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Click on a letter. Note: In these songs you hear the letter sound not the letter name.
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What do I need for my project?
Know Your Lot:
- What is the address?
- What is the tax account number? (Call Multnomah County at (503) 988-3326)
- What is the legal description of the property?
- What is the owner's name & address?
- Are there services to the property including fire access, water supply, public streets, sanitary sewer and stormwater facilities?
- Check with the Bureaus of: Parks and Recreation, Environmental Services, Water, Fire and Transportation to see if other City regulations such as street trees, a new driveway or system development charges will apply.
- Check with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, the Multnomah County Health Department, the Oregon Department of Transportation, and local water and drainage districts to see what regulations would apply.
- Is there a permit history on the existing building?
More information on how to Research a Property.
Most of the information about your property and building is available at the Resource/Records Counter at the Development Services Center. If you are looking for a list of permits and land use reviews for a particular property, you can find them on Portland Maps.
For more information, visit the plan review staff at the Development Services Center or call (503) 823-7310.
After you have collected the information and documents about your property then you are ready for Planning and Zoning.

subset: commoncrawl


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3 x Moet & Chandon Brut Champagne 75cl Luxury case, get this set with three bottles of Moet & Chandon Brut Champagne 75cl (3 x 75cl) Presented in a luxurious stained wooden box with hinged lid and clasp. The box is lined with silver satin and comes with a Gift Card for your personal message
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Order before 4:00pm to get next day delivery in the UK.
All gifts come with a free gift card that you can add a message, at checkout.
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text:
Toiletrees Not Christmas Trees? Church Provides Unique Trees to Needy
Toiletrees Not Christmas Trees? Church Provides Unique Trees to Needy
Christmas trees have gotten a lot more practical in the state of Michigan, particularly for one multi-campus church in Oakland County.
Skipping out on the usual ornamentation this season, Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church is opting to decorate their trees with toiletries instead, which they plan to donate to a local outreach center that provides for families in need.
"Our hope is that those who need these items for their day-to-day living and Christmas celebration is fulfilled," Associate Pastor Ken Fouty told The Christian Post in an email.
This year marks the third consecutive year the church has been helping out their community through what they call the "giving" trees. In the first two years, members filled their trees with scarves and mittens, a must for Michigan residents hoping to bear the winter cold.
Leaders at Calvary took their giving tree in a different direction this Christmas, stocking up on items that one of their local outreach agencies, Open Door, said they were constantly in need of – toiletries.
"Around this time of year they do pretty well with hats, scarves and mittens. So we decided to collect their most needed items," Fouty said. Whatever they gathered from the end of November to December would be given to Open Door, an organization they also provided with fresh produce grown from their 3,000 square-foot garden as well.
Collecting everything from soap, shampoo, toothpaste, razors, toothbrushes, and toilet paper at their White Lake campus, the church hopes to reach a 100-pound goal before the first of next year, which the associate pastor believes they would hit soon.
Their other campus in Clarkston is also participating in the giving trees as well, providing other items like toys, games, bikes and clothes to another outreach agency called Lighthouse.
Every year, the response for the trees has been great, Fouty shared, from both the givers and the receivers.
"Our hope for Advent is that through our generosity our people [will] accept the call to respond with the love of Christ and ... be part of the transforming spirit of Christ."
He hopes that his congregation will live as "hands and feet" throughout the year, and not just during this season.
"As a Christian organization, it's imperative to reach out to those less fortunate in the community during the holiday season and all year long," Fouty explained to White Lake Patch.
"Basically as Christians, we are called to make an impact on the community and address needs that are not being met. We need to take those needs and ask how we, as Christians can serve."
In addition to partnering with Open Door Outreach Agency and Lighthouse, Calvary Evangelical Church worked with a number of other organizations during the year, including Grace Centers of Hope and The Baldwin Center in Pontiac.
Fouty shared that the church's most memorable moment of 2011 was when the congregation packaged 50,000 meal packets for the Kids Against Hunger organization. He considered that to be one of the best experiences this year.
Just this past year, the church celebrated its 50th year of ministry and advocated their theme of "Blessed to be a Blessing" to their members and around their neighboring community as well.
"Fifty years ago, in Clarkston, Michigan, God planted a new church, Calvary, to 'reach out and receive new persons, challenging them to either dedicate or rededicate in surrender and service for Christ and His Church," the church website notes.
"That missional spirit continues today as we seek to know Christ and to make Christ known, in Clarkston, White Lake and beyond!"


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A Cover Truck Chock-Full of Trick Paint and Body Tips
Trucker's Truck
Bob CarpenterwriterJohn Faulknerphotographer
What kind of a pickup truck do you think a professional over-the-road truck driver would own? A darn nice one! John and Susan Brown just couldnt own a cookie-cutter truck, so they purchased this 55 Ford almost complete in 1995 and proceeded to customize it to suit them.
They added the flames and pinstriping, the interior, the bedcover, new rims, and more. The Centari paint is a custom blend of Freightliner Yellow (of course!) with Dark Grape flames (and a hot pink overlay) from Renes Custom Graphics in Lindsay, California. Another eye- catcher? Tru-Spoke wheels, something you dont see very often anymore on custom trucks, and this pickup sure looks good with them. Maybe a new/old trend will take over again.


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Every time my mother has felt ill, she has reminded me that she has written her obituary and it is in the computer.
The woman has had two strokes, two TIA's, breast cancer, and a total of 24 surgeries or procedures in her 89 1/2 years of life. She has about everything wrong with her heart that can be and the 24th procedure was this month. So, you can well imagine that I have kept that thought in my mind: "My obituary is in the computer."
We thought she was having a third heart attack for the month and took her into the emergency room in intense pain. Luckily, and I say this with all my heart, she got a good physician (this time) in the ER. Last time she was in (this month) she was in for six hours and had a second chest x-ray after three hours because they just realized it was blurry. This doc knew right away that he was not dealing with a heart attack and ordered an MRI on her abdomen.
They found a larger gall stone had fallen into a duct and was blocking the area between her liver and intestines. Her liver was enlarged. She was in immense pain and in an ambulance some 50 miles to Indiana University Medical Center.
We have spent most of our time since at Indiana Medical Center and found it to be the best, ABSOLUTE BEST, bunch of nurses, student nurses, doctors, interns, cleaning staff, people on earth. The one 'poor quality' nurse really stood out after seeing so many who rushed in to help her to the bathroom just because they heard her tell us she was going to need to go soon. She rarely had to push a button.
We were told that she had two options and neither was good. If they did not do surgery she would die and if they did surgery, there was a 70% chance she would die. That night, when I went back to her apartment to pick up some things for her, I turned on the computer and looked for her obituary. I had already grabbed the name of the mortuary.
There was NO OBITUARY. What there was, was a read-only file called obituary. I did not tell mom that this document, that I presumed she had worked on so hard, was blank.
Ten days, a PIC line (which is a line they put in after no one can bear to stick her again since her blood clots in the needles anymore), and a procedure later, she was recovering and I got up the nerve to tell her about the missing file. Her response:
"Oh, I know that. I haven't written it yet."
WTF, is she just playing with my head?


text:
IFR Pilot - London, KY
- - 3231P - Pilots-OPS-London KY-EMS
- London, KY, USA
- Full Time 7&7
- Paid time off, Parental leave, Health insurance, Dental insurance, Healthcare spending or reimbursement accounts such as HSAs or FSAs, Retirement benefits or accounts, Education assistance or tuition reimbursement, Gym memberships or discounts, Employee discounts
- PHI Air Medical (operating under CAMTS guidelines)
- Helicopter Air Ambulance (HAA) operations
- Captain EC135 SPIFR/NVG (Instrument rating required)
- 24 Hrs. operations (day/night rotation)
- If successful applicant requires aircraft transition - 1 year minimum service requirement
- Relocation package is available - If relocation package is utilized - 2 year minimum service requirement
- Housing will not be provided
- Schedule 7/7, Day of week the base changes schedules, and schedule change may be required
- Must live within 1 hour commute from the base
- Qualified on the VE7A certificate
- Commercial and Instrument Helicopter Ratings (ATP Required to be obtained within 12 months of job start)
- First Class Medical
- CAMTS Requirement // 2,000 Total Hours // 1,500 Hours Helicopter // 1,000 Hours PIC Helicopters // 500 Hours Turbine Helicopters // 100 Hours in Unaided Night Operations or 50 Hours Unaided and 100 Hours Night Vision Goggles (NVG) // 100 Hours Instrument (Actual & Hood)
- 215 lbs. Body Weight Limit
- Strong Communication, Internal and External Customer Service Skills
- Interview and acceptance by customer/PHI management
- Annual Flu Vaccine Not required
- Must be able to pass pre-placement physical exam including functional capacity exam (strength and flexibility assessment, lift 100 pounds to assist in the loading and unloading of patients and equipment.), drug screening and background screen.
- Demonstrated Internal and External Customer Service skills
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Basic and geographical pay
- External search may run concurrently with internal job posting.
- Successful applicant will participate in community outreach programs and adhere to PHI Air Medical policies.
- Perform line pilot duties IAW GOM.
- Support Safety Management System, Destination Zero, and other company safety campaigns.
- Work with both internal and external customers to provide safe, efficient, courteous, and reliable service.
- Safety - Taking responsibility to put the tools and processes in place that will ensure your own safety and the safety of those around you. The key components of Safety are: System (SMS), Risk Management, Safety Assurance, Personal Responsibility, Discipline, Compliance (Integrity), and Capacity for Collective Action.
- Quality - Meeting the customers' needs and conditions for success over the long term and to the greatest extent possible. The key components of Quality are: Leadership Position, Technology, Technical Proficiency, Measurement and Accountability, and Innovation.
- Efficiency - Ability to maximize the benefits and profits, while minimizing effort and expenditure. The key components of Efficiency are: Process Efficiency, Organizational Efficiency, Resource Allocation & Maximization, Measurement and Accountability, and Organizational Transparency
- Customer Service - Anticipates and meets the needs of both internal and external customers. Delivers high-quality products and services; is committed to continuous improvement. The key components of Customer Service are: Communication, Consistency, Accessibility, Reliability, and Maintaining an Honest, Respectful and Professional Relationship.
- Drive & Energy – The ability to maintain a fast pace and continue to produce during exhausting circumstances.
- Functional & Technical Expertise – Allows the individual to add organizational value through unique expertise and serve as a resource to the organization within his/her area of expertise
- High Standards – Sets the stage for continuous improvements, the adoption of best practices and ultimately influences organizational standards.
- Initiative – Takes a proactive approach and takes action without being prompted.
- Integrity – Acts ethically and honestly and applies those standards of behavior to daily work activities.
This position has been closed and is no longer available.
PHI Air Medical https://phiairmedical.hirecentric.com
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I secretly wish I had a few glamorous resolutions like… Go blonde! Or… Perfect a sexy cat eye! But it's probably the utilitarian nature of my beauty resolutions this year that makes them all the more worthy. I mean, who really resolves to eat more cake? Practical as they are, I will be proud of myself if I've mastered these four beauty tasks come December.
Beauty Resolution No. 1: Wash My Hair Twice a Week
I am both blessed and blighted in the hair department. My hair is strong and thick, yay. It also takes a full 45-minute wrestling match with a blow dryer to tame it post-shampoo, uhg. Although I can get away with washing my hair once a week, I feel more polished if I style it more frequently. So I resolve to give up an additional weeknight to my hair dryer. I'm hoping the Boar Detangling Brush ($24) from Sephora will knock a few minutes off of my average blowout.
Beauty Resolution No. 2: Exfoliate and Do a Masque Every Week
It would be easy to say I'll indulge in a monthly spa facial, but I know I wouldn't stick to it. A weekly exfoliation and masque in my own bathroom on the other hand is my minimal beauty duty. For someone as obsessed with exfoliation as I think I am, I'm seriously neglectful when it comes to using a scrub on the regular. I plan to work this into one of my hair wash days because I really do plan to have a life this year as well. My go-to scrub is creamy Aveda Tourmaline Charged Radiant Skin Refiner ($40) and I prefer a clay masque with active charcoal like Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask ($27).
Beauty Resolution No. 4: Replace My Eyelash Curler Pad
I picked up a new Revlon eyelash curler after noticing the clamp on my old one was slicing right through the pad. That can't be good for my lashes. The new curler came with one replacement pad and I resolve not to lose it. (And actually use it in a few months when the original wears out.)
Beauty Resolution No. 5: Wash My Makeup Brushes
As a borderline germaphobe, I don't know why I'm not already doing this regularly. Every time I wash my brushes, I cringe at the goop that suds angrily off of the bristles and yet weeks go by before I remember to clean them again. This year, I'm armed with Dr. Bonners Magic Soap ($6.39, 8oz) and a weekly iCalendar reminder.
Did you set any beauty resolutions this year?
Top Photo: Aveda


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Action/Crowleys Passion - Assassins Of Oblivion Split CD
Heavy as fuck mid tempo mosh monsters from Action and Heaven Shall Burn-style metal core from Crowleys Passion. There's some Arkangel or even Throwdown influences to be heard here and there, so you know you're in for quite a mosh fest!
Amulet - Daggers & Dynamite MCD
Six songs. Three off "Danger Danger", three off "Freedom Fighters". The cover art rules, period. And the vocals sound a whole lot like Ozzy sometimes. Good stuff.
Append:X - 9 Collapsing Emotions (Like Hate) CD
This one will rock your socks off! Shai Hulud minus the metal? Boy Sets Fire minus the rock cheese? Tupamaros meets Aclys and ...But Alive are writing the lyrics for them? Whatever - *this* is hardcore, easy as that. The personal combined with the political, gorgeous melodies and chaotic screamo...
More »
Biddy Biddy Biddy - Logic Makes Us Look Good CD
Part-organic instrumentation and part-video game, this debut full length is a discordant and melodic journey of bass, guitars, drums, and electronics.
Black Film Dance - John's LP CD
Weirdo no-wave-punk from Japan! Black Film Dance could be something like the Japanese version of Milemarker and throw together punk rock and new wave in a way that you can't help but dance and smile. Completely addictive keyboards, sexy off-key vocals and loud guitars. Or like Sunshine, Shotmaker...
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Books Lie - Weep CD
Brooklyn, NYC isn't only home to stupid pieces of testosterone shit like Biohazard, there's also some clever punkr ock kids living there. Just like Books Lie. This band definitely has their won sound - borrowing from the almighty Born Against in terms of cynicism and fuckedupness and building a...
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Boys Night Out - Broken Bones And Bloody Kisses CDEP
This band could be big with their catchy upbeat choruses and raw screamed vocals with melodic and churning guitars. If that doesn't tell you anything, think of bands like Grade, As Friends Rust or Glasseater. The new hype.
Call David/Lie Algebra - Split CD
Cassettes, The - Oér The Mountains CD
The second album by the Cassettes from Washington, DC. A journey from stadium rock/power-pop anthems to atmospheric explorations of darkness and light. (Or, in other words - they are weeeird...). Ex-members of Frodus. And we think this is pretty damn cool.
Closet Monster - Killed The Radio Star CD
Great angry, pissed and passionate political punk rock with just the right amonut of pop. Ex-members of Sum 41 (but hey, you don't hear THAT!), and someone played with Avril Lavigne, too. Tee hee. But they're good. Really.
Convinced - 2001 MCD
Well, the term "metal hardcore" woulb be more than misleading here, but what about "emo stadium hardrock"? This Swedish band goes by the name of "The Band Convinced" now, but they still play pure good time rock music - an old style euro-rock sound with soaring female vocals and a new-found schlinky...
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Crush My Calm - Lies Make Life Easier CD
Ten fast, melodic and raging hardcore songs that are positive and pissed at the same time. While most bands mellow out and add more \"rock\" influences, Crush My Calm are doing what no one expected - speeding up their sound a lot, making everything harder and faster and louder and more hardcore,...
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Decahedron - Disconnection Imminent CD
Decahedron started in 2001 as a project between Jason Hamacher and Shelby Cinca, both formerly of the DC punk band, Frodus. Upon the breakup of Frodus in 1999, the two convened work on musical projects with various collaborators. After some time apart, they reunited again along with longtime Fugazi...
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Del Cielo - Wish And Wait CD
Awesome! This record is catchy as hell and the lyrics are excellent pieces of independent rock poetry. Take Velocity Girl, let them play some Braid songs together with Sleater-Kinney and have Ani Di Franco watch it all and you'll get the DC rock sweetness known as Del Cielo - both clean and pretty...
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Endless Inertia - Oktiabr'/Novembre CD
A sweet and lovely screamo platter with a weird title. This is almost as if La Quiete were playing Orchid songs, with all former Portraits Of Past members doing Nikad impersonations in the background. All that, plus two huge booklets full of weird graphics.
Exploder, The - The West End Kids Crusade CD
The best thing out of Richmond, VA since Avail and Four Walls Falling, although the Exploder sounds nothing like them, more like a mix of Rye Coalition and 400 Years. But what makes them special is that all band members share the microphone, creating vocals that go all the way from screaming to...
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Fall Time. - Coma CD
"Coma" has been in the making for over two years and takes you on a journey through the darkest depths of the human soul. Repetitive downtuned guitars and hypnotic drums combined with desperate vocals create a record of apocalyptic proportions. Slow, sinister, depro and hard as fuck. There is no...
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Figure Of Merit - Vatic CD
Colossal math-metal from Minnesota. Calculated noise melted down into 8 crafted tracks - points of reference being Mastodon, Unsane, The Jesus Lizard and early Coalesce. "Now this is right up my alley and reminds me immediately of Am Rep noise crossed with early Neurosis. I could see these guys on a...
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Forever Ends Tonight - Meet Her In The Killing Fields CDEP
Forever Ends Tonight is ex- or current members of bands like H-Street, Mar or Hope Dies Last going back to their roots. And their roots are metal. But whoah, baby - we are not talking vegan mosh crap or any of that pro-life pro-god pro-idiot bullshit here... just plain heavy fucking metal. They draw...
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Forstella Ford - Quietus CD
The Euro CD version with a new blue cover. This is an unstoppable assault of fury and beauty... much more melodic than their older stuff, rocking out damn hard, clever lyrics, energy to the max, noisy, beautiful. This is EMO, even if nothing else is. Perfect!
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*I will accept request from lyrics* Includes Country...
Country Songs3342510
- by Harley J. Blaze
- Rating:
- Published: 9 Sep 2014
- Updated: 4 Jun 2015
- Status: In Progress
Another Lyric Movella, but dedicated to country songs, old and new. Also I am Taking request for songs... so if you have a song or songs comment them
Join MovellasFind out what all the buzz is about. Join now to start sharing your creativity and passion
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|Real Photo Booth
|Fun design fits your décor, is attractive, and won't tip over. The booth design creates priceless photos that can't be matched by photo walls and stand-alone kiosks.
|Comfortable Capacity
|Fitted with two chairs, it offers the coziness to canoodle in comfort. Slide the chairs forward and pack in up to 19 of your friends for the ultimate in photo booth fun!
|Photo Booth Privacy
|The booth offers enough privacy to allow guests to feel comfortable and let the good times roll.
|Ease of Use
|Guests can choose either Color or Black & White. With the push of 1 button to start the operation, any guest from young to old can use the booth.
|Handicap Accessibility
|Our booth design is extremely accessible for people of all abilities so that no one feels left out or embarrassed for being alternately abled.
|Compact Size
|When not in use the booth is 5 feet wide and 7 feet long, allowing it to easily fit into the smallest venues. Once up and running, it does require additional room for a prop table and for people to gather around.
|Amazing Images
|Our booth was designed by a photographer and has the highest image quality. We have sharper photos with better colors than other booths.
|No-Wait Prints
|Fast printing allows the prints to be ready for guests once they put away their props.
|Free Reprints
|If 7 people use the booth, the attendant prints 8 strips immediately: 1 for your album, and 7 for your guests.
|Unlimited Prints
|Attendant will print unlimited photo strips for the duration of your rental period.
|Photo Strip Guest Book
|One of every photo strip taken during the event is placed into an album to serve as a priceless keepsake for you to remember your big day. All guests are encouraged write messages and sign the page where their image is placed to add a personal touch to your beautiful album.
|Professional Attendants
|Our attendants are selected based on their people skills and fun-loving personalities. They will sometimes dance, laugh, sing, and cheer for your guests, while making the whole night more fun and memorable for everyone!
|Custom Branding
|Every photo strip is custom branded with your names and wedding date. If you have a logo or graphic theme for your event, feel free to send it to us so our designers can add it to your strips.
|Best Props
|We pride ourselves in sending only the finest quality and most fun props in the industry: hats, glasses, headbands, tiaras, beads and much, much more come standard with every rental.
|Event Thumb-drive
|Our Event thumb-drive contains all images taken during your event in both the form of the photo strip and also as each individual image. Since the images are all high resolution, they can be easily enlarged up to 16x20 while still looking amazing.


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The AAVSO has held three Professional-Amateur meetings in collaboration with NASA, Sonoma State University, and New Mexico State University
April 13-14, 2000
Huntsville Marriott Hotel, Huntsville, Alabama
Below are some pictures from the AAVSO Spring 2000 meeting and HEA workshop. Most of the pictures were taken at the AAVSO banquet.
Text by Dan Brannen Junior (from AAVSO Newsletter 24).
Below are MPG movies of some of the papers and presentations made at the 91st AAVSO Spring Meeting.
Monday, July 1st, 2:00 pm - 4:05 pm


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Storm Water Runoff
TxDOT controls runoff by utilizing best management practices such as vegetative swales and sedimentation ponds, but these efforts do not completely eliminate the pollutants introduced into water sources by storm water runoff.
Site managers should ensure compliance with TxDOT's storm water management program for construction sites.
Storm Water Management Program
The public role in the Storm Water Management Program can further reduce the levels of pollution found in our water resources by taking the following actions.
Eliminate litter - Litter can originate on roadways and end up in streams. First, eliminate personal littering. Then, participate in the Don't mess with Texas and Adopt-a-Highway programs.
Prevent illicit discharge - Because there is generally no treatment of storm water before it enters into a receiving stream, any illegal connection, dumping or tie-in to a storm sewer is considered an illicit discharge.
Examples include:
Additional Steps
Related Links:
Copyright 2020
Texas Department of Transportation
All Rights Reserved
Privacy & Security Policy
125 East 11th Street • Austin, Texas 78701


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Got sushi? Kotobuki does! Located in historic Ghent. We serve traditional Japanese cuisine and sushi in a warm and friendly atmosphere. Perfect for family dining, dates, or relaxing occasions with friends.
Graphic design by
Wei Xie Hann
. Website construction by Josephine Cariño. Photography by Lloyd Tokuhiga.
All content and pictures are the property of Kotobuki Japanese Restaurant © 2013.


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Listen to the following recording on the subject of multitasking.
1. How does the first speaker describe multitasking? Choose ONE answer.
A) it is a myth
B) it is efficient but distracting
C) it reduces the time that tasks take
2. Which TWO statements are true according to the second speaker?
A) people who can multitask are more effective
B) people should always focus on one thing only
C) we need permission to get things done
D) the brain is less productive when we are distracted
E) organisations are unproductive if they are constantly on-line


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Danny Manning To Take Job At Tulsa
KU Great To Make Head Coaching Debut Next Season
Danny Manning has agreed to become the head coach at Tulsa, the second assistant from Kansas coach Bill Self's staff to announce their departure during the week of the Final Four.
Manning will help lead the Jayhawks in New Orleans before taking over at Tulsa, where Self once served as head coach. Kansas plays Ohio State in the national semifinals Saturday night.
"Right now my focus is on Kansas and its participation in the Final Four," Manning said in a statement released by Tulsa on Thursday. "We've worked extremely hard to get to this point and we want to keep it going for another few days."
Tulsa officials are planning an introductory news conference for next week.
Manning's move comes on the heels of Barry Hinson's decision to take over the head job at Southern Illinois on Wednesday. Hinson had served the past two years as the director of basketball operations at Kansas. He also plans to be with the Jayhawks in New Orleans.
"Danny Manning is one of the most accomplished, humble people you'll ever meet," Self said in a statement. "He's done more in his life through the athletic world than just about anybody, but you would never know it in visiting with him as he never ever talks about himself.
"He's been around basketball his whole life, played for so many coaches, been able to steal from everybody and has developed a vast knowledge that will certainly play a huge role in his success as a head coach," Self said. "He will lead Tulsa to great heights athletically and be competing for championships in a very short amount of time."
Manning takes over for Doug Wojcik, who was fired by Tulsa on March 11 after four 20-win seasons and three postseason appearances, though none in the NCAA tournament. Tulsa hasn't made the field since 2003, the second of back-to-back trips to the second round.
The Golden Hurricane is even further removed from the heights it reached under Self, who was coach from 1997-2000 and led the program to a 32-5 record and regional final in 1998.
Still, Manning takes over a program on solid footing.
The Golden Hurricane have had six straight winning seasons, four of them of at least 20 wins, including back-to-back 25-win campaigns that included trips to the CBI and NIT. Tulsa went 17-14 this past season, losing in triple-overtime to Marshall in the Conference USA tournament.
Tulsa returns four of its five leading scorers next season, including dynamic guard Jordan Clarkson, who averaged better than 16 points during his sophomore year.
"We are extremely excited to have Danny," Tulsa athletic director Ross Parmley said. "His 15 years in the NBA combined with the last nine years under one of the best coaches in the country, have helped mold him into a great teacher and coach of basketball. He most definitely brings the excitement, the style of basketball and character that we were looking for in our head coach."
Few players are so closely connected to a school as Manning to Kansas.
The program's all-time leading scorer and rebounder, he remains ninth on the NCAA's career scoring list with 2,951 points. Manning was a consensus All-American in 1987 and '88, and led the Jayhawks - the team coined "Danny and the Miracles" - to the 1988 NCAA championship.
He was the Big 8's player of the year three consecutive seasons.
Manning became the top pick in the 1988 draft and averaged 14 points over 15 seasons with seven NBA franchises. He returned to Kansas upon his retirement from playing, and became one of the most visible assistants at a program that has had John Calipari, Kevin Stallings, Tim Jankovich and other future head coaches sitting on its bench.
Manning, who is notoriously media shy, has earned a reputation as a solid recruiter and one of the elite coaches of big men. Under his tutelage, Thomas Robinson went from backup forward to a first-team All-American, and Jeff Withey from the bench to one of the Big 12's top defenders.
Manning has also worked with future NBA players Wayne Simien, Julian Wright, Darrell Arthur, Darnell Jackson, Cole Aldrich, Marcus Morris and Markieff Morris.
"I'm excited and looking forward to being the head basketball coach at The University of Tulsa," Manning said. "I'd also like to thank Coach Self for giving me the chance to be a part of his staff for the past nine years. I have learned a tremendous amount about the game and the profession from him and all of the members of his staff."


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Paris-based Banijay Entertainment has consummated its months-long flirtation with "The Real World" producer Bunim-Murray Prods.
Banijay has announced that it has acquired Bunim-Murray in a deal believed to be in the mid eight-figure range.
As part of the deal, Jonathan Murray will remain chairman of Bunim-Murray, while Bunim-Murray prexy Gil Goldschein plans to remain as well.
Bunim-Murray will continue to be headquartered in Los Angeles and keep its name.
"Bunim-Murray is one of the few companies with a proven history of delivering high volumes of entertaining and quality programming that strikes a chord with viewers and are continually renewed by networks season after season," said Banijay chairman Stephane Courbit. "This acquisition reaffirms Banijay's strategy to integrate in our group the best and most creative international television producers."
Acquisition comes as several international companies continue to kick the tires of U.S. production companies. European shingles — many of which look to emulate the model of mega-congloms FremantleMedia and Endemol — have been looking at U.S. indie outfits in order to gain a foothold in this marketplace.
Bunim-Murray came close to being sold last year to John de Mol's Talpa Media, but a pact was never reached.
Among the other companies said to be attracting suitors are Craig Piligian's Pilgrim Films, A. Smith & Co. and David Broome's 25/7 Prods. And France's Zodiak is set to buy RDF Media, creating another major global player.
Other companies that have been partly or fully sold in recent years include 51 Minds, which is now operated by Endemol, and Original Prods., partly owned by FremantleMedia North America.
Banijay itself had already entered the U.S. marketplace via its co-development deal last year with Angel City Factory, the shingle recently formed by reality producers Chris Cowan and Jean-Michel Michenaud (who formerly ran reality house Rocket Science Laboratories).
"All these companies are looking for cash flow and distribution," one reality TV insider said of the European shingles coming to town.
Added another exec: "(Companies like Banijay) are racing around and figure there's a real business to be had in being a super production company, like a Fremantle."
For Banijay, an acquisition like Bunim-Murray gives the company immediate access to U.S. broadcast and cable networks, allowing them to sell their formats here.
And for Bunim-Murray, being linked to an international company like Banijay gives the company a better shot at holding on to its international rights. Although Bunim-Murray is known for several hits, and has served as a training ground for many of today's top reality producers, it hasn't held on to ownership of much of its key series. (MTV, for example, controls the rights to "The Real World.")
"Being a part of a group like Banijay will allow us to provide new formats to its affiliated companies in the U.K., Germany, France, Spain and other territories, and also give us the opportunity to produce formats from those international companies within the U.S.," Goldschein said.
A pan-European TV powerhouse, Banijay also owns U.K.'s ZigZag, Spain's Cuarzo, France's Air Prods., ALJ Prod., Depeche Prod. and Jes Prod., as well as Russia's Intelegencia. Banijay just created a worldwide distribution division, Banijay Intl.
Bunim-Murray is one of the stalwarts of the reality world, having been formed more than 20 years ago by Murray and the late Mary-Ellis Bunim. "The Real World," which launched in 1992, helped usher in the modern-day TV docuseries.
Bunim-Murray's credits include "Road Rules," "The Simple Life," "Bad Girls Club" and "Keeping up With the Kardashians." It also took over production of "Project Runway," and spinoff "Models of the Runway," when that franchise moved to Lifetime.
"By joining Banijay, (Bunim-Murray) will be able to continue its past success as well as access international formats and distribute its series and formats to the international marketplace," Murray said.


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Post-Apocalyptic RPG forums
Completed sprints
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Post-Sprint Analysis and Reports
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Topic: Post-Sprint Analysis and Reports (Read 23090 times)
Community member
Posts: 80
Post-Sprint Analysis and Reports
March 04, 2011, 11:58:14 PM »
The sprint officially ends on Tuesday, 10:00pm UTC at the start of the post-sprint report meeting. Everyone involved in the sprint should take some time between now and then to jot down their thoughts about the sprint as a whole. We'll use this discussion as a starting point for the post-sprint meeting on Tuesday.
The following questions should serve as general guidelines:
1. What worked really well in the sprint? What
go so well during the sprint?
2. What, in general, blocked your progress most often? What facilitated your progress most often?
3. What would your change about the sprint? What would you keep the same?
4. What is your overall impression of the sprint? Was it successful? Why or why not?
When posting, please start with a brief description of what you worked on during the sprint to serve as a bit of context.
"There are more atoms in the period at the end of this sentence than you can count in a lifetime." Science is awesome.
Community member
Posts: 29
Re: Post-Sprint Analysis and Reports
Reply #1 on:
March 07, 2011, 11:38:08 AM »
1. In general, I thought the sprint went really well. Having specific areas of interest and a generous time frame in which to accomplish it seems to have worked out better than the generalized goal and liberty that previously drove the team. I especially liked the meetings. Not only was it helpful to know how everyone was progressing, it felt good to know that there was a specific time and place where I could voice my concerns about progress in general, hurdles I was facing, or to outright brag about what I finished! The biggest pane during the sprint was getting acclimated to the new work flow and submitting changes.
2. Two things blocked my progress more than anything else: Windows and SVN. As far as windows is concerned, I found myself having to cater to the platform to get things done, especially in the packaging department. Furthermore, not having a native Windows machine made it tough to test my work. As for SVN, I find myself making local branches quite often, which SVN doesn't support. As a compromise, I've had to adapt to git-svn, which generally gets the job done. However, problems arise when you try to submit changes, due to SVN's flat nature. I think I've finally got it under control, but using purely git would have helped in this respect.
3. I'd like a slightly shorter sprint with less tasks. I say shorter because there were a lot of devs on the team that finished quite early with nothing to do. I say less tasks (for now) because the current state of the code base makes it impossible to foresee some of the pitfalls that await us. In my case, It took a few days longer to merge the new settings module into the code base because I kept running into what (for lack of better phrasing) amounted to poor design decisions early on. The shorter list of tasks would allow us to adjust fire more rapidly.
4. Overall, I think it was a success. To an average user looking in it might not seem so because the only things that were added visually were the new character screen and the notebook gui. However, if you look at the number of commits to the source, the fact that there is now a (in my honest opinion) simple packaging system), the number of new members we've attracted (myself included), and
Community member
Posts: 553
Re: Post-Sprint Analysis and Reports
Reply #2 on:
March 07, 2011, 03:51:53 PM »
Some developers having a slack is probably me
Well, it was little for me to do. All agreed on using notebook as a main axis of all other UI items, which I'm so-so with, as it will be simply boring. It looks like qubodup made even the main menu on notebook, that used to be on a piece of rusty shim.
I have two conclusions.
First is the meetings did a great job for organizing work. I mean I was able to plan my effort better and do the things in the moment I feel was the right one to do a thing - not to early and not to late, so that there was not many issues to fix afterwards.
Second is, we should IMHO really take a closer look, each one of us individually, and have clearly set and valued long term goals (or epic user stories, if you like), like: content creation toolchain, playable game with basic features and so on. For example we were making character customization screen, which we could live without for a longer while, when Technomage left inventory screen, which is a must, on backburner, and we need content creation tools IMHO way more than actually customizing PC just to wander around in pretty much empty game. I know that code and mechanics that go with PC are important (like attributes and advancements under it are are necessary), just not the aspect of pre-game PC customization aspect.
As for the sprinting itself - the only other major issue that I can say is my GF calls you all "Fennecs", partially cause she like those animals, partially because we chat together happily, but mainly, I think, due to fennecs being cute night-time predators.
Community member
Posts: 139
Re: Post-Sprint Analysis and Reports
Reply #3 on:
March 08, 2011, 01:41:54 PM »
Heh. Fennecs.
I didn't really
anything, but I have thoughts about the sprint.
1. We started working without knowing all of the dependencies. Everything hinged on everything else, and as a result there was much confusion. Once there was a clear task, however, things got done pretty quickly.
3. We should pick sprint goals with fewer priorities in future.
4. No idea.
Testiculos habet et bene pendentes.
Community member
Posts: 24
Re: Post-Sprint Analysis and Reports
Reply #4 on:
March 09, 2011, 05:10:03 AM »
1. What worked really well in the sprint? What didn't go so well during the sprint?
It looked like there was a smallish bottleneck between departments, but it was mostly worked out. Maybe having department specific sprints would work out better in the future?
4. What is your overall impression of the sprint? Was it successful? Why or why not?
As well, there were two things that blocked me. One was simply getting my system back up to a usable state. The other was having things to do. All the sprint tasks were covered by other people, so I just sat in the corner and played with toy blocks for a while. Part of that was my own bad.
(Sorry I couldn't make the meeting. Rehearsal ran abnormally long tonight)
Community member
Posts: 261
Re: Post-Sprint Analysis and Reports
Reply #5 on:
March 09, 2011, 04:22:54 PM »
I agree with the feeling that it got weird at the end and I think it might be related with nobody creating specific trac tickets.
The first two weeks were very staisfying and I felt like I had a lead because there were targets
After then it was just the epic user story of having a char creation gui for me.
I think we could have needed somebody to either define more specific tasks or somebody to push us (department people) to create more specific tasks.
Community member
Posts: 261
Re: Post-Sprint Analysis and Reports
Reply #6 on:
April 07, 2011, 02:07:32 PM »
I am going to make a blog post mirroring the opinion of the developers (coders,artists,designers) invovled. Would anyone like to add their opinion? Technomage?
Community member
Posts: 80
Re: Post-Sprint Analysis and Reports
Reply #7 on:
April 09, 2011, 04:26:51 AM »
Yes, thanks for the prod qubodup
What went well?
In general, I think the Trac ticket backlog was quite successful at keeping us organized and on-track. In particular, I thought that the Trac ticket dependencies (blocking, blocked by fields) and depgraphs (e.g.
) were very helpful for figuring out which tasks to prioritize. AFAICT everyone on the team seemed comfortable working with the Trac tickets and the backlog, though there was some hesitation in the beginning for those who hadn't dealt with Trac much in the past.
I thought that the twice-weekly sprint meetings were extremely useful at keeping everyone in the loop. Twice a week seemed like a good frequency to me - it gave us enough time to work on smaller tasks and report our progress, and also allowed us to quickly discuss and assign new tasks as needed. The strict meeting structure was good at keeping us on-topic, and overall I thought the meetings were very productive.
What didn't go well?
The momentum from the first two weeks died off rather rapidly in the second two weeks. Based my own experience and observations of the rest of the team, I think what caused this slowdown was a series of structural problems with PARPG which blocked progress in several departments. For instance, in the programming department I was not able to fully implement character statistics because the current model system makes it very difficult to add new things to characters and other game entities. In the graphics/GUI department qubodup and Q_x were unable to work with PyChan and its complexities and eventually I ended up having to work on both the PyChan GUI and game model code, neither of which were easy to deal with.
My only complaint about the meetings was that I would have liked some time to discuss solutions to problems we brought up during the meeting. In theory we were supposed to discuss solutions in-between meetings, but timezone differences and time commitments outside of PARPG made this almost impossible.
In the final week and a half of the sprint we lost barra and shortly thereafter myself due to family and school commitments, which I think contributed to the slowdown and made resolution of the sprint difficult.
What would I change?
I would like more time during the sprint meetings to discuss solutions to problems encountered during the sprint. Perhaps adding 20-30 minutes to the sprint meeting times? We could break away into smaller groups during this problem-solving meeting time, and those who don't have anything to contribute would be free to leave.
What is my overall impression of the sprint?
A fantastic success, though not for the reasons we originally based the sprint on. We did not fully implement any of the user epic stories and from a purely numerical standpoint only completed 68% of the tasks we set for ourselves. However, we learned
about how to communicate with each other and how how to organize and deal with a series of tasks as a team. Before the sprint we were a bunch of individuals working in parallel, but during the sprint we came together to solve problems
as a team
. We now have an organizational framework that we know works, and I would say that is a major accomplishment.
We also discovered several major structural problems with PARPG which we may not have encountered working alone. It is extremely important that we deal with these structural issues early in PARPG's development, otherwise we may end up with product that not only requires an enormous amount of maintenance but that only a few key developers know how to maintain! Not a good outcome for an open-source project which relies on volunteers with a high turnover rate.
The sprint may not have gone as we originally planned, but I think we did a great job and learned a lot in the process. Now that we know what's blocking our progress we should regroup and start brainstorming about how to tackle those issues. Hopefully we'll be able to start another sprint soon and with the lessons learned from this sprint be able to make some real progress!
"There are more atoms in the period at the end of this sentence than you can count in a lifetime." Science is awesome.
Community member
Posts: 553
Re: Post-Sprint Analysis and Reports
Reply #8 on:
April 11, 2011, 06:12:29 PM »
I was a little bit concerned with the idea of single department sprints. I agree there are some tasks that are department-specific, (or exclude a specific department from work), but I don't quite understand how such sprints could work. There will be tasks requiring cooperation of many depts, so how to tackle those?
Instead, I'd propose rather careful investigation of every ticket we decide to work upon, in the way that we first vote, later check out carefully if chosen user stories are not blocked by some strange issues, (like this need for refactoring that occurred) and finally proceed with it or change it to another story and leave for further investigation, or tackle blocking issue instead.
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It's hard to believe Halloween is just around the corner. Luckily, there are plenty of great new albums and classics for your Halloween party or just to carry you into scaresville.
Krzysztof Penderecki and Jonny Greenwood - Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima / Polymorphia / Popcorn Superhet Receiver / 48 Responses to Polymorphia
You might not recognize his name, but Krzysztof Penderecki has soundtracked many a nightmare. The Polish, avant-garde composer was wildly inventive (and controversial) when his compositions first gained notoriety in the late '50s, and thus his jarring compositions, featuring such innovative techniques as clustering tones, and such foreboding titles as "Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima," came to be used by wildly inventive and controversial film directors, from William Friedkin's The Exorcist to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining and David Lynch's Wild at Heart and Inland Empire. Meanwhile, Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood writes response pieces to both "Therenody" and "Polymorphia," and his moody, solemn orchestral pieces serve as a terrific foil to Penderecki's terror-inducing works.


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State Association Cites Randy Zito as a 'Role Model'
By Patrick Cronin
Hampton Union, Friday, January 16, 2009
[The following article is courtesy of the Hampton Union and Seacoast Online.]
James Gaylord
SAU 21 superintendent
HAMPTON -- Winnacunnet Principal Randy Zito was named an "outstanding role model" for principals by the New Hampshire Association of School Principals.
Zito was one of five principals in the state who received the honor during the association's winter workshop Tuesday, Jan. 13 in Concord. "My leadership is only as good as the people who work here and the students that go to school here," said Zito. "I'm lucky to be principal here."
Zito was given the award by Gov. John Lynch, state Education Commissioner Lyonel Tracey and state Board of Education Chairman John Lyons.
SAU 21 Superintendent James Gaylord congratulated Zito on the award during Wednesday night's School Board meeting.
Gaylord said the award came about because he was nominated by Assistant Principal Kris Oswald to be named Principal of the Year.
While he didn't win that award, Gaylord said, this award speaks just as highly as to the job he's done during his last five years as principal at Winnacunnet.
"I think that is what Randy is, an outstanding role model, and he has been since the day he walked through the door," Gaylord said.
Zito began his career as an English teacher at Winnacunnet in 1976 and was promoted to assistant principal in 1982
He left in 1993 to become principal in Newmarket and later in Westbrook and Kittery, Maine.
Zito returned to the high school as vice principal in 2004 and a year later was named principal, replacing Ruth Leveille, whose contract was not renewed.
"It's been my pleasure to say I helped hire him as principal, and I look forward to working with him to the end of one of our careers," Gaylord said.
Winnacunnet School Board member Chris Singleton said Zito has been a big part of the success of the school.
"When I think about where we were six years ago and I see where we are today, it's like, 'Wow, what a difference,'" Singleton said. "And I know you have been a big part of that."
Zito took over the reigns in the mist of turmoil under the leadership of Leveille and also during a major renovation and construction project at the school.
Board Chairman Richard Goodman said Zito deserves all the praise he is getting and noted when it was announced to the faculty that he won, he received a standing ovation.
"It's inadequate praise to what he has done for the faculty, to the building and for the students who go here," Gaylord said. "This is a great high school to walk into. It exudes Randy."


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Mayor's Office
In an effort to educate motorists on the proper use of roundabouts, City Public Works and Utilities staff will host an open house from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 17 at Campbell Elementary School, 2200 Dodge St.
The open house will focus on multi-lane roundabouts. A multi-lane roundabout at 14th and Superior streets is scheduled for completion in August. On Monday, it will be opened to one lane of traffic. However, construction will continue on portions of the new roundabout until it opens completely in August.
The City of Lincoln currently has three new roundabouts under construction: 14th and Superior, 14th and Alvo Road and 1st and Adams. Over the past five years, roundabouts have been installed at 98th and Pine Lake, 98th and Old Cheney, Amaranth and S.W. 4th St., West Alvo and Tallgrass Parkway, West Alvo and Stonebrook Parkway, and dual roundabouts at 9th and Salt Creek Roadway near Memorial Stadium.
More information on roundabouts can be found at lincoln.ne.gov (keyword: roundabouts).


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13 Creative Google+ Cover Photo Hacks
13 Google+ Cover Photo Hacks
Google+ overhauled its interface Wednesday, which meant an entirely different profile design. One of the most striking differences is the addition of a cover photo, which sits right alongside your previous profile photo.
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The museum archive as feminist construction site — "I'M NOT A NICE GIRL!" at K21 - On Hold #6
"You are a good painter and a nice girl" German curator Kasper König patronizingly assured artist Lee Lozano in 1969. Lozano answered: "Wrong on both counts. I'm a very good painter and not a nice girl!" Her quip now lends a group exhibition of all-women conceptual artists in K21 in Düsseldorf its title.read more
Marijke de Roover at De Pont - On Hold #2 & LIVE on March 21th - 16.00 hrs
Karaoke, feminist theory and love-coms in one: with Belgian artist Marijke De Roover's (1990) video-installation and related performance De Pont's new project space WOOL makes a trailblazing start.(Check her online live-performance on March 21).read more
Catching Their Rhythm - Higher! Higher! Lower, Lower. Louder! Louder! Softer, Softer at Shimmer, Rotterdam
The works in Higher! Higher! Lower, Lower. Louder! Louder! Softer, Softer enter and leave Shimmer's exhibition space in Rotterdam at their own time. Adam Patterson visits this ongoing choreography of artworks to see if Shimmer succeeds in carrying out such an 'ever-changing studio-like mentality'.read more
Credit lines: Who's Werner? at Kunstverein Amsterdam
The groupshow Who's Werner? at Kunstverein traces the collaborative genealogy of works of art. Who is recognized as author – and who not? Graphic designers, assistants, lovers, side jobs and many other crucial yet invisible partners are given the limelight.read more


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Vera and Ren's cool kids!
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Heidi and her active bunch do lunch!
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Pivotal NEA Vote - Contact Congress! - (July 21, 2011)
Don't Wait! Speak Up for the NEA Today
Washington, DC - As early as next Monday, the full U.S. House of Representatives will vote on FY12 funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. The House Appropriations Committee has proposed a $20 million reduction in support for the arts, a 13% reduction from the current funding level of $155 million. This is nearly twice the rate of overall spending cuts for other federal programs in the bill.
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- Master and design new equipment for cryonics;
- Support and carry on scientific research in the domain of cryobiology.
KrioRus is open for collaboration and exchange of experience, aimed to ensure the best possible quality of our services. This is why not only Russian patients but also cryonics supporters from many countries ENTRUST US WITH THEIR FUTURE.


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- 919-613-7057
- email@example.com
- Room: 1177
- Assistant: Marlyn Dail
- Bibliography
Jim Coleman is the John S. Bradway Professor of the Practice of Law, Director of the Center for Criminal Justice and Professional Responsibility, and Co-Director of the Wrongful Convictions Clinic at Duke Law School. He is a graduate of Columbia University (J.D. 1974), and Harvard University (A.B. 1970).
A native of Charlotte, North Carolina, Jim's experience includes a judicial clerkship for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, a year in private practice in New York, and fifteen years in private practice in Washington, D.C., the last twelve as a partner at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. In private practice, Jim specialized in federal court and administrative litigation; he also represented criminal defendants in capital collateral proceedings, including Ted Bundy through Bundy's execution in 1989.
Jim has also had a range of government experience, including two years as an assistant general counsel for the Legal Services Corporation, a stint as chief counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, and a year as deputy general counsel for the U.S. Department of Education.
Jim joined the Duke faculty full-time in 1996, where his teaching responsibilities include criminal law, wrongful convictions, and appellate litigation. His academic work, conducted through the Center for Criminal Justice and Professional Responsibility, centers on the legal, political, and scientific causes of wrongful convictions and how they can be prevented. His administrative work for the University has included chairing the Lacrosse ad hoc Review Committee in 2006, and chairing the Athletic Council (2010-present). Jim also periodically serves as a mediator and monitor in major employment discrimination cases. He is married to Doriane Lambelet Coleman and has three children, Jacqueline Coleman Snead, Alexander Coleman, and Nicolas Coleman.


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Gray & Beige
This bracelet is woven by artisans in Colombia, using ancient techniques. The patterns of our bracelets are designed in Madrid headquarters by a happy soul.
This bracelet is woven on a handloom with 40 threads and you can adjust the bracelet to your wrist. Our advice: Wear one bracelet or mix it with others!
The fine details of our handwoven textile bracelet make this a unique piece, you will recognize if it is a Guanabana Bracelet because of the patterns and by a small medal with our brand name and the words "Be positive" so you can repeat it as a mantra.
- Width : 0.3 cm
- Tape's Length : 12.5 cm
- Maximum Diameter Opening : 26cm
The bag is made entirely by hand, so there may be slight variations in design and measurements.


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WASHINGTON (AP) — Faced with the imminent possibility of running out of money this week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency scoured every financial nook and cranny to come up with enough money to keep its disaster relief fund in the black for a few more days. Congress has been fighting over possible fixes.
The search yielded about $40 million left over from projects to rebuild infrastructure damaged disasters that occurred before August's Hurricane Irene. The newly found cash, announced Monday, means the agency's disaster aid arm will likely be solvent until the end of the budget year on Friday. As of Tuesday, FEMA had about $175 million available and spends an average of about $35 million a day.
Rachel Racusen, a FEMA spokeswoman, said the search for cash is nothing new for FEMA. Officials have found about $180 million this month and nearly $2 billion this fiscal year.
"Our goal has always been to extend the balance of the Disaster Relief Fund for as long as possible," Racusen said. "Without these recoveries ... FEMA would have run out of disaster funding this week, forcing us to begin shutting down disaster response operations."
FEMA has been trying to avoid such a shutdown since August. It stepped up its efforts to find extra money in the wake of Hurricane Irene in late August.
For weeks, Democrats in Congress have been pushing for more disaster aid and had been asking for a $3.7 billion deal, which would include $1 billion for remainder of this budget year.
Republicans insisted that deal would require $1 billion in offsetting cuts in Energy Department loan programs favored by Democrats.
Then FEMA announced Monday that it would have enough money to last the week, eliminating the impasse. Now the agency is likely to get $2.65 billion as part of a continuing resolution that would keep the government funded until November 18.
Besides hunting in old disaster accounts for extra money, the agency also put limits on spending for some recovery projects, including infrastructure repairs from disasters such as hurricanes Katrina and Rita that hit the Gulf Coast in 2005. In late August, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate announced that the agency would limit disaster aid money to "immediate needs," including repaying states for debris removal and giving individual victims financial help.
The move meant that about $400 million in public assistance projects was put on hold.
Earlier this month, the Obama administration also asked Congress for $500 million in emergency funding.
If the funding bill is passed, FEMA expects to resume funding both new and old disaster projects.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.


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Is this really the version you need?
You're trying to download Avast Free Antivirus for Windows to an Android phone or tablet.
To download the Android version, please click here:
You're trying to download Avast Free Antivirus for Windows to an Android phone or tablet.
To download the Android version, please click here:
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Our 400 million users are the 400 million reasons why we lead the digital security pack. Each Avast-loaded device is a source of real-time intelligence about new and current threats. That's how we stop over 100 million of them every day. By joining Avast, you help to make that network even stronger.
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Logga in om du redan har ett konto hos Official International NHL Shop
The Official International NHL Shop is the place to get your NHL jerseys, t-shirts, hoodies, polos, pucks, caps and souvenirs to support your favourite team. We stock official merchandise for all 31 NHL teams here at Europe's largest NHL fan shop.
You'll find a wide range of official products for Eastern Conference teams Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals and Western Conference teams Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Calgary Flames, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, San Jose Sharks, St. Louis Blues, Vancouver Canucks, Vegas Golden Knights and Winnipeg Jets.
Whether it's for the Stanley Cup or the start of the new season, find classic home and away, authentic and breakaway NHL jerseys to show your allegiances. Shop jerseys for NHL's star players here including Patrik Laine, Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane, Connor McDavid and PK Subban. For you die-hard fans, we also stock vintage jerseys and NHL Shield All Star jerseys.
You can even make the jerseys your own with name personalisation available. Whichever your preference, there are plenty of ways you can show your support in style this season. Find all your favourite brands here at the Official International NHL Shop, from Adidas to CCM, 47 Brand to Fanatics.


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By Kathleen Mitchell-Askar, pregnancy and birth editor
For women in our culture, pregnancy and childbirth represent a joyous time: enjoying a growing belly, fantasizing about how the baby will look, shopping for tiny layettes, and taking prenatal yoga classes. But for many women in developing countries, pregnancy and childbirth are risky and sometimes fatal for both mother and newborn.
Save the Children, a nonprofit organization that supports the health and well-being of children and families worldwide, released its "State of the World's Mothers" report just before Mother's Day 2010, and its findings indicate a critical need for qualified female health care workers to save the lives of mothers and children during the potentially dangerous times of pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period.
The report's findings are alarming: Every year, nearly 9 million newborn babies and young children die before reaching five years of age. Nearly 350,000 women die from pregnancy or childbirth complications, and almost 1 million babies lose their lives during the birth process itself: These infants are stillborn, but were alive in the mother's womb just minutes or hours before birth.
"Most of these deaths occur in areas of the developing world where basic health care is often unavailable, too far away, or of very low quality. And most of these deaths could be prevented if skilled and well-equipped health care workers were available to serve the poorest, most marginalized mothers and children," the report reads.
Save the Children estimates that 74% of mothers' lives could be saved if all women had access to skilled support during delivery and if they received emergency obstetrics care for complications. Sixty-three percent of children under age five could also be saved if all children were given a full package of essential health care, including skilled birth attendance and immunizations and treatments for pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria. In total, about 250,000 women's and 5,500,000 children's lives could be saved each year.
The report's key finding is that developing countries need more female health workers. "Evidence from many developing countries indicates that investments in building a strong female health workforce can make the difference between success and failure in the fight to save lives," Save the Children reports.
Women specifically are instrumental in maternal-child health in these areas because socio-cultural beliefs and practices often prevent women from receiving the care they need if the care provider is a man. According to the report, "especially in rural areas, husbands and elder family members often decide whether a woman may go for health care outside the home, and may deny permission if the health worker is a man. And for health concerns that are uniquely female — those related to reproductive or sexual issues, pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding — it is common for a woman to prefer a female caregiver."
If women feel safe and comfortable with their care provider, they would be more likely to seek help for themselves and their children, and to attend to health concerns before they turn critical. An increased availability of female health workers, then, means more lives saved.
The woman-power and techniques needed to lower maternal and infant mortality rates are relatively modest. The money and time needed to train a qualified female community health worker represent a fraction of that needed to train a doctor and run a hospital. With just a few years of formal schooling, a woman can hone the skills needed to diagnose and treat common early childhood illnesses, mobilize demand for vaccinations, and improve nutrition and maternal and newborn care.
A recent study in Bangladesh offers hope for newborns worldwide: Female community health workers with limited formal education and six weeks of hands-on training reduced the newborn mortality rate by 34% in the developing country.
The State of the World's Mothers report cites dozens of studies that have shown the most effective care is local care. Especially in remote communities where hospitals and doctors are hours, if not days, from the woman's home, readily accessible health care will make the most difference.
Even seemingly minute changes, like providing education and fostering connections within existing communities, have been shown to improve maternal-child health. In rural Ethiopia, Malawi, Mali, and Senegal, grandmothers have been educated about better ways to care for newborn babies. Groups of women have been brought together in Nepal, India, and Bolivia to solve shared problems related to pregnancy, childbirth, and newborn care.
"Improvements as a result of these efforts have included increases in prenatal care, skilled birth attendance, exclusive breastfeeding, and reductions in newborn mortality up to 45%," the report states.
Based on the State of the World's Mothers report, Save the Children has made four recommendations to improve the lives of mothers and children in the developing world:
- Train and deploy more health workers, especially midwives and other female health workers; provide better incentives to attract and retain qualified female health workers.
- Invest in girls' education, both in training female health workers and to empower young women, as educated girls marry later and have fewer, healthier children, and are more likely to be advocates for their own and their family's health.
- Strengthen basic health systems.
- Design health care programs to better target the poorest and most marginalized mothers and children.
Attachment Parenting International encourages families to educate themselves about pregnancy and childbirth in order to prepare for the life they will soon welcome. If families around the world had access to the information and medical care we have in the West, more mothers would have the opportunity to choose a safe birth and to raise their children in health and love.
To take action, visit ONE.org at www.one.org/c/us/issue/15/ where you can sign petitions on this and other issues.


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Steps VA has taken to address patient-care scandal
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some steps the Department of Veterans Affairs has taken to address a scandal over long patient waits for care and phony records hiding delays at VA hospitals and clinics nationwide:
May 30: VA Secretary Eric Shinseki resigns, he and agency officials announce that:
—Top level agency officials will not receive performance bonuses this year;
—Employees' performance in meeting a 14-day wait-time target for patients' appointments will no longer be considered in employee job reviews. The agency found its strapped clinics were not always able to meet that goal and it was pressuring some workers to falsify wait-time information;
—Steps will be taken against officials involved in falsifying wait-time data and senior officials at facilities where audits identify problems;
—Senior officials will be removed from the VA's Phoenix facility, a focus of the department's problems.
June 4: Acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson says agency is contacting 1,700 veterans the department's inspector general found were omitted from the Phoenix center's official waiting list and is starting to schedule appointments for them.
June 5: Gibson says retaliation won't be tolerated against agency workers who have complained about covering up of scheduling delays. Gibson makes that vow after independent federal Office of Special Counsel says it is investigating possible retribution against 37 VA employees.
June 9: The VA announces additional steps including:
__Starting to contact more than 90,000 veterans waiting for care — including 50,000 already reached — to accelerate appointments. Those without appointments or waiting more than a month are being given a choice of a VA appointment as soon as possible or seeing a local non-VA health care provider.
—Planning further investigation of 112 of the 731 VA facilities visited by agency auditors, because initial interviews with workers suggested that data on appointments may have been falsified or that employees may have been told to do so.
—Immediate hiring freeze at the VA's Veterans Health Administration office in Washington, D.C., and 21 regional Health Administration offices around the U.S.;
—Hiring extra clinical and patient-support staffers for the most overburdened VA facilities;
—Using temporary staffing measures, including mobile medical units, to accelerate care for veterans on wait lists;
—Collecting data from patients and those making initial appointments to assess their satisfaction with care;
—Starting an external audit of VA's system for scheduling appointment.


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During their Super Bowl season in 2012, the Ravens at times defied doubters, logic and historical precedent.
One trend they bucked, something that is starting to get a little attention in these dog days before training camp, is how the Ravens became the first NFL team in more than a decade to win the Super Bowl despite finishing the season with a negative sack differential. The New England Patriots were the last to do it in 2001.
Sacks aren't always the best indicator of overall pressure, but when a pass rusher does hit home, it usually results in a big loss and sometimes a big change in momentum. That's why it isn't surprising that the 10 Super Bowl winners before the Ravens were ones that got after enemy quarterbacks while also protecting their own.
The 2012 Ravens did it their way, though. They recorded 37 sacks last season, 15th in the league and their lowest total since 2010, when they had 27. On the flip side, they allowed their quarterbacks to be sacked 38 times, which ranked 20th.
Interestingly, the Ravens had a negative sack differential in both of their championship seasons (the first was 2000, of course).
With a minus-one sack differential in 2012, they were one of five teams to make the playoffs with a negative differential. One of the other teams was the San Francisco 49ers, which means it was the first meeting in the Super Bowl between teams with a negative sack differential in at least the past 11 years.
Still, the previous 10 Super Bowl winners had an average sack differential of plus-12.6. Of those teams, the 2007 New York Giants had the best differential, plus-25, with Steve Spagnuolo, who is now a Ravens assistant, as their defensive coordinator.
The Ravens should have a better pass rush this season. Having Spagnuolo around can't hurt, but more significant are the addition of Elvis Dumervil and a return to health for Terrell Suggs. With those two chasing after quarterbacks, along with guys like Chris Canty and Haloti Ngata, the Ravens should experience a bump back towards where they were in 2011.
Latest Sports
And if the Ravens can protect Flacco as well as they did last season -- I'm just talking regular season -- you have to figure they will get back to having a positive sack differential in 2013, which recent history shows is a nice thing to have going for you.


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Golden Globes 2014: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler keep the zingers, laughs coming
Just call them the golden girls.
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were on duty as host of the Golden Globes for the second straight year Sunday night, and once again proved to be masters of the gig.
Displaying the solid comic rapport they developed while playmates on "Saturday Night Live," the two women came strong out of the gate and basically killed it with a hilarious monologue that offered just the right blend of sly snark and self-effacement.
They started by welcoming the live audience at the Bevely Hilton, along with "all the women and gay men watching at home." And Fey, referring to the fact that the duo was back for an encore performance, pointed out that, in Hollywood, you just keep doing it "til everyone hates it."
There doesn't appear to be any chance of that - at least not for a while. Unlike edgy hosts such as Ricky Gervais or Seth MacFarlane, they have a way of putting a live audience at ease - instead of making them feel like they're in front of a firing squad - while keeping things entertaining for the folks at home.
That's not to say they didn't take their jabs. George Clooney, for example, was the on the receiving end of one particularly sharp zinger when Fey insisted that the film "Gravity" is the "story of how George Clooney would rather float away in space and die than spend one more minute with a woman his own age."
Not every punch line landed, of course. Calling Matt Damon "a garbage person," in relative terms, among a room of big stars, was a bit of unnecessary roughness, and the whole shtick about Danny and Bobby wanting to say "hi" to Martin Scorsese went nowhere fast.
But Fey and Poehler maintained a good batting average as they kept the laughs coming. Among the highlights of a brisk, rat-a-tat-tat monologue was a joke about how Matthew McConaughey lost 45 pounds for his role in "Dallas Buyers Club" - "or what actresses call 'being in a movie.'" And then there was Poehler referring to the cable drama "Masters of Sex" as "the degree I got from Boston College."
They even had a fun bit of audience interplay as they chided Julia Louis-Dreyfus, a duel nominee, for sitting in the movies section, rather than with her fellow TV stars. Cut to: Louis-Dreyfus in sunglasses and smoking an e-cigarette and acting the snob.
A sophomore slump? Not for these two. Now, if we can only come up with more awards shows for Fey and Poehler to host.
Their best zingers


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For the last three years, we've rated ViewSonic's 32-inch LCD HDTVs as relatively good performers for the price point, and the company's newest model, the N3235w ($679 street), doesn't buck the trend too much. Where this set falls a bit short is around back, where it just doesn't offer the same level of connectivity as some competing bargain HDTVs, such as the Vizio VX32L HDTV. If you're just looking for a simple, no-frills HDTV and don't want to connect a lot of gear, however, then the ViewSonic N3235w is a solid choice.
As did fellow bargain-price LCD maker Vizio--along with just about every other HDTV maker this year--ViewSonic chose to go glossy with its 2007 frame. The N3235w doesn't have any other remarkable design cues aside from its middling thick, glossy black frame. The perforated section of plastic below the screen, which contains the speakers, is par for the LCD course, and there's a big, silver power button smack in its midst. The rest of the controls are located along the top of the panel. The included stand brings the television's overall dimensions to 31.5 inches wide by 24.9 inches high by 8.3 inches deep and its weight to 37 pounds.
ViewSonic packages a long, slender remote that's generic looking but thoughtfully laid out. The exception to the thoughtfulness is the three rows of identical keys at the top to control secondary functions. The simplistic menu system doesn't deserve any substantial criticism, and we liked that it displayed the numeric values that correspond to the various preset settings. It helps to know the value for Red in the Warm color temperature preset, for example, when adjusting the custom setting yourself.
As an entry-level flat-panel set, the ViewSonic has a sparse feature selection, beginning with a native resolution of 1,360x768. That pixel count allows it to display every detail of 720p HDTV sources, and as always, all sources including HDTV, standard TV, DVD, and computers are scaled to fit the pixels.
The N3235w's picture-adjustment capabilities, which are adequate for a TV in this league, include the ability to fine-tune the color temperature via a set of three controls, one each for red, green, and blue. There's also the standard array of three color-temperature presets. ViewSonic also throws in a selection of four picture presets, none of which can be adjusted, as well as a User mode that's independent per input. Our only big complaint is the lack of a dedicated backlight control--which was present on last year's N3260w as well as 2007 sets such as the Vizio VX32L HDTV.
ViewSonic is quick to tout the N3235w's included ATSC tuner, but since it's required by law nowadays that's hardly a noteworthy feature. There are five aspect-ratio selections for standard-def sources and four for HD sources, although the Normal mode seems to duplicate others. We appreciated the addition of a "no scale" mode, although it's really only useful with 720p sources, which appear with small, black bars on all sides and no scaling (ensuring a 1:1 pixel match with incoming material for maximum sharpness) to satisfy purists. 1080i sources in this mode just fill the screen. We also liked the Zoom key, which simply magnified the image.
Connectivity on the N3235w is a bit disappointing. While rivals such as Vizio sport two HDMI inputs, this bargain 32-incher gets by with just one. We counted just one each of the other types of standard inputs: composite video, S-Video, and component-video. As can be expected from a prominent manufacturer of PC monitors, the ViewSonic has a VGA-style PC input that handles resolutions up to 1,360x768.
All told, the ViewSonic N3235w is a good but not particularly noteworthy performer for its price point. It can't produce as deep a level of black as the Vizio VX32L HDTV, for example, but its off-angle viewing characteristics are superior.
As always, we began by adjusting the N3235w for optimal picture quality in a darkened room, which entailed, among other things, reducing the set's light output to a comfortable 40 footlambert. While the ViewSonic's Warm color temperature preset was more accurate than that of many budget flat-panel LCDs (see the Geek box bellow), it introduced too much green into the image. We adjusted the color temperature sliders to eliminate the extra green, but since the set lacks sliders to adjust the bottom of the grayscale, we couldn't hone it as accurately as we'd have liked. The N3253w also tended to dive toward green in darker areas if we adjusted the middle and lighter parts of the scale correctly. The best compromise was to get the dark areas (20 IRE) as accurate as possible and sacrifice some accuracy in middle and brighter areas--a compromise that resulted in worse results in the Geek box, but a somewhat more pleasing picture overall. For our complete picture settings, click here or check the Tips & Tricks section above.
After adjustment, we set the N3235w up alongside a couple of other 32-inch LCDs, namely the Samsung LN-T3253H and the aforementioned Vizio VX32L HDTV. To evaluate the ViewSonic's picture quality, we checked out the Bulletproof Monk Blu-ray disc on the Samsung BD-P1200 at 1080i resolution.


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New Short Paper Milkshake Straws
Posted on January 08 2013
For an added touch of vintage soda fountain in your life try our new milkshake straws! Wider and shorter than our standard paper straws, these milkshake straws are perfect for thick malts and milkshakes served in short or small cups. How adorable these would be displayed on a tray of mini milkshakes!
♥ Layer Cake Shop


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RIM has updated the BlackBerry WebWorks SDK for Tablet OS to version 2.1. This latest version allows developers to leverage new APIs to create richer applications using standard web technologies. The WebWorks project is also open source and the code can be found on github.com/blackberry.
In this latest update to the SDK, new features include:
- Support for the BlackBerry In App Payment API
- Deeper integration with the Camera API for taking pictures/video from within the WebWorks applications
- Microphone API which developers can use to activate the capability to record audio with the PlayBook's microphone
- Identity API provides applications with the ability to retrieve information about the BlackBerry PlayBook PIN
- File IO API gives developers the possibility to read, copy and write files onto the Tablet OS file system
Click through to read all about it.
Research In Motion (RIM) introduced today version 2.1 of the BlackBerry® WebWorks™ SDK for Tablet OS. This release adds new powerful APIs and robust application functionality which developers can easily leverage to create WebWorks applications that deliver a richer, more interactive end user experience. The BlackBerry WebWorks SDK is the toolset that supports developers who wish to build applications using standard web technologies for the BlackBerry WebWorks Platform. BlackBerry WebWorks is RIM's open source, mobile web platform that enables developers to build standalone, integrated applications for BlackBerry devices.
The new APIs give more development leverage to app developers and enable them to accomplish more on several key fronts:
More Ways to Monetize
With support for the BlackBerry In App Payment API developers can now include In App Payment Services as part of their applications. This enables them to sell digital goods directly from their BlackBerry PlayBook applications.
More Ways to Integrate
Developers can now further integrate their applications with the functionality of the Tablet OS for PlayBook and can create new BlackBerry experiences that leverage the PlayBook's professional grade features. Among the new APIs that enable deeper integration are the Camera API for taking pictures/video taping from within the WebWorks applications with the PlayBook's powerful dual HD cameras; the Microphone API which developers can use to activate the capability to record audio with the PlayBook's microphone; the Identity API provides applications with the ability to retrieve information about the BlackBerry PlayBook PIN; and the File IO API which gives developers the possibility to read, copy and write files onto the Tablet OS file system.
More Development Choices
In addition to JavaScript, many Tablet OS WebWorks APIs can now be called using AJAX which allows for increased development flexibility for developers who prefer a RESTful or URI implementation.
The new File Properties API, Home Screen Category and App Securities Permissions also enable deeper app integration with the BlackBerry PlayBook and expand development choices.
To help developers with a smooth transition to version 2.1 of the BlackBerry WebWorks SDK, RIM has also updated the API Reference Guide and included an additional mechanism to call some of the WebWorks APIs. To learn more about how to get started and download the latest WebWorks SDK for Tablet OS.
The release of the new version of the BlackBerry WebWorks SDK also provides a great opportunity for developers to create new or update existing applications and submit them to the BlackBerry Developer Challenge 2011 – Most Innovative BlackBerry WebWorks app on the BlackBerry PlayBook and BlackBerry 6 competition, which is open until August 26. More information about the challenge and prizing valued at $ 3 million is available at http://www.blackberry.com/developers/challenge.