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Last year was an epic year for gamers of all ages! We got lost in the endless world of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. We screamed at our TV screens every time we died in Bloodborne. We shed tears of joy as we ripped open our brand spankin' new Fallout 4 games, and we collectively geeked out as we roamed the awesome battlefields of Star Wars Battlefront. But, that was then…this is now. Which games will keep me on the couch for hours this year? Sit back, relax and let me show you the ten games that will keep me "calling in sick" all year long.
10. Battleborn – First person shooters come a dime a dozen. But, this Gearbox inspired title promises to be different. How? This game will take you on an elaborate questing system in its online battles! Not only that, but you will actually level up during your matches. The game boasts 25 playable heroes with their own abilities and skills. Decisions, decisions….my head hurts just thinking about it! But if online bullet battles are not your thing, it will still have a campaign mode that you can play solo or with some buddies. You know what they say? Teamwork makes the dream work.
9. Quantum Break – This title is a thirdperson shooter. But, what makes this game exciting is your decision making. This game will have episodes like your favorite TV drama, and your decisions will affect the story and plotline of the game! The main character is Jack Joyce and he is not your typical protagonist. He can freeze time…and don't tell me you have never wished you could do that in real life. Going to be late for work or class? Freeze time…boom. Boss is happy, get a paycheck and use that paycheck to buy more video games.
8. Tom Clancy's The Division – Ubisoft rarely disappoints. There is no doubt that it will wow us again with Tom Clancy's The Division. Another thirdperson shooter with a sprawling world to discover and conquer with every single bulletdriven gun imaginable. This title will give you the power to gain experience and juice up your character with new skills and abilities. Or if you are like me, you can deck out your character with customizable swag like uniforms and backpacks. Who said that gamers don't know fashion?
7. Ratchet and Clank – This game series has brought me joy for years. Time hasn't changed one of my favorite video game duos, and they won't bring the boredom with the next installment set to release on the PS4. The premise is the same: save the day…again. But, saving the day this time will pack all the power of the PS4. The series never fails to make us laugh with its hilarious dialogue and unbelievable weapons of destruction. This outing will feature brand new toys and past weapons that will bring out the little kid in me, again.
6. LawBreakers – I know what are you saying. Hey, what about some love for PC games? Well, here you go. This title is a PC exclusive for now but may make the jump to your handy dandy console in the future. If you have never heard of this game, I don't blame you. The release date is unknown as of right now but the lead designer Cliff Bleszinski said this game will focus on "gangs, guns, and gravity." Now don't tell me that won't catch your attention. The game promises to spark heated online battles between criminals and law enforcement. Cops and robbers, to its very core.
5. Far Cry Primal – If you are like me, sometimes you dream about being a caveman…and what it would be like. Wait, just me? Okay then… Regardless, this game makes my dream a reality. This actionadventure game is set during the years when cavemen walked the lands with wooly mammoths. It is your job to make a name for yourself. The game starts you off as a lowly hunter, but you have big dreams. Dreams to lead your own tribe and dominate every single sabertoothed tiger in your path. Interested now? You're welcome.
4. Kingdom Hearts 3 – Another title that sparks the nostalgia in me. And I have no doubt that Disney will bring the heat again with this highly anticipated game. Your favorite keyblade wielding pal, Sora, is back but with some new friends. Goofy and Donald join him on this journey again, but new fan favorites Rapunzel and Baymax promise to make appearances. What has kept me coming back to this series is the integration of roleplaying elements and typical action adventure. Mix in your favorite Disney characters and it's guaranteed to be a winner.
3. Gears of War 4 – I have loved this series since the very first introduction of the XBOX console. I loved its ridiculous amount of unnecessary carnage and the incredible personalities of its characters. What can I say? I'm a romantic. This installment brings back what the series has held true to its very humble beginnings: you versus the aliens and freakylooking monsters. Afraid of the dark? Then maybe you should pass this title up. Gears of War 4 guarantees to have you jumping off the couch and running away thanks to its creepy atmosphere and haunting music. But, if you do, you will regret it.
2. Horizon: Zero Dawn – Sometimes, in real life, you wanna be Katnisslike. You know, grab a bow and arrow and just start randomly shooting robotic dinosaurs. That happened in Hunger Games, right? Of course not, but that's what you get to do in this game. A roleplaying game set in a land that has been decimated by the apocalypse, it is your job to restore order and figure your way around this destroyed land. This game is very tactical; you will need to use every trick in the book to survive. The game allows you to create new items and set up traps for those robotic dinosaurs I talked about before. What makes me drool, though, is the promised cycle of night and day! Should I fight this dinosaur at night and sneak up on it? Or just go all out arrows blazing in the early day before this baddie has his first cup of coffee?
1. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End – Finally, the game I have been waiting for the most. Our lovable Nathan Drake is back to end this epic gamechanging franchise. But, he can't do it forever, right? The story starts you off as a retired fortune and treasure hunter…how's that for an attention grabber on your resume? He tries to lead a normal life filled with 401ks and the rise and fall of gas prices…but, surprise surprise, that gets old fast. He somehow gets dragged into another adventure filled with suspense and sacrifice: the main components that made gamers fall in love with Drake from the beginning. It pains me to see this franchise end, but I know this series will have gamers talking about it for years to come.
2015 was an awesome year for gamers, and this new year will be filled with more video game fire. And with this list, the video game industry will bring new and old heavy hitters to keep us satisfied. So, what are you doing reading this article? You got some video game playing to do!


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Power Super Foods Organic Raw Maca Powder 500g
Maca is a sexy heart shaped root vegetable of the Brassicaceae (cruciferous) family that looks like a radish but grows like a sweet potato -- the colour varies from creamy yellow or light pink to dark purple or black. Maca's botanical name is Lepidium meyenii,Walpers (after German botanist Gerhard Walpers) and is also known as Lepidium peruvianum, Chacon after Peruvian researcher Dr. Gloria Chacon.
Maca Power® powder is fresh milled to order then climate controlled shipped from Peru. Our temperature-controlled processing prevents oxidization and rancidity, especially of heat sensitive vitamins, essential fatty acids, and proteins (amino acids). Note our 14.6% protein level -- we believe our premium strength Maca is the freshest, most supreme quality Maca in the world.
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Having traveled the globe (30+ countries !!) absorbing the ancient wisdom and searching for unique, traditional plants that provide energy and enhance wellbeing. We invite you to experience something new and enjoy adding these healthy traditions to your modern lifestyle.
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Our company is committed to socially and environmentally responsible business practices and carbon offset 1 million kilograms in 2011 & 2012! Part proceeds are donated every year to amazing organisations around the world devoted to changing this planet for the better – check out our current and past philanthropy in "The Planetary Promise" section.
Power Super Foods® is proud to be a leader in truly positive healthy business...we believe in a win-win-win for our suppliers, our distributors, our customers and this Planet Earth.
Why eat superfoods?
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Whether powering through a long day at work, hitting the gym or trails, or just needing an extra competitive edge in life, everyone can benefit from the energy of organic functional foods. These ultra nourishing edibles - acai, cacao, maca, sea vegetables, chia, goji & maqui berries, coconut-derived foods and supersalts etc make being at your best easier than ever.
We believe that the only way forward for humanity is to embrace dailiy healthy eating, to foster a positive, productive outlook, and a creative, energetic desire to solve the challenges facing us on this planet Earth today.
And if you believe as we do, that superfoods and conscious food choices will become the norm, then you'll realise too that there is room for all of us, which is why we service, assist and support other companies, individuals, & those connected to it.....because the future is right NOW.
Why certified organic?
Unpleasant, yes, but true. Fish, fowl, fauna and food diversity are failing. Chemical runoff and residues are the main cause of decreasing plant and animal life world-wide. Every year in Australia alone, over 30,000 TONNES of herbicides, insecticides, fungicides etc are splashed across our continent.
Organic farming practices restore topsoil quality, resist drought, and foster wildlife habitat and biodiversity. It is said that current agricultural practices are responsible for about 30 percent of global warming – organic farming reduces landfill (nutrient recycling thru composting), captures carbon dioxide (in the form of soil humus), and reduces greenhouse gas by eliminating synthetic nitrogen fertilisers (prohibited in Organic farming) which account for two thirds of cropping emissions.
Scientific studies comparing conventional food with organic foods have concluded that organics are more nutritious with higher Vitamin C levels, more minerals and phytonutrients (like antioxidants), and can additionally prevent you from consuming as much as 2 kilos of nasty food additives (not allowed in Organics) per annum.
And what about allergies?? With 'trial' farms already producing GMO produce, food irradiation being approved in some states, and weak legislation in Australia that allows Genetically Modified Foods to be unlabelled in our food chain, you & your child could be eating unknown genes (fish? egg? spider??) spliced into their apple, for example. Organic farmers support Mother Nature by taking a firm stance, saying "NO to GMO".
Now round all that out with more humane treatment of farm animals, a much better taste, & a dose of common bloody sense - can any sensible earth resident not love Organics?? Hip hip hooray !!!!!!!
Certified Organic Maca Powder.

subset: commoncrawl


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US President Donald Trump has alleged that the "fake media" does not want him to use the social media to prevent Americans from hearing the "real story".
In a series of tweets, the president said he believed the leaks coming from his administration are actually "fabricated lies."
"The Fake News Media works hard at disparaging & demeaning my use of social media because they don't want America to hear the real story!" Trump said in a tweet yesterday, a day after he returned from his maiden overseas trip, which he described as a big success.
"Just returned from Europe. Trip was a great success for America. Hard work but big results," he said as he slammed the US media for using leaks against him.
"It is my opinion that many of the leaks coming out of the White House are fabricated lies made up by the #FakeNews media," he said in another tweet to his more ta 30.8 followers.
"Whenever you see the words 'sources say' in the fake news media, and they don't mention names… it is very possible that those sources don't exist but are made up by fake news writers. #FakeNews is the enemy!," Trump said in a series of tweets.
"Does anyone notice how the Montana Congressional race was such a big deal to Dems & Fake News until the Republican won? V was poorly covered," he wrote.
"British Prime Minister (Theresa) May was very angry that the info the UK gave to US about Manchester was leaked. Gave me full details!" Trump tweeted.
Trump said the massive tax cuts / reforms that he has submitted is moving along in the process very well.
"Actually ahead of schedule. Big benefits to all!" he said.
"I suggest that we add more dollars to Healthcare and make it the best anywhere. ObamaCare is dead – the Republicans will do much better!" said the US President.
Trump's attacks on the media come as his campaign team faces increased scrutiny over its contacts with Russia.
Members of Trump's White House have regularly requested anonymity when speaking to the press.


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Bacteremia with fever due to a novel subspecies of Bartonella vinsonii was found in a cattle rancher. The subspecies shared major characteristics of the genus Bartonella in terms of most biochemical features and cellular fatty acid profile, but it was distinguishable from other subspecies of B. vinsonii by good growth on heart infusion agar supplemented with X factor and by its pattern of enzymatic hydrolysis of peptide substrates. DNA relatedness studies verified that the isolate belonged to the genusBartonella and that it was genotypically related toB. vinsonii. The highest level of relatedness was observed with recently characterized strains from naturally infected mice that were coinfected with Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti. We propose the name Bartonella vinsoniisubsp. arupensis subsp. nov. as the new subspecies to accommodate these human and murine isolates.
Bartonella vinsonii was described as the Canadian vole agent in 1946 by Baker (1). It was further characterized by Weiss and Dasch (17), who proposed the name Rochalimaea vinsoniiin 1982. The members of the genus Rochalimaea were then reclassified as Bartonella spp. on the basis of DNA relatedness and 16S rRNA sequence data by Brenner and coworkers in 1993 (5). B. vinsonii has not heretofore been implicated in human disease, although a subspecies (Bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii) causing canine endocarditis was recently described (3, 11).
The characterization of novel Bartonella species and subspecies continues (2, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13). A study originally intended to determine the prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi, Babesia microti, and Ehrlichiaspecies in Minnesota and Wisconsin mice identified, instead of any animals infected with Ehrlichia spp., fourBartonella-infected animals by using EhrlichiaPCR primers (9). Analysis of the citrate synthase gene sequence of one of the isolates showed that it was most closely related to B. vinsonii. Prior to that report, our laboratory received an isolate from the blood culture of a Wyoming man which we confirmed as B. vinsonii. In light of these two findings, we were led to compare the human isolate and the isolates from nature for DNA relatedness as well as to describe the Wyoming man's case and the isolate itself.
Case history.The patient is a 62-year-old Caucasian male who was admitted in May 1994 to a community hospital in Wyoming with acute onset of confusion, difficulty in walking, and facial numbness. The patient had been well 48 h prior to admission. He is a rancher by occupation, and he had been very active ranching and irrigating in the days prior to the onset of symptoms. Two days prior to admission he developed some low-grade "warm and cold" feelings and fatigue. He also experienced some dizziness, characterized as a feeling of instability when walking and doing chores. A mild headache and myalgias, but no stiffness or photophobia, were also reported. He took aspirin and ibuprofen for these symptoms. On the day of admission, his legs "got stiff," and he fell when trying to get up from a seated position while branding cattle. He was noted to have slurred speech and to be confused. There was no evidence of seizure activity. The pulse was rapid and irregular. No other symptoms were reported.
The medical history is significant for an ill-defined rheumatologic disease characterized by a high positive antinuclear antibody level, elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, positive rheumatoid factor, Sjögren's syndrome, and polyneuropathy, diagnosed in 1960 after a lengthy hospitalization in California. The rheumatologic syndrome is also characterized by variable neurological manifestations, including aseptic meningitis. Relapses are managed by high-dose intravenous steroids. In 1987 he was treated with prednisone for a presumed relapse of vasculitis when he presented with vertigo, headache, and numbness of the hands. Between exacerbations, he is relatively asymptomatic, and he does not require long-term steroid therapy.
On admission, the patient had a temperature of 100.9°F (38.3°C). Blood pressure was 150/90 mm Hg, the pulse was 120/min, and the respiratory rate was 16/min. He appeared encephalopathic but in no acute distress. A skin examination revealed no stigmata of vasculitis. Examination of the head, eyes, ears, nose, and throat was normal. The neck was supple, and there was no adenopathy. The heart rate was irregularly irregular without murmurs, rubs, or gallops. The lungs were clear to percussion and auscultation. There was no hepatosplenomegaly or mass found on abdominal examination. The neurological examination was significant for decreased sensation in the area innervated by the right-fifth-cranial nerve. There was a palsy of the right fourth cranial-nerve, and the gag reflex was absent. He had bilateral diplopia and slurred speech. There was no visual-field defect. He had hyperreflexia with bilateral clonus. He exhibited decreased concentration and emotional lability on mental-status examination but was otherwise fully oriented.
The peripheral leukocyte count was 8,700/μl with 81% neutrophils, 8% band forms, and 10% lymphocytes; platelet count was 166,000/μl and the hematocrit was 41.3%. A cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis was performed, and there were three leukocytes, undifferentiated. CSF protein was 49 mg/dl, and glucose was 45 mg/dl (peripheral glucose, 120 mg/dl). Other CSF study results included a serum-to-CSF immunoglobulin G ratio of 0.31, positive oligoclonal bands, but a normal immunoglobulin G index. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 45 mm/h. A chemistry screen was normal except for a serum glutamic oxalacetic transaminase level of 53 μ/liter and a lactate dehydrogenase level of 190 μ/liter. An antinuclear antibody test was positive, showing a 1:2,560 titer with a speckled pattern. Magnetic resonance imaging of the head showed an area of increased signal in T2-weighted images in the middle and superior portions of the pons. A computerized axial tomography scan of the head was normal. An echocardiogram showed moderate mitral and tricuspid insufficiency and mild aortic insufficiency but no evidence of endocarditis. An electrocardiogram revealed atrial flutter. Blood cultures were obtained on admission, including one set in BACTEC bottles and one in an Isolator, which grew five colonies of a gram-negative bacillus at day 7 on chocolate agar. The organism was sent to the microbiology laboratory of Associated and Regional University Pathologists, Inc., for identification. The organism was identified as a Bartonella species, but notB. henselae or B. quintana. The organism was then sent to D. F. Welch for further characterization.
The patient initially had 24 to 36 h of temperatures as high as 39°C; he received a single 1-g dose of ceftriaxone, after which he defervesced. Prednisone (40 mg) was administered for presumptive cerebral vasculitis related to Sjögren's syndrome. Anticoagulation was begun because of the atrial flutter. He was discharged after 7 days of hospitalization with a significant improvement in neurologic symptoms. He has gradually been tapered off steroids; persistent neurologic deficits include mild dizziness, slight difficulty in swallowing, and mild ophthalmoplegia. He has not required hospital admission since 1994, and he continues an active lifestyle as a rancher in rural Montana.
Strains.The following type strains were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection: Bartonella henselae ATCC 49793, Bartonella quintana ATCC 51694, Bartonella vinsonii subsp. vinsonii ATCC VR-152, B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii ATCC 51672, andBartonella elizabethae ATCC 49927. The isolate described in "Case history" was designated OK 94-513. Cultures were maintained on Columbia agar supplemented with 5% defibrinated sheep blood.
DNA relatedness studies.The strains used in DNA relatedness determinations are listed in Table 1. The methods used for isolation and purification of bacterial DNA and the hydroxyapatite method used for DNA relatedness determinations have been described previously (4). Divergence (D) was calculated to the nearest 0.5%. All reactions were done at least twice.
Phenotypic studies.Conventional biochemical tests and commercial panels of biochemicals were used as described elsewhere (15, 18). Briefly, inocula were obtained from cultures growing on Columbia blood agar that were incubated for 5 to 7 days at 35°C in 5 to 10% CO2. For determining biochemical reactivity based on preformed enzymes, suspensions equivalent to a McFarland no. 2 turbidity standard were prepared in sterile water. A dehydrated panel containing 24 substrates (Rapid Anaerobe Panel; Dade International, Inc., West Sacramento, Calif.) was inoculated and incubated at 35°C for 4 h, after which the results were interpreted according to the manufacturer's directions. Suspensions equivalent to a 0.5 McFarland turbidity standard were prepared in saline for determining X-factor growth requirements, with strips (Difco, Detroit, Mich.) applied to heart infusion agar, or in Trypticase soy broth for susceptibility testing by the E-test technique (AB Biodisk, Culver City, Calif.) on Columbia blood agar. Cellular fatty acid compositions were analyzed by gas-liquid chromatography, and immunofluorescence tests were performed as previously described (15, 19).
DNA relatedness studies.Labeled DNAs from the patient strain, OK 94-513, and from three separate passages of mouse strain 95 0726 14a were reacted with unlabeled DNAs from each other and from type strains of Bartonella species (Table 1). Relatedness of the patient strain and the passages of the mouse strain was 72 to 82% at 55°C (optimal criterion for DNA reassociation), with a D of 2.0 to 3.5%. Relatedness at the stringent (70°C) reaction temperature was 77 to 80%. Reciprocal DNA relatedness of the human and mouse strains toB. vinsonii subsp. vinsonii and B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii was 65 to 85% at 55°C, with a D of 4.5 to 7%; relatedness in 70°C reactions was 57 to 71%. Relatedness of the human and mouse strains to all otherBartonella species for which strains are available (there are no strains for Bartonella talpae, Bartonella peromysci, and Bartonella taylorii) was 23 to 68% at 55°C, with a D of 10 to 13.5%. Similar results were obtained when labeled DNAs from the type strains of B. vinsonii subsp.vinsonii (Table 1) and B. vinsonii subsp.berkhoffii were used.
Phenotypic characterization of isolate.The organism was initially recognized as a fastidious, small, gram-negative rod, based on its Gram staining properties and its recovery on chocolate agar after 7 days of incubation in an Isolator-processed blood culture. It was catalase and oxidase negative, and it was unreactive with immunodiagnostic reagents specific for Brucella,Francisella, B. henselae, and B. quintana. The cellular fatty acid profile was consistent withBartonella spp., however, characterized by a large amount (∼50%) of C18:1ω7C and only four other cellular fatty acids in significant amounts: C16:0, 13%; C17:0, 9%; C17:1ω6C, 3%; and C18:0, 16%.
Biochemical analysis with preformed enzyme-dependent substrate utilization assays revealed reactivity with substrates bis p-nitrophenyl-phosphate,l-leucine-β-naphthylamide,l-lysine-β-naphthylamide (alkaline), glycylglycine-β-naphthylamide, glycine-β-naphthylamide,l-arginine-β-naphthylamide,l-tryptophan-β-naphthylamide, anddl-methionine-β-naphthylamide (weakly positive); there was no reactivity with substratesp-nitrophenyl-β-d-galactopyranoside,p-nitrophenyl-α-d-galac-topyranoside, p-nitrophenyl-N-actelyl-β-d-glucosaminide, p-nitrophenyl-α-d-glucopyranoside,p-nitrophenyl-β-d-glu-copyranoside, p-nitrophenyl-phosphate, p-nitrophenyl-α-l-fucopyranoside, p-nitrophenyl-α-d-mannopyranoside, l-lysine-β-naphthylamide (acid), l-prolyl-β-naphthylamide, l-pyrrolindonyl-β-naphthylamide, 3-indoxyl phosphate, trehalose, urea, indole, and nitrate. A comparison of these results with those which could help distinguish otherBartonella species or subspecies is shown in Table2. Also shown in Table 2 are the results of motility testing by wet mount and growth tests on heart infusion agar plus X factor, which also distinguish the isolate from B. henselae and from B. quintana, although the latter grew weakly in the presence of the X factor.
The isolate displayed in vitro susceptibility (MIC < 0.5 μg/ml) to ampicillin, penicillin, cefotaxime, ciprofloxacin, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, clarithromycin, and tetracycline. The MIC of gentamicin was 3.0 μg/ml.
The exact contribution of the Bartonella isolate to this patient's illness is unclear. He clearly was bacteremic, and he clearly had very high fever. The infection may have prompted a relapse of the vasculitis and the associated neurologic manifestations of his ill-defined rheumatologic syndrome. Occupational exposure seems to have been the likely means of acquiring the infection. There is anecdotal evidence of an abundance of voles in the locales of Montana in which this man worked. Ample opportunity probably existed for ectoparasitic exposure (ticks, fleas, and biting flies), but none was documented.
In a few parts of the United States where rodent populations have been studied, Bartonella spp. have been found to be prevalent among mice and rats. Kosoy et al. (12) detectedBartonella in roughly 50% of the rodent populations in the southeastern United States, and Hofmeister et al. (9) detected a novel Bartonella species in the blood of mice in Minnesota and Wisconsin in the course of studies on the reservoirs of tick-borne pathogens. The new Bartonella species was detected incidentally, along with Borrelia burgdorferi andBabesia microti, when PCR primers targetingEhrlichia spp. resulted in the amplification ofBartonella-like 16S ribosomal DNA segments. These findings, as well as those of this case, suggest that Bartonella spp. may occasionally be transmitted by ticks. Prior to the current understanding of the epidemiology of cat scratch disease, Lucey et al. (14) reported two cases of bacteremia due to B. henselae in immunocompetent men who had sustained tick bites prior to their illnesses. In addition to the well-documented role of fleas in the transmission of B. henselae (6) and the classic examples of louse-borne trench fever due to B. quintana and oroya fever due to Bartonella bacilliformis acquired from sand flies, it is possible that more than one arthropod vector of Bartonella-associated diseases exists.
The Bartonella strains isolated from mice by Hofmeister et al. (9) were most closely related to Bartonella grahamii (2) on the basis of 16S rRNA sequence analysis and were most closely related to B. vinsonii subsp.vinsonii on the basis of citrate synthase gene sequence analysis. Our DNA relatedness studies indicated that mouse isolate 95 0726 14a from the study of Hofmeister et al. and human strain OK 94-513 fulfilled the molecular definition of a species as strains with 70% or more DNA relatedness (at an optimal reassociation criterion) and a D of 5% or less within related sequences (16). On the basis of this definition, the human and mouse strains were easily differentiated from all Bartonella species other than B. vinsonii. The relatedness to B. vinsonii subsp.vinsonii and B. vinsonii subsp.berkhoffii was at the species level, except that D was almost always 5 to 7%. These data left us with the choice of creating a new species for these strains or creating a third subspecies for them within B. vinsonii. We chose the second alternative because of the similarity of relatedness of the new strains to that previously seen within existing B. vinsonii subspecies (11). We therefore now describe Bartonella vinsonii subsp.arupensis subsp. nov.
Description of B. vinsonii subsp. arupensissubsp. nov. Bartonella vinsonii subsp. arupensis(a.rup.en.′sis. N.L. fem.adj. arupensis, from Associated and Regional University Pathologists, Inc., the laboratory where the type strain was initially characterized). Exhibits characteristics of the species B. vinsonii. Grows on heart infusion agar in the presence of X factor. Catalase, oxidase, and motility negative. Does not react with monospecific antisera to B. henselae orB. quintana. Biochemical characteristics that may be used to distinguish it from other Bartonella spp. are shown in Table2. Isolated from a human and mice (Peromyscus leucopus). Presumptively pathogenic for humans.
The type strain is OK 94-513 (= ATCC 700727), isolated from a 62-year-old bacteremic man.
The details for the case report were kindly furnished by William T. Close. The technologist responsible for the initial characterization of the isolate and whose curiosity led to conclusive findings is Ann Croft.
- Received 8 February 1999.
- Returned for modification 15 March 1999.
- Accepted 4 May 1999.
- Copyright © 1999 American Society for Microbiology


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DALLAS The Cubs arent talking about Carlos Zambrano in the past tense yet.
There are enough people left over from the old regime that the new administration knows Zambranos history, how he has said sorry before.
Publicly, the Cubs have presented the opportunity to earn his way back, though its unclear whether its because theyre desperate for innings or trying to create some sort of trade value.
Dale Sveum brought out a familiar talking point on Tuesday in Dallas, saying that a top three of Matt Garza, Ryan Dempster and Zambrano would be enough to hang in the National League Central.
The new manager hasnt spoken with Zambrano yet, but wants to get to know him and is trying to contact every player before Christmas.
I dont think theres a message you send with a guy, Sveum said. He knows his track record. Its not something I have to mention to him. He knows what hes done in the past and knows hes got to change that past. If you put those three guys at the top of your rotation, you got a chance of winning with the bullpen that we have.
The Miami Marlins remain a logical landing spot, because of Zambranos relationship with manager Ozzie Guillen, his close friend from Venezuela. People close to Zambrano say he would benefit greatly from a change of scenery, and would be hungry to prove himself again.
In trying to create the same sort of buzz the Miami Heat did, the Marlins could wind up spending more than 300 million this week on Jose Reyes and Albert Pujols. They are box-office draws and offensive catalysts. But, eventually, the Marlins will have to focus on starting pitching.
Zambrano is owed 18 million next season, while Alfonso Soriano is guaranteed 54 million across the next three years. The Cubs would have to pay a huge sum to get rid of either player.
In general, I think eating money on a deal if the return is right then sometimes it can make sense, general manager Jed Hoyer said.
Both players have no-trade rights, and the Cubs will be extremely reluctant to include those clauses in future contracts.
You never want to say never, Hoyer said, but at the same time, it was a strict policy in Boston against giving no-trades. And I think its the right policy because you end up in those situations where youre in a tough spot. Theyre to be avoided.
The Cubs will have to be creative in finding pitching solutions, because there arent many frontline starters available and the cost figures to be prohibitive. Hoyer pointed to under-the-radar signings like Ryan Vogelsong, who hadnt pitched in the big leagues since 2006 but signed late and went 13-7 with a 2.71 ERA for the San Francisco Giants last season.
Our assessment of Carlos hasnt changed, Hoyer said. Pitchings hard to find, theres no question. I think ideally you need to develop your own. But if you look at where pitching comes from, its not always the biggest names that sign at the winter meetings.
There (are) a lot of guys that have impact and you cant just focus on the big guys (because) some of the best seasons could come from guys that arent being discussed in the lobby this week.
Whoever ultimately reports to Arizona will be working with new pitching coach Chris Bosio. Sveum and Bosio go way back. They played high school football against each other in California and became teammates on the Milwaukee Brewers.
Bosio has credibility after pitching 11 seasons in the big leagues. Sveum described Bosio as a baseball rat who doesnt back down from anything.
The question becomes: Will they have to confront Zambrano?


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Great work is happening at City Neighbors Hamilton! Our new Atelierista (Hannah Cohen, a MICA graduate) is working to create an atelier where students can go not only to learn discreet art skills, but also to participate in an open studio time model. This year Hannah is teaching an elective for stop motion animation. She and her students are working to raise some funds. If you are interested, here is the link to the IndieGoGo fundraising site: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/bringing-ideas-to-life-through-stop-motion-animation and the link to the atelier blog: http://artatcityneighborshamilton.blogspot.com.
Thanks, Hannah, for working so hard for us, and being Inspired to Create!


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This game requires the Adobe Flash Player.
Welcome to Fusion City! Take up arms as an unkown enemy attacks the megacity. Help your friends defend Sector 7 in this action packed game! Fight to get the power cystals and bring the city back online.
Tags: anthonysamarie challenging hard game awosome killing fun maze how save emma watson ciulpk bibi
This is a game made with Sploder's classic game creator.


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Join the Bethlehem Food Co-op on Friday night 12/15 for the Live Advent Calendar on Main Street in front of the Goundie House in downtown historic Bethlehem.
It's our turn to welcome everyone this holiday season.
Join us to see what surprises and treats we have in store!
The Historic Bethlehem Live Advent Calendar, the only one of its kind in the country.
Kicking off its 12th year on December 1 at 5:30 PM, the Live Advent Calendar will open at the 1810 Goundie House at 505 Main Street and continue nightly through December 23.
Shops, restaurants, and community organizations of the Historic District will provide a special treat to Live Advent visitors crowds of up to 300 each night. Visitors will enjoy a festive 10-15 minute program. Be sure to get there early.
The Live Advent Calendar is sponsored by merchants of the Downtown Bethlehem Association, a council of the Lehigh Valley Chamber, in conjunction with Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites.


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High Dimensional Search and the NN Problem
The early days of computational geometry and the nearest neighbor problem
David Dobkin is one of the founders of Computational Geometry (CG). This initial work was done while we both were assistant professors at Yale, back in the mid 1970's–a mere three decades ago. David also did seminal work on matrix multiplication for his PhD. under Roger Brockett at Harvard. Brockett has a great saying:
"It's hard to argue with a counter-example."
I have always liked this quote.
One of David's coolest results, on matrix multiplication, was a proof that the product of an by matrix and a vector could be done in arithmetic operations. This was post Volker Strassen's great result, but still is an amazing theorem, with an extremely intricate proof.
I have already discussed some lower bound work that we did together on the knapsack problem, today I plan on discussing some upper bound work that we also did. This work, on search in high dimensional spaces, introduced several new concepts to CG.
I have an uncountable number of David stories, stored in my finite number of neurons–is that possible? I could tell you about our periodic ritual of writing out "napkins" that predicted the future of the computer science department at Yale, our monthly poker game for penny stakes, or how Mary-Claire van Leunen worked with us on improving our writing skills.
Mary-Claire, was a member of the support staff at Yale, even though she was way overqualified–she had an M.A. in English. Later she wrote a well received book on technical writing, in which many samples of my prose were prominently displayed. Great. Unfortunately, they were all used as examples of "do not do this–ever." I like to think that she helped me improve my writing.
David has always been a joy to work with, and back in the 1970's working was different than it is today. Now I sit in an easy chair with my laptop, and type my blog post into an editor. I then click a button and through the magic of \TeX\, and \LaTeX\, it is typeset and displayed in seconds on the screen. If I want to add anything, or fix an error, I just start typing again. On and on. Writing is almost fun.
When David and I wrote our paper things were quite different. First we wrote the paper out by hand, then, we got into David's VW bug. The original–I am a hippy from the '60's–VW bug, and drove across New Haven to a private home. There we rang the door bell, and were met by our typist, who was usually holding one of her young children in her arms. We handed her the manuscript, and she told us, "I can do this by Friday." And so on.
Manuscripts were typed on typewriters, by typists. Special symbols came from inserting metal tools, one for each symbol, into the typewriter so that oh just forget it. You get the idea: it's a miracle we could get anything done.
Multi-Dimensional Search
Our first joint paper at STOC was on searching in arbitrary dimension Euclidean spaces.
The way we approached searching was to think about the one-dimensional case, which is solved by the classic binary search method. At an abstract level binary search shows that given points in a one-dimensional space, there is a data structure that allows queries of the form, which is closest to the point ? Binary search does this by building a data structure, and then using the data structure to solve the query problem efficiently. The data structure is, of course, nothing more than the points arranged in sorted order, while the query is performed by using binary search to locate in the sorted list.
We divided the cost of this solution into two parts. The first was the pre-processing costs, which in this case is the time required to sort the points: . The second was the query time, which in this case is: .
Then, we tried to generalize this to higher dimensions: initially the plane, then three space, and finally the case of dimensions. Immediately, there was a fundamental question: what is the correct generalization? The right one, was not instantly clear to us, even for the simple case of the plane.
However, after a while we realized that the correct generalization to the plane was to replace points by lines. Since the lines divide the plane into bounded and unbounded regions, the search question became the following: find the region that contains the query point. More formally, the problem became: Given lines in the plane, is there an efficient data structure that allows queries of the form: which region of the plane, formed by the lines, contains the query point ?
We found that there was a data structure that solved this problem with pre-processing cost at most and query time . This was nice; although the pre-processing time increased quite a bit, the query time was still logarithmic. The method of proof became known later on as the slab method, more on that later.
I would like to say that we immediately stated and then proved the general theorem:
Theorem: Given any hyperplanes in dimensional Euclidean space, there is a data structure that can locate where a point is in time. Moreover, the pre-processing time of this data structure is
The truth is we struggled with even the three dimensional case. Finally, we decided to try to use advanced visualization aids. We took pieces of cardboard and some empty cardboard boxes and played around in my office, until we figured out what was going on. I still recall David holding a box and me trying to hold three pieces of cardboard, all in an effort to "see" what was happening. I have to add that David's geometric intuition is terrific, while mine was and is very poor. But, eventually, we made progress.
Slab Method and Improvements
There has been a huge amount of work on refining our theorem–see this. There were two reasons: first our pre-processing cost was huge, and second while the query time was logarithmic the constant was also huge: the query time was actually order . Many improvements were made starting with the work of Kenneth Clarkson, and later Stefan Meiser. Eventually, the pre-processing came down to a still huge order and a query time of . In special cases, such as the plane, even better results are known.
One concept that we introduced to CG, but we did not name, was the slab method. This idea continues to see applications in a variety of geometry problems. The key insight to this method is simple.
In general lines cannot be totally ordered, but when they are confined to a "slab" so that there are no crossings, they can be easily ordered. It is such a simple idea, but a very powerful one.
Today improvements continue. A beautiful example, is the recent work of Mihai Pătraşcu, in which he proves that query time can even be sub-logarithmic time. In order to prove this he needs to work on a grid and in the RAM model. However, the result is quite neat and not at all obvious, in my opinion. His proof uses a kind of slab argument, but of course to get sub-logarithmic time, he must be more clever and cannot simply use binary search on the line segments in the slab. See his paper for details.
Exact Nearest Neighbor
One of my favorite problems, that is still open, is the nearest neighbor (NN) problem. In this problem a set of points are given in dimensional Euclidean space. The problem is to find the pair of points that are closest in the usual Euclidean distance.
The obvious algorithm is to compare all pairs of points, which clearly takes time . Since this time can be huge, the usual approaches are to change the problem. One approach is to consider that the points come from some random distribution.
Another, more popular approach is to allow an approximate answer. The goal, thus, becomes to find a pair of points whose distance is within an of the best pair's distance, where the error is multiplicative. There is a vast literature of heuristics, theorems, algorithms, and implementations of this approach. I will not say more about it today.
Note, NN is related to the previous work on hyperplanes. If we can pre-process the points, then we can tell for any new point which point it is closest to in logarithmic time. Thus, one might expect that similar ideas from the previous work could be used to attack NN.
However, to my knowledge, the exact NN problem remains unsolved. I have asked one of the top experts, Piotr Indyk, who was kind enough to point out that one can do slightly better than brute force, . For large dimensions , the best known upper bound is of the form where . This is obtained by using fast matrix multiplication. The key insight is that for the Euclidean distance, it suffices to compute the dot product of vectors. This relies on the fact that the square of the distance between two vectors and is,
Then, the dot products are computed by squaring an by matrix.
Open Problems
Solve the exact nearest neighbor problem. Please. Approximations, may be fine for practical situations, but this is a fundamental problem of CG. It is hard to believe that after decades of work, we still are in the dark on how to solve NN exactly.
Another approach could be to use the matrix product connection. I have often wondered if there could be a connection to FFT technology because of the dot formula for distance.
Finally an approach, perhaps, is to use the known approximate methods to act as a filter, that would then allow an efficient search of the remaining pairs. Perhaps.
Alex Nikolov permalinkJune 18, 2009 8:41 pm
Hi! I might be missing something. For d=2 there is a classical deterministic n*log n algorithm for the closest pair of points. There is also the famous (and beautiful) randomized O(n) algorithm by Rabin, which places a grid on the plane. Can't Rabin's algorithm be generalized to higher d, to get a better dependence on n, at least?
Jon permalinkJune 18, 2009 10:28 pm
Very nice story. One tip: you might want to link to the definitions of any obscure terms you use, for example typewriter. TIA!
June 19, 2009 1:02 am
Smirking again…
"It's hard to argue with a counter-example."
Only in maths NOT in politics or religion 😀
Solve the exact nearest neighbor problem. Please.
What do you mean?
It IS solved, just not the way you would want ( Odn2 )
This is another case of the fuzzy transition between natural language and maths (re: my disparaging of Lakatos "mathematical discovery")
For which value would you consider this "solved"?
On ???
Rafee Kamouna permalinkJune 19, 2009 9:08 am
Dear Prof Dick Lipton,
"It's hard to argue with a counter-example". A wonderful assertion.
Yet, it is absolutely easy to imagine that it does not exist. An infinite class of counter-examples to NP-completeness is here for a complete year:
Another class of counter-examples (without fuzzy logic) is here:
The Liar's Paradox implies SAT is (NOT) NP-complete & The Kleene-Rosser Paradox implies SAT is (NOT) NP-complete.
Shahab permalinkJuly 13, 2009 2:41 pm
I was wondering if you know of any negative result in this regard, something that shows using such and such tools, it needs time at least of the order n^k for some k.
March 4, 2011 6:28 pm
I'm not a theorist, nor even a professional mathematician. And I know this comment is years late. But has there been any progress on the nearest neighbor problem?
My unschooled intuition suggests two possible approaches, the first using Voronoi diagrams: add the points one at a time, and maintain a data structure that represents the Voronoi diagram of the points that have been added so far. The hope here is that it might be less expensive to update the Voronoi diagram than it is to compare a point against every other point. I think that when you add a new point to a Voronoi diagram, it carves out a new domain from the real estate of the domain it lands in, and its immediately adjacent domains. This would confine the amount of comparison you would have to do for each point.
The other possible approach is to sort the coordinates independently in each dimension, and look for theorems that say that the nearest neighbors must be almost adjacent in all of those sorted lists. I don't know how to rigorize that, though.
You often have reasons for believing that particular kinds of approaches to a problem are doomed from the outset, for example, the "bait and switch" argument about boolean functions. Do you have reasons to think that the approaches I have sketched here are doomed?


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Kids Learn to Draw Mickey With Disney's Creativity Studio
Know a Disney fan or a wannabe artist? The Disney Creativity Studio app makes a great gift. Through the app, a real Disney artist teaches you how to draw Mickey and other beloved characters with step-by-step tutorials, using your iPad and a stylus.
The Smart Stylus is your creative tool. It feels comfortable in your hand and, of course, features a cheerful picture of Mickey. The stylus magically draws different shapes and textures, like markers, crayons and stamps, as well as a variety of colors and brush sizes. A color palette appears across the top of the screen, and there's an eraser for those inevitable oopsies. Simply flip the stylus over, just like a pencil.
Dozens of pages of fun activities guide you through tracing and drawing, until you too become a Disney artist — or close to it. If you're feeling inspired, use the free drawing option. Once you've created your masterpiece, save or email it to Grandma as a gift. A folder preserves all your completed drawings.
The Disney Creativity Studio costs $49.99 (available at the Apple web store) and is best for ages four and up. The package includes the stylus and a carrying case, as well as a code to download the app for free. Otherwise the app is available for purchase for $3.99 from the App Store.
Thumbnail image courtesy of iStockphoto, PinkTag


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We will notify you when this product becomes available.
Shining and beautiful, this Crescent Necklace features a crescent moon pendant hanging from a 14k gold-fill chain. A dreamy necklace symbolising growth and new beginnings; a distinctive classic for the modern women.
▲ 18k gold filled crescent▲ 14k gold filled chain ▲ pendant size: 20mm x 17mmMade from nickel free gold filled sterling silver. Also available in sterling silver - visit our necklace section to see the whole collection.


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Mission Valley is a beautiful gated neighborhood located in Mission, Texas. In this wonderful community, you will find some of the most stunning custom homes in South Texas. These homes have luxurious finishes, including granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and more! Conveniently located near great schools, shopping, and entertainment. Mission Valley offers fabulous amenities and stunning details that are perfect for the entire family.
School District: Sharyland ISD
Elementary: Donna Wernecke Elementary
Middle School: Sharyland North Junior High School
High School: Sharyland Pioneer High School
Gas Stations
Medical Facilities
Shopping Centers
A Place to Call Home
With numerous attractive lots, excellent schools, and a convenient location, Mission Valley is a community that has everything you're looking for in a place to call home. Every residence is personalized for you with a customized interior and exterior that reflects your preferences.Mission Valley provides the perfect mix of city conveniences and a relaxed suburban lifestyle.
Designed to Fit Your Budget
Brito Construction specializes in building quality, affordable custom homes. We have options for nearly any budget, depending on the size and amenities chosen. Our experts will cater to your every need when it comes to creating a high quality custom home. Lots in this community are going fast. See the rest of our lots for sale or contact us today to learn more.


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Cyprus is a lovely country to live in
If you are moving to Cyprus to work you may require our services to acquire:
- European passport – Cyprus passport
- European citizenship
- Cyprus work visa
- Immigration Cyprus services in general
Cyprus Company formation. EU Company with several tax & other benefits.
learn the criteriaCYPRUS BOASTS AN IMPRESSIVE LIST OF DOUBLE TAX TREATIES. Along with a favourable tax system
these treaties can be fundamental to tax planning and the establishment of a business.
In addition, Cyprus offers impressive infrastructure for businesses and a legal system based on English common laws Read more...


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Also newly announced is the Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital release of Adam McKay's Vice from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Look for the discs on 4/2, with the Digital release due on 3/12. The Blu-ray and DVD will feature 3 deleted scenes, 2 featurettes (Gaming the System: The Making of Vice and The Music of Power), and a photo gallery. You'll also find the cover artwork below.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release the Oscar nominated foreign film Capernaum on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on 3/26.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has set Gotham: The Complete Fifth Season and Gotham: The Complete Series for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 6/11. Season Five will include Gotham Season 5: Best Moments at NY Comic Con 2018, Modern Mythology, and deleted scenes. SRP for Season Five is $29.98, with the Complete Series coming in at $112.99.
Our friends at the Warner Archive Collection have announced that Man from Atlantis (1977), Cleopatra Jones (1973), and The Glass Bottom Boat (1966) are all coming to Blu-ray in the coming weeks.
And Well Go USA has set Dan Tondowski's Accident for release on Blu-ray on 3/19.
Meanwhile, Scream Factory has confirmed the 3/26 Blu-ray release of director Robert Wise's The Body Snatcher (1945). Mastered from a new 4K scan of the original camera negative, the disc includes the new You'll Never Get Rid of Me: Resurrecting The Body Snatcher featurette, audio commentary (with director Robert Wise and writer/film historian Steve Haberman), the Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy documentary, and still galleries.
And Shout! Factory has confirmed the extras you'll find on their 3/19 release of the Born in East L.A.: Collector's Edition. Look for a new audio commentary by director/writer/star Cheech Marin, new interviews with Cheech Marin, Kamala Lopez, and Paul Rodriguez, an extended TV cut of the film in standard definition, a gallery, production notes, and the trailer.
Here at The Bits today, we've also got four new reviews for you to check out, including Tim's look at the Double Dragon: Special Collector's Edition on Blu-ray from MVD and Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume VIII on DVD from Shout! Factory, as well as Dennis' thoughts on Widows on Blu-ray from 20th Century Fox and The Possessed (1965) on Blu-ray from Arrow Video. Enjoy!
And we'll leave you with a look at the cover artwork for Mary Poppins Returns and Vice (with Amazon pre-order links if available)...
Stay tuned...
(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)


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Pride flag stolen, homophobic slur painted on home
Police, FBI investigating incident
A reported act of hate was caught on camera in the Warehouse District. Two residents said someone came to their home, tore down a gay pride flag and wrote a derogatory word on their building.
Authorities said the incident happened about 1 a.m. Saturday in the 600 block of Julia Street, just hours before the area stepped into the spotlight for the annual Whitney White Linen Night.
Watch surveillance video of the incident, police say.
John Hill and his fiance, John Weimer, have been vocal advocates for the local gay community, speaking openly about their relationship and fighting for equality. The couple felt hate like never before, but the two say they choose to fight back with more pride.
On Saturday, the two proudly displayed their rainbow-stripped pride flags among a sea of white as people enjoy White Linen Night on Julia Street.
"I went out and bought three more flags. We had one, now we have three," said Weimer.
Weimer said the person who took the flag was also seen in a neighbor's surveillance video spray painting a homophobic slur on the building.
"We saw the van pull up. He pulled out a ladder, and then climbs up, rips the flag down, puts the ladder back in his van, throws the flag in there, opens up the side door, grabs a can of paint and then sprays the door and then leaves," said Weimer.
The couple's tenant, Traci Claussen, told them about the vandalism, which was scribbled on the shutter at the entrance to her business.
"It's disgusting, It's a whole flood of emotions," Claussen said. "I just opened the shop and this is going to be one of my biggest nights, and here's this hate message that's on my shutter for no reason."
The two said they were shocked and unnerved by the message of hate.
"It's just bizarre to me to come up against the face of blind prejudice like that, to just hate you for who you are, doesn't even know you necessarily, but hate you anyway," Hill said.
As the chairman of the Forum for Equality Louisiana, Hill has been at the center of the political debate over same-sex marriage. He and his partner lead a rally at Jackson Square after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the core of the Defense of Marriage Act that didn't allow same-sex couples federal marriage benefits.
"We're hoping to let everybody know that this sort of thing happens here in New Orleans, the most gay-friendly city in the state," Hill said.
The couple said the flag that was stolen meant something. The two put it up on the day of the rally in Jackson Square in July. They had been photographed kissing with it between them. The two hoped to hang it behind them on the day they get married.
New Orleans police and the FBI are jointly investigating the incident as a hate crime.


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When John Paul DeJoria and Paul Mitchell launched John Paul Mitchell Systems in 1980, they went door to door pitching their shampoos and conditioners to Los Angeles salons. Mitchell died in 1989, leaving DeJoria head of the company, which now sells more than 100 products in salons in 87 countries.
But DeJoria, 69, does way more than hair care. In 1989, he and Martin Crowley co-founded Patrón Spirits, which sells more than two million cases of tequila a year. DeJoria also owns many other companies, including pet care line John Paul Pet and jeweler DeJoria Diamonds. Though DeJoria's empire has grown, he still values door-to-door visits. He spends a lot of his time meeting with the salon owners and distributors. But these days, he uses a private jet to get there. As told by Liz Welch. Photograph by Jeff Wilson.
I work at home in Austin, but I spend a lot of my time traveling--about two weeks out of every month. I visit Paul Mitchell's headquarters in Los Angeles once a month, and I go to Patrón's headquarters in Zurich four to five times a year. I also travel a lot to meet with distributors and salon owners, to do press interviews, and to attend openings of Paul Mitchell schools.
I could not do what I do without a private jet. I travel to at least 20 states a year, sometimes leaving in the morning and returning at night. I save so much time not having to deal with checking in and customs. Plus, I haven't had a cold in 20 years.
I chose to live in Austin because Eloise, my wife, is from Texas, and it was a great place to raise my youngest son, John Anthony, who is now 16. Plus, I can get to South America or the East Coast two hours faster from Austin than from Los Angeles.
I usually get up between 7 and 8 a.m. Whether I'm home in Austin or I'm in another part of the world, I like to spend the first five minutes of the day lying in bed and--I just am. I just try to be here and now. I find it helps me be more peaceful.
After a light breakfast, I head to my home office, which is separate from the house. There I have a desk, an exercise ball that I use as a chair, a phone, and a fax machine. The headquarters for Paul Mitchell and Patrón each have a fax machine for one purpose: communicating with me.
I don't use email or a computer. I would be so inundated that I wouldn't be able to get any work done. Instead, I do everything in person or on the phone. I have a phone book that's 15 years old and filled with whiteout and rewrites. I carry that everywhere.
I have three assistants. Kelly Sellers is my executive assistant, and she works out of our home. She's amazing. She went to high school with my wife and has been with us for 12 years. I also have an assistant at Paul Mitchell and one at Patrón.
Every morning, Kelly gives me a list of all the calls I need to make that day. There are about 10 companies that require my time. Paul Mitchell takes the most time. I talk to someone there at least once a day. And I talk to someone at Patrón several times a week. I also own several water companies and a brewery in Germany that I touch base with regularly. My presidents are much smarter than I am. That's a prerequisite.
I could go insane if I obsessed over every little detail of all of my companies. My management philosophy is to pay attention to the vital few and ignore the trivial many. For instance, with Paul Mitchell, I want to know how the schools are doing, how the manufacturing is going, how sales are doing, what new products we're launching, what our main advertising campaign is, and if my people are happy. The other little details are just trivia.
I don't micromanage, but I do care deeply about every product we make. Every one goes through me, and I try most of our products before they go to market, including our John Paul Pet flea and tick shampoo. If I don't like it, it's not coming out.
I have a personal chef who makes lunch for me when I'm in Austin. It's a luxury, but eating well keeps me healthy. Everyone who works at Paul Mitchell and Patrón gets free lunches. I believe that you have to treat your people well. Eating good food is part of that.
When I travel, Kelly coordinates all of my plans and meetings with my other assistants. I like to make the most of every trip, so if I go somewhere for a board meeting, I want to also schedule meetings with my Paul Mitchell distributors and my Patrón sales team.
I meet regularly with my distributors, the independent companies that buy our Paul Mitchell products and sell them to the salons. I like to check in and ask, "What more can I do for you?" I frequently meet with salon owners, too. The hair industry is the only reason we made it. They believed in us, and I want them to know we believe in them. If I happen to be near a salon that carries Paul Mitchell products, whether I'm in New York or Seoul, I stop the car and go inside, thank them for using Paul Mitchell, get back in the car, and go.
I go to New York at least once a month, to meet with distributors and talk to the press. A big part of my job is to be the face of my companies. I'll usually arrive in the late afternoon and do a television interview that night. And then the next day, I'm booked solid. Sometimes, I'll start at 5:30 a.m. on CNBC's morning show and then end at night on Erin Burnett's show on CNN.
The interviewers usually want me to talk about the economy--beauty salons are a great indicator of how we're doing. People still go to a salon when times are tough, but instead of every six weeks, they go every two or three months. When the economy's coming back, more people go on a regular basis, which is what we are seeing lately.
Paul Mitchell has more than 100 schools for hairdressers, and every time we open a new one, I go to the opening. My feeling is, if you're going to run one of our schools, which represent us, I should be there helping you open it up. Shaking hands, taking pictures with you. I want people to feel they're part of the John Paul Mitchell Systems world family.
My motto is "Success unshared is failure." At least once a year, I meet with a group called the Giving Pledge. It's a group of billionaires--including me, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Ted Turner--who have pledged to give away most of their money to charity. We meet for three days to talk about what we're doing to help make the planet a better place to live.
About once a week, I meet with Constance Dykhuizen, the executive director of my Peace, Love & Happiness Foundation. I created it in 2010 to invest in charities involved in sustainability, social responsibility, and animal-friendliness. In April, we had our annual motorcycle ride to raise money for a local children's shelter and families of police officers and firefighters killed on duty.
When I'm in Austin, I ride my motorcycles whenever I get a chance. I have seven customized, really cool bikes. There's nothing like jumping on one and going out in the hill country. I'll usually go with a friend. If the weather's good, maybe once a week.
About once or twice a year, I try to take a couple days and go on a retreat alone--usually up in the mountains. I think about what I did the past year, who is in my life, what I'm doing, what I want to do. There are no people, no phones, no obligations, no nothing. If I want to cook, I'll cook. If I want to be vegetarian, I'll be vegetarian.
I'll sip a little bit of nice red wine, just think, just feel, and just be. That's when I get my best ideas. And I write a lot. One of my ideas was to just be for a few minutes every morning. Another idea I had: Don't think about things so much. Let it happen. Sometimes, people spend too much time thinking. If you just let things happen, the universe works.
Companies owned: Paul Mitchell, Patrón Spirits, John Paul Pet, DeJoria Diamonds, and several others.
Estimated net worth: $4 billion, according to Forbes
What's in his office: A phone, a fax machine, and an exercise ball he uses as a chair
What's not: A computer
Assistants: Three
Management philosophy: "Pay attention to the vital few and ignore the trivial many."
Best company perk: Free lunch for every employee
You can join John Paul DeJoria and other like-minded rider-entrepreneurs for two days of hard hitting highly-interactive business sessions and some of the best motorcycling in the world at the Inc. Riders' Summit, Nov. 12-15, 2013. Click here for more information.


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As some of you might noticed, I haven't posted in quite some time, this is because I'm working on a secret compression algorithm, but I'm willing to share some knowledge about how compression works and what I've implemented or discovered.
I'm writing this post about Burrows–Wheeler transform(a.K.a. block sorting) because it really really really shaked me about how it works.
This block sorting is done before compression so that a lot of repeating bytes/characters in data will get one-after-another, other methods are also used after BWT, like Move-To-Front(which I'm saving for another post... sorry).
More information about history and authors can be found on Wikipedia.
The idea is that you take some data(let's say 256 bytes) encode it and your output should be 257 bytes, why?
input = 256 bytes -encode-> output = 256 bytes + 1 byte for index.
As you read this post you will understand that the more data you encode the bigger the index is but the more memory you need(but not necessarily).
BWT Encoding
Definition: take the data that you wish to encode, create a matrix with first row being the data, for each byte/character in data add a new row with first byte/character to be the second character in precedent row until you have a square matrix(number of columns = number of rows), i.e.
data: "abcde"
constructing the matrix:
abcde <-- the data !! bcdea <-- shifted row from original data(precedent) cdeab <-- shifted row from precedent row deabc eabcd -------- stop! no. columns = no. rows!! -------- Now sort the first column of the matrix in alphabetical order(along with it's rows), in the above example there's no need for sorting! now search in the matrix for the row(first row = ZERO as index) that matches your original data and that row number will tell you the index with which you can reconstruct the original data, in the above example the INDEX = 0 (ZERO). The output is the last column of the matrix "eabcd" and index = 0.
The extraordinary thing about this encoding is the decoding, it's out of the box!
So we know the last column of the matrix and the index, we know that first column of the matrix is the encoded data in alphabetical order.
WARNING!! In order to decode you do not need to reconstruct the entire matrix, you just need to sort the encoded data in alphabetical order and put the sorted column next to the encoded one and you get:
a _ _ _ e
b _ _ _ a
c _ _ _ b
d _ _ _ c
e _ _ _ d
Now assign indexes to the left column starting from row zero = 0 and increment it by 1 for each row and you get:
0 a _ _ _ e
1 b _ _ _ a
2 c _ _ _ b
3 d _ _ _ c
4 e _ _ _ d
at this point you just need to assign indexes to the last column so that the index of char "a" from first column will be assigned to the char "a" from last column like so:
0 a _ _ _ e 4
1 b _ _ _ a 0
2 c _ _ _ b 1
3 d _ _ _ c 2
4 e _ _ _ d 3
Now we know:
- first column
- last column
- the index
- the first and last char of the original data "a" and "e"
Decoding is done by starting from last column where the char's index is equal to the index you received along with encoded data.
So index = 0(which is "a", we already know the first char) we go along the row to the first column and we find out that the 2nd char is "b"(1 b <-- a 0), now we know the 2nd char and the index = 1, we go to the last column and where index is 1 and go along the row from right to left and we get the 3rd char "c" along with a new index which is 2, again we go to the last column where index = 3 and go along the row from right to left and find out that the 4th char is "d", again we get a new index which is 3, go to the last column find the the row where index is 3, go along it to the left and find the new index which is not important because we already know the last char but just for the sake of the theory we got the last char which is "e", voia! you have decoded the message, of course the algorithm can be improved by using indexes directly, but first you must understand how it works! Now a real example of the power of BWT. Let's presume you wish to encode "i can what you can", create the matrix:
i can what you can <-- original data can what you cani can what you cani an what you cani c n what you cani ca what you cani can what you cani can hat you cani can w at you cani can wh t you cani can wha you cani can what you cani can what ou cani can what y u cani can what yo cani can what you cani can what you ani can what you c ni can what you ca
After creating the matrix, you have to sort it by first column of each row, in order of appearance of each character that is repeating and the sort result is
can what you cani what you cani can you cani can what cani can what you an what you cani c at you cani can wh ani can what you c can what you cani cani can what you hat you cani can w i can what you can n what you cani ca ni can what you ca ou cani can what y t you cani can wha u cani can what yo what you cani can you cani can what
the output is " ntuchc wnaayao "(last two chars of out put is two spaces, copy-paste it" and index = 10(counting first row as 0).
Problem, reconstruct the initial data based on the small example presented above with matrix sorted, index known and everything in front of you, to help you even more I make the indexes also here there are:
0 | can what you cani | 10 1 | what you cani can | 11 2 | you cani can what | 14 3 | cani can what you | 15 4 | an what you cani c | 7 5 | at you cani can wh | 9 6 | ani can what you c | 8 7 | can what you cani | 0 8 | cani can what you | 1 9 | hat you cani can w | 16 10 | i can what you can | 12 11 | n what you cani ca | 4 12 | ni can what you ca | 5 13 | ou cani can what y | 17 14 | t you cani can wha | 6 15 | u cani can what yo | 13 16 | what you cani can | 2 17 | you cani can what | 3
Have fun and drop me a comment if you like the post or the sort.


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Richard Jones (MVP)
In big news, I now have Apple HomeKit working at home.
Last night I was able to stand outside my house (outside of our WIFI range) and speak into Apple watch, and say Hey Siri, Switch Living Room Lights on. & the correct lights all came on.
This little achievement was due to the fact I had some Phillips Hue Bulbs and the older non HomeKit hub. However, I came across this really neat bit of software that works on the Raspberry Pi. Called HomeBridge.
HomeBridge lets you turn HomeKit devices into ones that are compatible with the HomeKit system. It acts as a bridge, so HomeKit commands are understood by these devices. Their is a fair amount of support for things like WeMo switches etc.
A guide to setup, can be found here -
Essentially, because of the base work to get Apple File Sharing going on my Pi, I had the ground-work in place. Homebrige relies on Avahi, which provides the Bonjour services for the Pi.
To get HomeKit configured and working on your phone. You need to find yourself a HomeKit compatible app. with access to the room/house accessory screens.
This is what I used (Evo App) -
The only tricky part of the process was to make HomeBridge start when the Pi, starts-up. This was more down to my incompetence than hard to follow instructions.
So in summary. I now have a £25 always on Raspberry Pi B. (i.e the old one), running -
** AirPlay Music Streaming, using ShairPort Sync
So, that means I can send any audio from phone's, iPad's, Mac etc. to an amp and connected speakers.
*** I have file sharing for both Windows & Mac working. I can use the Pi, as a TimeMachine, copy files in and out. etc. Its slow, but it kind of works.
*** AirPrint, printing driving a label printer and PDF to Dropbox. I can print from iPads, iPhones with ease.
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Copyright © Richard Jones


text: Explore this lively London area along the Thames and discover the best things to do in London Bridge, from sightseeing to food and drink and family activities. Enjoy a cocktail and a delicious meal at the best London Bridge bars and restaurants, or dine in style at one of the restaurants at The Shard, as you take in spectacular views of Tower Bridge and the river. Head to The Bridge Theatre or White Cube Bermondsey for a taste of London Bridge arts and culture.


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"My sister, my dad, and I are Norwegian, but my mom isn't," my almost-six-year-old declared confidently to a random stranger the other day. My fair-skinned blue-eyed redhead was referring to the fact that my husband's mother's family is of Norwegian descent, and that's the family side from which he most likely inherited his coloring. I, on the other hand, am anything but Norwegian… my family is mostly of Middle European descent with nary a Scandinavian in the roster.
#1Son's comment made me chuckle, but then it also made me wonder about much of what my kids are and do is driven by their genetic heritage? Certainly my son's coloring is probably an outcome of the Norwegian in him, but from where does he get his uncanny ability for abstract reasoning and making connections? Maybe ultimately from his paternal grandfather who was part German, part English and possibly a small part Native American? And what about my daughter, dubbed DangerGirl due to her early propensity for death-defying feats of daring? Does she inherit her physical confidence and her bulldogish tenacity from her Serbian great-great-grandfather and his daughter, her Prussian/German great-grandmother, both of whom were Olympic athletes?
I do know where many of my children's traits come from. Their love of books and of painting and drawing are most likely a product of nature and nurture, since we encourage those traits in our home. Their physical features are often startlingly similar to other family members': my daugher has my mother's eye-shape and my coloring, my son and daughter both have my long legs, my son has my husband's cheekbones. But I do sit and wonder which part of the family tree is the source for DangerGirl's groovy dance skills, or the fact that neither of my kids can stand eating potatoes in any form (!?)? What about you all? Do you have insight into where your children's most interesting traits originate?
DecaturMamaofTwo, who is not ashamed to be Not-a-Norwegian
DecaturMamaofTwo is a Gemini, a reader, a linguist, and a recently-inspired runner. She is mama to two kids (almost six, and two) and married to a very patient man. Some of her favorites include reading, laughing, eating chocolate and a-hah moments. Her secret vice is reading trashy romances. Currently she is teaching high school French.


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Fact: Chrissy Teigen is the queen of going viral at awards shows. Remember the 2015 Golden Globes, when her awkward crying face was given the meme treatment? Or the following year, when Stacey Dash made a surprise appearance at the Oscars and Teigen's shocked expression nearly broke the Internet? Teigen isn't even attending tonight's Grammy Awards, but it should come as no surprise that she still managed to hilariously troll the event.
Teigen decided to still get glammed up while she watched the awards show at home with her husband, John Legend—whom she mocked on Twitter by saying, "No Grammys for us today. John got and [sic] EGOT an egot lazy." (We stan a clever word pun.)
Then Teigen posted a series of Instagram stories as she went through her makeup routine, all while wearing one of her signature towels. She also wrote about her videos on Twitter, saying, "Just did a not-going-to-the-Grammys makeup tutorial on my stories if you are so bored you wanna die," she said. Teigen followed it up with "I have had...4 wines." Enjoy that Sunday fun day, Chrissy.
Some of Teigen's tips included putting concealer all over your face, then rubbing it in—and in typical Teigen fashion, she suggested to "make sure you don't care too much." She also gave her best tricks for doing her cheeks and eyelashes, before joking, "If anyone is watching this…I pity you."
The final result was "not-going-to-the-Grammys"—or for the rest of us, stay-at-home-on-a-Sunday—goals. Here's hoping Teigen will grace us with more of her beauty secrets on the 'gram. Maybe her eye routine for makeup that won't run while you're chopping onions? The only look you need for juggling two children? Or the best foundation to wear while trolling John Legend? I'll be ready for it, with my notebook out taking down notes from my new favorite beauty blogger.


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SpaceX gets NASA order to send crew to space station
Private company SpaceX got word Friday of an official order from NASA to send a crew to the International Space Station, just the second such order placed.
A previous order was given to Boeing in May. A Houston-based division of the aerospace giant is developing its Crew Space Transportation System under a $4.4 billion contract with NASA. The CTS-100, currently in development, is a small capsule with the limited purpose of getting astronauts to the space station.
SpaceX, based in Hawthorne, Calif., is working to modify its Dragon capsule to carry humans. The capsule already has delivered cargo to the station, but Space X says that it was designed from the beginning to be capable of taking people into orbit as well.
No dates have been announced for either of the crew launches. The first mission is tentatively scheduled for 2017, though the space agency has complained that inadequate Congressional funding for the effort may push back the launch until 2018.
This is the second in a series of four guaranteed orders NASA will make under the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contracts. Each company is guaranteed at least two flights. NASA has not announced which company will fly the first mission.
"It's really exciting to see SpaceX and Boeing with hardware in flow for their first crew rotation missions," Kathy Lueders, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, said in a statement.
"It is important to have at least two healthy and robust capabilities from U.S. companies to deliver crew and critical scientific experiments from American soil to the space station throughout its lifespan."
The contract award was a welcome bit of news for SpaceX, whose Falcon 9 rockets currently are grounded following a June launch failure. The company blamed a faulty strut in an engine, though an investigation and follow-up testing remain ongoing.
NASA has turned over the responsibility of getting people and material to the space station to private enterprise so it could concentrate on missions beyond Earth's orbit. The resupply missions were going well until back-to-back launch failures involving rockets from Space X and Orbital Sciences placed these efforts under greater scrutiny.
The next resupply mission is an Orbital launch scheduled for Dec. 3.


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In a famous episode of "The Sopranos," Tony takes his teenage daughter on a college trip to an idyllic New England hamlet, only to run across a long-lost informant in hiding, whom he ends up garrotting in the mud while his daughter tours the picturesque ivy-and-brick campus. Those of us who have recently been on college visits may feel that Tony drew the easier assignment. Give me a choice between comparing financial aid proposals and fighting a bad guy to the death, and I'll be asking you to pass me the wire.
In my youth, the whole process was pretty laid-back. Where you went to college was an important decision, sure, but it didn't inspire existential gloom, nor did it call into play financial and structural resources exceeding those of some European nations. If you didn't get into one small, moderately prestigious liberal arts college, then another down the road would be sure to take you, and in 20 years it wouldn't really matter which one, anyway. Of course, as I'm reminded "" over and over and over again "" it's a different world today.
A classmate of mine at what was then a reasonably but not insanely selective Northeastern college has since become an education consultant. "So," I asked him casually, "what chance do you suppose we would have "" "
"None," he said, before I could finish my question. "Neither of us would make the cut today. Not even close. It's that competitive."


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As a downtown loft-dweller, I don't have a backyard. No patio, no terrace, not even a tiny Juliet balcony.
St. James Park, a block away, is my backyard. And I've wanted it back for a while now. I have faith that Justice David Brown will force that to happen — with a reasonable accommodation for Occupy Toronto participants — when he releases his decision Monday morning on lifting the temporary injunction that halted the city from evicting dug-in trespassers.
For those who ask why this Camp Whinge has become all about a park when the issues that the worldwide 99 per cent movement have spotlighted are so much more profound, I would counter: How would you like the protesters planting their tent pegs, with no exit date, on your front lawn in the Beaches or the Annex or suburban Scarborough? How'd you like your kids to play in the dump that St. James has become?
It's so easy to be hospitable and solidarity-minded when not personally inconvenienced or if merely Occupy-slumming as an encampment tourist.
The mantra of real estate is location, location, location. So I've never understood why Occupy Toronto hunkered down in St. James Park, which is geographically removed from Bay Street, in a totally different orbit culturally and economically from the big bad world of financial privilege, and devoid of any institutions representing government.
It is simply a lovely little green space in Old York where seniors like to sit on the benches, tossing crumbs at the pigeons, where office workers take their brown-bag lunch, where pram-pushers negotiate the landscaped gardens and people like me enjoy the sunshine whilst reading a book.
A few years back, a different occupation occurred when the pretty gazebo was appropriated by rough-sleepers — mostly harmless homeless but also winos and druggies who occasionally accosted passersby, frightening women and children, rendering the park a safe environment no longer. Locals who objected were assailed for being unsympathetic to the dispossessed. Again, the needs of others were paramount and it took ages for police to roust the squatters.
We are not selfish or on "the other side," those of us directly affected who've grown weary of Occupy Toronto protesters. I'm just as angry over economic disparities and corporate hedonism as the next working stiff. I feel just as disempowered by the titans of power, just as disgusted by the 1 per cent elitists and the felonious pocket-liners, just as marginalized by dynamics that prevent so many of us from ever prospering.
But bullies are bullies, however cloaked in legal arguments about the civil right to protest. No sensible person is denying the activists those rights. I'm not even opposed to uncivil protest because, Gandhi and Martin Luther King aside, peaceful protest is mostly an oxymoron unless the pushback dissident movement is massive, as witnessed by the Arab Spring demonstrations.
Those public square occupations, however, had specific aims: ousting autocratic regimes, defying police-state intimidation, promoting democratic elections. Most revolutions are drenched in blood — just as violence returned to Tahrir Square over the weekend. That's the price of remarkable change and it takes brave souls to embrace the risks — not merely the toying-with-activism pup-tent brigade.
Want to storm the ramparts on Bay Street? I'm with you. Want to usurp my local park? We'll part company.
The Occupy movement was always diffuse and socially ecumenical, which was both its strength and, as time wore on, its weakness. This is no longer a "conversation;" it's just another one-way diatribe co-opted by special interest agendas.
The Occupy Toronto Manifesto I received last month was a mishmash of la-la demands, a Marxist-Socialist compendium of "musts" that stretched from higher taxes for the rich and protection of the environment to forbidding all Canadian military interventions in foreign countries and launching a "national dialogue … to deal with the pressing need for political reform." In sum, it sought to impose the views of a minority on the majority, a far thing from what Occupy Wall Street was all about.
That manifesto has disappeared from the Occupy Toronto website. When I tried to recover a copy during a Sunday afternoon visit to the park, I was told: "Um, yeah, that was something not agreed on by the committee so just pretend that it never existed."
Maybe the Occupy communications arm should put some of its own members on the "Distorting News" wall of shame that's been posted on-site — basically a roster of all journalists and media agencies with which it disagrees.
Free speech, my ass.
Move on.
Rosie DiManno usually appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.


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Call To Order
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Welcome to the South Easy
The Last Skeptik's new album Thanks for Trying comes out next month. He's just released this video for Pick Your Battles, an incredibly acted tale portraying the fight for survival of the human spirit when faced with adversity. Think Into the Wild, but better. This should be up for Oscars.
• Koaste


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On-the-Go Healthcare Clinic
Location & Hours
900 Petro Drive
Rochelle, Illinois
Located at the Petro Travel Center, just off I-39, Exit 99
Please call for an appointment.
Masks are required in the Clinic as per COVID-19 precautions.
Physicals: Monday through Friday
Drug testing: Monday through Friday
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Monday-Wednesday-Thursday-Friday: 7:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday: 7:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
First Saturday of the month: 8:00 a.m. - Noon, by appointment only
Closed Sundays and Holidays
On-the-Go Healthcare Services
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Nurse Practitioners
Both Marilyn Balch and Lucinda Zoeller are Certified Medical Examiners who have been trained, tested and certified to perform medical examinations for commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers in interstate commerce. They fully understand the medical standards in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations, related guidance and how they relate to the medical demands of operating a commercial motor vehicle. Both Marilyn and Lucinda are listed on the National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners for the FMCSA. Our medical examiners maintain ongoing competency through training, testing, certification, and recertification.


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I was in the fortunate position recently of being able to interview one of my favourite chefs and cookery writers, Stevie Parle. The feature, for a business magazine, was about Stevie's business model and the gamble he's taking in opening his new restaurant, Rotorino.
There was a lot of foodie stuff discussed that it wasn't appropriate to include in the piece, then I went to eat at Rotorino with a friend, so I thought I'd share both experiences with you here. Not warmed-up leftovers, hopefully, but an insight into the background of a young but already very successful chef and his food. Continue reading