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Thursday, February 4, 2010
The Scott Fitzgerald Show
Lasting three segments and nearly 45 minutes, I spoke with Scott about what a proper policy should be, what should have happened yesterday, what technologies are available today, and more. During the interview Scott fielded several calls from listeners. Surprisingly, a majority seemed to understand the need to have a strictly defined policy that properly weights the need to apprehend a suspect immediately and protecting the public. Others did not see it that way, yet the discussion remained civil and productive.
Thanks to Mr. Fitzgerald for having me on.
You can learn more about him and his show HERE.
I'll post a link to the audio if I can track it down...
30 comments:
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Winning the Game
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New York Times Again Sees a Looming 'Era of Government Austerity' in a $3,500 Billion Budget
Over the weekend the New York Times painted the $85 billion in budget cuts that will start kicking in Friday – known in Washington-speak as sequestration -- in dramatic terms, falsely heralding a new age of "government austerity" (since when?) and passing along stories of budget-cut fear-mongering from the state level.
Saturday's lead from Michael Cooper painted a White House-friendly horror story: "Fear of U.S. Cuts Grows In States Where Aid Flows – Recovery Seen At Risk – Wide Impact Looms on Jobs, Tax Revenue, and Schools."
States are increasingly alarmed that they could become collateral damage in Washington's latest fiscal battle, fearing that the impasse could saddle them with across-the-board spending cuts that threaten to slow their fragile recoveries or thrust them back into recession.
Some states, like Maryland and Virginia, are vulnerable because their economies are heavily dependent on federal workers, federal contracts and military spending, which will face steep reductions if Congress allows the automatic cuts, known as sequestration, to begin next Friday. Others, including Illinois and South Dakota, are at risk because of their reliance on the types of federal grants that are scheduled to be cut. And many states simply fear that a heavy dose of federal austerity could weaken their economies, costing them jobs and much-needed tax revenue.
So as state officials begin to draw up their budgets for next year, some say that the biggest risk they see is not the weak housing market or the troubled European economy but the federal government. While the threat of big federal cuts to states has become something of a semiannual occurrence in recent years, state officials said in interviews that they fear that this time the federal government might not be crying wolf -- and their hopes are dimming that a deal will be struck in Washington in time to avert the cuts.
The impact would be widespread as the cuts ripple across the nation over the next year.
After the laundry list of warnings from governors of various states, the Times includes this brief "oh by the way" caveat:
Even with the automatic cuts, the analysis found, states are still expected to get more federal aid over all this year than they did last year, because of growth in some of the biggest programs that are exempt from the cuts, including Medicaid.
Also on Saturday's front page was Jonathan Weisman and Michael Shear's "White House Uses Air Delays As Budget Prod – Predicting Travel Woes in Bid to Avert Cuts." It certainly worked on the Times; on Friday reporter Matthew Wald, channeling politicized warnings from the Federal Aviation Administration. warned the impact of the cuts on travel delays could be worse than a hurricane. (A government agency warning of future inefficiency on its own behalf could easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy.)
The White House on Friday warned of potentially severe disruptions in air travel if across-the-board spending cuts take effect in less than a week as President Obama intensified pressure on Congressional Republicans to entertain spending reductions and tax increases to avoid furloughing federal workers and limiting services.
On Sunday Weisman and economics reporter Annie Lowrey falsely heralded a new era of federal government "austerity" while passing along dire predictions from federal agencies in "Hard Budget Realities As Agencies Prepare To Detail Deductions."
After focusing on a hypothetical person whose weekly unemployment check would be 10% lighter, the Times made its claim of "government austerity." (For the record, the 2013 federal budget is roughly $3,500 billion.)
Much of the government will be immune, only magnifying the cuts for the rest. If they are not reversed, federal spending at the discretion of Congress will eventually fall to a new five-decade low. Cuts of even larger size are scheduled to take effect every year over the next 10, signaling an era of government austerity....A comprehensive deficit-reduction deal, which is currently moribund but is still both Congress and the White House's stated goal, might mitigate the impact by including fast-growing programs like Medicare and Medicaid in the cuts. But belt-tightening, for now, appears to be the new normal.
And no liberal newspaper worth its ink can ignore the politically potent closing of national parks to swing readers, as Leslie MacMillian did in a Friday post for the paper's Green blog, "National Parks on a Precipice."

subset: commoncrawl


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House in Camps Bay by Luis Mira Architects
By admin • Oct 14, 2011 • Selected Work
Cape Town-based studio Luis Mira Architects has designed the House in Camps Bay project.
Completed in 2010, this 3,600 square foot contemporary residence is located in Cape Town, South Africa.
View in galleryView in gallery
House in Camps Bay by Luis Mira Architects:
"The house is used as a holiday home by a single person, who often invites guest to stay. It needed to be a space that could be used as a controlled studio with the feeling of being open, as well as to be able to morph into private and individual spaces when the house is full of visitors.
Our gaze is on the 'geographical room' of Camps Bay; the Atlantic Ocean, Lion's Head and Table Mountain in the backdrop. The design intent is applied by framing views towards the sea (rooms) and opening up spaces (terraces) to look up at the mountains.
The concept rests on creating a subtle journey through the open spaces and through the interior that constantly glimpses at the landscape and merges within the Architecture that never reveal the entire building in one instant.
In order to allow all rooms in the front of the house proximity to the sea, and to bring fresh air, light and circulation into the back of the house, two glass walled courtyards were introduced on the ground floor. One courtyard, built around the passage, connects the bedrooms and the other one is built inside the main bedroom as part of the en suite area. These two courtyards are reflective of sea views.
The use of neutral and natural materials is the response to the desire of bringing the outdoors inside, achieved by contrasting the exuberant landscape with the 'blank canvas' of the interior. The ultimate concept of luxury is the constant extending and opening of the inside spaces to meet in full the unique and exquisite South African climate."
Photos by: Wieland Gleich, Luis Mira Architects
Source: ArchDaily
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Ubuntu Blogs Round-up December 23, 2006Posted by Carthik in about, Other sites, planet ubuntu, ubuntu, Ubuntu Sites.
The response to my request for Ubuntu Bloggers to put their hands up has been tremendous.
So much so that I felt obliged to round them all up and create a page listing all the little known Ubuntu Blogs 🙂
The listings are sorted by language. There's even one video blog (vlog.gwallgofi.com/) where the author/presenter intends to communicate with hearing challenged folks using sign language. Very cool!
Of course, the request brought forth a couple of strange responses: a scientologist and someone who writes about AIDS. I haven't included your blogs in the list for the simple reason that a search for Ubuntu on your blogs turned up zip. If you start writing, I will include you later.
Erythro points out that there is a list of blogs at the forums. Thanks – I have added links to the two forums threads at the page.
Daniel floated the idea of an extra-solar(?) planet of Ubuntu Blogs by Ubuntu Users:
I wonder what would be a good way to tap into that well of online knowledge about Ubuntu and present way in an useful and friendly way to the world? Maybe what we need is an userplanet.ubuntu.com or community.ubuntu.com to complement the more official planet.ubuntu.com that would aggregate these Non-Ubuntu-Member blogs.
I think it is a great idea, and even thought about setting it up on my own server. However, Gouki expressed interest in implementing it first, and since I don't like stepping on toes, I will wait for a while for him to do it. Gouki, would you mind terribly if I did it myself? Or better still, would the higher-ups at Canonical/Ubuntu want to do this (semi-)officially?
Thank you for sending in links to your blogs – I have added them to my feedreader and look forward to reading about your experiences. Now you have a guaranteed audience of at least one interested soul 🙂
Coming up with the list was really time consuming – have been doing nothing else for the past three hours. I visited each blog, checked it out(when I could understand the language), and had a good time overall. It's a good thing its the holidays. But unfortunately, because of this, I will have to cut back a little on working on this blog over the next couple of days. It is the holidays and I will be off on a little holiday myself, in a day or two.
- 1. Mato - December 23, 2006
I usually write in my blog about Ubuntu. It's in spanish.
- 2. mike - December 23, 2006
put pls ensure, that every blog has a special ubuntu category.
don't want to see all the "my wife is pregnant"-posts on the planet 😛
- 3. Gouki - December 23, 2006
Well, now that I just bought the domain it would be wasted money 😛
I really am thinking about this and I'm willing to go further, however, two people doing the same work twice is *not* a good idea.
The domain I bought is UbuntuWeblogs.org and Planet is ready to be fired up, however, I do need some help with the webdesign side of things.
What do you think? I think the best idea is to combine efforts.
- 6. Bert - December 24, 2006
This is such a coincidence!
Only four weeks ago or so, I started with a project called UbuntuHQ (www.ubuntuhq.com).
This is a fragment of the about-page: "UbuntuHQ 's goal is to bring the Ubuntu-news to the Ubuntu user. It should be seen as a way to centralise the Ubuntu-news, so that users don't have to visit 20 blogs every time. When someone visited UbuntuHQ, he can be sure that he is fully informed about the Ubuntu actualities."
We also post tutorials, howto's, application reviews, etc.
The site is Joomla-based and still under construction (we need another logo, better site template,…). I think it's better to work all together, so please contact me (bert(AT)ubuntuhq(DOT)com). I'm sure we'll find a way to cooperate!
- 7. Stéphane Graber - December 24, 2006
I think the idea of a Planet for Ubuntu users (and developer who aren't on Planet Ubuntu).
The only thing to think about is to avoid a big flood which could happen if there are too much high-traffic blog, selecting the right categories and tags on those will be really important I think.
I'm sorry I'm more a coder than a webdesigner, anyway if you need some help for the hosting part or setting up planet I'm willing to help, just mail me.
- 8. Paul Mellors - December 24, 2006
If you want to use a domain for this, i own http://www.planetubuntu.org
- 9. krak - December 24, 2006
hmmm… it would cos some money and there is no need to spend it 🙂
Just make one more page on our blos with link to all ubuntu users… Then participate little on ubuntu forums and that is it! It`s important that we comunicate between ourselves 😉
So we can do that and that is it!
p.s. I`m not a partybreaker but there is too much ubuntu related sites and to make more…
- 10. gouki - December 24, 2006
Stéphane Graber: Thank you. I'll keep that in mind.
Paul Mellors: I actually tried to register that one, but someone else already had it 😛 I would really like to use it. Do you mind if we transfer it to my hosting provider?
If anyone wants to discuss/help on the project, I'm on Freenode. Just /msg gouki. It's quicker and we don't spam Carthik's weblog.
Every bit of help is welcome!
I'll make sure to stop by every now and then to read the comments tho.
- 11. paul mellors - December 24, 2006
Gouki – Id rather not loose the domain, i've got hosting for it, if you want me to set you up with an account and access, please email me at firstname.lastname@example.com
- 12. Gouki - December 24, 2006
Paul Mellors: Ok. I'll contact you from now by eMail regarding the domain.
- 13. rcjhawk - December 24, 2006
I don't know if it qualifies as a Ubuntu blog, per se, but my blog talks a lot about Linux, and I'm currently using Ubuntu:
http://hawknotes.blogspot.com , aka Linux & Things
Occasionally I go off on tangents …
Sorry comments are closed for this entry


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How HPXML Transformed NYSERDAs Home Performance Program
Since the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority's (NYSERDA) Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® (HPwES) program initiated its HPXML – supported Express Contract workflow in 2015, nearly 8,500 projects have been completed. The approval time for the majority of home performance projects, which before the implementation of Express Contract may have taken up to eight business days, is now completed within one business day.
Express Contract uses a business logic framework to automatically validate and approve projects that meet criteria defined by NYSERDA's home performance program. When a home performance contractor submits a workscope to the program, the Express Contract workflow triggers a series of actions designed to automate the review and approval processes of projects that had previously been manually reviewed by staff.
Today, nearly 45% of workscopes submitted by the program's contractors are automatically approved without staff intervention on the first attempt. For workscopes that require some level of manual review, more than 80% are approved on the first attempt. Express Contract has enabled the HPwES program to operate more efficiently, reducing administrative costs for contractors and the program, and increasing contractor satisfaction with the program.
To read the full post, click here.
Bill Keating is a Project Manager on the Single-Family Residential team at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).
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text:
- Chidozie Uzoezie
36 Anniversary Celebrations: Kenya Airways Rewards Customers
As part of celebrations to mark its 36th anniversary national carrier, Kenya Airways, has rewarded one lucky customer with a Range Rover Sport car and four others with all-expenses-paid family holidays to different destinations across the world.
The car and family holidays to Paris, Bangkok, Dubai and Seychelles were awarded to winning customers during the grand draw of a promotion that has been running since January 22, 2013.
In addition to the car, 31 return air tickets to Lagos, Cairo, Delhi, Seychelles and Kilimanjaro have been won during the promotion.
Presiding over the grand draw at Kenya Airways' Pride Centre's lobby, the airline's Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr.Titus Naikuni, said the 36th anniversary was a major milestone for the company.
"We feel honoured to have been the pride of Africa for the last 36 years and thank our customers for the support they continue to give us going into the future, " Dr Naikuni said.
He pledged the airline's commitment to deliver an unmatched world class experience to all customers who fly on its aircraft, adding that Kenya Airways would keep quality customer service at the center of its operations.
Kenya Airways launched its first flight in February 1977 following breakup of the East African Community, and the disbanding of East African Airways. Today, Kenya Airways flies to over 50 destinations across the world and operates a fleet of 41 aircraft.


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|Bob Bird, Scottish Editor of the News of the World
The Independent has a Piece today, written by Cahal Milmo and Martin Hickman, on the news we linked to yesterday that the News of the World had recovered emails that the court in the Sheridan trial was told by Bob Bird had been "lost." (see Here for our report on that section of Mr Bird's testimony) The article states; "News International now says Mr Bird unintentionally misled the court, but insists that all the emails sought by the defence were disclosed to it either by the newspaper or the police. Sheridan's legal team suspects that more information should have been disclosed, and plans to launch an appeal in the hope of springing Sheridan from Barlinnie jail, where he has begun a three-Year Jail term"


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Dear Cecil: Sorry if this question is too graphic, but I'm baffled by Japanese tentacle porn. Why are there so many rapist octopuses living in the Land of the Rising Sun? Michael
Cecil replies:
Don't be such a wuss, Michael. Have you looked at much tentacle porn? If you can get past the gang rape and violent death aspects, it's actually kind of cute. More on that below.
In any case, tentacle porn is hardly Japan's only out-there erotic category — try Googling "koonago" sometime. I'm not about to launch into some Lost in Translation-style the-Japanese-sure-are-weird riff, though. The basic phenomenon to be understood here is this: (1) the Japanese create this stuff; (2) we buy it — the U.S. is a big market for comic-book-style (manga) and animated (anime) Japanese erotica, collectively known here as hentai. (Back in Japan this term is reserved for content considered genuinely abnormal.) So there are people all over who get off on things like this. The question is why the Japanese have been so inventive in dreaming it up.
Tentacle porn depicts pretty much what the name suggests: critters getting it on, consensually or otherwise, with nubile maidens via tentacles or similar protuberances. Often cited as the earliest prototype is an 1814 print commonly known in the West as The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife by the renowned Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai. It shows a reclining, naked, and apparently willing woman wrapped in the tentacles of a pair of octopuses, one of whom is kissing her and caressing her nipple while the other performs cunnilingus. The work is one of the foremost examples of shunga (erotic pictures) from the Edo period.
A couple things to understand. First, porn in Japan wasn't and isn't the furtive business it mostly remains in the U.S. — shunga were commonly given to newlyweds on their wedding nights. Second, tentacles weren't a big deal at first. Images like Hokusai's were memorable but hardly the only kinky treatment to be found in the catalog of Japanese erotica — other shunga depicted lesbian sex, sex toys, transvestites, and bondage rape.
What turned tentacle porn into a genre of its own was the manga series Urotsukidoji, begun in 1986 by cartoonist Toshido Maeda, and its subsequent anime adaptations, which expanded on the original concept. The plot, in its eventual form: members of a half-human, half-bestial race invade Japan searching for an evil supreme being called the Chojin ("Overfiend"), who 3,000 years earlier created the three parallel worlds of humans, man-beasts, and demons, hopes now to unite them, and, at the moment, lives inside a human teenager.
The initial creative impulse, it seems to me, wasn't that far removed from what led J.K. Rowling to invent Harry Potter. The final product … well, here we see a divergence of artistic sensibilities. As the Chojin manifests himself (in the animated version, anyway) we're treated not only to giant tentacle-penises, but quasi-phalluses swelling to explode people from within and flaming sperm devastating cities. Beauty and the Beast this ain't.
The reason for the reliance on tentacles was simple. Till 1993 Japanese law prohibited straightforward depictions of penises and intercourse. So Maeda was obliged to come up with a substitute: tentacles. In a 2002 interview he explained: "I could say as an excuse, this is not a [penis], this is just a part of the creature … So it is not obscene — not illegal."
Other instances of tentacle sex appear in such classics as Obscene Beast Teacher, Alien From the Darkness, and Advancer Tina. Sometimes the woman is a willing participant — the manga Fiend Without a Face, for example, has the female protagonist defending the tentacled monster from her father. On the other hand, Maeda's manga Demon Beast Invasion features several women being raped by tentaclelike tree roots and branches, and was graphic enough that Texas courts ruled it obscene.
Tentacle porn is hardly an outlier in the world of Japanese erotica. Hentai frequently features non-tentacular rape and other sexual violence, plus bizarre fetishes and fantasies involving humans, animals, supernatural beings, robots, aliens, and hybrids thereof. Baffled occidentals tend to chalk this up to either (a) artistic ids unrestrained by Western notions of morality, or (b) the rigid conformism of Japanese society, which offers few other outlets for the icky inner you.
Then again, maybe they really do just have a bunch of sickos over there. However, it's not like smut mongers in our hemisphere are always the picture of mental health. The main difference is that Western porn, including the comic book and animated variety, tends to be largely realistic, apart from the gravity-defying boobs. The Japanese, in contrast, are big on fantasy and surrealism. Couple that with the Hello Kitty cuddliness that seeps into even the kinkiest hentai, and the typical sheltered Westerner is going to think: this crap is strange.
Still, the Japanese don't have a lock on twisted artistic imaginations, as Straight Dope readers know. They may have Toshido Maeda; we've got Slug.
Cecil Adams
Send questions to Cecil via firstname.lastname@example.com.


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United Methodist Communications
Office of Public Information
810 12th Ave. S.
Nashville, TN 37203
May 20, 2013
Imagine No Malaria releases updated "Killer in the Dark" documentary
Documentary narrated by actress Pauley Perrette from top-rated TV show "NCIS" will air on NBC affiliates starting May 5
Nashville, Tenn.:United Methodist Communications is releasing an updated version of the Imagine No Malaria documentary, "Killer in the Dark: An Extraordinary Effort to Combat Malaria," in collaboration with the Interfaith Broadcasting Commission. The documentary, originally produced in 2011, is about The United Methodist Church's work to help make the world malaria-free.
This sequel, set to air on NBC affiliates from May 5 through November 3, reflects new research and scientific advancements in the fight against malaria.
Actress Pauley Perrette, who stars in the top-rated TV series "NCIS," narrates "Killer in the Dark." Perrette, an active member of Hollywood United Methodist Church, donated her time and services to the effort. She also narrated the original version of the documentary and remains a passionate supporter of Imagine No Malaria.
"Killer in the Dark" features diverse voices that are working together to stop malaria from killing one person every 60 seconds. Those voices include scientists, advocates and health workers on the frontlines of the effort in both the U.S. and Africa.
The documentary highlights the work of Emory University researchers who have a contract with the National Institutes of Health. It also focuses on the advocacy of Elisabeth Clymer, an 18-year-old college student who is now pursuing a career in global health after involvement with Imagine No Malaria at the local church level changed the course of her life. Additional footage demonstrates how Imagine No Malaria empowers community health workers in Africa to be better equipped to prevent and treat the disease.
"Malaria ravages more than 40 percent of our planet," said the Rev. Larry Hollon, chief executive of United Methodist Communications, the agency that produced the documentary. "More than 650,000 people are killed by malaria every year in Africa. 85 to 90 percent of these deaths are women and children. Progress is happening thanks in part to the people of The United Methodist Church. Malaria's death rate is almost half of what it was at the start of the effort."
Imagine No Malaria has raised more than $31.2 million to date, trained more than 5,800 community health workers and distributed more than 1.2 million mosquito nets in Africa.
Check your local NBC station to find out when "Killer in the Dark" will air in your area and express interest in having them include it in their programming. For more information about Imagine No Malaria, go to imaginenomalaria.org/akillerinthedark.
About Imagine No Malaria
Imagine No Malaria is an initiative of The United Methodist Church to raise $75 million to end preventable deaths from malaria in Africa by 2015. With a comprehensive approach to fighting this killer disease, Imagine No Malaria empowers the people of Africa to improve health infrastructure and achieve a sustainable victory over malaria. For more information, visit ImagineNoMalaria.org.
Media contact:
Diane Degnan
[email protected]
(615) 742-5406 (office)
(615) 483-1765 (cell)
Like what you're reading? Support the ministry of UM News! Your support ensures the latest denominational news, dynamic stories and informative articles will continue to connect our global community. Make a tax-deductible donation at ResourceUMC.org/GiveUMCom.


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The time taken to diagnose some of the more common cancers – from the point when a patient first reports a possible symptom to their general practitioner (GP) – fell in adults by an average of five days in just under a decade, according to research* published in the British Journal of Cancer.
"It's good to see small improvements like this, but it's also clear that too many cancer patients are still waiting too long to have their cancer diagnosed" – Sara Hiom, Cancer Research UK's director of early diagnosis
Researchers based at the Universities of Bangor, Exeter and Durham found that the average time it took to be diagnosed for a range of common cancers combined fell from 125 days in 2001-2002 to 120 days in 2007-2008.
And for kidney, head and neck, and bladder cancers, more than two weeks were shaved off the time between first reporting a possible symptom and receiving a diagnosis.
This improvement may be thanks to the introduction of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Guidelines for Urgent Referral of Suspected Cancer, published in 2005. These guidelines give GPs advice about symptoms which might indicate cancer and mean the patient should be urgently referred for further testing.
The researchers looked at the GP records of more than 20,000 people over 40 in England who were diagnosed with one of 15 types of common cancers in the two periods, having re-ported possible symptoms to their GP in the year before their diagnosis.
They also found that patients whose symptoms were prioritised by the 2005 guidelines took less time to be diagnosed, and breast and testicular cancers were diagnosed in the shortest time – on average around two months between first reported symptom and diagnosis***.
But there is still plenty of room for improvement. For 10 per cent of myeloma, lung or gastric cancer patients it took over 10 months to be diagnosed, even in the more recent 2007-2008 group.****
Professor Richard Neal, professor of primary care medicine at Bangor University and the lead study author, said: "Our study shows that there was a small but significant improvement overall in diagnosis times for many cancers between 2001-2002 and 2007-2008. And this is likely, at least in part, to be as a result of the introduction of the 2005 NICE urgent referral guidelines."
Professor Greg Rubin, study author from Durham University and clinical lead for cancer for the Royal College of GPs and Cancer Research UK partnership, said: "Diagnosing cancers early can make a real difference to survival. We know that patients' chances of beating the disease are better when the disease is caught early as treatments are more effective before the cancer begins to grow or spread."
Sara Hiom, director of early diagnosis at Cancer Research UK, said: "It's good to see small improvements like this, but it's also clear that too many cancer patients are still waiting too long to have their cancer diagnosed – and we don't think that's good enough. That's why Cancer Research UK is working hard to raise awareness of early diagnosis through research and activities to help give patients the best chance of beating their cancer – by having it diagnosed at an earlier stage.
"This study shows it's possible to make a difference to the speed of diagnosis for some cancers through influencing policy and changing the way that potential cancer symptoms are dealt with."
For media enquiries please contact the press office on 020 3469 8300 or, out-of-hours, the duty press officer on 07050 264 059.
*Neal, R et al. Comparison of cancer diagnostic intervals before and after implementation of NICE guidelines: analysis of data from the UK General Practice Research Database (2014) British Journal of Cancer. doi: 10.1038/bjc.2013.791
**Based on mean time until diagnosis of the following cancers: breast, lung, colorectal,gastric, oesophageal, pancreatic, kidney, bladder, testicular, cervical, endometrial, leukaemia, mye-loma, lymphoma, and head & neck.
***Based on mean.
****Based on median.


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Originally Posted by kathrynloch
Are you guys ready for this one?
Okay, I can't keep up with my regular blog, but I'm going to throw a few posts up here with my latest WIP since I'm doing video tutorials on them. Hey, the more the merrier. lol!
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Face Time
Take care of your mug by grooming and shaving with quality skin- and hair-care products.
Real men don't cry—they moisturize. Even guys who would seem to define stereotypical masculinity have opened their minds and wallets to grooming products formulated to make them look and feel better. Locally, the boom in men's grooming can be seen at spas with male-specific treatments, old-fashioned barbershops like Kennedy's All-American Barber Club and Floyd's 99 Barbershop, which offer straight-razor shaves with hot-towel treatments, and a new Mall at Millenia boutique, The Art of Shaving, which sells only men's shaving products. Here are some products that'll help you look your best:
1. A brush with excellence starts with the Pure Badger Shaving Brush, $55, The Art of Shaving, The Mall at Millenia.
2. Hydrate and improve skin texture, and reduce pore size and imperfections with Miracle Skin Transformer SPF 20 Men, $48; miracleskintransformer.com
3. Soothe and protect sensitive skin with Neutrogena Men Sensitive Skin Shave Cream, $5.99, available at several mass merchandisers
4. Cleanse, soothe and revitalize with emerginC Men Liquid Gel Cleanser, $27; emerginc.com
Improve circulation, repair damaged skin and prevent stiffening of collagen with emerginC Men Post-Shave Reinforcer, $47; emerginc.com
5. Trim your facial and head hair with the Philips Norelco Multigroom Grooming Kit, $39.99, Best Buy and Target
6. Have a clear conscience and clear skin with reSurface, $35, Organic Male OM4; om4men.com
7. Minimize scars with the intensive therapy of DNA Scar Therapy, $45, DNA EGF Renewal; dnaegfrenewal.com
A Cut Above the Rest
Hip modern looks, retro reinventions and easy wash-and-go styles are among the top trends in men's hair fashions, says Sarah Pickar Sleeth, co-owner of Floyd's 99, America's Original Rock n' Roll Barbershop, in Winter Park and Orlando. Here are some trendy hairstyles as shown by clients of Floyd's 99 in Winter Park:
1. "HE" BANGS The Beatles look with a twist and side-sweeping bangs.
Teo Doucette, 30, real estate agent
2. FAUX HAWK Modern mohawk with short sides and long swept top.
Joe Price, 32, insurance sales
3. BUSINESSMAN'S SURFER CUT Long, layered shag with a windswept look.
Ben Kersenbrock, 31, chiropractor
4. CONTEMPORARY POMPADOUR Modernized flipped-back wave Elvis made famous.
Jamie Pope, 54, financial adviser
5. FULL HEAD SHAVE Super-close, straight-razor head shave.
Steve Bunnell, 36, general manager
Care for your new do with MITCH, Paul Mitchell's new line of shampoos, conditioners and gels, $14-$19; available at several area locations, including Floyd's 99 Barbershop, Orlando and Winter Park; mitchtheman.com
A Man Cave For One
Make your bathroom into your own private man cave by adding a built-in waterproof TV or a slick shaving mirror with a wireless, remote-control sound system.
You can look at a pretty picture besides yours every time you stand in front of your bathroom mirror (above). Built into Seura's Enhanced Series—Vanishing Mirrors for Bathrooms is a 19-inch LCD TV that disappears when you turn it off. $3,999; seura.com
You may never get out of the shower if there's a TV in it. The Hydra Waterproof TV (right) is built into tile and comes with a remote. Starting at $2,699; seura.com
You can shave and shower to digital sound with this fog-free shower mirror that doubles as a wireless speaker system. The Zadro iSing FM Radio (left) with digital wireless RF transmitter allows you to listen to your iPod, MP3, CD player and television, as well as stream from your PC. $119.99; zadroinc.com


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CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's socialist President Nicolas Maduro announced on Monday the creation of a new popular assembly with the ability to re-write the constitution, which foes decried as a power-grab to stifle weeks of anti-government unrest.
"I don't want a civil war," Maduro told a May Day rally of supporters in downtown Caracas while elsewhere across the city security forces fired tear gas at youths hurling stones and petrol bombs after opposition marches were blocked.
Maduro, 54, has triggered an article of the constitution that creates a super-body known as a "constituent assembly."
It can dissolve public powers and call general elections, echoing a previous assembly created by his predecessor Hugo Chavez in 1999 soon after he won office in the South American OPEC nation.
"I convoke the original constituent power to achieve the peace needed by the Republic, defeat the fascist coup, and let the sovereign people impose peace, harmony and true national dialogue," Maduro told red-shirted supporters.
Only half of the 500-member assembly, or less, would be elected and political parties would not participate, he said.
Opponents fear Maduro would stuff the assembly with supporters and manipulate the elected seats by giving extra weight to pro-government workers and unions.
They said it was another attempt to sideline the current opposition-led National Assembly and potentially avoid elections amid a bruising recession and protests that have led to 29 deaths in the last month.
The opposition had been demanding general elections to try and end the socialists' 18-year rule. A grave-faced National Assembly President Julio Borges on Monday evening called on Venezuelans to rebel, potentially portending bigger protests.
"This is a scam to deceive the Venezuelan people with a mechanism that is nothing more than a coup," Borges said, urging Venezuelans to block streets early on Tuesday and hold another march on Wednesday. Opposition supporters on Monday night were also banging empty pots and pans from their windows in a traditional Latin American form of protest.
Since anti-Maduro unrest began in early April, more than 400 people have been injured and hundreds more arrested.
While Maduro alleges a U.S.-backed coup plot, foes say he has wrecked the economy and become a tyrant.
Tulane University sociologist David Smilde said Maduro's announcement was a "pretty clever" move to dodge conventional elections which could both appeal to government hardliners and ease international pressure on him.
"It is sufficiently complex and ambiguous that it might freeze some countries in the international community who think this might be a concession to the opposition, or represents an autonomous political process and should be respected," he said."It is a transparent attempt on the part of the government to skirt elections it knows it will lose," he added.
Earlier on Monday, National Guard troops shot teargas in a district of west Caracas towards hundreds of opposition protesters standing around waiting to march.
"For no reason, they are starting to repress us," lawmaker Jose Olivares said via a video on Periscope, as demonstrators took cover behind trees and walls and opposition lawmakers streamed video of the protest from their phones.
Olivares was injured in the head by a gas canister, the opposition said. He later tweeted that the wound required a dozen stitches.
Elsewhere, the National Guard blocked marchers pouring towards a major highway in front of the Avila mountain which towers over Caracas' northern edge. Opposition supporters cheered as youths ran to the front, carrying makeshift shields made from trash bin lids, wood and even a satellite dish.
Some, wearing motorbike helmets, swimming goggles or bandanas over their mouths, threw stones and petrol bombs at the security line, with a protester yelling, "No one turn back!"
Others blocked roads in Caracas' wealthier Chacao area with branches and fences. One woman loaded Molotov cocktails from a beer crate onto a motorbike where two men took them to the front line.
As well as elections, government opponents are demanding autonomy for the legislature where they have a majority, freedom for more than 100 jailed activists and a humanitarian aid channel from abroad to offset Venezuela's brutal economic crisis that has food and medicine running short.
On Monday evening, Maduro said he had ordered cabinet members to analyze nationwide price freezes. Current price controls are seen as a root cause of shortages as they disincentivize businesses from producing amid steep inflation, so a more widely applied freeze could further hit supplies.
In central Caracas, where the socialists have traditionally held their rallies, thousands of government supporters cheered a huge inflatable doll of Chavez and railed against opposition "terrorists."
"The workers are in the street to defend our president against the violent coup-mongers," said Aaron Pulido, 29, a union worker with migration department Saime, in downtown Caracas among a sea of red banners.
The government laid on hundreds of buses for its backers but closed subway stations in the capital and set up roadblocks, impeding opposition mobilization.
Some government workers acknowledged they had been coerced into attending Monday's pro-Maduro rally. "We're here because they tell us to. If not, there are problems," a 34 year-old employee with a state aluminum company, just off a bus after an all-night journey from southern Ciudad Bolivar, told a journalist until a supervisor cut off the conversation.
Millions of Venezuelans are struggling to eat three square meals a day or afford basic medicines.
"Who can stand this? So much hunger, misery, crime ... The prices are going up far more than the salary rises," said social security worker Sonia Lopez, 34, at the opposition demonstration in west Caracas, as she waved a Venezuelan flag signed by now jailed opposition politician Antonio Ledezma.
Additonal reporting by Marco Bello, Diego Ore, Andreina Aponte, Girish Gupta, Diego Ore, Eyanir Chinea and Carlos Rawlins; Editing by Andrew Hay and Mary Milliken
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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An 18-year-old St. Paul man allegedly cut off his electronic monitoring bracelet and broke into a home he had burglarized twice in 2011, raping a 65-year-old resident after forcing her male companion to tie himself up.
Curtez D. Graham allegedly raped the woman at her home in the 1100 block of Portland Avenue in St. Paul on Wednesday, according to charges filed in Ramsey County District Court. He told police he broke into the woman's home because he was angry that she had reported the 2011 burglaries, which sent him to Boys Totem Town, a juvenile facility, and a correctional facility in Red Wing, the complaint said. He served nine to 12 months at Totem Town and more time in Red Wing.
According to charges: Graham first broke into the woman's home on Oct. 10, 2011. He was armed with a knife and demanded money, leaving with $80. The woman called police, but Graham was not caught.
On Nov. 10, Graham returned, wearing a black bandanna over his face. The homeowner recognized him and screamed, but "calmed herself and reminded Graham that she didn't scream last time." Graham led the woman downstairs and asked her to dump her purse on the dining room table "like last time."
"You had more money last time," he told the woman. "Now remember — you didn't call the police last time, don't call them this time."
Graham told the woman he returned because she had been nice the first time, the complaint said.
Graham was later arrested for the burglaries, served time, was furloughed from Red Wing this past June 10 and was being monitored via electronic ankle bracelet. He found a job at a Subway restaurant, but Graham removed his bracelet and stopped showing up for work, the complaint said.
The woman and a male companion were in bed on the third floor of her home when they were awakened early Wednesday by Graham, who stood in the room naked, holding a pair of scissors.
Graham ordered the man to put underwear in his mouth and tie himself up, threatening to kill him if he didn't. The woman told the man to follow Graham's instructions, and the man tried to tie himself up with a belt, the complaint said.
Graham raped the woman, who told police she complied because she did not want to be stabbed with the scissors. He ordered her to urinate and shower, presumably to get rid of DNA evidence.
Graham demanded $100 from the woman and was given $75. He walked her downstairs, where he allegedly took money from her coin purse and took the man's cellphone. The woman and man got back into bed and Graham asked them if there were guns in the home. The woman said no.
Graham searched a closet and told them to count to 100 before leaving the room.
"Don't call the police," Graham said. "I can come and get you anytime."
The charges said he also told the woman, "You sent me to prison for 14 months."
Graham was arrested later Wednesday and had the man's cellphone in his possession. He told police he broke a window and entered the woman's home because he was upset that she had sent him to prison and wanted to scare her, the charges said.
He told police he was drunk at the time, and denied raping her or threatening to kill the man. Graham was scheduled to return to the Red Wing correctional facility this week.
Graham is charged with eight felonies: two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, three counts of first-degree burglary, two counts of kidnapping and one count of first-degree aggravated robbery. Bail was set at $1 million.
Twitter: @ChaoStrib


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Insurance for your Motorcycle, ATV, Dirt Bike, Golf Cart & More
There's no shortage of ways you get outside in Texas. Whether you're hitting the trail, the links, or just the great outdoors, the last thing you want to worry about is whether your insurance policy has you protected.
White Slate Insurance can help you get the specialized coverage you need for your specialized vehicles. We can help you protect your investment and let you get focus on having fun.
Are your off-road toys covered? Contact us Today at 817-809-4522 or firstname.lastname@example.com to talk about:
- ATV (All-terrain vehicle) insurance
- Motorcycle insurance
- Dirt bike insurance
- Dune buggy insurance
- Golf cart insurance
- Snowmobile insurance
- Any other motorsports insurance
Not sure you need Motorcycle, ATV, Golf Cart, or other Motorsports Insurance in Dallas Fort Worth?
Most specialized vehicles aren't covered under your standard auto or home insurance policies, especially when you aren't on your own property. What's more, many national, state, or other public parks in Texas require specialty vehicle riders to be properly insured.
Want to keep your Motorcycle, Dirt Bike, ATV, Golf Cart & other Motorsports Insurance costs down?
Several factors can affect the cost of insuring a specialty vehicle. So what can you can keep your rates low?
Be safe. If you have violations on your driving record or claims on your insurance policy, your rates will likely be higher.
Choose your vehicle carefully. Some models of ATVs, snowmobiles, dirt bikes or other off-road vehicles are considered more aggressive machines, and typically cost more to insure.
Own More Than One. With many carriers you can receive a discount if you insure more than one specialty vehicle on your policy.
Good Coverage. Great Times
Every specialty vehicle policy is unique, but the following is a quick rundown of the some of the options included in most ATV, snowmobile, dirt bike, golf cart, and other off-road vehicle insurance policies:
- Collision coverage – pays for covered damage to your vehicle when in a collision with another vehicle or other object.
- Property damage liability coverage – insures you against certain damages caused to another person's property while operating your vehicle. This coverage may also provide you with a legal defense for such claims if another party files a lawsuit against you.
- Bodily injury liability coverage – insures you against certain damages if you injure or kill someone while operating your vehicle. This coverage also may provide you with a legal defense if another party in the accident files a lawsuit against you.
- Comprehensive physical damage coverage – pays for covered losses resulting from incidents other than collision – like fire, theft, or vandalism.
Let us help make sure you're covered when you hit the trail – Call us today to find out how to get the best price and value on the motorsports insurance in Dallas Fort Worth that's right for you at 817-809-4522 or email email@example.com
Informational statements regarding insurance coverage are for general description purposes only. These statements do not amend, modify or supplement any insurance policy. Consult the actual policy or your agent for details regarding terms, conditions, coverage, exclusions, products, services and programs which may be available to you. Your eligibility for particular products and services is subject to the final determination of underwriting qualifications and acceptance by the insurance underwriting company providing such products or services.
This website does not make any representations that coverage does or does not exist for any particular claim or loss, or type of claim or loss, under any policy. Whether coverage exists or does not exist for any particular claim or loss under any policy depends on the facts and circumstances involved in the claim or loss and all applicable policy wording.


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The Curator Necklace
The Curator Necklace is handcrafted from 24ct gold plated bronze, in Hatton Garden, London.
3.3cm in length
1.2cm in width
11.1 grams
Adjustable 16/18/20/22 inch gold-filled chain.
In the fifth canto of Purgatorio Dante encounters the sinner, Buonconte da Montefeltro. Buonconte led the Ghibelline army (Dante's rival faction), and died in the Battle of Campaldino, 1289. Upon his death, the devil promptly appeared, ready and eager to take his soul into the Infernal abyss. However, he is turned away by an angel. Somehow, the Ghibelline leader is saved from Inferno, at the final moment of his life, because he sheds just one little teardrop – una lacrimetta.
For our fifth birthday collection, I wanted to explore the cathartic role of water and tears. Inspired by Montefeltro's one salty lacrimetta, Roman tear catchers, and the symbolic role of rivers and oceans running through the Commedia, I set out for a salty pink lake (the backdrop for the scene) in the depths of Western Australia, blown glass vessels in tow.
Having created Alighieri during a somewhat dark time in my life, the collections have always been tinged with a sense of melancholy. As I turn 30 and the brand turns 5, "No More Tears" is a celebration. Creating these Modern Heirlooms and telling these stories has been my joy and catharsis – much like Buonconte's lacrimetta.
This collection is a treasure trove of armour: little emblems of protection, in the form of sculptural hands and Sicilian bleeding hearts, along with gilded chain vests, belts with small tools clipped on, and of course, glass vessels, to fill with adventures to come, and the occasional salty tear.
302,00 €
incl. 20% VAT plus Shipping Costs
Out of stock


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June 5, 2021
Riley Reid porn video: Too-Cute Brunette Teen Riley Reid Pops The Weasel. Handjob Harry just turned into Blowjob Bill when he finds out adorable teen, Riley Reid loves sucking cock along with wanking wood! This petite, cute brunette is ready to pounce when we first spy her lilly ass propped up on the bed. She spreads her legs and Lou admires her perfect biology book pussy, neatly tucked and everything. She begins in earnest jerking off his cock but this bitch just can't seem to keep her mouth off the cock, swallowing it down impulsively at every chance she gets! Twisting her hands and furiously suckling his knob, Riley makes him explode in her wet, cummy mouth!


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Editorial Images
Clarence House Announce The Engagement Of Prince William To Kate Middleton
LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 16: Prince William and Kate Middleton pose for photographs in the State Apartments of St James Palace on November 16, 2010 in London, England. After much speculation, Clarence House today announced the engagement of Prince William to Kate Middleton. The couple will get married in either the Spring or Summer of next year and continue to live in North Wales while Prince William works as an air sea rescue pilot for the RAF. The couple became engaged during a recent holiday in Kenya having been together for eight years. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
Contact your local office for all commercial or promotional uses.
Chris Jackson / Staff
Editorial #:
Chris Jackson Collection
Date created:
16 November, 2010
Licence type:
Release info:
Not released. More information
Chris Jackson Collection
Object name:


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Oh man, if this footage of Chris Meloni speaking vampire and baring his vampire fangs all over the place doesn't get you hot and bothered for a new (and hopefully better) True Blood, then you are simply dead inside.
Check out this brand new teaser trailer, where Meloni (who is playing tha vampire Roman — which, sure, fine, we can work with that) is seen out of his vampire business suit being a general bad ass. Fuck and yes.
In other news, a bunch of True Blood promo posters were released today. Unfortunately, they include a poster of Tara. I KNOW AND I'M SORRY. But on the plus side, it's also got a new shot of Russell! So let's focus on the positive. Russell, Meloni, and Hey Alcide!
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Debian Security Advisory
DSA-1324-1 hiki -- missing input sanitising
- Date Reported:
- 28 Jun 2007
- Affected Packages:
- hiki
- Vulnerable:
- Yes
- Security database references:
- In the Debian bugtracking system: Bug 430691.
In Mitre's CVE dictionary: CVE-2007-2836.
- More information:
Kazuhiro Nishiyama found a vulnerability in hiki, a Wiki engine written in Ruby, which could allow a remote attacker to delete arbitrary files which are writable to the Hiki user, via a specially crafted session parameter.
For the stable distribution (etch), this problem has been fixed in version 0.8.6-1etch1.
For the unstable distribution (sid) this problem has been fixed in version 0.8.7-1.
We recommend that you upgrade your hiki package.
- Fixed in:
Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 (etch)
- Source:
- http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/h/hiki/hiki_0.8.6-1etch1.diff.gz
- http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/h/hiki/hiki_0.8.6-1etch1.dsc
- http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/h/hiki/hiki_0.8.6.orig.tar.gz
- http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/h/hiki/hiki_0.8.6-1etch1.dsc
- Architecture-independent component:
- http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/h/hiki/hiki_0.8.6-1etch1_all.deb
MD5 checksums of the listed files are available in the original advisory.


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Check back every day in August for back-to-school outfit inspiration from the Seventeen Style Council!
We're all for cute flatforms with tights this fall! Since Tonya's floral sandals are in darker colors, they look totally appropriate for the cooler temperatures paired with her long-sleeved dress.
Steal Her Style:
Sandals: Korks by Kork-Ease Nancy Wedge Sandal, $49.94, dsw.com
Dress: Studded Fit & Flare Dress, $29.80, forever21.com
Tights: Gypsy Dots Tights, $11.88, asos.com
Hat: Bowler Hat, $20, savous.com


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• Espresso synthetic rattan weave• Red all-weather fabric cushions• Machine-washable cushion covers• Powder-coated aluminum frame• Also available in other colors
The Cabo Red Outdoor Corner Chair is made with an espresso-colored weather and UV resistant synthetic rattan weave over a sturdy powder-coated aluminum frame. It features a red five inch thick, all-weather, machine washable fabric seat and back cushion comfortable enough for all day lounging. This modern outdoor chair is accented by simple polished stainless steel legs. Ideal for relaxing with family and friends on the patio, balcony or poolside lounge area. Use it with the Cabo one-arm loveseats to create a modern outdoor sectional.


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Modding Glossary
From SimsWiki
Here you'll find explanations of all the geeky terms people use.
|3DS Max
|A 3D editor, used by some creators to make meshes.
|In the game, these started as glasses, and can be worn by sims in addition to clothing, now we have jewelry, backpacks, hats and more.
|A grayscale graphic used to show which parts of a texture are visible (white), transparent (black) or semi-transparent (gray), most often used in BodyShop creations.
|A 3D editor, used by some creators to make meshes.
|A 3D editor, used by some creators to make meshes.
|A Maxis program to make sims and import clothes, hair, genetics and make up in the game.
|3D term. Another word for Skeleton
|Bump map
|Also known as Normal map (the name in BodyShop). A grayscale graphic that alters the way the light reflects.
|Colour Enabler Package. This small file makes it possible to recolour objects that don't already have Maxis recolours.
|Cinema 4D
|A 3D editor, used by some creators to make meshes.
|Most new content is based on something that's already in the game. By cloning an object, you make a copy of it, to change the shape or the way it behaves. A recolour is NOT a clone.
|A program no longer being developed that allowed some functions similar to SimPE to edit game data.
|3D term. The edge is the line connecting two vertices in a mesh.
|3D term. Another word for Skeleton
|3D term. Several faces make up a shape. For instance: the six sides of a cube are faces. It's these faces that you see in the game.
|A unique code given to every object to distinguish it and make sure it doesn't override anything else.
|A part of a mesh, some meshes are made of multiple parts for display or animation reasons.
|A hack changes something about how the game behaves. It does not necessarily have to be a new object.
|A Maxis program to import walls, floors and groundcovers in the game.
|New content needs to be moulded into the right shape so the game can read it. When you import a texture or shape, you place it in a package, so the game can read it.
|3D term. Another word for Skeleton
|Maxis recolour
|This term is used to stress that a recolour uses maxis meshes (i.e. stuff that came with the Sims2 or one of the expansion packs).
|Anything with a new mesh, be it furniture or clothes, has a new 3D shape. Meshing involves making those new shapes in a 3D editor and putting them in the game.
|A 3D editor, used by some creators to make meshes.
|This is a broad term, meaning anything you do to change or add stuff to, in our case, the Sims2 game. All the things you find in the Downloads section are mods. Modding is the term used for making such mods.
|the data used to change a mesh in game, i.e. most bodies have a fat morph
|This term has two meanings. It is mostly used to mark any additions to the game that are not on sims themselves, i.e. furniture, windows, doors, columns, trees, etc. It can also be used as a type of file. See Wavefront Object.
|Object Workshop
|A part of SimPE that automates much of the process involved in cloning or recoloring objects. Also known as OW.
|Almost all custom content in the Sims2 are packages. A package should contain all the files the game needs to display your mod and make it work properly.
|3D term. A polygon is the same as a face. See that entry.
|3D term. This is a type of face. It is made up of four vertices.
|A recolour of a chair or dress changes the colours, but not the shape. Recolouring involves making a new texture in a paint program and importing it in the game.
|Another word for recolouring.
|This program is used by most creators to add content to the game. SimPE is the main Sims 2 modding tool.
|3D term. The internal structure (like a human skeleton) that is used by the animation routines to move the sim, and animated objects, such as dressers.
|see recolouring. Most often used in reference to new clothing/skin creations.
|The flat graphic that is wrapped around the mesh to give it color.
|3D term. This is a type of face. It is made up of three vertices.
|A user made add-on for Milkshape for editing meshes, specifically animated ones (bodies, hair, accessories)
|Part of a mesh. It's a guide that describes how the flat graphic is wrapped around the 3D mesh.
|3D term. A point in 3D space. Two vertices connected by a line and make up an edge.
|Wavefront Object
|A common format for a 3D file
|Wings 3D
|A 3D editor, used by some creators to make meshes.
|Wizards of SimPE
|An extension of SimPE that makes some tasks as easy as possible. Only one wizard has currently been made: a recolouring wizard. Also known as WOS.
Back to: Sims 2 Modding


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Regular people are probably confused by the re-inflamed Mac vs. PC ad war, which now focuses on price. Never fear, CNBC's Jim Goldman breaks down the true cost of PCs. Wait, Macs come with Photoshop?
According to CNBC's Silicon Valley Bureau Chief, PCs need the following things to "perform as well as a Mac": $50 a year for anti-virus software, $104 multimedia software, $100 music software, $140 "Photoshop—you get that with Apple" and $129 for a Geek Squad visit. Over $600 worth of extra stuff. Oh, and Macs get 4x the battery life, have faster processors and a higher resolution screen.
Um. What? Last time I checked, you can get pretty decent antivirus software for free, my MacBook Pro didn't come with Photoshop, and iTunes was free on OS X and Windows. For multimedia, you've got Windows Media Center, which is also pretty free. And Picasa—hey, it's free too—isn't a bad alternative to iPhoto. Okay, you might have to spend money on video editing software, since MovieMaker ain't so hot. But you know what? A lot of the stuff MobileMe charges you $100 a year to get, Windows Live provides for free, like SkyDrive's 25GB of storage. I would also like to meet this mythical Mac with an all-day battery, since we sure haven't seen it.
Look, there are some valid reasons to pick a Mac over a PC, just like there are valid reasons to pick a PC over a Mac. But you shouldn't smear blatant horseshit all over them, especially when it's already confusing enough for regular people, your audience, Mr. CNBC Silicon Valley Bureau Chief.
Update: No wonder the figures Goldman tosses out look so familiar. Reader Rob points out they're pulled straight out of this piece by Arik Hesseldahl in BusinessWeek. Did I just miss the credit to BusinessWeek or Hesseldahl? [CNBC - Thanks Jason and Rob!]


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It is paramount that you work with a mortgage professional specialized in your unique situation, just as it is important to go to an expert who specializes in your medical condition. In other words, I would not go to an orthopedic surgeon if I had a heart problem. The orthopedic surgeon may be able to give me a general diagnosis and tell me that I need a heart specialist, but he's not going to be able to diagnose and treat me on the same level as a cardiologist would.
This is also true with a loan officer, but the importance of choosing the right specialist is not so obvious in the mortgage world. For example, when you visit a Realtor who tells you the best loan officer on the face of the earth is Bob, that's probably at least partially true. Bob is probably a fantastic loan officer, but if Bob, the best loan officer in the world, is not dealing with physicians all the time, he's going to miss something. Loan officers who have no experience with physicians are not going to know every solution. They're not going to know every pitfall, and they're not going to be able to guide you through the transaction and into the closing without having a bit of a learning curve.
I don't want an orthopedic surgeon going through a learning curve, figuring out why my heart's not working. You don't want a loan officer going through the learning curve on what rules and underwriting guidelines apply to student loans, down payments, sign-on or relocation bonuses, and closing before you have your first paycheck stub from your new position.
When interviewing a mortgage lender, simply ask, "How many physician clients have you worked with in the past 30 days?" If the lender says, "None," I would raise an eyebrow. If you were to ask, "How many physicians have you worked with in the past year?" and the answer is "One or two," follow that up with, "Tell me about those clients," and "May I see a testimonial or contact them?" It is your right and your responsibility to do your due diligence in asking those very intelligent and blunt questions.
An answer such as, "I worked with one physician, I think, last May," doesn't cut it. The answer you're looking for is, "We've worked with several physicians in the past month. We received testimonials from dozens of physicians over the past 12 months. They're all up on our site, and you can contact anyone you'd like.
Please take a moment to review our 5 star google reviews here.
Also our amazing client testimonials.
If you have any additional questions or want to request a free consultation – you can either contact us via chat or fill out the consultation request below:


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Keep your iPod charged while you're on the go. No need to worry about draining the battery, once you're plugged in with the KCU-445i your iPod is juiced up to play the whole drive long.
Get the complete iPod experience at an ultra-fast rate with a single cable. With USB, your large music libraries are loaded instantly through your head unit. Sound quality is maximized by using USB along with the 24-Bit Burr Brown D/A converter, allowing for an incredible Signal to Noise ratio of 105dB. Take all your favorite iPod songs with you and groove to them from your car stereo.
Find songs quickly! With Alpine's exclusive QuickSearch technology, you'll be able to find what you want, the quickest and easiest way possible. With so many ways to listen to thousands of songs, now you can get super-fast access to Playlists, Artists, Albums, Songs, Genres, Podcasts, and Composers. No interruptions while you search, so you can keep enjoying your music.
For especially big music libraries, Alpine's exclusive Percentage Search function uses the preset buttons for quick jumps to specific parts of the list. Conveniently jump from one song to the next with little effort.
Alpine gives you even more ways to find your favorite music. No need to sift through each song one-by-one. Use Alphabet Search to jump through your lengthy list of music by skipping through the letters of the alphabet. Once you have the letter you want, scroll to the exact song!
|2012 Model Alpine Head Units
|Connection Type


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I have several posts lining up...and I will kick start with this matcha green tea cheesecake tart.
Age is really catching up, I can't recall how I stumbled upon this green tea cheesecake tart recipe here. I was sold after going through the list of ingredients. I have all the items on hand! No special trip to the baking supply store is required. Best of all, according to the site, the recipe is shared by Chef Tomoko Higashiguchi of Patisserie Glace. I have not been to this cafe, but I believe it will be something really delicious.
I didn't follow the recipe to the T though. Instead, I made the tart crust using another recipe from a cookbook. Comparing the two, they are almost identical, except that there is ground almond for the recipe from the cookbook. I have been making tart crust with ground almond and I do think the presence of ground almond does make a difference to the taste.
As for the cream cheese filling, all went well until the last step when the matcha powder is added. According to the recipe, I am suppose to stir in the matcha powder and create a marbling effect. However, I had problem blending the matcha powder to the mixture. I couldn't create any marbling effect after lots of stirring and mixing. Despite the amount of stirring, the matcha powder still didn't dissolve completely! See the speckles of green tea all over?!
site. I knew the effect wouldn't be great, so I didn't put in my best effort and didn't do it wholeheartedly. This is the best I could manage and from a distant, it didn't look too ugly ;)
Is it really worth the effort to put this together? I'll have to say yes, especially when my family members love it!
I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #30: it's Tea time! (April 2013) hosted by Food Playground.
Matcha Cheesecake Tart
(makes an 18cm tart)
for the tart crust:
(Note: the ingredient makes 2 tart crust dough, you may freeze the second dough up to 2 weeks for later use).
150g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes, softened at room temperature
80g caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten (about 55g without shell, use room temperature egg)
250g cake flour
60g ground almond (almond powder)
for the filling:
1 teaspoon gelatine powder
15ml water
100g cream cheese, leave to soften at room temperature
40g caster sugar
40g plain yogurt
2 teaspoon lemon juice
200g whipping cream (I used non dairy whipping cream)
2 teaspoons matcha/green tea powder
to make the tart crust:
- Lightly grease an 18cm tart pan (with removable base) with butter, set aside.
- Toast almond powder at 100 degC for 10 mins. Stirring in between. Let cool.
- Beat sugar and butter with a ballon whisk until the mixture turns pale. Add the egg gradually (a tablespoon at a time), mix well after each addition. Add the ground almond and fold with a spatula. Sieve over the flour. Mix with spatula and gather the mixture with hand to form a soft dough.
- Weigh and divide the dough into 2 egual portion. Flatten the dough to form a round disc. Place each dough into separate ziplock or plastic bags. Leave one of the doughs to chill for about 1 hour. Store the other dough in the freezer compartment for later use for other types of tarts. (Note: Alternatively, you may divide the crust ingredients into half and make only 1 portion).
- Remove dough from fridge and roll out the dough in between 2 sheets of baking paper (I used two plastic sheets cut-out from clear plastic bags) to about 23cm in diameter. Remove one side of the baking paper/plastic sheet. Gently lift up the other sheet of baking paper/plastic (with the pastry dough still on it) and flip the dough over the prepared tart pan. Remove the baking paper/plastic sheet. (Don't worry if some parts of the dough broke off. It can be moulded easily back into the tart pan.) Mould the dough into the tart pan, smoothing the edges and the rim carefully.
- Prick the dough surface with a fork (this helps to prevent the pastry from puffing up when baking). Cover and chill the moulded tart crust in the fridge for 20mins (this helps to prevent the pastry from shrinking too much after baking.)
- Line a sheet of parchment paper over the tart base. Place baking beads/weights on the parchment paper (I used green beans as baking weights), enough to cover the tart base.
- Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 degC for 20 mins. Remove the baking beads and parchment paper. Put it back into the oven and continue to bake for another 15~20mins until the crust is golden browned. Let cool completely. Leave the crust inside the tart pan, do not unmould.
- Dissolve the gelatine in water and set aside for 10min.
- Combine the sugar and yogurt in a pot over medium heat to dissolve the sugar. Stir in the gelatine solution until it's dissolved. Remove from heat.
- With a balloon whisk, whisk cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add in the yoghurt-gelatin solution and mix to combine. Add in the lemon juice, mix to combine.
- With an electric whisk, whisk the non-dairy whipping cream until soft peaks form. With a spatula, fold in 1/3 of the whipping cream to the cream cheese mixture. Fold in the remaining whipping cream to the cream cheese mixture.
- Add in the matcha powder and mix until blended.
- Pour the mixture into the tart pan until it is full. Pour the remaining mixture into a piping bag and pipe a floral motif on the cake.
- Chill the tart for at least 2 hours until it is firm. Unmould before serving.


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Export 2 results:Author Title [ Type] Year
Filters: Author is Lisa Wood [Clear All Filters]
Recovery of Utility Fixed Costs: Utility, Consumer, Environmental and Economist Perspectives. . Vol. FEUR Report No. 5. 2016. LBNL-1005742..
Value-Added Electricity Services: New Roles for Utilities and Third-Party Providers. . Vol. FEUR Report No. 9. 2017. LBNL-2001073..


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Wolf Blitzer delivers the most important breaking news and political, international, and national security stories of the day. Tune to The Situation Room weekdays 5-7pm ET on CNN.
CNN's Barbara Starr reports on Egyptian Pres. Morsy's decision to ousts top generals and what that means for the U.S.
RELATED STORY: Egypt's Morsy: 'Imperial' president or step forward for revolution?
Wolf, my answer is: Who Cares??? Someone in some other country 8,000 miles away fired some generals... So What! What the hell does that got to do with us??? We are the only country on earth that can be manipulated into bankruptcy by events that are none of our damn business. A handful of radicals raise a little hell somewhere, and what do we do? Send half the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force to occupy the territory for 10 years when a couple of local "beat cops" would have been sufficient. And then, while that ocupation is going on, we send the rest of our armed forces to occupy some other "hot spot" on another false alarm. Meanwhile, the Chinese and the Arabs continue to let us run-up a tab, and we wonder why we get the short end of the stick. Its because we are stupid and easlily manipulated. Someone could pay three drunks on a street corner in Beirut to start shouting anti-Israel slogans and we respond by deploying troops. Small wonder we are broke!
Wolf you are the worst anchor...you are soooooo republican ....and cnn is suppose to be none republican and none democrat....YOU JUST CANNOT BE FAIR...LAY OFF FROM THE DEMOCRAT.....
Only time will tell.Those countries over there think about war all the time so who knows what will happen.Jim Thomas Phx.Az.
Wolf; Good job on reporting the less than the truth political adds. Keep it up, I was starting to think that most of the media was just another arm of the White House.
Sounds pretty shaky to me. It still seems like it is a day to day struggle for absolute political control in Egypt. Keep your eye on the Sinai.
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Astor, John Jacob
Astor, John Jacob ăs´tər [key], 1763–1848, American merchant, b. Walldorf, near Heidelberg, Germany. At the age of 16 he went to England, and five years later, in 1784, he arrived in Baltimore, penniless. He later went to New York City, where in a few years he entered into business with a small shop for trade in musical instruments and furs. Shrewdness, driving ambition, and stolid concentration brought him to a commanding position in the burgeoning economy of the United States. He became a leader of the China trade and was an astute investor in lands, principally in and around New York City, but he is perhaps best remembered as a fur trader. He chartered the American Fur Company (1808) and founded subsidiary companies—the Pacific Fur Company (see Astoria, Oreg.) and the South West Company (operating around the Great Lakes). His firm exercised a virtual monopoly of the trade in U.S. territories in the 1820s and still did when he retired from it in 1834. The wealthiest man in the United States at his death, he left a fortune that has continued to make the family name prominent. Part of his money went to found the Astor Library (see New York Public Library). His Astor House was a forerunner of family hotel properties that much later included the Astor Hotel and the Waldorf-Astoria.
See biographies by J. U. Terrell (1963) and K. W. Porter (1936, repr. 1966); P. Stark, Astoria (2014).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Business Leaders


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Recession: it's not the end of the world
To hear it the other day from Asimov, at The Pour, California's wine industry is on its last legs. On Tuesday he blogged that "the effect of the recession on their businesses [is] brutal" and "anxiety is gushing forth." Today (yesterday, as you read this) he declares that California growers, producers, distributors, retailers, brokers, equipment dealers and consultants are "anxiety-ridden," as they see bottles and bottles of expensive wine that have "lost their glamour."
I know times are tough, but I don't think California wine is in a state of collapse. As I've noted in the past, history tends to repeat itself, and you have to look no further than Bordeaux to understand how that venerable old wine region has sustained itself through centuries of repeated wars, economic collapses and even revolutionary changes in France's government. Most wines did not go away, they simply adjusted their prices in bad times and jacked them up again when boom times returned. A surprisingly low number of chateaux actually went out of existence; just look at the 1855 Classification, which contains most of the names we know today.
Every wine region is in a state of turmoil now, and California is clearly no exception. But let's not lose sight of the silver lining around the clouds. Producers of lower-priced wines are doing fine, and by that I mean everybody from Fred Franzia and Gallo (at their value levels) to some mom-and-pop operations. We haven't seen any massive bankruptcies or sales; certainly it's no worse, so far, than in the early 1990s, when similar gloomy predictions were being made. Winemaker passion hasn't waned, nor have the improvements that have been invested in vineyards and wineries over the past years, made possible by the Golden Age of profitability that marked most of the Clinton and Bush years. Wineries will get through this difficult period — most of them, anyway — just as you and I will, by ratcheting down expenses, renegotiating loan agreements, and the like. It's a terrible recession, but it's not the end of the world.
* * *
I'll be gone all next week. Going to New York for Wine Enthusiast's annual summer editorial meeting, when we plan out the next year's issue, and also put our heads together trying to figure out how to make the magazine better and more satisfying for readers. I'll try to blog from the road but it's not easy, as we're kept pretty busy all day in meetings and with dinners (and lots of good wine) at night.
Have a great week!
Thanks for the blog. I appreciate the sentiment. And while I agree with much of it, I do believe that to say that wineries are "anxiety-ridden" is not an exaggeration. If only there was a Perez Hilton (can you believe I am wishing for this?) of the wine business, he/she would have a full-time job reporting on wineries, growers and the rumors about them.
I believe that there are a number of factors that you need to keep in mind when looking at this recessionary period compared to previous recessions and its effect on the wine business…some are in a positive light, others not:
1) Never before has wine been such an integral part of American culture. More Americans are drinking wine, there is no stigman associated with it, and this trend doesn't seem to be declining with the state of the economy.
2) Many European countries choose to subsidize their grape growers. Much as we subsidize wheat growers in the mid-West, they subsidize grape growers. This makes comparing what happened in Bordeax, as an example, to what will happen in California a difficult exercise.
3) There are an inordinate number of smaller growers now whose 401ks have all but vanished and they are suddenly looking to their vineyards for income. This probably won't happen.
Adam Lee
Siduri Wines
It's good of you to offer some perspective on this, Steve. I recall when Swine Flu was coming and it was the end of the world then, too. When's the last time someone brought it up in conversation other than my example just now? Probably a while ago. The point being, it's easy to fall into the trap of bad news when that's all you're hearing, but you can't just take the news for what it is.
Consider yesterday's news, yes, I'm of course mentioning history itself. We've had our ups and downs. Every generation I'm sure lived in equal states of fear and ecstasy about how theirs would be the best or worst era in history. We can shape how things are viewed when the going gets tough–that's our own responsibility. Personally, I prefer not to be the one screaming over how the sky is falling–I'd rather focus on finding the cover (or solutions) to ride it out until the good times roll back in.
Don't get me wrong….I appreciate the cheerleading. But I also think it is important to look at what is different this time around as compared to the mid 1990s. Some things that are different, such as consumers drinking more, are great. Other thngs aren't quite as favorable.
Adam Lee
Siduri Wines
This time around we have vastly more producers chasing consumers. Yes, consumption is up too, but at vastly lower price points. Consumers are discovering that they can enjoy Fighting Varietals (and Trader Joe's imports) just as much or almost as much as they can wines over $20. The Siduri/Novy wines will manage to stay in the game because they've had the time over the past decade to develop loyalty and standing. I don't see how newer brands can survive.
Just saw that rack rates in Vegas are down big time. Convention attendance is down big time. Occupancy rates are down big time.
No surprise that wine sales are down. But I remember what Joe Heitz told me once when he had a vintage that did not sell out before it became time for the new release. "I'm not too worried about it. It is like a million dollars worth of future income. It will sell some day".
Wineries like Siduri with so many small lots will find that some are slower than others, but I will bet my eyeteeth (yes, Adam, you can have them if I am wrong) that Siduri will come out the other side of this downturn in tact and, if it trims at all, will trim excess not bone and muscle.
This is not a new story–and each economic downtown has its own narrative, but the overall sales of CA wine are not down by as much as the market or the Vegas rack rates. This too shall pass, and Asimov's anecdotal evidence was too one-sided for my liking. Any one of us could produce a hundred comments about the downside. That is what story-telling is about. It is not what hard economic reporting is about. It would be unfair to ask Asimov to be a great economist in addition to being a great writer–so I am not going to and don't think we should rely on him so much as on hard facts, not anecdotes.
Let's face it. The current economic situation is the most dire since the end of WWII. Domestically, there has been several severe recessions in the post-war era, but what sets this one apart is that it's world-wide to a much greater extent than seen previously. We're not out of the woods yet, but there are signs that perhaps the worst is over. With my winery, it's possible that I've survived the recession, which leads one to ask, can I make it through the recovery? Americans are optimistic, so I'll stay at the helm whilst navigating through some rough seas. Hope the damned bilge pump works!
I just took advantage of the clunker program, junked my pickup, and bought a new car. We need a clunker program for wine, where we can turn in all those 16% alcohol cult wines in our cellars for something that tastes good. Maybe we recover the alcohol to blend in our gas.
Economic change is like climate change, there are winners and there are losers. The winners are those that are prepared to take advantage of big intense high alcohol reds aged in the best oak that will be available in bulk at prices that are a fraction of what it cost for the grapes and winemaking. Great blending material if you have some inexpensive light bodied wine. Among the losers will be some of the four dozen wantabe "cult" labels that are for sale right now when they find the only thing they have that anyone wants is their bulk wine at a steep discount. (Oh, Franzia will need some brand names that people associate with the Napa Valley.)
I am reminded of 1982 when a family named Benziger had a bottling operation in Glen Ellen and a brand by that name. They would buy for $3 a gallon wine that cost us $10 to make, pay us to store it for them, and then when they needed it, ship it to the bottling facility where it was blended with wine from all over and bottled into a wine that sold for $24 a case wholesale. "Private Reserve" I think it was called. It was good value.
To me what is different is there are not only many more brands, but too many making over-the-top wine that, aside from the 100 point critics, few find enjoyable to drink. When the wine no longer offers to enhance your self image; all that is left is the way it tastes.
I like the perspective. You're right, let's everyone take a deep breath. This too shall pass.
It's just another form of Darwinism. While the public will get a massive amount of great wines at ultra-low prices courtesy of such retailers as Trader Joes, BevMo, Total Wine, Costco (plus the killer deals that can be found in tasting rooms!)…, some wineries will not be able to withstand the fact that they are loosing a massive amount of money. Many wine drinkers are not that brand loyal and once they pay $14.99 for it at TJ's, they probably will not be willing to pay $40 for it later when things turn around. Some wineries are betting the public has short-term memory and will not remember the discounted price–and some of those wineries might be right–but our winery landscape will look significantly different when this is past. The brand names might remain, but the ownership of that brand might very well be differnet.
If one looks at the turmoil in the financial services sector or the automobile sector, the changes in the CA wine landscape look small indeed.
To be sure, if it is happening to your winery, it looks massive, as it does to anyone whose job or business has been affected, but the wine business is amazingly stable relative to a lot of small business sectors. Try being a small, up-scale, one-off restaurant in this market.
Economic Darwinism is one of the inevitable consequences of capitalism. When things are going well, wineries can sell all they make, sometimes at amazing prices that make rich men even richer and ordinary folks into rich men. That also is a consequence of capitalism.
There will be upsets in the wine business. There always have been. Mostly they affect wineries that either make wine that is not good enough to sell for the prices being asked or that simply have no idea how to sell the wine they make. Unfortunate choices like doubling the production of your $60 Chardonnay at exactly the same time as the wine markets turn soft will turn out to be unfortunate for you.
But, neither Steve E. nor any other Steve will be tossed out into the streets unless their products are simply the wrong stuff at the wrong time. With the supply of CA wineries now passing 3,000, I doubt that consumers will be short-changed by the passing of a few wineries that could not compete for all kinds of reasons. More likely, by the way, that K-J or Diageo or Constellation or one of the smaller winery groups will buy up those brands–that is if the Kingdom of Freddy Franzia does not get there first.
I thought Asimov was ducking and covering too quickly, as well. But one thing to me is clear: when your home and stock portfolios drop that much in value, you tend to batten down the hatches. Americans are saving at a greater rate than ever, albeit in my opinion, not nearly enough still.
Our economy is consumer-based and needs people to spend their money to keep growing. If the wallets are closing up, of course us wineries will feel the pinch. The challenge is to see your way through by playing to your strengths as well as cutting costs and providing better discounts where appropriate.
The wineries that are too debt laden, did not pay attention to their costs, and have poor sales and marketing hygiene are the ones shaking in their boots.


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$27.00 $36.00
LOX 10% Spray 50ml
Category from : LOX 10% Spray 50ml
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