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|September 6, 2012, 02:47 AM
Senior Member
Join Date: May 17, 2012
Location: Claremore, Oklahoma
Posts: 179
sounded like an egyptian by the description, least to me. I've always wanted an FN 49, just never got one.
Marksman of the mezzanine
|September 6, 2012, 05:22 AM
Junior Member
Join Date: September 5, 2012
Location: Sunderland, MA
Posts: 6
Thanks! Good to know it is what I thought it was. I'll keep an eye on the wrist of the stock, yes indeed. I am not sure this stock is the original though; no armorer's disc and the buttplate is plastic, not brass and has no trapdoor. The wood, as I say, appears to be beech or some other blond wood that has been stained walnut. If I ever find a walnut stock for it, I'll nab it..or I may have a friend have a go with his shop, if he is willing...hmmmmm.
I should be taking her out for gas adjustment and sighting in with a couple of weeks. I am really looking forward to it.
Glad I found this place.
I saw a number of these at a gun show some time ago; they were running around 800 dollars apiece. I did not check to see if they were Egyptian or not.
"We sound our horns for our Patron's grace:
Guard and guide us upon the Chase.
May our hearts be filled with strength and cheer,
And our hunts yield game through all the year."
Last edited by Siani; September 6, 2012 at 05:29 AM.
|September 6, 2012, 02:43 PM
Junior Member
Join Date: September 5, 2012
Location: Sunderland, MA
Posts: 6
Next question; did they use bandoliers for the ammo, cartridge belt pouches, or what? Stripper clips were used for the K 98 if memory serves so perhaps something like that would work as well here.
"We sound our horns for our Patron's grace:
Guard and guide us upon the Chase.
May our hearts be filled with strength and cheer,
And our hunts yield game through all the year."
|September 6, 2012, 09:42 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: May 17, 2012
Posts: 1,085
Cool, I didn't know there was a FN-49 club It'd be cool if this was in the Semi-auto section, where it might get some more looks. The FN49 is probably one of, if not the last "curio and relic" as-issued military arm we'll be able to get.
I have a Luxembourg 30-06 that is a joy to shoot; easily the best stock of my milsurps (K31's and VZ58 folder), as much fun to shoot as my FNAR, and as pretty (if not more so) than any Garand. Recently picked up some ancient dies for 30-06, so I'll be getting to shoot it even more now
Obligatory pics:
"I don't believe that the men of the distant past were any wiser than we are today. But it does seem that their science and technology were able to accomplish much grander things."
-- Alex Rosewater
|September 7, 2012, 05:23 AM
Junior Member
Join Date: September 5, 2012
Location: Sunderland, MA
Posts: 6
Very nice!
The only thing that drives me nuts about my SAFN is the dratted screw that holds the bracket holding the upper forward guard in place. I get it off easily enough, to access the gas sleeve, but when it comes time to put the thing back on, the screw doesn't line up and it takes forever with much tinkering and sometimes unladylike language to get the dratted screw back in. I have come close to using a cotter pin or something, for pity's sake.
Running a rod through the holes in the bracket they line up so it isn't bent so far as I can tell. The screw isn't warped. But line up like it ought to without a lot of aggravation? Nope. Weird.
Bad with the good and all that I guess.
"We sound our horns for our Patron's grace:
Guard and guide us upon the Chase.
May our hearts be filled with strength and cheer,
And our hunts yield game through all the year."
|January 4, 2013, 01:48 AM
Junior Member
Join Date: December 16, 2012
Posts: 3
This one that I have is an Early Egyptian Contract, low 4 digit serial # and
is all matching numbers. Came with some extra parts and original FN49 TM manual. Its been a great shooter for me and always attacts attention at the range...
Last edited by GySgt; January 4, 2013 at 01:53 AM.
|January 5, 2013, 12:34 AM
Senior Member
Join Date: May 17, 2012
Posts: 1,085
Nice rifle, and welcome! I dig the flash hider on those Egyptian guns
My 30-06 Luxembourg is kinda plain by comparison (and by noise, too, I suppose ). What kind of groups have you been getting?
If you don't have the no-breaky two piece firing pin, be sure to grab one of those from Numrich so you don't risk slamfires one day
"I don't believe that the men of the distant past were any wiser than we are today. But it does seem that their science and technology were able to accomplish much grander things."
-- Alex Rosewater
|January 5, 2013, 12:42 AM
Junior Member
Join Date: December 16, 2012
Posts: 3
Thanks BarnBWT appreciate the comment
The Flash Hider does help a lot in groupings, I have gotten 1.7 - 1.5 average groups with it. Ive already updated the firing pin to the 2 piece pin and keept the original as spare. Changed out the weak firing pin spring and that made a nice difference.
I finally locate the actual flash hider most commonly found the the Vennie model FN49 so I plan on changing it over to that one when it comes in and see what groups I get on it and if it makes a difference.
LOL, sure does help on the noise some that I will say.....
|January 5, 2013, 01:33 AM
Senior Member
Join Date: July 21, 2011
Location: Idaho
Posts: 7,823
Zombie thread!!!!!!!
Run for your lives! It's alive!!!
ignore my complete lack of capitalization. I still have no problem correcting your grammar.
I never said half the stuff people said I did-Albert Einstein
You can't believe everything you read on the internet-Benjamin Franklin
|January 25, 2013, 10:32 PM
Join Date: January 3, 2013
Location: PR of Kalifornia
Posts: 77
Excited to find this thread. Im almost done putting my grandfathers al fn49 back together. Pics and a field report soon to follow.
"...and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death, and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."-Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
...What he meant to add was, "unless, of course, all responsible citizens are armed to the teeth."
|January 26, 2013, 02:15 AM
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Join Date: February 18, 2008
Location: About 20 nm from the Big Muddy
Posts: 2,595
If you live within range of Newnan, south of Atlanta, you might call and visit "Coyote Arms". They sold me a really good Enfield #4/Mk.1. at a show, very reasonable price, matching bolt, and with a bayo.
Very nice owner, and a family member is a mortician. I like these people.
Think about it-people in That profession hear about Lots of interesting guns etc for sale or disposal....
Last summer at the show up in Gwinnett GA, Coyote Frank had a very nice FN-49, though with a scope attached.
Last edited by Ignition Override; January 26, 2013 at 02:20 AM.
|January 29, 2013, 07:32 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: September 9, 2008
Location: GA
Posts: 1,108
That is a TRUE beauty, GySgt!
I've been a little wary them based on the reliability problems a friend of mine had with a high mileage one. But one these days, I'll have one..
Mauser Werke, Schmidt-Rubin, Colt, Walther, HK, Weatherby, Browning, Ruger, Beretta, Savage, Bushmaster, Marlin, Mossberg, Remington, PTR, Saiga, S&W, Sig Sauer....a few friends of mine
|January 30, 2013, 12:45 AM
Junior Member
Join Date: December 16, 2012
Posts: 3
Thank you Fairwarning, I appreciate the compliment.
Having upgraded the original one piece firing pin to the 2 piece set
and a fresh firing pin spring. I went replaced the original outer recoil spring and the 2 inner recoil spring with fresh ones improved the functioning beyond what I expected. It runs like a fine watch...
|February 6, 2013, 09:32 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: February 2, 2013
Location: South Eastern PA
Posts: 108
Where is a good place to buy a 49. I used to see many of them
listed in Shotgun News years ago, not anymore.
|February 21, 2013, 05:05 PM
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Join Date: February 21, 2013
Posts: 4
I just picked up an Egyptian for $600 on GB. They've always got several. Get yours while you still can!
|March 18, 2013, 12:34 AM
Junior Member
Join Date: March 18, 2013
Posts: 1
Aloha FN-49 Owners
Just got to this thread and found that there are a few owners around. Retired Army; living here in Hawaii. Just bought a Vennie FN-49, 7x57mm, pristine condition. Along with it was the sling and bayonet and about 500 rds of Chilain cartridges (old and dirty - need cleaning). SN is 4 digits (48xx). Could not beileve the lack of recoil when firing it. I do believe that I will really enjoy this rifle. Any comments any of you may have will be greatly appreciated. Aloha to all.
Last edited by yujin734; March 18, 2013 at 12:42 AM.
|January 22, 2014, 12:23 PM
Join Date: July 9, 2006
Location: San Antonio
Posts: 96
FN-49 x2
I am a new proud owner of one Egyptian (original, not Century) and one Venezuelan. These rifles are soooo nasty-looking (in a good way!). Have not gotten out to the range to shoot them yet, but have field-stripped and cleaned them both, replaced one-piece firing pin where needed (I think it was only the Egyptian, but anyway wanted to inspect and be sure).
We need to get more submissions for this thread!
Has anyone found and used a 20-round magazine?
|January 24, 2014, 01:39 AM
Senior Member
Join Date: January 27, 2013
Posts: 988
I didn't know this thread existed. I bought an Egyptian FN49 about a year ago, and it is EASILY my favorite rifle. I like it better than my M1 Garand even. That thing is a tack driver with modern PPU match ammo. These are really nice looking guns too.
It grabbed my attention due to its similar looks to the M1 Garand, but I quickly snatched it up when I realized what it was. It further interests me because Arabic was the second language I learned, so it is kind of nifty to read all the stuff on it.
Here she is:
Semper Fi
Marine, NRA member, SAF Defender's Club member, and constitutionally protected keeper and bearer of firearms
|March 20, 2014, 10:03 AM
Junior Member
Join Date: September 21, 2012
Location: Glasgow, Montana
Posts: 6
Out of Battery Slamfire
Hey all,
I recently had an 'out of battery slamfire' in my, two piece firing pin, FN49. I had made 8mm Mauser ammo from milsurp 30-06 cases. The dimensions of the cases (30-06 and 7.92x57mm S) are identical at the base and only need to be cut down to the correct length, sized and trimmed. The problem with making your own ammo for the FN49 is that it is a very robust firing mechanism that will ignite a sensitive primer before the round is seated in the chamber. I was using CCI 200 Large Rifle Primers which are reasonably sensitive for bolt action rifles and, I have found out, too sensitive for semi auto rifles. Even though I've used these primers for years in my FALs, and WASR AK47, I'm going to stop and use CCI 34 Large, 41 Small, or milsurp in the semi auto rifles.
The 'oob' slamfire caused the receiver and bolt carrier to become a bad fit! I searched (Google) and found a gunsmith in Missouri who could fix the rifle. His name is Guy Snelen at AMG International in Humansville, Missouri. He repaired it, test fired it, and sent it home to me. If anyone needs a good gunsmith, get in touch with Guy.
|March 23, 2014, 08:25 AM
Senior Member
Join Date: January 3, 2013
Posts: 180
i have been looking at some of yours guys fn49 pics wow what a pretty rifle! lol How much do they run for in todays market?
|March 24, 2014, 07:45 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: May 17, 2012
Posts: 1,085
600-1000 bucks, depending on caliber. The 308 box mag conversions run the most, typically. The 7mm and 30-06's after that, then the "lowly" 8mm Egyptians being the most affordable. Very solid guns, basically FALs dressed up like Garands.
"I don't believe that the men of the distant past were any wiser than we are today. But it does seem that their science and technology were able to accomplish much grander things."
-- Alex Rosewater
|March 26, 2014, 06:05 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: January 3, 2013
Posts: 180
whats wrong with the 8mm ones.. Thats the one i was wanting
|March 26, 2014, 06:27 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: May 20, 2008
Location: northcoast, Ohio
Posts: 258
I have one of the Egyptians, (can be seen earlier in the thread), I really enjoy shooting it, I just need to start reloading for it.
Where there's a will, I want to be in it.
|March 28, 2014, 01:47 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: August 30, 2009
Location: Northern AZ
Posts: 7,172
Anyone have any experience (good or bad) with the Argentine 49s with the removable 20 round mags?
Last edited by gyvel; March 29, 2014 at 01:04 AM.
|April 6, 2014, 12:07 PM
Senior Member
Join Date: January 27, 2011
Location: Colorado
Posts: 101
I have an Argentine 308. The only serious problem I have had was when I tried some of the 308 loads I had loaded up for my 308 bolt rifle.
I use CCI 200 or Wolf LR in my semi auto rifles, I use Remington 91/2 in the 700.
I decided to try the 150 grain SP load in the FN49 and see if they shot alright, on the third pull of the trigger it doubled.
Not an "out of Battery" event or anything, the primer was pierced and backed out , brass was intact ,no bulge or anything. Rifle was fine.
Since then I have duplicated the SP load for the Argentine but with CCI 200 primers. The adjustable gas system sure is nice .
I have given some thought to blocking one of my 10 round mags to 5 round and maybe take a go at elk with it.
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AMM Comment,
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Im going to say something that will probably sound heretical to many in the metals sector: When it is functional, government provides certainty in an otherwise uncertain environment.
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From Conservapedia
The Sura (or Surah) is a name for a chapter of the Koran. The chapters are roughly ordered from longest to shortest. Each sura is divided into an ayat.
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NEW DELHI (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will urge fast-growing India on Sunday to curb emissions that contribute to global warming and ease barriers to U.S. business and investment in the world's largest democracy that is viewed as a counterweight to China.
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Hong Kong, 9 June 2017 - To better uphold Dream Cruises' exceptional service standard, and deliver more personalized services and enriched onboard experience to guests, Dream Cruises has introduced DreamElite, a new loyalty and recognition programme custom-designed to personally engage and build a community among the growing number of discerning guests of Asia's luxury cruise line. Dream Cruises' decision is yet another example of a company investing in relevant tech to better serve guests and cater to their needs.
DreamElite is a unique lifestyle programme that provides members with priority and dedicated services, including designated check-in counter, members' enquiry hotline and email on shore, as well as exclusive member information counter, birthday privileges, advanced spa treatments and specialty restaurants booking service, invitation to private events and promotion on board. For example, DreamElite members can have VIP access to special onboard events such as the upcoming Fireworks at Sea. Members can also get exclusive meet-and-greet with the Captain or backstage passes to see performers after the shows.
Mr. Thatcher Brown, president of Dream Cruises said "We are pleased to launch the DreamElite programme, a perfect medium for us to leverage our core service excellence philosophy and new innovations to improve our communications with guests via this designated community of Dream Cruises' enthusiasts."
Enrolment into this loyalty program is complimentary and easy via our website or onboard mobile app. The programme features four membership tiers, the entry tier can be joined without any patronage; upon enrolment, members can upgrade to upper tiers of Jade, Sapphire and Diamond, each tier can be attained upon designated accumulation of Dream Points, which are awarded to the DreamElite member upon patronage with Dream Cruises.
Curated to accommodate smartphone users, DreamElite features a state-of-the-art user interface that is readily accessible via mobile devices for convenience. The reward redemption is also easy with "click and slide" e-voucher features on our Dream Cruises Onboard App.
From accommodation to food & beverage, from entertainment to health & wellness, DreamElite programme offers members with their most favorable pre-cruise and onboard services. Once onboard, Members can enjoy their complimentary welcome drink, check in to their pre-assigned preferential stateroom, and take a sip of their members' privileged buy-one-get one-free signature cocktail at Zouk at sea. For higher tier members, they can even get complimentary upgrade to next stateroom category upon available, complimentary access to monthly party at Zouk, special Glow Bowling offers and 10% off on advanced booking of shore excursions at two ports of call.
Moreover, DreamElite members who have one-of-a-kind stories on Dream Cruises are encouraged to share their cruise experience with a community of Dream Cruises' enthusiasts.
Note: Terms & conditions may apply to member offers.
For more information on DreamElite, visit the official website at loyalty.dreamcruiseline.com.
To communicate with a DreamElite service representative, please refer to customer hotlines and email as follows:
Hong Kong: +852-2317-1211
Mainland China: +86-4008-302908
Singapore: +65-6223-3311
Penang (Malaysia): +604-2631128
Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia): +603-2302-1288
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May 31, 2018 – The Hinges at Finest City Improv
15 Apr
20 Mar
Back in 2001, The Hinges began as The Benissimo Five shortly before changing their name. Original founding member, Tim Goggin still performs with the group.
Next show: Thursday, March 29, 2018 at the Finest City Improv theatre on the east wing of the Lafayette Hotel (North Park) – 8:00PM block.
5 Jun
I'm Mexican American. I learned English, but was never taught Spanish. So I've always had to let people know, who started to talk to me in Spanish, that I didn't know Spanish. I've learned to say the words "No Hablo Espanol" very well actually.
I was working at a department store off of Main Street. If you're from San Diego, you know that Main Street is pretty close to the border. So we get a lot of Mexicans that come over to purchase things. I was a cashier, and was really great at my job. I was always kind to people and when someone would speak to me in Spanish, I would politely tell them, "No hablo Espanol." I've said this sentence so many times. You would think I was joking with you about not being able to speak Spanish since I've said it so perfectly.
One day a very old Mexican lady came up to my check out counter with a lot of stuff that she wanted to purchase. I greeted her, she nodded and I began ringing her up. I noticed I started to get a line as well, so I called for assistance for another cashier. As I finally finished ringing her up, I told her the total. Then she spoke to me in Spanish. I thought to myself, "Damn, here we go again," and told her the phrase, "No hablo Espanol." She was shocked at what I said, looked at my name badge and asked why I don't speak Spanish. She then proceeded to ridicule me at the fact I didn't speak Spanish and that I should be ashamed of myself for being a disgrace to all Mexicans. After what was a 10 minute speech, that everyone was listening to, she asked me a question that will live with me for the rest of my life. She asked, "Aren't you Mexican?" There was a little pause, guests waited to hear my response and my co-worker was wondering what I was going to do.
So I took a deep breathe and said, "No ma'am, I'm actually Samoan." She froze for a moment AND IN PERFECT ENGLISH said, "Oh I'm sorry, well have a great day," and walked away. As the next guest came up to me I began to ring them up. He stopped me and asked me, "Are you really Samoan?" I looked at everyone that was curious as well, and said, "Nope, I'm Mexican." Everyone began laughing. That was the day I will always remember when I was Samoan for 10 minutes.
26 Mar
The Hinges had another fun night at Finest City Improv with another crazy scene made up on the spot. Four guys in two separate cars trying to make a road trip to Cleveland interrupted by their crazy gal pal who wasn't invited on the trip. Vanessa Anton is known for playing crazy, looney, out-there characters and we were very happy to be very disturbed by it. Antonio even busted out some spanish words….. Gio was disappointing on the other hand, not knowing a word or Tagalog.
The suggestion was a trip to Las Vegas and the things that stay in Vegas. We just decided maybe Cleveland was a better place. You know what they say in Cleveland…. WHAT HAPPENS IN CLEVELAND……. IS NOT AMUSING WHATSOEVER.
21 Mar


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Frequent visitors to this front page know we're pretty infatuated with unmanned sailboats, and we've followed the cool HarborWing project for years. But while Harborwing seems focuses on finding coastal tasks for its unmanned, winged platform, the SailDrone is off doing its own Transpac – and it's almost there.
That's right – according to the SailDrone Tracker, this 15-foot unmanned trimaran has averaged almost 5 knots through its first 1745 NM from San Francisco to Hawaii, with just 447 to go. It's controlled via its own navigation package combined with instructions via satellite link and a smartphone. The coolest part? The SailDrone isn't just for science, though it's already being tested for three big scientific missions; it's also a cargo carrier! Can you imagine thousands of these things, each carrying 100 KG of cargo around the world? Autonomous, hive-based transport via wind power seems like a pretty cool solution to all sorts of shipping problems, and a boat designed to be submerged and rolled and keep on sailing…what an awesome way to send a birthday present to your sailing pal. Never mind the Colombian cartels; a little camo paint and a production line for these things and you've got a very nice way to millions worth of drugs. Not that we would ever, ever suggest that such a thing would be good. Nope, not us.
More discussion here and a pretty awesome video of the SailDrone rounding the Farallones Islands here.


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This rendering shows the first two buildings planned in the 60-acre commercial and high-density residential district slated for the Springwoods Village master-planned community north of Houston.
Developers released further details Thursday about the project called CityPlace. It was formerly known as Springwoods Village Town Center.
The first buildings, designed by Gensler, will total 440,000 square feet of space with shops and restaurants on the first floors. They will go up on the eastern end of CityPlace near a hotel, public plaza, lake and park system to be developed.
Patrinely Group, CDC Houston and USAA Real Estate Co. are developing the project, which also will include luxury apartments and hotel rooms.
In all, more than 4 million square feet of office space with ground-floor retail is planned for the site, where Interstate 45, the Grand Parkway and the Hardy Toll Road come together.
The first building is expected to be completed by the end of next year. Harvey Builders is the general contractor. JLL will lease the office space, and Transwestern Retail will lease the shop space.
Houston multifamily developer Martin Fein will build a 268-unit apartment complex with first-floor retail in the project. And Woodbine Development Corp. is developing a full-service hotel with meeting space, as well as a Residence Inn by Marriott, located on the western end of CityPlace.
CDC Houston is developing Springwoods Village, an 1,800-acre planned community west of Interstate 45 in northern Harris County. It has attracted major energy companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Southwestern Energy Co., and national development groups to build in the area.
By 2015, the development is expected to have some 11,000 people working in the community and 500 residents living there.


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Now showing items 1-1 of 1
In vivo luminescence imaging of NF-κB activity and serum cytokine levels predict pain sensitivities in a rodent model of osteoarthritis.
(Arthritis Rheumatol, 2014-03)
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between NF-κB activity, cytokine levels, and pain sensitivities in a rodent model of osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS: OA was induced in transgenic NF-κB-luciferase reporter mice via ...


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Foul Ball Ignites Sparks on Face Mask of Detroit Catcher Alex Avila [VIDEO]
Foul tips are one of the perils of playing the catcher position in baseball, but one doesn't usually associate fire hazard with that risk. In the video below, a foul ball off the bat of the Chicago White Sox's A.J. Pierzynski hits the mask of Detroit Tigers' catcher Alex Avila so hard that sparks fly.
[via SB Nation Detroit]


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Double check your settings to ensure that you have both a bed time and a wake time routine set. (Note: You also have an option for a separate weekend setting that you can program on the clock so that you do not have to worry about reprograming your clock for your weekend routine.)
The creators of My Tot Clock are parents too, and we understand that sometimes "life happens!" If you need to put your little one to sleep sooner than their regular bedtime or you miss their bedtime altogether, you can start the routine using the dark blue, manual override button on the top of the clock. There is a secret key code that is used to start the bed time routine manually. To start the bed time routine using the dark blue button you need to press the button, release, then press and hold for 5 seconds. The blue light will turn on (if it's not on already) and the bedtime story, music, and/or white noise will begin (if selected).
Yes. There is a secret activation code that must be used in order to start any routine using the manual override buttons on the top of the clock. To activate any of these options simply press the corresponding color that you need, release, press and hold for 5 seconds. For example, if you want to start your nap time routine you would use the light blue button. Press the light blue button, release, then press and hold for 5 seconds.
The creators of My Tot Clock are parents too, and we understand that sometimes "life happens!" If you need to wake your little one sooner than their regular wake time, just sneak into their room and use the yellow button on the top of the clock to start the wake time routine manually. There is a secret key code that is used to start the wake time routine manually. To start the wake time routine using the yellow button you need to press the button, release, then press and hold for 5 seconds. The yellow light will turn on and the wake music will begin (if selected).
Absolutely! Remove the front faceplate from the clock. Using the "Time Mode" button on the left-hand side of the clock first program your bed time and wake time routines. You can then program your story, lullabies, and/or white noise preferences by pressing the "Sound Mode" button on the right-hand side of the clock. You have many options when programming the sounds. You have the option to program the clock to play the story, lullabies, and white noise all in one bed time setting or you can program the clock to play music only, story only, or white noise only. You also have the option to program the length of time that you would like each sound mode to play for. If your little one prefers not to have any story, lullabies, or white noise playing at night you also have the option to turn the sound off altogether.
Turning off the sound in mid-play is easy! Simply click the button on the top of My Tot Clock that corresponds to the current color and the sound will stop. For example, if the wake music is playing, click the yellow button; if the lullabies are playing (during naptime), click the light blue button; and if the story is playing (during bedtime), click the dark blue button. The sound will immediately stop. Remember to use the secret key code when pressing the light that corresponds to the current color of the clock. Using the correct colored button you press, release, press and hold for 5 seconds. To re-start the sound from the beginning, press the corresponding buttons down, release, then press again and hold for 5 seconds.
Double check the story cartridge in the back of the clock to ensure that it has been inserted all of the way into the back cartridge slot. Once you have checked that press the "Time Mode" button to cycle through your routines to make sure the proper bed time, wake time, and day of the week are set. Next, using the "Sound Mode" button cycle through the option to make sure the story, lullabies, and white noise options that you prefer have been turned on. Lastly, double check to make sure the volume levels are turned up using the volume buttons located on the right-hand side of the clock. If, for some reason, your sound program still does not start press the "Reset" button on the bottom, right-hand side of the clock using a pin then reprogram your clock.
The blue light has 5 levels of illumination and can also be turned off entirely without impacting the rest of the clock functions. Use the Blue Light Dimmer located on the front of the clock underneath the faceplate. You will find the dimmer option switch at the middle, top part of the clock.
Turning on the red and green lights is easy! Once you set the Discipline Duration (red light) or Encourage Duration (green light), simply click the corresponding buttons on the top of My Tot Clock to activate. To activate your routine press the corresponding colored button, release, press and hold for 5 seconds. So, that is press, release, press, and hold for 5 seconds. It was also designed for no cheating, so the timers cannot be turned off until time is up!
If you are unable to change the clock settings, check first that the clock is On by confirming that a color is illuminating on the front. If the clock is On and you still can't change the time settings, you may need to reboot your system. There are different ways to reboot your clock. If you are running your clock on batteries only it could be that the batteries are running low and need to be replaced. Simply remove the old batteries and replace them with 4 brand new, full strength double AA batteries. Another option to rebooting your My Tot Clock is by pressing the "Reset" button located on the bottom, right-hand side of the clock using a small pin. If you are still having issues please contact our customer service department at firstname.lastname@example.com.
The On/Off button is located on the front of the clock underneath the faceplate at the top, right-hand corner of the clock. Simply slide the power button to the "Off" position to power down your clock.
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Appropriately enough, the next EverQuest installment is called - for now, anyway - "Everquest Next." Sony Online Entertainment teased the new title, with two in-game images, at the publisher's "Fan Faire" going on in Las Vegas this weekend.
SOE President John Smedley gave several announcements regarding the EverQuest franchise, many of them already known, before dropping the EverQuest Next reveal. Smedley said more info on the new game would come forth by the end of the weekend, but it sounds like this will be more of a reboot than a direct sequel to EverQuest 1 and 2.
There's a panel today that should divulge more info. When more is known, we'll post. The in-game art is pictured at top and bottom.
Fan Faire 2010: EQII Flying Mounts, EQNext Art Revealed [Massively via Destructoid]


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FIA F1 - Post-Qualifying Driver Comments
Bahrain, Apr. 21, 2012: Mercedes' Michael Schumacher on his shock exit from Q1 after a problem with his rear wing; Lotus' Kimi Raikkonen on missing out on the top-ten shootout after opting to save a set of tyres; Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo on his excellent sixth-place grid slot; and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel on taking his first pole of the season. All 24 drivers and senior team personnel report back on Saturday...
Red Bull Sebastian Vettel (1st, Q3 - 1m 32.422s) "It feels great and I completely owe this one to the team. It wasn't an easy start to the season for us and there was a lot of expectation, but I think more than anything it was about what we expected from ourselves and we didn't match it. We've been working extremely hard on the car, trimming here and there and finding the right way to go forward. The boys haven't had much sleep the last few races - it was a tough race last weekend in China and now here, so it's good to put the car on pole for them. The car felt better all weekend, it wasn't the smoothest qualifying session, I nearly went out in Q1, but it's good to get the pole."Mark Webber (3rd, Q3 - 1m 32.637s) "The car has been working better here. The first part of qualifying wasn't easy and we both had to go again in Q1. It was a pretty decent session for me and my best qualifying performance at this circuit. Seb did a good lap for pole and we're satisfied to both be at the front. The team has worked very hard and been very focused. We haven't been too strong on Saturdays until now, but we have on Sunday. We can have a good race from there tomorrow; tyre strategy will be very, very important - a lot of drivers, including us, have used a lot of tyres already in qualifying."
Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal "A great team performance today and pretty unexpected to get pole and third on the grid here. It's testimony to all the hard work that's going on here trackside and back in the factory to deliver that kind of performance during what was a really exciting and tight qualifying session. Sebastian was nearly knocked out in Q1 and Q2 and then put it on pole in Q3, which shows how tight it was and Mark was there all the way through. Hopefully we can have a strong race tomorrow."
McLaren Lewis Hamilton (2nd, Q3 - 1m 32.520s) "I'm very happy with how qualifying went and the job the team has done so far this weekend. I've put the car on the front row at every race this year, and I feel this was one of my best qualifying performances so far. Both my laps in Q3 were very good and I feel I got everything out of the car. Fingers crossed for tomorrow: both Red Bull drivers will be very hard to beat in the race, but we're less than a tenth behind on race pace. The start could be key - we've had good launches all season so I expect us to be able to challenge Seb down to Turn One. This season is shaping up to be very interesting: it's anyone's for the taking, at the moment"
Jenson Button (4th, Q3 - 1m 32.711s) "Fourth position wasn't quite what I'd been hoping for, but it's not too bad. It's always a horrible feeling on your final Q3 lap when the balance isn't quite where you want it. I couldn't get the best from the car so I pitted early to save the tyres. Besides, fourth isn't too bad anyway. The car is definitely a lot better than it was yesterday - we made some improvements overnight. We'd expected the Red Bulls to be very quick in qualifying, so to be close to them is a positive. A nice surprise is that we're ahead of Nico [Rosberg] who was on pole just a week ago. A good launch tomorrow will be very important - both Lewis and I will be starting on the dirty side of the grid, which makes things more difficult, so we'll need to get it right. Tyre management will be crucial too. I'm looking forward to the challenge."
Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team principal "As we've already got used to seeing this season, it was very tight at the top today.Even the early stages of qualifying - Q1 and Q2 - are nowadays extremely hard to get through. Michael (Schumacher) and Kimi (Raikkonen) can confirm that. As for our boys, well, Lewis drove an excellent lap, and missed out on pole position by just a tenth of a second. Jenson, too, was his usual rapid and reliable self, ending up in fourth place, directly behind Lewis on tomorrow's grid. The race will inevitably be a physically challenging one for all the drivers, as is always the case in hot climates such as Bahrain's, but we've got two tough racers in Lewis and Jenson and our intention is to go for the win."
Mercedes Nico Rosberg (5th, Q3 - 1m 32.821s) "In general, I felt very comfortable during qualifying today. However, as we have been focusing on our race pace, there is always a compromise in the qualifying set-up. I think that I'm in a good position for the race for tomorrow. I am the only driver in the top five who has a set of new option tyres which can be very useful at this circuit. It will be very important to drive carefully, and find the right tyre management in the race, as the conditions are very tough out there."
Michael Schumacher (18th, Q1 - 1m 34.865s) "I am obviously very disappointed to have qualified in 18th position on the grid for a race which looks to be quite competitive for us. Unfortunately on my fast lap, which was looking quite good, my DRS broke in the last sector. We tried to fix it in the garage but were not able to go out again. Trying for a lap without DRS on different tyres would not have made sense. We now have to try to see what we can do from here and push as much as possible."
Ross Brawn, Mercedes team principal "A session of mixed fortunes for the team this afternoon. In Q3, we made the strategic decision for Nico to do just one lap and, although his starting position is not optimum, he is the only driver in the top five to have a new set of option tyres available. This could prove valuable in the race, and we will learn tomorrow if our strategic decision pays off. Looking to Michael, he experienced a failure of the DRS rear wing flap, just before he entered the back straight on what would have been his quickest lap. This cost him around half a second, and with little more than a second separating the top 17 cars in Q1, that proved decisive. Unfortunately, we were unable to repair the system in time for him to run again, and he was bumped down to P18 at the very last moment. It will be a long and interesting race tomorrow, in demanding conditions, and we will look to make the most of our opportunities to achieve the strongest possible team result."
Norbert Haug, vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport "From the outset, our focus at this circuit, where tyre usage and availability of new tyres are crucial, was to be in a good position in that respect during the race on Sunday. We think this is even more important here than on the three circuits that we have already raced at this year. As a consequence, Nico completed just one run in Q3 in order to save a set of fresh options for tomorrow. We knew that this strategy would likely compromise his position on the grid. However, knowing that we will be well-placed tomorrow on the tyre front, I am convinced that this was the right thing to do. Last year, there were occasions when we were more than one and a half seconds behind pole position. Today, with one attempt compared to the two made by the teams ahead of us, we are behind pole by not quite four tenths. We are heading in the right direction, and our team is working in a focused and systematic way in order to achieve our targets. I feel sorry for Michael who had the pace for a good starting position, as he has proven with a fourth place and two third places in Q3 at the previous races. A problem with the rear wing mechanism prevented him from getting a good result - but he can achieve this tomorrow. Michael showed good pace during our long runs and he will be well equipped with fresh tyres. After our great result last weekend with Nico securing pole on Saturday and victory on Sunday, I am quite happy with our performance this weekend so far. Our team has demonstrated that we can be competitive in quite different circumstances. Well done Sebastian on your pole today."
Toro Rosso Daniel Ricciardo (6th, Q3 - 1m 32.912s) "It feels very good and I am very happy with that result. We had a below average week in China with some updates we brought. We persisted with them and we made them work significantly better here, which is down to the hard work of the whole team. My communication with the team was also very good and it has helped us get into Q3. I was happy with my driving and I got better and better in each of the sessions. It's not always you have a day like this, so I can enjoy the moment, bearing in mind that it's tomorrow that counts. Now we have to put it all together for the race and tonight we will be looking at all our strategy options regarding tyres. It helps to go into a race feeling confidence and starting from sixth, I have to focus on scoring as many points as possible, as this is the best chance we have had so far. I hope I am still smiling tomorrow evening."
Jean-Eric Vergne (19th, Q1 - 1m 35.014s) "I do not understand why I was so slow this afternoon, especially as the car was going well this morning and as can be seen from Daniel's impressive performance. Well done to him. I am keen to get back to the engineers to look at the data and find out why I could not deliver the performance I was hoping for. The track was three degrees warmer this afternoon than in the morning, but I don't think it was down to that. I've started from the lower half of the grid before and then managed to have a good race, so given that I think the car has the potential, that is what I plan to do tomorrow."
Laurent Mekies, Toro Rosso chief engineer "The most positive aspect of today is that we seem to have understood the reasons why we were quite slow last week in China. We came here with a few possible solutions and it seems to have delivered reasonable results. Today, if you look at the qualifying times, we have mixed feelings: Daniel has secured a fantastic result after driving very well all weekend, making no mistakes. However, it did not go our way with Jean-Eric, but hopefully we can work together to deliver something better tomorrow, as he has already produced some good races from low down the grid. Daniel will have a very tough fight up there, but whatever happens, it was important to put last weekend behind us. Finally, a big thank you to everyone, here at the track, at the factory in Faenza and the wind tunnel in Bicester: we are coming to the end of a long and intense four race stint and it is good to see that all the hard work from everyone has delivered such a positive result today."
Lotus Romain Grosjean, (7th, Q3 - 1m 33.008s) "It was a good result for the team. We've now got through to Q3 at every race weekend this season and that's always satisfying. I think we can be pleased with how the car is working. If I hadn't made a small mistake on my flying lap we could maybe be even further up the order. It's a big contrast here to the conditions we saw in China, and I think we can be proud of how well we've adapted to that change as it makes finding the right setup a big challenge. Today we were maybe a bit further behind the leaders than we'd like, but our race pace looks good and it's another close grid so tomorrow should be very interesting."
Kimi Raikkonen, (11th, Q2 - 1m 33.789s) "We had the speed today and we could easily have gone through to the final session with another run, but we thought it was worth taking the risk to only do one lap in Q2 and save fresh sets of tyres for the race. Managing the tyres will be a priority tomorrow, so while it was a gamble that didn't get us through to the final session it will hopefully be a strategy which pays off in the race. We knew it was going to be close and of course we always want to be as high up the grid as possible, but there were two options and we went for the one which we believe will deliver the best result on Sunday. There are no points given out on Saturday, so let's see what happens tomorrow."
Alan Permane, Lotus trackside operations director "We're a little bit disappointed with our pace on the soft tyre and we need to assess where we lost out on speed as we didn't achieve what we thought would be possible with Romain in Q3. Kimi's pace was comparable to Romain's and with another set of tyres he could have gone through to Q3.Tomorrow will be all about tyre degradation, so we took the risk not to run Kimi a second time in the Q2 session in order to save tyres. Unfortunately, he was pipped out of the top ten at the last moment. We knew it was a risk not running him again, but the performance penalty of not making Q3 was is not as great as it could have been due to the benefits of the fresh tyres saved for the race. It's better to be starting in P11 with four new sets of tyres available for the race than further up the grid with fewer new sets. Kimi's in a strong position and there is the potential for a good result. We are capable of running for the entire race with only new tyres and the performance benefits that brings. Romain did a great job in Q1 on the prime tyre, but his pace wasn't quite there with his initial run in Q2 on the soft tyre so we ran him again. In Q3 he made a slight mistake which probably cost around two tenths, and the grid is very close out there."
Sauber Sergio Perez (8th, Q3 - 1m 33.394s) "Today was a very good qualifying and another great effort by the team. The result is a lot better than we expected after free practice. We really managed to maximise the car's potential today. The target now is to gain some positions at the start and then we will see how the race develops. It will be pretty tricky for everybody tomorrow in terms of tyre degradation. Another podium doesn't look realistic at all; this track isn't an easy one for us anyway. But we will go for points."
Kamui Kobayashi (12th, Q2 - 1m 33.806s) "With my last set of fresh tyres it went quite well and I could improve at the beginning of my final lap but then I made a mistake at turn eleven. I lost a couple of tenths there. Overall the car was much better in qualifying than it had been in free practice this morning. Basically we have gone back to yesterday's set-up and that was the right decision. This circuit here should be fairly good for overtaking. Of course straight line speed is essential for that and I hope we can do well tomorrow."
Giampaolo Dall'Ara, Sauber head of track engineering "The result is in the region we expected it to be before we came here. We were aware that it would be difficult to be as good as in China, but everything went okay today. We struggled a bit with the balance in the morning. This track is definitely not easy for us but then qualifying was fine and both drivers did a good job. Technically there were no problems. For the race the trick will be good tyre management without sacrificing too much pace. We are definitely in a position to fight for points."
Force India Paul di Resta (10th, Q3 - no time) "I'm very happy with our qualifying performance today. With our reduced programme yesterday it wasn't easy getting all the work done, but the team did a good job to get the car dialled into the track before qualifying. I had a great lap in Q2, just three tenths away from the quickest time, but in Q3 we all took the decision from a strategic point of view to save tyres. I think this will put us in the best shape for tomorrow and I hope we can deliver a strong race."
Nico Hulkenberg (13th, Q2 - 1m 33.807s) "It has been a very busy day for us, but we learned a lot this morning and improved the car all the way through to qualifying where we showed some good speed. My Q2 lap was looking very strong until the final sector where I got some oversteer and ran wide, which cost me a few tenths. Otherwise I think we could have had both cars in the top ten. But I'm still pretty pleased and I feel that we can fight for points tomorrow."
Robert Fernley, Force India deputy team principal "I think the whole team has delivered an impressive performance today, which leaves us in a competitive position heading into the race. We worked hard at improving the car between final practice and qualifying, and I think the track conditions came to us as well. Paul's pace in Q2 shows the potential we have in the car and allowed him to reach Q3 for the first time this year, which was a tremendous effort. Nico was close to joining him too, but a small mistake cost him some time in the final part of the lap. We are now looking forward to the race and building on today's showing to help put on a great spectacle for Bahrain."
Caterham Heikki Kovalainen (16th, Q2 - 1m 36.132s) "That was an excellent qualifying session for our team. It's a real bonus for us getting into Q2 but we'd already seen this morning that we were close to a few cars and we thought that with the conditions today, being hot and pretty windy, we might be able to use the option tyres to get us into Q2, and it worked out. We've also saved a set of tyres for tomorrow as we were pretty sure we wouldn't be able to get too much higher, and with the degradation rates we've seen yesterday and today it's clear tyre management is going to play a big role tomorrow. Overall, I'm delighted for the team. We've worked really hard to put ourselves in a position where we can fight and today we showed that we are close enough to record results like we did today. We made progress over the winter, and even though we haven't really shown it yet this season, today's the sort of result we knew we could put in, so it's a great day, for everyone in Caterham F1 Team back at the factory and here on track."
Vitaly Petrov (20th, Q1 - 1m 35.823s) "I'm reasonably pleased with how today went, bearing in mind the problem we had with the floor in FP3 which cost us a bit of time and meant we weren't really able to find a balance on the soft tyres that I could really exploit in qualifying. My run on the prime tyres was good - I was very close to my team mate and the car felt good, but when we switched to the options the car just didn't feel right. It wasn't so much a balance issue, it was more about how the car felt under braking and I think that's what cost me the time on the soft tyres. Despite that I think we look like we're getting towards where we should be. We're much closer to the cars ahead than we were in China and having already seen how we can fight with some of the midfield cars in the races I think tomorrow could be a good day for us. It's definitely going to be interesting. There will be a lot of stops and it'll come down to who uses their tyres best."
Thierry Salvi, Renault Sport F1 Support Leader for Caterham "Seeing Heikki in Q2 is a very good result for us and the whole team. We have been working on giving the drivers the right balance between top speed and traction out of the slower corners and today's result shows we have found the right setup for this track. The wind today, particularly on the main straight where there was a stronger head wind than yesterday, meant we had to fine tune the engine maps and our final positions in today's qualifying session is the reward for the work the whole team has done."
Mark Smith, Caterham technical director "We are all delighted with today's result. This morning we had a very good FP3 and the work we have done overnight has paid off with Heikki's result today. Everything on his car worked as we had planned and this is a clear sign that the whole team is making progress. Vitaly had a strong run on the first set of medium tyres but he just was not able to get the most out of the soft tyres on his second run, but he has already shown how strong he is on Sundays so we have good reason to be positive about his prospects here as well. We know we have a good package for the race tomorrow, so we'll look forward to what will definitely be an exciting Grand Prix and aim to maintain the sort of pace we have already shown in the first three races this season."
HRT Pedro de la Rosa (22nd, Q1 - 1m 37.883s) "I'm very happy to be honest. We come from not qualifying in Australia not long ago, so when I saw the times we posted I was glad. For us it's an important jump and, sincerely, at such a complicated track for us as this one, we didn't expect to finish ahead of one Marussia, so that's satisfying. Tyre degradation is high and tomorrow I will have to find the compromise in the first part of the sector in order to have enough rubber for the last one to maintain some grip. We know that the race will be a three-stop or four-stop one and that we're going to struggle, but so will everyone else so we have to go for it and do the best we can."
Narain Karthikeyan (24th, Q1 - 1m 38.314s) "Yesterday was a big struggle for me. We had a tough morning but later improved. Today we made some good progress and in qualifying the car was quite good. In sector 2 I had a misfire on my fastest lap, on turn 12, which cost me a bit of time. The amazing thing is that we haven't done much to the car but we're quite close to the group ahead of us and that's very positive. We found a lot of time from yesterday to today, so we can safely say we've shown real progress. Tomorrow is another day and the race will be quite difficult because of the massive tyre degradation but what's certain is that we're heading into it fully confident that we can do it."
Toni Cuquerella, HRT technical director "We've continued to progress adequately and, once again, surpassed the cut without any problems. To be more precise, this time we were in the 104.3% and much closer to our rivals. In the practice session we tried out different set-ups and the changes made worked well in qualifying so we can say we're satisfied. Tomorrow an exciting race awaits us because we expect to see between three and four stops per car since the degradation of the tyres is high. It will also be a challenge for the brakes and the cooling in long distance as conditions will be tough. Management of all these elements will be key."
Pirelli Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director "We've seen a great job from Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull, who demonstrated their ability to get the most out of the tyres by extracting every last bit of performance from the softer compound. With the whole field having closed up considerably in terms of pure pace this year, every single advantage that any driver finds is magnified - which means that tyre strategy becomes all the more important. That strategy also influences qualifying, with about 18-20 laps expected for the soft tyres in race conditions and 23-25 laps for the medium tyres. We can expect three stops for most of the leading runners, although some may try two depending on which compound they favour. Degradation is more or less where we expect it to be, given track temperatures in excess of 45 degrees centigrade. In terms of the speed differential between the tyres, we're still expecting 0.6-0.8 seconds between the two compounds or maybe a bit less. Tyre degradation is certainly going to be an important factor in the race tomorrow, but managing the tyres correctly presents another important opportunity for this extremely talented grid of drivers to demonstrate their skills."


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European Swell Shout Take Two
It's not unusual. The Atlantic Jetstream settles into a pattern and we can see carbon copy conditions over a period of weeks. It can create frustrating flat spells, or equally a run of monster storms lighting up the best big wave spots. Hot on the heels of the last swell we're looking at a very similar storm over the next few days and another chance for European surfers to fill their boots. Video the session and you could even win a boat trip around North Sumatra with your mates with The Winter Session.
As with last weeks monster swell this next storm is already forming in the Labrador sea right now. Following a similar track it's generating swell through the same combination of size, power and a movement building energy through a huge dynamic fetch. Where last week's swell weighs in just a little heavier than this one (50ft peak heights vs. 40ft predicted here) the positives for this one are a slightly more northerly track for the storm, meaning, initially, the chance of lighter local winds as the first stage of the swell arrives on Friday at many locations.
For example where at Mullaghmore in Ireland surfers braved 40mph South Westerly winds on the last swell, there's a good chance they could be half this on Friday at times. That's still windy by most counts, but for Ireland at the peak of a swell like this it's not the norm.
Complicating things further south is the chance of another smaller low pressure system running through the Bay of Biscay below this storm that'll bring tricky local winds later in the weekend. Friday looks to be the day almost everywhere with, for example, just light variable winds at Nazare as the start of the swell fills in.
*Sessions from this swell with be eligible to enter The Winter Session, so don't forget to document them. To enter send your edit via wetransfer.com to: firstname.lastname@example.com and we'll do the rest.


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Dodgers reinstate Clayton Kershaw from DL; option Pedro Baez
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Dodgers today reinstated left-handed pitcher Clayton Kershaw from the 15-day disabled list and optioned right-handed pitcher Pedro Baez to Double-A Chattanooga.
Kershaw, the two-time National League Cy Young Award winner, picked up the win on Opening Day against the D-backs in Australia, allowing just one run on five hits in 6.2 innings in the Dodgers' 3-1 victory, before being placed on the DL with a Teres Major strain. The 26-year-old made two rehab starts, April 25 for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga (5.0 IP, 2 H, R, HR, BB, 6 SO - 56 pitches) and April 30 for Double-A Chattanooga (5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 SO - 86 pitches), and will make the start tonight at Washington.
Baez was recalled from Chattanooga yesterday and made his Major League debut in last night's loss.


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Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance LimitedPension
Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Ltd. is a joint venture between Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.(KMBL), and Old Mutual plc, a South African savings and wealth management company established in 1845.
The Kotak Life Insurance product portfolio has a wide variety of insurance products. These include individual, group, and rural plans. It covers all traditional insurance plans such as whole life, endowment, term, and money-back plans. The insurer also has a comprehensive array of unit-linked plans aimed at retirement planning.
3 Insurance Plan available
Company Trust NoteThis Know Your Insurance section covers only those products and sectors that are related to personal finance. The content available here has been collated from existing, publicly available information and are only indicative in nature. They are designed to give the user a general idea of insurers and products. The details given here should NOT be taken as the final word. The user must contact the respective insurer to get full details about any policy or product.
Apnainsurance.com is neither an insurance agent nor an insurance broker. Please consult your personal finance advisor, insurance agent, or broker before taking any decision to buy any insurance product.


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Hoke wrote:Please understand, Bryan, not attempting to diss you at all---as I said, I honor those who go a little further, those who push the envelope, those who explore. But "natural wine" was never anything more than a contrived tag to sell something that never existed in the first place. It was a tag devised, oddly enough, by the very same people who are the quickest to deride marketing tags used by other people.
Hoke, we are agreeing just not communicating the fact that we are in agreement very well.


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Years ago, when we bought the Little Yellow House on the Hill, I didn't know that the little green bush on the edge of the driveway was a gift...until one day their pink and yellow blooms opened just when I needed them.
I soon learned this winter-happy plant is a Camellia, my favorite flower because she is the most beautiful when all the world is closing up. As temperatures drop and leaves fall; when suddenly, as if overnight, the world lacks colorful life, the Camellia "bursts into bloom" and is glad. She knows harsh weather and frozen earth won't be her end. She sits beneath the protection of a hardwood tree, her leaves green and hearty, flower-faces pressing toward the sun.
It would be enough, this little spot of encouragement, but our hill holds an abundance of flora favor.
There is also the Camellia Tree.
She lives close to the house, offering her brilliant blossom in the last weeks of winter.
The Camellias encourage me to push through to the promise of warmer, more colorful days.
Last winter, when we had storm after storm, more snow than I had seen in my lifetime, I prepared my heart for the worst. It was too much to hope for beautiful blossom on the Camellia tree when ice had frozen her limbs.
I was wrong.
Winter made her stronger. More vibrant and fruitful than ever.
There is hope in the winter... even when we think all is lost.
I want to be like the Camellia, facing winter with strength. Finding a place to thrive under the protection of the Tree of Life. Inspiring hope in those who walk through seasons of their own.
The Camellia is but a glimpse of the beauty and mercy of our Creator, who in the face of all the most beautiful things on earth, will remain the Loveliest of all lovely things, because He Himself is Love...
These little plants in my yard, here today and gone tomorrow, are but a shadow, but they do remind me of the Christmas story.
There is One who came to us, on the coldest of nights, through the deadliest of winters, in the darkest of seasons... to all people. Prince of Peace, Mighty God, Jesus Christ, Savior.
We can lift our faces upward and see the beauty in our winter because He is living Hope: yesterday, today, forever.


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RCOM-Etisalat Deal – First Visibility Of Towerco Value
■ Tower deal is a positive — RCOM today announced Etisalat DB (Swan Telecom) as the first external tenant on its towerco (RTIL). We believe this is a material positive for RCOM given: 1) it helps increase credibility around RCOM's towerco value which till now had only captive tenancy (GSM + CDMA), and 2) capex recovery at 13-14% is also higher than our base case for RTIL (12.5%) and the industry (~10%).
■ Etisalat's base load goes to RTIL — As per the company, the deal involves Etisalat becoming tenant on 30k of RCOM's towers across 15 circles over next 18-21 months. As a result, tenancy could be >2.0x by 2011 (1.6x being captive) vs. our long-term assumption of 2.3x. The deal, while not exclusive, gives first preference to RTIL for the proposed cell site locations.
■ Deal terms ensure good return potential — Management claims incremental revenue potential of Rs100bn over 10 years. On a base of 30k towers, assuming marginal opex increase, capex recovery is estimated at 13-14%. Though high capex recovery could partly be attributed to inclusion of backhaul in the deal (~10-15% of capex), it is still materially higher vis-à-vis our industry estimates (i.e. Indus/Bharti Infratel). At first glance, based on the sharing targets and capex recovery, we estimate towerco could add up to Rs30/share to RCOM's value.
■ Trends to watch — 1) Ability to attract other tenants at 13-14% capex recovery given its adverse impact on a new entrant's cost structure, and 2) ability to offer deeper coverage – 50k towers vs. 100k of Indus.
To see full report: RCOM


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One of the big stories these past couple of months came from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen's Federal Open Market Committee press conference on March 19 when she indicated that the U.S. central bank could start to raise interest rates six months after ending asset purchases, which would move the rate hike timetable up by about six months.
While no one knows with any certainty when or if interest rates will normalize, it is widely known that interest rates are low based on historical measures — and if rates are low, then prices, by definition, are high. Although prices can remain elevated for an extended period, the danger of buying high suggests that prices will soon drop, and the bond market is not immune to such an effect.
This scenario puts advisors in the position of needing to address the fixed income allocation of client accounts differently from in years past. No longer can a series of longer dated U.S. Treasuries reliably and comfortably do the job.
The ETF industry has created the tools and the opportunity for resourceful advisors to build fixed income portfolios that can provide reasonable income without taking on excessive interest rate risk. ETFs allow efficient access to strategies such as interest rate hedging and market segments like emerging market, corporate sectors, varying maturities and managed solutions.
For many years, iShares has offered different maturity ranges in the Treasury and credit spaces. IShares then took a page from the Guggenheim playbook, offering target maturity funds whereby all the bonds are held to a particular maturity in the same year and then the fund closes.
For an example of such a fund, the Guggenheim BulletShares 2018 Corporate Bond ETF (BSCI) allows an advisor to include a very specific exposure for any sized portfolio without costing the client the expense of a wide bid-ask spread on what might be a $10,000 order. Typically, the smaller the order, the larger the mark-up to buy an individual bond or mark-down to sell an individual bond.
ProShares has emerged as a leader in the hedged fixed income space with funds targeting investment-grade and high-yield bond portfolios that employ an overlay of shorting Treasury futures to protect against rising rates.
PIMCO and AdvisorShares have been progressive in the actively managed space. While actively managed funds do not assure outperformance, there will be advisors and individual investors looking to delegate at least some of their fixed income portfolio oversight to managers who make the bond market their full-time job.
Firms including WisdomTree and Market Vectors also offer emerging market bond funds, and while this raises concerns about currency exposure, many emerging market bonds are issued in U.S. dollars to make them more attractive for U.S. investors.
The key takeaway is that these strategies only previously existed for the largest market participants. ETF providers have leveled the playing field. RIAs who are willing to spend the time and opportunity to assemble sophisticated portfolios can now better help clients withstand whatever might be coming to the bond market, especially if interest rates climb.
If interest rates escalate, there will invariably be investors who get caught owning the wrong parts of the bond market. Part of that effect will stem from the entirely new paradigm that certain segments of the bond market carry the same volatility as equities or maybe even more volatility than equities.
The reality is that the fixed income market, by virtue of unprecedented Fed policy, has become far more complex than it has been in 30-plus years. ETFs can help advisors who take the time to learn and implement strategies to protect their clients from what seems like certain increased bond market complexity.


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World's Smallest Deer Gives Birth
September 25, 2009
Earlier this month, the world's smallest deer, a Southern pudu, gave birth at Belfast Zoo. Baby Caju is 3 weeks old and is the first Chilean pudu birth for Belfast Zoo and the first captive birth of the species in Ireland.
2 September 2009
The world's smallest deer, a Southern pudu, has given birth in Belfast Zoo. Baby Caju is 3 weeks old and is the first Chilean pudu birth for Belfast Zoo and the first captive birth in Ireland.
Zoo Keeper, Raymond Robinson is delighted at the safe arrival. "Caju is a great addition to the zoo. Our male pudu arrived in 2004 and our female arrived in 2008, and it's great to have a baby already. He is very small and can be difficult to spot but is having great fun running around his enclosure. "
The main threat to the southern pudu is destruction of its temperate forest habitat for cattle ranching and logging. Habitat loss through conversion of forest into open lands poses a big problem to the survival of the southern pudu, as do road accidents and hunting.
Zoo Manager, Mark Challis, said "We are delighted to support the captive population of the pudu helping to conserve a small but unique deer under threat in its natural habitat".
The southern Pudu is listed on appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), helping protect the southern pudu by banning all international trade of the animal.
The baby pudu will reach its full height by three months, and can be seen in its enclosure with mum and dad and two southern screamers.


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Adam Hurd and Briane Greene celebrate after Buffalo State's win against UW-Whitewater.
D3sports.com photo
If you're looking for the last time a team ranked No. 1 in the D3football.com Top 25 lost in the regular season, you can stop checking. There just isn't one to speak of. This is a truly rare event in Division III football, and Keith McMillan and Pat Coleman run through the history of regular-season losses, talk about the game, the direction of the UW-Whitewater program and Buffalo State and much more. (Plus, there's even more on the game story page, with highlights and longer postgame interviews.)
It was a huge game but it wasn't the only one. Pat and Keith dig into the UMHB-Wesley game, the Linfield-Cal Lutheran game, the Tommie-Johnie game and more. We say so long to the Courage Bowl we knew and loved, talk about the NATHC-MIAA challenge, Sul Ross State's big victory, plus opportunities seized by Baldwin Wallace, Heidelberg, Hobart, Thiel, Rockford, Rowan and more.
Plus: Why you might or might not want Pat Coleman at your game, some teams who seized the day (and some who just missed), and if you want to more know about who we talked about, check the tags at the bottom of this post.
You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast
Plus, here's this week's D3football.com reports.


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Who says women can't do pull-ups? Certainly not Neghar Fonooni, a Baltimore personal trainer who, in the span of a year, went from doing assisted pull-ups to hoisting her own body weight plus a 36-pound kettlebell over the bar. "The first time I got a really clean, unassisted pull-up, I jumped down, looked around the gym and said, 'Did anybody see that?' It was amazing," she says.
According to Fonooni, 30, pull-ups are becoming an increasingly common goal among women, even though — or perhaps because — they just seem so hard. Hard, but not impossible.
Here are her top tips for getting your first pull-up:
1. Do pull-ups. It might sound like stating the obvious, but you won't get better at pull-ups without doing pull-ups. Start with assisted pull-ups using a band.
2. Get help. Fonooni prefers using elastic bands (such as these by Rogue) instead of assisted pull-up machines to build up strength; bands force you to engage your core and lower body. To use, loop the band around a pull-up bar and place one foot into the band to help lighten the load. Use a box or bench to reach the band.
3. Understand the movement. Form matters, whether you are doing assisted or unassisted pull-ups. Start with arms fully extended, from a dead hang, and pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar.
4. Start slow. Beginners should start with assisted pull-ups once a week for three to four weeks, aiming for 10reps to build up muscle endurance and to get used to the movement.
5. Challenge yourself. As you get stronger, decrease the assistance by using a thinner band with less resistance, lower the number of reps and work up to practicing three days a week.
6. Mix it up. Fonooni suggests practicing chin-ups, with palms facing in, and flexed arm hangs, in which you start with your chin over the bar and slowly lower yourself. Chin-ups allow you to engage additional muscles in the forearms and biceps, making it slightly easier than a standard pull-up, which is a lat-heavy exercise. Combining the different exercises will help prevent overuse injuries.
7. Use your whole body. Pull-ups are a full-body workout. Activate your core — abs, back and glutes — as well as your arms.
8. Don't lose hope. Progress will be slow, Fonooni says. For many women, it could take weeks, months or more than a year to get that first pull-up.
9. Celebrate. When you finally get over that bar, there's nothing wrong with doing a little happy dance. Then get back up there and go for a second one.


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Today the Pirates released Craig Hansen, who has pitched 22 innings in the past two years due to a nerve injury in his shoulder. This has brought about some haranguing about the Jason Bay trade since the Pirates currently have no major league players to show for the deal. Here is the trade mentioned, with the current status (as related to the Pirates) for each player.
But that's not the whole story. Bay didn't just appear out of thin air; he was acquired in a trade for Brian Giles, who was acquired in a trade for Ricardo Rincon. If you step back far enough things get pretty interesting. Here is the entire chart of players traded or signed that went into the acquisition of Jason Bay, or were spoils of a related trade. It is a large graphic, so please click on the image to see the whole thing.
For Ricardo Rincon, Rob Mackowiak and Roberto Hernandez the Pirates now have three major leaguers, one depth pitcher and one good prospect. They also had five seasons of Brian Giles, five of Jason Bay, three of Oliver Perez, two of Xavier Nady and two and a half of Damaso Marte. Not a bad haul for two relief pitchers and a 53rd round draft pick.
UPDATE 5/17: Updated the chart to match the formatting of later charts.
Filed under: baseball, Pirates, Trade Tree | Tagged: Andy LaRoche, baseball, Brandon Moss, Brian Giles, Bryan Morris, Corey Stewart, Damaso Marte, Daniel McCutchen, Jason Bay, Jeff Karstens, Jose Tabata, Oliver Perez, Pirates, Ricardo Rincon, Rob Mackowiak, Roberto Hernandez, Ross Ohlendorf, Trade Tree, Xavier Nady | 7 Comments »