text:
......observers suggested Ormandy was acting on behalf of his employer to fuel the row between Google and Microsoft
Not in a million years!
Google engineer Tavis Ormandy is under fierce fire on security lists this afternoon for releasing code to exploit an unpatched hole in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. The flaw is in XP's Windows Help Centre. In simple terms, Help uses a white list of approved web pages to go to in order to get help information. But a …
......observers suggested Ormandy was acting on behalf of his employer to fuel the row between Google and Microsoft
Not in a million years!
That particular 'feature' is one of the first things I disable when setting up a WinBox.
But he's still a twat for posting the code after waiting only 5 days.
A lot of medium to large organisations with significant numbers of end users doing their jobs on Windows boxes use Remote Assistance to support them. It would be a brave sysadmin who simply disabled the Help & Support Centre. Even the more nuanced forms of mitigation suggested in the disclosure would not be deployed without some serious testing in a support environment that relied significantly on RA.
Create a crisis. Now in this case the crises was not created by the engineer, M$ did that by not paying attention to security holes and taking fast-action to repair them. Indeed, is the problem the code or the inability to repair and rapidly deploy the fix? It's both actually (trick question).
What the engineer did is perhaps not ethical, but creating a crisis does work and you can be fairly certain that the call to battle-stations is sounding at Redmond as things get kicked into high gear to fix the problem and deploy the patch.
They have to cover their fanny.
I can just heat the chatter in the MS meeting rooms
"Oh oh oh....I know...Instead of fixing the problem, or blaiming the people exploiting the problem, or blaiming the people who allowed the problem to exist, lets blaim the person who pointed out the problem, who we ignored and who had to take it public to even get an acknowlegement the problem exists."
..BP eh???
if people started giving MS ultimatums here is your notice of the exploit is goes public in X No. of days maybe they might start actually fixing their fuck ups
I'm usually the last to be on MSFT's side, being an apple fanboy and all, but five days? Even ignoring how slow MSFT (and Apple) have been to patch flaws, five days is by no means a timely fashion.
Even assuming MSFT was able to find and fix the bug instantly, there's lag involved in regression testing to ensure the patch doesn't adversely interact with the numerous permutations of setups out there. There's lag in getting the word out or to wait till Patch Tuesday. There's lag involved for sysadmins to download and find time to test the patch themselves. There's lag for actually being able to deploy the patch onto all machines.
This was not 'Here is your notice of the exploit.' This was, 'By the time you can even look, much less solve this, I'll have already released the exploit into the wild.' Yes, it bothers me as well that MSFT made yet another security hole, but two wrongs don't make a right.
That's exactly what I was going to say! The only way M$ will ever act is with a rocket up their ass. Of course the Google angle makes it interesting as well especially since their moving away from using Windows.
Most courts will consider this blackmail.
And how many days does it take to code, build, test and deploy a fix across millions of computers? Why should a snotty "security researcher" who can barely manage to be civil to other people have a say in the speed of the software development cycle of enterprise level software? Twat is still the final word on this idiot.
Was he asking for payment to refrain from posting the exploit?
I think he jumped the gun shamefully, but I wouldn't describe it as blackmail. That's not to say that there aren't a range of options of criminal and/or civil charges that might be brought, but I don't think blackmail is one of them...
So did Microsoft even email this gentleman back? I have seen no information if Microsoft sent him back an email if but to only say 'thanks we are looking into it'. 5 days is plenty of time to respond to an email sent in especially on security exploits from reliable sources.
That being said if they did respond to him and gave him some sort of eta then I agree with your statement. Two wrongs do make a right.
Keep in mind it was Microsoft that sold this and many other problems to the public, not Google.
This is a very old very dead horse. Do you air dirty laundry or not? The problem on the one hand is that the folks responsible for a code base often don't respond in a timely fashion to security problems when they are made aware of them. On the other hand, releasing exploit code facilitates exploitation.
The google geek isn't doing anything irregular. The only thing which makes it "news" worthy is the google vs. microsoft angle. If negative press and yellow dog journalism is the image you're cultivating... please continue to post crap like this.
I puked a little.
waiting only 5 days before posting a previously-unseen exploit for software which you KNOW has a regular monthly patch cycle isn't responsible disclosure. Given the timing (pretty much immediately after a patch release), 2 months isn't an unreasonable time to wait (i.e. the August updates... if this had taken place a couple of weeks ago, I'd have said July)
He also stated he released the exploit early because it was actively being exploited in the wild... It would be tough to actively sit on that knowledge waiting on MS to do their thing.
After all they are merely pointed out one (of millions) security defect
Microsoft are obviously afraid of the truth (such as they are yesterdays news) , hey - if it were opensource maybe the issue would already be fixed.....
If a Microsoft engineer discovered a flaw in google's O.S they would probably pay a 3rd party (e.g - SCO are you busy..) to disclose the info - thats the way they work - get some attack dog to do their dirty work (it is now known that MS paid SCO to attack Linux in 2004 - and now look - SCO are completely dead !!!!!!)
(although I imagine a Microsoft employee is banned from using any rival OS so they would never know anyway)
I have noticed in the past than Microsoft can take years to fix known security vulnerabilities (often MS start to get busy when customers start getting raped by these vulnerabilities) in fact maybe they should pay Google for helping them .............
If vendors weren't so tardy about fixing their stuff it wouldn't be necessary. Whining on Full Disclosure about full disclosure is asking for ridicule.
I'd rather know about something and be able to mitigate it than wait for the vendor to get their arses in gear deciding to patch something I'm vulnerable to that I don't even know about.
Rep for the Google bloat cloud is declining-- they hoover private information off the airwaves with what they claim was poorly written code, now they have a loser "engineer" who can't control himself. Or maybe executives who can't control themselves (that is hardly new anywhere in the Universe as We Know It though).
Susan Bradley - "not an enterprise customer, but I am a mouthy female"
Kind of a redundant statement, really. Most females are...
Paris, mouthy but for different reasons.
But unless you have something relevant to mouth off about, shut the hell up.
Keep it up, AC, and I will zap you. Silently. Not like a typical female at *all*.
Oh joy another one of those.
Hat, coat, wallet, spectacles... ah you know the rest.
"The row between Google and Microsoft"
I love it, I just love it.
First, note to John Oates -- "tell the company and wait for a fix to be ready for download before telling the world" is NOT the usual protocol. That may be what Microsoft wants, but consensus among security researchers is to tell the company, wait 30 days, release to the public. Although a sizeable portion argue (I think convincingly) for open disclosure -- the flaws are ALREADY being exploited anyway by spyware, viruses, etc. anyway, so releasing to the public immediately is just fine. In reality, though, I'm most unconcerned about this -- as an Ubuntu user, open disclosure is the default, then a security update comes out usually within 1 or 2 days.
Susan Bradely is wrong and Ormandy is not. When she finds a security flaw, she can get pissed and play E-Mail tag all she wants. This isn't a bill that he's trying to get Microsoft to fix, this is him doing them a favor by reporting a flaw to them. He gave notice, they didn't even trouble themselves to even acknowledge receipt after almost a week. I might have waited the full 30 days, but I would expect a TOTAL of 30 days to fix, if they hadn't even replied in 5 days... well, frankly, Ormandy is probably right, they probably were planning to just sit on this flaw -- they have been caught sitting on known security flaws for YEARS multiples times -- someone will release an exploit, Microsoft says "naughty naughty, that's not responsible disclosure", and then whoever wrote the exploit points out a report of the EXACT SAME flaw from 5, 10, 15 years ago, that Microsoft never bothered to fix.
Do No Evil.
Patching an OS is not to be undertaken lightly and testing has to be performed. Microsoft has been, rightly, lambasted in the past for releasing shoddy code in a patch that has trashed machines so one can appreciate that writing a patch, particularly for a server platform, and then regression testing is not a small job and certainly one that takes more than 5 days.
Ormandy's action was unprofessional, spiteful and small minded at best. It was also possibly illegal. Google should fire the prat and be well shot of him.
The events were:
1) Googler finds major flaw in a piece of software that a lot of people trust their data to.
2) Googler tells Microsoft that the software that their customers trust them to fix is flawed and needs fixing to preserve their safety
3) Not a squeak from Microsoft for 5 days, essentially giving the middle finger to their customers and their trust in them.
4) Googler publishes the code, forcing Microsoft to react, and showing how little they care about their customers.
What a lot of people seem to forget is that the FLAW IS ALREADY THERE, it's nobody but Microsoft's fault, and there's no reason to assume that this flaw hasn't been exploited before by people who don't disclose their flaws, but SELL THEM.
Five days is in no way an unreasonable time to expect a fix, or at least an advisory from your vendor. Patch turn around time from notice to actual patch in system is measured in days in most cases on free operating systems.
And it's DEFINITELY not unreasonable to expect *some* response like "We're looking into it, please give us a x time to make a patch."
This is just your vendor throwing your trust back in your face, nothing more.
"3) Not a squeak from Microsoft for 5 days, essentially giving the middle finger to their customers and their trust in them"
Is that completely true? Are we sure? Has M$ been emailing this chap back saying "we're investigating" or completely ignoring him.
If they've responded then I think it was a bad thing to release the exploit.
If they haven't then I agree that they needed a big kick up the arse to get them going.
Open source security bugs on any program in much use tend to get fixed in less time than this following disclosure. If not, the person informing a lead developer of a bug, morally deserves to be recompensed for the delay to their career resulting from being expected to sit on this information for longer than needed.
What is it about Microsoft in particular that makes their cumbersome and monopolistic internal development and maintenance processes deserving of more leeway than they would be given if they published their source code, allowed distribution of user modifications, developed code within the public domain and were open to peer review ?
The real problem is that MS has the only commercially available operating system in the world, they hold a total monopoly. OPen source is their only competition. With no other software companies commercially producing operating systems, there is little incentive for MS to produce a quality produce.
Windows has relied on shed loads of security suppliers looking after them for decades. It is about time that came to an end.
If everyone posted their discoveries immediately not waiting 4 or 5 days the company would have to write decent stuff.
It's an XP problem. Microsoft doesn't give a ^@^& about XP. The longevity of XP is negatively impacting the acceptance and purchase of Windows 7. They would just tell you to "upgrade" your OS to the "latest version".
Publicity, in large volume, is the only way to get a reaction from Microsoft.
The negative marketing tactic of pushing customers to new purchases instead of fixing the current product the customer is using is their biggest problem.
It leads to the same response the consumer has for any product. Why should I buy the new one when the old on doesn't work right to begin with and yuo won't support it/ I'm supposed to trust you that the new on will resolve my problem? And pay for it?
How about you give me the upgrade for free and make me happy and maybe will continue to be a customer. Otherwise I guess I will have to check out the competition.
I'm usually happy with the Regs reporting on Computer Security, but this piece was disappointing.
If the author had taken the time to remember why the full-disclosure list was created in the first place and aknowledged the fact that the whole disclosure debate is more complicated than just right/wrong the article would perhaps have been a bit more nuanced. Also I'm not sure that quoting from unmoderated public maling lists constitutes reporting. shape up...
It's not as if this was the last ever security flaw in Windows and Windows would now be entirely safe if it wasn't for this one man and his evil communist actions.
"mouthy female" Susan Bradley evidently needs a refill on her prescription for chill pills.
Google and Microsoft can have a slap fight in private or public, but releasing this exploit before a patch is available is putting users at risk. The guy, likely a typical Google aspie, got his panties in a bunch because Microsoft wasn't taking him seriously, so he decided that he would show them by putting this out there and proving how right he was. I doubt he had the support of his superiors on this one.
I'm not one to defend MS's lousy security record, but the point of the disclosure protocol is to protect the millions of people out there who use this stuff. Even those that are proactive about security may be bitten by a zero-day exploit with no patch available.
Also, why do we not have an icon for Eric Schmidt with horns? Surely he deserves that much.
In Opera you at least get a prompt, but IE8 just goes ahead and runs it!
Personally I don't see why Microsoft is maintaining a 8, nearly 9 year old OS. The sooner they cut off support the sooner people move on to better things.
Yes the OS is this old, but even if you consider Vista GA as being the point when vendors stopped shipping XP (which it wasn't), there are computers less than three-and-a-half years old that were shipped with XP. This is not old for a consumer device, and is less than the accounting depreciation period for some companies.
MS cannot, if they have any morals (debatable), stop supporting XP without providing a reasonably priced upgrade option. (I believe that they leagally have to provide support for 10 years after ship date for any kit shipped to the US DoD or other government agencies anyway)
Also remember that for non-gaming users, the amount of computing power required by ordinary home or office users topped out at around the 1.8GHz Pentium D. Beyond this, the extra power is just providing gloss. This means that many people with 2+GHz Pentium 4 or Athlon XP 2000 have perfectly usable systems that do not need to be replaced yet, and with the correct maintenance and care, could run for many more years.
Any other line is just buying into the *blatant* consumerism that is driving the retail electronics market at the moment, leading to increased consumption and greater waste disposal and recycling problems that we face.
Actually, there are still plenty of NetBooks being sold right now, (well there were before the iPad arrived) which have XP on them by default, and still will for many more weeks.
There's enough "security researchers" that are so fed up with corporate inaction, or worse, corporate litigation for even mentioning there might possibly be holes in their crap software, that they don't even give advance notice any longer, to anyone. That includes things like all-volunteer open source projects that _do_ make an effort to fix problems and be communicative about it.
It might be this guy apparently leaned that way but didn't dare just dump it out in the wild. Or maybe he got impatient, goofed, and tried to cover it up with being snotty. It's often tried but rarely works. Then again, "security researchers" often are quite snotty, in one, more, all senses of the word.
Personally, I say that giving notice with a deadline of two months is reasonable, extendable to six if the company/project/what-have-you asks nicely. Should the company have a standing track record of being non-responsive (say, three times in a row) or litigative (once is all it takes) and no public apologies, then release right away if you wish.
But then again, why would you want to release that quickly? Why does this guy not have time to wait (and do other things in the meantime) while he does have time to look for holes in a rival's software in the first place? Whorin' for attention or something? Get back to work!
In what sense does the fact that megacorp likes to have a 6 monthly develop test patch cycle on vulnerabilities mean that an indvididual who has discovered something embarrassing about a megacorp product has to put his/her career on hold ? Supposing someone is going to be interviewed for an important security job in a fortnight's time, and publishing a week after discovery is likely to raise security researcher's reputation ? Perhaps if you were the interviewer, you might consider a week too short so he/she wouldn't get the job on grounds of poor judgement. But if the employer is open source with an agile development and patch process they would more likely consider a week adequate. So why should sclerotic and inflexible megacorp with methods stuck in the past hold up security researcher's career ?
I megacorp is willing to compensate security researcher to sit on something for longer than a week generously enough to want to keep this out of his/her CV then that would seem a fair trade.
... that's such a crap arguement and I can't even be bothered to explain why.
I was reading the posts...before I got to Ormandy's last response, the posts by Susan Bradley started disappearing, except one where she was answering a troll. This was as of 02:01 CDT (-5 GMT)
...the reason patch Tuesday was done was so that admins didn't have to worry about firing patches out to 10's of thousands of pc's at completely random times. This is a thing thepublic lead, not something MS forced upon people. Admins requested, MS listened, that's a model MANY decent software companies are now follwing.
Many of the arseholes here run "networks" of 10 pc's and a FP server (maybe a web servers as well" so have no worries about testing a patch about 3 bit's of software. When you have hundered of different apps, you really want to make sure a patch ain't gonna completely f**k up the systems and costs the company millions in lost business.
Linux, Windows, Unix, whatever, you want to make sure things are fixed in a timely manner and not rushed and screwed up.
This sort of behaviour just smacks of a corperate spat getting out of hand, the only loosers being Joe Public.
Isn't the Google 'raison de etre' to make information available? You know: OS exploits, your WiFi traffic, pr0n... that sort of thing.
Google sucks.. They blatantly & admittedly have a total disrespect for users privacy,and having been taking heat for , and should be, therefore they are taking a stab at Microsoft to 'divert' attention from their own misdeeds. Yea, Microsoft has issues, but don't we all , and yes they are slow to fix them, but to spread *#*# on someone after only a 5 day notice.. BS. And, in the end it is the end users that mostly suffer from attacks, from getting their bank accounts to their identities stolen.
Shame on Google!


text:
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Jordan Crawford scored 27 points as the Washington Wizards broke an eight-game skid Friday night with a 105-97 victory over the Orlando Magic.
WASHINGTON — Fans chanted "R-G-3!" when Nene was at the free throw line in the fourth quarter, sort of the new equivalent of "M-V-P!" in a city obsessed with Washington Redskins rookie Robert Griffin III.
If it helps the Washington Wizards win, they'll take it — because it doesn't happen very often.
Jordan Crawford scored 27 points, Nene added season highs of 23 points and 11 rebounds, and the worst-in-the-NBA Wizards showed they can still come out on top every once in a while, breaking an eight-game skid Friday night with a 105-97 victory over the Orlando Magic.
Washington overcame another horrible start — trailing 25-8 in the first quarter — and won by its largest margin of the season. The game represented one-quarter of the win total for the 4-23 Wizards, who have been stymied in part by the knee injury that has kept franchise player John Wall on the sidelines.
"Obviously, a lot of satisfaction in the win, but the way we won it — with what this team's gone through at the start of the year, to go down 25-8, ... for our guys to not put their heads down and grind it out," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. "We kept saying every timeout: 'Long game. Long game. Next timeout let's make it closer.' And they did."
Wittman was so excited he could hardly wait to get on the plane for Saturday's road game against the Chicago Bulls, who haven't played since Wednesday.
"They're going to be rusty. That's good for us," Wittman said. "We've got to win. We're feeling good. We played well. Let's play again. I don't worry about Chicago."
Crawford's point total tied the high for any Washington player this season, but he was more ho-hum than his coach. He spoke about the game as if it were a routine trip to the gym, repeating the phrase "making shots" several times when asked how the victory came about.
"I mean, we're supposed to win," Crawford said. "We've got good players."
Still, it was the first Wizards home win since Dec. 4, when Griffin sat in the front row and cheered on an upset of the Miami Heat while serenaded with the now-familiar "R-G-3!" No, he wasn't at Friday's game, but the chant was.
"I guess we'll have 'R-G-3' whenever we win," Wizards guard Bradley Beal said.
Arron Afflalo scored 26 points and J.J. Redick added 23 for the Magic, who have lost four straight since Glen Davis sprained his left shoulder in the final minute of a win over these same Wizards last week. The Magic ended an NBA-best 12-game streak of holding opponents under 100 points, while Washington hit the century mark for the first time in 12 games. cm-bd
"Every team in the NBA is capable of scoring," Redick said, "if you don't play D."
Early on, the sound of "Three points — Jameer Nelson" came from the public address announcer as if on a continuous loop. Nelson made a trio of 3-pointers in less than a minute, and the Magic built a 17-point lead less than 7 minutes into the game.
"Fool's gold," Orlando coach Jacque Vaughn said. "We relaxed a little bit."
Crawford and Garrett Temple, who was signed earlier this week, came off the bench to dominate the second quarter. The Wizards led 54-51 at halftime and never trailed again.
"Garrett (doesn't) know half of what we're doing," Wittman said. "I'm throwing him out there to the wolves, and I couldn't be more proud of him."
NOTES: Orlando G E'Twaun Moore sprained his left elbow in the first quarter and did not return. ... Nelson went 1 for 9 over the final three quarters and finished with 16 points. ... Magic F Hedo Turkoglu, out since breaking his left hand in the season opener, made the trip and took part in the morning shootaround but did not suit up for the game. ... The Magic were called for a rare six-men-on-the-court technical in the third quarter. "It's Christmastime, and my wife spent a lot of money," Vaughn said. "I'm going to refrain from what I really want to say about that six-person foul. ... There should be 10 men on the floor, and I sent two guys to the table to check in and one they did not let in. I'll keep it that way."


text:
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The camp will consist of baseball-related drills, contests, and activities all day for three full days beginning on Sunday, June 13, and ending at noon on Wednesday, June 16. Greenville College head coach and former professional pitcher, Lynn Carlson, will be the primary instructor in the academy and will be assisted by assistant coaches Andy Rincker and Dan Marsh as well as current and former Greenville College baseball players. The academy will be held on Robert E. Smith Field as well as in the Briner Center on the John M. Strahl Athletic Complex, one mile south of the Greenville College campus.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION about the camp contact Lynn Carlson at (618) 664-6623 or through email at firstname.lastname@example.com. You may register online at www.gcbaseballcamp.com.


text:
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Leaders of Texas' embattled $3 billion cancer-fighting effort approved an $11 million grant to a biomedical company even though the proposal wasn't reviewed, according to an internal audit that deepens the troubles of a state agency that has been denounced in recent months by some of the world's top scientists.
The discovery was uncovered during an internal review of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, and its grant to Peloton Therapeutics Inc. in 2010 was among the first it handed out. The Dallas-based company's commercialization award remains one of agency's largest taxpayer-funded grants to date.
The Associated Press on Thursday first reported the audit's findings, which were later announced by the agency.
Tim Kutzkey, Peloton's acting chief executive officer, declined comment and referred questions to CPRIT. In a statement, the agency said the company was unaware that "CPRIT processes had not been followed."
The cancer institute is home to the nation's second largest pot of cancer-research money, behind only the National Institutes of Health, and has awarded nearly $700 million. But it has come under intensifying scrutiny as several scientists, including two Nobel laureates, resigned in protest claiming the agency was charting a new politically driven path that put commercial interests before science.
CPRIT said the internal review did not uncover problems with any other commercialization awards.
The Peloton revelation is the latest blow to CPRIT, which launched in 2009 to widespread acclaim among scientists and cancer survivors but has spent the past year unraveling. Dozens of scientists have resigned from the agency's peer review panels en masse in recent weeks, some of whom criticized the fund for "hucksterism" and "suspicion of favoritism" on their way out the door.
Pelton's application would have been presented to the agency's oversight committee by Jerry Cobbs, the agency's chief commercialization officer. Cobbs announced his resignation this month, and his last day was set for Friday.
Members of the oversight committee are appointed by Gov. Rick Perry and other state elected leaders. The panel has the final say on whether an award is funded, but under agency rules, all applications must be reviewed by an outside panel of peer reviewers who evaluate the scientific and commercial merits of the proposal.
The agency's statement did not explain how Pelton's application made it through the process without anyone noticing that a review never took place. It only said that Cobbs "improperly included" the proposal in a slate of other recommendations to the oversight committee in 2010.
Attempts by the AP to reach Cobbs were not immediately successful Thursday evening.
Bill Gimson, the executive director of CPRIT who vowed that his reeling agency would recover from the growing onslaught of criticism at its annual conference in October, said in response to the audit's findings that the agency must have the state's trust.
"We proactively initiated this comprehensive review in the effort to be transparent and ensure good stewardship," Gimson said.
Peloton's funding has been halted and the company's application is undergoing a second review, the agency said.
According to Peloton's most recent annual report to the CPRIT, which was obtained by AP, the company has attracted $18 million in outside investments since it was founded in 2010 by Steven McKnight, chairman of the biochemistry department at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
"Peloton Therapeutics aims to become a leading oncology company through the discovery and development of superior therapeutics, delivering extraordinary value to its employees, investors, and ultimately, cancer patients," according to the company's application summary.
CPRIT — started behind a push led by cancer survivor Lance Armstrong and Perry — spent most of its first five years basking in praise and industry awe of the unprecedented amount of taxpayer dollars committed to a state-run, cancer-fighting effort. But those plaudits abruptly gave way to rebukes starting in May, and the fissures came from within.
Dr. Alfred Gilman, the agency's chief scientific officer and a Nobel laureate, announced his resignation following a $20 million award that never received a full scientific review. The money was for a so-called incubator project at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, one of the country's top research institutes.
Gilman accused the agency's oversight board of ramrodding the project through the application process, despite the proposal being just six pages long. Gimson has said the type of proposal didn't require a full scientific review under agency rules but has since conceded missteps in how that award was handled.
In wake of the Peloton findings, CPRIT announced it would institute new rules that require independent third parties to make sure grant review policies are followed. The agency said it will install a compliance certification process that will accompany every recommended proposal given to the oversight committee.
Follow Paul J. Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pauljweber


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1. What can the Ravens expect out of Joe Flacco against the Giants?
Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has become an enigma lately. Unpredictable, and not in a good way. Erratic at times and prone to turnovers -- with six given away during this three-game losing streak (one interception and one lost fumble per contest in that span) -- Flacco is approaching a crossroads in his career. The Ravens desperately need steadier performances out of their usually stoic quarterback, who has shown signs of frustration in recent weeks when he has struggled. Already qualified for the playoffs and chasing a second consecutive AFC North title, the Ravens have a big financial decision to make on Flacco when the season is over. Now that offensive coordinator Cam Cameron is gone, Flacco is no longer burdened by their rocky relationship. There should be no obstacles, at least mentally, to him succeeding on a consistent basis. This is supposed to be a fresh start with new offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell, who gets along well with Flacco. It comes down to more than relationships, though. It comes back to Flacco taking care of the football, delivering it on time, getting into a rhythm and operating with a confidence that appears to have been shaken by how things have gone lately. Flacco is capable of much more. He has all the tools to be a franchise quarterback. He has a strong arm. He has sound mechanics most of the time, except when he gets pressured and starts throwing off his back foot. He has excellent size. He's durable and tough. He understands the game, and he cares about his teammates. What's going on with Flacco is he's pressing and putting too much pressure on himself instead of just simply going out and playing the way he has been coached. The Ravens need Flacco to start playing much better, starting Sunday against the Giants. He's expected to get wide receiver Torrey Smith back from a concussion. Flacco has to shake himself out of this funk he has been in and play solid football. The Ravens need to know what to do about Flacco's expiring rookie contract. They were prepared in August to give him a huge multi-year offer, but he declined the contract proposal and talks have been nonexistent since that point. They'll talk again in the offseason, and there's a chance something can still be worked out. Whether the Ravens put the franchise tag on Flacco, which will severely affect their ability to retain or bring in other free agents, put that big offer back on the table or reduce it some because of his declining play, is all up in the air. The Ravens aren't going to move on from Flacco, so he'll at least be franchised. This organization, from owner Steve Bisciotti to general manager Ozzie Newsome to coach John Harbaugh, wants nothing more than stability under center with Flacco for years to come. It's on his shoulders to make them feel good about making him a very rich man. He can accomplish that by how he plays against the Giants and in the weeks to come.
Karl Merton Ferron, Baltimore Sun
Copyright © 2018, Orlando Sentinel


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Falco Watcher allows you observe by WEB-Camera.
You can save with motion detector then view it, convert to AVI file. Very useful when you are out of home and want to see for your children. Whether they are up watching tv or sleeping in their beds.
© Falco Software, 2006-2018. All rights reserved. Download free games for PC without registration.


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Black Sea Bass Cuts
ISSUE: Black sea bass recreational harvest has exceeded 2015 limits in the northern
region. New York (along with all states from Massachusetts to New Jersey) is required
to develop more restrictive rules governing recreational black sea bass fishing in order
to restrain harvest to the 2016 limits. The required reduction is estimated by the Atlantic
States Marine Fisheries Commission to be 23.2%. Preliminary MRIP Wave 6 data
became fully available on February 18, 2016.
The purpose of this memo is to provide interested and involved constituents with some
idea of what the required reduction could look like in terms of regulatory adjustments so
that they can consider the matter and provide the Bureau of Marine Resources (BMR)
with feedback.
Compliance with the minimum size limit in 2015 was poor and changes to the minimum
size will not be considered for 2016. All options in the table below include a 14.0
minimum size.
As was done last year, interested parties can request additional options by email
(firstname.lastname@example.com) or phone (631-444-0437). All constructive and
productive suggestions will be considered to the best of my ability and the limitations of
the data. The goal is to generate a list of options that meet the required 23.2% reduction
by March 1, 2016 that can be used by both NYs Marine Resource Advisory Council
(MRAC) and the BMR. MRAC is next scheduled to meet on Tuesday March 8th at
6:30PM (tentatively at Stony Brook University SoMAS).
***For additional consideration, a regional option is currently being considered by Rhode
Island, Connecticut, and New York. Would the NY Public support the following 2016
regional measure?
14.0 minimum size, 3 fish from July 23-August 31 and 5 fish from Sept. 1-Dec. 31
Options provided below are subject to change and approval by the NYSDEC and
various bodies of the ASMFC.
Note: Federal Wave 5 closure in 2016 will be Sept. 22 Oct. 21
Note: All options above include a 14.0 minimum size
1. All data used and shown here is from MRIP website queries and downloads
2. Reduction value from season loss is not additive with reduction value from decreased
possession limit. Simply adding up bag limit changes and days lost will have you close,
but over-estimate the actual reduction by ~2-3%.
3. Possession limit in November and December (Wave 6) of 2015 was 10 fish. An
analysis of the catch record (MRIP data) indicates there is no additional value to
reducing the possession limit during this Wave to more than 7 fish.
TV & Radio show host / Surf Fishing Guide/Guitar Player-Band Leader & Ferret Lover
Fishery Management at its best.
Last edited by diadicic; 02-29-2016 at 09:30 AM.
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K.I. SAWYER – Customers of Second Street Storage at K.I. Sawyer will have to wait to get their boats, recreational vehicles and other items out of winter storage until professional consultants assess the full extent of a recently discovered asbestos problem.
The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians owns buildings 421 and 422 at Sawyer -structures each measuring roughly 40,000 square-feet- where the presence of disrupted asbestos was confirmed May 1.
"The tribe is doing everything it can to expedite this and make sure everyone is safe," said Saulius Mikalonis, a Plunkett Cooney attorney representing the tribe from Bloomfield Hills.
Article Photos
Building 422 at K.I. Sawyer, shown here on Friday, is one of the storage buildings where the presence of disrupted asbestos was confirmed May 1. (Journal photo by Zach Jay)
Mikalonis said the tribe had been leasing the buildings commercially -which are located on 6 acres between avenues H and F- since September 2010 to the Second Street temporary storage business. In February, the buildings were repossessed by the tribe after the owner fell into arrears on payments of rent and taxes.
In April, tribal officials cut off locks and pushed open frozen doors to inspect the premises. A piece of pipe fitting tape suspected to contain asbestos – later confirmed through testing – was found on the floor in one of the buildings.
"We don't know how this asbestos was removed," Mikalonis said.
Tribal officials are operating under the assumption disturbed asbestos materials are in both storage buildings.
"We don't know, but we have to assume it," Mikalonis said.
A licensed consultant contracted by the tribe is expected to assess the extent of the asbestos problem within the next week or so. The findings will determine exactly what abatement measures will be prescribed and how long that process will take.
Asbestos is regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Air Act as a hazardous air pollutant.
Countless older buildings contain asbestos in their building materials. Undisturbed, the substance is not required to be disposed of. However, when major renovations are undertaken or when asbestos containing materials are exposed to the air that can be crumbled, pulverized or reduced to powder by hand pressure steps are taken to remove those "friable" asbestos materials.
The tribe is keeping the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality -which addresses asbestos issues on behalf of the EPA- apprised of the situation. The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration has also been notified.
"We've talked to all the relevant officials," Mikalonis said.
If the amount of disturbed asbestos present is significant or widespread, a specific sequence of steps to wet and dispose of the materials would be required.
"It is a complicated, time consuming and expensive process," Mikalonis said.
If the tribe does not properly remedy the situation, large fines could be imposed.
Meanwhile, the boats, recreation vehicles and other items sitting in the storage facility cannot be removed until the asbestos problem is resolved and the buildings deemed safe to occupy.
Mikalonis said the DEQ has been open to waiving a 30-day notification requirement -if the asbestos remediation process is necessary- to expedite starting the process as an emergency abatement.
In addition to discovering the presence of friable asbestos, the tribe is dealing with additional problems at the storage facility.
Civil proceedings between the tribe and Second Street Storage are continuing in Marquette County District Court, according to court officials.
Absent logs or other pertinent documents, tribal officials have been unable to determine who owns many of the items housed in the storage facility. Mikalonis said he was not sure how much property has been stored in the buildings, but characterized the number as "significant."
Tribal officials sent notices to some of the affected individuals Wednesday and were asking others to claim ownership by sending receipts, descriptions, license plate numbers and other identifying information to the tribe's insurance department in Sault Ste. Marie.
A couple of weeks after the asbestos was found, inspection of the storage buildings revealed another, potentially related, issue.
"We noticed there were copper wiring and pipes stripped from the building," Mikalonis said.
Local law enforcement officials, including Marquette County Sheriff's deputies, are investigating the theft. Tribal officials don't think anyone has been in the buildings since last fall.
Both of the structures were built in 1956 and used as hangars by the military when K.I. Sawyer was a U.S. Air Force base. The air base opened in 1956 and closed in 1995.
The tribe bought the buildings in the year 2000.
To claim items from the storage facility, write the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Insurance Department, 523 Ashmun Street, Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783.
John Pepin can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 206. His email address is firstname.lastname@example.com
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Asbestos problem at storage buildings


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Additional International
Law Seminars offered next semester
The International Law and Policy Development Office is pleased to announce three new International law seminars which will be offered next semester.
One will be taught by Professor Martha L. Schweitz, from the Seinan Gakuin Law Faculty in Japan. The others will be taught by Yehuda Blum, who is the Hersch Lauterpacht Professor of International Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Professor Blum served as the law clerk to the late Justice Goitein of the Israel Supreme Court and has been a professor at Hebrew University since 1965, writing widely on international law issues. On the diplomatic front, Professor Blum served as Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations from 1978-84, and was on the negotiating team that led to the Camp David accords. Professor of International Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The Seminars are as follows:
Professor Martha L. Schweitz
This seminar examines the network of international undertakings, institutional arrangements, and non-binding declarations that bear most directly on the social and economic development of poorer states. Students will be encouraged to think critically about (i) assumptions regarding development and economic globalization implicit in the work of international economic institutions (such as the World Bank, IMF, and WTO), and (ii) various theories of development. A particular emphasis will be placed on the current and potential role of local development-oriented NGOs on the international policy-making process.
The Arab-Israel conflict in international law
Professor Yehuda Blum
This course will deal with some of the root problems of the conflict (such as the right of self-determination within the context of this conflict) and will be devoted primarily to a legal analysis of the main relevant texts (such as resolution 242(1967) of 1967, and the various Israel-PLO agreements of recent years), as well as to questions such as the legal status of the West Bank and Jerusalem.
The Charter of the United Nations
Professor Yehuda Blum
The main purpose of this course will be to discuss the provisions dealing with the constitutional structure of the UN (including the International Court of Justice) and the relationship between the various main organs of the UN. Due regard will be paid to the de facto transformation that has occurred under UN practice of some the relevant Charter rules.
For information about registering for these
seminars, contact Assistant Dean Sowle.
University of Berne Summer Opportunity:
The Law School of the University of Berne in Switzerland is offering a special summer opportunity for one or two Chicago-Kent students. This program will offer participants a multi-faceted experience, including:
1. Undertaking independent research in a European or international law topic at Berne, with assistance from Berne in making contacts at international organizations such as the World Trade Organization;
2. Participating in a one-week course on International Economic Law Dispute Settlement and International Organizations at the University of Geneva; and
3. Working as an extern at an international law firm in Switzerland.
This opportunity requires students to develop a topic for their independent research, for which credit can be granted if conducted under the guidance of a Faculty member. The research and work experience are not paid, and the one-week course requires tuition of approximately $1000. The University of Berne will assist participating student in finding housing and other logistics.
For addtional information
please contact Randy Clarke (email@example.com)
Chicago-Kent has recently established an exchange program with the Law School of the Universidad Torcuato di Tella (UTDT), in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Students participating in the program may attend the UTDT Law School for one semester after completing one year of continuous study at Chicago-Kent. Participants will pay regular tuition to Chicago-Kent during the semester spent in Argentina, and will receive Chicago-Kent credit for coursework done in Argentina. Because all instruction in Argentina will be in Spanish, competency in Spanish is required of all participants. Participants will be responsible for the following expenses:
-Room and board expenses in Buenos Aires
-Transportation to and from Buenos Aires
UTDT will find, but will not pay for, housing for Chicago-Kent students. The program begins in Argentina on August 2, 1999. Students who wish to go must complete the application process by Friday, June 4.
Interested students should contact Dean Rudnick (312-906-5012 email@example.com), or Randy Clarke (312-906-5235, firstname.lastname@example.com) for more information.
Students interested in studying in London
for a semester should contact Chris Matheny, Director, Student Services,
for information about the London Consortium Exchange Program. (email@example.com)
The International Law and Policy Development Office has an opening for a research and program assistant for 20 hours per week during the summer. This position will include the following responsibilities:
Please contact Randy Clarke (email@example.com) with questions or to apply.
Operation Kosovo
Project Poland


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walk me through the answers of these questions plz:
1-how did the first male and female human beings appeared?
2-is there moses, jesus, mohammed _peace be upon him_??
3-why are we on earth ? what is the purpose of living??
Views: 2417
What a prick, no one ever asked me!
Gods and the religious.
Yeah, I wondered about that, but I figured we're all adults, we can take it!
Interesting fact - when you try replying to a deleted comment, your own comment gets kicked down here - hm --
We need a 'Special' site location for such postings. You just never know what utility could be extracted from these. Anyway, during the course of human affairs, when the weather is dull, and the nights long, where are you going to go for enlightenment, humor(a monitor covered with ballistic spittle), and a case of rising bile?
1. I take the evolutionary theory to be true.
2. It's possible they once existed, but I think it's more likely they were made up as a sort of bedtime story, a way to answer children when they asked what happened when they died. From there, the stories got more and more ludicrous, until we have the modern Bible, Koran, Torrah, etc.
3. Why not? Why shouldn't we be on Earth? We are already here, what's done is done. I personally don't much care why I'm here. I just want to live the best life I can, the life that makes me happy. Hopefully, in my own quest for happiness, I can bring joy to others. That's my purpose in life. Being happy.
1- As others have said, evolutionary biology has this one pretty much wrapped up, IMO. I am at complete peace with this explanation of how humans appeared.
2. Truly, it doesn't matter to me whether or not any of them existed or not. I see no evidence that any of them have any kind of influence in the world today, except for the damage caused by their followers.
3. We are here because we evolved here, because the conditions were right for life to start and to diversify in the first place.
And furthermore, I can call myself an atheist whether or not I have read anybody's religious texts. I did read some of the Q'uran, and it was even more disturbing than the Bible. I cannot imagine what my brain and psyche could have done that was so horrible to deserve to have such nastiness thrust upon it. If I had a gun to my head I expect I'd read it and say what the gun-wielder wanted me to say but I still wouldn't believe it.
The U.S. has its faults, to be sure, but I am still free to say I don't and won't believe in your god or prophets. I wish you much peace and happiness in your beliefs, though.
for those who know arabic language , if such a book-Quran- can be invented by one person as you claim and believe, why cant tens of millions of arabic speaking non muslims, produce even one page of it ?? you claim he (PBUH) invented 600 pages and you cannot match just one page !! why are your tongues and minds helpless in this test, because your tongues and minds have to obey the creator.
non arabic speaking ,please check http://miraclesofthequran.com, can all these miracles be a coincidence ?
Mohammed (excrement be upon him) didn't write a single word. The Quran was cobbled together by crude acts of carpentry over centuries by people who hadn't even met the false prophet. Better writing can, and has, been produced - writing that complies with observable fact, writing that inspires love rather than making maniacal commands to kill and maim.
Sorry, KM, but your quran is nothing more than a steaming pile of superstitious, hateful bullshit.
i always like to answer that with Quoting Al-Razi whom google has celebrated his anniversary 2 weeks ago ..
"You claim that the evidentiary miracle is present and available, namely, the Koran. You say: "Whoever denies it, let him produce a similar one." Indeed, we shall produce a thousand similar, from the works of rhetoricians, eloquent speakers and valiant poets, which are more appropriately phrased and state the issues more succinctly. They convey the meaning better and their rhymed prose is in better meter. ... By God what you say astonishes us! You are talking about a work which recounts ancient myths, and which at the same time is full of contradictions and does not contain any useful information or explanation. Then you say: "Produce something like it"?! "
actually there is no book in history that resembles the other .. and by all means there are works of fiction, poetry and story telling that are more amusing and much more original than ur koran.
and as an arabic speaking person and i find it not amusing at all
Marvel, I don't believe anyone knows who actually wrote the Quran. Historical research has indicated that Muhammad himself was illiterate. I intend researching the matter further, when time permits.
I must say, I really applaud the courage of all of you guys at الملحـدين المصـريين - Egyptian Atheists - Think Atheist, for your decision to come out publicly with your beliefs, despite all of the hardship that that could mean for you.
Muhammad used to read and write. there is a famous incident in the islamic history during the negotiations between Muslims and the unbelievers for a peace treaty were they refused to sign it because it stated that "Muhammad was a messenger from god".
Muslims refused to put any modifications in it but Muhammad took the pen, removed the statement making all the controversy and wrote "Muhammad Abdul Allah" instead.
he could read, he identified the controversial statement , removed it and wrote something else instead. he wasn't illiterate as the Muslim Clerics trying to prove these days.
He didn't write it by himself . during these days, kings and leaders don't write by themselves but used to dictate to others who write for them.
i'd like to thank u for ur applause .. really appreciate it :D
Your road is rougher than mine, you deserve it.


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A large, oversized vehicle -- often an SUV or pick-up truck -- that overly aggressively approaches the rear of your vehicle in an attempt to get you to move out of its way or to pass you. Maneuver may or may not also include flashing of headlights, honking, flashing of "the finger", and/or pointing and yelling.
"I was driving along nicely in the left lane on the Jersey Turnpike until that bullymobile nearly ran me off the road."
by EnWhySeer December 30, 2011
buy the domain for your recipe site


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What we have here is an interesting situation. The Phillies think they need pitching help. They are willing to trade for it. And they have the ability to add a guy who went 10-4 with a 2.99 ERA and averaged more than six innings in 23 starts last season. Furthermore, that guy is chomping at the bit to return.
And yet, the decision they'll be faced with over the next few days is a difficult one.
Last night, the aforementioned starter, lefthander J.A. Happ, made his sixth rehab appearance since going on the disabled list with a strained forearm after his second start of the season.
He looked sharp in his first three innings, not-so-sharp in his fourth, and somewhere in between in his final one-and-a-third.
At worst, he looked like a guy who was capable of filling an opening in a big league rotation.
Problem is, the Phillies have no obvious opening, despite their belief that they need to upgrade their rotation to improve their chances at placing themselves back among on the sport's elite teams.
Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Jamie Moyer are not going anywhere -- nor should they -- and Kyle Kendrick and Joe Blanton have both given manager Charlie Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee enough reason to keep believing in them.
So what will the Phillies do?
It depends on three variables: 1) How they evaluate Happ, 2) How they evaluate the bottom of their rotation, 3) How they evaluate the next couple weeks on the schedule
1) Happ
As J.A. Happ stood in a corridor that snakes through the bowels of Coca Cola Park, an Iron Pigs staffer approached him and patted him on the shoulder.
"Hopefully we've seen the last of you at Triple-A," the well-wisher said as post-game fireworks began to pop outside.
Truth is, Happ doesn't have much of a say in the matter. According to major league rules, the rehab assignment that he began in early June will expire on Wednesday. The Phillies could file for an extension, but to do so, they would have to claim that Happ's strained left forearm requires more time to rehabiliatate. That does not appear to be the case. Happ has said since his fifth rehab start that he feels healthy enough to pitch at the big league level, and the Phillies have not publicly disagreed with that sentiment.
Last night, he looked healthy. According to the scoreboard radar gun, his fastball sat between 88-91 and touched 92 three times. In a 30-pitch fourth inning in which he allowed two hits and two walks, it sat at the lower end of that range. But seven of the last eight fastballs he threw in the fifth and sixth clocked at 90 or 91. It is tough to say how accurate the scoreboard is, but it looked pretty accurate (the pitcher who followed him, Mike Stutes, was throwing 91-93, which from what I understand is consistent with the book on him). More important than velocity, the swings of the opposing hitters made it look like they were having difficulty timing him. Happ said afterward his arm strength and arm speed felt good. The hardest hit ball he allowed was a line-out to the warning track in the second inning. He allowed nine ground balls and 11 fly balls, with two of the fly balls staying on the infield.
Of the six hits he allowed, two went for extra bases.
But Happ also walked four batters. An unfriendly strike zone contributed a little. But he definitely struggled with his command in the fourth inning.
"I don't like to use it as an excuse," Happ said, "but I maybe tried to do a little too much."
2) Kendrick and Blanton
For most of the season, conventional wisdom suggested that Kyle Kendrick was only occupying a spot in the rotation until Happ was ready to return. But Kendrick tossed the first complete game of his career in a 12-4 win over the Pirates on Saturday. Since his first two starts of the season, an ugly pair of outings in which he allowed 11 runs to the Nationals, Kendrick is 5-3 with a 3.90 ERA. During that same timespan, Hamels is 4-7 with a 3.95 ERA.
Joe Blanton, meanwhile, pitched six strong innings yesterday before allowing three in the seventh. He entered that start having thrown three straight quality starts.
Although the Phillies used Blanton and Happ out of the bullpen during last year's postseason, it's hard to envision them viewing either one in that light this year. If the Phillies are to contend during the second half, they need Blanton pitching like he has for most of his previous four starts. And subjecting Happ's elbow to the uncertain schedule of a reliever probably isn't the ideal situation.
3) The rotation
This doesn't help matters. Happ's next turn to pitch comes on Friday against the Reds, when Blanton is scheduled to pitch on normal rest. Kendrick is scheduled to pitch on Thursday on normal rest. The only way to get Happ a start before the All-Star break would be to bump Blanton, or bump Cole Hamels from starting the first half finale against the Reds on Sunday (Roy Hallady is scheduled to pitch Saturday).
Mon vs. Braves - Halladay
Tue vs. Braves - Hamels
Wed vs. Braves - Moyer
Thu vs. Reds - Kendrick
Fri vs. Reds - Blanton/Happ
Sat vs. Reds - Halladay
Sun vs. Reds - Hamels
Mon - OFF
Tue - OFF
Wed - OFF
Thu - at Cubs
Fri - at Cubs
Sat - at Cubs
Sun - at Cubs
4) So. . .
Because the Phillies don't have much flexibility when it comes to scheduling their rotation, the only way to get Happ a start before the All-Star Break would seem to be to bump Blanton. He can't start in place of Kendrick, because that would require him starting on short rest.
But there is another option, albeit one that would probably frustrate Happ. The Phillies could activate him from the disabled list, and then option him to Lehigh Valley, where he could start on Friday in Syracuse or on Saturday in Scranton. Of course, that would require the Phillies to part with one of their Triple-A players, since Happ would count toward that team's roster limit.
Asked about that situation yesterday, Happ replied, "We'll just see what happens. I don't think that's necessary."
The Phillies could also make the aforementioned move of applying for an extension to his rehab stint.
The biggest factor in the situation is how the Phillies feel about Happ's readiness to retire big league hitters. He only struck out one yesterday, and he walked four. But results are secondary to how the Phillies feel about his pitchability (Blanton allowed five runs and two home runs while striking out two in five innings of his final rehab appearance before he was activated in late-April).
You'd think, though, that the Phillies need to see Happ back in the rotation at some point soon so they have a better idea of their needs at the trade deadline.


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Facebook is paying $10 million to settle a lawsuit over ads that it called sponsored stories.
Facebook's service allowed companies to pay to retransmit users' activities to their friends' pages. If a user clicked the "like" button for a brand, the click might show up as a "sponsored story" on friends' pages. The ads started in early 2011.
Some Facebook users sued, saying that Facebook used their images for commercial activity. Facebook had argued that the plaintiffs did not show they were hurt by the practice.
Court documents from late last week say a settlement has been reached. Facebook attorney Michael Rhodes confirms Sunday that it's for $10 million, which will be given to charity. A judge still needs to approve the settlement.


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Over the years, I've amassed a modest collection of promotional gizmos: a BizTalk blinking LED pin, an Analysis Services stress ball, a Microsoft Office foam cube puzzle, a Visual FoxPro foam-rubber planet earth, and the must-have SQL Server Magazine detective sunglasses. But my pride in my collection paled as I entered the estate of Ms. Amanda Devano, a socialite and avid collector of anything that wasn't nailed to the floor. Ms. Devano's assistant, Albert Swenson, led me through a twisting maze of corridors lined with rows upon rows of doors, behind which lay the famed collections. Mr. Swenson identified each closed door as we progressed.
"We are now in the animalia hallway.This is the ursa room. In there, Ms. Devano has a stuffed male and female of every bear species known to man. And this is the lepidoptera room. In there, Ms. Devano has a mounted specimen of every butterfly and moth in the world.And this is the arachnid room. In there, Ms. Devano has a live, mating pair of every spider in existence. In here are the Beatles..."
"I know," I interrupted, "in there, Ms. Devano has a specimen of every beetle known to man."
"Actually," Mr. Swenson corrected,"in there, Ms. Devano has a copy of every Beatles song ever recorded. This is the music hallway."We reached the study, where Ms. Devano greeted me.
"You seem to specialize in collecting collections," I observed.
"I specialize in complete collections," Ms. Devano specified. "I like to see everything together in one place.And that is exactly why I asked you here. Mr. Swenson has used SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services to create a collection of reports to help me manage all my collections. He's even created parameters so that I can select the information I want in the report.The problem is, most of the time I don't want to select just one thing. I want to see everything; the whole collection, as it were."
"Yes,"I agreed,"I can see where that would be the case. May I see one of the reports?"
Mr. Swenson showed me one of his Reporting Services reports."For each of my reports, I've created one dataset containing a list of the items that Ms. Devano can include in the report. (Figure 1) I'm using that dataset to provide the available values for the SelectedItemID report parameter. (Figure 2) And I'm using the item identifier in the WHERE clause of a second data set to supply the data for the report. (Figure 3)
I informed Mr. Swenson that we needed to make only a few minor changes to provide the ALL option Ms. Devano was looking for. First, I used the UNION operator to include a second SELECT statement in the dataset that provided the list of available values. (Figure 4) The field list of this new SELECT statement contains a string constant of -ALL-for the item name and a numeric constant of -1 for the item ID. I put a dash at the beginning of the string constant to ensure that it would appear at the top of the list. I used the value -1 for the numeric constant to ensure that it wouldn't duplicate the ID of any existing item.
Next, I changed the SELECT statement that supplies the data for the report. (Figure 5) If Ms. Devano selects the -ALL-item for SelectedItemID, the WHERE clause will always be true and all the items in the collection will appear on the report. If any other item is selected for Selected-ItemID,theWHERE clause will be true only when the ItemID is equal to Selected-ItemID.
Finally, I pointed out that selecting all items from a list is much easier if you use the multivalued parameter feature in SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services. (For details about this feature, see Rodney Landrum's article "Reporting Services and Multivalued Parameters," January 2006, InstantDoc ID 48596.) Ms. Devano said she'd add SQL Server 2005 to her software collection as soon as possible.
As I turned to go, Ms. Devano offered me a 1927 Babe Ruth baseball card. It seemed she had a duplicate in her collection, so she could part with this particular card and still have them all. I declined her offer. I had my own little collection. And even though I don't have all of Microsoft's promotional giveaways, I have enough. Unless, of course, you have a blinking Microsoft CRM LED ball with sound effects you'd like to part with!
In this case, I added something so that someone could get more.In my next case,I add something so that someone can see less.


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Life is certainly bizarre. I could've settled into my one-room office doing everything myself, building a 401K, paying off my bills, eventually saving enough for a house. Get married, double my income, pop out a few kids.
But instead I'm choosing the scarier, more unexplored option by following my heart.
I would've been miserable in that other, more stagnant life. I know what I want, and I don't want that.
Anytime a person follows their heart, it moves them towards progress. And while in the act of progressing, you WILL suffer. It's all part of the game. It's all part of growth. The suffering that takes place is all done in your own mind. A rewiring of old beliefs to make room for the new. You'll doubt yourself, worry, suffer loss. Any type of change you face, has to do with also facing some type of loss.
It's the loss that makes you suffer.
I'm losing the ground beneath my feet and investing everything I have into following my heart. And I'm doing it all without a mentor, a guide, a Dumbledore to tell me what to do.
Do you have any idea how much an employee actually costs?
I have to pay:
- Employer portion of Social Security tax
- Employer portion of Medicare tax
- State unemployment tax
- Federal unemployment tax
- Worker compensation insurance
Plus I still have to figure out about liability insurance. Massage therapists come equipped with their own, but I'm not sure if I need more. I can't find this information anywhere! And I searched my towns website for a general business license, but I can't figure out how to get my hands on one. Maybe I don't need one? Legal Zoom has a company that says they can get me one for $100, but they might be scammers. Legal Zoom also offered to obtain an EIN for me for $79, even though it's free and easy to do yourself. Research such as this is the stuff I have to learn on my own. And it's time consuming.
Before I buy anything, I always do my research. Just as I did while hunting for a new car.
When I get home from work today, I have to sign my business up with federal unemployment tax and workmen's comp. Tomorrow I have a Spa Booker online training seminar at 3:00 and the phone and internet guys are scheduled to come to the office between 1:00 – 3:00. I have four applicants waiting to hear back from me, a shit ton of Ikea crap that needs to be put together. My new website has yet to be built.
My deadline is March 31. If I can be done by March 31, I can leave my old office. Once I'm moved into my new office and my clients start going there instead, I'll be somewhat settled. The transition will near its completion.
I was a live wire of emotion yesterday. Any cruel look or comment could've sent me into a crying frenzy. Mostly from the Facebook haters. They really did a number on me. It's insane how cruel and hopeless the world feels after getting the shit kicked out of you by 70 plus people. How everything, and everyone feels mean. It's something darker than depression, it's fear.
And today I feel fine. I'm back to my old self.
I asked my brother yesterday – "Do you need liability insurance for your workers?"
My brother – "Ha ha I hope you have a lawyer. Do you have a lawyer? I paid my lawyer 10 grand last year. Yes you need insurance and it costs a LOT."
Me – "Can you help me? Do you have the name of the guy you use?"
Him – "Sorry, you're on your own."
He was back to his phone.
My brother was preoccupied with his phone all while I was trying to talk to him. He was laughing and saying funny things as usual.
Him – "No ain't going to help you. You're moving in here and taking my business away. No way."
Me – "You're kidding, right? You must be kidding."
I literally felt the tears welling up.
Me – "I would help you if you were me. You really won't help me?"
Him – "Yeah, I'll help you. But I'm still going to spread rumors that your place has maggots."
I felt a 100 pound weight lift from me when he said that. I'm not joking when I say I was a live wire of emotion yesterday. Even though he was having a go at me, I still wanted to cry. It felt like not only did Facebook people hate me, but my brother hated me as well.
I'm insanely sensitive at times. Times when I feel not together, when I feel there's too much that needs to be done and nowhere and no resources to pull from. It's like finding myself stranded at the bottom of the ocean with half a tank of oxygen left and no strength to swim up. I can't swim up because it's hopeless and I won't make it out in time.
But then I bounce back. Like today. I'm perfectly fine and have my head back. Thank God for my resilience. Maybe my resilience comes from never wanting to give up and lose hope. I can get through and get over anything because I never give up. My heart always leads me, and I trust it.


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Reviewed by Paige G. (age 5)
I like the book because it's funny. My favorite part was when the dentist got into his car, and his whole car fell apart. The adults are crazy in the book. The mom tried to pull out Andrew's tooth, but the tooth didn't come out. The pictures are funny in the book. I like this book because my brother's name is Andrew.
I would recommend this book because it would make the people who read it laugh.


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Muriel A. (Lord) Carberry
Muriel A. (Lord) Carberry, 79, died December 2, 2012. She was the wife of the late George E. Carberry.
Born in Providence, a daughter of the late George and Vera (Williams) Lord, she resided in Warwick for most of her life.
She is survived by her daughter, Jean M. Carberry Bainter, her son, George E. Carberry, Jr. Capt. WFD and his wife, Teresa. She was the grandmother of Kendra Zuffoletti, George E. Carberry III, Robert Bainter, Jr., Bryan Bainter and Gerilyn Carberry; great grandmother of Camden, Liam and Hailey; sister of Vera DeCotis, the late George, David, Edward and Walter Lord.
Her funeral will be held Friday at 9 a.m. from the Thomas & Walter Quinn Funeral Home, 2435 Warwick Ave. with a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. in St. Timothy Church, Warwick Ave. Burial in Rhode Island Veterans' Cemetery, Exeter. Visiting hours Thursday 4-8 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, contributions to Beacon Hospice, 1130 Ten Rod Road, North Kingstown, RI 02852 will be appreciated. Information and condolences, visit TheQuinnFuneralHome.com.


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NetWellness is a global, community service providing quality, unbiased health information from our partners. NetWellness is commercial-free and does not accept advertising.
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Heintz, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Pulmonary Medicine
Department of Pediatrics (Nationwide Children's Hospital)
College of Medicine
The Ohio State University
John S. Heintz, MD, is Co-Director of the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Center at Nationwide Children's Hospital and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Dr. Heintz is co-principal investigator for the Cystic Fibrosis Therapeutics Development Network. Areas of interest include, improving cystic fibrosis (CF) relevant education to teens and adults with CF through clinic and web-based channels and quality improvement of delivered CF care.
Find out more about Dr. Heintz


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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's top security official said Friday that far fewer people disappeared during Mexico's drug war than were feared when the government released a list of about 26,000 cases.
Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said federal and state governments are working to weed out people who have been located. He noted that many of those included on the original list of 26,121 released earlier this year had left home for personal reasons or emigrated.
He says a new list will be released with a few months and "it will be much lower."
The list was compiled by the administration of former President Felipe Calderon, and largely covers disappearance reports from his 2006-2102 term. Osorio Chong said some of the people on the list had returned to their families, but relatives never bothered to cancel the original missing person report.
The issue has become a sensitive one in Mexico, where kidnappings are rife and thousands of people say their relatives have been abducted by drug gangs.
Osorio Chong also claimed that the number of deaths related to the drug war has been steadily dropping, and he expects that by the end of the month, figures would be about 20 percent lower than the same period of 2012. He said figures show about 34 drug-related killings per day so far in May, down from 41 in the same period in 2012.
However, experts have questioned what they say is atypical behavior in the statistics.
The Interior Department reported in April that drug-related deaths fell 14 percent from December to March, as compared to the same period a year earlier. But non-drug-related deaths rose by 6.8 percent during the same period, raising the question of whether some deaths were reclassified to improve the country's image and to help President Enrique Pena Nieto appear to meet a key campaign pledge: to reduce drug-related violence.
Osorio Chong responded to those doubts by saying "we don't make up statistics," and offered to arrange a meeting between reporters and experts who compiled the death tolls, to discuss the methodology used.
He also said Mexico had requested changes both in the way it shares intelligence with the United States, and the way the U.S. deports migrants. Mexico has requested the United States no longer just dump migrants at the border, but rather advise Mexico about who is being deported, and in some cases arrange for "interior deportation," flying deportees to their home cities rather than releasing them in border towns where they could be targets for recruitment by drug gangs.
"If you send people back, at least give me minimal information to know who you're deporting, and send them where I ask you to," said Osorio Chong. He said that if they're simply dumped at the border, "the drug cartels are going to grab them. They (the migrants) are going to try to cross again, or they're going to join organized crime."
The interior minister also defended Mexico's new policy of channeling all cross-border intelligence sharing through a single office, rather than allowing each Mexican agency to communicate with its U.S. counterpart, as in the past.
Osorio Chong said the previous policy had encouraged organizational infighting in the Mexican government. "It looked like a big dispute, with agencies fighting among themselves."
"Now, we are being more effective than ever, the United States has more information than it did before," he said. "Ask them. Ask them if we're not being faster, more agile in information sharing."
The U.S. embassy had no immediate response to the interior minister's statements.


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Loved ones gather again at World Trade Center site
NEW YORK (AP) — It's been 12 years since his son died in the World Trade Center attacks, but Clyde Frazier says it seems like 15 minutes. He says, "Time stands still because you love your child." He adds, "Nothing changes except he's not here."
Frazier was among the family members of victims who gathered at the site in lower Manhattan today on the anniversary of the attacks. Bells tolled to mark the times when the hijacked planes hit the towers, and when they fell. As has become the tradition, family members read the names of the victims, and spoke of the impact of their loss. One woman whose mother was killed said, "As time passes and our family grows, our children remind us of you."
Loved ones were milling around the two-year-old memorial plaza, making rubbings of names and leaving flowers in memory of the victims. Some were weeping, arm in arm.
By next year, a September 11th museum is expected to be open beneath the memorial plaza. While the memorial honors those who died, the museum is intended to present a broader picture of 9/11, including the experiences of survivors and first responders.
%@AP Links
170-r-22-(Sound of bagpipers and drummers, leading World Trade Center flag through memorial to the stage)--Sound of bagpipers and drummers leading the World Trade Center flag through the memorial to the stage. (11 Sep 2013)
172-r-13-(Sound of young girl honoring her Uncle, at the 9/11 memorial)-"God Bless America"-Sound of young girl honoring her Uncle at the 9/11 memorial. (11 Sep 2013)
<<CUT *172 (09/11/13)££ 00:13 "God Bless America"
GRAPHICSBANK: Daniel Henry, Port Authority of New York/New Jersey police officer, during a moment of silence at the south reflecting pool at the 9/11 Memorial, New York City, graphic element on gray (11 Sep 2013)
APPHOTO NYR106: Flowers and pictures are displayed by a name along the north reflecting pool at the 9/11 Memorial on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2013, during a ceremony marking the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. (AP Photo/Justin Lane, Pool) (11 Sep 2013)
APPHOTO NJHAC104: Carrie Bergonia of Pennsylvania looks over the name of her fiancé, firefighter Joseph Ogren, at the 9/11 Memorial during ceremonies marking the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, Wednesday, Sept 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Chris Pedota, Pool) (11 Sep 2013)


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Calculating the number of work days elapsed between two dates (i.e., the business age) is one of the most common tasks in business application development. In many situations, this computation plays a significant and sometimes crucial role in the application logic. For example, suppose that a company promises to
ship orders within five business days from the payment date, and your assignment is to find all the orders that shipped later than this constraint. In other words, you must find all the orders in which more than five business days elapsed between the payment date and the ship date.
The common approach to this problem is to use a single-row method. This approach calculates the business age for only one row in a table at a time and compares the result with the required age. Then the code scrolls to the next record and repeats the calculations. This method is typically implemented either within application front-end source code (e.g., Visual Basic—VB, Delphi, C#) or by using more complicated T-SQL routines that loop through a data set, fetch a row, and calculate the business age. Although these routines are workable solutions, they have major drawbacks, such as increased network traffic to submit all rows from a SQL Server machine to a client for further processing rather than simply submitting a set of data that meets the business age requirements. In addition, SQL Server stored procedures introduce unnecessary complexity because you must create a loop to check every record to determine whether the records meet your criteria.
In this article, I offer a solution that uses only one SELECT command for all the rows in a data set. This bulk approach is both simple and elegant. Note that the examples and formulas I use are for US date calculations. Readers outside the United States will need to modify my approach. (For more information about working days calculation, see "DATETIME Calculations, Part 5," June 2007, InstantDoc ID 95675.)
The first step is to write a T-SQL SELECT statement to show business age as a calculated column in a SELECT clause. Then, you need to write a statement that incorporates business age into a WHERE clause to include only rows that meet certain aging criteria. Advanced developers can also incorporate the logic into a user-defined function (UDF). This solution lets you write a single routine that you can call anytime you need the calculations.
Weekend identification (i.e., Saturday and Sunday) is based on a number that corresponds to the day of the week. This number depends on the value set by the SET DATEFIRST command, which sets the first day of the week. For US regional settings, Sunday is the first day of the week, Monday is the second day of the week, and Saturday is the seventh day of the week.
A company's holidays might be unique; therefore, few businesses use the same holiday schedule. The most common approach for dealing with holidays is to create a simple table in which to store holiday dates.
To use the solution I suggest, you must be familiar with several built-in T-SQL date functions, such as the following.
- DATEPART(wk, date)—Returns a number that corresponds to the day of the week (e.g., Sunday=1, Saturday=7)
- DATEDIFF(day, startdate, enddate)— Returns the number of days between startdate and enddate.
Create the Necessary Tables
First, use the code in Listing 1 to create a temporary table named #tmpTable and insert the specified dates. (Note that I use the same dates throughout the article.) Table 1 shows the temporary table that Listing 1 creates.
Next, use the code in Listing 2 to create a temporary holiday table named #tmpHolidays. This code inserts just two dates, for test purposes only. Table 2 shows the temporary holiday table that Listing 2 creates.
Calculate the Business Age
Next, calculate the business age. The algorithm to calculate business age can be broken down into 5 simple steps.
Step 1: Calculate the number of calendar days (CD) between DAY1 and DAY2.
Note that this calculation doesn't include both boundary dates.
Step 2: Calculate the number of Saturdays and Sundays (SS) by multiplying the number of weeks between DAY1 and DAY2 by two.
Note that weekends and weekdays are based on country settings; my example uses US weekends.
Step 3: Find the number of holiday days (HD) between DAY1 and DAY2, excluding any holidays that happen to fall on Saturday or Sunday.
HD=(SELECT COUNT(*) FROM #tmpHolidays WHERE hol_date BETWEEN DAY1 and DAY2 AND DATEPART (dw, hol_date) NOT IN (1,7))
Step 4: Add one day to the calculation if DAY1 was Saturday (S1), because Step 2 already included DAY1.
S1=CASE WHEN DATEPART(dw,DAY1)=7 THEN 1 ELSE 0 END
Step 5: Subtract one day from the calculation if DAY2 was Saturday (S2), because Step 2 already included DAY2.
S2=CASE WHEN DATEPART(dw,DAY2)=7 THEN 1 ELSE 0 END
The final logical formula to calculate the business age is BA=CD-SS-HD+S1-S2. The code in Listing 3 employs this formula to add a calculated business age column to Table 1. Table 3 shows the new table with the business age column included.
The code in Listing 4 builds on the previous calculation to retrieve all records in which the business age (i.e., the number of business days elapsed between DAY1 and DAY2) is greater than 10. Table 4 shows this derived data.
User-Defined Functions
As I mentioned previously, advanced developers can employ UDFs to incorporate the code for calculating business age into one routine to use elsewhere. This approach works only for SLQ Server 2000 and later, with a minimum database compatibility level of 80. In addition, the UDF option doesn't work with temporary tables. To use the code in my examples, you need to create permanent tables called tmpTable and tmpHolidays. Creating these tables is a simple matter of dropping the # character from the code in Listings 1 and 2. (This character designates a temporary table.)
Listing 5 contains the code to create the UDF business_age. The simple command SELECT * FROM business_age(30) is used to select records in which the business age is greater than 30. Table 5 shows the resulting calculation.
The Bulk Advantage
Finding the business age between two dates stored in database is a common task for developers. The bulk method that I suggest is a creative solution that uses just a single SELECT command. This solution has three major advantages. First, the code is exceedingly straightforward—nothing beats a single SELECT statement for simplicity. Second, no application front-end code is necessary; you can use pure T-SQL commands to complete the task. And third, network traffic is kept to a minimum because only aged records pass from the server to client for further processing


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IT Management Slideshow: We're Going All-In With Apple: Now What?
By Don Reisinger | Posted 09-22-2011
We're Going All-In With Apple: Now What?
Training TimeIf your employees are not already using Apple products in their personal lives, then you may need to invest in some training in order to get them up to speed on Apple's products. But don't worry: Apple products are intuitive, and in most cases, employees will pick up how to use the devices quite quickly.
In a recent slideshow, we examined why it's time for CIOs to consider going with an "all-in Apple strategy." If you have made up your mind to switch to Apple products in your enterprise, you need to be ready for some significant changes. At first, your employees might experience some loss in productivity as they transition to new platforms. And, with the added entertainment value of many of Apple's consumer-focused products, you'll have to make sure they aren't having too much fun with the devices. Over time, though, once the kinks are worked out, the benefits of going all-Apple might outweigh the troubles. That said, here are 10 things you need to know if you decide to go all-in with Apple for your enterprise.
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STANLEY, Falkland Islands (AP) — Falkland Islanders are celebrating their referendum showing that 99.8 percent want the area to remain a British Overseas Territory.
Legislative Assembly Member Gavin Short said Tuesday that he hopes it sends a message to Argentine President Cristina Fernandez: "We have absolutely no desire to be ruled by the government in Buenos Aires. I hope that you now might respect that."
Not likely: Argentina's ambassador to London, Alicia Castro, said Tuesday that the vote was organized by and for the British just to claim the islands for Britain. And she said the wishes of a few hundred islanders are no match for "millions and millions and millions" of people who recognize Argentine sovereignty over the islands they claim as the Malvinas.
Castro spoke in a radio interview in Buenos Aires while the Falkland lawmakers spoke in Stanley.
In Washington, the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama signaled that the vote would not change U.S. policy, which is to remain neutral in the territorial dispute between Buenos Aires and London.
"The residents have clearly expressed their preference for a continued relationship with the United Kingdom," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. "That said, we obviously recognize there are competing claims. Our formal position has not changed. We recognize the de facto U.K. administration of the islands, but we take no position on sovereignty claims."
Nuland added that it is important for Britain and Argentina to constructively seek a resolution to their dispute.
Argentina has been insisting on such talks for years, and Britain has said it is willing, but only if the islanders have a seat at the table. And that's a deal-breaker for the Fernandez government.
"It's not that we don't understand the islanders in their desire to ratify their identity: They're British and British law recognizes them as such. Argentina has no intention of changing their identity or their way of life, but the territory they inhabit isn't theirs. There is a right they do not have, which is to decide the destiny of our territory, or resolve this question of sovereignty," Castro told Radio Millenium.
Associated Press Writers Bradley Klapper in Washington and Michael Warren in Buenos Aires contributed to this story.


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Posted 6 years ago
(18 items)
Hi and thanks for having a look at my unusual watch.
It has a Swiss Made steel case in which when both ends are squeezed together the watch pops open and is able to stand in the upright position.
The movement is French made as it states this on the dial, the only visible marking I can see with a 30 x Loupe are the numbers 790 behind the balance wheel. There are no other markings anywhere that I can see.
On the inside of the case back are the usual horologist markings of parts replaced or service done etc. The date 1858 is engraved inside the case back, it could though be 1/8/58 or 1858 could be a part number I do not know.
I do know its French Made, I know Jaeger LeCoultre ( a partnership of 2 french watchmakers) make a Reverso and to me this looks similar in design if it is a very early piece.
Has anyone ever seen one of these before? I haven't.
Can anyone tell me anything about it?
Would you agree it resembles a Reverso just a bit!
Thanks in Advance


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T4KK Imperator Saturday 02/02/2013, 08:43
I have an idea regarping DT penalty cards..
all penalties will be reduce to (-7 points) if they win
then the opposing player will have bonus +7 points WIN or LOSE!!
theKFCguy Imperator Great White North Sunday 03/02/2013, 00:35
Thoazol Moderator Wise Men Distracted Sunday 03/02/2013, 16:14
1) Not nearly all of the penalty cards are woth -7.
1B) Those brackets are actually unnecessary.
2) Just because you encounter them doesn't mean you deserve the extra 7 points.
2B) Sounds more like you want a lottery for BP.
So, no.
hashburki Guru REIGN OF THE SUPREMES Sunday 03/02/2013, 20:06
According to your idea, players who don't encounter penalty cards are at a disadvantage. Many players don't mind playing against taljion, raeth, elvis, oxen etc. These cards aren't even Elo banned.
The big problem though is the DJ Korr, Tanaereva, ambre and morphun cards which do pose a nuisance. It could be better if players using these particular penalty cards could be matched up with only other players using the same penalty cards.
Though you can almost completely avoid such decks by using a low deck.
The only problem I see in DT for now is sometimes a 25* deck gets matched up with a +30* deck.