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But here's the deal: Unless you're famous, it's really hard to amass a huge following on Instagram without some hard work.
For the average person or business, growing your following takes time and attention on a daily basis. And although you may be tempted to buy your first several followers to get the ball rolling, purchased followers are either fake or low-quality profiles — so they really serve no purpose except to artificially inflate your follower count. Don't count on any meaningful engagement or business interactions from these folks.
Download our complete guide to using Instagram for business here to improve your brand's Instagram presence.
Luckily, there are a few things you can do right away to collect at least 1,000 quality followers for your personal or professional Instagram account. It's all about knowing where to invest your time and effort — which is exactly what we'll show you in this post.
Let's go through how to gain those first 1,000 followers, from creating a follow-worthy Instagram profile to using contests to staying true to your brand. (Looking for inspiration? Read this blog post to browse through 17 of the best brands on Instagram.)
How to Get More Followers on Instagram
1) Create and optimize your profile.
First things first: Customize your Instagram profile to make it look good, tell your potential followers who you are, and give them a reason to follow you.
How? Start by making sure your username is recognizable and easily searchable — like your business name. If your business name is already taken, try keeping your business name as the first part of your username so that people searching for your business are more likely to come across you. For example, the Australian activewear line Lorna Jane uses the username @lornajaneactive.
(Note: Make sure to add your full business name to the "Name" field in the "Options" section — the gear button on iOS, or three dots on Android). This will appear under your profile picture and under your username in search.
Next, make sure your profile is public. To make your profile public, open Instagram, open "Options," and make sure "Private Account" is turned off.
Next, choose a profile picture that's on-brand with your other social networks, like your company logo.
Then, fill your bio with delightful, actionable, and informative information about your brand. Information like this lets people know what you're about and gives them a reason to follow you. Include who you are and what you do, and be sure to add a hint of personality. Here are a few examples for inspiration:
- @WeWork: "Make a life, not just a living."
- @Oreo: "See the world through our OREO Wonderfilled lens."
- @CalifiaFarms: "Crafting, concocting and cold-brewing up a delicious, plant-based future. Califia Farms Loves You Back"
- @Staples: "We make it easy to #MakeMoreHappen"
Next, add a link to your bio to make it easy for people to go straight from Instagram to your website if they want to. The space allotted for URLs is precious real estate because it's the only place within Instagram where you can place a clickable link, so use it wisely. We recommend using a shortened, customized Bitly link to make it more clickable.
Finally, enable notifications so you can see when people share or comment on your photos. This'll let you engage with them more quickly — just like a lot of companies do on Twitter. To enable notifications, go to "Options" and then "Push Notification Settings." Select "From Everyone" for every category.
A word to the wise: We don't recommend you link your Instagram account to Twitter and Facebook so your Instagram posts are automatically published on those other accounts. Post types are different.
2) Designate a content creator.
Just like there should be one (maybe two) people managing your other social media accounts, there should only be one or two people managing your Instagram account. If possible, choose someone who has experience using a personal Instagram account, and therefore "gets" the platform — and be sure they know all the handy features Instagram has to offer.
If you work for a large organization, you might find that a lot of people want to have a say in what's posted. That's when an organized request or guidelines document comes in hand. This document should inform people how to request a post on your Instagram account, when, the value of the post, and why.
3) Brush up on your photography and editing skills.
On Instagram, post quality matters. A lot. Your Twitter followers might forgive a few bad tweets, but a bad photo on Instagram is a big no-no. By no means do you have to take a photography course to be a good Instagram poster — nor do you have to practice for weeks before you start. But you should get familiar with basic photography tips and photo editing apps.
Photography Skills
Since Instagram is a mobile app, chances are, most of the photos you post to Instagram will be taken on your mobile device. That's not just okay; it's expected. While some brands use professional photography for their Instagram photos, most use smartphones — and that's the vibe that Instagram is meant for, anyway.
Start by reading this blog post on tips for taking great pictures on your smartphone. Here are some highlights:
- Focus on one subject at a time.
- Embrace negative space.
- Find interesting perspectives.
- Look for symmetry.
- Capture small details.
- Make your followers laugh.
(Click here for all 18 tips on taking great pictures with your smartphone.)
Photo Editing Skills
Instagram has some basic editing capabilities, but oftentimes, they aren't adequate to make a picture really, really great. Most of your photos should go through at least one or two other photo editing apps on your mobile phone before you open them in Instagram for the first time.
Read this blog post for a list of the best photo and video editing apps for mobile devices. These apps will let you do everything from sharpening specific parts of a photo to brightening certain hues to make your photo look fresher.
4) Start posting.
Once you've created and optimized your profile, have someone manning it, and know a thing or two about phone photography and photo editing, it's time to start posting. It's a good idea to have a solid number of great posts up — maybe 15 or so — before you start really engaging people and working down this list. That way, when people visit your profile, they'll see a full screen of photos instead of just a handful, so they know you'll be posting great content regularly.
To start posting on Instagram, first download this social media content calendar template and start planning out your Instagram posts. Over time, you'll want to build up a backlog of photos for times of need, like the weekends or when you go on vacation.
Keep your target persona in mind when you first start planning out your posting schedule, as that can drastically change your posting timing and frequency — especially if you're targeting an audience in a different time zone. (Download this free template for creating buyer personas if you don't have a few already.)
While optimizing your schedule for your specific audience will take time and experimentation, we created this infographic using recent data on the best times to publish on every social media network to get you started. Our sources found that the very best times to post on Instagram were Mondays and Thursdays at any time except between 3:00–4:00 p.m. for the time zone of your target persona. (For a United States audience, your best bet is to combine Eastern and Central time zones, as they represent almost 80% of the U.S. population. For audiences located outside the U.S., use whichever time zones your target audience uses.)
However, because Instagram is primarily an app for use on mobile devices, users tend to use the network all the time, any time — although many users engage with content more during off-work hours than during the workday. Some businesses have also seen success with posting at 2:00 a.m., 5:00 p.m., and Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. Experiment with these to see if they work with your audience.
5) Curate some of your content.
Although it's best to have only one or two people manning your account, one or two people can't be everywhere at once taking photos. What about that fun sushi night the engineers had last night? Or the event your head of sales spoke at earlier this week? There's a whole breadth of content you'll want to post to Instagram, and more often than not, one person won't be able to keep track of it all.
One solution? Create a system where you can curate photos and content from members of your team. There are a few ways to do this. One is to create a specific email address for employees to send their photos, short videos, memes, hyperlapses, and so on. Just encourage people to put a subject line on these emails so you can more easily sort through the photos they're sending. While this doesn't seem like the smoothest way to curate photos, it's actually the easiest for the people sending you photos — and the easier you can make it for them to send content, the more content you'll get.
If your team shares a Box or Dropbox account, you could also create a shared folder where people can automatically drop their photos and videos. This just makes a few more steps for the people sending you the content, and not everyone might have that app downloaded on their phones.
6) Write delightful, share-worthy captions.
Photos and videos might be the most important part of your Instagram posts, but captions should never be an afterthought. They're an essential part of your post — icing on the cake, if you will. Consistently great captions can do wonders for humanizing your brand, winning over followers, and making your content more shareable — thereby giving you more exposure.
My colleague Ryan Bonnici once told me, for example, that he loves Frank Bod's Instagram account for their captions: "Their witty captions will be your new obsession." On a photo of a gold necklace, @frank_bod's caption read: "I can't give you jewellery, but I can give you the smoothest décolletage to wear it on, babe. #letsbefrank."
The voice is filled with personality — note the cheeky hashtag #letsbefrank, which often follows captions like this one. Fans of the Frank Bod use that hashtag to post photos of themselves covered in the product like the brand's own models, which is a great way for them to interact with and feel close to the brand.
Another way to increase the shareability of your caption and engage your followers is to ask questions or have some sort of call-to-action in the captions of your photos. For example, you might say, "double-tap if you find this funny" or "share your story in the comments." In the example below, we asked followers to share photos of their desk with the @HubSpot Instagram account for the chance to be featured.
7) Use relevant hashtags.
Let's go back to hashtags for a second. On Instagram, a hashtag ties the conversations of different users who wouldn't already be connected into a single stream. If you use relevant hashtags, your posts will get exposure to a wider audience than the people who already follow you or know about your brand. (Read this guide on how hashtags work on Instagram for more detailed tips.)
The key to using hashtags effectively is to use them smartly and sparingly. Try to limit the number of hashtags per caption to around three. Similarly, don't use "like for like" hashtags, like #like4like or #like4likes. This is a dirty tactic that'll leave you with a whole bunch of low-quality followers.
To find the hashtags your audience might be using, do a little research on relevant hashtags in your niche or industry. The easiest way to do this research is in the Instagram app itself, in the "explore" tab (i.e. the magnifying glass icon). When you search for one hashtag, it'll show you a list of related hashtags at the top of your screen. For example, when I search for #inboundmarketing on Instagram, it shows me relevant hashtags like #marketingdigital, #marketingtips, and so on.
To help relate to your followers on a personal level, you might consider hopping on hashtag trends like #tbt ("Throwback Thursday"), #MotivationMonday, #TransformationTuesday, or hashtags that are trending at any given time. Here's a post from @HubSpot's account using the #MotivationMonday hashtag:
8) Interact with other users, including your followers.
Instagram is very much a community, and one great way to get involved in that community is to find people who post pictures that interest you, and follow their accounts and interact with their content. It's the most natural way to draw attention to your own Instagram account while getting your foot in the door in the community, and getting inspiration from others' content.
That does two things for you: For one, when they get the notification that you've followed them, they might check out your account and decide whether or not to follow you. (This is why it's important to have some great content on there before you start reaching out to others.) Secondly, it means you'll be seeing their recent posts in your feed, so you can Like and interact with them if you choose to.
As you build a following, celebrate your followers and show you appreciate them by responding to their comments, and even following them and engaging with their posts.
9) Cross-promote with users who have audiences similar to your own.
Once you build a solid relationship with some of the folks behind these accounts that have a similar audience to your own, you might ask to do some co-promotion on each others' accounts. The more natural and less spammy you can make the content of these cross-promotions — especially the captions — the better. It also helps to be picky about them, and don't do them very often.
Below is an example of what that looks like from food blogger @sprinklesforbreakfast and photographer @graymalin, who cross-promoted each others' accounts at about the same time:
10) Run Instagram contests.
Another great way to expand your reach while increasing engagement on your photos is to publish a post promoting a contest, and then ask people to follow your account and Like or comment on the photo in order to enter.
You might add a UGC (User-Generated Content) element to the contest, too, where people post a photo of their own and use a specific hashtag along with following your account. Here's an example of a post from Starbucks promoting a UGC contest on their Instagram account.
11) Share Instagram Stories and live videos.
Instagram has always offered the opportunity to post beautiful, curated photos to represent your brand. However, with the introduction of ephemeral Instagram Stories, brands can also share on-the-fly, behind-the-scenes looks for 24 hours that may not be as polished as a published photo, but give your brand more personality on the platform. One look at Snapchat's explosion in popularity demonstrates that social media users are clearly responding positively to ephemeral photo and video sharing. Instagram Stories let brands engage with users in different ways to cultivate brand loyalty and appeal.
Instagram Stories also lets users share live videos, another content format that's proven to be hugely popular on other social networks. What's unique about live videos on Instagram? They disappear when users stop filming. This authentic, bi-directional experience lets brands share unscripted, raw moments with their audience to incorporate human elements into a social media platform that's highly edited and polished in its traditional use.
How Brands Can Use Instagram Stories
We can't include Instagram Stories in this article (they disappear after 24 hours), but here are a few brands we recommend following to see what they're sharing:
Rachel Brathen (@yoga_girl) is a yoga teacher and entrepreneur in Aruba who uses Instagram Stories to document the behind-the-scenes action of building a yoga studio. While her Instagram portfolio features beautiful, professional photos and videos of her in yoga poses, her Stories feature her dog sitting in on staff meetings, her team unwrapping amethyst crystals to decorate her studio, and artists painting the walls. She uses Stories to showcase the other side of her brand to her 2 million followers in an authentic and unpolished way, and to keep her followers apprised of what she does every day (besides yoga, of course).
Dana Shultz (@miniamlistbaker) publishes easy vegan and gluten-free recipes on her blog. Her Stories feature neat how-to videos of her making breakfast and testing out new recipes in her kitchen. The behind-the-scenes aspect of her Stories provide a lot of human context for her blog's brand, and everybody loves a good how-to video.
Casper (@casper) publishes quirky Instagram content to advertise their mattresses — without overtly doing so. The main theme of their content? Staying in is better than going out (because you can stay in and lay on a comfy Casper mattress, naturally). They've even created a gallery for followers to use as backdrops for their Snapchat and Instagram stories to make it look like they're out at a party, when they're really laying in bed. One of their latest Instagram Stories featured someone watching "The Sopranos" in bed, with the caption: "Who needs plans when you have five more seasons?" This video supports Casper's campaign to stay in bed with a very real look at what millions of people do when they're hanging out at home.
Here are our tips for using Instagram Stories for your brand:
- Whether it's funny, sad, or unique, be authentic. Your photo gallery is where content can be perfect and polished. Instagram Stories are for the raw, unscripted, and unretouched. Use Stories to share the other side of your brand that followers might not be able to glean elsewhere. Do you have a dog-friendly office? Is your team trying out the Mannequin Challenge? Start filming to showcase the more human side of your brand.
- Go behind-the-scenes. These are by far our favorite type of content for ephemeral video sharing. Show your followers what goes into the planning of an event or the launching of a product, and make it fun. Your followers want to feel included and in-the-know, and you could use Stories to cultivate a brand loyalty program that only rewards people who check out your content.
- Go live. Live video is a growing trend across a variety of social media platforms, so if something interesting is happening, start rolling. Whether it's a team birthday party, a staff meeting, or a cute animal, your devoted followers want to see what you're up to every day. Take Stories to the next level by sharing them as they happen (and promoting it on Twitter or Facebook to get followers to tune in).
Experiment with sharing Stories and live, ephemeral content to attract new followers and to increase engagement with the ones you already have. Learn how to share Stories and go live in these blog posts.
12) Make your profile easy to find and follow.
Place a follow button on your homepage, your "About Us" page, and various other places on your website. You can generate a "badge" button that links to your account on Instagram's website here. Just make sure you're logged into the right account when you create it. Here's what one of the badge options looks like:
Also, be sure to promote your Instagram account on your other social media accounts. Chances are, the folks who already follow you on Facebook and Twitter will also follow you on Instagram without much prodding. Let those followers know you're on Instagram and encourage them to follow you there by including a link to your Instagram account in the bios and posts of those other social media accounts.
So give it a shot: Make a profile and start posting, testing, tweaking, and promoting your account. Garnering a following on Instagram won't happen overnight, but the stronger of a foundation you create on your account in in your niche Instagram community, the higher quality your followers will be.
Written by Lindsay Kolowich | @lkolow


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Dancing with the Stars Season 17 – PRO WATCH!!
It's that time of year once again, boys and girls – time for Pro Watch. 🙂 I'm starting it a bit earlier than normal because we've gotten confirmation about Derek and a maybe about Maks earlier than ever before, as I recall. While Derek often knows very early, he's not usually big on sharing – that seems a bit different this year. He's confirmed he's back with both the LA Times and Access Hollywood when they asked him. Now, it's possible that this could just mean he's open to it, not that he has a partner, but I suspect if he wants to do it, he gets to do it.
Also, at the TCA Summer Tour, Paul Lee, the ABC President of Entertainment, was asked about Maks and he gave an answer that was interpreted by differently by different outlets. No shock there. Access Hollywood said he said Maks "may well be back" and TV Guide said he said "likely" be back – now, call me crazy, but those are actually different interpretations. So, I am going with "maybe likely" as a happy medium. Particularly after last season, when Maks himself was saying he was back and then he wasn't. And sorry Maks fans – it's not a sure thing because, contrary to your world view, the ratings didn't actually go down because Maks wasn't there – they have been on a constant downward trend for a few seasons now, including those when Maks was present. We've been writing about it for a few seasons now, including after All Stars which was down 20% from season 14 – Maks was on both seasons. Sixteen was lower again = downward TREND.
As for the rest?? Well, Lizzie was asking who we wanted Val to dance with this season, but that could well be a "if we talk like it's true it will become true" PR style. I suspect he'll be back though. I wouldn't count on Gleb or Louis…and maybe not even Tony. I really think they need to give Henry a shot, and I expect that both Mark and Tristan will have spots. As for the ladies, I suspect that Cheryl and Karina, and possibly Sharna, are the only sure things. Everyone else seems like they could go either way.
The big question mark for me?? Will there be a troupe?? I suspect there will be, although we won't see them nearly as much early in the season. Don't worry, Troupe fans – if what Paul Lee says about a possible return to two shows a week in the spring is true, then all may not be lost.
ETA1 Vogue here with an UPDATE: According to Enstarz, Val Chmerkovskiy will be dancing in Dancing With The Stars Season 17. He not only told them he will be dancing, he also told them his dream partners as well as saying, "I just want a partner who is willing to work and has a strong work ethic" and "You can be a supermodel, an actress, an athlete… but to be a good partner, you have to be willing to put in the work." Be sure to read the link for more!
ETA2: Chelsie could be "possibly in". See this post for more details!!
ETA3 Vogue here again: Due to this tweet by Sharna, we suspect she might be "possibly in".
ETA4 Vogue again: After discussing this with Court and the way she read Sharna's tweet, we've decided together to take out "Possibly In" for Sharna. The pros may be posting optimistically looking forward to season 17 (or the craziness of it, etc), but, that doesn't mean they are "in" or are "possibly in".
ETA4: This is sad. I hate to even report this, but, according to US Weekly, Kym Johnson won't be dancing this season. She tells the magazine, that she has an "amazing work opportunity back home in Australia." More here. Thanks to Lori for the heads up. Also, Chelsie tweeted of receiving "good and bad news". We have no idea what she's referring to, but, we're changing her status to "unknown".
ETA5: Karina is IN per @DWTSGossip!
ETA6: @DWTSGossip is also reporting Peta, Cheryl, Tony, Val, and Mark "in" as well.
ETA7: The hits just keep on coming, as DWTSGossip tweets that Maks "will not be returning" for season 17. -Court-
ETA8: The day of the furious pro watch updates continues, as DWTSGossip reveals that Anna & Chelsie are out and that Lindsay & Emma are in…although the "I guess" at the beginning of her tweet seems to leave a bit of margin for error…-Court-
ETA9: And now we have a bit of news on Henry. We think he's "Possibly in the Troupe" or been "Promoted" because of what was tweeted in this twitter exchange. As Court just wrote to me privately, the problem with the guys right now is that we don't know if any of the male troupe members are getting promoted. So, Henry may be in the troupe or he may have gotten promoted based on the tweet. In conclusion, we're going to side with caution and assume it's the troupe. -Vogue and Court
ETA10 Vogue: DWTSGossip is reporting Sharna is also "in"! She's also reporting via twitter that she knows for a fact Sasha is not a Pro "as of now". @Dwtsgossip writes to us that Sasha may very well still be in the running. Also, Tristan and Gleb are not confirmed yet.
ETA11: Oksana is out via Val's twitter. Though the tweet has now been deleted. So, we're going to mark her as "possibly out".
ETA12: Just a little update on Troupe member Julian Tocker. He has tweeted that he won't be dancing full time because of the new format, but, we'll still see him around. Sad as it makes you wonder if it will be the same for some or all of the troupe members? Also, and if there is a full time troupe, how many will there be in it?
ETA13: Some good news and some bad news today (depending how you look at it and who are your favorite pros). @DWTSGossip is reporting Tristan is "in", but, Gleb" is "out" (sad, I was hoping to see him back). So, what does this mean for the 6th male spot left? Will it be filled by a returning Pro (Louis? or did they change their mind and decide to make Maks a pro?), a promotion for a troupe member (Sasha or Henry?), or will it be someone entirely new? Penny for your thoughts!
ETA14: Guess what Kids? @DWTSGossip says she got mixed up and Gleb is IN! YAY!
ETA15: I'm baaaaacccckkkk!! And here to report that @dwtsgossip just tweeted "Sasha dancing with Snookie?? Mark out??" Clearly, those are question marks, so don't get too excited. 🙂 If true, good for Markie – time to go full bore on that music career, bud. -Heidi
ETA16: And Markie is in…and Sasha may not be. @dwtsgossip can't confirm him, but he/she can confirm Mark. Again, certain sources out there have a piss poor track record – dwtsgossip is not one of those, and neither is TMZ. I'll leave it at that. 🙂 But seriously people -always consider the source. And remember no one is infallible. Don't get worked up until September 4th. 🙂 p.s. see mark's tweet to dwtsgossip. 🙂
ETA17: Heidi here to tell you that a few spots in Pro Watch may just be WRONG. Dead wrong. Sorry, that's all I can say right now. We're in for one surprise tomorrow and a couple other mild surprises. 😉 Maybe – take it with a grain of salt as usual when mysterious sources appear.
ETA18: Errr…well, the cat seems to be out of the bag on some other sites (and Heidi is already in bed), so here it goes: Lindsay has allegedly been downgraded to troupe along with Gleb, Sasha has allegedly been upgraded to pro from the troupe, and one of the "non-troupe lurkers" I mentioned almost a month ago, Tyne, has allegedly been fast-tracked straight to pro. Witney & Henry remain in the troupe, which is now only 4 strong. I'm not exactly happy with this new development (especially since Tyne, to my knowledge, is just a contemporary dancer), but I'm interested to see what you guys' thoughts are…and keep in mind, this does seem to contradict some of what we've already heard from reputable sources, so take it with a grain of salt. -Court-
Male Pros
Derek – IN
Val – IN
Tony – IN
Mark – IN
Sasha – IN
Tristan – IN
Female Pros
Cheryl – IN
Tyne Stecklein – IN
Sharna – IN
Peta – IN
Karina – IN
Emma – IN
Out For the Season
Kym – judging position on DWTS Australia
Maks – OUT per DWTSGossip
Anna – OUT per DWTSGossip
Chelsie – OUT per DWTSGossip
Louis – OUT per Louis' twitter
Lacey – Most Likely OUT
Super Troupers, Past and Present
Oksana Dmytrenko – OUT of the Troupe
Sasha Farber – Promoted to Pro
Henry Byalikov – IN Troupe
Emma Slater – Promoted to Pro
Kiki Nyemchek – OUT
Nicole Volynets – OUT
Ted Volynets – OUT
Dasha Chesnokova – OUT
Witney Carson – IN Troupe
Julian Tocker – Not dancing full time in troupe this season, but we'll still see him around.
Gleb Savchenko – downgraded from pro to troupe
Lindsay Arnold – downgraded from pro to troupe

subset: commoncrawl


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The race continues, and candidates for the 31st District's City Council seat are making the rounds, reaching out to the people they hope to make their constituents.
"I'm feeling great," said Selvena Brooks, who has a political past working in the State Senate. "We have a real presence on the ground throughout southeast Queens and a lot of community support."
Brooks and fellow candidates Pesach Osina, Donovan Richards, Jacques Leandre, Michael Duncan, Allan Jennings, Saywalah Kesselly and Marie Adam-Ovide have spent election day continuing their campaigns, and do not plan to rest until polls close at 9 p.m. tonight.
"I'm going to be out there until 8:59 p.m., just trying to get one more person to the polls" said Marie Adam-Ovide, district manager of Community Board 8. "I'm trying to encourage more people to come out.


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BWD Cover Sneak Preview
Bird Watcher's Digest will look like, step on over to Drawing the Motmot, the fascinating blog by Debby Kaspari. I've known Debby for nearly 20 years—since her days as a jewelry designer and lead banjo picker for the All Girl Boys in the SF Bay Area of California. She plucked under the nom-de-tune of Debby Cotter then.
Debby is a mutli-talented artist and has lent her work to the cover of BWD numerous times. Her post about creating the May/June 2008 cover painting for the magazine can be found right here.
Labels: bird art, BWD cover painting, Debby Kaspari


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Pictures of what could be one of the first 'Jasper'-based Xbox 360s have appeared online.
Motherboard modifications point to Jasper's existence
Images courtesy Xbox-Scene.com
Although the shots don't provide definitive proof of an Xbox 360 with 65nm GPU, which is the new Jasper design's key component, several key features have been highlighted that collectively provide one of the best indications yet that Microsoft is now shipping the Xbox 360 with tweaked internals.
MS marks up the new 360?
For example, a shot of the console's power brick shows that this latest model consumes just 150W of power, 25W less the most recent Xbox 360 PSU provides.
This power supply uses 25W less power than before
Why is this important? Well, overheating is thought to be one of the main causes of the infamous Red Ring of Death, and the 65nm GPU requires less power than previous, 90nm Xbox 360 graphics chips.
Another indication that Microsoft's changed the console's innards once more is the presence of a larger-capacity on-board Flash chip – up from 16MB to 256MB.
Website Xbox Scene has plenty more shots of the console's innards, here.


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Touched down in Australia safe and sound thanks Baron. Really cool, my son went silly. He pointed out all the figures and vehicles I had. So tomorrow it looks like picture time. Got the space for card back sitting next to my 1 and only carded AF figure, a German Z-korps Breaker.
Can't thank you enough.
Battle Action Force 25th Anniversary Prize Draw - Winners
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| 11.7°C Belfast
Kelly Rowland has said she thinks watching sport with your other half can be a great bonding experience.
The 33-year-old singer - who recently tied the knot with manager Tim Witherspoon and is rumoured to be expecting her first child - has recorded a new track, The Game, as part of a celebration of World Cup fever with Pepsi MAX.
Kelly urged women not to become "World Cup widows" and to get stuck in watching the game with their partners.
She said: "I do have to be in the mood for the sport, but I think it's actually fun to watch it with your sweetheart because you get a chance to be in their world.
"I think it's a nice bonding time. If they have a beer, you pick one up too. You got to just watch the sport, it's fun."
The song has a football-themed video directed by Spike Lee and the former Destiny's Child star and X Factor judge was delighted to work with the Oscar-nominated director on the project.
Kelly said: "He's just one of those genius people that not only has vision, I just love the fact that he's still so excited and creative about his gift. There's not a lot of people who bring that to the table. I'm just happy that Spike was MY director, he's the BEST director."
The singer - who recently left her label Republic Records - also revealed she is currently working on a new solo album that will be very different from what she's done before.
Kelly said: "I'm in the mood for something different. I need a change, it's been wonderful and I'm so grateful to be in the studio with writers and producers who are open to it and just as excited about trying something new."
:: Kelly's new track The Game is available to download from iTunes now as part of the Beats Of The Beautiful Game visual album. Spike's film can be viewed on YouTube.


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Fans of Devil Dice on PS one will rejoice that Bombastic brings the addictive dice rolling antics of their beloved original to PS2. Bombastic puts you in control of impish little character Aqui-chan, who walks over the faces of oversized dice rolling them as he goes. You progress through the grid-like levels by 'log-rolling' the dice and destroying other six-siders as you go. Not since Tetris and Lemmings will you be so absorbed and so confounded by a puzzle game.
Get the faces of the right number of dice to display the same number and they'll explode (i.e. get five adjacent dice to display "5" or two dice to display "2") and this simple rule will help you progress, destroy enemies and confound your opponents when playing head-to-head. There are loads of game modes to choose from, such as the Trial mode for manic hi-score tests, Attack mode for devilish challenges, Quest mode to take on the dice across many different environments and Wars mode that lets up to five players fight it out in a dice packed arena. Whichever mode you choose, you'll be dreaming about dice faces for weeks to come.
1-2 Players
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Holiday Baking: Rum-Raisin Chess Pie
Get the Recipe
I go through cycles with the desserts I like, and especially with those I prepare. Last year I was hooked on Salted Caramel-Chocolate Pudding Cake and made it over and over for dinner parties.
This year, the sticky, salty-sweet cake couldn't hold a candle to chess pie. This dessert, for those who are unfamiliar, is a Southern specialty. It was dubbed "Chess Pie" for a number of different unfounded explanations, my favorite being because in that charming accent, Southern belles and ladies would coyly murmur of it, "Oh, it's just [read "chess"] pie." And it is, really, batting eyelashes aside, just pie. Its ingredients are humble: buttermilk, eggs, sugar, and butter. During baking, these simple components melt into a thick, gooey, and velvety filling, with a texture somewhere between thick jam and curd.
Most chess pies have a tablespoon or two of cornmeal. I've kept this ingredient and included it in the filling as well as on top, opting for a coarse grind for crunch. The vinegar may seem an odd addition, but some acid is necessary to curb the tooth aching sweetness of the thing.
This take on the traditional pie folds in another classic combination: rum and raisins. Raisins are plumped in simmering dark rum and stirred into the mixture, each bite a small burst of that spirit. To counterbalance the pie's sweetness and soft filling, the crust is thicker than a standard pie's and contains almonds. Altogether, rum raisin chess pie is overwhelming in the most sensory and delicious of ways.
Get the Recipe
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Ron Olson, a 100-cow producer in northwest Wisconsin, was skeptical at first. But he decided to add yeast culture to his rations based on a recommendation from his nutritionist.
That was nearly 10 years ago. And, while it's difficult for Olson to say that yeast culture has boosted his milk production by "x" number of pounds, he is convinced it works.
"It's like an insurance policy to us now," he says. "Anytime there's a change in feed or amino acid profile, the yeast culture will be there to back us up."
Olson does whatever he can to boost his cows' dry matter intake, which includes feeding them several times a day. Keeping fresh feed in front of the cows has helped to boost his rolling herd average to more than 31,000 pounds.
Good managers, like Olson, are able to get a response from yeast culture. Generally speaking, that's what the research has shown over the years.
Studies not unanimous
Peter Robinson, extension specialist in dairy cattle nutrition and management at the University of California-Davis, has published two studies in the past year that would appear to contradict one another. Based on research Robinson performed at the Atlantic Dairy and Forage Institute in New Brunswick, Canada, the studies measured dry matter intake of yeast-supplemented cows.
In one study, published this past June in the Journal of Dairy Science, yeast culture didn't make a statistically-significant difference in the dry matter intake of cows fed the supplement 14 days precalving through 14 days postcalving.
Yet, a second study did show a positive response. Among cows that had calved more than once, dry matter intakes in the postcalving period were nearly 3 pounds per day higher than cows fed a conventional diet.
Results from the two studies could vary because of the way the experiments were set up, Robinson says. The second study – the one that showed a positive response – recorded data on more animals, and also followed the animals six weeks longer into lactation. "This allowed us to detect some differences that we weren't able to detect in the first study," he adds.
In the October 1994 issue of the Journal of Dairy Science, researchers at Penn State University didn't find an advantage to using yeast culture – relative to milk yield or dry matter intake – when cows were supplemented for 120 days postcalving. The cows were located at seven Pennsylvania farms.
The Penn State researchers went on to note, however, that other studies had found an advantage from yeast culture supplementation. They weren't able to explain the exact reason why, but did suggest that the variation in research results may be related to differences in yeast strains, the amounts fed, or various dietary factors at the farms studied.
"In the real world, there are so many variables that can affect a particular study," points out Charlie Stone, senior research scientist at Diamond V Mills, maker of a leading yeast culture product.
And, yeast culture supplementation presents a particular challenge for researchers. Not only are they dealing with management differences between farms or research sites, they are dealing with the complexities of the rumen – and, specifically, how the microbes in a cow's rumen use the nutrients in yeast culture.
"The microbial world is very dynamic, and response is highly confounded by environmental and dietary conditions," says Jane Leedle, gastrointestinal microbiologist and product development manager at Chr. Hansen Biosystems in Milwaukee, Wis., supplier of another yeast product.
And, some farms don't have the right nutritional management in place, while others do. "We figure 70 to 80 percent of the herds will respond to our product in a positive manner," Stone says.
Stimulates rumen bugs
Yeast makes sense. Think about it. We use yeast to produce foods for human consumption. Many products, like bread, would be nothing without it.
If given sufficient time, yeast will ferment the sugars in the bread dough to give off carbon dioxide, B-vitamins and other nutrients – many of which make the bread more palatable. You end up with bread that's highly nutritious and fun to eat.
Bottom-line: The yeast give off important nutrients in the fermentation process.
During fermentation, yeast cells release amino acids, organic acids, minerals, and enzymes into the environment, which stimulates the growth of certain rumen microbes.
According to an article by University of Georgia researchers this past September in the Journal of Dairy Science, yeast culture provides growth factors – organic acids, B-vitamins, amino acids – which stimulate the growth of rumen bugs that metabolize lactic acid and those that digest cellulose. Yeast culture also stimulates the growth of some proteolytic bacteria that digest protein.
And, we see an overall increase in the number of rumen bugs when yeast culture is provided.
In the November 1988 Journal of Dairy Science, researchers from the University of Kentucky noted higher concentrations of anaerobic and cellulolytic bacteria in the rumens of cows receiving yeast culture supplementation. (See the chart below.)
Karl Dawson, rumen microbiologist at the University of Kentucky, says subsequent studies have confirmed these results. In fact, most studies have turned up even more impressive differences in bacterial numbers between yeast-supplemented cows and control cows.
What are the practical implications of this? If you enhance microbial activity in the rumen, you enhance digestion rates, Dawson says. More digestion takes place in a shorter period of time.
Animals in first 40 to 60 days of lactation show the greatest response to yeast culture supplementation, says Mike Hutjens, dairy nutritionist at the University of Illinois. Yeast culture appears to stimulate the growth of fiber-digesting bacteria, he adds, which leads to greater digestive efficiency, volatile fatty acid production and dry matter intake.
For animals in early lactation whose energy needs are greater than their normal dietary intake, that can make a big difference.
Positive results
A majority of the research trials involving yeast culture have shown positive results.
This past summer, at the annual meeting of the American Dairy Science Association, researchers from the University of Illinois released a study showing a 4.7-pound-per-day increase in dry matter intake for Jersey cows fed a yeast culture supplement during the last seven days prepartum compared to cows fed a control diet without yeast culture. And, yeast-supplemented intakes were 3.9 pounds per day higher during the first 42 days of lactation.
That particular study monitored dry matter intakes. What about milk yields? The results from eight research studies are summarized in the chart, "Most studies show a boost from yeast supplementation," located at the top of this page.
Look at the results. On an average basis, the studies show roughly a 3- to 4-pound-per-day advantage to using yeast culture during early lactation.
With that kind of response, the product pays for itself. Diamond V's Charlie Stone says it will usually cost four to five cents per cow per day to feed his company's product, depending on the dealerships involved and geographic location. But assuming that cost, and a 3-pound-per-day production response, and milk priced at $12 per hundredweight, the return on investment is somewhere in the neighborhood of 7:1 to 9:1.
Diamond V takes an even more conservative approach by saying there is a 3:1 to 4:1 return on investment on the product.
Regardless, if you are looking to increase return, you may want to investigate yeast cultures.
More yeast, more bacteria
Total anaerobic bacteria
Yeast-supplemented cows: 12.3 billion
Non-supplemented cows (control): 7.8 billion
Total cellulolytic bacteria
Yeast-supplemented cows: 120 million
Non-supplemented cows (control): 66.1 million
Source:Journal of Dairy Science, November 1988.
Most studies show a boost from yeast supplementation
|Yeast-supplemented cows
|Non-supplemented cows
|Difference (lbs/day)
|Penn State University, 1994 (1)
|University of Wisconsin and Diamond V Mills, 1995 (2)
|Atlantic Dairy and Forage Institute, 1996 (3)
|Atlantic Dairy and Forage Institute, 1997 (4)
|University of Delaware, et al, 1997 (5)
|University of Idaho, et al, 1997 (6)
|University of Illinois, 1997 (7)
|Rutgers University, 1997 (8)
(1) Journal of Dairy Science, October 1994. Involved 306 Holstein cows during the first 120 days of lactation.
(2) Journal of Dairy Science, Suppl. 1, 1995. Study involved approximately 585 cows on 11 commercial dairies. Cows in the experimental group received an average of 57 grams of Diamond V XP Yeast Culture per day through two 30-day DHIA test periods.
(3) Presented at the Canadian Society of Animal Science meeting, 1996. Study involved 26 multiparous and 18 primiparous cows through the first eight weeks of lactation. Results in the chart are for multiparous animals.
(4) Journal of Dairy Science, June 1997. Study used multiparous Holstein cows. Yeast culture was fed from 14 days prepartum through 14 days postpartum. Milk yield results are through 28 days postcalving.
(5) Journal of Dairy Science, September 1997. Results in chart are for cows in early lactation fed 10 grams of Chr. Hansen Biomate Yeast Plus per day. Results reflect 3.5 percent fat-corrected milk yields.
(6) Journal of Dairy Science, Vol. 80, Suppl.1, 1997. Cows in experimental group were fed Diamond V XP Yeast Culture. Researchers recorded milk yields through the first 30 weeks of lactation.
(7) Journal of Dairy Science, Suppl. 1, 1997. Study involved 14 primiparous and 25 multiparous Jersey cows. The total-mixed rations of cows in the experimental group were topdressed with 60 grams of Diamond V XP Yeast Culture per day from 14 days prepartum through 140 days postpartum. Results show milk yields through the first 42 days of lactation.
(8) Presented at the American Dairy Science Association annual meeting, 1997. Study involved 36 multiparous Holstein cows through the first 18 weeks of lactation. Results shown in graph represent fat-corrected milk yields of cows receiving 10 grams of Chr. Hansen Biomate Yeast Plus per day.


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Certified Credit Counselor and Certified Financial Health Counselor (Exam Included) includes:
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Becoming a certified credit counselor with a specialty in financial health indicates that you have achieved a standard of excellence in training for the credit counseling industry.
This course bundle provides a foundation to work in various counseling disciplines such as housing counselor or student loan counselor. You will learn how to coach your clients in building strong credit, spending analysis, improving money management behaviors, and more. Demonstrating your knowledge of core financial and credit concepts will help you best serve and attract clientele in need of credit counseling.
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Federal Programs Team Meeting
Federal Programs Department Team Meeting
Workshop Fee will be charged to those who fail to show for a workshop.
To avoid the charge, Staff Development contacts for this workshop must be notified in writing at least 3 business days prior to workshop date.
Cancellation must include name, workshop # and email address.


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Global IP solutions is now punting its VoiceEngine Mobile technology for the iPhone, making it simple to add VoIP to any iPhone application.
Developers wanting to add VoIP capabilities to mobile applications - such as adding voice communications to a game - can licence the stack from Global IP Solutions.
Apple has been clear about not allowing VoIP over 3G connections, so to comply VoIP can only work where Wi-Fi is available - otherwise the phone's voice circuit must be used.
VoiceEngine is already available for Symbian and Windows Mobile. The Symbian version was announced in February last year, but hasn't seen many VoIP-enabled applications deployed yet.
VoIP on a mobile phone only makes sense if cost is a serious issue, or if you're trying to provide functionality unavailable just using the voice circuit. VoIP can offer greater quality, particularly over Wi-Fi connections, and can make hosting conference services more cost-effective.
It's hard to imagine that many iPhone customers are frugal enough to make much use of VoIP, especially when £35 will get you 10 hours of calling each month anyway. But a games company looking to add conference calling between teams might find a use for the technology and there will no doubt be enterprise applications looking to make use of VoIP in the future. ®


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Panorama trimmer with reciprocating blades or cutter bars
In my opinion, the main strength of the PANORAMA trimmer is its simplicity, both technically and visually. No parts stick out of the chassis and casings and visibility of the cutting elements is excellent. I can work faster while limiting the risk of hanging on a stump. The hydraulic transmission is simple and especially reliable! The precision of steering in the row is very good, the reduced front overhang allows the machine to be positioned accurately relative to the row.
Frédéric AMOURDEDIEU – Provence Region, Villelaure – FRANCE
Large number of settings
Wide range of settings of the PANORAMA chassis for working effectively in all vineyard configurations.
Folds without tools
Folding of the horizontal cutting modules without tools for quick and safe road transport.
| Standard equipment.
Optional equipment
|PANORAMA EC narrow with blades
|PANORAMA LC wide blades
|PANORAMA EB narrow with reciprocating cutter bars
|PANORAMA LB wide with reciprocating cutter bars
|SPRAWL CANOPY trimmer
|Cutting width (in m)
|0.98 à 2.15
|1.21 to 2.86
|0.89 to 2.03
|1.09 to 2.74
|0.7 to 2.4
|Standard vertical cutter bars
|1.38 m
with 4 blades
|1.38 m
with 4 blades
|1.50 m
|1.80 m
|1.38 m with 4 vertical blades
|Option 1 vertical cutter bars
|1.72 m
with 5 blades
|1.72 m
with 5 blades
|1.80 m
|1.50 m
|Horizontal cutting bars
|0.73 m
with 2 blades
|0.73 m
with 2 blades
|0.90 m
|0.73 m with 2 blades. Available as an option: 1.05 m with 3 blades.
|Cut-off on impact ensures safety at all times
|Control joystick
|Height and hydraulic spacing adjustment
|Manual height adjustment of horizontal bars
|Hydraulic height adjustment of horizontal cutter bars
|Mounting plate and stay-rod
|Delivery on a pallet stand
|Working close to the ground (optional)
|Fifth lower cutting module
(fixed or pivoting)
|Fifth lower cutting module
(fixed or pivoting)
|Vegetation lifter
|Vegetation lifter
|Motorised pivoting lower bars: 0.65 m with 2 blades


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Playing this video requires the latest flash player from Adobe.
Download link (right click and 'save-as') for playing in VLC or other compatible player.
A "one-time program" for a channel C is a
hypothetical cryptographic primitive by which a user may evaluate C on only one
input state of her choice. (Think Mission Impossible: "this tape
will self-destruct in five seconds.") One-time programs cannot be
achieved without extra assumptions such as secure hardware; it is known that
one-time programs can be constructed for classical channels using a very basic
hypothetical hardware device called a "one-time memory".
Our main result is the construction of a one-time program
for any quantum channel specified by a circuit, assuming the same basic
one-time memory devices used for classical channels. The construction
achieves universal composability -- the strongest possible security -- against
any quantum adversary. It employs a technique for computation on
authenticated quantum data and we present a new authentication scheme called
the "trap" scheme for this purpose.
Finally, we observe that there is a pathological class of
channels that admit trivial one-time programs without any hardware assumptions
whatsoever. We characterize these channels, assuming an interesting
conjecture on the invertible (or decoherence-free) subspaces of an arbitrary
Joint work with Anne Broadbent and Douglas Stebila.


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Diamond Shaped Ring - Silver
Product Description
This ring is a gorgeous compliment to our other stacking rings.
The ring features one small 3mm princess cut stone on a half band eternity ring.
This ring looks great on its own for a clean, feminine and minimal look or stacked with several of our other stackers. Can be styled as a fashion ring to wear with your favorite outfit or used as an engagement/wedding/promise band.
Ring is Small and Dainty!
Material: Brass
Color: Rhodium
Setting: prong/micropave
Please read the following and note there may be delays in shipment due to Los Angeles "Stay-At-Home" Ordinance
I can ship items I have with me at home as long as USPS still operates. In the case you would like to order a size that isn't available, you can pre-order (the add-to-cart button will let you know) and it will ship within 10-14 days.
During this time, I will not be offering priority and expedited shipping.
You can more detailed information and updates here: COVID ANNOUNCEMENT
Gold Filled vs. Gold Plated? What's the Difference?!
Gold plated jewelry is great for those who are looking to get the trendy gold look on a budget. Gold plated items are created by using an electric/chemical process to attach gold particles to the base metal and create a thin layer of color. Due to it's nature, gold plated items are much more affordable but require more care to increase it's longevity.
"Gold filled" is not actually filled with gold. Gold filled jewelry is created by bonding a thick layer of actual gold to another metal, usually brass, through extreme pressure. The gold content is legally required in the US to be at least 5% of the total weight. As the gold layer is thick, gold-filled jewelry won't tarnish or fade as quickly as gold plated items. In fact, they can be cleaned and if taken care of well, they can last well over a year!
Gold Filled is has the highest content of gold aside from solid gold. To our dismay, not everything can be made gold filled and so we gold plate instead!
Don't see what you want?
Don't see the color or size you wanted? That's ok!
Please email firstname.lastname@example.com with the size and/or color you are interested in and we will help you track it down!


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For a complete listing of publications click here.
BBS Faculty Member - Nathanael Gray
Nathanael Gray
Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology
Longwood Center, Room LC 2209
360 Longwood Ave
Boston, MA 02115
Tel: 617-582-8590
Fax: 617-582-8615
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Visit my lab page here.
Our lab is interested in the following general questions: 1. How can small molecule inhibitors with selectivity towards a desired wild-type or drug-resistant kinase be efficiently developed? 2. How can we use kinase inhibitors to dissect the molecular wiring of signaling pathways? 3. What are the most efficient ways to develop small molecule modulators for protein targets for which no ligand is currently known? 4. How do you develop a small molecule modulator for biological pathways for which very little is known? 5. What are new methods for identifying the biological targets for small molecules of unknown mechanism?
Synthetic Chemistry: Our lab uses synthetic organic chemistry to make combinatorial gene-family targeted libraries. We typically base the libraries on close variants of scaffolds that have been previously shown to have interesting biological activity (so called "privileged scaffolds"). We use solution and solid-phase chemistry and employ "directed-sorting" technology to enable efficient library production. We also perform medicinal chemistry to improve the potency, cellular activity, specificity, stability and pharmacological properties of our initial "lead" compounds.
Functional Small Molecule Discovery: Following synthesis of new compounds, we use three distinct but complementary approaches to discover and optimize their biological function: (1) target-based biochemical screening (2) functional target-based cellular assays and (3) cellular or organismal "phenotypic" screening. Target-based screening supported by cellular assays that precisely monitor the activity of interest and that can guide chemical optimization is the most direct means to obtain functional inhibitors. The target-based cellular screens present a significant advantage over biochemical assays because the kinases are expressed in an appropriate cellular context allowing compounds to be identified that may possess a number of distinct mechanisms including: direct inhibition of the active kinase, binding to the inactive form of the kinase, inhibiting activating phosphorylations, or interacting with negative regulators. We are in the process of creating a battery of such cellular assays that will allow us to more fully annotate the kinase selectivity of a given compound which can then be used as a chemical probe in various biological systems. We have used target-based enzymatic and cellular screening to develop cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (purvalanols), tubulin depolymerizers (myoseverins), kinase inhibitors selective for plasmodial kinases (with potential application as antimalarials), selective agonists of sphingosine-1-phosphate receptors (SEW02871), and a large variety of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (Abl, Src, PDGFR, FLT3, c-Kit, Ephrins, EGFR, etc). In contrast, phenotypic screening provides a means to interrogate a pathway in an unbiased fashion with small molecules. Provided that the molecular target(s) of the compound can be identified (usually by affinity chromatography, genetic complementation, or expression profiling), phenotypic screening can deliver new biological insight in addition to yielding useful small molecules. We have used phenotypic screening to identify a small molecule (diminutol) capable of inducing a shrunken mitotic spindle phenotype in Xenopus extracts and used the compound to identify the potential target as a ubiquinone oxidoreductase (Nqo1). We have also identified small molecules capable of inducing cardiomyogenesis, compounds that are agonists(purmorphamine) and antagonist of the hedgehog and Wnt signaling pathways, and compounds that can induce keratinocyte differentiation.
Last Update: 1/26/2015
For a complete listing of publications click here.


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Regenerative research will benefit cancer patients who suffer from dry mouth
Biologists, surgical oncologists and regenerative medicine specialists from Rice University, the University of Delaware and the Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, Del., have begun a four-year program aimed at using cells to grow whole salivary glands that can replace those destroyed by cancer radiation therapy.
The research, which is funded by a $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, could benefit thousands of cancer patients who suffer from xerostomia, or dry mouth.
Dry mouth is an especially severe problem for patients with cancers of the head and neck because the mouth's saliva-producing acinar cells are particularly susceptible to radiation. As a result, about 40,000 head and neck cancer patients who undergo standard radiation therapy each year report serious problems with dry mouth. The condition can make it painful for patients to swallow, eat and even speak. It also causes accelerated tooth decay and oral infections.
"We've already shown that we can harvest acinar cells prior to radiation therapy, grow them in the lab, implant them into test animals and maintain their ability to produce salivary enzymes," said Cindy Farach-Carson, Rice's Ralph and Dorothy Looney Professor of Biochemistry and Cell Biology and the principal investigator on the new grant. "In the next phase of the research, we want to show that we can make whole salivary glands that can integrate into the host and increase saliva production. To do that, we need more than just saliva-producing cells. We need nerves and ducts and blood vessels and all the other things that make up the gland itself."
If the research is successful, it could pave the way for future clinical trials.
Farach-Carson, a biologist and longtime cancer researcher, said the regenerative salivary gland project is possible only because the research team includes experts in cell biology, clinical oncology and tissue engineering. For example, Rice's project team includes co-investigator Daniel Harrington, faculty fellow in biochemistry and cell biology, who has expertise in polymer science and materials engineering.
Farach-Carson, who also serves as Rice's vice provost for translational bioscience and as scientific director of Rice's BioScience Research Collaborative, spends a good deal of her time extolling the benefits of research that crosses disciplinary and institutional boundaries. She said the salivary gland project is a perfect example of what can happen when experts from disparate fields come together to solve a common problem.
"This all began in 2005 when I went on sabbatical and was randomly assigned to share an office with Robert Witt, one of Delaware's leading head and neck surgical oncologists," Farach-Carson said. "My prior work had been with prostate cancer, so Bob and I traded stories about our previous work and found some common ground. Around that time, we also met Xinqiao Jia, a materials scientist at the University of Delaware who specializes in creating biomaterials for regenerative medicine."
Witt, who directs the Head and Neck Multidisciplinary Center at Christiana Care's Helen F. Graham Cancer Center, said, "There is currently no way to prevent or cure xerostomia for cancer patients who are undergoing radiation therapy. This is clearly a problem where regenerative medicine holds great promise for improving the quality of life for many people."
In addition, the research could also benefit those with Sjögren's syndrome, a chronic disease in which a person's immune system attacks the body's moisture-producing glands. Up to 4 million Americans live with Sjögren's syndrome.
Jia, associate professor of materials science and engineering, said recreating the structure and function of whole salivary glands is a challenge.
"Every tissue in the body has unique requirements from its surroundings," she said. "The biocompatible polymers we create at the University of Delaware can be tuned to match the structure of soft tissues in salivary glands. We can also incorporate specific biological cues to direct the growth and organization of the cells that are seeded into the polymers."
Jia said her group works closely with their biological and clinical partners to identify the key properties that must be incorporated into the hydrogel polymers to direct cell organization and growth.
"This partnership over the past seven years has been incredibly rewarding for all of us," Farach-Carson said. "Generous support from a patient of Dr. Witt provided the initial resources that enabled our early studies and brought us to where we are now. Without that help, we might never have reached this major milestone today."


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Local newspaper ad costs for Golden newspapers are readily available below. These advertising rates for newspapers in Golden, Colorado should help you estimate advertising costs for your ad campaign.
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Bush plus Clinton Plus Obama Equals Warren G. Harding?News at Home
Our interest in Harding hardly stems from his short, lackluster, administration, but rather from our interest in scandal. Harding is usually ranked amongst the worst to occupy the White House because of the scandals associated with him and his administration. The Harding scandals fall into two broad categories, both of which resonate today. They include (1) personal scandals involving his private life and marriage and (2) administrative corruption involving oil, money, and politics. These, in turn, offer insight into 2008 presidential politics. As so often seems to be the case in today's celebrity-style politics of personality (of which Harding was a pioneer), a sex scandal serves as a gateway for other scandals and issues. Harding's reputation illustrates this point and that is why journalist and pundits look to him to help explain current politics.
As a general rule, when people write about Harding they begin with his infidelities. Nan Britton's poorly-written and sappy book, The President's Daughter (1927), was a shaping event in the evolution of the president-as-celebrity and a defining moment for Harding's legacy. Britton, a blonde flapper thirty years younger than Harding, claimed to have had an affair and a child with Harding. The ensuing controversy pitted those who defended decency and a presidential right to privacy against the forces of the sexual revolution and modernity. Coming as it did amidst the other scandals, Britton's story defined Harding's reputation. The book was soon followed by a seemingly endless number of mostly unsubstantiated stories about his antics as president, including the false story that First Lady Florence Harding had murdered her husband.
The presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, accompanied by the reemergence of politician Bill Clinton on the national stage, also speaks to the ghost of Warren Harding. There are the obvious comparisons between Clinton and Harding that appeared during the scandal involving Monica Lewinsky. That discussion included comparisons between the ambitious and business-like Florence Harding and Hillary Clinton. However, a less obvious reason for evoking Harding's ghost is that Hillary Clinton is running a campaign not unlike Harding's 1920 front porch campaign. It is a campaign of firsts in which race and gender (in significantly different ways) are important, echoing the importance of race and gender in 1920. Like Harding's campaign, Hillary Clinton's campaign evokes a nostalgia that seeks to reassure and woo voters disaffected by a president who sought to remake the world but whose foreign policy seems to have ended disastrously. Just as Harding stood on his front porch promising to be the new William McKinley evoking the good old days of the 1890s, Hillary Clinton is barnstorming the country promising to restore the good old days of the 1990s.
The lessons of Harding's legacy reach across party lines. The New York Times recently reported that Republican presidential candidate and presumptive nominee John McCain may have had an improper relationship with an attractive female lobbyist, who, it always seems to be emphasized, was blonde and much younger than he. Predictably, McCain and his fellow conservatives countered by charging the Times with charges of liberal bias. Defenders of the paper and many commentators are noting that the real substance of the piece was the concerns raised about McCain's relationship with lobbyists in general and not whether or not he was unfaithful with this particular lobbyist. Still, Harding's reputation would suggest that it will not be a case of either/or, but that the public will link the two scandals. Historians might argue that scandals in the departments of Justice and Interior trump debates over which claim of infidelity holds water, but the twenty-something blonde flapper is a staple in Harding stories.
Scandals can take on iconic status, as can be seen in the attaching of the "gate" suffix to most scandals that have emerged since Watergate. The Harding legacy is not summed up by the debate over the validity of Britton's claims, but also by the Teapot Dome scandal. William Grimes, in his review of Laton McCartney's The Teapot Dome Scandal: How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House and Tried to Steal the Country (2008), wrote that "Scandals in Washington come and go, but Teapot Dome remains one of the real humdingers." McCartney's book is a link between the past and the present.
It should be no surprise that as the oilmen associated with the administration of George W. Bush leave office, pundits and journalists are turning their attention to the last administration so steeped in oil. Teapot Dome, in much the same way as "Watergate," became a shorthand reference to summarize a complicated scandal involving government contracts, oil concessions, national security, conservation, and bribery. It involved some highly colorful characters: Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall, Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby, Senator Thomas J. Walsh of Montana, and oilmen Harry Sinclair and Edward Doheny. The connections between oil and politics are further highlighted by the success of the Oscar-winning movie There Will be Blood, which is loosely based on Upton Sinclair's novel Oil, a muckraking exposé of the oil business and its corruption of politics in the 1920s. It does not take much imagination to go from Sinclair Oil and Pan American Petroleum to Enron and Halliburton. Comparisons to Bush also seem apt given that Bush has appointed many of his political allies and friends to government positions. Harding did likewise, most notably Albert Fall as Secretary of the Interior and Harry Daugherty as Attorney General. The end result was scandal.
Bizarrely enough, one Harding controversy has lost much of its status as a scandal. The 1920 campaign included an attempt to destroy Harding's candidacy with the accusation that he had mixed ancestry, that Harding was, in fact, a black man passing for white. These rumors had been floating around Ohio for years only to be brought to national attention by the deeply racist William Estabrook Chancellor. Chancellor, a sociologist who believed in scientific racism and supported Woodrow Wilson, hoped to destroy Harding's campaign by circulating fliers, pamphlets, and eventually a biography airing the charge. His attempt failed, and Harding refused to publicly address the charges. Chancellor's claims became a mainstay of Harding biographies, such as Francis Russell's The Shadow of Blooming Grove, the "shadow" being the rumors of "black blood." In a weirdly ironic way, Chancellor's dubious and racist claims have reemerged as a positive for Harding. Today, some African-Americans claim Harding as the first black president ignoring (or unaware of) the origins of the story. The campaign of Barack Obama, the first African American to have a serious chance at winning the Democratic Party's nomination and the presidency, has brought the story back onto the national stage.
Since Watergate, it has been a truism of American politics that it is the cover up and not the act itself that leads to political downfall. This is not the case with the Harding scandals, which broke after his death. The Harding scandals became iconic without the Watergate-style cover up. The end result, as former Nixon aide John Dean has written, is that "Warren G. Harding is best known as America's worst president." The scandals that make Harding dead last in the historical rankings of presidents are also what draws us back to current comparisons with Harding and his legacy. However, we discover that politics, like history, is rarely simple and that even something as seemingly straightforward as the Harding scandals still offer new insights.
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R.R. Hamilton - 3/9/2008
Of which recent U.S. president does this remind us?
"The Harding scandals fall into two broad categories, both of which resonate today. They include (1) personal scandals involving his private life and marriage and (2) administrative corruption involving oil, money, and politics"
Take out the word "Harding" and most people would substitute "Clinton" faster than you can say Lippo Group.
Lawrence Brooks Hughes - 3/7/2008
Who did George W. Bush ever appoint to the cabinet who was as corrupt as Albert Fall and Harry Daugherty? Also, when did the big bad "oil men" ever enjoy a majority in Congress under the current president, and enact their agenda? (If they had, we would now be paying about half as much at the pump). You play fast and loose with history here in attempting to compare George W. Bush and Warren G. Harding. And besides, Harding's only "crime" was trusting his friends.
Phillip Payne - 3/4/2008
Comparing JFK to Harding is hardly new and I've dealt with it elsewhere. In this essay, I was limiting myself to the use of Harding's legacy during the current political season. There are several very notable similarities between the two, many have been mentioned here. Another similarity is Kennedy's "ask not" line from his inaugural and Harding's very similar line from his 1916 address to the Republican National Convention: "In the great fulfillment we must have a citizenship less concerned about what the government can do for it and more anxious about what it can do for the nation." The recent controversy over Obama's use of the "just words" line borrowed from Massachusetts Governor Patrick has prompted some to write about the similarities between the Harding and Kennedy lines. Also, the comparisons between Kennedy and Harding are not more obvious than other comparisons nor does one rule out the other. If we go back to Hillary Clinton's days as First Lady you will find numerous comparisons of her with Florence Harding. This was particularly the case during the scandal involving Monica Lewinski, during which the Harding/Clinton comparisons flourished. The scandal coincided with the release of Carl Anthony's biography of Florence Harding. With the release of this biography there were very specific comparisons between the two women, some meant to be flattering and others not. In fact, it was very common, especially with conservative commentators, to combine comparisons of Harding, Kennedy, and Clinton and/or to compare Bill and Hillary Clinton's marriage with Warren and Florence Harding's marriage. As to my comparison of the of Hillary Clinton's election themes with Warren Harding's themes I would point out that a return to the good old days (i.e. a return to normalcy) was hardly original in 1920 and was very successful in 1920. We tend to forget that Harding won a significant victory in 1920 because it is overshadowed by the subsequent scandals.
Lawrence Brooks Hughes - 3/4/2008
Notwithstanding the vaunted scandals of his administration, Harding's election was followed by the consecutive election of two more Republican presidents, Coolidge and Hoover.
Ronald Dale Karr - 3/3/2008
Whoops! My mistake ... Harrison was another ex-Senator in 1888.
Ronald Dale Karr - 3/3/2008
What about Benjamin Harrison?
David Gleicher - 3/3/2008
Another similarity: They were the only sitting senators ever to be elected president. This year's winner will be the third.
James W Loewen - 3/3/2008
The parallels drawn in this article between Hillary R. Clinton and Warren G. Harding are dubious. The more obvious parallel is JFK. Harding and Kennedy both womanized. Both were handsome. Both were poor presidents. Several years ago, the director of WGH's house museum in OH mounted a symposium on these (and other) parallels between the two.
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This week's Spotify playlist, forged from the week's content. Edition #118 features Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Wiseblood, Jessie Ware, SBTRKT and some more. Click here to listen to it.
1. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - 'Can't Take That Away'
So, there isn't a great amount of Bonnie 'Prince' Billy on Spotify but this one track is one of the few. It is also one of the greatest, taken from a Guilty Pleasures-type compilation. Sometimes these are THE WORST. Not this time, though. The great bearded one released Wolfroy Goes To Town a little while ago, but our review went up this week.
2. Wise Blood - 'Nosferatu'
EPs are often tough things to get right. Nobody simply wants them to be stop-gaps between records, but they sometimes are. Anyway, Wise Blood appears to have got it right, with Billy Hamilton writing:"Laufman proves he's blessed with enough duality and brilliance to appeal to even the most toughened ear canals". Read the full review.
3. The Men - 'LADOCH'
The Men's new record, Leave Home, was described by Noel Gardner as blowing hot and cold, but he did say that "the gold parts of Leave Home are noiserock in excelsis." Which is surely enough to warrant investigation. You can investigate with words here and musically by listening to this particular track. Or indeed the whole album.
4. Dutch Uncles - 'XO'
This week we've had a little bit of a Memphis Industries (good record label, that) takeover, with a few bits running from their bands. They're celebrating their 13th birthday, you see, and we thought we'd help out. Have a peek at what they produced by clicking here. Of course, there's a tour diary from this lot, Dutch Uncles.
5. Apparat Organ Quartet - 'Konami'
Now, at the very, very back end of last week (like Saturday) we had the Dreamtrak Diamond Sound remix of this very track. That was a prelude to the Planet Gear series, which has been introduced with Icelandic instrumentalists Apparat Organ Quartet doing the business. Read Part I here and Part II here.
6. Ane Brun - 'Words'
I think Ane Brun finally produced the album she was capable of making all along with It All Starts With One. Not that the previous records weren't great, they were, mostly. It's just that, this time, she got it dead right. You can see some wonderful snaps of the lady herself when she played London's Scala quite recently. Clicky.
7. SBTRKT - 'Go Bang'
Another chunk of welcome news from the SBTRKT camp is that there's a February tour lined up for next year. It's a headline tour this time, too so have a read of our story to see the full dates and places. It includes a big ol' show down in London town.
8. Jessie Ware - 'Strangest Feeling'
Jessie Ware was, funnily enough, quite a prominent feature on the SBTRKT album but the reason she's in this playlist is all her own doing. Well, kind of anyway, in so much that Wendy Roby wrote about it in This Week's Singles. She wants to put a bomb up its arse, apparently.
9. Matthew Herbert - 'August 2010'
Matthew Herbert's One Pig record has created much intrigue this year. Matthew Herbert does this generally, though, such is the man. We had a remix of this track to give away, done by none other than Micachu. Get your hands on it here.
Click here to listen to this week's Spotify playlist and here to browse through our archive of them.
Main photo by Neff Conner


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The AGO is committed to investigating the provenance of works in its permanent collection, particularly as it pertains the ownership history of European painting and sculpture during the 1933–45 period.
The Gallery is investigating the most important paintings, sculptures and drawings in the European collection with gaps in their history of ownership between these critical years. Forty six of these works are listed here. This list is not exhaustive and our research is ongoing.
You can view images of these works and the information available on them. Click the left-side menu to browse these works by artist's last name, or browse the listing below to view each of the works.


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LOA: 13.90 m (45.60 ft)
Beam: 4.26 m (13.98 ft)
Draft: 2.30 m (7.55 ft)
Weight: 9,600 kg (21,168 lbs)
No. Cabins: 3
No. Berths: 8
No. Bathrooms/Heads: 2
Engine: Yanmar 56 HP (41 kW) Diesel
Fuel tank capacity: 230 l
Fresh water tank capacity: 400 l
Navigational instruments:
Full instrumentation, Speedometer, Compass, GPS, Plotter, VHF radio
Technical Equipment:
Shore supply, Shore supply 220V, Battery, Battery charger, Main circuit breaker, Anchor, Anchor w. chain, Anchorchest, Electric bow anchor capstan, Bilge pump
General Equipment:
Integrated bathing platform, Bathing ladder, Guard rail, Pulpit, Pushpit, Stainless pushpit, Gangway, Stern shower hot/cold, Bilge pump, Mechanical bilge pump, Electric bilge pump, Fire extinguisher, Heating, Hot-air, TV-antenna, Colour TV, video, CD-player, Cockpit table, Underwater paint, Teak deck
Sail & Rigging:
Mainsail:47.88 qm, Genoa:75 qm, Spinnaker:140 qm, Furling-jib system, Spinnaker equipment, Aluminium boom, dead man/hinged mast-equipment, Spinnaker pole
Galley Equipment:
Gas stove, 2 flame, Sink, Refrigerator, Electric refrigerator
Diesel w. shaft
WC / Shower & Bath Compartment:
Toilet, manual + wash-basin + shower
Covers & Tarpaulins:
Sprayhood, Bimini top
The boat is in very condition. It's registered under the Croatian flag. NO FEES PAID.
Marina Drzica 3


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Hog farm on Buffalo River continues to stir debate
Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality gives the go ahead
Residents of Jasper, and concerned citizens from Arkansas and states near and far, rallied together Wednesday evening against a single entity. Not against C&H Hog Farm, but, against those who gave the hog farm a permit to expand their operations near the Buffalo River. The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality provided C&H with their permit.
Residents who live along the Buffalo River are concerned that their water could be polluted if a disaster happens, and they worry about how the fumes and other airborne toxins produced by the farm could hurt their health. Activists from across the country joined the residents here in their concern for the Buffalo River. The concerns, say the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, are unfounded. The ADEQ says it has inspected the hog farm in full and found that it completely adheres to all it's environmental safety provisions. A representative with ADEQ said "those provisions apply the same in the Buffalo River watershed as they do all over the state."
But, it's not just pollution that concerns the residents of Newton County. For the last decade residents here have been reporting significant drops in the levels of their wells according to Ed Manor, who is on the board of directors for the Ozarks Regional Water Authority. Manor says last years drought was especially hard on water levels, but, it's really where the Buffalo drains to that inevitably causes the problem with low water levels, "The southern part of the state and the eastern part of the state is drawing water from us at an unprecedented level. I mean their just draining us." Residents here are concerned the extra water being used by the hog farm could deplete the area's aquifer even more and lead to further water shortages. Manor couldn't comment on what impacts C&H might have to the water supply in Newton County, only time will tell.
For now, the Buffalo River will continue to be monitored for elevated levels of pollutants, especially nitrates, which medical experts at the meeting today said could cause the most health issues in the future. If high levels of pollutants are found to be linked to C&H the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality says they can revoke the permit.


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YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea — The United States and South Korea launched war games Sunday as North Korea deployed missiles and threatened another attack if military exercises violate its territorial waters.
China said it would join efforts to ease the "worrisome" situation.
An artillery round was fired from North Korea on Sunday, officials said, triggering an evacuation order on Yeonpyeong Island, where four people died Tuesday in the North's bombardment. The order was lifted when no shells hit the tiny Yellow Sea home of fishing enclaves and military outposts.
South Koreans are demanding vengeance over the North Korean bombardment, but Pyongyang is blaming Seoul and the United States for triggering the attack.
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The joint military drills began 6 a.m. local time (4 p.m. ET) in the Yellow Sea, west of the Korean peninsula town of Taean, south of the site of Tuesday's attack, according to Korean military officials quoted by Yonhap, Reuters and other news agencies.
However, officials told NBC News that the maneuvers would not start until midafternoon as the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington had just arrived in the area to join the exercise. They added that no live-fire exercises are planned during the three-day war games.
The George Washington, which carries 75 warplanes and has a crew of more than 6,000, will be accompanied by at least four other warships.
Anticipating 'provocation'
China has expressed displeasure with the exercises while North Korea earlier said the consequences could not be predicted.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak told ministers and aides to be ready for further "provocation" by North Korea during the drill.
"There is the possibility that North Korea may do some unexpected action, so please perfectly prepare against it through cooperation with the Korea-U.S. joint force," Lee was quoted by a spokesman as saying.
North Korea has placed surface-to-surface missiles on launch pads in the Yellow Sea, Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday. The agency said also that Pyongyang had moved surface-to-air missiles to frontline areas. The North's official KCNA news agency warned of retaliatory action if its territory was violated.
"We will deliver a brutal military blow on any provocation which violates our territorial waters," KCNA said.
The exercises are being held about 75 miles south of the disputed maritime border near Yeonpyeong Island.
"(The missiles) appear to be targeting our fighter jets that fly near the Northern Limit Line," a government source said on condition of anonymity, referring to the Yellow Sea border.
Earlier, North Korea worked to justify one of the worst attacks on South Korean territory since the 1950-53 Korean War. Four South Koreans, including two civilians, died after the North rained artillery on the small Yellow Sea island of Yeonpyeong, which is home to both fishing communities and military bases.
North Korea said civilians were used as a "human shield" around artillery positions and lashed out at what it called a "propaganda campaign" against Pyongyang.
It claimed the United States orchestrated last Tuesday's clash so that it could stage joint naval exercises in the Yellow Sea with the South that include a U.S. nuclear powered supercarrier — enraging the North and making neighboring China uneasy.
China in talks
China sent a senior official, State Councilor Dai Bingguo, to Seoul on Saturday for talks with Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported. Dai, accompanied by chief Chinese nuclear negotiator Wu Dawei, discussed Tuesday's attack and international talks on ending North Korea's nuclear programs, it said.
Lee told Dai: "We ask that China make a contribution to peace on the Korean peninsula by taking a more fair and responsible position on South-North Korea ties."
On Sunday, China's official Xinhua news agency said the talks between Dai and Lee were "in-depth and frank."
"Stressing that the current situation on the peninsula is worrisome, the two sides agreed that the parties concerned should make joint efforts to engage in serious contacts and dialogue to ease the tensions," Xinhua reported.
Also Sunday, Xinhua said that Choe Tae-Bok, chairman of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly, or parliament, will visit China from Tuesday through Saturday.
New level of hostility
The North Korean attack on an area with a civilian population marked a new level of hostility along the rivals' disputed sea border. Only eight months ago, according to the findings of a South Korean-led international investigation, a North Korean torpedo sank a South Korean warship in waters farther west, killing 46 sailors.
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The aggression could be linked to the North's attempt to strengthen its government as it pursues a delicate transfer of power from leader Kim Jong Il to a young, unproven son. It also may reflect Pyongyang's frustration that it has been unable to force a resumption of stalled international talks on receiving aid in return for nuclear disarmament.
The attack laid bare weaknesses 60 years after the Korean War in South Korea's defenses against the North, which does not recognize the border drawn by the U.N. at the close of the conflict and which considers waters around Yeonpyeong as its territory.
The skirmish prompted Lee to replace his defense minister on Friday.Story: South Korea honors slain marines; commander vows 'thousand-fold' retaliation
At a funeral Saturday near Seoul, South Korea's marine commander, Maj. Gen. You Nak-jun, vowed a "thousand-fold" retaliation for the attack. Dignitaries and relatives laid white flowers at an altar for the two marines killed in the North's attack. The mother of one of the victims fell forward in her chair in grief.
Passers-by paused at Seoul's main train station to watch funeral footage on a big screen.
"Once the enemy attacks us, it is our duty to respond even more strongly," said student Jeon Hyun-soo, 19. "The South Korean people want this."
'Let's go!'
Elsewhere in Seoul, about 70 former special forces troops protested what they called the government's weak response and scuffled with riot police in front of the Defense Ministry, pummeling the riot troops' helmets with wooden stakes and spraying fire extinguishers.
"Let's go!" the activists shouted, as police, numbering several hundred, pushed back with shields.
North Korea's state news agency said that although "it is very regrettable, if it is true, that civilian casualties occurred on Yeonpyeong island, its responsibility lies in enemies' inhumane action of creating a 'human shield' by deploying civilians around artillery positions."
The North said its enemies are "now working hard to dramatize 'civilian casualties' as part of its propaganda campaign."Slideshow: The life of Kim Jong ll (on this page)
South Korea was conducting artillery drills Tuesday from the island, located just 7 miles from North Korea's mainland, but fired away from the mainland.
The North said it warned South Korea to halt the drills on the morning of the attack, as part of "superhuman efforts to prevent the clash to the last moment."
The North said that Sunday's U.S.-South Korean war games showed that the United States was "the arch criminal who deliberately planned the incident and wire-pulled it behind the scene."
The war games involving the USS George Washington supercarrier display resolve by Korean War allies Washington and Seoul to respond strongly to any future North Korean aggression. However, Washington has insisted the drills are routine and were planned well before last Tuesday's attack.Video: N. Korea flexing muscles amid power shift
North Korea on Saturday warned of retaliatory attacks creating a "sea of fire" if its territory is violated.
President Lee told top officials "there is a possibility North Korea may take provocative actions during the (joint) exercise," and urged them to coordinate with U.S. forces to counter any such move, according to a spokesman in the president's office who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing official protocol.
Washington and Seoul have pressed China to use its influence on Pyongyang to ease tensions. China is impoverished North Korea's biggest benefactor and its only major ally.
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The North's artillery barrage Tuesday destroyed civilian homes as well as military bases on Yeonpyeong Island.
President Lee has ordered reinforcements for the 4,000 troops on Yeonpyeong and four other Yellow Sea islands, as well as top-level weaponry and upgraded rules of engagement.
Most of the islanders fled to the mainland after the barrage set off fierce blazes that destroyed many of their communities. It will take six months to two years for island communities to rebuild, disaster relief official Kim Sang-ryul said.
Reuters, NBC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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The issue of Red Herring that hits newsstands today includes a feature article on religious software, with Logos receiving the lion's share of their coverage of Bible software.
Red Herring is a national print magazine that reports on the business of technology; it's read by technology company execs and Fortune 1000 execs, with a subscriber base of around 45,000.
The article is not yet posted at RedHerring.com but the October 3 issue is available at Barnes & Noble and Borders. Here are a couple of excerpts:
God is getting many more clicks these days, powering up a niche software segment…
What seems clear is that more Americans are using PCs as a medium to God. Bob Pritchett, founder of Logos Bible Software, saw this coming nearly 15 years ago.
…Today, Logos has 5,000 titles and its products accounted for 65 percent of dollar sales in the top 10 Bible Reference Software Category titles in 2003, according to Packaged Facts. Last year, Logos had revenues of $8.9 million.
The company's pitch is simple: There is no higher purpose for your computer than using it for Bible study. Its goal is to replace every Bible with CDs.
"We are out there to take market share from the books that people have [spent] years accumulating," says Mr. Pritchett, whose customers are largely pastors and seminary students.
I'm pretty sure Bob didn't say that we want to replace every Bible with CDs (see our stated mission). Had this reporter done the interview in person rather than by phone she would have seen the heavy-laden bookcases in Bob's office and known better.
But I think it's safe to say that we'd love to put Logos Bible Software on the computer of every serious student of Scripture.
One quote that the magazine got dead-on was this:
"I don't believe in luck," says Mr. Pritchett, "and I am quite certain that the success we have seen at Logos Bible Software is not due to my own brilliance, but rather to God's choosing to use us to accomplish His purposes."


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