 percent of the Kabul dairy market.
There are four million people in Kabul who need to purchase dairy products," he says, noting that people in the capital don't have their own cows. "We have a market."


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Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
The Lyon County Sheriff's Office handles criminal matters and they can be reached by calling 775-463-9600. If it is an emergency, please dial 911.
Show All Answers
Local Victim Domestic Battery Services
Community Chest
Kelly Ibarra
PO Box 980
Virginia City, Nevada 89440
(775) 720-0007
County General Victim Services
Heather Benson
Lyon County Human Services
620 Lake Avenue
Silver Springs, Nevada 89429
(775) 575-1703
The City Attorney handles litigation involving the City of Fernley only. For private matters, consult a private attorney or legal service agency. If you need an attorney but can't afford to pay for one, there are agencies which may assist you, such as Nevada Legal Services.
Please contact the Fernley Municipal Court at 775-784-9870.
Discovery/Request for a report for misdemeanor criminal cases prosecuted by the City of Fernley can be ordered by sending a written request to the City Attorney's Office. These reports will ONLY be released in redacted form to the victim and the defendant.
Non-Lawyer Discovery Request Form
A subpoena is a command by the court, and your appearance is not optional, it is required. A bench warrant could be issued for your failure to appear. The City Attorney's Office will want to speak to you prior to trial, so it is a good idea to call the City Attorney's Office upon receipt of the subpoena to arrange to speak with the City Attorney or the assistant. The City Attorney can be reached by calling 775-784-9860.
All felony cases in Lyon County are handled by the Lyon County District Attorney's Office and they can be reached by calling 775-575-3353.
Information about court dates or outstanding warrants can be obtained by calling the Fernley Municipal Court at 775-784-9870.
When you were ordered by the Fernley Municipal Court to perform Community Service, you were given instructions on the day of sentencing, regarding dates and times. For questions, you may contact the Municipal Court at 775-784-9870.


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Bankruptcy law expert Kenneth Klee will address students at Samford University's Cumberland School of Law Thursday, March 29, at 11 a.m. in the moot courtroom of Robinson law building. His talk on the topic of municipal bankruptcies is free and open to the public.
Klee and his Los Angeles, Calif., law firm partner Lee Bogdanoff were hired by Jefferson County in July, 2011, to help the county determine if it should file for bankruptcy. Since the filing, Klee and Bogdanoff have continued to work with Jefferson County lawyers in the matter.
A founding partner in the law firm of Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff and Stern, Klee is a professor at UCLA School of Law, where he teaches courses in bankruptcy law and Chapter 11 business reorganizations law, contracts, professional responsibility and a business simulation/clinical course on creating value through the renegotiation of business agreements. He has also taught at his alma mater, Harvard law School.
Klee has been a leader in continuing legal education in the area of bankruptcy and business reorganizations, and a consultant to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee and the U.S. Department of Justice. In addition to Jefferson County as a Chapter 9 debtor, his client list includes high profile Chapter 11 cases involving Barney's Inc., Sun World, Financial Corporation of America and many others.
His talk at Samford is sponsored by Cumberland's Cordell Hull Speakers Forum series. Cumberland third-year student Sims Rhyne is forum chairman.


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chicken larb with brown rice vermicelli
and quick pickled cucumber
- 100g brown rice vermicelli noodles+
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tablespoons grated ginger
- 2 tablespoons Asian chilli jam
- 500g chicken mince
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup (60ml) oyster sauce
- 2 baby cos (romaine) lettuce, leaves separated
- Thai basil leaves, to serve
- coriander (cilantro) leaves, to serve
- unsalted peanuts, chopped, to serve
- quick pickled cucumber
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 Lebanese cucumbers, thinly sliced
- 1 long red chilli, thinly sliced
- To make the pickled cucumber, place the vinegar, garlic and honey in a large bowl and stir to combine. Add the cucumber and chilli and toss to coat. Set aside.
- Place the noodles in a large heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water and set aside for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Place the garlic, ginger, chilli jam and chicken in a bowl and stir to combine.
- Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan over high heat, add the chicken mixture and cook, stirring, for 5–6 minutes.
- Add the oyster sauce and cook for a further 2–3 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Divide the noodles between lettuce leaves and top with the chicken and pickled cucumber.
- Top with basil, coriander and peanut to serve. Serves 4.
+ Brown rice vermicelli noodles are available from health food stores and Asian supermarkets. You can also use regular rice vermicelli.
Karla Leach
Quick and easy family dinner ! Full of flavour and fresh herbs. Thanks DH another winner !
Loukia Papageorgiou
Delicious! Super quick and easy for a mid week meal. A little spicy for me, although my tolerance levels aren't great. We chose not to use the lettuce leaves and just had more noodles and mince in a bowl. The pickled cucumbers are the perfect side to accompany this and added some refreshment for the spice. You should def. add this one to your mid-week meals.


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"This investment demonstrates our commitment to R&D and to remain at the forefront of plant genetics research," said Sandro Aruffo, Syngenta head of research and development. "The advanced technologies that will be implemented at this new site will accelerate our R&D efforts to develop agronomic traits that will enable crops to better withstand complex environmental challenges."
Building on the recent successful launches of Agrisure Viptera, Agrisure Artesian and Enogen, research at the site will focus on traits that can better tolerate climate variability, combat plant stresses such as drought, and enhance crop productivity and plant performance. In addition to the current focus on corn and soybean, research will be expanded to incorporate other crops such as sugar cane, cereals, rice and vegetables.
The facility will feature research laboratories and sophisticated growth environments including climate-controlled greenhouses and precision growth chambers. It is expected to be fully operational in the second half of 2012.


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• bibliophile •
Pronunciation: bib-li-ê-fail • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A book-lover, an avid reader.
Notes: Here is a word that should be in the vocabularies of all who read this, for I believe we all are bibliophiles. If you get tired of writing this word, you may leave off the final E: bibliophil or, if you love the word so much you want to spend just a little more time with it, you may add -ist: bibliophilist. All bibliophiles suffer from bibliophily even bibliopoles. Do you avoid reading? The antonym of today's word is bibliophobe.
In Play: Any dedicated reader may be called a bibliophile: "Rita Book would have to be a real bibliophile to make her way through the entirety of War and Peace." Of course, collecting a lot of books doesn't make you a bibliophile: "Lacie Curtain isn't a bibliophile; she just thinks books add a je ne se quoi to her decor."
Word History: Today's Good Word came to us via Latin from French bibliophile, containing the root of Greek biblion "book" + philos "friend". Biblion was borrowed by the Greeks from Egyptian byblos "papyrus". This word is somehow related to Byblos, the Phoenician port whence Egyptian papyrus was exported to Greece. Of course, the name of the book which forms the basis of Christianity is the Bible, originally thought of as "THE book", as the capitalization indicates. The most notable use of philos is in the name Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, from phil- + adelpheos "brother". Of course, it may be found in the names for many things we like (see alphaDictionary's List of Philias). (We owe a debt of gratitude to Kaylin Jury, a bibliophile at only the age of nine, for suggesting today's Good Word.)
P.S. - Register for the Daily Good Word E-Mail! - You can get our daily Good Word sent directly to you via e-mail in either HTML or Text format. Go to our Registration Page to sign up today!


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Basic Sweet Bun Dough recipe by Gina from Kitchencaper:
2 3/4 cup bread flour
1 cup plain flour
1 tsp. bread improver
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbp. milk powder
1 Tbp. instant yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
220ml cold water
1 tsp. pandan paste (I added)
1/3 cup butter
1 tsp. bread softener (optional)
Method (My way):
1. Add everything in according to your breadmaker manual. Turn on the dough function and let the breadmaker do the work.
2. When done, take the dough out, give it a few kneads and cut it and shape it whatever you like. For the above bun shape, roll the dough in cylinder shape, cut out individual portion, roll it into ball and place it on a square or circle baking pan lined with parchment paper.
Note: You can add any filling you like at this point as well.
3. When finished placing the balls of dough in the baking pan, leave some space in between for it to prove. Cover with plastic wrap and let it proves for 45-60 mins depending on the temperature of your room (or double in size). It is faster if you let it proves under the sun.
4. When double in size, brush the top with milk or egg wash (sprinkle with sesame seeds if you like) and bake in the preheated 375'F oven for 10-12 mins. Or until golden brown on top. When warm from the oven, brush the top with some honey/maple syrup (like my picture above) to give it some shine.
5. Cool on wire rack and can be kept in the air-tight container and stay soft up to 4 days.
The variety of buns you can make from this is endless, try plain buns, green tea buns, chocolate buns, cinnamon buns, strawberry buns, mixed colors buns, etc.
Happy baking and experimenting!! :)


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Hubbard Radio Washington DC, LLC. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
Hubbard Radio Washington DC, LLC. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
wfedstaff | June 4, 2015 12:41 am
By Jared Serbu
Federal News Radio
The U.S. Postal Service will begin to default on its financial obligations just over four months from now unless Congress takes action to relieve it of its obligation to pre-fund retiree health care accounts, its leader told lawmakers Tuesday.
USPS expects to post a net loss of $8.3 billion for this fiscal year, nearly as much as it lost last year. And with its $15 billion debt limit due to be reached this year, more borrowing is not an option, Postmaster General Pat Donahoe said in testimony before a subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee.
"Despite our aggressive cost cutting and revenue generating efforts, we are in serious financial predicaments today," he said. "As things stand, we do not have the cash to make the $5.5 billion prepayment for future retiree health benefits due on September 30. And we may be forced to default on other payments. This could extend to operational expenses."
USPS contends the prepayment for future retirees is a financial obligation that none of its competitors, nor any government agency, has to live with. The requirement came along with a 2006 postal reform bill that was passed when mail volume was at its peak.
Officials say the payments were also based on what was then a much larger employee base. USPS has cut its workforce by 113,000 since then. Donahoe said in written testimony to the subcommittee on federal financial management that not only can USPS not afford the future retiree health bill this year, but that without Congressional action, it's inevitable that the organization will eventually default on payments to employees and suppliers as well.
After the hearing, he told reporters that was a last resort, and skipping the retiree health payment this year would provide at least some breathing room.
"The last thing we would do would be to negatively disrupt the delivery of mail, because it's tremendously disruptive to American commerce," he said. "There's trillions of dollars that go through the mail. 52 percent of Americans still pay their bills through the mail versus online."
The postal service also wants Congress to refund up to $75 billion it says it has overpaid into the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), and another $7 billion in overpayments into the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS). It would use that money to finish off its retiree health benefit prepayments and pay down its accumulated debt.
But Donahoe said those were short term fixes. Longer term health for the postal service, he said, means more management flexibility, including the option to go from six-day to five-day delivery.
He said USPS is also working to cut more costs by removing excess capacity from the postal system, including the politically-sensitive subject of closing post offices themselves.
"In some small offices, we're looking at consolidation because what we're finding is that many of these offices don't even have an hour's worth of work in a day," he said. "If it's close to another office, a mile or so, we can consolidate. In other cases, many towns have three businesses: a general store, a gas station and a post office. What we're looking for is to talk to the general store or the gas station to take a contract to provide postal services. There are many options, and we want to hear from people, but we have to move on these things."
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), the chairman of the subcommittee, has introduced legislation that would give the postal service what says it needs. It would allow USPS access to the excess FERS and CSRS funds it has paid so it can pay off its retiree health benefits once and for all.
Carper said it would also let USPS management run the organization with less Congressional interference.
"No business, facing the kind of challenges the postal service faces today, would survive very long if they were told how many retail outlets they should have or where they should be located, or if they were prevented from making operational changes or taking advantage of the resources they have at their disposal," Carper said. "Yet that's what Congress does to the postal service."
Carper believes USPS needs to think of new ways to generate revenue, and his legislation would let it sell or provide non-postal products and services, as long as they're in the public interest.
His legislation also would let USPS ship alcoholic beverages for the first time.
"We think it's an excellent idea," Donahoe said."What the Postal Service brings is convenience in that whole industry. We've seen other posts—Australia Post for an example has done that—and that's one of their biggest growth products."
He said carriers would not deliver alcohol directly to a home, but would require an adult to pick the package up at a post office.
Several lawmakers expressed concerns about the five-day delivery idea, particularly members representing Hawaii and Alaska, where delivery times are longer, and residents, particularly in remote areas, are heavily reliant on mail.
And Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said USPS might be surrendering its biggest competitive advantage.
"If you were looking at this through the very cold lens of just a pure business model, you're giving away the major advantage you have when you give away that sixth day," she said. "What keeps us from going to four? If we go to five, aren't we really talking about the beginning of a death spiral here?"
Donahoe doesn't believe so.
He said Saturdays are easily the postal service's lowest volume day, because commercial advertising customers don't want their mailings to arrive on Saturday, when people are busy doing other things. Nonetheless, he said he was not particularly excited about eliminating Saturday delivery.
"We do not want to go to five day delivery," he said. "Financially, we're in a situation where we've got to take that as an option. It is tied directly to the loss of first class mail volume. America's changing. People are paying bills online. Every time a bill's paid online, that's 18 cents (of profit) we can't use to cover six-day delivery and a number of these small post offices."
On the subject of small post office closures, lawmakers heard some pushback from labor organizations. Mark Strong, president of the National League of Postmasters, said USPS spends less than one percent of its overall budget on the smallest one-third of its post offices. He said the organization should find new ways to use its physical locations, rather than shutting them down and contracting out their services.
"Post offices are where the American flag flies in every community in this country," Strong said. "To take those flags down and replace them with grocery stores or gas stations should be the last alternative. We should be putting more government services into those postal facilities."
In addition to Carper's bill, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) has introduced a separate postal reform proposal that would order the Office of Personnel Management to recalculate USPS's contributions to federal pension accounts to prevent future overpayments.
Donahoe said USPS supported that bill, but without the extra management flexibility the Postal Service is asking for, he said leaders will be back before Congress next year, facing another looming payment default.
(Copyright 2011 by FederalNewsRadio.com. All Rights Reserved.)
Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.


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Transformer Prime VS iPad 2: Battle of the Tablet Titans
Read our full Asus Transformer Prime review.
Some say that in the tablet world, there are two kinds of contender: Apple's iPad 2 and everyone else. However, among Android tablets the Asus Eee Pad Transformer stood head and shoulders above the rest, thanks to an optional keyboard dock that also doubled the battery life while providing full-size USB ports and a regular SD card slot – essentially turning it into a productivity tool that had a better screen and lasted longer on the go than any netbook. Mind you, the tablet itself wasn't bad either, and Asus has taken all the stops out for its sequel, the Transformer Prime (codenamed TF201).
This sequel to the original Transformer (TF101) is lighter, slimmer, more stylish, metal-clad, comes with an even better screen and, most significantly, a quad-core CPU and 12-core GPU combo courtesy of Nvidia's Tegra 3, making it the most versatile and powerful Android tablet on the market. Even without its dock it's a stunner, but how does it fare against Apple's king of the hill contender?
Superior specs are highlighted in orange above
Build and Design
For starters the Prime is thinner and lighter, as you can see in our comparison table. Its metal chassis feels almost as sturdy as the iPad 2's and it looks just as good. Which you'll favour will depend on whether you prefer the sand-blasted silver aluminium of the iPad 2 or the smooth, concentric ring design of the Prime. Apple lets you pick either a white or black plastic bezel around the screen, while Asus gives you a choice between an Amethyst Gray or Champagne Gold back. There's almost nothing to choose between them on build: they both offer metal chassis and glass fronts.
The Transformer Prime, for being both thinner and lighter despite stuffing in more of everything.
Even without its dock, the Prime offers better connectivity than an iPad 2. Its microSD card slot lets you expand the internal memory of 32GB or 64GB by up to an additional 64GB (Sandisk's 64GB microSDXC card will supposedly work, though not without possible issues). There's also a microHDMI video port for display mirroring and playing back content on your TV or monitor, which you may want to do often as the new Transformer Prime is a multimedia powerhouse unmatched by other tablets. Oh, and there's hardware support for any Bluetooth or USB games controller you might care to use, from a PS3 dualshock to a WiiMote.
The Transformer Prime, for not needing an expensive adapter to connect to anything else. Oh, and for its cool console controller compatibility.
With its fantastic screen, the Transformer Prime ups the stakes once more. Though both tablets share IPS-panel displays for superb viewing angles and reasonably accurate colours, Asus's tab gives you a higher 1,280 x 800 resolution (compared to 1,024 x 768 on Apple's effort), a bit more real estate (10.1in compared to 9.7in) and better contrast. It also literally outshines all competitors, with a 600nits rating making it the brightest screen we have ever seen on a tablet. As a result, the display is visible even in bright sunlight despite the reflections caused by its tough Gorilla glass protection.
The Transformer Prime, for searing your retinas after ensuring the last thing you'll see are its vibrant, accurate colours, deep blacks and pure whites.
The Prime's specs best the iPad 2 yet again. It's the first quad-core tablet in the world, and is more powerful than nearly any rival – barring premium Windows tabs like the £1,000 Samsung Series 7 Slate. In addition to its four primary cores there's a low-power companion core to take care of low-level tasks, and a whopping 12 graphical cores ensure games are almost console quality.
It also backs this with double the iPad 2's RAM. Frankly, there's more untapped potential here than most developers will know what to do with, especially on the graphics side of things – oh, and HD video of all varieties will finally play back smoothly, a feat hitherto unmatched in tablet land, regardless of brand, CPU or OS. By the by, did we mention the Tegra 3 chipset can potentially handle 2D-3D conversion on the fly?
The Transformer Prime, for packing more cores than an apple pie bakery's refuse sack, and finally realising our dream of carrying a HTPC in our backpack.
On the iPad 2, cameras are more of a checkbox afterthought than a usable addition. On the Prime they're very good – better, in fact, than the vast majority of rival tablets. Asus' rear-mounted effort is particularly impressive, being an 8MP, F2.4, dynamic auto-focus model with its own LED flash. It takes pictures that put other tablets to shame, and manages 1080p video to boot.
The Transformer Prime, for not making you look like a grainy, plague-ridden zombie when video chatting, and for producing pictures you can actually show off without embarrassment.


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Show All Answers
Yes! The Schertz Police Department does offer a program in which every effort will be made to periodically check your residence in your absence. To request this service, download a House Check Request form (PDF). The form should be completed and submitted in person to the Schertz Police Department during normal business hours.
Yes! Schertz Citizen's Police Academy (CPA) classes are offered periodically throughout the year. The CPA is an 8-week course offered to interested residents and/or business members in the Schertz community. The program is designed to give awareness and information about the role of law enforcement and to increase the rapport between citizens and Police Officers. The Citizen's Police Academy does not give the students any Police Officer Certifications or Qualifications. The Citizen's Police Academy is for educational purposes only. View more information about the CPA, or download a class application (PDF).


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Dinner parties center around them. Magazines and books are written about them. Make no mistake, that pungent, sweet aroma filling the air is exactly what you think it is. The cigar is back.
For decades, staunch cigar lovers have endured harsh criticism and have been ostracized from public places. So, why after decades of disfavor, is the cigar reclaiming its reputation as the most gentlemanly of pursuits? Some speculate that as life becomes increasingly complex, the simple pleasure of unwinding with a fine cigar and a glass of port has taken on a renewed importance. Whatever the reason, the cigar's resurgence cannot be denied. And, as more and more cigar afficionados surface, the demand for all things related has skyrocketed. Antique humidors, cutters and lighters are also enjoying increasing popularity and are being quickly scooped off of the market.
American Roots
History names Columbus and his crew as the first to actually observe people smoking in the New World more than 500 years ago. Thick as a man's wrist and wrapped in corn husks, these early models bore little resemblance to today's cigar.
Though American by invention, it was Spanish-ruled Cuba that elevated the cigar to an art form. It would remain a distinctly Spanish pleasure for almost 300 years before it spread across Europe. Russian Empress Catherine II is credited with inventing the cigar band. She had special silk bands created to protect her fingers from being stained, a practice which continues even today.
By the mid-18th century, the cigar had crossed the Channel and quickly became popular among the English elite. In 1803, Napoleon invaded Spain and discovered the pleasure of the Cuban cigar for himself, making the cigar's hold on Europe complete. It became a symbol of wealth, elegance and power all across the Continent.
The American Civil War ushered in the cigar's American following. Images of war heroes like Generals Grant and Sherman brandishing fat cigars spread across the country as the War Between the States raged on. Politicians, milionaires and generals weilded their stogies as staffs of authority, importance and prominence.
Indeed, by the end of the war, the cigar was an integral part of the Victorian gentleman's attire in America and abroad, and the industry exploded. Special rooms were allocated and outfitted accordingly with handsome cigar boxes, fine lighters and comfortable furnishings. They were the gentleman's retreat where he and his guests could retire after a fine meal for a Cuban cigar and a glass of port while the ladies remained in the dining room, chatting away.
In 1901, Queen Victoria's son Edward VII further elevated the cigar's station when, upon his coronation he declared, "Gentlemen, you may now smoke." The cigar and Edward reigned supreme.
The cigar dominated the tobacco market until the late 1920s when the inexpensive cigarette overshadowed it in popularity. Another blow came in 1961 when President Kennedy declared an embargo on all Cuban goods, including the coveted hand rolled Cuban cigar (JFK secured for himself 1,200 H. Upmann Petit Coronas before the embargo was enacted). That embargo is still in force today, making it illegal to import Cuban cigars to the United States.
It's Not Just a Cigar, It's a Lifestyle...
Enthusiasts will agree, the cigar is one of life's simple pleasures. Over the centuries, numerous accompaniments have been created to enhance that pleasure, including humidors, cutters and lighters. Each is in high demand among collectors and smokers.
The cigar even drew the attention of renowned makers such as Tiffany, Fabergé and Cartier who produced the world's finest cigar cutters and lighters out of gold and sterling, some even encrusted with diamonds and other precious gemstones. They found and eager and waiting market.
The cigar cutter is perhaps the most basic cigar accompaniment, as it has become somewhat gauche to bite off the end of the cigar with your teeth and send it flying. The cutter is used to open the end of the cigar and allow the smoke to flow smoothly. There are various types of cuts depending on the cutter.
Cutters, both pocket and tabletop versions, are among the most collectible of cigar accessories. The first cutters were large, ornate models found in tobacco shops where men would gather to purchase and smoke cigars. A gentleman would buy a cigar, ceremoniously lick the end, use the communal cutter and lean toward the large lighter to draw in the first few puffs. This ritual practice lost favor around the turn of the century upon the discovery of communicable diseases being spread through saliva. In 1913, the government issued a warning that these public cutters did indeed promote the spread of such diseases and encouraged smokers to use personal cutters, resulting in flourishing sales of portable cigar cutters.
Boardroom cigar lighters are also popular among collectors. As the name suggests, these large but movable lighters were used in boardrooms where cigars were often an integral part of important business meetings.
The cigar humidor is probably the most important accessory. The humidor's primary function is to keep cigars at the proper humidity, thereby ensuring freshness for extended periods. There are as many varieties of humidors as there are cigars, ranging from the very basic to the very elaborate. Most fine humidors are lined in Spanish cedar which keeps the cigars smelling fresh and helps to absorb excess moisture. The humidifier, however, is the real key to a good humidor. Most importantly, it should be filled with pure, distilled water, for tap water's impurities will seep into the cigar, altering the taste. A hygrometer inside the humidor indicates the humidity level. Ideally, it should be kept at 70 percent humidity. Cigars that have been allowed to dry out can be rejuvenated by placing them in a humidor for several days.
Early cigar smokers generally kept their cigars out in the open in handsome dispensers or tucked inside extraordinary boxes. These containers were, and remain, the finest ever crafted. Only the best materials such as rosewood, satinwood and mahogany were used to create these splendid containers. Today, most of these antique boxes have been refitted with modern interiors of Spanish cedar and equipped with humidifiers and hygrometers.
This allows the cigar lover to enjoy modern convenience and the old world elegance that can only be found in antique cigar boxes and holders.


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When Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558, she inherited a difficult financial situation and a debt of £227,000. Over £100,000 of this was owed to the Antwerp Exchange who charged an interest rate of 14%. Throughout her reign, Elizabeth was engaged in expensive financial issues, especially foreign policy. By instinct, Elizabeth was a careful spender and believed in strict housekeeping. However, she could not avoid certain European dimensions that cost large sums of money. To her credit, when Elizabeth died in 1603, the nation was only in debt to the tune of £350,000 – £123,000 more than in 1558, but spread over the duration of her reign, this represented just under £3,000 a year. At first glance this seems to have been a remarkable achievement in an era of much European intrigue. However, the one thing Elizabeth failed to do was to address the whole mechanism of finance and the financial structure of England. This remained essentially unreformed and did not bode well for the reign of James I.
While Elizabeth tried to be a careful housekeeper, she was also willing to borrow money of this was required. At the start of her reign she was advised by Thomas Gresham. He made it clear at the start of her reign that Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII, had not had a good credit rating among European money lenders because of his habit of debasing coins. Gresham also advised Elizabeth that England's monetary and financial system was being hampered by out-of-date legislation. In 1560, he urged Lord Burghley, William Cecil, to reform this so that the market would grow internally so that if the Queen needed to borrow money she could do so from within the nation as opposed to going abroad for loans. Gresham believed that it would appear unseemly for a Queen of England to go cap in hand to money lenders in Europe and that it would dilute her standing. However, this would not be the case if the matter was dealt with internally. At first, Cecil did not take on board Gresham's advice, probably because he was conservative by nature when it came to matters of money. However, in 1571 a start was made at reforming the usury laws, which Gresham believed was needed as a starting point of internal financial modernisation.
The full impact of the "removal of the vice of usury" is difficult to know without a full range of accounts and other financial documents. However, in 1574 Elizabeth was able to announce that she was not in debt for the very first time since 1558. The feeling of financial well-being was made clear in 1576 in a speech to Parliament by Sir Walter Mildmay. He started his speech with an attack on Mary:
"(Eilzabeth) had inherited a realm miserably overwhelmed with Popery, dangerously afflicted with war, and grievously afflicted with debts; the burden of which three cannot be remembered without grief. Her Majesty hath most carefully delivered the kingdom from a great and weighty debt, wherewith it hath long been burdened. The realm is not only acquitted form this great burden but also her Majesty's credit thereby both at home and abroad greater than any other prince for money."
Elizabeth was well aware that her reputation in Europe would be damaged if she had bad credit. Therefore Elizabeth raised as many loans as she could at home. This meant that those who loaned money could be more easily controlled and news of such loans would be restricted. Failure to offer a loan when it was needed for "national interests" would have been deemed as unpatriotic.
While Elizabeth may have been careful with money, any chance of a long-term improvement in England's financial situation was threatened by the lack of any important financial reforms. Elizabeth did not support the idea of raising taxes, as she feared that this would alienate those who she wanted to support her. But wars cost money and the war with Spain in 1585 reduced Elizabeth to borrowing again. Parliament also granted money to the Queen. Local gentry collected this at a local level and few believe that the actual sum collected in a locality was the actual sum that was sent to London. The rich were also allowed to assess their own contribution and it was an accepted fact that the money they gave was not proportionate to their wealth. However, these were the men that Elizabeth needed on her side so nothing was done to correct this anomaly. One way of coping with this was for the Queen to have an efficient bureaucracy – and this was something she did not have.
England and Wales still suffered from natural disasters. A series of poor harvests in the 1590's had a negative impact of the nation's economy and Elizabeth had to borrow from financiers such as Palavicino. In 1600, the Crown estimated its expenditure in both domestic and foreign affairs to be £459,840. The main issue that absorbed the majority of this sum was Ireland (£320,000). England's contribution in the Low Countries only came to £25,000. However, the Queen's income for 1600 was estimated at £374,000 – a shortfall of £86,000.
There were a few – such as members of the Merchant Adventurers – who did very well during Elizabeth's reign. But it was also these men who tended to stifle any chance of fiscal reform as they did so well out of the system as it stood. Those who really suffered from the financial problems of Elizabeth's reign were the poor. During Elizabeth's reign the price of food went up by about 75% – yet there was a drastic fall in the wages of agricultural labourers during the same period. Those with work found that they could barely afford food, while those out of work could not. Their plight was so extreme that Shakespeare commented on this in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.


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Sanjeev and I went to Bangkok and Pattaya for Holiday this past week. I am sorry I couldn't tell on blog because of security issues. We came back last night only. I has major tooth ache when we started from here and I was on medicines on almost the entire trip. but who cares? 😛 I had awesome 5 days in Thailand. Shopped and roamed around. It was great refreshing holiday after a long time. 🙂
Also, I would like to inform all of you that Jomol has officially joined IMBB full time. 🙂 All this week it was she who was uploading your posts. This trip would have not be possible without her. 🙂 Thanks, Jomol. 🙂
Coming to the trip. 😀
We started our trip form Pattaya – 2 1/2 days in Pattya and rest in Bangkok. Sanjeev did parasailing and both of us did sea walking; the 35 minute drive on the speed boat was almost breath-taking. We also saw the Alcazar Cabaret Show- it was beautiful. It's amazing to see that the Pattya is mainly run by women; in fact a lot of men there turn into lady boys. 😛 We also visited Sanctuary of Truth there. It is all wood carved. It has been in the making for the past 30 years and would take another 20 years to complete. They haven't used a single nail to build that building. 95 % of population in Thailand is Buddhist so you'd get to see loads of Buddhist temples there. People there pray to Lord Ganesha and Lord Shiva as well.
Now the shopping. :))
I picked this hot pink bag from a shop in Pattaya. It's a great bag for travelling or even for office. I loved the colour and design of this one.
This black leather box clutch I picked from Charles and Keith in Central World Bangkok. I saw it and instantly fell in love with it. 😀 We also picked up leather wallets from the Gems Gallery in Bangkok. The wallets are made of cow hide.
I picked up a hand cream and a Kiwi & Yogurt Mask from The SKin food. The shop was sooo cute and girly. 🙂 (pics below)
Some random stuff form Boots and Watson's – Palmer's Cocoa Butter Tummy Butter, Biore Pore Strips ( I picked one first, tried , it was so awesome that I went and picked two more packs the next day 😀 ) , Maybelline Gel Liner (brown), Nivea whitening Roll on deo, Sheet Masks from Etude House and Watson's, Bikini razors, and got some free Garnier Cream samples. People are obsessed about whitening there. It was quite strange to see whitening products in so many brands there.
I picked up 3 things from Nars- Dolce Vita Blush, Dolce Vita Velvet Matte Lip Pencil, Night CLubbing Eyeshadow ( madly pigmented black with moss green shimmers)
Sanjeev picked up two perfumes for himself from the Airport Duty free – Armani Sport Code and Dolce Gabbana the one.
We got this free Armani Pouch with the purchase. 🙂
Botanics shower gel and conditioner.
Both of us bought these coolest slippers ever from pattaya. 😛 Arent't these cute. 😀
Overall it was a great trip. 🙂 We had loads of fun. We met some Indian families during our trip so it felt very warm and homely. regarding shopping for inexpensive bags and shoes, I would say that although the prices were less, the quality was pretty bad. The ones that were of good quality were not cheap. It could be me as well because once you start carrying good shoes and bags, it's difficult to pick stuff of that cheap quality. Also, you would never be able to figure out the "right" prices for the cheap or fake products there. I guess you would be able to find pretty good stuff here in India only at the prices that were being quoted there.
Food wasn't much of an issue there. Since I am a vegetarian, I could find veggie food at most places. But if you are someone who does not eat veg food at places where non veg is also served, I guess it would be an issue for you. However, there are Indian restaurants there where you'd be able to find pure vegetarian food also, you just have to hunt for such places. 🙂
I suggest that you buy some package if you plan to visit Bangkok and Pattaya because it would be difficult to explore places there on your own. The package for two would cost you around Rs 40,000 – Rs 45,000 .
some pics from the trip
[portfolio_slideshow include="55757,55758,55759,55760,55761,55763,55764,55765,55766,55767,55768,55769,55770,55771,55772,55773, 55774,55775,55776,55777,55801,55802,55803,55804,55805,55806,55838,55839,55842,55843,55844,55845,55846,55847,55848 ,55849,55850,55851,55852,55855,55856,55857″]


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Kenny Chesney Shows Off New Goldendoodle Puppy
Miranda Lambert's adorable pups (however many she has) have nothing on Pancho, the adorable goldendoodle puppy Kenny Chesney was spotted with this week. Chesney, who is a first-time dog owner and a proud beach bum, already took the sweet pup for a ride on the water.
Chesney, who can be a little bit hesitant about committing to any kind of long-term relationship, didn't actually go get the dog himself. "A friend gave it to me and said, 'Here, Kenny, you have to learn to attach to something!' God's honest truth!" Chesney tells People. "Now, I love the guy."
But don't let that whole, "my friend made me do it" bit fool you. It didn't take any time at all for the 'Come Over' hitmaker to start treating Pancho like a member of the family.
"Next thing you know, next day at PetSmart, I'm buying stuff, buying things and I have no idea!" he says. "That's just a dog! I can't imagine having three kids."
Chesney certainly is spoiling Pancho. The goldendoodle pup is out on Chesney's Brothers of the Sun Tour (along with Tim McGraw). We'll see if he has what it takes to hang alongside his new dad when they're out on the road!


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Update To-Do Lists & Reminders on the Mac OS X Desktop from an iPhone
The new OS X Reminders app is iCloud enabled, and much like the Notes app, it lets you pin a list to the desktop. These two features combine to bring a synced and automatically updating To-Do list right to the Mac desktop, meaning if you change or complete a task while on the go from an iPhone or iPad, it will reflect instantaneously on the Mac and vice versa.
This great feature is very easy to use, but you'll need OS X Mountain Lion and iOS 5 or later, and obviously you will have needed to set up iCloud in iOS and Mac OS X for this to work properly.
Pinning the Task List to the OS X Desktop
This simple action splits the chosen to-do list from the Reminders app:
- Launch Reminders in OS X and double-click on the to-do list you want to pin on the desktop
The task list will update without splitting it from the primary app, but the pinned Reminders lists take up much less space and are cleaner looking, making them more suitable for leaving around on the desktop.
Place the floating Reminders list anywhere on the desktop and now grab an iOS device to make remote changes to the list.
Update the Desktop To-Do List from an iPhone or iPad
Grab any iOS device with iCloud enabled and do the following:
- Open Reminders and make a change to the same task list that is floating on the OS X desktop
As long as the Mac (or iPad/iPhone/iPod) is online, the lists will automatically update to reflect changes made from any other machine using the same iCloud account.
Thanks to Luci for the tip


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Reading in the Sunk Garden
11" x 8", pencil and coloured pencils in Daler Rowney sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell
We visited the late Christopher Lloyd's garden at Great Dixter yesterday. His book "Christopher Lloyd's Gardening Year has temporarily replaced the art books as my bedtime reading. I'd read all about April in the garden before we got there. I love the review of the book which is quoted on Amazon - it's absolutely spot on!11" x 8", pencil and coloured pencils in Daler Rowney sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell
The Guardian - review by Ruth Gorb, December 3 1999I'm now starting his book on Colour for Adventurous Gardeners. It contains this wonderful quote.
"Read CHRISTOPHER LLOYD'S GARDENING YEAR and you are in the company of a master gardener and friend. In this latest book he is, as ever, chatty, opinionated and inspirational. He disobeys all the rules and wages a long-standing battle against good taste: his combination of orange dahlias and vivid purple verbena may not be your cup of tea, but he describes it with such zest...To be in his company, even through the pages of a book, is a privilege and an education"
Given the right cirumstances, I believe that every colour can be successfuly used with any other and that is the message I hope to convey..............there is something called the Colour Wheel that I have never understood and that I shall not therefore attenpt to explore or explain. It is somehow intended to demonstrate which colours may successfully be put together and which may not, but the outcome makes no sense to me, so I shall go my own way without.We toured the garden and marvelled at the difference between the garden at this time of year compared to the total profusion later in the summer. I wrote about this in my post on Great Dixter at the end of August last year. Then I commented as follows
Christopher Lloyd - Colour for Adventurous Gardeners
To tell the truth I found most of of the garden almost impossible to sketch for various reasons:My current thoughts are that I should try and get more sketching done earlier in the year having now seen the difference in how the garden looks at different times of the year. It's certainly holds lots of attractions in terms of the leaves of various plants. Plus, if they don't object to me taking in a seat to the vegetable patches, they have great veggies! I've invested in an annual visitors ticket for two people which gives me free access to the gardens (only) at any time during the year when the gardens are open. It will pay for itself if we visit just once more this year!
- there are virtually no places to sit
- the gardens are much more about a profusion and an experience than about views (the garden is compartmentalised and is simply stuffed with an amazing mixture of plants)
- there is no place to put a collapsible stool or seat even if one were allowed to as paths are by and large narrow and the plants are spilling over them. There might be places where one could sit - but I found it very difficult to compose views with the camera and I'm guessing the problem would be even worse if trying to sketch compounded by the virtual absence of seats.
Here are some of the photos I took yesterday.
After our tour round we sat in the Sunk Garden. 'He must not be bored while I sketch' read his book and I sketched - he makes a marvellous model! Maybe I should do a series of sketches or even a book - "Not being bored in various gardens"? ;) What do you think?
Last summer I was have included Great Dixter in a post about arts and crafts gardens on Making A Mark as part of my gardens project . However this got hammered by a major Blogger malfunction and hence never got posted. I might try and see if I can finish that today.
I've also updated my information site Gardens in Art - Resources for Artists and added in a module for posts from this blog about gardens I sketch. For more details about this site see below.
- Great Dixter - house and gardens, High Park Close, Northiam, Rye, East Sussex, TN31 6PH
- Gardens in Art - Resources for Artists If you love looking at paintings of gardens or enjoy drawing or painting your own garden or gardens you visit then this site will interest you. It also looks at gardens as art and artwork in gardens. It shares links to information about:
- looking at drawings and paintings of gardens
- studying how different artists have responded to the motif of 'the garden' in order to understand more about different approaches to drawing and painting the garden
- gardens which provide opportunities for drawing and painting
- Books
- Christopher Lloyd - Christopher Lloyd's Gardening Year. (My copy is the hardback - but there are the details of the paperback.) Frances Lincoln Publishers; New Ed edition (1 May 2004); 224 pages; ISBN-10: 0711218366 ISBN-13: 978-0711218369
- Christopher Lloyd - Colour for Adventurous Gardeners, BBC Books, (7 Oct 2004) paperback 192 pages ISBN-10: 0563521716 ISBN-13: 978-0563521716
- More books by Christopher Lloyd


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Returns TRUE on success or FALSE on failure.
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The Department for Work and Pensions reckons that the rise of food banks has more to do with Christian evangelism than with helping people who can't afford food because of Conservative government policies.
According to Political Scrapbook, DWP director Neil Couling said: "For the Trussell Trust, food banks started as an evangelical device to get religious groups in touch with their local communities."
How interesting.
Has Mr Couling forgotten Iain Duncan Smith's 'Road to Damascus' moment on the housing estates of Easterhouse and Gallowgates in Glasgow in 2002?
Struck by the run-down housing, visible signs of drug abuse and general lack of hope, Roman Catholic Duncan Smith set out – with evangelical zeal – to do something about it.
He now sits in a government that kicks people out of their run-down houses and turns the lack of hope into abject despair by cutting off the benefits they need to survive (his government has pushed wages even further below the amount necessary for people to be able to live without government assistance than ever before).
As New Statesman columnist Laurie Penny puts it, Duncan Smith pretends to be "on a quasireligious, reforming crusade", approaching his work with "particular fervour and self-righteous indignation".
So, really, who do you think is misusing the plight of the very poor as an "evangelical device" for his own "quasireligious" ends?
Couling's attitude defies belief. He refers to a report from Oxfam – one of Britain's most highly-respected anti-poverty charities – together with Church Action on Poverty and the Trussell Trust, as "unverified figures from disparate sources".
Okay, then. How about the DWP supplying us with all the figures it collects, and we'll do the working-out?
We can start with the deaths of people receiving incapacity benefits.
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