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Today, Matthews' population has grown to over 30,000 citizens. Keeping pace with development in the area, Matthews' city limits now encompass 17 square miles. There are hotels, restaurants, shopping centers, recreational facilities and a hospital. In 1996, the National Register of Historic Places listed 10 downtown buildings in Matthews. Known as Matthews Commercial District, they comprise a small, but remarkably intact, collection of structures dating from the late 19th to the early 20th century.
On Oct. 2, 2000, the ground breaking ceremony for the new Matthews Town Hall and Library took place with Mayor Lee Myers, town council members and Mecklenburg County library officials turning the first shovels of land. A partnership was established between the Town and the PLCMC (Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County) to work together to build the new library. A Library Furnishings Committee was established to raise the $150,000 (Matthews's portion) necessary to furnish the new facility. On Sept. 30, 2001, the new Matthews Town Hall and Library was dedicated.On March 8, 2015, Matthews celebrated its 136th year as a town. Matthews has grown from 191 citizens in 1880 to a population of more than 30,000.
What was true in 1879 is still true today. Matthews is a special place to live, work and raise a family.

subset: commoncrawl


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Sofitel Gold Coast Broadbeach artfully blends its French origins with the very best of local culture. Whether casually dining outdoors in the resort-style bistro, or indulging in French cuisine in the chef-hatted restaurant, room 81 - this is luxury dining -and living- unlike anything else.
Rooms exude comfort with contemporary furnishings, individually controlled air conditioning, stunning marble bathrooms with separate bath and shower, private balconies, LCD televisions, movie channels and high speed Internet connection.
Hotel facilities include room81, Bistro On3, TC's Bar and Gaming, library, gymnasium and two heated outdoor pools overlooking the hinterland.
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With magnificent 180 degree views of the Gold Coast, these rooms contain one king size bed with combined living area and large wraparound balcony. The en-suite bathroom features a spa bath, from which you can enjoy the ocean views and champagne.
Note: Information on listed products and services are provided by the operator and were correct at the time of publishing. Rates are indicative based on the minimum and maximum available prices of products and services. Please visit the operator's website for further information. All prices quoted are in Australian dollars (AUD).


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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A winter storm that is pummeling the northeast is keeping a local group of theater students from Providence School, who are visiting New York City, from getting back to Jacksonville.
The storm is causing widespread travel troubles, including canceling more than 300 flights going to and coming from the Northeast.
RELATED: Jacksonville family stranded in NYC
One of those flights was scheduled to bring a group of theater students back to Jacksonville from New York; seventeen students along with their teacher, Jennifer Hudson, are stranded in New York City.
"Wow, what am I going to do now with 17 teenagers?" Providence School Drama Director Jennifer Hudson said with a laugh.
Channel 4 checked in with the music group Tuesday and caught them singing their way to warmth in NYC.
"It's in the teens, but if feels like one as in like 1 degree. The wind is just whipping, very heavy snow fall," said Hudson.
The group of 17 students has spent the last four days in the Big Apple attending the Broadway Students Summit, which offers eight workshops to help aspiring actors hone their craft. The trip was in preparation for their premiere performance of "The Phantom of the Opera."
"We got a call from Delta, we're going to fly out tomorrow," said Hudson. "They booked us on a three o'clock flight, so we really hope we can get back tomorrow before any more bad weather hits."
Until then, the group said they are enjoying the snow.
"We went to Central Park and played in the snow and some of the kids actually never seen snow, so they didn't even know what to do with it," said Hudson. "You know they were rolling in it and pelting each other with snowballs, and they built a snowman and just some really cute stuff."
Temperatures are expected to dip even lower overnight in New York, so the group told Channel 4 they plan on picking up a few layers to make it through the rest of their cold weather traveling.
"We all look 50 pounds heavier than we actually are because yeah, we're wearing everything we have in our suitcase," said Hudson. "I think we're looking forward to getting back to Florida so we can actually, you know, look like ourselves again."


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Latest Nutrition, Food & Recipes News
TUESDAY, Oct. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists say they've answered the age-old question of why that glass of Cabernet or Merlot goes so well with your steak: something called "mouth feel."
In essence, the "rough" astringent taste of wine is a perfect complement to the "slippery," fatty flavor of meat, balancing each other out, say a team reporting in the Oct. 9 issue of Current Biology.
The findings help explain why people like to pair astringent (sour or bitter) items with fatty choices, such as certain types of wine and steak, ginger with sushi, and soda with burgers and fries. Salad dressings, with their typical oils and acidic tastes, may also complement the greens they are added to.
For example, the researchers found that weakly astringent brews containing grape seed extract, a green tea ingredient and aluminum sulfate countered the slippery sensation that comes from fat in meat.
"The mouth is a magnificently sensitive [sensory] organ, arguably the most sensitive in the body," study co-author Paul Breslin of Rutgers University and the Monell Chemical Senses Center, said in a journal news release. And that means that "the way foods make our mouths feel has a great deal to do with what foods we choose to eat," he said.
"The opposition between fatty and astringent sensations allows us to eat fatty foods more easily if we also ingest astringents with them," Breslin said.
These findings suggest that humans naturally combine opposite tastes in meals in order have a balance in our mouths -- something which may have benefits in terms of maintaining a diverse diet, the researchers said.
-- Robert Preidt
Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.


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Posts Tagged 'co. clare'
Bringing the famous Classey-Robinson exhibit back to life
It's October 28, 1950. Through the august portal of Burlington House, Piccadilly, home of the Royal Society, a crowd of people, mostly men, is passing.
These are the nation's leading entomologists, experts in the Diptera (two-winged flies),Hymenoptera (wasps, bees and ants),Homoptera (cicadas, spittlebugs), Odonata(damsels and dragonflies), Phasmatodae (stick insects), Hemiptera (bugs) and a host of others. In the spotlight today are theNeuroptera (lacewings and antlions) and the Orthoptera (locusts), but probably in greatest abundance are the connoisseurs of the Coloeoptera (beetles) and especially the Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). Examples of all these orders and families will be on show inside the building.
The Exhibition described in the Society's Proceedings of 1950-53
The occasion is the Annual Exhibition of the South London Entomological and Natural History Society. Last night, according to custom, the Society dined together in the Charing Cross Hotel, where out-of-towners will have put up for the night. One can imagine the late bar crowded with people discussing this or that aberration, and everyone is agog to see the green moths that E.W. Classey and H.S. Robinson have brought back from County Clare on the west coast of Ireland.
Exhibit 60, entered jointly by E.W. Classey and H.S. Robinson, was the highlight of the show. In a single specimen drawer were both the year's new additions to the British list: Luceria virens, the Burren Green, the specimens taken by Eric Classey's expedition; and Diarsia florida the Fenland Square-Spot, a bred series of the moth which had been identified for the first time that July in Yorkshire's Askham Bog.
1950 firsts: Luceria virens and Diarsia florida, both new additions to the British List.
These are the actual specimens.
Also much talked about were the exhibit's long series of the Heart and Dart, Agronista exclamationis and Brown-line Bright Eyes Hadena lepida, taken in a single night and there to illustrate the vast attractive power of Hugh Robinson's new mercury vapour moth trap, which had been tested on the Burren expedition and the previous month to great excitement. The drawer thus showcased three major firsts for British entomology.
Agronista exclamationis with 1950 labels
Download a PDF facsimile of the entire book, complete with illustrations.
The empty drawer as it was in 2011, 60 years later
Why is the drawer empty? One explanation is that Eric Classey, with characteristic generosity, had donated most of the expedition's Burren Green specimens, including the pupa, to the Society. Other specimens had gone to friends and fellow collectors. However this doesn't explain why every single specimen has vanished.
What if after the exhibition Classey simply returned the moths to their usual drawers in the collection? If this is what happened, the moths, or most of them, should still be there and it would be possible to reconstruct the exhibit using moths from the collection. I decided to try. Below, step by step, are the results.
This reconstruction is done photographically. The widths of the partitions reflect the sizes of the moths that were placed in them. This becomes important when considering the two central sections, which have no labels and helps confirm that these were once occupied, as suggested by the order given in the Society Proceedings by the Burren Greens and the Fenland Square-Spot, the two sensational discoveries of that year.
3. Agronista exclamations, the Heart-and-Dart
The first two series in the drawer were caught to demonstrate the value of H.S. Robinson's new mercury vapour light trap. Their shared label says: 'Each series [was] selected from a single night's "catch" at a Mercury Vapour trap to show the wide variation occuring in one place and at one time – which is apparent when it is possible to select from very large numbers.'
The basic problem with moth-hunting had always been that the quarry flies at night, when nets are not much use. Some enthusiasts swore by 'sugar', smearing tree trunks and wooden doors with exotic mixtures based on molasses and possibly including rum, rotting fruit, raisins, beer and ingredients too vile to mention. C. fraxini was typically taken this way.
Moths throng to lamps, so another method was to place a Tilley lamp on a white sheet and wait for the moths to come and settle. Robinson's mercury-vapour moth trap was a huge advance because its light went into the ultra violet range, attracting more insects, which then found themselves trapped inside a box, or casing, generally lined with egg boxes where they could settle. The large numbers caught unharmed in the trap could then be examined and collected or released.
4. Hadena lepida, the Tawny Shears (or Brown-Line Bright Eye)
See A. exclamationis, above. Classey knew this species by its lovely old name, the Tawny Shears.
Like the Heart and Dart, this moth is fairly plentiful and displays quite a range of variation in the ground colour and intensity of wing markings, with paler specimens being commoner in the south-east and darker or duller ones in the north and west of the country.
What better species to demonstrate the power of the mercury-light trap? With hundreds of candidates fluttering into the trap it is much easier to pick specimens to illustrate a wide range of variation.
5. Catocala sponsa, the Dark Crimson Underwing
This beautiful moth is now extinct in the British Isles, except for a colony in the New Forest, where they are still grimly clinging on.
The situation sixty years ago was evidently not quite as desperate because Classey was able to rear, from eggs taken from a wild female near Ham Street, north Kent, a series of C. sponsawhich he pointedly remarks are different from the New Forest form.
However the event was unusual enough to justify including a series of fine moths in his exhibit.
This form of the Dark Crimson Underwing, represented in the exhibit and abundant in the collection, has now vanished.
6. Luceria virens, the Burren Green, a new addition to the British List
The empty exhibit drawer is nineteen down in the third (right hand) cabinet. I found Classey's Burren Green specimen parked next-door in drawer nineteen of the central cabinet with some Wainscots in whose society it did not really belong.
The collection as a whole was organised in families reflecting the British list, to which of course Luceria virens was a newcomer, so when the exhibit was emptied it had no home to go to, and was simply placed in the nearest drawer.
Classey had originally exhibited a number of Burren Green specimens and the pupa which proved they were breeding in Ireland. These went to the Society, to expedition members and collector friends. The specimen that remains is the one that Classey chose to keep for himself.
The specimen is rather faded, but one can still see the faint green flush in its wings. The moth is known to fade. Dr Skat Hoffmeyer of Aarhus, Denmark, quoted by the great P.B.M. Allan, said, "L. virens is not a species which adorns one's collection; it soon becomes greasy and fades deplorably."
A collector whose name I can't now remember recommended taking only newly-hatched moths while their wings were still drying as they are then at their most brilliant. More than a little mean, I thought. Let them at least flutter about a bit. Thank goodness we now have cameras with macro lenses.
7. Diarsia florida, the Fenland Square-Spot, a new addition to the British List
The other great discovery of 1950 and like L. virens, a new addition to the British list. The consequence of this was that there was no ready printed label for this species and the handwritten label that eventually identified it was so faint that I nearly missed it in the drawer full of its cousins.
The series was bred from stock obtained from Askham Bog in Yorkshire by Classey's friend the collector Dr Edward Cockayne, whose vast collection is now part of the Natural History Museum's British National Collection of moths and butterflies.
Cockayne also showed these moths at the exhibition. Their inclusion in Classey's exhibit one may surmise is partly homage to his friend, but it meant that he was exhibiting the year's two sensational discoveries, side by side.
Classey's decision to include D. florida in his exhibit may have been a late one, as this is the only species for which he did not type out a label. Possibly it appeared above the small handwritten scrap of paper which remains in the collection, stapled beneath the three remaining D. florida specimens.
Gerry Hagget, on Eric Classey's tribute website made by his family, recalls Eric in pursuit of D. florida:
There are occasions in life when a catch-phrase is invented only to recur at future occasions. Eric went with Les Goodson to Askham Bog when Diarsia florida was first known. They had set up lamps with the Warden and it was not long before a quite different species appeared worthy of comment. "Oh no", said the Warden "it can't be that because it doesn't occur here!" This it was thereafter whenever a location produced an unusual resident there was the repeated chorus along with knowing chuckles and Eric in the lead.
Hadena compta Schiff, the Varied Coronet
These are the moths mentioned in the Proceedings as having been bred from wild larvae obtained in Dover. They are identified by the long typewritten label.
The type is more modern than the robust old fashioned Underwood font of Classey's typewriter and the label was conceivably typed by Dr. Edward Cockayne who appears to have sent the moths to Classey along with D. florida as a response to Classey's gift to him of 30 eggs of the Burren Green, Luceria virens.
A series of H. compta bred from the Dover larvae appeared in Dr Cockayne's exhibit and included one aberration defasciata Hannemann and an example of homeosis. Cockayne exhibited the moths to show their variation. Classey followed his own bred series with a wild specimen caught in Ireland, which appears slightly larger than the Kentish race.
9. Plusia festucae, the Gold Spot
These moths live in drawer 12 of the third cabinet along with a long series of the Burnished Brass and other insects whose wing spots look as if they have been laid on in pure gold leaf. Classey exhibited a pair of these moths, one of the normal type, the other with 'united' wingspots.
L. exigua is an immigrant, crossing the Channel from the continent, and most abundant in the late summer, suggesting that the summer moths are the second brood of immigrants arriving earlier in the year. 1950 was not one of the its most abundant years. The signficance of this little moth appears to be the date of its capture, February, in the depths of winter. It could not have survived long in the wild.
11. Callimorpha dominula ab. junta, aberrant form of the Scarlet Tiger
The collection contains a whole drawer full of Callimorpha dominula which, as its scientific name suggests, appears in many different forms, all of them very beautiful.
In the drawer are many varying forms, including dark bimacula and the brilliant yellow ab.lutescens.
As the following article tells, I got into a muddle trying to find a specimen that could be described as ab. juncta, which I took to mean the colour bleeding from wing spots into the wing and connecting the spots. This should properly apply to the forewing, but the specimen I chose has striking spread of black in the hindwing. It's not one of these.
These three show the normal (but for the Scarlet Tiger what is normal?) form, the dark bimacula and the magnificent yellowab. lutescens forms.
Classey's moth had been hatched by Edward Cockayne from a larva from Itchen Abbas in Hampshire earlier in the year.
A lot of the insects in the drawer are from the collector H. Haynes, a Wiltshire man, whose death the Society recorded with regret in 1951. The Entomologist's Record for 1943 reveals that he had bred a series of Panaxia(the old name for Callimorpha dominula, L.) from the Salisbury district showing specimens with enlarged and confluent markings in the forewings.
12. Hydraecia lucens, the Large Ear
Besides L. virens Classey exhibited a number of moths the expedition had taken in Co. Clare in August 1950. This fine pair of Large Ears, taken on August 19th, were among them. There is a column of four Large Ears in drawer 2:17 of the collection. The 1950 specimens are the central two. The two English specimens show distinctly darker coloration.
13. Cycnia mendica ab., the Muslin Ermine, aberrant form
Classey caught this little white moth during a collecting trip to Lymington in June 1950. He refers to it simply as 'an aberration'. There are twenty specimens in the collection, of which two females have odd dark markings on the leading edge of their forewing tips. Normal females have pure white wing-tips with no markings.
I have chosen the more exaggerated of the two variants to represent Classey's C. mendica, ab.. This specimen also has broad dark markings splashed on the body where normal specimens have none.
14. Heliothis armigera, the Scarce Bordered Straw
Another moth taken by Classey's expedition in Co. Clare in August 1950. It is known by at least a dozen synonyms, and is nowadays generally called Helicoverpa armigera, being less politely referred to as The Cotton Bollworm.
Please notice that it has wonderfully curly antennae, the sort Dali would have envied, flamboyant as any desperado should be.
Armigera is a pest of just about every crop known to man. According to UK government risk assessors at DEFRA, 'The most important crop hosts of which H. armigera is a major pest are tomato, cotton, pigeon pea, chickpea, sorghum and cowpea. Other hosts include dianthus, rosa, pelargonium, chrysanthemum, groundnut, okra, peas, field beans, soybeans, lucerne, Phaseolus spp., other Leguminosae, tobacco, potatoes, maize, flax, a number of fruits (Prunus, Citrus), forest trees and a range of vegetable crops.' Is there anything it won't eat? Its caterpillars have even been known to eat one another.
The moth's home territory is southern Europe and North Africa. It can make thousand mile journeys to reach the south coast of Britain but rarely gets beyond. Possibly this gives a clue to its inclusion here. County Clare is 350 miles further on. Fair play to the little divill.
15. Hydrillula pallustris, the Marsh Moth
Eric Classey took H. pallustris in June 1950 at Woodwalton Fen. Why was it included? Well, the moth is scarce.
For most the capture of a single male in a season was considered 'good going' as pallustris is a moth of retiring habits and is very erratic in its appearance at the light. The female has been found in the wild state only on two or three occasions – Proceedings of the S. L. E. & N. H. S.
Classey's specimen came from Woodwalton Fen, which the Society was actively trying to save from development. Three months after the 1950 exhibition, the Society's President, Air Marshal Sir Robert Saundby, addressed the assembled membership. Five years after the end of the Second World War, Saundby was a famous figure. He had been a World War I air ace, and during World War II he was No. 2 at RAF Bomber Command. No one really thought of him as a lepidopterist, but now he dropped a bomb on them:
When looking through the list of subscribers to the Wicken Fen Fund I was rather surprised to note that, apart from the two guineas subscribed by the Society as a corporate body, only twenty of our members had supported the Fund.
Now I am quite well aware that there are a number of people who do not agree with the way in which these nature reserves are managed, but I think we should all agree that they ought to be kept in being. If Wicken or Woodwalton Fens were given up, they would, in a very few years, be lost to us for ever. They would undoubtedly be drained and brought under cultivation, in common with all the other former fen lands of the East Anglian levels.
Looking after these reserves costs money and it is not sufficient just to prevent the Fen from going derelict. Last year the Wicken Fen Fund raised a sum, after paying expenses, of £57 8s, which was handed to the National Trust. The amount raised by the Fund has been gradually falling, year by year, while the expenses of keeping the Fen going have, like most other things, risen sharply.
The annual cost of the upkeep of the Fen is now about £800 a year. It is true that, in 1948, the University of Cambridge, in order to save the Fen, accepted financial responsibility for £450 a year. But this does not mean that the financial problems of the upkeep of the Fen have been solved. In their rejjort for 1947-48 the Local Committee said:—" The Committee hopes that this grant, far from having the effect of discouraging subscribers will greatly increase their number, and hopes that subscribers will feel that, whereas in the past their contributions may have seemed little more than a drop in the bucket, the money they can give now will result in really tangible improvement of conditions in the Fen."
These hopes have not been fulfilled. I am not suggesting that large subscriptions are needed, but if a substantial proportion of our members would be prepared to subscribe a few shillings a year, what a difference it would make. Here, I suggest, is a cause which should appeal to every naturalist, whatever his interests.
16. Mincuia lunaris Schiff, Lunar Double-Stripe, suffused wings
Classey bred these moths from wild larvae taken near Ham Street in north Kent. He describes them as 'a suffused aberration'. Six of these bred moths are in the collection, in drawer 3:13, giving a choice of specimens for the reconstruction. I chose the bottom two as being easiest to Photoshop, but the top two are more colourful and they are shown here.
This is as far as I could get with reconstructing the exhibit with moths still in the collection.
Photoshop is a wonderful imago-processing tool. It breeds moths faster than you can blink, cutting out the egg, larvaL and pupal stages. Where there was a column of three, we now have twenty one. We can clone L. virens indefinitely. In short, it is easy to finish by filling the gaps and showing what the exhibit would have looked like on October 28th, 1950.
17. The exhibit as it appeared in October 1950
Only three exhibit species are no longer in the collection but I have put in pictures sourced elsewhere to complete the drawer. The three are the White-Lined SphinxCelerio lineata, a Brighton Wainscot, Oria musculosa and three specimens of the Deep Brown Dart Aporophyla lutulenta ab. sedi bred from pupae which Classey had found in Ireland. To this moth attaches the following interesting tale:
A √ indicates species that remain in the collection. Cabinet and drawer numbers are given, thus 2:4 is cabinet 2, drawer 4. A ø marks moths no longer in the collection.
√ Heart and Dart – Agrotis exclamationis (long series in 2:4)
√ Brown-line Bright Eye – Hadena lepida – not mentioned by the Society – 6 specimens in 2:11
√ Dark Crimson Underwing – Catocala sponsa (extinct except possibly in the New Forest, 17 specimens not of New Forest type in 3:14)
√ Fen Square-Spot – Diarsia florida – series bred from Askham Bog, Yorks, 1950 (in Proceedings but no label in drawer – Classey had sent his friend Edward Cockayne 30 eggs of the Burren Green from Ireland, and Cockayne responded with a series of H. compta (next entry) and this Diarsia florida series. Like the Burren Green, D. floridawas a new addition to the British list that year. 3 specimens in 2:7 )
√ Varied Coronet – Hadena compta – Hatched from larva by Cockayne, the second series he sent Classey. (8 specimens plus 1 wild caught by Classey in Ireland in 2:11)
ø White-lined Sphinx – Celerio lineata – (not in collection)
√ Small Mottled Willow – Laphygma exigua – √ (11 specimens in 3:2)
√ The Gold Spot – Plusia festucae (19 specimens in 3:12)
√ ? Scarlet Tiger – Panaxia dominula ab. juncta – (conjoined spots, possible candidates in 1:18)
ø Deep Brown Dart – Aporophyla lutulenta ab. sedi (not in collection)
√ Large Ear – Hydraecia lucens – Taken during the Burren expedition August 1950 √ (4 specimens in 2:17)
√ Muslin Moth – Cycnia mendica Ab. – Taken in Lymington, June 1950 (20 specimens in 1:15)
ø Brighton Wainscot – Oria musculosa – 1 also taken at Lymington (not in collection)
√ Scarce Bordered Straw – Heliothis armigera – taken Co. Clare, August 1950 √ (9 specimens in 3:11)
√ Marsh Moth – Hydrillula palustris – taken in Woodwalton Fen, June 1950 (1 specimen in 3:2)
√ Lunar Double-Stripe – Minucia lunaris Ab. (suffused) – bred from wild larva, Ham Street, 1950 (6 specimens in 3:13)


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The Popular Economics Weekly
The idea of fair play may be the key issue in 2012—both with the Presidential campaign and economic growth. How so? Both political parties are jockeying to portray their message as fair—Democrats want to restore the middle class, and Republicans still believe the wealthiest are already paying their fair share of taxes. So they maintain any tax increases at all will harm growth prospects.
And President Obama's message in his 2012 State of the Union speech was even more encompassing. He said "A return to the American values of fair play and shared responsibility will help us protect our people and our economy. But it should also guide us as we look to pay down our debt and invest in our future."
How will it protect our economy and pay down our debt? Obama wasn't clear on this, but past history and economic research tells us why. Simply put, the more equal distribution of wealth even up through the 1990s when the maximum tax brackets for income, capital gains, and even dividends' taxes were higher, produced a thriving middle class so that overall economic growth was higher that it is today with a vastly reduced middle class.
And fair play is in the news. Andrew Kohut's most recent New York Times Op-ed highlighted a recent poll which "found that 66 percent of Americans believed there were "very strong" or "strong" conflicts between the rich and the poor — an increase of 19 percentage points since 2009". And, "they care about policies that give everyone a fair shot — a distinction that candidates in both parties should understand as they head into the 2012 campaigns'.
"An awareness of economic inequality is not new," said Kohut. "Pew surveys going back to 1987 have found an average of 75 percent of the American public thinking that the "rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer." As far back as 1941, 60 percent of respondents told the Gallup poll that there was too much power in the hands of a few rich people and large corporations in the United States."
In fact, fair play is a very important part of consumer and business confidence, say economists Robert Shiller and Nobelist George Akerlof in Animal Spirits, How Human Psychology Drives the Economy and Why it Matters for Global Capitalism, which further develops famous economist John Maynard Keynes' thesis that animal spirits, or emotions, drive most financial decisions. And we can measure the degree of confidence at any time in the economy, mainly via the two major confidence surveys of the Conference Board and University of Michigan.
Graph: Inside Debt
What is most obvious from the survey data is that consumer and investment spending rises and falls with confidence levels. For instance, retail sales sank to negative levels from 2008-2010, at the same time as both confidence surveys. And we know that consumer spending makes up almost 70 percent of economic activity, with 50 percent of it coming from retail sales.
Graph: Econoday
What is their confidence based on? Akerlof and Shiller list 5 elements, of which fair play may be the most important:
- The cornerstone of our theory is confidence and the feedback mechanism between it and the economy that amplify disturbances.
- The setting of wages and prices depends largely on concerns about fairness.
- We acknowledge the temptation toward corrupt and antisocial behavior and their role in the economy.
- Money illusion is another cornerstone of our theory. The public is confused by inflation or deflation and does not reason through its effects.
- Finally, our sense of reality, of who we are and what we are doing, is intertwined with the story of our lives and of the lives of others. The aggregate of such stories is a national or international story, which itself plays an important role in the economy.
Akerlof and Shiller's Animal Spirits therefore develops Keynes' thesis further. A major part of any business decision is whether the public has confidence in and trusts the economic conditions that determine whether they should spend or save, invest in expansion or lay off workers.
In other words, when the playing field is not perceived as fair, then the public retreats to inaction. "If this is what we mean by confidence, then we immediately see why, if it varies over time, that it plays a major role in the business cycle," say Akerlof and Shiller.
President Obama was talking not only about the huge decline in income inequality over the past 30 years, and un-progressive tax code that allowed countless tax loopholes and benefits for those individuals and industries that needed them the least, but the loss of opportunity and social mobility that has put the U.S. near the bottom of all developed countries in quality of life factors, according to Richard Wilkinson, a leading authority on the effects of inequality.
And we know a more progressive tax structure means more economic growth and increased tax revenues. President Clinton proved this with his combination of reduced government spending and higher maximum tax brackets that caused 4 consecutive years of budget surpluses.
Whereas the Republican's sense of fair play doesn't play well with most Americans, according to the Pew survey. "Just 11 percent of Americans say they are bothered by the amount they pay, while 57 percent of respondents say they are bothered by what they believe are unfairly low amounts paid by the wealthy."
Then why is it Republicans in particular continue to oppose any government help to boost economic growth? It could be what Robert Frank calls cognitive illusion, in a recent Sunday New York Times Economic View article. Their wealthy supporters believe higher taxation means they will lose out on the things they value most, and which go to the highest bidders—waterfront properties, precious jewels or art, etc.
"But a tax increase is different," says Frank. "It affects all participants in the bidding for positional (i.e., luxury) goods. And because it leaves everyone with less to spend, it has essentially no effect on the outcomes of those contests. The same paintings and the same marina slips end up in the same hands as before."
So there is no reason for the 1 percent not to enjoy the benefits of fair play, as well. "…higher spending on many forms of public consumption would produce clear gains in satisfaction for the wealthy," says Frank. "It's reasonable to assume, for example. That driving on well-maintained roads is safer and less stressful than driving on pothole-ridden ones."
Harlan Green © 2012


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Sulfur, an essential element of life, exists in many forms. Your nose would recognize it easily in the form of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), with its distinctive rotten egg smell. Other forms of sulfur are important geochemically, as well. For example, sulfur dioxide (SO2) is one of the most common gasses to be released from volcanoes and causes significant global cooling after eruptions. Sulfur also dissolves in geological fluids and complexes with metals to transport them within the Earth's interior. It makes stable complexes with gold and helps move it to ore deposits at shallow depths.
Many of sulfur's geochemical activities occur within the Earth's mantle and crust. In order to understand them, geoscientists must figure out what forms of sulfur exist underneath the Earth's surface. Currently, scientists have found evidence that sulfate (SO42-) and sulfide (S2-) are the dominant forms of sulfur in the crust and mantle. However, Gleb Pokrovski and Leonid Dubrovinsky argue in a recent of issue of Science that previous studies were hampered by limitations in sample collection and examination procedures.
As you move deeper into the Earth, temperature rises and pressure increases. Some chemical species may only be stable in geological fluids at extreme temperatures and pressures. Thus, when scientists look for chemical components within samples at lower temperatures and pressures, like those in a lab, the unstable chemicals may degrade and be overlooked. But how can researchers study chemicals at extreme conditions?
Pokrovski and Dubrovinsky used a diamond-anvil cell that is equipped with two low-fluorescence diamonds (meaning there's low background fluorescence intensity from the hardware) and a gold-lined rhenium gasket. Within the cell, the two diamonds are used to compress samples to extreme pressures. Pokrovski and Dubrovinsky studied the chemical profile of the samples using Raman spectroscopy, which gives information related to the vibrational and rotational modes of chemical compounds.
They examined the forms of sulfur in three types of solutions at temperatures of 25 to 450°C, pressures of 0.5 to 3.5 GPa (as a frame of reference, atmospheric pressure is approximately 0.0001 GPa), and pH in the range of 1 to 7. The first solution consisted of sodium thiosulfate (Na2S2O3) and potassium thiosulfate (K2S2O3). The second contained elemental sulfur in pure water, and the third contained elemental sulfur in sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solutions.
Contrary to current views, Pokrovski and Dubrovinsky found that the sulfur radical anion S3-—not sulfate and sulfide—is the dominant sulfur species in solutions when the temperature is 250 to 450°C and the pressure is between 0.5 and 3.5 GPa. S3- quickly breaks down to sulfate and sulfide when the temperature and pressure drops. The authors propose that, at elevated pressures and temperatures, the solution becomes dense. The high density causes water molecules to coordinate around the S3-, forming a stabilizing cage.
The sulfur radical anion S3- is responsible for the intense blue color of lapis lazuli (aka, blue ultramarine), a semiprecious stone. The radical anion is stable in the rock at ambient conditions because it is caged in a zeolite framework, and the authors think that the water molecules may form a similar cage.
Considering that the Earth's crust and mantle have significant amounts of iron, magnesium, and other elements, it is curious that Pokrovski and Dubrovinsky conducted their studies in solutions that are devoid of these components. It would be informative to determine if S3- behaves differently when it is in solution with iron and other elements.
Science, 2010. DOI: 10.1126/science.1199911 (About DOIs)
Listing image by Lawrence Livermore National Labs


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LANSING, Mich. (AP) — At least eight wolves have been killed during Michigan's wolf hunt in the Upper Peninsula.
The state Department of Natural Resources updated the results Wednesday morning, and the total was up one from Tuesday's report. The wolf season started on Friday and runs through December, unless 43 are killed before the end of the year.
It's the first hunt in Michigan since the wolf was placed on the endangered species list nearly 40 years ago. A total of 1,200 people are licensed to participate with firearm, crossbow or bow and arrow.
The DNR estimates the state's wolf population at 658.
Updates on wolf hunt from DNR: http://1.usa.gov/9cnCKn


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Bubble, bubble, toilet trouble: Do you carry on personal discussions in the ladies' room?
If so, you're not alone: 86% of people surveyed by a toilet paper company say they often have personal conversations in the loo.
Sometimes, when you're working in an office, the ladies' room is a demilitarized zone, where you can gossip, catch up, exchange pleasantries and so forth — without feeling like you're standing around slacking off in your cube or office. If your place of business has an open floorplan, sometimes the bathroom is one of the only places to find any privacy. (And fancy ladies's lounges — in hotels, restaurants have often been scenes for primping, spreading secrets, and showcase showdowns. Exhibit A: 1939's The Women.) But for some reason, even though it seems fine and dandy to gab about guys while taking a leak, a cell phone in the water closet rubs people the wrong way. Is it the one-sided conversation? Is it the idea that one should be doing something else with one's hands?
From The Body Odd on MSNBC:
For Jessica Ward, a 30-year-old notary public from Seattle, her biggest bathroom beef is people who talk on their cells phones in the stalls.
"I always flush and sometimes curse between flushing when the person in the stall next to me is talking on their phone," she says. "It's my subtle, passive-aggressive way to tell them to get off the phone. I want to let the person on the other end of the line know where they are."
Potty Talk: Secrets We Share In The Loo [The Body Odd on MSNBC]
[Image via GWImages/Shutterstock.]


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Repeat performance
1 - How rare is it for an athlete to win a gold medal eight years apart with an identical time? That's what Puerto Rico's Felix Sanchez did in winning the men's 400-meter hurdles as he did in the 2004 Athens Games in 47.63 seconds.
Football folly
2 – Can National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell really be serious about trying to get football on the Olympic program? The sport has never seriously established itself outside of North America. Plus, how can you hold a tournament during the Olympic fortnight when games are traditionally played a week apart?
Bare-skin billboard
3 – What happens if an Olympic swimmer shows up some year with a personal sponsor's name or logo –not that of an official Olympic sponsor - tattooed on his or her body? Will officials insist it be covered by a wetsuit?
Track pioneer
4 – Now that South African double-amputee Oscar Pistorius has run the 400 meters in the Olympics on J-shaped Cheetah blades, will other disabled athletes soon follow his breakthrough or will he remain a lonely crossover athlete?
Remember L.A.
5 – Didn't anybody concerned about congestion in London during the Games remember what happened in Los Angeles in 1984? The California freeways were as quiet as they may have ever been as many residents headed out of town. Certainly the apocalyptic forecasts for nightmarish traffic never materialized.
Airtime regulars
6 – Have two Olympic athletes ever received more network airtime than American beach volleyball players Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor? Their matches are much longer than races in swimming and track, so the time devoted to their matches could probably fill a cable channel.
Lights worth a look
7 – London's Olympic Stadium may not be that architecturally distinctive, but has any main Olympic venue ever had cooler looking lighting than those triangular light banks rising from the rim of London's stadium?
Fast finish
8 – Would Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen's breakout gold medals have raised nearly as many suspicions if in her 400-meter individual medley win she hadn't swum the last 50 meters so fast? Her time was even better than the men's champion, Ryan Lochte, in the same event.
Champion denied
9 – What was so wrong with Larisa Latynina's request that Olympic officials wouldn't let her present Michael Phelps with his record-breaking 19th Olympic medal? Latynina, the Russian gymnast who held the record, traveled to London to be pass the "torch" to her successor.
Study in contrasts
10 - Has any broadcaster ever made a better and more radical leap in Olympic play-by-play than NBC's Doc Emrick, who went from calling lightning-fast hockey games at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games to describing slow-paced water polo in London?
Pride of Jamaica
11 – Can you imagine an Olympic athlete more perfectly named than speedster Usain Bolt? If communications giant Sprint hasn't approached him yet with an endorsement, what can they possibly be waiting for?
Stereotype breaker
12 – There are hundreds of great personal stories at the Olympics, but is there better one than John Orozco's? The son of a retired New York City sanitation worker, the Puerto Rican-American gymnast grew up in the Bronx and bagged groceries at a local bodega to help with the family's finances. Certainly an atypical background.
AWOL spectators
13 – Can there be any doubt that future Olympics must have a plan in place to quickly fill unused blocks of VIP and sponsor seats?
Regal presence
14 – Has there ever been an Olympics with more royals in evidence, starting with the queen's dual opening ceremony appearance – both in person and in that taped James Bond sendup?
Filling big shoes
15 – Who has the necessary gravitas to replace Mike Krzyzewksi as coach of the men's team of multimillion-dollar US basketball stars? And will NBA Commissioner David Stern succeed in limiting Olympic basketball to college-age players?
16 – How hard must it have been for women softball players to watch the Olympics, and to cope with the fact that their sport was booted from the Games after the 2008 tournament in Beijing? (Reportedly, it was voted "off the island" in a secret IOC ballot out, partly because softball was not seen to be as internationally competitive as desired.)
Olympic hopefuls
17 – If all the sports knocking on the Olympics door, waiting to get in, which might stand the best chance? Lacrosse? Roller sports? Or possibly mixed-gender Ultimate Frisbee?
Looks like a Pringle
18 – How happy must Kellogg's be that people have taken to referring to London's Olympic velodrome as The Pringle because of the building's bowed roof? That's a lot of free advertising for the potato chip-like product Kellogg's only acquired earlier this year.
Sporting reminder
19 – Given the shameful tanking of matches in badminton by eight Asian players looking to gain better medal chances by losing preliminary matches, should the Olympic oath be recited before each event as a reminder to athletes in all sports? The oath calls for competing "in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our teams.
20 – Whenever athletes ties for third place, as happened with American gymnast Aly Raisman twice, is it really that important to resort to some arcane tiebreaking procedure? Wouldn't it simply to be better to reward two bronze medals?
Comical moment
21 – Has there ever been a funnier predicament for an Olympic VIP than that experienced by good-natured London Mayor Boris Johnson, who got stuck suspended above Victoria Park while riding on a zip line? Johnson, the chief cheerleader for the Games, was waving two Union Jacks and having a ball when the malfunction occurred.
Pair of Michaels
22 – Since Michael Phelps has said on numerous occasions how much he admires Michael Jordan, would Jordan be well advised to connect with Phelps in some way? Perhaps by making him a partner in running the NBA's lowly Charlotte Bobcats. Phelps would bring a winning aura, even if just as public ambassador.
Net height
23 – Is it time to raise the height of the net in men's volleyball? The top of the net is shade under eight off the floor, yet there are seven-footers playing the game. Russia's team is actually taller than the men's US basketball team.
Team branding
24 – Was there a more inspired idea for naming a national squad than calling Great Britain's medal-wining contingent Team GB?
Amazing marksman
25 – How inspiring must it have been for the world's visually challenged population to learn that legally blind South Korean archer Im Dong-hyun won a gold medal while setting a world record?
Environmentally friendly
26 – Will London's decision to build large, recyclable temporary venues for some sports lead to more such facilities at future Olympics? The Basketball Arena, nicknamed "The Mattress" because of its appearance, is the largest temporary arena ever constructed for the Olympics. After the games parts of it will be reused or relocated.
Spitting image
27 – Was that Dominican gymnast who spit in her hands before vaulting possibly influenced by the batting routine of David "Big Papi" Ortiz, the Dominican slugging star of the Boston Red Sox, who spits on his batting gloves between pitches?
On-route race watching
28 – Did any TV coverage put viewers more in the middle of the action than that provided in the cycling road races? The shots from a motorbike were a testament to high-speed driving skills and fearless camera work.
Royal couple
29 – Wouldn't you love to know what the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Will and Kate) most enjoyed watching as they made their Olympic rounds – that is beyond cheering for fellow royal Zara Phillips in the equestrian competition?
Stunning scenery
30 – Will there ever be another Olympic host city that makes such spectacular use of its urban backdrops as London?


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Jonathan Erickson is editor in chief of Dr. Dobb's. You can contact him at [email protected]
Why do you need to know what companies' developers are up to, including what tools they're using? Developers are the early adopters, and the decisions they make can have a big impact on a business' IT capabilities and strategies for years to come.
It's the reason why this time last year we launched the first Forrester-Dr. Dobb's Developer Technographics Survey, to better understand what decisions software development organizations are making. We again enlisted the help of more than 1,000 Dr. Dobb's readers who best represent the software development community thanks to their platform and programming-language independence. Here's what we discovered.
RIAs Are For Real
Rich Internet applications have only gained ground over HTML-based Web sites in the past year. In 2009, it was a dead heat: 27% of respondents were developing RIA-based sites and apps, and 27% were developing HTML-based software. In 2010, 31% of respondents are developing RIA software, but HTML-based development drops to 21%.
Rich Internet application tools are starting to coalesce. When asked their primary RIA framework for deployed applications, 29% say Microsoft's ASP.NET, down significantly from 39% in 2009, while Microsoft Silverlight adoption jumped from 10% up to 18%.
If there's a fast-rising new kid on the RIA block, it's the jQuery lightweight open source JavaScript library. Last year, jQuery wasn't known by enough developers to be included in the survey. This year, thanks in part to Microsoft including jQuery with Visual Studio, jQuery has become much more popular, with 21% of developers polled using it. More often than not, jQuery is used with ASP.NET and Ajax. Most other rich Internet application frameworks -- including Flex, GWT, and Dojo -- lost ground.
So what about HTML 5, the emerging Web standard? Since a clear definition of HTML 5 is still in limbo, the results aren't that surprising: Only 8% report using HTML 5, but there's much interest, with 52% intending to use it in the next year or so.
Wider Use Of Open Source
Nearly four out of five developers use some open source software for application development or deployment, little changed from last year. What has changed is the kind of open source software being used. Use of open source operating systems, primarily Linux distributions, jumped to 61% from 48% in 2009. Of the Linux distributions -- Red Hat, Ubuntu, SUSE, Debian, and others -- Ubuntu leads, used by 17% of Linux users. Canonical's focus on making Ubuntu easy to use seems to be paying off, at least with developers if not consumers.
Other categories of open source software that showed increased adoption include Web servers (Apache) and databases (MySQL, SQLite, PostgreSQL), each of which hit 58%, up from 45% last year. At the app server level, use of Apache Tomcat grew from 10% to 13%.
Both IBM's WebSphere and Oracle's WebLogic experienced more modest adoption, at 6% and 5%, respectively. It's worth noting that Microsoft's .NET 3.x is carrying the biggest load in the app server market, shooting up from 21% use in 2009 to 43% this year. Why? Because developers are finally cutting over to .NET 3.x. The success of Windows 7 is probably the main driver here, but growth in Silverlight adoption is a factor, too.
Most important when it comes to open source, management is increasingly aware of its use in their companies and backing it, says Forrester Research principal analyst Jeffrey Hammond, who collaborated on this survey. In the past, when Hammond would ask about the use of open source tools, developers invariably said "yes," while managers usually said "no." This year, Hammond finds managers are on top of the use of open source in their shops. The most common reason for using open source, cited by 74% of developers, is to accelerate projects; 71% cite reducing costs.


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Though there are a number of third-party Windows Phone applications that support uploading to popular photo-sharing site Instagram, the platform has never had an official client. That is set to change, with Microsoft announcing that an official Instagram client will be released "in the coming weeks."
This will fill a frustrating gap in the Windows Phone software lineup. Instagram remains one of the apps that people demand by name, and while the third-party clients are in many ways decent replacements, they lack the name recognition and confidence that an official app provides.
In addition to Instagram, Microsoft announced a number of other apps coming to its phone platform imminently. Two stand-outs in the list are Vine and Xbox Video. An official Vine client means that Windows Phone users will also be able to make the looping, six-second videos that Twitter has unleashed on the world.
The Xbox Video client should remedy what is currently an annoying (and, one feels, avoidable) flaw with the current Xbox Video ecosystem. Currently, there's essentially no way to watch Xbox Video purchases and rentals made in Windows 8 on Windows Phone, creating an inexplicable hole in Microsoft's media ecosystem. The Xbox Video app should fill the hole more than a year after it was created.


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If you need to plug in your guitar to an amp, then chances are that you aren't some hippie activist—so you'll be able to appreciate this Pistol Instrument Cable.
Because while guns aren't officially part of the Holy Trinity that is sex, drugs and rock 'n roll, just like leather jackets and the propensity to not wash one's hair, they do go hand-in-hand with the lifestyle.
Of course you don't need the Pistol Instrument Cable to rock. But if you find yourself standing on stage with an equally talented, equally drugged and equally attractive rocker, you'll be glad to have the boost. $25. [Core One via Nerd Approved]


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The TV movie -- tentatively titled "Whitney Houston" -- will mark the Oscar nominee's directorial debut.
Lifetime says the project will follow Houston's relationship with ex-husband Bobby Brown "from the time they first met at the very height of their celebrity, to their courtship and tumultuous marriage. Throughout it all, difficulties followed the superstar couple while they dealt with the overwhelming rewards and consequences of the fame and fortune created by Whitney's meteoric rise that would soon overshadow them both."
Bassett, who co-starred with Houston in the 1995 film "Waiting to Exhale," said, "I have such regard for both Whitney's and Bobby's amazing talents and accomplishments, and I feel a responsibility in the telling of their story."
Houston died at age 48 in 2012.
[Credit: 20th Century FOX]


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Please explore all the site features and take the time to check out our beautiful scenery, recreation facilities, special shops, restaurants, and historical sites.
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Arlington After carrying the ball into the end zone for a first-quarter touchdown against Mount Vernon on Friday, Yorktown running back M.J. Stewart reached into the front of his pants, pulled out a T-shirt that read "Obey YHS Seniors" and held it up for the crowd to see.
"I had it planned, but I didn't really tell anybody," Stewart said after the game. "It was just a dedication to my seniors."
Stewart, a junior, paid homage to the class of 2013 with his touchdown celebration. Unfortunately for Mount Vernon, the "Stewart Show" would continue — and he had a co-star.
Stewart and fullback Arturo Brown combined for more than 200 yards of offense and five touchdowns as the Yorktown football team remained undefeated with a 35-0 victory on Oct. 26 at Greenbrier Stadium.
Stewart, a second-team all-region selection as a sophomore who has multiple Division I offers, carried 17 times for 110 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught two passes for 29 yards and a score, and intercepted a pass on defense. Brown, a senior transfer from Brooke Point High School in Stafford, carried 15 times for 84 yards and two touchdowns, and caught two passes for 11 yards. The duo, which often times lined up in the same Wing-T backfield, was too much for Mount Vernon.
"We're like a two-headed monster," Brown said. "We've both got the same running style. We could easily break one at any given time. It's just kind of hard for the defense to prepare for us every weekend."
Stewart and Brown grew up as close friends in the Arlington area and consider themselves cousins. They're getting the chance to play together at the high school level for the first time. Stewart is in his second season with the Patriots after playing his freshman year at Bishop O'Connell. Brown returned to Arlington after three seasons at Brooke Point. The result is an added weapon for a team that finished 12-1 last year and reached the Division 5 Northern Region championship game.
"I always wanted to come back to Yorktown because I grew up around here," Brown said. "It was always a must for me to come back."
"We're like a two-headed monster."
— Yorktown's Arturo Brown
While Stewart, listed at 5 feet 11, 182 pounds, continues to thrive at running back, Brown, listed at 5 feet 8, 167 pounds, has had to make an adjustment to the fullback position. While Brown is better suited to play Stewart's "2 back" role in the Wing-T, having Brown at fullback gives the Patriots simultaneous threats in the backfield.
"We complement each other well," Stewart said. "We know each other. I know how he runs, he knows how I run. I know how he wants me to block for him, he knows how I want him to block for me, so we're just like … the perfect couple."
Yorktown head coach Bruce Hanson said finding ways to increase Brown's production has been a focal point.
"We've been really working on trying to get our fullback some more yards," Hanson said. "Arturo is new to that position. We've had to adjust a little bit and he's had to adjust a little bit to get the right chemistry at that position."
Brown managed 84 yards on the ground and 95 yards of offense against Mount Vernon, including six runs of 10 yards or more. Both of his touchdowns were the result of short runs from inside the 5-yard line.
"I like to contribute any type of way I can to a winning team," Brown said. "Whatever they need me to do, I'll do it."
The shutout was Yorktown's second consecutive, including a 48-0 win against Falls Church on Oct. 19. The Patriots have allowed just two opponents to score more than 15 points in a contest. Yorktown has outscored National District opponents 235-34 in six games.
Against Mount Vernon, Yorktown quarterback Will Roebuck was 10-of-18 for 129 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Nick Yore caught four passes for 80 yards and Micah Gregory had a 29-yard run.
Defensive back Reece Lincoln intercepted a pass for the Patriots.
Yorktown will close the regular season on the road against Washington-Lee at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 2.


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Simple Pleasures
1. Sunrise, soft and still, golden streams of light
Falling from the cloudless sky to bring the end of night.
Glist'ning leaves, budding trees, a singing bird in flight—
With all these wonders I am blessed to have the gift of sight.
2. Singing, clear and sweet, a newborn baby's cry;
Laughter from a little child, a mother's lullaby.
Falling leaves, a summer breeze as gentle as a tear;
My life is full, my spirit flies—how blessed I am to hear.
3. Knowledge, the search for truth, a testimony's birth;
Answers whispered to my heart—how much a soul is worth.
Eternal life, an end to strife: the song my spirit sings.
As I pray I'm blessed to know the peace the gospel brings.
Simple pleasures, simple joys,
I'm given all of these.
Thankfulness then fills my heart
and brings me to my knees.
Text: Linda Hart
Music: Linda Hart
Artist: Hart
Album: Music Published in the Church Magazines: New Era
Composition Date: 1995-11-01
More Info: New Era
nature, sight, hearing, testimony, Holy Ghost, Thanksgiving, gratitude


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BenQ W7500 review posted
BenQ has been producing a solid line of digital projectors lately, including some impressive home theater models...
The latest flagship home theater unit in their line is the BenQ W7500, a DLP-based model priced in the mid-$2000 range.
The W7500 is a solid home theater projector, putting out ample light and a very sharp picture. For all the details, check out Bill's new review of the W7500, just posted this morning.
Next up in the review schedule is the Epson Pro Cinema G6900. At up to 6000 lumens and 1920x1200 resolution, this projector is designed more for ambient light situations rather than traditional home theater. The much higher lumen output comes at a higher price tag ($6,499), so this is in a different price/performance class altogether than projectors made for home theater. But if you need the lumen output in a large entertainment room where you don't want to turn the lights off, the G6900 may be the perfect solution.
Evan Powell


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Used Cars For Sale In Lakewood, WA
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2010 Subaru Outback 3.6R
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The Amber Fort, Jaipur
https://www.gounesco.com/heritage/proof/amber-fort-jaipur-sanghamitra/https://s3-ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/gounesco.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/20133523/amber-fort-sanghamitra.jpghttps://s3-ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/gounesco.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/20133523/amber-fort-sanghamitra-150x150.jpgSanghamitra B. Jayant,travel,world heritage travelSanghamitra B. firstname.lastname@example.com_userThere is a famous saying in Bengali- " Payer tolae Sorshey"- which depicts a frequent traveller- one who has mustard seeds under his feet and is unable to settle down at one place! Thank you "GoUNESCO" for re-activating the "Mustard seeds" underneath my feet. Me? -A (frequent) traveller- driven by the lines- "Life is a journey". I travel for work and travel to run away from work. I thank my parents for inculcating in me, the excitement of travelling to new places, discovering new people, habits, cultures and opening up another window of the otherwise "dingy" brain. Thereafter, fortunate to have a equally excited husband and kids as travel partners to continuously nurture this passion.GoUNESCO | Go UNESCOTags: Sanghamitra B. Jayant, travel, and world heritage travel.


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An epidural abscess is an infection that forms in the space between the skull bones and the brain lining (intracranial epidural abscess) or in the space between the bones of the spine and the lining membrane of the spinal cord (spinal epidural abscess).
An epidural abscess results in a pocket of pus that builds up and causes swelling. It can press against the bones and the meninges, which are the membranes that protect the spinal cord and the brain. This swelling and the underlying infection can affect sensations and physical movement.
Facts about epidural abscess
Although it can also affect the brain, an epidural abscess is more likely to strike the spinal cord. Typically, an epidural abscess is caused by a bacterial infection, usually Staphylococcus aureus, but it could be from a fungus or another germ circulating in your body. Much of the time, doctors can't find a particular cause of the infection. Sometimes, they can't even identify a risk factor.
If you suffer from persistent sinus or ear infections or have had an injury to the head, you may be more likely to develop an epidural abscess inside the skull. You're more likely to develop an epidural abscess on the spine if you have an infection in the bones of the spine or in your blood, or have had a surgical procedure on your back.
Types of epidural abscess
The different types of epidural abscesses specify where they are found:
An intracranial epidural abscess is located inside the skull.
A spinal epidural abscess is located on the spine.
An epidural abscess may cause these symptoms:
Disturbed consciousness
Unusual sensation throughout your body
Problems with coordination and movement
Difficulty walking, sometimes as severe as paralysis—being unable to move the legs or arms
General weakness of the muscles in both the arms and legs that worsens
Pain in the back
Inability to control your bowels or bladder
Feeling nauseated and/or vomiting
Feeling very tired and sluggish
A doctor may use several tests to look at the spine and brain and the infected area to diagnose an epidural abscess, including:
MRI scan
CT scan
Sample of fluid from the abscessed area to determine the cause of the infection
Typically, you will be given antibiotics to fight the infection that caused the abscess. A surgeon may need to drain the fluid from the abscess with a needle to help alleviate the pressure, or he or she may remove it entirely. Surgery is generally required when moving is difficult, you are unable to move at all, or you have sensation problems, such as numbness somewhere in the body.
Calling the doctor
Treatment of an epidural abscess is essential. If you're feeling back pain, having any neurological problems, or are running a fever along with a bad headache, call your doctor and have the problem treated promptly.
Get fast treatment for any infection. Being treated for illnesses such as blood infections, sinus infections, and ear infections can help reduce your risk of developing an epidural abscess.
Without treatment, serious complications can set in:
Meningitis, an infection of the meninges
Abscess of the spinal cord itself
Infection inside the spine or skull bones
Abscess in the brain
Long-term back pain
Irreversible damage to the brain or nervous system, including paralysis
Once damage to the nervous system has occurred, it can be difficult to restore normal nervous system function. Untreated epidural abscess can be extremely dangerous and may result in death.
Key points to remember
When you're facing an infection that's directly affecting your brain or spine, it's a serious health issue. Any unusual symptoms related to loss of sensation, trouble moving, and fever—particularly if you've recently been ill—should be quickly evaluated. The sooner you treat an epidural abscess, the better the outcome.


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Purina® Pro Plan® Wet Dog Food
- Chicken is the #1 Ingredient
- No Corn, Wheat or Soy
- No Artificial colors, flavors or preservatives
Nearly half of all domestic abuse victims delay leaving because they don't want
to leave their pet behind, yet as few as 10% of domestic violence shelters accept pets.
The Purple Leash Project is working to change that.
If feeding your dog a natural dog food is important to you, we have plenty of options to choose from. Our natural dog food brands are all free from artificial colors, flavors, preservatives and fillers. You can feel confident your canine family member is getting complete and balanced nutrition.


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CLEVELAND (AP) — Karin Knapp won her second match of the weekend and gave Italy a 3-1 win over the United States in their Fed Cup first-round match on Sunday.
Knapp defeated American Alison Riske 6-3, 7-5 to give Italy the victory in the best-of-five series.
She held a 5-2 lead in the second set, only to let Riske tie it at five. But Knapp regained the momentum and closed out the match.
"I got a little bit nervous, I got a little bit of emotion," Knapp said. "But I tried to continue my game, to hit the ball hard, to command the game."
Knapp also defeated Christina McHale on Saturday, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Camila Giorgi defeated Madison Keys 6-2, 6-1 in Saturday's second match.
U.S. captain Mary Joe Fernandez chose the 46th-ranked Riske over Keys, who is the team's top-ranked player at No. 37 in the world, as Knapp's opponent.
Riske fought hard through the second set and appeared to gain control before Knapp shut the door.
"I had to do something differently because she was completely attacking me. I tried to be the first one to go after it," Riske said. "She was serving really well today."
Lauren Davis and Madison Keys of the United States earned a 6-2, 6-3 win in the doubles match against Nastassja Burnett and Alice Matteucci.
Italy moves on to the World Group semifinals April 19-20 to face either Spain or the Czech Republic, whose first-round tie has been extended into Monday because of rain.
"I said this morning, 'If we win we have to jump into the snow."' Knapp said. "So after, we will all put the jacket on, the scarf on and we will jump in the snow."
The United States moves to the World Group Playoff in April and will need to win in order to stay in the World Group. The U.S. Fed Cup team is 0-11 after trailing 0-2 after the first day of play since the World Group format began in 1995.
Italy tops United States 3-1 in Fed Cup
CLEVELAND (AP) — Karin Knapp won her second match of the weekend and gave Italy a 3-1 win over the United States in their Fed Cup first-round match on Sunday.


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A$AP Rocky Announces Show In Sweden Months After Arrest
By Peyton Blakemore
November 8, 2019
A$AP Rocky is going back to Sweden.
Less than three months after the 31-year-old rapper was found guilty of misdemeanor assault, Rocky's team announced on Friday (November 8) that he's going back to the European country despite their alleged mistreatment of him.
"After tremendous support from the Swedish fans, [Rocky] returns to Stockholm for a long-awaited gig for all his supporters," a Live Nation representative said in a statement on Friday (November 8), per The Local.
Rocky is set to perform at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm on December 11. A portion of the proceeds for the show will reportedly go toward the non-profit Swedish Network of Refugee Support Groups (FARR).
As fans know, Rocky's announcement of his Swedish show comes months after his extended and widely publicized legal battle in the country. The "Pups" rapper was taken into police custody in Stockholm on July 3 and remained locked up for a month after being accused of assaulting 19-year-old Mustafa Jafari during a street fight. Despite footage of the incident showing that Rocky and his crew acting in self-defense, Rocky and members of his team were charged with assault.
Given the fact that cameras showed that the rapper and his crew were not the aggressors in the situation, the incident sparked somewhat of an international incident, with President Trump even getting involved when Sweden refused to release Rocky without having a full-blown trial. With millions calling for his release, Swedish officials decided to release Rocky after he spent a month behind bars and took the stand at his assault trial. He was later found guilty and given a two-year suspended sentence.
Photo: Getty Images


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Home > Materials Specifications
Physical classification of rocks: This classification is based on general structure of rocks. According to this classification, the rocks are of the following three types:
(i) Stratified rocks (ii) Stratified rocks; and (ii) Foliated rocks
(i) Stratified rocks: These rocks possess planes of stratification or cleavage and such rocks can easily be split up along these planes. The sedimentary rocks are distinctly stratified rocks.
(ii) Unratified rocks: These rocks are unstratified. The structure may be crystalline granular or compact granular. The igneous rocks of volcanic agency and sedimentary rocks affected by movements of the earth are of this type of rocks.
(iii) Foliated rocks: These rocks have a tendency to be split up in a definite direction only the foliated structure is very common in case of metamorphic rocks.
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Stormfront (TCG)
Diamond & Pearl - Stormfront (Japanese: 破空の激闘 Intense Fight in the Destroyed Sky) is the seventh and final expansion of cards of the English Diamond & Pearl Series of the TCG. The Japanese release is the sixth and final of the Japanese DP Era.
The Sky Darkens... The Earth Trembles... The Storm is Coming!
A turbulent force is approaching and it's on a collision course with everything you thought you knew about the Pokémon TCG! In Diamond & Pearl--Stormfront, you are met head-on by powerful Pokémon unrestrained and never holding anything back! In this frenzy you'll find new Pokémon LV.X, Trainer cards that power up when played together, and the dramatic entrance of some of the most popular Pokémon ever! The time has come to enter the storm, and witness this awe-inspiring spectacle first hand!
Stormfront is the seventh Diamond & Pearl Series expansion, originating from Japan as the sixth DP Era expansion, Intense Fight in the Destroyed Sky. The 38th English expansion overall, it was released on November 5, 2008 with 106 total cards. The Japanese expansion was made available July 10, 2008, but only contained 92 cards. The additional cards in the English expansion originated from the Giratina vs Dialga Deck Kit, which was released on the same day in Japan and is seen as a complement to the main expansion.
The Japanese release was in commemoration of the eleventh movie Giratina and the Sky's Bouquet: Shaymin, which debuted in theaters a little more than a week later. Intense Fight in the Destroyed Sky features the debut of Shaymin in the Pokémon Trading Card Game; however, as the movie wasn't going to be released until about seven months later in the United States, all of the movie related Legendary Pokémon—Shaymin, Giratina, and Dialga—were saved for the English Platinum expansion, which was released within the same week as the movie. Thus, the English release was forced to pick up new focuses based on the card that were left over.
The booster pack artwork for this expansion features Infernape, Torterra, Dusknoir, and Regigigas. Infernape and Torterra were featured in the expansion as Rare Holofoil cards, while Dusknoir and Regigigas were two of five Pokémon featured as Pokémon LV.X, the others being Machamp, Raichu, and Heatran. The Theme Decks Raging Sea and Dark Rampage feature Gyarados and Tyranitar respectively, with Raging Sea containing Water-type and Grass-type Pokémon, and Dark Rampage including Darkness-type and Fighting-type Pokémon. The illustrations are done by Kouki Saitou.
The expansion introduces several other features that will remain prominent inclusions throughout the subsequent Platinum Series. Shiny Pokémon return to the card game after last being featured at the end of the Generation III EX Series expansions. The three Shiny Pokémon cards are featured at the end of the expansion with their own numbering (starting at SH1) that continued throughout the Platinum, Supreme Victors, and Arceus expansions. The Japanese prints featured Starlight Holofoil, while the English prints came in Mirror Reverse Holofoil. Also included were the first releases of retro cards, a series of reprinted cards from the Original Series updated to the current standards of the Generation IV. In this expansion, re-releases of Mitsuhiro Arita's Base Set Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard were included with updated illustrations, card layout, and card text for the current standards. This feature continues through the Platinum Series, but ends with Supreme Victors. They are included in the English expansion as Secret cards. Stormfront marks the end of held items appearing the TCG, but introduces Trainer cards with a + at the end of their name, which each have a different effect depending on whether the player uses one or two of the same card at a time.
Pokémon LV.X in the Japanese release feature a new printing style not used on any of the Pokémon LV.X beforehand: each of the six Pokémon LV.X feature a Glossy overlay overtop their Cosmos Holofoil. Since it only started with Intense Fight in the Destroyed Sky, this feature is exclusive to the in-set print of Heatran LV.X, not being included on the DP-P Promotional print release four months prior. Additionally, because of the earlier promotional release, Heatran LV.X was not provided with a regular Heatran to Level Up from, causing Heatran LV.X to be useless in a limited format setting. This is a trend continuing from Secret of the Lakes Lucario LV.X, Moonlit Pursuit Garchomp LV.X, and Temple of Anger Porygon-Z LV.X. Each of these promotional Pokémon LV.X were made available as inserts in the previous sets' Official Visual Books.
Heatran LV.X isn't the only Pokémon in the expansion without the rest of its evolutionary family. Torterra, Infernape, and Empoleon were each released without the rest of the Starter Pokémon families, most likely due to their inclusion in the expansion utilizing the second type of their dual-type status. For each of these three Pokémon, this expansion marks the first time these three Pokémon utilized their second type. The Sceptile in the Japanese release was also left without its evolutionary family, with the Treecko and Grovyle being included in the Giratina vs Dialga Deck Kit.
In the Japanese expansion, none of the Pokémon cards featured Pokédex entries due to several of the cards containing too much card text for one to be fit on the card. However, in Stormfront, if a card has either an attached item (such as a Magnet) or more than three items of text (such as a Pokémon Power and two attacks), the card will not include a Pokédex entry: otherwise, it will, unlike in the Japanese expansion.
The Prerelease promo for this set is Piloswine, with the promotional prerelease sleeves featuring Dusknoir. Officially, the English release of the set contains 100 cards. Between Alternate Holofoils, promotional stamps, Reverse Holofoils, and Secret cards, the set contains 207 cards. A list of the non standard cards can be seen below.
Set lists
Pack artwork
In other languages
|This article is part of Project TCG, a Bulbapedia project that aims to report on every aspect of the Pokémon Trading Card Game.


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How long will your Research in Motion (RIM) BlackBerry battery last? That depends on a wide array of factors, starting with the device model you're using, your proximity to cellular towers, and how often you're talking on a call, sending messages or surfing the mobile Internet.
But regardless of whether or not you're constantly using your BlackBerry 8830, BlackBerry 8700G or Blackberry Curve 8300 in the city or in the sticks, you can learn tricks to squeeze every last bit of juice out of your device.
For instance, you can make sure all your unused connectivity options are disabled, your notification settings are optimised for extended battery life and your screen backlight is only as bright as you need it to be.
We recommend carrying an extra BlackBerry battery along whenever possible, or better yet, an extended-life battery, so you don't get caught in the dark even if your main power supply dies. But these tips can help extend your battery life even if you have another at the ready.
1. Set connectivity options wisely
Wireless connectivity options such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth eat up BlackBerry battery life when they're on but aren't in use, because they constantly try to connect to networks or devices.
Even leaving on your device's FM radio when you're not using it drains battery life, because it's communicating with cellular towers to determine if you're still in range of the network and to update various services or applications.
Not all BlackBerry devices have Wi-Fi, in fact only a few of them do, like the BlackBerry 8820 and the new BlackBerry Pearl 8120, but most new RIM devices have Bluetooth support, and the vast majority have cellular radios.
To turn off one or all of these options, go to your device's icon screen and click the Manage Connections icon. (It looks a bit like a camera tripod with a few halos around the top.)
From there, you can deactivate all connectivity options by hitting the Turn All Connections Off option, or turn individual connections on and off by checking or unchecking the boxes next to each. One caution: the cellular radio enables your device to make and receive calls, as well as view web pages and transfer data, so you won't be able to place calls or surf the web when your radio is turned off.
If you enter an area with poor or no network coverage, turn off your radio unless it's absolutely necessary, because it will drain battery life trying to reconnect with the network.
You can also set your device to automatically shut down at night (or other little-used times) and turn itself back on, to save battery life. To do so, go to your device's icon screen and click the Options icon. (It looks like a spanner.) Then click Auto On/Off, select whether or not settings should apply to weekdays, weekends or both, and choose stop and start times.


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This phrase, "less is more" appeared in a love poem (line78) in 1855 by Robert Browning , "Andrea del Sarto" called The Faultless Painter. The phrase was adopted by Mies van der Rohe, an architect whom I studied briefly in an undergraduate course called "The House." He, along with a number of others, including Frank Lloyd Wright, were leaders in the minimalist movement that tried to scale things down rather than up, clean lines, good design.
Since then that phrase "less is more" has been popularized by all kinds of movements and people from philosophers to musicans. Most notable among these are St. Francis, Ghandi, Albert Schweizer, Henry David Thoreau, and more recently, E. F. Schumacher in his 1973 work, Small is Beautiful, a study of economics as if people mattered. Two musicians known for their work in this genre are Steve Reich and John Cage. There are numerous others from many fields, recently some in the environmental movement.
Living a more simple life has been espoused by various religious and secular groups, including the Quakers. Related notions such as self-sufficiency, reducing conspicuous consumption, sustainability, downsizing, intentional community, and the slow movement are all expressions from those who do not necessarily agree with the economics of a culture where GNP is the measure of success. There are many people who believe that there are other values that could contribute to a meaningful and productive life so that that we do not base our worth on the market value of goods and services produced in one year.
What if we looked at a quality of life based not on how much we have but how much we can give? What if the measure of a man or woman at the end of their lives was not how much they had accumulated but how much they had been able to give away? Simplicity and clarity which lead to good design applies to more than objects. How about designing our lives around simple and clear rather than complicated and cluttered?
The small house movement has gained in popularity the past few years as more and more people discover how efficient and economical it is to live in fewer square feet. There is even a small house society whose tag line is "better living through simplicity." (http://smallhousesociety.net/) rather than the original, "better living through chemistry." (Dupont,, 1935)
You can find many people who live full time on boats of various sizes all over the world and we have met many fellow travelers on the road whose only residence is their RV or recreational vehicle. These range in size and kind from small to large and ones that you pull behind a truck or that are self propelled by their own engines. Most are self-contained and are able to provide adequate and comfortable space along with the necessary functions of heat, light, cooking, bathing and even connectivity with the rest of the world.
We took a step in that direction when we sold our house, barn and six acres and lived for nine months in a home on wheels. Gypsies, someone said, no house or apartment, just wandering here and there, working and living on the road. Our theme song was Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TD_pSeNelU
That is only one illustration that afforded a level of freedom, independence and a significant reduction in possessions, equipment and property that had to be maintained and supported. More importantly perhaps is asking this question. What would improve the quality of your life that is within your reach? The answer may or may not have to do with "living space" but chances are at some point you will arrive at a time of transition and then you can design the change and make the choice.
The following questions may help inform your next change. What is it that you need or want that you do not now have within your reach? Less work, more time? Fewer responsibilities, more freedom? Less expense, more resources? Form your own question. The answer is yours to pursue and enjoy.


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The Highly Adaptable Satellite is an advanced satellite system focused on high-speed internet connectivity for Europe.
Broadband from the sky
Operating across Ku- and Ka-band frequencies with advanced communication technology, Hylas-1 can pipe broadband through the sky to hundreds of thousands of previously underserved users while simultaneously broadcasting multiple standard and high-definition TV channels.
Ku-band and Ka-band are portions of the microwave spectrum: Ku-band is extensively used for satellite television broadcasting, while Ka-band is increasingly employed for broadband internet services.
Hylas-1's wide Ku-band beam covers the whole of Europe. Its Ka-band antenna generates eight closely focused 'spot beams' for optimal frequency reuse, each providing coverage to a key European market. Bandwidth and power can be redistributed between beams to fulfil the changing needs of the market.
In partnership with business
Hylas-1 is an innovative mission put together in a new way: it is ESA's first public–private partnership resulting in a full satellite system. The commercial operator, UK-based Avanti Communications, has contributed most of the mission budget and will use the satellite to deliver broadband services to customers. ESA's involvement focuses on Hylas-1's payload technology.
Joining forces with a commercial operator means that Europe's advanced telecom technologies reach orbit much more rapidly and economically than otherwise. The Hylas-1 public–private partnership drives the technical state-of-the-art forward in space while efficiently serving a developing market.
|Hylas-1 facts and figures
|Launch date:
|26 November 2010
|Launch vehicle:
|Ariane 5 ECA
|Launch site:
|Guiana Space Centre, Kourou, French Guiana
|Orbital location:
|geostationary at 33.5°W
|Operational lifetime:
|15 years
|repeaters: eight flexible Ka-band forward link transponders; one flexible Ka-band return link transponder; two flexible Ku-band transponders
antennas: deployable 1.6 m-diameter Ku-band reflector antenna generating a linearly polarised shaped beam with European coverage;
a single-feed-per-beam Ka-band antenna system with two elliptical antennas – each measuring 1.6 x 1.35 m – generating eight circularly polarised spot beams, each covering a key European market
|Spacecraft bus:
|ISRO I-2K (three-axis stabilised)
|Launch mass:
|2242 kg (1109 kg dry mass)
|4.2 x 2.6 x 2.5 m; deployed solar array span 9.0 m; deployed antenna span 6.0 m
|Power supply:
|two Sun-tracking wings each comprising two (2.54 x 1.53 m) solar panels, made up of triple-junction gallium arsenide cells; two batteries each comprising 20 lithium-ion cells with 32 Ah capacity
|Satellite control centre:
|Inmarsat HQ, East London, UK
|Network operations centre:
|Avanti Communications HQ, London, UK
|Gateway stations:
|primary: Goonhilly (UK); back-up: Land's End (UK)