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Minor in marine science
New VIMS-W&M cooperative effort is expected to be popular
The College of William and Mary, partnering with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, is now offering a new undergraduate minor in marine science.
The minor, designed to meet a strong and growing interest in marine science among William & Mary undergrads, features courses taught by faculty in William & Mary's School of Marine Science at VIMS and in natural-science departments at the College's Williamsburg campus.
Faculty in the School of Marine Science at VIMS have previously offered courses primarily to graduate students. VIMS has awarded more than 800 master's and Ph.D. degrees in marine science since 1943.
The new undergraduate minor program is initially being offered as a three-year pilot program for 20 students per year. The new minor features a field-studies course held at VIMS' Eastern Shore Laboratory in Wachapreague, Va., where students will receive two-weeks of hands-on instruction in and around the coastal lagoons of Virginia's barrier-island ecosystem.
VIMS Professor Elizabeth Canuel, a leader in establishing the new minor, says the program meets a clear need. "Undergraduate students have wanted greater access to marine science courses and faculty for years," says Canuel. "Over the past decade, we have witnessed a growing number of William & Mary undergrads interested in pursuing research projects with our faculty, participating in our summertime Research Experience for Undergraduates program, and enrolling in undergraduate- and graduate-level courses taught by VIMS faculty."
An existing Introduction to Oceanography course taught by VIMS faculty on the Williamsburg campus has been consistently over-enrolled. The new Introduction to Marine Science course reached its 50-student maximum shortly after being opened to enrollment in November.
VIMS Dean and Director John Wells says the minor represents "an exciting new chapter in VIMS' long history of providing an exemplary education in marine science, and will help satisfy the growing national demand for qualified marine-science professionals."
The program is administered by the Marine Science Minor Advisory Committee, co-chaired by Canuel and Heather Macdonald, Chancellor Professor of Geology at William & Mary.


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on July 28, 2014 - 5:50 PM
Visitors to the Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens are about to find out just how stinky Morty – the corpse flower – can get.
The flower, one of the largest in the world and extremely rare in a public setting, is expected to bloom over the next 10 days, emitting an odor compared to rotting flesh.
"We are all cautiously optimistic about what is going to happen," said Erin Grajek, marketing director for the Botanical Gardens.
Additional hours are planned for the increased attendance that would typically show up for special displays with sweeter scents.
"There's probably still a 7-year-old in all of us who think gross things are entertaining," Grajek said.
The corpse flower – its actual name is amorphophallus titanium – only blooms every six to 10 years, which makes the occasion rare enough. Making it an even rarer occasion is that only around five bloom annually worldwide because so few are in captivity.
Jeff Thompson, the horiculture director – with the added title of "undertaker" for the duration of Morty's blooming – said the plant, which resembles a "big, gnarly potato," is 51 inches tall, growing at a rate of 5 inches a day and expected to reach 6 to 8 feet tall. The potatolike part of the plant currently weighs 120 pounds.
The bloom typically lasts 24 to 48 hours, and the scent of rotting flesh lasts about 12 hours.
The corpse flower is one of three the Botanical Gardens obtained in early July. They are native to the rain forests of Sumatra, Indonesia, and are difficult to grow, requiring warm, humid greenhouse conditions.
The plant also eventually sends up a leaf that is the largest in the world, rising to 30 feet. The leaf typically lasts for two weeks before going dormant for years.
"We're very excited about having this plant here, We've all talked about it for many years, and it just so happened that we got three of them. Hopefully, in the future, we can do something like this again," Thomson said.
The @mortystinks Twitter account will update daily photos and information on the plant's status. Updates also will appear on the Botanical Gardens' Facebook page. The name "Morty" could be short for either "Mortimer" or "Morticia," Thompson said of the plant, which is both male and female.
In Pittsburgh, the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens set one- and two-day attendance records when its corpse flower named "Romero" – for legendary horror movie director George Romero, who filmed "Night of the Living Dead" in Pittsburgh – drew more than 12,000 visitors over a two-day period last August – 9,200 on the first day alone.
Those attendance figures would shatter Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens' attendance records over a similar time frame, Grajek said.
"The large size, the awful smell and the limited time of the bloom all contributed to the corpse flower's unprecedented success at Phipps," said Joe Reed, Phipps' interactive markeing assistant.
"For me, the most exciting thing of all as to see people lined up by the hundreds to see and learn about a plant. There really is nothing else like it for public gardens."
email: firstname.lastname@example.com

subset: commoncrawl


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About the Scosche HAQ01
Secure wireless phone charging for your Accord
Secure wireless phone charging for your Accord
Scosche's HAQ01 combines the convenience of the MagicMount™ phone mounting system with the functionality of a Qi (pronounced "chee") wireless charging system. Top it off with the fact that Scosche designed this charger to fit right in the center console location in your Honda, and you've got a charger that looks like it came right from the factory. You'll need to remove a few panels and drill a hole, and Scosche includes the "T" harness for your Honda's wiring — eliminating the need to cut and splice. Once it's in, you'll be able to charge your Qi-compatible smartphone without searching for that hard-to-find charging cable while you're driving.
What you need
You'll need a phone that includes the Qi charging system, or you'll need to add a Qi-compatible USB coil, battery cover, or charging sleeve to your existing smartphone. This MagicMount system includes the MagicPlate™ to attach to your case or directly to the back of your smartphone, so it'll stay in place as you drive around town. Scosche includes the detailed instructions for your installation, as well as a template for the placement of the MagicPlate magnets.
This charging system will require permanent modifications to your vehicle's console. These modifications aren't visible upon the completion of the installation.
Product highlights:
- vehicle-specific Qi wireless charger for select smartphones
- installs in center console of select 2008-12 Honda Accord models
- up to 10W of wireless charging power
- compatible with iPhone® 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X
- LED light on side of mount indicates charging status
- foreign object detection prevents charging when objects obstruct charging area
- included thin non-magnetic metal plate that attaches to device with adhesive
- features powerful built-in neodymium magnets safe for smartphones
- not for use with hard drive devices
- warranty: 1 year
What's in the box:
- Qi wireless charger
- Mounting cradle
- 5' T-harness
- Large self-adhesive magnetic plate (for smartphone device)
- 2 Small self-adhesive magnetic plates (for cases)
- Cleaning wipe
- Instructions
- Template Guide
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MagicMount Charge: Scosche has combined the latest Qi wireless charging technology with their MagicMount magnetic mount system for the ultimate solution in hands-free magnetic mounting and wireless charging. The Scosche MagicMount Charge OEM offers vehicle specific applications.
Vehicle Compatibility: This MagicMount Charge OEM model is compatible with the following vehicles: 2008-12 Honda Accord (all trim levels).
Qi Certified: The Scosche MagicMount Charge has been designated as "Qi Certified" by the Wireless Power Consortium. Qi Certified products have been thoroughly tested by independent laboratories to ensure their safety, compatibility and energy efficiency.
Qi Wireless Charging: Qi (pronounced "Chee") is the global standard for smartphone wireless charging. Wireless charging uses electromagnetic fields to safely transfer power from a transmitting source (such as the MagicMount Wireless Charge) to a receiving device (Qi-enabled smartphones or add-on wireless charging accessories.) to wirelessly charge the device's battery.
Wireless Fast Charging for Apple and Samsung: The Scosche MagicMount Charge delivers up to 10W of charging power, making it compatible with Apple and Samsung Wireless Fast Charging. It is also compatible with other Qi-enabled smartphones that support 5W charging, as well as many other Qi-enabled products.
- Apple (10W): iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max, iPhone Xr, iPhone X, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone 8
- Samsung (10W): Galaxy S9/S9+, Galaxy S8/S8+, Galaxy S7/S7 Edge, and Galaxy S6/S6 Edge, Note 9
- Other Qi-Enabled Smartphones (5W): Google, Microsoft, LG, HTC, and Motorola
- Other Qi-Enabled Products: Cases, Receivers, and Battery covers
LED Indicator: The LED indicator on the side of the Scosche MagicMount Charge illuminates green during standby and blue during charging.
Magnetic Mount: Not only does the Scosche MagicMount Charge deliver fast wireless charging, it also provides two points of magnetic contact for a solid hold via powerful, rare-earth, neodymium magnets. Scosche includes a large self-adhesive MagicPlate for directly applying it to your smartphone device and includes two small self-adhesive MagicPlates for use with smartphone cases. A MagicPlate Template Guide is also provided to make sure you position the MagicPlate(s) in the proper location.
Mounting Options: The Scosche MagicMount Charge comes with a mounting cradle where the Qi wireless charger will install. The MagicMount Charge OEM vehicle specific models are designed to fit perfectly in your compatible vehicle. It replaces the vehicle's factory tray in the front center console without modification and provides a factory OEM appearance.
Wiring Harness: The Scosche MagicMount Charge OEM includes a 5' T-harness for your vehicle that integrates into your factory wiring. The T-harness has a USB-C connector which plugs into the MagicMount Charge. On the other end of the T-harness are two molex connectors which plug into your vehicle's wiring harness underneath the storage tray.
Safety Protection: Advanced safety features like Foreign Object Detection safeguards your device from overheating and becoming a potential fire hazard.
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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Mike Pence has long described himself as a "Christian, a conservative and a Republican in that order."
Now, the GOP vice presidential nominee and his priorities are facing a critical test as Donald Trump, staggered by his recorded vulgarities about women, careens toward Sunday's presidential debate against Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Trump has vowed to stay in the race.
Pence's advocacy for Trump came to a screeching, perhaps temporary, halt Saturday in the hours after Trump released a video apologizing for 2005 remarks in which he describes his aggressive conduct toward women.
Pence said in a statement about Trump that he won't "condone his remarks and cannot defend them."
"We pray for his family and look forward to the opportunity he has to show what is in his heart when he goes before the nation tomorrow night," the Indiana governor said.
It's more evidence of the trials facing the GOP's No. 2 that could serve Pence well if he runs for the top spot in 2020.
Pence dare not speak about that possibility. To do so would assume Clinton prevails on Nov. 8.
But plenty of people are engaging in presidential talk about Pence, including Republican members of Congress, governors, a former presidential candidate, and more.
Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Mike Crapo of Idaho are calling on Trump to quit the campaign so Pence can lead the ticket. Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire says she'll write in Pence's name on the ballot — not Trump's.
Pence canceled his appearance at a Wisconsin rally Saturday with House Speaker Paul Ryan. Pence would have been expected to advocate for Trump.
"I'm sure he's horrified," said Mike Murphy, an Indiana public relations strategist who's known Pence for more than two decades. "We impeached Bill Clinton and we cannot impeach Trump off the ballot. But I wish there was a mechanism to do so."
Pence raised his political stock Monday night during the only debate against Democrat Tim Kaine. During the 90-minute event, Pence managed to not defend Trump's indefensible behavior, yet still sound supportive and show off his own expertise on foreign policy.
The performance highlighted the gulf in political sophistication between Trump and his running mate.
Pence addressed the awkwardness with a savvy statement acknowledging his own performance and preserving his alliance with Trump.
"People are saying that I won the debate," he said Wednesday in Harrisonburg, Virginia. "From where I sat, Donald Trump's vision to make America great won the debate."
But on Friday, Trump's behavior put Pence to an even tougher test.
The Washington Post and NBC broke the story of Trump's words about women as Pence advocated for Trump him in Ohio.
"With Donald Trump as president, we'll have a president of the United States who respects all the American people," Pence said as news of Trump's comments was breaking.
Pence went on to defend, as he has previously, Trump's outspoken nature as a refusal to "tiptoe around those thousands of rules of political correctness."
Pence ignored shouted questions about Trump, and he was quickly whisked out of reach of the news media.
What followed: Pence's silence, the scrapping his Wisconsin appearance and finally, his statement.
An influential Indiana conservative, Jim Bopp, who helped draft this year's Republican Party platform, said Pence "should stay the course."
Trump's words are "ill-considered and crude," Bopp said, and also "statements Mike Pence would never make."
The election is bigger than that, said Bopp, a lawyer from Terre Haute, Indiana.
"In the grand scheme of things, this is trivia vs. real life-and-death problems that we face in our foreign policy and the serious challenges that everyday Americans face because of the Obama-Clinton economy."
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Xbox 360 TOMB RAIDER Limited Edition Wireless Controller + how to win one
Today we are announcing the Xbox 360 TOMB RAIDER Limited Edition Wireless Controller. I did a quick video (above) that shows a few of the features and laser etched details. I also posted more photos on my Flickr page as well. The controller will be priced at US $59.99 (MSRP, check your local retailer for pricing) and be available world-wide when the game launches in March. Here is the official press release:
Experience Lara Croft's First Adventure with the Xbox 360 TOMB RAIDER™ Limited Edition Wireless Controller
At the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today, Microsoft, Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix unveiled the Xbox 360 TOMB RAIDER™ Limited Edition Wireless Controller – the perfect commemorative companion marking Lara Croft's return to the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.
Developed in collaboration with artists at Crystal Dynamics, the design of the controller features a two-layer color finish with laser etching to create a realistic and tactile worn appearance inspired by Lara's iconic climbing axe and the tourniquets that result from the adventure in her intense origin story, as told in this latest title. The controller also features a customizable D-pad that switches from a "plus" design to a "disc" pattern for better control, and a wireless range of up to 30-feet that allows for more freedom in your home environment as you explore and play the game.
In addition, those who purchase the Xbox 360 TOMB RAIDER Limited Edition Wireless Controller will receive a download token for an Xbox 360 exclusive playable TOMB RAIDER character. The controller will be available timed to the launch of the game worldwide and is priced at $59.99 (U.S. ERP).
About TOMB RAIDER
Available beginning March 5, 2013, built from the ground up for the Xbox 360 and featuring add-on content which will be available first on the platform, TOMB RAIDER explores the intense and gritty origin story of Lara Croft and her ascent from a frightened young woman to a hardened survivor. Armed only with raw instincts and the ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance, Lara must fight to unravel the dark history of a forgotten island to escape its relentless hold. In the all-new TOMB RAIDER a survivor is born.
# # #
PLUS: I've got five of this beauties to give away. How do you win? Simple:
In the comments below, post what your favorite 'Tomb Raider' video game is and why.
I'll then randomly choose FIVE people to win an Xbox 360 Tomb Raider LE Controller.
The rules: Deadline to enter is 9:00 a.m. Pacific on January 18, 2013. One randomly selected winner will be notified by e-mail or Twitter. One entry per person. Read this if you have questions about the Disqus commenting system. Contest is open to anyone who lives in an Xbox region
Note: If you do not have an e-mail address or Twitter name associated with your Disqus login, you must include your Twitter information in your comment to be eligible. Any winner who does not respond to my notification within 72 hours will forfeit the prize. For faster notification, follow me on Twitter where I can DM you if you won.
Update: Congratulations to the winners:
@BoomStickChick @realEvanem20 @schoon @drcalypso @omymarshmellows


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ANTROPOMORPHIA's 'Evangelivm Nekromantia' to be banned in Germany?
- March 4th, 2013 –
Dutch Death Metallers ANTROPOMORPHIA have reacted to a letter their label Metal Blade Records received from the German BPJM ("Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons") that included an indexing request for the band's latest album Evangelivm Nekromantia. The letter claims the cover artwork of the album as well as the song Fleisch illustrate and address killings and violence in an autotelic way. Furthermore they don't seem to be too happy about the album title. A news story in German can be found HERE.
The band comments: "We've made certain people nervous and uncomfortable with our music and lyrical content. In order to 'protect' the children, it's quite possible 'Evangelivm Nekromantia' will be banned and removed from German stores. Through their ridiculous and hypocrite way of thinking they are not letting people use their own intelligence or freedom of choice, this in an era where you turn on the news and see the world's vile and repulsive excrements in full HD. These people are nothing more than a bunch of pitiful sheep! They might think this ban will be castigation but it will only strengthen us in our opposition towards these sad shallow people that crowd the world with their insignificant lives. To us, it's the perfect representation of people without perception other than a retarded opinion about an artistic expression."
In other news, ANTROPOMORPHIA, have just finished another video shooting, this time around for the song Debauchery In Putrefaction.
You can still watch the video for Psuchagogia at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUbQ1QYnF04
Get your copy of Evangelivm Nekromantia while you can and listen to their music at https://www.metalblade.com/antropomorphia/.


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First, Get Rid of the Guns
Politicians who are too craven or stupid or ideologically rigid to finally move forward on gun control will have the blood of future victims on their hands.We are not helpless to stop the massacre of innocent children. We must begin — today, right now, this minute — taking guns out of the hands of madmen, and the first step should be a ban on military-style assault weapons such as the rifle used to turn a Connecticut school into a slaughterhouse.
That won't be enough to end all the carnage, but it will save some lives. It is admirable that President Obama, members of Congress and other elected officials are deeply horrified and saddened by what happened Friday in Newtown. But the moment calls for action, not words, and politicians who are too craven or stupid or ideologically rigid to finally move forward on gun control will have the blood of future victims on their hands.
We must begin with the guns.
Yes, there are other factors that play their roles in these mass shootings. We need to talk about mental health issues. We need to explore why the assassin is always a troubled young man whose alienation was noticed by others but not adequately addressed. We need to examine the impact of hyper-violent video games on impressionable minds. We need to remember that horrors such as Columbine, Blacksburg, Aurora, Tucson and Newtown are statistically insignificant compared to the everyday bloodshed on our streets and in our homes.
But we have to start somewhere. If we wait for a perfect, comprehensive, foolproof solution, we'll do nothing. Tough, effective, nationwide gun control is the most effective single initiative we could undertake, and shame on us if we wait another month, another week, another day.
The National Rifle Association and other apologists for murder will object, of course. They will say that Connecticut's gun control laws are already among the nation's toughest, and yet failed to prevent Adam Lanza from annihilating 20 children, six adults, his mother and himself. Therefore, these sophists will argue, gun control doesn't work.
What a crock. The truth is that gun control is ineffective because laws considered "tough" are, in reality, tragically weak.
There is no reason an everyday citizen needs to possess a Bushmaster AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle — the gun used not only in Newtown but in the Aurora, Colo., movie theater shootings and as recently as last week in a deadly shooting at a shopping mall near Portland, Ore. At the very least, these high-powered weapons developed for use by soldiers, not hunters, should be outlawed — and surrendered to authorities for destruction.
Lanza's mother had several other guns in her arsenal, and because of the Second Amendment, it is hard to imagine legislation that could have eliminated all of them. But she knew her 20-year-old son had profound psychological problems. She should at least have been required to keep her weapons under lock and key, securely out of his reach.
If you buy a gun for "protection," it probably will never be fired in anger. There is almost no chance you will ever use it to defend yourself against an intruder. Much more likely than the home-invasion scenario is that you will use the weapon on yourself or someone you know — or that someone else in the household will use it, perhaps on himself or herself, perhaps on you.
That some right-wing lawmakers and commentators have responded to Newtown by calling for teachers, principals and campus security guards to be armed is beyond obscene — and beneath contempt. More guns, with amateurs firing every which way, surely would have meant more dead children and more grieving families.
"We can't tolerate this anymore," Obama said Sunday at the Newtown memorial service, the fourth such sad ceremony he has attended during his four years in office.
"These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change," Obama said. "We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true. No single law, no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society, but that can't be an excuse for inaction. Surely we can do better than this."
We can and we must. We should begin with a strict assault weapons ban. Here are 20 reasons why:
Charlotte Bacon, 6. Daniel Barden, 7. Olivia Engel, 6. Josephine Gay, 7. Dylan Hockley, 6. Madeleine Hsu, 6. Catherine Hubbard, 6. Chase Kowalski, 7. Jesse Lewis, 6. Anna Marquez-Greene, 6. James Mattioli, 6. Grace McDonnell, 7. Emilie Parker, 6. Jack Pinto, 6. Noah Pozner, 6. Caroline Previdi, 6. Jessica Rekos, 6. Avielle Richman, 6. Benjamin Wheeler, 6. Allison Wyatt, 6.
Eugene Robinson's e-mail address is eugenerobinson(at)washpost.com.
© 2012, Washington Post Writers Group
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Rinnai America Corporation and the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) are joining forces to promote improved home-energy performance in the U.S. As part of the agreement, Rinnai will help educate HVAC and building professionals on the RESNET Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index, the industry standard by which a home's energy efficiency is measured. The HERS system was developed by RESNET and is a nationally recognized system for inspecting and calculating a home's energy performance.
"Our partnership with Rinnai will help building and remodeling professionals better understand how tankless water heaters can contribute to a home's overall health," says Steve Baden, executive director for RESNET.
"Additionally, it will allow these professionals to accurately account for potential home-energy savings, helping to further differentiate themselves in the marketplace."
Rinnai also will serve on the Mechanical Industry Advisory Council of the RESNET Technical Committee. This Council provides reviews of RESNET standards addressing the HVAC and water heating industry. "As additional leading builders become engaged in sustainable building practices, the HERS rating will become more of a "miles per gallon" standard for home building efficiency," according to Aaron Baugh, residential business development manager at Rinnai. "We're proud to partner with RESNET and assist builders in expanding their energy-efficient efforts and the advancement of building science."
The Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) is the independent, national nonprofit organization that homeowners trust to improve home energy efficiency and realize substantial savings on their utility bills. RESNET's industry-leading standards are recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, among others. Since 1995, RESNET-certified inspectors have rated more than 1 million homes.
Rinnai Corporation manufactures gas appliances including tankless water heaters, a wide range of kitchen appliances and heating and air conditioning units


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The folksy, mid-winter tradition known as Groundhog Day saw Canada's best-known shadow-casting critters divided in their weather predictions on Sunday.
Nova Scotia's Shubenacadie Sam emerged from his burrow northeast of Halifax, and according to his handlers, saw his shadow. But in Ontario and Quebec, Wiarton Willie and Fred la Marmotte were paraded before their respective audiences and evidently saw no shadow.
Folklore has it that if a groundhog sees its shadow on Feb. 2, it will retreat into its burrow, heralding six more weeks of cold weather, which is not bad by most Canadian standards. No shadow is said to foretell spring-like temperatures are on the way.
Sam is always the first groundhog in North America to make a prediction about how long winter will last, with Willie offering a guess about an hour later.
This year, the festivities at Shubenacadie Wildlife Park surrounding Sam's annual prognostication were cancelled this year due to a blustery snowstorm that hit the region on Saturday night.
But the fanfare went ahead in Wiarton, Ont., where Mayor Janice Jackson was joined by Premier Doug Ford and the so-called "shadow cabinet" to announce the rodent's forecast.
The event was not without its share of excitement, however, when Jackson misinterpreted Willie's supposed forecast.
She initially told the town crier that because the rodent saw no shadow, winter was here to stay.
"I messed up!" she told the crowd, laughing. "I messed up totally!"
The group on stage then repeated the ritual, with Jackson double checking before interpreting the critter's prediction for the second time.
"What am I supposed to say?" she asked through a wide grin.
Willie was backed up by his Quebecois counterpart, Fred la Marmotte of Val-d'Espoir, who also suggested spring was nigh.
Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Phil also made an appearance Sunday morning with his top-hatted handlers before a huge crowd at Gobbler's Knob, and predicted an early spring.
The Groundhog Day ritual may have something to do with Feb. 2 landing midway between winter solstice and spring equinox, but no one knows for sure.
Some say the tradition can be traced to Greek mythology, or it could have started with Candlemas, a Christian custom named for the lighting candles during the feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary.
One Scottish couplet summed up the superstition: "If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, there'll be two winters in the year."
In medieval Europe, farmers believed that if hedgehogs emerged from their burrows to catch insects, that was a sure sign of an early spring.
However, when Europeans settled in eastern North America, the groundhog was substituted for the hedgehog.
On the West Coast, they now call on marmots like Van Island Violet. Like groundhogs, marmots are a type of large ground squirrel.
For most winter-weary Canadians, Groundhog Day is a welcome distraction, but these pug-nosed rodents don't have a great track record when it comes to long-term forecasting.
In his book, "The Day Niagara Falls Ran Dry," climatologist David Phillips cites a survey of 40 years of weather data from 13 Canadian cities, which concluded there was an equal number of cloudy and sunny days on Feb. 2.
During that time, the groundhogs' predictions were right only 37 per cent of the time.
VIDEO: Heavy rain on B.C. coast swells rivers, floods roads and forces evacuations
The Canadian Press
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ABS Glass has earned a reputation as a service company that combines quality performance with affordable low rates to meet your glass replacement needs. Whether it is for your, home, business,or automobile we provide professional quality service that is efficient and flexible.
Call ABS Glass for your free estimate and ask about our work guarantee.
We are an insurance approved company and use original auto glass for all auto glass replacement. We provide glass in all shapes and sizes for all of your needs.
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With over 15 years experience installing glass, Many contractors call on our experience for jobs big and small. We will come to your site to repair the glass to reduce your down time.
ABS Glass can make your home more beautiful and more economical by replacing old, worn windows. We install all types of custom fit windows that are not only aesthetically pleasing, but give you more insulation and save you money.
Auto glass and windshield repair is a process that utilizes modern technology to repair rather than replace damaged glass. We offer either mobile service or service at our downtown location.


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Mike Evans is Pearson's senior vice president for mathematics. In past roles at Pearson, Mike was responsible for Pearson Digital Learning's Product Management and Publishing organizations. Prior to that he was Chief Operating Officer for Bigchalk, a K-12 library database provider. Before his edtech career, he held various senior management positions in both broadcast and cable television, including his role as Assistant General Manager of the Food Network cable television channel. In this interview, Mike discusses an exciting new middle grades math program completely written from and to the Common Core state standards by an advisory team of top mathematics education leaders. The program is a highly interactive and personalized learning experience that combines a comprehensive math curriculum, powerful best practices in teaching, and technology for teachers to deliver personalized instruction effectively and save valuable time. The product streamlines instruction and makes the tasks involved in teaching math much easier to juggle. "I believe we're setting a trend for the future of math education with this one," says Mike. Read on and see for yourself.
Victor: What is digits?
Mike: digits is Pearson's new middle grades Common Core math curriculum. It provides anytime/anywhere web-based applications that address the individual needs of every student. digits' point-of-use interactive whiteboard resources help teachers optimize effective time on task – intuitively. Basically, it's a complete math curriculum package that provides personalized instruction with a fully integrated intervention component. It also manages homework, assessment, and student data – not to mention planning and grading on the teacher end.
Victor: Why did the people at Pearson create it?
Mike: We created digits because we realize that each learner is different – and with this program, we can literally personalize instruction. digits monitors achievement in learning early and often, so instead of remediating after assessments, we are actually intervening right away – or providing challenge opportunities as needed. The end result is that everyone in class is up to speed and engaged.
Also, we know teachers value, use and want interactive whiteboards more than any other technology. In fact, a recent study by PBS and Grunwald Associates, Inc., said that they are looking for more valuable educational content specifically designed for use with this easy-to-use interactive tool. digits was designed to incorporate the unique features of interactive whiteboards seamlessly into a curriculum that emphasizes problem-based interactive learning in a traditional classroom setting.
Victor: What does the name mean?
Mike: Great name for a math program, isn't it? The name digits is a play on the digital dimension of this mathematics product, the main purpose of which is to help students understand the wonderful world of numbers – digitally learn about digits, that is.
Victor: What are the benefits of digits to schools, districts, states?
Mike: digits effectively uses technology to personalize learning with adaptive smart tools and personalized study plans. These resources provide need-based intervention and enrichment to maximize every student's potential. Teachers optimize their time by using digits' auto-grading features and responsive planning, cutting down on administrative tasks and increasing teaching time. These tools simplify planning and let teachers spend more time delivering effective, targeted instruction.
As a result, digits is able to improve mathematics instruction – and, by extension, achievement levels – for all schools, districts and states choosing to implement it.
Victor: How will learning with digits improve achievement in math for middle school students?
Mike: digits engages middle grades math students with a constant focus on real-world-based learning – not only with the structure of the problems within, but also with "student guides." We call them our "Understanding by Design hosts" – they steer learners through each lesson in a humorous fashion and help deepen their understanding of mathematical concepts. For example, one host, Jay, pops up in videos embedded in the lessons, making jokes and explaining concepts to students. digits truly engages today's digital natives, leading to increased homework completion and ultimately, to improved achievement in math.
Victor: How is digits unique from other similar products or services?
Mike: Digital content is easily updated. Schools and districts don't have to wait until their next adoption for a curriculum that is perfectly aligned to the Common Core State Standards and state content. With digits, software updates happen quickly and automatically, in real time.
digits truly personalizes learning for students. Writing in their accompanying workbooks and recording their thoughts gives students a sense of ownership in their learning. The write-in Student Companion becomes a self-created reference guide to help digits learners maximize their understanding.
Digital curriculum helps schools overcome a perennial problem: no more lost or damaged books with digits! Digital content is easily accessed, 24/7, whether online or via DVDs/CDs. And, consumable books eliminate residual cost since there are no damaged or lost hardcovers to replace. Write-in Student Companions ship automatically at the start of the school year (with content updates, as needed).
Schools don't need to spend extra funds on intervention because digits comes pre-loaded with a robust RTI element, eliminating the need for additional intervention purchases. With digits, training, professional development, and implementation support are all included.
Victor: When was digits developed? What's something interesting or relevant about its development history?
Mike: digits was developed in sync with the Common Core State Standards and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematical Practice, with the help of a distinguished author team that includes such CCSS influencers as Skip Fennell, Eric Milou, Janie Schielack and Helene Sherman. digits is the only middle grades math program on the market that is truly built to and from the Common Core.
Victor: What is unique about the technology behind digits?
Mike: The technology behind digits seamlessly integrates interactive whiteboard tools with anytime, anywhere web-based applications, such as the online homework feature, powered by Pearson's award-winning MathXL, to create a complete educational package. Auto-grading ensures immediate and accurate skills-based reporting, fueling what we call the interACTIVE Learning Cycle – a data-driven approach to differentiated instruction, featuring a customized learning environment that supports all students while reducing time spent on administrative tasks by the teacher.
Victor: How can teachers use digits to personalize learning for students?
Mike: Since the digits curriculum is composed of digital lessons, teachers can teach the lessons in any order they wish, customizing not only to their students but also to their district pacing or applicable state-impacted standards. For the students, personalization in digits is driven by the results of the Readiness Assessment, which assesses students' understanding of the unit's prerequisite content. Results of this assessment are used to measure the need to deliver differentiated instruction. Readiness lessons provide enrichment to on-level and advanced students, and foundational support to below-level students. Simultaneously, personalized Study Plans provide each student with targeted, point-of-need online intervention for concepts missed on the Readiness Assessment. Homework is differentiated as well, to meet the needs of below-, on- and above-level learners.
Victor: Is digits a digital-only math program, or is there a print version, too?
Mike: digits is an almost all-digital program with some print components. The mix of print and paper components for digits was designed to be complementary and easy to use. We have a print write-in Student Companion book, and teachers receive a print Overview and Implementation Guide for reference. Homework can be delivered in three formats: online, via CD or on paper. Then, both teachers and student have their personalized online dashboards. For the kids, this means differentiated homework and access to their class lessons and personalized study plans. For teachers, the dashboard includes lesson content with point-of-use Teacher Guide, planning and assessment tools, data management, and so forth. Teachers also receive all the lesson content on DVD, and copies of the differentiated homework on CD.
Victor: How much does digits cost? What are the purchasing options?
Mike: Districts can subscribe to digits for their students for under $12 per year per student, depending on subscription length.
Victor: Who is digits for, who is it NOT for?
Mike: Since digits can be successfully taught with just one computer connected to a digital projector, the program can be implemented by pretty much any school. digits was designed to actually help schools grow with technology as they move along the path to more complete digitization – inevitable in today's world.
Victor: Does digits align with the Common Core State Standards?
Mike: Absolutely. digits was built from the ground up to align to the new Common Core State Standards for Math. In fact, as I mentioned before, some of the leaders in the development of those new learning goals are authors of digits.
Victor: Tell me more about how teachers can use digits with an interactive whiteboard.
Mike: In a digits classroom, teachers use the traditional one-to-many model. They are at the front of their class, presenting the lesson material using the interactive whiteboard. Students are at their desks taking notes in the Write-in Student Companion workbook – or occasionally in small groups working on worksheets/journals, depending on the lesson format. Teachers show pre-existing digits lesson materials on the interactive whiteboard, which include video, animation and audio features – and other unique interactive-whiteboard-specific resources such as interactive/moveable problem illustrations and fully functional math tools. They may also choose to incorporate standard interactive whiteboard features, such as the pen layers so students can show their work at the board, or add Internet links or embed documents of their own choosing into the lesson at point of use. The possibilities are endless since digits was designed as a truly flexible and customizable curriculum, yet it's easy to use from the very beginning because it is intuitive.
Victor: How does interactive whiteboard technology improve learning?
Mike: Interactive whiteboard technology is able to engage all three kinds of learners: visual (clean, sharp display, vivid colors and well-designed, uncluttered lesson screens are standard for digits); kinesthetic (interactive whiteboards allow digits lessons to come alive with moveable components and interactive math tools); and auditory (interactive whiteboards are able to play audio, whether it introduces new digits content or reinforces ongoing learning). As I noted earlier, an overwhelming majority of teachers believe in the unsurpassed power of interactive whiteboards to engage learners and deepen their understanding. Pearson understood the deep impact of this unique tool, and digits capitalizes on it for the benefit of students across the country and beyond.
Victor: What other kinds of innovative things is Pearson doing to use technology to change teaching and learning?
Mike: At Pearson, we believe in always learning – all kinds of learning for all kinds of people delivered in a personal style. We have a vision of effective education: a virtuous circle of learning where powerful technologies enable teachers to assess students unobtrusively and frequently, diagnose their learning needs swiftly, prescribe personalized lessons, monitor student progress and achievement, and provide ongoing feedback. We champion innovation and invest in models for education that embrace common core standards, teacher effectiveness, college and career readiness, school improvement, assessment-driven instructional programs, data-informed instructional improvement systems, and breakaway applications for mobile, virtual learning, and interoperability.
In keeping with this spirit, Pearson is currently engaged in many innovations that use technology to change teaching and learning in addition to digits. We are fronting an Online Learning Exchange (OLE) that will be a collaborative tool for learning communities to share educational content. We are at the forefront of the mobile learning revolution with numerous "portable" technology applications for tablets and mobile phones. And, we offer online tutoring options with many of our products through Tutor Vista, to name just a few.
Victor: What are some of your thoughts on education these days, particularly math education?
Mike: Clearly, our most pressing concern in this country is keeping up with the rest of the world in terms of academic achievement, especially in K-12 schools – and, by extension, to ensure college readiness. I believe that digits will help close the achievement gap not just because its intervention and enrichment aspects are stellar, but also because it speaks to today's learners in a unique language – and that language is technology. We have to come to terms with the fact that we are teaching digital natives here, and digits is a great tool to engage these tech-savvy kids.
Victor: What formative experiences in your own education helped to inform your approach to creating digits?
Mike: I suspect the best answer to that question is not for me to go on about the many hours I spent in math class listening to a teacher talk at me growing up – in what I perceived at the time as a situation completely removed from reality. I didn't have many distractions then, but today, we have to compete with myriad channels of information and entertainment to get and keep kids' attention in math class. To combat this, we took the problem-based interactive learning approach to create digits: keep their learning rooted in the real world, use humor and interaction to get them thinking and talking, and exploit technology for the behind-the-scenes framework to make sure they are on level, at target.
Victor: How does digits address some of your concerns about math education?
Mike: Math education is currently undergoing a major domestic shift in the form of the Common Core State Standards. I believe that narrowing and deepening the curriculum while focusing on key standardized Mathematical Practices will, in the end, bring our country closer to top-performing countries as defined by the PISA Test, for example. With products like digits, Pearson is doing its part to help American students learn math better – and, in the process also providing an opportunity for students abroad. Common standards of instruction, which are applicable internationally – such as the Common Core State Standards, which digits is based on – are helping us in the educational publishing business really make a difference in math education, hopefully on a global level.
Victor: What else would you tell educators or leaders in education about the value of digits?
Mike: Embrace the technology and know that we developed digits so it can grow with you. The administrator at one of our field test schools said recently, "You know what – last time I adopted a math program, the cutting-edge technology was VHS tapes. Now I have a closet full of videotapes I can't even use – we don't even have VCRs anymore!" What's new today will be "old school" in one, three, seven years. Know that digits is flexible and can adapt to the advancements that your school or your district will make along the technological spectrum with time.
Victor: What is your outlook on the future of education, particularly math education?
Mike: Education is the one thing that is here to stay – as we like to say at Pearson, everyone's "Always Learning." And math, really, is very elemental to that lifelong learning process. As educators and publishers, we have to come to terms with the fact that things are changing on us – moving in a more techy, more mobile direction. The future of learning is in digital content, supported by print materials as necessary – this is the model we have followed with digits, and I believe we're setting a trend for the future of math education with this one.
Victor Rivero tells the story of 21st-century education transformation. He is the editor-in-chief of EdTech Digest, a magazine about education transformed through technology. He has written white papers, articles and features for schools, nonprofits and companies in the education marketplace. Write to: email@example.com


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Son Volt's Jay Farrar picks 10 essential country albums
Son Volt's Jay Farrar picks 10 essential country albums
"I've always been drawn to country music of the 1950s and early 1960s," says Jay Farrar, singer, guitarist and leader of the alt-country band Son Volt. "There was such energy in the recordings of that time period. I love the innovations that were taking place as far as pedal steel and different string combinations. That was all happening simultaneously with the advances in recording technology of the time. There was a fresh vibe to the early country records; those musicians would try anything."
On Son Volt's latest release, Honky Tonk, Farrar and his bandmates (David Bryson, drums; Mark Spencer, keyboards, bass, pedal steel; Gary Hunt, fiddle, mandolin, guitar; and Andrew Duplantis, bass) continue to spread the waters of traditional American music. With an emphasis on acoustic instruments (including twin fiddles) and two-step tempos, the sound of Honk Tonk, as the title suggests, is as far and away from today's polished country sound as you can get.
All of which suits Farrar just fine, who admits that that he doesn't seek out modern country music. "Sometimes I'll hear something in passing, if it's on a TV channel or whatever," he says. "Contemporary country is essentially whatever is selling, so whatever is selling is therefore country music. Which, in theory, is great – if there's a cross-pollination of styles, it can have great results." He thinks for a second, then adds pointedly, "I just don't know if we've seen that yet."
Farrar, who with Jeff Tweedy co-led the wildly influential country-rock band Uncle Tupelo before he formed Son Volt in 1995, first heard country music by way of his father, Jay Sr., who played traditional American records in the house. However, Farrar says that he didn't fully embrace the genre till he was well into is teens.
"The Beatles covering Buck Owens, who was a huge influence on them – that helped me start to put the pieces together," he says. "At school, I was something of an outsider because I listened to garage and punk rock. I just wasn't listening to the stuff that was on the radio. You heard the same songs over and over, so I was looking for something new. The country records that were made decades earlier filled the gaps."
On the following pages, Farrar, an inveterate music collector, looks through his extensive library and picks out what he considers to be 10 essential country recordings.
Hank Williams - The Original Singles Collection (1990)
"To me, this is the essence of country music. The songs are top-notch, and the performances of Hank and the band are dramatic. Don Helms on pedal steel is kind of making a bridge from Montgomery, Alabama, to Hawaii. I love the fact that he brought those elements together. He wasn't the only guy to do this, but he might be the most well known.
"There's so many great songs – you really can't go wrong. Anybody who's ever seen The Last Picture Show knows how incredible Hank's songs are. You can put this collection on and the movie will flash before your eyes."
Buck Owens - Act Naturally: 1953 - 1964 (2008)
"A fantastic collection. Because I was learning to play pedal steel guitar, I was particularly drawn to the playing of Ralph Mooney, who is all over this music.
"Buck brought a real rock 'n' roll energy to country music, and being that he was from Bakersfield and not Nashville, that meant that his sound could be very much his own and could organically develop.
"One of the great things about the music on the box set is that there's not a lot of backup singers and extraneous strings. The pedal steel of Ralph Mooney is frenetic and always in tune – no easy feat."
Ray Price - The Essential Ray Price (2007)
"Great harmonies, a terrific twin-fiddle sound and a whole lot of shuffle beats. Ray was originally styled after Hank Williams Sr., but he soon went off in a different direction.
"I don't exactly remember how I discovered Ray Price. I was probably just looking around in a record store and came across this set. Or perhaps I read about him in Nick Tosches' book [Country: The Biggest Music In America] about how early Ray was very much like Hank Sr. – that might have been enough to put me on the search. In any event, I'm glad I found out about him."
George Jones - The Best Of George Jones, Volume One: Hardcore Honky Tonk (1991)
"This is a compilation of George's years on Mercury records. He stands in a class all his own in terms of vocal ability: He can make you laugh, he can make you cry, and he can do that with his voice and his haircuts.
"There's a lot of beautiful twin-fiddle playing on this material. I don't know who the musicians are, but what they do is unparalleled in the world of country. It sort of an inspiration for me to delve into that sound on Son Volt's recordings."
Wynn Stewart - The Very Best Of Wynn Stewart 1958 - 1962 (2001)
"Like Buck Owens, Wynn Stewart was another Bakersfield guy. Wynn also brought a rock 'n ' roll sensibility to his music, and once again, he had Ralph Mooney playing pedal steel.
"Another Day, Another Dollar and Playboy and fantastic; both are high-energy songs that really capture a different kind of intensity in country music."
Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant - Stratosphere Boogie: The Flaming Guitars of Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant (1995)
"Those guys took Western swing and made it their own sound. The level of musicianship on these songs is absolutely incredible.
"I was floored the first time I heard this record; it sounds like it's from another planet. I don't think that anybody in a contemporary setting could re-create the kind of musicianship that was just innate with these guys."
The Flying Burrito Brothers - The Gilded Palace Of Sin (1969)
"This record challenged existing perceptions about what country music was in terms of the visual, cultural and sonic aspects of the genre. It was probably the first record that I came across where I could tell thatthe guys believed in country music, yet they were coming at it from a different place. That's something I could relate to.
"Their background was more rock 'n' roll, and with Gram Parsons it might have been more folk-rock, as well. They were not afraid to mix elements of rock and country, and they were certainly influential in that regard."
Jimmie Rivers And The Cherokees - Brisbane Bop (1995)
"This picked up where Jimmy West and Speedy Bryant left off. The music on this collection was recorded, I think, in the early 1960s, and was inspired by Jimmy and Speedy, although these guys took it to another level.
"Once again, what they were doing sounds like it came from another planet. I got it when Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys were opening for Son Volt. Their guitar player [Ashley Kingman] recommended it to me, and I'm glad he did. Incredible stuff."
Joe Carson - Hillbilly Band From Mars (2002)
"Joe Carson was from Texas, and he died in a tragic car accident [in 1964 at the age of 27]. He started making records when he was still very young – I think he was around 15. He made some of the best country records in existence, but for whatever reason, he never really found his footing and didn't become very well known. I don't believe he toured that much.
"He did have his admirers, though. George Jones was a fan, and at one point the two of them got together and disappeared on a bender for a few days. There's a little bit of George in his sound, and some John Lee Horton, too. He might never have found his real place in the business, but he was certainly talented."
Willie Nelson - Crazy: The Demo Sessions (2003)
"The incredible thing about this record is that you get to witness Willie in his development during the early days. It's all pretty special."
"It's another side of Willie. Some of it's really stark and unadorned, just Willie and a guitar. I think the original purpose of some of these recordings was for Willie to document some songs for his publishing company. Others songs have Willie with a stripped-down band, which I think it great. It's interesting to hear him when he was just developing his craft. He was already so talented before hardly anybody knew who he was."


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The ace bounced off the Court 1 backstop as Williams trotted to the net to bid another foe farewell.
The scoreboard said 127 mph, the fastest women's serve ever recorded at Wimbledon. The scoreboard also had Williams winning 6-1, 7-5 Saturday over qualifier Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.
It was an upset-filled first week at Wimbledon and a rough one for American tennis, but the nonconformist Williams sisters ignored both trends. Four-time champion Venus and two-time champion Serena won three matches each without dropping a set.
Both advanced to Monday's round of 16, as did No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal on the men's side.
With No. 1-ranked Ana Ivanovic and No. 2 Maria Sharapova eliminated, and with No. 3 Jelena Jankovic limping to victory Saturday, prospects look good for an all-Williams final next weekend.
"The chances were wonderful from the beginning, from round one," Venus said. "That's how we see it. The more we progress, obviously the closer it gets."
It would be their first meeting in a Grand Slam final since Serena beat Venus for the 2003 Wimbledon title.
Potential pitfalls remain, Jankovic foremost among them. But she hurt her left knee in the first set against 17-year-old Caroline Wozniacki.
Jankovic won 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, finishing the match with her leg heavily wrapped. She planned to have an MRI exam before facing Tamarine Tanasugarn on Monday.
"I don't think it's that bad," Jankovic said. "I hope for the best so that I will be able to play my next match."
Unable to overcome injury was French Open runner-up Dinara Safina, who finished in tears as she lost to Shahar Peer 7-5, 6-7 (4), 8-6. Safina, who required treatment of her thighs during at least two changeovers, cried between points and hit half-speed serves in the final game, then double-faulted on match point.
Alla Kudryavtseva had a successful encore to her upset of Sharapova, reaching the fourth round at a major event for the first time by beating Peng Shuai 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.
With a late start on Centre Court, Nadal barely beat darkness but easily defeated Nicolas Kiefer 7-6 (3), 6-2, 6-3. Runner-up to Roger Federer the past two years, Nadal is trying to become the first man to consecutively win the French Open and Wimbledon since Bjorn Borg in 1980.
On Monday he'll play No. 17-seeded Mikhail Youzhny. In the wake of the worst showing by American men at Wimbledon since 1926, with no one reaching the second week in singles, top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan advanced to the doubles quarterfinals.
But the U.S. curse extended to Russian Dmitry Tursunov, who lives in California, and German Tommy Haas, who lives in Florida. Both lost.
Tursunov was beaten by Janko Tipsarevic, who upset Andy Roddick in the second round. Haas was defeated by Andy Murray, seeking to become the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936.
The marquee men's match Monday will be five-time defending champion Federer against 2002 winner Lleyton Hewitt.
Defending women's champion Venus Williams is to play Alisa Kleybanova, and Serena Williams faces unseeded Bethanie Mattek, the only other remaining American. Those matches are back to back on Court 2 -- the "Graveyard of Champions" -- but the sisters will nonetheless be heavily favored, as usual at Wimbledon, where they've won six of the past eight titles.
Venus and Serena have settled into a groove on grass after enduring third-round upsets at the French Open -- only the second time both lost on the same day at a major event. Serena cleared Wimbledon's third-round hurdle Friday, and Venus was in a hurry to follow.
Her opponent was a Spanish left-hander with a lifetime record of 4-7 in Grand Slam matches. Predictably, Martinez Sanchez had no chance in baseline rallies, and the first set was a tennis clinic of sorts, with Williams whacking winners all over the court.
Her serve was especially impressive -- she finished with 11 aces and won 33 of 38 points on her first serve. Even Martinez Sanchez's supporters could appreciate the overpowering performance. "Vamos, Venus," someone shouted.
But in the second set Martinez Sanchez changed strategy and began to play serve and volley. It was a curious tactic to counter Williams' booming groundstrokes, like diving into the barrel of a howitzer, but for a while it worked.
Martinez Sanchez won three games in a row for a 5-4 lead. Then Williams began to treat her like slow traffic on the British motorway, passing her on the left, then on the right, then on the left again.
"I was pretty happy, because she started putting some pressure on, and I had some good answers," Williams said.
Williams won 12 of the final 14 points, the last with the record serve. At 127 mph, it topped the previous Wimbledon high of 126 achieved by both Venus and Serena. Venus holds the women's tour record with a 129 mph serve at last year's U.S. Open.
"The power that I have ... it's a real blessing," she said. "I'm actually never really trying to serve that hard, if that makes any sense. It just comes big. It's just how I serve. It's just me."
Williams celebrated the victory with her customary pirouette and wave, and as she left the stadium, she spotted a friend in the stands. She put her thumb to her ear and her little finger to her lips and mouthed the words "Call me."
Time to start making dinner plans for the second week.


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Seasonal Affective Disorder: Blame It on Sunlight and Serotonin
The winter blues are not just a frame of mind; they are also a state of mind. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is characterized by a drop in energy level, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, weight gain, and carbohydrate cravings, among other symptoms. It usually begins by late fall or early winter and ends by late spring or early summer. The neurotransmitter serotonin is believed to play a significant role in SAD.
It Is (and Isn't) All in Your Head
Although scientists have long suspected an important role for serotonin in SAD, concentrations of this neurotransmitter in the cerebrospinal fluid bathing the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) of SAD patients appear to be normal.
In an article published in The Lancet, researchers from the Baker Heart Research Institute inAustralia sought to determine whether concentrations of serotonin and other neurotransmitters measured from blood vessels draining the brain (a more accurate measure of serotonin concentrations in the brain than cerebrospinal fluid) would provide evidence for the relationship between serotonin and SAD.
In this study, researchers enrolled 101 healthy men between the ages of 18-79 years old. None of the men included in the study had a history of major illness (including depression) or cardiovascular disease, were currently on any medicine, or had previous psychiatric therapy. Over the course of a year, the researchers gained access to blood draining from the brain of the volunteers by taking samples from their internal jugular veins, which are found in the neck. They then measured the blood concentrations of serotonin and two other neurotransmitters not believed to be directly related to SAD—dopamine and norepinephrine—to use as controls. The neurotransmitter concentrations were then correlated to seasonal factors (measured daily), such as highest and lowest temperatures, total rainfall, and hours of bright sunlight.
As expected, production of serotonin by the brain was lowest in winter and was strongly correlated with the amount of bright sunlight during the day. Other than bright sunlight, no other seasonal factors had an effect on serotonin production. Concentrations of dopamine and norepinephrine were not influenced by these factors.
The major limitation of this study is that it was conducted on healthy volunteers, and it is not known whether environmental factors would affect people with SAD in the same way.
SAD Can Be Treated
Research, like the Lancet study, draws connections between sunlight, serotonin, and SAD. One common treatment for SAD involves light therapy, the use of light to stimulate the brain to produce neurotransmitters. You sit a few feet away from a special light box for a prescribed amount of time—usually up to 45 minutes—every day. This light is stronger than ordinary office or household lighting. If light therapy works for you, your symptoms will most likely improve significantly.
If light therapy does not work for you or if your depression is severe, your doctor may prescribe a type of antidepressant called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). SSRIs increase the level of serotonin activity in the brain.
There are several other ways to improve your mood. They seem to be especially useful in cases of mild depression.
- Exercise regularly.—Numerous studies have shown the influence of regular exercise on mood.
- Supplement your diet with fish oil—Some studies have linked omega-3 fatty acids with improved depressive symptoms.
- Talk to your doctor aboutSt John'sWort—This herb has been found to help with depression. There needs to be more research, though, on its effectiveness in treating SAD. Always talk to your doctor before taking herbs in supplements. They may interact with other medications. Also, it may not be safe to combineSt. John'swort with light therapy because the herb may make you more sensitive to light, possibly causing damage to your skin and eyes.
Antidepressant use in children, adolescents, and adults. US Food and Drug Administration website.
Lambert GW, Reid C, Kaye DM, et al. Effect of sunlight and season on serotonin turnover in the brain. The Lancet. 2002;360:1840-1842.


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Cloud services you can trust: Office 365 availability
"Your complete office in the cloud" is how we think of Microsoft Office 365. While it gives us enormous pride that one billion people use Office, we deeply appreciate the responsibility we have to meet and exceed our customers' expectations every day. We recognize that productivity apps are mission-critical; using them is how work gets done. It is imperative for us to ensure our service is trustworthy and reliable while we continue to add new capabilities to Office 365. Our measure for this is service availability.
Office 365 availability
Since launching Office 365 two years ago, we have continued to invest deeply in our infrastructure to ensure a highly available service. While information has been available in detail for our current customers, today we're making this information available to all customers considering Office 365. We measure availability as the number of minutes that the Office 365 service is available in a calendar month as a percentage of the total number of minutes in that month. We call this measure of availability the uptime number. Within this calculation, we include our business, government and education services. The worldwide uptime number for Office 365 for the last four quarters beginning July 2012 and ending June 2013 has been 99.98%, 99.97%, 99.94% and 99.97% respectively.
Here are a few more details about the uptime number:
- The uptime number includes Exchange, SharePoint, Lync and Office Web Apps, weighted on the number of people using each of these services. Customers use these services together, so all of these are taken into account while calculating uptime.
- This uptime number applies to Office 365 for business, education and government. We do not include consumer services in this calculation.
- Office 365 ProPlus is an integral part of our service offering but is not included in this calculation of uptime since it largely runs on the users' devices.
- Individual customers may experience higher or lower uptime percentages compared to the global uptime numbers depending on location and usage patterns.
As a commitment to running a highly available service, we have a Service Level Agreement of 99.9% that is financially backed.
Availability design principles
We have been building enterprise-class solutions for decades. In addition, Microsoft runs a number of cloud services like Office 365, Windows Azure, CRM Online, Outlook.com, SkyDrive, Bing, Skype and Xbox Live to name a few. We benefit from this diversity of services, leveraging best practices from each service across the others improving both the design of the software as well as operational processes.
Below are some examples of best practices applied in design and operational processes for Office 365.
Redundancy. Redundancy at every layer–physical, data and functional:
- We build physical redundancy at the disk/card level within servers, the server level within a datacenter and the service level across geographically separate data centers to protect against failures. Each data center has facilities and power redundancy. We have multiple datacenters serving every region.
- To build redundancy at the data level, we constantly replicate data across geographically separate datacenters. Our design goal is to maintain multiple copies of data whether in transit or at rest and failover capabilities to enable rapid recovery.
- In addition to the physical and data redundancy, as one of our core strengths we build Office clients to provide functional redundancy to enable you to be productive using offline functionality when there is no network connectivity.
Resiliency. Active load balancing and constant recovery testing across failure domains:
- We actively balance load to provide end users the best possible experiences in an automated manner. These mechanisms also dynamically prioritize, performing low priority tasks during low activity periods and deferring them during high load.
- We have both automated and manual failover to healthy resources during hardware or software failures and monitoring alerts.
- We routinely perform recovery across failure domains to ensure readiness for circumstances require failovers.
Distributed Services. Functionally distributed component services:
- The component services in Office 365 like Exchange, SharePoint, Lync and Office Web Apps are functionally distributed, ensuring that the scope and impact of failure in one area is limited to that area alone and not impact others.
- We replicate directory data across these component services so that if one service is experiencing an issue, users are able to login and use other services seamlessly.
- Our operations and deployment teams benefit from the distributed nature of our service, simplifying all aspects of maintenance and deployment, diagnostics, repair and recovery.
Monitoring. Extensive monitoring, recovery and diagnostic tools:
- Our internal monitoring systems continuously monitor the service for any failure and are built to drive automated recovery of the service.
- Our systems analyze any deviations in service behavior to alert on-call engineers to take proactive measures.
- We also have Outside-In monitoring constantly executing from multiple locations around the world both from trusted third party services (for independent SLA verification) and our own worldwide datacenters to raise alerts.
- For diagnostics, we have extensive logging, auditing, and tracing. Granular tracing and monitoring helps us isolate issues to root cause.
Simplification. Reduced complexity drives predictability:
- We use standardized components wherever possible. This leads to fewer deployment and issue isolation complexities as well as predictable failures and recovery.
- We use standardized process wherever possible. The focus is not only on automation but making sure that critical processes are repeated and repeatable.
- We have architected the software components to be loosely coupled so that their deployment and ongoing health don't require complex orchestration.
- Our change management goes through progressive, staged, instrumented rings of scope and validation before being deployed worldwide.
Human back-up. 24/7 on-call support:
- While we have automated recovery actions where possible, we also have a team of on-call professionals standing by 24×7 to support you. This team includes support engineers, product developers, program managers, product managers and senior leadership.
- With an entire team on call, we have the ability to provide rapid response and information collection towards problem resolution.
- Our on-call professionals while providing back-up, also improve the automated systems every time they are called to help.
Continuous learning
We understand that there will be times when you may experience service interruptions. We do a thorough post-incident review every time an incident occurs regardless of the magnitude of impact. A post-incident review consists of an analysis of what happened, how we responded and how we prevent similar incidents in the future. In the interest of transparency and accountability, we share post-incident review for any major service incidents if your organization was affected. As a large enterprise, we also "eat our own dogfood," i.e., use our own pre-production service to conduct day-to-day business here at Microsoft. Continuous improvement is a key component to provide a highly available, world-class service.
Consistent communication
Transparency requires consistent communication, especially when you are using online productivity services to conduct your business. We have a number of communication channels such as email, RSS feeds and the Service Health Dashboard. As an Office 365 customer, you get a detailed view into the availability of services that are relevant to your organization. The Office 365 Service Health Dashboard is your window into the current status of your services and your licenses. We continue to drive improvements into the Service Health Dashboard including tracking timeliness of updates to ensure so that you have full insight into your services health.
We also have some exciting new tools to improve your ability to stay up to date with the service. Last week we released a new feature in the administration portal called "Message Center." Message Center is a central hub for service communications, tenant reporting and actions required by administrators. Also, by the end of this year, administrators can expect a new mobile app that will provide service health information as well as other communications regarding their service.
Running a comprehensive and evolving service at ever increasing scale is a challenge and there will be service interruptions despite our efforts. We want to assure you that we are continually learning and are relentless in our commitment to provide you with a reliable highly available service that meets your expectations. Service continuity is more than an engineering principle it is a commitment to customers in our SLA and as one of the key pillars of Office 365 Trust Center (the other four pillars being Privacy, Security, Compliance and Transparency). This public disclosure of Office 365 uptime is evidence of our ongoing commitment to both Service Continuity and Transparency.


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Notice: this Wiki will be going read only early in 2024 and edits will no longer be possible. Please see: https://gitlab.eclipse.org/eclipsefdn/helpdesk/-/wikis/Wiki-shutdown-plan for the plan.
Scout/Concepts/Client Plug-In
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One of the key concepts in Scout is the strict separation of the business relevant user interface from its graphical representation. This is achieved by providing a custom component model which is represented to the user in form of a desktop application (SWT or Swing) or a web application (Rap).
That component model consists of typical components used in modern business applications. Beside the ability to separate the UI and GUI these components also enable automated and central control of recurring tasks like validation, parsing and other component specific behavior.
Strict subclassing of these abstract components leads to a strong typed application model where each application entity (Forms, Wizards, TablePages, ...) contains its component elements as inner classes, therefore entities are kept together as single unit.
Separation of UI and GUI
An important reason to create an own component model was to decouple the complex GUI code which needed to be implemented only once, as a result. So what we actually get is a separation of UI and GUI where the business logic for the UI is independent of any specific GUI implementation. This leads to the fact that you can easily switch between Swing, SWT, the web or any other upcoming GUI implementation if you like.
In the diagram you can see how the UI and the GUI of scout and your application based on scout work together. On the left there is the plugin org.eclipse.scout.rt.client (UI) and the plugin org.eclipse.scout.rt.ui.swt (GUI). The UI plugin does not have any dependency to the GUI plugin so that it stays independent. On the right side there are the counterparts of the scout plugins which form your applications client.
The same application rendered with different widget toolkit:
RAP GUI (Web application opened in Firefox)
Threading and Jobs
Another fundament of Eclipse Scout's simplicity is the Client Job Queue. Every logic processed on client side like calling services, opening a form, validating a field, etc. is run inside a ClientSyncJob and therefore synchronously. As soon the processing is finished and the data ready to be displayed the GUI Thread takes over and displays the data. This approach minimizes the execution time of the GUI Thread and therefore reduces the time of a blocking or freezing window.
How the fields are arranged on the form depends on the used form field container (composite). The default containers shipped with scout like GroupBox or TabBox use a so called body grid, which guarantees a uniform layout through the whole application. There are a lot of properties to control the layouting like vertical or horizontal span (gridH, gridW). If you still need more control you can create your own field composite with a custom layout manager. See Layout for a detailed explanation of the layout.
Component Model
Client Session
The Client Session is the main entry point for client-server communication.
The Desktop is the entry point of every Scout client application. It can (may) consist of top-level menus, active message box stack, set of available outline, active outline, active tableview, active detail form, active search form, form stack (swing: dialogs on desktop as JInternalFrames; eclipse: editors or views), dialog stack of modal and non-modal dialogs (swing: dialogs as JDialog, JFrame; eclipse: dialogs in a new Shell).
Typically a Desktop holds multiple Outlines. They represent different entry points for the navigation within the application. For every outline a tree is available which allows navigating within the application. The nodes of the tree are called Pages.
A Form is both a model structure of a ui concept known as dialog or view and also a model of a wizard page.
Form Handler
Every form is started by a Form Handler. Form handlers provide for a controlled form lifecycle. There typically exist at least a ModifyFormHandler and a NewFormHandler which are responsible for handling the modification respectively the creation of the form's data by calling the responsible services.
Form fields
Form fields are the basic elements for user inputs fiels within a form. Examples are:
- Button
- CheckboxField
- DateField
- DoubleField
- FileChooserField
- IntegerField
- ListBox
- LongField
- PageField
- PlaceholderField
- RadioButton
- SmartField
- StringField
- TableField
- TimeField
- TreeBox
Futhermore there exists composite fields which are able to group normal fields:
The Menu component include all links, functionalities, etc... available within the application.
A Tool component is used for grouping or dividing different views. This can be used for building business views on datas or just structuring your own application.
A Wizard supports a user to work in a process driven approach on a task.


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ARMONK, N.Y., April 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today debuted new Power Systems servers that allow data centers to manage staggering data requirements with unprecedented speed, all built on an open server platform. In a move that sharply contrasts other chip and server manufacturers' proprietary business models, IBM through the OpenPOWER Foundation, released detailed technical specifications for its POWER8 processor1, inviting collaborators and competitors alike to innovate on the processor and server platform, providing a catalyst for new innovation.
Built on IBM's POWER8 technology and designed for an era of Big Data, the new scale-out IBM Power Systems servers culminate a $2.4 billion investment, three-plus years of development and exploit the innovation of hundreds of IBM patents -- underscoring IBM's singular commitment to providing higher-value, open technologies to clients. The systems are built from the ground up to harness Big Data with the new IBM POWER8 processor, a sliver of silicon that measures just one square inch, which is embedded with more than 4 billion microscopic transistors and more than 11 miles of high-speed copper wiring.
"This is the first truly disruptive advancement in high-end server technology in decades, with radical technology changes and the full support of an open server ecosystem that will seamlessly lead our clients into this world of massive data volumes and complexity," said Tom Rosamilia, Senior Vice President, IBM Systems and Technology Group. "There no longer is a one-size-fits-all approach to scale out a data center. With our membership in the OpenPOWER Foundation, IBM's POWER8 processor will become a catalyst for emerging applications and an open innovation platform."
IBM's POWER architecture is the cornerstone of innovation for the OpenPOWER Foundation, creating a computing platform available to all. The Foundation – representing 25 global technology providers and growing – was founded by IBM, Google, NVIDIA, Mellanox and Tyan. The group announced today an innovation roadmap detailing planned contributions from several of its members, with IBM's Power Systems as the first servers to exploit OpenPOWER technology.
POWER8 Systems: Delivering Open Innovation to Put Data to Work
The IBM Power Systems are designed for a new era of Big Data, helping technology leaders who are faced with managing new types of social and mobile computing and the explosion of data generated each day.
FIS, a provider of payment processing and banking solutions that manages critical financial data for thousands of companies around the world, has expressed excitement about the new POWER8 systems, especially when combined with IBM FlashSystem storage arrays.
"FIS is excited about the anticipated capabilities and performance of the combination of IBM POWER8 and IBM FlashSystem storage arrays," said MaryEllen Adam, FIS, Senior Vice President of Large Financial Institutions Product Management. "We expect higher utilization and performance capabilities along with the flexible computing resources needed to meet our client's application processing and business delivery requirements. POWER8's secure-key cryptographic accelerator and cryptographic coprocessor functions combined with FlashSystems' enterprise ready extreme performance and application latency reductions capability provides an infrastructure that is critical to the success of today's core banking application environments."
To help address this data deluge, IBM is also announcing three new Power Systems solutions optimized for the unique requirements of Big Data and analytics solutions. Leveraging the POWER8-based systems together with the company's Big Data and analytics software portfolio, the solutions enable organizations to put data to work in real time. The new technologies, IBM Solution for BLU Acceleration, IBM Solution for Analytics and IBM Solution for Hadoop, are optimized for IBM's new Power Systems to deliver quick insights on both structured and unstructured data. For example, the new IBM Solution for Analytics provides speed of insight for today's data driven analytical, computational and cognitive workloads through integration with Cognos, SPSS and DB2 with BLU Acceleration.
According to IBM test results, the IBM Power Systems are capable of analyzing data 50 times faster than the latest x86-based systems.2 Certain companies have reported analytics queries running more than 1,000 times faster, reducing run times from several hours to just seconds.
Linux Developments: Collaboration with Canonical, PowerKVM
Recognizing Linux as a driving force for innovation, IBM last year committed $1 billion (USD) in new Linux and other open source technologies for IBM's Power Systems servers. Major investments include new products, a growing network of five Power Systems Linux Centers around the world and the Power Development Platform, a no-charge development cloud for developers to test and port x86-based applications to the Power platform.
Building upon that commitment, IBM today unveiled two Linux developments that fortify rapid cloud innovation on POWER8 systems:
- availability of Ubuntu Server 14.04 LTS, Ubuntu OpenStack and Juju service orchestration tools, on POWER8 systems; and
- introduction of PowerKVM, a Power Systems-compatible version of the popular Linux-based virtualization platform KVM, on all POWER8 systems that run Linux exclusively.
IBM's collaboration with Canonical, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu with more than 20 million users worldwide, provides easy migration for applications to Linux for cloud deployments to deliver Big Data and mobile software applications and to boost the performance of existing applications across cloud platforms. IBM is offering the latest release of Ubuntu Server, Ubuntu OpenStack and Canonical's Juju cloud orchestration tools on the new Power Systems announced today and all future POWER8-based systems.
This complements the existing support by IBM for Red Hat and SUSE Linux operating system distributions on its complete lineup of Power Systems.
Power Systems Scale-Out Servers: Changing Data Center Economics
The first POWER8-based systems to debut are five Power Systems S-Class servers designed for large, scale-out computing environments. With industry-leading server quality and utilization levels, the new line-up redefines today's data center economics – by helping to reduce floor space, power and cooling costs. IBM has designed these systems to operate at industry-leading levels of efficiency, guaranteeing the system will perform as warranted while at a sustained 65% utilization -- a rate higher than common x86 utilization levels.3 With twice the data throughput compared to an x86-based server, the new Power Systems can help cut data center footprints in half.4
With availability beginning June 10, the new scale-out S Class servers include two systems that run Linux exclusively – the Power Systems S812L and S822L servers. The three additional offerings, the Power Systems S814, S822 and S824 servers, provide clients the choice of running multiple operating systems including Linux, AIX and IBM i. Available in 1 and 2 socket and 2U and 4U configurations, the starting price of the new servers is $79735 ($200/month for 36 months).6
Financing Available
IBM Global Financing helps clients acquire Power Systems solutions with a single financing solution to better manage their cloud and big data infrastructure, and accelerate business transformation. Financing programs and offerings help clients better match the benefits of reduced upfront costs and faster return on investment within existing budget commitments. Credit-qualified clients may obtain 0% loans or Fair Market Value leasing and loans with customized payment plans. IBM Global Asset Recovery Services provides buyback and disposal services for removal of older IT equipment.
About IBM Big Data and Analytics
Each day, we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data generated by a variety of sources -- from climate information, to posts on social media sites, and from purchase transaction records to healthcare medical images. At IBM, we believe that data is emerging as the world's newest resource for competitive advantage, and analytics is the key to make sense of it. IBM is helping clients harness Big Data and analytics to provide insights needed to make better decisions, create value, and deliver that value to clients and society. IBM has the world's deepest and broadest portfolio of Big Data and analytics technologies and solutions, spanning services, software, research and hardware. For more information about IBM Big Data and analytics, visit http://ibm.co/bigdataanalytics. Follow IBM Big Data and analytics on Twitter @IBMbigdata and @IBMAnalytics.
For more information, go to the Power Systems launch page at http://www.ibm.com/systems/power/announcement.html. Join the conversation at #power8, #powersystems or follow @IBMPowerSystems.
1 See Technical Downloads section on the OpenPOWER Foundation website at http://openpowerfoundation.org/technical/technical-downloads/
2 Based on IBM internal tests as of April 7, 2014 comparing IBM DB2 with BLU Acceleration on Power with a comparably tuned competitor row store database server on x86 executing a materially identical 2.6TB BI workload in a controlled laboratory environment. Test measured 60 concurrent user report throughput executing identical Cognos report workloads. Competitor configuration: HP DL380p, 24 cores, 256GB RAM, Competitor row-store database, SuSE Linux 11SP3 (Database) and HP DL380p, 16 cores, 384GB RAM, Cognos 10.2.1.1, SuSE Linux 11SP3 (Cognos). IBM configuration: IBM S824, 24 cores, 256GB RAM, DB2 10.5, AIX 7.1 TL2 (Database) and IBM S822L, 16 of 20 cores activated, 384GB RAM, Cognos 10.2.1.1, SuSE Linux 11SP3 (Cognos). Results may not be typical and will vary based on actual workload, configuration, applications, queries and other variables in a production environment.
3 Applies for 90 days following date of installation to POWER8 systems announced today that are purchased by December 31, 2014 and running specified workloads on PowerVM. Subject to all other terms and conditions of the guarantee, including a minimum purchase requirement.
4 Source: Capacity based on IBM Sizing of typical system performance and 3rd party analysis of system utilization (Source - http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/power/software/virtualization/assets/platformmatters.html) . This is an IBM sizing designed to replicate a typical IBM customer workload used in the marketplace. The results are calculated and not an actual customer environment. IBM's internal workload studies are not benchmark applications and as such, customer applications, differences in the stack deployed, and other systems variations or conditions may produce different results and may vary based on actual configuration, applications, specific queries and other variables in a production environment. Power S822L - 34 servers (2S, 24 cores each), 816 total cores, POWER8, 3.0GHz, PowerVM. Commodity x86 servers - 100 servers (2S, 24 cores each), 2400 total cores, Ivy Bridge E5-2697 v2, 2.7GHz, VMware vSphere Ent. 100 x86 servers needed for ~ equal virtualized throughput of 34 Power S822L.
5 All prices in U.S. dollars.
6 Per month rate based on 36 month fair market value lease from IBM Global Financing in the U.S. for well qualified lessee. IBM Global Financing offerings are provided through IBM Credit LLC in the United States, IBM Canada Ltd. in Canada, and other IBM subsidiaries and divisions worldwide to qualified commercial and government clients. Rates and availability are based on a client's credit rating, financing terms, offering type, equipment type and options, and may vary by country. Some offerings are not available in certain countries. Other restrictions may apply. Rates and offerings are subject to change, extension or withdrawal without notice.
Kristin Bryson
[email protected]
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140423/77721
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO


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Photos! Hop Aboard For a First Look of On the Twentieth Century
February 25th, 2015 | By Broadway.com Staff
Click for photos from the new Broadway revival of On the Twentieth Century, starring Kristin Chenoweth and Peter Gallagher. The new Roundabout Theatre Company production opens March 12, 2015 at the American Airlines Theatre.


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Category Main Page Articles & Reviews
Main Nibbles
Articles & Reviews Of Foods From A To Z
Product Reviews
Main Page
Food, Beverages, Books, News & More
January 2009
CAPSULE REPORT: Looking for palate excitement this year? McCormick, the world's largest spice company, has developed cutting-edge flavor combinations that are sure to inspire. International influences and natural foods figure prominently in the company's Top 10 Flavor Pairings for 2009, allowing for flavorful yet healthy dishes. After reviewing the introductions to each flavor pairing, you can click through to a delicious recipe that expresses those flavors. If you love these innovative pairings as much as we do, you can still enjoy the wonderful recipes from Flavor Trends 2008, as well. This is Page 1 of a four-page article. Click on the black links below to view all 10 flavor pairings.
How does a spice company decide what's hot? McCormick draws on the expertise of sensory analysts, chefs, trend experts and food technologists. Joined by some of today's most innovative and cutting-edge restaurant chefs, cookbook authors and TV food personalities, this collective culinary vision helps chart a delicious course for the year ahead.
Influencing the flavors of 2009 are Asian-infused and internationally influenced tastes, a desire for all-natural foods and a craving for favorite ingredients reimagined with contemporary whimsy. McCormick explored these and other trends to develop the top 10 flavor pairings for 2009. See which one of the following you'd like to try first:
Cayenne pepper is a red chile with medium heat—6 on a scale of 10—used to flavor spicy dishes; its name comes from the city of Cayenne in French Guyana and it owes its fame to the Portuguese sailors who carried it to back to Europe, Asia and India on their voyages. It is generally rated at 30,000 to 50,000 Scoville Units. Cherries are a particularly good source of vitamin C and potassium. Both of these foods are very high in antioxidants, with raw cherries carrying 3,365 ORAC units per 100 grams and cayenne pepper carrying up to 23,636 units per 100 grams. (Read more about antioxidants in our Guide To Antioxidants.) Put together, these two superfoods—the heat of cayenne and sweet-sour tang of tart cherry—pack a multi-layered punch. Try them in this recipe for sweet-and-spicy Pulled Pork Sandwich In Tart Cherry Sauce With Vanilla Slaw.
Chinese five-spice is a powdered blend of spices that incorporate the five basic flavors of Chinese cooking: sweet, sour, bitter, savory and salty. The blend will vary according to the cook or the spice company, but a common one includes star anise, Sichuan peppercorns, cassia (a type of cinnamon) and fennel. Blends can be found at supermarkets, specialty food stores and Asian markets, or you can make your own.
While Chinese Five Spice can be used in virtually any recipe (chocolatier Richard Donnelly uses it in one of his chocolate bars), here, one of America's favorite foods, bacon, gets the Five Spice treatment. Artisan-cured pork means better bacon. The meat may be cured with a mixture of salt, sugar and spices, either rubbed into the meat dry ("dry-cured") or dissolved in a marinade, or sometimes smoked, rather than being cured with brine as with most supermarket brands.
In this recipe, handcrafted artistry merges with a harmonious Asian blend to create an innovative taste sensation. Make yourself a delectable brunch with this recipe for Mixed Greens With Five Spiced Bacon & Poached Egg.
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