text:
Are Happy Project Managers More Productive?
Are Happy Project Managers More Productive?
Lynda Bourne, DPM, PMP
Fact: A happy person is more creative, productive and engaged than an unhappy person.
As project managers and leaders, we are responsible for optimizing our teams' productivity. One effective way for you and your team to achieve great productivity is to create a happy workplace.
Creating a positive environment is your responsibility as a leader. As the saying goes, "There are no bad soldiers under a good general."
In his book, Full Engagement, Brian Tracy outlines a simple series of actions any leader can take to encourage positive contributions from everyone. These ideas are not new. Aristotle believed the underlying motive for every human action was the desire to be happy.
The golden rule for creating happiness is to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." But this requires a number of specific actions.
First, avoid destructive criticism. Destructive criticism sparks feelings of fear, rejection, anger and defensiveness. Leaders should resolve never to criticize, attack, insult or diminish another person -- including team members. Instead, look for good in everything that happens and learn to view problems as opportunities.
Second, stop complaining. When you complain about something you become a victim of the situation, diminish your self-confidence and open yourself to feeling inadequate. You hurt yourself much more than the target of your complaints.
Third, remove fear from the workplace. If you want people to be innovative and creative there has to be room for experimentation and failure. It is impossible to improve without risking failure. Remember: Fear of failure can prevent improvement.
Finally, do not condemn anyone for any reason. This can irreparably damage relationships.
Here are some positive actions you can take to develop a happy and productive project team:
Smile when you see someone for the first time each day.
Ask people how they're feeling. A genuine interest in your team members goes a long way.
Listen attentively to others and be polite and courteous.
Keep your team informed.
Design work assignments so that each team member can be successful. Then acknowledge their successes.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Corps Proposes Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta Restoration (USA)
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District released a draft study report recommending restoration of 90 acres of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to its natural tidal marsh state.
The proposed project would fill the sunken interior of areas near Antioch, using existing dredge material including stockpiles from dredging at the Port of Stockton.
The Corps used the same method in 1987 to restore vibrant tidal marsh conditions for Donlon Island, another nearby tract in the same area of the Delta.
"This is an important first step for the Corps in helping with the critical problem of ecosystem degradation in the Delta," said Col. Mike Farrell, Sacramento District commander. "This plan would use a proven, sustainable restoration method that we hope can serve as a model for more Delta restoration work in the future. Still, this is a draft recommendation, and we very much want to hear from the public about it during the open comment period."
Co-funded by the California Department of Water Resources, this study examines the feasibility for a Corps ecosystem restoration and flood risk reduction strategies of varying scope and complexity.
The study found that the cost of even the most efficient flood risk reduction project considered would be nearly double the expected benefits, and does not recommend Corps investment in levee improvement work for now.
The Delta is a critical link in the Pacific Flyway, and habitat for 35 threatened and endangered species including Chinook Salmon, Steelhead, and Delta Smelt.
Approximately 95 percent of the Delta's natural tidal marsh has been to land reclamation since the late 1800s.
Natural resource specialists agree that the remaining ecosystems in the Delta no longer maintain the functions and richness that defined the pre-channelized system, and that the measures of ecological health will continue to decline without preventive action.
Press Release, April 14, 2014
List of related news articles
Posted: 18 days ago
Workers returning to Gulf of Mexico platforms following Hurricane Delta
Oil and gas operators are returning its workers to platforms in the Gulf of Mexico following Hurrica...Posted: 18 days ago
Posted: 14 days ago
Operations on Gulf of Mexico offshore rigs return to normal following Hurricane Delta
All rigs operating in the Gulf of Mexico have begun operating normally following the passing of Hurr...Posted: 14 days ago
Posted: 21 days ago
Hurricane Delta closes 92 pct of Gulf of Mexico oil output – largest in 15 years
Over 90 per cent of current oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in as a result of Hur...Posted: 21 days ago
Posted: 6 months ago
Final Report for Sacramento River Bank Protection Project
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District has published the final post authorization chan...Posted: 6 months ago


text:
We've got loads of cool characters on Fun Kids and now you can colour them all in!
John Iflyalot is Fun Kids' newest explorer.
He journeys all over the world in his quests to solve riddles!
Click here to download the John Iflyalot colouring in page.
Or click here to see all the other characters you can download!


text:
Special Cherry Bomb Bear Crack offer ! $9.99 for the 2018 season !!!!
One 1/2 pound package treats 1,000 POUNDS of bait !! This EXTREMELY STRONG flavored product is 100 times sweeter than table sugar. Sprinkle on bait or logs and stumps or mix in fry oil. Excellent when used on grains or other loose baits ! Take your ordinary bait to another level ! During testing bears choose bait treated with Bear Crack over plain bait EVERY time !
Tags: Bear Crack
5538 Fuller Lane
Lena, Wisconsin 54139


text:
Once upon a time, there was a reindeer who lived at the North Pole. He didn't have any friends because of his crazy red nose, but luckily for him, that very special feature made him just adorable enough to help Santa, inspire a Christmas carol, become a holiday legend, and be made into cute reindeer marshmallow pops like this one by Make'n'Mold. (They get credit because the idea – and this photo – originally appeared on their site several years ago, but the recipe doesn't appear to be there anymore.)
Not to worry, though; spend just ten seconds on Pinterest and you'll be able to find plenty of tutorials for making these merry treats. All you really need to do is poke a stick into a marshmallow, dip it in chocolate, add some pretzel antlers, candy eyes and a cinnamon hot nose. Couldn't be easier!
That's why Kimberly of couldn't ask for more chose this project to tackle with her daughter to make as yummy teacher gifts! Oh, I bet those lucky teachers were thrilled!
Oh, did I say "thrilled"? I meant terrified. Rudolph looks like he spends more time getting run over by Santa's sleigh than pulling it… I guess that's why Kimberly opted to keep these treats home from school and send a different, less mangled treat to class.For more funny find Robyn at Hollow Tree Ventures, where she avoids disasters like this by just drinking the melted chocolate straight from the pan.
You have made my Christmas season much better. It's been pretty shitty so far, but this really made my day. Thank you!!!
I can see why Rudolph had no friends, haha!
You should have warned me – I came across your site by accident, and when I read this article, I almost peed my pants laughing.
Now I know that my craft fails won't be for the bins, but I'll send them to you instead. Thanks for making my day!
This is a very yummy rudolph craft idea!
omg, I am actually shrieking with laughter over these pops- they look like a Chernobyl holiday handout! Thank you for making my holiday crafting more merry!


text:
The study is a statistical analysis of the dynamics and structure of forensic autopsies performed on dead bodies and body remains at University Hospital "Dr. Georgi Stranski" in Pleven. The study was based on forensic autopsy records database and forensic autopsy reports for the period 2009-2013. A total of 976 cases, including forensic autopsies, exhumations, examination of bone remains and inspection of dead bodies at the site of death (without following forensic autopsy), were analyzed. The studied data was coded and processed with Microsoft Excel software. A detailed data analysis of the number of autopsies, frequency of death by cause, distribution of death by gender, age, residence, place of death and its forensic category is presented. According to our results, the deaths due to diseases comprised 35% of all forensic autopsies. The most common cause of violent death was damage by mechanical factors (53%), followed by asphyxia (24.7%). The most common mechanical factor was vehicle crash trauma, followed by falling (22.5%). Accidents were the most common cause of death 62%, followed by suicides (31 %) and homicides 7%. Fifty-nine percent of the suicides were by hanging. The preliminary analyses of the studied data lead to several conclusions. The number of forensic autopsies was found to be progressively decreasing, but the road traffic death rate remained unchanged. Most of the forensic autopsies were performed in July. The highest death rates by age was observed in the age group between 51 and 60 years, with predominance of males over females (3.3 males: 1 females).
1. Hoyert DL. The changing profile of autopsied deaths in the United States, 1972-2007. NCHS Data Brief [Internet], 2011 [cited 2014 Oct 31 ];67:1-8. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db67.pdf
2. Ivanov I, Dekov D, Popovska S. [Statistical analyses of the results from pathologoanatomic autopsy performed in the Department of Pathology (University Hospital Pleven) during the period 2008-2012. (Apreliminary report)]. Publications of the Bulgarian Union of Scientists - Varna. 2013;18:79-84. Bulgarian.
3. Canturk N , Turkmen N , Canturk G, Dagalp R. Differences in the number of autopsies and causes of death between the months of Ramadan and control months and between two cities, Ankara and Bursa in Turkey. Med Glas (Zenica). 2013;10(2):354-8.
4. Penal Procedure Code of Republic of Bulgaria. Sofia: Sibi; 2014.
5. Ordinance No. 2 of Oct 26, 2011: Published by Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Health. State Gazette. 2011 Nov 18:91.
6. Igeltjom M, Nordrum IS. Frequency of forensic autopsies after deaths in road traffic accidents. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2009; 12( 18): 1850-2. doi:
7. State-Public Consultative Commission on the Problems of Road Safety [Internet], Sofia: Ministry of Interior [cited 2015 Oct 31]. Road accident statistics. Available from: http://dokkpbdp.mvr.bg/Statistics/default.htm
8. Reddy MS. Suicide incidence and epidemiology. Indian J Psychol Med. 2010;32(2):77-82. doi:


text:
McGrath breaks fundraising record in Kentucky, collects $36.8 million in one quarterLexington Herald-Leader — By Daniel Desrochers Lexington Herald-Leader
Oct. 15-- LEXINGTON, Ky.-Amy McGrath, the Democrat challenger in Kentucky's Senate race, raised twice as much as U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell from July to September-and spent more than double the incumbent too.
McGrath's campaign reported raising $36.8 million from July 1 to Sept. 30, around 96% of which came from individual contributions. The record-breaking amount flooded in even as some Democrats spread messages on social media urging people not to donate to McGrath, who is considered an underdog.
McGrath has raised $84.1 million since starting her campaign in July 2019, which is more than the Kentucky General Fund allocated to public health in the 2020-2021 budget.
The McConnell campaign raised $15.6 million in the same time period, which McConnell campaign manager Kevin Golden called a "record haul" for Kentucky Republicans in a single quarter of a campaign.
The McConnell campaign reported having $13.8 million on hand to finish out the final stretch of the election. McGrath has spent $64.2 million on the campaign and has $19.9 million on hand.
Democratic candidates across the country saw a surge in fundraising after the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Jaime Harrison, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in South Carolina, broke the record for the largest amount reported by a U.S. Senate candidate in a single quarter after he raised $57 million in the same time period. McGrath's haul fell just short of the previous record-$38 million by Beto O'Rourke in 2018.
The McGrath campaign spent $33.1 million during the last three months, more than 2014 Democratic senate nominee Alison Lundergan Grimes ($18.8 million) and 2016 Democratic senate nominee Jim Gray ($6.38 million) spent in the entirety of their campaigns, combined.
It remains unclear how much of an impact McGrath's money has had on the race. The latest public polling, conducted in September, showed her trailing McConnell by double digits in a state President Donald Trump won by 30 percentage points in 2016.
(c)2020 Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, Ky.)
Visit the Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, Ky.) at www.kentucky.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.


text:
- This event has passed.
Interviewing Strategies and Techniques – Torrington
November 26, 2019 @ 9:00 am - 11:30 amFree
Learn how to strategically prepare for critical job interview questions. Topics include company research, developing a candidate message, questions to ask the employer, closing the interview and following up.
Advance registration is encouraged due to space limitations. Please call 203.437.3380 or go to CTHires.com register.


text:
With a title like Patisserie Fighting, one would expect a fair bit of tension and conflict between the web drama's leads, Kit Chan and Chris Lee. But in real life, that could not be further from the truth.
During a press conference at a commercial cooking studio in Singapore recently, the two stars could not stop gushing about each other. One could even say they looked quite sweet together!
Patisserie Fighting is an eight-episode Mandarin web drama about the joys of pastry-making and how it helps two people discover each other.
The made-in-Singapore show is set to air twice a week and each episode is 15 minutes long. Its first episode premiered on dimsum on April 17 and the second one will be simulcast on April 21.
Chan plays See Yu Tin, a biomedical researcher who quits her job to pursue her dream of being a pastry chef. Taiwanese actor Lee, 35, plays Wu Wen Di or Hsiao D, the gifted yet reclusive pastry chef from Taiwan whom See seeks an apprenticeship with.
It has been 15 years since Chan's last drama series, the 2002 Hong Kong-Singapore co-production Cash Is King. The Singaporean singer-actress said one of the main reasons she took on the project was her love for baking and savouring desserts.
"I like to bake. It's very therapeutic for me. For a few hours, it's completely my time. I can forget about everything else and focus on baking. I usually like to make biscuits and cookies, as those are easier to share with others," said Chan, 44. Chan has been staging concerts and performing in musicals like Snow.Wolf.Lake (1997 in Cantonese and 2005 in Mandarin) and Forbidden City: Portrait Of An Empress (English; 2002, 2003, 2006).
"I was overjoyed to hear that we had to undergo some training before we began. Coincidentally, the course was conducted where I had always wanted to study baking. It was very short but I had baking experience so it was easy. But I could tell that Chris was clueless, so I had to help translate and fill him in," said Chan. She added that she felt like a big sister to Lee.
Unlike Chan, Lee doesn't bake at all, so he was very appreciative of the crash course in baking.
"At the very least, I learnt how to sprinkle flour convincingly, and learnt how to handle some of the utensils to make my character look like a genuine pastry chef," he recalled.
"I still don't have the patience for baking, but at least I now look like I know what I'm doing!"
Lee said Patisserie Fighting was a fun and delightful project to be in. "I don't often get to play light-hearted roles like this. Because of the way I look, I usually get cast as rich heirs or cultured professionals in mostly romantic dramas," said Lee, whose previous Singaporean web drama Trapped Minds is also available on dimsum.
He was also amazed by Chan's ability to memorise her lines quickly. "It's easy for me since I've been doing it regularly for quite some time. On the other hand, she had been on hiatus for so long and yet she picked it up effortlessly.
"I'm pretty sure it's because she's a singer, which requires her to remember lots of lyrics," he said.
Chef vs chef
In keeping with the title Patisserie Fighting, Lee says his character Hsiao D tries to hide his true feelings when he deals with See. "When she succeeds in baking a nice pastry, he dismisses her efforts and undermines her abilities.
"He also annoys and teases her by making faces or pulling her hair ... you know, like how it is in school when a boy likes a girl!" he said.
Chan had an enjoyable time working with her handsome co-star.
"He plays an aloof character, and I really like how he interprets it by disguising his anxiety with a flippant attitude. Even when he is surprised or excited, he will pretend that it does not matter," she recalled. She added that she was the one who suggested to the director that her character wore spectacles.
"He told me that it was initially in the script, but was later omitted as he was worried I might get offended by the idea," she recalled.
"He was quite surprised that I looked so natural scouring through recipe books while peering over my glasses."
According to Chan, the idea came to her naturally, as she also wears prescription lenses for presbyopia, or farsightedness.
"I'm lucky, as I only got it after turning 40. Some of my friends had already developed presbyopia much earlier, in their mid-30s," laughed Chan, who released a new album last year titled The Edge Of Paradise.
The top cake
Since Patisserie Fighting is about desserts, both stars were asked to name the dish that satisfies their sweet tooth.
Chan's favourite is pound cake, which she likes to bake as well.
"It's simple and it's common, but it feels homely and is comfort food for me. If I can only choose one cake, then it will have to be pound cake for me," mused the singer.
Lee's favourite dessert is coincidentally one that was recently hailed by CNN as the top cake from Malaysia and Singapore.
"I don't bake and I don't have a sweet tooth, so I don't usually go for desserts.
"But there is one cake I always buy for my mother, when I fly to Singapore. It's pandan cake, and I really like it, too," said Lee, who will next be seen in the China-made movie The Post Office Of Love.
New episodes of Patisserie Fighting premiere every Monday and Friday. Download the dimsum app from Apple App Store or Google Play Store, or stream directly at dimsum.my. The service also supports Chromecast and Airplay for streaming shows on TV.
All new subscribers are entitled to a free 30-day trial. For more information, go to dimsum official Facebook and Instagram (@dimsum.my).


text:
Many people consider insurance to be an extremely complicated topic. While this is true in some circumstances, shopping for insurance doesn't have to be. The truth that many people miss in their effort to avoid all things insurance is that there are actually great benefits to seeking out a specialty insurer rather than the name-brand coverage that is offered by quick-fix companies.
A specialty insurer often incorporates higher standards into their business practices. This protects the client as much as the company because the team members take their work very seriously, and have to work hard to meet those high standards.
On the end of the client, an insurer with specialty claims expertise can reduce the chaos when a payment is needed during a claim. In some instances, they can make it possible to receive a payment immediately, and reduce response time ultimately offering more convenience and better service to the customer.
Although many people are not experts in insurance, it is important that they pause long enough to consider the benefits they stand to gain by investing in the services of a specialty insurer. With higher standards and great customer service, there is simply no comparison between the types of coverage/service that a client can receive by taking those few extra moments to seek out a company that can offer support with their specialty claims expertise.


text:
While the equilibrium properties of fluid interfaces have been manipulated and studied for centuries, their dynamic, rheological properties (e.g. viscosity and elasticity) have proven more elusive. Despite the dominant role that even molecularly-thin interfaces can play in multiphase flows, the viscosity of the bulk fluids on either side of the interface can easily overwhelm any attempt at measuring surface rheology. I will describe a technique we have developed to measure the interfacial rheology -- the viscous and elastic properties -- of fluid-fluid interfaces, typically laden with some surface-active species (molecular surfactants, copolymers, colloids, etc.). A novel feature is our ability to visualize the interface during the measurement, enabling us to directly relate the measured response to the microstructure of the interface.
In particular, we study model lung surfactant monolayers that consist of liquid-condensed phases of the phospholipid DPPC and, in some cases, cholesterol. We directly visualize the deformation of liquid-crystalline domains under both linear and nonlinear deformations. Despite the simplicity of the system -- a single-component, 2 nm-thick molecular monolayer -- we find an extraordinarily rich rheological response, including a soft, glassy response, elastic strain energy that is stored over a shockingly long time, two-dimensional yielding behavior, aging, rejuvenation, and anisotropically chiral rheology, exhibiting either ductile plasticity or brittle fracture, depending on the sense of the shear. We relate these rheological responses to observed boundaries between individual DPPC crystals, as well as hidden boundaries where tail group tilt orientations change rapidly.


text:
Sarah L. Batts, MBA, is the executive director of the Shepherd Center Foundation, which is responsible for setting development policy and leading the fundraising and volunteer teams in support of Shepherd Center's mission.
Before joining Shepherd Center in 2016, Sarah enjoyed an eight-year tenure with the Piedmont Healthcare Foundation, where she served in a variety of roles including director of campaigns. Under Sarah's leadership, Piedmont's philanthropic support realized significant results.
From 2006 to July 2008, Sarah served as director of development at Emory University School of Medicine for the Department of Pediatrics. Before her role at Emory, Sarah spent nine years working at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. There, she served in various development positions, including development officer, where she secured major gifts for oncology and directed a successful 37-hour radio-thon fundraiser.
Sarah received her bachelor's degree from The University of the South, and then received her master's degree in business administration from Loyola University Chicago.
When not working, Sarah volunteers in the community with Camp Sunshine, the Atlanta Speech School and the Jewish Home. Sarah loves spending time with her nieces and nephews, and her fabulous dog named Ava, and she enjoys fly fishing.


text:
Yesterday was my favourite day if the farming year. Sheep shearing.
The actual technical side of the day was unchanged from last year so if you want to read about that, you can here.
The differences this year were obviously out new addition, our little farm baby who had some milk, looked at the sheep for a bit and then fell asleep, missing most of the action.
Boo really seemed to enjoy the day and there were plenty of opportunities for selfies and family photos.
We sheared them in the yard last year but this time we did them in the field to avoid stress to the animals and, to be honest, it is less work.
As usual, everyone worked so hard and the children and I arrived for the best bits. Lunch and Minty, our pet sheep getting sheared.
Poor old Archie, our Norfolk terrier was also sheared again.
Sheep shearing is a day of team work, jokes and hard work and it looks like Boo has also begun to enjoy it. Let's hope Baby G does too.


text:
Sept. 13 (UPI) — Planned Parenthood announced Wednesday Dr. Leana Wen will serve as its new president, becoming the first physician to lead the organization in 50 years.
Wen, an emergency physician and patient advocate, will become the Planned Parenthood's sixth president after serving as health commissioner for the city of Baltimore since 2015, the organization said in a news release.
"For more than 100 years, no organization has done more for women's health than Planned Parenthood, and I'm truly honored to be named its president," Wen said.
"As a patient, I depended on Planned Parenthood for medical care at various times in my own life, and as a public health leader, I have seen firsthand the lifesaving work it does for our most vulnerable communities," she added. "As a doctor, I will ensure we continue to provide high-quality health care, including the full range of reproductive care, and will fight with everything I have to protect the access of millions of patients who rely on Planned Parenthood."
Wen replaces Cecile Richards, who announced her plans to step down in January after serving as president of the organization for 12 years.
Under Richards' tenure the organization faced a congressional investigation in 2015 over allegations the organization sold fetal tissue.
The Trump administration has also issued a directive to block funding to a Planned Parenthood program to prevent teen pregnancy in Western states, which a federal judge in Washington state ruled against in April.
Wen and the Baltimore City Health Department filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for cutting funds for teen pregnancy prevention and she also led a lawsuit against the administration for intentionally and unlawfully sabotaging the Affordable Care Act.
As Baltimore's health commissioner she oversaw projects to issue a blanket prescription for the opioid antidote, Naloxone, to the city's 620,000 residents, reduce infant mortality rate by 40 percent and deliver medications and improve food access to seniors.
"Anyone who has worked with Dr. Wen knows that when it comes to protecting her patients, she doesn't back down from a fight," said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md. "In Baltimore, she has been a true partner in our shared mission to provide access to quality health care for all."
Wen and her family immigrated from Shanghai, China when she was eight yers old and she later went on to graduate summa cum laude from California State University, Los Angeles at the age of 18 before attending medical school at the Washington University School of Medicine and obtaining a master's degrees at the University of Oxford.
"A dynamic public health leader and practicing physician, Dr. Wen is the first doctor to lead Planned Parenthood in nearly 50 years," said Naomi Aberly, Chair of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America Board of Directors. "Not only will she help Planned Parenthood continue to provide high-quality care to women, men, and young people across the country, she will be a powerful voice in our fight to ensure women have the ability to make their own health care decisions — no matter what."
Wen will serve her last day as Baltimore's health commissioner on Oct. 12 and will begin at Planned Parenthood on Nov. 12.


text: This is a lovely red journal I bought that I use to remind me to be a good wife. On each page is a verse about marriage or submission. In it I try to record daily goals for serving, respecting, loving, and honoring Craig. It really makes me think. You can't take your husband for granted, and each day I should focus on serving my husband. He is such a blessing in my life, and he deserves the best of me. I get tired and busy and moody, and sometimes it is good to have something to remind me to prioritize my marriage.


text:
Jim Dreeben of Peconic Paddler, in Riverhead, sometimes shares his dining suggestions with Dan's Papers. Dreeben also has some excellent suggestions on where to spend time in Riverhead before or after a meal. So here are more reasons to visit Riverhead, as explained by Dreeben.
The Long Island Aquarium and Exhibition Center [on East Main Street] has the most beautiful fish I have ever seen. They have a great sea lion show, a big octopus on display and hundreds of fish in huge tanks. You can pet stingrays. Reserve ahead and you can swim with the sharks. The aquarium and Peconic Paddler put on a paddling race on the Peconic River called the Paddle Battle [more info at paddlebattleli.com]. The next race is July 18, 2015.
At Art Sites (651 West Main Street) [the artist] Oz has created some huge and interesting sculptures on the banks of the Peconic River and smaller stuff in the studio. It can be visited on Route 25 by car or from the river. Call 631-591-2401 for hours.
Riverhead now has three breweries, two [Long Ireland Beer Company and Moustache Brewing Company] in Polish Town and one on Main Street. [Be sure to] try Crooked Ladder's Ponquogue Porter at [their tasting room at] 72 Main Street.
Wineries—from Riverhead, go east on Main Road (Route 25) and Sound Avenue to visit many wineries and taste wine. [Receive] discounts on wine for multiple bottles. I love the Merlot, Riesling and Chardonnay at the Jamesport Vineyards on the Main Road in Jamesport. They have oysters, wine and music on Saturdays.
Great Bike Riding. I like pedaling on Route 24 west into Manorville and then stay on the back roads or Route 51 south to East Moriches or east, through Riverhead, to Peconic Bay Boulevard and take the side streets to the Peconic Bay. A mountain bike trail is on Route 51. I buy my bicycles from Nick at Twin Forks Bike Shop on Main Street. You can hike at Indian Island County Park for free.
The Peconic River and Peconic Bay are beautiful and so are a thousand other Long Island waterways. The Peconic River is the number one paddling destination on Long Island starting on Connecticut Avenue, Manorville, and paddling east into the Peconic Bay and the bird sanctuary. I have paddled it many times using kayaks, canoes and stand-up paddleboards and I have swum parts of it. The fishing, scenery, tranquility and beauty are all outstanding. Get set to get wet.
Peconic Paddler, in business over 50 years, is a paddle sport specialty shop. [We] sell and rent a large variety of kayaks, canoes and stand up paddleboards. I love the 8-mile Peconic River Canoe Trip. For the most fun, paddle a Solstice GTS or a Prowler Kayak or try stand up paddling for the best physical fitness workout. SUPing strengthens your core better than any other exercise. Professional paddlers on staff: Jim and Jared, 89 Peconic Avenue by the downtown traffic circle. 631-727-9895.
Riverhead Community Garden is a showplace of vegetables and flowers not to be missed. You will be amazed at the wide array of healthful food being grown by the banks of the Peconic River. For a free tour of 'our' garden please call me. (You may have a taste of my kale, spinach, ground cherries or tomatoes and a handful of zinnias from my box.)
Please visit Riverhead to eat, drink (workout) and be merry. Call Jim Dreeben, 631-727-9895 or 631-834-2525 or email [email protected].


text:
About Us
Machines was established in 2006 with the aim of being the one stop Apple reseller in Malaysia, and is now the largest Apple Premium Reseller (APR) in Malaysia with 15 stores situated within Klang Valley, 1 in Pahang and 3 stores in Johor Bahru. Machines also expanded into the service industry and obtained an Apple Authorized Service Provider (ASP) license in 2007.
Machines store concepts offers a full range of Apple related accessories and large number of demo units for customers to experience. The stores also carry the largest range of Apple accessories in Malaysia.
Awards we've won
- PIKOM PC Fair - Best Booth Award 2007 - Gold Category
- Top Authorised Reseller - Million Ringgit Reseller - Q2 2007 by Apple
- Top Authorised Reseller - Million Ringgit Reseller - Q3 2007 by Apple
- Top Growth Partner - Asia - 2008 by Apple
- Microsoft FY08 Top Achiever Retailer Award
- Microsoft FY09 Top Achiever Retailer Award
- Top 3 Merchandising Award for APR FY09 by Apple
- South Asia Channel Conference 2010 Platinum Partner Award


text:
Imagine you were in a team for exploring an endangered forest. When all the other members go out of your team camp house to a nearby river you chose to stay, which you wouldn't know how regrettable idea that is. After few hours of their absense you came out of the house in search of some pretty animals you end up seeing dangerous animals instead. You anyhow escaped from them temporarily and ran near to your house but your key was missing. Find the key before some wild ceatures find you
©2005-2020 FLASH512. COST: 0.004s Feedback


text:
The Challenge:
Precisely position both the truck-mounted cranes and the steel girders in adherence with the official survey on an interchange improvement jobsite
The Players:
Barnhart Crane & Rigging Co.
Manhattan Road & Bridge Co.
Weaver-Bailey Contractors
The Process:
The I-430/I-630 interchange improvements in Little Rock, Ark., are upgrading an existing cloverleaf intersection and providing better access to nearby streets and collector-distributor roads from westbound I-630, which ends at Shackleford Road, the next north-south road located west of I-430.
The Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department wants the $124 million project - the biggest publicly funded one in state history - to be completed by the end of 2014.
The roughly $88 million Phase III of the project includes a new overpass for westbound I-630 over Shackleford Road, a rebuilt I-430 overpass to accommodate the new I-630 overpass and two flyover ramps: one going from I-430 south to I-630 east and one from I-630 west to I-430 south.
The improvements to the original interchange from the early 1970s were deemed necessary because it now carries more than 180,000 vehicles per day, considerably more than it was designed to handle.
Arguably the most important part of improvements to an interchange at Interstates 430/630 is four new or reconstructed ramps that are being added to an existing cloverleaf interchange. The project requires the erection of massive steel girders. Truck-mounted cranes must be positioned precisely to ensure that their reach does not exceed their rated lifting capacity, and the girders themselves must be positioned in adherence with the official survey. Ensuring the precise positioning of both the trucks and girders necessitates precise surveying work.
In summer 2012, telescopic truck-mounted cranes operated by Barnhart Crane & Rigging Co., Memphis, Tenn., picked these girders, varying in length from 50 to 200 feet-plus and weighing 15 to 60 tons, at two points and placed them onto concrete columns or jacks, depending on the section. For obvious public safety reasons, traffic was diverted when girders were erected above existing lanes, and work was scheduled outside of rush hour whenever possible.
For one girder erection sequence that constructed the flyover ramp from southbound I-430 to eastbound I-630, Manhattan Road & Bridge Co. of Tulsa, Okla., and Barnhart were scheduled to complete the work in 20 days. Three shifts of nine hours ran continually during this period. In late July, as the girder sections were being joined from both ends, traffic was alternately rerouted to a service road in either direction when the work was being done above the existing northbound and southbound I-430 lanes.
Critical work
Due to these tight schedules, ensuring that the cranes were located at an optimal relative position to reach the girders' officially surveyed X, Y and Z locations - and pick the girders at strategically plotted locations that allowed the cranes to lift within their rated capacity - was critical. The task of marking points for the cranes' locations fell to Phillip King, surveyor for Manhattan, who used a Topcon Positioning Systems GPT-7500 total station to do it.
Jim Jolly, general superintendent for general contractor Weaver-Bailey Contractors, El Paso, Ark., noted the importance of crane positioning in the context of the overall project. "That's the biggest issue with the girder erection - making sure that the cranes are in the right spot so they don't have to be moved around," he said. "What Phil has been doing is very important, in my mind. The cranes have to reach out, and they can't get overloaded. If they get too close, they can't hit it. It's got to be perfect."
Jolly pointed overhead to a splice with 60 large bolts connecting two girder sections. Ensuring that the girders were also lifted into their proper locations was also critical, he pointed out. "Like that splice up there - look at how many bolts there are," he said. "If the next girder section doesn't line up, think about how long it would take to fix the last splice in the sequence. That's what makes the surveying so critical: one mistake can cost thousands and thousands of dollars."
Van Thompson, project engineer with Barnhart, explained how each girder was erected. The girders were fabricated offsite at AFCO Steel's Van Buren, Ark., plant and delivered to the site on a just-in-time basis and staged near a crane. Then it was time for the critical lifting process. "The important thing from our end is weight and how far away the girder is from the crane's center pin," Thompson said. "The precision comes in knowing where the crane is going to be positioned onsite and where the girders are going to be staged, and knowing how far that staging spot is from the center pin of our crane."
Another surveying task for which King was responsible was locating the ramp column and column cap elevations, and marking the locations of formliners that yielded pine cone engravings on the columns. Obviously, the elevations had major implications for girder splicing.
The congested areas adjacent to traffic made the use of basic measurement tools like a tape measure problematic. King identified reference points for the cranes by setting up his total station in locations within 2,000 feet of the staging area where he could localize the instrument relative to control points he had set per the official survey - and obtain line of sight to the girder staging area. "What we've done is use Phil's survey marks that he's spaced out and pulled radius lines off of that," Thompson said. "Where the radius lines intersect, that's where we know to set up our cranes."
Manhattan purchased a GPT-7500 from Hayes Instrument Co. Inc., Shelbyville, Tenn., to locate each girder's X, Y and Z locations as well as the crane positions. "It's critical," Thompson said. "It's giving us reference points on the ground that we can take back to our model. And, based on distances from common points - his survey points are common points - we know where to set the cranes, we know where to put the girders and we know the path that the girders are going to take as they're lifted up, swung and set."
The scheduling challenges posed by the traffic accommodation were unique for Barnhart as well. "It just causes us to have to move the cranes more, which causes more changes in center pin locations," Thompson said. "We just have to be spot-on with our radius marks. We design our cranes to lift at 75 percent of their charted capacity. We just have to account for locations on the girder so that we pick them and keep the girder from rolling over - that determines the amount of weight that is lifted. Everything gets back to where the center pin is versus where your lift points are."
On days when Barnhart erected girders, King received a reference sheet with the cranes' safe lifting radii. The Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department had provided control points for each of the ramp areas, and King had verified their locations earlier. For the flyover ramp from southbound I-430 to eastbound I-630, he verified six control points on the shoulder. "Ideally, you want two control points and you set everything off of them, but that's not feasible on a job like this because you have to maintain a line of sight," King said. Accurate points allowed Barnhart to determine suitable pick points on the girders. "We have a picking point for one crane and for the other crane," King said. "They have it engineered to determine what they can pick up at a certain angle for the boom locations."
King verified the accuracy of the points he provided using the GPT-7500. "We did a traverse on my points and came within sixteen-thousandths of an inch - you don't get much closer than that," he said. The instrument, which features one-second accuracy, better suited this project than the three-second total station that King had used previously. The girders had a total of more than 140 curves, according to King.
Accurate - not by accident
One day into the continual 20-day schedule, Thompson acknowledged that the girder erection work was on or even ahead of schedule. "Taking field measurements prior to the job, when traffic was not diverted, was never an option. Having accurate survey marks allowed us to plan the job without venturing near oncoming traffic. One of the most dangerous aspects of this job is working close to traffic."
King, who has done surveying work for more than 20 years, said that the ramp work was error-free, but not by accident. "I think the key to success on any project is to check and double-check," he said. "If you work with something every day, you know when something is not right. A lot of times I'll have to lay out half of the column and cap from one point and then I'll have to move over to another point because there might be a crane in the way of my line of sight - it's all got to match up. When you get comfortable with the equipment you're working with, that's half the challenge.
"That's why construction surveying is so critical - it's the cost," he continued. "You're set on a time frame, but the cost of redoing something is just tremendous; you can eat up your profit. You can't take a tape measure out there and check yourself; you've got to have faith in yourself and your calculations," he said.
Don Talend of Write Results Inc., West Dundee, Ill., is a print and digital content developer specializing in covering construction, technology and innovation.


text:
Grigore Moisil
Grigore C. Moisil
Grigore C. Moisil on a 2006 Romanian stamp
|10 January 1906
|May 21, 1973 (aged 67)
|Alma mater
|Polytechnic University of Bucharest
|Known for
|Łukasiewicz–Moisil algebra, Algebraic logic and MV-algebra
|Scientific career
|Mathematics, logic and mathematical logic
|University of Bucharest
|Doctoral advisor
|Gheorghe Ţiţeica
Dimitrie Pompeiu
|Doctoral students
|Peter L. Hammer
Grigore Constantin Moisil (Romanian: [ɡriˈɡore mo.iˈsil]; 10 January 1906 – 21 May 1973) was a Romanian mathematician, computer pioneer, and member of the Romanian Academy. His research was mainly in the fields of mathematical logic (Łukasiewicz–Moisil algebra), algebraic logic, MV-algebra, and differential equations. He is viewed as the father of computer science in Romania.
Moisil was also a member of the Academy of Sciences of Bologna and of the International Institute of Philosophy. In 1996, the IEEE Computer Society awarded him posthumously the Computer Pioneer Award.
Grigore Moisil was born in 1906 in Tulcea into an intellectual family. His great-grandfather, Grigore Moisil (1814–1891), a clergyman, was one of the founders of the first Romanian high school in Năsăud. His father, Constantin Moisil (1876–1958), was a history professor, archaeologist and numismatist; as a member of the Romanian Academy, he filled the position of Director of the Numismatics Office of the Academy. His mother, Elena (1863–1949), was a teacher in Tulcea, later the director of "Maidanul Dulapului" school in Bucharest (now "Enăchiţă Văcărescu" school).
Grigore Moisil attended primary school in Bucharest, then high school in Vaslui and Bucharest (at "Spiru Haret" High School) between 1916 and 1922. In 1924 he was admitted to the Civil Engineering School of the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, and also the Mathematics School of the University of Bucharest. He showed a stronger interest in mathematics, so he quit the Polytechnic University in 1929, despite already having passed all the third-year exams. In 1929 he defended his Ph.D. thesis, La mécanique analytique des systemes continus (Analytical mechanics of continuous systems), before a commission led by Gheorghe Ţiţeica, with Dimitrie Pompeiu and Anton Davidoglu as members. The thesis was published the same year by the Gauthier-Villars publishing house in Paris, and received favourable comments from Vito Volterra, Tullio Levi-Civita, and Paul Lévy.
In 1930 Moisil went to the University of Paris for further study in mathematics, which he finalized the next year with the paper On a class of systems of equations with partial derivatives from mathematical physics. In 1931 he returned to Romania, where he was appointed in a teaching position at the Mathematics School of the University of Iaşi. Shortly after, he left for a one-year Rockefeller Foundation scholarship to study in Rome. In 1932 he returned to Iaşi, where he remained for almost 10 years, developing a close relationship with professor Alexandru Myller. He taught the first modern algebra course in Romania, named Logic and theory of proof, at the University of Iaşi. During that time, he started writing a series of papers based on the works of Jan Łukasiewicz in multi-valued logic. His research in mathematical logic laid the foundation for significant work done afterwards in Romania, as well as Argentina, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. While in Iaşi, he completed research remarkable for the many new ideas and for his way of finding and using new connections between concepts from different areas of mathematics. He was promoted to Full Professor in November 1939.
In 1941, a position of professor at the University of Bucharest opened up, and Moisil applied for it. However, Gheorghe Vrânceanu, Dan Barbilian, and Miron Nicolescu also applied for the position, and Vrânceanu got it. Moisil approached the Ministry of Education, arguing that it would be a great opportunity for mathematics in Romania if all four could be appointed. As a result of his appeal, all four mathematicians were hired. Moisil moved to Bucharest, where he became a Professor in the School of Mathematics (later the School of Mathematics and Computer Science) at the University of Bucharest, on 30 December 1941.
From 1946 to 1948, Moisil took a leave of absence, being named plenipotentiary envoy to Ankara. While in Turkey, he gave several series of mathematics lectures at Istanbul University and Istanbul Technical University.
In 1948, he resumed teaching at the University of Bucharest. That same year, he was elected to the Romanian Academy, and a member of the Institute of Mathematics of the Romanian Academy. After 1965, one of his outstanding students – George Georgescu – worked closely with him on multi-valued logics, and after the emergence of Romania from dictatorship in 1989, he became a Professor of Mathematics and Logic at the same university and department as Moisil in 1991.[1] His student also published extensive, original work on algebraic logic, MV-algebra, algebra, algebraic topology, categories of MV-algebras, category theory and Łukasiewicz–Moisil algebra.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
Moisil published papers on mechanics, mathematical analysis, geometry, algebra and mathematical logic. He developed a multi-dimensional extension of Pompeiu's areolar derivative, and studied monogenic functions of one hypercomplex variable with applications to mechanics. Moisil also introduced some many-valued algebras, which he called Łukasiewicz algebras (now also named Łukasiewicz–Moisil algebras), and used them in logic and the study of automata theory. He created new methods to analyze finite automata, and had many contributions to the field of automata theory in algebra.
Whereas Moisil's early contributions were in mathematics, he later devoted his scientific activity to mathematical logic and computer science. He was a professor of mathematical logic and computer science at the University of Bucharest, and he also taught Boolean Logic at the Politehnica University of Bucharest. In 1957 he assisted in setting up the first Romanian computer in the Institute of Atomic Physics, and he encouraged several of his students to learn computer programming. Thus, he played a fundamental role in the development of computer science in Romania, and in raising the first generations of Romanian computer scientists. Furthermore, several of Moisil's books had an impact on the beginning of computer science: Incercari Vechi Si Noi in Logica Neoclasica [New and Old Approaches in Neoclassic Logic], 1953; Teoria Algebrica a Mecanismelor Automate [Algebraic Theory of Automata], 1959; and Circuite cu Tranzistori [Transistorized Circuits], 1961. These books were translated into several languages, including Russian and Czech. He furthermore gave lectures at various universities in Europe and North America. [9]
Moisil was a member of the Academy of Romania and of the Academy of Bologna. In 1996, he was awarded by exception posthumously the Computer Pioneer Award by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society.
See also[edit]
Categorical logic, Adjoint functors
- ^ Prof.dr. Georgescu George. Department of Mathematics and Informatics of the Bucharest
- ^ Algebraic Mathematics and Logics. 2009. GNUL contributed book of 500+ contributing authors.
- ^ Algebraic category of LMn-logic algebras Archived 15 May 2016 at the Portuguese Web Archive. planetphysics.org
- ^ Georgescu, George; Vraciu, Constantin (1970). "On the characterization of centered Lukasiewicz algebras". Journal of Algebra. 16 (4): 486–495. doi:10.1016/0021-8693(70)90002-5.
- ^ Georgescu, G. (2006). "N-Valued Logics and Łukasiewicz–Moisil Algebras". Axiomathes. 16: 123. doi:10.1007/s10516-005-4145-6.
- ^ Order convergence and distance on Lukasiewicz–Moisil algebras. planetmath.org
- ^ Quantum ŁM-algebraic Logic. planetmath.org
- ^ Web-generated list of Publications. philpapers.org
- ^ "Grigore C. Moisil | IEEE Computer Society". Retrieved 6 October 2020.
Selected publications[edit]
- Logique modale, Disquisit. Math. Phys. 2 (1942), 3–98. MR0020524
- Introducere in algebră. I. Inele şi ideale [Introduction to algebra. I. Rings and ideals], Editura Academiei Republicii Popular Române, Bucharest, 1954. MR0069136
- Teoria algebrică a mecanismelor automate [Algebraic theory of automatic machines], Academia Republicii Popular Romîne, Editura Tehnică, Bucharest, 1959. MR0120120
- Circuite cu tranzistori [Transistor Circuits], Editura Academiei Republicii Popular Romîne, Bucharest, 1961–62. OCLC 15371418
- Théorie structurelle des automates finis, Gauthier-Villars, Paris, 1967. OCLC 9049760
- The algebraic theory of switching circuits, Pergamon Press, Oxford, New York, 1969. ISBN 0-08-010148-8
Books and articles on Moisil[edit]
- George Georgescu, Afrodita Iorgulescu, Sergiu Rudeanu, "Grigore C. Moisil (1906–1973) and his School in Algebraic Logic", International Journal of Computers, Communications & Control, vol. 1 (2006), no.1, 81–99.
- Solomon Marcus, "Grigore C. Moisil: A life becoming a myth", International Journal of Computers, Communications & Control, vol. 1 (2006), no. 1, 73–79.
- Viorica Moisil, "Once upon a time... Grigore Moisil" (A fost odată... Grigore Moisil), Bucharest: Curtea Veche, 2002. ISBN 973-8356-09-1
- Sergiu Rudeanu, Afrodita Iorgulescu, George Georgescu and Cătălin Ioniţă, "G. C. Moisil memorial issue", Multiple-Valued Logic 6 (2001), no. 1-2. Gordon and Breach, Yverdon, 2001. MR1817431
External links[edit]
- 1906 births
- 1973 deaths
- Alexandru Ioan Cuza University faculty
- IEEE Medal of Honor recipients
- Mathematical logicians
- People from Tulcea
- Spiru Haret National College (Bucharest) alumni
- Politehnica University of Bucharest alumni
- 20th-century Romanian mathematicians
- Romanian computer scientists
- Romanian scientists
- Romanian inventors
- Romanian academics
- Romanian diplomats
- Romanian schoolteachers
- Titular members of the Romanian Academy
- University of Bucharest faculty
- Members of the Romanian Academy of Sciences
- 20th-century inventors


text:
Rest assured, Robin Williams will be making your Thursday nights zany for a while.
Williams' new sitcom "The Crazy Ones" has received a full-season order from CBS, which also granted "back nine" orders to its freshman comedies "The Millers" and "Mom."
Also read: Fall TV Season So Far: NBC Scores Second Straight Weekly Ratings Win
"The Crazy Ones," which stars Williams and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" alum Sarah Michelle Gellar, premiered with a solid 4.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic most important to advertisers. So far it is the top new comedy of the season in total viewers, with an average 13.71, and in the key demo with an average 3.6 rating/10 share.
Also read: Fall TV So Far: What's Working, What's Not and Why
"The Millers," starring Will Arnett, has averaged a 3.2/09 in the demo with 12.41 million total viewers. "Mom," from "Two and a Half Men" and "The Big Bang Theory" boss Chuck Lorre, has averaged a 2.6/06 and 7.98 million total viewers.
"We're proud of CBS's leadership position in comedy and excited to build on it with the back nine pick-ups of these three new comedies," CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler said of the orders. "These series are creatively distinct, continue to improve each week and are led by strong showrunners, writing and production staffs, and feature amazingly talented casts."


text:
CSii Staff & Management
CSii has recruited a strong leadership team comprised of our two business unit Directors, Chief Financial Officer and a Communications Director who work closely together to maximize the accomplishments of CSii in our various endeavors and position us well for future growth and success.
Supporting CSii are several talented individuals in Research, Project Management, and Administration who lend their respective expertise, talents and energy to each project to drive excellent results. In addition, CSii utilizes consultants in commercialization and regulatory affairs, in addition to the law firm of Norton Rose Fulbright, who manage our Intellectual Property strategy.
CSii has grown to include 12 full-time employees as well as 2 consultants, and 3 graduate students. CSii has also been responsible for retention of 10-12 high level engineers at MDA. While CSii will continue to grow, the significant job creation will occur with the commercial launch of its first robot in 2017 and the creation of NewCo.
Management Team:
- Dr. Mehran Anvari
Scientific Director & CEO, Centre for Surgical Invention & Innovation (CSii)
- Marie Fairgrieve
Director of Finance & Human Resources, CSii
- Debra Vivian
Director of Communications, CSii


text:
Dear Guests!
Due to the emergency situation declared by the Government of Estonia, we are adapting to the current situation with a responsible and preventive behavior.
We would like to inform you that hotel St. Petersbourg will be closed from 18th of March until further notice.
Should the situation change we will inform our guests, our partners as soon as possible.
The safety and well-being of our guests, employees is the utmost priority in our hotel!
We kindly ask you to contact us at email@example.com before your travel intent in the near future and check the status of your reservation.
We thank you for your support and understanding and remain at your disposal for any additional assistance you may need.
"We will meet again, on a sunny day"
Hotel St. Petersbourg Team


text:
I'll be ordering local meats (beef, pork and chicken), eggs, dried shiitake mushrooms, Maine sea salt and select other items on a monthly basis. If you would like to join me so that I place one bulk order for all of us, please complete the order form below. To join the mailing list, please email me at email@example.com. Many thanks. Your orders really help our local producers.
How does on-line ordering work?
I'll send an email each month (usually toward the end of the month) to let you know the deadline for ordering.
Simply complete the on-line order form below and hit "submit." I'll send a confirmation email and will be in touch with you about delivery/pick up options.
Every dollar you spend this way is a vote in favor of a local, nutritious, and clean food supply that will help build a local food economy here in Rockbridge County.
This form requires a password, please enter that password to continue:
Farm To You is pleased to be working with this great group of local producers and purveyors! Producers will be joining us as guests from time to time -- stay tuned for dates!
A Bowl of Good, Katrina Didot and Rachael Dorsey, Harrisonburg (vegan soup, chile and stew)
Bells Valley Farm, Calvin and Jason Stoltzfus, Goshen (non-GMO pastured pork; non-GMO eggs from pastured hens; non-GMO feed grown on the farm; cow shares also available)
Bombolini Pasta, John and Lolita Kreckman, Richmond (fresh & dried pasta; marinara sauce)
Charis Eco-Farm, Sue and Guy Freesen, Staunton (chicken, produce)
Dixon Hill Farm, Tracey Smith-Oliver, Rockbridge Baths (produce, dried flower arrangements)
Dutch Hollow Farm, Raphine, Butch Snow and Melody Tennant (100% grass-based beef)
Falcon's Rest Farm, Fey Stang, Lexington (apples)
Fancy Hill Plants, Dave Frazier, Lexington (butternut squash; mums)
Farmstead Ferments, Dawn Story, Charlottesville (raw fermented kimchi, krauts, kraut juice, water kefir sodas)
Glass View Farm, Teresa and Marshall Glass, Natural Bridge Station (certified Berkshire pork; lamb)
Harvest Thyme Herb Farm, Deirdre and Phil Armstrong (dried herbs and herb blends; specialty produce)
Lynn and Forrest Hobbs, Nelson County (sweet potatoes and cutting boards)
Hudson Henry Baking Co., Hope Lawrence, Palmyra (Good News Granola)
Kohl Family Farm, Spencer & Elizabeth Kohl, Fancy Hill (goat meat; pork)
Little Hat Creek Farm, Heather Coiner and Ben Stowe (artisanal breads, produce, eggs)
Mountain View Farm Products, Christie and Fred Huger, Fairfield (butter, cheese)
MV's Best Peanuts, Mary Vaden, Red Bank, New Jersey (gourmet Virginia cocktail peanuts)
No-Bull Burger (Oh My Gosh... Yum! LLC)(vegetarian burgers, also served at Pure Eats in Lex)
On the River Farm, Dave Peters, Millboro (shiitake mushrooms)
Paradox Farm, Mitch and Cindy Wapner, Lexington (certified organic & certified naturally grown produce; jams, applesauce, syrups)
Pettijohn's Orchard, Karen and Dennis Pettijohn, Raphine (chestnuts, chestnut puree, chestnut desserts, gooseberry and grape jams)
Planet Earth Diversified, Mike Clark, Standardsville (specialty salad greens and herbs; pesto; cream pops)
Sharondale Farm, Mark Jones, Keswick (mushrooms)
Sideway Farm, Steve Richards, Natural Bridge (produce)
Soothing Herbals, Chin Velasquez, Goshen (herbal body care products)
Southernmost Maple Products, Bolar (maple syrup)
Sunflower Flats Farm, Lexington, Jo and Steve Parent (produce)
Two Farmers & Jo, Cat Keller & Chad & Jo the dog, Lexington (produce)
Virginia Vinegar Works, Steph and Jay Rostow, Nelson County (red & white wine vinegar made from Virginia wines; malt vinegar made with Starr Hill beer)
Whistle Creek Apiaries, Garrett Moore, Lexington (honey; honey comb; creamed honey)
Access a wide range of local food year-round
On-line shopping convenience
First choice of products in short supply
Access to special order items
Subscriber-only discounts
Convenience of having your order ready when you arrive at the Market
Ability to plan your local foods menu for the week
Support a local business and local agriculture


text:
At the foot of Ben Nevis the traditional bag piper led a four hundred strong parade of athletes to the start line. A grand total of seventeen Rossendale Harriers (which must be the highest number ever?) took their place and waited for the starter's gun. Even the shy Scottish sun turned up to be part of, what was going to be, a great afternoon of true mountain racing.
Rossendale's leading light Sam Tosh kept good company with an early group of front-runners. Including Ricky Lightfoot, Martin Mikkleson-Barron, Robb Jebb, and Finlay Wild. The group slowly started to stretch out as Wild topped the mountain first. With the others only seconds behind, the race would be, as they say it always is, won on the decent. And it was. Wild bound past me as I continued the long upwards struggle. The others soon followed, but the way in which Wild descends sets him apart. It seems so aggressive as he takes huge leaping bounds, but he manages to combine this, with what looks like, perfect balance and control. I fought a lazy urge to stand back and admire the spectacle but reminded myself that I had my own race to worry about.
The first five to the top stayed that way until the finish. Sam Tosh taking a hard-earned 3rd place in a real, top quality field. Ashley Holt was the next Harrier in 38th place with a cracking run at his first Ben. It was also the first time he'd worn his brand new Walshes. He looked in absolute agony at the finish, as everyone is, but this seemed out of character. Ashley is from Bacup. With a bloodied hand (presumably from a secondary wound) he peeled back his socks to reveal the biggest reservoir like blisters on the heel of any foot, in all time. Ever. He popped them both with his teeth and people started throwing life belts. It was a strange scene, yet no one let on.


text:
Series: Bookstore Cafe Mystery #5
Published by Kensington Publishing on September 26th 2017
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Pages: 304
Format: Kindle Edition
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Krissy Hancock is staying in her adopted hometown of Pine Hills, Ohio, for Christmas this year--and she even has a whole week off from her combination bookstore-cafe. But a killer is about to dampen her spirits . . . Unfortunately, Krissy's been roped into filling in for a sick elf in the local holiday musical extravaganza. With a demanding director, backstage gossip, and two men in fierce competition for the starring role, it isn't all sweetness and Christmas lights. Then a murder puts a stop to the production, and Krissy is faced with a pageant of suspects. Could her ex-boyfriend, a fellow elf, really be the culprit as the police are claiming? Or will the actor playing Santa be trading his red suit for an orange jumpsuit? When her behind-the-scenes investigation starts getting dangerous, the only thing Krissy really wants is to make it to Christmas dinner alive. But first she'll have to finish wrapping up this case . . .
After her father cancels their Christmas plans, Krissy Hancocks finds herself staying home for the holidays. Already taken time off from work, one of the towns people ropes her into helping with a Christmas play. Everything seems to be going fine until the very crude Santa is found dead in his dressing room and the person suspected of murder is no other than Krissy's ex-boyfriend who now wants Krissy to clear his name.
I enjoyed this for the most part, I thought it was interesting and it seems like a great read for Christmas with a small town setting and a group of people who really love the holidays.
This would have been a 4 star read, but I took half a star off because of who done it in the end. I thought it came out of no where and the reason was just like, blah, really? It felt a bit disappointing.
Sugar Pine Trail by RaeAnne Thayne I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. An unlikely attraction brings comfort, joy and unforgettable romance this holiday season!
Series: Haven Point #7
Published by Harlequin Books on September 26th 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Holiday
Pages: 384
Format: Kindle Edition
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Librarian Julia Winston is ready to ditch the quiet existence she's been living. She's made a list of new things to experience, but falling for Jamie Caine, her sexy military pilot neighbor, isn't one of them. Julia's looking to conquer life, not become the heartbreaker's latest conquest. But when two young brothers wind up in Julia's care for the holidays, she'll take any help she can get—even Jamie's.
Happy to step in, Jamie reveals a side of himself that's much harder to resist. Not only is he fantastic with kids, he provides the strength Julia needs to tackle her list. She knows their temporary family can't last beyond the holidays, but the closer she gets to Jamie, the more she wonders if things could be this merry and bright forever…
I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
An unlikely attraction brings comfort, joy and unforgettable romance this holiday season!
If you are looking for some holiday reading this Christmas season, look no further. RaeAnne Thayne is an amazing author to pick up when you are looking for a cozy, heartwarming romances. Yes, they are predictable as far as romance goes, but her books are very character driven.
Julia Winston was a lovely librarian character with a big heart that took in two boys in need and gave them a temporary home, even if she knew it would eventually break her heart.
Jamie had quite a lot of heartbreak in his life when it came to women and family, but watching his affection grow for Julia was so heartwarming.
Wonderful characters, sweet romance, and heartwarming writing that just keeps me coming back for more.


text:
This article offers insight into the tribal thinking and moral blindness of Western supporters of Israel. Please note I do not necessarily share all of the author's views expressed here…
Orwell, blinding tribalism, selective Terrorism, and Israel/Gaza
By Glenn Greenwald
Sunday Jan. 4, 2009
Former McCain-Palin campaign spokesman and current Weekly Standard editor Michael Goldfarb notes that Israel, a couple of days ago, dropped a 2,000-pound bomb on a Gazan home which killed a top Hamas leader . . . in addition to 18 others, including his four wives and nine of his children. About the killing of those innocent civilians, Goldfarb writes (h/t John Cole via email):
The fight against Islamic radicals always seems to come around to whether or not they can, in fact, be deterred, because it's not clear that they are rational, at least not like us. But to wipe out a man's entire family, it's hard to imagine that doesn't give his colleagues at least a moment's pause. Perhaps it will make the leadership of Hamas rethink the wisdom of sparking an open confrontation with Israel under the current conditions.
That, of course, is just a slightly less profane version of Marty Peretz's chest-beating proclamation that the great value of the attack on Gaza is to teach those Arabs a lesson: "do not fuck with the Jews."
There are few concepts more elastic and subject to exploitation than "Terrorism," the all-purpose justifying and fear-mongering term. But if it means anything, it means exactly the mindset which Goldfarb is expressing: slaughtering innocent civilians in order to "send a message," to "deter" political actors by making them fear that continuing on the same course will result in the deaths of civilians and — best of all, from the Terrorist's perspective — even their own children and other family members.
To the Terrorist, by definition, that innocent civilians and even children are killed isn't a regrettable cost of taking military action. It's not a cost at all. It's a benefit. It has strategic value. Goldfarb explicitly says this: "to wipe out a man's entire family, it's hard to imagine that doesn't give his colleagues at least a moment's pause."
That, of course, is the very same logic that leads Hamas to send suicide bombers to slaughter Israeli teenagers in pizza parlors and on buses and to shoot rockets into their homes. It's the logic that leads Al Qaeda to fly civilian-filled airplanes into civilian-filled office buildings. And it's the logic that leads infinitely weak and deranged people like Goldfarb and Peretz to find value in the killing of innocent Palestinians, including — one might say, at least in Goldfarb's case: especially — children.
* * * * *
One should be clear that this sociopathic indifference to (or even celebration over) the deaths of Palestinian civilians isn't representative of all supporters of the Israeli attack on Gaza. It's unfair to use the Goldfarb/Peretz pathology to impugn all supporters of the Israeli attack. It's certainly possible to support the Israeli offensive despite the deaths of these civilians, to truly lament the suffering of innocent Palestinians but still find the war, on balance, to be justifiable.
Those who favor the attack on Gaza due to that calculus are certainly misguided about the likely outcome. And many war supporters who fall into this more benign category are guilty of insufficiently weighing the deaths of Palestinian innocents and, relatedly, of such overwhelming emotional and cultural attachment to Israel and Israelis that they long ago ceased viewing this conflict with any remnant of objectivity.
I can't express how many emails I've received in the last week from people identifying themselves as "liberals" (and, overwhelmingly, American Jews); telling me that they agree with my views in almost all areas other than Israel; and then self-righteously insisting that I imagine what it's like to live in Southern Israel with incoming rocket fire from Hamas, as though that will change my views on the Israel/Gaza war. Obviously, it's not difficult to imagine the understandable rage that Israelis feel when learning of another attack on Israeli civilians, in exactly the way that American rage over the 9/11 attacks was understandable. But just as that American anger didn't justify anything and everything that followed, the fact that there are indefensible attacks on Israeli civilians doesn't render the (far more lethal) attacks on Gaza either wise or just — as numerous Jewish residents of Sderot themselves are courageously arguing in opposing the Israeli attack.
More to the point: for those who insist that others put themselves in the position of a resident of Sderot — as though that will, by itself, prove the justifiability of the Israeli attack — the idea literally never occurs to them that they ought to imagine what it's like to live under foreign occupation for 4 decades (and, despite the 2005 "withdrawal from Gaza," Israel continues to occupy and expand its settlements on Palestinian land and to control and severely restrict many key aspects of Gazan life). No thought is given to what it is like, what emotions it generates, what horrible acts start to appear justifiable, when you have a hostile foreign army control your borders and airspace and internal affairs for 40 years, one which builds walls around you, imposes the most intensely humiliating conditions on your daily life, blockades your land so that you're barred from exiting and prevented from accessing basic nutrition and medical needs for your children to the point where a substantial portion of the underage population suffers from stunted growth.
So extreme is their emotional identification with one side (Israel) that it literally never occurs to them to give any thought to any of that, to imagine what it's like to live in those circumstances. Nor does this thought occur to them:
I was trained from an early age to view this group as my group, to identify with them emotionally, culturally, religiously. Maybe that — and not an objective assessment of these events — is why I continuously side with that group and see everything from its perspective and justify whatever it does, why I find the Dick Cheney/Weekly Standard/neoconservative worldview repellent in every situation except when it comes to Israel, when I suddenly find it wise and vigorously embrace it.
Those who defend American actions in every case, or who find justification in attacks on Israeli civilians, or who find simplistic moral clarity in a whole range of other complex and protracted disputes where all sides share infinite blame, are often guilty of the same refusal/inability to at least try to minimize this sort of ingrained tribalistic blindness.
* * * * *
Still, there is a substantial difference between, on the one hand, basically well-intentioned people who are guilty of excessive emotional and cultural identification with one side of the dispute and, on the other, those who adopt the Goldfarb/Peretz psychopathic derangement of belittling rage over widespread civilian deaths as mere "whining" or even something to view as a strategic asset. The latter group is a subset of war supporters and evinces every defining attribute of the Terrorist.
Those who giddily support not just civilian deaths in Gaza but every actual and proposed attack on Arab/Muslim countries — from the war in Iraq to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon to the proposed attacks on Iran and Syria and even continued escalation in Afghanistan — are able to do so because they don't really see the Muslims they want to kill as being fully human. For obvious reasons, one typically finds this full-scale version of sociopathic indifference — this perception of brutal war as a blood-pumping and exciting instrument for feeling vicarious sensations of power and strength from a safe distance — in the society's weakest, most frightened, and most insecure individuals.
Here's right-wing blogger (and law professor) Glenn Reynolds revealing that wretched mindset for all to see:
"Cycles of violence" continue until one side wins decisively. Personally, I'd rather that were the Israelis, since they're civilized people and not barbarians.
Or, as Goldfarb put it: "it's not clear that they are rational, at least not like us."
If you see Palestinians as something less than civilized human beings: as "barbarians" — just as if you see Americans as infidels warring with God or Jews as sub-human rats — then it naturally follows that civilian deaths are irrelevant, perhaps even something to cheer. For people who think that way, arguments about "proportionality" won't even begin to resonate — such concepts can't even be understood — because the core premise, that excessive civilian deaths are horrible and should be avoided at all costs, isn't accepted. Why should a superior, civilized, peaceful society allow the welfare of violent, hateful barbarians to interfere with its objectives? How can the deaths or suffering of thousands of barbarians ever be weighed against the death of even a single civilized person?
So many of these conflicts — one might say almost all of them — end up shaped by the same virtually universal deficiency: excessive tribalistic identification (i.e.: the group with which I was trained to identify is right and good and just and my group's enemy is bad and wrong and violent), which causes people to view the world only from the perspective of their side, to believe that X is good when they do it and evil when it's done to them. X can be torture, or the killing of civilians in order to "send a message" (i.e., Terrorism), or invading and occupying other people's land, or using massive lethal force against defenseless populations, or seeing one's own side as composed of real humans and the other side as sub-human, evil barbarians. As George Orwell wrote in Notes on Nationalism — with perfect prescience to today's endless conflicts (h/t Hume's Ghost):
All nationalists have the power of not seeing resemblances between similar sets of facts. A British Tory will defend self-determination in Europe and oppose it in India with no feeling of inconsistency. Actions are held to be good or bad, not on their own merits, but according to who does them, and there is almost no kind of outrage — torture, the use of hostages, forced labour, mass deportations, imprisonment without trial, forgery, assassination, the bombing of civilians — which does not change its moral colour when it is committed by 'our' side … The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them
For those who evaluate moral questions from that blindingly self-regarding perspective, anything and everything becomes easily justifiable.


text:
A local restaurant is hoping that you do, and that you love it enough to eat it on a fairly regular basis. Jus' Mac, an all-macaroni-and-cheese restaurant, is set to open in the Heights at Yale and 26th in a few months. We first caught wind of this news on HAIF, which included a link to the restaurant's Facebook page, where you can see a depiction (albeit a small one) of what the new place will look like.
But the bigger question here is: What macaroni dishes will be on the menu? We're hoping for a standard classic -- with elbow macaroni in a bechamel sauce cut with cheddar, and nothing else -- that trumpets a menu filled with more dynamic pastas like fusili, farfalle, conchiglie and our favorite, cavatappi (but please -- no penne), alongside sauces with dozens of varieties of cheese. We'd also like to see veggie macaroni and cheese dishes filled with sauteed bell peppers, spinach, mushrooms and pine nuts, as well as meatier versions with applewood-smoked bacon and scallions or roasted chicken with peas and carrots.
What's your favorite macaroni and cheese combo? Are you hoping to see it on the menu at Jus' Mac? And more importantly, will you eat at a restaurant that serves nothing but macaroni and cheese on a routine basis, or do you think that Jus' Mac is doomed to be a flash-in-the-pan novelty before it even opens?
We Believe Local Journalism is Critical to the Life of a City
Engaging with our readers is essential to the mission of the Houston Press. Make a financial contribution or sign up for a newsletter, and help us keep telling Houston's stories with no paywalls.


text:
He told me that if nature puts a burden on a man by making him
different, it also gives him a power.
— John (Fire) Lame Deer, Sioux Medicine Man
We are special to the Sioux!
They gave us respect for strange powers
Of looking into the sun, the night.
They paid us with horses not derision.
To the Cheyenne we were no curiosity!
We were friends or wives of brave warriors
Who hunted for our cooking pots
Who protected our tipis from Pawnee.
We went to the mountain for our puberty vision.
No horse or lance or thunderbird
Crossed the dreaming eye which would have sent us
Into war or the hunter's lonely woods.
To some songs floated on mountain air.
To others colors and design appeared on clouds.
To a few words fell from the eagle's wing,
And they took to the medicine tent,
And in their holiness made power
For the people of the Cheyenne Nation.
There was space for us in the village.
The Crow and Ponca offered deerskin
When the decision to avoid the warpath was made,
And we were accepted into the fur robes
Of a young warrior, and lay by his flesh
And knew his mouth and warm groin:
Or we married (a second wife) to the chief.
And if we fulfilled our duties, he smiled
And gave us his grandchildren to care for.
We were special to the Sioux, Cheyenne, Ponca
And the Crow who valued our worth and did not spit
Names at our lifted skirts nor kicked our nakedness.
We had power with the people!
And if we cared to carry the lance, or dance
Over enemy scalps and take buffalo
Then that, too, was good for the Nation,
And contrary to our stand we walked backwards.


text:
Why One Should Seek The Services Of Worker Compensation Lawyers
When employees are at work they exposed to certain risks and at times injuries which may be caused by the equipment they use and activities they perform. Previously when there were no laws governing employer-employees relationship the workers would get injured without compensation while others would get a career ending injuries condemning them to poverty. But after the law was established, workers who are injured when working they are entitled to compensation, but the process of obtaining the necessary settlement may be challenging. The employer is tasked with ensuring that their employees who are injured get the necessary medical support as well as ensuring that they get a monetary settlement in the case of being injured while working or in extreme cases death occurs while working.
It is not all injuries that one gets while working will qualify for settlements but injuries such as brain damage, back injuries and broken bones will deserve compensation from the employer when one was involved in lifting heavy objects. Some injuries are accidental as they happen suddenly, but there are others that develop over time such as the carpal tunnel syndrome which is caused by constant movements as well as stress. There are some requirements that a worker should meet for them to be compensated by their employer such as informing the company within a given timeline.
There are plenty of activities that are involved when one is out to claim for settlement, and they may prove to be challenging to the victim especially in case they suffered serious injuries hence requiring medical attention. In such cases the employee will need to hire a compensation lawyer who will file the suit on their behalf. The lawyer will file the complaint on behalf of the injured employee without charging them attorney fees. Most of the lawyers will provide the services to the claimant with a view to being paid by use of a certain percentage of the settlement the employee will be awarded as compensation. If the company has been compensating the employee the lawyer will ensure that the compensation is done properly.
Lessons Learned About Lawyers
The lawyer will make sure that their clients get proper medical services such as treatment, therapies and in case of severe injuries surgery as the employee is entitled to the services . It is also the task of the attorney to make sure that the employer will clear the medical bill after the employee is discharged. The lawyer also ensures that the employee will get some employment either in the same capacity or a different one depending on the injury severity. When an employee gets a different job the employer should facilitate the training of the employee. The attorney will also ensure maximum monetary compensation for the employee from the employer or the insurance company. Payment in most cases is done once the agreement has been granted and should not exceed 40 percent of the compensation amount awarded.Valuable Lessons I've Learned About Attorneys


text:
2011 Rewind: Where in the World Is LTE?
LR Mobile Report Michelle Donegan 12/29/2011
At the end of 2011, we count 33 commercial LTE services worldwide, which is up from just nine at the end of 2010. (See Where in the World Is LTE?.)
And while the U.S. is perceived as the hottest LTE market around, it's certainly not the only place to find some LTE action. Indeed, the next-generation mobile broadband service is now available in countries across the Asia/Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East as well as North America. In Europe, Telia Company alone has launched LTE services in seven markets across its footprint.
To make it onto our list, it had to be clear that a potential customer could go to an operator's shop or website, buy a device and subscribe to an LTE service. We did not include pilots, user trials or so-called "commercial networks," where an operator may have launched an LTE network but it is not yet offering devices or charging customers to use the service.
As always, we welcome feedback. If there are any commercial services or price plan details that we missed here, please let us know on the message board.
— Michelle Donegan, European Editor, Light Reading Mobile


text:
Could RockMelt Become the New Third Party in the Browser Campaigns?
The United States seems stuck with a two-party political system. We don't always have the same two parties—the Whigs were replaced by the Republicans in the 1850s, for example—but there doesn't seem to be space in the American psyche for a third major player to take root.
Could something similar be true of the Web browser market? For a long time, the two main competitors were Netscape and Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Then it was Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox. Now Google's Chrome browser is rapidly displacing Internet Explorer—and while we're technically in a three-browser market at the moment, IE's user numbers are declining so steadily that it seems only a matter of time before we're back to a two-browser world, probably defined by Firefox and Chrome.
And yet…
And yet there have always been second-tier browsers, beloved by small factions of users. There's Apple's Safari, of course, and Opera. For years, my favorite browser was Flock, which was acquired and discontinued by Zynga in early 2011. And about a year ago, another new player came onto the scene, with ambitious plans to be the new "social browser."
It's called RockMelt, and it's loaded with features that let users tap directly into their social networks, especially Facebook, and communicate with friends. The Mountain View, CA-based startup behind the new browser has direct ties to people who laid the Web's foundations: it has raised $40 million in venture capital from Andreessen Horowitz, the venture firm of Netscape founder Marc Andreessen, as well as Accel Partners and Khosla Ventures.
So far, about 1.4 million people have downloaded RockMelt, and several hundred thousand are active users, according to CEO Eric Vishria, who stopped by Xconomy San Francisco yesterday (see video below). Those numbers are small even compared to Safari and Opera, let alone Chrome, Firefox, and IE. But Vishria says the company's aim is to give Web surfers so many unique and useful features that RockMelt will eventually displace one of today's Big Three browsers. "While there have been, historically, two and right now three players that have massive market share, the players have changed a lot," he notes. "Every few years someone new comes along: IE, Firefox, Chrome, and now us."
To leapfrog Safari and Opera and displace IE or Firefox or Chrome, RockMelt needs to do two things, Vishria says. One is to create "a massively differentiated product" that "looks different than anything else." It's already well on the way to doing that: RockMelt's distinguishing features are its "Friend Edge," which shows which of your Facebook friends are online and instantly reachable, and its "App Edge," where users can quickly access favorite outside websites and services. It's also unusual in that it sports big buttons that let users compose Tweets or Facebook status updates, or share the pages they're viewing with followers or friends.
The other mission is to turn RockMelt users into evangelists. Already, two-thirds of users have recommended the app to at least one friend, but Vishria says the company is planning features that will make it easier for users to tell more friends about the browser.
I've been using RockMelt as my default browser since November 2010, when it was first released in a private beta test. The company opened the beta to the public in March, and tomorrow it's rolling out a new "Beta5" release containing a bunch of new features. Most software updates these days don't mean much—in the cloud era, almost every piece of consumer-facing code undergoes constant revision. But taken together, the elements in tomorrow's release show how RockMelt intends to compete in the coming year.
In the video below, Vishria gives a quick tour of the new features in RockMelt Beta5. Story continues after video.
In Vishria's world view, the giants of today's Web are Google and Facebook, and RockMelt is "an ambitious mouse dancing between these elephants." Over the next 12 months, he believes, Google and Facebook will square off in three main areas: identity, information consumption, and communications. "For us, it's really exciting to see this happening, because on all three of those we were first," he says. "We were the first to have a … Next Page »