text:
Barnes & Noble announced a major update to its Nook Color tablet Monday that includes access to a new app store, including an email app for organizing Web mail accounts. The upgrade also has Android 2.2 (Froyo) with Adobe Flash Player for video viewing.
Also, important to developers, Barnes & Noble announced a Nook Developer program for building Nook apps.
With these enhancements, the 7-in., Wi-Fi-ready Nook Color tablet, with a price tag of $249, "presents the best value of any tablet on the market," at about half the cost of other popular tablets, Barnes and Noble CEO William Lynch said in making the announcement. The Nook Color first went on sale Nov. 19.
By comparison, the popular Apple 9.7-in. iPad 2 starts at $499. But the iPad 2 has a tremendous head start in the market over the enhanced Nook Color and recent entries such as the BlackBerry PlayBook. IPad 2 also has access to many more applications -- about 65,000 compared to about 125 from Nook apps so far.
"The Nook Color with its new Froyo upgrade is not an iPad -- not even close," wrote Gartner analyst Allen Weiner in a blog posted Monday, after trying out the device with the new version's 1.2 enhancements.
"But those who are looking for a great cross-media reading device with some nice new multimedia bells and whistles, it remains a go-to device," Weiner said.
Weiner said the best things about the improved Nook Color "are all reading-related." He said one of the better new features is a beta version of Nook Friends, a social app for sharing, buying and recommending books.
Weiner was also unsure how many developers would build apps for the Nook Apps app store.
The new features come in the Nook Color version 1.2 upgrade that is available free today online for manual download or over-the-air via Wi-Fi starting next week.
Barnes & Noble is also starting a new advertising campaign for the Nook Color that was developed by the Mullen advertising agency to include broadcast, print and online ads.
Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed. His e-mail address is email@example.com.
Read more about mobile and wireless in Computerworld's Mobile and Wireless Topic Center.


text:
BAGHDAD — Al-Qaeda's branch in Iraq claimed responsibility yesterday for audacious raids on two high-security prisons on the outskirts of Baghdad this week that killed dozens and set free hundreds of inmates, including some of its followers.
The statement from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the Al-Qaeda affiliate in Iraq, was posted on an online jihadist forum. It said months of planning went into the highly coordinated assaults on the prisons in Abu Ghraib and Taji that began late Sunday.
The attacks, among the most stunning in Iraq since a surge in violence began in April, have drawn sharp criticism from opposition lawmakers and ordinary Iraqis over government efforts to keep the country safe. The spike in bloodshed is intensifying fears of a return to the widespread sectarian killing that pushed the country to the brink of civil war after the 2003 US-led invasion.
In its statement, Al-Qaeda in Iraq said the prison operation involved 12 car bombs, military-style barrages of rockets and mortars, suicide bombers and help from prisoners who had managed to obtain weapons on the inside.
Iraqi officials have said at least 25 members of the Iraqi security forces were killed in the attacks, along with at least 21 prisoners and 10 militants.
Al-Qaeda boasted that its men killed more than 120 government forces, and claimed that on its side, only the suicide bombers died in clashes that raged for hours.
Frank Finver, a spokesman for the American Embassy in Baghdad, said the US is "deeply concerned" by the attacks and the overall levels of violence in Iraq.
He said the US is in ongoing contact with the government of Iraq to help improve its ability to weaken or defeat Al-Qaeda inside Iraq, but he gave no specific details on counter-terrorism cooperation.
Iraq's central government has not provided a clear account of what happened or said how many prisoners escaped Sunday night.
The Interior Ministry has said several prisoners broke out from Abu Ghraib, the infamous prison in Baghdad's western suburbs that was the site of well-publicized prisoner abuse at the hands of the US military following the 2003 invasion.
But several Iraqi officials, including members of parliament's security and defense committee, have said more than 500 inmates escaped. Both prisons house thousands of inmates, including convicted Al-Qaeda militants, though it appears no one broke out of the Taji prison.
Al-Qaeda said in its statement that the attack freed hundreds of detainees, including more than 500 mujahedeen, or holy warriors.
The authenticity of the statement could not be independently confirmed. It was posted on a website commonly used by jihadists and its style was consistent with earlier Al-Qaeda statements.
The prison break could help bolster Al-Qaeda's ranks and give them a propaganda boost.
"Al-Qaeda needs as much resources as it can get, including manpower," said Paul Floyd, who served several tours in Iraq with the US Army and is now a military analyst at global intelligence company Stratfor. "The larger the operation, the more successful it is, the more likely they are to claim it."
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki voiced disappointment over the handling of the Abu Ghraib attack in brief comments during a broader discussion aired on state television.
"I have imposed harsh punishments on some people in relation to Abu Ghraib," he said, without elaborating.
In the statement, Al-Qaeda also claimed responsibility for other unspecified attacks over the past four months in response to a heavy-handed crackdown by security forces on a Sunni protest camp in the northern town of Hawija on April 23.
The Hawija raid killed 44 civilians and one member of the security forces, according to estimates by the United Nations. It followed months of rallies by Iraq's minority Sunnis against the Shiite-led government over what they contend is second-class treatment and the unfair use of tough anti-terrorism measures against their sect.
Violence in Iraq has spiked to the highest level in half a decade in the wake of the Hawija crackdown. More than 3,000 people have been killed since the start of April, including more than 500 since the start of July.
Iraqi security forces have struggled to quell the violence, angering many Iraqis. The prison attacks have only increased the sense of insecurity.
"What happened in Abu Ghraib is a mixture of obvious security shortcomings, incompetence, complicity (and) inefficiency," said Baghdad-based political analyst Hadi Jalo. "The top commanders — including officers, ministers and officials — and the Iraqi government share the blame."
The bloodshed continued into yesterday.
Insurgents bombed a local government building in the village of al-Rashad, outside the ethically disputed northern city of Kirkuk. The attackers kidnapped two anti-Al-Qaeda Sunni militiamen who were guarding the building and later shot them dead, said al-Rashad mayor Louis al-Fandi.
A bomb later exploded outside a Sunni mosque in Kirkuk, wounding seven, police Col. Taha Salaheddin said.
Police also found the bodies of four off-duty policemen on a road about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the city of Mosul. The policemen, who were on leave and heading home, were killed with bullets to the head, according to authorities.
In Mosul itself, gunmen in a speeding car shot dead two other off-duty policemen as they were walking in a street, police said. Three sheep traders were shot dead in the northern city later in the day.
Morgue officials confirmed the Mosul deaths. The officials who provided details of the attacks spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk to the media.
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subset: commoncrawl


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As demand skyrockets for Facebook's (FB) initial public offering of stock on Friday, advisors are planning to snap up exchange-traded funds that can give their clients exposure to the hot new social media IPO without exposing them to the stock's expected initial volatility.
The two ETFs that will offer exposure to Facebook within the first trading week of its launch are the Global X Social Media Index ETF (SOCL) and the First Trust US IPO Index Fund (FPX), according to Scott Freeze, president of Street One Financial, a broker-dealer that works with ETF issuers, money managers and registered investment advisors (RIAs) of $13 billion to $20 billion in assets to identify ETFs that provide the desired mix of manager objectives, fees and liquidity. Facebook closed its first day of trading on Friday, up only 23 cents, at $38.23.
"We have seen a huge amount of interest," Global X Funds CEO Bruno del Ama told AdvisorOne in an interview on Wednesday. "We brought the fund to market in November 2011, and demand was slow when it first came to market, but following the announcement of the Facebook IPO it really took off, and we've had many inquiries from the financial advisor community. SOCL is an open-end ETF. Anybody with a brokerage account can buy it, and it trades like any other stock."
Facebook said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it is raising the number of shares for sale to 421 million, 25% more than it had previously planned to offer. At $38 a share, the maximum price Facebook says it plans to seek, the social networking giant's offering would raise nearly $16 billion, making it one of the largest IPOs in history.
"Last I heard," Freeze said on Thursday, "Facebook is definitively priced tonight, and it will start trading tomorrow at $34 to $38 a share, and that's finalized. With the oversubscription, $45 would be the maximum."
Freeze identified SOCL, which uses the Solactive Social Networks Index as its benchmark, as the most aggressive of the ETFs expected to gain exposure to Facebook. The Solactive index rule is for a five-day, post-listing period before a stock can be added to the ETF.
Del Ama said SOCL will buy Facebook shares after the close on the fifth day of trading, May 24, and that Global X expects the ETF should have a 10% weighting among its top holdings.
Freeze predicted that Facebook will be SOCL's top holding after the launch. As of May 16, the fund's top holding is LinkedIn. SOCL currently trades about 30,000 shares a day on average, and recently has been trading at six figures a day, he noted, saying the increase "is probably investors getting into the ETF in front of the Facebook addition."
As for the First Trust US IPO Index Fund, FPX has seen increased activity similar to SOCL's. Until recently, FPX averaged only 6,000 shares a day, and now it has started seeing close to 20,000 shares a day, most likely due to the Facebook addition, Freeze said.
First Trust should have a 10% weighting in Facebook on the seventh day after trading, he said, noting that the fund is market-cap weighted and has a ceiling of 10% for any one issue.
Freeeze listed other ETFs that will eventually offer exposure to Facebook as follows:
UBS E-TRACS Next Gen Internet ETN (EIPO), which should add Facebook on the first Tuesday in June; First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index (FDN); PowerShares (QQQ); Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK); and PowerShares NASDAQ Internet (PNQI), which shouldn't see Facebook for "quite a while," according to Freeze, who couldn't specify a timeframe.
"QQQ is the NASDAQ 100 Index, so Facebook would have to be added to the index itself before it could be added to the ETF," he said.
Google made it into the S&P 500 Index after 19 months, del Ama noted. "The only indices that would incorporate Facebook sooner would be either those that are focused on IPOs or sector-based indices such as SOCL."
Asked about the risk involved in a social media IPO launch, del Ama said many advisors have expressed concern, and he said that in the first few days, Facebook stock will be a speculators' market, not an investors' market.
"By the fifth day of trading, most of the volatility will play out as speculators exit," del Ama said. "This is when financial advisors can look for sensible products that will offer access to Facebook. Advisors' clients are asking about the IPO as well as their children and grandchildren who have Facebook accounts. They're curious about the company, but it's true that advisors are risk-averse. They see that SOCL is a great way to diversify across the social media spectrum, and they also like its valuation."
General Motors this week announced that it plans to stop advertising on Facebook because it can't link car sales back to site users. Del Ama said that GM's decision to stop advertising on Facebook is a negative in the short term, but the fact that Facebook is selling 25% more shares indicates a positive trend for the social media sector.
"Short term it's discouraging, but longer term I don't think it changes the value proposition of Facebook," he said.
Read about the Top 30 Richest Social Media Gurus at AdvisorOne.


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Dear Sierra Designs Community,
The COVID-19/Coronavirus situation has prompted all of us to make some changes in our day-to-day dealings. Our number one priority is to ensure the safety and well-being of our employees and customers. As a result, we are have made several accommodations at all locations to accomplish meeting the needs of our employees and our customers.
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We'll continue to closely monitor the situation and evaluate additional measures to support our communities as the need arises. During this period of 'social distancing', we hope you can take time to Think Outside. Being outdoors, even just for a moment, will assist and inspire the spirit and help us get through this challenging time. Please take care of yourselves and those around you!
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Biophysicist identifies parameters for biochemical networks, distills system behavior into simple equivalent dynamics
ago, scientists began reducing the physics of the universe into a few,
key laws described by a handful of parameters. Such simple descriptions
have remained elusive for complex biological systems – until now.
University biophysicist Ilya Nemenman has identified parameters for
several biochemical networks that distill the entire behavior of these
systems into simple equivalent dynamics. The discovery may hold the
potential to streamline the development of drugs and diagnostic tools,
by simplifying the research models.
The resulting paper, now available online, will be published in the March issue of Physical Biology.
appears that the details of the complexity of these biological systems
don't matter, as long as some aggregate property, which we've
calculated, remains the same," says Nemenman, associate professor of
physics and biology. He conducted the analysis with Golan Bel and Brian
Munsky of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
'A beautiful result'
simplicity of the discovery makes it "a beautiful result," Nemenman
says. "We hope that this theoretical finding will also have practical
He cites the air molecules moving about his
office: "All of the crazy interactions of these molecules hitting each
other boils down to a simple behavior: An ideal gas law. You could take
the painstaking route of studying the dynamics of every molecule, or
you could simply measure the temperature, volume and pressure of the
air in the room. The second method is clearly easier, and it gives you
just as much information."
Nemenman wanted to find similar
parameters for the incredibly complex dynamics of cellular networks,
involving hundreds, or even thousands, of variables among different
interacting molecules. Among the key questions: What determines which
features in these networks are relevant? And if they have simple
equivalent dynamics, did nature choose to make them so complex in order
to fulfill a specific biological function? Or is the unnecessary
complexity a "fossil record" of the evolutionary heritage?
A KPR scheme
the Physical Biology paper, Nemenman and co-authors investigated these
questions in the context of a kinetic proofreading (KPR) scheme.
is the mechanism a cell uses for optimal quality control as it makes
protein. KPR was predicted during the 1970s and it applies to most
cellular assembly processes. It involves hundreds of steps, and each
step may have different parameters.
A key aggregate rate
and his colleagues wondered if the KPR scheme could be described more
simply. "Our calculations confirmed that there is, in fact, a key
aggregate rate," he says. "The whole behavior of the system boils down
to just one parameter."
That means that, instead of
painstakingly testing or measuring every rate in the process, you can
predict the error and completion rate of a system by looking at a
single aggregate parameter.
Charted on a graph, the aggregate
behavior appears as a straight line amid a tangle of curving ones. "The
larger and more complex the system gets, the more the aggregate
behavior is visible," Nemenman says. "The completion time gets simpler
and simpler as the system size goes up."
In addition to the
KPR scheme, the paper reports similar results for other biochemical
kinetics networks, including a reversible linear pathway and a general
multi-step completion process.
Simplified models
is now collaborating with Emory theoretical biologist Rustom Antia, to
see if the discovery can shed light on the processes of immune cells.
In particular, they are interested in the malfunction of certain immune
receptors involved in most allergic reactions.
"We may be
able to simplify the model for these immune receptors from about 3,000
steps to three steps," Nemenman says. "You wouldn't need a
supercomputer to test different chemical compounds on the receptors,
because you don't need to simulate every single step – just the
Just as the discovery of an ideal gas law led to
the creation of engines and automobiles, Nemenman believes that such
simple biochemical aggregates could drive advancements in health.


text:
Black PU bookcase with stand and magnetic closure for iPad Pro 11" 2020
This Trio Book Case has been designed to give optimum protection for iPad Pro 11" 2020.This cover isolates the entire screen of your iPad from the outside environment protecting it from scratches and dirt. The magnetic closure opens easily with one simple movement giving instant access to the iPad's functions.The Trio case also comes with a convenient and practical built-in stand that can be adjusted to three different heights.Features:
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text:
Isaiah 40:31
Aeipathy; falling in love with Jesus
Prophetic Analysis of Today's News
Spirituality & Beautiful Musings
My hope, that you don't just read the words; but that you would let the Words... Press, into your heart!
{Growing Stronger in your Relationship with JESUS!}
Faith and Motivational Thoughts
Christian devotional reading. Bible discoveries. Gems from the Word of God for everyday life.
to buy the artwork: www.sarahjo-hawes.pixels.com
A Small Girl with a Big God
words echo art
We Survived and Arrived - Now as Warriors We Thrive
Pondering my way through God's beloved world
Indifference Will Never Stop Child Abuse....
It's all about life and it's glory through the glory of God.
king Yeshua is the true poet the beauty of marvelous majesty, the author and finisher of my faith, the most magnificent artist paintings of a masterpiece soon to be revealed
In sin with delight, thinking we the righteous are fools for all our pains!
A daily dose of God's touch in a minute...
Friend of A Jewish Carpenter
Seeing Beauty in the Broken
behind every face is a story dying to be told
"It was at that age that poetry came in search of me" Neruda
Theology, Devotions, and Apologetics
Kind words are like honey, sweet to the soul and healthy for the body Proverbs 16:24
More of Him, Less of me
to encourage and equip Christians
(Reaching the nations through Stories, Quotes, Bible Verses, and Prayer)
We are all on this Journey Together
A place where words come alive
Isaiah 12:2 KJV "Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song"
"With an unveiled face, being transformed into the image of Christ–2 Cor. 3:18"
Behold, The Kingdom Of God Is At Hand!
"Christ himself is our peace..." (Ephesians 2:14)
"To know Him and make Him Known"
A Study of the Words and Doctrine of Jesus Christ
This site is aimed at enlightening young minds in particular, and everyone in general on the beauty and positive effect of everything nature has to offer humans.
Sharing Logos Bible Software Information www.logos.com
uplifting messages of hope and encouragement involving every situation
Hope On The Road Less Traveled
Seeking God's glory in the everyday
"Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope." — Maya Angelou
Sharing ideas with brevity...
'Call to me and i will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.' Jeremiah 33.3
Love, Truth, Consciousness, Christ
This blog is exactly as described. The Thinking of Thoughts
We are here to share with you the great love of Christ; how he designs each part of us into a beautiful work of art called LOVE💛. His Grace has called us out!


text:
Pain Art
Diane De Grand-Lieu (vol.1,2)
Hilda (vol.1,2,3)
The Education Of Lil
The Little Slavegirl
Pain Art
is protected by an Age Verification Form of
Adult Empire
. So your password grants you access to ALL of sites (about 2000 for now) and resources of
Adult Empire
. Among others to
Girls Eater
Toons Assault
Comics Boss
Pain Comics
Japanese Ropes
Toons Fear
to see more of our sites.


text:
RBC Global Asset Management receives top honours and multiple fund awards at Lipper Fund Awards for seven consecutive years Français
Feb 06, 2013, 10:00 ET
TORONTO, Feb. 6, 2013 /CNW/ - RBC Global Asset Management Inc. today announced that Phillips, Hager & North Investment Management (PH&N), a division of the company, captured two of the top four Lipper Group Awards: Best Funds Group Overall and Best Bond Funds Group, at the 2013 Lipper Fund Awards. In addition, RBC Global Asset Management received 12 individual fund awards.
PH&N also won the Best Funds Group Overall award in 2010, 2011, and 2012. RBC Global Asset Management received this recognition in 2007 and 2008. PH&N has won the Best Bond Funds Group award in all years since 2007, except in 2009 when RBC Global Asset Management received the recognition.
"We are honoured to be recognized among our peers in the industry. It is remarkable to receive top Lipper Group Awards seven years in a row, and certainly gratifying to receive multiple individual distinctions, but our focus remains on delivering solid and consistent risk-adjusted returns for our clients, first and foremost," said Dan Chornous, chief investment officer of RBC Global Asset Management. "Our teams are committed to this, and it is their dedication that has built our tradition of investment excellence."
The Lipper Fund Awards recognize funds and fund management firms that have delivered strong consistent performance. RBC Global Asset Management received the following individual fund awards.
|PH&N High Yield Bond Fund
| High Yield Fixed
|Best Fund 10 Years
| 2008, 2009, 2010,
2011, 2012
| PH&N Short-Term Bond & Mortgage
| Canadian Short
Term Fixed Income
| Best Fund 3, 5 & 10
|2010, 2011, 2012
|RBC Canadian Equity Income Fund
| Canadian Dividend
& Income Equity
| Best Fund 3 & 5
|2011, 2012
|RBC Global Corporate Bond Fund
|Global Fixed Income
|Best Fund 3 Years
|RBC Global High Yield Bond Fund
| High Yield Fixed
| Best Fund 3 & 5
|2011, 2012
|RBC Global Precious Metals Fund
| Precious Metals
|Best Fund 10 Years
|2009, 2012
|RBC Monthly Income Fund
| Canadian Neutral
|Best Fund 10 Years
|2010, 2011
| RBC O'Shaughnessy All-Canadian
Equity Fund
|Canadian Equity
|Best Fund 3 Years
The 2013 Lipper Fund Awards are part of a global program held in 23 countries to highlight funds and fund families that excel in delivering consistently strong risk-adjusted performance relative to their peers. Lipper, a Thomson Reuters company, is a global leader in supplying mutual fund information, analytical tools and commentary. The Lipper Fund Awards recognizes funds by individual classifications for the three-, five-, and 10-year periods. The Lipper Group Awards are determined by the high average scores of fund families during the three-year time period.
About RBC Global Asset Management and RBC Wealth Management
RBC Global Asset Management (RBC GAM) is the asset management division of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), and includes institutional money managers BlueBay Asset Management, Phillips, Hager & North Investment Management and RBC Global Asset Management (U.S.). RBC GAM is a provider of global investment management services and solutions to individual, high-net-worth and institutional investors through exchange-traded funds, hedge funds, mutual funds, pooled funds, separate accounts and specialty investment strategies. RBC GAM group of companies manage more than $270 billion in assets and have approximately 1,000 employees located across Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia.
RBC Global Asset Management is part of RBC Wealth Management, which is one of the world's top 10 largest wealth managers. RBC Wealth Management directly serves affluent, high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients in Canada, the United States, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia with a full suite of banking, investment, trust and other wealth management solutions. The business also provides asset management products and services directly and through RBC and third-party distributors to institutional and individual clients, through its RBC Global Asset Management business (which includes BlueBay Asset Management). RBC Wealth Management has more than C$577 billion of assets under administration, more than C$339 billion of assets under management and approximately 4,300 financial consultants, advisors, private bankers and trust officers.
For further information:
Yen To, RBC GAM Communications, 416 955-5916
Leah Commisso, RBC GAM Media Relations, 416 955-6498


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text:
The Mapleson Cylinders - Program Notes
This side contains a variety of marginal material that has been excluded from the main sequence, mostly on the grounds of audibility. Many of these were among the cylinders found at the Mapleson Music Library, which have survived in poor condition. Six selections were sufficiently audible to be included in the main listening sequence (see "M" numbers in the table in Appendix A), two proved totally unplayable, and the remainder will be found on Bands 3, 4, 6-8, 10, 11, and Band 12 (e). In most cases, texts and translations have not been included, as words are generally indistinguishable and a score is necessary for even minimal decipherment.
Unidentified repertory
Unidentified chorus & orchestra (?)
Date unknown
[Seltsam 68; probably matches a Glackens entry.]
This selection remains unidentified, despite David Hall's diligent research in the obscure corners of the Met's repertory during the Mapleson seasons.
Gounod: ROMÉO ET JULIETTE--Act I: Juliet's Valse excerpt: "Je veux vivre"
Nellie Melba (s), Juliette
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra--Luigi Mancinelli
March 9 (matinee), 1901
This is the new transfer of the surviving part of the cylinder given complete on Side 3 from the 1941 Library of Congress transfer. Although incomplete and less "listenable" because of further deterioration of the cylinder (notably a widened crack resulting in untrackable groove skips), this version has a wider frequency response and truer hall ambience. For synopsis and text, see Side 3/Band 4.
Bizet: CARMEN--Act I: Habanera excerpt
Emma Calvé (s), Carmen
Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Orchestra--
Phillippe Flon
[Glackens 97: "Calvé Habanera," with no date. Flon conducted all of Calvé's Carmens; possible dates are December 30, 1901, and in 1902, January 10, February 1 (matinee), 12, 20 (matinee), and March 8. The speed matches neither of the other Carmen cylinders (see Side 4/Bands 1, 2).]
This cylinder contains one stanza (impossible to determine which one) of the "Habanera." At first, nothing is decipherable, but eventually the choral reprise of the opening strain can be faintly detected, and the choral interjections in the refrain ("Prends garde ŕ toi!"--they do seem to be in French!) are fairly clear; towards the end, Calvé herself is also audible.
Donizetti: LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR--Act III: Mad Scene excerpt
Nellie Melba (s), Lucia
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra--Luigi Mancinelli
March 18, 1901
Glackens 82; the container now holding Side 3/Band 8 from Le Cid has Mapleson's notation: "Mad. Melba Lucia Mad Scene, March 18, 1901, weak connection." The recording speed matches the cylinder from the later part of the scene found on Side 4/Band 7.]
The beginning of this cylinder is totally obscured by noise; about a minute and twenty seconds in, we are definitely at the line "Ogni piacer piů grato," in the slow part of the "Mad Scene." Since it takes Melba just about as long to reach this point in her 1910 Victor recording of the passage, which begins at "Ardon gl' incensi," we may surmise that Mapleson began his recording at that standard starting-place. The noise gradually mutes, so that the phrases at the top of the staff, at least, can be made out, but the excerpt breaks off just before the interpolated cadenza written for Melba by Mathilde Marchesi (heard in Melba's studio recordings of the passage). This is the performance without chorus.
(a) Massenet: LE CID--Act II: Infanta's Alleluia fragment
Nellie Melba or Suzanne Adams (s), L'Infante
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra--Luigi Mancinelli
or Phillippe Flon
This fragment is found at the end of the cylinder containing the Suzanne Adams Faust Trio recording (Side 1/Band 10)--indeed, the sonic difficulties of that recording probably result from its having been recorded over an imperfectly shaved cylinder. Though not from the January 16, 1901 Cid performance (see Side 3/Band 9), this could be from any of four others: in 1900-01, the matinee of January 19 (Melba/Mancinelli) or the evening of February 8 (Adams/Mancinelli), or from the following season, February 19 and March 4 (both Adams/Flon).
(b) Arditi: Parla Vals excerpt: Introduction
Marcella Sembrich (s) or Fritzi Scheff (s) (?)Metropolitan Opera Orchestra--(?)
Date unknown
The opening bars of Arditi's waltz, recorded at the same speed as the coda (Side 4/Band 10) but in a different aural perspective, this is found at the beginning of the cylinder containing the Marilly Aida excerpt (Side 5/Band 6), which was presumably recorded over it, indicating that this bit of Parla must predate January 31, 1903. The only performance of Parla documented by the revised Metropolitan Opera Annals is by Fritzi Scheff, at a concert on December 14, 1902--but that would be the only known Mapleson recording before the first of the year, and from a season during which he is not otherwise known to have recorded Sunday-evening concerts. Other possibilities, probably undocumentable: Sembrich, from another performance of Fille, recorded from another perspective--or perhaps an unprogrammed encore from a Sunday-evening concert? Given that the singer doesn't even get one phrase out before the recording breaks off, this certainly ranks as one of the lesser Mapleson mysteries.
Verdi: LA TRAVIATA: Ah fors'č lui excerpt: "A quell' amor, quell' amor ch'č palpito"... "delizia al cor"
Marcella Sembrich (?)
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra--Luigi Mancinelli (?)
February 27, 1903 (?)
The identification of performers and date is based on the assumption that this cylinder is the one inventoried as No. 26 by Glackens and Bishop: "Sembrich-Traviata-Ah fors (Feb 27 1903)" and described in their commentary as "Pretty clear except for low notes, worth saving." Heat damage has rendered most of the cylinder unplayable; the recoverable forty-five seconds represent the end of the aria, no longer "pretty clear," alas. The recording evidently begins at the turn to the major in Violetta's aria; the first really discernible phrase is "dell' universo, dell' universo intero," at the beginning of which the singer deploys a simpler ornament than is heard in Sembrich's three recordings of the piece. Note that the speed does not match the "Sempre libera" cylinder of the same date (Side 5/Band 4)--nor that of the Melba excerpt on Side 5/Band 3, the only Traviata during the Mapleson years not sung by Sembrich.
A quell'amor,
quell'amor ch'č palpito
dell' universo,
dell' universo intero,
misterioso, misterioso, altero,
croce, croce e delizia,
croce e delizia, delizia al cor.
To that love,
that love which is the heartbeat
of the universe,
of the whole universe,
mysterious and proud,
a burden, a burden and a delight,
a burden and a delight, a delight to the heart.
Ponchielli: LA GIOCONDA -- Dance of the Hours excerpt
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra -- Phillippe Flon
March 2, 1902
[The Glackens-Bishop inventory lists two cylinders apparently from the "Dance of the Hours." No. 76, dated "March 2?, 19?," is described as "cracked"; No. 92 is "Gioconda galop -- March 2, 1902." This is presumably the second of two (though it does not include the final section of the piece, to which the term "galop" might be properly applied). Gioconda was not in the Met repertory during these years, and the piece was played only on the Sunday-evening concert of that date -- at which Mapleson may have also recorded some songs sung by Campanari and possibly the Saint-Saëns Danse Macabre (see Side 4/Band 14).]
The excerpt begins near the end of "the hours of day" (about eight measures before letter E in the Ricordi score), and continues through "evening" into "night." Two bars after letter G, Mapleson appears to have stopped his machine; at any rate, the transitional passage, with harp arpeggios, is missing; more curiously, when he resumes at "Andante poco mosso," the first eight measures of cello melody are repeated -- at which point the recording breaks off.
Wagner: TRISTAN UND ISOLDE: Act I finale excerpt: "Tristan! Isolde!"...
Milka Ternina (s), Isolde
Ernestine Schumann-Heink (a), Brangäne
Jean De Reszke (t), Tristan
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra--
Walter Damrosch
March 13, 1901
[Glackens 112; the cylinder with the cadenza of the Roméo waltz was found in a container with a Tristan snake and Mapleson's notation: "Duet Jean, Ternina Act I Tristan March 13, 1901." The speed matches the other surviving cylinder from this performance (see below and Side 9/Band 5).]
This cylinder begins after Tristan and Isolde have drunk the potion, shortly before Isolde's first line; the choral entries and Schumann-Heink's vigorous intervention are barely distinguishable, the remainder is covered by steadily increasing noise. (We give the chorus words in German; it's impossible to tell whether they are sung in German or Italian.)
Treuloser Holder!
Seligste Frau!
SAILORS (without)
Heil! König Marke Heil!
Heil! König Marke Heil!
Heil! König Marke Heil!
Wehe! Weh!
ew'ge Noth
für kurzen Tod!
Thör'ger Treue
trugvolles Werk
blüht nun jammernd empor!
Faithless beloved!
Most divine woman!
SAILORS (without)
Hail! King Marke. hail!
Hail! King Marke. hail!
Hail! King Marke. heil!
Woe! Woe!
endless need
instead of sudden death!
The deceptive fruits
of foolish loyalty
now flourish in grief!
Wagner: TRISTAN UND ISOLDE--Act II: excerpts:
(a) "[wo sie dein] Licht verscheuchte"--"sie zulöschen zag ich nicht!"
(b) "[O] Wonne der Seele"..."ewig, ewig ein! Wie lange [fern!]"
Milka Ternina (s), Isolde
Jean De Reszke (t), Tristan
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra--Walter
March 13, 1901
This is the new transfer of the passages from Act II of the same performance, presented on Side 9/Band 5 in a dubbing of the IRCC disc, which we judged to be slightly more intelligible, if more restricted in frequency range. See Side 9/Band 5 for text and translation.
Unidentified repertory, performers, date
Some musical signal, as yet unidentified, is faintly distinguishable on this cylinder.
(a) Unidentified repertory, performers, date
(b) comment by Lionel Mapleson (?)
This is the second half of the cylinder containing the cadenza to Juliette's "Valse" (Side 3/Band 3). Some musical signal is discernible if not identifiable (it does not seem to be the material immediately following the "Valse"--though it might just possibly be the beginning of an encore), and at the end a speaking voice is heard--presumably Mapleson's: "I wonder...recorded sound...."
Scattered among the cylinders--and, distressingly, often recorded over Met performances--are "home recordings" of the Mapleson family, here gathered in a sequence. Pitching was necessarily approximate; they were re-recorded at speeds that resulted in normal speaking pitch.
(a) "Good morning, my dear little school." June 21, 19??
Recorded over the continuation of the Manru excerpt (see Side 7/Band 8 for the libretto of the music heard in the background).
(b) "...I want to build my own house with my own blocks!"
March 1(?), 1911
At the end of the Melba Faust "Jewel Song" (Side 1/Band 2).
(c) "...evening paper" ... "just come from a very windy walk on Brooklyn Bridge."
April 8, 1909
At the end of the second cylinder from the Africaine duet (Side 3/Band 3).
(d) "I have a new motto for my paper." November 5, 19??
At the end of Act II of Carmen
(Side 4/Band 1). The music on this recording may be related
to the following traditional round:
Thou poor bird,
mournst the tree,
where sweetly thou didst warble
in thy wand'ring free.
Ah, poor bird,
take thy flight
far above the sorrows
of this sad night.
(e) Christmas greetings
A complete cylinder from the Mapleson Music Library group (M-5).
(f) Au clair de la lune
On the cylinder with the undated "Te Deum" from Tosca (Side 7/Band 2).
(g) Onward Christian Soldiers
On the cylinder with the Sylvia excerpt (Side 4/Band 12).
The remaining three recordings are all undocumented and all badly distorted--in the second case, at least, evidently because Mapleson recorded a second "take" of the same music directly over an imperfectly erased first one. Presumably not from Met stage performances, they were probably recorded in the opera house, and possibly by singers known to history. (The soprano might conceivably be Lionel's wife Helen.) Included here for the sake of completeness, they are emphatically not recommended for recreational listening.
Gounod: Ave Maria excerpt: last 13 measures Unidentified performers (soprano, chorus?, piano), date
This is on the cylinder with the "Prize Song" (below, Band 15). The exact nature of the accompanying forces is difficult to discern--is that a chorus, or merely a phantom created by the distortion?
Puccini: LA BOHČME: Mi chiamano Mimě excerpt: second part of aria
Unidentified performers (soprano, piano), date
Wagner: DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG: Prize Song excerpt: "Huldreichster Tag"...to end of solo section
Unidentified performers (tenor, orchestra?), date
Found on the same cylinder as the Ave Maria (above, Band 13), this is the Abgesang of Walther von Stolzing's "Prize Song," with a concert ending instead of the choral epilogue found in the opera (and therefore certainly not recorded at a performance of the opera). Again, distortion is so fierce as to obscure the exact nature of the accompanying forces (Tom Owen suggests that it may be simply a harmonium). If orchestrally accompanied, it might come from a Sunday-evening concert, possibly that of January 17, 1904, when Burgstaller sang and Mottl conducted (the same concert from which the Wagner Kaisermarsch on Side 10/Band 11 may come), or that of March 6, 1904, when Dippel sang and Hertz conducted.


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VATICAN CITY — "To the dislike and failure of the White House´s diplomatic pressures, Pope Benedict XVI will arrive to Cuba on March 26th," reports the Cuban foreign ministry's new website dedicated to the papal visit.
Internet penetration on the island is 14%, according to the International Telecommunications Union, so the site is presumably intended largely for foreign consumption. Here visitors can read the government line on the state of religious freedom in Cuba, among other topics.
For another perspective, the USCCB website has a page dedicated to the pope's trip to Mexico and Cuba, featuring coverage by CNS.


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Many types of punctures are out there, and there is one waiting on the road with your name on it. Thankfully, with Bridgestone DriveGuard tyres, there's no reason to be stressed.
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* Driving distance after a puncture may vary depending on vehicle load, outside temperature, and when the TPMS is triggered. Bridgestone DriveGuard tyres are classified Wet Grip A in EU labeling. DriveGuard tyres are currently not available for vans, and are only available for cars equipped with a Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS).
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text:
Remarks by Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General
Tokyo, 18 November 2009
The world economy has started to recover from its deepest decline in post-war history. As bad as it was, an even more catastrophic outcome was avoided by a prompt and vigorous response by economic policy makers, including in Japan. Nevertheless, the recovery is likely to be both weak and fragile for some time to come, as projected in the OECD's Economic Outlook, which I will present tomorrow. And the negative economic and social consequences of the crisis will be long-lasting. Even with a return to economic growth starting in mid-2009, we expect that there will be 50 million unemployed workers in the OECD area in 2011, compared to 35 million in 2008. In short, there is a risk that the crisis will permanently lower the standard of living.
Overcoming the crisis and the obstacles to growth
Japan is one of the countries hardest-hit by the crisis. Although it was far from the epicentre of the origins of the crisis, Japan's export-dependent economy was especially vulnerable to the collapse in world trade. We now see signs of a recovery in Japan, thanks to large-scale fiscal stimulus and accommodative measures by the Bank of Japan. But the great challenge today is to move from a policy-based recovery to self-sustained growth.
The world needs a vibrant and dynamic Japan. As the world's second-largest economy, Japan has a vital role to play in developing new technology, promoting green growth, addressing climate change and supporting economic growth in less developed nations. In short, Japan's economic health is crucial for the world as well as for the Japanese.
Japan faces some unique problems to play this role to the fullest. First, there is the rapid demographic transition. The Japanese government projects that, if the fertility rate remains at its 2005 level of 1.26, total population will fall to 95 million by mid-century. And 40 per cent of the population would be over age 65, implying a significant increase in the burden on the working-age population to pay for public spending on pensions, health and long-term care.
Second, Japan's fiscal situation creates concern, as the ratio of public debt to GDP is already the highest ever recorded in the OECD area. With a budget deficit approaching 10 per cent of GDP, public debt is on track to rise even further to over 200 per cent by 2011. A key to solving the fiscal problem is economic growth; increasing GDP, in part by ending deflation, would reduce the burden of debt.
Japan has a number of strengths thanks to its investment in knowledge
Fortunately, Japan enjoys a number of advantages:
1. Japan is rightly famous for its emphasis on education. The proportion of young adults with tertiary education is one of the highest in the OECD area. Japan is consistently one of the top OECD countries in the PISA tests, which measures the academic abilities of 15-year-olds. And in addition to high scores, Japan has achieved an equitable access to learning opportunities, compared to other OECD countries.
2. Not coincidentally, Japan is also a world leader in R&D – spending 3.4 per cent of GDP on such investment in 2007, compared with 2.7 per cent in the United States and 1.8 per cent in the EU. Moreover, over three-quarters of Japan's R&D is in the business sector.
3. Finally, Japan has a high level of business investment compared to the OECD average, allowing it to incorporate this knowledge into its physical capital stock.
The challenge for Japan is to take full advantage of these large investments in knowledge, to translate them more fully into sustainable growth. Unlocking the human capital potential in Japan and fully utilising these resources would support a strong and dynamic Japanese economy.
At its most basic, economic growth can be explained by two variables:
• The amount of labour
• The productivity of labour
Increasing labour inputs by raising female labour force participation
As for the amount of labour, we would not hope to see longer working hours for employees -- working time in Japan is still above the OECD average despite a significant decline since 1990. Rather it is a question of increasing employment – koyou, one of the four Ks that has emerged as a priority for the new government – by including more women in the labour force. As shown on page 7 of the brochure, the proportion women between the ages of 25 and 54 who are employed in Japan – is relatively low (65%) compared to other OECD countries. Moreover, its share has hardly increased since 1994.
The opportunity cost of low female labour force participation is significant given the relatively high level of educational attainment of women in Japan. Moreover, we do not see the usual pattern of participation rising as the level of education increases. Instead, Japan is the only OECD country, along with Korea, where the labour force participation rate of women with a university education is roughly the same as for those without an upper secondary education. Moreover, many women who do work are only part-time employees. In short, Japan is underutilising the talents of its female population.
We are all familiar with factors that discourage women from employment and need to be addressed:
1. The problem of work-life balance makes it difficult for parents to combine family responsibilities with employment.
2. The rising share of non-regular workers – two-thirds of whom are women – limits the attractiveness of employment.
3. The large role of seniority and tenure in setting wages – rather than performance-based pay -- widens the gender pay gap.
4. Aspects of the tax and social security systems discourage work by secondary earners.
This morning, I would like to stress another important aspect – the lack of appropriate childcare. We share this concern with the new government, which has promised in the 9 September policy agreement that it:
"will endeavour to increase the number of childcare facilities, ensure high quality childcare, and work to eliminate waiting lists for public childcare facilities."
In fact, children – kodomo, are another of the four Ks identified by the government.
Compared to other OECD countries, the Japanese government spends a relatively large amount on children who are ten years old. But it spends one of the lowest amounts on five-year olds. Shifting resources to children aged five and below, in particular by providing more childcare and early education, offers a number of benefits:
1. As mentioned, it would encourage greater female labour force participation.
2. It would improve the quality of education; research shows that the rate of return on public investment in early childhood education is greater than for later years.
3. It would promote equality by working to overcome disadvantages as early as possible.
4. Finally, it may help raise the fertility rate as the burden of childcare is one factor that discourages families from having children. Indeed, in the OECD area, there is a clear positive correlation between female labour force participation and the fertility rate.
Raising labour productivity
The second key to a more dynamic Japanese economy is boosting labour productivity, which as shown in the chart on page four of the key issues publication, is relatively low in Japan compared to other major industrialised countries. As we all know, Japan is very productive in a number of sectors, as evidenced by its success in many manufacturing industries in the face of severe international competition. However, this is offset by weak productivity in non-manufacturing – in other words services and agriculture – which are more shielded from competition. Moreover, the gap between manufacturing and non-manufacturing has widened as the latter has experienced a deceleration in productivity. The key is to implement appropriate regulatory changes that improve the business environment and thereby encourage competition and productivity growth.
Innovation is one of the keys to accelerating recovery and putting firms on a path to sustainable and greener growth. A carefully-developed innovation plan would thus assist the business environment, or keiki another of the government's four Ks. The OECD is preparing an Innovation Strategy, which will be launched in spring 2010. The aim is to provide key policy principles for an effective government innovation strategy that enables businesses to innovate and flourish.
The role of the OECD
Japan can count on the support of the OECD and its member countries in facing these challenges. The OECD is a hub for dialogue on global issues. Drawing on the experience of our 30 member countries, and through Enhanced Engagement with other major economies, such as Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa, our aim is to advance international economic co-operation and support the best economic options worldwide with the aim to build a stronger, fairer and cleaner economy. As is evident in the brochure we are presenting today, our aim is to support policy design with evidence-based knowledge.
Environmental issues
Let me give one concrete example of an area where the OECD is very active: the issue of climate change and the environment or kankyo, the last of the government's four Ks. We certainly commend the new government for its ambitious mid-term target of cutting Japan's greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent by 2020. Moreover, Japan has promised to cut its emissions by 60-80 per cent by 2050.
Achieving these targets on its own will be extremely expensive for Japan, given that it is already relatively energy efficient. Japan is promoting international action on this issue. As the government pledged in its September policy agreement:
"We will call for the participation of major emitter nations in the international framework for limiting greenhouse gas emissions…and fulfill Japan's role in the international community."
Climate change is an area where the OECD is actively promoting international co-operation, which will mitigate the burden of climate change policies on Japan. OECD research shows that if Japan relied exclusively on domestic emission reductions to achieve its overall reduction targets, it would face the highest cost of abatement in the world. In other words, Japan stands to benefit more than any other country from international co-operation.
One method of such co-operation is the Kyoto Protocol mechanisms, which includes the Clean Development Mechanisms or CDM. Under the CDM, credits from projects with developing countries, which have a vast low-cost abatement potential, contribute to achieving Japan's reduction targets. OECD research has estimated that expanding the purchase of emission credits from other countries to account for 20% of Japan's overall emission cuts would reduce the cost by more than one-half. CDM requires thorough revision but it shows how international cooperation can help meeting national objectives.
A second option to increase international co-operation and alleviate the cost of reducing emissions in Japan would be to link Emissions Trading Systems -- or ETS -- across countries. This would allow Japan to meet its reduction targets in part by buying allowances in an international permit market. The first step is to create a mandatory and comprehensive cap-and-trade system in Japan. The wider the coverage of the ETS in terms of regions and industries, the greater the trading options and the cost efficiency. In practice, however, creating an international market by linking national ETSs is complicated by large cross-country differences in their systems. Governments should facilitate international linkages by harmonising the structure of their ETS, including the allocation rule for permits and future adjustment procedures. Here again, the OECD is ready to promote such international co-operation.
Let me conclude by expressing the OECD's support for the Japan as strives to accomplish its objectives across a wide range of topics. As I mentioned earlier, we are well prepared to assist in the four Ks – koyou, kodomo, keiki and kankyo – as well as many other areas. The OECD, along with its member countries, can contribute to Japan's success in the years to come. At the same time, we have much to learn from Japan's long history of successfully overcoming challenges and shocks. Thank you.
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Real Salt Lake defender Nat Borchers is up for MLS Save of the Week!
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17 August, 2012 | (01 hr)
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To view the on demand recording of this webcast, please make sure to login to our website by using the sign in button on the right hand side of this page. You can also use this button to create a free account, which will grant you access to our entire book discussion series!
Join us for our August book discussion webcast, featuring Chester Elton, coauthor of The New York Times bestsellers, The Carrot Principle and The Orange Revolution, as he discusses his latest book, All In: How the Best Managers Create a Culture of Belief and Drive Big Results. Chester, along with coauthor, Adrian Gostick, recently partnered with Towers Watson to perform a groundbreaking 300,000-person study. The study, conducted during the gravest period of the recession, examines the role culture plays within some of the most high-performing organizations.
The study revealed that today's high-performance companies possess a unique culture in which employees believe in their leaders, as well as the organization's overall mission, values, and goals – creating an atmosphere where staff members are not only engaged, but also enabled and energized. This situation has led to astonishing results, as the companies who exhibit high employee engagement are earning average annual operating revenues three times higher than organizations lacking positive culture.
Based on this breakthrough research, All In reveals a simple, 7-step road map that managers can use to build a high-achieving culture within their own teams. David Lange, Senior Fellow, Human Capital at The Conference Board, will moderate this important discussion for anyone looking to attain a high-energy culture within their own organization.
Audience: Human Capital professionals charged with leadership development, strategic workforce planning, workforce readiness, diversity & inclusion, talent management, strategic human resources, employee engagement, or human capital analytics would benefit from this webcast.
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The Santa Rosa County Zoning Board and Board of County Commissioners will conduct public hearings to consider a change of land use and/or rezoning of land areas depicted on the maps within this advertisement. The hearings are scheduled as follows:
Zoning Board (to consider and make a recommendation on the proposals):
Thursday, October 8, 2020 at 6:00 p.m.
Board of County Commissioners (to consider adoption of the ordinance):
Thursday, October 22, 2020 at 6:00 p.m.
The Zoning Board meeting and the Board of County Commissioners meeting will be held at the Santa Rosa County Administrative Center in the Board Meeting Room, 6495 Caroline Street, Milton, Florida. At the public hearings, the Zoning Board and Board of County Commissioners shall consider the ordinances entitled:
Ordinance 1:
AN ORDINANCE RELATING TO SANTA ROSA COUNTY, FLORIDA; AMENDING ORDINANCE 91-24 AS AMENDED; AMENDING THE ZONING DISTRICTS AS DEPICTED IN THE ATTACHED MAPS; APPROVING THE AMENDMENTS TO THE OFFICIAL ZONING MAP OF THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE AS DEPICTED IN THE ATTACHED MAPS; AMENDING ORDINANCE 2016-25; AMENDING THE FUTURE LAND USE MAP OF THE SANTA ROSA COUNTY COMPREHENSIVE PLAN; CHANGING THE LAND USE CLASSIFICATIONS AS DEPICTED IN THE ATTACHED MAPS; providing for codification; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
Zoning District Amended: from M1 (Restricted Industrial) to M2 (General Industrial) – total approximately 10.06 (+/-) acres
Zoning District Amended: from AG-RR (Rural Residential Agriculture) to R1 (Single Family Residential) & R1A (Single Family Residential) – total approximately 315.44 (+/-) acres
Future Land Use Amended: from AG-RR (Agriculture Rural Residential) to SFR (Single Family Residential) total approximately 315.44 (+/-) acres
Zoning District Amended: from AG-RR (Rural Residential Agriculture) to R1 (Single Family Residential) – total approximately 4.89 (+/-) acres
Future Land Use Amended: from AG-RR (Agriculture Rural Residential) to SFR (Single Family Residential) total approximately 4.89 (+/-) acres
The proposed ordinance and map may be inspected by the public prior to the above scheduled meetings at the Santa Rosa County Planning Department, 6051 Old Bagdad Highway, Milton, Florida. The agenda and backup documentation will be available via the Meetings & Agendas Page of the County's website at www.santarosa.fl.gov approximately 1 week prior to each scheduled meeting. Interested parties may appear at the meetings and be heard with respect to this proposed ordinance. All interested parties should take notice that if they decide to appeal any decision made by the Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners with respect to any matter coming before said Board at said meeting, it is their individual responsibility to insure that a record of proceedings they are appealing exists and for such purpose they will need to insure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record shall include the testimony and the evidence upon which their appeal is to be based.
Santa Rosa County adheres to the Americans with Disabilities Act and will make reasonable modifications for access to this meeting upon request. Please call Santa Rosa County Planning, Zoning and Development Division at (850) 981-7075 to make a request. For the Hearing-Impaired, 1-800-955-8770 (Voice). Requests must be received at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting in order to provide the requested service.
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http://www.the-editing-room.com/transformers.htmlPretty funny
I really enjoyed this movie, however I have never actually seen or cared about he TF TV show. I was tooo old for it when it came out. But I have a question...why are all the good robots autos? Meanwhile the bad guys get to fly all over the place, and these guys have to drive form place to place? Seems like a losing battle to me.
I guess it is the "Old Man" that I am, but I found it pretty un-acceptable for viewing by the intended "Toy Buying Audience", if that was in fact the intended audience.
Oh and Bumble Bee should have been a Volkswagen bug...VW sure didn't have a problem with "War" when they were suppliers to the German Army from 1936-1975...
And my buddy and I were talking after the movie...what does this movie do to TF continuity? What is Canon in the TF world?
my only question is...we are still seeing this on normal DVD right?
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NEW YORK - November 2, 2010 - WWE Superstar Edge(R) from WWE Friday Night SmackDown(R) will guest star in Syfy's popular series Sanctuary. He will portray an abnormal named Thelo, an integral character in the season finale (scheduled to air in spring 2011).
Sanctuary airs Friday night at 10PM (ET/PT), immediately following its tag team partner Friday Night SmackDown at 8PM (ET/PT).
Edge has proven himself to be a Renaissance man, having written a successful autobiography Adam Copeland on Edge in addition to becoming a 9-time World Champion in WWE. Edge recently finished filming the feature film Bending the Rules in New Orleans alongside Jamie Kennedy, Jennifer Esposito, Alicia Witt and Jessica Walter.
In addition to Amanda Tapping as Dr. Helen Magnus, Sanctuary also stars Robin Dunne as forensic psychiatrist Dr. Will Zimmerman, Agam Darshi as the quick-witted Kate Freelander, Ryan Robbins as tech wiz Henry Foss and Christopher Heyerdahl as the sinister John Druitt.
One of television's most groundbreaking series, shooting almost entirely on green screen, Sanctuary was the first television series in North America to use the RED camera exclusively. Its stunning visual effects were nominated for a 2008 Emmy Award. Created by Damian Kindler (Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis), Sanctuary is produced in association with Syfy and is distributed by Tricon Films and Television. Season three of the series is executive produced by Damian Kindler, Amanda Tapping, Martin Wood, Keith Beedie and Tricon Films.
About Syfy
Syfy is a media destination for imagination-based entertainment. With year round acclaimed original series, events, blockbuster movies, classic science fiction and fantasy programming, a dynamic Web site (www.Syfy.com), and a portfolio of adjacent business (Syfy Ventures), Syfy is a passport to limitless possibilities. Originally launched in 1992 as SCI FI Channel, and currently in more than 98 million homes, Syfy is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies. (Syfy. Imagine greater.)


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Wheelers - providing professional advice to businesses and individuals since 1941.
At Wheelers, we believe that you should expect more from your accountant. Our services go further than the computation of your tax and the production of your accounts. We have our clients' best interests and long term good at heart - our goal is to become your trusted mentor and, if you run a business, your expert business partner.


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- Closed loop rather than drain back for freeze protection
- Glazed with dual wall polycarbonate glazing.
- A unique collector frame that uses EPDM rubber roofing for weather protection.
- Using a custom made PVC tank liner instead of the usual folded EPDM liner.
- Lots of detail on roof mounting the collector, including the site made collector hoist shown just below.
- A unique design approach to handing differential expansion issues in the absorber design.
|Bill's system with the first collector in place
|The collector loop and domestic hot water heat exchangers in the storage tank.
|Custom PVC tank liner
I also like the special hoist that Bill made to get the collector up on the roof:
|Custom made hoist to lift collector to roof.
Go here for all the details on Bill's system....
Go here for the details on a hundred or so other solar water heating systems...


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(CNN) -- A few weeks ago, an Arabic campaign exploded on Twitter. The Arabic hashtag -- #الراتب_مايكفي_الحاجة (loosely translated as "the salary does not meet my needs") -- reached 17 million tweets in the first two weeks.
At its height, it registered 1.2 million tweets a day, and was not only the most popular hashtag in Arabic, but the 16th most popular in any language.
Somewhat unexpectedly, the campaign, which hints at a financially aggrieved populace, comes out of one of the world's wealthiest nations: Saudi Arabia.
"There's a feeling among some people that I guess you could characterize as anger. Others are disappointed, some think it's a question of (the Saudi government's) priorities," says Fahad Nazer, a Saudi political analyst with JTG Inc.
The anger he refers to is fueled by growing unemployment and frustration at government spending. Nazer notes that the campaign gained particular traction following the Saudi government's announcement that it would give financial aid to Egypt's military regime.
"The government is giving handouts to Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia, and using a third of the country's budget for this year to pay for the Riyadh metro. Meanwhile, Saudi's are paying most of their salary on rent, private schools, private hospitals -- because public ones aren't good -- while salaries have practically stayed the same," laments Manal Al Sharif, a Saudi activist who gained notoriety for posting video of herself driving on YouTube. She is also one of the country's most vocal tweeters.
"There's a long list of things that are wrong," she adds.
Unemployment is higher than one might suspect in the oil-rich nation. Though official figures are hard to come by, there are approximately 1.8 million Saudis enrolled with Hafiz -- the country's unemployment benefits program -- according to Adam Coogle, a Middle East researcher with Human Rights Watch.
#الراتب_مايكفي_الحاجة Poverty in Saudi Arabia pic.twitter.com/NS7yuEci4o— Šā3Đ (@sa3d2013) July 29, 2013
The campaign has also drawn attention to a topic that was once considered taboo: Saudi poverty. Accompanying many of the tweets are images and video supposedly depicting Saudis living in squalor; some show Saudi's beggar class while others reveal the existence of Saudi shanties.
Lynsey Addario, a photographer who documented Saudi poverty in Riyadh for Time Magazine, recalls how the assignment challenged her expectations.
"What you see on the surface are the shiny buildings and the shopping malls and the new universities being built -- the wealthy side. I was actually quite shocked when we went to the slums," she says. She recounted families struggling to pay the bills, and living in single-story, cockroach infested houses in the heart of Saudi Arabia's capital.
"Poverty in Saudi challenges many people's assumptions, including some Saudis'," admits Nazer. Poverty and unemployment are particularly rife among Saudi youths (Coogle estimates they make up anywhere between 18 and 35% of the unemployment rate), and even more so among women.
According to English-language newspaper the Saudi Gazette, an annual report put out earlier this year by the Ministry of Labor showed Saudi men in the private sector earn an average of $1,516, with women staffers pulling in half that sum. Al Sharif notes that working women are at a further disadvantage due to the many practices that are banned to them.
"A woman in Saudi is dependent on men to do just about everything in her life. If a man doesn't exist, she will have to pay for those services she can't do herself, like driving a car, starting her own business or going to court," she notes.
Read more: Saudi Arabia's first anti-abuse campaign
Despite its popularity, the campaign has attracted critics who argue Saudis are already too reliant on their government. Nazer himself notes that the campaign risks oversimplifying what is actually a very complex issue.
Several factors, he argues, have fed unemployment, including a population explosion -- since the '70s, Saudi has grown from 6 million people to nearly 20 million, with an additional 10 million expats competing with nationals for jobs. Adding to the problem is the fact that in the past, many Saudis chose to study religion and languages -- areas for which there is little demand.
"It's a complex situation, as is true of any economy. People who try to trivialize or simplify it miss a lot of variables," says Nazer.
Regardless of where one stands on the issue, what's been particularly surprising is the willingness of Saudis -- who traditionally value cultural privacy -- to air their grievances in an international forum.
"It's true, we are a very private nation, and we don't want the rest of the world to know anything about us," admits Al Sharif. However, she says, it's a price many Saudis are willing to pay.
"Saudis are realizing that you can't isolate yourself from the rest of the world, because the only way we can communicate and read each other's views is through social media. It's our kind of parliament, where we can go and debate, and do things we can't do in the real world."


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The high-wattage human rights activist couple is helping displaced Syrian kids get back to school.
A strikingly effective defender of neglected and exploited groups around the world, international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and her husband, actor George Clooney, are stepping up to make sure all the world's children get the opportunities they deserve. The couple's Clooney Foundation for Justice announced a $2.25 million partnership with UNICEF, which includes a generous donation from Google.org and an additional $1 million technology grant from HP Inc. The partnership will fund seven schools in Lebanon to help 3,000 currently out-of-school Syrian refugee children get back on track.
"Thousands of young Syrian refugees are at risk — the risk of never being a productive part of society," Amal and George Clooney said. "Formal education can change that. That's our goal with this initiative. We don't want to lose an entire generation because they had the bad luck of being born in the wrong place at the wrong time."
The devastating six-year Syrian civil war has affected 80% of the country's children. More than 5 million Syrian refugees have fled to neighboring countries. Lebanon, which has the world's highest per capita refugee population, has been particularly affected by an influx of more than 1 million displaced Syrians. Schools are overflowing beyond capacity and students must attend in staggered shifts.
"How can children become the workers and leaders of their countries someday if they have not had the education and support they need to reach their full potential?" asked UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. "By supporting the work of UNICEF and our partners to deliver education to every child affected by the conflict in Syria, the Clooney Foundation for Justice is not only investing in the futures of individual children, it is investing in the future of the entire region. UNICEF is deeply grateful for this critical funding."
Murad and Clooney addressed the United Nations together in September, 2016, demanding that the Islamic State be held accountable for their crimes against the Yazidis. "I am ashamed, as a lawyer, that there is no justice being done and barely a complaint being made about it," Clooney told U.N. members. "I am ashamed, as a woman, that girls like Nadia can have their bodies sold and used as battlefields."
"Holding back women is holding back half of every country in the world," Clooney said. The Clooneys' partnership with UNICEF marks the latest chapter in their dedicated effort to ensure the rights of women and children everywhere.


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WASHINGTON — Some subsidies would be ended and a measure of financial health would be restored under a House-approved overhaul of a program that provides flood insurance to more than 5 million homeowners and businesses in flood-prone areas.
The legislation, which approves operations of the National Flood Insurance Program for five years, also allows for some premium and deductible increases as the program tries to recover from the 2005 hurricane season that left the program about $18.75 billion in debt to the U.S. Treasury. The measure passed 329-90 today.
The flood program, an arm of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has offered affordable insurance to more than 20,000 communities that participate in flood damage reduction efforts and to residents in federally designated flood zones for more than four decades. It was created in 1968 because of the reluctance of private insurers to cover flood damage.
Congress has not updated the program since 1994. In the ensuing years the once-solvent program had to pay out some $17 billion in Katrina-related claims and had to deal with FEMA flood zone remapping that has thrust thousands of homes and businesses into areas where they are required to buy flood insurance.
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., the chief sponsor of the bill, said it helps reduce the sticker shock of FEMA remapping by delaying the mandatory buying of insurance for five years and then phasing in full premiums over another five years.
The legislation now goes to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain. Without congressional action on a long-term bill, the flood program has lapsed three times this year, and Waters said that during those lapses some 1,200 people a day were unable to close on home purchases in flood plains because FEMA could neither write new insurance policies nor renew old ones. The flood program is now running on a short-term extension that expires at the end of September.
FEMA press secretary Rachel Racusen expressed hope that Congress would pass a long-term measure that would strengthen and improve the program.
"This program is critical for Americans who need to protect their homes, businesses and livelihoods from flooding," she said.
The bill would phase out subsidies now available to some vacation homes and second homes and nonresidential properties and would also eventually end subsidies for severe repetitive loss properties.
Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., noted that properties in areas repeatedly hit by floods account for about 1 percent of all policies but about 30 percent of claims.
The bill raises the annual limitation on premium increases from 10 to 20 percent, raises annual deductibles and raises maximum coverage limits to $335,000 for residences and $670,000 for businesses. The average annual premium is about $570.
The program now has some 5.6 million policies with an insured exposure of $1.2 trillion.
Among those opposing the bill were Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., who said her state "feels like the ATM machine for this flood program." Miller, who said Congress should create a national catastrophic fund, said Michigan residents have paid out $200 million in premiums since 1978 while receiving only $44 million in claims.
Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., also complained that he was denied a chance to add windstorm coverage to the program. Gulf Coast lawmakers say private insurers avoided paying claims for wind damage after Katrina by asserting that property damage, even in inland areas, was caused by federally covered floods rather than wind.
Both the Bush and Obama administrations have resisted adding wind coverage, saying it would greatly increase the insurance program's risk exposure.
Taylor did win acceptance of an amendment requiring private insurers contracted with the flood program to make fair adjustments when a property suffers both wind and flood damage.
American Insurance Association President Leigh Ann Pusey praised the original bill, saying it improves the program and promotes fiscal soundness. But she said the AIA opposed it with the Taylor amendment, contending it would force some insurance companies "to take a hard look at whether they want to continue participating in the program."•
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John Dennis "Denny" Hastert (pronounced /ˈhæstərt/; born January 2, 1942) is an American politician. He was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 2007, representing Illinois's 14th congressional district, and served as Speaker of the House from 1999 to 2007.
Originally elevated to the Speakership on January 6, 1999, he surpassed Joseph Gurney Cannon as the longest-serving Republican Speaker in history on June 1, 2006. Hastert was reelected to an eleventh term in Congress in the 2006 general election, defeating former United States Navy intelligence analyst John Laesch. However, the Republican Party lost its majority in the House and Hastert did not seek a leadership position in the 110th Congress. He resigned his seat mid-session on November 26, 2007. Hastert endorsed former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney for the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination before Romney withdrew from the race.
Hastert was born in Aurora, Illinois and grew up in Oswego, Illinois. He is of Luxembourgish ancestry. Dennis was the eldest of three sons of Naomi and Jack Hastert. As a young man he worked in the Plainfield, Illinois, family restaurant "The Clock Tower" as a fry cook. He briefly attended North Central College but graduated from Wheaton College, Illinois, in 1964, and earned a master's degree in education from Northern Illinois University, in 1967. Although Hastert was high school "football and wrestling star" and a wrestler at Wheaton College in the 1960s, he was later injured, and as a result never served in Vietnam. After a stint teaching English in Osaka, Japan, he moved to Yorkville in 1964, 55 miles (89 km) west of Chicago, and took a job as a government and history teacher at Yorkville High School from 1964 to 1980. He also coached wrestling and football, leading the wrestling team to a state title in 1976. His family owns the locally famous fried chicken restaurant, "The White Fence Farm," in Bolingbrook, Ill.


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Former captain Ravi Shastri today made scathing criticism of the star-studded Indian batting line-up for constantly playing away from the body outside the off-stump, which he said was responsible for their 4-0 whitewash in the just-concluded Test series.
Shastri, one of the most successful Test batsmen in Australia, said that senior batsmen like Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman did not know their off-stump in the whole series.
"They were meeting the ball on the fifth stump and playing constantly away from body. They were not meeting the ball under their eye," said Shastri.
The old adage of knowing your off-stump was best illustrated during the Test series in which India topped 300 only once.
Be it the openers, Gautam Gambhir (181 at 22.62) and Virender Sehwag (198 at 24.75) or Dravid (194 at 24.25) and Laxman (155 at 19.37), all showed uncertain footwork to deal with fast moving deliveries on their off-stump.
"Your bat should never be away from your eye. Your head should be on top of it, weight pressed forward, shoulder bending, that's the way to go about it. When you are playing deliveries on the fifth stump, the entire weight transfer, the balance is awry," said Shastri.
"The backfoot game of the batters was exposed big time. Most of the batsmen did not know where there off-stump was," he added.
Once broadcasters Channel Nine dug out the history books to look at batsmen who have done well against Australia on their own turf, they found out, to their surprise, that Shastri topped them all. He thus was seen the perfect batsman to describe what it takes to succeed in Australia
Shastri, in his six Tests, made 391 at 55.86 becoming the first Indian to hit a double century in Australia. Neither Sachin Tendulkar (1809 runs at 53.21), Rahul Dravid (1166 at 41.64), VVS Laxman (1236 at 41.14) among the current lot, nor Viv Richards (1760 at 47.57 ), Brian Lara (1469 at 41.97) Sunil Gavaskar (920 at 51.11) and Javed Miandad (1028 at 38.07) among the past greats, have bettered him.
Shastri in these six Tests, also picked up 19 scalps at 26.32. His overall average against Australia, if anything, is staggering -- 622 runs from nine Tests at 77.75. Cricket Australia found him an apt man to hand over the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to the victorious captain Michael Clarke after a 4-0 scoreline was scripted at Adelaide Oval.
Shastri gave the example of Virat Kohli who came to terms with the Australian quicks due to his precise footwork.
"Kohli picked the line early and moved early. Thus his outside leave was better and he could play according to the merit of the ball," he said.
"Kohli got more runs on the onside than any other Indian batsmen. It could happen because he was moving back and across," he added.
Kohli made an impressive 300 runs in the series at 37.50 and was the only Indian to hit a century -- a brilliant 116 during the final Test at Adelaide.
Sachin Tendulkar did not have a problem on his off-stump but he faded after two brilliant fifties in the first two Tests. The little genius finished with 287 runs at 35.87.
Shastri, now a world-renowned commentator, said it does not take long to find out a batsman who is not secured on his off-stump -- the surest way to know he's out of form.
"Your feet stop moving at the pace it should. You start playing with your hands rather than with your feet. It means your hands are getting ahead of your body," he said.
Two other issues dogged the Indian batting during the series. The tailenders were regularly targeted with short-pitched deliveries. And the younger batsmen were constantly sledged in the middle.
Shastri said there was nothing wrong in giving back to sledging but it should not be at the cost of losing concentration.
"I faced sledging by giving it back -- usually with a harder sledge. As long as it does not affect your concentration at the crease, one should give it back," said Shastri.
"My dad told me early that you are not worth your salt if you don't score in Australia. They don't give you runs on a platter. Even if you are a rookie, you got to earn it," he said.
On facing bouncers, Shastri said, "Facing bouncers is a matter of sheer practice. You should always keep your weight pushing forward. It helps you sway out of line, gets easier to go down and drop your wrist.
"The trouble begins when you expect a bouncer every delivery. Then your weight is on the backfoot and the trouble is round the corner."
Shastri opines that Indian batsmen were scarred after the defeat in the first two Tests.
"They were mentally scarred. After the first two Tests were lost, the wheels literally came off," he said.
Shastri's biggest cricketing glory was earned in Australia itself when he was named 'Champion of Champions' during the 1985 Benson and Hedges one-day tournament. Opening the innings, he made over 200 runs and claimed 12 victims.


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COOLANGATTA BEACH, Australia — The Semifinalists of the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast presented by LG Mobile were decided today in pumping four-to-five foot (1.5 metre) waves at Coolangatta Beach.
The opening event of the 2009 ASP World Tour, the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast utilized its third venue today, having used nearby Duranbah Beach for the opening rounds before returning the primary site of Snapper Rocks and finally to today's Coolangatta Beach where the local boys dominated Round 4 and the Quarterfinals.
Mick Fanning (AUS), 27, former ASP World Champion and past two-time winner of the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, was in devastating form this afternoon, defeating Damien Hobgood (USA), 29, in the Quarterfinals with the highest heat total of the day (an 18.53 out of a possible 20).
"It was a fun heat," Fanning said. "I was lucky to get the jump on Damo [Damien Hobgood] at the start. I wanted to wait for a good opening wave and it came. On that 9.93, I went into it and saw it chandelier'ing so I reset my feet and just tried to hit it strong. It went all white and I was lucky it had an opening. It was pretty fun."
Now into the Semifinals, Fanning will find himself battling Coolangatta stable mate Joel Parkinson (AUS), 27, for a spot in the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast Final.
"Joel [Parkinson] and I have been great friends since we were little kids," Fanning said. "It will be a really tough heat. We are always pushing each other. Sometimes it's pretty and sometimes it's ugly, but I'm definitely looking forward to it. I don't really know what the conditions will be like tomorrow. All of the maps that I look at said it was going to be a lot bigger than we have seen today. It could be 100-foot or it could be two-foot."
Parkinson, current ASP World No. 4 and past winner of the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast (2002), was near unstoppable today at Coolangatta Beach, defeating Chris Davidson (AUS), 31, and C.J. Hobgood (USA), 29, in Round 4 and the Quarterfinals respectively.
"My Quarterfinal felt like it was a little bit bigger than my heat this morning – a lot more water moving," Parkinson said. "My strategy stayed the same, but more effort was needed throughout the heat. It was hard to stay in position, the current out the back is so strong!"
Taj Burrow (AUS), 30, current ASP World No. 3, survived a photo finish against Adrian Buchan (AUS), 26, in the last Quarterfinal of the day. Requiring a score with 20 seconds left, Burrow declined the jet-ski assist to the line-up, optioning to sit in front of Kirra Point instead.
"I could not find a wave," Burrow said. "The tide was filling up and I just panicked. I behind the eight-ball for most of the heat. I got kind of a keeper towards the end and my only option was to sit down the end at Kirra Point. A little slab came through and I took off late and it barreled for me and I got a little pump in to squeak out. I definitely threw a little claim in there because I was pretty sure I got the score."
Burrow's score of an 8.33 out of a possible 10 on the final wave of the day secured his Semifinals berth, but perhaps gave the Western Australian a confidence boost to go all the way this season. Long thought to be Australia's heir apparent to the ASP World Champions' Throne, Burrow has failed to secure professional surfing's ultimate prize, but today's performance could have set him on the path to glory.
"That ASP World Title is the plan for sure," Burrow said. "I'm doing what I can to make it possible, so I have to tell myself that."
Burrow will now face an in-form Adriano de Souza (BRA), 22, in Semifinal 2.
Event organizers will reconvene tomorrow morning at 9am at Snapper Rocks for a possible 10am start.
The Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast will crown a champion tomorrow, and up first will be the local showdown between Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson in Semifinal 1.
Highlights from today's Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast will be available via www.quiksilverpro.com.au
For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com
SF 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Mick Fanning (AUS)
SF 2: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Taj Burrow (AUS)
QF 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 15.00 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 4.37
QF 2: Mick Fanning (AUS) 18.53 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 13.00
QF 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 17.86 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 6.77
QF 4: Taj Burrow (AUS) 14.40 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 14.00
Heat 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 17.24 def. Jihad Khodr (BRA) 16.43
Heat 2: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 13.90 def. Chris Davidson (AUS) 10.90
Heat 3: Mick Fanning (AUS) 17.90 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 12.40
Heat 4: Damien Hobgood (USA) 16.30 def. Julian Wilson (AUS) 15.50
Heat 5: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 17.16 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 13.93
Heat 6: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 17.10 def. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 11.00
Heat 7: Taj Burrow (AUS) 17.00 def. Dane Reynolds (USA) 16.23
Heat 8: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 14.33 def. Tom Whitaker (AUS) 11.33


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Battle of the Consoles: Xbox vs PlayStation
Microsoft will go head to head with Sony later this fall. Ian Sherr reports what's at stake for consoles. Photo: Getty Images.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... Microsoft going head to head with Sony in game console in ... Loveman more on Digits good afternoon and welcome I'm Simon Constable Ian Sherr up ... all the Wall Street John joins us now from sentences go ... and the end of the big announcement is November twenty two ... the Xbox One of being on vinyl right ... what can be it's can actually be arriving in retail stores that day so I people be able to pick up their own copy I've presumably ... when it when it wants its ... and the big thing thing thing and what this means that companies ... are going head to head ... meanwhile the industry itself is having a consistently hard time and that's something ... we've talked about right back to the beginning of Digits up a few years ago ... yet it's it's Deathly been a hard time a new guy ... was interesting here is that you've done at Sony and Micra soft basically watching within a couple weeks of each other ... on the string of councils that are the first in eight years or so ... and you know in the meantime in the last steel few years especially ... on a game console sales at its sales of console games that top precipitously ... on a hippy dippy see for example said that they fell ten percent last year ... I if you look at NPD which distracts us retail sales of games and game console so ... I'm still so there's been dropping this month after month after month for well over a year now ... and there's a lot of challenges going on had a lot of people say this is a cyclical nature of the industry that ... when the whole concert to getting older people I fewer games and whatnot but ... this time around there a lot of analysts and also including the Debussy to say ... what might bump up a little bit but not as much as it might have in the past and I'm that leads us to the question how much growth is left of center state ... aid although still continue selling games and whatnot but can it in a row the number of people playing and become more ... of what it is today I'm in an effort to fuel the promise is what is the last three games out there you can go and get them full freight might not be as fancy as say ... one of the latest Call of Duty is ... about some added costs to sixty bucks an amped up the console the three day maybe can play the new phone ... then there's also a lot of things like can entertain you ... the swell to say you know what to watching TV which man flicks of all let's all the stuff ... and then the stuff you can just do something the web right so is this just like is it too much down that that can entertain people in ... but there's a lot of ... Credit theories about why this is going on ... in in in in a lot of people would point to smartphones and tablets and ... stuff like Facebook battery that are hurting the industry and that this is probably a part of that ... aam but a lot of it also is that the the industry itself this bifurcated you have people playing on mobile devices we also have ... a lot of people returning to playing games for PCs ... which um you know that the free to play stuff that happened that with every summit with Facebook ... and even more recently in Asia ... has just kind of become really big on PCs to back games like that go to ... I which is kind of a battle arena tight game ... you have ... another game called was the tanks both of which are free and the way to make money is by selling ... on the next day you know guns and whatnot in Tennessee premium content if you well ... and those are doing really well and that their siphoning off some of the people away from consul is ... it so there's that there's a lot of things going on here that that are hard to cut a point to ... what it comes down to is that the console industry ... you know it's strong but it's not that the growth is the question ... is is not in some ways in this isn't a threat and business while the like the movie business you have a good movie you gonna make a ton of money have some fixed costs and you can just get people in the Fed as pens and silent ... and people that thought okay well maybe add Medved VCR a man DVD summoned online streaming what would generally ... that the ... movie business but ... in the end if you have a great movie people will pay to go see that in the face out ... isn't the case that if they just come out with something that's a fantastic gang but you have a half people will have a habit Mabel quiet and they will play ... but as proof of that over the place if you will get back a low last year below four which was the first new one in several years ... he did really well ... I he I think you cross the billion dollar mark rather quickly I called duty especially ... by every year it crosses the billion dollar market sales earlier and earlier ... after a slide show ... so these Danny which I am an industry that ... it has a number of franchises that are ... among the best selling things in the world ... I it's a very successful business the prom is that those things ... are what are driving the business and the lesser ... our hearts are hurting more and more ... and it is just a question of how much can you put the stuff out how often can you played out ... and how many more people can you pull into it ... I if you will get for example comic book movie scene on the movie industry ... they're doing really well they're driving a lot of that three D is driving a lot of that in a revenue bond someone not ... any gains they don't have as much to kind of work with the three D thing didn't really work and video games ... and we've been playing comic but videogames for years ... so I guess new games is a game called watchdog's for example which is coming out ... I waited this year which for a new title for movie soft ... it's getting a lot of attention will that be enough to really ... join in this people say ... will say ... yes we well we shall say soon enough by Kiran much in show up on the will Street gentle we appreciate time so ... my pleasure