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Hello there friends!
As many of you know, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia about a year ago. And although it's been a rough road to travel, I am not letting this illness defeat me. However, I am working on something that I could really use your help on.
I have entered a contest to win a new Tempurpedic mattress. This will help with my pain immensley. As it is, I have not been able to sleep in bed with my husband for over two years due to the fact that the mattress causes me so much extreme pain. I could never afford this type of mattress, but have heard many good things from Fibromyalgia patients.
In this contest, I had to submit a photograph showing what makes me happy. of course, I submitted a photo of myself and my youngest daughter, in front of the wen cam, making goofy faces. My entry is titled "Silliness Makes me Happy". Now YOU can help change my daily life!! All you need to do is click a green "vote" box! You can vote daily until December 1st and I would be forever grateful! Thank you....the link is here:
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Hello there friends!
Posted by Ms. E at 4:48 PM 2 comments
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
I Am Desperate For Help! Could You Lend A Hand?
So, about two months ago, I was helping my son with his bath. As I finished and went to stand up, I placed my hand on the wall......and I fell through!
The paint was moist and the drywall soggy. Upon further inspection....I freaked out a little....MOLD!!
It wasn't till a couple of weeks later, while getting hangers from my son's closet that I noticed an extremely musty smell. I shoved back his clothing and gasped.....BLACK MOLD! There was black mold growing in the corner of his closet, down to the floor and up the wall. Outside his closet, I pushed his bed aside and there was more mold, growing alongside his bed.
Since my husband was unemployed from September of last year until February of this year, running right out and hiring someone to remove the mold and repair things was out of the question. We have no savings and we don't (and never have) used credit cards. Sadly, we've had to put things off.
Our entire bathroom looks like it needs to be gutted.....at least the half where the tub stands (the leaky, mold growing culprit) and my son's closet and interior wall. Gutting the bathroom and cleaning up the mold won't cost us much....however, we will be left with an empty, unusable room and be down one bathroom (which isn't good with a teenager in the house!)
So I got creative.
I found a contest on the National Fix and Flip Network. The video contest is for the entratns to plead their case for the ugliest room in their house. Monthly entrants with the most votes get $2,5000 (plenty of cash for us to remodel our bathroom) and at the end of the year, 10 top vote getters will vie for %50,000!
At this point in time, I am desperate to win that $2,500! My video is there and we are getting votes from friends on facebook and my sweepstakes site. But I need more votes!
Did I mention that just for voting, voters are entered to win $1,000? Oh yes....so by helping me, you could potentially win $1,000 yourself.....or even $15,000 at the end of the contest!!
My video is titles, "Yes, that's An Ant Farm In Our Shower!"....Ummmm, yeah....last week my daughter came running from the bathroom, hair still dripping, "Um, mom....come here, you need to see this."
I follow her to the bathroom to see that tiny little black ants had taken up residence inside a clear tube (washcloth hanger) attached to the tub surround. They are all comfy and happy in there...they have drug in food and even laid their little larva. Are you shuddering with the heebie jeebies yet? Wait till you see the video!
Please....take a look at my video, have a heart and vote for us. We are really desperate for your help! You can vote every day (so please bookmark our video) and please, tell your friends!
And I would like to add that there is a possibility that this mold exposure has contributed, if not caused, my Fibromyalgia. So this entire mess could be a blessing in disguise! So vote today....vote frequently and tell all your friends!!
Thank you!
Posted by Ms. E at 1:40 PM 0 comments
Thursday, March 25, 2010
A Letter To The Enemy Within Me
Dear Fibromyalgia,
As I lie here on the couch, barely able to move, I can feel you twisting, grasping and pulling my muscles, contorting and twisting them into knots of horrific pain. My ribs feel as if I've been beaten and kicked, my head is throbbing, my jaws are tight and aching from the pain with which you are devouring my body. I can almost hear your sinister cackle each time I have to pull my body up from where I lie and shuffle, half bent over, to yet another bathroom break.
But as I lie here enveloped in your web of torture, I hear my little girl laughing from across the room....and I smile. You may think you've taken over my life, but I have news for you....you have entered the body of a fighter.
Yes, you have changed many parts of my life. You sent me to the hospital, making me believe my heart was failing me. Your trickery of agony has brought me to a nervous breakdown and made me question my own sanity. You've sent me to the doctor, making me fear for my life, questioning whether cancer or some other fatal disease was attempting to take my life. You have even turned this drug hating, medication avoiding woman into a pill popper.But being the fighter I am, I didn't give up until you were identified as the illness that was trying to take my life from me. And the pills, hey, they silence you, they help me to sleep and they help me to take back the pieces of my life you are so blatenly trying to steal.
You see, I have your number, I know what you're all about and I know all too well how sneaky and underhanded you are. You try and take me down when I have things at home that need to be done. You wrack my body with pain when all I want to do is be up, out and enjoying the day. You lull me into this exhausted state where all I do is crave sleep.....but you see, the sleep only makes me stronger and more determined.
I will continue to smile and laugh. I will get up and spend time in the sun, my hands in the soil as I tend to my garden. I will take my little girl shopping, even if I have to stop and take a little break because you are screaming at my body with all of your might. I will play with my dogs, visit with my neighbors and continue to travel and fulfill my dreams.
You are an uninvited guest here. You are not wanted. You may think you have me....but you don't. You never will. I have been through far too much emotional pain and trauma in my life to just lie down and roll over to you. I have watched my child fight for his life and nearly die in my arms many times. I have protected another child from the dangerous hands of someone who claimed to love her. I have fought for the rights of disabled children and built a park for them when no one believed that I could. I have even set aside my own wants, needs and feelings as I handed over a newborn son to a deserving couple. I have seen some good things in life and I have seen many that are equally as bad. Compared to all of that.....you are nothing.
You, my dear Fibromyalgia, are a mere blip on my radar of life. I may allow you to slow me down, but you will never stop me. I will fight you every single day, with every fiber of my being and you.......YOU WILL NOT WIN. Never forget, you are not wanted and no matter how insistant you are, you still will not win.
You picked the wrong person to inflict. And you are in for the fight of your life. If anyone will beat you, it will be me. Because I am a fighter.....I never give up.....I never shut up....I never give in. I will win.
With hatred and disgust,
Your unwilling host,
Posted by Ms. E at 5:56 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Fibromyalgia + My "Type A" Personality = Chaos, Mayhem and Frustration!
Those of you who know me personally, know all too well that I am a self professed control freak....a type "A" personality. I like everything a certain way or I have a little meltdown. When things go awry, I morph into "fix it" mode....I run around like a chicken with my head cut off making phone calls, Googling things and scribbling notes in a notebook. I have strong armed county prosecutors, had medical interns fired and nearly pushed my ex son-in-laws car into rush hour traffic after chasing him through a Home Depot parking lot in my mini van.
When I got sick, nothing changed. I researched, read, Googled and spent hours on WebMD trying to pinpoint the reason for my body falling apart. Finally, a diagnosis came.....FMS..or Fibromyalgia Syndrome. SYNDROME. Definitely NOT a word a control freak (like me) wants to hear. You see, a syndrome, unlike a "disease" has no textbook set of symptoms because they vary so widely from patient to patient. GREAT.....not only is my illness making me feel like hell, it's not something I can contol by following a strick medical regimen or reading a colorful phamplet. It's wild. It's unpredictable.
The commercials you see on television about a certain drug to help control the symptoms of FMS is SO FAR OFF THE MARK! "Fibromyalgia is explained as wide spread pain that doesn't go away." Ummm, wow, what an oversimplification! You wanna know what FMS is really like? Step into my twisted world for a moment and allow me to explain.
Wide spread muscle pain: I like to call it, "Guess what hurts and win a cookie!" From day to day, I NEVER know what's going to hurt. It could be my head, my knees, my neck, my back, my arms, shoulders, ankles, jaws, scalp, spine, stomach, ribs, chest plate, hips, hands, fingers or toes. In addition to that, I get these incredibly unpredictable muscle spasms. I don't have to lift anything heavy, twist the wrong way or strain myself in any way. Just out of the blue, my shoulder or back or shoulder AND back will go into painful spasms. Sometimes it feels as if someone is reaching in and ripping my spine out through my skin. Seriously, no exaggerations here.
Other types of pain also happen and can vary depending on what sort of mood my FMS is in. It can be a dull ache, a sharp-shooting pain, a knife-in-the-head type pain, a burning sensation, a burning and itching sensation at the same time, needle pricks, sore and throbbing or stiff and painful with movement.
Other things that plague me and other FMS suffers (in Edie speak) are:
Morning Wood.......I get up in the morning and suddenly, I have no knee joints! My legs feel like the trunks of trees...they're heavy, stuff and achey. I walk around a bit looking like I have a stick up my butt and eventually they work themselves out and I again have knee joints. I also get morning wood in my back, arms, hips and shoulders.
The Potty Dance.....It never fails, I can be on my way out the door to a doctor's appointment, a shopping excursion or a jot to the mailbox and suddenly I have to squeeze my cheeks together and run to the bathroom.My tummy bloats, gets extremely gassy, rubmles, gurgles and decides on an hour by hour basis what it will tolerate. Some days, I get up, have my decaf and a little breakfast and all is well. Still other days, the minute something hits my stomach, my irritable bowel syndrome hits the big red eject button and a mini explosion begins to take place within my bowels. So please, don't get offended if you ask me out for lunch and I politely decline. IBS is nothing you want to take into public....especially if you;re like me and REFUSE to go number two in a public restroom. And if you happen to catch a foul scent shortly after I've had a meal, remember, the dog did it.
Sniffling, Sneezing, Snotting & Stuffy Fun......I've never had allergies. I could dance among the blooming spring flowers, roll in the grass and pet every kitty cat in the neighborhood....but not anymore! Oh no! In the spring, I sneeze over grass and tree pollen, flowers, weeds and anything else that tickles my nose. Summer, fall and winter are no better either. Dust, dust mites, mold....you name it, it makes me react either by sneezing and having my entire head clog up so I feel like my head is as big as the Goodyear Blimp or I begin to produce mucous like a fountain! Add to that the itchy eyes and scratchy throat and it's time for a Benedryl party!
I've got the flu.....PSYCHE! There is nothing worse than suddenly developing a fever, body aches, chills, nausea and extreme fatigue. When it happens you just know you've got the flu or some other nasty bug. But with FMS, you can feel like that one day and just KNOW you are destined for a week in bed with a box of tissues, a trash can within easy reach and terrible daytime television. But then guess what? PSYCHE, a day or so later, you're fine. This has happened to me quite a few times. My family actually thought I was harboring some sort of rare moneky flu that lay dormant in my body and would pop up once a month or so.
The Morning After Glow.....This happens after a beautiful night of making love......or mopping the kitchen, weeding the garden, walking around the block or shopping for an afternoon. I will wake up the next day feeling as if Jillian Michaels has been working me out for a solid 7 days with no break. Every muscle in my body is sore...and not just sore, BRUISED. Don't touch me! Trust me, I will cry like a toddler! it hurts to move, it hurts to sit, lie down and if I have to sneeze, that's all she wrote!
The Faux Heart Attack.......it only takes three or four visits to the emergency room before I realize that I'm not having a heart attack. I'm actually having nonspecific chest wall pain. Damn sure feels like a heart attack. And when I'd have that pain in my chest, of course, I freak out....I get anxious, sweaty, clammy, dizzy, nauseous and....look those symptoms up and see what you get! Heart attack! But nope, it's just FMS's way of letting me know who is in charge.
And let's not leave out the other fun things that FMS has brought to my life......
Fibro Fog (I lost the keys AND my ass and by the way, who are you again?)
Gritty Eyes.....like being lost in the Sahara Dessert without ever leaving the living room. A cool way to travel the world...not.
Mood Swings.....woo hooooo, this is fun, no, I'm bored. WTF are you doing breating in my space?! Heyyyyyyy, I love you!!
Irritable Bladder.....gotta pee...no I don't....gottta pee.....never mind....OH! I really gotta pee!
Insomnia.....I watch ALOT of late night TV. Never realized there were so many "little people" shows. And some of those cable channels get pretty riske' after midnight!
Sleeping beauty....the only time I don't have pain! And I can sleep until noon, maybe later! Try me!
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome...I wake up, but can't get up, can't stay awake, can't do anything! Or I'll be fine and suddenly, it hits me and I crash....can't move, can barely lift my head. Oh no, gotta pee again! No, I don't.
The Carnival Dizzies....what fun to have a carnival ride in my own head! I can spin while watching television or typing on the computer and if I want a really wild ride, all I have to do is get up really fast! Sometimes I see colors and stumble!
Numbness fun.....this is a doozy! Sometimes my fingers will tingle and my hands will go numb. But that's not all, my feet will do it too! And when my shoulders and neck spasm badly enough, my neck and face will go numb too! Go ahead, poke me, see if I feel it!
FMS Headaches.....these are such fun. They start at the tender points in my neck and shoulders, they then shoot up my neck, into my jaws and radiate into my scalp. Sometimes, on really special days, I get stabbing in various areas of my head.....without headache pain too! I must look like a nut walking through the Dollar Tree and suddenly grabbing the top of my head and saying, "Ow".
Anxiety and Panic.....YES! The disorder that threw me into the ER (along with the faux heart attack) and led me on the road to diagnosis. Anxiety starts with that little tingle in the pit of your stomach and then the brain takes over..."OMG! That pain in my head....is it a brain tumor? it could be. Maybe I should Google the symptoms. OMG! Now I'm short of breath and my heart is skipping! I'm short of breath, having a heart attack and I have a brain tumor!" Before I know it, I'm sweating, chilling, pacing the floor, the room is spinning, I can't think, I can't talk...I'm trembling from head to toe. This can happen any time, any place....at home, in the car, at the mall.....you just never know!
Tummy Troubles....in addition to the IBS and bowels from hell, I get tummy aches. Indegestion, heart burn, bloating, gas and nausea. The nausea is fun....can happen at any time and for no reason. All I can do is grab and little trash can, line it with a grocery bag, lie down and hope to keep my lunch.
Itchy, Scaley, Scratchy......ahhhh yes! No it's not jock itch or scabies.....just my irritable and sensitive skin.....which I never used to have. Winter is the worst....I get little itchy patches on my arms and face. I must look like I have Bolgarian Body Rot or something cuz I feel like I'l always scratching.
Bye, bye vision......suddenly, I can't read whether the Hamburger Helper box reads 1/2 cup of water or 1/3 cup of milk. Newspapers can only be read by the window and at arms length. Paperback books....hahahaha...forget it. I have about 8 pair of cheapie reading glasses I picked up at Target. I NEED those now or else I'll end up taking 13 tablespoons of cough syrup every 2 hours.
And I can't leave out breast pain, hot flashes, night sweats, feeling as if things are swollen, dental pain from grinding my teeth, inflammed ribs and breast bone and a host of other things I'll remember when they rear their ugly heads once again. I'm just a walking party, aren't I??!! HA!
The cool things about Fibromyalgia....I got a cool, new, technologically advanced heating pad with 4 heat levels and an automatic shut off! I have a nice selection of stick on heating pads that usually end up on my back or shoulders. I now have my own personal pharmacy that includes anti-anxiety drugs, muscle relaxers, allergy tablets, nasal spray, analgesics, anti-inflammatories, acid reducers and rash creams. I drink a killer herbal tea to help me sleep and my husband is actually considering a newfangled air type matress for us so I'll stop sleeping on the broken down, extra soft and cushiony couch. I'm also going to get glasses soon and I'm looking into massage therapy.
When people ask me how I'm feeling, I know that they care.....simply because they know that question could bring on an onslaught of complaints and whining. When people don't understand how I can be so sick, but look so "normal" it makes me sad.....it frustrates me.....it makes me cry. I wish everyone could understand that FMS is a real illness that makes the sufferer miserable. I wish everyone would understand that when I'm up, out and about...or if I'm happy, laughing and smiling....I'm having a really good day with tolerable pain or occasionally no pain at all. Those are special days! I just wish everyone would take the time to read this.....to understand.....to tell their friends.....and to be aware. FMS sucks. I can't control it and I hate that the most. from day to day, hour to hour, I don't know how I'm going to feel.
As I close this essay......I'm kicked back on the couch, computer in my lap. My vision is hazy partly from eye strain and party from the 2 muscle relaxers I took an hour or so ago for left shoulder-chest pain. It still hurts when I breathe, but the meds are helping along with the Therma Care heat wrap stuck to my shoulder. My neck is sore, it hurts to move it and I have a bit of indegestion from the burger I had for dinner. But bedtime is soon and whether I sleep right away or three hours after I lie down, it's something I look forward to. With sleep, I feel no pain. I'm just Edie again, dreaming about what it was like to be healthy and pain free.
Posted by Ms. E at 3:46 PM 0 comments


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There's more to Cambodia than Angkor WatSandwiched between popular the Southeast Asian destinations of Thailand and Vietnam, travelers have added Cambodia to their travel itineraries for years now, mostly because of Angkor Wat. While Angkor can and should be on your agenda (it truly is one of the world's great wonders), there is so much more to this country than the massive temple complex outside of Siem Reap. Read: 11 Reasons to add Phnom Penh to Your Trip.
Why you should add Cambodia to your Indie/RTW trip
- The people: The Cambodian people have been through a lot over the past 30+ years (really over the last 500 years), with the annihilation of a massive percentage of their population due to Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. Yet you wouldn't know it from talking to the locals, as they are as upbeat, happy, and positive as ever. A true inspiration just being around them.
- Seeing and understanding what these people went through is powerful and puts your own life into perspective.
- While it's not as renowned as neighboring Thailand and Vietnam, Cambodian food is excellent and underrated. Similar to other Southeast Asian cuisines, they still put their own unique slant on it.
- Much of the country still remains unexplored, making for some great independent travel possibilities.
- If you like bigger cities but don't like the absolute chaos of cities like Bangkok or Hanoi, Phnom Penh is a welcome respite with all the amenities of a big, bustling city but without the craziness.
- Costs, Angkor Wat aside, are still quite low. It's not very difficult to get by on $25 per day and be comfortable.
- While there's more to Cambodia than Angkor, that doesn't mean you should skip it. It truly is one of the most impressive sites in the world.
Indie travel tipsFollow these tips to have an indie experience in Cambodia.
- There's so much more to Cambodia than Angkor Wat and the memorials surrounding Phnom Penh, so don't limit yourself to just those two destinations.
- Head to the seaside town of Kep for some water fun, but then head into the nearby hillside to check out the former French colonial retreat. These art deco mansions are in various states of disrepair after the Khmer Rouge ransacked them, but they are very cool to explore, especially on bike.
- Many travelers head for the coastal town of Sihanoukville at some point in their travels. If you find yourself there, take the hour journey to Bamboo Island for some really nice downtime. Not many places to stay, no internet, power only from 6pm-11pm, no hot water, no a/c. If you're looking to relax and get away from it all for a bit, this is a great place to do it.
- If you're looking for some eco-tourism opportunities, check out the Koh Kong Province in the northeast near Thailand. Practically inaccessible until just a few years ago, this area is starting to become popular, so get there now before the development overtakes it.
- Budget plenty of time for Angkor Wat. Too many people have a false assumption that Angkor is just the one big temple that is always seen in photos. But Angkor is a massive complex of over 1000 temples. It is said to have been the largest preindustrial city in the world, so if you just plan on jetting in and out in one day, you'll be missing a lot.
- If you want to escape the crowds, head about an hour outside Siem Reap and visit the temple of Beng Mealea. Because it is so far outside the city, it sees far fewer tourists yet is one of the bigger temples. It's largely unrestored and has jungle closing in around it.
- Think about splurging a bit on your trip to Angkor. Hiring a private tuk tuk driver and getting a solid, well thought out plan together for which temples to visit when is recommended, and you will get the most out of your visit.


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Taking Pictures in the Galapagos, Part 1
Heads up!Welcome to this article from the Crutchfield archives. Have fun reading it, but be aware that the information may be outdated and links may be broken.
Elise is the daughter of A/V Editor Mike S., and an accomplished amateur photographer. Crutchfield loaned her two cameras for a recent trip and asked her to report back on her experience with them.
Over my spring break, my high school's environmental science teacher took me and nine other students to the Galapagos Islands. It was an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime trip. Being a photographer, one of the most exciting prospects was all the amazing photo opportunities I would have there.
Thanks to my dad and Crutchfield's generosity, I was able to borrow a Nikon D700 SLR camera for the trip. The camera allowed me to take many beautiful photographs that I would not have been able to take on my own camera (a Nikon D40). The D700 took pictures of startling clarity, and let me capture moments that I would have missed with other cameras. I think that these few pictures (out of the 2000+ photos I took on my trip) best represent the islands and the outstanding features of the D700.
Obviously, the images that follow will look very different from monitor to monitor. Hopefully, they'll render well on most screen (click on the images to enlarge them).
This photo was taken on my on my third day in the Galapagos during a hike on the Sombrero Chino Islands. What I love about this picture is the clarity and depth. I don't think this same photo taken on my D40 would be nearly as clear. When I look at this photo, it feels like I'm standing there again. The water had many different colors at various depths, and I was skeptical that the camera would be able to pick up these details. Now -- after using this camera for a while and looking at this picture -- I am not surprised by the clarity, the detail, or the vividness of the image.
I really could not have taken this photo without the D700. One the most wonderful -- and useful -- aspects of the camera is that the ISO can be set up to 6400, while my D40 can only be set up to 1600. ISO measures the sensitivity of the image sensor: the lower the number the less sensitive the camera is to light and the finer the grain. High ISO settings are used for darker settings to get faster shutter speeds. Because the D700 has such high ISO settings, I could take a picture in virtually any lighting. This particular photo was taken from the top of the yacht we were traveling in. This was shot without a tripod while the boat was rocking, and the only usable light was what little came from surrounding boats and the moon. The fact that this picture, taken without tripod or flash, is so focused and sharp amazes me.
I loved being on the very top of the yacht at night. Looking out into the ocean and seeing the shimmering reflections of habor lights, while standing under the moon and stars was a breathtaking experience. I'm so happy the D700 let me capture the moment.
I like this photo because I think it's a neat composition with the scuba gear in the front and the ridge in the background. The scene was shot at Rabida Island, which is known for its "red" beaches. The colors in this photo are very strong. Note that the scuba equipment stands out and catches the eye, as does the sand's prominent red color. If you take a moment to look, you'll see that green of the leaves is also quite vivid. It occurs to me that the color in this photo is practically as strong as it appeared in person. These colors have not been manipulated in Photoshop or any other photo application; these are the hues the camera captured when I took the photo.
This was taken in the city of Guyaquil on our last day in Ecuador. Las Peñas is Guyaquil's oldest neighborhood and sits on a hill called Santa Ana. We climbed around 600 steps to get to the top of Santa Ana where a church is located. The structure was breathtakingly beautiful, and in this photo I tried to reflect the magnificence of the scene. The photo conveys a powerful feeling to me, and I think that's because the image is so sharp and clear: all the lines and angles are well-defined. The D700 has very precise focusing capabilities, which are especially helpful for architecture shots.
This is one of the famous Blue Footed Boobies that are endemic to the Galapagos. Although tourists are able to get extremely close to the wildlife on the islands, I achieved this close-up thanks to the camera's 24-120 mm lens, which provides incredible zoom. To top things off, the camera's zoom and focus was able to perform on a rocking Panga (life boat).
This photo is of the Sierra Negro Caldera on Isabela Island. This photo is actually four pictures that I stitched together in Photoshop to make a panoramic piece. To gather the pieces of the panorama, I stood in the same spot and kept the shutter at a fast speed. That way, as I moved the camera to get all four shots in a row, there would be no blur. The camera's fast shutter enabled me to take four consecutively clear shots, which made them easy to piece together. The weather that day was less than desirable; a storm was coming, so fog hung thick in the air around the caldera. Although it wasn't clear and sunny, the camera's strong focusing abilities provided me with sharp, well-defined images.
This was a very a long hike up to the Caldera. One thing about the D700 -- it's heavy (thanks mostly to a large metal body, a full-frame sensor with similarly large viewfinder prism and mirror box). Its weight never much bothered me, but I remember whenever I let my friends take a picture, they always commented on its heaviness. This hike was the only time I really noticed the weight. I had my camera in a waterproof case that hung over my shoulder. It worked really well, but on this hike I wished that I had had a waterproof backpack case to even out the weight. So if you are taking this camera on an outdoor adventure and you know you will be hiking and doing a lot of physical exertion, I suggest you use a backpack camera case.
This is the island of Sombrero Chino, which is directly translated into "Chinese Hat." Once again, because the ISO could go up so high and use a wide aperture I was able to -- on a rocky boat during sunset -- capture this picture. Notice the definition of the wave crests and the detailed outline of the island's peaks.
While we were navigating through mangrove forests, I noticed this potentially really cool and interesting portrait of my friend Eric. But to capture this moment and get the portrait, I would have to shoot into the sun. Most cameras would have only caught the sun's glare in this situation and the image would be completely washed out. However, the D700 was able to focus on the physical objects and allowed this to be a picture of Eric, not of the sun.
When a "photo-op" like two sea lions kissing in the surf comes along you need to be ready to capture it. I was. The D700 's rapid fire succession let me to just hold down the shutter so that I could "extend" that wonderful moment and get a lot of shots very quickly, ensuring that I had the perfect one to choose from later.
Guayaquil, Ecuador is a bustling city, much like America's New York or Chicago. The streets are crowded, so when this man caught my eye I needed to act fast. I always keep the focus on manual, which was a good idea in this situation. Sometimes automatic focusing can take a while to register and latch onto the subject, and a moment like this one could be lost. Because I used manual I was able to quickly check the focusing and then take the photo. The quickness of the shutter and the high quality of the camera's focus allowed me to capture the image in just a few seconds.
In my next post, I'll share some more Galapagos pictures taken with the Nikon D700. I also brought along a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1. In part three I'll share some photos I took with that camera.
Taking Pictures in the Galapagos, Part 2
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whaler's scrimshaw 18th century Read more
1882 House Window Burglar Scare Guard Dog Torchlight Antique Print A page taken from our volume of the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News volume 2, but only contains pages from September 1882 to March 1883. A high class weekly journal featuring sports, arts, literature music and the drama. Each page is approx 11 x 16 inches (280 x 410)all are genuine antique prints and not modern reproductions. Please note as these papers are very old they are very fragile so should be handled with care.
OLD-PRINT.COM has 252572 antiques for sale.
click here to see them all


text: If you're looking for a brand that reflects your individuality and personal style then look no further than Utopia. The brand has a youthful and trendy ethos to every item of clothing they offer. With a wide selection of clothing and footwear for men and women, the brand is tailor-made for the urban lifestyle. Offering a wide range of Utopia fashion for women, this one brand can take you from work to play with ease. Ranging from black shift dresses, blouses, and knit dresses, the selection will have you looking stylish at the office. Pair your Utopia pieces with pointed courts, ankle strap sandals, stiletto heels, and block heels by Utopia, for a boardroom-ready appeal. Also part of the range are men's sneakers, graphic tees, sweaters, loafers, and leather boots. Utopia also has ladies jewellery and accessories. Now you can be dressed by one brand from head-to-toe and accessorise by the same brand! For a look that screams style and radiates youth, look no further than Utopia online!


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Instructions on how to reset your password will be emailed to you:
Gather your supplies — paper, pencils, pens, crayons — then draw or trace a circle. Listen to your own heart as you create your pearl of wisdom.
Take a digital photo or scan your pearl and click on the "Be a Part of this "Exhibition" button below. Be sure to include your words of wisdom in the description field after you upload your pearl.
Pearls of Wisdom: End the Violence is a two-year community engagement project that was created by artist Kim Abeles in collaboration with A Window Between Worlds and 800 survivors of domestic abuse and community supporters to forge courage and build momentum to end domestic violence. The project to date has included more than 70 workshops, three exhibitions, extensive documentation including a full-color catalogue and public programs.
To see full exhibit as it appeared in the first installation at the Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles, click here.
To access Pearls curriculum designed for grades 9-12 and college level, click here. The curriculum is written to integrate wtih social justice course offerings.
Support from The James Irvine Foundation as well as the Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles, Durfee Foundation, Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Target and the Women's Foundation of California as well as many generous individuals funded the project.


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It's that time of the year: when I pick, what I believe to be, North Okaloosa's top 10 sports stories.
It's that time of the year: when I pick, what I believe to be, North Okaloosa's top 10 sports stories.
I wish I could say I pulled together a top advisory committee of local sports experts, but I can't.
I'm sure many of you would have a different list of stories, and I welcome your opinions.
1.Crestview football team ends losing streak to Niceville
On Nov. 1, Crestview High School's football team beat rival Niceville 17-12. It was the Bulldogs' first win over the Eagles since 1982. And it was the only regular-season loss for Niceville, which advanced to the Class 7A state championship game.
2. Baker football wins district title
The Gators won their last district championship in 2001. But D.J. Thomas' strong running and a relentless defense powered the team to a perfect 10-0 regular season that included wins over District 1-1A foes Freeport, Jay and defending state champion Northview.
3. Kevin Pettis tenure comes to abrupt end
Kevin Pettis spoke of state championships and the rings that go with them when he was hired as Crestview High School's head football coach and athletic director in 2011.
Pettis arrived in Crestview with a reputation of building championship caliber programs. He left Crestview under a cloud of controversy, having won just eight games in two seasons, to take Sebastian River High School's head coaching job.
4.Tim Hatten named Bulldog football coach and athletic director
Less than five weeks after Pettis' departure, Tim Hatten was selected from more than 90 applicants to be the new top Bulldog.
Hatten arrived in Crestview from Pearl River Community College in Mississippi, whose team he led to the 2004 Junior College National Championship.
Hatten led the Bulldogs to a 5-5 season in 2013 and the upset win over Niceville.
5. Haley Wagner wins Taylor Haugen Trophy
2013 Baker School graduate Haley Wagner was named the recipient of the prestigious award based on her Christian faith, community service and academic and athletic excellence.
The trophy, which the Taylor Haugen Foundation presents in conjunction with the All Sports Association, commemorates Taylor Haugen, a junior varsity football player who died in 2008 after a pre-season game injury.
6. D.J. Thomas comes up big
As a junior in 2012, Baker running back D.J. Thomas rushed for more than 1,000 yards and 17 touchdowns, setting the stage for a remarkable senior season. Thomas finished the year with 2,134 yards rushing and 31 touchdowns to lead the area in both categories.
7. Baker volleyball team keeps rolling
Baker School's volleyball team advanced to the state final four for the third straight season. The Gators also won their 11 consecutive district championship.
8. Big year for local volleyball
The Gators weren't the lone local volleyball team to enjoy a stellar season. Laurel Hill and Crestview also advanced to the playoffs. For the first time in recent memory, all three local teams made the playoffs in the same year.
The Hoboes advanced to the playoffs by winning the District 1-1A championship, and Crestview qualified as the District 1-7A runner up.
9. Crestview baseball team shines
A talented Crestview baseball team lived up to its billing by capturing the District 2-6A championship with an upset win over Mosley.
The Bulldogs beat Tate in the first round of the playoffs, but ran out of magic in the region semifinals losing to Mosley.
10. Baker's Donley dances with Liberty
Chad Donley, a 2010 Baker School graduate and former Gator basketball player, saw action for Liberty University in the NCAA basketball tournament's first round.
Donley purportedly is the first former Gator to play in the tournament. He also is the first player from North Okaloosa County to appear in the tournament since former Crestview star Tom Hammonds played in the tournament for Georgia Tech from 1986-1989.
Honorable mention
It's almost impossible to condense 12 months of sports into a list of the top 10 stories.
These stories came up just short of the cut and, in other years, might have made the list:
� Crestview football players Micah Reed and Tyler Henderson sign Division I scholarships. Reed signed with Central Florida and Henderson with Florida Atlantic.
� Former Crestview High School softball player Hannah Day signs with Troy University.
� Baker baseball team wins Justin Richards Tournament.
� Former Crestview softball player Hannah Day has big year for Northwest Florida State.
�Crestview football player Denzel Ware commits to the University of Kentucky.
� Greg Watson is named Crestview boys basketball coach.
� Scott Johnson steps down after one year as Baker baseball coach and is replaced by Adam Henry.
� Former Laurel Hill basketball player Brad Reese has big season playing basketball in Europe.
Email News Bulletin Sports Editor Randy Dickson, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.


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|"Andrzej Bialecki (JIRA)" <j...@apache.org>
|[jira] Commented: (LUCENE-1812) Static index pruning by in-document term frequency (Carmel pruning)
|Mon, 24 May 2010 05:11:24 GMT
[ https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/LUCENE-1812?page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel&focusedCommentId=12870507#action_12870507 ] Andrzej Bialecki commented on LUCENE-1812: ------------------------------------------- Thank you - yes, I think we will need to wait with this. I wasn't aware of the patent when I implemented this patch, and now after reading it I have the impression that it covers the exact algorithm described in the original paper, so perhaps we should be in the clear if we focus on other methods or a modified versions of it, but of course IANAL. > Static index pruning by in-document term frequency (Carmel pruning) > ------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Key: LUCENE-1812 > URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/LUCENE-1812 > Project: Lucene - Java > Issue Type: New Feature > Components: contrib/* > Affects Versions: 2.9, 3.1 > Reporter: Andrzej Bialecki > Attachments: pruning.patch, pruning.patch, pruning.patch > > > This module provides tools to produce a subset of input indexes by removing postings data for those terms where their in-document frequency is below a specified threshold. The net effect of this processing is a much smaller index that for common types of queries returns nearly identical top-N results as compared with the original index, but with increased performance. > Optionally, stored values and term vectors can also be removed. This functionality is largely independent, so it can be used without term pruning (when term freq. threshold is set to 1). > As the threshold value increases, the total size of the index decreases, search performance increases, and recall decreases (i.e. search quality deteriorates). NOTE: especially phrase recall deteriorates significantly at higher threshold values. > Primary purpose of this class is to produce small first-tier indexes that fit completely in RAM, and store these indexes using IndexWriter.addIndexes(IndexReader[]). Usually the performance of this class will not be sufficient to use the resulting index view for on-the-fly pruning and searching. > NOTE: If the input index is optimized (i.e. doesn't contain deletions) then the index produced via IndexWriter.addIndexes(IndexReader[]) will preserve internal document id-s so that they are in sync with the original index. This means that all other auxiliary information not necessary for first-tier processing, such as some stored fields, can also be removed, to be quickly retrieved on-demand from the original index using the same internal document id. > Threshold values can be specified globally (for terms in all fields) using defaultThreshold parameter, and can be overriden using per-field or per-term values supplied in a thresholds map. Keys in this map are either field names, or terms in field:text format. The precedence of these values is the following: first a per-term threshold is used if present, then per-field threshold if present, and finally the default threshold. > A command-line tool (PruningTool) is provided for convenience. At this moment it doesn't support all functionality available through API. -- This message is automatically generated by JIRA. - You can reply to this email to add a comment to the issue online. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: email@example.com For additional commands, e-mail: email@example.com
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RICHARDSON, Texas (Nov. 19, 2004) – Scientists at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) NanoTech Institute, along with an Australian collaborator, today announced they have achieved a major technological breakthrough by spinning multi-walled carbon nanotube yarns that are strong, tough and extremely flexible, and are both electrically and thermally conducting. Among other things, the futuristic yarns could result in "smart" clothing that stores electricity, provides ballistic protection and adjusts temperature and porosity to provide greater comfort.
The breakthrough, made possible by, in effect, downsizing ancient technology used for wool and cotton spinning to the nanoscale, resulted from a unusual collaboration involving UTD nanotechnologists Dr. Mei Zhang and Dr. Ray H. Baughman and a noted expert in wool spinning, Dr. Ken Atkinson of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), an Australian national laboratory. The results of the group's research are described in an article in the Nov. 19 issue of the prestigious journal, Science.
Potential commercial opportunities arising from the discovery will be enhanced by the hundred-fold lower cost of the spun multi-walled nanotubes compared with the single-walled nanotubes that are more commonly studied, according to Baughman, the article's corresponding author and Robert A. Welch Professor of Chemistry and director of the UTD NanoTech Institute. The latter are a single cylinder made of graphite, while the multi-walled nanotubes contain a concentric array of such cylinders, which look like the rings of a tree trunk when viewed in cross section. Nanotubes are many thousands of times thinner than a human hair.
UTD and CSIRO have filed a patent application (with more than 200 claims) to protect the carbon nanotube spinning technology and its extension to other semiconducting, metallic and superconducting nanofibers and nanoribbons. This pending patent provides invention embodiments for applications that include artificial muscles, supercapacitors, antiballistic vests, thermal heat pipes, electronic textiles, sensors, electron field emitters, ultra-high intensity lamps and three-dimensional micro-fluidic circuits for chemical laboratories that are the size of a computer chip.
"We believe that our nanotube yarns can be commercialized for important applications in less than five years, and a number of companies large and small are committed to help make this happen," said Baughman. "Working together with CSIRO, companies and U.S. government laboratories, we are forging ahead to upscale the process and optimize properties of the materials for the initially targeted applications. The interesting fundamental chemistry and physics, such as giant stretch-induced densification and associated electrical and thermal transport property changes, complements the exciting application possibilities of these yarns."
Some of the possible applications for the new yarns include:
- Structural composites that are strong, tough and able to reduce mechanical vibrations.
- Protective clothing that provides antiballistic and static-discharge protection, as well as radio and microwave frequency absorption.
- Supercapacitors, batteries and fuel cells in the form of yarn structures that are weaveable into textiles for storing or generating electrical energy.
- Chemically or electrically powered artificial muscles for prosthetics and robots, morphing air vehicles and minimally invasive catheters with enhanced functionality for medical applications.
- Electrical wiring and distributed sensors for electronic textiles.
- Heat pipes that provide both structural reinforcement and heat dissipation.
- High intensity source of field-emitted electrons for intense fluorescent lights and displays, as well as X-ray sources small enough to fit in a medical catheter.
- Filaments for incandescent light sources with decreased susceptibility to mechanical damage because of yarn toughness and mechanical damping ability.
The UTD-CSIRO research was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, an agency of the United States Department of Defense, the Texas Advanced Technology Program, the Robert A. Welch Foundation and the Strategic Partnership for Research in Nanotechnology, or SPRING.
To obtain a copy of the Science article, please contact the journal at 202-326-6440 or [email protected].
About UTD
The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor®, enrolls more than 14,000 students. The school's freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the university's web site at www.utdallas.edu.


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|Florence (Gartner) Weissberg
I went to the web site for the New York City Municipal Archives
I printed out the PDF form to request a marriage certificate by mail, filled in what I knew, including the range of years when they were most likely married and mailed it to: the New York City Municipal Archives, 31 Chambers Street, New York. About 4 weeks later they mailed me the certificate. I love my mailbox when it has a genealogical treasure.
Samuel Weissberg & Florence Gartner were married on 27 January 1907 in Manhattan. Samuel had been living at 646 East 6 Street. He was a 27 year old Tailor. Florence was living at 340 East 87 Street. She was 23. [As with almost all genealogical advancements, this one comes with a question. It says Florence was born in Hungary whereas all other records show her birth in New York City.]
Another small family fact has been uncovered. What's next?


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Shear Chaos 23 Part 2Favorites [+]
Pay-Per-Minute Viewing
You can now enjoy this movie on your iPhone®, iPad®, or compatible Smart TV & Android devices.
Purchase Options
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Available MP4 sizes:SD 480p (1.57 GB)
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DRM-free downloads offer content that is not limited by standard Digital Rights Management (DRM) access technologies. These technologies allow hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals to limit the usage of digital content.
When you purchase DRM-free downloadable content, that content is available for you to download on any computer and save to a disk whenever you like. You can also download to multiple computers. There is no timeframe associated with your purchase and the content will not expire.
Running Time: 100 minutes
Studio Name: Chaosmen
Series: Shear Chaos
Categories: Muscles Bareback Anal High Definition
Description: ChaosMen presents Shear Chaos Creampie Edition Volume 23. Is there anything better than hot dudes sucking and fucking till the hot, creamy end? Starring Bryan, Jamison, Adam, Glenn, Maxwell, Sinclair, Troy, and Vander.
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Recommended Movies


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Pet Care At Its Best
Go Lucky Paws is a professional and personalized pet care service that caters to you and your pet's individual needs. Go Lucky Paws knows your pet is a very special member of your family. We will do whatever it takes for them to be comfortable and always feel safe in their home or out on a walk. We take Pet Care seriously and are committed to providing the finest quality Pet Sitting and Dog Walking services possible.
Serving: Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Los Gatos, Cupertino, Campbell and surrounding areas.
Sign Up For A FREE Meet & Greet
In your home visit to meet you and your pet and for you to meet Go Lucky Paws. To provide you and your pets the best possible service - We listen closely to what's important to you and what it takes to keep your pets happy/healthy and your home safe/secure.
For the Free Meet & Greet please have the following:
Photos of your pet(s)
Your veterinarian's name, phone number, and address
The name and phone number of emergency contacts
A copy of your house key
Home security system information


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Testing for Heartbleed vulnerability without exploiting the server.
Heartbleed is a serious vulnerability in OpenSSL that was disclosed on Tuesday, April 8th, and impacted any sites or services using OpenSSL 1.01 – 1.01.f and 1.0.2-beta1. Due to the nature of the bug, the only obvious way to test … Continue reading


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Serving Trays
Presentation is an integral part of the catering business. People choose caterers based not only on the quality of the food they prepare but also how they present and serve. That is why at Mission Restaurant Supply we offer a variety of serving trays perfect for catering events. Find great deals on a variety of trays and quality catering supplies. Shop at Mission Restaurant Supply to save on restaurant equipment and supplies.


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Twins place Duensing on paternity list
CHICAGO -- Twins left-hander Brian Duensing was placed on the paternity list on Monday, and right-hander Michael Tonkin was recalled from Triple-A Rochester to take his spot on the roster.
Duensing, who flew back home to Omaha, Neb., on Saturday night, is expecting his second child with his wife, Lisa. Duensing is expected to be on paternity leave for three days, so he could return in time for the third game of the season against the White Sox on Thursday.
"I think the doctors decided a few days ago that everything was good, but they didn't want to wait any longer and [wanted to] induce today," Twins assistant general manager Rob Antony said. "He came in and felt bad, but we told him not to worry about it."
With Duensing on paternity leave, it gives Tonkin his first chance to be on an Opening Day roster after originally being optioned to Rochester on Monday.
Tonkin, 24, had an impressive showing in Spring Training, as he didn't allow a run in seven appearances. The 6-foot-7 right-hander gave up just three hits over 8 1/3 innings, striking out five and walking two.
"Tonkin could've been on my baseball team and on this staff, just like a lot of other guys we sent out this spring," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "I've got no worries. We just want Deuce to go home and take care of his wife and the baby. It's a beautiful thing for that. I know he wants to be here, but there are more important things than that. It's an exciting moment, so we want him to be his wife. And we'll have Tonkin here, so we're happy about that. I'm not afraid to put him anywhere."


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Confirmatory Factor Analysis
Abby Gray
posted on Tuesday, November 19, 2013 - 9:16 am
I am new to both MPlus and SEM, and working on my dissertation. Please pardon this newbie question.
I am specifying a CFA model with 4 factors. In the structural model, the first 3 of these will be treated as exogenous and the 4th will be endogenous. The indicators for all of the factors were drawn from 4 different survey instruments--4 different individuals associated with each of 200 schools were surveyed about a certain issue within their schools. Items from 2-3 of the survey instruments are presumed to load onto each factor (for example, items from both the principal survey and the teacher survey are specified to load onto F1, as theory and prior research suggest that both of those observers experience F1 within their schools).
Because of the likelihood of common method variance, I plan to use a CTCU measurement model. This is straightforward enough. What seems a bit awkward is that the first 3 factors (which will ultimately be treated as exogenous) share common methods with the 4th factor (which will be treated as endogenous in the structural model). This makes for an ugly diagram, as there will be correlated errors between indicators on endogenous and exogenous variables. Should I be concerned about this? If so, how would you suggest that I address it?
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Tuesday, November 19, 2013 - 9:48 am
This should not be a concern.
Abby Gray
posted on Tuesday, November 19, 2013 - 10:28 am
Thank you very much. That is extremely helpful. Another question about this: I have a number of indicators for each of the 4 factors, and all of them will have errors correlated with several other indicators under the CTCU method. I would think that this jumble of correlated errors would make model identification almost impossible? Yet the literature suggests that CTCU is less susceptible to identification problems than other approaches to dealing with MTMM data. What are your thoughts on this?
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text: With flat-screen TVs becoming more elegant and less "boring black box," perhaps we're ready for the kind of Pimp My Lounge styling that Vismara Design's Media Center frames offer. Turning your TV and audio-video system into a sort of giant art installation-cum-digital picture frame, they're available now in baroque or art deco styles, in silver and gold. There's even a matching DVD shelf available. Awesome, I say. Now I just have to buy a TV worthy of framing. And a bigger apartment. And probably win the lottery to pay for it, though we don't know exactly how much these cost. [Trendir]


text:
Segura: 'Just taking some time' to get going
PITTSBURGH -- Brewers shortstop Jean Segura, whose hot start last season carried him to the All-Star Game in New York, knows it is too early to start sweating the numbers he carried into Thursday's series opener at PNC Park.
Here are those numbers anyway: Through his first 13 games last year, Segura had four extra base hits and a .367/.404/.510 slash line, thanks in part to a .415 average on balls in play. Through his first 13 games this year, Segura has two extra-base hits, including a hustle double in the Brewers' just-completed series against the Cardinals, and was slashing .241/.281/.315 while hitting only .285 on balls in play.
It's a small sample, for sure, but one statistic stands out: A whopping 77.3 percent of Segura's balls in play through Wednesday were ground balls -- the highest percentage among Major League regulars -- and he batted .118 (5-for-34) on those grounders.
"I feel it, too," Segura said with a shrug and a laugh. "But it's OK. I'm going to come back. I'm not worried about it. I know the numbers are going to come, and every player is different in each year of his career. I just need a couple hits. It's not like I'm 0-for-20, 0-for-30. Just a few games of struggle is normal. It's OK.
"It's just taking some time in my second season here. We're working on it. I wish it wasn't taking so long to get where we want to be."
Might it be taking longer because Segura, for the first time in years, did not play winter ball in the Dominican Republic? The Brewers exercised their right to block his participation because Segura was coming off the most grueling year of his baseball life, and had faded significantly after the All-Star break
"I don't know," he said. "I don't want to tell you yes, but I don't want to tell you no, either. So I don't know.
"The only way you figure it out is by playing. I mean, I think with my speed and getting smarter in this game, I know what I need to do. I know what it takes to get to where I was at the beginning of last year, but it takes some time. We've only played [15] games and we have more than five months to go."


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Rein in NAS with file virtualization
NAS filers have sprung up largely unchecked in many companies, creating major management headaches and forcing companies to reevaluate how they handle this critical piece of storage infrastructure. File virtualization appliances can address multiple filer pain points by pooling disparate storage, providing a global namespace and making short shrift of data migrations.
As file servers multiply, they become more difficult to manage. File virtualization appliances make it much easier to migrate files and recapture stranded storage capacity.
Once considered an afterthought, corporate network file servers are becoming major management headaches. Complicated file migrations, heightened compliance concerns and stranded storage capacity are just a few of the file storage management issues forcing companies to re-evaluate how they handle this critical piece of storage infrastructure.
Forward-looking companies have embraced file virtualization appliances to recapture stranded storage capacity on network file servers and to perform file migrations among them. However, using file virtualization appliances as permanent corporate file managers is a big step that some corporations are unsure they want to take.
File virtualization appliances provide the following major benefits:
- A global namespace that indexes files on network file servers
- Excess storage capacity can be shared among network file servers
- Data migrations that are transparent to end users and applications
- Support for tiered storage infrastructures
|File virtualization appliances
Click here for a comparison of File virtualization appliances (PDF).
File virtualization appliances change the dynamic of how organizations manage their network file servers. For example, the appliance aggregates stranded storage capacity on network file servers, simplifies file migrations among the network file servers and virtualizes network file shares. However, these benefits depend heavily on the underlying architecture of the file virtualization appliance. Key attributes such as high availability, the ability to scale capacity and performance, and integration with third-party indexing and search engines are handled differently by the various file virtualization appliances.
Typically, organizations initially bring file virtualization appliances into their storage environments to manage file servers more efficiently. Approximately three years ago, Ubicom Inc., a developer of communications and media processor and software platforms in Sunnyvale, CA, was running out of space on its Network Appliance (NetApp) Inc. filer. However, Jim Poehlman, Ubicom's chief information technologist, didn't have the $100,000 required to upgrade the filer. While he had other network filers available with excess capacity, he needed to migrate files in real-time without disrupting production applications because downtime would cost the company tens of thousands of dollars per hour in lost productivity and missed service-level agreements.
Poehlman deployed NeoPath Networks' File Director, which "didn't require us to reconfigure our network or bring our applications down," he says. "NeoPath Networks also gave us a price break by selling it to us for $15,000, though at the time we bought it they were still in beta."
Kevin Hayes, technology security manager for the City of Jacksonville, FL, also needed to recapture stranded storage capacity. Hayes had approximately 15 Microsoft Corp. file servers with varying amounts of excess capacity. As part of the reconfiguration, Hayes needed to improve application file performance, an issue he couldn't resolve with a simple file migration. To address these issues, he chose Maestro File Manager from Attune Systems Inc., which allowed him to create one logical file share that aggregated and virtualized filer volumes across different network filers. "Migrating files to one virtual file share allowed me to stripe files across my entire network file server farm ... and increase application file performance," says Hayes.
Ibis Consulting Inc., which provides electronic discovery and compliance solutions for corporations involved in litigation, had a different set of requirements. As part of its discovery process, the Providence, RI-based firm receives large amounts of data from multiple clients in different file formats that need to be uploaded to its NAS storage. Ibis then culls and classifies files from its different clients and moves the files to different storage tiers for attorney review.
Shane Lennon, vice president of strategy and market development at Ibis Consulting (now a Pitney Bowes company), selected an Acopia Networks Inc. ARX6000 because it helped to "track and place files across multiple NAS systems and a large number of CIFS shares without causing a bottleneck to the Ibis process."
File virtualization architectures
File virtualization appliances are available in four different architectures: out-of-band, a combination of out-of-band and in-band, in-band and split-path. Brocade Communications Systems Inc.'s StorageX is the only file virtualization appliance that stays exclusively out-of-band or out of the data path. It resides on a Windows 2000/2003 namespace server and creates a global namespace by discovering and indexing files on network file servers.
Client servers then access and use the StorageX global namespace in the following ways. Windows client servers discover the StorageX global namespace using the Distributed File System (DFS) client included with the Windows operating system. For Linux and Unix operating systems, StorageX updates the Network Information Service (NIS). These client servers then access files by first contacting the StorageX global namespace server, which provides the client server with the physical locations of the requested files. The client server then uses that response to directly access files on the network file servers.
While this architecture may work well for organizations aggregating file views across multiple data centers, some administrators may have a problem with how StorageX handles file movement. For Windows-based clients, StorageX's Replication Manager uses a native Windows-based replication agent to move files. However, on Unix and Linux hosts, StorageX deploys and installs its own replication agent that uses the NFS protocol to move files between different network file servers. This means StorageX has to have the appropriate security access to the Unix and Linux operating systems to install this agent, which may be a concern to IT shops that don't want to introduce another agent on their hosts.
EMC Corp.'s Rainfinity Global File Virtualization uses a combination of out-of-band and in-band techniques. Rainfinity stays out-of-band during the initial file discovery, but moves into the data path when virtualizing files. This requires administrators to create a virtual LAN (VLAN) in the network that allows Rainfinity to move into the data path between client servers and network file servers to virtualize files. When it does so, the Rainfinity appliance assumes the IP address and DNS name of the network file server. This causes the network to reroute traffic normally directed to the file server to Rainfinity, at which time Rainfinity takes control of file placement and movement among network file servers.
A feature that distinguishes EMC's Rainfinity from other file virtualization appliances is that it doesn't require the creation of its own namespace. The absence of a namespace was a determining factor for Brian Peterson, a storage architect with a Midwest food packaging company, who chose to use Rainfinity as part of his company's NAS migration and consolidation efforts. Because Peterson had previously implemented a NAS namespace within his company, bringing in another file virtualization appliance and converting to its namespace would have meant taking a single huge outage requiring the coordination of almost 500 people.
Because Peterson's corporation uses NAS so extensively, he needed protection against Rainfinity failing while operating in-band to ensure that enterprise applications wouldn't come to a halt. To prevent that, Peterson's team wrote what they called the "Big Red Button" script. The script allowed the operations staff to quickly take Rainfinity out-of-band and out of the data path of the servers, allowing client servers to directly access data on network file servers.
"The script provided the insurance we needed to insert the virtualization device into such a critical data path," says Peterson.
Moving in-band
Because of user concerns about putting devices in-band, some in-band file virtualization appliances give users the option to first deploy their appliances in an out-of-band configuration. Attune Systems' Maestro File Manager can be operated in three modes: discovery, native and extended. In discovery mode, Maestro File Manager allows users to initially discover, analyze and report on storage usage and utilization on their network file servers without putting it in-band. In that mode, it generates reports on information such as CPU and storage utilization, file-access patterns and throughput on specific network ports. These reports let organizations determine the true benefits they'll realize from deploying file virtualization, and appropriately configure and size the file virtualization appliance.
Another key consideration when selecting and configuring in-band appliances is their hardware configuration. Both Attune Systems' Maestro File Manager and NeoPath Networks' File Director rely on clustered configurations available with server operating systems: Windows in the case of the Attune Systems product and Linux for the NeoPath device. In both cases, they're configured for active-passive failover, although there may be a delay of up to a minute while the passive server takes over for a failing active server.
Enterprise NAS environments with high availability, transaction or throughput requirements may find the latencies associated with these in-band configurations unacceptable. Only Acopia Networks' ARX6000 addresses those concerns in its software and hardware. On the software side, the ARX6000 uses a split-path architecture that separates the data and control paths. The split-path architecture allows the ARX6000 to better support high transaction rates by assigning more frequent file operations, such as reads and writes, to the data path while the control path handles the more infrequent file requests, such as create and delete operations on the file server directory.
The ARX6000 also supports an active-active configuration that allows dynamic failover between the two nodes in the cluster. Ibis Consulting found that with the ARX6000, its general file server availability improved because the firm could migrate files from a network file server that needed maintenance to other file servers still in production. "Before we deployed the ARX6000, maintenance outages could run up to a day," says Lennon at Ibis Consulting. "Now outages last at most four hours on a weekend once a quarter."
To support the higher transaction and throughput rates required by most enterprises, Acopia Networks uses proprietary hardware in the ARX6000. Adaptive Services Modules (ASM) speed up the control path functions of directory changes, while Network Services Modules (NSM) accelerate file read and write operations.
But despite the immediate benefits derived from file virtualization appliances, some users are still uncertain about the role file virtualization appliances will play in the long term. Storage architect Peterson only uses EMC's Rainfinity when he needs to perform file migrations within his corporate NAS infrastructure, while the City of Jacksonville's Hayes anticipates removing Attune Systems' Maestro File Manager once he finishes consolidating on a NAS gateway. Given situations like these, vendors are trying to ensure that their file virtualization appliances become more than just one-time file migration tools.
|File virtualization checklist
Five items to consider before you select and implement a file virtualization appliance.
Next steps
To transition their products from virtualization/migration engines to "corporate file managers," vendors are adding key features that will keep file virtualization appliances relevant regardless of how a corporation's NAS infrastructure evolves. File virtualization appliances, for example, allow organizations to index their corporate files and to immediately know when changes are made to specific files. Attune Systems recently established a relationship with Google to allow users to perform more sophisticated indexing and searching across their corporate file servers.
File virtualization appliance vendors also recognize that user storage environments will remain heterogeneous. "In these environments, our file directors act like an umbrella, allowing the free movement of data between different brands of network file servers," says Ali Zadeh, chief operating officer at NeoPath Networks.
Acopia Networks recently released the results from an independently validated lab test that demonstrated the ability to create a consistent point-in-time snapshot across a virtualized volume whose physical files simultaneously reside on both an EMC Celerra NS700 filer and a NetApp FAS3050 filer. The Acopia Networks snapshot was also used to create a self-consistent backup across multiple file servers.
"The ability to do snapshots across the proprietary boundaries created by many enterprise storage vendors is an important step toward the deconstruction of monolithic storage arrays," says Jon Toigo, chief executive officer and managing principal at Toigo Partners International LLC, an analyst firm. "Heterogeneous snapshot holds out the possibility of driving down the cost of array products by eliminating a consumer lock-in," he says.
EMC anticipates users will deploy Rainfinity for a broader range of applications. While migrations are now the primary use for Rainfinity, companies may also use file virtualization appliances for capacity, file, tiered storage and performance management. But according to Jack Norris, EMC's director of virtualization marketing, the real value of file virtualization appliances is that "virtualization will drive the intelligent placement and classification of data."
File virtualization appliances are a corporation's best bet when migrating files or optimizing file placement on network file servers. However, key differences in their architectures may narrow users' choices (see "File virtualization checklist," this page). IT shops with centralized, high-volume NAS implementations will largely start and stop their product search with Acopia Networks' ARX6000. Department-level and smaller IT shops will have the luxury to choose between in-band and out-of-band architectures. And if you're looking to use file virtualization appliances on a more permanent basis, you should give preference to products that are further down the road toward delivering a standardized approach of enterprise file indexing and search capabilities.


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How to Revolutionize the Dreaded Conference Call
It's one of the most familiar and hated rituals of office life – the conference call. Work & Family columnist Sue Shellenbarger and productivity expert Laura Stack join Lunch Break with techniques for becoming a hero of the call. Phone: Getty
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... I ... anyway what's the opposite in Iowa Kissinger and rich hold a conference call ... research shows her blankets and nineteen point six per cent more time e g I haven't also mean that any use to that ... here are some tips on how to make them a little more bearable is work and family calmness Sue Shellenbarger ... and learn staff product EBX and author of execution is the strategy welcome to but the deal ... struck ... me ... see you I was seventeen for nothing pretty her riffic conference calls in your research for this Terry tells about that vacuum ... sch ... well in sixty ... cities causing still audio truly great leaders Research in Boston and shh ... let people the seventies a beach in one case a conference call was going on and that we recently heard a nasty runny drowning out everything else was going and she said that gaming in appreciate that ... you're welcome to come to my house afterward pleased that he ... and other stories including people reading the next person trendy eatery that's the time even though I urge people forget ... bondholders used without the music and enforce the somebody else to hang up ... I that that death only knowing what made it so difficult to try to build a rapport in these virtual meeting ... well obviously you don't get the nonverbal cues in these audio only cause you can see on people are feeling you can sense when somebody said on Tuesday sch yes he thereby released ... an increasingly we're talking not only the people we don't know that well with ExOne teams at the median of the time zones and I had to drag themselves out of bed at midnight ... to join the call ... these are obstacles for my life the new year what do you think of the underlying reasons behind this on a conference call disconnects ... the bottom line it's basically an honest people ... feel what you're doing when you're out of the new entity in the care that they need to be on the beach ... it can be ... happy and proud that the anonymity and hiding behind ... a pilot that the problem ... people can market ... I think a lot of ... debris on a conference call ... looking to contain taking care of the baby in there not really ... taking in the Coptic on it that ... in a conference call this afternoon when a couple things I can to make sure to smoothly and ten effects of investing ... I don't expect before ... the conference offered to buy laying out expectations with your team of people don't really establish a code of conduct ... I'm never going to pre upon to make sure to hypertension and the fact that you want to do that ... and you can spend all that people can actually work ... I ... re appeared to be in a place ... where they can actually come in and out ... I admit that they can concentrate on cost and you really have to do a lot of what the cost to the fact that protection ... the receiving ... end of its cars like the one person is talking the whole time the other people who've never seen that ... Mr. everyone participate ... the organization had created overall for the sometimes ... deadly traffic controller of that ... the moderator and not only a leader someone who can help ... it turned out ... to Time ... Island people ... two or more quiet cheaper to take in the comfort station ... and how that you have ... anyhow I ... the traffic at the com make sure to come on people ... I mean they ... can get it to everyone I'm you ... know you have it ... people in ... the top honor not ... everyone can ... see the next year and a leader of this conference call after May ... it's ... nice to be ... several days before the meeting is sits in the very ... least it didn't explicitly call me make clear ... the leader in the league will ... spend on this list I'm thinking about questions to ask people to drive them out ... I on the agenda itself it's important to listen more during these meetings to keep people


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Campaigns: Let the people pay
A proposal ballot measure would provide taxpayer dollars to finance campaigns for those running for the legislature and statewide offices, such as governor or attorney general.
The measure was filed today with the Legislative Council, the first of a number of steps before a proposal can get on the ballot. James Hoffmeister of Boulder and Joel Leventhal of Lakewood submitted the measure.
The 30-page proposal about publicly-funded campaigns said, in part:
A) We, the Citizens of Colorado, find and declare that the current system of privately financed campaigns for election to statewide and state legislative offices undermines democracy in our state in the following principal ways:
1) Candidates to whom more money is contributed defeat their opponents nearly 90 percent of the time;
2) Ordinary citizens, who would otherwise be qualified for public office but who have no access to large amounts of money, find it difficult to run for office;
3) Both incumbents and first time candidates spend large amounts of time trying to raise funds in order to run a successful campaign;
4) This situation contributes to a general feeling among citizens that they have little real control over this process; and
5) The issues, concerns, and needs that are important to them have little effect on what actually happens in the legislature.
B) We, the Citizens of Colorado, therefore find and declare that providing a voluntary, publicly-financed, election campaign system for all state wide and state legislative Primary, Run-off, and General elections will enhance democracy in our State in the following ways:
1) It will make it possible for qualified, ordinary, citizens to mount competitive campaigns because they will have access to the amount of funds similar to those used by the winning candidate in their district in the prior two election cycles;
2) It will reduce the time candidates currently spend trying to raise funds;
3) It will require that candidates spend more time talking to their constituents about their concerns;
4) It will rebuild confidence in all citizens that our political processes are based on our Nation's historic principle "of the people, by the people, for the people".


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|How to Manage Your Parents When You Have OCD (a guide for teens)
|Written by Administrator
|Friday, 15 April 2011 12:40
A Guide for Teens
By Fred Penzel, Ph.D.
Having OCD definitely sucks! As if there isn't enough to deal with in life. Getting well is hard work too. All this would be enough on your plate, if it weren't for further problems that can come up when some people's families get involved in their OCD too. Sure, they mean well, and they think they are helping, but a lot of times they don't do the right thing because they just don't really understand what it's like. How could anybody understand something like OCD if they don't actually have it? Don't get me wrong; not everyone's family ends up adding to the problem, but it happens often enough that I decided to write this as a brief guide to help you if you have to deal with it. Families, as well as OCD sufferers, need to be educated. Here are some ideas I hope will help you to do this. When you are upset with the way your family is reacting to your OCD, the worst things you can do are to get angry at them, or else pull into your shell and not talk to anyone about it. Either way, nothing will get solved. Perhaps you can show your family this article. Here is a list of some of the way they can get it wrong and some understandings about them. Some of them may sound familiar to you. I call this list:
Common Mistakes Parents and Other Family Members Can Make
As I mentioned earlier, when OCD enters a family's life, anger and resentment can sometimes be part of the picture. Unfortunately, some families handle this less well than others. One of the ways in which this can go really bad is when family members use a sufferer's fears against them as a way of punishing them for annoying them with their symptoms or for other resentments. They may threaten to contaminate things you use, mess up things you have arranged, throw out things you have hoarded, etc. They may even go so far as to actually do some of these things. Family members need to understand that this is simply cruel, abusive, and something for which there is no excuse. You need to remind them how much this hurts, and how it is like kicking you when you are down, and punishing you for something that you didn't ask for. As difficult as your OCD may be for everyone you live with, it simply isn't your fault. You are not to be blamed.
Overall, you can tell your parents and other family members you're doing the best you can. If they have discussed OCD with a trained therapist, remind them of what they've learned, or have them look at sites like this one. This way, they will have a better idea of what to do, and what not to do, and also see that you (and they) are not alone.
If you would like to read more about what Dr. Penzel has to say about OCD, take a look at his self-help book, "Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders: A Complete Guide to Getting Well and Staying Well," (Oxford University Press, 2000). You can learn more about it at www.ocdbook.com
Please Note: Then information in this site is presented as a public service to our patients and friends. It is not a substitute for a careful evaluation by a qualified mental health professional. If you are already under treatment, do not make any changes in your regimen without consulting your doctor.
Staff Articles
- Behavioral Treatment of Body Dysmorphic Disorder
- The Boy Who Didn't Know Who He Was (Teen Obsessions About Homosexuality)
- Acceptance and OCD
- Acceptance and OCD
- But I Love My Kids (Parents With Thoughts of Harming Their Children)
- Call Me Irresponsible (OCD and hyperresponsibility)
- Coming To Terms With The Lost Years
- Contamination and OCD ("Stronger than Dirt")
- Do-it-Yourself Therapy: Self-Directed Treatment
- Fight for Your Rights: Getting Insurance to Pay for an OCD Specialist
- Getting the Right Treatment (Finding proper CBT treatment for OCD and BFRBs)
- Here's Looking At You, Kid: People With OCD Who Notice Things Too Much
- How Clean is Clean? (Compulsive cleaning and ordering)
- How Do I Know I'm Not Gay? (Homosexuality obsessions)
- How I Treat Violent Obsessions
- How Much Is Too Much? (Taking a more humane approach to behavioral therapy)
- How to Manage Your Parents When You Have OCD (a guide for teens)
- In Search of the Elusive Behavior Therapist
- Inositol and OCD
- Intensive vs. Self-Directed OCD Treatment
- Langley Collyer: The Mystery Hoarder of Harlem
- Let He Who is Without Sin (Religious obsessions)
- Loves Me? Loves Me Not? (Relationship obsessions)
- Morbid Obsessions
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (General information)
- Obsessive Love (When People Become "Obsessed" with Other People)
- Panic Disorder (General information)
- Samuel Johnson: A Patron Saint of OCD
- Saving the World (Compulsive Hoarding)
- Teens With Morbid Obsessions
- Ten Things You Need to Know to Overcome OCD
- A Touching Story (Touching and movement compulsions)
- Treating Morbid Obsessions
- Very Superstitious (Magical and superstitious obsessions)
- What Do You Say After You Say You're Sorry (Coming to terms after you recover from OCD)
- What The Heck Is "Obsessive Slowness?"
- When Epidemics Collide: OCD and AIDS
- Your Number is Up! ("Magical" numbers and OCD)
- Advice for Significant Others (Dealing with a TTM sufferer)
- Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Trichotillomania
- Coming to Terms With Your Child's Hair Pulling
- Childhood Trichotillomania (Dealing with the reluctant child's pulling)
- Fight for Your Rights: Getting Insurance to Pay for Your Treatment
- Inositol and Trichotillomania
- A Stimulus Regulation Model of Trichotillomania (Why people pull)
- Trichotillomania (General information)
- Unconditional Self Acceptance and Trichotillomania
- What Cognitive Therapy Can Do for TTM
- Skin-Picking and Nail-Biting - Related Disorders
- Anxiety Disorders: More Than "A Bad Case of Nerves"
- Common Questions, Myths and Misconceptions About Psychiatric Medicine
- Medications that Treat OCD and OC Spectrum Disorders
- OCD and Managed Care
- PANDAS: The OCD - Strep Connection
- Depression: from Children through Adults
- How Do I Know I'm Not Really Gay - Part 2
- How To Defeat OCD By Surrendering
- Living With Your Loved One's OCD: Some Advice For Significant Others
- NAC and Trichotillomania
- Stimulation Substitutes for Trichotillomania
- To Be Or Not To Be. That Is The Obsession: Existential And Philosophical Obsessions
- 25 Tips For Succeeding In Your OCD Therapy
- My Parents Don't Believe I Have OCD
- Both Ends Against The Middle: When OCD Tries To Disrupt Its Own Treatment
- Driven To Distraction: Hit and Run OCD


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HARRISON, N.J. – For all his accolades with Reading FC, all his headlines as a teen phenom with D.C. United, all his time spent with the US national team, Bobby Convey's résumé – at least in terms of MLS playoff production – was practically blank: 180 minutes, one shot, no assists, no goals.
Consider that hole filled.
As the Red Bulls watched and waited for Golden Boot winner Chris Wondolowski to spring to life, Convey was busy laying the groundwork to end New York's season.
Convey rushed onto a loose ball in the penalty area to deliver a sixth-minute goal that equalized the aggregate score line. After moving to left back in place of injured captain Ramiro Corrales, he snuck forward to the edge of the Red Bulls' 18-yard box, spun rookie New York defender Tim Ream like a top and calmly buried another chance in the 76th minute.
Finally, with the stadium rocking in the wake of Juan Pablo Angel's 78th-minute response, Convey delivered a cross from 40 yards to the head of Wondolowski, who knocked in the goal that put San Jose in the conference finals for the first time since their last title run in 2003.
"This is the culmination for me of three years working hard, every day [wondering] whether I was going to keep playing or stop playing and just go home," Convey said. "It's a lot of emotions know when you are in the playoffs with a so-called expansion team and you beat one of the biggest teams. It's just a great feeling."
[inline_node:322598]Even by the standards of an already impressive season – career-high 10 assists, a certain team MVP award if not for Wondolowski's goal-scoring craziness – it was a breakout game for Convey.
"He was unreal," Wondolowski said. "I know he's probably had better games, but it was one of the best games I've seen him play. He was just head and shoulders above and carried us.
"Not only stats. He was defending, he was tracking back, he had Dane Richards to deal with the whole game. He was doing it all. I couldn't be prouder of the guy. He really deserved it and deserves this. He's a world-class player."
Most impressively, Convey was able to stay involved in the attack despite being moved to the back line by coach Frank Yallop, who chose that route – with Eduardo coming on at forward and Ryan Johnson dropping to left wing – instead of bringing on right back Chris Leitch and flipping Tim Ward to left back.
"I move him around a little bit, and he's not overly happy all the time with it, but he's good," Yallop said. "He can handle Dane. It's a great finish for the opening goal and a terrific finish on the second one. It was a great turn on the edge of the box, and once in, he didn't lose his cool. He just buried it."
Geoff Lepper covers the Earthquakes for MLSsoccer.com. He can be reached at email@example.com. On Twitter: @sjquakes
Ready to launch: MLS Matchday 2010, The new official MLS iPhone app. It's FREE! Download it here!


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A child in Hong Kong momentarily takes the Captain's seat. Visitors were welcome on board to experience the spirit of Greenpeace's new Rainbow Warrior in her first-ever journey to Hong Kong late last month. The vessel is one of the most environmentally friendly campaigning ships of its type. Eco-credentials include sails primarily under wind power and the re-use of engine heat to make hot water and warm the cabins.
© Greenpeace
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Recent Posts
July 05, 2014
Book Review - Tempting Fate by Jane Green
Posted by Camden Council Library Service
Gabby has a satisfyingly normal suburban life which she thinks is enough and more than she ever dreamed she would have until she meets someone and has a fling. This careless action has consequences that affect everyone in her life. The fallout is handled believably but the ending maybe a little too convenient? Not up to her usual standard but a well-realised set of characters were pleasant to spend some time with. Wendy


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Jay Friedman is a freelance food writer and gastronaut—global explorer of things gourmet and, well, not-so-gourmet. Born and raised in New York (and missing those back-east bagels), Jay says he came to Seattle in 1999 because "there's great produce here." He's dabbled in classes at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, taken cooking classes around the world, cooked as a Vermont inn-sitter, worked as a waiter, and evolved into an omnivoracious eater.
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