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If you're thinking of being the tank for a group, either for a team of your friends, a raid, or in a pug, I've got a few small suggestions that may help you out.
1) Be consistent.
When you get together with any group of people, you have to keep in mind that even if someone else is directing the overall strategy for the run, everyone else takes their cue from the tank. Everyone will be watching how you do things, NOT to judge whether you know what you're doing, but to see HOW you will be doing things, so they can adapt themselves to your style.
There are so many ways, so many styles you can have as a tank. Each has it's good points. But whatever you do, be consistent in how you perform each type of pull, so that your DPS and heals can adjust themselves to your flow.
I do not mean always pull every group the same way… but you should have one common way you do things, and then some variations depending on the opposing group's makeup.
An example. If you prefer to charge into a group of mobs, and then drag them around so you are facing the rest of the party, providing melee DPS with a straight up-the-kilt shot as they run up… do that every time, not just some of the time. If the melee get used to running in after you and NOT having to maneuver around behind the mobs… if you suddenly change styles in mid stream, and stop dragging them around to put their back's to the party, it will throw the flow off. And if you swap your style every other pull, it's gonna annoy the shit out of them.
Being consistent in how you pull and how you position yourself allows the rest of the group to get an intuitive feel for how you do things, and they will respond by moving confidently to the attack without wasted motion, and your healers will be better tuned in to what your final range from them will end up being so they can position themselves well.
2) Encourage focus fire on targets with Raid Icons.
Most of the time, whether in Heroics or on raid trash, nobody uses CC anymore. Ulduar, of course, is a different story, but for the most part the normal sequence is pull, generate aggro, kill 'em all, next pull.
Marking targets for Crowd Control or a detailed kill order really isn't necessary, but there are advantages to marking a primary kill target to encourage everyone else to focus their attacks on that one target.
If you have a good group who know how to play they're classes, then those with fast cast time attacks or insane burst damage will target your primary kill target while those with slow cast time attacks or powerful DoTs will know to take the initiative and work on some of the other unmarked mobs.
The fast cast burst damage will blow away the focus fire mob so quickly that the slow cast or DoT player wouldn't have contributed much to that kill… but he will have done great damage against one of the other targets during that time. Everyone wins.
To encourage this, rather than stopping and marking everything up prior to engaging normal trash, instead use either an Addon such as Quickmark that lets you fast click a mark on your current target, or create a macro to let you mark a target with one keypress.
I don't have a preference. If you like keybindings for macros and are comfortable with them, it can be a nice time savings in the middle of a pull to mark with one key press. If you are used to clicking the screen, then Quickmark is a great addon.
For a macro to mark a Skull over your currently selected target, I recommend the following line of code;
/script SetRaidTarget ("target", 8)
Make the macro and then move it to your bottom left button or whatever your "1" is, and as long as you are the party leader or raid leader or assistant, then by tapping the "1" once you'll put a Skull up on your current target automatically.
Alternatively, you can make a mouseover macro that will let you put a Skull over any mob, just mouseover it and tap your "1". I don't use it myself, simply because I want the majority of damage to be hitting my current main threat target, but your mileage may vary.
The code for a mouseover version is as follows;
/script SetRaidTarget ("mouseover", 8)
As with any text you copy/paste from the internet into the game, copy it into Notepad or some other text editor that strips the hidden HTML code out, and then copy THAT and paste it into WoW.
And yes, of course you can keybind that to other things, I'm just using the "1" as an example.
Quickmarks gives you greater flexibility with what marks to use and when, but it takes some screen clicking distracting time to get 'em up. Still a lot better than right-clicking an enemy portrait and using the drop down menu to assign marks.
Whatever way you choose, marking a kill target on the fly, and selecting another as soon as the first one is dead leaves no doubt in anyone's mind WHO exactly you intend to focus your main attention on.
Many players will, without a kill target, assume that your current target is your main threat target.
The problem with that is, you might not stay on one target all the time. Most tanks will, at least occasionally, tab-target off the main threat mob to apply some good housekeeping Mauls of approval on some of the others, just for that extra wiggle room, and then go back to the main target.
Maybe on your initial pull, you decide to use a ranged DoT like Moonfire to start some threat on a target that you intend to take second. You Moonfire, the group comes, and then you switch to another target to be the one you blow the shit out of.
If the DPS is going off of your current target, they might not have noticed you moved off your initial target… and will be going all out on the wrong target and pull threat away.
No big worries, just a helpful tip that using a Raid Icon to mark your primary threat target on the fly, every time your main target changes, helps keep everyone on track.
3) Be mindful of lines of sight.
Some instances have terrain that rises or lowers, such as hills or stairs, and there are the ever-present doorways.
Keep in mind that, when fighting, if you are positioned at the peak of such a terrain feature, the healer and ranged DPS are likely below and behind you… and the melee DPS and pets are in front of you, over the rise, getting behind your opponent.
This can leave your melee DPS and the pet out of line of sight of the healer. Violet Hold is infamous for these types of fights, with portal spawn points being at the top of rubble piles or being at a platform above a long flight of stairs.
Be mindful at all times of your position relative to the party, and ensure that you are not only keeping yourself within healing line of sight, but also the ones doing the fighting at the mob's rear.
Never be afraid to grab your mob at the top of the terrain feature, and then drag him/them back far enough so the pet is within line of sight, too.
4) Knowledge is power.
One of the simplest things that will make any tank's life easier is knowing what to expect.
For boss fights, this is obvious. Knowing what the boss does helps you devise your tactics against him.
When trying to tank a run as smoothly as possible, it's just as important to know the characteristics of the trash you will face.
At the most basic level, is knowing who is a caster, and who is melee. Knowing who will heal, and who will net you in place and then run away to shoot at range.
If you know a group is melee, then you can just do a standard pull and everybody comes running. If one of them is a caster, however, knowing it in advance can let you target him for a sheep to get him out of the way, or inspire you to do a line of sight pull around a corner to make him run to you and get clumped in with the melee.
It should be your goal, when dealing with trash, to find a way to either clump them all up so your threat generating abilities will easily tag them all, or to get those that won't come into your range out of the fight temporarily.
Sometimes you don't want to run up to the group to make sure you engage the ranged attackers in melee range. The group might be close to a boss, or another pack of elites, or some other issue may come up.
So keep in mind that if you run out of line of sight of a group after you aggro them, even the ranged will come running after. Also keep in mind that your taunt abilities can be used at range, and so long as nobody is dealing damage to the ranged attacker, your taunt will keep them from attacking anyone except the healer's global aggro.
A tip? If you have a GOOD working relationship with some ranged DPS, you can have your DPS friend damage the ranged mob a bit while you build initial aggro on the melee group… and then when he gets aggro and takes a few shots, he can switch over to your normal target… and you can Taunt the ranged mob, bumping your threat on that target up to match your DPS friend… WAY over the healer's global threat. You won't have to worry so much about reapplying Taunt after that.
The point is, knowing what to expect from the mobs you encounter will help you pull in such a way as to get them all clumped up in your threat range without pulling additional mobs, and without letting any run free to harm the rest of your group.
5) The first rule of martial arts; The board does not hit back.
When you are preparing to be a tank, what you should focus on, first and foremost, is being able to take being hit, not your DPS output.
Everyone tries to stack their armor, avoidance and health that is always active.
But you've got a host of other abilities to help keep you alive, and knowing when to use them is key to going from an okay tank to a good tank.
Tip? PvP duels can be great ways to practise your 'oh shit' techniques.
Are you a Druid Bear Tank? Then arranging your sequences so it's easy to trigger Survival Instincts/Frenzied Regeneration (and an optional Lifeblood) when necesary is great, but being practised in USING them when the shit hits the fan, at exactly the right moment, is much better. Especially when you can tell your healer that you're good at the moment; go heal someone else for 10 seconds.
Knowing how much you can expect to recover from this manuever, by actually having a friend beat the heck out of you in PvP down to bare bones, and then triggering your 'oh shit' technique and getting a feel for how much Health you will recover, how much damage you will avoid using Barkskin or Evasion, how much of a hit your bear bubble will eat on a Crit, all these things help you better prepare for when you're in deep trouble..and will help prevent you from looking at your ghost form, and think "Oh yeah, I should have used my Healthstone/Healing Pot/Lifeblood/Shield Wall/Survival Instincts/Evasion/Bubble."
Come on. How many of you, with a straight face, can tell me you never died with a Healthstone still active in your inventory.
It won't be second nature to use your 'oh shit' buttons, if you normally aren't in 'oh shit' situations.
So practise it!
And what the hey, while you're at it, practise your bubble/self heal, or your quick-shift/self heals, and get a feel for how long your cast time leaves you vulnerable, versus how much health you get back.
Practising as a Bear Tank to see how fast you can pop out of Bear, throw down two insta-cast HoTs and pop back into Bear can give you some good skills.
I know that when fighting Moroes in less than full groups, being able to self-heal during a Vanish is a wonderful thing… but leaving yourself in caster too long while trying to get greedy with the heals on long casts is embarrasing.
Your goal is to absorb damage and stay alive first, aggro everything second. If one mob gets loose, you might only lose one person. If you die, you will probably wipe the run.
Priorities, cheena. Priorities. You first, healer second, the DPS gets a rock.
6) Never assume.
For better or worse, the main tank is often looked to as the raid or party leader for group events.
If you have run something a thousand times, that's great. When you are tanking a run though, you have to remember, just because YOU know what to do, doesn't mean everyone else does. Remember that knowledge thing up above? Yeah, if you know what to expect, and there is a trick to keep things going smoothly… share the trick with your group.
Communicate clearly to the group your expectations for a fight… and be open to suggestions on different things to try. Please, for all that is holy, don't tell other people how to play their class or character. But DO suggest a tactic that has worked in the past, things you've seen or asked other classes to do before, and ask if the other players can try the same thing.
Again, don't tell other players how to play, and do be open to constructive suggestions after you've said your piece.
You know the portal to the upper left in Violet Hold that is going to spawn a group that splits up in two? Well, when it spawns, don't just run around in silence, tell the Hunter that you'd like a Misdirect if possible onto you for the left pair, or that you want everyone to move back to the stairs to give yuo more time to round 'em all up, or explain that you feel suicidal and you're gonna bear dance and let the team wipe.
Don't act in silence.
Likewise, don't assume that the current boss is 'ezmode', so you don't need to explain your intentions on a boss fight or your expectations of the team.
I get a LOT of crap in my guild, because every time we do a raid, I ask if there is anyone on a boss fight that doesn't know what to do… and if I get an affirmative, then I take the time to explain what is going to happen, and make sure that person and anyone else is clear on what we will do.
I get a load of crap… but our runs are always pretty smooth, even when we are learning a fight for the first time.
I've been on raids before where the raid leader apparently thought that being master looter meant he was a leader. That's great, but when you have folks just blindly shooting at whatever comes along, and hoping they don't screw up, afraid to speak up and ask questions because they'll 'slow down the run', then I call that a massive failure on the raid leader's part.
If you invited them on the run, then you are responsible for making sure they know what to do, and aren't treated with derision for having the temerity to ask questions.
If you want everyone to have studied their role in an upcoming raid in detail before you ever set foot inside… make sure that expectation is communicated ahead of time. And then feel free to rearrange your raid if that was your rule, and someone showed up unprepared.
You can have a speed run where no words are exchanged the whole fight and everything died anyway, awesome loot, kick ass, no deaths… and if one person on that run felt that if they spoke up, they'd be mocked for not knowing what is going on, and spent the whole run tense and confused and unhappy and fearful of screwing up, I consider that a crappy fail of a run.
But then, that's just me.
The fish wrap-up.
I hope some of this can prove helpful if you're just starting out as a tank, and wondering what kind of things to think about to help make your runs go smoothly.
Until next time, have fun!


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Ongoing insurance and indemnity issues surrounding professional mixed martial arts in the city of Vancouver could well see the two-year trial of regulated MMA pass with only a single professional event having been held, according to Vision Vancouver city council member Dr Kerry Jang and licensing staffer Tom Hammel.
"I think it's possible," said Jang when asked whether the legal issues dogging the sport in Vancouver could see the trial period end with barely any testing having actually taken place.
City assistant director of licensing Tom Hammel confirmed to Sun reporter Jeff Lee Wednesday that it is entirely possible that, during that entire two year trial period, the city won't license any MMA events against which they can study the outcomes.
Said Jang, "We're waiting for reports on the UFC event that just took place. We need to gauge how residents feel in the neighborhood. some people complained that there should be a more visible police presence instead of undercover officers. There was an issue with a beating - unrelated to the UFC, but the perception was there."
"We need to know what lessons were learned from that show, what worked, what didn't, what we worried about but didn't need to worry about. Once we get these reports back, we can figure out the smaller events. The UFC was driving the agenda for us obviously, so we resolved that first, the smaller events are next, and then amateur events."
Jang acknowledged that the process was slow going but urged promoter, fighters and fans to be patient and let the process play out.
"People want everything now, and we just can't give it to them now," he said. "This is part of the process you have to go through. Everyone wants to just go ahead and do it and see what happens, but if we don't have an insurer, can we legally insure ourselves?"
The Vancouver Athletic Commission oversaw an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on June 12 at GM Place that led to the fastest ticket sellout in UFC history and over 17,000 fans watching some of the fight games best athletes up close and personal, while over half a million pay-per-view subscribers and several million Spike TV viewers set eyes on the city.
But the mega-fight promotion had to pull some serious legal maneuvering and hard negotiating - as well as place a considerable amount on money into insurance and city indemnity - to get the go-ahead for the event.
Smaller fight promotions, such as the local West Coast Promotions, Honour Combat Championships, Alberta's Maximum Fighting Championships and the U.S.-based Shine Fights, would like to keep the MMA industry ticking in between large pay-per-view extravaganzas like UFC 115, but say the UFC deal is not open to them.
West Coast Promotions owner Manny Sobral will hold an amateur MMA event at Richmond's River Rock Casino Friday night and would like to hold a larger 4,000 seat outdoor event at Hastings Park Racecourse in late July, but the former Olympic boxer can't get an answer from the city as to how much insurance they want. Nor can he get an answer as to what the UFC paid to get their event staged.
"I've given them drawings, details of security plans, we've been asking for some time now but we've heard nothing," said Sobral Wednesday. "We can't do anything until we figure out what the insurance requirements are and the licensing staff tell us they have to ask the city manager and it's hard to push them because they hold our fate in their hands. If we push too hard, they might just decide to heck with you guys."
Sobral is hoping for a call explaining everything in the next few days, but is set to cancel his late July plans altogether if the process doesn't move forward soon, which will push his event back to September at the earliest, placing it at risk of inclement weather and low ticket sales.
"If we can't get an answer soon, it might have to wait another year," he says.
Jang claims the insurance requested from the UFC wasn't as extravagant as some have suggested. "We wanted around $12 million and were pretty close in the end. Basically, we wanted whatever Montreal is asking for - that's what we were aiming at, maybe a smidge more than Montreal."
The councillor conceded the specifics of the deal haven't been made public, but said if another promoter was prepared to take on the same deal, "They're welcome to put in an application and show that they have the means to do that deal."
Mark Pavelich's Maximum Fight Championships stages nationally televised events in Alberta every month and has sold out over a dozen 2,000 seater fight cards in a row, and lately has moved up to the 4,000 capacity level. He'd like to hold an event at the PNE, and has the money to do the same insurance/indemnity deal the UFC did, but not only has he yet to hear what that deal was, he's also been told the PNE can't be used for MMA because of an indemnity tangle that may not be able to be solved without changes to bylaws.
"The city wants venues to indemnify them against damages from a lawsuit, but the city owns the facility, and they can't indemnify themselves against themselves," Pavelich said in June.
"I want to be in Vancouver every month, holding big polished shows with sponsors and Mark Cuban's company televising it across North America, but the PNE board says no way," said Pavelich. "And there's nowhere else to do it unless I want to go to GM Place. So you know what? I'm done trying to bang my head on a brick wall. We're looking to Toronto and if Vancouver ever comes around, we'll talk then."
The insurance problems dogging Vancouver MMA are seemingly not an issue outside of the city. In Victoria, the Armageddon Fighting Championships have packed fans into a 4,000 seat arena in Colwood, so much so that they recently announced a TV deal that will see their fight cards replayed on CHEK TV. Fight cards in Prince George, Vernon and Penticton have drawn thousands of audience members and received national airtime on The Score.
But none of the groups behind those events can get a permit in Vancouver until city staff outline what's required from them, a process that was supposed to have already happened.
"I can understand people getting impatient," says Jang, "but we have to deal with these issues over time. We sorted out the UFC situation, but now we have to deal with smaller events, and there's also amateur events - we want those regulated too. If the city-owned facilities can't be used right now, the city staff will tell us that and then tell us how we can change the situation so they can be used down the line. That's their job, and they're very good at it."
Asked what can be done when a promoter looks to get 'the UFC deal' only to be told that deal is confidential, Jang says they just need to be patient, stay in touch with city staff, and if they feel the process isn't working as it should, "they remain free to lobby myself or the other councillors to take the issue up on their behalf."
"In my opinion, we have very professional staff and, any time I've taken an issue up for someone who has contacted me, we've found they're doing their job exactly as they should. I've never known staff to do an end run on an issue."
Jang acknowledged that local promoters are being hampered by the slow going of the insurance issues, but said he can't state that the regulatory process will be finalized before the two-year professional MMA trial period ends.
"I just don't know when it will be solved," he said. "Could it be that we don't have another event before the end of the trial period? It's possible. I can't say for sure."
Ultimately, Jang says the issue is a federal and provincial one that Vancouver is struggling with because others have shirked it.
"Talk to [federal culture minister] James Moore. He said [changes to the criminal code permitting professional MMA] would be done, but it hasn't been done yet. We've done a lot to get it to the city of Vancouver - it's not what everybody wants, but we got the UFC here. But this could all be solved quickly if the federal government decriminalized professional MMA, kickboxing and karate, and if the provincial government set up oversight of amateur MMA."
"If James Moore is such a fan, let's see him step up," he said, adding, "I ain't seen nothin' yet."

subset: commoncrawl


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ATHENS, Ohio (Aug. 2, 2012)--The rise of the Rocky Mountains and the appearance of a major seaway that divided North America may have boosted the evolution of new dinosaur species, according to a new Ohio University-led study.
The finding, published today in the journal PLOS ONE, may explain patterns of evolution and migration of North American duck-billed and horned dinosaurs in the years leading up to their extinction 65 million years ago, said Terry Gates, a postdoctoral researcher with Ohio University's Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine who is lead author on the study.
"Over the past century, paleontologists have found a wide variety of dinosaurs in rocks dating to around 75 million years ago, but right before the asteroid hit at the end of the Cretaceous, there appeared to be fewer species in North America," he said. "The reason for this discrepancy in dinosaur diversity has never been adequately explained."
Gates and collaborators Albert Prieto-Márquez and Lindsay Zanno turned to the geologic record of western North America for possible answers. They examined trends in mountain and ocean formation during a period 80-70 million years ago, when there was an apparent explosion of dinosaur species, and later, when species became less diverse.
The record painted a picture of pronounced geological change.
During the early to middle Cretaceous, geological forces lifted the western United States, creating a huge mountain range (the Sevier Mountains) that extended in a line from the American southwest through Alberta, Canada. The area just to the east of the new mountain range flexed downward, creating a shallow North American seaway (known as the Western Interior Seaway) that flooded the continent from the Canadian arctic to the Gulf of Mexico.
This seaway cut the continent into three large islands to the north, east and west that were densely populated with dinosaurs. The dinosaurs of the west lived on an island known as Laramidia. Most fossil discoveries have been made in the area of the northern part of the island, in places such as Alberta, South Dakota and Montana, while dinosaurs have been found only recently in the former areas of southern Laramidia.
"Western North America has been a hotbed for dinosaur discoveries for more than a century," Zanno noted, "but the recent explosion of new dinosaur species coming out of Utah is sending waves through the paleontological community and revolutionized our understanding of dinosaur evolution on the continent."
The new discoveries have helped illustrate how dinosaurs evolved on an island with changing geography. The rise of the Sevier Mountains and the growing seaway caused dinosaur habitat to shrink on Laramidia. Later, one of the tectonic plates under North America's crust shifted position, building another mountain range--the Laramide Orogeny, or the infant stage of the modern-day Rocky Mountains--further east.
"At that time, it appears that geographic, as well as probably also ecological, barriers created by the rise of mountain ranges and the seaway caused isolation of the northern and southern populations of the crested duck-billed and horned plant-eating dinosaurs. We hypothesize that such isolation facilitated rapid speciation and increased diversity in these animals," explained Prieto-Márquez.
The new species of duck-billed and horned dinosaurs were being born at an astounding rate of every few hundred thousand years during the brief time when the two mountain ranges and the seaway coexisted, Gates said. "Isolating populations allows them to evolve new features more rapidly, especially when skull ornamentation such as head crests and horns play a role," he said.
Eventually, however, the continued rise of the Rocky Mountains would evict the seaway from the continent's interior. Gates and his colleagues argue that this second geological change opened up a wide territory for duck-billed and horned dinosaurs to roam, that, in turn, reduced how fast new species evolved in the region to every few million years.
"Our data suggests that changing geography contributed to the pattern we see in western North America, but also that this pattern is unique to this region and should not be blindly extrapolated to infer global diversity leading up to the K-T extinction event," Zanno noted.
The study also found that the same species of at least some duck-billed dinosaurs lived from Canada through southern Utah at some points in the Cretaceous. Yet, during the times of isolation, these giant plant-eaters "roamed a much smaller area than you might think given that many were larger than elephants," Gates noted. Scientists hypothesize that there are ecological as well as geological reasons behind this, including the possibility that dinosaurs evolved to eat specialized plants found only in certain regions.
The mountain and seaway changes not only impacted dinosaur diversity in North America, but may have had implications in other parts of the world. Global geological changes during this time created migration routes to Asia and South America. The team speculates that the rise of the early Rocky Mountains in North America created a barrier. Only species living in the southern part of Laramidia island could get to South America and only species living north of the mountains would have been able get to Asia across modern-day Alaska.
"These giant herbivores were truly invasive species that seemingly came to dominate these other continents," said Gates, adding that this idea needs to be tested further with additional fossil remains.
Gates holds a postdoctoral fellow appointment with Patrick O'Connor of Ohio University's Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine and also works as a research scientist at North Carolina State University. Prieto-Márquez is a Humboldt postdoctoral associate at the Bavarian State Collection for Paleontology and Geology in Munich, Germany. Zanno is director of the Paleontology and Geology Research Laboratory at the Nature Research Center of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and is an assistant research faculty member at North Carolina State University.
The project received funding from the National Science Foundation, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Ministry of Education and Science of Spain and North Carolina State University.
The PLOS ONE paper may be accessed at http://dx.


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N. Korea may postpone controversial rocket launch
Launch denounced by United Nations
North Korea may postpone the controversial launch of a long-range rocket that had been slated for liftoff as early as this week, state media said Sunday, as international pressure on Pyongyang to cancel the provocative move intensified.
Scientists have been pushing forward with final preparations for the launch from a west coast site, slated to take place as early as Monday, but are considering "readjusting" the timing, an unidentified spokesman for the Korean Committee for Space Technology told North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency.
It was unclear whether diplomatic intervention or technical glitches were behind the delay. A brief KCNA dispatch said scientists and technicians were discussing whether to set new launch dates but did not elaborate.
Word of a possible delay comes just days after satellite photos indicated that snow may have slowed launch preparations, and as officials in Washington, Seoul, Tokyo, Moscow and elsewhere urged North Korea to cancel a liftoff widely seen as a violation of bans against missile activity.
Commercial satellite imagery taken by GeoEye on Dec. 4 and shared Friday with the Associated Press by the 38 North and North Korea Tech websites showed the Sohae site northwest of Pyongyang covered with snow. The road from the main assembly building to the launch pad showed no fresh tracks, indicating that the snowfall may have stalled the preparations.
However, analysts believed rocket preparations would have been completed on time for liftoff as early as Monday.
U.S. 'deeply concerned'
North Korea announced earlier this month that it would launch a three-stage rocket mounted with a satellite from its Sohae station southeast of Sinuiju sometime between Dec. 10 and Dec. 22. Pyongyang calls it a peaceful bid to send an observational satellite into space, its second attempt this year.
The launch announcement captured global headlines because of its timing: South Korea and Japan hold key elections this month, U.S. President Barack Obama begins his second term next month and China has just formed a new leadership. North Koreans also have begun a mourning period for late leader Kim Jong Il, who died on Dec. 17, 2011.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Washington was "deeply concerned" about the launch, and urged foreign ministers from NATO and Russia to demand that Pyongyang cancel its plans.
The U.S. and others said the launch would violate UN Security Council resolutions banning North Korea from nuclear and missile activity because the rocket shares the same technology used for firing a long-range missile.
North Korea has unveiled missiles designed to target U.S. soil and has tested two atomic bombs in recent years, but has not shown yet that it has mastered the technology for mounting a nuclear warhead to a long-range missile. Six-nation negotiations to offer North Korea much-needed aid in exchange for nuclear disarmament have been stalled since 2009.
China, the North's main ally and aid provider, noted its "concern" after North Korea declared its plans. It acknowledged North Korea's right to develop its space program but said that had to be harmonized with restrictions including those set by the UN Security Council.
Reasons for delay unclear
In Seoul, officials at the Defence Ministry, Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Foreign Ministry said Sunday they couldn't immediately find what might be behind the possible delay.
North Korea may hold off if Washington actively engages Pyongyang in dialogue and promises to ship stalled food assistance to the country, said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korean studies at Seoul's Dongguk University.
In February, the U.S. agreed to provide 240,000 metric tons of food aid to North Korea in exchange for a freeze in nuclear and missile activities. The deal collapsed after North Korea attempted to launch a long-range rocket in April. That rocket broke up seconds after liftoff.
Analyst Baek Seung-joo of the South Korean state-run Korea Institute for Defence Analyses in Seoul said China must have sent a "very strong" message calling for the North to cancel the launch plans.
"North Korea won't say it would delay the launch due to foreign pressure so that's why they say scientists and technicians are considering delaying it," he said.


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ANAHEIM, Calif. — — There are a lot of extra benefits that go along with playing in the Rose Bowl Game.
Arguably the best is the traditional stop at Disneyland, and that was no different on Thursday as the "Happiest Place on Earth" officially welcomed the 100th Rose Bowl participants, Stanford and Michigan State, to Southern California.
The Cardinal, playing in its second consecutive Rose Bowl and 14th overall, and the Spartans, in their fifth Rose Bowl Game, face each other at 2 p.m. on Wednesday in Pasadena. Both teams accepted a crystal plate with the design of the Sleeping Beauty Castle on Thursday in addition to the traditional handshake from Mickey Mouse.
"We are very excited to be here," said Stanford coach David Shaw, who guided the Cardinal to a 20-14 victory over Wisconsin in last year's Rose Bowl Game. "I was asked to mention a memory. It's so hard. I grew up coming to this beautiful place, and every time it's different.
"We were here a year a ago, but once again, this place changes so much. We're excited to bring our players here. We'll take in all that Disneyland has to offer."
While coming to America's theme park might seem routine for Stanford, the opposite is true for Michigan State, which is enjoying the experience for the first time since beating USC, 20-17, in the 74th Rose Bowl Game in 1988.
"I can still remember being at Disney when my girls were 4 and 3 and spending the time dancing with Cinderella," Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said. "It's a special time to be here."
This will be the second consecutive year in which the Rose Bowl Game, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary, will feature two teams that play a physical style of play.
The Cardinal (11-2), led by running back Tyler Gaffney and linebacker Shayne Skov, is trying to win back-to-back Rose Bowls for the third time in school history and the first time since the 1971 and '72 games, when it defeated traditional powers Ohio State and Michigan.
Michigan State (12-1) is a surprise entry after upsetting then-No. 2 Ohio State, 34-24, in the Big Ten title game. The Spartans, led by running back Jeremy Langford and defensive back Darqueze Dennard, have won nine consecutive games.
They hope to stretch that number to 10, but first enjoyed some fun at Disneyland on Thursday. They even had a guide, fifth-year senior Fou Fonoti, who prepped at Mayfair High School in Lakewood, Calif., and played his first two years in college at nearby Cerritos College.
He's also no stranger to Disneyland.
"It's always fun coming back," Fonoti said. "It's a special place. You have to eat a turkey leg. You have to get a Dole Whip (ice cream), I'm definitely doing that.
"But it's great coming here with my teammates, my brothers. It makes it that much more magical."
One player who was not at Disneyland on Thursday was senior linebacker Max Bullough, who was suspended late Wednesday for violating team rules.
Dantonio would not answer questions on the subject, instead deferring to his statement, which said: "Max Bullough has been suspended for the remainder of the season for a violation of team rules. It is extremely disappointing for all parties involved.
"We will stay focused and close ranks as we prepare for Stanford on January 1 in the Rose Bowl. Max will forever remain a Spartan and valued member in this team's achievements."


text:
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Let the younger ones run wild with a selection of kids running shoes, perfect to keep them on their toes. Choose from the latest top picks from brands such as adidas, Nike, Asics, Reebok and New Balance.
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text:
Liquor-store union pact could stall privatization
House to vote on shutting down state liquor store system
A plan to privatize Pennsylvania's state-controlled liquor store system and liberalize beer sales laws is being scheduled for a vote early next week.
A spokesman for the House of Representatives' Republican floor leader said Friday the plan would shut down the existing 620-store system and sell or auction 1,600 new licenses for wine and liquor stores.
House Majority Leader Mike Turzai's plan would give retail beer distributors the right to buy a license. Others would be auctioned, and it would limit the number of stores one licensee could own.
It also would change beer sales laws to allow distributors, grocery stores and taverns to sell in wider varieties, from six-packs to cases of 24 bottles or cans.
The union representing 3,500 employees of Pennsylvania's state-owned liquor stores announced Tuesday that they ratified a new labor contract through mid-2015, igniting a debate over the workers' rights if ongoing efforts to privatize the liquor and wine trade are successful.
One union leader said the pact requires any private companies that take over all or any portion of liquor and wine sales to hire displaced state-store employees and to adhere to contract provisions covering salaries, health insurance and pension benefits.
The state must advise prospective operators that the contract is "binding in its entirety upon them for the duration of its term," said Wendell W. Young IV, president of Local 1776 of the United Food and Commercial Workers.
"This, I think, really makes any discussion of privatization moot for several years," Young, a vocal privatization foe, said in a telephone interview.
A spokesman for Gov. Tom Corbett, who supports closing the more than 600 state stores, argued that private businesses cannot be forced to honor a contract covering state employees.
"A collective bargaining agreement is not assignable," said Dan Egan of the governor's Office of Administration, noting that the contract language governing state-store closings dates back to the Casey administration. "We've always held that that provision is not enforceable," Egan said.
The four-year contract with two UFCW locals, which is retroactive to July 1, 2011, when the previous contract expired, provides pay raises totaling more than 6 percent.
They include a wage freeze in the first year, a 1 percent raise on July 1, back-to-back 0.5 percent increases in July 2013 and January 2014, and a 2 percent boost in July 2014, plus adjustments that add up to an average 2 percent increase over the life of the contract, Young said.


text:
Where We Work
RPA operates in the 31-county New York-New Jersey-Connecticut metropolitan region, with offices in New York City, Princeton, N.J. and Stamford, Conn. Our goal with all our projects is to recommend the best outcomes for individual communities and the region as a whole.
New York
New Jersey
RPA strives to make Connecticut more competitive, fair and sustainable by working with political leaders, civic groups and local communities. We have helped craft a sustainability plan for Bridgeport, advanced transit-oriented development around Stamford and promoted transit projects in Greater Hartford.


text:
Leicester Pilates Daily Deals
Create a Deal Alert for Pilates?
Create a Deal Alert for Pilates?
£24 £150
£29 £170
£29 £170
£15 £48.50
..and many more
We'll make sure you get deals like this
If you'd like to know when the app becomes available in the app store please provide your email below.


text:
In django-cms you can set two types of permissions:
To enable these features,
settings.py requires:
CMS_PERMISSION = True
View restrictions can be set-up from the View restrictions formset on any cms page. Once a page has at least one view restriction installed, only users with granted access will be able to see that page. Mind that this restriction is for viewing the page as an end-user (front-end view), not viewing the page in the admin interface!
View restrictions are also controlled by the
CMS_PUBLIC_FOR setting. Possible values are
all and
This setting decides if pages without any view restrictions are:
After setting
CMS_PERMISSION = True you will have three new models in the admin index:
Using Users (page) you can easily add users with permissions over cms pages.
You would be able to create an user with the same set of permissions using the usual Auth.User model, but using Users (page) is more convenient.
A new user created using Users (page) with given page add/edit/delete rights will not be able to make any changes to pages straight away. The user must first be assigned to a set of pages over which he may exercise these rights. This is done using the Page permissions formset on any page or by using Pages global Permissions.
The Page permission formset has multiple checkboxes defining different permissions: can edit, can add, can delete, can change advanced settings, can publish, can move and can change permission. These define what kind of actions the user/group can do on the pages on which the permissions are being granted through the Grant on drop-down.
Can change permission refers to whether the user can change the permissions of his subordinate users. Bob is the subordinate of Alice if one of:
Note: Mind that even though a new user has permissions to change a page, that doesn't give him permissions to add a plugin within that page.
In order to be able to add/change/delete plugins on any page, you will need to go through the usual Auth.User model and give the new user permissions to each plugin you want him to have access to.
Example: if you want the new user to be able to use the text plugin, you will need to give him the following rights:
text | text | Can add text,
text | text | Can change text,
text | text | Can delete text.
Using the Pages global permissions model you can give a set of permissions to all pages in a set of sites.


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WhatsApp - dial unsave number online Do 3 easy steps:
Dominica (DM) prefix: +1-767 / 001-767
1) Phone number international prefix
You can change it.
2) Complete the phone number3) Open WhatsApp
How to send WhatsApp message to unsaved number
It is easy. Follow the 3 simple and quick steps at the top of this page.
1) Choose which international prefix your number has.
2) Enter the rest of the phone number.
3) Confirm with Open WhatsApp.
How to send Whatsapp messages without saving the number?
On official WhatsApp app, there is no possibility to dial an unsave phone number. But WhatsApp has an official API that lets you open a chat with an unsaved phone number. It is a link in that format https://wa.me/xxxxxxxxxxxx, where the letters x replace the phone number. This API is used on this site - somethink like WhatsApp dialler, and this site helps you enter the phone number in the correct international format, which is necessary.
How to send Whatsapp messages without saving the number on Android?
There are Android apps where you can open a chat in WHatsApp when you enter the number in international format. You must install these applications on your mobile phone. Since this service is not part of the official WhatsApp app, you may find a third-party app. And when you install unfamiliar applications on your device, there is a greater security risk.
If you follow the three steps above, you won't install anything on your device, and it's safer.
How to send Whatsapp messages without saving the number on iPhone?
With iPhone, you run a smaller security risk. However, there are other disadvantages if you use a third-party application. These include taking care of another application, managing storage on your device, etc. Using this web application to send a message and open a chat to a number you don't have in your contacts is definitely a better option.
How to open a WhatsApp chat without saving the contact
If you try the 3 simple and quick steps at the top of this page, WhatsApp chat opens. You can also make a call and video call, but when you save the number to your contacts.
Can I send messages to unsaved Dominica phone number with international prefix +1-767 / 001-767 by WhatsApp?
Yes, it is possible and it is easy. Right this site is created because of it. Follow 3 steps on the top of this page. The phone number with international prefix +1-767 / 001-767 is from Dominica (DM).
What other prefixs can I use in international WhatsApp number?
Here is some other international prefix, what you can use on WhatsApp: +682 (00682), +506 (00506), +385 (00385), +53 (0053), +599 (00599), +357 (00357), +420 (00420), +243 (00243), +45 (0045), +253 (00253), +1-809 (001-809), +1-829 (001-829), +1-849 (001-849), +670 (00670), +593 (00593), +20 (0020), +503 (00503), +240 (00240), +291 (00291), +372 (00372), etc. Or you can visit the home page of this site WhatsApp - dial unsave number online.


text:
You don't have any saved vehicles!
Look for this link on your favorites:
Once you've saved some vehicles, you can view them here at any time.
*This 2015 Jeep Patriot Sport will sell fast *Aux Audio Input* AM/FM Radio ABS Brakes *Please let us help you with finding the ideal New, Used, or Certified vehicle.along with getting you the best prices and incentives available and explaining the purchase, lease, and financing options.* *Our vehicles are value priced and move quickly. Be sure to call us to confirm availability and to schedule a hassle free test drive! We are located at: 21502 E George Gee Ave, Liberty Lake, WA 99019. Call 866-640-8859 to confirm availability.
George Gee Kia Coeur d'Alene in Coeur d'Alene, ID treats the needs of each individual customer with paramount concern. We know that you have high expectations, and as a car dealer we enjoy the challenge of meeting and exceeding those standards each and every time. Allow us to demonstrate our commitment to excellence!
New vehicle pricing includes all offers and incentives. Tax, Title and Tags not included in vehicle prices shown and must be paid by the purchaser. While great effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, errors do occur so please verify information with a customer service rep. This is easily done by calling us at (208) 502-4559 or by visiting us at the dealership.
**With approved credit. Terms may vary. Monthly payments are only estimates derived from the vehicle price with a 72 month term, 5.9% interest and 20% downpayment.
*Number of views in last 30 days
† Based on 2015 EPA mileage ratings. Use for comparison purposes only. Your actual mileage will vary depending on how you drive and maintain your vehicle.
You don't have any saved vehicles!
Look for this link on your favorites:
Once you've saved some vehicles, you can view them here at any time.
(208) 502-4559Call Now
317 W Dalton Ave • Coeur d'Alene, ID 83815Get Directions
Open Today! Sales: 10am-5pm
Service: Closed
Parts: Closed
Phone: (208) 502-4559http://maps.google.com/?q=317%20W%20DALTON%20AVE%20%2C%20Idaho%2C%20COEUR%20D'ALENE%2C%20ID%2083815


text:
Grid off-road wheels are designed for those who prefer to live off the grid. Because when you're off the grid, the possibilities for adventure are endless. Which is why Grid off-road wheels are strong and durable whether you're hitting the dunes in Baja, rock crawling in Moab or simply driving to and from work, Grid off-road wheels will more than deliver.
• Bevelled inner Lip
• 5 Spoke design
• Rivets around the outer lip
• Signature Grid centre cap
• Lifetime structural warranty
• 1 year finish warranty
• Load rated and complies with all Australian standards
Grid Off-Road wheels are the perfect balance of hard-hitting design, durability and performance. Their lifetime structural guarantee ensures that no matter how hard you go off-road, you'll feel safe knowing that they've been tested rigorously. Known for their high customisable elements, allowing you to change your Grid Off-Road wheels to your own liking.
Dress your vehicle for war, when going off-road you must look tough, but not only that. You must also look stylish, so that people will turn their heads to see what you're doing. The Grid GD04 comes in two different finishes mate black and graphite grey. It features a simple 5 spoke design, flowing through the centre of the wheel to the outer lip. For added technique the wheels come in a bevelled inner lip. Suits most 4x4 vehicles such as Ranger, Hilux, Navara, Colorado and more!
Ordered some new rims and tyres for my Ford Courier last week. John went above and beyond to get a great price and also the right style, size and fitment for my fussy requirements. The wheels turned up fitted and balanced and looked a million bucks. I couldn't of asked for a smoother transaction and a better guy to deal with. Thanks a million.
Had been looking at wheels for ages wanting to get great look/fitment. Called up Autocraze and spoke to Mo, he was awesome. Knew his products and put my mind at ease about the fitment. So I got my wheels and tyres (for a great price!) and I'm super happy!
AutoCraze were absolute legends to deal with when I was buying my Speedy Outlaws. Delivery to Queensland was unbelievably quick! Had the wheels fitted within a week of first making contact. Highly recommend!
The fellas at Autocraze helped heaps with the new wheels! Ordered them online and they arrived at my door 2 days later!! Awesome work fellas, cheers for all the help! Will definitely shop here again
Found the boys at Autocraze, top of the class, needed some rims for my Mustang and Mo had it all sorted. Their after sales support was fantastic too, highly recommend the guys, they are true car enthusiasts and take their time with your rims and their machinery is world class!
Awesome service, great people to deal with. Very professional and delivery was quicker than expected.. Also the car looks great, couldn't be happier. Thanks guys.
Ordered some rims and tires from these guys. Shipped Friday arrived Monday, great to deal with over the phone and the product you order is everybit as good in person. Already recommended to several friends.


text:
Main Features:
Variety different arm/column for optional
Good load capaity on each arm
Integral cable manangement
Service column allows multiple shelf and accessory mounting
Applied to ICU, NICU, CCU, EICU and so on
Modular design, low maintenance
Company Information
Our main products include medical pendant surgical pendant, ICU pendant, medical bed head unit, multi-column pendant series, health care, medical gas supply system, and related products. Our company was established in 1993, and we have many years of history in the medical equipment industry. Located in Shanghai, we enjoy convenient water, land and air transportation.,
Through the efforts of our entire staff these years, we have become a strong and professional medical equipment manufacturer. We have continuously tried to improve product quality, introducing into German advanced technology. Moreover, we have excellent engineers and technicians giving our company good technical capabilities.
Company View
Factory Show
Our Nursing Home
Q:What are the main products?
A:Zhenghua mainly produce medical pendent, bed head unit, Led/Halogen Lamp,Endoscopy trolly,gasoutlets and other medical equipments product.
Q:When do you Start?
A:We are manufacture located in shanghai eatsblished on 1993 over 23 expriences about producing medical equipments.
Q:Where are you?
A:Located in Shanghai which the modern cirty of China close to Disney Entertainment park.
Q:Why to trust Shanghai Zhenghua Medical Equipment Co.,Ltd?
A:All of our products have CE ISO approved with high quality.
Our products have exported to 120 countries up to now.
Shanghai zhenghua medical equipment co.,ltd(established in 2000) is a high-tech enterprises which registered capital of 40 million with qualifications recognized by the EU, such as ISO13485 and CE certificate, located in No 1188 Chuansha Rd, Pudong District Shanghai City China(siteI) and No 38 Guai Rd,Pudong District Shanghai City China.
Our company has a professional technical and professional qualifications, professional installation engineers such as our company have one patent, twenty utility model patents and three software copyrights.The company has designed, produced and installed medical pendant, shadowless lamp , operating table, central oxygen supply and medical suction for thousands of hospitals. Domestic users throughout Beijing, Shanghai,Jiangsu,Zhejiang,Fijian,Jiangxi, Hunan, Shandong, Anhui, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and other provinces and cities; products are exported to Middle East, Southeast Asia, South American, and Europe and other international markets.


text:
Create (PS3) USA JB-dumpTruck - Single Link
Code: [Check Download Links]
Release: Create.USA.JB.PS3.Happy.New.Year-dumpTruck
Group: dumpTruck
Game Title: Create
# Files: 27x50mb
ESRB Rating: E
Region: USA
Release Date: 11/16/2010
Source: Retail Disc
Notes: Tested working on 40gb PS3 PHAT 3.4.1 using blackcat AT90USB162 with Gaia 1.02
Desc: The more players explore the game, solve level-based challenges, and
customize their world, the more rewards will be unlocked. Creativity
will be unleashed as players design environments with easy-to-use
brushes and tools, including textures, props and animating objects
that bring the scene to life.
Password :www.ps3arena.net
Password :www.ps3arena.net


text:
Professional Candle Making Supplies Since 1972
Water Jacketed Wax Heater
$975.00 per unit
Wax capacity: 200 pounds. Special Order Only This item must ship via common carrier. An approximate shipping cost will be calculated at checkout, but Candlewic will call you with final shipping costs prior to shipping. -
Product Description
This wax heater comes with one 1500 watt replaceable heating element that can plug into most 110 outlets. The all stainless steel construction offers you a very durable unit. The built in thermometers allow you to keep an accurate temperature of your waxes at all times. The water chute at the top enables you to easily fill the units with the necessary water, while the drains make for easy drainage of water. All models come with a handled lid. This unit will solve all of your wax melting needs.
Shipping Information
To see shipping costs, proceed to checkout to get up-to-date rates. Orders are shipped by UPS or FedEx. View the Shipping Information page for more details.


text:
Never lose sight of your most valuable assets
Our Assured Tracking App (at. Compass ™ ) lets you know 24/7 the exact location of all your vehiclesRead More
Route optimization, fuel monitoring, temperature monitoring, driver logs, driver identification are just aRead More
Define a schedule with our "Allowed Working Hours" and our system will automatically blockRead More
We partnered with Garmin to implement FMCSA's Hours of Service new regulations. With our paperlessRead More
Consolidate telematics data in your business applications
Dual temperature constant readings with out-of-range alerts
Prevent fuel theft and credit card abuse
Manual or scheduled vehicle immobilization
Increase route efficiency and prevent side jobs
Driver score board, detect reckless driving, accident snapshot
Driver safety is of great concern to everyone. at.Compass™ provides the tools to monitor speed...
at.Compass™ (our GPS Tracking online solution) routing, alerts and reports can help you curb fuel costs by providing routes for more efficient travel, tracking speeding and idling that consumes unnecessary fuel. Our new FuelSmart Fuel Monitoring solution gives you fuel visibility at your desk!
Respond quickly to customer location inquiries -with at.Compass™ you can even provide your best customers with monitorig access to only their jobs or routes.
Preventive maintenance extends the life of your vehicles. Use at.Compass™ to track and alert you of scheduled maintenance, and other battery and engine diagnostics.
Use at.Compass™ unlimited reporting to enhance customer invoicing by showing exact time of vehicle arrival, loading time at their location, time of exiting and arrival at destination.
Many insurance companies are now providing discounts to businesses that are using GPS tracking of their fleet of vehicles.
Our work would not be possible without our partners. Please click on here to learn more about these valuable friends of ours.
Assured Tracking Inc was founded in 2004 to provide tracking solutions to comply with the Customs Protection Regulations as part of the Container Security Initiative. We have since evolved to focus on a broader scope of tracking solutions for Businesses and People.
8230 Coral Way Miami, FL 33155


text:
Updated Links on Windows Server 2012 File Server and SMB 3.0
In this post, I'm providing a reference to the most relevant content related to Windows Server 2012 that is related to the File Server, the SMB 3.0 features and its associated scenarios like Hyper-V over SMB and SQL Server over SMB. It's obviously not a complete reference (there are new blog posts every day), but hopefully this is a useful collection of links for Windows Server 2012 users.
Summaries of SMB 3.0 features in Windows Server 2012:
- Overview of SMB 3.0 in WIndows Server 2012 [Video] [TechEd]
- SNIA Tutorial: SMB Remote File Protocol (including SMB 3.0) (SNW Fall 2012)
- Windows Server 2012: Which version of the SMB protocol (SMB 1.0, SMB 2.0, SMB 2.1 or SMB 3.0) you are using on your File Server?
- Windows Server 2012, File Servers and SMB 3.0 – Simpler and Easier by Design
- Windows Server Blog - Taking Server Application Storage to Windows File Shares
- List of all video recordings related to SMB 3.0 from TechEd North America
Step-by-step instructions:
- Hyper-V over SMB configuration with Windows Server 2012 - Step-by-step Installation using PowerShell (Hyper-V over SMB, clustered)
- Windows Server 2012 Scale-Out File Server for SQL Server 2012 - Step-by-step Installation (SQL Server over SMB, clustered)
- Sample PowerShell Scripts for Storage Spaces, standalone Hyper-V over SMB and SQLIO testing (Hyper-V over SMB, Storage Spaces, not clustered)
Articles on File Storage for Application Servers (Hyper-V over SMB, SQL Server over SMB):
- File Storage Strategies for Private Cloud (including Hyper-V over SMB performance) [Video] [MMS 2013]
- Hyper-V over SMB [Video] [TechEd 2012]
- SQL Server over SMB [Video] [TechEd 2012]
- Hyper-V over SMB: Remote File Storage Support in Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V (SNW Fall 2012 Presentation)
- Overview of Hyper-V over SMB from the SNW Spring 2012 Conference
- ESG Lab Report showing Windows Server 2012 Storage and Networking performance (includes Hyper-V over SMB performance)
- Hyper-V over SMB – Sample Configurations
- Hyper-V over SMB – Performance considerations
- Hardware options for highly available Windows Server 2012 systems using shared, directly-attached storage
Articles on SMB Transparent Failover and SMB Scale-Out:
- SMB Transparent Failover – making file shares continuously available
- File Server for Scale-Out application data
- Deep dive on Transparent Failover and Scale-Out [Video] [TechEd 2012]
- Understand and Troubleshoot Scale-out File Servers in Windows Server "8" Beta
- How does New-SmbShare know whether the new share should be standalone, clustered or scale-out?
- Increasing Availability – The REAP Principles (Redundancy, Entanglement, Awareness and Persistence)
Articles on SMB Direct (SMB over RDMA) and SMB Multichannel:
- SMB Multichannel and NIC Teaming [Video] [TechEd 2012] (SMB Multichannel covered on the second half)
- SMB Direct (SMB over RDMA) and Cluster-in-a-box [Video] [TechEd 2012] (SMB direct covered on the second half)
- The basics of SMB Multichannel, a feature of Windows Server 2012 and SMB 3.0
- High Throughput File Servers with SMB Direct, Using the Three Flavors of RDMA network adapters (SNW Fall 2012 Presentation)
- MMS 2013 Demo: Hyper-V over SMB at high throughput with SMB Direct and SMB Multichannel
- Deploying Windows Server 2012 with SMB Direct (SMB over RDMA) and the Chelsio T4 cards using iWARP – Step by Step
- Deploying Windows Server 2012 with SMB Direct (SMB over RDMA) and the Mellanox ConnectX-3 using 10GbE/40GbE RoCE – Step by Step
- Deploying Windows Server 2012 with SMB Direct (SMB over RDMA) and the Intel NetEffect NE020 card using iWARP – Step by Step
- Deploying Windows Server 2012 with SMB Direct (SMB over RDMA) and the Mellanox ConnectX-2/ConnectX-3 using InfiniBand – Step by Step
Articles on Failover Clustering related to File Server Clusters:
- How to Enable CSV Cache - Used by Scale-out File Servers
- How to Configure an Alias for a Clustered SMB Share with Windows Server 2012
- Draining Nodes for Planned Maintenance with Windows Server 2012
Articles on other SMB 3.0 features and capabilities:
- The basics of SMB PowerShell, a feature of Windows Server 2012 and SMB 3.0
- The built-in SMB PowerShell aliases in Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8
- Windows Server 2012 and SMB 3.0 – VSS for SMB File Shares
- A developer's view on VSS for SMB File Shares
- Episode 20 of "From End to Edge and Beyond" covers SMB Encryption in Windows Server 2012 and SMB 3.0
- Windows PowerShell Reference Sheet for File and Storage Services in Windows Server "8" Beta
- How to use the new SMB 3.0 WMI classes in Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8 (from PowerShell)
- SMB Management API
Windows Server File Server Tips and Questions:
- Switch to the High Performance power profile
- Make sure your network interfaces are RSS-capable
- Use multiple subnets when deploying SMB Multichannel in a cluster
- Disable 8.3 Naming (and strip those short names too)
- Continuous Availability does not work with volumes using 8.3 naming or NTFS compression
- Enable CSV Caching on Scale-Out File Server Clusters
- Avoid loopback configurations for Hyper-V over SMB
- Run the File Services Best Practices Analyzer (BPA)
- Use PowerShell to find the free space on the volume behind an SMB file share
- New per-share SMB client performance counters provide great insight
- Minimum version of Mellanox firmware required for running SMB Direct in Windows Server 2012
- How much traffic needs to pass between the SMB Client and Server before Multichannel actually starts?
- Is it possible to run SMB Direct from within a VM?
- Can I use SMB3 storage without RDMA?
- I only have two NICs on my Hyper-V host. Should I team them or not?
- How to rebalance a Scale-Out File Server using a little PowerShell
Private Cloud Solution Architecture:
- Windows Server 2012 and SMB 3.0 demos at TechEd showcase File Server with multiple storage configurations and technologies
- Common Network Configuration for Hyper-V, including QoS
- Cloud Datacenter Network Architecture in the Windows Server "8" era
- Cloud Datacenter Storage Approaches in the Windows Server 2012 era
- Building Your Cloud Infrastructure: Converged Data Center with File Server Storage
- Let's Build a Cloud… With PowerShell! - Part 1: Deployment and Configuration
TechNet Radio (includes Video) with Bob Hunt and Jose Barreto:
- Road to TechEd 2012 - File Storage Support in Windows Server 2012 (June 4th 2012)
- Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V over SMB (August 31st 2012)
- Windows Server 2012 - How to Scale-Out a File Server and use it for Hyper-V (September 5th 2012)
- Hyper-V over SMB: Step-by-Step Installation using PowerShell (September 16th 2012)
- SMB Multi-channel Basics for Windows Server 2012 and SMB 3.0 (October 8th 2012)
- SQL Server over SMB 3.0 Overview (October 23rd 2012)
- SMB 3.0 Encryption Overview (November 26th 2012)
- SMB 3.0 Deployment Scenarios (December 6th 2012)
- Hyper-V over SMB 3.0 Performance Considerations (January 14th 2013)
- Hyper-V Local vs. Hyper-V SMB Performance (February 7th 2013)
- Windows Server 2012 File Server Tips and Tricks (March 5th 2013)
- Windows Server 2012 File Server and SMB 3.0 – Simpler By Design (April 11th 2013)
Case Studies
- Hosting Provider Uses Industry-Standard Storage to Slash Storage Costs by 30 Percent
- Microsoft Uses Operating System to Triple Storage Capacity, Reduce Time-to-Market
- IT Services Provider Boosts Network Availability, Resilience with Server Upgrade
Knowledge Base articles (Support KBs) related to Windows Server 2012 SMB 3.0:
- KB 2709568: New SMB 3.0 features in the Windows Server 2012 file server
- KB 2695839: Some SMB share properties are only available in updated tools
- KB 2694998: File Server Cluster names longer than 15 chars are not supported
- KB 2686098: SMB connections fail with error "Invalid Signature"
- KB 2777646: SMB Multichannel skips non-routable IP addresses of a network interface if routable IP addresses are also configured
- KB 2772113: Event 1801 is logged when you add a file share to a continuously available Windows Server 2012 cluster
- KB 2801054: VSS_E_SNAPSHOT_SET_IN_PROGRESS error when you try to back up a virtual machine in Windows Server 2012
- KB 2813630: Virtual machine enters a paused state or a CSV volume goes offline when you try to create a backup of the virtual machine on a Windows Server 2012-based failover cluster
- KB 2838669: Update that improves cluster resiliency in Windows Server 2012 is available
Protocol Documentation:
- [MS-SMB2]: Server Message Block (SMB) Protocol Versions 2 and 3 Specification (Windows 8)
- [MS-SMBD]: SMB2 Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) Transport Protocol Specification
- [MS-FSRVP]: File Server Remote VSS Provider Protocol Specification
- [MS-SWN]: Service Witness Protocol Specification
Older posts and videos:
- Windows Server Blog - SMB 2.2 is now SMB 3.0. Great overview of SMB 3.0 scenarios and features
- Storage and Continuous Availability Enhancements in Windows Server 8
- High-Performance, Continuously Available File Share Storage for Server Applications
- SMB 3 Security Enhancements in Windows Server 2012 (Includes SMB Encryption)
- Windows Server 2012 Beta - Test cases for Hyper-V over SMB (includes PowerShell examples)
- Windows Server 2012 Beta - Hyper-V over SMB - Quick Provisioning a VM on an SMB File Share
- Enabling Hyper-V Remote Management - Configuring Constrained Delegation For SMB and Highly Available SMB
- System Center 2012 CTP for Windows Server "8" Beta support - Includes support for Hyper-V over SMB
- Fast and Efficient File Servers for Server Applications. Covers SMB Multichannel and SMB Direct.
- Preliminary performance results with Windows Server 2012 Beta and SMB Direct (SMB over RDMA)
- Overview of SMB Direct, SMB Multichannel and SMB Scale-Out from the SNW Spring 2012 Conference
- Application Compatibility and API Support for SMB 2.2, CSVFS, and ReFS
- Windows 8 SMB 2.2 File Sharing Performance
- Windows Server 8 - Storage Changes [Video] - Thomas Pfenning talks about Storage and Availability in Windows Server 2012
- New Server form factors, Continuous Availability [Video] - John Loveall shows the new Cluster-in-a-box systems.
- Microsoft Management Summit keynote [Video] - Brad Anderson on System Center 2012 and Windows Server 2012
- How Microsoft Secures Sensitive Data Using File Classification Infrastructure [Video] - Nir Ben Zvi talks about FCI
- SNIA's Storage Developer Conference - SDC 2011 content (slides and videos) now available for download
- Links to //build/ sessions on Storage, Networking and Hyper-V - Links to //Build to both videos and PowerPoint files
Change tracking:
- 04/24/2012: Original post
- 05/01/2012: Update: Added links to two SNW Spring 2012 presentation
- 05/03/2012: Update: Added links to protocol documentation, blog post on SMB Encryption and private could blog post
- 05/18/2012: Update: Added links to SDC presentations, plus blogs on basics of SMB PowerShell and SMB PowerShell
- 06/13/2012: Update: Added 3 new blog post, one new KB article, one new video link
- 08/02/2012: Update: Additional blog posts and links to TechEd recordings
- 08/26/2012: Update: Two additional blog posts
- 11/27/2012: Update: Added 10 file server tips, SNW Fall 2012 presentations, TechNet Radio links. Moved older posts down.
- 01/03/2013: Update: Added 1 TechNet Radio link, 1 white paper, 1 KB article. Added numbers of KB articles next to links.
- 02/02/2013: Update: Added links to a few new blog posts and white papers
- 03/11/2013: Update: Added links to 2 new TechNet Radio shows, 5 new blog posts, separate group for step-by-steps
- 04/11/2013: Update: Added 1 link to TechNet Radio show, 5 new blog posts, 3 new KB articles
- 05/05/2013: Update: Added 1 MMS link, 1 new TechNet article, 1 new tip, new section on case studies with 3 entries


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Jazz was the codename under which this family of systems was originally developed by Microsoft before it was sold off to MIPS Computer Systems, Inc. MIPS, Toshiba, Acer and various customers and licenses have developed a variety of architecturally very similar systems.
Most of these systems were running the ARC firmware and Windows NT. Some systems made by MIPS were reconfigurable to big endian; in big endian mode a different set of firmware and some UNIX flavor such as RISC/OS in case of MIPS was being used.
SCSI Options
ACER PICA-61,Olivetti M700-10, MIPS Magnum 4000 and MIPS Millenium are based on the NCR 53C90 also known as QLogic ESP216 or ASC, Advanced SCSI Controller.
Networking Options
ACER PICA-61,Olivetti M700-10, MIPS Magnum 4000 and MIPS Millenium are using a SONIC Ethernet chip.
Video Options
The original Microsoft/MIPS Magnum 4000 and Olivetti M700-10 use a simple framebuffers 1024x768 based on the Inmos G300 or G364(64-bit).
ACER PICA-61 is using S3 968 SVGA videocard with 2MB of video memory on the custom fast PICA bus. The video card looks like an EISA card but the notch is on the wrong side.
NEC Evolution is using Cirrus Logic based video.
All Jazz family systems come with an ARC firmware.
Linux Support
Linux/MIPS supports the Olivetti M700-10 almost since birth. Support is supposed to be stable in 2.2 and in various stages of bitrot after that. As of Linux 2.6 resurrection of support is being worked on. Not test results on other Jazz family systems are available.
External Links
- http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/arc NetBSD port to ARC machines
- http://www.openbsd.org/arc.html OpenBSD port to ARC machines
- mips64emul has suppor for Jazz architecture.


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Find a new job
Post openings
Children are gifted when their ability is significantly above the norm for their age.
Giftedness may manifest in one or more domains such as; intellectual, creative, artistic, leadership, or in a specific academic field such as language arts, mathematics or science.
It is difficult to estimate the absolute number of gifted children in the U.S. and the world because the calculation is dependent on the number of areas, or domains, being measured and the method used to identify gifted children. However, many consider children who are in the top 10 percent in relation to a national and/or local norm to be a good guide for identification and services.
It is important to note that not all gifted children look or act alike. Giftedness exists in every demographic group and personality type. It is important that adults look hard to discover potential and support gifted children as they reach for their personal best.
Redefining Gifted for New Century: Shifting the Paradigm
Prominent Theoretical Frameworks for Giftedness


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Leafs' Kessel off to historic start
Gordie Drillon? The name elicits a blank stare from Phil Kessel. He doesn't recognize the last Toronto Maple Leafs player to lead the National Hockey League in scoring.
He also doesn't realize that it occurred during the 1937-38 season, nearly a decade before the league began awarding the Art Ross Trophy.
"I had no idea," said Kessel, the Leafs' right-winger currently atop the NHL scoring race with 12-12-24 totals from 17 games. If he maintains his current pace, it won't be long before parallels are being drawn between Kessel and Drillon. Parallels that are evident.
Like Kessel, Drillon shot right, played right wing, and was a pure goal-scorer whose overall game was often held in question. Questions that Kessel appears to be answering this season.
"You hear things," said Leafs defenceman John-Michael Liles, until this season a Kessel opponent as a member of the Colorado Avalanche. "I think that as goal-scorers go, sometimes they get knocks on them. Everything you hear about him, his strength is his goal scoring, being an offensive player.
"People said his defence wasn't that strong, or maybe he doesn't compete coming back, but I think he's been one of our best players in all three zones of the ice."
This change in approach, Liles believes, is the key to Kessel's march to the top of the scoring ladder.
"Coming back, back pressuring, him doing that has led to more offensive opportunities, because he's getting rewarded," Liles said. "When he's coming back, when all our forwards are coming back, our D are able to stand up and create turnovers, and we're a pretty good transition team, and that allows him to get the puck on his stick even quicker."
With linemate Joffrey Lupul, who shows 9-10-19 numbers, they've formed an effective unit.
"They're both tremendous players, and I really think they've found some chemistry out there," Leafs centre Tim Connolly said. "They're playing great, scoring goals for us, and they've been a real force offensively."
Lupul, who often dishes the puck to Kessel, also passes him much of the credit for their success.
"Phil's playing at an extremely high level, and playing with him, I'm getting a lot of opportunities," Lupul said.
October's NHL player of the month, the first Leaf to be so honoured since Felix Potvin in 1993, Kessel leads the league with 19 even-strength points. Kessel's seven goals in his first five games were the most over that span to start a season by a Leaf since Dave (Sweeney) Schriner scored eight during Toronto's first five games of the 1944-45 campaign. Kessel joined Schriner and Rick Vaive (1983-84) as the only Leafs to hit double-digits in goals through the first 10 games of the season. And he was the first Leaf to reach the 20-point plateau in 12 games since Doug Gilmour in 1992-93.
Not that of this matters to him, either.
"I don't think about it," Kessel said. "I'm just going out there to get W's, and any way we get the win, that's the most important thing." A native of Madison, Wisconsin., Kessel would also be the first American-born player to top the NHL scoring charts should be hang on to his advantage until season's end.
"We'll see," Kessel said. "It's a long year. I'm just trying to get points."
Kessel is making points both on the scoreboard, and with his teammates in the dressing room, and it may very well be the latter that proves to be his most significant accomplishment.
Windsor Star
© Copyright (c) The Windsor Star


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Given a Riemannian manifold $M$, let $\gamma: (a,b) \to M$ be a geodesic and $E$ a parallel vector field along $\gamma$. Define $\varphi: (a,b) \to M$ by $t \mapsto \exp_{\gamma(t)}(E(t))$. Is there a "nice" expression for $\varphi'(t)$?
This question originates in an attempt to understand the proof of corollary 1.36 in Cheeger and Ebin's "Comparison Theorems in Riemannian Geometry."


text: Life Celebration Basket Item No. F1-2111 Celebrate a life well lived and honor their passing with this serene basket arrangement of purple hydrangea, lavender and white roses and baby's breath. Approximate Size: 12" h x 16 " w $89.95 Same day delivery by a "Preferred Local Florist" is available in the U.S. and Canada on orders placed by 1:00pm in the recipient's time zone Monday through Saturday. All items featured on this website represent the types of arrangements Florist One® offers and may vary depending upon availability in certain regions.


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Attractively rotated tangs, shapely rivet designs and elegantly curved handles. These are the new knives from Fissler.
They are designed for everyone who sets great store by perfect sharpness, ingenious functionality and ideal safety. They are also characterized by their clever details, such as the special polishing removal function, nonslip plastic handles and a sophisticated balance to keep you relaxed as you work.
The perfect knife for everyone:
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Archive for February, 2009
A Proper Sendoff
Saturday, February 28 – City of Palms Park, Ft. Myers
Red Sox 16, Reds 5
This was my final day in Ft. Myers, before having to return home to New England. The Red Sox played another doubleheader, beating Northeastern University 14-0 in the afternoon (with Ino Guerrero getting another at-bat), and taking on the Cincinnati Reds at [...]
At Least It Doesn't Count
Friday, February 27 – Charlotte Sports Park, Port Charlotte
Rays 12, Red Sox 4
It started off as another beautiful Florida day. The sun was out, with hardly a cloud in the sky, as we made the trip to the Rays' new ballpark in Port Charlotte, just up the road from Ft. Myers. Several years ago the [...]
Official Unofficial Start of Spring
Thursday, February 26 – City of Palms Park, Ft. Myers
Pirates 3, Red Sox 2
Today marked the first home game of the Grapefruit League season for the Red Sox. They hosted the Pittsburgh Pirates on a warm, sunny afternoon for an official nine-inning major league exhibition. We got to the game early, while the Red Sox [...]
Let the Games Begin
Wednesday, February 25 – City of Palms Park, Ft. Myers
Red Sox 7, BC Eagles 1
Today marked the start of Spring Training games in Ft. Myers. The Red Sox played a matinee at home against Boston College, followed by a night game across town at the Minnesota Twins' park. We went to the BC game. It [...]
The Final Workout
Tuesday, February 24 – Spring Training Workouts, Ft. Myers
Today was the final day of workouts for the Red Sox, before they start their Grapefruit League contests tomorrow. We knew they'd be ending practice a little earlier than usual so they could begin moving all their stuff up the street to City of Palms Park. We [...]
Ft. Myers, Day 2
Monday, February 23 – Spring Training Workouts, Ft. Myers
Another early morning wakeup call, and another trip to the Red Sox minor league complex for Spring Training workouts. It was chillier than yesterday as we waited for the players to take the field at 9 am. As they made their way out to practice, I managed [...]
This is my idea of a workout!
Sunday, February 22, 2009 - Spring Training Workouts, Ft. Myers
Today was my chance to report to the Fort for Spring Training! I flew in last night, and got to the minor league complex with the first bus this morning. We had a great time, reinforcing my opinion that the Spring Training workouts are my favorite event [...]


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The Sex Pistols only managed to stick around for one album. The Libertines, Notorious B.I.G. and Amy Winehouse all deprived us, only scraping in with two studio albums apiece. Joy of joys, the Spice Girls managed three (but, consolingly, so did Nirvana), whilst thankfully The Smiths left us with four LPs. The Clash lasted for five albums proper, as did the Velvet Underground and Pavement. And now, Seattle indie veterans Minus The Bear can join this hallowed company, having unobtrusively racked up five albums and more than a decade playing together.
Evidently, they have decided, like Blink-182 and Green Day before them with American Idiot and Blink-182, that album number five is time to get serious. Gone are the gimmicky, joke album names, replaced by the vague but 'deeep, man' Infinity Overheard and its accompanying fractal album art.
Yet, once you actually start listening to the album, little has changed. Unlike previous electro-tinged effort OMNI the band have returned to what they know, displaying the old taut, technical post-rock and ambient indie, still modified by the familiar pop sympathies. They have returned to their former band-mate and long-term producer, Matt Bayles, and if you liked Minus The Bear before, you'll certainly still like this. There has, however, been little development, and despite the ease of returning to their familiar modus operandi, Infinity Overheard does sound a little dated; it could easily form the soundtrack to some sunset-tinged teen angst in an E4 melodrama circa 2004. In frontman Jake Snider's inadvertently dismissive words, "We didn't go anywhere, but we're back".
Opener 'Steel and Blood' starts things promisingly, with a pleasing, chugging chord progression and the anticipated angular lead guitar twitching around underneath somewhat aggressive lyrics ("Two become one", doesn't sound very aggressive admittedly, but it's in the context of a car crash...)
Next, 'Diamond Lightning' - apparently about a youthful acid trip – is strikingly reminiscent of earlier fare 'Hooray' and 'Pachuca Sunrise', but with ramped up processed guitars and classic acid-head descriptions ("Liquid concrete under our feet, tripping all the constellations we see, diamond lightning") replacing the usual romantic tales.
A lot of the album from here on in merges together somewhat. It's all very technically proficient and as ably math-rock as you'd expect, but there's not much in the way of the catchy choruses that have made previous Minus The Bear albums such underground successes, and so suited to those 'alternative' One Tree Hill et al soundtracks.
Penultimate track 'Lonely Gun' is Infinity Overhead's best song, with processed, synthy guitars chopping and bending in the background, driving the song towards its finger-destroying air-guitar solo. The guitars are drowning in FX, but it works well with the pure, repetitive vocals overlaid. There's also a cheeky slice of steamy sax jammed in towards the end, which always gets you extra credit where I'm concerned.
Finally, 'Cold Company' takes a rockier turn, with more aggressive vocals and overdriven guitars, though it remains grounded by the chiming keyboards and subtle, cymbal-heavy drumming. It's all very 'epic' and doubtless meant to be anthemic, but they don't quite pull it off.
All in all, it's very technically accomplished and well put together, but Minus The Bear would do well to work out the melodies to hang everything on before jumping in with the production and effects. Having long had a reputation as a intelligent guitar band with snappy pop hooks, this album would have been much stronger with a few more memorable choruses and hummable riffs, though perhaps I'm just missing the point of the techy side of math-rock. A step backwards, demonstrating that to rehash old sounds you need to prop them up with new tunes.
5Kat Waplington's Score


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July 31st @ The White Sox
With this loss, the Yankees are now 0-10 this season against teams with the word "Sox" in their name.
Not even Eric "Possessed By The Spirit of a Rookie Kevin Maas" Hinske could save New York in this one.
Man, was that seventh inning brutal, or what? And, it could have been worse if not for Johnny Damon making a "Pete Reiser catch" doing a header into the fence. I don't think I've ever seen a 3-4-2 infield RBI single before – like the one Scott Podsednik hit. Is it just me, or, did Alfredo Aceves lose a glass slipper on his way into the dugout when General Joe gave him the hook today? Yikes, between "Ace" and Sergio Mitre it was not a good night for Yankees pitchers of Mexican descent.
Damn, the White Sox just ran circles around the Yankees in that seventh inning. Jorge Posada is going to have some bad dreams after this one.
Back to Mitre, he was given a three-run lead before he took toe to the rubber in this one – and he blew it. But, that wasn't the worst thing about this game…
…how about A-Rod in the ninth inning? Down by five, with one out, and you get thrown out at second, after not busting it out of the box, trying to stretch a single into a double…when you were dead by six feet? Michael Kay, on YES, suggested that Girardi should fine Rodriguez for that bonehead play. Me? I take it a step further – bench him for a day. Hey, why not, we have Jerry Hairston Jr. to play third now! (He types, tough in cheek.)
The Yankees have now lost four of their last seven – and have looked really, really, bad in those four losses. Don't look now guys, but, Boston is just one game back in the loss column after today…could it be possible that the Red Sox actually pass the Yankees in the standings before Boston comes to the Bronx next weekend?
Wow. Talk about ugly….


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Brand: KUZA
Color: silver
Length: 1.5"
Linkage hole size: 3.5mm
- Made of strong CNC anodized Aluminum
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- Strong, durable, and very lightweight
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Tuesday Morning
Redwood City,CA
Position Summary:
Provide customer service, process sales, merchandising, overall store cleanliness, loss prevention, and comply with company policies and procedures.
Position Responsibilities:
1. Unload trucks of merchandise; count, open, unpack, sort boxes, check for price tags
2. Stock merchandise on shelves, create, set-up and take down displays and fixtures, arrange, restock as needed, bring merchandise out of stock area; maintain product knowledge
3. Dispose of trash, garbage, sweep/clean floors, clean windows, shelves, dust, keep areas neat, straighten merchandise as needed.
4. Operate cash register and credit card machine transactions for customer purchases; sack/wrap and take purchases to customer's cars; provide and promote quality customer service in person or by telephone; assist customers with inquires/problems, merchandise locations, refunds exchanges, returns, purchases, etc.
5. Process markdowns, record special sale items under vendor and price, and verify pricing
6. Maintain safe working and shopping environment, safe use of equipment, and provide preventative measures against internal theft and shoplifting
Physical Requirements:
Unload trucks; lift, open, unpack boxes of merchandise; use knife to open boxes; use 2/4 wheel dolly; use carpenter tools to build displays; use ladders to stock/pull merchandise; run cash register; use 10 foot rollers to unload trucks; sack purchased merchandise and carry to customer's car; lots of walking and standing.


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WBUR News
Support the news
Red Sox Rally For 6-5 Win Over O's
Dustin Pedroia started fast, stopped and then raced home with the winning run. It certainly was an adventurous way to end a game.
Pedroia scored from third on left fielder David Lough's throwing error with two outs in the ninth inning, lifting the Boston Red Sox to a 6-5 comback win over Baltimore Orioles on Sunday night.
"I was a little nervous when he threw it that I was going to be out at third, so there was a lot going on," Pedroia said. "All their outfielders have great arms, so you have to get a great jump for situations like that. We just lucked out."
Pedroia opened the ninth with a replay-reviewed double off the top of the Green Monster against Brian Matusz (1-1). With the crowd chanting "Home Run! Home Run!" The ruling was the "call stands" after a 2 minute, 2 second delay. A fan had reached over just at the line at the top to touch the ball, and replays appeared inconclusive.
Pedroia advanced on a wild pitch and, after David Ortiz was intentionally walked, Darren O'Day hit Mike Napoli on the left knee to load the bases. Pinch hitter Mike Carp hit a liner to left, setting off the game-ending play.
Pedroia tagged and broke down the line, but headed back. Lough's throw was wide of the plate and bounced around as Pedroia raced home.
"He was going in circles," Carp said of Pedroia's route. "He was running around. The only thing that matters is we got the win."
Jonny Gomes hit a three-run homer for the Red Sox, who overcame a 5-0 deficit.
It was an emotional win on a night when the Red Sox had a moving pregame ceremony for victims of Boston Marathon bombings before the game. Just over a year ago, three were killed and over 260 injured when two bombs went off near the finish line.
"I think it really sunk in how much it's been a year down the road," Gomes said.
The ceremony also honored first responders, runners and volunteers of the marathon. The family of Lu Lingzi, a Boston University graduate student from China that was killed in the bombings, made their first ever visit to Fenway Park and closed the ceremony with the traditional "Play Ball!" chant before the Red Sox took the field.
Adam Jones had three singles and a double, and Nelson Cruz hit a solo homer to spark a three-run first for the Orioles.
Boston can take three of four when the series concludes with Monday's traditional 11 a.m. Patriots' Day start.
Orioles manager Buck Showalter and a few players had a lengthy discussion with the umpiring crew before the teams left the field.
"They've got some really strange things you can't appeal," Showalter said of the play, saying he was wondering if all the runners had tagged. "David made a heck of a play there at the end, just threw it a little wildly."
Edward Mujica (1-1) got one out for the win.
The Orioles had a runner on third with one out in the ninth, but Andrew Miller got one out and Mujica fanned Lough.
Baltimore had built a 5-0 lead in the sixth against Boston starter Jake Peavy, who was roughed up for 10 hits in 5 2-3 innings.
Ubaldo Jimenez had his best start since signing a big free agent contract with Baltimore, pitching five shutout innings before being chased on Gomes' three-run homer in the sixth.
The Red Sox then tied it against reliever Zach Britton in the seventh. Ortiz's RBI single cut it to 5-4 before Jonathan Schoop, who moved from second to third that inning, bounced a throw home for an error attempting a force at the plate on a bases-loaded grounder. It allowed the tying run to score. Shortstop Ryan Flaherty, who started the game at third but moved over when J.J. Hardy left in the top of the inning with a strained right hamstring, dropped a throw at second for an error on an attempted force.
"I dropped the ball. Didn't turn the double play like I should have," Flaherty said. "That's the way the rule is. I didn't turn the double play like I should have."
Jimenez, who signed to a $50-million, 4-year deal, had allowed at least four runs in each of his first three starts. He gave up three on four hits, walked three and fanned five.
Peavy had held opponents to two or fewer runs in all of his first three starts.
Cruz, the second batter, hit the first pitch into the seats above the Monster. Matt Wieters had an RBI single and Hardy added a sacrifice fly.
Lough's RBI double made it 4-0 in the fifth and Jones' run-scoring single chased Peavy.
Jimenez, who entered 1-3 with a 10.27 ERA in five career starts versus Boston, held the Red Sox hitless until Gomes' two-out double in the fourth.
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During the peak of iced tea season the question asked around pitchers is, "Sweetened or unsweetened?"And if sweetened, "How sweet is it?"
The answer is to let your guests decide by sweetening their own. But granulated sugar is near impossible to dissolve in iced tea. The best solution to your custom sweetened iced tea is to make a simple syrup and serve it in a small pitcher alongside your big pitcher of tea. Both smart and crowd pleasing. Did I mention simple?
Simple Syrups 101
Plain simple syrup is very simple to make. If you can boil water you can do this. Just combine equal quantities of sugar and water in a pot and heat until sugar is dissolved. Actual boiling is usually not necessary so maybe this is even simpler than boiling water. A little stirring helps the process. Chill until cold. Transfer to a small pitcher. I cup of sugar and 1 cup of water will yield 1 3/4 cups simple syrup.
Another handy way to store and serve your simple syrup is to transfer it to an empty wine bottle. Label removal nice but optional. Place a liquor pourer on top.
Simple syrups will keep in the refrigerator for up to a month. They are also useful for sweetening iced coffee.
Infused Syrups
More advanced simple syrups are infused syrups. These are only slightly less simple than very simple. If you can make tea, you can infuse syrups. Simply add a quantity of whatever you want to use to flavor your syrup and steep it in warm syrup just as you would tea. If the flavoring is hard — like star anise or cardamom pods — you may need to steep over a very low heat for 15-20 minutes and then off heat and, ideally let sit overnight. Breaking up the pods helps. Take care not to cook down the syrup while steeping. You may need to add a bit of water back.
A little more or a little less flavoring is no big deal so don't obsess about quantities of flavoring. You can always re-heat and add some more if the flavor is not strong enough.
During my recent visit to the Union Square Greenmarket I purchased an over-sized container of purple anise hyssop flowers. The friendly farmer said these are mostly used by restaurant bakers for breads and pastries. I wanted a bit of the pretty flowers to add to a berry salad, but I needed far less than was in the container. He suggested I make a syrup. I now have it happily chilling in my refrigerator ready and waiting to add a touch of sweet anise to my next batch of iced tea.
Section 1 of At Home by Steve Poses is called Welcoming Guests. Chapter 1 is Beverages and features a page of recipes for infused syrups. See book's Table of Contents.
Here's a recipe for an ideal iced tea sweetener.
Lemon-Mint Syrup
Do ahead up to one month
3/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 ounce mint sprigs* — about enough mint sprigs when lightly presses fills 2 cups
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice — about 3-4 lemons (never use anything but fresh lemon juice!)
Combine sugar and water in a small pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally until sugar is dissolved and syrup is just approaching a boil. Add mint and stir. After 20-30 minutes, strain out mint — squeezing mint to extract liquid. Allow to reach room temperature. Add lemon juice and chill.
* You can reserve a few springs of mint to garnish your tea along with a slice of lemon.
Having a pitcher of iced tea in the refrigerator with simple syrup means you are always ready to welcome guests…expected or not.
This illustration is by my friend Pascal Lemaitre. It's from At Home by Steve Poses: A Caterer's Guide to Cooking & Entertaining. There are more than 200 more in the book.
If you found this blog helpful, please forward it along to friends and family.
Thank you.