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Dr. Toone serves as the leader of the Duke Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative. He received his doctoral degree in organic chemistry from the University of Toronto, studying applied enzymology under the supervision of Professor J. Bryan Jones. Following post-doctoral studies at Harvard University with George Whitesides he began his independent career at Duke in 1990, and is currently professor of chemistry and professor of biochemistry.
Professor Toone has authored more than 220 original papers, reviews, book chapters and abstracts in physical organic and biophysical chemistry, including applied and mechanistic enzymology, ligand binding in aqueous solution and the chemistry and biology of nitric oxide. He is also listed as an inventor on more than 20 patents in a range of biomedical fields. With Professor Jonathan Stamler Toone founded Vindica Pharmaceuticals, which leveraged fundamental research in novel C-nitroso donors of nitric oxide to develop NO-eluting coatings for medical devices. In 2006, working with Professor David Epstein, Chair of Ophthalmology and Director of the Duke Eye Center, and Casey Kopczynski, Toone founded Aerie Pharmaceuticals. Aerie, which became publically traded in 2013, is currently advancing novel kinase inhibitors through Phase III trials for the treatment of glaucoma.
From 2009 to 2012 Professor Toone was detailed to the U.S. Department of Energy where he was a founding member of the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E). During that time, he served both as program director and deputy director for technology before leading the Agency in 2012. As a program director, Professor Toone devised and implemented ARPA-E's Electrofuels program, which explores the use of non-photosynthetic autotrophic organisms for the production of energy-dense, infrastructure-compatible liquid fuels.
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Acknowledging various stakeholder networks and regulatory environment variances is essential to uncover the right decision-makers in support of biologics or biosimilarsIBM Watson
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Knowing the volume of procedures and growth trends by site of care can allow you to understand the market demand for your productIBM Watson
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What the most successful life sciences fundraising pitch decks all have in commonBrex
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Creativity, collaboration and learning are the three things that float my boat. I'm a specialist in designing ECOEs - effective online collaborative experiences - and I get a kick out of helping people work together more effectively using technology.
I'd love to help you develop your ideas and projects, please get in touch with me via Twitter.
For more information visit www.creativehuddle.co.uk and
Available for work:

subset: commoncrawl


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Earlier this past spring, I was contacted by a fellow designer, Tanis Gray, wanting to know if I would like to design a piece for a yarn company to support a new yarn line. Tanis told me a little about the company and gave me one design guideline (a triangular shawl). I was in.
Our Back 40 brings together the finest alpaca from small American alpaca farms to create beautiful, luxurious yarn.
Symmes is the shawl I designed to support their American Class Sport Weight Alpaca. I wanted a shawl with lots of texture that would show off how gorgeous this yarn is.
Symmes is a top-down triangular shawl. Instead of yarn overs, the shawl uses make one right and left to create the triangular shape. Panels of stockinette stitch alternate with broken rib. The bottom edge is a diamond brocade.
Symmes is available as a kit from Our Back 40. The yarn is described as cashmere quality, and it is. It is such a dream to knit with. Whenever I was knitting this project, everyone stopped to pet the shawl and squeeze the yarn. It's so nice. You should treat yourself.


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Anushka Sharma's upcoming 'NH10' has ended up getting an adult only certificate. But this is not at all surprising for the actress. She has reacted to this A-certification, saying that this was expected of the film. The filmmakers knew that the censor board may hand over A-certificate to 'NH10', ... read more
All About NH10
Anushka Sharma nearly escaped fatal accident on the set of her debut production 'NH10'. Had she not realised the danger swaying upon her and the team, the entire cast and the crew might met with an accident. As seen in the trailer, most portions of 'NH10' was shot in a real location ... read more
Anushka Sharma's debut production venture 'NH10' hit the threates on Friday and the film had a surprisingly slow start. The film was off late very much in news for censor board verdict. Speaking about the first day collection, 'NH10' registered 10-15% occupancy in the morning shows at multiplexes ... read more
Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma and her cricketer boyfriend Virat Kohli were spotted at the Vogue Beauty Awards held in Mumbai yesterday. The actress appeared in a lemon yellow Gauri and Nainika gown, while her beau sported his staple black suit. The 'NH10' actress seemed more open about ... read more
Anushka Sharma's debut production venture 'NH10' is slowly and steadily climbing up the ladder of success. Opened with mixed reviews, the thriller directed by Navdeep Singh collected Rs 13.45 crore in the opening weekend, which is considered decent and unexpected. On Sunday night, the movie showe ... read more
Anushka Sharma's debut production venture 'NH10' is suitable for adult viewing only. Censor board has passed the film with A certificate, which means only adults are permitted. The film has some objectionable scenes for which 'NH10' fail to clear with U/A certificate. As per report, censor board ... read more
Anushka gave a mind blowing performance in 'PK' with her bold character of Jaggu. She sports a far bolder look in 'NH10' and the dynamic poster is sure to draw swarms of audience to theaters. Here are the top reasons why this Anushka starrer is a must watch: The crux ... read more
In an industry like Bollywood, it ideally shouldn't have gone past the first narration but a young female star not only produced that idea but has backed the film till its release. And Anushka Sharma's gamble has paid off and how! The Navdeep Singh-directed NH10 has been cruising at the box ... read more
Celebrities use social media to interact with fans and share opinions and information on various subjects, but there are anonymous people who often keep making unpleasant remarks and trolling on their Twitter walls. However, actress Anushka Sharma has taken a stand against it. The 'NH10' a ... read more
Bollywood actress-cum-producer Anushka Sharma seems to be inspired by her contemporaries Alia Bhatt, Sonakshi Sinha, Shraddha Kapoor et al, and is the latest actress to join the singing bandwagon. The actress took to Twitter to share a video of her singing the hit song 'Rolling In the Deep ... read more


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Divorce can be hard on the children involved, which is why you want to do everything you can to resolve child custody matters as quickly as possible. Get the legal support you need during this family transition, and contact the Law Office of Rex R. McCarley in McKinney, TX.
Sometimes, the circumstances of parents can be harmful to a child. Other family members of friends face a host of legal hurdles when trying to take care of these children. If you are not a parent, but find yourself needing to help and care for these children, you need an attorney who has the knowledge and experience to help you help the children. Contact the Law Office of Rex R. McCarley.
Your child custody attorney can help you with any issue related to the legalities of child custody, including:
When you need help establishing a healthy and safe environment for your children, partner with an experienced child custody attorney. Call 972-884-0448 to speak with a child custody lawyer about your case.
Are you looking for a diligent child custody attorney who leads with compassion? Schedule a free consultation with the Law Office of Rex R. McCarley in McKinney, TX. We'll discuss your legal situation and decide on the next best steps moving forward.


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How Education Fares In The Democratic Party Platform
By Jeff Bryant
"Many are saying this platform 'may be most progressive platform the Democratic Party may have ever had.' But is it progressive on education? … Currently, the best answer to that question is, 'Maybe.'"
Read more …
Bid To Buy For-Profit College By Former Obama Insiders Raises Questions
"As the Obama administration cracks down on for-profit colleges, three former officials working on behalf of an investment firm run by President Barack Obama's best friend have staged a behind-the-scenes campaign to get the Education Department to green-light a purchase of the biggest for-profit of them all – the University of Phoenix… Several key players are either close to top administration officials, including the president himself, or are former administration insiders… The proposed sale carries high stakes… $1.1 billion… If the company were to fail, more than 160,000 students could be displaced and the government would be on the hook for hundreds of millions in student loans."
Read more …
2016 KIDS COUNT Data Book Finds Stagnating Poverty And Racial Inequity
New America Foundation
"New data… which measures the well-being of children across the nation… reveals… the growing economic instability of American children and families… despite being several years into the recovery… Even though the employment rate has been increasing… 30% of children lived in families where no parent had full-time, year-round employment… 22% of children lived in families with incomes below the poverty line… Future prospects of workers with a high school diploma or less are growing ever bleaker… Children of color… continue to experience negative outcomes at higher rates."
Read more …
Education Secretary Takes Heat For Pushing Single Rating Of Schools
"California is moving towards establishing a new accountability system made up of multiple measures, in place of the state's previous… which assigned schools a single 'summative' number based on test scores. This new approach has been championed by Gov. Jerry Brown… But under the draft regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Education… states would be required to come up with a single rating for their schools."
Read more …
The Trickle-Down Myth Meets The Reality Of School Aid
The New York Times
"[Kansas] Gov. Sam Brownback and the Republican-controlled Legislature have… yielded to a state court mandate to either treat poor districts more equitably or see the public school system shut down… The fierce standoff over school financing was an outgrowth of Mr. Brownback's wholesale indulgence of the Republican trickle-down myth that sweeping tax cuts somehow produce revenue growth, not deficits… As vicious as the fight has been, it may prove to be a mere skirmish in a larger court challenge focused on the State Constitution's requirement that a properly financed education be provided for all Kansas students."
Read more …
This Friday In D.C., Let's Rally For An Important Progressive Cause
Campaign For America's Future
Jeff Bryant writes, "This Friday, a crowd expected to reach into the thousands will throng the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., to listen to prominent voices in the progressive movement, such as Rev. William Barber II, address the nation… The cause is about rallying the nation to support its treasured K-12 public school system. The gathering begins at 10:30 a.m., the speeches begin at noon and a march to the White House at 2:30 p.m.… Barber will be joined on the stage by some of the most prominent voices in progressive education policy, including education historian and best-selling author Diane Ravitch, renowned author and social justice advocate Jonathan Kozol, Chicago community activist Jitu Brown, and Youth Dreamers fighters for immigrant justice, among many others."
Read more …


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CSP DAO Invests in Bitspawn Protocol As Part of The Blockchain Technology Company's Ongoing Private Token Sales
Cayman Islands – CSP DAO, a venture capital company focused on blockchain investments, has recently invested in the private token sale that Bitspawn Foundation has been holding. CSP DAO takes pride in combining the best elements of decentralized finance with fundraising to offer a unique blockchain system designed to address fair investment rights.
Utilizing a decentralized approach to fundraising with dedicated marketing, development, and research analysis, the company describes itself as "community-driven." In their own words, "CSP DAO offers fair contribution rights to all investors. Our model gives equally shared allocation to NEBO token holders. We've tackled the gas war issue and it is now easy to invest in top projects with a capped allocation based on the number of NEBO tokens held. The reach of the CSP network goes way above anything the financial world has seen before. We support the projects we invest in by providing assistance with marketing, community growth, advisory along with access to our vast industry network and resources."
Bringing all of these resources on board, Bitspawn Foundation is confident in its upward trajectory as it aims to provide a solution to one of the biggest issues affecting esports. Founded by Eric Godwin, a video game player of over 20 years, Bitspawn seeks to address the problem of payout and compensation to winning players, especially those in the amateur and semi-professional leagues.
The CEO of the company, describing the problem as multi-faceted in an interview, said, "The majority of the money and revenues flowing into esports are going to the professional scene, and only 3% of players are receiving any meaningful compensation from competing in esports. Amateur players and rising talent are an afterthought in the current ecosystem. Players have to stream and broadcast themselves across social media platforms just to get any exposure."
Bitspawn aims to address this problem by using blockchain technology in addition to its in-house proprietary backend that creates smart contracts for tournaments and ensures that winnings are distributed to players at the end of the competition. With this technology, payouts will be autonomous and trustless. Players will receive their winnings in their wallets within minutes of completing the competition, and they will be able to exchange these winnings for cash.
Bitspawn Foundation is based at 64 Earth Cl, West Bay, Cayman Islands and can be reached via phone at 1 833-772-9644 or email at [email protected] Visit their website for more information.
Media Contact
Company Name: Bitspawn Foundation
Contact Person: Eric Godwin
Email: Send Email
Phone: 1 833-772-9644
Address:64 Earth Cl
City: West Bay
Country: Cayman Islands
Website: http://bitspawn.io/


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A squirrel seemed a bit too complacent about wandering around the yard while a red fox laid on the grass lazily watching him.
This scene looks like something from a Christmas postcard. A deer, a red fox and a squirrel are all casually gathered around a bird feeder in someone's backyard. You can almost hear the happy music playing in the background.
The deer is munching the grass, the squirrel is curious and slowly bounding from spot to spot as squirrels do and the fox is just lazily soaking in the sun.
Or is he?
Viewer sent this video in from Bois Blanc Island - pretty wild place up there! - Jimmy
Posted by Michigan Out-of-Doors TV on Wednesday, October 4, 2017
We should have known something was up just by watching the fox's body language. He perked up ever so slightly as the squirrel approached and, apparently, determined that ol' red was not a threat.
But, foxes don't have a reputation for being sly for nothing. This red fox simply bided his time until the squirrel turned its back, and then...BAM!
That was a pretty wicked attack. That deer seemed to be thinking, "Yup. I knew it. I told you to keep an eye on old red."
Nature is indeed a merciless environment.
Like what you see here? You can read more great articles by David Smith at his Facebook page, Stumpjack Outdoors.
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The Latest: Mainland China, Hong Kong report fewer new cases
BEIJING — Both mainland China and Hong Kong reported fewer new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday as strict measures to contain new infections appear to be taking effect.
Mainland China announced 36 new cases across the country, down from 43 the previous day. Of those, 28 were in the northwestern region of Xinjiang and two in Liaoning province in the northeast.
Another six cases were brought by Chinese arriving from overseas. No new deaths were registered , leaving China's total at 4,634 among 84,634 cases reported since the virus was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.
Hong Kong reported 78 new cases over the previous 24 hours, the first time in almost two weeks that new cases had fallen into double-digits.
Authorities in the semi-autonomous southern Chinese city ordered mask wearing in public places, restrictions on indoor dining and increased testing to contain the outbreak.
China's central government also sent a medical team to assist in efforts and an exhibition center has been converted into a temporary hospital in the event beds run short. Deaths from the disease in Hong Kong have risen to 38 among 3,589 total cases.
— Parents struggle as schools reopen amid coronavirus surge
— COVID relief bill remains up in air as negotiations resume
— Debate begins for who's first in line for COVID-19 vaccine
— Follow AP's pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
MELBOURNE, Australia— Australia's hard-hit Victoria state has banned people who should be self-isolating from exercising outside their homes and introduced tougher fines for people infected with COVID-19 who continue to go to work.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said that military and health teams would repeatedly and randomly door-knock homes to ensure people who should be self-isolating were at home.
Teams had door-knocked more than 3,000 homes and could not find more than 800 people who should have been home because they were awaiting a test result or had tested positive to coronavirus.
Andrews said the government was removing the lawful excuse that someone who should be self-isolating had gone out to exercise.
"It's difficult to enforce this if people have a lawful excuse and if some people are going to use that to try and justify other decisions -- they were at no point getting exercise," Andrews said.
The government has also increased the fine for failing to self-isolate from 1,652 Australian dollars ($1,169) to AU$4,957 ($3,507). The most serious cases could also be taken to court and fined up to AU$20,000 ($14,151), Andrews said.
Victoria reported 439 new cases over night and 11 new deaths.
LAS VEGAS -- Nevada will shift this week from broad restrictions in response to the coronavirus to an ongoing, county-by-county review where officials hope to target hot spots and specific businesses where the virus is spreading.
Gov. Steve Sisolak said Monday that the state would evaluate Nevada's 17 counties weekly on their rates of new cases, positive tests and tests per day.
A new task force of state officials will review the data. If counties do not meet at least two of the criteria for two weeks in a row, the task force and county officials will come up with a response plan.
When asked if he would ever broadly shut down all the state's casinos again, as he did in March, the governor said all options are open but casinos have been responsible and are not a major source of virus spread right now.
He said biggest problem Nevada officials have found with trying to stop the spread are two areas that are hard to control: family gatherings or people going to work when they're sick or have tested positive.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom said California appears to be getting a grip on a resurgence of the coronavirus, though he warned the state is a long way from reopening some of the businesses it shuttered for a second time last month because of rising infections and hospitalizations.
The average weekly number of positive tests is down by a fifth, to 7,764 from its peak of nearly 9,900 a week ago. The seven-day rate of tests coming back positive statewide had peaked at nearly 8% late last month but has fallen to 6.1%, he said Monday, though the rate remains much higher in some hard-hit counties.
"It's not where it needs to be, it is still too high, but again it is good to see this number trending down, not trending up," Newsom said.
Hospitalizations, which had recently ballooned by 50%, have also fallen over the last 14 days, he said in his most upbeat briefing since the resurgence. The number of people in intensive care units because of coronavirus has also declined slightly.
Newsom credited the new restrictions that have locked down most indoor commercial activities in 38 of California's 58 counties, as well as enforcement actions and increased compliance with his endlessly repeated cautions to maintain social distancing, wear face coverings and use proper hygiene.
OLYMPIA, Wash. - Gyms and fitness facilities in Washington state will need to nearly triple the minimum distance required for patrons exercising indoors, except for those practicing certain team sports.
New COVID-19 guidance issued late Monday by Gov. Jay Inslee increases the requirement of six feet of distance between patrons to 300 square feet — about 17 feet.
The number of people allowed in gyms, fitness facilities and fitness classes will be limited by the size of their space under this guidance, and occupancy in facilities and gyms that are larger than 12,000 square feet will be capped at 25 percent.
In addition, showers, hot tubs, saunas, and tanning beds at multi-use facilities will be closed, as will steam rooms, squash courts, and racquetball courts.
As of Monday, there have been more than 58,000 confirmed cases since the pandemic began. Nearly 1,600 people in Washington have died of complications from COVID-19.
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — The Mall of America says the Nickelodeon Universe amusement park inside the mall will reopen Aug. 10 after being closed nearly five months due to COVID-19.
Officials of the Bloomington, Minnesota mall said the seven-acre (2.8-hectare) theme park will reopen with significant changes aimed at maintaining a safe, healthy and comfortable environment.
To meet state guidelines, Nickelodeon Universe will operate with a reduced capacity of 250 visitors at any time. Guests will be allowed through a single entry point. Only guests who have bought a ticket will have access to walk through the park. Tickets will be limited to two hours.
Guests 3 years and older will be required to wear face masks at all times, including for the duration of each attraction.
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — At least two Indiana schools shut back down this week after students and staff tested positive for COVID-19.
Other districts in the state also are reporting positive coronavirus tests among students and employees.
Elwood Junior Senior High School, a district of roughly 1,500 students about 35 miles (56 kilometers) northeast of Indianapolis, is temporarily closing this week after "multiple staff" came back positive for the virus, Superintendent Joe Brown said.
The district saw "more positive cases from staff members than we anticipated," Brown said, but said no students were believed to have been in close contact.
In Southern Indiana, four students from Lanesville Junior-Senior High School have tested positive and an additional 50 have been quarantined since it opened Wednesday. The school district says it held a virtual learning day on Monday and classes will resume in-person Tuesday.
The school district already elected to temporarily move all classes in its largest high school online after a teacher tested positive for the coronavirus and exposed other school staff last month.
RAPID CITY, S.D. — The South Dakota Department of Health says the number of confirmed coronavirus cases at a Christian youth summer camp in the Black Hills has grown to 96.
Health officials said Monday that 93 South Dakota residents and three out-of-state residents have COVID-19 after attending Camp Judson near Keystone. The camp shut down several weeks ago.
State epidemiologist Joshua Clayton said 328 people had been at the camp. He said 44 of the 93 South Dakota cases have recovered, the Rapid City Journal reported.
Clayton said the average age among the church camp's cases is 15 years old, with some as young as 5 to 9 and as old as 70 to 74 becoming infected. Of the South Dakota cases, 59 were women and 34 were men. None have been hospitalized, he said.
WASHINGTON — White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx says she's watching so-called "yellow states" where cases are increasing and expressed concern about Missouri and Tennessee.
Vice President Mike Pence, chair of the task force, said he and Birx have been counseling the heartland states and fully support measures they're taking to slow the spread.
Pence, Birx and other members of the task force commented during a private conference call Monday with governors. The Associated Press obtained a recording of the discussion.
Birx said she's seeing improvement in Sun Belt states and singled out Arizona for praise. Pence told everyone to "just keep up the good work."
Pence also encouraged governors to reopen schools. He said his visit last week to a North Carolina classroom almost brought a tear to his eye.
BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana has released coronavirus safety guidelines for movie and TV productions as filming is expected to start returning to the virus outbreak hot spot this month.
Louisiana's economic development department issued the rules Monday.
The regulations say movie and TV productions should have a coronavirus compliance officer, provide testing for workers and require everyone except performers to wear masks. The department calls for using temperature checks to enter production areas, distancing people at the locations and using digital scripts when possible.
Most filming in Louisiana has been on hold since March. But Louisiana's economic development department says some productions are readying to resume filming this month and in September.
Trey Burvant, president of the Louisiana Film and Entertainment Association, said 15 shows were filming in the state before the pandemic.
Louisiana has had one of the highest per capita infection rates in the United States, with more than 120,000 confirmed coronavirus cases since early March.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — More than a dozen sites are opening across Alabama to test about 200,000 students before they head to college and university campuses statewide.
Officials said Monday the program will help stem the spread of the new coronavirus only if students abide by guidelines at school.
Finis St. John, head of the board that oversees the three-campus University of Alabama System, said that while the mass testing program will screen all students before they arrive on campuses, the work "will have been for nothing" if they ignore rules about wearing masks and social distancing.
Dr. Michael Saag, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham who helped design the program, said that with 14 testing sites scattered across the state opening Tuesday, no one should have to travel farther than 60 miles (95 kilometers) to get to one. Test results should be available in a day.
Some students coming to an Alabama school from other states will receive an at-home test they can submit, and some will be able to submit test results from doctors' offices or commercial laboratories.
The program is funded by $30 million in federal coronavirus assistance.
LEBANON, N.H. — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States' top infectious disease expert, warned against reopening schools in coronavirus hot spots.
Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases, spoke via video conference Monday to physicians and medical students at New Hampshire's Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. He said while the nation's "default principle" should be that children return to school, "to say that every child has to go back to school is not really realizing the fact that we have such a diversity of viral activity."
He said there may be some areas where the level of virus is so high that it would not be prudent to bring children back to school.
Determined to reopen America's schools despite coronavirus worries, President Donald Trump recently threatened to hold back federal money if school districts don't bring their students back in the fall. He and top White House aides also have been ramping up attacks against Fauci, with Trump saying Fauci has "made a lot of mistakes."
WASHINGTON — The White House announced Monday that random coronavirus testing of its staff is becoming mandatory.
The White House said the measure was "part of our ongoing efforts to protect the health and safety" of the White House Complex.
It says such testing had previously been handled on a voluntary basis.
Last week, the White House disclosed that National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien had tested positive for the virus, making O'Brien the highest-ranking official to test positive so far.
President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are tested regularly for the coronavirus, as are any guests who will be physically close to the president or vice president whether they are at the White House or on travel around the country.
SUWANEE, Ga. — Officials for Georgia's largest public school district say more than 250 employees have reported testing positive for the coronavirus or being exposed to it about a week before the school year is set to begin.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Gwinnett County Public Schools teachers began in-person planning Wednesday at facilities.
Officials confirmed to news outlets that one day later, some 260 employees had called in to report a positive COVID-19 test or possible exposure and are now excluded from work.
The system's superintendent announced last month that all classes will be taught online for the 180,000-student district in suburban Atlanta when instruction begins Aug. 12.
The county, the state's second-most populous, had more than 17,780 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Sunday, and nearly 240 deaths.
BERLIN — Children have returned to school in the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the first in the country to start the new school year following nationwide shutdowns at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in March.
Federal Education Minister Anja Karliczek has advocated mask requirements inside school buildings. But the school system is largely a matter for the 16 state governments in Germany, and as students returned to class in cities like Rostock and Schwerin on Monday, regional officials had not yet implemented such a rule.
Since schools largely closed down in mid-March, parents, teachers and children have eyed the reopenings warily.
Many children voluntarily wore masks Monday as school began, and several schools implemented their own mask rules and handed them out to children who forgot them.
ROME -- The number of new confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Italy fell below 200 for the first time in a week, with 159 cases registered on Monday, according to Health Ministry figures.
That brings the total number of cases in Italy to 248,229 and deaths to 35,166.
Lazio, the central region that includes Rome, now has the highest number of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in Italy's 20 regions. Health officials said nine of the region's new cases were brought by travelers from Romania, Ukraine, the Dominican Republic, Iran, India and Bangladesh.
Two clusters of infections have also been traced to popular seaside areas near Rome. Monday figures tend to be lower since they often don't include tallies from the weekend.


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Western Digital
Data storage requirements have kept increasing over the last several years. While SSDs have taken over the role of the primary drive in most computing systems, hard drives continue to be the storage media of choice in areas dealing with large amount of relatively cold data. Hard drives are also suitable for workloads that are largely sequential and not performance sensitive. The $/GB metric for SSDs (particularly with QLC in the picture) is showing a downward trend, but it is still not low enough to match HDDs in that market segment. Since the release of the last HDD guide, Western Digital has announced retail availability of their OptiNAND-equipped 22TB drives, Toshiba has introduced Pro lines for their X300 and N300 lineups, and prices have generally...
Toshiba's 768Gb 3D QLC NAND Flash Memory: Matching TLC at 1000 P/E Cycles?
Toshiba last week announced its first 3D NAND flash memory chips featuring QLC (quadruple level cell) BiCS architecture. The new components feature 64 layers and developers of SSDs and...37 by Anton Shilov on 7/3/2017
Western Digital Launches New My Passport Ultra HDDs: New Enclosure, Up to 4 TB
Western Digital this week refreshed its My Passport Ultra lineup of small form-factor external HDDs. The new hard drives use a new enclosure and come with software that backs...26 by Anton Shilov on 6/29/2017
Joint Venture Dispute Between Toshiba and Western Digital Escalates, Toshiba Still Unable to Sell NAND Business
Due to serious financial difficulties, Toshiba is trying to sell off their stake of their very successful flash memory business to keep the rest of the company afloat. Western...11 by Billy Tallis on 6/29/2017
Western Digital Announce BiCS4 3D NAND: 96 Layers, TLC & QLC, Up to 1 Tb per Chip
Western Digital on Tuesday formally announced its fourth-generation 3D NAND memory, developed as part of the Western Digital/Toshiba joint venture. The fourth-generation BiCS NAND flash chips from Western Digital...22 by Anton Shilov on 6/28/2017
Western Digital My Passport SSD Mini-Review
Flash-based external direct-attached storage (DAS) devices have evolved rapidly over the last few years. Starting with simple thumb drives that could barely saturate USB 2.0 bandwidth, we now see...22 by Ganesh T S on 6/28/2017
Toshiba Selects Japan-U.S. Consortium As Preferred Buyer For Memory Business
Toshiba has selected a consortium as their preferred bidder in the sale of Toshiba's memory business. The consortium is led by the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, an investment...13 by Billy Tallis & Anton Shilov on 6/21/2017
WD Blue 3D NAND SATA & SanDisk Ultra 3D SSDs Launched: 3D TLC NAND, SATA, Marvell
Western Digital on Monday officially launched its first consumer SSDs based on its 64-layer 3D NAND memory. The new drives will be available under the WD Blue 3D NAND...12 by Anton Shilov on 5/29/2017
Western Digital Seeks To Intervene In Toshiba's Sale Of Memory Business
Western Digital, through its SanDisk subsidiary, is seeking arbitration to prevent Toshiba from selling off its stake in their flash memory joint venture without the consent of Western Digital...12 by Billy Tallis on 5/23/2017
WD Adds Helium-Filled 10 TB NAS HDDs to WD Red, WD Red Pro Lineups
Western Digital has announced two new helium-filled hard drives targeting consumer and business NAS applications. The new WD Red and WD Red Pro HDDs increase capacity of WD's NAS...19 by Anton Shilov on 5/22/2017
Western Digital Launches HGST Ultrastar SS300 SSDs: 3D NAND for Data Centers
Western Digital has officially introduced its first data center-class SSDs using 3D NAND flash. The new HGST Ultrastar SS300 SSDs are designed for SAS applications with mixed workloads that...3 by Anton Shilov on 5/22/2017
Western Digital Ships Client SSDs Based on 512 Gb 3D TLC NAND Chips
Last week Toshiba demonstrated the operation of its XG-series SSDs NVMe PCIe SSD based on the company's 64-layer 512 Gb 3D NAND chips. What was left unnoticed is that...10 by Anton Shilov on 5/19/2017
Western Digital: Sales of Helium-Filled HDDs Accelerating, 15M Sold So Far
Western Digital recently announced that it had sold 15 million helium-filled hard drives, indicating that sales of such HDDs are accelerating. Since the launch of the HGST HelioSeal platform...29 by Anton Shilov on 5/13/2017
Western Digital Starts Shipments of HGST Ultrastar He12 12 TB HDDs
Western Digital on Wednesday announced that it had begun to ship its HGST Ultrastar He12 hard drives with 12 TB of capacity. The HDDs are the first drives to...15 by Anton Shilov on 4/28/2017
Micron Hires New CEO: Sanjay Mehrotra, SanDisk Co-Founder And Former CEO
In February, Micron CEO Mark Durcan announced his retirement after three decades with the company. Durcan had previously announced plans to retire in 2012 while serving as the company's...1 by Billy Tallis on 4/27/2017
Western Digital Expands Purple Lineup with a 10 TB Helium-Filled HDD
Western Digital has expanded its Purple lineup of hard drives, aimed at video surveillance applications, with a 10 TB helium-filled HDD. The drive is optimized for write-intensive workloads and...8 by Anton Shilov on 4/13/2017
Western Digital Announces My Passport SSD: Up to 1 TB, AES-256, USB-C
Western Digital has announced its first external SSDs to be sold under the WD brand. The My Passport SSDs are shock resistant, support hardware-based AES-256 encryption, use USB 3.1...8 by Anton Shilov on 4/11/2017
The Western Digital Black PCIe SSD (512GB) Review
After acquiring SanDisk and introducing WD Green and WD Blue SSDs, it is no surprise to see Western Digital introduce a WD Black SSD that is a M.2 PCIe...36 by Billy Tallis on 3/8/2017
Toshiba Samples 64-Layer 512 Gb BiCS 3D NAND, Announces 1 TB BGA SSD
Toshiba on Wednesday said that it had begun to sample its latest BiCS 3D NAND flash memory chips with 64 word layers and 512 Gb capacity. A co-development project...8 by Anton Shilov on 2/23/2017
Western Digital Announces SanDisk Skyhawk Enterprise NVMe SSDs
Today Western Digital announced the first enterprise NVMe SSDs under their SanDisk brand. The new SanDisk Skyhawk series are 2.5" U.2 SSDs intended for datacenter use. While Western Digital's...17 by Billy Tallis on 2/7/2017
Toshiba Announces Plan to Sell Minority Stake In NAND Flash Production Business
This morning Toshiba has announced that they will be spinning off their chip production business as part of a broader plan to sell off a minority stake in the...1 by Ryan Smith & Anton Shilov on 1/27/2017


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The Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701 with an RTX 2080 Max-Q laptop is something similar to what we've covered in the past, but here's an updated model. This happens to be the thinnest gaming laptop on the market. Asus has also been able to engineer a 17″ screen to fit on a 15″ chassis. Wait…what? Yes, a 17″ screen on a 15″ chassis. The GX701 has an NVIDIA RTX 2080 Max-Q, an i7-8750H, and weighs in at 5.9-pounds.
How did they do that? Well, they have super thin bezels, and in addition to super thin bezels, it also has ditched the webcam. I'm not sure that this is something that every brand should do, but since this is on a device that's clearly intended for gaming and gaming only, I'm pretty cool with it not having a webcam. They do include an external Bluetooth webcam that you can mount on top of the screen or beside you. However, the fact that it doesn't have a webcam, gives it a very streamlined look with ultra clean lines. To have a 17″ screen on a 15″ footprint is pretty dope.
Just above the WASD keys, Asus did add a volume rocker. It's a small barrel spinning key that adjusts the volume accurately. It's not something that every gaming laptop has, but when they are there they make for a better gaming experience. This basically gives you on-the-fly volume control while gaming and it won't distract you too much from staying in the fight.
The rest of the device hasn't really changed much since last year. I've always enjoyed the shape and aesthetics of this laptop. It still has that lifting mechanism when you open the display to increase the cooling of the internals.
Full Specs:
CPU: Intel i7-8750H
6 cores / 12 threads
2.2 GHz base
3.9 GHz all core turbo
4.1 GHz single core turbo
Memory: 16GB DDR4-2666
Dual channel
1 memory slot, 8GB soldered
24GB maximum
Storage: 1x m.2 512GB NVME SSD
GPU NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB or GTX 1070 Max-Q
Display: 15.6″ 1080p 144Hz
Looking to sell laptop that's broken or simply not serving your needs anymore? We buy variety or brands and models in any condition.


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Tis the Season for Crafting (Christmas ornaments)
To spruce up the tree, we made a few Christmas ornaments.
The first, which was incredibly easy, just consisted of shoving some garland into a clear, plastic ball ornament. We made about a dozen of them and have been loving them for a few weeks now:
…and on the tree:
Literally, the crafting time for that ornament was about 5 minutes for a dozen. Big impact, low budget (we snagged all of the materials from Michaels with Black-Friday discounts).
The second type of Christmas ornament we made was likewise cheap and easy. We just Mod Podged some old scrap fabrics to a clear plastic ball ornament. The end (detailed instructions and inspiration found here). Here's how it turned out:
So that's it! Now it's time to sit back and get excited about opening presents tomorrow!


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In a recent blog post, I wrote about the fear of missing out on a golden opportunity.
Last week, a golden opportunity came to me and I took it. I was invited to write a new article for the launch of Network Ten's news website, Ten Daily.
I think it's so interesting how opportunities can crop up in the most unexpected of ways, and when I look back at this one, it's quite curious in terms of how it came about. If you have ever seen the "Lucky Penny" episode of How I Met Your Mother, you might have an idea what I mean by this: it can be so interesting to trace an outcome back to its very origins, especially when those origins seem completely disparate.
In other words – sometimes life presents us with amazing opportunities – but where do they actually come from?
Bear with me a moment. I swear I'm going somewhere with this.
In this case, I can trace this opportunity back to the day job I had taken on a few years back. I was working in a relatively senior community engagement position for a university, and as part of this role I was on a few media mailing lists to keep abreast of current trends in the higher education sector (I know … who the hell is this guy? I swear I'm not a boring person!).
Anyway, about a year ago, I spotted that The Conversation was looking for articles with an academic bent about the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter. I knew this opportunity wasn't for me for two reasons. Firstly, although I'm a sessional academic for a university, I don't have my PhD and I don't engage in a lot of research – nor is it something that stimulates me a lot – so I knew the tone and approach of such an article just wouldn't be for me. Secondly, I am a massive Harry Potter fanboy, and the thought of taking a detached academic view of something I love was just unpalatable to me. So, I never looked further into that particular opportunity.
But about a month later, right on the eve of the Harry Potter 20th anniversary, I read a couple of articles on the web about why that fandom has connected so much with readers. I felt like none of the articles were getting to the key point – which, in my view, was JK Rowling's exceptional worldbuilding. So I wrote an article for my blog late that night and into the morning, then edited it and went to post it when a thought struck me.
The thought was: hey, this article isn't that bad. In fact, I reckon someone might even publish it.
So, I subbed it around to a few news websites and went to bed.
I woke up to an email from an editor at the Huffington Post saying he wanted to run the article. It just happened to be my 29th birthday, so it was a very nice birthday present. My little Harry Potter article was published later that day.
A couple of months later, Australia was embroiled in the saga surrounding the same-sex marriage plebiscite. After a week of anger and hurt, I penned an article about the vote and sent it straight to the editor at HuffPost. To my delight, that article was accepted, too, and it went viral nationally. It was a thrilling moment to have my article briefly become part of the national conversation, and I was contacted by strangers from across the country with mostly (though not all) positive feedback.
Many months later, the editor in question started a new role at Network Ten's news website, Ten Daily. He remembered my article about the SSM vote and contacted me to see if I might be interested in writing a piece for their launch. I accepted. That piece – titled "How My Life Has Changed Since Australia Voted YES" – was published last week on Ten Daily. It was also the first piece of commissioned journalism I have written, which was a nice feeling, and it seemed to get a good response online.
Okay, so where the hell am I going with this?
Well, sometimes as an author we can get pissed off and frustrated with how much time we spend in our day jobs. It's burned, wasted time; time we spend toiling away so we can eat and pay the rent rather than work on the writing projects we are passionate about.
But, applying the Lucky Penny theory from How I Met Your Mother, I actually kind of owe this latest opportunity to my day job.
I would never have been asked to write for Ten Daily if I hadn't written the same-sex marriage article for HuffPost.
I would never have sent the same-sex marriage article to HuffPost if they hadn't already published my Harry Potter article.
And I would never have written the Harry Potter article if I hadn't glimpsed an email which came about as part of my job.
The point is: all this stuff happened for a reason, in a roundabout way. Toiling away in my day job eventually led me to an opportunity in my writing career.
But at the time, I never knew any of this. I thought I was stuck in a rut and I thought I was wasting my time. It's only with the power of hindsight, several years later, that I can reflect and see that, actually, if it weren't for that particular time in my life, I would never have found my way here to this latest opportunity.
Call it fate, or the universe, or just a lucky penny, but I think we should place more trust in ourselves and the twists and turns of our lives. As long as we are true to ourselves and don't give up pursuing our dreams, things tend to work out the way they are supposed to.
Opportunities will always find a way to present themselves. It is up to us, as travellers and dreamers and doers, to find a way to recognise them when they do, and seize them.
You never know where they might lead.


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There are some things I love to an unhealthy degree, such as The Shield, Russian imperial stouts, George Carlin's comedy, mint chocolate chip ice cream, and Evil Dead 2. My heart beats equally fast for the Dictionary of American Regional English, which recently published its long-awaited final volume.
I wrote about euphemisms from DARE - which documents terms from every nook and cranny of the US -- in my Evasive Maneuvers column for Visual Thesaurus, but I didn't come close to plumbing the depths. Here are a few more terms I find useful, amusing, or just flat-out wonderful. They are as American as apple pie and Richard Nixon, but better for your health. Use them in your tweets, toasts, and testimony as needed.


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May 04, 2018
Brazilian Millers may need to Import U.S. Wheat
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Wheat millers in Brazil usually have to import higher quality wheat to meet the domestic demand and they generally import the majority of the wheat from neighboring Argentina. The weather in Argentina has been very erratic this year and now there are concerns that there may not be any more wheat available from Argentina than what has already been committed until the end of the year. If that turns out to be the case, it could open the door for wheat imports from the United States.
According to an analysts from the consulting firm Consultoria Trigo & Farinhas and reported in Agrolink, the Argentine Minister of Agriculture has indicated on its web site that there will only be 5.3 million tons of wheat left to sell in the country after the 17.5 million tons of exports are accounted for.
The next wheat crop in Argentina will be harvested in December and between now and then, Argentina will mill approximately 500,000 tons of wheat per month and they will sell to exporters approximately 500,000 tons per month. In other words, Argentina would need 8.0 million tons of wheat to satisfy both millers and exporters until the new crop is available at the end of the year, but there is only approximately 5 million tons available.
That is why Brazilian millers who have not yet purchased their needed supplies for later in the year are very nervous that they may not be able to purchase wheat from Argentina until December. To fill the potential void, some millers are already contemplating purchasing U.S. wheat now for delivery starting in September.
How much they may need to purchase will depend in part how many hectares of wheat are planted in both Brazil and Argentina. Brazilian farmers are expected to increase their wheat acreage in 2018 and the hope is that the production will be 5 million tons or more, which would still be less than half of the domestic demand.
The problem with wheat production in Brazil is not limited to acreage. The quality of the Brazilian wheat is often times problematic due to excessive wetness during harvest in November and December. In many years, a significant porting of Brazil's wheat is only feed quality wheat which forces millers to import higher quality wheat from Argentina or other countries. The earliest any new crop wheat would be available in Brazil is mid-September.
Wheat planting in Argentina generally starts in May and finishes in June. The initial concern was that the severe drought that has impacted the summer crops in Argentina would prevent farmers from planting all their intended wheat acreage due to dry conditions. That concern has been turned 180 ° and the concern now is that they may not plant all their intended wheat acreage due to excess wetness and flooding.
Starting in April, rains returned to the humid pampas regions of Argentina with areas of Buenos Aires province receiving 4-10 inches during April, which resulted in flooding. The forecast is now calling for more heavy rains in generally the same areas which if verified, could result in delayed corn and soybean harvesting and subsequently delays in planting the winter wheat.


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The Trump Administration confirmed on Friday that it is stopping, with immediate effect, billions of dollars in payments to insurers that help keep the cost of health coverage affordable for about seven million low-to-middle-income families. In a statement, the White House said that the federal government couldn't lawfully make the payments, which are an integral part of the subsidized private-insurance markets that emerged from the Affordable Care Act.
As my colleague Amy Davidson Sorkin pointed out earlier, the Administration's legal argument is narrow and tendentious. In reality, this is a cynical political decision, made at Donald Trump's behest, to sabotage the workings of the A.C.A. and to endanger the welfare of millions of hardworking American families who are unable to bear the full cost of a private-insurance policy.
Unlike the executive order on health care that Trump issued on Thursday, the impact of this decision isn't ambiguous or dependent on the way various government agencies choose to interpret its language. The new policy will go into effect straight away. Under the instruction of the Justice Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, which administers Obamacare, is stopping payments to insurers, which are known as cost-sharing reduction payments.
Under the A.C.A., insurers are obliged to limit the out-of-pocket costs—for things like co-pays and, especially, deductibles—for households earning less than two and a half times the poverty line. (For a family of four, that's about sixty-one thousand dollars.) The cost-sharing payments, which totalled about seven billion dollars in 2016, were designed to compensate insurers for the impact on their bottom line.
By stopping the payments immediately, the White House will throw the insurance market into turmoil. Insurers had already set their rates for 2018, and the open-enrollment season begins on November 1st. In calculating the premiums they would charge, some insurers assumed that they would continue to receive the cost-sharing reduction payments. Others assumed that the payments would stop. Now all the insurers know that they won't get the money. But, under the terms of the A.C.A., they will still be obligated to limit the out-of-pocket costs for households under the income limit. That is an intentional recipe for confusion and chaos.
In the longer term, Trump's decision will lead to substantially higher premiums, as insurers adjust their prices to reflect the lost revenue. The Congressional Budget Office, in a recent study, estimated that premiums would rise by twenty per cent, on average, if the cost-sharing reduction payments were eliminated. In some parts of the country, the private-insurance system could collapse completely, as insurers choose to exit the market.
Clearly, this is Trump's intention. It has been widely reported that some of his advisers tried to talk him out of making this move on the grounds that it would be highly damaging. But Trump was so infuriated by Congress's failure to pass a bill repealing Obamacare, or large parts of it, that he chose to go ahead anyway. Repeatedly frustrated in the legislative arena, he settled on this spiteful act of diktat.
As of Friday afternoon, Trump still hadn't offered a public defense of his decision. But earlier, in one of his early-morning tweets, he openly gloated about the damage he was causing, writing, "The Democrats ObamaCare is imploding. Massive subsidy payments to their pet insurance companies has stopped. Dems should call me to fix!" Other Administration officials have been equally heartless in their comments. "If the insurance companies want to try and raise their rates because they are no longer getting a bailout, that's their problem," Mick Mulvaney, the White House budget director, told reporters.
Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell publicly supported the decision—no surprise there—but one or two elected Republican officials did cry foul. "Cutting health care subsidies will mean more uninsured in my district," Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a G.O.P. congresswoman from Florida, wrote on Twitter in advance of the official White House announcement. "@potus promised more access, affordable coverage. This does opposite."
The White House's decision to end the payments isn't the end of the story. A group of state attorneys general have indicated that they will mount a legal challenge. And Congress could always render the legal battle moot by appropriating money for the cost-sharing reduction payments. But that would involve Republicans doing something to safeguard an important element of Obamacare, and that seems unlikely.
In any case, Trump is following the fallback strategy that he may have had in mind all along. During the campaign, he suggested that, rather than trying to repeal Obamacare, the Republicans should wait for it to collapse of its own accord and then step in. The problem with this strategy was obvious: the vast majority of the Obamacare exchanges, although they did have some problems, weren't in any danger of collapsing. For Trump's idea to work, somebody would have to subvert them.
That somebody turned out to be him. With his executive order encouraging the spread of cheap, unregulated insurance policies; with his Administration's decision to slash spending on the advertising and promotion of Obamacare enrollment; and, now, with this latest premeditated act of vandalism, whose ultimate victims will include some of his own supporters, he has done all he can to bring the system crashing down around him. Even for a President with a record as dismal as his, this is a new low.


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District Attorney
Merchants in the County of San Luis Obispo lose thousands of dollars each year due to bad checks and fraud. When businesses are forced to raise prices to cover these losses, consumers bear the cost of this criminal activity.
The District Attorney's Bad Check Program is the primary investigative unit for all checks passed on insufficient funds and closed accounts in the County. Our program has several objectives.
The first and most important objective is to collect restitution for the victims of bad checks. A second objective is to save valuable police time and centralize bad check information. Our third objective is to educate the bad check writers through our diversion program.
The District Attorney will prosecute bad check writers who do not comply with the diversion program if the victim has followed proper procedure when accepting checks for goods or services.
Since its creation in 1989, the Bad Check Program has recovered over $11 million in restitution and fees.
Any person who receives a bad check is eligible to participate in the Bad Check Program if the following conditions are met.
A non-sufficient fund check must be submitted to the bank TWICE before referring it to the program. Account closed checks need only be submitted to the bank once.
Victims must complete a Bad Check Complaint form. The form is available on our web site or by calling the Bad Check Program. Please provide as much information as possible about the check writer. If you're a business, please identify the name of the employee who accepted the check in the witness section of the complaint. Please provide all documentation pertaining to the check you accepted. (Invoices, applications for service, receipts, video footage-anything that will help identify the check writer)
Our office will ONLY accept the original "Check 21" or "Substitute" check copy returned to you by your bank. We cannot accept photocopies. Call if you have questions about Check 21 guidelines.
Checks must be submitted in a timely manner. Preferably within 30 days of being returned
Please retain a copy of the check for your records. If you were charged fees from your bank for handling the check, please enclose a copy of your statement reflecting those fees. We will collect a maximum of $15 in bank fees.
Once the check is submitted to the District Attorney's Office, please do not accept payment from the check writer. The check writer must make payment directly to the District Attorney's Office.
Bad Checks must be mailed to the office and cannot be walked in at this time. Mail to 1050 Monterey St Rm223, SLO, CA 93408
If you are unsure whether the check you possess is eligible for the program, please contact the Bad Check Program at 781-5896 for information.
Any person who receives a bad check is eligible to participate in the Bad Check Program if the following conditions are met:
This service is provided free of charge.
This service is available throughout the year during regular business hours. The SLO Office at the County Courthouse Annex remains closed to the public to prevent the spread of the Corona virus. You must call and leave a message and your call will be returned. Thank you for your patience during this time.
Click on location name to show hours of operation, directions and phone information
Monday - Friday 8-5
1035 Palm Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93408
District Attorney Main Office: (805) 781-5800
Victim Witness Assistance Center: (805) 781-5821
Bad Check & Small Claims Advisory: (805) 781-5800
No. However, we can collect fees you were charged by your bank (up to $15.00).
There is no fee to victims. The check writer is charged a $50.00 administration fee and a $75.00 diversion class fee.
100% of the check amount is returned to victims.
Checks must be at least $1.00
Yes. This is a check written on a closed account.
Yes. When we receive a stop payment check we request bank records to determine whether there were funds in the account at the time the stop payment was placed. If there were insufficient funds, we treat the check as NSF. If there were funds in the account, the check would be returned to you and you may pursue a civil judgment through the small claims court.
The victim may pursue a civil judgment through the Small Claims Court.
Holding a check for a period of time, or allowing someone to date it purposefully for another date other than the date it is passed, makes the check a civil agreement between parties.
The Bad Check Program is a diversion program. We must give the check writer an opportunity to pay for their bad check.


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Too many clichés link healthy food with tasteless or uninspired choices.
The truth is there are many fantastic products that have been developed with modern food technology that meets the demands for nutrition as well as taste. Many products are becoming mainstream –and are replacing the potato chips and chocolate bars (along with all the calories and guilt!) From granola bars to fruit juices to dried fruits and nuts, the choices are varied and increasingly in demand from consumers. It is time to give up the tired, unhealthy vending snacks of yesterday and embrace the future of healthy convenience food.
Healthy Fresh Ontario Vending offers a wide range of tasty, nutritious foods and drinks in one convenient, energy efficient machine. With our Max Health system, you can actually choose the items you would like to have in your machine. We offer a selection of smart choice cold drinks and healthy snacks. Some of our available products include:


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Well, the troublesome tooth I have grumbled about these last few months ago is no more. Yesterday morning I attended a specialist dental clinic in Belfast to have it 'extracted.' Apparently dentists don't pull teeth anymore, they extract them. Ever the pessimist, I was prepared for the worst but adamant I was not going anotherContinue reading "Never Tell A Dentist You're Not In Pain"
Tag Archives: dentist
The Tooth Will Set You Free
Remember that tooth? You know, the one I have been whining….I mean writing….about these last few weeks? The idiot who ran a marathon with toothache? Then collapsed in a heap when he crossed the finishing line and cried like a baby the whole way home? Yeah that tooth? Well, three visits to the dentists laterContinue reading "The Tooth Will Set You Free"
I Told You So….
Don't you hate it when people say that? They always look unspeakably smug and the urge to scream in their faces is almost irresistible. We don't like being told we are wrong, even more so admitting that we were. Pride is a bitter pill to swallow, even when it has been sugar coated and giftContinue reading "I Told You So…."
Dr. Hell's Emporium Of Pain
I cut a sorry figure as I staggered out of the dental surgery three days ago. I had been booked in for a routine filling. Something about me consuming too many fizzy drinks. Who me? I had innocently enquired when asked. I may be partial to the occasional Diet Coke or ten but other thanContinue reading "Dr. Hell's Emporium Of Pain"


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What is Camp TAZO "Zen" ?
Camp TAZO "Zen" is an overnight camp for adults who want to unlock their creative potential. The RZA will help you reach creative enlightenment with his series of Guided Explorations. Expect to collaborate with peers, flex your creative muscles and be challenged by none other than yourself. And of course, reflect with some tea.
Where is Camp TAZO "Zen" ?
Staten Island, NYC. AKA Shaolin Land, home of The RZA and the Wu-Tang Clan. The RZA considers an island as the ideal environment to cultivate your creative spirit.
When is Camp TAZO "Zen" ?
The exact date isn't confirmed, but it will be at some point in February 2020.
What if I have to miss work?
We think taking time off to explore is a good thing, but we also understand that it can be a challenge, particularly if you don't receive any paid time off. To help out, we're giving each camper a stipend to offset any financial burden that comes with taking time away from your daily routine.
How long is this camp?
2 days, 1 night.
Who can apply?
Anyone who wants to explore and seek creative enlightenment.
Who's the Camp Director?
The RZA.
Yes. He'll be there.
What will he be doing?
To unlock your creative potential, The RZA will take you on a series of Guided Explorations. Think creative exercises, thoughtful solitude and collaborations. But a real teacher never stops learning. So, he'll also be your student.
It'll make more sense when you're here. We promise.
How would The RZA like to be addressed?
The following will suffice: Bobby Digital, ZigZagZig, Steelz, The Rzarector, The Abbot, Prince Rakeem, Bobby Steels, Prince Dynamite, Prince Delight, The Scientist. But the RZA works fine, too.
Will Alyssa Edwards be there?
Every year, we host a different camp centered around a different TAZO blend. Last year, it was "Passion" with Alyssa. This year, it's "Zen" with The RZA.
How much does Camp TAZO "Zen" cost?
Free. Yes, that includes travel.
What should I bring?
Bring your best intentions. An open mind is all we ask for. And a change of clothes. If selected to attend, we'll send you an official list of what to bring.


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Happy Valentines Day, we are two weeks away from the trade deadline and the Sabres are in must-win mode for the rest of the season.
The Sabres aren't mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, but they are in a position where they need every point available to play in the second season.
There is a chance that Lindy Ruff will be back behind the bench, but that has yet to be confirmed. Zack Kassian appears as if he will remain on the wing with Brad Boyes and Matt Ellis for the near future. Buffalo is still without Jochen Hecht and Cody McCormick, but are otherwise healthy – particularly with regards to their skill players.
Buffalo's lack of scoring and slow starts have been just about an epidemic this season. The Sabres need to shake that habit immediately if they expect to be playing well into April. That starts with finishing chances. Buffalo has missed on a number of glorious opportunities this season and it has reflected in the standings. Ryan Miller has been providing excellent goaltending as of late but hasn't gotten the necessary goal support.
If Buffalo can score more than three goals for more than just two games in a row, they will have a punchers chance at reaching the postseason.
Highlighted Matchup
Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek vs. New Jersey's defense. There is no mistaking the two most valuable players on Buffalo's roster this season. Vanek has been back for two games and has a goal and an assist. Pominville has the same stat line in those two games. It just so happens each assisted on the other's goal. New Jersey's defense has gotten pretty thin as of late and Buffalo could really take advantage of a weak set of defensemen tonight. Of course they also have to deal with Marty Brodeur.
Projected Goaltenders
BUF: Ryan Miller
NJD: Martin Brodeur
Last Meeting
Sabres 2 – Devils 1 SO, Prudential Center, 1/24/2012


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Fifth Grade Colonial Day
This year, fifth graders spent the month of February studying colonial times in America! Students first learned about the settlements in America like Jamestown and Plymouth Rock....Read More
Aaron School is closely monitoring developments around COVID-19 (coronavirus). Click here for more information and resources.
This year, fifth graders spent the month of February studying colonial times in America! Students first learned about the settlements in America like Jamestown and Plymouth Rock....Read More
As autumn came to a close, Aaron School students were excited to learn about the new Character Trait of the Season: COOPERATION!...Read More
At Aaron School 45th Street, "Wii Love to Play" is a weekly after-school program taught by the Physical Education teachers. The program is available to students in 2nd through 7th grade and modified to meet...Read More
Students in the Olive Room have spent the past several months transforming a space in the Art Room into an underwater adventure!...Read More
At the start of the year, Art teachers prepared students for what would take place in the Art Room over the course of the school year. We were asking students to reimagine the classroom space,...Read More
We are very excited to announce that Aaron School students and staff will be participating in a school-wide book drive!...Read More
In continuing with our "Bring Your A Game" theme, Aaron School students are learning about a new "A" character trait for the winter season… ACCEPTANCE!...Read More
This year, several classes at 45th Street were introduced to TASK, a collaborative art project inspired by contemporary artist, Oliver Herring. TASK is an improvisational event with simple structure, and very few specific restrictions or...Read More
It's that time of year again… Winter Concert time that is! The Winter Concert is a special opportunity for students to showcase all of their hard work in music class and come together and celebrate...Read More
The Occupational Therapy team at Aaron School truly understands the importance of exposure to a wide variety of sounds, smells, tastes, textures, and activities for maximal sensory exploration....Read More


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by Chris Durst October 31, 2019
Working Solutions is currently seeking independent contractors to work from home in Event Ticketing & Sales positions. The company is unable to hire persons residing in California, New York, Pennsylvania or Washington.
The company cautions that they allow one-time testing only! Be sure you have the time and quite you'll need to complete their testing to the best of your ability the first time.
From Working Solutions' FAQ page:
"Each program is paid differently. Some pay by the record or entry, while others pay by talk minutes, sales, or a combination of both. Some agents may be paid a set amount per program. Agents have earned the equivalent of anywhere from $9 an hour to $30 USD an hour, depending on the program. Your income will vary, based on the work you are doing, your performance, how much work is available, and how much time you put in."
Here's what the company says about this job:
"This is a remote, independent contractor role. Contractors will take inbound customer service calls and will talk to buyers and sellers to answer questions to ensure that every customer interaction provides a great entertainment experience. Contractors will provide first call resolution or determine the appropriate triage route. Need to have some working knowledge and interest in sports, music or theatre. Must be fast thinkers with excellent communication skills who can clearly answer questions and anticipate future needs.
- Practicing excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Providing top-notch customer service skills while guiding callers to the right solutions for their specific needs.
- Having a positive attitude; being flexible and adaptable to change.
- Researching, navigating and independently locating answers from webpages and resources in a variety of situations.
- Communicating effectively, based on a customer's mindset.
- Exercising strong, multitasking skills while navigating through multiple websites and making themselves available for incoming calls.
- Demonstrating a sincere desire to assist customers and put their needs first.
Education and Experience:
- At least 1 to 2 years of experience in a high-volume, customer-service role (i.e. call center, retail or similar environment).
- Having achieved a satisfactory level of technical skill or knowledge. Familiarity with operating systems, including Windows OS versions and/or Mac OS versions.
- Ability to install and uninstall applications. Ability to download products and applications using various browsers.
Technical Skills: Proficient data-entry skills. Ability to achieve a "meets expectations" rating or higher on scorecard.
Problem-solving/Analysis: Ability to solve problems through systematic analysis of processes with sound judgment. Have a realistic understanding of relevant issues.
Organizational Skills: Ability to organize people or tasks, adjust to priorities and learn systems— within time constraints, and with available resources. Must be detail-oriented.
Multi-tasking/Time Management: Prioritize and manage actions to meet changing deadlines and requirements within a high volume.
Information Management: Ability to manage large amounts of complex information easily, communicate clearly and draw sound conclusions.
Independent Thinking/Self-initiative: Critical thinker with ability to focus on things that matter most to achieve outcomes. Commitment to produce outcomes without direction and capable of finding necessary resources.
Empathy/Customer Service: Customer-focused behavior, exhibiting a helping approach that includes listening, patience, respect and empathy for another's position.
Coping/Flexibility: Resiliency in adapting to a variety of situations and individuals while maintaining a sense of purpose and mature problem-solving approach are required.
Computer Literacy: Ability to function in a multisystem Microsoft environment—using Word, Outlook, intranet, the internet and software applications.
Communication/People Skills: Ability to influence or persuade others under positive or negative circumstances. Adapt to different styles, listen critically and collaborate.
Commitment to Task: Ability to conform to established policies and procedures. Exhibit high motivation.
Quality Orientation: Accomplishes tasks by considering all areas involved, no matter how small. Shows concern for all aspects of the job. Motivated toward constantly improving. Sets high standards for self-performance. Takes responsibility and accountability for successfully completing assignments or tasks.
Independent contractors on this program will need to successfully pass a background check to work. This check will consist of a Social Security number verification, National Sex Offender Registry report and a criminal history check."
Click here for full details and to apply. For more jobs like these, check our Newest Jobs & Gigs page. To be the first to hear about jobs like these, like our Facebook page. Good luck in your search!
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Juvenile Justice Initiative has made a significant change in automatic transfers in Illinois. In 2005, JJI eliminated automatic drug transfer provisions which decreased the number of youth automatically excluded from juvenile court by two-thirds compared to previous years. Read the impact of the reform here.
Currently JJI is working to amend the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 to restore individual review to determine whether a youth is tried in juvenile or adult court through an individualized court hearing that takes into account the child's age, the degree of the participation in offense and individual circumstances. Check the fachsheet here.
Colorado narrowed direct file eligibility by age and offense. Youth ages 14 to 15 can now only be considered for adult court in hearings presided over by juvenile court judges. Colorado also amended the law so that youth prosecuted as adults can file a reverse waiver – a petition to bring the case back to juvenile court. Youth ages 16 to 17 that are direct filed as adults can request a reverse transfer hearing presided over by adult court judges to decide whether the case should be transferred to juvenile court.
Nevada has changed the laws so that only those youth who are at least 16 years old, commit a specified felony, and have previously been convicted of a felony may be transferred to adult court.
Prior to 2009, youth who had previously been transferred to adult court were automatically prosecuted as adults for any future charges, including cases where the youth was found NOT guilty of the original charge. The Washington Legislature amended the laws so that the youth who were previously transferred but were found not guilty would not be automatically prosecuted as adults. In the same year, the Legislature also amended the automatic transfer provision to allow a youth to be transferred back to juvenile court upon agreement of the defense and prosecution without requiring a reduction of the charge.


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Images, Social Media, Young People Key in Pro-Life Fight
In the fight to end abortion, the power of the image is key, say pro-life activists.
Billboards, videos and ultrasound images have all contributed to getting the pro-life message out and changing hearts. But a lot of the pro-life messaging today is without form or design, and often there isn't a concentration in creating a powerful link between the message and the recipient, said Ryan Bomberger, founder of The Radiance Foundation and TooManyAborted.com, on Monday.
Bomberger was speaking at ProLifeCon, an event hosted by Family Research Council for the online pro-life community. The conference was held on the day of the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., and one day after the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
While stressing the importance of strategy when it comes to conveying the pro-life message to the public, Bomberger lamented that a lot of their messaging is without form or design, and often there isn't a concentration in creating a powerful link between the message and the recipient.
He warned that if law firms "approached law the same way the pro-life movement approaches design, we'd be in a whole lot of trouble. There's strategy behind law."
Often, "we miss the opportunity to impact individuals with design that powerfully communicates" the pro-life message, he said.
Pro-lifers should intentionally approach how they broadcast their message "when trying to convey the most important human rights issue of our day," said Bomberger.
His organization has done so through short videos and billboards which have stirred both controversy and discussion while educating the public with abortion statistics.
The Radiance Foundation made headlines last year with its billboard campaign in California which featured an African-American baby and the words "Black & Beautiful," along with the website TooManyAborted.com/CA. California Congresswoman Barbara Lee denounced the ads, saying they "stigmatize women of color."
The black community, according to Bomberger, was behind the group's efforts to raise awareness about the growing rate of abortions among African-Americans and provide alternatives such as adoption.
Abortion in the black community takes place at a rate three to five times higher than in the white community, he lamented, and in New York City 60 percent of black pregnancies end in abortion.
Bomberger noted that what his organization is doing isn't the only way "we can illuminate the truth. There are different battlefronts."
Lila Rose, who also spoke at ProLifeCon, has been able to get her message out about the corruption of Planned Parenthood through avenues like YouTube and social media as a whole. Rose, 23, is known for undercover investigations – all taped on video – that expose illegal activities that take place at abortion clinics.
Young people, raised on Facebook and social media, are some of the leading activists in the pro-life fight. Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) told youths at ProLifeCon that they are the most pro-life generation yet because they are starting to see the ramifications of abortion.
Pro-life chapters of Students for Life have grown across college campuses, with over 600 active SFL groups operating across the country.
Kristan Hawkins, executive director of Students for Life of America, told those at the conference that what makes her generation different is the "realization that everybody born after 1973 could have been aborted for a mere $350 …. [and] that we know we're all missing siblings, cousins, friends, peers because of abortion."
For Hawkins, the biggest duty of pro-life activists is to put images of ultrasounds online. The power of the image can't be discounted and is integral in abolishing abortion, she stressed.
The biggest reason people are pro-life is because of images, she pointed out. We now know what the preborn baby looks like, she said, adding, "Technology is on our movement's side, social media is our tool."


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Married woman Vardy is reported to be cutting back her vacation to Dubai and can come back to the united kingdom having tasked a crack team of lawyers and IT specialists with conducting a rhetorical investigation of her Instagram account, to that others have access. Meanwhile, second- and fourth-tier Wags Danielle Harold Clayton Lloyd, Lizzie Cundy, and Nicola McLean have entered the fray, in conjunction with the hashtag #notagirlsgirl. And a representative for Coleen Rooney – wide acknowledged because the world is leading rhetorical investigator – has reiterated the points created on a weekday. "It is positive that the leaks came from one account," runs the statement, "and one account solely."
It's……… however no. Not yet. Soon, though. Regular readers can notice I did not begin with a recap. Sorry, however, if you do not reflexively perceive each 360-degree implication of the on top of then, you want to have spent weekday cornered below one thing significant or be Liz Truss. New anon, the secretary of state for Insta, UN agency, does not even perceive things that happen on Insta.
So yes, I do know you recognize this, however anyway: at 1029 hours on a weekday morning, Coleen, spouse of jock Wayne, denote an announcement, that began by explaining the "burden" of suspecting that somebody getting ready to her had been unseaworthy stories to the Sun for years. She had hatched a concept to force out the wrongdoer. Specifically, Coleen blocked all accounts bar one from viewing her personal Instagram and commenced posting numerous false stories to it. These enclosed a basement arrive her new mansion, a tv comeback, the news that Coleen had cosmopolitan to North American country to explore the chance of gender choice for her next baby – your essential everyday drama. Affirming her hunch, these tales punctually found their means into the Sun. Once 5 months – 5 MONTHS – of looking at this happen, and seeing that the posts had all solely been viewed by one account, Coleen's investigation was complete. within the words of her immortal payoff, already the quote of the year: "It's…….. married woman Vardy's account." maxbet.org adalah situs poker online terpercaya di indonesia
It's one amongst the good stings of the fashionable era. It's excellent the report Mueller may are – and therefore the show Rio Ferdinand's World Cup Wind-ups ought to are. Moreover, its reveal was faultlessly handled in our amateur sleuth's engrossing Instagram procedural, upon that we will slap the operating title Mexican Gender choice, She Wrote. It was, of course, Rebekah's husband, Jamie, UN agency once sweptwing on to Twitter to observe: "Chat shit get banged." however, has there ever been a banging of a shit-chatter like it? Five months! It's a lifetime! There square measure characters in pasta westerns UN agency have bided their time and planned their revenge quest less tenaciously than Coleen. And you recognize what, she did it at a similar time as raising four boys below the age of ten.


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Experienced in e-commerce, including Web marketing, design, construction, and administration.
Enjoys a strong sense of architecture, navigation, and user issues.
Fluent with hand-coding/wysiwyg environments, including building forms and integration language.
Well versed in cross-browser and cross-platform issues; proficient in optimizing Web graphics.
Able to communicate technical information in an easily understandable way.
Operating Systems: MS Windows, Mac OS, Linux
Computer Languages: JAVA, JavaScript, HTML5, CSS, CGI, DHTML, WML, PHP, ASP
Software and Applications:
Adobe: Premiere Pro, PhotoShop, After Effects, Audition, Dimension, Character Animator, InDesign, Encore
Microsoft Office
Desktop Publishing
Cross Browser Compatability
Digital Photography/Airbrushing
Shopping Cart Implementation
Website Promotion/Optimization
Search Engine Optimization
Digital Video Editing
Movie Sound Effects
Movie Special Effects/Computer Graphics Imagery (CGI)
DVD Interactive Menus
Website/Logo Design
Domain Setup/Configuration
HTML E-mail Marketing
MP3 Formating
Web Designer / Developer
Create, design, and code web pages (Internet/Intranet) for
Becker Parkin.com
Website and search engine optimization
(Pushed website from a 800+ rank to # 4 on major search engines)
Website customer support
Responsible for all company website designs
Coded company website www.synergygraphix.com
Responsible for all company website updates
Responsible for all company clients website updates
Computer Teacher
Proctoring of state wide exams
Math, English, Computers, HTML, Art and Social Science
(Grades 1-8)
Created, designed, and code web pages (Internet/Intranet) for major Fortune 500
industries, i.e. PWC, BMW, Chase, etc
Act as web consultant liaison between TACT and their clients to successfully complete client websites
Gain and develop insights for the hottest web developing programs to enhance TACT's IT proficiency
Standardize web coding procedures to facilitate HTML programming for TACT associates
Created templates, coded PricewaterhouseCoopers Intranet/Extranet site
In charge of managing, updating and creating images for entire BMW Intranet site
Created, edit, and file a list of javascripts for TACT future projects, Created, edit CGI
form templates for TACT's future clients
Created, implemented CGI questionnaire form for Metlife.com
Created, HTML templates for WomenWorking2000.com, Coded pages for AT&T Office On The Net
Slice and coded company website using Macromedia Dreamweaver and Fireworks
Responsible for all company website updates, Created, Search Engine, Bulletin Board to be used
on TACT UX site
Preformed updates on ChaseMellon Shareholder Services web pages
Created First Chicago Trust Company of New York user DRP interface
Website Promotion, Website Management, Digital Photography, Graphic Design
Honors: Dean's List / Magna Cum Laude
Special Projects: Designed Object Oriented Software using C++
Designed / Updated York College faculty websites
York College Website
Honors: Dean's List
Special Projects: Designed user-friendly sales program
Designed user friendly database inventory program
Queensborough Community College Website


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Web & Application Development
Our full-stack development team works collaboratively to produce exceptional code. An agile, iterative method means dev work happens efficiently and with best practice in web standards as our top-of-mind, tip-of-fingers priority.
Many apps start with iOS development for iPhone and iPad. With strict app policies in place to keep quality high from design to support, you'll want dev work that meets Apple's standards and wins customers. We do that.
We love the challenge of building apps optimized to work on all shapes and sizes of device. While great tools exist to aid development, most code is still written manually. Our team is experts at the nuances of UX/UI for Android.
Want the software and applications that power your site or app to work nicely together? API integrations allow us to tie into existing services and create powerful applications that share data.
Well executed e-commerce solutions require excellent user experience and expert technical solutions. We use the best open source solutions and web-based platforms to build sites that look great and convert well.
Your website is so much more than a pretty face. With an easy to use content management system your site is a crucial aspect of your marketing plan. We work with powerful CMS solutions to make it easy to keep your site up to date and secure.
One Design is excited to be joining the small community of agencies hand-selected to be official Craft Service Partners. Craft is our trusted tool for building the best websites out there and empowering our clients to deftly manage their content after launch. Learn More About Craft
Wordpress, the world's most popular CMS, gives content creators access to many powerful plugins. With our custom themes you'll have the perfect combination of beautifully designed website and an easy to manage back-end.
Not every project can use an out of the box solution. We work with start-ups such as ThinkCERCA and big name players like Groupon to build powerful custom applications in Ruby on Rails.
The rise of Node has provided a wealth of tools for building real-time applications. Have an exciting idea for a streaming application? We'd be happy to help you build the next big thing in Node.


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Marriage to Sanjay Dutt has secured her a permanent place in the first wives club in Bollywood. Sanjay Dutt is known to have showered his wife Manyata with loads of gifts and holidays to exotic destinations.
Last heard, he bought his wife some very expensive diamonds. And now, as most first wives do, Manyata is matching steps with her husband.
Dutt celebrated his 51st birthday recently, albeit away from home, as he is currently travelling all over South Africa, location hunting for his first home production Rascals.
But what put Sanjay on cloud nine was Manyata's gift of a Black Bentley to celebrate his birthday. She booked the car on her husband's birthday, July 29, which will be delivered around the time of Diwali, in November.


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|At a glance
|LogMeIn Hamachi2 () [Website]
|Cloud-based VPN solution ideal for setting up quick and easy secured networks for non-technical users.
|• Quick setup
• Multiple network types
• Free version has access to all major features
• Fairly fast connection in free version
• Support for all users
|• Web portal is a little confusing
• Documentation is lacking for using the web portal
• Security technologies used not documented adequately
• Some network types not available on all OSes
Typical Price: $33
Setting up secure VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) usually involves purchasing special routers that secure in and outbound traffic for your LAN. Or if you want encryption all the way to your notebook or mobile device, the installation and configuration of a VPN client.
But, like many other applications, VPNs can now be purchased as a cloud service. I'll be taking a look at one of the original hosted VPN services, LogMeIn Hamachi2.
Actually, the "Hamachi" part of LogMeIn Hamachi2 is the "oldie", which was around when "cloud" still meant those fluffy things in the sky. SmallNetBuilder took at look at the pre-LogMeIn Hamachi a few years back, when setup was considerably more involved.
The service was originally created to help PC gamers play LAN games over the Internet. The evolution into a SMB product began with the purchase by LogMeIn.
Hamachi2 thankfully hasn't strayed too far from its roots. The design is simple: initial connectivity happens via a central server. Once connection is established, Hamachi2 will try to start up a VPN directly between peers running its client.
If Hamachi2 can establish this connection, traffic will use the peer-to-peer network instead of relaying through LogMeIn's servers. LogMeIn has added to Hamachi's original framework with additional connectivity modes that I'll explore in a bit.
Technology Explanation
Before I get into the account types, I think it's important to explain a little better how Hamachi2 works. It creates an entirely separate network connection on your computer by creating a virtual network adapter through a special driver.
This driver, called a TUN/TAP driver, is assigned a special IP address from the Hamachi network in the 5.x.x.x range. Incidentally, this range was recently allocated to a European Internet Infrastructure agency called RIPE NCC which has begun announcing subnet allocations for the range.
If you have Hamachi installed, any addresses or domains that resolve to that address will be sent to the Hamachi network instead. But if you happen to be a machine on a 5.x.x.x network, you could have a problem at some point.
Once your machine has a 5.x.x.x address, its network parameters are adjusted to properly route Hamachi2 traffic. You then set up a "Network" of computers. These networks are the fundamental feature of Hamachi and come in three flavors: Mesh; Hub and Spoke; and Gateway.
Three Hamachi2 Network types
Mesh is the original Hamachi network type. All computers joined into a mesh network can talk to each other, just as if they were connected on a LAN, only securely. This configuration is ideal for quickly setting up encrypted connection between two machines running the Hamachi client.
Hub and Spoke networking is a more secured version of mesh networking. The Hamachi2 Getting Started Guide says:
In a hub-and-spoke network, one or more computers act as hubs, while other clients connect as spokes. Spokes connect to hubs, but never to each other.
Hub-and-spoke is typically used when a workstation (spoke) needs to connect only to servers (hubs).
Hub-and-spoke is ideal if you want strict control over connections between network members.
The third type, Gateway, is most similar to a traditional VPN setup. Users connect to a dedicated (this is required) gateway machine running a Hamachi client, and all items available on the local network are then accessible, even those not running a Hamachi client. Note that, as with any other gateway-based VPN, the encrypted tunnel does not extend past the gateway.
Account Types
With all that out of the way, account types will make a little more sense. Free accounts (for non-commercial use only) have full access to all features but are limited to 16 connected computers per network. Commercial account members get upgraded to 256 computers per network, and have access to high speed relay servers in the event a normal peer to peer connection cannot be made.
Commercial accounts cost $199 / year or $33 / month. So you save about half by buying a year upfront. I'm going to be reviewing the free version.
Installation for a centralized platform is a two step process. After creating an account and logging into the backend web portal, you then choose to create a network or add clients. The recommended path is to create a network first.
This starts a wizard where you pick what type of network you want this to be. I chose Mesh to keep it simple, and required that all people trying to join the network would have to be allowed by me. Other options are: clients can automatically join, or only clients in a list are allowed to join. You can also add a network password for additional security. You can see this configuration process in the Gallery.
Once the network was set up, I set about installing the client, which is just like installing any other application. All the Gallery screen shots were taken from the Mac OS client, which is the same as the Windows client for installation and setup purposes.
Windows clients have a view features Mac clients don't, which isn't directly explained unless you read the manual (who does that anymore?). Windows clients can also route IPX traffic for everyone looking to play games made pre-Y2K. More importantly, Mac OS clients cannot act as gateway servers, which may put a kink in some networks.
Once installed, the client connects and gets its IP address. You can then choose to associate it with an account, which will have it join all the networks on that account. Or you can join a network using the 9 digit network ID, or create a mesh network right within the client. I chose to associate it with my account, and connected to my mesh network easily.
I also tested the Windows client, and it seemed to automatically associate with my account when I installed it. I'm unsure if this is just additional polish on Windows, or a fluke. Both my friend, who helped me for remote testing, and I did not get an automatic association when we launched our Mac OS clients.
Speaking of my friend, I tried out the personalized client installer feature for his setup. Personalized installations create a unique URL that you then send out for people to download the client from. This allows you to track client installs, and expire the URL after a time period for increased security. In addition, personalized client installations allow clients to automatically join networks that the administrator sets for them to auto-join through the backend.
While he installed and joined the network just fine, LogMeIn's web portal never updated to show that he downloaded the client. This could be problematic for trying to keep people with Macs from downloading too many client installations.


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In support of the GPH-NDFP peace talks, Karapatan calls for release of all political prisoners
WITH the formal peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) about to resume this week, the human rights group KARAPATAN calls on the Aquino administration for the unconditional release of all political prisoners in the country.
"This would be a gesture of goodwill on the part of the government," KARAPATAN spokesperson Jigs Clamor said.
Militant groups and peace advocates will march to Mendiola on Monday to support the resumption of talks between the government and the NDFP.
If President Aquino could grant amnesty to mutinous soldiers, why couldn't he grant the release of all political prisoners who fought injustices and oppression? In the interest of fairness and justice, they should be freed immediately and unconditionally," Clamor said.
There are 344 political prisoners in various detention facilities, 290 of whom were arrested during Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's term, 27 before Arroyo and another 27 since the start of President Aquino's presidency.
At least 14 political prisoners are in the initial list of NDFP peace consultants covered by the Joint Agreement on Security and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) and are known to have assisted in the peace process, namely: Randy Malayao of Cagayan Valley; Emerito Antalan of Nueva Ecija; Glicerio Pernia of Albay, Jaime Soledad of Leyte; Alfredo Mapano of Misamis Oriental; Angelina Ipong of Misamis Occidental; Maria Luisa Pucray of Agusan del Norte; Edwin Brigano of Davao City; Pedro Codaste of Cagayan de Oro; Eduardo Serrano, Eduardo Sarmiento, Jovencio Balweg detained at Camp Crame; and Tirso Alcantara held in maximum security at Fort Bonifacio.
Alcantara and Brigano were arrested during an official ceasefire declared by both parties over the holidays.
At least two prisoners are also being considered to be part of the NDFP peace process: Ramon Patriarca of Central Visayas and Leopoldo Caloza of Nueva Ecija.
The government peace panel chaired by Alexander Padilla agreed "to work for the expeditious release of detained NDFP consultants and other JASIG-protected persons" during the preliminary talks held last January 14-18 in Oslo, Norway. Ambassador Ture Lundh of the Royal Norwegian Government witnessed the talks.
Formal talks will resume on February 15-21 after six years since the Arroyo administration suspended negotiations with the NDFP.