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"I thought with the product we were developing with Texas Rebel Radio that it had international potential, and the easiest way to promote it was through the Internet," says Ms. Fritz, VP-general sales manager for the radio station in Fredericksburg, Texas.
From as far away as Australia, about 100,000 listeners tune in to every month, to texasrebelradio.com to hear the eclectic blend of music.
The Fritz Broadcasting station began streaming its radio content online in August 1998 and has ranked among the top five Internet radio stations in Arbitron Corp.'s InfoStream ratings since the listing began in October.
"We have a lot of publicity because of the unusual nature of our programming and because the music creates fanatical fans," says Ms. Fritz, 45.
One of those fans is Lynda Obst, the producer of "Hope Floats," who a few years ago asked if she could use a Texas Rebel Radio T-shirt as part of a costume.
"That was the fastest `yes' that's ever come out of my mouth," Ms. Fritz said. Shots of Mr. Connick wearing the shirt appeared in the 1999 film as well as in the movie ads, trailer and Garth Brooks video tied to the film.


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Joseph Votel, newly minted Army four-star general, will become the 10th commander of U.S. Special Operations Command.
By unanimous consent, the U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed Votel's promotion and new position as commander of the MacDill Air Force Base headquartered command, said Ryan Brown, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.
Votel, who before the confirmation was a lieutenant general in charge of the Joint Special Operations Command, will take over from Adm. William McRaven, 58, who is scheduled to retire after a 37-year career that included planning Operation Neptune Spear, the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
The second Navy SEAL to command Socom, McRaven took over from the first, now-retired Adm. Eric Olson on Aug. 8, 2011.
The Senate also confirmed the nominations of Adm. Bill Gortney to be commander of U.S. Northern Command and NORAD, Army Gen. John Campbell as commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces Afghanistan and Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford as commandant of the Marine Corps.
The confirmation of Votel, 56, was welcome news to both of Florida's U.S. senators.
"The special operations community places great confidence in Gen. Votel's leadership abilities, and I look forward to working with him," said Nelson, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
"I am pleased that the Senate expeditiously approved Gen. Votel's promotion and appointment to be the next Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command. With the world more uncertain than ever, we will continue to rely on the brave men and women of SOCOM to act as the tip of the spear in defense of our nation. I welcome Gen. Votel and his family back to Tampa and MacDill."
Votel, 56, previous served as Socom chief of staff.
He is the "perfect guy" to succeed McRaven, Doug Brown, a retired Army general who ran Socom from 2003 to 2007, told The Tampa Tribune last month.
"He is a seasoned warrior, with a lot of time on the battlefield, understands SOF (special operation forces), has had a long, long career in special operations. He is just the perfect guy to replace Adm. McRaven."
Votel, a 1980 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, served in Panama and Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, before being deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, according to his official biography.
After attending the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Votel commanded the 75th Ranger Regiment and participated in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to his biography.
As a general officer, he served in the Pentagon as director of the Army and Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Task Force and subsequently as deputy director of the Joint IED Defeat Organization established under the deputy secretary of defense.
He served as the deputy commanding general (Operations) of the 82nd Airborne Division/Combined Joint Task Force-82 in Afghanistan and was later named deputy commanding general of JSOC before going to Tampa, where he served as Socom's chief of staff before taking over JSOC.
In an interview last month, Stu Bradin, an Army colonel who recently retired after running McRaven's operational planning team for the global special operations forces network, called Votel "an excellent nomination."
"He is a great leader and good person," said Bradin, now president and CEO of the Global SOF Foundation. "Votel knows operations cold and combined with SOCOM's new responsibilities with changes in the Forces For document (that assigns forces to combatant commands) and the Unified Command Plan, the Geographic Combatant Commands will get a more consistent level of effort and more responsive SOF support. The Socom he will command will be better postured, better resourced and tied into a global network that will facilitate future operations."
(813) 259-7629

subset: commoncrawl


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BRATISLAVA, Slovakia, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- The Czech Republic and Slovakia, once part of the same country, will meet in the quarterfinals of the Fed Cup this weekend.
It will be the fourth time the Czechs have played the Slovaks in Fed Cup action since Czechoslovakia split. The Czechs have won all three of the previous meetings.
As a united country, Czechoslovakia, led by Martina Navratilova, won the Fed Cup five times.
The homestanding Slovaks designated Daniela Hantuchova as their lead-off player. She'll play Lucie Safarova in Saturday's first singles match. The Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova was given the second match against Dominika Cibulkova.
The best-of-five series, set for an indoor hard court in Bratislava, switches to reverse singles Sunday with Hantuchova facing Kvitova and Cibulkova playing Safarova.
The fifth match of the series doubles with Czechs Kveta Peschke and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova paired against Hantuchova and Magdalena Rybarikova.


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COLORADO SPRINGS, CO --Police say an iPhone left in a stolen truck is how officers were able to capture a burglar suspected of multiple auto break-ins in Colorado Springs. Officials at the El Paso County Sheriff's office said 29-year-old Joshua Mitzelfelt allegedly stole a truck left unattended and running in a driveway Tuesday morning. The owner's iPhone was on the front seat.
The truck's owner began tracking his vehicle's location though a website monitoring the phone's GPS application while updating sheriff dispatchers. Officers spotted the truck about seven miles from the owner's residence and arrested the driver.
Police were able to link items found in the vehicle to other burglaries in the area. Mitzelfelt has been charged with possession of a controlled substance, second degree aggravated motor vehicle theft and first degree burglary.


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Speaking to reporters at at a Northport campaign office, Bentley said he expected a smooth transition between administrations and said he hoped Republicans can decide without controversy on the leadership positions in the Legislature.
"It was a great win last night across the state and a great win for Republicans. This is an opportunity for us to govern right," he said "We don't need a lot of internal struggle."
He said he wanted action on an ethics bill. He plans to call a special session within the regular legislative session to focus on the issue.
"We are going to get it through," he said. "I am confident we will have the strongest ethics reform bill in the country."
Bentley also apologized for failing to recognize Democrat Ron Sparks "gracious" concession speech on election night.
"I want to say thank you to Ron Sparks. He did a fantastic job."
Read more on the election:
Campaign 2010: The votes are in, Alabama has a new governor and the Republicans are in charge (Links to all the key stories from election day)
Our full election coverage at al.com


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Turning off the Screen
If you set the screen to brigthness := 0 - this does not presumably turn off the screen (or does it?)
Is there a way to turn off the screen ? [And then have it wake up on a button/screen press]
Hey Geoff!
screen.brightness = 0will completely turn off the backlight, so the screen won't be emitting any light, but the pixels are still working despite the fact that you might not be able to see them!
This would be a great feature: have a kind of screensaver, which could be configured to turn off the screen after inactivity, and as soon as you touch the screen or push any buttons, it would wake up the screen !
In the meantime, @GeoffOs, you could use the new
/etc/tbbuttonsd.confand configure two new combos, the 1st one to turn off the screen by calling a tingbotapp with only
screen.brightness = 0and the 2nd one to turn on the screen by calling a tingbotapp with only
screen.brightness = 100.


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I am very grateful for all the phone calls and emails I received on this 456th anniversary of Ignatius of Loyola's birth into eternal life. Jesuits, friends, colleagues in mission, and the whole internet world are touched by his prayer. The Ignatian/Jesuit family is united because of the diverse ways Ignatian spirituality and his Exercises have brought people closer to the Lord. I am still in awe of the name of our religious institute. It is humbling to know that our prayer and faith makes us "The Company of Jesus."
Twenty-four retreatants just finished the 30-day retreat known as The Spiritual Exercises on Sunday. I was proud to listen to their stories as we shared the fruits of our prayer at the retreat's conclusion. I could hear the surprising ways their relationship with the Lord was deepened. I know one thing for certain: We must find new ways of bringing these Exercises to other people. Others can benefit from finding a prayer style that fits them and their state in life.
I'm also very grateful for the many friends who have been generous to me when they took me out for dinner, lunch, or coffee to say goodbye as I get ready to head to Jordan in September. I've received so much love and affection recently. I will miss many good friends. I'm comforted that I will remain in touch through email, Skype, and possible visits. My heart feels like the Grinch's after his conversion - for it keeps get larger as I hold so much goodwill in my soul.
Thanks everyone, and Happy Ignatius Day.
I am a Jesuit priest of the New England Province who serves as pastor of the English speaking Latin-rite Catholics in Jordan, of the Jerusalem diocese. I lived in Australia and New Zealand, then directed retreats at Eastern Point in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Jordan.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Photo: Summer 30-Day Retreat
To see photos of the final dinner of the Summer 30-Day Retreat, click on the link below:
Pics of Closing Dinner
Pics of Closing Dinner
Posted by John Predmore at 9:54 PM
3 comments:
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Inaugural Trip to Jordan
These are emails I sent a couple of friends during my inaugural trip to Jordan in mid-June.
I am reporting that I have safely arrived in Amman, Jordan. It was quite something to approach the country by air because vast areas of the land is desert. One can see occasional small bushes dot the landscape, but vast areas are sand dunes. However, the city itself is impressive.
While the airport is small and relatively efficient, I am impressed with the road infrastructure. It is quite good with wide lanes and clearly marked road signs. Some houses are quite beautiful and they are sometimes next to ones that have decay. Entering the city from the airport is quite something. It is a breath-taking array of sand-stone colored buildings with complementary earth-tones edifices. It is quite nice. The city has enormous building that are being erected. The place keeps expanding. Some foreigners arrive here to live, but most of Syrian, Palestinian, and Iraqi refugees. It is a place that has lots of money and people of destitution.
The Jesuit Center is impressive. We house the JRS who are doing a great deal of work on the Syria issue. Aside from many offices, large-scale classrooms and function hall facilities serve a whole host of Christian purposes. We have four guestrooms for visitors. This week, we have two Brits on holiday, a Filipino Californian Jesuit, and the interim pastor. The guest list shows that we are not isolated.
The Jesuit community lives on an intersecting road near the Jesuit Center. It is quite a good apartment. If there is a drawback, it is a top floor apartment that takes the beating from the sun. The down-side is that we are in the midst of a heat-wave. It is to break either tonight or tomorrow, but it makes me wilt. The community building is in a decent neighborhood. I have not been able to venture out as I'm getting used to the heat, the way of life, and an altered sleep schedule because of travel. I'll rebound tomorrow and I'll start to see the city.
There's lots more I can say, but I'll do it over the next few days because when I think I have energy, I feel the need for a nap.
Peace, and I'll write more soon.
A few days into my stay, I provided another update.
The last few days in Amman have been more tolerable. The 100+ degree weather did break. I was not sure I could believe it. The temps at night settled down around 70 degrees. Most people put on sweaters while I'm still perspiring. But temperature swing of 12 degrees is most noticeable. I still avoid direct sunlight and I'm covered from ear to toenail tip.
We were to Mount Nebo where Moses remained behind as the nomadic Israelites finally crossed the Jordan into the promised land. We then went to the Moabite town of Madaba to see the Mosaic church (not the church of Moses, but mosaics that are made with tiles.)
Yesterday we went to the birthplace of the prophet Elijah. It is a cool place - off the beaten track and then we went to the 12th century castle that Saladin used to fend off the Christian crusaders. I'll post those photos later today. We were in an arable land when vegetation was plentiful. We even had a rainstorm followed by hail. I loved it. The Kenyans who were with us were freezing, but it was the time I had the most energy because of the cooler temps.
I was glad for the day because my adjustment was not easy. On the sixth day, I finally was able to go to bed before 3:30 a.m. I had a few adjustment maladies, but I am almost fully recovered from it. A night out at Popeyes then the French Le Mirabelle restaurant (casual dining) helped put me right.
I return on Monday. I actually leave here tomorrow night (Sunday) at 2:45 in the morning. I'll catch an 11:30 taxi to the airport, but with much less luggage. When I return on Monday, the 30-day retreatants will have beaten me to the retreat house as I arrive at 8:30 p.m.
Miss you all and I hope to see you soon.
Posted by John Predmore at 9:28 PM
4 comments:
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Video: Fr. General on Ignatian Spirituality
To see a video of Fr. General speaking on the strength of Ignatian Spirituality, click on the link below:
Video of Fr. General
Video of Fr. General
Posted by John Predmore at 11:45 AM
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Saturday, July 14, 2012
Photo: Rockport in the Evening
To see photos of Rockport in the evening, click on the link below:
Pics of Rockport in the Evening
Pics of Rockport in the Evening
Posted by John Predmore at 4:14 PM
No comments:
Photo: Gloucester at Sunset
To see photos of Gloucester at Sunset, click on the link below:
Pics of Sunsets
Pics of Sunsets
Posted by John Predmore at 4:12 PM
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Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Photo: Sahaldin's Islamic Castle to Combat the Crusaders
To see photos of a Twelfth Century Islamic castle, click on the link below:
Pics of Sahaladin's Castle to combat the Crusaders
Pics of Sahaladin's Castle to combat the Crusaders
Posted by John Predmore at 9:33 PM
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Photo: A Jordanian Friend's House
To see photos of a Jordanian friend's house, click on the link below:
Pics of my new Jordanian friend
Pics of my new Jordanian friend
Posted by John Predmore at 9:31 PM
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Photo: Mount Nebo Overlooking the Promised Land
To see photos of the mountain where Moses died, click on the link below:
Pics of the place Moses died
Pics of the place Moses died
Posted by John Predmore at 9:29 PM
No comments:
Photo: The Prophet Elijah's Birthplace
To see photos of the Prophet Elijah's Birthplace in Jordan, click on the link below:
Pics of the Prophet Elijah's birthplace
Pics of the Prophet Elijah's birthplace
Posted by John Predmore at 9:27 PM
No comments:
Photo: Amman Jordan
To see photos of the Jesuit Center in Amman, Jordan, click on the link below:
Pics of the Jesuit Center
Pics of the Jesuit Center
Posted by John Predmore at 9:24 PM
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Cast Away
赵嵘 Zhao Rong
1.The purpose of the movie is showing the changes of the character's mental state. 2.In the beginning, the leading hero is a person extremely sensitive to time. 3.The lonely life in the island changes him.
4.4 years later, when he comes back, all have changed. He is perplexed. Even though he has enough time, he has no idea what to do. 5.By the contrast, the movie shows that people need a pause for introspection during struggle up.
When Tom Hanks looks around in a crossroads, an untold sad feeling stretching here and there. At the same time, the director's purpose of shooting the film is clear. The suffering and pain during the 4 years are not the cores, while, showing the changes of the character's mental state by these are the most attractive. The brilliant contrast is the most important. In the beginning of the film, the leading hero is an executive of FedEx, who is extremely sensitive to controlling time. He pays to much time to work and always ignore his fiancée so that he just gives her the ring before boarding the plane. Persons like him are very universal. They always want to make a schedule, making everything in control. Indeed, this is a behavior of self-expansion, or overbearing. They think that all will go out of order without them. The mental state here is easy to understand. Then, when he is trapped in the island alone, time is seem to be meaningless to him. But he still accords time by engraving the stone. What's more, he is insisting on keeping responsible for his work. The lonely life of four years is flat. There are no specific scenes or other attractive plots. It's like a pause in his whole life. During the four years, he learns to care others, even though it is just volleyball. He can introspect what he has done before. At last, just like Robinson, he is saved and comes back home. However, it is cruelly that everything has changed. His fiancée has become a mommy. It is deplorable...
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Art Starts
February 23, 2011
The Blue Star Museums program is back… Help keep NH #1!
In 2010, New Hampshire had the most museums and historical sites, per capita, participating in the Blue Star Museums program.
Participating venues offer free admission to active duty military personnel and their families between Memorial Day and Labor Day, 2011.
Military families praised Blue Star Museums as a welcome respite from their daily cares and a welcome gesture of appreciation.
March 8, 2011


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As the ground begins to thaw and flowers start to bloom, it becomes time for spring but also time to hand off UNIFI into the hands of a new officer team. The official transition will take place on April 15 but before that can happen, I would like to introduce you all to the next UNIFI President for the 2017-2018 year: Ren Khonke.
While Ren is not the most active member in UNIFI and has not held an officer position, this was a very easy decision to make. She actively sought me out for this position and that alone says much about her personality and who she is as a whole. For those of you who do not know Ren very well, let me tell you a little bit about her: she is a very intelligent and driven individual and the passion that she has for science is incredibly inspiring to watch. She is incredibly compassionate, caring, and understanding- all of the traits of a great leader. When she sets her mind to something, she accomplishes it.
And this is exactly why I am excited to see what she accomplishes in her role as president.
Ren has volunteered innumerable hours of her time involved as a student leader within Green Project, a student organization committed to promoting sustainability and community involvement through local gardens. She is also a biology major and her desire to infuse UNIFI with more of a scientific viewpoint is incredibly inspiring. I am excited for the new perspective that she will bring to the table as a hard science major, and it is incredibly refreshing to see somebody so passionate about Darwin Week. She has already blown me away with the amount of dedication and tenacity she has shown towards being the best President that she can be, actively starting conversations with myself and other members of UNIFI to understand what she can do to help others. She inspires hope within myself and other members for the future of UNIFI.
She is an amazing human being and I am excited to watch her take the passion that she has for science, skepticism, and free-thought and transform UNIFI into the best that it can be. Thank you Ren, and I wish you the best; I believe in you and you have my full support. I know that everyone else believes in you too, and we are excited to see what you do with UNIFI this year.


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Tuesday, 3 January 2012
Tot School Tuesday: Bird Nests
This week in tot school, we are learning about birds and I put together a little bird nest craft.
You'll need:
Construction Paper
scraps of yarn
magazine clippings of birds
1) Cut out one nest and a bunch of leaves from brown and green construction paper. (mommy did that part)
2) Have the kids glue the nest and leaves to the paper, followed by gluing the yarn bits all over the nest.
3) Ask the little ones to pick their favorite bird and have them glue it in the nest.
For more fun Tot-School Ideas check out 1+1+1=1 and other participating blogs by clicking the image below.
Posted by Mommy of 3 at 10:39
Labels: art, crafts, homeschooling, tot school
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This I Believe
At the end of the second half of my lacrosse game I'm pushing myself down the field guarding the opposing team. She's pretty quick and I've been playing the entire half as the center. I'm running with her trying my best to get in front of her to be in position to check the ball away, I almost lose her, but I kick out my last boost of energy, make a quick swipe of my stick, and bam! I got her. I hustle over to the little yellow sphere that is essential to our victory, scoop through it, and throw it down field to one of our attack positions where she runs it in and scores our winning goal just as time runs out. We were all so happy that the victory was ours and we ended our season 10-5. I was nominated to tryout for the central-division national lacrosse team, and I also made the all conference team. I can honestly say I did my best throughout the season whether it was tough or easy competition. That is what I believe. I believe in always doing your very best everyday, all the time.
Having a positive attitude and giving 100% in everything you do whether it's right or wrong can help you be tremendously successful. Sometimes life gets tough, and situations arise you might be forced to make decisions you'll look back on and realize you were wrong. However, at the time, the decision you make is what you thought was best and that's all you could have done. Just last week, I sat in my math classroom for 15 minutes straight staring at one question that I had finally narrowed down to two different answers. It was time to turn the test in, so I had to make a decision. I marked my answer, turned in the test only to go back to my seat, look up the answer, and realize that it was wrong. Despite my wrong decision, I tried my personal best.
It's important to do a credible job at maintaining your social responsibilities as well. Relationships are always two way streets, and providing your crowing commitment to maintaining them keeps both people happy. Recently my mom has accepted a new nursing job that gives her more hours and more patients. Our family is constantly getting in fights about how my sister and I need to do more around the house now that we're older and both our parents are working more. Between school, lacrosse, and homework, I make a conscience effort everyday to do something to help out. I try to encourage my sister to do chores as well.
A great man once said, "I do the very best I know how- the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end… I walk slowly, but I never walk backwards." That man was one of our finest presidents, Mr. Abraham Lincoln. I believe that going through life always performing at the highest of your ability, can enhance your achievements and make you successful.
If you enjoyed this essay, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to This I Believe, Inc.


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Major events of the year 1957. Queen Elizabeth II of England and her husband Prince Phillip welcomed by President Dwight D Eisenhower and the first Lady Mamie Doud Eisenhower at the White House in Washington DC, United States. The Queen visits the New York harbor. Her motorcade moves down the street as large crowd gathers to welcome the Royal couple.
U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower signs the Joint Resolution on the Middle East in Washington DC. Interiors of the White House shows President Dwight Eisenhower signing the Joint Resolution on the Middle East dated 9th March, 1957. The document shows signature of Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the House of Representatives. It is countersigned by Carl Hayden. Under his signature, the typed words," Vice President of the United States" have been lined through, leaving President of the Senate, over which Hayden presided, as President pro tem, in the absence of Vice President Nixon, who was traveling, at the time. President Eisenhower wrote "approved" and signed the document.
King Saud during a visit to Washington DC. State Dinner at The White House. King Saud arrives at the White House by car. He is escorted by trusted counselors, members of the royal family, cabinet officers and diplomats, to a State Dinner at the White House. U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon, in formal attire, enters the White House. U.S. Envoy to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and former Senate Foreign Relations Committee head, Walter George, arrives at the White House. Additional members of His Majesty's suite, arrive at the White House. U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader, Joseph William Martin Jr.arrives. American Red Davies, an executive with the American-Arabian Oil Company, greets Saudi visitors.
The White House past and the present. Aerial view of The White House in Washington DC in the late 1950s. Scene with 1950s cars parked and moving in parking areas and roads in front of the White House. Visitors walking on the White House grounds near the North Portico. View of a Birch tree planted by wife of President Calvin Coolidge and Magnolia trees by President Andrew Jackson. View of the south portico entrance and the north entrance of the White House. Plans and sketches of of The White House. Portraits of President John Adams and his wife Abigail Smith. Portrait of President Thomas Jefferson. Plan of the east and the west wing of The White House. Illustration of British attack on The White House. Portraits of President James Madison and his wife Alley. Portrait of President George Washington. Portrait of President James Monroe. Picture of President Abraham Lincoln. Footage of President Lincoln's study room, and his bedroom with its custom bed over 8 feet in length. Sketch of President Benjamin Harrison taking oath. Still images of ornate furnishings in the White House during Harrison's tenure. Still images of more simplified furnishings in the White House under Theodore Roosevelt. Picture of President Theodore Roosevelt with sons. Aerial view of the new west wing area enlarged for White House office use. Still photo of Theodore Roosevelt writing. Footage of President Woodrow Wilson signing a bill at his desk, with a crowd of officials standing by. Footage of United States Military officers and French General Ferdinand Foch and other French military officers entering the White House to meet with President Harding on October 29, 1921. (Foch was touring the U.S. and being officially thanked for his leadership in World War I.)
The White House in Washington DC. Exteriors of the White House. People stand near a fence and look inside. Women walk on a sidewalk. People walk on a sidewalk towards the White House. People enter the White House. Children walk on a sidewalk towards the White House. A child in a pram. Cars parked outside the White House. Entrance door of the White House. Stairs in the White House.
Welcome preparations for King Faisal ibn Abdul Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia in Washington DC. A man puts up flags of Saudi Arabia and the United States. Two men paste posters of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and King Faisal. A military band plays. Allied flags in the background. U.S. Marine honor guard on the south lawn of White House. View from inside a helicopter over the Ellipse, with White House visible, ahead. U.S. Army trumpeters line the balcony of White House and trumpet fanfare as King Faisal's car arrives at the White House. A drum roll sounds as he steps from his car. The King shakes hands with the President, who stands at edge of drive to personally greet him. The President escorts King Faisal along a red carpet to a stage on the south lawn of the White House. The military band plays. The soldiers salute. President Johnson speaks into a microphone and greets King Faisal with traditional greeting in Arabic. He then talks about U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia. People applaud after the welcome speech. King Faisal replies and expresses gratitude. Scenes of a welcoming parade in the streets of Washington, DC. A sign reads 'His Majesty King Faisal'. U.S. soldiers march and a band plays. People line sidewalks to see and to welcome the King. Military units parade. The King rides in a limousine with two Secret Service Agents standing on the rear of the car. He arrives at Blair House, directly across from the Old Executive Office Building and adjoining White House. . He is greeted an official from the City who presents him the "keys to the City."


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RAGE MODELS will attend ACT Today!'s 7th Annual Denim & Diamonds for Autism fundraiser! Thank you RAGE MODELS – you're beautiful inside and out!!! For more information about RAGE MODELS, visit www.ragemodels.com.
Nancy Alspaugh-Jackson, Executive Director, ACT Today! (Autism Care and Treatment Today!)
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
ACT Today! Founder Dr. Doreen to Speak at ARI Conference this Sunday!
Join ACT Today!'s Founder and President Dr. Doreen this Sunday, October 14, 2012 at the Autism Research Institute Conference in Garden Grove, CA.
For more information and to register to attend the conference, visit
About Dr. Doreen:
Dr. Doreen Granpeesheh (www.drdoreentv.com) has dedicated over thirty years to helping individuals with autism lead healthy, productive lives. Dr. Granpeesheh began her studies in autism as an undergraduate at UCLA. While completing her graduate degree there, she worked with Dr. Ivar Lovaas on the world-renowned outcome study published in 1987 which showed a recovery rate of close to 50% among the study's research participants. She earned a PhD in Psychology from UCLA in 1990. Dr. Granpeesheh is licensed by the Medical Board of California, the Texas, Virginia and Arizona State Boards of Psychologists, and the Dubai Healthcare City. She earned a Certificate of Professional Qualification in Psychology from the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst.
In 1990 Dr. Granpeesheh founded the Center for Autism & Related Disorders, also known as CARD (www.centerforautism.com). The organization is best known for behavior management and skill acquisition programs that lead to successful outcomes with every child they treat. This is accomplished through investments in research, staff training and a comprehensive curriculum. As a result of Dr. Granpeesheh's leadership and dedication to producing exceptional results, CARD is now a foremost provider of ABA intervention worldwide. CARD currently provides services, via 18 clinics located in California, Illinois, Virginia, New York, Texas, Arizona, Australia and New Zealand and partnerships in Dubai and Johannesburg. CARD employs over 800 highly skilled employees and is a leading employer of BCBAs.
CARD is known throughout the world for their work in the field of autism research and treatment. Specific areas of expertise include curriculum development from birth through the early stages of adulthood, diagnosis, developmental and behavioral assessment, higher order skill acquisition, long-term outcomes, and the effects of medical interventions in conjunction with behavioral programs. Dr. Granpeesheh and her CARD colleagues developed an online tool that combines these elements into a program called Skills (www.skillsforautism.com). Available in January 2011, Skills will allow parents, teachers, and providers to accurately assess children and build tailored treatment programs while tracking progress.
Dr. Granpeesheh is a member of numerous Scientific and Advisory Boards including the US Autism and Asperger's Association, the Autism File journal, Autism 360 and the 4-A Healing Foundation. Dr. Granpeesheh is also an active member of the Autism Human Rights and Discrimination Initiative Steering Committee, on the Practice Board of the Association for Behavior Analysis International, and on the Oversight Committee of the Department of Developmental Disabilities for the State of Arizona. In addition, Dr. Granpeesheh currently co-chairs the Early Intervention sub-committee of the North Los Angeles County Taskforce of the Senate Select Committee on Autism and Related Disorders. She is the founding member and President of Autism Care and Treatment Today (ACT Today!), a nonprofit organization that helps families access effective treatment (www.act-today.org).
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text:
Derek Charke
composer | flutist
is a JUNO and three-time ECMA award-winning composer and flutist. Derek has a catalogue of over 90 works and many high profile commissions and performances, including several by Canada's major Symphony Orchestras, the Kronos Quartet, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Duo Turgeon, Land's End Ensemble, WIRED!, cellist Jeffrey Zeigler, as well as an impressive list of other performers and organizations. Derek is a professor of composition at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, he is co-director of the Acadia New Music Society, and he continues to actively perform as a soloist and new music improviser on the flute.


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SOURCE: Limitless Venture Group, Inc.
May 19, 2014 09:15 ET
Initial Five Products Now in Production
Initial Five Products Now in Production
HOLBROOK, NY--(Marketwired - May 19, 2014) - Limitless Venture Group Inc's. (PINKSHEETS: LVGI) today announced the official launch of HYPERLINK "http://www.hempcorehealth.com" www.hempcorehealth.com. The site contains full information on LVGI's HempCore Health™ line of products. The initial product lineup consists of five products.
Healthy Heart - a cholesterol reduction formula
Relax - an anti-anxiety/stress relief formula
Brain Boost - a cognitive/brain function enhancement formula
Fibered UP - a fiber supplement
Joint Relief - a joint/arthritis relief formula
The site contains information about the many exciting health benefits of using Hemp as the base for supplements as well as information on each formula.
Production is now underway, with initial delivery expected to be in 4 to 6 weeks.
Once again LVGI's team of scientists is delivering a cutting edge, ahead of the curve product line designed to meet consumer demand and in following the HEMP craze spreading worldwide like a wildfire," stated LVGI CEO Joseph Francella. "We expect this line to be a major revenue generator for LVGI," he added.
For more information on HempCore Health™ products please visit: HYPERLINK "http://www.hempcorehealth.com" www.hempcorehealth.com
About Limitless Venture Group Inc.
Located in Holbrook, New York, Limitless Venture Group Inc is a full service brand development company specializing in beverage, supplement and healthy lifestyle products. Limitless acts as a brand incubator bringing products from concept to reality then releasing them as standalone companies. Limitless Venture Group Inc has internationally recognized formulators, in house graphics department, in house web design team, and full support staff for marketing and distribution chain development. Limitless Venture Group Inc. proprietary product line consists of SLAM Infusination™ Limitless Body™, Limitless Health™.
For further inquiry on Limitless Venture Group Inc. products:
Website: www.lvginc.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts, including, without limitation, statements that relate to the Company's expectations with regard to the future impact on the Company's results from new products in development, may be seemed to be forward-looking statements. Words such as "expects", "intends", "plans", "may", "could", "should", "anticipates", "likely", "believes" and words of similar import also identify forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are based on current facts and analysis and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determined and assumptions of management. Readers are urged not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of the release. Except as may be required under applicable law, we assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect any event or circumstance that may arise after the date of this release.
Contact:Joseph Francella
Limitless Venture Group Inc.
Contact:Joseph Francella
Limitless Venture Group Inc.
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Sunday, December 22, 2013
I often wonder why I keep referring back to the war, I wonder because I know I am a very optimistic person and I don't dwell on the past, I don't believe in thinking negative but my past in Baghdad is something I cant let go of, even though it hurts me to remember. We as humans, always want what we don't have, what we miss in our lives. I keep going back to the war days because it was the end of my life in Baghdad, everything I had back then, is very much missed in my current life. I miss having a house with a garden and a swing. I miss having family meetings, it kills me that our family, as strong as it was, is now separated.
There were great people in the family, ones who cherished education and knowledge, ones who knew so much about life as the number of years they had lived, such as my grandfather Dr.Najeeb (May his soul rest in peace) I was too young at that time to understand the value of those people, we all need teachers in our lives and it saddens me that I lost the chance to spend time with those precious people. The value of homeland is much more than having a residence paper and a permanent place to stay, home is about being raised on certain values and having the chance to grow up while experiencing them and then have another chance to make them better. Home is about being the same, celebrating on the same day, having a holiday on the same day, meeting in the same places. There is nothing that can offer you peace in all its kinds, as home can do. And if my writings can not bring back my own home, then I hope that at least, it can make you see the value of yours.
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Don't spend all day glued to your Google Reader? No problem, we've got you covered. Here's what everyone's going to be talking about (or you could just bring it up and seem super in-the-know) today.
Photo: ©
Jim Spellman/WireImage
Seriously, when does James Franco sleep? And isn't he slightly worried that we're all going to get really tired of his constant overachieving? I guess not, because Franco just took on yet another job. He'll be teaching a course on adapting poetry into short films at one of his six (we think he's up to six) alma maters: NYU. The class only has room for twelve students, so if you're lucky enough to be enrolled at the Tisch School at NYU, please, send us videos. The rest of us will just have to settle for seeing his upcoming Broadway revival of Sweet Bird of Youth with Nicole Kidman—because those tickets will be sooo much easier to get. [Vulture]
Everyone on the planet (at least it seems that way) may be waiting with baited breath to see what Kate Middleton will wear to the Royal Wedding on April 29, but the team that designed Princess Diana's famous gown in 1981 has just revealed that they actually made two dresses for the future princess' big day. Elizabeth Emmauel of Elizabeth and David Emmanuel designs told People.com that they designed a "spare" dress for Diana in case her real dress, which was kept a tightly-guarded secret, was somehow revealed before the wedding. [People]
When you think Real Housewife of New York City, you probably think of fabulous parties, museum galas and brunches at Bergdorf. Kelly Killoran Bensimon wants to change our perception, apparently, because she tweeted a picture of herself fixing a toilet seat. Seeing as I don't even fix my own toilet seats (not that they've ever required fixing, mind you), I'm going to call BS and say that you, Kelly Bensimon, have never used a screwdriver for anything in your life—except the kind you drink. [Twitter]
Top 10 Real Housewife Hairstyles
Model Coco Rocha, she of the fabulous wedding dress and life, has launched a website to archive her entire modeling career. The site includes a blog, Rocha's portfolio, her press clippings, videos of the model and information about her charity. If you want to be incredibly jealous but also look at amazing fashion photos, this is your one-stop shop. [Coca Rocha]
Finally, in the most alarming news of the day, we learned that our beloved Mad Men may not return for another season. Series creator Matt Weiner and AMC were close to reaching a deal that would net Weiner $30 million per episode when the network made a few demands Weiner didn't like. Not only did they ask him to shorten the episodes by two minutes to allow for more commercials, AMC also demanded that product placement be included in each episode and that *gasp* two actors get axed from the show. They had us up until the two actors thing. Who would Weiner ever cut? Will we ever see Jon Hamm on our televisions again (besides sporadic 30 Rock appearances, of course, but it's not the same as Don Draper!)? Please, AMC and Matt Weiner, reach a decision! [Deadline Hollywood]


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The Family Project: Alzheimer's
Thursday, November 16, 2017 by CAROLE GORNEY in Focus
Q. My elderly mother, who has Alzheimer's, lives with me and my family. We have a teenage son, and I am worried about how this is affecting him. I spend so much time taking care of my mother that I fear I am losing touch with him and what's going on in his life. How can I create a sense of balance in my family?
It would be good to know how severe is the grandmother's Alzheimer's. Is she entirely dependent or does she have some interaction?
The Family Project: College, vo-tech?
Friday, November 10, 2017 by CAROLE GORNEY in Focus
Q. My 16 year-old high school junior just told us that he doesn't to go to college. He is so bright, and his grades are excellent, but he wants to go to a vocational-technical school instead. I feel that he will not be working to his abilities or reaching his full potential in a trade. How can we convince him that he needs to go to college?
The Family Project
Friday, November 3, 2017 by CAROLE GORNEY in Focus
If you have a parenting question you would like answered in "The Family Project "column, email Project Child: projectchildlv.org.
Q. My three-year-old seems to have almost stop eating. I am panicking because I am afraid he won't grow. He only eats cheese crackers and apple juice. He used to be such a good eater. What can I do to get our son to eat?
The consensus among panel members is that it is not unusual for children at this age to be picky eaters. Here are some suggestions on how to get a child to eat better.
The Shirelles' Shirley Reeves still loves 'Bandstand' tour
Thursday, October 26, 2017 by CAROLE GORNEY in Focus
If you were a teenager anytime between 1952 and 1989, you very likely rushed home most afternoons after school to turn on the television set to watch Dick Clark's "American Bandstand." Besides featuring teenagers dancing to Top 40 hits, the nationally-televised "Bandstand" showcased literally hundreds of singers and musical groups, many of whom are legends today.
The Family Project: After split, dating?
Thursday, October 26, 2017 by CAROLE GORNEY in Focus
If you have a parenting question you would like answered in this column, contact Project Child at projectchildlv.org.
Q. My spouse and I recently split up. I am interested in dating someone, but my children, ages 10 and 14, are not happy about it. Could it be too soon for me to start seeing other people?
The panelists approached the answer to this question not only from the perspective of the children, but also the parent who is considering dating again after a recent split with her spouse.
The Family Project: Affection
Friday, October 20, 2017 by CAROLE GORNEY in Focus
If you have a parenting question you would like answered in The Family Project column, email Project Child: projectchildlv.org.
Q. I have two young children. My first child is affectionate and loving, but my second one does not like to be held or cuddled. I am starting to feel as if he doesn't love me, or that I have done something wrong. Can you tell me why they would be so different?
Friday, October 20, 2017 by CAROLE GORNEY in FocusCK Players 'Act One'
Acclaimed playwright and director Moss Hart was a product of the Broadway of the 1920s when everything was changing. It was the Jazz Age and in pre-Great Depression New York City theaters were at their peak of popularity, drawing in some 20 million theater-goers a year.
The Family Project: Belligerent teen
Friday, October 13, 2017 by CAROLE GORNEY in Focus
Editor's Note: If you have a parenting question you would like answered in The Family Project column, email Project Child: projectchildlv.org.
Why has my teenage daughter suddenly turned against me? My 17-year-old daughter has suddenly become very belligerent towards me. It is hurting my feelings, and I don't know what to do about it. She was not like this before. She was kind and easy-going. What can I do?
The answer could be that it is behavior stemming from typical adolescent development, according to the panel.
Friday, October 13, 2017 by CAROLE GORNEY in Focus'Garden' Broadway-caliber at Civic
The much-loved and often-performed musical, "The Secret Garden," is on a national tour and is expected to be revived on Broadway on a yet undisclosed date.
Whenever that happens, though, it is hard to believe that any Great White Way production could surpass by much Civic Theatre of Allentown's staging of the classic that runs through Oct. 22. To say the least, the Lehigh Valley production of "The Secret Garden" is a music, acting and technical triumph.
The Family Project: Infant's sleep
Friday, October 6, 2017 by CAROLE GORNEY in Focus
Editor's Note: "The Family Project" is a column in the Focus features section that brings together a panel of experts to address parenting questions.
Q. My infant grandson's parents really need help getting him to sleep at night. He is 16-months-old and has to be taken for a car ride or a stroller ride every night in order for him to fall asleep. Then they transfer him to their bed, where he sleeps the rest of the night. They can't put him in his crib because he wakes up. They really need help.


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You know Christmas is coming when Macy's says so.
On Saturday, the retailer will unveil its annual holiday window with a slew of fun events for the entire family. Actor Andrew McCarthy, the Phanatic and the Young Statues will all be in the house for the festivities. Look below for a complete list of events.
1 p.m. - The window unveiling takes place on Market Street.
1:15 p.m. - Kids - The Philly Phanatic and the Koolaid Man! Oh, and arts and crafts for the kids.
1:15 p.m. - Grand Court - The Philadelphia Boys Choir and Chorale will perform
1:30 p.m. - Men's- Actor and author Andrew McCarthy, star of '80s film Mannequin, will sign copies of his book, The Longest Way Home. Customers who spend more than $50 will get a free signed copy.
1:45 p.m. - Grand Court - Season favorite, the Macy's Holiday Light Show, returns.
2:00 p.m. - Grand Court and Juniors on 2 - Pop starlet Jasmine V performs in the Grand Court, followed by a meet and greet with her on the secon floor.
2:30 p.m. - Grand Court - The Young Statues will perform.


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FISH of Vancouver partners with many local businesses and organizations to collect and distribute food to hungry residents. FISH community partners include:
Clark County Food Bank
Oregon Food Bank
Northwest Harvest
Walk & Knock
Letter Carrier Food Drives
Chuck's Produce & Street Market
Whole Foods
New Seasons
Dave's Killer Bread
Krispy Kreme
FISH also benefits from food drives conducted by:
Weight Watchers
Jiffy Lube
Bonneville Power Administration
Luepke Center
and several churches and grade schools.
If you would like to be a FISH community partner, contact us at 360.695.4903.


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Meteor over Texas captured on video
Fireball was captured via Sandia all-sky camera in Hawley, Texas at 02:56 UTC on February 27, 2017.
Fireball rocks region following reports of an explosion in Scurry County
Reports of sounds of an explosion made their way to the Snyder Volunteer Fire Department after a meteor crashed through the atmosphere on Sunday ...
Mysterious fireball seen across Big Country likely a meteorite
Alan Caffey, a teacher at the Abilene ISD planetarium, said the fireball is actually a meteor. He said they can be as small as grain of sand and burn ...
Fireball Spotted, Explosion Reported in Scurry County
SCURRY COUNTY, Texas (Local 2/FOX24) - A bright streak in the sky and the sounds of a loud explosion lead to 40 reports of a fireball seen ...
Long-lasting fireball over Texas captured on video
The Watchers
The American Meteor Society has so far received 31 reports. The majority came from Texas but eyewitnesses from Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado ...
Big* Meteor Strikes Earth's Atmosphere – Spotted from 4 States!
Earth Changing Extremities - WordPress.com
Doubt cast over 'meteor' sightings over Hobart with plane contrails the likely explanation
The Mercury
A "METEOR" type object seen in the skies over Hobart this morning was more than likely the contrail of a plane heading to New Zealand shining in the ...
Spectacular 'Fireball' Spotted Over Hobart Sparks Debate
Yahoo7 News
Astrophysicists have weighed in after a spectacular slow-moving fireball was spotted over the skies of Hobart, Tasmania, on Tuesday, February 28.
'Fireball' Spotted Over Tasmania Likely an Optical Illusion, Physicists Say
Yahoo7 Be
Storyful contacted a pair of physicists at the University of Tasmania who said the object was not consistent with a meteor or a satellite. They said the ...
Researchers aim to measure risk of exploding asteroids
The Chelyabinsk meteor, which became a fireball brighter than the sun, a superbolide, as it entered Earth's atmosphere above Russia, exploded 19 ...
Meteor Scatter Reception on RTL-SDR
Spurred on by fond memories of our adventures in Meteor Scatter earlier in 2015 at the Secret Nuclear Bunker, I set a mental note to watch the meteor ...
Scientists Reveal How We'd Actually Die If A Huge Meteor Hit Earth
Elite Daily
In the event that a meteor were to hit our planet, most of us would probably assume we'd die from the sheer impact of the huge rock, or the intense ...
Reports Report 792i (Event 792-2017)
American Meteor Society
Despite the local lighting the fireball was very visible, though brief. Did not here any sound associated but I was in a car with the fan on. The fireball ...
Reports Report 791s (Event 791-2017)
American Meteor Society
Remarks, Seemed like green fire ball was heading south west from Hardesty Oklahoma. We were traveling east..saw it in passenger window when I ...
2017 The FOURTH Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™ / Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!


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A research team at the National Center for Supercomputing Application (NCSA) is working on an NSF-funded project to allow researchers to search the vast amounts of data that exist online in outdated formats or lacking sufficient metadata.
One service developed during this project is Data Access Proxy (DAP), which transforms unreadable files into readable ones. A second service, Data Tilling Service (DTS), allows users to search a collection of data using an existing file to find similar files.
For more information about this project: http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=132941&WT.mc_id=USNSF_1


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The former Manchester United manager lifts the European team's spirits ahead of their clash against the Americans
The 2014 Ryder Cup is just hours away and the mood in the European team camp couldn't be better, with Paul McGinley having drafted in Sir Alex Ferguson to deliver a keynote speech on Tuesday night.
The former United boss appeared at Gleneagles at the start of the week and spent Tuesday evening with the dozen players in the European side, with United-supporting Rory McIlroy especially impressed by the words of Ferguson.
'It was certainly the highlight of the week so far,' said the big Manchester United fan. 'I was in this sort of trance listening to everything he was saying and thinking, "This is the sort of stuff that he used to say to all the great Man United teams over the years." It was a great evening.'
Europe's team also includes supporters of rival clubs such as Liverpool, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich and McIlroy admitted, smiling: 'They certainly let him know that not everyone in the room was a Man United fan!'
'You obviously don't have to be a Man United fan to respect what he has done and appreciate that listening to him might help you to be successful,' said McIlroy.
'He was just really good on dealing with expectation, because he knows all about that, and how to be successful as a team. He told us about how they went about making Old Trafford a fortress and coping with being the favourites and how we're favourites for a reason. That it's not something we should shy away from. It's something we should embrace.
'He's just a very inspirational man when he talks. He's got a lot of authority and the room just goes quiet and everyone listens.'
All odds were correct at time of posting.


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Tag Archives: msn
Portent Staff // 28 Apr, 2011
Taking the Microsoft AdExcellence Exam Part 7
FINALLY, the last installment of the MSN AdCenter Exam series- having to do with the adCenter Desktop Editor. It's been a long haul, but from what I understand there are some of you out there that got some value out of the series. So I thank you for staying tuned and staying with me. I'll… Read More
Portent Staff // 29 May, 2008
Create a Microsoft Windows Live Product Feed
As I promised last week, here are step by step instructions for creating a free MSN's Live Product Search feed. In case you are not sure what a Live Search Product Feed is, we will prepare a list of items to include in Microsoft's product search engine. First you will need an Windows Live account,… Read More
Portent Staff // 21 Apr, 2008
Give MSN adCenter Support Four Stars
But give the actual interface a star and a half. (On a scale of four stars, Google being four.) Almost every time I call MSN adCenter support for my various issues, be it basic account editing, billing, ad approval, keyword status or a general "what just happened?!", I get top notch support and "I'm sorries".… Read More
Portent Staff // 11 Apr, 2008
How to Make MSN AdCenter Work with Google Analytics
Per my post last week regarding Solving the (not set) in Google Analytics and Yahoo, we'll continue this week bridging the gap between MSN AdCenter and Google Analytics. I did ask a MSN AdCenter representative once how come my two biggest keywords (in impressions, spend and clicks) didn't register at all in Google Analytics, but… Read More


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Messages of Support
for Canon Stephen Neill
and Family
By Noel Dundon
Canon Stephen Neill and his wife Nicola have been inundated with messages of support after their fourteen year old son Aaron, collapsed on holiday in Tenerife on Saturday last with a brain tumour.
The Neill family were holidaying in the Canaries when the incident happened and Aaron was immediately rushed to hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. Thankfully the medical team are said to be pleased at the way the surgery went and have been impressed with Aaron's progress to date.
Canon Neill, the hugely respected Church of Ireland Minister who famously traced US President Barack Obama's Irish roots to Moneygall and who met with President Obama and First Lady Michelle in May in their home town, has been keeping a bedside vigil alongside his wife while Aaron, their only child, continues to recover from the surgery.
The Tipperary Star understands that it had been initially feared that substantial brain damage had occurred, but Aaron is now currently undergoing a raft of tests to determine the full nature of his condition. Further surgery has not been ruled out at this stage but it is not clear yet whether that would take place in Tenerife or Ireland.
Canon Neill and his wife have been inundated with messages of support from neighbours and friends in North Tipperary and were delighted to report that Aaron had been sitting out in a chair having gotten out of bed.
Canon Neill was responsible for putting Moneygall on the international map having discovered that President Obama's ancestors resided in the North Tipperary village. His work paved the way for the US President and First Lady to pay an historic visit to the village where they mingled with locals and drank a pint of Guinness in Ollie Hayes' pub.


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I'm Liz! An ex-tomboy (ok, maybe I'm still a little) who's a clean/green beauty product aficionada.
Passionate about well-being and holistic approaches, I'm hunting green beauty and wellness products, seeking a healthier and happier life. Relishing in detecting, uncovering green gems from all over the globe and decoding the ingredients.
Smells like a Green Spirit is dedicated to green and sustainable beauty, fashion and lifestyle. When I realized that maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle had a tremendous impact on both my body and mental state, I reckoned that I had to document my journey online. Over a decade ago, I opted for a healthier lifestyle is because of my chronic sinusitis. When I was younger, doctors had a tendency to systematically prescribe antibiotics, but now I try my best to avoid them by turning to homeopathy and aromatherapy.
Why the title Smells like a Green Spirit?
Originally, a pun based on the quintessential grunge song of a 90's band (you know which one, right, and a representation of how I envision this blog.
Smells like a Green Spirit is a resource for those seeking to navigate easily onto the organic and eco world. Switching to a greener and more eco-conscious way of life seems like a daunting and confusing task at first, but once you take the leap you won't go back.
I'm not here to promote reckless consumerism, nor give any peremptory remarks on green beauty and lifestyle. The tone of the blog remains light-hearted, I balance in-depth reviews and thoughts by adding a pinch of puns and wit.
Smells like a Green Spirit to be a platform where people can express themselves, share ideas, introduce and connect readers with eco companies, artisans, creators, bloggers, anyone working towards a kinder and greener life.
Projects & Challenges & Press Mentions
Several times a year, along with other green bloggers, I like to take part in a spending ban, (such as the one in 2014: #NoBuyJanuary & #BeautyChallenge10) in order to use up my stash and avoid letting any product go to waste. Being a green blogger is inevitably linked to sustainability.
Since 2016, I'm a Beauty Heroes Ambassador, promoting green beauty and wellness. Click here to read more.
Smells like a Green Spirit has been cited as one of the "15 cult organic beauty blogs" by the magazine Eluxe (click here for the article) and amongst the "top beauty blogs to follow in 2018″ on Unsullyd (here). Top 44 natural and organic beauty blogs to follow on Thank your Skin (here). Top 15 green beauty blogs reaching cult status on Healing Lifestyles (here)
My favorite quote, which corresponds to my personal definition of beauty:
If you have good thoughts, they will shine out of your face like sunbeams, and you will always look lovely
– Roald Dahl
Since starting the blog in 2013, I've had the wonderful opportunity to connect with numerous people, meet new friends, and build strong and positive business relationships.
Being part of a kind, supportive, empathetic, respectful community such as the green community, is also what makes blogging an exceptional and delightful experience.
I'm wishing you a pleasant browse and I hope you follow me along the journey, I look forward to connecting with you.
If you wish to collaborate and/or work with me, please head over (here)
Frequently asked questions
How long have you been blogging about green beauty and wellness?
It's been over 3 years now, but my eco-journey started almost a decade ago.
What is your skin type?
Oily and blemish-prone.
Do you work with PR and brands?
Yes, I'm open to collaborations and partnerships, feel free to contact me (here)
Are you vegan?
No, I have been a pescatarian since my childhood, and dairy-free since I was 18. I occasionally eat eggs and fish, however, I do incorporate a vegan regimen, just not all the time.
Where did your passion for eco and organic lipsticks come from?
I only started wearing makeup in my early 20s (crazy how things change) and I fell in love with my first ILIA lipstick "Arabian Knight", the color was so complimenting and I felt instantly put up. This ignited my obsession with lipsticks. I just like how you can perk up a simple look with just a lipstick. It's my version of dressing up, I can match the color to my mood haha.
Join my 'Keep your Green Spirits up' newsletter


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Column: Those kids messed with the wrong guy
The kids who trashed Brian Holloway's vacation house during a wild Labor Day party weekend in upstate New York messed with the wrong guy.
They gained plenty of notoriety, sure, but they're about to get more trouble than they bargained for, too. And not just because Holloway is a former NFL lineman who knows a thing or two about meting out rough justice.
He also happens to be a Stanford grad who's every bit as savvy at using social media as the kids who descended on his family's second home in upstate New York, then bragged about the destruction with photos and posts in real time on Twitter. More to the point, Holloway belongs to a family of prominent activists who don't just walk away from scrapes that other people started.
"I blew way past furious when this thing happened," Holloway said Thursday. "But the real backhand slap came yesterday.
"I've got a few hundred names (of kids who attended) already. They weren't hard to find. They told on themselves using social media the way they did. I've been talking to nearly all of them on my website (helpmesave300). But when I made an appeal to come back here and help make it right … only one of them showed up yesterday with his dad.
"Look, I've got eight kids of my own, so I understand you can't watch every one of them all the time," he said. "But for this to happen, it shows we're off the rails as a society. And it's up to us as parents to come together and ask: `How do we respond?"'
The Rensselaer County Sheriff's Office continues to investigate the party, which drew between 200 and 400 kids from the Albany area and western Massachusetts. Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Yvonne Keefe called it "a very large investigation." No arrests have been reported.
Meantime, Holloway is taking some matters into his own hands.
"I can't say exactly what, but something will be going down tomorrow," he said, adding, "And you'll be calling me about it, too."
Holloway is sorting through the damage to the 200-acre site in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains. Initial estimates set the cost at $20,000 minimum, yet despite the broken windows and doors, and the graffiti spray-painted across the main and guest houses, Holloway and several family members are determined to pull together a pot-luck dinner for military veterans and their families on Saturday.
"Just a day in the country on this beautiful piece of property for some people who deserve it," Holloway said.
He borrowed a phrase from Vince Lombardi to describe what the last few days have been like: "Sweeping the ocean back with a broom." And while all of that sounds like a monumental task, well, it's hardly the first one the Holloway family has dealt with.
His great uncle, Vernon Johns, a minister, was considered by many to be a founding father of the civil rights movement in America. His grandfather, William Trent Jr., was one of the driving forces in setting up the United Negro College Fund. Holloway's brother, Jonathon, chairs the African-American Studies Department at Yale.
"If we don't take this on, the next party, or the one after that, will be at your house," Holloway said. "We need to be smart about how kids talk and deal with each other today. It's incredibly dangerous in some ways, and if we don't take action now, we'll wind up burying some of them later and ask ourselves, `Why didn't we stop it, or change it, at the very least?"'
Holloway has been leveraging social media to begin the conversation. He's engaging many of the same kids who destroyed his house – so much so that his website crashed twice Wednesday night after more than a million hits. He's two weeks behind on the planned launch of another site – called herleague.net – that he envisions as a forum for women who love football, or else hate it, but want to discuss the game either way.
Small wonder he's averaging two hours of sleep a night.
"That's not a big deal," Holloway said, "because I'm really looking forward to Saturday. It will be a chance to celebrate a lot of servicemen, like a big family gathering, which is why we got this house in the first place."
Holloway is undaunted by how much work lies ahead, but acknowledged a little bit of him was wounded when he first learned of the party by seeing a photo of kids standing on a dining room table he bought with a Super Bowl bonus he collected as a member of the New England Patriots.
"It's the exact same table that sits in one of the houses of the Kennedy family's compound in Hyannis Port," Holloway said.
"I got it partly because I had that Super Bowl money in my pocket. It's how I rolled at the time. But mostly," he added, "I got it because it reminded me how much I love being surrounded by family and friends."
Holloway will know that feeling again Saturday, if only for as long as the party lasts. Then it's back to work. Asked what people interested in helping might do, Holloway urged parents and their kids to jump into the conversation about shared responsibilities.
"Just make sure everybody knows the event is `pot-luck,"' he said. "We got enough to take care of on this end already."
Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org and follow him at Twitter.com/JimLitke


text: King Street Grille won't serve ice water on game days. Even if you buy beer and food, they say serving ice water is a waste of a natural resource. But apparently serving plastc bottled water for $2 is not a waste. Interesting philosophy and it's insane enough for me that I will not go back. There are way to many options in town. They should re-think that.


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Paris Fashion Week: Yohji Yamamoto
This evening's Yohji Yamamoto show was predominantly punk in theme, with generous historical reference. Formed largely of fabrics that both cloak and reveal (read: crochet, voile and broderie anglaise) mostly in black with the occasional burst of crimson and khaki, the collection spliced in elements of historical dress such as the bustle, crinoline and stomacher in ever-intriguing ways. The show was seemingly similar in theme to the punk ethos in a 'trashing one's forefathers' sort of way, yet such respect, thought and care was applied to the treatment that the atmosphere was infinitely more refined and positive.


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- panda1126
- 5 years ago
- Wedding: August 2012
Hey guys!
I was told at my atanomy scan that I have an anterior placenta and it would be a while before I feel my baby boy kicking or moving. I am currently 23 weeks and still have no "pattern" with his movement. There are days when I am convinced it is him moving, and days where I don't feel anything at all. Most of the movements I feel are in my lower abdomen, never any higher.
Today, every time I sit down I feel like I have to pee. And have had some "thumps" down in my lower stomach. I have no clue what they are suppose to feel like, I'm a first time mom. Is it possible that I am feeling my baby move and that his is kicking my bladder? Or is it too early for those hard of kicks to make me feel like I have to go to the bathroom?


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- MrsHistory-Bee
- 4 years ago
So my Maid/Matron of Honor and other bridesmaids are from different facets of my life and live all over the map. From what I hear they seem to superficially get along, however when I talk to my Maid/Matron of Honor sometimes she lets me know what her actual impressions are. Since we are best friends I don't mind her confiding in me about little small things that she doesn't care for in my other bridesmaids, till now. Let's call Maid/Matron of Honor Cathy and the other bridesmaid Laura. Cathy was telling me how Laura was very gung ho about getting dates and budgets, etc. nailed down for the bridal shower and bachelorette party. Basically Cathy was letting me know that Laura was being too over zealous and that she found it unnecessary and that she herself felt that they had time to get everything together. PAUSE.
I didnt say anything to Cathy, I just let her vent, but to be honest I actually agree with Laura. They do have a lot of time to get things together, the wedding isnt till April….however, my bridesmaids live in different states across the country, aren't all that finacially stable, and obviously have lives outside of my wedding. I think Laura was gung ho because she is one of my really good friends and wants to have a nice shower/bachelorette for me and in order for her to do that she personally needs to plan way out in advance not just for financial reasons, but for logistical, i.e. when is everyone available reasons.
Cathy has a similar financial and logistical situation, and I found it disheartning that she thought that Laura was going about things too fast. Cathy, like Laura and the other bridesmaids have other things on their mind but I just didn't appreciate her telling me that Laura was going too fast because in reality I think Laura has hit timing right on the head. Laura told me in another setting that Cathy doesnt say much when she forwards her ideas, budgets, etc.
I want to make sure my fsils are included in all of this somehow considering that they are not bm, as well as my jr. bridesmaid and mother. But my moh doesn't follow my wishes. She doesnt include my jr. bridesmaid in dissemanation of info and has yet to call my mother or fsils. If for no reason other than to let my jr. bridesmaid's mother aka my sister know how much she needs to put in. In general I find that my moh is doing a great job of being my best friend, but a so-so job of being the leader as moh. Which is totally out of character for her. IMO I think she really just doesn't know what she is doing (I mean most people I would assume is winging it when they are bm and moh), but won't admit that she is a little lost to me or to people that can help like my mom and other bridesmaids.
I agree with Laura, do I let Cathy know that?


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Ayanna is back!! Enjoy as my favorite Redbone Gets loose again!! Enjoy Three explosive Clips of Grunting, Plopping and Straining!! Enjoy as she leads off with a fartastic clip followed by an ass spreading adventure in clip 2 . In the third she just plops down to take a nice loose shit. Three great FUNKY clips from one of our funkiest ladies!!! Ass, Gas, and Splash!
Length: 14:37s Resolution: 1920x1080Download Format: mp4File Size: 560 MB


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Save the Children is the leading independent organization creating lasting change in the lives of children in over 20 countries around the world. Recognized for our commitment to accountability, innovation and collaboration, our work takes us into the heart of communities, where we help children and families help themselves.
We work with other organizations, governments, non-profits and a variety of local partners while maintaining our own independence without political agenda or religious orientation. Save the Children's mission is to Inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives.
Save the Children is recruiting to fill the position of:
Job Title: Project Director, Emergency Food Security Program, Nigeria
- Save the Children is seeking a Project Director for its proposed 12-month USAID/Food for Peace-funded program in Nigeria in response to food insecurity to provide support to internally displaced and host community households in Borno State.
- In order to facilitate access to food for vulnerable displaced and host community households lacking access to agricultural lands, or with otherwise constrained income earning opportunities and reduced market access, while at the same time supporting existing food vendors, SC will target households with unconditional food voucher transfers.
- We are currently seeking a senior level Project Director to lead this critical project in Nigeria.
Essential Duties, Responsibilities and Impact
- The Project Director (PD) will be based in Abuja with 40-50% travel to Maiduguri to work with the Humanitarian Project Manager, and the head of Food Security and Livelihoods to provide technical and operational guidance, support monitoring and evaluation, and ensure quality of the project.
- He/she will also ensure effective financial and operational management of the project through a local partner.
- The Project Director will represent the project to the USAID Mission and Office of Food for Peace, and other key stakeholders in Abuja, including the food security technical working groups.
Required Background and Experience, Skills and Behaviors
- Minimum five years of professional experience in implementing food security programs with a minimum of two years' experience in a leadership role in the implementation of projects relevant to food security. Prior experience implementing cash transfer programming (cash or voucher) required.
- Strength in inspiring and enabling others through teamwork, training, and capacity building to realize organizational objectives.
- Expertise in strategic communication, community mobilization, using HEA (Household Economy Approach) and other participatory methodologies.
- Experience conducting in-depth FSL assessments is desirable.
- Fluent oral and written communication skills in English.
- Prior regional experience in West Africa is ideal.
- Prior experience in Nigeria is preferred.
- Master's degree in Development, Humanitarian Response, Agriculture, or related field is required.
- Experience in project implementation as well as strong managerial and operational leadership.
- Experience in managing USG funding and familiarity with federal regulations is critical.
- Previous Project Director experience is preferred.
- Prior experience living and working in conflict or emergency settings.
- Flexibility and the ability to effectively adjust expectations to on-the ground realities, while adhering to humanitarian minimum standards.
- Experience in designing and managing USAID-funded programs is preferred.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should Click Here to Apply


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Today Keisha and I decided to go outside and play and take some pictures. We haven't done that in a while because it's been rainy and chilly, so it was nice to get out there today.
Hey Lucy and Keisha,
You two look so pretty in purple! I'm totally wishing that I had McKenna's sweater now because I really like how it looks with the purple boots. I can never find outfits that look good with those boots!
It's nice to see an update from you. Tell Wendy that I miss her!


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Normally, David Seiders, an economist for the housing industry, is a proponent of low interest rates, the kind that keep buyers inking contracts for new homes. When there is even the whiff of higher rates, he is among the first to run up to Capitol Hill to argue against an increase.
But Mr. Seiders says an interest-rate hike now might actually be welcome: It could give builders a chance to catch up on orders - find enough wallboard and granite countertops to deliver a home on time. "The builders are all welcoming a cooling," says Seiders, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders.
Some of the heat may be reduced as early as tomorrow when the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee meets to decide whether to raise interest rates for the third time this year. Only a month ago, economists were convinced it would. Now, with virtually no signs of inflation and productivity improving, analysts are less certain of a boost.
The decision will be important beyond what it means for roofers and tin knockers. Most economists consider this the last chance Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan & Co. will have to increase interest rates for several months, because the central bank is not likely to make a move until any potential Y2K issues with the economy are resolved. Thus it will set the tone for the start of the new millennium.
"It's a very close call, but I think they'll go up by 0.25 of a percent," says Lyle Gramley, a former Fed governor and a consulting economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association in Washington.
If the Fed does hike rates, it will be because the economy is too strong. The unemployment rate at 4.1 percent is at a 30-year low. Retailers around the country are scrambling to find workers for the holiday season. Many people are now working two jobs because of the opportunity to make extra money.
With all its cylinders firing, economists believe the economy is growing at about a 4 percent rate - probably higher than the Fed would like to see.
Auto sales: going down
The economy remains strong despite two earlier rate hikes, which are now starting to affect interest-sensitive parts of the economy. On Friday, the government reported auto sales were down 1.6 percent in October and sales of appliances and furniture slipped 0.9 percent.
"This development will provide some comfort to Fed policymakers who have been worried about unsustainable growth in retail spending," says Jay Bryson, an economist at First Union in Charlotte, N.C. But he notes that growth in spending on items such as food, restaurants, and clothing remains strong.
The biggest impact of higher interest rates is in the mortgage-finance arena. For example, Calabasas, Calif.-based Countrywide Home Loans Inc. estimates its mortgage-refinancing business is down 75 percent from October of last year.
In the Boston area, mortgage activity is down as well, but for other reasons. Betsy Sullivan, a senior vice president at New England Capital Mortgage, says the mortgage market "has come to a halt" because of a shortage of affordable homes on the market and the high prices.
The average price of a house in the area is $245,000. "It's put a lot of first-time buyers out of the market," she says.
The ripple effect of the slowdown, combined with the drop in refinancing, has particularly hit mortgage underwriters and insurers. During a good year, George Mandell, a contract loan underwriter with Radian Guaranty in Braintree, Mass., estimates his office processes 60 to 100 loan applications per day.
The branch has maintained that pace for the past three years. But now the office is down 60 to 100 applications a month. The number of underwriters has dropped from 25 to five. "Are we in a recession, or is this a temporary thing?" asks Mr. Mandell.
In California, the new-home market remains strong. It is "very hot: it's a seller's market," says Stephen Brandt, a senior vice president at Countrywide, which is offering 30-year fixed rates at 7.87 percent.
Nationally, Seiders is forecasting that the home-building market will start to cool off. One sign this is already happening: Mortgage applications have fallen for the past few months. And the level of unsold inventory is starting to rise.
No free window blinds yet
Still, builders have yet to start to offer financing subsidies or extra options for free. And Seiders's surveys still show healthy levels of traffic in model homes. Complicating housing forecasts has been the buoyant stock market. "If the Fed decides not to tighten and the financial markets rally further, the case for a housing slowdown will weaken," Seiders says.
Last week, the stock market closed strongly with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 174 points on Friday. Propelling the gains: A report that showed productivity in the third quarter rose by 4.2 percent, compared with the 3 percent forecast by economists. This is a number Mr. Greenspan watches carefully.
(c) Copyright 1999. The Christian Science Publishing Society


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|By Tong Liu, Gilad Shainer, Brian Sparks, Scot Schultz, Eric Lantz
Article Rating:
|February 9, 2010 08:45 AM EST
Computational science is the field of study concerned with constructing mathematical models and numerical techniques that represent scientific, social scientific or engineering problems and employing these models on computers, or clusters of computers, to analyze, explore or solve these models.
Numerical simulation enables the study of complex phenomena that would be too expensive or dangerous to study by direct experimentation. The quest for ever higher levels of detail and realism in such simulations requires enormous computational capacity, and has provided the impetus for breakthroughs in computer algorithms and architectures. Due to these advances, computational scientists and engineers can now solve large-scale problems that were once thought intractable by creating the related models and simulate them via high-performance compute clusters or supercomputers.
Simulation is being used as an integral part of the manufacturing, design and decision-making processes, and as a fundamental tool for scientific research. Problems where high-performance simulation play a pivotal role include, for example, weather and climate prediction, nuclear and energy research, simulation and design of vehicles and aircrafts, electronic design automation, astrophysics, quantum mechanics, biology, and computational chemistry.
Computational science is commonly considered the third mode of science, where the previous modes or paradigms were experimentation/observation and theory. In the past, science was performed by observing evidence of natural or social phenomena, recording measurable data related to the observations, and analyzing this information to construct theoretical explanations of how things work. With the introduction of high-performance supercomputers, the methods of scientific research could include mathematical models and simulation of phenomenon that are too expensive or beyond our experiment's reach. In turn, we can forecast weather conditions sooner, explore alternative energy sources, build safer vehicles and package consumed goods in a more economical way. In order to perform those numerical simulations effectively and productively, cost-effective or commodity-based supercomputers architectures were created - high-performance clustering of computers.
High-performance computing (HPC) clusters are scalable performance compute solutions based on industry-standard hardware connected by a private system high-speed network. The main benefits of clusters are affordability, flexibility, availability, high-performance and scalability. A cluster uses the aggregated power of compute server nodes to form a high-performance solution for parallel applications. When more compute power is needed, it can be simply achieved by adding more server nodes to the cluster.
The Los Alamos National Lab (U.S.) "Roadrunner" cluster (see Figure 1) was the first system to provide Petaflop (a thousand trillion CPU floating point operations or instructions per second) performance for scientific simulations (national nuclear weapons, astronomy, human genome science and climate change). Roadrunner was built using IBM Cell CPUs and AMD Opteron CPUs boards, and Mellanox InfiniBand to connect between them. The Oak Ridge National Lab (U.S) "Spider" system is one of the world's largest and fastest storage cluster file system that includes thousands of connections (based on InfiniBand interconnect) and over 10.7 PetaByte storage capacity to serve the high-performance systems at the lab. The National University of Defense Technology (China) "TianHe" system (see Figure 2) is the first Petascale system in Asia. The system is using thousands of Intel CPU and ATI GPUs, all connected via Mellanox InfiniBand networking.
Figure 1: Los Alamos National Lab "Roadrunner" systems - the world's first Petaflop system
Figure 2: National University of Defense Technology "TianHe" system
With the creation of bigger and faster high-performance computing systems for scientific and engineering simulations, new generations of sensor-computer appliances have been created for specific applications. One example is the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), an array of radio telescopes that will be comprised of 36 antennas, each 12m in diameter, capable of high dynamic range imaging and using wide-field-of-view phased array feeds. ASKAP will be a telescope that can capture radio images with unprecedented sensitivity over large areas of sky (see Figure 3). With a large instantaneous field-of-view, ASKAP will be able to survey the whole sky vastly faster than is possible with existing radio telescopes.
Figure 3: Illustration of the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder
Petaflop Supercomputers Create Exa-flood of Data
The ever-increasing demands for computational power delivered by the ever-increasing supercomputer capability and capacity produce an overwhelming flow of data. In one week the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder will generate more information than is currently contained on the whole World Wide Web, and in one month it will generate more information than is contained in the world's academic libraries. A Petaflop supercomputer equals 150,000 computations for every human on the planet per second, and a single day's usage world TOP500 supercomputers (according to the November 2009 list) is equal to 240 billion people armed with calculators for nearly 50 years.
With the increasing ramp of data generation from scientific and engineering simulations and observation-targeted supercomputers, future technology development should be focused on creating scalable high-performance clusters of computers that can manage and process all of this data. The future premise of compute infrastructures should be aimed into building or providing tools and systems for "science discovery," in which all of the computational science literature and databases can be available online and be shared by scientists, researchers and engineers around the globe. Distributed science can be seen as the fourth mode or paradigm where science becomes centralized throughout the centralization of computing facilities, and those computing facilities are then targeted into managing, visualizing and analyzing the data flood. Computational science drives the vast creation of data which is beyond our capabilities to analyze and understand, and the role of science discovery will extend to create the tools to extract the future science discoveries out of the data flood.
Furthermore, in many scientific fields of studies, the instruments are extremely expensive, and, as such, the data must be shared. With this data explosion and as high-performance systems become a commodity infrastructure, the pressure to share scientific data is increasing. That resonates well with the emerging computing trend known as "the cloud" or "cloud computing." While for the moment cloud computing appears to be a cost-effective alternative for IT spending, or the shift of enterprise IT centers from capital expense to operational expense, research institutes have started exploring how cloud computing can create the desired compute centralization and an environment for researchers to share and crunch the flood of data. One example is the new system at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (US) named "Magellan." While Magellan's initial target is to provide a tool for computational science in a cloud environment, it can be easily modified to become a center for data processing accessed by many researchers and scientists.
Centralized Data Crunching Compute Environment Throughout Cloud Computing
The concept of computing "in a cloud" is typically referred to as a hosted computational environment (could be local or remote) that can provide elastic compute and storage services for users per demand. Therefore the current usage model of cloud environments is aimed for computational science. Future clouds can be served as environments for distributed science to allow researchers and engineers to share their data with their peers around the globe and allow expensive achieved results to be utilized for more research projects and scientific discoveries.
To allow the shift to the fourth mode of "science discovery," those cloud environments will need not only to provide capability to share the data created by the computational science and the various observations results, but also to provide cost-effective high-performance computing capabilities, similar to that of today's leading supercomputers, in order to be able to rapidly and effectively analyze the data flood. Moreover, an important criteria of clouds need to be fast provisioning of the cloud resources, both compute and storage, in order to service many users, many different analyses and be able to suspend tasks and bring them back to life in a fast manner. Reliability is another concern, and clouds need to be able to be "self-healing" clouds where failing components can be replaced by spares or on-demand resources to guarantee constant access and resource availability.
The use of Grids for scientific computing has become successful in the last few years and many international projects led to the establishment of worldwide infrastructures available for computational science. The Open Science Grid provides support for data-intensive research for different disciplines such as biology, chemistry, particle physics, and geographic information systems. Enabling Grid for ESciencE (EGEE) is an initiative funded by the European Commission that connects more than 91 institutions in Europe, Asia, and United States of America to construct the largest multi-science computing Grid infrastructure in the world. TeraGRID is an NSF funded project that provides scientists with a large computing infrastructure built on top of resources at nine resource provider partner sites. It is used by 4,000 users at over 200 universities that advance research in molecular bioscience, ocean science, earth science, mathematics, neuroscience, design and manufacturing, and other disciplines. While Grids can provide a good infrastructure for shared science and data analysis, several issues make the Grids problematic to lead the fourth mode of science - limited software flexibility, applications typically need to be pre-packaged; non elasticity; and lack of virtualization. Those missing items can be delivered through cloud computing.
Cloud computing addresses many of the aforementioned problems by means of virtualization technologies, which provide the ability to scale up and down the computing infrastructure according to given requirements. By using cloud-based technologies, scientists can have easy access to large distributed infrastructures and completely customize their execution environment. Furthermore, effective provisioning can support many more activities and suspend or bring to life activities in an instant. This makes the spectrum of options available to scientists wide enough to cover any specific need for their research.
High-Performance Cloud Computing
In the past, high-performance computing has not been a good candidate for cloud computing due to its requirement for tight integration between server nodes via low-latency interconnects. The performance overhead associated with host virtualization, a prerequisite technology for migrating local applications to the cloud, quickly erodes application scalability and efficiency in an HPC context. The new virtualization solutions, such as KVM and XEN, aim to solve the performance issue by allowing native performance capabilities from the virtual machines by reducing the virtualization management overhead and by allowing direct access from the virtual machines to the network.
High-speed networking is a critical requirement for affordable high-performance computing, as clusters of servers and storage need to be able to communicate as fast as possible between them. A vast majority of the world's top 100 supercomputers are using the high-speed InfiniBand networking due to this reason, and the interconnect allows those systems to reach more than 90% efficiency, a critical element for effective high-performance computing in any infrastructure, including clouds. The National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC, U.S.) "Magellan" system is using InfiniBand as the interconnect to provide the fastest connection between servers and storage in order to allow the maximum gain from the system, the highest efficiency and an infrastructure that will be able to analyze data in real time.
Power consumption is another important issue for high-performance clouds. As the HPC clouds become bigger, affordability of science discovery will be determined by the ability to save the costs of the power and cooling. Power management, which is implemented within the CPUs, the interconnect, and the system management, and scheduling will need to be integrated as a comprehensive solution. Non-utilized sections of the clouds need to be powered off or moved into power-saving states and the scheduling mechanism will need to incorporate topology awareness.
The HPC Advisory Council HPC|Cloud group is working to investigate the creation and usage models of clouds in HPC. Past activities on smart scheduling mechanisms have been published on the council's website, and future results will include the usage of KVM and XEN, many cores CPUs (such as AMD's Magny-Cours, which includes 12 cores in a single CPU) and cloud management software (such as Platform ISF) will be published throughout 2010.
Science Discovery: The Next Computing Landscape
Science discovery through data-intensive analysis can be the next mode of science, after experimentation/observation, theory and computational science. This will be the mode in which high-performance cloud computing will connect the globe and provide the tool for researchers, scientists and engineers to share their experiments and to analyze the increasing data that is being gathered or created. Those cloud environments will be based on commodity servers and storage, all connected via high-speed networking with a comprehensive economical virtualization software management.
The HPC Advisory Council will continue to investigate the emerging technologies and aspects that will lead us into the fourth mode of science.
• • •
The authors would like to thank Cydney Stevens for her vision and guidance.