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Consumer Lifestages Market Research
Mintel's lifestages market research reports keep you bridging the generation gap and dialled in to demographic diversity. From babies to Boomers, Millennials to the middle classes, our world-leading research and analysis gives you detailed data on all lifestage groups and unrivalled insights into how they buy, think and act - today and tomorrow. It's grown-up research made child's play.
Online access
Previous editions
Multiple formats

subset: commoncrawl


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PurePulse® Heart Rate
Get continuous, automatic, wrist-based heart rate & simplified heart rate zones. Learn more.
Get continuous, automatic, wrist-based heart rate & simplified heart rate zones. Learn more.
Track workouts like running, biking & weights and get real-time stats on display. Then see post-workout summaries on screen & in the app.
Connect Blaze with the GPS on your phone to see real-time stats like pace and distance on display and record a map of your route.
Get Fitstar™ workouts right on your wrist, with step-by-step instructions that coach you through each move.
See detailed workout summaries on your wrist, and track your improvement over time in the Fitbit app.
Get a better understanding of your fitness level and see how you can improve over time with a personalized Cardio Fitness Score.
Track steps, heart rate, distance, calories burned, floors climbed, active minutes, hourly activity & stationary time.
Automatically recognizes select activities and records it in the exercise section of the Fitbit app.
See notifications on screen when your phone is nearby—like calls, texts, calendar events & push notifications from your favorite apps.*
Get friendly Reminders to Move that encourage you to reach an hourly goal of 250 steps.
Automatically track your sleep quality & wake up peacefully with a silent alarm.
See your time in light, deep and REM stages to better understand your sleep quality. Learn more.
Find moments of calm throughout your day with personalised breathing sessions based on your heart rate.
Adjust your volume and play, pause or skip songs from your mobile playlist.
Change your look with accessory bands in leather, metal and more.
Battery life of up to five days so you can track all day and night without needing a charge*.
Sync stats wirelessly and automatically to computers and over 200 leading iOS, Android and Windows devices.
*Battery life and charge cycles vary with use, settings, and other factors; actual results will vary. Smartphone notifications unavailable on Windows devices.
We recommend charging Fitbit Blaze every few days to ensure you are always tracking.
Battery life up to 5 days. Battery life and charge cycles vary with use, settings, and other factors; actual results will vary.
Fitbit Blaze is sweat, rain and splash proof, but is not swim proof. We recommend taking it off before showering, as it's best for your skin if the band stays dry and clean.
If Fitbit Blaze gets wet or if you sweat in it, remove and completely dry the band before putting it back on. Give your wrist a rest by taking the band off every now and then, and regularly clean your band and wrist. Learn more.
The Fitbit Blaze classic band is made of a flexible, durable elastomer material similar to that used in many sports watches, and includes a surgical-grade stainless steel buckle and frame. The gunmetal Blaze features a gunmetal stainless steel buckle and frame made with a premium PVD plating process. The pink/gold Blaze features a 22k gold-plated stainless steel buckle and frame also made with a premium PVD plating process.
Like all heart rate tracking technologies, accuracy is affected by physiology, location of device, and different movements. Learn more about wear during workouts.
Using Bluetooth LE wireless technology, Fitbit Blaze sends smartphone notifications and syncs automatically to computers and 200+ mobile devices. Certain features like smartphone notifications or Connected GPS may require Android 5.0+. Look up your device to check compatibility.


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First Mobile Group Chat for LinkedIn Users Worldwide
19 Dec, 2012, 11:17 GMT
STOCKHOLM, December 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
Plingm, the Swedish mobile VoIP app launches free mobile group chat that connects LinkedIn's 151 million users worldwide. Via Plingm, LinkedIn users can also call each other for free.
"In a turbulent job market, the need to network professionally is greater than ever. By making it easier to communicate with work related contacts, we hope that more people will find new dream jobs," says Pandelis Eliopoulos, co-founder of Plingm.
Via Plingm chat, LinkedIn's 151 million users can now chat for free, one by one or with group chat. Thanks to an innovative back-end solution, LinkedIn users can also use Plingm to call each other for free even if they don't have each other's telephone numbers.
Chat, also known as Instant Messaging, is increasingly replacing the traditional text messages that are sent via operator networks. As chat messages are sent via the internet, either wifi or 3G, these messages are free to send domestically and internationally.
"Traditional text messaging has played out its role. As the use of social media grows and matures, a communication app which allows borderless messaging is a logical evolution of mobile communication," says Pandelis Eliopoulos, co-founder of Plingm.
How to do it
Download the Plingm app from App Store and accept to connect with your LinkedIn account. The app automatically scans and imports all your contacts to a social address book. Calls and chat between Plingm users are free, domestically and internationally. LinkedIn calls and chat for Android will be available first quarter 2013.
About the app
With an impressive consumer rating on App Store and Google Play, the communication app Plingm combines quality with user-friendliness. Calling and chatting with this app instead of a traditional operator will save people large sums of money, particularly on international communication. At a low rate, consumers can also call friends not yet using Plingm.
Download here: plingm.com/app
Images can be downloaded http://plingm.mediaroom.com/
How-to-video http://youtu.be/yI33ovlfBrg
Plingm develops innovative people friendly technology that enables people cost efficient ways to communicate. The company was founded by entrepreneurs from the telecommunications- and Internet industry. Plingm is based in Stockholm and active in 170 markets. More info on plingm.com
SOURCE Plingm


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Holly and Blake Bachelor Pad Proposal Video
Watch Blake's Bachelor Pad Proposal to Holly — and Michael's Reaction
Last night was the Bachelor Pad 2 finale, and who won the show wasn't even the most talked-about moment from the episode.
We knew that Michael Stagliano's partner and ex-fiancée, Holly Durst, is engaged to fellow Bachelor Pad contestant Blake Julian, but last night we got to see the proposal video along with all the other contestants and a studio audience. The only person who wasn't in the know? Michael, who was behind the stage and kept completely in the dark until being told with a camera in his face. Stay classy, Holly and Blake.
Watch the video of the proposal above, featuring Blake donning his signature Cheshire Cat grin and '80s-party-ready v-neck/plaid blazer combo as he and Holly enjoy a romantic, totally-not-staged date in a meadow on the top of a hill at sunset, with just the two of them — and an ABC camera crew.
And see how some of the pad's castoffs reacted to the proposal.
Our thoughts exactly. Now watch poor Michael get blindsided by a smirky-faced Blake and his ex-fiancée Holly's engagement news.


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What's New for Coordinators
The new AL$ Coordinators listserv email address is email@example.com
The AL$ RFP Campus Funding 2020/2021 is in process for award distribution in April 2020.
- Thank you for submitting your reports this past summer. Your collective efforts with your campus partners show a potential student savings of $30M. When we include the bookstore savings, the potential savings is over $50M. Thank you to all for their dedication and hard work towards affordable course materials!
AL$ team requests: Fill in your AL$ Spring 2020 activities in the Events Sheet
Starting a new campus AL$ program? Looking to take your existing program to the next level?
Learn more about the Campus Coordinator's Role
Get to know your AL$ Campus Coordinator
Planning Your AL$ Initiative
Starting a new campus AL$ program?
- Review the campus AL$ request for proposal
- Join the AL$ MERLOT Voices community to receive updates, connect with other campus coordinators, and contact the ALS team with questions.
- Complete the AL$ RFP and associated project plan
- Review the Getting Started Checklist for more helpful tips and resources
- Bookmark the Shared AL$ Coordinators Google drive folder
- Contact email@example.com if you have any questions.
Looking to take your existing AL$ program to the next level?
Here are a few tips:
- Download the available suite of AL$ marketing materials including:
- Workshop ideas and sample agendas
- AL$ brochure
- MERLOT brochure
- Website banners and logos
- Auxiliary and Bookstore Resource guide
- And more!
- Add a link inside your Learning Management System template that makes it easy for faculty to find AL$ resources
- Add a link to the Merlot database inside your Learning Management System template that makes it easy for students to find AL$ resources
- Work with your bookstore manager and librarians to coordinate professional development, training, marketing, and outreach programs to improve the adoption of free and lower cost digital course materials.
- Promote, use and link your AL$ website to the CSU Affordable Learning Solutions Website
- Highlight and support Free DIGITAL Desk-Evaluation-Review Copies
- Participate in a campus "AL$ day" organized with your bookstore and library Contact AL$ for more information.
- Add "How to Use eTextbooks" to your library's Information Literacy program Contact AL$ for more information.
- Read and Distribute AL$ Newsletters
- Learn more about the potential the Immediate Access / Inclusive Access Initiatives on your campus
- Add An OER (Open Educational Resources) Search Widget To Any Web Page
It's free, fast and simple to put OER search on your personal, professional or commercial Web site.
The 2020 AL$ Annual Meeting Follow Up
Event resources include:
Past Meetings
The 2019 AL$ Annual Meeting and the CCC/CSU OER Summit Follow Up
Event resources include:
The 2019 CSU and CA Community Colleges Joint Textbook Affordability Conference
AL$ Coordinators' requested resources:


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Yup. The sweet talking, bad-ass kicking and loyal automotive friend to David Hasselhoff will be back to entertain our senses in Feb of 2008, not in cinemas unfortunately but only as a TV movie. Hopefully we can catch it on Astro. David Hasselhoff will not be back, (unfortunately or fortunately for some) and will be replaced by a new character that will helm the super-cool car, an American TV star namely Justin Bruening, playing the lead role as Mike Tracer.
As for the car, K.I.T.T. which stands for 'Knight Industries Three Thousand' (the original 80s series is Two Thousand) will re-packaged with a modern and up-to-date look. Originally a 'Pontiac Firebird Trans Am', now it will be a 'Ford Mustang'. During filming, 3 cars were actually used: 'K.I.T.T Hero', using a Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KR as the everyday car, 'K.I.T.T. Attack', using the same model but different car with specialized aero-kits attached to it for ass kicking purposes and last but not least, a 'K.I.T.T. Remote' which is a remote control version of another Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KR.
Will Arnett (playing the character of George Oscar Bluth II in 'Arrested Development) will take over the reins as the iconic voice of K.I.T.T.
So, expect some serious and crazy crime-fighting with the help of K.I.T.T. that can hack into any computer system, change color and shape-shift (apparently due to nanotechnology) and can fire missiles and bullets from any possible hole you can think of from a car. And it talks, of course, with precise logic, strategize and with unlimited knowledge of all things unknown in this world.
This car will rival Bumblebee as every boy's automotive wet-dream.
1983: Remember this?
2008: It is now this!
Check out the iconic laser-beams right here!!!
Ahhhhhhhh yes. Don't you just feel all nostalgic right now? To pump up your nostalgia ever more, here's a video montage to pay tribute to the only crime-fighter on 4 wheels!!! (and listen to the music, the classic tune, gowd it's...just...so...freakin'...COOL!!!!


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Kim English's Past Present and Future
COLUMBIA- Current Detroit Piston and former Mizzou basketball guard Kim English returned to Columbia this week for his basketball camp. This gave him the chance to look back at how his career began and his plans once his playing days are over.
English made shot after shot after shot his senior season at Mizzou averaging 14.5 points per game and shooting 46% from three point land. That success landed him a spot in the NBA with the Detroit Pistons but, now he's back in Columbia for a few days hoping to recreate memories.
"I went to a camp when I was 12 years old, or 13 years old and Juan Dixon from the University of Maryland came and just walked into camp and just touched my shoulders one time and I looked up and saw it was Juan Dixon and in my mind me and Juan Dixon had a connection that can never be broken. It's one little small thing to him but it meant the world to me. And hopefully like I said if I can just instill the love of the game in one of these kids it would mean everything to me," said Kim English, former Missouri Tiger.
English thinks fundamentals matter the most. "I'm not an elite athlete, I'm not a super quick guy, not an elite jumper. But I learned how to shoot the ball at a young age and truly that ability mostly propelled me to a pretty successful career in college and now a chance to do some things in the NBA," said English.
English came back to Columbia for his basketball camp, but once his NBA days are over he wants to come back for good and be a coach on the Missouri basketball team. "I went back to the Missouri Arkansas game and coaching is what I want to do so hopefully coach Haith is gracious enough to bring me back onto his staff once my playing days in the league are over."
Returning to the Tigers is the only place he wants to coach. A tiger who made his way home for a few days but, down the road wants to stay forever.
English fished his rookie season with the Pistons averaging 3 points per game and playing in 41 games.


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Your Local Roofing Specialists For All Aspects of Roofing
Domestic Roofing
Ensuring a Durable Roof over Your Head in Abingdon
Even the tiniest split or leak in your roof structure can cause irreparable damage to your home. At Thames Valley Roofing and Painting Services we offer homeowners and landlords the highest quality of domestic roofing services. From emergency repairs to fully guaranteed re-roofs, our expert roofer in Abingdon has the solution to your issue.
An Initial Estimate
Not everybody has a complex understanding of roofing, which makes diagnosing issues problematic. When customers get in touch with us, we'll go over the signs and symptoms of their roofing issue, and use our experience to advise upon a solution and give a verbal estimate for the work. The cost, however, is subject to change after an on-site survey has been completed by our roofer in Abingdon.
Identifying and Resolving Faults
Upon visiting your location we're able to perform a fault finding assessment to ascertain the exact repairs needed. Our straightforward Abingdon roofers will then proceed to provide a professional opinion on the situation, and how best to fix it. It is always our priority to complete the most effective repair that is also in the best monetary interests of the customer.
More information on roof longevity can be found here.
Commercial Roofing
We can handle any project and have experience of this particularly with local authority schemes where they might wish us to act as the principle contractor monitoring, decorators, window fixers, joiners, bricklayers, plumbing contractors and electrical engineers.
Our highly experienced and dedicated team of roofers offer a quality driven service which demonstrates outstanding craftsmanship and cost effective solutions, responsive to our clients individual needs and our experience with all aspects of industrial roofing assures our position as leaders in the field of commercial roofing throughout Abingdon.
Flat Roofing in Abingdon
We offer various systems of flat roofing which our workforce have complete confidence in. These are modern-day techniques and materials which are proven to provide our customers with a sound investment. Our work is trusted, comes fully guaranteed and also improves the modern aesthetic of any property.
Roof Repairs in Abingdon
Remove your fears over leaky roofs, damages, and general repair by contacting our roofer in Abingdon for your free quotation. If patch repairs are consistently necessary, it could be time for your roof to be re-covered. It's difficult for a novice to gauge whether a new roof is necessary. If you want advice about the soundness or safety of your roof, contact Thames Valley Roofing and Painting Services for our qualified opinion or for a survey.
Slate Roofing in Abingdon
Natural slate roofing can be a significant component in a building's whole life costs, which is important since environmental issues are moving to the forefront in all areas of construction. A natural slate roof will last the lifetime of the building, if set correctly. The other big plus to natural slate is that it's sustainable, and can be salvaged and re-used.
Felt Roofing in Abingdon
Our skilled Abingdon roofers are able to replace or repair your felt roof quickly and efficiently, where ever you are in Kent. You'll find that each job we complete is cost-effective and we only use premium quality products to market standards.
Fibreglass Roofing in Abingdon
Fibreglass roofing is totally water-tight and gives a very effective, hard-wearing protective coverins, ideal for both sizeable commercial properties to smaller domestic ones. Whatever your needs, our specialist team of roofers provide the skills and working experience necessary to guide you on the most suited roofing method.
Contact Thames Valley Roofing and Painting Services
When searching for a roofer in Abingdon, don't look further than Thames Valley Roofing and Painting Services.
Our customers are always our priority so we will be glad to hear from you. For more information or a free quotation contact one of our expert roofers today.


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Joshua Brown, the bomb thrower behind the blog The Reformed Broker, has always had his eye on the financial services industry.
"In the mid to late '90s, everyone was becoming a broker," he recalls. "It seemed like the thing to do. It seemed really exciting and thrilling to work on Wall Street, and it was pretty much the only thing that I wanted to do." Following a series of internships at brokerage firms in Manhattan, Brown settled on one where a family friend helped find a sponsor for Brown's Series 7. Then, he was "off to the races."
Now Brown is a blogger, an author and a vice president of investments at Fusion Analytics in New York.
"I was blogging before there were blogs," Brown says of his early days. Every morning, he would clip articles out of newspapers that had the most impact on his clients' portfolios and on the markets each day and write a quick monologue. "I would call my 20 or 30 most active clients, almost before the opening bell, and I would give them the quick update each day on what they could expect to happen that day in the markets," he says. As his practice grew, the number of clients—not to mention the "cataclysmic events" of 2008–became too great to keep up that kind of effort, so Brown set up a WordPress account and started blogging.
"Of course, the compliance officer almost had a heart attack when I told him I wanted to. Eventually, I was able to write up enough samples so he could see that it was innocuous." Brown took it upon himself to call the SEC's advertising department in Washington, get an outline on what he was allowed to write online and sent them a few samples. "Once I got a hang of what I could do and couldn't do, I just started writing every day. Fortunately, I found an audience quickly, because if I didn't I probably would have just given up. Blogging is a very grueling, sometimes unrewarding, enterprise."
Advisors were the first to take notice. "People in the industry were reading first," Brown says. "They think I was extremely honest and raw at a very difficult time for people who are in the industry." And the response has been "overwhelmingly positive," he adds. "The things that I'm saying are the things that all brokers and advisors think, but would never say out loud. When they see someone like me, that's one of them, say it, people freak out."
His book, "Backstage Wall Street," tells the history of the Wall Street and Main Street relationship, he says, with introductions to products like mutual funds, ETFs and IPOs. Following a successful presale response, the book was released two weeks early.
Over the next 12 to 18 months, advisors will face "the same old challenge, which is figuring out the right asset allocation given an environment where the old bond math doesn't work anymore," Brown says. While higher weightings toward equities didn't make much sense for retirement in the past, it now makes more sense than what used to be conservative, such as a higher bond allocation.
And, of course, regulatory changes will be a constant hurdle going forward. "At a certain point, the fiduciary standard is going to be applied to every single person who deals with the public," Brown asserts. "A lot of people who are doing the majority or a good portion of their revenue in commission and selling concessions, they're going to have to accept the fact that that's going to go away too. You can't be someone's fiduciary and sell them an A-share mutual fund with a 5% up-front load."
Brown also foresees a growing move toward independence. "The industry is going to become more entrepreneurial," he says. "The old marketing doesn't work, with the giant wooden sailing ships and the mighty oak trees and the brochures with the silver-haired grandpa swinging his grandkids around on the front lawn." Those images don't resonate with Gen Y the way they did with boomers, Brown says.
Additionally, doors that used to open for big financial houses like Morgan Smith, Smith Barney and Merrill Lynch are now locked. "The public has seen something that can't be unseen, which is the largest firms on Wall Street basically blowing themselves up," he says. The prospect of a firm that lost $39 billion of its own money offering to manage yours isn't as appealing as it used to be.
Technology will play a major role in the "renaissance" of financial planning, Brown says. "People on their own now don't have any disadvantage in terms of support and capabilities because of what the web has enabled us to do."
In the financial services industry, Brown says, wealth managers have handled the crisis with the most aplomb. Pre-crisis, bankers and prop traders at Wall Street firms were the rock stars. "If you look at the aftermath of the crisis, what are the big firms most focused on? It's wealth management," he notes. "In the wake of the crisis, there's almost a newfound respect for people like myself in firms all over the country, and the old culture, the bankers and the traders, is not as exciting. It's a good time to be an advisor."
Find out who was named on the 2012 IA 25 in Investment Advisor's May issue.
Check out more extended interviews of the 2012 IA 25 at AdvisorOne.


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Why I Support the "Bring Rodrigo Home" Campaign
This blog post was written in favor of the Bring Rodrigo Home campaign, which is calling for the return of Rodrigo Guzman and his family who, despite their contributions to their community, were detained by ICE and returned to their native Mexico.
I am admittedly liberal in many of my political beliefs, but when it comes to immigration, my opinion has been shaped 100 percent by first-hand experience, not politics.
My husband came here when he was 22 because he wanted to learn English. He went to college in Brazil, but it was nearly impossible to ever get ahead. Like many immigrants, he thought if he worked hard maybe he could earn some money here and return to Brazil to make a better life for himself and his large family. Well, some 30 years later he is still here. He is no longer Brazilian, though that clearly influences his makeup.
He is American, both in personality and citizenship. He has become deeply ingrained in the fabric of our community. The neighborhood values him for his sunny personality, integrity, honesty, strong work ethic and desire to help out the elderly on our block whenever they need it -- traits that were developed growing up in Brazil. He shares the same characteristics with his clients (he's a contractor, working in construction).
My family loves him and the playful sense of humor -- decidedly Brazilian -- that he brings to our more serious family gatherings. In other words, our community is much better off because of his Brazilian influence. But he lived here many years illegally. Would this country have been better off if he'd been deported because that was the legally right thing to do? Absolutely not. I could get hundreds of people, American citizens, to testify that their lives have been touched in a positive way because of Francisco, the once-illegal immigrant.
Unfortunately, many of his very sunny, positive, hard-working and honest family members and friends haven't been so lucky as to get their green cards. Many, including his sister's family, eventually grew discouraged after being here "illegally" for many years, and they returned to Brazil. Her daughter Fiona went to Jefferson, the school where Rodrigo and my son go. (To have Rodrigo returned to his school in Berkeley, please sign the Change.org petition.) The prinicipal, teachers, and classmates had fallen in love with little Fiona and her bright, witty personality. They still ask me about her all of the time.
But her family of 5 -- a warm, wonderful bunch of people that paid taxes (despite having no Social Security number) volunteered, and were well-loved by all -- got tired of always having to look over their shoulders and worry about being deported. So they went back to Brazil and left behind many sad family and friends here in California.
I don't believe illegal immigrants who have committed felonies -- and even some misdemeanors -- should be allowed to stay here. I also believe immigrants should pay taxes and contribute to their health care costs. But I think there should be a clear path to VISAs for the many hard-working immigrants who make up a very positive block of our country. This country would not be so great without them, I guarantee it. They make it rich and colorful.
In the case of Brazilian immigrants, they make it more vibrant, compassionate, kind and funny. And in the case of Rodrigo and his family, they add kindness, warmth and richness to our little school's community in Berkeley. Berkeley is a better place with Rodrigo and his family here. To ask for Rodrigo's return to his home and school, please sign the Change.org petition here.


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Chavez says he'll accept result of Venezuela vote
President Hugo Chavez's crusade to transform Venezuela into a socialist state, which has bitterly divided the nation, was put to the stiffest electoral test of his nearly 14 years in power on Sunday in a closely fought presidential election.
Both camps said turnout was high, with millions of Venezuelans casting ballots. Long lines formed at many polling centers, with queues of hundreds of voters snaking along sidewalks and around blocks in many parts of Caracas.
Chavez's challenger, Henrique Capriles, has united the opposition in a contest between two sides that distrust each other so deeply there were concerns whether a close election result would be respected.
"We will recognize the results, whatever they are," Chavez told reporters after casting his vote in Caracas.
Chavez was greeted at the polling center by American actor Danny Glover and Guatemalan Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchu. He said he was pleased to see a "massive turnout."
The stakes couldn't be higher.
If Chavez wins a new six-year term, he gets a free hand to push for an even bigger state role in the economy, further limit dissent and continue to befriend rivals of the United States.
With a Capriles win, an abrupt foreign policy shift can be expected, including halting preferential oil deals with allies such as Cuba, along with a loosening of state economic controls and an increase in private investment. A tense transition would likely follow until the January inauguration because Chavez's political machine thoroughly controls the wheels of government.
Some Venezuelans were nervous about what might happen if disputes erupt over the election's announced outcome.
"There's a little anxiety on one side and also on the other," said Deyanira Duarte, a housewife who voted for Capriles in downtown Caracas. She said she was worried about what could happen if there were a dispute.
Others said they were simply pleased to be out backing their candidate.
Carlos Julio Silva, a bodyguard employed by a private security company, said whatever his faults, Chavez deserves re-election for helping people with programs including free medical care and public housing.
"There is corruption, there's plenty of bureaucracy, but the people have never had a leader who cared about this country," Silva said after voting for Chavez at a school in the Caracas slum of Petare. "That's why the people are going to re-elect Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias."
Chavez's critics say the president has inflamed divisions by labeling his opponents "fascists," `'Yankees" and "neo-Nazis," while Chavez backers allege Capriles would halt generous government programs that assist the poor.
During Chavez's final rally Thursday in Caracas, he shouted to the crowd: "We're going to give the bourgeoisie a beating!"
Reveille blared from sound trucks around the capital to awaken voters on Sunday morning, and the bugle call was later replaced by folk music mixed with a recording of Chavez's voice saying "those who love the homeland come with me." At many polling places, voters started lining up hours before polls opened at dawn.
"I'm really tired of all this polarization," said Lissette Garcia, a 39-year-old clothes seller and Capriles supporter who voted Sunday in the affluent Caracas district of Las Mercedes. "I want to reconnect with all my friends who are `Chavistas.'"
Some said they waited in line for more than four hours to vote, while in other areas the lines moved more quickly.
Violence flared sporadically during the campaign, including shootings and rock-throwing during rallies and political caravans. Two Capriles supporters were shot to death in the western state of Barinas last weekend.
Troops were dispatched across Venezuela to guard thousands of voting centers Sunday.
Defense Minister Henry Rangel Silva said as he voted that all had been calm in the morning and he hoped that would continue. He said if any groups try to "disturb order, they should know there is an armed force prepared and equipped and trained... to put down any attempt at disturbances."
He didn't identify the groups to which he was referring.
Chavez held an impromptu news conference Saturday night, and when asked about the possibility of disputes over the vote, he said he expected both sides to accept the result. He says he has successfully emerged from about a year of cancer treatment.
"It's a mature, democratic country where the institutions work, where we have one of the best electoral systems in the world," Chavez told reporters at the presidential palace.
But he also said he hoped no one would try to use the vote to play a "destabilizing game." If they do, he said, "we'll be alert to neutralize them."
His opponents mounted a noisy protest in Caracas and other major cities on Saturday night, beating pots and pans from the windows of their homes to show displeasure with Chavez - and also their hopes for change. Drivers on downtown streets honked horns, joining the din.
The 40-year-old Capriles, a wiry former governor affectionately called "Skinny" by supporters, has infused the opposition with new optimism, and opinion polls pointed to him giving Chavez his closest election.
Some recent polls showed Chavez with a lead of about 10 percentage points, while others put the two candidates about even.
"Chavez is going to fight until his last breath. He doesn't know how to do anything else," said Antonio Padron, a bank employee backing the president.
Padron expressed optimism that the 58-year-old Chavez would win, noting the leader has survived a fight with cancer that has included surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
But Padron predicted a close finish: "It's a tough fight. The opposition has never been this strong."
Chavez won the last presidential vote in 2006 with 63 percent of the vote.
A former army paratroop commander first elected in 1999, Chavez has presided over an oil boom and has spent billions of dollars on government social programs ranging from cash benefits for single mothers to free education.
But he has suffered declining support due to one of the world's highest murder rates, 18 percent inflation, a deteriorating electrical grid and a bloated government accused of endemic corruption and mismanagement.
While his support has slipped at home, Chavez has also seen his international influence ebb since he emerged in the mid-2000s as leader of a like-minded club of newly elected Latin American leftist presidents.
"I want to tell President Chavez, I want to tell him his cycle is over," Capriles said at his final campaign rally Thursday.
Capriles says Chavez has stirred up hatred, hobbled the economy by expropriating private businesses and squandered oil wealth. He criticized Chavez's preferential deals supplying oil to allies, including one that lets Cuba pay with the services of Cuban doctors.
"We aren't going to finance the political model that exists in Cuba," Capriles said in a TV interview last week. "But we aren't going to break off relations with Cuba."
Chavez accumulated near-absolute power over the past decade thanks to his control of the National Assembly, pliant institutions such as the Central Bank and friendly judges.
Gino Caso, an auto mechanic, said he would vote for Capriles because he thought Chavez was power-hungry and out of touch with problems such as crime. He said his son had been robbed, as had neighboring shops.
"I don't know what planet he lives on," Caso said, gesturing with hands blackened with grease. "He wants to be like Fidel Castro - end up with everything, take control of the country."
Political analyst Ricardo Sucre said he expected the election to show "two halves, more or less even." Regardless of the result, he said, Venezuelans are likely to remain deeply divided by politics for years to come.
Associated Press writers Frank Bajak, Christopher Toothaker, Jorge Rueda and Vivian Sequera contributed to this report.
Ian James on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ianjamesap


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Due Diligence and the Business Transaction: Getting a Deal Done
Jeffrey W Berkman
|About the Book
Due Diligence and the Business Transaction: Getting a Deal Done is a practical guide to due diligence for anyone buying orselling aprivately heldbusiness or entering into a major agreement with another company.When youre buying a business, its wiseMoreDue Diligence and the Business Transaction: Getting a Deal Done is a practical guide to due diligence for anyone buying orselling aprivately heldbusiness or entering into a major agreement with another company.When youre buying a business, its wise to conduct due diligence. Thats the process of investigating and verifying the firms finances, labor record, exposure to environmental issues, store of intellectual property, hard assets, ownership structure, and much more. If you dont, you may later stumble into serious, costly problems, or you may pay an inflated price for the business. This book not only shows you how to conduct such an examination and what to look for, but it will also help you uncover hidden issues that some sellers might not want you to know about.Conversely, this book shows smart business sellers how to conduct due diligence on their own firms to arrive at the right sales price, uncover issues that might scare off buyers or investors, solve lingering problems before a sale, and more. Done right, due diligence can help sellers ensure they sell the business for the best price and with the least risk. Due Diligence and the Business Transaction will help you understand when to conduct due diligence, whom to include, and how to spot the red flags that signal danger. In addition, you will learn:How to conduct due diligence when contemplating a joint venture, business loan, franchise opportunity, or manufacturing deal How to calibrate the correct scope and breadth of the due diligence investigation depending on your situation How the results of due diligence may and often will change the elements of the final deal How to draftdue diligence documents so they protect your interests What successful deals look like What youll learn The nature and purpose of due diligence When you need to perform due diligence Why it is important for sellers of a business or issuers in private placements to conduct due diligence before going to the market How to scale the scope and breadth of due diligence, depending on the nature of the transaction Who you need to involve when conducting due diligence How to find landmines that may otherwise come back to wreck the business you just bought How to best use the knowledge you gain through due diligence Who this book is forDue Diligence and the Business Transaction is forbusiness people or organizations who are buying, selling, or investing in a business or engaging in joint ventures with other companies. It will help them understand how to gain critical information and use it wisely to get the best deal possible. Table of Contents Introduction The Due Diligence Plan The Due Diligence Questionnaire Tailoring Due Diligence to the Transaction A Material Legal Issue Can Kill the Deal Has the Due Diligence Created an Opportunity to Improve the Deal Terms? Applying Due Diligence Principles: The Franchise Purchase Resolve the Issues and Proceed Comfortably The Due Diligence Process and Pragmatic ConsiderationAppendix A Sample Due Diligence Plan Appendix B Sample Due Diligence QuestionnaireAppendix CAppendix D


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Passport to the Future
Passport to the Future resource fair for graduating seniors at the Fairfax Campus. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services/George Mason University
140424014Passport to the Future resource fairgradPatriot Activities CouncilPAC
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The content of this report will be updated with the latest scenarios based on the global COVID-19 Pandemic
Car Rental (hiring of a passenger vehicle, which includes cars and small vans, by both business and leisure travelers for short term duration; excluding leasing and long term rentals) has evolved intensely in the very recent years and is also expected to evolve in similar fashion in the near future. The report Global Car Rentals Market to 2020: Fleet Size, Rental Occasion and Days, Utilization Rate and Average Revenue Analytics provides deep dive data analytics on wide ranging Car Rental market aspects including overall market value by customer type - Business and Leisure, by point of rental - Airport and Non-Airport, Insurance / Temporary Replacement Revenue from Car Rentals, Car Rental Occasion, Days and Length for the period 2001 to 2015.
Furthermore, the report also details out Fleet Size (number of operational cars available for short term rental for the purpose of business, leisure, and insurance replacement) for the period 2011 to 2020 along with Utilization Rate and Average Revenue per Day from the Global Car Rental business.
The report acts as an essential tool for companies active or plans to venture in to the Global's Car Rental market. The comprehensive statistics within the report provides insight into the operating environment of the market and also ensures right business decision making based on historical trends and industry model based forecasting.
*This is an on-demand report and will be delivered within 2 working days (excluding weekends) of the purchase.
Key Findings
- Overview of the Global Car Rental business.
- Analysis of the Utilization Rate, Fleet available for rent and actual on-rent days
- Historic and forecast revenues by Customer type and average revenue per day for the period 2011 through to 2020
- Analytics on key market moving parameters rental occasions, rental days, average rental length and others.
- Key revenue statistics on Point of Rental and Insurance / Temporary Car Replacement market segments
Global Car Rentals Market to 2020: Fleet Size, Rental Occasion and Days, Utilization Rate and Average Revenue Analytics is a broad level market overview of Car Rental market of Car Rental. The research guidebook provides the up-to-date market size data for period 2011-2015 and illustrative forecast to 2020 covering key market aspects like Market Value by Customer Type and Rental Location, Insurance / Temporary Replacement Revenue, Car Rental Fleet Size, Average Revenue per day, Utilization Rate and various other critical aspects of the Car Rental market.
Reasons To Buy
- Embrace the market information at category and segment level for precise marketing plan
- Outline investments on potential growth factors considering actual market size and future prospects
- Evolve business plans based on forecasts information


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Supporting Organisations
More than 300 health and development organisations support HIFA, of which 280 have officially declared their support for the HIFA vision: "A world where every person and every health worker will have access to the healthcare information they need to protect their own health and the health of others".
We invite all organisations who support the HIFA vision to become a HIFA Supporting Organisation (without financial obligation). Contact us to find out more and to receive an application form.
"HIFA achieves an extraordinary level of activity on minimal resources from which many people around the world benefit"
More than 40 organisations are currently providing financial support for HIFA, ranging from 75 USD per annum upwards to 12,000 USD per annum from the British Medical Association (our main funder).
See the world map of HIFA Supporting Organisations here


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Southside Cocktail Print
Size & Materials
- Print only (unframed)
- Available in a range of sizes
- Choose millilitres (ml) or U.S. fluid ounces (oz.)
- Printed on 250gsm white satin paper
- Designed and made in England
Product Description
A minimalist cocktail print showing the recipe and method for a Southside cocktail. The cocktail print also functions as a cheat sheet for aspiring mixologists. This print is perfect wall art for your kitchen or living room and also makes a great gift for a cocktail lover.
The Southside art print is part of our minimalist cocktail poster series. Mix and match your favourite cocktails to create a gallery wall.
Delivery & Returns
We aim to dispatch orders within 1–2 working days, Monday to Friday.
UK Delivery
Free delivery on all orders over £40 within the UK.
International Delivery
Price is calculated at checkout.
Find out more about our delivery options.
If you do need to make a return you're welcome to do so within 14 days of receipt.


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The bounce rate is the percentage of unique visitors that do not solve the captcha. If this percentage goes above 80% you may be notified by our support team. This is usually a likely indicator that you have embedded your pastes incorrectly such as with an iframe or script tag.


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Although it is currently possible to install and activate Avast Pro Antivirus, we are gradually discontinuing support for this product and upgrading users to Avast Premium Security.
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Index Management/Maintenance Questions:
Q: Is there a tool or method for monitoring a database for awhile to identify indexes that are rarely or never used – that should be considered for removing?
I think I mentioned this one late in the presentation but it certainly warrants an answer. Unfortunately, the answer is both yes and no. To start with the "no's" – there's nothing inside of SQL Server [today] that keeps track of index usage. One option is to create a trace and run it through ITW. ITW has an option on the first dialog that asks if you want to "Keep all existing indexes." If you deselect this it will give recommendations to drop indexes that are not used by that workload. Be careful! You might drop an index that someone else needs. In SQL Server 2005, the ITW is being replaced by DTA (the Database Tuning Advisor) and it has a "drop-only" mode that allows DTA to only check for the unused indexes.
But – this still doesn't really give you a list of what gets used, what doesn't. I can certainly think of a way that will be expensive (in terms of profiler cost and your time J) to implement and given a bit of time this might be somewhat useful but not sure?! Here's my idea, you could capture showplan information into a profiler trace, load it into a sql table and then look for your indexes by name (make sure to use the fully qualified name such as [Credit].[dbo].[member2].[member2Cl] as index names only need to be unique per table). You could even do an outer join with sysindexes to get the complete list of indexes related to the workload. It won't be pretty but it can certainly be done and it's still ONLY for the time of the workload. Overall, I think this is too expensive to do. Good news coming though… In SQL Server 2005 there will be a virtual system table that will keep track of index usage since the last server restart or since you reset the values.
Q: What is the best way to analyze both the space used and fragmentation of each table? More specifically, is there one procedure that will check all tables in a database, output the results and show me which tables/indexes are foobar?
I don't think any particular command actually outputs the level of "foobar-ness" but… this one will get you very close. J Using DBCC SHOWCONTIG WITH TABLERESULTS returns almost everything you're looking for. Use the "pages" column to calculate space ((convert(decimal(10,3), pages) * 8K)/1024 = MB), and then the AveragePageDensity (for internal fragmentation) and then ScanDensity, LogicalFragmentation and ExtentFragmentation (for different forms of external fragmentation). One of the best parts of having returned a tabular set is that you can put the data into a table, verify if/change it and even walk it to analyze it as well as run certain operations as a result of the information you learn. In fact, this is what my sp_RebuildIndexes script does. And check out DBCC ShowContig with TableResults.sql (another demo script) for the definition of the table. Both of these scripts can be found with the demo scripts: MSDNWebcast-Tripp-20040611-SCRIPTS.zip (73.19 KB). Additionally, you can find the scripts on www.SQLskills.com under Event resources.
Q: Does SHOWCONTIG keep a table lock? and I was told not to use DBCC SHOWCONTIG on a production server as it can adversely affect performance… Is that true?
First, yes, there is a shared table level lock acquired for the length of the scan. If you run DBCC SHOWCONTIG with the default options that scan will not only scan for external fragmentation but also calculate internal fragmentation. To reduce the time for which these locks are held you can use the WITH FAST option on DBCC SHOWCONTIG. This will ONLY do the scan (returning less fragmentation details) but it's good if all your looking for is Scan Density! So – this can create blocking and you should consider running it off hours OR consider running it on another server where you restore a backup of your production database. All fragmentation that exists when the database is backed up – will be restored since the restore does not physically change any data/pages, etc.
Q: Could you tell us how FILLFACTOR affects performance?
The short answer is that it helps IMPROVE performance by leaving free space on the pages when the index is built, rebuilt or defragged. When building or rebuilding the index you can specify (using FILLFACTOR) the percent fullness for each page. By leaving free space you can minimize splits, reduce fragmentation and therefore minimize the need to defrag as frequently. So – you should set the fillfactor based on the frequency with which you can rebuild… Combining the frequency with which you can rebuild and the rate at which your table becomes fragmented between rebuilds you can start to find the most optimal setting. The more fragmented it becomes then you should lower the fillfactor (on the next rebuild)… and if the table doesn't become overly fragmented (and there's still free space by the time of the next rebuild) then you might want to increase the fillfactor… so over time you can find the most optimal setting… but it does take a bit of work! Start with the "monster" tables first – the ones that give you the most problems and the ones that are the largest! With a bit of time you'll have a more consistently balanced system.
Q: On a very large table (32 GB, 20 mil rows) with a clustered index and 10 non-clustered indexes – where would you start? If the length of time it takes to execute is long and you can only reindex or defrag a few indexes per day, which ones would you do and in what order?
Well, this is a great question! But – I'd like to change the focus a bit; if you focus on minimizing fragmentation then that will in turn keep things more optimal. Minimizing fragmentation in the clustered index is done by creating the recommended type of clustering key (unique, narrow, static and ever-increasing). If you meet all of these then the base table should only be getting fragmented due to updates to varchar. If you have lots of these then setting a fillfactor can help. The fillfactor defines the amount the pages should be filled to when the index is rebuilt or defraged. If your index is becoming very fragmented between builds then you should consider increasing this frequency or lowering the fillfactor. So – this is really what you should look into: verifying that you're setting the fillfactor appropriately between rebuilds/reindexes and then adjusting that schedule appropriately!
But – when you still have a lot of fragmentation and still need to do frequent rebuilds – focus on the most important tables first, then the most important indexes first (i.e. start with the clustered). From there it's hard to say but the wider indexes are probably getting used more so I'd look at those next.
And – one other tip – if some of you are getting a lot of fragmentation due to updates, think about: fixed length fields (which is rarely an option), default values (GREAT choice if the updates come in with no value and later get updated) and rebuilds either more frequently or with a more appropriate fillfactor.


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Sweaty feet solutions
Toll Free: 1-888-773-9626
Shop our Sister Site: FARMHOUSE FRESH
Sweaty Feet but still lovable...
Podiatrist recommended for sweaty feet
Finally! A chic open shoe sandal insole we love for sweaty feet.
Stop being embarrassed about sweaty feet. We all have them! It's what makes us touchably soft. Read detailed information below about all the causes, as well as everyday solutions.
Sweaty feet - we've all got them! It's the most porous part of our body and it's what makes our feet soft and supple. Finally Summer Soles are here! These chic, absorbent open shoe insoles - in both a suede insole - "Suede Softness" and a wool insole - "Ultra Absorbent"- stop sweaty feet from being the cute summer sandal killer. These chic fabric strips are pure heaven!
Summer Soles make dressier open shoes and sandals instantly comfy! For hyperhidrosis sufferers, these sandal liners help stop sweaty feet from severely limiting your summer footwear options. No slip. No squish. Stop sweaty feet in sandals instantly! Our Ultra Absorbent open shoe insoles are a patch of heaven for your sandals. Unlike tightly woven fabrics, our special-blend non-woven fabric absorbs moisture and channels it away from your feet - so both sweaty feet and shoes stay dry. For moderate absorption, our Suede insoles are oh so comfy and super chic!
These innersoles are easy to use. Just peel and stick; instantly you'll give new, long life to your open shoes-to help sweaty feet. There's no need to purchase different sizes- in either the wool style insoles or the suede shoe inserts, one size fits all. Usually, just a trim at the heel is necessary to fit to your shoe. Stay tuned. Plus now wide sizes are available!
Sweaty feet
It's a fact of life for all of us, but Summer Soles sandal insoles or open shoe insoles make leather or shiny synthetic soles super comfortable for sweating feet! Until there are shoes for sweaty feet, there are SummerSoles! Available in a large color range- red, chocolate brown, camel, beige, light gray, black, white and now suede insole exotic animal prints.
Sweating feet - who else has this problem and is there help for excessively sweaty feet?
There are definitely ways to help sweaty feet. While there is no cure,
there are number of what the International Hyperhidrosis Society calls "everyday" solutions that work well. Also there are
treatments that a doctor can provide. Sometimes it helps to find an
ideal combination of treatments and everyday solutions.
Everyday Help for Sweaty Feet:
- Look for cotton or other absorbent linings in closed shoes. Avoid
nylon, as these are not shoes for sweaty feet - nylon can create odors.
Treatments for Sweaty Feet:
- If you visit a podiatrist or dermatologist, they can talk to you
about other sweaty feet help. We cannot endorse or recommend
any of these- only a trained professional can speak with you about
the effects of these treatments. There are machines that deliver iontophoresis.
These machines use a high voltage short-term electrical current that
drives positive and negative ions into sweaty feet tissue to reduce feet sweating.
How are sweaty feet helped by Ultra-Absorbent Summer Soles?
Until now, shoe liners have been available for orthotic purposes, for overall cushioning, and as inserts for either the heel or ball of a foot to improve the overall fit of a shoe. None of the current products are designed to absorb moisture for sweaty feet and prevent slippage due to sweating feet when wearing open shoes. This Summer Soles absorbent open-shoe liner has been created to answer the needs of those looking for summer footwear solutions for sweaty feet.
Typical footbeds of non-athletic shoes such as pumps, loafers, and sandals comprise a liner made from leather, plastic, or synthetic material which cannot absorb nor release foot produced perspiration. However, the human foot has the capacity to produce at least � a cup of perspiration per day. As a result, feet accumulating perspiration tend to slip in typical footbeds, causing the foot to shift inside the shoe and even slip completely out of the shoe in some cases. Further, persons with Hyperhydrosis have even more difficulties, such that simply keeping an open shoe on their feet is nearly impossible.
For people with these sweaty feet problems, and particularly those with hyperhidrosis, or plantar hyperhidrosis, Ultra-Absorbent Summer Soles provide a simple solution. The specially-blended wool fabric is not tightly woven. In fact, small air crevices exist between the interlocked fibers. These small air crevices are able to capture perspiration from sweaty feet and as pressure is applied while walking, this perspiration slowly moves to the sides of the insole where it dissipates. The Summer Soles Ultra-Absorbent insolespull moisture away from the sole of footbeds. The result is that footbeds stay drier, and unaffected by friction with shoes. So sweaty feet feel much more comfortable without the slippery, dangerous sliding that would have taken place without using Summer Soles.
Is the Suede Style helpful for Sweaty Feet?
Yes. Our Suede Style of Summer Soles open shoe insoles for sweaty feet are made of a microfiber suede. At the surface, loose and somewhat fuzzy fibers act as one more layer between the woven fabric and your feet. While the Suede Softness style simply cannot keep your feet as dry as the Ultra Absorbent style, they are certainly removable just like the Ultra Absorbent and so based on the amount of feet sweating you experience, you may like to interchange between Suede Softness and Ultra Absorbent. Even many of our customers with Plantar Hyperhidrosis rotate through wearing the two styles.
can I find more information about Sweaty Feet and Treatment for Sweaty
The definition of excessively sweaty feet:
Stories and experiences of people with excessive sweating:
Great questions and answers about sweaty feet, and other kinds
of excessive sweating:
Diagnosis for sweaty feet:
Hyperhidrosis versus Sweaty Feet. How do I know the difference?
Checkout the link above for Diagnosis. The International Hyperhidrosis
Society displays a worksheet you can fill out. It has simple question
you should ask yourself. Since everyone's feet sweat, it is
important to guage the amount of feet sweating and the affect that
it has on your daily life. Questions the Hyperhidrosis Society recommends
you ask yourself include things like:
Many more questions like these can be found and the Hyperhidrosis Society's webpage titled Diagnosing Hyperhidrosis.
Our customers with Sweaty Feet have given us rave reviews:
"I cannot express my delight that I don't have to spend another summer hiding my freshly pedicured feet wearing sneakers and socks, my feet actually sweat profusely. Now I can enjoy wearing sandals, heels, thongs. I love it..,no more slipping and sliding no even when it rains." Lani K., NY
"Finally I have found the perfect product for my flats. I live in flats but since I can't wear socks with them, I have to go bare. This results in stinky sweaty feet. I've searched far and wide for any socks or soles that could help with this problem but no such luck. Socks aren't low enough so you can see them sticking out and insoles still cause sweaty feet. I am so glad that someone has finally invented a product that solves these problems. Thank you! I will definitely be purchasing more for my flats collection!" Anonymously Happy
"I can't say how much I love that someone actually came out with a product I can use for sweaty feet. I have never been able to wear any shoes that were cute or anything because of the sole, even in prom I had to wear old lady shoes with material because I couldn't wear the normal ones but since i've discovered summersoles I buy all the shoes I want to buy instead of the ones that I have to buy. All of my friends now love that I dont just wear "grandma" anymore but cute shoes that they want to borrow even." Brenda, 20 yrs old, FL
"I ordered three and immediately put each one in three pairs of dress shoes.I have worn one pair of dress shoes so far and no sweating or odor at all. They seem to either absorb or wick away the foot moisture. Thank you and I look forward to doing business with you again when I buy new shoes." Noel H., NY
Hyperhidrosis and Plantar Hyperhidrosis. Who has plantar hyperhidrosis?
It is estimated that nearly 8 million people in the U.S. suffer from Hyperhidrosis (2.8% of the population). Prevalence projections from a 2004 study indicate that Plantar Hyperhidrosis is less common than other forms. The study reports that 50.8% of U.S. Hyperhidrosis sufferers have Axillary Hyperhidrosis in combination with other forms of Hyperhidrosis. Another 25% have Palmar Hyperhidrosis alone or in combination with other forms of Hyperhidrosis. It is assumed that Plantar Hyperhidrosis sufferers make up a fraction of these "other forms."
Summer Soles Ultra Absorbent insoles for sandals are wool insoles that help remedy feet sweat when wearing open shoes and sandals. These open shoe insoles are ideal for stopping feet sweat from ruining shoes and making sandals uncomfortable.


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Light Painting: 7 Stunning Works of Art [VIDEO]
"Light painting" is a photographic technique that uses a light source and long exposure to create the effect of "painting" with light. As with other forms of animation, it can be used very creatively as it's not limited by "reality."
German collective LICHTFAKTOR are pioneers in this technique. The team has created clips ranging from multi-national collaborations with other artists to adverts for major brands. We asked one of the LICHTFAKTOR crew, Marcel Panne, about this exciting medium.
"Light painting is teamwork, and combines many disciplines (photographer, painter, light source)," Panne told Mashable. "For us, it's always a challenge to develop a painting that fits to the space, by color, shape and content."
We have selected seven videos that show LICHTFAKTOR has more than risen to this challenge. Some of the clips have won awards; others have enjoyed viral success. We asked why Panne thought the videos were so popular. "Because of the look of light, and that they are handmade, it's not a cheesy computer effect," said Panne. "They are always unique, dynamic, energetic, colorful and somehow magic, and people like that."
Take a look through the video gallery for the stunning clips we are showcasing. Let us know your thoughts on light painting in the comments below.


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GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba (CNN) -- Every day, the workers in the Guantanamo Bay kitchen cook three squares for the detainees held here.
And every day, up to 100 of the 166 inmates send them back. They're protesting their ongoing imprisonment by going on hunger strikes for what is now 100 days.
Not only has Guantanamo Bay become a lightning rod for America's critics -- it's no prize for America's taxpayers, either.
Running the prison camp costs the Pentagon more than $150 million a year -- just over $900,000 for each of the 166 detainees at the facility, located on a Navy base on the eastern end of Cuba. By comparison, costs for a typical federal prison inmate run about $25,000 a year; at the "supermax" prison in Colorado that holds domestic terrorists Eric Rudolph and Ted Kaczynski, it's about $60,000.
And despite calls by President Barack Obama himself to close the 11-year-old facility, the military is about to spend millions more to upgrade the prison camp.
"We have to always plan to conduct that mission from now into the future," said Army Col. John Bogdan, commander of the military's Joint Detention Group at Guantanamo. "And the policymakers will decide when that mission's over."
The renovation plans include a $50 million overhaul for Camp VII, the most secretive part of the compound. The inmates there include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-professed organizer of the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington; accused co-conspirators Walid bin Attash and Ramzi Bin al-Shahb; and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the man accused of leading the plot to bomb the destroyer USS Cole in Yemen, killing 17 American sailors.
They face trial on war crimes charges before the military courts set up to try al Qaeda and Taliban figures. Most of the rest of the prisoners face no charges at all.
Because the facilities were hastily built and never thought to be permanent, the prison camp may need as much as $170 million more in repairs, said Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, the chief of U.S. forces in the region.
"This is really a kind of thrown-together operation," Kelly told the House Armed Services Committee in March. "It's really not 11 years long. It's really one year, 11 times."
The kitchens are "literally falling apart," Kelly said, and the barracks that house the 1,900 troops assigned to the prison camp need replacing. And since everything has to be brought in from outside, it all costs about twice as much, he said.
The decrepit remains of previous units -- the original Camp X-Ray, where detainees were first housed in chain-link cages, and the successive Camps I-IV -- still stand on the way to the infirmary. Weeds grow up among the rusted gates, empty watchtowers and abandoned exercise equipment, all within a mile of the facilities where the remaining prisoners are held.
A total of 86 of the 166 detainees have been approved for transfer out, but both the Obama administration and Congress have effectively halted the moves. The last transfer took place in September, and the State Department office tasked with finding countries that would take the others was closed in January.
And the indefinite imprisonment the detainees face has fueled the wave of hunger strikes, which have progressed to the point where about 30 inmates are being force-fed.
"It's kind of a tough mission," the camp's senior medical officer, who was interviewed on condition of anonymity for security reasons, told CNN. "This is kind of an ugly place sometimes."
The inmates are given a last chance to drink a nutritional supplement before being force-fed. If they refuse, they're strapped to a chair and a plastic tube is shoved up their noses, down their throats and into their stomachs.
The Pentagon says the feeding program is lawful and humane. The inmates are given a numbing gel and the thin tubes are lubricated before being inserted, they say.
"Nobody's expressed to me that this hurts," the senior medical officer said.
But Cori Crider, a lawyer for hunger striker Samir Moqbel, called it "an incredibly agonizing process."
"You don't get farther than about here, into your throat, before the tears start streaming down your face. ... He said he had never felt so much pain like that in his life," she said.
The practice has been condemned by human rights groups and the American Medical Association, which says every patient has the right to refuse even life-sustaining treatment. But the senior medical officer said that when a prisoner is on the verge of harming himself, "suddenly it's not a very abstract decision."
"It's very easy for folks outside this place to make policies and decisions that they think they would implement," he said.
"There's a lot of politics involved" in the AMA's opposition he added, "And I'm sure there's lots of politics that they need to answer to as well."
CNN Pentagon Correspondent Chris Lawrence reported from Guantanamo Bay. Matt Smith reported and wrote from Atlanta.


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Be your very own dentist in Monster Dentist. Help fix all of the monster's dental problems and earn new tooth brushes and flossing tools. Can you complete them all?
-50 different Monsters
-50 different tooth brushes
-25 different flossing tools
-Never ending scenarios to complete
and much more!
*Please note that Monster Dentist is free to play, but you are able to purchase game items with real money. If you don't want to use this feature, please disable in-app purchases.*
Ninjafish Studios is very concerned about our users' privacy. To understand our policies and obligations, please read our Terms Of Service and Privacy Policy carefully.
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About her artistic process, Yolanda Ramirez (b. 1955) remarks, "You make something that you make. I paint food because it's good. I make the popcorn because why, it's fresh. It's hot popcorn fresh. I love to draw spinach because then I make spinach."
Ramirez recently turned toward her needlework for subject matter. "I like to draw the belts, scarves, potholders, purse, and wallets because I knitted them. When I draw the scarf I put the color on. I have to pay attention to how many stitches are on the square. Put another color there, then another there, some more colors, some more colors, some more colors, some color. I like to put one color on at a time. I like to draw the pom-pom." Yet, her figurative pieces range widely from food to undersea creatures, and encompass strange worlds populated by smiling lemons on wheels, mariachi bands, and forlorn mermaids with violins.
About her experiences as an artist, and what keeps her engaged and prolific, Ramirez states: "When I make art it makes me feel good because it's just right."
Ramirez, who started working in our studios in 1990, has had work included in numerous exhibitions at Creativity Explored (See below).
On paper
Half of the proceeds from each art sale go directly to the studio artist.
Price includes domestic shipping.


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Some have said that Diablo III is too easy. Power-gamer Athene is among those people—to demonstrate this, he went ahead and beat each of Diablo III's toughest bosses in a matter of seconds.
But of course, that wasn't enough. So, he's made a new video of himself beating all the same bosses (on the most difficult Inferno difficulty, natch)… with his eyes closed. Sometimes without even sitting at the computer.
This is very funny. Athene has made a name for himself being such a cocky guy, as well as for crowdsourcing loot aquisition to get superpowered characters and raising lots of money for charity. When you watch him sack-dance all over Diablo III's toughest bosses while smack-talking the game, you almost start to feel… bad for Diablo III? Which is weird, because no one feels bad for Diablo III!
I have to say that the thumbnail for this video, "Eyes Closed Stevie Wonder Edition," had me hoping that we'd get to watch Athene kill bosses accompanied by "I Wish" or something. Unfortunately, all we got was this goofy (but I'm sure, royalty-free) ragtime music. Oh well, at least the video is a lot of fun. Stick around for the final fight against Diablo - Ha!
(Via VG247)


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It's official, we can put those "Come & Get It" lyric rumors to rest.
With lyrics like "I love you too much, much to hide you, this love ain't finished yet," Selena Gomez's new song "Come & Get It" ignited rumors it was about ex Justin Bieber, but the 20-year-old songstress and Spring Breakers actress revealed in an interview with Ryan Seacrest during "On Air with Ryan Seacrest" the song isn't about her ex.
In fact, Selena shared, it's not about anyone in particular! "Honestly to be 100 percent real, it's not really about a specific person. The reason why I wanted this to be the first single was because it exudes, like I said earlier, confidence and strength and that is something I'm willing to share with the world, that's the place I want to be in, I want to represent something good and be a good example. So, I think it's fun."
So how is Selena doing post-Bieber? Great! But that doesn't mean she's got men knocking down her door.
Selena revealed she hasn't gotten asked out much, despite what you'd believe.
When asked how many guys have asked her out in the past two months, Selena admits: "None...No you should believe it. I would tell you, Ryan. I am available."
Tune in to E! News tonight at 7 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. to hear Selena Gomez chat about her new single.


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I have upgraded the site to the latest vBulletin in the 4 product line: 4.2.1. Its a major jump since we were on 4.1.5 for a while.
Hopefully everything is working properly.
I like it too. The site actually seems to be working a lot smoother and faster now.
Working well for me.


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By Guest Blogger: The Business Woman's Finishing School and Social Club
Working The Network
The trade publications refer to "the hidden job market." These are the jobs that are not advertised, and in spite of their invisibility, someone estimates that 80% of available jobs are not advertised. It is not entirely clear how that is calculated. What matters to you, the job seeker, is that these jobs are as abundant now as they have ever been. And they are available to you if you understand where to look.
Why is there a hidden job market?
is still expensive, online or off, and in a 10% (or higher in some
regions and
industries) unemployment situation, posting an ad opens a floodgate of
applications an employer can't manage because he laid off his recruiting
staff in the last go-round. Better to put the word out quietly, in a
controlled settling, than to post in so public a forum as a website,
or trade journal.
Referrals are more reliable – for everyone involved. Even the Navy knows that a buddy system improves retention . The referring employee is endorsing both the company and the candidate, the candidate can get the real skinny on life at the Company, and the Hiring Manager gets a name he can put right to the top of the stack.
Jobs are often created for a specific need, or to suit a specific internal candidate, where insider knowledge is so crucial you wouldn't want anyone but the person you already have in mind. How often have you said in your own work situation, "I wish we had an Anne to put on this problem," or "Martin would be at his best if we could find a way to let him analyze data all day long"?
So how does one find this job market if it is invisible?
You've got to work your network. Because working your network works.
This is not a paragraph about "social networking," tweeting, status updates or YouTube job posting. This is not a strategy for amassing the largest number of names you can in order to hit them up for jobs. This is simply about staying connected with the people you know, and letting them help you achieve your goals.
The people you know are your "lower-case f" friends, your family, your former colleagues and classmates. Social networking sites and tools may make it easy to connect, but not if you are doing it shallowly. If you are doing it well, a beer or a phone call will do. And guess what, Workforce America , it's not just when the chips are down, either. You've got to actually think about other people, and tell them when you do. Help them when they ask, and ask for help when you need it. Roll a few logs and actually build that relationship and you will be surprised at what you can accomplish together.
I have a friend/mentor/former co-worker that I chat with online on occasion, and yes we are networked 4 ways. But we also write notes to each other (stamps, envelopes, and all!) and about one a month we find a way to meet for coffee on a Sunday morning and share ideas. When she broke her ankle, I came by to keep her company; when I lost power during an ice storm, she put me up. And when she heard about a shift in her company that implied an opportunity I might take advantage of, she let me know.
That opportunity stalled in its growth stage. She spread the word about me, and sparked some interest, but the change wasn't getting off the ground, and I soldiered on where I was until 4 months later, I was laid off from my job.
Enter now a different friend, one I had not heard from in nearly 15 years. For a time, we had been quite close, but her career pursuits took her across country and Life happened to the both of us. I will admit that we reconnected through the new-fangled social networking you are so tired of hearing about, but it was our original old-fashioned friendship that made the reconnection such an ease and a pleasure. When she heard I had been laid off, she asked, "What are you looking for? My company has some new openings…"
And it turned out it was the same company.
These two colleagues, who knew each other so well, who both thought of me as a match for their company, had no idea that they both knew me. Our relationships were so far apart in years and makeup that we were all dumb-founded to learn of this connection. I brushed up the resume again, and I was reintroduced as a candidate. This week I started working at that company.
Your network will not get you jobs, you know that. Even the friend who directly hires you is not hiring you for friendship. The stakes are too high for that. They are hiring you for your skills, your style, and the history of success (both personal and professional) you are bringing to that job. You are literally seeing return on your investment.
You don't have to be friends with everyone you work with; you don't have to center your personal life around your work. What you do have to do is invest a little of the personal in the professional, and the other way around to be "top of mind" when the subject of great fit and match is on the table.
- Give of yourself to the people you know. Notes, emails, phone calls, (a text or a "poke" if that is your vibe), keep the connection alive.
- Care about what happens to people you no longer work with, live near, room with, play with, and find a way to visit with them. Not because it may someday lead to a job, but because you like them. And they are nice to be with.
- Promise to check in, and keep that promise. This is where so many of us lose our network. Friendships take time and effort, but in both cases, small quantities suffice. Sitting sidelines at the soccer game, shopping for new shoes, shooting hoops, taking the baby around the block, telling someone you thought of them today.
- Strive to be the amazing person your friends think you are. They do, you know. You don't get it, because frankly they are so amazing with all they manage, that why would they think twice about you? You're both wrong. You're both right. Live up to the hype.
- Offer to help, to keep company, to watch the kids, to send a care package, to write a letter of reference, to put in a good word.
- Accept the same in return.


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Category: Time Lordy!
Few years back I interviewed Who magazine strip artist Martin Geraghty , we compared his early strips to his later ones and he reckoned as his style now has about 50% less line work. Bet that's changed, (Kidding!) Loving the new series, best one in ages.
Over at my other strip 'The best job in the world' I'm running a Kickstarter to collect together some of the years best strips into a calendar, if you like my stuff and head here and fund me up.
Oh, I'll be at the Kendal Comic Art Festival in October, if you're there say hi.… Continue Reading


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On Monday, October 05, 2015, the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations reached a final agreement on the largest regional trade accord in history. Now, the treaty needs approval from Congress, and many analysts fear this could be the toughest fight of President Obama's final year in office.
The conclusion of the talks creating the Trans-Pacific Partnership followed years of negotiations. However, the deal still faces months of Congressional discussions, where some fear politics and mounting presidential campaigns full of populist anti-trade rhetoric could create strong opposition to the deal.
Nevertheless, the Obama administration sees this as a possible legacy-making achievement, worth the coming fight. The deal unites nations that represent two-fifths of the global economy, including Canada, Chile, Japan, Australia, the United States, and others. These nations would share a set of common rules regulating trans-Pacific commerce. This agreement represents a high point for the administration's agenda to expand exports and tighten bonds with fast-growing Asian economies.
According to a report by the New York Times, President Obama commented that, "When more than 95 percent of our potential customers live outside our borders, we can't let countries like China write the rules of the global economy … We should write those rules, opening new markets to American products while setting high standards for protecting workers and preserving our environment."
The argument that the deal would act to hold back the rising tide of Chinese global commerce will form the foundation of the administration's press with Congress. To pass Congress, the President will need to win bipartisan support. Earlier this year, the President was able to use a similar strategy to win approval for the "fast-track trade authority," which will allow a vote on the Trans-Pacific Partnership without having to worry about the threat of amendments or filibuster designed to prevent its passage by a vocal minority.
The Agreement will end more than 18,000 tariffs on American exports to member nations. Members of the negotiating team believe this agreement could serve as the blueprint for future trade agreements, overhauling systems for dispute resolution, improving labor conditions, and raising environmental protection standards.
Congressional approval could take as long as until next April. Once President Obama presents the agreement to Congress with the notification that he intends to sign it, Congress will have 90 days to consider it, though Congress may require additional time to formally deliberate. However, many private groups have already expressed disapproval for the agreement, and it will likely face a similar uphill battle in Congress.


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When Jon Hamm last hosted "Saturday Night Live" in January, his monologue traced his supposed pre-"Mad Men" career, featuring clips of him – looking and acting very much like buttoned-down, hyper-self-controlled 1960s ad man Don Draper – in roles ranging from QVC host and to "Def Comedy Jam" comic.
"Have you seen them? You know what I'm talking about. Those roundaway girls with their big booties," a deadpan Hamm/Draper tells the "Def Comedy Jam" audience, clad in a gray suit, scotch in hand.
The bit worked because the funny and self-effacing Hamm played to type in settings decidedly against type, spoofing a character that notched icon status almost from his first drag on a cigarette in the 2007 debut of AMC's "Mad Men."
U.S. & World
Now the lead mad man is being lampooned all over the Internet – all because Hamm's character broke character last week by doing once unthinkable: the mighty Don Draper cried.
Within a couple of days, someone started a site on Tumblr called "Sad Don Draper" where folks can download a screenshot of Hamm's face contorted in grief and easily Photoshop the image onto other pictures.
Many of the mashups are derived from pop culture (Draper crying about "Titanic"), while others tap into current events (Draper weeping at Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally). Some irreverently invoke moments in history (Draper tearfully witnessing the Hindenburg disaster) while a few are even far more tasteless (you'll know them when you see them).
The viral gag, which has spurred scores of pictures (we particularly like the Internet meta joke of Draper weeping at a double rainbow), shows the clout of the Web in quickly spreading a humorous, do-it-yourself meme.
But perhaps more significantly, the meme, even as a satire, represents a virtual fan-made advertisement for Don Draper's status as an icon – and for the growing influence of "Mad Men" on the popular culture.
The crying scene, in which Draper breaks down after learning of the death of the only person who fully knew about and understood his secret life, wasn't easy for many of us – and his protégé Peggy Olson – to watch.
Sometimes the discomfort of witnessing unexpected, outsized outbursts of emotion, even by a fictional character, can trigger strange reactions – including humor.
The scene also showed how "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner and his team are dedicated to pushing the program ahead after three Emmy-winning seasons. While the latest season moved a tad slowly in the beginning, we can see now Weiner was building up to this moment, the most striking evidence yet of Draper's decline.
His marriage is dead, his kids are a mess and so is business. The man who kept two lives straight by keeping tight command of himself and those around him is out of control, in his drinking and, now, in his emotions.
Perhaps most telling is how the once-golden boy is out of touch with the rapidly changing world around him: Draper bet Liston over Clay, scoffed when Peggy wanted to hire handsome young rookie quarterback Joe Namath as a pitchman and he can't understand why the firm has enlisted a shrink to tap into the psychology of the masses (even if he's hot for the shrink).
"Mad Men," while set this season in 1965, is very much a show of its time thanks to the realistic examination of the interplay between image and the psyche. This is a TV show also made to play well on the Internet – and not only because of gimmicks like the "Mad Men Cocktail Culture" app or the "Sad Don" meme. Every episode spurs online armchair analysis that Draper – who, until he started a diary in Sunday night's episode, had steered clear of introspection – probably would roundly mock.
The meme, in some respects, is reminiscent of the scores of homemade parody videos inspired by the German drama "Downfall," in which a furious Hitler explodes at his commanders in the Third Reich's final days. Only in the takeoffs, the Fuhrer rants about everything from Jay Leno to the iPad, via goofy subtitles.
The ongoing gag is funny not because there's anything remotely humorous about Hitler, but because of the juxtaposition of the epitome of 20th Century evil and our current, often mundane popular culture. The "Sad Don Draper" meme feeds off of a juxtaposition not anywhere near as extreme, but derives force from the stark and sudden change in iconography of perhaps the most complex and most discussed TV character since Tony Soprano.
As silly as most of the doctored "Sad Don" pictures are, the fan-created ads-of-sorts suggest "Mad Men" has done a very good job of selling itself. That's something even an old-school ad man like Don Draper would appreciate.
Hester is founding director of the award-winning, multi-media NYCity News Service at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He is the former City Editor of the New York Daily News, where he started as a reporter in 1992. Follow him on Twitter.


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We appreciate your patience and look forward to sharing a new and exciting online presence.


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WASHINGTON -- The ongoing debate about payment and delivery reforms is a chance for physicians to take a seat at the table to dictate their design, a Medicare official said Tuesday.
Doctors shouldn't sit idly by and take what comes to them as public and private payers ramp up alternative care models like accountable care organizations and bundled payments for episodes of care, Nancy Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior adviser at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovations in Baltimore, said here at the American Medical Association's (AMA) National Advocacy Conference.
Nielsen, who was president of the AMA from 2008 to 2009, said the practice of medicine faces a tipping point as leaders look for ways to bend the rising cost of care.
"You can think of it as a crisis. I don't happen to see it that way," she said. "I think this is a tremendous opportunity for physicians to take leadership roles. And they are doing it around the country in all of these new models, on the commercial side and working with the government, and learning together what we can do that's best for our patients."
Without taking a more active role, physicians risk widespread use of payment models they may not agree with, or those that may not be doctor-friendly, she said. Nielsen mentioned the debate on paying for a replacement to Medicare's sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula, which determines physician reimbursement in the program, as a chance for Congressional mandates for quality, outcomes, and payment models.
"Do you really want something implemented nationwide that hasn't been tested, where we haven't surfaced the unintended consequences?" Nielsen asked. "We don't want that."
Addressing the AMA crowd just before Nielsen, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called on physicians to provide feedback and thoughts on the models.
"Whether you work for a big hospital, for nonprofit, or for yourself, taking some responsibility, thinking about how your healthcare organization can do better care, has never come at a better time," Sebelius said.
In return, the HHS secretary said, the Obama administration is willing to address physician concerns. But unless physicians work on lowering spending, Sebelius said they can expect more blunt payment cuts from Medicare. That's why more efforts to accelerate transformation to new models of care are needed.
"If healthcare costs continue to rise unchecked, we'll eventually reach a point where drastic cuts are needed that will harm both patients and doctors," Sebelius said. "Especially now as fiscal issues move to the center of national debate, it's essential to demonstrate that there are better ways to control healthcare costs than cut costs to provider rates or shift costs to beneficiaries or private payers."
Chet Burrell, president and chief executive of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield here, spoke about a primary care medical home model his insurance company has rolled out in the Washington market.
Working with 85% of the primary care providers in the region, CareFirst started to provide bonuses in 2010 to physicians who improved quality and lowered costs.
Providers -- working in groups averaging 8 to 10 physicians -- were given projected estimates of spending for a group of patients. If their actual spending was lower than projected, they were given a percentage raise on top of their regular fees. The more the savings, the higher the raise.
The model slowed projected costs from 7.5% in 2010 to 6.2%, Burrell said. Projected growth of 6.5% in 2011 was slowed to 4.4%.
"There has never been a system in the U.S. that has consistently beat trend between 1% and 2% a year, year after year," Burrell said. "It looks like this is headed to that."
The next step for CareFirst is to start working with Medicare-age patients and specialists to try to lower costs for those patients and providers.


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* Curiosity takes first detailed, color images of mountain
* Pictures reveal unexpected slanting of rock layers
* Photos offer hint of dramatic past changes in Gale Crater
By Irene Klotz
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Aug 27 (Reuters) - NASA on Monday showed off the first high-resolution, color portrait images taken by the Mars rover Curiosity, detailing a mound of layered rock where scientists plan to focus their search for the chemical ingredients of life on the Red Planet.
The stunning images reveal distinct tiers near the base of the 3-mile- (5-km-)tall mountain that rises from the floor of the vast, ancient impact basin known as Gale Crater, where Curiosity landed on Aug. 6 to begin its two-year mission.
Scientists estimate it will be a year before the six-wheeled, nuclear-powered rover, about the size of a small car, physically reaches the layers of interest at the foot of the mountain, 6.2 miles (10 km) away from the landing site.
From earlier orbital imagery, the layers appear to contain clays and other hydrated minerals that form in the presence of water.
While previous missions to Mars have uncovered strong evidence for vast amounts of water flowing over its surface in the past, Curiosity was dispatched to hunt for organic materials and other chemistry considered necessary for microbial life to evolve.
The $2.5 billion Curiosity project, NASA's first astrobiology mission since the 1970s-era Viking probes to Mars, is the first to bring all the tools of a state-of-the-art geochemistry laboratory to the surface of a distant planet.
But the latest images from Curiosity, taken at a distance from its primary target of exploration, already have given scientists a new view of the formation's structure.
The layers above where scientists expect to find hydrated minerals show sharp tilts, offering a strong hint of dramatic changes in Gale Crater, located in the planet's southern hemisphere near its equator.
Mount Sharp, the name given to the towering formation at the center of the crater, is believed to be the remains of sediment that once completely filled the 96-mile- (154-km-) wide basin.
"This is a spectacular feature that we're seeing very early," project scientist John Grotzinger, with the California Institute of Technology, told reporters on Monday. "We can sense that there is a big change on Mount Sharp."
The higher layers are steeply slanted relative to the layers of underlying rock, the reverse of similar features found in Earth's Grand Canyon.
"The layers are tilted in the Grand Canyon due to plate tectonics, so it's typical to see older layers be more deformed and more rotated than the ones above them," Grotzinger said. "In this case, you have flat-line layers on Mars overlaid by tilted layers. The science team, of course, is deliberating over what this means."
He added: "This thing just kind of jumped out at us as being something very different from what we ever expected."
Absent plate tectonics, the most likely explanation for the angled layers has to do with the physical manner in which they were built up, such as being deposited by wind or by water.
"On Earth, there's a whole host of mechanisms that can generate inclined strata," Grotzinger said. "Probably we're going to have to drive up there to see what those strata are made of."
Also Monday, NASA said it used the rover to broadcast a message of congratulations to the Curiosity team from NASA chief Charles Bolden, a demonstration of the high bandwidth available through a pair of U.S. science satellites orbiting Mars.
"This is the first time that we've had a human voice transmitted back from another planet" beyond the moon, said Chad Edwards, chief telecommunications engineer for NASA's Mars missions at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
"We aren't quite yet at the point where we actually have a human present on the surface of Mars ... it is a small step," Edwards said.
(Editing by Steve Gorman and Philip Barbara)