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I knew it was coming and I am glad that it is finally here. Similar to brands such as Jaeger-LeCoultre, Girard-Perregaux makes (or made) really good sport watches that it does not really market that much. You just sort of need to know about them. For a while, the last remaining sport watch Girard-Perregaux made was the Sea Hawk – a high-end diver with a personality complex not knowing whether it was a serious sport watch meant for action or a luxury lifestyle watch meant for cocktail hour. And when was the last time you even heard about the Laureato collection?
At the end of 2012, Girard-Perregaux brings them both back into the limelight under a single collection – the Hawk. While the Laureato collection is retired for the time being, its design DNA has been incorporated into the new Sea Hawk and Chrono Hawk models. You can see the familiar design of the lugs and the octagonal bezel in there. Of course, it has been mashed together with elements from the last generation Sea Hawk models. Together they make for a pretty good looking new collection of sport watches, albeit a collection that does not scream "new." At launch there are going to be two new models and a few versions of these new Girard-Perregaux sport watches. The diver is the Sea Hawk, while the Chrono Hawk is well, the chronograph.
My top pick is the diver, probably because I really like divers a lot. While it is easily recognizable as a GP Sea Hawk, there are a lot of style changes throughout the design. The steel case is 44mm wide – which is a typical size for a watch in this segment. It has large and tall lugs along with that cool crown-guard which integrates with the lug at 4 o'clock. The older design did this a bit more gracefully, but it still looks nice. Ignoring all the GP design DNA for a minute, the new Sea Hawk case looks like a philosophical mix between the Omega Ploprof and an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak.
Compared to the older Sea Hawk models the new ones have a more modern looking and distinctive case. I like that. The dials are similar, and more high-end looking. Girard-Perregaux borrows from the most recent Sea Hawk 1000 Meters watches by having a dial that has the time with subsidiary seconds dial, date, and power reserve indicator. This combo of elements is attractive, and most importantly, useful. However, some sport watch enthusiasts will lament the subsidiary seconds dial for being hard to read in "crucial" situations, especially as it lacks luminant. I find the addition of a power reserve indicator to be very useful.
The dial has a sort of honeycomb texture and now has large raised hour markers that extend into the curved flange ring. They should be extremely easy to view and there is a lot of luminant on them. The depth of the dial looks pretty great, and I love that GP has mixed high-end elements with a serious tool watch look. At launch there will be three dial color versions. The black and red is my favorite so far. You also get two bezel options, one in just steel, and done with inlaid vulcanized rubber. Once again, the Girard-Perregaux Sea Hawk is water resistant to 1000 meters. How about that white strap with the embroidered alligators on one version of the Sea Hawk? Sorta sweet. It is actually a special version of the Foreverglades – hence the alligators.
Then there is the Chrono Hawk – a similar model that features a bi-compax chronograph dial and slightly different look within the same theme. I am happy that Girard-Perregaux made two distinct models as opposed to simply a Sea Hawk Chronograph. I am a bit confused about the movements used in these watches. Girard-Perregaux claims that they are both the in-house made GP3300 automatic movements. That isn't possible given that they don't do the same things. What I think they mean is that both the Sea Hawk and the Chrono Hawk movements are built on the GP3300 as a base caliber.
Using a similar case that is also 44mm wide in steel, the Chrono Hawk removes the rotating diver's bezel opting for a more simple brushed bezel. You can really see the Laureato in the Chrono Hawk design right? By the way, the new custom case-fitted strap is pretty nice. More and more we are moving to a world where buying a third-party strap just isn't possible anymore as each high-end watch tends to have their own custom strap or bracelet. Having said that, the design benefits are often worth it. On the dial, the Chrono Hawk offers a similar style as the Sea Hawk, but with different hands, hour markers, and a unique set of chronograph sub dials. While the hands are richly lumed, the chronograph hands are not. As a sport watch, it would have been nice to be able and read the chronograph in the dark. Compared to the diver, this model is water resistant to 100, versus 1000 meters. Look for the new Sea Hawk and Chrono Hawk watches from Girard-Perregaux in 2013. Prices are $11,350 for the standard Sea Hawk models, $12,500 for the Foreverglades Sea Hawk, and $14,800 for the Chrono Hawk
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS – Girard-Perregaux Sea Hawk
Refs. 49960-19-631-FK6A and 49960-11-131-FK6A
Case in steel
Bezel: rubber or steel
Diameter: 44.00 mm
Crystal: anti-reflective sapphire
Case-back: screw-down
Water resistance: 1,000 meters
Girard-Perregaux GP3300
Self-winding mechanical movement
Caliber: 11 ½ '''
Frequency: 28,800 vibrations/hour (4 Hz)
Power reserve: min. 46 hours
Jewels: 27
Functions: hour, minute, date, small second, power reserve indicator
Strap in black rubber
Steel folding buckle
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS – Girard-Perregaux Chrono Hawk
Refs. 49970-11-231-HD6A and 49970-11-131-HDBA
Case in steel
Diameter: 44.00 mm
Crystal: anti-reflective sapphire
Case-back: sapphire crystal
Water resistance: 100 meters
Girard-Perregaux GP3300
Self-winding mechanical movement
Calibre: 11 ½ '''
Frequency: 28,800 vibrations/hour (4 Hz)
Power reserve : min. 46 hours
Jewels: 61
Functions: hour, minute, date, small second, chronograph
Strap in rubber encased in brown or black leather
Steel folding buckle


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After just over a week since the finale the cast of Big Brother 15 have just begun to digest how the fans viewed their experience inside the BB house over the last 3 months. While some are in denial about their words and actions others have taken ownership of their mistakes and are trying to grow from the experience. Below are a number of new interviews and articles about the cast since they've left the Big Brother world.
During the BB15 wrap party a number of the Big Brother Canada season 1 cast joined the party and got mixed up in some of the drama.

subset: commoncrawl


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In June of 2013 the administrations of the General Conference
of Seventh-day Adventists and its North American Division asked the boards of
Pacific Press Publishing Association and Review and Herald Publishing
Association to consider a merger in order to achieve publishing and production
efficiencies. The boards of both publishing houses expressed a readiness to
study and respond to a detailed merger proposal being developed by a taskforce
composed of representatives from the General Conference, the North American
Division, and both publishing houses. In the course of its assignment the
taskforce came to the conclusion that it was best not to proceed with a merger. Consequently, the plan was discontinued and no
proposal was submitted to the boards.
As with the publishing industry in general, financial
challenges have continued. In response, the General Conference and North American Division administrations have
examined available options other than merger.
A proposal under development is to maintain two publishing entities, one
attached to the General Conference and the other attached to the North American
Division. The unit attached to the
General Conference would not operate printing and production facilities. Instead, the printing and production needs of
this house would be entrusted to the North American Division's publishing
On April 24, 2014, the General Conference and North American
Division administrations requested the boards of both publishing houses to
indicate their readiness to receive a formal proposal for the restructuring of
publishing in the North American Division.
A prepared statement to the boards from Ted Wilson, General Conference president, and Dan Jackson, North American Division president, affirmed that
"the publishing ministries will be a dynamic part of the Revelation 18
prophetic mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church." Further, the two presidents agreed that
"neither…the Review and Herald nor the Pacific Press, has a strong future
without an integral involvement with the NAD and its mission outreach."
Both boards have responded positively. Within the next few weeks the specific
details of a restructuring plan will be completed and submitted to the boards
for their response.


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Related links:
Phoenix Instruments and Mission Objectives
Animation depicting Phoenix mission (small 3 Mb | large 31 Mb)
Phoenix Mars Lander
The Phoenix Mars Lander is a spacecraft that NASA has sent to Mars. Phoenix landed near the North Pole of Mars. Scientists think there is water ice just below the surface in that area. If there is water ice there, it might give us clues about the possibility of life on Mars. Phoenix is searching for water ice. If it finds any ice, it will use its instruments to analyze it.
Phoenix blasted off from Florida in August 2007. The spacecraft spent 9 months on its cruise flight to Mars. Phoenix landed on the northern plains of Mars on May 25, 2008. If all goes well, the lander will keep working for at least 90 sols (Martian days; about 92 Earth days). Phoenix uses solar panels to make electricity to keep it running. After about 90 days it will start to be winter at the Martian North Pole, so there will be less and less daylight. As it gets darker, the solar panels will stop making electricity and Phoenix will run out of power and will stop working.
Click here to learn about the instruments on Phoenix and also about the purpose of the lander's mission.
Phoenix landed at 233° East longitude by 68° North latitude on Mars. That's about as far north on the Red Planet as northern Alaska is on Earth. Although lack of sunlight will cause the robot to stop working after a few months, NASA hopes it will last a little while into the Martian winter. If it does, it may be able to watch ice build up on the land around it as winter begins. Dry ice, which is ice made from frozen carbon dioxide instead of water, will form around Phoenix. The lander may get buried in as much as one meter (3 feet) of dry ice!


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Vice President
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Mrs. Cheney
News & Policies
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Your Government
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Welcome to "Ask the White House" -- an online interactive forum where you can submit questions to Administration officials and friends of the White House. Visit the "Ask the White House" archives to read other discussions with White House officials. |
March 11, 2004
Shirin Tahir-Kheli Charles, from Livingston, NJ writes: Shirin Tahir-Kheli I saw the dozens of palaces that were built in the same time that the regime spent a dollar per citizen on health. I met with dozens of Iraqi women and each had a poignant story to tell about the human rights violations that they or members of their immediate families went through under Saddam.
Earlier this week, the Iraqi Governing Council signed the transitional administrative law which acts in sorts as an interim constitution and protects the rights of ALL of its citizens, men and women. We continue to work with the Iraqi people as we move toward June 30 which will be the date when Iraq becomes a sovereign nation. Carol, from Michigan City
writes: The answers to these will help me understand your position better and put information with your face. Shirin Tahir-Kheli Amongst the things we do are to help promote and implement the President's policies on human rights and democracy. This includes promoting religious freedom, working on humanitarian assistance and refugees issues, and combating against trafficking in persons We also work with international organizations like the UN, ILO, the Red Cross and others. Amy, from Amherst, NY writes: Shirin Tahir-Kheli
Each year, the State Department also publishes an annual report on trafficking in persons to raise awareness of the issue all over the world. George, from Santa Barbara writes: Shirin Tahir-Kheli The US sponsored a resolution at this year's General Assembly on Women and Political Participation. 110 nations co-sponsored the resolution and it passed unanimously. The President has committed $15 billion over 5 years to combating HIV AIDS which increasingly affects women. Part of that effort includes a mother and child HIV prevention initiative. The US is a leader in micro-credit financing for women around the world. The President has committed over $150 million to combat trafficking in persons, something which affects predominantly women and children. april, from arkansas writes: Bring your own lunch because our food is cold. Shirin Tahir-Kheli Chari, from St. Petersburg, FL writes: Shirin Tahir-Kheli The TAL outlaws discrimination based on gender, nationality, religion and ethnic origin. It also contains a goal of no less than 25 percent of members of the National Assembly should be women. Molly, from NY,NY writes: Shirin Tahir-Kheli The country reports are an important tool to formulating our policies and programs. These reports can be found on www.state.gov. The latest ones were released on February 25, 2004.
As the President has made clear, the US stands for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity: the rule of law; limits on the power of the state; free speech; freedom of worship; equal justice; respect for women; religious and ethnic tolerance; and respect for private property. April, from Portland writes: Shirin Tahir-Kheli We work with governments all over the world to promote the rights of women because we believe that women's rights are critical issues. We encourage full participation by women in their countries. And even as recently as last week, we were very gratified to see the participation of three women in the drafting and adoption of Transitional Administrative Law in Iraq.
Women have played a leading role in helping to bring democracy to many countries and have paid a personal price for it. For example, in Burma Aung San Suu Kyi, an elected democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner is currently under house arrest. The President has continuously called for her release.
Shirin Tahir-Kheli |
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November 20, 2013
Mind and Meditation workshop today
A Mind and Meditation session, hosted by the Art of Living student club, is from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov 20, in the K-State Student Union's Cottonwood Room.
Offered will be gentle yoga, sun salutation and some meditation time.
All are welcome to join, no prerequisites needed. Bring a friend.


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Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
Show All Answers
Yes. We look forward to seeing you at the event in 2022!
The short answer is no, but please read the details below for March and April billing.
City of West Richland utility billing staff will prepare late notices for those customers that did not meet the March 25th payment deadline. The $20 past due fee normally associated with the past due notice will be waived for all customers. By sending the notice, it will alert customers the City did not receive payment and give them the opportunity to contact the City office and correct any payments that may have been misapplied.
West Richland Municipal Code 1.20.010 states low-income senior citizens and low-income permanently disabled citizens must renew their applications annually by April 15th for continued discount. This deadline is being extended for the year 2020 to July 15th.
For the months of March and April, utility customers can enter into a promissory plan or payment plan and admin fees and interest fees will be waived. The City has a limit of 2 promissory agreements per year, if a customer enters into an agreement during the months of March and/or April, these promissory agreements will not count as one of the allowed within the calendar year.
No water shut-offs will occur for non-payment for the month of April 2020.
The City will not pursue foreclosure of property for unpaid utility debt until after June 30, 2020.
Businesses that are temporarily closed due to COVID-19 can submit a temporary discontinue service application to stop services for Water, Sewer, and Garbage services. Normally, a $15 or $40 dollar fee for both the disconnect and then the reconnect are charged for the service during normal business hours. These disconnect and reconnect fees will be waived for commercial customers temporarily closing their business due to COVID-19. If the customer is requesting an after-hours disconnect, the fee will not be waived under this revision. Forms can be returned by email or dropped off in the night drop box located outside the Municipal Services Facility.
Note: Customers must have water disconnected in order to disconnect sewer and garbage services. If the customer is not supplied by the City water service, a temporary disconnect would not be applicable.
Yes, both residents and businesses should continue to contact backflow assembly testers and companies to complete backflow assembly testing. The State Department of Health's Office of Drinking Water included backflow assembly testers under the List of Essential Functions.
If you are experiencing financial struggle or your business is closed under the Governor's Stay Home Stay Healthy order, please email Brandon Dawkins-the City's Cross Connection Specialist. You may request a 60-day extension to the backflow test due date.
Questions may also be directed to Brandon Dawkins via email. Please remember to include your name or business name, address, and current phone number with each request.
The City is tentatively scheduled to turn on the City operated irrigation system for the Luanne Estates, Brotherhood, and Flat Top locations Wednesday, April 8, 2020.


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ARMONK, NY - 17 Jul 2017: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today unveiled IBM Z, the next generation of the world's most powerful transaction system, capable of running more than 12 billion encrypted transactions per day. The new system also introduces a breakthrough encryption engine that, for the first time, makes it possible to pervasively encrypt data associated with any application, cloud service or database all the time. Experience the Interactive Multimedia News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8013251-ibm-z-mainframe-data-protection/
IBM Z's new data encryption capabilities are designed to address the global epidemic of data breaches, a major factor in the $8 trillion cybercrime impact on the global economy by 2022. Of the more than nine billion data records lost or stolen since 2013, only four percent were encrypted, making the vast majority of such data vulnerable to organized cybercrime rings, state actors and employees misusing access to sensitive information.
In the most significant re-positioning of mainframe technology in more than a decade, when the platform embraced Linux and open source software, IBM Z now dramatically expands the protective cryptographic umbrella of the world's most advanced encryption technology and key protection. The system's advanced cryptographic capability now extends across any data, networks, external devices or entire applications – such as the IBM Cloud Blockchain service – with no application changes and no impact on business service level agreements.
"The vast majority of stolen or leaked data today is in the open and easy to use because encryption has been very difficult and expensive to do at scale," said Ross Mauri, General Manager, IBM Z. "We created a data protection engine for the cloud era to have a significant and immediate impact on global data security."
Technology Breakthrough: Industry-First Pervasive Encryption for the Cloud Era
A recent study found that extensive use of encryption is a top factor in reducing the business impact and cost of a data breach. To put that in context, the IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index reported that more than four billion records were leaked in 2016 (a 556 percent increase from 2015).
However, encryption is often largely absent in corporate and cloud data centers because current solutions for data encryption in x86 environments can dramatically degrade performance (and thus user experience), and can be too complex and expensive to manage. As a result, only about two percent of corporate data is encrypted today, while more than 80 percent of mobile device data is encrypted [1].
IBM Z pervasive encryption reflects a call to action on data protection articulated by Chief Information Security Officers and data security experts worldwide, and more than 150 IBM clients around the world who participated and provided feedback in IBM Z's system design over three years.
As a result of this collaboration, IBM Z brings significant advances in cryptography technology, building on a proven encryption platform that safeguards the world's banking, healthcare, government and retail systems. IBM Z pervasive encryption delivers breakthroughs including:
- Pervasive encryption of data – all the time. IBM Z makes it possible, for the first time, for organizations to pervasively encrypt data associated with an entire application, cloud service or database in flight or at rest with one click. The standard practice today is to encrypt small chunks of data at a time, and invest significant labor to select and manage individual fields. This bulk encryption at cloud scale is made possible by a massive 7x increase in cryptographic performance over the previous generation z13 – driven by a 4x increase in silicon dedicated to cryptographic algorithms. This is 18x faster than compared x86 systems (that today only focus on limited slices of data) and at just five percent of the cost of compared x86-based solutions [1].
- Tamper-responding encryption keys. A top concern for organizations is protection of encryption keys. In large organizations, hackers often target encryption keys, which are routinely exposed in memory as they are used. Only IBM Z can protect millions of keys (as well as the process of accessing, generating and recycling them) in "tamper responding" hardware that causes keys to be invalidated at any sign of intrusion and can then be restored in safety. The IBM Z key management system is designed to meet Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) Level 4 standards, where the norm for high security in the industry is Level 2. This IBM Z capability can be extended beyond the mainframe to other devices, such as storage systems and servers in the cloud. In addition, IBM Secure Service Container protects against insider threats from contractors and privileged users, provides automatic encryption of data and code in-flight and at-rest, and tamper-resistance during installation and runtime.
- Encrypted APIs. IBM z/OS Connect technologies make it easy for cloud developers to discover and call any IBM Z application or data from a cloud service, or for IBM Z developers to call any cloud service. IBM Z now allows organizations to encrypt these APIs – the digital glue that links services, applications and systems – nearly 3x faster than alternatives based on compared x86 systems [2].
"The pervasive encryption that is built into, and is designed to extend beyond, the new IBM Z really makes this the first system with an all-encompassing solution to the security threats and breaches we've been witnessing in the past 24 months," said Peter Rutten, analyst at IDC's Servers and Compute Platforms Group.
Designed for Tough New Data Protection Regulations
The IBM Z also helps clients build trust with consumers and comply with new standards such as the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that will increase data protection requirements for organizations doing business in Europe starting next year. GDPR will require organizations to report data breaches to the regulatory authority within 72 hours and face fines of up to four percent of annual worldwide revenues or 20 million Euro, unless the organization can demonstrate that data was encrypted and the keys were protected. At the U.S. Federal level, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), which includes the five banking regulators, provides guidance on the use of encryption in the financial services industry. [Singapore](http://www.mas.gov.sg/~/media/MAS/Regulations and Financial Stability/Regulatory and Supervisory Framework/Risk Management/TRM Guidelines 21 June 2013.pdf) and Hong Kong have published similar guidance. More recently, the New York State Department of Financial Services published requirements regarding encryption in the Cybersecurity Requirements for Financial Services Companies.
[IBM Z, deeply integrated with IBM Security software, automates and dramatically streamlines security and compliance processes. For example, auditors are expected to manually inspect and validate the security of databases, applications and systems. Organizations can now immediately demonstrate that data within the scope of compliance is protected and the keys are secure. This can significantly reduce the mounting complexity and cost of compliance for auditors. The system also provides an audit trail showing if and when permissioned insiders accessed data.
Creating the Most Secure Blockchain Service
As blockchain applications become increasingly integrated into core business processes, client's concerns are naturally shifting to security, encryption, and resiliency. The IBM Cloud is constantly evolving with industry leading compute options. Now it is evolving again to bring IBM Z onto the IBM Cloud, launching initially as an encryption engine for cloud services and to run IBM Blockchain services to provide the highest commercially available levels of cryptographic hardware. New blockchain services in centers in Dallas, London, Frankfurt, Sao Paolo, Tokyo and Toronto are secured using IBM Z's industry-leading cryptography technology.
"The powerful combination of IBM Z encryption and secure containers differentiates IBM Blockchain services on the cloud by supporting the trust models new blockchain networks require," said Marie Wieck, general manager, IBM Blockchain. "Enterprise clients also benefit from the ease of use making management transparent to the application and the user."
AngelHack, in collaboration with IBM, today launched "Unchain the Frame," a global virtual hackathon with more than $50,000 USD in prizes. Developers from around the world are invited to show off their skills and creativity using technologies such as blockchain, open source applications, financial industry APIs and machine learning on IBM Z.
New: Predictable and Transparent Container Pricing
IBM also announced three groundbreaking new Container Pricing models for IBM Z, providing clients greatly simplified software pricing that combines flexible deployment with competitive economics vs. public clouds and on-premises x86 environments:
- New microservices and applications that enable clients to maximize the value from security-rich on-premises enterprise systems in real time. Clients can now co-locate applications to optimize qualities of services that are priced competitively with public cloud and on-premises platforms.
- Application development and test with the freedom to triple capacity of all development environments on z/OS to support latest DevOps tooling and processes. Clients can triple capacity with no increase in monthly license charge.
- Payment systems pricing based on the business metric of payments volume a bank processes, not the available capacity. This gives clients much greater flexibility to innovate affordably in a competitive environment, particularly in the fast-growing Instant Payment segment.
These precedent-setting Container Pricing options are designed to give clients the predictability and transparency they require for their business. The pricing models are scalable both within and across logical partitions (LPARs) and deliver greatly enhanced metering, capping and billing capabilities. Container Pricing for IBM Z is planned to be available by year-end 2017 and enabled in z/OS V2.2 and z/OS V2.3.
The Most Powerful Transaction System for the Cloud Era
IBM Z builds on the capabilities of the world's most powerful transaction engine at the center of global commerce today supporting:
- 87 percent of all credit card transactions and nearly $8 trillion payments a year.
- 29 billion ATM transactions each year, worth nearly $5 billion per day.
- Four billion passenger flights each year.
- More than 30 billion transactions per day – more than the number of Google searches every day.
- 68 percent of the world's production workloads at only six percent of the total IT cost.
Banks and others in the financial services industry process thousands of transactions per second to keep the world's financial systems running. The mainframe is more critical than ever for reliably handling high volumes of transaction data.
Ninety-two of the world's top 100 banks rely on the IBM mainframe because of its ability to efficiently process huge volumes of transactions. To help financial services organizations more effectively compete in the cloud era, enormous amounts of sensitive data produced by transactions can now be better protected against fraud and cybercrime, analyzed, and monetized using IBM Z – without causing disruption of day-to-day operations. For banks, this means encryption at the click of a button -- even while applications are running -- and the ability to migrate data from unencrypted to encrypted with no impact to service level agreements.
The IBM Z, the next generation of IBM's industry-leading CMOS mainframe technology, features the industry's fastest microprocessor, running at 5.2GHz, and a new scalable system structure that delivers up to a 35 percent capacity increase for traditional workloads and a up to a 35 percent capacity increase for Linux workloads compared to the previous generation z13. The system can support:
- More than 12 billion encrypted transactions per day on a single system.
- The world's largest MongoDB instance with 2.5x faster NodeJS performance than compared x86-based platforms.
- Two million Docker Containers.
- 1,000 concurrent NoSQL databases.
Other new available capabilities announced today include:
- Three times the memory of the z13 for faster response times, greater throughput and accelerated analytics performance. With 32TB of memory, IBM Z offers one of the largest memory footprints in the industry.
- Three times faster I/O and accelerated transaction processing compared to the z13 to drive growth in data, transaction throughput and lower response time.
- The ability to run Java workloads 50 percent faster than x86 alternatives [3].
- Industry-leading Storage Area Network response time with zHyperLink, delivering 10x latency reduction compared to the z13 and cutting application response time in half – enabling businesses to do much more work such as real-time analytics or interact with Internet of Things (IoT) devices and cloud applications within the same transaction, without changing a single line of application code [4].
As part of today's announcement, IBM also previewed new z/OS software that provides foundational capabilities for private cloud service delivery, enabling a transformation from an IT cost center to a value-generating service provider. When available, these capabilities will include the support of workflow extensions for IBM Cloud Provisioning and Management for z/OS and real-time SMF analytics infrastructure support.
IBM Global Financing can help credit-qualified clients acquire the new IBM Z, lower their total cost of ownership, and accelerate return on investment. IBM Global Financing offerings for IBM mainframe solutions are available from IBM and IBM Business Partners, and provide flexible terms and conditions that can be customized to align cost to project benefits or other client needs.
Learn more about the IBM Z portfolio , the new IBM z14 mainframe or IBM Z enterprise security.
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Dollycas's Thoughts has moved to Escape With Dollycas Into A New Book.
I tried to transfer my followers from this blog to the new one but it did NOT work.
The previous feeds you were receiving through these two options were not transferred correctly due to misinformation from Google/Feedburner. It transferred all your nice pictures here and listed you as followers but you were not receiving information from the new blog only the old one.
For this reason I am asking you to please join Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book again, just like you would have had to if Google had not let me back in.
If you follow using Networked Blogs, that application has been having issues since Facebook made it's major changes last month. If may just be easier to like the Escape With Dollycas Fan Page by clicking the Facebook Button in the upper left column or using this link.
I am so sorry for the inconvenience.
I know I have asked a lot of you the past 2 weeks and I hope everything from now on runs smoothly with no more glitches.
As always feel free to contact me at email@example.com or leave comments.
Thank you!!


text:
'Mystery Priest' Vanishes After Anointing Crash Victim
A small Missouri town is looking for a man not suspected of a crime but, rather, a miracle.
"I think that this time I've actually witnessed a guardian angel at work," Jeremiah See of the New London Fire Department told ABC News.
An unidentified allegedly drunken driver hit Katie Lentz, of Quincy, Mo., head on Aug. 4 while traveling on Route 19 near Center, Mo., pinning the 19-year-old in the front seat of her convertible. With her vital signs failing fast, she asked rescue crews to pray with her.
That's when first responders say a man who looked like a catholic priest seemed to appear out of nowhere, despite a 2-mile perimeter blocking the scene.
"He began to pray and use the anointing oil," New London Fire Chief Raymond Reed said. "There was a calmness that, to me, seemed to come over the entire scene."
But that's not the only seemingly divine detail. Firefighters say their equipment kept failing until the mystery man showed up.
"The words were to remain calm, that our tools would now work," Reed said. "Instantaneously, at that moment, our neighboring department arrived with fresh extrication tools."
Lentz survived, but the man vanished before crews could thank him.
The young woman is recovering in the hospital with broken legs and ribs, but some say it could've been worse, if not for the mystery man on the highway.
"Whether it was just a priest as an angel, or an actual angel coming down," Lentz's friend Travis Wiseman said, "he was an angel to everyone and to Katie."


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Effective reading instruction in the early grades can prevent reading difficulties formany children who might otherwise be referred for remedial or special education programs. Research indicates that, today, 37 percent of our nation's fourth graders are performing below the "basic" level, meaning they cannot read well enough to understand a simple story or can barely read at all. We also know that more than two-thirds of high school students receiving special education are three or more grade levels behind in reading, and 20 percent are behind by five or more grade levels. Research shows that reading problems are much more difficult to remediate in later grades, even with the services of special education.
With the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, school psychologists are in an unprecedented position to significantly contribute to efforts to ensure that all children receive the most effective scientifically-based reading instruction possible. Below are some suggestions on how school psychologists can help more students become good readers.
Assess your knowledge of reading
Consider what coursework you have had, your professional development activities, and how familiar you are with the latest research findings and recommendations regarding effective scientifically-based reading instruction. Consider pursuing professional development opportunities as needed through your district, through state and national professional associations, and through your local university.
Assess the needs in your schools and district
If you have not already done so, become familiar with the actual curriculum materials and instructional techniques that are used in your schools and district. This is important because it will help to ensure that the recommendations you make for students are developmentally and grade appropriate, as well as evidence-based. It is also important to know what types of tiered interventions are available for at-risk readers and how decisions are made to assign students to different programs. Is your school a "Reading First" school? What training has been conducted? How is data used to make instructional decisions? Is progress monitoring used to provide frequent feedback? Once you have assessed these needs, it may become clear how you can best provide support.
Assess student needs
School psychologists are in a great position to assist teachers with students who are struggling to learn to read. You have the background and skills needed to assist in selecting appropriate assessment methods to identify a child's level of reading performance. Be sure to familiarize yourself with research-based early assessment tools that have been proven to be effective.
Provide leadership
School psychologists understand the structure of schools and have the ability to pull various district groups and resources together to benefit students. You can:
- Review published reading programs in the context of reading research and evaluate their technical validity and reliability.
- Serve as advisor to administrators and teachers as they select appropriate instructional programs and curriculum for use in the district.
- Provide or facilitate district-wide in-service training for teachers, other school psychologists, paraprofessionals, and administrators regarding selected programs.
- Contribute to or facilitate parent information sessions dealing with literacy.
Conduct in-service workshops for teachers
Many K-3 teachers received limited college instruction on how to effectively teach reading skills. You can present a series of one-hour sessions designed to explore the five elements of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Video modules available from Reading Rockets can be used as a starting point for providing in-depth information about research-based practices that focus on reading interventions. You can also recognize that assessment issues can be particularly challenging for teachers. Consider training teachers in how to use appropriate assessment tools to identify students who are struggling to learn to read. When teachers understand the importance of their contribution to assessment – and the benefits to students – they are often more willing to participate. In addition, you can help teachers adopt research-based, instructional practices to ensure student success.
Conduct joint workshops for parents and teachers
As a school psychologist, you can also bring teachers and parents together to focus on reading. School psychologists can provide a starting point for developing critical collaborative relationships to enhance student success. You can discuss how parents and teachers can work together to support students' development of reading skills. When you dispel the mystery of how children learn to read, parents are more likely to become willing partners in helping children with homework and volunteering in the classroom.
Conduct in-service workshops for administrators
Also focus on developing a collaborative relationship with school administrators in order to address literacy. Arrange with the superintendent to make a presentation to all district administrators to ensure that they are aware of the latest research and resources available in reading. Attend district administrators' meetings and assist in policy-making decisions that will affect all students in your district. The use of screening and progress-monitoring assessment tools is an area of particular confusion for many school administrators. They might value the input of a knowledgeable school psychologist.
Conduct in-service workshops for speech and language pathologists
Speech and language pathologists already have significant knowledge regarding the importance of language development and phonological processing. They are a natural resource that we often overlook. Develop collaborative relationships with these professionals, which will benefit many students. Speech and language pathologists are particularly interested in research-based assessment tools used to determine early intervention needs.
Facilitate cooperative activities with parent-teacher associations
School psychologists with a strong background in reading can facilitate workshops for parents. Parents need to know what is expected of their children and what measures are used to determine if their children are meeting those expectations. Provide opportunities for discussion and hand out print materials to parents so that they have something to refer to at home.
Understand the design and implementation of research
You can also support data-driven assessment and progress monitoring. Since school psychologists are trained in research methods, you are a logical choice to direct efforts to track the implementation and effectiveness of research-based interventions.
Consult with teachers
Current research indicates that improved academic outcomes result from effective classroom management, positive teacher-student interactions, and increased academic time in the classroom. School psychologists can assist teachers in designing intervention plans that will lead to student success. You are in a position to demonstrate the links between the assessment data that teachers are required to gather, the selection of appropriate interventions, and the evaluation of intervention effectiveness.


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Congratulations to Family Court judges for speaking out publicly about the flaws in proposed changes to the Family Court and congratulations to Justice Minister Judith Collins for taking on board their concerns.
The Weekend Herald reports Mrs Collins has agreed not to implement proposals that would have banned lawyers from acting in the early stages of disputes over the care of children.
Now the Government needs to go much further in rethinking its plans.
In particular, it needs to put domestic violence at the forefront and reverse proposed reforms that would downgrade the emphasis placed on the safety of women and children.
The Family Court Proceedings Reform Bill, which would produce the biggest shake-up in the Family Court in its 30-year history, is before Parliament. Clause 14 would replace sections 58 to 62 of the present Care of Children Act 2004, which contain protections for children in cases involving violence.
The bill proposes to downgrade that protection with what are described in its Explanatory Note as "simpler provisions".
Why are we introducing simpler provisions when the safety of women and children is at stake? What is required are safer, not simpler provisions.
Also, the bill contains a new clause 4, which would allow the court to take account of the conduct of a person who "is obstructive towards any person who has, or who is seeking to have, a role in the upbringing of the child".
This appears to be based directly on the myth that mothers make up false allegations of domestic violence to keep fathers from seeing their children. There is no evidence to support this.
The fact that New Zealand continues to have such high rates of domestic violence and child abuse shows that the Family Court needs to do more to protect women and children, not less.
Some questions that need to be asked before any further steps are taken include the following:
Why are women and children still dying when Protection Orders have been made in the Family Court to safeguard them?
Why do judges give primary care to men against whom Protection Orders have been made?
Why is violence to mothers treated as irrelevant to the welfare of children when research clearly demonstrates how immensely damaging it is?
Why do some judges focus on fairness to the respondent rather than the safety of women and children when dealing with Protection Order applications?
Why do judges dismiss violence to mothers as "situational" violence relating to the ending of a relationship and not relevant to children's safety?
Why are mothers who raise safety concerns labelled as alienating and frequently punished by having their contact with children reduced?
Some of the changes in the bill seem to run counter to the Government's own ends. For example, throughout the Family Court history, counselling and mediation have been extensively used and most cases are resolved by these methods without the need for an adversarial defended hearing.
Until recently, people have been entitled to six free counselling sessions provided through the Family Court, without the need to file proceedings first.
But last year, as part of the planned changes, free counselling was immediately cut back to one hour as an interim measure until Family Dispute Resolution was established.
People can now access three instead of one hour's counselling but only if they file an application in the Family Court, creating an incentive to issue proceedings to access more hours of counselling - the opposite of the Government's stated aim of reducing the number of cases in the Family Court.
In the past year, we have already seen in Auckland's family courts the chaos that resulted from implementing the untested and ill-thought out policy of central processing of cases. The then-Principal Family Court Judge, the Law Society and lawyers all strongly criticised the new system and warned of the risks.
Let's not repeat those mistakes with more untested changes which downgrade the importance of the safety of women and children - the very people the Family Court should be protecting.
In 2011, the Australian Government reversed disastrous 2006 changes after clear evidence of the negative impact of failure to pay proper heed to domestic violence and protect children from it.
Catriona MacLennan is a barrister. She does not receive any income from the Family Court or from Legal Aid.
Debate on this article is now closed.


text: Gail A. Gerono holds an MBA from the Donahue Graduate School of Business at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA, as well as a BA in French from Mercyhurst College. Gerono is the vice president of investor relations, communications, and human resources at Calgon Carbon, a company that removes contaminants and odors from liquids and gases. Gerono joined Calgon Carbon in 1990 as manager of investor relations and was promoted to director in 1993. She became the first woman to serve as a vice president at the company in 2002.


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4 (1/4-ounce) envelopes unflavored gelatin
1 cup water
2 cups granulated sugar plus additional for tossing
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup combination of blood orange and blackberry purée (strain blackberry seeds)
Equipment: an 8-inch square nonstick baking pan
Lightly oil baking pan.
Sprinkle gelatin over water in a 2-quart heavy saucepan and let stand 4 minutes to soften. Heat gelatin over medium-low heat, stirring, until dissolved. Stir in 2 cups sugar until dissolved, then stir in lemon juice.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, washing any sugar crystals down side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. Reduce heat to medium-low and boil, uncovered, without stirring, 13 minutes (watch carefully so that mixture does not boil over). Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes for bubbles to dissipate. (Skim any foam that remains after 5 minutes.) Stir in fruit purée (do not scrape bottom of pan; leave any dark bits that stick). Pour into baking pan and let stand at room temperature until set, at least 12 hours.
Run a sharp knife around edge of gelatin and invert onto a cutting board. Cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips, then cut strips into 1-inch pieces. Just before serving, gently toss gelées in a bowl of sugar to coat, brushing off excess.
Servings: Makes about 4 dozen candies


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text: Use these bags for treat or gift bags. Just pop the treat or gift into one of our shiny cellophane bags and add a stamped header. These bags are also great for storing finished projects, parts for future projects, or any other odds and ends.* 50 flat bags* 6" x 8" (15.2 x 20.3 cm)* Stampable with StazOn ink* Food safe* Acid free


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Welcome to Mansfield, a dynamic, growing community with a rich history and a bright future. In its more than 100 years Mansfield has developed from a rural, farming community to a bustling suburban city of more than 73,000 people.
Yet despite the explosive growth this city has seen in recent years, Mansfield has not lost its friendly atmosphere or its small-town feel. With a quality of life considered to be one of the best in the Metroplex, Mansfield offers more than 900 acres of parkland, a historic downtown area, recreational opportunities for young and old, superior rated schools, quality housing and a growing business community.
All of these elements make Mansfield a wonderful place to live and raise a family and a popular place to do business.


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My sorry first attempt - the first day in our (then) new house
I was recently introduced to a website that hit all my sentimental buttons and had me pouring through my photos. Have you heard of dearphotograph.com? This website displays photos people have taken of old photographs in the exact spot in which the originals were taken. The idea is to line up the landscape or architectural features visible in the photo with the same in today's world, showing what can be a powerful juxtaposition of old and new. The result is nostalgic and powerful and fabulous and sad, especially, I imagine, when someone you love is in the picture.
A few of my favorites from the site have a genealogical feel to them, although feeling that connection to the past always reminds me of genealogy: Aunt Judie, Ghosts in the Pews, Wedding on the Lawn. Others are just magical. All are much better than my first attempt!
Of course, many of my older pictures are not in identifyable locations and I no longer have access to my childhood home. But there are some possibilities in my photo collection. Here are some of my favorites.
My aunt and grandmother outside their newly-built home, ca 1963
My parents after their wedding in 1970
My mom, 8 months pregnant with me
I adore the idea of walking in my family's footsteps but, I have to admit, the idea of walking in my own again appeals as well.
Me at my grandparents' house, 1979 (happy days with fuzzy slippers, a hand-knit sweater, and my bear)


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ST. LOUIS – Another game, another goal for Alexander Steen.
Steen scored his NHL-leading 14th goal in 14 games, Brian Elliott stopped 18 shots for his 100th career win and the St. Louis Blues beat the Calgary Flames 3-2 Thursday night.
St. Louis has won five of six and is 6-1-1 at home. Calgary has lost four of five and eight of 11.
Maxim Lapierre and Vladimir Tarasenko also scored for St. Louis.
Elliott, who got the start in place of Jaroslav Halak, improved to 2-0-1 with his second straight strong performance. He stopped 31 shots in a 4-0 win at Florida on Nov. 1.
Steen has a point in a career-best nine games in a row. He has scored in all but two contests this season.
Despite his sizzling pace, Steen remains focused on the Blues' quick 10-2-2 start and not his individual run.
"I don't really analyze myself that way," Steen said. "You don't think about that or you'll start focusing on the wrong things."
Steen converted on a backhand from the slot in the second period to push the lead to 3-0.
"He works his butt off and it's nice to see him get rewarded," St. Louis defenseman Jordan Leopold said. "Whatever he's doing, he's got to keep doing it."
Leopold had two assists in the game, his first points of the season.
Steen scored the winning goal in the final minute of a 3-2 win over Winnipeg on Oct. 29 and a 3-2 victory over Chicago on Oct. 9. He became the first St. Louis player to score 14 goals in the first 14 games of a season since Brett Hull had 16 in that span in the 1990-91 campaign.
Tim Jackman and Mike Cammalleri scored third-period goals for Calgary. Cammalleri tallied at 14:49 to bring the Flames to within 3-2.
But Elliott was able to close down Calgary with some help from a staunch defense, which blocked 18 shots.
"They got two on us, but we battled the last few minutes and squeaked it out," Elliott said.
Calgary rookie goaltender Reto Berra fell to 1-2 in his third career start.
Tarasenko broke an eight-game scoring drought with his fifth of the season on the power play at 3:01 of the opening period. He put home a rebound of a shot by Jay Bouwmeester.
Lapierre pushed the lead to 2-0 just over seven minutes later with his first goal as a member of the Blues.
"Everything we needed to do, we did in that first period," St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We were really going, really on top of our game."
Lapierre was suspended five games for a hit on San Jose's Dan Boyle on Oct. 15. He got his first points of the season Thursday in his ninth game.
"It's been a slow start for me the first three weeks, almost like two training camps," Lapierre said. "Tonight is more like the player that I am."
The Flames, who were 0 for 6 on the power play, have failed in their last 28 man-advantage chances.
"I'd like to buy one," Calgary coach Bob Hartley said of the goal drought. "I know that the guys are working hard. It seems we just can't turn the red light on."
Calgary, after taking five first-period penalties, rallied with a solid third-period effort.
"A tale of two games," Cammalleri said. "We really didn't push the play early. At some point, we were able to get some momentum."
St. Louis defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk picked up an assist in his seventh successive game, the longest such streak in the NHL this season.
NOTES: Calgary forward Curtis Glencross is out four to six weeks with an MCL sprain suffered in Tuesday's 5-1 loss at Minnesota. The team is not disclosing which knee is hurt. "One of the two, what does that change?" Hartley said tersely. ... Blues have scored first in their last six games.... St. Louis opened a season-trying five-game homestand that concludes Nov. 16 against Carolina. ... The Blues have not allowed a power play goal in the last four games. ...Calgary did not record its third shot on goal until 14:30 left in the second period.


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Intuitive control with a premium design
- Pure circle shape offers a sleek and stylish design
- Intuitive interface with touch button control
- Measuring 85x85mm, this compact controller fits standard electrical installation boxes
Three colours to match any interior design
No matter your interior design, Madoka will match it. Silver gives an additional touch to stand out in any interior or application, while Black is an ideal match for darker, stylish interiors. White offers a sleek, modern look.
Award-winning design
Madoka earned an IF design award and Reddot Product Design Award for its innovative design. These awards represent two of the most prestigious and largest design competitions in the world.
Find out how easy Madoka is to use
Advanced settings and commissioning can be easily done via your smarthphone
For maximum ease of use, Madoka Assistant
- Connect with your smartphone via Bluetooth Low Energy communication
- Visual interface helps you schedule, set point restriction and offers other settings for advanced users / technical managers
- Easy and time-saving commissioning for installers
* At this moment, the Madoka Assistant features are not applicable for residential heating
Easily set advanced settings
Setting and finetuning your controller is simple and helps you attain higher energy savings and more comfort. The system can host up to three different temperature schedules, and enables you to restrict menu functions individually. You can also set your outdoor unit to a quiet mode and track the energy consumption.
Easy and time saving commissioning
Installers can quickly set all the parameters of the system. The interface on your smartphone enables you to work much faster compared to making the settings on the controller itself.
Also error read-out is easier making servicing faster.
Field settings and schedules can be saved on your phone and upload to multiple controllers, saving time and cost!
Try our app now
Madoka for residential heating
- Madoka is compatible with the latest generation of the air-to-water heat pump Daikin Altherma 3
- Similar to Madoka, the third generation of Daikin Altherma is also equipped with a Daikin Eye, allowing you to know the status of your system in the blink of an eye
Learn more
306 - Madoka wired remote controlPDF | 962.08KB


text:
Obama Plans Campaign Stop In Iowa
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — President Barack Obama is returning to Iowa, where he will kick off a two-day campaign blitz across seven battleground states.
A news release from the Obama campaign says the president will be in Davenport on Wednesday, two days after his third debate with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
Later Wednesday, Obama will travel to Denver, then to Las Vegas. On Thursday, he will travel to Tampa, Fla., and Richmond, Va., before flying to Chicago to cast his ballot early. The president will end the two-day tour with an event in Cleveland.
Obama's campaign says it will release more details about the events later.
(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Emerald Turtle
Looks around and bobs head. Also rears up and roars (rare).
Vocalizations (on-click)
Aquatic with a strong vs flying pets attack. Quite interesting but less useful in practice. Even with high health pool fliers, especially Crows/Ravens will kill this poor turtle quickly. But at least you will be able to bite back a bit harder if you hit with this 90% move. A missed bite and you will be severely behind. Other than that it suffers from the usual turtle weaknesses. Can be useful against Haunters that switch into birds. Try with Moonlight for 10% extra damage and 25% healing.
@ Nikkip: That's probably because you have an H/B breed, not an H/H one.
Anyway, an interesting pet since it's one of only two turtles to have a unique moveset (the other being the Wanderer's Festival Hatchling), even if it's just replacing a Beast attack with a Magic one. I wouldn't deliberately use him against Flying types myself, but with Shell Shield's ability to shut down moves like Slicing Wind and Moth Balls, I'd say Emerald Bite gives him a fair chance if you have no other choice.
Found a Rare Balance @ 40.3 53.4 in the Jade Forest.
I have found the numbers true. I have the addon Petbreeds Id it shows. Rare at 25,h/b-1790,b/b-1725,h/h-1969. I have an h/b Uncommon (green) and he does well at 25. However I wanted an h/h for its health and speed. it is the fastest of the three breeds @ health, 1969.power,244.and speed,227.It took me a while to figure out the breeds and such. It does make a difference. just for info, the h/h I caught was common, No rare, I used a stone on him and his stats will be as quoted
My emerald turtle is rare quality and 1790 health. I am finding this with several of your pets you have rated with health so high
Excellent for wild pve & npc pet battles especially the H/H breed as it can take a licking and often outlast a trio of rares provided they are not very strong vs aquatics.
Strangely, both this and the Wanderer's Festival Hatchling are described as young versions of Shen-Zin Su.
Either this is a mistake, or they're leading up to a surprising twist where there's actually TWO wandering isles, and the one we haven't seen yet comes crashing into play during our final epic battle against Garrosh, as it leaps from the sea and swoops majestically over Orgrimmar while... yes okay that's not very likely, probably just a mistake then.
captured an uncommon at 56.83 slingtail pits.
first one i saw i went to battle, now i dont know if im lucky or unlucky cuz i got a rare emerald turtle and a rare masked tanuki at once :( im still crying over killing it!
Found the first of many at 51, 79 which is west of the river that heads north from Peralfin Village and while flying north I see they are all by that river on both sides.


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My colleague Daniel Novomeský alerted me to a problem he's observed with the way some web-developers use JavaScript: a few of them have the habit of obfuscating JavaScript code on their web sites, presumably in order to compress it so that it takes less disk-space ("packing") or using a "protector" in order to make it harder for a competitor to "steal" script code. The problem with this is that the use of this sort of utility to obfuscate code makes it harder for security software to identify known or unknown malware, so JavaScript is commonly obfuscated by malware authors in order to evade or hamper detection.
I spy with my little eye
To the human eye, of course, there's no dramatic difference between legitimate and malicious scripts if they're obfuscated. An AV program might easily flag an "innocent" program as malicious because a technology normally associated with malware is being used.
The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number?
When the signature is throttled back so that the presence of the obfuscation software is not flagged as suspicious, it means that the interests of a few developers of poorly-implemented web pages are given priority over the interests of the many people whose systems are threatened by the many sites that serve obfuscator-protected malware. Indeed, malware writers sometimes go out of their way to use "popular" obfuscators in hope they remain undetected, knowing that AV vendors try to avoid detecting legitimate websites, so, increasingly, the vendors are leaning towards a more Utilitarian approach.
The Unwise and Wherefores
Why, you might wonder, would you obfuscate a legitimate script? Well, one cryptor for which we have a specific detection is sometimes used by web developers because they think it gives them good copy protection and imperviousness to reverse engineering. Sadly, this is just giving them a sense of false security. An experienced JavaScript coder is unlikely to have any problem decoding the script to extract the original source code.
In fact, it's possible for an anti-virus engine to decode a script in real time, in order to assess the malice or innocence of an object more reliably by examing the de-obfuscated script. However, this kind of in-depth analysis takes substantial time and resources, and most users would not regard the processing delay as acceptable.
Trade(-off) Gap
Given this rich assortment of related problems, it's hard to see how anyone could continue to recommend the use of protectors, since they don't necessarily offer much to the developer in the way of protection against patching or reverse engineering to offset their disadvantages.
Pack It In!
As it happens, the IEEE Malware Working Group, of which ESET is a member, has been working for some time with some of the major packer companies on a system for making it possible to blacklist individual (mis)users of the software rather than the software itself. (Vendors with an approach based on whitelisting and/or reputation services may also find approach more useful.)
We hope that this will introduce some significant benefits to companies like Themida, to AV vendors, and (most importantly, some would say!) to the customer, whereas current piecemeal approaches to blacklisting and whitelisting have only limited, short-term effectiveness. Which is why, at present, AV vendors tend to favour a more generic approach that benefits the majority.
David Harley
Daniel Novomeský


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If you're an immature schmuck just like us, there's no way you won't enjoy this sign. Somehow it made it onto ESPN TV during the Rice-Marshall Conference USA championship game on Saturday before the camera quickly pulled away.
What kind of dick would cut away from a perfectly good penis shot like that?
via Deadspin


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In a lengthy blog post, Microsoft has explained some of the logic behind Windows 8's interface. Much of the article discusses Metro, but a sizable chunk focuses on the desktop environment, including some significant changes that haven't been revealed in the Consumer Preview yet. Most notably, Microsoft says it's scrapping Aero Glass, the glossy, transparent border introduced with Vista, in favor of a flatter style that's less distracting:
"In the end, we decided to bring the desktop closer to the Metro aesthetic, while preserving the compatibility afforded by not changing the size of window chrome, controls, or system UI. We have moved beyond Aero Glass – flattening surfaces, removing reflections, and scaling back distracting gradients...We want desktop windows to continue to feel light and airy, and we want a chrome style that doesn't distract from the content of the app."
Although I hope there's still a way to customize colors (the white default is too bright for my taste), I don't think I'll miss Glass at all. The transparency has distracted or otherwise misled me many times. A new track might play on Foobar or my desktop background might change and I mistake the activity for a new email or instant message. What say you? Is Aero Glass a tacky remnant or a reassuring familiarity of Windows Vista and 7?


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This was an internal application, so I wasn't surprised to find that it was vulnerable to SQL injection in several areas. However, in-band injection attacks weren't working for the application I was testing - I couldn't use UNION SELECTs, for example, to merge my query results with data rendered in the browser. So I had to leverage an out-of-band technique for retrieving data through SQL injection: Oracle's UTL_HTTP.REQUEST function. David Litchfield mentioned this approach almost two years ago in Data-mining with SQL Injection and Inference, but I never had the need to use it "in the wild" until now.
UTL_HTTP is a built-in Oracle SQL function that issues HTTP requests. The syntax is pretty simple:
For example, consider the following SQL:
The SELECT statement returns the value "SYS" - the first user in the DBA_USERS table. The HTTP request issued by the database is therefore for the URL "http://www.foo.com:80/SYS". In www.foo.com's HTTP access log, the request would look like:
184.108.40.206 - - [08/Aug/2007:10:02:40 +0000] "GET /SYS HTTP/1.1" 404 0 - -
(assuming 22.214.171.124 is our target DB server)
So as an attacker, you simply need to run a web server and point the UTL_HTTP.REQUESTs to your own IP address. You can then view the result of each SQL injection in your server logs. If in Windows, I like to use SHTTPD as it is lightweight and simple to turn on and off.
The biggest limitation to this approach is that you can only query for one row at a time - you'll get an error message if your statement returns multiple rows. (That is due to the UTL_HTTP.RQUEST function itself, not the web server end). But it is still a lot more efficient then using blind SQL injection to brute force one character of a response at a time. Oracle will also throw an error if it can't reach your web server, which may be the case depending on network controls between yourself and the database. Experiment with running on different ports.
There are probably a few things you could do to make the attack more elegant, like setting up a CGI script on your server to better collect and parse the calls from the database. You could also create and inject a PL/SQL function that concatenates results from multiple rows to get around the single-row limitation. I needed a quick and dirty solution to get a few key database records, so I didn't bother venturing beyond the basics for this test.
Outbound HTTP requests originating from a database server should look suspicious, but I think the attack is obscure enough to slip by most admins.


text:
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text:
Fit or Fat? Live or Die? You Decide. Fatworld explores the relationships between obesity, nutrition, and socioeconomics in the contemporary U.S.
In the last two decades, obesity has soared in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and the National Center for Health Statistics, 30% of American adults are obese. And this increase isn't limited to adults: since 1980 over three times as many children 18 and under are obese, or around 15% of all American minors. Of the nearly 300 million people alive in America today, nearly 70 million are overweight. We worry about airplane security and dirty bombs, but we also stuff ourselves with high-fat, low nutrient foods. Fad diets focus on quick results at the cost of long-term health. And more than half of American adults don't get enough physical activity.
Public and private organizations have mounted ongoing efforts to change Americans' behavior toward nutrition and exercise. Sound, logical arguments pervade media and public service outlets, encouraging moderation, application of food planning systems old and new, and endorsing any physical activity.
More importantly, these efforts assume that our obesity crisis is caused solely by lack of self-control: if only everyone would choose to eat right and exercise, the problem would go away. But our culture and environment are actually structured to discourage healthy habits. Refined sugars, trans-fats, and preservatives pervade supermarket foods. Packaged foods make our overworked lives more convenient at the hidden cost of poor nutrition. Our hyper-consumerist, debt-driven culture impels us to work more, both pushing us toward high-fat fast food convenient and appealing and structuring our lives so we don't think we can make any time for exercise.
Fatworld is a videogame about the politics of nutrition. It explores the relationships between obesity, nutrition, and socioeconomics in the contemporary U.S.. The game's goal is not to tell people what to eat or how to exercise, but to demonstrate the complex, interwoven relationships between nutrition and factors like budgets, the physical world, subsidies, and regulations.
Existing approaches to nutrition advocacy fail to communicate the aggregate effect of everyday health practices. It's one thing to explain that daily exercise and nutrition are important, but people young and old have a very hard time wrapping their heads around outcomes 5, 10, 50 years away. In Fatworld, you create a world, design a character, and live out an accelerated life in that world. Time in Fatworld will run continuously, whether you play or not.
You can choose starting weights and health conditions, including predispositions towards ailments like diabetes, heart disease, or food allergies. You'll have to construct menus and recipes, decide what to eat and what to avoid, exercise (or not), and run a restaurant business to serve the rest of your town.
By choosing your character's dietary and exercise habits, you can experiment with the constraints of nutrition and economics as they affect your character's general health. Will it be wheatgrass and soy? Or fried chicken at every meal? How much can you afford to spend on food, and how does that affect your general health? Characters who eat poorly will get fat. Characters who don't exercise will move around the world more laboriously. Disease and death will eventually ravage players with poor health, while those with good health will live to a ripe age.
You can design your daily meal plan, choosing from hundreds of ingredients and recipes that ship with the game, or you can build your own from scratch and share them with friends online. Then you can exercise by walking around or playing a variety of exercise minigames. To affect the residents of Fatworld who aren't controlled by human players, you can create restaurants and decide what menus to offer.
Interested in politics? You can influence public policy by visiting the Govern-O-Mat, or try to get a glimpse into your own character's health -- if you can afford it -- at the Health-O-Mat. Players can alter guidelines on merchandising for Fatworld, changing market dynamics to encourage certain products and discourage others. For example, the player could ban partially hydrogenated oils in Fatworld, effectively removing them from the store shelves. Or they could ban meat, or fruit for that matter.
Fatworld comes with numerous foods, recipes, and meal plans, or players can create their own from the contents of foods in their pantry or their imaginations. Then you can export the recipes and meals you create and share them online, or download new creations other players have made.
Fatworld is a PBS / Independent Lens Web-exclusive presentation of an Electric Shadows project presented by ITVS Interactive and funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.


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Please Visit the: International Education Center At Diablo Valley College About DVC Diablo Valley College is one of three publicly supported two-year community colleges in the Contra Costa Community College District. The larger of DVC's two campuses are located off Interstate 680 in Pleasant Hill, and the newer San Ramon Campus serves the south county in Dougherty Valley. Between its two campuses, DVC serves more than 22,000 students each semester with a wide variety of program options. Degree and transfer programs more than 40 A.A. and A.S. degrees in addition to articulation agreements with University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems, and transfer credit to four-year colleges. Career/technical education more than 40 certificates of accomplishment, and a wide selection of certificates of achievement. Day, evening, and summer classes Classes are taught in the day and evening in full-term and short-term formats. A selection of day and evening classes are also taught during the summer. See the schedule of classes for more information. Online and hybrid courses Online courses are taught almost exclusively through the internet requiring students to attend very few face-to-face meetings. Hybrid classes use a combination of class meetings and online instruction. History The college officially began in 1949, in some of the most unlikely sites: high schools, banks, churches, even an old army camp. Called East Contra Costa Junior College, we moved to our present site in 1952, in ten steel buildings acquired from the government for $45 each. The cornerstone for the first permanent building was laid in 1953, and the name Diablo Valley College was adopted in 1958. We've come a long way since those humble beginnings. Over one and a half million students have enrolled here since 1949! As we salute our heritage, we look forward to serving one of Northern California's most dynamic, education-minded areas for another 50 years. For over 60 years, Diablo Valley College has provided quality education to the community it serves. A million students later, enrolling at DVC is one of the best ways you can ensure acceptance at a four-year college. DVC is not only recognized as one of California's best community colleges, but it also leads the state in transfer to four-year institutions. Research figures recently released by UCLA's Center for the Study of Community Colleges show that DVC's transfer rate to four-year universities is 67 percent higher than the national average. Another report, released by the California Post-secondary Educational Commission, shows that DVC ranked number one in transfers in the state, ahead of all other California community colleges. A brief history of our land shows us that this was originally home to the Costanoan Indians. In 1844, the Mexican government granted the land to William Welch, and it became part of his huge Rancho Las Juntas, which included northwestern Walnut Creek, all of Pleasant Hill, and the northeastern half of Martinez. After World War II the land was subdivided into housing tracts, and on October 5, 1950, the College Board of Trustees purchased the DVC site for $172,500. Construction began in September 1951. With over 22,000 students of all ages and a host of programs, you'll find a dynamic educational environment and a lively atmosphere at DVC. Our Pleasant Hill campus is located off of Interstate 680, and the campus is situated on one hundred acres of gently rolling hills in view of Mt. Diablo, a northern California landmark. The San Ramon Valley Center in Dougherty Valley opened its doors to students in November of 2006. The name San Ramon Campus was adopted in 2011. Both of our handsomely landscaped locations are a short distance from San Francisco, creating the ideal settings for the premier transfer institution in California. We are the college of choice for many students from the private and public high schools in the nearby Martinez, Mt. Diablo, San Ramon, and Acalanes School Districts.
Diablo Valley College
- Pleasant Hill
Pleasant Hill Campus 321 Golf Club Road, Pleasant Hill
- San Ramon
San Ramon Campus 1690 Watermill Road San Ramon


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As shocking as the revelation about the RM10 million "cattle for condominium" scandal is the self-righteous statement by the Minister for Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Datuk Noh Omar aiding and abetting a gross misappropriation of public funds.
Claiming that the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) had not used government funds for the purchase of the RM9.8 million Bangsar luxury condominium, Noh said that once NFC received money from the government, it was thereafter considered the company's private funds and the government had no say as to how it would be used.
Noh said the government had loaned NFC RM250 million made into a special loan account (SLA) in Maybank that was controlled by the Finance Ministry.
Noh said RM181 million from that account had been disbursed to NFC based on the latter's claims.
The government only had control of funds that were in the SLA, but had none over how the company spends the money once it has been disbursed, said the minister.
"If the money has been paid to NFC after fulfilling set conditions, the government cannot control what NFC does with it, including purchasing the said condominium, because it is then considered the company's money.
"Claims made by NFC are related to farm management only, and has absolutely nothing to do with the purchase of condominiums."
Clearly, something is very wrong about the "set conditions" imposed by the technical committee chaired by the Veterinary Department and the Finance Ministry for the release of the loans to promote cattle production that it could result in "excess funds" leading to the purchase of the Bangsar luxury condomium – nothing to do whatsoever with cattle farm production and management.
Instead of expressing surprise and shock at the misappropriation of the loans for cattle production to purchase a luxury condominium, the Agriculture Minister has instead come out to defend the RM10 million "condominium for cattle" scandal!
There is no word of censure, disapproval or dismay at such blatant misappropriation of public funds by the NFC especially as it involved the family of a Cabinet Minister, which is particularly galling to ordinary Malaysians who are trying to make ends meet.
Is this in fact an reflection that such misuse of public funds, where mega loans are given to companies whether run by family members of Cabinet Ministers or cronies, are often misused for another purpose from the those originally approved, is very commonplace under the present administration?
Let the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and all Cabinet Ministers declare their stand whether they fully agree with Noh Omar that there is nothing wrong or amiss in such misappropriation of public funds such as in the "condominium for cattle" scandal – as it is a common occurrence under the Barisan Nasional government?
In fact, Najib should intervene in the RM10 million "condominium for cattle" scandal by recalling the RM181 million loan to NFC which are not used for the purpose of cattle production if the Prime Minister is serious about all the talk of a national transformation policy with the slogan of "People First, Performance Now".


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Dog Soldier: Shadows of the PastSynopsisEx-Green Beret John Kyosuke Hiba is working at a construction site with his buddy Fudou when they are embroiled in an international incident: a female American scientist carrying a vial of what is thought to be a biological weapon has been kidnapped on Japanese soil by the mysterious arms dealer known only as "Phantom", and Hiba is manipulated by the CIA and elements of the Japanese government to get down to the bottom of this, at any cost. Of course, Hiba proves to have closer ties to "Phantom" and the American scientist than anyone could have expected ... or did they? No actual dogs were harmed or depicted in the production of this film. ReviewI apologize in advance for the synopsis above, as I made this poorly-written, slipshod story sound a lot better than it really is. Dog Soldier may very well be the paragon of bad 80s anime. Every single aspect of this film is fatally flawed, starting with the paper-thin copy of Rambo (who, on the cover, looks remarkably like Charlie Sheen from Hot Shots) who nevertheless feels the need to occasionally embark on half-hearted attempts at distorted City Hunter-esque facial expressions (and perhaps one attempted panty shot that is mercifully avoided). His meathead buddy Fudou, looks even more out of place amongst the otherwise "realistically" styled characters. There is the inevitably tragic backstory, where the half-Japanese/half-American characters are shown in flashback about five or six separate times facing off in what we are told repeatedly are the slums of the outskirts of Los Angeles. Never mind that, in the early 1980s as today, the lower-income parts of Los Angeles were decidedly in the inner-city areas such as South Central LA and Compton. Also, there was much more danger from street gangs than from terrorists. It's not that you should expect these guys to have done any research whatsoever. And what do I know? I only lived in Southern California from 1983 to 1989, after all ... only the exact time period these idiots are referencing! The characters also hilariously nickname it "Los", which means "The" in Spanish. I, too, look fondly back on those formative years living in the slums of the outskirts of "The". Because none of us could think of any other popular nicknames for Los Angeles. Nah. By the way, if you're wondering if these characters will ever exhibit any sort of actual philosophical depth or personality? No. Categorically no. I would argue they are too thin to even qualify as archetypes, especially the lone female character, whose entire purpose is to ping-pong ineffectually between the obvious protagonist and obvious antagonist and ultimately make the obvious choice such a character generally makes in a 1980s action thriller anime (suffice it to say that her chances of survival are remarkably slim and leave it at that). Following along this seemingly neverending parade of suck, we have scads of invariably ridiculous action sequences, during which we are expected to believe that John / Kyosuke (and no, they never decide which name to call him during the course of the film) is able to leap a hundred feet in the air onto a helicopter skid, defeat multiple guys armed with machine guns by using throwing knives, and so on and so forth, thanks to what must be some of the laziest editing and combat animation I've seen in the "action" genre. During the climactic battle, we get a quadruple take during a single stabbing sequence that lasts approximately a minute and a half: probably the most drawn out single action in a combat sequence ever filmed in Japanese animation. Does it make the action look any more exciting or well-connected? Absolutely not. Is it funny as hell? YES. What doesn't help at all whatsoever is the music, which essentially involves the music director's toddler crawling all over the lowest-budget Casio keyboard possible. It's so jarring that it absolutely destroys the mood of half the scenes that aren't action - and when it isn't horrible synthesizer, it's a synthesized harmonica montage: a cliche we're ALL glad failed to survive to the present day. Another point that is clearly NOT in this anime's favor is the dialogue, which involves lines like, "Phantom? The new up and coming death merchant, right?" Pointedly, the most promising five minutes of this film are in the beginning, when no one is saying anything; it's only when people start expositizing for the next five eons that this anime jumps headlong into the proverbial handbasket. Honestly, I was kind of glad when most of this cast inevitably died, if only because it finally shut them up! Finally, there's the MacGuffin in this whole thing, the actual nature of which I called within the first thirty seconds of its arrival. Unfortunately, the characters don't actually get there for another forty minutes; I'll just say that this "Rambo with AIDS" would've probably been more interesting if it actually had AIDS. (Actually, there is a similarly plotted and honestly far better animated film out there that name-checks AIDS and has a Rambo-like lead, though it does admittedly involve puppet sex, so your mileage may vary.) The worst thing about this, though, is that, with poorly plotted and generally poorly animated action, woefully inconsistent and often butt-ugly art style, borderline nausea-inducing music, and characters with personalities thinner than stone soup, there isn't even a satisfying ending: pretty much John / Kyosuke / PICK A GODDAMN NAME DAMMIT! wins the day, tells everyone to go screw off in a scene essentially misappropriated from Top Gun, and flies into the sunset with his lunk buddy who's maybe only showed up for half the action scenes (and not even the important one). Yeah, I totally spoiled that he survives the film, but there's no sequel because Movic and Sony didn't care to find out what happens next, and frankly, neither do I. While hilariously mockable on every conceivable level, I hesitate to call Dog Soldier a remotely enjoyable experience; taken at face value, it's an obnoxiously unsubtle, abject failure of a film. Taken from an absurdist point of view, though, it's stupid funny, but still not enough for me to pry its remains from the smoking crater it has left in the bottom of the barrel. — Carlos/Giancarla Ross Recommended Audience: For an action film, this has some of the least detailed action scenes I've ever seen in an OVA. Only a couple of on-screen deaths are shown explicitly; the majority of the mooks are taken out by plumes of smoke and explosions. There is one scene where a young child is shown being murdered just offscreen, and while there is blood shown, the violence here is potentially overshadowed by the viewer's annoyance at witnessing a ham-handed attempt at emotional manipulation. No nudity or sexual content - a potential panty scene is actually averted (a rare occurrence in anime). While technically appropriate for teens and up, it's actually hardly appropriate for anyone. Version(s) Viewed: Digital source, Japanese with English subtitles Review Status: Full (1/1) Dog Soldier: Shadows of the Past © 1989 Movic / Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), Inc. |
© 1996-2015 THEM Anime Reviews. All rights reserved. |


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Last week, the Senate Banking Committee was poised to begin marking up a bill that would pass a further round of economic sanctions on Iran to continue to increase the international and financial pressure on them to stay their nuclear program, including measures passed with resounding approval by the House over the summer. In the wake of this weekend's almost-done-deal and with more negotiations on deck for November 20th, however, President Obama has been making personal appeals to lawmakers to at least hold off until his administration can make their case — and apparently, it's working. Via Reuters:
U.S. lawmakers will wait for a briefing by Secretary of State John Kerry this week before deciding whether to impose tough new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, Senate aides said on Monday. …
"It is our feeling that additional sanctions right now will have the potential to derail the diplomatic agreement and would give Iran the opportunity to actually achieve sanctions relief by dividing the international coalition," a senior administration official said in a possible preview of the message Kerry will deliver to lawmakers.
The Associated Press has more:
At the Obama administration's request, a sanctions bill in the Senate Banking Committee was put on hold, but it's unclear how much longer lawmakers are willing to wait.
Obama personally placed a call last week to Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., a key sanctions drafter, to ask that legislation be stopped. Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry and White House chief of staff Denis McDonough have all talked with lawmakers in recent days. And the White House is dispatching Kerry to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to implore the Senate Banking Committee to pause the legislation once again.
And a few more deets from BuzzFeed:
Democratic leaders in Congress are also under "an extraordinary amount of pressure" to back the White House on putting off sanctions, one congressional aide said… Democrats targeted include Sen. Chuck Schumer, who a Senate aide confirmed had spoken with Vice President Biden, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, and a number of cabinet officials.
But the Senate's hawks of both stripes have yet to back off; "We believe that sanctions and the threat of military force [are] the only things that are going to bring the Iranians to the table," said Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday, while Sen. Bob Menendez insisted that, "At the same time it's also an incentive to the Iranians to know what's coming if you don't strike a deal. … I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate to move forward on a package that ultimately would send a very clear message where we intend to be if the Iranians don't strike a deal and stop their nuclear weapons program." I think John Kerry is going to have to give one heck of a persuasive talk to convince these guys to quit beating the sanctions drum; as Krauthammer put it last night, the White House looked pretty darn happy over the weekend to submit to a deal that gave Iran a lot of relief in return for empty promises. Via NRO : "In other words, it takes away our leverage and it gives them a free ride."


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This week, I embarked on a visit to Japan for discussions with a variety of senior Japanese government officials about our mutual interest in space exploration. I will also visit NASA's outstanding partners at JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
With more than 30 active agreements in place, NASA and JAXA have one of the strongest, most comprehensive and longest lasting space bilateral relationships of any two nations in the world. One of the greatest illustrations of this partnership is the International Space Station (ISS), orbiting 250 miles (400 kilometers) above the Earth at 17,500 miles per hour (about 28,000 kph) with six astronauts on board as I write this!
NASA's Journey to Mars is taking shape aboard the orbiting laboratory, where astronauts from different countries are working together to advance research and technology that will allow future astronauts to travel deeper into space, at the very same time we create jobs and improve our quality of life here on Earth.
Japan and the United States are working together aboard the Space Station with many other international partners – and we will be for the foreseeable future. Today, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi and American astronauts Jeff Williams and Kate Rubins are living and working together with their Russian crewmates at the cutting edge of innovation, science and discovery. Their research 'Off the Earth, For the Earth' promises to deepen understanding and expand human progress around such areas as medicine, biology, technology, Earth science, material production and communications – and that's just the short list!
Because leaders in both the U.S. and Japan have chosen to extend our Space Station participation through at least 2024, the promise and potential progress that comes out of this research will continue for years to come. In the more immediate future, the research benefitting all of humanity will be bolstered by cargo delivered to station aboard Japan's upcoming HTV-6 mission (which, as was announced recently, is set to launch in October of this year).
As we consider the bright future of our partnership, I'm very much looking forward to joining our friends at JAXA this week for a ceremony to officially open a control room for Kibo, the Japanese Experiment Module on ISS.
Kibo is, appropriately, a Japanese word meaning "hope," and I believe that "hope" is an excellent description of the research that's being conducted aboard the International Space Station and the cooperation that goes into it.
President Obama once said that "hope is the belief that destiny will not be written for us, but by us, by the men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is, who have the courage to remake the world as it should be."
The International Space Station is the embodiment of this sort of hope and effort. Consider this: more than 220 human beings from 18 countries have visited the International Space Station; tens of thousands of people have been involved in its construction and operation; and people from dozens of countries have had their research and experiments flown aboard it.
As we look forward to an exciting future exploring space, I am also enthusiastic about advances the U.S. is making in airspace travel a little closer to Earth. We are in the midst of an incredible moment in the history of aeronautics. With President Obama proposing an historic investment in green aviation, we have an opportunity to make air travel cleaner, greener, safer and quieter – even as our skies grow more crowded and aircraft fly faster.
One of the more important areas of NASA aeronautics research is air traffic management. Our country's skies will have to absorb an estimated four billion more passengers over the next several decades and it's essential that we do this without compromising the safety of our skies.
We in the United States are not the only country with an interest in building a more efficient air traffic management system. International commerce depends on air transportation and it is imperative that we work together with partner countries around the world to maximize human resources and investment for the benefit of all humanity.
With this in mind, after my visit to Japan I plan to travel to China to discuss areas of mutual interest in aviation research between NASA and the Chinese Aeronautical Establishment (CAE). This will be part of ongoing conversations that began in November of 2014 and have continued through a NASA-CAE workshop in Beijing that was held in August 2015.
Taken together, our partnerships around the world continue to instill optimism – and inspire hope – about the future of space exploration, aeronautics and our ability to write our own destiny – together.