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Article content
Every World Cup provides an international stage on which the sport's best performers are given an opportunity to shine.
It is the Greatest Show on Earth, after all.
So it is fitting that Brazil 2014, thought by most to be the world's cathedral of soccer, will be the international stage on which so many superstars may well be making their final appearance at a World Cup. Some have decided already to leave international play. Others will make the announcement after the tournament.
No matter, they will be leaving the World Cup stage to the beat of the samba. These players are wonderful proponents of O Jogo Bonito — the Beautiful Game — the title given to soccer by Pele, the most legendary player of all.
Some of those players have been the heart and soul of their national teams for many years. When they do go, it will be a loss for the game, but it will change the very core of their national team.
As fate would have it, four of those players will play in one of the most anticipated group games of the tournament
With Italy, England, Uruguay and Costa Rica all in Group D, it is one of the toughest groups in the tournament.
On June 14 — in the middle of the Amazon basin in the city of Manaus — Italy and England will play their first game of the World Cup.
Italy will be led by 34-year-old magical midfielder Andrea Pirlo. The Italian league is so inundated with foreign midfielders that an Italian that excels at the position stands out to an even greater degree. Pirlo has been the national team's saving grace. He controls pace, is a master at distributing the ball and is a maestro of the free kicks.
Defending the Italian goal is Gianluigi Buffon, for years considered the world's best goalkeeper. At 36, he is on the downside of his career. This is his fifth World Cup and the Italians will have great trouble replacing him. Buffon's magnificence over the years has allowed Italy to win a World Cup and remain a force in world football.
He has had to overcome depression in his career and, just before this World Cup, he faced personal issues again, having recently split with his wife, model Alena Seredova.
By the time England's World Cup is done, it, too, will be looking to find replacements for two men who have been integral to English football.
Frank Lampard turns 36 during the tourney. Midfield partner Steven Gerrard is 34. They have been a fixture on the Three Lions and, while the national team's success has been limited, it isn't because of their lack of effort or talent.
Those players will have to deal with the pressure of the World Cup and the questions about their international retirement.
But they are by no means the only players the world has enjoyed watching play who will appear for the final time in this event.
Didier Drogba, a striker who has put Ivory Coast soccer on the world map, will attain the 100-cap mark with his national side before calling it a career on the international stage.
It was likely this was to have been French winger Franck Ribery's last World Cup. But the 31-year-old won't get that chance — he's out with a lower-back injury. Ribery played for Les Bleus in the 2006 and 2010 tournaments. He says he intends to play in Euro 2016 in France.
Germany's Miroslav Klose has been a scoring machine in World Cup play. At 35, this will be his last chance to reach his goal of becoming the most prolific scorer in the tournament's history. Klose has 14 World Cup goals and is chasing Brazil's Ronaldo, who has 15. Klose has already hinted he might not play internationally beyond this tournament.
With so many magnificent Spanish midfielders to watch, Xavi is often lost in the mix, but there is no doubting how important he's been to the Spanish machine.
At 34, will Xavi's international career comes to an end after this World Cup? He was key in getting Spain its first major win at 2008 Euro and it was his partnership with Andres Iniesta that helped make their country so dominant after so many failures.
And what of goaltender Julio Cesar? At 34, he has been a stalwart for Brazil and now plays with Toronto FC. There are rumours he won't return to Toronto after the World Cup. While he'll play club football, his World Cup future is limited.
By no means are these the only players who will announce that Brazil will be their last appearance on a World Cup stage.
Should all of these players do the expected and step away from international football, the Beautiful Game will be a lot less beautiful.
They have provided a plethora of thrills for fans and have helped put their nations at the soccer forefront.
If it is to be their swansong on this grand stage, then it's fortunate they'll perform it in a country where they will be appreciated like no other.
Tweets by @MoDaCoatLFPress
tap here to see other videos from our team.


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The city will launch its open data platform Aug. 1.
Less than a year after Palo Alto, Calif., CIO Jonathan Reichental was appointed to office, the city is set to launch an open data platform next month.
On Aug. 1, data.cityofpaloalto.org will go live in an effort to make city data sets more accessible to the public. Reichental, who took his position as CIO last December, said the city will deploy the initiative as an effort to play catch-up but also fulfill more big picture plans.
Reichental said after joining Palo Alto, he spoke with City Manager James Keene about where city governments were heading and what would be part of future public-sector IT. Originally the concept of strengthening mobility in the city — better connecting citizens to city services with mobile devices — was a possible IT focus, but Reichental had a bigger plan for Palo Alto.
"I said, 'Let's think even larger than that,'" Reichental said. "Mobile can be a subset of other things that you're doing."
Because there's currently a push to increase government transparency and open data initiatives in federal, state and city governments, Reichental felt Palo Alto should develop its own open data initiative as a big picture priority. Once an open data initiative is in place, subsets of other technologies such as mobility can emerge from it, for example, through building mobile apps from the open data.
To carry out the initiative, Palo Alto isn't working alone. Reichental said the city contracted with Junar, which is based in Palo Alto, to host the open data platform for one year.
The data is set to be rolled out on the site through a phased process, so not all the information that is expected to be on the site will be available on Day 1 of deployment. Reichental said residents should expect to see city tree data available on the site upon the launch, in addition to other data sets. However, financial data is expected to appear through a phased process.
But is software as a service always the best route for deploying an open data platform? Reichental said IT projects developed in-house often take longer to complete and can be more complex to carry out. And while many cities rely on data centers, local governments may benefit from steering away from that approach.
"I don't think cities should be in the data center business," he said, later adding, "I think governments get bogged down in procuring big systems, deploying a data center and hiring staff to support them."
Conversation starter: Is it better to develop open data platforms through software as a service or should they be done in-house?
Looking for the latest gov tech news as it happens? Subscribe to GT newsletters.

subset: commoncrawl


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Call of Duty: Ghosts is "on track to be the most pre-ordered title of the year," GameStop has claimed, despite publisher Activision stating that pre-orders for the upcoming shooter "are well below the record-setting pace" set by last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.
In a press release highlighting a new pre-order promotion, GameStop's senior VP of merchandising Bob Puzon commented: "Call of Duty is an entertainment juggernaut and cultural phenomenon. We are excited for the upcoming release of the new instalment of this blockbuster franchise. We look forward to celebrating the worldwide November launch of this great game that is on track to be the most pre-ordered title of the year."
Puzon's choice of words doesn't make it clear how GameStop is defining its metrics, and whether they're basing the claim on pre-orders placed within 2013 or for games due to be released in 2013.
If it's the former, expect the majority of pre-orders for GTA 5 to have been placed in 2012.
Nevertheless, Puzon's claims are surprising given Activision's comments last month and next week's release of GTA 5 - a title expected to break the opening week sales record currently held by the original Call of Duty: Black Ops.
In an investor relations call last month, Activision Publishing boss Eric Hirshberg said, "As one might expect in this console transition year, pre-orders for Call of Duty: Ghosts are well below the record-setting pace set by Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 last year.
"However, our quantitative consumer research indicates that hesitation amongst past club pre-orders is primarily due to not knowing which platform they will be playing on, which is natural at this time in the console transition."
Call of Duty: Ghosts launches on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U and PC on November 5, with PS4 and Xbox One versions to follow at each console's launch.
Source: Activision Press Release


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The HTC One is not even widely available and the latest version of Sense UI used on the handset has already been ported to the previous HTC handset – the DROID DNA. A developer over at XDA forums has worked hard to bring the latest Sense UI to the current Verizon flagship of the Taiwanese maker.
Below is a video of the latest Sense UI in action on the DROID DNA -:
The whole ROM based on Sense 5 UI is still a bit buggy though with a few basic features not working properly. One of the new Sense 5 feature, Zoe, is also not working but it should not be long before the developer fixes the issue. However, the new BlinkFeed homescreen works flawlessly and can be customized according to your liking as well.
HTC has already confirmed that it will be bringing the latest Sense UI to some of its older devices including the DROID DNA. However, knowing HTC, the company is going to take its own sweet time to bring the new UI to DNA and will not be implementing certain features that make use of the new hardware on the One, including Zoe.


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Chicago Transit Authority union president Robert Kelly says the operator of a Blue Line train that derailed at O'Hare early Monday may have dozed off.
Kelly says early indications show this may explain why the eight-car train jumped the tracks and landed on the stairs and escalators leading to the airport terminals just before 3 a.m.
"The indication is there, yes," Kelly said about whether the operator dozed off. "She has worked a lot of hours in the past weekend, and the indication is there."
According to Kelly, the female train operator had 17 hours off between her shifts, which was ample time to get the necessary rest.
"She has assured me there is no problem with her passing the drug and alcohol, so that is not a factor in this," Kelly said.
At a news conference Monday, National Transportation Safety Board signal specialist Tim Depaepe said the motorman started her shift at about 8:40 p.m. Sunday.
- PHOTOS: CTA train derailment at O'Hare
- Derailed Train Raises Questions About Automated Safety Systems
"When she is released, we will make arrangements to interview her and find out what happened from her point of view," DePaepe said.
Kelly said the operator, who has been employed with the CTA for about a year, will be interviewed by the NTSB on Tuesday.
The train operator was walking, talking and answering questions afterward, fire officials said. She was taken to the hospital with injuries to her leg and later released.
"It's unfortunate that this happened," Kelly said. "It's not 100 percent [clear] exactly what happened and how all this was caused."
Thirty-two people were injured in the crash, none seriously.
Denise Adams was on the train when the crash occurred.
"I was on the fifth or sixth car on the train and I heard a boom, and when I got off, the train was all the way up the escalator," Adams said.
Another passenger, who didn't want to be identified, described a scene of confusion and chaos.
"I thought it was a hard break, but then it got even worse, and I felt the train come off the tracks," the passenger said. "It was chaos, people freaking out trying to find out what's happening."
Blue Line passengers are being shuttled back and forth between the O'Hare and Rosemont stops by bus, and the detours and delays are expected to be in place on Tuesday. Train service will run on a normal schedule between the Rosemont and Forest Park stops.


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After capping off a three-win homestand with a 3-0 victory over Montreal on Saturday, the Dynamo have received accolades from the staff at MLSsoccer.com this week.
On Monday, Calen Carr was named MLS Player of the Week after recording two goals and an assist in two wins.
Today, Carr, Macoumba Kandji and head coach Dominic Kinnear were all named to the MLS Team of the Week.
Here is what impressed the league's writers about each of the Dynamo representatives:
MF: Calen Carr (Houston Dynamo) – The speedster has really taken to the Dynamo's retooled formation – he bagged both goals in Houston's midweek win over Sporting KC and helped set up the opener in a weekend win over Montreal, all from the right wing side of Dominic Kinnear's 4-3-3 formation.
FW: Macoumba Kandji (Houston Dynamo) – Another player who has reaped the fruits of the Dynamo's new look, Kandji put in a man of the match performance in a 3-0 triumph over Montreal, bagging two goals including an excellent individual effort to cap off the win.
Coach: Dominic Kinnear (Houston Dynamo) – His shift to a 4-3-3 is starting to play huge dividends, as the Dynamo picked up six points this week and outscored opponents 5-1. Also deserves credit for finding a way to get the best out of role players such as Calen Carr and Mac Kandji while seamlessly integrating new Designated Player Boniek Garcia.
Midfielders Brad Davis and Boniek Garcia both earned Honorable Mention nods as well.
Click here to view the entire MLS Team of the Week for Week 20.


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- 1 3-pound box coarse kosher salt
- 5 (or more) large egg whites
- 2 1-to 1 1/2-pound whole branzino, loup de mer, or sea bass*, gutted
- 8 fresh parsley sprigs
- 2 fresh thyme sprigs
- 4 thin lemon slices
Salsa Verde
- 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup finely diced celery
- 1/4 cup finely diced cucumber
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons drained small capers
- 2 tablespoons sliced pitted brine-cured green olives (such as picholine)
- 1
- 3 cups arugula
Recipe Preparation
Preheat oven to 400°F. Stir salt and 5 egg whites in large bowl, adding more egg whites as needed to form grainy paste. Press 1/4-inch layer of salt mixture (large enough to hold both fish) onto large rimmed baking sheet. Stuff cavity of each whole fish with half of herb sprigs and lemon slices. Place fish atop salt mixture on baking sheet. Pack remaining salt mixture over fish to enclose completely. Roast until thermometer inserted into thickest part of fish registers 135°F, about 20 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes.
Salsa Verde
Using small sharp knife, remove peel and white pith from lemon. Working over bowl, cut between membranes to release segments. Cut each segment into 3 pieces. Add lemon pieces and next 6 ingredients to bowl.
Using back of large spoon, gently crack open salt crust on fish. Lift and discard salt layer. Pull skin from top of 1 fish. Carefully lift top fillet from bones and transfer to plate. Lift and discard bones. Gently lift second fillet from skin and transfer to second plate. Repeat with second fish for a total of 4 plates.
Spoon salsa verde over fish, leaving juices in bowl. Add arugula to bowl; toss to coat. Divide among plates.


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North Western Electric Cooperative Inc.
North Western Electric Cooperative is a member-owned business providing energy and related services to its customers. Our dedicated employees deliver high quality, reliable services at competitive prices. We will be your provider of choice.
We are located in the northwest corner of the state of Ohio. We service and maintain over 1,060 miles of energized lines. Our 9 substations provide service to 6,050 members.
Welcome to your cooperative's website. Please look around and discover all the things your co-op has to offer. Can't find what you are looking for or have a question? Please contact us.


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Black Laser Cut Couture
Neutral Communion Invitations
Black Laser Cut Couture, Item# CM9059CC
Note: Sparkles are simulated and will not light up.
Black Laser Cut Couture, Item# CM9059CC
Note: Sparkles are simulated and will not light up.
Reply Card
Foldover Thank You Card Style 2
Driving Directions Card
$0.89 - $1.79
Place Card
Personalized Communion Luncheon Napkin 1
Personalized Communion Beverage Napkin 1
"Black Laser Cut Couture" features a spectacular, laser-cut wrap that surrounds your insert card. Gorgeous blooms and vines are intricately laser cut into this wrap, revealing the insert card within. Your custom text is imprinted with raised lettering on your choice of insert card. Many different card stock color options, including shimmer, are available. A must see Storkie exclusive!
This invitation must be assembled - placement of the Printed Insert Card within the Wrap is required; or have us assemble this item for you for an additional $0.55 per invitation.
You will be able to select the typestyle and ink colors to use for your personalized text during the design process. Start by clicking on the green 'Personalize and Continue' button. We recommend using the default typestyle and ink colors.
|Estimated Postage Required:
|$1.15 stamp - if other items are not added into the Envelope. Click here for additional postage information.
|Item Type:
|Flat Card
|Card Dimensions:
|6.25" x 6.25" (W x H)
|Printing Process:
|Thermography Printing
|Paper Weight:
|100 lb. Card Stock
|Typestyle Shown:
|ModernB and Zapfino
|Matching Ink Color:
|White or Cream Envelopes with Pearl Shimmer lining included. Printed return address and/or Calligraphy is available for an additional cost.


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A Family Is Forever
Young Women Selected Songs: A Song of the Heart
1. A fam'ly is forever,
Eternally together,
We're never far apart 'though miles between,
Our fam'ly's dream is that one day
If we do what we should do,
We will be one,
And I'll be me, And you will still be you.
A family is forever,
Eternally together,
And 'though the years may take me far from home,
I will always have a family of my own.
2. A family is forever,
Eternally together,
Whenever we are sick or feeling sad,
Our dad is there to bless us,
And our mother has a smile,
And we know inside
With lots of pride,
Our fam'ly makes it all worthwhile.
Text: Gwen Cundick
Music: Gwen Cundick


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Looking for some new kicks for your tot? Check out the toddler trainers in our Nursery footwear range. Here you'll find a whole host of colossal brands with sneaks in sizes 3 – 9, so your toddler can look as on point as you.
Check out the latest drops from Nike Kids, with classic silhouettes like Air Max, Air Force and Air Max 270 React. We also have a huge range of toddler adidas trainers, including the Gazelle, Superstar and Continental 80. No kids' footwear range would be complete without toddler Converse, and the nursery Chuck Taylor All Star range does not disappoint.
Not quite what you're looking for? Check out our ranges of crib, infant and junior footwear. Alternatively, shop the entire collection of nursery clothing.
If you want to protect your new trainers, be sure to shop the Footasylum collection of product care, to keep kicks looking and feeling fresher for longer.
Sign up for news, launches & offers
Our website uses cookies, as almost all websites do, to help provide you with the best experience we can. For more information on the cookies that our site uses click here. By continuing to use this website, you agree to the use of Cookies.


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Joined 31 December 2012
PC-XT (talk · global contribs)
Home: PC-XT (talk · contribs) @English Wikipedia
Other projects I have joined can be seen with SULutil or CentralAuth. I don't often log in here, but was globally opting in an edit counter, and decided to make a user page while I'm here.
|This is a Wikimedia global user page.
If you find this page on any site other than a Wikimedia project, you are viewing a mirror site. Be aware that the page may be outdated, and that the user this page belongs to may have no personal affiliation with any sites other than one or more Wikimedia project(s). The original page is located at https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:PC-XT.


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Nokia has confirmed that it has started rolling out the PR 1.3 (v40.2012.21-3) software update for its last MeeGo powered handset, the N9. The update will be rolled out in batches over the next few weeks, with the non-branded N9 variants slated to receive the update first.
At the moment it is known whether the update is a major one or not. The official change-log from Nokia reads that there are "over 1000 quality improvements including Mail, Facebook, Twitter, minor network & connectivity improvements." The company has not really provided any more information about this update, so consider those 1000+ quality enhancements as bug-fixes rather than any actual enhancements. Like any other software update, the PR1.3 update for the N9 will also bring the general performance and stability boost.
Since Nokia has not provided much information about the update, don't except PR1.3 to bring any new major changes or enhancements.


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Press is hands down among the best Google Reader clients available on Android. It has been dubbed as the 'Reeder' for Android devices, which is no small feat.
Even then, Press is far from perfect. Until today, the app lacked background syncing notifications and had performance issues even on dual-core Android devices.
The developers of Press – TwentyFive Squares – pushed a new update to the app today which fixes most of the issues with the app and brings other new features. Below is the full change-log of the app -:
– Quick article navigation to go to next/previous articles
– Background/automatic syncing
– Sync on app launch
– Background syncing notifications
– New text-alignment options
– Show image title and URL in the image viewer. (xkcd fans rejoice!)
– Date and time formats now match device settings
– Article title is now included when sharing to social networks
– Lots of performance enhancements and bug fixes
If you are an avid Google Reader user and have not tried Press, you are missing out on probably the best way to access Google Reader on your Android device.


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Top Freezer Questions Answered
Our resident how-to culinary expert, Marge Perry, answers commonly asked questions about freezing food.
Top Freezer Questions Answered
Marge Perry, the voice of culinary wisdom behind our "Ask the Expert" blog, is an award-winning food writer and instructor at the Institute for Culinary Education in New York City. Read on for her expert advice on the most common questions about freezing food.
Freezing Salsa
Oxmoor House
Freezing uncooked or processed tomatoes does not work particularly well–the texture...
Freezing Casseroles
To determine whether you should freeze a casserole before or after you cook it, first ask yourself if it is likely to get dry...
Freezing Cream Cheese Frosting
Van Chaplin; Lisa Powell Bailey
Cream cheese frosting is not likely to freeze well: it becomes watery and crumbly. The same can be true...
Freezer Burn?
Those spots sound like freezer burn, which will not make you sick, but will make the texture of the meat unpleasantly dry...
I had some meat in the freezer and it got grayish brown spots on it. Does that mean it's bad?
Freezing Cookies
Photo: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Lisa Powell Bailey
Most cookies freeze well. (Meringues do not). My colleague Carole Walter, a James Beard award winning baker, recommends...
Frozen Fish
Becky Luigart-Stayner
First, it is important to know that frozen fish doesn't "go bad"—that is, it won't make you sick if it's been in the freezer too long...
Freezing Cheese
Beau Gustafson; Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine
Some cheese will freeze better than others, but all cheese is likely to...
Re-Wrapping Meats and Chicken
That's a whole lot of work you needn't bother with. You can freeze meat and poultry right in the original packaging, although...
Is It Necessary to Re-Wrap Meats and Chicken Before Freezing?
Freezing Bell Peppers
Photo: Beau Gustafson; Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine
When gardens and farmer's markets are brimming with bell peppers, it's helpful to...
Freezing Eggs
When eggs are frozen, the yolks undergo a change of texture...
Freezing Meatloaf
Photo: Monica Buck
Meatloaf, unlike a creamy casserole with a lot of liquid ignredients, is likely to dry out...
Freezing Butter
Absolutely! The recommended time for freezing butter is 6 months. I've never been able...


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The Weekly Source Code 22 - C# and VB .NET Libraries to Digg, Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Live Services, Google and other Web 2.0 APIs
Someone emailed me recently saying that they couldn't find enough examples in .NET for talking to the recent proliferation of "Web 2.0 APIs" so I thought I'd put together a list and look at some source. I think that a nice API wrapper is usually a useful thing, but since these APIs are so transparent and basic, there's not really a huge need given LINQ to XML but I understand the knee-jerk reaction to hunt for a wrapper when faced with the word "API."
One thing to point out is that 99.9% of these APIs are calling
HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(uri);
under the covers the doing something with the resulting string. Some hide the URL creation, some use XmlDocuments, others use XmlSerialization. When you use a random API you find on the net you're usually getting what you pay for. You're getting a one person's free view on how they perceived a certain API should be called. Some will like be more performant than others. Some might be better thought out than others.
I'll try to juxtapose a few differences between them, but I just want you to remember that we're talking about pushing Angle Brackets around, and little else. You can always do it yourself.
And so, Dear Reader, I present to you twenty-first in a infinite number of posts of "The Weekly Source Code."
Digg is a community-voted controlled explosion of news stories. Their API is "REST" and speaks XML or JSON on the wire.
DiggApiNET is a .NET Wrapper for the Digg API. It has no releases, so you'll have to get the source code. It was last updated in May of 2007. There's also another at CodeProject called, creatively, digg API.NET.
Let's talk philosophy of design and look a the first library. Here's some snippets pulled from all over the code. This API builds the URL and loads the results of the call into an XmlDocument, holds it for a second and SelectNodes the values into Digg-specific objects. These objects know about the existence of System.Xml.
private const string get_popular = "http://services.digg.com/stories/popular/comments/{0}";
public DiggComments GetPopular()
return GetPopular(new Hashtable());
public DiggComments GetPopular(Hashtable args)
string uri = String.Format(get_popular, HttpBuildUrl(args));
return new DiggComments(Request(uri));
public DiggComments(XmlDocument xml_doc) : base(xml_doc, "events")
_comments = new List
if (xml_doc.SelectSingleNode("events") == null
|| xml_doc.SelectSingleNode("events").SelectNodes("comment") == null) {
throw new DiggApiException("XML response appears to be malformed, or contains unexpected data.");
foreach (XmlNode node in xml_doc.SelectSingleNode("events").SelectNodes("comment")) {
_comments.Add(new DiggComment(node));
This is a pretty straight-forward if not totally "clean" way to do it. SelectSingleNode and SelectNodes aren't too fast, but we're looking at tiny chunks of data, probably under 100k. I'd probably do it with either XmlReader or XmlSerializer, or more likely, LINQ to XML. I'd make a service that handle the wire protocol, and make the objects know less.
Facebook has a very sophisticated and deep API and there's lots of support for it on .NET that is well explained by Nikhil. You can develop for Facebook using the free Express Visual Studio editions.
There's quite a few available:
- There's Facebook.NET and Clarity Consulting's Facebook Developer Toolkit with detailed instructions.
- Jay Lagorio has a nice client library for Facebook written in VB.NET.
- JD Conley has released a Facebook library focused on Asynchrony called fbasync
Nikhil's Facebook client APIs feel well factored, with separate services for each major Facebook service and a FacebookSession object proving contextual state. Requests are pulled out into FacebookRequest and include asynchronous options, which is thoughtful.
Here's an edited (for brevity) example of a WinForm that allows you to set your Facebook status. I like the IsPermissionGranted call, which I think is clean and clever, given that there is a large enum of permissions.
public partial class StatusForm : Form {
private const string _apiKey = "[Your API Key]";
private const string _secret = "[Your Secret]";
private FacebookService _fbService;
private bool _loggingIn;
private void LoadStatus() {
_nameLabel.Text = "Loading...";
User user = _fbService.Users.GetUser(null, "name,status");
if (user != null) {
_nameLabel.Text = user.Name;
_statusTextBox.Text = user.Status.Message;
_dateLabel.Text = user.Status.UpdateDate.ToLocalTime().ToString("g");
bool canSetStatus = _fbService.Permissions.IsPermissionGranted(Permission.SetStatus);
_permissionsLink.Visible = !canSetStatus;
_updateButton.Enabled = canSetStatus;
_statusTextBox.ReadOnly = !canSetStatus;
protected override void OnActivated(EventArgs e) {
if ((_fbService == null) && (_loggingIn == false)) {
_loggingIn = true;
try {
FacebookClientSession fbSession = new FacebookClientSession(_apiKey, _secret);
if (fbSession.Initialize(this)) {
_fbService = new FacebookService(fbSession);
finally {
_loggingIn = false;
private void OnUpdateButtonClick(object sender, EventArgs e) {
string text = _statusTextBox.Text.Trim();
_fbService.Users.SetStatus(text, /* includesVerb */ true);
Interestingly, the Facebook API also includes it's own JsonReader and JsonWriter, rather than using the new JsonSerializer, presumably because the lib was written a year ago.
Windows Live Services
There's a bunch of info on http://dev.live.com/ and a bunch of complete sample apps with source as well as a Live SDK interactive site. The Live Contacts API, for example . Unfortunately with the Contact's API there's no .NET samples I can find that includes wrappers around the angle brackets, so you'll be parsing in whatever way you prefer.
The objects that are provided in the Alpha SDK are really focused initially on security and permissions. For example, before I was able to access my contacts programmatically, I had to explicitly allow access and chose a length of time to allow it. I allowed it for a day to be extra secure.
Once you've retrieved some data, it's very simple so a request like https://firstname.lastname@example.com/LiveContacts would give you:
<WindowsLiveID>{Passport Member Name}</WindowsLiveID>
<Comment>comment here</Comment>
</Contacts> </LiveContacts>
The Live Search API speaks SOAP and has samples in six languages including C#, VB, Ruby, PHP, Python, and Java.
YouTube has two different versions of their API, but the original/old version is officially deprecated. Now that they are Google, the YouTube APIs are all GData style, replacing their REST/XML-RPC APIs.
There is a .NET Library that speaks the GData XML format and querying YouTube with C# is fairly simple from there. You can even upload videos programmatically to YouTube like this gentleman.
This fellow eschews GData's uber libraries and uses a StringBuilder to build the GData payload and that's OK. :)
private string GetHeader(string title, string description, Catagory catagory, string keywords, string videoFileName) { StringBuilder xml = new StringBuilder(); xml.Append(boundary + lineTerm + "Content-Type: application/atom+xml; charset=UTF-8" + lineTerm + lineTerm); xml.Append("<?xml version=\"1.0\"?><entry xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom\" "); xml.Append("xmlns:media=\"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/\" xmlns:yt=\"http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007\">"); xml.AppendFormat("<media:group><media:title type=\"plain\">{0}</media:title>", title); xml.AppendFormat("<media:description type=\"plain\">{0}</media:description>", description); xml.AppendFormat("<media:category scheme=\"http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007/categories.cat\">{0}</media:category>", catagory); xml.AppendFormat("<media:keywords>{0}</media:keywords>", keywords); xml.Append("</media:group></entry>" + lineTerm); xml.Append(boundary + lineTerm + "Content-Type: video/*" + lineTerm + "Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary" + lineTerm + lineTerm); return xml.ToString(); }
GData is Google's standard protocol for moving data around via XML and HTTP. There are GData endpoints for Blogger, Google Calendar, Notebook, Spreadsheets, Documents, Picassa, etc. From their site:
NET Developer Guides exist for specific Data APIs. They can be found under the page for each Data API
- Getting Started Guide
- Developer's Guide
- Reference Guide (NDoc)
- Project main page (Subversion)
- Downloads page
The GData C# client is written by Google, so I was really interested to read their code as their interview process is legendary and I assume everyone is a 17 year old PhD. The code is exceedingly object oriented with more than 165 files over 10 folders (not counting unit tests and project stuff). It's also VERY well commented, but interestingly, not always commented using the standard XML comments most MSFT Programmers use, but rather a different format I'm not familiar with.
All the APIs are fairly similar. Here's a GData sample that Queries the Calendar for events within a date range.
static void DateRangeQuery(CalendarService service, DateTime startTime, DateTime endTime)
EventQuery myQuery = new EventQuery(feedUri);
myQuery.StartTime = startTime;
myQuery.EndTime = endTime;
EventFeed myResultsFeed = service.Query(myQuery) as EventFeed;
Console.WriteLine("Matching events from {0} to {1}:",
for (int i = 0; i < myResultsFeed.Entries.Count; i++)
Here's an example that downloads all the pictures from a specific username in Picassa using C#. Everything in GData is an "AtomEntry" and many have extensions. You can handle the GData types or use specific sub-classes like PhotoQuery, or whatever, to make thing easier.
private static void DownAlbum(string UserN, string AlbumN)
string fileName;
Uri uriPath;
WebClient HttpClient = new WebClient();
// Three important elements of PicasaWeb API are
// PhotoQuery, PicasaService and PicasaFeed
PhotoQuery query = new PhotoQuery();
query.Uri = new Uri(PhotoQuery.CreatePicasaUri(UserN, AlbumN));
PicasaService service = new PicasaService("Sams PicasaWeb Explorer");
PicasaFeed feed = (PicasaFeed)service.Query(query);
foreach (AtomEntry aentry in feed.Entries)
uriPath = new Uri(aentry.Content.Src.ToString());
fileName = uriPic.LocalPath.Substring(uriPath.LocalPath.LastIndexOf('/')+1);
try {
Console.WriteLine("Downloading: " + fileName);
HttpClient.DownloadFile(aentry.Content.Src.ToString(), fileName);
Console.WriteLine("Download Complete");
catch (WebException we)
{ Console.WriteLine(we.Message); }
You can also certainly use any standard System.Xml APIs if you like.
GData is an extension of the Atom Pub protocol. Atom Pub is used by Astoria (ADO.NET Data Extensions) which can be accessed basically via "LINQ to REST."
Flickr has a nice API and WackyLabs has a CodePlex project for their FlickrNET API Library written in C#. It's also confirmed to work on Compact Framework and Mono as well as .NET 1.1 and up. There's a fine Coding4Fun article on this library.
This API couldn't be much easier to use. For example, this searches for photos tagged blue and sky and makes sure it returns the DateTaken and OriginalFormat.
PhotosSearchOptions options = new PhotosSearchOptions();
options.Tags = "blue,sky";
options.Extras |= PhotoSearchExtras.DateTaken | PhotoSearchExtras.OriginalFormat;
Photos photos = flickr.PhotosSearch(options);
The PhotosSearch() method includes dozens of overloads taking date ranges, paging and other options. All the real work happens in GetResponse() via GetResponseCache(). The URL is built all in one method, the response is retrieved and deserialized via XmlSerializer. This API is the closest to the way I'd do it. It's pragmatic, uses as much of the underlying libraries as possible. It's not really extensible or overly OO, but it gets the job done cleanly.
Since Flickr is a data intensive thing, this library also includes a thread safe PersisitentCache for storing all that data. I'd probably just have used System.Web.Cache because it can live in any application, even ones outside ASP.NET. However, theirs is a Persistent one, saving huge chunks of data to a configurable location. It's actually an interesting enough class that it could be used outside of this lib, methinks. It stores everything in a super "poor man's database," basically a serialized Hashtable of blobs, ala (gasp) OLE Structured Storage.
WordPress and XML-RPC based Blogs
Most blogs use either the Blogger or MetaWeblog APIs and they are easy to call with .NET. That includes MSN Spaces, DasBlog, SubText, etc. There's samples deep on MSDN on how to call XML-RPC with C# or VB.
Windows Live Writer and BlogJet use these APIs to talk to blogs when you're authoring a post, so I'm using .NET and XML-RPC right now. ;)
A very simple example in VB.NET using the very awesome XML-RPC.NET library is here. Here's a more complete example and here's a mini blogging client.
DasBlog uses this library to be an XML-RPC Server.
In this sample, the type "IWP" derives from XmlRpcProxy and uses the category structure. The library handles all the mappings an deserializaiton such that calling XML-RPC feels ;like using any Web Service, even though XML-RPC is a precursor to SOAP and not the SOAP you're used it.
Dim proxy As IWP = XmlRpcProxyGen.Create(Of IWP)()
Dim args() As String = {"http://myblog.blogstogo.com", _
"username", "password"}
Dim categories() As category
categories = proxy.getCategories(args)
You can also use WCF to talk XML-RPC
I've talked about Twitter before and they have a Twitter API that is at least an order of magnitude more important than their site. There is a pile of source out there to talk to Twitter.
Last year Alan Le blogged about his adventures in creating a library around Twitter's API and Witty is a actively developed WPF C# application that fronts Twitter. You can browse their source and see their simple TwitterLib.
TwitterNet.cs is the meat of it and just builds up objects using XmlDocuments and does what I called "left hand/right hand" code. That's where you've got an object on the left and some other object/bag/pileOdata on the right and you spend a lot of lines just going "left side, right side, left side, right side.
For (trimmed) example:
public UserCollection GetFriends(int userId)
UserCollection users = new UserCollection();
// Twitter expects http://twitter.com/statuses/friends/12345.xml
string requestURL = FriendsUrl + "/" + userId + Format;
int friendsCount = 0;
// Since the API docs state "Returns up to 100 of the authenticating user's friends", we need
// to use the page param and to fetch ALL of the users friends. We can find out how many pages
// we need by dividing the # of friends by 100 and rounding any remainder up.
// merging the responses from each request may be tricky.
if (currentLoggedInUser != null && currentLoggedInUser.Id == userId)
friendsCount = CurrentlyLoggedInUser.FollowingCount;
// need to make an extra call to twitter
User user = GetUser(userId);
friendsCount = user.FollowingCount;
int numberOfPagesToFetch = (friendsCount / 100) + 1;
string pageRequestUrl = requestURL;
for (int count = 1; count <= numberOfPagesToFetch; count++)
pageRequestUrl = requestURL + "?page=" + count;
HttpWebRequest request = WebRequest.Create(pageRequestUrl) as HttpWebRequest;
request.Credentials = new NetworkCredential(username, password);
using (HttpWebResponse response = request.GetResponse() as HttpWebResponse)
StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(response.GetResponseStream());
XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
XmlNodeList nodes = doc.SelectNodes("/users/user");
foreach (XmlNode node in nodes)
User user = new User();
user.Id = int.Parse(node.SelectSingleNode("id").InnerText);
user.Name = node.SelectSingleNode("name").InnerText;
user.ScreenName = node.SelectSingleNode("screen_name").InnerText;
user.ImageUrl = node.SelectSingleNode("profile_image_url").InnerText;
user.SiteUrl = node.SelectSingleNode("url").InnerText;
user.Location = node.SelectSingleNode("location").InnerText;
user.Description = node.SelectSingleNode("description").InnerText;
catch (WebException webExcp)
return users;
So far, there's a .NET lib for every Web 2.0 application I've wanted to use. I even banged a .NET Client out for Wesabe last year then did it again in IronRuby.
Enjoy. Which (of the hundreds) did I miss?
About Scott
Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.
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30 May, 2014 | (01 hr)
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Organizations are drowning in data but starving for predictive analytics insight. C-suite executives and HR know big data and predictive analytics are the future but hesitate to act. This session will feature a simple business case to encourage the C-suite to adopt these new tools. This webcast will discuss real-world case studies showing how a few simple metrics, used in combination with visualization, can unlock predictive insight, root cause identification and ROI.
Audience: Anyone who wants to know how to design and deliver human capital analytics in a way that positively affects organizational outcomes. Human resources, finance, and IT professionals will find this webcast of interest.
Jeff Higgins
Mr. Higgins is the chief executive officer of the Human Capital Management Institute, a driving force in Workforce analytics at leading companies who transform workforce data into a source of value creation via planning and predictive modeling. With his unique combination of experience ...Full Bio
Stephanie Cady


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Robert Altman has made a career out of exploring self-enclosed worlds: the country music scene in Nashville, '30s jazz in Kansas City, high-fashion in Prêt-à-Porter and Hollywood itself in The Player. Here, the 78-year-old director turns his attentions to modern dance, The Company unspooling as an impressionistic tribute to The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago.
What makes The Company interesting - - certainly more interesting than a film about ballet has any right to be - - is that it's everything you'd expect of Altman... Yet markedly different. So while fans of the veteran helmer's output will recognise the slender plot, the deep-focus photography and the fragmented scenes, Altman dipping into snatches of conversation, they'll be shocked to find that The Company isn't one of his acerbic satires. In fact, the tone here is one of warmth, the old curmudgeon apparently bowled over by the unwavering discipline of these talented, underpaid, overworked dancers.
At the movie's heart is Ry, played by screen star and former National Ballet of Canada student Neve Campbell, a young talent who gets her big break when a colleague drops out injured. Not that the promotion brings the bucks or the easy life: Ry continues to work shifts as a waitress to pay the rent and her hectic schedule leaves little time to relax with her new boyfriend, Josh (Spider-Man's James Franco).
Campbell's good, but the best performance on show here is Malcolm McDowell, who escapes his typecasting as a criminal to play the autocratic-yet-benevolent Antonelli, artistic director of the company. Yes, it's hard to credit him as an Italian-American, but his barking one-liners are impossible to resist. What's more, it's entirely likely that Antonelli is a self-portrait of Altman. Look at the way he choreographs his charges, striving to avoid phoniness and always alert to the financial cost of artistic suggestions.
A paean to professionalism and athleticism, The Company also makes for mesmerising viewing, combining movement, music and colour to strangely hypnotic effect. As Antonelli says, "It's not the steps, darling. It's what's inside the steps that counts."


text:
[Edinburgh District Council Women's Unit Grant awards]Record level Item
From the Franki Raffles Photography Collection Collection Collection
Part of Miscellaneous photographs of gatherings and events organised by women's groups in Scotland Parent record level Series
The University cares greatly about accurately recording and cataloguing our collections data, and we welcome input from you to make the quality of our records even better.
Fill in the boxes below with any amendments to the record, or additional information. We will then check and update the record.


text:
Accessibility Options
To maintain a healthy urban forest, it is first necessary to assess the present factors that contribute to the health of the trees; or that negatively impact them. It will then be through the Forest Enhancement process that the positive attributes can be continued and expanded and the negative ones eliminated or reduced.
The urban forest of Broward County is generally divided into two categories: 1) the Landscape Areas where trees have been purposely planted and are regularly maintained to enhance the surrounding residential, commercial, or institutional developments; and 2) Natural Areas that consist of preserved and enhanced native plant communities that function as an ecosystem and are maintained to the benefit of the whole. It is therefore necessary for Broward County and its partner municipalities to develop two different set of factors with which to assess the forest health. The Landscape Level Assessment will focus on Insect and Disease Impacts and Human and Environmental Stresses on the trees in the landscape. The Natural Area Assessment will alternatively focus more on Habitat Diversity and Invasive Exotic Plant Coverage with the native plant community.
Most of the urban forest in South Florida is "managed" by local and state agencies in order to ensure the health of the trees that comprise our forests. The management techniques include: providing irrigation; conducting remedial pruning; and occasionally fertilizing to enhance the poor soils in which the trees are often planted. In order for us to realize the health benefits we receive from trees – reducing air pollution, reducing noise pollution, saving energy and creating wildlife and plant diversity – we must, in turn, better ensure the health of our trees.
The University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) provides a wealth of information on measures that can be taken to improve tree health, among many other topics.
Tree Maintenance
Much of the stress that trees must endure is human-caused. Whether it is planting the tree too deep, providing insufficient irrigation, placing too little or too much mulch over the root system, or failing to remove cables or wires used to stake a recently planted tree, resulting in girdling of the tree. The link below explains many of the common human stresses and how to correct them.
Human Stresses
Trees in a natural system can generally adapt to environmental changes such as drought, flooding, wind storms, and infrequent cold weather. But landscape trees are often placed in undersized planters and exposed to the elements of wind and cold. Regular inspection of trees can detect problems caused by environmental stressors and correct them before they become damaging or fatal. An effective maintenance program, including the necessary follow-up care of mulching, fertilizing, and pruning is essential to good tree care.
Tree Care
Plant Health Care
Trees that already have reduced defenses from human or environmental stress are more likely to be subject to plant pests, which include insects and diseases. Integrated Pest Management is a broad approach to suppressing pest populations while minimizing risks to human health and the environment. This includes controlling insects, plant pathogens and weeds. Integrated Pest Management allows for a safer means of controlling pests and ensuring a healthy forest.
The International Society of Arboriculture and the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences provide detailed information on Integrated Pest Management for the urban forest and an individual's own backyard.
International Society of Arboriculture Insect and Disease
University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Yard Pests
Insects and Diseases of Trees in the South
Pest and Disease Directory
Florida Forest Service -- Forest Insects
The DRAFT Landscape Level Assessment and the Natural Area Assessment protocol can be accessed through these active links. Please try them for your specific forested system and let us know your thoughts at firstname.lastname@example.com


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Aramis eager to earn title of 'Mr. April'
Brewers third baseman seeks cure to early-season woes
PHOENIX -- Brewers third baseman Aramis Ramirez is brainstorming with his manager on ways to beat his annual early-season slump.
"I would have like five MVPs in my house right now if I ever got off to a good start," Ramirez said, probably only half-joking.
Indeed, Ramirez's worst monthly batting average (.257) and on-base percentage (.328) are in April and his worst slugging percentage (.450) is in May. Compare that to August, when Ramirez has hit .305/.367/.547.
He thought that signing a free-agent contract with the Brewers last offseason would help, since he'd be playing half of his early-season games at climate-controlled Miller Park instead of chilly Wrigley Field. But Ramirez instead followed the same pattern, hitting .214 with two home runs in April last season before rallying to hit .300 with 27 home runs, 105 RBIs and an NL-best 50 doubles.
"I talked to [manager Ron Roenicke] yesterday, and talked to him a couple of times in the offseason, and we want to try to do something different this spring to see if it works out," Ramirez said. "I don't know what it's going to be yet. I don't know if it's going to be play more games, play less games. Take more [batting practice] down here? I don't know. Just do something different and see if I can get off to a great start."
Right now, Ramirez and Roenicke are each brainstorming ideas. They'll talk again before games begin to set a plan.
Roenicke said the early start of Cactus League games, a product of the World Baseball Classic, could benefit Ramirez if he opts to play more this spring. He also noted that Ramirez reported to camp a bit lighter this year.
"He's tired of not starting off well and he wants to try to do something about it," Roenicke said.


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JP1 universal remote controls (One-for-all)
JP1 Overview
JP1 remotes are inexpensive remote controls made by Universal Electronics (UEI or UEIC) and sold under several brand names, most notably One-for-All and Radio Shack. Such remotes typically sell for US$15-50. Many cable companies also distribute UEIC remotes with their cable boxes, and some electronics manufacturers provide JP1 remotes. Unlike many inexpensive "universal" remotes, JP1 remotes can be programmed to extend their capabilities. The term JP1 most directly applies to the 6-pin connector that's used to connect the remote to a computer. You can identify JP1 remotes by the presence of a 6-pin connector or by six small holes in the battery compartment; either is marked "JP1", "JP1.1", "JP1.2", or "JP1.3."
Note: Most expensive ($100 or more) programmable remotes are not JP1 remotes. These remotes, from manufacturers such as Logitech, have their own programming tools. Many of the advantages and disadvantages of such remotes, from a MythTV perspective, are the same, but you'll need to consult documentation on your specific remote to learn how to program it.
Some UEIC remotes come with JP1 connectors installed at the factory. Most models, however, lack these connectors, having only six small holes and a "JP1" label in the battery compartment. These remotes are usually programmable, but they require either special "pogo pin" adapters or literal hardware hacking -- you must solder a 6-pin connector to the circuit board. A few models require you to add an EEPROM chip, as well. If you're uncomfortable performing such surgery, you can track down a remote that ships from the factory with the necessary hardware, or you can buy a pre-modified remote from a third party. You can also send a remote to the manufacturer for a device upgrade; UEIC adds the JP1 connector to add codes itself, then returns your remote to you.
JP1 Types
If you're interested in using the advanced JP1 features, you should be aware of several different types of JP1 remote. Despite using identical connectors, these different remote types are largely incompatible on a hardware level, so you must know which type of remote you have before you buy or build a cable. The software tools are the same for all the different remote types.
The first type is the original JP1 design. This design employs an EEPROM chip in the remote to hold programming data. A variety of different cable designs exist for this remote type, using RS-232 serial, parallel, and USB port interfaces. (At least some of these interfaces are reported to not work with USB-to-parallel connectors.)
The second broad type of JP1 remote is often referred to as "JP1.x", since the "JP1" marking next to the connector has been replaced with a label that reads "JP1.1", "JP1.2", or "JP1.3." The JP1.1 interface was used on very few models, but JP1.2 and JP1.3 are both fairly common. Interface cables for RS-232 serial and USB are available for these remotes, but few designs work with all three sub-varieties. Most ready-made JP1.x cables work with either JP1.1 and JP1.2 or with JP1.2 and JP1.3. Be sure to buy or build a cable for the appropriate interface type. Internally, JP1.x remotes use flash memory on the remote's microcontroller rather than a separate EEPROM chip.
Ready-made JP1 cables typically cost $15-$30. (RS-232 serial and parallel cables tend to be the least expensive varieties.) Most cables can be made for about half that amount, although some ready-made cables are of a proprietary design.
Pointers for JP1 Hacking
See the Hi-Fi Remote Web site for detailed information on programming or using undocumented features of these remotes. You will find details on adding JP1 connectors (when necessary), on building or buying cables to connect the remote to a computer's parallel, RS-232 serial, or USB port, and on using the hobbyist-created software for programming the remotes. Although the JP1 programming tools are awkward to use, they're quite powerful. Configuration files can be found online for a wide variety of devices. The JP1 tools enable you to remap keys and set up macros, even on remotes that don't officially support such features.
Software consists of two tools, with two choices for each available. First is a program that creates special codes for individual devices (that is, emulated remotes). Key Master (KM) is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that fills this roll, and Remote Master (RM) is a Java program that has similar capabilities. Both tools enable you to enter raw infrared device codes, load sets of such codes from files you can download from the Internet, and assign codes to virtual remote keys. This first tool doesn't "talk" to the remote directly, though; it just prepares the codes for an individual device. A second tool is used to combine several individual device upgrades, to perform other reprogramming tasks (such as creating macros), and to upload the final code set to the remote. The original tool to do this job is called IR.EXE. It's a Windows program that can be made to run under WINE, at least when using some interfaces. Remote Master can also fill this role; however, the device coding and remote communication tasks are quite distinct, and Remote Master actually includes two shell scripts to launch the functions separately, at least in Linux.
A few JP1 remotes include a "learning" mode in which the remote can record and reproduce the IR codes produced by other remotes. Typically, the remote only has enough memory to learn a dozen or so codes, but this can be sufficient for many purposes. Once codes are learned, the JP1 software can often produce a more memory-efficient configuration, so you can learn all the keys from a device by encoding them in stages. If you have one learning and one non-learning remote, both with JP1 interfaces, you can use the learning remote to learn the codes from a device manufacturer's remote and then transfer the learned codes to the non-learning model.
Ready-made device upgrade files can be found on the JP1 Remotes Web site's JP1 Downloads section.
Using JP1 Remotes as Keyboard Substitutes
A fully-enabled JP1 remote can be reprogrammed to emulate an infrared keyboard for use in a LIRC-less configuration, or to emulate almost any other infrared device. Without the JP1 interface and associated programming, chances are you'll have to use one of the remote's standard devices along with LIRC.
Using a JP1 remote (or any other programmable remote) to emulate an IR keyboard has the advantage of simplifying your Linux-side configuration; however, the cost is greater complexity on the remote end. You'll need a cable and you'll need to learn the JP1 software. You may also need to modify your remote's hardware to add a JP1 connector if yours lacks the actual connector.
See Programming Remotes as Keyboards for details about the reprogramming procedure.
Using JP1 Remotes with LIRC
To get your JP1 remote control working with MythTV via LIRC, you can use the "synthetic" device called VCR1444, and the remote control commands to control it, available as a device upgrade for all JP1 remote controls. The link below also has the matching LIRC lircd.conf and lircrc files for mythtv and xine. It also includes a customised xine keymap file.
The files and some instructions are here.
If you don't want to, or can't, reprogram your JP1 remote using the JP1 tools, you can select any device that provides unique functions for as many keys as possible and configure LIRC to recognize those keys. Note that the JP1 remotes, like most third-party universal remotes, don't employ all their keys for all devices. For instance, the channel up and down keys might be "dead" when you use the remote with a definition intended for a DVD player. For this reason, you may need to experiment to find a remote code and LIRC configuration that work well.


text:
GOCE arrives safely at launch site in Russia
Following its departure from ESA in the Netherlands, GOCE has arrived safely at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia – from where the spacecraft will launch on
10 September 2008.
After a safe landing in Arkhangelsk on 29 July the GOCE (Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer) satellite and the 11 containers of support equipment were off-loaded from the Antonov cargo aircraft and transferred by truck to a special train. Along with escort personnel from ESA, Thales Alenia Space and Eurockot, the shipment was then carried some 200 km southward to the spacecraft preparation facilities at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, where it arrived in the afternoon of 31 July.
GOCE's journey, which all went according to plan, began at ESA's European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, after it had been packed in its own nitrogen-pressurised container on 23 July.
On Friday 1 August, the satellite and support equipment were off-loaded from the train and transferred to the clean room at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The following morning the container holding the satellite was opened and initial inspections confirmed that the satellite had arrived undamaged.
Another milestone now achieved, the science community is one step closer to acquiring a map of the Earth's gravity field of unprecedented accuracy and resolution to advance our knowledge of ocean circulation, sea-level change and Earth-interior processes.
Now that GOCE has arrived safely, it's all systems go for the final countdown to launch on 10 September. The support equipment is currently being set up to prepare for the various final tests the satellite will undergo before being mounted onto its Rockot launch vehicle 13 days prior to launch.


text:
Arts & Culture
Li Bing Bing at High TeaBy Claudine Ko
Just as high tea was being served at Gordon Ramsay's Maze restaurant in midtown's London Hotel last Wednesday, Li Bing Bing was accosted by a group of young fans, cameras in hand. Li, thirty-eight, one of the China's most famous actresses, was perfectly coiffed, and dressed in skinny black pants, a butterfly-print top and a crisp white blazer with a mandarin collar. Her face gave way to an ever-so-slight sulk as the fans excitedly chatted in their native Mandarin and gathered around. But then the petite actress swept her hand through her hair, rose from her seat and smiled pleasantly for the photo.
Li had arrived in town earlier in the week to promote her latest film, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, accompanied by director Wayne Wang, author Lisa See, and producer Florence Sloan. (The latter's counterpart, producer Wendi Deng Murdoch and wife of Newscorp's Rupert, was conspicuously absent.) The movie is loosely based on See's novel, which is set in a remote, nineteenth-century Chinese village and follows the difficult, foot-bound lives of Lily and Snow Flower. The women have been laotong ("same old")—or, as one might say, BFFs—since meeting at age seven and, when apart, communicate the tales of their lives through written messages using their own made-up language. For those who may have been excited by the trailer, ahem, there is no lesbian sex, nuanced or not. Wang also took substantial artistic license, reimagining the story through a split in time and personality—the modern-day, bustling, city lives of businesswoman Nina (Lily) and writer Sophia (Snow Flower).


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due to spammers ... please login to see a map
Angelo's, located at 141 Atwells Avenue in historic Federal Hill in Providence, has long been recognized as one of the best Italian restaurants in Rhode Island. Since opening its doors in 1924, Angelo's has been a local favorite, serving up the old-fashioned, comforting flavors of rich Southern Italian food: pasta, homemade meatballs and gravy, macaroni and bean soup, braciola, seafood, veal chops, and the best eggplant parmagiana you've ever tasted., Encompassing a vibrant dining room perfect for all your family get togethers and a quiet and relaxing lounge complete with a wood and marble bar, Angelo's has perfected its' recipe for success. We invite you to experience this Rhode Island tradition for yourself. From our charming, family friendly decor, old-world esthetics, and hospitable service, "Angelo's is still that kind of place".
Angelos Civita Farnese Restaurant
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141 Atwells Ave Providence, RI 02903Add Visit? Add Favorite?


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Aliens Coming Out In Goddamn Fall, Trailer
I sure hope that's the "RPS Release Radar" (patent pending) pinging, and not the "Approaching Alien Xenomorph Motion Tracker". Why did we program them to sound the same? That was my mistake. I'll take the blame, but there was a two-for-one sale at "Stock Sounds For Imaginary Devices". Hmm, I think it's RPSRR and not the AAXTM, as I'm also hearing that Sega's and Gearbox's shiny FPS Aliens: Colonial Marines is skitterring on all fours all the way to Autumn. To pacify baying hoardes, they've also released a trailer.
It turns out they were both going off at the same time, perfectly synchronised. Oh god! No! Noooooooo! NOOOOOOOOOO!
[To Be Continued…]


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ORADELL, N.J. — Bergen Catholic graduate Tristan Duran has been selected along with one other teammate from the University of Minnesota to represent the United States in the World University Games this summer.
The games will be from Aug.19 through 30 in Taipei, Taiwan.
Duran, 20, graduated from Bergen Catholic in 2014. He was born in Teaneck and also lived in Franklin Lakes.
The junior received outstanding accomplishment award this season and was named All-American on parallel bars and high bar, tying for 8th on both at the NCAA Championship.
He competed on pommel horse, parallel bars and high bar at the NCAA Qualifying Session, and placed sixth on high bar and also competed on pommel horse and parallel bars at the B1G Championships.
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text:
[Intro: Kanye West] + (Ryo-Z in background)
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen
You're so privileged right now to be in the presence of
The truth (The days)
The creator (I praise)
The originator of this style (It's a shame)
Accept no immitations
Kanye To-The (The days)
With The Teriyaki Boyz (I pray)
Big Money League in effect (It's a shame)
I-I-I-I still love H.E.R
I-I still love H.E.R., Hanto E. Rap
(Verse 1)
(Ryo-Z in background)
[Ryo-Z] I remember anokoro wo omoikasu pen
Ima mo iro asenai Memory Lane
Deai wa School Daze nori de day moushikon demo
[Wise] Say he's just a friend
[Ryo-Z] Mori ni break
Are kara mainichi kimi ni tegami shitatameru
Tame nai chie shibori bokyabu wo drop
Daremo ga hotto, kyashinai hodo hot
Na baby, wo rock, suru ima ja boku no job
[Wise] When They Reminisce Over You, my girl
[Ryo-Z] Torimaku raibaru tachi tono sci-fi
Kimi to asonde itanda maiban
[Wise] I remember (I remember)
I remember (I remember)
I remember back in the day, high tops haite
Sugureta MJ no Dunk Shot kakete
After school, kimi to futari no park
Yofuke made odotte takke
Next day, jugyou chuu, as I read my S.A
Kokoro komete ne
Futari dake no himitsu vocabulary
Chiribameta roburetaa
Tashika ni
Tsuuji atte ta O.P.P
Dekinai uwaki
Teiuka zokkon maji honki
Anna ni
Aishi atte noni
"What happened girl?"
[Ryo-Z] I remember
[Wise] I remember
Pre-Chorus: Verbal & Wise
Got a lot of soul and you know that your on my mind
Mada mada bokura wa kimi wo oikaketai
(Ryo-Z in background)
[Verbal] We used to play the games (The days)
[Illmari] Yuragani, my love (I praise)
[Wise] Hade, na paper chase (It's a shame)
[Teriyaki Boyz] Demo
[Kanye West] I still love H.E.R., Hanto E. Rap
[Verbal] We used to play the games (The days)
[Illmari] Yuragani, my love (I praise)
[Wise] Hade, na paper chase (It's a shame)
[Teriyaki Boyz] Demo
[Ryo-Z] I still love
[Kanye West] Hanto E. Rap
(Verse 2)
[Verbal] I remember once again, all the times that we spent
All the words that you said, mada kizamarete
Ima demo can't forget
How you let the rhythm hit
Represent dokashitetane just to get a rep
Sonna koro ga fresh
Demo ima de ha all about the
Ikka ku senkin, 'bout the benjamins
About the mesaki no seiko bakari
Ryuu shutsu seiki rara pose on the internet
You know the whole repetoire
Kuchi guse wa kukumei
Datta no ga ima dewa, "Money makin'"
Atari mae no you ni time's racing
Dakedo ano koro no
Days, remember?
[Illmari] I remember
[Verbal] I remember
[Illmari] I remember kake meguru omoide
Koko de hodoite
Gutto kuruyou na omoide
Nagamete mae no hou ga poi ze
Choice is yours, na no ni poison
Erabu no wa doshite
Kimi ni moshi deru I still love
Tell me why
Hoka no ko wa hayari de Passin' Me By
Shiteku kedo kimi dake only one
Do what you like
If that's your style
Sonna ima no kimi to odottetai
Mada owachattanai
Kore ga hajimaridatte
Remember, kimi wa Hanto E. Rap
Repeat Pre-Chorus
Repeat Chorus
[Kanye West]
I know
I know
I know
[Verse 3: Kanye West]
This is what y'all all looking forward to
This is more than historical, anything that I say that is audible
Ought to blow, just like a chick givin' oral, yo
Lick the black, get the cream, like a Oreo
Hit the track, get the C.R.E.A.M., same story, yo
Trick that on Armani Emporium, it's more important, though
Yes sir, my aura is orchestral, but way fresher
'Cause I simply throw a symphony, on a SMPTE, but I know
That niggas steal beats, so after I emcee, I empty the M.P
So I can stay out of reach, they used to say, "Use a producer"
I'm glad I never listened to you losers, cause now, I'm in
Shibuya, buyin' somethin that's, way too exclusive
Uh, ra-ra-ra-ra-rappers are in danger, this floor is from a manger
But meaner than Lucifer, yeah, and this is the new drug
I'm the new high, y'all want ya weed back?
Yell, "I still love H.E.R., Hanto E. Rap!" (E. Rap...)
E. Rap
Repeat Chorus
This is a collaboration between Kanye West and the Teriyaki Boyz, a Japanese hip hop supergroup that includes members of RIP Slyme and m-flo. The 4 rappers are well known in the Japanese scene and the DJ is Nigo, the founder of A Bathing Ape.
The title "I Still Love H.E.R." is an allusion to Common's song 'I Used to Love H.E.R.' In the Teriyaki Boyz song, it stands for 'Hontō E Rap' (or Hontō ii Rap) and in Common's it stands for 'Hearing Every Rhyme' or 'Hip hop in its Essence is Real'. The common Japanese phrase Hontōni best translates to English as 'really?' but the root of the word, Hontō or 本当, means truth or reality. Because of this, we can read the Teriyaki Boyz version of H.E.R. as "Real Rap" or "True Rap".


text:
So I know we have a few members in Idaho lurking around on here I thought I would post an interesting conversation I had today with a Sprint DM friend of mine. Hopefully this will also bring hope to those Sprint users in other areas waiting for 4g.
So my buddy said they are rolling out 4g here within 1-2 months, and Sprint is configuring the towers as we spoke. They have entered in an agreement with Clearwire, and since Clearwire is so wide spread in Boise it makes it a perfect location.
He said everyone at the corporate location is running it right now and it is outstanding.


text:
Germany advanced into the 2014 FIFA World Cup final after dismantling the host nation Brazil, in a record breaking 7-1 victory on Tuesday at the Estadio Mineirao in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Germany, appearing in a record fourth straight world cup semi-final, netted five goals in the opening 29 minutes. The whirlwind of goals silenced the overwhelmingly pro-Brazil crowd. After a brief and somewhat futile resurgence by Brazil early in the second half, Germany went on to net two more goals before Brazil scored a late consolation goal. The goal was described by one commentator as "the most useless goal in World Cup history." (more…)


text:
Shootings on the Northwest, West and South sides have left one man dead and four people injured since Saturday evening, according to police.
About 5:10 this morning, a 44-year-old man was shot in the chest in the 4500 block of West Monroe Street, police said. He died on the scene.
It appeared the man had been sitting in a Toyota Scion when he was shot. His body remained inside the vehicle as police took photographs and knocked on neighbors' doors this morning, and the driver's side window had been shattered.
Police on the scene said it was too early to establish a motive for the killing.
About 3:55 a.m. a 25-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman were shot in the 2200 block of North Mango Avenue, Police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro said.
The two were in a vehicle that had pulled up to a curb when a black SUV pulled next to it and someone started shooting, Alfaro said.
The man was struck in the buttocks and the woman was struck in the wrist, according to police. Their conditions were stabilized at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, police said.
Earlier this morning, about 2:55 a.m. a 33-year-old man was shot in the 500 block of North Lawler Avenue, in the Austin neighborhood. The man was standing on a front porch when a dark-colored sedan drove by and shots rang out, Alfaro said.
The man was struck in the upper leg and taken to John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, where his condition was stabilized.
About 6:50 p.m., a 22-year-old man was standing in a doorway in the 7100 block of South South Shore Drive when two people approached from the street and at least one of them opened fire, police said.
Police responded to the shooting about 6:50 p.m. in the 7100 block of South South Shore Drive, police said
Latest Breaking News
The man was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where his condition was stabilized, police said.
No suspects were in custody late Saturday night as Area Central detectives investigate.


text:
Asked by:
how to deal with SCM?
It's clear to me how to harden winServer2003 with security configuration wizard and security templates.
But I'm a bit lost with SCM.
I have no SCCM and just wanna harden my DC.
Is the plan correct: export default DC policy to a file and import it to SCM. Then accociate imported policy with Windows Server 2008R2 SP1. Then merge imported policy with Domain Controller Policy baseline. Export and deploy customized policy on DC server.
How should I resolve conflicts while merging?
- Edited by zaa Thursday, March 15, 2012 6:05 PM
All replies
Your plan should work. You don't have to import your existing group policies that apply to your DCs, that's an optional step. You could leave them alone and simply customize the settings in a baseline within SCM, then export it as a group policy backup, import that GP backup into a new GPO using the GPMC, and link the GPO to the DC container. How should you resolve conflicts? you need to decide which value is appropriate for your environment, I can't answer that question becuase I know nothing about your business requirements, regulatory requirements, etc.
You don't need to worry about SCCM if all you want to do is apply security baselines, SCCM only comes into play if you want to scan systems for compliance with the baselines.
Kurt Dillard http://www.kurtdillard.com
- Proposed as answer by Kurt DillardModerator Monday, March 19, 2012 3:57 PM
You could go either way. Merging them should be simple because those roles only include system services settings in the SCM baselines and the DC role already enables the services needed for the DNS and File Services roles.
Kurt Dillard http://www.kurtdillard.com
- Proposed as answer by Kurt DillardModerator Monday, March 26, 2012 7:14 PM
I appreciate your comments, however, you did not give instructions on how to resolve conflicts. From my comparison of baselines in SCM, I chose to administer the settings presented in Baseline A (for instance). How do I apply these settings so that the merged baseline retains? Is this a manual action or is there some way to automate?


text: There are few couplets that encapsulate the adolescent existential condition as perfectly as "I feel stupid and contagious / Here we are now, entertain us." So it's fitting that the 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' video is staged as a high-school pep rally of the damned, with a rowdy audience enlisted from an L.A. Nirvana show, cheerleaders recruited from a local strip club and a lead singer who needed some form of authority to rebel against so he chose his director, Samuel Bayer. "Kurt absolutely hated me by the end," Bayer says in Everybody Loves Our Town. But losing control of his client was the best thing that could have happened to Bayer's video. "Somebody came up to me and said, 'Kurt wants to invite the kids down to destroy the set,'" Bayer recalls. "It was this beautiful display of anarchy and destruction."


text:
Nintendo eShop on Wii U™
EA SPORTS FIFA Soccer 13 – Demo Version – EA SPORTS delivers award-winning game play, including the Player Impact Engine, HD graphics and more than 500 officially licensed clubs. Innovations that use the Wii U GamePad put you on the pitch and in the action. Lift and look through the GamePad touch screen to aim the ball on set pieces and penalty kicks, then put the perfect curve on your shot and let it fly. Plus, connect and interact with friends online by inviting them to play or messaging them in real-time using touch-screen typing. Broadband Internet access is required for online play.
Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS™
Scribblenauts™ Unlimited – Venture into a wide-open world where the most powerful tool is your imagination. Help Maxwell solve robust puzzles in seamless, free-roaming levels by summoning any object you can think of. Leverage the StreetPass™ functionality of the Nintendo 3DS system to see the creative solutions to puzzles by players in your area. And for the first time, learn the backstory of Maxwell's parents, 41 siblings (including his twin sister Lily) and how he got his magical notepad. Scribblenauts Unlimited is also available at retail stores.
LEGO® The Lord of the Rings™ – LEGO The Lord of the Rings takes players through the epic story events of The Lord of the Rings motion picture trilogy, and reimagines them with the humor and variety of LEGO play. Trusted with the dangerous task of destroying an ancient magical ring that threatens all that is good, Frodo and the Fellowship set off on a journey to Mount Doom. Players relive the legend through the LEGO Minifigures, as they explore the wonders of Middle-earth, solve timeless riddles and overcome endless foes in their quest to destroy the ring. LEGO The Lord of the Rings is also available at retail stores.
Fractured Soul – Demo Version – Enjoy old-school platforming action on two screens. Fractured Soul is a classic side-scrolling platform game with a twist: It is played across both screens at once. Available exclusively for Nintendo 3DS, Fractured Soul adds a new dimension to this much-loved genre.
New Downloadable Course Packs
New Super Mario Bros.™ 2 – Extend the Mario™ fun and test your skills with two new Coin Rush course packs: the "Platform Panic Pack" and "Coin Challenge Pack C." These downloadable course packs are now available for purchase from the New Super Mario Bros. 2in-game shop, exclusively on Nintendo 3DS.
Also new this week:
• SKRILLEX & THE DOORS "BREAKN' A SWEAT" (Nintendo Video™)
• Harvest Moon® 3D: A New Beginning (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS)
• Classic Games Overload: Card & Puzzle Edition (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS)
• Murder on the Titanic (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS)
• Mighty Bomb Jack™ (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS)
• Christmas Wonderland 2 (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS / Nintendo DSiWare™)
• Crystal Adventure (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS / Nintendo DSiWare)
• BurgerTime™ (Virtual Console for Wii™)
Recently released in the Nintendo eShop on Wii U:
• Ben 10 Omniverse
• Family Party: 30 Great Games® Obstacle Arcade
• Marvel Avengers™: Battle for Earth
• Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game


text:
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text:
Please select your meditation time
Start Meditating
Conclude Meditation
"Meditation begins with a call that awakens us out of the coma of self- preoccupation.We are called, we are chosen. Meditation is our response to that call from the deepest center of our awakened consciousness...by letting go in meditation we learn how to love" Moment of Christ - John Main, O.S.B.
We are a group of men and women from 12 step programs, following the teachings of John Main and the World Community for Christian Meditation. We are not a replacement for, nor are we affiliated with, any 12-step program of recovery. We are here to share this ancient path of contemplative prayer as a way to practice the 11th Step:
"Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out."
"Perhaps one of the greatest rewards of meditation and prayer is the sense of belonging that comes to us. We no longer live in a completely hostile world. We are no longer lost and frightened and purposeless. The moment we catch even a glimpse of God's will, the moment we begin to see truth, justice, and love as the real and eternal things in life, we are no longer deeply disturbed by all theseeming evidence to the contrary that surrounds us in purely human affairs. We know that when we turn to Him, all will be well with us, here and hereafter."
This web space is intended to provide an opportunity for people in 12 Step recovery to connect with a support system for meditation. We honor the traditions of 12 Step recovery. Anonymity, the spiritual foundation of our recovery, reminds us to put principles before personalities. We therefore maintain anonymity at the level of press, radio, films, and digital media, such as the Internet, and we encourage the principle of attraction rather than promotion in our public relations efforts. If you would like to present an introductory workshop for Christian Meditation As An 11th Step Practice, we can help.
Contacts: firstname.lastname@example.com
"The psalmist praised God by singing, 'In your light we see light.' This clarity is felt as joy. Seeing the light is theessence of joy and so it is the only secure basis of contentment in our life."
When we talk or think about meditation, it is very easy to get carried away by theory. And meditation is an extremely exciting and wonderful mystery to talk and think about. But the talking and the thinking have a great inbuilt danger, which is that we do not go beyond the words and the ideas and instead remain looking at a reflection in a mirror.We are so fascinated by the reflection and so unaware that the mirror distorts whatever it reflects, that we fail to turn around and see the real thing. Seeing the real thing means doing the real thing. It means actually meditating, actually putting in the time each morning and evening, to see the real thing.
I suppose if we wanted to sum up John Main's teaching in terms of the tradition. ..One couldn't do better than read this sentence from Word into Silence. "John Cassian recommended anyone who wanted to learn to pray and to pray continually, to 'take a single short verse, to repeat this verse over and over again.'


text:
Females' Right to Drink Free on Fridays Upheld
A stunning victory for female boozehounds and the men who drool over them at bars: Anti-feminist lawyer Roy Den Hollander has lost his lawsuit against New York bars for gender discrimination on "Ladies' Night."
The New York Post reports the Second Circuit Court of Manhattan's ruling:
A three-judge panel unanimously ruled that Hollander failed to prove that several popular nightspots—including China Club, Lotus and Sol—are subject to a law barring discrimination by anyone acting under government authority.
"Regardless of the veracity of this statement, we cannot agree that the state's liquor licensing laws have caused the nightclubs to hold 'Ladies' Nights'; liquor licenses are not directed related to the pricing scheme."
Ladies: Your right to bare breasts on wet t-shirt night at your local herpes rodeo is safe. Another victory for feminism! [NYPost, image from Coyote Ugly via]