text:
tl;dr 2 – The ReaderPocalypse is upon us. Silvio has updated the iPhone version of Reeder to work with Feedly, Feedbin, and a couple of other services, but not the iPad and Mac versions, which I use heavily. I'm starting to lose hope. In the mean time, I'm using Feedly, which has some pretty slick iOS apps, and works decently in the browser on my Mac. It's a pretty good interim solution, but I still feel like there's room for a standout in this field. I've played with FeedBin, FeedWrangler, TheOldReader, Digg Reader, and AOL Reader, and they just don't work as well for me as Feedly does. YMMV
tl;dr – I don't know what I'm going to use to replace Google Reader yet. I'm going to wait and see what works best as a replacement sync service in Silvio Rizzi's Reeder apps.
Now that we're a few days past the initial shock of the Google Readerpocalypse, everyone can't stop talking about alternatives. As a heavy Reader user, and having converted many people to it over the years, lots of people have been asking me what I think about the alternatives. Rather than list out the alternatives for general Reader users, I'm going to focus on 1) how I use Google Reader, and 2) which of the current alternatives is a suitable replacement for my workflow (hint: there isn't one yet, as of mid March).
I have been a huge fan and proponent of RSS since I discovered it in the early 2000s. That "Longhorn <3 RSS" track jacket that Microsoft gave out at Gnomedex in 2005? I wore that all the time, with pride. I even went so far as to wear bright orange Crocs for a few years, as my "RSS Evangelism Shoes" – people would then ask "What's RSS?" and I'd say "I'm glad you asked!" While I'm in between bright orange shoes right now, it's still one of my favorite colors, and that's 100% because of its association with RSS. So, yeah. I'm that guy. 🙂
Once I realized how well it could replace my "open a bunch of bookmarks for sites I follow and check to see if I recognize anything new" model, I was hooked. I used various RSS aggregator apps (FeedDemon, NewsGator, etc.), but the one that really set my heart afire was Bloglines. The appeal of a web-based reader, which could sync my subscriptions, read state, etc. across any device was the holy grail. It was fast, I only had to manage subscriptions, and it had a great mobile-friendly version that worked on my handheld devices (this was back in the day before smartphones were even really a thing). It was the centerpiece of how I read the web. There's a reason there are 8 pages of search results for "bloglines" on this blog. It had a lot of cool little features, too, like a widget that would embed a live outline of your subscribed feeds, which I used as a live-updated "Link Library" to show what sites I was following. (Side note: I was surprised to learn that Bloglines is actually still around. I thought they had been shut down long ago. It looks like Netvibes absorbed them – the new interface is very similar. Maybe they'll stage a comeback in this new feed reader renaissance.)
When Google Reader was ascendant, it quickly became clear that it was going to be the web-based feed reader that most people used. After a rocky start (it was extremely slow and clunky in the beginning), it improved steadily, until one day, it was the only game in town. I used it very heavily, at one point trying to out-Scoble Robert Scoble (I prided myself on the insane fact that I followed more RSS feeds – about 1800 – than he did at the time). Fast forward a few years, and my feed count is at a much more manageable level (324 today), and I've probably read millions of items using Google Reader (for some reason it's only showing my stats back to 2010, with 300K+ items read). And now Google Reader is going away, and I'm in the same boat as all of you looking for a replacement.
I've learned in the last week or so that the way I use Google Reader is a bit different than most other people. As such, my requirements for a replacement are different. So let me elaborate a bit on how I use Reader, so you can see 1) why a replacement that might work for you won't work for me, and 2) what your prospects are if you happen to use Reader in a way similar to me.
Google Reader, for me, is now exclusively a back-end sync service for Silvio Rizzi's Reeder apps on my iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Reeder's combination of speed, excerpts, and shortcuts let me "process" hundreds of items in just a few minutes (that is, skim and decide to read, send to Instapaper to read later, or share to individuals or mailing lists that I manage). I actually timed myself this morning – I started with 149 unread items from overnight, and in less than five minutes, I had gone through them all. I didn't read every single item, but Reeder shows me enough that I can quickly decide whether I want to read more, and most importantly, when I'm done, and everything is marked as read, I'm confident that I'm not missing anything important. I never use Google Reader's web version, on my computer or devices, anymore.
So, for this kind of usage, let's see how the current (and near future) Google Reader replacements fare.
Feedly saw over 500,000 new users over the weekend, since Reader's demise was announced. It's essentially a really pretty copy of Google Reader's web interface – and it is very pretty. In inexplicably requires you to install an extension in Safari or Chrome when you use it on Mac or Windows, which makes no sense to me. And it has an iPhone version that looks quite nice. I imported the OPML of my subscriptions, and it works well. The only problem for me is that it doesn't sync with Reeder's apps, so it's out. It's also not clear what their business model is (it appears to be advertising-based, with no option for paid user accounts). Given what Google has repeatedly taught us about free services, this makes me nervous.
NewsBlur has been down under heavy load for the last few days, so I only now got a chance to create a free account (they offer paid "Premium" accounts for $24/year). I imported my OPML, and immediately ran into one of the limitations of the free account – you can only have 64 subscriptions. Premium accounts have no limit to the number of feeds you can follow, and also get access to other key features, like "river of news" view (reading by folder, which I do exclusively), an extracted text view, and privacy controls. While I'm encouraged by the fact that they actually charge users money (and therefore hopefully have a sustainable business model), I'm not ready to plunk down my $24/year yet until I hear they have added my key feature – syncing with Reeder's apps. Overall, though, I've heard good things about NewsBlur, and if Silvio updates Reeder so that it can sync with NewsBlur, they could be a contender.
I've wanted to check out Shaun Inman's Fever for a long time. It's kind of a niche product – it runs on a web server (like WordPress or Mediawiki), not your personal computer or device. It costs $30. That was enough to keep me from installing it to tinker, but current conditions changed the balance, and I decided it was worth a look. One of the big plusses that Fever has to recommend it is that is syncs with my beloved Reeder (at least, the iPhone version – the Mac and iPad versions don't sync with Fever). So I set it up on my web host, and played around with it. It does what it says on the tin. It's a little slow, but I blame that on my cheap mediatemple hosting (it's not running on a powerful server, by any means). I really like the "Hot" view, which synthesizes all of your feeds to see what topics people are talking about – a feature I always hoped Google Reader would release. But I don't think I'm going to stick with Fever. I'm a little concerned about it eating up storage, bandwidth, and CPU usage on my mediatemple account (all of which are limited at the tier I'm on, with overage charges). But Reeder is closer to syncing with Fever than any other alternative, and unless Reeder goes the route that Marco Arment outlined (make "sync server" a user-changeable field), there's a good chance it could be my Google Reader replacement. At the very least, I'll probably keep using the "Hot" view.
I hadn't heard about it until the Readerpocalypse (I don't think anyone had), but David Smith has announced that he's working on a paid Google Reader replacement for syncing. No further details are available, but I signed up to learn more. This one is a wild card. Could be cool, could fizzle and fade.
Remember Digg? If you're thinking of the old user generated news site, then you need to check out the new Digg. They reinvented themselves as a collector of what's hot and interesting on the web, and the new site is surprisingly good. It consistently delivers stuff I find cool and interesting that I haven't found anywhere else. Anyway, the new Digg has announced that they're building a Reader replacement, complete with copying the Google Reader API. Another wildcard, but if it's anywhere near as good as the new Digg, this one could be great.
What Are You Going To Do?
So after all that, what am I going to do about finding a replacement for Google Reader before July 1, 2013?
I'm going to wait.
There is no clear winner for a replacement right now, at least, not for the way I use Reader/Reeder. So I'm going to wait and see.
A lot will depend on what Silvio decides to do with the Reeder apps. I really hope he follows Marco's advice. But given how dependent I've become on his apps for the way I read and process feeds, his decision will hold a lot of sway with me.


text:
- $65,500 price
- 317012 mls id
- Status: Active
Waterpointe is Flowood's newest neighborhood of 560 single-family homes to be located behind Dogwood Festival Market. Southern Lifestyle Development of Lafayette, Louisiana – which specializes in master-planned communities – will be planning and constructing the neighborhood. Lots are available now for purchase and expected to be available for building in Fall 2019. Waterpointe's design delivers the dynamic experience you should expect from a specialty, Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND). What makes these neighborhoods worth your investment? TNDs are designed to encourage people to get to know one another in a healthy, active environment without the hassle of traveling elsewhere for amenities or commercial and retail needs. Waterpointe projects will include grand estate homes, townhomes and cottages as well as commercial retail to accommodate the needs of the community. A network of sidewalks and streets will lead straight from house front doors to top-rated restaurants, shops, and outdoor activities. This layout encourages residents to pursue an active lifestyle by providing all they need in bike-able or walk-able distance. Waterpointe will be the go-to destination in Flowood for residents and guests alike. Amenities such as a neighborhood gym, park, pool, and jogging trails will accommodate those with energetic lifestyles. Residents can also enjoy the great outdoors with green areas and a creek-fed lake for recreation and relaxation. The lake design caters to activities like fishing, boating, and tanning along the shore. Restaurants will line the lake's perimeter offering quick meals or a fine dinner. Waterpointe exemplifies Flowood pride. This property will bring back the feel of small-town living by providing everything needed for an active, well-rounded life.
- Site Link
- Property SubType Single Family Detached
Courtesy of: Keller Williams
Office Phone: 6019779411
Listing Agent: Ramsey Bell
Updated: 9th April, 2020 6:52 AM.
E METRO PKWY Flowood, MS

subset: commoncrawl


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text:
Welcome to
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text:
The new Hyundai Sonata. Settle for more.
Power. Technology. Space. Sonata is the car that gives you more. From style to safety, it confidently ticks every box on your checklist.
Key Features
New key design - more streamlined, more sophisticated.
New key design - more streamlined, more sophisticated.
Dramatically redesigned, the new 2018 Sonata comes with a completely new key. The redesign features a sportier front and rear, with the addition of Hyundai's new signature cascading grille.
Two choices of powerful engines.
Two choices of powerful engines.
You'll find plenty of power in the Sonata's 138kW 2.4L petrol engine or the 180kW 2.0L turbo engine.*
Available exclusively on the 2.0L turbo engine is Hyundai's 8-speed automatic transmission* offering enhanced shift logic, is faster, more responsive and has smoother gear shifts.
*Only available on Premium variant
8" Sat Nav with Apple CarplayTM and Android AutoTM as standard.
8" Sat Nav with Apple CarplayTM and Android AutoTM as standard.
The New 2018 Sonata comes with a new 8" satellite navigation system, Apple CarplayTM and Android AutoTM as standard across the range, and wireless smartphone charging*.
*Only available on Premium variant
Safety features including Hyundai SmartSense™.
Safety features including Hyundai SmartSense™.
Hyundai SmartSenseTM* technology is constantly working to help protect you on the road. This includes Blind Spot Detection (BSD), Smart Cruise Control (SCC), Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA), Driver Attention Alert (DAA) and more.
*Only available on Premium variant
Turn heads.
The new 2018 Sonata comes with a distinguished new look.
The redesign features a sportier front and rear, including Hyundai's trademark new cascading front grille.
Exterior Features
Hyundai cascading front grille.
Hyundai cascading front grille.
Show a bold face to the world with Hyundai's new signature cascading front grille, which comes in a mesh pattern on Premium variants.
Premium displayed
Alloy wheels.
Alloy wheels.
The Sonata comes with alloy wheels as standard, with your choice of 17" or 18" alloy wheels. Premium displayed
Premium displayed
Daytime running lights.
Daytime running lights.
Stay visible to oncoming traffic with the LED lights that automatically switch on as you start driving.
Premium displayed
Side mirrors.
Side mirrors.
Repeating LED lights on the side mirrors help keep your family safe by alerting other drivers of your intention to switch lanes.
Premium variants come with black mirror caps for an extra touch of glamour.
Premium displayed
Comfort, remembered.
The Sonata's interior has been designed with human machine interface's safety, simplicity, and intuitiveness as its guiding principles. The result is a vehicle that is easier and safer to operate, with an abundance of new technologies and features within easy reach.
Interior Features
Auto hold.
Auto hold.
Activate the Auto Hold button and the car remains stationary in traffic and at the lights until you accelerate.
Only available on Premium variant.
Integrated Memory System.
Integrated Memory System.
There's nothing like a car that knows you. With the Integrated Memory System on the Sonata, you can store your seat and side mirror preferences.
Only available on Premium variant.
Steering wheel mounted controls.
Steering wheel mounted controls.
Helps you keep your focus on the road and your hands on the wheel.
Tech control.
The Sonata is the tech hub that travels with you. Even the smallest details are designed with your busy modern life in mind.
Tech features.
Apple Carplay™.
Apple Carplay™ & Android Auto™ compatibility.
Safely play music and make calls with Apple Carplay™ and Android Auto™ that comes as standard.
Wireless smartphone charging.
Wireless smartphone charging.
Easily charge your smartphone without the need for cables.
Only available on Premium variant.
Ventilated front seats.
Ventilated front seats.
For hot summer days, high-speed cooling elements ventilate your seat up in seconds.
Only available on Premium variant.
Rain sensing wipers.
Rain sensing wipers.
Drive safer in rainy weather with smart wipers that instantly activate upon sensing moisture.
Only available on Premium variant.
Thrilling performance.
You have two choices of powerful engines, including a 138 kW 2.4L petrol engine or a 180 kW 2.0L turbo petrol engine.
Performance features.
Two choices of powerful engines.
Two choices of powerful engines.
Premium models come with an 8-speed automatic transmission and are powered by a 2.0L turbo engine that delivers 180kW of power (at 6,000 RPM) and 353 Nm of torque (at 1,350– 4000 RPM).
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Paddle Shifter
Paddle Shifter
Enjoy a sportier experience when you use the shifters to manually change gear.
Drive mode – 4 settings.
Drive mode – 4 settings.
The Sonata comes with a smart feature allowing you to choose from 4 drive mode settings – Comfort, Sport, Eco and Smart - depending on your conditions and driving style.
'Smart' drive mode setting only available on Premium
Safety first, and always.
Your family's safety comes first, everytime. That's why the Sonata boasts the maximum 5 star ANCAP rating, plus Hyundai SmartSense™ technology to help keep you alert at all times.
Safety features.
Rear view camera.
Rear view camera.
Makes parking easier by displaying what's behind you on the screen.
Front & rear parking assist system.
Front & rear parking assist system.
Helps you avoid obstacles that aren't easy to spot from the driver's seat.
Only available on Premium variant
Blind Spot Detection (BSD).
Blind Spot Detection (BSD).
Alerts you to traffic in blind spots, or vehicles approaching the rear of your car at high speeds, including during lane changes.
Only available on Premium variant.
Hyundai genuine accessories.
Rubber Cargo liner.
Rubber Cargo liner.
The tough but flexible cargo liner is custom designed to comfortably fit your Sonata's boot space, and features a low-profile lip to help contain spills.
Towbar, towball & trailer wiring harness.
Towbar, towball & trailer wiring harness.
When towing, you need confidence in the hardware fitted to your Hyundai. Engineered to suit Australian conditions and to integrate seamlessly with your Sonata, Hyundai towbars are designed and tested to ensure years of trouble-free towing.
Maximum ball download 70kg. Towing capacity = 1300kg braked & 400kg unbraked. Towbar capacity subject to regulatory requirements, towbar design, vehicle design and towing equipment.
Tinted stylevisors (Set of 4).
Tinted stylevisors (Set of 4).
Slimmer than a full weather shield, these tough, tinted acrylic stylevisors enhance your Sonata's good looks. Allowing airflow into your car with the front windows partly open, even in the rain, they reduce fogging without you getting wet. They're also designed to be fitted without the need for drilling.
Roof Racks.
Roof Racks.
Uniquely profiled Hyundai roof racks look good while minimising aero-drag for improved fuel economy and reduced wind noise at highway speeds. All Hyundai roof racks provide maximum load carrying capacity for your Sonata and are tested to Australian Standards.
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5yrs / 75,000km free
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- 180kW 2.0T-GDI engine
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- Panoramic glass sunroof
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- SmartSense safety incl. Driver Attention Alert & Blind Spot Detection
- Wireless Smart Phone charging and more


text:
Appeal brought on 27 June 2019 by Romania against the order of the General Court (Eighth Chamber) delivered on 30 April 2019 in Case T-530/18, Romania v Commission
(Case C-498/19 P)
Language of the case: Romanian
Appellant: Romania (represented by: C.-R. Canţăr, E. Gane, O.-C. Ichim and M. Chicu, acting as Agents)
Other party to the proceedings: European Commission
Form of order sought
The appellant claims that the Court should:
uphold the appeal, set aside the order of the General Court in Case T-530/18 in its entirety, and give a new ruling on Case T-530/18 upholding the action for partial annulment of Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/873 of 13 June 2018 excluding from European Union financing certain expenditure incurred under the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD): 1
as regards sub-measure 1a in its entirety (EUR 13 184 846.61 for the years 2015 and 2016);
as regards sub-measures 3a, 5a, 3b and 4b in their entirety (EUR 45 532 000.96 for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016) and, in the alternative, in part for the period prior to 19 September 2015 (EUR 21 315 857.50);
uphold the appeal, set aside the order of the General Court in Case T-530/18 in its entirety, and remit Case T-530/18 back to the General Court so that it may give a new ruling on the action and, in so doing, uphold the action for annulment and annul in part Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/873 as described above;
order the Commission to pay the costs.
Grounds of appeal and main arguments
A. Infringement of Articles 263 and 297 TFEU, and failure to observe the principle of legal certainty
i. The General Court did not correctly legally assess whether the notification was complete and correct and incorrectly classified the notification issued by the Commission as capable of triggering the period laid down in Article 263 TFEU. This approach by the General Court is also at odds with the principle of legal certainty.
Romania considers that the presence of any errors relating to the essential elements of a decision such as Decision 2018/873 is capable of compromising the notification and raises serious issues from the point of view of the principle of legal certainty. Consequently, it is sufficient that some errors are present, such as those established by the General Court, for the notification issued by the Commission to be incapable of triggering the period laid down in Article 263 TFEU.
The General Court classified the differences between the published and notified versions of Decision 2018/873 as minor, relying on the fact that the meaning of the text of the decision was unaltered, since the word 'amount' could only correspond to the 'estimated by amount' type of adjustment. Given that that type of adjustment does not exist, Romania considers that the legal reasoning of the General Court is incorrect and it can easily be observed that the meaning of the text of Decision 2018/873 has been affected, and that the notification has been compromised.
ii. The General Court erred in its interpretation of Article 263 TFEU in the light of Article 297 TFEU by failing to take into consideration the effects of the publication of Decision 2018/873 in the Official Journal of the European Union from the point of view of effective information and the principle of legal certainty.
According to the sixth paragraph of Article 263 TFEU, what is relevant in the context of exercising the right to bring proceedings is effective information relating to the content of the contested EU measure, and not the moment when it enters into force or the moment when it produces legal effects.
The moment from which the period of 2 months for bringing an action for annulment of a measure such as Decision 2018/873, which must be notified but which, according to the consistent and long-standing practice of the issuer, must also be published in the Official Journal of the European Union, begins to run must be the moment of publication, plus the period of 14 days laid down by Article 59 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court.
That solution is all the more necessary in view of the specific circumstances in which Decision 2018/873 was notified to the Romanian authorities and published — circumstances which reveal differences between the notified text and the published text which concern essential elements of that decision.
iii. The General Court failed to observe the principle of legal certainty by considering that one of the inconsistencies raised by Romania (concerning the type of adjustment — 'estimated by amount' versus 'flat rate') constitutes a minor clerical error which was made in the notified and published text but which was not made either in the course of the administrative procedure or in the summary report and which does not give rise to confusion as to the nature of the adjustment.
iv. The General Court infringed Article 263 TFEU by finding that the differences between the notified text and the text published in the Official Journal of the European Union concerning provisions of Decision 2018/873 addressed to other Member States of the European Union were irrelevant and without effect, in view of the privileged applicant status of Member States.
B. Failure to observe the principle of audi alteram partem, including in relation to Article 64 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court
Romania considers that the General Court failed to observe the principle of audi alteram partem by failing to offer the Romanian authorities the opportunity to adopt a position with regard to the information, communicated by the Commission in response to the question put by that court, on the basis of which the action was dismissed as inadmissible.


text:
Archive for Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Baker Wetlands manager dismantles boardwalk he built as a Boy Scout
July 23, 2013
If you followed the sounds of drilling and pounding hammers near the north entrance to the Baker Wetlands on Monday, you'd quickly come upon the source of the noise. Jon Boyd, his father, Roger, and several others were dismantling one of the complex's two boardwalks, which is being removed to make way for construction of the South Lawrence Trafficway.
For Jon Boyd, refuge manager of the Baker Wetlands, the monthlong process of breaking down the 850-foot walkway, board by board, is almost bittersweet.
That's because Boyd planned and built most of the boardwalk to earn the rank of Eagle Scout at the unusually young age of 13.
"I was proud of it when I built it," Boyd said. "It's sentimental."
It was the summer after he graduated eighth grade when Boyd, a then-member of Troop 65 out of Baldwin City, devoted three weeks to create the boardwalk.
He chose the project to fulfill his leadership requirement because his father was, and still is, director of the Baker Wetlands. The father and son worked together to establish a plan. Then Jon took over, directing volunteers who set the concrete piers and arranged the timber foundation.
For 21 years, the walkway, surrounded by trees and marshes, allowed visitors to more fully experience the wetlands, which consists of 573 acres of meadow, marshland, ponds and native grass located just south of Lawrence.
"We have a lot of people come out here," Boyd said. "It gives people a chance to walk around and see nature."
Soon after his project was completed, Boyd received his Eagle Scout designation. At the time, he assumed his creation would last.
'The last hurdle'
Instead of bemoaning the fate of a past accomplishment, Boyd is forward-focused. He knows the deconstruction of the boardwalk is the final step toward a new era.
"It's been here since '92, so at that time the roadway project wasn't that prominent," Boyd explained. "After dealing with it for the last five or 10 years and seeing all the benefits that the trafficway would provide for Baker and the community, it's not that sad."
In the mitigation agreement between the Kansas Department of Transportation and Baker University that was released last year, the state promised 480 acres in exchange for 56 acres that will be lost to the trafficway.
Roger Boyd said 310 of the acres would be restored to wetlands. The rest of the area is upland prairie or riparian habitats.
The mitigation also includes the stipulation that the state cover the costs of building a new visitor center and provides funds to hire an education coordinator who will arrange field trips to the wetlands complex.
In addition, the state will set up an endowment to cover any maintenance, operations and administration costs that the wetlands may encounter.
"Hopefully that should be able to provide us with funds to go into the future and not ever have to fundraise or ask for grants," Boyd said.
According to KDOT, construction on the final leg of the trafficway is set to begin in October. The other boardwalk, which is located near the restoration site at 1365 N. 1250 Road and was built in 2009, will remain available for use.
After they finish dismantling the boardwalk near the north gate later this week, Jon and Roger Boyd will be ready.
"We'll come back and tear out the timbers, but beyond that, we've gotten most everything prepared for the roadway project to start," Boyd said. "This is the last hurdle."
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text:
As the first international bank in the country, we have been doing business in Korea for 50 years. We provide corporations, financial institutions and government entities an integrated range of corporate and investment banking and investment advisory services.
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Leroy Albert Burley Jr.
A Little Canada man was charged Sept. 9 in connection with the armed robbery of a Little Canada bank the week prior.
Canadian Days 2019
A Special Section published by Lillie Suburban Newspapers
This fall's Little Canada City Council race is a fairly tidy affair.
Incumbent Mayor John Keis is once again running unopposed — he also lacked an opponent in 2014 — and there are three candidates vying for two city council seats.
Railroad traffic is increasing and to prepare for the growth, the Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority is studying how to expand railway infrastructure in the east metro.
Little Canada Mayor John Keis discussed his city's relationship with Little Canada Elementary School Sept. 12, where students performed a ceremonial groundbreaking on an addition to their school. The event marked the start of construction on a Roseville Area Schools district-wide building improvement plan, made possible by a $144 million bond approved by voters in November 2017. photo: Mike Munzenrider
Summer stuck around just long enough for students to break ground on an addition to Little Canada Elementary School on a warm Sept. 12 afternoon.
The candidate filing period for city council races without a primary closed Aug. 14 and the following candidates have filed for elected office in Shoreview, Arden Hills, Mounds View, Lauderdale and Little Canada.
It was all hot summer fun in Little Canada Aug. 5 as the Canadian Days parade rolled through town. Mike Munzenrider photos
Chris Heineman
Little Canada is set to have a new city administrator starting next month.
Mike Munzenrider photos
It was all hot summer fun in Little Canada Aug. 5 as the Canadian Days parade rolled through town, complete with members of the St. Paul Vulcan Krewe. The theme for this year's Canadian Days, which ran Aug. 3-5 in Little Canada, was "Superhero Headquarters," and it was evident at the Aug. 5 parade. The festivities also included the Zuhrah Shriners Drum Corps and the Macgillivray Pipe Band, which comes down from Thunder Bay, Ontario, in Canada, each year, as well as fun in and around Spooner Park.
Mike Munzenrider photos
Mike Munzenrider • Residents of the Terrace Heights manufactured housing park brought worries about the intentions of the park's ownership to the Little Canada City Council July 25.
Residents of the Terrace Heights manufactured housing park brought concerns about the park's management to the Little Canada City Council July 25.
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This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Logan • It's above one of the lockers in the Utah State football building: Matt Wells, 1996. Salisaw, Oklahoma.
The nameplate commemorates a donation Wells made to his alma mater. It was before he ever came back to Logan to take a job, before he ever had an inkling that one day, his name also would rest in front of the head football coach's office.
Wells, now 39, had a few chances to come back to Utah State, where he was a quarterback who graduated with a business degree and not much fanfare in 1996. He only was persuaded the third time he was asked to join the Aggies, when it was coach Gary Andersen on the other end. Wells became Utah State's quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator in 2011.
"It was the right time, the right place in my career, and I felt like the program was headed in the right direction," he said in December, sitting at his new desk in his new office. "I had no idea taking that job would lead to this day. But nothing surprises me in the coaching world anymore."
Wells, a man with a slim frame but an erect posture, has lived through a lot of those ups and downs, surprises both good and bad. And even the toughest stretches of his career have helped shape the man who will lead Utah State football into the Mountain West Conference next season and beyond.
When the Aggies promoted him to the top spot, the administration spoke of consistency and staying on track. That does not mean Matt Wells has the personality of Gary Andersen.
"I was skeptical at first, but Coach Wells called me right when he was hired, and I fell in love right away," said Joe Malanga, an offensive lineman from Bingham who signed with the Aggies last week. "Coach Andersen was more laid back, relaxed. Coach Wells is enthusiastic and outgoing. Everyone in my family loves him; he makes them laugh."
Recruits and players say Wells' energy fills a room. One of the first things 2013 signee Wyatt Houston said he noticed about Wells was that players were drawn to him, chatting him up on the sidelines, and not the other way around.
"I look at him as a family guy," Houston said. "When Coach Andersen left, all I knew was I wanted to be where Coach Wells was."
His deep love of family has his roots in Salisaw, where he grew up as the son of a dentist in a family with his brother and two younger sisters. Matt was the oldest, a quarterback and basketball player, and the thing Jim Wells stressed to all his children was do your best in whatever you do.
"Our dad never steered us in any direction, but he was a guy who instilled a work ethic in us," says Luke Wells, Matt's brother and Utah State's co-offensive coordinator. "Neither of us had any interest in being a dentist, and Dad never pushed us. But if you were playing a sport, and you weren't playing hard, he let us know it when we got to the car."
It was obvious to Luke that his older brother would one day be a coach. Matt's after-school passion was to tutor his younger brother how to be a quarterback in their backyard.
Matt Wells was less sure of his future vocation until later in his career at Utah State. He studied business "to fall back on," Luke says, but decided he wanted to stay around the game through coaching. Wells said at his introductory news conference that Dave Kragthorpe, one of his mentors, had cautioned him against entering the field, but he would not be dissuaded.
"As I grew in coaching and kind of progressed, I realized how rewarding it was to make an impact in young men's lives," he said. "There's great things and tough things about every profession, and you learn to balance those things."
Wells launched himself into a career under his former coach, Charlie Weatherbie, at Navy, where he coached a multitude of positions between 1997 and 2001: quarterbacks, fullbacks and receivers.
"Even at that time, I knew that Matt had everything a coach should have," says Ken Niumatalolo, now the head coach at Navy. "He was very intelligent, a positive guy. He related well to the kids. And everything you asked Matt to do even making copies, laminating things he did the menial stuff and didn't complain."
At Tulsa, Charlie Stubbs once asked Wells to make a position manual for tight ends, the group he coached that year. Wells produced a guide so thorough, in-depth and thick, it's still among the materials Stubbs uses today at Nicholls State.
"He always did an excellent job at the things he was assigned to do, and he never did the average," Stubbs recalled. "He was one of the most well-respected staff members. He didn't always work with the most talented kids, but he got the most out of them."
But longer stints at Navy and Tulsa gave way to more short-lived ones at New Mexico and Louisville. He found himself, and his family, at the mercy of coaching staff turnover. It was difficult, he acknowledged, going from the Lobos in 2008 to Louisville in 2009 and back to Albuquerque in 2010.
But through changes and uncertainty, Luke Wells still saw his brother refusing to give in to frustration.
"Matt always took the high road, even when people told him he didn't deserve what was happening," Luke said. "He never saw it that way. I haven't dealt with that stuff as much as Matt has in only a few short years, but he never doubted what God's plan was for him."
In some way, Logan will always be a home to Matt Wells. For now, it's where he has found stability, where a quarterback coaching job has turned into an unbelievable opportunity to coach his alma mater.
It's also been the place where he can give his wife, Jen Wells, and three young children Jadyn, Ella, and Wyatt a home for the conceivable future. He's the kind of coach, his mentors have said, who grinds all day and tucks his children in at night. And soon enough, Luke Wells and his family will find a home nearby.
"It's going to be nice not to have to reintroduce uncles and aunts to your kids every year," Luke Wells said. "Family is extremely important to Matt. And it's nice to work for someone who holds family as important as you do."
But even years from now, long after Wells' coaching career is over, his name will be above a locker. And that's somehow fitting, given how the Aggies were where he first learned he wanted to coach.
It just took him a little while to get back.
"The only things you can control at any time in your life is your attitude and your effort," Wells said. "There's always going to be some things out of your control; it's how you react to them that grows you as a man and as a coach."
email@example.com: @kylegoon
Matt Wells at a glance
Only 39, the Utah State head football coach has been all around the country in his career:
Utah State (2011-present) • Served as QB coach and offensive coordinator, helping set USU school records for points (454), total offense (6,108) last season.
New Mexico (2007-08, 2010) • Served as receivers coach and recruiting coordinator; helped coach Lobos to a New Mexico Bowl in 2007.
Louisville (2009) • Served as QB coach and passing game coordinator.
Tulsa (2002-2006) • Coached tight ends and served as recruiting coordinator, helping the Golden Hurricane to a C-USA championship in 2005.
Navy (1997-2001) • Coached junior varsity, quarterbacks, fullbacks and receivers.


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Extended Studies is dedicated to supporting students and faculty with programming outside the fall and spring academic calendars. Extended Studies sets the winter and summer sessions schedule and offerings, works with nondegree (extramural) students looking to take credit-bearing courses, and is the College's accrediting body for continuing education units (CEUs).
Facilitating the design and implementation of continuing education and professional programs, including on-campus and online seminars, workshops, conferences, and pre-college programs, Extended Studies works across schools and departments to build an innovative schedule of programming that extends teaching and learning beyond the standard academic year classroom.


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SCI is certified as a Great Place to Work by the Great Place to Work Institute. In a recent survey, our associates said that their work has special meaning and is not "just a job". We currently have a part time opening for a Field Operations Support Assistant at Culley's MeadowWood Funeral Home in Tallahassee, Florida. This is the opportunity to be part of the Dignity Memorial provider network and grow your career in the funeral, cremation and cemetery services business. For us, there is no greater responsibility than celebrating each life like no other and making a difference in the lives of people we serve.
Provides administrative and clerical support to a funeral home, cemetery, crematory or a combination of these facilities. Other general duties include greeting the general public, answering questions and providing general information on services offered in a polite manner with a goal to meet and exceed customer expectations.
Provide Clerical Support
- Performs day to day clerical duties as required which may include:
- Preparing death certificates, prayer cards and related documents
- Greeting family members and friends
- Completing required permits and / or certificates
- Receiving and / or processes payments and/or contracts
- Preparing and processing Veteran's Paperwork
- Ordering supplies, filing and responding to inquiries
- Ensures that the required documentation to support requested products and services is accurate and complies with state, federal and company rules and regulations, to include:
- Preparing and distributing daily interment or cremation schedules, reports, and documents
- Maintaining and verifying the accuracy of logs associated with markers, interments and/or cremations
- Acts on calls from external customers, including other cemeteries and mortuaries, to provide product and service selections, to include disposition of remains, contracts, and payments
- Coordinates the ordering of memorials and related products and the control of storage inventory for vaults and markers
- Oversees the processing of installation orders to grounds and maintenance departments
- Enters contracts and cash receipts in HMIS when necessary
- Prepares marker/ monument placement paperwork
- Composes edits and provides obituaries to newspapers and MeM
- Processes account payable transactions
- Assists Sales, Community or Family Service Counselors as needed
- Assists location management with daily operations including SOX compliance, delivery process and liability release
- Assists with payroll
- Prepares for funeral services by preparing sign-in books, ensuring veteran's paperwork is completed, and assisting professional funeral staff as directed
- Conducts blind checks
- Assists with MEM preparation and service materials
- Monitors and follows up on marker orders; tracks memorial orders
- Maintains Dignity for Excellence location book where applicable
- Acts as backup to Receptionist
- May design and manage MEMs including monuments and markers
- May maintain location website to include accuracy of obituaries, service information, etc.
Customer Service
- Communicates client family's needs promptly and accurately to the appropriate staff member.
- Conveys a sense of concern and empathy with client family members at all times.
- Demonstrates a caring attitude when problems arise while calmly and efficiently bringing the situation to the attention of a staff member who can provide resolution
- Responds to customer inquiries via telephone, internet and in person
- Maintains professional and cooperative relationships with county clerk, medical examiner and physicians
- Keeps accurate records
- Performs other duties as assigned
- High School or GED equivalent
- None required
- 1 - 2 years' experience in an office clerical or customer service capacity required
- Experience working in a customer-focused and fast-paced professional environment required
Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:
- Working knowledge of office equipment including computers, calculators, copiers, printers, and fax machines at a level consistent with experience
- MS Office Suite experience is highly desirable
- Good verbal and written communication skills
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We operate under the umbrella of the Dignity Memorial network of 1,800 funeral homes and cemeteries. Dignity Memorial providers care for more than 300,000 families each year and understand the importance of thoughtful, personalized arrangements. We believe creating meaningful ways to pay tribute to a loved one begins with compassion and is shaped by the understanding that each life is truly unique. For us, there is no greater responsibility than honoring and preserving the story of one's life.
SCI offers advanced on-line training resources, career advancement opportunities in the largest organization in the industry, attractive benefits, and a wonderful community to serve with plenty of culture and personality. For additional information regarding our company, please visit our corporate site at www.sci-corp.com.
As used herein, "SCI" refers to Service Corporation International and its affiliated companies.
Equal Opportunity Employer, M/F/D/V


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1. Black Blazer: I actually have two black blazers, one from H&M and one from Club Monaco. The one from Club Monaco was probably the best investment I've ever made. I got it 70% off when they were closing their sunset store. I wear that thing ALL the damn time, over anything and everything.
2. Skinny Jeans: I discovered skinny jeans in 8th grade. A little bit before they became super trendy. At the time it was all about boot cut jeans, even flares. But I liked the way skinny jeans made my legs look. I have hips and long legs. Skinnies really lengthened them. It was funny because at the time everyone thought I was crazy for spending $100 on Lucky Jeans. Now most of my friends spend $100+ on jeans all the time. All of the jeans I own are skinny. I've heard mixed reviews. Some say they are going out but I love them. Always have, always will.
3. Scarves: Scarves are like my security blanket. I feel 100% more dressed up the second I put a scarf on. Scarves actually became one of my staples in high school. I went to a private catholic high school and therefore I had to wear a uniform. The only way I could express my fashion sense was through accessories. So I wore A LOT of scarves.
4. Hats: My mom taught me the wonder of hats at a very young age. If you wear a hat, you don't have to do your hair. BOOM! love them.
5. Converse: I love chuck taylors, high tops, low tops, yes please! I have a pair in red, purple, teal, black and more. I've gone through so many over the years.


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The health of any organization, team, or relationship can be measured by the lag between identifying and discussing problems — or the accountability gap. Our Crucial Accountability course provides skills to align expectations and performance, and helps close the gap.


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Wait. This is an official thing? I mean, I suppose it's cool and all, but I have to wonder how many people BioWare expects to celebrate this.
Quite a lot. Apparently it trended on twitter for a few hours. Thats got to be at least a few tens of thousands.
That's a bit small compared to the number of people that used to play it near launch.
yes, but all (er, most) games decrease as time goes by. it is nice to know BioWare is still thinking about people.
That's a franchise. We're talking about individual games.I doubt as many people are talking about the original Kingdom Hearts, for example, as they were when it first came out.
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Adding an ace
The Phillies got their ace starter Wednesday night when they acquired 17-game winner Freddie Garcia from the Chicago Whites Sox. For details and Garcia's career record, check Ken Mandel's story on this site.
It was the first major trade of the winter meetings that wind down with the Rule 5 draft at 9 o'clock Thursday.
As any fan knows, making trades is easy. Team A needs this and we have X. Make the deal! Very rarely is that easy.
Pat Gillick assigns different teams to Ruben Amaro, Mike Arbuckle, Gordon Lakey, Charley Kerfeld, Dallas Green and himself. They then roam the Rotunda Lobby looking for contacts from those teams. Cell phone calls also enter the picture. At different times of the day, Gillick has a meeting in the Phillies suite to be briefed.
Arbuckle had the White Sox and picked up a tip that they would consider moving Garcia.
Names are exchanged and eventually, the deal rests in the laps of the two GMs, Gillick and Ken Williams. Once they agree, the process shifts to notifying the players involved. Sometimes that takes time trying to track down the players.
Once that has been done, PR personnel from the two teams decide when to make the announcement. The clearance last night came around 9:50. We agreed on a 10:30 announcement in the interview room which also serves as a work room for the writers. Over 400 members of the media are registered this week at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel.
With Gillick battling laryngitis, Arbuckle got to comment on the trade from the podium and answer questions. Williams was there from the White Sox.
Amaro did a live XM radio interview after the press conference and Charlie Manuel did the same with MLB.com. Arbuckle added a couple of telephone taped interviews with radio and TV.
Back in the suite, a new team calls at 11:29 p.m. looking for Gillick. The process starts all over. It may lead to another deal or it may lead to a dead end road.
Focus for the Phillies now shifts to adding some depth to the back end of the bullpen and a catcher. Spring training doesn't begin until February 15, so there is no immediate deadline.
Jerry Crasnick, one of the ESPN.com baseball writers, said in his winter meetings preview last week: "Don't under estimate the Phillies."
2 Comments
Well done.
Single best pitching trade since the Phillies hornswoggled those 'Stro's by trading Grimsley for Schilling.
Larry can you offer some insight on why the organization had no interest whatsoever in retaining Gonzalez or Haigwood from the Thome deal?
Hey Larry, I feel the Phils made a move with Garcia that puts them in the playoffs! With the strength of their rotation I do not think they need to move Burrell. The Phils had some of the best offensive production last year. If Burrell bats 6th and produces the same numbers: 29 HR's 95 RBI's, that is good for a #6 guy. They want a 30+ HR and 100+ RBI guy to protect Howard, they have that if Utley bats 5th. That would open the 3 hole for Rollins. Rollins would do very well there, he would get pitched to, which would result in similar production he had at the top of the order. There is a pole on the Phillies site, where should Rollins bat next year? He should be hitting in front of Howard and Utley. Vic can lead off, then you let Helms & Rowand battle it out for the 2 spot. If Burrell does return to form this season then we do not have a big problem with protecting Howard. Any thoughts and comments with the batting order and the Phils possible changes?
Additionally, the Phils have a number of players that will becoming up for larger contracts. Is Garcia going to be gone after this year, or do you think the Phils will extend his contract? Where do they stand with extending Rowand, Meyers, Hamels, Utley, Howard, Rollins? Thanks for your time!


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I'm republican nor democrat. I vote for who I think will get the job done. What has Obama done since he's been in office? Hmm. Let me think. Nothing.
All I can remember Obama for is how he cries when someone calls him a name or thinks badly about him. He's no king nor is he God's gift to the world. He's a president, and the last time I checked America was a free country with freedom of speech. Also, we have a law on how someone can become a president. Obama is from another country, and he didn't even salute our flag when he was voted in. How can you be all for someone who pretends to like us and be for us? He was bought and paid for. Votes didn't count. Money did.
I'd also like to point out Obamacare. Everyone thinks this will be a wonderful thing for us to have. The people who have been turned down for so long won't be turned down anymore. Yaaay. Let's have a party and celebrate.
Do you really think hospitals and doctor's offices will have room and time for everyone? You'll be on a long waiting list. Not to mention the fee for Obamacare. The people that will get Obamacare for free are people like this: A family of 4 that makes $28K a year. I never knew that a family of 4 could survive off of that. We won't have a middle class anymore. It will be rich and poor. The homeless of today will be dead, the poor of today will be on the streets, the middle class of today will become the new poor, and the rich will stay rich.
I forgot to mention that you won't have a choice with Obamacare. It will be forced on you. It will be either pay the fine or go to federal prison. Unconstitutional. Romney's bill was basically the same as Obama's. I don't like either of them, but I would rather take Romney over Obama.
Romney may be far left like Obama, but at least he's for this country and is an actual citizen. Obama just goes to his corner, cries, and says sorry. I'm pretty sure if Romney was in office and a country threatened to bomb us, he wouldn't be saying "I'm so sorry about blah blah. It'll never happen again." He'd tell them to bring it the eff on. That's the kind of president we need. Countries find us weak and vulnerable when we have a president that will do nothing but cry and say sorry.


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Blog Azeroth 2011 Furtive Father Winter
It's stupidly cold outside. I frostbit my fingers digging my car out of a snowbank otherwise knows as my parking lot. It's dark all the time. I wake up in cold sweats every night, after having nightmares about semester finals of Decembers past.
But it's ok. It's all ok.
Because all these things mean that it's just about that time of year! That time of year, oh yeah, for this year's edition of Blog Azeroth's Christmas event!
You may remember the exciting exchanges from last year's 2010 Secret Santa and all the laughs we had with 2009's Kris Kringle.
And this year, Blog Azeroth is back with the Furtive Father Winter 2011.
For those of you unfamiliar with the theme, it's quite simple:
1- Sign up
2- Receive the name of a fellow blogger.
Creep Secretly learn a bit about your fellow blogger
4- SECRETLY write a guest post for your fellow blogger and email it to them.
5- Receive a surprise guest post in your email.
6- Post your received post on your blog.
It's a great way to get to know other bloggers and draw some attention to your own work, while celebrating the season.
Ok, you say, I totally want in this, but how? How can I sign up for such awesomeness?
Again, easy!
Get the attention of your hostess for this year, Akabeko through one of these methods:
– Send her an email using this form
– Send her a tweet
– Leave her a comment in her announcement post.
– Drop by the thread at Blog Azeroth and leave a post with your interest.
The deadline for signing up is December 15, but don't wait that long. Sign up NOW!Explore posts in the same categories: Blogging
Tags: blog azeroth, blog post exchange, Christmas, fun blogging events, holidays, secret santaBoth comments and pings are currently closed.


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Aspirin, Heart Disease and Stroke Brochure
Published by: American Heart Association
Product Code: 50-1634
National Health Information – Silver Award Winner
This brochure presents the American Heart Association science on aspirin therapy for the prevention of heart disease and stroke, as well as its use in acute event treatment.
If you are interested in placing an order, receiving print samples or viewing online e-samples, visit our distributor, Krames. Registration is required to request samples and order online.


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This Level-2 (L2) soil moisture product provides estimates of global land surface conditions retrieved by the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) passive microwave radiometer during 6:00 a.m. descending and 6:00 p.m. ascending half-orbit passes. SMAP L-band brightness temperatures are used to derive soil moisture data, which are then resampled to an Earth-fixed, global, cylindrical 36 km Equal-Area Scalable Earth Grid, Version 2.0 (EASE-Grid 2.0).
SMAP L2 Radiometer Half-Orbit 36 km EASE-Grid Soil Moisture, Version 4
There is a more recent version of these data.
Changes to this version include:
- Added 6:00 p.m. ascending half orbits, which provide:
- More frequent regional/global coverage (critical in flood monitoring)
- Soil moisture diurnal variability information (useful in data assimilation systems)
- Consistency with other similar satellite-based soil moisture products
- Derived frozen ground flag (bit 7 of surface_flag) autonomously using Normalized Polarization Ration (NPR)-based passive freeze-thaw retrieval; replaces former radar-based freeze/thaw flag
Citing These Data
As a condition of using these data, you must cite the use of this data set using the following citation. For more information, see our Use and Copyright Web page.O'Neill, P. E., S. Chan, E. G. Njoku, T. Jackson, and R. Bindlish. 2016. SMAP L2 Radiometer Half-Orbit 36 km EASE-Grid Soil Moisture, Version 4. [Indicate subset used]. Boulder, Colorado USA. NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center. doi: https://doi.org/10.5067/XPJTJT812XFY. [Date Accessed].
Detailed Data Description
Surface soil moisture (0-5 cm) in cm3/cm3 derived from brightness temperatures (TBs) is output on a fixed global 36 km EASE-Grid 2.0. Also included are brightness temperatures in kelvin representing the weighted average of Level-1B brightness temperatures whose boresights fall within a 36 km EASE-Grid 2.0 cell.
Refer to the Product Specification Document for details on all parameters.
Data are in HDF5 format. For software and more information, including an HDF5 tutorial, visit the HDF Group's HDF5 Web site.
As shown in Figure 1, each HDF5 file is organized into the following main groups, which contain additional groups and/or data sets:
Data Fields
Each file contains the main data groups summarized in this section. For a complete list and description of all data fields within these groups, refer to the Product Specification Document.
All data element arrays are one-dimensional, with the exception of landcover_class and landcover_class_fraction, which are two-dimensional arrays.
Soil Moisture Retrieval Data
Includes soil moisture data, ancillary data, and quality assessment flags.
Metadata Fields
Includes all metadata that describe the full content of each file. For a description of all metadata fields for this product, refer to the Product Specification Document.
Files are named according to the following convention, which is described in Table 1:
For example:
|Indicates SMAP mission data
|Indicates specific product (
L2: Level-2;
SM: Soil Moisture;
P: Passive)
|5-digit sequential number of the orbit flown by the SMAP spacecraft when data were acquired. Orbit 00000 began at launch. Orbit numbers increment each time the spacecraft flies over the southernmost point in the orbit path.
|D: Descending half-orbit pass of the satellite (where satellite moves from North to South, and 6:00 a.m. is the local solar time at the equator)
A: Ascending half-orbit pass of the satellite (where satellite moves from South to North, and 6:00 p.m. is the local solar time at the equator)
|Date/time in Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) of the first data element that appears in the product, where:
|Composite Release ID (CRID), where:
|Number of times the file was generated under the same version for a particular date/time interval (
002: 2nd time)
|File extensions include:
Each half-orbit file is approximately 3 MB.
The daily data volume is approximately 42 MB.
Coverage spans from 180°W to 180°E, and from approximately 85.044°N and 85.044°S for the global EASE-Grid 2.0 projection. The gap in coverage at both the North and South Pole, called a pole hole, has a radius of approximately 400 km. The swath width is approximately 1000 km, enabling nearly global coverage every three days.
Spatial Coverage Map
Figure 2 shows the spatial coverage of the SMAP L-Band Radiometer for one descending half orbit, which comprises one file of this data set.
The native spatial resolution of the radiometer footprint is 36 km. Data are then gridded using the 36 km EASE-Grid 2.0 projection.
EASE-Grid 2.0
Level-2 data are provided on the global cylindrical EASE-Grid 2.0 (Brodzik et al. 2012). Each grid cell has a nominal area of approximately 36 x 36 km2 regardless of longitude and latitude.
EASE-Grid 2.0 has a flexible formulation. By adjusting a single scaling parameter, a family of multi-resolution grids that nest within one another can be generated. The nesting can be adjusted so that smaller grid cells can be tessellated to form larger grid cells. Figure 3 shows a schematic of the nesting.
This feature of perfect nesting provides SMAP data products with a convenient common projection for both high-resolution radar observations and low-resolution radiometer observations, as well as for their derived geophysical products. For more on EASE-Grid 2.0, refer to the EASE-Grid 2.0 Format Description.
Coverage spans from 31 March 2015 to present.
Temporal Coverage Gaps
Satellite and Processing Events
Due to instrument maneuvers, data downlink anomalies, data quality screening, and other factors, small gaps in the SMAP time series will occur. Details of these events are maintained on two master lists:
SMAP On-Orbit Events List for Instrument Data Users
Master List of Bad and Missing Data
Each Level-2 half-orbit file spans approximately 49 minutes.
Data Access and Tools
Data Acquisition and Processing
For a detailed description of the SMAP instrument, visit the SMAP Instrument page at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) SMAP Web site.
SMAP Level-2 radiometer soil moisture data (SPL2SMP) are derived from SMAP L1C Radiometer Half-Orbit 36 km EASE-Grid Brightness Temperatures, Version 3 (SPL1CTB).
The microwave portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, which includes wavelengths from a few centimeters to a meter, has long held the most promise for estimating surface soil moisture remotely. Passive microwave sensors measure the natural thermal emission emanating from the soil surface. The variation in the intensity of this radiation depends on the dielectric properties and temperature of the target medium, which for the near-surface soil layer is a function of the amount of moisture present. Low microwave frequencies, at L-band or approximately 1 GHz, offer the following additional advantages:
- the atmosphere is almost completely transparent, providing all-weather sensing,
- transmission of signals from the underlying soil is possible through sparse and moderate vegetation layers (up to at least 5 kg/m2 of vegetation water content), and
- measurement is independent of solar illumination which allows for day and night observations. (O'Neill et al. 2016)
For an in-depth description of the theory of these measurements, refer to Section 2: Passive Remote Sensing of Soil Moisture in the Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD) for this product.
SMAP Level-2 radiometer soil moisture data (SPL2SMP) are derived from SMAP L1C Radiometer Half-Orbit 36 km EASE-Grid Brightness Temperatures, Version 3 (SPL1CTB). Utilizing a baseline plus four optional soil moisture algorithms discussed below, SMAP brightness temperatures are converted into an estimate of the 0-5 cm surface soil moisture in units of m3/m3.
The following information has been adapted from O'Neill et al. (2015).
Algorithm Inputs and Outputs
The main input to the processing algorithm for this product is the SMAP L1C Radiometer Half-Orbit 36 km EASE-Grid Brightness Temperatures, Version 3 (SPL1CTB) product that contains the time-ordered, geolocated, calibrated SMAP L1B Radiometer Half-Orbit Time-Ordered Brightness Temperatures (SPL1BTB), Version 3 that have been resampled to the fixed 36 km EASE-Grid 2.0. In addition to general geolocation and calibration, the Level-1B brightness temperature data have also been corrected for atmospheric effects, Faraday rotation, and low-level RFI effects prior to regridding. If the RFI encountered is too large to be corrected, the brightness temperature data are flagged accordingly and no soil moisture retrieval is attempted. Refer to the SPL1BTB and SPL1CTB ATBDs for additional details.
In addition to brightness temperature observations, the SPL2SMP algorithm also requires ancillary data sets for the soil moisture retrieval. The specific parameters and sources of these and other externally provided ancillary data are listed in Section 6: Ancillary Datasets of the ATBD. In order for soil moisture to be retrieved accurately, a variety of global static and dynamic ancillary data are required. Static ancillary data are data which do not change during the mission, while dynamic ancillary data require periodic updates in time frames ranging from seasonally to daily. Static data include parameters such as permanent masks (land, water, forest, urban, mountain, etc.), the grid cell average elevation and slope derived from a Digital Elevation Model (DEM), permanent open water fraction, and soils information (primarily sand and clay fraction). Dynamic ancillary data include land cover, surface roughness, precipitation, vegetation parameters, and effective soil temperatures.
Ancillary data are also employed to set flags that help to determine either specific aspects of the processing, such as corrections for open water and frozen ground, or the quality of the retrievals, such as the precipitation flag. Refer to the Data Flags below. All input data to the SPL2SMP process are pre-mapped using the 36 km EASE-Grid 2.0 projection. Other parameters used by the SPL2SMP algorithm include a freeze/thaw flag, an open water fraction, and a vegetation index. All input brightness temperatures and ancillary data sets used in the retrievals are mapped to the 36 km EASE-Grid 2.0 prior to entering the SPL2SMP processor. All input data, retrieved soil moisture data, and flags utilize the same grid.
The primary contents of SPL2SMP data are the retrieved soil moisture and associated Quality Assessment (QA) flags, as well as the values of the ancillary parameters needed to retrieve the output soil moisture for that grid cell.
Soil Moisture Algorithms
Decades of research by the passive microwave soil moisture community have resulted in a number of viable soil moisture retrieval algorithms that can be used with SMAP brightness temperature data. The European Space Agency (ESA) Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity Mission (SMOS) mission currently flies an aperture synthesis L-band radiometer which produces brightness temperature data at multiple incidence angles over the same ground location. The baseline SMOS retrieval algorithm is based on the tau-omega model described in the ATBD, Section 2.1: Physics of the Problem, but utilizes the SMOS multiple-incidence-angle capability to retrieve soil moisture. SMAP retrievals are also based on the tau-omega model, but use the constant-incidence-angle brightness temperature data produced by the SMAP conically-scanning radiometer. Other necessary parameters in the retrieval are obtained as ancillary data.
Prior to implementing the actual soil moisture retrieval, a preliminary step in the processing is to perform a water body correction to the brightness temperature data for cases where a significant percentage of the grid cell contains open water. For more information on the water brightness temperature correction and soil moisture algorithms, refer to Section 4: Retrieval Algorithms of the ATBD for this product.
The Version 3 SPL2SMP product contains soil moisture retrieval fields produced by a baseline and several optional algorithms (Refer to Table 3). Inside an SPL2SMP file, the soil_moisture field is the one that links to the retrieval result produced by the currently-designated baseline algorithm, the Single Channel Algorithm V-pol (SCA-V). At present, the operational SPL2SMP Science Production Software (SPS) produces and stores soil moisture retrieval results from the following five algorithms:
Given preliminary results from current SPL2SMP Calibration/Validation (Cal/Val) analyses, the SCA-V algorithm seems to deliver slightly better performance than the SCA-H algorithm, which was designated as the pre-launch baseline retrieval algorithm. For this reason, the SCA-V is designated as the current baseline algorithm for the validated release of SPL2SMP. However, all five algorithms will be continuously assessed; the choice of the operational algorithm for the validated release of the product will be evaluated on a regular basis as analyses of new observations and Cal/Val data become available, and algorithm parameters are tuned based on a longer SMAP radiometer brightness temperature time series record.
All five algorithms operate on the same zeroth-order microwave emission model commonly known as the tau-omega model. In essence, this model relates brightness temperatures (SMAP L1 observations) to soil moisture (SMAP L2 retrievals) through ancillary information (e.g. soil texture, soil temperature, and vegetation water content) and a soil dielectric model. The algorithms differ in their approaches to solve for soil moisture from the model under different constraints and assumptions. The following sections provide summarized descriptions of each algorithm. Further details are provided in O'Neill et al., 2015.
Baseline Single Channel Algorithm V-pol (SCA-V)
In the SCA-V, the vertically polarized brightness temperature (TB) observations are converted to emissivity using a surrogate for the physical temperature of the emitting layer. The derived emissivity is corrected for vegetation and surface roughness to obtain the soil emissivity. The Fresnel equation is then used to determine the dielectric constant from the soil emissivity. Finally, a dielectric mixing model is used to solve for the soil moisture given knowledge of the soil texture. Analytically, SCA-V attempts to solve for one unknown variable (soil moisture) from one equation that relates the vertically polarized TB to soil moisture. Vegetation information is provided by a 13-year climatological data base of global Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and a table of parameters based on land cover and polarization.
Single Channel Algorithm H-pol (SCA-H)
The SCA-H is similar to SCA-V, in that the horizontally polarized TB observations are converted to emissivity using a surrogate for the physical temperature of the emitting layer. The derived emissivity is corrected for vegetation and surface roughness to obtain the soil emissivity. The Fresnel equation is then used to determine the dielectric constant. Finally, a dielectric mixing model is used to obtain the soil moisture given knowledge of the soil texture. Analytically, SCA-H attempts to solve for one unknown variable (soil moisture) from one equation that relates the horizontally polarized TB to soil moisture. Vegetation information is provided by a 13-year climatological data base of global NDVI and a table of parameters based on land cover and polarization.
Dual Channel Algorithm (DCA)
In the DCA, both the vertically and horizontally polarized TB observations are used to solve for soil moisture and vegetation optical depth. The algorithm iteratively minimizes a cost function (Φ2) that consists of the sum of squares of the differences between the observed and estimated TBs:
(Equation 1)
In each iteration step, the soil moisture and vegetation opacity are adjusted simultaneously until the cost function attains a minimum in a least square sense. Similar to SCA-V and SCA-H, ancillary information such as effective soil temperature, surface roughness, and vegetation single scattering albedo must be known a priori before the inversion process. Unlike Microwave Polarization Ratio Algorithm (MPRA), DCA permits polarization dependence of coefficients in the forward modeling of TB observations. As implemented for the Version 2 Beta release, the H and V parameters are set the same. During the intensive Cal/Val period leading up to release of the Version 3 Validated SPL2SMP data, implementing polarization dependence for the tau-omega model parameters was investigated.
Microwave Polarization Ratio Algorithm (MPRA)
The MPRA is based on the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (Owe 2015) and was first applied to multi-frequency satellites such as AMSR-E. Like DCA, MPRA attempts to solve for soil moisture and vegetation optical depth using the vertically and horizontally polarized TB observations. However, it does so under the assumptions that (1) the soil and canopy temperatures are considered equal, and (2) vegetation transmissivity (γ) and the single-scattering albedo (ω) are the same for both H and V polarizations. When these assumptions are satisfied, it can be shown that the soil moisture and vegetation optical depth can be solved analytically in closed form, resulting in the same solutions as would be obtained iteratively using DCA. Similarly to DCA, ancillary information such as effective soil temperature, surface roughness, and vegetation single scattering albedo must be known a priori before the inversion process.
Extended Dual Channel Algorithm (E-DCA)
The E-DCA is a variant of DCA. Like DCA, E-DCA uses both the vertically and horizontally polarized TB observations to solve for soil moisture and vegetation optical depth. In E-DCA, however, the cost function (Φ2) is formulated in a way different from that of DCA. Instead of minimizing the sum of squares of the differences between the observed and estimated TBs as in DCA (see Equation 1), the E-DCA attempts to minimize the sum of squares of the difference between the observed and estimated normalized polarization differences (expressed in natural logarithm) and the difference between the observed and estimated TBs (also expressed in natural logarithm) as follows:
(Equation 2)
In each iteration step, soil moisture and vegetation opacity are adjusted simultaneously until the cost function attains a minimum in a least square sense. It is clear that when both Φ_DCA^2 and Φ_(E-DCA)^2 attain their theoretical minimum value (i.e. zero) in the absence of uncertainties of modeling, observations, and ancillary data, T_(B,v)^obs = T_(B,v)^est and T_(B,h)^obs = T_(B,h)^est, implying that DCA and E-DCA converge to the same solutions. The advantage of E-DCA over DCA, however, is apparent when in reality there is finite uncertainty (e.g., a dry bias associated with the ancillary soil temperature data); this uncertainty will be cancelled from the numerator and denominator in the calculation of the normalized polarization difference in Φ_(E-DCA)^2, leaving such uncertainty affecting only one component of the cost function instead of two components as in Φ_DCA^2. This reduction in the impact of soil temperature uncertainty on soil moisture retrieval should make E-DCA more tolerant of soil temperature uncertainty, resulting in fewer instances of retrieval failure than DCA. At present, there are a few caveats associated with E-DCA: (1) its exact performance is being evaluated in the ongoing Cal/Val activities, and (2) the choice of the horizontally polarized TB in the formulation is subject to further assessment as analyses of new observations and Cal/Val data become available.
This product is generated by the SMAP Science Data Processing System (SDS) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). To generate this product, the processing software ingests the 6:00 a.m. descending and 6:00 p.m. ascending half-orbit files of the SMAP L1C Radiometer Half-Orbit 36 km EASE-Grid Brightness Temperatures, Version 3 product. The ingested data are then inspected for retrievability criteria according to input data quality, ancillary data availability, and land cover conditions. When retrievability criteria are met, the software invokes the baseline retrieval algorithm to generate soil moisture retrieval. Only cells that are covered by the actual swath for a given projection are written in the product.
Anthropogenic RFI, principally from ground-based surveillance radars, can contaminate both radar and radiometer measurements at L-band. The SMAP radar and radiometer electronics and algorithms include design features to mitigate the effects of RFI. The SMAP radiometer implements a combination of time and frequency diversity, kurtosis detection, and use of thresholds to detect and, where possible, mitigate RFI.
Level-2 radiometer data can also contain bit errors caused by noise in communication links and memory storage devices. Consultative Committee on Space Data Systems (CCSDS) packets include error-detecting Cyclic Redundancy Checks (CRCs), which are used to flag errors.
More information about error sources is provided in Section 4.6: Algorithm Error Performance of the ATBD. (O'Neill et al. 2016)
For in-depth details regarding the quality of these Version 4 Validated data, refer to the following reports:
Validated Assessment Report
Beta Assessment Report
Quality Overview
Each HDF5 file contains metadata with Quality Assessment (QA) metadata flags that are set by the Science Data Processing System (SDS) at the JPL prior to delivery to the National Snow and Ice Data Center Distributed Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC). A separate metadata file with an .xml file extension is also delivered to NSIDC with the HDF5 file; it contains the same information as the HDF5 file-level metadata.
A separate QA file with a .qa file extension is also associated with the HDF5 file; it contains useful statistics such as the percentage of elements having various quality conditions. If a product does not fail QA, it is ready to be used for higher-level processing, browse generation, active science QA, archive, and distribution. If a product fails QA, it is never delivered to NSIDC DAAC.
The information in the following sections has been adapted from O'Neill et al. (2015).
6:00 p.m. Ascending Half Orbits
Data from both 6:00 a.m. descending and 6:00 p .m. ascending half-orbit passes are used as input for soil moisture derivation in this Version 4 Validated product. However, the radiometer soil moisture algorithm assumes that the air, vegetation, and near-surface soil are in thermal equilibrium in the early morning hours; thus, retrievals from 6:00 p.m. ascending half-orbit passes show a slight degradation in quality. Nonetheless, ubRMSE (unbiased root mean square error) and correlation of the p.m. and a.m. retrievals are relatively close.
Data Flags
Bit flags generated from input SMAP data and ancillary data are also employed to help determine the quality of the retrievals. Ancillary data help determine either specific aspects of the processing, such as corrections for transient water, or the quality of the retrievals, such as the precipitation flag. These flags provide information as to whether the ground is frozen, covered with snow, flooded, or whether it is actively precipitating at the time of the satellite overpass. Other flags will indicate whether masks for steeply sloped topography, or for urban, heavily forested, or permanent snow/ice areas are in effect. Unless otherwise stated, all areal fractions defined below refer to 36 x 36 km 2 inversion domain.
The flags described below, for example, are used in the surface_flag. Refer to Table 4 of the Data Fields page for more details.
Open Water Flag
Open water fraction can be determined from SMAP high-resolution radar and/or a priori information on permanent open freshwater from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) MOD44W database. The SPL2SMP Version 3 product uses the MOD44W database due to the maturity of the SMAP radar open-water algorithm and availability of radar measurements, and are reported in Bit 0 and 1 in the surface_flag of the SPL2SMP product. This information serves as a flag to affect soil moisture retrieval processing in the following ways:
- If water fraction is 0.00–0.25, then do not flag, but retrieve soil moisture.
- If water fraction is 0.25–0.75, then flag and retrieve soil moisture.
- If water fraction is 0.75–1.00, then flag, but do not retrieve soil moisture.
Precipitation Flag
The SMAP precipitation flag is set based on either forecasts of precipitation or using data from the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM). It is a binary precipitation/no precipitation flag which indicates the presence or absence of precipitation in the 36 km grid cell at the time of the SMAP overpass. The presence of liquid in precipitation incident on the ground at the time of the SMAP overpass can adversely bias the retrieved soil moisture due to its large impact on SMAP brightness temperatures, as precipitation in the atmosphere is part of the atmospheric correction done in Level-1B brightness temperature processing. Unlike other flags, soil moisture retrieval will always be attempted even if precipitation is flagged. However, this flag serves as a warning to the user to view the retrieved soil moisture with some skepticism if precipitation is present.
Snow Flag
Although the SMAP L-Band Radiometer can theoretically see through dry snow with its low dielectric to the soil underneath a snowpack, the snow flag is currently envisioned as a binary snow/no snow flag based on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System (IMS) database. The snow flag affects soil moisture retrieval processing in the following ways:
- If snow areal fraction is 0.00–0.05, then do not flag, but retrieve soil moisture.
- If snow areal fraction is 0.05–0.50, then flag and retrieve soil moisture.
- If snow areal fraction is above 0.50, then flag, but do not retrieve soil moisture.
Frozen Ground Flag
The frozen ground flag is set from either 1) the flag passed through from the SMAP radiometer freeze/thaw algorithm, or 2) from modeled surface temperature information (TSURF) from the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO). These sources for the frozen ground flag are contained in the SPL2SMP product and are reflected in bits 7 and 8 of the surface_flag (bit 7: SMAP radiometer-derived freeze/thaw state; bit 8: GMAO TSURF). For this SPL2SMP Version 4 product, GMAO TSURF (bit 8) is used to determine frozen ground condition.
The frozen soil flag affects soil moisture retrieval processing in the following ways:
If frozen ground areal fraction is 0.00–0.05, then do not flag, but retrieve soil moisture.
If frozen ground areal fraction is 0.05–0.50, then flag and retrieve soil moisture.
If frozen ground areal fraction is 0.50–1.00, then flag, but do not retrieve soil moisture.
Using the SMAP radiometer freeze/thaw algorithm for the frozen ground flag replaces the SMAP radar-based freeze/thaw algorithm which was used in all previous versions of the SPL2SMP product until the radar failed on 07 July 2015. For more detail regarding the SMAP radiometer freeze/thaw algorithm, refer to the SPL3FTP user guide.
Note: SMAP radiometer freeze/thaw flags are presently validated only for all land regions north of 45°N latitude. While the SPL2SMP product contains global SMAP freeze/thaw flags, uncertainty in the flags is higher south of 45°N latitude due to small differences in the SMAP radiometer-derived reference freeze and thaw states upon which the freeze/thaw algorithm is based. Further information is available in the SPL3FTP Validated Assessment Report.
Urban Area Flag
Since the brightness temperature of man-made, impervious, and urban areas cannot be estimated theoretically, the presence of urban areas in the 36 km Level-2 soil moisture grid cell cannot be corrected for during soil moisture retrieval. Thus, the presence of even a small amount of urban area in the radiometer footprint is likely to adversely bias the retrieved soil moisture. The SMAP urban flag is set based on the Columbia University Global Rural-Urban Mapping Project (GRUMP) data set (O'Neill et al. 2015). The urban fraction affects soil moisture retrieval processing in the following ways:
- If urban areal fraction is 0.00–0.25, then do not flag, but retrieve soil moisture.
- If urban areal fraction is above 0.25, then flag and retrieve soil moisture.
Mountainous Area Flag
Large and highly variable slopes present in the radiometer footprint will adversely affect the retrieved soil moisture. The SMAP mountainous area flag is derived from a combination of high elevation information from the DEM coupled with a statistical threshold based on the slope variability within each 36 km grid cell.
For in-depth details on all data flags, refer to the Product Specification Document.
References and Related Publications
Contacts and Acknowledgments
Peggy O'Neill
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Global Modeling and Assimilation Office
Mail Code 610.1
8800 Greenbelt Rd.
Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
Rajat Bindlish
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Hydrological Sciences Laboratory
Code 617, Bldg 33, G216
Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
Steven Chan
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA 91109 USA
Tom Jackson
United States Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service (USDA/ARS)
Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory
104 Bldg. 007, BARC-West
Beltsville, MD 20705 USA


text:
Date: 11/05/2010
The European Commission sent today a reasoned opinion to the Maltese authorities for failure to implement properly the EU directive on port state control. This Directive is a core instrument in the field of maritime safety, aimed at fighting substandard shipping in the European Union. Malta is required to comply with the request within two months, failing which the case may go before the European Court of Justice.
The EU rules Directive 95/21/EC on port state control aims to reduce substandard shipping in Community waters by establishing common criteria for the control of ships by any port state and harmonizing procedures on inspection and detention.
In order to help monitor the implementation of EU rules, Member States must inform the Commission of the number of individual ships that enter their ports and of the number of inspectors available.
The directive also requires establishing a system of effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties in the event of infringements of the national implementing measures. For instance, penalties should be imposed if a master fails to notify compulsory information to the port authorities to escape inspection.
The reason for todays action The Commission action was initiated following an inspection visit by the European Maritime Safety Agency in Malta. These visits are part of a monitoring programme by the Commission designed to assess how the directive is implemented in practice in each Member State.
The Commission considers that Malta failed to provide the Commission with the information requested (number of ship calls and number of inspectors) and failed to impose penalties.
The practical effect of non-implementation This lack of compliance with the port state control directive endangers maritime safety with the risks this implies for the environment.


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text:
As winter approaches, TV Licensing and Volunteer Now are encouraging people in Northern Ireland to volunteer their time by joining a social group, mentor programme, or sparing an hour each week to form a friendship over a shared interest.
Karen Grimason, spokesperson for TV Licensing in Northern Ireland said: "Over 75s consume more TV each day than any other age group, so the weekly TV schedule can provide a great opportunity for volunteers to share their favourite regular programme in the company of an older person, particularly as winter draws in and great TV seasons begin. Volunteer Now can help by matching up people wanting to help another person tackle loneliness and social isolation.
"Anyone aged 75 can claim a free TV Licence for their main address and over 105,000 people in Northern Ireland, and 4 million people across the UK, already enjoy the benefits of the concession."
Lindsay Armstrong, Community Projects Manager for Volunteer Now said: "We run many services for older people in the community for example volunteer befriending. There are many different types of befriending, from group activities to chatting over the phone. In many cases volunteers tell us that television can be a great conversation starter and a way of finding common interests between generations.
"The fact that TV Licenses are free for people over 75 is a great help to many. Applying for one is easy to do and TV Licensing can help you apply over the phone, cutting down on paperwork.
"Throughout Northern Ireland, increasing numbers of older people are facing loneliness. Volunteering your time and befriending really can improve the quality of life for older people and strengthen our communities."
TV Licensing works with around 500 organisations across the UK to ensure those entitled to a concession know how to apply for it. Anyone 75 or older can apply for a TV Licence online at www.tvlicensing.co.uk/over75info or call 0300 790 6073 for help with the application.
The free licence is not granted automatically so anybody who becomes eligible needs to make sure they apply. If you live with someone aged over 75, their free licence will cover all viewing in the property, meaning family and live-in carers could also benefit from the concession.