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Microsoft has announced that the guy heading up its cloud computing efforts, Satya Nadella, will be its new CEO.
His appointment coincide with news that Bill Gates will leave his position as chairman of the board, to become an advisor to the company.
Nadella's appointment is interesting and possibly controversial for investors. That's because when Steve Ballmer stepped down it was because he thought Microsoft needed fresh blood. "The best way for Microsoft to enter a new era is with a new leader who will accelerate change," Ballmer told the Wall Street Journal.
Nadella isn't exactly be fresh blood but he is well respected at Microsoft and in the industry.
As new broke that he would be named CEO, Box CEO Aaron Levie tweeted this nice thing about him.
Satya is a *very* strong pick for CEO. Understands how to build platforms, gets the cloud, and has a solid vision for the future.
— Aaron Levie (@levie) January 30, 2014
Here's a rundown of who he is and why he's a good choice to lead the company. Basically, he knows the business inside and out:
- Nadella has been with Microsoft for 22 years, since 1992.
- He currently heads up Microsoft's cloud computing efforts. He also ran Bing, and although Bing has never been Microsoft's crown jewel, Nadella helped it grow.
- Ballmer moved him from Bing to run Microsoft's $19 billion Server and Tools Business, pushing out long-time Microsoft exec Bob Muglia in the process.
- Nadella was the one that helped bring some of Microsoft's most popular technologies, like its database, Windows server and developer tools, to the cloud.
- That cloud, called Azure, has gained respect as an alternative to Amazon's cloud among the industry.
- He also helped Microsoft bring a cloud version of Microsoft Office to the cloud, Office 365. Microsoft says Office 365 one of its fastest growing products ever.
- Cloud revenue grew to $20.3 billion in the last fiscal year (ended in June), from $16.6 billion when he took over in 2011.
- He's also a smart and diplomatic person, known internally as someone that's good at getting warring factions to work together, Bloomberg reports. That's means he should be able to work with the reorganization Ballmer put in place last summer named "One Microsoft."
- Prior to Microsoft, he worked at Sun Microsystems, now owned by Oracle.
- He grew up in Hyderabad, India, and has an electrical engineering degree from Mangalore University, and a master's degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin. He's also got an MBA from the University of Chicago. That kind of engineering background gives him street cred at Microsoft, too.
If you've never seen him or heard him speak, here's an interview he gave in December.


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Rob GronkowskiHt/Wt: 6-5/265 lbs
Position: TE
School: Arizona
Class: Junior
Rob Gronkowski's Player ProfileWould you like to write a player profile for any prospect that may be entering the 2010 NFL Draft? Email profiles of any player (even players not on our list) to our Webmaster. Credit will be given to the author of the profile.
Rob Gronkowski VideosRob Gronkowski on going to the NFL
Rob Gronkowski TD Catch
Click here to return

subset: commoncrawl


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The Benefits of OnBase for Your IT Department
One platform, unlimited applications across your enterprise
Leverage a flexible, low-code platform for content-enabled solutions across your enterprise – rapidly configuring new and consolidating existing applications. With point-and-click configurability, you don't need to be a developer or database administrator to create and maintain an OnBase solution. OnBase is built on a single end-to-end architecture, available on-premises or in the cloud. With one system to support, maintain and upgrade, you'll realise a lower total cost of ownership while maintaining IT governance and control.
OnBase is a future-proof platform
OnBase meets your IT needs, long into the future because it is:
- Configurable without code – OnBase is point-and-click configurable, allowing you to use checkboxes, radio buttons and drop-down menus to quickly configure and easily change solutions. That means no expensive, time-consuming and difficult-to-maintain coding or scripting.
- Scalable across your organisation – OnBase scales as requirements evolve, so you will never outgrow your OnBase system. Start in one department and grow your solution over time as needs and requirements change. Maintain speed and performance, even as you continue to expand and enhance your solution.
- Continually enhanced – The development of OnBase is 100 per cent in-house and never outsourced. Since our beginning in 1991, we've averaged two releases a year – one major and one minor. This ensures OnBase remains relevant with evolving industry trends, stays current with technological innovations, and supports the latest operating systems, browsers and applications.
- Easily upgradable - With OnBase, all your solution components are upgraded together, eliminating the challenges of upgrading multiple custom-coded or point solutions. Take advantage of incremental parallel upgrades, minimising downtime by allowing more than one OnBase version to run simultaneously.
Browse the sections below to learn more about the value of the OnBase platform for IT. To explore the benefits OnBase brings to your business users, click here.
Single, Secure, Scalable ArchitectureBy using OnBase across the entire enterprise, organisations simplify their environment, reduce IT cost and prepare for the future.
Benefits of Configuration Without CodeYou don't need to be a developer, DBA or programmer to implement, change or improve an OnBase solution. With a focus on configurability, OnBase delivers an extremely flexible enterprise solution.
Enterprise ScalabilityOnBase scales to meet your needs, whether you're deploying solutions around a specific case, specific departments or your entire enterprise.
The value of continuous developmentHyland's commitment to the research and development of OnBase is unparalleled – 100 per cent of our research and development investment goes into the enhancement of the OnBase suite of solutions.
OnBase makes your information find youWhether working at your desk or on the road, directly in OnBase or through another application, you benefit from a rich user experience that caters to the way you work best
Deployment optionsYou have the flexibility to deploy OnBase the way that works best for you, whether on-premises or in the cloud - and should your business needs change, it is easy to migrate from one option to the other.
Simple Process ConfigurationOnBase lets you accelerate your business and stay relevant in your market by implementing and evolving your processes at the speed your business requires


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Table of Contents:
These categories group together and put in context the legislative and non-legislative initiatives which deal with the same topic.
Employment and social policy > Social protection
Document or Iniciative
Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. A concerted strategy for modernising social protection [COM(1999) 347 final – Not published in the Official Journal].
Social protection systems provide people with income in times of need and allow them to accept and embrace economic and social change. In this way they promote both social cohesion and economic dynamism.
Expenditure on social protection accounts for 28.5% of Community GDP, the bulk of which (63%) is spent on pensions and health care. Its role in the redistribution of income is immense: in the absence of social transfer payments almost 40% of households would live in relative poverty, a figure which is reduced through tax and benefit systems to 17%.
The social protection systems face a series of significant common challenges – for example, the need to adapt to the changing world of work, new family structures and the dramatic demographic changes of the forthcoming decades. In response to these challenges, a joint reflection has been underway at EU level, based on three documents:
- the Council Recommendation 92/442/EEC of 27 July 1992 on the convergence of social protection objectives and policies;
- the Communication from the Commission of 31 October 1995 on the future of social protection: a framework for a European debate;
- the Communication from the Commission of 12 March 1997 on modernising and improving social protection in the European Union.
Besides, the Dutch, Luxembourg, UK and Austrian Presidencies have all organised important conferences focusing on different aspects of the issue. Finally, the European institutions and civil society have come out in favour of reform, in order to maintain and strengthen social protection.
It has been generally recognised that strong social protection systems are an integral part of the European social model. Social protection provides not only safety nets for those in poverty; it can also facilitate adaptability in the labour market and can thus contribute to improving economic performance. Hence, social protection is a productive factor.
We have also seen a number of important changes in the EU, notably:
- the completion of the single market and the establishment of a single currency;
- the ratification of the Treaty of Amsterdam, in particular the new employment title and the new legal base for the fight against social exclusion;
- enlargement with the countries of eastern and central Europe, Malta and Cyprus.
In March 1999 the European Parliament invited the Commission to launch a process for the concerted approximation of objectives and policies in the social policy field, on the basis of the European employment strategy. In this communication the Commission proposes a concerted strategy for modernising social protection. This strategy is based on an exchange of experiences, the political debates, and the follow-up of the current policy with a view to identifying best practices. The Commission calls on the Member States to achieve the following objectives:
Make work pay and provide secure income
The characteristics of today's labour market are very different from those which obtained when the Member States established their social protection systems (high overall unemployment; a high share of young, female and long-term unemployed; career breaks; changing household patterns; the emergence of new working arrangements etc.). Hence, the social protection systems must now offer workers and jobseekers active help, in particular by promoting employability and adaptability, and must create strong incentives to work and to make work pay:
- tax systems must make work more advantageous for jobseekers;
- social protection systems must reflect and respond to the emergence of new working arrangements (temporary and part-time contracts, self-employment);
- social protection systems must provide the necessary income bridge and the active help necessary to prevent a temporary gap between jobs from sliding into long-term unemployment;
- social protection should contribute to reconciling work and family life;
- the financing of social protection must take account of the need to provide systems with resources adequate to attain their objectives, the need to avoid a negative impact on employment and the need for budgetary discipline.
Make pensions safe and pension systems sustainable
The fundamental objective is to provide people with a securely funded and adequate pension. This may involve finding an appropriate balance between funded and pay-as-you-go systems. Hence, the Commission emphasises:
- the need to anticipate the impact of demographic ageing on social protection systems;
- the design and reform of pension systems should discourage early withdrawal from the labour market, encourage flexibility in retirement arrangements and promote active participation by older people in the light of the Community;
- the need to combat poverty among older women, resulting from their low participation in employment combined with changes in household structures;
- the need to promote active ageing.
Promote social integration
Social protection has a key role to play, in conjunction with other policy instruments, in combating social exclusion and promoting social inclusion. Social protection systems should:
- ensure effective safety nets, consisting of minimum income benefits and accompanying provisions;
- focus on prevention, fostering active rather than passive measures and providing incentives and pathways to (re)integration into the labour market and society;
- contribute to a comprehensive and integrated approach to fighting social exclusion, including all relevant policies and players.
Ensure high quality and sustainability of health care
Every one should be in a position to benefit from systems to promote health care. However, demand on health systems is increasing and will continue to do so because of demographic ageing. Constant innovation in medical technology can bring great benefits but also increases costs. Hence, it is important to:
- contribute to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the health systems within available resources;
- ensure that all can have access to high quality health services and reduce health inequalities;
- strengthen support for long-term care of frail elderly people;
- focus on illness prevention and health protection as the best way to tackle health problems, reduce costs and promote healthier life.
Promote closer cooperation
The Commission wants the Council to decide on a framework for closer cooperation based on the exchange of experience, mutual concertation and evaluation of ongoing developments with a view to identifying best practices.
Each Member State is also invited to designate a high level senior official to act as focal point for exchange and information gathering activities. The Commission will regularly organise meetings of these officials to analyse and evaluate the progress made.
Monitoring and implementation of the strategy
To assist Member States in this process and to monitor ongoing policy developments, the Commission will in future publish its report on social protection on an annual instead of a biennial basis. This report will be drawn up in close consultation with the Member States and will reflect the broad objectives the Council is invited to adopt in the context of the concerted strategy. It will be based on contributions from Member States and will highlight key policy developments. The Commission will invite the Council to examine the annual report on social protection in conjunction with the joint report on employment.
The Commission invites the other Community institutions, notably the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, as well as the social partners, the non-governmental organisations and the social security institutions to contribute to this process.
More recently, the EU began to promote closer cooperation between the Member States on modernisation of the social protection systems. This cooperation is achieved by:
- strengthening the open method of coordination, which was developed in the fields of social inclusion and pensions in particular;
- the creation of the Social Protection Committee in 2004, responsible for promoting cooperation in social protection policies between the Member States and the Commission;
- ensuring good coordination of national social security systems, modernisation appropriate to Europeans moving within the Community and subject to different social protection systems.
This modernisation has also been launched in the fields of health care and long term care and in response to the question " making work pay " which aims to promote employability and ensure a high level of social protection for all. MISSOC (the mutual information system on social protection) has also become a key source of information on the state of social protection in Europe. Thanks to the updating of the comparative tables and specific information bulletins, the modernisation of social protection continues to be developed.
Related Acts
Commission Report (2004). Social situation in the European Union [Not published in the Official Journal] [ ]
Commission Report (2003). Social situation in the European Union [Not published in the Official Journal] [ ]
Commission Report (2002). Social situation in the European Union [Not published in the Official Journal] [ ]
Commission Report (2001). Social situation in the European Union [Not published in the Official Journal] [ ]
Commission Report (2000). Social situation in the European Union [Not published in the Official Journal] [ ]


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HD-Ready or not? Well, not, it seems, with the InFocus IN72, so how come we like it so much? We'll come to that but if you want a clue in a word: price.
The IN76, which preceded this model, is a mightily successful HD-Ready product and with the IN72, the company is consciously moving downmarket to make a similar impression at the budget end of the high street.
What it retains, is the sleek, lavish design all the way down to the ball-jointed stand on which it can rotate and tip to allow the weirdest of projection areas.
It's in the connection department that you get to the heart of the IN72's capabilities, as well as its limits. On the bright side, it has an HDMI input and a clever M1-DA multi-purpose socket that lets you hook up DVI, USB, component and PC connections providing you use the right adapter. It means you can hook up to two digital sources simultaneously, which is nice.
Its Achilles heel could be its 'limited' resolution, what with it using a 480 line panel. So with its impressive £900 price, how does the IN72 perform, despite not having the minimum HD vertical resolution of 720 pixels?
The answer, we're happy to say, is brilliantly. For starters, its HDMI input does accept high-definition sources, even up to 1080p. Image processing is done via a PixelWorks DNX 10-bit engine and its class shines through as a scaler when it handled King Kong on HD.
When the big hairy one crashes about from cliff to cliff, there was no lag or distortion of movement, while equally, the ability to deal with extremes of light and colour were dealt with impressively with the sunlit canopy of the jungle shimmering with verdant shades.
Furthermore, black levels, for a unit priced below £1,000, were some of the best we have ever seen, particularly when observing the movements of the various giant bugs in the shadowy canyon after Kong has sorted out the Tyrannosaurs. Slight fault could be found in the form of an occasional slight rainbow effect while picture structure could also be made out from time to time due to the 'low-res' pixel structure.
But all in all, there is little to fault and much to commend from this stunning budget model.


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Lgbtqia+ Voices Youth Group
February 7 @ 16:30 - 18:30 EST
An event every week that begins at 16:30 on Tuesday and Thursday, repeating until 28. February 2023
Event Navigation
VOICES YOUTH GROUP II – for youth ages 11-15 years old. We provide a safe space for you to eat, learn, grow and be YOU.
What's going on in Reading:
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Core-Party-9715, originally uploaded by Paradise in Portugal.
Well, we had to have a party to celebrate Daniela's and my marriage so we had a few friends over … the party was actually a run of parties, four days in fact, but these were the core members. This was taken before we sat down for the first night's dinner; i might post some "during the party" shots but I think I'll spare you the "after the party" ones ….


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|GM Boris Gulko
Boris Gulko might have achieved even more than becoming a strong Grandmaster if not for his chaotic brush with politics. Boris opposed communism and in the late 70's and applied with his wife WGM Anna Aksharumova to immigrate. They were denied and became prominent Refuseniks. Boris and Anna were vocal against the communist regime, even going on three hunger strikes. One was a female only hunger strike organized by Boris, and another lasted for 38 days. Boris was briefly jailed, and once beaten for his beliefs. In his thirties, Boris should have been at the peak of his career, playing in tournaments constantly and improving his level. Instead, both he and his wife were barred from top-level competitions for several years, and when they were allowed to play, it was only within the U.S.S.R. "The idea of traveling outside was as grand as the idea of going to the moon."
In 1986, the couple was finally permitted to immigrate to Israel and travel freely to chess tournaments. "39 is too old to start playing and training to reach the highest achievement in chess," said Boris, "those 7 years were a serious blow for my chess career, but I don't regret them." Boris traveled to the United States for the U.S. Open, and immediately saw that the United States offered more opportunities for a chessplayer. Anna and Boris moved to the U.S. after only a few months living in Israel, eventually settling in New Jersey.
Twenty years after his persecution for his political beliefs, his Jewish faith interfered with his career. The 2004 World Championship was held in Libya, and Boris qualified to play. He accepted the invitation until President Qadafi's son announced: "We did not and will not invite the Zionist enemies to this championship." Boris, along with other Jewish players from Israel and the United States withdrew from the tournament. Boris sent a scathing letter to the president of FIDE, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, "I implore you not to be the first president of FIDE to preside over the first world chess championship from which Jews are excluded. Our magnificent and noble game does not deserve such a disgrace." The tournament went on as scheduled, without Gulko.
Gulko is known for his strong middlegame positional play and solid style- he's not easy to beat. Gulko is one of few players to hold a plus score against Kasparov (+3, -1 and =4). Despite this or maybe because of it, Boris has a lot of respect for Kasparov. He recommends Kasparov's books (The Great Predecessors series and Test of Time) more highly than any others and calls them required reading for aspiring masters and grandmasters.
In 2008, Gulko joined the US Chess League team, the New Jersey Knockouts. In 2009, Gulko scored 5/5 on board two earning a spot on the All Star Team.


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Hot flashes: A sudden wave of mild or intense body heat caused by rushes of hormonal changes resulting from decreased levels of estrogen. Hot flashes can occur at any time and may last from a few seconds to a half-hour. They are due to blood vessel opening and constricting and a symptom of menopause.
Hot flashes are episodes that are experienced by many, but not all, women undergoing menopause. A hot flash is a feeling of warmth, sometimes associated with flushing that spreads over the body and sometimes followed by perspiration. Menstruating women in their 40's may have hot flashes, and hot flashes may last for a decade or more in some women. There is no way to predict when they will cease in a given woman. They decrease in frequency over time. The cause of hot flashes is not completely understood. Hot flashes may have more to do with fluctuation of hormone levels as opposed to low hormone levels per se.
Hot flashes can be treated with either oral (by mouth) or transdermal (patch) forms of estrogen. Both oral and transdermal estrogen therapies are available either as estrogen alone, or as estrogen combined with progesterone. All available prescription estrogen replacement therapies, whether oral or transdermal, are effective in reducing hot flash frequency and severity. Generally, available treatments decrease hot flash frequency by about 80-90%.


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Everywhere I look, food bloggers are talking about a popular seasonal fruit … the pumpkin! Yes, that's right, pumpkins are actually part of the fruit family which includes cucumbers, melons, squash, and gourds, which I would venture to guess is why they make such fabulous sweet desserts. In celebration of pumpkin season I want to share some fabulous pumpkin recipe from bloggers around the web!
Pumpkin Sugar Donut Muffins
Is it a donut? Is it a muffin? It's both! Sarah, the blogging baker behind Baking Serendipity shares a quirky named but photographically delicious sweet eat using real pumpkin all baked into a bite size "duffin" (aka Donut Muffin).
Pumpkin Cupcakes
Simply named and simply created, Courtney, the blogging baker behind Courtney's Sweets shares a recipe intended for pumpkin bread turned into a cupcake with a sweet cream cheese frosting. Yum!
Quick and Easy Pumpkin Cake
Lori, the baking blogger behind My Wooden Spoon turns an ordinary boxed cake mix into a dazzling pumpkin cake that can be made on the fly with a few simple ingredients.
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Cake
Forget the frosting, this cake needs no fluffy topping covering the beautiful marbling of a cream cheese and pumpkin. Amanda, baking blogger behind A Few Short Cuts is also working on a Gluten Free version!
Still not satisfied, check out the rest of these great pumpkin recipes that were shared on the Oh My Sugar High Facebook page. <– go like it, we're requesting submissions for recipe features all the time.


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Autodir uses modules to get specific functionality. The core Autodir implements generic functionality that modules can exploit and add specific functionality to.
At any moment only one module can be added to Autodir. If there are two modules, for example autohome and autogroup, then two processes of Autodir should be created so that each process can have one of the required modules attached to it.
For further explanation I chose the autohome module which handles transparent home directory creation.
Keep it Simple: Some fine details are intentionally kept aside to make the explanation easy to understand.
First the autofs file system is mounted on the /home directory by Autodir. The Linux kernel is informed that /home is managed by a user space application, Autodir, from now on.
Do not bother too much about the autofs file system if you do not understand about it. Just think of it as a special kind of file system, similar to memory based file systems but with some additional special properties.
+----------------+ | Linux Kernel | +----------------+ / \ / \ / \ / \ +-------------+ +--------+ +------------+ +-----------------+ | Application |------>| /home |<----->| Autodir |<------>| autohome module | +-------------+ +--------+ +------------+ +-----------------+ \ / \ +----------------+ / +-| /autohome |<------------------+ +----------------+
Whenever an application or daemon needs access to a user's home directory, for example /home/userhome1, they directly enter into /home/userhome1 to access it. The kernel, which notices this, informs Autodir if the userhome1 directory does not yet exist already in /home.
Autodir, in turn, passes this request to the autohome module. The autohome module does not touch the /home directory. Instead it manages real home directories somewhere else, for example in /autohome as shown in the above figure.
The autohome module creates a real home directory if it does not exist in the /autohome directory. After it is successfully created or failed to be created, whatever the outcome, autohome reports back to Autodir. When the directory creation task has completed successfully, the path to real home directory is provided to Autodir.
If the autohome module reports success, Autodir creates userhome1 directory under /home and mounts the real home directory from /autohome on it. At the end of the process, Autodir informs the kernel whether the whole operation was successful or not. Accordingly, the kernel allows applications to enter the directory, or, in case of failure, it reports that no such directory exists.


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I mentioned yesterday that I'd be covering the dress rehearsal of The King and I, at Zach Theatre last night. I showed up with a bag full of toys. I took along the Nikon D7100 which I used for a large percentage of the images. I brought the GH4, fitted with a 35-100mm, which I used and a GH3 fitted with a 12-35mm lens, which I did not use. I also brought the black EM-5 fitted with the Sigma 60mm DN "art" lens-lite which I used and wished I'd used on everything.
I'll cut to the chase here, on paper the D7100 is the best of the cameras. Biggest sensor, highest resolution, fastest focusing (?), and a real live optical viewfinder. In practical use, doing theatre images under constantly changing light the GH4 and the EM-5 just kept kicking its big jelly-bean-Ford-Taurus-bubble body around the block. From a sharpness point of view the Panasonic 35-100mm, stopped down one stop, and the Sigma 60mm 2.8 wide open are an even optical match for Nikon's 85mm 1.8G lens. Especially so when you consider that the two mirror less camera/lens combinations hit focus 100% of the time while the Nikon was....variable.
But I don't really care if one sensor is just a bit better than another sensor if the instantaneous feedback loop of a great EVF (or even just a good one) can help me nail color and exposure with a higher degree of accuracy every single time. Big sensors do everything well that their proponents talk about. And EVFs do everything well that I talk about. I'm not a small versus big sensor guy. I don't care. If all things are equal I'd probably stick with a 24x36mm sensor because, logically, it should yield a higher quality file. But to make that file you have to nail exposure and focus and color. You can tell me you never chimp with your D800 or Canon 5D3 and I never do either----under continuous, consistent lighting. But if you are telling me you don't chimp under constantly shifting light sources; light sources that are also changing color, then you are either lying or stupid enough to want to spend ample, quality time in post production. Hey, I get it. Some people like to sit around and stare at their computers and the need to individually post process every few files is as good an excuse as any.
Comparing all three camera files at the same ISO I saw pretty much the same amount of noise. The nice thing is that all three cameras have "nice" noise. Small, black grains. No big, out of control color splotches. The Panasonic was the least noisy of the three. The Olympus had the highest appearance of sharpness and over all quality of the three and the Nikon.....well, since the files are bigger when you compare all the files at a 16 megapixel size it does have the appearance of slightly smaller noise artifacts. Nothing exemplary to write home about. I shot raw on all three and developed them side by side in Lightroom. No big variances.
How was the play? It was one of the best performances of live theater I've ever seen. Mel and Jill (the King and Anna) were just flat out amazing. The cast of children was delightful. The stage sets were magnificent. The music (directed by Alan Robertson) was perfect and the choreography was tighter than a moon landing.
If you have a spouse, significant other or friend who says they "hate" live theater, this play, done by Zach Theatre, will convert them to big time fans in one pleasant evening. It's like curing vegetarianism with bacon.
I'm shooting another performance in the next week or so to capture images of the backup group of children who are in the play. I wouldn't call them understudies as I think they cycle the two groups so no one misses too much school or homework. At any rate, when I come back I'm coming with the two EM-5s and the two Panasonic X zooms. The files impressed me that much in this application.
Smells like that EM-1 is getting closer and closer.
All images ©2014 Kirk Tuck
All rights reserved.


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I will be using this site to inform you on every aspect of our family tree. I will be sharing with you photos, letters, postcards, memories, stories, legends and anything else that you would like to see here. If you would like to get involved, please let me know, and I will get you a sign in where you can share and post with the family as well. There are two different ways for you to find your ancestor on here, you can browse through the index, or you can type their name in the search box. I have not posted any information on this site for any of our living relatives. If you would like information on a living relative, or an ancestor report, email me and I will be happy to get you whatever you need. This is simply to protect our identity.
I have all the family tree loaded in, and as time goes on, I will have pictures and other documents added and additional relatives as we find them. If there is anything special you would like to see added, please let me know about that as well. I hope you enjoy this!
~Susie Higginbotham Reynolds~


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The following is the results of your search for turtle, turtle-dove.
1. the turtle-dove (Turtur auritus),
2. the collared turtle (T. risorius), and
3. the palm turtle (T. Senegalensis).
But it is to the first of these species which the various passages of
Scripture refer. It is a migratory bird
(Jeremiah 8:7; The Song of Solomon 2:11,12) "Search
the glades and valleys, even by sultry Jordan, at the end of March, and
not a turtle-dove is to be seen. Return in the second week of April,
and clouds of doves are feeding on the clovers of the plain. They
overspread the whole face of the land." "Immediately on its arrival it
pours forth from every garden, grove, and wooded hill its melancholy
yet soothing ditty unceasingly from early dawn till sunset. It is from
its plaintive and continuous note, doubtless, that David, pouring forth
his heart's sorrow to God, compares himself to a turtle-dove"
(Psalms 74:19)
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Heartgard Plus Chewables is a monthly meaty chew used for the prevention of heartworm disease and for the control of roundworms and hookworms in dogs.
Buy Discount Heartgard from $20.95: http://buy-heartgard.net/
Heartgard Plus Chewables for Dogs is available in varying strengths to cater for dogs of different sizes:
Small and Medium Dogs under 25lbs (Blue Box)
Large Dogs 26 – 50lbs (Green Box)
Extra Large Dogs 51 – 100lbs (Brown Box)
HEARTGARD Plus (ivermectin/pyrantel) Chewables should be administered orally at monthly dosing intervals at the recommended minimum dose level of 6 mcg of ivermectin per kilogram and 5 mg of pyrantel (as pamoate salt) per kilogram of body weight.
Directions for Use
Heartgard (Ivermectin) is given once a month year round for the prevention of heartworm disease. The usual dose of ivermectin in dogs up to 25 lb is 68mcg ?C 1 tablet from blue pack, for 26-50 lb is 136mcg ?C 1 tablet from green pack and for 51-100 lb is 272mcg ?C 1 tablet from brown pack. Dogs over 100 lb are given a combination of the tablets.
Buy Discount Heartgard Plus from $20.95: http://heartgardplus.pet-rx-meds.net/
This medication should not be used in animals allergic to it. Heartworm testing should be performed prior to the start of prevention therapy. If the animal is off ivermectin for 6 months or less, start the medication and test after 6 months since microfilaria, which take 6 months to mature, may result in a positive test result.
Possible Side Effects
The side effects of ivermectin are rare at the recommended dosage. Heartgard Tablets has a wide margin of safety for all sizes and breeds of dogs. It is approved for use in puppies as young as 6 weeks, small dogs regardless of weight, pregnant or breeding bitches, stud dogs, and Collies.
Active Ingredients: Ivermectin, Pyrantel
Manufacturer: Merial
Buy Discount Heartgard Plus from $20.95: http://www.pet-rx-meds.net/


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U.S. stocks ended mixed Wednesday as investors weighed decent corporate earnings reports against worries about the debt ceiling and global economic growth.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.2%, with Boeing (BA) leading the decline. The S&P 500 ended little changed. The Nasdaq gained 0.2% as shares of Apple (AAPL) rose back above $500 a share in midday trading.
Boeing shares fell 3.4% as the aircraft maker's Dreamliner continued to face problems. Two Japanese airlines grounded their fleets of 787 aircraft after one of All Nippon Airways' Dreamliners was forced into an emergency landing.
Hewlett Packard (HPQ) helped offset some of Boeing's losses. Shares of the Dow component rose 4% on reports that unspecified technology companies have expressed interest in acquiring two of HP's businesses, Autonomy and EDS.
Before the market opened, JPMorgan (JPM) said it earned $5.7 billion, or $1.39 a share, in the fourth quarter. The bank said chief executive Jamie Dimon's bonus would be cut by more than half after the London Whale debacle over bad trades.
JPMorgan's earnings were in line with expectations, although revenue was hurt by declining fees and subdued trading activity, according to analysts at Baird Equity Research.
Goldman Sachs (GS) reported earnings that beat expectations, driven by strong results from its proprietary trading business. Shares rose 5%.
Shares of Chipotle (CMG) plummeted 16% after the Mexican food chain restaurant revised fourth-quarter earnings well below analysts' expectations.
Shares of Sears Holding Corp. (SHLD) rose on news that ESL Partners, a hedge fund run by Eddie Lampert, had increased its stake in the retailer. Lampert, who owns more than 50% of the stock, took over as CEO of Sears after Louis D'Ambrosio stepped down last week.
After the market closed, eBay (EBAY) reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat expectations, although the company's outlook for earnings in the current quarter and for the full year were modestly below analysts' expectations. Shares fell in extended trading.
Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C) are among the companies set to release quarterly results Thursday.
Overall, S&P 500 companies are expected to report earnings growth of 3.2% for the last three months of 2012, according to S&P's Capital IQ.
While earnings are currently the dominant theme, the focus could shift to Washington as the debate over the U.S. borrowing limit heats up, said J.J. Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist at TD Ameritrade.
"We may have a bit of a pause after earnings season ends and we head into debt ceiling negotiations," said Kinahan. "That's when you might see people start to hold back. For now, people are trading earnings as if it's a normal market."
Related: Where will the next big bull market come from?
Less-than-stellar economic reports also dampened investor enthusiasm Wednesday.
The World Bank lowered its outlook for global economic growth this year to 2.4%, relatively unchanged from the estimated 2.3% growth rate in 2012. The bank had previously forecast 3% growth for 2013. While growth in developing economies will remain solid, the World Bank expects activity in the developed countries to remain subdued.
On a positive note, the U.S. government's key measure of inflation showed that consumer prices slowed to a 1.7% annual increase last month -- mostly due to a decline in gas prices.
In other economic news, industrial production rose 0.3% in December, according to the Federal Reserve. Economists had anticipated a 0.2% after industrial production jumped 1% in November.
Economic growth continued at a "modest or moderate" pace across the 12 districts of the Federal Reserve system in the past few weeks, according to the latest edition of the Federal Reserve's Beige Book.
The Treasury International Capital report showed an inflow of $27.8 billion in November. The TIC data, which measure foreign purchases of U.S. assets, showed that overseas investors increased their holdings of Treasury bills by $4.5 billion. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged up to 1.83% from 1.82% on Tuesday.
Related: Fear & Greed index steeped in greed
European markets ended mixed, with auto stocks falling on poor December registrations data. The FTSE 100 (UKX) in London fell 0.2%, but the CAC 40 (CAC40) in Paris and the Dax (DAX) in Frankfurt gained.
Asian markets ended lower. The Nikkei dropped 2.6%, while China's Shanghai Composite shed 0.7% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed down 0.1%.
Oil prices rose 1% to end at $94.24 a barrel, helped in part by expectations that a recent cold snap will boost demand for heating oil. Gold prices edged lower and the U.S. dollar weakened versus the euro and Japanese yen.


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I can't get out of the driver's seat of the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray quickly enough. Only a handful of things, in either this world or the next, could convince me to willingly leap from behind the wheel of the newest heir to America's sports-car throne. Throw a hornet nest through the passenger window, and I'd tear the smokiest, most sideways path to the closest epinephrine supply before I'd abandon the cockpit. It's just that good.
But there, lounging in a gleaming line under the California sun, sit six excellent excuses to walk away from the lusty C7. Chevrolet wrangled one car from every generation of the Corvette's history, and they're all mine to drive.
There are no door handles. I'm about to throw a leg over the door when I see the car's handler reach inside and fiddle with a mechanism, popping the passenger lock with a deft touch. I manage to do the same without evoking too many embarrassing memories involving the complexities of certain articles of the female wardrobe.
It's a sea of red carpet and vinyl inside, and it all smells so damned perfect. Think your grandfather's basement: old car mixed with a dash of cigar.
I twist the key and the Blue Flame inline six takes its time stumbling to life. The idle smoothes out, and I drop the two-speed automatic into gear. The car lurches forward and we're off, nothing but a low, thin windshield frame between us and the rest of the world. It's so impossibly open that I can't stop laughing. Yes, it's slow as hell, and yes, it drives like a Thunderbird if a Thunderbird were a kit car, but who cares? This is fun.
The steering wheel has the approximate diameter of a Boeing 787 fuselage, and there's around 5,000 turns, lock to lock, but the manual drum brakes on all four corners feel solid and confident. And it looks so good. Everything about the car is as beautiful as it is haphazard.
Now this feels like a proper ancestor to the C7. There's still the sense that designers didn't quite have a grasp on how to build a sports car with this one. I was specifically told to be careful getting into the driver's seat, or the parking brake lever would shave the flesh off my shins. Noted. But oh, that engine. It's so easy to forget just how brilliant a big block can be, and the 427 remains at the head of its class.
For perspective, the '54 took 11 seconds to get to 60 mph. Nearly everything else on the modern road is quicker. That Nissan Versa in the lane next to you? Yeah, it'll paint your backside stoplight to stoplight. But this big beast does the dance in under five seconds, and it did it in 1966. I'd been careful with the C1, and I'm plodding about in the C2 until I come to my first legitimate straight. For a fleeting moment, my fear of breaking the car thinks it can stand up to my desire to mat the throttle and bang through the gears. It can't. I may never have the chance to pound on a '66 Corvette 427 again.
This car was built to be hammered, and it responds to my burying the throttle in second gear with a swell of torque that builds with exponential momentum. It's brilliantly unrefined. The cabin ignites with the sound of those big coffee can cylinders thrashing under hood as the needle in the tach swings past the skinny "50" stenciled onto the gauge face. I could do this all day.
The short throw from second to third seems at odds with the truck-like clutch travel. That pedal requires thighs built for kicking down doors. Then it hits me: those crazy bastards raced this car for 24 hours at Le Mans. I make a note to pour some out for them at lunch.
Flash forward six years and civilization has come to the Corvette. This is no longer just a fiberglass shell and a honkin' V8. The cabin feels somewhat modern with its recognizable steering wheel, big, square GM ignition key and climate control, but there's also the sense that this is the beginning of the end of the car's glory days. The specter of malaise hangs like a bad suit just at the edge of the C3's vision.
That notion's underscored by the 350-cubic-inch small block under the hood. It wheezes out 255 horsepower compared to the ludicrous 425 ponies from the 427 in the C2. The notchy four-speed feels like a blessed carryover, but the rest of the car is simply less dramatic and less special. Yes, 1972 wasn't exactly a great year for any car, but the Corvette took it straight on the chin.
The power steering is feather light, and while the engine makes all the right noises, I can't help but feel like I'm driving the saddest Hot Wheels in the toy box.
I'm sorry, C3. I take it all back. This is the saddest Hot Wheels in the toy box. The red interior has returned, but looks more murdered hooker than sock hop. I press the button to move the power driver's seat forward and the beleaguered motor plays the same depressing tune as an overworked garage door opener. The big, over-stuffed bolsters make embarrassing fart noises as they drag across the transmission tunnel, making me wonder how no one ever told this car you only get one shot at a first impression.
Once underway, I notice a disturbing number of similarities between this machine and my family's old 1990 Suburban. Brake and steering feel, throttle response, and shifts from the four-speed automatic transmission all feel indistinguishable from the big workhorse. Tragically, engine output now slid to 240 hp, even while holding the line on displacement. There's a good swell of torque right off idle, but the engine falls on its face shortly thereafter.
Getting to 60 mph takes 6.3 seconds, nearly half a second quicker than the previous generation, but it feels slower. I'm going to start a charity solely devoted to supplying C4 Corvettes with superchargers. For just pennies a day, you can make a difference…
For the first time since the C2, its clear Chevrolet is serious about the Corvette. This car's lighter, more powerful, and faster than its predecessor, and it feels it. I don't care who you are, 4.1 seconds to 60 mph is righteous speed. The engine starts with all the appropriate drama, pipes barking and cabin shaking with the angry 5.7-liter V8 in the nose.
I'm shocked at how awkward this shift knob is. The big, square block atop the six-speed manual's shift lever looks like it was designed by someone who, by some miracle, had neither seen a human hand nor held another shifter. Maybe GM raises these goons from birth, or maybe they grow them in Chevette-shaped pods in the RenCen. It's like changing gears by 2x4. Still, you tend to forget that foible with the first punch of the throttle. This thing is quick.
The cursed "skip-shift" mechanism keeps me from pounding into second gear, dropping the transmission into fourth instead. What a buzzkill. Still, you can pick these cars up for less than the cost of Corolla these days. How batty is that? I'm already working on my three-point presentation to the wife.
I start laughing the instant I jump behind the wheel. The 2002 Malibu called, it would like its interior back. Yeah, yeah, it's cliché to rag on the C6 for its cabin, but holy hell is this thing bad compared to the new car. And that's the thing: the 2013 Corvette is still one of the best performance buys out there right now, but it's just demolished by the Stingray.
Interior design and materials aside, I'm shocked at how miserable the steering is on the 2013 machine. Over-assisted and numb, it has none of the tactile feedback of the C7. Still, this is a base car, and it's technically quicker than the Z06 I just stepped out of thanks to an extra 41 horsepower and an extra half-liter of displacement.
I overcook a roundabout entry and suddenly I'm met with a cold bucket of understeer that takes serious throttle application to overcome. This car is not a pig, but its younger sibling certainly makes it out to be.
Dealers must be dishing out serious cash on C6 Vettes hanging around their lots right now, but I'm not sure I could justify the purchase after knowing how excellent the C7 is in comparison.
Trying to sum this car up in a handful of paragraphs is like trying to write Teddy Roosevelt's biography in the same lines. Good luck, champ. The dude rode
a moose, and that's not even what he's famous for.
Open the door, slide inside and you're immediately overcome by the smell of leather. Not that Tahoe-grade crap in the C5, but legitimate, thick leather.
It's everywhere, from those excellently bolstered seats to the dash, the steering wheel and the shift lever. What isn't wrapped in hide is slathered in
real carbon fiber, and the driver gets an excellent steering wheel. Finally, the Corvette has an interior worthy of its performance.
And holy hell—the performance. The new fifth-generation small block V8 is all torque. GM says it produces the same torque an LS7 up to 4700 rpm, and as a
result, it's hard to pick a bad gear. There are seven of them, of course, and the extra cog does take some getting acquainted with. I found myself
accidentally downshifting to fourth instead of sixth. The active rev-match tech seems a bit overzealous, though, leaving me happier with my own sloppy
throttle blips, thank you very much.
It turns out that the Stingray's bevy of selectable drive modes make a visceral difference in how the machine performs, too. The jump to Sport or Track
mode is serious, aggressively firming up the ride, opening up the exhaust and stepping up throttle response.
This car isn't a step forward, it's a leap. And it's spectacular.


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Brian HamrickReporter
Brian Hamrick is a eight-time Emmy winner, two of them as outstanding reporter, another for exceptional writing. He has also been recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists, Cleveland Press Club and Associated Press.
Brian Hamrick joined News 5 in July 1998. He began his reporting career in 1987 in Clarksburg, W. Va., and has reported for stations in Charleston, W. Va., and Oklahoma City.
Brian has an associate's degree in radio, television and film from Fairmont State College, a bachelor's degree in communication from James Madison University and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma.
Brian honed his skill with a microphone as a standup comedian working out of Orlando, Fla. He jokes that he got into news after comedy "because the two are so are similar." Outside the newsroom, his hobbies include "running, getting injured while running, and running."


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Raychem Heat Shrink Termination Head for Aluminum and Copper Cables 36 kV
Raychem Heat Shrink Termination Head for Aluminum and Copper Cables 36 kV
Mechanical Screw Protective Cable Boot -BLMT-.
Code: E110501
Detailed description
Terminations for flexible cables up to 36 kV
The scale and speed of modern mining requires versatile and dependable electrical power supply, which can be rapidly extended and maintained. We contribute to the industry's high levels of efficiency with a flexible cable termination system for up to 36 kV which is specifically designed for mining purposes.
Proven performance
Raychem flexible terminations have a range of features which decisively reduce downtime. The slim design simplifies connection in confined spaces. Free movement and easy transport of terminated flexible cables is allowed by the highly pliable materials used. Users also choose this system because it has proven its reliability in exhaustive test programmes and over more than 20 years of successful performance in the field, even under rugged mining conditions.
Installable on-site at up to 36 kV
The practical advantages of the system arise from the heat-shrinkable feature of the Raychem termination components, which allows installation by site personnel on cables for up to 36 kV without special tools or equipment. Each kit covers a large number of cable sizes, and as no curing or vulcanizing is involved, the completed termination can be connected and power switched on immediately.
Universal outdoor and indoor application
The creepage path of the Raychem flexible termination is quickly extended by installing heat-shrinkable sheds. With this simple operation the system becomes suitable for use outdoors in polluted and dusty environments. R A complete system With more than 30 years experience Raychem is the leader in heat-shrinkable materials and one of the largest cable accessory makers. The flexible termination system described here is just one of the Raychem range of jointing, repair, insulation and sealing systems for flexible and power cables in service throughout the world of energy.


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Zante, also often known as Zakynthos, is the most southerly of the Ionian Islands and one of the most popular Greek islands.
Triangular in shape the island has three distinct geographical areas: the north west is mountainous with quaint traditional mountain villages, the central region is a fertile plain rich with olive groves and vineyards and the south east is characterised by beautiful beaches.
There is something for everyone on this floating island of paradise with numerous sandy beaches, mountain villages preserving the traditional Greek way of life, beautiful natural scenery, watersports and good quality restaurants, bars and nightclubs to more than cater for all your entertainment needs.
The locals welcome tourists with open arms and offer them the hospitality which Greece is famous for.
...more about Zakynthos »
Visit also: Kalamaki Zakynthos | Tsilivi Zakynthos | Alykes Zakynthos | Argassi Zakynthos | Laganas Zante


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By Ezra Stead
This is always a difficult thing to do, and this year, just like every other year, I left out plenty of movies I really like, even from the Honorable Mentions. This is a particularly interesting year in that I actually really like all the Oscar nominees that I've seen, which is relatively rare for me. Anyway, of the 107 new movies from 2015 I managed to see in time for this list, these are my (completely subjective) favorites.
1. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD – it's always a treat to have really high expectations for a movie and then to see them exceeded. George Miller's return to the wasteland of his career-defining trilogy is a perfect example of this phenomenon. The first time I saw it, though, Fury Road appeared to only meet my expectations, a rare enough feat in its own right. It was the second viewing that made me realize that this was not only my favorite movie of the year, but also my favorite Mad Max movie, and quite possibly my favorite movie of the last two decades. Then I saw it three more times in the space of about two weeks, and I noticed something new about it every single time. The rich, detailed world-building not only rewards but demands multiple viewings, and it's a testament to Miller's craft that the movie doesn't rely on a lot of expository dialogue and other hand-holding devices to make sure the audience can keep up. Max Rockatansky's world of "fire and blood" has its own language that is every bit as evocative and original as its eye-popping visuals: War Boys, Blood Bags, Bullet Farms, etc. This is a movie in the glorious pulp tradition of Robert E. Howard and Heavy Metal magazine, but it never feels derivative, even of its own source material (The Road Warrior being the original Mad Max movie it most closely resembles). What seems to be overlooked in all the talk about its incredible visual effects and stuntwork (which makes a better case than any movie I can think of for an Oscar category devoted to the people who risk their lives to make movies awesome) is the quality of the writing and performances. Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult are especially great, but there is also a surprising tenderness and depth to Tom Hardy's performance as Max, a man of few words and great stoicism, and Melissa Jaffer managed to break my heart with just a few minutes of screen time as the Keeper of the Seeds. Critics and skeptics say this movie is just one long chase scene, which is reductive, but even if that were strictly true, complaining about that misses the point of how amazing it is that a movie this compelling could be made from a single long chase. Others might say it doesn't belong in the Best Picture Oscar race because it's not serious and important enough, but its themes of feminism and environmentalism are extremely relevant; they're just not belabored to the point of didacticism. Fury Road's vision of the destruction of the Old World, in which water was plentiful and "everyone had a show," seems all too plausible, despite its over-the-top visual antics, and there's a funny/scary comparison to be made between the film's main villain, Immortan Joe, and a certain current Presidential candidate. I have no doubt this movie will ride eternal in Valhalla, shiny and chrome. It is perfect in every way. Read More


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Big Fan Tailgating shipped me a Gamer Beverage Dispenser to test out during the last two Texas A&M games. Timing was right to test and for the product launch. Two games, six days. Plus the all-new product hits shelves and the internet just in time for the holidays and can be found at BigFanTailgating.com
Upside: You Look Marvelous.
When you take a look at the image to the right you'll notice that the product looks great. The Dispenser, in fact, was the talk of the tailgate prior to the Texas A&M vs. Kansas game. People wanted to put the product through its paces.
The product simply looks stellar with wonderfully matched school colors and logos. To borrow from Billy Crystal's Fernando character of Saturday Night Live fame – "You look marvelous." I've included a video of Crystal and former Yankees owner George Steinbrenner to serve as a friendly reminder of the catch phrase. Great stuff.
This I know, a true sports fan would be very excited to receive this product—it simply looks wonderful.
The Downside: Judging a Book Completely By It's Cover
While it looks great, my tailgate team had difficulties with the prototype unit that Big Game Tailgating provided to us for testing. The seal at the bottom leaked. The dispenser leaked more than the porous Kansas Jayhawk secondary that we saw on Kyle Field a few hours later during the Aggies 61-7 victory. The excitement we originally felt for the Dispenser went away in about 15 seconds when we realized the unit couldn't be used.
The leak problem was big enough that I let their president know about the issue first thing Sunday morning. The next day he sent me a note advising that they had inadvertently shipped me a pre-production sample for the Aggies Dispenser. The final Aggies unit, in its finished format, actually would not ship until mid-December.
To make right and for more testing purposes they sent me a Georgia replacement dispenser. Exceptional customer service and a background that includes licensed big school products for Tailgate Tables, Washer Tosses, the Chill Stick and many more tailgate oriented items helped to set Big Fan Tailgating apart. Two days later I had the replacement helmet.
When the Georgia helmet arrived I quickly assembled the product—took 5 minutes—and then placed water in the container portion of the product. I wanted to be certain the water held overnight with no leaks at all. It did so with no problems.
So while this background is important to mention, it seems that Big Game Tailgating has the seal issue solved. Moreover, any issues should be handled quickly and smartly via their customer support.
At first glance, the Dispenser looks like a blender. It's decidedly not. It is simply a very good-looking beverage dispenser. Title says so, but at a glance—both inside and outside the box—it's what you might mistake the product for being.
To be the cool kid on the tailgating block, it's going to set you back $149. Arguably small change in today's team tailgating environment, but not exactly low cost for a single tailgater.
Without asking, I suspect much of the cost goes into licensing the product. The helmet, the dispenser and the stylized container all look and feel nice. Think nice plastic football helmet, not official helmet and you get a sense for the product. The dispenser adds to the tailgate look and feel with a nice football tap as a finishing touch.
The base of the dispenser is solid and as another nice touch the company provides a drip collector with a magnet base that smartly clings to and adjusts underneath the aforementioned tap.
In a segment all it's own—the collegiate licensed dispenser is a product that makes sense; however, a quick look around the web shows that the Margaritaville Bahamas Frozen Concoction Maker is available for $50 more–priced at $199.
Several problems for the above mentioned product. Do you have the generator? Can you pull the wattage? Just as important . . . Are you willing to go lime green? For Seattle Seahawk and Oregon Duck fans, the Blender makes perfect sense.
For the rest of us? We'll have to wait until collegiate licensed blenders become more widely available or until Dave and team attempt to convert a blender in the same way that they've converted Margaritaville grills into Custom Tailgating Grills in the past.
Final Recommendation
Gamer Beverage Dispenser–You Look Marvelous! Form sometimes trumps function in the tailgating world and such is this case for this all-new product from Big Game Tailgating. If you are looking for a cool, new tailgating idea this holiday season, then this product comes through in the clutch. For more information or to buy one of your own go to bigfantailgating.com or just click HERE.
For more articles written by Foster "Jim" Flint click here.


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Federal investigators on Wednesday heaped the lion's share of blame for the country's biggest oil spill on BP.
In a report that may be pivotal in the multibillion-dollar legal battles to come and could set the stage for criminal charges, the Coast Guard and the federal offshore oil regulator wrote that BP was solely to blame for 21 of 35 contributing causes to the Macondo well blowout, and shared blame for 8 more.
The explosion, 11 deaths and spill "were the result of poor risk management, last-minute changes to plans, failure to observe and respond to critical indicators, inadequate well control response, and insufficient emergency bridge response training by companies and individuals responsible for drilling at the Macondo well and for the operation of the Deepwater Horizon" drilling rig,
Of particular note was the cement seal put in place the day before the explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.
The cement's failure to maintain the integrity of the well was the central cause of the blowout.
BP worked with Halliburton to design the cement job. Because the well was over budget, "BP sought to minimize these losses by reducing the volume of cement it pumped into the well" and a key analysis recommended by a Halliburton engineer was skipped, according to the report.
In the days leading up to the disaster, the panel wrote, BP made "decisions that complicated cementing operations, added incremental risk, and may have contributed to the ultimate failure of the cement job."
The details were contained in the final report from an investigative team of the U.S. Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement. The panel held hearings in the year following the April 20, 2010, tragedy.
Other investigations have spread around the blame rather evenly, faulting misreadings of key data, the failure of the blowout preventer to stop the flow of oil to the sea and other shortcomings by executives, engineers and rig crew members.
The federal joint investigation team laid considerable blame on BP's shoulders, saying BP made decisions blindly, without assessing risk, and in some cases skipping internal processes the company relied on to evaluate the potential dangers of decisions.
The report said the decisions included using only one cement barrier and BP's choice to set the production casing in a location in the Macondo well that created additional risk of influx of oil or gas. The casing is a steel pipe placed in a well to maintain its integrity.
The panel said BP failed to communicate these decisions and the "increasing operational risks" to rig owner Transocean.
"BP, as the designated operator under BOEMRE regulations, was ultimately responsible for conducting operations at Macondo in a way that ensured the safety and protection of personnel, equipment, natural resources, and the environment," the panel concluded.
In the report's 57 findings about the disaster, only one person — BP engineer Mark Hafle — is mentioned by name. The report said Hafle's failure to investigate or resolve anomalies detected during a critical test possibly contributed to the failure of the crew to detect the initial influx of gas and oil. Hafle also chose not to run a cement log, a test that evaluates the quality of the cement job, in violation of BP procedures, the report found.
Hafle — a key decision maker on the doomed rig — refused to testify before the federal panel in August 2010, citing his constitutional right against self-incrimination.
Companies respond BP said in a statement that the British company accepts the report's conclusion that the accident was the result of multiple causes involving multiple parties. BP did not address the report's specific conclusions about the cement.
"From the outset, BP acknowledged its role in the accident and has taken concrete steps to further enhance safety and risk management throughout its global operations, including the implementation of new voluntary standards and practices in the Gulf of Mexico that exceed current regulatory requirements and strengthen the oversight of contractors," BP said. "We continue to encourage other parties to acknowledge their roles in the accident and make changes to help prevent similar accidents in the future."
Transocean said the report "finally puts to rest all previous allegations that improper maintenance of the blowout preventer contributed to the tragedy".
Halliburton said the report "accurately places responsibility on BP", which it said was responsible for all the operational decisions in the contributing causes.
The panel recommended further changes to offshore drilling practices, including requiring at least two barriers to be placed in a well — one mechanical, and one cement. The Macondo well only had a single barrier, the cement seal at the bottom, so when the blowout happened the only thing to stop it was the blowout preventer. That didn't work, the panel says, because the kink in the pipe caused by the force of the blowout kept it out of reach of the safety device's shearing rams.
The team also said BOEMRE should standardize testing procedures on oil and gas wells.
While this report and others blame BP for jeopardizing safety to cut costs, the federal panel went further and examined the 2009 performance evaluations of 13 BP employees involved on the Macondo well. All but one of the reviews cited cost savings when evaluating the employee's work.
In addition to the rig worker deaths, the resulting oil spill off Louisiana spewed more than 200 million gallons of crude from an undersea well owned by BP. The disaster caused billions of dollars in damage to hundreds of miles of coastline and wreaked havoc on the Gulf economy.
The report pins the causes for the disaster on many of the same faulty decisions as previous probes, including those by the president's independent oil spill commission, Congressional committees and the companies themselves.
Still ahead: hearings and lawsuits But it is likely to carry more weight in Congress, where Republican lawmakers in particular have said they are unwilling to adopt reforms until the federal investigation was complete.
Since the disaster, the Obama administration has reorganized the offshore drilling agency and boosted safety regulations. But Congress has yet to pass a single piece of legislation to address safety gaps highlighted by the disaster.
While the federal investigative team lays blame on decisions made by the companies, it does not address the government's own role in approving some of the questionable decisions. The federal agency that oversees offshore drilling signed off on many of the calls made by the companies, sometimes in minutes, and accepted an outdated and erroneous oil spill plan for the well that discussed protecting species that did not even exist in the Gulf of Mexico.
Congressional leaders immediately scheduled hearings to discuss the report's findings.
House Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings, a Washington state Republican, who has pushed legislation to vastly expand offshore drilling since the disaster, said he hoped the federal government's conclusions would give lawmakers a clearer picture about what happened.
"We have waited far too long for this report, but the Committee is ready to take action," Hastings said. "I'm confident that with a far more complete reporting of the facts, we will be able to take a thoughtful approach to real reforms to ensure continued safe American energy production."
The drilling disaster also spurred a slew of lawsuits.
The Justice Department has already sued the well's owners, BP, Anadarko Petroleum and Mitsui, as well as Transocean.
"Today's report increases the likelihood that BP, Transocean, and Halliburton will face criminal charges for their roles in causing the Gulf oil spill," said David Uhlmann, a professor at University of Michigan Law School and formerly the top environmental crimes prosecutor for the Justice Department.
More charges could be brought, however, and the findings from federal investigators could provide fodder for lawsuits that BP and its contractors have filed blaming each other.
Civil claims are before a federal court in New Orleans, where a trial allocating blame for the spill was scheduled to begin in February.


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ROSETTA RISING: Rosetta Getty, whose young designer label, Riser Goodwyn, premiered in 2006 with a well-received ready- to-wear and red-carpet collection (the line is a favorite of Getty pals Selma Blair and Patricia Arquette, as well as Angelenos Amber Valletta and Brooke Davenport), is launching Riser, a contemporary line of separates and dresses ranging from $45 to $250 at wholesale for spring. With a focus on classic wrap dresses in silk, the line, manufactured in Italy and Los Angeles, also comprises cashmere and jersey separates with clean lines and muted colors. Riser will be presented to department store and specialty buyers at the New York and Los Angeles markets in January. Riser Goodwyn, owned and operated by Getty, sells in Barneys New York, Kirna Zabête and Ron Herman.
SMART MOVE: Word has it that Hermès is shifting down its highfalutin collaborations. Following its recent customization of a Bugatti, the house is working on a project with the itsy- bitsy Smart car, with the fruits of their collaboration set to be unveiled in Paris on Thursday.
LAST RESORT: Going back to his Italian roots, Paris-based Giambattista Valli is said to be finalizing talks for a runway presentation of his fall pre-collection in Florence during the city's pre-collection shows, at the invitation of the city and trade show organizer Pitti Immagine. The event is due to take place Jan. 15, according to a source. Diane von Furstenberg was among designers to have accepted the invitation in January for the launch of her resort line.
GOING WEST: Zara is moving into the Upper West Side of Manhattan in the spring. The Spanish fast-fashion powerhouse has signed a lease for 15,000 square feet at 1963 Broadway between 66th and 67th Streets in a space formerly occupied by Tower Records. It's the chain's first store in the area. Cushman & Wakefield represented the landlord, Millennium Properties. Jeffrey C. Paisner, broker at Ripko Real Estate Corp., represented Zara. Over the past three years, the neighborhood has seen an influx of better retail with the additions of Best Buy, Brooks Brothers, Lululemon, Ugg, Club Monaco, Space NK, Fresh and the Shops at Columbus Circle. In addition, the former Victoria's Secret at 1981 Broadway will become an Apple store, about a block north of Zara.
EARLY BIRD: All those editors who moan and groan about morning appointments might wish to take a cue from Naomi Watts. Despite a chilly rain and her highly pregnant state, the actress made an extended appearance at a Wednesday-morning breakfast preview of the new White Nights collection from Finn jewelry, in the line's Great Jones Street showroom. Then again, it was a particularly chic petit déjeuner affair, with a Marc Jacobs gown-clad model, mini croissants and tea and coffee served in proper china cups. Dressed down in a cozy sweater and weather-appropriate boots, Watts admired a pair of double moonstone oval dangling earrings and a rose-cut diamond pair surrounded by pavé diamonds before settling down into one of the studio's cozy chairs for a chat with fellow guests. There are worse ways to start off the day.
EMANUEL EMPTIES HER ARCHIVE: London designer Elizabeth Emanuel will auction key pieces from her archive in a bid to raise money for her small couture business. Emanuel, best known for designing Princess Diana's wedding gown with her then-husband and business partner David Emanuel, said the pieces include the pale pink silk chiffon blouse the young Lady Di wore for her engagement picture in British Vogue, as well as a miniature of the famous gown. The auction, which runs from today to Nov. 13 on AuctionAtrium.com, also will feature one-off dresses worn by celebrities such as Elizabeth Hurley, Jane Seymour, Helena Bonham Carter and Brigitte Nielsen. "It's going to be such a wrench to part with these pieces because they are unique," said Emanuel, who designs under the label Art of Being Couture. Emanuel, who also designs a line of wedding dresses for British Home Stores, said she is hunting for investors to help grow her business.
WHERE THEY'LL GO FOR A FREEBIE: Hollywood celebs came out in force early Thursday night to score a new BlackBerry Bold at a launch party for the gadget in Beverly Hills. Kate Bosworth, Eva Longoria Parker, Adrian Grenier, Hayden Panettiere, Lamar Odom, Maria Menounos, Amy Smart, Nicky Hilton, Rachel Zoe and her husband, Rodger Berman, all left with a new device, but its limited compatibility with AT&T left some conflicted. "I got it engraved with 'EV3' then kept trying to put my SIM card in this and it wouldn't work; I kept trying, until one of the Geek Squad over there told me I needed AT&T to make it work," said Eve. "I've been married to T-Mobile for so long and won't give it up now that I need to get another number — a Bat phone — to use this awesome thing."
40 CARATS: Graff's new Madison Avenue boutique has its soft opening today, more than a week ahead of schedule. On the evening of Nov. 13, the brand's chairman and founder Laurence Graff will host a fete for the opening, which will be attended by the store's architect Peter Marino and Henri Barguirdjian, president and chief executive officer of Graff America and an exclusive crowd of Graff supporters.


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Comma-Separated Values
March 17, 2009
The comma-separated values file format is commonly used to exchange tabular information, such as spreadsheets, between different programs and operating systems. Though common, the csv format has never been formally defined, and there are variations. One definition is at http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4180.txt.
We will define a csv file as containing ascii text, with records terminated by a line-termination sequence and fields containing zero or more characters separated by commas; a line-termination sequence is a carriage-return character, or a line-feed character, or both characters in either order. Leading and trailing space in unquoted fields is preserved. Fields may be surrounded by double-quote characters (ascii \042) may contain any characters; such fields may contain newlines, literal commas (ascii \054), and double-quote characters represented as two successive double-quotes. The field separator is normally a comma, but may be changed to an arbitrary character (often a semi-colon) in those European countries that use a comma instead of a decimal point.
The examples below show some of the kinky situations that may arise; for readability, the three-character sequence TAB represents a single tab character (ascii \011):
1,abc,def ghi,jkl,unquoted character strings
2,"abc","def ghi","jkl",quoted character strings
4, abc,def , ghi ,strings with whitespace
5, "abc","def" , "ghi" ,quoted strings with whitespace
6, 123,456 , 789 ,numbers with whitespace
7,TAB123,456TAB,TAB789TAB,numbers with tabs for whitespace
8, -123, +456, 1E3,more numbers with whitespace
9,123 456,123"456, 123 456 ,strange numbers
10,abc",de"f,g"hi,embedded quotes
11,"abc""","de""f","g""hi",quoted embedded quotes
12,"","" "",""x"",doubled quotes
13,"abc"def,abc"def","abc" "def",strange quotes
14,,"", ,empty fields
ghi",jkl,embedded newline
16,abc,"def",789,multiple types of fields
Each of those records has five fields, shown below with the vertical bar character as a field separator:
1|abc|def ghi|jkl|unquoted character strings
2|abc|def ghi|jkl|quoted character strings
4| abc|def | ghi |strings with whitespace
5| "abc"|def | "ghi" |quoted strings with whitespace
6| 123|456 | 789 |numbers with whitespace
7|TAB123|456TAB|TAB789TAB|numbers with tabs for whitespace
8| -123| +456| 1E3|more numbers with whitespace
9|123 456|123"456| 123 456 |strange numbers
10|abc"|de"f|g"hi|embedded quotes
11|abc"|de"f|g"hi|quoted embedded quotes
12|| ""|x""|doubled quotes
13|abcdef|abc"def"|abc "def"|strange quotes
14||| |empty fields
ghi|jkl|embedded newline
16|abc|def|789|multiple types of fields
Write a function that retrieves records from a csv file. Be sure to provide a way to handle user-specified field-separators.
6 Responses to "Comma-Separated Values"
March 18, 2009 at 9:54 AM
A quick and dirty Ruby hack:
def separated_vals(filename, separator = ',')
lines = Array.new
sep = Regexp.compile("\\s*\\"+separator+"\\s*")
File.open(filename) do |file_handle|
lines << file_handle.gets.split(sep)
return lines
March 18, 2009 at 2:32 PM
You're quite right; it doesn't quite work.
Here's a better version:
def separated_vals(filename, separator = ',')
lines = Array.new
File.open(filename) do |file_handle|
while not file_handle.eof? do
lines << file_handle.gets.strip.split(separator)
return lines
This works for all test cases with one omission – it keeps quotes around quoted strings. Now, instead of hacking further, I think I'll sit down and write a proper state machine :)
March 18, 2009 at 11:47 PM
Haskell (parses every test case correctly):
import Control.Applicative ((<*), (*>), (<*>), (<$>))
import Text.Parsec
main = readFile "csv.txt" >>= print . parseCSV ','
parseCSV sep = parse (sepBy (line sep) (many1 $ oneOf "\r\n")) ""
line sep = sepBy (field sep) (char sep)
field sep = option "" dropQuotes <+> (ws <+> (keepQuotes <|> plain sep)) <+> ws
plain sep = many (noneOf $ sep:"\r\n")
dropQuotes = try (between' "\"\"" quoted) <|> between' "\"" quoted
keepQuotes = (string "\"" <+> quoted <+> string "\"")
quoted = many (noneOf "\"" <|> (head <$> try (string "\"\"")))
ws = many (oneOf " \t")
a <+> b = (++) <$> a <*> b
between' s p = string s *> p <* string s [/sourcecode]
July 30, 2019 at 9:01 AM
[…] Reddit or Stack Overflow or someplace about handling CSV files with awk. We've done that in a previous exercise, but today I decided to handle CSV files in a different way. Specifically, I wrote an awk function […]


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Inspired by: ezinearticles


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Part of the appeal of spectating rally races is the excitement and danger of watching speeding cars as they pass only a few feet away. Unfortunately sometimes the combination of speeding cars with no room for error, no safety barriers and large crowds of people can turn tragic.
As you can see from this video that is what could have very easily happened here if it were not for a very large natural safety barrier in the form of a tree. We aren't sure where this rally took place, but as you can see from the car in this video, it wasn't exactly the top tier of rally events.
When this white hatchback catches air and veers off course it's stopped only a few feet from a certain collision with the photographer thanks to the help of a large tree. We aren't sure if the cameraman was very clever and intentionally using the tree as protection or just very lucky. Something tells us it might be a little bit of both.


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West Virginia Governor, Joe Manchin, uses the Force for political gain. Watch as the Senatorial candidate paints his opponent as a Sith lord, and then shoots a TIE Fighter down with a rifle. There's a disturbance in the Force, indeed.
We don't know much about his politics, but we do know that these ads insane. But the dated pop culture references don't stop coming! Here's his Austin Powers ad! Your move, John Raese. We suggest going with a Starship Troopers and Alvin and The Chipmunks-based campaign.


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French troops may start pulling out of their anti-extremist operation inMali as early as next month, handing over to a still-developing African force.
The possible withdrawal, floated by French foreign minister Laurent Fabius in a newspaper interview published on Tuesday night, came as forces from France and Chad secured the key city of Kidal in northern Mali.
French aircraft and troops were also targeting suspected hideouts of Islamist fighters in the sparsely populated Saharan desert. There are fears that the extremists who have fled Mali's cities during the three-week French-led operation could try to stage attacks from remote bases.
The French foreign minister was quoted in France's Metro newspaper as saying: "I think that starting in March, if everything goes as planned, the number of our troops should diminish."
Fabius, whose office tweeted the newspaper story, stressed that terrorist threats remain and that the fight isn't over yet, but that ultimately Africans and Malians themselves need to take responsibility for the region's security.
France currently has some 4,000 troops in Mali, a French military official said. That's about the same number as France had at the height of its 11-year military presence in Afghanistan.
France launched the Mali operation last month to drive back al-Qaida-linked extremists who had seized the north of the country, imposing harsh rule on local populations, and had started pushing toward Mali's capital. France's government fears the region could become a haven for international terrorists.
A UN diplomat said on Tuesday that the French are talking about another month or so of active engagement in Mali, with one aim being the interruption of supplies to the extremists.
The UN Security Council is likely to wait until the end of February, when the military action has hopefully ended, to adopt a new resolution authorising a UN peacekeeping force for Mali, the diplomat said. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the Mali conflict.
As French troops focus farther north, they are moving out of cities they seized earlier in the operation. They are already expected to start handing control of Timbuktu to African forces this week.
Some 3,800 forces from other African states are in Mali backing up the weak Malian army, the official said. But it is far from clear that the African forces are ready to take full responsibility against the Islamic extremists, who may strike the cities from their desert hideouts.
The spokesman for the Malian military in Timbuktu, Captain Samba Coulibaly, said there is no reason for the population to fear the withdrawal of French troops.
"With the size of the force we have here right now, we can maintain security in the town of Timbuktu," he said. "The departure of the French soldiers does not scare us, especially since their air force will still be present both in Timbuktu and Sevare. They control this entire zone and can intervene within a matter of minutes in order to carry out airstrikes as needed," he said.
Some 1,800 Chadian troops are now holding the northern city of Kidal, the French military official said on Tuesday.
The French last week began a campaign of airstrikes on Islamic rebel outposts around Kidal and Tessalit. French Mirage and Rafale fighter jets have flown 135 sorties since Thursday and targeted 25 sites, primarily fuel and logistics depots, the French defence ministry said.
While their forces took control of Kidal's airport some time ago, it's not clearwhy they did not take Kidal city with the same swiftness as they took Gao and Timbuktu.
There was speculation that the pace of their advance was being constrained by the fact that the retreating rebels are holding western hostages, including eight who are French. Fears have mounted about their safety as the French intervention has moved closer to where several of them are thought to be held.
In a sign of normalcy, the mayor's office of Timbuktu will open for the first time in 10 months on Wednesday, the city's mayor, Ousmane Halle said.
"The city is now secure. There are ongoing patrols by French and Malian soldiers, and we no longer have any reason to fear an attack by the Islamists," he said.


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The FCC has gone and done it -- signed off on a watered-down version of Net neutrality that's mostly a dream come true for the major ISPs and a hard knock for anyone who uses the Internet, especially on mobile devices. The fight isn't over yet; it still needs to get through Congress. But if we continue to remain silent on what's happening here, the Internet as we know it will be a vastly different place.
I'm sounding the alarm now, louder and clearer. If the worst happens, I hope that someone will unearth this column from the ashes of the era of information freedom and say, "If only we had paid more attention to what was happening under our noses, it all could have been different." The game's afoot, and we stand to lose everything.
[ Also on InfoWorld: Bill Snyder presents the conservative case for Net neutrality, and Paul Venezia offers an open letter to Net neutrality's enemies. | Check out Paul Venezia's five-year plan to tackle the 8 problems IT must solve. ]
At first blush, some aspects of the FCC's Open Internet Order appear reasonable, perhaps even commendable, such as language that appears to prevent wired broadband providers from blocking sites or applications. However, the wording is vague and ambiguous, and it doesn't even define what an open Internet is. Not only that, but the wireless world is left largely in the hands of the carriers.
The Open Internet Order is an extremely poor compromise, one that is damaging in several ways. Perhaps most important, this is the advent of an official Net neutrality stance by the FCC. If it passes through Congress, it will become entrenched and used as the basis for new laws and regulations that we can't predict. By watering down what should be hard and fast rules governing how carriers can interfere with data sent to and from their own customers, this order may actually be worse than nothing at all.
The major ISPs' intent here is apparent: Under the guise of a compromised approach to Net neutrality, they're trying to insinuate themselves in arenas that they have no business entering, trying to get paid on every end of the equation, the provider and the consumer. They've built these pathways with public money, grudgingly served smaller markets, and generally treated their customers like canine excrement. Now they want more -- much more.
If we let this outright thievery happen, we probably will get what we deserve: a castrated Internet, where innovation will be difficult at best, at least in the United States, and where the very basic delivery of content over the Internet reverts to the handout-based model of cable networks. You'll get your Facebook, your Twitter, and your other small-bandwith services, but beyond that you'll pay -- dearly.
Imagine that when you're doing your last-minute Christmas shopping, you have to pay to enter the mall, then pay an additional fee every time you walked into a different store. Not only that, but the original mall was paid for by your taxpayer dollars. This is what your ISP wants. This is where we may be headed.


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Unlike most of the Russian Easter breads that I have seen from Google images, this one that I baked seems rather plain. Although mine is not as glorious as mostly described and served, it is very soft and delicious for us to eat. In my opinion, baking and enjoying this beautiful sweet buttery loaf is in fact pretty priceless...
|My plain Russian Easter bread
|Making the bread dough
|Shaping my kulich
|One large and two mini kulichs
|I need to do this for a nice glaze.
|The sweet buttery smell of these breads is heavenly...
|Very soft and delicious.. Yum!
|Happy Easter! Tweet Tweet!
My family and I will be away for a really really short break at this Easter long weekend and I will be back to blog again on 3rd April 13. - Happy Easter!
Here's the recipe from Epicurious
(with my modification and notes in blue)
1 cup whole milk
(for 1/2 amount, replaced with 15g milk powder with water)
1/2 cup sugar plus a pinch
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter
Pinch of saffron threads, crumbled
2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water (105–115°F)
(for 1/2 the recipe and considering the amount of water to replace milk, total volume required is 160ml, preferably boiling)
6 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting
(for 1/2 amount, I used 100g Italian OO flour + 350g bread flour)
4 large eggs
Make dough using Epicurious method:
Heat milk, sugar, butter, saffron, and salt in a 1-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved, about 2 mins. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm.
Meanwhile, stir together yeast, warm water, and pinch of sugar and let stand until foamy, about 5 mins.
Put flour in a large bowl and make a large well in center. Lightly beat 3 eggs and add to well along with milk and yeast mixtures. Carefully stir together with a wooden spoon, gradually incorporating flour, until a soft dough forms. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead, dusting with just enough flour to keep dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, about 10 mins. Put dough in a lightly oiled large bowl, turning to coat with oil, and let rise, covered with a clean kitchen towel, in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 3 hrs.
Punch down dough and let rise again, covered with towel, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hr.
Make dough using my method:
Combine boiling water, butter and salt together in a microwave-safe bowl. Mix well until butter is melted and well incorporated. Place saffron into the mixture and heat it in a microwave with low power for about 2 mins for saffron to release its reddish golden colour. Remove and allow mixture to cool to lukewarm.
Place saffron mixture, eggs, flour, milk powder and yeast into my bread-maker and use "dough" setting to knead and prove the dough for 1 hr.
Form loaves:
This recipe makes two loaves with each 5-6 cup or 2-pounds capacity. Generously butter soufflé dishes (or any baking pans that you want to use). Punch down dough and divide in half. Loosely wrap 1 piece in plastic wrap and set aside. Cut away one third of remaining piece of dough and reserve, then roll remaining two thirds into a large ball and transfer to a soufflé dish.
Roll reserved piece of dough into an 18-inch-long rope on work surface with palms of your hands. Cut rope into 3 equal pieces and lay pieces vertically side by side on work surface, about 1/4 inch apart. Gather 3 ends farthest from you and press them together, then braid strands, pressing together other ends to secure braid. Lay braid over top of dough in soufflé dish (trim braid if using coffee cans). Form another loaf with remaining dough in same manner.
Cover loaves with clean kitchen towel and let rise in draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hrs (loaves will rise about 1 inch above rims of dishes).
Using 1/2 of the recipe, I have shaped 2/3 of my dough to bake a large loaf using a 14cm round baking tin and 1/3 of my dough to bake two small loaves using two ramekins (each with 1 cup capacity).
Bake loaves:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F (or 160°C fan forced).
Lightly beat remaining egg and a large pinch of salt (mine is 1/2 egg yolk with 2 tbsp of milk plus salt), then brush egg over top of each loaf. Bake loaves until golden brown and bread sounds hollow when tapped on bottom, about 1 hr.
Note: My large 14 cm round bread took 15 mins to bake without foil, then another 25 mins to bake without foil and at last another 5 mins to bake without foil for its most ideal golden colour. Its total baking time is 45 mins.
My two small loaves took 15 mins to bake without foil, then another 10 mins to bake without foil and at last another 5 mins to bake without foil for its most ideal golden colour. Their total baking time is 30 mins.
Turn loaves out onto a rack, then turn right side up and cool completely.
Happy Baking and Happy Easter
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