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Sunday, 14 April 2013 06:12 PM EDT
Next Saturday's meeting of 11 countries from the Friends of Syria alliance will come after the al-Nusra Front — among the strongest formations seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad — pledged allegiance to al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri on April 10.
"We will be meeting under the shadow of the advances of Nusra and other militants. The recent al-Qaida statements have injected a new urgency for the international community to push to end the conflict," said an official who will attend the meeting on the conflict that has killed more than 70,000 people.
Western powers — which want to see the end of the Assad family's 43-year rule but do not want to intervene militarily in Syria — have been alarmed by the advance of groups like the Nusra Front in a conflict which has deepened the Middle East's sectarian divide.
Among those invited to Istanbul will be Moaz Alkhatib, a moderate cleric from Damascus, who said he was resigning as head of the Syrian National Coalition in March after other members of the main opposition group attacked his proposal for negotiating with Assad, the sources said.
Envoys representing most of the 11 Friends of Syria countries met in Cairo this month to press Alkhatib to stay on as leader of the coalition, a 60-member opposition umbrella group backed by the West and Gulf Arab states, the sources said.
The Istanbul meeting, whose full agenda has not been finalized, will also discuss how to pressure Assad — who has been backed by Iran and Russia — into accepting a negotiated settlement, the diplomats said.
"The international powers are inclined to call Assad's bluff and see if he is ready to accept a peaceful solution," another diplomat said, adding that Russia might also favor such a move.
The conflict, which pits the Sunni Muslim majority against Assad's supporters among his Alawite sect, has prompted both Sunni and Shiite militants from elsewhere in the Middle East to fight in Syria. The Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
The Syrian National Coalition said in a statement on Sunday that the Nusra Front's announcement "contradicts the will of the Syrian people and the objectives of the revolution." But it added that the group could not be ignored.
Sectors of the opposition want to force a U.S.- and Russian-backed settlement on both Assad and hardline groups like the Nusra Front, but Russia has first to be won over, a senior opposition source said.
"There is a growing realization that a peaceful settlement has to be imposed on Assad and on the jihadists," the opposition source said.
In February, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said in Moscow that Assad's government was ready for talks with rebels. But fighting intensified and rebels made gains particularly in Syria's east, which accounts for all the country's oil output and most of its grains production.
The Istanbul meeting will be attended by representatives from Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates as well as Qatar, and Saudi Arabia — the two main Arab powers backing the two year revolt. From the West, the United States, Britain, Germany, Italy, and France will attend, the sources said.
The Friends of Syria last met on Feb. 28 in Rome.
Hardline Islamists including the Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham seized Raqqa in east Syria over the past two months. The Nusra Front also expanded its influence in the southern province of Deraa, according to opposition military sources.
Jordan's Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour told parliament on Sunday that Syrian crisis was "threatening the country's national security," adding that Jordan would appeal to the United Nations Security Council over the impact on its economy of hosting Syrian refugees.
Jordan says it has received Syrian 450,000 refugees.
At east one Lebanese man was killed on Sunday when a shell fired from Syria hit a built-up area in no man's land between the two countries, a Lebanese security source said.
Witnesses say fighting intensified in the last few days in the Qusair region along the Syrian-Lebanese border in the Bekaa Valley between Syrian Shiite militia backed by Assad's ally Hezbollah and Sunni rebel fighters.
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SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's Sina Weibo will remove gay and violent content, including pictures, cartoons and text posts, during a three-month clean-up campaign, the microblogging platform said.
Friday's announcement comes amid a clampdown targeting content across social media platforms as China's leaders look to tighten their grip on a huge and diverse cultural scene popular with the young.
Weibo announced the move on its official administrator's account, saying the action aimed to comply with China's new cyber security law that calls for strict data surveillance.
The post drew more than 24,000 comments, was forwarded more than 110,000 times, and prompted users to protest against the decision, using the hashtag "I am gay".
"I am gay and I'm proud, even if I get taken down there are tens of millions like me!," said one poster, who used the handle "rou wan xiong xiong xiong xiong" and posted a photo of himself.
Some posts were quickly blocked by the platform, with the message displayed that they contained "illegal content".
This week, news and online content portal Toutiao, which is luring investors, was forced to pull a joke sharing app after a watchdog denounced its "vulgar and improper content".
Award-winning gay romance "Call Me By Your Name" was also dropped from a Chinese film festival last month. Homosexuality is not illegal in China, but activists say the conservative attitudes of some parts of society have prompted occasional government clampdowns.
Weibo has so far cleared 56,243 pieces of content, shut 108 user accounts and removed 62 topics considered to have violated its standards, it added.
Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Clarence Fernandez
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

subset: commoncrawl


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Provided by: heartbeat_3.0.6-13_amd64
authkeys - Authentication file for the Heartbeat cluster messaging layer
/etc/ha.d/authkeys is read by heartbeat(8). It enables Heartbeat to securely authenticate cluster nodes. This file must not be readable or writable by any users other than root.
Two lines are required in the authkeys file: 1. A line which says which key to use in signing outgoing packets 2. One or more lines defining how incoming packets might be being signed. The file must follow the following format: auth num num method secret num method secret num method secret ... num is a numerical identifier, between 1 and 15 inclusive. It must be unique within the file. method is one of the available authentication signature methods (see below for supported methods). secret is an alphanumerical shared secret used to identify cluster nodes to each other. auth num selects the currently active authentication method and secret.
The following signature methods are supported in authkeys (listed here in alphabetical order): md5 MD5 hash method. This method requires a shared secret. sha1 SHA-1 hash method. This method requires a shared secret. crc Cyclic Redundancy Check hash method. This method does not require a shared secret and is insecure; it's use is strongly discouraged. An absolutely up-to-date list of authentication methods supported may be retrieved by running ls /usr/lib/heartbeat/plugins/HBauth/*.so.
Alan Robertson <firstname.lastname@example.com> heartbeat, original Wiki page Lars Ellenberg <firstname.lastname@example.com> Heartbeat Maintainer; code fixes; documentation updates Florian Haas <email@example.com> man page


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Apply Concepts to Business Objects
Now that you have some defined concepts, you can designate some of them as parent concepts in our business model.
- Select any physical table in the navigation tree. In this sample walkthrough exercises the Customers physical table is used.
- Expand the columns under the table in navigation tree. Apply the ID concept to the column Customernumber.
- Right-click (or <CTRL> + click) on the column, and select Set Parent Concept from the menu.
- Choose the ID concept and click OK. You should see the concept in the right hand column of the navigation tree on all objects to which it was applied.


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Remembering Sunny Deol's dynamite delivery in Ghayal
'Aaj hi maroonga usse. Aaj hi.' This is no empty threat. Not when coming from Sunny Deol anyway. And there's nothing Amrish Puri's brutish Balwant Rai, at whom it's directed, can do or say to save himself from Sunny's wrath. It's … Continue reading


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Can I really use it for any app?Yes. There's a wide and growing range of platforms we support. Our iOS and Android SDKs provide support for usage insights and crash diagnostics, thanks to the powerful capabilities we are integrating from HockeyApp. And of course we support Windows Phone, Store and UAP apps. J2EE apps are supported with out-of-the-box telemetry on any development platform, and with integrated tools if you're using Eclipse. ASP.NET developers can opt-in to Application Insights with one click in Visual Studio. And if yours is an Azure Web App or running in an Azure VM, you'll find Application Insights tightly coupled there too. Using our JavaScript SDK, you can send telemetry from any web page. Additionally there are Application Insights SDKs for a growing range of languages and platforms such as PHP, Python, Ruby, Node.js, WordPress, and SharePoint. If you'd like to, you can write your own. For each app type, an Application Insights SDK sends telemetry to our service, to be analyzed and presented to you in the portal. So any app can be monitored, if there's an SDK for its platform. And although Application Insights is a service hosted in Azure, you really can use it on any app, regardless of the platform or where it is hosted.
Who's using it?We already have close to 450,000 applications using Application Insights. Every day, more and more developers are adding Application Insights to their apps. Here is what a few of our customers are saying:
"I have a vision of a complete DevOps story, and AI could help us get there. AI has already helped us solve problems we wouldn't have even identified without it!" - Joona Kokkola, Director, Technology, Maestro (Finland) "Application Insights is not just an operations tool for determining performance or user behavior. It's truly part of the development process!" - Ray Escamilla, QA and Release Manager, Dominion Enterprises (US) "Application Insights has become a cornerstone service for monitoring over $50 Billion of Microsoft's revenue in our org and we are excited for its future!" - Eric Mattingly, Service Engineer, Microsoft Enterprise CommerceThey are happy because Application Insights gives them:
- 360° Views across availability, performance and usage
- Fast and powerful troubleshooting, diagnostics and usage insights
- Built-in analytics for any app
- Great value for free with a cloud friendly pricing model
360° Views across Availability, Performance and UsageAccording to Gartner, the need for a complete view across availability, performance and usage is ranked as one of the Top 10 mobile technologies and capabilities organizations must master in 2015-2016. With Application Insights you can achieve an integrated view from every angle across your entire application stack and even across multiple platforms in one place. You can trace user paths through your scenarios with custom instrumentation and can take advantage of powerful drill down capabilities, slicing and dicing your data, filtering and segmenting it and searching specific instances, allowing you to answer questions such as:
- Do I have performance bottlenecks?
- Am I attracting new users faster or slower than last month?
- How were my users impacted by service performance issues?
- Which user segments were impacted the most?


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Why Transformation Is So Difficult
It is fairly common for the perceived benefits of current market offerings to fade and new value propositions to displace older offerings. As noted in earlier posts, Schumpeter called this process "creative destruction." Steel ships replaced iron ships, which replaced wooden ships. Microprocessors subsumed transistors, which replaced vacuum tubes. Change happens and creative destruction causes obsolete offerings to be replaced by new innovations.
This process of fundamental change sounds much smoother than it actually is. The stewards of the "as is" enterprise — in other words, the stewards of the status quo — usually do their best to thwart the emergence of the "to be" enterprise. In fact, they are likely to do their utmost to undermine the very thought that a new paradigm may emerge and be successful.
Last week, I spent a night in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The carcass of the Bethlehem Steel Plant dominates the town. This sprawling facility has been deserted for three decades. This was once the "as is" enterprise. There were thousands of people who did their utmost to steward this "as is" enterprise. I expect that they simply did not believe that a different future was emerging.
This is not at all surprising. The builders of wooden ships were not intrigued by the capitally intensive emergence of iron and steel ships. The vendors of oil and gas lamps were not very enthusiastic about the possibility of electric lights. The owners, managers, and employees at the Bethlehem Steel Plant were not big fans of high-efficiency continuous casting, not to mention low-wage foreign steel production.
Transformation is, to a great extent, very difficult because an enormous number of people are depending on change not happening. They expect the jobs at the steel plant or automobile plant to continue forever, generation after generation. A few members of each generation break out, perhaps becoming engineers after one generation, and lawyers or doctors after two. However, the ranks of those seeking the factory jobs grow much faster than of those seeking to leave.
Of course, this phenomenon is not limited to factory work. Teachers and doctors, for instance, argue against new processes and technologies that they perceive will undermine the value of the knowledge and skills they have long invested in gaining and refining. Thus, online education is impugned for not embodying the human skills of the physically present teacher. Yet, the current generation of young people has mastered Internet-based interactions with people in far-flung other locations. The trend in this arena is clear.
Transformation would be much easier if everyone were more adaptable in the sense that they would willingly gain new knowledge and skills whenever necessary. Factory works would quickly become computer programmers. Teachers would give up lecturing and rapidly refine facilitation skills for guiding students in online education. Everyone would happily discard skills that are becoming obsolete and eagerly gain newly valuable skills.
Beyond the problem of motivating everyone to act in this manner, there is a more fundamental limit to this idea. It takes a long time to become really good at something. As Malcolm Gladwell popularized in Outliers, research has shown that it takes around 10,000 hours to become an expert. This is five years if done full-time, perhaps ten years if work involves other activities than just focusing on gaining the targeted expertise.
So, it takes the factory worker 5-10 years to become a skilled computer programmer and the teacher 5-10 years to become an expert "guide on the side" rather than a "sage on the stage". I may be overestimating the time required, since the teacher, for example, would not be starting with no facilitation skills. However, the point is that there is a limit to how fast people can adapt, even if they are willing.
A counter argument is that people do not need to be experts to be productive. But, would you want the flight management software on the plane you are flying in to have been programmed by a less than expert programmer? Would you want to undergo surgery with a surgeon that just a few years ago was in a completely unrelated profession? Clearly, high levels of expertise and the resulting high levels of performance are often very important.
Dynamic, innovative economies lead to high levels of creative destruction. This results in needs for frequent and significant transformation of enterprises. Often people do not want to make the changes transformation requires. They may be unwilling, but more fundamentally, they are unlikely to be able to change fast enough to maintain their positions — and incomes — in the transformed enterprise. That is one of the basic reasons why transformation is so difficult.


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Got two minutes? Then check out this week's quick tip ~ Advice from the Master
Hello and welcome…I am a freelance editor and an editor for The Wild Rose Press, as well as an author. I often struggle with my own writing, and I have found that sometimes, a little reminder of ways to improve the process can be helpful, so, I like to share these moments of brilliance with others :). But, in this busy world of ours, who has time for pages and pages of writing tips? That's why I've condensed mine down to quick flashes you can read in (approximately) two minutes. Enjoy…
Disclaimer: All of my tips are suggestions, and are only my opinion. And, for the most part, there are exceptions when going against my advice will make your story read better. Take what works, leave the rest.
Whether or not you have read, or enjoy, Stephen King's writing, you can no doubt benefit from his wisdom. While I did not love every one of his books, I can easily say, I've loved MOST of them, and of all the authors I've read, regardless of how well they write, none is the 'storyteller' that Stephen King is. Actually, the word 'teller' is misleading (and can be a bit frightening as a writer, when we've had it hammered into us to 'show' not 'tell' – but trust me, this is a different kind of 'telling'), because when you're a brilliant storyteller, the reader is swept along on a journey, immersed in the story to the point that they forget they are reading. And that is the highest form of 'showing.'
Some of my favorite tips from Stephen King:
Don't use passive voice. "Timid writers like passive verbs for the same reason that timid lovers like passive partners. The passive voice is safe. The timid fellow writes "The meeting will be held at seven o'clock" because that somehow says to him, 'Put it this way and people will believe you really know. 'Purge this quisling thought! Don't be a muggle! Throw back your shoulders, stick out your chin, and put that meeting in charge! Write 'The meeting's at seven.' There, by God! Don't you feel better?"
Avoid adverbs. "The adverb is not your friend. Consider the sentence "He closed the door firmly." It's by no means a terrible sentence, but ask yourself if 'firmly' really has to be there. What about context? What about all the enlightening (not to say emotionally moving) prose which came before 'He closed the door firmly'? Shouldn't this tell us how he closed the door? And if the foregoing prose does tell us, then isn't 'firmly' an extra word? Isn't it redundant?" Avoid adverbs, especially after "he said" and "she said." "While to write adverbs is human, to write 'he said' or 'she said' is divine."
But don't obsess over perfect grammar. "Language does not always have to wear a tie and lace-up shoes. The object of fiction isn't grammatical correctness but to make the reader welcome and then tell a story… to make him/her forget, whenever possible, that he/she is reading a story at all. "
Leave out the boring parts and kill your darlings. "Mostly when I think of pacing, I go back to Elmore Leonard, who explained it so perfectly by saying he just left out the boring parts. This suggests cutting to speed the pace, and that's what most of us end up having to do (kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your ecgocentric little scribbler's heart, kill your darlings.)"
Write primarily for yourself. Write what you love. Love what you write. King says, "I did it for the pure joy of the thing. And if you can do it for joy, you can do it forever."
Tell stories about what people actually do. "Bad writing is more than a matter of shit syntax and faulty observation; bad writing usually arises from a stubborn refusal to tell stories about what people actually do — to face the fact, let us say, that murderers sometimes help old ladies cross the street. The people in your stories are what readers care about the most, so make sure you acknowledge all the dimensions your characters may have."
Write every single day. "Once I start work on a project, I don't stop, and I don't slow down unless I absolutely have to. If I don't write every day, the characters begin to stale off in my mind … I begin to lose my hold on the story's plot and pace."
If you do not write consistently and visit your story, your characters, day after day, you will lose your enthusiasm, your connection. As King describes it, this is "the smooch of death." No matter how little time you have, write SOMETHING on your story daily, even if it's just a paragraph, or as King says, "one word at a time." This is something I need to practice myself, and believe me when I say, I do not. With a full-time non-writing job, editing for The Wild Rose Press, freelance editing, promo, side projects, spending time with family, etc, I have little spare time, and I do not devote enough to my writing, but I vow to change that immediately. 🙂 (Many of the tips I share on my blog are meant for me as much, or more than, for anyone else. I certainly need to 'practice what I preach.')
What do you think of these tips? Which is your favorite? Are there any that you need to apply?
(If you haven't read 'On Writing' I highly recommend it. Not only does it offer a great deal of writing advice, it also offers a look into the fascinating life of King. You can find it here: ON WRITING)
Until next time…happy writing!
NEW RELEASE – Now Available – Only a few more days at 99¢! (I know I keep saying this, but I really mean it this time…the sale price ends this Friday, April 29th) 🙂
(Click on the cover to be taken to the Amazon Buy Page)
I have released an e-book with a collection of Two-Minute Tips I have shared on my blog. Now, you can have them in one convenient place for easy reference. sale price is 99¢ – Regular price will be $2.99.
*** If you would like to send me a few sample pages (around 7500 words or so, even though I will not edit that many on the blog. It just gives me more to choose from) for me to edit and share on an upcoming blog post, please do so in the body of an email to firstname.lastname@example.com. Please use the subject line: "Blog Submission" This is for published or unpublished authors. In the email, please include whether you would like me to use your name or keep it anonymous, and whether or not you would like me to include any contact info or buy info for your books. Also, you can let me know if you would like for me to run my edits by you before posting on the blog. Please keep in mind, this is for samples to use for blog posts. I will not edit or use samples from all the submissions I receive, but I will use as many as possible.
*** Find the Magic is FREE through Tomorrow, April 6th!! Click HERE
How to write a novel? That is the question. There are probably as many answers to that question as there are people who ask it.
Wanting to write and actually doing it are two very different things. I am well acquainted with the sometimes grueling process of churning out a story. Over the years, I have tried many methods for creating and completing manuscripts, and have tweaked and honed it down to a workable (for me) process.
Using specific examples from one of my own novels, Without Mercy, I share my method in this mini how to book. The first eight steps actually deal with plotting while the last two are designed to help expand your outline into a well-developed draft. There is no one, perfect way to create a story, but there will be a method, or methods that work for you. I'm not sure if this is the one, but it works for me. Only you can decide if it also works for you. Fingers crossed that it does!
*** Warning – Please do not purchase without reading a sample. (This is solid advice for any book, fiction or non. If you are not intrigued in the sample, you will likely not enjoy the book)
Amazon: Click Here


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Ken Senior Portraits
Ken's Senior Portraits
Like ConceptsPD on Facebook | Share this album on Facebook | Follow me on Twitter | Tweet This Page!
May 12, 2012
Ken and I met up on a sunny Sunday afternoon. He had brought along a couple friends to his senior photo session... wait, those are my friends too! Okay, so you may have guessed, I've known Ken for many years. So I was totally honored and excited to be asked to capture his senior portraits before he graduates this year!
Not only was I excited, but I got kind of trigger-happy. Ken is an amazing model (self evident) and actually kinda got into the fun of running around downtown Bonners Ferry and altering his look. Who was I to stop him!? So I captured more photos of Ken that I guess I typically do for a senior portrait session, and I am eternally grateful to him for allowing me to stuff my portfolio with great shots.
Another thank-you goes out to his (and my) fabulous friends for keeping him at ease and laughing. So thanks, Em and Shanna!
A note on navigation: browse by scrolling down, or click on a photo for a lightbox browsing experience (you can use arrow keys to navigate the lightbox). Like individual photos by clicking the button below the image, and share them, tweet them, etc, etc.
Be sure to leave some love in the comments at the bottom of the page for Mr. Kenneth to see!
{ Soli Deo Glora }


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No Products in the Cart
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Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700–1915 explores the changes in European fashionable dress spanning two centuries. Originally on view at LACMA in 2010 as one of three inaugural exhibitions commemorating the newly opened Resnick Pavilion, Fashioning Fashion opened in Paris on December 13, 2012, the final destination of a two-venue European tour. Fashioning Fashion showcases LACMA's recent acquisition of more than 200 men's, women's, and children's historic costume and accessories. After its showing at LACMA, Fashioning Fashion first traveled to Berlin and was installed and exhibited at the Deutsches Historisches Museum (DHM) from April 29 to July 29, 2012, before arriving in Paris at Les Arts Décoratifs, where it is on view now through April 24, 2013.
Similar to the installation process of Fashioning Fashion at DHM, the art was uncrated, condition reported, mounted, and installed by LACMA staff in collaboration with our host curators, conservators, registrars, and installation specialists. In the days leading up to the Paris opening of Fashioning Fashion, Brigitte Production created three short teaser videos for Les Arts Décoratifs that capture each step of the installation process. (DHM also produced a short documentary highlighting the installation process in Berlin.)
The first teaser video illustrates the delivery of the crates that were previously in Berlin to Les Arts Décoratifs. Altogether the exhibition consisted of forty-eight crates filled with art, mannequins, invisible mounts, paper wigs, dressing supplies, and installation materials. Upon delivery at each of the two European venues, the entire contents of the crates were unpacked and condition reported, a process also shown in this video.
After uncrating, all objects were examined for condition and then installation began in earnest. Detail shots of the dressing process are shown in the second video.
The third and final video, shot in the last days of the month-long installation, feature images from the completed exhibition.
Unlike previous presentations of Fashioning Fashion at LACMA and DHM where the eighteenth- through early twentieth-century dress and accessories were displayed in four thematic sections—Timeline, Textiles, Tailoring, and Trim—Les Arts Décoratifs curators Denis Bruna and Véronique Belloir restructured the exhibition chronologically in the two-story galleries. The exhibition itself portrays a timeline of the changes in European fashionable dress over the two-hundred-year period. Themes of textiles, tailoring, and trim were presented within the context of the historic eras (eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century fashions on the first floor; nineteenth- and early twentieth-century fashions on the second) providing a different, yet likewise striking, exhibition.
Comparable to the varying approaches to exhibition design at LACMA and DHM, Les Arts Décoratifs displayed the art using their unique scenography. The original installation of Fashioning Fashion at LACMA in the Resnick Pavilion showed the dressed mannequins emerging from gray shipping crates, while the DHM presented the objects on platforms in four harmonious shades of green. In contrast, the exhibition design at the Les Arts Décoratifs, conceived by Frédéric Beauclair, utilized mirrors, a pale-gray color scheme, and gently undulating back-lit screens to display the dressed mannequins and floating mounts inside vitrines.
A majority of the works in Fashioning Fashion are French in origin, including a rare French Revolutionary vest. This final installation at Les Arts Décoratifs establishes a sort of reunion of LACMA's French and European costume and accessories with Paris—the birthplace of fashion.
Clarissa Esguerra and Nancy Lawson Carcione, Costume and Textiles


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Kansas Insurance
Kansas State Flag
Kansas car insurance requirements start at 20/50/10.
This means you must have KS auto insurance in the amount of $20,000 coverage for bodily injury liability per person and $50,000 coverage for bodily injury liability total per accident.
You are also required to carry at least $10,000 coverage for property damage liability total.
If the damage to either people injured or auto damage/destruction exceeds these limits, you will be responsible for for the difference.
Due to that fact, we urge you to check out getting more coverage than the bare minimum when buying Kansas auto insurance.


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Our Funeral Directors are here to assist your family in planning a meaningful service for your loved one. Whether the ceremony takes place in an off premise facility or one of our chapels, we will create a service that suits your family's needs and your loved ones wishes.
We are among the very few mortuaries to operate our own crematory inside our clean and secure facility. Our staff operates our crematory with care and dignity, all while adhering to the highest standards. Our Crematory is always available for public inspection.
There are many advantages to planning a funeral ahead of time. By pre-planning, difficult decisions will not have to hurriedly be made during a time of grieving and stress. Our knowledgeable and caring funeral directors can help walk you through the pre-planning process.


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Felton-Boynton Wedding
Bureau of Invitations, Durham, North Carolina, 2008
I was asked by a friend and co-worker, Lauren Felton (also the art director), to realize a concept she'd developed for her own wedding invitation. The concept made great use of the location, historical significance of the wedding, and reception venues for inspiration: an outdoor space at the Edgar Allen Poe Museum and the Main Street Amtrak Station in downtown Richmond, Virginia, respectively. This led to a finished theme generated around vintage train ephemera, and afforded us a wonderful opportunity for study, research and exploration of a specific, rich time and place. Additionally, a metaphor was drawn between travel by train and marriage as a shared journey, not only between the couple but also among the guests. This was on every level an absolute joy to be a part of as a graphic designer.
Juror Notes
What feels like ornamentation is all functional in supporting the theme.
- Design firm
- Bureau of Invitations
- Creative director
- David Eller
- Art director
- Lauren Felton-Boynton
- Designer
- David Eller
- Illustrator
- David Eller
- Photographer
- Doc Brunk
- Project manager
- David Eller
- Production coordinator
- Officina Briani
- Production artist
- David Eller
- Copywriters
- David Eller, Lauren Felton-Boynton
- Printer
- Officina Briani
- Printing method
- Letterpress
- Client
- Andrew & Lauren Boynton


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I love blue and white for Christmas cards. Add a bit of bling and I'm one happy girl
I traced around the die cut so I could get a flat mat to fit the die cut shape (if that makes sense?) then raised the die cut with finely cut sticky foam to give it a more 3D look, which typically is not showing up very well in the photo. I also applied Stickles to the centre snowflake for a bit of extra bling.
Maybe you can see it better in the next couple of pics?
Noor Design products used:


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Lane, Joseph
Lane, Joseph, 1801–81, American general in the Mexican War and territorial governor of Oregon, b. Buncombe co., N.C. In the Mexican War he commanded a brigade under Gen. Zachary Taylor at Buena Vista, later received a brevet major generalship for his gallantry in action, and emerged one of the heroes of the war. In 1848 he was commissioned governor of the newly organized Oregon Territory and superintendent of Indian affairs there. Arriving in Mar., 1849, he traveled through the territory settling matters between natives and whites. He prepared for Congress one of the most complete reports on record of the Native Americans of the region. After resigning as governor in 1850, he became territorial delegate to the U.S. Congress (1851–59) and later served (1859–61) as one of Oregon's first U.S. Senators. In 1853 he led the settlers against the indigenous people of the Rogue region, defeated them, and concluded a peace treaty. He was known for his prosecessionist position. In 1860, he ran for vice president on J. C. Breckinridge's ticket.
See study by J. E. Hendrickson (1967).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: U.S. History: Biographies


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By one of my favorite bands of all time – Iron Maiden! Special shout of to Martin, who does NOT like them LO (you know you wanna listen, you know it!). I love the bass line in this song……and of the drums of course!
Kill for gain or shoot to maim
But we dont need a reason
The golden goose is on the loose
And never out of season
Some blackened pride still burns inside
This shell of bloody treason
Heres my gun for a barrel of fun
For the love of living death.
The killers breed or the demons seed,
The glamour, the fortune, the pain,
Go to war again, blood is freedoms stain,
But don't you pray for my soul anymore.
2 minutes to midnight
The hands that threaten doom.
2 minutes to midnight
To kill the unborn in the womb.
The blind men shout let the creatures out
Well show the unbelievers
The napalm screams of human flames
Of a prime time belsen feast…yeah!
As the reasons for the carnage cut their meat and lick the gravy,
We oil the jaws of the war machine and feed it with our babies.
The body bags and little rags of children torn in two
And the jellied brains of those who remain to put the finger right on you.
As the madmen play on words and make us all dance to their song,
To the tune of starving millions to make a better kind of gun.
Midnight…all night…


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If there"s any cooking method that can make all foods taste great, it"s deep frying.
With that thought, came the craving of fried fish tacos — a craving I was able to somewhat satisfy at Pelican"s Roost Chowder House.
Located on 1354 East Ave., the establishment offers a variety of "Finding Nemo" cast members. There isn"t an abundance of fish in the area, so this has to be one of the biggest seafood selections in Chico.
Needless to say fish isn"t a cheap plate to purchase. I knew I would find some difficulty with the unbendable Starving Student price rules. Of course this got me thinking about why fish is so expensive.
Understandable, it seems like it would be more of a hassle to catch fish than to raise livestock like cattle or other animals in the long run.
I would assume that gathering seafood en masse is much harder to do than keeping or raising farm animals. Seafood probably spoils quickly so it must be transported quickly and longer distances.
Realizing that I was too consumed with this topic in my brain, I began to browse the menu. Immediately my eyes fixated on the Alaska cod fish tacos. It was a match made in heaven because the price with tax came to $7.47.
From the outside, the restaurant in a strip mall has the looks of a to-go environment. I walked in with the image in my head that this place would be for casual dining, perhaps the kind of place where you stand at the counter and order your dish. It turns out that it has waiter service.
It"s a pretty standard place with funky ocean decor. The wooden tables and green cushion chairs give it an old pirate ship theme. For a brief moment I thought I had entered a low-budget "Pirates of the Caribbean" production.
With fisherman nets, starfish and tiny ships, you"d think I was taking part in the filming of the Little Mermaid"s MTV Cribs episode.
The wait for my order was no more than 15 minutes. With the order came a side of coleslaw. My thing with coleslaw is that it had better be a mayonnaise massacre. Reason being that it tastes better. This coleslaw, however, was dry an had no taste whatsoever.
Fairly disappointed with the side I began to dive into the main entree. The two reasonably sized tacos with fried Alaska cod were filling.
The fish was crisp and well-battered. At no point did the batter take away from the fish flavor. Sadly the topping sauce of the tacos also lacked flavor. Nonetheless I still enjoyed satisfying my craving for fish tacos.
Next time with some extra cash I"d like to try other items. But this menu isn"t built Ford tough for the Starving Student.
Angel Huracha is a Chico State University student. Each week he"s asked to find a meal that costs no more than $8 (one hour at minimum wage) and then write about it.
Address: 1354 East Ave., #A, Chico
Telephone: 530-899-2762
Hours: Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.


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Texas woman charged with murder in fatal stiletto stabbing
April 1, 2014, 10:21 AM
Texas woman charged with murder in fatal stiletto stabbing
Ana Lilia Trujillo sits in the courtroom before opening arguments in her murder trial, Monday, March 31, 2014, in Houston. BRETT COOMER, AP
HOUSTON - A woman attacked her boyfriend in a fit of rage, sat on him after knocking him down and then stabbed him to death with the stiletto heel of her shoe, striking him at least 25 times in the face, a prosecutor told jurors Monday.
The lawyer for 45-year-old Ana Trujillo, however, said it was her client who was attacked, and she defended herself from 59-year-old Alf Stefan Andersson using the only weapon she had available.
Testimony began Monday in Trujillo's murder trial. Prosecutors say she killed Andersson, who was a University of Houston professor and researcher, during an argument at his condominium in June. She is free on a $100,000 bond.
During opening statements, prosecutor Sarah Mickelson said Trujillo had a history of being angry and aggressive in her contentious on-again, off-again relationship with Andersson, a native of Sweden who became a U.S. citizen.
Mickelson said that earlier in June, Andersson and Trujillo, 45, a native of Mexico, had reconciled.
The prosecutor described Andersson as mild-mannered and quiet, and Trujillo as hot-tempered.
On the night of the slaying, the couple was out drinking before they returned to Andersson's apartment. Mickelson said Trujillo got angry after arriving home and that the two began arguing.
Mickelson told jurors that during the confrontation, Andersson was injured and fell on his back. Trujillo sat on Andersson, preventing him from getting up, and repeatedly struck him in the face and head with her shoe, she said.
"The one thing we can be sure of in this case is that Ana Trujillo is not a victim. Ana Trujillo struck Stefan Andersson 25 times with the heel of her shoe while he lay on the floor and bled out," Mickelson said.
Trujillo's attorney, John Carroll, described Andersson as an alcoholic who would become violent toward Trujillo. He said on the night of Andersson's death, Trujillo planned to leave him and go to a friend's house, but Andersson slammed her against a wall, grabbed her and threw her over a couch.
"She couldn't breathe. And she was begging and begging [Andersson] to let her go. ... He started suffocating her.... She did the only thing she could do, take a weapon at her disposal, which was a shoe, and started hitting him," Carroll said.
Rosemary Gomez, a cab driver who drove Trujillo and Andersson back to his condominium on the night of the slaying told jurors she had picked up the couple from a Houston bar.
Gomez said that during the short drive home, Trujillo was belligerent toward her, cursing as she tried to tell Gomez what streets to take. Gomez said Andersson was embarrassed by Trujillo's behavior and that "he never cursed. He never got out of line."
Gomez said she told Andersson, "You need to be careful. Your friend is out of control."
"He got my hand and squeezed it and said, 'l'll be OK,'" Gomez said.
Gomez testified she was so worried for Andersson that she got out of her cab, held Andersson's hands and prayed for him.
Other witnesses for prosecutors described Andersson as a kind, polite man who had a drinking problem.
Testimony was to resume Tuesday. The trial was expected to last at least a week.


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Metro.us—July 18, 2013
We love taking ballet barre classes. But we've got to remember to stay safe and pay attention during class so we don't wind up hurting afterwards. We spoke with Dr. Elizabeth Manejias at New York's Hospital for Special Surgery, who gave us the low-down on staying safe when you want to get low on the bar.
What should someone taking their first barre class expect?
Your first barre class may seem challenging as the class involves multiple low weight repetitions, without much time allotted for transitions. Some classes either incorporate a ballet barre traditionally used in a ballet class, or a weighted pole to use for balance while executing standing leg positions. Class is usually taken barefoot and in loose clothing to allow for range of motion.
What types of people should NOT take barre?
Barre class is tolerated by most people if attention is given to injuries, proper alignment, and if followed by exercise modifications. Individuals with heart conditions that restrict weight lifting, or those with blood pressure or heart rate guidelines, may want clearance from their physician; however, light weights or the weight of your body are usually the only resistance used.
What injuries are common from class?
The most common injuries I see in my practice following a barre routine involve the knees, lower back and shoulders. Many of the positions used in class are derived from classical ballet positions which often require a turned-out position at the hips, knees and ankles. Overhead activities using light weights and push ups can also place the rotator cuff in a vulnerable position if not performed correctly. Increased stress to the lumbar spine can occur if attention to spinal alignment while either lifting, or performing abdominal exercises, is lacking.
How can people avoid such injuries?
It is important to inform your instructor of any injuries you have prior to class. Most positions and exercises can be modified to accommodate your injury. Proper alignment of the lumbar spine, hips, knees and ankles are crucial to avoid injury. Many individuals taking barre class do not have a dance background and positions requiring turnout of the legs may seem foreign and unnatural. The instructor should pay close attention to technique and form. As the repetitions progress, fatigue may make it difficult to maintain proper form especially when performing upper extremity exercises. It is advised that you perform the exercise without weights rather than sacrifice your ideal shoulder alignment to avoid stressing your rotator cuff.
Remember that barre class is not a competition. It is preferable to work within your capacity and not at the level of those around you. Your instructor is there to help you and you should feel comfortable discussing your concerns.
This story originally appeared at metro.us.


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All I want for Christmas is … Now, this sounds a little trite, but how else would I start a Christmas column when I'm more ill than I was hoping for, and when I'm not going to be able to get out of the house? So, all I want for Christmas is … To overcome this rotten cancer recurrence, which makes my body weak and my stomach nauseated. I would love to go to church to celebrate Christ's birth, but I'm instead going to celebrate the love I have for my niece and nephew, John and Rebecca, when they arrive on Christmas Day. I'll also have to remember to create a card for both their classes at Dunbar Hill Elementary School in Hamden. A couple of weeks ago, when I was in the hospital, the children in each of their classes made me get-well cards and a large get-well poster. While the outreach from the children certainly made me feel better, no get-well or sympathy card in the world could make anyone feel better about the senseless shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. If I don't see John and Rebecca, or my brother Joe or his wife, Patty, for Christmas because one of them ends up catching a cold (people on chemo can't be exposed to others who are ill), we know I'll only temporarily not be able to see my favorite prayer warriors. We know we would want to be together for Christmas, but it can wait for a few days, if need be. But the pain suffered by the relatives and friends of those who loved the 26 children and adults who perished on Dec. 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School is permanent. And so very awful. My late sister, Karen, would have been 50 that day. I know that heaven has 26 more angels to help Karen help me get better. I am working as hard as I can to fight, and I know I have all of you in my corner. Thank you for your Christmas gifts of prayer. In November, when I was trudging back and forth for medical tests, I had the pleasure to speak briefly to Dr. Michael Gutman, medical director of New England Urgent Care Facilities in West Hartford. Part of my job as managing editor of The Middletown Press is to direct the news coverage for The West Hartford News, a weekly paper. Gutman reached out because during the holiday season of overeating, he wanted people to know how to decipher when stomach problems go beyond typical indigestion. During the holidays, try not to overdo it. Eat and drink in moderation. You know the drill. I don't have to tell you. However, if you start losing weight without trying, accompanied by nausea and a bloated sensation after eating, you should seek medical attention, Gutman said. Something as serious as stomach cancer could initially present itself with bloating, mild nausea, possible loss of appetite, heartburn, weight loss and fatigue. The pleasant signs of stomach flu are vomiting, abdominal pain and strains of virus, fever or diarrhea, lasting between one and three days. According to Gutman, the American Cancer Society's most recent data shows that about 21,000 cases of stomach cancer are diagnosed annually. The Nov. 5 PET scan that confirmed my breast cancer recurrence showed activity in my stomach, so my oncologist, Dr. Johanna Lasala, sent me for an endoscopy right away. Dr. Howard Likier, gastroenterologist, on Nov. 16 happily announced that my stomach was fine and we all knocked on wood big time. On Christmas, I will be knocking on wood for all my blessings, and will be praying for a full recovery for me, others who are suffering with cancer and other illnesses and all the folks in Newtown. Ann DeMatteo is a former longtime Hamden and North Haven reporter for the New Haven Register. She is the managing editor of The Middletown Press. She is waiting to hear your inspirational stories and can be reached at
or 203-789-5716.


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Small Potatoes of WPDesigner has completed the task of a WordPress Theme a day for the past month, as of tomorrow.
Amazing. And what makes this Ridiculously Mind-Numbing WordPress Self-Challenge even more of an accomplishment is the release of WordPress 2.1 in the middle of the challenge, bringing with it new WordPress template tags and features to screw up the process.
While not all of the WordPress Themes Small Potatoes has done are WordPress 2.1 ready, there are some beautiful and very distinctive designs. He admits he will go through and clean these up a little better to make them WordPress 2.1 and Widget ready after the challenge is through.
Small Potatoes amended the 30 day challenge to 31 days to beat a previous challenger to the WordPress Theme Design Throne, but I challenge him to come up with one more for 32 days, to really put someone else to the test.
What I'm really looking forward to is a summary of what was learned, what expectations were cracked apart, and a good list of tips and techniques for WordPress Theme designers and tweakers around the WordPress Community. I'm in the middle of my own month long self-challenge on WordPress Plugins and I've got a lot of lessons I've learned to share with you when this is done. You better stand back. 😉
Kudos, congrats, and high praises for this great accomplishment, Small Potatoes. Really good work.
Site Search Tags: wordpress themes, small potatoes, wpdesigner, wordpress theme challenge, challenge, blog challenge, theme design, designing themes, web design, wordpress tips, wordpress news
Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, member of the 9Rules Network Subscribe


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A look back at the 2010 vintage through the eyes of Cabernet
Well, it's that time of year when many of the higher end 2010 Cabernet Sauvignons and Bordeaux-style blends are starting to hit the shelves, so it seems like a good time to take a look back at the vintage that was.
2010 was a challenging year for growers and winemakers alike in Washington (read harvest reports here). The weather was the coolest it had been in more than ten years (little did anyone know then that 2011 would be cooler). This provided for conditions that many of Washington's recently minted growers and winemakers had never seen.
The cool - and at times wet - conditions led to botrytis issues in some areas, even on red grapes like Syrah, which, again, was something previously unseen. The order that different varieties normally ripen and are picked was thrown askew. Hands were wrung and brows were furrowed across the state.
While this might seem to have the potential to lead to complete calamity – and it certainly did seem like it might at the time – the results were far from calamitous. Some sublime wines were created in 2010.
One of the things that impresses me the most about the 2010 wines is their diversity and the difficulty of pigeonholing the vintage. Yes, on many wines the cooler temperatures led to lower alcohol levels but with good fruit concentration. But on other wines, the alcohol levels are just about where they would be in warmer years.
Yes, on some 2010 wines the acid levels are higher. In the better wines this leads to a vibrant sense of freshness not experienced in recent vintages; in others, this same quality makes the wines seem distinctly tart. Again though, for some wines, the acid levels are about where they were in previous years.
Some growers and winemakers adjusted to what the vintage gave them. Others did not. The latter cases present themselves in a variety of ways in the wines. In some, the oak levels are out of balance with the fruit. Or the higher acid levels resulted in tannins seeming more aggressive than might otherwise be the case.
But in other cases growers and wineries nailed the vintage and produced some of the finest wines I have had the privilege of trying from Washington. Winemakers often talk about grower years and winemaker years – the years where the wines are made in the vineyard versus the years when they are made in the winery. For me, personally, 2010 was a wine writer's vintage. It's a vintage that provides more diversity in style and quality – even within a winery at times – than is seen in more uniform years. This has been at times challenging and at times exhilarating but always interesting as a writer.
If I had to make a generalization, the operative word for the 2010 vintage would be 'patience.' Many of these wines are barely out of their shell when first opened and need one or even two days to fully get going. For consumers – and even reviewers – who are used to popping and pouring wines, this can create some challenges. Tasting a wine several days after it has been open is a luxury few can afford. Will some 2010 vintage wines be judged overly harshly for this reason? It seems quite possible.
This would be a shame though as the best wines from the 2010 vintage are truly remarkable. They have intensity and freshness and look to be some of the longest lived wines the state has produced in the last decade. Make no mistake though, in other cases, the wines are flat out disappointing. Distinguishing between them is part of what makes this vintage so interesting.
Overall, my advice is to be patient with the 2010 vintage wines from Washington. Drink through older vintages first and give these wines some additional time and consideration. If you do open higher end bottles, give them some extra time or a long decant. And try not to compare them directly against other recent vintages but consider them for their own merits. The 2010 vintage is nothing if not unique.
As I mentioned at the start, the higher end 2010 Cabernets and Bordeaux-style blends are starting to make their way onto the shelves - the Rhone-style wines having been released last year (with some high quality results). To some extent, wines in the value tier can provide a window into a vintage with the overall quality of the year trickling down. Of course, given that many value priced wines are commodity products, the edges and eccentricities are often massaged out of these wines, so it can sometimes be hard to make extrapolations.
Still, this month's Five Wines Under $15, which focuses on 2010 Cabernet Sauvignons, offers much to enjoy and provides reasons to be optimistic about the upcoming premium wines from the 2010 vintage. Particularly considering the difficulties of the vintage and their prices, all of the wines below are enjoyable and none seemed excessively herbal, tannic or harsh – all qualities that could have resulted from the challenging growing conditions. These wines do display the vintage's diversity in styles and characteristics. Will these same qualities be reflected in their higher end counterparts? We'll find out soon.
Columbia Crest Two Vines Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley 2010 $8
(Good) Medium ruby. A moderately aromatic wine with smoke, game, ripe cherries, and chocolate. The palate is on the lighter side of medium bodied with soft cherry flavors with chocolate accents. 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, and 1% Syrah. 13.5% alcohol.
Milbrandt Traditions Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley 2010 $15
(Good) An aromatic wine with American oak aromas at the fore with vanilla, coconut, and sweet spices along with cherry and herbal tones. The palate is full of sweet oak and cherry flavors with grainy, slightly dry tannins. The oak plays a lead role in the show here. 13.5% alcohol.
Covey Run Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley 2010 $10
(Decent/Good) Medium ruby. Lightly aromatic with cherry, chocolate, and light floral notes. The palate is medium bodied with somewhat blocky tannins and a wash of acid on the finish. An enjoyable easy drinker. 13.5% alcohol.
Stonecap Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley 2010 $8
(Decent/Good) Lightly aromatic with spice, cherry, raspberry, smoke, and light herbal tones. The palate is medium bodied with abundant cherry flavors. 13.6% alcohol.
Castle Rock Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley 2010 $12
(Decent) Medium ruby. A lightly aromatic wine with dust, cherry, and herbal notes. The palate is medium bodied with tart, citrusy acidity and grippy tannins. 13.5% alcohol.
8 comments:
- Chris WallaceJanuary 31, 2013 at 10:59 AM
Sean, I remember when the 1999 vintage was released, following on the heels of the torrid 1998 vintage. The 1999s were decried as thin by some and lacking weight and concentration. They also lacked the immediate joy that the previous vintage held. Yet those wines from that cooler vintage went on to perform brilliantly. I still have several Quilceda Creek left from that vintage and based upon the bottle I had 3 months ago, they will continue to rock for years to come. I will be sure to buy plenty of 2010s as they hit the shelves and lay them down. If this cooler vintage turns out anything like 1999, then I think we consumers are in for a treat!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 31, 2013 at 2:50 PM
Sean, a basic question for you. When you suggest giving a bottle a day or two, do you simply cork the bottle and leave it on your counter? I know there are vacuum pumps, etc. that people use as well. Do you use anything like that?ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 31, 2013 at 4:17 PM
Being patient is key for 2010s. I opened up a 2010 Chateau Ste Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon (Columbia Valley) and on the first day, did not care for it much at all. Disjointed, unyielding, just not fun to drink. My wife and I each had a glass and then we forgot about it on the counter until the next day. It was open, uncorked, overnight, but on that second day it really started to shine and was 100x better than on day one. I'm really looking forward to collecting the 2010 vintage for years to come, especially when even the low-end 2010 wines from our state are so fantastic.ReplyDelete
Chris Wallace, while different vintages obviously, I think the comparison with 1999 is apt. Not necessarily well received in all corners on release but some glorious wines were made that year that are drinking beautifully right now.ReplyDelete
Anon 2:50pm, for preservation, I've tried vacuum systems, gas, putting wines in the fridge, etc. over the years. What I do now is just leave them on the counter with the cork in them. If there's much less than 1/2 a bottle I *might* be inclined to do something different. However, for the 2010s at least, even with wines with a limited amount in the bottle, they've held up remarkably well or even improved.
- Trey BuschJanuary 31, 2013 at 9:39 PM
Sean, the 2010 vintage has turned into my favorite vintage in 13 years of winemaking. We also worked harder in the vineyard than ever before, making sure crop levels were appropriate for each site and varietal, and we're very selective at the sorting table because of the botrytis issue you mentioned in your article. We can't wait for folks to try our higher end Bdx varietals when they release this Spring. And I agree that they need time. We decanted 8 hours our Cab Sauv and Bdx style blends and they really opened up into the beautiful, full bodied, and complex wines we knew they were in barrel.ReplyDelete
If we're comparing 2010 to 1999, I'm excited. In addition to the QCreek mentioned above, I had a 1999 Delille Chaleaur Estate Red and a 1999 Woodward Canyon Old Vines Cab that were both superb well after the vintage date and supposed drinking windows.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousFebruary 1, 2013 at 10:32 AM
Sean, I also wanted to comment on "giving a bottle a day or two to open." I noticed that a few of the 2010 red offerings from Chateau Ste Michelle i.e., 2010 Canoe Ridge Merlot needed at least three days before it balanced out. Initial impressions were not positive, however I had a feeling this wine needed time to breath. I was happy with the wine on day three, however this particular wine may continue to evolve for many years. I read your review on the 2010 Canoe Ridge Merlot via the Chateau Ste Michelle website and I picked up the same flavors you did , however the core of fruit, acid and wood all balanced out on day three. Personally, I would hold many well crafted wines from this vintage as some are too young to drink. Paul Gregutt's review on this same wine was interesting too. I wonder if he decanted this wine or gave his sample a day or two or more to open?ReplyDelete
Best Regards,
Jeff Curry
Jeff Curry, when tasting wine samples for WWR, I retaste them all 24 hours in. Based on what I've seen from the 2010 vintage wines thus far, I'm going to extend that time period because the transformation I've seen in some of these bottles has been nothing short of remarkable.ReplyDelete
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HIS Radeon HD 6970 Turbo FAN 2GB review -
Overclocking The R6970
Overclocking The R6970
As most of you know, with most videocards you can apply a simple series of tricks to boost the overall performance a little. You can do this at two levels, namely tweaking by enabling registry or BIOS hacks, or very simply to tamper with Image Quality. And then there is overclocking, which will give you the best possible results by far.
What do we need?
One of the best tools for overclocking NVIDIA and ATI videocards is our own AfterBurner which will work with 90% of the graphics cards out there. We can really recommend it, download here.
Where should we go?
Overclocking: By increasing the frequency of the videocard's memory and GPU, we can make the videocard increase its calculation clock cycles per second. It sounds hard, but it really can be done in less than a few minutes. I always tend to recommend to novice users and beginners, to not increase the frequency any higher than 5% on the core and memory clock. Example: If your card runs at 600 MHz (which is pretty common these days) then I suggest that you don't increase the frequency any higher than 30 to 50 MHz.
More advanced users push the frequency often way higher. Usually when your 3D graphics start to show artifacts such as white dots ("snow"), you should back down 10-15 MHz and leave it at that. Usually when you are overclocking too hard, it'll start to show artifacts, empty polygons or it will even freeze. Carefully find that limit and then back down at least 20 MHz from the moment you notice an artifact. Look carefully and observe well. I really wouldn't know why you'd need to overclock today's tested card anyway, but we'll still show it.
All in all... do it at your own risk.
|This sample
|Core Clock: 880MHz
|Core Clock: 900MHz
|Core Clock: 951MHz
|Shader Clock: 880MHz
|Shader Clock: 900MHz
|Shader Clock: 951MHz
|Memory Clock: 5500MHz
|Memory Clock: 5600MHz
|Memory Clock: 6252MHz
Now we left the fan RPM control at default. We reached a very decent overclock showing a bump in overall performance. he temps did not change very much, DBA levels go tiny bit up. You can also try and go a little higher by increasing fan RPM of course, your call to make.
Obviously you can grab a tool or two and overclock based on voltage tweaking as well. With the reference design cooler the temperature and noise levels will go up real fast though. But 1000 Mhz should be very doable that way.
Above we have Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, maxed out image quality settings as before with 4xAA 16xAF
Above we have Battlefield Bad Company 2, maxed out image quality settings as before with 8xAA 16xAF
Above, we can see 3DMark 11 - the Performance mode is applied here.
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In this review we test the HIS Radeon R9-290X. The product is based on the reference design of the original Radeon R9-290X. These cards are little beasts. As such this in-depth review will cover the V...


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Bran Full of Nutrition
If you add a variety of nutrients to your diet, you bless your body with the possibility of a lot of nutrition. In contrast to a lot of other types of cereal grains, sorghum is gluten-free. In fact, there is more. The bran layers of the dark coloured varieties of sorghum are dense with phytonutrients that have lots of healthful properties. Read on to learn about the different healthful benefits of sorghum. Image courtesy: Getty Images
The Variety of Nutrients in Sorghum
Sorghum can be served alone, used in porridges as well as breads or popped. Sorghum is rich in riboflavin, thiamin, trace minerals such as phosphorus, iron and potassium and niacin. The colour of sorghum may range from white to red to black and the bran that is dark-coloured is rich in certain food compounds such as tannins phenolic acids, policosanols and anthocyanins. Image courtesy: Getty Images
Fights Cancer
The bran layers of different varities of pigmented sorghum are rich in antioxidants that protect the body against development of cancer. Studies have shown a reduction in the mortality rates of people with esophageal cancer who regularly consumed sorghum. Certain compounds in sorghum, also called, 3-Deoxyanthoxyanins are present in the darker-coloured varieties of sorghums; these have strong altiproliferative activity against colon cancer. Image courtesy: Getty Images
Protects against Diabetes and Insulin Resistance
A study from the University of Georgia Neutraceutical Research Libraries said that bran layers of sorghum that have a high level of phenolic content as well as anti-oxidant properties tend to inhibit the protein glycation. Oat, wheat or rice bran, on the other hand, did not do much to inhibit the protein. This study showed that particular varieties of sorghum bran can affect the biological processes of that are crucial in diabetes and insulin resistance. Image courtesy: Getty Images
Manages Cholesterol
Sorghum is a rich source of phytochemicals, which is what drew researchers at the University of Nebraska to study its potential in managing cholesterol. When they fed different levels of sorghum lipids to hamsters for over 4 weeks, they found that the healthy fats present in sorghum reduced bad cholesterol levels significantly. Image courtesy: Getty Images
Slow Carbohydrate Digestion and Absorption
There have been studies done to prove that sorghum may help in the reduction of carbohydraye absorption and digestion, which could further help in controlling blood glucose levels in people who have diabetes. Adding sorghum to porridges helps to lower the estimated glycemic index of the porridge. Image courtesy: Getty Images
Is Gluten-free
If you are allergic to gluten or just cannot tolerate it, you can easily take to sorghum because it is gluten-free and therefore, a deserving alternative staple grain. Sorghum is said to be safe for those people who have celiac disease. If you do finally decide to bring lots of sorghum home, make sure that you do not depend on its protein for your daily needs because it is poorly digested once cooked and also is deficient in essential amino acid. Image courtesy: Getty Images
Treats Human Melanoma
Sorghum may help one to treat human melanoma, found scientists in Madrid who studied the effects of three different components from wine and one from sorghum on human melanoma cells. Even though the results were mixed, the researchers concluded that all the four components have therapeutic agents that can possibly treat human melanoma. Image courtesy: Getty Images
Reduces risk of Heart Disease
Sorghums are rich in antioxidants that are believed to help in lowering the risk of a lot of diseases including those of the heart. It Besides, the wax that covers the sorghum grain consists compounds, policosanols, etc that are known to improve cardiac health. Image courtesy:Getty Images
Benefits Metabolism
Consumption of sorghum ensures that you have a better, stronger immune system. Sorghum has lots of magnesium and copper, which contribute to healthy bone tissues and regulate body's calcium levels and boost immune system and promote development of red blood cells, respectively. Image courtesy: Getty Images


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Editor: Annette B. Smith, CPA
Partners & Partnerships
Generally, if a partnership divides into two or more partnerships and the partnership either undergoes a formless division or takes a form other than an "assets-up" form, Treasury regulations treat the transaction as an "assets-over" form of division (Regs. Sec. 1.708-1(d)(3)(i)). Under the assets-over form, in which at least one of the resulting partnerships is a continuation of the original partnership, the original partnership is deemed to (1) contribute the assets and liabilities to one or more resulting partnerships in exchange for interests therein under Sec. 721 and (2) immediately distribute the interests in the resulting partnership to the original partnership's partners under Sec. 731 (Regs. Sec. 1.708-1(d)(3)(i)(a)).
Sec. 721(a) provides generally that neither the partnership nor the partners recognize gain or loss on a contribution of property to a partnership in exchange for a partnership interest. Sec. 722 provides that the basis of an interest in a partnership acquired by a contribution of money or other property to the partnership equals the amount of money and the adjusted basis of the property to the contributing partner at the time of the contribution, increased by the amount of any gain recognized under Sec. 721(b) to the contributing partner at that time.
Generally, in the case of a partnership's distribution to a partner, gain is not recognized except to the extent that any money distributed exceeds the adjusted tax basis of the partner's interest in the partnership immediately before the distribution (Sec. 731(a)). Sec. 732 provides the rules regarding the basis of distributed partnership property in the hands of a partner. Generally, under Sec. 732(a), the basis of property (other than money) a partnership distributes to a partner, other than in liquidation of the partner's interest, equals the partnership's adjusted basis in the property immediately before the distribution.
Accordingly, in an assets-over division, the resulting partnership generally will hold the property with the same basis as the original partnership following the deemed contribution. On the deemed distribution to the original partnership's partners, assuming that each partner receiving the deemed distribution has sufficient outside basis in its partnership interest, the distributee partners generally also will take a substituted basis in the distributed resulting partnership. Thus, there generally would be no inside/outside basis disparity in the resulting partnership, because the original partnership's basis in the asset carries over to the new partnership and the partners take a substituted basis in the resulting partnership equal to the assets' basis inside the partnership.
However, the general division rules and other provisions do not account for property with a disparity between the property's fair market value (FMV) and adjusted tax basis (Sec. 704(c) property) in an assets-over division. Sec. 704(c) prevents partners from shifting built-in gain or loss through the use of a partnership by requiring partners to take into account the difference between the basis of the property to the partnership and its FMV at the time of contribution (Sec. 704(c)(1)(A)).
While the Code and regulations provide guidance regarding Sec. 704(c) property generally, there is no guidance addressing how Sec. 704(c) principles should apply when a partnership distributes an asset to multiple partners in a partnership division, including in an assets-over division.
The lack of guidance under Secs. 704, 708, and 732 and the regulations on this issue may leave open two alternative approaches. One approach would be to follow a strict reading of Sec. 732 and allocate the tax basis of the distributed resulting partnership interest strictly in accordance with the pro rata percentage the partner is receiving (the pro rata method). An alternative approach would be to trace and allocate the tax basis of property distributed in a partnership division taking Sec. 704(c) principles into account (the tracing method) (see Schmalz and Amoni, "Applying the Disparity Offset Method to Achieve Tax-Follows-Economics Results," 115 J. Tax. 133 (September 2011); see also Lay, "Allocation of Basis and Code Sec. 704(c) Gain in Partnership Divisions," 12 J. Passthrough Entities 5 (May–June 2009)).
The following example demonstrates the different approaches (and potential distortions):
Example: Partner A and Partner B form Partnership AB. Partner A contributes $100 cash, and Partner B contributes Blackacre with an FMV of $100 and tax basis of $50. Partner A and Partner B share in all partnership items equally. After formation, Partner A has an outside tax basis of $100 in its AB partnership interest, and Partner B has an outside tax basis of $50 in its AB partnership interest. After formation, AB purchases Whiteacre (FMV of $100 and tax basis of $100). Ten years later, AB undertakes a partnership division under the assets-over form. AB contributes Blackacre to a new partnership, CD, in exchange for a partnership interest in CD and then distributes the partnership interest in CD to both A and B. Under Secs. 721 and 722, AB's new partnership interest in CD has an FMV of $100 and tax basis of $50.
Pro rata method: If AB distributes the CD partnership interest to A and B using the pro rata method, A and B each should receive a partnership interest in CD with an FMV of $50 and tax basis of $25. After the division, A will hold a partnership interest in AB with an FMV of $50 and tax basis of $75 and a partnership interest in CD with an FMV of $50 and tax basis of $25. B will hold a partnership interest in AB with an FMV of $50 and tax basis of $25 and a partnership interest in CD with an FMV of $50 and tax basis of $25. Although A contributed only cash and no built-in gain or loss property, it now holds a built-in loss in its AB partnership interest and a built-in gain in its CD partnership interest.
Tracing method: If the tracing method is applied, the entire tax basis of the CD partnership interest should be allocated to A when AB distributes the CD partnership interest to A and B, to preserve B's contribution of Sec. 704(c) property. After the division, A will hold a partnership interest in AB with an FMV of $50 and tax basis of $50 and a partnership interest in CD with an FMV of $50 and tax basis of $50. B will hold a partnership interest in AB with an FMV of $50 and tax basis of $50 and a partnership interest in CD with an FMV of $50 and tax basis of $0. The tracing method follows the principles of Sec. 704(c), and the result is that the partners are in the same position as they were before the partnership division with respect to built-in gain or loss in their respective partnership interests.
As the example demonstrates, when a partnership distributes an asset to multiple distributee partners in a partnership division, the method used to allocate the asset's basis can lead to very different results.
Annette Smith is a partner with PwC, Washington National Tax Services, in Washington, D.C.
For additional information about these items, contact Ms. Smith at 202-414-1048 or email@example.com.
Unless otherwise noted, contributors are members of or associated with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.


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Dimensions 105 x 85 x 73 cm
"Käbu, curve in Japanese. With this name, I stress the conceptual process of the collection design. The light structure is dressed up with a technical fabric that becomes skin and wrap. The curvature generated as a result of the fabric tension on the structure highlights the desire for a lightweight, upholstered frame". Collection made of high resistance aluminum tube. Two versions: Batyline® Senso finish and 3D Mesh finish. Possibility of creating a wide variety of layouts due to the modularity of its elements.
Expormim is a Spanish company that manufactures and sells decoration elements to the general public all over the world for work and for home.


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Mayor of Austin Prepared for North Korea Attack as U.S. Continues Show of Force
After releasing photos on Friday showing Kim Jong-Un and his advisers reviewing plans to attack major (and some not so major) American cities, mayors of those cities have responded to the possible (eh, not very possible) threat. Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell has released a statement, reassuring residents that they do not face imminent demise:
"The City has been in contact with federal officials through the Austin Regional Intelligence Center (ARIC) regarding the North Korean threat to Austin. Austin's Homeland Security and Emergency Management department and the Austin Police Department are monitoring the situation, and though they take this very seriously, they do not believe the threats are credible at this time."
While a spokesman for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa referred Talking Points Memo to the Department of Defense, Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie "is aware of both the military and political context at issue regarding North Korea. The Governor is confident that all challenges are being addressed."
In response to North Korea's continued escalation of hostilities, including a sorta-declaration of war against South Korea, the U.S. has continued its joint military exercises with South Korea, even dropping dummy bombs on Thursday on the peninsula. "The United States will continue to demonstrate unique advanced capabilities as these exercises continue," a defense official told the Wall Street Journal. And while this "display of military might" is intended to dissuade North Koreans from openly attacking South Korea (or, in an improbable turn of events, Austin), the United States is growing concerned about possible cyber-attacks and hard-to-trace attacks on the South Korean military.
But again, why Austin? Wouldn't a larger city in Texas be a better target for the DPRK?
A theory: With three extremely enjoyable basketball teams in the other major Texas cities (the dominating San Antonio Spurs, the young, upstart Houston Rockets, and the older but still scrappy Dallas Mavericks), Un would just hate to spoil the sure-to-be-exciting Western Conference postseason.
Because at this moment, that's as good a guess as any.


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"What you are about to see is several of the foundation's protégés doing what they truly love to do," announced our host, actor and arts philanthropist Alec Baldwin, to a dignified audience at Carnegie Hall last Monday evening. We had gathered for a one-night-only concert to benefit the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, and six young prodigies were about to take the stage. The adorable and mesmerizing Johnson Zhongxin Li, 9, played Beethoven's Piano Sonata for Four Hands in D major, Op. 6 with the help of Lang Lang himself.
"When you play in [Carnegie Hall], you hear the sound of angels," chirped Kate Xintong Lee, 12, after her performance.
Then came the pros: Scandinavian pop star Oh Land performed two haunting ballads with Lang Lang and Joshua Bell on instruments, John Legend swaggered through a duo of R&B tunes and supple soprano diva Renée Fleming gave a stellar performance of a Joseph Canteloube folk aria. But it was her encore of "Ô mio babbino caro," that received the thunderous, emotional applause.
"I don't think anyone really wants to hear us play the piano," laughed a very pregnant Hilaria Thomas Baldwin on the arm of her husband at the post-concert dinner in the Time Warner Center.
"I have no musical abilities!" interjected Mr. Baldwin. "I am only a fan and endless admirer."
"Have you played any Lang Lang for the baby?" Shindigger asked.
"You know what? The entire time [during the show], she was kicking," Mrs. Baldwin revealed.
And the beat went on the next night at BAM's Ignite Gala at the SkyLight Modern in Chelsea, which had been transformed into a verdant, tropical formal dining hall. As Shindigger munched on an heirloom tomato and avocado salad, students of BAM/Restoration Dance delivered a rousing cultural performance. For the mains, we had freekeh salad, haricot verts and polenta and enjoyed two original poetry performances. (BAM's events are always as tasty as they are enriching.)
"I grew up in New York City; I attended public school," began actress Lucy Liu after congratulating honoree Richard E. Feldman on his Ignite Award. "I didn't really recognize who I was and where I was going until I started to participate in arts programs, and that was not something that was readily available to me."
She continued: "In education, budgets are being slashed, and unfortunately children are the ones who suffer. In the end, we will all suffer."
The end of this particular event saw only a performance by Rufus Wainwright, no suffering.
And then onto the New York Philharmonic's spring gala, where Tony winner and Met Opera baritone Paulo Szot swept patrons off their feet with the help of Megan Hilty and Marin Mazzie—all under the baton of Ted Sperling. The repertoire was titled "An Enchanted Evening" and featured a potpourri of classic show tunes and Brazilian love ballads. Shindigger scampered into Avery Fisher Hall just in time for Mr. Szot's encore of "This Nearly Was Mine" from South Pacific.
"I loved 'So in Love' with Marin Mazzie. I thought that was amazing," gushed national news correspondent Alina Cho as she kissed Shindigger on both cheeks and introduced us to her mother, her date for the evening. Ms. Cho, who had traveled with the Philharmonic orchestra to North Korea in 2008 and filmed a segment there for CNN, looked delectable in one of her bestie Bibhu Mohaptra's shimmering gowns.
"I'm actually a fan of Megan Hilty," she added. "The crazy thing is I had lunch with Debra Messing today, so it's been a Smash kind of day."
Alec Baldwin, clearly on a performing arts charity binge last week, strode up to Ms. Cho's table along with Karen LeFrak, who is on the New York Philharmonic board of directors and serves as a chair for the special events committee.
"I loved the South Pacific songs," Ms. LeFrak said as she greeted Ms. Cho and co. "I think because I had seen Paulo do it [on Broadway]."
Ms. Mazzie was all bubbles as well, since the evening marked the first time she had the opportunity to sing with Mr. Szot.
"It was very exciting to be able to sing with that magnificent, glorious voice and that magnificent beautiful man," she giggled. "I love singing with the Philharmonic. They truly are one of the greatest orchestras in the world, if not the greatest. And Ted Sperling and I have been friends for more years than I'm willing to say!"
"When will we see you back on the Broadway stage?" Shindigger prodded.
"Just keep your fingers crossed, 'cuz it's gonna be soon," she said sotto voce.
"This is an opportunity for us to have a different type of music than might be customary and just be festive," explained Philharmonic chairman Gary W. Parr as we sipped on a Chilean cabernet sauvignon. "It does draw something of a different audience," he winked. "It's a good time!"
Before guests dined on chimichurri-grilled prime steak and vegetables, we found Ted Sperling and asked him what his most memorable musical moment of the evening had been.
"I really enjoyed the two Cole Porter tunes, 'My Heart Belongs to Daddy' and then 'So in Love,'" the conductor-director told us. "It's just such a luscious piece of material. They both have a sexiness to them."
And with that, Shindigger trekked back to our date, head swimming with good music and good wine, both enchanted and aroused.


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America is in decline. End of story.
Can The NYPD Back Up Its Claim Of A Confrontation That Required Pepper Spray, Despite More Video Evidence?
from the keep-the-videos-running dept
Yesterday we wrote about the NYPD claiming that the video evidence of a police officer, now identified as Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna, pepper spraying a group of women shows that it was done appropriately. The specific claim from NYPD spokesperson Paul Browne was that "Pepper spray was used once after individuals confronted officers and tried to prevent them from deploying a mesh barrier — something that was edited out or otherwise not captured in the video."
The problem, of course, is that the video evidence suggests no such thing, and with more videos taken by other people at the same time and place indicating no such editing or confrontation, it's increasingly clear that the NYPD's Paul Browne lied to the press, and falsely accused folks of editing out a confrontation that does not appear to have happened.
The US Law blog, which has been at the forefront of covering this particular story, has linked to another video at the same place (at about 5:45 in the video). While the person taking the video is turned away from the pepper spray at the moment it happens, you can see as she walks through the women just before it happens (in fact, you can see this same person in the original video passing right behind the pepper sprayed women, seconds before it happens).
Add to that another video that actually pulls together two perspectives of the incident, which you can see below:
And, finally, we have a 4th view of the events surrounding the incident, immediately prior to the pepper spraying. From these multiple videos at multiple angles, two things are abundantly clear: contrary to the claims of the NYPD, nothing was edited out of the first video and while there was lots of screaming, the women who were sprayed do not appear to have "confronted the officers and tried to prevent them from deploying a mesh barrier" at all. Some others may have done so, but not the women being sprayed. Instead, as originally alleged, it appears that the spraying was entirely arbitrary.
Furthermore, as pointed out on the US Law Blog link above:
Having approached the immediate area from some distance away, it is difficult to understand how the Deputy Inspector could have had any instant awareness of what, if any, confrontation may have been happening at that time and place. The officer does not appear to take adequate time to assess whether the handfull of people in the immediate vicintiy were obeying police orders. In fact, his approach with outstretched arm and the surprised reaction of the blue shirted officers suggest he may have made the decision to release pepper spray in advance of his arrival at the immediate location of it's deployment.
Furthermore, they note that the NYPD rules say that pepper spray may be used if "it is necessary to effect an arrest of a resisting suspect." And yet, after pepper spraying the women, no arrests were made (some of the people sprayed were arrested later, at different locations for different reasons). It appears that even if there was a confrontation, which there does not appear to be, involving these women, the use of pepper spray was inappropriate.
Once again, what fascinates me about all of this is all of this video evidence, and the value in showing that the "official story" from the police is almost certainly false. I'm curious as to how long the NYPD will keep up the charade of pretending its version is accurate.
Filed Under: anthony bologna, evidence, nypd, occupy wall street


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This is my last week teaching in Sydney. In fact, this is my last full week in this city full stop. Next week, I'll be leaving Sydney to have a little holiday, and then moving down to Melbourne. Leaving a place is always strange and sad and exciting and scary. I've written here, here and here about some of the emotions I've come across in knowing that I'm about to leave a place. Transition creates such an odd frame of mind.
These last two weeks I've really started saying goodbye. I've started teaching last classes in places I've taught for some years, and saying goodbye to students I've known for as long. And, to be perfectly honest, it's been exhausting. Every class I teach lately is tinged with sadness — my own, mostly. And it's take a great deal more effort to stay focussed on the class.
The goodbyes themselves are always odd. Strange and sad and really very surreal. It just doesn't feel quite real that I will not see these people next week. I will miss each and every one of them.
The student/teacher relationship is a surprisingly intimate one. The intimacy, I suppose, is surprising because it's not always very obvious. As a yoga teacher, you spend a lot of time watching your students. Watching how their bodies respond to your instructions, to your sequences. You look out for minor (usually) alignment issues, you look out for signs of distress (physical or otherwise), and you come to care a great deal about how what comes out of your mouth affects the people in the room. When I plan classes, I keep in mind the make-up of regulars in my various classes, and think — sometimes in great detail — about how a particular shape or sequence might affect certain students with injuries or off-centre bodies. (Well, all of us have off-centre bodies, but some of us notice it more than others.) If there's one thing that being a yoga teacher develops in you, it's a really profound sense of tenderness and compassion for other people's struggles.
Saying goodbye to my students is upsetting in a way I'm not quite sure yet how to deal with. It's a sadness I'll carry with me for some time, I'm sure. I've been trying to practice sitting with those emotions, just letting them be, letting them work themselves out. There have been tears. It hasn't been easy.
But that sadness also makes me feel incredibly lucky. I'm lucky to work with people in the way that I do, to introduce them to tools that will help them through tough times. But, as is the case with any kind of teaching, I'm lucky because teaching others also shows me things about myself. I've learnt an incredible amount about my own strengths and limitations these last few years, and I hope I've become a better teacher — and indeed a more resilient person — as a result.
So, to any of my Sydney students reading this, thank you. And keep in touch.
Saying goodbye to Sydney, of course, means saying hello to another place. I'll be teaching yoga in Melbourne, but I'm not sure yet of the details. When I've got a better idea, I'll be sure to update things here.
This is cross-posted on my yoga blog.