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Prequel: Perfectionist (A Short Story)
₪҉₪Part 1 Setting the Stage: A mission of infiltration, a plan twisted enough for Karzahni himself, and a manipulated son of Makuta at its center. Borrowing from the dead to steal from the living, this sinister plot aims to destroy an entire Stronghold of Toa, and at the same time, put Metru Nui itself at the mercy of the Makuta. And as we know, Makuta have no mercy.
₪҉₪"You were created to be perfect. Anything less is unacceptable."Those were the words that had welcomed Evior into the world. He had woken up on a bright metal lab table, being carefully observed by Makuta scientists. Evior was every bit the spawn of the Makuta. He had the dark armor and surly air about him, completed by a handsome Kanohi Shelek. In his short century and a half, he had been trained like any Makuta would be. Occasionally he was sent to oversee external Visorak movement, or acted as a trainer for Rahkshi or other minions. But mostly he served as the main hit man for the Makuta. If they needed someone captured, it was his job. If they wanted something stolen, he took care of it. And more often than not, they needed these errands run. Once in a blue moon did they actually order an assassination, but when they did, the duty was his.Slightly taller than a Vortixx and muscular like a Makuta, Evior made an intimidating enemy. The Makuta knew this. But even more dangerous was his barbed whip, which was his weapon of choice. If his physical prowess and combat capability failed, Evior had at his disposal the same forty two Kraata powers that the Makuta did. The drawback was, however, he could only use them for short periods of time, or at a very low level of power before he succumbed to the resulting headaches, fatigue, nausea, etc. Somewhere deep within the fortresses of Destral, in some underground lab, designs to negate this drawback were being worked on.Evior had yet to fail a mission. And this, he assumed, was the perfection that was expected of him.Now, as he sat in a shallow cavern, more of a scoop out of the side of a hill, Evior tried to imagine what would happen if his current mission did not succeed. The ring of lightstones in the center of the cavern cast dramatic shadows over his companions. This was a completely different kind of mission. It required stealth, it required deceit, it required wit and constant vigilance. Most importantly, and what Evior found most frustrating, is that he could not complete it alone. The two of his companions were bickering like rahi birds, making no attempt to keep their voices hushed."I'm telling you, this is the worst possible place to set camp," Kalott's voice was shrill with irritation. From a distance, one might think her a Vortixx. But upon closer observation, it was clear she was not. She was more gangly than lithe and wore a Kanohi mask, whereas Vortixx do not."If you don't like it, then you can go scout out a new location. I for one am perfectly content here," the other being replied. This was Scuro. He was almost comically opposite of Kalott. He was a red and brown armored brute, and this unfortunate color combination left the impression of rust. He could wrestle down an Arthaka Bull and still have strength to spare. A fierce light danced in his eyes, and the combination of the glow of the lightstones and the curve of his Kanohi Tryna made him look savage."The wind and rain are going to blow straight in here. You're lucky we don't have a real fire to feed." A scowl darkened her Kanohi Iden.The two sides of the argument pressed on, neither of the two seemingly willing to shut up. Evior's gaze fell upon the last 'member' of their party, lying as silent as ever in the back of the cave. His mission, his team's mission, was to infiltrate and secure the Toa Stronghold on this island for the Makuta. The Brotherhood wanted this particular island due to its proximity to Metru Nui. And now it was within their grasp, thanks to this last part of the team.Ducha, Toa of Water, or at least, she used to be. A Brotherhood operative had come across her body, crushed by a rockslide, about a year ago. Sources identified her, and traced her back to the Stronghold. Makuta Mutran had formulated the plan from that point. Evior didn't know how to feel about this job. While it was genius, the immorality of it haunted him continuously.As much as Evior didn't enjoy the presence of Scuro and Kalott, they were a key part to this mission's success. Evior's job was overseer and guardian, which didn't bother him. But Scuro and Kalott had the real work to do, and their task sent chills through Evior's frame. Working together with their respective Kanohi Tryna and Kanohi Iden, they would puppeteer the body of the Toa of Water, thus gaining access to the Stronghold.Dark clouds obscured the setting suns. The ceaseless jabbering presently brought Evior back from his wandering thoughts."Tomorrow's a big day," He cut in abruptly, and his companions fell quiet. "You need rest.""Good idea," Scuro nodded. "Kalott can keep watch first.""What? And get soaked through the armor by this storm that's coming? I don't think so." She shook her head indignantly."The storm will pass us by, don't worry." Evior said tiredly. They'd spent a sleepless two days traveling to the island, and then trekked another half a day to their little cave from where they'd concealed their ship. They were all exhausted. "I'll stand guard," He told them, even though he had no intention. There was no need for a guard. As Scuro and Kalott milled around, trying to settle down, Evior closed his eyes and focused. Invisible energy pulsed out of Evior, and the two of his companions dropped immediately into a Kraata-power induced slumber. "Sweet dreams." He murmured, drifting off in histurn.
₪҉₪Toa Inéha sat up, gasping and trying to suck air back into her body. The black and purple armored hand of her sparring partner, a Toa of Gravity, appeared in her unfocused field of vision. Obligingly, she grabbed it, and was hoisted to her feet. She tried to squeeze out her thanks between undignified, gaping inhalations, but had to suffice with a grateful slap to her partner's back. "The Great Spirit gave us Elemental Powers for a reason, you know," Valeron chuckled as the young Toa of Psionics recuperated. "This was a training session!" She told him accusingly, leaning heavily on her trident, although she couldn't keep a smile from creeping onto her Kanohi. "You had no need to drop me from thirty feet up in the air." "I had every need," the Toa of Gravity countered, returning the smile and mock indignity. "In a real battle, your opponent wouldn't help you up after you got the wind knocked out of you, Inéha. The least you can do is attack his mind while you recover. But really, what you should have done is one of those telekinesis tricks and landed on your feet." "Yeah, well," Inéha shook her head. "I don't plan to be falling thirty feet in a real battle any time soon." "You don't plan those types of things," Valeron told her, most of his light mood had worn off. "Whatever you say, Valeron," Inéha consented. "So what do you say? Are you up for a patrol, old timer?"
₪҉₪"Do you think it's true?" Inéha inquired, nudging Valeron's arm as the two of them picked their way along the rocky beach that ringed the front half of the Stronghold. "You know, about the Dark Hunters and the war in Metru Nui?" "I know it's true," her companion answered, eyes not wavering from his path. "They talk about it in the Control meetings every week. "Oh," The idea of war, both the innocent and the instigators dying, put a damper on Inéha's mood. "Well things have been awfully quiet around here for a time of war, don't you think?" The Toa of Gravity nodded, "But don't get comfortable. If Metru Nui calls for help, we'll be the first to know." The Toa of Psionics cast her eyes towards the horizon. The suns were just beginning to descend. She saw a ship way off in the distance, probably on its way back from a distant trade. "I'm a Toa. Life should be adventure, and danger, and adrenaline. Not training and patrols and sentry duty. What good is all that training you put me through, if I don't have a chance to apply it?" "You'll never be assigned to a field position if you don't learn to use those Psionic powers of yours in battle." Valeron reminded her. Inéha replied, "What good are flimsy Psionic powers, really? I'd rather be able to move mountains and shake the earth." "And with enough training, you can do just that." Valeron sighed, because they'd been over this a thousand times. "Valeron, I'm no Toa of Earth. You know that," She refused to meet his eyes. "What I'm suggesting," Her mentor continued, "is that you focus on training with your Elemental Powers, instead of your hand to hand combat or weapon specialization. Think about it. You could provoke a herd of rahi-bull into a stampede. You could trigger an avalanche with a well placed telekinetic blast. Is that much different from causing earthquakes or moving mountains?" Inéha shook her head no. She'd heard this whole spiel before, or at least the like. The Toa of Psionics frowned, and activated her Kanohi Mask. "Do you know why I chose this mask?" She asked the Toa of Gravity. But she didn't give him time to answer. "When I was a Matoran, the village I lived in had one Toa. And she was a Toa of Psionics. And trust me when I say she was almost as well trained in her element as you are in yours. But all it took was one enemy, one, with a mind shield. The Toa was no match for his raw strength. The enemy turned out to be an assassin, coming after our Turaga. A few of us Matoran tried to stop him, but really, what match were we? We ended up losing four Matoran, one Toa, and one Turaga to the brute, because our one protector couldn't even throw a decent punch."Inéha emphasized this with a punch of her own that shattered a nearby boulder to fragments. "And when I became I toa, I promised myself that wouldn't be me. That's why I got rid of my Mask of Possibilities, which is a mask most Toa would be lucky to wear in their lifetime. I traded it for a Mask of Strength. And my Pakari gives me more than just strength, it gives me security."Valeron had been nodding in understanding, and he saw that Inéha was winding down. He saw a chance to voice his thoughts. "To be honest, Inéha, I think the only ones on this island that could best you in physical combat are the commanders here. If you're not satisfied with that, I don't know what to tell you. But if you learn to master your element, you would be unbeatable, simple as that. And if you would just let me, I could show you how."Inéha was silent as she began walking again. Valeron followed, letting the young Toa mull things over. She'd been a Toa for almost three decades, and he'd known her for about fourteen and a half years. She was no fool, but she was not without her own stubbornness. After it became clear that she needed no more combat or physical training as she insisted, Valeron had taken every chance he could to encourage, nag, remind, suggest, and advise her to start using her elemental powers. He knew it irritated her, but he hoped that one day his message would stick.He'd heard the watered down version of her story before, but even with today's expansion, it still didn't completely explain her stark refusal to use her elemental powers. Valeron knew that she knew she was one of the best fighters; she didn't need him to tell her. Even so, she did not want to move on to elemental training. It was strange, because most young Toa chose to hone their elemental powers before anything else. Valeron's best guess was that something scared her about using her powers, but he couldn't be sure. If he was to be the best mentor he could be, Inéha would have to be the best learner she could be. But for now, he would work with what she gave him.He had begun to review in his mind the lessons of his own youth when quiet laughter caught his attention instead. "What's so funny?" He asked."You've been my teacher for so long now, almost a full decade. And it's taken me this long to figure out that the old ones really are thewiser ones. Whenever you want to begin this new training, I'm ready."
Edited by Aderia: Toa of Ducklings, Apr 23 2012 - 04:31 PM.


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Reviewed by Celine B. (age 9)
I think this is a great book. I really liked it. I liked this book because it's very action packed, exciting, it teaches lessons, and it is very adventurous, like when Tom and Justin go swimming in the river.
My favorite part of this book was the end of it. It was when Tom had to go alone to find help for his grandpa, because grandpa could hardly breathe. He brought his grandpa's shotgun. He knew the panther was there somewhere. It was so cold he had to go get help quick or he would freeze, so he rode his horse. He was afraid that she would have her foal out in the cold. Ginger, the horse, did have her foal. Tom was so afraid she was going to freeze. He got the feeling that something was watching him. Tom quickly made a little house for the horses so they would not freeze. Then he hid. Then all of a sudden the panther pounced on Tom. Right at that moment Tom shot his gun and hit the panther. His family heard the gunshot and came. Tom fainted and got clawed by the panther. He would have to go to the hospital where his grandpa was. Tom woke up and saw the panther laying on the ground. After that they took Tom to the hospital. He had surgery. Then they lived happily ever after.
I felt like the book was good because it kept getting more and more interesting. I think it's because as you get deeper into the book it gets closer to solving a problem.
I recommend this book because it teaches lessons and it's very exciting. I thing third graders and up who like animals and adventures would like this book.

subset: commoncrawl


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With no clear path forward on major health care legislation, Democratic leaders in Congress effectively slammed the brakes on President Obama's top domestic priority on Tuesday, saying they no longer felt pressure to move quickly on a health bill after eight months of setting deadlines and missing them.
So reports the New York Times today. The Times quotes Majority Leader Reid as saying: "We're not on health care now; we've talked a lot about it in the past."
Truer words have rarely been spoken, at least by Harry Reid.
Reid went on to say that there is "no rush" and that he and Speaker Pelosi are working to map out a way to complete a health care overhaul in coming months. Their problem, of course, is that with an election in November and much campaigning to be done, the Dems don't have a great deal of time. Moreover, even with unlimited time, it would be quite difficult to ram through the present incarnations of health care reform or some close variation thereof. If it were otherwise, the Democrats probably would not be calling time-out.
If they are willing to work with centrists and center-left Republicans, the Dems might be able to put together a viable, but significantly pared-down reform package. Such a measure might face problems in the liberal House, though. The proposal would probably need to poll well in order to have a good chance of passing in this election year.


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Yesterday, as I sat in a Tim Horton's on Pembina Highway between seven and eleven in the morning, I could not help but overhear many of the ongoing conversations between other patrons sitting beside me.
Almost every conversation that morning in that Tim Hortons started with talking about the Jets-Senators game the day before.
As I wore my white Jets hat and tapped in my article about the Jets Mark Scheifele conundrum, I barely held myself from joining in on a conversation with strangers - all of them strangers.
But not just strangers - Winnipeggers.
They're happy to have their team back - and most importantly the love their team.
Every night at the MTS Centre there will be 15,015 coaches and GM's debating what to do with the team - who to send down, who to put together on a line, who will play better together on defense, and who's the next star.
But it's more than the 15,015 that sit in MTS Centre cushioned seats who will make up the fabric of this hockey mad city and province.
The nearest NHL team to our Jets are the Minnesota Wild in St. Paul - 750 kilometers away.
The nearest Canadian NHL team are the Calgary Flames who are 1327 kilometers away.
The Jets own their territory and those fans become more than just a little bit invested in their team.
So what if you don't have tickets to the games? You're still a fan.
It always brings a grin to my face whenever I overhear a conversation in Winnipeg about the Jets, about last night's game, about Mark Scheifele or Dustin Byfuglien.
To hear how excited people get - even 50+ people in Winnipeg!
It's as if the city's soul has been put back in place and the healing began 15 years ago when the Manitoba Moose - though not anywhere near NHL calibre - were introduced to us.
But, in the end, it's always been about the Jets. And it will always be about the Jets.
Those people who witnessed year after year of NHL exhibition games between the Phoenix Coyotes and a myriad of other teams, or even last fall's Chicago Blackhawks-Tampa Bay Lightning game, they always seemed to bring back the reason the fans came to those games:
To show that the city still loved their Jets.
I'm guilty as one of them. I wore my Shane Doan Winnipeg Jets jersey to every single exhibition game that was held in the MTS Centre (minus last fall's) and I was proud to wear it.
And so were the others who were remembering why this city loves hockey.
And loves their Jets.


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On a sunny October morning in San Diego, a quartet of LDS missionaries gathers in a church parking lot to talk shop and plot course. All four men are wearing short-sleeved white dress shirts, dark slacks and striped ties; each sports the same style of close-cropped haircut.
The black plastic name tags on their shirt pockets identify Elder Bott, Elder Hepworth, Elder Christensen and Elder Moreno as representatives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Save for the pair of palm trees lazily swaying in the Southern California breeze less than 10 feet away, this run-of-the-mill huddle of Mormon elders almost looks like it could be taking place anywhere in the world — with strong emphasis on "almost." Because pushing up against the missionaries are two cameramen and an audio technician with a boom mic who are collectively recording every detail of the interaction.
The year is 2009 — and although the camera crewmen are invited guests here to film an instructional video, nobody has any inkling that three years from now this footage could end up in a BYUtv reality show called "The District" that chronicles three unscripted months in the lives of real Mormon missionaries.
San Diego story
In 2009, the LDS Church's Missionary Department launched something of an ambitious undertaking, sending multiple film crews to San Diego to follow four pairs of missionaries, six days a week for nearly three months. The resulting compilation of footage — which eventually eclipsed 8,000 hours — would be parsed to create a series of training materials.
"The genesis of the whole project, if you will, was our efforts to provide more realistic training for our missionaries," said Missionary Department media director Greg Droubay. "We did something similar in San Antonio about seven or eight years ago — just filming missionaries doing what they do, and from that we created small one- to two-minute training segments.
"We went to San Diego to do the same thing, (with) focus this time on teaching and finding. And from that we've created 40 or 50 training segments so far."
BYUtv creative director Scott Swofford is the catalyst who got the ball rolling on turning that mountain of video footage into a reality TV show — in large part because before coming to BYUtv in the fall of 2010, Swofford shepherded the San Diego project as the Missionary Department's media director. (Droubay assumed the media directorship after Swofford accepted his BYUtv position.)
Swofford's past in the Missionary Department was helpful, especially the success of the popular "I Am a Mormon" videos he pioneered. Against that backdrop, and knowing about the San Diego footage the Missionary Department already had in hand, Swafford floated a bold idea to Droubay: Why not repurpose those thousands of hours of footage as source material for a reality TV show about the daily lives of missionaries?
The church's Missionary Executive Committee green-lighted BYUtv's proposal. The Missionary Department, it was decided, would produce eight episodes of an unscripted reality show for BYUtv called "The District."
BYUtv boon
Come Jan. 1, BYUtv will mark its 13th birthday. Although the channel already reached more than 50 million U.S. households when Swofford joined BYUtv, the network only recently started approaching its current levels of industry recognition and viewership.
"Last week, we won 11 (regional) Emmys," he said. "Eleven Emmy Awards is more than any local station has ever won at once, and more than we've ever won at once — we've been used to maybe one or two every other year. But 11 Emmys says to us that things are working."
The majority of the awards went to programming with strong educational or cultural elements such as "Beehive Stories," "The Generations Project" and coverage of the Utah Shakespeare Festival.
"We used to be measurable in one market in the Nielsen Ratings, which was Salt Lake City," Swofford continued. "We're now measurable in 43 markets, so we know viewership is changing. We think we really are on the right track to reaching everybody who has like-minded values."
Sports programming played a role in BYUtv's improved ratings, but brand-new primetime shows such as "The Story Trek" and "American Ride" — each of which won a regional Emmy for its debut season — helped bolster the BYUtv commitment to an inclusive new motto, "See the Good."
As Swofford talked about what it means to BYUtv to offer unique programming like "The District," his voice radiated warm enthusiasm.
"We realized that, on any level, the real story about what Mormon missionaries do all day long is a very entertaining story," he said. "Regardless of whether you're a Mormon or whether you're even interested in Mormon things, this is really compelling television. This is young people struggling to do something they think matters; this is missionaries who are having a tough time, and whose faith is challenged; and this is investigators who think that (the missionaries) are nuts.
"We're excited to release 'The District,' because this is unprecedented. Never before has the church allowed or even been interested in this sort of warts-and-all look at (missionary service). And whereas it looked like a pretty scary thing to try, right now the feedback and the support both from (the administration) above and from our audience have just been phenomenal."
In the trenches
The eight missionaries in "The District" consistently demonstrate teaching techniques and personal characteristics that are fully aligned with the church's missionary training manual, "Preach My Gospel." This unblemished finished product is no accident: In the weeks before filming started, each missionary companionship received personalized coaching in order to hone their teaching methods so they could be "model missionaries" in the planned instructional videos.
One companion from every partnership in "The District" hailed from Utah, but the other missionary did not. The district leader, Elder Steve Bott, teamed with Elder Jon Hepworth (Idaho); Elder Mike Moreno paired with Elder Tyler Christensen (Florida); Elder Alex Murray worked with Elder Tevita Tuituu (Guam); and Sister Janet Zaldivar served with Sister Laura Voyles (Mississippi).
"The District" follows the missionaries through their routine proselytizing and teaching activities — meaning everywhere the missionaries went, a three-man film crew followed.
"I don't think I ever fully adapted to the dynamic of the cameras," Christensen said. "Going from private lessons with an investigator to having people just hovering over you, there's definitely an adjustment for sure. You get more comfortable with it once you know where they were going to be standing and what they were going to be doing, so you can make sure you're not looking into the camera."
In addition to the daily rigors of missionary work, every episode of "The District" also documents the personal back-story of one of the missionaries. In the series debut that first aired Oct. 6, viewers learned some interesting nuggets about Christensen through interviews with his family and friends: before becoming Elder Christensen, Tyler played electric guitar in an up-and-coming rock band and, as a result, seriously vacillated about whether to go on a mission.
After the mission
Nearly three years have passed since shooting wrapped for "The District," so all the missionaries returned home quite some time ago. Many of them are married, and some have children.
Even before the decision was made to produce "The District," the Missionary Department was already intermittently checking in with the returned missionaries, and shooting video and photos of major milestones like marriages and births. The visual media will comprise "Eight Stories," an exhibit at the LDS Church's Washington D.C. Temple Visitors' Center that opens later this month.
Tyler Christensen returned home to Florida 18 months ago, and in February he got married. He still practices guitar and goes to concerts, but for now he isn't playing in a band like he did before his mission.
Christensen attends BYU and has a part-time job at the church's Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, where he often sees his "District" co-stars Alex Murray and Laura Voyles (they work in the same department). Christensen still hangs out with his former mission companion Mike Moreno, and hopes to attend medical school when he graduates in 2015.
Even though he has known for more than a year that he would be featured in a reality show — and even after previewing rough cuts of the first two episodes of "The District" several months ago — Christensen still describes the experience of seeing himself on television as "surreal."
"Like most young men, a mission was a life-changing experience for me," Christensen said. "Seeing some of the people I taught, and some of the interviews and other conversations and other experiences, brings back a lot of tender memories of pivotal moments in my life.
"I'm very lucky to have a good chunk of my mission on HDTV, where I can actually show my children someday my experiences in vibrant color and almost in the present moment — not just through a journal or writing, but almost as if I'm back there again."
"The District" airs Sundays at 6:30 pm MST on BYUtv.
Jamshid Ghazi Askar is a graduate of BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School and member of the Utah State Bar. Contact him at firstname.lastname@example.com or 801-236-6051.


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Gray, chilly days are here! Nevertheless, this doesn't mean we all should stock up on boring, dark clothes. Yes, despite unfriendly temperatures, we have to brighten up our wardrobes choosing cheerful goodies. It's time we wrap up warm this season with some of the coolest and most playful pieces hitting the web. Oh, and one great example in this sense is the latest Dolores Promesas fall/winter 2012-2013 lookbook. So, if you need a little inspiration, you should definitely have a nosey! For the cold season ahead, the brand proposes an... Read More


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It has become clear now that Sanchez never is going to be a franchise quarterback. He was a capable one during his first two years when the Jets had a dominating defense and a strong supporting cast on offense.
But over the past two years, Sanchez has been asked to elevate his own game and that of those around him. He has failed miserably, continuing to make the same mistakes he made as a rookie.
Sanchez has seven games left to salvage this season and save his own career as well as the men who drafted him. Sanchez will be back with the Jets next season. The $8.25 million guaranteed he has coming to him in 2013 ensures it. But if his play does not improve dramatically by the end of the year, the Jets must bring in competition for him next year — true competition.
For years the criticism has revolved around passing percentage, decision making, ball security, but open rebellion about Sanchez's upside seems like a new discussion and shows you how far he's fallen, and how fast it's happened.
Here's the best I can describe it. Mark Sanchez is like a scarecrow, unless he's propped up by someone else he can't be expected to do it on his own. Mark Sanchez might be a master of the play-action, but that's a brilliant example. He needs a legitimate running game to even excel at one of the things he's best at. His arm hasn't gotten better, his decisions haven't gotten appreciably better, so what's he left with?
As we wrote on Monday, Sanchez isn't the answer and if he was, we'd have seen much more to this point. For years we've waited for him to elevate his game, but the time for patience is over. Granted, the talent around him has declined, but his results haven't even held steady.
At this point, Mark Sanchez has less than half a season (and maybe even less than that) to demonstrate any value that he can offer the team. It has nothing to do with Tebow everything to do with Sanchez's inability to get the job done that he was brought in to do. As best I can compare, he's the Jason Bay equivalent for this organization. His play is holding everything else back.


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EDGAR is a 2D adventure platformer starring the father of Gothic poetry, Edgar Allan Poe. Fight monsters and get loot as you chase Jack the Ripper through an alternate version of Victorian London. EDGAR is currently being developed in Unity3D by a small of team of developers. The goal of EDGAR is to create a 2D lootfest with heavy influences from Gothic literature, while combining it with imaginative gameplay and quirky customization. Bram Stoker's Dracula, and over a dozen other literary classics will have deep-rooted places within the plot of EDGAR, giving players a chance to get a "feel" for the Victorian era, even when the game is presented in a fantastical manner.
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.
An example of our real time lighting in the game.


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While most airlines allow you to book travel 330 days in advance, some of the US lower carrier airlines have a very different booking schedule. Every so often Southwest and AirTran extend their reservations system a few months out at a time. I was very happy when I went to the Southwest site that both them and AirTran have extended their schedule to February 12, 2014. Until now you could only book until January 5, 2014. You can now book travel for Martin Luther King weekend or if you were looking to take a long vacation past New Years.
With both airlines, if you book now and the flight price goes down you are able to get a credit.
- Southwest: If you pay for your flight, you will receive a voucher for the difference to be used one year from the date the flight was purchased. This voucher is non-transferable. If you booked your flight using points, the difference in points will go back into your account. You can rebook your original flight online to get this voucher/point difference credited – no phone call is needed.
- AirTran: For paid flights, you must call AirTran and request a credit for the difference. This voucher will be attached to the frequent fliers account who the ticket was booked for, but is fully transferable to anyone (you must just book through that FF account). The voucher expires one year from the date the flight was purchased.
Additionally, with Southwest, you can fully cancel your reservation for NO penalty (unlike AirTran). Here are the four scenarios on how you will get refunded for your reservation:
- Purchasing a ticket with a credit card: If cancelled, you will receive a credit back in the full amount you paid valid for one year from when the ticket was purchased. Unfortunately, these credits are not transferable.
- Purchasing a ticket with Southwest credit or a voucher: If cancelled, you will receive a credit back in the full amount you paid, but the expiration date will stick from the original voucher expiration date. This will not extend the date. Again, these credits/vouchers are not transferable.
- Purchasing a ticket using points: If cancelled, you will receive the full amount of points used back into your account. The points will go back into the account from which they were pulled from even if they were used on another passenger. There is no fee at all!
- Purchasing a ticket using a free ticket: If cancelled, you will receive the free ticket back into your account. This will not extend the expiration date. If the ticket was used for another passenger, it will still go back into the account from where the free ticket was pulled from. There is no fee at all!
You will also receive the full amount of taxes back to your credit card. If you cancel the reservation via the phone, however, many times they will not tell you this and instead give you a credit to be used for future travel for the taxes (ranging from $2.50-$7.50 one way). Make sure to request that the taxes go back to the credit card.
This is great for holiday travel, although prices can still be expensive. My assumption is the prices will go down over time though – at least that is what happened last year (holiday travel significantly went down over a 4 month time frame) and I was able to get 5 tickets down in price by about $100 per ticket roundtrip!
Happy booking!


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|Search Results (55 videos found)
|NASA Connect - VT -Scale Modeling
NASA Connect segment exploring what it means to scale and why scientists use scale models and drawings. The video also explores math terms that are associated with scale models and...
Genre: Educational
Keywords: NASA Connect; Scale Models; Scale Drawings; Centimeter; Kilometer; Ratios;
Duration: 00:08:29
Popularity (downloads): 1384
|NASASciFiles - Measuring Earthquakes
NASA Sci Files segment explaining how scientists measure the power of earthquakes by using the Richter Scale and the Moment Magnitude Scale.
Genre: Educational
Keywords: NASA Sci Files; Earthquake; Vibration; Measurement; Richter Scale; Moment Magnitude Scale; Scientific Journals; Observations; Data; Epicenter;
Duration: 00:02:55
Popularity (downloads): 1474
|NASA Connect - XPG - X-33 Model Activity
NASA Connect segment involving students in an activity exploring the design of a paper scale model of the X-33. The objectives of the activity involve measuring the linear dimensions of...
Genre: Educational
Keywords: NASA Connect; X-33; Scale; Model; Dimensions; Scale Factor; Linear; Student Activity; Compute;
Duration: 00:04:21
Popularity (downloads): 1420
|NASA Connect - XPG - X-Plane, Ratios, and TPS
NASA Connect segment explaining the X-Plane, scale model, and Venture Star. The video also explores a Thermal Protection System, or TPS and gives examples of this.
Genre: Educational
Keywords: NASA Connect; Velocity; Speed of Sound; Launch Vehicle; Thermal Protection System; Spacecraft; Atmosphere; X-33; Ratio; Scale; Model; Revolutions;
Duration: 00:05:49
Popularity (downloads): 1879
|ACM CHI 1997 - Technology at Home: A Digital Personal Scale
Video demonstration from the 1997 CHI conference. This project is a coneptual study for the design of digital personal scale that allows for user personalization an weight data tracking. ...
Genre: Educational
Keywords: CHI; Technology; Home; Digital; Scale; design; hardware/software integration; socio-cultural relevance; ubiquitous computing; physical interaction user experience
Duration: 00:01:51
Popularity (downloads): 1806
|NASA Connect - XPG - Model Testing
NASA Connect segment explaining how models are tested to create more efficient designs. The video explores the new X-33 engine and explains what engineers learn from scale models.
Genre: Educational
Keywords: NASA Connect; Model; Scale; Testing; Engineers; Design; Linear Aerospike Engine; Conventional Engines; X-33; Nozzle; Ramp; Bell-Shape; Vertical Stabilizer; Space Vehicle; Venture Star;
Duration: 00:01:57
Popularity (downloads): 1491
|NASA Connect - VT - Scale Model Activity
NASA Connect segment involving students in a classroom activity that uses graphing, measurement, and ratios to construct a scaled model of the Solar System.
Genre: Educational
Keywords: NASA Connect; Scale; Ratio; Graphing; Measurement; Student Activity; Solar System;
Duration: 00:02:46
Popularity (downloads): 1316
|NASA Connect - XPG - Model Design Web Activity
NASA Connect segment exploring a web activity involving the design of a scale model. The video involves students in this activity to build, test, and record data according to the...
Genre: Educational
Keywords: NASA Connect; Model; Scale; Design; Web Activity; Test Flight; Record Data; Online;
Duration: 00:02:25
Popularity (downloads): 1593
|Creating Principal 3D Curves with Digital Tape Drawing
Video presentation from the 2002 CHI conference. Previous systems have explored the challenges of designing an interface for automotive styling which combine the metaphor of 2D drawing using physical...
Genre: Educational
Keywords: CHI: Tape drawing; large scale displays; 3D modeling; two-handed interaction; interaction techniques
Duration: 00:02:02
Popularity (downloads): 473
|Quiet Revolution, The
Shows how Ford earthmoving equipment helps the builders of Levittown, Pennsylvania achieve great economies of scale. With excellent images of home and infrastructure building.
Genre: Ephemeral
Keywords: Suburbia;Levittown, Pennsylvania;Houses and homes;
Duration: 00:09:08
Popularity (downloads): 886


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I'm absolutely appalled by the footage of armed men desecrating British war graves in Benghazi in Libya. Click here to watch.
Footage on the BBC website shows a large group of armed men – accompanied by what appears to be a reasonably professional film crew – smashing numerous CWGC grave stones. A man is then shown climbing a ladder to try and damage the cross of sacrifice that is present in all larger cemeteries. One gravestone is clearly seen to be engraved with a star of David, denoting that it is the grave of a Jewish serviceman. At no point does anybody seem to stop them, least of all the camera crew. The group act calmly and casually – this is not the work of a few idle youths.That it was filmed does suggest that it was organised. Of course the Libyan Government has condemed the attacks, but did they do enough to stop them? Will they do enough to stop them in future? I'm intrigued about who exactly the film crew were.
War graves in Libya have been pretty inaccessible for many years, since Colonel Gaddafi came to power. One Portsmouth man is buried in Beghazi – Bombardier Henry Herbert, aged 22 who was killed on 8 January 1942 serving with 51 Field Regiment of the Royal Artillery. The CWGC have confirmed that graves have been damaged, and will be carrying out a full survey soon.
Desecrating war graves is a particularly cowardly thing to do. Especially considering British servicemen have done a lot to help ordinary Libyans, both during the Second World War when the Eight Army fought to push back both the Italians and the Germans, and in the past year or so when NATO forces helped the overthrow Colonel Gaddafi. It is a cowardly thing to do, because the man buriede beneath the gravestone cannot fight back. And more important than that, a war grave is deserving of respect, no matter who is buried there. A person who died doing their duty deserves dignity and peace regardless of the uniform that they wore, or the mistakes of their political masters.
Related articles
- Brit War Graves Desecrated In Libya – Sky News (news.sky.com)
- Diggers' war graves desecrated (heraldsun.com.au)
- Insult to our war dead: Shocking footage shows Libyan rebels desecrating British war graves (mirror.co.uk)
- British war graves in Libya desecrated by Islamist militants (guardian.co.uk)
- Desecrated: In a Benghazi cemetery, lovingly tended headstones marking the graves of Churchill's Desert Rats are smashed to rubble… by the Libyans we helped liberate in 2011 (dailymail.co.uk)


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University of Missouri administrators decided to delete an entire Facebook page after students' complaints about anti-gay comments. The Facebook page alerted students to this week's visiting performance by E. Patrick Johnson, the popular Black gay academic, author and performance artist. Johnson is the chair of the department of performance studies at Northwestern University.
The thread included at least one negative comment by an anti-gay Republican state legislator, reports The Missourian.
The presentations were titled "Pouring Tea: Black Gay Men of the South Tell Their Tales" and "In Search of Countess Vivian: Queerness and the Making of Southern History." The events were presented in conjunction with MU's Pride Month and co-sponsored in part by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Resource Center, among other campus groups and organizations.
"Some of the comments were offensive to Mizzou students and fans. Comments that violated our posting policy — those that contained profanity or personal attacks, for example — were removed swiftly. Those that did not, remained on the Facebook page for more than 24 hours," the message stated.
One such comment that sparked a heated response was from Missouri state Rep. Kathie Conway, R-St. Charles. "Really?? This is educational?," Conway wrote. "Just what is the percentage of the population that this could possibly apply? .0001%?" Conway could not be reached for comment.
Mizzou administrators say "many of the comments" violated the university's posting policy. Administrators also add the page was thread was ultimately deleted because the event was over.
"Pouring Tea: Black Gay Men of the South Tell Their Tales" is a critically-acclaimed and commercially successful stage adaptation of the Johnson's oral history Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South. The one-man show has been staged across the country.


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I am very excited to announce that my recipe for Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas has won the Whole Foods Market Budget Recipe Challenge. A hearty thank you to all who voted for the recipe- and highlighted this gluten-free vegetarian entry.
I am overwhelmed by the support. Over 1,300 of you took the time to vote! And I appreciate it with all my heart.
Congrats to the other talented finalists who participated with their mouthwatering array of unique dishes- Jaden of Steamy Kitchen, Rachel of Coconut & Lime, Hannah of Bittersweet, Michael of Cooking for Engineers and of Katy of Sugar Laws. Your recipes rocked.
Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas


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This is the argument the RIAA and similar groups make when explaining why downloading music is bad. Except, when you steal a CD, you get a misdemeanor, pay a couple bucks in fines, and the store has one less CD to sell. When you download a song, you get sued for up to $150,000 and no one has lost anything. It's like if you light your candle using someone else's candle and they sue you for stealing their flame. In other words, it makes perfect sense to consider copyright exactly the same as tangible property. This comic and commentary by Terry Hart originally appeared on Flickr.com. Hart draws his comics with a graphics tablet, and you can check out more of his stuff, including a great series about law school, here.
7 years ago


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Open Car Show comes to downtown Orange
The W.H. Stark House will partner with the Orange Peel Out Car Club to host the fourth annual Open Car Show on Saturday, Oct. 27, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Lutcher Theater parking lot, 707 W. Main Ave. in Orange. The car show, which is free and open to the public, will include cars ranging from antiques to vintage to street rods. Music will be provided by Jon Nimitz, and there will also be food and drinks for sale. All proceeds will go to benefit a local charity.
Throughout the event, a film showing the 2003 restoration of the Hupmobile will be playing in The W.H. Stark House Carriage House. The 1909 Hupmobile will be on display in the Carriage House, and the 1918 Model T Truck will be on the grounds of The W.H. Stark House for the public to see. During the car show, $2 first-floor tours of the house will be available to the public.
All interested parties are welcome to enter cars in the show for a registration fee of $20 prior to the event or $25 on the day of the event. The Orange Peel Out Club is currently accepting vehicle entries ranging from antique to vintage to street rod, and prizes will be awarded in various classes. More information can be found online, and entry forms are available for download at www.whstarkhouse.org.
The W.H. Stark House is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., with the last tour beginning at 3:30 p.m. For more information, call (409) 883-0871 or visit www.whstarkhouse.org.


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The education market may be a little soft, but Fort Worth Electric (FWE) still found a way to make a little scholastic scratch — by teaching. Texas electricians need four hours of state-certified CEUs per year to retain their licenses, but instead of sending his staff to classes at a training agency, FWE's president, Tracy Aaron, decided to save money by getting certified to do the teaching himself. Now his competitors come to him for their annual CEUs. And he learned a few things about offering an A+ electrical ed program along the way. Take notes.
The instructor — Finding someone who can engage students in the discussion is important, so it helps if they're crazy for the Code. And instructors in Texas aren't required to have an electrical license, but Aaron says it lends credibility.
The courses — When submitting courses to the state for approval it helps to be detailed — right down to when you'll take breaks. And Texas electricians can only take any given class once, so adding new choices regularly will increase your chances of getting repeat students.
The revisions — Requirements can change without warning, so see if the state provides e-mail updates. Aaron got on the e-notification list in Texas, and it didn't take long for it to pay off — the state made a revision before he held his first class.


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I don't care How much Sh*t Ya give me ; NOT launching someone
i don't know at Mohave , without asking how long they bin kiting and
if there familiar with the nuances for the things that can Kill them
at 6-mile.
If i don't like your answer, i'll simply tell Ya to do a self tether launch because the
wind today isn't safe to kite in ; i'll also Discourage you from kiting
there if i get the idea that you don't know what your doing.
I saved an ignorant woman's Life one day by using that strategy ; she
was totally Clue-less on how to use a kite, never took a lesson, and
had no idea what could happen to her 100Lb body while
hooked into a 8 to 10M kite in a 30mph wind . All this while her 220Lb
son was looking like he wanted to smash my face cause i wouldn't help
his mother !!
If your in the USA, and you encourage someone to go kiting by talking to
or launching them, then your Also liable for damages if they get hurt.
Yep -- that's F*cked-Up , but there's already bin cases won by shrewd lawyers
with some rather Large awards.
The First thing the injured person is gonna say :
"Someone should-a Warned me", & then watch there Lawyer go to work on Ya.


text:
This week, three Fashion and Apparel stocks are improving their overall ratings on Portfolio Grader. Each of these stocks is rated an "A" ("strong buy") or "B" overall ("buy").
Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE:WWW) is making progress this week as its rating of C ("hold") from last week increases to a B ("buy") rating this week. Wolverine World Wide is a designer, manufacturer, and marketer of a range of quality casual shoes, rugged outdoor and work footwear. In Portfolio Grader's specific subcategories of Earnings Surprise and Equity, WWW also gets A's. For more information, get Portfolio Grader's complete analysis of WWW stock.
This is a strong week for Iconix Brand Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ICON). The company's rating climbs to B from the previous week's C. Iconix Brand Group is a brand management company that is engaged in licensing, marketing, and providing trend direction for several owned consumer brands. For more information, get Portfolio Grader's complete analysis of ICON stock.
Zuoan Fashion (NYSE:ZA) shows solid improvement this week. The company's rating rises from a C to a B. Zuoan engages in the design and distribution of fashion menswear. For more information, get Portfolio Grader's complete analysis of ZA stock.
Louis Navellier's proprietary Portfolio Grader stock ranking system assesses roughly 5,000 companies every week based on a number of fundamental and quantitative measures. Stocks are given a letter grade based on their results — with A being "strong buy," and F being "strong sell." Explore the tool here.


text:
4,241 reviewer rep
603 forum posts
joined Feb 16, 2012
35-year-old female backpacker
Columbia, SC
Email: private
Gear Reviews (33)
|Backpacker's Pantry Chana Masala
|Backpacker's Pantry Chicken Piccata & Tagliatelle Pasta
|Backpacker's Pantry Nicoise Salad with Salmon
|Gregory Deva 70 GZ
|Columbia Women's OutDry Ex Diamond Shell Jacket
|MontBell Superior Down Parka
|Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2 mtnGLO
|Big Agnes Ripple Creek UL2+ mtnGLO
|Sea to Summit Comfort Light Insulated Mat
|Exped Synmat WinterLite
Forum Posts (603)
|Re: Trekking Poles: Do you really need them?
|September 28, 2017
|Re: "When in Doubt Go" Says Reviewer of the Month Ashleigh
|July 14, 2017
|Re: "When in Doubt Go" Says Reviewer of the Month Ashleigh
|July 7, 2017
|Re: cars and getting outside
|March 23, 2017
|Re: Grayson Highlands "Winter" Weekend
|March 13, 2017
Trip Reports (23)
|2016 Rockies Road Trip
|October 8, 2016
|Rockies Road Trip from September
|April 22, 2016
|Our Great Northeastern Adventure: The White Mountains - Crawford Notch State Park and Franconia Notch State Park
|July 11, 2014
|Jackson Hole, Yellowstone National Park, and Grand Teton National Park
|March 14, 2014
|Pisgah National Forest, NC Fall Foilage
|October 2, 2013
I am from South Carolina and I hike, backpack, golf, disc golf, kayak, wakeboard, snowboard. I primarily hike in Western NC, but I also venture to North Georgia, East Tennessee, Southwest and Central Virginia, and Upstate SC.
Since my husband and I first got into hiking, we have made it our mission to explore our country. We started out in Pisgah National Forest in NC, and then on to GSMNP and several highlights of the southern parts of the Appalachian Trail (Springer Mtn, Max Patch Bald, Hot Springs, more of GSMNP, Roan Mountain, Grayson Highlands, McAfee Knob, and Shenandoah National Park).
We've also been to Yosemite National Park (twice), Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, and hiked several areas of the JMT near Mammoth Lakes, CA.
In the summer of 2014, we went on a long road trip up the east coast to the White Mountains and New England. Earlier that year, we went snowboarding in Jackson Hole and on a snowmobile tour of Yellowstone National Park.
In early 2015, we road-tripped to West Virginia to go snowboarding. This summer we drove across the country from SC with highlights being Nashville, TN, Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Arches National Park, and the Uncompahgre Wilderness in Colorado.
In the summer 2016, we road-tripped to Badlands NP, Mt. Rushmore, Glacier NP, Yellowstone NP, Grand Teton NP, and Aspen, CO.
We have loved what we have seen so far!
Favorite Backcountry Spots:
Max Patch Bald, Black Balsam Knob, and Linville Gorge in NC, Grayson Highlands State Park in VA, Roan Highlands and Great Smoky Mountains National Park in TN, and Jones Gap State Park and the Chatooga River in SC
Tent - MSR Carbon Reflex 2, REI Half Dome 2
Pack- Osprey Aura 50, Gregory Cirque 30L
Sleeping bag - Montbell U.L. Spiral Down Hugger #1, Montbell U.L. Spiral Down Hugger #3
Compression Sack - Sea to Summit eVent (M)
Liner- Sea to Summit Reactor
Camp Seat/Chair - Big Agnes SL Cyclone, Thermarest Trail Lite Seat
Pad - Big Agnes Insulated Q-Core, Big Agnes Insulated Double Z
Pillow - Exped Comfort Foam
Stove - Soto OD-1 Windmaster, Jetboil PCS
Poles - Black Diamond Distance Z-poles (100 cm)
Filter - Katadyn Vario, Sawyer Squeeze
Light - Black Diamond Spot, Petzl Tikka 2, Black Diamond Orbit, ENO Twilights
Multi-tool - Gerber Steady, Gerber Crucial
Boots/shoes - Merrell Moab Mid GTX, Salomon XA Pro 3D Ultra GTX (mid and low cut), Asolo FSN 70 GTX, Kahtoola Microspikes
Puffy - Montbell Alpine Light Down Parka, Montbell Superior Down Parka, Patagonia Down Sweater Hoody, Patagonia Hi-Loft Down Sweater, Patagonia U.L. Down Jacket, Patagonia Down Sweater Vest, Arc'teryx Atom LT and Atom LT Hoody, The North Face Zephyrus
Rain shell - Patagonia Alpine Houdini, Patagonia Leashless, Mountain Hardwear Typhoon, Patagonia Nano Storm, Mountain Hardwear Xenon
Baselayers: Smartwool Midweight Pattern 1/4 zip and pants, Patagonia R1 pullover and pants, Patagonia Capilene 2 &3 tops, Patagonia Merino 2 1/4 Zip, Eddie Bauer Hangfire Hoodie
Gaiters: Outdoor Research Stamina, Outdoor Research Rocky Mountain Low
Bear Canister - Bearvault BV450
Hammock - ENO Double Nest with Slap Straps Pro and Dry Fly Tarp
Beverage Container - GSI Outdoors Infinity Insulated Mug, 32 oz Nalgene, 32 oz Platypus bottle, .5 liter Platypus bottle
Bladder - 3L Platypus Big Zip, 2L Camelbak
Here is a link to my Reviewer of the Month story, done by Seth Levy:
|Torso Length
|Boot/Shoe Size
|Jacket/Shirt Size
|Pant Size


text:
16 CFR § 18.7 - Misrepresentation as to character of business.
(a) In the sale, offering for sale, or distribution of industry products, it is an unfair or deceptive act or practice for any industry member to represent itself directly or by implication to be a grower or propagator of such products, or any portion thereof, or to have any other experience or qualification either relating to the growing or propagation of such products or enabling the industry member to be of assistance to purchasers or prospective purchasers in the selection by them of the kinds or types of products, or the placement thereof, when such is not the fact, or in any other manner to misrepresent directly or by implication the character, nature, or extent of the industry member's business.
Among practices subject to the inhibitions of this section is a representation by an industry member to the effect that he is a landscape architect when his training, experience, and knowledge do not qualify him for such representation.
(b) It is also an unfair or deceptive act or practice for an industry member to use the word "guild," "club," "association," "council," "society," "foundation," or any other word of similar import or meaning, as part of a trade name, or otherwise, in such a manner or under such circumstances as to indicate or imply that its business is other than a commercial enterprise operated for profit, unless such be true in fact, or so as to deceive purchasers or prospective purchasers in any other material respect.


text:
On September 22 foreign ministers and heads of state attended the Durban III Conference at the United Nation's headquarters in New York City. It was the third in a series of international events sponsored by the UN whose stated purpose is to combat racism. However, history has shown that the Durban events promote, rather than combat, racism.
The Hudson Institute and Touro College organized an event across the street from the UN at the Millennium Hotel in Manhattan. Their counter conference focused on the perils of racism associated with past and current Durban Conferences. Called "Durban Watch" for short, this event showcases a who's who of speakers from academia, public policy, journalism, human rights, politics and entertainment.
PJTV has posted videos of most of the counter conference speakers. Roger Simon writes that the counter conference "featured a number of magnificent speakers from Jon Voight to the Sudan's Simon Deng…. And when I say 'magnificent' I am not in this instance being hyperbolic. I am not one who normally enjoys speeches at conferences. I guess I have too much of my own kind of ADD. But these speeches were riveting."
The videos are posted here. I have watched several of them, starting with Mike Huckabee (who is excellent), and moving down the line. They are as Roger describes them. Please take a look.


text:
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Bachelor's degree in communications, University of Houston; Master's degree in journalism, University of California-Berkeley.
Professional background:
Kelley Griffin has been with Colorado Public Radio since 1993 as a business reporter, managing editor and news director. She currently serves as CPR's Senior Editor.
Kelley has worked in both print and radio journalism, including NPR and "Marketplace." She co-authored More Action for a Change with Ralph Nader and wrote and edited for a media reform group and the American Association of University Women. Kelley has also served on the board of the Public Radio News Directors, Inc.
Kelley has received two National Headliner Awards; a national Edward R. Murrow Award; and awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press, and the Colorado Association of Black Journalists.


text:
Welcome to Sands Canada
For all Accounts Receivable/Payable/Accounting inquiries, please contact: firstname.lastname@example.com
For 30 years, Sands Canada has been a trusted supplier of a wide range of products for Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Fire Departments and Police Services. This allows us to work with services large and small across Canada and the United States.
Sands Canada strives to provide the premium / brand name products that your service requires, but we also understand that budgets are made so alternatives for products must be available. We constantly look for alternatives for those products that have Health Canada licensing, in order to help your service save money.
One major thing that separates Sands Canada from our competition is our willingness to supply to individuals and not just services. Providing Stocked First Aid Kits, supplies to replenish your existing First Aid Kit and Medical Supplies for Home Care, we are a complete medical supply solution for your home, and/or business.
Sands Canada is the manufacturer of Angus bags. Our Angus bags are used by EMS for their medical, airway and trauma kits. Fire Departments use Angus bags to carry oxygen and other supplies they may need on the scene.
We invite you to contact our knowledgeable sales staff by email or over the phone and see how we can assist you with your needs!
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text:
The Intellectual Property Institute
Directed by Professor Russ VerSteeg
Intellectual property law is one of the fastest growing areas of legal specialization. It is intellectually stimulating, Professor VerSteeg points out, because it combines abstract and practical elements. "At the core of intellectual property law is the concept that, if someone thinks up something either original or novel, that creation ought to have property-like protections," says Professor VerSteeg. "The law draws lines between the intangible and the concrete and between the public domain and private property. These are fields where technology and law intersect – and often clash – in novel and dramatic ways."
- Focused on one of the fastest growing areas of legal specialization, this institute's activities are aimed at the cutting edge of technology and law – encompassing such technologies as genetic engineering and the Internet – and issues as diverse as intellectual property protection for fashion, and damages for downloading music files.
- Professor Russ VerSteeg, director of the institute, writes extensively on intellectual property law, including a chapter on "Originality and Creativity in Copyright Law" in the book, Intellectual Property and Information Wealth: Issues and Practices in the Digital Age. This four-volume work is considered the go-to resource for emerging issues in intellectual property law.
- Professor Karol, a former intellectual property partner at the Sunstein law firm in Boston, brings his broad practice experience as a patent, trademark and copyright litigator, and global IP portfolio developer, to the Institute. Professor Karol's scholarship focuses on a diverse array of intellectual property subjects, including scholarly articles in the fields of patent litigation procedure, trademark history, and peer-to-peer copyright infringement.
Summer Fellowship Placements
- Using an array of professional contacts, the institute secures summer fellowships for outstanding students at some of the most highly regarded intellectual property law firms in the Boston area, including funded placements in 2013 in the fields of patent litigation, and trademark, copyright and publishing law.
- Boston Intellectual Property American Inn of Court: New England Law students who are active in the IP Institute and the IP Law Association have the opportunity to attend meetings of the Boston Intellectual Property American Inn of Court, a member of the Linn Inn Alliance, established by Judge Linn of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Judge Richard G. Stearns of the U.S. District Court (MA) is president of the Boston Inn, and the membership includes numerous federal court judges, leading members of the IP bar, and law students. In 2013, Prof. Karol moderated a symposium sponsored by the New England Law Review concerning Rutgers Professor Stuart Green's recent work, Thirteen Ways to Steal a Bicycle, focused on intersection of theft and intellectual property law.
- Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial Moot Court Competition: During the 2012-2013 academic year, New England Law entered this IP competition sponsored by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA).
- Writing Competitions: The IP Institute promotes student participation in a number of IP writing competitions including the annual Robert C. Watson Award Competition, sponsored by AIPLA; the Boston Patent Law Association (BPLA) Annual Writing Competition; and the Honorable William C. Conner Intellectual Property Law Writing Competition, sponsored by the New York Intellectual Property Law Association.
- IP Seminars: In 2013, the IP Law Association co-presented "Intellectual Property Law: Evolution and Reform," a panel concerning the future of intellectual property litigation featuring highly regarded scholars in the field, moderated by Prof. Jordan Singer. The IP Law Association also assisted in presenting the Human Rights Day Symposium, moderated by Prof. VerSteeg, on "Global Access to Health Care & Medicines vs. Int'l Pharmaceutical Patent Law."
- IP Career Counseling: Professors Karol and VerSteeg share their experience and contacts with students who wish to pursue IP careers.
- Intellectual Property Law Association (student organization)
- Art and Fashion Law Society (student organization)


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From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel. A stunning court disagreement today over the National Security Agency's mass collection of telephone records. Just one week after a D.C. federal judge found it unconstitutional, New York federal Judge William Pauley determined concluded the opposite. The program, he says, is lawful. The conflicting opinions came in response to two challenges to the NSA's phone data collection.
As NPR's Tom Gjelten reports, it's now all but certain that the surveillance programs will be considered by the Supreme Court.
TOM GJELTEN, BYLINE: The two federal judges hearing the cases disagreed on almost every key issue before them. Judge Pauley in a ruling issued just today said the NSA's collection of all U.S. citizens' telephone data, while breathtaking in quantity, does not amount to the kind of search prohibited under the Fourth Amendment.
Federal Judge Richard Leon ruling last week in a separate case, said it surely did and that James Madison who wrote the Constitution would be aghast. The government has argued that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act does not leave room for these challenges now coming before the courts. Judge Pauley in New York agreed. The D.C. district judge did not.
Finally, the two judges disagreed on whether the bulk collection of telephone data is an effective counterterrorism tool. Judge Leon in D.C. said he had serious doubts, but Judge Pauley in New York opened his ruling by telling the story of a 9/11 hijacker who, according to the government, might have been caught under the NSA's telephone surveillance program.
The challenge to the NSA program in the New York case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union. Here's ACLU lawyer Brett Max Kaufman.
BRETT MAX KAUFMAN: We are extremely disappointed with this decision, which misinterprets the relevant statutes, understates the privacy implications of the government surveillance.
GJELTEN: And misapplies past precedents, he said. The ACLU is especially critical of Judge Pauley's claim that the effectiveness of the surveillance program could not be seriously disputed. Kaufman said each of the examples cited by Judge Pauley in this regard have been challenged by three senators from the Senate Intelligence Committee.
KAUFMAN: They have conclusively debunked those examples and we think Judge Pauley got it wrong in relying on them.
GJELTEN: A Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr said the department is pleased by Judge Pauley's ruling. Both his ruling and Judge Leon's ruling will be appealed to their respective circuit courts. The Affordable Care Act also went through conflicting rulings at the district court level. And like Obamacare, the NSA telephone surveillance program in all likelihood will be settled only by the Supreme Court. Tom Gjelten, NPR News, Washington.
Copyright © 2013 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio record.


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COMMERCE - Winifred Gulley Chandler, 95, died Tuesday, October 16, 2012 at Scenic View Nursing Home.
She was born in Franklin County, the daughter of the late Lon C. and Mollie Crump Gulley. She was a member of Victory Baptist Church and was retired as a day care owner. Mrs. Chandler was preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, Elbie Johnson Chandler; brothers, Asbury Gulley, Ed Gulley, Fred Gulley and Swayne Gulley; and sister, Ruby Poole.
Survivors include a son, Billy Chandler, Commerce; sisters, Frances Brown, Greenville, S.C. and Geneva Standridge, Commerce; granddaughter, Lynn Crocker, Gainesville; and two great-granddaughters, Kennedy Crocker and Katherine Crocker, both of Gainesville.
Funeral services will be held at 4 p.m., Thursday, October 18, at the chapel of Little-Ward Funeral Home with the Rev. Henry Webb officiating. Interment will follow in Jackson Memorial Park. The family will receive friends at the funeral home Wednesday, October 17, from 5 to 8 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the First Baptist Church Building Fund, 1345 South Elm St., Commerce, GA 30529.
Little-Ward Funeral Home, Commerce, is in charge of arrangements.
Winifred Chandler (10-16-12)
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Photography books are helpful when you're getting started with photography and need the fundamentals.
Photography books are also helpful when you want to learn more about a specific type of photography, such as portrait photography, night and low-light photography, and HDR photography.
After you've learned everything you can from books, you can learn even more online, such as by searching the Photobird Daily.
Here's a chronological list of photography books that we've written about here in the Photobird Daily. The list of books is separated between beginner's books and advanced books.
All of the photography books are available from Amazon.com, and if you're one of the winners of the Photobird Photo Contest for July 2009, you can buy the books with your $50 Amazon.com gift card! The Photobird Photo Contest is free to enter. Enter here!
If you're looking to purchase only one photography book to get started with, I recommend either Understanding Exposure or Photographer's Exposure Handbook.
For beginners:
Digital SLR Handbook, by John Freeman
Photographer's Exposure Handbook
Hands-On Digital Photography, by George Schaub
Understanding Exposure, by Bryan Peterson
Excerpt: The Importance of Exposure
Excerpt: Posing Basics
Beyond Portraiture, by Bryan Peterson
More advanced:
Fashion Photography, by Bruce Smith
Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait
Night & Low-Light Photography, by Jill Waterman
Mastering HDR Photography, by Michael Freeman
Before you buy Understanding Exposure or anything else on Amazon.com, please click one of our links to Amazon.com on this page or anywhere on Photobird.com. For each product you buy after your click, we receive a small referral fee, at no additional cost to you. Your clicks and purchases allow us to continue to publish the Photobird Daily and the Photobird Learning Center. Thank you for your support!
See more great photos and photography articles in the Photobird Daily.
Sign up for the Photobird newsletter.
Visit Photobird.com, the easy way to share your photos.


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Just and Fair Masters
By way of application, those who are managers or who otherwise supervise people should keep in mind the principle behind the proper treatment of slaves by masters. Employees are not to be regarded as mere cogs in a machine, and ...Read More
Praying for the Mission
Praying for other Christians is also a way to manifest our love for them, as true love for Paul would motivate the Colossians to intercede for the apostle. John Calvin says that "it is not in vain that the Lord ...Read More
Wisdom in the World
One commentator has said that things would be drastically different on the mission field at home and abroad if believers felt the same urgency to reach others with the gospel as they do to secure their own welfare. The wealth ...Read More
Lively and Gracious Speech
Jesus' teaching in parables is an excellent illustration of the kind of speech that Paul talks about in today's passage. His words were memorable, exciting, and attracted many to follow Him. At the same time, there was no hint ...Read More
Greetings from the Brethren
As believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ, we must always speak the truth, but we must always speak it in love (Eph. 4:15). Our default position should be to build networks with other believers and churches who are ...Read More
The Epistles of the Apostles
As you study the epistles over the coming months, occasionally think of what it must have been like to be in the early church receiving a letter from Paul or Peter or John. That same excitement and anticipation about what ...Read More
Paul's Partners and Friends
As much as it depends on us, we should always seek to be reconciled to those with whom we are at odds, especially if they are believers in Jesus. Of course, there will be some occasions when our offer of ...Read More
Epaphras and Luke
We should never despise the work of our pastors and elders in prayer, for it is this task to which they are called (Acts 6:1–7), and it is necessary for the building up of our churches. Ordained elders ...Read More
Final Words to Colossae
If the apostle Paul could implore those who knew him to pray for him in his condition of suffering, then we should be ready as well to ask others for prayer when we are in need. We should likewise remember ...Read More


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That may sound flippant, given the number of people killed and wounded by a lone gunman in Las Vegas Sunday night, but it's also sadly true.
Sunday saw more than 50 people killed, and 406 taken to hospital, all by a single shooter using automatic weapons to target a concert.
The shooter killed himself as police broke into his hotel room, which was apparently filled with weapons.
Weapons in Nevada are far from an uncommon thing; website Nevada Carry hails itself as "Nevada's best resource for gun laws and gun-rights news," and lists a series of Nevada gun law basics.
"Concealed weapons permits are-shall issue and open carry is legal without a permit. Nevada does not ban 'assault weapons' and there is no magazine capacity limit. There are no purchase permits, gun registration, or gun-owner licensing. … There is no waiting period mandated for firearm purchases and private gun sales are okay. Local gun laws are prohibited."
Even fully automatic weapons are allowed, if registered. Large capacity magazines are not prohibited.
It's a very different world.
After the shooting, the Nevada Carry site had this message: "This is not the time to talk about gun control. This was the terrorist attack we have long feared coming to Las Vegas. … Banning this or that gun would not have prevented this."
You can be forgiven if it all sounds like the same arguments over and over again, arguments that keep weapons in the hands of people willing to undertake violent actions.
Can things change?
Perhaps. But when they didn't change after 27 people, mostly children, were killed by a gunman at Sandy Hook in 2012, or when 50 people died in an Orlando nightclub in 2016, or when 32 died in the 2007 Virginia Tech mass shootings, you have to wonder just what it would take.
The Gun Violence Archive, keeping track of gun violence statistics since 2013, has counted 11,652 gun deaths this year, and 23,512 injuries. It lists 273 mass shootings — just for 2017. As Newsweek pointed out, that's more mass shootings in the United States than there have been days so far this year.
The Mass Shooting Tracker lists even more — 338 incidents where four or more people are shot.
Some make the national news in the United States for a day or a week. Some are news only in local papers. On the same day as the Las Vegas shooting, three people were killed and two injured in a mass shooting in Lawrence, Kansas.
A popular argument is that guns don't kill people, people do.
But more to the point, people with guns kill people.
People with more and larger guns kill more people. People with automatic weapons kill even more people.
We're lucky here that so few people have those deadly tools.


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Don't include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details.
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Don Reitz
American, b. 1929
Skirted vessel, 1992
82 x 40.4 cm
Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Gift from the collection of Robert and Meridel Archambeau
The monumentality and gestural nature of this skirted vessel is typical of Don Reitz's practice. Recognized as one of the most influential ceramists in the United States, Reitz is credited with reviving the art of salt-firing in the 1960s and achieving colours and effects not previously thought possible. Later work, such as this example, is indicative of his interest in and use of wood-firing techniques, and his exploitation of the unpredictable and complex surface effects these can create. Standing almost a metre tall, the sheer physicality of this piece is impressive and arresting. Reitz's forms are achieved though much physical interaction: pushing, pulling, forcing, and stretching. Clay is massaged into towering vessels of visceral expression, which remain balanced and serene.
Gallery Hours
- Tuesday 11am-5pm
- Wednesday 11am-5pm
- Thursday 11am-5pm
- Friday 11am-9pm
- Saturday 11am-5pm
- Sunday 11am-5pm
- Closed Monday


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Or Login using BecomeGorgeous
Please fill the form below and follow the further instructions.
You are about to receive a email from us please make sure to check your spam or junk folder and add our email [email protected] to your contact list.
Thank you!
The Swarovski Crystallized jewelry campaign for spring/summer 2013 brings plenty of amazingly elegant alternatives into the spotlight. The Swarovski Crystallized label, which starting with March 22 will make the new Zoe Kravitz collection available, brings a multitude of high class jewelry choices which are sure to elevate any outfit. For the new season campaign, the brand enlisted the help of model Annemara Post who looks sophisticated and classy through the lenses of photographer Mario Schmolka. The new Swarovski Crystallized campaign for... Read More


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Did an interview this morning on Hannah-Beth Jackson's radio show, Progressive Talk Radio in Santa Barbara. The topic was the current state of financial reform in Washington. Click on the "download" link and it will start playing. (There's a burst of static a few seconds in – sorry about that!).
Here it is:


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Parsers go through the contents of a page to create a sequence of formatter calls which in sequence create some readable output. Moin will choose the parser for a page using different techniques: FORMAT Processing Instruction (see HelpOnProcessingInstructions) and code display regions (see HelpOnFormatting).
A #FORMAT pi can be used to tell moin which parser to use for the whole page content. By default this is the wiki parser. Example: {{{#FORMAT cplusplus ... some cplusplus source ... }}}
With the use of code display regions, a parser can be applied to only a part of a page (this was a processor region in earlier versions of Moin). You specify which parser to call by using a bang path-like construct in the first line. A bang path is a concept known from Unix command line scripts, where they serve the exact same purpose: the first line tells the shell what program to start to process the remaining lines of the script. Example:
{ { {#!CSV a,b,c d,e,f } } }
For more information on the possible markup, see HelpOnEditing.
A ParserBase colorization parser understands the following arguments to a #FORMAT pi or a hashbang line. Just add those arguments after the name of the parser (#FORMAT python start=10 step=10 numbering=on or #!python numbering=off).
- numbers
- start
- where to start with numbering. defaults to 1
- step
- increment to the linenumber. defaults to 1
Moin comes with a few examples from which you can go on:
1 import java.util.Date;
2 import java.util.Calendar;
4 public class IntDate
5 {
6 public static Date getDate(String year, String month, String day)
7 {
8 // Date(int, int, int) has been deprecated, so use Calendar to
9 // set the year, month, and day.
10 Calendar c = Calendar.getInstance();
11 // Convert each argument to int.
12 c.set(Integer.parseInt(year),Integer.parseInt(month),Integer.parseInt(day));
13 return c.getTime();
14 }
15 }
Colorizes python code. It allows the same arguments as the ParserBase parsers.
The CSV parser works on so-called comma separated values, though the comma is now usually a semicolon. The first line is considered to contain column titles that are rendered in bold, so when you don't want table headers, leave the first line empty.
The bang path can contain "-index" arguments, to hide certain columns from the output; column indices are counted starting from 1.
The current code contains a very simple CSV parser.
MoinMoin Version History:


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Download the Course of Study (PDF) or select from the following to learn about the courses required at each level:
In order to receive a grade report and be eligible to progress to the next level, all course requirements must be completed successfully and all fees must be paid in full.
For a list of specific course meeting times and locations for the upcoming July session, visit WebAdvisor. Click on "Search for Sections" toward the right. Select the upcoming summer session from the drop-down menu, and then select "Kodály Music" from the first drop-down menu under "Subjects." Select "Submit" and then all Kodály courses for the upcoming session will appear.


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dbview is a little tool that will display dBase III files. You can
also use it to convert your old .dbf files for further use with Unix.
It should also work with dBase IV files, but this is mostly untested.
Maintained by: Oleg O. Chukaev
Keywords: dbf,dbase,viewer
ChangeLog: dbview
Download SlackBuild:
dbview.tar.gz.asc (FAQ)
(the SlackBuild does not include the source)
|Individual Files:
| Makefile.diff
| dbview.SlackBuild
| dbview.info
| slack-desc
© 2006-2019 SlackBuilds.org Project. All rights reserved.
Slackware® is a registered trademark of Patrick Volkerding
Linux® is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds
Web Design by WebSight Designs | Managed Hosting by OnyxLight Communications


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Combined Online Information System
The Combined Online Information System (COINS) is the database for UK Government expenditure. The data is used to produce expenditure data in the Budget report; Supply Estimates; Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (PESA); Whole of Government Accounts (WGA); the monthly Public Sector Finance Releases. It is also used by the ONS for other National Statistics releases.
At the release of the COINS raw data in June 2010, the government committed to publishing additional datasets utilising the COINS raw data. In August 2010 we published the first of these datasets showing in year time series data. The in-year dataset is updated quarterly and will be published in the links below.
The aim of these datasets is to make key parts of the COINS data accessible, manageable and comprehensible to the wider public, whilst maintaining a low level of aggregation. Datasets for the time series and for the outturn to budget comparison can assist in interpreting the COINS raw data. At the same time users will be able to drill down behind previously released high level aggregates.
More information regarding the COINS releases can be found at: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/psr_coins_data.htmRead More
Data Resources (61)
Additional Information
|Added to data.gov.uk
|Modified on data.gov.uk
|Government Spending
|Secondary Theme(s)
|Temporal coverage
|1/4/2008 - 31/3/2011
|Geographic coverage
|United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland)
|Update frequency
|Temporal granularity
|No value
|Date added computed
|No value
|Date updated computed
|No value


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A diocesan Cathedral is, in many ways, the public face of the local Church. Passers-by are reminded of Christ's Presence in their midst, and it lifts their minds and hearts to things of Heaven. What about a website?
It may not lift one up to Heaven – but a well-built diocesan website can be an integral part of a communications strategy. It also reflects how much importance is placed on furthering Christ's mission to "teach ye all nations." In a world that increasingly seeks answers to eternal questions via the Internet, it's imperative that the Church establish her presence on the "Digital Continent".
I've put together a list of 5 Diocesan websites that, in my opinion, are currently the 'best' at delivering the goods.
Criteria I used in the selection process:
- Design and layout based on current industry standard practices.
- Inclusion of social media.
- Ease of navigation.
- SERP (Search Engine Results Page) placement.
No particular order. Click thumbnails for larger images:
Archdiocese of Boston
Kudos for the non-standard naming convention – BostonCatholic.com.
Archdiocese of St. Louis
Easy to find social networks, and the drop-down navigation menu is stellar.
Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis
So what if it's my home diocese? Nice looking and lots of useful content on home page without being too busy.
Diocese of Trenton
Best looking of the bunch. Great visual balance and solid color choices.
Diocese of Scranton
Calming color choice, and one of the best story rotators.
Honorable Mention – Archdiocese of Military Services, USA
Clean. Simple. Effective.
Parting Thoughts
Obviously, it's a subjective list, and only 2 years ago, it would've looked very different. In another 2 years? All bets are off.
Did I miss something? Agree or disagree with my choices? Sound off in the comments…


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Eventually corn may reproduce itself without loss in hybrid vigor.
Diligent research and biotechnology have again scored another amazing feat. Researchers at USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Wood-ward, OK, along with Russian scientists, have patented a hybrid between corn and its distant relative, eastern gamagrass, which can naturally clone itself. The development of the hybrid should eventually lead to hybrid corn lines that reproduce themselves without loss in hybrid vigor, disease resistance or favorable agronomic attributes.
A milestone. The ARS patent marks a milestone for plant geneticists. For the plant to clone itself, the genes controlling the trait had to be transferred from gamagrass to corn. Though far from being useful at a commercial level, this accomplishment shows that a sexually reproducing plant can be changed into an asexual variety.
The new asexual plant reproduces when its embryos grow from egg cells without being fertilized by pollen. This form of asexual reproduction is apomixis.
Apomixis occurs naturally in some plants. Scientists have identified more than 300 species that reproduce by cloning themselves through their seeds. Many successful lawn grasses like Kentucky bluegrass as well as common weeds like dandelions reproduce their seed this way.
Major plant laboratories around the world have worked to move apomixis into field crop varieties such as rice, wheat, corn and sorghum. However, the USDA-ARS research laboratory was the first to successfully use this technology in an important cereal grain.
The Southern Plains Research Station in Oklahoma and the Institute of Genetics in Siberia, Russia, are joint inventors on the apomictic maize patent.
"This is not a miracle that will change everything in plant breeding," reports Phillip Sims, ARS researcher. "It's another advancement that the seed industry needs to reflect on when they go about their work. It doesn't eliminate the development of new and improved plants.
"Besides, we've got a long way to go with this work, including isolation of the gene," he adds.
Sims and the other researchers are now trying to pinpoint the actual apomictic gene or genes in a sample of apomictic corn-eastern gamagrass hybrids. Once the genes are pinpointed, they could be transferred to other corn lines or cereal crops.
"The new apomictic corn is still a long way from a midwestern farmer's planter," Sims says. "It could be 5 to 10 years before farmers see this trait in seed they purchase."
Grass genes. The ARS scientists credit the pioneering work of Russian geneticist Dimitri Petrov for laying the groundwork for their apomictic work. Petrov's work in hybridizing corn and eastern gamagrass began in the 1960s. In 1993, the Russian institute entered a four-year cooperative agreement with USDA-ARS for continuing apomictic research. The Russian research was reevaluated and new apomictic materials were developed. Eventually, the research resulted in the generation of plants that are very similar to corn. The development of these plants led to the application for the patent.
The work on corn and eastern gamagrass may yield a better forage plant. Gamagrass is a perennial warm-season grass that is relished by grazing livestock. "The work on gamagrass gives us an opportunity to build a better perennial grass for farmers and ranchers to use in the central United States, " Sims says. "It just happens to have a common ancestor to corn."
Widespread use. ARS reports that several seed companies are interested in its patent. Companies will be able to enter licensing agreements with ARS for use of the genes in hybrid corn. Sims says that the agency wants to make this technology widely available.
"The government is not in the corn business," adds ARS researcher Chester Deald. "Our main goal is to see this is used to the benefit of mankind."